I need to win the lottery, Then I can get that engineering degree and find out what all those numbers on the rail really mean...
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
A little frustrated this afternoon. I had to visit my cardiologist (routine checkup, which went well, by the way), and decided that the best way to do that, and to observe construction progress at the railroad's new control point in Wheaton, was to take the train.Westbound, was on the southernmost track, so I chose a northward-facing window. I can state with certainty that no switches are being assembled on the north side of the tracks--no room for them. So they must all be on the south side--eight of them will be needed for the four crossovers to be built here. So, coming back east to Lombard, I took a seat on the south side of the train, with an option to look out the front as well. We pulled out of the Wheaton station, past the downtown. One new switch...westbound stack train...College Avenue. The best-laid plans...However, after my appointment, I had nearly an hour to wait before my train arrived. In that time I caught two coal trains, two stack trains, and a manifest (MPRCB--about the only train I can recognize by its consist any more.)
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)
Been there and done that Carl. Glad your doc appt went well. I've had plenty of time over the last couple days to review my photos while I recover from a strained back. Vertical feels much better than horizontal now, and I've finally gotten around to updating my Oshkosh Bridge thread.
Stay dry everyone.
Dan
Hope you're feeling normal soon, Dan (though the bridge update was most welcome!).Can't let today go by without saluting composer Antonin Dvorak on his birthday. When mentioning classical composers who were also railfans, his name is usually the first that comes to mind (though his railfanning probably took the European form of train-spotting, even when he was over here in the States). As far as I know, though, there was no overt "eau-de-train" in any of his well-known compositions.
CShaveRR Hope you're feeling normal soon, Dan (though the bridge update was most welcome!).Can't let today go by without saluting composer Antonin Dvorak on his birthday. When mentioning classical composers who were also railfans, his name is usually the first that comes to mind (though his railfanning probably took the European form of train-spotting, even when he was over here in the States). As far as I know, though, there was no overt "eau-de-train" in any of his well-known compositions.
My back is better Carl, thanks. Not quite 100% but at least 85-90% so I'll take it.
I didn't know Star Trek was "that old" but it fits. Wow...
I helped Aedan catch his first fish today. Boy was he excited! A nice bluegill. Heading home tomorrow...maybe we'll go again in the morning.
Well, I now have a brother-in-law, my sister Jackie got married yesterday, they left the church in a 1957 Oldsmobile station wagon.
Railroad item: CN has been busy this past week changing out the railroad crossing at Adams st in Burlington, MP 72. Work included removing the industry track from the crossing (the switch was pulled last year), and removal of a mud hole in the main track and replacement of the panel in the crossing. The west side crossing signal is also to be moved closer to the main track, and concrete crossing panels are being replaced with either rubber or plastic pieces (could not tell from where I was).
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
Congratulations to your sister, Randy! (I loved your FB post about the removal of ties at the reception--did anyone do that?)
Replacing the heavy concrete crossing "timbers" with the rubberized counterparts seems like a step backwards to me (and I've never liked the rubber ones because I've found them slippery in wet weather).
Carl: Yes, she did cut off one tie, another gent wore a tie as well, but removed it real fast when the bride approached, scissors in hands.......
Pat shuddered at that, hoping the tie wasn't silk or something else expensive.Thanks to my hobby, I was shown an awful lot of love last weekend. Pat and I were at the local historical society's office, doing our usual volunteer work, and Pat and the director got to talking about a new series of programs starting next year, on the second Sunday afternoon of every month. They'll be free to members and anyone else...sort of an apology for all of the fund-raising the society has had to do recently (a large addition is being put on one of our buildings, rendering it less historic but far more useful). I innocently asked what subjects would be talked about in these programs.The director got up from her desk and put her arm around my shoulders. The program director came in from her office and did the same thing from her side. The education coordinator blocked the doorway so I couldn't escape. And they all three (with Pat grinning from ear to ear) said, "Why, trains, Carl!" I think they want me to make some sort of presentation...So, of course it will be at the Lombard Historical Society's Sheldon Peck Homestead, which has the UP main line passing by across the street, over a piece of right-of-way that Sheldon Peck, the area's first settler, sold to the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad for the first railroad line to serve Chicago. Date and time to be determined.
Carl, tell Pat not to worry, it was a cheap one she cut, the other gent's tie was a bit more expensive, hence the fast removal before the bride got to him......
