morning
Had a bit of a warm up this week.Csx and Ns have been busy.Csx is working on new crew terminal points for some of their trains.Yesterday I 151 was recrewed in Galetea to go into the yard at North Baltimore.(about 5 miles).Going to run errands and then see if we can find some trains.
stay safe
Joe
Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").
The passage of time has lots of reminders. I can remember when BRC's C424's were brand new with their then distinctive number font. And I can remember them sitting at Clearing after they were retired. And I can say the same for IC's Highliners (first bi-levels).
That dreaded 403 error hit me today. Solution?? Reduced spacing between sentences to just one space from 2. Nothing else. Writing police after me again.
Morning
Csx was working on a switch at Hoytville yesterday.Making a bigger traffic jam than normal.Some trains took a detour to Toledo.Happy Valentines Day and ash Wed. Take a candy heart as you like.
Finally feeling better - came up with strep after the Springfield show and just now getting past all the lingering effects.
It was 32°F yesterday morning, and 12°F this morning, with a dusting of snow. We dodged the storm that NYC and environs got. But we have a winter storm watch in effect now...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Looks like the Port of LA and the Port of LB in Los Angeles are going to be tied-up in knots for a while with an exploding semi tractor (propane or NG/LNG powered ) going up in flames at the bottom end of the Alameda Corridor where everything splits to go to the individual container docks. [Alameda at Henry Ford]... Pacific Harbor Line (old Harbor Belt Line) disrupted/ shut down for a while.
(Less than a mile east/ southeast from my old haunts at Watson Yard / Wilmington) ... Hope the firemen come out of this one OK , not sounding good right now. Would love to know if this was another fly-by-night intermodal drayman with an unsafe semi tractor. (exchanging a tired/worn-out diesel for explosive/ volatile propane/ng fuel in order to operate in the ports)
Firefighters in critical condition after CNG-powered truck explodes in Los Angeles (ktla.com)
afternoon
Had some snow and ice overnight.Reports of people finding the ditches.Csx had a pull apart in the SE connection in Deshler this morning.Had a few trains tiptoe over it then MOW got to work. Have truck back after a check up.Csx sent a variety of trains and variety of power. Going to download pictures and warm up.
Saw the fire snake at work on the SE connector this morning.
Went into town for supper and groceries tonight. The air temp was +20°F, but the wind chill was brutal. Clear skies here, though. There may be some lake effect to the south of us.
I agreed to receive a chair for a Canadian friend - to have it delivered to his house would have been twice as much... Meeting him for breakfast in the AM to deliver it to him. Apparently it's a musician's chair, and a good one - around $200 worth.
Finally shaking the last of the residue of the strep infection I brought home from the Springfield show. That's been some experience - haven't been that sick in a long time.
Found out yesterday that Csx will be replacing the Deshler diamond this year. They are going back to the old style that they had.They have new signal bungalows and signals in the Nw Wye as well.Those are for spots north of Deshler.Mother nature going to send rain tomorrow.
Wasn't there talk about extending the siding through the diamond? Is this still in play?
rdamonWasn't there talk about extending the siding through the diamond? Is this still in play?
I can't think of any undertaking that would be as dumb. EVER!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Back to banging! Apparently the flange-bearing concept isn't holding up to the traffic.
tree68Back to banging! Apparently the flange-bearing concept isn't holding up to the traffic.
My understanding of where such frogs have worked in the past - the crossing was designated as 'one way low speed' and one path over the crossing was nominally a low density 'short line' type carrier. At Deshler both CSX lines are high density Main Line with the crossings handling Millions if not Billions of tons passing over them in relatively a short period of time. Both directions permit track speed operation unless restriced by slow orders over the crossing.
BaltACDBoth directions permit track speed operation unless restriced by slow orders over the crossing.
Indeed. When first installed, the diamond was virtually silent - just a soft "whirr" as wheels passed over it. And it ran well for quite a while. Then the maintenance became more and more frequent - tightening bolts, replacing components, etc. Apparently that has reached the tipping point.
The diamond at Durand, MI is one-way low speed. The main track has no breaks at all. The low speed track actually ramps the wheels up over the main.
