| The Dispatcher |
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| Photos of February 10, 2009 Ops |
| Happy New Year! was had by all. We had some tech problems to start the session and the radios seem to be misbehaving near the end, but the tech problems cleared up quickly and we through the radio static. Besides that we filled up a train sheet plus some and we moved a lot of freight and express. |
| The Operators people we had. After some debate, Steve Williams volunteered to be the dispatcher and by the way, he kept everything moving on the main line and no cornfield meets! Seth Neuman jumped in early-on and volunteered for the Grand Rapids Yardmasters job and with a bit of trepidation, Rod Smith finally volunteered for the Mackinaw City Yardmaster job. By the way, this was the first time he has yardmastered on the C&M and boy did he do a good job. Jeff Osborn, Les Dahlsted, Andy Schnur, John Blunden and good ole Alan Cooper (made it back for a command performance), rounded out the crew. |
| Statistics: The total number of cars moved was 301 in a total of 32 trains: 4 1st class passenger trains 2 2nd class Fast Freights (#210) 13 turns (out plus back) 10 through freight 1 PRR interchanger's 2 boat interchanger's (estimated - out and back) Online customer deliveries/pick ups totalled 83 cars at industrial sidings and in addition, we even picked up/setout a total of 12 express loads in our passenger operations. |
| Click images to Enlarge: |
| The Yardmasters |
| Seth (above) was the Grand Rapids yardmaster and Rod (below) as the Mackinaw City yardmaster. Both yards stayed free of clogs and gridlock all evening. One would expect Seth, the veteran GR YM to keeps things moving, which he, of course, did, however, it was Rod's first YM stint on the C&M so I expected a clogged yard. NOT. Things moved well in MC all evening and trains had very little delays in the yard. Great job Rod. Thanks for volunteering. |
| The moves of the day: |
| photos as I would like, but we did get a shot of everyone. Speaking of Superintendenting, the Super was extremely busy at the start of the session when a bunch of throttles did not want to work. Not good if you want to run trains! The interesting part is that they started working again. I would like to take the credit for fixing them, but they sort of fixed themselves. I think I know what happened but I wouldn't swear to it. Also, the interference we were getting with the radios toward the end of the evening was diagnosed (by Les) as low batteries. In the future we will have to monitor our battery meters on the FRS displays. Well that's it for this session. See you all next time. The Superintendent/Dispatcher/Photographer Brakeman Bob |
| Steve was the DS and he did an exemplary job. Trains moved freely during the entire operation. In fact, towards the end of the session, Steve actually got to run a train. It was the hotshot southbound Northwoods Fast Freight. He didn't run into anything. Not bad for a dispatcher! |
| I couldn't decide between three cool moves so we have the moveS of the day. Above, we had our first rolling meet in Boardman Lake. Both trains rolled into the main and siding, respectively, at the same time. The company photographer just happened to be there to take the shot. Below you will see an unusual three way meet in Traverse City. The assistant company photographer took the shot so you can barely see the D&M leased units entering the scene. The ass. photo guy needs some practice!! |
| Finally, we had a standoff in Petoskey. The Petoskey Turn operator had a mis-communication with the DS and passenger #101 and the Petoskey Turn had a bit of a standoff. Luckily noone was injured, the Turn backed off and the #101 was on his way. |
| working the New Cadillac. Here's Les His new double XO worked great. |
| Here's Jeff working the TC turn. It's his first shot at TC and he well. He only well. He only had 3 cars had 3 cars going in so he going in so he had it easy!had it easy! |
| Andy says he is getting comfortable with Petoskey. Looks like we need to get him a new assignment! |
| John is shown working the Grind Job. He is getting to be an old hand at the Grind. Come to think of it, he is just getting to be old! |
| As usual, the first two trains of the night were the two commuters, north and south bound., They met, as advertised at the Traverse City Station. |
It was nice to have Alan
nice to have Alan lighten
It was nice to have Alan
This time he was not a
time he was not a YM
but actually ran the road
along with operating a
Grind Job. It looks he is
having fun!
nice to have Alan lighten
It was nice to have Alan
This time he was not a
time he was not a YM
but actually ran the road
along with operating a
Grind Job. It looks he is
having fun!
| The assistant company photographer took this shot in Petoskey. I sort of like it. It shows a very small portion of the new landscape in that city. Maybe there is still hope for the young man! He is starting to take after his father! |
