By the time they turned it on again (which they can do by keying a DTMF code on their radios, far advanced over us)

I'm sure from you Ham side you have seen Raspberry Pi's interfaced to radios, add some DTMF decode, the GPIO pins and you can drive relays to do it. Of course the IRM has to have relays not knife switches for the power. With a bit of programming you likely could put the entire tower control on the radio, and have it answer back with a wav file indicating the state of switches, signals, power, etc.

I keep my ham license renewed, but I really pay very little attention to what's going on in that arena.

We use knife switches to connect/disconnect certain sections of the wire (mostly in barns). I've never looked at the substation, but there are supposed to be buttons on the outside to shut it down if necessary and to reset it if automatic reset has failed. I probably should learn something about it, as much as I'm out there.

We now have every powered switch (except Four Mile, which is not used in normal operation) controlled by radio. Vocal feedback would be nice, but there's already too much traffic on the radio and people not able to get a word in edgewise when they need to. Maybe if we put all of the remote control stuff on another channel...

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-washington-derailment-idUSKBN19O02T

An Amtrak train with more than 250 people aboard derailed on Sunday near Puget Sound in Washington state, injuring several passengers, although no one was believed to have been seriously hurt, local fire officials and the rail service said.

Amtrak said the locomotive and baggage car of train 506 on the Amtrak Cascades line, running between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Eugene, Oregon, left the tracks at Chambers Bay Bridge in Steilacoom, Washington, just south of Tacoma.

The West Pierce Fire and Rescue department said the first four cars of the 15-car northbound train derailed. Images of the wreck posted by local news media showed the engine lying on its side a short distance from the shore of Puget Sound near the Chambers Bay Marina.

---

Well with dad sleeping a lot more now and having 4 cameras to keep an eye on him, I find that I had a little free time , so on a whim I had a look at the two railcam sites.

I already posted a pic from the new RailStream camera at Shenandoah Junction WV.

But here is another anyway :-)



Yesterday's Capitol Ltd 29 lead by heritage unit 145

However when I went to the Virtual Railfan website, they have completely overhauled the site, along with the payment options, before I was on the higest tarrif and got everything.

However now to get HD cameras I have to pay an extra $5 a month, not worth it at the moment but might in the future.

They have however added 8 new cameras!!

Horseshoe Curve PA has a rotating 360 degree cam

Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, TN has an east and west cam

La Grange, KY. also an east and west cam

Thomasville, NC which just had a west cam has had an east cam added.

La Plata, MO has an east and west cam located right on the Amtrak station!

This was a very late Southwest Chief 4 arriving yesterday



Quality is not as good as Railstream only being SD, but if you are a car number fan then this is for you :-)



No I do not inted to start keeping a record of the numbers!!

Extreme trainspotting on Britain's highest (and windiest) railway
A £20m ride puts the Highlands at your feet

Geek's Guide to Britain The world's highest railway is the Xining-Golmud-Lhasa railway at 5,068m (16,627ft) above sea level and running 815km (506 miles). As much a political piece as a transport corridor, the line was designed to fuse China with Tibet – the country the People's Republic invaded and annexed in 1950.

Britain's highest railway is nowhere near as controversial, nor as high or long. It's the 2km (1.2 miles) Cairngorm Mountain Railway, a funicular operating at up to 1,097m (3,599ft) above sea level – the highest station – on Britain's sixth highest mountain.

Passengers are winter-sports enthusiasts and hill lovers as this line has been serving the Cairngorm Mountain ski resort, a few miles to the east of Aviemore, since 2001.

That might sound tame, but the conditions in which Britain's tallest railway line operates are far from it.

The Cairngorms climate is among the most severe in the UK with a tendency for low temperatures and high winds.

---

Seven days at the museum. Photos average 10 MB, so don't click the links if bandwidth is an issue for you.

I went out last Wednesday, mainly hoping to see Thomas arrive, but I was too late. He was already hidden on track 41, past the pit. Decided to check out a new restaurant on the way home. Liked the Italian beef egg rolls appetizer.

Went again late Thursday. They were just getting started unloading the trucks from a newly acquired coach from the trailer carrying them. I drove around to take pictures of the flooding before settling down to watch. Santa Fe 92 was placed on the West Wye for inspection by Union Pacific's Mechanical Department (which happened Friday; it's being sent to National Railway Equipment at Silvis, Ill., to have its engine and main generator replaced, plus any other work it needs to become operational). I wish I'd shot the water next to it from the other side; later, someone else did, a beautiful shot with the low sun on it and a full reflection in the water. By this time of the day (after 5pm), the water no longer covered the road from the public lot, but was still running across it from the previous picture to this one. On Monday, the grass here was muddy -- not just the ground under it, the individual blades of grass were coated with it.

