Pittsburgh: the old and the new

SAT 11 Mar
Depart 12:35 from Toronto City Aiport, 5 mins late on Porter Bombardier Q400. Steamwhistle Pilsner on plane. Arrive Pittsburgh 13:35, very quiet at the airport. Uber/Lyft stand at the airport shows they are moving with the times. 28X Flyer bus, free for seniors, blagged my way on without proper ID, Annette $2.75. Busway and tunnel to city centre. About 45 minutes.
After short walk from bus arrive at trendy Hotel Kimpton Monaco, 620 William Penn Place, at 15.25. Then stroll round downtown. First impressions: shuttered everywhere. Pittsburgh has contracted so much that it is overprovided with buildings. But the city is an architectural treasure box, to rival Chicago for interest, if not scale. There are all but no cranes to be seen. Nashville it is not - approximately 500 miles and a world away. Nevertheless Pittsburgh has tried harder than most rustbelt cities to recover from the loss of the once-dominant steel industry.
The iconic Kauffmann's Dept Store (later Macy's) is closed, famous for "meet me under the clock." Irish Fair in the Square is underway with band "The Hillbilly Way" grunge-country rockers cranking it out in the freezing cold. "The twang's the thang!" Decided against supper on the square as it was full of drunk revellers celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Bought milk at Rite-Aid, very down home. Retreated to the hotel where more persons in green attire were partying. Free local beer: "Penn Pilsner."
Supper at newly-opened Talia next door. Spendy at $115 incl tip. Food and service good. Farrotto main course - barley-based, similar to risotto, Montepulciano red wine (no house wine here).
SUN 12 Mar
To The Commoner in the hotel for breakfast, pierogis and poached eggs, oatmeal, coffee, $39 incl tip. Duralex glasses at the table.
71C bus to Point Breeze, via Oakland, University of Pittsburgh, Penn Avenue for Frick Museum (at Penn and Homewood). About 40 mins ride. Car museum and small motoring library. Bought book: Meet You in Hell - Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick and the Bitter Partnership that Transformed America, by Les Standiford, $16.05 incl tax.
Clayton House Tour (the home of Henry Clay Frick), $12, Seniors $10. German Welte Style 6 Concert Orchestrion in the sun porch facing onto Penn Ave. It was not working when we were there. I wonder who will repair it?
Lunch at The Cafe at the Frick, 7227 Reynolds St. Hot tea, soup and sandwich, $32.64 for two. Supper from Subway, 414 Smithfield Street, $12.95 takeout.
MON 13 Mar

Pic by ALT.
Walk via Union Trust Building ($100m renovation) to Apollo Cafe - veggie omelet and coffee, $14.34 for two. Spotted Uber "driverless" Volvo SUV. The old and the new in Pittsburgh. Purchase 2 x $7 transit passes at Steel Plaza, go anywhere all day. Take subway/street car across the river bridge to Station Square and the old Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railway station, superb interior, now a restaurant. Old railcars outdoors. Subway remarkably clean and safe. Purchased Bomber Harris - His Life and Times, by Henry Probert, $4.98 remaindered at Bradley's Bookshop, in the old engine shed.
Cross the street to the Monongahela Incline for Mount Washington, coffee at Grand Brew, Shiloh St., walk one mile along Grandview Avenue to the Duquesne Incline, spectacular views, descent, then bus to downtown.
Cold. Winter Storm Stella is expected. One O'clock lunch at Au Bon Pain, 625 Liberty Ave., soup and bagel, $11.52 for two. Panhandling conman in evidence.
Supper at The Tap Room bar, at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Fish & Chips, Salmon Salad, $55. We note that the hotel is an old haunt of bandleader Lawrence Welk. Also that former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown stayed here on Thursday 24 September 2009. The socialist 'son of the manse' knew how to get his snout in the trough!
TUES 14 Mar
Breakfast at Bruegger's Bagels, "Authetic New York Style," 531 Grant Street, $13.23. A haunt of low-lifes.
Walk to Amtrak station, a magnificent old building, now private apartments. Due to the bad weather the Amtrak train from Chicago is short-stopped at Pittsburgh (engine #112). Parked at the platform is the Ohio Central private rail car "Sugarcreek." Amtrak-employee Richard Mayorsky cheerfully answers our questions. At his suggestion we walk up the side of the station to view an old Pennsylvania Rail Road sign.

