Thanks, Jeff.
In my (so far) short training time, I've been at the helm for several deer, a fox, a few rabbits, one idiot that I won't go into detail about, and who knows what else?! I've been in the brakeman's seat for a teen (he's fine, hopefully just scared enough to stay OFF the tracks!!); some folks a bit too close to the tracks, but fine; a few impatient auto drivers--fine; and one turtle, who I had to work real hard to convince myself (read as: pretend) he changed his mind just in the nick of time, but...
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
I always tell new student engineers, "Don't veer for deer."
Many places the railroad is responsible for the fencing. One time when I was volunteering with the Boone & Scenic Valley track gang we were repairing fence. I remember once hearing a RI section foreman telling the local agent he had to go get some barbed wire to fix a fence along the ROW.
Whether there's a hole in the fence and a farm animal gets out or a wild animal starts across the tracks, if they don't heed the horn and move out of the way, getting struck is what usually happens. Of course when a farm animal gets struck by a train, it's always the farmer's prized (insert animal here).
I don't particularly like hitting animals, but better with the train than with my car. I did feel sorry for that turtle out by Logan, IA about a month ago. All that effort to climb over one 136lb rail and get half way over (high centered) on the second, and then we come around the corner. I would've thought the vibration might knock him off, but no.
Jeff
Hey, nice job on the finish, Carl!! Glad for all the good info, Paul and the rest of you, too!
I'm reading a collection of RRing tales right now and they got me to wondering: what is done nowadays to prevent and/or deal with animals on the tracks? Of course, farmers use fences and engineers use whistles, but besides those two things? I'm thinking of both livestock and wild animals. TIA!!
On a bit of a side note, I remember being told by a school bus driver years ago that it is against our state law for them to brake to avoid hitting a running animal, which I found to be rather interesting!
Zug, I'm not sure exactly what it is about the industry and practices that interest you, but the best thing to do would be to observe them. It sounds like it would be a little different from the chase-trains-and-photograph-locomotives type of railfanning. Are the practices you're interested in observable (safely) while you work? When I was working, I got plenty of opportunity to note my raw materials for freight-car research.
_________________________________
My news is good tonight...the book I've been working on revising is done here! I sent the text on to the layout guru I hope to get some actual pages back next month for further tweaking.
We got out briefly this afternoon, at which time I noticed that the last of the intermediate signal bridges on the Elmhurst-West Chicago project had been erected. The railroad has a grade crossing in Elmhurst out for rehabilitation, and another one in Villa Park...one in Lombard will be closed for a few days later this week.
Still to come--bridges for the home signals at the new Lombard crossovers, and everything for the new crossovers to be built by Wheaton College. The Chase Street crossing in Wheaton, due to be closed for those new crossovers, is still open.
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)
Paul_D_North_Jr zug - over the weekend it occurred to me that there's a big difference between liking trains or railroads (which many people do) - and liking railroading (i.e., the business or practice of same). I've said it before here, because others have too: Sometimes when you get that job, you lose the hobby interest. For some of us, there can be too much of a good thing - or at least enough to 'scratch that itch' / "fulfill that psychological need" as much as is needed. Being in the business just about killed my model railroading interests, and riding behind a steam locomotive someplace didn't have the attraction it used to. So don't feel that you're an anomaly or an exception because of that diminished drive or interest. - Paul North.
zug - over the weekend it occurred to me that there's a big difference between liking trains or railroads (which many people do) - and liking railroading (i.e., the business or practice of same).
I've said it before here, because others have too: Sometimes when you get that job, you lose the hobby interest. For some of us, there can be too much of a good thing - or at least enough to 'scratch that itch' / "fulfill that psychological need" as much as is needed. Being in the business just about killed my model railroading interests, and riding behind a steam locomotive someplace didn't have the attraction it used to. So don't feel that you're an anomaly or an exception because of that diminished drive or interest.
- Paul North.
I was never much of a railfan. Sure, I liked trains, but I only occasionally did the railfan things. I was always more into the industry and practices (which I still am).
Just these past few months... frustration? i don't know.
