M*ther F*cking jet engine snow clearer has got to go!

Ok, so I live right next to the Atlantic Yards tracks, and every time there is a big snow they roll out a jet engine to clear it. Not a snow blower, a big-ass jet engine mounted on a railcar that they run up and down the tracks.

They don't do this right when the snow stops, no. They start generally between 1AM and 3AM and run it for a good hour at least.

It's a freaking jet engine running top speed for an hour!

There has got to be a more efficient, and less rage inducing way to clear snow from from the tracks. Once again I'm a tired angry man after loosing a good night's sleep to that infernal device.

And Mrs. BrooklynSwordStyle, who works from home, has informed me that they are at it again right now.

Move.

Because, of course, the solution to all quality of life issues is to flee.

Subject: The Jet Engine Thingy

OMG I totally agree with you. I heard/saw that fucker last night at about 11:30pm. I thought something was about to explode. I put a pillow over my head and that seemed to work.

But, seriously, do they need to do that in the middle of the night?

I filed a complaint with the EPA after the fumes started invading my apartment.

I put in ear plugs, and then put my ear protectors (the kind you wear when shooting or working with noisy tools, you know the type that look like giant headphones) on over them. I could still hear the thing!

I'm not one to get too worked up over outside noises, normally I just pop in some earplugs and forget about it. But this thing is on a whole other level.

Perhaps they should stop melting snow on the tracks. We don't really need to ride the suways in the winter time!

Jamzer wrote: Perhaps they should stop melting snow on the tracks. We don't really need to ride the suways in the winter time!

Our friend from Park Slope makes an excellent point -- without snow clearing, we could have serious service disruptions on those tracks.

Subject: Just wait

In a few years the tracks will be covered by Ratnerville.

I'm know that the snow needs to be cleared. I am also fairly sure they can do without using an engine off a 747.

I would think it would be much more efficient to say, put a plough on the railcar and use that to clear the snow. Or, heaven forbid, a few guys with regular powered snow blowers.

I'm guessing with the cost of aviation fuel being what it is, there are better ways to clear snow than running a jet turbine for 2-4 hours at a go. After all, we don't see the salt trucks inching down Flatbush doing their best impersonation of Maverick and Goose hitting the afterburners.

If you think I'm exaggerating I assure you I am not. It really is a jet turbine mounted on a truck that rolls up and down the rails. I'll get a photo if it's still around when I get home.

Subject: Re: Just wait

dw438 wrote: In a few years the tracks will be covered by Ratnerville.

My thought exactly!

That's the time-honored solution to dealing with railroad track snow: cover the tracks with a mutli-million dollar sports arena, retail space and residential tower.

Presto! No more pesky noise from an over-sized snow blower!

And there was a calm over the snowy streets of Brooklyn anew....

And, for everyone's historical viewing pleasure:

http://membrane.com/~elmer/rail/snow/rotary/

qtrain wrote: [quote=Jamzer]Perhaps they should stop melting snow on the tracks. We don't really need to ride the suways in the winter time!

Our friend from Park Slope makes an excellent point -- without snow clearing, we could have serious service disruptions on those tracks.

Indeed. And isn't that where all the railcars bearing the latest MacLarens drop their cargo? Even those new doublewides with the built-in cellphones?

::salivates::

Oh wait, that's right. It's not used at all.

JamesOnDean wrote: Oh wait, that's right. It's not used at all.

What are you talking about? That's where I catch the K train.

I though I was having an auditory(sp?) hallucination. I could not fathom why I was hearing a distant idling jet engine.

Unless I am allowed to operate the jet engine while wearing aviator glasses and listening to "Danger Zone" on my ipod I don't want that damn thing going any more!


Never leave your wingman!

Subject: subway cars on Vanderbilt Yards?!

that WOULD be something. those yards store LIRR cars.

and i saw the jet engine out there today (monday) around 2:30pm. it was DAMNN LOUD. but luckily I could flee.

qtrain wrote: What are you talking about? That's where I catch the K train.

Dude! The K train! I was just talking about that the other week!

BrooklynSwordStyle wrote: Unless I am allowed to operate the jet engine while wearing aviator glasses and listening to "Danger Zone" on my ipod I don't want that damn thing going any more!


Never leave your wingman!

Very good. The irony of my avatar (choosen cause my dad was a flying tiger) never occurred to me.

Candicissima wrote: [quote=qtrain]What are you talking about? That's where I catch the K train.

Dude! The K train! I was just talking about that the other week!

i don't believe it exists.
what was the argument about the K train? it went to JFK?

I assumed it was an inside joke amoung the Soda crowd. No?

http://images.nycsubway.org//i7000/img_7670.jpg

http://images.nycsubway.org//i44000/img_44880.jpg

Is it just me but blowing the snow away makes sense on a train track on the countryside but in a railyard would'nt it just blow over to the other tracks and then when blown on the other tracks it would just end up on the original tracks?

With a rig like that, I'm thinking instant evaporation.

alafairnadia wrote: i don't believe it exists.
what was the argument about the K train? it went to JFK?

Well it doesn't exist anymore and hasn't in almost 20 years...though they used to have an old A/C/K sign at Chambers St. I honestly can't remember where the hell it ran. I was only like 6 at the time, but I think it was JFK. Someone solve the K train mystery!

Candicissima wrote: Someone solve the K train mystery!

dont you people know how to use google? :P

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2004/07/08/take_the_k_train.php
http://thejoekorner.quuxuum.org/brochures/kwhatsthek-indx.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/k-train

rhodamine wrote: dont you people know how to use google? :P

http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2004/07/08/take_the_k_train.php
http://thejoekorner.quuxuum.org/brochures/kwhatsthek-indx.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/k-train

Ha. Apparently not!

Oh man, I thought "the K train" was drug lingo.

EmilyM wrote: Oh man, I thought "the K train" was drug lingo.

I'm not up on the drug lingo. was recently baffled when someone offered me a "party favor" at a bar. I hadn't realized I was crashing a party.

alafairnadia wrote: someone offered me a "party favor" at a bar.

someone offered me that too. and im sure you can guess pretty easily who/what/what bar im talking about

Very nice try rhodamine, but the jet engine currently servicing the Atlantic Yards is actually even bigger! It's mounted on a 2.5 ton truck (or something that looks awfuly like one) that has rail guage wheels underneath it.

And it doesn't work fast, it rolls ever so slowly up and down the track for hours at a time.

So ... it's not a "jet engine" by any stretch of the imagination. It's a gigantic snowblower.