This weekend I, along with a fellow railfan/model railroader, headed up to Claremore, OK for the monthly operating session on the Claremore & Southern, an HO scale layout maintained by the Tulsa Layout Operators Group, of which I'm a member. After catching BNSF and UP action in town (a total of 70+ trains roll thru Claremore daily, and can really tie up traffic), we headed out north of town to the layout building. From the start, I knew that Murphy had also made his presence known: The temperature was in the mid-90s (as was the humidity, thanks to the heavy rains we've been getting) The person in charge of turning on the air conditioner didn't do so until 20 minutes before the session started The building is a metal converted horse barn We had a record turnout that day, which compounded the cooling problem, but did mean we had plenty of operators, both seasoned and rookie We were working with a rookie yardmaster and yard switcher in the main yard, which led to some congestion problems (think: UP circa 1995) Several signals were not working, giving the signal maintainer fits The yard switcher operator gave up in disgust But aside from all that (which sounds like another day at the office for real railroaders), it sure beat the heck out of the insane hours I'd been working the last few weeks. Can't wait to go next month! And if I ever find that Murphy fellow, by all that is holy I'll clobber him.......
It's really hot on the railroad. Everything you touch on the engine is hot enough to burn you on days like this. I'd rather sit at my bench. True story: One hot summer day a few years ago I was sent out on a GP30 that was having sander problems. One item I look at are the little red wafer diodes near the very top of the electrical cabinet. In order to get at the diodes I usually have to stand on a box or something. I saw that the diodes were not even screwed into the wall but were just hanging from the wires. One quick way to test the diodes is to smell them. When they burn out they really stink. I stepped onto a box , stood on my toes , grabbed hold of the diode and took a whiff. Little known to me at that instant was that my thumb was touching the battery positive wire and a bead of sweat dripped off my nose and touched the positive 74 volt wire. I felt exactly like I was punched in the face. It was easily 100+ degrees in the locomotive electrical cabinet but my nose was running, my eyes were watering and as I lay there totally stunned I had a ringing in my ears. It took 15 minutes to regain my senses , I finished the day and went home. Next day I had two black eyes. Randy
Wow. Looks like Randy is well in the lead so far, for an unwelcome Murphy's Law event. If Bob ever catches Murphy, he should hold him so Randy can come and punch him, too!
