Good evening....
Wow, nobody else here.
Work today was a pain, tux's are becoming more trouble than they are worth. 3.75 minutes payroll were allotted per tux. It takes way more time than that... 3.75 hours per day would be closer....
Flo, I will just have a slice of pie, to go.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Evening Ulrich.
Flo, Wake Up and I will have a Barry Buger and a
Feeling like rolling death today. It is my own fault, with the power out and cold I drank way to much.
Work Front Saturday was dead, only two customers all day. With this being Mothers Day I was expecting and hoping for a slow day the way I was feeling. Wrong! Got there 15 minutes early so I can eat in peace but did not lock the door. Only light on was over my desk, rest of the store was dark. Did not stop a customer from coming in! After that I was all most none stop customers. It was a good day (here I was hoping for a slow day)
YGW any word on the B&O coal cars?
Later, Ken
My GP 30 and GP 38 and section that is more than likely will be torn down.
I hate Rust
Howdy ..
I was rooting for Exaggerater in the Derby, and he came in second. We were watching with froends.
After the Derby was over, we went into town to see the monthly "Cruise". There were a lot of very nice looking old cars there.
Below is me in front of somebody's 1957 Ford hard top convertible.
Below is a nicely customized Ford truck.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Morning all
Well had a great weekend. Went to the James River NMRA meet in Palmyra. A speaker gave an excellant presentation on chain ling fence in N,HO and O scale. On the different manufactures and how to make your own - very imformative. He even had samples in the different scales that he passed around - very good !
JA Bear - Do you eat the petals ?
Garry - The vehicles had style then didnt they !
Ken - have the B&O and they are great !
Ricky - dont understand the comment about time and tux ?
Jeremy - Do you cut lawns as a business ?
James - share the rain ? So is all of the rain coming from your way ? Oh please dont share any more ! I am like Popeye - I have had all I can stanze and cant stanze no more. Yea we are getting clobbered by rain.
Mr. B - what travel is stressful ?
Herrinchoker - Yep I agree. This management is the problem !
Well I see Steve is on line - Hello Steve - being a good - Today at least !
TTYL
YGW
Good morning folks. I was in computer wars all weekend. I tried to restore the original Windows 7. Very slow and while it solved the problems I needed to fix, new problems cropped up, like Update would hang and I had to open the box to see what kind of video card I had to get the proper driver.
I wasn't happy with the result so I tried to restore from a backup I made with Acronis. "Sorry unable to restore backup" I was left with doing a clean install of Windows 10. I had tried it a couple months ago using the quick and dirty install and it corrupted a lot of the pathways, for instance, instead of running Word, it would start a PDF conversion program.
The Win 10 install worked well. I had all my important data backed up on Dropbox. My Itunes library backup failed, thanks again Acronis so I had to buy a program that reads your Ipod to Itunes. I had a lot of recorded albums in my library, not store purchases.
Between the computer and Mothers day I got nothing done on the layout except to ponder the wiring.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Afternoon!
I am not feeling well today. The night has been pretty bad, so bad that Petra took me to the ER this morning. I was nothing but pain, could not move at all. Walking down the stairs and those 30 yards to the car took 15 minutes. In the ER, they gave me a couple of shots, which took the pain away, but now I feel really sick to my stomach and drowsy.
Lion - impressive train hall!
Nothing for me this time, I don´t think I can keep any food or beverage.
Afternoon folks! I fgure it is aboot time I checked in being now back from being ootside the US up in Ottawa for the NFR Convention. Had a great time and the convention was well doon by all their Division members, eh. (Sorry I'll talking this way for a Coople more days from being whereboots they talk that way! I do love the "accent".) We arrived back at my house about 10PM last night. Long day of driving, first to visit some excellent model railroad layouts in the Ottawa area and then a 5 hour drive back to the Finger Lakes region. Some great clinics, lots of great coversations with other MRs, and a wonderful banquet to finish off the day on Saturday. Even had a live band made up of their Division members who played a bunch of "train" soings and other (mostly good dance music) songs. The only couple that actually got up and danced were from my division. There were all of 5 of us that crossed the border to attend. Yes, YGW, you have needed either your passport or some other accepted form of similar ID (Special drivers license being one) to be allowed back into the US for many years now. (No, the present person had nothing to do with it! Sheesh....). They also now check it when you cross into Canada. They don't want to have to deal with you if you can't get back home.....