Pic by ALT.
Walk on to the Senator John Heinz History Center, 1212 Smallman Street. The man at the cash desk says Pittsburgh is the "most liveable city." We watch a film of old-time city streetcars, sat aboard PCC trolley #1724. There was a time when streetcars inspired composers viz: The Trolley March, J.S. Duss, 1901. Like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh has lost its streetcars downtown (they are now underground). They could have exploited the tourist potential, exemplified by San Francisco.
On display a 1936 stainless steel Ford Deluxe Sedan, built by Allegheny Steel and the Ford Motor Company to demonstrate the practical and promotional uses of stainless steel. Old sign on wall for Horne's Department Store at Penn Ave/Stanwix Street, name changed to Lazarus in 1994. Displays re Heinz Ketchup, which has the keystone on the label. The company started out making horseradish sauce and later became known for pickles. Splendid archive facilities on sixth floor. Lunch at the museum, among the exhibits, $7.76.
In the evening to Earth Inspired Salads, 61 William Penn Place, $21.14, There was enough food for three meals. So we took a doggie bag back to the hotel to make a supper for the morrow.
WED 15 Mar
Breakfast at busy Starbucks, Omni William Penn Hotel, $11.34.
61C bus to Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Library, Forbes & Craig. I do some research at the (free) Library, while Annette tours the art museum and natural history exhibits (nominally $20, but free for school teachers). The Cafe Carnegie, 4400 Forbes Ave, for lunch: Pumpkin Pasta Bake, Veggie Pot Pie, $42. Suitable on a cold day.
After lunch to Caliban's Bookstore, 410 S Craig St., purchased Maigret and the Killer, Georges Simenon, $12. Back to town on #58 bus, going all round the 'burbs. Jimmy John's for cookie and sandwich, 501 Grant St., $9.28. Put together with leftovers made a supper for two.
THURS 16 Mar
Walk to The Strip. In the Kitchen store, 1725 Penn Ave., where Annette scores a Garlic Saver, $5.34. P&Gs Pamela's Diner, fifties style breakfast, $27 incl tip. Backtrack to Bradleys Book Outlet, 2019 Penn Ave: Treasure Hunt, an Inspector Mantalbano Mystery, by Andrea Camilleri, $2.12. Old industrial buildings refurbished as flats. The salvation of Pittsburgh must lie in persuading people to live downtown. Then to The Store at Contemporary Craft, 2100 Smallman Street, aka Contributions non-profit space, still going after 40 years. Wooden salad tongs and spreader made by Jonathan's Spoons in Pennsylvania, $37.45.
Evening Penn Pilsner beer at hotel happy hour, then Yuengling draft at The Commoner, Half-Chicken, Tofu Tikka Marsala, $51.36 plus tip.
FRI 17 Mar
Breakfast at Einstein Bros Bagels, in the Koppers Building, 2 x Lox Bagels, coffee, $21.14, quiet, no hassle. This chain is known to us from our visit to Scranton, PA. Walkabout to PPG Place. A showpiece development lacking tenants. Coffee at Crazy Mocha Coffee Co in a pleasant atrium. Walk back to hotel, dep 28X Flyer bus for the airport.

Pic by RLT.

