Trackside Lounge: 1Q 2010 Edition

[The Butler]

Modelcar

CShaveRR

Up on time this morning. All clocks in the house were changed last night, and we went to bed at the "new" time. Cell phone changed itself. I haven't changed my (railroad) wrist watch yet; that will be done after I compare it to standard time at work, via phone. I set it about three seconds fast; it will be within five seconds at least for the rest of the month.

 

Carl....Of course an accuracy of 5 sec. / month should be acceptable to almost any work, but does the railroads accept the new Atomic Clock controlled clocks and watches....?  They have an accuracy of a fraction of a sec. all the time.....

I have a travel alarm clock that is one of those "atomic" clocks.  I use it to set my four analog and three digital clocks; my TV (2), DVD player and VCR clocks; and various watches and pocket watches.  My daily watch will lose about a minute a month if I don't keep an eye on it.

Carl, does the UP allow only certain makes and models of watches for it's employees?

[CShaveRR]

Modelcar

CShaveRR

Up on time this morning. All clocks in the house were changed last night, and we went to bed at the "new" time. Cell phone changed itself. I haven't changed my (railroad) wrist watch yet; that will be done after I compare it to standard time at work, via phone. I set it about three seconds fast; it will be within five seconds at least for the rest of the month.

 

Carl....Of course an accuracy of 5 sec. / month should be acceptable to almost any work, but does the railroads accept the new Atomic Clock controlled clocks and watches....?  They have an accuracy of a fraction of a sec. all the time.....

The clocks on the walls of our towers are atomic clocks, and, yes, they're that accurate. But they do not display seconds, so they're not acceptable as standard timepieces. (Same with cell phones--even if they were legal, they don't display seconds.)

Watches currently are required for employees who do not have a standard clock for reference. No brand names (like there used to be); they just have to be accurate and reliable, and display hours, minutes, and seconds. We are supposed to check our watches every day by comparing with a standard clock or the designated time service (which is what I do). Accuracy has to be within 30 seconds. I seldom have a problem with that; if I do, my Accutron probably needs a new battery.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Would any other industry - let alone other transportation industry - even understand what this discussion is all about ?   

- Paul North.

[blue streak 1]

Paul_D_North_Jr

Would any other industry - let alone other transportation industry - even understand what this discussion is all about ?   

- Paul North.

Paul: In my airline experience usually only to 5  -  10  minutes (non radar) about 15 years ago to the nearest minute until maybe the last 5 years. Now with GPS and arrival metering getting so precise it is down to about 10 - 15 seconds (radar).  Problem is that arrivals cannot be predicted closer because of thunderstorms, icing and the way the wind varies. So the closer you get to an arrival gate the closer the time desired for the arrival gate. I expect it will be down to 5 - 10 seconds in the next few years. 

[tree68]

Methinks that time is less important to the railroads today than it was in the days of timetable and train order operation, where your authority was governed by the published schedule and a difference of a few minutes could mean your life.

Since I can generally carry my cell phone as a redundant means of communication when I'm on the railroad (as a rule, it's off, I might add), it often serves as the reference for my analog (quartz) railroad watch.  We aren't terribly constrained by time (aside from trying to leave and arrive somewhere near on time), so accuracy to the second isn't an issue. 

Our Form D's are issued to the minute, not the second.

[Modelcar]

I have always wondered why they produce "atomic clocks" without second hands....Doesn't make sense.  All 3 of our radio controlled clocks...{one anolog, and two digital...DO have second hands or record in seconds.  So does my watch, it's analog, so it has a second hand.  My first radio controlled watch was digital, and it too, recorded in seconds.

[CopCarSS]

Thanks for the comments on the photos, everyone. And thanks for the rail info, Carl. I actually didn't know where the other "Globals" were. I only know the one out by Rochelle.

Meanwhile, it was too busy of a weekend for any rail activities. I'm hoping next weekend I can get out and actually look for some trains. It's been awhile since I've done that!

[CNW 6000]

Here's today's catch so far:

CN train 391 was caught coming north through Oshkosh, WI around 2PMish.  I missed hearing it pass the detector at 169.1 and got a visual on it near the north part of the Oshkosh "yard" at the Pioneer Avenue crossing.

I know it's "up sun" but it was that or nothing.

I realized how big it was (six-six axle motors on the head end) and tried to get ahead of it so I could get an axle count at 181.1 just south of Neenah.  Here is the detector report for that location.
http://www.youtube.com/user/icecardinal#p/a/u/0/uOoNR1laNLo

800 axles minus 36 axles for power = 764 axles of cars.  That means 191 cars...wow.

[CShaveRR]

Wow, Dan! On two counts:

The 800 axles on the train, and the temperature up there. You're not supposed to be warmer than we are!

