tree68 Currently investigating a bright orb in the sky. Of course, that's a precursor to sub-zero wind chills again tonight... Got a lot of the packed snow off the driveway. As much as I'd like to clear the driveway before I drive over it and pack the snow down, the pager sometimes overrides that desire with a call to arms that can't wait till I get the snowblower out... Speaking of the snowblower, daughter related the other day that the pull cord on their snowblower had broken. Fortunately, their machine also has electric start, although that does necessitate being able to reach it with a cord. So, last night, my pull cord broke. It was at the end of my driveway, but that's only 75' back to the garage to use the electric start. The reason I had to restart it was because I ran it out of gas, having used the snowblower to clear snow around our banquet hall yesterday... Good thing it didn't break while I was a fair distance from the nearest outlet... So a trip to the appropriate store for a new pull cord is in order.
Currently investigating a bright orb in the sky.
Of course, that's a precursor to sub-zero wind chills again tonight...
Got a lot of the packed snow off the driveway. As much as I'd like to clear the driveway before I drive over it and pack the snow down, the pager sometimes overrides that desire with a call to arms that can't wait till I get the snowblower out...
Speaking of the snowblower, daughter related the other day that the pull cord on their snowblower had broken. Fortunately, their machine also has electric start, although that does necessitate being able to reach it with a cord.
So, last night, my pull cord broke. It was at the end of my driveway, but that's only 75' back to the garage to use the electric start. The reason I had to restart it was because I ran it out of gas, having used the snowblower to clear snow around our banquet hall yesterday... Good thing it didn't break while I was a fair distance from the nearest outlet... So a trip to the appropriate store for a new pull cord is in order.
Buy 2.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDBuy 2.
Think I will... This one lasted a couple of seasons.
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...
Ns had a westbound in the siding when I left work.Matt was on a 2 hr delay.Chores and errands to do.
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").
Last night it was cold. How cold was it? Cold enough that the horn mag valve below the cab froze up. When pressing the button, all one heard was air blowing beneath the cab, but no horn.
This after I had just heard another train report the same problem to locomotive maintenance. (We both had GE locomotives.) The other train was headed toward Boone and they were going to have the mechanic on duty thaw out the valve with a fusee. (To access the compartment you need a ladder.) I was 30 miles out and heading the wrong way.
I told the conductor (and loco. mtce.) I was going to try something that fixed the same problem a few years ago. We turned on the main heater and auxillary side walls on high. (That's assuming the main heater is actually working OK.) Ours was and it soon got really hot in the cab. Which allowed just enough heat to radiate below the cab and thaw out the valve. The horn started working again.
I don't know how accurate they are, some are known to be off, but some of out defect detectors were giving temps of -12/-13.
Jeff
Jeff, Here is the temps recorded at Ames last night.05
Norm
Sorry about the format. It's the best this software would let me do.
Temps are Farenheit, the temp/dewpoint/humidity/altimeter setting.
Jeff, in one of my earlier reports, I mentioned the horn not working. I could hear what sounded like a wheeze, and that was about it. Could this have been a similar problem to what you encountered? This was in a Metra cab car, so I don't think we could blame GE...Very cold out there today (two below at sunrise; 7 above now), but tomorrow should be warmer. I got outside only to take care of the plowsam that landed in our driveway this afternoon when they widened on the road. Tomorrow might be a better day to chip at some ice on the sidewalks.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
jeffhergert I don't know how accurate they are, some are known to be off, but some of out defect detectors were giving temps of -12/-13. Jeff
Your Defect Detectors give temperatures? Ours just give axle count on the defect and total axles - some will give length.
Major pile up on the Interstate just south of here - 30-40 vehicles, but no injuries that I know of.
Blame the lake effect band that sat over us all morning before moving south, and drivers who won't slow down even if they can't see the end of their hood.
Some photos on FB: https://www.facebook.com/newzjunky/posts/819087928149350
Saw that on Drudge Report Larry. Not a nice thing to be involved in.
nice snowmelt day today.ns had empties to pick up.Had a westbound go by as I left work.Tomorrow is some OT.time to get back to the chores.
joe
Norm48327 Saw that on Drudge Report Larry. Not a nice thing to be involved in.
Kept our dispatch center hopping for a while, especially with a working structure fire (went to second alarm) at the same time elsewhere in the county, and the normal emergencies that occur every day (accidents, medical, automatic alarms.
BaltACD jeffhergert I don't know how accurate they are, some are known to be off, but some of out defect detectors were giving temps of -12/-13. Jeff Your Defect Detectors give temperatures? Ours just give axle count on the defect and total axles - some will give length.
Yes, our detectors give temps. The older ones only give an axle count to the defect(s). Some new ones give a total axle count. (One time found out we had 6 extra cars because of the axle count.)
When we have detoured over the CN, they have a detector that gives total axle count, temp and train speed. I know our detectors measure train speed, but it isn't broadcasted with the exit message. Only those with access to the readout of a detector (our "Hot Bearing Desk") can see that.
Any birdwatchers out there? My son and I took a road trip today about 40 miles into northwest Iowa. Along the way we saw something we had never seen before. Sitting in a barren cornfield just off the highway was three bald eagles. We went back and took osme fuzzy cellphone pictures. When the eagles eventually decided to fly off, one had an animal carcass in it's talons. About 5 miles up the road, we saw 2 more bald eagles. They were about 100 yards off the highway, about 100 feet up, flying parallel to the road. Now, we have some eagles around here, they live in big trees by the Big Sioux River, and are rarely seen. In 30 years living here, I think I've seen 2 or 3. Today, we see five, and 3 were sitting in a cornfield. Is this more common than I think? Is it an Iowa thing? Maybe it's eagle day in Iowa?
