This is probably “it” for the day . . . had enuf! Ruth take off for the remainder of the afternoon . . . I’m sure you have “things” to prepare for! [wow]
In the Ooooooooops Dept. . . . forgot to mention that today is Victoria Day in Canada! Or 'round here, “Confuse the neighbors day” as we fly both flags in front of the ranch! [swg]
A pint of Bathams please RUTH[tup], it is good to see you again[^], although I hear you are going away for a weekend with a certain person.[swg]
ROB Many thanks for the really great posts and photos while we were on the Rendezvous III[bow] really enjoyed looking at the photos and reading the posts.[^][tup]
To answer a question from last week, since Ed Burkhart ordered the 250 Class 66s from EMD for EWS other freight companies in the UK have ordered more. It is 10 years since the first 66 was in service in Britain and there is an article in the new Railway Magazine on them although I have not read it yet.
Thanks for the information on the ships[tup]do you know who supplied the electrical alternators for the ‘Tribal Class’ Destroyers.[?] It is good to hear that the ‘O’ class Submarines were good vessels.
Enjoyed the photos of the Gloster Cars arriving at the museum.[tup]
Yes I have realized that the only way to reduce my bar tab is to pay some of it off[:O], so plenty of overtime in the Chandelling department[sigh]. I don’t mind you putting your (and LEON’s) drinks on my tab (would not notice indeed!!![:)]) for all the great photos5X[tup].
NICK Many thanks for the photos of the Modern Traction models on your layout[tup][tup][tup]. There was indeed a series of trips using a spare HST set in the 1990s on the weekends which visited places HSTs were not normally seen, like Whitby and even the stone loader at Rylestone Quarry on the branch from Skipton[wow]The
A mixed bag of 4 photos from the mid 1970s, sorry about the quality[:(].
Another photo of the S J locomotive on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway shortly after its arrival from Sweden.
An AEC engined Great Western Railway streamlined diesel railcar on the Severn Valley Railway introduced in 1937 at Bridgnorth.
A couple of trawlers at Mallaig in the West Highlands of Scotland. It was for this trade that the West Highland Railway extension to Mallaig was built.
Pride of the LMS No 6233 ‘Duchess of Sutherland’ at Bressingham in Norfolk, 6233 was giving footplate rides on a short section of track. I think the double chimney makes the loco look better than the original single chimney, but it caused drifting smoke leading to the fitting of smoke deflectors to the class.
Well good evening Leon, I see that you’ve had a coupel three people through today so all’s getting back to normal [tup] Just a small draft of Keith’s as I wind down the first holiday long weekend of summer. Just back in from the Victoria day festivities down home,which included a visit to The Canadian Warplane Herritage Museum on the way through [tup]
**Tom-**Belated [bday] greeting sir sorry to say that I missed the day of have yourself mnay beverages on me this week [tup]Lots of stunning photo’s from both the rendezvous and the Chaleur trip. Would be wonderfull to have the five of us on that run n would it not ( even more woulf be merrier ! )
I’m thinking that I could loose myself in the library for many weeks n months [tup]
Lars- I welcome visit by the man from New York [tup] most thoughtfull birthday wishes and covers for dabossman [bow] Nice to know that your with us in spirit but we knew that anyway [tup]
**Allan-**In with a quick birthday greeting [tup] And thanks for teh giggles as well we’ve been enjoying them. even though I’m not an atilleryman I do enjoy the Guns of Navarrone as well .
**Pete-**Yes the “o” boats gave wonderfull service for almost 4 decades, the same can’t be said for the new/used Upholders which have yet to become operational[|(] Goes to sday that you get what you pay for. The O’s were ordered and bought new the others were not nuff said [tdn]
Leon, I’m back. Mondays are perfect for ham sandwiches so that’s what I’ll have! Tui, thank you!
Back home after a almost perfect Rendezvous. Perfect except for that rainy weather during the ball game! Anyway, we had a number of fun filled days and CM3 saw something in Springfield that turned out to be an old Union Station!!! All I can do is to thank Captain Tom and his Mrs. for fixing everything (including food and ground service) making this Rendezvous almost Perfect!!!
