Trackside Treasure's Fifteenth Anniversary

 CRYSTAL ANNIVERSARY!

To christen this crystal 15th anniversary of my little corner of cyberspace, I need to first turn to my blog partners Steve Boyko, George Dutka/Don James/Peter Mumby, David Gagnon, Stephen Gardiner, Michael Hammond, Bernard Kempinski, Matthieu Lachance, Chris Mears, Derek Pittman and Marc Simpson. I will put those ten blogs, and those 12 bloggers up against any rail blogroll in cyberspace. I don't think you'll find a more dedicated yet eclectic, entertaining yet professional, high-quality but humorous bunch o' bloggers anywhere this side of the Pecos! I thank them especially on this day for making my blog interesting not only for me to read, but also for providing Trackside Treasure's readership with enjoyment and education! Crystal is the traditional moniker for 15th anniversaries, and it's crystal-clear to me how much I value their cyber-contributions to train-watching, railway modelling and history alike!

Trackside Treasure is my online home, and it's really many types of houses all in one: 

• a clearing-house where information is moved in and out
• a warehouse where research is carefully stored
• a treehouse providing escape from the real world for awhile
• a clubhouse where all are welcome without fees or dues
• a greenhouse where posts are cultivated over time, and...
• my wheelhouse.

At 823 published posts and counting, you can expect to continue finding a mix of prototype and model, CN, CP and VIA, freight and passenger, east and west, retro and current posts. If it's on rails in Canada, you'll be sure to read about it here, sooner and more often than not, later! You can dial up some earlier anniversary posts to find out why I blog and what has kept Trackside Treasure surviving and thriving since that August day in 2008. But if you're reading this, I think you already know. Alrighty then, now, it's...

...THE CONTEST

What's a Trackside Treasure anniversary without a contest? It's nothing, I tell you, nothing!  To avoid having to obtain a government lottery licence and pay a phalanx of philandering and pedantic lawyers, this contest needs to be semi-skilled. Of course this contest always needs to be somehow railway-related, but with a fun option. The Trackside Treasure legal team tells me that my asking your mother's maiden name, first pet's name or oldest sibling's middle name would show questionable judgement on my part and might be considered scammy. So instead, this year I invite you to enter the contest in one, two or even three OTHER ways:

• Tell me what specific piece of railway equipment you'd choose IF you had a large-enough property and IF you could have that piece of railway equipment fully restored and magically placed in your yard tomorrow morning AND/OR
• Tell me your favourite kind of pie AND/OR
• Tell me what it is about Trackside Treasure keeps you coming back for more!

It's just that easy! Entries have closed as of Wednesday, August 16, 2023 at noon Eastern Time. A winner will be randomly selected from any and all entries, and memorable entries will be published in a postscript! Now, rush to your device to enter! 

Instead of the customary prize for those OTHER Trackside Treasure anniversaries, the lucky winner from this SPECIAL Trackside Treasure anniversary can instead choose any one of my seven books (only Trackside with VIA - Research & Recollections is out of print) and it will be delivered directly to your mailbox, Supermailbox or front step as applicable, like your morning newspaper, not like the Amazon package for the guy three doors down!

Rules. Inevitably there are contest rules, written in legalese: Late entries will be considered late. Early entries prior to publication of this post will be considered amazingly prescient on your part. Contest not valid in Kenora, Rat Portage, Norway, Norway House, Northern South Dakota or Southern North Dakota, Samoa, Western Samoa or CanIPleaseHave Samoa. Not to be combined with any other offer. Like, have we ever had another offer? Don't think so. Does not come with an accompanying gym membership nor a monthly cellphone plan. Professional driver on closed course - do not attempt. No phone entries. No riders. Just no. Discretion assured and legal representation provided pro bono by Sonny LaMatina.

WHAT'S THIS? THE ANNIBURSARY

I believe in giving back. Oddly enough, one reason I started blogging was because at the time, it was pitched as a money-maker. Turns out that it's only lucrative with a huge fan base, tons of posts daily and hosting advertisements. Um, no thanks. So I started blogging my own way, pleased to have no editor or rules. If it weren't for Trackside Treasure, there would be no loyal Trackside Treasure readers. There would be none of the amazing connections I've made with like-minded readers, and the amazing opportunities and interactions with you, that I continue to enjoy. There would be none of the eight books I've created that enabled me to share information with other enthusiasts offline. There would have been no way to pay for my chihuahua's expensive surgery nor my all-consuming Royal Doulton figurine wing recently added to our already palatial home, nor my incredibly risky virtual-currency and NFT side-hustles.

<POUR PARTAGER LA PISTE>

But seriously, if that's still possible at this point, to give back and to celebrate this Trackside Treasure Crystal Anniversary, I'm proud to announce The Trackside Treasure Annibursary. Each August anniversary forthwith, I will bestow upon a fellow blogger or reader a modest bursary to fuel their initiative, interest and ingenuity in blogging or other online activity. The bursary can perhaps be used to pay for expenses incurred in sharing information, research costs, travel for research or if the honoree so chooses, even donated in their name to a Canadian rail preservation effort. The honoree and/or Trackside Treasure will be free to publicize this award as they so choose. 

The Trackside Treasure Annibursary comes with a curvaceous crystal trophy inscribed with the recipient's name and year as well as the fancy French motto that describes all railway bloggers and researchers and loosely translates as "To Share The Track". No-one controls cyberspace alone, we need to share: knowledge, enthusiasm and information. That is our lofty goal to which all railway bloggers and researchers ascribe. (Oh, and the trophy is only a jpeg file, so don't look for a soapstone carving, gold-plated trophy or any achingly-weighty tchotchke in your mail, nor some huge brown paper-wrapped package you have to pick up at the post office, or arriving at your door with accompanied by an armed escort.)

The inaugural 2023 recipient is...MICHAEL HAMMOND of Nepean, ON!

'The Beachburg Sub' blog has been an ongoing labour-of-love for Michael over the past ten years. Despite the challenges of living in a city with not enough trains, Michael has taken the initiative to seek out what there is to be found: Ottawa's light rail transit system, CN branchline service, the history of various locations, and railfan opportunities that present themselves elsewhere are among the plethora of posts Michael has published over the past ten years. 

Coming from a family that has worked on railways for over five decades, Michael brings his journalist nose and his family-man integrity to the blog platform each and every post. Michael has started social-media efforts and speaking on mental health topics, navigating working from home during the pandemic, keeping himself involved in family events, and his family involved in railway-related events throughout. He continues to hone The Beachburg Sub visually and photographically, with well-written posts, and has even formed community with many other rail enthusiasts, around CN's movements west to Arnprior. For all this, Michael is entirely deserving of the first Trackside Treasure Annibursary.

 Congratulations, Michael and keep up the good work!

'Now, on to the Pacific! Er, Trackside Treasure's 16th year. 

Thanks to everyone for being aboard 

and all your interest, patience, comments, suggestions, emails and assistance. --Eric

Running extra...

A nice surprise to mark Trackside Treasure's anniversary month was the arrival of VIA's seventh Siemens set this past week. Thanks to a heads-up from Malcolm Peakman, we caught the set being hauled by CN 5675-8956 at Collins Bay. The first delivery to rate two CN units!