General chat! V2.0

^^Which is the best way to enjoy them. It not only keeps you safe (unless you happen to be in the way of its safe place), but also should allow the snake to feel safe.

I would never get close to a snake without being sure if it's potentially dangerous. There are only 3 dangerous snakes in Virginia: rattlesnakes, Copperheads, and the Cotton Mouth. All three are pit vipers and have triangular heads. As this one didn't have the heat pits characteristic of pit vipers or a triangular head and wasn't displaying any warnings (like shaking its tail, sticking the tongue out far and long, or bending into a S shape), I knew I could get pretty close to it.

^Not possible, I wasn't looking for a snake when I discovered it. And knowing that the snake is there is better than not knowing it is, at least you can try to keep your distance and avoid stepping on it or provoking it.

Afternoon y'all.

Good Afternoon.

How are you?

Irritated.

Truthseeker4449 wrote:Irritated.

Why are you irritated?

BTW, it is night here :))

Siblings.

Oh, those siblings...

*only child here, sigh*

I've never had a younger sibling, but my two adult siblings are pretty damned childish.

So you basically have younger siblings that are older then you?

Kinda, yeah... Oh, and then there's my niece.

Good, bad, or ugly?

*just learned that UP #3985 won't see service again until 2016 or even later*

I know that delaying #3985's return to service is due to Union Pacific wanting to restore #4014 to operating condition, but I wish that they didn't have to delay her return that long. Then again I don't know why exactly what service #3985 is supposed to receive.

Also while I was browsing another forum's discussion on whether UP would actually do this, I found several big hitches.


1. Track - Big Boys are massive and have a high center of gravity. The Big Boys also overhang a lot when going through a sharp curve. #3985 has shown that the overhang of the Challengers is a problem on a modern railroad, something that will be even more so on a Big Boy as they overhang much further due to being longer. As the Big Boys haven't been used in such a long time, the track is designed for a different breed of trains and at high speeds a Big Boy could derail on a curve or even worse, roll onto her side.

2. Tenders - While the Big Boy itself actually can manage tighter turns than UP's famous 844, the tender design that UP uses on their steam locomotives (known as centipede due to the number of wheels) is prone to derailing.

3. Clearance - As mentioned above, Big Boys have a lot of overhang and are also very tall. This means that tunnels and enclosed bridges will be an issue.

4. Fuel - Big Boys are designed for coal and the only attempt at oil firing didn't go well. Designing a oil-firing system will require a lot of effort.

Matt Smith, why you gotta leave me!