THE FLAT WHEEL CAFE/DINER JULY VERSION

Trains Magazine General Discussion
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We’re getting a very nice geography lesson in here today! It’s definitely refreshing my memory. Our temp, at 1 p.m., is about 73 degrees, I think. Our high is supposed to be 78 later on this afternoon.

Mookie, I thoroughly enjoyed our time out in the garden this morning, with the refresher session on geography, watching the trains go by, and general talk.

I’ve warmed up the roast, taters, carrots, the chicken abracadbra, and all the side dishes from last night, and everything is now on the warmer bar.

If there is something you all would like to have for supper tonight, please let me know. That way, I won’t have to “fry my brain” thinking of something for tonight![;)] Everyone have a terrific afternoon!

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Johnny - I have heard that the Great Lakes are HOMES, but it is where that mystifies me. I think Michigan is Chicago. There is where I stop.

I have a “place the state” game that I do once in awhile. I do 100% on everything west of the Mississippi. Then the itty-bitty’s get me into trouble as does everything above Florida. Just can’t seem to get it all fastened in my b b brain.

Helps that I have been in every state west, but only a couple east. And the states are bigger west…[tup]

CW - burgers, brats and dogs! Yum…

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Johnny…well done. It really is a small town…started in 1778 by Daniel Stoy. We may be off a dozen or two in pop…ha…

Trivia: Bicycle Road. That goes right by my home on {Somerset St.}, leading out of town to the south…{crossing route 30 on an overpass. Built in 1937}.

Now…The reason it is named “Bicycle Road”, comes from a governor {Pincho}, of quite a few decades back…He had a program of paving county roads with pavement and in so doing…and to make the money go further…the paving was not quite 2 lanes wide, hence “Bicycle Road”…It is still referred to using that name…! Of course they are a full 2 lanes now. Back in the decade that that was accomplished, vehicles were much smaller and the idea was to get the farmers out of driving to town on dirt / mud roads.

I will check out your town a bit later when more time is available. Your checking on it was interesting.

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Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior - HOMES. A popular crossword clue.

The only one I haven’t seen in person is Superior.

Lake Michigan borders Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and … Michigan (UP).

Superior touches Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ontario.

Huron touches Michigan and Ontario.

Erie borders Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario.

Ontario borders New York and Ontario.

Any wonder that Michigan has been known for years as the “Great Lake State?”

The only NE state I haven’t been in is Little Rhodie. I was amazed to realize that MA is only about 40 miles wide N-S (not counting Cape Cod).

I’ve driven I-40 pretty much coast to coast, so I’ll take “touching” credit for all the states along that highway, and I’ve touched everything in the middle Atlantic and down the coast to Florida, as well as many midwest (true and otherwise) states, mostly during the USAF years…

Out west I’m a little more sparse.

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Well Ohio was the west at one time!!! Yes I used the Homes method about the great lakes.Cw supper sounds great.back to some chores and off to work tonight.

stay safe

joe

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And once part of the “Northwest Territories…”

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Mookie, I like your supper suggestion. So, that’s what we have. Fresh off the grill, and on the warmer bar: burgers, brats and hot dogs: along with fries and all the different kinds of condiments you might want.

And for dessert tonight: fresh, hot-from-the-oven sugar cookies. (Yes, I’ve been baking this afternoon!)[C=:-)] Hope everyone has a very nice evening, enjoy your supper, and take care.

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…Mark me up for 34 of them {states}…Came close to Hawaii, but I guess that doesn’t count.

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Ok, Johnny…we’re in Health Springs…{here on my screen}…

Edit…Correction, above should read “Heath Springs”…I simply read it wrong.

It looks like route 521 {NB}, runs on Kershaw Camden Hwy after it makes the 90 degree turn north. And I see the alley, staight ahead but see no name for it…

I see a couple of ball diamonds just slightly north, northeast of the turn.

Also see a railroad running northwest direction {North}, of the turn area.

Believe we’ve got you spotted.

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Who was that masked man?

