CNW 6000If you want to see a guy with lots of time spend trackside archiving many freight cars check out this guy's photostream: Loadstone. Be warned though: he has 710,000+ pictures up...
Thanks for the site, Dan! One of these times I'll have a closer look at that. Looks like he's getting three or four pictures per car (don't understand why), but I can make comparisons to what I've seen...after I get my files updated in a few years!
_____________________
Just got back from an early Christmas celebration with both daughters, both sons-in-law, and all of the grandchildren. I did very little. I'm still wiped out.
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)
zugmannNo one cares about my truck it seems.. all too busy worrying about trains... something wrong with you people
When I had to haul some brush to the dump I rented a trailer for the day. If I develop a need to haul stuff on a regular basis, I'll buy a trailer.
Mine is also painted to match - and looks pretty spiffy, if I do say so myself.
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...
....Is part of the subject trucks...? Love my little truck. It's my loveable toy around town....S-10 Xtreme. Two 70 # sand bags behind the wheel wells helps in Winter, but one must be careful...Posi-traction too. Too much torque if one is not careful starting out.
Quentin
Modelcar [snip] . . . Two 70 # sand bags behind the wheel wells helps in Winter, but one must be careful...Posi-traction too. Too much torque if one is not careful starting out.
Sounds a lot like operating a locomotive to me . . .
Some advantages to the tonneau/ cover: Convenient surface to spread out plans on for jobsite conferences; keeps fuel cans and fuel-powered equipment under cover and out fo the weather, without stinking up the personnel compartment interior; and, another excuse reason to decline the situation addressed by this bumper sticker:
"YES, it's my truck;
NO, I won't help you move"
Has that been a problem for you guys ?
Left to myself, I like a pre-SUV era Suburban or Tahoe, not gussied up.
The guy who built our house had a hard-top cover that tilted up towards the front - kind of a giant trunk lid or front hood, only on the back and going the other way, so you could stand in most of the well. He also had a 5th-wheel in the deck there plus some mongo hitches on the back, so he could and did haul some impressive loads on his couple of trailers - that's how he got a lot of flexibility for less $. He also had a crew cab on the front to transport his workers for the longer-distance jobs.
- Paul North.
I can talk about trucks, too, but not from personal experience.
My dad owned a couple of Studebaker pickup trucks, and swore by them. In 1964, he bought what may have been one of the last ones ever built; had to go down to South Bend to pick it up. It had to have been built well; we saw it tooling around Grand Haven sometime within the past ten years (Dad had bought Ford trucks after trading the Studebaker in on one, and I haven't, to my knowledge, seen one of those trade-ins).
We used to go places by riding in the back of these trucks--something that I don't think is even allowed any more (you'd have to install seat belts back there?). And one time Dad and I drove down to Roseville, Ohio, to pick up a load of pottery from the manufacturer (in the '64 Studebaker). The truck was loaded probably well beyond its half-ton rating, but we got the entire order home without throwing anything overboard or doing any damage. His trucks were also handy for tossing the bike on and getting a ride home from the other end of town late at night (his store was across from the C&O station, and not far from the GTW tracks where I could be found about three evenings a week).
Back to a more pleasurable subject: my five-year-old granddaughter definitely has this reading thing down: I walked in to their house last night, and she told her mother, "Grandpa's shirt says 'Still plays with trains.' " No hesitation or prompting at all.
Since we are going on about old trucks I will mention a Willys CJ. (post WWII flat fender jeep)
A farmer at Irricana, AB had one, with what I had thought was a homemade wood roof, sides and doors. Every second Friday he brought two cream cans down to the station to be put on the combine of the NB mixed to go to the dairy at either Torrington or Wimbourne, I can't remember now. The train ran to Wimbourne and returned on Saturday. We were closed, but the baggageman set the cans off on the platform, against the building, and later in the afternoon the farmer would come and get his empty cans.
