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Chatterbox Spring -2016

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Posted by JoeKoh on Friday, May 13, 2016 2:29 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear when I left work.Have errands to run.Might look at CSX.Things to do for this weekend.Ma nature might send us a frost on sunday morning.

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 Paul of Covington on Friday, May 13, 2016 3:39 PM

  You guys keep talking about frost.   We just had a cold front come through overnight, so today's high was only 87 deg.

 

 

 

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, May 13, 2016 4:52 PM

Temps dropped off a bit here with the rain this AM, but the humidity made up for it.

Should have mowed the back yard, but have hotter projects underway.  

Supposed to be yukky tomorrow, and snow has been mentioned...

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
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Posted by JoeKoh on Sunday, May 15, 2016 4:23 PM

Had snow showers this morning.Nothing stuck thankfully.Matt was confirmed in our church today.Heard some Csx when we got home.Tomorrow back to normal.

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 Monday, May 16, 2016 4:23 PM

afternoon

back to work today.Got out on time.Ns was clear when I left work.Came home and worked on some chores.Have more 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 tree68 on Monday, May 16, 2016 4:37 PM

Some snow to the north overnight, but nothing major.  

Ended up running a daily morning "net" this morning.  Kinda like being a moderator - see who wants to check in and give 'em their moment of fame for the morning.

Several printing jobs in the queue - almost time to get some ink on the press.

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 Monday, May 16, 2016 9:37 PM

I've been hearing about snow (or graupel) to the north of me, in Wisconsin and Michigan, and now Joe mentions some snow in his area (which was southeast of me, last I checked).  We got none, though temperatures got down around 40 over the weekend.  It was a cold day for the Lilac Parade on Sunday (one of my friends made the monumental observation that it was about 200 below in the cemetery behind where we set up our chairs--Pat and I, along with one daughter, one son-in-law, and three grandchildren).  After a period of rain tomorrow, we're supposed to have a moderately cool but otherwise fantastic week ahead.  Since I got the lawn mowed today, I plan on taking a little trip tomorrow...my remote office still has a roof over it.

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, May 17, 2016 2:43 PM

afternoon

rain this morning.Ns had some empties uptown when I left work.Chores to do here at home.

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 Wednesday, May 18, 2016 4:01 PM

Ns had a westbound waiting when I left work.Came home and mowed the swamp.Pastor is buying pizza for Matt and the other confirmands tonight.Better get a shower.

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 Thursday, May 19, 2016 2:37 PM

Ns westbound stack train as I left work.Also had some cars in the siding too.Need to check on Matt's homework.

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 Friday, May 20, 2016 2:42 PM

afternoon

Ns local was around when I left work.Chores to do.Need to pick up Matt from school later.They took a field trip to Cedar Point 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 mudchicken on Friday, May 20, 2016 6:23 PM

Why is it that at 4:55 PM on a Friday you find a major blunder that you will be working all weekend on to find a solution to?

Seems that a certain county in a state east of us has been selling off portions of a railroad that they had no right to sell and the railroads (more than one) had no inkling of what was happening. Hope the county made lots of money on those sheriff's sales to pay the lawyers that will have to defend the county's stupid stunt.AngryAngryAngry

 

 

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 Friday, May 20, 2016 6:27 PM

Because a busy chicken stays out of KFC!

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by mudchicken on Friday, May 20, 2016 6:38 PM

Mookie

Because a busy chicken stays out of KFC!

 

Kansas Fried Chicken? - anything like MWH's diesel fried chicken?

Just saw where Wrinny will be poaching in my backyard on 6/11 while recovering from writer's cramp. May have to go pester him.

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 BaltACD on Friday, May 20, 2016 6:59 PM

Mookie

Because a busy chicken stays out of KFC!

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, May 20, 2016 8:40 PM

mudchicken
Seems that a certain county in a state east of us has been selling off portions of a railroad that they had no right to sell...

If they've only gotten as far as the sales, I'd suspect there will simply be some fingerpointing and money changing hands.  On the other hand, I hope none of the buyers actually built something on the land.

