Guess I will be off line after this evening for several days as Dennis passes thru the Keys. Ironically my wife and I got transferred down here to the keys from Pensacola, Florida last December three weeks after Hurricane Ivan tore up the town. Now the first Hurricane of the season is going to bounce off of the keys and then projected to beat up Pensacola again or that neighborhood anyway. I really thought I would finally finish my bench work this weekend. Maybe we should move back to NY, naah, too much darned snow for me and I would freeze to death by October it has been so long since I was there.
Terry (wearing his Harley helmet in the keys)
HANG IN THERE TERRY!!
My wife has an aunt that stays in Florida too. We will be thinkin’ of ya. Keep the family safe and PLEASE pack away your trains!!!
Happy Modelrailroading from,
Mr & Mrs TrainsRme in Portland Oregon:)
I can only imagine Terry ( and see it on tv ) Good luck stay safe.
Ken.
Keep the faith, Terry. Use the time to tinker with your overall ideas and plan; it might come in handy.
Terry, be safe down there. On the humorous side, you could hurry and model the rail line that ran through the keys back in the 30"s that a hurrican wiped out. At least it would be prototypical!!!
Good luck Terry,
Looks like we are next on the hurricanes hit list. Pensacola has not recovered from
from Ivan yet. If dennis keeps his current course, we will be leaving Saturday
morning… I don’t even know where to go. Last year we just drove until we
found a safe place.
It’s never a good sign when the Weather Channel people start showing up. Dave
Good Luck Terry. We visited the keys about 3 weeks ago, and my wife was commenting on the possibility of a hurricane hitting, since everything is so low. Hopefully it won’t do much damage.
Hello Terry and Dave9999,
I forgot that we’re neighbors…(sort of)
We’re keeping a cautious eye on this storm here in Tampa. Hope you, your families and friends stay safe and come through this o.k.
God Bless,
AFP45
To all of you that are in harm’s way with Hurricane Dennis, May you be safe and still have a layout after it passes! Good Luck!!!
I have relatives in the Orlando area and it looks as though they will not get hit with the full fury of the storm. For that I am thankful. I think I would rather endure winter in Upstate NY than what you folks are looking forward to right now. (You might be from upstate NY if you’d rather drive in the Winter 'cause all the potholes are filled with snow, etc., etc, etc.)
Tks for all of the concerns folks. I have taken all of the precautions I can and am now packing away all my rolling stock and loco’s. We live about two miles north of the demarcation line (hurricane watch vrs tropical storm watch) every thing south (west) of us has been evacuated. Hope those weather prognosticators know what they are talking about. If so we should get lots of rain with 40-60 MPH winds. My kids live in Pensacola and they are headed for safety. My daughters house was never finished from Ivan 9 months ago. Anyway I hope they have a extra tough power network down here and maybe we can stay online throughout the storm. Dave9999 take care and talk to you when its over.
Terry
Well the main AC unit just got fried. Gonna be a long night. Bummer the only room with AC now is my Train room. Might get some work done after all.
Terry
Hang in there Terry. I’m going to hit the road early in the morning. I have to try to get to Gadsden, Al
where we have some rooms waiting. It will probably get bad up there as well, but at least we won’t
right here on the coast. If it looks as if things are going to be bad in Gadsden, we will have a day
or so head start. Good luck, Dave
Well guys take cover I use to live in Bradenton , Arcadia, and also I lived in Tallahassee So I know what your looking at. May you all have a safe weekend and hope to talk to you all early next week as you probally won’t have power till then if you get hit or nearby hit. Will be thinking of you all Wife was just commenting durning dinner that she is worried about you all in FL.
Bess wishes
RT
P.S. thats why I’m in VA. now I knew I couldn’t handle a PA. winter but this I figure I could handle.
RT
Dave, sometime in the morning they are suppose to close the Southbound lanes of I-65, Montgomery south, to allow all 4 lanes to be used for northbound traffic. I have tried to find out the time for this, but haven’t had any luck yet. Maybe this will help you in your flight. I would invite you over here in Tuscaloosa, but from what they are saying you would be jumping out of the pan into the fire.
Be Careful!
REX
Dave: I just found the time. I-65 will be closed to southbound traffic from Montgomery south at 6 a.m. All four lanes will be used for Northbound traffic during the daylight hours.
REX
Thanks Rex,
I have considered highway driving to avoid I-65. If they open all four lanes it would
ease the congestion. I’m looking at my Alabama map and was thinking of taking
Hwy 41 from Monroeville to Selma, and then 22 out of Selma to Canton… from there
it looks like I could take 231 almost to Gadsden. Any of these sound familar? If
so, are they pretty decent roads? Thanks in advance. Dave
Rex, I just saw your edit. Thanks for the info. But… what happens when one gets to Montgomery? Dave
Keep your faith and good luck!
Wow! I don’t think you want to go that route. That is really in the boondocks. It is all two lane with very little traffic up to Clanton, but it is really out there with curvy roads and it is all country. I know that even with the extra lanes on I-65 it will be slow, but I believe it will be just as fast as your route. Keep in mind that when they close the south lanes on 65, the truckers and many others will take the secondary roads to keep going south. So…Watch out!
It is very hard to say what is going to work for you, but if you can make it to Montgomery and take 231 up to near Sylacauga, then 21 to 431 at Anniston, and 431 to Gadsden. I had a friend that took that route to go to work at the Honda plant in Lincoln and he said he made good time.
This is the info on the I-65 reversal.
http://www.governorpress.alabama.gov/pr/pr-2005-07-08-04-lane_reversal_i-65.asp
Hope this helps you and please take your time and be careful.
REX [:)]
In the storms last year, campers came as far north as Chattanooga.
Y’all plenty welcome here in Nashville. Check out the Tennessee Central RR museum. Please be careful & be safe!
Dave;
I sent you an e-mail with this but in case you see it here before your e-mail. Rex is right. Don’t take Al-41. I was born and raised in Selma and am quite familiar with that road. Between Monroeville and Camden, 41 is a series of 20MPH hairpin curves and is very hilly. The road is very dangerous.
Take I-65N to the third Clanton exit, AL-145N. This will be to about 45miles north of Montgomery. Take 145 to Wilsonville. Just south of Wilsonville, 145 ends but becomes Shelby Cty. 60, Stay on this road into Wilsonville, about 3 miles. At the redlight in Wilsonville, Turn right onto AL-25N, and take it to Harpersville. At the redlight at Harpersville, go straight. You are now on US-231N. Take 231 thru Pell City, cross I-20, and continue on thru Ashville. Don’t take US-411N (very curvy), stay on 231. Just north of Ashville is the I-59 interchange. Take 59 north into Gadsden.
When my wife and I lived in Gadsden while I was a student at Jacksonville State, this was the route we’d take going to and from Mobile to see her family. Roads are in real good condition, not heavily trafficed and fairly straight. I still go today down to Wilsonville and bass fish in Lay Lake there.