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Semi-official Rochelle webcam discussion thread

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, November 2, 2015 3:27 PM

CShaveRR
I think that in the flatland Midwest, one will find that the railroads placed a station in each township along their line. Townships were characteristically six miles square, so stations were approximately six miles apart.

 
Most of the "Northwest Territory" (not to be confused with the current entity in Canada) was set up with 36 square mile townships.  That included all or most of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
 
If you look at political maps of those states (as opposed to geographical), you'll find baselines and meridians in each.  The townships are numbered based on their relationship to the baseline and meridian (ie, township 2 north, range 7 east).  Of course, they also have names, but in deeds, etc, you'll find the numerical designation cited.
 
The practice probably extended further - I can't claim to be an expert there...

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Posted by Deggesty on Monday, November 2, 2015 4:09 PM

tree68

 

 
CShaveRR
I think that in the flatland Midwest, one will find that the railroads placed a station in each township along their line. Townships were characteristically six miles square, so stations were approximately six miles apart.

 

 
Most of the "Northwest Territory" (not to be confused with the current entity in Canada) was set up with 36 square mile townships.  That included all or most of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
 
If you look at political maps of those states (as opposed to geographical), you'll find baselines and meridians in each.  The townships are numbered based on their relationship to the baseline and meridian (ie, township 2 north, range 7 east).  Of course, they also have names, but in deeds, etc, you'll find the numerical designation cited.
 
The practice probably extended further - I can't claim to be an expert there...
 

Yes, Larry, other territories/states were laid out in a similar fashion; when I was living in Wesson, Mississippi (right across the street from the Mainline of Mid America), I had occasion to learn the system when I was involved in a decision to buy a particular plot of land in Lawrence County, and I spent some time in the county courthouse reading the description of the plot.

As I recall, the section numbering began in the upper lefthand corner of the township and moved east, dropped down and moved west, dropped down and moved east....until section 36 had been numbered in the southwest corner.

I do not doubt that this system of identifying townships and sections is used in many of the states west of the Appalachians.

Johnny

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Posted by rdamon on Tuesday, November 3, 2015 9:38 AM

Looks like the signal crews are working today.

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Posted by SushiLover on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 8:29 AM

Aw, no stream today Sad

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Posted by Brian Schmidt on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 1:16 PM

Folks, we are aware of a problem with the webcam today and are working to fix it.

Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine

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Posted by junior yardmaster on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 3:39 PM

Brian Schmidt

Link: Rochelle Web Cam

Trains Magazine has upgraded the Rochelle, Ill., webcam with a bigger picture and sound. The webcam is free for registered users. See something cool on the video feed? Post about it here!

And don't forget our Rochelle railfan guide for when you visit the Hub City!

 

Semi-official Rochelle webcam site; the camera is on the blink; no picture; black screen.  Junior Yardmaster

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Posted by vsmith on Thursday, November 5, 2015 10:12 AM
still AWOL today

   Have fun with your trains

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Posted by rdamon on Thursday, November 5, 2015 10:29 AM

I blame the spider

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Posted by SAM HUNTER on Thursday, November 5, 2015 11:01 AM

You're close. Section 1 is in the northeast corner of the township and section 36 is in the southeast corner. 

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Posted by chrisjmiller on Thursday, November 5, 2015 11:15 AM

rdamon

I blame the spider

 

I fear you may be right Big Smile.  BTW the Bailey Yard camera has also been broken for the last few days (I realise that's nothing to do with Trains).

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Posted by SushiLover on Thursday, November 5, 2015 1:45 PM

chrisjmiller

 

I fear you may be right Big Smile.  BTW the Bailey Yard camera has also been broken for the last few days (I realise that's nothing to do with Trains).

 

 

 The Bailey cam worked fine for me yesterday...

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Posted by cefinkjr on Thursday, November 5, 2015 2:06 PM

SushiLover
The Bailey cam worked fine for me yesterday...

The Bailey cam seems to be working fine now.  Here's the link I use (to save you the trouble of searching for it): http://visitnorthplatte.com/live-bailey-yard-web-cam/  If anyone knows a way to bypass the tourist attractions at North Platte, please let us know.

Profound-thought-brought-on-by-viewing-Bailey-Yard-for-a-few-minutes: How can anything be so boring and so fascinating at the same time?  Railroading is so fascinating that it's held my attention for more than 70 years.

Chuck
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Posted by chrisjmiller on Thursday, November 5, 2015 2:58 PM

Thanks for the update on Bailey yard.  Looks like it's stopped working in Chrome, works fine in Internet Explorer and Edge. 

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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Thursday, November 5, 2015 11:13 PM

rdamon

I blame the spider

That's one thick web!  To steal from "Jaws," you're going to need a bigger broom.

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Posted by rdamon on Friday, November 6, 2015 11:46 AM

I wonder how much more work is getting done with the camera being down.

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Posted by cefinkjr on Friday, November 6, 2015 12:15 PM

rdamon

I wonder how much more work is getting done with the camera being down.

