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Ed B: Are you in the path of a hurricane?

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Posted by edblysard on Monday, September 15, 2008 3:49 PM

Still standing.

Beaten up some....

But never beaten.

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Posted by Mookie on Monday, September 15, 2008 6:39 PM
Very nice.

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by TomDiehl on Monday, September 15, 2008 8:20 PM

Glad to hear that Ed is OK. Ike didn't hit in this part of PA, but like a fool, I was down in the Caribbean dodging it on a cruise ship.

Guess I know now why the tickets were cheaper this time of year. And I thought it was because the kids went back to school. Shock [:O]

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Posted by arkansasrailfan on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 8:36 AM
My grandmother had roof damage from Ike. Boy, that sucker is long gone already!
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Posted by rvos1979 on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 5:08 PM

Afternoon all.....

Our terminal next to Miller Brewing in Trenton/Hamilton, OH is still without power and fuel as I type this.  Have not heard how Weedsport/Syracuse fared.

Randy in Bloomington/Normal, IL   

Randy Vos

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 5:49 PM

Randy - Syracuse and environs got some wind and a few areas suffered some loss of power, but all should be good now.  Talked to daughter (Liverpool) last night - no issues for them except for some twigs to clean up out of the yard.

We got it good here, but outages were spotty and fuel was never an issue.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Modelcar on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 10:25 PM

....Nice pic's Ed....I imagaine some of the distant skyscrapers are the ones that suffered so many blown out window glass.....

Quentin

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Posted by edblysard on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 5:06 AM
Yup...thats downtown Houston from the east side, taken from what left of our yard tower...almost every building there lost some glass...my wifes office on the north side is one of thoese atrium buildings, 8 stories high with the courtyard in the middle....the wind blew out the entrance doors, and then blew the roof up and out...most of the plants and funiture from the courtyard went up 8 stories and out the roof...weird how things like that work.

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 6:49 AM
I got an e-mail from my brother yesterday.  He got back to work but 68% of the office complex (Centerpoint) where his firm is located was without power.  His family is OK and the house is intact but they're still without power and have no firm idea when it will be restored.
The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by Modelcar on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 6:58 AM

....Wow, that's wild.  Too bad the designers can't {or don't}, seem to be able to match the strength of the glass and the building.  On the other hand, maybe the breakage of glass out of skyscrapers might act as a safety valve and save the building's integritiy.

That must be a heck of a job cleaning up all the glass in downtown Houston....and the danger of shards of glass still vulnerable in upper stories still hanging in place....

Quentin

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Posted by arkansasrailfan on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 1:00 PM
Yes, I think you are right, since it would save the building from being exploded or imploded
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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 1:28 PM

Actually, research has shown that it's not the pressure differential that destroys a building (speaking chiefly of tornados, but it's true of hurricanes, too).  It's the wind, pure and simple.

If there's something to be said for losing the windows in a building like that, it's that it might reduce the "sail area" thus reducing the possibility of the building just plain being blown over.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by arkansasrailfan on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 1:41 PM
Oh. I knew that. Except I forgot that opening windows in a tornado lets the building have a better chance of being picked up(small buildings)
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Posted by Last Chance on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 3:45 PM

Opening windows is a myth. It's the missile damage that wrecks windows and walls.

The Roof is your seal on a house against a storm. Once it gets ahold of one corner and peels, the walls and contents cannot stand.

Building codes refer to wind loading of a house wall (And doors, windows etc) that say so much wind can blow for only so long. I think 90 mph for 3 second duration and some buildings are overbuilt to withstand 140+ mph. It only takes a failure anywhere in the structure to compromise it.

My standard is a 60 mph storm for the house I live in. I expect damage above 60. Anything over 80 ... most certainly.

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Posted by arkansasrailfan on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 4:09 PM
Yes, opening windows is a myth, in fact opening them give more leverage for the storm to rip it off an then your house.
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Posted by edblysard on Thursday, September 18, 2008 5:22 PM

Up and BNSF started  operation here yesterday...most of the CTC system is down due to power loss and railroad power lines down...most crossing guard systems do not work, all trains advised to approach any crossing prepared to stop and flag the crossing...some trains are running on track and time or TWC...all mainline switches have to have the position they were left in reported to the dispatchers...old time railroading, but it works...no form 19s, but I would bet the CTC is back before it come to that.

