General Discussion

Murphy Siding:

Oh- if only the trolls were as nice as the folks here!

If only they could meet some of us face to face. So far, Ricki and I have the pleasure of meeting and eating with only Carl and Pat (and he still said nice things about me!) I feel that I could sit down and spend pleasant time with the regulars on the Trackside Lounge and the Cafe, and other threads that I read and post on. Whatever your age and your actual experience with railroading, I have enjoyed sharing in your knowledge, and I hope you have appreciated my contributions.

As I have said on another thread, I regret that I did not begin taking part before last summer. But, what wasn't done, wasn't done, and cannot be done now.

One more comment about this coward: he must have a miserable, hate-filled existence.

Johnny

Deggesty:

Carl: What's really fascinating to me is that not all miles are created equal--they have to compensate for the narrowing of the meridians as one gets closer to the poles. In Michigan, I remember, there are three or four places where mileage is adjusted--the further you get from the Prime Meridian (Larry, you'd be east of it; I'll stay west of it), the more marked the changes became. So those straight north-and-south roads would take quite a jog when they'd come to these points.

Carl, don't you mean as you get farther from the baseline?

I always understood the Prime Meridian to be the one that runs through Greenwich, England (0^o 0' 0"); does Larry live in England or on the Continent?

I had never thought of the jogs in section-line roads as being caused by changes in latitude, but, as you say, this is necessary if you use the same baseline as you go north any great distance.

Johnny

Perhaps the meridian line in Michigan isn't called the Prime Meridian, after all. But its location is just as Larry describes.

I actually meant as you get further away from this meridian, along the baselines (there are several baselines), the jog in the streets (which are usually at section boundaries) becomes more pronounced. At the meridian, there would be no deviation, but by the time you get close to Lake Michigan, the deviation is close to a mile.

There's also a base latitude line, from which the town(ship)s are numbered north and south--it's roughly 42 degrees 25 minutes north latitude, and forms a lot of county lines--on the west coast it/s Allegan/Van Buren, Allegan/Kalamazoo, etc. Coincidentally (or perhaps not), this line, extended across Lake Michigan, appears to form the Illinois-Wisconsin border.

Older atlases seem to pay a lot more attention to the townships than do their modern counterparts. I can remember doing some research about the location of stations along old lines in Michigan, and it was helpful to have an atlas showing townships and section numbers to help pinpoint these places.

 I know I don't post too often around here, but I do read the posts regularly, and I tend to learn quite a bit. Most of the time it's simply that I don't have a lot to add to the conversation. But today I actually have some pictures to share again.

Apparently last Saturday was my lucky day. My dad and I had to go to Stoughton, Wisconsin (south of Madison) for my cousin's graduation party (I graduated from high school a few weeks ago too.) As we were headed along the beltline on the south side of Madison towards Stoughton, we rolled over the Wisconsin and Southern railroad tracks and I looked to the south as I've often done without seeing much of anything. Normally the trains in each direction on this line between Madison and Janesville, WI run in the early morning or late at night. However, this time much to my surprise I saw a moving train! It appeared two of the WSOR's fairly new MP15s had a decent size MAJ (Madison-Janesville) type train in tow, and they were moving. It looked like a stop in McFarland, between Madison and Stoughton, was in order!

 

 

Nice shots, Noah--and allow me to be the first to congratulate you on graduating! What's next for you?

Pat and I were out on our bikes again this morning (before the rain hits), and guess what we encountered: CNW 8646 and 8701 at the head of the West Chicago local! Those units had reportedly been destined for storage after their display at the C&NWHS convention in Des Moines/Boone, but they've been back "home" for at least the past week. The number of locomotives stored on UP has gone down slightly since last week.

CShaveRR:

Pat and I were out on our bikes again this morning (before the rain hits), and guess what we encountered: CNW 8646 and 8701 at the head of the West Chicago local! Those units had reportedly been destined for storage after their display at the C&NWHS convention in Des Moines/Boone, but they've been back "home" for at least the past week. The number of locomotives stored on UP has gone down slightly since last week.

It's good that UP is using them again.  I heard that they got their paint touched up at IRM while there and that they are supposed to be on static display at Diesel Days.  Our plan is still to make that event.  I think we're going on Sunday.

Saw an all GEVO train on the CN yesterday.  How nice to hear all 3 of 'em chugging away and working hard!

Noah, I like the pictures, especially those on the lake. In April, 1971, I went up to Madison from Chicago and back on the MILW. I knew of the crossing, and I spoke to the flagman about it when we were leaving Madison. He took me to the rear, and I got a brief look at it; I do not remember if I got a picture of it.

Have you plans for further education, or are you joining the workforce?

Johnny

.......Noah:  Beautiful photos...!

Thanks guys! Glad you enjoy the pictures.

Johnny, I always wish I had a chance to see the MX when it still had a tower. But at least there are plenty of pictures to look at.

Good to hear the CNW units are actually being used again too. Like Dan I'd heard they'd been taken out of storage at IRM, but I wasn't sure if they were actually being used or if they were just in storage at a different place.

Thanks for the congratulations as well. I'm headed to college in the fall. I'll be attending the University of Wisconsin - Platteville, and I intend to major in civil engineering. I'm thinking about a transportation or municipal emphasis, as I'd like to work in a transportation related field, whether that be roads, airports, mass transit or possibly railroads if it were to work out.

In fact I was just down registering for classes yesterday. I'm really looking forward to starting the whole college experience. Plus, as an aside, being in Platteville I won't be that far from the Mississippi River and the railroads that run along it for some convenient picture taking opportunities, if I ever get some free time on a weekend.

Noah

Noah Hofrichter:

I'm headed to college in the fall. I'll be attending the University of Wisconsin - Platteville, and I intend to major in civil engineering. I'm thinking about a transportation or municipal emphasis, as I'd like to work in a transportation related field, whether that be roads, airports, mass transit or possibly railroads if it were to work out.

In fact I was just down registering for classes yesterday. I'm really looking forward to starting the whole college experience. Plus, as an aside, being in Platteville I won't be that far from the Mississippi River and the railroads that run along it for some convenient picture taking opportunities, if I ever get some free time on a weekend.

on both counts.  Maybe we'll run into each other in East Dubuque.

I'll join the chorus Noah, congrats.  Engineering is a very vital field and from what I hear (I know a couple) you can get some pretty lucrative offers if you do well in school.  A friend of mine, Ben, will be transferring down to UWP in a year or so for that very program.  An avid MR enthusiast and photographer of railroads I think you two would probably get along pretty well.

congrats Noah, and I wish you much sucess. Well, Just got done talking to Noriss, and I guess that good for nothing dirt scum bag is gone for now.

A really humid and warm evening here. 72* at the moment with a really high humidity factor. I have my bedside stand fan on high on me as I type this post.

I'm glad to report that mom's stiches are dissolving, and she is well on the way to recovery. Also......... Drumroll...........

T- minus 3 weeks 4 days ad howevermany hours and seconds left till Amtrak vacation!!!!

Noah - nice shots! 

Willy will appreciate this picture:

There were no warnings on the cell, the radar didn't indicate rotation, and I couldn't discern any in the time that I was watching it.  Looked pretty ominous, though.

I was out doing business with an official vehicle, so I didn't have my Rebel with me.  Had to settle for the cell phone...

Edit:  I just talked with the local weather folks, who also saw the same thing.  They said there was indeed rotation, and that they could see it in the center.

Morning all!

Larry, that looks like some storm. I hope no one was hurt! We are supposed to have pop up showers if anything today. I went out to the garage to take out the recycleables and I said... Maby I'll wait for dad to get home before I go up to the post office. Hot and sticky!!! 85*for a high Friday supposed to be 91* and very high humidity. Carl I bet it is really tough for you on day's like that.

Have a good day all!

PS go and read hotel reviews some times. I think it is better than LArry the Cable Gus SOMETIMES. GET-R-DONE!!!

Well, it used to be tough, but in case the new air conditioner can't handle it, the old one is still available as well. We just make sure there's plenty of drinking water around. I'm not bike-commuting as often as I used to, so that shouldn't be a problem, either. Our highs, by the way, are supposed to be "middle 80s" for Friday, and about 88 for next Tuesday. Rain is in our forecast to some degree (sorry!) for every day out of the next seven, save for Sunday and Monday.

bubbajustin:

Hot and sticky!!! 85*for a high Friday supposed to be 91* and very high humidity. Carl I bet it is really tough for you on day's like that.