Trackside Lounge: 2Q 2010

[Mookie]

ought to be easier to hold up than Mookie was! (SJ could stand on her own, but was kind of surprised by the diamonds at West Chicago.)

Most people get souvenirs - I got a nasty bruise.....

[AgentKid]

All this talk about churches reminds me of a funny railway related story from my childhood. My brother and I were attending a vacation Bible School about 1962. In an arts and craft class we were making maraca's by wrapping paper mache around regular light bulbs. After the paper mache hardened the object was to strike the paper mache hard enough to break the glass, but not crack the outside.

Several attempts were made to do this, but several were broken because you couldn't break the glass without breaking the paper mache. Suddenly my Mom had an idea. She brought all the remaining maraca's home with us at lunch. After we ate, she carried the box out onto the platform and began breaking the glass by hitting the maraca's on the railhead! Every maraca broke successfully!

About fifteen years later when my sister was in Girl Guides, the group decided to do the same thing. At which point my Mom said how are we going to do this without a railway track outside the house. Everyone but my sister thought this was just hilarious. She was just confused. I forget how they did it in the end, but they were able to do it.

Bruce

 

[CShaveRR]

The train trip with Ellen and the kids is now history. Got off to a bad start, when we couldn't find a legal parking spot in Lombard. We decided to drive to Elmhurst, have our brunch there, then take Metra to Geneva and back, quick trip.

This was the first ride on anything that wasn't a tourist railroad or "toy" train for the two younger kids, and Katelyn doesn't remember her previous Metra ride, over four years ago. They were excited to see that we were moving, and to see other trains (of which there were a good half-dozen freights and a couple of scoots). Nicholai, it turns out, is excited by everything--trains, trucks, crossing gates, tracks without trains, toy trains on elliptical tracks (every time they come around!) and so on.

All of the new signal bridges on this stretch of the line are up and ready to go, with signals covered. (I've been told that the Lombard crossovers will be east of the station, so I suspect there will be a second wave of bridges coming between Lombard and Elmhurst.) In spite of a light rain, Geneva was fun to walk into. We discovered a yarn and toy-train shop (mostly Thomas, whose friends are all well known by the kids). We also found out that there will soon be a new "2Toots" restaurant in Geneva. I didn't understand where the lady in the toy store said it would be, but it should have a view of the tracks.

While waiting for our train at Geneva, we saw an eastbound NORX coal train go through--it was neat to hear the DP unit open up just as it passed us, for the climb up out of the Fox River valley.

On the way east, I asked Katelyn if she wanted to look out the front of the train and see the signals. She didn't say anything, but the gleam in her eyes and the big hug I got at that point was taken as an affirmation. So she was held up to the window as we passed the yard in West Chicago (the NORX coal train was sitting on Main Track 2), and as we passed the green searchlight signal and across the EJ&E diamond. SJ, you'll be happy to know that this time the diamond hardly bounced us at all! By the time we left the West Chicago station, however, Katelyn was ready to give her sister Emily a turn with Grandpa. We didn't pass or meet any trains between Winfield and Wheaton, which was a big disappointment to Emily.

Katelyn paid attention to the signals, and was able to pick out the ones that pertained to our train. She didn't get to see any of them change until after we got off the train in Elmhurst.

At the risk of being controversial, I must point out that the absolute high point on the trip for all three of the kids was before we boarded the train in Elmhurst (and again in Geneva), when the conductors of the passing freight trains practically fell out of the windows waving to the kids--accompanied by a few friendly horn toots from the engineer.

Nico didn't last very far on the trip home from Elmhurst before zonking out completely, but the girls thanked us again when they dropped us off. And Katelyn is definitely curious about this "yard" I work in! I hope to take more trips with these little guys, and soon!

[CopCarSS]

I'm so envious, Carl. What a great outing. It sounds like you've got a good group of future railfans there! Within a year or so, they're going to know more about railroading than I do!

[AgentKid]

CShaveRR

And Katelyn is definitely curious about this "yard" I work in!

