CNW 6000 ...and everyone got to go home.
...and everyone got to go home.
That is all that counts.
Keeping it on the rail and in one piece is just for bonus points...
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 tree68: Not to mention the crew... Took me a couple years to have my first derailment (wasn't my fault!). Similar situation to yours. Old rail, wide gauge... you know the rest. Funny part is during the past couple of weeks prior I shoved probably close to 30 loaded tie cars over that track, ran the engines over it multiple times, but on our last move with 2 engines and 3 empties, well, that last empty was just too much for it.
Took me a couple years to have my first derailment (wasn't my fault!). Similar situation to yours. Old rail, wide gauge... you know the rest. Funny part is during the past couple of weeks prior I shoved probably close to 30 loaded tie cars over that track, ran the engines over it multiple times, but on our last move with 2 engines and 3 empties, well, that last empty was just too much for it.
zug - I won't bore you with the physics of it all, but I'm kinda convinced that all the weight of a loaded car at slow speed, together with the friction between the rails*, tieplates, and solid ties, on tangent track with good surface, will keep the rail at correct gauge even without any spikes . . . Remove any of those favorable conditions, or add some other unfavorable ones, and that's when the rails start to move outward under traffic, with the usual results . . .
*The 1:40 taper on the wheel tread and similar cant on the tieplate induces an outward vector of about 2.5% of the car's weight, but the friction is typically 25% of the weight, or 10 times as much, so the taper and cant are usually insignificant in causing the rails to spread.
- Paul North.
Paul_D_North_Jr zug - I won't bore you with the physics of it all, but I'm kinda convinced that all the weight of a loaded car at slow speed, together with the friction between the rails*, tieplates, and solid ties, on tangent track with good surface, will keep the rail at correct gauge even without any spikes . . . Remove any of those favorable conditions, or add some other unfavorable ones, and that's when the rails start to move outward under traffic, with the usual results . . .
Makes perfect sense. I should have figured that one out myself. If I had a nickel for everything I forgot these past 5 years...
Happy two-to-the-fifth birthday to our roving reporter, Randy Vos! Have a great day, wherever it may find you.
Today I'm suffering a bit from cabin fever. Good thing the bike isn't put away--it might get a bit of use later on today!
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)
Happy Birthday, Randy! Hope it brings lots of good things to you!
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
Isn't the law of Physics a sticky mess at times ??
Y6bs evergreen in my mind
switch7frg Isn't the law of Physics a sticky mess at times ??
Only if you don't assume no friction...
Hate to break in on the physics class again...
Today's the 16th birthday of "Bubba"Justin! Here's to many trains and expanding horizons for you, young fella! Happy birthday!
And I echo those good wishes to you, too! Hope it's a great one!
Gee - Lots of birthdays here lately! Best wishes to all, of course!
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
zugmann switch7frg: Isn't the law of Physics a sticky mess at times ?? Only if you don't assume no friction...
switch7frg: Isn't the law of Physics a sticky mess at times ??
Johnny
For anyone who has been missing my train-watching tales, the drought finally broke today. Pat and I made a trip into Chicago with Metra doing the driving. I dropped Pat off to buy tickets, at which time Track 1 had a high green, and track 2 had a Diverging Clear at the eastbound home signals for the crossovers. When I got back from parking the car, the Track 2 signal was all red: I'd missed the eastbound freight--a manifest, according to Pat.Our inbound scoot was led by the 8444! No, not that 8444 (the 4-8-4 has been renumbered back to 844), or even that 8444 (the SD70ACE could be almost anywhere)...this was the Metra cab car of that number, and I boarded it so I could look out the front from time to time.Once we got on the train, we caught an eastbound reefer train at Bellwood (that was a logical strategic possibility for the one I'd missed, but Pat didn't think that that was a reefer train).Also at Bellwood, we noticed that the old connecting track from Proviso to the main line at Provo Junction has now been shifted to connect to the new flyover, which should be in use. The mainline switch for the old connector hasn't been removed yet, but everything else has. It looks like some roadbed preparation (or roadbed-adjacent preparation) is being done between Berkeley and Bellwood for the third mainline track that will extend from Melrose Park to Elmhurst, around Proviso. Our station stop at Oak Park yielded two other stopped trains: a westbound manifest and an eastbound coal train. The westbound had been waiting on us so it could cross over at Vale or 25th and go into Proviso, but why was the eastbound coal train stopped? Because a second eastbound coal train was ahead of it, waiting at Kilbourn Avenue to go onto the Rockwell line (that second track on the Rockwell needs to be restored to mainline status, methinks!). We were met by a westbound scoot just as we were rounding the curve above Blommer Chocolate.It was about four hours later that we returned home. A dozen or more Metra F40s were sitting together at 40th Street, being readied for the evening "Fleet" (rush-hour scoots). Saw a cloud of soot as one of them was cranked up.
