SWEEP

I know a certain Yankees fan who's getting a phone call in about eight to nine hours.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 12:58 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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This weblog is first among all Google results for fficial&client=firefox-a">"officer wirtz", a fact that I discovered last night while perusing some site data. This is of course a reference to Genevieve O'Reilly, who also was the young Senator Mon Mothma in Revenge of the Sith. A page dedicated to Ms. O'Reilly appears here on the Star Wars Actors Database. Really, she's not a man; call her an actress.

A large percentage of my visits are not for my incisive commentary or snappy wit, but rather Ashley Judd in a Kentucky hockey jersey. And I don't even like the Wildcats.

Being the nice, customer-focused guy that I am, that link will keep being chummed for quite some time.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 06:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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While doing the daily read of Lawrence Auster's website, I came across the following link. It is a full-text reprint of Virginia Tech professor Nikki Giovanni's remarks at an event commemorating the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. Incidentally, I saw the end of her remarks via WDBJ video, and was impressed. Instead of sniffling, she seemed almost defiant, a stance with which I agree.

The author (and several commenters) wanted to know what, among other things, a reference to an "Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized" meant. It would seem that the author and/or commenters believed that the reference was fictionalized or simply the ravings of a barking moonbat. Not so.

Without regard for the other substance of Professor Giovanni's remarks, I can explain the reference to the Appalachian infant. It is a dreadful story, one that sparked a spot of irritated annoyance with the company in my circumstance. A toddler, three year old Jeremy Davidson of Inman Hollow near Appalachia, was killed in his bed when a boulder of ~1,000 pounds rolled off a nearby coal mining site and struck the trailer in which he was sleeping on the night of August 20, 2004.

A press release from the Commonwealth's Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy describing their findings is here; the DMME found that, "[the site operator] demonstrated gross negligence by committing the following unauthorized actions that resulted in the death of Jeremy Kyle Davidson.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 09:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The nearest major institution of higher learning to me is the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Like someone on a message board I frequent said, "it's hard not to know someone who goes there". Many of my high school class went there, and several members of my law school class wore maroon and orange on a regular basis. Despite all this, I thought nobody I knew was caught up in the Korean's rampage.

I was wrong.

Long-time neighbors of my parents have a son who attends Virginia Tech. He's fine, but apparently some of their cousins were not, their names included on the list of the dead. Blast it.

Meanwhile, I had the chance to travel along Interstate 81 earlier today, and stopped at the Wytheville Wal-Mart. In the parking lot was a car, driven by a youth by the looks of it. Written on the back glass was the speedlettered 'VT' along with the legend, "KEEP THEM IN UR PRAYERS". Indeed.

If you're on 81 in Smyth County ever, you've probably seen the household with the hand-painted (but apparently well-executed) barns at Seven Mile Ford with various Virginia Tech indicia, including that bird. I usually snort amusedly at the thing---again, I didn't go to VPI---but tonight I did a little something different. I wondered out loud if the property owners would do anything different. From the looks of it---and it was brilliantly illuminated at night---nothing has changed, but I'll get a better look at it in the daytime later in the week. Perhaps they will do something; perhaps they will do nothing. Either would be appropriate, in my judgment.

If you're interested, a discussion of sorts is going on over at Grim's Hall as to an appropriate tactical response in such a situation. I myself am inclined to believe that anyone short of military or law enforcement personnel would have been essentially useless in the situation, given the psychological advantage the Korean---I can't pronounce or spell his name and I intend to dehumanize the little monster as best I can---would have had. Every man probably asks himself, "What would I do?" The answer for me is (more than likely) attempt to flee at all costs. About the only thing I carry of value is a pen, but I'm not Joe Pesci and this ain't Casino, so yeah, flight would be my most likely choice, if I wasn't paralyzed by fear.

I would like to think that I, along with others, would have had the nerve to rush the guy. After all, unless the Korean was lifted straight from a John Woo film, he's going to be using a single pistol at a time, and Glocks only carry so many rounds. Further, the Korean would have to stop every one who charged him, while the defenders would only have to stop one "man". This is of course the optimum outcome scenario, but it only prevents some losses. Enh, such discussion disheartens me.

