CShaveRRP.S. Wait'll I tell Bev that she got bleeped on the Trains Forum! The asterisks mask the Latin word for "with". The Latin phrase refers to graduating "with high honors".
The word "Bowdlerize" comes to mind. I plant cielosa in my flower bed. But I cannot use the common name on the internet.
The word "Bowlderize" comes to mind. I plant cielosa in my flower bed. But I cannot use the common name on the internet.
Hey, folks, remember Willy, our resident meteorologist (who waves at trains)?
His mother just posted on Facebook:"Today my son Willy will graduate magna *** laude from Creighton University with a B.S. in Atmospheric Science. Yesterday he was presented his department's award for outstanding academic achievement and the university celebrated the class of 2013 with an incredibly beautiful baccalaureate Mass. Congratulations, Willy, and all 2013 grads!"
Congratulations, Willy!
P.S. Wait'll I tell Bev that she got bleeped on the Trains Forum! The asterisks mask the Latin word for "with". The Latin phrase refers to graduating "with high honors".
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)
The UP placed its new Track 1 in service between Park (Elmhurst) and Provo Junction (where it ties into the existing track 1) sometime late last week. I had a full day of train-watching at Elmhurst on Tuesday, and failed to notice the signals at Park...had I been watching closely, I would have seen an occasional high green on Track 1 and figured this out for myself. However, Colin Mucha got there first, and took a good video of the new route on Sunday. I got my own on Wednesday (don't know how I'd transfer it from cell-phone to Forum, but I got it over on Facebook). The old Track 1 is currently out of service. It's now Track 2 from Elmhurst through to Bellwood, but ends east of Bellwood. where it has been shifted somewhat, and remains to be connected. Crossover switches have been installed between the new track and this one, and between this one and a short stretch of the new Track 3 (completely new alignment). Track 3 (formerly Track 2) is used all the way on its old alignment, for now, where it remains as Track 2 east of Provo Junction.The old connection between UP and the IHB at Provo Junction is being taken up (I saw ties being removed from the trestle over Addison Creek); it will be relaid after all of the tracks are shifted to their new alignment. The new connecting track will have an easier curvature, and should be good for speeds of 20 m.p.h., as opposed to 10.Meanwhile, the new Track 1 has a direct connection to the flyover to the IHB. This will reportedly be good for 25 m.p.h. when work is completed on the IHB side. And replacement of the old connection will give UP and IHB two routes that can be used simultaneously.When we went past yesterday, surfacers and tampers were at the ready on Track 2 for when the track is cut in at the east end. My understanding, though, is that it's on hold for a little while, while the railroad plays catch-up from last week's derailment in Iowa (the one that wasn't in a cornfield after all).
Saturday was National Train Day, and I was in the Land of No Trains. Bummer.However, my brother-in-law, son-in-law, grandson (Nico) and I, all refugees from the baby shower, did get out on my hometown to see a few sights, including a stuffed and mounted 2-8-4 next to a concrete coal dock. I think my son-in-law will be watching The Polar Express again to see if PM 1223 really was related to the locomotive star of the movie. Nico is a veteran with display steam locomotives--his family was at the museum in St. Louis earlier this spring. He knew that the tender held both coal and water.But the real surprise is that we were able to go to the house next door to the shower venue (which was my sister's house). Their neighbor has a fantastic man-cave, and we were invited to visit. There was a beautifully-restored '64 Ford Pickup in the lower garage. A quarter in the slot put a restored AMI jukebox into action. We didn't need to hear the player piano next to it. The high point for Nico was a Lionel train on a board that Neighbor Jack used to entertain his own grandchildren. Jack and Rich (my son-in-law) showed Nico how to control the train, blow the whistle, and throw the switches. He didn't take long to grasp that, and he learned by himself how to uncouple the cars, remove them from the track, and put them back on the track accurately. That four-year-old has a better grasp of the workings of switch points and flanged wheels than a few railroaders I'd worked with! So I was happy to show him a few switching moves, and how to use the track layout to put the caboose on the opposite end of the train and take it in the opposite direction. It was well over an hour before he grew tired of it.
CShaveRRAnd the rats that used to hang around the yard lead to a number of tales, some of dubious credibility.
The only tales worth believing are those of dubious credibility.
