Thunderstorms today,,,, nice to be working inside.
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
Yes, Larry, I was frustrated by one photograph of some horse-drawn apparatus that couldn't be seen because of all of the firemen standing in front of it . Nice shot of the people and the horses, though. And there were programs for the annual Fireman's Ball, held during the early years--the centerfold of these programs was an honest-to-Goodness dance card!
Just came back from a whirlwind trip to Michigan to have dinner and talk with about eight of my high-school classmates. I think I was crazy...spending several hours in an air-conditioned car making trips yesterday and today when it was 90-plus outside, a couple more hours in a cool restaurant, trading hugs with ladies that I barely remembered. Yup...totally crazy!On the way home, I stopped for an early lunch at the Great Lakes Cafe, right in the middle of industrial Gary. It was a clean place, apparently family run, and very friendly. I had to cross under several sets of tracks to get to it, but there is a main line view of only one track, probably former EJ&E or IHB. However, the food was good, and inexpensive. When the sun isn't so oppressive, I'll go back, grab a lunch to go, and park by the side of the road (plenty of room to pull off) between the CSX (ex-B&O) and the NS (ex-NYC) main lines--probably the two busiest railroads east out of Chicago--for some real train-watching!
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)
Posted Clearance is 15' 7" Northbound and 15' 9" Southbound...
Darren (BLHS & CRRM Lifetime Member)
Delaware and Hudson Virtual Museum (DHVM), Railroad Adventures (RRAdventures)
My Blog
Supposedly "CDOT engineers . . .determined the overpass is safe" - even though "One bridge beam was bent" ? So why is it that "One lane on the overpass remains closed" ?
Wonder what the posted overhead clearance was ? And the actual clearance should have been pretty decent - it's over an Interstate, so 14' or 14'-6" min. What were those 2 Einsteins expecting to find for clearances along the route - 20 ft. ?!? Why were they surprised by a standard clearance ?
If it had been a railroad bridge, likely just some scraped paint - and 2 dead trucks and loads. I don't know if a full-strength, long-span (>100') railroad bridge (other than a trestle) has ever been seriously damaged by a truck 'strike' ? Lots of trucks don't survive, though. (More for JoeKoh to keep track of.)
- Paul North.
http://www.850koa.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=124975&article=10249419
GEEE - If that had been a load on a train hitting the bridge, the dime store experts would come crawling outta da woodwork.
Oh - Just two truckers hauling extra dimensional loads (an asphalt plant cylinder and a set of concrete box culverts on end) , running side by side, struck the overhead bridge simultaneously. No pilot car, no permits, no problem!
- never mind...
Carl - sounds like a cool project. Given that in the early days, most small town/rural fire departments were as much social organization as fire protection, I'm sure that there are plenty of interesting stories.
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...
Amen, Murray!
Not much I can contribute tonight. I almost wish I were able to go to Northbrook for the UP presentation on the Shermer derailment. But we aren't moving very far from the dungeon today. The local temp has dropped to 93 now. When the sun gets low, I might venture out on the bike.I've gotten myself involved with the local fire department, in a strange sort of way. Next year is their 100th anniversary, and they want to publish a book on the history. From what I've seen, it's pretty colorful. At any rate, they asked someone in the Historical Society to write the book; she, in turn, asked me to be her editor. I'll make sure that the syntax and grammar are correct, and that there is continuity from chapter to chapter.
tree68One young firefighter suffered from heat exhaustion and was taken to the hospital for a check-up.
Larry, we had a 18-yr old Volunteer firefighter from rural Atascosa County (SE of San Antonio) killed in an ATV accident. The VFD firefighters assisted in his funeral (casket on firetruck etc).
Even more significant about this young man, was that he signed himself up to be an organ donor. Some of his organs are now saving the life of a soldier wounded in Afghanistan.
My hat is off to that young man.
Yes, well done Chris.
Weather guessers have predicted more 90 degree heat w/appropriate humidity...and lack of rain to continue. We had brief showers yesterday during a cousin's bd party and instead of taking cover, we all stood in the rain to cool off!
If I get the chance to process them, I'll get some pictures of the work done at the Oshkosh Bridge posted later, should anyone want to see them.
Dan
I'd say congratulations are in order--Wow! Congratulations, Chris!MC, there are times when it gets good here, too--and we have so many different railroads to choose among!
CShaveRR Hey, no fair, Darren! The one you posted in the Diner was a whole second longer than this one! Those are still fascinating beasts... (Okay, birds, before anyone cries fowl!)
Hey, no fair, Darren! The one you posted in the Diner was a whole second longer than this one!
Those are still fascinating beasts...
(Okay, birds, before anyone cries fowl!)
Qualifies as a "beast" in my book.
Whilst somewhat on the subject of CRRM/Golden...The new Golden phone book shows up, and on the cover is a picture of RGS 346 in steam in the snow...photograph supplied by CopCar...Congrats in order here? The museum staff thought it was pretty neat!
