After the Storm
Jan. 7th, 2024 06:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeThat wasn't a very big snow storm, but it did leave about 3 cm on the ground here in Fernley. It was bigger in the mountains, where chain controls over I-80 reached from the western edge of Reno all the way down to Colfax overnight. Today was clear but cold, so lots of snow did not melt.
The East Lot looks nice with snow on it. It looks like some of the local cats came to the bird feeder hoping to catch the local birds unawares.
In the foreground here is the part of the sidewalk that we did not clear last night. I shoveled it clear later in the afternoon.
Although the main roads in Fernley had been cleared, minor streets like ours were not and we needed to hope that direct sunshine would clear them.
Up in the mountains, the railroad has propane-powered switch heaters to allow trains to change tracks. Here in Fernley, there isn't enough snow to justify this, with the result being this morning that I heard the Union Pacific dispatcher talking to the crew of this train (the "Fernley Flyer" local switching job), who needed to get into Fernley siding to do switching at the Nevada Cement plant. The dispatcher could not get the switch at control point 275 (the east end of Fernley siding) to throw. He gave the crew permission to work on the switch and possibly to take the switch manually. After a few minutes, they called back and said that they had been able to chip the ice out of the switch with hand tools, and the dispatcher was then able to operate the switch remotely again, allowing the Flyer to get into the siding and push a bunch of coal hoppers (not visible in this shot) into Nevada Cement.
Lisa offered to make spaghetti if I could go get some ground beef, so late in the afternoon I gingerly coaxed the Rolling Stone over to Grocery Outlet. That's how I learned that the main roads, including Interstate 80, were clear. Parking lots, however, were another matter, and I took it very carefully getting out of the store's ice-and-snow-covered lot with no mishap.
I count myself lucky that I don't have to do a lot of traveling.
The East Lot looks nice with snow on it. It looks like some of the local cats came to the bird feeder hoping to catch the local birds unawares.
In the foreground here is the part of the sidewalk that we did not clear last night. I shoveled it clear later in the afternoon.
Although the main roads in Fernley had been cleared, minor streets like ours were not and we needed to hope that direct sunshine would clear them.
Up in the mountains, the railroad has propane-powered switch heaters to allow trains to change tracks. Here in Fernley, there isn't enough snow to justify this, with the result being this morning that I heard the Union Pacific dispatcher talking to the crew of this train (the "Fernley Flyer" local switching job), who needed to get into Fernley siding to do switching at the Nevada Cement plant. The dispatcher could not get the switch at control point 275 (the east end of Fernley siding) to throw. He gave the crew permission to work on the switch and possibly to take the switch manually. After a few minutes, they called back and said that they had been able to chip the ice out of the switch with hand tools, and the dispatcher was then able to operate the switch remotely again, allowing the Flyer to get into the siding and push a bunch of coal hoppers (not visible in this shot) into Nevada Cement.
Lisa offered to make spaghetti if I could go get some ground beef, so late in the afternoon I gingerly coaxed the Rolling Stone over to Grocery Outlet. That's how I learned that the main roads, including Interstate 80, were clear. Parking lots, however, were another matter, and I took it very carefully getting out of the store's ice-and-snow-covered lot with no mishap.
I count myself lucky that I don't have to do a lot of traveling.