We moved from there to Calgary on the last weekend of January 1965, and as it turned out his second weekend fell on the weekend before we moved. On the Saturday he came and picked up his cans. I saw him drive up, and ran from one window to the next to follow his progress from the jeep to get his cans, and back to the jeep. At the age of 10 I already realized I would never see someone pick up cream cans from a station again. Farmers on that line had been doing that for about 55 years, but it had been part of the railroad business for over a century at that point. And I've never seen cream cans other than at a museum since.
It was about 2000 or 2001 when I was walking along a few blocks west of my home when I saw an old jeep cross the intersection ahead of me, with an identical wood top. It took me 35+ years to discover that top may have been a kit, given the statistical improbability of ever actually seeing the same vehicle again.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
Modelcar ....Is part of the subject trucks...? Love my little truck. It's my loveable toy around town....S-10 Xtreme. Two 70 # sand bags behind the wheel wells helps in Winter, but one must be careful...Posi-traction too. Too much torque if one is not careful starting out.
Sure...trucks are always a good subject. An s10 xtreme? Wow, I haven't seen one of them in awhile. They used to be a couple around here. I used to have a littel tacoma. Standard cab, standard transmission. Fun little truck, but space was a definite premium in it. So I traded it for my 01 Tundra. I love the tundra, but I still miss the tacoma at times.
Maybe someday I will get another one...
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
My current vehicle is a 2000 Chevy Blazer with the 4.3L V6 Vortec. This one has a few 'electronic improvements' under the hood, K&N Cold Air Intake Kit, a shift kit, and limited slip rear end. I have done a 12.338 et in the 1/4 mile. It also does pretty well off road (as far as I've needed it to go) in some 'easy mud' (6"-8") and snow to 28" (through a deep snowfield). Not bad for a 4 door family hauler! I miss my '91 T-10 with the heavy duty transmission & rear end. Definately not a speed demon...but boy could it haul, tow, and go off-road!
CN seems to have been plagued by some track issues lately as it seems that the same areas on their Neenah Sub have had 10 mph slow orders for about a week straight now. I'm sure the crews get irritated in some ways by that but for me...chasing is easier on a 10 mph line than one at 50 mph!
Dan
CNW 6000 [snip] CN seems to have been plagued by some track issues lately as it seems that the same areas on their Neenah Sub have had 10 mph slow orders for about a week straight now. [snip]
Possibly 'frost heaves' messing with the cross-level and surface of the track ?
Paul_D_North_Jr CNW 6000: [snip] CN seems to have been plagued by some track issues lately as it seems that the same areas on their Neenah Sub have had 10 mph slow orders for about a week straight now. [snip] Possibly 'frost heaves' messing with the cross-level and surface of the track ?
CNW 6000: [snip] CN seems to have been plagued by some track issues lately as it seems that the same areas on their Neenah Sub have had 10 mph slow orders for about a week straight now. [snip]
Today took an interesting turn (toward the east!) after my daughter, son-in-law, and I went to visit one of her old orchestral friends (turns out Betsy's little guy likes trains, so we may see more of them!). But afterwards, we went east to Blue Island, and past Barr Yard to Dolton. Caught an IHB train at Dolton, then a CSX stacker on our way back through Blue Island. On the way back, we paralleled the BNSF "Racetrack" from Hinsdale to Downers Grove, and caught two dinkies in each direction, and an inbound Amtrak from the west coast, not too badly off schedule. Their rush hour starts at least an hour earlier than on UP west.
zugmann Modelcar: ....Is part of the subject trucks...? Love my little truck. It's my loveable toy around town....S-10 Xtreme. Two 70 # sand bags behind the wheel wells helps in Winter, but one must be careful...Posi-traction too. Too much torque if one is not careful starting out. Sure...trucks are always a good subject. An s10 xtreme? Wow, I haven't seen one of them in awhile. They used to be a couple around here. I used to have a littel tacoma. Standard cab, standard transmission. Fun little truck, but space was a definite premium in it. So I traded it for my 01 Tundra. I love the tundra, but I still miss the tacoma at times. Maybe someday I will get another one...
