I am very much in the dumps today, with my BP at 110/50, which is way too low for me. Nothing to report, for that matter. Adding insult to misery, it´s cold and wet and the heating is still not working
Blah!
Garry - Great photos of the LST. The thing that caught my attention is she is sailing under her own steam. I'm sure it takes a lot of work & money to keep her in that kind of condition. My hat is off to those folks. That particular ship, the 325, was in Pittsburgh a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to take the tour. They were celebrating that fact that quite a few LSTs were built here by Dravo & American Bridge during the war. I remember my Aunt taking me on 2 or 3 tours after they were launched & on display in Pittsburgh. I was probably 4 or 5 then.
Saturday morning was an interesting day as far as our railfanning went. Above average with 13 trains in 4 hours. 5 mixed freights, 7 intermodals & 1 denatured alcohol. The Nickle Plate heritage unit showed up on the 1st train. A good way to start the day. Then later we had foreign power of a Union Pacific SD70M & 2 Canadian Pacific AC4400CWs. 2 lease units also showed up being towed on an eastbound. We also passed a coke train on the way home.
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned about a car being struck at a crossing near us. Yesterday, another train reported to Conway Yard that they had gone into an emergency stop there due to a car stopped on the tracks. Fortunately the car went on thru a red light & was not hit. But you could tell the conductor was a bit excited.
After all the years we have railfanned at this spot, yesterday we heard Conway Yard referring to a scanner in nearby Sewickley. Never heard anyone mention anything about it before. In this case, the dispatcher told the train crew the car number & reporting mark of the 97th car on their train, & that was to be the cut point when they got to the yard. I'll have to see if I can find out what else the scanner records.
Wishing everyone a nice week. Stay safe & enjoy...
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
Heartland Division CB&QUSS LST 325
Neat sighting Garry!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
herrinchokerDave you mentiioned your Dad's generator, and moose. On one occasion we had two swim the river, walk up the road from the cove, and stand less than thirty feet from my back livingroom windows.
That sort of experience is what I call 'living'. I have lost count of how many bear, deer and moose that have visited our cottage over the years. Bears were a regular event. One night we had a wolverine! We were playing cards by candlelight and the thing let out a growl right beside the cottage. I now know what the expression of 'having the hair on the back of your neck stand up' is all about. It didn't hang around but we did get to see it with a flashlight for a couple of seconds. One thing I never got to see was a wolf despite the fact that there was wolf scat everywhere and we could hear them howling every once in a while.
Eveing Diners
Flo, Ed, Gary, Jan, Inch, Brent, Ulrich and I will have a cold and a paratrooper salute to Jerry Jacobson. Ed, sound like quite the guy.
Thanks for all of the congratulations on the A1C results. I am still some what stunned it was down to 5.5! I would have been tickled witha 6.5. Main goal has not been reached, still tired all the time. Guess it is time to start working out again. Maybe with exercising and good A1C I will feel more like my old self.
USS Indianapolis. Seems she has been found. Was watching the PBS show about her last night on U-Tube and got wrapped up watching it. Heck I did not even run the trains.
Hope this links works if any of you are intrested.
Work Front blew rail spikes today! Really need to get off my caboose and start looking.
Ulrich I hope you find time and feel like posting agian soon!
Trains age being nice to me, so that all folks.
Ken
I hate Rust
Ed ... Sorry to hear the sad news about Jerry Jacobson.
....
We were boating this afternoon, and look what was on our lake. It is USS LST 325 which is a WW II ship which participated in the D-Day invasion. It is now based at a museum in Evansville, IN. Today it was returning from visits in Nashville, TN and Clarksville, TN where it was open to the pubic.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Hello Folks...
Just stopping by for a quick coffee to-go.
I recently learned of the passing of Jerry Jacobson, the gentleman that built the Age Of Steam roundhouse in Sugar Creek, Ohio. Jerry has quite a legacy in the preservation of steam in this area and I thought I'd pass along this sad news to the folks here:
http://www.ageofsteamroundhouse.com/images/news_PDFs/JJJ_obit_formatted.pdf
I met Jerry back in 1972 when he was working with some of the people running steam excursions with the 2102, 759 and 4070. Well, needless to say, Mr. Jacobson went on to build quite a reputation for himself and a lasting legacy for the rest of us to marvel and enjoy.
to his family and friends and all those in need.
