fatdaddy

A few pictures of the craft area they had. (crafts) Ok, thats it for Rod and Rails at OREM. Now, after this we went to the March Air Field Museum, so stay tuned for some airplanes. Only thing i regret not getting a picture of was the astronaut ice cream, which was actually good for being ice cream flavored chalk.

^That would have made a great caption. OK, Pacific Electric Red Car, this is actually what is known as a Hollywood car, because of thier initial service in Hollywood. They are standard guage, which means they can run on a regular train track. Ok, a couple pictures. (PIctures of the Pacific Electric red car.)

She was probably in her mid 50's. Oh wait it says oldest coaster, i thought it said oldest cougar. Um, Giant Dipper then i guess.(scbb)

^Thanks for the link, couldn't remember the name of that cartoon, really enjoyed it. Ok, as you already know this all happened at Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, Ca., but I still haven't shown you much of it yet. So, here are a few pictures of the place, don't be fooled by the name museum, it's mostly barns full of trolleys and trains. Their policy is that if the door is open you can go in, pretty much there aren't a lot of workers, so you can just kinda roam around freely and go in any open building. It's a pretty huge place and you could probably spend an entire day taking pictures and exploring, i have a membership and there are still places i haven't fully explored. Ok, so if you like trains or trolleys, or are into historical stuff, go check it out. Heres some pictures, bad captions included of course. (Pictures of the OERM grounds.)

^LOL, funny you ask, because i just watched that movie this weekend and saw the Delorian yesterday at Universal studios. Get outta my head Michael J. Fox!!!! OK, here some of the entertainment they had for the event, or at least what i saw of it. So, there was actually more stuff going on than i took pictures of, even a christian rock band, which i avoided. I thought their music might purify my Pepsi and it would burn when i drank it. There was some kinda classic rock on the christian stage, A really terrible Elvis, the Beatles, or think they were supposed to be the beatles, sure couldn't tell from thier singing and they told really bad jokes, in really bad british accents. The main thing i saw was the puppet show, I've seen this guy before and although i don't dig his show, his puppets are pretty cool. Ok, just a few pictures, don't worry im getting to the trains and some other fun stuff. (Some cool puppets.)

OK, as i said, this stuff is from Rods and Rails, which just happend to be going on during the time I chose to visit. It was an odd mix of hot rod fans, rail fans, even a christian biker club. This is the car show part of the report, this is an annual event, so if it looks interesting, plan on checking it out next year or check their website for other events happening throught the year. The actual event is free, gotta pay to ride the trains and trolleys, but no admission or parking fees and there was lots for the kids to do without spending a cent. OK here goes. (Pictures from the car show.) Ok, thats it for the car show and jokes at Jeff Johnsons expense, shouldn't we like give him a nickle like every time someone makes an "old" joke. More to come.