I also came home with a piece of paper that says: "The Algonquin Turn recognizes Ray H.... 1st. Place Model Colour Print, 'At the Blacksmith Shop', Niagara Frontier Region NMRA Convention Ottawa, 6-8 May 2016."
They only gave out two photo awards, Best in show (which was a prototype photo), and the one I recieved. There were well over a dozen entries, but did not find out why they didn't award more recognition. They used to give out (oot?) up to 3 places in each of the several catagories.
Very, very sorry to hear about Jerry! I used to enjoy his posts in here much.
OK, have to finish unpacking, do wash, go grocery shopping, and get to w*rk on the program for the MLK Scholarship dinner next week! Catch you all later!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Other than forgetting to buy a card , yesterday's Mother's Day was uneventful. (I did remember a gift.)
Things are heating back up in the Valley of the Sun. By Friday we are supposed to hit 105F. At least it is still dry so we get the big drop in temperatures over night. The low on Friday is supposed to be 70. It just means you need to get up early if you want to get out for exercise, like a bike ride. Since we don't observe daylight saving time, sunrise is at 5:30 and getting earlier.
Today's bike ride yielding a interesting experience--a mouth full of gnats. When you are pushing things, you have no choice but to breathe through your mouth. Hit a swarm of gnats and blammo, a mouth full of gnats.
The repaired track is still working like a champ (DC only, I haven't added the variable of DCC). Today, my goal is to find the time to glue the track back down.
Richard
Afternoon Diners,
Although I forgot about Mother's Day yesterday half way through, my mom doesn't celebrate it. Add on the other hand she is sick. She somehow got it by working on Friday.
My pigeon problem came back again. We decided on a few things to do. Place bricks, chicken wire, but we don't have nails, or larger bricks.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Richard - How much trouble were you in for not having the card ? I hope you werent sent to the dog house especially in light of the fact that you didnt forget the present !
Howmus - Okay so let me get this straight. A legal citzen like your self can leave the country BUT with out the proper paper work you cannot get back in ??? So now the Canadians who really dont care are checking Americans so they have their paperwork because they dont want them to end up staying in Canada ??? But if you are an illigal alien you can come and go across the border with out any documentation and they cant make you leave and dont make an effort to keep you out ????? Okay I am REALLY confused by all of this ! Congrats on the award.
Ulrich - Praying you feel better soon.
Lion - Roar back to you. Is that saying "high" in Lion langauge ?
Henry - Pondering about train is positive forward movement. Pondering leads to good positive results !
yougottawantaRichard - How much trouble were you in for not having the card ? I hope you werent sent to the dog house especially in light of the fact that you didnt forget the present !
I was told I could make restitution by cleaning the kitchen, which I promptly did.
Good Afternoon,
YGW, you can't get into Canada from the US without a passport or special drivers license. If you don't have either, you will be turned away at the border. And so illegal aliens can't cross the border. Without documents, you are one.
Well it was a nice day here, sunny and 26C. We took my wife's mother out for lunch for Mother's Day and had a very nice one at one of our favourite restaurants.
Ray, there isn't anything odd about the way we say 'out'. If your really want to be 'Canadian' just say sorry the next time someone bumps into you. Or if someone asks you if you had a nice day, don't say great, say 'not bad'.
Sure miss Jerry. Even though he hadn't posted here much for a long time, It really makes me sad to think he is gone. No more windy city dogs dragged through the garden.
Well time to do something or maybe not. No energy today.
CN Charlie
CNCharlieYGW, you can't get into Canada from the US without a passport or special drivers license. If you don't have either, you will be turned away at the border. And so illegal aliens can't cross the border. Without documents, you are one.
