I Haz a Choo Choo Train Problem

Guess what? I Haz a Choo Choo Train Problem has an actual website now @ ihazachoochootrainproblem.com!

All the action's gonna be going down there from now on - although, I may pop in here from time to time to reblog some cool, semi-relevant stuff that we all know Tumblr is good for.

Spotted at Whole Foods. Of course I bought it.

I originally saw the Boston one, and was like "WTF, why no New York one?"

Upon digging deeper on the shelf - which was an easy to miss end cap, I found it! Anything above 103rd St in Manhattan is chopped off, as is anything south of Brooklyn Heights. Half of Queens and all of the Bronx are missing...but I had to have it. $15 for a metal water bottle - sure. I'll actually use it at work, and it will give me something to stare at when bored at work/plotting some sort of New York adventure at work. (Trust me, my job is repetitive enough to do on auto pilot - and my mind wanders freely...m'kay?)

They have bottles for several transit systems - Boston, DC, San Francisco, New York (obviously), and so on. They're sold at this link - and like I said, I found mine at Whole Foods in West Hartford, CT so maybe give your local Whole Foods a try.

I fixed the Disqus comment system after breaking it many moons ago. If you click the arrow next to posts - or "comments and reactions" on a specific post - you can leave comments.

Yay! BTW that's supposed to be a huge hint to, ya know...do it.

Also - if you hate Tumblr (and I know a lot of people do, I'm too lazy to set up a legitimate blog - plus being on the platform does at least help drive readers here...so sue me), do feel free to click here and add the feed to your feed reader of choice. I'm a Google Reader addict myself.

Friday, I broke down and bought the camera I was long overdue for getting. It came yesterday - pretty damn awesome considering Amazon told me this upcoming Thursday-Saturday was the expected window for its' arrival. And to think I actually, for a second, considered paying for next day shipping. Good thing I didn't. It only came from New Jersey - so I got next day service with free shipping.

Today after I worked a few hours, I put my new camera through its paces in North Haven at CSX's Cedar Hill yard, where they're sending the M2's to await shipment to be scrapped, and at New Haven Union Station. These pictures are my favorites of the bunch, the one of Amtrak P42 207 being my absolute favorite. The rest of the pics can be found here.

That ain't right.

This is a video of the return trip to the station in Thomaston on Flagg Coal 75 last Sunday.

I kid you not. This is how Norfolk Southern severs a train line when it suspends freight service on it. This is the dirt/plant mound that severs active from inactive on that line I briefly mentioned when I was down visiting my parents.

The line beyond the mound (farthest away from you in this picture) is still "active", although movements are pretty rare according to my dad.

I have to say though, at least they haven't ripped out the line - the line remains, as do the crossing signals, although they're covered over. The Wikipedia article I read about the Saluda Grade, which this line is part of - states that rails to trails or a tourist railroad were things being talked about as alternate uses for the "suspended" parts, but apparently such discussions haven't gone anywhere.

Yes, I know, I still haven't written a legit post about Steam on the Naugy, like I promised. However, while I continue to procrastinate, watch this video about the steam engine, the people who restored it...and a little bit about the Naugatuck Railroad.