Today's Train of Thought- The Jolly Green Giant and the Pumpkin Patch, October 31st, 2011

Today's train of though takes us back to the pumpkin patch for Haloween this year, this time in the Wolverine state.

Here, railpictures.net contributor Craig Williams caught Huron & Eastern's Durand Turn decelerating past a pumpkin patch south of Bay City, MI. The weekday train to the Norfolk Southern interchange in Durand (west of Flint) has an all GE lashup on this October 2008 afternoon. The green paint of previous owner BNSF/Burlington Northern on lead unit- C30-7 #5086- is still visible in the fading afternoon light.

Trailing #5086 is cabless B30-7AB- also purchased secondhand from Burlington Northern- has been repainted into a scarlet and grey reminiscent of the Southern Pacific and a black and white U23B trailing.

Teamsters Boss at Obama's Detroit Labor Day Rally- "Let's Take These Sons of Bitches Out"

Does anybody else remember President Obama's call for civility in his Tuscon speech earlier this year?

Yeah- about that.....

Shortly before President Barack Obama spoke to the labor unions in Detroit, Jimmy Hoffa Jr. warmed up the audience and harshly attacked the Tea Party movement saying:

"We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party. And you know, there is only one way to beat and win that war. The one thing about working people is we like a good fight. And you know what? They've got a war, they got a war with us and there's only going to be one winner. It's going to be the workers of Michigan, and America. We're going to win that war," Jimmy Hoffa Jr. said said

"President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let's take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong," Hoffa then added.

President Obama immediately praised Mr. Hoffa, in the beginning of his remarks saying he was "proud" of the teamster president.

Hoffa's veiled threats came about a week after videotaped comments from Representative Andre Carson (D- IN7) telling an audience at a Congressional Black Caucus function that the Tea Party wanted to see blacks 'Hanging from a tree' last week. Prior to that, Representative Maxine Waters (D- CA35) fired up an SEIU-packed crowd in Inglewood, CA by saying she would tell the Tea Party to "go straight to hell" [her district?- NANESB!].

While hardly a departure for members of the Congressional Black Caucus to make incendiary accusations of racism against non-members, this seems to be triangulated with veiled threats from Union leaders like Richard Trumka or Jimmy Hoffa Jr and Vice President Biden likening GOP members of Congress to terrorists during the summer's deficit ceiling debate ahead of the 2012 elections.

UPDATE: Not only is the Tea Party 'terrorists' according to VP Biden, they're also 'Barbarians at the gate'

Blue State Graft Watch Update- State of Michigan Grants Kwame Kilpatrick Parole

The jailed former mayor of Detroit is likely to start his 24-month parole starting next month, a Michigan parole board ruled last week.

After another month behind bars, Kwame Kilpatrick is likely off to Texas to start his 24-month parole.

The ex-mayor of Detroit, who kept his nose and record clean while in state custody after violating probation, was approved for parole Friday with release set for sometime after July 24. A move to Texas to reunite with his wife and three sons was part of the plan submitted at his parole hearing, said his lawyer, James Thomas.

Officials added two special requirements to his parole: that he pay his outstanding restitution to the City of Detroit and that he establish and maintain a payment schedule with his parole officer.

Kilpatrick resigned as mayor in September 2008 after pleading guilty to two felony counts of perjury and obstruction of justice. Last year, the Democrat former mayor was sentenced to 5 years prison for violating the terms of his probation that was part of his 2008 plea arrangement.

The two term mayor is also facing federal charges of tax evasion, wire fraud, extortion and obstruction of justice- some of the charges carry a prison term of up to 20 years each.

Detroit Area Postal Employees Charged With Accepting Cash, Lap Dances, Prostitutes in Bribery Probe

Five employees of the US Postal service have been indicted for accepting cash, cars, tickets to major sporting events, drinks and lap dances at a strip club, home improvements and trysts with $300 prostitutes in exchange for steering maintenance work on government vehicles towards garages owned by an unnamed contractor.

Much of the vehicle work was done in southeastern Michigan, although the government says the corruption stretched to Akron, Ohio, where one of the workers was transferred in 2007 to become manager of vehicle maintenance.

The contractor billed the Postal Service more than $13 million to fix vehicles over a seven-year period. There is no allegation that costs were inflated, said Scott Balfour, an agent with the Postal Service Office of Inspector General.

