Do conducters carry bear repellent,Bears have been known to feed off split grain.
Time, distance, shielding. Works for bears, too.
I’m more likely to run into a deer around our small yard.
It’s the deer on top of the railcars that are headscratchers.
Do passengers find holes in the roof so they can stick their heads up when they want the deer to scratch them?[:)]
That is a terrible double entendre!
Those darned bears must carry some pretty fine equipment to be able to split the grains.
“Hey Boo Boo!”
“Yes Yogi?”
“Bring me our finest razor blade from the toolbox. I have found some grain to split for lunch. We shall have a fine pic-a-nic”.
“Here you go, Yogi”.
“Thanks Boo Boo! Hold my beer and watch this!”
I believe that conducters should be alowed to open carry expecialy when working with high value Intermodal Trains in rough neighborhoods.Its the two legged animal that are the most dangerous
It’s more of a problem in New Jersey I think than anywhere else. Bears ride the cars in from Maine and even Canada, and after some 700 miles or so get off in heavily populated NJ hungry and expecting food. You never hear about moose roaming the yards in NJ… there must be a reason.
Doh!!
Upvote!
Why yes … yes she is.
Why am I getting this uneasy feeling we’re about to get a whole thread with pictures of bucks and dohs instead of lions?
I remember an old picture of a Yellow and Gray Milwaukee Road Passenger F7 with Pheasant Tail Feathers hanging out of the second front headlight and the lens was shattered.
They usually go under our cars…
Murphy, You have too much time on your hands !
Just be glad you’re too cold in the Winter to grow Formosan Termites…Around a lumber yard they whould get big enough to go hunting for them with a .22…
Larry might have a black bear problem up there in the hinterlands of Nooo YAK…all he has to do is fix the steering wheel on that Alco (RS whatever [swg] ) and just run over 'em!
Now Houston Ed may have a whole different set of issues with the critters in his neck of the woods…The water being so high down there, aligators might be a real problem for the guys having to wade around on the ground…I’d bet hes glad that the piranahas doing get to big in the bayous…
Oh, yeah…
I almost clipped one one day - couldn’t have missed it by more that 15-20 feet at 25+ MPH. Probably answered the question of if bears perform a certain body function in the woods - or on the railroad tracks…
There’s an apple tree across the tracks from the station. For a while it was an evening activity to watch a rather large bear scale said tree to enjoy some fresh fruit.
Then there was the bear that tried to break into a candy store in Old Forge, or another some years ago who discovered that an outside cooler at the station containing ice cream wasn’t locked…
Life in the north woods. At least I have yet to have one knock on the door of the camp car when I’ve been staying there…
To be fair, it would only be sporting to allow the bears to carry sidearms as well… With the appropriate permit of course.
We had a moose stroll through our engine house once… everyone stood very still…
I didnt actually see it but I was told that a large cat ran through our yard. Larger than a bobcat. Speaking of bobcats , they make the scariest noises in the dark when you have to walk a train .
I was afraid one cold dark night in November when I walked back 60 cars to recouple an airhose on a centerbeam. So afraid that I didn’t want to walk back. I rode a centerbeam about 30 miles. It gets really dark in the Maine woods !!
Now I’m more afraid of the two legged critters in the dark here.
Randy
I chased a rabbit down the yard lead last night/early this morning.
Bears aren’t much of a problem in Iowa. Most of the bears here hangout around the highways, good buddy.
Jeff
Sounds good to me, I’ve always supported the right to keep and arm bears.
“The bear and the big hook - wildlife vs. the Alaska Railroad” by Gale, George Jennings, from Trains, April 1967, pg. 23
“The only bear to have been flagged down by a fusee.” (or similar)
Bears near or on the tracks were mentioned in this article, as I recall:
“Rogers Pass reverie - all about Rogers Pass” by Harrop, Doug, Trains, Nov. 1985, pg. 32 &etc.
“The worst kind of bear - a cub.”
I believe there was a similar story a few years ago, but I don’t recall enough details to find it.
- Paul North.