For the first time in over a decade, a steam-powered passenger excursion will depart downtown Chicago Union Station on June 25th and 26th.

Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive no. 765 will operate The Galesburg Zephyr between Union Station and Galesburg, Illinois for the Galesburg Railroad Days. These all-day, round-trip excursions will feature vintage passenger cars from the 1940s and 50s and include accommodations in standard coach, deluxe coach, and first class and dome car.

No. 765 was originally built in 1944, restored in 1979 and completely rebuilt in 2005 and is maintained by an all-volunteer crew.

The Galesburg Zephyr, a 16 car excursion train, is a nod to the fleets of passenger trains that the Burlington Route operated “EVERYWHERE WEST” starting in the 1930’s. The Burlington Route was an early innovator in diesel locomotives, stainless steel passenger cars and the development of the dome car with superior visibility. This train will carry two vintage dome cars from the 1950’s.

“These trips represent our first partnership with Amtrak and BNSF to bring the magic of the 765 to thousands of people,” said Bill Otter, president of the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society (FWRHS). “Passengers aboard this trip will be the first to experience the 765 at high-speed in many years.”

Throughout its history, Galesburg has been heavily linked to the railroad industry. The state's first railroads to connect Quincy and Chicago (the two largest cities at the time) went straight through Galesburg, as did the late 19th century Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway.

Though the old stations have been closed down, citizens of Galesburg remain very knowledgeable and proud of their history. The Galesburg Railroad Days is not only our grandest celebration, it's a way to keep alive the stories of our ancestors and those who have laid the tracks for us today. This is our way of continuing to pass down our heritage to our children.

http://www.galesburgrailroaddays.org/
http://fortwaynerailroad.org/

A little girl who was allegedly being bullied at school got some help from her local biker club.

The first-grader at Marshall Elementary in Toledo loves to ride her dirt bike, and she proudly rides up and down her block.

So, Reynolds decided to enlist the help of The Punishers -- a motorcycle club comprised of law enforcement, EMS and military personnel, and firefighters. The club surprised little Audrianna with a ride to school -- on a real motorcycle.

"We got her a vest and told her to think of us like her uncles, and she is part of our family now, and if she needs anything let us know," the group's president, Daniel Bushey, told WTVG. "Any chance we get, we help kids out, we do in a heartbeat."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/local-motorcycle-club-allegedly-bullied-girl-ride-school/story?id=39395162

the million mile 2007 Tundra... Toyota has got to be happy with this accomplishment

Victor Sheppard averages over 125,000 miles per year, resulting in over one million miles logged on the odometer of his 2007 Toyota Tundra.

According to Toyota, Sheppard covers this insane amount of miles thanks to regular trips between his home in Louisiana to North Dakota, Wyoming, and Virginia for work. Surprisingly, the truck carries the original engine and transmission, along with the same paint from the factory. (Similarly, a 600k Toyota Prius taxi made the news http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-taxi-in-austria-is-featured-car-in.html )

 Not much in the way of major maintenance was required, aside from regular maintenance including timing belts, oil changes, and the automaker’s scheduled checkups. After breaching the seven-figure mark, Sheppard calculated the 2007 Tundra visited the dealer 117 times over the past nine years.

The Tundra is an invaluable source of longevity and reliability insight for the Toyota, already renowned for reliable and long lasting trucks.

Toyota handed him the keys to a brand-new 2016 Toyota Tundra in exchange for his Tundra so they can disassemble it and have engineers examine every component of the truck from bumper to bumper. Toyota hopes to incorporate the information gleaned from the weatherbeaten truck into future product development.

http://www.automobilemag.com/news/toyota-swaps-brand-new-truck-million-mile-2007-toyota-tundra

The simple helmet, but with every living F1 champion's autograph, is getting auctioned to raise funds for 4 kids charities

Beginning in late 2007, the first to sign was Phil Hill, then Jacques Villeneuve, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Mario Andretti.

By mid-December, in a quick trip to London, Sir Jackie Stewart, Damon Hill, and John Surtees.

In January of 2008, Alain Prost and Fernando Alonso in Paris and Jody Scheckter in rural England.

In February Nigel Mansell’s autograph.

Within 12 days in April, Michael Schumacher in Toronto, and Niki Lauda in Vienna.

Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen, and Kimi Raikkonen in Monte Carlo. Later that summer, Alan Jones in California and shipped the helmet to Sir Jack Brabham in Australia.

In December of 2008, Lewis Hamilton in London and Piquet in Brasilia.

Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel in London in December of 2010.

All this effort was by Al Pearce who writes for Autoweek magazine, and the auction will be in Monaco next month,  http://www.rmsothebys.com/MC16/MONACO/LOTS/FORMULA-1-CHAMPIONS-SIGNED-HELMET/1078682

100 percent of the proceeds to benefit the following charities:
Victory Junction Gang
Camp Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America
 Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation
 Jimmie Johnson Foundation

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/greatest-helmet-ever-120000332.html

all those rip off bastards who wanted to profit 200-500% on the Art Of Von Dutch book, can go to hell. It's been reprinted, and a new copy is less than 1/2 any used copy on Amazon

http://tornadocreative.com/the-art-of-von-dutch/
Compare having your own brand new copy to getting a used copy, at twice the cost!

new are even worse rip offs!

and that, is good news to me, I missed buying a copy when they first were published, I just couldn't afford one. But, my tax return still has 75 dollars left in it! 