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 mudchicken on Friday, May 20, 2016 10:00 PM

One of the "buyers" placed a city street where there never had been one.

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 CSSHEGEWISCH on Saturday, May 21, 2016 6:57 AM

mudchicken

One of the "buyers" placed a city street where there never had been one.

 

 
Sounds like a lot of people might be working for free to remove that street.
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 Mookie on Sunday, May 22, 2016 7:28 PM

Sunday sightings:  Schnabel Car - loaded.  

18 what are we calling them - locomotives, motors, tiny houses?  3 NS and 2 UP plus the rest in BNSF 7k and 8k series numbers.  Only 1 NS was not one of the lead engines.  

Saw lots of freight - none I could get open to check what they are hauling.  Lots of tankers w/scary placards.  Houston Ed gave us a list of the placards and numbers and - you should know that I now no longer wear lipstick.  

Engineer waved to us - heading to probably KC area and on to Georgia.  I think he saw an "older" couple sitting trackside at 5:45a and thought he should wave just to make sure we hadn't assumed room temperature sometime over the weekend and went unnoticed.  I had to drop my pen and paper to wave - that was a really unexpected nice gesture on his part!  

And as a bonus - saw some CATX cars, again.  

Y'gotta love it!

 

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by tree68 on Sunday, May 22, 2016 8:35 PM

If Ed gave you and "orange book" (the Emergency Response Guide, or ERG), it's all  you need to know - for the first 10 minutes or so of a response.   I keep one in my truck, and it's on my smart phone, too.

If he didn't, I can send you a copy of the 2012.  The 2014 edition will be out soon, but there aren't usually a lot of significant changes, and we have a bunch of spares.

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 Mookie on Sunday, May 22, 2016 9:53 PM

tree68

If Ed gave you and "orange book" (the Emergency Response Guide, or ERG), it's all  you need to know - for the first 10 minutes or so of a response.   I keep one in my truck, and it's on my smart phone, too.

If he didn't, I can send you a copy of the 2012.  The 2014 edition will be out soon, but there aren't usually a lot of significant changes, and we have a bunch of spares.

 

It is orange and Driver said for our purposes, it tells us way more than I want to know.  But thank you for the offer.  I always have him look up the placard number and I feel sometimes like I should just get out of Millie and walk about 50 feet back under the vehicle bridge!  Pigeon poop be darned....

Fortunately, they have only dumped 3 loaded coal cars in the area and it was across the street from where we normally sit.  But I do hold my breath sometimes...  

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Sunday, May 22, 2016 10:58 PM

Mookie

Sunday sightings:  Schnabel Car - loaded.  

18 what are we calling them - locomotives, motors, tiny houses?  3 NS and 2 UP plus the rest in BNSF 7k and 8k series numbers.  Only 1 NS was not one of the lead engines.  

Saw lots of freight - none I could get open to check what they are hauling.  Lots of tankers w/scary placards.  Houston Ed gave us a list of the placards and numbers and - you should know that I now no longer wear lipstick.  

Engineer waved to us - heading to probably KC area and on to Georgia.  I think he saw an "older" couple sitting trackside at 5:45a and thought he should wave just to make sure we hadn't assumed room temperature sometime over the weekend and went unnoticed.  I had to drop my pen and paper to wave - that was a really unexpected nice gesture on his part!  

And as a bonus - saw some CATX cars, again.  

Y'gotta love it!

 

 

What was on the Schnabel car?

       Do you think the engineer waved because most of the elderly couples he sees trackside at 5:45 am are wearing lipstick?Kisses

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Posted by mudchicken on Sunday, May 22, 2016 11:41 PM

Murphy Siding
 

       Do you think the engineer waved because most of the elderly couples he sees trackside at 5:45 am are wearing lipstick?Kisses 

No - He saw that yellow board thingie back two miles earlier with the big cat paw similar to the CATX logo with the claws out... Translation, Wave! (or else!  NINJA KITTY Ahead)

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 mudchicken on Sunday, May 22, 2016 11:59 PM

CSSHEGEWISCH
 
mudchicken

One of the "buyers" placed a city street where there never had been one.

