I think I lost a comma in there, somewhere.
Of course, being moderated, means someone has to read and allow each of my posts. Kind of feels good to be a job creator.
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
zugmann . . . So, is one allowed to make off topic posts in a dedicated non-railroad off topic thread?
zugmannSo, is one allowed to make off topic posts in a dedicated non-railroad off topic thread?
zardozAlthough I've never been a moderator, I would imagine it's not as easy as it seems to us plebes.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
RRKen Thanks to Slim and Bucky! And you thought oppression died with the USSR. NYET! The whole world is watching.
Thanks to Slim and Bucky! And you thought oppression died with the USSR. NYET! The whole world is watching.
Hey, I'm part of the moderated club, too.
So, is one allowed to make off topic posts in a dedicated non-railroad off topic thread?
tree68 Hmmm. Just got notice on another thread that posts had to be moderated.... A change? Have I been a bad kid? Or just a fluke?
Hmmm. Just got notice on another thread that posts had to be moderated....
A change? Have I been a bad kid? Or just a fluke?
I have been as well Larry.....
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...
Our weather has been hot, too: yesterday's 96 set a record for the date. The humidity is not quite so bad, though, and it was breezy. It's supposed to get cooler as the week progresses; we're planning on bringing our jackets for possible use when we visit the Land of No Trains over the weekend.
Yesterday, I managed to get in a train trip to Chicago, for embarrassing personal reasons. Some commuters have it really good on our line! For the trip home I was able to catch a Metra train departing Ogilvie at 5:09. First stop: Lombard, at 5:38.As we left, we encountered plenty of scoots going to the station for their turn to load commuters. Most of the units were gone from M19A by that time, and California Avenue was pretty empty as well. It looked like a stack train was headed into Proviso from the west at Park, and a hopper train was ready to go west whenever he was allowed (after the fleet, hopefully). We had the inside track (track 2) all the way from 25th Avenue to Grace, took the crossover smoothly and came in for a landing at Lombard in time to unload a whole bunch of passengers and depart at 5:38. Not even close...dead on time!The train had only three more stops to make--Glen Ellyn, College Avenue, and West Chicago. It looks like this is one train that could make full use of the new crossovers when everything is ready--using the center track as far as Lombard, Track 3 (the platform track) for the next three stations, then back to the center track if necessary to avoid the platforms at Wheaton and Winfield. A quick look at the timetable shows that so far, this is almost the only rush-hour train in either direction that could do this (except for the express to Wheaton, which can stay on Track 2 all the way to Wheaton when those crossovers are placed in service). The vision that Metra has is to someday increase service on the West Line to an approximation of what BNSF has on its line to Aurora, with much more frequent rush-hour trains, express trains running around locals making station stops, etc.Thanks to Conductor Johnson (he's Number One in seniority these days) for presiding over a smooth trip, and thanks to a nice gal from my church for being my seat-mate on the trip out.
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)
Still waiting for fall to feel like it's here. It's been in the upper 80's or low 90's lately with humidity to match. I thought that's what August was for?
CN decided to bless us with one of the ex-Oakway SD60's for local power. Nice change of pace from a worn out geep.
On and on...
Dan
It's all on the Newswire, Johnny. But no, the 17th of September is the only meeting at Chicago. On the 19th (July?) is the meeting in Porter, Indiana. If you wanted, we could go to Gary on the 18th for that meeting...Actually not as laughable as it sounds: it might be doable via the South Shore.
Carl, can you fill me in these public meetings? Would there be one in Chicago on Thursday, 19 July ( I am leaving on the Cardinal that evening), or will the Chicago meeting be on the 17th or 18th?.
Johnny
I could (and probably should) do that. With the death I was talking about pretty much narrowed down to accidental (his dad said that police and coroner evidence pointed away from suicide), it becomes obvious that the message isn't getting out as much as it should.
Speaking of messages not getting out, I still hear evidence of the "people don't ride trains any more" myth. There was a rare-trackage tour announced by Amtrak not that long ago for the Philadelphia-Harrisburg area. I informed my friends in SE PA about this...but now, despite their adding extra coaches, the trip's already sold out.There are supposed to be public meetings in Chicago, Indiana, and Michigan concerning the route selection for high-speed service and projects on the Chicago-to-Michigan corridor, taking place starting September 17 here in Chicago. I want to go...this is the route that has had the most done to it recently, but on which there's so much left to be done.
http://greatlakesrail.org/~grtlakes/documents/Public_Meetings_Announced_SOTL_Alternatives_Sept2013.pdf
mudchicken Dan & Zug for your OLI efforts. (When we teach, we give OLI a five minute plug in the middle of our railroad presentation during the day)
Dan & Zug for your OLI efforts.
(When we teach, we give OLI a five minute plug in the middle of our railroad presentation during the day)
Dan gets the thanks, not me. Just looking into it in case I actually do move to daylight. I know some guys here that used to do OL, but they had too much trouble trying to get the odd day off from work to do a presentation, so they gave it up.
2014 Door County Scottie Rally dates are: Friday May 16 and Saturday May 17 (actual rally). It's only a 20 minute drive from our woods and the Bailey's Harbor area is very nice.
Gotta get up there some year for the Scotty Festival
zugmann That online thing go smooth? I've been considering doing it too,but will probably wait until I get off this night shift. But cool nonetheless, Dan. OL is one cause I do believe in strongly.
