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CSX "Why the hate?"

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Posted by jdstomper on Monday, February 2, 2015 10:17 PM

Although I do not proclaim to be a railroad expert, I have spent my life studying U.S. industry leaders and their successes and / or shortcomings.  I have had little respect for a corporation that hired John Snow.  Several accounts I have read indicate that CSX celebrated when Snow became U.S. Treasury Secretary.  Yes, Michael Ward and his team have righted the ship, but the damage Snow inflicted on CSX is why it has taken so long to come back.  Then too, Snow later became chairman of Cerebus, which bought Chrysler from Daimler-Benz and helped sink it under the day-to-day "leadership" of Bob Nardelli, whom already had left a legacy of mismanagement at The Home Depot.  Leadership matters.  I respect CSX today.  Mr. Hendrickson, I am glad that from your perspective, things are going well.  Living in Indiana, we need a healthy and vibrant CSX.

 

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Posted by CPM500 on Monday, February 2, 2015 6:26 PM

 

 

 

 

 
Electroliner 1935

I remember riding Amtrack out of Chicago #50 and talking with the crew enroute to Cincinnati and they were talking about the NatziSouthern Dispatchers so I am not so sure that CSX was the only road distained. 

 

 

 

I am puzzled by the reference to "NatziSouthern Dispatchers." Are they dispatchers working for the former Southern Railroad? If so, they would be encountered only between Orange and Alexandria--a long way from Chicago. Were these operating crew or on-board service crew?

 

 

[/quote]

 

"Nazi Southern" is the perjorative name for Norfolk Southern-used by both railroaders and fans alike. However, the use of this term seems to have died down since Wick (Moorman) has been at the throttle. Funny how perceptions (and reality ) changes...

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Posted by Doktor No on Monday, February 2, 2015 5:50 PM
Carl, you said it all. And cuase I work here thats all I can say.
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Posted by Curt753 on Monday, February 2, 2015 4:49 PM

I can understand Eric's feelings for his employer. I have a friend who is an engineer for CSX and he too likes his employer. My only problem with CSX happened over 20 years ago when I ran afoul of a couple of their Special Agents while taking photos near the Wayne Junction with Conrail. I was around 46 years old and had been taking pictures in the same area for over 25 years and never had a problem. These two wanted to act like the Sheriff in Rambo I and gave me a very hard time. It was a lazy summer Sunday afternoon so they probably were restless to give someone a hard time. I have never forgot it and so I am not overly sympathetic to the CSX.

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Posted by CatFoodFlambe on Sunday, February 1, 2015 6:22 PM

My two cents worth...

In the "civilian" community, CSX's plant rationalizions of the 80's and 90's was VERY unpopular in the railfan community.  This poisoned the perception well (not that it matters).

Moreover BNSF and NS have generally kept a steady, straightforward management style over the years.   UP, with the singular exception of the post SP melt-down, has also kept a up a consistent method of running their property.

CSX, however, seems to be constantly in the headlines over turmoil in top management.  Some appointments have been very questionable and contradictory, and corporate policy has been all over the road.    I won't guess if this is what led to or resulted from the takeover attempt from The Children's Fund (and the current storm on the horizon), but the attempt have and will consume much management time. 

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Posted by Wizlish on Friday, January 30, 2015 8:42 PM

schlimm
I stand corrected, but you might try getting a funny bone transplant.

OK

So what if it isn't really the locative, it's the accusative of place, and Brian would have actually written 'EVNT' at the time...*  :-)

 

*Yes, this is self-mocking humor.

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Posted by Wizlish on Friday, January 30, 2015 5:15 PM

samfp1943
Larry (tree68) you had said to be a Conductor on the ASR ( a while back ... you were going to learn to call "New Station Name at Remsen -- "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch"

How's that coming??

OK, everyone, let's practice!

And I encourage each of you to enter the contest when you get the pronunciation down pat...

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, January 30, 2015 3:48 PM

samfp1943
Larry (tree68) you had said to be a Conductor on the ASR ( a while back you were going to learn to call "New Station Name at Remsen) "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch"   How's that coming??  [

There are several people I know who know how to pronounce it.  I'm not one of them...