Six hours earlier, this area was completely under water, from the rails on the left up to and into the building (Barn 3). The water had been over the leads to Yards 6-8, but not into the Hoffmann Bus Garage. Opposite view. Electric Park was draining nicely, but the water had been over the track and still covered part of Central Ave.

In the future roundhouse area, the water had been right up to where I took this shot at the corner of Depot St. and Springfield Ave. The area at the end of those tracks was less willing to drain; there was a pump running here Sunday. The object on the right is our turntable from Denver.

Unrelated to the flooding, here you see 1630 resting in her normal place during the operating season. The little guy next to her was just recently placed there. If he stays, he'll be in the background of a lot of people's pictures of Thomas; the Thomas loading track is the one in the foreground (hence the concrete pads).

Now to the new car's trucks... Perhaps for clarity, I'll refer to highway trucks by the British term lorry. Yes, that seems sensible. Anyway, here's the first one being lifted off the trailer, and being placed on the track. I lent a hand to pushing it over a high spot before standing back for the picture. There must be a rail here somewhere; the crane had to roll over it. As built, the coach had an axle-driven generator for lights and air conditioning. The bracket on the end of the second truck was there to catch the drive shaft should it somehow detach from the gearbox. Both coaches are equipped with disc brakes. Since this was the end of the day's excitement, I headed home.

They said the first lorry would arrive by 8am Friday, but I didn't believe it. I arrived around 10:30 to find the rear of the first coach suspended from the crane. One of the guys used our large forklift to pull the bogey out from under it. About then, the second coach came down Olson Rd. (that's my SUV on the left) and parked along Museum Dr. behind its trucks. The first truck was rolled under the coach, with final tweaking by a chain attached to the forklift, and the coach eased down onto it. Then the real fun began. After hours of back and forth and spinning wheels in mud and gravel and putting chunks of wood on the ground and swearing, the lorry finally got the other end of the coach in position over the track and under the crane. With the lorry out and the truck in, the coach was moved to another track and the whole thing started all over again.

After the trucks were put on the track, the lorry pulled in. This time, the front end was lifted first. Problem: it was at too much of an angle to the track and wood blocks had to be placed on the bolster so parts would clear each other. A locomotive was tied on and slowly edged the car forward while the rear end swung into line. The guy in white is holding the control for the steerable bogey. Once this end was on its truck, the coach was moved back so the front could be lifted and the blocks removed. Finally, it was all done and moving to the other track... and derailed. They were still working on it when I left to get some sleep for Saturday. The diesel had to move on to other tasks (getting the coach train off of Station 2 and putting the caboose train in its place for me). They didn't get it back on until the next afternoon.

This post is already a bit long, so I'll cover operations in a new one.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

A whole week ago now, July 1: I arrive pleased but not surprised that my caboose train has been put on Station 2 and inspected, and all I have to do is the initial brake test. This is quickly accomplished on a four car train and electric locomotive. Since Commonwealth Edison 4 is a power plant switcher, not a road unit, it maxes out at about 20 mph, so I keep the car talks really short. Surprisingly, we keep the schedule throughout the day. The conductor's valve on the ICG car is positioned such that I feel safest if I sit on the steps while backing. However, this means I have to turn my head sideways, and that combines with a hat just a tad too small to give me a headache. Solution: remove the hat. The car has a big porch area and I set the hat there. Unexpected swirls of wind grab the hat and blow it around a steel panel and off the side. I inform motorman and on the next trip we stop and his assistant picks it up for me. [Fell asleep typing Saturday night 7/8, continuing Sunday night, really Monday morning] Thereafter, I tuck it under my thigh. [Fell asleep again, continuing Monday afternoon 7/10] Since it's Trolley Weekend, one of the Electric Car guys has made a schedule of what is going to run when; today is designated as 125th Anniversary of the Electrified L. We are sharing track 2 with the Zephyr, while everything else running is a Chicago L train, progressing from Northwestern Elevated 24 (built in 1897) to the 1907 wood cars, the circa-1920 4000s, the late-50s PCC cars, the 2000s, and finally the 1969-built 2200s. (The 2400s had to be scratched because of unreliable electronics in the control systems. However, they and some other L cars are on display at 50th Ave.) At the end of the day, we leave the train at the very west end of 2, the plan being that the coach train will be added in front of it for tomorrow.

