04-10-24 - CLASSIC PHOTOS: Altoona Day Trip In 2004 Amtrak was still running two daily trains on the old PRR Main Line making it possible to achieve Sunday-only day trips to Altoona wi...

ersey Mike's Rail Adventures: 04-10-24 - CLASSIC PHOTOS: Altoona Day Trip prr4ever.blogspot.com/2026/04/04-1...

#PRR #Pennsylvanian #Conrail

Post Image

Mazon Monday #316: Sublepidophloios protuberans #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #lycopsid #carboniferous #pennsylvanian #illinois

esconi.org/2026/04/mazon-monday-316...

Train station renovation begins Tuesday LEWISTOWN — Amtrak will begin a $3.5 million renovation project at the Lewistown train station next week, bringing accessibility upgrades and other improvements to one of the oldest depots in its netw...

An update for the #Amtrak #Pennsylvanian. Lewistown Station is getting upgrades - I didn't realize this was Amtrak's oldest station. There's a note that says that the second daily train still plans to start in Fall 2026. I really hope that's still the case!

www.lewistownsentinel.com/news/local-n...

Post Image

ESCONI Field Trip to Danville Shale Pile Fossils – Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 #fieldtrip #fossils #paleontology #danville #carboniferous #pennsylvanian

esconi.org/2026/04/esconi-field-tri...

Post Image

Fossil Friday #310: Mazon Creek Scallop #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #FossilFriday #scallop #pennsylvanian #carboniferrous

esconi.org/2026/03/fossil-friday-31...

Post Image

2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #25: Calomostachys Cone #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #ESCONIShow #carboniferous #pennsylvanian

esconi.org/2026/03/2026-esconi-gem-...

Post Image

Fossil Friday #309: Acanthotelson stimpsoni #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #FossilFriday #shrimp #MazonRiver #carboniferous #pennsylvanian

esconi.org/2026/03/fossil-friday-30...

Post Image

Mazon Monday #313: Mazon Creek Studies - the first 120 years #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #history #pennsylvanian #carboniferous #FieldMuseum

esconi.org/2026/03/mazon-monday-313...

Post Image

Fossil Friday #308: Beautiful things in small packages... #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #Pennsylvanian #carboniferous #paleobotany #seedfern

esconi.org/2026/03/fossil-friday-30...

Post Image

Mazon Monday #312: Sigillaria tessellata #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #lycopod #lycophyte #pennsylvanian #carboniferous

esconi.org/2026/03/mazon-monday-312...

Fossil Friday #306: Cyclus obesus This is the “Fossil Friday” post #306. Expect this to be a regular feature of the website. We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com. Please include a short description or story. Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! Mazon Monday #310 was about Cyclus obesus. That post was triggered by Mike Monteith's recent find.

Fossil Friday #306: Cyclus obesus #fossils #paleontology #FossilFriday #MazonCreek #pennsylvanian #carboniferous

Mazon Monday #310: Cyclus obesus This is Mazon Monday post #310. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Cyclus obesus is one of four species of Cycloidea found in Mazon Creek. It was described in the paper "Mazon Creek Cycloidea" by Frederick Schram. The paper was published in the Journal of Paleontology in 1997. In that paper, Schram established three new species of Cycloidea...

Mazon Monday #310: Cyclus obesus #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #cyclid #Carboniferous #pennsylvanian #cycloidea

Travel on the #Pennsylvanian.

Mazon Monday #309: Herbivory is Older Than We Thought! This is Mazon Monday post #309.  What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at  email:esconi.info@gmail.com. The Mann Lab at the Field Museum has been very busy. Their new paper "Carboniferous recumbirostran elucidates the origins of terrestrial herbivory" published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution has significant implications for the Mazon Creek ecosystem. This paper shows how even "old" ecosystems like the Sydney Mines and Mazon Creek are constantly being reinterpreted through new discoveries.

Mazon Monday #309: Herbivory is Older Than We Thought! #fossils #paleontology #MazonMonday #MazonCreek #SydneyMines #Canada #Carboniferous #Pennsylvanian #tetrapods

Mazon Monday #308: Acitheca polymorpha This is Mazon Monday post #308.  What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at  email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Fig. 8. Acitheca polymorpha (Brongniart) Schimper; proposed tripinnate-primary frond reconstruction with pinnule type placed at appropriate places. From Taxonomic revision of the Palaeozoic marattialean fern Acitheca" Acitheca polymorpha is an extinct species of the class Filcopsida. It is one of the rarer species of fern found in the Mazon Creek fossil localities.

Mazon Monday #308: Acitheca polymorpha #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #fern #carboniferous #pennsylvanian

Fossil Friday #303: Mounted Pecopteris notata This is the “Fossil Friday” post #303.  Expect this to be a regular feature of the website.  We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Please include a short description or story.  Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! Today, we have one of the rarer forms, Pecopteris notata. It's not always present in Mazon Creek plant books, but Jack Wittry did include it in his latest flora book “A Comprehensive Guide to the Fossil Flora of Mazon Creek”.

Fossil Friday #303: Mounted Pecopteris notata #fossils #paleontology #history #MazonCreek #FossilFriday #fern #carboniferous #pennsylvanian #paleobotany

2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #3: Acanthotelson stimpsoni This is the preview post #3 for the 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2026 will be held on March 21th and 22nd at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here. For today, we have another of the Mazon Creek fossils for the Live Auction at the 2026 ESCONI Show.

