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Chatterbox Winter 2021-2022

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, February 1, 2022 6:59 PM

Some folks are complaining - "more snow?"  But we haven't had a "good old fashioned winter" in quite some time.  I used to have to ask the town snow plow crew to wing back the banks at the end of my driveway so I could see to pull out into the road...

A friend in Wisconsin says they have a two foot deficit of snow so far this year.  We need the moisture, too, all over the Great Lakes Basin.  Of course, with the new management plan, we never know what the result will be re: lake levels.

LarryWhistling
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Posted by mudchicken on Tuesday, February 1, 2022 6:00 PM

First of an additional 10 inches overnight has fallen. It's moisture - we'll take it! (The scottie loves the stuff)

Randy: Keep the cannon fodder rolling.

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 rvos1979 on Tuesday, February 1, 2022 4:28 PM

I sure am glad I picked to go to Muskogee instead of Rincon this week, have been there and back already, in Green Bay right now. Looks like I'll be doing short stuff the rest of the week, setting things up for the drivers who will be stuck in it..........

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 JoeKoh on Tuesday, February 1, 2022 3:18 PM

afternoon

Ns had a westbound freight in the siding after work.Went into town to pick up a few things.Shelves were wiped out.Latest guess pegged us between 12 and 22 inches of snow.Weren't planning on going to work Thursday but if we get that much and the wind we won't be going Friday either.I think thats why we shoot groundhogs around here.Time to do some chores.

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, February 1, 2022 2:54 PM

NE Florida into the middle 60's after the weekend freeze.  Calling to 80 on Thursday.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, February 1, 2022 1:15 PM

CSSHEGEWISCH

I'm braced for yet another snowstorm arriving tonight and tomorrow.  Predictions are for 3-10 inches with the heavier accumulations to the south.

We're in line for the same storm, with potential snow amounts all over the place.  One model has us seeing 2-3 feet.

For now, it's sunny.  And the temperature is all the way up to +37.5F.  That's sixty-two degrees warmer than it was Sunday 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...

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Tuesday, February 1, 2022 10:09 AM

I'm braced for yet another snowstorm arriving tonight and tomorrow.  Predictions are for 3-10 inches with the heavier accumulations to the south.

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 NKP guy on Monday, January 31, 2022 7:47 PM

tree68
but I have come to the conclusion that a significant number of the residents of Ohio are amateur radio operators...

We sure produce more than our share of hams...especially in politics.

 As for the Bengals, we Browns fans can only shake our heads in frustration after having beaten Cincinnati both times this season, yet we never even got to the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl.  Best luck to the Bengals!

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Posted by JoeKoh on Monday, January 31, 2022 5:04 PM

evening

Ns was clear after work.We are under a winter storm warning.Mamma said the store shelves were wiped clean.I have a stocking cap of the bengals yet here at home.My Nephews or son did not wear it out.Mother nature was so nice to provide some extra weight for my truck from windstorms this summer.Also just found out need to send HUGE hugs to Chicagoland.

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 Monday, January 31, 2022 12:37 PM

Apparently NS is on the ground in Bluefield WV with an intermodal train doing some instant urban renewal. Gonna be one of those weeks?

Still recovering in shock over the Cinderella story in Cincinnati. In the meantime, everybody in Kansas City (and two of my neighbors here with Chiefs banners) is wearing black armbands. After the Bengals won, was hoping the third time would be the charm against the Niners, but that didn't happen. Oh well. (I was 12 years old when the Bengals began their second appearance in the Queen City)

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, January 30, 2022 2:02 PM

Spent all Saturday afternoon, a good portion of the night, and Sunday until 2PM on the radio for a ham radio event.

I didn't set any records, but I did manage to amass 96 contacts from Colorado to Connecticut.  Didn't get a couple of states I wanted to, but I have come to the conclusion that a significant number of the residents of Ohio are amateur radio operators...

Meanwhile, the temperature outside dipped to -25F overnight.  I was relatively cozy here in the house.

I may bring my radio gear to Deshler again this year and do some operating.

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 mudchicken on Sunday, January 30, 2022 12:34 PM

Joe: Town is about to discover trails and trains don't mix. Wait until the town has to pony-up the insurance for that if they can even find it. People across the way in the building next door are all too well familiar with the risk.. 

