howmusI exp[ect a few gents to be visiting to evaluate some Structures for the Certificate (NMRA AP) in the next couple of weeks or so. I also may have my layout open for the Fall Meet of the Division
Ray:
Good luck with the NMRA judges!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
angelob6660 FRRYKid- Is fixing or replacing the place the sanding tower going to be difficult?
FRRYKid- Is fixing or replacing the place the sanding tower going to be difficult?
The only things that need to happen with the change is fixing the cork where I first tried to put the refueling tracks (Couldn't get the flex track to work properly with the turntable) and move and reconnect the terminal joiners. The new shelf section will also need to be corked. What I think I will do is get the fueling tracks in and then recork the needed areas. Less waste of the new cork and a better chance to get the Walthers kit located properly. (I should have the cork either Saturday or Monday.)
For those complementing the caboose, other that the new numbers, the rest is stock Athearn. For some of the BN caboose I have, the logo has needed to be redone, but on this on the lettering was very good.
Just stopping by for a quick Hello— and perhaps a little night cap!
Thanks for the beverages, Ken! Glad to hear those old "covered wagons" are earning their keep
Vehicle woes have kept me busy the past few days! I just got Mrs. Pullman's lawn tractor repaired— the valve guide pushed out of the head and that caused the push rod to bend. Then I decided to tear into my front brakes on the '09 GMC Canyon. Mind you these are factory-original brakes with 113,000 miles on them.
The rotors and pads still looked good () but one was starting to warp which made the pedal pulsate. I bought the parts last year and I'm just now grtting around to doing the w**k!
THEN while moving Mrs. P's car out of the garage, don't 'ya know the brake pedal goes to the floor on the old Ford! One of the braided stainless lines between the master cylinder and the ABS module ruptured. This j*b I'm farming-out to the local mechanic. I have enough to do and I don't fancy having to bleed the brake lines all around. Besides, even after a two-hour Google search I couldn't find the parts anywhere!
Congratulations on the strides you're making with your club, Dave! Glad your plan passed muster. I hope to see some photos of the progress soon
Tonight I finished up some decal chores on the railroad. Finally finished an F&C resin PRR well-deck flat car and re-painted some heavyweight coaches so I can re-letter them for P&LE.
I hope you folks are all doing fine. Congratulations (belated on two-counts) for your MR anniversary and your wife's b'day, Steven!
The fall chill is beginning to show here in NE Ohio. We actually had very few hot days and even fewer warm evenings this summer, most nights being in the mid 50s to 60s.
Prayers to all in need...
Run Trains and Carry On!
IMG_1602_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
Ed
Good luck to Howmus on your NMRA inspection. Also good luck to Ed on fixing your vehicle woes.
One thing that's considered an omen of good luck is breaking apart your disposable wooden chopsticks so they come apart evenly (unlike most of the ones in this picture).
So to give you something to do with those chopsticks once you've broken them, today's lunch is shrimp curry stir fry, in honor of Track Fiddler's daughter visiting. Is it spicy? Well, those ain't green beans, I'll tell you that. Dig in!
Save
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Afternoon Diners,
Sorry Steven, I can't eat very hot spicy food. I get a bad case of hiccups.
I finally got my box yesterday by surprise. It arrived at the mail facility around 10 yesterday and it will be delivered to me today.
Does that means I'll start working. Not yet. I forgot to get cork roadbed and styrene sheets for the backdrop and modeling glue. Later on I'll try to get a structure jig for gluing. But for now I'll focus on my small desert scene.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Afternoon Diner's, OK just Steven.
Wake up Flo! Ed, Gary, Brent, Jan, Inch and I will have a cold please.
howmusKen, even 15 lbs. can make a very positive change in the A1C test. I know it did for me! You want the weight loss to be slow and constant.
Ray The weight lost has been slow, has taken a little over 60 days. I wonder if the lower A1C is because of you lossing the fat, or because you are eating less and the fat is not coming back? I was surprised I had lost 15 pounds. I was thinking maybe 6 pounds if I was luck.
Gary Wold that make the Bessemer a SSSD-7 or a SD-7SS? Slowly getting the short line working right. Been wiping down the rails and did the unthinkable! I pulled 2 cars off the Bessmer manafest.
Ed, what is a covred wagon? I have 1 B&O box car by Fox Valley that is called a Covred Wagon. I wish I could afford some more of them. Or is that a nick name I don't know for the Mighty CB&Q F7A?
