So here we go, a long-overdue bump of a tired and quiet blog (the crickets aren’t chirping? They died!). For what it’s worth, the blog is titled after three joys in my life and I have been partaking in all three less-than-often, until recently. News abounds and my heart is truly light with excitement as the year unfolds into the most trying, interesting and somehow amazing year I’ve had yet in my 20’s. Let’s start with the toys, then move onto…. er, more toys.

The trains have been at the station for far too long. Of course, their gross numbers have dwindled in weak areas and grown mightily in the score of Iron Horses! Ferroequinology, I believe, is the term for the study of the Iron Horse. To truly appreciate it, one must go back to the roots of locomotion and put the spotlight on steam. My diesel rosters have been picked-clean of anachronous modern machinery and non-northwetern motive power. After the fat was trimmed, my loco boxes were looking awfully scarce…. like vultures picked those bones clean. Of course, I still had all the diesel I could ask for, so I had to really sit down and rethink what was missing. The consequence of this is, simply put, I had to get MORE STEAM! I’ve now got almost a full box of nice steam locomotives, some wearing NP monads and lettering, some in eastern roads waiting for their new assignment. All of ’em I want, even those wobbly old Model Power limpers that pull a half a boxcar.

The recent focus? Mallets! I had purchased a stunning Rowa 2-8-8-2 (for a fantastic deal, no less) and the thing is equipped with, no kidding, a smoke generator. Never seen one on such a small loco! With any luck, I’ll be chuffing around the tracks with a proper NP Z-3 Mallet sometime very soon (decals to set, tenders to swap, et cetera). What a project! ONe of the cool features here is the “shorty” tender run behind those old helper locomotives- with a short operating distance, why bother pulling extra fuel when that horsepower could be pushing that damn train uphill? Check out this old RVN pic. What a beast!

Another well of joy for me has been the recent, rapid releases of some very cool Northern Pacific equipment. Forst off, Centralia/Intermountain has just announced their coming NP coaches, not just in their prior Loewy green colors but in PINE TREE SCHEME as well!! Not to mention their new entry (with this same Coach car run) into the SP&S market. Sounds like someone over ther at IM has NP fever too! Atlas has announced reruns of some nice cabeese in new NP numbers, and let me tell you, the detail on those cab’s will have you hoarding them as well! Rapido has new Loewy cars en-route, having taken pre-orders some time ago. Life-Like has previously produced a highly regarded 0-8-0 yard goat switcher, and their new run announcement includes two NP road numbers! Very sharp models, definitely one of those in my future. Yeah, it’s a good time to be a Northern Pacific modeler! It’s also time to batten down the hatches, there’s sure to be stormy seas when the wifey sees all these new toys on my workbench! No, not really. I have my hobbies & she’s got hers, but the excitement she fakes when I show her new stuff is really, truly telling of how much she loves me 😉

Now on to some real steel… The stable of 1:1 scale toys grew a touch recently, with the regaled return of my 1966 Plymouth into the family motor pool (ok, keys stay with me but it’s not like my dollw ants to drive the thing)! I had sold the car last summer to a really great guy out in the boonies of Bodega Bay, but here I was surfing Craigslist and saw the car up for sale! Needless to say, whe my heart jumped a beat I knew I had to have it back. Now after a tune-up and some mechanicals, that old Chrysler power plant is purring like a kitten. Time for some bondo and spraypaint! No, sorry, kidding. I plan on having it actually painted at a shop, done once and done right. Some cars are well worth the extra time and effort! The details of the car? Don’t expect much in the “go”- that 225ci Slant Six is all you need but not much more. The car’s cool points? No rust, Clean interior (black bucket seats, console shifter, yeah baby!), rallye wheels, and damn fun to drive. We’ll see how the summer goes, but as of today? Project #1.

Might as well discuss some stogies while I am here! My humidor is staying better-stocked sonce the move last fall; my apartment complex is a non-smoking joint (lol) and I am respecting that. When I can, I pull out a nicely-aged Padilla and spark it up on a trip (next stop: who cares) to remind myself that the “good life” is anywhere you make it. So I do…. I make it good. Every day, every damn day of every week of every year I do something that makes me happy. If I can only offer that one bit of advice, trust me! Now as far as where to buy those tasty stogies? CI: Cigars International. Good prices, good service, and none of the snooty “culture” BS that half the tobbaconists in California will try and push on you. Check ’em out, I promise it’s better than a kick in the junk! If you don’t like ’em just send it to me. Or even if you do like ’em.