Arcturus' Travels » friends

An Adoption:

Gary — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 03:51:45 +0000

Regal Jug is our 23 foot sailboat. It has been in the family since 1974. For many years we had an annual vacation somewhere in the San Juan Islands of Washington, or the Gulf Islands of Canada. The last couple years we have not done any major trips in Regal Jug.
This year Regal Jug was adopted by our son, Glen’s family. Two weeks ago they met us in Oregon and picked up the boat. They spent last weekend cleaning and updating the maintenance on the boat. This weekend we arrived in Gilroy and we formalized the adoption by going to a local lake and launching the boat and having an inaugural sail.
Here is how the day went:
First we got underway with the boat and trailer in tow from Gilroy right on schedule at about nine. We stopped at the fueling station and picked up some gasoline for the “Iron Wind.” Glen did fantastic job negotiating the tricky corners and sorting out the one way roads.

New Skipper, Glen

We arrived at Anderson Lake, just a few miles distant only to find that we didn’t have the proper paperwork to negotiate the inspection. We pulled out of line and called Barbra to bring us the registration for the boat. Half an hour later we were able to get our inspection and prepare for launch. This was a bit of an ordeal because each step had to be reviewed in detail before acting. Glen has helped rig the boat many times, but always at my lead. Glen needs to be the leader from now on, and there is no point in learning by the school of hard knocks like I did.
The launch went smoothly and soon we had invited some scouts and parents to join us. The winds were quite light and variable, but we sailed a ways down the lake. We raced the scoutmaster in his dingy and some of the scouts paddled alongside in canoes.

Phil, Alex, Glen and Gary Sailing

Back at the dock we helped the scouts load out their canoes and sailing dingy. About then the winds picked up nicely and Glen, Judy, Bryce and I went out for a couple more hours of delightful sailing. Glen took his duties a skipper-in-command very seriously. I took my job of helming or tending the jib-sail seriously too. I caught myself a couple times “suggesting” what to do next, but for the most part I was good.

Regal Jug on Anderson Lake

We came back to the dock in time to load out and ready the boat for trailing, just in time. The Ranger was waiting at the exit gate looking very serious when we rolled by with seven minutes to spare.
The day was a total success. We never even broke anything.
I think Regal Jug will enjoy his new family and the warm sunny weather here in California. Besides now we can come and visit and sail as guests.
Goodbye from Gilroy California.
Gary and Judy

Tourist Destinations:

Gary — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 22:58:59 +0000

Yes, we often show up in odd ball destinations like Wickenburg, AZ, visiting obscure attractions like the “Jail Tree.” This week, however, we set our sights on a top tourist destination, Mackinac Island in the Mackinac Straits between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron in upper Michigan. By the way up here it is pronounced “Mackinaw,” the “c” at the end of the word is silent. The name is a shortening of the original Indian name Michilimackinac which means “place of the great turtle.”
The area has a colorful history controlled from time to time by the natives, French, British and Americans. The island has been a tourist destination since the Civil War and was made the second National Park in 1875. It attracted the rich and famous of the day.
Mackinac Island has a singular distinction. It has no cars. Well we did see a modern ambulance, but other than that we saw no cars. Horses rule the day. The streets indeed are littered with “horse exhaust.” Even that is picked up by… yes, a horse drawn wagon. The story goes something like this: In the infancy of the automobile one resident brought a horseless carriage to the island. The machine frightened the horses and several were injured as a result. The city fathers got together and banned the contraptions from the city and have upheld the ban ever since.
The result is a booming bicycle rental business and thousands of bicycles parked along all of the main streets in town. Path was certainly in his element. We did a romp around the eight mile shore line trail with new friends Randy and Cindy. The loop trail is perfectly flat and at least 16 feet wide. We saw sights like Arch Rock and Devil’s Kitchen.
We spent most of the day in Fort Mackinac. They have historic re-enactments throughout the day. Cannon firing, musket firing and Court Martial re-enactments by people in 1850 American Army uniforms. The previous day we visited Fort Michilimackinac in Mackinaw City at the northern tip of the Michigan Mainland. The re-enactments here depict the French time period and the actors wear French uniforms from the 1750’s. This fort is a total reconstruction. The British took over in 1761 from the French, lost it to the Chippewa in 1763. They regained control in 1764 but got worried at the end of the American Revolution and moved it ‘Lock, Stock and Barrel” to Mackinac Island in 1781 and built Fort Mackinac. What they couldn’t move thy burned to the ground. Understandably Archeology plays a big role in Fort Michilimackinac and many archeological displays are included in the basements of the various reconstructed fort buildings.
Enough with the history, already! We are finding many new things to sample. A local delicacy called pasteys, made of rutabagas, carrots, onions and some sort of meat and sealed in a pastry shell. Our new friends introduced us to “Pudgy Pies.” This is a toasted sandwich made in a special cast iron clam shell with very long handles and cooked over the campfire. Yummy!
If you didn’t get this last night it is because we again have no cell phone and no internet. We are in the U.P., which is the Upper Peninsula. The people are known as “Uppers.” This is in contrast to the people south of the Mackinac Bridge. They are known as “Trolls,” i.e. below the bridge or “Fudgies” because they come to Mackinaw City to get fudge. The Upper Peninsula at first look seems a little more rural and laid back, the southern areas more industrial. They all agree that we are a long, long way from home in Oregon.
Goodbye from Lake Michigamme near Lake Superior in U.P. Michigan
Gary and Judy

