I've been lucky in that I've never really had a problem with a rental car. I've even gotten a couple of upgrades over the years.
I understand that compressor thing - my Chevy P/U had one seize up - fortunately it was only a problem if I turned the A/C on. When it happened though, I was on a road trip with another firefighter and the Dalmatian - tight quarters in that cab...
Polar went well last night, although the rails were a little slick first trip up the hill. Doesn't look like any rain in the forecast today, to tonight shouldn't be a problem.
CSX is behaving oddly through Utica - traffic is running CNW style, and speeds are down through the station from the usual. Haven't had a chance to listen in and see what's going on.
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...
Carl,
Want to hear what those car rental firms (all of them) are really like? Join an aviation forum. In twenty years, I've never heard a pilot say one kind word about them.
Norm
We just shelled out a thou on a 200K wellness project: new a/c compressor and clutch, new timing belt, and new starter belt. We took a trip into Indiana yesterday, and had it cut short by problems starting the car that were getting worse in a hurry (caused by a seized compressor clutch that ruined the belt). We didn't make the last couple of stops we'd planned to, got home with only fumes in the gas tank, and had the car repaired today. Normally, this wouldn't have been as much of a problem, but our daughter Linda's family is here. Normally they rent a car from Enterprise, but they got a "deal" at Hertz this time. They were supposed to get a car that could seat four plus a baby seat in comfort. Not ready in time, so they were stiffed and got a car smaller than ours. You'd think a company that had a reservation nearly two months ago would at least offer an upgrade or something. No...they'll knock off the price by 15 bucks. About a dollar a day. Chris says, "Never again!" for Hertz...and (having been in the office with him for one of his three visits to that office), I'd tend to agree. We weren't the only upset customers that night, but we were the more polite ones.
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)
evening
well wonder if anyone in southern Mercer county Ohio is home yet.Coldwater and Ft.Recovery are bringing home big trophies.Marion local plays tomorrow at 10 am.Ns was a little clogged this morning when I got to work but was all clear when I left.Work a little in the morning then we will see what csx has going on in the 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").
zugmannDidn't you used to have a chevy?
Chevy 1500 1993, GMC 1500 2004-ish, Ram 2009.
I'm generally a GM guy, owing to Dad working at their Proving Grounds for a number of years, but I couldn't pass up the price on the Ram. It was (and still is) my retirement truck.
tree68My 2009 Ram 1500 is still going strong (I think) with just over 135K on the odometer. Oil change every 3-5K, at the dealer. They always put 3K on the sticker, but I think it actually calls for 5K... Most of my driving is "at speed," not much city driving.
Didn't you used to have a chevy?
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
My 2009 Ram 1500 is still going strong (I think) with just over 135K on the odometer. Oil change every 3-5K, at the dealer. They always put 3K on the sticker, but I think it actually calls for 5K... Most of my driving is "at speed," not much city driving.
The day started out nice, weatherwise, but the rain has returned. Hoping for a dry weekend - it's uphill into the North Pole, and that can cause us problems... I'll be in the cab all weekend.
Got all my ham radio antenna cables routed into the house and to the radios yesterday. Now the fun can begin. Listened to someone in South Carolina last night for a while. It'll be good for those dark days of winter.
Ns has a westbound grain train in the siding.Work still busy.Trucks lined up to get the loads.Might hit my guess mark for how many boxes we'd ship out for the year yet.Did send out Christmas cards.Hope they arrived.Need to play post office on a couple other things too.
mudchicken Must be the big Hemi under the hood instead of the 4.7L semi-Hemi that ours is.
Must be the big Hemi under the hood instead of the 4.7L semi-Hemi that ours is.
4.7L - works hard on the hills on I-68 but moves right along at +9. When I bought it the dealer offered a 'lifetime oil change' package for $169. When I was living in FL, it got changed ever 3-4K. Not being in FL now, it gets the oil changed every 5-7K, even though I have to pay for it. Change the Trans filters and fluid every 100K.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
mudchicken (2) Balt: Getting ready to trade-in my 2004 Durango with 140K on a new one for BossHen. If it stayed local, I my keep it - but it also is the dog hauler and long distance road warrior. (paid Mooks a visit with it about 10 days ago)
(2) Balt: Getting ready to trade-in my 2004 Durango with 140K on a new one for BossHen. If it stayed local, I my keep it - but it also is the dog hauler and long distance road warrior. (paid Mooks a visit with it about 10 days ago)
140K - barely broken in. I'll be off to Florida (down to Homestead on one of the legs) for the holidays and the start of the race season. Of the 315K on the Durango, well over 100K are from towing the race car from Homestead to Elkhart Lake, WI (Road America); from Topeka (Heartland Park) to Vineland, NJ (NJ Motorsports Park) and most all of the road race tracks in between.
(1) the sad news today at San Bernardino hit home. Used to work near there. The BNSF Southern California Dispatchers and operating bubbas operate out of the Carnegie Drive DOC built in 1988 just 2/3rds of a mile SW of the Inland Center. The track you see in the aerial footage is the old ATSF Redlands Branch Loop now owned by SCRRA and switched by BNSF.
(3) Why is it that all the work for the year gets turned loose AFTER Thanksgiving?
work still busy.Ns was clear.Matt has confirmation class tonight.I hope to keep my deerfinder button in the off position.
CShaveRR Yes...very lucky for you, Joe! When I hit a doe last year, she didn't survive, and our car was in the body shop for a while. No damage to me, and the car was drivable, but it wasn't pretty.One week ago today, our car turned 200,000 on the odometer. This is the second car (in a row!) that we've taken that far. I'm not sure how many more thousands it has in it, but our mechanics haven't given up on it yet (we can't say enough good things about this outfit--they have cared for every car we've owned over the past 35 years, and never steered us wrong...when it's time to give up on a car, they'll let us know!).