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Been watching the Decorah Eagles on line for the past few years.
http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles
They also have a Facebook page that's open to the public.
Murphy SidingAny birdwatchers out there?
I like to watch those I feed - mostly "dickie" birds (sparrows, finches, etc). We've spotted over 30 species at the feeder over time. Missing in recent years are the grosbeaks - both the yellow variety, and the rose-breasted.
We do have eagles and osprey in the area, mostly up along the St Lawrence River.
Some years ago I was taking my usual route to work - a side road - but was late for some reason. As I drove along, I noticed a large bird circling a field. I figured it was a hawk - very common around here - but as I got closer I saw that it was a bald eagle, probably lapping the field looking for prey.
I stopped in the road, it circled a few more times, then took off. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera with me.
Now that we're well past the age of DDT, I believe eagle populations are rebounding.
In other news, spent time with the new granddaughter today. That consisted chiefly of holding her, as one-week-olds aren't into much more than eating and sleeping (and...). Still, it was fun to watch her when she woke up - looking around, reacting to familiar voices (she seems to recognized her brother's voice pretty well.
She does seem to share a trait with her brother - a fascination with ceiling fans. And it wasn't even running....
I saw a Bald Eagle yesterday just south of Missouri Valley. I see them every so often and in a lot more places across the state.
watched the NS parade of trains after working some OT. Saw an NS,csx,bnsf and Ns(former up) 90 mac combo come east into Ohio.Church and Sunday school today.Ma nature is going to freeze us again this week.
things chilly today.Ns had a wastbound in the siding.The local was uptown shuffling cars.I think another local was helping too because they had scrap metal cars for Delta.work has settled back down.Time for chores.
None too warm here today - might have made +13F - but if the forecast is accurate, that'll be balmy by the end of the week, when we're supposed to have highs around zero...
At least we didn't get the snow they were forecasting.
I'll have to make a trip to town before too long. Running out of my favorite bread.
Kind of cool here, too...never got out of the 20s, either way, today (that may change before midnight).Tomorrow we crank the car for the first time since last week Thursday. This doesn't mean that we didn't get out, though--we both managed to go to church, out to dinner, see some trains, do some shopping, etc., without using the car. Tomorrow is a little bit of heavier-duty shopping, so out it will come.
Hope that you've got a fairly fresh battery on the car. With all the electronic doodads on modern cars that are always drawing some power, it doesn't take much time for the battery to drain, especially in cold weather.
CSSHEGEWISCH Hope that you've got a fairly fresh battery on the car. With all the electronic doodads on modern cars that are always drawing some power, it doesn't take much time for the battery to drain, especially in cold weather.
Which is why I keep a charged "jump box" around. I'm usually out at least every couple of days, even in the dead of winter, but that doesn't mean I might not need it.
It was more of a factor when I left the fire two-way radio in another truck on all the time.
afternoon
ns had a train in the siding when I left work.In the consist of cars it looked like they had some cars for us.Uptown there is quite a few cars for the local to re-shuffle.Don't know if something happened yesterday with the crew or not.Chores to do and need to check Matt's homework.
Thanks for your concern...the car started right up, and gave us some trouble-free transportation today.We had lunch at our favorite tavern this noon. (You should be saying, "Tavern? Carl??"). Pat drank water and I had Diet Coke. The food helpings are great, and the trains go by close, fast, and often. We were there for an hour, and had six trains (two scoots, the Salad Shooter--with a few old 57-foot reefers in it!, a westbound intermodal with two units on the point and two DPUs on the hind end, a WEPX coal train, and the Troy Grove local westbound, pulled by a pair of GP15-1s).
The name of this marvelous establishment: Cabooses Bar and Grill, in Geneva--it's in the same building that houses the Metra station. The scoots stop at the station, but the freights come right on through at track speed, which for them is 50, last I checked (a few miles to the west, at Elburn, it increases to 70 if the equipment qualifies).
So who needs a outside "railfan viewing platform" then, esp. in this kind of weather ?!? - PDN.
mother nature was giving us some sprinkles this afternoon.Odot was out pre-treating the roads too.NS was all clear when I left work.Matt has confirmation class tonight.Chores to do too.
Paul_D_North_Jr So who needs a outside "railfan viewing platform" then, esp. in this kind of weather ?!? - PDN.
My most active "railfan viewing platform" is already nicely enclosed - the bridge at Utica Union Station (or the front seat of my truck).
Cost notwithstanding, enclosing a spot like Rochelle might be nice for the winter months. Even without heat, getting out of the wind would be useful.
Of course, there's the issue of putting the panels up in the fall and taking them down in the spring, and storage, not to mention the possibility of vandalism. Definitely wouldn't use glass...
Picked up my current truck at Freightliner in OKC Monday, apparently, somebody didn't shut the door tight enough, because all four batteries were stone dead. After almost two hours on a charger, push starting, and six hours of run time, we are now good. The fact that the truck sat for a month didn't help, either.........
Randy Vos
"Ever have one of those days where you couldn't hit the ground with your hat??" - Waylon Jennings
"May the Lord take a liking to you and blow you up, real good" - SCTV
rvos1979Picked up my current truck at Freightliner in OKC Monday, apparently, somebody didn't shut the door tight enough, because all four batteries were stone dead. After almost two hours on a charger, push starting, and six hours of run time, we are now good. The fact that the truck sat for a month didn't help, either.........
The guy that used to do a lot of the maintenance on our fire apparatus wouldn't have bothered trying to get those batteries charged up. They would have been replaced forthwith. He felt that once a battery was taken to zero, it was shot.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.