Our scoot met an eastbound manifest east of Oak Park. The westbound Roadrailer train for St. Paul was crossing above us on the IHB. The eastbound scoot met us just west of Elmhurst. After we got past Villa Park, I was surprised by a westbound manifest sitting on Track 2. It was long enough to be under the block signals (and on top of the grade crossing) at Addison Road, while its head end was at the crossover home signals in Lombard. The only thing I could figure was that it was waiting for us to get by so it could cross over from 2 to 3. (A good argument for a grade separation at Addison Road, don'cha think?) Pat went home without me after we got off the train.As soon as the scoot cleared the block, the freight started moving to follow it on a Diverging Approach. Before it could get past me, an eastbound manifest came by on Track 1. As I left, I noticed another train (eastbound dirty-dirt empties) sitting on Track 2--which explained why that westbound manifest couldn't stay on that track. Before the days of the crossover in Lombard, that westbound would have had to stay in Proviso until we had cleared, and--since that eastbound manifest was for points east of Proviso, one of the two probably would have wound up waiting for the other one.Hey, this is beginning to look a lot like a railroad out here!
My preceding post was adapted from something I put on Facebook (where, let's face it, not too many of my friends will understand the terminology). The husband of our church's Youth Director now wants a quick education on what the heck I'm talking about! I'm only too happy to oblige--he has a one-month-old potential future railfan in his family, and they live closer to the tracks than I do!
Thanks to an improperly-addressed Christmas card and some unseasonal weather (sunny and 45 right now), I'm going to hop on my bike and "participate in the hobby of full-size trains" on my way to the post office to mail the replacement. I hope the full-size railroad cooperates.
Meanwhile, freight-car research is progressing. I found some former CSXT and predecessor numbers for some BAEX box cars in a Surface Transportation Board recordation (wish it had more of them!).
Sometimes the railroading around here seems like a giant strategy game that the dispatcher's playing. Last week (about three posts ago...where is everybody?), I noted a westbound manifest that they sent out on Track 2 so it would be out of the way of an eastbound manifest, and could get behind the westbound scoot at Lombard, thereby avoiding the eastbound on track 2 at Finley Road.
Today, things were hopping...we were in Elmhurst running a few errands ("That's okay, Pat...you go on into the store...I'll be standing right over here!"). An eastbound scoot had barely cleared the control point at park when the following train got a lunar signal (it was a little while before he got there, but a lunar signal is not an automatic thing, I don't think). Meanwhile, a westbound freight was going past, only a short distance behind the scoot on track 3.
When we were leaving Elmhurst (after seeing a number of freights and one more scoot...we were there for an hour total), I noticed that the eastbound signal for Track 1 at Park was lined up for a train to enter the yard (two reds over yellow). It wasn't approaching yet, and I was hoping we could catch it as we headed back to Lombard. When we got to Lombard, we hadn't seen the train yet, and Track 2 eastbound had a red-over-green. So that freight that had been lined up on Track 1 at Elmhurst would be crossing over from 2 to 1 at Lombard.