2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #3: Acanthotelson stimpsoni #fossils #paleontology #shrimp #MazonCreel #pennsylvanian #carboniferous

Fossil Friday #302: A Beautiful Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri from Braceville! This is the “Fossil Friday” post #302.  Expect this to be a regular feature of the website.  We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Please include a short description or story.  Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! For this week, we have a beautiful pyritized Macroneuropteris sheuchzeri (see Mazon Monday #39…

Fossil Friday #302: A Beautiful Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri from Braceville! #fossils #paleontology #FossilFriday #MazonCreek #seedfern #Braceville #pennsylvanian #carboniferous

drinking birch beer!! #pennsylvanian

Fossil Friday #301: French Palaeocaris This is the “Fossil Friday” post #301.  Expect this to be a regular feature of the website.  We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Please include a short description or story.  Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! In Mazon Monday #294, we highlighted the fossil site at Montceau-les-Mines in southeastern France.

Fossil Friday #301: French Palaeocaris #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #fossilFriday #Montceau-les-mines #stephanian #France #shrimp #carboniferous #pennsylvanian

Two Ophiacododon resting on a river bank underneath the canopy of two scale trees. The bank is covered in snow from last snowfall. Above them a Griffinfly darts through the understory. Beneath the river surface an Eryops captures a Xenacanthus, but is injured by the shark's dorsal spine piercing its nostril

Two Ophiacododon rest by the river
#paleoart #sciart #carboniferous #pennsylvanian

Fossil Friday #300: Orthotarbus robustus from the River This is the “Fossil Friday” post #300.  Expect this to be a regular feature of the website.  We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Please include a short description or story.  Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! Is there a better way to post our 300th Fossil Friday than with a Mazon Creek spider?

Fossil Friday #300: Orthotarbus robustus from the River #fossils #paleontology #spider #MazonCreek #FossilFriday #pennsylvanian #carboniferous #spiders

Mazon Monday #304: Field Museum… Illinois by the sea This is Mazon Monday post #304.  What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil?  Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. In May 1970, the Field Museum opened an exhibit about Mazon Creek. It was called "Illinois by the sea: a coal age environment" and ran from May 25th until September 25th. It was a successful exhibit that featured Field Museum fossils and contributions from ESCONI members.

Mazon Monday #304: Field Museum... Illinois by the sea #fossils #paleontology #MazonMonday #MazonCreek #carboniferous #pennsylvanian #FieldMuseum

Fossil Friday #299: Annularia sphenophylloides This is the “Fossil Friday” post #299.  Expect this to be a regular feature of the website.  We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Please include a short description or story.  Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! Today, we have another beautiful contribution from George Witaczek.  This time it's a beautiful…

Fossil Friday #299: Annularia sphenophylloides #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #FossilFriday #annularia #horsetail #carboniferous #pennsylvanian

Mazon Monday #303: Smithixerxes juliarum This is Mazon Monday post #303. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Smithixerxes juliarum is among the rarest animals found in the Mazon Creek fossil deposit. It belongs to an extinct group of arthropods known as the euthycarcinoids, which ranged from the Cambrian to the Triassic periods. Some researchers believe euthycarcinoids may have been amphibious, capable of venturing between water and land.

Mazon Monday #303: Smithixerxes juliarum #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #arthropod #Euthycarcinoid #carboniferous #pennsylvanian

Fossil Friday #298: Seed Fern Fiddlehead – Spiropteris This is the “Fossil Friday” post #298.  Expect this to be a regular feature of the website.  We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Please include a short description or story.  Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! This week’s Fossil Friday features a fiddlehead — the coiled frond of a young fern.

Fossil Friday #298: Seed Fern Fiddlehead - Spiropteris #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #FossilFriday #carboniferous #pennsylvanian #fiddlehead #seedfern

Fossil Friday #297: Alethopteris serlii This is the “Fossil Friday” post #296.  Expect this to be a regular feature of the website.  We will post fossil pictures you send in to esconi.info@gmail.com.  Please include a short description or story.  Check the #FossilFriday Bluesky/Twitter hash tag for contributions from around the world! This week's Fossil Friday is a favorite of many Mazon Creek collectors. Alethopteris serlii…

Fossil Friday #297: Alethopteris serlii #fossils #paleontology #FossilFriday #MazonCreek #carboniferous #pennsylvanian #seedfern

2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show – Preview #1: Tully Monsters This is the preview post #1 for the 2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show Live Auction.  The ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show for 2025 will be held on March 21th and 22nd at the DuPage Fairgrounds in Wheaton, IL, which is the same location as last year.   All details can be found here. Ok, how about an early Christmas present?

2026 ESCONI Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show - Preview #1: Tully Monsters #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #ESCONIShow #TullyMonster #Carboniferous #Pennsylvanian

Mazon Monday #301: Cordaianthus ovatus This is Mazon Monday post #301. What’s your favorite Mazon Creek fossil? Tell us at email:esconi.info@gmail.com. Whole-plant reconstruction of Cordaites borassifolius (Sternberg) Unger (reconstruction by J. Svoboda). Cordaianthus ovatus is thought to be the fertile structure for Cordaites borassifolius (see Mazon Monday #299), an extinct genus of early gymnosperms. Cordaites probably grew to more than 100 feet tall in swampy conditions, forming forests similar to modern day mangroves.

Mazon Monday #301: Cordaianthus ovatus #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #Pennsylvanian #carboniferous #gymnosperms #paleobotany