BBQ is about done, so I am as well.
CEO Of the Slip And Slide Rail Road.
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
Howdy .
Steven ... Thanks for the kind offer, but I would like a cheeseburger, please.
Ken ... Thanks for the beer. It will go with my cheeseburger. (not a slider) .. LOL
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good afternoon from the fiery West Coast.
We now have the biggest fire in the Provinces history burning at 133Km across. 40% of the firefighters are going back to University so you are all hired.
Thanks for the beer Ken, I am happy to get the next round or two.
Trackfiddler, that sounds like an awesome life your Daughter is living, You could go and visit her and see China while you are at it. It has been on our travel list for a long time. We wanted to go on the Yangtze river cruise before the dam flooded everything, but alas didn't make it.
Congrats on the plan being accepted, Dave, it looks good to me. You seem like Presidential material to me.
Spent a great day with #1 son yesterday. Had to go in to Vancouver for a medical reason and took him to the Tomahawk restaurant EST1926 for lunch afterward. It has been featured on Drive-ins, diners, and dives and has amazing heart attack specials. We then toured some of my old haunts, and I drove him by North Shore Studio's (Lions Gate Films) to show him where it was. We drove by the front gate (Typical Hollywood style) and he knew two people standing outside, so we stopped and chatted with them. They were working on some Zombie movie and were taking a break and had decided to go for a walk.
Spent the morning filling holes in the lawn that were dug by our herd of Golden Retrievers. We have about 1 acre in grass that can look like a WW1 battle field in short order if they get left alone too long. They have a 35' x 90' dog run they are suppose to be in when not being supervised, however in the summer when we are all home, we like to keep them around us and sometimes forget they are loose in the big yard. It is all fenced, so there is no danger of them getting out.
I also dug up three basketball sized rocks that were coming up from the depths of the Earth in the front lawn. The John Deere was letting me know it was time for them to go. I think they are making rocks much heavier these days.
All the best to all.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Garry,
I am on call this week and boy has it been a humdinger, we have not had call volume like this in months. So I may or may not be avilable we can try to play something by ear or try some other time.
Underground electricity has an alternate "bus" When our power went out last week, the lineman arrived and swapped a bunch of things, I took to be fuses, that looked like bakelite beer bottles in the above ground transformers. He used the proverbial 10' fiberglass pole and armpit length rubber gloves.
2 hours after he restored power to most of us, those in front of the bad cable had things smoking, including a generac generator. The fire dept came and the electric co. returned, ran a jumper from one transformer to the next and dug up the secondary and primary lines which were now fused together.
After that mishegas* we noticed bat poo poo on the front step. It looks like mouse poo, but is black and resists power washing for at least 30 seconds. There was a loose fake shutter above the front door. I borrowed my neighbors power washer and hit it for about 30 sec. One bat crawled out and I went to washing the front stoop.
I heard my wife say "two" right as the pump started and when it turned off "twelve...thirteen"
Working on my AMB wood caboose at the kitchen table. The windows are two separate pieces and as I work window by window, one piece vanishes. It's not anywhere, floor, clothes, it's simply gone.
* yiddish for craziness
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
cudaken Ed, what is a covred wagon? I have 1 B&O box car by Fox Valley that is called a Covred Wagon.
Hi, Ken
Around the Cleveland area the NYC, and Penn-Central crews called all the E and F units "covered wagons" I guess because of their rounded-top look. This area was one of the last hold-outs for the old F units on the Penn-Central. Quite a few made it into Conrail paint (sort-of).
http://conrailphotos.thecrhs.org/ConrailEquipment/Locomotives/EMD/FUnits?page=2
I've always heard the B&O design refered to as "Wagon-top"?
Steven OtteAlso good luck to Ed on fixing your vehicle woes.
Thanks, Mr. Otte. The GMC brakes turned out fine. Got the Ford back from the shop after writing a $900 check . (Tie-rod ends were shot, too!) Lawn tractor is running better than ever!
BigDaddyWorking on my AMB wood caboose at the kitchen table.
I built the AMB New York Central wood caboose, Henry. It was a pleasure to build. I do enjoy those laser kits. Have to get around to final paint and lettering...
IMG_7250_fix by Edmund, on Flickr
Have a great day, everyone!
moelarrycurly4 Garry, I am on call this week and boy has it been a humdinger, we have not had call volume like this in months. So I may or may not be avilable we can try to play something by ear or try some other time.
