How do you like your new states so far (with the winter weather?)
Mookie
Well… The winters are about the same as Wisconsin. There are fewer peple per square mile so if your car breaks down you got alot of walking to do. Railroad people are about the same where ever you go (except Memphis). I’m told there are 4 seasons in Maine: Almost winter, Winter, not quite winter and mud.
Randy
Randy – don’t forget; there’s also a week of dang poor sledding between Mud and Almost Winter!
I love it here. Everybody is real nice. All of my neighbors have Snow blowers and a few have helped me out. No real major issues. My family, on Long Island, just received 23 inches. WI only got 12.
Tom - you will really be crazy about the spring/fall seasons. They are incredible in that part of the “midwest”.
Fall for me was barefoot in the daytime and a blanket at night! Ah…
Mookie
Well come to the balmy south. No snow shoveling, no skid outs, no icy roads, no parkas/mitts/hats needed but also at least in Florida poor train watching as well.
Always a trade-off isn’t there! I am torn between great train watching and enduring another Nebraska ice/snow winter.
Mookie
Sometimes it’s Almost winter, Winter, not quite winter and construction…
and potholes!
Mookie well you can always goto train watching spots once spring shows up which is what I do. Last year I was @
Ft. Madison
Rochelle
Dolton
Cajon Summit
Colton
Daggett
Caliente
South Tacoma
Portland
All along I-84 & the Columbia River
Needles
Bridge between Cal/Ariz
Just to name a few spots
This year I am going to
Green River
Granger
Weber Canyon
Ogden
SLC
Great Salt Lake
Pocatello
In fall I will be going to so far
El Paso
Belem
From El Paso to Hutchinson KS on the UPRR
Just a matter of being safe during winter time
Wow - I hope this “job” pays well! You sound like our resident Mudchicken who travels a lot, but they pay him for it.
But, it does sound like fun! I find most of my train watching right here in Lincoln, and while it is limited to BNSF, it is always busy.
Mook
No for me it is ONLY recreation. I look for cheap fares like last year SWA $185.00 RT roundtrip to Seattle. Then Delta $185.00 to LAX RT… Spirit was $80.00 RT to Chicago. Log on to travelzoo.com & sign up for their weekly advices of the 10 best fares every week . To reach Granger & Yellowstone I am using miles earned on Delta for this trip.
I am going to hazard a guess that you are retired. If so, what a great way to spend your retirement years. If not, it is still great!
Traveling for me is a real project. We would have to go to Omaha to fly anywhere decent. Sometimes just getting thru Omaha (sorry Willy) is a trip all by itself.
So it is just easier for me to just drive about 2 miles and sit and watch all the trains come and go past my spot!
Mook
Mook no I still work 8hrs a day 5 days a week commute 25 miles each way to work. It is vacation or sick/personal days when I do it. I combine sightseeing & train watching. I guess I am very lucky to live in a area from where the airlines offer low fares so it is easy to do. As a example I am combining Yellowstone with Granger/Ogden/SLC/Pocatello this year. When I went to Seattle last year I combined it with Ranier, Mt. St Helens, Mt Hood, Jet boating in Hells Canyon in Idaho on the Snake.
Sounds like you’re better off there…less construction more winter. Remember Wisconsin’s only two seasons…Winter and Construction![:D]
Well, I envy you. Just not the part about the 25 mile commute each way…[:D]
Mook I do not like the miles each way other. My “better” half says if I lived right near a train watching spot like you do I would get bored with it… She says half the joy of watching them is thinking about them all winter until the next vacation. I keep telling her I am going to buy a home right across the street from the Dagget juncture which is a really exciting spot & she said I would even get bored their & want to find other places. I use to work in the steamship industry & favored the UPRR with that companies biz. They gave me reams of info on their system so I have a pretty good idea of what I want to see. I was in their Omaha HQs in their operation room. I also rode up on a DHRR loco between Newark NJ & Reading PE. That is one scary sight doing 70 per & wondering if the tracks will give way. I was also in the C&NW & NS HQs as well as the NS operation room. While I never worked for a RR I think I had for my time a pretty good understanding of how they operate. Trust me every day I am thinking of my upcoming trip & getting my UPRR fix.