Elliot's Trackside Diner, March 2013

[galaxy]

Good Morning!

The old diner is here:

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/214473.aspx?sort=ASC&pi314=65

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

Per request, we are in  PA!!

I found a horseshoe curve abandoned siding on which it was OK for us to park! this way we can WATCH AS THEY navigate the curve!

Did you know the horseshoe was recently featured on an episode of Extreme Trains???

Here is some info:  More than 50 trains daily can be observed riding the rails of this world-famous engineering marvel.

There IS a Funicular  which transports visitors up to the trackside observation area, offers a unique way to enjoy the autumn hues of the Allegheny Mountains.

Here is  spot for more information:

http://www.visitpa.com/fall-foliage-train-rides

Will have MORE stuff as the month goes along!!!

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

Friday, March 1, 2013

TIPTON

[Burlington Northern #24]

the rails of the late great pennsy, we should go to wishram, Wa. next month a nice riverside view with plenty of BNSF traffic and a GN steamer.

woot! 5 days off, Know what I'm thinking Model train weekend yeah!

[ontario midland]

Good Morning from Sodus,NY. I have often been by the diner before, but never stopped in. Flo, I will have a cup of coffee, in my own mug, that I brought. that's right, the OMID mug. ( Ontario midland line ).yes that's right, it run's out of Sodus here.it's nice to see that someone lives kinda close to me. that would be howmus,( ray). I will be around from time to time.

Ron

 

[kbkchooch]

Oh sweet! And close to home too! Maybe we can take a side trip over to Cresson. Nothing like railfanning from the front porch of The Station Inn!

I still have Barry's cold  , Coffee and cough drops, what a combination! 

I've been torturing myself with a Mantua "little six" switcher. Somebody, I don't know who, but he looks like me, decided the little bugger needed an overhaul.
First came cleaning and re-lubing the axles and bearings, then some wiseacre (me again) Decided to go full bore with the valve linkage, got silly on ebay and got linkage for a "Big Six". Six is six right?? Wound up re-using the main rods, the bulK of the big six parts, and the eccentric rods came from my junk bin, from an old Bowser E6 rebuilt years ago! Thankfully I still had rivets and the peening tools from years past.
Finally I took out the old motor magnet, and installed 6 of these, "high performance" magnets. Put the lil bugger on the track and let her go. An hour later and the only thing to fall off was the left hand brush. Yep, the little brush was riding down in the chassis, and the engine never stopped!! So after repairing that (oh Joy) I then tried to make the motor stall at high speed. Wow, can you say TORQUE?? It'll never happen in normal use. I had to push a lot harder than that cast boiler will ever load the chassis!!!
Later today, I'll work on the boiler, while I wait for additional pickups and a decoder! Before that , off to the post office, got 9 ebay winnings to send!

L8ter!

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

Burlington Northern #24

the rails of the late great pennsy, we should go to wishram, Wa. next month a nice riverside view with plenty of BNSF traffic and a GN steamer.

How about after we visit WA we head to Binghamton NY on the old D&H?

Good morning. Uneventful day other than that I finally have some work again. The paycheck that I'm getting today will be great. Estimated to be about $150, give or take $10.

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

ONTARIO MIDLAND, to the diner, don't be  a stranger and post often!

 

Lehigh Valley 2089

How about after we visit WA we head to Binghamton NY on the old D&H?

Lehigh, when we pick a local for the diner, it is generally  a state or country picked, and while we may settle into a "area" of the state or country, we travel the whole state with info posted of the visit. We HAVE been to NY several times, up close to Ray's way and Rochester, and, yes here, in my area, the Bingo area. WE try to alternate where we go so NY has been visited twice within the last year, and the NW of the USA {to include WA} so next time we may go to, oh, say,  Georgia for instance, Unless Ulrich moves u s to a European country. Often, we DO honor requests { why I chose PA and Horse shoe curve to settle to- it was requested twice}, but try to be fair about distribution across the country and world.

Since I moved the diner, I will be posting information on trains from around PA {like i did for Hawaii}. Naturally, we have Strasburg , and Steamtown and Rock Hill Furnace, but we also have New Hope and Ivy and other places to go!

