RR content but On Vacation Jun 15 - 29

I was on vacation... most of June!

the original intent was a once a week update for the railfans that read my blog but summer is just too much fun...

I made my annual motorcycle journey and it included a ride on the Cumbres and Toltec Steam train... click here for pics

I was able to talk my way into a cab ride for my friend Hans from the Netherlands

Summer months

I have been really busy this summer... haven't really had time for the blog... it's going to turn into a once a onth ting for awhile.... more later

Wellsville, MO - Wal Mart Blight?

This article was written 11/23/2012 Black Friday... the Americas Still out There Trip was in 2008.

It's Black Friday.  I have not written much.. I'm retired now and will post some old RR stuff at some point, but, for now...I had been avoiding the whole spectacle of the election.  Whole thing turned my stomach.  I had to avoid it a bit as it would cloud my happiness. Not intending this to be a political rant or some leftist blog but this whole greed thing it outta hand.



I picked today to write because I have been recently encouraged to relate some stories of my motorcycle journeys with print and photographs. Also, over 100 Wal Mart stores have been picketed by non-Union workers today.



This is a two fold story about a motorcycle journey and Wal Mart.  The town of realization became Wellsville, MO. The date was June 19, 2008. Actually there will be another America's Still Out There story that happened on this same motorcycle trip.  It involves a Horse and Buggy and a Soda Fountain and a Barbershop. I'll relate that soon and link it to here.

The downtown area was all but dried up. Just one lone skateboarder (no one to run him off) a bunch of boarded up buildings, a information booth in the form of a caboose and a town square with over 4400 American flags planted to honor or dead in Iraq. Stopped for some reason long forgotten... probably to honor the dead.



The skater kid comes over to admire the motorcycle.  That still happens in backroads of America. Strangers are still approachable.  I stuck me that Downtown Wellsville had probably dried up because of Wal Mart.  So I asked the kid,  "is there was a Wal Mart in town"?  Sure the kid says, "over in Mexico" ((18 miles away).... suspicion confirmed.  I had been running into this in town after town. Reminder to self... take pictures of the kids.  All the pictures from this trip are available here



Now, do we blame Wal Mart or ourselves or was it just all inevitable?  Hard to say... perhaps "Pay less, Live better" works.  I admit I have been in Wal Mart a few times.  But I would rather find those hard to find eye drops in a Mom in Pop Drugstore that was right behind that motorcycle pictured above.  Or get a battery at the Farm Equipment store.  That used to be the way of things. Life was slower, better and more personal.



How can you not like this guy?

It's Maggie's Great Uncle Harold.  She has fond memories of his Drugstore and Soda fountain in Detroit and the penny candy and Grape Nehi... America's Still out there

Will the thrill - atgatt

The Motorcycle group I am with have a saying... atgatt... All the gear all the time
This is why. It can happen so quick. Riding in the rain the bike hydroplaned and dumped Will off on his left side. He was doing 75 mph and came out of it all just very sore but no major injuries and no head injury. He still is a cerebral guy. And a friend... whew!

RR content - Der Undercutter

An undercutter isn't a big weed whacker... it actually recycles ballast and lowers the track ie. in a tunnel to allow larger equipment to pass through. As RR equipment has gotten bigger more room is needed. Most tunnels are lined with concrete and it is cost prohibitive to enlarge the openings.

RR content - Greycliff day

Raining for the 4th day in a row....

I'm in the siding a Greycliff on a 17000+ Coal train using the KOA campground connection...

Broken rail ahead.... Officers special behind us

Summer is coming... finally

Worked a LAUSPO last night 1430-0400... 6 hours to Livingston. I ran LIV-HEL after that straight shot.

It is 86F in Helena and a bit windy. i got in at 0400 and got some decent sleep. Went for a bike ride.

