A Prayer for The Bale Family

You are so right .

And because many of us are older and may be a little wiser than some.  "I hope".

Many of us have lost love ones in the past and can feel the Bale family pain so deep.

for me loosing a daughter some years ago,  It took time.

As long as I have her memory,  she is still with me every waking minute of the day smiling on silly old "DAD".

Love is eternal.

Boudreaux,  B.C.E.  R.R.

How else can we help?

Joe, is there someway for individual hobbyists to contribute to your scholarship fund? Some of us - thankfully - are still working, and so we'd like to pay it forward.

Donate to the hardship scholarship fund

If you want to simply donate to the hardship scholarship fund, our donate link now is for that purpose: 

mrhmag.com/magazine/donate

Update on Greg Martin

The latest on Greg Martin, the local modeler who has operated on my Siskiyou Line. Greg is a big RPM meet proponent -- he especially likes to attend the Cocoa Beach RPM show in January ... here's an update from his sister as of yesterday:

P.S. ABG ... Arterial blood gas test to see how much oxygen is getting into his blood through his lungs. Greg is still unconscious and not responding, but he is sedated and has been through the ringer with this Covid-19 pneumonia. His kidneys have been struggling so they've put him on light dialysis. It does seem like he's ever-so-slowly getting better vital signs, though.

One other thing, they did a virus test on him and the Covid-19 virus itself is gone, so his body has successfully fought it off. Now it's just dealing with all the collateral damage to his body and healing that.

COVID-19 Concerns and NMRA 2020 Convention

It seems to me from what I read that COVID-19 attacks everyone differently EXCEPT for the lung mucus or pneumonia. When this started, it seemed like us older folks(I am 62) were more susceptible. Now it seems like anyone, any age can get it. So now I am wondering if COVID-19 exacerbates underlying, possibly hidden conditions?  Conditions we ignore because we just do.

So along with less layout tours and ops sessions, I am becoming concerned that the NMRA National Train Show in St. Louis might be cancelled. When it comes down to it, worrying about a train show is far, far down the page of things to worry about especially if you or someone you care about is sick with COVID-19 or has lost their occupation(even temporarily) because of this.

At this point, all we can do is pray for those who are sick and if we can donate our time, cash or skills in the fight, we should! As a former over the road truck driver retired due to injury, if I could get behind the wheel again, I would be right out there.

Rick La Fever

Yep, just need to hang on

Optimism

I hasn't got it. 

I had things to procure as quickly as possible at the local big box (rhymes with "Blows"), so I arrived maybe ten minutes after the 8am opening.  Sunday morning, you'd think it would be somewhat quiet, I could do the 3G maneuver ("Get in, get stuff, get out!") and go home.  Oh nooo, it looked like a church social, albeit with jeans.  Couples just strolling through the aisles, one in particular arguing with an employee on how they were to get the patio furniture through checkout.

Patio.  Furniture.

I see St. Louis being cancelled by the second wave, because there's not enough people taking this thing seriously.  Delaware had to barricade the highways going to Rehobeth Beach this weekend, what with the heavy traffic headed that way, and all the people they had to hustle off the boardwalk for violating the "shelter-in-place" and "social distancing" orders.

For the record, my shopping list was outdoor bug spray (annual ant invasion), window caulk (storm window repairs), Roundup, alcohol-free premix for the tools and screws for indoor shelf stabilization.  If I still had my USAF chem warfare gear, I'd use it for the next trip to the store.

Idiots.

NMRA AR Region Convention postponed

As a sign of the times, our local NMRA AR Regional Convention (Australasian Region) has been postponed until next year. It was scheduled for Early June of this year but had to be postponed due to concerns by the management of the Convention Hotel (Western Sydney area).

A major disappointment for the organisers,NMRA volunteers, clinicians, layout hosts and so on, but all of our safety must be a priority in these unprecedented times. 

history has taught me

I will not let my self be sad that any HAPPY social events such as train show,  prom,  baseball or parades may be cancelled when we are reminded of what our parents and loved ones went through in the past for us to enjoy what we already have in OUR lives.

i feel truly blessed to be able to enjoy the Greatest Hobby and interact with fellow hobbyist from around this big blue marble.

A Toast to our future successes and some times failure as we create our empires.

Boudreaux, B.C.E.  R.R.

I go to the Roundhouse,  So the Devil can't corner me!

...

Rick, that full list of susceptible people that I have had since the beginning of February is as follows:

Elderly, Pre-existing Conditions, Smoking, Asthma, Diabetes, Obesity...

Take any two or three off that list and you can practically describe any ordinary average American...sigh...

We do indeed have to prioritize taking care of ourselves and maintaining distances.  There IS still a lot you can do without going out with a large crowd, people lose sight of this, unless they're going to arrest you for being out alone some place quiet for breaking the curfew rules.  If I wasn't effectively on Service lockdown, I would have made two more excursions out to the well driller these past few weeks, but eh, there's only so much one can do once the military says "You're staying local."

Right now would be a great time for someone to put together a software suite to make a virtual train show, it could be done...and with a lot of people who have nothing but time on their hands, it may be something to think about.  Consider the Antiques Mall concept but for a webface, who knows what could be done with that...food for thought.

I get to go to work tomorrow.  Yee Haw. 

Contributing with free articles

I'm really affected by the decision you've taken and the bad news you shared. Your decision to fund modelers is remarkable.

I was ready to submit an article about operating during a confinement. Do you still welcome articles? If so, I'm more than happy to offer it to you.

Yes, certainly

Yes, certainly we do. We're setting all-time traffic records right now with everyone looking for something to keep them occupied.

The only caveat is article payment may be slow depending on how well revenue does right now. It's inconsistent but definitely down from normal levels. If you can take a reduced payment, that's helpful. But if you're out of work, also consider submitting an article and let us know of your work status and we'll try to pay you as soon as possible.

Here you go ...

(Can we still laugh even though we're dealing with a serious pandemic? I hope so ...)

Greg Martin update

Greg Martin update - thanks!

Joe,

Even though I don't know Greg, I really appreciate hearing about his recovery! He'll be in my prayers tonight along with many others.

Respectfully,

Tim Moran Akron, OH

Greg Martin update

Greg opened his eyes!

Read this post from Greg's daughter this morning ...

Greg's vitals are stable now. The next trick will be weaning him off that ventilator -- if you're on one for too long, your body can become dependent on it. Greg was diagnosed with Covid-19 on March 17 and has been in ICU on the ventilator since about March 20 ... but he's finally ever-so-slowly on the mend now!

Good to hear

Perhaps they should put a stack of Accurail kits next to his bed to encourage his recovery... 

Fabulous update!

Joe,

Thank you for sharing the latest update on Greg's recovery!

Tim Moran Akron, OH

Incentives...

I think a loop of Unitrack and a Protothrottle _just_ out of reach would be a bigger incentive...

A different world.

  The best description of these times I've heard is Kate Tempest's song "People's Faces" ( easy to find on youtube)  ....DaveB

Greg Martin keeps improving

Here is the latest news from Greg's daughter ...

Even better news!

Joe,

Hearing (reading?) about Greg's improvement is always heartwarming to me. Please keep sharing them as you receive them!

Respectfully,

Tim Moran Akron, OH

Greg keeps improving

Today's report ...

Sounds like he's getting stronger and starting to mend well ... hooray!