afternoon
still snowing here in Nw Ohio.People had their ditchfinders on as we were going to church.Going to stay home and work on things here.
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").
Sounds like Carl's been busy!
Easy weekend - maybe some cleaning. Several things I need to locate.
Built some drawers to hold my N Scale rolling stock. I need to get to work on the layout (grandson will want to see it one of these days) and I can't work on it if it's full of cars.
Cold here, too. Headed below zero again tonight. This was the coldest February in quite some time. The frost line has plunged down to the level of water pipes under ground, and that's causing some serious problems around the area. Many communities are asking residents to leave water running at a trickle.
New granddaughter will be one month old Sunday. Next trip down to see her will probably also involve loading up my diecast fire truck collection so the grandson can see them first-hand.
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...
Murphy Siding Mookie I have been so cold all day, it will take me all summer to thaw out. And yet, a bowl of chocolate ice cream sounds really good. Just goin' round the bend! The answer is simple- hot fudge!
Mookie I have been so cold all day, it will take me all summer to thaw out. And yet, a bowl of chocolate ice cream sounds really good. Just goin' round the bend!
I have been so cold all day, it will take me all summer to thaw out. And yet, a bowl of chocolate ice cream sounds really good.
Just goin' round the bend!
The answer is simple- hot fudge!
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
We had an interesting, very cold couple of days Thursday and Friday. I got a few unusual pieces of equipment (including two previously-unseen reporting marks), and Pat got to see some exotic materials at a Downton Abbey trunk show.Snowy weather stayed with us until past DeKalb. They remodeled and reoriented the Mickey D's in downtown DeKalb. There are different windows from which to view the UP main line, but the wooden fence they put up on the concrete barrier between their drive and the tracks doesn't look too promising. No trains came through while we were breakfasting there, but when we headed to Rochelle we met three eastbounds in those 17 miles.Rochelle: We didn't want to stay there long so we could get to our destination in time,but we checked out the yard. There were literally trainloads of frac-sand covered hoppers on the City-owned trackage. The yard nearest the UP had a couple of full tracks of these cars (and UP power as well), the yard under the Tollway had a couple of full tracks of them, and the spur curving around the Nippon-Sharyo plant was also full of them. I don't know what the occasion was, because I don't think there are any sand pits nearby.We followed UP from Morrison to Fulton (quilt store site), then went up to Savanna for lunch. We could see, though not closely, three BNSF trains go through town during lunch, and we'd just missed a CP train before we arrived downtown. We took a walk over the bike-path bridge--our footprints were the first up there after the Wednesday night snow.From Savanna we crossed to Iowa, drove down through Clinton to LeClaire, site of Pat's trunk show. I had a seat in the show, but didn't stay for the whole thing, choosing to update a few computer records. Pat came in with a door prize she'd won and a few purchases, and we decided we had time to travel to Muscatine for supper. This plan was interrupted by a northbound CP train, which I decided to chase (note: Muscatine is south, not north). We caught this train (powered by a pair of NS units) miles north of town, got in position to be blocked by it, and I documented some neat stuff, including some ex-CN long, low coal gons relettered EMRX. Then south again, meeting a solid train of MRDX coal cars. This train blocked my usual view of exotic cars in Buffalo, but they looked like a lot of the salt cars I'd seen there on past trips. We saw a small freight as we got into Muscatine, found a neat little restaurant for supper, from which we could view the action on the tracks (turns out the yard office was just up the street!), then quickly returned to LeClaire for the night.Our breakfast room in the hotel had a view of the tracks, but more people were commenting on the river beyond them...frozen over in temperatures of 17 below. We had to go to the local quilt shop after it opened (Pat was on a Mission), and by the time we got out of there and filled the car with gas there was a bit of open water in the river again. It was a sunny trip down to Galesburg, where we saw a few trains (not much in motion by the Amtrak depot). We lunched at the Packinghouse (first time in that august establishment, but not the last, I suspect!) before heading east along the BNSF. First thing we saw after getting on U.S. 34 was a standing eastbound CPOX coal train and a standing westbound manifest. The manifest had some good stuff, I thought, so I turned around and strafed it again. Naturally, it started moving, so I found a good place to watch it all go by. In the middle of the train, the coal train also came through...fortunately it was on the track behind my target train. Two more new reporting marks for me: CAEX, on some old (relettered) and new covered hoppers, and NCPX on some tank cars. NCPX is the reporting mark of Nebraska Corn Processing, LLC, which seems to have 100 brand-new ethanol-sized (or better) tank cars built by National Steel Car.
