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by SHKarlson
The Fifty Book Challenge has welcomed a goodly number of new members, and some of them have been ambitious at getting their fifty books for 2012 read in the first quarter. I continue to play along, and there's a realistic hope of fifty by the end of the year, but if not, well, that's a mountain I've already climbed. Herewith the first quarter summary, with links to detailed reports at the Challenge. Some books are particularly good (+), others particularly bad (-).
Read more... (2 comments, 266 words in story) by SHKarlson
The Fifty Book Challenge, which started as a temporary community, has continued in operation and Live Journal highlighted it for 2011. An encouraging cohort of new members has begun posting.
(Note to European Tribune members: the Fifty Book Challenge is a Live Journal community. It is not a book club, where the members agree on the fifty books to read, and the Challenge is for fun rather than for bragging rights.) Read more... (474 words in story) by SHKarlson
The Amtrak timetable that took effect November 14, 1971, was the first effort by the carrier to put its own image into place. There were two earlier timetables, a very rare May 1, 1971 edition, and a somewhat more readily obtained July 15 version. Both were produced by the National Railway Publishing Company, producer of The Official Guide of the Railways, and they had that Official Guide look to them. Many of the contracting railroads published timetables for their services. In the case of Seaboard Coast Line, only a disclaimer "Operated for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation" recognized that there was a new operator of the trains.
That November 14 timetable began with the "Northeast Quick Reference Schedules" in a read-across format typical of airline schedules of the era. Then came the "National Quick Reference Schedules" in the airline format, with the city where a change of train took place. At the time, the carrier only listed same-day connections, thus Pittsburgh to Seattle or Los Angeles to Miami were not options. (Only later did Amtrak make a virtue out of necessity and suggest that cross-country travelers take a day to explore Chicago or Kansas City or New Orleans.) The standard read down - read up timetables were still present, relegated to the rear of the timetable. Read more... (1 comment, 1395 words in story) by SHKarlson
Lots of opportunities to play outside during the second half of the summer, and then comes football, and some unexpected developments in the pennant races, and the Fifty Book Challenge gets crowded out. In this shortish third quarter report, the links go to the review at the Challenge.
Read more... (391 words in story) by SHKarlson
In the early days of Amtrak, the agency simply wrote checks to support passenger train operation, but otherwise it was still very much business as usual. These images, from 120-size slides, show the carrier in Chicago in late July or early August of 1971.
Read more... (269 words in story) by SHKarlson
The summer session is a good time to make some headway toward meeting the Fifty Book Challenge. In the second quarter report, the links go to the review at the Challenge. Some books are particularly good (+); others particularly bad (-).
Read more... (1 comment, 330 words in story) by SHKarlson
Amtrak began operations on Saturday, May 1, 1971, with an early promotional slogan of "Tracks Are Back." Congress created the carrier as a quasi-public, for-profit corporation to relieve the railroads of passenger service losses that had already led to the Penn Central bankruptcy.
Read more... (27 comments, 1158 words in story) by SHKarlson
There's been little time to post lately, and griping about the workload doesn't make for interesting posting. Work does progress on the Fifty Book Challenge, with the first quarter report ready for filing.
Read more... (3 comments, 321 words in story) by SHKarlson
I've been participating in the Fifty Book Challenge since the beginning of 2005. That early spring arm injury set me back some, but a summer train trip gave me an opportunity to catch up on some reading, and the year-end office closure allowed time to catch up on posting the reviews. Here's the fourth quarter report for 2010. Please follow the link for the date the report was posted to read the diary entry, or book review, at Fifty Book Challenge. I evaluated some books as particularly good (+) or particularly bad (-).
Read more... (547 words in story) by SHKarlson
Never mind the recession, the fiscal unsustainability of the social democracies, or rehabilitation of a broken arm. Summer is a good season to ride trains (the other good seasons are autumn, winter, and spring) which for this summer meant a swing around the western United States on Amtrak's Empire Builder, Chicago to Vancouver, Washington in late June; the Cascades Talgo and Coast Starlight, Vancouver to Sacramento; the Capitol Corridor (perhaps the best example of relatively inexpensive yet successful regional rail in North America) Sacramento to Santa Clara; and the Capitol Corridor and California Zephyr, Santa Clara to Chicago, over the Independence Day weekend.
Links to detailed, illustrated reports of sections of the journey below the fold. Read more... (3 comments, 229 words in story) by SHKarlson
In 2005, I was foolish enough to essay a compilation of all fifty books for that year's Fifty Book Challenge. That was task enough that commencing in 2006 and continuing in 2007 and 2008 I attempted to publish a quarterly progress report (the links point to the previous links for those years).
Read more... (417 words in story) by SHKarlson
The third quarter report on Fifty Book Challenge progress suggests the possibility of meeting the quota for 2009.
A comment to a previous diary entry suggested posting a diary for each book. Please follow the link for the date the report was posted to read the diary entry, or book review, on my web log. Read more... (3 comments, 348 words in story) by SHKarlson
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Read more... (3 comments, 323 words in story) by SHKarlson
The 2008 Fifty Book Challenge is done.
The bookworm has 51 segments this year. Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo The details are here. by SHKarlson
The third quarter features substantial progress toward the 2008 Fifty Book Challenge. There are enough books finished or close to finished to make the goal feasible, although with a presidential campaign and a major macroeconomic event in progress, there's a challenge making the time to finish the reviews.
Read more... (362 words in story) by SHKarlson
It's possible that the 2008 Fifty Book Challenge will reach that target.
Read more... (214 words in story) by SHKarlson
The first quarter offered tornadoes in January, enough snow to cleanse the atmosphere of dust, a winter that still isn't done, and Cruel February.
Read more... (1 comment, 171 words in story) by SHKarlson
The move and a busy fall semester kept me from making the half-century in the 2007 Fifty Book Challenge. That said, I managed to add a few more in the second half of the year.
Read more... (337 words in story) by SHKarlson
I had perceived an obligation to remind readers what real railroading looks like, and a recent commenter reinforced that perception. Friday offered clear skies, falling humidity, and with the university offices closed to conserve electricity, no guilt in returning to the Burlington Racetrack. If I had an afternoon to explain railroading to a European, this would be one place to go. All times reflect the time stamp from the digital camera, which is pretty close to accurate, and are expressed using the railroading convention of p.m. in bold.
More train blogging! - afew Read more... (29 comments, 758 words in story) by SHKarlson
The St. Ives Bay Line offers a taste of old-style branch line railroading along Cornwall's Atlantic Coast. There's quite a serious climb out of the station and through the ridge in the distance. The branch was the last piece of Great Western seven-foot gauge track to be built. Conditions are definitely less summery than they might be at Sleeping Bear Dune let alone San Juan Capistrano, but a few brave souls are swimming.
From the diaries - afew Read more... (6 comments, 353 words in story)
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