Truth -4WD technology can only do so much.....See that here regularly What still is troubling here is all the little light cars with baloney skin tires. A couple of the local agencies are ticketing for defective equipment.
(Saw a guy with an old ragtop VW bug with the top down on Friday morning on I-25 in the snow....Plenty of people in shorts this winter.)
One trick I use when the roads are snowy/icy is to select "3" instead of "drive". That keeps the torque converter from going into the freewheeling mode and induces some drag on the rear wheels when I ease my foot off the gas. Two wheel (rear) drive gets me where I'm going, but I use some discretion.
Norm
It's not uncommon during conditions of bad driving weather around here, for the radio stations to keep reminding people that a four wheel drive means that while you might be able to drive twice as fast as everyone else, you can't stop twice as fast.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
I'd bet most of those 4WD drivers have never heard of "4WD Hockey Puck Syndrome." Normally, one end or the other will free-wheel, so if it can get pointed in the direction of the skid it might gain some traction. Hence steering into a skid.
On the other hand, with all four wheels locked together, odds are all of the wheels will simply keep sliding.
My son once called to report that he'd discovered that putting his truck into four-wheel-go didn't overcome the existing four-wheel-stop. There were no casualties (aside from a snowbank), but he certainly got a wake-up call...
It's amazing how many of the vehicles that go off the road around here during a winter storm are SUV's....
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...
Walt: Perhaps some blame should be put upon some auto companies that flaunt 4wd vehicles being driven thru snow, with the snow flying and the driver acting like he's driving on a dry 4-lane highway.
Then, some customers have the thought that they are perfectly safe driving like they have been shown in the advertising....
I've wondered about this kind of advertising for some time now....Some portray some very over the top stupid handling of a vehicle on snow, with projecting the thought, we have 4wd and it can do anything.....
Quentin
blue streak 1 IMHO Atlanta area could not have handled a staggered business dismissal as the ice was too severe on roads for anything more than 20% of regular traffic. Rain then sleet then snow with falling temps the whole time is a very bad result. Went to 5F ( - 15C ) here that night. Governor admits he will declare a snow emergency next time forecast is similar to what happened Tuesday. The "staggered dismissal" program only works if there are other plans in place. And it seems it takes a disaster, or winter storm to make people understand that if you don't have any plans in place, it's not going to happen overnight. Louisville, Ky experienced a lot of problems in the "Blizzard" of 1978, then again in 1994; they got their act together so that things like that no longer happen. In 1994, we had about an inch or so of ice, followed by about 21" of snow. For about a week, this city went nowhere! In 1978, they, and surrounding areas had nothing to work with. After 1994, they started looking at cities (especially more "northern" than us) to help solve those problems. We aren't perfect yet, but we are getting there....and a lot of the people that couldn't drive on ice and snow, (the ones that didn't leave) can now do so.[Well, sort of, there are still some idiots around!][like the ones that bought 4wd vehicles thinking they(it) would do well on ice and snow just because it was a 4wd vehicle, they didn't think that 4 wheels slide the same as 2!]
IMHO Atlanta area could not have handled a staggered business dismissal as the ice was too severe on roads for anything more than 20% of regular traffic. Rain then sleet then snow with falling temps the whole time is a very bad result. Went to 5F ( - 15C ) here that night. Governor admits he will declare a snow emergency next time forecast is similar to what happened Tuesday.
The "staggered dismissal" program only works if there are other plans in place. And it seems it takes a disaster, or winter storm to make people understand that if you don't have any plans in place, it's not going to happen overnight.
Louisville, Ky experienced a lot of problems in the "Blizzard" of 1978, then again in 1994; they got their act together so that things like that no longer happen. In 1994, we had about an inch or so of ice, followed by about 21" of snow. For about a week, this city went nowhere! In 1978, they, and surrounding areas had nothing to work with. After 1994, they started looking at cities (especially more "northern" than us) to help solve those problems.