Modelcar: ....Is part of the subject trucks...? Love my little truck. It's my loveable toy around town....S-10 Xtreme. Two 70 # sand bags behind the wheel wells helps in Winter, but one must be careful...Posi-traction too. Too much torque if one is not careful starting out.
Xtreme S-10's were rather plentiful around here....Perhaps Anderson being close by, and an ex. GM mfg. town. One can still see quite few in this area. Mine has had a pretty easy life. Only about 47K miles on it now. I too have added K&N air filter product to it as another poster mentioned.
And Zug, we're on our 3rd Toyota product too....Love it. One of Toyota's Div. products....An automobile.
We're hitting the road in a couple of hours...three vehicles, 11 people, making the migration to western Michigan (dashing through the snow, it appears), to be with families this Christmas. We're pretty much beyond the age where gifts are exchanged or expected, so it's just being together with family that's important.
And the Diner has already gotten a fresh posting of Ed Blysard's version of The Night Before Christmas, so I thought I'd post here a version of Ed's other classic, written in 2006:
Got a good reality check today.
Everyone has a bad day once in a while, you know, those days where you could care less about any and everything, catch a good case of the blues, and end up feeling really sorry for yourself?
Had one of those yesterday, and it looked like a repeat for today.
The yard is jammed to the gills with cars, no place to switch them to, more work than we could ever get done, knee deep in gators...that along with some personal issues keeping me down in the dumps, having a real good pity party for myself....
There is a young man, 16 now, who shows up just about every day it isn't raining...he sits across from our yard entrance watching the action on the old SP line, and watching us switch.
The thing is, he sits in a wheelchair.
His Dad brings him up there in the afternoon, around noonish, and they sit, him in his chair, Dad in the van he has, watching, taking the occasional photo, waving at the crews as they go by.
I have never really talked to either one of them, other than giving them a few cans of water during a scorching summer day, and sneaking a gimmie cap out to the kid once...didn't really know his story, other than he shows up all the time, and a few of the other regular fans seem to enjoy sitting with him.
Well, we were sitting there on the lead, blocked by another inbound, while we were trying to go grab another switch cut from the receiving yard...just piddling away time really, when I noticed the van drive up.
Dad unloads the kid; they have one of those hydraulic lifts in the side door.
He gets the boy all covered up with a blanket, and they are taking in all the sights.
The boy keeps looking over at us, we are literally just across the street from them, when I get one of those ideas that usually end up with me having to try to explain to someone higher up why and what I was thinking and doing.
I talk with my helper a minute, and he thinks it is a great idea also, so we get down, trot across the street, and ask the kid if he wants to see the locomotive up close....Don't think I would have gotten a better response if I had given him the lottery numbers for tonight!
We roll him across the street, Dad grabs the handles, and my helper and I get the wheels, and we carry the chair over the ballast to the side of our motor.
This young man is just ecstatic, starts asking a million questions, we are kinda tickled, too...so my helper and engineer begin to answer his questions, when they can get a word in edgewise.
I was busy watching Dad...the look on his face was worth any trouble we might get into...I led him away from the locomotive, far enough where normal conversation can be had lower than at a shout.
I ask a few questions of my own, and it turns out the kid was riding his brand-new bike on his 12th birthday when a drunk driver clipped him...destroyed the spinal cord in his lower back; he is paralyzed from the waist down.
His Dad is beginning to cry a little now, seems the boy wanted to grow up and be an engineer, has always been a train nut, since childhood...Dad swears the kid can hear the trains miles away, you get the idea.
Dad and son have a model railroad and do the railfan bit together every chance they get.
Dad had tried to buy tickets for the UP 844, but just couldn't afford to get the tickets or the time to drive out to where it was.
He is really getting carried away thanking me for letting his son this close to a real locomotive, when my engineer, Booger, comes around the end of the motor, and points over to the dirt access road.
Great! Our daylight trainmaster is standing there, looking at me with that look which usually means I have to think faster than I normally do.
