Something to do if You're Bored

[David3]

I guess I should say that I'm scared od double stacks because they're so high up. I've been afraid that they will always fall off. But I know that doesn't happen a lot.
Dave [:D][:D]

[Mookie]

You know Carl, my dad always told me as a kid to not stand to close to the edge of the platform. Guess he knew what he was talking about!

Mookie

[CShaveRR]

No need to freak out...most of the time you can just move back to a distance you may feel is safer.

A few years ago my daughter and I were biking in town on errands, bought lunches at a local deli, and took them up to the station platform to eat (my idea, of course). So we were there on a bench, with bikes in front of us, when a pig train blew by on the near track. Both of us had to drop our lunches and grab the bikes to keep them from being sucked down the track. Daughter was used to trains easing around the curve and stopping in front of her so she could board them; she had no idea that the curve doesn't really slow things down. This train, made up exclusively of intermodal equipment, is allowed 70 m.p.h. through there, and I don't doubt that he was right up there. Being on the bench at the far side of the platform, we literally had our backs to a fence, and couldn't have gotten further away. Gave my daughter a few instant lessons in why curves are superelevated, the Doppler effect when the locomotives went by (always neat to hear EMDs coming at you and GEs going away!), and just how fast those things can come up on you. It was an eye-opener, and it was as good as I could hope for...we went home with her far more impressed than scared (and definitely not bored!).

(Just a few weeks ago I got a call from her...she's now 20, and pretty much on her own. But she was on the platform, waiting for her train, and a freight traveling in the opposite direction went into emergency. She said it had been moving pretty well before the application. I had told her that a train going into emergency is a sound one never forgets, and--since she called me on her cell phone right when it happened--I'm sure she won't. Guess I made a bit of a fan out of her, after all.)

[sigh] There...how far off-topic did I get?

[David3]

Do fast trains freak anyone else out? It would be cool to know that I'm not alone.
Dave [:D][:D]

[David3]

When I see trains going that fast it freaks me out kinda. But it doesn't bother my dad. Hopefully I'll grow out of the fear like he did!
Dave [:D][:D]

[tree68]

Anything that big going any speed at all is pretty imposing. The IC roadbed through Rantoul, IL was pretty spongy back in the '70s. I can remember standing on the station platform (watching trains) wondering if the loco was going to keep tipping in my direction. Don't know what track speed was through there then, but 35 seems reasonable. I was pretty near the tracks (but not trespassing!) near there once when the Panama Limited came screaming through.

What what that? I dunno, but it was FAST!

[David3]

WOW! I didn't know that. It seems like they're going a lot faster than that!
Dave

[CShaveRR]

35 m.p.h. max across the diamonds, both railroads.

[David3]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CShaveRR

Isn't a derailment the reason the city owned the house at the park to begin with?

I've seen hundreds of derailments (this is not an exaggeration!), and have ridden one out in an engine cab. Even the minor ones aren't fun...they may take only a few seconds to happen, but you spend the whole time wishing that the stuff would stop moving already! They seldom get better as those seconds progress...even if the cars rerail themselves (I've seen that happen, too!), there's plenty of track damage in their wake. The worst is the moment you realize that something is wrong, and all you can do is helplessly watch.

I think that is why they built the park there. I hope when I'm there a derailment doesn't happen because those guys go fast through there sometimes. And if they do derail big there won't be nothing left.
Dave

[Kathi Kube]

Um, probably, at least to a degree. I get bored easily and impatient frequently. I'm also content to sit and read, though, or wander a mall for extended periods.

You've got to keep in mind that, besides my own interests, my husband is a musician and we've got two teenage daughters, so constant busyness is sort of a way of life. But I do like it that way.[;)]

[CShaveRR]

Isn't a derailment the reason the city owned the house at the park to begin with?

I've seen hundreds of derailments (this is not an exaggeration!), and have ridden one out in an engine cab. Even the minor ones aren't fun...they may take only a few seconds to happen, but you spend the whole time wishing that the stuff would stop moving already! They seldom get better as those seconds progress...even if the cars rerail themselves (I've seen that happen, too!), there's plenty of track damage in their wake. The worst is the moment you realize that something is wrong, and all you can do is helplessly watch.

[Anonymous]

Kathi- I get the feeling your a Type A personality.. is that true?

[Kathi Kube]

Bored? I'm tickled to report I haven't been bored since I was able to ditch that crutch. Although while I was laid up—which was only really bad for a week-and-a-half to two weeks—I watched a few movies, put together three jigsaw puzzles, arranged flowers in a three-foot diameter wreath, and made four necklaces, five pairs of earrings, four bracelets, and one watchband. 'Course, you've got to remember I wasn't able to get downstairs to my computer, or I'd have had plenty to keep me busy.

When I can, I try to keep the Rochelle cam on my desktop while I'm working. If ya can't be out watching them, ya got to get a fix somehow, right?

Kathi

[zardoz]

Been in one, seen three.

[David3]

QUOTE: Originally posted by UPTRAIN

I hate derailments [:(]

Have you ever been in any derailments?
Dave

[UPTRAIN]

I hate derailments [:(]

[David3]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Brak710101

did you see it happen, watch them clean it up of hear about it?

I didn't see it happen because I was in school but I saw them cleaning it up. There were about 5 BNSF trucks there.
Dave [:D][:D]

[UPTRAIN]

I like railcams but rarely do I have time to watch them at different locations.

[Anonymous]

did you see it happen, watch them clean it up of hear about it?

[David3]

Yeah there was a derailment there. A BNSF local was backing in that connection track that leads to Del Monte. A couple of his cars just hopped the tracks, that was all. Took them about 4 hours to get them back on the track. Haven't seen nothing major there, and I hope I never do.
Dave [:D]

[Anonymous]

this is kinda off topic but my freind once told me that he saw a derailment on the Rochelle cam! Is it true that this happend once?

[JoeKoh]

Bored?
Matt keeps us pretty busy.
stay safe
Joe

[Anonymous]

Or you could just go to www.nmro.com and follow the "If you're bored" link...

LC

[tree68]

I have Rochelle, Ft Madison, and Galesburg in my favorites. Did have Mendota until it went off line. The fact that the Galesburg and Ft Madison cams were on the same line was an added bonus. You could try to catch the same train on both (about an hour apart).

At Ft Madison, you can check on the Casino, too, see how many people are headed on to lose their money. A few months ago they had a carnival running across the tracks from the cam. I've seen the bridge in motion on more than a few visits.

At Galesburg I once caught a BNSF RR cop parked across the tracks from the cam, apparently sleeping.[:-^]

Sometimes looking for things other than trains can be interesting, if there are no trains in sight...

[David3]

If you are bored from watching Rochelle, try to do what I do. What I do is, watch Rochelle camera, Ft. Madison, Galesburg, Santa Ana CA, Olympia WA, and Fullerton CA. Then I bounce back and forth between all of them. Then I write down on a pad which trains I saw where, and when. It's fun when it gets very busy, especially weekday afternoons. Just a suggestion! [:D][:D][:D]
Dave