The 24 hour grocery store I usually hit up is now changing their hours to 6am-midnight. That blows. I was there at 5am this morning. They only ever have the self-checkouts open at night, and there usually isn't anyone there watching over them, so I don't get the reasoning. There's still another store open all night (for now), but I don't like that one as much. I don't like shopping when there's lots of other people in the store.
In other news, we're starting our PSR stuff. 7 day a week service everywhere, but with no increase in employees or motive power. Considering most of our customers aren't open on the weekends, be interesting to see how this pans out.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
I guess I shouldn't mention it is 53° here in SW Arkansas. With a high on Saturday of +60°f. The bad news it's gonna rain.
Stay warm.
IGN
Zug
When I worked for a 24 hour store we had a dedicated group of customers.You take care of the customer they will keep coming back.Csx serves a scrap yard on Sunday.They have a key to the gate.
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").
afternoon
Made a quick trip south.Seemed like people had cabin fever or were stocking up before the wind storm comes tomorrow.Saw trains on CSX,I&O and NS.Q 507 had a dpu in Wapak.The I&O was switching on 4rth street in Lima.Ns had plenty of trains to run on the old NKP line near Continental.One eastbound had a scale test car rolling with it.An eastbound had a brand new locomotive on the point but a "trip reset" feature(?) on the computer was causing the crew fits.Matt is working on the layout before he has to go do dishes.Hopefully the racoon family will not be in the dumpster when he takes out the trash tonight.
zugmannThe 24 hour grocery store I usually hit up is now changing their hours to 6am-midnight. That blows. I was there at 5am this morning. They only ever have the self-checkouts open at night, and there usually isn't anyone there watching over them, so I don't get the reasoning
Has your area lost many large, 3 shift manufacturing operations? Quite a few support businesses around where I am at, who were famous for 24/7 operations for decades, have now scaled back their hours with so many plants now being closed. (changing customer habits, in other words)
I can recall when a trip to the hospital in the ambulance (as an EMT) after midnight meant zero places to stop for a snack, coffee, etc. Even the radio stations went off the air locally (city of about 25,000).
Nowadays, you can generally find someplace open - we've got a lot of chain convenience stores that didn't exist 30+ years ago.
On a railroad note, I arrived at the yard early one morning to take out one of our trains. I found the entrance drive blocked by a CSX train making a pickup. It sat, and sat, and sat, (and I sat, after opening the gate) until the conductor arrived with a tray of coffee and goodies from a well-known donut chain.
When he saw that I had opened the gate, he commented that he wished it had been open before he took the l-o-o-o-o-n-g way around to reach said donut shop. Didn't have the heart to tell him that he had the key to open the gate all along (switch lock)...
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...
Convicted OneHas your area lost many large, 3 shift manufacturing operations? Quite a few support businesses around where I am at, who were famous for 24/7 operations for decades, have now scaled back their hours with so many plants now being closed. (changing customer habits, in other words)
Not really. This isn't the first store in the chain to scale back hours.
tree68When he saw that I had opened the gate, he commented that he wished it had been open before he took the l-o-o-o-o-n-g way around to reach said donut shop. Didn't have the heart to tell him that he had the key to open the gate all along (switch lock)...
He needs requalified.
zugmann tree68 When he saw that I had opened the gate, he commented that he wished it had been open before he took the l-o-o-o-o-n-g way around to reach said donut shop. Didn't have the heart to tell him that he had the key to open the gate all along (switch lock)... He needs requalified.
tree68 When he saw that I had opened the gate, he commented that he wished it had been open before he took the l-o-o-o-o-n-g way around to reach said donut shop. Didn't have the heart to tell him that he had the key to open the gate all along (switch lock)...
Road crew may not be aware of 'local oddities' in things that 'normally' aren't something they are doing. In many cases before I retired, train crews going on the law at a location were not able to instruct taxi drivers how to access their locations on the highways and byways of the area. This frequently happened on 'inter-divisional' runs and the crew was territory that they 'had not grown up on'.
When I was a Train Order Operator, accessing some of the towers could be very difficult the first time.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACDRoad crew may not be aware of 'local oddities' in things that 'normally' aren't something they are doing.
If you don't know how to get to the donut shop - you aren't qualified!
zugmannHe needs requalified.
He knew where the donut shop was - just didn't know that one of the two locks on the gate was a CSX lock...
OTOH, I have run into taxi drivers that didn't have a clue where they were supposed to be. All they knew was the MP.
morning
Staying home today.Wind is rocking the web cam at Deshler.Had some snow/ice blowing outside too.Good day to work on the layout.Have a crockpot of chili for lunch and supper.Matt has to go do dishes later.
Extra day at home today, too windy to drive, no need to be a hazard or to get blown over. Friday turned into a fiasco, got to my customer and the fifth wheel refused to lock completely. A half hour of beating, pulling and cussing by me and the road service guy succeeded in releasing it, and I bobtailed back to Gary for a complete fifth wheel inspection and lubrication. We wound up bobtailing home from there........
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
zugmannIf you don't know how to get to the donut shop - you aren't qualified!
Came along I-80 on the southern edge of Wyoming from Green River to Cheyenne. Good move on your part there Randy. Saw plenty of blowing snow and blown over semis & travel trailers after my Tour-de-Idaho. (overnighted in Rock Springs - wonder what happened to MiniWyo?) Uncle Pete still hasn't completely cleaned up the site of the October 4 wreck and derailment. (seems odd)....
