I've been workin on the railroad

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battalion51

Engineer
Joined
Aug 23, 2002
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7,193
Location
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I had a pretty long day today, it only got longer at the end. Boarded 98-22this morning at Ft. Lauderdale right on time. Nothing noteworthy until DLB-WPB. Had a couple of 10 MPH slow orders from a work foreman, as he appeared to be installing switches for segment 5 Double Track Construction. Worked West PAlm from the siding so that P683 could back out of his layover facility and continue on his merry little way. Nothing interesting to report til Winter Haven, where I got off to wait for 91-21, who was essentially on time. As it turns out P089-21 had hit a car between Auburndale and Lakeland, cracking his main reservoir. 89-21 was forced to wait for Q173 to come with a relief engine for him, I would never see them though, as the train had to be recrewed. 91-21 arrived a couple of minutes late, but nothing too major. After leaving the Conductor (a friend of mine) came up and told me that the 10 Car's (62008) Air Conditioning had ceased to function on the corridor, so an Amfleet I (82501) was added at WAS to handle that car's 30 or so passengers.
Amfleet%20I%20Coach%2082501.JPG
We were making pretty good time, 5 minutes early out of West Palm when it all came crashing down. Went in siding behind P687 for P686, through the 10 MPH's, and on our way. As we came down to a stop at Delray, P687 (Engine 802) reported his engine had failed
Tri-Rail%20F-40%20Locomotive%20802.jpg
After 687 unloaded all of his passengers, we coupled up to his cab car, our AC on his headend. We pulled down six cars to let our Delray passengers off, and the proceeded at Restricted speed down to Yamato siding. P090-22 was in siding waiting for both of us, so we shoved in past the north switch, 90-22 left leaving us on the main. We uncoupled from 687's equipment, made a reverse move past the north end of Yamato, in the siding around him and our merry little way, total delay 80 minutes. As I stepped down at Ft. Lauderdale, the station agent informed me 89 was only 10 minutes away, I was unable to see anything as my parents were cranky and waiting on me. So an interesting day all in all.
 
You know those lava lamps don't look half bad in a tropical enviroment. Not!

I feel bad for those sleeping car passengers. That coach isn't even designated for long distance travel. At least everyone could spread out over two seats.
 
I'd have to imagine the passengers are all recieving comp trips on the house, in addition to the comp'd meals they already paid for. The other comfort is that the attendant stripped all the beds so that everyone could have sheets, blanket, and a pillow. Also because it was on the bottom, there was no foot traffic in the car.
 
No, that's my friend Ash, a friend of the daughter of the conductor. You can't see it in the picture but she's sticking her tounge out :p .
 
Ha I agree Amfleet, this lava lamp coach looks good for some reason in the above picture! But I dont care much for the tri rail colors though :( Anyways intresting report Battalion. I noticed that there is many instances where trains had to take sidings for each other. What is CSX's florida main mostly single track, it seems it from this report! We have the same kind of congestion issues up here on the former Boston & Albany. Back in 1986 Conrail figured it would be cheaper to slim the line down considerably but they never looked at the long term effects which were increased usage and more bottlenecks in many locations then the line in its former 2 and even 3 track main state!
 
Well the South Florida Cooridor is currently undergoing major construction to Double Track 71 of 72 miles on the South Florida corridor from Mangonia Park to Miami International. If this project were complete yesterday we could have just gone to the last crossover, and gone to track 2, but that wasn't the case.
 
Nice Photos Battalion, sounds like you've been having some interesting rides. Isn't tomorrow the big day of your departure for Baltimore? Enjoy your trip.
 
Well sort of, I drive to Orlando tomorrow night. Thursday afternoon we drive St. Augustine for my Grandparents 50th Anniversary (hopefully I'll catch some FEC action on Friday or Saturday). Sunday we drive to JAX to catch P098-29 north to Baltimore.
 
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