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JIM DUELL COLLECTION
Jim Duell -AUG 23, 2000 Updated April 01, 2009 As in all Fire Departments there are some volunteers that are elected to serve as a 2nd Lieutenant moving up to 1st Lieutenant then to Captain then to 2nd Assistant Chief then 1st Assistant Chief then to Chief Engineer. Then there are some who are Truck Drivers of Engines, Ladders, Aerials, Rescue, Tankers, and some yet are doing Interior Fire Attack, while some are at the end of a hose manning the nozzle at pressures of 60 to 100 pounds pressure at the nozzle tip. In Perry yes, we have all of this too along with our very own Fire Photographer. When the alarm is sounded and the sirens blow, one of the first volunteers on the scene is Photographer JIM DUELL with his camera . While he is putting on his bunker, coat, helmet, & boots there are pictures being taken. First time around the whole scene containing all sides of the burning building with electric wires down, Jim has the shot. Within the first 10 minutes a 36 exposure roll of film has already been used. If the source of the blaze is at sight, Jim has the picture already. In most cases the cause of the blaze is in one of Jim's pictures. There are many photos that come out of a roll of exposed film. At a fire scene or an accident scene in the many, many fire albums of fire photos that Jim has in his archives, there are a lot of very serious pictures which have been used in the United States District Court System in Buffalo, NY for arson cases which a conviction as made. Jim started doing Fire Shots back in 1972 when all he had was a Kodak 110mm Instamatic Camera which he still has, and this fit nicely in his shirt pocket. Jim usually took a full roll of film at each alarm. Now, a few years down the road Jim now has three Minolta 35mm SLR cameras along with two pocket 35mm cameras and of course the ole stand by of the 110mm just in case. These cameras are all loaded with Color Print Film, Color Slide Film & Black & White Film which Jim developes his own B&W negitives and prints. Jim also has his own RCA Video Camcorder for doing videos at a special Fire Scene or Function authorized by the chief. On February 23,1993 the Fire Department purchased a new Minolta 5xi AutoFocus Motorized 35mm Camera from State Grant Monies that were available to each department yearly. This new camera has a expansion card computer chips program these cards are used for doing Closeups, Automatic Depth Control, Flash Bracketing, Portraits, Exposure Bracketing. The same day Jim got this new camera he got to use it twice, once for an MVA during the daytime and then at a house fire in the evening hours. Both times at tempertures of 10 below zero. The camera at one point froze and quit working due to the cold air. After getting a vehical with the heat turned up high, both Jim & the camera soon got thawed out quickly. Jim did'nt even get a chance to experiment with the new and different computer cards. The pictures from the MVA were all very colorful with all the snow that day as a background. These pictures are only the beginning of a wonderful world of color photography. Jim sure wished that he had a camera like this 20 years ago when he started doing Fire Photography. There was a couple of times when he got the whole scene covered and should have run out of film but, the camera kept clicking and clicking. Why You Ask ! The film had come off the spindle inside the camera after the first or second picture. In thinking back, Jim says that his biggest night for pictures was the night that the Perry Town Hall & Auditorium and Wyoming County Arts Council building burned on Friday January 28,1983. That alarm, Jim shot 14 rolls of including the flashover that was the best picture of all , along with all the inside detail, source of the fire was the electrical panel box in the basement, and all the clean-up the next morning and removel of the standing rubble. This alarm come into the fire hall at about 6:50pm on this friday night and we were there until late Sunday afternoon when we finished the cleanup detail. There was a lot of firemen from Perry, and many other companys & departments. There was also a very large audience watching from all angles. Jim has one whole album of fifty pages of just this alarm. Jim also worked the fire scene with the ambulance and cleanup operations. It sure was a long weekend and the fire was labeled as a faulty electrical box in the basement which jim had already had a picture of during the investigation proceedures. Some of Jim's other memories of a long weekend with a camera was, the Ice Storm of 1976 and the business block of Perry involving five businesses. One good memory was the weekend of the Perry Fire Departments 100 Year Celebration on June 6, 1987. Other photos include Carnival, Parades, Mud Volleyball, Sand Volleyball, Arts & Crafts Show, Antique Car Shows, Circus, Memorial Day Ceremonies, and the 1992 Western New York Volunteer Firemens Convention held in Perry with our own Jack Hulburt as President. Jim was on the Program Book Committee and did all the pictures for the book all done in Black & White and was developed & printed by Jim. These pictures were all done in a newly constructed darkroom that was put in the basement of the Perry Fire Department by Jim & others. Jim is looking into the process of doing color prints in the future along with Black & White prints.This darkroom was an old 4 foot by 8 foot utility room converted into a darkroom by painting all the walls black and adding a 2 foot by 4 foot darkroom sink with hot & cold running water. Jim has taken two courses at Genesee Community College on Basic Photography and camera use and developing negitives and making reprints from the newly developed negitives. Jim has also learned the effects of Dodging & Burning to make a print look more realistic. http://bwdeveloping.s5.com .Jim has also gone to The New York State Academy of Fire Science in Mountour Falls, New York in Schyler county for a 2 - day in Fire Service Video Production. Perry Fire Department answers many mutual aid alarms to our small neighboring communities. We have a 4000 Gallon Tanker which is one of the first trucks asked for in a mutual aid alarm. Perry also has a new Rescue Truck which some of the new equiptment includes, a Cellular telephone with a Fax Machine and a four channel radio, Police Radio, Fire Police Radio, a compresser that is used for filling Scott Air Pack Bottles with breathing air which is very important needed system . This also carries the Town of Perry Jaws of Life , a Port A Power system, Venting Saw, K-12 Cutting Saw, Chain Saw, Plus much more. Many hours of training goes into knowing how each piece of equipment functions and the right & wrong way of using each tool. A lot of changes have been made in our department in the past 7 years. One of the biggest change was the disbanding of the Citizens Chemical Company and the City Protective Company in 2002. The Training Company for new members is still active to train the new people coming into the department with a year long course on how to use the equiptment and complete the essentials class before becomming active. On the Fire Photography side of the change, Jim isn't as active as before with working 12 hour shifts at Kodak. He purchased a new Gateway Computer and a Kodak DC210+ Digital Camera a week before Christmas of 1998 and then a second Kodak 290 Digital in July of 2000. Using a 8mb card he could store about 300 pictures on this card at one time. This was great !! He got a few packs of ni-cad rechargable batteries and can shoot hundreds of digitals without changing batteries. He then started storing pictures on CD's for future viewing and on a Omeiga Zip Drive System to hold a years worth of pictures. Jim isn't use to taking pictures off a card and installing them into his computer. No running to the store with a roll of film to get developed hopefully, anymore. He started going places on his 2 weekends a month off. Taking pictures is what Jim really wanted to do so he started to go to different Fair's & Festivals around the State of New York to get pictures. Jim started taking about 300 to 400 digitals on a good Saturday. He went to different Hot Air Balloon Festivals around the state. He got a new 64 MB card to allow him to take 987 pictures on one card. A year later in 2001 Jim took 5,015 pictures using both digital and 35mm camera's. Best year ever for pictures. Having all these memories in albums and now putting the digitals on CD's Jim started gathering old family pictures that his mom has and scanned them onto CD's having both Black & White and Colored. Jim has built about 25 different websites using all of his pictures. THAT'S COOL !! Jim has had a lot of feedback from a lot of people who has viewed all the different sites. Keep them coming !! Now you can see a lot of them just by typing jim duell into your search bar of your homepage. Yahoo does it best. Many of Jim's sites contain photos of the Perry Fire Department as well as travel photos from places having Hot Air Balloon Festivals, Harborfests, State & County Fairs, 1000 Islands & Lake George, Area Lighthouses, Railroad Depots, Large Structures & Buildings, Bridges, Sunsets, Trains, Clocks, Jim's Diecast Truck Collection. Jim has worked with a lot of different size camera's. He has all 35mm camera's that he uses when traveling along with his digital camera's when going every weekend to different Festivals through out New York State. His lenses consist of Minolta, Kiron, Focus, Spiratone, Quantaray. Size does matter when it comes to lenses. Some of his favorites are, 28mm Wide Angle Lens, 50mm Lens, 100 - 300mm AF Tech 10 Lens, 35 - 135mm 3.5 - 35mm Zoom Lens, 1.5x Matchmate MC Converter Lens, Auto Teleplus 3x Converter Lens, 80 - 200mm Lens, 400 to 800mm