Sitting tight, waiting for some weather to arrive (it's knocking at the door). We even have a bow echo!
Although I really should be sleeping...
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...
Back again, finally, on a new laptop. Previous laptop was dispatched by Linus, who waterboarded it with my drink. My fault, of course. This was Saturday morning.New one has lots of things that need to be done to make it function like the old one for me, including a couple hundred dollars' worth of software. All of my files are lost until I do that. It will wait, though, until I get back to Lompoc, so it can be a recreational activity for my son-in-law. Linus has been given a time out. He's out with his cousins, and aunt and uncle, for a couple of days. Rumor has it that he gets to go to Disneyland...nice reward, huh?We, meanwhile, are enjoying a break at a hotel in Fullerton. I will try to watch some trains at the station before we have to go to Hollywood. Pat's uncle lives less than a mile from the Sunset Strip. His second wife is the mother of an employed actress. Linda had chemo, blood tests, and an MRI today. I hope we get some positive news about those.We pick up Linus and head back to Lompoc on Wednesday. I'm hoping that in a little over a week we can be headed home. Last time I said that, though, it didn't work (we'd be on our way now). I should just shut up.
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)
Carl: Have fun at the end of my old territory (technically Basta, at the UP Anaheim Branch crossing you see way off in the distance from the Fullerton depot platform beyond the Spaghetti Factory (converted and moved UP depot)
Hoop you up some vittles from the La Junta platform on #4? (you get to see the ceremonial closing of the window on the bar car when you hit Holly CO/Coolidge KS on the run east.)
Should be in CO by Sunday.
evening
Ns local was uptown when I left work.Came home and got the swamp mowed.Need a new knob for the dryer.Pick that up tomorrow.
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").
Afternoon from Alamo City everyone.
We are enjoying this wonderful bountiful rain that we have so needed for quite some time. My lawn has never looked hit green.
Hope everyone is enjoying their Wednesday.
afternoon
empties uptown when I left work.Time to do errands.Matt has confirmation class tonight.
Spring weather seems to be about to arrive here, though we expect cool mornings at the end of the week, with more rain. Most of the trees I have noticed have left (leaved out)--and some irises are beginning to flag; most are still holding their shape.
Johnny
Back from the railroad - four school trips (the passengers were from schools in the area). Around 1500 total. As I was engineer, I didn't see much of the passengers.
Tuesday was nice - a bit cooler and sunny. Wednesday dawned chilly and with a mist in the air. The mist part quit, but it never really got warm...
Got re-SkyWarned tonight - I'm good as a storm spotter for another couple of years. I've got to make a trip out to the weather office (ours is in Buffalo) sometime so I can see how upper air observations (weather balloons) have changed since I did them.
Thanks for the offer, MC, but I persuaded my bride (42 years ago yesterday) to allow us to head back by a different route. We'll be doing the Sunset/Texas Eagle trip. I suppose, just 'cause we're on it, we won't be doing the MP/CEI detour east of St. Louis. Trip down south wasn't all that great for train-watching (plenty of baretables and stack trains; next to nothing else freight-wise). We spent a couple of hours at Fullerton overall (an hour yesterday, another hour today); much of the rest of our time was spent in traffic, including driving the Sunset Strip, through Hollywood, and through downtown LA (that's a Carl thing: going somewhere just to say we've been...and it was interesting!). And finding a good quilt store for Pat in Orange, and visiting Portillo's for an anniversary dinner (including the best chocolate cake served anywhere!). Lunch was from an establishment in West Hollywood, at the home of Pat's uncle and aunt.Today was hamburgers from In 'N' Out, before we made a dash home with Linus. Chris and Linda were amazed that we made it from Westminster to the 405/101 junction in 40 minutes flat (took close to two hours the opposite direction on Monday afternoon). Just going with the flow...We are hoping that today begins the final week of our stay here. If not Wednesday, then Friday...
Belated congratulations on your anniversary. I just can't believe that you went all the way to California just to find a Portillo's.
