Trains.com

Chatterbox Summer 2022

14817 views
224 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    September 2010
  • 2,515 posts
Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Sunday, July 10, 2022 10:50 PM

tree68
Today we (FD) catered (barbequed chicken) a class reunion.  We'll try not to do any more of those.  The estimated attendance was 100.  Fifty-seven showed up.  We didn't hold them to the 100 meals, but we should have.  It was a lot of work for what we got out of it.

If you cooked 100 servings, what did you do with the leftovers?

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,020 posts
Posted by tree68 on Monday, July 11, 2022 6:57 AM

Electroliner 1935
If you cooked 100 servings, what did you do with the leftovers?

The FD workers got dinner, a number of attendees bought halves or additional complete dinners, and we gave the workers some of the side dishes if they wanted them.  The last few chicken halves are in the freezer.  They are delicious reheated.

I'm pretty sure we collected enough money to cover our costs, but not by any wide margin.

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
    September 2010
  • 2,515 posts
Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Monday, July 11, 2022 1:23 PM

tree68
I'm pretty sure we collected enough money to cover our costs, but not by any wide margin.

That helps and with good weather, fellowship, and food you had a good time. Beats pulling bodies out of wrecks. Thanks for what you and all the other volunteer firefighters do.

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Defiance Ohio
  • 13,318 posts
Posted by JoeKoh on Monday, July 11, 2022 2:50 PM

afternoon

Back to work today.Ns had a train uptown.Mamma saw them switch her building when she was on her lunch.Saturday we bought chicken from the local American Legion in Deshler.Supper was pizza from a local restaurant that helps out out too.Keep things local.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").

 

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Defiance Ohio
  • 13,318 posts
Posted by JoeKoh on Tuesday, July 12, 2022 2:44 PM

afternoon

Ns had some trains uptown.Construction in our parking lot at work.More construction on our way home.It is the season.Friend wants to look at pictures from our wedding.If I see Mr.Peabody or Sherman I am going to run.

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
    April 2003
  • From: Defiance Ohio
  • 13,318 posts
Posted by JoeKoh on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 2:41 PM

afternoon

Ns had trains uptown.Rain followed us home and we got a brief shower.Friend liked the pictures.Going to do chores 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").

 

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Defiance Ohio
  • 13,318 posts
Posted by JoeKoh on Thursday, July 14, 2022 4:25 PM

evening

Ns looked clear after work today.Came home and took care of yardwork.Saw a contract awarded for paving in Deshler.One of the areas wil be right in front of the trainpark.Glad tomorrow is Friday.Going to check on brother Saturday.

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
    April 2003
  • From: Defiance Ohio
  • 13,318 posts
Posted by JoeKoh on Friday, July 15, 2022 5:26 PM

evening

Ns looked clear after work today.We did errands in town.A Csx westbound stopped just past Fc in Defiance.Didn't get the details.Mother nature sending us rain tonight and more for Sunday.Filled up my truck.There was a place in town with gas at 3.99.Looked like a nascar pit stop.Going to check on brother 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").

 

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,020 posts
Posted by tree68 on Friday, July 15, 2022 7:14 PM

I abruptly had to close out the ham radio net I was running this morning to respond to a pick-up vs tree.  Fortunately, it wasn't a direct hit, because although the tree lost a little bark, its 3-4 foot girth clearly won the battle.  The driver went to the hospital.

We've been pretty busy.  I made a trip to the trash transfer site this afternoon and responded to a bee sting from there.

It's been a rough week for motorcycles, too.  My department has yet to respond to one, but a neighboring department has had two - both riders were flown out to the trauma center.

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
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,292 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Friday, July 15, 2022 7:35 PM

tree68
I abruptly had to close out the ham radio net I was running this morning to respond to a pick-up vs tree.  Fortunately, it wasn't a direct hit, because although the tree lost a little bark, its 3-4 foot girth clearly won the battle.  The driver went to the hospital.

We've been pretty busy.  I made a trip to the trash transfer site this afternoon and responded to a bee sting from there.

It's been a rough week for motorcycles, too.  My department has yet to respond to one, but a neighboring department has had two - both riders were flown out to the trauma center.

Amazing how trees tend to win those battles.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,292 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Friday, July 15, 2022 7:51 PM

My town is now going to the 'jumbo sized' trash/recycling containers that are designed to be picked up and dumped by mechanization on the garbage truck.  

For years we have had track pick up on Tuesday's and recycling pick up on Thursday's with recycling spit between paper and glass/plastic/metals in separate containers.  Trash was previously limited to 36 gallon containers, maximum.

