evening
Ns sent an eastbound stack train after work.Was able to come home and mow the swamp.Also ran errands in town.Matt got his school test results back.He is now qualified for a higher grant from the college he wishes to attend.Rain is on it's way.Going to go see brother after work tomorrow.Friday brings the first day of summer.Inside chores to do now.
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").
BaltACD Playing racer boy at Watkins Glen this weekend - weather guessers say it will be dry. I hope so - the Glen in good weather is glorious, in bad weather it sucks.
Playing racer boy at Watkins Glen this weekend - weather guessers say it will be dry. I hope so - the Glen in good weather is glorious, in bad weather it sucks.
Much of the rain has been staying more or less south of the Thruway.
If I weren't going to be playing radio for the ARRL Field Day this weekend, I might have considered a trip down to the Glen. I know some of the safety crew that usually works there, too.
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...
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
(we're getting 3 days with rain - just as amazing!)
Meeting number two of three for the week done. Tomorrow's meeting will also be a birthday party for one of the members.
There's a Beach Boys tribute band playing Thursday night at a local venue. Debating whether I want to go or not.
We're up to something like three days without rain - an amazing feat!
Good evening
Ns local was uptown when I left for work.It was meeting night at the Historical society in Deshler.Csx ran some good trains before and after the meeting.Deshler Days has moved to July 6th.Fireworks will be that night.Time to get cleaned up.
afternoon
Ns local was uptown when I got off work.Have a couple days so the water can go down in the swamp.Chores to do here.
Good almost morning
Well Mother Nature sent more rain.We made it through.Matt had a good party inside the museum.Had couple surprise guests that showed up.He was able to show and tell his cousins about the trains as they watched out the back door.They thought the trains were a little loud at first but then liked it when the crews waved at them.Time for bed.
JoeKohHad a good day out with Matt.
Reminds me that two of our young local "hams" passed their driver's tests yesterday. It was coincidental, but there are two new driver's on the road around here...
A belated (on this site) happy birthday to Matt! Gee, I remember him when...We're getting rain right now; hope it goes somewhere else for you folks. I wish I could be there.
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)
good evening
Had a good day out with Matt.Lima was busy with trains.Was hoping to catch RJ Corman in Celina.We backtracked to see him after we went over him on US 33/rt29 in St.Marys.Matt got a free piece of pie for dessert at lunch.Hopefully it doesn't rain too hard in Deshler tomorrow.We have a back up spot just in case.
Definitely would’ve been awesome. I’m still curious how they scouted the line to ensure it can run on it. I’ve been told t the Hudson swing bridge can’t hold the weight.
Your friendly neighborhood CNW fan.
At the risk of sounding like a heretic, UP could have done better if they sent 4014 and 6936 on a joint tour.
I'm still picking up my jaw from the floor after reading the news that UP 4014 is coming to Altoona. History in the making! I've already scheduled 2 vacation days to follow it back from St. Paul! This is going to be amazing!
I get news updates concerning the commuter service on the Metra line through town. This one came over earlier this afternoon:
"A freight train may be blocking access to the platform for inbound train #48 at Winfield and Wheaton. Customers will have to wait for inbound train #50."
Two stations blocked by one train...I was hoping it was in one piece, even though that would mean that the train was close to three miles long! Of course, curiosity got the better of me, so out I headed. Pat chose to stay home and celebrate National Sewing Machine Day.
I arrived at Wheaton to see the hind end of a train on Track 1, blocking Main Street. Track 1 is the usual track for inbound (eastbound) Metra trains, and this guy was headed west ("headed" is not used to construe motion here, just which way the power was pointed).
I continued west past the station at Wheaton, passed under the train on County Farm Road, and came into Winfield, noting that the power--two GE units--was sitting at the Winfield station, and that Winfield Road was still clear. Nonetheless, the train was still in excess of 2.5 miles long [over 15,000 feet, according to a friend of mine].
The good news for me is that it was a manifest train [MPRNP], so would be worth watching whenever it started up. I expected that to be within the hour, since (as is typical) the commuter trains are separated by an hour.
I parked the car, and walked toward the station, just in time to hear the engineer whistling off! Talk about good luck...by the time I got to the station platform the train was moving. My notepad was at the ready. Besides looking for interesting cars, I decided to count them--not an easy multitasking pair. After the 102nd car in the train came a single distributed-power unit, also GE. But it was about at that point the the train stopped again.
I took advantage of the pause to get some detailed information off one freight car along the platform (numbers and letters stamped into the steel, showing lot number, ordering number, and date...a very accurate backup to information usually on file). There were another 104 cars after the DP unit.
Metra Train 50, meanwhile, wasn't quite due yet. By checking the signals on the way home through Wheaton, I could see that it was using Track 3 to avoid the monster freight. I'd heard that the westbound scoot had already been delayed, so when I got to College Avenue I wasn't surprised to catch both trains at the station there, with 50 having crossed over to Track 1 at University Control Point. That train, by the way, didn't lose much time on account of the freight--it was less than five minutes late at Lombard (and by the time I got back to Lombard it was long gone!).
Rained all day in Syracuse, which was bad for the vendors with outside displays (mostly fire trucks). The next two days don't look to get any better.
Took in a couple of great presentations and bought a new fire helmet. Back down tomorrow for more classes. Might buy a few more things, but...
