The last train odyssey video

[VIDEO] From YouTuuba he posts the last leg of his "train odyssey" starting in Chicago to Los Angeles aboard Amtrak's Southwest Chief. Then he leaves Los Angeles to take the Coast Starlight train along the California coast to Portland, Oregon. Then he leaves Portland on the Empire Builder to return to Chicago.

Thus in the above video you see another version of the trip depicted in another video shared here. A British tourist travels from Portland to Chicago on the Empire Builder and most of the sound track are contemporary music and it sounded great. Of course, this one is more of a documentary with "YouTuuba" doing a lot of talking with regards to what we're seeing in his videos.

I'm aching for a trip to the pacific northwest at least though I know it'll probably be a lot like what's going on in LA. Portland and Seattle has been in the news for a burgeoning homeless population. I remember being in Skid Row in LA in 2016 and it wasn't entirely pleasant. Don't know what I brought that up, I just recognize that Portland and Seattle are nice places to visit but not without their issues. There probably isn't a place on this planet that doesn't have their local issues.

Duration of the above vid is just about 4 hours. A long one but to see various streetscapes and landscapes, it's worth it

Another mini-railroad video

[VIDEO] So Jim Zimmerlin visits another mini-railroad this time in Oregon called Train Mountain. Here's his description:

The Guinness world record for the longest miniature railroad is an amazing 2200 acre property in southern Oregon known as Train Mountain. I met up with Tom Watson for a tour of the railway, first from a golf cart, and later from his own gas-powered train. In a two-hour train ride, we only managed to travel on a portion of the layout!

I also got a look at G-Ville, the four acre section of Train Mountain dedicated to G-scale garden trains... and I'm seriously thinking about bringing some of my G scale model trains up to G-Ville to run on their layout.

And check out the metal work shops. If they make these trains from scratch they have a lot more talent than I do. Wouldn't mind taking up that hobby.

RIP Old Man

[VIDEO] The death of the "Old Man" from Pawn Stars is actually old news since he died in June. Did a brief tribute to him on my twitter. I'm a fan of that History channel program it's very entertaining with negotiations over historic and culturally relevant pieces.

And the cranky Old Man is as much part of the show as his son Rick Harrison's vanity - which isn't about his good looks BTW. I find the Old Man quite earthy and old school and most of the time even if I'm not in his orbit get where he's coming from on some things. I enjoy his quips and knows how to keep the two generations under him in line.

I saw the program put together in light of his death Rick and Big Hoss speaks of him. Then we also have Chumlee who was another foil to the Old Man. I got a sense of who the man was and now we won't see him again. I might be scared to be in business with him, but he's a business partner I wish I had. Though with that recent episode I got more of a sense of who he was outside of the cameras of the TV program.

And yes we got to see representatives comment on Mr. Harrison particularly executives from the owner of History - which is owned by A & E networks. I thought it was corny but hey Pawn Stars has proven to be a successful show that TV viewers want to see. We'd better see the network pay tribute.

RIP to the "Old Man" Richard Benjamin Harrison!

Semaphore rail signals

[VIDEO] Thanks to YouTube I know far more about the semaphore signals along a stretch of the Amtrak Southwest Chief route (Glorieta/Raton Pass). These are likely the last of them on any railroad in America - or for those of you who are nitpicky the United States.

This type of railroad signal is what I was referring to with regards to Jim Zimmerlin's video I had shared with you on Friday. If I had my own miniature railway - I titled that post "Big Model Trains" - I would like to have semaphore signals!

Big model trains!

[VIDEO] If I got myself some land anywhere and enough of a lot do something like this I'd like to. Build my own railroad and spent my free time riding around on it using sets like the ones you see above.

Jim Zimmerlin is a man who not only like cruises, he also likes model trains. He owns G-scale model trains and he takes us to the Bitter Creek Western Railroad in San Luis Obispo County in California. It's a very cool video and a very cool layout you see here.

I wonder what they do for railroad signals, because I wouldn't mind installing those old fashioned semaphore signals on such a railroad.

Business Insider: 21 simple ways to earn passive income

One of those 21 ways is something that I'm doing here which is using Google Ads, and of course I should see which one of the other ways works for me. I'd have to see about writing a book, doing a YouTube tutorial or even using referral links.

Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker

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[VIDEO] Within the DC Comics Extended Universe the Joker made his first appearance in 2016's Suicide Squad. It was cool to see Jared Leto play the role however I recognize how he just didn't fit in that film. He was there for his comic ally Harley Quinn - who was at first a creature of Batman: The Animated Series. Beyond that he was there so that we could see the Joker in that very young DCEU.

While this film reportedly isn't intended to be part of the DCEU, however, it's interesting that they got Joaquin Phoenix in the iconic role of the Joker. Joker has been played by such actors as Caesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamil (voice on Batman: The Animated Series), and of course more acclaimed by Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight). And Phoenix is a great actor so I can only imagine his own take on Batman's most dangerous foe.

Thanks to this video from John Campea we learn more about this future project.