Carl, when I last did the Village Grill, actually the last two times, I had the fried chicken dinner, which I liked. The missus has gotten down on them, though, so...you know we go somewhere else for a while.
The Apple Shed did change hands some time ago and the new folks took out the gift shop at the front, which was always fun and a usual source of gifts for our neighbors for looking after the cat while we were gone. (Not the Lincoln cat, mind you.) He's gone now, but we still have hummingbird feeders to tend, and not having the gift shop available is a bit of a downer.
I've not taken 58 west of I-5, but it does look to be not very scenic. There is another route we have taken that was kind of interesting, which is to take CAL-166 off of US-101 north of Santa Maria through the Cuyama Valley and into the San Joaquin Valley and over to US-99 at Mettler, where one can go north to Bakersfield and catch 58 to Tehachapi. The Cuyama Valley is largely undeveloped yet not the eyesore that other undeveloped (and most developed) areas are around here.
BTW, at dinner time today, very little wind in Tehachapi and 77 pleasant degrees under clear skies. Breeze must have been from the east because planes were landing from the west at the airfield.
EDIT: Changed US-99 to US-101 in the "north of Santa Maria" reference.
afternoon
Ns had some mow working in the siding uptown.Need to go to town after checking with Matt to do errands.
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").
Has anyone seen Mookie lately??????
Murray Has anyone seen Mookie lately??????
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
I haven't seen her, either. I continually invite her to come down to the station when I am passing through, but she seems to have one excuse or another not to; I wonder if the time that I pass through Lincoln has anything to do with it?
Johnny
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
Deggesty I haven't seen her, either. I continually invite her to come down to the station when I am passing through, but she seems to have one excuse or another not to; I wonder if the time that I pass through Lincoln has anything to do with it?
Madam La Mook is usually lurking, even if she has nothing to say....
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...
tree68 Madam La Mook is usually lurking, even if she has nothing to say....
Mookie tree68 Madam La Mook is usually lurking, even if she has nothing to say.... First time I ever thanked a Tree, but you have known me long enough to know that quiet is not in my vocabulary....but sometimes The Driver takes my lips away for awhile....
First time I ever thanked a Tree, but you have known me long enough to know that quiet is not in my vocabulary....but sometimes The Driver takes my lips away for awhile....
Ah, Minnie Pearl! What a great lady.
He has a beard on occasion, but only for a day or two. But there is a permanent cookie duster! And it is soft!
Johnny: mookiegato & Driver pick their spots. I'm either too early or too late in my trips thru Nebrasky unless she's in cahoots w/ BossHen (In which case I'm fried-chicken).
Next trip to the eastern two 4-letter states may be the same story, but I might holler at QM while I'm that way.(if he isn't even further east)
I wonder if PDN is watching the McDonalds ruckus near him.
evening
went down to MC's old turf to watch a funny game called baseball.Mr Braun(brewers) showed Mr Diaz(reds) how far he could hit one.Was able to see many train movements.The csx toledo sub had trackwork going on.The area around CUT was quite busy for NS and CSX.Had to wait on a southbound autorack train in Columbus Grove on the way home.Need a shower and bed.work comes early.
Linus went down to Ocean Park and the station at Surf this afternoon, with Grandpa and Grandma (Mom stayed home, recovering from installation of a port yesterday). Grandpa and Grandma saw two trains (an eastbound Surfliner and the westbound Coast Starlight) while at Ocean Park, but Linus was more interested in the girls at Surf (who called him a "little-heartbreaker" and "stud-muffin"). We tried to teach Linus which side of the yellow line to stay on while on the platform. Either he's craftily ignoring us or he doesn't yet have the concept of "line"...he knows yellow!
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)
mudchicken . . . I wonder if PDN is watching the McDonalds ruckus near him.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/pennsylvania-mcdonalds-bans-minors-teens-attack-owner-30669224
Hadn't heard of it until you mentioned it (just as well). Somehow, the station, shops, and yard in Altoona don't strike me as real teen hangouts . . . Besides, the better places are further up the "eastern slope".
Was out that way about 5 weeks ago for a private forest owner's conference (ours was the 2nd smallest at 2 acres . . .), but other than a foggy/ snow flurries hour up at Cresson, and pacing an NS freight from Tyrone east for a few miles almost to Spruce Creek, no railfanning was done.
Will be kinda out that way again at the end of next week - Huntington, PA - so may get to see some more train action, hopefully none of the misbehavior kind.
Lately been spending portions of the day within earshot of the Delaware-Lackawanna's ALCos - typically 4 to 7 units in a lash-up ! I'm scheduled to be there nearly full time starting in about 2 weeks for the next 2 months, and a 100-yd. walk through the woods will bring me trackside where they switch 20+ covered hoppers of grain at the Horizon Mill in Mt. Pocono most days.
Jeff Hergert: Your line quoted from a colleague a few years ago to the effect that "I'm here for the dollars, not for the sense" is very popular among some construction crews that I'm working with lately.
A local radio program report had a rail-related segment in the middle of it recently:
http://crossroads.newsworks.org/index.php/keystone-crossroads/item/81142-at-penn-state-researchers-looking-for-the-next-big-thing-in-infrastructure
It was mostly about ballast movement, but this portion caught my attention:
"But Dr. Huang and Dr. Qiu are testing a device to monitor railroad track safety in real time. It's called a "smart rock": a 3-D printed rock with electronics inside."
