It's all an act. And that WAS DEFINITELY abuse of power with that poor girl. She wasn't hurting a soul. Doug
Backing up too something George said, "As much as Rick despises 'diesels' every pic he posts from his layout is full of them !!" Quote feature didn't work this time. When I dog out the F...types and diseasels. I'm reiterating an attitude taken by my family of Rails. They got used to them but never really liked them. Give them their steam back! Was commonly heard. My diseasels on the layout are some of the best runners and pullers. All before DCC showed up and they lightened up the motors. It's not likely I will actually move'r over to DCC. The expense. Money, money, MONEY!! If you get my shift. This business of being on a set budget doesn't work for me. Everything gets more expensive and they keep finding a way to take it away. The money of course. News: The Canopy is a thing of the past. The glacier that formed up on top of it melted off. Hardly due to global warming. My son-in-law and I took it apart and today, I will get the canopy folded up and put away into storage. Sigh!! I may check to see if they have replacement parts. I'm going to need more posts and cross bracing if I do this again. The New Stimulus Check still hasn't arrived. I love when the Potus says "Now" and it's NOW almost two months later. Autocrat's and Demogog's. Sigh!! Oh, don't get me wrong. I'll be glad to get it and will thank myself the taxpayer for making it possible. How about some more Southern Pacific Railroad days on the H&P? Yes? Me too. I don't know why this picture speaks to me but it does. A silhouette. SP F7's and a SD9 pulling a train across the Dry Gulch Bridge. The view out the train shed window has always been a favorite one of mine. Below: Once again we catch the Lark passing through AshFork Junction. In the background is four diseasels heading a SP freight. Interesting combination of Kato and Life Like geeps. Great pullers and run well together. Below: Here are some SW Types, Life Like, SP Tiger Stripe switchers working the Coal District and parked on the Rio Grande Bridge. A messy cut in the bridge can be seen. One of the reasons it no longer exists on the layout. Again you can see those dad-come, ugly as hell, Rapido Couplers. Some have considered them a God-send, at the time. I never saw it that way at any time. Below: A picture of the head end power as seen above, crossing over Dry Gulch Bridge. I think you've seen most of everything I have from my SP collection. I hope you enjoyed it.
Yes and when I bought my two SP RS-11's like yours, years ago, and converted them to Kadee (MT) couplers was when I found out the SP had both light and dark lark gray. Light for the RS's. I assume your Geeps are Dark. I still have a tendency to call them Kadee couplers being I started converting in 1968 when they were called that (although Kadee used the Micro-Train terminology right from the beginning on the packaging) and were up until 1991 or so. I do have a Black Widow Trainmaster too my step son bought me. I doubt I will ever go DCC either at this stage although I have nothing against it and the sound feature is mighty tempting. Doug
I had forgotten what they were called and was about to go and look them up. RS11's is right on. Rick's Story Time: Oh no not another one!! I was working in a Hobby Shop in Kettering, Ohio. Having originally moved to Kettering from Victorville, Ca. To work for the Kettering Medical Center in town. I saw something coming that the rest of administration and management didn't see. Having seen it happen in California. Whole hospitals closing down. We were in a down turn and I think it's safe to say most of us here... survived those Clinton Years. They lost the GM account for medical care and it was given to a competitive hospital in the area. Never mind SS and what they paid was being reduced. That in itself is a long story. So, with that said. I ended up working in a hobby shop. One of those jobs that stand out as being my favorite. A great family too work for and a great group of guys to work with. While I was working the train section. A nurse walked in and I think we both recognized each other. She walked over and said you look familiar did you work at Kettering...? Yes, I did. I thought so she said. Good to see you. Questions answered as to why I don't anymore and so on. She had a patient, a little boy. The prognosis wasn't good and she feared he...well...may not make it. She wanted to grant him a wish. He had asked her for a train layout. Right up my alley, I thought. I talked to the owner of the store (forgive me but I won't use his name at his request) and he agreed we needed to do something. I had a sheet of plywood, he donated track and scenery. This little guy had some buildings and train equipment with very specific instructions. He new what he wanted and I like that in a kid. I got busy in my basement at home and built him a loopity loop. Two spur lines. One freight station and a passenger station. A small town in the middle. I added a tunnel on one end to brake up the roundy round. There were two railroad crossings and one of the guys at the store donated working cross bucks. I wired it to a DPDT so that one set of cross-bucks would work and then throw the DPDT and the other cross-bucks would flash. I had fun with it and I figured he would too. I didn't make it to complicated, as I didn't want to frustrate him. Seems to me as the word got out with our customers the gifts started rolling in. Others when they heard about him, donated a farm house and barn, with fences, cows and chickens. Two Roundhouse passenger cars, some misc., freight cars and a working steam engine and switch engine. Fake water for a waterfall and small stream, bridges, police station, fire department, stores and different detail parts. He had a gas station. No pumps for it and we all scratched our heads on what to do next. Until digging around in some junk boxes at the hobby shop we found his gas pumps. Even street signs. We got his layout put together and I called the nurse to stop by and pick-it-up. She showed up with her husband and his brother. Carefully it was loaded into the back of a SUV and they were off. I didn't hear from them and wondered out-loud to my boss if he had heard anything. He said no. We waited. About three of four weeks later the nurse showed up with a letter from him. In his best handwriting he talked about how neat the layout was, some of the changes he made. It was set-up so he could move the buildings about. He said, Thank-you. I showed it to my boss and the others. We framed it and posted it so all who had contributed could see it. Then one day. I walked into a hobby shop in Victorville, Ca. Long story but I moved back to California. Here stood this youngster now fully grown. An obvious survivor. When me connected the dot's and realized who's who. I was never happier to see him. We talked and had a good visit. I was looking for some diesels I could add to my SP roster and of course they didn't have any. I did find half of the Arch bridge, you've seen in pictures here and bought it. But that's another story for a different time and place. I happened back into the store and he was there helping out. When he saw me, he said stay put I have something for you. He ran to the back some shuffling noises and he came out with these two diesels. He says, My mother says I.O.U. these. For everything you did for me. I didn't want to take his pride and joy's. Telling him he didn't owe me anything. His thank-you letter was payment enough. He insisted, and the rest is history. When I run these RS11's. I think back to what it means. The special meaning they hold. A memory of a little guy and the fun a bunch of us had getting his model railroad built. Other units on the layout, remind me of the railroad days my family of Rails. The time my Dad served as an REA agent. The equipment they operated and worked on or out of. These two RS11's. Wow!! Now you know the rest of the story. Nice day outside so I want to get out back and clear off the patio. Set my table saw up under the awning. So, I will check back in with all of you later.