The Attic:

Gary — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 02:10:55 +0000

Here we were drifting around the nation’s rust belt, Detroit and Dearborn Michigan, when we stumbled into America’s attic. Maybe not exactly stumbled, more like encouraged by long time friends Jim and MaryKay and their daughter Kati and hubby JT. We arranged a rendezvous in Tipp City, Ohio and enjoyed a long visit.
The attic is The Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn Michigan. Henry Ford had a passion for collecting treasures, our nation’s treasures. Because of his passion we all can go and rummage through these treasures in Henry’s attic. That is what we have been doing for the last two days.
We got to see huge steam locomotives, C&O No 1601, an Allegheny Class 2-6-6-6 locomotive. We also saw historic locomotives, like the 1831 De Witt Clinton, which looks like a toy beside the mighty Allegheny. We also saw huge stationary steam engines that powered early industry, and replicas of Edison’s first electric generating stations
On the second day we visited the Greenfield Village, a living history type museum. Here Henry gathered famous buildings from around the country including Edison’s complete Menlo Park Complex from New Jersey, the Wright Cycle Company from Detroit Michigan and the Logan County Courthouse from Postville Illinois where Abe Lincoln once practiced as a circuit court lawyer. Of course Postville is now Lincoln, Illinois. There are many more, but I need to leave something for you to discover.
Near the end of the day, we were exploring the infamous Smiths Creek Railroad Depot.

(This is where Henry Ford was evicted from the train as a teenager for catching the baggage car on fire with his experiments. Ford’s friend Edison had the depot packed up and rebuilt in Ford’s own Greenfield Village without telling him about it. Anyway it’s a long story, go check it out.)

I was having a detailed telegraph discussion with a lady who portrayed a conductor on the train. She had a telegraph key and sounder set up as a demonstration. Of course I stepped up and bragged that I was a telegrapher on the Northern Pacific Railroad in the 1960’s and offered to demonstrate. She handed me a telegraph form that had the code printed in a table on the back. Only the code was the international code, not the railroad code. I spent the next quarter hour explaining and demonstrating the difference. For example an “O” in International Morse is dah-dah-dah and in American Morse it is dit – dit. Not di-dit like an “I” but dit – dit like an “O”. Also “Y” becomes di-dit – di-dit instead of dah-di-dah-dah.
As a reward for all my effort the lady conductor offered us a ride on her train. So for my kibitzers I have a steam locomotive video on the website this time around. (Note: I have not been able to insert it here, so jump to my Facebook page to see the video clip.)

We did have some excitement the first day. When we returned to the coach for lunch there was a big puddle of antifreeze under the front of the coach. The heater core had sprung a leak. To get by I connected the inlet and outlet hoses together. We don’t really need the heater this time of year. Temperatures run in the 80’s by day and 70’s by night.
It is just after nine here and the big red meatball of a sun is just setting at the Isabella County Fairgrounds in Mount Pleasant Michigan. We have the whole campground to ourselves. Good Night and pleasant dreams from Gary and Judy in Michigan.

