Large Scale Central

Jan's and Ric's Great Adventure in 2021

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#41

23 July,2021- Old Orchard Beach, Maine Campground-

We visited with our BD on Wednesday evening, as we move north for the month of August. Yesterday, we entered Maine. As crowded as this area is, so has a whole lot of other people. Beautiful area and beautiful weather. We are traveling with Roger and Susie Caiazza from the Finger Lakes Live Steamers, as we explore new areas of Maine and some areas we have visited before. This is the second year we have tried to do the Canadian Maritime Region, but were once again denied access to the Canadian Eastern Coastline because of Covid. This time we planned ahead and also made reservations in Maine for the same time period. If the Canadian Maritime Tour would have happened, we would have just cancelled the Maine reservations. And so, here we are. Plans include, train and trolley rides, plus some beach time and probably a little shopping and eating. We are very blessed and feel extremely greatful to have the health and well being to enjoy this beautiful part of the World. All is well.

#42

I hope your train ride will include WW&F - Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington

Albion Maine

They are a motivated restauration 2 foot group.

One of our LS members, Eric Schade, helps build their coaches!

https://www.facebook.com/WWFRailway/photos/pcb.10158535395821871/10158535394596871

Check schedule before driving up there.

#43

1 August, 2021 - Trenton, Maine, right off “the Narrows” from Mt. Desert Island, Acadia National Park and Bah Haba. The Caiazzas and the Goldings continue our travels through the USA DownEast Country. We’ve done the traditional touristy stuff of Bar Harbor, Cadillac Mountain, and Lobstahs and Steamers. Today, Roger and I took off to ride the “Downeast Scenic Railroad”. Guys, this is worth doing. Nice hour and 45 minute ride, on nice equipment pulled behind a 1950 S-4. 5 miles out and back with a turn on a wye at one end and a run around at a siding, before a push the last mile west and then a return east back to the Yard. The restored coaches are in great shape. Track is in good shape and the whole ride is well narrated. A couple of pieces of equipment are from the “Conway Scenic Railroad” and they are restoring a steam engine “the 470”.

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One of the things that disappointed us at the “Seaside Trolley Museum”, outside of Kennebunkport, was the amount of old equipment and especially buses everywhere. Looking more and more like a bus graveyard, than a trolley museum. I know you want to save as much as you can, but junk is junk.

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You won’t find anything like that at the Downeast Scenic Railroad. Yes, equipment is being restored. Yes, there are some spare pieces, but everything is organized and their emphasis is maintaining what they have. Very well done and my hats off to them. Your opinion may vary.

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Tomorrow, GOD willing, we are off to the most east campground in the USA. Sunset Park, Lubec, Maine. Seems like it should be sunrise, but we’ll find out. The “Adventure” continues.

#44

#45

7 August, 2021 - Holden, Maine

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Our last stop in Maine, before heading west and some south. We have trapsed through the woods for the last couple of weeks and seen quite a bit of railroad and marine history. I do believe I have seen more boat molds, than I have ever seen in my life. Lots of Bangor and Aroostick Railroad history and made it almost to Caribou, Maine, up US 1. Lots of logging going on, but trust me there are still lots of trees. Got in to Holden early yesterday, so Roger and I took and quick side trip to the WW&FRwy. Quick meaning 2 hour drive each way for a less than 1 hour visit, but it was worth it. 2 engines were steamed up, being tested for today’s Members picnic. The last time we were here was 2016 for the Narrow Gauge Convention and the turntable they were working on then is now complete. Foundation is in for the Engine house with concrete to be poured this next week. Got to speak to one of the regulars and he said, him and 2 others got the front of the car barn finished last year during the Covid shutdown. Lots of progress in the area. Seems like a very active group of volunteers.

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Today, we are scheduled to ride on a steamboat on Moosehead Lake. Sounds like fun. The adventure continues.

#46

Ric Golding said:

7 August, 2021 - Holden, Maine

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Our last stop in Maine, before heading west and some south. We have trapsed through the woods for the last couple of weeks and seen quite a bit of railroad and marine history. I do believe I have seen more boat molds, than I have ever seen in my life. Lots of Bangor and Aroostick Railroad history and made it almost to Caribou, Maine, up US 1. Lots of logging going on, but trust me there are still lots of trees. Got in to Holden early yesterday, so Roger and I took and quick side trip to the WW&FRwy. Quick meaning 2 hour drive each way for a less than 1 hour visit, but it was worth it. 2 engines were steamed up, being tested for today’s Members picnic. The last time we were here was 2016 for the Narrow Gauge Convention and the turntable they were working on then is now complete. Foundation is in for the Engine house with concrete to be poured this next week. Got to speak to one of the regulars and he said, him and 2 others got the front of the car barn finished last year during the Covid shutdown. Lots of progress in the area. Seems like a very active group of volunteers.

