Good evening, 39 and dark outside. Think I'm going to restrict my posts to evening hours for a while. The wife thinks I'm spending too much time on the computer in the morning.
Curt: There was once a state of the art (in 1939), semi automated washer at the Sunnyside Pit, which was specifically designed to wash electric motors used in passenger service. Back then yard engines, such as the DD1 and the B1 were used to pull the trains from the station, through the washer and into the yard. Road power cut off in the station, and went directly to the pit. Somewhere along the line, this practice was discontinued and the current practice of keeping the road power coupled to the train, through the car washer was thought to be sufficient. I believe that the video you refer to was the washer at the pit.
Garry: Back in 2009, GE Stock was ranging between, $8.00, and $20 / share. I was buying cheap, and selling when I doubled my money. I stopped trading and went to Mutual Funds, but left GE on my Watch List, along with Pfizer. Neither has performed very well over the last nine years. If GE drops below $12, I may take a flyer on it. The company has a solid business core, and should be performing better than it has. CSX, on the other hand, is lagging because of all the bad publicity generated by HH. Right now, my choice would be UP and KCS.
Greg: Stock analysts and promoters are prone to giving bad advice. That's why I don't use a full commission brokerage. I can make my own mistakes. And a $5.00 trade is cheap. Bloomberg has an article on how by 2025, the US will out produce OPEC, Russia and other Oil Cartels, and dominate the market. Pipelines are running into all sorts of political and environmental opposition. Oil train accidents are overblown. Coal is Dead, and that has affected all railroads, however, there is more to transport other than coal.
Terry and Chet: Concerning OnStar, It's much more than a cell phone service, but since there are alternative technology's available, that are not limited to time spent in the car, I don't believe the cost is justified. Their sales people are extremely aggressive. I kept it active on the Caddy much longer than I should have, because my wife liked the security blanket aspect of it. I finally convinced her she didn't need OnStar, and didn't spend enough time in the car to justify Sirius -XM Radio. The whole tie it was active, maybe eight years, we had one unlock request, at the dealers, during a power failure, no less. And they initially wouldn't remotely unlock, because I forgot the damn password. Finally, with the assistance of the Service Manager, they unlocked the vehicle. Was not long after, that I wouldn't renew.
Cut the Homasote and Pink Foam for the latest section of benchwork, and glued it in place. It's curing now.
Have a good evening