We aren't perfect yet, but we are getting there....and a lot of the people that couldn't drive on ice and snow, (the ones that didn't leave) can now do so.[Well, sort of, there are still some idiots around!][like the ones that bought 4wd vehicles thinking they(it) would do well on ice and snow just because it was a 4wd vehicle, they didn't think that 4 wheels slide the same as 2!]
Being Crazy,keeps you from going "INSANE" !! "The light at the end of the tunnel,has been turned off due to budget cuts" NOT AFRAID A Vet., and PROUD OF IT!!
Boy did someone turn the fire hose on CSX A&WP sub. Since about 1400 many south bounds meeting some north bounds. Every time I go out there is a northbound waiting in siding for one or two south bounds. For a single track CTC it has been about 4 -5 trains a hour since 1400.
Be sure you video that!
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
Yeah. They want us to send them Lake Michigan.
Norm - you saw the news tonite about no moisture in CA?
More snow predicted here over the weekend. Can we send California some?
afternoon
yep Matt get's 5 calamity(snow days). The district tried 3 hour delays but parents weren't happy because students had to stay an extra hour. The governor sent a bill to extend the days by 4 this year only. They have used 10 so far. Other schools have used more. Next year they go to a new formula that deals with hours attended. Matt brought home an A+ on his book report. He gets a special pizza party at school next week. Ns still has a freight parked in the siding at work. Have chores to do.
stay safe
joe
Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").
Where I worked they occasionally called for a "staggered release" of employees, to cut down road congestion. Not sure it ever worked, as most everyone wanted to leave on the first wave.
Here in the north woods the schools build "snow days" into their schedules. They have to have so many days of school to get state aid, so it's important to get those days in. If they end up not using all the snow days, the kids get a longer spring vacation.
As often as not, schools will simply delay a couple of hours, which allows time for the road crews to get things straight, and for the parking lots at the schools to get cleared. The day also still counts for state aid.
Given the nature of their storms, and the weatherguessers improved ability to forecast same, maybe they'll learn their lesson.
Of course, the cost of such a shutdown can be astronomical in lost revenue, etc., so it's not hard to imagine any reluctance to doing so.
Good Friday morning everyone.
Report from MP 225.5 (bout! ) on Southern T-con. I guess the BNSF is crawling back to 'Fluidity" between midnight and about 6 Am. I heard about half a dozen air horns..did not even try and figure out which way they were going but about 4 AM one guy cam thru with the loudest nasty sounding single note air horn I've heard in quite awhile... UP THEN!
The temp around here is now about 28 deg. F and the wind out of the North at about 8/9 mph. Sky is overcast, our weather is supposed to start getting colder tonight and the Weatherista's are predicting a possible light 'dusting' of snow. (snirt?) OH, Well!
I guess you might say that is my nightly session of " Blind Rail Fanning ?" for Friday morning 01/31/2014
Everyone have a Safe and Good Day!
Ed; Since Atlanta now off the radar governor and Mayor now falling over themselves admitting screw up. IMHO mostly state government since so much of tie up was from state controlled locations not in ATL city proper.
Appears that governor was not informed at 3:39 AM weather service bulletin changed to winter storm warning with conditions that did actually occur. Our governor is up for re-election this year so -------------
The biggie was the requirement that many public school systems said come to school. ( or else ? ) Now many schools are even closed this Friday. Last of kids got home about 12 noon next day. Next Local school board meeting will not be pretty.
What is surprising is that CSX traffic by here is still way down. Only had 6 - 8 trains by and should have been more like 20.
Discovered it is possible to “sail” a Jeep Wrangler last week…not too bad once you get the hang of it.
Don’t feel in the least bit sorry for the Atlanta folks…or the dummies here in the swamp, it’s not like they (we) were not warned about it before hand.
Snow in Houston is weird to say the least, didn’t stick of course, the ground was not cold enough long enough, but did get plenty of snow covered railcars in, all with that nice layer of ice just under the snow, which makes riding a shove move not the most pleasant thing to do.
