For all things there is a first time....

A pretty picture - click to view

This is an attempt to link to a YouTube video clicking on the title will open a You Tube video.

The same You Tube video has been imbedded in this view.  

Where is the Yellow Pencil???

I dropped a post on Facebook linking to this blog and in it I suggested readers make appropriate comments expressing interest such as, “This is really awful, give it up!” and to help in guiding the content for instance, “Where is this thing going, it is complete drivel.”  Well though comments can also show appreciation for a particularly amusing part these comments may take this form, “Zzzzzz!’ there may also be moments of deep spiritual meaning which moves the reader to comment thus, “Horse crap!”  Thus, you can understand the importance of commenting in order to improve the overall quality of your read by commenting, “Who gives a S**t.”

Ten years ago I started reading a blog  - Thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com - when the first post went up and have continued to read it weekly over all the intervening time.   Each and every post is archived and researching through it is very easy.  I use BlogSpot because it archives all the posts in chronological order which leaves something behind for my family when my time is fulfilled. 

The husband of a person in our church had years of hand typed journal entries when he died.  The family had them printed and bound to pass on to the following generations.  This blog, using slightly different technology, serves the same purpose for my family.

I have been posting each new Blog entry on Facebook until folks get used to looking here for ongoing stories.  In my Facebook post yesterday it never occurred to me that the comment capability of BlogSpot did not carried over to both tablet and smartphone, it seems it doesn’t.  So here is the deal – I will keep on posting to Facebook to let you know when I post to the blog.  You can comment there understanding said comments will get lost in the clutter.  If you have access to ancient technology such as a laptop or desktop you can log directly into this post and comment here.  Any comments here are saved and archived with the items I post while any of those on Facebook will be effectively lost in the clutter.

So if you are up to it, follow the arrow on this post to the little yellow pencil icon.  If you don’t see the  icon, your operating system doesn’t support comments.  After this, you are on your own.

Reading List...

"They treated me well but I am changing."

The Journey G and I have started this time is similar to getting a new job.  Routines change, people change, circumstances change, opportunities change, expectations change, unknowns change and rewards change.   

Through all this change, and there is a lot, stability is provided in taking time to read a good book this is my reading list for our trip and on into the autumn.

The Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047 - Lionel Shriver

The Harrows of Spring - James Howard Kunstler

The End of White Christian America – Robert Jones

An additional book is on order for later this year

Splinterlands – John Feffer

Two of the books won’t be here before we leave, "Jones" is being released next month and "Feffer" later this year; they will make good reading for the autumn.  Thanks to Paul for the "Jones" suggestion, "The Mandibles..." was reviewed on NPR, "Splinterlands" came through a reference at Tom Dispatch and the Kunstler novel is the completion of a four part series.  

Three are conjectures of the near future which are morality plays set in a disintegrating world and the fourth, Jones, is explained by its title. Jones, in particular, may be a good challenge for Paul's reading group.

Standing still....

Whistle signals below Cumbres Pass

Over time I have been lost at a small town in the midst of a sweeping prairie.   Shimmering in the summer heat obscure deep blue gray shadows appearing as a thin line of clouds on the horizon.  Lacking motor transport I am reduced to walking onward under the bright sun with the thin line of clouds on the horizon always moving away in the distance.  I know my destination but at my pace when will I arrive?

The last year I have been standing still in my journey.  Several projects were started, learning a new language, and were put aside overridden by the demands of everyday life and, in the spare time, study to prepare for the long walk ahead.      

The expense has been high and emotionally it has frequently been draining.  More than once I have doubted my ability to cope with the priorities and new experiences necessary to make the journey yet, the dream of the long walk always comes back.

I know my destination as I think of an azure sky with brilliant sunlight, the thin air near timberline and the sound of whistle signals echoing through the high valleys of the Rockies.

So here I am with only 8 days to go.  The study may be enough to achieve the goal but, in any event, the lessons will go on.  If this year works then next year, with a lot of work, I may be able to tell some simple stories in Spanish.  In the few years that follow the lessons and journey will continue until that day when G and I finally park the Chama Cabin at home to rest.

Cobalt skies and mountain meadows beckon.  The journey is ending as it started – a long trek across the sweeping prairie and as we travel closer the mist at the horizon finally reveals its true nature, the Rocky Mountains rising above the steppe.  

