The future is on board, and also online! The impact of the internet increases! Only a few years ago, Skip the Dishes meant TV dinners for supper. Amazon was still just a river in South America. Hashtags were how we labelled containers of hash. Without the internet, it's obvious that there would be no Trackside Treasure. But here we are, at Trackside Treasure's 11th anniversary! Woot!
This is exactly the 600th post that's been published here. There are a further 35 posts in Draft format, so Blogger tells me. I also have a 'Rolodex' of ideas that are not even that far advanced, but for which I have reference material. All a mix of retro/today, freight/passenger, CN/CP, prototype/model and a fair bit of miscellaneousness that defies categorization. Just the way I like it! To get an idea where my areas of interest and experience lie, look at the labels widget in my sidebar that I use to categorize most posts:
This is exactly the 600th post that's been published here. There are a further 35 posts in Draft format, so Blogger tells me. I also have a 'Rolodex' of ideas that are not even that far advanced, but for which I have reference material. All a mix of retro/today, freight/passenger, CN/CP, prototype/model and a fair bit of miscellaneousness that defies categorization. Just the way I like it! To get an idea where my areas of interest and experience lie, look at the labels widget in my sidebar that I use to categorize most posts:
Fun Fact: According to my Blogger statistics, 25% of Google searches for Trackside Treasure are actually for Trackside Treasures!
I noticed that some bloggers have made excellent use of Facebook. Much more responsive and real-time, I realize that dialogue is much easier there than there historic and somewhat cumbersome 'Comment' communication mode of blogs. I have yet to take Trackside Treasure to Facebook - perhaps in future.
Blogging is the best way of cataloguing my interests, modelling and railfanning for future use, short of a straight-up webpage. If anyone else finds it remotely useful, that's gravy! Some recent difficulties with our ISP made it painfully obvious how much we now take the internet for granted, perhaps even more than when Trackside Treasure started. It has worked its way into our everyday life in a plethora of ways we don't even recognize anymore. But as this Jack and the Beanstalk effect weaves the internet into our corporate existence, it also guarantees the future of Trackside Treasure, rooted firmly in some anonymous Blogger server somewhere.
Each anniversary is my annual opportunity and obligation to thank my blog readers, contributors and commenters. Trackside Treasure reader and book contributor Randy O'Brien kindly created this celebratory graphic. Thanks, Randy!
I continue to enjoy the prolific and professional output of my fellow bloggers, whose blogs are featured in my sidebar: Edd, Steve, John, Dave, Chris, George, Bernard, Matthieu, Marc et Michael. It's great to be in the company of others who believe in the blogosphere.
A recent study of psalms revealed this paraphrase - loosely (and I use the term loosely, loosely!) based on the 23rd. Seemed to fit this auspicious auccasion:
Blogging is the best way of cataloguing my interests, modelling and railfanning for future use, short of a straight-up webpage. If anyone else finds it remotely useful, that's gravy! Some recent difficulties with our ISP made it painfully obvious how much we now take the internet for granted, perhaps even more than when Trackside Treasure started. It has worked its way into our everyday life in a plethora of ways we don't even recognize anymore. But as this Jack and the Beanstalk effect weaves the internet into our corporate existence, it also guarantees the future of Trackside Treasure, rooted firmly in some anonymous Blogger server somewhere.
Each anniversary is my annual opportunity and obligation to thank my blog readers, contributors and commenters. Trackside Treasure reader and book contributor Randy O'Brien kindly created this celebratory graphic. Thanks, Randy!
A recent study of psalms revealed this paraphrase - loosely (and I use the term loosely, loosely!) based on the 23rd. Seemed to fit this auspicious auccasion:
A Blogger's Psalm
Blogging is my hobby, I shall not be bored.
It maketh me do research in far places;
It causeth me to correspond with odd people;
It keepeth my mind agile;
It leadeth me down paths of understanding for curiosity's sake.
Yea, though I live through a winter of inclement weather,
I will fear no boredom if my laptop and scanner are near me.
As I wallow in nostalgia, it comforts me.
Blogging provideth me a means of escaping the tensions of my responsibilities;
It filleth my desk with books and files.
My cash runneth lower.
Surely interest and knowledge shall follow me all the days of my life,
And my posts will live on in the blogsphere forever.
-adapted from A Philatelist's Psalm by Erma V. Berkley, as discovered by Steven McLachlan.
CONTEST TIME
Time for Trackside Treasure's 11th anniversary contest. The first two correct responses received via email or via a comment on this post will win the coveted Trackside Treasure 11th Anniversary Prize Pack. Below are two images of Lego trains. I've substituted a number of locomotives in the second photo. Find them all and you win. Simply refer to the substitutions by row or location in photo, colour of locomotive or some other creative way of showing you found 'em! As always, click on photo for a larger image. Answers and winners to be announced in the 601st post! Some conditions apply. Enjoy!
(At this point, you may be asking yourself, "WTF - What the F-unit??")
Thanks for showing up, for reading, for participating,
and for being part of Trackside Treasure!
and for being part of Trackside Treasure!
-Eric
9 comments:
Eric: Thank you for your dedication to putting this wonderful blog out as you do. You are certainly a great blogger as well as a great human being. You always seem to put out uniquely different items for your readers and followers. I look forward each and every week to getting a new blog because I think what will he talk about this week?
Thanks again. You do excellent photography work. We are all grateful for your efforts. The main attribute is that you know your railroading and we appreciate your expertise.
Check your email for the "railfan sister" response to your contest!! Happy Blog-o-versary!! /Allison
Thanks for your kind comments, Bill. Looks like we've been emailing back and forth about five years now, and it's nice to have a fan of Canadian railroading on the other side of the border!
With over 40 years of material to fall back on, I can go back to the well many times to fill my Trackside Treasure bucket!
Eric
Congrats on another year, sir. I like that a blog is like reading another chapter of a book. In today's rush-rush society, it's nice to sit back for a few minutes and read about fascinating things we enjoy. This blog has long become a weekly habit for me. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for your best wishes, Michael. I will not change your weekly habit anytime soon. This relaxed posting schedule seems to work best for blogger and readers alike. Easy to catch up.
I agree that each post is like the chapter of a book. The great thing about that is - this book never ends. It just goes on and on, my friends!
Eric
Congratulations! We know how much work a site like this can be. All that time and dedication and for that we applaud you. Looking forward to 11 more.
Hi Chris and Connie,
Thanks very much for your hopeful words. I just read your thoughts on blogging on Facebook and I'll be commenting in an upcoming post. I do believe it's a process in which we 'cast our bread upon the waters' and we don't know where it will lead or what others will receive from it.
I do intend to have at least 11 more years!
Eric
Congrats!
Thanks, Jason!
Eric
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