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Chatterbox Winter 2021-2022

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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, February 19, 2022 5:44 PM

Got up this morning, opened the blinds, and thought the window had frosted over.  Nope - snowing like the dickens.  Then around 9 AM, it snowed even harder.  

A Canadian amateur operator, chatting with friends on that side of the border, mentioned that he'd had thundersnow.  Since he lives close to the border, I reported his info to NWS Buffalo.  They replied to say they'd gotten several such reports.

About 11 AM, the sun came out, although it was still plenty windy.  The wind has settled down, but the temperature is still only +14.6F as I type this.

But, it is winter in the north country.

Lake effect affected the Interstate, which was closed for a while due to an accident.

Better make my hotel reservation for the Vermont train show on March 12...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by JoeKoh on Saturday, February 19, 2022 1:42 PM

afternoon

Very windy with blowing snow this morning.Was able to go up to the Bryan Amtrak station.We also ate at the saloon across the tracks.In the saloon they have plenty of Trains magazines to look at while waiting for a train or waiting for you lunch.Going to help increase the library on the next visit.Matt the college man is back to campus.Have things to do here at home.

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 Erik_Mag on Friday, February 18, 2022 9:59 PM

Electroliner 1935

Reverse osmosis does NOT remove some disolved minerals which will be left behind when when reverse osmosis water is evaporated in a C-Pap or humidifier application. 

 

R.O. is used for desalinating sea water (there's a big plant about 7 miles up the coast from me), so I wonder what ions would pass through a membrane that stops sodium and chlorine ions. R.O. is not perfect, but it is very effective.

One of the funny things about using R.O. for desalinatiing sea water is the impression that it is very energy intensive. With state of the art membranes, it takes less energy to produce a gallon of fresh water from sea water using R.O. than it does to pump that gallon from the Colorado river to San Diego county.

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, February 18, 2022 9:43 PM

rixflix
The whole area is on limestone...

That's my problem - in fact, I think my foundation/basement actually sits on the bedrock, which is fractured limestone.  

When they put our sewer system in they had to use a rock trencher to get through it, and had to blast in order to install some septic tanks (including mine).

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Friday, February 18, 2022 6:54 PM

Reverse osmosis does NOT remove some disolved minerals which will be left behind when when reverse osmosis water is evaporated in a C-Pap or humidifier application. 

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Posted by rixflix on Friday, February 18, 2022 5:40 PM

When you go to Bryan can you imagine the NYC's turbojet RDC?

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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Posted by JoeKoh on Friday, February 18, 2022 3:33 PM

afternoon

Sunshine after yesterdays mess.Plow driver left a mess on our street.The ns tracks were clear when I left work.We still have an empty boxcar on our dock.Tomorrow going to meet up with Matt and a friend at the Amtrak station in Bryan.Hope to see some good trains.

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 Friday, February 18, 2022 3:07 PM

mudchicken

Been trying to figure out why there is a rediculous shortage of distilled water. It's been an issue for as long as the pandemic, but it's really an issue now. Nothing on the shelves for weeks. Are people filling swimming pools with the stuff?

Hoarding toilet paper is one thing, but distilled water?

I use a lot in the winter for CPAP, usually about a gallon every month in the semi and two months at the house. Don't use as much in the summer, for obvious reasons.......

Finding it lately has been tough, I prefer the Ice Mountain jugs over the store brands, the plastic is thicker and holds up better bouncing down the highway. The store brand jugs will start leaking after a couple weeks in the semi, the Ice Mountain jugs will last months...........

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 rixflix on Friday, February 18, 2022 2:15 PM

When I was at the Martinsburg WV VA hospital I was tasked with getting the coffee ready for our meetings. They told me the electric pots were good for less than a year. The whole area is on limestone and ARGOS has an impressive cement plant nearby.

Rick

rixflix aka Captain Video. Blessed be Jean Shepherd and all His works!!! Hooray for 1939, the all time movie year!!! I took that ride on the Reading but my Baby caught the Katy and left me a mule to ride.

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Posted by rvos1979 on Friday, February 18, 2022 1:09 PM

Found out what the cause of our computer outage last week was. An issue with the firmware in both the main and backup data storage systems knocked both out one after another. The executives stressed that it was NOT a cyberattack.

