a picture a day....

@Golden Prairie Railroad posted:

"Miss you guys hope to get to posting more soon. This was the very last Customer I delivered to the day I retired of pulling Rail Containers/Piggyback Trailers for over 25 years." Happy and l-o-o-ng retirement, Lee Drennen! Now the bad news: someday soon you will say, "I'm so dang busy!  How did I get all this done when I was still working?"

Thanks Ed! And your right got a job really close to home like 3 miles lol and was off Fridays got so bore I got another job working at a Feedstore the next town over now I’m busy but loving my jobs feels so good to do something you enjoy doing for a change. They have took the fun out of the trucking industry and the  Railroads these past years. That’s why I made my decision to retire

Here’s today’s. I started my last day with this guy my long time friend for over 20 years at the Norfolk  Southern Railroad one of the best lift crane operators in St Louis. This will be the last box I will ever mount.

@Mikeg, Mike, thank you for the kind words, but I must say Farmerjohns layout is the winner here, he has so many focal points, however, mines a fun to run layout to. We also need to include Dr. Jack Fisher, the three of us get together at each other’s layouts for what we call Train Days. We try to have a train day once a month or at least every other month and you must remember the pandemic really messed us up. We  learn from each other and there’s usually 10 to 15 fellows in our group. So, pictures are Farmerjohn, Dr, Jack Fisher, and Larrys. Happy Railroading Everyone

FOR TODAY:  The loading crew is taking a lunch break.  All morning they've been loading Christmas trees which were harvested from the Pine Peak Tree Farm onto this boxcar. In a day or two these trees will be on a tree lot in some community waiting to be  to someone's home to be adorned in beautiful ornaments while a toy train circles around.  

Truck driver Wally Watkins wonders how many trips back and forth from the tree farm to this team track he will make today.   Dexter and Rufus are playing an intense game of checkers as Baxter the hound snoozes away.  Wiff Quigly, sits atop the trees on the truck laughing it up with Jeb Myers about a TV show they both watched last night.  Lance Mobley and Buster Squires sit at the picnic table talking about the upcoming football game this weekend.  Foreman Jess Scruggs scratches his chin as he realizes he left his lunch at home. .... just another day on the railroad!

@Trumptrain, talking about a train car load of Christmas trees, which signifies that Christmas is around the corner, the beginning of the wonderful Holiday Season. And that being said, I’m want to say this, @trumpettraintrumptrain, Patrick has been featured in OGR The Magazine this December/January issue and it’s a great write up, beautiful pictures, great stories, congratulations on your fantastic layout and your great contributions to our hobby. It’s the best magazine in the three rail model train hobby, because the OGR management team listens to us, the forum members. Be sure and pick up a copy of this December issue and have a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage and read the magazine, page by page, it’s full of great information for us to review. Happy Railroading Everyone

@trumpettrain posted:

FOR TODAY:  The loading crew is taking a lunch break.  All morning they've been loading Christmas trees which were harvested from the Pine Peak Tree Farm onto this boxcar. In a day or two these trees will be on a tree lot in some community waiting to be  to someone's home to be adorned in beautiful ornaments while a toy train circles around.  

Truck driver Wally Watkins wonders how many trips back and forth from the tree farm to this team track he will make today.   Dexter and Rufus are playing an intense game of checkers as Baxter the hound snoozes away.  Wiff Quigly, sits atop the trees on the truck laughing it up with Jeb Myers about a TV show they both watched last night.  Lance Mobley and Buster Squires sit at the picnic table talking about the upcoming football game this weekend.  Foreman Jess Scruggs scratches his chin as he realizes he left his lunch at home. .... just another day on the railroad!

Patrick, great kickoff to the Holidays with this post! Yup, it’s time to get out the Holiday lights and Polar Express! Great picture!

@leapinlarry posted:

@Trumptrain, talking about a train car load of Christmas trees, which signifies that Christmas is around the corner, the beginning of the wonderful Holiday Season. And that being said, I’m want to say this, @trumpettraintrumptrain, Patrick has been featured in OGR The Magazine this December/January issue and it’s a great write up, beautiful pictures, great stories, congratulations on your fantastic layout and your great contributions to our hobby. It’s the best magazine in the three rail model train hobby, because the OGR management team listens to us, the forum members. Be sure and pick up a copy of this December issue and have a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage and read the magazine, page by page, it’s full of great information for us to review. Happy Railroading Everyone

Larry, well said and I second that! I really enjoyed Patrick’s article in the latest OGR Magazine!

@leapinlarry posted:

@Mikeg, Mike, thank you for the kind words, but I must say Farmerjohns layout is the winner here, he has so many focal points, however, mines a fun to run layout to. We also need to include Dr. Jack Fisher, the three of us get together at each other’s layouts for what we call Train Days. We try to have a train day once a month or at least every other month and you must remember the pandemic really messed us up. We  learn from each other and there’s usually 10 to 15 fellows in our group. So, pictures are Farmerjohn, Dr, Jack Fisher, and Larrys. Happy Railroading Everyone

Ok, so now I think I'm jealous.  Not only does Larry have the best toys he gets to play with them on not one, not two, but three great layouts.

