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Chatterbox Fall 2019

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Posted by Deggesty on Sunday, November 3, 2019 4:54 PM

We are recovering from last week's low temperatures--56 degrees here now. My noece who, with her husband, lives near Orange Park, Florida, told that it was 92 degrees there Halloween evening, and she feared the candy she gave out would melt.

Johnny

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Posted by tree68 on Sunday, November 3, 2019 8:13 PM

As I was preparing to leave the house this morning to head for Syracuse and day two of the train show there, three accidents were dispatched.  I changed my route because one of them would have been on the way.  The other two were on the Interstate and would not have bothered me.

As I approached the interchange to enter the Interstate, I found out why - there was about 3/4" of slush in the road, which had apparently fallen in a very narrow band.

As I made my way down the Interstate, cautiously, as there were several other such bands. Dispatch polled out another accident about two miles south of where I was at the time.  I found it, and after reporting the correct location (the caller was off by a mile and a half), I hit a U turn and went back, arriving with a state trooper right behind me.  No one was hurt, so I went on my way.

Further south, the roads were clear, and the sun even poked out occasionally...

Attendance at the train show wasn't bad, but it was tough to engage the kids (and thus their parents) as the vendor next to us was selling die cast models with LED lights added.  And all those little lights were flashing brightly...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by JoeKoh on Monday, November 4, 2019 3:27 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear when I left work.Went outside and did some more yardwork.Mother nature isn't going to be very nice this week.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 Tuesday, November 5, 2019 4:31 PM

evening

Ns had an eastbound stack train pass another stack train after work today.Met Matt at our polling place and we all voted today.Not too much on the ballot this time.Chores to do here.

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 rvos1979 on Tuesday, November 5, 2019 7:04 PM

Things could get interesting this weekend. Qualcomm had a major failure of its electronic logging devices Saturday night, putting thousands of drivers on paper logs. Federal law prohibits using paper logs for more than seven days, and rumors floating around that it could take two months to fix the problem. Glad I switched to the new tablet system a couple weeks ago.........

Snow predicted for tomorrow here in Wisconsin, should be just enough to cause a few good wrecks on the interstate...........

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 MikeF90 on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 1:42 PM

Never knew that Qualcomm made such a device, so I did a little research. Apparently they designed it then sold the Omnitracs product line to an investment group in 2013.

More on the outage: https://www.freightwaves.com/news/drivers-resort-to-paper-logs-after-omnitracs-eld-outages

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Posted by JoeKoh on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 4:32 PM

evening

Ns local was uptown when I left work.Came home and cleaned up the yard a bit.Not too many at the polls in our district but we didn't have too much to vote on.Going to get some supper.

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, November 7, 2019 2:28 PM

afternoon

Ns local was waiting in the siding as a westbound stack train came by after work.Errands and chores to do.Mother nature really set to make us chill tonight.Glad tomorrow is Friday.

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 Thursday, November 7, 2019 2:41 PM

Went to the post office this morning about 9 to check my mail and get a newspaper.

Came home, sat down to read the paper (no mail) and it was all green outside.  Got up from reading the paper an hour later and the world had turned white.  (My chair doesn't face the window.)

Guess it's finally time to fill the bird feeders.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
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Posted by JoeKoh on Friday, November 8, 2019 2:49 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear after work.Was going to take brother over to Indiana but it was reset for next weekend.Great nephew had a birthday.What did he want? Trains of course!!! Uncle Joe and Matt can help him out for sure.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 Friday, November 8, 2019 10:23 PM

Today I took a train trip to Oak Park, in order to video the "before" aspect of the cutting in of the third track between 25th Avenue and Vale.  They should be working on that all weekend, even as we speak.  I hope they were ready.

Wednesday we go into the city, and, if I'm lucky, we'll be able to check out the "after".  It was mentioned on today's "Newswire", but if you're thinking that it sounds a little involved for just adding a third track, there's a little more to it.  West to east, the new track starts out on the south side of the other two, then moves to the north side at about Melrose Park.  We'll see how imperceptible the jog in all three tracks is when they're done.  There's also that new bridge over the Des Plaines River, signals to cut over, and--as of this morning--an entire section of track to be laid to connect Track 1 to Track 1 at Vale.  There also is some serious tamping to be done at the west end of this project.

Carl

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CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)

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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Friday, November 8, 2019 11:47 PM

Carl, will the switches be removed or will there be any crosovers?

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Posted by CShaveRR on Saturday, November 9, 2019 9:58 AM

As far as I know, the crossovers will stay.  Consider that there are no crossovers on the line between Vale and Kedzie, which is a pretty long stretch.  Without Vale it would be between Kedzie and 25th...'nuff said!

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 Sunday, November 10, 2019 5:34 AM

Good Morning

Went out and watched Csx yesterday.Also heard on the scanner Ns was having problems with a switch near Delta.Weather guessers are playing "the snow is coming the snow is coming".Will be interesting tomorrow 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 CShaveRR on Sunday, November 10, 2019 5:06 PM

We're hearing about impending whiteness as well.  We got almost all of the leaves in our yard up and bagged for the pickup tomorrow, but there are still enough hanging leaves that any heavy snow will bring plenty more down for next time.  Pat and I spent three or four hours out there (over two afternoons) to pick up and pack 13 leaf bags and two 33-gallon cans of branches and twigs.  I'd comment on how good the yard looks with those gone, but it's dark out already.

