Back in the saddle!

Greetings Greeners and Wannabegreeners.,

I have been offline for more than a week so i got some catching up to do. When a computer crashes it makes a big hole in my communication skills. New mwmber Cal Tucker had his new UO 4-6-6-4 running the rails last week and he sure got a beauty! The sounds this thing makes will think you are watching the real thing! 

 

Allan treated us with his 2 Canadian passenger trains with this rebuilt 2-10-4 leading the way on his Canadian Pacific train. This was a common looking steamer but Allan and his faithful N scale freind Jon made it into this magnificent machine. It is impresive!

 

The other Canadian train is a Canadian National bullrt nose Betty that was also madified by Allan to make it another showpiece.

 

3 weeks ago this was pieces of a passenger car that I helped with the base color and Al got so excited about the project that he fired up his own airbrush and finished it!

People ride the Canadian National dome cars!

 

The Evergreen fleet was out in force doing a good job in keeping the evil dirt from the rails. Soon Evergreen will have a caboose for the crew so they can go to the bathroom and do whatever crews do in cabooses. Leaning out of the cab door is not nice for relief.

 

The tide is in at the Port District has Allan picked up a 4x8' panel of 1/8 inch plastic that has a water looking surface. Now we will try to get it to look like seaport water.Stay tuned!

 

Go Southwest Young man!

Photos from my Southwest CD collection!

Every major city in California has its commuter operations. This one seems brand new!

 

Many Alco FA units went south to Mexico in the 50s and 60s. They still had some life in them plus they were at bargain prices. Mexico City.

 

The Big Red cars of the Pacific Electric ran through downtown Los Angeles. Photo taken 1956, 57 years ago!

 

Alco RS locos at Utah Railway's facility in Martin, Utah many years ago. These units are long gone!

 

Electric motors were used at the Kennecott Copper mine in Utah. They ran up and down the mine in spirals.

No Smoking Please!

Just once I am going to send out the photos without the alteration of steam and smoke plugging up the skies around the Evergreen Railroad Modelers club. New member Calvin brought in this beautiful SD45 he just got from Sunset Junction Hobby Shop at a very good price. Even the Union Pacific would be proud to own this one.

 

Jimmy Bowden had his Santa Fe Northern making the rounds with his ice reefer train. Looking good in the mountains! Or is it the Plains?

 

It looked good and sounded terrific. Sounds has made modeling go from black and white to Technicolor! I'm starting to miss the smoke and steam?

 

Mike Baker took time out from his schedule to run his GN/BN mixed freight on the line. Now that I have seen the future, I miss the BN !

 

Last but certainly not least was this UP 4-6-6-4 Challenger in passenger scheme grey making time on the Blue line. If I'm correct the UP had a series of passenger cars in grey with yellow stripes that ran from Portland, Oregon to Green River, Wyoming, maybe beyond that. Several of you are already writing a response! What did you think of the blog report? 180,000 people see this stuff!

Amtrak Exhibit Train- Spokane THIS WEEKEND!

 

 

 

 

The Amtrak Exhibit Train will be open for tours from 10am – 5pm on August 3rd and 4th at the Spokane Amtrak Station.

 

Amtrak has been America's Railroad for more than 42 years, providing vital intercity and high-speed passenger rail service to the nation and offering a critical transportation choice for both urban and rural communities.  To champion the positive impact of intercity rail travel in the communities Amtrak serves, a special Exhibit Train has been created.  This train allows visitors on board to learn about Amtrak's past and present while also offering a glimpse into the company's future. 

 

 

 

The Exhibit Train has two locomotives with historic paint schemes and uses three renovated Heritage baggage cars to display educational exhibits focusing on various aspects of our business.  Displays include vintage advertising, past menus and dinnerware, period uniforms, photographs, and other items of memorabilia from Amtrak's creation in 1971 to a model of today's modern-sleeping accommodations and high-speed rail service displays.  Interactive displays include railroad horns, trivia questions, workable signals and an engineer's stand.  There is no charge for the public to tour the train.

 

 

 

The Amtrak Exhibit Train is a renovation of the Amtrak 40^th Anniversary Exhibit Train that toured the country, stopping in 43 communities over a one-year period. 

 

Now remodeled, we are continuing to visit additional communities and the train will be at the Spokane Amtrak Station on August 3-4, 2013. 

 

The Exhibit Train will be open for tours from 10am – 5pm on each day.

 

On Amtrak's history website, http://history.amtrak.com/blogs/exhibit-train-blog, you can read about the past tour as well as see pictures from various stops. 

 

 

 

 

 

(all images in this post from Amtrak's History site)