5.69 miles
avg spd 11.3
max spd 43.4

avg hr 121
max hr 218
above target 3:16
below target 10:40
in target zone 32:57
total miles this season 546

called for 1735 on PASSAG

RR - Careful what you wish for

I had never had the opportunity to br qualified for DP's by a roadforman... I finally just talked my way into it. Careful what you wish for. Yesterday I had a Coal mty that had DP problems not covered in the guides (imagine that) The DP's would drop out of normal and go to idle... I could feel the train run out then about 40 seconds later, an alarm light and indication of idle and DP brake valve cut out. Executing normal would get it to load but the brake valve would stay cut out and did not reset until stopping and running the train check. It wasn't a problem really on a Coal mty but I sure as hell don't want this setup on a load.

I love the DP's on a Coal Load

8800hp front, 8800hp rear and the MRL aces 13000+ hp in the middle... 30500+hp total

photo above... retired Engineer Goodson in the middle 11/07

No worries!

Is Chronic Fatigue Real?

Here I am awake at 013am. I'll need to take a pill to sleep... I took a pill this morning to stay alert today. I will go to work about this time tomorrow so It's better to sleep in tomorrow (or today really) I'll get up about noon probably.

Yesterday I rode 9 miles into the wind on my bicycle to get the motorhome out of storage. Then I mowed the yard for the first time this year... we have had a cool spring....

Ididn't believe in Chronic Fatigue Syndrom until I began to get better. The symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are real, but I refuse to believe that we have to live with it the rest of our lives. It last so many years that it gets to be a lifestyle... I ready for a change.

I have felt like crap for the last two weeks but I felt terrific today. Is it possible to be Bi Polar Physically? I call it the Roller Coaster. TAll are remnants of the fever. At least my moods aren't so up and down as they were right out of the hospital. I never thought I was depressed but I sure would get frustrated from being soooo tired allll the time. My new doctors ( I fired all the men Docs) are now treating me for "Shift Workers Syndrome". Everything is a syndrome nowdays.

My job is killing me as I get older. I'm on call 24/7.
This health setback didn't help.

And, I'm on the lineup to go to work at 0400... I was first on the lineup at 2330 yesterday, then 11am then 0100, then 0300, then 0400. This is typical... are you sure you work like to be a Locomotive Engineer?


About 10 years ago I had a fever for nearly a month that included a stay in the hospital and the loss of about 4 years of memory. It also has trashed my short term memory and still affects my sense of smell and taste. I'm lucky 'cause the Doc figured I would not get my sense of smell back. A fever of such duration causes brain damage and can be irreversible. The fever commonly triggers Chronic Fatigue Syndrome... not something you want to have and still drive the train for a living. It's been a long haul but I'm finally having more good days than bad days now that the Docs are approaching this from another angle. I got pissed and asked her (the doctor) to either send me home and tell me to stop whining or do something! She gave me a drug called Lyrica for nerve pain witch promptly gave me hives and caused some tingling and I still have ultra sensitive spots on my body.... Never guess where... A bad drug. She also gave me Provigil to stay alert.. kind of a Ritalin for Adults! Also Ambien to sleep... not AmbienCR... it sucks... and don't get generic Ambien. Synthroid for low Thyroid. No side effects from anything but the Lyrica. The Provigil makes me chatty and that can be annoying.

At anyrate, I have fought Chronic Fatigue for over 10 years and I think I'm finally getting better. Laying on the couch becomes a never ending cycle that becomes a lifestyle. The doc wants me to lose 23lbs in the next year. She also wants me to exercise at 75-80% of my max heart rate (140) for 30 - 5 days a week.

I did 1 hour at 125-140 bpm today.
9 miles.
Avg speed 9.9
Max speed 18.
I weighed 228 last week and 223 today.

Tennis tonight from 6-930
I weigh 222 tonight... I'll eat a tiny piece of cake... we went over to see our little grandson Connor and Maggie has been in a class to decorate cakes.















Tomorrow (May 1) I'll have exactly 4 more years to retirement.

