March 8, 2008 - Today we deal with a rather sticky subject
God really does love us; he blessed mankind with duct tape. Duct tape is, by far, the single greatest invention to come along since round wheels, indoor plumbing and wireless radio. On the job I have found more uses for it than were probably ever imagined when the stuff was created. And I am relatively certain that some of my uses for it were never dreamed of when they came up with the concept of duct tape.

January 18, 2008 - Untitled
As some of you along the HTOTHI network are aware, we had some vicious storms sweep through the Midwest on Monday January 7th. The Chicago area and state of Illinois were not exempt. A tremendous amount of rain fell upon the region in a short period of time causing floods and all sorts of other chaos. In some areas there were tornadoes and high winds to wreak havoc along with the rain and flood waters. Let’s see, it is January, winter time and 57° F. What’s wrong with this picture?

December 6, 2007 - Today; The right place at the right time
The defect detector has replaced human beings in the function of inspecting passing trains. In years past when there were towers located all up and down the railroads, the operators at these towers would give a roll-by, a visual inspection of a train as it passed the tower location. The operator would stand on the ground and observe the train as it passed observing for potential defects. With the towers pretty much a memory in most locations, those sets of eyes to watch trains for defects are gone.

November 8, 2007 - Today it’s Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves
As I have frequently mentioned in the past, railroaders are quite the diverse and colorful assembly of characters. Just go back and look at some of the “Characters of the Game” pieces I have discussed. Today’s theme will rise above the Characters of the Game by volumes. It might be said we are “going where no man has ever gone before.”

October 18, 2007 - This time: I really missed out, literally
Well, it’s October 18th again. This year marks the eighteenth anniversary of the deadly collision between my train and that automobile in Antioch, IL. As has been the case for so many years now, I usually post a story involving another episode involving a train and a motor vehicle. This year though, it is going to be slightly different. We’re going to look at what I missed one evening.

September 17, 2007 - Today; We’re Asleep At The Wheel
Today’s topic might have you wondering if I am going to call upon that great western swing band from Texas with the same name to perform some background music for this piece. As great as that might sound, I’m not. Instead, we are going to look at what the lack of sufficient sleep can do to railroad crews.

July 19, 2007 - Today we do a study in Cranial Rectal Inversion
Cranial Rectal Inversion, as many of you already know, is the medical term for the increasingly common affliction in which one can take their own head and insert it into their own ass. The more common name street name for this malady is headupassitis. Preparation H will not treat this ailment. In fact, there is no know cure and as far as I know, there is no research being conducted and certainly no telethons being staged to raise money for awareness and a cure. Today’s episode involves three railroads and a single official.

May 22, 2007 - This time we do another study of when things go haywire
Now with all the mechanization and electronics involved with the locomotive there is a tremendous potential for things to seize, break, fall off, burn up or just cease to function. Today’s lesson will look at some of the strange and bizarre events that occur when the railroad gods decide your day is rolling along far too smoothly. And we’ll start with the little things.

April 10, 2007 - Today we do another study in a locomotive
I haven’t done one of these profiles in quite some time. Recently I’ve had several of the newest members of CN’s motive power fleet so I thought I would profile them this time around.

March 20, 2007 - This time it’s a look at why they’re in charge, and we’re not
Those that manage the railroads are supposed to exercise good judgment, not only in the performance of their duties, but also in their overall behavior. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. In some instances it seems to rarely be the case at all.

February 23, 2007 - Today it is yet another lesson in things that go horribly wrong
Things go wrong on the railroad no matter how well planned the day, week or month might be. Sometimes they go haywire. In other instances they just go horribly wrong. In many cases, all the planning and careful operating practices in the world cannot prevent such instances, they just happen.

January 31, 2007 - Today; It's the Big Chill
Now it is January and we are finally getting real winter weather with some consistency; snow, cold temperatures, wind chills, all that fun stuff as God intended for winter to be. As I am a proofreading this, it is 9° F with a wind chill factor of about -4° F and it is supposed to get even colder over the next few days. Yee ha it’s wintertime in the Midwest.

December 16, 2006 - Today: Engineer’s Journal; Train Date 12.16.06
This one will be a twist as it comes from a piece of railroad that I used to operate over in the latter 80’s, the former Chicago Central & Pacific. I hadn’t seen this line west of Broadview, IL since 1987 prior to a couple of weeks ago. Crews from the former IC are recapturing mileage from the former CCP as their crews operate over our line for some 32 miles to reach Markham. We are now allowed to work their line to Freeport, IL for several months per year to equalize the mileage. Sound confusing? It is.

November 14, 2006 - Today we’re dead on the rail
This will not be still another look at going dead on the hours, but rather, a look at what happens when motive power fails and you come to a stop as a result. When this occurs you refer to it as being “dead on the rail.” In today’s lesson, we are going to study what causes one to fall into this lifeless state.

October 21, 2006 - This time we branch out
There are numerous branch lines throughout North American railroading. Branch lines vary in degree of traffic. Conrail for example, had various lines designated in their timetables as branch lines but these lines had a fair amount of traffic moving across them. Here in Indiana the Porter Branch and the Marion Branch were two of which were truly main lines. Both lines featured heavy, welded rail, deep ballasted and well maintained roadway that included signals (traffic control systems actually) with higher track speeds than one might consider for a track referred to as branch line. Both of these lines handled a fair amount of traffic, usually six to ten trains per day each and often more.

July 15, 2006 - This time we do a study in the new guy
In keeping with last months theme of getting hired on the railroad, I thought we would follow up that topic with what happens after you get hired and how, as a new guy (or girl), you must learn to adapt and learn to fit into our steel wheeled lunatic asylum. This will be a do and don’t guide for the new shooter, most the latter.

June 2, 2006 - Today; So you wanna be a railroader, eh?
In recent months I have been participating in a couple of threads on a couple of discussion lists to which I subscribe about hiring out on the railroad. The one list dealt with the value of railfans as rail employees. The other discussed the potential for getting hired at all. So I decided that it is time to approach this subject on a global level being that this little diatribe of mine circulates worldwide.

March 28, 2006 - Today we study more characters of the game
As I’ve stated more often than I can remember, the rail industry is made up of quite a diverse group of people. Seemingly, it is a more diverse group than anywhere else I have ever worked prior to my entering the rail industry in 1978. And that diversity brings forth some interesting, unusual and downright strange characters whom I’ve work with over the years.

January 16, 2006 - This time we do another study in cranial rectal inversion
As long as there are railroads, as long as they employ the use of large equipment on steel wheels rolling on steel rail and as long as there is a human factor involved, things will go wrong. There are times when episodes occur they are beyond the control of man. But in some cases it is human error that creates such problems. That momentary lack of good judgment, known in the medical field as cranial rectal inversion, can really wreak havoc on the operation.