afternoon
Back to work today.Got a christmas card from my niece today.Ns was clear after work.Matt's college is requesting more tuition money.welcome back to normal.
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").
Ns local was waiting in the siding to go back to Toledo.Gray drizzly and damp day.Need to do chores.
Got a new faucet for the kitchen sink. Now all I have to do is install it...
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 local was back in the siding after work today.Might turn into a regular run.Kitchen faucet? Matt did ours while we were at work.Chores to do.
Got a new TV - Need to have the internet and a e-mail address to get it to work.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Bravo, Matt!At the end of this post will be a number, representing the number of times I've been interrupted by fast-moving trains on NS's Water Level Route. We are spendig the night at Riley's Railhouse in Chesterton, Indiana, just up the grade a bit from Porter.We've had a fair day so far. We met my sister and brother-in-law for lunch in Gary at the Great Lakes Cafe; they semed to be as taken with the place as we are. We then went east with them, showing them a decent lakefront Park in Gary, and the site of NS' 12/23 wreck (which they'd already discovered). We were going to show them the five houses on the Lake from the Century of Progress Exposition in 1934, but found the road closed...it looked to my sister like signs of beach erosion--not surprising in the least. After they continued on U.S. 12 toward Michigan (I think they're curious about why we enjoy the slow roads!), we headed back to Chesterton, where Pat wanted to go to a quilt store (we bought material as well as one of the notions she needed), then checked in at the Railhouse. It's been moderately busy through here, but so far, no trains have interrupted my post.At this oint I'll mention my foray yesterday into Elmhurst, where I spent most of the lunch hour with "CopCarSS" Chris. We caught up on COVID aftermaths, and--of course--Carmen, the new baby girl. When we found out about her arrival a few months back, we were ready right away with a card and some books as a present. You know, the religious tracts like The Little Engine That Could and Tootle. But it was hard to arrange dlivery, even though they live relatively close--COVID and other things intervened. But I delvered the package to Chris, and he later sent us a video of Carmen unwrapping it...it really has been a while (okay, she had Daddy helping her!). Can't wait to meet her in person sometime.Anyway, after whiling away the hour with Chris, I drove north to Bryn Mawr, where I saw not one, but two Canadian Pacific manifests! It's hard to write information when you're in a car by yourself and there's no place to pull off...The neatest thing about one of those manifests was a string of a couple of dozen welded-rail transport flat cars, organized as a train (they were empty, but the end cars and the center anchor car were in the proper place). And the neatest thing about this was that the cars were relatively brand-new--not just rebuilt. They were 286K flat cars, and I think the risers for rail transport could hold a couple more rails each. The walkway had been moved to the top of the cars, with its railing extending the cars up into Plate F territory. CP has gotten 84 such flat cars, built by the Ebenezer Railcar Company, so there are probably three such trains floating around the system.Well, no trains since I started writing this...probably just as well. I have enough information on hand here to keep me busy during the darkest, most brutal days of winter (which I'm sure are ahead, but this week doesn't have any of them!). Hey, if you want a neat place to spend a night and morning, and don't mind having the trains going right by, check out Riley's Railhouse (www.rileysrailhouse.com), and tell them I sent you! We rcommend the Upper Berth for railfans, but we are in the Lower Berth this time. They also have a box car and a caboose set up with rooms.0 :(
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)
tree68 Got a new faucet for the kitchen sink. Now all I have to do is install it...
I replaced all the bathroom faucets in the house about four years ago. Not too tough. It might have been easier but I'm not the contortionist I used to be! OWWWWW...
Flintlock76 tree68 Got a new faucet for the kitchen sink. Now all I have to do is install it... I replaced all the bathroom faucets in the house about four years ago. Not too tough. It might have been easier but I'm not the contortionist I used to be! OWWWWW...
The bathrooms are next. The downstairs bath will simply get a new faucet. The upstairs half bath is getting a new pedestal sink with the same faucet as downstairs.
My well water runs though limestone - the hardness is off the scale (meaning I get a lot of scale...)
Had to put the semi in the shop in Gary this morning, bunk heater finally gave up the ghost Tuesday night in Tuscola. Wouldn't light, then when it did, went into overheat shutdown. Thankfully, I keep warm sleeping clothes in the truck for just such an emergency, and I had just changed my CPAP hose to a heated version, which made the night bearable. Having the shop look at a few other items while it's here as well.........
Pretty sad when a party devolves into what happened today...........
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
Randy: Carl and I have a pretty good idea of where you're at right now in Gary. NS is still picking up a derailment close by there.
Time to pull down the x-mas lites before the snow returns Saturday.
Turning-in the company vehicle after a quarter million miles. Not shedding a tear over this one. (Ford highlighted the problem in blue and circled it)
Carl Matt and I are interested in Rileys and that diner we went too.Still working on Stacey.Ns sent a westbound stack train after work.They had a track inspector looking in the siding as well. Matt looked for some trains after work this morning.Saw some on Csx.That maybe why hes a bit tired this afternoon.Chores to do.
joe
Just received my February issue. 1st quick look through has lots of info about where MC and I have worked. There is an explanation of the Truxton flyover which was a subject of much speculation here recently (some by me).
Just got my Trains magazine as well.Matt is checking it out.Ns had some cars uptown to pick up.Did see some sunshine on the way home from work.Wished nephew a happy birthday today as well.Chores to do.