The Evil Weed....

"I don't think the properties of that particular plant are any more of a surprise to God than the results of fermenting grape juice."

             

                A Quote from a Friend

A story:   

A jingle sung by school children:

Not Miss Allen

Miss Allen had a steamboat,

The steamboat had a bell

The steamboat went to heaven

Miss Allen went to…….

Miss Allen disguised as Bette Davis

Miss Allen was a fearful woman.  Whatever she said was a command, not a comment or question.  She wore orthopedic shoes and dresses fit for a mature woman in the 1950’s.  Miss Allen was a spinster teacher of advanced years, at least 45.  We shivered in our seats as she towered above us warning of the wages of sin.   Her room was always hot from the heat radiating out of the steam register under the window.  She carried dainty embroidered hankies to lightly mop the glow on the forehead or to address the result of a chronic sinus condition.  The steam register was always festooned with neatly placed hankies drying in the heat. 

Isolated between towering mountains to the west and a vast inland steppe to the east, Denver was an overgrown cow town in the early 1950’s.  Our “family” was an oddball in a solidly conservative and Republican community.  Though my parent and two older sisters were minions of that conservatism we were cast-offs of a sort as my mother, who was divorced and proud, was raising three children in near poverty.  Not well churched, lessons on morality were learned from family stories or authority figures. 

So it was the wages of evil were passed on through Miss Allen to the willing minds of young supplicants.  One of the great lessons took the form of a Motion Picture, one of the greats from 1936.  

After watching it I lived in fear for my very being.  Would I succumb to the evil weed?  Did I have the strength to resist?

I had to rely on my family heritage – 5 generations of staunch Presbyterians.  They would show me the way….  But then there is the issue of my Great Grandfather who abandoned his family.  Well, that doesn’t count.  Then there is my father – NO, we really don’t want to talk about that one.  They didn’t go to church, I am certain of that.  So I am safe from the evil temptation.

Colorado has changed a lot since my youth.  Denver is now a trendy place of over 1.5 million people and the evil weed is LEGAL!  I am in trouble, we are going to Colorado – now an old man in his dotage - how will I ever resist?

---------------------------------------------------------

You realize this story is a complete fabrication.

Chairs and table......

So much for the panic – this is getting to be a regular thing – we went to Wally World and found a complete set on sale for $75.  Four folding chairs a glass table and an umbrella.  We took the chairs for the Cabin and gave the table and umbrella to Curt – at our place this is like giving a gift to yourself.  Curt says he has a plan for them somewhere in the five eating places and three kitchens scattered among the buildings.  We also bought a small folding glass table to go with the folding chairs. 

Now we can sit outside with visitors and enjoy the evening breeze, the babbling river and maybe some of that stuff they sell just a few miles away in Colorado…?

Old Couple somewhere else.

Presbyterian Couple having a laugh

Didn’t do it in college it wasn't proper then and certainly isn't  so

it just wouldn’t be proper because we are Presbyterian and you know what the means, don't you?  Then again, the Presbyterians are getting a bit more tolerant – so, maybe we can recapture the life we wanted then but were too up-tight to go for?  How about it Paul?

Naah, this life is better.

Panic time....

"You think we can make it work?

Over the years we have purchased cabin tents and all the associated camping gear which we packed in the back of our VW Beetle.  We moved on and went to high tech, for 50 years ago, back packing equipment and then the family arrived.  Everything was scrapped for a palomino tent camper we pulled behind a Chevy Chevette.  Later it was a pontoon boat with full camping cover and then, because we were now two again, it became a little mazda with some lightweight nylon folding chairs and Holiday Inn Express as our camp site.

Here we are again at a transition and we sorted through the 50 years of stuff and it was all a mess. Now in panic mode we are again buying a couple canvas folding chairs and a table to set-up outside under the awning.

It just wouldn't be right not to have a nice place to enjoy Irish Coffee while taking in the sights and sounds of the Rockies as the sun sets. The problem now is whether Amazon can get it to us on time but, there is Wally World -- hmmm.

Managing Expectations....

In less than three weeks we will depart for our journey west.  This was the only day we could find to take out the Chama Cabin to find out how the thing works before we depart.

Park in the Autumn

We had to find a park with a RV campground where we could completely set-up the rig to check-out how it trailered and how all the pieces worked.  Previously we tried to get into Pere Marquette, which is less than 20 miles away and also Siloam Springs which is about 60 miles away.  Unfortunately both require reservations and both are fully reserved this time of year.  We had to find another alternative. 