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Today, we are scheduled to ride on a steamboat on Moosehead Lake. Sounds like fun. The adventure continues.

Hope it was like Vermont was last week. Lows in the LOW 50s and highs…well, they called it 70, but it was long sleeve time! And the RAIN!

Anyway, you are now an official “seasoned” traveler. Cool times!

#47

10 August, 2021 - Shelburne, New Hampshire -the Moosehead Lake boat ride was a kick. If anybody watches the HGTV “Maine Cabin Builders”, this is the area. Great history! Cool “Lake Boat” and the helmsman did a great job bringing it back to the dock in a following seas squawl. Kissed the dock ever so gentle with the starboard bow (don’t think anyone even felt it), passed a forward spring line and walked her in. Yep, been there and those are “pucker factor” moments. Beautiful job and “high fived” by the crew, as most of the passengers just thought it was an everyday normal manuever.

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Sunday morning headed out of Bangor, Maine with a short stop at the Cole Transportation Museum. Impressive!

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Yesterday had us riding the Conway Scenic Railroad, in the afternoon. Texted Al,just to see if he was around. He may not text, not everybody does. I have one friend who says he has a rotary dial cell phone. Great little yard, with a nice track plan, a bunch of cabooses and boxcars used as cabins and a beautiful station in North Conway, amongst the White Mountains. Rode in the “Gertrude Emma”, an 1898 Parlor Car. Beautiful ceiling and nicely appointed on the inside! Pulled by an old ex-NYC high nose, probably like an RS12. Pleasant, relaxed, enjoyable ride and recommend it to anyone.

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This morning put us bright and early on the Mount Washington Cog Railway, in front of the Ammonoosuc #2. What a kick! Truly an experience. Spent a little time with the crew talking about the equipment. Not really sure what the configuration is called with 4 cylinders, 2 on each side, opposing each other. The front ones powered the front cog and the back ones ran in reverse powering the rear cog. Pretty noisey and shook the daylights out of the wooden cab. Anyone have a clue? Had a cog driven pump, something like an axle pump, but off the rear cog. Returned unused feed water back to the tender tank Used a Ton of coal and 1000 gallons of water to get to the top and used the locomotive as a large air compressor holding everything back, as it works its way back down the 3 miles. 7 engines and cars were on the incline Cog railroad at one time. The steam engine, we were in front of, 3 diesel pushers coming down behind us and 3 more working their way up. The diesels use a 1200Hp John Deere marine diesel over hydraulics for power. An hydraulic pump, that would be positive braking power. Another great experience, and one more thing I never thought I would be able to do.

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Tomorrow finds us headed for Vermont, God willing.

#48

Ric Golding said:

3 January, 2021 - Ridge Live Steamers, Dundee, Florida

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And we start a New Year with Car Card / Waybill Operations here at the Ridge Live Steamers on January 1 -3, 2021. Ran the passenger train to the hourly schedule, yesterday (Saturday). Early runs today are annulled do to rain, but traffic should pick up as the weather moves through this afternoon. We start putting the 116 pieces of rolliong stock away at 2 pm. Jan was the Conductor and Bo provided Security as the railroad goes through some pretty tough neighborhoods. We had a young guest engineer, Mathew, on 2 runs. He used the horn so much he provided some false signals to other crews, but everyone seemed to understand what was going on. Its nice to see the Year start on a somewhat normal schedule.

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2020 certainly was not normal and we are both blessed to survive. Our young part of the family is healthy. My Mom passed with the Covid, while we were back in Illinois. However, she was 96.5 and really had lost her desire to fight. She just wanted to peacefully move on and we did our best to keep her comfortable. Working to get all her affairs in order, we stayed back home from Thanksgiving, until we celebrated Christmas with our kids and their families on the 20th of December and then beat feet south to be in Florida for Christmas. T’was our first time to not be home for Christmas in 48 years. Jan says we still need to fine tune this.

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On New Year’s Eve we did a short bike ride in on the Withlacoochee State Trail out of Inverness, Florida. This was trackage of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and originally laid as the Brooksville and Inverness Railway of the Florida land boom of the 1920’s. And operated from the 1920’s through the 1970’s. This is our second time to ride this area. First time was in 2011. Nice area in the winter months, but I think the name is pronounced “Infurnace” in the Summer. This is the area where Andrew Jackson fought the Seminoles in our Country’s early history. Very interesting part of the State. Bike riding is a great way to see an area and learn the history. The “Rails to Trails” program has opened many abandon right of ways to new usage and many times preserves the Stations and other railroad artifacts for future generations. Yes, it is also controversial in some places.