 

 

 
Sounds like a lot of people might be working for free to remove that street.
 

Your tax dollars at work. ( We volunteered to share with the county what we found as evidence and the County GIS* people didn't want to hear about it.)

 

* Proof yet again that GIS means "get it surveyed" to surveyors and "Garbage In - Standard" to railroaders. Methinks Uncle Pete is about to get his armour yellow shorts all up in a bunch here pretty soon. Shortline and BNSF are about to come unglued over a similar issue about half a mile away. 

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 Monday, May 23, 2016 7:07 AM

Mookie
But I do hold my breath sometimes...

Sitting alongside a regular road (especially the Interstates and other such arteries) can be just as (if not more) scary sometimes...  It's amazing what gets hauled over-the-road.  

The orange section (Guides) is what's most important in the ERG.  It tells you how far to run before you can 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 Mookie on Monday, May 23, 2016 8:09 AM

Murphy Siding

 

 
Mookie

Sunday sightings:  Schnabel Car - loaded.  

18 what are we calling them - locomotives, motors, tiny houses?  3 NS and 2 UP plus the rest in BNSF 7k and 8k series numbers.  Only 1 NS was not one of the lead engines.  

Saw lots of freight - none I could get open to check what they are hauling.  Lots of tankers w/scary placards.  Houston Ed gave us a list of the placards and numbers and - you should know that I now no longer wear lipstick.  

Engineer waved to us - heading to probably KC area and on to Georgia.  I think he saw an "older" couple sitting trackside at 5:45a and thought he should wave just to make sure we hadn't assumed room temperature sometime over the weekend and went unnoticed.  I had to drop my pen and paper to wave - that was a really unexpected nice gesture on his part!  

And as a bonus - saw some CATX cars, again.  

Y'gotta love it!

 

 

 

 

What was on the Schnabel car?

       Do you think the engineer waved because most of the elderly couples he sees trackside at 5:45 am are wearing lipstick?Kisses

 

 

Huge Lego sections, with meters (like an electric meter) on one side and robin egg blue.  Now you tell me....

I quit after I found out how they make lipstick, but the Driver....well- his choice....

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by CShaveRR on Monday, May 23, 2016 8:17 AM

I think I'd be more scared of what's going down the highways than I am of what I've seen along the tracks.  I guess that's because I've played with our "containers" long enough to know that we can handle it plenty well in most cases.  Yes, I've seen wrecks along our line, including the "big-un" in Glen Ellyn in 1976, but they're hardly a blip on the radar, and the condition of the railroad has improved one heck of a lot since then.

Ever hear of "Dead-Man's Curve"?  I have a feeling that more than one of these exist (I know for a fact that there's a highway in Cleveland that has one--gets mentioned on their traffic reports all the time).  We have one at Lombard (actually west of Lombard, maybe in Glen Ellyn) as well--and there was a wreck on that one sometime after the big Glen Ellyn wreck.  Actually, this curve was realigned a couple of decades ago, so it doesn't even have a speed restriction on it any more.

Waiting for the dew to dry so I can get out in the yard and do the necessary.

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 Mookie on Monday, May 23, 2016 2:21 PM

CShaveRR
I think I'd be more scared of what's going down the highways than I am of what I've seen along the tracks.    

 It isn't what is in them, except coal, that worries me.  We are a little further back than people sitting at the crossing, but if a rail breaks or a butterfly derails any moving equipment - and it falls to the south - we are toast!  That is a lot of coal to fall on an unsuspecting car at the crossing, or Millie.  

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Monday, May 23, 2016 2:55 PM

They must grow those butterflies pretty big down Nebraska way.

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Mookie on Monday, May 23, 2016 4:52 PM

Murphy Siding

They must grow those butterflies pretty big down Nebraska way.

 

Murphy Siding

They must grow those butterflies pretty big down Nebraska way.

 

Yeah - we bring them up from Texas in boxcars marked "BUTx"....

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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