HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: cal@ee.ryerson.ca (Calvin Henry-Cotnam)
Subject: Re: Torpedos  (was: Incident on Boston (MBTA) Commuter Rail)
Organization: Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, Toronto
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 15:10:03 GMT

parmelee@cs.cornell.edu (Larry Parmelee) writes:
>
> [in response to the question, "What is a torpedo?"]
>
>
>In the most common senario, where you have to
>"protect" against a following train, a crew member would walk back
>a prescribed distance from the rear of the train and place two torpedos
>on the rail about 25 feet apart (simplifying somewhat).

This differs here in Canada slightly.  Rule 10(b) states, "Where the use
of torpedoes is required, a duplicate torpedo must be placed on the opposite
rail to explode simultaneously."  It is possible up here, that only one
noise could be heard.  Besides, in both cases the duplication is generally
a precaution against the possibility on one not working.

>When an engine crew hears a (one or more) torpedos explode, they're
>supposed to stop the train as quickly as possible, then (generally)
>proceed at restricted speed (able to stop within 1/2 the sight distance)
>for a prescribed distance before resuming track speed.

The CROR requires a train, if not already moving at restricting speed
(able to stop within 1/2 sight distance, but not greater than 15 mph)
must slow down to this speed within 3000 yards of the sound of the
torpedoes.  Some circumstances reduce this to 2000 yards.


How complicated life can be for the crew of an international train.  :-)


Calvin Henry-Cotnam, CATE          | "...My brain IBM"
Ryerson Polytechnical Institute    | "So if you see me, acting stangely..."
Toronto, Ontario, Canada           |                  STYX, Mr. Roboto
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: billg@bony1.bony.com (Bill Gripp)
Subject: Re: Thomas and Friends
Organization: LA&W RR
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 92 13:26:14 GMT

In article <92351.152025RMCCU@CUNYVM.BITNET> Robert Chambers <RMCCU@CUNYVM.BITNET> writes:
>Yay, another Thomas fan...
>
>I don't have any kids, but I have the video collection except for a
>couple of tapes now.. They are so much better than the PBS show with
>the kids and that pinhead schemer...  

A local supermarket chain (PathMark) has 7 different ones for $9.99 each
(plus sales tax =B^( ).  Bought a couple for my children for Christmas.
Does anyone have a complete list of how many and which ones there are?
If I recall, 5 were narated by Ringo and 2 by George.  I (of course)
bought two that were narrated by Ringo.  British trains narated by the
"Hippy Dippy Weatherman" someone doesn't quite make it.  =B^)


>I found a
>couple of $3.00 Jigsaw puzzles for Thomas and friends yesterday while
>shopping for gifts.. They were rated for ages 4-7 or so... and only
>took me a little while to do (:-)

I saw 3 different ones in Toys-R-Us.

Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: jim@specialix.com (Jim Maurer)
Subject: Re: Grade crossings, etc. (was Re: Deaths on Railroad Prop...)
Organization: Specialix Inc.
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1992 16:36:37 GMT

tssmith@netcom.com (Tim Smith) writes:

>There is an interesting situation on the CalTrain commuter line on
>the SF Peninsula.  Just a hundred yards or so north of the San Mateo
>station there is a grade crossing guarded by gates.  When a
>northbound train stops at the station, the gates go back up to let
>traffic through.  When the train gives its two-toot highball, a sound
>sensor near the gates lowers them again.  All this even though there
>is little traffic on the cross street, and a station stop rarely
>takes more than 45 seconds.  Maybe it's a remnant of an old SP
>experiment.

Actually, there are quite a few places on CalTrain with crossing gates
activated the same way.  I think Milbrae is one.
From: raveling@Unify.com (Paul Raveling)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Locomotive operation/
Date: 30 Dec 92 19:55:12 GMT
Organization: Unify Corporation (Sacramento)

In article <822.134.uupcb@hal9k.ann-arbor.mi.us>, delbert.big@hal9k.ann-arbor.mi.us (Delbert Big)  writes:
> JS>Someone was looking for books on maintenance of steam locomotives.

	There's a fairly decent intro to this that's stocked by Milepost 1
	[R&LHS], plus (I presume) by various other rail book sources.
	Its title is "Basic Steam Locomotive Maintenance" -- I'll check it &
	will post author & publisher if someone doesn't beat me to it.


------------------
Paul Raveling
Raveling@Unify.com
From: organic@mgr.hjf.org (Miriam Organic)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Looking for Rail Magazines
Date: 29 Dec 92 14:33:34 GMT
Organization: HJF AIDS Research Project, Washington DC

I'm looking for magazines for and about railfaning....
Can anybody E-mail or post a suggestion or two?