"The work was actually performed, from body work to engine work, anything that a normal garage would do," Balfour said. "This contractor influenced these people to direct work to the contractor. … They're not supposed to accept bribes."

The indictment says Bruce Plumb, 61, of Brownstown Township, Mich., accepted a variety of bribes, from drinks and lap dances at a strip club to a $3,000 brick patio at his home.

Balfour said the investigation began with tips from postal employees. He declined to say whether the contractor was cooperating with agents.

The Detroit Free Press detailed some of the allegations against Plumb and 4 others.

• Plumb accepted thousands of dollars in drinks and lap dances at a local strip club, got a $3,000 paver patio installed in his backyard and the contractor treated Plumb to visits from a prostitute and erectile dysfunction pills. He also got more than $8,000 in work done on a grandson's truck.

• Adams got more than $60,000 in cash, a 1997 Chevrolet Malibu; thousands of dollars in car parts and service; a $40,000 loan for the purchase of a condominium; tickets to Lions, Tigers, Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers games; golf outings, and a $4,000 heating and cooling unit for his home.

• Robinson took more than $65,000 in cash, thousands of dollars in work on cars, a 2001 Chrysler minivan and a custom-modified, high-performance Ford Pinto.

• Holmes got more than $6,000 in cash.

• Gorski took $2,000 in cash; a 1999 Pontiac minivan; Pistons, Lions, and University of Michigan football tickets; and thousands of dollars in gift cards.

The indictments come around the same time as the Postal Service announced estimated losses exceeding $2.2 billion for the 2nd quarter of FY 2011. That's more than the $1.6 billion in losses for the same time during FY 2010 reported last year.

[Hat tip: Friends of Ours]

April Fool's Sports Chowdah- Manny Walks Away For Good; Sox Snap Back in Home Opener; B's Finish Regular Season w/Weekend Split; C's Fall to 3rd Place

MLB- While waiting for the first Red Sox win of the 2011 season, it was announced that Tampa Bay slugger Manny Ramierez had tested positive for a performance enchancing drug, the second such offense in just under two years. Rather than face the 100 game suspension that a second offense would've brought him, Manny abruptly announced his retirement from baseball on Friday.

After being traded from the LA Dodgers to the Chicago White Sox last season, Manny signed a 1-year, $2 million contract with the Tampa Bay Rays this offseason. Manny had one hit, 4 strikeouts and an RBI in 17 plate appearences with the Rays in the very young regular season.

Jim Rogash- Getty Images

RED SOX- Apparently playing Cowboys Rangers and Indians was a bit much for Boston, hence the singularly unimpressive 0-6 start on the season. Honestly, I wasn't even going to do a sports-related update until the Red Sox won their first game series [I was blissfully unaware that I'd have to wait a full week, though- NANESB!] However, things looked like they were starting to turn around on the home opener Friday night when the Red Sox had a come from behind 9-6 win against the Yankees thanks in large part to Dustin Pedroia going 3-5 with 3 RBI. The Yankees won convincingly on Saturday, which set up the rubber game on Sunday and Josh Beckett vs CC Sabathia on the mound.

Beckett was just about flawless, dealing 10 strikeouts, two hits and a walk over 8 shutout innings. At times, run support seemed incredibly difficult to come by, with the Sox leaving a total of 16 runners on base. Throughout much of the night, Boston was clinging to a 1-0 lead after a bases-loaded Mike Cameron single drove in the game's first run in the bottom of the 3rd. However, Marco Polo Scutaro gave the Sox some insurance in the bottom of the 7th with a bases loaded 2-RBI double off of Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain that plated Big Papi and JD Drew to make it a 3-0 Red Sox lead. Big Papi would drive in Youkilis with an RBI double in the bottom of the 8th to make it 4-0 and Papelbon would close it out with a 1-2-3 9th inning, catching Mark Texiera looking at strike 3 to end the ballgame and give the Sox their first series win of the season some 48 hours after winning their first game.

