blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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 | | 10/02/2008 10:09 AM |
| Posted By sheepdog on 10/02/2008 6:05 AM I got them both in a hock shop (lots of tools available that way these days). That really got my attention. With all the unemployment and lack of new construction projects here in the rust belt, now would be a good time to upgrade a few power tools. Craig
I don't think anything will get new construction of homes going anytime soon. Even if money loosens up, I suspect that most everyone will be very reluctant to commit any resources to building a new home with the economy as uncertain as it appears to be now. Thus, plenty of tools will eventually appear in the hock shops. Also, I would expect plenty of good deals quite often in the hardware stores. | |
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 10/02/2008 12:22 PM |
| | Sure enough, two hours later the snow started falling in earnest. Now it has picked up. Not much of a chance the tracks will be visible again until it is so cold it doesn't matter. Time to start pulling in the engines that are parked out in Cicely, it appears (or at least pull the batteries). There are several passenger consists parked out there. Chances are there is where they will remain. | |
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kormsen
in the middle of the westparaguayan semi desert
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| | 10/02/2008 1:42 PM |
| how many weeks have you been snow-free this year?
i think, it was well after our last rainfall, that you wrote about snow melting. was it late march, or early april? | |
 construction site - keep off! | |
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 10/02/2008 4:56 PM |
| Posted By kormsen on 10/02/2008 1:42 PM
how many weeks have you been snow-free this year?
i think, it was well after our last rainfall, that you wrote about snow melting. was it late march, or early april?
We've been snow-free here about five months. It has been snowing all day today. I removed the remaining engines from the Cicely model area today, as well as a the Milwaukee Road passenger coaches.
The Santa Fe and the Great Northern coaches are all lined up in there where they will probably remain over the winter. That means until about the end of April. I needed to clear some of those out so I have room to add additional structures over the course of the winter, assuming I build any more of them. | |
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John J
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| | 10/03/2008 5:40 AM |
| Is the Bar Closed for the Winter months or do you open for the local people? | |
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 10/03/2008 4:58 PM |
| Posted By John J on 10/03/2008 5:40 AM Is the Bar Closed for the Winter months or do you open for the local people?
I may very well be one of the few such places open in the entire Copper Valley this winter. It is rumored that the two original roadhouse lodges--Gakona and Copper Center-are closing for the first time in several years. I will continue to operate through the winter as usual. | |
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 10/04/2008 12:27 PM |
| Looks like winter might be here to stay. The day following the snow storm that brought in an accumulation of a foot in some parts of the valley, much of the snow remains on the ground. As of this morning the tracks are still iced-in. That is well ahead of conditions in recent years. By the middle of October any snow remaining on the ground stays there until spring (barring one of those rare warm spells called a "Chinook--none in the last two winters). In a few days I will insulate the two openings in the bar which enable the trains to leave the building, thus officially ending the garden railway season. As to the gardens--everything remaining out there has been crushed to the ground from the heavy snowfall.
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llynrice
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Cornwall, Vermont
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| | 10/04/2008 12:57 PM |
| I tend to view the winters here in Vermont as being longer than I'd like; but, you've got us beat by about a month. I think I'll not move to Alaska. Llyn | |
Llyn Rice
Cornwall, Vermont
Vermont Scenic Railway | |
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Semper Vaporo
1st Class Member
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
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| | 10/04/2008 1:24 PM |
| I just can't help saying this...
Global Warming. | |
 C. T. McCullough
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
SA #37469
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kormsen
in the middle of the westparaguayan semi desert
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| | 10/04/2008 2:09 PM |
| As of this morning the tracks are still iced-in. That is well ahead of conditions in recent years.
Global Warming.
seems to be the only valid explanation.
if the alaskans would stop to emit this nasty CO² from their chimneys, they would be able to notice the descending temperature. | |
construction site - keep off! | |
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tmejia
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Southern California
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| | 10/05/2008 8:54 AM |
| Ron, Thanks for the great pictures. It was wonderful reading about your summer train running.
OT: I am always hearing about the Polar Bear. I know nothing about Polar Bears except that they always make the news. So as for your weather As of this morning the tracks are still iced-in. That is well ahead of conditions in recent years. Is the cold weather early for all parts of Alaska? Is the early cold weather good or bad for the polar bears? Just curious, Tommy Rio Gracie The above question is based on the misconception that everyone knows everything about the state (province, country...)they live in. | | | |
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 10/05/2008 11:06 AM |
| Posted By tmejia on 10/05/2008 8:54 AM Ron, Thanks for the great pictures. It was wonderful reading about your summer train running.