Waffling warmist a dim bulb

The return to the political stage of Toronto's ex-Mayor David Miller cannot go unremarked. Now a sinecurist with the World Wildlife Fund, a job with no known success criteria, you wonder whether he is coming unhinged. Promoting the wacky WWF Earth Hour, where we all are supposed to turn the lights off and blunder about in the dark, he says: "Climate change is overwhelming. It's literally causing problems at a global scale, and sometimes it's hard as an individual to think what you could do to help."
Stop talking nonsense comes to mind. In the photograph accompanying the story in the Toronto metro newspaper I notice Miller is wearing a scarf to keep warm. You couldn't make this stuff up!
His timing is unfortunate. Toronto is yet to recover from one of the harshest winters since records began but that does not stop Miller blathering on about the evils of global warming. He also cannot resist interfering in the politics of his old bailiwick by promoting his transit agenda based on streetcars and light rail. Using the royal "we" he says: "We have the best rapid transit plan - all the engineering has been done - we just need to build." As a 'has been' his plans have no more validity than yours or mine.
Anybody who actually rides on the TTC in the rush hour will know that the streetcars are worse than cattle trucks. I used to think that the TTC was just badly managed. I now know that it is rotten from top to bottom. Perhaps David Miller could do us all a favour and report the TTC to the WWF for cruelty to the poor passengers.
Here is an abridged version of some of David Miller's achievements:
* The hero of the G20 summit (more arrests in a day than any other in Canadian history).
* Provoking a five-week garbage strike, and then losing to his union chums.
* Burnishing his crisis-management skills by remaining absent after the Sunrise propane explosion.
* Paying $35 million not to build the bridge to the island airport.
* Failing to spot a $47m liability for the Pan-Am games.
* Presiding over a disgraceful regime at Municipal Licensing Services to the detriment of small business.
* Turning a blind eye when Adam Giambrone was caught with his hand in the till.
* Spending much of his time on foreign "jollies" while the city stagnated.
I must say I've missed David Miller's pronouncements, as comical in their own way as our very own dear Rob Ford.

