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What happened to "Arriving Fall 2020"?

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  • Member since
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  • From: Wyoming, where men are men, and sheep are nervous!
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What happened to "Arriving Fall 2020"?
Posted by Pruitt on Friday, January 8, 2021 11:04 AM

I've been looking forward to seeing what the new Trains.com will be, but so far it's just vaporware.

The Jan MR says to subscribe by going to Trains.com/membership, but that just takes me to another "Arriving Fall 2020" page.

Something needs updated somewhere. Kalmbach, what's the new target date (or is there one)?

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Posted by dknelson on Friday, January 8, 2021 11:16 AM

MR and Trains started to promote this Trains.com roll out some months ago, which means that the ad content was nailed down a few months before that.  And it is hard to recall but last spring and early summer the thought was that things might be more back to normal come late fall 2020.  And we've seen how that turned out.

My hunch, and I'd certainly let the Kalmbach folks speak for themselves on this (and I sure wish they would rather than just lock up the thread) that until they get back into the building as a team for production and content, there is no sense in rolling out a pale shadow of what they had in mind.  It is more important to make it impressive and complete from the git go rather than have the initial reaction be "ho hum."

There are so many things we expected/hoped to be different by now.  

Dave Nelson

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Posted by oldline1 on Friday, January 8, 2021 11:52 AM

I think Covid 19 got it!

oldline1

 

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Posted by mbinsewi on Friday, January 8, 2021 2:50 PM

oldline1
I think Covid 19 got it!

I think your right!

After all, it's been the #1 excuse now for everybody! Retailers, shippers, manufacturers, and all other forms of business.

I was going to ad another one to the list, but decided it would be a sensative topic.  Something about going to work.

Mike.

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Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Saturday, January 9, 2021 4:26 AM

I work in construction, I have most of my life. As a young 23 year old project manager 40 years ago I made this comment in a project meeting on a multi million dollar project.

"I hate deadlines, never seen one met yet"

40 years later it remains the truth.

Sheldon

    

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Posted by maxman on Saturday, January 9, 2021 10:01 AM

Homeowner:  When will it be completed?

Contractor: Two weeks.

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Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Saturday, January 9, 2021 10:48 AM

maxman

Homeowner:  When will it be completed?

Contractor: Two weeks.

 

There are reasons why we call them "estimates" both in terms of time and money.

That's why working on old houses like I do, most of what we do is "time and materials". No way to guess "everything" you will find. Often our customers total costs are lower as time and materials then what any contractor would touch the job for as a fixed price.

Sheldon

    

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Posted by rrebell on Saturday, January 9, 2021 10:51 AM

Yes, padded overhead is a deal killer ussually.

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Posted by selector on Saturday, January 9, 2021 1:21 PM

maxman

Homeowner:  When will it be completed?

Contractor: Two weeks.

 

(...three weeks later....)

'Sorry, we had a problem with (pick any one of illness, materials delays, staffing problems, licenses, weather,...).'

The truth is more like they're overcommitted to six or seven jobsites running concurrently, the owners of whom have all been lied to....just like you.

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Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Saturday, January 9, 2021 2:04 PM

selector

 

 
maxman

Homeowner:  When will it be completed?

Contractor: Two weeks.

 

 

 

(...three weeks later....)

'Sorry, we had a problem with (pick any one of illness, materials delays, staffing problems, licenses, weather,...).'

The truth is more like they're overcommitted to six or seven jobsites running concurrently, the owners of whom have all been lied to....just like you.

 

Sometimes that happens even to the best contractors, especially when customers keep changing and adding things, then jobs run over when you have already promised others you would be there.......

Sheldon

    

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Posted by The Milwaukee Road Warrior on Saturday, January 9, 2021 2:09 PM

Try building bridges.  Delays of months (in one case over a year) are typical for materials and utility conflicts.  Comes with playing the game unfortunately.

Andy

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Milwaukee native modeling the Milwaukee Road in 1950's Milwaukee.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/196857529@N03/

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Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Saturday, January 9, 2021 2:16 PM

The Milwaukee Road Warrior

Try building bridges.  Delays of months (in one case over a year) are typical for materials and utility conflicts.  Comes with playing the game unfortunately.

