More from the CC Barn...

Hi All,

I hope your all having a great week. Here are some more shots from the Choo Choo Barn. This is a place where I could spend hours taking photos and not get bored.

The first photo is a tourist getting pulled over by the local police department. The second and third photos are of The Dutch Wonderland Amusement Park. This was my first summer job and it was a great place to work. I have many fond memories of working there, made a lot of good friends.

The fourth photo is of a Amtrak train that was passing by close to the park.


The fifth photo is of Wyatt looking at a Disney Train. This one I need some help on, so If anyone who is much smarter then me in Photoshop, PLEASE PLEASE leave any comments or suggestions. I was attempting to clone the photo, In Wyatt's reflection, I wanted to attempt to remove the white post that goes down the middle of his face and move it to another part of the photograph where it would blend it.

Everytime I attempt to do it, I get a message stating the image is locked. I've looked online, I've looked in my photoshop book, I've checked the online help manuel for photoshop and I cant find anything on a locked image or how to unlock it.


So I don't know If I am missing something or If it's that obvious and it's right in front of me and I have not found it yet...

Any help is appreciated...


Thanks and Stay Safe,


Woody

Trip to the Choo Choo Barn...

Hi all,

I know, I missed a day yesterday. I just plain forgot, plus I did not have anything planned. Yesterday, I took Wyatt to the Choo Choo Barn In Strasburg. If you ever get the chance, you need to take a drive and visit this. It is a 1700 square foot model train layout. I've been there quite a few times and each time, I always notice something new. I apologize for the quality of photos ahead of time. I was trying to watch Wyatt and take photos quickly at the same time. I think I had my camera on the wrong settings. I did not do a whole of photoshop work, mainly because I spent about 2 hours, cropping, recropping, adding some color, sharpening the photos and I am tired..LOL

So I think this week will be all shots from the choo choo barn. Here is a link to their website. www.choochoobarn.com. If you love trains, this is the place to visit.

I will say even though I had Wyatt with me and he had a blast by the way. I think it was still very difficult to shoot. Trying to get a good angle for a shot, and with the changing lighting in the room(If you never been there, after about 5-10 minutes, It goes from day to night and back to day again.)

So here are some of the shots, Please let me know what you think and feel free to leave any suggestions.



The first two shots are of the newest model to the layout. A Turkey Hill Store and a Turkey Hill Sign with gas prices. I am told that they can change the prices in the sign to reflect current prices.

The last 3 photos are from my favorite part of the layout. A simulated house fire. If you stand in front of the house and watch. You will see smoke pushing from the roof and "fire" in the first floor. After about thirty seconds, a house siren blows and then you see the engine company from the uptown district(A tribute to my Harrisburg City Friends that read my blog) leave the firehouse. When the engine arrives, you see guys advancing a line and with real water, knocking the fire down. It's pretty cool to watch..

Time for bed, so I hope you all have a great day!!

Stay Safe,

Woody

The Big Apple...

Hi All,

I hope you all had a great weekend. I am now officaly on vacation for the next week!! Yeah!!


For today, since I did not have any new photos ready, I thought I would post a few from my trip to the FDNY last year. A friend of mine from another department organizes a trip at least once a year to the various houses. We always tried to visit the Rescue Companies or any of the Special Ops Houses. The photos from this trip were my second time up and the FDNY guys are simply first class hosts. Outstanding group of guys.

The first photo is outside the quarters of Rescue 5 in Statan Island, which they share with Engine Co 163.

The second photo is outside the quarters of Rescue 2 in Brooklyn, this was my favorite house to visit. The guys were very welcoming and gave us a tour of the house. In a way, it almost kind of felt like being on sacred ground, knowing that I was walking through the firehouse that Ray Downey built. It's kind of hard to explain, If your not in the fire service, you most likely won't understand and If you are, I think you understand what I am trying to say.


The last two photos are from the famous Duane Street Manor House, Home of Engine 7 and Tower Ladder 1. This is the house that the documentry 9/11 was flimed at, that was flimed by the two french brothers and hosted by Robert Deniro when it was on TV. We are not to far away from Ground Zero at this point, which we did make it to, to pay our respects and to also see the ten/ten house.


If anyone ever gets the chance, You have to see the FDNY Fire Museum which is about 5 blocks from the Duane Street Manor. It is worth the trip, believe me...


Have a great day!!!

Stay Safe,

Woody

Happy July 4th...

Have a great day folks!!!

Never forget the meaning of the flag!


Woody

Strike the box....

Hey Everyone..

While working on some new photos I took of Wyatt and Lisa tonight or last night I should say, I had the scanner on and heard the Eden Fire Company get dispatched for an investigation call at a apartment complex in their first due. I really was not paying to much attention, especially with the additional of caller reports an odor of charcoal burning. My first thought was that it's BS and someone just caught an odor of someone grilling.


Time goes by, and I hear the dispatcher call the engine company and advise they were upgrading the assignment, someone on the scene reporting smoke from the eaves..

So I decided to head out and see what was going on. I hear interior crews reporting they believe they have fire in the attic area with heavy smoke and heat conditions increasing along with paint blistering on the walls. I thought, well this could get interesting real quick. Just as I was pulling into the complex, I hear interior crews report the bulk of the fire knocked. Oh well..I thought since I'm here, might as well get some shots. So I grabbed a few apparatus shots and some other scene shots.


The top photo is Eden Fire Company, Engine 2-4-1
Second Photo is Neffsville Fire Company, Engine 2-7-2 and other mutual aid apparatus..

Third Photo is Southern Manheim Township Fire Company, Rescue 2-11 or AKA "The Dragon Wagon" which is on the front of the rig...


The Fourth Photo is Lafayette Fire Company, Truck 6-3. This is the company I got my start with back in 1990...


The Fifth Photo, is the "mascot" on Truck 6-7 from the Roherstown Fire Company...


As of this posting, FD units are still on scene investigating...


Have a great day everyone!!

Stay Safe...


Woody

Independence Day...

Good Morning All,

I know it's a little early, but I thought these photos would be appropriate since In two days, It will be the 4th of July.

These photos were taken at the LCFA Parade In Strasburg last month and this group was my favorite part of the whole parade. The United States Marine Corps Band. This was the first time I have ever had the honor of seeing them and WOW...

You would simply have to see them in person to understand...


The only thing I did to these photos was just to crop them down as much as possible so the entire focus was on the band and the color guard..


I'd also like to wish my brother In law, Major Hays Arnold of the U.S. Army a happy 4th of July. He is currently deployed over in Iraq at this time at a undisclosed location(Meaning I really have no idea where the heck he is...)

Well folks, time to hit the rack so I hope you all have a great day.


Feel free to leave any comments...


Stay Safe,

Woody

Can you hear me now?...

Hey Everyone,

Hope your week is going well so far. This is my last day of work and then I am off for the next 3 days, I have to work Sat and Sun and then I am off for the next 7 days..

These Photos were taken In Marietta this past Saturday. I worked a detail with our field communications unit where we were the command post for the Marietta Fireworks/Festival and handled all communications for any incidents in the area.

While we had a quick break, I went out and shot some photos. The first photo is obviously our field comm unit set up. The second photo is looking south from our location. I really was not shooting anything in particular, just an overall shot of the area. The third photo is looking due west of our location and this photo was actually cropped down. This is actually across the river over in York County. I'd be curious as to find out where this house is exactly at. I'm sure judging from the location of the house that they did not have the FD in mind when they built the house...

Enjoy your day everyone!!