We then followed BNSF up to Princeton, seeing another colorful train of empty coal cars (mostly CRIX). Princeton is home to a quilt shop run by a person that we've known for about 40 years now (she was the preacher's kid when we first knew her; she's now a grandmother several times over). We cut away from BNSF and headed north to intercept UP at Dixon, seeing a couple of stack trains en route to Rochelle. Still lots of sand cars in the yard there, but not as many as before (some were the same ones). Since it was nearly dark, we took the Interstate home from there. This was last night...I've still got plenty to do with the stuff I sighted!
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)
Mookie: Ain't Spring Wonderful? We've got about six to seven inches of snow on the ground, and it is supposed to continue through noon on Sunday.. Now the weather dudes are talking about sleet and freezing rain on top of it, overnight. Between about 4Am this morning and about 9 AM I heard about 8 trains whistling through town..Been quiet since, except of a couple of mixed and tank trains. I hope those canbs are warm on Warren's engines. Never got over 22 here today. Snowed all day. The dog and I walked twice, both were two bush trips. I'm still cold.
made our rounds and came back home to warm up.The CSX yard in lima had rebuilt gp 38-3's.There was an I&O train waiting for a crew in Leipsic.CSX is also starting to replace the B&O cpl's in Leipsic too.Stopped in Deshler and saw a few trains.Have chores to catch up on.Tomorrow it's shoveling snow Sunday.
evening
Ns had a train in the siding but cut the power away.Had quite a jam near Butler as a NS train was talking to the dispatcher that their horn was frozen. Brother found it funny.Chores and things to do for tomorrow.We are under a winter storm watch for Saturday night/Sunday too.
It's 10 below zero and we're sick of winter.
Had to return our "show kit" to the railroad HQ today, ended up in a staff meeting with another job... "Thomas" is coming, and there's a whole bunch of work to be done to make it work.
Dumped my jacket when I got in the truck for the drive down, and never put it on until I stopped at the home improvement store near home on the way back. The temp never got above +10F, but the sun was out and there was no wind, so for short jaunts all was good.
Picked up material to make storage trays for the cars on my RR. I want to start working on it again, but it's got a lot of cars I need to move and I don't want to just stick them in a box. Besides that, now I'll have handy storage for "fiddle yard" supply and storage.
The garage is a little cold, but I've got heaters for that.
About 3 above this morning. WC never got into the +. But the sun was as bright as a July day. One thing about this cold winter, when the sun shines, it is with great vigor. Ice has mostly been in the fast food pop. That's the only things nice about this cold spell. North wind hasn't changed from any other winter.
siding is clear.Saw a westbound stacker and the local picking up cars on NS.Had errands now chores.Tomorrow is Friday.Early reports say March is going to roar in.Where did Willy hide that weather machine????
BaltACD Closest I have been to that area is racing at Pocono Raceway several times over the years. The State routes in the area are not forgiving.
Pennsylvania Turnpike's NorthEast Extension I-476 will have a new "slip ramp" to/ from PA Rt. 903 at the overpass about 5 miles west of the Raceway around June of this year (2015) - in time for the big events there this season. But you're right - 903 from there to the Raceway was "low side of fair" even before this winter got serious - I shudder to think of what it looks like now. We use various 'back roads' most of the time to get to/ from there instead anyway. Otherwise, I-476/ I-80 East/ PA 115 South is popular; PA 940 from I-476 to PA 115 also works well. Next time you go, let me know which direction you're coming from, and perhaps I can suggest a workable alternate route.
- Paul North.
He was discharged? Let's hope he can charge up quickly while at home. Good news!
Teens are resilient. He'll be back to chasing girls in no time.
Norm
Murphy Siding Update- Luke got dischrged from the hospital. If things go good, he'll be healthy enough to go back to school next week-maybe.
Update- Luke got dischrged from the hospital. If things go good, he'll be healthy enough to go back to school next week-maybe.
Glad to hear it!
Johnny
Hope your son gets better soon Norris.Ns had the siding clear and no cars uptown.Saw an eastbound with 6 or 7 engines as I left work.Work is staedy now.Need to get cleaned up for tonights lenten service.Matt goes as part of his confirmation class.
Norris, I remember those times when our elder daughter had pneumonia and a pleural infection at the same time. Pat would take the day shift and I would go there after work and spend the night and early morning. She was in for close to a month, and required some surgery to get things right. Best wishes for you and your family! And, yes, keep us informed!