OT: I am always hearing about the Polar Bear. I know nothing about Polar Bears except that they always make the news. So as for your weather As of this morning the tracks are still iced-in. That is well ahead of conditions in recent years. Is the cold weather early for all parts of Alaska? Is the early cold weather good or bad for the polar bears? Just curious, Tommy Rio Gracie The above question is based on the misconception that everyone knows everything about the state (province, country...)they live in.
I operated the trains only rarely this summer due to unusually bad weather. In the last month I did not run them at all. The winter of 2007-08 and the summer of 2008 show a persistent cold trend. 2008 was the third coldest summer on record, even while the ice mass on the arctic is apparently diminishing. It amuses me that some would blame this on the activities of man. It ignores a much larger climatic trend that goes counter to the AGW theory. Polar bears are at their height in population for much of the polar region even as the ice is said to diminish. However, these animals have dealt with much higher temperatures with the corresponding melting of ice within their own 100,000 year existence as a species separate from grizzly bears within the arctic. | |
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ThinkerT
Alaska
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| | 10/05/2008 2:23 PM |
| Is the cold weather early for all parts of Alaska? No snow yet in my corner of Alaska (western Kenai Peninsula) - but it has been trying. (I'm also on the coast which has some temperature benefits). Usually, hereabouts, we get a snowfall that doesn't last along about the middle of October, and another one that does at the end of October or the first week or two into Novermber. From that point, it is down until April.
Is the early cold weather good or bad for the polar bears? Pretty much what Blackburn said. THere was a bit on the news last spring though about how some of the folks in the far north native villages were speculating that the polar bears (active year round) would come ashore and mate with the local grizzleys (who do hibernate for the winter) producing a new breed of bear that would be active year round.
Time for Blackburn to dig up his 1/24 scale snowplows and snowblower attachments for his locomotives.
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Torby
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North Chicago 'burbs.
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| | 10/06/2008 6:39 AM |
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Time for Blackburn to dig up his 1/24 scale snowplows and snowblower attachments for his locomotives.
I think he just goes into hybernation. | |
 "If Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier. But it is not. We cannot compete, in simplicity with people who are inventing religions. How could we? We are dealing with Fact. Of course anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about."-- C. S. Lewis | |
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John J
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| | 10/07/2008 11:46 PM |
| I take my hat off to all you guys that can stand the cold for 6 months. I was born and riased in chicago and always hated the cold and the winter months. The worst thing being the gray skies. I was so glad when I moved to where I could spend more time outside. The last ten years here in AZ with so much sun have been great. Even in the 117 degree heat I am much happier. They say it is snowing in Flagstaff already. | |
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Torby
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North Chicago 'burbs.
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| | 10/08/2008 5:38 AM |
| Some have noticed that Alaskans tend to retire to warm places  | |
"If Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier. But it is not. We cannot compete, in simplicity with people who are inventing religions. How could we? We are dealing with Fact. Of course anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about."-- C. S. Lewis | |
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 10/12/2008 10:10 AM |
| | I headed up to Fairbanks (264 road miles north of here) on Thursday. The roads on this end were mostly packed with hard snow. But on the return trip a Chinook had moved in, melting away most of the snow and ice from the last two snow storms. The roads as of last night were largely free of ice and temperatures had warmed up considerably. I found my model railroad was also free of ice and snow--something I did not expect. I have already sealed off the indoor part of the model from the outdoor sector and have removed most of the locomotives and rolling stock for the season. However, if this unseasonably warm weather continues, I may go ahead and run a consist one more time before winter permanently sets in. | |
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John J
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| | 10/12/2008 10:47 AM |
| I thought a Polar Bear was a Albino grizzly  Shows you how much I know about animal husbantry.  | |
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Ron Senek
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| | 10/12/2008 11:18 AM |
| | Snowed here yesterday but only added up to a skiff. Guess it is time to get the snow plows out and ready and the snow blower charged up. How do you see the polar bears as they are white unless you wait till they smile or open their eyes. | | | |
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blackburn49
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Copper Center, Alaska
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| | 10/12/2008 11:29 AM |
| Posted By Ron Senek on 10/12/2008 11:18 AM
Snowed here yesterday but only added up to a skiff. Guess it is time to get the snow plows out and ready and the snow blower charged up. How do you see the polar bears as they are white unless you wait till they smile or open their eyes.
By the time you see their smile it's a little too late for YOU ! | |
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