Updates on my life, YES I'M WASTING FORUM SPACE FOR THE PURE FUN OF IT!!!

[Anonymous]

Hello All,

Some of you have been inquiring about my life lately, so here goes. My brand new house closes Tuesday. Everything is basically up to my standards for the exception of a few things the builder will address for me prior to the close. I will transfer over to Avon in about two weeks and start qualifying towards Crestline, OH and Toledo, OH as well as the three locals that travel east out of Avon. I also applied for a substitute yardmaster position at Avon, so anyone who is experienced I'd like to hear what you have to say! I have been working in the yard at Danville since I came back from leave and I would like a little break from a yard that is overstuffed with cars and there are hundreds of cars in every siding for 100 miles waiting to come in and be switched. We have a remote back now, and I hate it. For a while we had engineers on the job and could handle hundreds of cars a shift. With the remote we're lucky to handle 100. Not to mention our yard is bad shape. Very wet, no ballast, rotted ties make for weary track. The lead is so worn that there's no more ballast only mud to support the track. I almost had loaded grain hoppers tip over at 10mph, so now we have to crawl through switching at no more than 7. Well, there is no speed limit set, but I don't want to be the one to put cars on the ground. On a better note, my boy is the picture of health. He had his 1 month checkup yesterday and was 10lbs 7oz and 23 1/4". I can't wait to move and start fresh.

[Anonymous]

Sounds interesting!

[Anonymous]

N_s -

Congrats. Sounds like things are going well. Give the little one as much time as you can...

LC

[tree68]

Based on the title I was tempted to post a link to that picture of the UP "smoker." Then I read the post. Sounds like life's treating you pretty well for the moment (hey, there's ALWAYS room for improvement). Thanks for the update and a snapshot of "life on the inside."

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tree68

Based on the title I was tempted to post a link to that picture of the UP "smoker." Then I read the post. Sounds like life's treating you pretty well for the moment (hey, there's ALWAYS room for improvement). Thanks for the update and a snapshot of "life on the inside."

Hey now that's not fair now[;)].[:D].

[MP173]

Nate:

Sounds great. I fondly remember those days of babies. Things get better, much better as they get older, believe it or not.


A couple of questions if you dont mind. Why are there so many cars to switch at Danville? Is it because of the industry there? The grain processing? Or does the yard do blocking for Chicago and beyond?

No $$$ for ballast? That is pretty short sited, but the big picture is no doubt out on the mainline.

The sidings are full of cars waiting to be switched, yet you use the remote to switch, even tho it is not as quick to switch cars. But, it is cheaper. Hmmm. Sounds like the CSX is penny wise/pound foolish.

Any rumors on asset sales (secondary mainlines)?

ed

[jrw249]

Glad to hear things are going good for you and that your little boy is doing fine.

[mvlandsw]

Maybe I'll be trading trains with you at Crestline. I work to there from New Castle. MJV

[Rick Gates]

I was wondering how the "unspoken" competition is going. Will he say "daddy" or "mommy" first. Are you repeating "Who's your daddy" over and over to him? lol Stay safe Nathan. Warm wishes for your new homes(rail and house). Are you going to put a sign on your back gate that says "My other yard is a rail yard?" lol Will your wife take to calling you "Yardmaster" to get you to cut the grass? Keep us posted brother. Thanks.

[daveklepper]

I hope things improve on the job for your sake first but for CSX and the industry also. I am frankly amazed at such short-sighted management.

[JoeKoh]

Ns glad your little one is healthy.your not the only area of CSX with problems. trust me
stay safe
Joe

[Anonymous]

Ed and others,

The poor condition of the yard concerned me so much that I met with my trainmaster in person and discussed all the problems I had witnessed. He told me he and the roadmaster had met and were planning out a schedule on when to fix the yard. He said they need to shut down the entire south end of the yard to replace several of the switches. I had recently shut down switching during my shift several times because one time the switch latch completely came ouf the rotted tie and another time I saw that the track was beginning to gap at a switch. I have been reassured that plans are underway to fix the problem, but my trainmaster has a dilema on when he can shut down the yard to fix it. With so many cars waiting to be switched for local customers, and yes we do block cars for interchange with the UP at Watseka, Chicago, Evansville, Terre Haute, and Nashville. Most of the Nashville bound cars are loaded grain that come from the north local and Bunge Milling in Danville. Switching and making up the destination blocks is a pain when each track is already filled to capacity with cars giving us very little leeway for switching. We've had to handle very large cuts of cars with the remotes, which is a major pain because we end up crossing over a road crossing that one of us RCO's must ride the head end to protect while the other guy was to do all the switching; it makes for a very long and tiring night.
Ed, I believe that the VVR (Vermilion Valley RR) will soon purchase the former Conrail ***ests in Danville from CSX. This would include the Pekin secondary from Hillery Yard east through Danville that would join up with what they already own in Indiana. Also, they would take over the former Conrail line that runs south from Danville through Westville where we service CCL, Lebanon, and Royster Clark. That is a fun job to work and I'd hate to see it go.
All RR's are notorious for being short sighted when it comes to spending money. The main problem in my opinion is that number crunchers run the RR's, not actual Operations people. Plus there is always the stockholders to answer to. However, it is necessary to make capital improvements to benefit overall performance. It's kinda like when one of our yard jobs gets laid in a few days, the company wants to cut the job off. Then a week later the yard is such a mess the job has to be reposted. I thought serving our customers was supposed to be #1, but apparently the bottom line is.
MJV, I may indeed run into you at Crestline as I will be qualifying that way soon. Just look for a guy with a mild Chicago accent wearing either a Bears hat or a White Sox cap.
Rick, LOL you always crack me up man! I think momma is going to win just because she gets to spend more time with our boy, but that's okay. He'll be crying for me when he gets sick of momma!!! Well, thanks everyone for the well wishes. I must go enjoy the rest of my "weekend" with my wife before I have to go back to work tonight. Talk to you all later.

Nathan

[jeaton]

Nathan-Good to have you dropping us a note. Let's see-Job change (sort of), relocation with new home purchase, new baby in the house... Nope! No stress there!
Don't worry about space. While you were gone, a major contributor to the forum deleted all his posts, leaving plenty of big holes in the storage media.

Take care.

Jay