Maybe less in my case.  I somehow managed to get the Bailey Yard web cam, full-screen, in "living color", panning continously, as my desktop background.  Not sure how I did that but I can't wait for Rochelle to get back up so I can try to duplicate it there.

Meanwhile, what was it again that I meant to do this morning?

Chuck
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Posted by rdettmer on Friday, November 6, 2015 1:32 PM

rochelle is back on now

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Posted by AgentKid on Friday, November 6, 2015 1:36 PM

What a relief, the cam is back up again. It not working really wasn't working for me.

The first train I saw was a WB on the UP. It put the mixed in mixed consist train. Some Yardmaster east of Rochelle must have gone on a rampage to clean out his yard and got these cars moved down the line for the next YM to sort out.

Hope the cam stays up.

Bruce

 

So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.

"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere"  CP Rail Public Timetable

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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Monday, November 9, 2015 6:46 PM

Was looking at the Newswire this evening and it looks like the WB Empire Builder made a detour through Rochelle today on BNSF tracks.  I'm guessing nobody caught the appearance, given the silence on this thread, but that would have been something to see.

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Posted by jeffhergert on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 2:32 AM

Amtrak will be detouring over the UP today.  I just missed getting AMT 6 out of Omaha.

Jeff

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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 10:34 AM

jeffhergert

Amtrak will be detouring over the UP today.  I just missed getting AMT 6 out of Omaha.

Jeff

Interesting that the "Track your Train" map on Amtrak shows ATK 6 eastbound at about Des Moines, as opposed to the Ottumwa area in Iowa.  The icon is directly north of the dot for Osceola station.  Looks like about 250 miles or more of running to Rochelle.  Status of 6 is unavailable now "due to service disruption."

UPDATE: At noon CST on the Amtrak Track map, 6 shows just west of Tama, IA, about 185 miles west of Rochelle.  Red board still up on WB UP track at Rochelle, at least, with workers at the signal bridge west of the diamonds.

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Posted by CBT on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 2:20 PM

ChuckCobleigh

 

 
jeffhergert

Amtrak will be detouring over the UP today.  I just missed getting AMT 6 out of Omaha.

Jeff

 

 

Interesting that the "Track your Train" map on Amtrak shows ATK 6 eastbound at about Des Moines, as opposed to the Ottumwa area in Iowa.  The icon is directly north of the dot for Osceola station.  Looks like about 250 miles or more of running to Rochelle.  Status of 6 is unavailable now "due to service disruption."

UPDATE: At noon CST on the Amtrak Track map, 6 shows just west of Tama, IA, about 185 miles west of Rochelle.  Red board still up on WB UP track at Rochelle, at least, with workers at the signal bridge west of the diamonds.

 

Im pretty sure a couple of minutes ago i saw the red board down off the WB UP track.

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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 2:28 PM

CBT
Im pretty sure a couple of minutes ago i saw the red board down off the WB UP track.

Red board is down.  AMT 6 is showing to be at Clinton in the yard there at 2:30 CST, probably picking up it's pilot crew to guide them to Proviso, at least.  They should hit Rochelle just before 3:30 CST, I would guess.

UPDATE: 3:05 PM CST, now east of Morrison, about 45 miles from Rochelle.

 

FURTHER UPDATE: 4 PM CST, icon for AMT 6 has now disappeared after showing "bullseye" at Nelson, IL for a while, just west of Dixon.  Hmmmm.

FINAL UPDATE: 4:45 PM CST, AMT6 came through Rochelle with a UP unit on the point (for cab signals?) and moving just fine.  Screen shots, but it was pretty dark by then.

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 4:47 PM

4:45 PM it crossed the diamonds.  The passengers got a nice gentle roller coaster ride out of it, too.

Semper Vaporo

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Posted by AgentKid on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 4:48 PM

O. S. Rochelle. Passenger Extra Engine UP ???? East. 1646.

BWM

 

So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.

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Posted by phkmn2000 on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 4:48 PM
Eastbound AMtrak at 4:48 CST. Looked like a freight engine followed by a pair of P42s?
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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 4:56 PM

OK, now that the Zep is gone, one note from the track work earlier, which is that it appeared that at least once there was a thermite weld going on.  Either that or someone lit a huge barbecue with a gallon of fluid.  Nice plume of smoke coming up and some glow at track level for a short while.  This was while the red board was up on the WB UP track and the MOW folks were on the west side of the diamonds.

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Posted by jeffhergert on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 11:31 PM

UP 5414 was leading No. 6 today.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkCHgh6pWPo  Another Amtrak detour from a few years ago.  Going through Grand Mound, IA and although you can't really tell, I was at the throttle on my first Amtrak detour. 

Jeff

CBT
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Posted by CBT on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 6:47 AM

Jeff, that UP engine was proabbly going the fastest it ever went.

Did anyone get pictures, if so can you post them.

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Posted by ChuckCobleigh on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 11:03 AM

jeffhergert
Going through Grand Mound, IA and although you can't really tell, I was at the throttle on my first Amtrak detour. 

Well, we'd hardly expect and open window and a wave at the end of January in Iowa!Big Smile

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