Well, we all know the big boys, Larry, Farmerjohn and Dr. Jack, have done outstanding layouts. And I am proud to be with them and learning some of their skill sets. Lots of us have great scenes that we are proud of.  So, let's keep striving for our best pictures of the day.

This is my Caterpillar Factory which I built using Pecos River materials.

Great pics and work leapinlarry.

My favorite road name is in the 2nd pic - the Milwaukee Road

@Wood posted:

Well, we all know the big boys, Larry, Farmerjohn and Dr. Jack, have done outstanding layouts. And I am proud to be with them and learning some of their skill sets. Lots of us have great scenes that we are proud of.  So, let's keep striving for our best pictures of the day.

This is my Caterpillar Factory which I built using Pecos River materials.

Wow didn’t know this thread turned into a competition and focus based while I was gone.

@lee drennen posted:

Thanks Ed! And your right got a job really close to home like 3 miles lol and was off Fridays got so bore I got another job working at a Feedstore the next town over now I’m busy but loving my jobs feels so good to do something you enjoy doing for a change. They have took the fun out of the trucking industry and the  Railroads these past years. That’s why I made my decision to retire

Lee, Great photographs of your friend loading a container!  So much a picture of modern railroading-trucking!  I'm so glad you are doing work you enjoy.  Talking to a former coworker who was later my last supervisor, the telecommunications industry is getting nuttier in the 3 years I've been retired.  He is about 15 years younger than me, so he has a long way to go.

@Mark Boyce posted:

Lee, Great photographs of your friend loading a container!  So much a picture of modern railroading-trucking!  I'm so glad you are doing work you enjoy.  Talking to a former coworker who was later my last supervisor, the telecommunications industry is getting nuttier in the 3 years I've been retired.  He is about 15 years younger than me, so he has a long way to go.

Thanks Mark looks like we both got out at a good time. I’ll miss talking all the fabulous pics every day I was in the many rails I went to but I wouldn’t change it for what I’m doing now no more stress. Hope you are doing well my friend.

A rail buff taken in a look at some freight rolling by.

@lee drennen posted:

Thanks Mark looks like we both got out at a good time. I’ll miss talking all the fabulous pics every day I was in the many rails I went to but I wouldn’t change it for what I’m doing now no more stress. Hope you are doing well my friend.

Thank you!  I am well, having rehabilitated from the lumbar fusion and the large doses of anti inflammatory are keeping my damaged sciatic nerve quite!  😄  I hope to be able to get more walking and riding in next year.

The second shift guys from the local brewery catch a late night burger and "dog" at the 20th Century Diner...being right behind the bus station, the diner rocks  24 hours a day...

@lee drennen posted:

Here’s today’s. I started my last day with this guy my long time friend for over 20 years at the Norfolk  Southern Railroad one of the best lift crane operators in St Louis. This will be the last box I will ever mount.

Lee, great pic...those guys at the Port of LA could could use a reliable guy like you to help straighten out that mess there, with thousands of containers still backed up...they need the Calvary to save that place...

Great photos guys~! Remember they are saying snow is coming in feet! So all you guys that get it I hope you stay safe!

@leapinlarry posted:

@Trumptrain, talking about a train car load of Christmas trees, which signifies that Christmas is around the corner, the beginning of the wonderful Holiday Season. And that being said, I’m want to say this, @trumpettraintrumptrain, Patrick has been featured in OGR The Magazine this December/January issue and it’s a great write up, beautiful pictures, great stories, congratulations on your fantastic layout and your great contributions to our hobby. It’s the best magazine in the three rail model train hobby, because the OGR management team listens to us, the forum members. Be sure and pick up a copy of this December issue and have a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage and read the magazine, page by page, it’s full of great information for us to review. Happy Railroading Everyone

Larry - I genuinely appreciate your extremely kind words! Thank you sir!   It's deeply gratifying and humbling to know that you, and many others,  liked my story and photos that was published in the current edition of OGR Magazine!   I'd like to say that creating the scenes, doing the photography, and writing the story was a labor of love, however, that would be a partial truth because there was no labor involved ... only love.

@trumpettrain posted:

Larry - I genuinely appreciate your extremely kind words! Thank you sir!   It's deeply gratifying and humbling to know that you, and many others,  liked my story and photos that was published in the current edition of OGR Magazine!   I'd like to say that creating the scenes, doing the photography, and writing the story was a labor of love, however, that would be a partial truth because there was no labor involved ... only love.

What a great way of putting it, Pat!  The article is great!

@WesternPacific2217 posted:

Patrick, great kickoff to the Holidays with this post! Yup, it’s time to get out the Holiday lights and Polar Express! Great picture!