Tom – First a Thank You for last week!!![bow][yeah][tup][bow]
How long did it take to break up the VIA train at Matapédia to two consists? [?]
I can verify that the book, “In the Traces”, is a very interesting book with beautiful watercolor paintings on every page!!
Quite a few nice photos from your recent trip in Canada.[tup] But, too much snow and fog, way too much. It must have been kind of strange to ride a train with so few passengers. Not like the airplanes I flew to and from the Rendezvous! They were crowded. Way too many people.[:)]
The Guns of Navarone, a classic movie by all means!!![tup] I have seen it a number of times and I’ll be happy to see it again! I have even seen the Three Stooges, Out West, before, but no problem, I’ll see it again! But it will be a first when it comes to Major League II. [:)]
Rob – You really kept this place up and running during the Rendezvous!!! Wow!!![tup][bow][:)]
<Big Boy at the StL Museum of Transportation - personal foto>
A smile to begin the week! <missed it yesterday - ooooooops!>
When asked if a player’s performance had exceeded his expectations, he said, “I’d say he’s done more than that.”
<A Yogi-ism!>
G’day Gents!
2nd day of the work week ‘n life goes on here at the Saloon by the Siding. Coffee ‘n pastries are fresh! Breakfasts to order only need that . . . [tup]
We should be seeing CM3 Shane today as things begin to get back to some semblance of normalcy. Right, Boris [?] [swg]
Comments from the Proprietor
We had a bit of introspective discussion at Rendezvous III regarding “Our” Place. Concluded that those who are
Good morning folks , well I can’t find Ruth or Cindy both must be out catching up on their “administrative” duities[:D]Guess I’ll help myself to the BK blast thermos,looks like Boris is getting my number three ( oh joy should contain alot of hair [V] )
**Tom-**Ah yes back in the saddle again, still it was lonley round this place without the rest of you. Boris has stated that he will have bear hugs for everyone so prepare yourselves.A rolling rendezvous would be a good thing to use a “Martha Stewartism” Warplane was it’s usual fabulous self,they’ve added an Avenger to the collection ( replaces the one lost in the fire that destroyed the original hanger complex back in the early 90’s they lost their hurricane the same time ) Nothing was flying but that was okay, teh lanks on it’;s jacks for the yearly engine and landing gear inspection first flights for this season are in three weeks. On the upside teh ex RCN Grumman Tracker and the Westland Lysander are now operational [tup]
**Eric-**Great set of pics,you should have taken the subway looks like it wasn’t all that crowded[;)]
To answer your questions the museum’s about 25 miles from the closest major yard CP’s Guelph jct,closest CN yard is in toronto close to 40 miles away so depending on who ships the stuff in for us depends on the cost and distance flatbedded over the road.CP generally ships the equipment to their siding at Arklell which is a bit closer than Guelph.
Great to see our Manager “in” - forgot to tell ya that Cindy took Ruth over to a private showing of the LPM Secret Show . . . she’ll be back by noon! [swg] Anyway, Cindy is NOT a paid employee - as you KNOW, she’s MINE, MINE, MINE! Helps out on weekends at no pay . . . can’t beat that with a stick, eh [?]
My 2008CanadaRail Odyssey continues . . .
MORE fromDay Three: Saturday -May 3rd, 2008
NOTE: Heading north up the peninsula to Gasp__é__ with better visibility than when we began. Things brightened up a tad . . . but sitting in the dome, who cares [?] [tup]
Good afternoon Barkeep and all Present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox. Low clouds and rain today with fog right on the deck.
Had a good trip back from the Rendezvous. I stopped over in KY and spent yesterday visiting the Perryville battlefield. The weather was beautiful until departure time when the clouds rolled in with rain right behind. It rained from Lawrenceburg, KY all the way back to here.
I have finally finished going through e-mails, etc. This is why my post today is so late.
Thanks to Rob for keeping things going. Also thanks to Nick and Fergie as well.
Lars - Good to hear from you sir! I enjoyed the fine selection of PRR-related material.
Let’s see what else has been happening.
Pete has been in with vintage material and historical information.