Sunday before church, I had a little time to go trackside. I normally avoid the station platforms during scoot times, but the scoots were running late: the eastbound due to "mechanical problems" and the westbound due to "track construction."The only construction area east of us would be around Proviso, where the third track is going in--and something big must have happened that they couldn't get out of the way of the scoot in time (this was the first westbound of the day). So today I took the train into the city to see for myself what had been done. I suspect that the culprit was a new switch, near the east end of the construction, where the third track will diverge from the two existing tracks to the south side. On the way to this spot, we noticed a lot of work going on at--and just east of--the control point known as Park, at the west end of Proviso and this third-main project. Most of the tracks and switches are in place, with connections remaining to be made. There are still a few switch panels that will be going in somewhere. The signals at both ends of Park are being worked on. It almost looks like they're adding new tracks to the eastward signals, but they could be just replacing the old ones, widening the spacing in the process. From Park east to Berkeley, the third track is mostly in--ties and rails--to the north of the existing tracks. I still can't figure out, with the new track in place past the Berkeley Station, how passengers can walk to Proviso without crossing a live track: the pedestrian tunnel will go only under the two existing tracks, with the new track to the north of the north entrance.East of Berkeley, the new track is in position--rails, concrete ties, and covered in ballast--to Wolf Road; from Wolf Road to Mannheim the track has been lined and surfaced. The new track still ends at Mannheim, pending work in the vicinity of Bellwood station. At Bellwood, another pedestrian tunnel is being built, but it's likely that all three tracks will be on top of this one. The new track can't be put in until some of this work is done, one staircase leading to the Mannheim bridge removed, and station platforms moved.At Bellwood, the mainline tracks will shift northward, eventually tying the current south track into the newly-built track further east. All of this is being done to give the Provo Junction connection (from the south UP main line to the IHB) more room, easing the curve and increasing the maximum speed. Another connection (from what will be the new north main to the new IHB flyover) is also in the process of being built. This flyover also has a line running into Proviso, already in service...a CSX train for Proviso was sitting on the flyover bridge and approach fill as we went by.
Gee, Carl, is there any portion of the West Line that is NOT being rebuilt? That sure sounds like it's a major work-in-progress!
Jim, this is just the big project--you'll have to take a ride on the West Line to see how things have changed. You can hardly go anywhere along this line without encountering red/yellow flags somewhere.
I know I seem to go crazy over stuff like this (and the crossovers being built further west), but after so many years of abandonments, downgradings, and general cutbacks, this is still amazing to me, and it's on the stretch of railroad I know best.
(Never mind that UP is also doing major projects on Chicago-St. Louis, the Sunset Route, the Blair Sub, and Heaven-only-knows-where-else at the same time. This isn't just maintenance, folks, this is genuine upgrading and expansion!)
And you still have people (including many civil engineers) that think railroads are still in decline and decay mode....
Let 'em just go ahead and think that . . . less competition and interference for the rest of us who know better !
- Paul North.
This doesn't look like decline or decay - to me anyway!
Link to Flickr - http://flic.kr/p/daceLn
I-R-confuzzed Dept:
News blurb about capacity improvements on Tehachapi involving BNSF and Caltrans...Where's UP in all of this ? (Or is it all outside Mojave -Bakersfield and not on Tehachapi at all???)
Warning to Carl : That disturbance in the force you feel is Muddy Feathers afoot in the Loop late Sun- early Wed (wonder if any of the Trains gang is at AREMA this year? )
Thanks for the warning, MC! I read somewhere that Trains is going to be there. Carl, however, will not. They have a great price for railroaders (zilch), but not so much for retirees.
Are you bringing a guest? Will you have the opportunity to check out this stuff that I've been raving about?
I understand that BNSF is financing the Tehachapi project without UP's participation (it's their track, right?). Might be a dumb question, but I don't see Amtrak mentioned here, either. I would assume that trains could be run between Bakersfield and LA if capacity were increased to where trains could operate consistently (via Colton?), but perhaps I'm totally mistaken about that.
BossHen is not tagging along and I've got a full dancecard whilst in da neighborhood.
mudchicken And you still have people (including many civil engineers) that think railroads are still in decline and decay mode....
They still having problems getting people?
Paul_D_North_Jr Let 'em just go ahead and think that . . . less competition and interference for the rest of us who know better ! - Paul North.
A lot of people confused by strange loops perhaps....