CShaveRR Should I ever get anything uploaded to this or any other forum, I'll post some.It's mostly going to be taken up by room for large sewing projects (like basting quilts, which used to require tables in our church library), but yes, my computer area (I don't need much room!) will be in one corner of the new room--the one nearest the door so I can duck out when...never mind. (Quentin, check out what's posted on my Facebook page...I don't have any problem getting pictures there directly from my phone.) I took one shot today from near our front door through the dining-room window that used to look out onto the patio, and to the windows and doors in the new room. The addition didn't look very big by itself, but when that wall disappears, it's going to seem huge!
Should I ever get anything uploaded to this or any other forum, I'll post some.It's mostly going to be taken up by room for large sewing projects (like basting quilts, which used to require tables in our church library), but yes, my computer area (I don't need much room!) will be in one corner of the new room--the one nearest the door so I can duck out when...never mind. (Quentin, check out what's posted on my Facebook page...I don't have any problem getting pictures there directly from my phone.) I took one shot today from near our front door through the dining-room window that used to look out onto the patio, and to the windows and doors in the new room. The addition didn't look very big by itself, but when that wall disappears, it's going to seem huge!
Ok Carl....I'll see if I can check that out....
Quentin
Should I ever get anything uploaded to this or any other forum, I'll post some.It's mostly going to be taken up by room for large sewing projects (like basting quilts, which used to require tables in our church library), but yes, my computer area (I don't need much room!) will be in one corner of the new room--the one nearest the door so I can duck out when...never mind. My library will still be in the dungeon, but that will be augmented by some storage in the crawl space under the new room (I should be able to stack boxes of magazine back issues about three high if necessary).(Quentin, check out what's posted on my Facebook page...I don't have any problem getting pictures there directly from my phone.) I took one shot today from near our front door through the dining-room window that used to look out onto the patio, and to the windows and doors in the new room. The addition didn't look very big by itself, but when that wall disappears, it's going to seem huge! This weekend (starting tomorrow, actually) we'll be venturing north into the Land of No Trains again...baby shower for a niece, two mothers who have a Day coming, and a return to the Scene of the Crime, as it were...May 12 was the day, 40 years ago, when our life sentence began. And here, the electricity will be off for a time while they give us a new, larger breaker box (and replace all of the old fuses). I'm not sure what else will be accomplished while we're gone, but we hope to be pleasantly surprised.
Carl....let's see some photos of that new addition....Does it rate to have a computer room......?
Had a snake scurry out of the base of a switchstand once - surprised the heck out of me. I'm not afraid of snakes unless they can hurt me, but sometimes identification falls victim to giving them some space.
I've had to shoo deer away so I could get to a switch, and one of our crewmembers freaked out when he noticed that a bear on the platform was moving at the same speed he was inside the train...
The "dangers" of mountain railroading.
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...
Many's the time I'd hold back on some cars I was retarding to allow the goslings to follow their parents across the tracks.Most of my encounters with nature occurred while I was commuting to or from work (on a bike). Saw plenty of skunks (one pounded his front feet at me, but I didn't wait around). I had direct hits on opossums and a rabbit (must have been confused--couldn't have been too slow). I avoided the foxes and coyotes at work. There were times when I was dive-bombed by territorial birds (red-winged blackbirds were particularly problematic), but my worst encounter was being stung by a yellowjacket one afternoon.I can tell you about other railroaders who encountered hornets' nests while throwing a switch, or being strafed by the birds every time they went back a ways to pull pins on the top of the hump (honest, I thought the guy was feeding the bird or something!). And the rats that used to hang around the yard lead to a number of tales, some of dubious credibility.
zug - You're in good company, and honoring a long-established tradition.
According to either A Treasury of Railroad Folklore or The History of American Railroads, robins have long been considered a 'good-luck' talisman on the railroad. As a result, it was considered a bad omen to disturb them, especially when nesting. The example cited involved a nest on a caboose, which hence could not be moved until the young birds fledged. As I recall, it was a cabin car on the PRR - so you can see the parallel.
- Paul North.
P.S. - Just don't wake up the skunk sleeping next to the switchstand, or bother the snake warming itself on the sunny side of the rail . . .
...moving the baby killdeer chicks from near the switch points so we could move the engines over it, all the while their mommy is going absolutely nuts.
Just one of those moments on the railroad that will probably never be published.
But one I enjoyed.
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
Too much Lounging, not enough Trackside lately. So I took my bike and my bag to the tracks this afternoon, and wrote a letter while waiting for trains to go by. Business was pretty good, with a few strange things happening. It's been a few hours, so I might not have all of the details accurate.Eastbound WEPX coal train at about 1355, Track 1. Two units on the point, one DPU.Eastbound scoot, on time at 1405, Track 1.
