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Post by Indian Valley RR on Jun 26, 2022 23:55:51 GMT
A question for anyone if Interested: Has your interest in Thomas or Trains in general lead you to discover new hobbies besides anything Thomas or train related? I've personally discovered that I have an interest in history (mainly Victorian era - Modern day) Yes, trains for me led to an interest in transit, which then led to an interest in urbanism. This fall I'm returning to college to get my Bachelor's degree in Urban & Regional Planning.
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BNSF1995
Goods Engine
Tell me, Lost Little Red-Cent, have you ever experienced THE ALMIGHTY THREE-SHOE BEATING?!
Posts: 205
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Post by BNSF1995 on Jul 11, 2022 4:03:40 GMT
I know I didn't make a BNSF1995 Trip Report when I went to Lake Tahoe in April, but that's only because I found the trip a bit uneventful. Well, here's one for my most-recent travels to Tahoe! * TUESDAY, JULY 5: Departing around 11 AM, we made our way up our usual route from I-680 to I-80 to US-50. I got a few train catches, including a distant Amtrak Capitol Corridor or San Joaquin near the Benicia Bridge, a Capitol Corridor AT the bridge, what seemed to be a stopped or slow-moving UP local in Sacramento, and quite a few Sacramento Regional Transit District light rail trains in Folsom. Lunch was at the same Chili's we usually eat at in Folsom while driving up to Tahoe, which is located right next to the Iron Point light rail station. We got into Tahoe around 4-ish, unpacked at the cabin, and went to Safeway to get groceries for our stay. * WEDNESDAY, JULY 6: Our first hang-around-Tahoe day started later than we probably would have liked, as I was punch-drunk tired from staying up until 5 AM on Monday night and having to awaken five hours later. Our first stop was at Tallac Historical Site, where last November, we witnesse salmon spawning season. At this time of year, we only saw a few small fish, as well as a chipmunk, a blue jay, and even a bullfrog. After we finished hiking the short but scenic Rainbow Trail, our next stop was Magic Carpet Golf, a mini-golf place. I hadn't golfed there since 2016, but I won regardless. Next, we went to the Stateline and ate late lunch-early dinner at Alpine Union, a restaurant at the Hard Rock Casino (and yes, they do have genuine music memorabilia like outfits and signs). We did some gambling (I lost $20), then walked over to Harrah's across the street, also stopping at a CVS so my mom could get some Dramamine. I didn't gamble at Harrah's, but did go downstairs to the arcade, where I usually do better than when I play slots or spin poker (the latter being an unholy combination between video poker and slots, and I LOVE it). Since April, there were a few new additions, namely a Windows VR game called "King Kong of Skull Island". Also added was a new Avengers coin pusher (based on the comics, not the MCU); this game is like recent coin pushers, involving bonus tokens, collectible cards that can be turned in for tickets (completing the set nets you a massive ticket bonus), and in this particular game, colored transluscent balls representing the Infinity Stones; pushing six down (color is irrelevant) nets you a Super Spin, which grants you a random three-figure sum of tickets. I managed to push down a Black Panther card, but apparently, that particular machine was having a few issues, because a ball was stuck in the mechanism, and the other machine was straight-up malfunctioning. I managed to get 600 tickets before we departed for the cabin. * THURSDAY, JULY 7: Our Truckee day. We got out around 11 AM, and took the twisting, winding drive up SR-89 to Tahoe City and Truckee, the latter having a historic downtown situated right next to the Union Pacific Roseville Subdivision, part of the First Transcontinental Railroad. As we were leaving Tahoe, I found out that the eastbound Amtrak California Zephyr, which is supposed to leave Emeryville around 9 AM, hadn't even left yet, and didn't do so until 11 AM; according to the Amtrak Alerts Twitter page, it was because of "crew rest", leading me and my dad to believe that the westbound Zephyr that arrived in Emeryville on July 6 did so very late, and the crew of that train had to undergo its legal rest period, which, in this case, overlapped with the scheduled departure. Normally, the eastbound Zephyr is supposed to arrive in Truckee at 2:38 PM, but by the time it departed, it was more like 4:38, later slipping another hour. When we arrived in Truckee, we were greated by two things: a freshly-sparked fire near town, and a phalanx of UP maintenance-of-way vehicles returning from maintenance work on the pass. Our initial concern was that the fire would spread out of control and threaten the town, but by the time we ate lunch around 1 PM, crews had absolutely massacred it. As we were finishing lunch, a train finally came: an eastbound Z-train (meaning it carries both containers and trailers). We departed Truckee for King's Beach on the northern shore of Tahoe, where we walked along the beach, came across a wedding, and got ice cream. Next, we went across the stateline to the casinos, where I managed to make up most of the deficit from Wednesday. * FRIDAY, JULY 8: Our second and final hang-around-Tahoe day saw us walking around Heavenly Village, then eating lunch at McP's Irish Pub across the street. After that, our next stop was Harvey's Casino, owned by the same company as Harrah's and connected via an underground tunnel. I did more gambling (and lost the entire deficit), then went to the Harvey's arcade, which is bigger than the Harrah's arcade. I managed to get a little over 1,000 tickets, thanks to the Angry Birds coin pusher, which I discovered back in April; back then, there was a big tower of coins, but I ran out of money on my card, and when I got back, some little kid had taken it, and managed to knock over the tower. This time, I made sure to load my card with enough money, and managed to knock down a smaller, but still sizeable tower, as well as building a second tower. I cashed out a few tickets in the form of 15 Tootsie Pops. My parents then took me back to the cabin so I could use my mom's laptop to attend the monthly business meeting for my model train club, while they went back to Heavenly to see "Top Gun: Maverick" at the movie theater there (I didn't go because I haven't seen the first movie yet). * SATURDAY, JULY 9: My 27th birthday, and our Virginia City day. The pictures below should tell the story about my ride on