Telephoto Lens, T-2x Converter Lens, 2" extention Tube. Jim's Camera Bodies include: Minolta XG-1, XG-7, XG-A, X-700, X-370, Maxxum 5, 5xi, 450E, Freedom Vista Panorama. For flash units Jim has a Minolta 200x Electronic Flash Unit, Sunpak 522 flash unit with a remote sensor and a QBC-5 Quick Charger , Vivitar Auto Thyristor 550 FD flash unit, Minolta 3500xi flash unit, Minolta 118x Flash Unit, Vivitar 2600D Flash Unit. Jim carries a 52mm and a 55mm and a 62mm Polarized circular filter to use on his auto focus lenses. He also has many colored glass filters and a selection of cokin square filters and holder. Jim uses a variety of different films for all his camera's. Each camera has a different speed film in that special camera to avoid remembering to change the film speed dial on the camera. He purchases about 30 or 40 rolls at a time for a great price. Using both Kodak and Fuji films like select, super HQ, Royal Gold, Gold, Superia X-tra, Portra, Velvia, Sepria. The ASA speeds include 25, 50, 64, 100, 160, 200, 400, 800. Also available is ASA 1600 and 3200. He hasn't found any yet to try. Now going to all the different balloon shows around the state all the colors in all the different balloons need truly be captured on the best film available. Some of the subtle tones of an overcast day which may be found when attending the Oswego Harborfest on a 90 degree day or checking out different lighthouses next to the grey colored water or sky as a background when getting these surburb photos. These are also excellent films for night time photography like doing fireworks display and a lightning storm or even an evening at the New York State Fair with all the lights and a wonderful sunset in the background. Jim will use Fuji Velvia 100 at those special times a day just before dusk and dawn a for really beautiful solt lighting conditions. In rare ocassions Jim will use an ASA 25 or ASA 64 slide film from Kodak, he doesn't do slides very often but, he uses these for sunrises and sunsets when the time is right or places like the county and state fair at dusk when all the ride lights are on to make the special picture. These photos really look alive when the prints come back from Kodak processing. Doing digital photos at night is really different do to the 10 - 20 second wait time before the next picture can be taken. Jim is looking into purchasing a new Digital DSLR Camera maybe next spring. In the past few months Jim has purchased an enlarger and developing tools and equipment to set up his own darkroom at home. This will be for making enlargements like 11 X 14 inch prints in Black & White. He has all the skill and training to do this from taking the picture to developing the negatives to printing the picture. Jim has taken 2 different photography courses at Genesee Community College in Batavia learning the effects of dodging & Burning to make a print look more realistic. Jim has also gone to the New York State Academy of Fire Science in Montour Falls, NY for a 2 - day Fire Service Video Production Course. He can use colored negatives to make a sepra tone picture. Hopefully, 2004 will be a good year for pictures. With a new Fast Ferry Terminal coming to the Port of Rochester, Jim has already been to the new terminal at the mouth of the Genesee River and Lake Ontario meet in Charlotte NY to see what progress is being made and to get some pictures. It looked like it is coming along just fine and should be ready by the May opening date. With the snow and high winds that has hit us this winter its amazing that so much of this new terminal has been completed. While visiting Ontario Beach Park in Charlotte, NY a week ago the water on Lake Ontario was pretty rough and choppy and the temperture was a breezy 38 degrees with 30 - 40 M.P.H. winds to the south. Weather permitting the new Breeze cruise ship should be in the Port around the first part of April coming from Austrailia where it was built. This boat is a monster !! The Rochester to Toronto trips will be starting the first part of May if everything falls into place right. While the boat is still coming from Austrailia the freight trains are still passing through the City of Hornell, NY which is in the southern tier. A total reconstruction of the Erie Depot on Loder Street has finally been completed. It took about 2 years and the inside is just magnificant. It is going to be the offices of all the Vice Presidents of Alstom. They are a German based company with a big manufacturing plant in Hornell. Jim has taken many, many pictures of the reconstruction and different stages that has been done in the past 3 years like the new street lights in front of the depot along with the black rail fence between the depot and the tracks, along with a newly paved street and parking lot. One room is going to be a museum for all types of Erie Railroad Memorialbelia. Jim and his mother visited the open house on June 24, 25, 2003 to see the inside of the depot and Jim got a lot of photos of the inside with his digital camera while on the tour. His mother is originally from Hornell and she has taken the train many times back and forth to Buffalo where she went to Continental Beauty School there. She knew the old depot inside and out cause her father John F. Muchler of Hornell worked for the Railroad in where Alstom plant is now building engines. She could ride with his pass every week. The Depot Foundation is looking for memoribilia from the old Erie Railroad that could be donated by people of the families of employees of the railroad. Hornell is a small city that the train passes through many times a day & night from New Jersey to Ohio going through New York State using two different routes. Jim spends a lot of time taking pictures of the trains passing through Hornell and getting lots of pictures of the depot. http://railroadjim.20fr.com Some other great places to get good photos using both 35mm and digital are the Hot Air Balloon Festivals that come to different towns and villages every year around the same dates each year. Jim starts the ballooning season by heading to Letchworth State Park on Memorial Day Weekend for the Red, White & Blue Balloon Festival. There is about a dozen or so balloons that lift up near the middle falls part of the park. The next weekend is the Coors Light Balloon Festival in Jamesville near Syracuse, NY. Then in July comes the Great Wellsville Balloon Rally which is a three day event and lots of balloons and is held at the Island Park on Route 19 the other end of town. This is a great night for pictures. Jim usually takes around 200 to 300 pictures both prints and digital. From here we head to my hometown Sea Serpent Balloon Festival in Perry, NY. They have about 20 or sometimes more balloons that lift of at sunrise and sunset. Jim loves those balloons against the sunset for super pictures. http://sunsets.8m.com That same weekend is the Oswego Harborfest in Oswego, NY. Jim has been going to this since 1996 and gets lots of pictures especially of the Oswego Inner Harbor Lighthouse at the Port. This is an all day Saturday event that attracts a million people every year for the Arts & Crafts and the 1/2 hour long fireworks display at 9:00 or 10:00 PM depending if a storm is brewing on Lake Ontario. August is County & State Fair month. Jim usually goes to the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, NY and the New York State Fair in Syracuse, NY. On Labor Day Weekend is The New York State Festival Of Balloons In Dansville, NY. This is a great weekend for 50 or more balloons that lift off twice a day for a three day streach. Then comes Jim's favorite place for balloons and that is the Adirondack Balloon Festival in Queensbury, NY near Lake George. He spends 4 days there every year and he takes a couple thousand pictures both 35mm and digital. The three hour Steamship cruise on Lake George in the evening is Magnificant. To check out some of 2004 pictures on Jim's webpage go to http://jimduell.freehomepages.com In 2004 there were Hydroplane Boat races on the lake with all types of different antique racing boats and hydroplanes. Jim sat for the longest time taking pictures of the boats being loaded and unloaded into the water by a big crane. That is the only way that they can be taken off the truck and trailer is by crane. He took 4 rolls of film just of them doing that. He has already made reservations for 2005 Adirondack Balloon Festival. http://hotairballoons.8k.com The Hydroplanes should be back that same weekend. One other show that Jim takes many, many pictures at is the yearly Antique Truck Historical Society Truck Show which is held on the first Sunday of every August. This is at the Genesee County Fairgrounds in Batavia, NY. This is a great show with trucks that date back to 1910. Jim took over 200 digitals and prints of this show in 2004. http://aths.50megs.com Other events through out the year are the moon eclispe that is held once a year or so, Jim got lots of pictures using his Minolta X-700 35mm Camera and a Kiron 35 - 135mm Telephoto lens with a 1.5x converter . Could use little more experience in doing this. Pictures were a little small but, did come out. Birthdays are always big in our family. Jim along with his 4 brothers and 1 sister and all their families totaling 30 people had a 75th Suprise Birthday Party for their mom in June. That was a great party. She knew nothing about anything going on about the party. That was even better. Well now that christmas 2004 is over till next year. Its time to crawl into 2005 and in January of 2005 Jim has purchased a new Konica Minolta 7D DSLR Digital Camera to began the 2005 season. He may just pack away his 40 rolls of film and go digital from now on. He has 6 different Auto Focus Lenses that will work with this new camera very well. He got a 1 Gig Compact Flash Card for taking around 334 