Also having some good giggles here with the news media and the tunnel story....including the one who could not differentiate the fact that Tennessee and Raton Pass are not the same and/or served by the same railroad.
Put together another Video Cluip from Goose Fest 2012 last night' it's in 1080p HD so set your YouTube quality to HIGH for best viewing!
watch?v=P tX8JqUy30
AgentKid the 9142 compliant for use in the US
the 9142 compliant for use in the US
Now the 9134 is rolling along the Soo Line as well. A previously "retired" SD9043MAC (only a few months ago) brought back to life as a US EPA compliant unit.
77° and sunny here. It has been clouding up periodically like it wants to thundershower, but an hour later it is sunny. I haven't had a drop of rain at my place in days but it has been raining all around me.
As you may have noticed over in the Cafe, there was a MAJOR fire in a downtown highrise here on Wednesday. I only found out today it a affected CPR communications. Train dispatching was not compromised, but e-mail and electronic billing across the system was. At the height of the difficulty, the company was requesting that both Canadian and US customers should fax waybilling and car releases in. Apparently, the unavailability of the right paperwork had dropped border crossing times down to a crawl. I guess it wasn't completely stopped though. The latest is that service is returning to normal.
There was some funny posts on a Canadian forum yesterday. It seems the CPR business train was spotted at Chase, BC, EB on the mainline. The poster was disappointed that EHH didn't wave at him as the train went by, but the poster chalked it up to EHH being very busy. Then several other posters commiserated with him in his disappointment. It was so sad/funny.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
We just got 0.8" in the past hour or so. There are still rumbles of thunder out there, but I think it's let up. I hope you all get some of this. It dropped the temperature by a good ten degrees here.
Somewhere in the low 90's here - depends on which thermometer I look at.
A farmer cutting hay here somehow lit said hay on fire, burning about 2-3 acres worth. Worse, it was at the back of the field, several hundred yards off the road. Fortunately (?) the ground is dry and rock-hard, so we could take the big trucks back there.
On young firefighter suffered from heat exhaustion and was taken to the hospital for a check-up.
Since it's unlikely a farmer is going to burn perfectly good hay, and as there was apparently no mechanical problem with the mower, we figure he hit a rock or rocks, causing sparks. As dry as things are here, it's no surprise a fire started.
Pretty much ready for the big event tomorrow. Looks to be a hot and sunny day, which probably means more work for us on the EMS side. The band chaparones take pretty good care of their charges. One consistent problem is the folks who try to hydrate with adult beverages...
Carl...Your mention of observing signals on straight track, reminds me of when I worked out west with some automotive testing decades ago...there just east of Kingman, Az., almost parellel to old route 66 was a great view of just that.
From near the Kingman Airport, and looking east then, Sante Fe double track line headed to Chicago...was tangent about 17 miles. The line had block signals {what each mile...not sure}, but at night, that was quite a sight to watch a train on an eastern heading change the signals as it proceeded. The line had a sink in it across those 17 miles..{hope I'm remembering right}, and they were all visible...Quite a sight.
And as for Summer temps...here too....It's 90 degrees now, as it seems to be at least that each day for several months now....
Edit:
Temp topped out this afternoon at 96.1 here.....Dry, dry....dry.
Quentin
That would have been nice, Quentin! (The 765 looked good in pictures, coupled with the NKP heritage unit!) We have to get back there someday.As for the trail, that might take longer. My high hopes for this summer have been kind of blown away in a dry, hot wind. I want to get out today, but probably won't, as we're up on our way to 90 degrees again. The plan to get out to West Chicago every week hasn't been accomplished. The draw of biking along a roadbed over which I've been in a train, though, is pretty compelling. I will get to it!Last evening I biked to Glen Ellyn, and spent a bit of time studying the block-signal installation along the UP line (one can see two sets of signals in the same direction from there). There seems to be a several-second lag in the anticipated change of signals following a train. Also, when a route is lined up for a train coming at you, the signals seem to drop to red at about a one-second interval. (The ideal study area for block-signals would be Elmhurst, where three sets of signals are visible on straight track to the west. I suspect that after dark would be the best time to do this. In the opposite direction, from Villa Park, it isn't as easy, because the closest signal is too close, and there are no amenities nearby.)
While I was at Glen Ellyn, I visited an open-house sponsored by Metra, in which they were touting their long-range plans and trying to get a feel for what the public wanted to see out of a commuter system. It was nice to see all of the expansion plans laid out in one place: www.metrarail.com/strategicplan
While I was at Glen Ellyn, I visited an open-house sponsored by Metra, in which they were touting their long-range plans and trying to get a feel for what the public wanted to see out of a commuter system. It was nice to see all of the expansion plans laid out in one place:
http://www.metrarail.com/content/metra/en/home/about_metra/planning_records_reports/strategic_plan.html
Carl.....You may have seen my comments of "hearing" of a steam train {engine..?}, passing thru Muncie a few days ago, well...I've since learned it was 765 on a test run prior to the start of it's touring schedule starting about July 20th.
It passed right by the restored depot here in Muncie, {that you and Pat} visited several years ago....