Not at all, Paul!It's just that we've been here for over a month, and somebody (I) needed a taste of home. We had to do some shopping once we got there (it's by a mall) just to kill time before supper. We've been to this one before; the food (and the cake!) were just as good as in Villa Park, Elmhurst, Northlake, etc., etc.Yesterday we were taken to In 'N' Out Burgers by Linus' cousins, aunt, and uncle. Not bad, but won't keep us from going home when we can...
Ns had some empties in the siding when I left work.Csx had an empty coke train when we wenty into Defiance.In the lucky to be here dept. is a truck driver.Het met a csx train on tittle road just west of Defiance.He was hauling stone.Took of the first steps of the locomotives.The train took of the front end of his truck.Tomorrow is friday.
Suprise late lunch trackside. The Driver - who enjoys being outside but is usually a tad indifferent to train watching (altho he always studies them as they go by) saw what looked to be the "new" tank cars. Do these have a plate over the ends just above the coupler?
If this is so, these are the first we have seen. And Eagle Eyes had to point them out to me. (But I can hear them coming!) Plus he always reads the Trains magazine well before I get to read it. So much for indifference.
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
Ns was clear when I left work.Took brother out for supper and to get a haircut.NS was playing in a hole in the yard in Bryan.They are installing new signals everywhere.Got to see an NS train go west coming home.It had a scale test car near the back.Tomorrow it's a wedding day.Hope to stay dry.
Quiet day today - tomorrow I could be in three or four places at once. Two of them are fairly close, so I might be able to hit both. Then our FD banquet in the evening.
For now, I've got 75 programs for the banquet to fold...
A little rain here tonight - about a quarter inch. Four times that much wouldn't be a bad thing. We're pretty dry. The governor just extended the statewide burn ban by a week.
Moving on...
SJ, shields outboard of the end of the tank have been around for decades, usually a retrofit on older cars. Newer cars that comply with "CPC 1232" may or may not have them...a lot of these cars have extra shell thickness on the ends.With the latest tank car specs, these half-shields will be a thing of the past, as full-height shields will be required. Whether they'll be inside or outside (or both) is not yet known to me.Good day today on the family front: (1) although no progress has been made on reducing the tumors, the chemo has at least arrested the spread of Linda's cancer. Beginning next week she'll get a more potent brew. (2) Linus had his first day at a daycare center; it went more smoothly than we expected, and he came home in a very good mood, which lasted well into the evening (poor kid has understandably been stressed out by his mother's condition). (3) Pat and I have gotten our return tickets...we leave a week from today (earlier Sunsets were sold out). We return home on Memorial Day.Pat and I took a drive to Solvang, which is a blocks-long traffic jam disguised as a quaint Scandanavian city. Solvang, by the way, is Danish for "no trains." We didn't even stay for lunch.
CShaveRRPat and I took a drive to Solvang, which is a blocks-long traffic jam disguised as a quaint Scandanavian city. Solvang, by the way, is Danish for "no trains." We didn't even stay for lunch.
Not even a bakery purchase? I don't recall driving "in town" as we usually lodge at the Holiday Inn (Express?) on the west side of town and walk anywhere we want to go, since it's pretty compact. Unfortunately, the bakeries and candy shops are off limits now, so there went half the fun.
No, we didn't stop, as we'd been there before. Linda's oncologist is in Solvang (off the main drag somewhere), but she wanted to get lunch at Ellen's Pancake House in Buellton after her appointment, so we joined them there. Also, Pat's "Official Guide" (my flippant term for her directory) did not reveal any quilt shops in Solvang, so we revisited the one we knew about in Buellton.
CShaveRRAlso, Pat's "Official Guide" (my flippant term for her directory) did not reveal any quilt shops in Solvang, so we revisited the one we knew about in Buellton.
You would have needed a time machine to visit the neat quilt shop that was on Copenhagen Drive just south of the Greenhouse Cafe. I think we last saw it maybe ten or fifteen years ago. We still have and use at least one quilt we got there.
