CShaveRRHappy birthday, Larry (Tree68)! However, I'm now in a different decade from you.
One more year to the big "seven oh!"
Had a pretty good day - took myself out for a steak dinner...
Sounds like you had a decent day, too.
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...
Paul, I wish I could have joined you at Elmhurst...I had therapy in the morning and something else not as important in the afternoon.First round of radiation Tuesday, after a quick trip into the city to meet a friend for lunch. Progress on the third main track between Vale and 25th Avenue is pretty good, considering that Trains just announced the construction a couple of weeks ago. I'd say they have almost all of the rail down. In one spot, the new track is covered with ballast, which I assume will go under the ties sometime soon. Both Maywood and Melrose Park have temporary platforms...Melrose Park's is built right on top of some of the new track. A tamper was at work on the new bridge over the Des Plaines River.Happy birthday, Larry (Tree68)! However, I'm now in a different decade from you.
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)
afternoon
Windy and drizzly here in Nw Ohio.Ns sent a short westbound after work today.Chores to do here.Looks nice on Saturday but next week looks rather wet.
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").
Speaking of CB&Q paint : Colorado RR Museum painted one of their ex-Georgetown Loop/ Hawaiian narrow gage GE-65T centercabs in CB&Q colors as a ficticious Golden City RR. Did a double take the first time I saw it out running around on the loop track at the museum.
Monday was a holiday so I was able to get out to Elmhurst for most of the day. Weather was co-operative (a bit chilly but sunny) and I got some good pix. Nothing unusual showed up but it was still good to get out.
I spotted Metra 211 (CB&Q Heritage) at 14th Street from my train yesterday afternoon. It's a pretty good paint job when you allow for the fact that an F40PH-2M has different lines than an E7.
Got the truck more or less hoed out and started loading up for the Pumpkin Trains this weekend. If things go well, I might get a little amateur radio in, too.
Even tonight's meeting went well. On to tomorrow (it's supposed to rain).
evening
Ns local was uptown after work.Went to meeting in Deshler.Talked about things to finish up this year and project list for next year.New helpers are always welcome.Csx ran it's usual amont of trains as well.Time for bed.
Evening
Ns was clear when I left work.Did some trimming when I got home.Waiting on pen pal to stop by.Tomorrow it's a meeting in Deshler.
Ns has some cars to shuffle uptown.Nice fall type evening.Going to relax.Matt is doing dishes.
My freight-car-spotting friend from New Jersey gave me a couple of numbers to check out yesterday, and he hit the jackpot--both in quantity and quality--with them.He just asked me casually what the build dates and series limits would be in a series of SPMX covered hoppers. The series (of a type and size typically used for plastics transport) is currently being built...and based on the quantity it may be current for a long while--the series is SPMX 6950-8699, 1750 cars! Reporting marks SPMX are owned by the Shell Oil Company, which exited the plastics business about three decades ago. With these cars and the previous 250 cars, it appears that they'll be getting back into it in a big way.The other series he asked about was small by comparison--600 cars--but every bit as exciting to me. These are CN triple hoppers, small cube, lettered for the Bessemer & Lake Erie (35001-35600). The thing is, they're being rebuilt from modern aluminum coal gondolas about twice their capacity! They're about ballast-car size, but the regular hoppers are wrong for that. I'd love to have a look at one, if anyone has a picture they can post...we're talking a major rebuilding here.
Train trip went pretty good today.Plenty of people were out taking pictures.Had to wait at Hamler for an eastbound on Csx.Also waited at Leipsic for an eastbound as well on NS.Hope the crew makes it back to Lima on time.Back to work for me tomorrow.
tree68They like their cedar shake roofs and want to live close to nature.
Nobody likes cedar shake roofs out here now; good way to find your house uninsurable. The houses in my neighborhood had cedar shakes when built 50 years ago, I don't think any have them now, those few that have shakes have fiberglas or composition shakes.
tree68Some years ago I read about a fellow who had essentially fireproofed his house (ceramic tile roof, stucco siding, etc). When confronted by a fire that burned most of his neighbor's houses to the ground, his house was still standing.
