Verde Canyon Railroad - At The Station

The Verde Canyon Railroad runs between Clarkdale, Arizona and a working ranch named Perkinsville, a distance of about 20 miles.  The tracks were originally part of a branch line of the Santa Fe Railway, connecting Clarkdale with the SF main line at Drake, and which is now owned by the Arizona Central Railway.  For more information, go to Verde Canyon Railway's official site.

Here's the entrance to the Clarkdale station, as seen from across the street.

This old railcar has been converted into a museum.

In front of a picnic area is a metal statue of a golden eagle, perched on a rail.

These two diesels were at the front of our train.

Some of the passengers wandered down to their cars.

North From Sedona

Going north from Sedona, state highway 89A runs alongside Oak Creek.  About 15 miles north of Sedona, the road goes through a bunch of switchbacks, gaining several hundred feet of elevation in the northward direction.  At the top of the climb is an overlook.  Here's a view back down the canyon.

The next view looks westward and shows a few switchbacks.

This view looks eastward into a side canyon.

After continuing north to Flagstaff, I went west to Williams.  In downtown Williams is the southern terminal of the Grand Canyon Railway.  Here are a few of its coaches.

An old retired steam locomotive stands near the station.

Also near the station is this caboose from the Santa Fe.

Next to the Williams-Grand Canyon Chamber building is an old supply wagon.  The steam locomotive seen above is in the background.

Greetings From Sedona

Located in the north-central part of Arizona, Sedona is known for its thriving art community, new age attractions such as vortexes, and its impressive landscape.  The city also includes quite a few trails for hiking, so naturally, I set out to explore one, named Margs Draw.  From a branch trail leading to Margs Draw, I took this picture of a rock formation called Snoopy's Belly.  I don't think I was facing the formation from the perspective where it looks like Snoopy, but I'm assuming that the map is correctly labeled.

From the Margs Draw trail, I got a closer shot of part of Snoopy's Belly.

I was high enough to see across much of Sedona.  This view looks a bit north of westward.

Here are several rock formations north of Sedona.

The north end of my hike afforded me a view of this red rock formation.

Dan Bongino Concedes

Republican candidate Dan Bongino, who ran against incumbent Democrat John Delaney for the House seat from Maryland's 6th District, has conceded the election.  During the counting of absentee ballots, Delaney's small lead saw a slight increase, which caused the Associated Press to declare him the winner.

Bongino is a veteran of the New York City police department and the Secret Service.  Two years ago, he lost his bid to unseat Senator Ben Cardin (D).

Read more at The Baltimore Sun and CBS Baltimore.

Friday Links

As the next weekend approaches, here are some things going on:

From Newsmax, the remains of a typhoon named Nuri bear down on the Aleutian Islands.

From Reboot Illinois, Governor-elect Bruce Rauner (R) gets some advise from both sides.

From the Illinois Mirror, the Republican wave in this year's election "nearly drowned the unions".

From the Washington Examiner, GOP deputy press secretary Raffi Williams faults the NAACP for failing to acknowledge the electoral victories of Congresswoman-elect Mia Love (R-Utah) and Senator Tim Scott (R-SC).  Scott had previously been appointed to replace Senator Jim DeMint (R).

From Reuters, the U.S. official unemployment rate falls to 5.8%.

From Fraud Of The Day, a man in Ohio is sentenced after faking an injury in an attempt file a fraudulent worker's compensation claim.  (Via Watchdog(dot)org)

In National Review, Mona Charen writes about how demonization backfired on the Democrats.

From the Daily Herald, Twitter, Inc. plans to open a headquarters in Hong Kong next year.

From CNM, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) promises "tougher oversight" of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

From ZDNet, an attempt to work without WiFi for a month.

From Investors(dot)com, for the first time, a majority of Americans believe that guns make homes safer.

In Townhall, Katie Pavelich presents the Clintons' dismal election-day scorecard.

From the International Business Times, British muslim Anjem Choudary wishes to leave the United Kingdom and live in territory controlled by ISIS.

From the Mail Online, the vice-principal of a muslim girl's school has been fired for opposing a rule that all students must wear a veil during lessons.  (Via Jihad Watch)

And from Lehigh Valley Live, a flight paramedic originally from Pennsylvania and now living in New York travels to Sierra Leone to serve as a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization.

French Farmers Protest By Dumping Manure

(H/T RegularRon, who Tweeted this story.)

When French farmers give you crap, they literally give you crap.  From the Mail Online:

Revolting French farmers dumped hundreds of tonnes of manure and rotten vegetables on the streets as well as spraying a council water treatment office with slurry in a major day of protest.

Members of the French Farmers Union (FNSEA) and the Young Farmers Union (YA) held demonstrations over worsening food prices as well as increases in the cost of fertiliser.