Raced to get home in advance of a snowstorm hitting Idaho - Arrived back in Denver a few hours after an eight inch dump that then froze. Fun (not!) shovelling. Two weeks from now I'm back in the Wilds of Iowa near (west of) BrianH.
zugmann BaltACD Road crew may not be aware of 'local oddities' in things that 'normally' aren't something they are doing. If you don't know how to get to the donut shop - you aren't qualified!
BaltACD Road crew may not be aware of 'local oddities' in things that 'normally' aren't something they are doing.
Knowing the donut shop exists and a route to get there is being qualified. Knowing the most effective way to get to the donut shop is experience. Qualifications and Experience are two different things.
mudchicken Two weeks from now I'm back in the Wilds of Iowa near (west of) BrianH.
Two weeks from now I'm back in the Wilds of Iowa near (west of) BrianH.
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
Small doggie warnings (we have two Chihuahuas) were posted all day yesterday, wind gusts up to 55-60 MPH. Generally was a good day to stay inside. Fortunately, the trash cans didn't blow over. The winds are beginning to subside today but the temperatures are dropping.
Our winds are hanging in there at the moment - with few exceptions they've been running 15-20 MPH with gusts to almost 40 MPH here at the house. They've been that way since early yesterday evening.
Should subside by early afternoon.
OTOH, the lake effect machine is cranking up, with several areas under "don't go there" travel restrictions.
Winds have calmed down here.Ns sent a westbound and a 10 engine power move as well.Projects to do here.
Winds are finally settling down here, and have changed to northwesterly. That takes lake effect off the table for us, but there's still some on the radar down toward Syracuse.
blhanel mudchicken Two weeks from now I'm back in the Wilds of Iowa near (west of) BrianH. Better hope things calm down here weather-wise between now and then...
They got a train stuck in the snow at State Center the other day during the worst of it. Second engine was DC, traction motor overheated and it stopped loading on the hill. Had the Z train behind it cut off his engines and try to shove them over the hill. Only suceeded in shoving them far enough to block all the crossings in town when they hit a 10ft high drift. Besides the Z, an autorack train had entered the block. Block being between control points, not individual signal blocks in this case. I think they finally got the train out after about 24 hours and a few relief crews. Luckily the town has a road that goes underneath the tracks.
Cue the music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi_5G_rKKTE
Jeff
jeffhergert Cue the music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi_5G_rKKTE
Wow, I must've been "Blinded By The Light"- that's the first time I've ever heard that song!
evening
Ns was clear after work.Matt and I ran errands.Saw 2 eastbound CSX stack trains.Looked like the ND&W has started to get track in for the yard rebuild.Traffic is going to be a pain with the main bridge in town closed.(Clinton st) Came across a CORA book.Looks to be from the early 90's.The pages are still wrapped in plastic.Going to go help with supper.
Ns sent a westbound after work.It had CSX,Bnsf and Ferromex power.The local was also uptown as well.Had chores to do here at home.
Congratulations on getting a CORA book, Joe! If it's from early enough in the 1990s, it should have separate BN, ATSF, and CNW chapters. Might still be handy, though, for your next visit this way.Did a truck finally take out your overpass? Or is the railroad actually doing something about 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)
blhanel jeffhergert Cue the music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi_5G_rKKTE Wow, I must've been "Blinded By The Light"- that's the first time I've ever heard that song!
Almost lived that song title around the turn of the century when the unfriendly skies canceled our evening flight from CID to ORD in January, this after three days at the radio factory. Fortunately NW came through and got us to MSP and then to SAN in one piece. One colleague's luggage went on untied by way of Denver, but it got home anyway. We didn't need another snowy night in Iowa, for sure.
ChuckCobleigh blhanel jeffhergert Cue the music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi_5G_rKKTE Wow, I must've been "Blinded By The Light"- that's the first time I've ever heard that song! Almost lived that song title around the turn of the century when the unfriendly skies canceled our evening flight from CID to ORD in January, this after three days at the radio factory. Fortunately NW came through and got us to MSP and then to SAN in one piece. One colleague's luggage went on untied by way of Denver, but it got home anyway. We didn't need another snowy night in Iowa, for sure.
You've visited Rockwell Collins, eh? I'm a retired Systems Engineer from there (actually it's "was", as I am now back on contract part-time for a few months).
Afternoon
Carl,yes the Cora book has seperate chapters for the railroads you mentioned.No it's not the clinton st. can opener.It's the bridge over the maumee river.Was off early today to run errands.The Ns local was uptown about ready to drop off some cars.Here in Defiance the csx local was working on getting cars to GM.Mow was also busy working on their bridge over auglaize river.Glad tomorrow is Friday.Might go near Mortimer on Saturday.A co-worker is playing in a basketball game that day.We'll see what the boss says.
Trains Newswire is slipping, heard yesterday about the SP rotaries activated from CHP-Truckee's Facebook page, and heard on the Chicago radio about the system failure at Union Station which is causing serious headaches.........
Tried to bring the warm weather back from Louisiana with me, but it wanted to stay south. Hopefully I'll at least avoid the snow, the quarter inch of ice I busted off the front of the truck was fun enough today...........
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