Lincoln, Nebraska Forum October Fest Report

[edblysard]

To echo the mudchicken...

Most bystanders realize a grinding stone has broken right about the time it either smackes 'em in the forehead or a piece zips right past their left ear...

It happens that quick.

 

And like he said, if you can smell the "hot ground steel" smell, your sniffing metal particles and stone dust...not too good a combo.

I was actualy more worried about the frog at the diamond than the low spot...the point was almost gone, and the guard rail bolts were really lose.

This is a few feet to the left of the diamond...note the pumping that has beaten the crud out of the road bed, and fouled the ballast...this is also the diamond that Mookie says Amtrak hits daily...the photo in the "Simple" thread by Mookie is taken from the same spot...the yard is to the left, and all the coal drags cross this diamond headed out of town.

For those of you who have never seen one, this is a insulated compromise joint, where two different weight rails are joined.

Of course, both are moot points now, which is a good thing...keeping the Mookie spot up to snuff should be BNSF's #1 priority!

After all, they get a mascot, civic booster and guard cat all rolled into one!

[Willy2]

I hope Willy has a weekend relatively free of homework!  These operations will be something to watch--from a safe distance, of course.

Remember when we were saying that there was nothing wrong with that spot until a rail breaks?  It might be that a FRA inspector had a divergent opinion.  It would be interesting to see whether any train at all uses the track before repairs are made.

I'll see if I can come and check things out. This weekend is looking like a pretty busy one with stuff to do for drama on both Saturday and Sunday and the homecoming dance Saturday evening.

[mudchicken]

Interesting.....New froggies = major $$$$$....it takes at least 9 months from order to delivery for a custom made crossing frog (diamond)

Mookie & anyone else watching a LORAM or Speno/Jackson/Harsco grinder:  give them a safe distance to operate away from you...a broken 40# grinding stone will fly over 100 feet from the train and roll hundreds more (The chain screens won't stop a broken grinding stone) ... and beware the grinding particles in the air (especially if you can smell the grinder)...I can just hear from here that Lincoln FD has been called to put a fire out in a boxcar the railroad is dragging around back and forth...

[CShaveRR]

I hope Willy has a weekend relatively free of homework!  These operations will be something to watch--from a safe distance, of course.

Remember when we were saying that there was nothing wrong with that spot until a rail breaks?  It might be that a FRA inspector had a divergent opinion.  It would be interesting to see whether any train at all uses the track before repairs are made.

[blhanel]

Alright!!!

[Mookie]

Alert!

Something's afoot Watson!

We went by the usual watch spot yesterday:  The Lorams are busy looking like a long, yellow worm on the tracks west of the depot! 

AND - the "dip" that our official party saw and commented on, was getting the once over from two gentlemen in those pretty orange hats. 

AND - the diamond was being worked on!  We couldn't get close enough to see a whole lot, but they were moving some ties and had parts of a diamond in a gondola and on the ground. 

I would like to think the BNSF is taking their citizen alerts seriously and when they read about it on the forum, they sprang into action.  Hey - everyone has their fantasies! 

AND the "Kyle Line" has reopened again.  For those of you familiar with Lincoln - it is now the Arbor Line.  It will handle one coal train a week from Lincoln to NE City over what was once a closed line.  Maybe more in the future.  It will completely snarl traffice in south Lincoln, but I am excited to see it being used again!  And hey - once a week isn't so bad! 

BNSF - you make me proud - even if you don't read the forum!

Mookie

[CShaveRR]

Well, who's to say that the next one would have to be during football season at all?

We'll probably be returning home through Lincoln around Good Friday, and we certainly plan to stop, or at least call, when we go through.  But that vacation wouldn't prevent us from scheduling another one similar to this year's, with the flexible vacation days I'll have left.

But we can't say enough good things about the people who were there, or the people who wanted to come, so you're right in that respect, Chad!  If the weather's bad, there is always the underpass nearby (should have gotten more use for shade by a certain partygoer I'm married to!).

[chad thomas]

Aw Mookie, It's the people not the weather.

[Mookie]

Why not - a Home Cornhusker Game packs in an extra 85K each home game.  So what's a few more or less!

I just can't promise a beautiful day both weather-wise and train-wise like this year.  It really stretched all my powers and a couple of my nines to pull this one off!

[Willy2]

I would really like to do something similar again next year, also. Maybe even more people could come than this year.

[edblysard]

I am game....

[chad thomas]

I just got back from my trip and reading this thread has convinced me of the need to get out that way and meet  all you fine folks. I'm glad you all had a good time. I wish I could have been there. Perhaps it's not too early to try and plan ahead for a meet next year.

[CShaveRR]

We actually wanted to buy cards at the UPRR store, but they didn't have any (had we tried the UP Museum in Council Bluffs, we wouldn't have made it to our Omaha venues by closing time--we ducked into Simmons-Boardman about five minutes before they closed!).

