Kiwi Steam Locomotive

This great looking locomotive is from our travel archives. It's the Kingston Flyer and it's based on the South Island of New Zealand in Kingston on the southern shore of Lake Wakatipu. This is a New Zealand built 4-6-2 Pacific and it originally entered service in 1927.









The passenger cars are steam heated wooden carriages dating back to 1898.


If you know anyone who's in the market for a scenic railroad complete with rolling stock, this operation is up for sale. Unfortunately, given the world wide financial difficulties and the impact on tourism, the holding company went into receivership in 2009. Hopefully, someone will rescue this beautiful train and put it back in service. It's a classic in a very scenic part of the world!

A Healthy Brunch!?

Today I decided to Blog about my breakfast/brunch. Taking a cue from my food idol, Larry, aka "Big Dude", I checked the fridge to see just what odds and ends I might have to work with. As it turned out, we had some leftover scalloped potatoes with cheese and country ham... Not a bad start! (Better yet, it was top notch Benton's ham that Big Dude had given us to try out) http://bigdudesramblings.blogspot.com/

So I put some butter in a frying pan and dropped in the scalloped cheese potatoes with ham... I fried them up until I had some nice brown edges on the bits and pieces. Then these goodies were placed on a nice slice of toast and topped with 2-over easy fried eggs. Of course, I sprinkled Tabasco over this yummy brunch before I finished it off! Laurie was slightly nauseous when she saw my masterpiece, but she just doesn't know what she missed!

Local Restaurant with a Greeter!

Dennis, who is one of our golfing partners, told us that he'd heard about a restaurant near Vonore Tennessee and the nearby Kahite golf course that allegedly has a good breakfast. Since we're always on the lookout for a good breakfast, we went looking for the place.

As is standard operating procedure for us, we managed to arrive too late, finding The Lost River Cafe just after they ran out of biscuits and stopped serving breakfast...

Upon arrival, we were very pleased to note that this local country restaurant has it's own special 'greeter' right by the front door!

This is Lexi... She loves people and all the attention she can get! We understand that she just lives up the hill from the restaurant but she hangs out on the bench outside the restaurant most of the time that the place is open.

After introducing ourselves to Lexi, we went inside and ordered lunch. Laurie's fried chicken sandwich was just fine but my double bacon cheeseburger was worthy of a photo! We guessed that there was about a pound of meat on this beast...plus a double layer of cheese and a double layer of bacon. (There must have been about 8 slices of bacon on this monster!) It was perhaps just a tad overcooked, (I forgot to specify how I wanted it cooked), but it was still significantly better than most burgers that I've recently encountered. I was very glad that I didn't order any French Fries! Our next trip to The Lost River Cafe will be planned so we have a chance to try their breakfast menu...

The Lost River Cafe is located at 858 TN Hwy 360, 2.1 miles east of US Highway 411 in Vonore. Kathy Hawkins, is running this restaurant. She's attentive and friendly as was our waitress. No Credit Cards. No Liquor. Specials every day... Hours are from 7 am to 3 pm, Tuesday through Sunday. They serve breakfast from open to close on Saturdays. Phone: 423-884-2497

From My Photo Archives

Back in 1998, we photographed this impressive Milwaukee Road locomotive at Red Deer Montana. This is a 1946 GE "Little Joe" 12-axle 5500 horsepower Electric Locomotive. Twenty of these locomotives were built for export to the Soviet Union but shipment was blocked as the US & the USSR slid into the Cold War. After sitting for awhile, 5 were sold to Brazil, 3 were purchased by the Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad...and eventually, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad bought the other 12.

