A few CVRR pictures and some other related pictures....

[rogruth]

Today we seem to want to go where we can walk down the street and find everything we need or want. No need to establish any kind of rapport with anybody or anything. No need to plan. Just walk down the street in a town, resort or theme park. Everything you want to do is ready and waiting.
I have a daughter that loves Pigeon Forge. She does not understand that I can be happy sitting on the hillside listening and watching.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Have we lost our ability to just sit and relax, and unwind?

Takes me about 4 days to get to a point where I can sit and relax - unwinding is a slow process.

You don't need a resort-destination style hotel, with headliners performing nightly, and
a casino to ensure that you leave money in the resort, to enjoy a vacation, or do you?

Nope. I have been known to sit out on the balcony enjoying the view and sound of the ocean reading a book - I avoid the beach in excess since I go straight to burn and have no wish to accelerate the rate of skin cancer occurring.

I am equally able to relax at my place in the woods in PA even if that means a few hours with a chainsaw - that fireplace on a cold night, a book, the radio, and a recliner......

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Mount Vernon Hotel, Pen Mar, Pa

[healey36]

Pen Mar in 1904:



In the immediate foreground is the spur that served Pen Mar Park (and a half-mile further to the southwest Blue Mountain House). Down the hill is the Western Maryland mainline descending the mountain to the Cumberland Valley and Hagerstown. On the distant ridge one can just barely make out the Buena Vista Hotel, the second of the three major resort hotels in the area (Blue Mountain House, Buena Vista Hotel, and The Monterey).

The observation deck in the photo was torn down when the park was demolished in the 1940's. It was rebuilt by Washington County some thirty years ago:



Thanks for the Pen Mar pics Rufus...my grandparents and parents spent quite a bit of time there back in the 1920's and 1930's.

Healey

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Thanks for the Pen Mar pics Rufus...my grandparents and parents spent quite a bit of time there back in the 1920's and 1930's.

One last one for now...



Probably on that curved track in your photo....

[rogruth]

I really like the observation deck.
Most just don't seem to have time to stop and observe anymore.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Main St., Cross Fork, Pa

[rex desilets]

My goodness! If one is a ToC modeler a scene like that would allow one to use the available western-prototype structure kits--of which there are many--and not run afoul of the anachronism police

[MurphOnMillerAve]

The moment I saw that photo of Cross Fork, PA, it reminded me of a very gritty western-type series that was on TV several years ago, named after a town that actually existed: "Deadwood". Man-o-man, I enjoyed that show, but it disappeared in short order. I'm not sure why. Maybe I was its only fan?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

a scene like that would allow one to use the available western-prototype structure kits--of which there are many--and not run afoul of the anachronism police

The moment I saw that photo of Cross Fork, PA, it reminded me of a very gritty western-type series that was on TV several years ago, named after a town that actually existed: "Deadwood". Man-o-man, I enjoyed that show, but it disappeared in short order. I'm not sure why. Maybe I was its only fan?

Just over 100 years ago, parts of Pa were still the "west".

[rex desilets]

<snip>

Just over 100 years ago, parts of Pa were still the "west".

And there were lots of trees, too. Around ToC PA was the 2nd or 3rd largest producer of wood in the US. I assume you have the Taber, et al, series of monographs on PA logging

[Rufus T. Firefly]

<snip>

Just over 100 years ago, parts of Pa were still the "west".

And there were lots of trees, too. Around ToC PA was the 2nd or 3rd largest producer of wood in the US. I assume you have the Taber, et al, series of monographs on PA logging

I do have that set - PA was effectively clear cut not long after this photo-card was made - hard to believe but PA was indeed noe of the top lumber source 100 years ago - every scrap was put to use and if could not be used as lumber, it was rendered for chemicals and the bark was used for the tanning and leather business.

[rex desilets]

I think worst of all was turning old-growth hardwood into chemicals. Cherry, hickory, oak, etc.
But, it was a time when our resources seemed infinite.
Far right-winger that I am, I applaud the later fanatics who fought for sustainable resources. If only they'd stopped

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I think worst of all was turning old-growth hardwood into chemicals. Cherry, hickory, oak, etc.
But, it was a time when our resources seemed infinite.

Chemistry from wood died off being supplanted by petrochemical sources but many natural products are still from trees; the cancer drug taxol was initially derived from a yew and the demand was such that species was threatened with extinction - a semi-synthetic analog was developed but the starting material remains a natural product, albeit if far greater abundance.

Still, we will never see the quality of that wood again. Only small bits of it live on in furniture and the beautiful woodwork in the interiors of period homes. It pains me to know that some of the better trees that are on my land will have to come down for safety reasons - too large & too close to the house and sheds.....

Far right-winger that I am, I applaud the later fanatics who fought for sustainable resources. If only they'd stopped

Again, we will never see the quality of that wood again. It's gone forever - somewhere out in my one shed I have a 22" wide board; white oak and chestnut barn beams, but I look at all the acres of trees that I own, and there are few trees of that caliber there other than some of the older poplar. That sustainable sources doesn't come close to providing hardwoods of the size that we once had.....

I have a quadrant of woods that is full of cherry trees, but even after 50+ years, few are large enough to make much in the way of wood suitable for cabinetry. When one dies off or I have to harvest it for whatever reason, after aging a bit, a good hot fire in the fireplace of cherry does smell great and throws off some real heat. With luck, this year I will be able to get into that quadrant and do a little weeding ( a week or so with the chainsaw, tractor and chains). I managed to do an adjacent one a few years back and the maple, hickory, and oak therein responded nicely.

[robert.]

Here is some old growth French walnut