Railroads On Parade, Part 2

I was touring the "Railroads On Parade" exhibit in Pottersville, New York. Daytime and nighttime cycles of three minutes each were alternating and I was currently watching the nighttime displays as miniature trains traveled back and forth through the little towns, cities and mountains:

A whole neighborhood of houses was lit up beneath a railroad bridge as trains raced across the span:

And then the lights brightened and it was daytime once again. I stopped at a city scene with vintage cars and trucks on an elevated highway:

The neighborhood I'd just seen at night looked totally different in the daytime:

Trains ran through snowy mountains:

And Mountains in autumn:

There was a switching yard:

And an Adirondack mining or logging town in autumn:

I stood back and snapped a shot to give you a better idea what the overall scene looked like:

And then focused back in at a city scene:

I never noticed at the time, but have noticed while making these posts, that all the scenes seem to have been set in 1955. That, apparently, was a very good year:

But even though it was plenty cool and cloudy outside, I had six dogs in the car who were quite anxious for me to return. And I had yet to stop for lunch and gas, not to mention a long drive yet to Albany. So I snapped one last photo of the "Railroads On Parade" building and headed on down the road. Their website, if you'd like to learn more is here:

Railroads On Parade, Part 1

The dogs and I were on our way home from a weekend up at the farm. We'd traveled down through the Adirondacks and then connected with the Northway. I was speeding southward when, at Exit 26, I decided to get off at Pottersville and buy myself some gas for the car and some food for my lunch. But before I arrived at the aforementioned purveyor of gasoline and sandwiches, I noticed that "Railroads On Parade" was open, the first time I'd ever seen it so. It was cool enough to leave the dogs in the car and I had plenty of time, so I bought a ticket and went on in:

Railroads On Parade was a model railroad exhibition with scenes from New York's past. Tiny trains zipped by going in all directions:

The scenery and buildings and were all highly detailed and perfectly miniaturized. Notice the tiny people in the scene below:

There were scenes from New York City, the Catskills, the Hudson Valley, the Adirondacks. I'm sure there were many more also that I just can't remember:

This, I think, was a railroad through the Adirondacks:

The guide told me that "Generak" was their imaginary city which represented all of New York's historic old cities. This scene was built to look like 1955:

And just then all the lights went off in the room and lights came on in the houses and towns. The guide told me that they have 3 minute day/night cycles:

I saw a drive-in theater playing an old black and white movie:

And a bustling "Generak" during its industrial days:

There were bridges and canals and mountains and valleys. Through it all, the trains kept running:

"The Station" in the Adirondacks was also set in 1955 and my most vivid memory was the nighttime scene with a lighted and festive looking carnival (just to the left of the sign):

I zoomed in for a closer look at the celebration. Perhaps it was a county fair. I was thoroughly enjoying my tour of the tiny displays and found myself missing so much detail that I'd pass by a second or third time, amazed as if I was seeing it all for the first time. You can find out more at their website, and/or you can tune in tomorrow when I'll post Part 2 of my field trip to "Railroads On Parade:"

Part Two, Owl's Head Mountain Rustic Furniture

Continuing on from yesterday's post, I was exploring the Owl's Head Mountain Rustic Furniture store.  They had Adirondack furnishings for every room in your home - even the bedroom:

I was particularly taken by this exquisite stump and antler based table with birch bark trim. And the stained glass lamp, Adirondack mirror and antler wall sconce would also look wonderful almost anywhere:

Another stump based table with antler candelabra and antler floor lamp. Everything was Adirondack themed:

Fancy hutches made by local craftsmen:

And amazing things which I didn't even know how to describe:

More hutches, more chairs, more mirrors, more lamps, more wall decorations:

Even fine china and glassware for entertaining at your Adirondack camp:

I loved it all but shuddered to think what would happen to such expensive, beautiful furniture in a house such as mine, with six dogs and five cats. I guess I'll stick with my "Early Goodwill" theme:

A living room setting:

More comfortable chairs, more lamps, more Adirondack prints:

I thanked the owner and headed back outside to join my anxious dogs. But I had to take one last photo, this time of their roadside sign which featured a carved bear sleeping on top:

I was on my way out the driveway when I saw this super-giant Adirondack chair with two normal sized chairs near it. It was even bigger than it appears here because the smaller chairs are also closer. If you'd like to know more, their website is here:

Part One, Owl's Head Mountain Rustic Furniture

The dogs and I were traveling home from the farm on a cool and rainy Tuesday. I knew it was a rare opportunity for me to safely leave the dogs in the car while I went inside the Owl's Head Mountain Rustic Furniture store on Route 73:

They have a lot of things besides furniture, of course, and there's another, smaller store just a few feet away which is part of the same business. But I'll cover that some other day. For this day, I headed on into the furniture store:

They had lots of Adirondack prints for your walls:

And a mirror framed by moose and deer antlers:

A bench and wall sconces made from - um, Red Cedar, perhaps?:

A table made from a stump and a slice of an old tree. And it was covered with raccoon and chipmunk figurines:

Pack baskets, birch bark frames, Adirondack furniture:

More prints, more frames, more designer touches for your Adirondack camp:

A basket made of deer antlers and filled with small birch bark canoes. Overhead, lots of antler chandeliers glowed cheerily:

Exquisitely decorated birch bark furniture and easy chairs, and lamps with Adirondack themed stained glass by which to read Adirondack stories:

And as I said earlier, lots of antler chandeliers:

And twig art chandeliers, under which you could position that wonderful dining room table. But I was just getting started in this wonderland of Adirondack-ness. I'll post more tomorrow. In the meantime, you can find their website here:

Jones Pond Road To Rainbow Lake, New York

I'd left Osgood Pond and was continuing our journey back home on Route 86. But I only gone about 1500 feet when I decided to make one more exploratory turn, this time onto Jones Pond Road:

It took me to a small (and empty) camping area on the edge of Jones Pond. I left the dogs in the car and walked down the terribly rutted boat ramp to the water's edge:

Jones Pond was lovely in the morning's light:

I then continued on Jones Pond Road to the tiny hamlet of Rainbow Lake, New York:

Rainbow Lake appeared to be a combination of summer homes and permanent residences, a small settlement in the beautiful Adirondack forest:

There were large homes:

And smaller homes, all of them built beneath towering pines and spruces:

Apparently a young lady named Emily was earning money for college (nearby Paul Smiths, perhaps?) by cutting, splitting and selling firewood:

Many homes sat far back off the road in the woods. I supposed these were summer homes, as keeping the snow plowed in winter could be difficult:

Many homes looked rather deluxe to me:

This colorful home in the forest was my favorite. I liked its colors and homey aura:

This home was for sale and I looked it up when I got home, thinking that it must cost a fortune in such a lovely resort community. It was listed at only $159,000 with 1.5 baths, 3 bedrooms and a .25 acres. The interior was spectacular. Here's the website if you'd like to see more, though I can't guarantee it won't be sold by the time this posts. I then continued on my way home thinking I'd seen all of Rainbow Lake. But I've looked more closely at the map since and discovered there's much more to this settlement than I'd realized. Maybe I'll go back there again and see more: