A brief respite and other stuff

We are getting a break from two weeks of bitterly cold weather, but with the warm-up comes precipitation, both rain and snow. A few warm days will be followed by a return of very cold weather. The poor road conditions and the cold have kept me mostly inside, hunkered down.

However, I have gotten out a few times to see what is happening at the site of the train derailment. On Friday a crew was still working on repairing the main track. On Monday the track crew was not there when I stopped by.

In the picture above the men were welding a rail. Below a truck is unloading a rail.

In addition to the main line, there are two side tracks at this intersection and neither has been repaired. Here is the view as you look to the east of the south tracks.

A company named Sunpro is on site doing something with the tank cars. I have not learned yet what the fate of these cars will be. The two that are nearest the tracks seem to be the most heavily damaged and I doubt if they can ever be returned to service. These cars hold more than 30,000 gallons.

Although the cars did not derail until Scott Street, whatever the problem was with the wheels was already causing damage as the train went past the depot. They gouged out bits of concrete from the edge of the platform.

The skeleton of a new apartment building on Elza Street is in the process of being erected. I suspect the weather is delaying work.

In news from Remington, the rebuilt Pilot station is expected to open on Saturday.

The Rensselaer City Council began 2018 with a short and mostly uneventful meeting on Monday evening. They approved the minutes from the last meeting, which I did not attend or write about. You can read them here.

The Council approved a gas tracker increase of 9.5 cents per hundred cubic feet. It also approved a change in the contract with Grimmer to extend a water line near the Mt. Calvary Road/US 231 intersection so it will not be under the highway when that intersection is redone next summer. INDOT wanted the extension to be longer than originally planned, hence the change. Appointments to various boards were announced.

The electrical utility is planning to send four workers and three trucks to the Virgin Islands to help rebuild their power grid. The mission will last between 36 and 43 days, with all expenses being paid from FEMA monies. There were questions of whether that might hurt Rensselaer in case of an emergency. The utility was given approval to proceed with the plan. This item was probably the most newsworthy item from the meeting.

The conversion of the old fire station into a police station has had some hiccups. There were unexpected floor problems in the office area, termite damage to wood was discovered, and the cold weather has limited some tasks. Nonetheless, the move-in date is expected to be June. The Watt substation is undergoing tests and is expected to be energized in the week of the 22nd. The company that has been lining the sewer from the library to the lift station is expected to be back in town this week to complete the final section.

I found a website that has the sunrise and sunset times for every day of the year for Rensselaer (and anywhere else). Days are 47 minutes longer at the end of the month than at the beginning.

I like to check ice cover on the Great Lakes. The cold snap got the ice cover over 29%, but with warmer weather, the ice cover is now dropping. The next cold wave will cause it to grow again. There is still a lot of relatively warm water in Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Ontario.