Eric has been in as well - BTW, temperature here today is in the low 40s (and it’s not dry heat).
OSP has been continuing his travelogue from the frozen tundra - Interesting scenery, terrain and railroads all together - not bad, not bad at all! And we have new “moom pichers” to look at as well. E-mail rec’d and I’ll take care of it when our local wizard turns loose of the camera.
Last - It was a pleasure to meet everyone and I enjoyed all of our activities. Ironically, Cards started winning again after we left; also Red Sox got a no-hitter last night.
Thanks again to all; will resume usual morning slot tomorrow.
Always a good day when CM3 Shane stops by . . . glad you made it back to the ravine safe 'n maybe not quite so sound! Now that we KNOW YOU . . . [swg]
Continuing on . . . Rule of Six suspended!
“Our” Place Classic Trains Rendezvous III -St. Louis__,MO2008 - Day One
NOTE: Day one began at the John W. Barriger National Railroad Library within the Mercantile Library at the *University of Missouri - St. Louis <*my alma mata> . . . MetroLink has two stops on campus 'n it was just a matter of parking the car 'n waiting for the downtown train. Rains had not begun, but the skies were “telling us something.”
A pint of Bathams please RUTH, now you and CINDY are back.[tup]
ROB Many thanks for the details on the Tribal class Destroyers[tup]I would have thought that the General Electric generators were of a different design to the British type 42s.
I guess the O class submarines have all been retired now, do you know if any were kept as museum pieces with all the internal fittings left in them and are open for visitors.[?]
Many thanks for the photos of those great planes at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum[tup][tup][tup] And I hope you had a good time at the Victoria Day Festivities[yeah].
That was interesting about the smoke deflectors on the Canadian Locomotives, I know some designs in Britain were more effective than others; they were mostly fitted when a locomotive was fitted with a chimney producing a softer blast than the usual single chimney. It seems the German style of smoke deflector fitted to the LNER A3s in their later days, although relatively small in size were very effective.
A rolling rendezvous aboard the Chaleur sounds a great idea.[^][tup]
ERIC Glad to see you arrived back home[tup] although the flights were crowded[tdn]; I am not looking forward to my next flight across the Atlantic[yeah].
Glad you enjoyed the photos[tup]. I have to admit I don’t know about the smoke deflectors on the SJ loco in the photo. The same type of locomotive was not fitted with them when they worked on the BR network.
I think No 1931 needed very little work to be able to run when it arrived from Sweden. If there were smoke deflectors perhaps they would have been out of gauge f
Leon, the usual round of Tuis to welcome back all the guys from the Rendezvous III trip![yeah]
Pete. Nice to see you back with your usual crop of great pics, some nice shots from Bressingham.[^] By the looks of all the photos you had a really great time with all the guys at RV III, thought you might have worn a Manchester United shirt for the ball game?, even the Russians are wearing them in Moscow at the moment for the UEFA Cup final there.[;)] I totally support your comments about “Our Place” and its continuing on the same way![yeah] Id do the same as you if I won the NZ Lottery over here, at the moment it`s sitting on a NZ$6 million jackpot>[wow][:)][tup][tup]
Rob. Some more nice pics from you, that #6 line truck sure has a stand out paintjob, looks like a bumblebee.[;)] Some interesting info on the Tribal class destoyers`, and a great set of plane shots from Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, hope you had some good weather for your Victoria Day holiday. Thanks for the laughs in the mailbox today mate.[:D][tup][tup]
Eric. Glad you enjoyed RV III with all the other guys, some nice pics of yours of some of the places you were at, nice aerial shot of El Paso. Those pics Tom took of you all at your hotel, his place, the Barriger library, and the baseball outing look really great, sorry to hear it rained so much, but at least it didnt SNOW at all.[;)][tup][tup]
CM3 Shane. Glad you enjoyed RV III with all the other guys, see you featured in a few of Toms photos with the others, nice to see you in per
Leon, tonight I just want a cold Tui. No, that is it, thank you!
Was asked to work half day today. Made me miss some stuff I had planned and made me late to the bar tonight. But better late than not at all. BTW, what happened to the smileys?