Kind of reminds me of the time Amtrak lost the computer dispatching system in Chicago, when someone accidentally shut off the backup system while the main system was down for updates...........

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 Friday, February 18, 2022 12:04 PM

Erik_Mag
Have you looked into reverse osmosis?

I have - it's on the list, I just have to fit it into the budget and schedule.  

OTOH, $400 buys a lot of distilled water...

LarryWhistling
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Posted by Erik_Mag on Thursday, February 17, 2022 10:53 PM

Tree,

Have you looked into reverse osmosis? There are units available that use the pressure of the tap water for the process, water is cleared of most of the dissolved solids.

My uncles' sheet metal shop in eastern Montana sold "AprilAire" humdifiers as RH indoors could get really low when outside air temps dropped to well below zero. A rule of thumb in regards to dew point and relative humidity, is that a factor of two drop in RH corresponds to approximately a 20F drop in dew point.

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, February 17, 2022 5:53 PM

MikeF90
Has anyone tried this countertop distiller or something similar?

I could sell the lime residue to local farmers!

Years ago I took a college chemstry class.  One experiment was to test the hardness of a water sample.  I used my well water.  It was off the chart...

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 MikeF90 on Thursday, February 17, 2022 4:04 PM

tree68
Did my on-line grocery order today and put in for 8 gallons (a week's worth) of distilled water. Got every single one. I just wish I'd remembered to order the watermelon spears...

Has anyone tried this countertop distiller or something similar?  If I still lived in LA county I would consider it.

 https://www.homedepot.com/p/VEVOR-16-Cup-Countertop-Water-Distiller-750W-Distilling-Pure-Water-Machine-with-Plastic-Container-White-BST-007ZLSJ000001V1/319379638

Watermelon spears not included .....

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Posted by tree68 on Thursday, February 17, 2022 3:44 PM

Did my on-line grocery order today and put in for 8 gallons (a week's worth) of distilled water.  Got every single one.  I just wish I'd remembered to order the watermelon spears...

Can't wait to be able to go shopping for myself again.  Once the doc clears me to walk on both feet...

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!
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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Thursday, February 17, 2022 3:31 PM

My Bi-Pap machine takes about a cup of distilled H2O every night. Fortunately, stores around me still seem to be adequately stocked. 

Weather "forcasters" had predicted big bad storm starting wjth heavy rain, followed by freezing rain and then 4 to 8 inches. Got the rain, then no ice, and now the snow has begun. Ahh...WINTER. Glad I am retired and don't have to be out in it. 

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Posted by Gramp on Thursday, February 17, 2022 3:01 PM

mudchicken

Been trying to figure out why there is a rediculous shortage of distilled water. It's been an issue for as long as the pandemic, but it's really an issue now. Nothing on the shelves for weeks. Are people filling swimming pools with the stuff?

Hoarding toilet paper is one thing, but distilled water?

 

CPAP machines?  A whole new market for distilled water created in recent years. Lots of people use them. 

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Posted by JoeKoh on Thursday, February 17, 2022 2:55 PM

afternoon

Ns still has the manifest in the siding and the boxcar on the dock.They also added a loaded EB coal train on track one.They had a stack train go east after work.Still rain so far but the wind shifted to the north/northeast.Creeks and ditches are full.Going to finish my  train car count tonight.Much more room under the layout now.

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, February 17, 2022 12:55 PM

CSSHEGEWISCH
It's been a strange winter so far. 

Indeed - we're probably having our "January Thaw" right now.  My rain guage is wonky for some reason - I know we've had more than the 0.01" it's showing at the moment.  And the rain is helping melt the snow, resulting in some minor flooding, so far.  Many streams are running pretty full right now.

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!
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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Thursday, February 17, 2022 10:04 AM

It's been a strange winter so far.  For the second time, we've had a warm spell which melted almost of the existing snow just in time for the next storm to lay down 4-6 inches of new snow.

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 Wednesday, February 16, 2022 9:44 PM

mudchicken

Been trying to figure out why there is a rediculous shortage of distilled water. It's been an issue for as long as the pandemic, but it's really an issue now. Nothing on the shelves for weeks. Are people filling swimming pools with the stuff?

Hoarding toilet paper is one thing, but distilled water?