pictures without changing cards. Got an extra NP-400 battery for a back up with a charger. With this camera he got a Konica Minolta 28 - 100mm F/3.5 - 5.6 ( D ) Auto Focus Lens with a Hoya Cir - Polarizing 55mm Polarizing Filter. Along With this he got a 3 foot RC-1000 Remote Control Cable and a RC-1000L 20.5 foot cable. He can't wait for some nice weather to begain using it. His first pictures taken was of his new 2004 Dodge Dakota Pickup that he got on February 04, 2005. On Jim's next days off he will have to make a trip to Hornell to get some real digitals of the Erie Railroad Depot. On the 19th of March Jim Did get his depot photos which were very good. http://photographerjimduell.8m.com Some of the other places that Jim went to in 2005 and used his new camera were a day taking pictures at the Leicester Depot and Park in Leicester, NY then on the same day at the new Super Walmart that was being built in Geneseo, NY then from there to the American Salt Buildings in Mt. Morris, NY. This was all done on the 6th of April. On the 11th of April Jim went to Silver Springs and got several pictures of the Silver Springs Railroad Depot That Sits Next to the mainline from New Jersey to Ohio. Then Jim took a ride to his camp about 5 miles up the road in Gainesville and drove out to his familys camp that they have had since 1968. Took about 45 photos of the wooded lot and down by the ole mill stream. http://km7d.8m.com On the 9th of May Jim went to Warsaw and took some scenic pictures of the valley from 3 miles up on Merchant Road and a couple of the G&W Railroad tracks on Keeney Road in Warsaw,NY. On the 1st of June Jim took some photos again at the Leicester Depot in Leicester, NY for World Photo Day 2005 and entered one in their contest that they had for pictures taken only on that day. On June 22nd, Jim tries out taking a digital picture of the golden brown full moon that was over his home in Perry. They turned out super. Couldn't ask for a better looking picture for the first time using this camera at night. Then on the 9th of July there was a Buicks Of America Car Show at the Holiday Inn in Batavia, NY which had 557 different buick cars going back to the early 1900's. Jim took about 473 pictures that day due to very hot and humid and dark skies. http://buicksinbataviany.8k.com On the 29th of July Perry had its Sea Serpernt Balloon Festival at the village park. Jim went up and took 300 pictures of all 12 balloons inflating and taking off to parts unknown. http://perryballoonshow.4t.com Then the very next day on the 30th Jim went to the Oswego Harborfest in Oswego, NY and took 540 photos all around the beautiful city of Oswego, NY. These included the super Fireworks display that was heald at 9:45 PM at the Inner Harbor. This was a great weekend for pictures with about 900 shot in 2 days. http://harborfest.4mg.com The following Friday the 5th of August Jim went to Syracuse to the 2005 SPAAMFAA Antique Fire Truck Convention that comes to Syracuse every third year at the Electronics Holiday Inn parking lot with lots of fire trucks from everywhere. This was a super show and I took a total of 622 pictures that day. Was a great day with lots of sun and nice weather. http://spaamfa2005.8m.com The next day on the 6th Jim went to Hornell again just waiting for a train to pass through to get some new pictures. Took only 24 today. On the next day on the 7th was the Western New York Antique Truck & Tractor & Construction Show at the Genesee County Fair Grounds in Batavia, NY. Jim comes here for this show on the First Sunday in August of each year to take pictures for the club. This year he took 790 pictures of about 77 trucks this year. On August 29, 2005 Jim purchased a new Tamron Di II 18 - 200mm F/3.5 - 6.3 XR LD Aspherical ( IF ) Macro Auto Focus Wide Angle Lens . On the 2nd of September Jim tried it out for the first time with a nice sunny day and polarize filter on the front and shooting about 20 pictures and these were nice looking pictures. The next day on the 3rd of September he went to the New York State Festival Of Balloons in Dansville and had to shoot into the sun most of the day due to not being able to get onto the field as it was closed off to everyone there except balloonists. The pictures were not bad but, could have been better from the other side of the fence. Took 448 pictures in about a 4 hour time. http://nysfob.4t.com Then on the 18th of September the Duell Family held their family reunion in Letchworth Park and there was about 50 people from all parts of New York State there. Jim took only 51 pictures through out the whole day. Then on the 21st of September Jim took off for Lake George, NY for the Adirondack Balloon Festival that is held here each year. This is our 6th year of coming. This is a 4 day festival with lots to do and see through out these 4 days. For the whole 4 days Jim took a total of 2032 pictures . http://abf2005.4t.com This was a good week with no rain at all. This about sums up the summer of 2005 with all the pictures that have been taken. Jim had a total of 7,770 photos from January to December using his new 7D along with his Kodak 290 and 210+ digital cameras. This was the first year that not one bit of 35mm film was used. Still have the same 40 rolls left. On November 06, 2005 Jim recieved a notice that one of his pictures that he took won a contest which he entered. He recieved a nice looking plaque from the folks at Photography Vibes Magazine that he has now hanging in his computer room. Then soon after Jim joined the International Freelance Photographers Organization. Now a Lifetime Member of the Organization. On March 04 , 2006 Carol purchased a new Toshiba Laptop with XP Home Edition for Jim along with a card reader for downloading pictures and burning CD's on site of all the Festivals in 2006 that he attends. This will help in faster downloading and reusing the cards for more pictures. Soon it will be time to start deciding where to go for the 2006 season. http://jimduellcollection.4t.com Already have a lot of places and dates for this summers festivals. Might try some new places that he has located and will always depends on the weather. There will be a lot of one day events all across New York to go to. Keep tuned in for more on where he ended up going with new sites and pictures for the 2006 season. Its been an OK year for pictures so far. In July Jim attended his niece's graduation and party which were nice days and he took about 200 pictures for the graduation and party. Then on the 4th of July my girlfriend had a little get together for Jim and his mom and her 2 kids along with the neighbors in her neighborhood. On he 11th of July Jim attended the Ford Flathead V-8 Car & Truck Show at the Holiday Inn in Batavia, NY. He took 479 photos in about a 3 hours timeframe. There were 2 hot air balloon festivals the he attended that was rained out and high winds stopping the lift off. The last Saturday of July was the Oswego Harborfest in Oswego, NY that he attended and started out beautiful but had a hard rain in the middle of the afternoon and another storm was coming thru later. We left for home around 5PM. Its now August and the first Sunday is the Antique Truck Historical Society 20th Anniversity Truck show at the Genesee County Fairgrounds in Batavia, NY. Its also the start of Fair Month. He will be going to the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, NY on Saturday August 12th to spend the day getting some great fair shots and sunset photos. Toward the end of the month comes the Great New York State Fair and the New York State Festival Of Balloons held in Dansville, NY Both of these are on Labor Day Weekend. Then Coming on the 21th thru 25th of September Jim & Carol will be attending the Adirondack Balloon Festival in Beautiful Lake George Area. The Balloons lift off twice a day at the Floyd Bennett Airport in Queensbury, NY This is a nice 5 day vacation each year that they go. http://digitalsin7d.50megs.com That just about does it for 2006 Fair's & Festivals and we will be back in the spring for more for 2007. http://blueskycountry.4t.com Now its the end of March and tomorrow is the first day of spring already. Getting some real important business done this year will include picking up our new pop up camper that Carol & I purchased last fall and had it stored all winter by the place that we purchased it from in Elma, NY. We plan on doing some camping this summer to get back into the great outdoors. Already have a list of ten places to go camping this season. http://campingacrossny.7p.com Jim found a Honda e2000i generator while at the Erie County Fair to use while on the camping grounds. Been getting a few pictures already this winter contains the Ice Storm that covered the ground for a 3 day spell. Then a car over run there driveway and ended up 50 feet down into the Water Street Creek. Check Out My Site At: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimduellcollection for some good photos of all the events since Octobor 2006. http://perryfiredepartment.8m.com Photos are added on a weekly basis. Great things have happened in the past few weeks. Jim got Carol a new Canon SX100is Digital Camera for her birthday in January of 2008. Looks like a very busy 2008 for pictures. Lorraine Sturm of Perry is the new owner and editor for our local Perry Hearld which is a weekly newspaper an has just completed and printed in the February 15, 2008 edition a Bio on Jim Duell as a 37 year member and a Fire Photographer of the Perry Fire Department since 1971. That really made him happy to see an article done in a great fashion about him. She did a fine job on putting her facts together for this article. In May for the Memorial Day Weekend Jim & Carol will be headed for Kanakadea State Park and Almond Lake camping and then 2 weeks later they will be back