Inseparable.
Inextricably intertwined, like mistletoe and holly, like Macy's and Gimbles. Whether running in circles 'neath your tree, or the real deal holding you up at a grade crossing when you're in a hurry, trains say Christmas and Christmas says trains.
I suppose we have Lionel to thank for that. We might also owe some gratitude to A.C. Gilbert Co., maker of American Flyer.
Toy trains are pretty darned cool. Me, I love the real thing, the prototype upon which those miniatures are modeled.
Keeping the relationship alive means a thank you to Steamtown and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.
This Saturday past, Steamtown was the starting point for the CP's Holiday Train, a train that begins in Scranton, and get this, ends its trip in Port Moody, British Columbia. That's one heck of a trans-continental run, all by rail, rail existing right here in NE PA. The possibilities for rail travel are amazing. The realities are pathetic.It's a bit sad that the railroad that brings us the Holiday Train is a Canadian corporation, not American, even though America all but invented railroading as it was practiced at its peak. Even at that, thanks are due Candadian Pacific.
The peak of the American railroad was no more evident than it was in NE PA, and more particularly, in the City of Scranton, where the Delaware Lackawanna and Western Railroad, one of the nation's finest, was begun and headquartered in Scranton for beyond 100 years.
Just wanted to toss some photos of this great event out there. If you think you see any ghostly figures, sorry, they ain't. These three photos were the result of long exposures with my camera on tripod, during which time people moved in, out, and through the shot, while the locomotive was static.
The locomotive is CP 9824, a General Electric AC4400CW. A diesel-electric built by General Electric in, I do believe, Erie. That's foamer stuff.