I decided to let Pat drive home without me so I could check this freight out. When she let me out of the car, it was about 20 minutes ahead of scoot time, so I figured I wouldn't have to wait too long for the freight. In about ten minutes it appeared: a Wisconsin Electric coal train with two GEs on the point and another one struggling at the hind end (see my separate post about that sick unit). He was moving at a decent speed as he started past me, but got progressively slower as he went by. When the PA system gave the five-minute announcement for the scoot, the coal train was still disappearing around the curve at Addison Road, with the DP unit still sending up smoke signals. I thought that the scoot would be getting approach signals all the way to Elmhurst, and might even be delayed, especially if the coal train were to stall with its underperforming power. But as soon as the coal train cleared the crossovers, the scoot got a lineup to cross over from Track 1 to track 2!
Theory has it that the scoot would still be behind the coal train all the way to Proviso. But it would have clear signals the entire way, and could make its stops at Villa Park and Elmhurst on Track 2, and probably pass the hind end of the coal train which would have otherwise possibly slowed it down around Elmhurst. An amazingly well-thought-out move, keeping the scoot close to schedule, and only inconveniencing Villa Park and Elmhurst passengers who'd have to get on and off the scoot at one spot on the middle track (in fact, Elmhurst commuters could have been warned about the train's arrival and been instructed to board from the south side of the tracks--using the pedestrian tunnel to get over to the other side--as the coal train limped by).
Very nice work--the scoot would have been late by only the amount of added time that it took to make station stops at other than a full platform. And the coal train was still moving the entire time--had it had to stop anywhere, it might not have been able to get moving again.
Carl, that's quite a lineup of complicated action you just layed out in your last post. Is it the Dispatcher that is responsible for this success...?
Quentin
We/I haven't abandoned the train!
So, Santa came to my house early this year and I just got my second railroad calendar for the new year WOOT WOOT!!!! We all know that BNSF was the generous giver of #1 (thanks to them!!) and relatives were thoughtful with gift #2!
Good, bad or indifferent, they have raised some questions in my little mind:
1. I just learned that DME is a shortline. Next to the track, there is a black metal 'flag' on a post numbered 11594. Is that a milepost marker?
2. I have a loco marked WTLR (and I know who that is) but it's also marked "RailAmerica.' What is the relationship between the two, pls?
3. I see a UP loco with an ID of "Y721." Is it common to see letters with their numbers like that? Does it mean something specific or just their system, or...?
4. This one might be for you Carl, we'll see. The is a car shown, it appears to be "BLT 8-24" (lunch, anyone?) but above that it reads, "Route of the Whippet." Can you enlighten me, pls?
5. GT- I'm finding a bit of confusing info on them. This photo was shot in MI, if that means anything. (Gee, carl, maybe 2 in a row special for you?)
6.Here's a shot with the following locos hooked together: Bnsf; CSX; (poss. SF); NS; and (def.) SF. Really? How on earth could all of these get together in one train?
7.MRL, another new one in my book.Oops, along with WC, I now see.
8. OK, next up we have a few BN. First is green with white (looks a lot like a gas station chain with Christmas toy trucks many of us know) but the next photo shows them with a black with white ans a stripe of red. How many different color schemes are out there? I know their best in their fall/Halloween get-up.
Thanks, as always. In case I don't make it back in, everyone have a very Merry Christmas (and/or a happy holiday season) and a happy and healthy new year!
PS No fair, I got so wrapped up that I forgot to say--neat stuff, Carl. I even saved the email to read again here in a bit.
Modelcar Carl, that's quite a lineup of complicated action you just layed out in your last post. Is it the Dispatcher that is responsible for this success...?
I would say that yes, most likely he is. That coal train move (2 to 1 in Lombard, into the yard from Track 1 at Elmhurst) had been lined up well in advance, witness that I saw the eastern part of the lineup before we left Elmhurst and it took a minimum of ten minutes to drive back to Lombard after that. The original plan was probably to have the coal train move right along and get off track 1 before the scoot got anything but clear signals. But (perhaps) because of the bad DP, he was moving slower than expected, so this crossover for the scoot was probably planned more or less on the spot (he could tell when the coal train cleared the crossovers at Lombard, and how close the scoot was). He would have had to be in touch with Metra to get in touch with passengers waiting at Villa Park and Elmhurst. I have no way of knowing how things evolved after the scoot left Lombard and crossed over, but that sure opened up the options for keeping things moving!