So I wander over, he gives me the third degree, then the speech about liability, injury, getting sued, blah blah blah...the whole time, I am thinking what a Scrooge he is, all the kid is doing is asking questions, and touching the lower handrail and steps....
Suddenly, I realize the trainmaster has quit talking, maybe a long while ago in fact, because he is looking at me like I am supposed to be giving him either an answer to a question or a load of BS, or both.
Now, my mouth and my brain sometimes run at different speeds, the mouth is usually faster of the two, and I usually regret that...today has been a crap day, my feet hurt, its really cold outside....
Before I even thought it through, I just looked at him and said, "Dude, what a Scrooge you are! That kid will never get a chance like this again, ever...all he wants to do is look and ask questions...he should be glad he isn't one of your kids!"...
I didn't wait for a reply, but just went back to Dad, walked him over to the kid, and was about to tell them the party was over when the trainmaster came walking up to us.
I was sure I had managed to get myself and my crew pulled out of service, just sure of it...and right before Christmas, to boot.
The young man, who had no idea who this guy was, or what he was going to do, stuck out his hand and introduced himself, grinning from ear to ear...the trainmaster had no real choice but to shake with the kid...he then tapped me on the arm, and motioned for me to follow him...we go about 10 or 15 feet away, when the trainmaster turned around, and had the oddest look on his face I had ever seen.
By now the inbound had cleared us up, so the noise level had dropped a lot, and I swear, the guy sounded like he was about to cry...he pointed towards the receiving yard, and said "You can get to your switch cut now....of course, you might want to run your helper down an empty track to the other end to check for brakes and see if there is a Fred on the end."
Now this make little sense, as the car department bleeds off these cuts, and removes the EOTs before we ever get a list on the stuff...I look at him, he nods towards the kid, then cuts his eyes up to the locomotive cab...no way...he is telling me to take the kid for a ride, just no way..."I will be downtown for a while, maybe an hour or so, if you need anything" he says, then looks at the kid again, and looks me straight in the eyes, "Be careful, Ok?"...spins around, walks over to his truck and leaves.
So when he is out of sight, I walk back, grab my engineer, clue him in and check to make sure he is good with it...he thinks it is a great idea...we ask Dad if they wouldn't mind going for a ride...I swear the kid looked like he was about to faint...Dad was a little stunned...said he didn't know how we would get the boy up there...
Booger is not the brightest light in the harbor, but he is one big son of a gun, he just reached down, grabbed the kid, flipped him over his shoulder, and walked up the steps, problem solved.
Now, I thought we would just give them a ride, but when we got into the cab, Booger had the kid in the engineer's seat, explaining what the controls did...I told him let's get over there before anyone notices...he runs standing up behind the kid, who is wild-eyed at all of this.
We get in the track, pretty much hidden from the yard by the cut of cars, and Booger stops the motor....steps away from behind the kid, and tells him which handle to move, to press down on the independent, move the throttle over here....and we take off, with the kid running the motor.
We have close to 120 cars' worth of running room, so the kid gets to run back and forth a pretty good distance...we get down and start to give him hand signals, while Booger stand behind him, telling him what to do...pretty much we screw off for a good 30 minutes, but time well spent...we run Dad back to his van, tell him to meet us at the other end of the yard, let the kid notch it out a few more times, and end up at the north end, where there is a whole lot of nothing but tress and the access road...Dad shows up with the van, we get the wheelchair off the front porch, Booger does his human bench press routine again, and we gotta get back to work before the yardmaster figures out we are doing not a whole lot...
The young man looks like he is about to explode he is so happy, Dad is crying a little, my helper is suddenly real interested in the rocks around his feet, I am getting a little leaky too...the kid shakes hands all the way around, they get loaded up, and as they are pulling away, the kid yells out the window, "Thanks again, and you guys have a great Christmas"...
