Spent most of my morning down at the railyard. Saw several trains and talked to some of the railroad workers.
"You know you're trespassing," one of the workers said.
"Yeah, I know," I replied. "But my love of trains surpasses my fear of being arrested."
"We don't care, but the Bulls do," he told me. The Bulls being the railroad police.
I kept expecting to see Ferret come crawling out of the woods nearby where I sat. I buried my head in this month's Railroad Model Craftsman as I nursed a diet coke and smoked cigarillos.
Work last night was routine. One of the girls had brought a big pan of homemade cinnamon buns for all the employees to eat. They were heavenly. I managed to down two myself and shot my diet to hell. I am still hovering around 215 pounds.
I left for my deliveries before closing. I only had five last night. One of the ladies I delivered to invited me in as she wrote a check. I watched as her quivering hand shook so much she couldn't write it. I filled out the check and had her sign it. We got on the subject of railroads last night and the fallen flag that was the Chattahoochee Valley Railway.
"I used to ride the train from Shawmut to work in the mill in the Valley," she told me.
My first thought was, "God, she must be ancient. They haven't had passenger service in fifty years."
I am still struggling with what years to base my model railroad. The steam era and it's passenger service. Or the later years of SW1500 locomotives and when diesel was king.
18 comments:
Hey I don't understand a word u are saying on model trains :)
Love cinnamon bun (: Great banner up there. The best one so far.
Now don't go getting yourself arrested! That might just push you dad over the edge and you'll have to wait longer for your money. I love the steam era of trains. My brother had a train from that era and we both played with it. Poor Joyce, poor Maggie. Not a good situation, you don't want your puppy to get out. Suggest to Joyce she feed the birds and squirrels where Maggie can't see the food. Feeding the birds are fine, but feeding squirrels are like feeding rats with fluffy tails. They get accustomed to the food and if it stops they will eat up your house. That happened to my aunt and uncle. They stopped feeding the squirrels and they did major damage to the window ledges on their house, mucho $$$$$ worth of damage. Just something to consider.
Sir:
My inclination would be to develop BOTH the steam locomotive system and the SW1500 Series.
I could envision a very delightful mixing of the two. Perhaps have one side of the room be based upon creating a model environment like that of the 1800s steam period (farms, etc. included) and at the other side of the room be based in the modern day with more modern environmental accouterments (factories, cars, busses). IN FACT, it might be the most fun, if you can have an entire room to have the space be a veritable time line from the 1800s to the present day... in that way you can do it all.
PipeTobacco
What a very nice day for you today. Please be careful about not getting arrestetd. I agree with what tee said about it might hamper things with your dad so that he would not give you the money. I would hope that it would not but probably good not to take chances.
It reminded me of my day when you were writng about someone bringing food to work. I had done really good today until I went to Borders and had a cooke which the cookies they have there are huge. I did though get sugar free flavorings in my coffee and had them use skim milk for the latte but still with having the cookie was probably more calories than having a regular latte. Hope that you have a good evening.
Hey there, I'm glad you are enjoying the trains. That was nice of your mom to give you the money. Enjoy that diet coke!
Just got out of the N scale hobby recently. I ran out of space in my bonus room. She never would have said it, but I think my wife was glad to see me dismantle the layout and sell it. It didn't go with the new decor of the room. I hope to one day have a house with a basement where I can enjoy the hobby without having to worry about it clashing with the furniture.
I went with diesel engines on my last layout because I wanted to go with a little more of a modern look to my display. Plus, I made the mistake of using Bachmann E-Z track and my steam engine tended to derail much more often on that kind of track. If I ever get back into it, I'll steer clear of the Bachmann track.
Enjoy the planning process! It's the best part!
cinnamon buns....yummers. Havne't had those in ages.
What stories the lady who rode the Shawmut could tell.
I'm partial to the days of steam myself. Loved that smell as they roared on down the track when I was younger.. :)
We're off to our cabin in Ohio tomorrow. Our cabin is in the part of Ohio that is an extension of Appalachia. Interesting terrain. The remains of an old scenic railroad are on our property. We still find decaying crossties on the elevated trainbed. The railroad was plagued by rockslides all the years it was in service. I believe it finally shut down in the 30's.
maybe the inspirational build of model years will come to you in a dream, or while you're out walking..
cinnamon rolls..ahhhhhhhhh!! With the yummy frosting and delicious middle..YUMMMMMMM!! now I want some :L)
Mcdonalds coffee sounds good too! Besides your cheeseburger what else is your top fav at the golden arches?
Happy Thursday!
Always,
Elizabeth
Crusty,
I can eat four of their baked apple pies in one sitting. Throw in some vanilla softserv and I am in heaven.
passenger! those were the days --
now i want a cinnamon bun..and coffee.
happy thursday
Hey, can you tell me how to add my Twitter feed to my blog?? Thanks honey!
oooooooohhhhhhhh...that's a good idea to mix in the vanilla IC!!
My only gripe is that it's the baked apple pie now versus the old good delicious fried and I'll burn my tongue way! I know Checkers has the type of BAP that Mcdonalds used to have.
I ate quite a few of those when we lived in Florida while Pregoo's with Sulli.
Here's to Karma!
and returning the favor favor..raising my coffee mug to you
and will toast when sitting on the train later on this afternoon with my boys (heading into Chicago today!)
Always,
Elizabeth
Ok, it's Friday now. You must post!! :-) I miss finding something new to read here and always want to know how your day is going. I was so pleased with your mom trusting you with Coke money. Soon your Dad will also see that you can handle dollars in your pocket. Have a good weekend, Andrew!
sounds like a great place to go and hang out.
i would go with the steam, cannot wait to see it!
take care.
Dear Andrew~
I have been lurking for a long time (and my have commented but impaired)....
Thank you for your honesty and your stories of just life.... I am right there, and needed sobriety. Getting there is the hassle, but once there, not so bad... I've been on a bender and have missed work and drank before work and, oh, just found out that I am pregnant... Yay. Reading you is true therapy for me.... Because I know I can do it, but I hate feeling sick....
Off topic.
Thank you for your blog. A lot.
I'm not sure I understand about being arrested looking at trains. Is there a limit on how close you are able to be to a track or is it the rail yard itself that's off limits?
Post a Comment