LastspikemikeActually just discussing why the design of auto racks changed.
Thievery was probably the primary reason. Batteries, hub caps, (stowed in the trunk) and radios probably being the "low hanging fruit". Rock throwing, cement blocks dropped from overpasses probably a close second.
Many locomotives in the northeast had "burglar bars" over the windshields to try to reduce impact. This led to the FRA beefing up the glazing requirements in the early 1970s.
D-n-M_no2 by Edmund, on Flickr
Taken at Tawas City on 10-2-1988.
My ISP must be making "improvements" this weekend. Service has been cut off for long periods all through the weekend. Would have been nice to get a notification from them, but (crickets...)
By the way, Mackinac is pronounced "Mackinaw" if you're from around there.
.
Cheers, Ed
Track fiddlerCool and crisp just as Fall should be.
We would be having a perfect day today, it is 74 right now, but Tropical Storm Gamma has been making it rain on-and-off for days.
Bummer. It is supposed to move away today, but another one is coming... more bad weather is predicted next week.
LastspikemikeWhen did spraying graffiti onto railcars become common? Does that coincide with fully enclosed car transport cars?
Discussion of graffiti is well regulated, generally not appreciated on these forums, and certainly not appropriate for the diner. There is a rule against this subject in the forum policies sticky.
Steven OtteStay away from divisive topics, like graffiti, hoboes, train-hopping, and what makes a "real model railroader."
If you want to have any discussion on this topic, please try a new thread in the Prototype Information section, but expect it to get locked quickly.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Gotta move the cat hopuse this week. In the SW corner it is prone to drifting snow, bu I'll put it along the east wall which seems to blow clear.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Good morning .
I'll have some Michigan Apple Cider and donuts, please. Michigan also has excellent cherries and blueberries, but summer is the season for them.
I was in MI in the 1970's and 1980's. I saved a few pictures from then. I wish I saved more. I have previously posted my pictures in the MR forum.
The following pictures were in Flint, MI in the mid-1070's. Flint had numeorus GM parts plants and shipped auto parts to its many assembly plants in the US and Canada. The Buick assembly plant was served by C&O. The Chevy light truck assembly plant was served by GTW, and it produced more trucks annually than any other plant in the world.
At the time railroads were beginning to install side shields on auto rack railcars. They were developing designs for fully enclosed railcars.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
PS Mike-mbinsewi
Did you get your shed built up at your cabin?
And they showed on the news this morning the people filming it out the window. Food delivery services are dropping off the food on the doorstep and ringing the doorbell. Apparently these people didn't get there on time because the Bear was at the door first eating the pizzas
PH
Morning Post Hog!
I'm kinda bummed as Judy was on call today and might of had the day off but she didn't. I heard that text
It's a beautiful sunny Fall day and we would have gone for a long scenic drive through the country.
There's a good side to everything though as my plans to keep to my modeling is still in the works
TF
Mornin
Cool and crisp just as Fall should be. Gonna work on placing foam again today right inside the screen door. It'll be a good day. Just reflecting on the change of seasons. The weather should be getting nicer moving towards Spring in New Zealand these upcoming days
One of our luckey Forum members is preparing to come out of hibernation I'm sure
Looking forward to seeing the pic of the new bath Kevin
Make it a great day Guys!
I had a good and productive day today.
I should be able to post a good picture of the bathroom tomorrow.
I seem to be getting more semi-retired these days.
Lately it seems to be I'm staying up later at night but still getting up early in the morning and losing sleep.
I either have to go down to Cornerstone Medical and see if I can buy a c-pack straight out without a prescription or get to bed earlier.
But it's about time I hit the rack Kids so you all have a great night. Love you Guys and I'll see you tomorrow
Take a couple if you wish there on the dish
Thanks Bear but only a few
PS Hopefully some of the other Diners 812
Kidding of course
Track Fiddler
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Only the "Bear"
I would expect nothing less
I've got a bike, you can ride it if you like, it's got a basket, a bell that rings and things that make it look good I'd give it to you if I could but I borrowed it
""
Sorry I just couldn't resist that one
howmusHave photoshop and like to play!!!