Regards, Ed
Bear - That was a very interesting story about your math teacher. I think a lot of us were lucky to have some special teachers in our past. When in high school, we had a treacher who no one really liked. A tough old nut, very strict & unforgiving. However, over time, I changed my opinion big time when I realized what he had given me.. Then at my 50th class reunion, he came up in a conversation & it turned out that many of my classmates had also come to discover how many life lessons he had given us. Things that were so much more important than just dates & places. In fact, we all agreed that we were very fortunate to have so many good teachers willing to take extra time, or to put the books aside from time to time & lead us to things we would need to know later in life.
They are all gone now, but boy, do I owe them.
Morning diners,
I finished my bridge yesterday. It a simple kit to build. When all the nerves I had were nervous, excited, and fear came around me. I continued on to not that stop me when this little guy needed to be on the layout within next week.
Nice to see again Ulrich I did miss those pictures of your Swiss NR.
Garry- I had to have the same feelings when the power goes out.
JaBear- That is one impressive sailor and person.
Each weekend will be a different build of my layout. Today was laying more foam to make some hills. So the caulk can sit and cure for the week until cutting for next Saturday.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Good morning .
Here is why it is bad when you have no electricity. You can't watch TV and run your model trains in the dark. LOL.
Bear.... That was an interesting reply to my question. Perhaps, some day you will recal lthe name of the math teacher.
Everybody: .... Have a nice Saturday.
"Do Bears play with numbers? Apparently! LOL"
Actually Garry, this Bear is not great with mathematics! It used to be that the School Certificate Examinations that nearly all NZ High School students sat when they were about 15 or 16, was the be all and end all. Without passing, you couldn’t continue with to higher education, and if so inclined, was a good thing to have if you wanted a trade apprenticeship.
So, when my maths teacher for that year told me and four other lads that we weren’t looking like passing, and that as he didn’t tolerate failure, if we were prepared to give up our lunch time, he would give up his to give us extra tuition.
We turned up for the first tutorial to find a map of the UK and the Atlantic Seaboard of Europe drawn on the blackboard. He explained as a young man not much older than us, he was a navigator in a RAF Coastal Command Sunderland flying boat that patrolled down into the Bay of Biscay looking for U boats, and that if he got his maths wrong, and therefore the track wrong, the dangers were either running out of fuel or straying within range of the Luftwaffe fighters, neither of which was a healthy thing.
What he was able to do, was to put algebra, geometry, and trigonometry into a practical sense, and he soon had us navigating all over the place. He even bought his sextant in and we all had to take a sun shot and work out our position, (even though we knew where we were). The upshot was that while not by much, we all passed the Mathematics exam, and the sad thing is, while I can picture him, I can’t remember his name.
hon30critterI'm not sure what all the fuss is about going without power, or refrigeration.
Cheers, the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Give Ken what ever he wants--within reason---
When we first moved to the farm here on the Island our refrigeration consisted of an ice box--ice man came three times a week, .01 per pound. The ice came from a ice house in Bath, Winnegance Creek, and was cut in January and Feburary, and then layered into the house, packed in sawdust.
Electricity was "iffey", at best, this end of the Island did not get power until 36, in those days the lines had not been trimmed back like they are today. Any strong wind would invariably drop a limb, or a whole tree, across the lines, and most times it wasn't unusual to go two-three days without power.
We heated with a wood furnace, had a cast iron cook stove in the winter kitchen that had been converted to a two pot oil burner, and had a fireplace in the back livingroom. After Dad got an electric stove for Mother when we lost power we either cooked in the fireplace, or in the furnace, (Dad had a skillet with a long handle-we would have "furnaced" bacon and eggs.)
The farm house came with a supply of oil lamps, so we were never won't for light. Water came from a dug well on the front lawn, and we had a "two holer" in the back of the ell. The other well, also dug, was below the barn, used that water for baths, flushing the toilet, and washing clothes.
