Monday, May 11, 2020

Wanted: Train Engineer

There's a new Engineer position that has just opened up with Union Pacific.  Many of you may not have heard of our little oddity here in California called the Tehachapi Loop.  The trains needed a way to climb up the very steep mountain and get over the top to the Mohave desert heading East.

The Loop was built by Southern Pacific Railroad in 1874, rising at a 2% grade.  Any train over 4,000 feet in length, passes over itself.  As many as 40 trains a day pass through here.  The story of how this was built using Chinese labor, is amazing.
Union Pacific now controls the loop.  Why are they looking for a new Engineer?  (Not really)  Because the last one derailed a portion of the train yesterday.  There are special Engineers that operate these trains over the loop.  That's all they do, take trains over this short section, then give the reins back to the regular Engineers.
As you can imagine, there is a perfect speed to go so the train doesn't fall over on it's side ... like here.  I haven't heard if they know exactly why the train derailed.  It could have been the trucks, the sets of wheels under each car.  It's my understanding they are not actually attached to the cars so they can be easily replaced.  
It happened in the middle of the night.  The lead engine and the following six cars (at least that's the count so far) derailed as it entered tunnel 9.  No one was injured.  Three of the cars were car carriers, but no word if they were full or empty.  Of the three remaining cars, although first reports said they were full of grain, two were actually empty and one full of petroleum.  They say nothing spilled out or leaked.
I sent this picture to Mr, Chance yesterday as it came up saying "recent Tehachapi train derailment", but I don't think that was THIS time after all.  The description they have given doesn't seem to match this Bakersfield news picture.  My apologies to Mr. Chance.  At any rate, I think trains are going to be late for awhile.
Since it was Mother's Day, I got a hankering for pancakes.  I've no idea why, since this is NOT my favorite breakfast food.  I balked initially when all I could find was sugar free syrup.  Finally, in the last second before putting everything away, I saw the word Maple.  

Way back when, I ended up in Vermont with the Westerfields, who took me to the maple syrup store extraordinaire.  We ate some maple ice cream and I got a lesson in different grades of maple syrup.  I of course got the sweetest one they had.  That's long gone, replaced by this Costco version that isn't even CLOSE.  Still, it was good on my from-scratch pancakes.  

Yes, I did give a thought to opening up that giant bag of Krusteaz Mix left over from the RV rally.  I would have had to fix pancakes every day for the next year.  These pretty much had no taste, but they sure looked good!!
I'm off to take my Jeep to the doctor.  I have a feeling it's going to be a long waiting-room kind of day.  








16 comments:

  1. Interesting about the trains! Your pancakes sure look delicious! I'm not a maple syrup girl, grew up eating pancakes with lots of butter and Karo corn syrup and that's still the way I like them, even though nowadays it's sugar free jam. haha. I won't even buy corn syrup as I KNOW I can't resist. oh well. Hoping the Jeep appt goes better than you're thinking!

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    1. Karo syrup ... that's interesting. Never heard of that before!

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  2. Glad there were no injuries in the train crash.
    Be Safe and Enjoy the Oil Change.

    It's about time.

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    1. Exactly! Makes you wonder how it happened. It sounds like it was the engine that derailed.

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  3. Usually empty cars are not placed near the front of trains that have to climb steep grades and sharp turns because the pull of the engine(s) combined with the weight of the trailing cars tend to pull the lighter cars right off the track to the inside of the turn. Kinda looks like that might be what happened here.

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    1. Oh Greg ... I never knew that! Sure sounds like that's what happened. I'll have to pay more attention when they travel by my house in Tucson.

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  4. Greg beat me to my comment. One of the highlights for us traveling that highway was watching trains make the loop. We only drove it in daylight, though. BTW, our first trip in a motorhome was chasing BN trains west along Highway 2 from Minnesota to the west coast then UP ones back east along Highway 30. Great way to chase trains!

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    1. How FUN!!!! I've only been up there once. The train was delayed two hours, but we waited until it finally showed up. Very exciting to see it loop over itself.

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  5. One of these trips I am going to see that Tehachapi Loop! I find it very interesting (and to get 'that' picture is my hope, of course).

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    1. Dave there is a little RV park at the bottom of the hill near Ceasar Chavez memorial. Then drive to the top. It's definitely worth stopping.

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  6. Watching trains on that Tehachapi loop must be something. Spring in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan means a school field trip to a Sugar Bush and little bottles of maple syrup. Being a stay at home mom with a van means I drove for a lot of these...lol The best trip though was to a farm, one the classmates family owned, and the grandfather boiled the sap in a big open pot over a wood fire in their sugar shack. That day we had vanilla ice cream that he scooped the maple syrup on. The best treat ever.

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    1. How cool is that? We didn't get to see the farm, we just went to the store they had in town. That must have been exciting for the kids.

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  7. You are correct, the cars and the engines, just sit on the trucks. I know that engines have a chain that helps to hold them on. Interesting loop, I would like to see that some day.

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    1. It's a sight to see Bill. Especially since it was built in the 1800's and they still use it today. There's a perfect pull-over spot at the top so you can see the entire loop. Not many people stop however.

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  8. Oh crap! I just lost my comment for some reason! Figures it was a long one. LOL
    Bill's Dad was an avid train lover so when we travelled to the s/w and saw so many, we always thought of him. It would be neat to sit at the top and watch them from the loop.
    Mom used to serve us (6 kids) about half a cup each for dessert and we HAD to have a slice of bread and butter with it. Times were tough and we had to be restricted. I understand it now but back then, we whined about the bread. LOL

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    1. That happens to me too Patsy. Too funny about the bread. I guess it filled you up though!!

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