WMNB4THRTL 1. I just learned that DME is a shortline. Next to the track, there is a black metal 'flag' on a post numbered 11594. Is that a milepost marker? 3. I see a UP loco with an ID of "Y721." Is it common to see letters with their numbers like that? Does it mean something specific or just their system, or...? 7.MRL, another new one in my book.Oops, along with WC, I now see.
1. Might be a milepost; either mp 1159.4 or 115.94 (depending on the location and how exact the railroad measures).
3. The "Y" is a designation indicating a yard engine, although the loco is not restricted to the yard. The UP was running out of numbers a few years ago, and rather than go to a 5-digit system (or renumber the entire fleet in order to get rid of gaps in the numbering system), they adopted the letter designation.
7. Montana Rail Link and Wisconsin Central.
Happy Holidays.
(1) Probably a flanger sign (11594 is probably a bridge sign at MP 115.94 - would need to better see the sign)
(2) WTLR =West Texas & Lubbock Railroad (now WTLC), RailAmerica owned the line (ATSF's Lubbock Cluster of branchlines) from 1995-2002....Permain Basin (Ed Ellis) owns them now.
(3) Y721 is a Union Pacific "Yard" locomotive. UP started running out of locomotive #'s and started using "Y" for non-mainline switchers and RCL equipped engines...not that common to see letters, but it does happen... "B" has shown up fairly often in that regard, especially after some locomotives went to Mexico.(UP & N&W got back some locomotives that could no longer be used as lead locomotives and had become frankenstiens in a mecanical sense)
(4) Built August 1924....Rutland Railroad (New England, long dead and gone bancrupt railroad)= Route of the Whippet passenger Train (as in "not too whippy")....Rutland died circa 1962-63 (Two major parts of it survive as shortlines...biggest failure prior to fall of CRIP)
(5) GT= Grand Trunk Railroad (now part of CN)
(6) Locomotives paying off hours owed to other ralroads or leased..See CSX and NS locomotives here in Denver all the Time. NS doesn't get within 600 miles of here an CSX about 900 miles)
(7)MRL = Montana Rail Link (former BN,NP,GN Marias Pass lin & branches...BN's big mistake) WC= Wisconsin Central (now part of CN)
(8)BN (that sorry outfit) had about a half dozen variations of the basic Cascade Green & white plus the UGLY Grinsteen Green & Cream.... Red Stripe = 3M Stotchbrite reflective tape on the sidesill? Halloween get-up is merger colors showing GN heritage.
CShaveRR Modelcar: Carl, that's quite a lineup of complicated action you just layed out in your last post. Is it the Dispatcher that is responsible for this success...? I would say that yes, most likely he is. That coal train move (2 to 1 in Lombard, into the yard from Track 1 at Elmhurst) had been lined up well in advance, witness that I saw the eastern part of the lineup before we left Elmhurst and it took a minimum of ten minutes to drive back to Lombard after that. The original plan was probably to have the coal train move right along and get off track 1 before the scoot got anything but clear signals. But (perhaps) because of the bad DP, he was moving slower than expected, so this crossover for the scoot was probably planned more or less on the spot (he could tell when the coal train cleared the crossovers at Lombard, and how close the scoot was). He would have had to be in touch with Metra to get in touch with passengers waiting at Villa Park and Elmhurst. I have no way of knowing how things evolved after the scoot left Lombard and crossed over, but that sure opened up the options for keeping things moving!
Modelcar: Carl, that's quite a lineup of complicated action you just layed out in your last post. Is it the Dispatcher that is responsible for this success...?
Thanks much, as always!
Re: 8--The second paint job looks black to me, with white, maybe cream, and the red is a stripe that appears in a chevron above the lights, along the nose, down the side. It is number 9468 if someone can dig it up. (Sorry, I am not tech-savvy--sadly!) Thanks again!
PS Oops, my bad, I guess--one in the series near it is green, of course. I knew you would know but this one looks...well, you know.
WMNB4THRTL1. I just learned that DME is a shortline. Next to the track, there is a black metal 'flag' on a post numbered 11594. Is that a milepost marker?
It could be, with miles expressed either in tenths (1159.4) on something like a signal mast, or in hundredths (115.94) to mark a culvert or bridge. Someone familiar with the photo location might be a better guide here.