I didn't even think about using photoshop to lighten up the image. Thanks.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critterI don't mind at all.
Have photoshop and like to play!!! (grin)
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
howmusHey Dave.... Is this any better? Hope you don't mind!
Hi Ray,
I don't mind at all. It is a better shot for sure. My problem was partially due to the sun being right behind the station. Even though it wasn't a clear day, the sun still managed to affect the photo.
I love the use of the local rock for the walls!
Not been a good week. My new riding lawn mower made it halfway down the driveway on it's inaugural trip, the RPM's radidly slowed and then it stalled. I could restart it and at a very slow RPM, followed by sudden death.
A neighbor thinned some of her plantings and gave me some. The builder said all the construction gravel would be cleaned up. I ran into a solid layer of fine gray gravel next to the driveway.The next place I tried to plant was the thickest, gooeyist clay I have ever seen. Squirting the shovel with a nozzle on the garden hose would not wash it off the shovel.
I don't know if it's what is going on in my life, what is going on in the world or a change in the forum, but I am finding the forum less and less interesting.
Lately threads go on and on beyond belief. I first noticed it with the thread about running clockwise or counter clockwise. It might have been worth 4 replies but it on went on for 4 pages. Another current thread is a knock off Chinese soldering station that doesn't solder is another 4 pages. Spacemouse go ripped off. Fileing the tip didn't help, but as it didn't work before, it probably made no difference.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Among songs pertaining to Michigan is "The wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" .
BATMAN "Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreamsThe islands and bays are for sportsmen"
"Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreamsThe islands and bays are for sportsmen"
Yep! You got that straight Brent!
After reading that, I didn't read any further. My Post Hog within got the best of me and it was time to post. I will read the rest of your post soon.
They used to have a commercial way back in the day. "Say yes to Michigan" I'll go along with that one!
Nothing much going on with me but spending all my time the last four days busting a left nut on my layout like I never have before. I got a little scarce lately doing nothing but that but I'm making a lot of progress unlike I have ever done for about 3 years.
I even purchased eight old school ore cars on eBay so I can measure them and put an upper deck in between my mountains for a back-and-forth ore car mining thing.
Oh Oh! "Here Comes a Flock of Wah Wahs". There goes another year
I have a good supply of modeling supplies in the house and lots of foam in the trailer. I'm off to a heck of a start for this winter
Well as it looks I'm getting so enthralled I may be a bit scarce for a little while longer. But I will catch up with you guys
Kevin
A very nice job starting the Diner! Especially your first time doing Give a special thanks from me to your Daughter who obviously has a lot of talent. Must run in the family!
Lots of good stuff on the state of Michigan being posted this month.
Good afternoon from the sunny West Coast where it is still supposed to be sunny until further notice. We are getting a bit of smoke up from California still but for only short periods of time and it blows out.
Kevin, top marks on the opening and thanks to your daughter for the sign, it would be cool if it could be the masthead for the thread.
Charlie, I have a Walthers 28" outside radius T/O on a siding that gets used a lot and it is not liked by a lot of things, so I may be making the first track change since I built the layout.
I had to just walk away from the layout on Wednesday as so many little things made for a frustrating session. It is rare for me to have issues but it was one thing after another that day. All will get ironed out so it will be fine.
Had a very large branch fall on the roof so got out the ladder and went up to get it down. After I put the ladder away an Bald Eagle flew over and dropped somebody's tighty whities from on high. I could tell they were underwear by the way they helicoptered down. I will wait for the wind to blow them down because of where they landed it will likely happen.
You can see them up near the ridge caps.
That also happened Wednesday, I should have stayed in bed.
Dave, hope you had a good trip, I could use a few days away but there is too much going on around here. Nine days till the puppies arrive so I will help the wife set up for that today. These are the ones from the 30-year-old semen that the wife had on ice. Ultrasound showed seven or eight on board.
