Good morning from the Jersey Shore, where it is a cloudy 28°. Later we are supposed to have Mixed precipitation and Ice, through mid morning Sunday.
I have not been myself, lately. Both the wife and I have been under a great deal of externally driven stress, some of which relates to health issues and the frustrations of the now year long Covid sequestration. Again this morning, at 0500, the wife attempted to obtain appointments for us to receive the first dose of the vaccine, with no success.
Later this morning, I received a message from the NJ Department of Health, telling me I'm registered and that I should be patient, and they will notify me when it's my turn. What I found interesting was a new statistic that they introduced. They were bragging that for next week they will provide 142,975 first doses and 111,675 second doses of vaccine in the state. Sounds impressive, right? Keep in mind, that New Jersey is very densely populated state, and there are 21 Countys. in the State. Considering that everything here "has to be equitable", that works out to 6,808 first doses, and 5318 second doses of vaccine. per county for the entire week, or 1361 first doses and 1024 second doses per day. Further divide this into multiple distribution centers per county, it's conceivable that each location has but a hand full of appointment available on a given day...
Governour Knucklehead's designated Covid Vaccine Czar, has really dropped the ball on this.
On the Railroad front, Yesterday evening the USPS delivered a parcel from Trainworld. (Only took 3 days to travel from Brooklyn to Central Jersey, a nice leisurely walk,eh?). The package contained two BLI PRR P70r coaches, (Ice AC), for $168, (shipping included). Have to test them out today. This may kindle my interest in working on the Passenger Terminal I have been considering on the other side of the layout. [ The reason, I elected to re-work the module at the opposite end of the layout, was to give me a runaround to facilitate return moves by locomotive powered commuter trains. RDC trains don't need runarounds, but the cheap PRR preferred to continue using steam heated coaches instead of more efficient, self contained RDCs, ].
Since I'm not going anywhere this weekend, I plan on spending time in the train room.
This is a photo of Grays Ferry Yard in Southwest Philadelphia, during the 1950s. The photo comes from the national Archives. I worked there in the late 1960s I don't remember the two crossing diamonds on the lead. The PRR yard office is where the cars are parked. The Reading Agents office is to the left side of the Photo. [ If I had the room, Grays Ferry would be the logical extension of my Essington Module, but due to the lack of space, the two Grays Ferry yards are not represented.
MP54 EMU cars awaiting the afternoon rush at Exchange Place in Jersey City, NJ 9/2/1954. Photo by Al Chione, contributed by Thomas C Ayres.
The Woolworth Building stands out in the background behind the MU set on the right.
