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Chatterbox Winter 2019-2020

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  • Member since
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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, March 14, 2020 7:16 PM

Panic ensues.  Schools are closing, other restrictions are starting to show up.    

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
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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 Saturday, March 14, 2020 6:15 PM

update

Went into town.Csx q 192 had a centerbeam flat car that lost a knuckle.Crew set the car off in the yard and came back to the train.Had a leaky air hose to fix on a  boxcar.Train is back together and moving eastbound for North Baltimore.

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 MikeF90 on Saturday, March 14, 2020 3:05 PM

Tehachapi report: today appears to be a daylight MOW work window. Trackwork next to Woodford S is visible now on the loop webcam.

Noticed on VR that last nights snowfall at Flagstaff AZ and Hesperia CA (BNSF southern transcon) has melted but there is snow at La Plata MO and plenty at Kearney NE. It is snowing in the northern Sierras - hooray!

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Posted by JoeKoh on Saturday, March 14, 2020 2:35 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear after OT today.Matt is gearing up for Tuesday.Going to help at the elections.He is doing dishes tonight.Have chores to do here.Also have a census form to fill out.

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 cx500 on Saturday, March 14, 2020 2:31 PM

Weather is up and down in Calgary.  Thursday I was all over town running errands on the motorbike.  Today there is a fresh 10" of snow on the ground and the temperature has finally risen to 0F in mid-afternoon.  Brrr.

There are a few cases of the virus in town, generally related to returning travelers, but any large group functions are cancelled.  I had the piano tuned on Friday, and the tuner has had all his major concert bookings suddenly disappear.  The big car show was shut down part way through the first day.

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Posted by Deggesty on Friday, March 13, 2020 7:22 PM

So far,only a few in Utah are reported to have contracted the latest virus. The public schools will be closed for the next two weeks, and arrangements ae being made so that all who access to the internet will be able to continue their education.

Johnny

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, March 13, 2020 3:55 PM

CSSHEGEWISCH
Sounds like that will make for a pretty good seiche when the wind shifts.

It will.  I've never really looked at how much "sloshing" actually occurs in such an instance...

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 Friday, March 13, 2020 2:45 PM

afternoon

Ns sent a westbound stack train after work.Matt is out of school for the next 3 weeks.He does have homework and plenty of other projects he can do while he is off.He is scheduled to go do dishes tonight.Some people are in total panic mode.Chores for me to do.Tomorrow going to work some OT.

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 CSSHEGEWISCH on Friday, March 13, 2020 10:22 AM

tree68

Getting ready for Ma Nature to push all the water in Lake Ontario up into this end of the lake.  Sustained winds (they're telling us 45 MPH gusts or so most all day) can cause the water level here on the east end to rise as much as a couple of feet...

 
Sounds like that will make for a pretty good seiche when the wind shifts.
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 Deggesty on Friday, March 13, 2020 8:08 AM

For more years than I know, my college has held a spring gathering at dogwood time. Back in my day, the students planned and presented a pageant complete with royalty, Now, it is simply a homecoming, in April. I receivd a notice yesterday that this year's event is postponed until November. 

Johnny

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, March 13, 2020 7:23 AM

mudchicken
(*) Why do people continue to think GPS works everywhere (to the same precision), especially under roof and places with no line of sight to the horizon?

Imagine the hue and cry if their phone/GPS told them it was currently only accurate within 100 meters!?!

Getting ready for Ma Nature to push all the water in Lake Ontario up into this end of the lake.  Sustained winds (they're telling us 45 MPH gusts or so most all day) can cause the water level here on the east end to rise as much as a couple of feet...

I'm headed for the FD banquet hall to get more stuff ready for our annual spring chicken barbeque.  At this point we have no intentions of cancelling.