So we skipped beans to make up the time, and when we tied up, I ran up to the tower to talk to the yardmaster, as I was kinda curious as to why the trainmaster did what he did...turns out that, yup, you can guess, his 8-year-old son was killed by a drunk driver.
Boy, do I owe someone an apology or what...
So I am driving home, feeling more like a idiot that usual, half of me thinking what I need to say to the trainmaster next time I see him, and half of me feeling pretty good about what we did for the kid, when it hits me...this kid will never get to do the things I take for granted every day...he most likely will never see the inside of a locomotive again, never line a switch, or tie a hand brake...never get to dance with his girlfriend, go surfing or ride a horse...and our trainmaster will never get to go watch trains or build a model with his son, or show him how to run a locomotive.
It smacked me so hard I had to pull over and sit a minute, smoke a smoke and think about it all.
So you know what?
Maybe nothing in my life is really wrong after all, I mean all my kids are healthy, my wife loves me, I am all in one piece, mostly, and in comparison...
Hey, ya know what?...I ain't got no problems, none at all...
I received a gift from the young man also...doing this for him taught me something else...
I had forgotten how to "play"...it was as much fun for us as anything we have done in a while.
And I thought about something late last night...what his Dad does for a living that allows him to spend as much time with his son as he does?
Whatever it is, it must be worth the sacrifice, because it allows him to do something a lot of us never do...spend a lot of time with his kid, and watch--really watch--him grow up.
Now, how cool is that?
I know the Dad works with his hands, you could see the callus, and every time I see him, he is always dressed in khakis or jeans and work shoes.
His watch is a Timex, his van is an old 70-something Dodge...but his kid was dressed in the "latest" cool clothes, the Nikes on his feet were the real deal, the kid's camera was a Canon Rebel, so I could see where Dad spends his money...
Anyway, when I got home last night, and after I typed all that...I took my kids and we went and played...we walked down to the BN main and watched a few trains, took a stroll through the woods near here, chased a wild rabbit, (rabbits win every time) then sat out in the front yard and watched stars, talking about all kind of stuff.
See, I realized that maybe the young boy's Dad is the real hero here...after all, it can't be easy.
But he is the one getting the reward; so to speak...the looks between him and his son made me realize how much I wish I had taken the time to really talk to my Dad, and how much I miss him.
It also made me realize how much the boy and his Dad love each other...you could see that no matter what happens, they will always be there for each other, you could see the boy trusted him completely.
I get it now...buying the new plasma TV for the house, or getting the next Playstation hasn't made me a "good" parent anywhere near as much as chasing a rabbit with a 7 and 13 year old did....Now I know things about my kids, and how they think, what they really want, what scares them and what doesn't.
Things I thought I knew didn't really matter, what I thought they wanted, and what they really wanted turned out to be different things after all.
Ya know what, there is a meteor shower due here on the 12th...think a road trip to the beach with the kids sounds like a great idea.
So the kid got a cab ride and a quick locomotive lesson, but I think I am the one who got the real gift...
Turns out there are a lot of closet modelers on the railroads, and the young man and his Dad are currently being asked to join a local club, which has as one of its founding members the former president of the local chapter of the NHRS...the boy should be in hog heaven...they are the folks who provide the car attendants and such when UP runs the specials down here.
As an addendum to the story, I went to apologize to the TM...he wouldn't let me...said I didn't know, so no apology needed,
He told me about his getting the kid in touch with the club, then handed me an envelope.
Said the young man had asked him to give it to me.
Inside was a simple plain paper hand written note, thanking my crew for the "fantastic afternoon" he and his Dad had.
Imagine that, some new school kids still have old school manners." />
Even better, I have an artifact to show my kids when they get all down and blue.
I don't normally preach, and I lost my soap box a long time ago, but just this once...
Do yourself, and your family a big favor this Christmas, and New Year's Eve...if you go out to party, and you drink...take a designated driver, or call a cab if you have even just a little more than normal...'cause trust me, you really don't have any problems, none at all.
A very Merry Christmas to all of our many friends on the Forum here, from Pat and me.