 

Many years ago I was an electrical project manager for several companies that did only commercial and industrial work. Bridges, steel mills, automotive assembly plants, sewage pumping stations, soap powder factories, sky scrapers, stadiums, cold storage warehouses, malls, meat packing plants, etc, etc, - I have worked or managed construction in all of them.

Yes stuff goes wrong.....

Sheldon

    

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Posted by mbinsewi on Saturday, January 9, 2021 2:19 PM

The Milwaukee Road Warrior
Try building bridges.

Cool!  Who do you work for?

Mike.

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Posted by oldline1 on Saturday, January 9, 2021 3:15 PM

Funny thing is no response from Kalmbach about it! LOL

oldline1

 

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Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Saturday, January 9, 2021 3:28 PM

oldline1

Funny thing is no response from Kalmbach about it! LOL

oldline1

 

 

The original postwas too late in the day on Friday to get anyones attention.

Also a construction saying  - "if it does not happen by noon, it is not happening today".

Sheldon

    

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Posted by The Milwaukee Road Warrior on Saturday, January 9, 2021 3:53 PM

I work for a governmental agency here in the midwest doing civil engineering inspection.  I've worked on PPCB bridges, concrete slab, restorations on several old (Pratt truss) rail bridges (Rock Island and Chicago Great Western), and a rehab on an old interurban bridge turned into a bike trail.  Mostly all structural stuff.The last two I've worked on had supply chain issues.  Just the way it is.  But that's why you put liquidated damages in your contract...

One that we flexed on however was a special fitting that was needed to connect a new duct bank of 6" fiberglass conduit being run thru a new bridge deck to 6" pvc after the duct bank passed thru the abutment backwall.  Because we are govt we are bound by the Feds rules on "Buy America" provisions: there was only one place domestically (apparently) that could size and produce that special fitting.  It was in Houston, Tx and this was 2018 ... Houston was flooded out for weeks and weeks.  So things got backed up for several months by the time the fabricator got back on schedule.

(...I would provide more detail but unfortunately there are creepy people out there and its already so hard to maintain any kind of privacy in this world!)  

Andy

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Milwaukee native modeling the Milwaukee Road in 1950's Milwaukee.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/196857529@N03/

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Posted by The Milwaukee Road Warrior on Saturday, January 9, 2021 3:56 PM

ATLANTIC CENTRAL

Also a construction saying  - "if it does not happen by noon, it is not happening today".

Sheldon

Haha!  I wish that were the case for my line of work.  Especially when I've found myself driving piles for a bridge pier at 8pm under generator lights in 10 degree weather in the middle of a cofferdam in the river.

Andy

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Milwaukee native modeling the Milwaukee Road in 1950's Milwaukee.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/196857529@N03/

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Posted by dknelson on Sunday, January 10, 2021 11:02 AM

ATLANTIC CENTRAL

I work in construction, I have most of my life. As a young 23 year old project manager 40 years ago I made this comment in a project meeting on a multi million dollar project.

"I hate deadlines, never seen one met yet"

40 years later it remains the truth.

Sheldon 

Perhaps a working definition of "bravery" is living on the 25th floor of a hi-rise built "on time and under budget."   Devil

Dave Nelson

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Posted by The Milwaukee Road Warrior on Sunday, January 10, 2021 1:10 PM

dknelson
Perhaps a working definition of "bravery" is living on the 25th floor of a hi-rise built "on time and under budget." 

Millennium Tower, San Francisco.

Andy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Milwaukee native modeling the Milwaukee Road in 1950's Milwaukee.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/196857529@N03/

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Posted by mbinsewi on Sunday, January 10, 2021 1:58 PM

The Milwaukee Road Warrior
Haha!  I wish that were the case for my line of work.  Especially when I've found myself driving piles for a bridge pier at 8pm under generator lights in 10 degree weather in the middle of a cofferdam in the river.

OK, so you were the site inspector, and not actually the crew driving the piles.

Once again, how a thread "jumps the shark", and I'm even adding to it! Laugh

Mike.

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