Well said! And don't try to get in if you have a felony on your record... Even a DUI. People seem to forget when you travel to any other country you now fall under their laws... And when you come home across the border the agent has no way of knowing you are a US citizen without the proper documents. Back when I took one of my choruses to Toronto every year we all had to carry Birth Certificates. One year I had a student whose Parents were from Eastern Europe and were visiting Professors at Hobart and William Smith College. She had to have both her Passport and her Visa to get across the border. In fact our bus was pulled over and she had to go inside the border office with an agent to be processed. She had been through the process a couple of time and insisted it was no big deal. My bus load of 7th. and 8th. Graders were totally quiet (absolutely eerie) until she got back on the bus accompanied by a Border agent who assured us everything was fine and in order and to have a fun time in Toronto. She had to be checked out by an agent on the American Side as well. At that point they just checked to make sure she had the proper stamps on her document stating she had been in Canada (done right on the bus). And, you are right, Illegal Aliens don't even try to cross at the border crossing!
CNCharlieRay, there isn't anything odd about the way we say 'out'. If your really want to be 'Canadian' just say sorry the next time someone bumps into you. Or if someone asks you if you had a nice day, don't say great, say 'not bad'.
Nothing odd about it, just different to how we pronouce many words South of the Border. Personally I always enjoy visiting Canada! Always have been treated very well and welcomed there. The bunch of us that go to Ontario every year for the Model Railroad Convention still plan to attend and enjoy that wonderful hospitality we find North of the 49th. even though we will no longer be members of that Region.
Be Blessed!
Heartland Division CB&Q RT ... Thank you very much for telling us the sad news. I really liked Jerry's comments in the Diner, and how he always concluded with "Have a good one" ..... Also RT, feel free to visit the Diner when you can. I hope you are doing well.
RT ... Thank you very much for telling us the sad news. I really liked Jerry's comments in the Diner, and how he always concluded with "Have a good one" ..... Also RT, feel free to visit the Diner when you can. I hope you are doing well.
Rich
Alton Junction
Rich,
I believe it was ' Cox47' .
Good evening. It has been another wet day in the mid-Ohio River valley. YGW, talked to my daughter in Arlington yesterday and she said that had been for a hike along the Potomac and the river was about three feet above flood stage where they were hiking. I guess you really have had it with too much rain.
Since it was wet outside I tackled the bench work clean up and have the 1/2 foam underlayment glued down tonight with stacks of books all over the piece glued down. Should be able to trim the foam to the back side of the bench work tomorrow. Plan on scoring the underside with an xacto blade and then cutting the piece with a trim router bit. Gives a very smooth edge to the foam which conforms to the benchwork and should make installing facia easy when time comes to do the finished look thing.
Spent some time looking through the NMRA national convention web site tonight as I am planning on going for at least two days and the National Train Show on Saturday. Its about a six hour drive from her to Indianapolis.
Lion, is the roof over the train shed a piece of a flourecent light cover? It looks really good as a train shed roof. I know you have commented about inexpensive repurposing in the past.
Hope everyone has had a good Monday.
Jim
Kind of after and before pictures of the bench work progress today. Left Photo is new foam sublayer after cleaning up all the junk in the photo to the right. Time for more homosote, ties and track.
Evening Dinners
Flo, Beer and Barry Buger pleses.
Work Front was slow. Had one sale that not worth much and that was it.
Credit Front I think is said I got a new Credit Card from Citi Bank? Checked Credit Karma and did not show up on my credit report but there was a 5 point drop with Transunion? Have not recivied the card yet so maybe that is the reason. Was able to log on to Citi on line so I guess it is coming.
Sad Thing every time I have started to repair my credit, I lose my job! With work being this slow, not just my store but all I of are store I am starting to worry that it is going to happen again!
Fence Front Guess I am going to stop kidding my self about doing it my self. Going to start calling for prices to install the post.
YGW Let me know when you are ready to ship. I don't know why, but I am looking forward to getting them! Gives me a reason to buy more B&O power!
Ulrich Sorry to here you are feeling so bad again.
Wish all is well with Galaxy. Sure be nice to hear from him.