Yankees starter CC Sabathia lasted 5⅔ innings, allowing 9 hits and one earned run while allowing 4 walks and striking out 4. New York will next take on the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles [even if it's only April, how often do I get to say that? -NANESB!] at Yankee stadium on Tuesday while the Red Sox will play host to the 1-8 Tampa Bay Rays Monday night at Fenway. NHL: The Boston Bruins finished off the regular season with a split of their final two games. On Saturday, Daniel Paille, Nathan Horton and Rich Peverly all scored for the Bruins and Tim Thomas stopped 31 of 32 shots faced to keep his save percentage at .938- surpassing Dominik Hasek's .937 from the 1998-1999 season.

The Bruins would skate to a 3-1 win over the Hapless-but-occasionally-feisty Sentators and Sens fired head coach Cory Clouston for missing the postseason in two out of the last three seasons.

With not much to play for on Sunday, the Bruins fell to the Devils by a 3-2 final at the Prudential Center in Newark on Sunday. Tukka Rask got the start in net, allowing 3 goals on 32 shots faced for the regular season finale. Rich Peverly and Chris Kelly accounted for the B's two goals in the regular season finale, and incidentally Sunday's game turned out to be the final for Jaques Lemaire as Devils head coach.

So the Bruins wrap up the regular season with a 46-25-11 record and 103 points- good for 3rd overall in the Eastern conference. The Bruins will match up with the Canadiens in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs starting Thrusday of this week.

It's also worth noting that a week prior to the Saturday win, Micheal Ryder's go-ahead penalty shot against the Atlanta Thrashers helped Boston secure the Northeastern Division titleELSEWHERE IN THE NHL/STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: The First round matchups for the Stanley Cup playoffs are as follows:

#1 Washington Capitals vs #8 NY Rangers- series begins on Wednesday, April 13- 7:30 ET

#2 Philadelphia Flyers vs #7 Buffalo Sabres- Thrusday, April 14- 7:30 ET

#3 Boston Bruins vs #6 Montreal Canadiens- Thursday April 14, 7 PM ET

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs #5 Tampa Bay Lightning- Wednesday April 13, 7 PM ET

WESTERN CONFERENCE-

#1 Vancouver Canucks vs #8 Chicago Blackhawks, Wednesday April 13, 10:00 PM ET

#2 San Jose Sharks vs #7 Los Angeles Kings, Thursday April 14, 10:00 PM ET

#3 Red Wings vs #6 Phoenix Coyotes, Wednesday April 13, 7 PM ET

#4 Anaheim Ducks vs #5 Nashville Predators, Wednesday April 13, 10:30 PM ET

NCAA HOCKEY-None of the New England schools that made it to the NCAA Men's hockey finals advanced past the second round. Defending Champion Boston College was upended by Colorado College by a 4-8 final in the first round and Merrimack lost to Notre Dame by a 4-3 final. UNH and Yale both advanced to the second round only for the Wildcats to fall to the Fighting Irish.

Yale, on the other hand lost to eventual Champion Minnesota-Duluth in the 2nd round. UMD would go on to beat Notre Dame in the semifinals and face the Michigan Wolverines in the final. The UMD Bulldogs would win in OT by a final of 3-2 for their first ever NCAA Men's Hockey title.

NCAA HOOPS- After squeaking by Kentucky by a 56-55 margin, the UConn Huskies earned a showdown with Butler last week. The Huskies handled the Butler Bulldogs fairly easily by a 53-41 final last week for their first NCAA men's title since 2004.

The UConn women's team lost in the semifinals last week by a 72-63 final to Notre Dame- the Irish women's team would then go on to lose to Texas A&M by a 76-70 final in the women's championship game. Texas A&M also bested frequent UConn nemesis Stamford on their way to the women's final as well

NBA: After a pretty good week in which the C's were able to beat the Pistons, Wizards and 76ers (while losing to the Bulls) the Miami heat sent a message with the 100-77 win over Boston in South Florida on Sunday. The loss pushes Boston down to 3rd place in the Eastern conference; 1 game behind Miami and 5 games behind Chicago.

The C's will take on the Washington Wizards in the Nation's Capital on Monday night before finishing out the regular season at home against the Knicks on Wednesday night.

Today's Train of Thought- Frosty the Flagman; Dec 24, 2010

What is it about the unassuming western Michigan shortline Marquette Rail that seems to draw photographers to it? Especially in the wintertime.....

