Thanks for posting these- if we ever get to California will definitely look up this place. We have a hump yard about an hour and half south of us in Selkirk ,NY that we visit often. Used to have a bridge over the middle of the yard that we could stand on to take pics, but they tore it down a few years back. Only had the RR police approach us once and ask for ID while we were taking pictures and video. One of the recent issues of Trains Magazine had an article about the dismantling of a number of the humps in yards - they may soon be a thing of the past.

About 20 years ago American Flyer equipment was selling at pretty high prices on E-Bay- not so much now.
If they ever want to sell it a good place might be to advertise in the magazine put out by the National Association of S-gaugers (The Dispatch). My grandfather bought my oldest brother his first Flyer when he was two years old. We've been adding to it ever since and now have 13 engines, about 60 cars, and 20 or so moving accessories, and a lot of Plasticville buildings set up permanently in the basement. We have a lot of fun with it- can run up to five different trains at the same time, and kids of all ages love it when they come to visit.

Wow- what amazing detail on everything- the engines ( love the firebox lights), the cars, the buildings, the people and animals, the rivers - I could go on and on. The 1:20 scale makes it really special ( and requires a large space). Thanks for posting this. I will send the link along to a friend with a HO scale (ours is S-gauge 1:64 and I am soooo jealous of this one.)

This has always bothered me also. I have original Medicare and a supplemental plan through my former employers retirement benefits group. My monthly premiums for both are over $400. and there will still be deductibles to be met and co-pays for drugs should I ever have to use it. The Medicare for all idea does not seem to recognize this. For it to be a truly cost free plan it would be more like Medicaid for all- and when you die all your assets will be sold to pay back the program.

I like this a lot. The subtle colors on the lower rocks are fantastic in download. And to curmudgeon- that is water- not sky!- and I wouldn't change it. I love taking pictures of rocks- and picking up a souvenir to take home.

I feel your pain- here in the Adirondacks it will be at least another 6 weeks before we can even think about spring. More snow coming tomorrow. It's been sub zero every morning this week, but at least it warms up into the twenties by the afternoon.

Thanks for posting this- I've never seen a piece of equipment like that. I love taking pictures of MOW equipment. Thanks also for providing it in download for the close up view.

Another railfan and modeler- I LOVE this one, what an excellent job you did, and the subject matter is right up my alley. Old railroad structures are one of my favorite subjects to find and capture - just snapshots though- nothing artistic as yours.

The interesting colors that showed up look very much like the colors I saw that night- the moon was red and blue just before totality. It was an amazing eclipse- just before it started there was a huge moon dog circle all around it- very colorful too. I did not dare take the camera outside because the temp was 2 degrees F. We got 20 inches of snow between Saturday night and Sunday night, I think there were still a lot of snow crystals in the air that made the moon dog look so spectacular, and maybe is why the moon had such unusual colors at eclipse.

Thanks to Shellback for starting this post and many thanks to bsprague for posting the link to his dad's diary- that was a fascinating read.

I experienced a similar episode, but it did not end as happily as yours. After hearing a tremendous crash my brother and I searched the house to find out what fell. We finally went outside to look around, and there under a porch window we spotted a beautiful hawk lying dead on the ground, with only a small spot of blood on his chest. I could not bear to dispose of this beautiful specimen so we called all around trying to find someone who would take it. Finally found a professor at the local community college with the proper credentials to take possession of this beautiful bird. He told us to put the hawk in a plastic bag and freeze it. When it was totally frozen we took it to him to place in his freezer, alongside an owl someone else had donated, both of which are to be stuffed and displayed when he got the necessary funds to process them.

What a great cloud picture. I like the way the sky and clouds switch tones-dark sky , light clouds at top and light sky, dark clouds at the bottom. If this were mine I would blow it up and hang it. Thanks for posting.

I'm about 2 hours north of you - Adirondack foothills. The bed tax here is a county imposed tax on motel/hotel rooms to raise money for tourism efforts as our area relies heavily on tourism for revenue. It's a way to raise money for these efforts from the businesses that benefit from tourism.

Because it is Clyde Butchers gallery - he is the Black and White Master of the Florida Everglades - thanks for posting

I like this one very much. You nailed it for the "colors" of the season and I love the subject and composition. Beautiful job- thanks for posting.