And now, if you travel I-80 east of Salt Lake City, as you go up and over Parley's Summit (crossing between the Wasatch Front and the Wasatch Back), you have speed limit signs that are changed as the road conditions change.
Johnny
Matt was closed again today.He went with cousins to the YMCA to work off cabin fever.Roads are still Icy. Looked like Ns' local came by work.Csx is still playing catch up. We are playing catch up at work too. More tomorrow.
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").
well Matt went back to school today!!! Ma nature is thawing us out. Was going to work tomorrow but the bosses said stay home. We'll see what Monday brings.
This winter is reminding me of those summers when the sun seems to go down on Friday night, and come back up on Monday morning, the weekend being cloudy and rainy.
We're looking at the 50's on Saturday, and at least the 40's on Sunday, followed by more winter weather next week.
We're under an "areal flood watch." Rain and warm temperatures will do that to you. Expecting some pump details.
The Interstate is closed again - this time because of ice from one of the larger creeks coming up against a bridge. If the ice doesn't break up, and the waters in the creek (which actually has four creeks coming together not far upstream) comes up, it could damage the bridge...
Wheeeeee!
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...
47 - very sunny, no wind, I think I am defrosting just a little. Looking good for most of the next 7-9 days!
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
Mookie47 - very sunny, no wind, I think I am defrosing just a little.
Ditto, except we're getting "liquid sunshine."
Finished the new bird feeder. Waiting for first visitors. They haven't been here all day at the other feeders, though. Soon.
Our main roads are clear. Subdivision streets would make good hockey rinks.
Norm
Guess Northern FL isn't a good place to be, especially if you are allergic to mold? Wow!
Is the Superbowl played somewhere up north this year?
evening
melting snow is causing pea soup weather here in Nw Ohio. Csx had a derailment near Chicago so things were slow today. A trucker decided to open up his trailer by going under the Jefferson ave viaduct. Matt is helping with his cousins tonight. Tomorrow is Sunday school and church.
Highs in the upper 20's today. ' Celebrated by shoveling sludge out of the garage.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Sludge, or slush?Big difference, though getting either one out of one's garage would be cause for celebration!
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)
Joe, from what I've heard, the derailment was at Dolton Junction. Got to take you down that way sometime, so you can see why a wreck there could cause problems for a lot of people (including UP, IHB, Amtrak...). I might have to investigate...we shall see.
good morning
Carl add the Suman derailment and the snowstorm recovery and you have a real mess. Track maintainers are fixing many defects and don't have time to check the rest of the track. Our local Sperry man is also getting anxious for track time too.Need to go get cleaned up.
JoeKoh evening melting snow is causing pea soup weather here in Nw Ohio. Csx had a derailment near Chicago so things were slow today. A trucker decided to open up his trailer by going under the Jefferson ave viaduct. Matt is helping with his cousins tonight. Tomorrow is Sunday school and church. stay safe Joe
CShaveRR Sludge, or slush?Big difference, though getting either one out of one's garage would be cause for celebration!
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
Murphy SidingMaybe both? The city covers the streets with salt, sand, and some gray liquid de-icer. It build up on the floor of the garage in layers that don't freeze, but don't seem to thaw. Cleaning it out involves using the ice scraper to peel up something the color of yuck, the viscosity of taffy.
Just read that some places are using the leftover brine from cheesemaking on their roads... Certain types of cheese make the best brine, but I don't remember what they are.
It's an opportunistic product - the places using it are near cheese factories, and the "used" brine is something the factories need to somehow dispose of. Works out nicely for both, although your vehicle may smell slightly of cheddar after a trip to town...
I've heard of that cheese brine, and also beet juice, being used to de-ice streets. Some of these things work better than ordinary road salt at the lower temperatures.Took a quick trip over to Dolton Junction this afternoon; couldn't see anything of CSX's wreck. They must have gotten it out of there in a hurry. A short CSX manifest (lots of power) headed east out of Barr as we were getting close to Dolton. Today it's gotten almost up to 40 degrees and sunny, so we figured on going exploring a little. Caught a coal train at Blue Island and a westbound CSX-powered manifest on the IHB in LaGrange (probably bound for CP). Also a strange ethanol train headed south on the UP north of Dolton (BNSF power, CP buffer cars).
Dynamite day! 46 and sunny, sunny, sunny! Also went out to breakfast and then train watching! BNSF was running everything they could get in or out at that very time! They were going to do track repair and seemed like they wanted everyone out of the house while they did so.
Definitely made my day - and gave the Driver a chance to nap off breakfast while sitting in the sun.
Life is good!
Warm here as well, and it even started out sunny. Some precip in the forecast, though. My neighbor broke out his Harley for a ride.
I was in Utica yesterday and saw some BNSF locomotives, as well as some from UP, not to mention the usual CSX stuff. It's usually easy to tell when Amtrak is due - nothing else runs. Then once Amtrak comes through, the floodgates open for a while.