 

So now,,,other things: MOH is on pins and needles awaiting the decision on Unenjoyment, we should hear by Monday, and the sooner the better. The worst part is that as far as they are concerned, MOH "contributed" to the firing {by punching in ONE WHOLE MINUTE too EARLY from lunch- on urging from the SUPERVISOR-, and, unfortunately,  it wasn't the first errant punch}, so they may win. The Worst Part is we have to come up with the money sent already for Unenjoyment, naturally we spent some. Dunno how we will manage. things go form BAD to WORSE for us, PRAY We win!!! The company MOH worked for, has a Hired company to do the dirty work of contesting the unenjoyment!!! Sneaky!!!!

I will attend to chores today, while MOH goes to get info on CNA/LPN Education training. We think it best MOH go back to school,

 

[Curt Webb]

Morning All,

Only plans for today is to weather a car and turn a WM flat car (Phil gave to my Dad) into a RR used wheel carrier. Should be a fairly lazy day.

Tomorrow the grand kids are spending the night since Peggy has been invited out and Patrick is working. Moh says Peggy broke her little toe when she stubbed it against her china cabinet.

Ron- Welcome.

Galaxy- I sure hope things work out for you and your wife.

Ulrich- I hope the move continues to move along smoothly for you and your parents.

Hope everyone has a good night and prayers for those in need.

[Cederstrand]

Coffee in a SOUTHERN PACIFIC mug, please.

Healing thoughts to those in need.

Have a good day all.

Cheers!  Rob

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 36° with 86% humidity. The high will be 55°.


Looks like it's going to be a nice but somewhat cool day. It's partly cloudy now but is due to be mostly cloudy later.

In a while I'll be heading into town to pay some bills, get gas for the van, get the first half of the grocery shopping done and whatever else I need to get done today. Later I'll clean up more of the layout, that is if the rest of my day doesn't get hijacked.

I was looking at my locos earlier and counted them. I have thirty-two in serviceable condition. Of that number less than half still have their factory built drives. Many of them are rebuilds with different motors or trucks and fully a third are Frankenlocos cobbled together from spare or junk parts that weren't intended to be where they are. What a menagerie I've assembled.

[Anonymous]

Good Afternoon!

Galaxy - thank you for facilitating the move! PA is a nice location. IIRC, the EBT is located in PA - I hope it is running when we visit it!

Ron - a big to the Diner from the other side of the Big Pond! Hope to see you frequently here!

I spend the better part of the morning with administrative chores for my parents. Add to that the usual 10 phone calls from them, filled with little complaints about the place they are in. Some of those complaints I take serious - all of a sudden, personal things start to disappear. Theft in a nursing home is something really ugly. While I don´t mind a wash cloth miraculously disappearing, a wallet that´s gone sets off the alarm. I hope my parents make it through the 6 days they have to stay in that place, before I can move them.

March 1st and the sun is out! Have not had much sunshine during February, who is said to be the dullest February since the 1930´s.

Have a good one, Folks!

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!!!

WHAT???!!! I’ve been set up. Zoe, you told me there was more of Ray’s stash back there. Harumph. Well good thing this is the first of the month and all is stocked back up again.

Coffee and…Chicken in oyster sauce and a couple pork and shrimp spring rolls please. Thanks. Haven’t had any Chinese food this week and I’m starting to cramp up.

Scattered snow showers before noon, then a chance for flurries. Cloudy, with a high near 33.

Oh, Pennsy!  We’re in J.R.’s neck of the woods. He’ll probably head out to parts unknown, but hopefully he’l be able to stop in a bit more.

Wonder how ole Lee’s doin?  Cape Jim too.

Ulrich- They have Burger King’s and Chinese food in Germany? Wow! Almost like here but can’t understand what the people are saying. Well, now that I think about it, it IS just like here. Just kidding. It is funny though to hear of these similarities between other countries, especially European countries as we have a tendency to think you are all German and no other food, for instance, is there. And I know what you mean on the fast food prices. Same as here. You can’t necessarily eat cheaper there. Oh you can, but for a “meal” at say McDonald’s it costs, with a dessert, almost $8. Now that’s a bigger burger granted, but I’m not talking a snack, but a meal. At the Chinese buffet,  my meal costs $9.70 after tax. If I drank water instead of Mr Pibb, then it would be less by about $1.50  or something like that. They have weird pricing. Point is, I can eat at a buffet and walk away stuffed for about a buck more. Not counting tip of course. That varies because you are right, there always seem to have at least one pretty one and weeeelll…the price of lunch usually goes up just a bit when she waits on you and smiles a lot.    