I was unfortunate enough to see some of the National Broadcasting Company's coverage on its program Dateline. All I learned is that good people died at the hands of a pimple-faced geek with a social disorder. At least he's dead; that way, we'll be spared the spectacle of some poor defense counsel trying to make the best of a really bad situation.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 10:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Harrumph. The death toll climbed after my intial posting, and I do not like it. I have not particularly paid attention to the matter, primarily because there is only sorrow there.

Conversation with an emergency medical professional indicated that the casualty list may have increased due to high winds plaguing the area. If this is true, then it may have complicated rotary-wing approaches to the VPI area, forcing the evacuation to be performed solely by ambulance. Given the spaghetti-bowl nature of VPI's streets (or so it seemed to me the last time I was there) valuable time may have been lost.

From a religious standpoint, I always hate these sorts of things. Given my personal nature, I usually wind up cursing the perpetrator of the crime. This is in direct contravention of the generally accepted Christian doctrine of praying for those who do harm to you. I've only managed to pull that off once, and it was nearly a physical effort to do so---it was at the non-denominational service held at my graduate institution shortly after 11 September 2001. I remember most clearly that the words would not come. Then, as now. I have not yet managed to get beyond growling, "I hope he's screaming in Hell about right now." I hope the fires around him are being fed by anthracite coal---I hear it burns nice and hot.

Yet, in the midst of pointless slaughter, beauty. Jesus Christ remarked in the thirteenth verse of the fifteenth book of St. John that, "Greater love hath no man than this, that lay down his life for his friends." It is safe to say that Professor Liviu Librescu conclusively demonstrated that greater love. I don't know much of anything about Jewish concepts of the afterlife etc., but if I had my way about, his arrival in Heaven would have been something on the order of the scene from Return of the Jedi where Emperor Palpatine arrives aboard the second Death Star. Blocking a door so others may escape, buying their lives with yours? That is a man. I can only hope that I could be so brave in the face of death.

Nnnh. I do not look forward to the politico-legal response to this circumstance.

In a meaningless statement of solidarity with those murdered by this Korean loser, an ersatz graphic taken from the Cold Spring Shops has been posted in the right margin and will remain for some time.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 03:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Yikes, just up the road a couple of hours in Blacksburg:

Lone gunman kills 21 at Virginia Tech

Reports suggest that the gunman is dead. There is no news at this point as to potential motivations or victim patterns. Unverified hearsay reports suggest that the gunman performed execution-style killing of several VPI students. Some survivors have been transferred to the Carilon New River Valley Medical Center in Radford, just off of 81. Cripes, that must mean that whatever's in Blacksburg has been filled up.

The VPI&SU website has been overhauled to provide details on the matter. As of 1240 hours, 22 are dead.

I had a couple other things planned for today, but there is no value in posting them now; perhaps tomorrow. This publication's prayers and sympathies are with the victims and their families.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 12:46 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Don Imus is gone and I will miss him.

Well, not that much. I got through college listening to Don Imus on the local radio station. Between Mike Breen, Bernard McGuirk, Patrick McEnroe, Charles McCord, Warner Wolf, the occasional Laura Ingraham, and yes, even the old man himself, I could arrive at school in a proper frame of mind to face the stoners and the starry-eyed fools that populated a lot of my classes.

"The daily dose of mean", I think I called it.

Imus in the Morning was a refreshing counterpoint to whoever was running NPR's competitive morning broadcast---Bob Edwards, maybe---and it certainly beat the local morning yuksters. You could get a global news perspective that didn't involve five-minute dronefests---Ira Glass, lookin' at you---about how awful U.S. policy in Upper Son Volta was and how that affected the lives of transgendered activists for animal peace there. Also, there was no Andrei Codrescu. At least, not without the possibility of Imus or McGuirk saying something nasty back to them.

Imus also wasn't John Boy and Billy; the exquisite value of that simple fact cannot be overstated. If you've ever listened to those Charlotte-based boobs, even the worst of Sid---good riddance---Rosenberg can be tolerated. I was given a free choice between NPR, Imus, John Boy & Billy, and the local clowns; the choice was Imus without hesitation.

