Saturday With the Trains

It was a nice sunny day and I decided that I didn't want to spend it inside.  I was thinking about going down to Ohio and catching trains there but then I decided to head up to Durand instead.  While there are not as many trains there, it is a nice spot for trainwatching.  They also have a nice train board set up, so you can kind of see when the trains are coming.

 As the first train passed, I left my cameras on the settings that I use for basketball games and all the pictures were way overexposed.  I caught it and was able to get some pictures of the cars.

 It took a while before the next train passed, but it was pretty cool.  There were quite a few people at the station.  Even though it was sunny, it was still pretty cold.

 I kind of like this shot.

 As it got closer.

 I wanted to get a picture of the signal bridge.

 A picture of the station itself.  There is a nice little museum on the inside.

 A piece of graffiti.

 This train was coming up the main line and took this line to go to the line that was heading south.  I wish I had realized it.

 I kind of like the livery on this one.

 I saw that there was an eastbound train, so I decided to wait for it.

 The lighting wasn't the greatest though but at least I wasn't shooting directly into it.

 The signal bridge.

 The train gets closer.

 I think this is my favorite shot.

 I was trying to get a picture through the windows of the station.  I'm not sure about this one.

I really like this one though.

Northern Illinois at Eastern Michigan - In Pictures

With the basketball season winding down, I decided to go to the second half of the game tonight.  I got home late again, so I headed to the game after dinner.  When I arrived Eastern Michigan was leading by two.

 My shot of the game.  I don't remember if he missed it or not.

 The Northern Illinois coach, Mark Montgomery.  He used to play for Michigan State and so far his record is less than 500.

 Coach Murphy arguing with a ref.

 The Eastern Michigan cheerleaders.

Another shot of the Northern Illinois coach.

So anyways, as I looked up the box score, Eastern Michigan was leading by as many as 17 in the first half.  Northern Illinois closed the gap to 2 at the end of the half.  Even in the second half, Eastern Michigan was leading by as much as 9 points.  They gave up the game.  Of course, it didn't help that Eastern wasn't making their shots and Northern Illinois was but still.  This is game that Eastern Michigan had to win if they want to host the first game of the MAC Tournament (they have no chance for a bye game though).  Anyway, I'll be back on Saturday and hopefully Eastern Michigan will bounce back.

You Deserve a Break Today

I was going to go up to get snowy owls on Sunday but I got up too late.  Then I thought about possibly going to Chicago but I didn't feel like driving all that way.  I wanted to do something, so I headed over to Metro Airport.

 This is the reason for the title.  There used to be a McDonald's ad where the pilot had a Big Mac Attack and pulled into McDonald's.  Amazing that I still remember that after all these years.

 A 757 arrives from Los Angeles.

 With the coronavirus, many of the flights from China has been suspended, so Delta has either been idling the A350 or using them on other routes.

 I've seen the A350 on the Amsterdam to Detroit route before but I think they are using them more often on this route.

 Although this one idled a couple of days before it went to its next destination.

 I will have to say this plane is growing on me though.

 A Bombardier Challenger 600.

 I'm not sure where this 717 was arriving from.

 A 757 coming in from Fort Myers.

 Since I like the plane.

 One more view of it.

 An E145 arriving from Philadelphia.

 An A320 arriving from Reagan National Airport in Washington DC.

 This plane has a tail number of N117HQ, so I will call it the other Stealth Airliner.  It was arrive from LaGuardia.

 An AeroMexico E190 arriving from Queretoro.

 A Delta Airlines 737 arriving from Fort Lauderdale.

 It's not often where the tail number matches the planes model number, but this A321 has the tail number of N321DH.  It was arriving from Salt Lake City.

 An American Airlines 737 coming in from Dallas-Fort Worth.

 A 717 coming in from Raleigh-Durham.

 This version of the Spirit livery is becoming rarer.  It was arriving from Las Vegas.

 A 717 coming in from Charlotte.

 A 717 coming in from Baltimore.

 I do like this livery, it adds much color in a see of white.

 It was arriving from Orlando.

 An A320 coming in from Miami.

 Another angle of it.

 Another 757.

 This one was arriving from the World of the Mouse (as opposed to the Land of the Mouse in Florida).

 Another angle.

 And my last plane of the day.

 It is getting rarer to see four engine planes.  Since the 747 doesn't come to Detroit anymore, this is only that comes on a regular basis.

 It was arriving from Frankfurt.

At any rate, it was nice to see blue skies.