That was in the hills above Malibu, if I recall the LA Times story from about 20 years ago or so. Paid attention to vents and soffits, tile roof, stucco with a coating that "evaporated" to keep things cool, sprinklers fed by a gasoline pump drawing from his swimming pool, if I remember right he had fire shutters to close over the windows. He actually rode out the fire at home.
One of our big problems for a while had to deal with different agencies preventing brush clearing on properties for "environmental reasons" because that was what the agencies were concerned about. I think a lot of that baloney got scotched after the 2003 Cedar fire down here. Now we have county folks going around and seeing that brush clearing has actually been done.
SDG&E had four circuits shut down today in the back country where the winds were most active, but as of 8:00 PM the power was back on in all circuits except for an unplanned outage near Escondido (cause not reported, at least yet) and two planned maintenance outages going on this evening. (There are usually five or six planned outages scheduled each weekday, year-round. These days, you get a notice in the mail a week or more before the scheduled outage.)
MikeF90 blue streak 1 If the power lines in California keep coming off their poles does that mean that the power companies are placing their poles too far apart for meeting these windy conditions? Ah, no. PG&E paid higher dividends instead of learning lessons from earlier fires in San Diego county. They are now installing stronger distribution line components and, of course, clearing vegetation further away. Much as been said about PoCo performance and liability, but the residents share equal risk for purposely choosing to live in high fire risk areas. Look at the current fire at the north end of the San Fernando Valley, not enough brush clearance. Even worse a few years ago in Orange County suburbs - the brush had not burned in decades! The county, state and federal fire agencies don't have infinite budget and manpower; these 'edge dwellers' must buck up and assess themselves a special fire district.
blue streak 1 If the power lines in California keep coming off their poles does that mean that the power companies are placing their poles too far apart for meeting these windy conditions?
Ah, no. PG&E paid higher dividends instead of learning lessons from earlier fires in San Diego county. They are now installing stronger distribution line components and, of course, clearing vegetation further away.
Much as been said about PoCo performance and liability, but the residents share equal risk for purposely choosing to live in high fire risk areas. Look at the current fire at the north end of the San Fernando Valley, not enough brush clearance. Even worse a few years ago in Orange County suburbs - the brush had not burned in decades! The county, state and federal fire agencies don't have infinite budget and manpower; these 'edge dwellers' must buck up and assess themselves a special fire district.
Back home.Cincinnati and I-75 need a major plumber to come and clean out the system.While down south did take some pictures in the mountains.Still can see the results of the brush fires a few years ago.Here at home we the Ohio taxpayer got stuck to keep the first Energy Nuclear plants open.Why didn't the company use the profits to upkeep the facilities.Have chores and paperwork to do.Tomorrow Matt is going to uber me to the DT&I special.Friend had an extra ticket and couldn't go.Going to dress warm.
MikeF90...but the residents share equal risk...
They like their cedar shake roofs and want to live close to nature.
Some years ago I read about a fellow who had essentially fireproofed his house (ceramic tile roof, stucco siding, etc). When confronted by a fire that burned most of his neighbor's houses to the ground, his house was still standing.
blue streak 1If the power lines in California keep coming off their poles does that mean that the power companies are placing their poles too far apart for meeting these windy conditions?
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! ***
If the power lines in California keep coming off their poles does that mean that the power companies are placing their poles too far apart for meeting these windy conditions?
tree68 A friend of a friend on FB posted pictures of a wedding party posed on railroad tracks. I pointed out that it was dangerous, and likely trespassing. Now I'm blocked....
A friend of a friend on FB posted pictures of a wedding party posed on railroad tracks. I pointed out that it was dangerous, and likely trespassing. Now I'm blocked....
CSSHEGEWISCHThis week is the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, which I believe is why Fire Prevention Week occurs when it does.
It is.
Few people know, however, that a number of significant fires occurred at the same time, first and foremost the Peshtigo fire, which burned around 1.2 million acres and killed at least 1,500 people, although some estimates place that number closer to 2,500.
At the same time several large fires also burned across lower Michigan, consuming over a million acres and causing numerous deaths.
Hot, dry, windy conditions bore most of the blame, although one theory sets the cause as a meteorite (ie, fragments thereof), which could explain the widespread nature of the fires. That theory has been largely debunked.
(1) Lightly snowing in Denver this morning. Scottie Dog is extra frisky today. Ground is too warm for the snow to stick just yet, if at all today. Gets icy-er as you go north towards Wyoming.(It was 80 degrees here yesterday- High temp today expected to maybe make it to 30.)
(2) Water system is insulated and drained. Maybe this year the damned anti-siphon valve won't fail. (drained and insulated, looks like a giant lollipop under all that foam rubber insullation)
(3) We are taking in a refugee from the California enforced blackout today (just fortunate our visitor from Mendocino County had already had this planned) .... The Bay Area whiners (pansies) deserve this - this is nothing new to the more rural folks. (and PG&E certainly deserves the raspberrries it's getting for a generation of bad fiscal policy where they failed to invest in plant and put lines u/g)
This week is the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire, which I believe is why Fire Prevention Week occurs when it does. At any rate, our building customarily holds a fire drill during October, so that should be coming soon. Columbus Day is a paid holiday for us, so I will probably be at Elmhurst, exercising the camera.
DeggestyAll the local newscasts I saw yesterday gave warnings to get your lawn watering systems shut off and drained before tonight (if you don't, you may need new pipes).
Ma Nature handles my lawn watering tasks, and if her system freezes up, we have to shovel.
Got a call late Tuesday, "can you work a train Wednesday?", so that's how I spent Wednesday. Fortunately, the trip was relatively uneventful, which was good as we didn't have much of a crew, numbers-wise.
Gonna be busy most of the weekend. Our annual fall chicken barbeque is Sunday, and this being Fire Prevention Week, I'll be at the local elementary school teaching the little ones to be fire safe.
good morning
Down here in the hills and mountains.Having a good time.Too many people on the cell phone.Going to go find some breakfast.Trip back to flat Ohio is tomorrow.
All the local newscasts I saw yesterday gave warnings to get your lawn watering systems shut off and drained before tonight (if you don't, you may need new pipes). Maybe MC has another day of grace before taking care of his.
I have an advantage in living in assisted living--I do not worry about such any more.
Johnny
mudchickenRoad signs and local media going nuts over approaching winter weather, snow and a 65 degree drop in temperature in under 24 hours.
How about steering that weather over (slowly) to NorCal. Pigs Goats & Elephants (the PoCo) has shut off power for some fire+wind prone areas, one just west of me. I'm out of town but my power seems to be up (underground in our community).
Been watching the Tehachapi webcams - massive congestion due to a derailment on single track to the west (Woodford siding) two days ago. Just reopened, WBs seen on both mains so traffic must be backed up to Barstow ..... map link: http://g.co/maps/g7k8e
mudchicken Goes down Kalmbach's back hallway, opens closet, kicks server really hard, limps back towards diner..... Chicken Little Dept.: Road signs and local media going nuts over approaching winter weather, snow and a 65 degree drop in temperature in under 24 hours. (Darned canuckians left the door open again - maybe the geese will get the message...)
Goes down Kalmbach's back hallway, opens closet, kicks server really hard, limps back towards diner.....
Chicken Little Dept.: Road signs and local media going nuts over approaching winter weather, snow and a 65 degree drop in temperature in under 24 hours. (Darned canuckians left the door open again - maybe the geese will get the message...)
Thanks for the "re-boot", MC. Re the other topic, weather will make our trip to Portland via the Empire Builder real interesting Saturday/Sunday...
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
Good Morning
Thank you Carl.Early church then off to G+G's house.Matt had a good time at homecoming last night.He does have to do dishes tonight.Hoping for no rain fo next Saturday when Matt rides the DT&I special.
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