Dave you mentiioned your Dad's generator, and moose. On one occasion we had two swim the river, walk up the road from the cove, and stand less than thirty feet from my back livingroom windows. I guess they wanted to watch the "Nightly News" And do you think that either one of my dogs would sound the alarm??, I gladly would have invited one, or both, inside, and perhaps offered them some popcorn. Invited them to stay for dinner. I would.
My neighbor went Rail Fanning, he got 13 out of 17, He and I will be going this coming Monday, weather permitting.
Have been painting the house, trim, entry door, and inside trim. What a difference fourty years make. Going to go see Miz Morpheius, and go nite-nite.
Ulrich, good to see your post---
Prayers for those in need.......
herrinchoker
I'm not sure what all the fuss is about going without power, or refrigeration. For years at my family cottage the only electricity was in the flashlights (which we were warned to use very sparingly by the way). Most of the light came from kerosene lamps or candles. We didn't need refrigeration because we didn't take in any food that need to be kept cold. Yes, canned ham and Spam got a little boring after three weeks, but I always loved the canned peas! There was often fresh fish (which I hated). By the end of the second week Dad would have to cut the mould off of the cheese block, but that was strictly for cosmetic purposes. Cheese mould won't hurt you. Drinking water came from a stream at the end of the bay. Nobody ever contracted beaver fever.
By the way, I should mention that the cottage was water access only. It was 24 miles from the marina. Making a trip to town for supplies was an expensive proposition. We took in what we needed for three weeks, and we did just fine!
In later years dad installed a generator. I hated the thing! Noisy, smelly, messy, did I say noisy? You will never get a moose in the back yard with that thing running. About the only time Dianne and I used it was when we needed to fill the wash water tanks. Playing cards by candlelight is so much more romantic than having unshaded 60 watt light bulbs glaring in your face!
Eventually Dad put in a propane fridge and stove. Just so you don't think I was a total Luddite, I did appreciate the ice!
Fond memories. Thanks for letting me share them.
Cheers!!
Hello again ..
Do Bears play with numbers ? Apparently! LOL
MLC ... Evidently, you did similar things in the ice storm. We put frozen food in containers on the deck, and we put refrigerator food in the insulated garage which was about the correct temperature. We used our battery lanterns, and we cooked outside on the gas BBQ grill. Fortunately, my wife had purchased a lot of cheese and crackers in a post Christmas sale from one of the companies that sells stuff like that. We ate a lot of cheese and crackers which need not be cooked.
...
I am beginning my corner project which will be the foreground for my bridge project I have been working on in recent months. The first step will be another bridge across the main line, and I am already working on it. I will be laying track at about the same elevations as the tracks crossing my new bridges. So, I need to add to the benchwork to accomodate it. I have more ideas than space for them, and therefore, I will be making lot of adjustments. A lot of work needs to be done.
Below are photos of the corner project as it now looks.
Pretty cool photos in here today.
Thankfully I get all weekend off...NMRA division meeting this weekend in stubenville Oh.
Brent-nope. No flash, I just got lucky with the last seconds of the "magic hour" for photography. Even better it was on my birthday-like the Wheeling sent me a birthday gift LOLOL
(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).
BATMANQuestion of the day. My truck has a 7.3 Ltr Diesel in it, how many Ltrs is the loco's diesel?
Good morning from the land of four months of straight Sun. (except for one rainy day and a few smokey ones)
YIPPEE! Ulrich is back! Okay, everybody back on the bus. Oh, Ya, Were not in Germany anymore.
Okay, everybody into their canoes, I forgot we were in Texas.
angelob6660Has your kids ranked up a huge debt on their cards?
Angelo, They only buy what they need, not what they want. It is more of a convenience for us than them. Some months there is a zero balance on the statement. Trust is an important thing in life and I trust my kids completely. I expected a bill for about $800.00 from the bookstore at my sons University in Ottawa this month, however, the statement was zero. Even though we told him we would cover that and other things, he informed us he had it covered, so he paid. I'm so proud of him.