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Posted by samfp1943 on Friday, January 30, 2015 2:44 PM

tree68
 
Wizlish
I pronounce the Latin "v" about halfway between the English 'v' and 'w' sounds, and the general sound when I say it is closest to 'way-nee' for the first syllable.

 

Having taken Latin in HS, I remember that.  I'll have to dig out the Latin-English dictionary for Mook's phrase, though...

Reminds me of the "g" in Samoan - which is pronounced as "ng," but not as hard as in English.  The prime example is the capital of American Samoa, Pago Pago, which the uninitiated usually say as "Paygo Paygo" or pronouncing the first syllables as in hunger pangs.  In reality, it's "Pahn go Pahn go, with the g kinda held on the back of your tongue.  Hard to describe...

 

Larry (tree68) you had said to be a Conductor on the ASR ( a while back Whistling

you were going to learn to call "New Station Name at Remsen)

"Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch"   Wink

How's that coming??  Oops - Sign[

 

 

 


 

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, January 30, 2015 1:20 PM

And the anonymity of the web.  

We've certainly seen here the phenomenon of someone posting mostly to stir things up.  

LarryWhistling
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Posted by schlimm on Friday, January 30, 2015 12:04 PM

Wizlish

 

 
schlimm

It seems to me that most folks don't actually HATE CSX, just have had some bad experiences with them directly or indirectly, and dislike or have a negative opinion CSX management and some of its employees.

 

I wonder, too, if the presence of anti-CSX Web sites (one in particular with a name I don't know if we're supposed to post on a family-friendly forum) might be a significant 'influencer'.  History has many examples where people with no particular 'dog in a fight' one way or another decided it was 'cool' to start hating something when a critical mass of enthusiasm for hating it got established.  (Or, noticed all the 'evidence' for hating CSX selectively once that point of view was established for them... an effect that I think has been observed in many other contexts, and that schlimm may have the 'right' name for.)

In my opinion, much the same thing happens with E. Hunter when that name comes up. 

 

Not too surpringly, the term "Bandwagon Effect" has been used to describe one of the common cognitive errors seen in the concept of "groupthink" in social psychology.  The concept (not the term) seems to go back to Asch's experiments in conformity.  That would seem to explain CSX  and Hunter, et al..

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Posted by Wizlish on Friday, January 30, 2015 11:16 AM

schlimm

It seems to me that most folks don't actually HATE CSX, just have had some bad experiences with them directly or indirectly, and dislike or have a negative opinion CSX management and some of its employees.

I wonder, too, if the presence of anti-CSX Web sites (one in particular with a name I don't know if we're supposed to post on a family-friendly forum) might be a significant 'influencer'.  History has many examples where people with no particular 'dog in a fight' one way or another decided it was 'cool' to start hating something when a critical mass of enthusiasm for hating it got established.  (Or, noticed all the 'evidence' for hating CSX selectively once that point of view was established for them... an effect that I think has been observed in many other contexts, and that schlimm may have the 'right' name for.)

In my opinion, much the same thing happens with E. Hunter when that name comes up. 

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Posted by schlimm on Friday, January 30, 2015 11:02 AM

It seems to me that most folks don't actually HATE CSX, just have had some bad experiences with them directly or indirectly, and dislike or have a negative opinion CSX management and some of its employees.

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Posted by Victrola1 on Friday, January 30, 2015 7:32 AM

Do those who hate CSX have a big brother they look up to?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4zYlOU7Fpk

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Friday, January 30, 2015 7:13 AM

A little of speculation.  It will be interesting to see what we hear if Pershing Square makes a run at CSX similar to what it did with Canadian Pacific.  CSX might not get E. Hunter Harrison but it will still be a lot better than what The Children's Fund had in mind for CSX.

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Posted by Andrew Falconer on Friday, January 30, 2015 2:09 AM

The current CSX color scheme is very similar to the B&O and C&O scheme used during the 1960's and in the 1970's until the Chessie System merger.

That should count as a Heritage scheme.

