Deadwood, South Dakota
C. 1863
WSF, It’s not a real train unless there is a cannon on the front of it…
Austro-Hungarian ‘Schwerer Panzerzug’ (Heavy Armored Train) in Zborów, June 1916.
You may not know that WSF loves trains – he does.
The State
Is training you to wear a face diaper everywhere you go.
CVC 22350
Los Angeles around 1930: An ostrich carriage is stopped by the police for exceeding the speed limit.
Fast forward 100 years…
In Italy
Every year in Italy, grazing animals are moved from high pastures down to the plains. Newborn lambs are unable to make this journey on their own. Instead, they ride in the pouches of a specially made saddle on the back of a donkey or a mule nanny. They are taken down at rest stops and returned to their mothers for a bite to eat and a bit of nuzzling.
If you see something, say something.
Speaking of which, I saw something —-> Hunter
You’d think that Joe Biden’s son taking $3.5 million from the wife of the mayor of Moscow and spending it on potentially trafficked prostitutes would be a bigger story than it is. I guess that the mainstream media doesn’t care about Russia anymore. The same is true of taking $1.5 billion from the Bank of China, and Ukraine. The only reason all that happened was because his dad was vice president and offered him top cover. Nobody is asking where the money went, or who profited from it, and WAS THAT INCOME TAXED. Did Joe Biden report it to the IRS? Maybe somebody should take a harder look at his tax returns.
Deadwood, SD: during our family visit to Mount Rushmore for a week in the summer of 2012, Deadwood was one of the highlights of that trip. Lots of Wild Bill Hickock reenactments, Calamity Jane stuff, Aces and eights (‘the deadman’s hand’), shootouts in the street, lots of saloons, you know, fun for the whole family.
I would go again, can’t get enough of all of that hogwash that these Hollywood-wannabes who now infest Deadwood pass off as authentic. And in 2012 all of the streets were paved with asphalt, just like it was in 1863, so that photo above must be fake, since that main road looks to be mud.
Unless there is a mine ride and a cotton candy vendor, Deadwood can’t be authentic.
Another train nut here. This video brings back a lot of memories for me.
About 1960, my mother and I rode the Shasta Daylight from Klamath Falls to Sacramento. When we stepped off the train, 4274 was parked on display next to the station. To a skinny seven year old kid, it seemed to take up half the sky. In the video, as the train rolls through Auburn, the scene reminds me very much of the rural Gold Rush country I grew up in.
https://vimeo.com/240878623
In 1896 a crash was staged in Texas of two locomotives. The engineers leapt clear after setting the throttles and the two trains crashed headlong into each other. A photographer managed to catch the moment of impact.
https://www.kwbu.org/sites/kwbu/files/styles/x_large/public/201609/crash_at_crush_collision_.jpg
The boilers then exploded showering debris everywhere. Two people were killed and the photographer lost an eye. Scott Joplin, who was in the area at the time, composed a piece in memory of the incident.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp_k5Li3C-Y
Yes, WSF loves trains, especially steam engines. As a lad of around 8 years, got a long ride in the cab of a Mallet 2-8-8-2. Was put in charge of blowing the whistle (with instructions) as we rolled from Tabernash to West Portal (Moffat Tunnel-screw “Winter Park”) and back to Tabernash. At around 6 years, watched trains loaded with military equipment laboring towards East Portal (Moffat Tunnel) with as many as five steam engines pulling and pushing. The Denver & Rio Grande Western had to bring steamers out of retirement to meet the Korea War material needs.
LL has ridden one of the D&RG narrow gauge routes, Durango-Silverton-Durango. The operators still use coal.
Three years ago took a lady friend on the Georgetown Loop RR. Great fun, especially stopped and a high trestle.
Count me in as another steam engine fan. I’d worked on, ridden in, and even drove the electric locos Conrail used on their Eastern runs out of Enola, PA. I had friends that were into steam, but it never caught my interest until we moved here, and WSF got me to go out and watch UP-4014, a.k.a “Big Boy”.