My son use to babysit a kid for the last two years on Thursday nights. They asked my Daughter to take over, she is happy to get $40.00 to study (The kid goes to bed early)
Back to the emergency preparedness thing, a generator makes life easy when the power goes out. Being rural our power has been out for days at a time in the past. The freezer and fridge are kept running, so is the big screen for Hockey. We have three gas fireplaces and our natural gas barbecue plugs into the wall.
When a financial crisis hits a country, you often see a run on the banks. They will only let you take out a small amount every day. So we use six financial institutions, so if like Greece you could only get $80.00 a day, we can get our $80.00 at six different banks every day and keep on operating.
When my Son was buying his books he was in line and his card wouldn't work, so he just pulled out the one from his other bank and paid with that. Life is a breeze when you cover yourself.
Ken, Keep up the good work on the health front. I remembered when my Dad retired he really put on the pounds and complained about being so tired all the time. I handed him a 40 lb box of Presto logs and said you have gained at least this much weight, how would you like to carry this around all day, no wonder you are tired. He lost it all and more and started living again.
Question of the day.
My truck has a 7.3 Ltr Diesel in it, how many Ltrs is the loco's diesel?
Jimmy B, That is an interesting light effect in your photo, were you using a flash? The reflective strips really stand out.
Well best get on with doing something in this big empty house.
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."
Good afternoon Diners,
Brunhilda, I'll have an extra large coffee with lots of cream, please.
Ulrich: Really good to see you posting again. Please don't stay away. Also, nice modeling!
Jimmy B: I would suggest getting a card at a department store or some retail outlet. How I got started was by getting a student acct on Mastercard. I had a $300 limit. However you do it, be sure to keep up with your payments on time! After a year or so, you should be able to apply for a higher limit, and then you're on your way.
Hello to everyone, and I hope everyone is OK and safe.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
Ulrich good to see you!
Not much happening on the w*rk front today.
I did get the projector lamp replaced in the RR museum simulator. The old one gave up the ghost.
On a side work note( of many side jobs) I got a frantic call from the local art house movie theatre. It seems that the manager is out of town and the "person" he had to load the movie on the projector did not understand just plug the disc in the top slot. ( movies come on Hard drives these days) Instead he pulls 2 of the storage drives ( while the machine is on) and broke the RAID configuration. So guess who had to go and fix it.......
Garry: We were without power for 7 days in the ice storm. We stuck our food from the freezer and fridge outside so it stayed frozen or cool. I used my Coleman lanterns and Kerosene heat and we survived.
YEAH! Sir Mad Dog is Home!
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
RideOnRoad Wahoo, the heat has finally broke here in the Valley of the Sun. (That means it will be under 100F today.) It was a balmy 75 at 5:30 when I went for my ride this morning. It was perfect.
Wahoo, the heat has finally broke here in the Valley of the Sun. (That means it will be under 100F today.) It was a balmy 75 at 5:30 when I went for my ride this morning. It was perfect.
Is 45 degrees of fairy height here in North Dakota.
We got good rain, but it dis not was the smoke froim Montana out of the sky.
Richard
Mornin' everyo...... Hey! Is that Ulrich!?!
Why, yes it is! Good to see you my friend! Do stop in from time to time so we know you are still on the green side of the grass...... And, thanks for your comments on the article. At this point, I am rather glad I got talked into writing it. LOL This winter I may even sit down and do another to see if anyone might want to get another article from me... Never know! BTW, I do so admire your work on the layout! That really has some WOW! factor.
Zoe, please put whatever Ulrich is having on my tab. I'll have the #2 special, eggs over easy, bacon, home fries, and a double order of sour dough toast to go alomng with a pot of Marrakesh Express Dark Roast, fair traded, organic coffee.
I'm sitting here waiting for the Handyman to show up. Will probably be in another hour. in have two, hopefully small, items for him to do. Both of them involve climbing and working up on a ladder, which I don't like to do anymore (Benign Positional Vertigo, which may not be benign when I'm on a ladder......).
