Morning
Mother nature sent strong winds and storms to us here in Nw Ohio.The swamp got a huge refill.Family is ok.Checking with friends if they need help in the clean up.Not sure if the meeting in Deshler got cancelled or not.
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").
Weather arrived today about noon, rain in most places, a little snow in others. It's all rain here now, but the radar leaves one with the impression it's snowing in the Adirondacks.
Tomorrow's big deal is supposed to be wind. It's all part of a system working across the middle of the country right now. Severe weather is a possibility. Our barometer has been dropping all day.
Larry 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...
afternoon
Ns had a train go by after work.They also have some cars uptown as well.Mother nature sent some rain more to come.Don't get fooled tomorrow.
Ns was clear after work today.Ran errands uptown.Watching opening day baseball.Glad tomorrow is Friday.Deshler council person wants to meet Saturday to talk about the B&O caboose.I offered the museum for the meeting because the weather looks iffy.Chores to do.
blue streak 1If this had been a Haz Mat train??
It was literally miles from just about anything, in the middle of the Mohave... If you're gonna dump a hazmat train, that's the place to do it.
On the weather front, we had a front come through last night around sunset. Had a 33 MPH wind gust, then it snowed like the dickens for maybe an hour. Then it just cleared up. Gotta love Mother Nature.
With all the runaways on that hill maybe time for some runaway ramps? Runaway ramps probably would cost less than the accident damage from the derailments here? If this had been a Haz Mat train???
Dock at our building is clear.Ns was sending a westbound after work.Mother nature is sending more wind today as well.Chores to do.
tree68Did the crew bail, or were they not on board when the train took off?
Yes, the crew bailed and survived back near Cima (top of hill?). Reportedly rails say that you must jump at under 15-20 mph in order to survive - a scary split second decision to contemplate.
Hope the NTSB doesn't need much evidence from that astonishing pile of scrap metal bits left at the end.
Links to my Google Maps ---> Sunset Route overview, SoCal metro, Yuma sub, Gila sub, SR east of Tucson, BNSF Northern Transcon and Southern Transcon *** Why you should support Ukraine! ***
Ns has a coal train in the siding at work.Didn't get a chance to look on our dock.Friend went up to Montana to see the MRL before BNSF takes it back over.Got rewarded with a late snowstorm near Bozeman.Chores to here.
Looking at the picture on Trains, it dug one heck of a hole.
Did the crew bail, or were they not on board when the train took off?
The Diesel Fried Chicken guy mentioned listening to a recording of a runaway on Cima Hill. A long downhill stretch with few curves can lead to a very scary runaway.
Surprised no one has mentioned the massive derailment near Kelso CA on the UP Cima sub. By estimation the long iron ore train was going WAY over max track speed and wound up as a crumpled wreck: https://ktla.com/news/local-news/hazmat-crews-respond-to-train-derailment-near-baker/amp/ Amazing the crew jumped and survived.
Back to work Monday.Someone said it's national Joe Day.Got a brief look at the dock and the rail cars were gone.Looked like Ns was pulling a powder river coal train east after work.Chores to do here.
A smilar thing happened here. CP put two covered hoppers carrying wheat on the gorund in Franklin Park near the east end of Bensenville yard. Senator Duckworth got all worked up saying that it showed that the Ohio incident could happen here.
Minor derailment in La Junta yard yesterday morning brought the typical over-reaction hysteria by the newsworkers (at least most, one had a chill pill after he messed-up on some facts and was trying to be real).
Fortunately this happened off the main track and did not effect Amthrax #3 or anybody passing through.
Two covered hoppers and two tank cars with fuel additive (newsworker was calling the lading crude-oil) derailed....When you pull through halfway across a variable switch and then back-up, bad things happen. Suspect one train crew is looking at a "vacation" after a dumb move (depending on the outcome of the derailment cause investigation*).
(*) wind-blown dirt and snow ("snirt") may have played into this.
West coast weather update:
Little rain for a few days but another AR is due tomorrow.
Shasta Lake capacity used has almost caught up to Lake Oroville - 80% vs 82%. Outflow of the latter is set close to inflow whereas Shasta is mostly inflow.
Tulare Lake is normally dry but the high rainfall has restored the once largest freshwater lake in CA to wetness. For some history see Wikipedia and these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w50DM5Dl89c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vno7tDj_RMs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaV-vjvqHb0
Almost 2/3 inch of rain yesterday and today. The folks to the north of us are getting snow, though. They can have it.
Had a fellow yesterday who hit a patch of slush (we got a little snow before the changeover to all rain) and ended up in the ditch. He wasn't hurt, but his car is probably totalled.
Birds have been hitting the feeders exceptionally hard for some reason. Headed to the farm store this afternoon for a reload on sunflower seed. And suet.
Checked the NDW yard today.All 5 engines were home.Patriot rail has a new sign up in the yard.Csx wasn't that busy.Saw L 376 and a couple other trains.More rain for tonight according to the guessers.Back to work tomorrow.We'll see if Ns changed out the cars.
After last nights and todays rain, Mother Nature wants to dry us up with the wind.Checked on Brother in Edgerton.Ns sent some trains.College boy went to check on his railroad club.Chores to do here.
NKP guy...sight of large maple syrup buckets hanging by twos and threes on trees almost everywhere one looked...
While there's still plenty of folks hanging buckets (and apparently there are now bags for that purpose, too), most of the large producers have run networks of tubing to gather the sap into a central collection point.
tree68Syruping weather - warm during the day, cold at night.
When I was a kid, nothing said March here on the Western Reserve more than the sight of large maple syrup buckets hanging by twos and threes on trees almost everywhere one looked in the countryside. Little villages laid out by New Englanders to look like New England often had the main roads into town lined with mature maple trees, all with hanging buckets and covers. In the summer, those trees gave a shady& cool tunnel-like entrance to the village; in the autumn, the leaves turned gold.
Maple trees, maple syrup, pancakes and pork link sausages...March in northeastern Ohio.
Syruping weather - warm during the day, cold at night. Several friends are hard at it, boiling sap.
Missed the aurora last night - just never got out the back door to look. And it'll be cloudy tonight, for sure.
There was a motorcar excursion on the Adirondack last fall. Here's a link to the video, thanks to a NARCOA member I met at the Springfield show this past winter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCwDnirGz3Q
evening
Stayed closer to home today.The wind out of the east was pretty chilly.Stopped in Deshler.Csx ran a B 820 around the sw wye to go west.Had a Csx/cp and ns combo.Then they ran an M 560 around the Se wye to go east.He had over 200 cars.Guessers say rain for tomorrow.Chores to do.
Took a road trip.Mother nature provided off and on rain.Went to Sandusky to check out a carousel museum.Ns also had a few car loads off coal to load on the dock there.Bellevue wasn't too much.We went down to an operation at Maple Grove along the old NKP line.They had some old switchers running and Ns sent a westbound.Came home along the B&O and followed a bulk sand hopper train west.Swamp is full.Need to do some chores.
Ran errands here in town.The Ndw yard is a bit empty.They have more ties stacked up at Fc.The siding for the fertilizer track is mostly done.Csx MOW is working between West Standley and East Defiance.Csx sent a coke train(B 157) west and an empty coal hopper train east.Chores to do inside.Mother nature sending rain.
Glenwood Canyon here in Colorado is working the slide fences in the canyon pretty hard of late. Uncle Pete has gotten his armour yellow shorts and boots dirty lately moving the rockfalls between Dotsero and Glenwood Springs. His rubber tired nemisis at CDOT is not doing much better on I-70 on the other side of the canyon. (but then stoopid trucker stunts keep shutting that down regularly)
Now if the rain & snow could just skip the mountains and get to SE Colorado a little more often.....
Cal SR-70 through the Feather River canyon has been closed due to multiple mudslides with no estimate of reopening. Surprisingly, the adjacent UP Canyon sub remains open.
Reservoir inflow levels have levelled off and are being prepped for the next big storm. Lake Shasta inflow is still increasing but at a lower rate.
The latest AR passed through to the south and is hitting SoCal and Arizona pretty hard, see the Flagstaff cam for a lot of new snow fallen in the last nine hours. Even Cajon Pass is getting a little ....
Went to Deshler today.Had some new friends come and visit.Did a few things here and there.Making a list of what needs to be done.Csx was working in West Deshler.They have ties to replace on track 2 all the way to Fostoria.Mow also shorted a signal for I 135.Little rain for tomorrow.More rain for Thursday.Time for supper.
BaltACDHave appropriate height warning 'tell tales' been tried in advance of the bridge - such that a overheight vehicle will hit the 'tell tale' in such a manner that he WILL KNOW it before getting to the actual point of restriction and catastrophic damage.
I don't know that there have ever been telltales tried - it's something I think might work, too.
If there's an issue with telltales, it's that in most cases, the height of the truck is behind the driver. Most of the cases of late have been straight axle box trucks, though, so they might be a little more effective.
I thought there were height monitors there that would set off alarms, but I may be wrong. Tied together with very bright lights, they might help.
Rumble strips might help, too, just to remind the drivers of the upcoming obstacle. Not sure the daily drivers would appreciate them...
As MC has pointed out, GPS gets some of the blame, especially if the driver is using an automotive version, instead of one tailored for trucks.
Have appropriate height warning 'tell tales' been tried in advance of the bridge - such that a overheight vehicle will hit the 'tell tale' in such a manner that he WILL KNOW it before getting to the actual point of restriction and catastrophic damage.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
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