Speaking of floodgates - we ended up without any real flooding. A few basements around the area needed pumping, but by and large, it was rather uneventful.
The birds have been scarce for the past few days. I can tell they've been there, but very few have been on the feeders when I've been watching. So I don't know how well they like the new feeder....
Tree - Amtrak isn't our touchstone - yard engines are. Since we "Amtrak" thru here when most breathing beings are asleep, the yard engines moving in and out of the yard tell us we might as well go home. No excitement for hours.
Our 2 Mama squirrels, which I assume are possibly pregnant, are guarding the peanuts. They evicted about 6 squirrels from the area and will now start on the next brood. Haven't seen any of the other wildlife, but bet they aren't too far away.
The crows, juncos, blue jays, cardinals, turtle doves and lots of sparrows - are not afraid! Even one sharp-shinned hawk patrols the area. (do hawks have shins?)
more melting today. Matt has a geography bee tomorrow. Time for supper.
Leavin' on a jet plane........to Oz! Woke up in the middle of the night to what sounded like a jet plane landing in the back yard. It was just the 50-60 m.p.h. breeze in the trees. Everyone here is busy nailing down what hasn't blown away already. Any squirrelologists out there? Driving home the other night, I saw a half dozen or so squirrels in a plowed field, about 100 yards from a tree belt. They were in a group close to one another, all digging in the ground. Squirrel winter festival? Squirrel singles mixer? Are they nuts?
Quoting Murphy: " Any squirrelologists out there? Driving home the other night, I saw a half dozen or so squirrels in a plowed field, about 100 yards from a tree belt. They were in a group close to one another, all digging in the ground. Squirrel winter festival? Squirrel singles mixer? Are they nuts?" They're after groundnuts; they were unable to lay up enough winter supplies earlier.
I'm a great-grandpa! Katie's daughter-in-law, Brandee, gave birth to Henry Morgan yesterday. She had a rough time, but she is in good hands at the hospital. I trust he will not have a career similar to that of another Henry Morgan, who sailed around in the Caribbean in the 17th century, worrying the Spanish .
He could be like another Henry Morgan, who was a well-known actor and radio/TV personality.
Congratulations, Johnny! I'm hoping not to achieve that for another 15 years or so. (And I much prefer Paul's choice of Henry Morgan for emulation!)Yesterday was not a bad day here, either. I put on a light jacket and broke out the bike to run some local errands. A lot was accomplished on those errands (shopping, banking, paying organization dues--not as sinister as it may sound!--and going to the post office. The last was kind of somber: we had to mail a fleece pillow to an old friend of ours in New Zealand (retired locomotive engineer) who is suffering from inoperable cancer in many areas. The ladies of our church (and that includes Pat) make these pillows and pray over them before they're given out for distribution.Only two trains--a westbound scoot and a NORX coal train--went through while I was trackside. An eastbound manifest was holding at Finley Road and an eastbound scoot went through before I got home.Today is a different story: snowing again, with temperatures warm enough to invite the possibility of sleet. I plan on getting some files updated today, and not venturing very far.
afternoon
home early so we can go to Matt's geography bee. He has a spelling bee on Thursday. Ns still has a coal train with wepx cars waiting to go to Detroit Edison. They did take the norange power off.. For my dad the great grandkids are starting to catch up on the grandkids. Another one is due to arrive in April.That would make it 16 grandkids,13 great grandkids.
Murphy Siding Leavin' on a jet plane........to Oz! Woke up in the middle of the night to what sounded like a jet plane landing in the back yard. It was just the 50-60 m.p.h. breeze in the trees. Everyone here is busy nailing down what hasn't blown away already. Any squirrelologists out there? Driving home the other night, I saw a half dozen or so squirrels in a plowed field, about 100 yards from a tree belt. They were in a group close to one another, all digging in the ground. Squirrel winter festival? Squirrel singles mixer? Are they nuts?
Maybe they are having a squirrel funeral? Show some respect, please! (smirk) Actually, I rather like your singles mixer.
Congrats, Johnny - I had lunch today with my granddaughter and 4 year old great grandson. He is a self-contained happy machine.
Visiting with my grandson is always an adventure.
Perhaps it was a cornfield and they found a few stray cobs?
The weather is bland here right now. Above freezing, rain has stopped. Doesn't feel like January, though. We're supposed to see some snow on the weekend, which will make the snowmobilers happy.
Apparently there was (and may still be) a special weather research project going on in our snow belt. Students from SUNY Oswego, as well as some weather scientists, have been watching for lake effect. The last couple of weeks they got plenty. According to one news story, they may even have the famous "doppler on wheels" of tornado chasing fame here for the study.
Back to house cleaning.
Planning ahead - if anyone is attending the big model railroad show in Springfield, MA (actually West Springfield) in a couple of weeks, look us up!
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