Euraka Springs Mauve Car

This mauve track inspector's car we found at the Eureka Springs and North Arkansas Railway Depot just outside of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It is a lovely shade of mauve. Don't see that shade of mauve on too many cars these days. We took a peak inside and found that this vehicle has no steering wheel. Imagine that!

Eureka Springs and North Arkansas Railway Company

Driving North on Hwy 10

Here's Tom lip pointing at a passing train while we are driving on the highway. This is his idea of a really good time. Shortly after this picture was taken Tom's older sister Anne saw the mustache for the first time. She told him that it was gross. Fifteen minutes later it was gone.

Ghost Train

I pass by this old diesel engine every morning on my way to work. The train still runs, but its not going anywhere. The line is being torn up for scrap. This is the line that moved bananas from the plantations on the North Coast of Honduras to the docks in La Ceiba for eighty years.



Here's the sign for the train station. The banana lines were nationalized in 1983. Ferrocarril National de Honduras still operates one line, from La Union to Cuero Y Salado Wildlife refuge. The trains hauls tourists going one direction and coconuts going the other. I visted last year.

Trains

I am not gonna lie. I haven't been particularly impressed with Sarah Palin's policy positions or command of the English language. But I am posting this picture as a train enthusiast.

AMTRAK

We just got into Chicago. The train from the Wisconsin Dells was a lot of fun. Way more fun than the Megabus we took from Chicago to Minneapolis two months ago. We're going to try to see and do everything there is two see and do in Chicago in 36 hours. Ready, set, go.

Here I am waiting at the station in Wisconsin Dells in my new pants. I was pretty excited.

Coming 'round the bend.

Karine working away like a busy little beaver in the lounge car.

Passing another train loaded with pipes and other stuff.

Honduras by Rail

The railway which runs from La Union to Refugio de Vida Silvestre Cuero y Salado is not the most glamorous in the world, but it may very well be the cutest. The track was built by Standard Fruit in the early 1900s to haul bananas for export. The Standard Fruit rail lines were nationalized in 1993 and the Ferrocarril National de Honduras was born. This is one of the few remaining serviceable lines.

La Union is about 30 km west of La Ceiba, Honduras. The forty minute route (red line, below) links La Union with Cuero y Salado, a spectacular wildlife refuge which provides habitat for jaguars, three-toed sloths, monkeys, crocodiles, and the extremely endangered manatee. I had a great time at the park. But I had an especially great time getting there by train.

Here's the passenger car waiting in the garage before departure:
This is a narrow gauge track, three feet from the inside of one rail to the other. Its narrower than standard gauge, which is the most common gauge in the United States.
A smooth ride:

Here are some pictures I took from the train:

I had fun:

Honduran Roadshow Volume #1: Tom's Knick-knacks

We brought an extraordinary amount of strange crap to Honduras. Due to my urishiol-induced, heat-aggravated cashew rash (see post) we spent most of last weekend indoors. How bored were we? We were so bored we decided to take pictures of some knick-knacks sitting on a bookcase. Karine interviewed me about these strange objects and this blog is the result. Next week I will be interviewing Karine about our kitchen appliances.

KL: What’s up with all these knick-knacks?
TL: I don't know. I guess they’re just the things you kind of hang on to. Wherever you move, there they are.

KL: What age did your obsession with knick-knacks begin?
I was very young. I suppose it started with stuffed animals. I had Rambo Teddy Bear -- a stuffed bear and Toby Steeringwheel -- a stuffed rabbit. Before that I had binky -- a binky.

KL: Which are your favorites?
TL: The cast iron train and my little tiny train (The Lionelville Express)

KL: Do you know where they came from?

TL: Yeah, I know where all my knick-knacks come from. The Lionelville Express was a gift from my best friend and my girlfriend. They ordered it off of tv. It was attached to a giant alarm clock and [the train] actually went around. The alarm clock is long gone. But I've hung on to the little train.

KL: Why trains?
TL: I’ve always liked trains. Um… trains are great. I don’t know if there’s a real short answer to my train obsession. Omaha, the U.S.A., my family, the Great Plains, taking pictures of trains. They’re cool machines.

KL: Is it important to you that you are the first owner of your knick-knacks?
TL: I’m only the first owner of one of my knick-knacks. My Lionelville Express train.

KL: Let’s talk about some of your other knick-knacks. What are these? (Reaching to touch a piece of paper sticking out of a Alice in Wonderland toothpick holder.)

TL: Don’t touch that! It’s my certificate of authenticity! It goes with Alice. And Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

KL: What are they?
TL: Tweedledee and Tweedledum and Alice. They belonged to my grandmother. She had a lot of knick-knacks. I’ve had these since college but never really looked at them until now. They're kind of scary. I don’t think I want them anymore.


KL: Tell me about the big wooden bird.
TL: It’s really ugly and it was also my grandmother’s.

KL: How about the leprechaun bobblehead?
TL: I got it from a party hosted by Casey Piersma.

KL: How do you feel about other bobbleheads?

TL: I hate all of them.

KL: Any other thoughts about your collections?
TL: I’m not planning on doing any more collecting. I never really meant to have this collection. Some things you just don’t get rid of.

Interview by Karine Lewandowski

Photography by Tom Lewandowski