Tom – Sorry about your revealed secret, but I think most of them missed it anyway. [;)]
I had planned to mail the Relay Book to you today, but they called from the office in the late morning and wanted me to come in today. So I will not be able to mail it until Thursday or Friday. But it will be done this week.
I think Juneau needs a few days off to get some rest after tough days last week.[:)] See below.
Thanks for the info on the Ocean and the Chaleur break time.[tup] 20 minutes seems like a “normal” time for that job.
Talking about the pilot, when we touched down in Phoenix we were told by the captain that it was the last time the co-pilot landed a S-80. He had been promoted to fly intercontinental flights in 767s from now on.
More winter photos![oops] It seems like early May is a risky time to go to Canada, one might get snowed in.[;)] But I especially like the last photo, “From the Skyline dome”. Very nice view![yeah]
The photos from the Barriger Library brings back some very nice memories! In the pictures from the light rail station one can see the rain clouds rolling in! Did you notice the sign in the last photo, the text is partially missing, just like what we talked about.[:)]
Rob – Thanks for the info on the museum.[tup] Seems like it is located far away from any track
A mug of the usual if you please, might even have the morning special. Rounds for all!!
Greetings from the Labrador Sea! Yes I made it back to St John’s two days ago, ran into some more of Tom’s “old Flames”, and we’re back at it it again as we head for the shores of Greenland, now two days away. Though we have to pick up some German science gear enroute.
I’ve been looking in the last few days but haven’t posted as the interne has been unbearably slow, worse than dial up!!
It’s been very busy this past few days as we finished our work in the Orphan Knoll area and had to steam in fog and bergy water to get to port. The stuff was “Reel Tick Buoy”.
Eric: you were asking about Orpan Knoll… Yes she’s a shallow piece of water off the shelf. Abot 2000 metres deep surrounded by deeper water (4000m in depth) It’s an area of interest as there is a lot of current activity along with other interesting stuff the science world is very interested about. Something else I found out was the Labrador current has warmed up by .8 celcius every year at the deeper levels over the last three years. This is considered very signifigant.
Pete: Loved the pics once again. Funny when I looked at the pics of the Scottish fishing village I though it was a Newfoundland Outport. It wasn’t until I looked at the boat designs I realized it had to be somewhere else. Geography is strikingly similiar.
Loved the pics of the Rendezvous! looks like you guys had a geat time, though the subway lloks like it would;ve been a bit tight! Nice though very clean![tup]
Anyway I have the weather to look at now so I shall see you all later!
Good Morning Barkeep and all present; coffee, please; round for the house and $ for the jukebox. Weather in the 40s again this a.m., but there’s a large light bulb in the sky and it promises to get a bit warmer today and then some more rain.
Fergie was in with a maritime report. The subway runs very well with service in both directions provided by different sets of equipment.
Allan - How much is that lottery total in US$?
Pete was by with traction engine picture. I may have to look into getting one of those with the price of gas the way it is. Those engines will burn just about anything. Lovely picture of “West Riding Limited” as well.
Eric - I posted the day’s weather report for you at the top of the page. Mom was talking with the home front yesterday evening and it snowed there yesterday (W. New York) not enough to stick but enough to make people upset. I hope it will stop by the time we get there later in the summer.
Note to OSP - The K9 Korps gave mne the once over on my arrival because he knew that there had been another dog present. I explained to him that Juneau was the house dog where I had been, just as he is at our home. That seemed to satisfy him (of course he was bribed with Milk Bones).
<Big Boy at the StL Museum of Transportation - personal foto>
Wednesday’s Witticism
If you see a coward with a gun, its time to get scared or scarce.
G’day Gents!
It’s mid-week in mid-continent USA with another outstanding spring day trying to bust loose! Just luv it when the temps remain no higher than the lo-70s (F) ‘n the nites require only a light jacket or sweater. [yeah]
As always, our galley crew has ensured that the coffee, pastries ‘n breakfasts are ready! Join us, wontcha [?]
Comments from the Proprietor
Where’s NICK [?]
Customer Acknowledgments in BRIEF(since my last narrative):
