Prolific Portage Modeller Posts

I was encouraged to receive the following email from Randy O'Brien, someone who is actually modelling Portage la Prairie! Randy wrote the foreword for Volume 1. But he hadn't seen the book in its final format. Contributor complimentary copy now in hand, here's his post:

" As a Portage modeller I cannot begin to express my thanks for you publishing the 2 volume set of Trains & Grains. In almost every photo of “Portage proper” there is some small gem of information lurking in the background. In veritably a gold mine for a “Portage” modeller such as myself. A real treasure book in every sense of the word ! A true “Trackside Treasure” for sure!  As I am a  family-oriented person, I was touched that your uncle was able to see your “scribbler scratchings” come to life, after all this time! Kudos on a job well done! I loved the layout of the books; your “graphics guy” should be congratulated for doing a bang up job!"

Thanks to Randy for input and feedback received. Randy is also inspired by Dominion Day and sent this greeting of goodwill between our two HO scale transportation systems:

Happy Canada Day to all those who have supported me and continue to do so. It's great to see efforts rewarded and appreciated. Both ways.

Look up, look way up.

Eric

Trains & Grains' First Review!

It was great to see the above photo by Steve Boyko tonight. Even better that the photo, taken at La Salle, MB, accompanied the first review of my two-volume Trains & Grains project! Or as Steve puts it, "I love both trains and grain elevators, so it almost felt like these books were written for me...or at least people like me." And that's exactly what I hoped to hear while creating these books. 

Steve summarizes succinctly: "Both of these books are well worth purchasing by anyone interested in Canadian railway history or Canadian grain elevators."

Thanks, Steve! Look up, look way up.

Eric

It's Been 2 Weeks...and 30 Years!

The 2 weeks? Since Trains & Grains was launched. Copies are on their way to Niagara Falls, Guelph, Regina, Winnipeg, Carberry, Carstairs, Calgary, Lethbridge, Barrie and several right here in Kingston!

My rather modest sales goal has been eclipsed. Ten copies? Try thirty with more orders on the way!

The 30 years? Since the baseball-jersey that started it all was launched. My brother aired out his blue & white (my 'matching' one was green & white and gone to T-shirt heaven) which he still has. (See top photo by D.J. Gagnon).

Trains and Grains....who knew that those three rhyming-words would come back in vogue over three decades later? Oh, and just FYI...the Trains books are keeping pace nicely with the Grains books. That means that there is just as much interest in grain-hauling trains as there is in grain-holding elevators.

Thanks very much for your interest, support, and book orders so far!

Look up, look way up.

Eric

The Five W's of Trains & Grains

Blog partner John Longhurst just published an interview he kindly conducted with me recently. John's interview post gives the prospective Trains & Grains reader more information on the what, why, when, who and whatever else one might be wondering about. 

Thanks to John for sharing the good news about Trains & Grains. I should mention that John models both grain trains and grain elevators on his HO scale layout which is often the subject of his blog posts!

Look up, look way up,

Eric