To be blunt, I don't care what he said to the Rutgers players. One of them reportedly whined that she was scarred, perhaps for life, as a result of his comments. Oh, please. If I was 'scarred' every time someone made a disparaging remark about my ethnicity or regional origin, I'd look like I got in a hand-to-hand fight with Edward Scissorhands, Freddy Krueger, and Marvel Comics' Wolverine. I don't, despite a pretty constant string of insults against rural white Southerners being issued from the vile City of New York and other such places. I even had to smile graciously when insulted in law school by similar slurs. Yet, here I sit without 'scars' or the need to have Al Sharpton raising a ruckus supposedly on my behalf. How's that, you say? Simple: Use a line I learned from Imus, and growl "Idiots..." under my breath

My message for the Rutgers players? Grow up. The world isn't about you or your pathetic ethnic insecurities.

The president of NBC News has given us a profile in cowardice. I saw him the other night---Wednesday, perhaps---whining something about being the steward of the good name of NBC News. I openly laughed at the guy; the network that airs Today and has some level of responsibility for Keith Olbermann's waste of the EM spectrum really doesn't have a "good name" left.

I am bemused by people who whine that his remarks were demeaning to blacks, women, whatever. I, like Cal Thomas, see something odd where Imus' remarks are offensive, yet the latest rap single on BET is a celebration of black culture, all while using pretty much the same verbiage to describe black women.

I tuned out of IITM once I got to law school, where my travel patterns no longer coincided with his place on the AM dial. Oddly enough, I tuned in yesterday for the heck of it. Pretty much the same as always, shilling for money and some functionary slobbering over how great Imus was for raising money for some cause. Little did I know at the time that it would be the last. Well, fine.

That will be all, Charles. I hope he moves to XM.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 11:54 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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While reading the Wikipedia article about the Pennsylvania Railroad's Hell Gate Bridge, I stumbled across the reference to it lasting a thousand years if humans vanished tomorrow.

The assertion is made by a man interviewed for a Discover magazine article about what would happen if we suddenly weren't here. It doesn't sound like one of those fringe ecological articles that hopes we're gone; rather, I picked up that it was merely a statement of supposed fact.

Anyways, it's kind of creepy reading what the City of New York would look like as the years ground on. Read the whole thing.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 10:32 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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There are days in the world of MSTS when you want to strangle someone. Today is one of those days.

Some chap posts the following on a message board:

I have been pondering this one: For MSFS there is an API called FSUIPC, which allows the interfacing of 3rd party custom models with the simulation. Through FSUIPC, we are able to use functionality in aircraft models, which have not been within the scope of the out-of the-box program.

Now, for the new train simuator, let me imagine the following scenario. Imagine the new simulator out of the box does only have a limited functionality regarding EOT devices, like the current version. With the current version we helped ourselves with the creation of a car, which looks like an EOT device. It works, but honestly, it does not really cut the mustard for known reasons.

Now if in the new simulation, there would be a TSUIPC functionality, we would be able to make a working EOT device, which would be rendered at the last car and feed-back the relevant information to a new custom gauge within the locomotive cab. (End of Imagination)

On the top of that an API like this would enable to fully customise how a given locomotive model works, down to simulation complex systems. It would enable the user not to have to rely on what the box provided, but what the community is able to come up with.

In other words, what he wants is the opportunity to spend more money. Pete Dowson charges for FSUIPC at this point, and has for some time. Let me imagine the following scenario: Someone makes TSUIPC and charges for it. No.

I am not enamored of solutions that involve giving third party vultures the opportunity to insert themselves into train simulation as they have for flight simulation. The original poster is an FS devotee, and quite frankly, I don't care for his opinion. A fair amount of the FS apparently loves spending money and driving out freeware or Microsoft-created functionality. No thanks; one of the reasons I enjoy railroad simulation is that it doesn't cost an arm and a leg. This is contradistinguished from flight simulation, where PMDG charges sixty bucks or so for a 747-400.

Our poster also dreams of "full customization" for how a locomotive works, apparently tacking on additional layers of overhead on the processor. Oh, let's make this game even more demanding on hardware than it already will be. Sure thing!

To once again quote Joschka Fischer, "I am not convinced." What's the point? If Microsoft are able to shoehorn some sort of intelligent FRED into the game, who needs TSUIPC (and the probability of additional costs)?

There's one response so far, and it's the sort that makes you want to throw something at the poster:

I'm a bit of an evangelist for it, but I've already seen some awesome things done in FSX with the API. I look forward to the future when people can build add-on products (other than planes or trains, things like environmental add-ons) that use SimConnect and can be cross-platform between Flight Sim and Train Sim.