Man vs. “The Machine:”

Gary — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 03:07:03 +0000

The technician led the man down the long hallway. She had a pleasant smile on her face. The man followed with stoic resolution. He had been warned that a monster machine waited at the end of the hallway. They arrived in the control room for “The Machine.”
The technician looked at me and said, “That has to come off,” pointing at my head. I stepped back and clutched at my throat and said, “I am rather fond of it.” “You can have it back when we are done.” I replied, “How will I get it back on?” “Oh, for heaven’s sake, just unclasp the chain and take it off.” “Oh…”
I put my gold chain, my glasses, my keys and a few assorted guitar picks and a quarter inch nut in my hat and handed it to the technician. “We’ll just lock these in this little box on the wall.”
I got a quick look at the control room. The controls seemed familiar. Somewhat like the glass cockpit instruments in my Microsoft Flight Simulator Program on my computer. Airspeed was 0 and the altitude was about 1800 feet. The four throttles were full closed and the engines seemed to be ticking over at 5%. Runway 31 stretched away in the distance.
It was then that I noticed the escape hatch in the forward bulkhead. That sucker was massive, perhaps a foot and a half to two feet thick. The window looking into the chamber looked to be leaded glass about a foot thick. There was a big red rotating beacon over the door, but thankfully it was off. I presume that when it goes on it means the core is in danger of meltdown.
The technician indicated that I should precede her into the chamber. Actually it looked more like she was positioned where she could block me if I made a run for it. But of course I wouldn’t skip out, she had my gold chain and two of my best guitar picks locked in her lock box.
I was lead to this massive machine with a wee tiny doughnut hole in it and this rack like thing attached to it. She offered me a final meal, two tiny sausages. Only she rolled them and had me stuff them in my ears. Once she got me properly tucked in on the rack she fed me head first into the donut hole and warned me not to wiggle. Just before I slid into the machine she placed a plastic bird cage over my head and handed me a rubber squeeze bulb. “One squeeze on that bulb and the machine will chuck you out.” I had a tiny mirror over my eyes and could see down over my toes and through the window into the control room.
The technician retreated into the control room and pulled the escape hatch closed behind her.
Soon I was being slid forward and back inside the doughnut hole in the center of the machine. Then the machine let out with eight or ten screeches and started vibrating. I figured we were approaching takeoff speed and about to rotate, when it started making noises like when you purse your lips and blow a rhubarb. “Oh, man, she is having to abort the takeoff,” I thought. Then came a series loud clicks and clanks and a loud grinding noise. “Oh Lordy, the landing gear just collapsed.” Finally it settled down and just sounded like a jackhammer.
I soon discovered that I could see red digits counting down. These were on the face of the machine and I was reading them in the reflection on the window. I had to teach myself to read backwards, but eventually I was able to figure out that it was the time left for the current series of screeches or hammering noises.
I now had some power over “The Machine,” I could tell when it was going to quit making the infernal racket it was currently making and do something completely different. Do you know what a relief that is? Not much! But now I could quit wondering how upset the technician would get if I moved or squeezed the panic button.
Eventually the machine became quiet and the tray slid me back out of the doughnut hole. Clutching my hat with my gold chain, guitar picks and quarter inch nut, I staggered the length of the long hallway into the MRI waiting room and back into Judy’s arms. Free from “The Machine” at last.
All of this because the Doctor thought I should get my head examined. I could have told him there was nothing in there and saved him all the bother.
In all seriousness, folks, I have been to see a Neurologist to discover why I am developing tremors in my hands and feet. Unless something pops up on the MRI the diagnosis is early stages of Parkinson’s disease. I have started taking a new drug called “Azileck.” This drug was developed in Israel and a large scale study has shown that it may slow or even halt the progress of the disease. This is the same disease that my maternal grandfather had when I was eleven. Michael J. Fox has this disease and I guess that finally there is a ton of money being poured into research.
We are currently in Arizona, about an hour out of Phoenix, so I have access to great doctors and we have many helpful friends here. When I get settled in on the drug therapy we will continue our travels. I think we are going to try to make it to the Experimental Aircraft Associations’ fly-in in Oshkosh Wisconsin over the Fourth of July holiday.
Today’s temperature in Phoenix broke records at 100 degrees. It is easy to stay under the air conditioning around here, but it is a real shocker when you walk out into the heat. I only wish we could shunt some of this heat off to our friends around the country where you are dealing with rain or show and low temperatures.
For now we send our love from Congress, Arizona,
Gary and Judy

