Happy Kalmbach Day, everybody!
(Details on request for the uninitiated)
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)
Well, I now get to officially add the title of "dispatcher" to my railroad resume.
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
Woo-hoo! Congratulations, best wishes, and good luck!
Congrats (I hope).
Are we talking Class 1 or shortline?
I know most of our dispatchers personally (I trained one as a conductor on our line), and have been to the dispatch office, modest though it is.
I've known a couple of Class 1 dispatchers. One has retired, the other moved on to another RR job.
May all your trains arrive on time!
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...
Jim, in regard to the blue (blew?) states in the path of Sandy:People in the path of the storm, please don't let a little weather stop you this year. If you have an option for early voting, please do it tomorrow!
Hmmm...I should have posted this on the thread about Sandy. As I'm editing it Sunday evening, it's too late to vote early in some of those places.
zugmann Well, I now get to officially add the title of "dispatcher" to my railroad resume.
Congrats. Had things worked out a bit differently, I would've gone that route myself. Although it would've been on a regional in Wisconsin. Now my dispatching is confined to my basement.
Jeff
Congratulations!!
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/
You may recall a former poster here - Railway Man. He had (and has) a deep knowledge of railroad operating practices, largely based on his experience as a DS (and maybe the Chief DS ?) of a small Class I/ large regional railroad. You can go back and look up some of his posts, and see the extent of the knowledge that position provided for him. I hope it works out really well for you, and enables you to go to lots of different and better places.
On a lighter note, have you read any of the Eddie Sands-type short stories about the life of a DS ? I presume you didn't have to demonstrate proficiency in Morse Code for this promotion ?
A few of us here know a couple of great DS stories from A Treasury of Railroad Folklore. Now we'll have to figure out a way to post them, or a link to them . . .
- Paul North.
Dan
Running away to join the circus today!Well, not really...but we've been so good about staying close to home this past month that I'm getting a little stir-crazy. So we're going to a fabric/craft store for Pat to get some necessities, then we'll head to northern Indiana, where we'd like to intercept the Ringling Brothers Blue Unit, as it moves from Toledo to Rosemont today. I'm hoping that the Chesterton Railcam gives me enough of a heads-up.I'm also hoping we can get to the lakeshore sometime. Sandy's already making waves today--they're supposed to be from 10 to 18 feet this afternoon (tomorrow they're expected to peak at 35 feet!).
Well, that would have worked, except that the website for the webcams (Railstream.biz) no longer seems to be active. Might have to go into Chesterton to find out for myself how to find it.Just heard about a hazmat-infused derailment on the Paducah & Louisville southwest of Louisville (Jefferson County). Pictures make it look pretty bad, though there's no fire (yet). Hope the Diner doesn't have to be evacuated.
CNW 6000 Way to go! I have confidence that you'll do well. Your experience "on the ground" should be very valuable to you. Here's hoping it goes better for you than you hope.
Way to go! I have confidence that you'll do well. Your experience "on the ground" should be very valuable to you. Here's hoping it goes better for you than you hope.
Thanks all. Still not 100% sold on this idea yet. Stay tuned...
With the wind running the length of Lake Michigan, there should be some pretty prodigious waves at the south end of the lake.
The northerly winds will mean the south shore of Lake Ontario may be interesting, but not so much as a strong, sustained westerly wind would make it.
Another phenomenon we experience here on the east end of the lake is the water being pushed down the lake, raising water levels - almost akin to a tide. Combine that with the wind-driven waves and things can go badly, just as they do on the ocean front.
A friend sent me a map from Google that shows the center of the storm tracking almost directly over us. http://google.org/crisismap/sandy-2012 The storm will very nearly follow I-81 north from Syracuse, missing me by about 10 or so miles...
Time for a nap. I have the feeling I'll be up most of the night...
zugmann CNW 6000 Way to go! I have confidence that you'll do well. Your experience "on the ground" should be very valuable to you. Here's hoping it goes better for you than you hope. Thanks all. Still not 100% sold on this idea yet. Stay tuned...
Can you go back if the "sale" falls thru or did you have to give up your old craft seniority? Dispatchers on the UP are considered part of management and we've had a few from my area leave TE&Y for the greener(?) pastures. Generally if you go into management you retain your previous seniority but I don't know if true in those cases. I do know some dispatchers were upset because some higher-up supposedly said dispatching is just an entry-level job to management, not a career choice. I'm guessing a view held by someone who was never a dispatcher.
More importantly. Have they let you see the big picture yet?
Railstream is up again, but no luck so far.
Scared I'll miss the train while we do some necessary shopping in Michigan City.
We went to the Miller Beach in Gary; the parking lot was closed due to construction, but the waves were pretty spectacular.
Well, a miss was as good as a mile. When I wrote the last message, I was in Chesterton, less than a mile from the webcam. And after I wrote it, I checked the webcam. Guess what was going past! Well, the webcam view was more than I realistically expected to get. Instead of attempting a chase, we did our shopping and checked the lakefront east and north of Michigan City. Meanwhile, the word is out tonight...stay away from Miller Beach. That whole area is going to be Ground Zero for wind and waves, with sustained winds in excess of 50 m.p.h. as far north as Benton Harbor.One hint for wave-watchers: don't just look at the breakers--look out into the lake where it's pure wave action--I've never seen such a rough-looking horizon!
Wow...had to go to Page 3 to dust today!I took a day off from my usual relaxation around the house to run payday errands and look for trains. It was too cold to bike (heavy coat required...hampers movement on bike), so I walked to the station and rode a scoot to Elmhurst for lunch, banking, and hobby shop, and for trains. They came through at a steady rate, which gave me a chance to write an overdue snail-mail letter. When the next eastbound scoot came through, two hours after I got there, I got on board, so I could give another in the open-ended series ofOverland Route Three-tracking Updates
All four tracks leading to the UP's east-west main line from Proviso (two from the east and two from the north) have now been equipped with open-point derails within the limits of the control point, powered with switch machines. Some of them seem to be awfully close to the fouling point for Track 1--if they're called upon, one hopes that the cars stay upright and in line with the tracks!
