Bonus Weekend Steam: A Sad Case

It's not a Case; it's a Russell, but you won't see many worse than this one.  Look closely and you will see this engine hasn't just been neglected and allowed to molder away; it has actually been defiled.  If you have been following steam here for a while you will spot it.

A good-hearted engine collector saved this one from a scrapper, but it will likely never be restored.  There is just too much wrong to make it a good project.

Weekend Steam: Eureka & Palisade #4 on the Durango and Silverton

Another great pick by Merle.  Thank You, Merle!




Watching this little 4-4-0 chug along reminds me that the old TV westerns used a lot of stock footage featuring steam engines. I remember seeing Cheyenne and Maverick shows where they were supposedly riding on a train and every little bit you would get a switch to engine shots, usually of the crosshead and rods flashing and the wheels running on the rails. As a kid, I thought they filmed the whole thing on a train. It was all very exciting.

MR Ducks

I think we have seen teals, mallards and wood ducks, but I really don't know ducks.  I would eat sticks before I would shoot a duck. Click the photo to enlarge. These ducks have green, brown and white.  They are pretty ducks as far as I know.  We enjoy watching them come and go, and are glad they can rest here.  The annual goose family is evidently incubating eggs, because we see only one goose at a time now.  A couple weeks ago I watched the pair swimming across the pond to the island as the sun set behind the pines.  Life is so beautiful sometimes...

McLeansboro Odd Fellows' Cemetery Damaged

The Illinois Department of Transportation has pulled a bad one today. They have closed IL State Highway 14 on the east side of McLeansboro without posting any detour signs to guide motorists around the total blockage.  I ran into it this morning, and because I have lived and worked in Hamilton County for nearly four decades, I was able to get around it a couple of different ways, coming and going from my business today.  Many others were not so fortunate. You have to know the backroads.  Particularly unfortunate is the fact that the Odd Fellows' Cemetery is adjacent to the blockage.  Semi trucks were soon detouring through the cemetery and there has been significant damage.

                                                                Click Photo To Enlarge.

You can read WSIL TV 3's report HERE, and IDOT makes a very lame excuse.  I think I know what is going on.  The township roads are all posted now due to winter and spring road conditions, and the road commissioners do not want heavy truck traffic damaging the roads.  If IDOT had put up detour signs for those roads it would have caused trouble for them in the form of real damages; so they just did not bother.  Truck traffic should have been turned at Enfield, 10 miles to the east, and in McLeansboro where IL Hwy 14 intersects IL Hwy 142.  They also could have scheduled the work after the township road weight limits are lifted a week and a half from now. 

The map above from Google shows the shorter detour around the IDOT roadblock; safe for passenger vehicles.  I highly recommend this route, because it takes you right by Larry's Gun Shop, one of my favorite stops when I am in McLeansboro.  Larry's is marked with an L. 

Ruger's Auction To Benefit The Scholastic Action Shooting Program

Ruger is offering a 25th Anniversary Model of the .44 Magnum Carbine, manufactured in 1982.  Folks are interested, but CLICK HERE and read all about it, even if you can only wish.  Wouldn't you love to have one of these!?  The hammer falls mid-day, April 4, 2018.   $1635, I am impressed!

Tuesday Torque: Does Daddy Buy His Tires?

A poor boy can't afford to drive like that, but I saw a young guy just last week with a freshly restored old Mustang burning the tires as he left a gas station.  Given the price of tires, I always figured that someone other than the driver paid for the rubber. I hope the guy who fixed up this tractor hasn't rolled it over on himself; he is a pretty ingenious mechanic.  The writeup on YouTube says it is a Volvo 240 with Turbo.  Pretty neat!

Merle keeps finding them, and I keep posting them! Thanks, Merle!

More Than We Can Bear

The last few weeks have been rough for our extended family. We lost Hobbs, the little guy we took in as a terminal foster, then we lost Brat, our music loving black cat.  This week we heard from Barbie's Mom.  Barbie and Missy were our first Schipperke fosters, and we loved them more than we should.  They were happy little girls and they would talk to us and cuddle with us.  They moved to Kansas two years ago and have been living a great life at home and on the road, transporting horses around the country with their Mom.

Last week Barbie went off her food and her vet discovered that she had cancer.  Her Mom took her to the Vet School at Mizzou to see if anything could be done, but Barbie passed away the very next day.  Life is so fragile and short.  Barbie was a loving little dog, and we all miss her.  She loved to watch the squirrels when she lived with us, and you can see how she would follow one through the tree tops.

Rest In Peace, little girl; we will never forget you!

A Little Grinding Blast From The Past

Here is a great looking Monitor horizontal engine running a feed grinder that I shot in 2009.  For some reason I put on YouTube as Unlisted.  It has a total of 18 views, probably by posting it as a weekly grinder back then.  A grinder I posted two years later has 22,000 views, so that one has made a few dollars over the years, no doubt.  Maybe this one will get a few views now; we will see.



I noticed this as I was deleting nearly 90 shooting related videos yesterday.  YouTube demonetized my shooting vids a couple years ago and the difference was noticeable, even on a little-watched channel like mine.  One of my videos was getting 10,000 views per year, but YouTube cut it from the program because they said it did not interest advertisers.  Rather than take a chance on losing my channel over shooting videos, I have deleted them and will stick to chainsaw and engine videos on YouTube for the time being.  It is a little disappointing, but I realize that I am no Hickok45!  Most of my shooting videos were watched very little, being subjects like Pistol League on Thursday nights at the Carmi Rifle Club.  They are fun to watch if you are a member, but don't have much appeal beyond that.   Oh Well, or words to that effect.  Back To The Old Grind!

Bonus Weekend Steam, Because Winter Just Won't Quit!

Thanks to Merle, I have a new ringtone on my phone today.  I have been listening to the Number 9 Shay at Old Threshers for quite some time, but today I have switched to this melodious locomotive.  Thank You, Merle!

Squib Safety Lesson, Courtesy of Hickok45

Well, YouTube hasn't canceled Hickok45 yet, so let's look at a great safety video from Mr. Hickok.  You have to be ready to recognize a squib all the time when you are shooting, because they really do happen.