COFFEE POT July 2018. Another anniversary. 14 years old. Coffee and all the breakfast you want.

[wrmcclellan]

Morning all!

Gonna be a scorcher today - 100 - a dry heat Buckeye!

Pinched a nerve in my neck so shooting pains in the left arm and shoulder. And did something to my left hip/back. ugh...taking it easy again today.

MikeC - you called it. My buddies in France are quite happy!

Dousnotta - good deal about the trains for the kids club!

Fife - no train stores means more plank time! 

 

[ChiefEagles]

Morning.  Hot and humid.  Nothing on agenda.

Saw a train shop open early Friday morning outside Roanoke.  Didn't stop.  Wifey pointed out the big Lionel sign burning in plate glass window.  Open early AM.  ???  The usual size for a local train shop.  Few and far between now.

Have a good one. 

[sir james I]

Hot and humid.  However I'll take it over any winter day. Our club takes a summer break so the only train news comes from RT who may have to spend time at e-bay rehab.

S.J.

[Buckeye Riveter]

Mike C. -- Sent you a PM. Thanks. 

Fife -- I would like to video you working. It would be the top posting on CTT in 20 years! 

Chief -- It is interesting to see the model train stores that are surviving and the ones closing their doors. The ones surviving in our area seem to have two constants; low overhead for their brick and mortar building and online stores. For example, Stockyard Express near Oberlin, Ohio is using a pole building on their farm. No public restrooms but plenty of storage for their on-line or phone orders. Smokestack Hobbies in Lancaster, Ohio took a junk building and did extensive remodeling and carry as much RC planes and cars as trains. The local club has space for the layout, plus they have an indoor track for RC trucks. Pat’s trains in Wheeling, WV is in a double wide under the interstate bridge. It is jammed from floor to ceiling and they have great prices on everything. TK in Bridgeport, OH has one of the nicest stores according to Mrs. Buckeye. They are part of an industrial shop area.

Years ago we had a great train store on the west side of Columbus. He closed complaining about the rent being raised. He did not have an on-line presence either. If anyone remembers Train Express in Indianapolis, they had a fantastic looking building. They relocated to a warehouse and lasted a short time. Their website did not show all their stock and they were jammed full.   

Speaking of stores...Has anyone ever visited this museum/store in Ohio? 

http://www.cornerfieldmodelrailroadmuseumandhobby.com/home.html 

Have a great week.

 

[robmcc]

Morning All!

Just a quick fly. Hopefully, this is the last day for the humidity for a while :(

Roy - You better get into the "medicine" for those pinched nerves!!

DougDG - Nice story about the youth group.

Buckeye - Yeah, I remember Train Express. They were one of my main mail order places when I got back into the hobby in the early 90's. Great prices and service. Another unfortunate casualty. I downloaded issues 1 and 2 of CTT a while ago. It's sad to see how many of the big dealers back then are no more. Pat's has been my main guy lately. Great to deal with. Apparently, there's a hidden gem dealer in the Cleveland area as well. No website, but a good "brick and mortar" store. Can't remember the name.

Have a good one and prayers.

Rob

[Sturgeon-Phish]

 

Good Afternoon from humid 82°F Southern Ohio            

 

We’re home from vacation in Hollywood.  We were all really glad to get home.  We cut our grass mother in laws and daughter’s grass over the weekend.  That took a lot of time this weekend.  Mother-in-law have more frequent mini-strokes so my bride is taking more time at her house.  With the exception of one other sister the remaining 5 siblings are in denial of their mom’s health issues.

 

It’s been a week since I posted last, and the time has flown by.

 

 Dennis - Good luck with your teeth

 

May God bless

 

Jim

 

[wrmcclellan]

Well a good day.

We have this 47" Phillips flat screen we bought in 2008. Screen went black but sound still worked. Did a little research. Turns out all that is in these things is a power supply board, a TV/processor board, and the interface boards (remote, side power/volume/chan switches, connectors board), the LCD screen, and the CCFL or LED backlight array. Took the back off and everything accessable. If you can work on a PC or command loco, you can fix these things yourself. No high voltage (the old CRTs with 15-30 kilovolt flyback circuits with stored charge that could throw one across the room) except the line voltage input. Found parts on line, etc.

It was clear there was a blown 50V 1000uF electrolytic capacitor. So headed to local electronics store and $1.59 later, had the part. Installed it on the P/S board and voila, she works again!

[rtraincollector]

Got some sad news today. Bob Keller, here of CTT has been downsized out of a job after 22 years. 

[sir james I]

A lifetime of loyality means nothing these days. Bob all the best to you and I hope your future is bright.

S.J.

[dougdagrump]

Been There !

Bob, Best of luck in your future  endeavors.   

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

That is devastating to hear about Bob.  Hmmm, makes me wonder about who will do the reviews?  Recently both CTT and MR did reviews on the Woodland Scenics mobile homes and I think Bob did a much better job capturing the essence of the items.  Very quiet day at work but got a lot done.   Warm weather for walk.  Did get some rain at home.  Comments about Train Express bring back many good memories.  Obtained many items there.  I think the main reason it closed is that the manager wanted to retire.  Took Encore to dealer for some ABS work under warranty.  Will see how that goes.  Buckeye, got your email and will respond.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[rtraincollector]

cheapclassics

That is devastating to hear about Bob.  Hmmm, makes me wonder about who will do the reviews?  Recently both CTT and MR did reviews on the Woodland Scenics mobile homes and I think Bob did a much better job capturing the essence of the items.

That just makes me more think that CTT is going to disapear into MR. And it will be just one magazine again. 

[Banks]

Hello there,    

Bummer about Bob Keller 

  
Back from the beach and playing catch up. I did make the trip to Toy Town Friday on the way to Assateaque.  Like Jimmy T said before, looks like the same ol stuff from last year.
Friday evening after we ate I didn't feel so good. I was soon puking worse than I can remember,  then the runs started.  It was over in about an hour but I decided not to eat as we were traveling Saturday. By evening I felt pretty good and ate with no issues but man I never felt as rough as Friday night.    

 
Sunday was my turn to deposit church collection. That , a visit with Mom and catch up on rest filled the day. Now back to the grind.

Roy...good deal on the TV Rich you must've had it bad.

Time to head to Mass              

                           
Prayers for those in need

[fifedog]

This is most dissapointing to hear.  RT, where did you view this news on Bob Keller?  I can't seem to find it.

[Banks]

Rt......I got your PM last week but for some reason I can't reply or send a new one

[rtraincollector]

fifedog

This is most dissapointing to hear.  RT, where did you view this news on Bob Keller?  I can't seem to find it.

 His facebook page. You have to be friended by Bob to see it. 

[rtraincollector]

Banks

Rt......I got your PM last week but for some reason I can't reply or send a new one

 

I don't remember what it was about now lol.

edit: Oh it was the reduced price link for CTT

I posted it on the other forum we goto ( Charlies )

[sir james I]

The mag has been downsized for quite a while now. Now Bob a 22 year employee. I don't run H O and I don't fly model planes so if they drop CTT they can refund my unused script. Theres too much MTH in it anyway.

S.J.

[fifedog]

Carl....?  Roger....?

This is ridiculous.

[sir james I]

Yes I am totally Teed. Bob was an important part of CTT AND a 22 year employee. Carl better start writting some resumes.

[KRM]

Your right SJ, A lifetime of loyalty means nothing these days. To the customer or the employee.

I may have to downsize my subscription.

Good luck Bob!

Like, DougDG,, Been there, done that several times over the years.

Finally getting a break from the repressive heat the next few days. Maybe I can get some yard work done.

[KRM]

fifedog

Carl....?  Roger....?

This is ridiculous.

 

Their Next!

[sir james I]

I like our house phone and will keep it as long as I can. I ignore the robo calls and I don't have to find a signal or have a dropped call. Mine is bundled with the TV and internet. The cell phones go with us when we leave the house, thats it.We all have different needs.

S.J.

[robmcc]

Morning All,

Nice the heat wave has passed (for now). Wow. Sorry to hear about Bob K. That's a tough one. The Train Box won't be the same. I wonder too if the writing is on the wall. Maybe it would be better to back go to quarterly with more content like the early days. Who knows.

I use my cell phone 90% of the time. I still have a land line though. Like Sir James, it was bundled with my cable and internet, so it doesn't really cost me much more to have it.

Have a good one and prayers.

Rob

 

[KRM]

sir james I

I like our house phone and will keep it as long as I can. I ignore the robo calls and I don't have to find a signal or have a dropped call. Mine is bundled with the TV and internet. The cell phones go with us when we leave the house, thats it.We all have different needs.

S.J.

 

We do the same as James, We both have dumb phones we use when we leave the house. Otherwise they are off. Besides, Sprint don't even work in our house with the trees in bloom in the summer, I have to get out to the road to get a signal.

[Buckeye Riveter]

I heard about Bob yesterday. Not good news.  In late April, Bob posted on his facebook page that Kalmbach had changed the logo and posted a photo of the new sign in the front of their building. As an employee who has been through logo changes, I wondered if something was up and sure enough there it was; Kalmbach had named a new CEO. A new CEO and a logo change are highly indicative that there are going to be personnel changes. Of course a press release was posted when the new CEO arrived with two interesting sentences;

“But in today’s consumer-driven experience economy, audiences, especially millennials, expect brands to deliver more than just content. …… “we believe that we have an incredible opportunity to grow our brands beyond their traditional formats”.  

Interestingly, this contradicts an article in the WSJ where they discussed the paper format being strong with special interests, such as model trains. Since Kalmbach has such a difficult time with the technical aspects of this forum over the last three years, I am skeptical about their non-traditional format skills. Of course it also doesn't seem they play well with the Lion.

[fifedog]

I guess while Kalmbach is now "building and acquiring new passion communties to serve", they're gonna alienate the old community...?

Aye-yie-yie...

[Banks]

Their shrinking magazine and pressure to view online content has me alienated already. Not to mention putting content that should be in the magazine in high price special issues.

[KRM]

fifedog

I guess while Kalmbach is now "building and acquiring new passion communties to serve", they're gonna alienate the old community...?

Aye-yie-yie...

 

Guess my question is what does the """NEW""" CEO get paid that they have to chop off the heads of the worker bees to cover the cost????? The way it was before the 1930s only they were owners????

 At Cat it was called perserving the youth/future????

[wrmcclellan]

Evening all!

104 this afternoon on the back porch. Supposed to climb and we will have 106 for the weekend.  

Still dealing with the pinched nerve in the neck affecting my left shoulder and arm. Painful to the point of nausea at times. Last time it took a year to heal up. I have two (normally) degenerated disks in my neck. Aging sucks. Have to tough it out. Only slept 3 hours last night.

On the plus side, headed down this morning to the shop where my '84 El Camino is in the storage yard. Changed the oil before it went over 100 degrees. Cleaned all the junk out of the cab and bed. Working towards getting it inspected. Need new tires so searching for something cheap. It starts right up and oil PSI at 50. Not bad for a motor with 113K miles on it. It looks like crap. 84 was in the beginning of the water based automotive finishes and if left in the sun, all the binder leaves the paint. So the finish is rough and down to the metal on the roof and hood. So one might say it looks pretty good for a 34 yr old vehicle (I am the original owner). This is not the 'patina' of older vehicles you see on the car shows where they lightly sand and clear coat the 'survivor' paint. More like 80 grit sandpaper.