I found some pictures you might be interested in. The Dayton Central Railroad A little boys dream layout. He said this was a favorite feature of his. He said of this layout, "I enjoyed it thoroughly." He kept it under his bed in a pull out. Saying, "He had hours of fun and really liked the flashing lights in the crossbucks." Yes, it's HO Scale. I imagine what you could do with a N Scale layout in the same space. Hey, hey, hey. Best news ever he survived to enjoy it. Scenery is a bit sparse but at least you have an example of what I can do. Ha Ha Ha! That's how we used to say !!
I debated on whether I wanted to bring this here or not. Not the kind of subject most people are willing to share. The first Spring thunder storm is rolling through. It's the first one I recall here in Idaho Country. We've had them but most passed through in the night and I didn't notice them. The storm is working it's way through the valley. Marking the end of a chapter for a Little Momma a four pawed friend of mine. She was known to us cat lovers as the Momma Hero of the mobile home park, I once lived in. I named her Angie, short for Angel, also known by most as Littlest Momma. She went to great lengths to care for her babies. Through snow storms 0 F degree weather she managed to get her brood through it all. Seven litters that I know of. She came to me for help when she couldn't help herself. Shot in the hind quarters by a sling shot. It would forever effect the way she walked. I cleaned her wounds up, got the bleeding stopped. Made her a bed to lay in. Then she decided to stay with me. A follow-up trip to the vet for a check-up and surgery. She would no longer have to worry about having babies. I noted she was deaf. As near as I can tell she is 16 years old. Not the best picture. Here she is mothering the last kitten to find it's way to my place. Chubb's found a new friend. It's a celebration of sorts as she is no longer suffering, no more pain and she is free to run anywhere she wants. To find her brood that preceded her. She is free to be that Angel. I watched this morning as Chubb's tried to tell me. I followed him into the front room where I had her resting in a carrier. He kept looking in and looking back at me. She will be missed. This retired mortician knows what he needs to do next. Thanks for tuning in.
I did and still am. Thank-you!! The hardest part is watching them go and knowing there isn't much that can done. The veterinarian evaluated her condition and she treated as best as can be. I made sure she got her medication, kept her comfortable and loved. She is free, free at last.
That's the most important thing! Im sure she realized it and appreciated it. That's why she adopted you.
I want to like the post because I love cats, but I cant like a post that makes me cry... Good night sweet Angie, rest well...
If I put a like on here it's because I appreciate your thoughts shared here. Thanks for letting me share with you. I don't know where to start to tell you how important she was to me and I to her. She was as wild as could be and before it was all said and done. She would spend hours laying on my shoulder while I watched TV. Amazing absolutely amazing. Her kittens she'd give them up to me. My goal was to get them out of the park and into forever homes. I never had a problem doing that. She is survived by two wonderful male cat's, her sons. Chubb's her adopted son and those three still live with me. Don't think animals don't grieve. They do. They stood by me while I picked her up and prepared her for burial. They each said good bye in their own way. Now, it's time to look forward but never forget.
The last cat I lost was taken by an owl. His brother was going wild one morning, not wanting to be held, not wanting to eat, or go outside. Just pacing and meowing constantly. Since it was mating season and we had gotten Koshka clipped after he had mated once before we usually would not see him for a couple days at a time in early spring. It was not unusual that he didn't come in first thing in the morning. After a few days we started getting worried and a few days later my son found his remains. We all cried and I brought home what I could to bury in the back yard. When Koshka came home his brother must have known as he was sitting on the front porch giving a howl/meow I have never heard from him before. Even now 5 years later we will see Socks sleeping in the garden where I buried Koshka. So yes I know animals mourn.
Welcome back Massey, I know! Did I leave and go some where? You asked. Yes, they mourn. I've been watching Chubb's. I disinfected the carrier that Angie, was resting in. After getting it dried and put back together he climbed in it and hasn't left it...yet! Yeah, they grieve. The one thing this mother taught me. As she protected her family and fought off the predators, humans included. Family is everything. Thanks you guys for your comments and thoughts. You have no idea how important that is to me. We may not know each other up close and personal. Maybe at some point down the road that can happen. I know who my friends are and I count you guys as such. Thanks again.