When some of us get done laughing, we'll concede that it might have some usefulness. Although the primary purpose seems to be to monitor settlement and "pumping" of the track structure, I'd be more interested in using it to test and confirm the degree of compaction of the ballast stone after tamping, to be sure that it's being done properly. (The usual compaction tests - "Proctor", et al.) - are more for soils and dense-graded aggregate with lots of 'fines', and don't work on open-graded coarse aggregate such as ballast.) Right now that depends on either the 'feel' and experience of the tamper operator, a specified number of 'insertions', or the calibrated eyeballs of the foreman or a track supervisor / roadmaster, etc., and there's only so many of us to go around . . .
- Paul North.
ns had a stack train in the siding when I left work.went into town and csx had 2 eastbounds and 1 westbound.Tomorrow is Friday.
joe
We might get another break from care-giving responsibilities next week. If it works out right, my eyes are on Fullerton; Pat's are on visiting her Hollywood uncle. (That's correct--she can include a fairly well-known film star as a step-cousin!)Linda will not be getting radiation right away--her pain is managed well enough for now, and they want to devote their attention to rebuilding her back first. Once she has a usable spine again, she can take a more active role in everything from caring for Linus to walking further and regaining strength. She had a port installed for testing and intravenous medications (works both ways!), and that surgery is healing now.
Paul_D_North_JrHadn't heard of it until you mentioned it (just as well). Somehow, the station, shops, and yard in Altoona don't strike me as real teen hangouts . . . Besides, the better places are further up the "eastern slope".
Doesn't say which McDonalds it was, but I wouldn't be surpirsed if it was the one next door to the rail museum. That is just around the corner from the high school.
I wouldn't really advise anyone unfamliar to go to downtown altoona anymore. I'd urge them to head west of there (cassandra, gallitzin, etc.).
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
Ns was clear when I left work.Tomorrow is Toledo train day.Wonder what NS is bringing to show.(I don't think the 611 is quite ready yet.)
Hello all.
Last week (4/20) we moved to Boone. Now I'm only 5 minutes from the yard office. I no longer can sit out on my bench and look down the street and see the trains go over the crossing, but now I can hear them switching in Boone yard. I can hear the switch engine (mostly GP-15 types) rev up as they kick cars and then to hear the free rolling cars make a joint. Sometimes sounds like thunder. The best time to hear it seems to be about 4 or 5 in the morning when everything else is quiet.
Since we moved and until next week, we don't have internet, land line phone or cable-TV. We bundled with a major national provider, but they had to reschedule the installation appointment because their warehouse didn't have a part. So, I've been off the grid the last week or so. I have a smart phone, but it's a pain in the backside to try to post here. Or most any other forums, etc. I'm back to work and typing this from my AFHT motel on my laptop.
I did check the forums from the phone and saw a few threads I wanted to add my , so I may bring a couple of threads back to the top the next few days.
Jeff
A little excitement in Carl's "land of no trains," as SW Michigan experienced a 4.2 earthquake. No reports of serious damage, just a whole lot of "the whole house shook."
It's not a phenomenon they're used to, for sure.
Didn't feel a thing in Waterford.
Norm
Trainday in Toledo was good.Met some old friends and made new friends.Amtrak had 2 displays to go through.We then went down to Deshler and things were busy on CSX.A rail train came through on track 1 and backed up on track 2 to get things put away for the day.Church and sunday school tomorrow.
trackside @ sunrise today. Amtrak, grain, several coal, several freight. 7 engines going into the diesel shop. Just your regular fare. Home by 10.
Oh, I forgot to mention the marathon. We practically had to drive to the first town west of Lincoln to get back to the tracks. Between the marathon and let's close all the major streets and repair them - you have to be creative!
Mookie trackside @ sunrise today. Amtrak, grain, several coal, several freight. 7 engines going into the diesel shop. Just your regular fare. Home by 10. Oh, I forgot to mention the marathon. We practically had to drive to the first town west of Lincoln to get back to the tracks. Between the marathon and let's close all the major streets and repair them - you have to be creative!
Started planting veggies today, flowers in two weeks. Sounds like the asparagus barrier will be going in a little later this year.
man the torpedos! Go for the asparagus! (I just realized you probably named your late esteemed dog Gus after that green weed people eat didn't you!)
And just now we had murder, mayhem and a little hail for about 10 min. Thunderstorm warnings for here - except that in the pre-24/7 weather and warnings, it was nice rain and a little hail, but not enough to do much damage. At least it cooled things off a little. It was getting a little muggy - but still way too dry and not enough rain to do some good.
mudchicken Will be going to the east well north of Jeff on the trip east along the old Milwaukee. The corporate crystal ball is a little hazy on the return trip and what happens at Peoria.
Coming anywhere near CR/Marion?
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
rain here in Nw Ohio. Looks like we might get some more tonight.Chores to do.Ns local was uptown when I left work.
Raining lightly here now, with a promise of thunderbumpers later tonight as a cold front passes.
The temperature, which topped out around 80 today, certainly is taking a dive.
Another planning meeting for Thomas out of the way. Gonna be quite the event!
Tin Shoes: Might be dropping south from Mason City/Charles City to get back down to I-80 and on to Peoria/Indy/Cincy. I hope I can be anonymous on my inspection trip early on Saturday.
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