Bruce

 

[Deggesty]

I envy you, Carl, in being able to share your love of trains with your grandchildren. Of course, Ricki and I would travel much more if we could because we both enjoy travel by rail. As we told you last year, we met because we were both on the City of Portland just to be riding it. Perhaps I should look for a poem entitled, "Bless Me, but this is Pleasant, Traveling by Rail" (or something like that) which appeared in Trains many years ago, and post it. We are planning another trip for this spring, and expect to be in Chicago during it.

[tree68]

Daughter relates that grandson's window allows a view of a CSX branch line with still gets daily traffic serving a large brewery nearby.  Methinks there's a Brio trainset in his future...

Granddaughter likes trains, having ridden with "Papa" on "his" train last spring.  I don't think there's a train set in her future, but more time spent with them may bring about the opportunity for some model railroading in a few years.

Now, where's my Hawaiian?

[CShaveRR]

Probably in the Diner. Grandkids have a Thomas table that gets set up in their living room on occasion. All three know how to put the cars on the track and keep them there. They could teach the real railroaders a thing or two!

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Johnny -

I'm recalling that it was in Trains during the last half of the '60s, maybe during the '70s - definitely during David P. Morgan's tenure, and maybe quoted by him in an essay, editorial, Second Section, etc.

The original is ''Rhyme of the Rail'' by John Godfrey Saxe, and I just discovered it has many more verses and was more popular than I ever knew - I only remembered parts of the repeated first/ last verse, including the catch phrase that you quoted.  For the whole poem and the 'back story', see -

http://home.mindspring.com/~railroadstories/rrmmv1n1/rhymeof.htm 

- Paul North. 

[tree68]

CShaveRR

Probably in the Diner.

Lost track of where I was....

[CNW 6000]

tree68

CShaveRR

Probably in the Diner.

Lost track of where I was....

It happens!

I know where I'll be chatting when the Trains site goes down soon.  Should anyone care to join me there (some from here already have) PM/email me.

CN's been busy today.  In the span of about an hour I saw 5 trains!  3 SB and 2 NB.  Now if only I had time to stay in one spot and get shots...lol, I guess next time.  Off to be busy again!

[CShaveRR]

Carl: "Watch the signal, Katelyn. When the train goes under it, the green light will change to red."

Katelyn: "...You hope!"

Yup...a black belt in sarcasm, at age 5!

[Deggesty]

Paul_D_North_Jr

Johnny -

I'm recalling that it was in Trains during the last half of the '60s, maybe during the '70s - definitely during David P. Morgan's tenure, and maybe quoted by him in an essay, editorial, Second Section, etc.

The original is ''Rhyme of the Rail'' by John Godfrey Saxe, and I just discovered it has many more verses and was more popular than I ever knew - I only remembered parts of the repeated first/ last verse, including the catch phrase that you quoted.  For the whole poem and the 'back story', see -

http://home.mindspring.com/~railroadstories/rrmmv1n1/rhymeof.htm 

- Paul North. 

Thanks, Paul, for coming up with the true title and with the link (you obviated my having to hunt the issue of Trains which has it). It may have appeared in the late spring of 1972, when I was convincing Ricki we should marry, for I copied it and mailed it to her. I forwarded the  link to her so she could enjoy it again, without having to dig it out of the letters I sent her back then.

Anybody who enjoys riding trains for pleasure should enjoy the poem, even though some of the refrences may be a bit obscure. I am sure Edna St. Vincent Millay enjoyed it, if she read it.

[blhanel]

CNW 6000

I know where I'll be chatting when the Trains site goes down soon.  Should anyone care to join me there (some from here already have) PM/email me.

 

You'll have to remind me where that is, as my memory is a little fuzzy...

[CNW 6000]

Sometimes the world is fuzzy...or maybe the other way around...just count to 1, 2, 3...um...

[CopCarSS]

I agree...the fuzziness is wracking my brain, too. Especially since I'm worried about This Week's Photos.

[CShaveRR]

Are we actually back? I hope things work as well, if not better.

My days off were changed back to Monday and Tuesday...but not before some plans had been made based on my having the Tuesday/Wednesday slot. Now I'll have to take a vacation day for our anniversary (tickets bought for dinner and a musical at Drury Lane), and work a Wednesday very tired from having attended a CSO concert at Orchestra Hall the previous evening.