here again for the Hornell Annual Kiwanis Fathers Day Car Show here at the park. There was 191 antique cars, Roadsters, Coupes, Pickups here to check out. Jim took 551 pictures today. Carol took 350 pictures today using her new camera. It is a sunny and warm day. In July Carol & Jim spent July 01, thru July 06 at Kanakadea Park. Jim took 212 pictures during their stay at the camp grounds. Then on July 10, 11, 12, & 13 2008 Jim & Carol went to Lake George for a Central Service Expo at the William Henry Resort that Carol will be attending for 2 days of seminars. This is through her job at the hospital. While there Jim attended the Ford Cobra GT Show here at the motel with about 30 sport cars. He took 103 pictures then they took a cruise on Lake George for an evening and got pictures of the fireworks held at 10PM over the lake. On Saturday there was a MasterCraft boat show at the edge of Lake George. Nice day for a couple hundred pictures. Then on August 01, 2008 Jim attending the SPAAMFAA Convention in Liverpool, NY of all Antique Fire Equipment that is a 2 day show at the Electronics Parkway Holiday Inn at exit 37 of the New York State Thruway and the Long Branch Park at the north end of Onondaga Lake. This show comes to Liverpool every three years for show and pumping Expo. Jim took 472 pictures here today of all kinds of fire equipment. Then on August 3rd Jim went to the ATHS Truck & Tractor & Construction Equipment Show at the Genesee County Fairgrounds in Batavia, NY. This is an event that is from 9:00 till 4:00 PM . Jim is now a member of this local ATHS truck club and will be part of all the different functions held each month. Jim took 736 pictures today using his 7D and a new Canon A560 Digital Camera. Then on August 16, 2008 Carol & Jim spent the day at Erie County Fair in Hamburg, NY. Carol & Jim will spend the whole Saturday here to check out all the exibits and lots of pictures. On August 19, 2008 Jim went with the ATHS Truck Club to there August meeting at the Phelphs Farm in Basom, NY and had a tour of the farm and seen all the older farm equipment that is still used today. After the tour they had hamburgs & hot dogs for everyone who came. Took about 50 pictures using a new Kodak Z1012is digital that was purchased yesterday to try today. Not what was expected of this camera. Will go back to the store tomorrow for refund! On August 23, 2008 one of our Perry Firepersons Jen Howell passed away of a heart attack. This was a sad week for the Perry Fire Department especially on the day of her funeral. Jen Howell will be missed by all. She was a News Anchor Woman at the local radio station WCJW in Warsaw, NY. Jim did a dedication CD of all the training sessions that she attended. Jim & Carol went to her funeral on August 28, 2008 in Perry. Now on August 31, 2008 Carol & Jim went to the New York State Festival Of Balloons in Dansville on that Sunday of the Holiday Weekend. There was car show here today with 110 cars, trucks, roadsters, coupes that Jim took 574 pictures of along with the balloons lifting off at 6:00 PM. Next is the Adirondack Balloon Festival and Moonglow in Lake George. This is their tenth year in being in attendence for this show. Also this same weekend was the Ford Club Of America Model A's Meet and show at the Roaring Brook Ranch just outside Lake George. Both Jim & Carol attended this show taking 432 pictures using his 7D. This show was so delightful in seeing all the old Ford Model A's. Had to get more Compact Flash Cards to use for all of these pictures just waiting to be taken. Took over 2,000 pictures this weekend. On October 04, 2008 Jim & Carol went with the truck club that Jim belongs to as they hosted a Truck Club Drive Around that started in Leroy and spent the day visiting different places and ended with a picnic at a local campsite near Leroy, NY. Jim & Carol both got 734 pictures today using his 7D and his new Canon A720is Digital and Carol's Canon SX100is. On October 10, 2008 Jim took a lot of photos at the Perry Middle School for Fire Prevention Week as he does each and every year. Jim got 92 pictures today at the school. On October 25, 2008 Jim & Carol went to visit the Bliss Noble Windmills in Bliss, NY It was a rainy day and a rotten day for pictures but, he got some anyway. Then from here they went to Orchard Park and visited the old Orchard Park B & O Depot behind the public library in Orchard Park. Jim got about 50 pictures in the pouring rain. Will come back here again on a nice sunny day. Halloween came on October 31, 2008 and Jim took 42 pictures of all the costumes from all the kids that attended and passed out cider and donuts to all that came for the party. Its been a teriffic year for photos doing all the different car and truck shows and balloon festivals, fire scenes and motor vehical accidents during the year. Jim took a grand total of 10,303 pictures for 2008 and was very pleased with that total. A special thanks goes out to Lorraine Sturm at the Perry Hearld for printing pictures in her newspaper from my collection of events. To see all of these photos go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimduellcollection & http://www.webshots.com/duelly In January of 2009 there was a house fire that turned out to be a fatal for the woman that lived there and was in a wheelchair and unable to get out in time. She passed away of smoke inalation. On January 27 there was a house fire in Middlebury and our department was called in for mutual aid. Was a sunny afternoon when the call came in. Jim got over 50 photos that day. On St. Valentines Day Jim & Carol went to the D & R Depot Restaurant in Leroy, NY for dinner. We both had Prime Rib. Was very good and we will have to make a return visit. Then in March of 09 Carol & Jim went to check out the new wind turbines in Wethersfield and Bliss Which was another sunny blue sky day. On the last Saturday of March Jim & Carol Went to the Ontario Beach Park to see the progression of all the new projects they have going on. Guess we were too early. Tomorrow is April 01 and hopefully the weather will start warming up and we have a lot planned for this summer with an event most every weekend. So, look out car lovers when Jim say's Smile I have taken your picture. Next update will be April 01 of 2009. It will be on the Jim Duell Collection page of this website. |
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It is now after April 01, 2009 but, spring sure isn't here yet. Last evening was our annual Perry Fire Department Election Of Officers and Herbert "Joe" Funk was elected as our new Fire Chief for a 3 - year term. Then this Saturday evening is our Annual Banquet at our Perry Firemen's Recreation Building starting at 5:30 PM with a very nice buffett dinner and the passing out of the yearly awards and certificates. I took about 120 pictures of the evenings events. Coming up on April 18th is the ESATA truck club's bus trip to Cooperstown, NY to visit the National Baseball Hall Of Fame and the Farmer's Museum. I hope the weather is good. Carol & I will both be going. EVENTS IN 2009
Becoming a new member of the Empire State Antique Truck Association, has been very interesting we have monthly meetings at different locations through out the summer months and during the winter months we will be meeting at the Kwikfill Restaurant on Route 354 in Marilla, NY. On April 18, we had our Spring Saturday Bus Trip to Cooperstown, NY. Both Carol & I went along to visit the Baseball Hall Of Fame along with walking around the town and taking pictures at the Lighthouse on Otsego Lake and the Cooperstown Train Depot. Had lunch at the Cooperstown Diner on Main Street before boarding the bus to go to the Farmers Museum just outside of the village. We spent about 3 hours here going through all the old buildings and riding the Merry Go Round. Was a cloudy but, nice day for this. Leaving Cooperstown around 4:00PM our next stop was the Ponderosa Restaurant in Herkimer, NY. After having dinner it was 6:00PM and time to head back home. It was about a 3 hour trip on Route 90 to exit 48 in Batavia, NY. It was just before 9:00 when we pulled into Kmart Plaza. Took 550 Pictures today while on the trip. Very nice day for a trip. On Tuesday Evening April 21, 2009 I went to the 23rd Anniversary Party For the Empire State Antique Truck Club at Perkins on Transit Road in Amherst, NY. Had a good turnout of members, some I have never met. There was a beautiful cake made for the event. Had a good time here tonight talking to different people and I took one of my albums of pictures from when I started taking pictures at my first truck show at the Kmart Plaza on Walden Avenue across the street from the Galliera Mall in Cheektowaga, NY back in 1995. Party lasted about 3 hours. On Saturday April 25, 2009 Carol & I took a trip to Salamaca, NY to visit the old Erie & BR&P Railroad Depots and Museum in the downtown city district. The museum here was open and it was filled with railroad archives through out the whole depot and the person on duty here said that the freight house out back was filled with more archives. It was a sunny blue sky day but, Carol yesterday at work, hurt her back lifting and really didn't feeling like walking a whole lot, so, we didn't. We used my 7D and A720 cameras and took 184 photos today and spent about 3 hours here taking pictures and visiting with the museum host on duty. At about 4:00 we then left for home. We will come back again when Carol feels better. We got back home and and went to Top's Market in Warsaw and got 2 sirloin steaks and a can of beans to cook out on the grill. On May 05th was my birthday and Carol had to work so, I took my Mother to Hornell to visit her sister who is in the Hornell Gardens. The three of us went to Pizza Hut there in Hornell for pizza. My Aunt has been here for 2 years now and she has