We dined out in Westmont today, and caught a good manifest on the BNSF main line home.  I have research to do on several of the cars I saw, but I might be too tired to do it tonight.  I'll be getting plenty of sleep, including a medically-induced knockout for an endoscopy tomorrow.

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 tree68 on Sunday, November 10, 2019 8:00 PM

We're under a winter storm warning for Monday afternoon through Tuesday.  Six to eight inches for us -more to the south. 

I should probably go out in the morning and make sure the snow blower is fueled and will start...

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 BaltACD on Sunday, November 10, 2019 8:38 PM

tree68
We're under a winter storm warning for Monday afternoon through Tuesday.  Six to eight inches for us -more to the south. 

I should probably go out in the morning and make sure the snow blower is fueled and will start...

naw - better to wait until the flakes are hitting hard and heavy and the wind is blowing them around in 50 MPH gusts and the temperature is about 25 degrees [/sarcasm]

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by tree68 on Sunday, November 10, 2019 9:34 PM

BaltACD
naw - better to wait until the flakes are hitting hard and heavy and the wind is blowing them around in 50 MPH gusts and the temperature is about 25 degrees [/sarcasm]

That would be about normal for me...Sad

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, November 11, 2019 11:08 AM

tree68

We're under a winter storm warning for Monday afternoon through Tuesday.  Six to eight inches for us -more to the south. 

I should probably go out in the morning and make sure the snow blower is fueled and will start...

After going through two weeks of snow, yard melted enough on Saturday to get the mower out to mulch in the leaves, then swap out the mower for the snowblower and make sure it started and ran. This was after my father and I took my nephew to Trainfest, not sure who wore out who on that........

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 JoeKoh on Monday, November 11, 2019 2:10 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear after work.Got out a bit early do to a power outage.No fender benders or ditchfinders yet.Still have power here at home.Need to go to Matt's teacher conferences.

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, November 11, 2019 3:08 PM

Snowblower started right up - hardly sputtered.  

Had a flat tire - that's blown back up.  Hopefully it was just because it sat all summer.  Had to replace the other one last year and it was a royal you-know-what.

But, the snow has definitely started.  Measured 2.125" at 3:30 PM.  Next measurement at 9:30 PM.

For now, just hunker down and hope all the drivers who are on the road stay out of the ditch and each other's way.

And, from one veteran to all the others on this Veteran's Day - thanks for serving.

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 mudchicken on Monday, November 11, 2019 5:29 PM

Whiteness happened here overnight, about two inches. Already gone. Duncan, the weatherdog, wants his walk so he can sniff da changes.

At least the weather was OK during daylight hours on the weekend. Got most of my neighbor's leaves gathered-up and bagged. I'll get somebody else's when the Chinooks come back in a few days. None of the snow wound up in the mountains, so the ski bubbas made their own, just to feel not left out.

The turkey-week "haj" is coming up fast.

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 Tuesday, November 12, 2019 7:31 AM

Got about three inches of wet snow yesterday, combined with falling temperatures.  I got out early enough to get the walks shoveled before everything completely iced over.  Still spread some snow melter later in the evening, but the patio and walks had not turned into a hockey rink so things weren't too bad.

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 tree68 on Tuesday, November 12, 2019 7:42 AM

Looks like the big storm is over.  Got about 7.5" of the white stuff yesterday and overnight.  If it weren't for the pile at the end of the driveway from the town snowplow, I'd probably just drive over what's left, but that packs the snow down and makes things slippery.

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 Tuesday, November 12, 2019 4:11 PM

evening

Got the snow yesterday now the cold.Neighbors leaves will have to wait.Ns sent a westbound after work. Matt and I need to get out our lights and check out the strands. Already replaced our big outside extension cord.Supper is all set.

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 BaltACD on Tuesday, November 12, 2019 9:45 PM

How can it be snowing across the Northern parts of the US without The Weather Channel applying a official name to the storm?????????

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by mudchicken on Tuesday, November 12, 2019 11:04 PM

BaltACD

How can it be snowing across the Northern parts of the US without The Weather Channel applying a official name to the storm?????????

 

... Last year it was "bomb cyclone", this year it's "flash freeze". Maybe they ran out of storm names? (Glad it just skirted us. Sixties tomorrow and maybe seventies behind that storm.)

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 Wednesday, November 13, 2019 7:15 AM

BaltACD

How can it be snowing across the Northern parts of the US without The Weather Channel applying a official name to the storm?????????

 

It didn't hit Atlanta...

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, November 13, 2019 2:42 PM

afternoon

Ns had a coal train in the siding.They also sent an eastbound empty coke train as well.Still chilly outside.Chores and errands to do.Matt gets to go do dishes tonight.

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 Wednesday, November 13, 2019 9:38 PM

Electroliner 1935

Carl, will the switches be removed or will there be any crosovers?



Having traversed it today, I can say that there is still a control point, but the configuration has been changed.  At Vale, eastbound trains can cross over from Tracks 1 or 3 to Track 2, but that's it.  However, there is enough room between the crossovers as currently configured for another pair to be installed at some later time, to make it a universal crossover.  And this is a possibility, because there is a covered lower signal head on 2 that would give instructions for a diverging route if it were in service.

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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