Yes...very lucky for you, Joe! When I hit a doe last year, she didn't survive, and our car was in the body shop for a while. No damage to me, and the car was drivable, but it wasn't pretty.One week ago today, our car turned 200,000 on the odometer. This is the second car (in a row!) that we've taken that far. I'm not sure how many more thousands it has in it, but our mechanics haven't given up on it yet (we can't say enough good things about this outfit--they have cared for every car we've owned over the past 35 years, and never steered us wrong...when it's time to give up on a car, they'll let us know!).
I've had 3 daily drivers over the past 31 years. Traded my 1984 Dodge Daytona Turbo off with 215K on the clock (towing the race car wreaked havoc with the half shafts and transmission) for a 1990 Jeep Cherokee with 79K on the clock, traded it off 9 years later with 300K for a new 2003 Dodge Durango that now has 315K on the clock and is in need of a fresh set of rubber as the current set has 89K on it and won't make through the Winter snow.
Daytona had an incident with a deer - it came over a small berm alongside the highway and couldn't get traction on the wet asphalt and damaged the passenger side mirror. Deer shook it's head and ran away.
Time for Deer Whistles? (you got off really lucky)
Ns had an autorack train go west with an SD 80 mac on the point when I left work.I bumped a baby deer on the way home.Mamma deer decided to jump in back of my truck then slide down my windshield then run off.No damage thankfully.Just had to clean the smear marks of the window.Time for chores.
joe
Ns local was uptown when I left work.Co-worker complained because she went uptown for lunch and they were switching and made her late.Csx had a monster 324 and it stallled out in Defiance.Matt and I got our eyes checked.New glasses for Matt.No Bi-focals yet for me.Going to be busy shipping it out the next 2 weeks.
tree68 Norm48327 Drove to Owosso yesterday and watched Pere Marquette 1225 pull their version of The Polar Express. Good to see the old girl in steam, and the crowd was huge. One of our folks pointed out to me yesterday that there are more steam locomotives currently in operation than F units, which is what we currently have on our PE train. Much as I'd love to have steam, it would be lost on our riders, as they never actually see the locomotives...
Norm48327 Drove to Owosso yesterday and watched Pere Marquette 1225 pull their version of The Polar Express. Good to see the old girl in steam, and the crowd was huge.
Drove to Owosso yesterday and watched Pere Marquette 1225 pull their version of The Polar Express. Good to see the old girl in steam, and the crowd was huge.
One of our folks pointed out to me yesterday that there are more steam locomotives currently in operation than F units, which is what we currently have on our PE train. Much as I'd love to have steam, it would be lost on our riders, as they never actually see the locomotives...
Paul of Covington You mean chess is not considered a sport? Here is some of our fall color to give you a break from the icy mood. We don't get the spectacular fall leaves that you northerners get.
You mean chess is not considered a sport?
Here is some of our fall color to give you a break from the icy mood. We don't get the spectacular fall leaves that you northerners get.
Chess might be too difficult - maybe they should consider T-ball?
Jen
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
It was so warm in Utica Friday that we had to turn on the air conditioning in the cars for our Polar Express riders....
I fear Old Man Winter is holding back so he can really gang up on us....
We did have three days of great runs, though. Lots of happy faces. I was on board as conductor on Friday, and spent Saturday and Sunday in the locomotive.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulofcov/23386634556/in/dateposted-public/
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Sir Chicken - glad you both made it home safely. Just our usual ice - every year we go thru this!
I have given up on sports. Chess anyone?
Snuck back into Denver in one piece. DiningCar and Mooks have got to be grumbling about the ice making life interesting. (Made it into Abilene KS only to have ice take out the wirelines overnight.)
(Mooks: Sorry about 'dem Husker roundballers. The cowards in Columbus still won't schedule the The Bearkitties....50+ years later and they still hold a grudge.)
Went out after church today.The ND&W is storing some cars in their yard in Defiance.Went west to check the progress of signals on the wabash at St.Joe.Looks like they are getting ready for more diamond replacement.There is a new signal at west spencerville but the wabash signal at the diamond is still alone for now.Also caught the CSX J716 that works sdi near Butler.The nyc tri-lights are still alone on the east side of the diamond in Butler Indiana as well.Work comes early tomorrow.
Home safe after our trip to Dayton.Good day for the Buckeyes,not so good for our rams.Nieces will be joing thier team in Columbus with the band.Three Mercer county schools will be in the final playoffs.Marion Local,Coldwater and Ft.Recovery will go.Tomorrow Matt sings with his Sunday school at church.
Back home, after our Thanksgiving trip to the Land of No Trains. Our house guests had to use separate transortation thanks to a messup by Hertz (we couldn't all fit in one car), so Pat and I could travel the scenic route, handle a little business, and so on without having to worry about the needs of our daughter and grandson.Everyone was glad to see Linda looking, sounding, and feeling as well as she has been, and Linus was as charming and cute as a two-year-old could be. The hectic schedule of the coming week is going to make Linda very tired, but I think she can handle it. When we got back home today, they'd already been here for a while, and she was taking a nap.Our trips down and back didn't net us much in the way of trains, despite the fact that we traveled along the busy lines in northwest Indiana. However, we got some good data, and the things I didn't expect to need turned out to be the best sightings of all (previously-unreported new equipment). On the other hand, I had high hoped when I walked a string of coal gons at Michigan City, gathering the prior owners and numbers off all I could...and I later found out that I had every last one of them.
Rain here in NW Ohio.NS was clear when I left work.Tomorrow it's Thanksmas at sisters.Hope we don't see any blue light specials on our trip.I know there will be construction.I-75 has had construction somewhere for years.
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