sent me a birthday card every year since I was born except for the past two years. We go to see her about once a month but, she can no longer leave the Nursing Home due to her health declining. On May 19, Steve & I went to the Springdale Farms on Colby Road in Brockport, NY. We had our meeting in the Recreation Hall along with having hot dogs and a pop and a brownie. Any member that wanted to could bring their truck for show. Had about 7 different trucks there to look at. Had a person give a speech on restoration of an antique truck. Back home around 10:00 PM. It was on Wednesday May 20, 2009 I left with the camper heading for Almond Lake in Hornell. Takes about 1 hour pulling a camper but, had no problems. We will be spending 5 days here for the Memorial Day Weekend. Carol will come around noon on Friday. Got all setup in about 20 minutes. It gets easier each time I do it. One of the first places I went to after getting settled was the Erie Railroad Depot Museum to see what was new since the last time I visited here. I took 50 pictures today with my Canon A720 camera. Then I went to the Hornell Gardens to see my Aunt Gladys who is a resident there. I came back to the campsite and fixed some hot dogs on the grill. I sat in the sun to long and got a sunburn rash on my hands and arms. Put lots of lotion on them to get rid of the rash. It took a long time. It is not sore but, can see the rash clearly. On Friday Carol came and we had good meals all the rest of the weekend. I setup our Coleman Blue Road Trip Grill for cooking this weekend along with using the fireplace. On Memorial Day we checked out around 2:00 PM and headed back home. On Tuesday June 02, It was our monthly fire meeting. It was told to everyone there by the chief that nobody can no longer take any pictures at any alarms and put on to any website or on the Flickr or Webshots Website as I do. This is a Wyoming County rule starting today. Time to find other places to go to get great pictures. Maybe more Truck & Car Shows. On Saturday June 06, Carol & I went see the car show at the Delevan Drive-In in Delevan, NY. It was a nice sunny day for the about 50 car display. I got a couple shot's of each car that was entered in todays show. Spent a couple of hours here today and then headed for Springville for the Dairy Fest. Members of our truck club had brought some of there own trucks and tractors for display and a table to have a membership drive. More pictures were taken here along with some of the carnival held in the parking lot off Main Street. I took 273 photos today. Carol & I left Springville and decided to go to Buffalo RV at 1200 SouthWestern Blvd. in West Seneca and look at campers. Always looking for something better. She, had sold her's a month ago due to the 5 more years of payments. Looking for something between $500 and $1,000 that will not result in big payments. They had a 1992 Coleman Pioneer Popup Camper and was just taken in this past week. New canvas but, had no fridge, or heater. I have both of these to install so, I got a price and decided to buy it. It fit in my budget and will be paid off in less than a year and not 7 years. They will call me when its ready to pickup. Can't wait. On June 21, Carol & I went to the Father's Day Car Show at Almond Lake in Kanakadea Park in Hornell, NY. No camping this weekend here for us. Haven't got my camper yet. There was 150 cars here today and I took a shot or two of each car entered. Total of 782 photos today.On Friday July 10th I had to go to Buffalo RV and pick up my camper. They had to put a Brake Control Switch in my Dakota and wire the camper and the new seven pin wiring harness for the lights and signals. It took about 3 hours doing this then they showed me how everything worked. We did not plug the camper into the electric which we should have done, cause the power box is dead!! Nothing works when plug inside the outlets inside the camper. Will need to replace the power inverter unit which won't be an easy task. This unit isn't even manufactured any longer. Tried many places for a new one but, so far no luck. For now I will use a couple 25' orange outside extension cords. Carol made all new curtains for the inside and I installed all new curtain rods over the side windows where the curtains will be hung. Had 2 small cuts in the new canvas over the front bunk unit. I repaired them with some tent canvas material. I then got 6 - spray cans of Thompson's canvas sealer that I sprayed on all of the canvas with 4 coats and that worked out to be very successful and didn't drip during any rain storms this week. I found this sealer at Valu Hardware in Warsaw. I will get somemore next spring and redo the whole canvas area again. I have done a lot to this within a week's time. I want to use it at our truck show on August 02, 2009. Last summer I purchased a Honda E2000i Generator to use when electricity is not available. This can be used at a lot of campsites if I need power. On July 22, our truck had their monthly meeting at the Genesee County Fair helping parking cars for there Wednesday evening car show. Again, I got a shot of all the cars along with some carnival shots through out the evening. Had close to 60 cars here tonight and I took 179 pictures tonight. On Saturday August 01, was our annual steak roast on the night before the big annual Empire State Antique Truck Association, Inc, Truck Show held at the Genesee County Fairgrounds in Batavia, NY. Everyone tonight was to bring a dish to pass for the dinner. I set up my camper tonight to stay here and get ready early to setup in the morning of August 02, for the photo shoot of each entry coming through the gate. It sure did rain during the night and at 8:00 am it was still pouring so, we got the canopy set up in the morning. We went to the Town / Country Restaurant across the street from the fairgrounds for breakfast before starting the truck show photo session it rained all morning long and trying to get some good pictures , well, It wasn't a morning for pictures. Then around noon the rain had quit and started to clear up and it turned out to be a half way decent kind of day. The ground was kind of soggy and wet and hopefully, it won't create a problem of anyone getting stuck. I did take 583 pictures today including some from 100' high off the top of a 1986 Pierce Platform Ladder truck which belongs to one of our members. At 2:00 there was a truck parade of about 20 trucks and the owners tell a little history about his truck or tractor. I got a photo or two of each and every truck that went through the registration process. At 4pm the awards were given out for 7 different categories with a nice trophy presented to the owner of the truck. Next year's show date is Sunday August 01, 2010. Congratulations to all of the winners in todays event. On Friday August 07, The Batava Holiday Inn was host to the Eastern Nash National Convention. This was a 5 day event that started on Monday and run to Saturday August 08, I went over on Friday due to the call for rain on Saturday. I met David Kloser who is the owner of a Metropoliton and I use to work with David at Lowes in Henrietta. He took this week off to come to the convention. I took 322 Pictures today being a nice sunny day. Tomorrow could bring as many as 140 cars to view but, with the rain coming I won't take my good camera out in the rain. Next week on August 12, The Austin / Bantam Truck Show comes to the Batavia Holiday Inn. I went over to Batavia to get some pictures. It was a sunny day and there were 20 trucks there on display. I took 220 pictures today of all these beautiful trucks. Its not everyday that you can see a show like this in this area. Later that evening the truck club had there monthly meeting at the John Schroder residence along with the 2 cylinder club we view about 100 tractors that John has in his collection. John lives on Route 354 just outside of Cowlesville, NY. I took 114 pictures here tonight using my A720 camera. On Saturday August 15, Carol & I went to Erie County Fair in Hamburg, NY. They had a great display of different kinds of tractors from Steam powered to mixed fuel to gas models. There was an old Case type Steam tractor that runs using wood to create the steam to power the tractor. I took 248 pictures using my 7D and A720 and S3 camera's. It's now Thursday the 3rd of September and what time is it !!!! Its White Truck Bash Time in Batavia at the Holiday Inn. These White Bash Truckers come from all over the USA to have a good time and see a lot of Western New York that only the Bash could bring. We start out by everyone meeting around noon at the Miss Batavia Diner on Route 5 for lunch. President Steve Slocum welcomed everyone here for a 3 day event. After finishing our lunch we all went to Demo's Auto Restoration on Route 33 in Bergen, NY just up the road about 10 miles on the left. Spending a couple hours going through there 100 acres of old cars, trucks and a whole lot of parts. After getting ther George Pursel who is the President of our Empire State Antique Truck Association, Inc. was there to show us around and through the auto parts maize. After we left here at Demo's we headed for Gulf Road in Leroy to show everyone the huge Marion Steam Shovel in an abandon gravel pit across from the Dolimite Plant on Gulf Road. This was a big treat to a lot of these guys that have never seen anything this huge. There have been many pictures taken of this shovel and I got a group shot of everyone today again, shooting into the sun which isn't my favorite thing to be doing. After spending a half hour here we then headed to the Consolidated Freight Terminal on Route 5 in Leroy, NY. There was a nice display of old trucks here for everyone to check out. There was some trucks on flatbeds along with engines that need some TLC. From here it is time to head back to the