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Chatterbox winter 2015-2016

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, January 22, 2016 9:41 PM

Snowmagedden started at 1430 in Central MD.  Snow plows made the 1st pass down my street at 1800.  Still waiting to hear them make the 2nd pass.

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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, January 23, 2016 2:18 AM

BaltACD
Still waiting to hear them make the 2nd pass.

Probably still making the first pass elsewhere.....

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Mookie on Saturday, January 23, 2016 12:22 PM

We will have to pause the forum while our northeast posters shovel out.  Here lately the forum has paused down to barely moving at all!  When the M & M Division (Murphy/Mookie) get dumped on, no one even notices that we are gone shoveling - well, he shovels, I watch.  From a distance.  A long distance.  Mischief

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, January 23, 2016 2:35 PM

Been doing some shoveling of the 23 inches that are on my driveway - have cleared a path 2 shovels wide from the garage to my car that is parked ready to hit the street.  My jacket and sweatshirt got soaked so I had to take a break.  Snow is still falling and is expected to quit about Midnight.

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Posted by Deggesty on Saturday, January 23, 2016 2:45 PM

Jacket and sweatshirt soaked? Boy, you have been working hard to perspire that much! Or, did a passing snowplow cover you up?Smile

Several years ago, as Ricki and I were on our way to church, we saw a man get covered from behind as he was clearing his sidewalk.

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Posted by samfp1943 on Saturday, January 23, 2016 4:01 PM

Mookie

We will have to pause the forum while our northeast posters shovel out.  Here lately the forum has paused down to barely moving at all!  When the M & M Division (Murphy/Mookie) get dumped on, no one even notices that we are gone shoveling - well, he shovels, I watch.  From a distance.  A long distance.  Mischief

 

Really feel for you Mookie and Murphy....Only snow so far around here is off the Westbound trains....Cold, you betcha!  Snow, NOT!   Sigh

 

 


 

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Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, January 23, 2016 4:14 PM

Deggesty

Jacket and sweatshirt soaked? Boy, you have been working hard to perspire that much! Or, did a passing snowplow cover you up?Smile

Several years ago, as Ricki and I were on our way to church, we saw a man get covered from behind as he was clearing his sidewalk.

Sweatshirt soaked from working and jacket soaked from the continuing snow.  Still trying to make it from the house to the road.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, January 23, 2016 7:26 PM

Stars are out here, but it's cold (+12F now).  The system on the coast is giving us east winds, but with no snow in the forecast at all.

Responded to a fairly minor structure fire today - wood stove in a garage managed to set the garage on fire.  We used less than 250 gallons of water on it.  Lucky homeowner...

Our local antique fire apparatus group is sponsoring the SPAAMFAA national convention in the summer of 2017.  Lots of work to do, and we got a good start on it at our meeting today.  

The USB hub that connected a lot of my peripherals died yesterday.  Got a new one today, and we're back up and running!  

 

LarryWhistling
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Posted by CShaveRR on Saturday, January 23, 2016 7:46 PM

Calm in Chicagoland...we had a dusting of snow yesterday, which we have ignored.  A lot of the surfaces cleared on their own today, and the temperatures in the 30s tomorrow should finish the job.  

We had a good morning at our church this morning, making soft pillows for cancer patients.  Daughter Ellen brought her entire family to help, and our older granddaughter was actually put to work on a sewing machine, where she held her own and got a lot of good experience.  Next time, it's Emily's turn.  There were 135 fleece heart-shaped pillows produced.  

Carl

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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, January 23, 2016 8:00 PM

CShaveRR
...our older granddaughter was actually put to work on a sewing machine, ...

I'm impressed that she's taken the initiative to do so - must be good genes.  That used to be part of Home Ec, which every girl was strongly encouraged to take, and which boys occasionally took as well, albeit sometimes on a lark...

In this day and age, though, I can imagine that there are those who feel that no child is capable of running such a dangerous machine....

LarryWhistling
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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 BaltACD on Saturday, January 23, 2016 8:11 PM

Don't know the location, but you can hear train sounding for crossings in the background

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Posted by Deggesty on Saturday, January 23, 2016 8:17 PM

Balt, that is horrible. 

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Posted by Deggesty on Saturday, January 23, 2016 8:23 PM

As to sewing machines, I learned how to run my mother's foot-powered Singer when I was a boy. At times, even it was almost too fast for me. I do not remember how, when, or where I tried an electric one--and decided that it was too fast for me. Sewing by hand for me! The slowest sewing job I ever had was sewing canvas using a sailor's palm.

There may have been electric machines in the Home Ec department when  I was in high school--I was never in the room long enough to take a close look at them.

Ricki did not like to sew; she said that if she went near a sewing machine when she was taking Home Ec it broke down. 

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Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, January 23, 2016 9:06 PM

Deggesty

Balt, that is horrible. 

