New pastimes and retirement advice, not in that order

First bit of retirement advice is if you are asked to be on a Board of Directors, this is NOT a Sally Fields Moment (They like me! They REALLY LIKE ME!) They have you pegged for a sucker. Do it if you really want to, but have your eyes open.

So after I retired, and after some consideration, I got involved in a railroad historical society that was doing restoration of an old caboose near where I live. (BOD #1) My skill sets lean more towards deconstruction than fine woodworking. This came in handy when two additional cars were acquired.

I have an interest in historical preservation/documentation, so it has evolved that I have done much of the still photography documenting of the reconstruction. We also have a videographer. And it happens that my digital camera has a video function. In the last year, freight service has been re established in our area after an absence of many years and trials (literal trials in some cases) and tribulations in the interim. So I began documenting some of the return with the video function, and how better to share that Utube?

It turns out that there are quite a few people who are REALLY into trains. This has encouraged me to video the local trains. I've branched out a bit into our  local waterway (Also very historic, basically the reason for our towns founding) I came across a site that tracks maritime traffic, (http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/) and has pictures of many of the vessels. You can upload pictures of the ships. A local company has a number of ships, so I have been taking pictures of them and uploading them. If I can ever catch them moving/unloading a barge, I will video that and post it on Utube. I also did a utube video of the Sonoma County Gran Fondo bike ride as it passed a spot on the coast.

All this is leading up to my posting of two of the most viewed videos I've done. I don't guess there are train buffs here, but you might enjoy them anyway (they're short). The first is popular because of the audio I think. The second has some historical significance. And despite what you see here, I think these are the only times the two locomotives have run together. Enjoy!