You would think when an inanimate object goes up in flames it wouldn’t sadden me. After all the building that burned in the town I grew up in, South Paris Maine, was just a warehouse and no one was injured in the blaze. New England Public Warehouse was just a big cement walled building with green trim near the roof line that I remember being occupied in the 70’s and 80’s by A.C Lawrence Tannery.
Back in the day it was one of many manufacturers in town that provided jobs to a good portion of residents of the Oxford Hills. Back when I was a kid the town was thriving. Then one by one, as we’ve seen in communities all across the country, the mills started to shut down. Paris Manufacturing shut it’s doors and then burned to the ground while abandoned. Wilner’s Wood Products was torn down and became athletic fields for the new high school. Most recently Burlington Homes in Oxford closed down.
Yes they’re all just buildings, but they’re buildings that existed in a more prosperous time for the town, and they have memories for me.
Paris Manufacturing was at the corner of Nichols and Western Avenue in South Paris. The house I grew up in wasn’t more than 200 yards away from it. When I was just seven years old, I would remember hearing the buzzers in the plant going off to signal breaks and shift changes. I remember how thrilled we were the time a worker from the plant walked across the street to the hill we would slide on and gave us brand new sleds right off the assembly line to try out.
I remember in 8th grade getting tackled over and over again on the football field next to A.C. Lawrence, seeing that building turn upside down as I hit the ground hard realizing this game wasn’t for me.
I remember not paying attention in algebra class in high school as I looked out the window watching the local switching locomotive haul a couple of box cars across Route 26 by Goodwin’s restaurant on it’s way over to Wilner’s Wood Products.
Today all those manufacturers are gone. Goodwin’s Restaurant is now called Shaner’s and customers are few and far between. Even my high school is not what it was since it became Oxford Hills Comprehensive.
Times change and life moves on, but when I see another piece of the town I grew up in change on live television, it makes me wish that Doc Brown really did invent a time machine and I could go back to 1985.
Remember this summer when heating oil prices were going through the roof and no one knew how high they could go? There were all kinds of debates over riding it out hoping things got better, or locking into a one year contract at the current price. Experts had no recommendation at the time, saying it could go either way and it was a gamble no matter what you chose.
We chose to lock in. We lost that gamble, for now anyway. Now we’re paying much more than the current price for oil, and it’s pinching the pocketbook. Now we have a monthly oil payment that takes money away from other places, and it really sucks.
If there’s a bright side to it, we paid a little extra for price protection, and at the end of the contract will get a credit on any over payment, but that’s a good nine months away. There’s speculation that oil prices could skyrocket again after the elections too, and if that happens and it goes above what we’re paying now I’ll feel better.
In the meantime, we’re playing it lean and mean and riding this thing out. It could be worse I suppose. I’m not 65 and ready to retire with a dried up 401K. That’s still 30 years away.
I wasn’t able to post yesterday (more on that later) so it’s another two days for the price of one post.
I’m at the campground in Buckfield as I hammer this out on my iPhone. It’s the first post I’ve ever made with the Wordpress app for iPhone so we’ll see how this goes.
Yesterday after one major wrong turn, I drove with Jake to Danville Junction in Auburn to see if we could spot a train. Sure enough, as we turned the corner a Pan Am freight was sitting at the crossing.
I parked the car and after a few minutes it slowly rolled forward to clear the crossing. Sadly it was the only train we managed to see that was moving for the rest of the day. Jake was still thrilled though, so mission accomplished.
By the time we got back to Lewiston on the drive home, Jake had fallen asleep so I took a drive to find the old Grand Trunk passenger station. It’s not in the most prosperous part of Lewiston but from the outside the building looked to be in decent shape.
Right next to the station the tracks are still there. They stop at the street as the rest of the Grand Trunk Yard has been transformed into Railroad Park.
The station looks like it’s for sale but no one in their right mind would buy it because of what the area surrounding it has become. I really would have liked to have seen this area in it’s heyday.
Later that night it was poker night at the Standish Bingo Hall. (wink wink, nudge nudge)
Not my best performance, but I outlasted Lee Goldberg. Not that I’m proud or anything. Once again he lost with the best hand going in. That always sucks, and is frequent at “the hall.”
I didn’t get home until 4am after playing several mini tourneys after the main event. It’s fun to be on vacation.
Today we packed up and headed to the campground in Buckfield for the weekend. I’m sitting outside right now in the screen tent listening to frogs, crickets, and old people laughing. The old people laughing will wrap up in an hour or so. The frogs and crickets will be here all night.
