afternoon
Ns had an eastbound in the siding plus, a westbound stack train came by when I left work.There were also cars for the local to pick up.Sunshine here today.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").
Carl
The vote for naming the viaduct was done through social media.Even our local paper picked up on it.How much longer the wait for the problem to be fixed? Who knows.Hoping for safe travels for all this week.Need to go get ready for work.
Details, please, on the vote, Joe? What was it about--does it mean nothing will get done?MC, sounds like fun! I haven't been to the middle of Wolf Lake! On a line that now seems to handle mostly unit and intermodal trains, I feel lucky...I've seen three manifests in two days. No big deal, except that manifests are where I get most of the material for my carchaeology, and this feast occurred after an entire week of seeing nothing, due to my uncommon cold and work being done around the house to get it presentable for our guests.Have I mentioned what's happening here? Instead of going up to Michigan to spend Thanksgiving with family (families...both Pat's and mine), we're staying home. Linda, though well enough to travel, is very fragile, and they are flying from California Wednesday, arriving here late in the afternoon. Thursday they will still be exhausted and jet-lagged, so we'll just have dinner here. Most of the work will be done by Shannon's, our favorite local deli--and the dinner will be easy to put out and it will not disappoint.Friday, Daughter Ellen will bring her tribe up from Peoria, along with more fixings and hundreds of ideas for putting on a gathering with no formal meal... and our families will be driving down here, mostly to see Linda and family. It should be quite a crowd, ranging in age from a couple of months to (as of now) 93 years!The rest of the weekend will be as many of Linda's friends as she's up to spending time with. The highlight will be her old viola teacher and mentor, who will bring her family from Madison, Wisconsin. That family will take Chris and Linus to a show at the Planetarium on Sunday, freeing Linda for rest, church, and whatever (maybe including Portillo's for dinner!). The family returns to California at the crack of dawn (or earlier) on Tuesday.
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)
Well, the first night of Polar is in the books, apparently with no issues to speak of. Everything sounded OK from my seat (in one of the locomotives).
Tonight's attendance was a little light (not unusual for the first night, and a Friday to boot). Saturday is apparently sold out, so we'll see what happens then. My part is easy (pull handles, make the train go)...
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...
evening
Ns was pulling west out of the siding when I left work.Errands done.Did see an Eastbound CSX in Defiance.Matt is at a friends birthday party.Work early tomorrow then off to G+G house.Someone there has a birthday but she isn't talking.
joe
CSSHegewisch: just got sucked into a Wobbly Manor project about a mile north of your namesake right at SC&S Wolf Lake Junction (and next to Azcon/Hyman Michaels where too many locomotives and railcars went off to die at the end of their useful lives) .... Get to deal with PRR's version of bow and arrow country in Chicago.
Fair warning, messin' 'round in your 'hood.
Work still busy.Ns was clear when I left work.Matt is finishing up homework.Chores to do.
update
The local people have voted.The Clinton St. viaduct will now be known as "The Clinton Street can opener."
Work busy.Ns sent a stack train west.Sounded like he had to slow down a bit west of town.Cars were waiting for the local uptown too.Chores to do.
BaltACDS word - Safety?
(Santa)
With five on the train at the same time, and crew members with radios throughout the train, reporting on each is doing, there is the possibility that someone (ie, one who still believes) could hear a reference to the big guy on our radios that doesn't square with what they're seeing.
The crew members regularly report to the conductor on the radio how each Santa is progressing, so our train speed can be adjusted to allow all of them to finish before we arrive at the station. Thus, we just say that a section is half done, etc.
tree68We finally are getting our act together on sound. There was a time when a crew member (often yours truly) got to run through the train with a boom box that had a wireless mic receiver on it so those in the cars could hear Santa outside at the North Pole. We currently run with five of the big guys. That's the only way to get through ten cars in the time allotted. But it means we're in effect running five trains. There are usually only a couple of the characters that have the run of the entire train. We go out at track speed (30) and creep back at 15, more or less, depending on progress through the cars (never say the S word on the radio!) I'll be in the cab for the six trips this weekend. Next weekend I get to be one of the conductors...
We currently run with five of the big guys. That's the only way to get through ten cars in the time allotted. But it means we're in effect running five trains. There are usually only a couple of the characters that have the run of the entire train.
We go out at track speed (30) and creep back at 15, more or less, depending on progress through the cars (never say the S word on the radio!)
I'll be in the cab for the six trips this weekend. Next weekend I get to be one of the conductors...
S word - Safety?
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
We finally are getting our act together on sound. There was a time when a crew member (often yours truly) got to run through the train with a boom box that had a wireless mic receiver on it so those in the cars could hear Santa outside at the North Pole.
Will have to have a friendly competion and compare notes at the end of the polar run. (Ours started last week and my first duty is Friday.)....Things like lost elves, Santa missing the train, hobos falling off the train (fortunately stopped - thespian three point fail), lost lapel microphones,weather follies, track issues....
We run in circles and you run out and back on a straight line. Weirdness happens.
Good, reliable elves are so hard to find these days.
mudchicken Do you have elf wranglers at your polar?
Do you have elf wranglers at your polar?
We did - we often used groups like HS ROTC or clubs as a resource for the elves.
Unfortunately, no matter how you cut it, they're still teenagers... You could usually tell the elf wrangler by the end of the event - they were either grayer, or had pulled all their hair out....
This year we're using more of a cast approach.
