From what I understand, we lost those two degrees (and borrowed one from somewhere) for a while overnight.Tomorrow night the performance repeats itself, and probably outdoes itself. And tomorrow we're under a winter weather advisory.
D'ya think?
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)
CShaveRRP.S. Anyone have a few degrees to spare? I only have two of them up here.
We're actually at 35 here in the north woods of NY. But the prognosticators have threatened us with up to two feet of snow in "persistant squall areas." I don't live in one of those areas, but if the winds shift to the southwest, we'll probably see a decent accumulation.
The way the wind is blowing, we'll have Carl's balmy temperatures here sooner rather than later...
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...
P.S. Anyone have a few degrees to spare? I only have two of them up here.Of course, if I don't get to bed pretty quickly I might get the third degree from Pat...
Umm...no, SJ, you'll just cease to accumulate birthdays, weight, fortune, friends, fame (maybe not), and oxygen...
SJ, accumulating birthdays isn't such a bad thing, when you consider the alternative.
BC - I will get younger?
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
SJ, accumulating birthdays isn't such a bad thing, when you consider the alternative.We finally have enough snow on the ground here to cover grass and the remaining leaves. And the roads...not a pretty picture around here last night. Today is sunny and very bright. But not very warm--I show 17 degrees locally in midday.No train sightings or anything today; still recuperating from a cold and subsequent funk. I have plenty of research to keep me occupied--this time I'm looking at the old CSXT hoppers (mostly off the Chessie side of things) that made up the 7400 series on the Reading & Northern.
tree68 Hmmm. I better put Madam LaMook's b'day on my calendar...
Hmmm. I better put Madam LaMook's b'day on my calendar...
On railroad all weekend, so out of touch with forums. Decent weekend, despite some power issues on the train Sunday. We got through them. Another 2,700 reasonably happy riders!
Carl, Dan, and Jeff, thanks for the information.
James
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
Besides Pearl Harbor, today we honor the pearl of the Forums on her birthday.One can't say enough about Ms. Mookie, the kitten who would work for milk, and whose curiosity is infectious. Many years ago she was one of the inspirations that kept me on the Forum. She reminded me of an inquisitive little sister, so I "adopted" her. I've since found out that she has the knack for saying just the right thing to make one smile, or to make one think...or both!Without revealing too much, today is a birthday bearing a significant number. But don't be lulled into complacency by that...no telling how many lives she has left. Happy birthday, SJ! Hugs from Pat and me!
I haven't seen gondolas for frac sand, only covered hoppers. It could be something with the grade of sand and where it's going. I've seen both small and larger covered hoppers, with the larger ones being older and probably on their last assignments before being cut up. (Alter at Council Bluffs has recently started cutting up some old cars there. Some old CNW and MP covered hoppers, both large and small.)
Right now because of where I'm working, I'm seeing the empty cars being returned. The loads going south go through Des Moines to Kansas City. The empties, because of UP's directional running, come north out of KC to Omaha and then east to the Spine at Nevada, IA. Sometimes, they take the long way and go all the way east to Proviso before heading north.
Jeff
James,
I've seen CN use short two-bay hoppers for this and UP use both two-bay hoppers and open gondolas.
Dan
Frac sand is usually hauled in small-cube (3000-3400-cubic-foot-capacity) covered hoppers. The cars have gravity outlets (nothing fancy), and maybe three or four round roof hatches up top. Carrying it in open-top cars would cause loss of commodity, not to mention consternation among neighbors of the railroad and fouling of ballast. The use of larger covered hoppers would be inefficient, since the load limit would be reached before the cars were filled.
Missouri's Department of Natural Resources has given permission for a company to start mining "frack" sand in an area not far from the town I live in. The sand is to be trucked to a trans-load (right term?) facility (mentioned here: A Modern Team Track? ) where it will be loaded in to railcars. At work, we were discussing what type of railcars. We figured covered hoppers would be used. There was disagreement on the type of hoppers. Anyone know what the railroads are using? My curiosity has gotten the better of me.
Thanks,
My older grandson is definitely into the Thomas stuff (he's 5 1/2 now). He subscribes (courtesy of Grandpa) to the Thomas the Tank Engine magazine (his older sisters get Highlights), and he tells me about anything he does in connection with trains.My daughter gave him and his sister pictures of turkeys for Thanksgiving, and told them to "disguise" the turkey (to keep it from being devoured). For Nico, the tall neck and head became a stack and a plume of smoke, and the large breast (or pair of breasts) had a smiling Thomas face on it. The fan-tail profile became the cab, and a pilot covered the legs. My other grandson is too young for trains yet. He had his first train ride in October, but he's definitely a jet-setter. At four months he's probably gotten as many frequent-flier miles as a free rider could accumulate, with two round trips out this way from California...he's already visited four states in his young life, and gotten a good look at a snowfall on Thanksgiving Day in Michigan.(Alas, they returned home to California this morning. The house seems quiet once again.
tree68 zugmannGuess it was a big hit. And don't worry - once they get a little older, I'm sure their railroader uncle will buy them a Lionel set. My grandson already likes trains and has a sizable collection of "Thomas" stuff. He also likes fire trucks. I have a substantial number of diecasts, ranging from Hot Wheels to museum-quality items. I'm tempted to show them to him, but he's four - I'm not sure it would turn out well...
zugmannGuess it was a big hit. And don't worry - once they get a little older, I'm sure their railroader uncle will buy them a Lionel set.
My grandson already likes trains and has a sizable collection of "Thomas" stuff.
He also likes fire trucks. I have a substantial number of diecasts, ranging from Hot Wheels to museum-quality items. I'm tempted to show them to him, but he's four - I'm not sure it would turn out well...