Rain here in Nw Ohio.Ns was clear when I left work.Ran errands in town.The ND&W was switching plenty of cars around.Tomorrow is flag day.It is also Matt's birthday.We will be finding trains somewhere tomorrow.His party is on Saturday in Deshler.Chores to do here.
Ns had some cars uptown when I left work.Came home and mowed the swamp.The lady who left her SUV on the tracks in Swanton turned herself in.One more day at work this week.
Yes Tree I heard about the excitement in Deshler.Pizza is ordered for Saturday night.They are sending a pie along as well.Ns had a hotshot intermodal come east after work.Crews looked like they were stringing new lines on the poles by the tracks.Matt has to go do dishes tonight.Chores to do here myself.
Fortunately, that wasn't the case some years ago when a friend of mine called me about a ConnDOT FL9 (in NH colors, no less) that showed up at Clyde while en route from Boise back to its home rails. Nobody else was around and I got nice pictures from off the property with no problem.
CSX units 911 (First Responders) and 1776 (Military) are, at this moment, being thronged by railfans while they sit at South Deshler. They just turned south to head for Cincinnati and eventually Tampa with a train of ethanol.
Reportedly, the engineer called for assistance due to the railfans all over the place.
Ns was clear when I left work.Got two items in the mail.One was the annoucement that the Fostoria train show will be September 28th.The other was from Matt's school.He is officially now a Senior.Chores here to do at home.
In March, 1968, I came rode B&O #109 (one RDC) from Baltimoreto Washington in 55 minutes (4 stops). In June, I rode #106 (two RDCs) from Washington to Baltimore in 40 minutes.
It was an interesting experience to buy my ticket from Chicago to Baltimore. The ticket seller in Grand Central had some trouble understanding that I wanted a rail ticket to Baltimore, but a sleeper ticket only to Washington.
Fare structures were interesting before Amtrak came up with its ownstructures--A ticket Chicago to Baltimore cost the same as a ticket Chicago to Washington--no matter whether you rode PRR or B&O
Also, Montgomery, Ala., to Washington apparently was the same whether you went through Atlanta, or through Waycross, Ga.--the ACL had a through New York-Montgomery coach.
Johnny
tree68 cx500 It may well depend on the sensitivity of the circuitry,... Likely a factor - and the amount of effort the signal folks want (or are able) to put into keeping the system tuned. One must remember that it's not an all-or-nothing adjustment. There is bound to be some "leakage" between the rails depending on moisture, salt (around northern road crossings) and any number of other possibilities. Finding (and keeping) the right balance may be a challenge. Too sensitive and it's false positives, not sensitive enough and it's failed activations.
cx500 It may well depend on the sensitivity of the circuitry,...
Likely a factor - and the amount of effort the signal folks want (or are able) to put into keeping the system tuned.
One must remember that it's not an all-or-nothing adjustment. There is bound to be some "leakage" between the rails depending on moisture, salt (around northern road crossings) and any number of other possibilities. Finding (and keeping) the right balance may be a challenge. Too sensitive and it's false positives, not sensitive enough and it's failed activations.
Back in the day - when Budd RDC cars and diesel engines were both 'new'. The B&O discovered that a single Budd car or a single diesel operating at maximum allowed track speed would provide the necessary inputs to the signal system faster than the relay based system could respond to the inputs - thus track occupancy DID NOT get acknowledged and signals did not go to STOP behind the operation of single RDC's or diesel engines. The 'fix' was to require two or more for track speed operation, for 30 MPH operation singles could still be operated. CSX carries these operational restrictions through to this day.
With signal systems becoming electronic operations today, one would think the downside of relay based signal systems are being engineered out of todays signal systems.
On little used backtracks at crossings, it is not uncommon to see welders bead on a zig-zag pattern on top of the rail trying to scuff-up and get a little better conductivity / noise in the rail.
Can't speak to other places, but CA had a mandatory rule after a court case where a gate system activated late.
cx500It may well depend on the sensitivity of the circuitry,...
It may well depend on the sensitivity of the circuitry, since CN north of the border had no issues running three car RDC trains in the past. I would be inclined to point the finger at the IC portion as having more problematic sensing issues. CPR would even operate single RDCs in CTC territory. They were required to run at least two on the Toronto-Buffalo service though because of problems on the PennCentral portion. The VIA service between Sudbury and White River (Ontario) generally uses a pair of RDCs on CPR's main line.
John
tree68 Lithonia Operator So, with having at least seven cars, that means that the front of the train will clean off enough rust that then at least the latter part of the train will short the circuit? That, or the sum of the less-than-optimal contacts will make for enough electrical contact to do the necessary shung.
Lithonia Operator So, with having at least seven cars, that means that the front of the train will clean off enough rust that then at least the latter part of the train will short the circuit?
That, or the sum of the less-than-optimal contacts will make for enough electrical contact to do the necessary shung.
Any railroad that is run over in daily or more frequent use that requires the passage of 32 axles to establish a proper shut across the rails - must have 'Rust Trains' operating on a hourly basis to generate the required level of rust on the rails.
UP & CN - give me (and Amtrak) a F'n break on your 'justifications'.
Lithonia Operator So, with having at least seven cars, that means that the front of the train will clean off enough rust that then at least the latter part of the train will short the circuit? That, or the sum of the less-than-optimal contacts will make for enough electrical contact to do the necessary shung.
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