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
"The 12-ton Gettysburg Electric Map sliced apart and once slated to be destroyed by the federal government was won at online auction this week and is expected to soon come home - to Hanover."
http://www.eveningsun.com/news/ci_21545664/electric-map-auction-set-end-tonight?source=most_emailed
Hanover is just a stone's throw from Gettysburg. I'm glad the map found a buyer - it was neat and educational, and I do believe the decision to replace it with a movie (a movie at a historic site? how original ) was extremely short-sighted.
Here's a video of the map: http://youtu.be/dYxpkJFKb_s
OK, so how DO I subscribe to this thread with this new format, w/o posting??!! TIA.
(Guess why I've been missing?? )
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
Nance, off to the right, down a ways, is a box with "forum options". There's something there about subscribing, or e-mail notifications, or something like that. I don't use it (or want to), so I don't know what it does or whether it works. Edit: from the looks of things, you'd get e-mails for every response in the entire Forum. I don't know how one would limit them.Hope you're doing okay, Nance--missed you!.Not much new in my world of railroading, but I've found a fantastic new biking companion. Her name is Emily--she's six years old, and my granddaughter. So I don't get to do it often...but she gets that little bike of hers up to a decent speed. Pat and I took their whole family to Glen Ellyn and back, and both girls were on their own bikes. They didn't really hold us back much, and we didn't hear any complaining or even the slightest suggestion that they were worn out. The older one, Katelyn, did as well as Emily, but took a bit of a spill. Emily, who was well ahead of the pack (with me keeping up with her) recognized the sound of her sister crying and told me to stop. Once we all got going again, though, both girls made it up the toughest hill left on the bike path without getting off their bikes and pushing. I was proud of both of them. (Nico can ride a bike, but he was on one of those trailing-third-wheel things because they didn't know how long he'd hold up...he was actually putting a little power into it, though, and helping his dad out.)While we were eating dinner in Glen Ellyn (Joe and Willy know where!), three trains went through: a scoot in each direction and a westbound manifest for North Platte.
AgentKid the GP38-2, 3084 that had been painted in the old maroon and gray paint job and otherwise outfitted to work with the 2816(steam engine), has gone back into the regular service pool starting August 1
Good news (I think), it seems the 3084 returned to Calgary earlier this month, after working a stint on the hump in Montreal. You may have seen the ads in the TRAINS weekly e-mail that the "Royal Canadian Pacific" luxury train is once again taking reservations for at least one trip next summer. I'm not sure if 3084 is part of that plan or not, but I suspect it is, if only in a backup role for the "F" units.
Carl, I liked your story about biking with your grandkids. We have a picture of my brother's oldest boy, when he was about two, sitting on a bike child seat wearing a scaled down version of a French style, bicycle racing team pit crew mechanics hat. It is a sort of French version of a cross between an American baseball cap and those free painter's caps hardware stores used to give away as advertising. You would do a double-take if you saw a grown-up walking down the street wearing one, but on a kid it really looked cute. It had the logo of some famous European bike racing team on it.
Everyone have a good day.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
Latest member of the family.
Name is Lehigh (as in coal and navigation). He isn't orange (I have several oranges, including a Maine Coon), but needed a home nonetheless.
Neat - another "tuxedo" cat (one moved in with us about 2 years ago, his name is Phantom). Norfolk Southern colors, too, I see. Ours also needs a FRED-type collar sometimes to see him at night to avoid collisions !
Maine Coons are cool, too. (You're scoring big points with Mookie, I suspect !) If I'd had a choice, it would have been one of them, or a Norwegian Forest Cat.
Thanks for sharing !
Heading northeastwards about 75 miles to fill in as a quality control supervisor at a landslide repair/ reconstruction site in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, abnout 7 miles south of Port Jervis, NY (closest operating tracks, I think) - almost another day in Paradise (that one is about 20 miles west, though . . . ).
Nice cat, nice colors, nice name!I should be out, but am at home today with the blahs. Haven't seen a good train for my purposes for over a week now (though seeing the Nebraska Zephyr come through was a spirit-lifter!). Tuesday, I hope to be showing a visitor from the British Isles how good we have it around here. If the trains don't cooperate on the main line, perhaps they will be worth looking at in and around the yard...
We're going back to the 80's here in CaNoodle land. There have been a plethora of SD60s & Dash 8s leading everything lately. I like my modern power as much as the next guy...but the variety has been nice.
Just a heads up - the Lounge moves into it's next home Monday of next week. I should be able to "open" it up.
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