I have actively loathed the term "evangelist" as applied to bloody software since 1996-1997 when I first heard it. A guy told me he was an evangelist and I asked him what for, expecting the Southern Baptist Church or something similar. He told me, "Apple", and you could have knocked me over with a feather.

To the point, I have heard this fantasy of FS/TS interoperability before, and I've yet to figure out what the value of it is. His dream of add-ons that are useful in both FS and TS seems irrelevant; they're simply very different modes of transportation and I don't see anything that could benefit the simulation railroader from the simulation pilot's world. Navigation's a whole different ballgame, and as for environmental add-ons, who cares? Trains run at ground level, where the weather's a lot different than at FL350. A weather add-on? Forget it; already exists in the FSX engine. I'm not paying a red cent for what Microsoft already provide for free in their game engine.

This sounds mean and nasty, and it should. I have no interest in railroad simulation being turned into the high cost replica of flight simulation. I don't think the railroad simulation interest group should be dragged to FS economies just because a couple of people think it's a great idea to hamstring the basic program in favor of some half-wit API.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 12:11 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It appears that I've had a visitor from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Was this individual perhaps looking for enlightenment upon Allah---false deity, inferior to even the Greek gods and goddesses in every way, by the way---or perhaps the glories of Mohammed---war, torture, pillage, and lots of other uncivilized barbaric stuff---via the Internet? Nope.

They were looking for Ashley Judd in a Kentucky hockey jersey.

Beware, Islamics! She's not in a burqa, her head's not covered, and nothing Mohammedan enters the mind when you see her. You can even see her ankles.

Muahaha. Welcome to our visit from Riyadh! I'll do my best to get a better-quality picture in the future. Done.

Now all I need to do is buy one of these things for myself.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 04:56 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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OK, so here we go with a Tartan Day post. I couldn't dream up an ode to Stornoway, so I had to go with the other thing that I know a wee something (i.e. not much, but more than nothing) about, and that is liquor. If you're under the age of 21, stop reading this. more...

Posted by: Country Pundit at 11:41 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I've previously griped about the Virginia Museum of Transportation here, generally about their sale of NYC&StL S-2 763 to the Ohio Central people and the gift shop. Your correspondent is petty, among other things.

In a pleasant response to my (probably) vituperative rantings, someone from the VMT said the following things:

You mentioned that "the best possible argument" for the sale is that we can't afford to maintain it. True as that may be, the heart of our decision , and the best supporting argument for it, is that 763 never ran in Virginia, and as such, belongs elsewhere. This is so that we can not only maintain the pieces in our collection that are germane to our mission, but also make room for additional pieces that would further enhance our goals, like the last remaining Y6 sitting in St. Louis, or the addition of Metrorail cars from Northern Virginia. Meanwhile, 763 can be restored and cared for properly. It's a win-win scenario.

...

As for the gift shop, I strongly encourage you to come back. We no longer sell wine or dog shampoo or anything of the sort -- it was universally recognized that those products were out of place here -- and a concerted effort has been made to ensure that the shop's merchandise serves as an extension of the educational experience provided by the museum.

First off, I want to thank my anonymous commenter---you've been added to the blogroll---for taking the time to respond. I also want to apologize to the fellow for not noticing his response sooner; my e-mail notification of his comment was buried in the 'bulk mail' folder of my e-mail account. (Sanford Wallace, a special level of Hell has been commissioned especially for you and yours.)

With regards to the transfer of NYC&StL 763, I invoke yet again the words of the otherwise loathsome Joschka Fischer: "Excuse me, I am not convinced."

I am willing to grant the point that no Nickel Plate steam locomotive ever turned a wheel in active revenue service in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The relevant article at VMT Musings indicates that this was a factor in the decision to seek a sale. The article also points out that the locomotive has been in the City of Roanoke since the mid-1960s, ostensibly some time after the Norfolk and Western-Nickel Plate merger of 1964. In other words, 763 has been within the borders of the Commonwealth for about forty years.

Forty years, ladies and gentlemen. I am tempted to suggest that the locomotive has been transmuted---not from separate property to marital property---but to an asset of the Commonwealth. Call it friendly adverse possession. I would also point out that the Nickel Plate 2-8-4 is historically significant to the Commonwealth, inasmuch as the Norfolk and Western's farewell to private passenger service was powered by NYC&StL S-2 759, back in May of 1971. That is a historical note of signficance, and since 759 is at Steamtown, it ain't coming back. Might as well have her sister, 763, here; perhaps repaint the latter to represent the motive power for that last train. I wouldn't object.

