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Chatterbox Fall 2015

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Posted by JoeKoh on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 2:21 PM

afternoon

rain has stopped here in Nw Ohio.Not to bad out now.ND&W crossing at 281 starts tomorrow.Ns local was uptown when I left work.Need to run 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").

 

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 2:49 PM

We've gotten about 3/4" of rain so far from this event, but the wind hasn't really kicked in yet.  We're under a high wind warning - possible gusts to 60 MPH.  I'm hearing a few wind-related calls in the southern part of the county, but so far (knock on wood) things have been uneventful in my area.  It's starting to creep this way, though.

Just reprogrammed the dual band base station radio for a RACES drill tonight.  Many of these radios can be programmed from the keyboard, but they aren't always all that intuitive, and rearranging the channels is impossible via that mode.  So it's easier to do it on a computer and re-flash the radio.

We recently replaced one of the repeaters, so I had to add that.

Ran into a "I shoulda thought of that" moment yesterday.  Sunday, after the trailer was loaded with all the leftover pumpkins and corn shocks, one tire appeared flat.  Turns out the pressure was just really low.  Once I pumped it up to where it should have been, it held air and ran over 100 miles (about 25 of that loaded) with no problem.  Note to self - if you ever build another trailer, check the tire pressures - don't assume they're where they should be...

I probably ought to do something constructive today...

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
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Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

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Posted by JoeKoh on Thursday, October 29, 2015 3:26 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear when I left work.

Glanced at my new Trains magazine.

Need to go pick up Matt from school.They had a halloween dance.Tomorrow night it's Tinora vs Ayersville.Might be a wet parade on Saturday in Defiance.

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").

 

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, October 29, 2015 9:58 PM

JoeKoh
Glanced at my new Trains magazine.

Got the new one today.  Someone somewhere else is enjoying my last months issue...

Yesterday it was a high wind warning, today it was just an advisory.  Guess which day had the higher winds!  Highest gust today was 27MPH at my house - and my sensor is really kind of sheltered...  My FD had to deal with a large tree down across the road, but we made short work of it, with the help of the town highway crew.

Attended calling hours for a friend's wife tonight.  Terrible loss - a stroke in her 40's.  Too young.  Goes to show you can never tell...

LarryWhistling
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...

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Posted by JoeKoh on Friday, October 30, 2015 2:31 PM

afternoon

Giving hugs isn't always fun but the right thing to do.Ns was clear when I left work.Time to get ready for some football.

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").

 

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Posted by CShaveRR on Saturday, October 31, 2015 9:27 AM

A good hugger is welcome anywhere, though, Joe--hard times or fun times.  We try, and I know you do, too.
___________________

 

Yesterday I took a trip to Oak Park and Elmhurst to get some fresh freight-car facts.  I was skunked at Oak Park (one stack train in half an hour), but the trip there was interesting.  You gotta love the fraternity of railroaders... 

 

The scoot was caught by ATC after it crossed over at 25th Avenue, and had to move at Restricted Speed through Melrose Park and Maywood, finally stopping for the home signal at Vale, with the cab car on the Des Plaines River bridge. There were two crewmen in the car, so I asked them if the complaint department was just out that (side) door. Guess not...instead they both simultaneously pointed to each other! We all cracked up...could they have choreographed that?

 

(I had a good coal train in my hour at Elmhurst, except that my pen ran out of ink mid-train, but that's another story...)

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)

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Posted by JoeKoh on Saturday, October 31, 2015 2:32 PM

CSX was busy clogging itself up today.Had a crew working on the north Baltimore yard expansion.Track inspector found a bad rail joint so they slapped a 10 mph on it.Q042 was followed by q 134 around the wye at Deshler.The gas stations at Deshler decided to raise their prices by 20 cents so went went to Hamler.We heard the I&O come to town.Going to be a wet Halloween night.Need to help get the grocieries.

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").