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So a NEW YEAR begins. Hope you can keep the rails shiny, explore new areas of your life and enjoy all that we have been given. A pessimist will complain that his glass is half empty and an optimist will be pleased that his glass is half full. I get so excited that I have a glass, I almost “p” in my pants. Thank each and everyone of you for your friendship. It means a lot.

“Jan and Ric’s Great Adventure” started for me when you were telling me a story at KOPS 1 this year of 2021. I think it started with Jan in an orange bikini back in day. However we never got to finish that story as you were “Operating” at Kens and your,you’re train derailed so you never finished the story !

As an amateur historian I would like to someday finish the story while playing with model trains outdoors.

#49

Yep Rooster, over 50 years of chasing that orange bikini. Why she puts up with me, I don’t know. Actually, I really thought the first year was true love, since then I sometimes feel she’s just trying to get even. The World keeps spinning and we keep holding on.(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

#50

Ric Golding said:

Yep Rooster, over 50 years of chasing that orange bikini. Why she puts up with me, I don’t know. Actually, I really thought the first year was true love, since then I sometimes feel she’s just trying to get even. The World keeps spinning and we keep holding on.(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Didn’t anyone ever tell you that chasing orange bikinis is VERY hazardous. Holy Moly - and 50 years!? There’s just no telling where THIS could end up.

#51

Ric Golding said:

Yep Rooster, over 50 years of chasing that orange bikini. Why she puts up with me, I don’t know. Actually, I really thought the first year was true love, since then I sometimes feel she’s just trying to get even. The World keeps spinning and we keep holding on.(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Holding on to what ?

Orange bikinis ??

THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED BY : ROOSTER

Orange bikinis are still dope (as the boy says) !!

#52

18 August, 2021 - Lake Placid, New York - ahhhh, the Summer adventure is winding down. We sit high the mountains and the trees. Beautiful area, but internet service is sparse. Over the last week, we visited the Ausable Chasm and explored the south end of Lake Champlain. Beautiful scenery and pleasant temperatures. People around actually think 90 degrees and 95 percent humidity is uncomfortable. Yep, we had that one afternoon, but it quickly changed with the next frequent weather pattern. We don’t disagree that its hot, however that’s why we try to not be in Southern Illinois at this time of year. Air conditioning is a wonderful invention. Standard procedure at home, is to start venturing outside in the late evenings and early mornings after August 15th, if there is a breeze. Reports from home say there has been quite a bit of rain. Hopefully, that helps with cool weather, but may make it hard to build a dam.

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GOD willing, we are moving south an hour or so down the Adirondacks, this Friday. Saturday is Operations at the Adirondacks Live Steamers. It will be our first time at this track. Sunday is Operations at Joe Cavanaugh’s personal railroad on the property of an old horse racing track. The property is covered with trees and the Operations are fantastic on the 1 inch to a foot railroad. We got to operate there in 2019 and look forward to this again. Night time running is a real experience.

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The Adventure continues, we call it LIFE.

#53

#54

Are Roger and Sue still along for the ride? Ga 1 steamup at Paradise East this weekend, Newark Valley, NY.

#55

Tom Bowdler said:

Are Roger and Sue still along for the ride? Ga 1 steamup at Paradise East this weekend, Newark Valley, NY.

Morning Tom,

Roger and Susie have returned to reality. Why I don’t know. Been there, done that, got the T shirt, wore it out. Reality is overrated. As far as more events available to attend, you just got to pick and choose. There seems to be only so many days to play in this part of the World. Summer is coming to an end and there are events scheduled every weekend and even through the week. We all have to pick and choose. Enjoy the day Tom, its totally up to you. Hope you and everyone else here, have a good one.(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

#56

22 August, 2021 - Lake Luzerne, NY. We have spent a great 3 days at Joe and Daisy Cavanaugh’s. Yesterday, Joe, Roger Caiazza, Ken Cameron and myself rode over to the Adirondack Live Steamers for an Operating Session. Because of the rain and the hurricane going up the coast, we only ran full trains from and to the major yards. Great 7.25 inch railroad over a lot of real estate. Hope to do this again.

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Today, we operated on Joe Cavanaugh’s 1 inch railroad. Beautiful track work, landscaping and buildings. Fully signaled, and in excellent condition. What really makes this impressive is how big it is and basically totally run and maintained by just Joe. He is truly a master modeler and craftsman. There were 8 of us here, with one of them being Gregory from Stan and Debby Ames’s Operating Sessions. He is the Bat House Yardmaster, every time I’ve operated at Stan’s and he ran the Yard here, today. He said Stan held an Ops Session yesterday. It was his first one post-Covid and it went well.