I'm waiting for my order to arrive at Classic Trains. Bill thought it would arrive by now, but it did not. Not sure when I will get to Paducah now.
Hey everyone, What's up?
This has been an up and down week for me mentally. Some good days, and some bad days. Like I've said before... Model railroading is my treatment for my low days.
Nothing has really been remarkable this week for me, but still I'm plugging away . I hope everyone is having a good week.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
Jimmy ... Model railroading has always been good for my sanity breaks when the rest of the world is crazy. You do some nice, creative model railroading.
BATMANCongrats on the plan being accepted, Dave, it looks good to me. You seem like Presidential material to me.
The thought has passed my mind. I have already put my name forward to be the 'foreman' for the construction of the club layout. That means that I have to direct the construction in a very intimate manner, and that means that I will have to shut some people down sometimes. The design committee has already made it clear that all additions to the layout will require the committee's approval. I'm the one (if I get chosen to be the foreman) that will have to say 'sorry - not acceptable'. I'm quite prepared to do that if/when the need arises. Nasty guy eh!
There is too much at stake in the building of this layout to allow poorly built stuctures to be installed on the layout. Having said that, I am also quite willing to run clinics to help members build, kitbash or scratch build their desired structures properly. Am I an expert? No, but I have built enough decent structures (IMHO of course) to be able to help people who are new to the process get the results that they want.
I'm not trying to brag about my modelling skills. Heaven knows I still have a lot to learn. In fact, I'm in the rather awkward position of potentially being put in charge of the construction of the club layout when I have never built a layout myself. That's where you guys come in. I need and appreciate your advice.
Thanks for taking the time to help me out.
Those wooden or concrete sound barriers that they use along interstate highways would make a great retaining wall on your railroad.
They are also resistant to vandalism.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Good morning from the cool, overcast West Coast.
It is gettin down to crunch time for going back to school and with one going to Ottawa lots of logistics required as he is taking all his hockey gear ( glad there is a clinic on campus to stitch him up) and a 27" computer screen with him. Could be an expensive flight.
hon30critterThat means that I have to direct the construction in a very intimate manner, and that means that I will have to shut some people down sometimes.
Dave, just don't tick off the guy that determines what will be allowed to run on the layout, he might hate Mckeen Motor Cars. Of course, if you were president you could overrule him.
The pool is half empty in 24hrs with two hoses running out of it. Have to get it down before the trees come down. When the trees come down I will be taking all the rounds out to the roadside where they will magically disappear. They wanted another $1000.00 to take the stuff away and it was easy and cheap doing it myself last time.
Lion, loved the video. There is justice in this world sometimes. I bet that did some damage (to his leg)
That's hilarious Br. Elias!!! That just goes to show that there is natural justice!
Lion.
Everybody is getting a kick out of your video.
Good afternoon Diners,
Brunhilda, I'll have an extra large coffee with lots of cream, please. Oh, and a beer for Ken, Ed, and anyone else.
Steven: belated salutations on YOH's birthday. That cake was beautiful. I imagine delicious, too.
Ed: nice modeling on that caboose.
Dave: congrats on the acceptance of your track plan. Hope you land the supers job.
i really don't have anything to report, just kinda chugging along.
Hello to everyone, and I hope everyone is OK and safe.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
To any and all in the Gulf Coast area--stay high, stay dry, stay safe.
Richard
Evening Diners,
I had a weird research day about the Canadian Pacific. I got into thinking of finding an old AC4400CW CP with the golden beaver. I did found one now I'm done with 2/3 complete. A nice way to only get 2 AC4400CW with different schemes and a ES44AC.
Evenin' folks!
Janie, a cup of decaf would be nice right now... No desert, still full from dinner and I don't need to raise the blood sugar...
Tonight for super I was being very careful not to chew anything tough on the left side of my mouth where the temporary crown was. I say was because I had a nice bowl of vanilla ice cream with some butterscotch syrup and whipped cream for dessert.... Guess what fell out? Wasn't even chewing on that side at all, just enjoying some ice cream. Oh well, Monday morning I will call the dentist......
Monday morning I also will become, for the first time in well over 20 years, clean shaven. Should be interesting. I will keep the beard for the weekend so I don't look too funny if the skin under the beard is totally a different color than the tanned skin on the rest of my face and arms..... This will be the final two days of Viscose #6 pulling trains out at the museum and I hear we have sold quite a bit more tickets for this weekend. They are pleading for more members to come out to help! Last weekend was very busy, so this one could be intense.