Holiday Inn in Batavia to eat and get ready to go with some of the members that have never seen Niagara Falls. This would take about 60 minutes using route 90 from Batavia to Williamsville then 290 to 190 over the Grand Island Bridge to Niagara Falls. We left Batavia at 6:00 PM. I haven't been here since 1998 when I went with a friend for the weekend for my birthday. Lot of changes now. Now nobody can leave the country without a passport or an New York State enhanced drivers license. A lot of changes costing any NY license holder an additional $40.00 for an 8 year license or spend $100.00 for a passport. Corky & Pat Shaw were our tour guides tonight. I loved taking pictures of the sunset skies with Niagara Falls, Ontario front and center. Got a lot of nice pictures here tonight. We left here and was back in Batavia about 10:30 PM. On Friday morning we all met at the Holiday Inn and President Steve Slocum brought his school bus that he uses during the school year which by the way starts next Wednesday, and we are going to explore some different places today and be back here at the Holiday Inn around 5:00 to get ready for tonights dinner. We started by going to Corky & Pat Shaw's Farm on Route 262 in Byron, NY to see their truck and tractor collection. Corky has quite the collection of different trucks from Army Tow Trucks to Fire Engines with a lot in between. Had coffee and cookies there before we left. To bad we didn't have more time to get a closer look at every piece here. Leaving here we headed for Gregsville and stopped at Rose's Enterprise where he has a lot of construction equipment and antique trucks here on his lot. It being a nice warm sunny day there was a lot here to look at but, the clock was ticking and we had to move on to the Mount Morris Dam Site just off of Route 408 in Mount Morris, NY. Before having our tour Steve's wife Kathy and their Daughter - In - Law Patty Slocum had met us there with a bagged lunch with ham or turkey sandwich, a large cookie and a pop to tie everyone over till tonights dinner at 7:00 PM. Only having about 30 minutes before our 1:00 tour we ate with time to spare. This would be a guided tour by the US Army Corp. of Engineers stationed here at the dam site. Our tour guides name was Harmony and was very informative about how and why the dam is here and how long it took to build this project. Harmony took any questions that anyone had and gave answers to all of the questions asked. We all went down to ground level in an elevator and under the Genesee River. This was so neat but, I wasn't allowed to take any pictures once we entered the building up on top. Goverment Rules. A construction crew was using dosers and dump trucks to clean out all of the downed timbers in the river. This was done only on the Portageville side. After spending about an hour and a half here we left and took a ride through Letchworth Park with another tour guide and she told us all about all the different animals that are in the park along with the different trees that these animals feed off of. We stopped at most every check point through out the whole park. Stopped at Wolf Creek area so everyone can get a good look at the gorge. For some of the members this was the first time visiting Letchworth State Park. Went up to the Council Grounds to where the Mary Jemison Statute and 2 of the log cabins used back in the 1800's and are restored every so often. Then we went down to the museum and checked it out along with the middle and high falls area. I was hoping that a train would be crossing the bridge while we were there. I got a group shot while here at the high falls area. Had 20 or so members in the photo. Well, its about 4:15 PM and time to start heading back to the Holiday Inn for tonights awards banquet and silent auction. This starts at 7:00 PM for all members is the last harrah before the truck show in the morning. We had a grand time and meal tonight. Dan King who is a member of our Empire State Antique Truck Association is Tonights speaker on the White Manufacturing Company History. This was a very good program that Dan put together for this banquet. President Steve Slocum took to the potium and awarded past president Roland Smith a model to scale of his own original truck that he owned and drove every day. Roland was very pleased with this award. It was time for the silent auction to get underway. All winners will stake there claim on what they bid on. There was a lot of very nice archives that now have a happy home. It was just about 10:00 PM and time to get packed up and get ready for the big shoooow tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM at the Genesee County Fairgrounds. The evening sure did go quick and met a lot of new friends in the white bash group. Now! it's show time here at the fairgrounds just after 9:00 AM and the trucks are pulling in for the show. Members were on hand checking out the trucks as they come in. A friend of Steve & Myself brought his antique hose cart and chemical extinglusher for todays display. It may not be a White but, he sure got a lot of notice from a lot of people. Even got the owner Robert F. Poydock of Perry, NY to join our Empire State Antique Truck Association and be able to come to our meetings and monthly events that goes on through out the year. I was thankful that Steve had asked me to take pictures for this great 3 day event. I really had a grand time and met a lot of new friends and will have a lot of great memories to have forever. I took 1128 pictures in the past 3 days from start to finish. Steve was elected President for another year. I couldn't have asked for a nicer bunch of people that were here this weekend for the 13th Annual White Truck Bash. Next years show will be in Kansas City, KS but, I know I won't be able to go due to the cost of being that far away. I did purchase a nice red Polo Shirt and hat today. I got a lot of nice letters from the members that wanted a CD that I put together for everyone that requested one. On the following day Sunday September 06, was the New York State Festival Of Balloons and Car Show at the Dansville, NY Airport. Carol and I got there a little late cause Carol had got called into work for a few hours. She is on call all weekend till Tuesday Morning. We got there about 2:30 PM about enough time to get a shot of every car there at the show. There were more cars this year than usual. Around 4:00 PM the cars started leaving the grounds to get ready for the balloon launch at 6:00. Carol & I walked around the carnival grounds looking for something to eat. We both found Beef on Weck and fries which we both had. Got a can of Pepsi to boot. Being close to the time for the balloon launch we headed down toward the end of the fence line looking north so, the sun isn't shining in my eyes and into the camera lens. There are probably 50 balloons tonight and I will be using both my 7D and A720 camera's and Carol will be using her SX100. I took 752 pictures today for both the Car Show and Balloon Show. It was a beautiful day for cars and balloons. To see all of the pictures from all the events since April go to my flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimduellcollection website and check them out. Still have 4 months left of 2009 to get some great pictures that will end up on this page by year's end. A WEEK IN THE ADIRONDACKS 2009
On Monday September 21, 2009 at 8:45 am Carol & I left Perry, NY for a nice week at Tupper Lake, NY and all points surrounding the mountain region. It took a little over 6 hours to get there where then we checked into the Sunset Park Motel on Demars Avenue in Tupper Lake. It was 269 miles from Perry. It was a beautiful blue sky day for traveling. Each day we went to a different place to visit that I had not been to at all or in a 30 year period. I took all my camera equipment with me to get some great Adirondack Sunsets from our motel right on the lake and tonight was the first night here and got some nice sunset photos. Carol and I took a walk along Raquette Pond in the Tupper Lake Municipal Park. It was around 5PM and time for something to eat. Found Guido's Pizzeria on Park Street and we went into the restaurant and got a medium cheese pizza and a pop and ate it their. Finished walking in the park and went back to the motel and about 8PM it was sunset time. I took over 50 sunset pictures about every 2 minutes till it was totally dark. Lot of great shots tonight. Now after 9PM time to watch a little TV. On Tuesday morning it was raining so, before leaving town we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for coffee and a donut to tie us over till lunch time. It had finally stopped raining before we got to Saranac Lake to check out the community park at the lakes edge and got lots of shots and Carol wanted a picture of me and the 2 granite bears here in the park. I got some pictures of the waterfalls and walkway behind the village offices and police station. They had a lot of new police cars and electric carts. Across the big intersection was the Harrietstown Town Hall which is a super looking building especially with the clock tower on its roof. Now it was time to find the Adirondack Railroad Depot up on Depot Street. We just followed the signs leading us there. What a beautiful site this depot was. Made of stone blocks and built to last forever. Its to bad that the train wasn't running today because we would be the first to board. It was still very cloudy and dark colored skies which makes rotten looking pictures but, I just couldn't pass up the challenge of photographing this Train Depot. After taking about 50 shots of every angle. After spending about 2 hours it was then time we went to Lake Placid which is 10 miles up Route 86 and checked out all of the shops especially the shop that sold about 50 types of clocks. We spend over an hour