After a bit of head scratching we decided on a place that has a “first come, first served” policy and in the event the campground was full it had abundant parking lots in which we could practice backing and parking.  We decided to leave at 8:00 this morning so bright and early I went out to hitch “Old Blue” to the Chama Cabin.

I knew this drill, it is a piece of cake that takes only 15 minutes to hitch-up and get on the road.      

Put the hitch on the truck.  The damn thing is 40 pounds of steel with all sorts of greasy pointy things on it and it is all I can do to haul it out of the Cabin and jam it into the receiver on the truck.   

      Remember to test to make sure the hitch is firmly seated on the hitch ball – Check

.         Connect the equalizer bars.  Another 20 pounds of steel and chain and two of them to boot.  Use steel tube to properly attach the chains and avoid flying steel when pulling the chains into place.

a.       What the hell did I do with the tube?  15 minutes pass and I go through at least 3 stages of the grief process as I search for the damn thing.  

b.      Finally one is in place and I go for the second and the damn tube is missing again.  10 minutes later the second is done.

So it goes until the last piece, the sway control and I must remember to REMOVE THE SWAY CONTROL BEFORE BACKING!

And we are off with a full tank of gas on a 103 mile drive to our destination.  20 minutes later we are in line at the Kampsville ferry. 

“Please let me be first and in the middle.”  A car it waiting at the ferry and a big truck for towing heavy equipment pulls up behind.  Then the ferry arrives:

“Please let me be in the middle, if you do I will be faithful to my church forever.   S**t, he is putting me against the left side railing and that HUGE TRUCK is pulling up beside IN THE MIDDLE – The Creator of the Universe must hate me!”

Finally that is over and off we go to Eldred and a quick drive to the Interstate.  All goes well on this part but the gas mileage doesn’t seem right.

The east on the Interstate is uneventful at a steady 60 mph but the gas gauge is messed-up – it has to be because this mileage is terrible and the gas gauge is falling like a rock.  We stop and fill the tank – 12 gallons and we have only gone 60 miles on this trip and a total of 100 since it was filled two nights ago – this is not right.

A full tank of gas now everything will be better.  40 miles left to our destination and it is low speed on a twisty, hilly road.  Ten miles in I check the mileage – “SIX MILES TO THE GALLON”, twenty mile in “Seven miles to the gallon”, forty miles in at our destination 7.7 miles to the gallon.

We check in with the host at the campground.  Lots of vacancies and it is a beautiful place.  The hosts were really nice folks; they took one look at our rig and me and said, “First time out?”  Is it really that obvious?  We had a nice laugh and the lady there said they all wanted us to park close so they could get a good laugh as I backed into a site.  I found one way in the back out of site.

So I backed in – not too bad with a bit of direction from G.  It made a funny scratchy noise with a loud pop while backing but I didn’t think too much about that.  We planned on fully unhitching and then basically setting everything up and afterward breaking it all down re-hitching and coming home.   

The unhitching went well until I realized that I FORGOT TO TAKE OFF THE SWAY CONTROL before backing.  No damage but I must not forget that.  Hmm, I believe it is on the checklist I prepared a couple weeks ago but didn’t bring along on this trip.

Everything went well in setting up the cabin.  It is very compact but perfect for the two of us.  We were camped in a forested area and a zephyr kept the place cool.   After an hour we closed everything up and re-hitched. 

Off we went retracing our route.  The mileage was slowly increasing and when we made it back to the Interstate the mileage slowly climbed to 9 MPG.  We arrived home after our 210 mile drive and backed the Cabin directly into its place behind the shed on the south side.  It made the same scratching/popping noise again – I FORGOT TO TAKE OFF THE SWAY CONTROL!

It was a good day, with lots of good lessons and some expectations.  The biggest item is the mileage situation.  I talked with the hosts at the campground and they said this is pretty normal.  The engine we replaced pulled 11 to 12 mpg before it failed but the load was a few hundred pounds lower.  I believe the real issue now is I drove the truck without the overdrive engaged, which Ford recommends when towing, and the new engine is not fully broken-in. 

