POSTSCRIPT: EIGHTEENTH ANNIVERSARY CONTEST

Thanks to all those who participated in this year's Eighteenth Anniversary Contest. This year there were three ways to win, all related to Canada's futuristic new Corridor line...or a favourite sandwich. The Eighteenth Anniversary Contest was lunched only a week ago, but here's an aide-memoire to aid your, you know, memory:

1. Please give us a better name than ALTO. It can be bilingual, unilingual, or in Italian (like ALTO)*

2. Let me know why you think we NEED ALTO, or conversely, why we DON'T NEED it.

3. What's your favourite sandwich? (Bread preference optional.)

The entries were enigmatic, elegiac, eclectic and elucidating, emigrating from all across North America. It was fun to read through the entries and to appreciate their variety. Even more rewarding were the good wishes sent in by loyal Trackside Treasure readers and blog partners - congratulations and kind comments. Those are my kind of comments!

The lucky winner's entry was also the first received! Within mere hours of publishing the post, Eric May submitted these entries FTW - I swear his was not chosen because of his first name....

Congrats on 18 years! I've learned a lot, had some good reminiscences and quite a few laughs. The recent Ontario Northland railbus header photo was a good one.

For the contest I would call the train Rapido. It's been done before but I think it sounds better and implies speed.

Do we need Alto? Probably yes, but not in its current form. Toronto to Montreal...but if you are going to extend to Quebec City, you might as well go west to London or Windsor as well.  I'm from Peterborough but I don't think they need a stop. Kingston does.

Favorite sandwich? Peanut butter. To fancy it up add bacon or switch to a cinnamon raisin bagel.

Three for three! The Trackside Treasure prize pack will soon be winging its way to Eric, from Eric. Thanks again to all those who collaborated in the celebration; who shared in Trackside Treasure's big day.

Now that my appetite has been appeased by a sandwich, it's back to more of the hard-hitting rail-based journalism you've become accustomed to here on Trackside Treasure. Coming soon for the prototype enthusiasts...is it, or is it not OK to spray-paint graffiti on a train? And for the model railroaders out there, is it OK to call them model trains or should we continue calling them model choo-choos?

Thanks, and now it's on to Trackside Treasure's Nineteenth Year!

-Eric