Ridin' on the City of New Orleans

Toronto was underwater, after widespread flooding, as we prepared to set off for our train trip to New Orleans, which departs from Chicago. We rode the subway and streetcar to Billy Bishop City Centre Airport, Toronto’s great little downtown runway, for the flight to Chi-town. Enjoying the free coffee, snacks and newspapers in the lounge our Porter flight was only forty minutes late departing. A result considering we spoke to a couple headed for New York who had been delayed for two days.
We arrived at Chicago Midway, shot through customs and took the Orange Line to Quincy on the loop, $2.25 per person. A short walk a few blocks west, across the river, and we arrive at historic Union Station, where we checked our baggage at the Metropolitan Lounge. Nearby Lou Mitchell’s at 565 West Jackson Boulevard provided the diner experience for lunch, somewhat on the tourist beat but worthwhile for a treat, $31.88 for two plus tip. We then took a walk around the loop to the public library, the books-on-sale section being a shadow of its former self. At Barnes & Noble I bought “Car Guys vs Bean Counters – The battle for the Soul of American Business” by Bob Lutz, $16. (How GM nickel and dimed itself into oblivion.)
Back at Union Station we settle into the subterranean waiting room. Our Pullman host Jessica says we will be boarding at 19:20 for the scheduled 20:00 departure. Passengers are embarking for all points of the compass but I look around for fellow Pullman passengers in vain. Jessica informs us that we are the only passengers for the private railcar and that we will have our own steward (Jody) and chef (Daniel Traynor). We are shown to the Master Suite, with double bed, in the Pullman car called Pontchartrain, attached to the back of the Amtrak “City of New Orleans.”
We leave bang on time and are shortly joined at the rear of the train by Amtrak conductor Mary. On reaching 21st Street we back around on track B2 to BNSF Main 3, crossing over to Main 1, then up the St. Charles Airline to 16th Street Tower, where we join the Illinois Central tracks, now CN. Mary is a fundie when it comes to Chicago railroading, pointing out relics of B+O, CSX, Santa Fe, Grand Trunk and Rock Island as we head out of the city. Another landmark we pass is the old Pullman factory.
The Big Easy is 934 miles away so we change for dinner, smart casual, and try to get used to being waited on hand and foot. The relish tray features pickled watermelon rind, a southern speciality, in the first of four courses. I settle for gin and tonic, Chardonnay and Courvoisier to accompany the meal. No mint julep.
Day 2. Next morning I am up early enjoying the ride through the swamp into Memphis, Tennessee. Coffee about six o’clock is most welcome as I stretch my legs on the platform. We reach the state of Mississippi with its hardscrabble towns of shacks and shanties. At Jackson I photograph the Capitol building in the distance. Legend has it that the statue of Robert E. Lee atop the building was turned around on refurbishment, so that he now turns his back on the north. We roll into NOLA mid-afternoon, passing Lake Pontchartrain, and catch a cab to our hotel at the Country Inn and Suites on Magazine Street. Comfy and quiet in a rustic older building. We crash out.
Day 3. Next morning we set off to walk the two blocks to the French Quarter bright and early before the heat of the day takes hold. We read the papers at Community Coffee at St. Philip and Royal. We look round the French Market but to our chagrin there are no streetcars running on the Riverside section. We stop by the National Parks tourist information where they have interactive screens showing films about New Orleans music.
We lunch at Pierre Maspero’s, 440 Chartres Street. A greeter lady was handing out menus on the street but shrimp and grits were not on the menu. After some haggling we secured this superb creamy southern delicacy at $17 a plate. I said: “this should be your signature dish!” I sample the Abita Amber craft beer.
We ride the Canal Street streetcar to Cemeteries, where the above ground graveyards are to be found. Day pass $3. After time out we ride the St. Charles streetcar in the rush hour which then short turns. Back at the hotel they are making a movie outside which involves mardi gras scenes. We scoop up the necklaces thrown by the actors from their faux floats. We have a sandwich supper from CVS.
Day 4. We take the Riverside walk, past Harrah’s Casino, to the Hilton Hotel to get some cash. I score a free newspaper. Back on the streetcar (Red then Green) we short turn once more on St Charles due to construction. We backtrack to Rite Aid, where Goldenberg’s peanut chews from Philadelphia are on sale at $1 a throw, water 50 cents. Our Rite-Aid discount card is earning its keep. We cross the street to Fresh Market, a supermarket in an old mansion and former funeral home, $5.25 for two coffees plus two delicious pastries sitting on the verandah. Deal!
We leave the streetcar at Lee Circle and walk to the Civil War Museum, $8 per person, recommended. We then walk back to the hotel where they directed us to Mother’s for lunch. This is a popular spot with down home cooking that involves queuing in the hot sun. We sample Seafood Gumbo and Red Beans and Rice. In the evening we walk to Mulate’s, for Cajun food and music, $65.22 plus tip. (Both these are tourist eateries outside the French Quarter.) We share crabmeat stuffed with mushrooms followed by blackened catfish. I sample the Pontchartrain Pilsner, $4.99 a bottle. The Cajun band Le Touché are performing and folk of all ages get up and dance. Good service.
Day 5. A rare occurrence for us, we take an organized bus tour to the sugar plantations of Oak Alley and Laura’s, situated on the Mississippi river in the direction of Baton Rouge. As the bus pulls into Oak Alley I spot a hummingbird feeding on a bush. I later spot some more. To my surprise not even the resident tour guide has seen them.
At Laura’s the Creole tour guide laments the influence of the Anglo-southerners – the abolition of the Code Noir before the Civil War (which allegedly provided a route out of slavery for those that desired it most, and is ignored in the history books) and official hostility to the French language in modern times. He stated that the original meaning of Creole was that you were born in Louisiana, spoke French, and were Roman Catholic. It had no racial connotation. He also criticized the abolition of slavery by the Yankees, which provided little or no relief for the slaves on the plantations. Things are never quite the way they seem.
We took a walk down Bourbon Street on Saturday night, (also Bastille Day week-end) at six o’clock. It is bedlam! There are too many guys in bras and mostly second rate rock music. What will it be like by midnight after too many hand-grenade cocktails? We retreated to the hotel and consoled ourselves with Abita beer and pizza at the bar. Earlier we were listening to WWOZ (dubya-dubya-oh-zee) in the Ten-Cent-Store.
Day 6. We hike a couple of blocks with our luggage to Canal Street. We take the recently opened UPT/Loyola streetcar to Union Passenger Terminal, which doubles as the Greyhound bus stop. The 1954-built concourse is splendid with a large pillarless area. Could this be one of the last passenger stations from the golden era to be built in the United States? A lady passenger, headed for the west coast via Chicago, is lamenting the loss of service on Jacksonville-Tallahassee-New Orleans, formerly part of the Sunset Limited route. We lodge our luggage with Amtrak and walk to St. Charles for coffee. We note the old streetcar tracks on Howard which, but for a short gap, connect Lee Circle to the train station. There are proposals to reinstate this section.
Joining the train at UPT we are held up by a snafu by the Amtrak crew whereby they passed a red signal in the yard and have to be stood down (in the UK known as a SPAD - signal passed at danger). I drink some Pinot Grigio in the Club Car to compensate, while we wait for another crew. We are joined in our two-car consist (Chebanse sleeping car, Adirondack Club car) by two couples, one from Illinois, one from Detroit. Champagne is flowing for an anniversary at dinner in the diner.
Day 7. We roll onto Chicago, after making a stop at Kankakee, arriving about 90 minutes late. We never did catch back the time lost at the start despite rolling at eighty plus m.p.h. on some sections. We hike across the Chicago River and find a taxi that is pointing in our direction, thereby avoiding a detour. We check in early at the Silversmith Hotel, at Wabash/Madison stop on the Loop, (our second choice as the Palmer House was fully booked). We head for the architecture boat tour on foot. Despite my dislike of tour boats this is a splendid trip. Annette buys me a beer to calm me down. The man at the microphone was both lighthearted and informative, the facts coming thick and fast, while not talking down to the audience. Outstanding. Late lunch at Corner Bakery Café, 360 North Michigan Ave. Free lemonade with coupons handed out on street. Then late supper al fresco on a warm night at Pizano’s Pizza and Pasta, round the corner from our hotel on Madison. Giant portions of pasta - Pasta Primavera: $14.95; Pasta A “La” Dino: $16.95.
Day 8. Up early for 07:00 breakfast at the Silversmith. Room charge $249, comfy but a bit spendy plus $40.84 room tax, ouch. Disappointing Continental breakfast in nice surroundings, free newspapers. I was trying hard not to end on a bum note! The Orange Line is right outside and we reach Midway airport in short order (unlikely that a taxi would be any quicker). The little Porter plane takes us home.
Would I go back to New Orleans? You betcha!

