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Chatterbox Winter 2021-2022

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  • Member since
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  • From: Lombard (west of Chicago), Illinois
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Posted by CShaveRR on Saturday, January 1, 2022 8:02 PM

We have several inches of snow on the ground now, all of which has fallen since noon (eight hours or so).  We have nowhere to go tomorrow (church will be virtual), but I have to have labs drawn first thing Monday morning.  Easy enough for a healthy person to dig up to five inches (projected) by then...except that a lot of it will have turned to ice, given falling temperatures all day tomorrow...and I don't consider myself very healthy these days.  

Freight carchaeology is in the program for tomorrow if I'm up to it--no outdoor train-hunting trips until we head to the lab (then we might get lucky).  

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, January 2, 2022 11:54 AM

afternoon

We didnt get the snow but we got the ice.Went uptown to get more ice melter.I didn't see anyone in the ditch but I am sure it did happen.Got a couple buildings for the layout that were on sale.Back to work for Mamma and I 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, January 2, 2022 12:05 PM

Still snowing here - and it's windy - and the temps are down from mid-30's to a current +16F.

Hopefully things will be decent by Tuesday, when I try my first solo foray since I fell.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
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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 Monday, January 3, 2022 3:05 PM

afternoon

Ns has an eastbound coal train in the siding at work.They also had a stack train each way after work as well.Uptown they had some cars and a contractor was at one of the crossings as well.Ran errands after work.Matt is off looking for trains.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 tree68 on Monday, January 3, 2022 3:15 PM

Clear and cold here today.  Low this morning was in the negative numbers.

Today's event of choice seemed to be hitting power poles and/or taking down wires, if the fire scanner was any indication.

Got my certificate from the slow scan TV event with the International Space Station.  Now I just need more wall to hang it on...

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 Monday, January 3, 2022 4:02 PM

Update

Looked on the Deshler cams.Crews are at the depot to remove the bad stuff out.Shouldn't be too long before Csx takes it off the map.

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, January 4, 2022 3:09 PM

afternoon

Sunshine is nice.Ns still has the coal train in the siding.Crew showed up at deshler to work at the depot.Guessers say a wind advisory for tomorrow.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 BaltACD on Tuesday, January 4, 2022 3:29 PM

Good thing I made my I-95 trek South after Christmas rather than yesterday, with I-95 being snow closed around Fredericksbug, VA.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by JoeKoh on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 6:08 PM

evening

Ns moved the coal train in the siding.Had an eastbound Carl special after work.Did errands in town.Matt has the roads set up on the layout.Coming along nicely.Mother nature has gone from bearable cold too just plain BRRR.Time 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 Electroliner 1935 on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 6:46 PM

JoeKoh
Matt has the roads set up on the layout.

Would like to see photos of layout if you are willing to share.

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Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 10:09 PM

Warmed up here today - currently +35.6F...

But, the lake effect machine will be kicking in shortly.  Forecast amounts vary (even NWS can't decide).  Consistant bands may see a foot.  With winds here at the house generally out of the WSW, it's likely to say mostly south of me.

The bigger factor will likely be the wind - I already have a 28 MPH gust on the weather station.  Good thing I'm not planning on going out...

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 blhanel on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 10:26 PM

Had a gust of 36.1 MPH earlier today, with a temp in the single digits.

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Posted by blue streak 1 on Thursday, January 6, 2022 1:31 AM

Am getting a 403 error code when trying to post a reply on major disruption.  Was any cause ever found?

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Posted by JoeKoh on Thursday, January 6, 2022 5:29 PM

evening

Ns has another coal train in the siding at work.Ran errands after work.Need to put some finishing touches on the layout.Some things are hard to find because of shortages.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").

 

  • Member since
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Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, January 6, 2022 5:35 PM

A foot of 81 degree sunshine in Homestead, FL today.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by MikeF90 on Thursday, January 6, 2022 5:39 PM

blhanel
Had a gust of 36.1 MPH earlier today, with a temp in the single digits.

Yowza! Also I've seen pics of trucks with high side loads battered around like toys:

Iowa/Nebraska - here's your wind.

Montana - hold my beer (reports of 80-100 MPH gusts!)

Nearby to me some parts of the high Sierra have received over 200 inches (!) of snow, a record for this early in the season. I-80 is open so skiers must be happy ....  Large reservoirs like Lake Oroville are making good progress filling up, but it is still considered an 'extreme drought' until spring results are in.

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, January 6, 2022 7:16 PM

MikeF90
Montana - hold my beer (reports of 80-100 MPH gusts!)

Winds like that drove the recent Colorado wildfires, per MC and news reports.

I've seen what a minor gust can do with fire in dry grass.  Scary.

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
    January 2019
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Posted by Erik_Mag on Thursday, January 6, 2022 11:38 PM

MikeF90

 Montana - hold my beer (reports of 80-100 MPH gusts!)

I'm assuming this was in the Livingston area? Got down to -25F in eastern Montana last night (knowing that Livingston is in the south central part of the state).