Govenor of MD has just closed I-70 & I-270 from I-81 at Hagerstown to the Baltimore and DC Beltways account numerous truck accidents, until 0700 on the 24th.

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Posted by tree68 on Sunday, January 24, 2016 6:59 AM

I looked at a VA traffic cam yesterday in the DC area (don't remember which one).  The only vehicle visible was a tractor with a plow blade on it, ironically going the wrong way on the four lane roadway.  Since traffic cams aren't usually put at quiet intersections, I have to presume the lack of traffic was unusual.  The tractor did look like it was moving a fair amount of snow...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by JoeKoh on Sunday, January 24, 2016 2:25 PM

nice and suuny here in NW Ohio.Csx having signal trouble in Hamler at the I&O Diamond.Met a young man from Pennsylvania today.Gave him the lay of the land.He recently moved to work in Toledo.His home area got 34 inches of snow.Said everything on Ns is backed up.Heard back from my Nephew.His 4x4 and plow have been quite busy doing driveways.Our new great niece is also improving day by day as well.Going to warm up now.

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, January 24, 2016 2:36 PM

JoeKoh
His 4x4 and plow have been quite busy doing driveways

I figure that if I could load up a couple of snow blowers in a camper trailer, pulled by a 4x4 with a plow, along with a couple of willing assistants, I could probably make a fortune down in that area right now.  Alas, I don't have the 4x4, trailer, and only one snow blower....

Besides, I'm sure the local authorities might frown upon it, even if I did charge reasonable rates... 

LarryWhistling
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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 ACY Tom on Sunday, January 24, 2016 3:24 PM

Balt: Was that in Maryland, this storm?

Tom

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Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, January 24, 2016 4:20 PM

Yes it was!

http://www.wbaltv.com/weather/timelapse-shows-snow-storm-hitting-maryland/37611012

 

Spent 1.5 hours yesterday digging a path to the daily driver while the storm was still going (measured 23 inches in the driveway at that time).  Storm continued another 10 hours until it quit at Midnight.  Spent 4 hours today cleaning around the car and a path for it into the street (snow depth at the street about 40 inches, some of it wind blown); thanks to my neighbor who conquered the last 2 feet to the street with his snow blower.  Snow plow finally hit my street about 3:45 PM and then I had to clean up the snow plow ridge.

I am DONE with snow removal for the day!

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Sunday, January 24, 2016 4:40 PM

BaltACD

Don't know the location, but you can hear train sounding for crossings in the background

 

Is this at the bottom of a hill?  The trucks seem to be going too fast for the conditions.

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Sunday, January 24, 2016 4:44 PM

Mookie

We will have to pause the forum while our northeast posters shovel out.  Here lately the forum has paused down to barely moving at all!  When the M & M Division (Murphy/Mookie) get dumped on, no one even notices that we are gone shoveling - well, he shovels, I watch.  From a distance.  A long distance.  Mischief

 

I was kind of envious when Paul near Chicago said in an average year he only fires up his snowblower once or twice.  As is typical for our climate, we've already had times this winter where we fired up the snowblower once or twice in the same day!

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Deggesty on Sunday, January 24, 2016 4:53 PM

It was snowing lightly here when I went to church this morning. I just looked out, and the street in front of the facility seems to be be dry now.

Many years back, I had the driveway cleared before leaving for work about three in the afternoon. When I got back home that night, I took (armstrong) eleven inches out of the driveway before driving in; I irritated a snowplow operator a little bit by parking in the street while preventing my packing the snow in the driveway. 

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Posted by tree68 on Sunday, January 24, 2016 4:59 PM

Murphy Siding
Is this at the bottom of a hill?  The trucks seem to be going too fast for the conditions.

Invariably, these incidents involve folk who are going too fast for conditions and don't realize it.  They're able to keep their vehicle between the ditches, but stopping is another story altogether, as they soon discover.

Do a search for "snowstorm pileups" and you'll have plenty of mayhem to watch.

This is what happens in our lake effect bands - clear roads and sunshine down to snow covered roads and whiteout conditions in the space of a few miles.  Gets people every time.

Quite a few years ago (during my USAF time at Chanute AFB) I was eastbound on I-94 - probably not far from the location of well known recent mess - when I started noticing the occasional vehicle in the ditch.  Then more, then more.  The problem that day was black ice, but there was no real indication that there might be a problem - until you broke traction.  I got through just fine, but I did slow down...

 

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 CShaveRR on Sunday, January 24, 2016 11:05 PM

tree68

 

 
CShaveRR
...our older granddaughter was actually put to work on a sewing machine, ...

 

I'm impressed that she's taken the initiative to do so - must be good genes.  That used to be part of Home Ec, which every girl was strongly encouraged to take, and which boys occasionally took as well, albeit sometimes on a lark...