The Milwaukee Road used 2 "Little Joes" for passenger service, pulling the plush and famous Olympian Hiawatha to Seattle. The nickname "Little Joe" was used by the railroad in reference to Joseph Stalin...who had originally ordered the engines. These electric locomotives stayed in service for the Rocky Mountain Division of the Milwaukee Road until 1974 when the electric portion of the railroad was closed down. (It should be noted that shortly after this line was closed down, the oil embargo started and fuel prices skyrocketed)

The South Shore Railroad used 2 of their "Little Joes" for freight movement until 1983. These were the last electric locomotives in regular mainline freight service in the USA. In addition to #E70 shown above, South Shore electric locomotive #803 is preserved at the Illinois Railroad Museum west of Chicago in Union, (http://www.irm.org/), and locomotive #802 is on display at the Lake Shore Railroad Museum in North East, PA, about 10 miles from Erie. (http://www.grape-track.org/)

Classic Michigan Railroad Depots

As we cruised through southern Michigan, we sought out old time railroad stations. I enjoy the touch of history, the architecture and the search itself. It's part of our explore America's back roads mentality. You just never know what you're going to find.

This railroad station in Tecumseh was built by the Lake Shore & Michigan Central and the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton Railroads. It's been nicely preserved as a business.



This attractive well preserved 'stick style' two-room depot in Moscow Michigan was completed in October of 1883. It handled the mail, freight and passengers for 2-trains per day for the Michigan & Ohio Railroad's Allegan to Toledo Line.

The line, (and the depot), was closed by the then current owner, the New York Central railroad in about 1930. In 1933, the building became the Moscow Township Hall

Old Time Dining in Michigan

When we recently cruised through my family's home territory in south central Michigan, we found our way back to a couple of local diners/dives to see if they still had that extra local touch.



The Silver Spoon Cafe in Concord had recently changed names. Now it's called the Concord Cafe. The good news is that they still have that community table in the middle of the dining area and breakfast is as good as it ever was. Great sausage & gravy, fried potatoes and ambiance!


The Concord Cafe is at 122 Main Street, just off of MI Rte. 60 about 10 miles west of Jackson. Phone: 517-524-6222. Concord was settled in 1832 and was incorporated as a village in 1871. There is an interesting cemetery and many old homes are scattered throughout the village.


One of our favorite hamburger joints or dives in the USA is Schlenker's, a 14-stool restaurant in Jackson Michigan. This place has been around since 1927 and its had at least 5 owners, who were smart enough to make very few changes. The burgers may be a little smaller than they used to be but the quality is still there. Quality meat fried on a flat top grill accompanied by some nice hot French fries! My choice is always 2 double cheeseburgers...

I felt that Schlenker's was a little more 'charming' or quaint before they added the new front entrance. Previously, you had to enter through the left door if you wanted to sit on the left side of the U-shaped counter and in the right door if you wanted to sit on the right side...

Schlenker's is located at 1104 East Ganson Street in Jackson. Cash Only. Phone: 517-783-1667

A Bit of Civil War History

This little piece of history actually began in the 1840's. In my ongoing quest to find and photograph old Freight and Passenger Railroad Depots, we came through Tunnel Hill GA.

We found what we were looking for...the old stone freight depot built by Western & Atlantic. At one point not too long ago, it had been incorporated into a larger structure as part of an ongoing business but now it once again stands alone.

And then, there's this piece of history...and why the town is named Tunnel Hill. This 1,477 foot long tunnel under Chetoogeta Mountain was completed by Western & Atlantic in 1848. Initially, the freight was pulled through the tunnel and the passengers had to walk over the mountain! This tunnel was the first one completed in the south and it wasn't replaced by a new tunnel until 1928. The 'new' tunnel, which is parallel to the original, is still in use.

The tunnel figured into a dramatic piece of Civil War History...The Great Locomotive Chase. Fortunately, the Union force that seized "The General" failed to accomplish a key part of their mission...the destruction of the W&A Tunnel under Chetoogeta Mountain. Tours are now provided into the tunnel.

The Clisby-Austin House is located right down the hill and across the road from the tunnel. The Union's Atlanta Campaign started here. The house was used as a field hospital during the battle of Chickamauga...and later as General William Tecumseh Sherman's Headquarters during the Battle of Dalton. Confederate General John B. Hood and his amputated leg spent time in the field hospital. He kept the leg with him so it could be buried with him if he died. He survived, but his leg is buried here...


The town of Tunnel Hill is on US Highway 41 just southeast of Chattanooga and quite close to I-75. It's an interesting side trip to make...