Elliot's Trackside Diner- MARCH 2012!!

You´re a tad early, Galaxy. St. Patrick´s Day on on March 17th!

Good Morning!

Our weather has changed - we have an icy wind blowing from the Arctic. It is one of those day to better stay at home. I´ll be running a few trains today and, more important, squeeze the web for more job openings.

Have a good one!

Allo again, The ankle is feeling better already, so I did about 10 minutes work on the module. Here is an updated photo from a few minutes ago. Don't be shocked by the white foam, Its all I had on hand...

Foreground bridges are Atlas, the rear is a half built Walthers kit, with the infamous bowed moulding.

Thats it for now, time for bed.

OzJim

Sir Madog

You´re a tad early, Galaxy. St. Patrick´s Day on on March 17th!

I'm just o' practicing laddy! It's just the wee bit o' Irish I have in me!

Everyone can be Irish for a month {or at least half it} during March!!!

The have already painted the street o' Bingo town a bit  o' the  green already and we had a bit o' the St. Paddy's parade already {in order to get more Pipe and Drum bands to participate.}.

Oh I fergot..me thinks I should put up the history of the Name March for the o' month!:

March -- Mars' month

Middle English March(e)
Anglo-French March(e)
Old English Martius
Latin Martius "of Mars"
Latin Marti(s) "Mars" + -us (adj. suffix)
Latin Martius mensis "month of Mars"

Martius has always had 31 days.

March was the original beginning of the year, and the time for the resumption of war.

Mars is the Roman god of war. He is identified with the Greek god Ares.

Have  a Great o'day!

Good Morning All,

The high today will be 27F with 1-3” of snow followed by 50F-56F for the next 9 days.
I went to the Train show in Erie, PA yesterday and made a good haul.  I still came home with a new NBc PRR caboose and 10 gondolas.  I picked up some exotic turnouts for 50% off and 2 new RR kerosene road flares, SWIFT meat packing building and some other treasures.

I need to join RSA (Rolling Stock Anonymous) before it’s too late. Over the past 40 years I’ve acquired 600+ pieces of rolling stock.  I’m not a hoarder since I need every single box car and hopper car in the collection. (I think it’s too late for me already, ROFLMAO).

Today we install the new 12” = 1 foot scale railroad bridge in Indiana Harbor (East Chicago, IN)  I think this will be the first completely new RR bridge built on the Great Lakes since 1957.

OZJim will you be using cut stone embankments?  You can keep the 12” of rain in 48 hours.  We would get that when I lived in Corpus Christi, TX twice a year and it’s not fun.

Jim I was watching a layout video and the owner was saying he worked 50 hours a week on his layout for 12 months straight.  Then I found he was the owner of RIX Tanks. I guess the only way would be to hit the lottery…

Inch, Micro Tech web site.  They are all about details and you can get them pre-painted or unpainted.

Ray, I’ve done that myself.  I will be so careful around a detail only to have my shirt catch it at the last second and SNAP…

Garry, Chardon is about 20 miles east of me, so yea that was close.  Matter of fact the Chardon area is where I’m looking to move in the near future if I can sell my house.  Chardon is the last place in the country you would think of something tragic happening.  The area is an old German settlement from the 1800’s and nothing ever happens there.  They don’t even have bullet holes in their stop signs, not tying that into the shooting, but if you have ever lived out in the country you know you can’t have a proper stop sign without someone shooting it.

I’m always here, but sometimes life gets in the way of me posting…..

Good Morning

Sunny today...but cold...only sitting at 15F right now going to a high of 25F later on...

Getting some new things in the house...namely a couple of bookcases from an antique store and a high boy chest of drawers...then we will get tiles for the start of Floor Wars part 3....the entrance/foyer... 

I did manage to run some trains yesterday night...and found a new recalcitrant turnout...

Lee:  Sounds like you have a wonderful collection of rolling stock there..like me..is there space in that organization?

James:  That weather system looks ridiculous from here..the fact that it looks to be developing into a cyclone is not good..especially when it leaves that much moisture now!!

JimRC:  That photo is of a cat named Maru..the same one who shows up on youtube a lot. As for where one finds these things....all I can say is look for some on things like icanhascheesebuger.com

Flo, I'll just have a coffee please..I'll be at the RC...

Edit...got top!! Be careful with the CC...please!!!!!

Good Morning!! Just coffee please. Already ate.

Sunny, with a high near 40. Woke up to 3 inches of this white powdery stuff all over the place. Most snow we’ve had all year. Driveways and sidewalks aren’t that bad because the concrete was a bit too warm for it to start accumulating till late. Don’t think I’ll do anything about it because today will get about 40 and tomorrow and Wed supposed to be about 60.

Somebody say something about breaking things? Well let me tell you my story. I will be very careful while w**king around something and have great success, ten thumbs and all. Then, when I’m done, move away and relax my guard, so to speak, I will either reach back for some unknown reason, or I will be 5 feet away and move something that is less than a foot long, and will knock over and break what I was so careful to not before.

Sometimes the Village employees take a new sign out before putting it up and let the cops shoot a hole in it just to get it over with in a safe environment. Kinda blows the bullet budget, but they call it qualification and it eases the budgetary constraints a bit. 

Cabinets are supposed to be in today so I will go get them after the Church stuff is done this morn. Then I will install them and wait for Brenda to come home so she can then point out the flaws or any of a multitude of problems with the cabinets, followed by a revision of how she wanted them placed, critiquing of how they were placed and installed and of course the standard “I would have done it this way” thing. The last isn’t always worded that way, it is worded many different ways such as “ why didn’t you do ….” or “how come you…” but the meaning is the same.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

Good morning. It's 45° and sunny. The high will be 75°.

After several near sleepless nights I got about five hours last night or should I say this morning. No layout work planned for today.

Good morning all.

LION slept, well like a LION, I guess. Cats are pretty good at sleeping, after all.

LION *was* working on the railroad yesterday. I had a train set on the bench waiting for upgrades. I drilled holes in the frames, installed the draw bars, and placed the jumper wires between the cars. 

Left to do is to install the shrink tubing to protect the wires and to make the circuit boards that I use for my lighting circuits. This will be the first attempt at a new lighting system, which if it works out will keep the lights on while stopped at the stations, and will be used in all future builds. Maybe even retrofitted into older stock when it comes onto the bench.

ROAR

And a top o'the Morning to ye, Zoe! I'll have a blueberry bagel (nope, doesn't have to be green today) and a Rio Grande mug of coffee, please 'n' thankya, Ma'am!

Ray, I hope you get your data backed up off your iMac okay. Have been there, done sorta that with the internal drive on my Intel iMac (a little bit newer than yours, but similar design). Sent you a PM on that li'l problem.

Galaxy, I see you've repainted the RC a nice Kelly green last night when the evening gals weren't looking, eh? Your history of March's name reminded me of a phrase about "In the spring, when men go off to war..." Of course, in some places, wintertime is NOT conducive for waging war, with heavy (and cold) rains, or sn*w in other locations. And who wants to siege a castle or town in the heat of August, anyway, eh?

OzJim, that module looks like it will be quite interesting once you get it scenicked and all. Got any tips for that infamous Walthers bridge (and how to manage its bowing beams)? If that's the single track one, I have that kit, so I might need to know.

Lee, will you PM or email me when the RSAnon meetings in your area are, in case I get up that way? I'm not quite up to your level (yet...), but then again, I haven't run a total for a while on my cars. And yeah, I can rationalize justify why I need every one of those freight cars, sure I can! (Good to see you again in here, too!)

Okay Barry, you have my interest piqued now - what the heck is that photo of, that you posted? (Besides a satelllite view of maybe some former RR line?) I saw on your cat photo that some of those looked to be sorta illustrations of computer errors (you didn't see any 404's though, did you?)

Sun is out (though it was kinda cold this morning- about 30's F), and supposed to warm up into the low/mid 50's (F) by this afternoon. We have a high pressure area moving into the area, so winds should be tapering down and little/no clouds today/tomorrow. Which may be different than in your area, of course.

I'll be at the window booth a bit, finishing off my blueberry bagel.

Blessings,

Jim in Cape G.

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I'll have a breakfast bagel with bacon and cheese to go along with my dark roast coffee in a FGLK mug,please and thank you.

Ahhhhhhhh!   Called the credit union first thing this morning to make sure I could transfer money out of my old Home Equity Loan.  They assured me I have another year to be able to draw on it.  It will be paid back before that time even though I have 15 years to pay it off after I can't draw funds from it. The interest rate is still 3.75% so I might just as well get the new computer and have the roof done before the house falls down on top of me.  25 year roof that is close to 30 years old......  Guess it is time.  I am waiting for a phone call today from the cable folks for someone to stop by and pick up my cable digital to analog converter....  Good riddance to the TV! 

Currently 19°F here in the Finger Lakes.  Was 15° when I got up this morning, so I lit the wood stove before breakfast.  Got about an inch of fluffy white stuff overnight.  I will be gone by this afternoon even though the temperature will be staying well below freezing today and tomorrow.

Jim, I don't have an iMac yet.  back in 2004 the imac would never have been suffucient for my business needs.  The problem computer is a G5, the one now called the Mac Pro.  It is the standard old desktop style...  Got the G5 fired up this morning and was able to export my address book as vCards to update the one on the laptop.  Just spent an hour going through all of them and removing those that are no longer relevant, like those of peole now deceased....  Need to do this more often than once every 8 years or so!  Only other data I don't have saved to the 1TB hard drive is my business iTunes files.  I tried to get them transferred this morning while the G5 was still running, but crapped out on me.  I will try to move individual files rather than the whole shebang this afternoon......  Hopefully I can save some of the ones I really want to have.  Most are now redundant as I am no longer in business.

Going to be one of those days, I guess!

Later!

73

 Morning Folks

 Flo, Coffee Please

 Just because you are Paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get you! Drawer at work has been short 3 days in a row now. Not a lot of money, most was $15.00 and that is from 2 days of shortage ran together. But still it has me worried. There is no real control over the drawer, 4 people have keys to it, and not one person is in charge of it. Only cash count is done at night when closing. 

 I just don't have a good feeling about this and some other things that are going on at work. I guessing this is not the job for me.

    Ken 

Now, let me see if I can translate this properly.

jeffrey-wimberly

Good morning. It's 45° and sunny. The high will be 75°.

I wish it was still dark and not so bright and sunshiny.

After several near sleepless nights I got about five hours last night or should I say this morning. No layout work planned for today.

I stayed out too late partying and chasing women! Did not get home until the wee hours of the morning! I am too tired to even think about playing with trains!

Here is a pic of the party location!

TA462

It's funny how you can ask a VERY SIMPLE qiuestion and get an IDIOTIC answer.   With a RESPONSE like that maybe it is BEST that you just stick with your same GENERIC GREETING everyday and not post in other threads.    Jeeze, ask a question and it blows up into a stupid rant.   We were wondering about Sturidge Lions welcome greetings for every new member that posts being automated.    RELAX dude, go get yourself another cup of coffee.  

Maybe we need to switch the coffee to Decaff? If "anyone" has issues with someones post please feel free to bring it to the moderators attention (which I am one of them) as to not spoil things for others here...

Policy Reminder folks:

- No personal attacks or name-calling. Please keep conversations cordial. We understand that there will be differences of opinion. Please don’t let those differences turn ugly. Accept that others might not have your same point of view, don’t sink to personal attacks. Nothing is gained by doing so.

And for those interested in my "Welcome" posts you see now and then throughout the forums here, there is nothing automated about them.  I do this for two reasons; (1) as a Moderator I think welcoming a new poster is a nice friendly jester, and (2) sometimes I don't see these new member posts in the queue from review / approval so when I approve then my "Welcome" message also bumps up their question / comment that might be missed.

OK then, lets get back to enjoying the shared hobby and not worry about trivial things...

Italian Roast coffee in a UNION PACIFIC mug, please.

Upon examining the "sports car", discovered there is a control switch just above the floorboard which selects between Standard & ISO.I had memorized ISO and it is set on Std. So, now do I ignore the attempt at the hands on re-learning or revert back to the somewhat ingained visualization training? The ISO almost seems more natural, but that could be a simple result from having studied on it first. Sure do wish I had seen that switch in the first place. Now my hand eye coordination is all messed up.

Have a good day all.

-R

I need to join RSA (Rolling Stock Anonymous) before it’s too late. Over the past 40 years I’ve acquired 600+ pieces of rolling stock.  I’m not a hoarder since I need every single box car and hopper car in the collection. (I think it’s too late for me already, ROFLMAO).

LSWrr - If 600+ pieces of rolling stock makes you a hoarder, What does that make Warren Buffet ?

Lee:  I really can't thank you enough for your post concerning your 600 freight cars. I thought it might be a solution to a slight problem here at home, so the first thing I did after reading it, was to call the wife and read it to her. The second thing I did was to proceed to pat myself on the back and explain to her what wonderful self control I have shown in limiting my purchases compared to some others. (sorry about throwing you under the bus)  She did ask "How many cars did I have?" No where near that many claimed I. That's not really an answer to my question said she. That's all your getting out of me said I. Then she walked away shaking her head and mumbling something about a lot of "nuts." Guess I better send in an application to your group.

Afternoon, all.30f and cloudy. Damp, too!

We're waiting for the Owners to choose a color for the siding on the cabin build, so no work today. I'd bet my last dollar they'll pick one that's NOT a stock color. With all the change orders they're doing we'll NEVER get it done. Good thing they aren't in any hurry. LOL!!

CapeJim, the elevator is a Cornerstone kit.

Lee, if you ever want to thin out your rolling stock, let me know. I'm about 450 cars short of your total and always need some!

I spent the weekend building up Cameron ,Wisconsin.It's getting there, still need details, signage and assorted stuff to bring downtown to life. Went from this:

To this:

Next I'll need to figure out the downtown of Haugen. 

Hope all is looking up for everyone!

Terry in NW Wisconsin

Well it looks like I WON'T have to join Lee's RSA group. I did a quick count and came up with a little less than two hundred pieces of rolling stock and forty locos (seven steamers, thirty-three diesels) and one Railbus. I would've had a lot more had I not had the 'great culling' a year or two ago in which I sold off and gave away a bunch of rolling stock and locos.

Okay Barry, you have my interest piqued now - what the heck is that photo of, that you posted? (Besides a satelllite view of maybe some former RR line?) I saw on your cat photo that some of those looked to be sorta illustrations of computer errors (you didn't see any 404's though, did you?)

JimRC: Photo is supposed to be of Beechmont Dragstrip ...I think there was an old abandoned RR line paralleling the highway there...

As for the 404 error....

mmmmm...twice in a row...my CC is gonna feel this....

Lee:  Quick inventory here leads me to think I am in that territory...700 or so pieces of rolling stock and 280+ locomotives...ummm

Coffee refill, please.

Now y'all got me curious. When I head down to the train room later, will do a rough count. Way less than you "hoarders". Also well fewer than Jeffrey's downsized rosters.

Enjoying those layout pics folks. 

 Rob 

Eh?

Afternoon folks!

Chloe, I'll have a cup of hot cocoa to tide me over to supper, please.

Barry, love the error messages and cats..... Lion,  same for the subway car!

Cable guy has been here and left.  I no longer have to pay for TV that I don't ever use!  While he was here he replaced the ancient Cable modem with a new one, and also KPed the wiring through out the house on the cable lines. Redid the ground to bring it up to new specs.  Phone came right back up, but took about 15 minutes and several tries to get the new modem and my ancient wired router to talk nice to each other.  I am posting from the Mac mini in the train room.  wanted to make sure the internet works here as well....

Transferred funds to pay for the new computer tomorrow after taking with the Mac store lady.  I told what was going on and that I was thinking about a 27" iMac.  See asked me if I lived here, I said, yes, and she said didn't you just buy an iMac from us last December?  I laughed and told her THAT was a Christmas gift for my son's family and that I was going to get a bit bigger one!  She liked THAT idea...  I will be bringing in the 1 TB HD and they will clone its data to a new 2 TB stand alone I am getting as well.  Sure hope it works as THAT is where all my Photos are stored (Last back up to DVD was over a year ago don't it fugure!).  I'll continue to move as much other data as I can from the G5 before I remove the HD to take with me.  I have gotten sever large files and folders of music (stuff I recorded) moved today.  The G5 will stay up for about 5 minutes, then goes to the spinning wheel of death.....

Later!

73

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!  

BroadwayLion

Eh?

Morning all,

Lee : I'm currently studying bridges and their abutments and banks to see what I like best and or the easiest to build. Currently I'm leaning towards concrete (using Styrene) and disguising it with bushes and small trees.

JimCG: Mine is the Double track, but I'm not 100% sure if the single track has the same issue, but basically if I did it again I would put weights on it for 24 hours, I ended up using superglue and doing both sides at once. Once its pulled together it straightens out. 

Blownout: The weather bureau has downgraded the threat last I heard but still packing plenty of rain and 40-50 knot winds.

Cheers 

James

***Lion, that's a good one!

A few pics from my (HO) layout, including one for Jeffrey to show I at least started setting some cool junked cars. Still have plenty of "stuff" to add, then weeds, etc... The others include my sister's Feed store, busier than ever. And the debauchery which has broke out in a couple locations in the town of Sherman. Sorry for the overhead views, can't get a camera down low to take them any other way.

  Rob

Mr. Dispatcher

 

 

I need to join RSA (Rolling Stock Anonymous) before it’s too late. Over the past 40 years I’ve acquired 600+ pieces of rolling stock.  I’m not a hoarder since I need every single box car and hopper car in the collection. (I think it’s too late for me already, ROFLMAO).

 

LSWrr - If 600+ pieces of rolling stock makes you a hoarder, What does that make Warren Buffet ?

 

That makes Warren Buffet a VERY SMART BUSINESS MAN!!!

He might be a hoarder IF he also bought NS and CSX as well......

Good Evening All,

    Back from Fla for a few days. Back to Orlando thurs am and then on to testing before returning to Sebring. weekend was mixed but generally went well.

"

jeffrey-wimberly replied on 03-05-2012 1:04 PM

Reply More

Well it looks like I WON'T have to join Lee's RSA group. I did a quick count and came up with a little less than two hundred pieces of rolling stock and forty locos (seven steamers, thirty-three diesels) and one Railbus. I would've had a lot more had I not had the 'great culling' a year or two ago in which I sold off and gave away a bunch of rolling stock and locos."

I'm not counting mine and you can't make me. Need to keep plausible denial don't you know. "Gee honey I never counted - no, no probably not all that many....".

 Hope you all came out unscathed from all the twisters and crazy weather. and I love the new location. Never been north of Portland on that coast anyway unless you count Adak (and I sure don't).

Curt, if all else else fails, add a feeder bus for the diverging routes to keep them powered. The PECO turnouts shave those little tiny jumpers under them that sometimes don't make contact and the other issue can be slightly dirty points or lack of contact there.

  Still running about so time to head out home - already been up since 4am.  CUL, J.R.

Zzzort! Bzmph! Ummph!

Oh, sorry Chloe, I must've dozed off in the booth here. I'll have another mug of coffee and a hot fudge brownie sundae for dessert, please. Thanks! (Need to watch out about hanging around with Duke too much, maybe...)

Ray, after I read one of your emails I was thinking you might have the Mac Pro (with all those fans inside - and doesn't it have the water-cooled thing in it, also?). (I have an older PowerMac (G4), which I like for how easy it is to add drives into it, unlike the newer iMacs) Sounds like you perked up your local Mac store's lady when you told her you were getting another iMac. She probably had visions of your place with wall-to-wall Macs until you said the last one was for your son.

Mr. Dispatcher - Good point there; I'd say on your question that it might depend on how many of Mr. Buffett's rolling stock are 1:1 and how many are smaller scales...

Galaxy, thanks for mentioning that in your "RSA" response - I hadn't heard about Berkshire (that'll wake up Duke) and the BNSF purchase. Learned something new today...

Lee, it looks like your RSA group is growin' fast! (Even if I am short of your 600+ (I think...), I may be getting my application ready, too...) Looks like JR has a plan for how to dodge that whole question, though.

Terry, I like what you've done with your town of Cameron (...even if it does need a few details )! I asked about that elevator, because I've seen some people whose industries turn out to be 'only' a well-painted part of their backdrop. Will you be adding parking meters to Cameron's streets? I got some parking meters (that if I recall correctly, were in a Walthers sale flyer not long back), in silver. But for my layout, only one town will be big enough to warrant putting them in.

Heck, Jeff, if you wanted to, I bet you could double your rolling stock - just put the extras out in that outside fridge! But inside your trailer (from the pics you've posted and all), I don't think you would have room for too many more.

Barry - thanks for finding the 404 photo there; I knew you could find it!

And thanks to you also, Broadway - love it!

Rob, don'tcha love it when it's something right in front of your face that was causing the problem? Hey, if you wanted to, you could either try turning THAT switch to ISO (and see if you get back to the swing of things), or if you feel more like being able to focus on it being different, leave it on 'Standard' and get the hang of that (so long as you don't wear yourself out in the meantime, depending on how much stuff you have to clear away). Unless you think you have already 'adapted' over to the Standard setting on your 'sportscar'... Hey, I like your junkyard so far - got a junkyard dog for it?

Well, I'll be finishing off my dessert and heading for home soon enough. Prayers for a good night's rest (and for not having to explain to someone about why we have as many rolling stock as we do...), and for healing.

(And, I expect that I may wind up with TOP, if I'm not lucky...)

Well, looks like I AM lucky!

Blessings,

Jim in Cape G.