In this day and age, though, I can imagine that there are those who feel that no child is capable of running such a dangerous machine....

 

Surprisingly, it's the girls' other grandmother who has gotten them used to sewing machines, as well as their cousins, some of whom are not female.  As of right now, they are, with one exception, still in elementary school.

There's a chance for a little snow Monday night into Tuesday, but this coming weekend we've been told to anticipate temperatures in the 40s.  The eastern blizzard seems to have dumped more snow further north than expected; my friend in Allentown got 31+ inches (their airport).

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 CSSHEGEWISCH on Monday, January 25, 2016 7:28 AM

Carl is right, we're supposed to get up to about 40 degrees today, which should melt what's left of the dusting that I never shoveled.  Skilling's weather page suggests that our temps should range from slightly above normal to a little bit warmer for the rest of the week.

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 Monday, January 25, 2016 2:50 PM

afternoon

No extra work today.Ns had a couple cars to shuffle uptown.Heard CSX coming into town when I got home due to the southerly wind.Chores to do here at home.Matt is working on his book report book.Rain/snow according to the guessers for tonight.

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 Monday, January 25, 2016 8:24 PM

Decent weather, decent day (from my Facebook post):

Today the temperature was hovering right around 40, and the rain held off. Light jacket and a hoodie were all that was necessary.  As usual, the walk was from home to the post office, with plenty of time along the railroad tracks. Before I even got to the tracks, an eastbound stack train went across Elizabeth Street. Before the gates could go up, a westbound stacker went through. This is Monday--should be a slow day on the railroad, but certain trains run pretty heavy every day of the week. 

When I got to the corner of Parkside, I could look down the tracks to the east, where the signal for Track 1 was flashing-red-over-solid-red. The significance here is that this is a control-point signal--two solid reds means "stop and stay". A flashing red gives a following train permission to proceed at restricted speed without stopping ("Restricted speed" has a definition that makes this a safe option). But a flashing red is something the dispatcher has to set up...it suggests that something might be following fairly closely and he wants to keep things moving.

As time went by and I walked east along Parkside, the signal went through its entire regular rutine of changes--yellow, flashing yellow, and green. Guess the next train wasn't that close, after all. I got to Grace Street and across the tracks to the post office without seeing anything, then back across the tracks and onto Parkside again. I was about even with the signal when I saw the headlight of the next train, an eastbound coal train for the power plant in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. This train used to have a pristine consist of all aluminum EDGX gondolas with blue rotary-coupler ends, but lately the trains have been adulterated with other cars: hopper cars lettered LNTX and IESX (all owned by Alliant Energy, as are the EDGX cars), and a couple of CTRN hoppers that I had to check on when I got home (I have that bunch documented). The train had its usual distributed power unit on the hind end, and was basically coasting when it all got past me.

At Main Street, I climbed the stairs and went up to the station platform. As I climbed the stairs I heard the Voice of Metra announcing that the next scoot would be coming in five or six minutes (they make it intelligible to the layman and give a more precise time). Looking back east, I saw that the signal for Track 1 was flashing red again! I got to the west end of the platform and back to the sidewalk before the scoot actually arrived, and the signal ahead of it was yellow. It changed to flashing yellow as the scoot left, and I hoped that it wouldn't get close to the coal train before it got to Elmhurst, or it would be stuck at 20 mph or so behind it.

I then walked to the drug store before going back home. I was expecting to see the westbound scoot on Track 3 before I left the drug store, but it didn't show. All three signals at Finley Road were now clear for westbound trains (the control-point signals at Grace were all sold red for eastbounds). As I walked away from the tracks, the gates went down. It was scoot time...but this was another stack train going west. Evidently he was on Track 2. I didn't wait around to see if the scoot was also there. And I got home less than an hour after I left, stops at the post office and drug store notwithstanding.

So in about 50 or so minutes with the tracks in sight, I saw five trains. Not bad, but it has been better. I got to thinking about how I would go down to the tracks at Grand Haven when I was younger, and wait for a specific train that I knew was coming. That wait could be well over an hour, and a good 15-20 minutes after I heard it blowing for Fruitport Road in Spring Lake.

Grand Haven's a great place to visit, but I'm glad I live around here!

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 Tuesday, January 26, 2016 2:39 PM

cooling down here in NW Ohio.Ns was clear when I left work.Chores to do.

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 mudchicken on Tuesday, January 26, 2016 7:25 PM

Getting a little nuts around here. Was about 1000 ft away from a ballast regulator vs. car incident this afternoon, power blackouts in the office tonight, crazy clients asking wild questions and making scary assumptions all day.

Thins I'm-a going home and locking the doors. It's not even a full moon!

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 Wednesday, January 27, 2016 2:51 PM

Flurries here in Nw Ohio.Ns has empties uptown to pick up.Chores to do.Matt has confirmation class tonight too.

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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