What else is new? Not much going on in the world of railroading lately. Oh wait... A woman's body was found near 'the tracks' in SW Detroit earlier. Maybe late last night, or early this morning. But other than that, not much.
Speakin' a coal trains, they took 25 trainmen out Spokane, Whitefish, Great Falls and Havre. Today I look and they have another bulletin out for Seattle, Pasco and Wishram for another 20. I'd love tu go but they won't let me! Phukkers!
Spokane's a pretty decent town. But California it ain't. Reasonable housing prices, and lotsa fishing, hunting, camping within a drive... Paco is an hour's drive. Wishram is right on the Columbia River. White Fish is a great old west town, and Havre iis a cold, windy, isolated town. Great falls... meh.
Spokane's the place, if ya can make the move. It's still within the old "Northern Lines" of BN. That should be a shoo-in for ya! But why won't 'they' letcha go? Maybe... Nah! Who can say?
Take some vacation time next year ta visit those places. Get a cheap flight to Spokaloo, rent a car and drive to all those joints. Or do the Uke thing and test an Avis car for 'em. Drive down from your neck o' the woods via Montana. Then to Spokane, etc.
Drive back to Spokane, ditch the rental, fly home! Why not?
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Hmm. That address doesnt look right. It looks like the link pointing here was faulty.
Meanwhile, in Sniplandia, the Lambert's Point Cancer Cluster has a new member as of last week. Non-smoker Pier 6 Barney Yard coal dust eater. It turns your clock back more than an hour.
The Barney Yard guys are dropping like flies.
Last cancer cluster around here was road conductors who rode the cabooses (cabeese) on the coal trains prior tu 1990.
Last cancer cluster around here was road conductors who rode the cabooses (cabeese) on the coal trains prior tu 1990.
Yes, Snippy, ever ride the rear end on a coal train? On a hot summer day, making it even better? There's an experience Cy had but thankfully, not tu many times.
The black fog. That was the reason that coal trains were 40 mph trains. The black fog became un-fucking-believeable above the unbelievable black fog at 40 mph.
Meanwhile, your employer maintained that it wasn't their coal dust because it was just black dust. (True. James Hixon, great local benefactor and NS philanthropist.)
When Cy hired out early in the 19th century, coal trains on the Red Team lines were 35 MPH. Sometimes, they'd run what they termed "Flood Overload" trains and they were 25. It's a long way from Columbus to Sandusky at 25 per. Later, it was the H-9 hoppers, being used for ballast trains, that were restricted to 25, everybody hated getting those. Or running along, barely with enough power, restricted to the 6th notch, from the land of picnic tables to the Fort, one guy said it was like riding a moped from one end to the other.
And then there's Snippy's 5 MPH branch, slower than Cy's 10 MPH, 10 mile long branch.