Arizona Springtime

Gary — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 05:43:49 +0000

We are in the middle portion of Arizona, about an hour northwest of Phoenix. The weather has been improving daily here in the Sonoran Desert. High temperature today was 78 degrees after a low last night of 42 degrees. It makes it up to 65 by about 11 am. That is how long I had to wait to do some painting. Each day we get in an hour of walking before the temperature gets too warm. As soon as the sun sets, however, it starts getting cool quickly.

The Old Geezer

We are staying at an Escapee Club park called North Ranch. It is in Congress, Arizona. There are lots of activities going on here. We just finished Woodcarvers Week, and now it is Beading Week.
Last week I finished carving a caricature in wood that I call “The Old Geezer.” I have a song I like to sing called “I Just Don’t Look Good Naked, Any More.” The song is about this character who steps out of the shower and gets a look at himself in the mirror. Pot bellied and bald headed, my alter ego relates his encounters that convince him that his body is getting a bit dilapidated. “The Old Geezer,” is also bald headed, pot bellied and bow legged. I had a lot of fun carving him. I gave him a towel so he could preserve a little of his modesty.
Judy has signed up for two different classes for making beaded bracelets this week. We are staying here with long time Boise Cascade friends, Ray and Peggy. Peggy is one of the beading instructors.

Gary gives The Old Geezer a Bath

On Tuesday we are expecting another long time friend, Sue from Portland, to come visit and do some beading too.
Meanwhile, I am still progressing slowly on the new bicycle. I expect to finish brazing the frame this week. I will be able to start putting it together soon.
Wood carvers and beading people are all congregating at the park for these two weeks and we are making new friends every day. We all have one thought in common…winter in the northern states is just too cold and wet. We all thank the rest of you for staying put in winter to keep the lights on. Wouldn’t that be a pickle if everyone tried to live the vagabond life. Spring is in full bloom here. The birds are nesting in a friend’s clothes pin bag, cacti are blooming and we counted at least a half dozen wild flowers on our morning walk today.

Poppys blooming in Madera Canyon

Ocatillo Cactus in Madera

Something New

Gary — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 03:03:10 +0000

In six years of travels we have never leased a lot for a whole month and stayed put. Oh yes we have stayed in one area for a month or longer, but always in places that limited our stay. We would have to move every couple weeks to go to the dump station, or to reset the clock. These locations always are close to our children’s families homes in Hillsboro, OR or Gilroy, CA.

This time we are staying on a lot in the Beachcomber Resort in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. It also is close to a relative, Judy’s sister, Sonja lives in the same park. The purpose is to give me some quality time to commune with “The Son of Path;” Or as Judy puts it, get my new bicycle done.

Judy looks over lot 353 at the Beachcomber

We have moved onto a lot that once housed a Park Model Home. I have had to call the maintenance people at every step of the process it seems. I did find the electricity alright, but when I started to use the water I discovered the previous tenant unhooked from the water with a Saws-All. I walked over to the office and engaged the help of Herb, the handyman. Early next morning I had a brand new water standard with two shiny new hose bibs.

It was time to wash the coach and trailer. Since everything is paved here I needed to open the sewer to dump my wash water in. I got out my big pump pliers and tried to unscrew the four inch sewer cap. I gradually worked up to my biggest pipe wrench and a two foot cheater, a three pound hammer, penetrating oil and a propane torch. Nothing could break the cap loose. I walked over to the office again. Herb and his helper finally got it open with a Saws-All.

My guess is that they have not rented this lot in a while.

I did manage to get my very dirty trailer washed and it is gleaming beside our very dirty coach. We are looking forward to sunshine and 70 degrees today, so the coach will get its due.

On a different subject; all of our friends are welcome to log in and comment on these stories. There is a “Register” button in the right hand sidebar. Click that and follow the directions. Choose a name and enter your e-mail address. Then you must solve a “Captcha” word puzzle. You will be sent a temporary password and you log in with that. Be sure to change the password to something you can remember and also be sure to put in your name and some details so I can identify you. I have been getting some spammers recently and I go in and disable them. If I cannot identify you from your e-mail address, I might disable you. To get reinstated, just request a change of password. I get an e-mail when this happens. When you log back in please fill in your name and add a little to the bio. That way I will be able to recognize you. I will immediately unblock you if I have you blocked.

