Morning, and Happy New Year!
I never drink alcohol, and I really don't care to party much; so the new years celebration becomes just another day that I'm still breathing. Heard the banging of some short lived fireworks in the night. Other than that, we as a family had no indication that a new year was in play. Didn't bother staying awake to watch some crap on TV that signaled the new year.
It's 8:29am as I type this, and I can hear a train whistle blowing in the distance, downtown. The CN boys must be getting some overtime pay; the railroad never rests.
I always enjoy a fine, hearty breakfast on the first day of a new year, though. In this case, I'm having steak and 2 eggs over easy with refried mashed thick with onion. That should start the engines. Whipped-cream coffee to wash it down with.
Looking back, I have one years worth of interest in the model railroading hobby. It all started when I bought the G-kids a Bachmann train set in December 2019, as a Christmas gift. Since then, model railroading has replaced my previous hobby involving model aircraft, both plastic and R/C.
I started out with a mind to build a train layout for the kids. This was my very first scratch-built HO structure, built when all I had was some slabs of balsa wood:
That little shop was intended to go onto the kids layout.
My interest grew. It wasn't long before I started hanging around the local CN yard, and photographing whatever there was to photograph. I took 100's of photographs. Filed them all. Now I have files containing an immense catalog of CN Whitecourt for the historical record.
As it turns out, there is a-lot of CN activity going on in this little town. Here is two photos of our local yard, taken from either end of that small yard:
Not the best of photos, I know. They do prove that there is a diversity of CN action going on in this little town, though. It's all due to the wide spectrum of industries we have in the area. Oil, forestry, mining, and agriculture. We are a very fortunate little town.
Now, after one year in the hobby, I have the beginning of a layout, a growing cache of locomotives and rolling stock, model structures and vehicles, and hundreds of railroad photographs. I truly hope it dosen't end anytime soon, and that I'm able to bring a layout to life.
You've already seen a similar photo to the following one. It's the beginning of my layout, that is presently suffering from a lack of progress. I must also keep my wife happy, as well, so her hobby of ice-fishing has cut into my layout building time. A happy wife is a happy life!
Here is the beginning:
I lift my coffee in a toast to all my new found friends who share an interest in this great hobby. Happy New Year!