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
zugmann WMNB4THRTL: Thanks everybody! BUT...I'm ready to throw in the towel on these signals!!!! I'm on that site studying and it tells about Approach slow and Slow approach, which are two totally different things, with completely different meanings!!!! (BTW It also says there are 118 different ones to know/learn!!) Are you seriously kidding me right now??!! OK, where's the hidden camera??!! It's a hard task to just memorize signal names and indications. Easier if you figure out the system. For example, take your slow approach and approach slow. The second word in each is the action that you must take for the next signal. Slow approach: When the second word is approach, then you are going to be preparing to stop at the next signal. The word in front has to do with the interlocking, switches, etc you are currently going through on your way to the next signal. Approach slow. The slow is the second word. So you will be reducing your speed to slow for the next signal.
WMNB4THRTL: Thanks everybody! BUT...I'm ready to throw in the towel on these signals!!!! I'm on that site studying and it tells about Approach slow and Slow approach, which are two totally different things, with completely different meanings!!!! (BTW It also says there are 118 different ones to know/learn!!) Are you seriously kidding me right now??!! OK, where's the hidden camera??!!
WMNB4THRTL:
Thanks everybody!
BUT...I'm ready to throw in the towel on these signals!!!! I'm on that site studying and it tells about Approach slow and Slow approach, which are two totally different things, with completely different meanings!!!! (BTW It also says there are 118 different ones to know/learn!!)
Are you seriously kidding me right now??!! OK, where's the hidden camera??!!
It's a hard task to just memorize signal names and indications. Easier if you figure out the system. For example, take your slow approach and approach slow. The second word in each is the action that you must take for the next signal. Slow approach: When the second word is approach, then you are going to be preparing to stop at the next signal. The word in front has to do with the interlocking, switches, etc you are currently going through on your way to the next signal.
Approach slow. The slow is the second word. So you will be reducing your speed to slow for the next signal.
*Not easily understood by mere mortals - fair warning !
Also be forewarned that Mr. Krug is pretty assertive about how mistaken the railroad's interpretations of some of those rules was. (Again - he retired, was not fired - so don't be casting aspersions upon the man . . . )
Anyway, they are:
"Rules, Rules, Rules" (generally) - http://krugtales.50megs.com/rrpictale/rules/rules.htm
"Approach Medium" - http://krugtales.50megs.com/rrpictale/rules/rule_appmed.htm
"Absolute or Intermediate CTC authorization - Controlled Signal or Block Signal" - http://krugtales.50megs.com/rrpictale/rules/rule_absolutectc.htm
"Reverse Movements in CTC - Reverse Movements" - http://krugtales.50megs.com/rrpictale/rules/rule_reverse.htm
"Enterering a CTC Main at a Electric Lock - GCOR Electric Locked hand operated switch rule" - http://krugtales.50megs.com/rrpictale/rules/rule_eleclock.htm
Thanks Jim. Call it "luck" or well tuned "little birdies"...gimme a call next time you're coming this way man.
Dan
Hey, Happy Birthday Matt!! Hope it's your most fun one yet!!
I thought Joe was starting the celebration a day early, but I guess June 13 is Matt's correct birthday. This is the year he enters double-digits. Happy birthday, Big Guy--hope you can come out this way later this summer!
(I had down that Matt's birthday was tomorrow, same as my grandson Nico. He's three, by the way, and still likes trains--keeping my fingers crossed!)
Beats the heck out of me, MC! I don't know all of what happened before, though. The C&OHS had some very good cooperation with C&O and Chessie System powers-that-be back in the day.
I'm trying to figure out how to get some good info out of the C&OHS without having to go back down there again. I wouldn't mind being able to spend some time down there, but this darn book is supposed to be out by August!
Dumb question time.
Was on the phone today with the STB Librarian. Got a comment that knocked me for a big loop.
Why would the C&O Historical archivist all of a sudden not be interested in a digital all the C&O entries in the ICC Index Card File Case?????
Flummoxed Feathers
CNW 6000 Good evening. I thought I'd share what I caught today. ...........Not a bad day at all! C/C welcome.
Good evening. I thought I'd share what I caught today. ...........Not a bad day at all! C/C welcome.
Dan, I don't know how you manage to see so many trains (nice pics, btw). I was in Appleton Saturday from about 11am to 3pm, and I only heard one train hit the detector at 181! And get this--during my entire trip between Milwaukee and FDL (both directions) I neither heard nor saw any activity. And the only other action I heard was for 2 trains that were heading to Green Bay.
Zug, if I knew the answer to how or why I remained a railfan before, during, and after my career, I'd tell you. I know that I am one of the lucky ones, and it probably had to do with landing in a job that I liked, one that seemed to be tailor-made for my interests and capabilities.
