Or perhaps, you were the other unnamed heavy hitter?!
HB anyway!
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
Must be some master list somewhere... I'm amazed how some people know everyone's birthday.
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
zardoz, perhaps someday you'll appreciate that the supposed oversight may have been a hidden kindness - i.e., if no one remembers a birthday, does it really count ???
CShaveRR Sunday was the birthday of two of the heavy-hitters on the Forum: one of them was Larry, AKA "Tree68".
Sunday was the birthday of two of the heavy-hitters on the Forum: one of them was Larry, AKA "Tree68".
As noted earlier, it was great to visit with Carl and Pat. Wish I'd had more time - but I had a pumpkin patch to run, too! Glad to hear that they enjoyed the scenery - it is spectacular!
One of the books Carl picked up at Old Forge Hardware was Volume 2 of the third edition of a very hands-on effort by a now-retired professor of forestry. His hobby has been (and still is) studying the railroads of the Adirondacks. His research has been phenomenal, and continues. The book is filled not only with narrative about the lines and the stations, towns, and industries thereon, but with hundreds of hand-drawn schematics of those lines.
The first edition of this work was just one volume. The second edition was a very thick one volume. The third edition got broken up into three volumes, plus he's adding a fourth covering the railroads of the Catskills.
While the information is comprehensive, he's found errors and omissions in them himself (including one or two with the help of yours truly), which will probably lead to an addendum, or fodder for a fourth edition...
I gave Carl a book about the Adirondack Division. He also picked up a book about the cat that hung around in the Thendara station for some time...
Lots of reading for the cold months ahead!
Nance - Glad you're feeling better! One of these days we'll get onto each other's railroads...
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...
Well, I barley dare to post after that report but I will enough to say thanks again, hope you enjoyed your birthday (and Larry did his, too, along with all the others celebrating recently!!), glad you had a safe trip, and THANKS again bc I got out Mon--it must have been that your visit fixed me right up!!! I am sure that's what it was, or perhaps the pleasant shock of it all. AMAZING!!!
Finally! I'm finally able to participate in the Forums again. I couldn't get in last night, but it was up and open this morning. (I could see what others were saying, but it wouldn't accept my login attempts, despite the fact that I was getting the Newswire and everything else.) What a weekend to miss out on!
Congratulations to the Blysards on the birth of their second grandchild!
Nance is out of the hospital, after a stay over the wrong-wrong-wrong weekend.
The absence of Forum did help us a little bit in keeping our weekend plans secret, which worked out perfectly. We decided to go to New York after Nance's plans to visit us out here fell through. We had planned to surprise her Sunday at the railroad museum for which she volunteers, but found out Friday that she was in the hospital. So we just surprised her there instead. I think it made her day (we talked up a storm for a couple of hours).
Other details of the trip: Thursday afternoon, we saw the Mad River and NKP Museum at Bellevue, Ohio. Thursday evening, Berea, Ohio--four trains in less than an hour, and the first hint of what the week was going to be like for unusual equipment, courtesy of CSX.
Friday morning: Conneaut, Ohio (a CSX train, and as close to the B&LE facility as we could figure out how to get...we saw nothing). Erie: A couple of new 8900-series Canadian Pacific units on the GE test track. North East, Pennsylvania. A lovely quilt store, just around the corner from the parallel main lines of CSX (nee-NYC) and NS (nee-NKP); five trains blew through there while Pat was in the store.
Saturday: Boarded the Adirondack Scenic Railroad's train in Utica for a rainy but spectacular trip to Thendara. Heavy rains over the previous days brought stream levels and speeds up to make them a lot more spectacular. At Thendara we met Larry (first time face-to-face, after years of knowing each other on the Forum). He took us across the street to the inn for lunch, then for a tour of Old Forge, a touristy town a short distance away. They have a general store that's the Most General Store in the state--it included a yarn shop, a bookstore, and a few other specialty shops (I got a couple of books there, and viewed for the first time anywhere a 50-state collection of DeLorme Atlases for sale). At the new arts center in Thendara a quilt show was going on--caught all of us by surprise, and there were some pretty interesting quilts all over the place. We then took a different train out to the pumpkin patch, with four people in the cab of the ex-CP RS-18: the engineer, Larry, Pat, and me. We rode the coach back to Thendara (one lucky kid and his dad got to ride the cab instead of us for the return trip). Larry presented me with another book on the history of the line we were riding, and we returned to Utica after dark. One CSX train went past while we were on the enclosed passageway over the tracks there.
Sunday: No real train chasing, though we gave CSX every chance we could between Utica and Rochester. We visited Nance in the afternoon.
