Musk ox invasion keeps Nome wildlife managers busy

Anchorage Daily News ^ | comJuly 2, 2014 | SEAN DOOGAN

[skeptoid]

Nome is used to rowdy residents, but some relatively new transplants are making a real nuisance of themselves -- although unlike the colorful characters of the early 20th century gold rush days, these visitors have four legs, not two.

Musk oxen are wandering into the city on the Seward Peninsula, and despite loud noises, water hoses and even a blow-up bear coated in ursine urine, they don't want to leave.

[Monkey Face]

See, that’s what the guys thought about me...that they would be drinking my losses! I weighed 147# and most of it was an athletic solid muscle!

Go PAT!

[Monkey Face]

Life is good. The important thing is that I have survived them all and been made stronger for the experience. My glass is always half-full, even when it really looks half-empty to otheres.

Live gives me challenges when it sees I’m bored... ;o]

[NoCmpromiz]

Is that on preserved line or ‘national network’?

One of a decreasing number of operating steam locomotives in the US, this is Nickle Plate 765, built in 1944 in Lima, Ohio, about 50 miles or so south of where this picture was taken.

It is owned and operated by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society and on this trip was heading on 'home' rails to the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad (near Cleveland, OH) for this years 'Steam in the Valley' series of excursions. I say 'home' rails because even though it is now Norfolk Southern RR, before Norfolk and Western acquired the Wabash, the Nickel Plate (officially the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad) and Virginian RR's and then merged with the Southern to form Norfolk Southern, these rails were NKPRR (Nickel Plate) tracks. The overpass bridge that carries the tracks over US Route 23 in Fostoris, OH still carries the Nickel Plate Road name.

Of interest here is that Norfolk Southern allowed this movement over their very busy line through Fostoria (the town as a whole now sees over 100 trains a day between NS and CSX) without a 'guard' engine. There is no diesel protection running behind the coal tender, something that you normally see on steam operations on other lines. I also note that they are taking another gondola of coal along, something that was not needed when steam was king and coaling towers were everywhere.

I knew this smoke breathing dragon was scheduled to pass through town on Thursday (the day I was leaving my Sister's) but did not know a time frame, and did not have the luxury of hanging out in the Iron Triangle waiting with camera in hand. I had my car all packed and was about to hug my Sister good-by when the sound of the dragon's call (sounds for all the world like a steam whistle) sounded in the distance. I looked at Baby Sis and said 'That is NOT a diesel..' She said 'grab your camera and let's go.' I feared that the tower would clear the steam special right through which would not have allowed us enough time to get there, but, fortunately in this case, NS does not control the diamonds (CSX inherited that right from predecessor C&O which inherited it from predecessor Hocking Valley, a railroad my Uncle worked for way back when, maybe in the late 1920's - he died at age 102 about 10 years ago now) so the steaming beast had to wait for several CSX movements to clear up giving us time to get into position. I was most grateful.

All in all, it was a very good week. ;-)

(For trivia buffs, The Union Pacific RR is the only US carrier that never retired it's complete steam roster. They have kept locomotive 844 - a 4-8-4 type - active... They also now have Challenger 3985 4-6-6-4 active, and have recently brought 4-8-8-4 Big Boy 4014 from being stuffed and mounted in California to it's shops in Cheyenne, Wyoming where it will undergo restoration to operating condition. That should be interesting...)

[Monkey Face]

Those clips were pretty awesome! I remember trains like that when I was a very short person...

[NicknamedBob]

"Pat is stronger than he looks. It’s impossible for anyone to be as weak as Pat looks and still be walking around."

My arms too conceal a deceptive strength. It's all sinew and strong will.

Remind Pat that a man's strength comes from his intentions, not his breakfast. It will be useful for him to know that.

But the most useful thing for any young man to realize is that there is a strength stronger than strength of arm, and that is the strength of will; for it is the will that contains and dispenses the strength of arm.

[Monkey Face]

Wise words, Oh, Great Imperial Weatherman. Will seems to be the reason I have managed to survive, in spite of what my friends, neighbors and relatives had in store for me.

[NicknamedBob]

"Will seems to be the reason I have managed to survive, in spite of what my friends, neighbors and relatives had in store for me."

One of the reasons I am very leery of procedures such as the one that proved fatal to Joan Rivers. At a certain level of age and decrepitude, it is only continuing concentration that keeps body and soul together.

[Monkey Face]

Which is why I’m going to have the stuff done NOW. I want those pins out of my toes and from then on, I will let Mother Nature dictate what I do.

I LOVE my little self!

[NicknamedBob]

Oh, I’m not too concerned about my bionic components, as long as they’re intended to be permanent.

If only people were so quickly willing to discard the crutches that support their crippled thinking!

[Monkey Face]

See?

[ThomasThomas]

See what?

[Darksheare]

That thing, over there.

[Darksheare]

On this day in history, Sep 6 1901: William McKinley was shot by Leon Czolgosz.
An anarchist, Czolgosz had hoped to foment anarchist uprisings.

[NoCmpromiz]

Is that why my tomatoes are dying?

[Darksheare]

I think they have suffered depredation of a most terrible sort as well.
The missus likes tomaters.
But why they are croaking, they seem to be too close together.

[Silentgypsy]

Ohmigosh! The word “cute” isn’t adequate!

Chainsaw was six months old this week! She has lots of energy. I hope you get some sleep....

[Tax-chick]

Remind Pat that a man's strength comes from his intentions, not his breakfast.

No, he needs to eat, too.

[Tax-chick]

It’s also Vulture Awareness Day.

[Tax-chick]

Your Morning Kitteh says, "What morning? Go back to sleep!"

[moose07]

Thanks for posting that ,NC.
She's a beautiful Dragon!

So all of the railroads are still in private hands , nice to read.
Am surprised that there is a decreasing number of steam locos still ‘in steam’’.
Here the numbers are growing every year. The problem is there is a lack of room to run them. Very few of the Preserved lines have more than a mile or so of track, or a connection to the Main line.
If they go out on to the Main line they have to be fitted with all of the latest safety equipment, most of the preserved railways can't afford to fit it. (AWS, TPWS,)
The Weekend does have regular Steam specials ,most of them run by Dennis Waterman of “Lousy eighty's music” fame.

Glad you had a great time, nothing beats a successful vacation. :)