And don’t get me started on other restaurants lunch menus. Fast food is just that…..fast. It’s not really much cheaper.

Galaxy- I hope things go well. In spite of the “reasoning”, I still think one minute is cheesey. Like I said before, there usually is a 5 minute or so window they don't pay anyway. Besides, how do they expect you to be at the time clock and at your w**k station ready to w**k at the same time. What, if you weren't at your w**k area because you were standing at the clock, would they complain cause you were a minute late? Sorry. I know you have no answer for that. Just thinking out loud.

Looks like I’ll stay home today until w**k tonight. I have several things that need done, some of which are in the trainroom. We’ll see.

Ya’ll have a good day, ya hear!!!!

[TMarsh]

TMarsh

Looks like I’ll stay home today until w**k tonight.

Change one and looky! Didn't even get a chance to get outa the chair before the phone rang.

[galaxy]

TMarsh

 

Galaxy- I hope things go well. In spite of the “reasoning”, I still think one minute is cheesey. Like I said before, there usually is a 5 minute or so window they don't pay anyway. Besides, how do they expect you to be at the time clock and at your w**k station ready to w**k at the same time. What, if you weren't at your w**k area because you were standing at the clock, would they complain cause you were a minute late? Sorry. I know you have no answer for that. Just thinking out loud.

Here is the whole dirty  nasty deal. One is allowed a 7 minute leeway either way on punches. So, when taking a lunch one can punch back in at 23 minutes {or after} punching out for lunch, all the way up to punching back in at 37 minutes past from time punched out {late from lunch, but allowable}. MOH punched back in 22 minutes after punching out, resulting in a ONE MINUTE {to} EARLY punch! MOH had 2 prior write ups for failed punches as when they opened the new store, nearly everybody who used a certain time clock got written up. SO MOH stopped using that clock and used the one in from which seemed reliable. They "tested" the time clock, and though many got write ups using that clock, it was "found to be in perfect working order" {naturally- can'tbe a faulty new time clock now can it??}!!!

NOW, Due to state and federal laws governing the need for  a 30 minute lunch break, MOH got nabbed. It is policy to terminate someone who "obviously cannot regulate their correct time punches".

Now here is a further rub: MOH was requested 4 times by both department manager and supervisor to "get back on the clock" as it was getting busy at that time, and they were short staffed. SO, MOH miscalculated the punch and punched in, warning them it might be early. HAD MOH NOT been berated and goaded into punching back in, there would have been no problem!!!

So...what are we to do now? I don't know...My disability check alone cannot support us! Even with food stamps {which we have yet to hear on, maybe due to sequester??????}, so I don;t know what we will do....MOH is also 53 a dangerous age to be rehired!!!! 50's are the new unemployable according to an AOL start up menu article just this very morning!!!

Dilemma, dilemma.... I'd rather have a conundrum!!! Maybe i'll have a conniption!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

TMarsh

Ulrich- They have Burger King’s and Chinese food in Germany? Wow!

Todd - we have McDonald´s just everywhere, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut - have not seen an A&W´s yet. Most of them have replaced the traditional Bratwurst place, which is really a shame. Those surviving are battling the Turkish Kebab joints. I wonder what will come next. I bet you´d feel right at home, if it were not for the strange German language

Our Chinese restaurant (the one we go to - we have 4 more in our town) serves a nice lunch and a beer for about the same amount you pay at your´s, which is quite reasonable. The food is excellent, but still a rare treat for us, as our budget does not allow for eating out.

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I'll have a short stack of Buckwheat pancakes with NYS Maple Syrup please.  You have it?!  just came in this morning right after they tied up the diner?  Great!  Better have a few strips of bacon and lots of dark roast coffee (Seneca Lake Roast).

Ron, welcome to the diner from the guy living a few miles due South of you!  O&MR guy huh?  Nice little short line.  Too bad they lost the line coming down from Newark (I think) to Geneva so they could have interchanged directly with the FGLK.  would have been good for both lines!  I'm sure you were following the removal of the Hojack Bridge last Fall.  Don't forget to tell us about what you are doing with the hobby and all that stuff.  Photos are nice!

