Best Of Railwire Travelling Baggage Car - Photo Thread

[chicken45]

Yes!

[Mark W]

I was lucky enough to catch the daily Burlington with the special baggage on it's slow approach into Marsland.  Normally Uncle Joe's horses scatter when the train comes through.  They seemed awful...sheepish... today though. 

[u18b]

In all of Jim's confusion.... he began to not trust his watch.

So at one of the stops.... he walked up to the engineer and asked...

Jim:  What time is it?

Engineer:  Depends.  Which railroad are you with?

Jim:  Uhhhh.  I'm not sure.   But what difference does it make?

Engineer:  Oh.   It could make a BIG difference!

If you work for Union Pacific, then it's 2 pm.

If you work for BNSF, then it's 14:00 hours.

If you work for CSX, the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 2.

And if you work for Amtrak.... well.... it's Tuesday.

[Jbub]

Lol 
Love it Ron

[mighalpern]

Jim. Opened his eyes.
The car had stopped spinning and he was very happy, his stomach couldn’t take much more of this
What was in that brown drink he thought?
Man got to stop that,  he looked out the port hole and saw it was dark
“wonder here I am”
He slide the door open and pushed a crate out for a step.  He jumped down followed by Russ 
In the distance he heard“ hello there”.

His eyes still adjusting to the dark and the glare from the overhead lights he could see a older portly man approaching him
“ hello” Jim replied
The man approach and shook his hand
“ howdy ; I’m Sandy”
“
hello sandy.  I’m Jim and this is Russ . Pardon me but where am I and can you tell me the year?
Sandy laughed and said” now that’s funny cuz I was going to ask you a bunch of questions, especially with that sheep.   I Was Waiting for my driver to pull in, so I go in to take a leak, and then WHAM your baggage car is parked next to my business , when I come out”!!
“ well sir, your in  Auburn, Washington. It’s Friday  and the year is 1971.
“ you kinda lost or something?

“ well apparently I am lost". Jim replied
  "Been trying to get back east for awhile, just seem to end up in other places other  than the place I want, and then a few times I’m reliving the same place, like a twisted scary  déjà vu “
“ yeah sometime it feels like that here”


On the other end of town a dark engine is pulling into town thru the late night


He pulls onto the arrival track and releases his cargo and makes his way to the garage

The engine pulls up slowly with the precision of a seasoned pro and stops at the access ladder waiting for him
A tall lean man climbs down, his name is Kowalski.

Sandy waves his arms and greets him “ Kowalski you son of a bitch, been waiting for you, bet your tired, you earned a nice weekend off.”

“ yeah yeah Sandy  I’m here, now you can go home to your wife.”
“Naw , she’s to mean for me at this time of night ,well now you can  take it easy”
“Can’t !  What you got going to Saint Paul?”
Jim’s ears perked up
“Saint Paul?,  you crazy?   You just got in from there!?” Sandy exclaimed
“Stop hassling me and tell me which one !!!” Kowalski growled back
“ fine fine, *****!  Be that way,   Grab that unit behind you, it’s special, and supped up, full tanks too, then grab that 4 car unit set out on track #2. “
“Excuse  me Mr Kowalski.?   I’m  Jim and this is my friend um  partner, um  never mind he’s a sheep,  did I hear that your going east to Saint Paul?”
“Yeah I am heading that way”
“ well, you mind another car, I’m sure the Pennsy will reimburse Sandy. “
“Makes no difference to me,  I have a quick stop to make before heading out, if you don’t mind”
“ no not at all,  doubt I’ll get to where I’m supposed to , so what the hell!”
Jim and Russ climbed back into the baggage car as Sandy and Kowalski hoisted the crate back in.

Kowalski climbed into the cab of the glistening F7 and proceeded to start her
Gently notching her up, he swiftly moved out of the garage and then back towards the waiting  B60b with Jim and Russ aboard



to be continued

[nkalanaga]

It looks like the 751 has been in a collision.  Hopefully the shops can get it back together soon.

That looks like the early BN in Washington.  Many of the trains looked like they could easily have been from the 50s or early 60s.

(The prototype 751 was sold to a scrap dealer in 1981, so it had a long and useful life, as F-units went in the 70s, with the BN.)

[mighalpern]

Once the round around move was done,  Kowalski need to go to his old hang out to look up his friend for something special.  Jim and Russ looked out as the assembly slowly back up to a busy warehouse. 

