All you night owls can check Amtrak's status map and see all the trains late between 2 - 5 AM EDT and after in the morning. Mostly All red on dixieland.
When we left North East this morning, we had snow in the air; by the time we got to Erie big flakes were falling at a heavy pace. But as soon as we got over the hill south of Erie, it quit. We didn't have time to check out the Oil Creek & Titusville on this trip, so it's all yours, Larry!We did try to look at the Lake Shore Railway Museum at North East last night, but in spite of the Trains article mentioning that the grounds are always open, navigation over the skating rinks substituting for walkways and parking lots was very unsettling. We did get to see a few pieces of equipment, but chose to stay upright rather than investigating other stuff there.Big, special wedding this afternoon. We got an urgent call a few hours ahead of time from the bride herself, who needed Pat to perform a modification on her dress. So she did that...the wedding was short and sweet; we both got to hug the bride. (She was nervous, but is very happy to have the wedding behind her.)Tomorrow we head toward Fostoria, and may be required to guard our fries...Monday we go home, and hope to see considerably less snow than we left behind.
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)
Matt did fine for himself without my fries; we met him and his dad at Fostoria, where we saw a goodly number of trains (and would have seen more had we been there earlier!). I was too tired and had sore eyes by this evening, so could not take advantage of the extra hour of daylight we've been afforded.Ready to be home tomorrow, thanks!
evening
snowmelt is underway here in Nw ohio.Work is busy.Also have newbee employees starting too.Ns was all clear.Chores to do.It was great seeing Carl and Pat.Hope they both got to see more "yards" on the way home.
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").
Carl and Pat dragged into home tonight, with Carl not feeling too well. Will hit the hay soon. We did stop at Deshler, where we missed both our friend David Patch and the CSX Track Geometry train. We saw plenty of trains between North Baltimore and Defiance, but most of them were inaccessible--and not moving. Found a good restaurant in downtown Butler, Indiana, but were not seated by the window, so did not see anything. An oil train went by us at the station in Elkhart, and that was the end of things for us.But Pat got all of the materials she needed to do her "mystery quilt", and we got to meet some old friends (and new ones!), see some new territory, and enjoy the company. Back to the mundane tomorrow--dental appointment.
afternoon
Ns had an eastbound stacker go by as I got off work.The local was picking up empty cars too.Snowmelt continues.Time to do chores.
70 degrees today. Need I say more?
Ok - I will -
Lunch trackside today. Sat on north side and landscape was an EB coal train doing bad orders for an hour. Meanwhile, we could see work going on on the south side of said train and no way to get there directly. He blocked our view and the crossing for close to an hour.
After he finally left town - we went to the south side and watched the other yellow thingies (Tonka Toys) They were removing old ballast and putting in new. It was in an area that we had been watching thru the winter. It was getting to look a little like a trampoline when the trains would go over it. But the front end loader kept removing the old ballast, putting it in a dump truck, between Millie and the Tonka Toy digging in the ballast. We couldn't see anything - again.
However - I would like to know where the old ballast goes? Is it used for fill in construction, is it cleaned, is it sold....
Is it essentially "dirty" or just dirt dirty?
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
MookieHowever - I would like to know where the old ballast goes? Is it used for fill in construction, is it cleaned, is it sold.... Is it essentially "dirty" or just dirt dirty?
Given that there are machines that will dig out the old ballast, clean it, and dump it back under the track structure, I'd have to opine that there may be a place to do the same thing, just in one fixed location. Truck "dirty" ballast in, haul clean ballast back out.
Such a facility might even make it possible to wash it, vs just screening out the "fines."
The question becomes whether it's cheaper to cycle it through that process or just get new ballast.
"Only" in the 40's here today, but it was most enjoyable. Had to run some errands.
Still looking for a "shop coat." I've found a few on-line, but haven't narrowed that search down. As I'm the "driver" for "Thomas" this summer, I figure having such a coat would add to the "atmosphere." I want one that's maybe wrist length - you know, like the shop teacher used to wear.
Better go do some advertising for our upcoming chicken barbeque. Hoping for a rapid sell-out.
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...
This may have been an instance (since I know how complicated the track at Camp Mookie is) where ballast undercutters and cleaners couldn't be employed because of all of the switches. If it had a trampoline-based roadbed, it was probably best to use earthmoving equipment to get the "ballast" (probably more than fifty percent mud) out to a depth where it would be a while before the mud filters up through the rocks again. I haven't heard so much about a layer of geotextiles being put between ballast and whatever's under it any more--that stuff may not have worked as well as had been expected.I hope that when all is done there, trains can go through without scaring anyone.We had upper 40s here today. I had to visit my friendly dentist today and have some repairs made. I'm in Lombard, he's in Elmhurst, Pat had errands to run with the car, so the solution was a walk...and Metra! After the dentist, another walk--to Hamburger Heaven, now open for the season--then back trackside with lunch. Then Metra back home, a couple of things to pick up from stores (including another pound of beef for another attempt at the B&O Cornbread Pie!), before getting home after a solid four miles of walking overall.The UP action was busy, but not all that exciting. Lots of stackers and a coal train. I did see one manifest while I was there, but that was from the window of my dentist's lobby.(The walking--I average around two miles a day--seems to help me hold my weight fairly steady, though I'm at a point where I might be trending downward.)
thick fog this morning.Matt was closed today.Ns has emptys uptown.Saw an eastbound frieght when I left work.Chores and Lenten service tonight.The snowmelt continues.
