To steal a piece of construction from C-3P0, "I'm afraid the Superintendent has gone and done something enviable." That is to say, he's gotten an excursion ride aboard a train powered by Milwaukee Road 261. This locomotive, a 4-8-4 Northern steam locomotive originally built for the Milwaukee Road, was built by the American Locomotive Company in 1944 and was restored to operational service in 1993 by volunteers in a for-profit capacity.

His entry has lots of useful pictures and is a good read; go on and check it out. We in western Virginia haven't had this kind of opportunity in some years, so it's a fun thing to read about a museum piece's successful operation. Love that Skytop lounge!

Posted by: Country Pundit at 09:20 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Inbetween dodging service outages reportedly caused by Turkish nationals hacked off at a fellow Munuvian, I bring you this:

The Honorable Norman Y. Mineta, Secretary of Transportation, has announced his intention to resign effective 07 July 2006.

I read this and instantly thought of Rip, who doesn't like Mr. Mineta. A quick trip to his site confirmed it; he was just about equal to the Corner in posting speed.

This might be a good thing for supporters of the current National Railroad Passenger Corporation, or it might not be. Mr. Mineta definitely seems to have had it in for Amtrak in its present incarnation, and may or may not have been entirely fair in the process. His departure presents an opportunity for things with regards to Amtrak to get better, and it also presents an opportunity things to get worse. That is, the appointment of someone with the same axe to grind against the system, but with more skill and persistence.¹

Nonetheless, I would like to thank Mr. Mineta for his service and wish him well in his future endeavors.

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¹ I realize there's more to being Secretary of Transportation than sitting on the Amtrak board of directors, but that's what I chose to remark upon.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 08:53 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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