Most folks today don’t understand the break-in process and timing for a new motor be it in a new car or a new engine in an older vehicle.   Fully breaking-in new engines takes much more time than most realize and the process is not complete until you have upwards of 12,000 miles on the vehicle.  That being said, today’s trip was made with a motor having just over 2,000 miles on it – it is still very tight which you can hear in the way the motor labors while pulling a load.  I expect the mileage will climb by about 20% or a bit more as it fully breaks in over the 4,500 miles of high speed driving from here to Chama in the next two months.

We are ready and all that is left is continuing study and remembering to, plan on fueling more often and to TAKE OF THE SWAY CONTROL WHEN BACKING.

Lincoln's New Salem Historic Park, Illinois

When we just want to get away for a couple days we know where to go.  It is beautiful and quiet and a really wonder filled place.  If you haven't been to Lincoln's New Salem Historic Park, you have really missed something.  This was the fifth or sixth time we have visited and now we can linger just a few days longer.

Daily post June 8, 2016 "Treading on dangerous ground"...

It was a very warm day, 80 degrees, in Chama today.  Last night was in the mid 40's and this evening a balmy 50 degrees is predicted.

I checked the westbound coming to Chama at 4p.m. and noted the open car has been removed along with the lead coach.  The status of the open car remains undetermined.

As I watched the Friends Yard Cam I noticed an older couple walking around the depot and yard.  The pictures are grainy but a turquoise shirt made tracking them easy - sound a little creepy doesn't it?  Anyway, sure enough they walked where their curiosity took them and soon enough they made their way to a locomotive under steam just outside the engine house.  After looking at it for a few minutes they peeked around the corner of the door to the Engine house.  Inside the engine house is the only place that is absolutely off-limits to other than authorized personnel.  Entry requires a pass and complete safety gear because the work environment is so dangerous.  Well, you guessed it they stepped inside for a look. 

I looked over at another camera view as the train approached the yard and then a few minutes later noticed the same couple moving smartly across the yard to cross in front of the oncoming train with a 75 feet or so to spare.  They had a good day and probably had a nice ride home.

The railroad is public property and everything is pretty much open for view, as it is in any good museum.  The only limits are the places where real danger lurks such as the two engine houses in Antonito and Chama.  It just requires a bit of common sense when visiting such a place.

Daily Post June 7, 2016...

June 7, 2016 - #3 leaving Chama Yard - double-headed eastbound

 

Just over 4 weeks left until we pull out of our drive.  The weather in Chama today is expected in the mid 60's after an evening temperature in the low 40's.  Bright sun is expected and the trip should be beautiful.

Today's #3 (Westbound out of Chama) had 463 on the head-end with 484 as helper.  484 was likely used as 463 may lack the traction necessary to pull the grade to Cumbres unassisted.  The 464 will drop-off at the Cumbres stop and 463 will take the train on to Antonito. 

The consist had a second open ended gondola cut-in second behind the coach immediately after 463's tender.  I will check that to see if it is now normal practice or if it was just being transported to Antonito and let you know.

Received an update on Docent training.  Seems our class will have 7 or 8.  Seems large but judging by the crowd at this morning's train and the fact that the ubiquitous Bob was today's docent perhaps the need for additional docents is greater than I originally thought. 

Study goes on with a daily test and now adding additional info for the class.  We are taking out the Chama Cabin the next couple weekends for Georgia to get a little experience driving with the trailer and my backing and parking.  Packing starts on 4th of July weekend.

I will write more in a couple days then on to a daily post when we are underway.

Roundhouse Queen....

I received a Facebook post regarding railway equipment in Europe constructed in 1860.  The locomotive and carriages, their version of our Pullman Palace passenger cars, were ornate and opulent looking much as I would expect a Las Vegas bordello to appear.   Plush railroad equipment in America ranged from extravagant to relatively pragmatic but it never quite seemed to reach the gaudiness of some of their European counterparts.

NYCR Dreyfuss Super Hudson J3a

NYCR Super Hudson J3a

Through time great American trains such as the New York Central Twentieth Century Limited became sophisticated works of mechanical art.  The epitome was clearly the 1938 Hudson J3a Super Hudson as streamlined by Dreyfuss.   Then it all ended.

