The Rip Track

In this episode, we visit the Barstow Harvey House, the preserved Waupaca Depot, and do a quick recap of the 2012 MWR NMRA convention.

Barstow, California, Harvey House

I talked with Joseph Hisquierdo, Director of Public Relations of the Barstow Area Chamber of Commerce in November 2011.  The Chamber maintains its offices within the restored Harvey House building, and the Chamber's website has information on visiting and using the space for private events.

Book recommendation: Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West--One Meal at a Time (associate link, provides a commission for The Rip Track)

Waupaca, Wisconsin, Depot

I talked with Mike Kirk in June 2011 about the depot restoration.  A number of photos of the restoration work are in his Flickr photostream.  The Waupaca Historical Society also has more information about the depot.

Midwest Region NMRA conventions

RailSplitter 2012 was held on the weekend of March 8-11, 2012, in Springfield, Illinois, hosted by the Illinois Valley Division.  The 2013 convention, titled Milepost 50, will be hosted by the Central Indiana Division on the weekend of May 2-5, 2013.  Links for the 2013 and 2014 conventions are not yet available but will be accessible through the Midwest Region website's future conventions page.

Railfanning across the Western United States

In this podcast episode, I give a quick itinerary of my trip across the Western half of the United States from last November.  Here are a few photos from the trip.

The steam locomotive we found on static dipslay was in Kinsey, Kansas.  I didn't mention it in the episode, but we did get to have lunch at another restored Harvey House, the El Tovar Hotel at the Grand Canyon (above and behind the station in the photo above).

Additional credits

Music for this episode, used with permission, was performed by Harmonious Wail.  The specific track used was "I Found a New Baby" from their 2010 album "The Vegan Zombie's Lament."

Listen to episode 15