Monday: A trip to Henrietta to have a look at Nance's museum, the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum, connected by rail to the New York Museum of Transportation. Then a trip to a fabric store in East Rochester (Nance had recommended it to Pat), which happened to be a parking-lot away from the CSX main line. We didn't see any signs of NYC's old Despatch Shops in East Rochester (home of thousands of MDT reefers and all kinds of NYC equipment), though there was a Despatch Street. One westbound freight, that we encountered a couple more times on our way east. Lunch at North East again...no trains, but we discovered the Lake Shore Railway Museum--they actually have one of the three South Shore Little Joes there! Supper was at The Station in Defiance; our guests were Joe and Matt, plus a couple of CSX stack trains. Had we had anything but pizza, Matt would have had our fries, for sure!
Today: The obligatory pilgrimage to Shipshewana, Indiana, was followed by a drive along the old NYC main line (here operated by NS) from Goshen to Elkhart, along the north edge of their yard there, and on into Mishawaka and South Bend before we headed home. We saw several NS freights, and witnessed the arrival of the Grand Elk Railroad's freight from Grand Rapids.
Earlier I mentioned unusual freight cars on CSX. They seem to have the garbage market pretty well covered; said garbage is usually carried in high-side steel gondolas, many of which are old coal gons. Some, however, are old Detroit Edison 125-ton aluminum coal gons, and there are two companies that have new-built cars from National Steel Car. In all, I got a good half-dozen new reporting marks for companies operating these cars.
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)
My sympathies as well....even though us dog owners/lovers gripe about having to walk them on those -10F nights and when they wake us to "go out" on those frosty mornings (seemingly always at 5 a.m.)...still though, a day without a dog is a like a day without sunshine.
zardoz rvos1979: Ran up and down I-95 from New York to Providence, along the Northeast Corridor. Never saw anything from Amtrak (think they were mocking me). The same thing happens to me when I traverse hwy 41 in Wisconsin--I can go from Slinger all the way to Oshkosh and not see one train. But when Dan goes out, he can't keep up with all the traffic on the rails.
rvos1979: Ran up and down I-95 from New York to Providence, along the Northeast Corridor. Never saw anything from Amtrak (think they were mocking me).
Ran up and down I-95 from New York to Providence, along the Northeast Corridor. Never saw anything from Amtrak (think they were mocking me).
On a related note...the Oshkosh Bridge & Yard projects have started. A link to my Yard Project pictures (Flickr):http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvrX4Fi
A link to my Bridge Project pictures (Flickr):http://flic.kr/s/aHsjwwo36U
Dan
And on Saturday, we found a quilt show (some really interesting stuff) and Carl and Pat got a cab ride in our RS18u besides!
Yep - Carl and Pat wandered east into NY. After a morning ride to Thendara from Utica, I met them for lunch, followed by a visit to Old Forge hardware, and whilst out doing a little sightseeing before the last pumpkin train of the day, we found the quilt exhibition.
I joined them in the cab on the way out to the pumpkin patch, where I had to resume my duties as Patch Master, and unfortunately had to leave them on their own for the return to Thendara and a cross-platform change of trains to reboard their train back to Utica.
After the kids visit the pumpkin patch, one lucky kid gets to ride the cab back to Thendara (with a parent), so Carl and Pat rode back to Thendara in one of the coaches (or maybe in the baggage car - it's a neat place to ride!)
It was really great meeting them. Next time, it'll be on their turf!
I have similar problems...I mention the good days here on the Forum, but if somebody were to come and look for himself, I would be embarrassed and wonder where they all were hiding.
Today was a good day. We found a quilt store with some nearby tracks, and I had five trains in rapid succession (and even managed to get a little time in the store with Pat).
rvos1979 Ran up and down I-95 from New York to Providence, along the Northeast Corridor. Never saw anything from Amtrak (think they were mocking me).
Sounds like a heck of a weekend Randy...glad to hear that your truck is working better. As to that software, many thanks...you just brought a smile to my face. We've got a bit of wind today, 40ish mph, so things are blowing around quite well outside...one good reason to have a bit of extra 'ballast'...in RR terms.
Off to see if I can shoot some steel with my Rebel...
Afternoon all.....
Happy belated birthday to all concerned, and condolences to all who lost since last time I was in.
Taking some off time in a hotel room tonight, needed to get out of the truck and unwind, been a rough last two weeks, finally figured out the truck, apparently something went through both turbo chargers and lodged in the muffler, plugging it. So, I now have two brand new turbos and a new used muffler, and the truck has run better than it has in three months. This last week was an exercise in making up for lost revenue, ran 2500 miles from Monday morning thru Friday morning, and have an approximately 800 mile run lined up for the weekend.
Dan: Soon as I get closer to WI, will figure out something on loading the software you wanted into your computer.....
Randy Vos
"Ever have one of those days where you couldn't hit the ground with your hat??" - Waylon Jennings
"May the Lord take a liking to you and blow you up, real good" - SCTV
Same here, offering our sympathies to all concerned.
And mine as well.
(Happy belated b-day wishes to Chris)
tree68 I feel MC's loss - been there myself. My sympathies to all as well.
I feel MC's loss - been there myself. My sympathies to all as well.
