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Chatterbox Fall-2016

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Posted by mudchicken on Wednesday, October 5, 2016 6:23 PM

Tree: I still remember the pictures of the guy in Omaha after he discovered why one stores and moves Oxy-Acetelene bottles just so. (his station wagon became a crispy critter/ roman candle too.)

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 Wednesday, October 5, 2016 6:16 PM

tree68
Word to the wise department - if you're picking up multiple cans of gasoline for a buddy, it's best if your truck doesn't catch fire...

Similar situation here in the city:  local natural gas company has been having trouble w/contractors/private citizens digging up and breaking the gas lines.  So today, they broke one of their own lines while working on a meter.  

Maybe they should have called themselves before digging?

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, October 5, 2016 3:57 PM

Word to the wise department - if you're picking up multiple cans of gasoline for a buddy, it's best if your truck doesn't catch fire...

Wasn't my truck, nor my buddy.  I was driving one of the Big Red Trucks that responded as a result...  The truck in question was totalled.

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 Wednesday, October 5, 2016 2:48 PM

afternoon

Ns had an empty stack train go west when I left work.Driveway work is progressing.Going to pour cement tomorrow.Need to check on Brother.Thankfully they moved to the Tampa area of Florida.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 JoeKoh on Tuesday, October 4, 2016 3:55 PM

afternoon

ns was clear when I left work.Driveway is gone.Have other 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 CShaveRR on Monday, October 3, 2016 11:12 PM

This was a perfect (in the literal sense, not the practical sense) example of a stealth schedule change.

Effective yesterday (but since yesterday was a Sunday, today was the first day of changes), Metra moved the schedule of its midday trains on the Union Pacific West Line seven minutes earlier.  There were photocopied notices posted in some of the stations I saw--no announcements, timetables are hard to come by.  Surprise!

I saw, especially at Elmhurst, people who thought they had plenty of time have to scurry to catch their train (sometimes having to cross the tracks via the tunnel).  It's only for five or six eastbound midday trains; the morning trains and evening hourly trains (as well as the weekend trains) are on their long-time schedule.

The reason for this is to move the meet of the two scoots each hour away from Elmhurst, to a point east of the Park control point.  What this does is enable the scoots from both directions to utilize Track 3 between Grace (east of Lombard) and Park, using the south platform for the Villa Park and Elmhurst stations.  That leaves Track 1 and Track 2 for arriving and departing freights from Proviso without interfering with scoots at Park (things hopefully disperse somewhat by the time they are at Grace, five miles west).  It appears that the crossovers at Grace are going to see a lot more action because of this, at least as far as the Metra trains are concerned.  Metra has assigned employees to the platforms at Villa Park and Elmhurst to make sure people are on the proper side for their train (especially necessary at Villa Park, which has no tunnel or overhead crossing) for today and tomorrow.  Since midday users seem to be first-timers an awful lot, they'll probably have to come up with something more permanent to inform them of this change.  

And they'll have to be consistent:  I came into Elmhurst on an eastbound that arrived on Track 1...the following hour it followed the new plan, arriving on Track 3, then the hour after that we were back to Track 1 again.

Plenty of action along my little stretch of railroad today...Pat and I took lunch at our favorite Lombard deli, for the first time since my hospitalization.  We were there for about an hour and had one scoot and five freights go through!  My trip to Elmhurst was a couple of hours later, after an appointment in Winfield to have the dressing changed on my PICC line.  I made those trips by train.

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 Monday, October 3, 2016 2:28 PM

afternoon

Back to work today.Ns has some empty cars uptown.Park maintenance came and said they will start our new driveway tomorrow.Got chores to do inside.