I think "regional", rather than "shortline", is/was a better description of the DM&E. The classic definition of a shortline was a railroad under 400 miles in length...DME was over 1000 miles long--and that was before the IC&E was merged into them.
WMNB4THRTL2. I have a loco marked WTLR (and I know who that is) but it's also marked "RailAmerica.' What is the relationship between the two, pls?
RailAmerica is a company that owns more than 40 shortline railroads in North America (Florida East Coast is probably the biggest). The West Texas & Lubbock (WTLR) is just one of them. www.alpharail.net/railamerica/ralines.htm
Edit: According to Mudchicken (see above), RailAmerica has gotten rid of WTLR now, and perhaps others. My Googled link must be an old one.
WMNB4THRTL3. I see a UP loco with an ID of "Y721." Is it common to see letters with their numbers like that? Does it mean something specific or just their system, or...?
This is one of UP's yard locomotives. UP lettered these switchers, GP15-1s, SD38-2s, slugs, and genset units UPY to free up number series for various locomotives. So the locomotive would be carried on the books as UPY 721, but the number boards carry the numbers with the Y prefix to make sure employees don't confuse it with UP 721.
WMNB4THRTL4. This one might be for you Carl, we'll see. The is a car shown, it appears to be "BLT 8-24" (lunch, anyone?) but above that it reads, "Route of the Whippet." Can you enlighten me, pls?
I'll take mine on white, not toasted, with Miracle Whip.
The Rutland Railway had a passenger train named the Whippet, if I'm not mistaken. The Rutland was abandoned in 1963, but its trackage eventually became the Vermont Railway and the Green Mountain Railroad Corporation, which both remain in operation. I believe the VTR even hosts Amtrak trains these days (Ethan Allen).
WMNB4THRTL5. GT- I'm finding a bit of confusing info on them. This photo was shot in MI, if that means anything. (Gee, carl, maybe 2 in a row special for you?)
GT was the Grand Trunk Railway System, historically a component of the Canadian National. After the CN was formed, the lines of the former Grand Trunk in Maine became the Grand Trunk Railway Company, and the lines in the Midwest (primarily Michigan) became the Grand Trunk Western Railroad. The logo for both of these railroads in the modern era was the "GT" brand. GTW still survives as the company for some of CN's operations in the U.S., though everything operates as the CN nowadays.
WMNB4THRTL6. Here's a shot with the following locos hooked together: Bnsf; CSX; (poss. SF); NS; and (def.) SF. Really? How on earth could all of these get together in one train?
The lack of UP units in the mix suggests that it was somewhere on BNSF. They would get power from the eastern railroads on run-through trains, and probably put them together on a train to one of their eastbound terminals for breakup and distribution to their respective railroads. Or not.
WMNB4THRTL7. MRL, another new one in my book.Oops, along with WC, I now see.
MRL is the Montana Rail Link.
WMNB4THRTL8. OK, next up we have a few BN. First is green with white (looks a lot like a gas station chain with Christmas toy trucks many of us know) but the next photo shows them with a black with white and a stripe of red. How many different color schemes are out there? I know their best in their fall/Halloween get-up.
Are we talking BN, or BNSF? Your description sounds like BNSF 9647, an adaptation of BN's latter-day "Grinstein Green" and white paint scheme to the outline of ATSF's Warbonnet paint scheme. That "black", by the way, is an extremely dark green. They tried this with only the one unit, and if you were to Google "barf-bonnet" you'd probably come up with more pictures of this very unit!
Hhmm, do I have my RR's mixed up? This is def., clearly 9468 but is not the one you ref. and I got when I Googled.
This one has an 'N' cut out of the middle of its 'B" and a chevron design.
PS Found it here:
www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=223503&nseq=7
not my photo, of course
Weird, same unit but 'my' nose has N out of its B, but one I linked to has the blue cross (but no blue shield ;-) ) on its nose.
Oh, this second calendar is put out by "Brown Trout,' if anyone else happens to have it also.
