Greetings to all,
Well after a week of wind, rain, snow, 70 degrees, today was not a bad day considering
the temp was only 34 on the way to Judson. Surprise, surprise when I drove across the
Erie crossing on IN 10, TANK CARS.....I stopped to talk to a friend before heading down
to the museum. I soon heard the horn of not the Erie 310, but #11 crossing Main street.
I knew the switching had begun of the tank cars. If switching was going on, no switch
work was being done, so I didn't hurry down.
By the time I arrived, #11 had pushed 6 tank cars down to the park on IN 10 and made a run back to get over to the C&I main to pick up another cut of tank cars. The cars were pulled down to the HVRM switch and pushed down toward IN 10. I was the
crossing guard for the back up move. A couple of North Judsons finest were held
up at the Main street crossing till all of the cars were pushed thru. Only 2 cars did a
U turn. # 11 returned to the crossing an I thought that they were going back down
the C&I to pick up the bulk of tank cars left on the interchange track, not so after I saw
the engine stop an pull into the shop building area. Listening on the radio, they were
done, leaving the remaining cars on the interchange. I thought the crew was going
for beans and that they did for sure. The word came in last week 50 tank cars were
on the way and the contract signed for storage. Rumor has it 50 rotary dump cars
are also on the way to HVRM to be stored soon.
Lunch was served in the kitchen car of hot dogs and chili soup. Lots of cake an
ice cream was for dessert.
John "Tool Man" LaOrange was hard at work tearing off the old motor car shed door
for installation of the new door he made a couple of weeks ago. I gladly assisted John in the new door installation. The old door was a mess, dry rotted wood every
where. Removing all the bolts and screws was not fun. A mix bag for sure. Things
actually went pretty quick for removal, then putting the new door on. Well thats when
the fun started. The middle hinge had to be totally removed an remounted and the bottom hinge had some modifications made with another block of wood. You have
to look at it, I can't explain it. Lets just say the hinges are all securely mounted to the
frame an door. The bottom of the door had to be cut about an inch, due to the rail
head in the way of opening the door, John sabre saw did quick work of that. Two
drills made it easy to drill holes and other drill available for whatever. A battery powered saw was handy to cut board on the spot. Johns truck is a rolling carpenter
shop. The hasp was remounted and lined up, bolts put in and the door opens an
closes now without having to put a screw in top of it. Painting will cover up all
the minor mistakes.
In the mean time, Mark was busy with his chain saw cleaning up a downed tree
on the C&I line, mostly on city properity, but you know how he likes those chain
saws. Cleanup was assisted by Steve Newland with the back hoe tractor. Dave
assisted till he had to leave.
The #11 and #310 were hooked up to figure out the cutting out of the brake stand
on the Alco, so the Alco would brake like a regular car, in case that #11 would have
to pull the Alco back from out on the mainline. 3 air lines with valves is all it took
to make it work.
Doug had a meeting with prospective conductor trainees today, 6 or 7 showed up.
Fred worked on the IC caboose and the Troop car crew was working on it, with Boy
Scouts returning tomorrow for a work session.
During the week, Cory has been over working on cutting trees on the wye properity.
He has made a sizeable dent in clearing it out. Having the trees gone makes the
elevated ground on the wye very visable now.
Everyone have a good week, see you all next Saturday.
Tom Travis
Well after a week of wind, rain, snow, 70 degrees, today was not a bad day considering
the temp was only 34 on the way to Judson. Surprise, surprise when I drove across the
Erie crossing on IN 10, TANK CARS.....I stopped to talk to a friend before heading down
to the museum. I soon heard the horn of not the Erie 310, but #11 crossing Main street.
I knew the switching had begun of the tank cars. If switching was going on, no switch
work was being done, so I didn't hurry down.
By the time I arrived, #11 had pushed 6 tank cars down to the park on IN 10 and made a run back to get over to the C&I main to pick up another cut of tank cars. The cars were pulled down to the HVRM switch and pushed down toward IN 10. I was the
crossing guard for the back up move. A couple of North Judsons finest were held
up at the Main street crossing till all of the cars were pushed thru. Only 2 cars did a
U turn. # 11 returned to the crossing an I thought that they were going back down
the C&I to pick up the bulk of tank cars left on the interchange track, not so after I saw
the engine stop an pull into the shop building area. Listening on the radio, they were
done, leaving the remaining cars on the interchange. I thought the crew was going
for beans and that they did for sure. The word came in last week 50 tank cars were
on the way and the contract signed for storage. Rumor has it 50 rotary dump cars
are also on the way to HVRM to be stored soon.
Lunch was served in the kitchen car of hot dogs and chili soup. Lots of cake an
ice cream was for dessert.
John "Tool Man" LaOrange was hard at work tearing off the old motor car shed door
for installation of the new door he made a couple of weeks ago. I gladly assisted John in the new door installation. The old door was a mess, dry rotted wood every
where. Removing all the bolts and screws was not fun. A mix bag for sure. Things
actually went pretty quick for removal, then putting the new door on. Well thats when
the fun started. The middle hinge had to be totally removed an remounted and the bottom hinge had some modifications made with another block of wood. You have
to look at it, I can't explain it. Lets just say the hinges are all securely mounted to the
frame an door. The bottom of the door had to be cut about an inch, due to the rail
head in the way of opening the door, John sabre saw did quick work of that. Two
drills made it easy to drill holes and other drill available for whatever. A battery powered saw was handy to cut board on the spot. Johns truck is a rolling carpenter
shop. The hasp was remounted and lined up, bolts put in and the door opens an
closes now without having to put a screw in top of it. Painting will cover up all
the minor mistakes.
In the mean time, Mark was busy with his chain saw cleaning up a downed tree
on the C&I line, mostly on city properity, but you know how he likes those chain
saws. Cleanup was assisted by Steve Newland with the back hoe tractor. Dave
assisted till he had to leave.
The #11 and #310 were hooked up to figure out the cutting out of the brake stand
on the Alco, so the Alco would brake like a regular car, in case that #11 would have
to pull the Alco back from out on the mainline. 3 air lines with valves is all it took
to make it work.
Doug had a meeting with prospective conductor trainees today, 6 or 7 showed up.
Fred worked on the IC caboose and the Troop car crew was working on it, with Boy
Scouts returning tomorrow for a work session.
During the week, Cory has been over working on cutting trees on the wye properity.
He has made a sizeable dent in clearing it out. Having the trees gone makes the
elevated ground on the wye very visable now.
Everyone have a good week, see you all next Saturday.
Tom Travis
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