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Tomorrow, we start heading back toward the Midwest. We may have one more trip to the Northeast, this Fall. Depends on a number of factors. The Adventure continues and we truly feel blessed to have all our friends in this great hobby.

#57

15 September, 2021 - Carlock, Illinois (just west of Bloomington/Normal on I-74)

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6 years ago this October, Jan and I purchased a Super C Class RV built by Jayco on a Freightliner Frame, called a Seneca. Our idea was to travel the Country, seeing the sites and railroad history, plus “Operate” on any Model Railroads that would tolerate us. Its been great fun. As time passed and interest changed or expanded, we found ourselves spending November through March in Florida, about an hour south of Orlando at the Ridge Live Steamers Track. We joined this Club and want to continue spending our winters in Florida, as long as we can. We found the Ridge Live Steamers after many visits to the Finger Lakes Live Steamers each summer on our way to the American Invasion in Canada. We had already joined the Finger Lakes Live Steamers because of their great garden railroad and tremendous “Passenger Operating Sessions”. We now spend more and more of our summertime in the Marengo area north of Seneca Lake. We also want to continue to do this.

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This fall, I will turn 73 and I have been finding that keeping the Seneca clean at over 13 feet tall and all the other maintenance was absolutely wearing me out. So long live the Seneca, but after 6 years and 92,000 miles, someone else has to do the maintenance and polishing.

Today we are coming back from Grand Rapids, after making a deal on a 30 foot travel trailer. We have purchased a different pickup truck, that can still haul the 1.5 inch equipment, and pull the travel trailer down the road. We really do enjoy this ongoing adventure called “Life”, but it will be at a little slower pace and maybe with a little less polishing 13 feet in the air.

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Yes, the adventure continues. We are just turning the page. In 2 weekends is AndyC’s “September Ops”. This year it conflicted with the Finger Lakes Live Steamers Open House. This is FLLS’s major annual fundraiser, and it didn’t happen last year, and all the members are getting older. So we are headed there to help. We hope to be back for Andy and Jane’s big event in October. So, if you are near upstate New York between Syracuse and Rochester come on out to the Finger Lakes Live Steamers Open House. If you are near Nashville, Illinois, contact AndyC. and see if he will let you come over and run on the Bluestone Southern. Both are great events.

#58

Ric;

Who knows how the border will be in “22”…we might even expect to be “Invaded” by a bunch of railroad “Operators”, who’s vehicles might even fit in a normal drive way…!!!

I’m going to be hanging in here for at least 20 more years, and if I can do it at 80, you sure can think the same way at 73…!!!

Jan tells me that there is no “Best before date” stamped on your arse…!!!

Fred

#59

duplicate, deleted

#60

Ric Golding said:

15 September, 2021 - Carlock, Illinois (just west of Bloomington/Normal on I-74)

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6 years ago this October, Jan and I purchased a Super C Class RV built by Jayco on a Freightliner Frame, called a Seneca. Our idea was to travel the Country, seeing the sites and railroad history, plus “Operate” on any Model Railroads that would tolerate us. Its been great fun. As time passed and interest changed or expanded, we found ourselves spending November through March in Florida, about an hour south of Orlando at the Ridge Live Steamers Track. We joined this Club and want to continue spending our winters in Florida, as long as we can. We found the Ridge Live Steamers after many visits to the Finger Lakes Live Steamers each summer on our way to the American Invasion in Canada. We had already joined the Finger Lakes Live Steamers because of their great garden railroad and tremendous “Passenger Operating Sessions”. We now spend more and more of our summertime in the Marengo area north of Seneca Lake. We also want to continue to do this.

.

This fall, I will turn 73 and I have been finding that keeping the Seneca clean at over 13 feet tall and all the other maintenance was absolutely wearing me out. So long live the Seneca, but after 6 years and 92,000 miles, someone else has to do the maintenance and polishing.

Today we are coming back from Grand Rapids, after making a deal on a 30 foot travel trailer. We have purchased a different pickup truck, that can still haul the 1.5 inch equipment, and pull the travel trailer down the road. We really do enjoy this ongoing adventure called “Life”, but it will be at a little slower pace and maybe with a little less polishing 13 feet in the air.

.

Yes, the adventure continues. We are just turning the page. In 2 weekends is AndyC’s “September Ops”. This year it conflicted with the Finger Lakes Live Steamers Open House. This is FLLS’s major annual fundraiser, and it didn’t happen last year, and all the members are getting older. So we are headed there to help. We hope to be back for Andy and Jane’s big event in October. So, if you are near upstate New York between Syracuse and Rochester come on out to the Finger Lakes Live Steamers Open House. If you are near Nashville, Illinois, contact AndyC. and see if he will let you come over and run on the Bluestone Southern. Both are great events.

Sounds like a good plan, Ric.

Any pictures?