No, the mistake was mine. I'd forgotten that units other than the "Barf Bonnet" also employed the red stripe to separate the colors. Again, though, that's a very dark green there. BN (and later BNSF) used this paint scheme on most, if not all, of its SD70MACs, at least until the various orange paint schemes came along.
Whippet - a member of the greyhound family (dog, not bus).
Oh, re:1. DME poss. MP, it says it was taken in Marquette, IA. Any help?
PS There, Carl!! Now we got the dust brushed off the place!
On sister road ICE (ICE & DME are now in CP's camp)...I see DME power in Iowa & Illinois along the river all the time....old MILW/Soo/CRIP properties)
The long wait of Advent season will soon be over. We have traveled to our usual gathering place in western Michigan, and are waiting for other people from our extended family to arrive. Our grandchildren are here (they brought their parents, of course). It won't a large gathering for dinner this year; this is the off year for the "every other year" portions of the family, who are instead in other parts of Illinois, North Carolina, New Mexico (actually having a white Christmas!--the laugh's on them, because they were looking forward to escaping the snow), Florida, and California.
Christmas Eve is a holiday for some railroad employees, so we didn't expect too much traffic. We left a little early so I could catch the most scenic portions of our trip. It yielded three westbounds: a stack train on NS at Gary, a NICTD train at Burns Harbor, and an Amtrak at Michigan City. There were several sets of UP power at the NIPSCO power plant in Michigan City; it appeared that a coal train had just arrived.
For the past several years, we've posted the most touching Christmas story I can think of, experienced and presented by Ed Blysard:
Got a good reality check today.
Everyone has a bad day once in a while, you know, those days where you could care less about any and everything, catch a good case of the blues, and end up feeling really sorry for yourself?
Had one of those yesterday, and it looked like a repeat for today.
The yard is jammed to the gills with cars, no place to switch them to, more work than we could ever get done, knee deep in gators...that along with some personal issues keeping me down in the dumps, having a real good pity party for myself....
There is a young man, 16 now, who shows up just about every day it isn't raining...he sits across from our yard entrance watching the action on the old SP line, and watching us switch.
The thing is, he sits in a wheelchair.
His Dad brings him up there in the afternoon, around noonish, and they sit, him in his chair, Dad in the van he has, watching, taking the occasional photo, waving at the crews as they go by.
I have never really talked to either one of them, other than giving them a few cans of water during a scorching summer day, and sneaking a gimmie cap out to the kid once...didn't really know his story, other than he shows up all the time, and a few of the other regular fans seem to enjoy sitting with him.
Well, we were sitting there on the lead, blocked by another inbound, while we were trying to go grab another switch cut from the receiving yard...just piddling away time really, when I noticed the van drive up.
Dad unloads the kid; they have one of those hydraulic lifts in the side door.
He gets the boy all covered up with a blanket, and they are taking in all the sights.
The boy keeps looking over at us, we are literally just across the street from them, when I get one of those ideas that usually end up with me having to try to explain to someone higher up why and what I was thinking and doing.
I talk with my helper a minute, and he thinks it is a great idea also, so we get down, trot across the street, and ask the kid if he wants to see the locomotive up close. I don't think I would have gotten a better response if I had given him the lottery numbers for tonight!
We roll him across the street, Dad grabs the handles, and my helper and I get the wheels, and we carry the chair over the ballast to the side of our motor.
This young man is just ecstatic, starts asking a million questions. We are kinda tickled, too, so my helper and engineer begin to answer his questions, when they can get a word in edgewise.
I was busy watching Dad...the look on his face was worth any trouble we might get into...I led him away from the locomotive, far enough where normal conversation can be had lower than at a shout.
I ask a few questions of my own, and it turns out the kid was riding his brand-new bike on his 12th birthday when a drunk driver clipped him...destroyed the spinal cord in his lower back; he is paralyzed from the waist down.
His Dad is beginning to cry a little now, seems the boy wanted to grow up and be an engineer, has always been a train nut, since childhood...Dad swears the kid can hear the trains miles away, you get the idea.
Dad and son have a model railroad and do the railfan bit together every chance they get.
Dad had tried to buy tickets for the UP 844, but just couldn't afford to get the tickets or the time to drive out to where it was.
