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Chatterbox Summer 2021 Locked

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Posted by rdamon on Monday, June 28, 2021 12:57 PM

tree68

That said, commuters notwithstanding, with all of the run-through power these days, it's hard to tell who IS on the rails.

 

 
Throw in a heritage or special unit on lead and then the local news could end up blaming the Canadian military!!
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Posted by BaltACD on Monday, June 28, 2021 11:58 AM

tree68
Car involved suggests a crossing.  Those little blue signs...

That said, commuters notwithstanding, with all of the run-through power these days, it's hard to tell who IS on the rails.

Especially when you have multiple railroads all running the same alignment through an area - even when the same railroad has two or more routes operating on the same alignment.

A incident at Garden City, GA (outside Savannah) caused CSX to spring for PC's and a DeLorme Atlas program for each Chief Train Dispatchers desk.  A report of a vehicle on the tracks was reported to the Jacksonville Division CTD, who had his Train Dispatcher block off that track segment.  Shortly thereafter the vehicle was hit by a CSX Train operating on the Florence Division that was operating on an adjacent track at that location.  Florence Division had not been notified of the car on tracks.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, June 28, 2021 11:44 AM

Car involved suggests a crossing.  Those little blue signs...

That said, commuters notwithstanding, with all of the run-through power these days, it's hard to tell who IS on the rails.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Monday, June 28, 2021 10:22 AM

That part of East Chicago and the Calumet region as a whole is pretty well criss-crossed by various railroads so if you're not in the business or our hobby the average Joe wouldn't immediately know the railroad involved (It's B&OCT/CSX).  Don't expect the rest of the world to know what a lot of us know.

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 Monday, June 28, 2021 9:55 AM

mudchicken
The newsworkers are now just phoning this stuff in without getting out of their computer chairs?

I suspect more than a few of them are just a few steps removed from "look at the choo choo..."

Our local TV station may have the same anchors on the news, but the reporters see this place as a small market in which to get started...  Same with the newspaper.  One reporter I've dealt with still has a Michigan cell phone number...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by diningcar on Monday, June 28, 2021 8:22 AM

And did I read in the "news"  that the train ran into the vehicle. Amazing how that happens. 

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Posted by mudchicken on Monday, June 28, 2021 6:22 AM

Media Fail:

Is there a reason that the media can't identify the railroad involved in the triple fatality in the South Chicago/Gary Indiana area on Sunday. ???? There is now a hint, some 24 hours after the event, that this involved a passenger/commuter train which narrows it down, but the news muggles managed to mess-up that story too with the "conductor" blowing the horn frantically.Question

The newsworkers are now just phoning this stuff in without getting out of their computer chairs?

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 Sunday, June 27, 2021 7:38 PM

It was a loooooong weekend.

Amateur radio's annual Field Day was this weekend - 24 hours of operating "off the grid" and making as many contacts around the country as possible.

We had a half dozen regions we weren't able to contact in the States, and didn't get any of the prairie provinces in Canada.

All told, we had well over 400 contacts by voice ("phone"), morse code, and digital.  I worked well into the night and made quite a few contacts.

It was fun, but I'm exhausted.

LarryWhistling
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Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
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Posted by mudchicken on Sunday, June 27, 2021 2:31 PM

JoeKoh

good morning

Went and checked on brother yesterday.Ns sent 2 stack trains.A friend saw a very late triple crown cross the diamond at St.Joe Indiana.Going to do things here at home.Very muggy and chances of storms all week.Back to work tomorrow.MC it isnt always the operators at local elevators.Sometimes its the train crew that brings in overheight cars into the spur and tear down the spout.

stay safe

Joe

 

The overheight car isn't the problem from the sounds of it. Sounds like something designed to swing out of the way wasn't left in the clear. In Ohio, a fixed obstruction cannot be less than 21'-0" above top of rail (22'-0" in Indiana) ...DoubleStacks max out at around 19'-4" ATR. We see plenty of joe-bob engineering fails out here with grain elevators installing fall protection walkways at less than 22'-6" ATR which is the minimum clearance height around most of the states in the west.

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, June 27, 2021 6:35 AM

good morning

Went and checked on brother yesterday.Ns sent 2 stack trains.A friend saw a very late triple crown cross the diamond at St.Joe Indiana.Going to do things here at home.Very muggy and chances of storms all week.Back to work tomorrow.MC it isnt always the operators at local elevators.Sometimes its the train crew that brings in overheight cars into the spur and tear down the spout.