I cut all the shiny metal bits up for the shower enclosure this morning, it was measure 10 times cut once. It was pretty pricey unit so I did not want to screw that up.
I am down five pounds this morning, I forgot to adjust my diet back from watching hockey and drinking rum. I will put on a pound a week if I drink booze without cutting out something else or burning more on the bike. It will likely be Christmas before I have a drink again. Having one drink a day makes my BP go up 10 pts as well and I keep it below 110/70 even with all the coffee I drink. If I cut out coffee it is a steady 100/60. I love coffee too much for that though.
With all this endless sunshine and warm weather, the grass is growing like crazy so I need to cut it every 4 or 5 days so time to hop on the Deere again already. I usually turn on the heat Oct 1st but this year it is still plenty warm enough so we will be saving on the gas bill this year. With the kids not at University, this year out electricity was up $7.00 for Sept over last year and with puppies the roof will be blown off as the washer and dryer never stop.
I am being hailed so all the best to all.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
fmilhauptThe remaining bits of the Ann Arbor are being operated by two companies right now. Wabco now owns the southern section, from Toledo up to Osmer siding, just north of Ann Arbor, between Warren and Joy roads. Wabco also has a branch from PIttsfield Junction (south of Ann Arbor) to Saline, which is former NYC trackage that used to serve a Ford auto parts plant (now Faurecia) there. They operate this under the Ann Arbor Railroad name.
Good evening everyone. Flo, could I have a bottle of 'Bam di Castagna' from the Jolly Pumpkin Brewery please and for anyone, of course.
Hi fmilhaupt, Thanks for your reply. I've about 3 hours tracing R/R lines you mention, on Google Earth. It must seem a bit sad, but it's something I enjoy doing, for the UK as well as.
The Sand Quarry at Yuma seems to be in full swing - so the R/R Hoppers must just be stored there.
It looks like the Faurecia Plant Tracks are out of use. I suppose with Michigan being a bit of a peninsula, a lot of internal freight goes by Truck these days? Pere Marquette is another place of interest and I'm going to check-out Grand Rapids. These names are always intriguing.
Also, I noticed Saginaw and from 'age of 1968', Simon & Garfunkel singing 'America' has always been with me. I had a Matchbox model of a Greyhound bus, with the elevated rear-section and windscreen. I set-up a scene in a corner of my OO scale Model Railway for it, with a backscene, "and the moon rose, over an open field". Seems so dumb now.
I've always enjoyed MR Planning and as well as edition 2121, I will buy the first 25 years CDR and so will get to see Arnt's layout. I look forward to reading it. Paul
"It's the South Shore Line, Jim - but not as we know it".
Happy Saturday Morning! Flo, can I just get a quick cup of coffee today?
I went wargaming last night with two of my buddies. Rob set up the Battle of Lake Trasimene on a 4 by 8 in his garage in 15mm scale (1/100).
I played Flaminius and commanded the Romans. Rob and Eric were commanding the forces of Hannibal.
The battle ended historically accurate, and I lost a devstating defeat.
A few years back, my wife and I rented a car in Chicago to circumnavigate Lake Michigan. The only planned stops were Naubinway, a small town on the Upper Peninsula where my French Canadian great-grandmother had lived and Mackinac Island. On a whim, we headed north to take a look at Lake Superior while in the neighborhood and wound up spending the night in the picturesque college town of Marquette where we encountered the remains of an abandoned ore dock. This enormous engineering marvel is a must-see stop for any railfan in the area! As we headed east, I was surprised to see huge chunks of ice on the lake. In June!
Tim
Late to the model railroad party but playing catch-up.....
hon30critterSorry, the day was kind of dreary so the photo doesn't do the station justice.
Hey Dave.... Is this any better? Hope you don't mind!
We did a little bit of rail fanning on the trip. We didn't see any trains, but we did come across these two gems:
This is the station in Cochrane. Actually this is only about 2/3rds of the whole structure. The structure continues to the right of the picture, but it has had a restaurant built into it so there isn't much left to see of the original building:
This is the station in Temagami. What a beautiful structure:
Sorry, the day was kind of dreary so the photo doesn't do the station justice.