July 2: It turns out all they added to the caboose train was the Santa Fe combine (running with 1630 today), but this is of little concern to me. Today, we're abandoning the Chicago Aurora & Elgin, one day ahead of the 60th anniversary of the event. Once again, there is a schedule, but not quite as much success in adhering to it. Another thing that happened at the end of Saturday was that C&NW 411 went down to Barn 14 to get the bilevels; the train was left overnight on the South Yard Connector, so after signing in Sunday morning, I park my car nearby but out of the way; this will turn out to be a very good decision. I drag my cooler and grip to the train and let myself in. This involves using the outside door release (I know where it is), muscling myself onto the car, hitting the regular door open button, getting off to close the release, putting my stuff on board, and hoisting myself on again, all while worrying about tearing a ligament or otherwise blowing out my knee. Engineer (head Diesel guy) comes and tells me what I need to know, then walks the brake test himself. On paper, I'm Conductor, but with this train my only real function is to open and close the doors (which means anyone can do it) and he goes when his indicator says I did it. Nevertheless, we have just had a Rules Clarification that made it clear that if the Conductor in such a situation is rules qualified, he is responsible for making sure the Engineer obeys the orders, so we agree that he will repeat the orders to the Dispatcher and I will repeat them to him. We request and receive orders onto the Car Line, West Wye, and West Station Lead. Engineer walks through to the cab car (facing toward Chicago, standard practice for all area commuter lines). In a few minutes, we go right through Station 1 without stopping and down to Four Mile Siding. This is my fourth year as a volunteer and the second time I've been in 4 Mile. While Engineer is upstairs in the cab, I'm standing at the end door looking through the window, calling signals. When we get to 4 Mile, however, the switch is lined in, but the signal is red over dark (it probably should be Restricting, red over lunar). I check the Timetable and confirm that it's an Absolute signal, so we call Dispatcher and he talks us by it. The plan was that we would flag down a CA&E train and ride back to the grounds, then ride out again about 11:30. However, we got out there later than planned, so we just stayed... for and hour and a half, as it turned out, since everything else was running late too. We sat and enjoyed the air conditioning. Ah, the air conditioning. We had three cars, but the west car was closed because the air doesn't work. It also doesn't work in the east half of the middle car, so people were discouraged from riding there (unless they wanted stuffy heat). As it turns out, while the air runs in the west half of the east car, it doesn't do anything, so people were also discouraged from riding there. It works the best in the east half of the east car (where the control cab is!), which was fortunate for me because I had to work the doors from that car -- one of its doors sticks and has to be encouraged to close. Finally, Dispatcher orders us out of Four Mile and down to Seemann Road to pick up people thrown off the CA&E train when the court order expired. As we pull up, I open the door and call distances to Engineer... and we get it absolutely perfect, my door right on the end of the platform. I get off and make a bit of a production of telling the people I understand they need a ride home and welcome to the Chicago & North Western. When we return to East Union, I thank them again for riding the Chicago & North Western. We then run standard trips the rest of the day. Dispatcher could have picked an easier day for his first time solo in the tower. Once, he put us into 1 instead of 2, which is fine except Engineer stopped with us still about a foot over the insulated joint so Control Point Spaulding was locked up until he came back from the diner (with my lunch, a bratwurst); one shuttle trip was delayed. Then he put the North Shore into 2, after initially having *it* do shuttle service. For the last two trips, I gained a trainman to work the other car, not that we had a lot of passengers by then. On the last trip, he had nobody and joined me, not just for someone to talk to but because the air was colder. A few minutes out, I felt that pain in my gut that means something is going to be urgent in a little while. I sat still and tried to will it to hold off. When we got to Jefferson St. and Engineer came back, I told him when we got in I needed to *run* into the depot. Yes, I made it. Meanwhile, Trainman went to the cab of 411 to watch as the train backed out to the west lead. I finished and came out in time to help with lining switches at 50th Ave., Central Ave. (it was on Hand due to someone being naughty Friday night), and into the South Yard Connector. Trainman threw the switches back behind the train while I walked to the next one. Once it was lined into the Connector, I got in my car and drove to South Jct. to throw the switches there, then drove to Barn 14 to open the door and get my stuff off the train. Once the train was parked and the HEP cables disconnected, I drove back to South Jct. to close the switches after 411 passed through on its way back to Barn 2. So once again, I didn't have to ride on the side of an F unit.