Our guest from the VMT also dangles a very attractive carrot in front of us, mentioning that they're still angling to get the last N&W Y6a, 2156 at the St. Louis Museum of Transportation. I have also heard that Castro's regime is bound to fall any day; President Kennedy has promised it. With respect to the VMT, I'll believe that they're getting the last Y6a when I can lay hands on the thing under the Claytor Pavilion.¹

Another point made by our VMT correspondent was that, "the sale...keeps our doors open". Fair enough. I can't object to VMT trying to keep the doors open, but the reported sale price---$125,000---would cover in the neighborhood of four months' operating expenses, based upon a statement made elsewhere at VMT Musings. Er, selling off a crown jewel for four months' operating costs doesn't sound like a good idea to me. I hope I'm not being too acidic or snide when I say, "Sounds like Amtrak logic to me", although I don't know that 763 is exactly equivalent to Pennsylvania Station, New York, New York. Regardless, it's not like they're going to get their hands on another attractive example of 'big steam' that people would pay money for, so I'm not entirely sure that the disposal of 763 represents sustainable thinking.

What worries me is that the VMT might think, "Hey, we sold one; we can do it again!" the next time the financial crunch comes. A quick glance at the nice list of rolling stock they provide with every ticket sale suggests that there might be only three or four more candidates for such a policy:

CR SDP45 6670 (ex-EL 3639)
PRR GG1 4919
W&LE NW2 D-3
WAB E8A 1009

I wouldn't be reaching for the razor and my wrists if the W&LE switcher went to a good home. I'd be disgruntled if a surviving E-unit went for sale (although in fairness, they have an RF&P E8A in similar condition) and I'd be irked if they sold off the SDP45. I would, however, be outraged if the GG1 was sold; it may very well (depending upon exact operating boundaries and the like which I don't know) turned a wheel in revenue service here in Virginia; moreover, it's a GG1, arguably the best electric locomotive this country ever produced, be it an operational or aesthetic question.

As Jim Wrinn recently wrote in Trains, the issue is money. VMT Musings goes to great lengths to detail the (perilous?) financial condition of the museum. I'm not a resident of the City of Roanoke; I'm barely in the WDBJ viewing area and wouldn't be within range of Roanoke's public radio station if not for the network of repeaters that they operate in further western Virginia. Therefore, I may be out of place to say this but, What are you people thinking? If not for railroads in general and the Norfolk and Western in particular, Roanoke would still be "Big Lick" and probably wouldn't be worth Interstate 581, much less stopping there. Unfortunately, I don't have any political pull anywhere near the Roanoke area, so I can't just make a few phone calls. I don't even know who to ask.

It's not like the Roanoke Valley Vipers are exactly the class of their league or anything.

Arrgh. If I ever win one of those multiple-State, multiple millions of dollars lotteries---not that I actually play---I'd be on the phone to VMT within a week demanding the restoration to operating condition of N&W C630 1135 and SD45 1776, along with that ex-EL SDP45 that's off site, all while waving a seven or eight digit check.

Enough nastiness and so forth for one entry; in the vein of the execrable Joel Osteen, let me close with something uplifting: My VMT visitor asked me back to the place after my not-so-pleasant experience in the gift shop. I am pleased to report that I'd actually been there before the posting of the comment, and it was a completely different experience. There has been somewhat of a renaissance of rail-related material, and as the commenter noted, the dog shampoo and the wine are gone. Hooray.

Yes, I spent money. I also had a paid admission and enjoyed, yet again, wandering through the yard. I do appreciate the efforts being made to reshuffle the collection, because you can see more of it. In a way, this visit was a farewell to 763, which I've seen for years; to be perfectly maudlin about it, I patted the thing's flanks in the manner of a race horse being sent to pasture.

If all goes well, I'll be able to be there when she heads to her new life, which will hopefully include more care and feeding than VMT can afford.

NB: It's Tartan Day, and therefore there must Scottish content. Well, they have railroads in Scotland, and the tenuous Scottish railroads-Virginia Museum of Transportation connection will have to do until I dream up an ode to Scotch or Stornoway.

¹ That being said, I've heard more than one individual state variations on, "There aren't three tracks under the Claytor Pavilion for nothing, you know". I could be proved wrong yet, and I'd like to be.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 10:00 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm no big fan of Kathryn Jean Lopez's Mitt Romney fangirl act. It is annoying and gets to be a nuisance; there were times when I thought she would breathlessly post that Romney had walked on water somewhere around the Port of Boston. (Nevermind that he probably would have been walking on solid waste or other refuse had it been during the Dukakis era...)

So, a couple of weeks back, someone took her to task.

Your shameless, relentless, and entirely uncritical support of Rick Santorum was a daily bore on The Corner. Then you moved on to Mitt Romney, with the same lack of serious thinking.

The rest is here.

I'm no Giuliani fan either---the mayor of the capital of the Evil Empire has lived a sordid life---and I don't care about her supposed fixation on Roman Catholicism since I'm not a member of the Roman church, but it was still funny in a mocking sort of way.

ON DECK FOR LATER TODAY/EARLY TONIGHT: N&W History post.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 04:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Courtesy of Katko v. Briney, 183 N.W.2d 657 (Iowa 1971), all first year torts students learn that you can't use a spring gun to defend an abandoned farmhouse, no lethal force to defend property, etc. I say fie on that.

It appears that there's a burglar in the area, and he/she/it attempted to pilfer my vehicle, among others. Didn't take anything, 'cause there's nothing worth taking. You want the Long John Silver's box? You can have it. Meanwhile, please ignore the fact that all the lights in the area have suddenly gone out and the little red dot that your friend is screaming about being on your forehead.

Bother. Never a MagnaVolt dealer around when you need him. The best MagnaVolt ad ever:

If not that, then we go for the UA model 571-C in 10mm:

Hey Ripley, don't worry...

Posted by: Country Pundit at 03:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Like any good railfan, I've got a couple of railroad calendars scattered throughout the house. The April photograph from the Norfolk and Western Historical Society's 2007 calendar is captioned thusly:

RB-3, the daily through freight from Roanoke to Bristol passes Dublin, Virginia in charge of GP9 No. 903 on a March day in 1978. Of historical significance, it was here that Union General Crook with 6,500 troops arrived on the property of N&W's predecessor, the Virginia & Tennessee, May 9, 1864. They destroyed the Dublin depot and water tank. Crook then set an eastwardly course to Central Depot (East Radford) sabotaging the New River bridge, water tanks, crossties, and engine wood. Learning that Confederate troops from the east were en route by V&T trains, the force, by then at Christiansburg, retreated to West Virginia on May 14, 1864.

RB-3 is powered by three early EMD GP units (903, 756, 909) with two more modern EMD units trailing in the 15xx and 2xx(x) series. According to a roster I have laying around,the first locomotive is an SD35, while I can't identify the second one. A leading two on a four-digit road number usually indicates an ex-Nickel Plate unit, but I can't tell. Another possibility is one of the N&W's GP35s, which would also make sense for a through train of this sort.

All but one of the locomotives---our mystery unit---are painted in the 'F6' livery, distinguished by the sans serif 'NW' plastered on the flanks, nose, and rear of the unit. The mystery unit looks like it is painted in scheme 'F4' or 'F5', both of which used the so-called "Pevler blue" as the base color, with lettering in Dulux Gold.

Given the train symbol system currently used by the Norfolk Southern Railway, it is likely that train RB-3 passed into history some time after the 1982 merger. A quick glance at Joe Shaw's data on trains in that area doesn't reveal an immediate successor to RB-3, alas.

---
I'd planned to start this feature several years ago, but I lost the note to do it and only recently found it buried in a giant WordPerfect document that had miscellaneous blog notes.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 01:30 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 I had easy time reading your blog. But it seems now it's over . Man, this post sucks. I hope at least the next one won't be.

Posted by: Don Tolep at April 06, 2008 02:53 PM (rAsIa)

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OK, so March was basically a hectic month for me and I didn't get the time to write anything worth posting. An ill-tempered shot at Larry Kudlow for his monomaniacal shilling for the interests of large capital got ashcanned, so there went my Lou Dobbs-esque flavor for the month.

Heck, I even missed commemorating 01 April 1976, known to rail enthusiasts as Conrail Day. Bah.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 01:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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