This Space for Rent

Dec 27, 2024

Friday Dust Mite Blogging™

The cat puzzle
The puzzle mite

Dec 22, 2024

Railroad photo of the day

The Holiday Express passes Oaks Park on the way south

Polson Logging Company #2 leads a southbound Holiday Express past Oaks Park this afternoon. I was at the top of the bluff (about a third of a mile away) and despite its best efforts the lens just couldn’t keep the image stable.

Polson #2 is underpowered for the number of passenger cars the Holiday Express usually operates. The ORHF is working on restoring Mount Emily Shay #1 now, so maybe it will be the power for next year’s Holiday Express (and if there’s anything a three-truck Shay is good for, it’s pulling ridiculously heavy trains up steep ramps) and the ORHF won’t have to put a diesel helper onto the train for that steep ramp up to Spokane St.

Dec 20, 2024

Friday Dust Mite Blogging™

Tree Mite
Not very many decorations, but the ones we have are top notch!

Dec 17, 2024

qu'ils mangent de la brioche, et par “ils” je veux dire “moi”

qu'ils mangent de la brioche, et par "ils" je veux dire "moi"

Two fruitcakes, one for me and one for a secret santa gift exchange (to someone in That Paradise That Is California™, so packing it will be an experience.)

Dec 16, 2024

The strategic candied citron reserve is in excellent shape this year

Building up my strategic stockpile of candied citron

This wasn’t a particularly good year for citron (at least according to my purchased; citron was not to be found at my local store for most of the year, and when they showed up – in the middle of the high holy days? – the ratio of rind to citrus was fairly low) so I made up for it by buying and preparing lots of them.

I think I have enough for five fruitcakes right now, at least as long as the family doesn’t graze over them like a herd of hungry goats.

Dec 15, 2024

Railroad photo of the day (if the day was thursday)

The Holiday Express in the rain

I took a somewhat scenic route back from the dermatologist on thursday, and found myself stopped at the Portland Traction crossing before the Springwater Trail – the Holiday Express is running and I arrived just as it came by on its trip south.

The tiny logging mikado that they’re using until they get the Mount Emily shay back into running order is too small to pull the Holiday express up the ramp to Spokane at the Sellwood end of the loop, so they need to tail the train with their ex-BN SW1000 to get enough puff to get up that hill. I stuck around at the crossing until it passed, then passed it again on the Springwater Trail (the trains only run at about 15mph, and even in my aged & decrepit state I can get up to 20mph along the flat parts of the Portland Traction’s ROW.)

Dec 13, 2024

Friday Dust Mite Blogging™

A box of oranges with lagniappe
Something extra in a box of oranges

Dec 12, 2024

Shopping

Shopping
Back on my usual nonsense of overfilling my bags when I go shopping

Dec 06, 2024

Friday Dust Mite Blogging™

Mite & Bread
Dust Mite warms their feet on some freshly baked baguettes.

Dec 05, 2024

Shopping

The emergency randonneuse and a load of oxygen
Picking up a bottle of air on a chilly december afternoon

Dec 01, 2024

Trolley picture of the day

Freshly painted type 1

This Type 1 car looks like it’s got a new coat of paint; sort of like the paint it had when it was shipped (#116 was one of the last 2 units in the original paint, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore) but not really.

This makes me think the twilight of the Type 1s is upon us, and it won’t be long before they’re all shipped off to the scrappers or railroad museums :-(

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