here listening to all the different chimes on each clock. This is my kind of clock shop. Then we walked down to the park with a tobaggon slide that goes into the lake during the winter olympics on the lakefront of Mirror Lake. Then we went up to the Adirondack Railroad Depot here. This was another super looking depot used by the Adirondack Railroad. Another stone structure with timber post and beam construction. Both depots were like they were built yesterday. Just Magnificent. Took another 50 or so pictures here. Weather was still cloudy but, better than it was in Saranac Lake. Here the train only runs on Wednesdays and Sundays during the fall season. Now its time we found a good place to eat. After checking some and they had $50.00 meals we found our favorite place back in Saranac Lake which was Pizza Hut. We are 22 miles from our motel in Tupper Lake. This sure wasn't a good night for sunset photos on the lake. It was starting to get foggy coming back to Tupper Lake and it took us about 45 minutes to get there. On Wednesday we went to the Lumber Jack Restaurant for breakfast having my usual 2 – pancakes and a slice of ham. Carol had the same without the ham. She had a bagel instead.Weather was still cloudy but, no rain as of yet. We headed in a Southwestern direction for about 50 miles to Old Forge which I haven't been to since February of 1979 when we spent 10 days there snowmobiling. On the way we stopped at the lake front in Long Lake. Here there was 3 sea planes that were used to give patrons rides down the lake for a $30.00 fee. Across the street was the Adirondack Motel & Inn that was very busy serving dinners to guest stopping in. Took a couple dozen pictures here then headed out on Route 30 to Route 28 into Old Forge. When we arrived there I parked across the street from the Old Forge Fire Department. We then got out and walked down to the lake front of the Fulton Chain Of Locks. On both the left and right was the Forge Motel where we stayed when we came each year snowmobiling. It got pretty big in the past 30 years. After walking for about an hour it started to rain so, we got under the covered bridge and waited a few minutes till it let up enough to head back to the truck a couple blocks away. By the time we got back to the truck it had stopped. We then went up Main Street looking for the depot just off the main drag on Route 28. It wasn't hard to find being in sight as we went up and followed the tracks. This was crowed with a lot of cars that was at the Inn across the street. We took a lot of pictures here and then went inside the depot to a small store. I purchased a Adirondack Railroad Pin for $4.00. It was getting to be around 4PM and about time to start heading back to the motel and find something to eat on the way. We come across Drakes Restaurant on Route 28 in Inlet and went in and we both had a hot dog & fries and pop. Being still cloudy there will be no sunset pictures tonight. Thursday we started out with a trip to Dunkin Donuts having some coffee and a donut to go. Then we decided to head north to Malone on Route 30 North. Carol or I have never been here before and it was a beautiful Blue Sky Day. It was about 60 miles from Tupper Lake and we should have stoped and got gas before we left. About half way there the ole gas lite came on and I know I have at least 40 miles worth of gas left and should be able to make it OK. Luckly, we did and found a Mobil Station on Route 37 in Malone. I then filled the truck with $60.00 worth of special grade. Just up the street from the gas station was a Super Walmart. We went in and checked out the material to see if there was any that matched the curtains in my camper. Not that lucky. It was all gone. So, we walked around for a while after riding for a couple hours. We then left Walmart and took a ride up the Main Street till we came to an Antique Shop on the right which we had to stop and check it out. Had a lot of nice items but, to expensive for me. We then headed back toward town and seen a Restaurant called Hosler's and was right across the street from the Franklin County Fairgrounds. Stopped in and we both had Pasta and Sauce. It was very good but a little spicy. Hopefully we will make it back to Tupper Lake on a single Rolaid ! It was 4:10 PM and time to start heading back to Tupper Lake. It looked good for getting some sunset pictures tonight over Raquette Pond and Tupper Lake. We got to the motel at 5:30PM and we took a walk around the park and lakefront. I started taking some pictures at 6:30 PM about one or two every 5 minutes until the sun was completely set over the lake. Spent the rest of the evening downloading all of today's pictures from 3 different camera's. On Friday we decided to go to our favorite place which is Lake George, NY. After having breakfast at the Lumber Jack Restaurant in Tupper Lake I took a few Blue Sky Pictures of the Tupper Lake Depot that is out behind the Lumber Jack. Its about 90 minutes from Tupper Lake to Lake George. This is the first time in ten years that we didn't stay in Lake George due to extremely high priced motel rates. We will surly be back there again next year. It was a really rough weekend for balloons this weekend due to high winds and rain. We only missed Thursday Night Opening Ceremonies at Crandall Park in Glens Falls, NY and Friday night Launch. The Saturday night and both Sunday morning and evening launches were cancelled. Spent a couple hours today at the North Creek Railroad Depot getting lots of pictures of the depot and the engine and cars of the Upper Hudson River Railroad here in North Creek, NY. Carol took a picture of me and the Conductor Bill Thompson who is also a Town Councilman here in the Town of Johnsburg and a weekend volunteer for the Upper Hudson River Railroad. The Upper Hudson River Railroad uses the Adirondack Railway line built by Thomas C. Durant in 1871 to North Creek. North Creek Station is where Theodore Roosevelt learned he was to become president of the United States of America after President William McKinley died due to a gun shot wound. President McKinley's last words “ It Is God's Way ; His Will Be Done, Not Ours, “ The shooter Leon Czolgosz was tried and found guilty of murder and executed at Auburn Prison by Electric Chair on October 29, 1901. William McKinley's Portrait is on the US $500.00 Bill. Well, I guess its after 2PM and time to leave North Creek and go to Lake George, NY about a half hour away for the rest of the day. Got there and the traffic was at its normal pace using both lanes through town. We parked in front of Bob's Ice Cream Parlor and walked the rest of the way. I had to make a special trip up to see their new Fire Station that was built within the past year. It was a nice looking structure and a job done well by all. As we walked down Ottawa Street we come to S & J's Motel and I went in and rang the bell and the owner came down from upstairs and we asked her about room avability and cost for a 7 day stay during the 2010 Adirondack Balloon Festival. She took us and showed us one of the rooms which was very nice. Had a fridge, shower, big dresser. That is enough for us. She gave me a price of $55.00 for a 7 day stay. She don't take reservations till next September 01, or after. Nothing before. That is ok with me and she gave me her card and put the price on the back of the card. We left here thanking her for answering her door. We will come here from now on. Leaving the motel here we walked down Beach Avenue to the Lake George Steamboat Company to check out their store that was opened today. Usually its only open on the weekends. Went in and got a pin of each of the 3 steamboats they have. It was a beautiful Blue Sky Day but, quite windy. Balloons probably won't lift off tonight unless it calms down. We walked the pier and got to 4:30PM and time to find something to eat. Its been a couple of years since we have been in the Boardwalk Restaurant so, Thats where we ate. We both had Prime Rib and Salad Bar and Coffee. It was almost 6:00 PM when we left the Restaurant and did some more walking around the beach area and through Shepard Park and now being 90 minutes from our motel in Tupper Lake we decided that we better start heading back. It will be dark tonight when we get back but, when I am driving in deer and moose country I want to be back before dark. The sun had already set by the time we did get to the motel at 8:30PM. It was to cool to sit out on the lawn swing so, I downloaded all of todays pictures from again all 3 camera's. Looks like Saturday is going to be another Blue Sky Day so, after having our breakfast again at the Lumber Jack Restaurant we went northeast on Route 3 to Plattsburgh, NY and Route 3 took us right in front of the City Of Plattsburgh Courthouse on Bridge Street. Here is where we parked for a couple hours. We walked across the street and got some pictures of the Courthouse and the huge monument in the small park on Bridge Street. We walked down by the river that goes through town and the railroad bridge for the Amtrak Adirondack Line that comes a couple times a day. Then we walked up the steps to a busseling busy street and down on the left was what looked to be a Depot, but, not sure. We had to walk down and find out what it is. On the way down we came across a Salvation Army Store, it was kind of small but we went inside to see what the had today for deals. You had to walk down the iles kind of sideways cause they were not very big. There was a lot of glass and dishes for maybe some just starting out buying for an apartment. I just want to see what that big castle was down the street. We finally got there and it was a depot and offices in the front and Amtrak Station in the lower back next to the tracks. What a monster of a building. Its huge and magnificent and does look like a castle. We went down back