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News Wire: NS freight train nearly hits house on Georgia tracks

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Posted by Brian Schmidt on Thursday, March 14, 2019 4:21 PM

ATLANTA — Truck drivers in Georgia will now be routed around a troublesome railroad crossing, thanks to a near-collision last week between a Norfolk Southern freight train and a manufactured home stuck on the tracks. On March 8, a portion of a...

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2019/03/14-ns-freight-train-nearly-hits-house-on-georgia-tracks

Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine

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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Friday, March 15, 2019 9:38 AM

OK, I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought of this song when I saw the story:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4BYdTrkWoo

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Posted by Deggesty on Friday, March 15, 2019 10:46 AM

Ah, yes, Chuck. Back when trains ran on time, so you could know when not to go from one side to the other--or stand in the middle and sing.

And when the Esquimalt and Nanaimo was planning to extend itself to Victoria, it was discovered that there were houses in the planned right of way. There was a series of cartoons drawn which showed various difficulties along the way, such as a house being divided and people being trapped on one side or the other.

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Posted by zardoz on Friday, March 15, 2019 10:55 AM

Engineer: "Hello dispatcher. This is 9999 east. I just nearly hit a house."
Dispatcher: "9999 east, what did you say?"
Engineer: "I said I just nearly hit a house".
Dispatcher: "What the heck are you talking about? Hit a house? Where? How?"
Engineer: "The house is sitting across the tracks. I managed to stop a few feet short of entering the bedroom."
Dispatcher: "9999 east, ok, very funny. Now tell me really what's going on".

And so on....

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Posted by Deggesty on Friday, March 15, 2019 1:18 PM

Deggesty

Ah, yes, Chuck. Back when trains ran on time, so you could know when not to go from one side to the other--or stand in the middle and sing.

And when the Esquimalt and Nanaimo was planning to extend itself to Victoria, it was discovered that there were houses in the planned right of way. There was a series of cartoons drawn which showed various difficulties along the way, such as a house being divided and people being trapped on one side or the other.

 

Talk about confused memories--It was the Pacific Great Eastern that at last was able to enter North Vancouver and found people living right in the right of way. I at last got it right when I went down to what is called the "Main Meal of the Day." The next meal is the "Light Meal."

I had good roast beef au jus.

Johnny

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, March 15, 2019 8:22 PM

Sounds like another day at the office for MC...

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Posted by kgbw49 on Friday, March 15, 2019 10:06 PM

Gives a whole new meaning to the term “house track”.

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Posted by 54light15 on Saturday, March 16, 2019 10:07 AM

It sould have been worse, like what happened to Buster:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H__Oaka1vQQ 

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Saturday, March 16, 2019 11:22 AM

Buster's film illustrates perfectly a saying we had in the Marines...

"Close, almost, nearly, only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades!"

The crew on Buster's second train got it right!  

NS take notice, try harder next time!  Whistling

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Posted by Miningman on Saturday, March 16, 2019 11:40 AM

No green screens in those days or advanced technologies and those tedious computer generated images. 

Great location so that we can see the oncoming train and I betcha they did this with one take only. Must have been a heck of a lot of fun doing this. A few crossed fingers too! 

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Posted by Convicted One on Saturday, March 16, 2019 12:03 PM

When I saw this thread it really made me think of the "Just Happened to be in the Neighborhood" photo inside the back cover of the April 2019 issue of Trains.

Talk about a cozy arrangement.

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Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, March 16, 2019 12:31 PM

54light15
It sould have been worse, like what happened to Buster:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H__Oaka1vQQ 

The making of a IKEA house!

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Saturday, March 16, 2019 3:56 PM

[quote user="Deggesty"]

Deggesty

Ah, yes, Chuck. Back when trains ran on time, so you could know when not to go from one side to the other--or stand in the middle and sing.

And when the Esquimalt and Nanaimo was planning to extend itself to Victoria, it was discovered that there were houses in the planned right of way. There was a series of cartoons drawn which showed various difficulties along the way, such as a house being divided and people being trapped on one side or the other.

Talk about confused memories--It was the Pacific Great Eastern that at last was able to enter North Vancouver and found people living right in the right of way. I at last got it right when I went down to what is called the "Main Meal of the Day." The next meal is the "Light Meal."

I had good roast beef au jus. [/quote]

Johnny (and others) - 

That article - really, a compilation of the cartoons - was in Trains in the 1965 - 1966 time frame.  I'd provide the exact issue but the "Magazine Index" function here returns a "Page Not Found" message when I try to use it.  It's been doing that ever since the last alleged software "upgrade" . . . Bang Head 

The one cartoon pertaining to this showed the track running through a living room, with a couple looking on and talking, and an old lady knitting in a wing chair.  The woman was saying something like "It's one thing to lengthen the railway, but Mother will be simply furious if they widen it!".

I'll try to get the citation later tonight. 

Sorry about the omitted quotation 'rectangle'. 

- PDN.

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Saturday, March 16, 2019 4:06 PM

Mischief A railroad engineering acquaintance of mine - not someone known to this forum - with much experience speculated that the train probably stopped some distance away from the house.  It then 'closed in' on the crossing so the crew wouldn't have to walk as far . . . cynic that he is.  

I'm not responsible for his comment, just sayin'.

- PDN. 

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Posted by Erik_Mag on Sunday, March 17, 2019 10:36 PM

Paul_D_North_Jr

The one cartoon pertaining to this showed the track running through a living room, with a couple looking on and talking, and an old lady knitting in a wing chair.  The woman was saying something like "It's one thing to lengthen the railway, but Mother will be simply furious if they widen it!".

I started getting into Trains mid 1968 (first issue was June 1967) and persuaded myy parents to let me buy some back issues. I remember the carton series on the PGE extension, specifically the one about "Mother will be simply furious"...

The drawings of the trains looked like something out of a A.W.-N.U.T.S. panel.

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Posted by 54light15 on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 9:22 AM

Regarding the Buster Keaton film "One Week," it's on You Tube in it's entirety and well worth watching. It's about 20 minutes and yeah, I thought of Ikea myself, watch it and you'll see why. 

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