Andrew

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, January 29, 2015 10:48 PM

Wizlish
I pronounce the Latin "v" about halfway between the English 'v' and 'w' sounds, and the general sound when I say it is closest to 'way-nee' for the first syllable.

Having taken Latin in HS, I remember that.  I'll have to dig out the Latin-English dictionary for Mook's phrase, though...

Reminds me of the "g" in Samoan - which is pronounced as "ng," but not as hard as in English.  The prime example is the capital of American Samoa, Pago Pago, which the uninitiated usually say as "Paygo Paygo" or pronouncing the first syllables as in hunger pangs.  In reality, it's "Pahn go Pahn go, with the g kinda held on the back of your tongue.  Hard to describe...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by schlimm on Thursday, January 29, 2015 3:54 PM

Wizlish

 

 
schlimm
Equus mortuus verberans!

 

But it would be 'equum mortuum' -- the horse is the thing being beaten, not the thing doing the beating...

... and 'risum' is 'laughter', isn't it?; 'laughing girl' would be 'puella ridens' (or something similar)...

What's happening to classical education nowadays?  My Latin master would have a conniption!  Perhaps we'd better stick to Chuck Jones Linnaean taxonomy!

 

 

I stand corrected, but you might try getting a funny bone transplant.

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Posted by Wizlish on Thursday, January 29, 2015 3:34 PM

NKP guy

Wizlish:  Yes, that's all well and good, but thoughtful Latin readers want to know which pronounciation you use?  Wen-ay, wee-dee, wee-kee, Kickero?   

I cheat a bit -- I pronounce the Latin "v" about halfway between the English 'v' and 'w' sounds, and the general sound when I say it is closest to 'way-nee' for the first syllable.  I have trouble not 'going ecclesiastical' and saying 'wee-chee' on the last of the three.

And yes, both Cs in Cicero are hard (in classical if not ecclesiastical Latin pronunciation), but I don't pronounce the 'i' quite like theone in English 'kick'. 

 

 

 

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Posted by Deggesty on Thursday, January 29, 2015 2:58 PM

n012944
 
Deggesty

 

 
Electroliner 1935

I remember riding Amtrack out of Chicago #50 and talking with the crew enroute to Cincinnati and they were talking about the NatziSouthern Dispatchers so I am not so sure that CSX was the only road distained. 

 

 

 

I am puzzled by the reference to "NatziSouthern Dispatchers." Are they dispatchers working for the former Southern Railroad? If so, they would be encountered only between Orange and Alexandria--a long way from Chicago. Were these operating crew or on-board service crew?

 

 

 

 

 

The Cardnial runs over the NS from just south of Chicago Union Station to 80th st.

 

http://www.amtrak.com/cardinal-hoosier-state-train&mode=perf&overrideDefaultTemplate=OTPPageHorizontalRouteOverview

 

Thanks; I forgot about this short stretch of track used by the train; this stretch is former PRR and then Conrail.

Johnny

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Posted by CShaveRR on Thursday, January 29, 2015 2:54 PM

Amtrak crews are not limited to service on just one route.  If this is a Chicago-based crew, they probably have plenty of opportunity to compare and contrast NS and CSX operating and dispatching practices.  There are plenty of stories out there about the indignities that NS employees have been subjected to--I'm hoping that much of that is in the past.

Carl

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Posted by n012944 on Thursday, January 29, 2015 1:18 PM

Deggesty

 

 
Electroliner 1935

I remember riding Amtrack out of Chicago #50 and talking with the crew enroute to Cincinnati and they were talking about the NatziSouthern Dispatchers so I am not so sure that CSX was the only road distained. 

 

 

 

I am puzzled by the reference to "NatziSouthern Dispatchers." Are they dispatchers working for the former Southern Railroad? If so, they would be encountered only between Orange and Alexandria--a long way from Chicago. Were these operating crew or on-board service crew?

 

 

 

The Cardnial runs over the NS from just south of Chicago Union Station to 80th st.