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 Thursday, March 12, 2020 9:35 PM

RTD  got over the hump  (barely) with the crossing crisis by building-in more repeaters, adding some PMD detection circuits on the most troublesome crossings (which changed something in the interlockings with the railroad next door), changed some on-board software that never worked (predictor-logic as intended was not going to be that reliable and GPS elements* reliabilities were over-stated) and some other pieces I don't quite understand. Now that that works, they have staffing problems getting worse (large scale train annulments already coming AND over-extended staff is wearing down). Plus their buddies at CDOT (no railroad smarts, period) have made a quantum blunder and now want them to inherit it. (and Uncle Pete is laughing all the way to the bank)....Situation normal.

(*) Why do people continue to think GPS works everywhere (to the same precision), especially under roof and places with no line of sight to the horizon?

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 Electroliner 1935 on Thursday, March 12, 2020 9:10 PM

MC, THanks for reminding me. Loyola did a number on the Bearcats that year. How's Denver RTD doing on crossing protection issues? Did they get cared for? If so, do you know what the fix was?

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Posted by mudchicken on Thursday, March 12, 2020 6:51 PM

Joe:

Darn! - Would could have been.... Dayton or Cincy dumping Ohio State. (Cowtown would have gone into a blind rage of the entitled & arrogant, again (think 1961-64...Electroliner? )).... Could care less what happens to the NBA, NCAA is a different story altogether.

Got mapping of four abandoned rail lines in Illinois to work on in the mail today. Crunching numbers and trying to recreate 1975 for the rest of the week. Happy brain damage with Big 4 (CCC&StL) mind-candy for a while.

Semper Vaporo: How the Heck did we miss the big (big= 10-12 STALL) NYC-Big 4 roundhouse and turntable at Hillsboro/Schram City IL? (Very visible on Googe-Earth) 39° 9'30.47"N ; 89°28'22.42"W

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 JoeKoh on Thursday, March 12, 2020 2:39 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear after work.Csx had q 138 jump the track at Tiffin this morning.Feel bad for the high school kids.All tournament games were cancelled.The NCAA also cancelled all basketball tournaments too.Was really interested to see how far Dayton could have flown this year.Ohio Govenor talking about cancelling school for 3 weeks as well.Called Sister.Told her no matter what give her daughter an extra hug from us.Niece has a big birthday tomorrow.And it's Friday the 13th too.

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 MikeF90 on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 3:20 PM

Tehachapi report: today is an all-day work window to repair/replace the south Woodford turnout. They just sent through the first v..e..r..y l..o..n..g train to tamp down the ballast.

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Posted by JoeKoh on Wednesday, March 11, 2020 2:31 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear after work today.Matt has to go do dishes.Empty seats in Columbus for the girls state basketball tournament.Each student was limited to 4 tickets.Napoleon is going to try to hook up some big TV's at their school if the girls make it to the finals.NCAA's tournament is coming up too.Wonder how many empty seats will be for those games.

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").

 

  • Member since
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  • From: Defiance Ohio
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Posted by JoeKoh on Tuesday, March 10, 2020 2:30 PM

afternoon

Ns sent a stack train west after work.Local was uptown as well.Looked like a maintainer was going to watch the new gates in operation. 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").

 

  • Member since
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  • From: Defiance Ohio
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Posted by JoeKoh on Monday, March 9, 2020 2:30 PM

afternoon

Report from this morning was csx had to set some cars off in Defiance.Train was too big for the Belt.Ns local was working uptown when I got off work.Matt gets to do dishes.Chores for me here as well.

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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  • From: Denver / La Junta
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Posted by mudchicken on Monday, March 9, 2020 8:04 AM

Can't say I'd seen that before dept:

Amtrak #5 detached an engine to go plow/buck through a snowslide in the Dotsero Cutoff near Radium yesterday. Local news have been running the video over and over this morning. (Along with large rocks trying to fly off the hillsides onto US-40)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/snowslide-blocks-amtrak-train-in-grand-county/ar-BB10Xaau?ocid=spartandhp 

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 JoeKoh on Sunday, March 8, 2020 4:26 PM

afternoon

New friends and old friends in Deshler today.Found more cars for Carl too.Matt is doing dishes.Back to work tomorrow.

