Large Scale Central

Reading is one of my other hobbies

Other Hobbies
#61

Forrest Scott Wood said:

…

Oh, major money, true; but most importantly, major fun and information!
Huh, don’t know why some are single-spaced and some are double-spaced? Tinkered with editing the post but in edit function they all come up sinclespaced, I dunno, why, probably technogeek stuf that’s over my head.

Good for you!

In our house we take a slightly different tack. We get the books from our local library system - supported by our tax money - and find it has two huge advantages

  1. Whatever books (and other hard copy materials) we read take up temporary residence and don’t occupy permanent space.

  2. we wouldn’t get a tax refund for not using the library service. It’s hard to turn down a “free” service, isn’t it?

However there are “a few books” in my train library, most of them on my favourite prototype and in a foreign language i.e not available at the local library.

#62

I must say you are right Hans , Libraries are there to be used by anyone .

It would be a shame if they were closed because of under-utilisation .

I assume that your libraries will get a particular book for you if they don’t have it , most do .

Mike

#63

Thing is, though we have a pretty decent regional rural library system out here in our corner of Missouri farm country, the kinds of books I am after are of so low a circulation rate the library doesn’t gain by spending money on getting the books and taking up the shelf volume.
And…
I want to retain the books for reference throughout the future.
Now, I will say, about 5 or 6 years ago, I did donate about 8 or 10 aviation, and military uniform reference, books to the library system.
At present time though, it is likely about once a quarter that I go to library.
Here, just for fun, this is our library’s website https://www.boonslickregionallibrary.com/

#64

Our regional library has 29 branches, with the inventory spread among them. Which means it can take a week or two to get books shipped and for some books there are considerable line-ups, but that doesn’t really matter. All it takes is a bit of planning to keep the books at a steady flow to our house.

#65

29 branches, that’s a pretty good sized outfit there!

Oh, something just in memory, I live in Boonville, Missouri, and over in Sedalia, about what, 45 miles from here, there is a really cool, big, white stone, library building with engraved on one exterior wall, a quote from Andrew Carnegie, who, sometime back when, financed the building of a huge number of libraries, a lot of them rural.
And there is another little one somewhere, too, I forget which town. Have photos of both - buried somewhere in this box in the 18,000 photos taken over last 5 years!

Well, now, want to Google for some info.
Found this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_library

Fayette, that’s where the other one is, only about 14 miles from here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Carnegie_libraries_in_Missouri

Oh, list shows Excelsior Springs, where Dad is from and Mom & Dad now live, still has a Carnegie library building - which is no longer used as a library.
Excelsior is I forget how far, 20miles?, NW of Kansas City, MO, which has pretty nice libraries.
Oh, and in November, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is going to be speaking at Kansas City’s Linda Hall library.

And there also is the Mid-Continent Public Library system, which is a fairly large outfit. A few years back, they gathered all their geneology materials in a nicely done new building, Dad said. That has its up side, it also has its downside that now you have to go there instead fo local brance near you.

Hey, just looked, and MCPL has 29 branches!

Mid-Continent Public Library: mymcpl.org www.mymcpl.org/

Consolidated Library District #3

Serving suburban Kansas City, Missouri with 29 branch libraries in three counties."

#66

Every once in a while I do buy a book

New acquisition while in Winnipeg: Van Horne’s Road probably THE best book on the building of the CPR.

#67

Reading. Just found this thread. I love to read. I have my train books of course, but I have a bunch of books that I have read, and a stack that I will read in time. I found a gold mine when our local (Poughkeepsie, NY) system had a sale to reduce thier inventory. I got maybe a hundred books for around $30. This was two years ago, I can’t go every year and get more till I make room.

If anyone wants reading material for the cost of shipping I’ll send you my list of books. Yes I had to make a list because I found myself buying the same book when looking at the book tables at BJ’s, Sams, Barnes & Noble.

Off line so we don’t clog up space on LCS. [email protected]

#68

We get books mainly for photos for reference .

We get a lot from Switzerland , France , Germany and Austria ; that has the advantage of letting us practise our language skills . Or lack of .

Mike

#69

Language skills - if only could be fluent in the language of every country which had a railroad!

#70

Y’all are reading interesting stuff.