I would be the last person on earth to tell someone I didn't know very well, "You got the wrong attitude!" But attitude has a lot to do with it. Being a railfan (not just a train-lover) gave me the knowledge I needed to get through my job, the eagerness to learn some things that I hadn't known, and the tenaciousness to do my level best at getting things done right (often in spite of those around and above me).
Obviously you're dissatisfied with the job. You have to ask yourself why...no respect from fellow employees? Are the working conditions something you hadn't expected? Has one of your supervisors got it in for you (that happened to me often enough--I simply outlasted all of those guys! I retired--they either got fired, demoted, or just plain quit, eventually)? Getting too many cut slips for penalty claims? You have to change what you can, and live with what you can't change.
Never stop looking for the better job that you can hold. The only way to gain the seniority you need is to stick with it--we all went through our times when we were stuck with bottom-feeding. It will improve.
Don't put too much into the fact that some of the rules you work with are just so much baloney. That may be true, but if you follow them, and make them your friends, you'll stay out of trouble, This is one place where you have to look out for Number One.
Respect has to be earned--that goes for your bosses as well as for you.
I hope you can climb out of the rut. Just don't try to climb out by pulling somebody else in.
I don't know how some guys do it. How you can work for the railroad for any amount of time and still be a rail fan or have interest in it. Must be a secret in there somewhere.
Signed,
a very burned-out zug.
For some diagrams of the various types and names for joint bars, see the following webpages - note that the terminology for these is not completely uniform, so some differences / discrepancies will appear:
http://www.harmersteel.com/catalog/tee-rails/splice-bars/ - To me, a "fish plate" is similar to the "splice bar" on the left, except that the fish plate would fit even closer in towards the vertical web of the rail, with perhaps less space between them than shown here;
See also: http://www.atlantictrack.com/connectors.html
Whaat?!
Wish I was out on my bike today, but the necessary road trips are too long. The railroadiana show at the Kane County Fairgrounds (used to be a big event--this one was small but easy to get through in a hurry) was worthwhile--got both volumes of Jim Kinkaid's books on tank car paint schemes. This was about 20 miles west of us, and UP didn't send too much of interest through while we were along the tracks.
(Oh, I almost forgot...for less than an hour of church the tally was two scoots, two freights, and a two-piece surfacing gang. An MofW crew with ballast to spread came past right afterwards.)
On the way home from the railroadiana show I was able to check out some standing freight equipment (very rare for me nowadays!)--got former numbers off three AEX covered hopper cars with ingredients for your next bowl of Kix cereal.
Couldn't get a decent fish plate where we had lunch. Had to settle for a burger and a salad. But their homemade cherry Diet Coke was amazing--far better than they put in the cans!
Carl,
UP meaning Upper Peninsula, in this case.
You were much luckier yesterday than I was. Hope the luck changes today--church is outdoors, with the tracks in the background! Two scoots guaranteed, maybe there will be freights, too.
I think I'll have the fish plate for lunch after the railroadiana show.
zugmann Good photos, but I need to ask: what's the story on the CN/AC 105?
Good photos, but I need to ask: what's the story on the CN/AC 105?
Good evening. I thought I'd share what I caught today. The day started on a high note. I got word that the CN/AC 105 was on the move so I headed to Neenah to see if it was there. My timing was just right as luck would have it as I managed to get a couple shots of train M335. It should've been gone by the time I got there. CN/AC 105 Hogger's Window:http://flic.kr/p/9Szue3 I decided then that some altitude might help gain some perspective on the neat lashup:http://flic.kr/p/9SwB8K As they passed the overpass (is that a double positive?) the hogger notched up a bit:http://flic.kr/p/9SzuE5 Then some other business took me away from the tracks for a bit - that's ok too. A491 came in town but I decided to pass up a wedgie of that train to get a reflection shot I've always wanted. A416's SD60F peeks between some trees:http://flic.kr/p/9SzuQE L576 came to town with the IC 6204 leading. I was pondering what to do when I heard the detector at MP 181.1 sound off...what the heck? A quick trip up the embankment at Cecil street yielded the Q117 meet:http://flic.kr/p/9Szv99 I headed back to Oshkosh and managed to catch both L576 and M342 but there's nothing special there. Shortly after M342 cleared WOLF A447 came knocking, just as the clouds were breaking up:http://flic.kr/p/9SzvC9 Finally, RTC called A447 to make sure he was clear of Neenah (meeting two at Anton, no less but it would be too dark). A "through train" was coming down from Green Bay. Given the time of day it meant either an empty Pulliam coal train or another empty coal/coke train. Just before the light went too low C714 came calling with one SD70i and 92 empty HCSX 3-bay hoppers:http://flic.kr/p/9SwCmR Not a bad day at all! C/C welcome.