-Limited Clear popped up on two threads and then zoomed outta here…

Who Dat?

Your hometown and high school get put on da’ map cuz the “Naked Cowboy” grew up there? Geez…

Dazed Feathers[%-)][%-)][X-)]

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That’s better than one state highway in West Virginia I drove on in '74–the pavement was one lane wide, and there was a wide shoulder on each side so that when two vehicles met, each would drop halfway off the asphalt. I have no idea how firm the shoulders were when they were wet.

I noted that in1930, the B&O listed Stoyeville along the way from Rockwood to Johnstown. How far out of town was the station? There was daily, except Sunday roundtrip from Rockwood to Johnstown and back, and a daily (it ran later, southbound, on Sundays) roundtrip from Johnstown to Rockwood and back.

Johnny

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That branch of former B&O is still in operation. Light traffic, now…but just had some more added to it from {Coleman}, to Rockwood…There is a branch off the branch {yes}, and it goes up to Shanksville…{Flight 93}, and the strip coal loading point has resumed working there hence that branch was renovated recently…{it was dormant for about 8 years}, and now coal is being brought out of there again and connects back on the Rockwood line…{S&C}, and that coal is transported to Rockwood where it meets the C&O main…{Sandpatch line}…

Yes, passenger traffic did run on the S&C but was abandoned about the time I was born. Several runs a day {from what I understand}.

The {Stoyestown station}, and it is restored, now resides at the American Legon / Lions grounds near Stoystown. Actually, the station was down in the valley in the small berg of Kantner, but was named Stoyestown. There were “Jitneys”, early wood bodied motor vehicles that met each passenger train and brought passengers up to Stoystown and the Hite House Hotel…It still stands too…but was completely renovated and now houses apartments for the over 55 folks…It is very nice…all up to code.

The Hite House Hotel was a famous stopping place for traveliers along the Lincoln Highway…{route 30}, that 70 years ago was on main st. Believe it is even mentioned on the internet.

The rail route {S&C}, between Johnstown / Rockwood, was a very busy coal hauler during WWII…Many mines alon

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Yes, you are there. It looks as though your keyboard has a mind of its own, and thinks that my hometown was healthy place. As I recall, a man named Heath was involved with the founding of the town; a man named Springs may also have been involved (perhaps some kin to Elliott Springs of Lancaster & Chester Railroad fame). There is (was) a spring northeast of the school grounds (the northeast corner of the intersection of South College Street and Highway 521). 1969 was the last year of the high school, which was consolidated with the Kershaw High School (6.6 miles south) and the county’s colored high school into a new facility about halfway between the two towns. The grammar school lasted a little longer, but all the buildings were gone in '84.

The ball diamonds are new to me.

The railroad ran from Kingville (23.0 miles south of Columbia to Marion, North Carolina . Originally, it was the Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad; by 1893 it was a part of the South Carolina Railway system, and it was absorbed into the Southern Railway. In January, 1938, there was still a daily passenger train between Blacksburg, S. C., and Columbia by way of Camden and Kingville. It soon became a mixed except Sunday between Rock Hill and Kingville (101 miles), and in 1951 the coach was taken off. Now, the line has been abandoned south of Kershaw, and the L&C own

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Johnny, my satellite shows it {the alley}, running across E. Perry St. and on to 522…

Correction: The “alley” might stop at W. Bridges St…Hard to determine if the block north is perhaps just a row now…and not used.

And the Health vrs. Heath…I took my first look at your words of what it was and “saw” it as “Health”, instead of "Heath, and didn’t bother to assume it was something else until you mentioned it…Made no effort to read it as something else on all the places I saw it…Just the way the mind works.

I see a house across the street of where the gasolne truck rolled over and perhaps where the woman lived…

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Good Tuesday morning, everyone. It’s another very nice morning here in Lousville (even though I can’t really see anything yet outside, due to the darkness). Our weather is probably about to change: chances of rain pick up, as they’re predicting rain/T-showers coming in this evening sometime. Otherwise, we’re to have another really gorgeous day on tap.

