Cafe Einstein - LPTPW 17 - animal, vegetable, and/or a minerally type chemically thing, and maybe some other things as well, yes :)

If it was the Mayflower that was in 1620, George III reign was 1760-1820.

I once listened to our fire department, in the days before they would routinely assign an engine company to a medical call. At the time, I think we had 7 stations, of which 4 had paramedics and ambulances. They got a call for a possible heart attack when no ambulance was available. They called for mutual aid, which took a good 10-15 minutes just to get into town. Just when they were within half a mile of the scene, one of ours became available and the chief on duty ordered that they be assigned and the mutual aid be returned. The dispatcher called the mutual aid and asked for their location, then relayed it to the chief, who still insisted on cancelling them and sending our own. That easily added yet another 5 minutes to the response time. If I ever heard the final result of this, I don't remember it.

We now have 10 stations, I think, with I think 7 of them having regularly assigned ambulances. More importantly, though, EVERY firefighter is also a paramedic and every piece of apparatus carries paramedic equipment, so if an ambulance isn't close enough (and often even if one is) another crew will be sent and can start treatment before the ambulance arrives... or cancel it if it's not needed. (There are also at least two spare ambulances which can be staffed and assigned to special events with large crowds, or added to a station without one for times when history shows they will be needed.)

Unfortunately, I can't listen to them any more because they went to a proprietary digital radio system which cannot be monitored without the right equipment and programming.

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Phil, I really had one of those days at the museum on Sunday.

Oh good, Chris posted again. Now I can tell Phil about my day. Chris can skip it; he already saw it at Seti.

I was conductor of the coach train, with three cars and an SD24 for power. The engine had been left on the train the night before, so I didn't have to couple it and make the air. It was already warmed up when I arrived. I had just unlocked the cars when the engineer showed up and said he was ready for the initial brake test whenever I was. I said let's do it. Walk all the way around the train twice (I'm sure you think that's nothing compared to doing it on 100+ car freights). Then remember I haven't attached the tailhose. Do that and test it. Put out the red paddles (instead of a red marker light on the rear). Load passengers and go.

Get to the east end and start back, and one of the paddles falls off. Oh well, I still have one.

There is still stuff parked on the mainline from the previous weekend, so we're just coming straight back into the station via East Switch instead of going to the west end. Saturday's engineer would make the stop in the station (he had an object on the platform so he would know exactly where to stop), but Sunday's won't and insists that I have to do it with the tailhose. Oooo-kay. First trip, I stopped the entire train's length short of where I wanted to be. (I got a bit better with each trip, but I reeeealy did not want to hit the cars sitting there.)

Second trip had so many people I asked one of the guys from the electric train to be trainman for me. I saw my paddle on the ground and got off to retrieve it. BARELY managed to climb on again. I'll probably blow my knee out one of these days.

Before the third trip, the Take the Throttle people showed up. We decided they would ride in the engine on the 3:00 trip as their orientation and then do their actual trip as soon as we got back. This was fine, and I got to sit down and relax outbound. But before we got back from their trip, the people who had spent several hours with a bucket of lacquer thinner cleaning the overnight graffiti off one of the C&NW bilevel cars finished, and some of them started switching the cars that had been left all over. So I had to stop at signal 151 (half mile out from East Switch) and wait about 10 minutes.

Oh, by the way, the dispatcher was doing it for the first time ever. He was also running the streetcar, which he just qualified on.

The switch crews first move was to get the cars off the main, so we went down to the west end for the first time all day. As soon as we passed, the electric train departed, about 4:15. Switch crew left cars sitting in our way, so we couldn't go anywhere, but that was okay. Then they moved them just in time for us to do a 4:50 trip. We actually waited for the electric to return in case anyone wanted another ride. Also, engineer had his family with him for this one.

Then the real fun began.

There are two really obnoxious kids on the train, one of whom keeps yellng "all aboard!" inappropirately, even after I explained why he shouldn't. Won't stay in their seats. Won't heed my warning about the windows being crotchety. We get to the east end. The sun has come out for the first time all day, so I put on my sunglasses for the trip west. I call on the radio "504, let's go west." Nothing happens. "504, let's go west!" Nothing. Finally, engineer comes back with a sticking brake and he needs to talk to the diesel guy (engineer of the switcher). Problem is, from four miles away, nobody can hear our hand-held radios on their hand-held radios. Finally, I turn on my phone and call the museum office. Executive director answers and I tell him the problem. He gets ahold of diesel guy, who has dispatcher get on the base radio in the depot and tell my engineer to call him on the phone. After a few minutes, engineer says it will be a half hour before diesel guy can come out to look at it. My passengers are not happy with this. I ask dispatcher if another engine can come out to get the train. He does almost as good, asking the electric train crew if they can do a rescue mission. They can, because the switcher has been blocking them from putting the train away. I tell my passengers another train is coming to get them in 10 or 15 minutes. They are much happier.

Except for all aboard kid. He has been yelling, loud and close enough to hurt my ear a couple of times, and NOW he starts saying he's scared. Of what, I do not know.

Engineer walks back and tells me the problem. When we were in the station, he set the hand brake on the engine. When he released it, it didn't release. When we got to the east end, it was smoking. When he tried again to release it, he just made it tighter. The lever to flip it over to release wasn't working.

The signal system is set up so that when a train runs all the way to the east end, the signals automatically set themselves for its westbound trip and all the eastbound signals from Johnson Siding east are red. When the electric gets to Johnson, they have to call dispatcher for permission to pass the red absolute. Then they have to stop and proceed at all the permissives. Then they have to get permission again at Four Mile. Another permissive, and then they ask me for permission to approach my train. As they do, I tell the passengers to please sit down and be quiet. Electric pulls up to about ten inches from me and I tell the passengers they can now carefully step cross. They happily do. Electric train leaves (and then has to wait five minutes in Johnson for the switcher, finally on its way out; a more experienced dispatcher would have gotten the passengers back first). I sit down to wait. Mosquitoes are now coming out and attacking in large numbers.

Switcher pulls right up to me and four guys get off with tools. They walk the length of my train. I'm just considering whether to get off and go see what they're doing when they come walking back again, after about one minute. I say that was fast. One of them says diesel guy kicked it. I never heard any more details.

Switcher calls dispatcher for permission to head back. I call for permission to follow switcher. The sun has been clouded again, so I change my glasses again. Once more, I have to stop the train in the station. Then I have to look around on the ground until I find chocks for the wheels and place them. Get a big grease smudge on my white shirt. I pull the cut lever and have engineer pull away. Call dispatcher for permission to move the engine over to yard 2. Throw one of the hardest switches to throw in the whole museum; you would probably complain to your union rep about it. Engine goes by. Throw it back again (not any easier). Then I have to lock up the train and put the tailhose and paddles away in the depot (it's the last time they will be used this year).

Boy am I tired.

It sounds like an eventful day!!

One question though....can you put a small chain or lanyard on the "paddle" when it is in place so that even if it falls off it won't hit the ground? A chain attached where you put the paddle, along with a small place to hook it onto he paddle would do the trick, or vice versa. Safer too as then it won't accidentally end up on the track the next time it falls off. Who knows it could actually fall into a switch preventing it from working properly, slight to no chance but stranger things have happened.