Notes from Mosquito Hill

Notes on Notes

mack505 — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:40:09 +0000

This morning as I was proofreading some previous entries, I realized that I’ve been improperly captioning things for at least a week. It’s July, not June. Wishful thinking, perhaps.

I’m left wondering if no-one noticed, or if no-one told me. (Mrs. Mack505 says she didn’t notice.) They’re fixed now.

I’ve also added a new plugin which randomly serves an old post from the archives to the second position on the home page. As the blog has been up since 2008, there is a lot of good stuff back there. Look around and enjoy.

Skip’s Mega Cruise (P365 – July 24)

mack505 — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 23:54:05 +0000

July 24 – Now THIS is tailgating. Beth and I went to Skip’s Drive-in in Merrimac for their annual Mega-Cruise. There were over 550 cars in attendance, which is actually down from last year’s total. It’s still amazing to see, and a great time for the price of a burger and fries.

Beth is definitely our kid. She gravitates toward the 60′s muscle cars, although this was her favorite:

My favorite was this 1964 Ford Econoline Travel-Wagon. It has a 170 cid engine between the seats, and a hammock inside the dome. Forward control, three-on-the-tree, very rare, and very cool.

Pleasant Mountain (P365 – July 23)

mack505 — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:02:08 +0000

I could wax philosophical, but I won’t. Photographed on the summit of Pleasant Mountain, Bridgton, ME.

Hose Testing (P365 – July 22)

mack505 — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 02:42:47 +0000

Or as the Chief likes to describe it, Hose Deployment and Reloading Drill. It’s ugly work, but it has to be done.

Ballet

mack505 — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:46:18 +0000

The small boy stares in awe, doing what little boys have done at firehouses for over a century. He’s had plenty of time to see whatever he wants. He’s looked inside all of the compartments and had all of the tools explained to him. He’s sat in the engine and pretended to drive the gleaming monster, every boy’s dream.

Amazingly he’s not impressed with the ladder truck. He wants to go sit in the kitchen with the Real Firemen. One of them gives him a red toy helmet lettered Fire Chief.

And then the tones drop.

The middle aged man heads home from his errands, a quick run to the post office and the local grocery store. It’s a beautiful summer afternoon, if a bit on the hot side. The windows are down, the radio is up, and the last thing he sees is the chrome grille of the large SUV as it crosses the double-yellow line.

There’s a long pause. Pauses are bad. We don’t know where to go yet, and our lone dispatcher is too busy answering multiple phone calls to tell us. The young boy is oblivious to the sudden rise in tension; to him it’s just more radio noise.

After an interminable ten seconds, the dispatcher’s voice comes over the loudspeakers. “Attention Engine 683. Engine 683 respond, County Highway in the vicinity of Random Number for the motor vehicle crash.” His voice is calm, but the phones are ringing in the background.

My nephew’s grandfather offers to take custody of him for me. I grab my gear and head for the cab. I’m the last aboard, so I’m stuck riding backwards. The big Cummins propels the rig out the door with a puff of black smoke, and the sirens wind up as we turn left off the ramp. From my seat I can see my nephew in the apparatus bay, beaming. This is no demonstration, no parade; this is REAL, and he knows it.

Back in the cab, the headsets come out. “Fire Alarm to Engine 683. Police on scene report entrapment at your incident.” The multiple phone callers were right. This won’t be a minor job. Size-up continues. “Let’s see. The police station is in the 400s. The apartments are at 800, so Random Number must be. . .”

“The Curve,” the Captain interjects for me.

The Curve. Scene of numerous close calls and a few Bad Ones over the years.

We’re riding heavy today. Another call firefighter and I augment the regular crew. More hands are a good thing.

“Engine 683, police are reporting a possible Code F at your scene.” At least they didn’t ask us to ‘Step It Up.’ That’s a pet peeve of mine. We’re already moving as fast as we are safely able. No matter how much the PD begs, we can’t go any faster.

The paramedics arrive before us. They had a geographic head start.

As we approach the scene, we are forced left of the center line. No traffic is coming the other way. None. That’s a bad sign. The early evening rush backs up in the right lane. At one point I feel the brakes pull hard and the engine jinks to the left. Some fool has tried to make a u-turn out of the backup, oblivious to the large, loud, brightly-flashing emergency vehicle approaching. The chauffeur was ready, though, and we pass without further incident. Hopefully the fool will think next time.

As we arrive and swing to block the road, I get my first view of the scene from the side window. The car is almost unrecognizable. Last in means I’m seated next to the door, so first out. I head straight for the heavy hydraulics, and the faithful Honda starts on the first pull. The medic makes one request: “The sooner you get this car open, the happier I’ll be.”

The ballet begins.

Project 365 – July 18-21

mack505 — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:12:41 +0000

July 18 – Undertow? What undertow? Last day at the beach for a while.

July 19 – My nemesis. A while back I converted all of my RC steam locomotives to use one Specktrum DX6 transmitter. It works great, until it doesn’t. Then I can’t run anything. The blown fuse on the motherboard also provided the excuse I needed to open the case and remove the spring on the J-bar ratchet. (I know, it’s all gibberish. My steaming buddies will understand.)

July 20 – with the DX6 repaired, it was back out into the yard with Fowler for some evening steaming. Andy and Scott have added Summerlands Chuffers to their C-21 and Mogul respectively. I’ve liked the ones I’ve heard before, but these two are LOUD. Both locos peaked at around 98 dB trackside in full chuff.

July 21 – Not much photogenic today. Work and rework in the shop today. The foreground is an IP Engineering coach under assembly, and the rear is one being repaired from my previously botched assembly job.

I need to get out and find more things to photograph and write about, it would seem.

Parker River (P365 – July 17)

mack505 — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:17:58 +0000

I spent the day running steam trains with friends and the evening at Plum Island with family. This is the Parker River just after sunset on the way home.

Nikon Lady (P365 – July 16)

mack505 — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 02:48:39 +0000

My mother-in-law has been christened the Nikon Lady by a professional photographer. I don’t think it was a term of endearment, but she does good work.

The road (P365 – July 15)

mack505 — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:03:56 +0000

As a matter of fact, we do own this road. At least until the mess is cleaned up.

Ladder 14 (July 14)

mack505 — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:37:43 +0000

Ladder 14 catches a medical aid outside the Copley T station this afternoon. That’s the Boston Public Library and the Westin Hotel in the background.