Nominate a military veteran and truck driver to receive a new free Kenworth T680

To boost the Trucking Transition program for U.S. veterans, curb the driver shortage and create immediate jobs for transitioning military personnel, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring our Heroes Program, Kenworth and FASTPORT announced a contest today to give away a fully-loaded T680.

“We’re going to a young veteran driver… who has a tremendous record and really set that young driver off on their own entrepreneurial journey,” said Eric Eversole, president of the Hiring our Heroes program, at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky. “It’s really a golden ticket for that young driver.”

The search for America’s top military rookie driver will educate veterans and America about the support from leading manufacturers and service providers that enhance the safety and comfort of the 3.5 million professional truck drivers while performing their duties — and provide an incredible head start to one veteran's entrepreneurial career.

During the nomination period, the truck will be shown at military installations around the country and at other trucking-related events.

The criteria for entering the contest:
1. A driver must be a military veteran or have served or currently serve in the National Guard or Reserve.

2. A driver must have graduated from either a PTDI-certified, or NAPFTDS or CVTA member driver training school and have a valid CDL.

3. The driver must have been employed by a trucking company who has made a hiring commitment and pledge to hire veterans on truckingtrack.org.

4. The driver must have been first hired in a trucking position between Jan. 1, 2015, and June 29, 2016.

The top 10 finalists will be recognized at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas on Aug. 26 and the winner will be selected at the Pentagon in Washington on Dec. 16.

For more information on how to nominate a driver for the contest, visit http://www.transitiontrucking.org/
http://www.overdriveonline.com/hiring-our-heroes-program-announces-truck-giveaway-for-military-veterans/

Nominate someone for the Goodyear Highway Hero for 2017, or at least, keep it in mind that someone you see doing an incredibly heroic thing on the road can be recognized internationally, and rewarded

Highway Heroes

 The Goodyear Highway Hero Award was established in 1983 to honor truck drivers who put themselves in harm’s way to help others.

After the Hero Award nomination period ends on Nov. 29, the list of eligible candidates will be narrowed down to three finalists. A panel of trucking industry judges will later select the Highway Hero and announce all three, and the award winner, at the annual MATS convention

Past Highway Hero Award winners include a truck driver who rescued a family of six from a crushed minivan, a driver who saved a woman from a gun-wielding attacker, and a driver who pulled an elderly man from a car before it was destroyed by an oncoming train.

https://www.goodyeartrucktires.com/newsroom/highway-heroes/

Owner-operator Mike Schiotis was traveling down a Pennsylvania highway when he spotted a woman being followed by a gun-wielding attacker. Thinking quickly, Mike stopped his truck and stepped between the man and the woman. He ushered the woman into his truck and drove away as the gunman returned to his car and began following Mike's rig. Working with another truck driver, Mike evaded the gunman, giving law enforcement officials enough time to arrive on the scene.

An independent owner-operator, Orozco Sanchez was hauling grain on Oct. 28, 2008 on Highway 392, north of Greeley, CO, when an SUV suddenly crossed the center line and crashed head-on into his tractor-trailer rig.

As the vehicles stopped moving, a shaken Orozco Sanchez quickly jumped from his cab and went to the other vehicle. There, with flames already beginning to surround the vehicles, he saw two girls, strapped into their car seats and crying, and a woman up front who was not moving. Working with a passer-by who used a fire extinguisher to fight back the flames, Orozco Sanchez used his knowledge of child car seats – he has two young children – to rescue the two girls.

Derrick Harris was a Virginia truck driver who saved the life of an individual deliberately set on fire, then helped police locate and arrest the person charged with the hideous crime. Harris, a driver with Schneider since October 2002, was also recognized by his employer with Schneider's Presidential Citation Award.

Todd Forbush crawled on his stomach underneath and into the jammed open door of a pickup truck to rescue the young woman pinned behind the wheel after she fell asleep and slammed at full speed into his UPS truck in rural Ohio. Her truck burst into flames after hitting Forbushs' truck at least three times as the smaller truck spun out of control after the initial impact. Forbush, a career driver for UPS, took less than 10 seconds, according to his truck's computer, to exit the cab and reach the young woman to help her. Today, she has almost fully recovered.

In just over two months, Boyd Applegate participated in life-saving efforts at two accident scenes. Thanks to his quick thinking and willingness to be of help, two motor vehicle accident victims are alive today. In the first incident, Applegate climbed into a steep, rocky ravine in the middle of the night and rescued a driver, thrown clear of his vehicle and hidden among some rocks on the opposite side of the ravine.

In the second incident, Applegate cleared the breathing passage of an L.A. patrolman whose face had been crushed in a car accident that also injured his wife.

Curt Jones, then a resident of Blaine, Tenn., was cited as the first trucker to emblazon his tractor-trailer rig with huge posters of missing children, to point out the plight of runaways. He organized 10 truck convoys to call attention to the need for more awareness of missing children, and began a program of visiting schools urging youngsters to seek counseling instead of running from problems.