 

http://www.amtrak.com/cardinal-hoosier-state-train&mode=perf&overrideDefaultTemplate=OTPPageHorizontalRouteOverview

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Thursday, January 29, 2015 10:31 AM

Mookie

My Latin teacher would start a lot of classes with "Silentium stultisime piggus" (spelling may be corrupted) but anyone should be able to figure it out.

 

  Let's be honest here.  I tried to translate Meep! Meep! to Latin using an internet translating tool.  Turns out I'm not smart enough to do that.

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Posted by NKP guy on Thursday, January 29, 2015 10:09 AM

Wizlish:  Yes, that's all well and good, but thoughtful Latin readers want to know which pronounciation you use?  Wen-ay, wee-dee, wee-kee, Kickero?   

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Posted by Mookie on Thursday, January 29, 2015 9:37 AM

My Latin teacher would start a lot of classes with "Silentium stultisime piggus" (spelling may be corrupted) but anyone should be able to figure it out.

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Posted by Wizlish on Thursday, January 29, 2015 9:19 AM

schlimm
Equus mortuus verberans!

But it would be 'equum mortuum' -- the horse is the thing being beaten, not the thing doing the beating...

... and 'risum' is 'laughter', isn't it?; 'laughing girl' would be 'puella ridens' (or something similar)...

What's happening to classical education nowadays?  My Latin master would have a conniption!  Perhaps we'd better stick to Chuck Jones Linnaean taxonomy!

 

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Posted by schlimm on Thursday, January 29, 2015 8:41 AM

samfp1943

 

 
Murphy Siding
 
Mookie
 

 

 
Murphy Siding

 

 
Mookie

And they told me my 2 years of Latin would never be used!  Ha!  I understood all your "secret railroad terms".... 

Mischief

 

 

 

  Well La-De-Da.  The only latin I ever came in contact with was in the Roadrunner cartoons, and I understood what they were saying! Whistling

 

 

 

 

Meep Meep is not Latin...

 

 

 

 

{Canus Desertus Stupidus}  Need I say more? Stick out tongue

 

 

 

 

Catholic School for twelve years, and four years of Latin...I'm still numb from having that pounded into me.  The one phrase that is sticking with me is:

"...Laborantem agricolam portabant risum puella in agrum..." 

{...The farmer carried the laughing girl into the field..}

 

and a penchant to still follow Mass in Latin?  Trying to translate Norris' Lating phraseology will drive one to drink.

" and Murphy Siding translates as " Lamberti Bos pigmentarii railroad fanaticus."  :-)

 

 

 

Equus mortuus verberans!  

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Posted by samfp1943 on Thursday, January 29, 2015 8:04 AM

Murphy Siding
 
Mookie
 

 

 
Murphy Siding

 

 
Mookie

And they told me my 2 years of Latin would never be used!  Ha!  I understood all your "secret railroad terms".... 

Mischief

 

 

 

  Well La-De-Da.  The only latin I ever came in contact with was in the Roadrunner cartoons, and I understood what they were saying! Whistling

 

 

 

 

Meep Meep is not Latin...

 

 

 

 

{Canus Desertus Stupidus}  Need I say more? Stick out tongue

 

 

Catholic School for twelve years, and four years of Latin...I'm still numb from having that pounded into me.  The one phrase that is sticking with me is:

"...Laborantem agricolam portabant risum puella in agrum..." 

{...The farmer carried the laughing girl into the field..}

 

and a penchant to still follow Mass in Latin?  Trying to translate Norris' Lating phraseology will drive one to drink.

" and Murphy Siding translates as " Lamberti Bos pigmentarii railroad fanaticus."  :-)

 

 

 


 

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Thursday, January 29, 2015 7:36 AM

Mookie
 

 

 
Murphy Siding

 

 
Mookie

And they told me my 2 years of Latin would never be used!  Ha!  I understood all your "secret railroad terms".... 

Mischief

 

 

 

  Well La-De-Da.  The only latin I ever came in contact with was in the Roadrunner cartoons, and I understood what they were saying! Whistling

 

 

 

 

Meep Meep is not Latin...

 

 

{Canus Desertus Stupidus}  Need I say more? Stick out tongue

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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