Lion! Love the video clip!
"Education is hanging around until you've caught on." - Robert Frost
Prayers for all in need, especially for those in the path of Harvey!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Thank you to everyone who complimented me on having my track plan chosen for the new club layout.
I'm curious, Ray. Why are you shaving off your beard?
I got rid of mine in my early 40s. When I grew it back 20 years later, it was stark raving white and I looked like Santa. My daughter took one look and said, "No, Dad." The beard was gone that week.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Evening Diners
Flo, Ed. Gary, Brent, Jan, Inch and I will have a cold please.
Brother Elis OK, it was funny and the guy got what he had coming that was for dang sure! We have walls around here that are bulit like that one and some are well over 12 foot tall. I hope he had some fast thinking friends with him. I would have to guess he lost part of his leg unless he was very, very lucky.
Ed as usual you are right, the B&O Box Car is a Wagon Top. Thank You for the link to the F units!
Dave That is a good looking track plan. Is the foot print 16' by 25'? If so, I might borrow the plan, might just fit in my garage. How many lines in the plan and what radius are the biggest and smallest on the main line?
Slip and Slide Rail Road Thought I had it cured, but after around 20 laps around the short line, yep stalling again. But getting better that is for darn sure! Do I regret using ATF on the rails? Heck No! Just regret getting cared away the last time I used it!
cudakenDave That is a good looking track plan. Is the foot print 16' by 25'? If so, I might borrow the plan, might just fit in my garage. How many lines in the plan and what radius are the biggest and smallest on the main line?
Hi Ken:
Thank you for the compliment.
The footprint is 20' x 25'.
Minimum radius is 32". I don't know exactly what the largest radius is but for long curves it is probably in the 45" - 50" range. Most of the curves have easements.
Grade is 1.7% with the exception of one reverse loop that is 2%.
There is a single main line with four passing sidings.
The plan as shown is drawn with Peco Code 100 large and medium turnouts. There are a few small turnouts in the service area.
Compressing the plan into a 16' x 25' space might be a bit of a challenge. It took some time to get the plan to fit in the 20' x 25' space while maintaining the 32" radii. Thank goodness for 3rd PlanIt!!! If you are willing to go tighter on the curves it would be easier to make it fit in your space.
I am in the process of converting the plan to use Peco or Atlas Code 83 turnouts with #8s on the mainline. That is proving to be a bit of a challenge because the #8 turnouts are almost 3" longer than the Peco Code 100 large turnouts. The reason for the change is that the frog angle on the Peco Code 100 turnouts is rather sharp. It is 12 degrees. The Code 83 #8 frog angle is 7.15 degrees. That was pointed out to me by Byron (cuyama)(thanks again Byron). On double track with 2" centers the Code 100 turnouts may cause problems with longer equipment because of the sharper angle. The Code 83s are much more forgiving, again according to Byron. I think he knows whereof he speaks.
I'm off to Northern Ontario for a week so if you have more questions please be patient. NO internet! The phone will be shut off unless there is an emergency. I'm going to throw my wife's work phone in the lake as soon as we get there!!! Back on Sept. 3rd.
Cheers Ken!!
Good morning .. Coffee and a donut, please.
Prayers for Texans affected by Hurricane Harvey .
Dave .... Have a great vacation. Talk with you in September.
Ray ... 20 years of a beard ? ... Sort of like Rip Van Winkle ? .... LOL
I'm still spending some of my model railroad time rescuing photos from Photo Bucket.
Good morning,
well it is amazing how much debris get inside s computer keyboard.
I think i just shook out a ton.
It has been lazy Saturday here as I have been on call all week and everyone decided to call the help desk.
Looks like Texas went from "Total eclipse of the heart" to " Rock you like a Hurricane " in one week.
My brother reports they are supposed to get 30+ inches of rain thru wednesday if Harvey does what they say.
Ray I shaved my beard after 30 years. I was able to walk up to a coworker, my mother and my 8 yo son without them recognizing me. The most frequent comment I heard was "You have a chin !!" My mother and wife both said, "put it back"
Since I don't like shaving, that part was easy. I would look younger without it.
Ed your picture reminded me that I need to paint the caboose steps. The AMB instructions were a big Catch 22. They warned not to pre paint the parts with sticky backing. When it was time to assemble those parts they said we assume you have painted those parts. I need to fabricate the railings and find some brake wheels. They mentioned someone's Caboose Detail Kit (Grandt line?) that seems to be NLA, even on ebay.