High style and low rent

Jan 24: Walk to Downtown Crossing and take the Red Line across the river, to Harvard Square, Cambridge, $2.50 per head single trip. Breakfast at COOP bookshop, walk on to Harvard Bookshop, where Annette scored The Sugar Barons, by Matthew Parker, $20. Back to Boston for early lunch at Wong's of Boston in The Corner Food Court, off Washington Street. Singapore noodles, vast portions, recommended. Quiet afternoon back at the hotel, where we split $16 pizza for supper in the hotel bar. Suitable.
Jan 25: Walk to South Station where we breakfast at Cosi, on the concourse: sandwich, oatmeal, two coffees, $9.50. We ride the 9:55 'T' train to Providence, Rhode Island, $20 round trip each. The ride takes just over an hour with numerous stops en route. We walk via the shopping mall, next to the station, across the river and climb up to the Brown House, 52 Power Street, for a tour of John Brown's House. This is not the home of the famous abolitionist, but a slave-trader responsible for the Sally slave-ship debacle and a friend of George Washington. After viewing his house I'd say his epitaph should be: "He lived well." Lunch at Cafe la France, 1 Citizens Plaza, Red Chowder and half sandwich. Walk on to Cafe Choklad, 2 Thomas Street, for coffee and cakes, $10.32.
Providence is a pleasant contrast to Boston, with many interesting old buildings, and an ideal distance for a day trip. We would have returned by Amtrak but delays meant we opted for MBTA. We bought some foot-longs at Subway for supper in our hotel room - menu fatigue is setting in.
Jan 26: Walk to Quincy Market. On the way we lament the loss of Filene's, the famed department store and former Boston flagship, which has been half-redeveloped and left to rot. We were planning to breakfast in Quincy Market, but there is a dreadful racket created by a keep-fit class. We resort to Cheers, a tired reminder of an aging TV show. The waiters are anything but cheerful. Scrambled egg, cheese omelet (not the veggie omelet ordered), plus coffee with refill, $26.94, $31 with tip. Pretty average. We walk to Christopher Columbus Park on the waterfront. It is too cold to linger so we backtrack to The Boston Athenæum which is a membership library and museum, founded in 1807. From there we walk across Boston Common to Boston Public Library, where I do some research into the history of The Sports Car Club of America, founded in this city circa 1944. We take a late lunch at Maggiano's, 4 Columbus Ave, $33.71, $41 with tip. Quite the best service since we arrived.
Jan 27: A quick breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts, where an old man is eating sardines from a can. By subway to the Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, to see the splendid exhibition The Postcard Age, Selections from the Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Time also for a quick look at Art in the Street, European Posters. Then back on the Green Line to Boston Public Library for more research. Walking home we stop at Pho Pasteur, 682 Washington Street, where the noodles are cheap and cheerful.
Jan 28: Up early and after 08:00 visit to Post Office to send a post card, we walk to South Station for the SL1 airport bus, $2.50 per head. Logan airport is pleasantly quiet, if airports can be pleasant this gets close. We take the 11:20 Porter Airlines flight to Toronto City Centre Airport. The pedestrian tunnel to the island is progressing nicely, only spoiled by noisy strikers picketing outside. (If I was an investor I'd get straight back on the plane.) Like Toronto, Boston is showing signs of decline, with plenty of empty shops and offices. Parts of the public transit system are neglected and lack investment. Having said that there is much of interest to occupy a week in Beantown.
Pic by Annette.