If I would have only known....I'd have been on one of the benches there waiting for it. A comfortable nice place to catch it coming thru.
Note: I believe our Trail is complete to Richmond now....Paved all the way....Mileage would be roughly 40 some miles....{with your interest in the bike excercise.....}.
So much for horse sense...
That was a seriously tall tale hot summer! In spite of the high temperatures, ours isn't quite that bad...my nephew posted pictures of three separate failed attempts to fry an egg on the sidewalk, the asphalt, and a steel manhole cover.But we shall be up around 90 again today. There is a one-in-five chance of rain starting tomorrow night. So the odds are 4-to-1 that we'll get nothing.
Tree...ouch...groan...
CShaveRR Now if Quentin's neighbors were named Redenbacher, they'd know what to do with that hot corn crop (might be too far gone even for popping!).
Now if Quentin's neighbors were named Redenbacher, they'd know what to do with that hot corn crop (might be too far gone even for popping!).
Anecdote related in the book "Tug Hill Country" by Harold Sampson:
Fred Caster walked into the blacksmith shop in Redfield Square, and was greeted by a small group of acquaintances, who were lounging about in the cool shade. It was mid-July, and the weather outside was hot and sultry.
"Hot enough to suit you?" someone asked Fred as he came inside.
"Why yes... sure is a corker ain't it?" said Fred, wiping persperation from his face with a red bandanna. "Never knowed it to be hotter, except once. That time I lost the best team of horses I ever owned."
"Sunstroke?" asked one of the group, this appearing to be a reasonable deduction.
"Nope," answered Fred. "Frostbite."
This did not seem plausible at all, but the group merely exchanged knowing glances and nobody made a comment. As story was coming, they knew.
"Happened in the fall of '92, or maybe it was '93," resumed Fred. "Come a Sunday in September when it turned really hot. Cooked the hen eggs right in the nest, and by golly, we dug potatoes that day that was already baked.
"Had a big field of pop-corn that was just about ready to harvest, and along in the afternoon it started to pop. Well sir, by suppertime it had just about filled up that field, and was startin' to overflow into the horse pasture. Them fool horses of mine seen it an' lay down in it to cool off, thinkin' it was snow. And danged if they didn't lay right there and freeze to death."
Gee, first a birthday, then a round number of posts...congratulations, Sam, on reaching 4000!We got home this afternoon, after a good trip down. I was able to check out a string of old coal gons (now in coke service?) at Michigan City, with good results. The car I'd missed three days ago was still among them.
Good morning! (Clear and--so far!--cool.)Stayed up too late with the freight cars last night, but accomplished a bit.Heard this morning that NS has had a flaming derailment overnight in Columbus, Ohio, requiring evacuation. Let the speculation begin!
A birthday almost got by us here...happy day to Sam Prest, also known as "samfp43" locally! Hope the day has been good to you, and that there will be many more in coming years.Finally, a great day for freight car research! I was able to get out and walk along a string of covered hoppers by the dozen. There were seven different reporting marks represented: two series were familiar to me, three more were new groups, two of which I've determined some specific origins for and the other of which will come out as soon as I get to my records. One reporting mark was unfamiliar, but the car turned out to be from a familiar series originally (I'll have to find out who had it during the interim). And the last was a series of brand-new covered hoppers, and a new (to me) carbuilder: Navistar! Tomorrow we head back home from Michigan, loaded with research projects, fabric, good times with family, and many other memorable experiences. I only hope that a certain former coal gon has stayed in Michigan City while we were up north--I couldn't stop in the other direction to read the ACI label, but I can do it going home!
End of post...beginning of research!
Good Morning!
It's 64F and clear heading for the low 80's but I hear we are heading back to the 90's once again after today
Got my latest RRAdventures travel Blog Entry posted from an outing we took on July 4th. Here is just one of the places we stopped by on our travels...
The corn up here is "generally" higher than waist height. I'm no farmer though...so that's as far as I'm qualified to comment. It's odd though...some fields appear to be remarkably dry and have wilting plants while others appear remarkably wet in spots with wilting plants...
Nothing crazy on the radar for the day, hopefully nothing creeps up on me and forces me to deal with it. I'm hoping for one of those days where nothing much happens.
....The corn had attained heights of 4 and 5 ft. in many places here in our area, and pretty and green....and then since a week or more ago, the heat and drought here took it's toll.
It's now drying up, and It's difficult to see if any ears have even formed on the crop....if so, one can wager it will have almost useless corn kernels...No moisture to help them form.
Now if Quentin's neighbors were named Redenbacher, they'd know what to do with that hot corn crop (might be too far gone even for popping!).We saw some nice, tall corn in western Illinois about a week ago, but in Michigan this weekend, it didn't look like they had made it to "knee-high by the Fourth of July". It's been dry up this way, too. It was middle-80s up here today, but I think the water in my cousin's pool was more like bath water. Folks were enjoying it, but not without the comments on how warm it was (and that's probably a holdover from the extreme conditions of the past week).
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