As railroads rapidly replaced steam with diesel the remarkable steam locomotives and the beautiful consists they pulled were relegated to the rip track and then to the cutting torch.  The manager of the New York Central ordered all steam locomotives to be destroyed and the same philosophy held true on most other railroads including the Denver and Rio Grande Western.  Short of a few photographs, the evidence of an entire era was lost in the carnage.  Of the D&RGW one shard remains slowly losing context in the midst of a rapidly expanding tourist mecca in the Colorado Rockies and there is another.

In an isolated and lonely area of Colorado and New Mexico a remnant of the steam era struggled on far beyond its time.  In the end it too lost the struggle and was finally abandoned by the railroad.  For two years the track rusted and the yards were empty then, the States of Colorado and New Mexico purchased 64 miles of track and with it all the structures and equipment for just over $500,000. Late in the year of purchase and with the help of volunteers a new depot was built and the equipment was moved into storage the next spring, nearly 50 years ago, the rail line re-born as the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad.  Today it operates as a living museum, a National Historic Landmark, and this brings us to our story.

From 1831 to its demise in 1972 Baldwin Locomotive Works of Eddystone, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, erected over 70,000 locomotives which were overwhelmingly steam driven.  In 1883 the company received an order for ten narrow gauge passenger locomotives with a tractive force of 12,000 pounds.  At approximately 60,000 pounds (30 tons) even in that early era, these were very light weight locomotives.  The relatively low tractive force combined with 46” driving wheels, the largest of any D&RG narrow gauge locomotive, made it the fastest locomotive on the narrow gauge railroad

46" drivers - D&RG 168

and well suited to passenger service.  Over the years these small locomotives, being unsuited to yard service, were replaced in passenger service by larger and heavier locomotives.  In a general maintenance upgrade commencing in 1924 eight of the ten locomotives were scrapped between 1926 and 1936.  Number 169 went on display at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City and was then permanently retired to static display in Alamosa, Colorado where it resides to this day inert in a covered pavilion.  In 1938 the other surviving locomotive, number 168, was placed in the open on static display at Antler’s Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado and there it slowly deteriorated for nearly 80 years.

168 Transports a President - 1909

168 at Speed - 1904

Other than photographs little is known of 168’s early history.  We know it transported President William Howard Taft on a journey through Colorado in 1909 and we also have pictures of it from 1904 in passenger service on the Black Canyon Branch through the now inundated Black Canyon of the Gunnison River.    We also have a side-handed reference to locomotive 68 being involved in an April 4, 1889 collision at MP 311.30, Tunnel #1 “Mud Tunnel”, on the San Juan Extension.  There is no history of a number 68 on the D&RG the few locomotives carrying two digit numbers were re-numbered with a one being added to the number set.  Re-numbering was routine on the D&RG thus, there is solid reason to believe the locomotive referred to was actually 168.

168 - Static Display in Antler's Park

In 1938 the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad donated 168 to the City of Colorado Springs to be placed on display on an open platform in Antler's Park.  The 168, a a direct link to an era of steam, was left to erode away in the  forgotten corner of a park as are so many other relics of the great era of steam.  Little better is the fate on many “tourist” railroads in which the “operating” steam locomotives actually only put out smoke and whistle whilst the actual work is done by a following diesel locomotive.  In effect the steam engine is a “zombie” in place for show purposes only.  

In the case of 168 the situation was far worse.  The fact that even the shell survived from nearly 80 years in the open is directly attributable to the high dry climate of Colorado Springs and occasional maintenance to cosmetically manage rust spots.  The thought of its ever raising steam again, much less working the grade to Cumbres, was simply outlandish.

The last ride for 168

So it was on August 4, 2015, the forgotten little locomotive, now 132 years old, was removed from its pedestal in a corner of Antler’s Park and loaded on a flatbed truck for a final trip; sixteen hours later it arrived in Antonito, Colorado and was remounted on the rails where the echoes of steam locomotives beginning the daily climb up the long grade to Cumbres may be still be heard.  If it were a living thing the 168 could hear and sense the slow breath of living steam locomotives at rest and feel the vibration in the rails before each day’s journey west. 

Antonito - Home for new life

168 will be lovingly restored by the Cumbres and Toltec and with the help of the Friends so will several historic passenger cars.  She will not be a “Roundhouse Queen”; no, she is destined to work again on the climb to the high pass at Cumbres and on down the “dreadful drop” into Chama.  She will live again and so will her special consist, the San Juan Express.  If I am fortunate, I will be there that on that day.