Looking forward to hearing of your departure from the Golden State; it's good to hear that things are coming along in a good way. I bet Linus will be looking forward to your next visit before you clear the Colorado River bridge at Yuma.
I should point out, Chuck, that Pat doesn't buy quilts; she makes her own. So what she's looking for are fabric dealers that specialize in the exotic colors and prints that can be used in wall-hangings and other works of art, some of which can lie on beds.Most of these fabrics wouldn't normally be seen in people's clothes, unless they happen to be chosen by a lucky spouse for whom she makes almost all of the shirts he wears.
With all due respects to your spouse, you make it sound like you don't need to be wearing a safety vest to be spotted on the job.
Ns had an autorack train in the siding when I left work.Mowed the swamp.Mother nature is going to cool us down tonight.Getting ready for Matts choir performance as well.
Paul, my shirts are often colorful...perhaps plaided, lined, or other geometrics, but never spotted!
CSSHEGEWISCH With all due respects to your spouse, you make it sound like you don't need to be wearing a safety vest to be spotted on the job.
We are still getting rain--and northern Utah has already had its average share for May. What we have not had are May temperatures--does anyone have some spare global warming that can be sent our way?
CShaveRR SJ, shields outboard of the end of the tank have been around for decades, usually a retrofit on older cars. Newer cars that comply with "CPC 1232" may or may not have them...a lot of these cars have extra shell thickness on the ends.With the latest tank car specs, these half-shields will be a thing of the past, as full-height shields will be required. Whether they'll be inside or outside (or both) is not yet known to me.Good day today on the family front: (1) although no progress has been made on reducing the tumors, the chemo has at least arrested the spread of Linda's cancer. Beginning next week she'll get a more potent brew. (2) Linus had his first day at a daycare center; it went more smoothly than we expected, and he came home in a very good mood, which lasted well into the evening (poor kid has understandably been stressed out by his mother's condition). (3) Pat and I have gotten our return tickets...we leave a week from today (earlier Sunsets were sold out). We return home on Memorial Day.Pat and I took a drive to Solvang, which is a blocks-long traffic jam disguised as a quaint Scandanavian city. Solvang, by the way, is Danish for "no trains." We didn't even stay for lunch.
Sir C: I figured out that the reason we hadn't seen any of those shield tank cars was because we hadn't seen the particular AAR marking on these cars. Now we have seen a few more.
Re: the Mexican tank cars or for that matter any of the new/old tank cars...if they can't be used any more - but haven't been used for anything else - can they be used to haul something food quality - like soybean oil?
CShaveRRI should point out, Chuck, that Pat doesn't buy quilts; she makes her own.
I suspected that, as normally quilt-only shops aren't on the radar of quilters. I don't recall whether that shop in Solvang had fabrics and related, but it could have, as it was pretty good sized. When they were younger, my sisters had a pretty good "directory" of quilt shops in the west, one of them probably still does.
Having a shirtmaker handy is a real plus.
Several years ago Carl and Pat took a ride on our line. Coincidentally, there was a quilt show going on at the local arts center! Double the pleasure!
We're working on our radio system, so today I took a trip to the top of the mountain where our repeater is located. What a ride! There were points were we weren't sure the HD 4WD pickup was going to make it. The Jeep didn't... It didn't wreck, but one particularly steep portion of the trail was paved with larger rocks, and getting traction was near impossible.
On the other hand, the "view from the top" was spectacular!
Home now, making out reports and watching mandatory management videos...
Ns had an oil train of new tank cars waiting to go west.As for storage the ND&W stores cars east of Napoleon.(between us 24 and liberty center).Cooler today.More chores to do.
Ns local was uptown when I left work.Matt and I went into Defiance on errands.The ND&W had the csx siding full.Read in the paper the clinton st viaduct got a snack on Monday night.Seems those new signs are doing great.Chores to do here at home.
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