Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 5:00 a.m. in "The City."

I was lying in bed trying to go back to sleep, when what to my wondering ears did appear, but the northbound run of the train on the RSTL. I'd already gone to bed late last night when I heard the train rumble past @ 11:15 p.m. Fortunately, my Trainspotting Intern was letting our fur-children out and espied both MMRR EMD GP38-2 locomotives, #s 2170 and 2019, passing by solo, heading south.

What I observed through the WW/Trainspotting window near 4:00 a.m., was those same locomotives passing by towing 56 Covered Gondola Cars.

Here's a bit of extra information that you probably have no need to know, but which I found interesting. Each of those CGCs has an empty weight of 68,300 lbs. and a loaded weight of 286,000 lbs. So, if those cars were empty, the cars alone would weigh 3,824,000 lbs. If they were loaded, as I believe they were, they would weigh 16,016,000 lbs. Each EMD GP38-2 locomotive can pull 28,000,000 lbs., which equals 14,000 tons, so those two locomotives combined could easily pull that amount of weight. 

I found this image on the internet which is similar to the I saw cars passing by the manse. 

But as usual, I digress.

We have a current temperature of 29°, our overnight low temperature, that feels like 17° with winds out of the west @ 17 mph. Today's high will reach 28° under skies that will be cloudy all day. In addition, the NWS in GR has issued three separate and distinct Advisories, Watches,  and/or Warnings for the Tri-Cities area. However, as is often the case, those come with their own set of caveats. 

The first is a Small Craft Advisory from St, Joseph to Manistee, with winds of 15 to 25 knots and waves of three to six feet in height until 1:00 p.m. Wednesday. That Small Craft Advisory  will be superseded by a Gale Watch for that same stretch of the lakeshore from 1:00 p.m. Wednesday until 1:00 a.m. Thursday, with winds of 20 to 30 knots and possible gusts to 40 knots that may produce waves from eight to 12 feet in height! The surf will be up here on the shores of the Third Coast. 

In addition, the NWS has issued a Winter Weather Advisory from 3:00 p.m. today until 4:00 a.m. Wednesday, with hazardous driving conditions and snow accumulations from two to four inches with some localities receiving more. However, that forecast for snow also comes with a 50% probability, so who really knows?

At any rate, the only outdoor activity we have on tap for today is a book pick up at the library. Otherwise, we plan to say indoors and do some indoor chores, some crossword solving, some playing of music, some reading, and some craft-type activities. Ciao.