I go through about a gallon of distilled water a day in my humidifier.  I can't use my tap water because my water is so hard-  I get a fine white dust on everything, and it hangs in the air as well.

I"ve been ordering my groceries for pick-up lately.  On a recent order, the woman who brought my order out to the truck said they were out of distillled water, and their warehouse told them not to even order it.

A friend who needs to run humidifiers for her printing (banners, etc)  found some at a dollar store and picked up some for me as well.

It's not like it's been any drier than normal this year.  Outside right now it's at 63% humidity, although the house is only at 15%.  I ran out  yesterday, but will be shopping tomorrow so will stock up again.

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 Wednesday, February 16, 2022 7:29 PM

Been trying to figure out why there is a rediculous shortage of distilled water. It's been an issue for as long as the pandemic, but it's really an issue now. Nothing on the shelves for weeks. Are people filling swimming pools with the stuff?

Hoarding toilet paper is one thing, but distilled water?

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 Wednesday, February 16, 2022 2:46 PM

afternoon

Ns still has the same train in the siding as yesterday.The empty boxcar is still on our dock.Went out and made sure the water could get past the snowhill on the end of our street.Ditches and creeks are filled up nicely as is our swamp.Guessers still not sure what we are to get tomorrow.It will be a mess whatever we get.I got the engines,Passenger cars and cabosses tallied logged and put away.Might be able to finish 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 MikeF90 on Wednesday, February 16, 2022 2:17 PM

Last chance (until ?) to see snow on Cajon Pass !  Not a whole lot and, surprisingly, did not see any at Tehachapi or Barstow. Another post mentioned that Victorville got some. Rewind four hours to see more ....

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Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 11:07 PM

I engineered a 600 mile F.O. network for my utility using ring architecture. Diverse routes between nodes. Signals go both clockwise and conter-clockwise. If a fiber is cut, switchover time is about a microsecond. Had some breaks of the cable but NO loss of voice or data. We had had telco services and had Central Offices fail (Flooded basement took out batteries and power for one, fire took out another). S--t happens. 

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 10:23 PM

Erik_Mag
That would add up to a very impressive data bandwidth!!!

That just gets you to the first choke point faster...

When I was supporting the network at a military installation, folks wanted the highest possible speed to their desk.  That was 100Mbs at the time - gigabit ethernet was just on the horizon.

Never mind that the Internet connection going off the installation was only about 60 Mbs, for the entire installation...

If they complained about a slow connection, the problem could usually be traced to their own maxed out PC...

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
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Posted by Erik_Mag on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 10:07 PM

rdamon

Most cables installed since 2000 are 144 fibers or greater ..

Here is a 1728 count!!

https://www.commscope.com/product-type/cables/fiber-cables/outside-plant-cables/item760220178/

 

There are systems where you can run well over 40+ Terabits/sec using a single pair!

 

That would add up to a very impressive data bandwidth!!!

I'm supposed to be getting fiber internet sometime in the next three months or so, and this involves a fiber from my house to the equivalent of a Central Office. Fibers will be run in conduit placed about 6" below street level, so fire shouldn't be a problem.

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 9:42 PM

Paul of Covington

   After reading about all the rain and snow you guys up north have been getting, I was surprised to hear that a burn ban has been issued for the whole state of La.  I didn't realize that we had been unusually dry.

NY just does a pre-emptive burn ban from March 15 to May 15.  Some people hate it, as they like to burn stuff off in the spring, like brush piles, but those of us in the fire service love it, as we're not chasing grass fires all over the place.  

And if someone "forgets" about the burn ban, we call on the Environmental Conservation folks to come write them a ticket.  The first couple of years were understandable - some people didn't know.  But now there's no excuse.

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 Paul of Covington on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 9:34 PM

   After reading about all the rain and snow you guys up north have been getting, I was surprised to hear that a burn ban has been issued for the whole state of La.  I didn't realize that we had been unusually dry.

_____________ 

  "A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner

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Posted by JoeKoh on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 2:31 PM

afternoon

Ns has a manifest in the siding at work.We still have an empty boxcar on our dock.The up olympic engine did a quick turn yesterday on csx.Contractors have been busy working on the outside of the depot in Deshler.Going to get stuff more organized here at home.

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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