He is really getting carried away thanking me for letting his son this close to a real locomotive, when my engineer, Booger, comes around the end of the motor, and points over to the dirt access road.
Great! Our daylight trainmaster is standing there, looking at me with that look that usually means I have to think faster than I normally do.
So I wander over, he gives me the third degree, then the speech about liability, injury, getting sued, blah blah blah... The whole time, I am thinking what a Scrooge he is--all the kid is doing is asking questions, and touching the lower handrail and steps...
Suddenly, I realize the trainmaster has quit talking--maybe a long while ago, in fact-- because he is looking at me like I am supposed to be giving him either an answer to a question or a load of BS, or both.
Now, my mouth and my brain sometimes run at different speeds, the mouth is usually faster of the two, and I usually regret that...today has been a crap day, my feet hurt, it's really cold outside....
Before I even thought it through, I just looked at him and said, "Dude, what a Scrooge you are! That kid will never get a chance like this again, ever...all he wants to do is look and ask questions...he should be glad he isn't one of your kids!"
I didn't wait for a reply, but just went back to Dad, walked him over to the kid, and was about to tell them the party was over when the trainmaster came walking up to us.
I was sure I had managed to get myself and my crew pulled out of service, just sure of it...and right before Christmas, to boot.
The young man, who had no idea who this guy was or what he was going to do, stuck out his hand and introduced himself, grinning from ear to ear...the trainmaster had no real choice but to shake with the kid...he then tapped me on the arm, and motioned for me to follow him...we go about 10 or 15 feet away, when the trainmaster turned around, and had the oddest look on his face I had ever seen.
By now the inbound had cleared us up, so the noise level had dropped a lot, and I swear, the guy sounded like he was about to cry...he pointed toward the receiving yard, and said, "You can get to your switch cut now....of course, you might want to run your helper down an empty track to the other end to check for brakes and see if there is a Fred on the end."
Now this make little sense, as the car department bleeds off these cuts, and removes the EOTs before we ever get a list on the stuff. I look at him, he nods towards the kid, then cuts his eyes up to the locomotive cab...no way...he is telling me to take the kid for a ride, just no way..."I will be downtown for a while, maybe an hour or so, if you need anything" he says, then looks at the kid again, and looks me straight in the eyes, "Be careful, OK?"...spins around, walks over to his truck and leaves.
So when he is out of sight, I walk back, grab my engineer, clue him in and check to make sure he is good with it...he thinks it is a great idea...we ask Dad if they wouldn't mind going for a ride...I swear the kid looked like he was about to faint...Dad was a little stunned...said he didn't know how we would get the boy up there...
Booger is not the brightest light in the harbor, but he is one big son of a gun. He just reached down, grabbed the kid, flipped him over his shoulder, and walked up the steps, problem solved.
Now I thought we would just give them a ride, but when we got into the cab, Booger had the kid in the engineer's seat, explaining what the controls did...I told him let's get over there before anyone notices...he runs standing up behind the kid, who is wild-eyed at all of this.
We get in the track, pretty much hidden from the yard by the cut of cars, and Booger stops the motor....steps away from behind the kid, and tells him which handle to move, to press down on the independent, move the throttle over here....and we take off, with the kid running the motor.
We have close to 120 cars' worth of running room, so the kid gets to run back and forth a pretty good distance. We get down and start to give him hand signals, while Booger stands behind him, telling him what to do...pretty much we screw off for a good 30 minutes, but time well spent...we run Dad back to his van, tell him to meet us at the other end of the yard, let the kid notch it out a few more times, and end up at the north end, where there is a whole lot of nothing but trees and the access road...Dad shows up with the van, we get the wheelchair off the front porch, Booger does his human bench press routine again, and we gotta get back to work before the yardmaster figures out we are doing not a whole lot...
The young man looks like he is about to explode he is so happy, Dad is crying a little, my helper is suddenly real interested in the rocks around his feet, I am getting a little leaky too...the kid shakes hands all the way around, they get loaded up, and as they are pulling away, the kid yells out the window, "Thanks again, and you guys have a great Christmas!"