#71

Forrest Scott Wood said:

Language skills - if only could be fluent in the language of every country which had a railroad!

That’s where it gets interesting.

Last week on The Canadian I had a lengthy, interesting conversation with a gentleman from Ontario who is also really into trains, technical aspects and all that good stuff.

Ontarian: “You being from Switzerland, do you speak French?”

HJ: “Seulement un petit peu”

Ontarian: “How about Italian?”

HJ: “Just enough to curse at people”

But reading is a lot easier than speaking, or I should say, it becomes a lot easier with enough practice.

#72

Funny thing happened to me on a train in China .

I said to the ticket inspector “Nay ho ma ?” . He replied “Ho ho , yo san” and shot off up the carriage .

He returned with another staff member (more senior) and he said “Why you spik chinee ?” .

“Just being friendly” sez me wishing I’d kept my mouth shut .

I completed the journey with two PLA soldiers sitting near , but unobtrusive . And mildly smelly .

Well , that taught me a lesson , do not assume that if you try to show respect by speaking the local lingo that the natives will reciprocate . Except for the French .

They will not speak to you in English unless you initiate a conversation in French , at which point they become quite animated and rattle away in English .

Norway , Sweden , Denmark , Holland----they will not even let you try , they speak better English than a lot of my neighbours (from Somalia , Nigeria , Iran , Iraq).

Mike

#73

Now back to the scheduled topic, another “mystery” series I really like and highly recommend is Henning Mankell’s “Kurt Wallander”. Plays mostly in Skåne - way down at the tip of Sweden where the language is closely related to Danish.

Speaking of which, for those who subscribe to Netflix - check out “The Bridge” which plays in Malmö and Copenhagen. The subtitles are a bit sparse, that is, neither the Swedes nor the Danes are that stingy with words.

Sorry, a bit off the reading topic, but hey, that’s not unusual around here.

#74

No Hans , it is not .

I notice that your English has improved immensely since you first joined this site , no doubt helped by all the reading you do .

The Scandinavian ones you mention , I bought one in Malmo , near Skane , just as a souvenir of a very well done TV series of Wallander . The Wallander series are great .

The Great Belt bridge is the excuse for the title “The Bridge” and is very impressive ; given the short time taken to cross it , it makes the dual country series believeable .

Mike

#75

While on the Henning Mankell subject, apart from the “Wallander” series he wrote a few other books - very versatile guy, Henning is.

The most recent I read are:

A Treacherous Paradise and The Shadow Girls

One day, when I get ambitious, I’ll get one in the original Swedish to find out how much I remember or. more likely, how much I forgot.

Also on my Scandinavian favourites list are Camilla Läckberg and Jo Nesbø.

PS As a rule I stay away from watching the movies or the TV series of anything that is based on books I have read. Simple reason: They just don’t get it right aka I’ve been to those places and remember what they look like. Including the “korv och mus” at the “Kiosken”.

#76

For the linguistically challenged there’s a new app out there (just read it in the paper) from www.Duolingo.com (free for Apple and Android). Works like a video game i.e. if you’re too daft to answer correctly, it bumps you back to the beginning.

#77

Not a review, just a recommendation for those who consider taking a trip on the Rocky Mountaineer http://www.rockymountaineer.com/en_CA_BC/

Trip of a life time — the making of the Rocky Mountaineer ISBN 0-9732584-3-8

#78

And while mentioning trains of “a higher class”, 2005 marked the 75th anniversary of the Glacier Express. Such an occasion called for a corresponding book.

Die Welt des Glacier Express

(the world of the Glacier Express) ISBN 978-3-909111-12-1 German and English

For all those who have been on that train or plan to take the trip.

#79

I have to ask myself if they used slave labour to build some of the railway . Not as daft as it sounds .

Mike

#80

For those who are interested in how various railways were built there are books e.g. For my favourite Rhaetian Railway there is

Metre Gauge Railways in South and East Switzerland — John Marshall ISBN 0 7153 6408 1

For my favourite Canadian Pacific Railway there is

The Building of the Canadian Pacific Railway — VAN HORNE’S Road by Omer Lavallée

ISBN 978-1-897252-36-9

No shortage of books to read for those interested and inclined.