Sandy Johnston
@sandypsj.bsky.social
Transit geek. Planner. Cat dad. Cubs fan. Deputy Director of Regional Transit Planning at MBTA. Blogging much less than I'd like at www.itineranturbanist.wordpress.com.
Opinions my own.
Opinions my own.
In all fairness, the freedom to freeze to death at a football game is what we fought for, no?
x.com/i/status/199...
x.com/i/status/199...
December 7, 2025 at 11:57 PM
In all fairness, the freedom to freeze to death at a football game is what we fought for, no?
x.com/i/status/199...
x.com/i/status/199...
The IC (now CN) is still there; the Milwaukee branch was abandoned in the '80s I think. I have a distinct memory of the local firehouse having a marooned grade crossing from the old MILW line in its driveway; a differently colored piece of asphalt still shows where that used to be.
December 7, 2025 at 3:36 AM
The IC (now CN) is still there; the Milwaukee branch was abandoned in the '80s I think. I have a distinct memory of the local firehouse having a marooned grade crossing from the old MILW line in its driveway; a differently colored piece of asphalt still shows where that used to be.
We left when I was 6 and I haven't been back since a couple of years after that, but my layout is a love letter to Midwestern railroading, and to towns like Storm Lake, which was somewhat inexplicably served by three railroads* at one point in time.
*IC, MILW, and a short-lived M&StL branch
*IC, MILW, and a short-lived M&StL branch
December 7, 2025 at 3:14 AM
We left when I was 6 and I haven't been back since a couple of years after that, but my layout is a love letter to Midwestern railroading, and to towns like Storm Lake, which was somewhat inexplicably served by three railroads* at one point in time.
*IC, MILW, and a short-lived M&StL branch
*IC, MILW, and a short-lived M&StL branch
It won't win any awards for sophistication as a model, and won't see much service on my layout since it doesn't fit the era, but this rare Chicago Central & Pacific caboose means a lot to me since that's the railroad that ran through Storm Lake IA when I lived there as a kid 1991-94.
December 7, 2025 at 2:07 AM
It won't win any awards for sophistication as a model, and won't see much service on my layout since it doesn't fit the era, but this rare Chicago Central & Pacific caboose means a lot to me since that's the railroad that ran through Storm Lake IA when I lived there as a kid 1991-94.
Boston, sometimes you glow
December 3, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Boston, sometimes you glow
Just enough snow to be cute overnight
December 3, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Just enough snow to be cute overnight
A lone pedestrian crosses the Southwest Corridor at Williams St with Green St station and the Pru in the background
December 1, 2025 at 11:11 PM
A lone pedestrian crosses the Southwest Corridor at Williams St with Green St station and the Pru in the background
Fun mini-layout prototype: the shops of the Cloquet Terminal Railroad in Cloquet, MN www.google.com/maps/@46.726...
railroadfan.com/wiki/index.p...
railroadfan.com/wiki/index.p...
December 1, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Fun mini-layout prototype: the shops of the Cloquet Terminal Railroad in Cloquet, MN www.google.com/maps/@46.726...
railroadfan.com/wiki/index.p...
railroadfan.com/wiki/index.p...
The recent horrendous Hong Kong fire was close to where my family spent two summers when I was little. According to my mother (I have zero recollection) I learned to read in part by reading about construction fires in the local English tabloid. I was a late but quickly voracious reader.
November 30, 2025 at 5:08 AM
The recent horrendous Hong Kong fire was close to where my family spent two summers when I was little. According to my mother (I have zero recollection) I learned to read in part by reading about construction fires in the local English tabloid. I was a late but quickly voracious reader.
Nice little Thanksgiving walk at Hammershop Pond in Sharon, MA
November 27, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Nice little Thanksgiving walk at Hammershop Pond in Sharon, MA
Happy Thanksgiving from the City of Boston and one of its adorable bike lane sweepers!
November 27, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Happy Thanksgiving from the City of Boston and one of its adorable bike lane sweepers!
Bowditch School looked great earlier today
November 27, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Bowditch School looked great earlier today
Top of an Orange Line train
November 26, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Top of an Orange Line train
Southwest Corridor Regional
November 26, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Southwest Corridor Regional
Compared to 1960-1970, my census tract is:
-less dense
-more car-dependent
-less turnover in housing occupancy
-less dense
-more car-dependent
-less turnover in housing occupancy
November 25, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Compared to 1960-1970, my census tract is:
-less dense
-more car-dependent
-less turnover in housing occupancy
-less dense
-more car-dependent
-less turnover in housing occupancy
This is a phenomenal example of how people advocating for the "character of the neighborhood" are often actually advocating to *change* the character to be less dense and more suburban. Which, if you go play with the city's n'hood GIS explorer, is what has happened all over Boston!
November 25, 2025 at 5:34 PM
This is a phenomenal example of how people advocating for the "character of the neighborhood" are often actually advocating to *change* the character to be less dense and more suburban. Which, if you go play with the city's n'hood GIS explorer, is what has happened all over Boston!
Beware the beached floof whale, the tummy is trap
November 25, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Beware the beached floof whale, the tummy is trap
Experimenting with using some cork roadbed I had laying around to level out between Unitrack in the yard and reduce the amount of scenery mortar I need to use. Note the wide variety of small objects holding down the cork while the glue dries.
November 25, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Experimenting with using some cork roadbed I had laying around to level out between Unitrack in the yard and reduce the amount of scenery mortar I need to use. Note the wide variety of small objects holding down the cork while the glue dries.
Knowing things about trains in Iowa means realizing how much coal mining used to go on there, even though it's not what the state is known for (map from Rail Guide)
November 24, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Knowing things about trains in Iowa means realizing how much coal mining used to go on there, even though it's not what the state is known for (map from Rail Guide)
And this dropback animation is really fun.
November 21, 2025 at 1:23 PM
And this dropback animation is really fun.
First experiment with using some kind of paste or mortar to do layout scenery. This is Busch "scenery mortar," colored with some acrylic craft paint. Picked up for cheap; it'll also get a top coat and some ballast/yard cinders on top
November 19, 2025 at 1:07 AM
First experiment with using some kind of paste or mortar to do layout scenery. This is Busch "scenery mortar," colored with some acrylic craft paint. Picked up for cheap; it'll also get a top coat and some ballast/yard cinders on top
All Over Albany (RIP) used to regularly run this amazing graphic
November 17, 2025 at 3:56 PM
All Over Albany (RIP) used to regularly run this amazing graphic
Gusty afternoon walk around Millennium Park, West Roxbury
November 16, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Gusty afternoon walk around Millennium Park, West Roxbury
One up, one down, all sleepy
November 16, 2025 at 4:01 PM
One up, one down, all sleepy
People in my "progressive" neighborhood NIMBY'd a *senior affordable housing development* into reducing its units from 71 to 41. Just an absolute moral travesty. (Rogerson/Beaufort project in JP)
November 13, 2025 at 12:18 AM
People in my "progressive" neighborhood NIMBY'd a *senior affordable housing development* into reducing its units from 71 to 41. Just an absolute moral travesty. (Rogerson/Beaufort project in JP)