Meanwhile, if you get into Lake Havasu City in February this year, be sure to look us up. We are in the Beachcomber Resort on the island.

Bye for now and feel free to register and comment. Another option is to click my Facebook link and join me there. Sorry, I don’t twitter.

Love Gary and Judy

Hot Bluegrass:

Gary — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 01:46:12 +0000

Hooray! We finally found the warm weather in Blythe California. We just finished up a week of Bluegrass, pickin’ & grinnin’ and renewing old friendships. The warm weather filled in late in the week just in time for the festival. We were treated to dawn to dusk sunshine and temperatures in the seventies.

The only fly in the ointment is that I am still fighting off the lingering effects of a cold from December. The only real problem is when I try to sing I irritate my throat and suffer a setback. I can’t sit around a campfire with a guitar in my hand and not sing. So each night I promise myself I would only sing a little; yah, right…

Tonight we are getting the water tank filled back up and tomorrow we will head out into the Quartzsite desert for an Alpine Coach rally. There will be something like a hundred motor homes like ours camped together under the stars. We all get together and swap ideas on how to maintain our coaches. The company went bankrupt a couple years ago, so we no longer have a source for parts and advice.

People are starting to complain that I haven’t had a blog out in a while. The problem is I promised myself and you folks, that I wouldn’t put out a trip chronicle. I would only write when something exciting happens, like blowing up a tire or cleaning all the antenna of the top of the coach. Well I must be getting the hang of this RVing because things have gotten downright boring: Besides boring is a lot easier on the pocket book.

The exciting part is every year we have more and more friends to look up at these functions and lots of adventures to review around the campfire. Can you believe that we have been at this for over six years now?

For now we will wish all of you get to have some of this warm dry weather too, and good health to all of you.

With love, Gary and Judy

: Blythe Bluegrass Festival Colors

Bluegrass Weekend

Gary — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 19:27:12 +0000

This is our third year of attending the Tygh Valley Bluegrass Festival. (Pronounced like ‘tie valley’) Each time it just keeps getting better. This time we talked some of our friends in to joining us in Tygh Valley. Long time friends, Fran Pickering and David and Adrienne Schilling joined us at the fairgrounds. Adrienne, Fran, Judy and I sang together in choir for many years. In addition, Fran is an excellent, classically trained violinist. We perhaps corrupted Fran just a bit.

You see, classical violinists keep their instruments in spotless condition. Fiddle players feel that the haze of rosin around the bridge gives the instrument a bit of character. In fact the saying goes; “The difference between a violin and a fiddle is; it is O.K. to spill a little coffee on a fiddle.”

We arrived on Thursday and set up camp. This gave Fran and I a chance to jam a bit together. David and Adrienne showed up on Friday and we arranged our coaches with the awnings touching to maximize our picnicking and pickin’ area. Friday night was a fabulous steak dinner on David’s BBQ. After dinner we attended a showcase of new bands and then sat in on an intimate performance by a really nice band called Hardshell Harmony.

TyghValleyMountaineers Practicing, Fran sitting

The Tyghed and Dyed Scramblers Practicing

Saturday morning is the scramble band competition. It was given that I would throw my name in the jar for guitar. It took a little arm twisting but Fran finally agreed to put her name in the fiddle jar. The bands were chosen and I joined a band that decided on the name

Tygh Valley Mountaineers Perfoaming, Fran On The Right

The Tyghed and Dyed Scramblers on Stage

“The Tyghed and Dyed Scramblers.” Fran’s band became “The Tygh Valley Mountaineers.” Fran’s problem was that she had never heard either song the group chose. She stood up there like a trooper and played a solo break just like a pro. When the smoke cleared The Tygh Valley Mountaineers just aced out the Tyghed and Dyed Scramblers. I am sure it is just because they had a “cute chick” playing fiddle.