Thanks E-Mail organic@mgr.hjf.org
From: bob@1776.COM (Robert Coe)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Deaths on Railroad Property: common sense or am I an Idiot?
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 92 08:37:28 EST
Distribution: na
Organization: 1776 Enterprises, Sudbury MA

drx@chinet.chi.il.us (Scott Whittle) writes:
> I was at a crossing gate while a full train from Chicago rolled in to dump 
> off its load of exec. types. While the trains patrons where all just about 
> off and people were clearing the area, i notice this 20 something girl 
> starting to crawl under the train to get to the other side. ... ALL this 
> just as the train was getting ready to move again!  I sat there in my 
> parked car in amazement! I couldn't believe that I was perhaps watching the 
> single most stupid person on the face of the earth!

I wish she really was the only one that stupid, but a similar incident hap-
pened in the Boston suburbs a few years ago.  The RR was the ex-B&A E/W main, 
used by MBTA commuter trains, a couple of Amtrak intercity trains, and numer-
ous high-speed freights.  One of the "street people" who prowl the area 
around the Framingham yard didn't want to walk around a parked MBTA train, so 
he (actually it may have been a woman; I'm not sure) crawled under it.  No 
big deal: the train was at the end of the line (and the crawler undoubtedly 
knew it) and wasn't going anywhere for 20 minutes or so.  But what the crawl-
er didn't know was that a freight train was approaching on the other track.
He made it past the MBTA train; the freight train cut him in half.

When the inevitable suit got to court, a mistrial was declared because the
jury was told that the victim had crawled under the MBTA train.  The court
ruled that all the jury could hear was that the man was on the track and got 
hit by a freight train.

   ___            _                                           -  Bob
   /__) _   /    / ) _   _
(_/__) (_)_(_)  (___(_)_(/_______________________________________ bob@1776.COM
Robert K. Coe ** 14 Churchill St, Sudbury, Massachusetts 01776 ** 508-443-3265
From: Joe.Russ@mixcom.mixcom.com (Joe.Russ)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: CMStP&P RR
Date: 24 Dec 92 17:42:29 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Milwaukee Internet Xchange BBS, Milwaukee, WI U.S.A.


>bankrupt, I don't think CMC did. I wasn't aware of CMC Heartland
>Partners, which sounds like a limited partnership.
 
From what I understand, the CMC still owns some trackage in Milwaukee
- including the Jones Island line on Milwaukee's lakefront which they
lease to the SOO.
 
I've heard that the CMC took the CMC Heartland Partners to court to
get them to add the Heartland Partners because they were riding on the
coat-tales of the CMC name, and with the antics they were/are pulling
in Milwaukee with real estate, the CMC didn't like the reputation.
Unfortunatly, the name shows up in both forms in the local press, so
it's sometimes hard to figure out who's really being talked about.
 
RE: "The Nation Pays Again,"
 
I've heard of it, and I think it's still advertised in Trains. Just
haven't gotten around to buying it. 
-- 
Joe.Russ@mixcom.com
WISE Div., NMRA
From: hudson@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Hudson Leighton)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: M&StL steam locomotive
Date: 3 Jan 93 14:45:04 GMT
Organization: People-Net [pnet51], Minneapolis, MN.

M&StL 471 is just east of Annanadale on Highway 55, It belongs to a private
(Super Nutcase) owner. If you want pictures stop on the shoulder and take
some quick pictures and then leave quickly.  The owner got upset set
a few years ago at some railfans taking pictures of a depot on the property 
that he burned down the depot!!  Do not get confused by the county pake which
has a caboose.  Look for the authenic "wanna be a Railroad museum" scrapyard.


UUCP: {crash tcnet}!orbit!pnet51!hudson
INET: hudson@pnet51.orb.mn.org
ICBM: Lat. 44.59 x lon. 93.13
HAM:  N0NMX  444.100 repeater
Advertisement: Try the Railway Post Office BBS (612) 377-2197 a Railfan BBS
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: memanuel@cbnews.cb.att.com (mark.emanuele)
Subject: Re: New York <-> Washington DC: air shuttle was better
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 26 Dec 1992 05:15:43 GMT
Keywords: AMTRAK, North-East Corridor, air travel

In article <1992Dec17.175250.8485@nntpd.lkg.dec.com> judice@sulaco.enet.dec.com () writes:
>
>>f you get to Metropark much after 6:00 AM there IS NO parking available
>>for Amtrak users. ONLY for people lucky enough to have won a parking lottery
>>and pay the county of middlesex a monthly parking fee.
>
>Not so! If you go to the shed in the parking lot and show them your
>Amtrak ticket, they will let you park in the reserved parking area
>for $1/day. 
>
>I traveled to the DC area weekly and never had a problem parking
>this way.
>
>
>--
>
>Louis J. Judice		| Email:      judice@sulaco.enet.dec.com
>Digital Equipment Corp.	| Office   :  908-562-4103
>20 Corp. Pl South		| FAX:        908-562-4570
>Piscataway, NJ 08876	| "Right now, pigs are becoming lunch."
>			   	

I stand corrected. 