Still in service and active are two more conventional derails at the west end of the two "Illinois Outbound" tracks. These are east of the control point, and may be part of some "secure yard" requirements, to keep movements from coming into the yard without authorization (this is, I believe, a requirement for handling of certain hazardous materials).At Berkeley, work continues on the tunnel under two of the three tracks and the platform (which will be between Tracks 1 and 2, capable of loading on either track). A roof is being built over the southern portion of the tunnel.
The new Track 1 still ends abruptly at Mannheim Road. Before it can go under the bridge, the stairway from the road down to the Bellwood platform will have to be shifted--as will the platform itself. It still can't be seen how a platform will be built here to serve the two northernmost tracks. It will have to be similar to the ones being built at Berkeley, because there is no place for trains to cross from one track to another between the two stations.East of Bellwood, new mainline tracks have been built, but are not connected at either end. Shifting of tracks to the new alignments will have to begin where the station platforms now stand, and just west of the IHB bridge. It would appear that subgrade is in place for the new tracks underneath the IHB bridge--east of there, not so much.
At the east end of the construction, the control point to be named 19th Avenue appears to be finished, save for the third track to be built up to that point. A new lead into Proviso, north of Track 1, is in service all the way to 19th Avenue. Owing to not knowing where to look and when, this forumist didn't see the "power-point" derails at this end that he thought he saw last month. There are still the flop-over derails here, but obviously another trip to this area will be needed later in the month.
_______________
The scoot was ridden as far as Oak Park, then back from Oak Park to Lombard, where favorable signals prompted me to wait around for about an hour, which yielded two more freights for me.
Thanks for the update. Much appreciated.
Glad to oblige. Perhaps next I can go out west and see how the new crossovers are coming in Wheaton.
They may have been doing something today--the southernmost track (track 3) was apparently out of service west of Lombard.
Good ol' Carl saved the day for about nine Metra riders who'd missed the announcements and would have been on the wrong side to board their westbound scoot. They were all across the tracks in time to see the scoot cross over in front of a westbound manifest on Track 2 and pick them up on Track 1, where an inbound scoot had loaded just a few minutes before. Between the two scoots, a westbound "Salad shooter" train (mostly empty reefers) went by. This whole scenario took about 15 minutes.
CShaveRR Good ol' Carl
Good ol' Carl
zardoz That was very kind of you.
That was very kind of you.
And I bet he only charged them $10, too.
Nothing new here... I'll be starting to train on my second desk. Yay, fun, and other words of joyful expression.
zugmann zardoz That was very kind of you. And I bet he only charged them $10, too. Nothing new here... I'll be starting to train on my second desk. Yay, fun, and other words of joyful expression.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
I think it means he made such a mess of the first one, he is now prepping to park a train on the first one.
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
Basically, yeah.
Have to spread my incompetence to other pieces of the railroad.
I just watched 'Unstoppable'...uh, yea.
No, Tom, I didn't shake 'em down...I live in the collar counties. (I didn't vote often after voting early, either).Congratulations on letting more of the railroad get to know you! If you ever get to this end of the pike, let us know--it would be worth looking at and listening to (and probably better than the Wicked B***h of the West!).
Nance, I'm not ready for whatever experiences that movie would give me. And edification or enjoyment wouldn't be among them.
I hope everyone (nearly everyone) enjoyed the extra hour that must be our bonus minutes for saving daylight all summer.
CShaveRR Nance, I'm not ready for whatever experiences that movie would give me. And edification or enjoyment wouldn't be among them.
This weekend was spent on drywall & wiring...this week comes taping/mudding, prime/paint & casing windows. I'm going to be glad things are done.
I'm ready for snow...Willy - can you send me some?
CNW 6000 I'm ready for snow...Willy - can you send me some?
You can do your snow-dance, Dan...as long as you don't send any too far south of you for, say, a month or so.Speaking of south, are you planning on going to the show in Milwaukee this weekend? I have permission to take my wife along for the Forum photo shoot Saturday noon.
________________________
This afternoon, I got off the train in time to see one of our crewmen give a dressing-down to a guy standing on the platform. He had crossed the tracks in front of our train while the lights were flashing and warning bells were ringing. The only thing I heard the crewman say was, "You're not riding on any of my trains."That might be another thing to give thanks for in this month of Thanksgiving: railroad employees who take safety issues personally. After all, they're the ones getting the crap scared out of them every time somebody pulls this. Maybe, sometime, we'll have one more educated commuter. Not sure I'd count on it this time, though.
CShaveRR This afternoon, I got off the train in time to see one of our crewmen give a dressing-down to a guy standing on the platform. He had crossed the tracks in front of our train while the lights were flashing and warning bells were ringing. The only thing I heard the crewman say was, "You're not riding on any of my trains." That might be another thing to give thanks for in this month of Thanksgiving: railroad employees who take safety issues personally. After all, they're the ones getting the crap scared out of them every time somebody pulls this.
This afternoon, I got off the train in time to see one of our crewmen give a dressing-down to a guy standing on the platform. He had crossed the tracks in front of our train while the lights were flashing and warning bells were ringing. The only thing I heard the crewman say was, "You're not riding on any of my trains."
That might be another thing to give thanks for in this month of Thanksgiving: railroad employees who take safety issues personally. After all, they're the ones getting the crap scared out of them every time somebody pulls this.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.