We skipped beans to make up the time, and when we tied up, I ran up to the tower to talk to the yardmaster, as I was kinda curious as to why the trainmaster did what he did. Turns out that--yup, you can guess--his 8-year-old son was killed by a drunk driver.
Boy, do I owe someone an apology or what...
So I am driving home, feeling more like a idiot than usual--half of me thinking what I need to say to the trainmaster next time I see him, and half of me feeling pretty good about what we did for the kid--when it hits me...this kid will never get to do the things I take for granted every day. He most likely will never see the inside of a locomotive again, never line a switch or tie a hand brake, never get to dance with his girlfriend, go surfing or ride a horse...and our trainmaster will never get to go watch trains or build a model with his son, or show him how to run a locomotive.
It smacked me so hard I had to pull over and sit a minute, smoke a smoke and think about it all.
So you know what?
Maybe nothing in my life is really wrong, after all. I mean, all my kids are healthy, my wife loves me, I am all in one piece, mostly, and in comparison...
Hey, ya know what?...I ain't got no problems, none at all...
I received a gift from the young man also. Doing this for him taught me something else...
I had forgotten how to "play"...it was as much fun for us as anything we have done in a while.
And I thought about something late last night...what does his Dad do for a living that allows him to spend as much time with his son as he does?
Whatever it is, it must be worth the sacrifice, because it allows him to do something a lot of us never do...spend a lot of time with his kid, and watch--really watch--him grow up.
Now, how cool is that?
I know the Dad works with his hands--you could see the calluses--and every time I see him, he is always dressed in khakis or jeans and work shoes.
His watch is a Timex, his van is an old 70-something Dodge...but his kid was dressed in the "latest" cool clothes, the Nikes on his feet were the real deal, the kid's camera was a Canon Rebel, so I could see where Dad spends his money...
Anyway, when I got home last night, and after I typed all that...I took my kids and we went and played...we walked down to the BN main and watched a few trains, took a stroll through the woods near here, chased a wild rabbit (rabbits win every time), then sat out in the front yard and watched stars, talking about all kinds of stuff.
See, I realized that maybe the young boy's Dad is the real hero here...after all, it can't be easy.
But he is the one getting the reward; so to speak...the looks between him and his son made me realize how much I wish I had taken the time to really talk to my Dad, and how much I miss him.
It also made me realize how much the boy and his Dad love each other...you could see that no matter what happens, they will always be there for each other, you could see the boy trusted him completely.
I get it now...buying the new plasma TV for the house, or getting the next Playstation hasn't made me a "good" parent anywhere near as much as chasing a rabbit with a 7 and 13 year old did....Now I know things about my kids, and how they think, what they really want, what scares them and what doesn't.
Things I thought I knew didn't really matter, what I thought they wanted, and what they really wanted turned out to be different things after all.
Ya know what, there is a meteor shower due here on the 12th...think a road trip to the beach with the kids sounds like a great idea.
So the kid got a cab ride and a quick locomotive lesson, but I think I am the one who got the real gift...
Turns out there are a lot of closet modelers on the railroads, and the young man and his Dad are currently being asked to join a local club, which has as one of its founding members the former president of the local chapter of the NRHS...the boy should be in hog heaven...they are the folks who provide the car attendants and such when UP runs the specials down here.
As an addendum to the story, I went to apologize to the TM...he wouldn't let me...said I didn't know, so no apology needed.
He told me about his getting the kid in touch with the club, then handed me an envelope.
Said the young man had asked him to give it to me.
Inside was a simple plain paper handwritten note, thanking my crew for the "fantastic afternoon" he and his Dad had.
Imagine that, some new school kids still have old school manners!
Even better, I have an artifact to show my kids when they get all down and blue.
I don't normally preach, and I lost my soap box a long time ago, but just this once...
Do yourself, and your family a big favor this Christmas, and New Year's Eve...if you go out to party, and you drink...take a designated driver, or call a cab if you have even just a little more than normal...'cause trust me, you really don't have any problems, none at all.
A very Merry Christmas to all of our many friends on the Forum here, from Pat and me.
......Time does not diminish it's meaning....Just as powerful as ever.
It's a good message for all of us each Christmas....or anytime..!
Merry Christmas to all.
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