The mosquitos are brutal! Guess that’s what happens after a month of rain. Luckily the screen tent and camper keep them out.
So for the last few days of my vacation it’s relaxing in the great outdoors while trying to keep my kid from eating pine needles. Wish me luck.
I woke up grumpy with a headache and sinus congestion. It cleared up after a while. Fresh air at night would help, but the bedroom only has one window in which the air conditioner sits at the moment. A major design flaw when this house was built as the bedroom is on the corner and could easily have another window on another wall.
I could pull the AC out, but as soon as I do we’ll have a 90 degree night and I’ll have to put that sucker back in.
I’ve been tired of going to parties and get togethers and not drinking with everyone because I don’t like beer. Everyone says it’s an acquired taste but until recently I haven’t acquired it.
Over vacation I tried Bud Light with Lime and it actually isn’t bad. Sure it may not be a manly beer, but it beats a Mike’s Hard Lemonade and is much cheaper than mixed drinks. I know I could also try Corona with Lime, but I’m too lazy to keep fresh limes and cut them up. I wonder why the lime only comes in Bud Light?
I went to Zimmie’s comics in Lewiston today, and wasn’t as impressed as I had hoped. I never like asking for things in stores. I figure if it’s not in plain site and easy to find, you’re not doing a good job displaying your wares. Beside I enjoy browsing before I find what I came for.
I went to pick up Superman #679 and Star Trek Year Four: Enterprise Experiment #5 that were both released today. I found neither on their new release rack, but saw others I knew had been released today. I’m guessing you have to reserve to be sure to get your copy the day of release. I’ll just grab them next week at Casablanca Comics in Portland.
I did pick up a couple of back issues of other books that looked interesting, and I did learn a lot overhearing a discussion on the theory of 20 sided dice and using them in various role playing games. This guy talked about it the whole time I was there. I may be a geek, but he really should go find a date.
My father-in-law had his new souped up truck on display tonight at Cruise Night at the local ice cream stand here in Lisbon. Not only can you take my man card away for drinking Bud Light Lime, but also for not enjoying looking at cars with their hoods up. I did see a 1970 something Dodge Dart there that reminded me of my mother’s car that my grandfather warned her was just too much muscle for her. She wanted it though, and drove her two young kids around town in it proud as can be.
She sold it to a friend of the family to get a more practical station wagon, and he still has it. She got to drive it one last time before she passed away, and she loved it.
My wife goes back to work tomorrow after summer vacation. (Summer vacation because it’s in the summer, and because that’s her name) I’ll be spending the day alone with Jake and I’m planning to take him out in the morning to Danville Junction in Auburn near the railroad yard. Hopefully there’ll be some activity there for us to watch. I think we’ll both be just as excited.
I said I was going to post to the blog every day of my vacation, and I knew I’d forget one of these days. That day was yesterday. So events written about today will span Monday and Tuesday of my vacation.
Ever since my son recently took a liking to trains, I’ve renewed my liking and have become fascinated with tracks and yards in Maine that no longer exist in their former glory. Over the past two days I’ve been doing a lot of research into railroads in Maine and have actually learned a lot of history.
I grew up in South Paris on Nichols Street just a mere 200 or so yards from the tracks that ran across the street as they passed the old Paris Manufacting Company. As a kid, anytime I heard a train in the distance I’d hop on my bike and ride it down the street to the crossing to watch it pass. The line was the old Grand Trunk line and was now operated by Canadian National Railway. It ran from India Street in Portland Maine up to Quebec. The video below is of that very crossing that I would watch the train from. The line is now operated by St. Lawrence & Atlantic and the Paris Manufacturing building burned down years ago with the smoke stack the only recognizable piece of it left.
The sad part of this is how much was lost in Portland after the Grand Trunk ceased operation. The train used to run past B&M Baked Beans plant, across Back Cove, along Eastern Prom to the Grand Trunk station at India Street. If the Grand Trunk had any freight to get over to South Portland on the Maine Central line, they would haul it over on tracks that ran right down the middle of Commercial Street. Next time you’re on Commercial, look carefully and you’ll see some of those tracks are still there paved over.
Grand Trunk Station - The only building standing is the Grand Trunk office building to the far right
Grand Trunk Office Today - This is all that remains of the Grand Trunk Station. The tracks used to run to the right of this building, while the main building stood where the parking lot to the left is now. Look closely and you can still see "Grand Trunk" above the doorway
The beautiful Grand Trunk station on India Street was torn down in the 60’s, with the office building the only remaning piece standing. The Back Cove bridge burned in the 80’s, which is why when you drive by it on Tukey’s Bridge you see it still open. There was even a round house and yard in the Deering area that has since been converted to office space.