A "fish plate" is a type of rail joint bar or splice bar that is pretty much just a thin flat and longish slab or bar of metal. In a cross-sectional view, it is essentially just a vertical rectangle between the underside of the head of the rail, and the slanted upper surface of the rail's base. Notably, it does not have a lower leg over the rest of the rail's base to make it into an L-shape, or angle bar. Also, the top of this bar - under the head of the rail - does not have the heavier rolled section, or the horizontal fin or rib to make it thicker and stronger there - see this photo for a general idea: http://www.smrhaus.com.au/fish%20plate%20huck%20bolts.htm
The distance/ dimension at the vertical center-line of the rail between the inward-sloped underside of the rail's head, and the downward-sloped top of the base of the rail, is called the "fishing" distance or dimension - which may partially explain the derivation of the name. See also this brief discussion on 'fishplate' from the "Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum": http://discussion.cprr.net/2005/08/question-fishplate.html
You wondered about life in Depots for the Agent and their families? This question reminds me of the time my brother and me got into trouble for messing around with the Section Foreman's Tool shed.
As I remember fish plates are a different name for the joint bars that hold the rails together on jointed track They are bars that are contoured to fit up against the rail and have either four or six holes that line up with the bolt holes on the end of the rail to fasten them together.
We had a lot of fum fooling around with that stuff, but unfortunately couldn't repeat the experience.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
OK, so I know (of course) what a tie plate is but I've never heard of a fish plate (in railroading!!)??! What is that? Thx.
Thanks everybody.
I'm currently reading (mostly) in "Rails Across America" by Wm Withuhn and can't help but post this quote, "Indeed, it took Congress until 1918 to adopt as standard for the United States the railroad system of time. By then, virtually the entire country was already using it."
Gee, some things never change!!!
BTW, on a more serious note, for what it may or may not be worth, this book is particularly useful for the info I'm currently seeking. This on the off chance anyone else is interested in any of the same topics. (I guess I'm thinking esp. of our 'readers/lurkers' bc I know many/most of our 'posters' would know this material, most likely.)
Deggesty CShaveRR: I was up because I was coughing (or perhaps hacking ) in the middle of the night. Most of the conversation about caboose names had taken place after I'd retired for the evening. By the way, I never heard "crummy" applied to cabooses in my railroad career. I did hear "crumb-box" a few times. I was going to say that Carl seemed to be off his feed, but realized, after reading this post, that he simply was asleep at the switch. He's in excellent form--once he woke up! As I recall, the AT&N men spoke of the "cab."
CShaveRR: I was up because I was coughing (or perhaps hacking ) in the middle of the night. Most of the conversation about caboose names had taken place after I'd retired for the evening. By the way, I never heard "crummy" applied to cabooses in my railroad career. I did hear "crumb-box" a few times.
I was up because I was coughing (or perhaps hacking ) in the middle of the night. Most of the conversation about caboose names had taken place after I'd retired for the evening.
By the way, I never heard "crummy" applied to cabooses in my railroad career. I did hear "crumb-box" a few times.
As I recall, the AT&N men spoke of the "cab."
As most of you know, I've not been a railroader, but the name "Crummy", seems to be no stranger in my life time...Not uncommon at all. As applied to Cabooses.
Quentin
CShaveRR I was up because I was coughing (or perhaps hacking ) in the middle of the night. Most of the conversation about caboose names had taken place after I'd retired for the evening. By the way, I never heard "crummy" applied to cabooses in my railroad career. I did hear "crumb-box" a few times.
Johnny
I think it's funny that the word "caboose" was hardly used by the railroads.
Hey.. it's the weekend. Just came off a week of working 12s (except last night). Once again, due to manpower issues (the lack of). But I did go up 5% in my step rate. I'm now 95% railroader. Well, at least on paper. In reality, I'm probably like 2%.
CShaveRR By the way, I never heard "crummy" applied to cabooses in my railroad career.
By the way, I never heard "crummy" applied to cabooses in my railroad career.
That doesn't surprise me. The way Dad told it, he only heard that expression early in his career, say at the end of the forties. Much before your career started.
Take care of that cough.
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