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)
CShaveRR wrote: Murphy Siding wrote: Murphy Siding wrote: Speaking of trains, or tractors, or whatever....There are so many threads started about grade crossing accidents, that it seems redundant to start a new one. Yesterday, as I was leaving for work around 6:50 a.m., I heard a train horn off in the distance. All I heard was one long blast, perhaps 20-30 seconds long. I thought to myself "that doesn't sound good". As it turns out, a BNSF grain train hit a tractor at a crossing, about 4 miles south of my house. The locomotive was derailed until mid afternoon. The driver of the tractor, who, ironically, is someone I know was alright. He said he didn't hear or see the train! Judging from the photo in the newspaper today, it was a pretty fancy tractor that got destroyed. Perhaps, he didn't notice the train , because he was watching Opra on the dish TV, and waiting for the coffee maker, while microwaving his breakfast?....Obligatory deja vu / post script: Today's paper has an editorial about how this crosiing needs to have more than a stop sign( and a blaring train horn). It suggest flashing lights and a crossing gate. Maybe that will keep farmer Steve from blowing on through the intersection and colliding with a train? I doubt it. Did I mention I can hear the train blowing the crossing at my house, 5 miles away?And how loud do you watch Oprah?
Murphy Siding wrote: Murphy Siding wrote: Speaking of trains, or tractors, or whatever....There are so many threads started about grade crossing accidents, that it seems redundant to start a new one. Yesterday, as I was leaving for work around 6:50 a.m., I heard a train horn off in the distance. All I heard was one long blast, perhaps 20-30 seconds long. I thought to myself "that doesn't sound good". As it turns out, a BNSF grain train hit a tractor at a crossing, about 4 miles south of my house. The locomotive was derailed until mid afternoon. The driver of the tractor, who, ironically, is someone I know was alright. He said he didn't hear or see the train! Judging from the photo in the newspaper today, it was a pretty fancy tractor that got destroyed. Perhaps, he didn't notice the train , because he was watching Opra on the dish TV, and waiting for the coffee maker, while microwaving his breakfast?....Obligatory deja vu / post script: Today's paper has an editorial about how this crosiing needs to have more than a stop sign( and a blaring train horn). It suggest flashing lights and a crossing gate. Maybe that will keep farmer Steve from blowing on through the intersection and colliding with a train? I doubt it. Did I mention I can hear the train blowing the crossing at my house, 5 miles away?
Murphy Siding wrote: Speaking of trains, or tractors, or whatever....There are so many threads started about grade crossing accidents, that it seems redundant to start a new one. Yesterday, as I was leaving for work around 6:50 a.m., I heard a train horn off in the distance. All I heard was one long blast, perhaps 20-30 seconds long. I thought to myself "that doesn't sound good". As it turns out, a BNSF grain train hit a tractor at a crossing, about 4 miles south of my house. The locomotive was derailed until mid afternoon. The driver of the tractor, who, ironically, is someone I know was alright. He said he didn't hear or see the train! Judging from the photo in the newspaper today, it was a pretty fancy tractor that got destroyed. Perhaps, he didn't notice the train , because he was watching Opra on the dish TV, and waiting for the coffee maker, while microwaving his breakfast?
And how loud do you watch Oprah?
Murphy Siding wrote: Speaking of trains, or tractors, or whatever....There are so many threads started about grade crossing accidents, that it seems redundant to start a new one. Yesterday, as I was leaving for work around 6:50 a.m., I heard a train horn off in the distance. All I heard was one long blast, perhaps 20-30 seconds long. I thought to myself "that doesn't sound good". As it turns out, a BNSF grain train hit a tractor at a crossing, about 4 miles south of my house. The locomotive was derailed until mid afternoon. The driver of the tractor, who, ironically, is someone I know was alright. He said he didn't hear or see the train! Judging from the photo in the newspaper today, it was a pretty fancy tractor that got destroyed. Perhaps, he didn't notice the train , because he was watching Oprah on the dish TV, and waiting for the coffee maker, while microwaving his breakfast?
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
He needs to get Oprah tickets. Maybe she'll give everyone in the audience the keys to a new tractor.
.....The Muncie {ex C&O}, depot {now TrailHead}, restoration is a class "A" job. Inside and out. Mechanicals and everthing has been renewed. Now A/C'd as well. That's real clay tile roofing....Manufactured special from original samples or prints....each piece weighs 16 lbs.