The tracks that run from India Street to the bridge have been converted to a narrow gague and the Maine Narrow Gague Railroad now uses them. Next time you’re down that way, take a look around and imagine what it was like when full size trains ran across Eastern Prom.
I’ve been so fascinated by the history of the Grand Trunk, that I’ve actually been using Google Maps to try to recreate it in Microsoft Train Simulator. Yes I just went full geek right there.
It’s actually kind of fun, but it’s a LOT of work. I may never complete the project, but I have learned a lot about the history of this line and it really has been fascinating.
All of this has made me wonder. With fuel prices the way they are, wouldn’t this be the perfect time to start utilizing rail transportation to ship freight, rather than trucks on the highways? One diesel locomotive can typically haul fifty times what one eighteen wheel truck can haul. A lot of the rails are still there and the government still owns most of the right of way where they don’t exist anymore. Businesses who aren’t located near tracks can keep the trucks to transport their goods a few miles to and from the tracks rather than across country door to door. I’m no economist, but this seems logical to me.
I’ll try to go back to my bitter sarcastic self next time. If you can’t wait, you can always follow my sacrcasm on twitter.
The second day of my vacation was pretty unproductive on my part. I had planned on doing yard work and crushing boxes, but was too lazy today to do either. I didn’t even end up going to Zimmie’s comic shop. I’m going to wait until Wednesday when the new stuff comes out
My wife however was very prodcutive and thrifty.
My son has suddenly taken a big liking to trains. This is actually great because I was into them just as much as he is when I was a kid, and still am. I have Microsoft Train Simulator and stashed away somewhere the remains of my HO scale model railroad.
When I was three my grandfather made me my very own train set out of household items and wood. The only piece that remains is the locomotive with my intials “J.J.P.” on it and the number 74 on the front to denote the year. My initials are his as well, so now the locomotive sits on a shelf in his room. His great grandfather would love it.
My son will sit with me for hours while I show him videos of trains going through railroad crossings on You Tube. This one is his favorite. He’s also your typical almost two year old and is now into Thomas The Tank Engine. I’ve been watching this show a lot lately and it seems there’s a common theme to it. In almost every episode a train crashes, whether its off a bridge, through a barn or down a hill, with the narrator always assuring the viewer that “luckily no one was hurt.” That just seems a bit too traumatic for a kid don’t you think?
My wife has been looking for a Thomas The Tank Engine playset with table. These things aren’t cheap. They’re made of wood and the table alone runs you $120 with nothing to put on it. A friend of hers knew she was looking for a set and found one locally on Craig’s List for $100, so off she went to grab it and she made a steal! It’s in excellent shape. We went through a catalog to see just how much this stuff costs new. The whole shooting match would be close to $500 brand new. She’s good at doing that. It comes from her mother.
So the table is all set up and ready to go for him, and tomorrow morning will be like Christmas for the kid. I’m actually going to wake up to see his reaction in the morning, and then probably go back to bed for another hour or so since I’m playing night owl for a few days this week.
Before I go to bed though, I get to play with Thomas for a bit. I can’t wait until he is old enough for Star Wars toys.
Since others are attempting to do it, I figured I’d do the same and blog each day of my vacation. If nothing else I can always look back at the end and see how much of my vacation I wasted. Today was a good start.
I woke up at 10am which is so much nicer than waking up at 3:30am and hitting the snooze alarm three times. My wife and son had left early to meet some friends at a petting zoo. Since I have pet one too many animals in my day, I stayed home.
I brought a load of laundry downstairs to be done, but I always have a hard time remembering to go back down to put it in the dryer. I never understood why dryers have buzzers but washers don’t seem to. At least none I’ve ever used.
To solve the problem of the laundry switch, I sat down at my desktop which is also in the basement, and decided to enter in the codes from the six Ziploc bags of Pepsi bottle caps that Anita from the office has been collecting for me. You enter them on pepsistuff.com and you can get a free song on
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for every five caps. 154 caps later, I had enough points in the bank for about 40 songs, and the washer was done.
For the remainder of the day, in between helping get my son fed and keeping him from rolling blueberries off the entertainment center and into the baseboard heaters, I read comic books.
