lawnmower man

My lawnmower man, who is also a railfan, has been to the mighty Curve, first time.
I’ve been browbeating him ever since I bought the zero-turn from him over a year ago.
I walked into his store to buy spark-plugs and an oil-filter for the zero-turn, and he wouldn’t let me outta the store.
Obviously the place rattled him — as well it should.
“I’ve been all over the country, to all kinds of railfan pilgrimage-spots, and to me, by far, the mighty Curve is still the BEST spot I’ve ever been to,” I said.
He noticed my “mighty Curve” jacket, and began yammering.
We were alone in the store; just me and his wife.
“One train had a six-unit lashup on the front.”
“I can tell a GE from an EMD, but that’s about it,” he said.
“Me too; and I don’t care,” I said. “What I like most about that place is they’re always wide-open climbing the hill; that and the fact ya wait 5-10 minutes and a train passes.”
“We’ll be going back,” he said.
“I’m not surprised,” I said. “I’ve been to that place ‘hunderds’ of times.”
“We waved at the web-cam,” his wife said.
“But it was probably aimed too high,” I said.
“Yeah; all we see on it now is the lady-bugs.”

The “mighty Curve” (Horseshoe Curve), west of Altoona, Pennsylvania, is by far the BEST railfan spot I have ever been to. Horseshoe Curve is a national historic site. It was a trick used by the Pennsylvania Railroad to get over the Allegheny mountains without steep grades. Horseshoe Curve was opened in 1854, and is still in use.

Our “zero-turn” is our 48-inch Husqvarna riding-mower; “zero-turn” because it’s a special design with separate drives to each drive-wheel, so it can be spun on a dime. “Zero-turns” are becoming the norm, because they cut mowing time in half compared to a lawn-tractor.

“EMD” is Electromotive Division of General Motors, GM’s manufacturer of railroad diesel-locomotives. Most railroads used EMD when they dieselized; although many now use General-Electric (GE) railroad diesel-locomotives.

“Hunderd” is how my blowhard brother-in-Boston noisily insists “hundred” is spelled.

RE: “All we see on it now is the lady-bugs.....” The Curve web-cam is covered by a dome-shaped plastic enclosure, which has been infested with lady-bugs. (Gotta be day-time.)