Ulrich, My mom one time insisted that someone had been stealing the oranges the family had sent her from Florida...  Absolutely insisted they were stealing them.  I talked to the "powers that be" and they laughed as there was no reason why anyone there would have done that as they can help themselves to any leftover fruit from the meals, plus the fact that they do not enter any room unless the occupant is there.  Turns out mom had eaten them but didn't remember doing it.  Coincided with some pretty high blood sugar readings and the remains of the oranges were found in her wastebasket....  She swore up and down that she didn't eat them, somebody stole them and left the remains in her wastebasket!!!  I hope the wallet shows up as just being lost, but you never know.  Keeping you in my prayers!

Todd, feel free to help yourself to the NYS Maple Syrup...  We can always get more in this part of the country, and the new season will be starting soon.

Galaxy, if it is denied, find a legal aid society nearby and go after them!

A lot of little white thingies are falling out of the sky at the moment...  I best get moving as I have a long list of items needing to get done today.

Later!

73

[Anonymous]

Ray - you have a point there. The "theft" could be a part of my parents´ "how to pest our son" - scheme. I hope that ends when they have moved into the new place - if not, I am going to change my telephone number!

[galaxy]

howmus

 

Galaxy, if it is denied, find a legal aid society nearby and go after them!

 

There IS a fair hearing MOH can apply for, to contest the contesting of the unenjoyment {now see why we call it that??}.

MOH will apply for it if denied. With the Sequester supposedly affecting unenjoyment, may be hard to do...BUT MOH has been going around like a raving lunatic and said will certainly in no uncertain terms tell a few people off. I said THAT won't help your case at all!!!! MOH said "I must get it out of my system or I will do so in the hearing!!!"

We shall see what we shall see.

Meanwhile, have not heard if my medicaid is continuing or if we get SNAP. WE won't have food if we don't get food stamps. In a month we will be out of food, like ULrich was.

I have worked/reworked the budget, we NEED that unenjoymet to pay the bills, no doubt. We have enough to cover the basics out of my check, baring no emergency expenses, and in order to pay a new loan we took out the day before MOH got the ax, we need that money, or we default to the credit union. There is no way around it.

We may even have to declare bankruptcy over not much, but we will then lose the reliable van, the kia which still has  a loan on it. we don't have much choice. OUr income has been CUT in half!! NOt a pay cut, but in half!

Well enough of that.. we haven't heard yet and a fair hearing could take months.

We shall see what we shall see when we see it.

SO, how is everyone else's day going?

 

 

[Anonymous]

Calling it a day here at the computer. I´ll have to drag along at least another 2 hours before bedtime, but I am just exhausted. We urgently need a break, but there is none in sight.

Well, I am off - CU tomorrow!

[howmus]

Afternoon folks!

Chloe, a cup of hot chocolate would really hit the spot right now.

Hang in  there, Ulrich!  This too shall pass....

I ran all the errands needing to get done today (that I can think of anyway).  Took a load of electronic related items over to 2TRG to be recycled.  Stopped and picked up a couple Rx's at the little Pharmacy at the Medical Group. Stopped at Tops and got some birthday wrapping paper and a bow I forgot to get yesterday when I was there and then filled up the PIP with Petroleum gunk so I will be able to get to the Museum on Sunday and get back home.  Sometimes ya just gotta do it...  Then I stopped at the Vets and got a case of canned food for the boys. 

I was hoping to stop and fill up for gas tomorrow after the granddaughter's birthday party, but if I charge the PIP out at my son's house, I really wouldn't have used any gas. I figured it didn't make any difference so I best fill up while I was there.  First tankful I have put in the car since last January.  I had driven 431 miles and it took 6.5 gallons of the crap to fill it up.  Had a 50¢/gal. off coupon for gas from Tops, so it ran me all of $22.26 for the month of February.  The car said I was getting 71 mpg, but my math says it came out to 65 mpg.  I may have filled the car a bit more this time... Probably won't get as good this month as I will have several trips to Rochester to account for and my sister is going to a friends house (that still lets her come down and mooch) in Georgia for a week to get an early tan, so guess who gets to drive to Canandaigua to take care of the cat(s)...

Speaking of cats....  Mine are both laying on the couch in the living room grooming each other at the moment.  Blackie seems to be doing well for the moment.

I am now cooking potatoes to make one of my famous Potato Salads for the Birthday Party tomorrow.

Not likely I will any hobby stuff done today.

[edit]  Oooo, Ooooo, Ooooo!  Just went out and brought in today's mail.  My Green E-Z Pass for the NYS Thruway arrived!  This will give me a 10% discount on the tolls when I use the NYS Thruway and a few other toll roads here.  And...  The pass color is actually Green!  Only cars that get more than 50 mpg according to the EPA can use this particular pass.  I don't use the Thruway that often, but figured since there is no cost involved I might just as well get one.

