train – Dutch goes the Photo!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Assemble

A fierce Crocodile is assembled!

Welcome to week 214 of the Tuesday Photo Challenge!

First of all, thank you for the great response to last week’s theme; I will post the round up, some time on Wednesday.

The theme for this week is inspired by some of the fun that I have been having with Lego’s Creator Expert kits, which are works of art and a joy to assemble! In the way that jigsaw puzzles are a great, almost meditative distraction to our daily lives, I find similar relaxation in these kits.

With the theme of Assemble, you can go into a number of directions, as the English language provides some options to its meaning. Thus your challenge is to let your mind take you on a mission to assemble creative juices and share the artistic expression that you find at the end of this mission! Most of all, have fun with the theme and surprise yourself!

Here’s the kit that I put together this past weekend…

As I’ve been a fan of trains for as long as I can remember, I have always had a special place in my heart for this locomotive, the Crocodile. This class of electric locomotive was designed to handle pulling heavy loads up the steep inclines of the Swiss railroad. The Lego model is true to the original in the articulated cab with the transformer, that connects to the front and aft sections that contain the motors and drive axles. The Lightailing light kit really makes this model stand out.

The full rules of this challenge are in TPC Guidelines, but here’s the tl;dr:

Write a post with an image for this week’s topic
Please tag your post with fpj-photo-challenge (if you’re not sure about how tags work, please check out this WordPress article about tagging posts)
Create a pingback link to this post, so that I can create a post showing all of the submissions over the week (note: pingbacks may not appear immediately, as my site is set up to require approval for linking to it; helps against previous bad experiences with spamming)
Have fun creating something new (or sharing something old)!!

Find your assembly point and stay safe!

Khürt’s 52 Week Smartphone Challenge – Week 8 – Leading Lines

Infinite rail…

Time for another submission to the 52 Week Smartphone Challenge by Khürt Williams. The theme for week 8 is ‘Leading Lines’: “It is easy to use Leading Lines to show depth in an image or guide the eye to a specific spot in the image. Instead, this week use leading lines to show the concept of infinity.”

As it happened, I was taking the train back from Boston after a conference, when I came upon this view… Lucky to get these lines going to infinity (and beyond…)

Location: Back Bay Station, Boston, Massachusetts. Shot with iPhone 11 ProMax.

Three Line Tales – Muggles

Heat, water, motion!

Many thanks to Sonya for Week One Hundred and Forty-Five of Three Line Tales, part of her awesome blog Only 100 Words!

three line tales, week 145: a steam train crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct — photo by Jack Anstey via Unsplash

****

Arched abutments curve,
Stretching across verdant dales.
Steam-powered muggles!

****

Thank you to Sonya of Only 100 Words for coming up with Three Line Tales.

You’ll find full guidelines on her TLT page, but here’s the tl;dr:

Write three lines inspired by the photo prompt (& give them a title if possible).
Link back to this post.
Tag your post with 3LineTales (so everyone can find you in the Reader).
Read and comment on other TLT participants’ lines.
NEW: If you want your post to be included in the round-up, you have until Sunday evening to publish it.
Have fun.

Happy three-lining!

Three-Line Tales – On the Train

Fearless on a train

Welcome to Week Eighteen of Three Line Tales.

tot week 18 — photo by Wilson Lau – click here for full res version

****

Landscape flying by,
Strangers meet in train’s embrace.
Zipless encounter.

****

Thank you to Sonya of Only 100 Words for coming up with Three Line Tales.

You’ll find full guidelines on the TLT page –

Write three lines inspired by the photo prompt (& give them a title if possible).
Link back to this post.
Tag your post with 3LineTales (so everyone can find you in the Reader).
Read and comment on other TLT participants’ lines.
NEW: If you want your post to be included in the round-up, you have until Sunday evening to publish it.
Have fun.

Happy three-lining!

Instant Grammar – page 43

The railroad that runs through West Boylston does not carry a large amount of traffic. The occasional cargo train will rumble through town at a rather slow speed; if one gets caught by the train at one of the two grade crossings in town, it is best to turn your car’s engine off and relax, as it will be a while before the crossing clears again.

Past meets present, as we reach infinity.

When I am fortunate enough to meet a train in this way, I enjoy the time to take a closer look at what is passing in front of me. There is much to learn by watching a train pass by. The railroad is a veritable history collection on steel wheels. Ranging from the collection of freight cars and their owners to the cargo that they haul, each train tells a story.

The train may be made up from a large variety of rolling stock from carriers, such as Green Mountain Railroad, Boston and Maine, Pan Am Railways, Bangor and Aroostook, Maine Central, Providence and Worcester Railroad, and the list goes on. Each of these railroads has their own background and current state of success or trouble. Some railroads do well financially, but many small railroads’ fate often hinge on consolidation.

The types of the railcars tell another part of the story: what is being carried. Usually, I see a mix of tankers, car carriers and loads of building wood on center beam cars. One part that is always a mystery, is where the cargo originated and what its final destination is.

Additionally, the train is a rolling canvas for graffiti artists. Often just a stylized writing of the artist’s chosen name or some clever message; occasionally, there is a true masterpiece that rolls by and you cannot help, but be amazed by the talent.

By the time the train completes its passage of the grade crossing, I have been entertained, puzzled and stimulated. It’s time to fire up the engine once more and continue the journey.

I hope you enjoyed my musings about page 43 and feel free to take a look at the entire book at the following link for the softcover versionInstant Grammar 2013 by Frank Jansen or for the hardcover version Instant Grammar 2013 (Hardcopy) by Frank Jansen