The Royce Files

  BNSF 87 carries the name Skagit River and has been a track measurement car from at least since 2006. I found it in Fargo on cool late winter afternoon sitting on the mainline (former Northern Pacific) about a quarter mile from Dakota division HQ. These tracks parallel Main Ave through Fargo on the north side of the road. This car is former a Southern Pacific bi level commuter coach 3702 built in 1955 by Pullman. In 1985 this coach along with a few of its 'brothers' in the low 3700 series of bi-levels were sold to excursion line Transcisco Tours . 3702 was renamed Donner Lake for their Sierra 49er Express. Transcisco Tours did not do well financially.  In the early 1990s Burlington Northern grabbed up a handful of these bilevel cars from Transcisco to rebuild and put into their business fleet. As this point 3702 was renamed Skagit River, given the number  BNA 33  and painted in Burlington Northern business livery. It took on the aluminum look following the BNSF merg...

  Home Alone was a big hit in 1990. Actually it was a massive success. For nearly 2 decades it was the highest grossing live action comedy film. And success usually begets a sequel. Culkin and much of his movie family returned for more in 1992's Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Lionel Large Scale also returned in a big way in the film and this time in its natural setting- a full layout at a toy store. There are 3 noticable toy train varieties in the Home Alone 2 scene in Duncan's Toy Chest- a Brio wooden train set, a large ride on/in train (which you almost miss), and Lionel Large Scale. The Brio gets a bulk of air time due to its placement on the set but the cameras does not dwell on it for long. That large ride on one may very well be a small amusement ride. It blends into the background and gets a few seconds. I have seen one in the guise of Thomas the Tank engine in a train show video someplace. However, for approximately 11 seconds, the Lionel trains are in the foreground ...

  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...