anyone know if the stranded skiers due to snow in Europe were victims of a polar vortex?
Tree: We have it on good authority winter will be returning your way. Tomorrow's high will not make it into double digits (tomorrow night's low will be in double digit country with a minus sign attached)....
The last CRRM Polar Express run for this year will be tonight. We'll see if the train crews and staff get a little frisky on that last run with DRGW 491. Doubt there will be any hot chocolate left tonight.
Down to +38F, from over +50F overnight. Winter may be returning.
I was doing a little sorting of stuff from a cupboard over the bedroom closet. Lots of stuff gets chucked up there, especially newspapers with articles significant to me. I decided to weed them out a bit, discarding the portions of the papers that weren't relevant. In doing so, however, I made an interesting discovery - a publicity photo for a musician that used one of our former locomotives as a backdrop. There was something else in that paper I'd kept, and I wasn't involved with the railroad in 2001, so this was purely accidental.
Think I'll wander into town today. The crowds might be a little smaller. There's some Christmas decorations I want that might be on sale, and I do need some groceries...
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...
good early morning
had scattered rain yesterday in Toledo.Got to watch csx move stuff along the C&O and wait for NS at vickers.Today is Church and Sunday school, then we go to G+G house.Tomorrow it's back to work.
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").
Jeff - that "don't make plans when they include the railroad" is one of the few things that haven't changed. Guess it just makes you more creative - or something like that.
Wanted to go watch trains tomorrow - but with a high of 11 above, I think I have pretty well ruled that out. We would have to be there at dark 30 since that is when they run, but Millie already posted a notice that there is no way she is getting out of her garage, even an unheated one.
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
zugmann Hope you get the day off, Jeff. I can't go in. My grip is unavaliable.
Hope you get the day off, Jeff.
I can't go in. My grip is unavaliable.
One of our cats likes to get on top of my cooler when I'm getting ready to leave for work.
I did get the entire day off. Went on duty on an empty hopper at 4am on Friday. In the normal rotation, I didn't go around any unfilled vacancy. The guy ahead of me was on duty about 30 mins ahead of me. Both of our trains showed up at the same time, but ours needed to be fueled so he got a head start. The next thing ahead of him was over the Missouri River.
With only a few eastbounds (A Z-train had to wait a minute or two for me to clear a section where they were single tracking around three trains still tied down for the holiday.) and the next westbound that could stick us (long pool) back around Clinton, we figured we were going to have a quick trip.
Until we neared Missouri Valley.
A coal train derailed 20+ cars west of Fremont, taking out a control point and both main tracks. They had us go the long way through Omaha and tie down outside of Fremont on the Omaha Sub side. We had to wait about an hour at Mo Valley for a few trains coming up the Omaha Sub on the single track Iowa side. Still, not a bad trip time wise.
The worst thing is my original mark out of Fremont was for about midnite. Saturday afternoon a friend from the B&SV is having an open house, showing off his model railroad. It looked like I might have been able to go. Doesn't look good now.
The best way to ensure you will miss an event is to make plans on going. Never fails.
Jeff
Yesterday was a good day, despite the snow (about four inches in the front yard when I went out to get the paper) which came all day long.
I am not sure, but I do not doubt that we had few people at the Christmas morning service at church because of the snow.
Katie cleared the driveway and sidewalk in the morning--and I cleared them again before I went out to the first family dinner in the afternoon--and came back home after the second family dinner in the evening.
This morning, it had stopped snowing, so my clearing the front walk off with the front shovel before I got to the paper has lasted (about six inches of snow in the back yard), and Katie cleared again.
Johnny
Murphy Siding rvos1979 Evening everyone......... Had a nice, quiet Christmas this year, just immediate family. Got the ultimate christmas gift from my sister and brother in law, found out I will be an uncle sometime this July.......... Did you hear about the Norweigan who found out his sister was going to have a baby? He didn't know if he was going to be an aunt or an uncle.
rvos1979 Evening everyone......... Had a nice, quiet Christmas this year, just immediate family. Got the ultimate christmas gift from my sister and brother in law, found out I will be an uncle sometime this July..........
Evening everyone.........
Had a nice, quiet Christmas this year, just immediate family. Got the ultimate christmas gift from my sister and brother in law, found out I will be an uncle sometime this July..........
Did you hear about the Norweigan who found out his sister was going to have a baby? He didn't know if he was going to be an aunt or an uncle.
(I am older than you when it comes to jokes!)
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
rvos1979found out I will be an uncle sometime this July..........
My goodness - lots of little ones due this year....
Just back from a day with daughter and family. All of my grandson's available grandparents were there.
This was a "Transformer" Christmas for him... His dad is still trying to figure out how to make some of the transform...
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
Finally got my Lamborghinis...an Aventador and a Reventon!
23 17 46 11
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
Something strange is happening outside! There is this bright yellowish-white orb up in the sky. I vaguely remember seeing something like it once before.