This is a well kept secret, since I have been using Metropark for some years now,
and have not seen a sign to tell you this.

Thanks,

I won't need to take the 5:59 Am Metroliner to DC just to get parking.



-- 
Mark A. Emanuele			memanuele@attmail.com
Sr. Network Engineer			(201)331-4713
AT&T Easylink Services	400 Interpace Pkwy   Parsippany, NJ 07054
From: gwp@dithots.Gwinnett.COM (George W. Pogue)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: RR Shops...
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 13:28:36 EST
Reply-To: gwp@dithots.Gwinnett.COM (George W. Pogue)
Organization: Deep In The Heart Of The South!


  Where are the good rr shops in/around Charlotte, NC?

  email since I don't normally receive this group please.

  bill

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Buy American! The Job You Save Could Be Your Own! Sell American Too!
 gwp@dithots.Gwinnett.COM (George W. Pogue)  Deep In The Heart Of The South!
 User Calls: 809      User Posts: 337    Waffle Version: 1.65
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: asgard@plx.com (J.R. Stoner)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Deaths on Railroad Property
Keywords: n
Date: 23 Dec 92 22:44:48 GMT
Organization: Heironamous Botch's Murk Works

In article <1992Dec23.162343.29221@stsci.edu> drs@stsci.edu (David Soderblom) writes:
_In another follow-up, somebody mentioned another incident in which some very
_young children were killed after straying from their backyard onto the
_tracks, and the poster castigated the mother for her inattention.

That someone was me.  The (one) little child was not killed and was heroically
saved by the trainman involved.

_I have to conclude that this person must either be single or that their major
_contribution to child raising was a one-time ejaculation for them to be so
_unfeeling and ignorant of just what is involved in caring for children.

This crack is unwarranted, uninformed,  and out of order.  I have not given
you any information that would make my gender known to you.  It so happens
that I am a man, but your assumption is dishonestly taken.
It is quite the thing to go with the fashionable stereotype of a man as
walking wallet/sperm doner, which is offensive enough, but you have no right
to say I do not care about children, and I have never said anything about
which parent has sole responsibility for child care.

_Children are not the sole responsibility of the mother,

It must make you feel better to write those words for me, as I have not said
them.  Nor do I subscribe to that stereotype/strawman role you have assigned
for me.

_and, as any parent who
_has actually spent time with their children can verify, children can find ways
_to get into trouble on time scales that are much shorter than the time it takes
_to get a load of laundry into the washer and get back upstairs.  Fortunately
_they don't do it very often (not usually, anyway).  Unless you personally
_know exactly what that mother or father was facing during those moments
_that lead to tragedy, I suggest that you keep moral judgments to yourself.

My remarks about that "mother" are based on the fact that living next to
a working railroad, and not being aware of the possibility of a train coming
along with children nearby, would be willfully negligent.  Should my family
be similarly located I will ensure that proper fencing separates my house
from my back yard.

_These opinions are strictly personal.

Then it is taken personally, as they are offensive on their face.
-- 
In 1911/and strident voices raised high/Votes! Votes for women, was the cry.
The Titanic was sinking/and death was nigh/Boats! Boats for women, was the cry.
J.R. Stoner, DWMIT - asgard@plx.com - sun.com!plx!plxsun!asgard
From: rambler@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Dan Meyer)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Milwaukee Road Line Northwest
Date: 23 Dec 92 00:05:02 GMT
Organization: People-Net [pnet51], Minneapolis, MN.

zephyr@cory.Berkeley.EDU (COIFMAN) writes:
>> SD (I think Mitchell).  Trackage beyond there is "Dakota Southern
>Railroad" to
>> somewheres around Stamford, and abandoned beyond there.  The CNW line
>into
>> Rapid City is also now a short line, but I don't remember its name.
>
> That would be Dakota Midland and Eastern. They run over what was the
>C&NW from Winona MN on the Mississippi to Rapid City SD
>
>
>

Bzzzt. Sorry, the name is Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern. 

