As you might expect from our widespread readership, there were a variety of responses to the three possible contest questions.
Favourite railway and why in 12 words or less included:
- My basement HO. My heart is where the home is.
- New Brunswick East Coast and its Alcos.
- Louisville & Nashville Railroad. "The Old Reliable".
- Bundesbahn Osterreich for the cool places it took me.
- ex-CP VIA Rail for the dining cars, domes and clean sleepers.
- Canadian National, watching trains coming from Symington spawning an interest in trains.
- CP runs in my blood.
Favourite colours included sky blue, teal blue, red, and tuscan red.
Favourite bird Number One was the cardinal and Number Two was the snowy owl.
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And the winner is... Eric May.
Eric chose Canadian Pacific, for the Dayliners he rode in his youth. He also gave Cascade Green as a favourite colour, though he winged it for his bird choices: The cardinal, though he also wanted to say tufted titmouse or blue footed boobie. Well, that's TTTMI, but it all works! Eric will be receiving the often chimeric Trackside Treasure prize pack very, very shortly!
Special mention goes to my Railfan Sister who is prohibited from winning the contest because she lives in a place that starts with 'N'. However, not wanting to end on a sour note or sow dis-chord or dis-harmony, I have featured photos she's shared with me from her August travels north (above) and south (below) of the border in this post. VIA eastbound, one of CN's newest ex-Citirails, and a rare platform crew change at Kingston - in this case an early morning CN No 121 (all above).
I even added a somewhat scurrilous inscription of her serendipitous shot of a well-known West Virginia historic and railfan mecca that I hope to visit again. I edited the hue of her photo, choosing john brown. Just trying to be civil and not start a war, for which I don't want to give her any ammunition or act like even more of an arsenal.
Thanks to all for being part of Trackside Treasure's extended family. Speaking of family, we are all on Kingston's platform to see Mom and Dad off to Portage la Prairie, MB aboard an 11-car No 1/55 led by VIA 6765-6618 on July 20, 1983:
Stay tuned!
It's great to have you aboard
as we enter Trackside Treasure's
quirky and quixotic quindecennial year!
-Eric
Even though my Symington entry didn't win I feel honored that it made it to "print" on your blog. My first exposure to trains was seeing CN sw1200's pushing strings of cars up the hump and letting them go....for a 5-6 year old that was very exciting to see even if at that time I had no idea why they were doing it. Like I said CN was the first railroad that I saw and I fell in love with those black and orange locos as well as those pt st charles cabooses.
ReplyDeleteI work in Portage and cross the CN and CP tracks everyday. I look around and I can picture in my mind where all those elevators used to be from following your blog. I also get so much info from all the Portage photos you posted from your trips. Thank you for sharing
Ronald Hildebrand
When I began blogging, I was quite intimidated about sharing my limited knowledge of railways in a forum that often attracts bile and poor behaviour. Your encouragement early on helped my blog find its legs. So, congrats on 14 years, but more importantly, thank you for the friendship you show to all your railfriends. That's the real reason to celebrate.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ron and Michael, for both your kind words and for reading along on Trackside Treasure.
ReplyDeletePortage cast its spell on me when I first got there as a 12 year-old kid. Coming from the CN Kingston Sub, there were still so many trais in Portage, and that included CP! On each visit, my aunt and uncle made the customary tour around Winnipeg including Symington!
There certainly is a lot of competition and one-upmanship online, and although I like bragging and pointing out others' mistakes as much as the next guy (maybe more?) that's not going to help anything online. Let's just all get along and enjoy this rather arcane hobby!
Eric
I just had a feeling I should check back for contest results…thanks for including my contest responses, and for the Railfan Sister highlights in this post (though what’s with the letter “N”…?🙃)!!
ReplyDeleteI guess the crew change is like a rare bird sighting eh?!? And while I loved the full-color view (in 100F heat!) the sepia version is pretty cool! 🇨🇦🇺🇸
Checking back is like voting - you should do it early and often!
ReplyDeleteEDG
Haha, yes!! I just forget to remember stuff sometimes (and school has started!)
ReplyDeleteBTW congrats on logging another successful blogging year!