That online thing go smooth? I've been considering doing it too,but will probably wait until I get off this night shift.
But cool nonetheless, Dan. OL is one cause I do believe in strongly.
Thanks Zug and MC. Zug the online thing was pretty straightforward. If you recall what signs & signals are from Driver's Ed and have some common sense it shouldn't be tough. I have actually wanted to do this for a while as there aren't many (any?) folks in my part of the state. So...I figured that someone's gotta do it and why not me? Especially with all the crazy stuff I have seen around my area in the last couple of years...someone needs to bring the message to the folks around the rails.
Preparations are now afoot for a work weekend at the woodlot in Door County. We discovered some storm damage to the birch and cedar groves last weekend and now have secured a hydraulic splitter and chipper to help make the work a bit easier. Just hope that Ma Nature will cooperate and give us cool but dry weather.
CNW 6000 For those who are interested, today the center section of the old bridge should be cut up and hauled away. The new bridge is working and open to rail and marine traffic. Took the final online module in my training to become an Operation Lifesaver "Authorized Volunteer". I hope to finish the "in person" part of the training soon...and then off I go. We'll see how that goes. I'm excited to help spread the rail-safety message.
For those who are interested, today the center section of the old bridge should be cut up and hauled away. The new bridge is working and open to rail and marine traffic.
Took the final online module in my training to become an Operation Lifesaver "Authorized Volunteer". I hope to finish the "in person" part of the training soon...and then off I go. We'll see how that goes. I'm excited to help spread the rail-safety message.
...so speaks the 'Wizard of Id'!
zardoz Mookie Zardoz: kafluey ? Old Norwegian? It's a derivative of kablam (which is itself a derivative of kapow (such as seen on Batman (the old tv series))) (pardon the parenthetical rant). I believe the word's origin lies somewhere near Oz.
Mookie Zardoz: kafluey ? Old Norwegian?
Zardoz: kafluey ? Old Norwegian?
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
It's a little different nowadays from when a train was going into the dark and was delayed by drifts or something. Now you have radio communication, and (especially in our area) pretty good access to the railroad frequently enough that a train delayed by an obstruction could get to (in one direction or the other); the train could also be instructed to stop at a station short of a problem.One further thought...there was a time when BN's gallery cars were made heavier than everyone else's (their own stipulation, reportedly due to a collision between a mainline passenger train and a commuter train). But I have the suspicion that Metra's two most recent orders for commuter cars have also been made to these heavier standards (and the UP lines have been nearly completely covered by these new cars), so that distinction should no longer be there.
Another friend of mine suggested that the Rachel Barton incident (the violinist was dragged by a Metra train when her violin was caught in the door) and the resulting lawsuits might be making the UP a little more timid along these lines.
tree68 zardoz the trains used to always get through, whether from snow, ice, sleet, wind, etc......those darn trains just kept on going. Our local paper has a little feature which contains snippets of news from certain years past (10 years ago, 25, etc, up to 125, I think). All too often during the winter there will be an item about how the "express" (or some train) was significantly delayed at such and such a location due to drifting.
zardoz the trains used to always get through, whether from snow, ice, sleet, wind, etc......those darn trains just kept on going.
Our local paper has a little feature which contains snippets of news from certain years past (10 years ago, 25, etc, up to 125, I think). All too often during the winter there will be an item about how the "express" (or some train) was significantly delayed at such and such a location due to drifting.
How about "We are so sorry for your loss."
Simple is best.
SJ
Feeling a little somber tonight.First of all, you can probably imagine that I'm known as a train guy wherever I go...including church. At the annual fund-raising auction I will sometimes offer train-hunting expeditions which have been taken and enjoyed by members.Two days ago, I noticed some "police activity" causing delays to our Metra line in the vicinity of Wheaton for about an hour during the morning rush. Yesterday we got the news from our church about the "sudden accidental" death of a son of one of our church families, a guy who was about two years older than our older daughter. His parents still attend our church, and his dad is one person who's been on one of my train-hunting trips, to Rochelle and Proviso.Today I found out that the "police activity" was because this son was hit by a freight in Wheaton. I'm still not sure of the full story (and I certainly don't want to ask his folks!): it appears that he walked into the path of the eastbound freight after waiting for another train at a grade crossing downtown. The crew of the freight apparently didn't notice him; his body was found about two blocks away.So, even though Id like to think that "none of my friends would be dumb enough" to ignore crossing signals, I have to face the fact...not that he was dumb--he wasn't--but that it only takes a moment of distraction or inattention. I'm expecting that these folks will be in church tomorrow, and I still have no clue what I'll be saying to them.
Paul_D_North_Jra few websites I just stumbled across, which either feature or mention Canadian railroads, and/ or are linked to other websites or blogs that do:
Paul, thanks for the links. I have been briefly looking at the Caboose Coffee site and it seems like there is a lot for me to go back to there. It should keep me off the streets for a few days!
I've known about the oil-electric site for a few years. It surprised me how many years. This internet thing has been a part of our lives for quite a while now. It sticks in my mind that it might have been Kootenay Central who put me on to that site.
Now I'm off to get a few real world tasks done before I sit in front of my computer for the rest of the day. Thanks again.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
As a friend of mine pointed out, the Metra dinkies on BNSF (not really that far from us) kept running, and remained on schedule. This was definitely a railroad-centric, more than a weather-centric, problem. It probably took until the end of the scoot-day for it to work itself out.
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