The Night Before Christmas....

'Twas the Night before Christmas, and all through the yard,
Not a whistle was blowing, not a steam plume stirred.
The engines, all silent, in slumber did sleep,
While visions of passengers danced in their dreams.

The rails, silver gleamed in the pale moon's light,
As signals stood frozen, no red to ignite.
No coal clattered down, no pistons did churn,
Only soft winter snowflakes softly did turn.

On the roundhouse roof, perched high with...

Here we are already at the end of November. Where has the year gone?...

While I try to do an article the last week of the month, that didn't happen for October.

That particular week, my wife and I were working on our property in Tennessee, and as can happen with any construction project, we ran a bit behind schedule. What should have been a three day project to build our first permanent structure (an oversized shed) turned into a week. While I thought I had all the supplies...

This month's SOTS comes to you from MP247 on the NS "Rathole", otherwise known as the Town Formerly Known as Nemo. While we've been coming down here for the last few months doing site prep, the last two weeks was particularly noteable, as we moved our RV onto the site, managed to get internet and water hookups, and almost daily deliveries from Amazon. The first week was all work -- burning brush, bringing down a few trees, burying a septic tank and clearing a path for the BobCat to make it t...

As Casey Kasem used to say.... the hits just keep on coming....

And if you're old enough to know who that is, you're going to love the two sets that TrainSimulations.net just released.

First up.... SD45's in Conrail heritage liveries, which our departed friend Dave Edwards would have loved.

This set includes as-delivered Erie-Lackawana and Penn Central units, plus Conrail. These were seen anywhere Conrail operated, and will be at home on just about any route...

I had to do a double-take when I looked at the date today... Yes, September is just around the corner. With that, my youngest started what's hopefully his last semester at the University of North Texas this week, and my granddaughter went back last week to start her last year in elementary school. Time flies way too fast in that regard. Heading back to school also means one of my favorite times of year -- NFL football is back. While the pre-season is not supposed to be an indicator of anythin...

Checking Trainsim has been part of my daily routine for the better part of the last 20 years.

It's like checking the news -- I turn on the PC or open a browser on my phone, and it's there.

And I'm glad it is -- there are folks here I've known to varying degrees dating back 20 years, and this hobby is one of the few distractions I get from everyday life, and for that I'm grateful.

Some of you may not realize how close this site came to being like UKTrainsim...

Happy Independence Day!

It's hard to believe we're already halfway thru the year, but that's where we are.

I do apologize for writing this a bit late -- hopefully by now, everyone who celebrates the day has had a chance grab a burger or brat at a cookout, and is getting ready to sit back and watch for some fireworks either tonight or in the coming days.

Listening from my home office, the celebrating started in our neighborhood last night and hasn't stopped....

The folks at TrainSimulations.Net have another great rolling stock set for us....

Mechanical refrigerator cars are an essential piece of railroading, bringing fresh fruit and produce from the growing fields in California and Florida, as well as meat from the Great Plains and fish from the coasts to consumers nationwide.

This set offers the standard Pacific Car and Foundry 57' car that was in widespread use from the 1960's to the 1990's. A few still remain in service today...

I'm happy to announce all four packs produced for the 3DTrainStuff.com West Colton route by DieselsWest are now available for purchase in our storefront.

These packs are essential for anyone who owns the West Colton route, and I have to say, look pretty darn good on the Shasta as well.

Also available from DieselsWest is their Burlington Northern U30C setalso available. If you're a fan of late Second Generation GE power, you'll want to check this set out.

Pre-ditchlight...

Run8 Studios has just released their newest equipment pack -- four more MP15's in new liveries:

• BN patched to BNSF
• SP patched to UP
• GMTX
• CSX

These grizzled veterans help round out the previous liveries in Packs 1 and 2 (BN, BNSF Heritage I, BNSF Swoosh, NS, SP, Amtrak, Union Pacific, CSX YN3 and Run8 RR).

Each locomotive has a 3D cab, animated windows, doors, windshield wipers, and many other cool features that only Run8 offers.

If you like switching, check these...