This was an $800,000 plus restoration. Some RR artifacts on display inside, and Trail offices. It is staffed 6 days a week.
Just to the far right side of above photo one can observe NS trains passing on the New Castle Line....
Quentin
I have a handkerchief made of the logo fabric - but it is at least 30 years old. I also have a handkerchief that has a print of the Tokyo subway system on it. I would have been useful if I could read Japanese.
dd
Hey... I recognize that fabric with all of the logos on it.
My mom had some of that years ago.....I think she made some curtains for my dad's train room out of it, or something, and I seem to recall pillowcases made from the same stuff.
CShaveRR wrote: We got to the Muncie station too late in the day to go inside, but we could see that a lot of the original woodworking had been restored, and that there was an O-scale layout in there as well (C&O prototypes).PZ, tell MZ that the material I mentioned was manufactured by Robert Kaufman. The background color is sort of a sepia tone. For anyone else (as well), the use of UP trademarks was licensed by the railroad, so it's all legit. Pat warns that if you do buy the material, don't attempt to resell what you've made from it. For MZ and other Chicagolanders, Pat expects that the quilt store in LaFox will be getting this material in--the owner told Pat that she buys anything and everything railroad.
We got to the Muncie station too late in the day to go inside, but we could see that a lot of the original woodworking had been restored, and that there was an O-scale layout in there as well (C&O prototypes).
PZ, tell MZ that the material I mentioned was manufactured by Robert Kaufman. The background color is sort of a sepia tone. For anyone else (as well), the use of UP trademarks was licensed by the railroad, so it's all legit. Pat warns that if you do buy the material, don't attempt to resell what you've made from it. For MZ and other Chicagolanders, Pat expects that the quilt store in LaFox will be getting this material in--the owner told Pat that she buys anything and everything railroad.
SWMBO wants to know if Pat knows who made this fabric.
Looks like this would be worth the trip. Nice restoration, Muncie.
CShaveRR wrote: If your spouse (or you!) is into quilting, here's a tip: there's a new group of fabrics out there with UP-related motifs, including photographic-quality renditions of steam locomotives, and logos of most, if not all, of the UP's predecessors. We bought pieces of the three different fabrics in this group at a quilt store in Indianapolis, and I should be able to gaze upon a wall-hanging sometime in the future (the fact that it was my birthday got us the material for a substantial discount, besides!).
If your spouse (or you!) is into quilting, here's a tip: there's a new group of fabrics out there with UP-related motifs, including photographic-quality renditions of steam locomotives, and logos of most, if not all, of the UP's predecessors. We bought pieces of the three different fabrics in this group at a quilt store in Indianapolis, and I should be able to gaze upon a wall-hanging sometime in the future (the fact that it was my birthday got us the material for a substantial discount, besides!).
Thanks, Carl. I shall refer this to SWMBO.
Carl:To say I was "bowled over" is an understatement. To put things into perspective, my hometown has a population of about 100 people and the line thru town was abandoned in 1994, yet there the station sign in Monon, Indiana.
It was an amazing display of railroad stuff. Cant wait till they start selling the paper stuff.
ed
CShaveRR wrote:Guess the Amtrak detour report was just rumor.
Thank you all for the birthday wishes! And a similarly-belated greeting to Larry ("Tree"), whose birthday was also yesterday. Sorry, Kiddo, you'll never catch up to me!
Pat and I went all the way to Indiana on our weekend. Monday was filled with a stop at Shipshewana, followed by a trip to the Cardinal Trail in Muncie. Trail offices are in a beautifully-restored former C&O depot there--and that's where Quentin met up with us. We saw three NS trains on their track near the depot--all headed in the same direction.
We were in Indy on Tuesday morning, before heading north to the Monon Connection and Whistle Stop Restaurant north of Monon, where we met Ed ("MP173"). The Museum is a truly amazing place. You're lured in by a hook--on the end of a 150-ton Monon wrecking crane! That's the highlight of the equipment on display, but the interior is even more amazing--well-organized displays of railroad china and metalware, walls full of historic Pennsy calendars in the restaurant, and artifacts ranging from speeders to station signs neatly displayed. While I was "merely" impressed, Ed was bowled over when he found the station sign from his hometown in Illinois, along an IC branch line.