Later Ken
Nice day today. It was in the 60s, and after first doing an upper-body workout at the gym, I took the mountain bike out for about 20 miles. We're getting temperatures in the 70s this week, so I plan to get a few more good rides in.
yougottawantaMr. B - what travel is stressful ? Whistling
Bah. Any travel with the wife is stressful. She keeps me up half the night before packing and re-packing, and seemingly does not really believe that if she gets the airport a bit late that the plane will not wait for her. Once, she could not find her driver's license and instead just demanded that they let her on the plane without it. (I found it in her wallet.) She is not one to accept responsibility for anything, so any problem like that is "someone else's fault."
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
CNCharlie Rich, I believe it was ' Cox47' . CN Charlie
JAMES MOONLion, is the roof over the train shed a piece of a flourecent light cover? It looks really good as a train shed roof. I know you have commented about inexpensive repurposing in the past.
Yess, it is. I bought it new at Lowes, about $5.00. Older ones that we have around the monastery were either too thick, to brittle or too yellow. I have to mount more stanctions in the station to make it look more realistic.
The train shed at Coney Island actually has three arches, and it is covered with solar cells. The sells reduce the harsh skylight, yet let plenty of light through. There are a lot of cells, but then there are a lot of lights inside of the terminal. I suspect it does not pay for a fraction of the power used, but at least it keeps the greenbeans happy.
The front of this shed will have a brick wall filling the arch as similar to the arch work on the street side of the station. The rear of the arch is covered by the switch tower and crew's locker rooms.
This is supposed to be an elevated station, The yellow (computer wire) walkways have yet to be protected by their railings.
Lunch anyone ? Flo I will have a Barry burger, Lettuce, Tomato, cheese, Mayo on both buns, salt and liberal dashes of pepper and a slice of American cheese on the hot burger so that it melts and sweet onions, Oh add a large basket of steak fries with Heinz Ketchup. Do you have a pie made from JaBears fruit. It smells delicious !
V8 - I find computers and there daily upgrades absolutely annoying. Right when I think I understand the basics they change it and there I sit like Daniel Boone who one time didnt get lost but he did get "bewildered"
JaBear - The fruit sound like it would be incredible. I wonder why it hasnt been imported here ? Seems everything else has. If the secret ever get sout though...
Mr. B LOL ! "BAH" ? Is it travel you dislike or travel with YOH that you dislike ?
Ken - I will call you with details later. I cannot get to the post office until Saturday to research the cost of shipping. One set of coal cars will be reasonable ( I think ) the others I fear may be expensive because they all have coal loads glued in and are rather heavy. I will let you know more after I look into it. Open to suggestions if you have any on shipping.
Ulrich - I hope you feel better. I sent you an email.
Jim - RAIN ! Oh please dont use that 4 letter word ! We are into our 13th straight day of rain and they are calling for SEVEN DAYS MORE ! My site work has come to a screeching halt ! Oh and try to get anything mowed ! I tell you I was about to give up on mowing and just cut it later for Hay. The grass was already up to my knees !
Howmus - What a fasicnating conversation ! Question. Which is that you cannot get into Canada or the States if one has a felony or DUI ? I guess that would wipe out about half of the US citzens and in some places like Front Royal Va maybe 90 percent of the towns folks ! I think it is a right of passage there that you have been arrested for something which usually involves drunken in public. What about our southern border ? Where illigals pour across like sand in the sea ? I know many do. On my work site I would estimate that 50 % + are illigal. What the venders do is this. We hire legal companies and they in turn subcontract the work again. The subcontractors are legal immigrants. These legal immigrants hire illigal aliens and pay them cash. No over time,no benefits...generally well below the going wage. For instance a carpenter may earn $25 regular time. They pay $10 an hour straight time and work the guys 60 to 70 hours a week. The illigals think its great. Back home a good job is working in the coffee fields at $1. an hour or $8 a day. Here they make $70 a day and work six days a week. They bring home $470 a week and send 30% back home where they are having mansions built. I cannot count how many times I have seen this with workers on my site. Oh and when they go home for vacation. They dont let anyone know they have more than a dollar in their pocket for fear of being kidnapped and ransomed. I know of three Hispanic men whose father back in their country was robbed and killed because the crooks found out he had $2 on him. I have had many immigrants tell me that they come here because it is safe and the police are not as crooked as the thieves. Some other time I will tell you in a PM what what happens to the Hispanic women traveling through Mexico trying to get in to the US. There is a good reason why many central Americans below Mexico strongly dislike the Mexicans. What happens to almost all of them cannot be printed here.