Gary, Adrienne and Fran Performing for "Open Mic"

Sunday morning, before the Gospel program they have an “Open Mic” session. Anyone can sign up and stand up on stage and perform. Fran surprised me by asking if we were going to do “Open Mic?” “Duh! Oh sure” I responded. We dusted off our songs from the church performance last summer and invited Adrienne to join us. I ran over and signed us up. An hour later we made our début. Fran performed Amelia and Waltz After Per Roos while I accompanied on the guitar. Then Adrienne and I sang “Just Over In Glory Land” with Fran fiddling on the breaks.

Gary, Adrienne and Fran, "Just Over In Gloryland"

What a wonderful time we all had. There are times when I wish I could magically whisk all of you out there reading this, to where we are and let you experience it too. The best I can do is to give you a verbal summary and some photos.

Check out last year’s open mic experience at this site. http://www.dinsmore-enterprises.com/2009/09/open-mic/

In the meantime, don’t be afraid to try something new once in a while. By the way, Fran, didn’t I see a light dusting of rosin there on your fiddle?

Love Gary and Judy

Family Legends

Gary — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 21:49:20 +0000

In the big inning there was the typewriter and gelatin transfer mimeo. In that era Judy and I were the leaders of a square dance group called the “Sage Hoppers.” I produced the monthly news letter on “spirit transfer stencils” and a tray of transfer gelatin. Believe it or not, the product is still out there. I Googled it and was directed to a tattoo supply company. The product is used to transfer designs to the skin to guide the creation of the tattoo.

Next came the ham radio and QSL cards for spreading the words. I sold my ham radio intending to buy a better one but instead purchased a CompuColor II computer based on the intel 8080A CPU and 32 kilobytes of memory. With a 300 baud modem we could have posted notes on the popular bulletin boards of the day but that was not exciting to us. Glen and I were both learning to program in Basic and Assembly languages. We were computer geeks with a capital ‘G.’

This all happened long before Al Gore ‘invented’ the world wide web and before anyone coined the term “blog.” These family legends are the stories of my youth and younger adult life experiences that I would have blogged had I the opportunity. Here is my first story:

You are welcome to comment in our blog web site or reply to this address:

gary@dinsmore-enterprises.com

This first story is about the CompuColor II computer purchased in about 1979. Ironically it cost about the same as the new laptop Lenovo 510 I purchased this year.

We had ourselves a CompuColor users club. The group included an eclectic assortment of members. One was ‘Phil-I-can-read-any-floppy,’ and another was ‘Larry-the-hardware-guy.’ One of our first group inventions was the ‘flippy-floppy.’ The five and a quarter inch floppy disks were a significant expense and they only held 53 kilobytes. By nipping a notch in the opposite edge of the jacket you could use both sides of the disk.

Compu-Color II Users Club Meeting

Everyone was busy creating programs in Basic and we would exchange programs at our monthly meetings. That is where ‘Phil-I-can-read-any-floppy’ achieved his popularity because often a floppy written on one machine wouldn’t read on another machine. Phil had dual drives and on one of them he loosened the stepper motor adjusting clamp. By fine tuning the stepper motor he could read the offending floppy and then write it back to a different floppy. If the new floppy wouldn’t read on another person’s machine he would then adjust to their standard and write another floppy that they could read.

At one meeting ‘Larry-the-hardware-guy’ came with a circuit diagram and instructions for a memory expansion board. Within a couple weeks I had purchased the required memory chips and hand wire wrapped the circuit to create my own 16 kilobyte memory expansion board. It cost $75 for the chips. My current computer has 4 gigabytes of memory. At the price I paid for 16 kilobytes, the memory for this computer would have cost $18,750,000.

For a bit more nostalgia check out this link to Old Computers.com. It almost brings tears to my eyes to read these posts from other old time users.

Glen and I both became hooked on writing programs for the CompuColor II. At one point I was teaching computer classes at the local community college, Portland Community College. I came across a program on the Apple II called Visicalc. It was a very kludgy early spreadsheet program in the lineage of Lotus 123, Symphony and Excel. I actually had the nerve to drive to Belleview Washington and call at the Microsoft offices. I got an audience with one of their managers and tried to talk them into letting me port that program to the CompuColor II. They thought it over for about 15 minutes while I waited and came back with a counter offer. They would sell me the rights to the program for $70,000. Now that was more than my house was worth, but think of it… So close, so very, very close.

