Got a lot of work done on the network over the last couple weeks. Kris and I got all the drops in for the 1st floor and I have 2 left to do in the basement. A few more wallplates need to be installed and that’s it! The cabinet looks great all hooked up properly. I was waiting for a Linksys wallplate to arrive and it did yesterday. Check out the photos from today.
This year was the 5th annual pumpkin carving extravaganza at Forestree Ct. A great time was had by all. The aroma of the mulled cider in the kitchen made for instant satisfaction and nostalgia. Met up with some old friends I hadn’t seen in a while and got to catch up, which was really nice. I carved a castle and named it “Das Spookenhaus”. Kristin carved a traditional scary face which turned out really nice. I ended up winning a trophy for “Best Free-Form Pumpkin” which was a blast. Thanks to the judges and thanks to Brian & Dave for throwing once again a great party.
One bonus item, Steve Johnson was awarded the lifetime achievement award. In preparation, Brian, Pat, Randy & I put together a little video commemorating his career. You can view it here. (WMV format)
More info on BLee’s blog here.
This year was a special year for the East Broad Top RR’s Fall Spectacular, held every Columbus Day. Engine #15 has been restored to service, top to bottom. Since I started going to the EBT, back in 2001, only engine #14 was in service. I longed for seeing and hearing the other steamers but knew that it may never happen due to the high expense in rebuilding a steam loco. When I heard that they were going to restore #15 a few years ago, I have been closely following the progress, occasionally checking in on it in the Roundhouse whenever I visited the RR. So when I heard that she’d make her debut this year at the Fall Spectacular, I was overjoyed.
Unfortunately, this year was nothing but rain and since Kristin and Kyle were both planning on going, we had to opt out. We also needed to have a roofer come visit because of a leak in the roof. All in all it turned out to be a good weekend since Kristin and I did some work on the home Network (pics here), worked the B&ORRHS table at the Great Scale Model Train Show in Timonium, and spent some time with Kyle.
So the Sox were swept by the Chi Sox. *sigh* Next year I may have to get the MLB package on Comcast so I can watch more games. Hmmmmm…
Railfan, photographer, blogger Scott Lothes is in Northeastern China right now documenting the last remaining mainline steam operation in the world. This is proving to be quite an interesting journey, one which he’s documenting on his blog, World Scott. Thank goodness, because thousands of us can ill afford the fare and time it takes to endure such a journey. Yet it is all of us who love steam and the lore of the era who will live vicariously through Scott’s words. Here is an excerpt:
At 6:00 this morning, our group, now 20 strong with the addition of
nine others the previous day, gathered at trackside a few miles west
of Chabuga. The new sun was orange in the sky, the wind was low and
the air crisp and cool. A plume of steam billowed on the horizon, and
then a locomotive came into a view. Behind it followed a freight
train. Not some photographers’ special touristy freight train, but a
real freight train of cars with loads and destinations, paid for by
customers and powered by steam. It was the first of 15 trains we woud
see in the next twelve hours, every single one of them powered by
burning coal to boil water to make steam to turn rod-coupled driving
wheels. True, they’re just machines, and the diesels that will replace
them in a month will do the exact same job and serve the exact same
purpose, but as the rods flash, the red wheels turn, the whistle hoots
and the steam hisses and seethes from every pore, I can still catch a
fleeting glimpse into that childhood sense of wonder when these
machines lived and breathed in my dreams.
So our Boston Red Sox have made it to the playoffs by virtue of a last minute choke of the Cleveland Indians in their regular series to give us the berth. Now the fun begins as the ALCS starts. The above graphic has some numbers that have special signifigance to every Red Sox fan, let’s sit back and reminisce about that wonderful autumn day last year on October 20 when the Red Sox completed their comeback over the Yanks; after losing 19-8 in game 3, battling through games 4, 5 and 6 to pummel the Evil Empire in game 7 bringing the Pennant home to Fenway… and of course, the rest is history. Aaaah, yessss. GO SOX!