--Dan Meyer

Remember: " Buffalo never Oink " Seen on a South Dakota travel brocure.
Advertisment: Try the Railway Post Office , a railfan BBS ! (612) 377-2197.
UUCP: {crash tcnet}!orbit!pnet51!rambler
INET: rambler@pnet51.orb.mn.org
From: jimmy@denwa.info.com (Jim Gottlieb)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Automation in crossing gates (was Re: Deaths on Railroad Property: common sense or am I an Idiot?)
Date: 28 Dec 92 07:28:50 GMT
Organization: Info Connections, West Los Angeles

In article <1oBgwB4w165w@railnet.nshore.ORG> rad@railnet.nshore.ORG (Rick DeMattia) writes:
>memanuel@cbnews.cb.att.com (mark.emanuele) writes:
>
>the train would proceed at a crawl for a short distance until the signals
>and gates were actuated again.
>
>If there's a problem, it's not the technology.

Definitely true.  In Japan, where most of my rail observations come
from, I have always been impressed that the signals and gates appear to
be tied into some other system and know perfectly when to drop.

For example, let's consider the grade crossing right after a station,
and only the local train stops at this station.  If the train headed
down the track is an express train, the crossing starts making noise
and then the gates come down when the train is still some distance
away.  But if the approaching train is a local train, the gates don't
start sounding until the train is almost stopped.  And if that train is
scheduled for a stop of a few minutes, then the gates will stay up
until X seconds before that train is scheduled to leave.

All automated.
-- 
Jim Gottlieb
E-Mail: <jimmy@denwa.info.com> or <attmail!denwa!jimmy>
V-Mail: +1 310 551 7702   Fax: 478-3060   Voice: 824-5454
From: craig@kralizec.zeta.org.au (Craig Dewick)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Switch Heaters?
Date: 19 Dec 1992 09:43:43 +1100
Organization: Kralizec Dialup Unix Sydney: +61-2-837-1183 V.42bis
NNTP-Posting-Host: kralizec.zeta.org.au

tvervaek@col.hp.com (Tom Vervaeke) writes:

>	  How much force is exerted when the switch is moved? Locally
>	  the track is controlled by the Sante Fe dispatcher #10 from
>	  Albequerque, NM. I was sitting there thinking what would
>	  happen if an animal or human had his foot in the switch when
>	  it started moving. Would it be strong  enough to cause serious
>	  damage or is there a sensor to sense resistance? Also, how
>	  fast do these things move?

Here in Sydney, Australia, we have a large number of turnouts that are
electro-pneumatically operated. To explain, the command from the control
location activates a solenoid (that's the electrical part) which allows
a feed of compressed air to an air motor that moves the switchrails (that's
the pneumatic part). These things are damn fast! You can hear the switch
rails bounce off the stock rails because the action is so fast. I imagine
that anything stuck in between the switch and stock rails would not be
in much of a state after getting squashed.

Most of the other remotely controlled points are driven by geared
electric motors. These are MUCH slower than the EP type, so I presume
that they would also have a much larger compressive effect on anything
in the way of the switchrail.

When I was working in signalling before transferring to loco driving,
I once got my foot stuck in a set of EP points. Fortunately for me I
had steel-capped boots on, so while the boots were written off, my
foor only sustained a few bruises.

As far as obstruction sensors go, I've never seen any on all the railways
I've visited here in Oz. If something's in the way, tough luck!
-- 
 Craig Dewick               |        - Railway Preservation Industries -
 Send email to:             |            Supporting the Preservation
 craig@kralizec.zeta.org.au |          of Australia's Railway Heritage
From: weave@apache.dtcc.edu (Ken Weaverling)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Train station car rentals and long-term parking?
Date: 22 Dec 92 01:15:51 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Delaware Technical & Community College
NNTP-Posting-Host: apache.dtcc.edu

Wilmington, DE station also has a car rental counter inside the station,
and this is not a large town (population around ~70,000 though it is a
fairly popular NEC stop due to DuPont, Hercules, ICI, and drug pushers from
NYC staking out new territories down here... Hmmm, come to think of it,
one could think of Hercules, DuPont and ICI as drug pushers as well! :-)

The car rental counter is not opened at all hours, but there is a courtesy
phone on the counter to reach them. 

-- 
Weave's 10/90 recipe for insanity: Take one programmer, divide into portions: 
10% programming consisting of equal parts in systems and applications plus
admin duties broken down into 20% for Unix, 5% PRIMOS, 10% hardware & network, 
35% DOS/Windows, 10% news, 5% postmaster, and 5% babysitting IRC kiddies.
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: zephyr@cory.Berkeley.EDU (COIFMAN)
Subject: Re: CGW (was the Tunnel thread)
Organization: University of California, at Berkeley
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1992 20:28:03 GMT

 If you look at the numbers and owners initials on rail cars, you can
still spot a number of CGW and even a few M&StL cars.  As these
railroads were absorbed into C&NW, there were some numbering conflicts.
So insted of going through the pain of renumbering all of the
conflicting cars, as they were repainted, they got the C&NW logo, but
kept their old number and former rail road's initials.