Westbound scoot, on time at 1420, Track 3.
Eastbound manifest at about 1430, Track 1.
Westbound passenger extra at about 1435, Track 3. Two new ES44Acs on the point, about eight cars, The last three were two dome cars and business car Lone Star. He was moving (probably close to 70), and startled a couple of people who used the pedestrian crossing in front of it (the manifest had just cleared, and the bell hadn't stopped ringing). I would have said something to them, except that (1) they were walking away from me, and were gone by the time the passenger train cleared; the train startled me as well, and (2) the engineer probably did a good enough job of convincing them to get off the tracks with a long blast of the horn. I hope they went home to a fresh change of underwear.Eastbound scoot at 1505, Track 1.Westbound scoot at 1520, crossed over from 3 to 1 at Grace. Dropped off a friend of mine, with whom I talked for a few minutes (my letter was written, I was about to leave for the post office).Eastbound light engines on Track 3. All three were GEs, only the lead one was on line. They were moving very slowly, because the home signal at Grace was still red.Westbound NORX coal gons, crossed over from 3 to 1. As soon as he cleared, the light engines went straight down Track 3.Westbound light engines, three SD70s, crossing from Track 2 to 1 (those two sets of power must have met each other somewhere around Elmhurst, causing some head-scratching among casual observers). These units slowed down dramatically when they moved onto Track 1, probably following on the block of the NORX guy.
About 1540, a westbound manifest came through on Track 1. He was following the light engines (and I was where I could see his signal at Finley Road; it had just changed from flashing yellow to green, and he opened up a bit as he passed). As the end of this train cleared, I saw the headlight of another westbound in the distance. He also came past me on Track 1, having crossed over from Track 2 or Track 3. The signal he encountered at Finley, courtesy of the preceding manifest, was a solid yellow, suggesting that the hind end of the manifest was still somewhere east of the Glen Ellyn station. The stack train had a mid-train DPU.It was a little before 1600 when this stack train cleared, and I could see the station platform around the curve. A lot of passengers were waiting for the eastbound scoot, which was going to come in on the "wrong" track, Track 3. It had been nearly an hour since anything had shown up going the "normal" direction on any of the tracks here.So, in just over two hours, we had 13 moves: five scoots, six freights, and two light engine sets. But it was time to go home, as our contractors had knocked off for the day, and the pounding on the roof would be over.
I'm back, and sitting at my freshly-repaired laptop. All is satisfactory.
A happy birthday today to Paula, a.k.a. Cherokee Woman.
Today was a pleasant, warm Sunday, perfect for the Arts and Crafts Fair in connection with Lombard's Lilac Festival. Pat and I were down for a couple of hours after church, including some time manning the booth of the Lombard Historical Society. Trains were visible only peripherally from our location, but they sounded great! Of course the one I bolted to see once was just five locomotives by themselves.
As this year's Lilac Festival begins, the Village of Lombard has retired the numerous "Train Town U.S.A." banners given to the village by the Union Pacific Railroad in celebration of its sesquicentennial last year. A couple of these banners were saved for me; they will be proudly displayed on the wall--or the ceiling--of our new room when it's done. This was better for me than the village meeting last year in which UP made the designation. They wanted me to make a speech then. This time I was just thanked for my help in submitting the application.
Zug,
Here is another crossing sign that seems a bit out of place these days....
Rails to Nowhere by Jim53171, on Flickr
Any information as to what the railroad is?
Johnny
Somethign I like about shooting crossing signs. Don't know what, but here's antoher one:
I'd love to see broadside shots of those...or, better yet, to see the cars themselves.I am without a computer this week, so I won't be in too often (I took it to the local Sphinx, so he could sphix it). Right now I'm at our marvelous library.
Naturally, with the computer gone, and great biking weather, I encountered several cars that I'd love to research, but can't. In fact, I can't even enter them into my logs. One of them was an elusive KCSM stack car, which I've been hoping to find for at least a couple of months. These cars have BNSF or SP ancestry, but the car I saw (79152) could be on one side or the other of the break-point.To El(mhurst) and back on the bike yesterday; maybe today it'll be Wheaton, or West Chicago. We have rain coming in for the rest of the week, so I've got to play outside while I can. The lawn got mowed yesterday, too (Yes, I did it...front only, because our back yard is totally messed up with construction now--that's also moving ahead great guns with the good weather).
Thank you, Quentin and Carl. That train had the Central of Georgia engine in the lead, but that crossing shot is what I liked better. Haven't been doing much of the photo stuff, and am getting bored with the typical shots.