For the last few years, Marquette rail has operated an annual Santa Train over its line making stops in Manistee, Sparta, Comstock Park and Baldwin among other towns. The train will stop with Santa on board to help distribute candy and even Christmas trees to children and a few families along the line.

Here, railpictures.net contributor John Ryan caught the Santa Train- powered by GP38-2 #2635- approaching a snowman in the tiny village of Fountain, MI on the night of Dec. 11th 2010 after the sunset hours.

If Frosty the Flagman could talk, I'm sure he'd be saying 'Merry Christmas!'

Today's Train of Thought- Swan Lake Creek, December 9, 2010

With the calendar turning to December (already? where did 2010 go?) today's train of through brings us back to a wintry scene on Michigan's lower peninsula.

Here, Railpictures.net contributor Jim Thias caught GMTX Leasing GP38-2 #2652 leading what's pretty much the entire Marquette Rail fleet northbound on Grand Rapids to Baldwin, MI train Z151 as it's getting ready to duck under Route 82 outside of Newaygo, MI on February 27, 2010.

With a fresh snowfall on the ground (as well as the trees and rails) and 100+ freight cars, the train needs all the traction it can get out of the mixed bag of leased GP38-2s and SD40-2s. The leading unit is still painted in Conrail blue with 'Conrail Quality' lettering still visible on the hood, while the trailing unit is identified as Marquette Rail SD40-2 #3001- the only unit to be painted in the railway's colors so far (some of the leased GP38-2s have a Marquette Rail logo applied to their front hood, but nothing as distinct as the 3001's paint scheme).

The swan in the creek to the right seems oblivious to the locomotives roaring past as it continues paddling away.

This Day in History- The SS Edmund Fitzgerald is Lost With All Hands

	Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Today marks the 35th anniversary of the sinking of the ore carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior during a November gale. All 29 officers and crew members were lost that day.

Up until a few years prior to her demise, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest ship to ply the Great Lakes and earned the nickname 'The Mighty Fitz'. Built in 1957 by the Great Lakes Engineering Works of River Rogue, MI, the Mighty Fitz was 729 feet long and tipped the scales at a hefty 26,600 deadweight tonnes.

The ship's final load turned out to be taconite from the Duluth-Superior area en route to a Detroit-area steel mill, when the November gale hit. Following not far behind was the freighter SS Arthur M. Anderson. Captain McSorely of the Mighty Fitz was in radio contact with Captain Cooper of the SS Arthur M Anderson until approximately 7:10 local time. Although there was no distress signal, Captain Cooper reported to the Coast Guard that the Fitzgerald had disappeared from his ship's radar and he had lost radio contact with them.

In the midst of a punishing gale, the Arthur M Anderson, the Coast Guard and two additional freighters began a search of the missing vessel, but their efforts only yielded debris and lifeboats. Five days later, the wreck site was located by a US Navy aircraft with a magnetic anomaly detector flying over Lake Superior.

The cause of the wreck was through to have been the cargo hatches topside giving way and the ship taking on water with each successive wave.

Some three decades later and a well known Gordon Lightfoot tune later, family members and friends of the 29 sailors on board the Edmund Fitzgerald find themselves in the unusual position of having to remind people that the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald wasn't a work of fiction as some have thought.

Today's Train of Thought- Change is U.P. in The Air; October 17, 2010

The Lake Superior and Ishpeming in Michigan's Upper Penninsula had a reputation for making the most for it's oddball fleet of six-axle ALCos and GE diesels up until the end of the 1980s, where they were replaced.....well....by more oddball diesels. This time around, the replacements took the form of nearly twenty six-axles U30C's purchased secondhand from Burlington Northern. The 3000 HP behemoths had an extensive background hauling coal from Wyoming's Powder River basin to power plants throughout the midwest and would seemingly be at home hauling ore jennies from the mines to the dock along the south shore of Lake Superior at Marquette, MI. The 50-mile line sees most of it's traffic come from mining.

With the leaves starting to change color in Michigan's upper peninsula, railpictures.net contributor Kevin the Krazy 1 caught LS&I U30C #3006 leading a short train from the Canadian National (former Wisconsin Central) interchange through the rock cut at Neagunnee, MI on a brilliant October 2008 afternoon.

While change may come slowly to the LS&I, it does come sooner or later as the shortline is presently leasing nine C44-9s from CIT Group.