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Posted by JoeKoh on Friday, January 7, 2022 6:14 PM

evening

Ns still had a coal train in the siding at work when I left.They also ran an eastbound Carl special and a westbound stack train.Went over to Indiana so we could use a gift card.We saw I 016 come east on csx,L 96 come south on NS and think we followed q 368 eastbound coming home.Going to be a brrrr cold morning tomorrow.Good day to try a soup recipie.Going to work on the layout.

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: Northern New York
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Posted by tree68 on Friday, January 7, 2022 6:52 PM

We're looking at zero or below (F) tonight.  My weather station dropped a degree (+11F to +10F) while I was on an amateur radio net - and that wasn't very long.

The barometer is rising quite quickly, too.

To show who abruptly lake effect can vary around here - A friend left home and just an inch or two of new snow and travelled seven miles, where they found 8+ inches of snow.  Other areas got 11+ inches, and some schools in the worst of it closed.  Meanwhile, I'm about 13 miles from my friend's destination and I've seen a grand total of 3" of the stuff.  

I'm busy preparing a presentation on the railroad in a neighboring village, part of a sesquicential event.  In the process of looking for images and other information I discovered a railroad I'd never heard of before.  The product of a local effort, I'm not sure it actually ran any trains of its own, instead having the railroad it connected to provide the service.  Curious.

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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  • From: Lombard (west of Chicago), Illinois
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Posted by CShaveRR on Friday, January 7, 2022 8:31 PM

Our temperature is headed back up, after a subzero predawn.  So, of course, we get a Winter Weather Advisory tomorrow, when a light rain will fall, but immediately freeze onto the cold roads.  Not to worry--not going anywhere here.

Platelet transfusion was held today.   I think I would have rather chased trains in Indiana, which was Plan A until the afternoon.  As it stands, I haven't been out of the home county all year and then some (probably since before Christmas), only going to labs and consultations.  Big operation schedued a week from today (exploratory, of course--we don't expect anything to really get done!).

Astronomical note...officially, the days have finally begun to get longer on the sunrise end, after a long time with an identical sunrise.  No evidence of a "January thaw" in the next week or so, though.  I still want to hibernate!

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)

  • Member since
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  • From: Defiance Ohio
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Posted by JoeKoh on Saturday, January 8, 2022 3:19 PM

afternoon

Soup is still coming along.Did chores today and worked on the layout.Looking for some freezing drizzle tonight and rain into the morning.Might be able to have a brownie for dessert too.(if Matt lets me)

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: Denver / La Junta
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Posted by mudchicken on Sunday, January 9, 2022 8:24 AM

BNSF seems to be having a run of bad luck this weekend with the latest being a 28 car derailment & alcohol fire near Wichita Falls (Oklaunion, TX) on the BN/FW&D Amarillo to Dallas to Houston line. (MP 155-156 Red River Sub)...The fire is threatening a US-287 bridge? At least it isn't the transcon or ethanol.

The Joint Line up here might be a little less busy for a while

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, January 9, 2022 9:52 AM

morning

Rain has cleared out of the area.Mother Nature is sending some NW breezes to cool us off again.The contractors are busy tamping and moving ballast on the ND&W.Four of their five units are in the local yard.Csx dropped a grain train off at the elevator west of town.One unit and will need another facing the right way to come out of the loop.Saw I 170 with bnsf power and containers heading for North Baltimore.Going to have the rest of the soup for lunch today.

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 blue streak 1 on Monday, January 10, 2022 1:49 AM

"But officer I did not see any crossing gate down or the clear signal or an approach signal.

Plane crashes, is hit by train in Pacoima (ktla.com)

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Posted by rvos1979 on Monday, January 10, 2022 6:52 AM

Well, I get a week off of work, though not exactly by choice........

Was sick for a good chunk of last week, plus my sister had been sick since Wednesday with what we both thought was a cold/flu. Went down Saturday for a rapid Covid test, both of us turned up positive. So, a week off it is. Have mostly recovered, though it still feels like a bad cold. Both of us fared much better than my other sister who was unvaccinated, she had a high fever for nearly a week.........

So, please try to conserve toilet paper whilst I get better............

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 tree68 on Monday, January 10, 2022 6:55 AM

mudchicken
At least it isn't the transcon or ethanol.

Ethanol is alcohol.  The drinking kind.

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
    April 2003
  • From: Defiance Ohio
  • 13,318 posts
Posted by JoeKoh on Monday, January 10, 2022 4:43 PM

evening

Ns had a westbound stack train after work today.Ran errands after work as well.The guessers say maybe a slight hint of snow for Sunday.Matt is getting things around to go back to school.Time for 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 tree68 on Monday, January 10, 2022 6:09 PM

Interviewed tonight for a fire chief position over the entire township.  Not sure I really want the job, but I wanted to ensure some competition in the whole thing.

We'll see what happens.

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
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
  • 10,820 posts
Posted by mudchicken on Tuesday, January 11, 2022 5:43 AM

tree68
 
mudchicken
At least it isn't the transcon or ethanol. 

Ethanol is alcohol.  The drinking kind. 

It's the association that John Q Public has with Ethanol and the cars it's shipped in. Because this was denatured alcohol (instead of ethanol), the connection gets blurred and the activists bashing the industry mysteriously vanish. (same thing could apply to Bakken crude oil vs. refined product)

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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