[CShaveRR]

I hope to see some trains today! Our weather for the next three days includes sunny skies and highs well above normal. Pat has a dental appointment this morning, so I'll be a block or so away, trackside. Perhaps, if the appointment lasts long enough, we'll be able to grab a lunch to consume trackside as well.

The unfortunate thing is that our bikes are in the shop for their annual tuneup. They might be done by the weekend, when the weather's supposed to turn rainy again.

[CopCarSS]

CShaveRR

The unfortunate thing is that our bikes are in the shop for their annual tuneup. They might be done by the weekend, when the weather's supposed to turn rainy again.

I'm thinking that tuning up bicycles is an automatic bad weather trigger. I just started working on mine since temperatures are getting near the 70ºF mark, and now the forecasters are calling for a fair to meddling snowstorm on Friday (though it depends on where the center of the low ends up). Ahhh! Springtime in Denver!

[CShaveRR]

Our trip to Elmhurst worked out beautifully. I saw three scoots in slightly over an hour, and five freights in the same time frame--three stack trains and two manifests, all eastbound.

The grand finale was also witnessed by Pat after she was done at the dentist (she claims nobody else has a tooth like hers now!). After the last scoot cleared, we bought sandwiches for lunch and brought them back to where I'd been sitting. Coming at us from the yard were two westbound freights! The first to arrive was a stack train (one unit on each end), moving on Track 1 (the track normally used by eastbound scoots, which had in fact hosted one of those about ten minutes earlier). A manifest (MPRDM, I presume) at the same time came out and went west on Track 3 (the other outside track), so both of the platform tracks were occupied. I could think of only one reason why the stacker would have been on Track 1 instead of Track 2--and I was right. As soon as the manifest had cleared the control point, Track 2 got a high green eastbound and an eastbound stack train came right up the middle! He was still moving at a good 60 when he got to the west end of the platforms, but slowed down to about 50 for the control point, and continued to slow a bit afterwards. He had two units on each end.

By the time we got to our car and headed out, Track 2 was showing a lineup for another eastbound into the yard. We didn't hang around, but caught this one (QNPSKP) going through Villa Park.

This was a sum total of less than two hours trackside. Not too shabby for a Tuesday, which is normally one of the slower days of the week.

[AgentKid]

Carl, sounds like you had a really enjoyable day.

For the first time in I can't remember when, when I was on streets with a view of tracks, I saw trains two days in a row (Sunday & Monday). I think this might be a sign of this improving economy they are talking about. It is not like they stopped running trains every day, but with no particular rhyme or reason to my schedule and still seeing two trains in about ten minutes total trackside time is interesting.

They were both big grain trains but I didn't get to see the power on either one. Sundays train was heading north on the Red Deer Sub. with what would be empties for elevators north of Calgary. Yesterdays train was an eastbound coming from Vancouver with more empties. I think there must be a big new sale to some Asian country or to Russia.

Some of those covered hoppers are coming up to 40 years of age and were looking a lot worse for wear. I haven't heard recently how the rebuilding program is going.

Anyway I think I enjoyed seeing my two trains as much as you enjoyed seeing all the trains you did.

Bruce

 

[CShaveRR]

Bruce, I agree with you--a lot of those Canadian covered hoppers look just like the ones I remember seeing when I hired out, if not before. I know some are newer, but it's hard to keep track of just how old which groups are. And some of these cars have probably gone by the wayside and I just haven't noticed.

I know how exciting it was to see a train--any train--where I was growing up, and vowed to go to places where I could see more--and even more! It was big stuff when I got to see meets between two trains, or see how they were set up, back then. I don't get that in multiple-track territory--it's more like keeping trains out of each other's way.

By the way, I may have mentioned that the weather yesterday was beautiful. Today was even warmer, and tomorrow's going to be the best of all, with highs tickling 70 (from there it goes downhill--cooler Friday, precipitation that will eventually become snow over the weekend). But...it sure was nice yesterday! And yesterday was six weeks, to the day, after Ground Hog Day!

(I got a hair cut in honor of that momentous occasion--the rest of the hairs were cut out of sheer necessity.)

[AgentKid]

CShaveRR

a lot of those Canadian covered hoppers look just like the ones I remember seeing when I hired out

 

I was just looking at the Canadian Freight Railcar Gallery and the oldest Canadian Wheat Board hoppers they list are CPWX 600700-601073 built by National Steel Car in 1972. So I was rushing things saying they were 40 years old yet. But they are looking pretty ragged.

 Bruce

 

[CShaveRR]

I don't think it's going to get as warm today as they thought--maybe that will soften the blow that we get Saturday, when there might be snow in the mix.