Mad dash to the Galesburg area (Bishop Hill, to be precise) coming up Monday, to submit Pat's quilt to the annual Yellow Rose of Bishop Hill contest. She can't donate the quilt to them this year--granddaughter Emily has requested it for herself.

Short bike ride this evening, in nice weather--caught one scoot, nothing else in sight.

[Anonymous]

Amazing!  Back up so soon.  Back in the dark ages, '55-'60, it would take a week to install a MACHINE!

My hat's off to the TRAINS crew!

Art

[Modelcar]

Wow.....that was quick.  Good service...Thanks.

[Deggesty]

Has anybody else noticed that , as of now, only cafe and lounge bums have posted since the site came back up?

[CopCarSS]

Hey Gang,

I finally got out to take a train picture yesterday for my 365 project! Whoa! Been awhile since I did that! Here it is:

Westbound at Clay

I might get out again today. Listening to the scanner and watching the Moffat ATCS display trying to figure out what direction and course of action I should take.

Hope you all have a great day!

[CNW 6000]

Awesome shot Chris!  I hope I helped out the fuzziness this morning...

[CopCarSS]

Thanks, Dan! And thanks for your contribution towards the fuzziness.

I did go out yesterday, but a bunch of cirrus clouds and a general lack of traffic where I was chasing left it a pretty lousy day. This is the shot I came away with for the 365 project:

It looks a little better if you look at the big size -- there's a bit more detail in there. Still, not what I'd call a banner day. Oh well, Momma said there'd be days like this...

[CShaveRR]

Chris, I can't remember, or didn't see the explanation: what is this "365 project"?

We took advantage of the nice weather today (which apparently was everywhere in the Midwest except for places to our north), and headed west. Our trip encompassed DeKalb, Rochelle, Galesburg, Bishop Hill, Kewanee, Princeton, Mendota, Rochelle (again!), DeKalb, and home. Plenty of trains, and good times at several quilt stores. Temperatures away from the Lake were up near 80. The primary reason for the trip was to allow Pat to turn in her entry for the annual quilt contest at Bishop Hill, and she's now inspired (or looking for inspiration) to use the fabric they've chosen for next year's contest.

The trains we saw on the trip were somewhat anti-climactic, since we usually encountered them while moving in the opposite direction on highways, unable to exit or too far away to reach them. Galesburg was especially frustrating in that regard--we heard trains all over the place, but only one of them was kind enough to go past us while we were at the Amtrak station (another headed to Peoria, and a few others were on the ex-ATSF main line).

However, the UP provided two impressive shows:

We were on I-88 west of Rochelle (Franklin Grove, I believe, was the town in the distance) when we saw an eastbound manifest train, followed by an eastbound stack train. And when I say "followed", I mean to say that the distance between them was probably not enough to allow crossing gates to rise! Obviously, they were on different tracks, but still...

The other instance was right at the park at Rochelle. We got there just as a westbound UP stacker, possibly headed into Global 3, cleared. Then an eastbound stack train with two units crept up to the diamond, and waited for a westbound BNSF to go across. It then started across, seemingly creeping. Pat wondered why the GEVO on the point seemed to open up, then die, then open up again--couldn't answer that, except that he was obviously holding down the speed for something. We heard a radio transmission asking about welders at the diamond (whom we never saw, but apparently had a speed restriction placed on UP trains). The stack train was a long one, with two DP units on the hind end. As soon as the DP units crossed the diamond--before they cleared the home signal!--they opened up, and the train took off like a bat outta Rochelle! We left the park right after he did, and he was 'way beyond Dement in the time it took us to get into the car and drive out of there. Frustrating, in a way, because we caught up to him again at Malta, where he was stopped again.

[CopCarSS]

Carl-

The 365 project is an attempt to take a photo each and every day for a whole year. I've tried two similar projects in the past. Both failed. The first was a simple 365 like this one. A lot of times I ended up just posting a shot for each day -- it wasn't necessarily taken on that day (few were, in fact). The second go around was a self portrait 365 project. About a third of the way through that, I decided that I really hated it and quit. Self portraits aren't my thing.