Bookshops of Beantown

Jan 21: We flew down to Boston on Porter Airlines from Billy Bishop Airport, Toronto. Arriving at Logan we caught the free hybrid bendy-bus, Silver Line 1, to the South Station in Boston. After going through the 'Big Dig' the bus halts and switches to overhead catenary electric-power for the undergound ride to our destination. We walk a few blocks to the Hyatt, refurbished since our last stay in 2004.
We then walk to Max and Dylans Restaurant Bar, 15 West Street, for supper. I try the onion rings starter followed by Clam Chowder. $39.06 plus tip for two, rated 75%; came highly recommended by the hotel, but only so, so. Served Heineken beer in a bottle, had to wait too long for a glass. Team service always difficult to do well.
John Lennon's "Instant Karma" is playing in the hotel lobby. The only worse fate is your music isn't played at all.
Jan 22: Walk to Black Seed Cafe, 131 Tremont Street, fronting onto Boston Common, for breakfast. Veggie omelet, fry-up and two large coffees $16.32. Cheap and cheerful. We walk on to the Commonwealth Bookstores (2 Milk Street, 9 Spring Lane), which specialise in used books. I purchase: Unlocking The Sky, Glenn Hammond Curtiss and the Race to Invent the Airplane, By Seth Shulman, $15. We note the large Borders bookshop is closed up. The little guys have outlasted the big guns in this case.
We lunch at Bruegger's Authentic Bagels. On to Brattle Bookshop, 9 West Street, which has a large outdoor selection. I picture some bibliophile being found frozen to death at the racks. I go indoors before it happens to me. We walk to Salvatore's, 545 Washington Street, for supper at the bar. I try the Chicken, Wild Mushroom and Squash Risotto special and Samuel Adams Boston Lager. Dinner for two $52.38 plus tip, total $61. Service OK but not particularly engaging. I recommend booking a table in advance.
Jan 23: 08:00 walk to Boston Common for Green Line light rail to Boston College. There are no trains due to an electrical fire. We take stock in Starbucks, then managing to catch a crowded bus to Kenmore, where we switched to the streetcar. Some of the rolling stock looks like it came from a badly run museum. We arrive at the Burns Library at 10:45. Annette gets down to some serious research re Mad Jack Fuller. It is perishing cold. Back home on the Green Line we hop off at Boylston and take supper at Boston Common Coffee Company, 515 Washington Street. Veggie soup, quiche and cookies, $23.75.
Pic by RLT.

Not quite full of prairie promise

Winnipeg has seen better days, about a century ago when the sky was the limit. We head up the Broadway, where the street cars used to run, and work our way over to Portage and Main, in the city centre. We are offered a free donut by some insurance folk in a random act of diet madness. We take coffee and WiFi at the library.
The Peg, like many other North American cities, has been ruined by one-way streets, four-lane race tracks designed to scare the bejesus out of pedestrians. Many historic buildings have met the wrecking ball and the town has a broken-toothed appearance. We just have time to duck into the streetcar museum, in a replica car, where we learn that the only survivor #396 is being restored. We return to the magnificent 1911 station on Main in time for free coffee and biscuits.