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, October 2, 2016 5:20 AM

good morning

Norm we might need it if the rain comes our way.Our Matt is sleeping.Had a good day with pen pal.Went to pick him up and csx was setting some gons in North Baltimore.Heard trains coming in Findlay so we went north to Galetea.Then off to other places.Going to meet him in Deshler for lunch before he heads back for Chicago and his train 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 Norm48327 on Friday, September 30, 2016 4:39 PM

JoeKoh

evening

Ns was clear when I left work.Pen pal has come back to our area.Going to make somewhere work tomorrow between raindrops.Matt is finishing up homework.There is another Matt in the gulf that could bring us more rain too.Chores to do.

stay safe

Joe

 

Joe,

You bought a boat yet? You may need one soon. Smile, Wink & Grin

Norm


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Posted by JoeKoh on Friday, September 30, 2016 4:06 PM

evening

Ns was clear when I left work.Pen pal has come back to our area.Going to make somewhere work tomorrow between raindrops.Matt is finishing up homework.There is another Matt in the gulf that could bring us more rain too.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 BOB WITHORN on Friday, September 30, 2016 6:46 AM
The rain can stop anytime now! Seems the only time it rains are days I need to work out side. Makes it tough going trackside, not much fun sitting the truck with the windows up and the wipers on trying to watch a train go by. Probable should have turned the sprinkler system off before I left sunday night. Oops.
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Posted by JoeKoh on Thursday, September 29, 2016 2:51 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear when I left work.Have a new employee being trained on our shift.He likes trains.Has "HO" scale at home.Will see how is training goes.Tomorrow is Friday.Going to need an umbrella for the weekend.

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, September 28, 2016 2:51 PM

afternoon

Ns track workers were looking at the siding when I left work.No cars left Tuptown.Time to get some chores done.

 

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 Tuesday, September 27, 2016 5:23 PM

evening

Ns had some empties uptown.Took care of the yard.Guessers say rain coming until next Monday.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 Norm48327 on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 10:58 AM

CSSHEGEWISCH

 

 
tree68

Kind of a corollary of the hockey thing - there was a big fight, and a hockey game broke out.

 

 

You owe an apology to Rodney Dangerfield, he had a one-liner along those lines.  Fighting is also not tolerated in virtually all youth and recreational leagues.  I still cannot figure out why the professional hockey leagues at all levels tolerate fighting. it detracts from the game.

 

Nah, it just adds some spice. Used to be a state cop around here who loved playing hockey and duking it out at the same time. Kept him in shape for work. Wink

Norm


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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 9:22 AM

CSSHEGEWISCH
You owe an apology to Rodney Dangerfield, he had a one-liner along those lines. 

Which is probably where it came from - through who knows how many points.  

Balt - I know not all racing involves only left turns - but that's the racing that seems to have the most rabid fans...

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 CSSHEGEWISCH on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 7:53 AM

tree68

Kind of a corollary of the hockey thing - there was a big fight, and a hockey game broke out.

You owe an apology to Rodney Dangerfield, he had a one-liner along those lines.  Fighting is also not tolerated in virtually all youth and recreational leagues.  I still cannot figure out why the professional hockey leagues at all levels tolerate fighting. it detracts from the game.

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 BOB WITHORN on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 6:21 AM
Going around in circles is not really racing. It's more like a train on rubber tires that's designed to derail. REAL auto racing turns right and left, goes uphill, goes down hill and even goes off the TRACK. Kinda like trains - see there's the connection to trains - left, right, up, down and off the track. Bob
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Posted by BOB WITHORN on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 6:14 AM

Randy,

Something about 4 V-8's crammed between two frame rails that's called a "Tractor", just seems unnatural, but very cool. Being an old farm boy, that is NOT a tractor, but still very cool.

Bob

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Posted by rvos1979 on Tuesday, September 27, 2016 4:52 AM
Actually, the wrecks in tractor pulling are more spectacular, we had a few engine blocks split in half this year, I've yet to watch the one at Bowling Green where a semi split the block, and the top half launched itself through the hood. Somewhere north of 200 psi of boost will do those things.........

Randy Vos

"Ever have one of those days where you couldn't hit the ground with your hat??" - Waylon Jennings

"May the Lord take a liking to you and blow you up, real good" - SCTV

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Posted by BaltACD on Monday, September 26, 2016 10:15 PM

tree68
rvos1979

Ditto - Go fast, turn left, who's gonna crash next?

Kind of a corollary of the hockey thing - there was a big fight, and a hockey game broke out.