No Trains Magazine yet, but I was busy today with plumbing. New faucet for the kitchen sink, repair to a drain on the kitchen sink, and lo and behold, the toilet is leaking.
Later this winter, the upstairs half bath gets a new sink, and the downstairs bath gets a new faucet for the sink.
Glutton for punishment...
good evening
Had sunshine today and went out and looked for trains.Took a friend over to see what was left in Willard yard.He had never seen the Ns yard in Bellevue so we went up there as well.Saw action on Csx and Ns.Also found a rebuilt gp 7 not in Kansas anymore but in Tiffin Ohio.More sunshine tomorrow.We'll take it.
tree68Glutton for punishment...
I think there's a support group for that .....
Last night a LORAM train came through Tehachapi after 11pm; what struck me is that they have astonishingly, unbelievably bright work lights. They moved through the 'West Cable' camera FOV quickly so it was unclear what work they were doing.
Links to my Google Maps ---> Sunset Route overview, SoCal metro, Yuma sub, Gila sub, SR east of Tucson, BNSF Northern Transcon and Southern Transcon *** Why you should support Ukraine! ***
Ns sent a westbound stack train after work.Got my B&O sign that I ordered for Christmas.Going to see how the boys from Columbus do in Miami tonight.Chores to do as well.
evening
Well last night remided me of a song lyric."We'll win the game or know the reason why."Rand errands today.Took some goodies to my brother in Edgerton.Saw some trains on Ns and Csx as well.Also got to see one of the SDI's switchers come out.Came home and found out need to send virtual hugs.Back to work tomorrow.
Ns was clear after work.Went and gave my virtual hugs.Chores to do here at home.
Ns sent a westbound stack train after work.Got a notice that our water bill got lost in the mail.Call the office.Put in for vaction time at work.Glad tomorrow is Friday.
Had to detour this morning due to a bad accident.Ns has a few cars uptown to shuffle.Going to go do errands.Matt says pizza for supper would be great.
I've got a couple of pizzas in the freezer - that might just be an idea!
Not suitable for trains magazine.....
I was called for a plow extra engineer. The temps were below zero that day so I was dressed to the point of not being able to hold my arms at my side.My conductor Robbie was to ride the plow with the roadmaster. This is in Northwestern Maine to the boundary between the US and Canada. the railroad was shutdown for several days because of the snow and ice. This time of year the snow sledders think they gave the right to use the railroad as a recreational trail so in many spots the snow had been packed down and turned to ice. We were using a CP built Russel type plow that derailed at the slightest provocation. The plows really weren't that heavy anyhow. We had 117 miles to plow and we had derailed 3 times before we got to mile 76. At mile 76 we stopped to clean off the plow and walk over to the store and get provisions. I got a big gulp coffee, 5 hot dogs with relish and mustard , chips and a couple of Pepsi's. I had consumed most of this before mile 90.I was diagnosed with Crohns disease many years ago, sometimes it caused problems, this was one of those days. We came to the Boundary and derailed on a snow mobile crossing. We did manage to pull the plow back on since we had slowed down expecting trouble, the trip should have taken us about 4 hours but because of the snow sleds we were on duty for 8 so far. After we rerailed the plow again I noticed a large group of sledders waiting for us to clear the illegal crossing. I was in a bad mood, My bowels were about to explode so I went out the rear dab door of the GE dash 8, dropped my pants, wound my arms around the hand rails and let it go. My conductor said later that he looked back and thought I had fired a fire extinguisher. Remember it well below zero. I believe that the spot I left in the center of the trail crossing could have been seen from orbit. There was only ONE way across the tracks. We left the area, I felt an evil satisfaction.Most of my railroad stories don't have happy endings.
Randy StahlMost of my railroad stories don't have happy endings
I'd say that was a happy ending. You GO Randy!
Good Morning
Nephew moved on to the next house.Matt is getting stuff ready to load up for college today.Saw an autorack train waitng on the former NKP line at Latty with Up power yesterday.Going to do chores here.Back to work tomorrow.
I had a crossing staining experience similiar to Randy's.
I was working as a fireman in the P&W helper pool out of Glenwood,Pa. I ran a shove to Bakerstown while the engineer relaxed so when we returned to Glenwood and were told we had to wait to help another train it was the engineer's turn to work.
I went back to the second unit and dozed off. I woke up when we tied onto the caboose and realized that there was a foul odor coming from the toilet It was dark and I didn't look out to see where we were. I went down in the nose and pulled the toilet drain valve. When I came back to the cab I saw that we were sitting in the middle of Hazelwood Ave. and there was a large green and brown puddle covering the street.
Mark Vinski
Randy StahlMost of my railroad stories don't have happy endings.
I gotta say that was the best and funniest story of an otherwise not particularly comedic weekend. Thanks, Randy.
Some people had their ditchfinders on this morning.Ns had some cars uptown after work.They also had a contractor working along the siding cutting down the weeds.Gave virtual hugs again too.Chores to do.
Contractor was out again this afternoon cutting down brush and trees.Ns was clear after work.Helped neighbor carry in a mini nightstand.Other neighbor can haul what he wants.He bought a new truck.Chores to do.
Ns was clear after work.The brush cutter wasn't cutting today either.Ran errands after work.People in the county office are a bit concerned about the mail service.Seems some tax bills were lost in the mail.I had mine and its paid.Nieghbor was amazed that we got snow last night.I'm like you lived here in Nw Ohio for how long?Chores to do.
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