Grainbelt Freight Yard, Clinton, Oklahoma

Here's a clip of video that arti73662 took on a trip through Clinton. Do you recognize the place?

Christmas Delebrations and Trains

Just discovered some trains that are part of the Christmas season in Washington D.C. Staff and volunteers prepare the White House, the people's house, every year and this year First Lady Michelle Obama has chosen Reflect, Rejoice, Renew as the theme. What that means is to think about all the things we have to be thankful for; to be happy about all the things we have; and to renew things like get together with friends and to reuse/recycle everything we can. Some 5th graders from public schools 22 in New York.



The Botanical Gardens does displays made of natural plants and they have a couple of terrific trains.



and the caterpillar train.


Which one do you like best?

Mineola, TX Train Station

This is the Mineola, Texas Train Station is near where Papa and Gigi are moving soon.

The Station has this great caboose out front.

Papa David let Gigi take his picture on the caboose.
While they were there they got to see a big freight train pass through.

So, Dylan, how would you like to bring your mom, dad and brother and take the train to Papa and Gigi's house?

Celebrating a Birthday!

Happy Birthday (again) Dylan! What a great party with lots of laughing.
It's fun to remember it all over again :o)

Snow like I've Never Seen

Check this video out - I think you'll like the surprise and hope you feel better soon.

--Gigi

Trains Plowing Through the Snow

Dylan, I know its summer but here's a really cool train video with a snow plow on the front of the engine. Have you ever seen a train with a snow plow on it? The description says it was recorded in Goodland, Kansas so I put in a map from Clinton to Goodland so you could see how far it is. My friends Sue, Tricia and Orvella live nearby in Colby, Kansas. You can see it on the map.

What do you think of the video? It looks like the land is even flatter in Goodland than it is in Clinton! How deep do you think the snow would have to be for the train to not be able to go through?

New Train Pix

While on my way to Checotah last weekend I saw the train making its way north and moving really slow. I dashed up ahead of it and was able to get these pictures. I'm sorry I didn't have my video camera with me Dylan - it would have been great video. The train had lots of cars and looked like it was hauling some kind of rock. See what you think.

You can see more if you click here. New pictures are at the bottom of the page.

This is engine 8422 and Engine 4355 from Union Pacific. I couldn't find other pictures or video of these specific trains but will keep looking. Maybe you and Mommy can look too?

Engines in Muskogee, OK

Pictures Gigi took with her iPhone for me when she was in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Cool train

Dylan and Gigi are looking up cool train videos on YouTube. We found this one.

A Cool Set of Tracks!

Dylan sent an email asking:

Gigi, can we add this video to my website? I like this big track. Love, Dylan

Here you go Dylan.


You're right - this is really a cool set of tracks!

Gigi rides the train in Washington

Gigi went to Washington DC this past week for the Inauguration of our 44th President, Barack Obama. She tried to take some video and pictures for me of the Whistle Stop train trip from Philadelphia to DC but the security was extremely tight and it grew dark before she could get to anyplace where she could see the train. Luckily, lots of other people captured video like this video from Elkton, Maryland, and this person who is standing really close to the train tracks, and this roll through at Edgewood, Maryland. (Photo of Capitol: JCKole)

She went to the concert on Sunday on the Washington Mall - which is not a shopping mall but it's what they call the area from the Capitol all the way down to the Lincoln Memorial. She really liked seeing Oklahoman Garth Brooks jazz up the crowd plus there were lots of others like Sheryl Crow who performed with Wil.i.am and Herbie Hancock, U2, Usher, Shakira and Stevie Wonder, Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce who did a remarkable rendition of America the Beautiful .. and lots more.




On Inauguration day she got up early (5:45) and caught the subway with friends to North Farragut station ... can you find the station on the map? Then she walked over to the Mall. There were about 2 million people there, the largest crowd ever. The Metro also moved more people than ever before at a little over 1.5 million! Here's some pictures of what Gigi could see from where she stood at the Washington Monument.


The best image of the Inauguration is this 3-D image from CNN that you can zoom in and around so you can see lots of details and the next neatest photo is this satellite photo showing the Mall earlier in the morning.

Gigi came home on Thursday. She took the train back to the airport in Baltimore so she took some pictures of the trains for me. She got on the train at the station in Gaithersburg, Maryland at about 7:00 and then rode down to Union Station. Then she got on another train, the Vermonter, that made a stop at the Baltimore airport.Gigi is happy about getting to attend the Inauguration and be with so many people who believe our country needs change and that the way President Obama thinks about and approaches problems will help us find new and different ways so that more people can have a better life. He says to "right the wrongs you see and work to give others the chances you've had".

She always likes taking pictures of trains for me too. She thinks trains are a great way to get around. Maybe we'll get a few more out here in Oklahoma?

Kids Train at Muskogee Mall

Gigi made a trip to the Arrowhead Mall in Muskogee last week. It is about a half hour from her house down at Lake Eufaula. She took some pictures of the little holiday train inside the Mall for me.

There only one engine and a caboose but they go pretty fast. The engine has a cool bell you can ring if you sit in there.

They'll be taking it down soon and putting it away, until next Christmas season. We've added 69 train pictures to our collection on Flickr.

And here's a couple more pictures from the Mall trip.