A lot of folks are rooting for their favorite driver, but also are waiting to see who wrecks...

Not all auto racing is predicated on turning left.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, September 26, 2016 10:02 PM

rvos1979
Not a big fan of most auto racing,

Ditto - Go fast, turn left, who's gonna crash next?

Kind of a corollary of the hockey thing - there was a big fight, and a hockey game broke out.

A lot of folks are rooting for their favorite driver, but also are waiting to see who wrecks...

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 rvos1979 on Monday, September 26, 2016 9:29 PM
Not a big fan of most auto racing, I prefer the 320 foot dirt track, with the 60,000lb weight transfer machine. I like the Pro Stock, Modified, and Unlimited classes, my sister likes the Mini Modifieds (Let's strap ourselves into a 3,000 horsepower go cart, and see how far we can drag this!!!!)

It finally cooled off down south, parked tonight just north of Pine Bluff, AR, headed to Mississippi and Louisiana tomorrow, then back north...........

Randy Vos

"Ever have one of those days where you couldn't hit the ground with your hat??" - Waylon Jennings

"May the Lord take a liking to you and blow you up, real good" - SCTV

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Posted by Paul of Covington on Monday, September 26, 2016 9:13 PM

Mookie

Before someone gets bent - I am positive there is a direct link between racing and trains....just need to have someone guide me in the right direction.  Would "just because we like both"?  

 

    It may be just the long-time love affair between man and machine.   I'm not as interested in cars as I used to be, but I drool at the sight of a well-equipped machine shop or woodworking shop.

_____________ 

  "A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, September 26, 2016 8:16 PM

Mookie

Before someone gets bent - I am positive there is a direct link between racing and trains....just need to have someone guide me in the right direction.  Would "just because we like both"?  

Big motors (although there isn't really a direct comparison).  And they both go relatively fast.

I once heard that there is some sort of a connection between printers (ie, letterpress, which I do) and model railroading, too.

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 Murphy Siding on Monday, September 26, 2016 8:13 PM

Mookie

Before someone gets bent - I am positive there is a direct link between racing and trains....just need to have someone guide me in the right direction.  Would "just because we like both"?  

 

Race fan here. Also interested in airplanes and ships.  Maybe the connection is transportation?  Come to think of it, horses probably fall in the transportation category, but I do not like horses- just horsepower.

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Mookie on Monday, September 26, 2016 5:10 PM

Before someone gets bent - I am positive there is a direct link between racing and trains....just need to have someone guide me in the right direction.  Would "just because we like both"?  

She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw

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Posted by BaltACD on Monday, September 26, 2016 4:15 PM

BOB WITHORN
Balt,

I've not been to Mid-Ohio, been told I need to go. Have a good friend that ran there in the late 60's - early 70's in CanAm with his McLaren and every year when the racing season gets started he wants to know if we're going to Mid-Ohio. He's well into his 70's now but boy does he have stories about the guys he ran with and even now still stays in contact with that were some of my idols.

Bob

Watched the Trans-AM and Can-AM races at Mid-Ohio in the early 70's, as well as the USGP at Watkins Glen in 1974 & 75.  At that time I NEVER EVER thought I would get on the tracks, let alone race on them.  Been racing since 1988 and run each of them many times as well as other legendary tracks - Sebring, Road Atlanta, Road America - just about all road racing tracks East of the Mississippi.

When in Jacksonville I frequently have lunch with one of the Can-Am drivers I once watched at Mid-Ohio.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by BOB WITHORN on Monday, September 26, 2016 3:50 PM

Balt,

I've not been to Mid-Ohio, been told I need to go. Have a good friend that ran there in the late 60's - early 70's in CanAm with his McLaren and every year when the racing season gets started he wants to know if we're going to Mid-Ohio. He's well into his 70's now but boy does he have stories about the guys he ran with and even now still stays in contact with that were some of my idols.

Bob

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Posted by JoeKoh on Monday, September 26, 2016 2:56 PM

afternoon

Ns local was working uptown.Chores to do.Guessers say highs in the 60's all week.Welcome to fall.

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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