CN Charlie - How do the Canadians and the US citzens operate away from the border crossings where there is no fence and just a grass strip between roads ? Do they just walk across and have coffee or tea with the neighber across the border or do they travel to the nearest border crossing and then back to across the street to the neighber ?
Richard - Oh man - you got off light only having to do the kitchen. You may appreciate this story : Several years ago after a church function I helped clean up the building where teh function was held. When all of teh tables and chairs were out of teh way I grabbed a vacuum and started vacuuming. A friend of the family walked up to my wife and said " Your husband sure does look sexy vacuuming " ...'I wish my husband vacuumed" I thought my wife was going to roll on the floor laughing at her comment. You would appreciate it even better if you saw just how I look. It aint pretty ! My 50 plus years has not been kind to this body !
Hello everyone else Reinhard, Lion, Der, Garry.....
Gotta git back to w**k
Morning all.
Flo, I will have a short stack of flapjacks with bacon on the side, and a tall OJ please. (Brunch!)
A cool, damp, wet, overcast NW PA day today.
The time & tux comment: Where I work, a clothing retailer, we also rent tux's on the side. Tux rentals work with a outside company providing the tux's, and us being the "middle-man" between the tux company and the customers. So we do all the measuring, fitting, etc... The company I work for provides extra time to do all of this. This year, for some unknown reason, they feel that 3.75 minutes is all the time we need, per tux rental. (So our store got a whopping extra hour of payroll for last week.) Any time above that 3.75 minutes per tux is now taken from other things they (@corporate) expect to get done. (Perspective: Counting the time allowed by corporate, and our commission on tux rentals, this year we get under $1.50 each tux rental, last year was closer to $3.50 each.) So, we get very little back on the average of 30 minutes spent on each tux rental. (Measuring, ordering, fitting, returning.) And we got less work done in other areas then we were expected too.
And now on top of that, our store finished last in the district for the past week's credit account contest... So we now have a 2 hour "accountability call" to attend, taking more time away from what we need to be doing during the day.... So, we used up all of our payroll last week, plus some, got zilch done, and finished last in the contest. So that means that the district manager, his boss @regional, and corporate are all harping on the stores management team, myself included, for not doing our jobs. (Never mind I work 22 hrs. each week on average, and finished 11th of 80 last month on new accounts in the district, counting only managers, beating many 36-40 hrs. week managers... I averaged 1 account activated per 3 hours worked, best average in the district, so if I pulled those numbers while working full-time, I would have finished 1st in the district, by a large margin. Doesn't count now though... Even though I sit second in our store for the month this month, just 2 behind a 36-40 hr week manager...) Sometimes I really dislike retail sales work.
Now, just waiting for a customer who ordered the expensive camo tux (that is the most popular tux currently for some unknown wacko reason, accounting for almost half of our rentals last two weeks!) who felt that the damage waiver fee was not worth their paying it, spill something (like punch) on said tux and get hammered with the damaged tux expense. (You either purchase the damage waiver up front, or pay for the tux afterwards if it gets damaged... The plane-jane black tux is ~$600.00. The camo tux is much higher... coming in just under $1000.....)
On the hobby front:
Just received a Atlas 53' Articulated well car set, from a prior order. (Found a set on sale, so had to get, as the price was right.) Talk about a featherweight! When they came, I though UPS had brought me a box full of styrofoam peanuts! They are even lighter than the old BB kit articulated well car sets! I really didn't think that could be possible! Looks like I will be running them loaded, with weighted containers. Just like the old BB ones! (Am replacing the couplers with real Kadee's, and giving a light weathering coat. Still need the container guides added.)
