| The Dispatcher |
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| Operations - September 15, 2009 |
| Hello everyone. We missed a couple of months for a variety of reasons. But we were back with a vengeance on the 15th. We had 8 operators with one being relatively new to operations. We had a couple of problems during the ops, like a couple of balky throttles and a switch that developed a short, but for the most part, the infrastructure held up over the idle period. The superintendent tripled for the dispatcher and the company photographer so the photos were catch as catch can. I think everyone had a good time so the ops were a success. |
| The Operators We had eight crew members plus the superintendent. The yardmasters were Seth Neumann at Grand Rapids and Les Dahlstedt at Mackinac City. The other operators were John Blunden, Earl Girbovan, Andy Schnur, Rod Smith, Jeff Osborn and Andy Schnur. We had kind of an unusual operating session as for the first time in a long time, we had operators waiting for a train, as opposed to the usual scenario of the trains waiting for an operator. Traffic is generate randomly so that is just the way it worked this session. In any case, the lull gave us all time to kibitz. |
| Statistics: The total number of cars moved was 222 in a total of 25 trains: 3 1st class passenger trains 0 2nd class Fast Freights (#210) 10 turns (out plus back) 7 through freight 1 PRR interchanger's (out and back) .5 boat interchanger's (out and back) Online customer deliveries/pick ups totalled 72 cars at industrial sidings and in addition, we even picked up/setout a total of 6 express loads in our passenger operations. |
| The Yardmasters |
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| Seth is becoming a fixture in the Comstock Park Yard in Grand Rapids. He has it down pretty well except in this operations, after the initial surge, things got real slow. You guested it, that didn't last and Seth got dumped on. Again, it is a randomly generated traffic pattern and it worked out to get him this time around. That being said, things still went as smoothly as could be expected. Les kept things going in Mackinac City most of the session. Traffic allowed only one Boat pull. Again, unusual, but Les handled it with his usual professionalism. Good job guys. |
| For the second ops in a row, the Superintendent did the dispatching (a pretty good job, if I do say so myself). He also was the Company photographer, so the photos are what they are. The Super had a good time, but didn't take any picture of himself!!! |
| The Moves of the Day |
| Meets |
| Below is Seth doing his thing. |
| Below is Les doing his thing. |
The photos at the left so the first big
meet of the night. The extra 309 is
on the main in Traverse City and
extra 325 in northbound on the
siding. A perfectly executed meet
that kept the traffic moving and the
cash registers (delivered freight)
ringing.
meet of the night. The extra 309 is
on the main in Traverse City and
extra 325 in northbound on the
siding. A perfectly executed meet
that kept the traffic moving and the
cash registers (delivered freight)
ringing.
| Not to be out done, extra 325 meets extra 314 in Petoskey. To make it even better, there was the Petoskey Turn working in town. A Three Way Meet. Good job of dispatching!!? |
| Above, Petoskey people space is at a premium when you have three trains in town. You also get three operators in town. Hope everyone took a shower !!!!! |
| Here is John working his extra 314 southbound through Petoskey. Fun!! |
| Random Photos |
| At the right, Rod is working in Petoskey and looks like he is having a good time. |
Here is Jeff diligently working away in
Cadillac. Only had one Cadillac turn
this operation so it was important to
take care of our Cadillac shippers.
Cadillac. Only had one Cadillac turn
this operation so it was important to
take care of our Cadillac shippers.
| John is here working the GRIND job. He seems to request the GRIND job. Is there something wrong with him? I guess he is just a Grinder at heart. |
| Wow, these guys look they are have WAY too much fun!!! Actually, Franklin and Andy teamed up to run some trains. Since Franklin is relatively new at the operations game, Andy tried his best to "learn" him something. If nothing else, they were having fun. Rod is taking all of this in! Here they are again |
| We ran the first Ann Arbor RR interchanger tonight. Nicknamed "The Annie", it comes out of AA interchange in Cadillac and uses trackage rights over the C&M to run to Comstock Park Yard to exchange cars, then back to Cadillac. Ron (not pictured) had the honor of running the inaugural Annie. Rod reminded me that he ran the inaugural Walton Jct Turn. What a forward thinker! Note the AA RR #21 is its unique orange livery. |
Above is Andy enjoying
the view.
the view.
| The Annie |
| Here are John and Jeff loafing!!! |
| Well, that's it. We will do it again next month. Thanks for making the Chicago & Mackinac RR come alive one more time. |
| Photo coming? |