Finished up the new "arrow box" for Polar, and cut the old one up into little pieces that would fit in my trash container. On to other projects - and Friday, our first Polar trips of the season...
Matt was closed today due to ice fog.Going to get ready to take him to see what engineering is all about.Ns local was uptown and another train was in the siding when I left work.
Ns had a westbound in the siding.Also the local was uptown when I left work.Finished the leaves blowing/mowing after work too.Put the 2 porch chairs in the shed too.Work is going to be busy.
Work was interesting today.Ns had a BNSF engine in the siding at Con agra in Archbold.Looked like a crew was there to help get it rolling again.A stack train came into the siding and was still there when I left work.Had some utility trucks along NS and our parking lot this morning too.Going to relax.Work comes early.
Here in the middle of developed LA County with no parks nearby, I get the occasional critter stomping around my front yard at night. I get the audio clue of large magnolia grandiflora leaves crunching.
Opossums show up fairly regularly, occasionally with young ones. Good for cleaning up things you don't want to know about. They can move Fast if you approach them.
More rarely seen is 'Bigfoot', the largest, most well fed raccoon I've ever seen. Droppings can contain roundworms and bacteria that are toxic to humans. No more fruit trees in my yard to attract them!
Links to my Google Maps ---> Sunset Route overview, SoCal metro, Yuma sub, Gila sub, SR east of Tucson, BNSF Northern Transcon and Southern Transcon *** Why you should support Ukraine! ***
Ns had some CN power go west and in the siding when I left work.Went and gave hugs and did and errand.Went into old neighborhood and noticed a soft side trailer wasn't so soft anymore.Seems he ran his truck under the clinton st viaduct.Bridge inspectors were out for CSX and gave the go ahead for trains to move again.Saw unit trains and 1 stack train.Up and BNSF power also showed up.Working tomorrow morning.Leaves are done here.Will finish the clean up tomorrow afternoon.
Deggesty mudchicken (You ought to try encountering a deer (buck) in a deep, narrow ravine without a car as the railroad at the base of the ravine just chased him towards you with a passing train.) Well, what did you do? My sole encounters with live deer have been frightening them out of the front yard when I went out to get my morning paper.
mudchicken (You ought to try encountering a deer (buck) in a deep, narrow ravine without a car as the railroad at the base of the ravine just chased him towards you with a passing train.)
(You ought to try encountering a deer (buck) in a deep, narrow ravine without a car as the railroad at the base of the ravine just chased him towards you with a passing train.)
Well, what did you do?
My sole encounters with live deer have been frightening them out of the front yard when I went out to get my morning paper.
Have had deer in my driveway and routinely get within 50-100 feet of them as I walk around the neighborhood. The neighborhood is hilly and has 'strip park' that runs about two miles from a road down to the Patapsco River, the 'park' varies in width between 400 & 800 yards and the only 'improvement' is a paved walking path - the rest is native growth forest. All kinds of animals live there.
Get really small. (and that's not an easy task) ... still got roughed-up as we avoided each other as he went up the ravine.(Parachute/Grand Valley area)
Johnny
I've had a couple of encounters with deer.The first and only collision was maybe three years ago now, when a doe just stepped out in front of me to cross the road. I didn't see her in time to do anything, and I suspect she didn't see me at all. As the car was still drivable (but not very pretty), I went on to the cottage. When I went to a local body shop the following morning, the deer was nowhere to be found. The body-shop guy said that I'd killed it, and that it was a doe. I didn't ask how he knew that.The other time was many years ago, toward the end of my long-bike-trip era. The trip from the Grand Rapids area to the cottage (75 miles) became pretty exhausting at about Mile 63...I'd just broken for supper and was continuing the uphill climb (rail-trail grade...not too bad normally, but I was pooped that evening). As I was pumping along, I heard a thundering off to the side of the path, and three or four deer bounded across directly in front of me. Had I been a little less tired, I might have been a little less alive--those things sounded heavy!
Last deer I nailed was while running up I43 near Grafton, WI. Deer decided to run in front of me and a Peterbilt that was passing me, and wound up bouncing between both our semis. I lost half the front bumper and the collision avoidance system, I knew he blew at least one tire. The deer was well processed afterwards..........
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
A little change on the wildlife scene--involving an apparent city slicker and a pheasant hen and her chicks.
For several years, my wife enjoed going up to Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, and staying in a room that overlooked the road up to Alta. One afternoon, as I looked out the window down on the road, I saw a man trying to help a hen pheasant and her family cross the road. Needless to say, she would have none of his attempt, but somehow managed to get her chicks across the road. I was somewhat amazed that anybody thought he could pick even one of the chicks up and get it across the road safely.
For the benefit of those who do not know, Alta--which many years ago was quite a mining community, complete with a railroad up from the valley--is almost at the top of the road up Little Cottonwood Canyon (southeast of Salt Lake City), and Snowbird is just a few miles below Alta.
Last deer encounter I had was when one decided to hop in the back of my truck after I hit one of her youngins.Door and wipers needed re-adjusted as youngin got up and ran off.Ns was clear when i left work.Errands to run.Chores to do too.Mother nature is getting ready to open the freezer already this year.
DeggestyYou never dressed a deer out?
Nope - not a hunter, and never have been.
Around here, you can get a tag from the police for such a kill - regardless of any other licenses you may hold.
I know enough people around here who hunt that I could probably find a taker in short order. That wasn't the case in MD.
The last deer I hit was gone by morning - likely the Amish.
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