My sister got her boy (3 yrs old) one of those plastic caterpillar train sets for his birthday. It was opened with the help of his 4 year old sister who then commented: "Let's put this together so we can take turns!". Well, that was nice of her.
Guess it was a big hit. And don't worry - once they get a little older, I'm sure their railroader uncle will buy them a Lionel set.
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
Well dad didn't see any deer. I walked a couple miles thru the brush trying to flush one (or more) out and it didn't work. That happens.
Spent some time trackside yesterday and got quite a few NB trains including phosphate loads from CSXT, two stack trains and three "manifest" trains that had exactly one boxcar on each but were over 100 cars total. Lots of hoppers (grain and potash) and tanks.
Hope Dad got his too, Dan, in time for dinner!I also hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving, wherever it may have found you. I'm sure half of the football fans weren't so happy.We made it up to Michigan in spite of the advisory of lake-effect snow through northwestern Indiana and western Michigan. For us that involved a trip further east before going north. Consequently, I was lucky enough to catch a train of the Michigan Southern (or whatever that railroad now is) at White Pigeon, Michigan, and a freight of the Grand Elk Railroad near Three Rivers, Michigan. Both trains yielded neat sightings for me. We had mostly sunny skies all the way up, except for where we had to cross the snow belt perpendicularly in the vicinity of South Bend.Today, however, the snow caught up with us. We woke up to about six inches on the vehicle, and had to make several trips over roads in varying states of plowedness (looks like I coined another word here). While we were at dinner a few more inches fell, and I had to brush the SUV off again after our trip up north for dessert. But, far more importantly than the food, we got together with lots of members of both families, and some foreign students from Poland, Russia, and India which my niece brought to dinner with her. Our baby grandson held up well for most of the day, but had a meltdown just before bedtime. It's rough work, being the main attraction at three different gatherings (or one of the main attractions, at the gathering where there were two other babies of the same age, all second-cousins).
CShaveRR Congratulations today to Dan ("CNW6000"), who bagged Bambi's 9-point father. Venison for a few weeks, anyway!
Congratulations today to Dan ("CNW6000"), who bagged Bambi's 9-point father. Venison for a few weeks, anyway!
Thanks Carl. It felt good to get that buck. 9 points, 16" inside spread and dressed at 165 lbs. Enough meat for a while.
Now it's off to the woods to play beagle for my dad...and see about finding a doe.
zugmann tree68I almost got Bambi's mom yesterday - with the locomotive. You could count the feet between her and the pilot on one hand when she cleared... That is a nasty sound. Thumpthumpthumpthump...
tree68I almost got Bambi's mom yesterday - with the locomotive. You could count the feet between her and the pilot on one hand when she cleared...
That is a nasty sound. Thumpthumpthumpthump...
Then there was that eight cars full of families behind me....
I almost got Bambi's mom yesterday - with the locomotive. You could count the feet between her and the pilot on one hand when she cleared...
Threatening us with some weather over the next couple of days, but it looks like we'll have reasonable weather for the Polar Express trips this weekend. The trip to my daughter's house for Thanksgiving may not be as pleasant, though.
Yes, Carl, French is a little more difficult than English when it comes to both definite and indefinite articles. "La" and "une" are used with feminine nouns and adjectives; "le and "un" are used with masculine nouns and adjectives--but if the masculine noun begins with a vowel or an unaspirated (unpronounced) "h," "l'" is used as the definite article. If a feminine noun begins with the letter "h", it does not matter if it is aspirated or not. "Heure" (as I was taught) is pronounced more or less "er." If a singular noun is masculine, "de le" is contracted to "du;" if a plural noun is masculine, "de les" is contracted to "des". However, if a plural noun is feminine, there is no contraction of "de les."
The only time I remember really making use of my high school French, I was walking back to the station in Québec (remember, the French "qu," just as the Spanish "qu," is pronounced as though it were like a "k;" If the English had reached Lower Canada first, we would have the province and city of Kebec, which is a "First Tribe" name). I was looking at a map, and still missed a turn. As I was trying to figure out how to get back where I wanted to go, un Québeçois approached me, and asked en anglais if he could help me. When in Rome, do as the Romans do (if what Rome does is right), so I replied en francais. He did understand my need, and showed me, on my map, how I needed to go.
Incidentally, when traveling by train in Canada, except in Québec, announcements are made in English first and then in French; in Québec, the French announcement comes first. I am sure some Québeçois would prefer that no English be used anywhere, but, even in Québec there are newspapers published in English, and people who meet the public are bilingual, just as the people who interact with USA tourists in Tia Juana speak both languages
Johnny
Thanks, Johnny--I didn't have time to ask. Is that a difference in gender that changes du to de? And why is the la in this one and not in du jour?(I should be asking Pat--she's taken French. But she's busy preparing for our historical society's fete on behalf of our former director.)
Mookie ATWS?
ATWS?
Carl, I think you need to brush up on your French. It should be "scoot de la heure."
You won't see this one anywhere else, SJ: ATWS is the "Another Train Warning System" now employed on the UP's Overland Route near select Metra stations: If one train has the crossing gates down and another train enters the crossing circuit, this kicks in: a sign reading "DANGER! ANOTHER TRAIN COMING" begins to flash, and an automated voice reads the sign for you. It's very petulant about it, like you're being punished by the voice sending another train. Lombard doesn't have this, because there are no grade crossings near enough to the station (except for the pedestrian crossing, which was supposed to be replaced by a tunnel a couple of years ago...), and Wheaton doesn't have any because it was supposed to get an overhead pedestrian bridge (which still hasn't happened, either).Joe, I hope you have tolerable weather for your foray tomorrow. We'll be out in it, but any trains seen will be purely coincidental. No precipitation, but highs only in the 20s.
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