Later!

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Got the bills paid. The groceries have been bought and put away. Got gas for the van. I have money set aside for my meds and for a package I need to send out. I had to do without some grocery items I consider luxuries (others might consider them basic) and skipped the oil change on the van (I hardly drove it the last couple of months so it's still good) in order to scrape together $39 to get a Rock Island E-R Models (Roco) FP7. My father chipped in for the shipping. Kind of him. I should have it by Wednesday.

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

Sitting here waiting on MOH to get home to eat. I made spaghetti but she got off work 45 minutes late.

Today I weathered the new car I got on Saturday and made the wheel car for my Dad. Phil gave me a WM flat car for him. At least it is a good use for those plastic wheels I have replaced on my rolling stock. At some point I think I will make one for myself. It is a nice 1 day project.

Tomorrow I may go to the club. MOH says go, but the grand kids are spending the night. They still do not have enough self control to take to the club with me. Everyone in the family is working on that.

 

Hope everyone has a good night and prayers for those in need.

[ontario midland]

Good evening everyone. oh Miss,  sense we are here in PA. may I have an order of Amish made ham balls and also a big slice of shoo fly pie, would do nice. what you don't have either . I have to wait til we go to Strasburg to get them ! ok then I will just have the special, then

 

Ray, as far as I know, O&MR only go's to Newark, and interchange's with CSX there. yes it's to bad about the old Hojack bridge.lots of history about that bridge. I see that you over at the RR overpass, near Phelps. the wife grew up in Phelps.

as far as my layout goe's, I run HO scale. the layout goe'saround all 4 walls in a spare bedroom. I try and do what's around my area were I live, and the town that I grew up in. both were along the o9ld hojack line. as far as pics. go, wish I could, but no camera.beside's it nothing any to special. needs alot of work yet. kinda of hard to get much done, 4 year old granddaughter and her mom live's with us. the granddaughter is a grandpa's girl. have's to be with me all the time.

well that's all for tonight. everyone have a good nite.

Ron

[Cederstrand]

Coffee refill, please.

***Jeffrey, I see an intact Union Pacific paint scheme among your locos. Nice to know one got away from you!

***Curt, very cool use of those wheel sets. Well done!

***Ron, welcome to the Diner.

One of the-bay purchases arrived poorly packed and in a number of pieces. Not good considering it was only two buildings.

Rough day physically, but otherwise OK.

Have a good one all.

Cheers!  Rob

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Cederstrand

***Jeffrey, I see an intact Union Pacific paint scheme among your locos. Nice to know one got away from you!

Never fear. I just haven't gotten to it yet.

[Packer]

Afternoon guys

Been a busy couple of days so far. Haven't done much with the trains. Tomorrow I'm going to the train club. I'm thinking of swapping out my grain train for a mixd or intermodal freight. I might use my 6 GP (a 15-1, 2 GP38-2s, 2 GP38Xs, and a GP30) consist to haul the club's doublestack cars...

Jeff, You seem to like those FP7s... I looked at the BN one, and it is an actual number for one of the BN's FP7s. I don't know if it retained that number when painted from NP to BN though because it was renumbered to 726: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/LocoPicture.aspx?id=70499. IMO, price seems a bit high for what the RI one is, but I don't think you go to the bay. That or I'm spoiled by the Kato SD40 (which is still waiting for some detail parts) I got for a buck more...

 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Packer

IMO, price seems a bit high for what the RI one is, but I don't think you go to the bay. That or I'm spoiled by the Kato SD40 (which is still waiting for some detail parts) I got for a buck more...

On the Rock Island unit, it looks to have quite a few separately applied details such as grabs. I paid more for the others and they have molded on details. I like the older Roco's because they're heavy, the drives are rugged and easy to work on and to me they look good. I don't go for flimsy details. They break too easy and I've been known to break stuff by just looking at it.

This is what it looks like:

[Burlington Northern #24]

yikes #726 got the short end of the deal on that, that's the # for the intermountain FP7 is. 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Burlington Northern #24

yikes #726 got the short end of the deal on that, that's the # for the intermountain FP7 is. 

What you talking about Gary?

Looking at a photo of another E-R RI #405 FP7 it looks like the grabs are molded on.