Scattered Thoughts . . .

O n one of our mornings while in Manhattan with Kenzie and Lukey, we went to breakfast across the street from Grand Central Terminal at a place called Pershing Square.  This is perhaps our favorite breakfast spot and, as usual, we had an exceptional breakfast on this morning too.  Even Lukey and Kenzie were impressed with both the food and the service and that is saying something since we were there for perhaps the most informal meal of the day, breakfast.  After breakfast, we walked across 42nd Street and into Grand Central Terminal so I could show the kids one of my favorite train stations.  The kids enjoy visiting train stations so this was a good place for a short tour.   In the photo below, we are walking across 42nd Street to one of the entrances to Grand Central Terminal.  This is probably my favorite entrance because it leads directly into Vanderbilt Hall and then directly into the center of the Main Concourse.   Below, we are heading...

A few evenings ago, we visited the Waterbury train station with Lukey and Kenzie.  It was a day when I was not feeling all that well so I kept things simple in the hopes of an uneventful quick trip downtown.  I didn't bring a heavy camera bag.  I put some emergency medications in my pockets, I grabbed one camera body with one lens, and I grabbed a scanner so we could listen to the chatter on the radio as the Amtrak train approached and departed the station. Both Lukey and Kenzie were happy to be at the train station waiting for the train.  I think we all preferred to be getting on the train to head out-of-town but watching the train arrive and depart would be enough to create some smiling faces and some nice photos... The Amtrak Vermonter from Penn Station in Manhattan was running a little late this night so we had some down time.  There is a park across the street from the train station so the kids wanted to go over to the swings while we waited for the delaye...

Since Sheila's latest bout with cancer, I've been doing all I can to keep her happy and keep her mind off the cancer as best as I can. She had already received a few gifts to lift her spirits throughout treatment but she also expressed that she would like to visit Manhattan for Christmas. Needless to say, we headed down to Manhattan earlier this week to spend some time there while the city is decorated for Christmas.  As usual, we traveled on Amtrak so we didn't need to worry about staying awake while driving nor did we need to worry about where to park the car once we arrived in Manhattan. Amtrak has proven to be a mostly trouble-free way to travel for us. I'll write more about our journey on Amtrak soon.  I picked out an historic hotel and we reserved a good-sized suite by Manhattan standards. The location of this hotel was perfect for our plans... mid-town Manhattan, near all the animated storefront windows decorated for Christmas, near the Empire State Building ...

Every Christmas season, the 'Saratoga and North Creek Railway' runs their "Polar Express" train excursion. Since we were in Saratoga Springs for the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train fundraiser and Christmas show, we got to see this great holiday "Polar Express" train up close as we watched it come and go. After seeing this train and experiencing Saratoga Springs, we decided that if we were going to take the grandkids on any Christmas train excursion, it would be this "Polar Express"! We're also thinking of also doing one of their other scenic tour excursions in warmer weather too but this blog entry is about "The Polar Express". The biggest difficulty in arranging for a trip on The Polar Express would be getting tickets before it is sold out. The class of tickets we want are already sold out for the season. So, this season is out of the question. We'll have to aim for next Christmas season. Next year we'll need to st...

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend and today is the first time I've had a chance to share some photos and video. The first thing I want to share is a video that I shot while we watched a Christmas concert on the colorfully and brightly decorated Canadian Pacific Holiday Train. Our holiday weekend began with entertaining friends at our house on Thanksgiving Day... I'll write more on that and share some photos another time.  Then, on Friday morning, we headed to the rugged Adirondack Mountains to spend the rest of our long holiday weekend in beautiful Saratoga Springs. I haven't been to Saratoga in a few decades so it was nice to get back there and spend some time! Our primary purpose of visiting Saratoga Springs was to see Canadian Pacific's Holiday Train as it pulled into the station. If you've never had an opportunity to see this brightly lit and colorful train, you should! Once the train pulled into Saratoga's surprisingly nice train station... ami...

(As mentioned previously, please do not let Lukey or Kenzie know what they are getting for Christmas... I'm only posting it here because they cannot yet read.) In my previous blog post, I wrote that I had started working on Lukey's Christmas present... an HO scale train set in a dog-bone shape with a donut hole.  Well, for those who could not envision what I was talking about, here it is after cutting the rigid foam to shape... It is looking good!  I wanted a free-form, flowing type of thing rather than just a rigid rectangle or even a perfect oval...  I want the landscape to roll and flow with a nice train running through it. That area adjacent to the train station on the right is for a future town... maybe a couple of small houses, a firehouse, a gas station...  then a road coming toward the front of the photo and leading around to that little freight station on the left side... and, I left some room over there for some other building or detail. With a li...

I love railroads, trains, even model trains... I think that has been abundantly clear to those who follow this blog. But really, what I find fascinating is any and all engineering which is also classified as art with character not just function. I love any engineering design which exudes so much character and details that it is an inspiring work of art. This includes trains, boats, aircraft, cars, homes, cottages, lodges, bridges, cityscapes, urban buildings... as well as old train stations. On our way to San Antonio, we had a layover at Chicago's beautiful Union Station (as well as an unscheduled overnight layover on the return trip). I captured many photos of the station and, I must say, some of these photos are as beautiful as this historic station so I felt I should share them here with my thoughts about the station. This huge train station in its current design opened in 1925... ninety years ago. In a time when many railroads are being dismantled, destroyed and sent to ...