Love the “Artic Vortex” tag line…didn’t we just used to call these things Canadian cold fronts?
Like I told the Mookie, the people here tickle me at times…a class 4 hurricane is headed this way, no big deal, everyone goes about their business like nothing is wrong, the hurricane hits, everyone stays inside for the day, then back to normal…but have a little frozen rain?
Talk about the apocalypse, oh my goodness; the end is here, clean out the grocery stores, stock up on firewood, (like we have a lot of fireplaces here in the swampland) prepare for the worse things you can imagine…and it snows for an hour, which is all the local news can talk about!
Caught the mayor of Atlanta on the morning news, and I think the bad press is a little undeserved.
Like he said, no one got killed, and the city is back in business the next day.
He also said they have a little bit better idea of what to do next time…first close the schools and get the kids home, then close the businesses, and get those folks out of town, then close the local and county offices and send them home….that way, you don’t have the entire population of Atlanta trying to leave all at the same time all on the same stretch of road..
Makes sense when you think about it.
23 17 46 11
Mookie Will open one eye during the Super Bowl to make sure the Broncos are running in the right direction. Do Mudchickens know about football? Do they sit long enough to watch?
Will open one eye during the Super Bowl to make sure the Broncos are running in the right direction. Do Mudchickens know about football? Do they sit long enough to watch?
(1) The way my week is going, I might be sleeping through it.(Up late again tonight pushin' paper)
(2) Got home for dinner. Parked the "Exploder" in the driveway about a foot off the garage door (parking brake ON) and went inside. After dishes went outside to set garbage to the curb and take first swipe at the heavy wet snow that started falling before I went home. Found the Exploder at the bottom of the driveway with the back end hanging out into the street beyond the gutter. Frod's version of automatic parking?
(3) Weather dogz say cold and wet. Can't wait until Monday to see if there's any real newz to watch. The hype, as usual, is absurd.
ps - Anybody heard from Kozzie in a while? E-mail bounced this morning, not sure why.
Joe - we are following right behind you. They are calling for snow about 1am tonite and then tomorrow and then again maybe Sunday/Monday. We went to the store today, also. I am going to put on my wig hat, sweats and fuzzy slippers and wrap up in a couple of blankets and sleep in my chair this weekend.
evening
ns had a couple more trains today waiting for yard space.They are in the siding and have been long and good variety of freight cars. Mamma and I went to the store after work. All the schools in the area were on time today. Guessers are calling for this and that for the weekend. Need to go check on Matt's homework.
Nasty weather just won't give up....We are being alerted another mess is coming our way by Tuesday...Right now, the figure being banded about is 8" of the stuff, and also possible rain/ ice mixed in someplace.
We still have plenty on the ground from various times in January, so guess we will have to make room for more....Haven't heard what kind of temps. range will be with it.
Um Houston - It's Atlanta's problem now.
Murphy: Denver about to experience the same thing... Rain-warm-cold-snow. (Our 1"-3" now morphed to 5"-8" and the mountains are looking at 1-3 Feet. - Harriman Wedge plow at Glenwood is ready.) Unusual for Aspen-Glenwood-Vail to have major problems, but folks up there are strangely getting sent home early. Maw Nature and the weather guessers must be smoking the wacky weed.
Watched some track welders working late to repair a frog casting before it got wet. Was asleep long before they probably got done. Still in awe of some of those guys.
No warnings yet from the old Weather Scottie. (he just sits in the snow pile for hours)
Murphy Siding Someone's out to get us. Yesterday, the temp shot up to 44 degrees. (above zero!). Then around midnight, it rained. Then it snowed. Then the wind picked up. This morning, everything is covered with a smooth as glass layer of polished ice. What is this- Atlanta?
Someone's out to get us. Yesterday, the temp shot up to 44 degrees. (above zero!). Then around midnight, it rained. Then it snowed. Then the wind picked up. This morning, everything is covered with a smooth as glass layer of polished ice. What is this- Atlanta?
