evening
Mother nature filled the swamp this morning.Very muggy this afternoon.Saw a surviving wabash signal do it's job near St.Joe Indiana.They were also had a pickle festival going on.Tomorrow hopefully it cools off.
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").
'Spotty Afternoon T'storms' picked my spot to stay all afternoon.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Another round of storms came by this afternoon.G+G house reports .6 in the rainguage.This morning csx sent tonka toys on track 1 to put in rail.Back to work tomorrow.
We of the Lombard Historical Society (one museum along Chicagoland's first railroad!) were lucky to get our Civil War reenactment in today (the Rebs won the battle this afternoon--Union won yesterday). Within an hour or so of the shutdown of the event, the heavenly artillery opened up. We got about 0.4 inches this time, but the storms dealt another wicked blow to other parts of Chicagoland, with some winds approaching hurricane force.Yard work has been waiting for the weather to become decent all week. Maybe tomorrow, after a morning funeral for a church member. No trains for Carl until the mowing, sweeping, and aerial pruning gets done. Or until the trip to Michigan before the weekend, whichever comes first...
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)
CShaveRRYard work has been waiting for the weather to become decent all week. Maybe tomorrow, after a morning funeral for a church member. No trains for Carl until the mowing, sweeping, and aerial pruning gets done. Or until the trip to Michigan before the weekend, whichever comes first...
Carl know the feeling No yard work for 5 days due to every afternoon 90 degree plus and rain. Yard in morning does not dry until about 1 PM due to last day's rain. All the rain since March has caused many trees to grow limbs down until they become dangerous head knockers. Hard hat a must when mowing !
Aerial pruning is becoming a pain.
Nice weather out west...
Saw lots of trains today between Sidney, NE and Ogden, UT. Half were moving, the other half were sitting, mostly around Rawlins, WY (parked westbounds). Currently enjoying a peaceful evening in Twin Falls, ID- tomorrow will head across central Oregon (no trains there).
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
Three and a quarter inches of rain since midnight - sheesh!
Finally done with the main part of it, although the scattered shower can't be ruled out.
Out a a tree down on branches call this morning. Of course, it was during some of the heavier rainfall... Aside from a push from the wind, though, I think the branch was coming down pretty soon anyhow.
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...
blhanel Nice weather out west... Saw lots of trains today between Sidney, NE and Ogden, UT. Half were moving, the other half were sitting, mostly around Rawlins, WY (parked westbounds). Currently enjoying a peaceful evening in Twin Falls, ID- tomorrow will head across central Oregon (no trains there).
Ns had an eastbound coal train in the siding when I left work.CSX finally delivered the 2 pumps for the pipeline to the ND&W.Matt finished the 2nd picnic table for Deshler.We will deliver that tomorrow after work.Everyone liked the way they looked.Time to get cleaned up.
Had to do partial mow on wet grass. John deer had to slow down thru thick grass. Just hate when cleaning mower that is a pain. Did not finish another downpour. More limbs down that take longer than the mowing. Yard smells like a hay field where mowed.
Speaking of smelling like a hay field, it's 2nd cutting time. It's cut, raking it today, baling tomarrow as long as it stays dry.
Maybe I won't retire, it's less work to stay working.
Bob,
My drives into Shiawassee County are among my favorites. There is a young couple who opened a pizzaria in Byron, and their product is well worth the drive. If I'm lucky Iwill see trains. CN, HESR, and GLC, formerly known as TSBY will show up while I am munching on a very tasty lunch. In the mean, I get to see the crops growing right from seeds to the production of the food they provide and have admiration for the farmers who put their chances of success up against the vagaries of weather.
A short drive west of there is Ovid, where, in the late forties my uncle bought an 80 acre farm. He was an employee of the postal service and he worked the RPO from Port Huron to Chicago. I spent many summers of my youth on that farm and still have fond memories of doing so. How many of today's youth even know where milk comes from let alone how to get it from a cow without getting kicked in the process? Some were cooperative, others were not.
Oh. I forgot to mention the ever-present barn cats. Their antics while trying to capture a drink were amusing to say the least.
Norm
Norm,
So your uncle was out by the MMPA milk plant.
I have great memories as well of the summers spent as very cheap labor on my G/parents 250 acres east of Romeo. I don't remember it being as tough as it is now, (50 years might have something to do with it). At least now it's less than 20 acres of hay for the horses. The other stuff, fences, rotary mowing the pastures, 1/4 mile gravel drive, 4 + acres of grass and an 100+ year old barn that needs a lot of TLC.
A fresh cut alfalfa/timothy (hay) field is usually the memory trigger. Really to bad the old downtown of Byron burned down of couple years back, 1880's ?buildings. Had a good homey restaurant that I stopped at on occasion, may have been their original.
Farms here in mid Michigan are small compaired to the plains. Still are many farms operating with just a few hundred acres. Large here is 2000 to 6000, none of the 25,000 acre monsters. How do you milk a 1000+ cows anyway, I thought 70-75 was a lot of work!! (twice a day).
Ns still has a coal train in the siding at work.Took the other picnic table over to Deshler.Csx sent a couple trains by.One was lined to go around the SE connection but needed to come home.Took care of the yardwork. Need to get cleaned up.
We got our 1932 pumper out tonight to practice with her before the big antique fire truck muster ten days from now. Worked like a champ right up until the fan bearing seized up.
Now we're trying to figure out how to fix it, or find a new fan bearing assembly.
tree68We got our 1932 pumper out tonight to practice with her before the big antique fire truck muster ten days from now. Worked like a champ right up until the fan bearing seized up. Now we're trying to figure out how to fix it, or find a new fan bearing assembly.