Kowalski came out of the cab and Jim and Russ followed.  The sound of loud music and the roar of un muffled forklifts filled the air.  Men on break drinking cream soda straight from the bottle. Illegal checkers on the dock !!Kowalski’s friend Jake hoped off the window ledge

“ hey hey my man K”
“ hey dude,  you looking good “! Kowalski said his eyes red and bags under his eyes
“ man you look messed up, why don’t you come in and chill ,play some checker or something?”
“ no I can’t,  I need a little help for my trip”
“What you need Kowalski,  ?  Jake replied
“ You got something good”
“ hell ya, check this out, got your thermos?
“Yeah”. Kowalski said interested and bringing it out
“Let me turn you on to this new good ***** , Pure Arabica bean man,Columbian supremo , ground myself, not that piss water Foldgers. Got if from a new source called Starbucks, funny name huh”  As Jake filled the thermos,
Kowalski took a sip and smiled as the caffeine entered his body,”  oh yeah that’s the stuff”
“Where you going man?  Jake asked
“Saint Paul by Monday” Kowalski said
“ holly cow man you ain’t gonna make it” Jake said laughing
“ oh I’ll make it, or double my last coffee order!”
“ you on brother, here have the rest of the pot.
Jim could smell the strong pungent smell and decided he didn’t need to get hooked on that
Russ was more of an Americano coffee so he didn’t care

They boarded the train and set out for track #2 with no time to waste

Kowalski merged on to A/R track #2 and coupled up to the 4 cars waiting for delivery
He had always been an  adrenaline junkie and before this job was had been an race car driver, and a motor bike racer, but the draw of 1500 horsepower under his feet brought him to the locomotives. He stared in to space and reflected

Moving up the notches the F7 came to life and began moving forward.

Without thinking, Kowalski opened her up and Jim could feel the acceleration as they rounded the bend leaving the city.

Jim thought that this might go better than before and settled down to look out the port hole

Small towns came and went, Lester,, Ellensburg ,Yakima, Pasco  , and the train did not stop. Climbing and descending  grades all  rolled by and Jim was beginning to get comfortable, the landscape had now changed and gone were the mountains full of trees and now just rolling hills.
But..  He was not in the cab listing to the radio chatter.
Tacoma  Dispatch-  “ hey Kowalski you need to slow down and heed the lights,  I already had to  sideline 3 frieghts due to you

Kow – “ I don’t care what you have to do I’m moving cars for the company and I have priority

Dispatch- “  you might have priority but you don’t go straight thru, and wait till superintendent sole on the Rocky Mountain division get a hold of you
Kow- I don’t care about him, he can’t  touch me”

But what kowalski did not remember was that dispatch was a party line  and super sole was already listening and thinking
He called out some locos to slow him down and trail him

As he entered the yard limits of Spokane , Kowalski did not slow down  determined to make the schedule. "man that coffee was good" !!


As he headed down  the long straight away leading out of town and across the state line he noticed in his mirror that he was being chased by two black and whites. Horns and bells blaring


Kowalski stepped on it and made a last dash for the turnout and the state line,  no one would throw a switch at the rate he was going


True to his thoughts the black and whites did not follow,  he wondered what they thought they could do, cut him off at the switch,  latch on to the rear and drag him down??
Kowalski smiled at the idea and keep pushing

Tacoma dispatch- to Rocky Mountain dispatch
“ yeah we lost him at the state line, looks like he’s your problem now”
Superintendent sole responded “ don’t worry boys he won’t get past Livingston “
And he gave the command to throw the switch at Garrison and send Kowalski up Homestake pass and Bozeman Pass, slowing him down as he made the climbs, giving time to put the de-railers out in Livingston
The train passed through The switches with a jerk and Jim and Russ were shaken awake.  Till now the ride had been good although very fast, but Jim had been to 88 mph so this was nothing to him,  He came thru the loco and stood beside Kowalski.
“ everything ok? “
“ yeah nothing to worry about, just a little detour.  Why don’t you and your sheep head back and make sure everything is secure.  Going to be a little rough on the turns and heating up the dynamic bakes” Kowalski said ,staring straight out as the scenery flashed by.
Jim check all the items in the car, and verified that that 55 gallon barrel was still secure, Jim really didn’t want to get that  over himself again!!!  Ed k would be alarmed that the contents of his barrel were diminishing

Rocky Mountain dispatch – “ Kowalski, do you hear me, This is superintendent sole and I got a present waiting for you at Livingston,  you won’t like it, so I would tell you to give up this foolish game and idea of Saint Paul by Monday Kowalski !!!! Do you here me!!!
But Kowalski wasn’t listening anymore , his eyes were focused on the mountain pass and the double track
Around a bend on the inside track he saw a familiar locomotive and cars, but he didn't quiet know why the looked familiar
They begin to met
And a strange effect occurred as color and time shifted


Has he been here before?


Jim is looking out the port hole window and see’s his  first  met of the journey, very curious
A vista dome passes by

And then things begin to blur

And in an instant the B60b has vanished


The train continues

This is the VANISHING POINT

[DKS]

BAR FLY: Part 1

From behind the bar, as he idly dried shot glasses, Johnny watched Dan stagger out of JB’s, just as he’d done almost every afternoon for as long as Johnny could remember. The world was spinning along as per normal.



When Glenn spotted Dan stumble through the crowd on the corner, he kept one eye pinned on the drunk while he scanned the traffic with the other. “One of these days,” the veteran cop thought, “he’s gonna meet his maker on this corner.” He winced as a car screeched to an abrupt stop, horn blaring.

“Affernoon, ossifer,” Dan slurred with a grin as he limped past Glenn. The smell of whiskey was strong enough to make Glenn’s jaw clench; he nodded in silent response as Dan did his best to maintain course toward the old Rearden machine screw plant, where he often hid to sleep off the worst of his drinking binges. Glenn knew it would serve no purpose to go after him; better to just let the world keep spinning along as per normal.

As Dan wobbled around the corner of the Rearden building, he stopped dead in his tracks—a challenge in and of itself considering his condition—as he came face-to-face, more or less, with... a sheep. “Wha—” was all he could manage.



The sheep looked up at Dan. “Where a-a-a-a-am I?” it uttered.

Dan blinked. Drool began to descend from his still-open mouth. “Wha—” he repeated.

“I said,” the sheep insisted, “Where a-a-a-a-am I?”

Dan stumbled back a couple of feet until his back met the brick building, then he allowed himself to collapse slowly to the ground. “This ain’t happenin’,” he groaned. As the sheep stepped toward him, Dan’s eyes widened to unnatural proportions, and he raised his hands to shield himself from the apparition.

“Stop it!” a voice rang out from between the buildings. A man darted up behind the sheep. “You know better than to talk to strangers! Get back in the baggage car and wait for me. I’ll figure out what’s what.”

Head lowered, the sheep did as she was told, while the uniformed man observed his surroundings, then approached Dan. “Hey, buddy.”

Dan cautiously lowered his trembling hands. “Wha—” he croaked.

“Hey, I’m Jim. Can you tell me where we are—I mean, where I am?”

Dan blinked at Jim for a moment, then glanced around nervously. “Th-th-that... sheep?”

“What sheep?”

“The one that... talked... to me?”

Jim let out a somewhat contrived-sounding belly-laugh. “My friend, you’ve had a few too many, eh?”

Dan fidgeted.

“See, I’m from out of town, a little lost. Can you tell me where I am?”

“Um... corner of Broad an’ Olden.”

“That’s a start. What town?”

Dan became wary. “Tren’n?”

Jim frowned. “Trenton? New Jersey?”

Dan just blinked, his jaw going slack again.

“Waaaay of course,” Jim mumbled to himself. He swung around to have a look at the baggage car. It sat on a weedy siding wedged between two abandoned industrial buildings. Jim face-palmed. “Don’t know how we’re gonna get out of this one.”



Hands on his hips, face scrunched into a frown, Jim did a one-eighty and looked up and down Broad Street. Then his eyes lit up. “Yes!”

 

[DKS]

BAR FLY: Part 2

Dumbfounded and ready to swear off the booze, Dan watched as Jim darted across the street toward the siding beside Capitol Fuel, where a switcher was spotting a tank car.



Jim scrambled up beside the bright yellow switcher and started waving and shouting at the engineer. Finally he caught the grizzled old fellow’s attention. “Hey! Hey! I could use your help!”

The engineer brought his switcher to a stop, and the diesel dropped to a rattling idle. “What’s the problem?” he shouted back.

Jim just pointed toward the baggage car across the street. The engineer looked up and stared in disbelief. “What the f**k...?” he gulped, and looked back down at Jim.

“You don’t want to know. But I need your help getting it out of there.”

The engineer stroked his yellow-white beard thoughtfully for a moment, then grinned oddly. “Been a while since I’ve had a challenge! Lucky for you I’m also the railroad’s dispatcher! Come on up in the cab!”

Jim squeezed through the door to be greeted by two grimy, deeply-lined old faces.

“I’m Jim,” the engineer said as he thrust a greasy hand toward Jim.

“Makes two of us,” Jim replied as he shook the engineer’s hand—a hand that seemed rather large for a man whose feet didn’t touch the cab floor.

“This here’s Pete: fireman, brakeman, and just about every other man on the Tren’n Trans.”

An enormous bear of a man, Pete was so large that he was eye-to-eye with Engineer Jim, even though Pete sat on a toolbox on the floor. Without uttering a word, he eyed Conductor Jim warily, then turned his head to the window and spat out some of his Mail Pouch. The thick, brownish glob landed smack on the windshield of a passing car. Pete grunted in satisfaction.

“He don’t say much. So, tell me, how the hell did that f**king thing end up there?” Engineer Jim asked, motioning at the baggage car.

“It’s a long story,” Conductor Jim said, a little sheepishly. “Maybe another time. I just need it moved. How close to the Pennsylvania mainline can you get it?”

“Pennsy main?” Engineer Jim blurted. He eyed Conductor Jim a little more closely, squinting at the vaguely familiar but still unusual-looking uniform. “You ain’t from ’round here, are ya?”

“No, to be sure.”

“Hmmm. Well, lucky for you, the TTC used to interchange with the Pennsy. I can get you pretty close. But the last couple turnouts were tore up, so I can’t get you physically on the line. That’d be a Federal offense anyways.” Engineer Jim saw Conductor Jim’s shoulders slump a bit. “But I know someone with a crane,” he added with a wink.

Conductor Jim sighed. “Close will have to do.”

“Very well, then,” Engineer Jim announced as he spun around in his seat, releasing the engine brake, throwing the reverser, and yanking the throttle all in one smooth motion. “Hang on to yer fam’ly jewels, son, we’re goin’ for a ride!” The one still-functional horn on Number 3 wailed as they crept across Broad Street, and Jim chuckled as cars rammed on their brakes to avoid careening into Number 3’s trucks. “We’re gonna have to take a bit of a detour to get to the old Rearden siding,” Engineer Jim advised over the roar of the diesel, “and Glenn’s not gonna like this one bit!”



“That’s fine,” Conductor Jim replied, wondering who Glenn was. The drunk, maybe? He stared down at the cars lined up at the grade crossing, noting for the first time that he was a stranger to this time as well as this place. The world was definitely not spinning along as per normal.

After weaving and shaking around a sharp bend, Engineer Jim brought Number 3 to a shuddering halt beside a long brick warehouse, and looked expectantly at Pete. “Hope that f**ker will still throw.” After Pete left the cab, Engineer Jim leaned over his shoulder to Conductor Jim. “Actually, I’m more worried about the one in the middle of Broad Street.”



Wheels squealed and groaned in protest as the switcher negotiated the sharp curve beside the old Rearden plant. Then Engineer Jim slowed to a crawl as he crept out into the middle of Broad Street, his casual grin replaced by a firm, focused gaze as he studied the traffic intently.

Conductor Jim watched as they inched their way past JB’s Corner Bar and Greene Electric Supply, the wheels crunching through gravel and debris in the flangeways, finally coming to a halt where the rails disappeared into the asphalt. Engineer Jim nodded to Pete, who dutifully exited the cab.

Meanwhile, Glenn was making his way through crowds of gaping onlookers toward the switcher. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he shouted up at Engineer Jim.

“Nice to see you too, Glenn!” Engineer Jim shouted back. “Running a special today. Get ready!”

“You could’ve at least warned us!”



