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And once again, there's baseball at Olsen tonight!

TCU25. My gosh how in the world has it been 10 years?

Howdy all...
I've missed being in here. Work is been something else all together. I hope to get back to my faithful ways now!

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Faithful counting down is hard work! Don't let anybody think it's easy!

Thank you for your dedication in helping us navigate these challenging times.

I made a pecan pie cheesecake last night.

No idea why the last one failed to post the pictures.

trouble said:

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No idea why the last one failed to post the pictures.

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OMG.

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greg.w.h said:

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Had to look it up!!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Railway_Express

Still had no clue…

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This is an interesting hodgepodge of locomotives. The Trinity Railway Express has either purchased or is leasing locomotives from other railways for its operations between Dallas and Fort Worth.

The first locomotive, as you noted, is from the Trinity Railway Express and is painted with its Texas-flag theme.

The second locomotive is from Northern Lines Railway--a short-line railroad in Minnesota--with the old Burlington Northern cascade green paint scheme that was originally used to denote the forest country of the Northwest and the timber industry.

The third locomotive, painted in black, yellow, and red, is from the Kansas City Southern Railway, which was described on a 26 September post.

I have enjoyed learning about railroad history this year through ensign_beedrill's daily countdown posts and some follow-up Interwebs sleuthing. We are just over four months away from the start of Aggie Baseball 2026!

And key lime pie

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ensign_beedrill said:

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Wikipedia: "Amtrak"

Amtrak: "Amtrak Facts"

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation is the United States' national passenger railroad company. It operates using the name "Amtrak," a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track," and uses the reporting marks AMTK and AMTZ. Amtrak operates intercity rail service in 48 of the contiguous U.S. (there is no service in Wyoming and South Dakota) as well as the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.

Amtrak was founded in 1971 by a congressional act that required it to "provide efficient and effective intercity passenger rail mobility consisting of high quality service that is trip-time competitive with other intercity travel
options." It operates many U.S. passenger rail routes, receives a combination of state and federal subsidies, and is managed as a for-profit organization.

Amtrak's company headquarters is located one block west of Union Station in Washington, D.C. It is is led by a ten-member Board of Directors: the secretary of transportation, the Amtrak chief executive officer, and eight members appointed by the president with approval by the senate for five-year terms.

Amtrak's network includes over 500 stations along 21,400 miles of track. It directly owns approximately 623 miles of this track and operates an additional 132 miles of track over rail lines owned by other railroad companies.

In fiscal year 2024, Amtrak served 32.4 million passengers and had $2.5 billion in revenue, with more than 22,100 employees. Nearly 87,000 passengers ride more than 300 intercity Amtrak trains daily. Nearly two-thirds of passengers come from the 10 largest metropolitan areas and 83% of passengers travel on routes shorter than 400 miles.

During fiscal year 2024 in Texas, Amtrak operated an average of five intercity trains per day on 3 permanent routes serving, with 397,248 total passengers boarding or alighting in the Lone Star State. Amtrak Texas service was provided via the following routes:
State-Supported Train Service
-"Heartland Flyer": Ft. Worth - Gainesville - Oklahoma City
Long-Distance Train Service
-"Sunset Limited": New Orleans - Houston - San Antonio - El Paso - Tucson -
Maricopa (Phoenix) - Los Angeles
-"Texas Eagle": San Antonio - Austin - Ft. Worth - Dallas - Little Rock - St. Louis - Chicago

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ensign_beedrill said:

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Source:
*Wikipedia: "Apalachicola Northern Railroad"
*"Green Empire: The St. Joe Company and the Remaking of Florida's Panhandle"
*Railroadfan Wiki: "AN Railway"
*Railroad Fallen Flags: "Apalachicola Northern"

The Apalachicola Northern Railroad (reporting mark AN) was a short-line railroad which operated in the Florida Panhandle of the United States. It owned and operated a 96-mile track between Port Saint Joe, Florida, and Chattahoochee, Florida, with a short spur to Apalachicola, Florida. It was founded in 1903 and ceased operating in 2002 when the St. Joe Company, its corporate parent, leased its line to the AN Railway.

The company was chartered on April 7, 1903. Construction began on March 21, 1905, and trains began running north from Apalachicola in 1907. The extension to Port St. Joe was completed on May 10, 1910.

The company came under ownership of Alfred I. du Pont in 1933, along with the entire town of Port St. Joe. The railroad's largest customer, the St. Joe Paper Company mill in Port St. Joe, was owned by the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust from 1936 to 1996. On September 30, 1940, the du Pont trust properties transferred control of the railroad to the St. Joe Paper Company. When the paper company was sold in 1996, ownership of the railroad was returned to the St. Joe Company.

AN Railway, a subsidiary of the Rail Management Corporation, leased the line from the St. Joe Company on September 1, 2002 and acquired the railroad's locomotives, rolling stock, and railroad equipment. From that date the Apalachicola Northern ceased to operate as a railroad. The St. Joe Company continues to own the physical line.

Tuesday night and 122!
If you lived in great times then this man was THE "VOICE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL!"...."Whoaaa Nelly"
I truly miss his voice on Saturdays.
Thank you Mr. Jackson for all the great memories.

aggiewilliford said:

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Tuesday night and 122!
If you lived in great times then this man was THE "VOICE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL!"...."Whoaaa Nelly"
I truly miss his voice on Saturdays.
Thank you Mr. Jackson for all the great memories.

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I would have loved to hear Keith Jackson call Johnny's games, especially versus bama

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Please hurry up. Football being good helps, basketball being interesting helps… but man I can't wait for baseball season

Should we be worried about ensign?

She's probably just busy at work today. If she doesn't post by this evening, we worry.

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Sorry! Been traveling all day. But I just saw a train and it reminded me. Thank you, train!

ensign_beedrill said:

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Sorry! Been traveling all day. But I just saw a train and it reminded me. Thank you, train!

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I am glad you are okay, ensign, and that you got 120 posted. I had these Chicago Metra Locomotive #120 pictures on standby on my computer all day to ensure if you could not post by day's end that we had a 120 days-to-go locomotive picture post for 16 October. This Chicago commuter locomotive honors U.S. military veterans.

Thank you for keeping up each day with updating this post. It has been fun seeing and learning about railroad history this year through your posts as we await the start of college baseball season. We are exactly four months away from Texas Aggies Baseball 2026!