the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. After the ride and taking pictures around the station, we walked up to town instead of re-parking like we usually do; on the way up, we saw some guy with an emotional support animal, which was...a potbelly pig. I am NOT joking. In town, we looked in a few shops, the First Presbyterian Church, and the saloons. The Delta Saloon has fallen so far in the past few years. Back in my childhood, it had slots and a little arcade in the back, but they lost their gambling license in 2016, and now their restaurant, the Sawdust Table, is closed. Also, my favorite store in town, Grant's General Store, apparently changed hands and is now called Virginia City Vault, with the back room that had a Thomas Wooden Railway table (I remember it being the last place I knew of that still had ANY Ertl inventory) was blocked off by a giant curtain depicting a Ouija board, the two figures depicting an engineer and conductor now in the V&T gift shop. The wait for a table at the Palace Restaurant, where we usually eat, was 45 minutes, and so, we chose to leave Virginia City earlier than we usually do, not even getting ice cream from Grandma's Fudge like we usually do. Lunch, instead, was at our favorite Carson City restaurant, Red's Old 395 Grill. After my birthday lunch, we drove towards Casino Fandango, passing by the Nevada State Railroad Museum, recent site of the Great Western Steam-Up. Much to my surprise, one of the locomotives that had attended it, Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad No. 5, was out running. At Casino Fandango, I lost yet another $20, while my parents were both up for the day. While at the casino, I watched the end of the NASCAR Xfinity Series race from Atlanta Motor Speedway. That night, we each had a slice of cake bought from Safeway. * SUNDAY, JULY 10: Departure day. We left around 2 PM, taking our usual route. Late lunch/early dinner was a bit complicated; initially, we were going to eat at an Applebee's in Fairfield, but found it had closed and moved next to the movie theater. As it looked small, we instead went to a nearby Mimi's Cafe, my first time eating at Mimi's since 2019. When last I went, the chicken tenders came out different than I was used to, but this time, they came out just as I remembered them. Train catches this day included a UP manifest in Sacramento and an Amtrak Capitol Corridor near Benicia. We arrived home around 7:30 after picking up our rabbit (my mom had to quickly go in and out because my aunt caught something when she went with my mom, grandma, and old roommate to Utah to see the shows my brother is in). My next trip is in about two weeks, going to Utah to see my brother's shows. After that, the jury's out, though I don't doubt I'll be returning to Tahoe in the fall, and there's two trips proposed: one to go to Las Vegas to see the NASCAR Cup Series race in October, and one to New York in November, as my brother and his girlfriend plan to move there; said trip would be over Thanksgiving week, meaning we would be able to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in person. V&T Pictures Our power for the day, V&T #29. V&T #11 Reno, from the original 1869-1950 company. Observation Car #104, formerly #644 Jersey LilThe railroad's newest acquisition, Santa Maria Valley Railroad #100 Fillmore and Western #1509, an ALCO that arrived without warning
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Post by stuart7 on Dec 14, 2022 18:54:44 GMT
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Post by OldReliableIronNo.2 on May 18, 2023 13:04:41 GMT
Anybody here a fan of the classic Danish sweetheart and Hammer girl Yutte Stensgaard? I know I am!
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Harperman
Goods Engine
Pittsburghs Going to Superbowl!
Posts: 370
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Post by Harperman on Jan 29, 2024 22:42:31 GMT
Well the new years gone great so far, I've been better at managing my time, I'm more active here and genuinely loving it, I feel like my writing is getting better the more I do it, I'm making good friends, college is going well, and I'm feeling overall better about my life and life direction than I was last year.
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Post by Rusty Red Scrap Iron on Mar 31, 2024 16:41:42 GMT
Happy Easter Everyone! Rejoice in the Resurrection for he has Risen.
P.S. Its hard to believe that its Easter already. How time flies by so quickly nowadays. But then again considering where the world was a Leap Year Ago, I feel that we're still catching up on ourselves following The Covid Years.
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douglas
Main Line Engine
Posts: 2,256
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Post by douglas on Apr 2, 2024 15:31:22 GMT
any oldheads here remember the service the Fansite was originally hosted on? Wasn't Geocities, something along those lines though...
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Post by Ryan on Apr 2, 2024 15:43:01 GMT
any oldheads here remember the service the Fansite was originally hosted on? Wasn't Geocities, something along those lines though... Was Tripod.Lycos from 2004 to 2018. Heady days. Sent from my SM-S911B using Tapatalk
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douglas
Main Line Engine
Posts: 2,256
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Post by douglas on Apr 2, 2024 15:54:26 GMT
any oldheads here remember the service the Fansite was originally hosted on? Wasn't Geocities, something along those lines though... Was Tripod.Lycos from 2004 to 2018. Heady days. Sent from my SM-S911B using Tapatalk TRIPOD, that was it! You would know best after all ... I was in an internet-olden-days and couldn't for the life of me remember all the hosting services from back then. Good to see this place is still alive and kicking btw.
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Harperman
Goods Engine
Pittsburghs Going to Superbowl!
Posts: 370
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Post by Harperman on Apr 20, 2024 1:08:26 GMT
2 weeks of college left, hoping to pass all my classes. Afterwards i'm working retail over the summer, but i will save the majority of the money for 1 thing: Next summer i want to go to Oahu Hawaii, one because i have always wanted to just go to Hawaii in general, second there is a railway there and i want to ride on it.
Other than that got a pretty good schedule going for next semester as long as nothing happens, and after college as well i will be working towards a drivers license
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