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 mudchicken on Sunday, June 27, 2021 4:27 AM

Seen plenty of cases when the law of physics turns on the loader and agri-dummy operator where a cut of cars pushes the loader downhill  and eventually rolls the loader (a couple of times with fatal consequences).

No sympathy for the industry/elevator being cheap. (don't buy the argument about "they didn't know") Not only do they tear-up the cars, they tear up the track as well along with the loader tires. It only goes downhill from there when the railroad justifyably refuses to serve the industry for multiple reasons.Dunce

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 SD70Dude on Sunday, June 27, 2021 1:44 AM

A major customer here with a captive fleet of their own cars does that all the time.  All their cars have distinctive marks at the top of the carbody.  They started welding up and patching the dents a few months ago, but I've noticed that some of the freshly painted patches have already been destroyed. 

Alberta's experiencing a heat wave right now, the forecast in Edmonton is for daytime highs of around +40 C.  First time I can recall it hitting that mark here.  

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by zugmann on Sunday, June 27, 2021 12:25 AM

This is why the ladders are always bent up.  And also why I laugh every time someone wants to add tons of high-tech bits to all railcars.  

This is not my video, I have no clue where it's at, nor does it matter. 

 

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

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Posted by blhanel on Saturday, June 26, 2021 12:54 PM

Last night, we had a heavy shower that wouldn't move.  My standard LaCrosse rain gauge nearly overflowed (had 1.5" in it from the afternoon), and it's graduated up to 5".  My Tempest weather station reported 6.76" for the day.  We had a brief inflow of water in the basement due to standing water near the foundation, but luckily it didn't affect the finished areas.  Our next-door neighbor wasn't so lucky- her sump pump died and she had upwards of an inch of water throughout her entire basement.  Nothing finished, but alot of stuff soaked...

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Posted by CShaveRR on Friday, June 25, 2021 10:40 PM

Tomorrow evening we'll be going to a luau.  No flights to Hawaii involved--this one would be within walking distance if we were totally healthy and didn't have lawn chairs and such to take with us.  

It's supposed to be rainy tomorrow, but this evening's forecast looked like we might get a break around luau time.  I hope so--we've had rainy luaus before, and it the most fun. 

In fact, we've had rain since Thursday--almost an inch Thursday afternoon/evening, another inch ovrnight, and a little more today.  And the look at the ten-day forecast for Chicagoland is impressive.  On the days they don't show "showers", they show "storms".  All.  Ten.  Days.

We must be coming out of COVID slowdowns.  On July 1, Lombard will begin charging again for daily commuter parking, and they'll apparently reopen most of the lots that had been closed (one is lost due to impending construction).  By the way, it's supposed to rain July 1.

Carl

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, June 25, 2021 7:40 PM

We're forecast for rain tomorrow.  We can use the rain, but...

Saturday and Sunday is a major ham radio event - the ARRL Field Day.  It involves setting up stations "off the grid" and making as many contacts with other hams as possible.  Last year our club had 400 contacts from around the country and Canada.

So, aside from making putting the antennas up difficult, the rain won't be a problem.  Lightning, on the other hand, would be a major problem with hundred foot long wire antennas being strung up...

We'll hope for the best.

OTOH, I finally got the petunias planted in the front flower bed, and they could now use a good soaking...

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
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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 diningcar on Friday, June 25, 2021 4:51 PM

Severe thunderstorms along I-70 corridor from Manhatten, KS to KC right now. Flash flooding alert issued because the ground is already saturated. Not going out for our usual Friday dinner; will go to brunch at our favorite place in the AM.

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Posted by JoeKoh on Friday, June 25, 2021 9:31 AM

Morning

Mother nature sending rain.Did get some pictures at Fc though.The ND&W sent a train across the diamond and placed the cars in the siding for csx to pick up.Good thing we have inside projects 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 JoeKoh on Thursday, June 24, 2021 3:13 PM

afternoon

Stayed in town today.Matt is working his mowing job.Q 010 had a tipsy container coming eastbound.They had to set it off at North Baltimore.Guessers say we are going to get rain.Will be heading to nieces ballgame soon.

