✫ SCOTT ✫

Image HostingI enjoy long country drives in my Volvos, hittin' the lakes with my buddy Doug (throw in a cold beer or two), having supper with my buddy Jason at Five Brothers Cafe in Salem, IL, and of course, Ted Drewes (that's "St. Louis" for "ice cream"). I grew up with a Grandfather who took me on long train trips, the first on the Southwest Chief to La Junta, CO. My interest in the rail industry has continued. During my college years at SLU and for a few years after I graduated, I worked for the railroad. This wasn't your average shortline railway, though. Our locomotive, a product of GM's Electro Motive Division of LaGrange, IL, began its life to serve the U.S. Army during the Korean War. It was stored in the "inner bowels" of St. Louis, underground a few blocks from the Edward Jones Dome. Our railroad, a remnant of the former Illinois Terminal Traction System, existed to serve the city press of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the largest publication newspaper in the St. Louis region, which required us to haul in boxcars loaded with huge spools of Canadian newsprint (each spool weighs in well over a ton and prints 20,000 papers). My co-worker and I would have to take an elevator down to reach track level, grab our paperwork, pick up any empty cars with the locomotive and head towards where our line interchanged with the Norfolk Southern Railroad. After running underground, the tracks rose out of the trench to the middle of Hadley street (!) for four blocks, then rose again up a huge iron bridge that winds through North City. I started my job in March of 2001 and enjoyed every minute of it. Every good thing must come to an end, and in June 2004, the Post Dispatch announced that they were centralizing their printing operations to their other press, which meant the end of our rail line. The tracks are now gone, and the rail line is slated to become the nation's first elevated bike trail. Though running trains is sort of a memory now, with college behind me, I'd like to return to the industry someday as a professional. If you or anyone you know in the industry is looking for someone, HIT ME UP!An "about me" section would not be complete without mentioning Volvo. These are safe, robust vehicles, and the oldest model I own, the 940 Turbo, has the legendary B230FT engine which has a solid cast iron block. These 162 HP four-bangers have proven to be the most rugged in the automotive industry. In fact, Irv Gordon's P1800 set a world's record for hitting the 2 million mile mark (and soon to be 3). The newest model I own is the S60 R. The S60 is part of the "ReVolvolution,“ a series of modern designs that signal a departure from the more conservative, sharper edges. The "R" was a limited edition version of the S60 and was produced in limited quantities from 2004 - 2007. The R's powerplant is an all aluminum block inline five with large turbo and twin intercoolers which spool out 300 HP. Another unique feature of the R is the 4C suspension, which allows the driver to tighten the suspension from "Comfort" to "Sport" to "Advanced," respectively. Owning a Volvo is a wonderful experience. To learn more about Volvo enthusiasts, you should visit www.swedespeed.com.
From the very start, the company’s two owners, Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson, decided to construct vehicles that were safe and could withstand the harsh conditions posed by Sweden’s cold climate and the poor road conditions of that time. Since vehicles are driven by people, the founders’ view was that: 'Safety is – and must always be – the basic principle in all design work.' The focus on safety, durability and quality has been part of the company’s development from the beginning." Click on the video below, and let's take a tour of the Volvo Cars Safety Centre in Gothenburg Sweden to learn about the safety program behind these remarkable automobiles:
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