We head out west past Rivers, MB, and into the Qu'Appelle Valley. Soon we are passing the potash mines, a source of prosperity in Saskatchewan. We stop in Melville, SK, and I photograph an old Pontiac up a gantry at a bodyshop. Past endless sloughs we reach the CN Walker yard at Edmonton, AB, via Saskatoon and Ardrossan. We eventually reverse through this massive rail yard arriving at Edmonton VIA station at 05:17, followed by frühstück at 06:00. A large party of Germans is leaving the train here.
Edmonton has a miserable modern station in the suburbs, stuck between the City Centre airport and a grotty trading estate. Train travellers get no taste of the city, like in Ottawa. We depart not having spent a cent.
We repair to the dome car, heading west past numerous container trains with their Hanjin, Evergreen and Italia signs. We spot nodding donkeys pumping oil in the fields. The Grey Cup Special train, vinyl wrapped, is heading towards us. Our train now has a special observation car spliced in, not elevated but with a glass roof. We stick to the 1950s version. We reach the Pembina River gorge where the train pauses on the bridge. Passing large lakes to left and right we reach Edson, AB, a hardscrabble town with railyards, timber and fracking supplies for gas. Another whistle stop at Hinton and we reach Jasper, AB, in the Rockies shortly after 1:00 p.m. We are glad to detrain after three days of rock 'n roll.

Bay City oldie

We spent a couple of days sightseeing in San Francisco. You have to love the 'F' streetcar line which consists of vintage cars from cities around the world. Fare $2, 75c seniors. Pic by Colin Marsh.

A streetcar named Kawasaki

This is the #36 Philadelphia trolley approaching the junction of South 70th Street and Elwood on Tuesday 3rd January 2012, heading back toward the city centre. This "modern" Kawasaki streetcar is now more than thirty years old. Some former-Toronto Red Rockets found their way to Philly, when there was a ready market for used equipment.
We were intrigued by the surviving remnants of what was a much more extensive system back in the day. Most North American cities ripped out their streetcars years ago, while some struggle to put them back. There is now no downtown trolley in Philly to delight tourists - what they have is underground. Curiously the tracks and the overhead power supply survive in a number of locations but the political will to revive the city centre seems to be lacking. Using public transit is habit forming - a habit most Americans have long ago abandoned.
P.S. We bought tokens for the trolley at $1.55 per ride. Deal.
Pic by Annette.

Trolly trip in Philly

We headed out into the suburbs on this 1981 Kawasaki trolley car (begs the question where would you buy a tram in the USA?). We were going to the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum. This proved to be a world class collection in a most unlikely spot. We walked some two miles into an industrial estate, out close to the airport, and there it was. We were greeted warmly and given a pretzel at the desk - Petey the dog eyed me throughout. They let us photograph beyond the ropes, took us backstage into the workshop, and gave us a lift back to the trolley stop.
This Porsche 917 is a Le Mans lap record holder.

We were also taken by the Allard-Cadillac on display and the unrestored Daytona Cobra, CSX2287, with Bonneville heritage.

I sent some Bugatti pictures to Joe Saward, who replied with many thanks.
Pics by Annette.