But to answer your question, many of the new oil black tank cars have white dome lids on them. And other of the new cars are white with black vertical stripes.
We have a birthday shout-out today to Don Oltmann (you know him as "Oltmannd"). Have a great day!You're right about that shot, Q. What's curious to me is the white areas at the tops of the more distant tank cars...a refection? painted tops?
....Just a comment. I think the displayed B/W photo of Zugmann's is really different, and really a nice railroad scene. I'm a little surprised the "white" in the sign didn't darken down the photo more than it appears to have done.
Beautiful straight track that positions the "tanks" in such a nice strait line....Overall, great....
Carl, I may have had that WEPX train (from a couple of posts back) on the Fremont to Boone leg of it's journey.
That 24 hours at Ames is an annual event, I think sponsered by the Iowa State (Universty) Railroad club. There's a group that does, or has done, a 24 hour event over by Cedar Rapids, too. I don't know the frequency of the CR group, but have seen them when I've worked the East end.
I think the train count should be about the same as last year. At least they do it at the end of the week. It's the beginning (Mon/Tues) when things are usually slowest.
Jeff
I just saw a post over on Trainorders.com about a 24-hour train-watching session to be held at Ames, Iowa, starting tomorrow night. They were complaining about last year's low total of 53 movements, and wondering whether they'll beat it this year. Others are saying that with the decrease in coal trains, that isn't likely--one said to expect only 30-40 movements.If it weren't for the steady scoot schedule here, I'd be a bit frustrated, too. I was surprised at the relative lack of stack trains this time.And, speaking of frustration, the most frustrating thing is working around the house (inside or out) when I can hear the trains and can't do a thing about it--I can't even monitor ATCS, since I use a Mac.
Carl, I hope you realize how jealous some of us are of your prime watching location so close to home.
It sure seems like both the UP and CP are running less trains thru Kenosha county than they used to. In the past, on a good day I might hear maybe two trains per hour (including Amtrak),; now it seems more like about one every hour or two.
Glad to see you made it safely home, Johnny--I trust the girls enjoyed their trip.I arrived early enough at the museum today to get a good meal from Johnny Dog (took it back to the museum, since it was a bit cool outside). And even though I prominently displayed the "open" sign, nobody stopped in there while I was by myself, so I could read in peace (my new issues of Trains, Model Railroader, and Classic Trains arrived today).Not that I got much reading in...I kept getting interrupted by trains on the UP, to wit:
1210: Eastbound manifest, probably from Des Moines.
1218: Westbound scoot, four coaches.
1225: An eastbound GP15-1 with four ballast loads, followed by an old MP caboose.
1306: Eastbound scoot, five coaches.
1317: Eastbound auto racks.
1321: Westbound scoot, seven coaches.1327: Westbound auto racks.
1328: Eastbound WEPX coal train, two units on the point, one DPU.1405: Eastbound scoot, four coaches (same set as the westbound at 1218).
1408: Westbound manifest (MPRCB?).
1419: Eastbound manifest. Surprised me by having several Auto-Max cars in it--those are rare on this line.
1421: Westbound scoot, eight coaches.
1508: After three hours, the first intermodal went past--a stack train with five units on the point.
1509: Eastbound scoot (same seven-coach set as the 1321 scoot westbound).
1521: Westbound scoot, six coaches.
1529: Another westbound stack train, this one with three units on the point and a midtrain DPU.
So, in 3.5 hours we had 16 movements through here on our main line--a little better than four per hour.
mudchicken We'd be CZ #5 watching here, but other duties call. The white stuff is all headed south and out of their way. Got 6-8" here this morning. 2/3rds of it has already melted.
We'd be CZ #5 watching here, but other duties call. The white stuff is all headed south and out of their way. Got 6-8" here this morning. 2/3rds of it has already melted.
Tomorrow I'm filling in as a facilitator ("docent" doesn't quite fit, because don't really guide any tours) at our local museum honoring Sheldon Peck, who was actively involved with the Underground Railroad. I'm just hoping that while I'm there the Union Pacific doesn't go underground when it comes to running the trains past there.
Pat and I traveled downtown today to provide a personal welcome to Chicago to Johnny ("Deggesty"), Katie, and Jackie, arriving (on time...early, actually!) on the City of New Orleans. While the latter two painted the Magnificent Mile red (as much as two can do in three hours!), we stayed at Union Station and talked, with a trip out for a leg-stretching walk to lunch. The three left on the California Zephyr about five hours after they arrived.
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