Murphy Siding Oof duh! We had quite a day. Youngest son-16- has mono, hepatitis, and some other complictions going on. Today he got dehydrated and fainted at lunch time and we ended up in the ER. It looks like he'll be in the hospital overnight as they pump him up with fluids, steroids and painkillers. Mom is staying the night as well, on the ever comfortable, hospital fold-away couch/bed.
Oof duh! We had quite a day. Youngest son-16- has mono, hepatitis, and some other complictions going on. Today he got dehydrated and fainted at lunch time and we ended up in the ER. It looks like he'll be in the hospital overnight as they pump him up with fluids, steroids and painkillers. Mom is staying the night as well, on the ever comfortable, hospital fold-away couch/bed.
Thanks for the explanation on the truck tires. As trucks pull off the highway into our lumberyard, It sure looks like the far back tires are kind of skidding sideways a bit. 'Looks pretty hard on tires.
Murphy: Saw your post this morning, but had to fly. IGN answered it for me, I will add that the fancier trailers are set up to dump the air from the air bags on one axle and lift it off the ground when maneuvering in tight quarters, cuts down on the tire wear........
Ran from Matthews, MO to Monroe, LA, then down here to Woodville, MS. Picking up 20 miles away, then headed back towards home. I'm getting to like this gig.........
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
work wasn't as busy today.Ns still has cars in the siding.Cars are waiting for the local too.Doing chores.Need to check Matt's homework too.
Paul_D_North_Jr mudchicken Amen - and just try to take the offender's driving priviledges away because he/she did something BEYOND stupid. Here's one way to do it: A passed-out drunk wrecked his car at an intersection (Tobyhanna, PA 611 & 423, not far from the Del-Lack RR's ALCo's) in one of my work zones late one Thursday afternoon last October. Angels must have been watching over all of us, because he just barely missed 2 traffic signal masts (the tires left scuff marks on the anchor bolts of one of them !), a bunch of smaller signs, and didn't turn over after the car went up and down an 8' high embankment, didn't hit any vehicles as he rolled across a 4-lane highway and into a turning lane at the intersection, nor did he hit any of the pipeline workers, traffic control devices, or construction equipment. When they broke the window and pulled him out of the wreck, he came to and became combative with the EMT's and responding police officer, who put him in handcuffs. Because he was unresponsive when they arrived, he was Med-Evac'ed to a big-city hospital for evaluation of concussion, brain trauma, etc. A few weeks later I picked up the police report on the accident. Yep - the "Alcohol-Involved ?" box was checked. But the "Breath-alyzer" and "Blood sample" boxes were both "No". Huh ? Why not ? What's going on here ? Well, on the next page, in the narrative the officer wrote something like "accident appears to have been caused by seizure". In Pennsylvania, that's automatic revocation of license, until an MD signs off that the person is fit to drive, which can take as long as 2 years even if there are no serious underlying medical issues. That's a whole lot more effective penalty than the usual Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) result = 30 days or so license suspension, fine, re-education classes, community service, etc. So there may be some justice after all. A couple weeks before, a older guy in a 1999+/- Camaro backed into me at a gas station convenience store (same area). I asked for his insurance card - didn't have it on him. So I called the police. Turned out his license was expired, so he was cited for that ($125 fine). Cop gave him 5 days to submit proof of his insurance. That didn't happen, so he got cited again for that ($250, as I understand it). Last Weds. morning on PA 314 beween Swiftwater and Pocono Manor some clown ran past a flagger's STOP paddle, and then passed me in a double-yellow line zone at well over the speed limit (45 MPH) about 1 mile up the road (2-lane winding country highway). We compared notes - I had the license number and a partial description of the car, she got a better (but not good) look at the driver. Responding cop knew from just the description right away where the vehicle came from - "That's a busy house", but proving the ID would be tough because "They all look alike there" . . . Then there's the lady who was following me too closely about a month ago (same road), and (fortunately) went off the road into a snow bank when I slowed to make a left turn - in the middle of a long work zone, lots of orange signs and cones, people and electric line trucks all over the place, yellow blinking light on the back end of the roof of my car, turn signal on in plenty of time (of course) . . . Wrecker truck driver said we're nuts to work out on that road, he's there all the time picking up people who go off the road or collide with each other . . . he may be onto something, at that . . . - Paul North.
mudchicken Amen - and just try to take the offender's driving priviledges away because he/she did something BEYOND stupid.
