This case across one of my social media feeds. And it definitely caught my attention. Let me explain. If you’re looking for any specific book about a heritage railroad or its existence in some region, you are blessed with choices. And undoubtedly, all these books contain breathtaking photographs and historic artifacts of that railroad’s history…
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Revell Model Kits: Building childhood memories
This article was originally written by Chuck Miller for Toy Collector Magazine, January 2008. The memories are still strong for model kit builders – the accomplishment of working with tiny plastic parts, plucked like fruit from a styrene tree, assembled with a tube of tacky-sweet airplane glue, gobs of which would inevitably stain your clothes…
Read MoreI knew the plantation before I knew the college.
Tougaloo College, known as an HBCU (Historically Black College / University), sits in the heart of Jackson, Mississippi. Tougaloo College is also the learning institution where in 1961, nine of its students participated in a “read-in” protest at Jackson’s “whites-only” municipal public library. The students, later known as the “Tougaloo Nine,” were arrested for simply…
Read MoreWhen it Played in Albany: November 6, 1972
I don’t know why I picked this day of all days to search the vintage newspaper archives. But I haven’t done one of these “When It Played in Albany” blog posts in a long time, so let’s travel back 50+ years and see what was showing on the big screens. And back in 1972, the…
Read MoreRemembering the Neponset Drive-In
Restoring these classic drive-in speakers has been a fun little project for me. It’s kept me going through my recent surgeries, and it’s kept me going on days when I could use a little “me” time. It’s also allowed me to revisit my past. And by “past,” I’m talking about the memories I had with…
Read MoreTen years later … an answer to who was Jerry from Coxsackie
Ten years ago, as I was driving on the New York State Thruway on my way from New York City to Albany, I saw what looked like an old barn along the side of the road. The barn had the word “Jerry’s” on the roof. I eventually pulled over, drove back along Route 81, found…
Read MoreMaybe I’ll bring this back as a late entry for Competition Season.
The rotting carcass of Central Warehouse, a former cold-storage facility in Albany’s downtown district, has put the “sore” in eyesore for ages. And every company that purchased it has promised they would do something to revitalize it … and the edifice just stands there, oblivious to time and oblivious to renovation. So … now comes news…
Read MoreThe recovery from early 2009
On a cloudy Saturday in May 2009, I took my new-to-me Nikon D700 camera for a little photo walk around the Capital District. And the photo walk included a few shots at an old building that no longer exists today. Recognize this structure? Yep, that is the old First Prize slaughterhouse and meat packing plant on…
Read More“Where’s the basement?”
Okay. I admit it. During my San Antonio trip last week, I had to do at least one tourist spot. I mean … even one of the in-flight movies on my trip into San Antonio was Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. And I’m sorry, but if you can’t watch a Pee-Wee Herman movie without laughing your head…
Read More“Shoot him on the spoot.”
In the latter months of James Buchanan’s presidency, just as the Southern states seceded from the Union, John A. Dix was sworn in as Secretary of the Treasury upon the resignation of the previous officeholder. Dix’s appointment was essentially a lame-duck seat-filling action for the former New York Senator and postmaster; Abraham Lincoln was weeks…
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Chuck The Writer 
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