Saint Canard Midland

2010 has been kind of a slow year in the Saint Canard backshop so far, owing mostly to family matters (er, that would be "business" and not the Urkel show), work (that is if Kentucky's elected blowhards can pull their collective heads out of their asses), and a general feeling of malaise over the early winter months.   The overall lighting and ambiance in the new place’s basement just isn’t up to par, which makes photography a chore and general enjoyment difficult… so motivation wanes a bit.   I installed a cheap track lighting system to band-aid the situation this week; while not perfect by any means it nonetheless adds warmth and brightness, so we'll see how that pans out.  I could decide it's just the ticket, but I reserve the right to rip it out and set it on fire.

Really, what I need is a properly finished ceiling, but I promised Anna that I'd destroy and rebuild her craft room properly before I'd do that. Well, guess what I started doing last week? Sledgehammers and crowbars have always been my favorite tools!

So pull up a chair and pour out a cold one, cuz here’s a list and breakdown of some of the more interesting projects to emerge so far this year. Even though it's been a slow one, this is a long read. You know me: I can't shut up...

In the real world, trains get DIRTY! As does anything else left exposed to the elements for decades at a time. Now, those multi-million-dollar Locomotives might be treated to a rubdown and powdering every couple years or so as maintenance schedules and workshop backlogs allow, but freight cars are all but abandoned from the time they're built until the scrapper comes calling. With service lives reaching beyond four decades and up, a typical veteran freight car becomes a rolling timeline of Mother Nature's toil and fury. Frying in the brightest sun, oxidizing in the pouring rain, festering in the deepest snow, beaten by the whims and carelessness of humans.

The Saint Canard Midland Railway's East Frankfort Shops are honored to present a completely refurbished and restored 1947 Penn Line Reading Crusader streamlined 4-6-2 locomotive, and matching 1955 Mantua/Tyco aluminum streamliner consist!

First, to get to the point: why the name Saint Canard Midland?