Since I will be in and out today and visiting my sister's family in town here tomorrow I will take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday.
Carl, thank you very much for posting Ed's other beautiful story here on the Trackside Lounge. Wishing you, your family, and all the ones here on Trackside, A Very Merry Christmas and a Blessed, Happy New Year!
Home again, after a very fulfilling (and full-filling!) couple of days with family in Michigan. Time to settle down for a not-so-long winter's nap.
Kind of sad news--the last vestiges of the South Shore Line's "Ideal Section" are coming down. Those steel lattice catenary supports on a couple-mile stretch east of Gary, Indiana, over two main tracks were supposed to represent the best of infrastructure for an interurban railway back in the day. New supports, not nearly as elaborate, took over the support function a few years back, when constant tensioning was introduced to the catenary, but the old steel supports remained up, until this month. Today we noticed that most of the horizontal cross-members have been removed, and some of the vertical posts have come down as well. We wonder whether a few of these could be re-assembled (at the Illinois Railway Museum, perhaps), as they were distinctive.
Even with these sturdy steel supports gone, the South Shore is miles ahead of where it was when this was being touted as the Ideal Section. The paired tracks/ continues east of the Ideal Section now (it hadn't, in the past), the catenary is much more capable of handling temperature extremes without operational adjustments, the signals are now set up for bi-directional operation under CTC rules, and the equipment riding the welded rail beneath these wires has little in common with its orange predecessors. Not always for the better, according to some, but the "Last Interurban" is no longer an anachronism--better than "Ideal".
Currently getting the first snow of the season here. Predictions went everywhere from a trace to 10 inches. Last call from the local university with a meteorology program has it 2-6".. with our end of the county closer to the 2 inch mark. Just enough to be a royal pain. (I just checked the county emergency services' webcad system, and there's already 17 accidents current on it. Great.)
And on top of that, I get to go play in it tonight. Ugh. Hope everyone had a good Christmas. Mine was uneventful, but I may use the holiday money my company gave me for a new toy of the lens variety. We'll see...
We're losing just about every last remaining hint of former railroads around here, Carl (PRR, RDG, PC, and even CR), so I know how that feels.
LInk to a photo (not mine) from January 2008 at East MIller that shows those catenary supports:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=219725
Link to another photo (also not mine) from March 1964 of older equipment - CSS 111 - running under a different style of catenary - a metal truss supported by wooden poles on each side - which I have not seen before:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=259172
Similar - a Little Joe under 5 tracks' worth of wireshung from 2 trusses supported by 3 poles - notice the curved supports at the poles, instead of the straight-angled ones in the photo linked above:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=259571
It's been interesting watching the cleanup from the derailment in Neenah yesterday. I have lots of respect for those that had to be outdoors in that wind. I wonder if this will be a catalyst to change how some ops run through the yard. It seems that some of the workarounds used to get trains through the area were a tad quicker and involved less work/switches than the 'normal' way of doing things. Time will tell.
How's everyone been doing?
Hope everyone had a good Christmas. I spent mine with my sister's family along with my mother. It was very enjoyable and a good meal was had by all.
Only one RR related gift, a biography of the 14 year old boy who is in one of the most famous photo's in Canadian history, the last spike of the CPR at Craigallachie, BC in 1885. He had been out looking for work, and had been walking for hundreds of miles when he just happened to show up on the day they were driving the last spike. My 12 year old nephew knew exactly what I was talking about because he had already learned about the picture in school.
I was quite surprised last summer when I read a review of the book. It isn't often you see a RR related book reviewed in the mainstream press, and they liked it. I hope it is as good as they say.
We're still winding down, finishing cookies, etc. The only real exercise we got today was a session with the Wii system that our daughters and sons-in-law presented us (and hooked up for us). Pat's a better bowler than I.
No railroad-related gifts here, but I may be able to purchase a couple for myself. Looking at the Trains DVD set (anybody want to carry away some old issues?), and/or an iPod to carry with me and update my files.