Today, several of the PTRA customers requested service, which means a lot of the refineries are coming back on line and need supplies.

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Posted by arkansasrailfan on Thursday, September 18, 2008 7:23 PM
good. gas prices need to go down.
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Posted by edblysard on Thursday, September 18, 2008 9:25 PM

Sunday afternoon....

Same bayou, White Oak...Thursday night.

Second photo was shot from the bridge shown in the first one...

This is still above normal flow by about a foot, so you can judge the amount of water that was flowing there Sunday afternoon.

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Posted by jeaton on Friday, September 19, 2008 8:21 AM

Ed

Looks like the builders of Houston took a page from the Mudchicken's book.   Drainage, Drainage, Drainage...

Jay

"We have met the enemy and he is us." Pogo Possum "We have met the anemone... and he is Russ." Bucky Katt "Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." Niels Bohr, Nobel laureate in physics

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Posted by videomaker on Friday, September 19, 2008 9:17 PM

 Hey Ed,

Are the BNSF and UP running down there yet? UP is still dspg from Omaha..How did Spring fair?

Are the yards underwater,are you back to work yet?

Danny
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Posted by edblysard on Friday, September 19, 2008 9:58 PM

Yes, UP and BNSF started operations Wensday morning.

Dont know about the Spring Dispatch Center...I know most of Spring has no power, but I would have though the dispatch center would have it's own generator...but I didnt hear them on the air Wensday afternoon.

CTC was not working when I left Wensday at 2:30 pm...

Our yards are OK...been up and running since Monday morning.

The PTRA called Sunday, and asked, not ordered the guys on first shift to come in monday, we cobbled a few yard crews together...they fed us breakfast and lunch, gave everyone who showed up 4 cases of water, two 10 lb bags of ice, and 20 gallons of gasoline or diesel, monday, tuesday and wensday...not to shabby...we were running 1st only till wensday because of the lack of yard lights and the curfew here.

 

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Posted by Modelcar on Friday, September 19, 2008 10:27 PM

......Sounds like your company treated you fellows pretty good Ed....Bet that can work both ways.

Quentin

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Posted by nordique72 on Saturday, September 20, 2008 11:37 AM

 Danny,

The Spring Dispatch Center is back open in limited capacity right now- the Palestine, Terminal, and Eureka Subs are all being dispatched out of there right now- the Navasota Sub is still being dispatched out of Omaha at this time. Spring faired pretty well in Ike- we had a lot of trees down and some houses got hit with trees- signs were blown out and electricity lines got snapped in the wind- but we're doing good up here. We're still without power in most of town- my subdivision is going on one week without electricity. The UP is running all the crossing and signal circuits on portable generators (they are all chained to the side of the control boxes along the ROW) and a couple times a day a highrailer will get track and time from the DS to go fill them up with gas. We're supposed to get our power back on Monday- so we'll see if the power company can keep their promises! 

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Posted by videomaker on Monday, September 22, 2008 11:48 AM
 nordique72 wrote:

 Danny,

The Spring Dispatch Center is back open in limited capacity right now- the Palestine, Terminal, and Eureka Subs are all being dispatched out of there right now- the Navasota Sub is still being dispatched out of Omaha at this time. Spring faired pretty well in Ike- we had a lot of trees down and some houses got hit with trees- signs were blown out and electricity lines got snapped in the wind- but we're doing good up here. We're still without power in most of town- my subdivision is going on one week without electricity. The UP is running all the crossing and signal circuits on portable generators (they are all chained to the side of the control boxes along the ROW) and a couple times a day a highrailer will get track and time from the DS to go fill them up with gas. We're supposed to get our power back on Monday- so we'll see if the power company can keep their promises! 

Nordique,

Thanks for the update ,sorry its taken 3 days to reply..I went rail fanning down toward the Sumerville area Sat and the BNSF was running trains north and south all day,didnt see any UP ...

Danny

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