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| Photos of July 31, 2008 Ops |
| I had a nice treat this month. My brother Lee was here for a short visit so we called for an unusual Thursday evening operating session. We ended up one member short of a full crew so the Superintendent grabbed a throttle and ran a lot of trains. Because of that, we did not have a full compliment of photos to support the session. In any case, everyone kept pretty busy and Lee operated for the first time in nearly 20 years. So thanks crew for making it a good evening. |
| The Operators Les Dahlstedt was quick to volunteer for the dispatcher's position. Next time he may not be so fast to day. That situation put the pressure on right from the beginning and it didn't seem to let up much all evening. Les was a trooper and in the end prevailed. The Mackinaw City Yardmaster was Jeff Osborn. He took the job by default, as no one else volunteered. Thanks Jeff! The Grand Rapids Yardmaster was Seth Neumann who was quick to volunteer. As mentioned, the traffic pattern for the session was a bit unusual and the Grand Rapids yard got slammed, but Seth kept it open most of the night. Great job by all of the "skilled" position operators. Now for the guys that wouldn't volunteer (the smart ones): John Blunden, Rod Smith, Andy Schnur, Lee Osborn (visitor from afar - first time C&M operator) and Dave Parks. As usual the Superintendent was Bob Osborn who also ran many through trains. Here are some pictures: |
| Statistics: The total number of cars moved was 279 in a total of 30 trains: 4 1st class passenger trains 2 2nd class Fast Freights (#210 & #211) 10 turns (out and back) 9 through freight 3 boat interchanger's (out and back) Online customer deliveries/pick ups totalled 61 cars at industrial sidings and in addition, we even picked up/setout a total of 14 express loads in our passenger operations. |
| We had two dispatchers at this op session. Les started it out and as mentioned above, things got a little busy right off the bat. Les had to handled things very well and kept things moving as well as could be everything worked out just fine. Good job dispatchers. |
| The Yardmasters |
| The Dispatcher(s) |
Jeff was the MC YM (right) and Seth was the GR YM (left). Jeff is literally
twiddling his thumbs for lack of work. Seth, on the other hand, had his
hands full of work. The pictures below bear this out. It seemed that Jeff
was waiting for trains all evening and Seth was waiting for an open track all
evening. That's the way it went. Both yardmasters did a great job
keeping their yards open, although one had to work harder at it than the
other.
twiddling his thumbs for lack of work. Seth, on the other hand, had his
hands full of work. The pictures below bear this out. It seemed that Jeff
was waiting for trains all evening and Seth was waiting for an open track all
evening. That's the way it went. Both yardmasters did a great job
keeping their yards open, although one had to work harder at it than the
other.
| The move of the day: |
| Hey crew, good job. I think moved some trains. we had a lot of fun and we Thanks everyone, See you next month. |
| Click images to Enlarge: |
| Here is Traverse City with the local 314 heading north on the mainline and another extra heading south in the it's caboose on the siding. |
| Here is a meet in Boardman Lake Siding |
| Here is extra 314 going northbound through the north woods!! |
Comstock Park Yard and
crowded. Here is John and
Seth working Cadillac and
crowded. Here is John and
running an extra.
crowded. Here is John and
Seth working Cadillac and
crowded. Here is John and
running an extra.
| Andy is working the Traverse City Turn and Rod is switching the express track with passenger northbound Local #102. Andy is intently watching (but all of the time thinking "get out of my town!!") |
| The two dispatchers are working closely! Les is dispatching and Rod is running the Grind Job in Grand Rapids Industrial district. |
| Here are Jeff and "Uncle Lee" hanging out at Mackinaw City. On the right is Lee running a southbound extra through freight through Cadillac on the mainline. He hadn't operated in many years, but a hogger never forgets his skills. (assuming he had some skills to start with)!!! |
Now the shoe's on the
other foot. Andy is running
the southbound Local
Passenger #101 and he is
working the express track
in Petoskey. Now David is
saying under his breath,
will this guy please get out
of my town so I can work!!
other foot. Andy is running
the southbound Local
Passenger #101 and he is
working the express track
in Petoskey. Now David is
saying under his breath,
will this guy please get out
of my town so I can work!!
| switching moves done in Petoskey before another through train screws him up! |