March 15 (bonus blog), 2005
I'm riding herd on two developments: The Papago Station dilemma and the See-More-Buns Scandal. First for the reaction to the Tush Trauma:

"Well, only confident heterosexual men could pose together like that (without anxiety or giggles), so ya got that going for ya."
—Jim Ed-Chicago

"It's not the cheeks that trouble me. Or the hair. It's the socks. Especially the white socks peeking out from the cowboy boots. Eeeeuuuuuwww! (On the other hand--dude, major bicyclist calves! Smokin'!)

"Better keep an eye on Trimble--he looks as if he's ready to make a career of this."
—Emma Bull

Others were not so kind:

"While I salute your bravado, I am compelled to point out that your rear assault photo is the most horrifying thing I have seen since Al-Queda's beheading photos. I could have gone the rest of my life without having the image of those hairy arses seared into my brain. By the way, cheesecake is sweet and creamy. Those hirsute gams of Mr. Trimble's and yours are neither.

"Never again, I beg you!"
—C. Neil Williams

"The photo is real evidence that not one but two villages are missing their respective idiots."
—Hugh Howard, Maniac #9, Sass #49890

Now onto the importance of being Papago Station:

Hi Bob,
Maybe Papago Station wasn't just a water tank. This article is from 2003, when the station burned down. It has the exact street address, too.
—TWM #19

The Arizona Daily Star
"Nov. 28--Flames destroyed a historic, 19th-century train station in the Rita Ranch area Thursday night. Firefighters were unable to save the old Esmond Station in the 10300 block of East Esmond Station Road, said Capt. Paul McDonough, a Tucson Fire Department spokesman.

"The Southern Pacific station was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived around 9:15 p.m. There is no hydrant there, and firefighters had to truck water to the site southeast of Tucson, McDonough said. No one was hurt, and the cause of the fire remains unknown, McDonough said.

"Originally named the Papago Station, Esmond Station was built around 1885 when the Southern Pacific Railroad first made its way through Southern Arizona, said Tucson historian and writer William Kalt. Kalt is now writing 'Tucson Was a Railroad Town.'

"It is very possible that it was part of the initial line,' said Kalt, adding he believes the Esmond Station was the last of its kind in Arizona.

"In its heyday the Esmond Station was a bustling order office, where conductors and engineers would snatch their daily orders -- where to deliver carts and where to pull off and let other trains pass -- that hung from a hoop extending out to the tracks, Kalt said.

"The station is near the site of the ‘Esmond Wreck,’ the early-morning, head-on collision of two trains east of Tucson on Jan. 28, 1903, that killed at least 14 people. The crash is blamed on an order sent from Tucson directing a train traveling west from Vail to pull off at the Esmond siding, four miles down the track, until an eastbound train passed through. The message never made it to the train's conductor, resulting in what may have been the deadliest train wreck in Arizona and the worst involving the Southern Pacific line in Southern Arizona, Kalt said. The station had slipped into disrepair in recent years, but talk of a restoration effort had begun where just 10 years ago the station's original sign was still hanging, Kalt said. 'It's like a little piece of our heart has been ripped out for those of us that care about the history of that area,' Kalt said”

To this, Neil Carmony replies:
"According to Myrick, the Southern Pacific historian, Papago station (which gets a bare mention) seems to have been nothing more than a siding. In the early days of the railroad, water for the engine boilers, and often a supply of fuel, was kept at short distances along the track. And it seems that the trains, which ran at about 25 miles per hour, would stop at any 'station' if someone wanted a ride, and the conductor would sell them a ticket. Then the new passenger could ride in the caboose or on the engine, if it was a freight train(such as the Earp party rode east from Papago Station). I suppose the Earp party would have flagged the train with anything at hand. A lantern would have been best (it was at night) but where they would have gotten it is a question. I would guess that the train had slowed or stopped at Papago Station (the name Myrick uses) for some other reason. See Gatto's Wyatt Earp book page 171. This is much like riding a bus on a Mexican highway. The big old bus will go roaring down a narrow highway and stop for anyone who flags it down. Then they will sell the guy a ticket and go rumbling on. There usually is a guy on the bus along with the driver to sell such tickets.”
—Neil

Author Dale Devine of Tucson just called me (4:10 PM) and tells me Papago Station was at Houghton Road where it meets Rita Road (just north of I-10).

I plan to get my rear down there this Sunday and take some photos. I intend to get this painting right if it's the last thing I do.

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."
—Confucius