Yesterday was our wedding anniversary. The railroad got me home about 11am, tying up about 23 times out. Looking at the marks and taking into account the number ahead of me laid off and the number of extra board available, it looked like about 10am Christmas morning. So we spent the day celebrating both our anniversary and Christmas together.
About 630pm, we had been celebrating by playing Yahtzee, when Becky said she needed a short nap. I had been up since 1130pm the night before, but wasn't really tired. So I checked the line-up. Because holidayitis had been taking a toll on guys ahead of me, I knew I had moved up some. When I brought up the boards, I was shocked. I was still 16 times out but the second available, but not rested for another 2 hours, and I knew the guy ahead, also not rested for an hour or so, was probably going to lay off. There were two trains close to my rested time, with one extra board available. Off to bed I go to get a little sleep. I woke up an hour after I was rested and checked the board. I was still about 15 times out, the first in OK status, but the trains had beat my rest time and had been called using the extra board guy on a vacancy and calling the next OK person on the pool behind me. The next westbound was back around Rochelle and extra board guys were becoming rested. I stayed up a little bit and we went to bed about 1030pm.
When I woke up about 830am, I checked and I'm still the first OK but about 11 times out. There are only a few trains coming and quite a few extra board OK and becoming rested that most, if not all, of the vacancies should be filled. And some of those vacancies should expire unless they extend their lay off status. I might not go to work until tomorrow (26th) morning now.
wet day today.ns had a coal train in the siding when I got to work.When I left there was a stack train in the siding.The local has cars to shuffle uptown too.Tonight is Matt's program.Tomorrow he gets to help with the Christmas day service.Hoping all can be near friends and family for Christmas.
I just told a CSX DS I know about it. Maybe the paper will hear from the RR, too.
If you want to see flying Christmas decorations, this will be the place to be overnight and tomorrow. We're under a high wind warning.
On top of that, they're saying that the wind will push the water in Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River such that it could raise the water level along the shore up to two feet. Together with wave action, that could spell damage along the shores.
Some cottage owners could get an unwanted Christmas surprise...
Tree: Hope OLI gets a hold of that like a junkyard dawg. This is how so many get lulled into complacency that eventually kills.
The weather liars here are now predicting up to 8" of white stuff later tomorrow. Can Santa get those folks a new dartboard to make their estimates with? (Have been wrong every time so far this year - Did they get paid under da table by the stores that were having a hard time selling sleds, snowboards & skis?
So the local paper today showed a picture of a woman "...taking a shortcut home after Christmas shopping..."
Problem was that her "shortcut" was right down the middle of the rails of an active line (as evidenced by the lack of any sort of rust on the rails, never mind actual knowledge of the traffic).
I just fired off a nastygram letter to the editor. I'd post the picture, but I can't pull the URL off the image to link it.
I was tempted my last trip, too. But it was a loud horn and I doubt many woudl find it amusing at 3am.
So I refrained. Good thing becuase the tapes from that trip were pulled and the roadforeman did examine horn blowing.
I really had to restrain myself on Sunday night as we ran our last Polar Express trip for the season. I had the seat in the F10 (originally a GM&O F3) that took the train to the North Pole. The temptation to blow "Jingle Bells" on the horn was pretty strong, but it would be just my luck the "wrong" person would probably hear it. I only did it once....
Randy Stahl Happy holidays from the Providence and Worcester engine house !! Randy
Happy holidays from the Providence and Worcester engine house !!
Randy
Same backatcha Randy.
Norm
one more day at work.ns had some cars uptown.mamma is busy in the kitchen.better keep out.
30s? Just need a sweatshirt.
And since it is raining....look up at the rain and drown - just like the real ones!
We have had Houston Ed's favorite weather system all day long! Wet and cold. He just loves working in this weather - not! Hovering just above freezing @ 36 right now, so just rain. Getting dark, so that's when the ice will appear. Oh Joy! See how seasonal we are!
Tree - had errands to run, so we were out from 1-3p and the traffic was bumper to bumper. Maybe the stores aren't full here because everyone is out on the streets driving like a group of turkeys - cross 3 lanes because you didn't plan ahead, text and don't watch the car in front of you stop, a 2 foot opening in front of a car - "sure I can parallel park - especially when I am driving"....
Had two semi's on their sides overnight in the area (nothing for my fire department, fortunately), but that was due to freezing rain.
We've got a weather advisory for wind Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Most of the shopping venues were busy around noontime, however when I walked into my favorite sandwich shop a little after noon I expected the line to be out the door. Wasn't even close.
I've got a project I want to work on in the garage (storage). Better get to work...
Chinooks!: Really big gusty winds today (40-60 MPH winds) - Ceiling hanging light fixtures are swaying way up here on the 11th floor about 2 inches, back and forth. Eerie.
(I-70 east to KS and up in the mountains is closed because of ground blizzards. Trucks are blowing over and Uncle Pete had an empty high cube boxcar up near La Salle on it's side....
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