Caboose

And George doesn't agree with Japanese food, either, which can only help at election time.The CSX caboose is rolling out of town. The locomotive went long ago.How about throwing Pratt Library branches open at 9 a.m. when the schools are shut?The virtue of the budget crisis is that nobody out there cares about Don's redistricting plan.The Yugoslav air force is shooting down the European Community, which even Maggie Thatcher didn't dare do.Zviad Gamsakhurdia may be a tyrant but he would win a free Georgian election today, tomorrow and the day after, from jail or Armenia.

Letters, calls and the roar of the crowd:Name Withheld by Request, Laurel: I have been in the military for 22 years and am currently a first sergeant stationed at Fort Meade. It is true there are gays in the military. You can tell who they are. But they don't bother you. I have never been bothered by one.I will say one thing about gay soldiers: They are better groomed. They are more spit-and-polish. And, I think, they are more intellectual than the other soldiers.I was in the gulf war and some of the best soldiers were homosexuals.

On August 9, 2004, ARNOLDOESTREICHER OSTRAND, beloved husband of the late Dr. Marianne Ostrand (nee Steinberg) loving father of Suzanne Ostrand Rosenberg of Columbia, MD. and Thomas Ostrand of Metuchen, N.J., dear father-in-law of Robert Rosenberg and Elaine Weyuker Ostrand, beloved brother of Howard Ostran. Loving grandfather of David and Aron Rosenberg and Rachel Ostrand Services at Temple Isaiah, Fulton, MD on Wednesday, August 11 at 11 A.M. Interment Columbia Memorial Park, Columbia, MD. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in his memory to Temple Isaiah, 12200 Scaggsville Rd., Fulton, MD (20759)

A good children's book can be quite expensive, though never as much as a pair of jeans or a good dinner out. Some publishers offer bargain-basement prices on books for young children.* Golden Books. These are mass produced in several sizes with titles and designs that go back 50 years or more. Some have become classics. All are less than $2. Favorites are "The Little Red Caboose," "Little Toot," "Animal Daddies and My Daddy" and "Dumbo."* HarperCollins "I Can Read" Series. These are slightly more expensive titles, but each is still less than $4. The series features some of the best writers for beginning readers in a sturdy paperback form.

ANNAPOLIS -- State officials unanimously approved last week the purchase of more land for Watkins Regional Park in Largo.The $821,846 award by the Board of Public Works will enable officials to buy a 155-acre addition to the 437-acre park to house a community center.Among the other 38 "open space" projects approved Wednesday:* $11,250 for a 10-acre project at Frederick County's Emmitsburg Community Park, to buy and renovate an antique railroad caboose and purchase playground equipment and materials for a ball field.

Fantasy rooms: Travel Weekly, an industry newspaper, offers some alternatives to the standard motel room. In Strasburg, Pa., guests at the Red Caboose Motel sleep in rail cars, most from the old Pennsylvania Railroad. At the Heritage Inn in Evans, Colo., the Wild West Suite includes a tent and a covered wagon for sleeping. And in the Cinderella Palace Suite at the Ramada Inn Grand Court in Mundelein, Ill., guests can sleep in Cinderella's coach, with a life-size Plexiglass horse standing guard nearby.

Imagine a sleepy little town filled with little boys, all around ages 2 to 5. Running, screaming, shouting, wrestling little bundles of energy. It's a beautiful, blue-sky day, and we're in Traintown, U.S.A.On the map, this place goes by the name of Strasburg Rail Road, and it's a train lover's paradise. Everything here is trains. Located in Lancaster, Pa., a couple miles off U.S. 30 (the road of outlet stores), Strasburg Rail Road is overrun with train tracks.Pennsylvania may be the state most influenced by the railroads.

Celebrating its railroad past, Sykesville will hold the first Sykesville Model Railroad Festival from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow . The festival will feature model railroad layouts, food, entertainment and train vendors along Main Street. A trolley car will provide free shuttle service to the festival from the Warfield Complex off Route 32. "For years, people in Sykesville have been fascinated about trains and models," said Margaret Spurlock, Sykesville tourism director. "The idea of the festival has been incubating for years."

Tooling along on a Harley Sprint motorcycle in June 1972, Bob Miller alternated between taking main roads and riding alongside the railroad next to the swollen Patapsco River as he wove his way from Sykesville to Elkridge, filming scene after scene of destruction in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Agnes. As a lifelong resident of the area dubbed "The Hill," where homes sit high above the Patapsco and Historic Main Street in Ellicott City, Miller took the 25-mile trip out of curiosity and as a way to merge his two loves, motorcycle riding and amateur filmmaking.

The Waterfront Hotel Go to this Fells Point restaurant, bar and lounge for food, drinks, loud live music and relaxation. If you're barhopping, this could be your first or last stop, depending on what you want. Where --1710 Thames St. Call --410-537-5055 Web site --waterfronthotel.us Notable --The food is a couple notches (and dollars) above normal pub fare, and the bartenders are super friendly and efficient. Beers come quickly and the place stays clean. Vibe --Depends on where you are. Bands set up downstairs by the front door and blast the bar area.