Thanks so very much Scott!  I'm also thrilled that you liked my story in OGR Magazine!  AND thank you for all your encouragement too!! I deeply appreciate it

Tree sales have already started in town...with demand better than expected last season, "Joe" the tree guy decided to open another stand in the south of town on weekends only...the other stand remains on North Main Street.  Joe is personal friends with the owner of "Morrison Door," who generously offered his lot for the bubble, given the shop is closed on weekends!

In the pic below, a fresh load of Balsam Fir trees is arriving from Canada hauled in by the green "Pete..."  Joe has his "Airstream" on the lot to warm-up as needed...your choice of trees for $3 this year

Paul great scene and it looks like Joe is doing a killer job! But I do have to say I am really surprised that the pizza guy isn't there! LOL

$3.00 for a tree, what a deal'... What is going on at the Airstream besides warming up???  I see a gal standing by......😏

Mike, he'll be on scene as soon as he's located...lol...no cell phones then  Ted, the good ole days when gas was .19 cents a gallon and trees were $3.00

I guess car show season is over.

Pennsy making a stop picking up passengers going home for Thanksgiving

FOR TODAY:  Coming home for the holidays!  

Navy seaman Lukas Fry waits on the platform for his brother Will, a U.S. Army Lt.,  whose train is just arriving on track two.  Ms. Minerva Jennings, a school teacher,  also waits for her college friends who are on board the arriving train.  And Sam Lutz, standing behind the trash receptacle waits for his fiancee who will soon disembark once the train stops.  

Meanwhile a B&O Budd car exits the highline tunnel with three other cars in tow all full of commuters and shoppers on their way home from the big city.  A Pennsy train has just departed with no vancant seats.  The hustle bustle time of the year has begun!

Sitka, wonderful shot of the station platform!

Patrick, very fitting shot with all the news reporting 6'+ snow on your end of the states!

We have a great Lionel Hobby shop in Geezerville. Deliveries arrive every week.

FOR TODAY:  Somewhere up on the Mountain Division.  MOW workers roll out the barrel.  Rumor has it that these two fellers, Snuffy Wiliger and Tuefir Smoot, always volunteer to work this remote area on the Mt. Division because they have a stil tucked away in the nearby woods. No one has ever tried to prove it ain't so.  Whenever asked about that there stil Tuefir just grins and Snuffy gets a twinkle in his eye. ... Just another day on the railroad!

@Wood posted:

We have a great Lionel Hobby shop in Geezerville. Deliveries arrive every week.

Great looking vehicles Wood.       Good looking parking spaces too.

@trumpettrain posted:

FOR TODAY:  Somewhere up on the Mountain Division.  MOW workers roll out the barrel.  Rumor has it that these two fellers, Snuffy Wiliger and Tuefir Smoot, always volunteer to work this remote area on the Mt. Division because they have a stil tucked away in the nearby woods. No one has ever tried to prove it ain't so.  Whenever asked about that there stil Tuefir just grins and Snuffy gets a twinkle in his eye. ... Just another day on the railroad!

Another fine photo and a great story from the Master Storyteller .    Where you have garnered all these images in your mind for creative story kitbashing boggles my mind.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Great looking vehicles Wood.       Good looking parking spaces too.

Thank you,

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Another fine photo and a great story from the Master Storyteller .    Where you have garnered all these images in your mind for creative story kitbashing boggles my mind I could not agree more. And, I would add his scenes are so complete.  Everything looks natural..

@Dallas Joseph,

Thank you for your nice comments.  And, I totally agree about Patrick. His scenes are so complete, it's like you are there.

@Sitka posted:

Pennsy making a stop picking up passengers going home for Thanksgiving

I still love the way you do your lighting Mark.

  It seems like one could get right in on the platform with the other folks and can't wait to get home with the family for Thanksgiving and a visit to normalcy. 

Nicely done sir .

Wood, I have the same hobby shop, but only one Lionel service vehicle.  I hope to make my town scene as good looking as yours.

Pat, Yes roll out the barrel for a barrel of fun!

Mark, I agree with Dallas, Great lighting on a wonderful scene!

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Another fine photo and a great story from the Master Storyteller .    Where you have garnered all these images in your mind for creative story kitbashing boggles my mind.

Thank you so much Dallas!!

@Wood posted:

Thank you,

@Dallas Joseph,

Thank you for your nice comments.  And, I totally agree about Patrick. His scenes are so complete, it's like you are there.

Wood - Thank you so much for your kind words!

FOR TODAY:  It's the day before Thanksgiving and last night's snow fall has blanketed the Westend area of Patsburg.  Christmas decorations align the streets in preparation for the upcoming holiday season which officially begins tomorrow.    The Patsburg Public Works Dept will have their work cut out for them today getting the street ready for tomorrow's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.  

Bucky Giles stands on the curb early this morning surveying the surroundings.  He will soon board this streetcar which will transport him to work at the offices of the Free State Junction Railroad where he counts beans.  

@trumpettrain  wow a different view of Patsburg!  Nicely done. Snow fall is a nice touch.

I though you mentioned vacuuming it up on an earlier thread. Any issues with getting it down and then back up again with minimal effect on the layout?  Jeff