Well, I had a decent day today...was able to route a couple of cars to their destination with a little detective work (would you believe a wrong city name on the billing address--caught using the ZIP code?), no equipment issues, and (unlike some fellow operators) no in-wrongs and no locomotives stubbing their toes on a switch. That's nothing to hold over their heads--just reporting that I seem to be the only one who made lemonade out of the lemons. And that's this time...if I keep tempting fate like this, I'll be having "one of those days" before long. But as far as that detective work, I suspect that I'm the only one who could have pulled it off as quickly as I did, just using available information.

[CShaveRR]

I finished editing a book today--it's the second edition of a book on the C&O's steel cabooses. Anyone who's acquainted with "Mr. Caboose"--a.k.a. Dwight Jones--knows how good this is going to be!

I wish I could have stayed in Elmhurst for a while after work today. En route to mailing Dwight's manuscript back to him, I was blocked by a westbound stack train coming from Global 1. As I was crossing the tracks, I could see the lights of two more westbounds waiting to leave Proviso. (Lights aren't uncommon here, but often it's yard engines or outbounds getting their air tests or otherwise not ready to go. I ignore the lights unless it's headlights on bright and ditch lights illuminated--as it was with the two trains in this case.)

Still nice here today--above 60 as we speak--but there's a cloud bank to our west, and I understand Iowa's down into the 30s. We're supposed to get about an inch of wet, slushy stuff over the weekend.

[zardoz]

CNW 6000

zardoz

CNW 6000

Trains on the CN are definately back to 'longer' lengths.  I've heard 650+ axle-count trains almost daily lately.  Even a few in the low 700s. 

I have to give credit to the locomotive engineers that run those trains.  To operate a train of 170+ cars over the roller-coaster profile of CN trackage in Wisconsin without getting knuckles or drawbars shows the high level of skill those engineers possess. 

I heard of another monster but didn't actually witness it.  A "reliable source" informed me that there was a 192 car train from Stevens Point to Superior within the past week.  I would hate to be the conductor on something that size and get nailed by a detector anywhere near the rear.

Dan or Carl,

Have either of you noticed how those monster CN trains are blocked? 

I remember getting the CNW trains from Itasca (ITPRA) that were frequently 135+ cars, which doesn't sound too bad until you realize that those trains were usually 10,000 tons, and to make it much worse, they always had a big cut (~50 cars) of bulkhead flats full of lumber right on the rear end.  It made for a very difficult train to operate smoothly.  If the CN trains are blocked similarly, I am amazed that they get over the road without generating any scrap metal.

[CShaveRR]

I'll watch 'em, Jim--but they have rules against that sort of thing now! Those bulkhead flat cars probably weighed a heck of a lot more than the 40-foot CN box cars that were also in those trains. I used to hate humping those trains from Itasca--all CN cars, either lumber in box cars, lumber on those green-and-black DWC bulkhead flats, or potash in those cylindrical gray covered hoppers. Boring and confusing, regardless of how they were positioned.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

CShaveRR

I finished editing a book today--it's the second edition of a book on the C&O's steel cabooses. Anyone who's acquainted with "Mr. Caboose"--a.k.a. Dwight Jones--knows how good this is going to be!  [snip]

Carl, this is a little 'off-the-wall', but here goes -

A modern abstract art sculpture in a nearby Allentown park is built around a railroad car truck.  From the components and marks on the truck sideframe, I've been suspecting it came from a C&O caboose.  When I have a chance early next week, I'll take and upload a photo of it so that you can see for yourself.  (I did have a few, but can't find them, somewhat surprisingly.)

- Paul North.

[CNW 6000]

I'll show some inexperience here...but I can't tell what's in the various boxcars by name/number like some folks can or know what's in them.  I can tell loads vs empties and the different types of car (boxcar, flat, tank, etc).  About a third of the time I remember to look at the springs on the cars and it seems that sometimes I see loads closer to the rear and empties in the middle/front...sometimes more loads up front and empties mid/rear.  I can't figure out a rhyme/reason why that is.

Speaking of monster trains (I have the recording of the 181.1 detector again if anyone wants to see it...caught another big 'un yesterday SB from Neenah.  205 cars and three six-axle motors = 838 axles.

[zardoz]

CNW 6000

Speaking of monster trains (I have the recording of the 181.1 detector again if anyone wants to see it...caught another big 'un yesterday SB from Neenah.  205 cars and three six-axle motors = 838 axles.

I bet they use a lot of power-braking on those trains. Or does CN require the use of dymanics, regardless of train size and/or blocking??

[Mookie]

BC - et al:  I am all twitterpated.  Driver told me he will retire 5/7 and 5/10 we are heading to North Platte and the Golden Spike at the UP yard.  Just the two of us!  Imagine that!  Last time we were there was just before they decided to build the new tower.  So we are going to go check it out. 