 

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Posted by JoeKoh on Sunday, November 1, 2015 8:04 AM

Morning

Nice week ahead.Need to get ready for Church.Matt's school is predicted to host a playoff game next Saturday in Football.Going to get outside this afternoon.

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").

 

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Posted by tree68 on Sunday, November 1, 2015 12:07 PM

Long day Saturday, but I did log 88 miles of "rare mileage" (44 miles, but in both directions) for an equipment move from Tupper Lake to Thendara.

I ran the pilot vehicle (hi-rail) in both directions - but since I didn't have to worry about train handling, I got to see more of the scenery!  

Did have an interesting "Halloween" experience, though.  Most of the trip was done in daylight, but the last few miles southbound were after dark.  After we cleared the Big Moose Crossing, both of us spotted what appeared to be a headlight coming up the track toward us at a pretty good clip.  The light quickly disappeared, at which point we realized it was just a car on the adjacent road.  Sure gave us a start, though...

LarryWhistling
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...

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Posted by JoeKoh on Monday, November 2, 2015 4:20 PM

evening

Ns was clear when I left work.Odot and other crews are trying to finish up projects around work and home.Makes the commute interesting.Worked outside and blew out the gutters and awnings.Waiting for the trees uptown to get done before we tackle that project.Ma nature is giving us a great work window to get it done.Time to go get supper.

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").

 

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, November 3, 2015 3:27 PM

Major fire in Watertown, NY this afternoon, right next to the CSX St Lawrence Sub.

The tracks were never in danger, but hose lines were run in the area so CSX shut things down for a while at the request of fire command.  

LarryWhistling
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...

  • Member since
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  • From: Defiance Ohio
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Posted by JoeKoh on Tuesday, November 3, 2015 4:34 PM

evening

errands and voting done.Ns had a stack train go west when I left work.A couple years ago there was a major warehouse fire in Indiana.Ns re-routed some trains on the Toledo sub and they turned west at Deshler.Matt has confirmation class tomorrow and we have teacher conferences on Thursday.Also read the paper and need to send hugs.Busy times.

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").

 

  • Member since
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Posted by JoeKoh on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 4:54 PM

evening

ns was clear when I left work.Went into town.Csx sent a westbound stack train and a eastbound tanker train(with ns dash 9 power).Back yard tree is done.Front tree has 1/4 of the leaves left.Time to get Matt to confirmation class.

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").

 

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Thursday, November 5, 2015 11:58 AM

Watched my grandson playing against a Russian youth team at Bensenville last night.  His team lost 8-2.  Brought back memories of watching his father do the same thing many years ago.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by JoeKoh on Thursday, November 5, 2015 4:19 PM

evening

cooler weather on the way.Ns was clear when I left work.Had parent teacher conferences today.Matt is doing great.They are making a roller coaster with toilet paper rolls.The are also doing statistics probibility with bags of M&M's.He also has his nouns and pronouns in order.Tomorrow is Friday.

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").

 

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Posted by Mookie on Saturday, November 7, 2015 3:40 PM

Observations:  coal, coal and more coal.  Two locos going around the wye.  More coal.  Then the finale was 3 CN engines on a grain train on the Amtrak Track.  

Maybe tomorrow will bring even more interesting landscape.

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, November 7, 2015 8:31 PM

Busy day at the train show (Syracuse).  Talked to lots of people.  Didn't spend much money, though (yet...).

Much cooler today than the end of last week.  Portent of things to come.

LarryWhistling
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...

  • Member since
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  • From: Defiance Ohio
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Posted by JoeKoh on Sunday, November 8, 2015 6:14 AM

morning

Frosty outside.Tinora moves on in the playoffs.Boys in Columbus waited until I got home to start playing.Cornhuskers surprise Sparty.Things done and put away uptown and here at home.Church and Sunday school today.

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").

 

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Posted by Mookie on Sunday, November 8, 2015 6:42 AM

Joe - trust me - it surprised the Huskers, too!