   _ -----------  -------------  ----------- _  -------------/^^^^^^^^\----
  /^____________||_____________||____________^\|[] ==== ====  ___ ___   == |
 'o-o ------ o-o  o-o ----- o-o  o-o ------ o-o o-o ------------------- o-o
Way of the Zephyrs        zephyr@cory.berkeley.edu             Benn Coifman
                           zephyr@robotics.berkeley.edu

Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: M00209@MBVM.Mitre.Org
Subject: Re: SLC<-->Denver: suggestions needed
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, Bedford MA 01730
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1992 17:23:21 GMT

 
In article <1992Dec26.034255.12391@xyzoom.info.com>
rob@xyzoom.info.com (Rob Lingelbach) writes:
 
>
>I would like to ride that route, and thought that a good way to do it
>would be to fly to SLC and take the train east to Granby, CO.
>Departure from SLC is 5:15 AM, arrival at Granby is 4:35 PM, making
>the trip in daylight.
>
>When I was at the Glenwood station, however, the train from SLC was
>2.5 hours late, due to arrive at 3:45 PM.  That would put the last
>part of the trip toward Granby after dark....  Can anyone tell me if
>that delay is typical?  Can anyone give me some more detail about this
>route?
>Thanks.
>
My impression has been that lateness is common, but that probably 2.5 hours
late is a bit unusual.  If I could only ride one way, I'd ride the train
westbound, in order to get the spectacular climb up the Front Range from Denver
to the Moffat Tunnel in daylight as well as Glenwood Canyon.  The climb over
Soldier Summit(?) in Utah is spectacular, too, but it doesn't IMHO compare to
the westbound climb out of Denver.  Is Granby your intended destination?  If
not, I wouldn't get off the train there;  it's a mighty small town and hotel
space is probably limited.  Also it has the reputation of being one of the
coldest spots on the planet.
 
 
Len Bachelder        Archives Committee, Boston and Maine RR Historical Society
MITRE Corp.           Secretary, Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts
Bedford MA 01730      Member, 470 Railroad Club
<M00209@mbvm.mitre.org>
 
"Amazing love, how can it be that Thou, my God, should'st die for me!"
                                                 - Charles Wesley
From: rrw@sunset.cse.nau.edu (Bob Wier)
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
Subject: Re: Grade crossings, etc. (was Re: Deaths on Railroad Prop...)
Date: 27 Dec 92 22:07:47 GMT
Originator: rrw@sunset.cse.nau.edu

From article <1992Dec27.064746.27037@netcom.com>, by tssmith@netcom.com (Tim Smith):
> don't notice trains at all.  Have you ever been on a steam excursion,
> and watched peoples' reaction to the train?  While many will come out
> and wait patiently to get a look at the train (and they're not all
> railfans), many more just ignore the engine and train completely.  To
> them, it probably looks just the same as the last train they saw.
> 
> --Tim (tssmith@netcom.com)
 
  Kind of reminds me of 1986 when Halley's comet came by.  I asked a 
  colleague if he wanted to go with me to see it, which involved
  getting up about 4 AM and driving about 100 miles out of 
  Dallas/ Fort Worth to where it was dark enough to see it.

  He said "Naah, I'll catch it the next time".  No joke!

- Bob Wier

  ---------- insert favorite standard disclaimers here ----------
                   College of Engineering
      Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff Arizona
  Internet: rrw@naucse.cse.nau.edu | WB5KXH | fax:602 523 2300
Newsgroups: rec.railroad
From: Joe.Russ <Joe.Russ@mixcom.mixcom.com>
Subject: Re: Deaths on Railroad Property
Organization: Milwaukee Internet Xchange BBS, Milwaukee, WI U.S.A.
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 17:54:22 GMT


>private (and posted) property.  Let's not forget her
>misery, even if we disagree with her lawsuit.
 
Even if her lawsuit causes others misery? All of us pay for these
lawsuits in one way shape or form through insurance.
 
And about "her" misery - come on. What about the misery that train
crew (and many others in similar situations) is going through knowing
they killed someone because a incompent/unconcerned parent? They have
to live with that every day they go to work.
-- 
Joe.Russ@mixcom.com
WISE Div., NMRA
Newsgroups: rec.railroad