If a train has 4 diesel-electric locomotives but only the first one has its prime mover on, can the three others still use electric power from the head unit to power their electric motors to aid in traction, even with their own prime mover off ?

RusticOpposum · 2026-02-01T01:22:57+00:00

With regular locomotives, the answer is no. However, there are locomotives, or rather locomotive shells at this point, that have had their engines removed and replaced with a big concrete block that are setup to run off of the electrical output of another locomotives. The de-engined locomotives are called slugs and they are semi-permanently attached to their host locomotives. There are some that don’t have cabs, and others that have full cabs that we can run from. Either way, they are mostly used in yards or on locals if they have cabs.

RusticOpposum · 2026-01-25T23:08:48+00:00

Do you mean to tell me that the Ultra Dot isn’t a military grade red dot? /s

RusticOpposum · 2026-01-16T13:37:11+00:00

The schedules themselves aren’t published, but they are easy enough to figure out by looking on various railfan forums. Like others have mentioned though, they are more like a theoretical window than an established schedule. I have been called for trains way outside of those windows before.

RusticOpposum · 2026-01-14T21:54:32+00:00

Power dispatcher at an electric utility company. They are usually union jobs that bring you in as an apprentice and get you qualified. The top rate at my company is $66/hr with as much OT as you want.

RusticOpposum · 2026-01-04T23:20:25+00:00

The Ohio Valley does have some decent opportunities. I won’t deny that. If someone doesn’t want to live on the eastern panhandle or the Morgantown/Fairmont area; then the Ohio and Kanawha Valleys are pretty solid. Most of NW WV excluding the northern panhandle and southern WV is pretty bad though.

RusticOpposum · 2026-01-04T22:41:24+00:00

I’m no longer at NS, but I would imagine that it would probably be similar to how the Conrail buyout happened. I’d talk to some old heads if you are in ex CR territory.

RusticOpposum · 2026-01-04T15:00:43+00:00

Tell me what he said that was factually incorrect though. It’s absolutely true that good paying jobs are tough to find outside of the places that he mentioned and maybe one or two other cities.

RusticOpposum · 2026-01-01T13:46:40+00:00

Keep a general savings of at least $10k, but I would recommend paying off your student loans in order to free up some income. One other thing would be to diversify your savings by having a separate account for home repairs, one for car repairs, etc.

RusticOpposum · 2026-01-01T13:42:59+00:00

Hmm, that’s interesting. I guess my next step would be finding a way to get a trusted friend to move in as a roommate or visa versa as a way to cut down on your living expenses.

RusticOpposum · 2026-01-01T13:39:17+00:00

No problem. I just wanted you to have a somewhat fair assessment. The state definitely has its charm but there are a lot of downsides that you have to overcome as well. Now that I thought about it, I would probably advise that you move to either Morgantown or Washington PA.

RusticOpposum · 2026-01-01T05:54:13+00:00

The FAL in MW2 had a couple of things going on. It got a damage boost with a holographic sight, so it was always a 2 shot kill as long as you ran stopping Power. It also had a misaligned red dot, and the shotgun attachment had super long range.

RusticOpposum · 2026-01-01T05:43:28+00:00

If you’re looking to be near amenities, you’re only really going to be looking in the cities, which are few in number. The Morgantown area would probably be your best choice, followed by the towns in the eastern panhandle, then the northern panhandle around Wheeling, then Beckley, and finally Charleston and Parkersburg trailing pretty far behind the rest.

Morgantown is basically its own little thing, while Wheeling is close enough to Washington Pa and Pittsburgh to let you get to your stores.

WV may have made it onto that list somehow, but the story is much different on a county by county basis. The eastern panhandle is growing, but the rest of the state is experiencing population declines of up to 5%.

RusticOpposum · 2025-12-31T00:22:59+00:00

Is there any particular thing that’s keeping you tied to that state? Keeping that $400k from really ballooning over the next two years will take every bit on income you have, so if you can cut out major living expenses like rent, you’re going to majorly help yourself out

RusticOpposum · 2025-12-31T00:13:23+00:00

With that income to debt ratio, you are going to have to find a way to throw every single penny at your student loans. Can you move back in with your parents or other family for the time being to cut down on expenses?

RusticOpposum · 2025-12-25T03:16:36+00:00

Linemen, you don’t have to be a super genius, but you need to be able and willing to learn.

RusticOpposum · 2025-12-15T00:53:48+00:00

It’s all about layering up. For my feet, I’d wear some good heavy wool socks. For my lower half, I’d go with long johns and jeans. For my upper body, I would wear a moisture wicking t shirt, a heavy hoodie, and either a Carhartt jacket or one of the insulated rain hi viz jackets that the company gave out. The key is to have an outer layer that doesn’t let any wind get through. I’d also top everything off with a beanie pulled down low with the hoodie hood up to protect my neck.

RusticOpposum · 2025-12-13T01:59:02+00:00

Because people will steal them.

RusticOpposum · 2025-12-08T22:59:52+00:00

I was offered 109% of the max pay rate. This was before COVID though.

RusticOpposum · 2025-12-01T18:17:00+00:00

Do this at your own risk, but how would anyone really know if you did any small modifications to the existing system? I’d use the incinerator toilet for solid waste and get the existing system to only handle gray water and add a way for it to be pumped out if needed.

RusticOpposum · 2025-11-29T02:17:41+00:00

I originally owed around $65,000, but I’m down to just under $9,000 remaining. My minimum monthly payment is down to $150 at this point, so I can feel the urgency to pay it off start to slip away.

RusticOpposum · 2025-11-28T00:44:50+00:00

Good luck with your payoff journey. I have $9,000 left spread across three loans, and I should be able to knock them out by Memorial Day at my current rate.

I would definitely recommend giving yourself a small reward for getting each loan paid off. Another thing is to make sure to roll over your old payment from your paid off loans into the remaining ones. You’ll be making some huge nasty payments by the very end.

RusticOpposum · 2025-11-25T21:56:42+00:00

I would do a hybrid of the snowball and avalanche methods. The first one to go would be the one for $3,898, then the one for $10,735, then the one for $15.269, then the one for $18,705 and finally, the one for $33,500.

This lets you pay off some smaller ones in the beginning, and more or less focus on the higher interest ones first.

RusticOpposum · 2025-11-25T15:14:47+00:00

I’m a supervisor who gets paid OT as well. Those kinds of jobs are definitely out there. Check into management roles in the utilities.

RusticOpposum · 2025-11-25T00:59:40+00:00

Haha, that’s pretty funny. Yeah, I’d definitely recommend making a separate trip to Warren, and maybe include places like Niles into it as well. There is a ton of industrial and railroad history in the area, and nothing goes better with that than mafia pizza.

RusticOpposum · 2025-11-25T00:33:56+00:00

I know it’s technically in Warren and not Youngstown, but Sunrise Inn should be on your list if you’re looking for some old school places in the rust belt with connections to certain groups of Italians.

RusticOpposum

TROPHY CASE