When I was in my 20's I had a 'Relief' job - 2 Firsts, 2 Seconds and 1 Third - piece of cake.
In my late 40's I was forced into another 'Relief' job - 1 First, 2 Seconds and 2 Thirds - damn near killed me. I could make it through the first Third but couldn't get enough sleep to make it through the second Third. (note at the time I didn't have enough seniority to hold a straight Third job.
On the railroad, Third Trick is the 'true' train running trick. First trick from a Dispatchers perspective, the Dispatcher is directing more MofW operations than he is trains. Second Trick starts out as a MofW dispatcher that then gets 'blindsided' by train operations. Third Trick is all trains.
In retirement I don't rack out until 0030 to 0100 and generally wake up between 0700 and 0800. I only set a alarm when absolutely necessary.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Well I'm an old person and I sleep in on the weekends, just like as always.
When I started out with INCO we had rotating 3 shifts, found that kind of rough after 6 months and volunteered for steady graveyard, so all the other Geos only had to do the 2 rotations. That worked just fine.
Now I stay up far too late because of this web net thingie and the darn Forums.
zugmann I always believed that everyone should have to work at least 6 months of night shift once in their lives.
I always believed that everyone should have to work at least 6 months of night shift once in their lives.
charlie hebdo Or of rotating shifts.
Or of rotating shifts.
Railroaders do both!
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
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
zugmannMaybe he closed down the bars, hit up some clubs, and is now settling down for a cup of coffee before going to bed.
I had something like this here.
Our small town has a bar/diner. My church's men's group had Bible study at 6:00 a.m. on Friday mornings at the bar/diner.
A local factory's night shift got off work at 5:30 a.m. Those guys were in drinking beer while we were in drinking coffee and eating breakfast.
5:30 a.m. is the start of the day for us old guys, and 5:30 a.m. is the end of the day for those younger workers.
York1 John
Assuming the guy woke up early. Maybe he closed down the bars, hit up some clubs, and is now settling down for a cup of coffee before going to bed.
divebardave I see that same ol guys at 500am at my local diner getting there coffee sitting at the same table for the last 40 years.
He probably wasn't an old guy when he started sitting at that table 40 years ago?
Sounds like you are stereotyping his grey hair and attributing what you perceive as being his excess free time as the byproduct of his age?
I suspect the more likely culprit being his state of mind. Some people just can't roll over and go back to sleep once they have woken up. Aches, pains, trips to the restroom are all things that wake people early, and some unfortunate folks simply can't go back to sleep once awake. Maybe he's lucky enough to no longer have a wife to challenge him with "and just where do you think you're going?" So once he's awake he goes anywhere he chooses, not because he has to, but simply because he can?
Perhaps he's a sadist and now that he's retired he enjoys watching all the rats running their races trying to "get ahead"?
There is one other small possibility. The spin of the earth imparts a certain amount of momentum on everything that rests upon it's surface. The orbit of the earth around the sun likewise imparts a certain amount of momentum upon everything on and within it.
Those two forces combine as an addition to one another during our night time hours, while the spinning momentum becomes a subtraction from the orbital momentum during daytime hours.
Along about 4:30-5:00 in the morning (some people are more sensitive than other) this change in relative momentum is perceived similar to the way one senses going up and over the apex of a hill on a rollercoaster.
Perhaps this gentle man going to the coffee shop each morning is just his way of throwing his arms up and shouting "weeeeeee!"
selector I have been retired since 20014 (at the ripe old age of 52 no less). I keep busy and active, or did until I developed severe sleep apnea and its daughter, atrial fibrillation. I'm rarely in bed before midnight, and rarely still in bed after 0730.
I have been retired since 20014 (at the ripe old age of 52 no less). I keep busy and active, or did until I developed severe sleep apnea and its daughter, atrial fibrillation.
I'm rarely in bed before midnight, and rarely still in bed after 0730.
SSSHHHEEESSSHHH! I thought it was just me. As my calandar advances; the old phrase "...Early to bed and early to rise..." Seems to be the order of the day. The earlier I go to bed the earlier I rise.
Coffee for breakfast, or a conversation with Earl Gray...
What a way to start a day?
ROBIN LUETHE I spent a whole life of being a night owl, and doing my heavy reading late and sleeping as late as I could. Suddenly at 75 one morning I woke up at 4am wide awake, and have got up ever since between 4:30 and 6:30. I have no idea what happened. It just did.
I spent a whole life of being a night owl, and doing my heavy reading late and sleeping as late as I could. Suddenly at 75 one morning I woke up at 4am wide awake, and have got up ever since between 4:30 and 6:30. I have no idea what happened. It just did.
That's pretty wild. What time do you go to bed now?
NKP guy I'm surprised that so far no one has suggested that some retired folks get up early because in a number of ways it's the best part of the day. When I taught, I arose at 5 AM and was in my classroom by 7:15. These days I rise around 6 or 6:30 AM and think I'm getting away with something because I can sleep in! Early risers see the dawn; need I say more? Ahead lies a new day of seemingly endless possibilities and things to do. People who walk dogs early, especially in parks, see things and creatures that often cause joy and wonderment and that frequently leads to prayers of thanks. One last thing: My grandfather, born in 1887, was very much of the opinion that people who were not awake before 8 AM might just as well go back to bed since they'd already missed the best part of the day. As a kid I used to scorn that notion; the older I get, the more I understand it.
I'm surprised that so far no one has suggested that some retired folks get up early because in a number of ways it's the best part of the day.
When I taught, I arose at 5 AM and was in my classroom by 7:15. These days I rise around 6 or 6:30 AM and think I'm getting away with something because I can sleep in!
Early risers see the dawn; need I say more? Ahead lies a new day of seemingly endless possibilities and things to do. People who walk dogs early, especially in parks, see things and creatures that often cause joy and wonderment and that frequently leads to prayers of thanks.
One last thing: My grandfather, born in 1887, was very much of the opinion that people who were not awake before 8 AM might just as well go back to bed since they'd already missed the best part of the day. As a kid I used to scorn that notion; the older I get, the more I understand it.
Before I retired from teaching (still do some clinical, mostly neuropsych evaluations), I woke at five, had a coffee office hour at seven, and taught first class at eight. Now I wake by 6:20, asleep by midnight.
(.)
Flintlock76Up until five or so years ago the rails in front of the Ashland VA station had 1940 manufacture dates on them! I'd just look in wonder knowing it was the old RF&P and just how much history those rails had seen.
I suspect it is highly possible that much of the 'diesel light rail' operating over the south end of the old Erie Northern branch is still using the 'legacy' rail there ... most of which was stamped 1918. It is still perfectly suitable with a little effective grinding...
SD70Dude divebardave Wait....A&W has Breakfast?? Root Beer and Pancakes!!! Do they not have it in the States? Up here you can get eggs cooked to order, and they serve you at your table. Their coffee (Van Houte) is not my favourite, but they use real ceramic plates and mugs. You can order Root Beer (in a icy mug) instead of coffee!
divebardave Wait....A&W has Breakfast?? Root Beer and Pancakes!!!
Wait....A&W has Breakfast?? Root Beer and Pancakes!!!
Do they not have it in the States?
Up here you can get eggs cooked to order, and they serve you at your table. Their coffee (Van Houte) is not my favourite, but they use real ceramic plates and mugs.
You can order Root Beer (in a icy mug) instead of coffee!
We DID indeed have A&W's here in the States although many years ago! J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott got started with an A&W concession on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington DC; they then formed Hot Shoppes which eventually became the foundation of Marriott International (né Marriott Corporation), now the largest global hotel company. Way back before hotels, food service was what made money for the Marriotts.
“Things of quality have no fear of time.”
NKP guy divebardave Why do you Canadians keep making all this cold nasty weather and exporting South to US USA? What did we do to you? Do you recall the bit from a short time ago where the US President referred to Canada as a national security threat?
divebardave Why do you Canadians keep making all this cold nasty weather and exporting South to US USA? What did we do to you?
Do you recall the bit from a short time ago where the US President referred to Canada as a national security threat?
Payback sure sucks, eh buddy!
Flintlock76 I can see (I think) "80 pounds" on the closest rail. I wonder just how old those rails are? Might be interesting to see the cast-in manufacture date.
I can see (I think) "80 pounds" on the closest rail. I wonder just how old those rails are? Might be interesting to see the cast-in manufacture date.
The manufacturer is Algoma Steel. That's the Sault Ste. Marie, ON mill, which started producing rail in 1902.
I've seen rail with pre-WWI manufacture dates still in service on active yard and industrial trackage. Heavy steel lasts a long time!
Up until five or so years ago the rails in front of the Ashland VA station had 1940 manufacture dates on them! I'd just look in wonder knowing it was the old RF&P and just how much history those rails had seen.
Then CSX rebuilt the line and those old rails were gone. Oh well, the station's still there!
https://www.greatamericanstations.com/ashland-va-asd/
Not very weatherproof. Made with lifted Prairie branch lines in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Maybe we should build a wall to keep that weather out.
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
From getting out of bed to politics, in 1.2 pages.
divebardaveNonsensical as the president’s explanation for the tariff on Canadian goods might be, it has provoked a very serious reaction from Ottawa: Canada will impose its own tariffs on nearly $13 billion worth of American goods, including beer, whiskey and yogurt"
You're quoting something from June of 2018. Nonsensical. As nonsensical as Canadian tariffs of US goods and US tariffs of Canadian goods before.
The tariffs had the desired result. A new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.
NKP guy From The Hill- "Nonsensical as the president’s explanation for the tariff on Canadian goods might be, it has provoked a very serious reaction from Ottawa: Canada will impose its own tariffs on nearly $13 billion worth of American goods, including beer, whiskey and yogurt" divebardave Why do you Canadians keep making all this cold nasty weather and exporting South to US USA? What did we do to you? Do you recall the bit from a short time ago where the US President referred to Canada as a national security threat?
From The Hill- "Nonsensical as the president’s explanation for the tariff on Canadian goods might be, it has provoked a very serious reaction from Ottawa: Canada will impose its own tariffs on nearly $13 billion worth of American goods, including beer, whiskey and yogurt"
SD70Dude To rush over to A&W for breakfast and read your posts on the free wifi of course!
To rush over to A&W for breakfast and read your posts on the free wifi of course!
If I could sleep more soundly, I'd get up earlier. But between usually two toilet runs per night, and (I have sleep apnea) my CPAP mask slipping off or whatever, I tend not to sleep well between 2 and 5 am; it's sketchy during that period. But once I doze off around 5 or 6, I sleep like a corpse until about 8. Go figure.
Ideally, I would sleep 11-7. I do everything best in the morning. I take a nap every afternoon. I think the sleep apnea prevents me from ever getting a good night's sleep, hence the afternoon crash. However, I LOVE my maps.
If I need to do something well, it's really best handled in the morning.
Sliced tomatoes with breakfast? Is that a Canadian thing?
You betcha!!
SD70Dude A&W's are found in many smaller towns out here that apparently are not large enough to rate a McDonalds etc. Here is the breakfast menu. I usually get the All-Canadian Special: https://web.aw.ca/en/our-menu/breakfast
A&W's are found in many smaller towns out here that apparently are not large enough to rate a McDonalds etc.
Here is the breakfast menu. I usually get the All-Canadian Special:
https://web.aw.ca/en/our-menu/breakfast
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
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