Farmers complain that sanctions with Russia over the ongoing Ukrainian crisis has led to collapse in the price of cereal, milk and grain.

During one protest in Chatres, south west of Paris, farmers dumped 100 tonnes of manure along with rotting vegetables outside the offices of the agriculture department as well as the town hall.

Read the full story, and if you're not too easily grossed out, look at the pictures.

Republicans Take The Senate

As was generally expected, the Republican Party was very successful in yesterday's midterm elections, including a takeover of the Senate, even while several seats have still not been officially decided.  Some news on various Senate, House and gubernatorial elections:

In the 6th House district of Maryland, challenger Dan Bongino (R) narrowly trails incumbent John Delaney (D).  The State Board of Elections reports 5,847 absentee ballots, which will be counted starting tomorrow.  Maryland's seven other representatives, only one of whom is a Republican, have been reelected.

In the Maryland governor's race, Larry Hogan (R) has pulled a "stunning upset" over Anthony Brown (D).

Hogan is not the only Republican to win the governorship in a heavily blue state.  In Massachusetts, Charlie Baker (R) defeated Martha Coakley (D), who recently lost a Senate seat to Scott Brown.

In yet another blue state, the governor's race in Illinois has gone to Bruce Rauner (R) over incumbent Pat Quinn (D).

In New York's 21st district, 30-year-old Elise Stefanik (R) has become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, defeating Aaron Wolf (D) by 22 points.  She will replace Bill Owens (D), who is retiring.  She is also the first Republican to win in that district since 1990.

In West Virginia, Shelley Capito (R) defeated Natalie Tennant (D) for the Senate seat now held by Jay Rockefeller (D), which will give the state its first Republican senator in about 55 years; and Saira Blair (R), an 18-year-old student at West Virginia University, has won a seat in the state's legislature.  Blair will become the youngest state lawmaker in the entire country.

In Virginia, incumbent Senator Mark Warner (D) leads Ed Gillespie (R) by about 12,000 votes.  Warner has also served as Virginia's governor.  Gillespie has previously worked for various Republican candidates and as the chairman of the Republican National Committee.

In North Carolina, Thom Tillis (R) has narrowly defeated incumbent Kay Hagan (D).  Tillis is currently the Speaker of the state's House of Representatives.

In Florida, the incumbent governor Rick Scott (R) has defeated former governor (and former Republican) Charlie Crist (D).

As expected, Greg Abbott (R) easily defeated Wendy Davis (D) in the Texas governor's race, and Senator John Cornyn (R) won reelection.  George P. Bush (R), son of former Florida governor Jeb Bush, won the race for Land Commissioner.  (I regret to inform anyone not already aware that there indeed is a third George Bush.)

In Utah's 4th district, Mia Love (R) has become the first black Republican woman elected to Congress, narrowly defeating Doug Owens (D).  Love lost in her first bid for the seat two years ago.

In Colorado, Cory Gardner (R) defeated incumbent Mark Udall (D), the first time since 1978 that a sitting Colorado senator has been ousted.

In Iowa, Joni Ernst (R) defeated Bruce Braley (D) for the Senate seat of Tom Harkin (D), who is retiring.  Ernst is currently in the Iowa Senate, and will become the first female U.S. Senator from Iowa and the first female veteran in the Senate's history.  Braley unsuccessfully risked his seat in the House.

In Louisiana, the Senate race between incumbent Mary Landrieu (D) and Bill Cassidy (R) will go to a runoff on December 6th, since no candidate pulled in over 50% of the vote.  Cassidy is a physician and currently represents Louisiana's 6th district in the House.

One World Trade Center Opens

Thirteen years after the 9/11 attacks destroyed the Twin Towers, and after eight years of construction, One World Trade Center opened for business today.  The new building is the tallest in the United States, comprises 104 stories, and cost $3.8 billion to construct.

Read more at the New York Post, the Daily News, BBC News, Yahoo News and Newser.

Nik Wallenda Performs Two Tightrope Walks In Chicago

Nik Wallenda, a member of a multi-generational family of daredevils, successfully completed two tightrope walks in Chicago, each starting from the west tower of the Marina City Towers.  The first was over the Chicago River to a building on the other side.  The second was from the west tower to the east tower, which he performed while blindfolded.

Read more at Fox News, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune.

Sgt. Tahmooressi Released

Marine Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi, after spending 214 days in a Mexican jail, has been released, reportedly on humanitarian grounds because he has suffered from PTSD.  Treatment for PTSD was not available in Mexican prison.  Tahmooressi has been flown to Florida, where his family lives.

Read more at Fox News, The Blaze and U~T San Diego.