December 23, 2005 - Today we look into my big bag of tricks
It is that time of year again when children dream and talk about the return of Santa Claus and his big bag of toys. Even though I am not Santa, I too carry a big bag, only it is not full of toys. Instead, I call the grip I carry my big bag of tricks. It weighs a ton, heavy enough to qualify as Santa’s bag though. There is good reason for this heavy load and in today’s lesson we’ll deal with what all these years of railroading have taught me to bring along on each trip.

October 18, 2005 - Today, we cut the competition
Well it is October 18th, that time of year again. This date in history marks the sixteenth anniversary of my tragic collision with the automobile in Antioch, IL. In keeping with the tradition begun several years ago, we will conduct yet a study of the behavior of motorists when approaching railroad crossings and the results of their failure to comply with both the warning devices at the crossing and those on the train.

September 16, 2005 - This time it is part three of “Get me to the train on time”
Today we will embark upon a study in excuses for being late. Sometimes you oversleep, are trying to get too much done before departing for work, are trying to get tasks accomplished such as banking, shipping packages or other errands while en route to work. Or you might get caught in traffic. And on occasion there is that car trouble thing or even a flat tire. It happens.

August 22, 2005 - This Time It’s the Heat of the Moment
Well summer has really taken a hold on us this year. We’ve experienced record, or near record high temperatures this summer here in Middle America along with a drought. It has made for some brutal conditions in which to railroad.

July 18, 2005 - Today It's Part Two of Get Me to the Train on Time
People are late for trains all the time. And when the train pulls out of the station without them, then it is the railroad's fault for departing without them. Whether the departure is on the advertised or twenty minutes down it is never the fault of the passenger for being late.

June 5, 2005 - Today; Get Me to the Train on Time
Timing is everything. I know that for a fact. I've said for years that my life is twenty minutes off from the rest of the world. Some days it is twenty minutes fast, other times it is twenty minutes slow. For whatever reason though, it just never seems to be in sync with the rest of the world. And somehow, for some strange reason, it has managed to work out alright.

May 10, 2005 - This Time We Study the Interdependence of Assignments
Trains don't just happen; they are operated for a reason. And contrary to what at least one railfan oriented magazine leads you to believe it is not for that sake of just playing railroad. Train movements occur to move commodities from here to there in a timely and efficient manner. For the most part, trains are not just a cluster of cars randomly thrown together and mindlessly operated from point A to point B. Notice I said for the most part and not always. There is a reason and purpose for each train operated and the cars that are moving in them.

April 24, 2005 - Today We Hop on Board and Take a Free Ride
In this lesson we are going to discuss what can and does go wrong when those that are not in the know, try to take advantage of low rent transportation. In one case, the story involves me long before my career began on the railroad. Another involves a friend who as a youngster also was part of an unsanctioned ride that resulted in problems for him.

March 17, 2005 - This Time It Is a Study in Fun and Games as Things Go Haywire
Despite there being all sorts of rules; operating, safety and air brake and train handling in effect, things still have a way of veering off the directed and intended course. Today's lesson will examine yet another round of such occurrences. The established tradition of these Haywire columns again prevails as the names of those involved, the railroads and the locations will be omitted to protect the guilty.

March 7, 2005 - Today We’ve Reached the Breaking Point
I fully realize that sometimes the nature of the beast of railroading can drive those of us whom are the players of this game into all sorts of states of mind, most of which are less than desirable. And although there have been a few railroaders that have fallen over edge at one time or another, this little lesson will not be dealing with either railroaders going postal or having their little train go chugging down the track. Although it would certainly make for some interesting reading, we’ll save that topic for another time. Instead today we will discuss broken rail.

February 20, 2005 - This Time We Ride My See-saw
The title of today’s lesson evokes memories of that great old song from the 70’s by Justin Hayward, John Lodge and The Moody Blues. However, we will not be discussing classic rock but instead will once again deal with the meeting of trains. And as an added twist, we will get into the logistics of meeting trains at a point in which neither train fits. The theme of today’s topic was inspired by a thread that was rolling along on a discussion list to which I belong, so I decided to take the theme of this thread and run with it and devote an column to it.

January 29, 2005 - Today It Is Part Two Of Old Man Winter Revisited
Before we kick off today’s lesson, some odds and ends to pick up. I discussed snow and lots of it last time. Well guess what we had all kinds of this past weekend? Snow and lots of it. Where I live here in Schererville, we had nearly two feet of it.

January 19, 2005 - Today It Is A Little More On Old Man Winter. Or Perhaps We’ll Call This A True Snow Job.
A reader recently wrote me asking about the effects of snow and cold weather on railroading. Being that I haven’t done a wintertime railroading column in a while and also being there has been some huge snowfalls in portions of the country already, I guess the time is right to delve into this topic yet again.

January 2, 2005 - Today We Study Holidays on the High Iron
I have mentioned quite a bit over the years about getting stuck working on various holidays. In fact, I actually did a piece once on Christmas Day shortly before I had to depart for work about just that; working Christmas Day. Today, we will take a look at how I managed to not work some of them and what happened the first time I ever worked a holiday.