Hi gang!
Dianne and I just got back from our trip to the Canadian Polar Bear Habitat (CPBH) in Cochrane, Ontario. The bears gave us a really good show. This is my own video:
CPBH is a major center for polar bear research. Their diets are carefully controlled. They get 25,000 calories per day, and their health is constantly monitored. Regular blood samples are taken, and the bears have been taught to cooperate with the process. They willingly lie down and present a hind foot through a space in the bars knowing that they will get a treat after the sample has been taken. Training them may sound a bit strange, but it saves the bears from having to be tranquilized which is very hard on them and risky.
https://canadianpolarbearhabitat.com/
For the birders among us, on the way back from Cochrane we came across literally hundreds of sandhill cranes feeding in several fields. They were a bit too far away to get decent pictures unfortunately, but seeing them fly in and out was thrilling.
Thanks again Kevin for opening the Diner. You have raised the mark!
Paul-
The remaining bits of the Ann Arbor are being operated by two companies right now. Wabco now owns the southern section, from Toledo up to Osmer siding, just north of Ann Arbor, between Warren and Joy roads. Wabco also has a branch from PIttsfield Junction (south of Ann Arbor) to Saline, which is former NYC trackage that used to serve a Ford auto parts plant (now Faurecia) there. They operate this under the Ann Arbor Railroad name.
The Great Lakes Central operates the former Ann Arbor tracks from Osmer siding north, all the way to the end of track at the sand pit at Yuma. Yuma is between Cadillac and Mesick, about 25 miles northwest of Cadillac. The sand pit at Yuma hasn't had any traffic for a number of years, so west of Cadillac, the line is effectively dead.
The Great Lakes Central also operates a former GTW branch from Ashley to a grain elevator at Middleton, and a segment of the former Grand Rapids & Indians/Pennsy from Cadillac north to Traverse City and Petsokey. In Traverse City the GLC uses several miles of former Pere Marquette/C&O trackage.
As a related aside, Arnt Gerritsen's layout based on the stretch of the Ann Arbor from Shepard to Elberta, with the ferry slips and yard, shown in the 2005 issue of Model Railroad Planning still exists. After Arnt passed in 2011, there have been efforts to find a new home for it, or at least the yard and ferry slips, but these haven't been successful.
-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.http://www.pmhistsoc.org
gmpullman WELCOME to Michigan? Escanaba_MI-88 by Edmund, on Flickr Escanaba & Lake Superior, Escanaba, Michigan. Cheers, Ed
WELCOME to Michigan?
Escanaba_MI-88 by Edmund, on Flickr
Escanaba & Lake Superior, Escanaba, Michigan.
Sadly, the warehouse behind that sign has been broken into repeatedly, so the owner is understandably testy about anyone coming onto the property. Especially after people have stolen parts (including, IIRC, the builders plates) off the last pair of Baldwin Sharks in existance.
Good Evening,
Another night with frost. We only got up to 50F today but it is supposed to warm up by Monday.
I've been working on the J4e trying to stop the front truck from derailing. I think I have it solved. There wasn't enough downward tension and the pivot/slide needed smoothing out. It made it around without derailing so will have to see if it is a permanent fix. It is derailing still on a turnout frog that is in a curve. I have had trouble with other locos there and so I think I will move the turnout. It goes to my wharf. I still might expand the radius of the outer loop but that means adding benchwork as the table isn't wide enough. Also a fair bit of scenery will have to be changed. Still not an expensive change especially considering how much I have invested in those 3 brass locos. Not that I have a lot of other things to do. Certainly a good winter project. I'll just have to get the wood cut before it gets too cold as that has to be done in the garage. I would just add about 4" to the table on one side and one end.
My wife is out covering plants again. I did offer to help.
We sure seem to be spending a lot more on groceries than we did before covid but then again we didn't have our own store in the basement.
Enjoying the info on Michigan.
CN Charlie
S
Not much else