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 Sunday, March 8, 2020 3:44 PM

Deggesty

Don't forget to reset your clocks and watches tonight-unless you live in a state such as Arizona which had an intelligent legislature 54 years ago.

Heard someone on a local ham radio net this morning say they didn't know where standard time itself came from.  Almost sounded like they weren't in favor of that, either.  Of course, as railfans we know it was the railroads.

When buildings were built to use available light, DST made sense.  More light from outside meant less artificial light on the inside.  And it does mean more daylight at the end of the day.  I recall my cousin talking about playing softball under the lights at 6 PM or so in Arizona - when we're still enjoying natural daylight here in northern New York.

The quote attributed to a Native American chief, about cutting the bottom off a blanket and sewing on the top would reflect confusion from a society that had no idea of a clock, living by the sun and the seasons.

The only complaint I ever heard about DST that dealt with anything other than inconvenience was from a woman who did laundry and didn't appreciate having to wade through the dew covered grass an hour earlier in the morning.

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...

  • Member since
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Posted by Erik_Mag on Saturday, March 7, 2020 10:17 PM

Deggesty

I, too, have noticed the color difference between the two--my new right lens gives a much brighter-

I had cataract surgery on my right eye last July and noticed that the colors were different between the two eyes. The most pronounced difference was with the reds, even weirder was looking at a scene directly and through a security camera monitor - the colors looked the same with both eyes on the monitor. I figured this was due to the lens in the right eye passing more "near" UV. A few months later my hypothesis was confirmed when eating at a restaurant  with some "black lights", the refelctions were very noticeable in my right eye, and had to be looking directly at the light with my left eye.

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Posted by Deggesty on Saturday, March 7, 2020 8:58 PM

Don't forget to reset your clocks and watches tonight-unless you live in a state such as Arizona which had an intelligent legislature 54 years ago.

Johnny

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Posted by Deggesty on Saturday, March 7, 2020 8:55 PM

I, too, have noticed the color difference between the two--my new right lens gives a much brighter--and larger image than my still catracted original left lens. right now, he signal from my news lens is overpowering the signal from my left lens; if I close my right eye, the image changes.

Some times I get a double image in my brain unless I close one or eye or turn my head so both eyes are almost head-on. In 13 days, both eyes should be equal (my left eye required much more correction than my right eye did).

Johnny

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Saturday, March 7, 2020 7:53 PM

Deggesty

Once it is all done for me, I will have good distance viewing in both eyes, and will need correction for close work only.

 
Johnny had both eyes done a couple years ago.  What was amazing to me was the perceived difference of colors from the first corrected eye and the one that had not been done. Both of my eyes had Cattaracks that were very yellow causing the color difference.  Went to hone depot and got color chip cards to illustrate to others how different the perceived colors were.  It was especially different when driving at night at traffc signals and LED street lights.  Other typ street lights and auto headlights all had different perceptions.
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Posted by JoeKoh on Saturday, March 7, 2020 2:45 PM

afternoon

Ns sent a westbound after some OT at work today.Matt has to do dishes tonight.Sending out a birthday card for my oldest niece.Time to spring ahead.

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 Saturday, March 7, 2020 1:21 PM

A fellow ham's wife just had her second eye done - today they were headed out to see if she's lost her touch driving.  It would be the first time she's driven in a year.

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...

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: At the Crossroads of the West
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Posted by Deggesty on Saturday, March 7, 2020 1:07 PM

Once it is all done for me, I will have good distance viewing in both eyes, and will need correction for close work only.

Johnny

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Saturday, March 7, 2020 6:46 AM

Lynn had cataract surgery about a year ago and got lens implants as part of the deal.  She appreciates the improvement in her vision and just needs glasses for reading.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul

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