Coffee, juices, milk, chocolate milk and hot water for tea are ready.

On the warmer bar this morning: bagels, bear claws, oatmeal, toast, and the boxes of cereal are on the counter.

Everyone have a great morning, and I’ll see you all after I get through with Tuesday Produce.

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Nice day for our morning start…61 degrees and generally, clear skies. Last night’s weather folks indicate we might see some rain today, and that’s ok, as we sure need it. But right now, it doesn’t look like any.

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good morning

well a guy from work came down and helped us put the outdoor carpet on our front porch.mamma is very happy now.Cw thanks for breakfast.Way overdue for a nap.

stay safe

Joe

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Well, I finally made it back home from Tuesday Produce. Truck came about on time this morning; but we had 98 people to serve. So that took a while to get through everyone! They brought us: potatoes, green peppers, broccoli, sliced carrots, quacomoli dip, packets of mayonaise, some other veggies that I didn’t get a chance to see what it was, and the little watermelons.

Lunch is on the warmer bar: Our Tuesday Mexican Fiesta:

Tacos (soft shell and hard shell), burritos (beef, beef & bean, and beef enchilada style), Spanish rice, fajitas, chimichangas, enchiladas, shredded lettuce w/diced tomatoes, and tortilla chips w/picante sauce, salsa, and con queso.

I talked with Jim (jhhtrainsplanes) earlier, and he said to tell everyone “Hello” for him. He’s doing all right. Said it is pouring rain there in North Little Rock. He also told me that before he left last Wednesday to go back to Arkansas, that Extrene Makeover Home Edition arrived at a farm just down the road from his parents’ farm. They were to be there for two weeks, so guess some time next winter, or early spring, that episode will air.

Everyone enjoy your lunch, and have a great afternoon. Think I’m just about ready to take a nap in a little bit. It’s been a busy morning.

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Quentin, I’m pretty sure it is the same house; I did not really look at it when we passed it last year. Maybe, in two more years, I’ll get back there and take notice of more things. If you look west of that intersection, you will see a house that was not there when I lived in Heath Springs. For ten and a half years, we lived in a house that was closer to the street, and there was another house next door, to the south. After my mother sold the house, someone bought the lot and the lot next door, tore both houses down, and built the current house, which seems to be on what was the line between the two lots… About 1898, my grandfather had a house built on the east side of Mobley Street, south of Bridges Street (you cannot see it because of the trees) for his three or four maiden sisters so they could move into a town from the country place where they were all born. When they retired from the mission field (Japan) in 1932, he and my grandmother moved there, and lived there until they died. After he died, in January, 1949, my mother, my youngest brother (fifteen months older than I) and I moved in with my grandmother. Then, instead of walking a little more than a block to school, we had to walk two and a half blocks.[sigh] It was closer to our church–instead of walking a full block, we went out the back door, down the side alley to the north-south alley, and just a little ways to the church.

Heath-Health and so forth. There used to be a brand of baking power called “Health Club.” In time, someone (with nothing better to do) complained that if the baking powder was not especially healthy, it should not be called “Health Club,” so the name was changed to “Hearth Club.”

Johnny

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Addendum–the Streets and Trips map shows an interesting item a little bit west of Heath Springs on SC 522: Anvil Rock. There is, of course, no note as to its fame, but it is a large rock that is shaped somewhat like an anvil, and every time it hears a rooster crow it turns around. No one has ever told me of actually seeing the phenomenom, but I do not doubt the veracity of the description. Back in '82, I was going from Chicago to Boston, and the flagman on the B&A told me that he was from that area, and he remembered the Anvil Rock.

Years ago, when there was stone quarry in operation at Stoneboro (west, on 522), there was a railroad between Heath Springs and the quarry. I do not know the dates of operation. The highway between Heath Springs and Stoneboro wanders between Lancaster and Kershaw counties; for many years, only the Lancaster county portions had asphalt paving.

Johnny