I'm glad they got there--after Joe's note earlier yesterday I was beginning to worry.

[JoeKoh]

just checked the mail coming home.matt got his postcard today too.we put a picture of the most wanted with the postcard up in matts room.dont worry we still have mookie in rochelle too.

thanks again

stay safe

Joe

[Nora]

Hey, I just wanted to say THANKS to Carl and Pat and everybody else for the postcards Jay and Charlie got in the mail today. They were, as always, very excited to get their very own mail, especially from somewhere they've actually been. That was really thoughtful and the boys and I appreciate it!

[Murphy Siding]

     Thanks for the info Carl.  I'll be visiting my friend at the library soon.

[tree68]

Gee - Carl & I have more in common than I might have thought - The former PM line between Plymouth and Saginaw was a part of my growing up in Milford. Too bad I wasn't a fan like Willy at the time. 

[edblysard]

Gonna put in a plug for Carl here..

I did not know of his previous published work when I made my comment, but once he mentioned the fact, I looked up both books, which have received very good reviews.

Both are available on line from several different sources, at very reasonable prices...you should shop around a little, but from the reviews I read, and the one person I know who has both, they are worth the cost if your a C&O fan, or a freight car fan in general.

[CShaveRR]

Having done a couple of books already, and having edited or assisted on several others.....

     Sounds interesting!  What are the titles?  Do they involve C&O or PM by chance?

Confession time:  the two books I put together were Freight Car Equipment of the C&O, August 1, 1937, published in 1979; and Chesapeake & Ohio Diesel Review, first published in 1982, then brought out again in 1994 as Chesapeake & Ohio Diesel Locomotives, with help from a co-author.  I also was primarily responsible for the freight-car chapter in the revised edition of Chessie's Road, published by the C&OHS; did the editing work on Pere Marquette Power, authored by the late Art Million; and a book on Pere Marquette freight cars, published by Hundman (for which I didn't receive nearly the credit due me).  Another project of mine, along with three other people, was a C&OHS book The Pere Marquette in 1945, which was an embellishment (with illustrations and such) of some mimeographed sheets given to officials to help familiarize them with their territories--the layout and continuity were my contribution.

A three-volume set of books on C&O freight equipment from the 1937 cutoff date of my book until the mid-1960s (when C&O and B&O adopted a combined numbering system) was prepared by the C&OHS with me as editor (with an author who desperately needed one), but only one of these books ever appeared (and I can't find my copy, darn it!).  The other two are somewhere behind the back burners, I'm afraid.

More recently my work has been as a researcher with the Society of Freight Car Historians (many books by Dave Casdorph and Eric Neubauer show me in the credits).

Ed and company saw me furiously taking notes about freight cars at Lincoln, while most of the others were taking pictures.  I get a lot of information on various car series, lessees, commodities carried, prior owners, etc., this way.  I don't have nearly enough time now to compile what I document into anything coherent, but it is useful stuff (if to nobody else, then to me while I'm working).  Anyone who'd like to see something made of it should pray for a long, healthy retirement a few years down the road!

[CopCarSS]

Just wanted to send a quick shout-out to all the Nebraska Meet-N-Greeter's. Got the birthday card you sent me today in the mail! Thanks guys! Still wish I could have made it. Will definately make the next one if possible. Thanks again everyone!

[Modelcar]

....No not quilty Ed....Don't believe I've ever seen it before.  I'm surprised the background is even in focus.  It really is a clear pic.

[edblysard]

If I could remember who sent it to me, I would give them credit...did I get that from you, Quentin?

[Modelcar]

....By the way Ed...that is a beautifully reproduced photo....So clear and sharp...!

[edblysard]

Pretty sure they are all "kin" to each other, being East Texas bird dogs and all...

.....Now what kind of trickery with dogs and "teeth" are we seeing in that picture....

Those aren't the Dairy Queen owners are they....

Those "noses" look suspiciously the same......Maybe just waitresses...

[Modelcar]

.....Now what kind of trickery with dogs and "teeth" are we seeing in that picture....

Those aren't the Dairy Queen owners are they....

Those "noses" look suspiciously the same......Maybe just waitresses...

[Mookie]

That is Saint Mary's Catholic Church - just north of our Capitol.  It is across the street east of the First Baptist Church - that has a bright red door! 

[CANADIANPACIFIC2816]

Speaking of Lincoln's architecture, Ed Blysard took a picture of one of the churches in downtown Lincoln. Can anyone identify the church itself? It seems that I had seen it once before while visiting my sister Renee in Lincoln once before.

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

[edblysard]

Yup,

We was impressed with the big city life up there in Nebraska, Bob here says they even got a Dairy Queen!

[Mookie]

The picture that Ed took of the KCS is from our "watch site".  So as you can see, we get fairly close - all within safety distance.  Lincoln still has a little charm left, but not as much as it had back in the 50's and 60's.  We are getting way too big for me.