I will close now, but before I go I must add one disclaimer. These stories have been told over and over again around the camp fires and in various gunkholes for many years. I will not be held accountable for slight embellishments that may have crept into the stories over the years.

Love from Hillsboro where we are still waiting for the new granddaughter. (but soon)

Gary and Judy

Playing Trains:

Gary — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:12:53 +0000

From 1962 to 1966 I worked as a telegrapher on the Northern Pacific Railroad. It started a lifetime interest in railroads. I worked in depots up and down the Northern Pacific line from Thompson Falls Montana to Toppenish Washington. On Tuesday this week I got to play trains on one of the same branch lines that I worked as a telegrapher. This time I got to play with the real trains.

This is a somewhat convoluted story so I had best start at the beginning. In 1962 my roommate and good friend, Bruce Butler helped me get a summer job on the Northern Pacific as a relief telegrapher. As part of my job I worked in the stations at Cheney, Reardan, Wilber and Almira Washington. These were on a branch line called the Central Washington Branch, or CW Branch for short.

As many of you know I managed to get my Chemical Engineering degree and had a wonderful career in the paper industry. Over the years I still had railroading in my blood. I created a HO pike in the basement of the Warren Oregon home with my son, Glen. I often stop at railroad museums and have ridden on several excursion trains.

Bruce at the Controls of the NWIX 1617

Recently I made connections with my college friend, and we discovered that we both still had railroading interests. What’s more, Bruce has managed to become a certified engineer on a small short line railroad here in Washington. Yes, incredibly, it is the same CW Branch that both of us worked as telegraphers in the ‘60s.

When we arrived in Spokane to visit my sisters I contacted Bruce and was invited along on a day long switching operation in Cheney Washington. Naturally I jumped at the chance. We arrived at the Cheney yard about 11:00 am and spent about half an hour checking and starting our engine, the NWIX 8925. (1) Once we got 8925 running and extracted from the house track we switched out our two bulk-head flats of steel destined for Geiger Industrial Park.

I was expecting a four person crew like the sixties; An engineer, fireman, brakeman and the boss of them all the conductor. Bruce was all of these. I was soon climbing down off the locomotive with the switch key to unlock and throw the switches, hooking up air lines and helping with the brake check before heading out of town. I wasn’t totally new to this. When I was a telegrapher in the sixties I often rode the engine in my off hours when the crews switched the station where I was working.

Soon we were heading for the CW Branch with our Warrant Orders in our pocket, so to speak. In the good old days I would have been the operator that copied the Train Orders and delivered them to the crew. Today our engineer copied his own orders over the cell phone. In those good old days we would have rolled along at 25 or 30 miles per hour on a well maintained right-of-way. Today we rocked and rolled along at 10 miles per hour. Along the way we spotted a flock of white pelicans at Four Lakes and a coyote near Medical Lake.

In due time we arrived at MP-8 and rendezvoused with Greg in the NWIX 1617. This GP7 was going strong when Bruce and I were working the CW Branch in the sixties.

NWIX 1617 - EMD GP7 With Three Refurbished Locomotives

We spent several hours switching stored empties around then delivering our two loads of steel and finally gathering our train to return to Cheney. For these moves Bruce and I moved over to the NWIX 1617 and Greg did most of the brakeman chores. Our consist for the return trip was an empty steel flat and two additional refurbished engines that were heading for leased duty at a destination somewhere off the BNSF.

We delivered our train to the interchange with the BNSF in Cheney and tied up both the NWIX 8925 and the NWIX 1617 on the House Track just after six. Oh yes, a couple of times Bruce let me sit in the engineers seat as an Engineer-In-Training. We certainly looked impressive with four locomotives pulling one empty flat car, even if three of the loco’s were dead.

If you doubt that I was having fun, just look at this snapshot that Bruce took of me in the engineer’s seat. Check out the speedometer, I was running within the speed limit of 10 miles per hour.

Gary At the Controls of the NWIX 8925

Citations:

The NWIX 8925 is a General Electric EMD SD45 that produces 3600 horsepower from a 20 cylinder engine and was first placed in service in 1967.
The NWIX 1617an EMD GP7 built in 1953 capable of delivering 1500 horse power from 16 cylinders.