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RR Memorabilia: |
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Train Travel |
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ALTHOUGH
my “model railroading mania” was in nearly total remission during most of
these 12-plus years, my romance with the rails and railroading continued to
thrive through many other activities, even though the model layouts lay at
rest, nearly forgotten, entombed in the ever-growing clutter of a basement
and an attic.
These activities have included two trans-continental (and several
other) railroad journeys, a constant and growing involvement in stamp
collecting in general and railway philately in particular, support of the
projects of numerous museums, and development of a “hobo troubadour”
persona.
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Journeys |
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We traveled
from Rochester to California and back via Amtrak in 1988 and again in 1997,
riding in such “name” trains as the Lake Shore Limited, the Empire
State Express, the California Zephyr, and the Southwest Chief.
Other places visited by Amtrak rail trips (either one-way or round trip)
were New York City, Washington, D.C., and Orlando, Florida. There were also
several excursions on tourist railroads, mainly within New York State.
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Amtrak's
Southwest Chief left us off at the Flagstaff, Arizona
Station (model, above) for a scheduled 24-hour layover in 1988
to allow us to tour the famous Grand Canyon, and resume our
journey to the west coast the following evening. When we arrived
at the Grand Canyon, we found a railroad station and tracks
(below), but no trains. (A Grand Canyon Railroad locomotive
steamed into this station again on Sept. 17, 1989 on an
inaugural run to the “South Rim” after a 21-year respite). |
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Amtrak Station, clock tower and restaurant at Greensburg,
Pennsylvania - September 2002 |
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FRISCO (St. Louis-San Francisco
Railway) Memorabilia - Springfield, MO 2003 |
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The Frisco Lines
4-8-4 No. 4524 (built by Baldwin in 1943) is the main
attraction at the Railroad Historical Museum at Grant Beach
Park in Springfield, Missouri. The side and front views of
this locomotive are at top and right. In the bottom photo, the
author poses in front of the rest of the exhibit’s consist
which has coupled the tender to a baggage car, a double-deck
Burlington passenger car, and a Burlington Northern caboose
which is not visible in the picture. |
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The author ponders the purchase of a caboose (left photo below),
and a “railroad meal” (right), during the Springfield visit in
June of 2003. It was decided, however, not to pursue either offer. |
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The wives of the webmaster (left) and the author complete their inspection
of a restored "full scale" caboose -- now a tourist information stop --
discovered by them during a drive along Lake Ontario from Niagara Falls to
Rochester, N.Y. in October 2003. |
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Two photos taken at the "Harpers Ferry Toy Train Museum and Joy Line Miniature Railroad" during a 2006 vacation in the Washington D.C. area.
Left: Florence and daughter Nancy at the museum's "Prospect Hill Station," originally a Baltimore & Ohio [B&O] Railroad section car house which was once located in Hagerstown, Maryland ---
right: they are riding on one of two former 16-inch gauge amusement park trains which are operated around the
museum grounds. |
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