After the lunch we had at the restaurant (calendars on the walls, G-scale trains running below the ceiling), we couldn't have possibly looked at a turkey-leg, so that Valparaiso restaurant will have to wait for another time. Just north of the museum/restaurant we saw, at the entrance to a limestone quarry, a Monon four-bay hopper car with outlets of a type that had fallen from favor in the 1920s!
We found another fantastic quilt store in downtown Valparaiso, and were blocked by a CN freight moving westbound on their line as we attempted to leave town.
Brian, I don't think I've seen any COEH cars yet. Wouldn't mind seeing them, though (Edit: according to my records, I saw some about three years ago). (Hey, I've always thought of you as one of my peers! And I'm honored to have finally met two more of them on my trip.)
A belated , Carl!
A question arose from this picture I posted on another forum that I bet you or one of your peers can answer. I took this shot Monday while waiting for Amtrak #6, which of course never came. Who's reporting mark (CCEH) is that on the gon behind the engines?
EDIT: Nordique72 beat you to it on the other forum- here's his answer from there:
The reporting marks in question are not CCEH- but COEH. The rib of the hopper covers up the right side of the "O" on the marks. I have seen these marks in service on UP and BNSF coal trains for the last 5 years or so. The marks belong to the shortline Conecuh Valley Railroad- an Alabama shortline that connects to the CSX at Troy on a former SOU branch line. The cars are part of the ever growing fleet of cars whose owners lease their marks to leasing companies (Citibank, GE Capital, Helm Financial, etc.)- the COEH is only 12 miles long, and I'd wager if all the COEH coal cars showed up on home rails at once- there wouldn't be enough places to put them!
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
I was watching the kids today.... Well, not really, because my daughter had a "play-date" and was gone all afternoon, and my son doesn't get out of school until after 3, so I sat at the ex's and watched some BNSF action for a little while.
On the subject of "favorite locomotives", etc. etc. I find, that, visually, I prefer the EMD's over the GE's for the most part. A container train went through with a GE (An ES44 I think) leading followed by 3 or 4 SD40-2's in BN colors. After that I was another freight train with SD70's and SD40's. There is something about the older EMD's that I like, from a visual standpoint. (and a sound standpoint too, but that's another post) The GE's seem way too "cookie-cutter" to me, I can't tell a Dash 9 from an AC4400 from an ES44AC. When it comes to EMD's however, I can tell an SD70 from and SD40, and so on. I don't know if it's the way the cabs look on the EMD's or what, but, visually I find them a more appealing locomotive.
So, that is what I was thinking about today, because, well, I have waaaayyyy too much time on my hands lately....
...Carl and Pat should be enjoying celebrating his birthday today as they are on a swing thru parts of Indiana checking out things they care to visit and see....
Had the pleasure to meet and visit with them both last evening at our former depot, now TrailHead and they even got to see some rail traffic {on parallel NS} pass by while we all were there with our visit.
-ChrisWest Chicago, ILChristopher May Fine Art Photography"In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration." ~Ansel Adams
CopCarSS wrote: Dan,It's an adjustable thing for me. I'm not a fan of noise, so I always try to shoot at the lowest ISO possible. However, if you're dealing with fast moving trains, you're going to want to keep your shutter speed up. IIRC, you're shooting with a P&S. Because of the small sensor size and short focal length of the lenses with P&S cameras, depth of field shouldn't be a problem. Because of that, you should be able to shoot at wider apertures without too many problems.Next time I'm shooting on a cloudy day, I'll make note of my settings (or I'll go through my stuff and check out the EXIF data).
Dan,
It's an adjustable thing for me. I'm not a fan of noise, so I always try to shoot at the lowest ISO possible. However, if you're dealing with fast moving trains, you're going to want to keep your shutter speed up.
IIRC, you're shooting with a P&S. Because of the small sensor size and short focal length of the lenses with P&S cameras, depth of field shouldn't be a problem. Because of that, you should be able to shoot at wider apertures without too many problems.
Next time I'm shooting on a cloudy day, I'll make note of my settings (or I'll go through my stuff and check out the EXIF data).
I can adjust a couple of things as I have a Canon Powershot A530. I can adjust the f stop, ISO, and a couple other things. I'd call it a P&S+, I guess. Thanks for the tips!
Dan
The housing construction slowdown is real. I drove by an unused branch line this week end (the Eastern Idaho RR West Branch) and they have 4 miles of stored lumber racks.
Nice catch.
I have a photography question for those that know more than I: What are 'good' settings to shoot at on an overcast day? ISO, Exposure, f Stop, etc?
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