I used to read comic books as a kid right through college. It wasn’t until college that I realized that these things might be worth something some day, and started saving them instead of throwing them in the landfill. I still have several boxes of 15+ year old comics somewhere in the basement that at last check aren’t worth any more than the cover price, which back then was $1 or less. I stopped reading when the price went over a dollar, and to follow a story arc you had to buy multiple series since the comic industry realized they’d make more money by doing crossovers.
After seeing The Dark Knight though I had to get back into it and now am reading every Batman and Superman book I can get my hands on. I’m also catching up on old story arcs in trade paperbacks that collect all the comics in the arc into one handy book.
Which brings me to 1am on what is technically day two of my vacation. I’ll read one more and then go to bed I suppose. Batgirl just showed up in No Man’s Land, but Batgirl was retired (actually shot and paralyzed by The Joker) years ago, so who is this?!?! Must find out.
Tomorrow’s agenda? I need to start flattening a bunch of boxes in the basement for recycling, do some major yard work since part of the house looks like a jungle, make a trip to Zimmie’s in downtown Lewiston for the first time to get more comics, and of course read said comics.
Sometimes you have to learn lessons the hard way. I once had my phone number listed in the phone book accidentally by the phone company after I requested and paid to have it unlisted. It only took one whacko call to change the number.
You’d think after that I wouldn’t have put my AIM screename out there for the world to see. Today another whacko found me. At least I got to have fun with this one. Here’s the transcript with typos intact and the name changed to protect the not so innocent:
bigdummy: who this pinwizard1971: You tell me who I am bigdummy: huh idk who u r im trying to figure that out pinwizard1971: Then why did you IM me if you don’t know who I am? bigdummy: i havent been on aim in a while and i forgot the people and u were on my friends list pinwizard1971: Well I didn’t put myself there bigdummy: wooow i kno just wats ur name]\ pinwizard1971: Sorry, can’t tell you bigdummy: y pinwizard1971: Because I don’t give my name to strangers bigdummy: just ur first name pinwizard1971: Ok fine, I’ll tell you my first name pinwizard1971: Zephram bigdummy: u must live in lewiston thats the only way u would be on my friends list pinwizard1971: Do you know a Zephram from Lewiston? bigdummy: no pinwizard1971: Guess that’s not me then pinwizard1971: I must be the Zephram from Bangor bigdummy: yo loook dont be stupid bigdummy: do u kno a mike pinwizard1971: Yes I know a Mike, which one? pinwizard1971: Smith pinwizard1971: Brown pinwizard1971: Jones bigdummy: no pinwizard1971: Cochrane? pinwizard1971: Shelton? pinwizard1971: Huckabee? bigdummy: OMFG wats ur real name pinwizard1971: Zephram pinwizard1971: But I already told you that bigdummy: r u a somalion pinwizard1971: No I’m an American bigdummy: im gettingmad wats ur name do u kno a mike k pinwizard1971: Ok now we’re going in circles. I already listed a whole bunch of Mike’s I know. Do you want more? bigdummy: r u f!@#^ing stupid pinwizard1971: I’m not the one who added people to their friend’s list without knowing who they are, so you tell me bigdummy: wow u were already on it u r from lewiston right pinwizard1971: Like I said, I didn’t add myself to your list, and I don’t think the magical AIM fairy did either, so I’m pretty sure you added me without knowing who I am. bigdummy: i must kno u wat grade r u in pinwizard1971: If my math is right, I should be in the 31st grade bigdummy: woooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww ur a bummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm wat s ur f!@#ing real name pinwizard1971: Zephram bigdummy: no its not pinwizard1971: Ok then what is it? bigdummy: w e fagg pinwizard1971: I think you’re missing a few consonants there bigdummy: oppps sorry i meant to send that to someone else pinwizard1971: Someone on your list who’s name you do know? bigdummy: ya pinwizard1971: Ya bigdummy: look im trying to figure out who u r where do u live pinwizard1971: I don’t give that information out to strangers. Besides you have my first name and it doesn’t seem to be ringing any bells. Zephram is a pretty unique name you know bigdummy: ok welll bye pinwizard1971: Bye bye now.
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You would think when an inanimate object goes up in flames it wouldn’t sadden me. After all the building that burned in the town I grew up in, South Paris Maine, was just a warehouse and no one was injured in the blaze. New England Public Warehouse was just a big cement walled building with green trim near the roof line that I remember being occupied in the 70’s and 80’s by A.C Lawrence Tannery. 
I remember not paying attention in algebra class in high school as I looked out the window watching the local switching locomotive haul a couple of box cars across Route 26 by Goodwin’s restaurant on it’s way over to Wilner’s Wood Products. 