Thursday AM:
Supposed to be in the 50's and clear today around here.
About 31 deg F ,and a 10/15 mph wind blowing out of the SE.
Heard some thru traffic very early this am..Judging from the Horns were a couple of Eastbounds and a West bound around 4AM. For some reason the horns don't seem to be as loud in early mornings..NOt Everyone is a 'fan. Just we are all grateful for the consideration.
Everyone have a great day and be safe.
P.S. Found this linked RR news aggregation site to possibly be of interest to folks who post around this Forum...
@ http://www.1stheadlines.com/rail.htm
Georgia politicians can not get a break or should they. It seems that certain governors believe that big business should go on no matter what conditions. When it comes to this mess here voters will have long memories such as happened in CHI and NYC.
CSX A&WP sub is still ghost town. Had 2 south bounds around 1800 last night but nothing since.
Weather here is bone chilling as temp on two separate indicators read 9.F x Was only forecast to go to 14F
The metro Atlanta area is paying for our POLs only supporting roads.
The only thing running well yesterday was MARTA trains but they are mostly only inside city limits except for two NE rail lines. Bus completely shut down. Now of course BRT would have had no problem ? ? ? ? ? ?
yea finger pointing is aplenty around Atlanta. If the gov't shut down the roads, crew vans can't get to the trains. CSX had that problem here in NW Ohio. A trainmaster from North Baltimore had to get permission from the local police to take crews to trains under a level 3. Matt did get to go to school today. Ns had a freight in the siding waiting to go west. Off to do chores.
Joe
We have the same problem here - although regarding driving the problem often falls into one of two camps - not familiar with our weather, or so familiar they think they can handle it... Either way, they usually end up having to get hauled out of a snowbank.
This is how I spent my afternoon:
The road was closed due to a four vehicle MVA - pardon if this sounds like the intro to a bad joke, but it involved a fuel delivery truck, a corrections (prison) van, a state trooper, and a pickup. Never mind the accident - visibility was at or near zero most of the time we were out there.
You feel bad for the folks who have recently moved to the area - they only know one way between points A & B, and if they can't go that way, they're lost.
We don't usually end up with the runs on the supermarket, though. Folks know enough to keep what they need on hand.
tree68 What amazes me is that they had as much notice as they did, and people still got caught flat-footed.
What amazes me is that they had as much notice as they did, and people still got caught flat-footed.
Still getting some snow here, and a little lake effect to the south, but the big problem is the wind. Just heard a report on the scanner of numerous cars off the road not far from here. Between slippery roads and extremely limited visibility, it's no surprise.
It wouldn't surprise me to find out that my township has more plow/sand trucks than most of metro Atlanta. And probably more sand and salt stockpiled, too...
Seems we are faring better than my friends over in the Southeast. About 28 deg F, and a wind at about 6/7 mph. Clear, sunny and cold.
Not a heck of a lot doing over on the BNSF T-con. About 8 AM (local) there were a pair of stacks passed (one East, and one Westbound); at about 09:20 AM there was an Eastbound Bare table move and while out walking the dog there was a pair of GE's running light, at a pretty good clip, headed Eastbound. Time like this I wish I had a Scanner at home. None of the Internet providers seem to monitor this area for radio traffic. It would be interesting, as the UP's OKT sub is West of here about 8 miles, as well as the BNSF.
The Transcon through here is double tracked from the Arkansas River at Mulvane, to just above the BNSF Yard at Wellington. The double tracking stops just above the Hwy 160 crossing and 'singles 'into the yard ( might be about 2.5 miles) Not rsue how the BNSF calls the directions ( Is it Track North or Track West on Eldorado sub Track #1 and Track #2). I have generally, referred to it as East or West bound as the more or less Compass points(?) when referring to Directions around here...
Have a good day everyone. Stay safe, and stay warm...( I know B.S. 1) is in for some 'ugly' weather stuff over his way today, for sure!)
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