As An Aside

For a break in the action as they say, I'm taking a couple of train trips in September and October. In September, four of us -- Ken Heyl and Alan Steiner of Ashland, OH, and Stan Swope of New Philadephia, OH -- are meeting in Chicago and taking the Southwest Chief to Los Angeles, the Coast Starlight from LA to Portland, OR, renting a car and driving the rest of the coast to Seattle, and then bringing the Empire Builder back to Chicago.

In late October, there's a bunch (10-12) of us who gather at the Station Inn Railroad B&B in Cresson, PA (great place for railfans) for several days. Cresson is six or seven miles from the world-famous Horseshoe Curve, and only about 20 miles from Altoona. I checked, and I can take Amtrak from St. Louis through Chicago, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh to Altoona for about half what it would cost me in gas (750 miles, one way) to drive it, and guess what? It's more rail travel for me. Good friend David James will pick me up in Altoona, and then I'll be joined by Ken Heyl, Dick "Sarge" Bloss, Stan Swope, and Alan Silverberg among others. And we'll enjoy the wonderful hospitality of B&B owner Tom Davis, and his right-hand gal, Sandy.