If you find the bearing assembly, get 2!
Woke up to another downpour. No mowing today maybe in the morning ? We were lucky only 3/4" rain. Columbus got swamped 2 - 3". Only way to describe it around here is just imagine Seattle during the rainy season or better still a Georgia rain forest. Some seed shoot up to 2'6" tall. rest of grass 8 - 14".
BaltACDIf you find the bearing assembly, get 2!
One hope is that someone may have put together an assembly that uses roller or ball bearings, vs what's there now. The motor is a fairly common (if old) Continental 6 cylinder, so the part may not be as rare as one might think. One of those will probably outlast all of us, as much as the truck gets used.
The assembly can be fixed (bored, material added, turned, etc) but that might take a while unless someone is willing to rush it. We'd like to have it running next weekend for the big muster.
The fellow who went through the truck for us last year has sources - I'm optomistic.
afternoon
Ns still has the coal train in the siding.Went into town.Matt took care of the yardwork.Former neighbor's house is looking much better as she is getting new siding.Csx didn't send any trains.Law director is talking to CSX about conditions of the Clinton st viaduct and the sidewalks as well.Time to get cleaned up.
joe
Larry, my mother worked at Continental Motors during World War II (presumably during the summers, as she also went to college). Did they have plants other than at Muskegon? (My dad was overseas with the Army; he saw action in both Europe and the Pacific...They knew each other, but may not have been an "item" at that time.)Joe, you just need a wreck or something to take down that viaduct. I forgot who it was thought that it didn't need replacing. We had a similar situation on UP, where a freight derailed on the bridge and collapsed it (unfortunately killing a couple by burying their car in coal). Turned out that the bridge itself caused the disaster... sunkink where the solid track changed into a deck girder.I finally was able to mow the lawn today (full treament on the front, first pass on the back). This was after completing a sightings report (14 pages' worth this time) and repairing the email on my computer, with the help of the Comcast "Advanced repair team". I still have a letter to write tonight, if I can stay awake. Tomorrow, if it stays dry, I finish the back yard, get Pat to spot me while I go up the ladder to lop branches off the tree that's dangling them onto the roof (with my new toy, a 12-foot pole pruner). We also have to prepare for a weekend in Michigan, and my services have been requested for information on an article for the C&O Historical Society.
No Carl, they don't. They moved to Mobile, AL in 1966.
http://www.continentalmotors.aero/Company_Information/History/
Thanks for looking, Norm! I dug a little deeper...Continental's own history mentions this opening of the Mobile plant, but never the closure of the Muskegon facility. That, I found out, took place in 1994.
No rain here in our area but very muggy.Ns still has an eastbound coal train in the siding.I could not see if it was the same train from yesterday or not.As for CSX Carl they have the local viaduct and too many more things worry about.Need to do some chores.
Cannibalize, under the cover of darkness, some other non-operable Continental (stay out of the police blotter and film at 11)
CShaveRR Thanks for looking, Norm! I dug a little deeper...Continental's own history mentions this opening of the Mobile plant, but never the closure of the Muskegon facility. That, I found out, took place in 1994.
Carl,
Glad I could help a bit. I haven't seen a Continental engine in anything but aircraft for eons. They still manufacture aircraft engines but thanks to the FAA not being willing to accept advances in technology they are stuck, with the exception of new metalurugy and manufacturing techniques and tolerances, with 1940's practices. The engines they build are "continuous duty" mills that work hard to keep airplanes aloft, and for the most part they are "bulletproof" but there are things they could, FAA regulations not withstanding, be learned from today's technology.
As an A&P I've worked on many of them. Simplicity is the FAA's mantra.
tree68 One hope is that someone may have put together an assembly that uses roller or ball bearings, vs what's there now. The motor is a fairly common (if old) Continental 6 cylinder, so the part may not be as rare as one might think. One of those will probably outlast all of us, as much as the truck gets used.
Is this the same Continental 6 cyl as was used in the Checker Cabs?
erikemIs this the same Continental 6 cyl as was used in the Checker Cabs?
Can't answer that - but the motor is a Continental "Red Seal" Model 8R, per our paperwork on the truck.
tree68 erikem Is this the same Continental 6 cyl as was used in the Checker Cabs? Can't answer that - but the motor is a Continental "Red Seal" Model 8R, per our paperwork on the truck.
erikem Is this the same Continental 6 cyl as was used in the Checker Cabs?
Did a quick search on the 8R engine and it looks like it dates tho the 1920's. The Checker's were using running with an inline flathead Continental 6 from the mid-50'2 to the late 60's. Pretty rugged engines but a bit short on power when coupled with an automatic tranny - remember hearing about my dad doing 15MPH on highway 395 just north of Bishop in a '63 Checker Marathon.
Hope you have god luck in getting a "new" part.
erikemHope you have good luck in getting a "new" part.
I've had suggestions to simply clean up the existing parts and really wad the grease to it. It might work, but is certainly not a long-term solution.
Probably the best solution, and one that would continue the illusion that the truck is all "stock" would be to find a machine shop that can put adapt the mount with roller bearings. I'm no machinist, but I'm sure it would be possible, and would be a long term fix.
Very nice outside now.Ns still had an eastbound coal train waiting in the siding.Giving the A/C a break now.Going to go see what is playing tonight uptown.They are having a B movie special.Might be wolfman vs. dracula or the spider that ate Cleveland.(fictional titles but you get the idea).Should be a good time.
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