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 30, 2022 9:33 AM

morning

Article in the paper said Defiance was proposing a walking path along the NDW bridge across the river.Have other locations as well.All the current roster units for the NDW were in the Defiance yard this morning.Csx was busy.Maintainer had to wait for a few eb container trains to get by.Saw the J 715 run out to the Henry county line for the grain elevator.Matt is going to stop at G+Gs house on his way back to school today.We will stop after work tomorrow to wish them Happy 55th anniversary.Guessers are still guessing how much stuff we are to get this week.

stay tuned

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, January 29, 2022 8:37 PM

rixflix
Their modular group declined their Amherst invitation some time ago for various reasons, Covid being one.

Report from our crew member on the ground is that the day's attendance was likely somewhere south of 1,000.  She sent me pictures of the deserted aisles...

I also got reports from a fellow ham in the Boston area that they've seen 20" of the white stuff (plus the wind) so far.  Springfield apparently only got a couple of inches, but a substantial amount of the audience for the show was likely snowed in.

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 rixflix on Saturday, January 29, 2022 8:21 PM

Just got my Reading Company Technical & Historical Society's newsletter. Their modular group declined their Amherst invitation some time ago for various reasons, Covid being one. Their layout would've been 18' x 156' and I'll bet they're glad now. They've already been invited for 2023 which will be the group's 40th anniversary.

This morning I suggested to my son that he check out Great Lakes winter lighthouses on the internet. The serpentine and loofah-like ice formations are my favorites. Also pop-quizzed him on H.O.M.E.S and I had to help him on E and S.

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 tree68 on Saturday, January 29, 2022 12:28 PM

CSSHEGEWISCH
We get that fairly regularly in the Chicago area.  I grew up on the far southeast corner of Chicago and lake effect snow often meant that we and NW Indiana would get 6+ inches and ther rest of the city would get only a dusting.

A few years ago I recall seeing on radar a "piling on" of lake effect.  Northwest winds, and you could see that the lake effect was essentially a continuous line from Lake Superior, over Lake Huron (and especially Georgian Bay), then over Lake Ontario.

I don't have problems here at the house if it's a northwest wind, but Rochester, Oswego, and especially Syracuse sure do.

One of our crewmembers is working the big Amherst show in Springfield, MA.  She sent me pictures - the place is deserted, and some vendors apparently didn't make it, either.

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 Saturday, January 29, 2022 11:14 AM

afternoon

Csx is having fun with track and train issues.Deshler needs a super size plunger.The soup will be ready when Matt gets home 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 CSSHEGEWISCH on Saturday, January 29, 2022 10:11 AM

tree68

 

 
blue streak 1
 My take of snow is expect a difference 50 miles of any forecast is possible.  Well that got blown as here some 150 miles SW.  

 

Welcome to our world of lake effect snow.  Sometimes the bands are so tight that you can go from sunshine to whiteout in a mile...

 
We get that fairly regularly in the Chicago area.  I grew up on the far southeast corner of Chicago and lake effect snow often meant that we and NW Indiana would get 6+ inches and ther rest of the city would get only a dusting.
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 BaltACD on Saturday, January 29, 2022 8:34 AM

tree68
 
blue streak 1
 My take of snow is expect a difference 50 miles of any forecast is possible.  Well that got blown as here some 150 miles SW.   

Welcome to our world of lake effect snow.  Sometimes the bands are so tight that you can go from sunshine to whiteout in a mile...

Currently getting ready for the Florida freeze.

Looking at a traffic camera 5 mile from my Maryland base of operations it looks like the area got a dusting and not much more.

The Baltimore area is really sensitive to storm tracks and some areas can get dumped on while 50 or 60 miles away there is virtually none.

Recall one time when living in Akron - we had miserable rainy 34 degree day, meanwhile the heights area East of Cleveland (about 40 miles North) got will over 40 inches of snow.  The snow line stopped about 2 or 3 miles from the shores of Lake Erie.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by tree68 on Saturday, January 29, 2022 7:18 AM

blue streak 1
 My take of snow is expect a difference 50 miles of any forecast is possible.  Well that got blown as here some 150 miles SW.  

Welcome to our world of lake effect snow.  Sometimes the bands are so tight that you can go from sunshine to whiteout in a mile...

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 Friday, January 28, 2022 11:13 PM

Once again the weather guessers mised it when talking  about snow.  Looks like Boston is really going to get hit.  Here in Georgia the NE mountains of the state is forecast to get 1 - 2 inches. Forecast nothing this way 45 miles SW of ATL.

OOPS.  Wrong again guesser.  We just got a dusting of about 1/4 on items above ground.  Fortunately still 34 degrees and ground warm enough  as today's high 55. Low will be around 22 tonight.

 My take of snow is expect a difference 50 miles of any forecast is possible.  Well that got blown as here some 150 miles SW.  

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Posted by tree68 on Friday, January 28, 2022 5:08 PM

Not necessarily regretting that I can't make it to the Springfield show this weekend.  They're due to get that Nor'easter, which could make life interesting.

I am getting reports (and pictures) on the set up of our booth.  So far it's looking pretty good.

I'll be sitting in my ham shack, seeing how many contacts I can make during the Winter Field Day contest.

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, January 28, 2022 3:20 PM

afternoon

Went to Deshler and gave hugs.Between the salute and the playing of Taps Csx had a loram mini grinder come through town.Csx also has some new trains to split the autorack and container traffic through Deshler.One of the new trains is 261.It goes from North Baltimore to Baldwin Florida.Caught up with the mini grinder on the way home.Saw K 182 come westbound with 2 new rebuilt units 7017 and 7025.Matt will be coming home tomorrow.Guessers say things could be interesting here on Groundhog day next week.Time for some chores.

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, January 27, 2022 3:43 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear after work.Did see some mow with a big piece of rail on the truck.It is the season.Tomorrow off work to give hugs.Simple Funeral with military honors.Going to make our soup recipie again on Saturday.Matt said he will be home.Off to do chores.

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 Wednesday, January 26, 2022 2:43 PM

Just ordered flowers for the funeral of a firefighter from a department in the Southern Tier who came up several time during Ice Storm '98 to assist.  Our departments have been friends ever since, although our exchanges have dropped off as the folks who were here during the Ice Storm have left the department, etc.

Wish I could go down, but I don't relish driving 200 miles wearing this boot on my foot (broken ankle).

He was a great guy - could fix anything...

Still cold here - only reached about +8F for a high today, and more sub-zero temps are in the forecast.  Wish the weather-guessers would be wrong, but, no.  At least we're pretty much used to it.  Those folks in the southeast getting 30's and below are the ones suffering.

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 Wednesday, January 26, 2022 2:24 PM

afternoon

Ns was clear after work.Sunshine is nice but still cold.Need to do some chores.

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 25, 2022 4:44 PM

evening

Ns was clear after work.Ran errands in town.One place was having computer issues so they just took cash.One store was out of what Stacey needed so had to make another stop.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 JoeKoh on Monday, January 24, 2022 5:08 PM

evening

Ns was clear after work today.Came home and took care of some more snow.Always hear the squeel along the wye tracks in Deshler.Time to do some chores.

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 Monday, January 24, 2022 11:01 AM

Pneumatic vs hydraulic vs spring issue .....or is it just the steel on steel squealing at issue? (the squealing wheel complaints have also become an issue in LA on the light rail blue line at speed)

just call it local ambianceMischief

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 CShaveRR on Sunday, January 23, 2022 3:56 PM

Did someone call me?  I couldn't hear 'em because of this ringing in my ears.  

(UP solved its own problem by shutting down the hump where I worked...now you just have coupling noises, some louder than others.)  When I first moved to the area of Proviso, I could hear the retarders in quieter hours from three and more mlies away.  Coupling impacts, abut the same.

I think BN tried earthen berms right at the retarders somewhere (Northtown?) to redirect flange squeal away from the ground-pounders.  I don't know how successful that effort was.  But of course, that would do nothing to impede the noise at, say, the residence level of nearby hotels.

This has to be kind of a strange area to talk about noise reduction, with some of Midway's runways closer to the hotel than the retarders involved (all of the hotels are much newer than Clearing Yard or its retarders).  Some railroad attempted broadcasting a nullifying frequency from the same direction as the source of the noise--in its case blowers for the pneumatic transloading of covered hopper cars--so that the listener would, at least in theory, hear nothing.  Did it work?  I haven't heard.

(An aside:  all of the large buildings in the map with the original article are hotels...the difference is probably the money paid into (and out of) this sound abatement fund.  Mike Madigan is no longer in office, and most of us haven't heard a peep from him in the past couple of years.  And yet, his daughter Lisa made one of the best and most competent attorneys general Illinois has had in recent decades.  Nothing was ever said against her.)



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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