Lutz Florida Train Station

~ Tim Jeffers

One of the big sawmills in the northwest Hillsborough County area was the one owned by Charles Lutz south of  Odessa.  After the Tampa Northern Railroad was built, in 1909 Charles Lutz built a tram track to carry his lumber 10 miles to the east, connecting his sawmill to the Tampa Northern Railroad at brother William’s self proclaimed Lutz Station.  The track connected to the Tampa Northern Railroad at what is now Lutz Lake Fern Road and US 41 in a horizontal “Y” shape junction.   This narrow track line, part of the Tampa and Gulf Coast Railroad ran east-west and extended westward to Tarpon Springs.  It was nicknamed the “Peavine Railroad” because it was so crooked.  

American Victory

~ Tim Jeffers

SS American Victory is a Victory ship which saw brief service in the Pacific Theater of Operations  during the waning months of World WarII, Korean War from 1951-1954, and Vietnam War  from 1967-1969. Built in June 1945, she carried ammunition and other cargo from U.S. West Coast ports to Southeast Asia, then ferried cargo, equipment and troops back to the U.S. after the war ended. She survived two typhoons, and one hurricane. She sailed across the world twice. She is currently berthed in Tampa Florida as a Mariners Memorial and floating museum .You can visit their web site here American Victory.

Steamtown National Historic Site

~ Tim Jeffers ~ 2 Comments

Several years ago had the opportunity to visit Steamtown located in Scranton Pennsylvania. It is a   railroad Museum  and heritage railroad at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware, Lackawanna and western Railroad (DL&W). The museum is built around a working turntable and a roundhouse that are largely replications of the original DL&W facilities; the roundhouse, for example, was reconstructed from remnants of a 1932 structure. The site also features several working steam engines and exhibits.

MTV Spaceman

~ Tim Jeffers ~ 5 Comments

I recently visited another roadside attraction. It is a giant replica of an MTV Spaceman which is safely locked inside the lot at Acme Industrial Surplus in Sanford Florida. Back in 2004, he was used for the MTV Music Awards when they were held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. MTV Spaceman

Nikkormat Film Camera Refurbishing

~ Tim Jeffers

 The folks at ACR Camera Repair in Abilene Texas did a great job in refurbishing my vintage Nikkormat Film camera. Here are some photos of my camera as they were working on it. The specialize in repairing classic and vintage cameras here is a link to their web site  ACR Camera Repair.