Our car isn't nearly that sophisticated, Quentin. We had been told by our trusted mechanic not to leave the car without running it for more than three or four days at a time. For some reason this time, we went seven straight days of either walking or biking everywhere we needed to go. But the car behaved well for us this morning, and the mileage was good when we got gas.
We met Gus when we were out in Colorado over four years ago. He had the two younger boyz doing most of the leg and alarm work for him even then.
....And our sympathies to M C as well for the canine loss. They become a full member of one's family. We're a pup family as well, as my Avatar shows.
And Carl....Speaking of your car remembering you....Ours has to do that too. If it's locked, and either Jean or I walk up to it....and touch the door handle, it will unlock. {If we have the key in our pocket}.
Quentin
The car remembers us, and is performing well.
On a sad note, one of Mudchicken's "boyz", Angus (Gus) passed away this morning at nearly 11 years of age. Our sympathies to MC, Boss Hen, and the surviving pooches.
Another day, another birthday...today we salute Chris "CopCarSS" on his special day! Hope it's a good one for you. And a great year, too.
Busy day today...no guarantee of any trains, though. It will be the first day we've used the car after seven days without! (I hope it recognizes us!)
Well, birthday wishes going out to Aimee! Hope it's a great day for you and yours!
Happy birthday today to another of the women-behind-the-guys-who-bring-their-experience-to-the-Forum: Aimee (Mrs. Ed) Blysard!
Today I visited with a corresponding friend (a TrainOrders.com poster) from California, who met me at the Elmhurst station for a couple of hours' worth of train-watching. Unfortunately, the railroad didn't get the memo...the trains all went through before he got there and after he left. When I arrived at Elmhurst, a pair of scoots met a short distance west of the station. I was then treated to two consecutive meets right at the platform: inbound coal/outbound autos, then inbound stack/outbound manifest. All of this within the 20 minutes or so before Walter got there.Still, four scoots and two freights seemed to impress him. One of the trains was an eastbound "Salad Shooter", which blew through there at 50 on a high green. The other was a 10000-foot stack train that opened up as soon as he cleared the yard.Walter had to leave (his next stop: Rochelle) before the next inbound train came (as did I, for a quasi-emergency bike repair job). But when I got back to Lombard, I was treated to an outbound scoot being met by two inbound manifests, running nearly neck-and-neck (one of them had a midtrain DP unit).
The celebration(s) will, anyway, Nance! I can think of at least three other birthday folks this coming week. Unfortunately, the weather won't be as good. We could have rain here as early as Wednesday, and high temperatures in the 50s by the weekend (we're at 72 right now, which is cooled down from much of last week--the average high for today is 65).
Seems to be a popular week--in church yesterday three birthdays were mentioned, and Pat's wasn't even one of them.
The bike trip was fine; I think I helped her with some color ideas in the fabric store, and we had a good meal at Buona (Nora knows about this place!). We like to go there every so often; they offer free (soft) drinks for seniors.
Well, hearty Happy Birthday wishes to Willy2 and to Pat!! I hope you both enjoy a wonderful day!!
PS ...and continue it will, at least in 6 days!!
Good morning (yet another one...wish this could continue!)!
Two very important birthdays to celebrate today: one (speaking of the weather) is that of our resident meteorologist, Willy2. He hasn't been in here much lately; I suspect college is keeping him busy enough.
The other is my wife Pat's. She suggested that we celebrate with a bike ride...to a fabric store and lunch. (Just the fact that she suggested the bike trip makes me very proud of her!)
Carl: Cutover and the FRA related testing would be a smart thing to do over the weekend and at night. Cutovers always have "bugs" and delaying scoots and other trains would create unwanted headaches that would bog down the system even more.
Productivity at night drops, but somebody has to weigh the options, costs, benefits and detriments. It's probably less of a nightmare to deal with than track, but I still cringe at people working tired in a safety sensitive areas. (remembering the grade crossing disaster on SPCSL not that long ago in McClean County)
Copying my Facebook post...
This morning, no fewer than six people came up to me at church to ask why the trains were sounding their horns in the wee hours of last night. As a retiree who's pretty much out of the loop when it comes to current events on the railroad, I couldn't say for sure. But one thing is certain: it's not done capriciously. It would either be for a grade crossing (two longs, a short and a long) when there is a second train in the vicinity, or a warning for employees working on or near the track (a long and a short, followed by two shorts repeated until they are by all of the workers).Anyway, the horns started blowing again at about 9:30 tonight; it was the warning for workers. After letting it make me curious for a while, I hopped on my bike (which is still equipped for night rides) and went to the tracks. No trains were in the area, but there were workers in three of the signal bungalows: the two at the new signal bridges for the new control point, and the one by the Grace Street grade crossing. So yes, it's for people working on those new signals (even though they aren't in service yet) at that ungodly hour. I can see two possibilities here: either there's a problem with the installation that's interfering with existing cab signaling and automatic train control, or they are conducting tests prior to putting the new signals (and the switches associated with them) into service.I, of course, am hoping for the latter.
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