Yesterday was recycling day and I set out my regular recycling containers - they took the recycling, containers and all.  Those containers fit within the confine of my house.  The jumbo containers don't.  Called the town and requested my containers be returned, in number they were, in kind they weren't.

Still haven't been advised what is to be put in the jumbo containers; one has a yellow lid the other has a black lid.  Feel certain they are for different aspects of refuse disposal, but I have no idea what each color is for.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    January 2002
  • From: Canterlot
  • 9,575 posts
Posted by zugmann on Friday, July 15, 2022 7:58 PM

BaltACD
Still haven't been advised what is to be put in the jumbo containers; one has a yellow lid the other has a black lid.  Feel certain they are for different aspects of refuse disposal, but I have no idea what each color is for.

Usually yellow is recycling.  Probably all end up being thrown out anyhow, so why even bother with an extra container/truck/crew?

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

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,292 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Friday, July 15, 2022 8:12 PM

zugmann
 
BaltACD
Still haven't been advised what is to be put in the jumbo containers; one has a yellow lid the other has a black lid.  Feel certain they are for different aspects of refuse disposal, but I have no idea what each color is for. 

Usually yellow is recycling.  Probably all end up being thrown out anyhow, so why even bother with an extra container/truck/crew?

Bought the place in 1990.  At that time the town was having two trash pick ups a week.  Later on, I don't remember when, they decided on one trash pick up and one recycling pick up each week.  The same truck and same crew make the pick ups.  I have no idea how the recycling is actually handled.  My Florida condo had a special recycling container for a few years, but then eliminated it.  Waste Management was doing the pick ups in Florida, the town is doing the pick up in Maryland.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    January 2002
  • From: Cedar Rapids, IA
  • 4,213 posts
Posted by blhanel on Saturday, July 16, 2022 4:38 PM

Here in Marion, IA, the city has mostly two-compartment garbage trucks, one for recycle and one for trash.  Last week the pickup was delayed a day due to the holiday, which put us on Saturday.  I watched as they came around with just a one-compartment truck and dumped both containers into it. Huh?

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,020 posts
Posted by tree68 on Saturday, July 16, 2022 5:24 PM

A lot of places are "single stream."  It all goes together and they sort it out later.  

Years ago I was working in a computer center, where we carefully prepared "used" computer paper for recycling.  A lot of it had carbon paper interleaved in it, and we even went to the trouble of removing that (we had a machine for that).

One day the garbage truck showed up and dumped that recycle into the bin on the back of the truck - right on top of the cabbage the grocery store had pitched...

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 Sunday, July 17, 2022 4:42 AM

Morning

Rain here in Nw Ohio.Matt had a problem with hose clamp in his car.Friend from Deshler helped us out.Was able to take Brother out as well yesterday.Csx was jammed up.I 166 had a special CP unit on it.I 170 had a faded Sante Fe warbonnet on it as well.NS had a couple extra engines parked at SDI in Butler.We drove by the pickle festival in St. Joe as well.Chores to do inside 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
    April 2003
  • From: Defiance Ohio
  • 13,318 posts
Posted by JoeKoh on Monday, July 18, 2022 2:50 PM

afternoon

Ns looked clear when I left work.As for yesterday Csx was jammed up.M 350 was recrewed at Deshler and in 10 hrs made it to krouse road(MP91).Also I 171 had a fadeded sante fe warbonnett on it as a leader.Unfortuneately it broke down just west of Deshler.Waiting on a phone call.Going to run errands in town afterwards.

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
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,020 posts
Posted by tree68 on Monday, July 18, 2022 3:22 PM

Rain, and pretty much nobody is complaining - things were getting pretty dry.  

My weather station claims only 0.17" of rain today, but I know that's a lie, because a physical rain guage is currently showing well over an inch.  The center tube is full, and I have to empty that and pour what's in the overflow tube into the center tube to find out how much over an inch we've gotten.

A new tipping bucket assembly for the weather station sensor arrived today, but I'm not going to stand on a ladder in the rain to change it...

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
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,292 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Monday, July 18, 2022 10:34 PM

tree68
Rain, and pretty much nobody is complaining - things were getting pretty dry.  

My weather station claims only 0.17" of rain today, but I know that's a lie, because a physical rain guage is currently showing well over an inch.  The center tube is full, and I have to empty that and pour what's in the overflow tube into the center tube to find out how much over an inch we've gotten.

A new tipping bucket assembly for the weather station sensor arrived today, but I'm not going to stand on a ladder in the rain to change it...

What? No sense of adventure?  I feel certain you could get someone to hold your beer!

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Defiance Ohio
  • 13,318 posts
Posted by JoeKoh on Tuesday, July 19, 2022 8:35 PM

evening

Looked like Ns had one uptown after work today.Csx is still jammed up.Had a meeting in Deshler.Stayed after and trimmed around the park so Tim can mow it.Gueesers say triple h's tomorrow.Need to get my meeting notes posted and get to bed.

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
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,020 posts
Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, July 19, 2022 10:02 PM

BaltACD
What? No sense of adventure? 

Aluminum ladder, fifty foot tower about 20 feet away, thunder in the area.   Nah...

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, July 19, 2022 10:45 PM

There will be a brief pause while I join all the neighbors out dancing in the rain in the middle of the street. 10% chance of rain turned into buckets coming in waves and it's not done yet! (on the eve of an enforced water use restriction/reduction  no less)

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
  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Denver / La Junta
  • 10,820 posts
Posted by mudchicken on Tuesday, July 19, 2022 10:47 PM

tree68
 
BaltACD
What? No sense of adventure? 

 

Aluminum ladder, fifty foot tower about 20 feet away, thunder in the area.   Nah...

 

Electric personality is enuf?

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
  • Member since
    September 2010
  • 2,515 posts
Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Tuesday, July 19, 2022 11:11 PM

mudchicken
Aluminum ladder, fifty foot tower about 20 feet away, thunder in the area.   Nah...  

Your daddy didn't raise a dummy. You think Ben Franklin got ludky. 

  • Member since
    January 2019
  • 1,686 posts
Posted by Erik_Mag on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 12:02 AM

tree68

fifty foot tower about 20 feet away, thunder in the area.

Larry, out of curiosity: Do you have a ground system at the base of the tower? I would suspect that you would have at least one ground rod nearby, but a few radial wires would help with improving lightning protection by reducing effective ground impedance. Think capacitor in parallel with a resistor.

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,020 posts
Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 1:11 PM

Two ground rods, plus all antennas pass through Polyphasers at the base of the tower, obviously also tied to ground.  

My tower is actually not as high as some nearby spruces, but that means nothing.

But , as we recently found out with an area repeater, lightning does what it wants.  It hasn't been determined exactly what got hit - we think it was the electrical service.  Everything, repeat, everything in the shelter got fried.  radios, solar chargers, you name it.

Fortunately, there was a back-up repeater not on site.  The antenna systems seem to be OK - I was running a net on that machine this morning.  An APRS machine is in the process of being replaced via a donation.

I'm not a grounding expert, but I've got a good idea, and am doing the best I can.

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
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,292 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 1:21 PM

When  electronics that operate on millivolts get struct by lightning in the millions of volts - carnage ensues

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    September 2010
  • 2,515 posts
Posted by Electroliner 1935 on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 4:51 PM

I blew up when I was told by a telephone company outside plant engineer "Ground is Ground". This was when we were working on service to a 138 KV substation that had two 40 MVA transformers. When there are faults, ground currents can exceed 5,000 amps. And it wants to go to the area away from the fault. The copper pairs are grounded at the central office. And like lava from a olcano, This current wants to flow and now. I have seen large (500 pair) telephone cables become pelletized after faults. As you said lightning does whatever it wants. 

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Defiance Ohio
  • 13,318 posts
Posted by JoeKoh on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 5:08 PM

evening

Didn't see Ns or Csx stopped anywhere today after work.Was reading about how the Katy Unit came on Csx on I 192 today.Matt had more parts come in the mail for his trains.Swamp is all done.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").

 

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,020 posts
Posted by tree68 on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 5:09 PM

Electroliner 1935
I have seen large (500 pair) telephone cables become pelletized after faults.

I think I've told this story, but...

Several years ago, my fire department was dispatched for a grass fire along a state highway.

We get there, ans sure enough, a long line of small grass fires, along the pole line.

I make our folks hold off until we figured out exactly what was going on.  The fire wasn't going much of anywhere, and it appeared there might be primaries involved.

As it turned out, a recent wind event had disconnected a primary from it's insulator, on the downwind side (prevailing winds).  The primary was hanging down below the crossarm, still secured by the two adjacent poles.

The day of the incident, the wind had changed to the opposite direction.

As with most utility poles, there were muliple users - power, fiber, phone.

The wind blew the primary into the steel carrier/messenger to which the fiber optic line was secured.  Said steel cable instantly became a heatng element for about three poles in either direction.  One span crossed the state highway.

The fiber line was vaporized.

Drivers passing the scene at the time didn't know what to think.  

Before we had a chance to notify anyone, a fiber customer troubleshooter showed up on the scene - he was checking on several outages.  I wonder why...

The telco spent several days splicing in a patch.

After we were sure there were no live wires involved, we put the fires out.

Interesting call...

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...

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy