SEPTEMBER coffee pot. 11 years running, Sweet ice tea for the southern gents, coffee and donuts for the ,Yanks

[dbaker48]

Good Afternoon !

2nd day home, yesterday had a lot of visitors, so was rather busy.  Today will be cleaning up loose ends and tasks.

Did not mention before, but the Chief sent me one of his MTH engines that was giving him issues.  Was able to get the engine working correctly and returned it to him.  I sent him an Invoice for the work and time involved.  Think this could become an alternative form of revenue. (?)  Don't understand why the Chief was questioning everything, I thought I had detailed it out pretty well.  So anyway thought I would show a copy of the invoice,

[SPMan]

ChiefEagles

Thumbs up to all of you who quit smoking and alcohol.  Quit smoking about 19 years ago.  Doesn't seem that long.

Good afternoon all,  Congratulations Chief on quitting smoking 19 years ago.  I only did it 7 years ago but wish it was a lot sooner.  I did quit alcohol 43 years ago.  I don't think I would be here today if I hadn't.

Feeling pretty good today.  New meds still working.

Don, have to check out your invoice for repairs to the Chief.  Looks like quite a list.  Reminds me of a guy I used once to repair a train and I wound up paying more than the train was worth.

Still searching for important things in the house since wife's memory went bad.  It's a chore.

Tried a new (to me) receipe in the South Beach Diet book on roasted vegetables and roasted pepers and egg plant.  Both turned out a lot better than I expected.  Another low carb receipe.  It was very good and would do it again.  Still having a hard time kicking my sweet tooth though.  Have got it down to maybe just once piece of hard candy a day or a low carb fudgcicle for desert.  Kind of OD'd on butter beans and corn last night though.  Have to take it in small doses.

later,

Ray

 

[rtraincollector]

dbaker48

Good Afternoon !

2nd day home, yesterday had a lot of visitors, so was rather busy.  Today will be cleaning up loose ends and tasks.

Did not mention before, but the Chief sent me one of his MTH engines that was giving him issues.  Was able to get the engine working correctly and returned it to him.  I sent him an Invoice for the work and time involved.  Think this could become an alternative form of revenue. (?)  Don't understand why the Chief was questioning everything, I thought I had detailed it out pretty well.  So anyway thought I would show a copy of the invoice,

Heck Chief you could of sent it to me since your such a good friend I would take out all that MTH stuff and put ERR TMCC and Railsounds in it For about 1/4th of what that bill was for I would even do Free return shipping for my southern price, would of only been $368.91 since your such a good friend anybody else probably about $225.00 thats the yankee price

[ChiefEagles]

Think that is some bill.  Should have seen the one he sent me for staying with him for 8 days last summer.

Raining.  Off to the farm early tomorrow AM.

Sleep tight.

[fifedog]

Mornin' boys.  Ssshhhticky here in the Mid-Atlantic region.  Summer has arrived in time for Fall....  Wifey volunteered us to watch oldest princess' Chocolate lab this week.  The creature reminds of Clifford the big red dog.  Not here 5 minutes, and leaped into the goldfish pond out front...priceless.  Fifemax not happy with this decision.  He's already asked to go down to yatchet.  Is it Sunday yet?

Brutus - Looks like you have everything you need to get started.  I want to see everything up-and-a-runnin' by Thanksgiving.

It's PURPLE Friday!  34 weeks...

[dbaker48]

Good Morning!

All's well here.  My attempt at some humor didn't really work out.  I know I have spent 15 to 20 hours, trying to get a readable version of that Invoice to appear.  And, within that is where the humor lies, but it just didn't work.  Essentially, what turned out to be simple, (battery).  And the communication breakdown, (my end due to the engine repaint).  Then detailing every little item I could think of including minimal quality times and costs, and excessive costs/efforts, (electricity surcharge).   Well it all just got lost in the translation.  One very good think resulted!  I discovered an individual who is both MTH and Lionel Certified for repair.  So far the experience with him has been extremely positive!  He is located in VA. 

I sent him 3 engines, Chiefs engine which either needed a speaker or a sound board, he found the speaker was the only issue.  Very reasonable price for part and labor.  (Chief should receive eng today.)  S

Second engine was a "basket case", I received from Bob.  It is TMCC, and someone had tried to replace the board set and failed.  (Half the wires were disconnected, and I didn't have any installation instructions.  I tried reconnecting them, but it just didn't "seem right" when I finished.  So sent it to "George".  He checked it out for me, told me I had wired it correctly, (Shock and Surprise), and he found a pick-up wire being pinched.  Only charged $20, for troubleshooting and repair.  (Could have been LOTS more, I wouldn't have known).  So nice TMCC switcher for $20!

Then 3rd engine is a Bantam Daylight PS2.  This was a gift to me!  The entire TRAIN!!  Had a derailment at the club I used to belong to, and it fried the PS2, George ended up reinstalling the boards, Again, very pleased with prices.  In addition to good work, good pricing, he has only had the engines less than 2 weeks!  Can't ask for better than that!

Will post more later.

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill.........

It is a humid 74 degrees. Going up to 90 today.

Today is an easy day. I have a few chores to do and then I will relax.

Not much else new here.

Cheerios for breakfast on the dining car.

Buckeye & LAZ........TGIF

Y'all have a great Friday.

Chuck

[rtraincollector]

Don realized it was in fun thats why I did what I did if you notice I offered him the southern price and the yankee price was about $140 dollars less. 

Afternoon all not much going on today guess I need to go down to the train room and look into the rewiring of the layout. I have to many different color wire under there hard to trace yes I did the biggest no no on wiring the layout. and want to change some of the wiring around anyway. I'm thinking of running the 2 loops on the main level off of one throttle that way if in the future I decide to put switches between them I don't have to worry about different power on different tracks I figure it can handle it as on the shelf layout I have 2 dual  motor engines running on a LW which is lower in power than the ZW so I should be fine running the two dual motors ( 1 on each loop ) 

And move the LW to underneath the 2nd level and run the 2nd level from there. Will hook up TMCC and a TPC-300 to it so I can run my conventional trains that way as thats all I ever plan to run up there is conventional. 

Hope all doing good prayers for all in need and thanks chief of the update on Classic. 

[SPMan]

Good morning all,

Don, sounds like your repair guy in Virginia is good.  Would like to get his phone number from you next time I call or you can e mail me if you get a chance.

Wife and I were suppose to fulfill a commitment at our chapel at the church this morning as we do each Friday but I totally blew it and forgot.  Wife's suppose to be the one with the memory loss.  I don't have an excuse.  Found out later that our time was covered by someone else but felt bad about it.  I have so many things to remember now, I'm not surprised I forget too.  Neither one of us knows where our key to the safe deposit box is.  She had it last.  Bank would have to drill out the lock and charge $100 for the change.  Might have to do that.

Got to run,

Ray

 

 

[Buckeye Riveter]

TGIF

Next week, Louisville, KY 

This weekend, Age of Steam Roundhouse

[Plate Rail]

Evening all.

Brutally hot (90) and humid today but expecting the usual thunderstorms later on to cool things down.  Supposedly only a high in the high '60's tomorrow

Thanks for the encouragement on staying smoke free.  It's good to be in company who also have fought off the evil weed.  Just to be on the safe side I've even turned off all the smoke units in the locos.

I hit 60 today...and I don't mean my IQ.  Hardly over the hill but gee the view is purdy up here.

Anxiously waiting for tomorrows swap meet...armed with my birthday mad money.

Bruce

[ChiefEagles]

Off to bed.  Long hot and humid day.  Sunday is the break in the weather.  Next week, highs in the 70's.

Don always tries to make things complicated and he does.   At least we found a guy in VA. [not a guy above the M&D] who is a great train repairman.

About to crash.

Sleep tight [OH! up early to go to grand opening of Field and Stream in neighboring town.]

[fifedog]

Mornin' boys.  Sunny & 83 here in the Mid-Atlantic region.  Yard work and laundry today.  Steak dinner with Wifey this afternoon.

PlateRail--->

[sir james I]

Just checking in. Yes I do read the pot every day. More storms yesterday PM 300,000 without power again this morning.

S.J.

[rtraincollector]

Plate rail a happy belated birthday I'm only 5 months behind you. 

Hey all not much going on here need to get back up on the train table and do more wiring for the shelf layout that should be fun. I need to put a short step ladder up there so I can see over the track to the back side so I can see what I'm doing. 

Suppose to get to 88 today and 89 tomorrow but there calling for thunderstorms both days. 

Well hope all have a good day. 

[ChiefEagles]

Up early.  Went to grand opening at new Field and Stream store.  It located in the middle of no where.  Whoever located this store must have been drunk.  Very slow.  Came back by Gander Mountain and Bass Pro.  Tonight to SIL's for her birthday dinner.

TV now and possible reclienrize.

Sleep tight.

[cnw1995]

Aloha. Bears game in an hour. Lots of good college football yesterday. It's like fall suddenly fell. It was 54 last night and only 70 now. Youngest gets baptized in a local lake today. That should be chilly. 

[Plate Rail]

Evening all,

  Piled the trunk full of goodies from the model railroad swap meet yesterday.  Only a couple of 3 rail vendors and no really outstanding buys but once I started bundling it made for some nice bargons .  Most to the purchases where Lionel cars and engines from the modern era...some reissues of postwar stuff.  Finally picked up an excellent UP General, after all these years, which the seller said wouldn't reverse.  flipping the switch that engages the electronic E unit fixed that.  Got a whistling UP coach to go with it.  Also got an almost mint Lionel GP9 from the '80's with the can motors in the trucks.  Supposedly it was a noisy runner but unless you're expecting $500 noiseless operation this one ran nice and quiet. 

Was playing most of the today with a neat semi scale Lackawanna caboose of the style Lionel made to go with the prewar Hudson.  While I would have preferred it be lettered for the NYC, I got it so cheap that I didn't mind adding a few extras.  Put in 4 extra grain o wheat lamps to illuminate the 2 lanterns and one porch light on each end.  It now has a brakeman on guard in the cupola too.  A cheap box of miscellaneous 027 cars held a Disney boxcar that the book says is worth $90.

Big boxes holding reissues of the oil derrick and barrel loader came home with me too.  Also got one of those '90's engine wash/wheel grinder monstrosities.  There's more plastic in one of those than in 5 Cadillac bumpers.

Rounded out the day with a 50 piece box of tubular track.  I put my wallet outside to cool off for the rest of the weekend.

Bruce Webster

[dougdagrump]

Evenin' All.

Bruce, Sounds like you made out like a bandit.

Been feeling not so good but did get plenty of rest today, starting to feel somewhat better. Been in the "doghouse" with the BetterHalf. Got to feeling kinda bad at the museum so I left early only to have some chest pain as I was leaving. Poped a Nitro pill figuring if it didn't do what it was supposed to do I could stop at the ER/hospital I use since I pass right by it on the way home. It worked so no stop needed. Of course I had to tell the BeterHalf, she was glad it worked but gave me (expletive deleted) for not calling her.

Find it hard to believe that the NFL has started when one is inside the house w/the ac cranking and it's 101* outside. Oh well, probably be a long season here in Sandy Eggo if the Chargers play like the Padres(or is that Madres).

See Y'all later !

P.S._Has anybody used any of those figures you see being sold on E-Bay from that outfit in China ? Was wondering how they match-up size wise to the MTH  or Woodland Scenics passengers.

[rtraincollector]

Hey all been doing some wiring ( I'm rewiring the layout so it makes sense) 

Plate rail or anybody else want some tubular track contact me  I have more than I could ever use right price Free just for shipping cost. All usable need cleaning. 

Not much else been going on here today. Just relaxing.

Had a bad thunder storm earlier and it created flash flooding down town and some other area's

Take care all have a good one 

[ChiefEagles]

Good night all.  Lazy day.  Did go to Red Robin for a late lunch.  Meeting tomorrow.  One Tuesday and then go to lake house to mow [return same day].  Edgecombe to farms Wed. to sow winter food plots.  No rain here.  South and east of us, 2" to 3".  Why none here as forecasted?????

Dougsnotagrump, watch that heart stuff.  Be lazy for a few days.

Plate, glad you got a few good "finds" at the train meet.

RT, never mind.

Tested the engine Shake and Bakes sent to the VA. guy.  Works great.

Buckeye, keep the SS coming.  Due this Wed.   

Hope all have a great week.

Sleep tight.

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill.......

It is a cool 59 degrees. Going up to a sunny 70 today.

Today is a busy day. I hae chores to do and the wife is grocery shopping. Lunch and a nap, later.

Had a nice weekend. Relaxed.

Cheerios for breakfast on the dining car.

Y'all have a great Monday.

Chuck

[ChiefEagles]

Be careful for what you ask for.  Been raining hard.  Down east flooded.  Off to County Commissioners work session.  Nothing tonight.

Concerned for CA.  They needed rain but not all at one time.

Hope all have a great day.

[cnw1995]

Aloha. Fall has fallen, along with the Chicago Bears.  Looks like a long Monday. Plate, belated birthday wishes to you and congratulations on your 'haul.'  You all might enjoy this 4 min. video from a friend who just biked the MILW ROW in MT. http://youtu.be/SMVusYIfHBI

[dbaker48]

Good Morning,

Made it through the weekend OK, no problems/issues etc..  I was going to hold off about posting the source I used for having the engines repaired, until I received the ones I have coming here.  But to satisfy the requests I have already received here is his information;

George Galyo, Chesapeake Va., email: [e-mail] 

I sent him 3 engines, one had a sound issue (Chief's) .  George and I had a discussion and he thought it could be a magnet issue with the speaker, or an amp on the sound card.  Because he indicated he could troubleshoot to the component on the sound card, I decided to go with him.

Another engine (mine) MTH Daylight has a blown board set, I cant get it to do anything.  He gave me a price on replacing the PS2 boards, which was the best I had, so therefore number 2.

Then Bob gave me an TMCC engine he had problem with and wanted me to try and fix.   All the wires were disconnected inside, so I tried to get all reconnected, and it wasn't operating correctly.  Bob was frustrated and didn't want to see the engine again.  So this was number 3 to send to George.  

I sent the engines and within 3 days of his receipt, he gave me quotes on all 3.  Chief's engine speaker only, my Daylight set needed the PS2 board set, Bob's TMCC engine had a pinched wire at the rollers.  So had him ship Chiefs engine home, then the other two to me should receive them later this week. 

I found him on another forum where a lot of discussion of command systems occur, he goes by GGG.  What I like is his qualifications, knowledge, and turnaround time.

I hope I dont tick anyone off, but just wanted to share a good experience.

[richardm47]

Good morning all.  Been reading , but not adding for some time.  .. I have benefited form expertise with my engine and switch proglems... thanks to a great group effort.  still gonna be a scorcher here in Corvallis Oregon...

I have a double oval of 027--one of which has a siding so 5 year old grandson can run log loader, milk, coal or barrels..... soon he'll want to run trains too.  I was going to add a nice O dogbone and get a newer train-- mine are ebay specials.  But the wife reminded me I had a lot of HO in boxes from 20 some years ago.... and the new train cost how much????!!!  so now I have a double loop HO dogbone over the 027 and another HO oval over that -- I wanted the SP Daylight 4-10-4, but it needed 24" radius.  the lower double has a SF Super chief (I grew up in SF bay area and rode it to Chicago with family when I was in High School.... .Anyway, yesterday, the grandson wanted the Santa Fe and my Spirit of 76 and the Daylight to be running while he loaded logs.....  things went well for a while, then Santa Fe derailed an before I could get to the Spirit, it ran into the derailed Santa Fe... Fortunately the Daylight kept running nicely..... "Grampa!! what are we gonna do now?"    O well, I guess it's time to go in and visit with the others who came for a bbq...... "But what about the wreck?"""We won't tell anyone and I'll take care of that tomorrow when you are in school."  Of course he had to go back and tell about my train wreck....bbq was fun --started as a Grandparents' day celebration.... so happy belated GP day to all..appropriate grandparents....  Gotta get the coffee for our morning newspaper read.... take care... and happy railing....

[lion88roar]

Mornin' Fellas

Lots going on these days!

Don - I was able to read your invoice, and got a good chuckle! Lots of work on that 'joke'!

Brutus - Looks like you've got enough to get you 'started'. I was in the basement a few months ago and reorganized the bins, I even labeled them! Now I can't find anything I am looking for!

Fife - Chocolate Labs + water = LOTS AND LOTS OF FUN! A friend up North had one for @15 years and he learned you couldn't take her near water unless you had 10 hours to burn, and she only came out of the water when she was tired. She became a pretty good carp fisher!

Got the foyer, 1st floor hallway, and 2nd floor hallway painted over Labor Day Weekend. Looks really nice now, and very bright. Replaced the 4 CFL bulbs in the foyer chandelier with LED bulbs... we'll see if these last longer than the 6 months the CFLs lasted.

Have the plan worked up for the new kitchen. TheQ has approved the plan and now just have to get the cabinets, flooring, and back splash tile ordered. Have to get the cabinets ordered (3 - 4 week delivery), then arrange for the counter top guys to come remove the counter tops.

Plan is for 1 day for demo
3 days to remove the pantry wall (and hopefully soffit) and patch existing walls and ceiling
2 days to remove existing tile floor and subfloor
3 days to replace drywall around new windows - including rewiring light above sink to also power light above second window
1 day to install new subfloor
2 days to Kilz and paint room

Call guys to schedule countertop installation
 
1 day to install new pantry cabinets
1 day to install new wall cabinets
2 days to install new base cabinets

Countertop installation

2 days to lay new tile floor
1 day to grout floor
2 days to tile backsplash
2 day to grout backsplash

Going to be a challenge to get it all done by Christmas with everything else we have planned, but if I can stay focused on it I think it is doable...

[SPMan]

Don, thanks for the information about the repair guy in Virginia.  I will contact him about my Santa Fe Northern.  I think I have run across his name before but never did any business with him.  Sounds like you had a good experience with your stuff.  BTW, I saw your friend Bob yesterday at the TTOS meet in Arcadia.  We didn't talk too long as he was on the hunt for something I think.  I found a good buy and a new MTH ATSF GP30 in Proto 2 for $200 but just couldn't pull the trigger.  My heart just wasn't in it.  Saving my money for another steamer or repair the old one.

later,

Ray

[KRM]

Hi you guys.

Been Up North in Wisconsin for a week helping two of my friends at two different places and just got back yesterday afternoon. one in Minocqua and the other in Silver Cliff. Logged just under 1,000 miles on the Silverado and brought home hundreds of pounds of Wisconsin mudsand. . Took more than two hours to clean the underside.

 Went to Iron River in the UP and all of the trees are already turning.

Not much going on other than today is Lexi's forth birthday. Can't figure out where those four years went?

richardm47, Grandparents' day? Your lucky. I we have 6 grand-kids but they all forgot.

Plate, Rail, Happy belated birthday, I just hit 62 last month.

[ChiefEagles]

Gurgle gurgle.  Raining and hasn't stopped.  Some places east of us have had 6 to 9 inches of rain in 24 hours.  Wasn't suppose to rain this much.  Oh well.

Got my engine day before yesterday.  Tested it yesterday.  Blew me out of the Box.  Never sounded so clear and loud.  Great job.

Dennis, hope this guy is legit. 

Brent, don't saw your leg off.

Wonder if Fife is getting this mess.  I saw Norfolk was.  May be getting off shore before it hits "Maryland".

Youz giz in CA had rain?

Sleep tight.