July 3: I picked a much easier day to be in the tower, and a beautiful day too. Instead of cranking up the air, I opened a couple of windows and got a nice breeze. I arrived to find someone else signed in as dispatcher and running the Army critter to wye the single coach that had been added to the combine in place of the cabooses; said coach didn't have a gate at one end to hang the tailhose on. When he finished with that and parked the critter, he handed over the railroad to me. A short time later, he got it out again to grab another coach off the Thomas track for added passenger capacity. For much of the day, Signal Dept. had a work zone to fix the switch at Central Ave., but he kept the two streetcars moving through. Besides 1630 on the coach train, I only had North Shore and CA&E on the main, plus a shuttle. Since it was a relatively light day, I put East Switch on manual most of the day. I concluded that unless there's a particular reason for it, it's better on automatic.

July 4: My turn conducting the coach train with 1630. Shockingly, I had three trainmen, so I didn't even have to punch tickets. Eager new kid inspected the bearings before I got there. I just sat back and relaxed on the outbound trips, so I was fine with standing for the returns. At the end of the day, I put the flags, paddles, and tailhose away in the depot, knowing they wouldn't be needed the next two weekends.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

I may post this in multiple threads for maximum exposure.

If anyone here uses Microsoft Train Simulator, Illinois Railway Museum is available as a route, currently for sale at http://www.digitalrails.com/. Proceeds will go to the TP&W 800 fund. We only have until October to raise $65,000 (purchase, transportation, and track space) or it will be sold for scrap.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Don't post in this thread as much as I used to but just by chance today, after cooking my dads lunch I just decided to have a quick look at a few cams and saw this:

Sandwiched between the power and the baggage car on today's Capitol 29 from Washington.



AEM 7's 942 and 928, retired from service on the north east corridor last June.

I cannot but wonder where these two are bound and why, not an awful lot of overhead wire out west!!

942 was one of the two engines that made the last run last June the other was 946

Don't post in this thread as much as I used to but just by chance today, after cooking my dads lunch I just decided to have a quick look at a few cams and saw this:

Sandwiched between the power and the baggage car on today's Capitol 29 from Washington.


AEM 7's 942 and 928, retired from service on the north east corridor last June.

I cannot but wonder where these two are bound and why, not an awful lot of overhead wire out west!!

942 was one of the two engines that made the last run last June the other was 946

Thanks for the pic, Bernie. Keep an eye on the MH cam for them, both when 29 is wyed after arrival and sometime soon (maybe today?) when they go out on 5 or 3.

I heard they're going to the Transportation Testing Center, not sure why.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

And as predicted as the 29 wyed a little while ago.



There was a heavy hail storm at the time so that explains the "streaks".

The camera at MH Tower now does 1080p, but unfortunately the rain has got on the lens making it a bit blurry!!

Transportation Testing Center, hmm a bit odd, but i assume they do have OH power there.

Lots of severe weather in northeast Illinois this morning, so I pulled up the web cams at http://irm.org. I don't see any major flooding like a couple weeks ago, but the CTC board has every light on from East Switch to the Grove.

I posted about it on Facebook and Signal Guy said "time to hi-rail." There's no sign so far of today's operator bringing out 415.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

I heard they're going to the Transportation Testing Center, not sure why.

Would that be https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0153?

---

I heard they're going to the Transportation Testing Center, not sure why.

Would that be https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0153?

Sure looks like it to me,

55500 DOT Rd.
Pueblo, CO 81001

Why would they want old OH electric locomotives out there? Crash test?

That might have a few railfans up in arms !!

Well you can tell I am out of touch, other wise I would have remembered that there is a new pair of cameras at Shenandoah Junction WV which the 29 went past yesterday evening Doh!!

But due to the wonders of modern science (and an archive facility) all is not lost.

East facing cam.



and the west facing cam



I like that last shot.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwittyphotography/35697618422/in/dateposted-public/

Same train crossing the Potomac at Harper's Ferry yesterday.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Lots of severe weather in northeast Illinois this morning, so I pulled up the web cams at http://irm.org. I don't see any major flooding like a couple weeks ago, but the CTC board has every light on from East Switch to the Grove.

I posted about it on Facebook and Signal Guy said "time to hi-rail." There's no sign so far of today's operator bringing out 415.