“Don’t get yer f**kin’ panties in a knot, I’ll treat you to a couple Jacks when it’s all over!” Engineer Jim chuckled as he watched Glenn scramble around the end of Number 3 to attempt unjamming the traffic. Then he frowned, and leaned out of the cab window for a look in the other direction: Pete was still struggling with the turnout throw buried in the street. “Might be a while,” he advised Conductor Jim, and gestured at the corner bar. “Wanna grab a brew? John at the bar is a friend of mine—he gets me my drinks for free.”

“Thanks, no,” Conductor Jim answered, thinking there's someplace that he'd rather be.

After what seemed like an eternity, Pete struggled back into the cab, glaring at Engineer Jim as he fell onto the toolbox, still huffing and puffing.

“That’s my man!” Engineer Jim said as he released the brake and got Number 3 moving again.

 

[DKS]

BAR FLY: Part 3

They stopped in the middle of the curve, just clear of the street, and Engineer Jim inclined his head to Pete. Conductor Jim watched Pete approach Dan, who was still slouched on the ground at the corner of the Rearden building. Pete motioned in vain at Dan to move, then picked Dan up and shoved him around the corner out of the way. Then Pete trudged over to the end of the baggage car and gave Engineer Jim the signal to proceed slowly. Pete motioned to stop, and he wrestled the couplers into alignment. Finally, after a satisfying clunk, Pete indicated success. Engineer Jim took up the slack; Pete hooked up the air hoses and opened the cocks.

Engineer Jim began charging the train brake line, staring at the pressure gauge expectantly. “I can only assume the brakes work on that f**kin’ thing,” he growled.

“They should be fine,” Conductor Jim replied.

Engineer Jim grunted. “Well, we’ll see.” The pressure gauge came up to full, he grunted again, and made an application. After a cycle, he looked down at Pete, who indicated the brakes worked. Engineer Jim seemed pleasantly surprised. “Hmmm. We just may be able to pull this off.”

After three short horn blasts, Engineer Jim began to pull the baggage car out, a half-inch at a time. As Number 3 crept back out onto Broad Street, there was a sudden lurch and a gut-wrenching screeching sound. Engineer Jim immediately dumped the brakes and spun around to Conductor Jim.



“Let me have a look,” Conductor Jim said as he scrambled out of the cab and down to the parking lot next to the siding. He gazed up in horror at the baggage car, which was wedged solidly against the side of the factory building. If he’d had lunch, it would be splattered on the ground. He could only imagine how the sheep must have felt. After a moment, he came to the realization that the damage was already done, and there was little else to do but to try and keep going. He signaled up to Engineer Jim to proceed.



Shaking his head in disbelief, Engineer Jim complied, and once he had a full brake charge, he wound up Number 3’s prime mover—the great black cloud it belched was a clear indication this was a rare event. The horrific screeching resumed, and Conductor Jim watched helplessly as the building tore at the side of the baggage car, popping rivets, ripping off trim and creasing the steel side.



When at last the baggage car was free of the building, Engineer Jim worked the horn for all it was worth as he dragged the car across the end of Olden Avenue, past a drop-jawed Glenn who was doing his best to hold back traffic. He glanced back and forth between Pete, who stood at the turnout throw across from the bar, and the end of the switchback. Pete signaled to keep going, and Engineer Jim pressed on past the ends of the rails, wheels crunching through the asphalt. His eyes widened as they crept towards a long-gone diamond where the switchback once crossed the TTC main. Finally Pete indicated they’d cleared the points, and Engineer Jim slammed the brakes, heaving a sigh of relief. With barely an inch to spare, Pete threw the points in the other direction, and made a beeline for the cab. Conductor Jim followed close behind.



Engineer Jim and Pete shared a long look of relief, then they both glared at Conductor Jim, whose eyes were clenched shut as he silently offered his deity thanks. Two short blasts of the horn jolted Conductor Jim back to reality. Engineer Jim hit the reverser and started shoving the baggage car back down Broad Street.

Leaning against the crossing shanty on Broad Street, Dan watched the baggage car slowly swing around behind the Rearden plant and disappear under the Olden Avenue bridge. When the last squeal faded into the traffic noise, he staggered back in the direction of JB’s. He met Glenn at the corner, and paused to offer a look of utter disbelief; Glenn just grinned reassuringly and patted Dan on the shoulder. Then Dan staggered back into the bar.



Johnny nodded patiently as Dan related the bizarre tale of the baggage car at the Rearden plant as best he could. Johnny chuckled to himself... the world was spinning along as per normal.