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by Norm48327 on Sunday, November 8, 2015 6:48 AM

But it wasn't a pleasant surprise for the Spartans. Oops

Norm


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Posted by mudchicken on Sunday, November 8, 2015 9:22 AM

Is the party over in Lincoln? How's the hangover on campus?

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by Mookie on Sunday, November 8, 2015 5:13 PM

mudchicken

Is the party over in Lincoln? How's the hangover on campus?

 

The city is so quiet, you would think we lost!  I think heart failure must have taken its toll!  

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by tree68 on Sunday, November 8, 2015 7:30 PM

Spartans lost.  Orange lost (big time).  Not a good weekend for the teams I generally root for...

Train show is in the books.  Haven't heard the attendance, but think it may have been down from last year.  Finally found some N Scale people to add to the population of my layout.  And a couple of horses...

Can't even relax on Monday - have an 8 AM meeting...

LarryWhistling
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...

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Posted by mudchicken on Monday, November 9, 2015 10:02 AM

Wunnerful - Amthrax #5 is stopped outside Denver with a "trash can fire" and a medical emergency. http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2015/11/09/amtrak-train-fire/75445538/  (2) The lost cause at NBC Newz does a story on taking selfies and class photos on the track (yeah, it's illegal and stoooooped, moron) (3) The local news takes up an article Sunday on the Tiger Grant for Amtrak in SE Colorado (the Denver elitists act like they never heard that half of Colorado is flat and then start obsessing over trackwork and a rail gang in Kansas...no explanation of what is really going on.)

 

EDIT: Fire on #5 now being reported as linen being stored too close to a heater on the last coach (sleeper) on the train. Conductor reported to be the medical emergency...Fires on a moving train are never good (bellows effect)... curious to see if they set the car out at Denver.

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by JoeKoh on Monday, November 9, 2015 2:28 PM

afternoon

deputy ran off Elmer Fudd who was walking on the CSX track in Defiance yesterday.Ns was clear when I left work today.Chores to do.Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the "BIG Fitz" sinking.Still praying for the wives,sons and daughters.

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").

 

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Posted by Mookie on Monday, November 9, 2015 7:55 PM

Joe - good!  John Law got there in time! Also doesn't seem possible that has been 40 years.  

Sir Chicken - renaming the Amtrak "fireball"?  Of course, they will have to speed it up just a smidge from the speed they go thru here.  Maybe even a big smidge!  

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by mudchicken on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 12:26 PM

70 degrees today, blizzard warning tomorrow morning. Heads-up! cat. Ma Nature's doing drugs again.Blindfold (somewhere out there, Willy's having a good snicker cooking up some thundersnizzle for us tonight.)

Guess we have to concede fall is over.

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 12:40 PM

mudchicken
Guess we have to concede fall is over.

Yep - in the 40's here today.  

One morning last week I was listening in on a local ham radio net.  A participant had come in via the Internet from Florida and reported +70F.  I had +66F here at the house (NYS), but I don't think we were going to see the +90F he was expecting for a high...

No snow in the forecast for the moment, but rain will definitely be part of our lives.

LarryWhistling
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...

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Defiance Ohio
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Posted by JoeKoh on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 3:05 PM

afternoon

Ns had a trio power move westbound and an eastbound frieght when I left work.Weather guessers in the paper say 63 million of us should keep our eyes to the skies.Everything is put away here for winter so no problem.Strange story here in Ohio.Man asks his neighbor boy 9 years old to drive him to the gas station which is 2 blocks from his house.Charges are pending.

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").

 

  • Member since
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  • From: US
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Posted by Mookie on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 5:47 PM

mudchicken

70 degrees today, blizzard warning tomorrow morning. Heads-up! cat. Ma Nature's doing drugs again.Blindfold (somewhere out there, Willy's having a good snicker cooking up some thundersnizzle for us tonight.)

Guess we have to concede fall is over.

 

I would be very surprised if we got more than a trickle of rain and high winds.  Wind is our best commodity - if someone would just take advantage of it instead of complaining about it.  

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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