No change so far. I did see what looked like a group of visitors leaving earlier. Somebody replaced the bucket they used as a stack cap on CE 15, which had blown off.

With a tree on the tracks at Libertyville and water over the tracks between there and Fox Lake, Metra can only run a limited shuttle service from Lake Forest to Chicago on the Milwaukee District North Line. Amtrak has suspended Hiawatha Service to Milwaukee due to (I heard) a washout at Wadsworth.

Looks like the next round of approaching rain is weakening (but as I typed that, there was thunder outside). More severe storms are predicted overnight.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

I may post this in multiple threads for maximum exposure.

If anyone here uses Microsoft Train Simulator, Illinois Railway Museum is available as a route, currently for sale at http://www.digitalrails.com/. Proceeds will go to the TP&W 800 fund. We only have until October to raise $65,000 (purchase, transportation, and track space) or it will be sold for scrap.

David, is it ok if I share this on FB?

---

The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

I may post this in multiple threads for maximum exposure.

If anyone here uses Microsoft Train Simulator, Illinois Railway Museum is available as a route, currently for sale at http://www.digitalrails.com/. Proceeds will go to the TP&W 800 fund. We only have until October to raise $65,000 (purchase, transportation, and track space) or it will be sold for scrap.

David, is it ok if I share this on FB?

Sure, please do.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Thomas weekend, part 1.

Saturday: I'm Dispatcher, the guinea pig trying out the revised procedure. A complaint in recent years has been that there's too much radio chatter involved in the Dispatcher saying "Thomas has authority from the Thomas Boarding Area to the West Wye, Jefferson Street, return to the West Wye and call," the Thomas Conductor repeating it, Dispatcher saying "that is correct," then Thomas Helper (engineer of the diesel at the other end of the train) repeating it and Conductor saying "that is correct" every 30 minutes all day. With Switch 711 being powered now, it seemed like a good time to streamline the orders a bit. So, after sending 1630 out to the Percy train, I gave this order: Thomas has continuing authority to operate between the West Wye and Jefferson St. until 5:30 pm." With that in place, I could give much briefer orders each half hour: "Thomas has authority for a [time] departure to the West Wye." It was still necessary to repeat, "correct," repeat, "correct," but it was much less radio chatter. Returning, the conversation was about the same as before: "Thomas has authority to the Thomas Track," repeat, "correct," repeat, "correct." This whole thing worked almost as well as expected. 1630 got out a bit late, so I was a bit rushed in giving Thomas the all-day order, and Percy was about ten minutes late for his first trip, but they made it up quicker than I expected. Percy also gets a blanket order: authority to make all scheduled trips between Station Track 2 and the west end of Johnson Siding. Other than that, I just had to get the four streetcars out on the Car Line in the right order: one guy doesn't like having a certain other guy behind him. Mid-afternoon, Track Dept. issued a speed restriction (later written up as a Bulletin): 10 mph for the entire length of the train over Karstens on account of track conditions. Apparently, this was just because Percy rides so rough and there's a bad joint there, but Percy is restricted to 10 anyway. As usual, Superintendent ordered Thomas to delay his last trip by ten minutes, just in case anyone was late. Also just in case, I extended Thomas' standing authority to 6:00. The crowd thinned out and two streetcars went to bed around 4:00. The biggest problem was after Thomas left for his last trip. I flipped 711 back to the Car Line, waited for its 20 second timer, watched the points throw, and signaled the streetcar to proceed. He called me to point out that the switch routing indicator was still flatline. I wasted a minute throwing it back and forth once to no avail. A-Sup was with me and put the switch on Hand while I called Signal Dept. When Thomas returned, I had to tell Helper the switch was lined and inspected for his route. Once he got to the Thomas Track, I annulled his all-day order... at exactly 5:30. The young guy from Signal Dept. came and took the cover off the switch motor and poked at it and got it working, but after all the trains were done he came back and poked some more. After both trains finished and the other cars went to bed, the last order of business was to bring 1630 home, but they wanted to go to their service track first to take water. Thomas hangs out of his track and blocks the steam service track, but they pull up as close as they can and run a long hose. A-Sup had been pre-revenue Dispatcher and I came on at 9:30; even so, I had to give 1630 a final order from there to the Steam Shop Lead for the night before I died at 6:30, even though they weren't ready for the move until much later. I had the bright idea to write this authority on a sticky note and put it on the Dispatcher board in the office, in case another Dispatcher came on.