[CShaveRR]

Wow--I'm going to be busy here for a while!

SJ--congratulations to DE from both of us. Be sure and take U.S. 30 at least one direction along your route! And, I noticed that you're going to visit the Golden Spike on May 10--which happens to be the 141st anniversary of the driving of the original golden spike at Promontory.

Paul, I'll be looking forward to the information off the castings: if it has "C&O" on the casting, you're pretty safe at guessing its origin. A date might be helpful in determining the actual series from which it came. And the size of the journal (as well as the presence of leaf springs instead of coil springs) might help in determining whether it's in fact a caboose truck. Thanks for the quilt references...glad to know there are things for non-railfans to visit!

Dan, it might take a lot of experience to determine loads according to the car type. You have to know a bit about the geography--paper products probably go south in the box cars, kaolin comes north (to coat the paper) in small tank cars, or possibly covered hoppers. If you see the flat cars with lumber on them, it's probably coming from northwestern Canada. Covered hopper cars of smaller capacity (up to 4750 these days) probably have potash in them, from Saskatchewan. Tank cars from Canada: sulfur (sorry...sulphur!) in small ones, lp gas in the great big ones. Tank cars are more specific in what they carry, so you won't see, for example, tank cars carrying Kaolin north and sulfur south.

Our rules now prohibit trains from being overly heavy on the hind end: the rear quarter of the train may not contain more than a third of the weight (when the train weighs more than 7000 tons).

I've heard rumors that the third-shift hump will begin working seven days a week again soon. They'd probably be able to stay busy most of the time; we have hardly been able to keep up with the incoming trains lately.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Carl, "C&O" - as well as "Huntington" (sp ?) - are cast into the truck sideframe, and it does have leaf springs as I recall - that was the clue for me.  The journal sizes might be tough - I believe they welded the journal box lids shut - kids, you know.  Monday afternoon, if it's not too rainy - or Tuesday, then.

- Paul North.

[CShaveRR]

Paul, the journal size (two dimensions) ought to be stamped on the frame as well, but the leaf springs are pretty much a giveaway. Huntington, West Virginia, was a major shop location on the C&O (been in those shops a couple of times), as well as the location of a manufacturing plant of American Car and Foundry--home of a majority of the pre-1995 Center Flow covered hoppers.

Woke up to an inch or so of snow on the grassy places (and all over our crocuses). It will probably go today, if it doesn't get added to. Streets and sidewalks are just wet.

Today's my Friday--I get to work with my favorite hump conductor today, too! And the "running conversationalist" in one of the lower towers also laid off. It ought to be a nice, quiet day.

[CShaveRR]

Uh-oh!

Ed, if you're around, could you provide some enlightening thoughts?

This came from the UTU web site this morning:

HOUSTON — Officials are trying to find out what went wrong after a Union Pacific train started moving Sunday morning with no one at the controls, the KHOU Web site reports.

The runaway train traveled through downtown Houston on its own for about 15 minutes before crews could get it to stop.

The train traveled from 902 Washington to the 2000 block of Rothwell, where it stopped just south of Interstate 10 East.

No one was hurt.

[CopCarSS]

Mook,

My congratulations to you and Driver! You guys should have a blast at the Tower. I did, although I wish I could have spent a little more time there. One of these days I'll get back.

If you get a chance, the Cody Park Railroad Museum on the north side of town is worth a stop, too. They've got a Challenger in the Greyhound Scheme:

A Centennial:

You can get into the cab of both. What really neat, is everything is marked. This was especially fun on the Challenger. I've been in steam locomotive cabs before that marked the throttle, Johnson Bar, Brakes, etc. But every valve in the cab was marked on this one:

Additionally, there's a short train with a few cars of displays that you can check out too. Here's a shot from inside the RPO:

And some of the displays in one of the other cars (baggage car, perhaps?):

The depot is also tourable. Unfortunately, I don't have anything good from the depot, but you can see it on the right side of this photo:

Everything is free, too. Definately worth a stop if you're in the North Platte Area.

Enjoy your trip!

EDIT: I agree with Carl, too, that US 30 should be utilized for at least part of the trip. I took it all the way from Lincoln to North Platte, and was glad I did. The parade of stuff was most impressive! I stopped a couple places along the way and just sat and watched the action. Cozad (the 100th Meridian City) is a particular favorite of mine:

[Modelcar]

A beautiful group of photos.  Loved the view of inside the RR car.  And just a great pic of the Centennial....What an appearance of brute strength...!

[The Butler]

Chris,

  Was this park part of a right-a-way or was the track put down for the locos. and the depot moved to that spot?  I love the gray painted track!