to the Amtrak and asked the lady in charge when the next train was due in and she said about 15 minutes so, we waited for it to happen. Suddenly the horn blew and the gates started coming down and their it was. I started shooting when the train whistle blew and it came around the bend. Lot of good pictures here. It was less than 10 minutes then away it went. What a thrill it was to finally be someplace as an Amtrak Train pulled into a depot and unloaded and loaded and was on its way so quick. I used 2 different camera's and Carol used her camera and got a lot of great pictures. Now she wants to take a weekend trip somewhere by Amtrak. I have wanted to do this for years but, never have. Leaving the station we walked down to the shoreline of Lake Champlain. It was quite breezy today and the lake was pretty rough. All of the Restaurants here on the pier were closed for the season. We started walking back cause I didn't need to get sick being this far from home. As we walked up near the depot I took some more shots of this Amtrak Depot. We got back to the truck shooting pictures all the way back. We got back to the truck and headed out back up US Route 3 South. On our way here we spotted a place called Big Daddy's and there special today was Baked Ziti and after a while we came into Clayburg, NY and we stopped at Big Daddy's that was on Route 3 for our baked ziti dinner. These portions were huge and we both cleaned our plates. We are 49 miles from our motel from Big Daddy's. On our was back to Tupper Lake we stopped at the Adirondack Railroad Depot in Saranac Lake for some better pictures with a Blue Sky instead of Gray Clouds. We are 22 miles from Tupper Lake and more sunset pictures. After finishing up with the sunset photos I downloaded every picture that I took today. I had a lot from the Depot in Plattsburgh. It was now Sunday morning and again we ate at the Lumber Jack Restaurant in Tupper Lake then headed back to Lake Placid. It is a little better kind of day today than it was last Tuesday. We Spent about 3 hours here today walking through the shops and then at 4:30 we went and got a tank full of gas which is enough to get us back home tomorrow. After leaving Lake Placid we stopped on Route 86 in Ray Brook, NY at The Tail O' Pup Barbeque and we both had a Pulled Pork dinner with salad, beans, Pop, Pulled Pork Sandwich. It was great. Its been a month since I have had any barbeque. It was now 5:45PM and we started to head back to Tupper Lake. We had to start packing our bags cause we are leaving for home in the morning. It was a quick 7 days but, all good things must come to an end sometime. Next year we will be back in Lake George at S & J's Motel. Well! Its Monday morning and and its time to go home. We left The Sunset Park Motel and stopped at Dunkin Donuts for our morning coffee to go and left town. Couldn't believe that we were 2-1/2 hours and 99 miles from Watertown on Route 3. We stopped at Arby's in Watertown for a half hour and our next stop was home and 5 hours later. Hit a couple of downpours along Lake Ontario and just before we got to Oswego on Route 104West. Then it was clear sailing the rest of the was. Got back into Perry at 6:30PM and traveled a total of 1302.7 miles for the whole week. After returning home from our week in the Adirondack Mountain Region and on Sunday October 04, 2009 I went on the Drive Around with the Empire State Antique Truck Association through Letchworth State Park starting at the Mount Morris Entrance. There was around 20 different old trucks in our little parade stopping at different points of interest along the way. Every spot there was that 20 trucks would fit into we pulled into for some pictures. We did a photo shoot of all the trucks and owners with the fall colors in the background to make a good shot. I used a ladder to stand on to get some good shots using my Konica Minolta 7D camera and my Canon A720 camera. Photos come out good being a cloudy day. After a few hours at 20 miles per hour we exited the park at the Portageville exit and headed for Perry to the Charcoal Corral where there was a buffett waiting for us at 4:00 PM. We got there and our newest member Robert Poydock had brought up one of Perry's old pieces of fire equipment for everyone to check out. It is a 1937 American LaFrance Pumper called Ole Goldie In service it was Perry 1. Can out pump any new truck around and has done it. We had a great dinner here tonight with Pulled Pork as our meat and salads, beans, rolls, golush, pop, coffee. Quite the spread. It was about 6:00 PM and everyone was heading out for the day. It was a good time and I ended up taking 370 pictures today. | 
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| ATTICA & ARCADE RAILROAD IN CURRERS, NY On Sunday October 18, 2009 It being a nice blue sky day I took a ride up to the Curriers Depot in Curriers, NY. Here was this beautiful orange with black trimmed depot with an old steam engine sitting to the left of the depot. This was a magnificant site to see. In a few minutes people were comming in cause there was a train comming with about 350 people on it and they cook hot dogs to sell and a pop. Within a half hour I heard the whistle blow and the train was comming around the bend. I ran out of the depot and started shooting. Hate shooting into the sun but, pictures turned out better than I thought they would. This was a great day for pictures had a great crowd that can in while the engine got turned around and a lot of hot dogs were sold. In about 25 minutes all the people boarded the train and headed back to Arcade. Within a minute it was as quiet as it was 30 minutes ago. I took 282 photos today using my 7D and my A720 digital camera's. On Tuesday October 20, 2009 The Empire State Antique Truck Association made a trip to the Pierce Arrow Museum on Seneca Street in Downtown Buffalo, NY. Robin Poydock rode with me and this was a very nice museum. This was a place that dedicated the woman in the transportation and at all the displays stood a woman manaquane fixing a car, changing a tire, chaffier, and many more positions that woman did back in the 20's and 30's. Using my Canon A720 camera I took 132 pictures tonight. We all left here and stopped at Alton's Restaurant on Walden Avenue in Cheektowaga for supper. I had Beef on Weck & Fries again tonight. Left here and was back home around 10:00 PM. On November 12, 2009 I took a ride to Warsaw, NY to get some pictures of the Former Erie Railroad Depot on Main Street next to the used car lot and garage. It was a nice sunny day at about 50 degrees outside. Took about 6 pictures here then went to Attica, NY and got about 50 pictures of the former Erie Railroad Depot on Exchange Street. I love doing train depot pictures all across New York State. On Tuesday December 15, was our truck club Christmas Party at the Kwikfill in Marilla, NY. Carol & I both was there. We had Beef on Weck and baked beans. There was a lot of cookies and candy and fudge and donut holes to snack on. I took my DVD Player and played a DVD of all the functions that were held in 2009. There was a great turnout tonight for the party. I took along a photo album of truck show pictures from the past years starting back in 1995 which was my first time taking pictures at a truck show at the Kmart Plaza in Cheektowaga, NY which is across the street from the Galleria Mall. Been to all the shows every year since then. Now a member of the Empire State Antique Truck Club Association. On December 18, 2009 Jim's 10 year old Gateway ME Computer seen its last blue screen! Its finished. There hasen't been any support from Gateway in a few years. Time for a new one. On December 22, 2009 Jim went to Staples in Henrietta and purchased a new HP Pavilion Windows 7 Home Premium Desktop with a 21" LCD Full Wide Screen HD Monitor. He alsp purchased a 36 month extended warranty. Going to take some time getting use to Windows 7 fetures over his old ME program. Got his HP C7180 All - In - One Printer to print wireless with no cords attached using his Toshiba XP Laptop. Great improvement over running a cord from computer to printer. Now just a click of a button and its printing. Now !! If I could get my new Windows 7 Desktop to work the same way. Will still keep working at it until I get success. Now 2010 is here and planning out the summer for activities like car shows and ESATA Events that will be happening. Sadly, on January 23, 2010 we lost our dear friend Kathie Slocum. She and her Husband Steve have been part of the ESATA Truck Club and White Bash Truck Club and the Perry Fire Department for many years. She will be surly missed by all of us along with her family, Truck Club Members & Fire Department and Auxilary Members and especially her husband Steve. On February 10, 2010 ESATA Truck Club Member and Collector John Schroder passed away. We will all miss John and his wife says she wants to keep showing off all his tractors that him and his boys have collected through out the years. There was over 100 pieces on display last August 12, 2009 and will continue again this next 2010 summer season. I got a picture of each tractor in his collection. It's now March 01, 2010 and we had about 12" of snow in the past couple days and hopefully, the lion is come and quickly leaving Western New York and ready for the lamb to settle in and finish the cold and snowy spell out with the tempertures start rising into the 60's and 70's and soon to be in the 80's. The ESATA Truck Club has planned a Spring bus trip covering Central New York area covering Seneca Falls, Waterloo, Auburn which will be on either Saturday April 17th or the 24th, what ever date the bus is available. Hopefully, it will be on the 24th for a little warmer weather. Should know for sure at the March 16th ESATA meeting. |
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