Vacation - APR 1-10

Marker for vacation blog... let's just say it was wet for now

Photos

RR Content - no layoffs

I have not taken any extra time off for some time. I was unaware that there has been a no layoff policy for quite some time. This blog was started in part to document my last few years as an engineer. If this no layoff policy continues I'll retire early.

We are headed for Memphis leaving Sat or Sun I hope.... my vacation officially starts Mon Mar31. Hopefully my turn will get out on Sun without me. It will not be nice to drive 2-13 hour days to get there, 2-13 hour days to get back and only get to see my family for 3 days.

RR -content- Up All Night?

As you can see I am up in the middle of the night.. Often I have to catch a bit of reast and it ends up putting me up at least a good portion of the night.

There was a bit of a slowdown after the derailment on Bozeman pass even though the cleanup effort was very quick. My turn LA28-01 was pulled and I'll be bidding an Asst. Engineers job soon.

These are from a couple of days ago so I'll do a before and after essay of sorts. I'll post the Coal train derailment aftermath photos that I took today, it has been dark each time we went through the derailment site. They sure have done an excellent job cleaning it up.

More later... the sleeping pill is working

I've been busy:
2008/03/02 0001 2008/03/02 1215 LA01 12'14" on duty
Job: LA01 04 From LAURMT To HELEMT Train: CSCMCEC069
2008/03/02 2020 2008/03/03 0550 LA01 11'20" on duty
Job: LA01 04 From HELEMT To LAURMT Train: HPASKCK901
2008/03/04 1830 2008/03/05 0425 LA28 7'55" on duty
Job: LA28 01 From LAURMT To HELEMT Train: MLAUPAS104
2008/03/06 1630 2008/03/07 0100 LA28 8'5" on duty
Job: LA28 01 From HELEMT To LAURMT Train: HPASSAG904
2008/03/07 2100 2008/03/08 0925 LA28 12'25" on duty
Job: LA28 01 From LAURMT To HELEMT Train: MLAUPAS107
2008/03/09 0045 2008/03/09 1245 LA28 12'00" on duty
Job: LA28 01 From HELEMT To LAURMT Train: XKALHNL908
Job: LA28 01 From LAURMT To HELEMT Train: MLAUPAS110
2008/03/11 1555 2008/03/12 0055 LA28 = 9'00"
Job: LA28 01 From HELEMT To LAURMT Train: QTACDEN109
2008/03/14 0400 2008/03/14 1630 LA28 =12'30"
Job: LA28 01 From LAURMT To HELEMT Train: CSCMCEC083
2008/03/15 0430 2008/03/15 1030 LA28 = 6'
Job: LA28 01 From HELEMT To LAURMT Train: HPASSAG913
2008/03/17 0300 2008/03/17 1050 LA28 =7'50"
Job: LA28 01 From LAURMT To HELEMT Train: QDENTAC115 BNSF4444
2008/03/18 0210 000/00/00 0000 LA28
Job: LA28 01 From HELEMT To LAURMT Train: XKALWMI915 Busted
2008/03/18 0415 2008/03/18 1225 LA28
Job: LA28 01 From HELEMT To LAURMT Train: XVAWGLE916
2008/03/18 0415 2008/03/18 1225 LA28
Job: LA28 01 From HELEMT To LAURMT Train: XVAWGLE916

RR content - Engineer again

I'll retire before I will be the Engineer regularly instead of the Assistant Engineer. Each time I am assigned my own turn as Engineer, I wonder if it will be the last time.
Yesterday I was installed as the engineer on Turn LA28-01 (for those interested)

Today I stand to go out at dark thirty 1830.

Last trip up to Helena on the Coal train (no report yet) I ran Distributed power for the first time. But I wasn't qualified as the rules require a non crew member to do the qualifying.

BearingSTOC - Spring is coming, GO RIDE

Place holder - photos and blog to be posted soon about replacing all 6 bearings in my motorcycle headset and wheel bearings