By the way, the Thomas train is Thomas, Rock Island coach, Lackawanna coach, four more Rocks, C&NW combine, and C&NW 411. The Percy train is Percy, B&LE combine, two Lackawanna, Missabe coach, Santa Fe combine, water car, and 1630.

Sunday: I'm Conductor on Percy. I arrived about 8:30 and drove right down to the station to put all my stuff on Percy, then drove back to the employee parking lot. After signing in, I walked down again and had to inspect the journals myself. All 60 of them. Every car except Percy has friction bearings. I was already worn out before my engine even came out. They were earlier than yesterday and we got tied on and the brakes tested just in time to make the first trip on time. A few times, we left a minute or two late because of dawdling passengers, but mostly we were on time or even a few seconds early. The departure schedule for both trains is simple: every 30 minutes, Thomas on the :00s and :30s, Percy on the :15s and :45s. Train crews have a lunch break built into the schedule: Thomas has no 2:00 trip and Percy no 2:15. A guy from the Coach Dept. blue flagged the train while we were at lunch so he could work on opening the painted-shut windows in the B&LE car. Percy Conductors do as much highballing as we can with flags, to further reduce radio chatter. The stuff I drove down to put on board is more than just my grip. There was also my cooler full of bottled water (and a couple other things) and ice. To these usual items, I added a folding chair and an electric fan. The fan doesn't really do much, mostly blowing hot air, but I ran it all day anyway. I would not survive without the chair, which I used while sitting in the station and on the outbound trips. Inbound, I had to stand to see. I mentioned that Percy rides rough. It's basically a four-wheel bobber with almost no suspension. You feel every bump in the track, bumps you hardly notice on a coach. At the slow order at Karstens, I leaned forward in my chair so it wouldn't hit me in the back. There's a section where Percy starts bucking like a bronco. Interestingly, he rides better being pushed forward than being pulled backward. Or maybe it's a matter of feeling different standing. But he doesn't buck forward. His brakes are incredibly noisy. And speaking of noise, then there's the generator. Right behind you in the back of the cab, there's a little Honda portable generator sputtering all day. It runs the face movement and speech system, and the fog machine (and my fan). When the fog machine's heating element comes on, the generator's governor kicks it to high speed. On the last trip, I killed it as soon as we pulled out. So what if there was no smoke or face movement coming back? I needed some quiet. I don't know what I was thinking when I signed up to do it twice this year... As soon as we finished, I informed Dispatcher we had completed all scheduled trips. It took a few more minutes to coordinate the volunteer car cleaners to make sure 1630 could cut off safely. I dismissed everyone and trudged to the office, where the Trainmaster commandeered a golf cart and brought me back to get my stuff while he locked up the train (except someone beat him to it), then took me to my car. Then I drove back to the office to sign out.

This Saturday, I'm not signed up for anything so far (and I have something I'd like to do over in Indiana), but there are a few open positions. I will NOT take the Thomas Conductor spot. Sunday, I'm Percy again, unless I can get someone else to do it (which I doubt).

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.

Lots of severe weather in northeast Illinois this morning, so I pulled up the web cams at http://irm.org. I don't see any major flooding like a couple weeks ago, but the CTC board has every light on from East Switch to the Grove.

I posted about it on Facebook and Signal Guy said "time to hi-rail." There's no sign so far of today's operator bringing out 415.

No change so far. I did see what looked like a group of visitors leaving earlier. Somebody replaced the bucket they used as a stack cap on CE 15, which had blown off.

With a tree on the tracks at Libertyville and water over the tracks between there and Fox Lake, Metra can only run a limited shuttle service from Lake Forest to Chicago on the Milwaukee District North Line. Amtrak has suspended Hiawatha Service to Milwaukee due to (I heard) a washout at Wadsworth.

Looks like the next round of approaching rain is weakening (but as I typed that, there was thunder outside). More severe storms are predicted overnight.

IRM's signals were back to normal by late afternoon. I don't think 415 operated today.

CP freights and Hiawathas were running by mid-afternoon. Amtrak had arranged for 7 and 8 to detour on BNSF between Chicago and La Crosse; the track was opened in time for 7 to revert to its normal route, but 8 will come through Naperville in a few minutes.

Meanwhile, the weather geeks like to talk about thunderstorms "training," a series of them following the same path for possibly hundreds of miles. The term is apt this evening -- it looks like they're marching right up the Santa Fe all the way from Ft. Madison.

---

David
Sitting on my butt while others boldly go,
Waiting for a message from a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri.