Ramblings, rants and idle thoughts

in an e-mail subject line does not inspire confidence and smells like a scam.

However, when the first paragraph of said e-mail reads:
" We appreciate your interest in Norfolk Southern and the Conductor position in Philadelphia, PA. After reviewing your
application, we would like to invite you to participate in the next step of our recruiting process. For further
consideration, please arrive promptly at the following time and location:
[redacted]"
your attitude changes rather quickly. :=3

So, on the 20th of this month at 8am in Philadelphia I will be meeting face to face with a Norfolk Southern rep and possibly even get an interview.

The only concern I have is that I may have to spend up to 6 months(!) in Roanoke, VA. That is a long time to be away from my house.

Most of you know I had mounted my searchlight signal to the newel post of my front deck and it was resting on the bottom step.

This bothered me for a couple of reasons. It was not really mounted as balanced; the newel post was not designed to hold something of that weight and it was a tripping hazard.

Back in late November or so I had "planted" the section of mast I had and was in the process of mounting the signal correctly. This stalled as just the case and bracket probably weigh in the 150lb (68kg) range and I could not lift the signal to its proper height and put the bolts in by myself.

This languished until yesterday when I called a buddy and he agreed to stop by and help me with the install.

With much heaving and groaning we got it installed and here is the result:


Which looks a damn sight better than this:


So now my searchlight signal is in its proper place on a mast. I still need to do some clean up and dress the wires properly, but the heavy work is done. :=3

Link is: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/03/04/local-environmental-groups-warn-of-accident-potential-from-marcellus-shale-freight-trains/

News story:

Local
Local Environmental Groups Warn of Accident Potential From Marcellus Shale Freight Trains
March 4, 2015 3:37 PM

By Paul Kurtz

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Last month’s oil train derailment and explosion in West Virginia has prompted environmentalists in Pennsylvania to sound the alarm about the potential dangers that residents here face.

As oil shipments from North Dakota’s Baaken shale deposit have boomed in recent years, there has been a corresponding rise in derailments.

A report released this week by the groups Penn Environment and the Frac Tracker Alliance shows that nearly four million Pennsylvanians live within the potential evacuation zone of an oil train accident, including 700,000 at risk here in Philadelphia.

Penn Environment’s David Masur says residents are being left in the dark.

“The train companies and oil companies aren’t even required to tell local communities about oil trains travelling through their backyards and how much oil they’re carrying and what their plans are in case of real dire accidents,” he noted.

Masur says the city has flirted with disaster several times in recent years:

“Just four weeks ago we had a train derailment with oil trains in South Philly, right by the stadium. A near miss, luckily no explosions.”

Later this month, a City Council committee safety panel will take a look at the dangers posed by oil trains.

My response:
Don Miller, Jr • 34 minutes ago

As a railroader I might have a slight bias in my feelings. That being noted, how would these people want the oil transshipped? Pipeline? Would take too long and too costly to build; not to mention the NIMBYs not wanting it near by. By truck? You think moving by rail is dangerous, then it would be at least 10X dangerous by truck. And one rail tank car holds the same amount as ~5 tanker trucks. Could you imagine the congestion on the highways? Rail is by far the safest, cheapest way, and most fuel efficient to move oil and other products. Hundreds of millions of gallons of oil and other hazardous materials are moved daily by rail, without incident. They pick on a few high profile cases to do fear mongering. Should the rail industry upgrade their track? Yes, of course. But do not let a few fear mongers dictate policy towards an entire industry.

Interesting quote here:
Penn Environment’s David Masur says residents are being left in the dark.
“The train companies and oil companies aren’t even required to tell local communities about oil trains traveling through their backyards and how much oil they’re carrying and what their plans are in case of real dire accidents,” he noted.

Guess what neither are trucking companies required to report what is in their trailers, where they are traveling or their responses to accidents. It is because railroads are a fixed guide-way system that they are being picked on. As for explosions it takes an awful lot of heat for an oil tanker to "explode". If a tank car derails, as in the lead photo, which I will note is not an oil train, and there is no fire, no explosions. They don't derail and automatically go "BOOM".

------------------------
Thoughts on either the news story or my reply?

SJnW 90000 by LionkingCMSL on deviantART

A now for a photo of a real piece of South Jersey & Western rolling stock. :=3

This is an ex-Pennsy N8 Cabin Car that I acquired and painted for the SJ&W. I had planned to turn it into a mini-business car, but the car proved to be more rust than steel and it has been scrapped, though I still have bits and pieces of it in my collection.
The markers are Handlan-Buck kerosene powered lights, and they are marked for the SJ&W as anyone to my den can attest.

For more on the SJ&W you can visit www.sjwrr.com

jfox and I have had numerous discussions on how rail history would have turned out if the SJ&W had, indeed, been real. I envision the SJ&W to be on equal footing with the Pennsy; and the two railroads battling it out between the east coast and the mid-west. The SJ&W's headquarters would've right across the river, in Camden, NJ, from the Pennsy's HQ, in Philly.

One of those discussions turned to the American Locomotive Company, aka ALCo. I had always maintained that the SJ&W would have manufactured their own crankshafts to replace the ones in the 244-16 engines, to mitigate engine failures. In the same way the UP showed EMD how to turbo charge the 567, the SJ&W would've shown ALCo how to improve the 244's reliability. It was thought just as UP supported EMD in the lean years the SJ&W could have supported ALCo.

We discussed how ALCo might have continued the PA line to the present day and now would be offering a PA-9, with a 5000 hp 251-16 K series prime mover. It was also thought they could have replaced the traditional car body frame, with its truss work, with something like a frame off of a Century series, as was done with the Cowl units from EMD. I thought they would offer the traditional PA styling in a monocoque carbody.

To that end I present a conceptual version of a PA-9:


You will note that the steam generator hatch is missing; it is equipped with an HEP alternator. It is in the current SJ&W "New Image" scheme with FRA mandated retro-reflective safety stripe along the frame.

I used to watch Starsky and Hutch back in the day. Although Paul Micheal Glaser hated the way the Gran Torino was painted, I like the scheme.

So much so that I actually came up with a paint card for a F40PH locomotive:


I have had a few people tell me that it actually works on that locomotive.

Now to buy an actual F40PH and paint it like that. :=3

have been acquired. ;=3

This time the route out is one I've been wanting to take for some time.
The routing is the Crescent from PHL to New Orleans. A night's lay over in the Crescent City then I take the Sunset Ltd. to Los Angeles,and finally the Coast Starlight up to San Jose.

The only other time I've done part of that route, from Philly to Houston, was in Feb. of 1983. 8=0
So, nearly 32 years later I'll do the Houston to Los Angeles portion of the route. :=3
The difference in the intervening years is now I'm an Amtrak employee; something I never even thought about becoming all those years ago.

While the tickets are all for coach, I'll be upgrading to a roomette during the year. The ticket agents are going to strangle me. :=3

BTW, yes, I have reserved a room, in the Hilton. :=3

This morning I noticed a line up of the four locomotives that we use on long distance trains out of Sunnyside Yard. I was able to take a photo. It is not the best as it is overcast and early moring. I had to "sharpen" the image and adjust the contrast and brightness.
Here is that image:


From left to right the locos are:
#710 - P32 AC-DM aka "Genesis" - These are dedicated units between Penn Station New York and Albany/Rensselaer.
#921 - AEM7 aka "Meatball" or "Toaster" - it will eventually be replaced by
#600 - ACS-64/Cities Sprinter aka "Angry Bird" - This is our newest "motor" it will first replace
#660 - HHP8 aka "Banana" - These are based off of the "Acela" power cars.

If you see any of the 700 series Genesis units outside of the Albany - New York City run better grab a photo, because it will be a rare occurrence. However I will note it is possible they may run as far as Fort Edward-Glen Falls, NY on occasion, though the timetable leaves enough time for an engine change at Albany/Rensselaer. This series are the only long distance diesels out of Sunnyside, though you may see a P40/P42 coupled behind it. If they are MUed the second unit is shut down, between "Empire" and SSY, as you cannot run the diesels through the tunnels or into PSNY. When running through the tunnels into PSNY and while there they operate off of 700 VDC third rail; the reason for the "DM" designation. The ability leads to some interesting situations, as the third rail has gaps at turnouts, which can be longer than the span of the collection shoes, so the HEP (Head End Power) shuts down and you lose all power in the train, except the emergency lighting which runs off of the car's batteries.

I have just made the final reservations for the 2nd party of my trip to FC next year, u_t_tiger.

We'll be taking a regional to Washington, the Capitol Ltd. to Chicago, the Southwest Chief (ex-Super Chief) to Los Angeles, then the Coast Starlight up to San Jose.

So those of you, on the left coast, that want to meet the scuba diving tiger will be able to do so at FC. ;=3

And we'll be looking to meet up with other furs on the trains. ;=3

For those that are interested in such things I have developed a "primer" about scale and gauge for model railroading.

You can find it here: http://www.sjwrr.com/scalegauge.htm .

Let me know what you think.