There were a couple of books that I've had an eye on, too, and I'd really like to get a new Official Railway Equipment Register (I've gone without for four years or more--that's a record!).
The California daughter and her husband flew back last night. Got slapped a bit while delivering them to the airport: saw some of the blue Rapid-discharge hoppers that used to run through Camp Mookie...but they've been relettered JAIX. And I couldn't read the numbers, and I can't remember the old reporting mark! My file-updating has a long way to go!
A mini-photography milestone for me today: my 500th different CN loco roster picture. Train A491 was led by CN 5726 as I caught it near Irish Road.CN 5726
It's pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things but I think it's kinda neat. All CN lines together I have 714 shots now...yay me or something, lol. Off to dinner with a friend from out of town.
First of all, happy birthday to Bob ("Spokyone") out in western Illinois; hope you have a great day out there at whatever you choose to do.
Dan, I have a friend in southeastern Michigan whose goal it was to photograph all of the C&O's locomotives, which he would attempt (also documenting their changes in paint schemes). Family vacations would often be to localities where the units not common in Michigan would be based. I'm pretty sure he was successful. But then C&O became a component of Chessie System, and he had to start over, including B&O and WM units. Then along came CSX...I know he took trips into the deep South to capture a few of those, too. He's retired now, which gives him more time for travel, but he may have accomplished his goal--now he and his wife go far afield to visit their three sons (all of them railfans--he must have done something right!) and their families. I think the Conrail breakup took place after his retirement, so he's probably included those units, too. So you might be able to get the thousands of CN units eventually. Good luck (and congratulations on the milestone)!
Have to get out for my weekly chore with the Historical Society later today; it's warm enough that I just might walk over to the tracks for an inspection after I'm done. They have done practically nothing noticeable on the crossover project or further signal bridges for the past month or more, though I think some switch assembly might be going on.
It's been a busy morning already, so I couldn't get in here before now to wish Houston Ed Blysard a happy birthday! The good news is that you won't be officially old until you catch up with me, and I keep moving the goalposts!
We don't plan on going anywhere today. It's warm but wet out there, and any evidence that we had a very white Christmas is disappearing fast. Pat's at her freshly-tuned-up sewing machine, and I'm here at the computer, and we're both busy enough that movement from these spots won't be necessary (maybe I can talk her into going out for lunch). We also figure that 2011 doesn't need to be invited or welcomed--it will come in anyway, whether we're awake for it or not. So we'll be snug in our bed. But those of you who are out partying the old year away, please do it safely, and only drive if you're sober. As usual, the CTA is offering bus and L rides for just a penny after 8:00 tonight (though I think I wouldn't want to share those vehicles overnight!).
From Pat and me, best wishes for a happy 2011 to everyone! May better things lie ahead!
The rails sure have been busy lately...seems like lots of the road trains are slightly ahead of "normal" times and maybe it's folks working to their home terminals so they can be done...not quite sure. 40s and mist/rain so far today. It doesn't sound like any travel plans are in store for us for this evening so we'll probably hang out with some family in town and be done with 2010.
1Q/2011 will be up late tonight or first thing tomorrow AM.
Baby, it's cold outside!
I just came in from getting groceries at the Safeway. For our American readers it is -8 degrees F., 4 mph wind from the SW and 76% relative humidity. The bit of wind just penetrates through your coat. At these temperatures the humidity is usually around the 30% mark. Believe me, I have no intention of going back outside again today.
Anyway, now that I have got that out of my system I would like to wish everyone here in the Lounge a safe, healthy, and prosperous new year. And for our photographer types, may you experience nothing but target rich environments.
Hi, and Happy New Year to one and all!! I'm new to this thread but not to the website, having been here about a year. (Thanks, Carl, for the invite!) I look forward to 'meeting' all of you and getting to know you and learn from, and with, you! Take care and stay safe! PLEASE don't drink and drive!! Call somebody, if need be.
Nance-CCABW/LEI
“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” --Will Rogers
Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right! --unknown
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.