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 Wednesday, June 23, 2021 7:12 PM

Good Evening

Went on a road trip.Everything was hurry up and wait.CF&E MOW at Bucyrus had to wait for Ns 218 to come south.The Ns signal maintainer had to wait for the CF&E to cross the diamond.In Marion it was hurry up and wait for Ns and Csx.Saw more Csx than Ns.On the way home we stopped by Deshler.D 743 was parking his train in the east siding again tonight.Looked like a 351 was stopped at rt 65.he was stretched out to road 6.Going to get cleaned up.

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, June 22, 2021 3:30 PM

afternoon

Stayed close to home today.The ND&W is getting the supplies in left and right.Saw them unload 2 trailers full of railroad ties.Csx sent an 11,000 ft q 010 eastbound as well.Went down to a local place for lunch.Staff shortage caused them not to have any pie ready to go.Going to watch other niece play ball tonight.Tomorrow will go find some trains somewhere.

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 Monday, June 21, 2021 2:00 PM

afternoon

yep Larry saw D 743 in Ottawa waiting for x 510 to go north.They had to wait on Mow in Leipsic and for q 172 and q 191 to get by in Deshler.Had a nice rebuilt switcher Rssx 8959 (railserve) in the consist.We'll see if Matt wants to get the foam board today or if we will wait until the wind calms down.

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, June 21, 2021 11:38 AM

If the Internation Space Station interests you, and you have a scanner (a good outside antenna is desirable) and a smart phone, you can pick up some slow scan TV images being broadcast from the ISS today.  

You can install an app on your phone that will decode the data simply by placing it next to your scanner speaker (acoustic coupling).

Tune your scanner to 145.800 MHz.  Actually, you can leave that right in the scanner - you might get to hear the astronauts talking to school kids from time to time as well.

Slow scan TV has a musical quality.  An image takes a couple of minutes to complete.  You might get incomplete images as the ISS passes into and out of range, but they're still cool.

You can find out when the ISS will next pass over your area at https://www.n2yo.com/?s=25544 .

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 diningcar on Monday, June 21, 2021 10:11 AM

SW to NE thunderstorms between Wichita and Kansas City last evening that missed Lawrence. Cooler today, in the 70's, but back to 90's tomorrow. And it's not 'dry heat'. 

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Posted by tree68 on Monday, June 21, 2021 7:36 AM

JoeKoh
.Maybe the d 743 made it back to Lima by now from Deshler.

It's in the process of doing it's runaround right now (0835)...

It sat on the east siding at South Deshler all weekend...

 

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, June 21, 2021 7:35 AM

Long overdue rain has appeared in the Colorado Front Range (oddly, for here, at night and no t-storms)...unfortunately on the other side of the continental divide it is fire season in stupid dry conditions, several fires have started.

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 Monday, June 21, 2021 5:54 AM

morning

First day of vacation.Mother nature sent some rain last night.No power outages here.Did check on brother yesterday.Ns did send a few trains.Matt made me a list for the layout.Going to go get the supplies.Maybe the d 743 made it back to Lima by now from Deshler.

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 rdamon on Sunday, June 20, 2021 10:40 PM

blue streak 1

Tree sorry for your lack of rain.  Claudette has given us 4.73  inches noon to midnight.  Had to go out and dump guage.

Weather | Newnan, GA (msn.com)

 

 

 

Only got about 2" on the north side (Marietta) ..  hopefully you were not impacted from the Tornado a few months back.

 https://w1.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KMGE.html

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Posted by tree68 on Sunday, June 20, 2021 7:39 AM

blue streak 1
Tree sorry for your lack of rain. 

Last night a pretty strong system followed the Thruway across the state, but didn't reach up to us.  That seems to be the theme this year - not much makes it north of Syracuse.  Lake Ontario is part of that - the lake moderates storm systems coming out of the west.

Aside from my lawn not being very green, though, it's not a problem for me.  Haven't talked to any farmers around here, but in my immediate area the primary crop is hay, and it's doing reasonably well.

The biggest problem, as I've said, is the lake and river, both down a couple of feet from normal.  A good part of that is lack of rain in the drainage basin (and snow last winter), but the folks controlling the flow of the St Lawrence at the power project get a good amount of the blame, too.  

As long as my well doesn't go dry, I'll be OK.  If things get really dry, I can get ahead of it, but it recovers.

Everyone have a great Father's Day.

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 blue streak 1 on Saturday, June 19, 2021 11:05 PM

Tree sorry for your lack of rain.  Claudette has given us 4.73  inches noon to midnight.  Had to go out and dump guage.

Weather | Newnan, GA (msn.com)

 

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