Ok, so this next few set's of pictures is from last weekends Rod's and Rail's event at Orange Empire Railway Museum. It's grown much larger in the past few years and i actually ended up with a lot more pictures than i anticipated. So, I broke it up best i could and will be posting it in smaller reports. OERM 6/12/10 I am making this separate because i think that it needs some explanation, I'm sure the train enthusiast here know all about it, but the story behind it makes it interesting for us theme park enthusiast too. I'll try to keep this to the actual factuals and please feel free to correct me, a lot of the information varies from source to source. Grizzly Flats Ok, this is the barn that houses Grizzly Flats railroad that was donated by late Disney animator Ward Kimball, who had a the narrow gauge line in his "back yard", and would regularly have "steam ups" for family and friends. Ward is often credited as the giving Walt Disney the inspiration for the Disneyland railroad. Which by the way, Walt had the Carolwood Pacific Railroad in his back yard, a miniature railroad which ward also helped him build. The New Orleans station at Disneyland is also modeled after Ward's Grizzly Flats Station, which oddly enough was created using an old Disney movie set. The No.5 train at Disneyland, name after Ward Kimball and is to my knowledge the only train on the line that has a disney character (Jiminy Cricket) on it. Just to clarify, theres a lot more the the whole Disneyland Railroad story, but remember this is about Grizzly Flats, might have to do a report on Carolwood Pacific. (Grizzley Flats.) Emma Nevada This was the Kimball's first train purchased in 1938, which they restored and painted to look like the earlier more decorated trains of the late 1800's. It was first fired up in 1942 and ran til the early 50's when it started experiencing mechanical problems. I was told that it is still serviceable and may be made to run again in the future. (Emma Nevada) Coach No.5 This was the rolling stock for the Emma Nevada. Purchased for just 50 bucks, the Kimballs painted the exterior, but left the interior authentic. It was actually purchase before the Emma Nevada. (Coach 5) Chloe This is chloe, which was named after the Kimball's daughter. At the point when they brought this train into service Emma Nevada had started to fall into disrepair, and besides that the neighbors were complaining about he coal smoke. So Chloe, which was wood burning and had been totally rebuilt and redesigned to look like an older style steamer, became the replacement for the Emma Nevada. Chloe had its own rolling stock custom made at Grizzly Flats. The Chloe continued to run at the Kimballs Grizzly Flats until 2006. (Chloe) There was also a turntable added to Grizzly Flats prior to Wards passing. (The turntable.) Ok, hope somebody got something outta that, still to come, the car show part of the event, the entertainment, some crafts, and of course the train museum itself. Trust me it's only half as boring as i make it sound and twice as exciting as watching water boil.

A few picture i took today, i probably won't have a Universal trip report up for awhile, so i decided to post these here. Kong entrance and a shot of whatever they are doing to Jaws. Entrance, they have added alot of detail from the last pictures i saw. Still sculpting out the rocks I guess, there are also bamboo spears and skulls. A shot of whatever they are doing to Jaws, probably doesn't belong here, but I'm not gonna jump all over posting pictures. Hope these are fresh, and not old news.

^ and ^^ Thanks for the support, i like to know at least a couple people are interested, mainly cause this is so time consuming. I actually have A trip report ready to upload, but I'm heading out to Universal Studios, so hopefully later tonight. Also, i have a trip report i need to edit, plus whateve im doing today. So, look for some updates in the next few days. Again, thanks for looking.

Just a side trip on the way from Orange Empire Railway Museum, always pass by here on the train and now that its an open museum and theres plans for the trains to stop here, i thought i should check it out. Perris Sante Fe Depot museum, or whatever it's called. This was given to Orange Empire Railway Museum for preservation, but eventually was given to the city in exchange for a 99 year lease. The city along with OERM did a total restoration of the building and there are plans for OERM trains to eventually make stops at the historic depot. The depot also houses a small museum displaying the history of Perris, Ca. You used to have to go through this station to get to San Diego, but the track washed out several times and the route was pretty much abandoned. The line you currently see between OERM and the station was placed by the train museum in order to have a place to run their trains and red cars. There is also the Perris Multimodal Transit Center, that was name in honor of Ward Kimball, Disney animator and major contributor to OERM. This Perris station is one of the few places Disney allowed its artwork to be used outside of a Disney project. Panels of Wards work, including Jiminy Cricket and the Cheshire Cat can be seen there, as well as two plaques in his honor. Eventually Metrolink will stop here and there is already a separate platform for OERM trains. Apparently there are equipment issues that won't yet allow OERM trains to run on that track and they are working toward a solution. There would also be a need to run more cable if they intend to run Red Cars further down. Ok, pictures, forgive the generic captions, but i had a hell of a time remembering what the museum guy and the train guy and whoever else i talked to said. So, needless to say i had to do a little research and hope i got this stuff right. (Pictures of a train station and a bus station, really a little more to it than that, but again I don't think anybody was looking.) Ok there's the start to this stuff, i actually did these pictures after visiting OERM, because the depot wasn't open when we arrived. Also did the station pictures seperate because i forgot to take them. Anyways, next should be OERM and the Rod and Rails car show they host every year, which for some reason also includes the Potato Festival.

I still say "California Studios" if it's gonna go that way. Hollywood Studios just conficts with Universal Hollywood too much, which i know you would think that people would know they had nothing to do with eachother, but i actually had friends come out here who thought that California Adventure had something to do with Islands of Adventure. Wasn't Disney in Burbank anyway?

The Griswolds were headed to "Wally World" weren't they.

Got more comming, i just got a little shutter happy and took way to many pictures. Ill have something up by tomorrow and maybe some more in the evening. Trains for you rail fans, theme park tie in, "coasters", and a donkey. Pictures came out pretty good, got some good background story, which ill be as acrurate as possible, maybe even break it up into mini reports. Universal studios probably Tuesday with a side trip, maybe two. Thanks for looking.

I think that where WOC will pay of, is in its versatility. Fantasmic is what it is, but I could see them changing WOC yearly or even seasonally once they've got the system totally worked out. I mean its like a movie theater, one movie gets old, you put in another one, and i would wager to say that it would be more cost effective for DCA to change the program as opposed to putting on a new parade or other entertainment.

Not sure if you did you trip already, but just in case you haven't or anyone else is curious, Adventure City is like less then ten minutes from Knott's and you could do both coasters in like 10 or 15 minutes. Actually on good day you could do the hole park in like half hour, even pet the goats. Depending on traffic, Castle park is about and hour away from Knott's, on a good day could get there in 40 minutes, bad day hour and a half. I've never really experienced huge lines at Castle Park, but they do run summer specials, so you never know. If your only there for the coasters, i would say maybe half hour to 45 minutes if its crowded. Of course if you plan on doing other rides you could spend a few hours there. Scandia is like 20 minutes to half hour away from the castle and that shouldn't take much time either if your just there for the coasters, if its a slow day they usually have just a couple ride ops and you have to follow them around from ride to ride, so it can take up a good chunk of time, because they may not go where you want to go next. Good thing is the they usually have someone working the Screamer and that generally loads pretty quick. If your a real credit whore remember John's Incredible Pizza, you would have to buy a buffet to get in, but if your hungry and you want another credit, it's a good deal. Remember that I live here so your drive times may be a little longer, anyway hope this helps somebody.

X2 followed closely by Thomas the Tank Engine.

A friend of mine has attended a few Disneyland press events and is always impressed at how they go out of their way for the media, they've even hooked up a pass for his daughter when he didn't have a sitter.

I love that plate of random fried stuff with sauce you had for lunch.

^So, you do think Linus was farting on that dinosaur. Just a side trip, I've been promising to take my daughters to see Ironman 2 at the drive-in. Theres actually two drive-in movies here in town, Van Buren and Rubidoux. Rubidoux had a miniature railroad under the screen back in the day. Both places now have swapmeets during the week, theres a pony ride at Van Buren. Movies are 7 bucks per person and kids over 5 are a buck, always a double feature, usually they pair something new with something thats been out for a couple weeks. Heres a few pictures. (Shots of the local drive-in movie.) Gonna do some trains this weekend, some rides next week, maybe Universal studios. Might even look for a donkey or two. Just keep checking back and again if this starts to suck worse than it already does, lemme know.

Can't do it, daughter goes back to school the 11th, not way i could do the 13th.

I'm actually planning a trip to that area to visit my wife friends and family, so if i can coordinate the bash and the trip to happen at the same time i might be able to go. Would give me something to look forward to on the trip.

Laid an egg? Wonder who the father is, what the hell was going on inside that party bus.

What happened to the goose?

I have anxiety related to weather im gonna be too fat for the restraint to close, I mean im not huge, but theres been a few times when they told me to get off cause i didn't fit. I know my sister, who was pushin' three bills at one point, saw one lady get sent off a ride and thought is was so embarassing, that she told the ride ops to force the restraint closed, so she didn't have to do the walk of shame. I think it took two of um to get it to click, but she got to ride. Oh the other hand, i've had a few time where i didn't think the restraint clicked and was hoping that it wasn't just that little piece of seat belt that was holding me in. Which that actually happened to my cousin at WCB on riddler, i don't think he will ever ride it again.

So the commercials are just like SFMM, no Mr. Six.