Must be some kind of a city-wide festival coming up. We have had about 4 days of 50-70 degree weather and a lot of the yards and parkways we saw today are covered in orange. Orange barrels, cones, webbing and piles of dirt. Lots of trucks parked on the streets. One lane traffic, too.
I can hardly wait to see what kind of a festival this turns out to be...
Mookie Must be some kind of a city-wide festival coming up. We have had about 4 days of 50-70 degree weather and a lot of the yards and parkways we saw today are covered in orange. Orange barrels, cones, webbing and piles of dirt. Lots of trucks parked on the streets. One lane traffic, too. I can hardly wait to see what kind of a festival this turns out to be...
Around my area, Orange doesn't spell festivals - it spells construction. With the end of Winter, Spring starts the construction season.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Nebraska's colors are RED & White
Oh look...it's road work circus time...
23 17 46 11
Michigan has two seasons; "Winter and Orange Barrel".
Norm
edblysard Oh look...it's road work circus time...
Our highway departments haven't taken the plows off their trucks yet.
There is a booming business in "cold patch" right now, though. The pothole crop is coming in very nicely.
well the birds around here think its spring. Had ~150 - 200 robins in the yard today. Later starling and crows ran them off. You will be surprized how fast those nuisances will leave and not come back when firing a fake gun. Take a 2 x 6 about 6' long stand it up and lever it down very fast onto pavement. Sounds like a 12 guage. Robins came back.
In other news, took the test for amateur radio "technician class" tonight - and passed. Now I just have to wait for my call sign...
With years of electronics behind me, that part of the test was easy. I did have to do some studying to learn some specifics of the hobby.
The test monitor offered to let me take the "general" class test, but I knew that would be over my head right now. Maybe down the road a piece.
While I'm sure to be active in the hobby, I've got plenty of other activities to put my resources into. In some ways, it's more a feather in my cap than anything else. I've still got a lot to learn.
March and April are not pretty in Lincoln. They will look really cute in their orange up to their knees in snow trying to find the hole they dug or trying to work in 20 degree weather.
Guess we will have this festival for a looooong time.
BaltACD Nebraska's colors are RED & White
Mookie BaltACD Nebraska's colors are RED & White Scarlet & Cream, but you are close enough, for sure! Now I need to figure out why they say "Go Big Red!"....
Scarlet & Cream, but you are close enough, for sure! Now I need to figure out why they say "Go Big Red!"....
Because 'Scarlet, I don't give a damn' wouldn't be a good cheer.
"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn".. one of the most famous and unambiguous breakup lines of all time. I've used it a couple of times myself..
Surprisingly, the local construction site was busy throughout the winter--yes, this winter! I don't think our new station platforms are going to be done in May, though, as they were supposed to be.I can't go back and check whether I posted the old story here before, but it happened again today. I was northbound on my bike (first time this year!) at the Elizabeth Street crossing, and the gates started to come down. First southbound car screeches to a halt, sits and fumes for about a second, then turns left into the street just ahead of the tracks. It's a one-way street, wrong direction. His intention was to go up to a spot where people weren't parking, turn around, come out, and head back away from the crossing. He did all that (took him a couple of passes at the turnaround), got back to Elizabeth Street, and the gates went up! (No train went across--it was the outbound scoot stopping at the station, S.O.P. for this crossing system.) He had to wait for the cross traffic (which had originally been behind him) to clear before he could get out into traffic...by then more northbound traffic was keeping him there, too. I don't know whether he saw me laughing.https://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF-8&fb=1&gl=us&ftid=0x880e52bd01ea59af:0x206d901f3a7a2e8d&q=S+Elizabeth+St+%26+Michael+McGuire+Dr,+Lombard,+IL&ei=L_kAVbbhJMu5ggSVpoHYCg&ved=0CBQQ8gEoADAA&output=classic&dg=brw
Carl, if that impatient man had seen you laughing, perhaps Pat would have had to make this post? Then, again, he might not have been subject to road raging.
Johnny
Johnny, I don't think he would have been patient enough to try and catch me. I was on my way to run my errands, and while he was waiting to get out I left the scene.I should have waited and seen what happened next. Perhaps, before he got a chance to turn out into the street, the scoot left the station and the gates came down again. That would have been karma!
Murphy Siding Mookie Perhaps orange is the new Scarlet and Cream? BaltACD Nebraska's colors are RED & White Scarlet & Cream, but you are close enough, for sure! Now I need to figure out why they say "Go Big Red!"....
Mookie Perhaps orange is the new Scarlet and Cream? BaltACD Nebraska's colors are RED & White Scarlet & Cream, but you are close enough, for sure! Now I need to figure out why they say "Go Big Red!"....
Our high school colors were cardinal and white. Yet our varsity jackets (and most uniforms) were maroon....
tree68 Our high school colors were cardinal and white. Yet our varsity jackets (and most uniforms) were maroon....
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