When I used to watch the Rochelle cam a lot, it was not unusual to see the welders at work on a very regular basis, rebuilding the frogs.
I remember a similar situation at Hammond crossing (IHB crossed EL, Monon and N&W). Some of the diamonds were in the middle of Hohman Avenue, which made things interesting for any kind of M/W work.
rdamon Wasn't there talk about extending the siding through the diamond? Is this still in play?
(1) Sounds like the musings of a clueless operating official.(never got his boots dirty - why was that clown even kept on the payroll?)
(2) Engineering, track and signal will arrive ready to "storm the castle" with blood in their eyes looking for whoever proposed that and threatened to decimate their annual budgets....(the failing support speeds-up the wear and damage to the steel assemblies and metalurgy)
Crossing frogs are to be avoided at all costs. Impact damages with heavier trains not only wipe out diamond$ with increasing frequency at $500K for just the steel per instance, ....the subgrade gets turned into jelly even faster. Explosive hardened cast manganese frogs only postone degradation of the frogs so much...
Would be interesting to know where the failures in the OWL hop toads are happening and can the OWL flange bearing frogs even be successfully explosive hardened? Were the FRA restrictions on use and maintenance of these type of frogs just to much to deal with?
tree68 BaltACD Both directions permit track speed operation unless restriced by slow orders over the crossing. Indeed. When first installed, the diamond was virtually silent - just a soft "whirr" as wheels passed over it. And it ran well for quite a while. Then the maintenance became more and more frequent - tightening bolts, replacing components, etc. Apparently that has reached the tipping point. The diamond at Durand, MI is one-way low speed. The main track has no breaks at all. The low speed track actually ramps the wheels up over the main. When I used to watch the Rochelle cam a lot, it was not unusual to see the welders at work on a very regular basis, rebuilding the frogs.
BaltACD Both directions permit track speed operation unless restriced by slow orders over the crossing.
Worked several Operator jobs at locations with railroad crossings at grade. It seemed like welders were assigned personnel just like signal maintainers because the were on site nearly all the time.
Welders are out today in Rochelle.
evening
There are owls diamonds at Hamler (I&O) and at FC(NDW) on csx.They can bring back the better diamond but how to keep it from sinking in the swamp.The ice and snow from this morning are nearly gone now.Truck needs a wash.Moraine yard near Dayton is just a bunch of empty tracks for NS.Did see I 141(csx) on the toledo sub near Miamisburg.Certain things in life that still hold true.Death Taxes and I 75 under construction.
Spring warm up next couple days.Csx has some MOW equipment parked west of Defiance.The caboose is all alone in the Defiance yard.Checked on brother and NS sent some trains by.College boy got a discount fare on the Lakeshore.He is due back home tonight.Getting things lined up for normal spring projects.Headed out to see what csx is doing.
Made the Jax-Maryland run overnight - 10 hours 30 Minutes - no delays on I-95 approaching Capital Beltway, No delays on Capital Beltway or Woodrow Wilson Bridge, no delays on the Anacostia Freeway. No delays at any of the usual suspects.
Balt sounds like a trip for me back to old hometown.No stopping for traffic lights in Van Wert.Going to check on brother and college boy this weekend.College boy is helping a group set up at a commuinity college in Toledo near stanley yard.Have a list of projects for neighbor next door.Mother nature going to send rain tonight.Projects for Deshler coming soon as well.
joe
Mother nature has filled the swamp.Been working with a neighbor to do some projects.Have some stone in my driveway that needs moved.College boy is coming home this weekend to help.Csx says the crossing on ashwood road west of Defiance is officially closed.Road has been closed for months not sure if they have taken down the gates yet.Still wondering when they are going to build the other connector road out there.Parts for the diamond should start to show up at Deshler soon.Going to get things around for tomorrow.
Been hearing rumors that on the BNSF transcontinental through Streator they are thinking about a pass through diamond there. The old NYC line to Hennepin only sees the occasional ethanol train of loads and empties each way on it. It was replaced I think 6 maybe 7 years ago but hubby reports welders are there almost weekly anymore. If they replaced it with one of those would raise the speed through town from 25 to 40.
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