The Royce Files

  Lionel Trains have appeared in numerous TV programs and movies. Usually these are of the 3 rail O scale variety. Let's look at an often overlooked Lionel product line that received some air time in classic movie. Having cornered the market for O-scale 3 rail trains (or at leasting thinking they did), in 1987 Lionel decided to step into the G-scale train business by creating a line of trains and accessories called Lionel Large Scale. They were not quite typical G-scale proportions like G-scale manufacturer LGB (which I think was something around 1:22.5). Lionel Large Scale was somewhere between 1:24 and 1:29. A bit fuzzy on size compared to prototypes but they still ran on the common G-guage 2 rail track using DC power.  Lionel never seemed to be too serious about the G-scale market. They put out a few new sets every other year and had a few accessories.  By the mid 1990s the line was floundering despite the addition of an Atlantic engine and GP-9. They even released an ...

During the last week, 2 turkeys decided to make my backyard their home. I only have chickens in my backyard so these fowl were invasive. I ended up chasing them away into another yard. Then they returned a few days later. Typically the turkey in the area are found down by the river- about 2 miles east. I had a turkey come through last summer. It strolled through and moved on quickly.  Then the other day I discovered that turkeys come in numerous types- although I am sure there are 2 species: wild turkey and ocellated turkey. These species are found in the western hemisphere. Europeans have classified some fowl as turkey coq or turkey hen since traders from the region around Türkiye  brought the birds to Europe. However, these definitely look like the birds we call turkeys in North America. Breeding may have brought out distinct traits in these birds. May you American enjoy your turkey this Thanksgiving. And if you are Canadian, I hope you had a pleasant Thanksgiving back in Oc...

  The story of the 353 goes back to 1971 according to the Rollag 50th year show book. It was purchased and then a little over 10 years later it was ready to move on Rollag's Steamer Hill. A lot of volunteer hours went into restoring the engine and laying out the track and grade on the show ground. The 353 is a former Soo Line and then ran in private service for a few years until it wound up at the Minnesota Transportation Museum. It is at that point some Rollag fellows found out about it and convinced the Rollag show that a full-size engine around the grounds would be a great attraction. They were right. This train to no-where circles the grounds and carries hundreds, maybe even thousands of guests, each year during Labor Day weekend.  On the grounds, the train passes 3 depots- the former Hickson, ND depot, the former Hitterdal, MN depot, and the Baker MN depot. There might also be the remains of the Buttzville, ND depot but I am not sure. The building that is used as a restro...

  Really? Has a brand of frozen pizza really shaken you? Look for yourself and be shaken err shook.  Pizza to be shaken by To cut to the chase, the top 2 pizzas this article ranked were Red Baron and Tombstone. Not really brands that I would think would stand out in their collection of 17 frozen pizzas. Certainly nothing that would leave me in that state of shook. But hey, it's pizza! I'd eat it even if it did not shake me to the core. Except maybe Totino's. That pizza is awful. Lileks would have a heyday with this one and how frequently they throw around the pie term to refer to the product. Seems a bit pretentious, too.  The reason I bring this up is there seems to be a trend in some of these click baity articles to make their discoveries appear to be earth shaking with headlines that include shook.  But, it makes us click. And then we find inflation also has infected the Internet as a lot of these are just intended to be billboards for ads while you peruse a somew...

 What is this a one post a year blog now?! No! At this rate it will be a 2 post a year blog. On to the sign. Grain Belt Premium was the beer of choice in the upper midwest. These signs were everywhere in small town beer joints across Minnesota and the Dakotas and even into Nebraska (Grain Belt had a brewering in Omaha at one time.) They might even still be there considering how slowly things change out in the boondocks. As a side note, there was a bar in my town called the Boondocks. I think they only served 3:2 beer. They did not have a sign like this.  I discovered this sign out at Bonanzaville in West Fargo on a cold weekend in December. The pioneer museum has numerous old buildings from the region on the property including a few bonanza farm houses. The Brass Rail was a saloon and hotel in Page, ND . It existed since ND became a state in 1889 but did not serve alcohol until prohibition was repealed in 1933. ND was a dry state until that time. Although, considering the larg...

  My search for this beer first led me to Canada. There was a Northern Breweries that had a presence up in Ontario. I could find nothing about their beers beside a label for an ale. They happened to be the first employee owned brewery in North America. However, after selling to an investment group that intended to revive the brand, Northern Breweries went bankrupt somewhere around 2006 or 2007. However, this Northern Breweries was a dead end for this particular label. After a little more digging, I found the Northern Brewing Company of Superior, Wisconsin. This is the brewer that produced Northern Beer amongst other labels. Northern had been around since 1890 when it was the Klinkert Brewing Company. Through some reorganization in the years following, Klinkert became Rueping and finally Northern. It was quite the prosperous operation in Superior and NW Wisconsin. They even distributed some batches to Milwaukee. Unfortunately, their fortune would begin to diminish when a bad batch...