Here's one way to do it:
A passed-out drunk wrecked his car at an intersection (Tobyhanna, PA 611 & 423, not far from the Del-Lack RR's ALCo's) in one of my work zones late one Thursday afternoon last October. Angels must have been watching over all of us, because he just barely missed 2 traffic signal masts (the tires left scuff marks on the anchor bolts of one of them !), a bunch of smaller signs, and didn't turn over after the car went up and down an 8' high embankment, didn't hit any vehicles as he rolled across a 4-lane highway and into a turning lane at the intersection, nor did he hit any of the pipeline workers, traffic control devices, or construction equipment. When they broke the window and pulled him out of the wreck, he came to and became combative with the EMT's and responding police officer, who put him in handcuffs. Because he was unresponsive when they arrived, he was Med-Evac'ed to a big-city hospital for evaluation of concussion, brain trauma, etc.
A few weeks later I picked up the police report on the accident. Yep - the "Alcohol-Involved ?" box was checked. But the "Breath-alyzer" and "Blood sample" boxes were both "No". Huh ? Why not ? What's going on here ?
Well, on the next page, in the narrative the officer wrote something like "accident appears to have been caused by seizure". In Pennsylvania, that's automatic revocation of license, until an MD signs off that the person is fit to drive, which can take as long as 2 years even if there are no serious underlying medical issues. That's a whole lot more effective penalty than the usual Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) result = 30 days or so license suspension, fine, re-education classes, community service, etc. So there may be some justice after all.
A couple weeks before, a older guy in a 1999+/- Camaro backed into me at a gas station convenience store (same area). I asked for his insurance card - didn't have it on him. So I called the police. Turned out his license was expired, so he was cited for that ($125 fine). Cop gave him 5 days to submit proof of his insurance. That didn't happen, so he got cited again for that ($250, as I understand it).
Last Weds. morning on PA 314 beween Swiftwater and Pocono Manor some clown ran past a flagger's STOP paddle, and then passed me in a double-yellow line zone at well over the speed limit (45 MPH) about 1 mile up the road (2-lane winding country highway). We compared notes - I had the license number and a partial description of the car, she got a better (but not good) look at the driver. Responding cop knew from just the description right away where the vehicle came from - "That's a busy house", but proving the ID would be tough because "They all look alike there" . . .
Then there's the lady who was following me too closely about a month ago (same road), and (fortunately) went off the road into a snow bank when I slowed to make a left turn - in the middle of a long work zone, lots of orange signs and cones, people and electric line trucks all over the place, yellow blinking light on the back end of the roof of my car, turn signal on in plenty of time (of course) . . . Wrecker truck driver said we're nuts to work out on that road, he's there all the time picking up people who go off the road or collide with each other . . . he may be onto something, at that . . .
Closest I have been to that area is racing at Pocono Raceway several times over the years. The State routes in the area are not forgiving.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Deggesty Paul, you live dangerously.
Paul, you live dangerously.
Murphy Siding rvos1979 Stay warm, everyone........... Randy- Can I ask you a trucking question on a railroad forum? We get a lot of flatbed trucks delivering into our lumberyard. It seems like more and more, the longer ones seperate the two back trailer axles but a ways. One axle will be at the tail end, the other 6 to 8 feet forward. Why? Wouldn't this make one set of tires do a fair amount of sliding sideways on a corner?
rvos1979 Stay warm, everyone...........
Stay warm, everyone...........
Randy- Can I ask you a trucking question on a railroad forum? We get a lot of flatbed trucks delivering into our lumberyard. It seems like more and more, the longer ones seperate the two back trailer axles but a ways. One axle will be at the tail end, the other 6 to 8 feet forward. Why? Wouldn't this make one set of tires do a fair amount of sliding sideways on a corner?
From time to time, I would receive a load that was the maximum allowable--and the van would not be full, with the pallets spaced by using empty pallets. The load? Sulfuric acid in drums; twelve pallets was the most that could be loaded. Once, I received a shipment which had been loaded with the pallets in the center, except for two that were side by side--and the outer drums had shifted forward, apparently when the driver had braked suddenly. A local delivery driver showed up at the same dock, and he sat on the floor and pushed the drums back with his feet; he and the other drivers for the same company who showed up regularly were great guys. All of us who dealt with receiving and shipping enjoyed seeing them. I seldom saw OTR men or women more than once.
There was a local driver for one company who was quite interesting--even if I were at the front of the building I could tell that he had arrived--BAM! I think that the building was about half a foot farther east than it was when it was built.
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