Happy 4th of July From Not Another New England Sports Blog!

Well...whaddaya know? Turns out the main streets of small town USA aren't the only think I like to see draped in the American flag. Looks like Stargate SG-1 actress Amanda Tapping has done a fine job of wrapping herself in the stars and stripes. I'm told this is what the kids call 'Rule 5' these days, although I'm simply familiar with it under the category of 'Eye Candy'.

	United States Marine Band - The Stars and Stripes Forever .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

However, before there was an Amanda Tapping and even before there was a Gil Elvgren, there was Rolf Armstrong.

This 1943 print by Armstrong is called Yankee Doodle Girl. While many other pin-up artists hadn't even started out by that time, Armstrong had amassed an impressive resume of magazine covers, theater posters and print ads to his credit. You might recognize another of his works- 1945's A Winning Combination. It apparead on the cover of some scholarly publications and was more recently mimicked by comedienne Tina Fey on a 2009 Vanity Fair cover.
But before I get any more distracted, I wanted to wish the visitors to Not Another New England Sports Blog! a safe and happy 4th of July. Personally, I didn't think it mattered whether or not you were Republican or Democrat to be able to enjoy the 4th of July, but apparently the folks at Harvard feel otherwise.

Jack of all trades- 4th of July as seen from a California citrus grove

Unfortunately it seems that a number of municipalities out west are unable to have a fireworks display this Independence Day because of either wildfire dangers, lack of funds or nuisance lawsuits.

Meanwhile up the road, a California Northern GP15-1 takes in a fireworks display in Tracy, CA. Railpictures.net photo- Eddie P Sarber

With that in mind, I hope that all of you have a good time with your family or friends this Independence Day- try not to blow off any fingers!

Best Wishes!
Fenway_Nation

Today's Train of Though- A Beehive (State) of Activity, May 17 2011

Today's train of thought brings us to a truncated remnant of the old Denver Rio Grande and Western in Utah.

Here, railpictures.net contributor James Belmont caught Union Pacific GP15-1 #Y555 (the 'Y' designates that it's normally assigned to Yard service on UP) leads another GP15-1 and a couple of boxcars as they tiptoe down the jointed rail of the former DRG&W Tintic Branch (now Union Pacific's Tintic Industrial Lead) in Springville, UT on a sunny August 2010 afternoon.

The line was built in stages between 1891 to 1896 from Springville to Eureka, UT (some 40 miles) to access the gold, silver, lead and zinc deposits of the Tintic Mining district. Although as recently as within the past decade the line had traffic from a grain elevator operated by the Church of Latter Day saints as well as limestone traffic, the line had pretty much been cut back to five miles.