HALLOWEEN TERROR!

 Halloween terror has come to Hillsdale!

Attack of The Giant Mantis!

An ambulance crew evacuates a victim, as the local police and firefighters confront the giant menace.

A tanker truck and a TeleSquirt fire truck prepare to soak the giant insect with fire-fighting foam.

Can they stop the monster?

The railroad has arrived to help.

While this may be a big bug, that is an even bigger tank car of DDT!

Fortunately, this was not a real scenario. However, I still may need to spray around the basement for bugs...just in case!

PASSING TRAINS PT 24; JBHTKC110 PT 2

 The conclusion of JBHTKC110...

A pair of J.B. Hunt dry van boxes in a dirty Pacer Stack Train well. Note the road grime on the top container.

A grey "Ocean Shipping" box, and a pair of reefers are top-stacked on this tagged MAXI IV car.

Another tagged MAXI IV.

A still-clean car, with the new red "Heritage" TTX logo, and a reefer up top.

A Thrall three-unit car provides a contrast to the smooth-sided Gunderson cars.

The tail end of the train has loaded spine cars, including this one with containers on the first two units.

Other units carry trailers. Note the reefer trailer on the second unit.

Three 53' trailers, three different schemes!

The bright red flash of the EOT signals the end of yet another hotshot intermodal!

Next week is Halloween...

PASSING TRAINS PT 24; JBHTKC110 PT1

 Train JBHTKC110, the Trenton-KC J.B. Hunt train, has stopped in Hillsdale for a crew change...

The lead engine is GECX 2029, one of the ET44AC pre-production units. It has lost its solid blue paint for the red, grey and black of GE Transportation's new owner, Wabtec.

The new crew climbs aboard.

As they prepare to depart, we can get a good look at the new paint scheme which now adorns 2029. Wabtec purchased GE's locomotive division in 2018 as General Electric has spun off numerous divisions to focus on its core business of power generation. This ended over a century of GE locomotive production: from early electrics, to contemporary GEVO Evolutions. GE still holds a 50% stake in the new company, so it isn't entirely out of the locomotive business.

Sister ET44AC demo units 2040 and 2036 are still in blue paint.

The head end of JBHTKC110 is auto racks, returning from Trenton with import cars from Europe.

The trio of GECX engines head out. Another crew change in Cincinnati, then on to Chicago.

Behind the autoracks are the usual well cars with J.B. Hunt boxes. Note the reefer box on the next car.

 A well-weathered container stacked in a grimy FEC well car.

A rare grey Hunt container in a Pacer Stack Train MAXI IV well car. Note the container on top has a faded logo -just about all of the yellow is gone!

The rest of the train next week.

TOWN LIFE PT 15

Jackie's will soon be having their annual fall clearance sale, but for now, they are busy selling jackets, coats and accessories for fall - and winter!

A man goes into the barber shop for a quick trim before a job interview.

A crowd has gathered in the parking lot of Dairy Queen to look at a rare -and expensive- car; a Bugatti Veyron. A 16-cylinder, 1000hp super car, it cost over $1.2 million when new! Most people have never seen one in person; and after this, most folks in Hillsdale never will again!

Later, a pair of hot rods sit in front of Dairy Queen. While the green Buick is a local car, the purple flame job is not. Both cars are beautiful!

A new pair of stoplights have been installed on County Lane! The new, black-painted lights are much taller than the old ones, and face the traffic on County Lane. The old yellow stoplight still faces Market St.

The light in front of The Daily Examiner replaces the old yellow stop light installed several months ago, and is sitting on a new section of sidewalk. The new light required a larger mounting hole than the old one, and when I tried to drill the old hole out, I damaged the sidewalk. The replacement job was NOT fun.

The other new light is not only mounted in a hole in the sidewalk, but is also now on the correct side of the intersection, unlike the previous overhead light. Hard to see, but the new lights also have (simulated) pedestrian walk signals. Now the citizens of Hillsdale can safely cross the street!

A Tom and Russel Contractors Sprinter van carries a work crew to the next job. As the slogan says: "HOME OR BUSINESS NO JOB IS TOO SMALL WE'LL GET IT DONE JUST GIVE US A CALL!"

CARPACK

 Last week saw a string of cars waiting to be delivered to Pete's Plastics. This week, we'll take a closer look at these and a few other cars...

CEFX 500589 is now working for its fourth owner! Originally owned by the Bangor and Aroostook, it and its sisters were then sold to the Wisconsin Central, becoming the property of Canadian National when it bought the WC. Now owned by CIT Group/Capital Leasing, the graffiti has been painted over (for now).

ITFX 501222 is another car with multiple owners. Now owned by Infinity Transportation, LLC., it, too, has graffiti painted out. (Note: this car is a "stand-in"; the real ITFX 501222 has single, large plug doors, not twin sliding doors.)

SPCX 930 is a Thrall 5750 cuft. carbon black hopper car, still in it's original 80's paint! The FRA-224 required reflective safety striping has been added to the sides, to improve the visibility of the car in low-light conditions. 

DOWX 66122 is an ACF plastic pellet hopper. Unlike the other three cars, this one has plenty of graffiti on its sides. Normally, Pete's would be getting a string of hoppers, but there is only one here as it has a different type of plastic from what they normally use -these cars are for a test order of cup holders, as the company looks to expand its product line to stay competitive in an ever-changing markerplace.

MRT 76125 is another hopper car still in it's original 80's paint. Time, weather, and graffiti have taken their toll.

TTMX 80636 is an aging 68' flatcar that is nearing retirement after 50 years of service. Until then, it continues to work; it will soon be sent to Wilson Steel for a load, along with those gons behind it loaded with shredded scrap steel.