The only word I could think of the first time I saw her was “Majestic”, just gliding by, powered by boiling water.
The immense power of her didn’t hit me until we got to stand right next to her when she was waiting at a crossing in “Middle-of-Nowhere” Wyoming.
Powered up and waiting on the siding, venting steam, she seemed alive. I mean really alive, like few other gigantic machines I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. When the track ahead was clear, she blasted her whistle, shook herself off, got up, and began to roll away, all powered by boiling water.
SLW has been on the Georgetown loop several times, and I suppose I should go, too.
The Durango Silverton railway is one of those bucket list items that shouldn’t be missed. You snake along the Animus River gorge, lunch at Silverton and they the ride back to Durango.
From time to time, though rare, tours are given at the Cheyenne steam shop. What a memory!
The Union Pacific has survived for 150 years by ruthless cost controls. Sucks to be an employee, I suppose. I give the management credit for keeping the steam program going. Yes, no amount of money they could spend would begin to generate the kind of publicity their steamers generate. Do they need it? Some hard nosed bean counter can make a case the UP will do just fine without the publicity. Want to ship by rail to/from the West Coast? Union Pacific or Burlington Northern unless you use Canadian ports.
Enjoying the “Big Boy” was more enjoyable with DRJIM and his lovely wife in attendance even though she was not accustomed to Wyoming! Being able to stand next to her was another unique experience.
In Denver you can get up close to one at the Forney museum. Public access is year around at one Cheyenne city park but the engine is fenced off due to idiots.
Still want to see Big Boy. Loved the museums in Sacramento and Orem UT. One of my former P-3 FEs is now a line check engineer for the NTSB, and has ridden and driven Big Boy… dammit…
You need to call in a favor.
Ah, trains.
I like the magic train of remove kebab.
But that’s just me.
An armored train. That’s a backasswards way of doing things. Yes, it stops the actual train from potentially being shot up, but all that track… unprotected track… so easy to destroy…
Would not be surprised that carrying lambs that way also reduces predation during the move, as some idiot environmentalists re-released wolves back into Italy and the Alps. And, of course, nobody is saying that the wolves attack livestock or people (though they do, both, but hush, it’s natural…)
As to see something, say something, the local idiot socialist Sheriffette got really pissed when Governor DeSantis made all sheriffs actually work with and report to Immigration, and the DEA, and BATFE (for all the felons caught with guns, not to jump on legal gun owners.) I’m wishing we could clone DeSantis and replace most state governors with said clones.
The COVID survival rate is actually higher than that, as most people who catch the Corona-chan feel little to no effects of said COVID-Corona. Minimal treatment will cure most of the actual infected, and good treatment before it gets really bad works for the rest. It’s the most un-pandemic pandemic I’ve ever seen or read about. Worst kabuki theater I’ve ever seen.
There are still half a dozen (out of 50) good governors, but most of them are socialists – or worse. DeSantis is solid. You’re lucky to have him. Our AZ governor isn’t horrible. But I’d prefer one with a genuine set of balls.
Armored trains are really cool, and apparently were more useful and effective than logic would imply.
There’s a tourist steam train nearby in Connecticut that we rode on.
I wonder if that ostrich-carriage would pass environmental muster in Cali nowadays? I guess it’s “renewable”, but it still emits carbon…
-Kle.
Kim Jong-un has a really cool armored train that Josef Stalin gave his grandfather. For some reason North Korean dictators are adverse to traveling by air.
Here’s a train video I enjoyed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HkSMWxEUuA
Cool video.
Nork Dictators don’t trust the mechanical condition of Nork aircraft – smart.
As to the polearm situation, the guy I selected flaked on me and went off the radar. I’m not out any money. He recently surfaced and said he has an unstable family situation. I’m still looking. I’ll keep you in the loop. I need to find somebody in my area who I can deal with personally.
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