Today was really a neat day in every aspect. The folks who came to Lincoln were: Carl Shaver (CShaveRR) and his wife, Charlie (Mudchicken) and his wife, Ed Blysard and his wife, Brian (blhanel) and of course Mookie and the Driver. They all are the nicest people I have ever met.
Ed gave me a whole bunch of cool stuff like old Southern Pacific timetables, railroad safety guides, safety cards, a pair of BNSF gloves and a railroad lantern. Mookie had BNSF mugs to hand out, Carl brought 2007 UP calendars and Brian brought everyone an enlarged copy of his avatar which has to be the best photo I’ve ever seen.
After eating lunch we all went to Mookie’s train watching spot and saw 16 trains in two and a half hours. Some of the track in that area is in really bad condition and I think a derailment is probably in the future. Here are a couple of photos I took.
This last one is my favorite.
It was really an honor to meet everyone and I hope we can do this again sometime in the future! [8D]
I didn’t post the group photo that I had on my camera because for some reason I’m not even smiling. I don’t know what exactly was wrong with me in that pic, but the one Brian posted is much better.
I also forgot to wish Pat Shaver and Aimee Blysard a happy birthday in my first post. [bday] Happy birthday, ladies! They share an October 10th birthday with me.
I’ll post some of my other shots garnered there as well as on the way (followed US-30 across Iowa going west, and got a few “snapshots” of UP action) when I get the time tomorrow- right now I’m alittle tired after all that driving. But it was worth the trip!
Looks like ya guys had alot of fun. Where exactly is “Mookie’s Spot?” That looks good; so maybe I’ll take a look at it next time I’m in the Lincoln area for railfanning.
A bit of trivia…You mention of rt. 30…That national highway passed through my little home town in Pennsylvania {Stoystown}…as main st. until 1937 when it was bypassed around ouside of town to eliminate several nasty curves a one lane bridge and some other features that needed attention.
Yep, US-30 is my favorite route through this state, as it closely parallels the UP Transcon in alot of places. I’m still planning on posting a few more pics or links, but don’t think I’ll get it done tonight- had other things get in the way here. BTW, does anyone know the exact syntax for substituting another word for a link so that I can fix my previous post? I’d also like to know how to save the exact Mapquest map scale I was looking at when I copied that link…
Just made a copy of your posted group photo and wrote the names on it. Came out very good. Sounds like all had a good time and I suppose Ed and company will make it back down to the “swamp” as he calls it sometime today. Looking on my atlas it looks like Ed had roughly 800 mi. of running his hot rod each way.
Wow! Looks like you guys had a great time. Sorry I couldn’t join you. Did get to participate in a mini-meeting though. Caught up with Chad and his dad up in Cheyenne. Alas! the weather was a little less than spectacular for taking pictures (but I never let that stop me!). Should have some shots up this afternoon or tomorrow at the latest.