Good Morning All. Miserable weather continues as it's cloudy and 8°. At least it's not negative like some of you others. Well the wind chill is -5°. The high yesterday didn't make it up as high as predicted, just to 16°. Today's high is forecast to be 26°. Still won't get above freezing until Wednesday when we should have sunshine all day. Brief snow flurries last night about 8:00 pm, some very minor accumulation that The Weather Underground couldn't even record. More predicted for today, but there shouldn't be any accumulation. It actually looks like it all moved to the east per the current radar.
NFL Playoff Game - I wasn't expecting Dallas to win, given their playoff record since Jimmy Johnson/Barry Switzer left. The team can make it in, but can't continue. I never really gave it much thought since I no longer watch the NFL, but I hear that Mike McCarthy seems to stall out at playoff time before he even came here. Is it really the assistants? My wife says so. I knew that the game was over early when she switched it off to continue her binge-watching of Sopranos repeats. For all of you other football knowledgeable folks out there; she blamed some guy named Quinn who switched from the successful season-long man to man defense to zone coverage for this game!
It was only 48° out in the train shed yesterday, so I only went out once, just to be sure that all of the space heaters were operating. Despite being fully insulated, those two heaters and the oil radiator can only keep the inside temperature between 25° and 30° above the outside temperature. Together they are just not rated to heat that large of a room. So I gathered up all of my written assembly and maintenance records and spent a few hours at the computer entering data. I didn't realize that I was so far behind. My last entry was in September 2018, I am now up to January 2022. It's all pretty minor stuff like loose Blue Box coupler box covers and drooping trip pins. The most prevalent thing is dusting off those black tank cars which get dusty rather easily. And since I have over 100 of them, it gets done often; averaging about 3 years between cleanings. Most other freight cars seem to get cleaned once every 5-6 years. Some because they need it, some just because I'm doing it anyway like I am doing this month.
Some more random pictures from the archive. First a drone view of downtown Maultown.
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The same drone flew over Jamestown.
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Not quite a drone, but a couple of industries in Charlottesville.
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A view down the tracks with the main drag of Vernon on the right.
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Tom O - I like the gatekeeper concept. Keeps all other drivers safe.
That's what was also reported here. She unilaterally moved it and consulted with the NFL after the fact. I don't dispute the decision regardless of who made it. All of my life, I never understood why someone decided to establish Buffalo NY where they did!
Tom - I don't envy you at all in that snowplow. This weather will surely mess up that "spit & polish" picture that you posted recently.
Curt - Best wishes at the dentist.
Joe - While I don't like the really cold temperatures, I can tolerate them for the most part. It's just that they don't build houses here to account for this cold. Ground here moves too much for most slab foundations, so pier & beam it is; meaning some exposed plumbing.
OK, since I started this post a couple of hours ago, the sun has actually come out. I still don't think it will warm up significantly, but who knows?
Stay safe and warm today. Everybody have a great day.