This time I'm a lot more fired up about it. I have lots of ideas banging around in my head. I even have some "safety" shots planned for days when I don't get a chance to get something more interesting. I used one of those last night when I shot the whole of my Don Ball, Jr. collection. The shot was terrible and really poorly lit, but after spending 2 and a half hours in a dentist's chair last night, I didn't feel like doing much else.

The Flickr Set link can be found here.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

CopCarSS

  The 365 project is an attempt to take a photo each and every day for a whole year. I've tried two similar projects in the past. Both failed. The first was a simple 365 like this one. A lot of times I ended up just posting a shot for each day -- it wasn't necessarily taken on that day (few were, in fact). [snip]

Kind of seems like the precis for Julie & Julia (2009) - see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1135503/ - only with photos instead of French recipes.    [Or does that comment belong over in the 'Diner' thread instead ?    ] 

Chris, you're way more ambitious - or something - than I am . . .   Good luck with that  !

- Paul North. 

[CShaveRR]

Sounds like something you can be proud of doing, Chris, especially when it produces some memorable photos.

I have a collection very similar to that (Don Ball) in my dungeon.

Had to take a quick trip to Glen Ellyn to have a lady display her artistic talents (she drew some of my blood). Out less than an hour, but caught three trains: a scoot, MDMPR, and LPJ02, the last one headed by CNW Dash 9s 8646 and 8701, as usual. Still looking good!

[CopCarSS]

Thanks, guys.

Carl, what's LPJ02? I'm still missing one of those CNW units...I really need to get back there and get it photographed one of these days.

[CShaveRR]

LPJ02 is the local freight that runs every night from West Chicago to Proviso and return. If you're lucky (as we were), they run late enough so the westbound trip is in daylight. As far as I know, the two units lay over in West Chicago all day.

______________________

UP gondola 30517 has made three or four trips from Proviso to Council Bluffs and back since I last mentioned the car here in the Lounge. One of those crossing slabs now appears to have had some concrete crumbled at one corner. Anyway, I had some inspiration yesterday, when I saw one light UP engine on the UP main line, headed (presumably) from Proviso to Global 3 (it was somewhere around Maple Park, between Elburn and DeKalb, where we saw it). Perhaps that's the kind of move that would be needed to get this gondola spotted in Creston, where it belongs. The crew on that locomotive could take the gon, and only the gon, set it out at Creston, and get on to Global 3 without missing a beat.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

CShaveRR

  [snip]  UP gondola 30517 has made three or four trips from Proviso to Council Bluffs and back since I last mentioned the car here in the Lounge. One of those crossing slabs now appears to have had some concrete crumbled at one corner. Anyway, I had some inspiration yesterday, when I saw one light UP engine on the UP main line, headed )presumably) from Proviso to Global 3 (it was somewhere around Maple Park, between Elburn and DeKalb, where we saw it). Perhaps that's the kind of move that would be needed to get this gondola spotted in Creston, where it belongs. The crew on that locomotive could take the gon, and only the gon, set it out at Creston, and get on to Global 3 without missing a beat. 

    ? ? ?

Yup - makes sense - maybe too much so.  But . . . that'll never happen . . . just imagine what it would do to some official's 'metric' of Gross Ton-Miles Per Train-Hour - ''GTM/TH'' or ''GTMTH'' - if that would occur.  Instead of the usual 100,000 to 500,000 or so range, that move would get maybe only - say, 300 Tons x 20 MPH = 6,000 GTM/TH or so - like 6 % of a desirable 'standard'.  Would you risk your job, if not career, on approving a move like that ?  Not likely.  So - let's start a 'pool' here on either how many more 'trips' or a date 'til those crossings finally get to the right location and get unloaded.  I'm not holding my breath . . .  

Meanwhile - are the charges for moving that gon back and forth accruing to any/ either of the 'Company Freight' account, the M/W budget, the Grade Crossing improvement account, or the 'We really screwed this one up !' account  

- Paul North.