Or so he thought... as screams of terror suddenly arose from the street outside...

[Jbub]

Great story telling and even better photos. If it wasn't for the neccessary wide wheel flange gaps in the road I would have a hard time telling the last photo wasn't real, even with the fly on the road

[peteski]

Great story telling and even better photos. If it wasn't for the neccessary wide wheel flange gaps in the road I would have a hard time telling the last photo wasn't real, even with the fly on the road

But the photo is of a 1:1 scale road - DKS Photoshopped the fly in!    

That is great story (and photos too) DKS!!

[davefoxx]

The TRW Traveling Baggage Car has returned to Delaware.  Although the Seaboard Central 2.0 is now gone, the B60b visited both Aly Foxx's N Scale Layout and the Seaboard Central 3.0.

In the early morning light, the Seaboard System hauled the B60b #9358 through the Blue Ridge Mountains where an early (and rare!) October snowfall greeted the Railwire Express Agency car.  A SBD transfer caboose provided the markers on this freight train, which was en route to Aberdeen, North Carolina and an interchange with the Aberdeen & Rockfish RR.



However, upon arrival in Aberdeen, Jim heard a sound and looked around.  The Flux Capacitor wasn't charged with 1.21 gigawatts of power, so it wasn't that.  He wondered what he heard, when he noticed another crate that came on board at the last stop.  This crate was marked "The Super-Sizer" and was being shipped to one Mr. Lee Weldon.  Jim remembered Lee from his visit to the Canton, Highlandtown and Fells Point RR about one year ago, and he didn't even want to speculate as what a bachelor would want to do with a Super-Sizer.  Yikes!  Anyhow, he noticed that the crate was becoming hotter, and the noise was increasing.  The Super-Sizer sounded like it was building up to a warp core breach!  When suddenly!



At that moment, Jim was thrown to the far end of the baggage car, as it screamed to a stop.  After climbing out from under broken cartons of bacon, bourbon, and nudie magazines, Jim muttered, "What does that Lee Weldon do in his free time?"  In Lee's defense, though, the empty fifty-five gallon drum that Jim fell over while trying to get to his feet was the same drum labeled "Industrial Strength Personal Lubricant" that was shipped to an Ed K. in Towson, Maryland some time ago.  "How'd that get back onboard?"

Jim looked out a porthole window but all that he could see was the ground, since the baggage car was leaning at a severe angle.  "Not again, this is almost as bad as that derailment on the Colorado Midland Ry., but at least I'm not hanging off a trestle!"  As his mind began to clear from the shellacking that he took during the derailment, he noticed that something was amiss. "Oh, my!  The Super Sizer must have been on in reverse!"  He was lucky that the A&R gondola on one end and the SBD caboose on the other didn't run him over when the train went into emergency.



Jim and his car were reduced by approximately 54% from their original size.  "Now what?!"  The Seaboard boys were satisfied with making it the A&R's problem, as they considered the train delivered to the interchange yard just south of Aberdeen.  Thankfully, those A&R fellers with their southern hospitality were glad to help.  First, they had to figure out what to do with the B60b, since it now fit between the gauge of the rails.  They couldn't drag it along the ties.  So, a quick-thinker suggested loading the whole car up and sending it on to its destination.  To get back at those Seaboard boys dumping the problem in their lap, they hijacked a bulkhead flatcar, specifically, SBD (former SCL) flatcar No. 678921, from the interchange yard.  A quick construction of some track on the deck, and the A&R crew had the baggage car loaded up.



A quick tacking on of an A&R caboose, to replace the SBD one that the Seaboard crew quickly pulled off as they fled back south, and the baggage car was on its way to its destination on the A&R:

/>
Finally, A&R GP38 No. 400 (a/k/a "Duke Blue Crane") dropped the TRW Traveling Baggage Car at its destination in Raeford, North Carolina.  Once unloaded (although the receiving department might be a little disappointed with the "small" delivery), Jim and the car would be sent to an interchange with the Southern Ry. back in Aberdeen to head to points west.



Thanks for following along,
DFF

[eric220]

Love it! I hope it gets back to normal size before it gets to Oklahoma!

[peteski]

Dave, in the admin thread you wrote "Sorry it took so long, and the results won't be worth the wait.". Well, I totally disagree. It was a great little story. Thoroughly enjoyable, and very creative.