It runs in the family

I celebrated my birthday on Sunday (sorry, I'm no longer at liberty to disclose my age). K's birthday was on the 4th, and Mom's was the 6th, so on Saturday we got together for a little family affair at Mom's. Mom's sister gave me a very nice framed 8 x 10 photograph from the family collection. It so happens that their father, who died at a fairly young age following an automobile accident, was an amateur / freelance photographer, and his portfolio includes a number of railroad subjects, such as the image below...

my grandfather's undated photograph, taken (presumably) somewhere on the Pennsylvania Railroad in eastern Ohio or western Pennsylvania

Unfortunately, the photograph was undated and the location of the photo is unknown. The locomotive on the right displays a Pennsylvania RR "keystone" logo on its smokebox, so I'll hazard a guess that the location is somewhere on the Pennsy in eastern Ohio or western Pennsylvania, which is where my grandfather lived for most of his life.

Anyway, it's cooler than hell to receive such a neat photograph as a birthday gift, and cooler still to know that it came from within the family. I guess my interest in photographing trains didn't just happen by osmosis; it's in my blood.

Who was I to resist, then, when I felt the urge to go out shooting on Sunday afternoon, and again Monday morning? Sunday's efforts didn't produce anything worthy of display here, but on Monday morning I got a nice shot of this transfer job, powered by two SD45-2s, working through Saginaw.

SD45-2 6480 leads a southbound yard transfer through Saginaw. 1/8/2007.

other family matters

I could write pages upon pages about the family connections I have to the football programs of the Dallas Cowboys or the Ohio State University. My interest in football is deeply rooted in my exposure to both teams through members of my family. Unfortunately, in case you hadn't noticed, both the Cowboys and the Buckeyes performed rather poorly in their final games of the season.

The Cowboys had a win over Seattle within their grasp, and couldn't close the deal. A classic example of "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory". But then who were they kidding? SI.com exposed them as playoff "frauds" after they lost to Detroit in Week 17, and I agreed. Would they have gotten past Chicago or New Orleans later in the playoffs? Highly doubtful. I'd say it's time to take a good hard look at some changes that need to be made, possibly starting with the head coach. And if they make the right moves, they'll be in better shape to make a Super Bowl run next year.

Ohio State, well, what can I say about last night's National Championship loss to Florida? The Buckeyes were clearly outplayed (hell, it almost looked like they forgot to show up!) I was optimistic when Ginn ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown, but they sure didn't show us much after that. But I've gotta admit, if the Buckeyes were going to lose to an SEC team, I'm glad it was Florida, and not Tennessee or Arkansas (with apologies to my friend Stephen, an "Arkinsaw" alum). I've generally been impressed with what I've seen from Chris Leak, and you could do a lot worse in the head coaching deparment than Urban Meyer. Hmmm, maybe Jerry Jones would like to make him an offer?

See y'all next time!

WSC

np: Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks Vol. 21, Disc One