Large Scale Central

This and that

Other Hobbies
#1

As I was perusing this particular topic, I got to thinking about what hobbies I’ve had over the years. It probably started in grade school with 1:100 military vehicles which me and my buddies would use to stage battle scenes in the back yard. In high school it was 1:35 model cars. Spent most of my hard earned paper route money on that one. It wasn’t till after I got married that model trains entered the picture although I used to play with my dad’s HO layout all the time. With 2 kids with an interest in sports that took up most of our time, hobbies sorta took a back burner for awhile. In the early 1980’s I bought a used Argus 35mm and got very interested in photography. The late 80’s brought back the model train interest with the emphasis on outdoor RR’s. With the kids gone and more free time, most vacations now are centered around railfanning. I try to get to the GR conventions with enough extra time to visit some local railfan spots. Keddie Wye, Feather River Canyon, Tehachapi Loop, Cajon Pass to name a few spots I’ve visited. Took a 2 week tour of Colorado and rode the tourist lines there with side trips to the old RGS and Florence & Cripple Creek ROW’s.

#2

Hey Ken.

Never mind this and that.

How about some of the other?

#3

OK…Phantom Canyon…

(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/rgseng/Colorado/Phantom%20Canyon/phantom0010.jpg)

#4

Hehehehe.

I guess I asked for it and got it.
Good one!!!

#5

As the sign in the Men’s room says: We aim to please, you aim too, please!..:wink:

#6

Nice pix Ken! Jerry

#7
Ken Brunt said:
As the sign in the Men's room says: We aim to please, you aim too, please!.........;)
Attended a committee meeting the other day with equal numbers of men and women, where a man excused himself to use the head. Not many people at the meeting and it was very noticable when he came back. Seeing he was in the spotlight - he issued the following statement "Alright, which one of you women left the seat down when you were finished?"

Brought the house down with uncomfortable laughter.

#8
Ric Golding said:
Ken Brunt said:
As the sign in the Men's room says: We aim to please, you aim too, please!.........;)
Attended a committee meeting the other day with equal numbers of men and women, where a man excused himself to use the head. Not many people at the meeting and it was very noticable when he came back. Seeing he was in the spotlight - he issued the following statement "Alright, which one of you women left the seat down when you were finished?"

Brought the house down with uncomfortable laughter.


Proves that just because you’re old doesn’t mean you can’t think fast!

Ken, I have heard of most of the places you mention, and would love to see them some day. Unfortunately, won’t be anytime soon.

There is a place near Perth called the ZigZag. Perth is on a coastal plain, with a not particularly high but very steep scarp separating it from the interior. To get a train up this scarp, a railway was built something like a couple of letter Zs.

Imagine, at each angle of the Z, a siding the length of the train (only a couple of carriages, loco each end). The train would go up a leg of the Z and straight onto the siding, then reverse up the next leg and onto its siding, and so on until it reached the top.

I believe the original purpose was for hauling timber, but there was also a passenger service.

These days, it’s a one-lane road, downhill. The view from top, overlooking Perth, is magnificent. You can look down on the planes taking off and landing from Perth Airport!

#9

At some of the Railfan hot spots you can meet people from all over the world.While I was at Tehachapi, there was a guy visiting from Nottingham, England. His wife was attending some kind of business convention in LA so he decided to come along and do some train watching while she was attending meetings. At Cajon there seems to always be a group from somewhere snapping pictures.

Quote:
These days, it’s a one-lane road, downhill. The view from top, overlooking Perth, is magnificent. You can look down on the planes taking off and landing from Perth Airport!

That’s the same with Phantom Canyon. It’s the old ROW for the Florence and Cripple Creek RR. A dirt road about a lane and a half wide, no guard rails, twists, turns, tunnels…has a designation of CO Highway 67.

(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/rgseng/Colorado/Phantom%20Canyon/phantom005.jpg)

#10

That Zig Zag is called a “Switchback” in USA. Ric loves switchbacks.

#11

Good story Ken!
In reading it I realized and basically always have. In my 37yrs of life that I was given so far I have never seen America past the Mississippi River? Everyone talks about other countries and this is great. However my dream when I retire is to see America in it’s fullest by train! Great pictures and thankyou for sharing them. We have such amazing but not respected land here in the US and someday I plan too see it all if it isn’t wasted by then? 30 yrs and counting!!!
Dave

#12
David Russell said:
Good story Ken! In reading it I realized and basically always have. In my 37yrs of life that I was given so far I have never seen America past the Mississippi River? Everyone talks about other countries and this is great. However my dream when I retire is to see America in it's fullest by train! Great pictures and thank you for sharing them. We have such amazing but not respected land here in the US and someday I plan too see it all if it isn't wasted by then? 30 yrs and counting!!! Dave
Why wait till you retire?

Your statement about the Mississippi reminded me of a rule of thumb I use. East of the Miss. River I’ll drive. West of it I usually fly. Or if it’s beyond Ric Goldings place in Carlyle, IL. I’ll hop a plane. Ric’s is a good days driving time from me.

I plan a lot of my trips around the GR conventions or at least try to. You’d be surprised how much there is too see within a couple hours driving time from the conv. hotels. While in Las Vegas last summer we took a lunch cruise on Lake Mead, a bus trip to Hoover Dam, and another one to the Grand Canyon. When it was held in Denver a few years ago, I planned out a 2 week tour of all the tourist lines in Colorado and side trips to other spots. Spent a week in Northern CA and Oregon during the Sacramento convention seeing Mt Shasta, Crater Lake, Mt Lassen, the Keddie Wye and Feather River Canyon.

I’m also lucky as I have a brother in San Diego and try to visit him at least once a year. I never get tired of that place (wouldn’t wanna live there, but a great place to visit!)…:wink:

Put a lot of vacation pix on here:
http://s253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/rgseng/
There’s a side bar with different locations

Other trips are here:
http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/4497/railfan.html
http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/4497/Train_Mountain.html
http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/4497/railfan3.html

I haven’t even made a small dent in the list of places in this country I plan to visit.

#13

Besides “model railroading” my other hobbies are attending the Nat’l GR Conventions and railfanning. Over the last 30+ years I’ve been fortunate enough to have railfanned thru almost every state in the lower 48 as well as the southern part of Canada and the northern part of Mexico. My other hobby is attending different Major League Ballparks with my sons, I’m at 22 different parks now hoping to get to Baltimore & Washington DC this summer.