Got a chuckle out of the Newswire story (June 5) on the Swiss railway's hiring of a herd of sheep to mow the grass along portions of the ROW. Sounds like a good solution to those areas where power mowing is just not feasible.
Greetings, Chuck!
That does kind of gives one a chuckle … but, it seems that I’ve heard something like that taking place here in this country … many, many moons ago. Seems like it was on the Sunset Route here in California too …around Guast in Ontario.
I think the railroads are more productive passing over the route from time to time with a weed spray train. That takes care of the ballast too, where a heard is not likely to climb up on.
Hey, Chuck, while I have you … For the last couple of years I have been down in San Diego a few times and photographed the San Diego Trolleys. But, that area seems to have a curse! Trying to kill two birds with one stone hasn’t worked in San Diego. Maybe I’ll drive down to San Diego and exclusively focus on the San Diego Trolley all day, and possibly visit that model train displays at Balboa Park for a bit of diversion too
Anyway, about those herds again …It probably would be necessary to send the herds to school, to educate them on rail safety. (Hehehe.)
Take care,
K.P.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- K.P.’s absolute “theorem” from early, early childhood that he has seen over and over and over again: Those that CAUSE a problem in the first place will act the most violently if questioned or exposed.
Educate the herder, not the herd, chuckle.
ChuckCobleighGot a chuckle out of the Newswire story (June 5) on the Swiss railway's hiring of a herd of sheep to mow the grass along portions of the ROW.
I enjoyed that story myself. I liked the way the sheep were so digitally plugged in, what with Twitter and a website.
There was and still may be a similar situation here in Calgary. At the site of many of the sking events at the 1988 Winter Olympics, goats were employed in mowing jobs.
As to the safety issue, I once posted a thread about bears on the CPR tracks in Banff National Park. I think it was TonikwaTT(sp?) who suggested that the bears should be fitted with Safety Vests! Maybe the SBB sheep could try them out as well. They could take pictures of themselves and give them an excuse to open an Instagram account as well.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
At the Vimy Ridge memorial in France there are fenced off areas that are still full of unexploded first world war ordnance. Sheep keep the grass mowed in those areas and I was told that occasionally one goes boom. I imagine there are other areas in northern France and Belgium where this happens. But, shouldn't the sheep attend Health and Safety lectures to learn about train-avoidance procedures?
For those of us who can't read the Newswire, here is the sheep's home page:
http://www.sbb.ch/en/group/the-company/der-umwelt-verpflichtet/the-sbb-sheep.html
54light15But, shouldn't the sheep attend Health and Safety lectures to learn about train-avoidance procedures
If SBB is like my former aerospace employer, they probably got confused by the term 'safety meeting' which was parlance for Friday lunch at the nearby strip club.
Links to my Google Maps ---> Sunset Route overview, SoCal metro, Yuma sub, Gila sub, SR east of Tucson, BNSF Northern Transcon and Southern Transcon *** Why you should support Ukraine! ***
K. P. HarrierHey, Chuck, while I have you … For the last couple of years I have been down in San Diego a few times and photographed the San Diego Trolleys. But, that area seems to have a curse! Trying to kill two birds with one stone hasn’t worked in San Diego. Maybe I’ll drive down to San Diego and exclusively focus on the San Diego Trolley all day, and possibly visit that model train displays at Balboa Park for a bit of diversion too
You may already know about the day pass which is a good deal. If you have a compass card already, you can fill it with the day pass at a ticket vending machine and ride the trolley and most busses (commuter express buses are excluded from the $5 pass) and can get from downtown to Balboa Park fairly easily to see the MRR museum and layouts. Compass cards cost $2 if you don't have one.
We ride the Green Line through Mission Valley down to Little Italy for lunch from time to time, though not so often as we would like lately, but that's a whole other story. If you do the Green Line all the way to Santee, you will possibly see some pellet hoppers by the Toro plant and maybe a switch engine nearby in El Cajon.
There's usually plenty of free parking at the Old Town Transportation center where the trolley, a bunch of bus routes, Coaster and even Amtrak stop, though I think there are only two Amtrak trains that stop there.
Chicago's O'Hare Airport has used goats to maintain areas of the airport for multiple years.
Just four Pacific Surfliners do not stop at Old Town, 562, 580,, 777 and 579.
There are few deer that hang out in th egeneral vicinity of Miramar Hill on the Surf Line.
erikemJust four Pacific Surfliners do not stop at Old Town, 562, 580,, 777 and 579.
I hadn't looked at the timetable for the Surfliners for a while, so that is definitely a change from a year or two ago and apparently news to me (I guess I need to stay a little more current). I note that one can only board Northbounds and deboard Southbounds at Old Town, though.
ChuckCobleigh (6-8):
Yes, I’ve rode the San Diego Trolley on a Day Pass, and it worked out well … Getting on and off trolleys repeatedly determined to get a few specific photos!
You mentioned plenty of parking at Old Town. That may be the way it is now, but until the revamping of the Green Line, parking at Old Town was a nightmare. I really should spend a day down San Diego way and see Old Town now that the system was revamped. When I do, I’ll be thinking of you, and looking for any grazing sheep …
Best,
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