Downtown train of thought

To downtown on a freezing cold day in Toronto. Take the subway train two stops to Dundas West and switch to the King streetcar #504. After a longish wait I manage to get a seat and the car heads down Roncesvalles which has a light dusting of snow. The crowd thins out on the car as we approach the Queensway. Punters are clutching coffee and mobile phones - "I'm on the streetcar!" I'm reading the free paper "The Metro," a wire-service rag.
We go past an empty Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge dealers. The graffiti is already taking hold. On past the Palace Arms, weekly rooms, affordable rates. Toronto needs to look after itself for it could go the way of Detroit, although other factors were in play there. The anti-business attitudes of the freeloaders in City Hall do not help. Some time ago I spoke with a businessman from Chicago who said he would never do business in Canada, after, he felt, being insulted on a visit to Montreal. The smug anti-American attitudes of many Canadians does untold damage to trade relations south of the border.
To HSBC bank to change some cash from Sterling to Canadian Dollars. The pound is sinking like a stone under the incompetent government of Gordon Brown. Send for a novice say I, surely better than "bottler", the new Mr. Dithers. He is running up a national overdraft for those yet unborn to pay off.
The girl behind the counter dutifully urges me to open a new savings account that the bank are pushing. I say "at these interest rates who cares? The best thing you can do with your money is spend it." They are so busy propping up failed borrowers that saving is for mugs.
I duck into Starbucks on University Avenue. More jolly Xmas muzak - "I've got my love to keep me warm" - AGAIN. Standby for "Frosty the snowman." Onwards up University Avenue where the Canada Life building is forecasting the weather in lights - if only I knew the code. Past Roy Thomson Hall and the theatre district. My pen is freezing up on the notepad. I duck into the foyer of the Royal Alexandra Theatre and see the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton in the distance. Who will be living in this swish hotel? I guess the real fat cats are immune to the economic troubles, perhaps they will be downsizing.
On to Steve's Music Store at 415 Queen St. W. This is a legendary place for Toronto musos. They don't get up much before midday so the store is quiet, as I purchase a BlueMic SnowFlake - a portable professional USB microphone - $66.67 incl tax. I ask if any tunes are banned as a punter tries out a fuzz box. "No Stairway" is the reply - "I cut the wire to the amp" says a girl. The whole place is like Spinal Tap with endless solid-bodied guitars hanging from the rafters. I walk on to Spadina and ride the streetcar in the sunshine through Chinatown, should be called Vietnam town these days.
I should go out more often.

Streetcar undesirables

How GM et al killed off the streetcar in North America.

Streetcar named 1231

This is a streetcar operated by the Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway - which runs weekends and holidays. At $2 round trip a great tourist bargain - free parking. The enthusiasm of the volunteers running the railway does them great credit. The #1231 car was built in St Louis and known as a "Louis."



While at the railway I couldn't resist this old rail inspection car, known as a speeder or jigger. This one appears to have been fitted with a modern Honda engine with belt drive.



For more on the hobby of restoring and running these old railway inspection cars visit NARCOA.

Streetcars and smarts

Up for breakfast at The Dutch Dog with communal breakfast of pancakes. We plan to take the Skytrain elevated railway into Vancouver but there is no parking at the stations so we drive. We circulate round Stanley Park seeing the totem poles and are early enough to miss the crowds on B.C. day. We go in search of the Downtown Historic Railway which is a hidden gem not in the guidebooks. Parking is free and it is $2 to ride the 100-year old streetcar to Granville Island, which is a busy resort area. The railway runs close to where the Molson Indy cars used to race and the future site of the winter Olympic village.
We cross the Lion's Gate Bridge to North Vancouver and spend the night, taking supper at a Vietnamese restaurant. Next morning we take the smart for 8,000 km service in Burnaby before starting the trip back east. Out of town via Hope and now in Princeton, BC in the Okanagan for early overnight stop and essential laundry in this charming western town.

Hard Amarillo Highway

Lunch at the Trolley Stop cafe in El Reno, OK. Back on the 'bump, thump' road to the Twenty-Eight Pony Bridge which featured in the film "The Grapes of Wrath" - Granpa Joad died here. To Elk City and the National Route 66 Museum. Then the ghost town of Texola, with the widest main street anywhere, and across the stateline into Texas. Saw the Leaning Tower of Texas, a tilting water tower built as a gimmick, and the large cross both in Groom, TX. Camping at KOA in Amarillo, TX. You can order supper at the office and a guy comes whizzing up in a golf cart from the Kowpoke Kafe and delivers your dinner to your pitch. We pitch our tent in a pea gravel "tray" which is supposed to drain if rains - I hope we don't have to test it. A stretch limo with bull horns is cruising the campground offering a free ride to the Texas Steakhouse - home of the free 72oz steak - you have to eat it all! Sitting in the evening sun watching freight trains, aircraft landing at the local airport, and huge RVs arriving towing a car far larger than the smart. Annette is talking to Persephone in Scottsdale, AZ on her mobile phone to arrange to meet up later in the trip. I'm chugging on a Bud Light - it'll never replace beer!