Other projects: Finishing a old Bachmann wreck crane, stringing is complete, now am working on scratching a crank, to make it fully operational. It will also be getting a heavy fade and grime coat weathering job, to make it look it's age for my layout time period. (Most are scrapped, all are retired. This one, will be part of a historical display, in need of some restoration...) I feel that it was not a bad acquisition, considering I also got a BB 86' auto parts boxcar with it for $30.00. (Nearby hobby shop got them dropped off as part of a box of unused equipment.) The auto parts box will be getting a coat of flat clear, then a overall fade and a grimy rust roof treatment. (Already replaced couplers to Kadee's, and metal wheelsets.) Really liking the PanPastels weathering technique. (Although for heavy grime, I add in Aim Weatheringpowders weathered grimy black as the last coat.) While the PanPastels are a little pricey, they do a good job and last a long time, as you use very little. (I could already have a lifetime supply!)
Sir Maddog, hope you get well soon!
Cudaken, Hope the fence comes together easier than it has been so far.
Lion, looking good!
V8, I hate wifi issues... Get lots of them from my internet provider... Would love to switch, but they are the only option in my area currently.
Hello to all the rest, and hope all have a good day today.
yougottawantaQuestion. Which is that you cannot get into Canada or the States if one has a felony or DUI ?
Both... It has to do with what the offence would be in the country you are going to as a "guest". I already know about the dangers people face in this world....
Good Evening!
It´s been a bright and sunny day here, which meant a boost to my spirit! I can´t say I am feeling well - while the pain has ebbed away a little, the meds I am taking make me feel just awkward, but that´s no news.
I have now all the track I need to build the little Z scale layout, well, not yet, two pcs. of uncoupling track are on their way to my doorstep. Got them for very little money, not really new, but unused, from the fleabay. As soon as I´ll better, I will get that benchwork down, which should not be more than a leisurely afternoon´s work at my friend Claus´ place.
Need to take my meds for the night now, so I´ll just have a glass of water, please.
Stormy here today.... A tornado went through Mayfield near here today causing a lot of damage.
I did work on some scenery on the layout today. I have much more work remaining on the layoiut.
Evening dinners
Flo Barry Buger Plater with chips and a .
Work was sort of good. Had a guy come in that did not look like he would buy a thing, but he asked about Memory Foam. Showed him one that was $940.00 and he need to think about that one. Showed him one that was blemsed for $700.00 and he jumped on it and took it with him. Made a extra $80.00 on that one and I need it. Todays checked sucked rail spikes and looks like I am going to have to dip in to the savings to make the house payment.
YGW I will make you a deal! I will sell you the coal at a discout to use with your 150 Steam Engines! That will save me shipping cost! Are they store bought coal loads or home made?
Ricky W When I worked in the services feild (ran body shops, Midas and NTB) I wanted to work retail because services sucked. Now that I am back in retail, well I want to win Mega Millions because working sucks! What clothing retailer do you work for?
When I was 18 I worked for Lazurs Department store in mens suits. This was around 1974 and I was hated by most adult employee's! I avg $68.35 in sales per hour while most of them in the mens department where doing $27.00 a hour in sales. But I husled, saw some one not being helped in mens shirts, I helped them. Was good at helping with guys by suggesting shrits and ties and so forth.
Ray Congrats on the award, good looking photo!
Heartland Division CB&QI have much more work remaining on the layoiut.
Gary You must have a lot of track laid. From what I have seen it looks top notch! Maybe I will make it down there some day and see it in person.
Ulrich Glad you are feeling just a little better! Still hard to belevie you went Z scale with your bad eyes.
Good morning ! ....
Wake up, everybody ..... I'll have coffee and a donut please .
Ken ... It would be nice if you could come see my layout as well as the other two layouts here. There is other stuff to do in this area if you think your other half wants to tag along. Many people take a short vacation and stay at the state park lodge. I see a lot of Illinois cars in this area in the summer season.
Other forum memebrs would also be welcome.
Yesterday's tornado was on the national news.
I ballasted some track yesterday, and I have much more to do.