Things are falling in place for the NMRA Fall Meet. Still could use one more clinic, and one or two more layouts to visit in the afternoon. Got in touch with my SIL who is friend of my sister in Canandaigua, and she will be able to take care of my sister's cats on the days I will be out on trains at the Museum while sister is gone to the "Very Far" (Stan countries this time). About the only really impoortant thing I haven't gotten to around the property this summer is to seal the deck. Hope to get that done next week. Might even get a few sunny days in a row to help that along.....
"The best way out is always through." - Robert Frost
Hope everyone has a great day out there!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Ken great work on the A1C
Ulrich, I missed a page somewhere, welcome back
I've become a youtube junkie, watching 4 railcams at once. The can pan the one at Horseshoe curve all the way around. I'm not sure if they do it randomly or not. In any case, most of the time, they do not follow the trains.
In Ashland Va the trains go right down the center of the street, very common in small southern towns. I'm watching a guy in Berea railfanning pushing a very small stroller with a kid in it.
There's no real difference between people standing on the sidewalk in Ashland and this kid in the stroller 20 feet from the mainline, or the park at Horseshoe curve. For no logical reason, it seems riskier.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Good morning ...
Wow! ... There is so much activity since I posted the day before. Glad to see it.
First a favorite railroad photo I took. One of my favorites is one I took from the window in the rear door of an Amtrak train in Colorado. We were westbound, and I caught the locomotive of an eastbound train.
Next ..... Ulrich ! ...... I'm very excited to see you returned to the Diner . Your layout photos look fabulous. ....I'm sure Ray appreciates your kind remarks to him about his article in MR. He deserves a lot of praise for that. ...... If you still have more Hambug photos to post, it is okay with me if you include them this month. ... Sorry to hear health issues are still affecting you, and pray things improve for you. I hope Petra is doing well..... Cheers to you, Ulrich.
Ed ... I like the photo you posted with Penn Central diner in it.
Brent ..... You were talking about supplies in case of a major natural disaster such as an earthquake. ... In a natural disaster, we got by for 9 days without power, without county water, without land line phone , and without cell phone. That was in the 2009 Kentucky ice storm. Our road was completely blocked with fallen trees as was the case for all of the western half of KY. A large percentage of utility poles were broken. Some of the big steel power transmission towers were broken. Many people did not get power restored for 3 or 4 weeks. (Our 9 days could have been worse.) We did not have and did not need freeze dried food because the food we already had on hand was plenty. (I probably could have survived off of my own fat! LOL!). A normal supply of drinking water and soda pop was more than enough to live off of for the 9 days. We could have used a generator, and so we did get one later in case that happens again. We do have a gas fireplace, and that was enough to keep the inside of the house above freezing. .... In the day time, we sat next to windows and read books. I assembled an HO building kit next to a wondow, too.
We are supposed to be in Texas this month......... Here is an older photo of the Texas Zephyr meeting the Texas Special ...
Good morning!
Ulrich - Good to see you!!!! Very nice job on the layout work. It looks great! Hoping you get the new heater quickly.
JaBear - He knew I was there, as they were approaching I fired off a few test, er, "warning" shots ahead of them. So I also got a couple very nice shots of that ballast pile.... I like the color in the consist, almost looks like a proper one for around here lately.
Brent - Nice shots as well.
Jimmy - I really like the location of your shot. That is a very cool angle, and location.
Hello to any I missed, and all enjoy the day! I'm off to w*^k now.
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.
A late birthday present arrived today - a VW Beetle and the famous VW Karmann Ghia of the early 1960´s!
Both have already found their place on my layout.
Hey Ulrich!!!
Glad to see you posting again! Your work on the layout is excellent as usual.
Cheers my friend!
Outstanding job, Ulrich!
Wonderful to hear from you again
You and Petra are frequently in my thoughts. I do hope you find some peace and solace soon...
Brent requested some favorite photos...
Here's one of mine taken in 1970 as we roll east through Ohio, aboard a special excursion and pass the westbound No. 27, what's left of the Century's run. I always enjoyed seeing a member of the dining car crew "Lookin' em' over".
Note that I'm on heavyweight equipment and we have kerosene markers displayed
Welcome to the world of Catch 22, Jimmy. "Experience required" but if you don't hire me how do I get experience??
Can't get credit because you don't have a credit history. "How will I ever have a credit history if you don't give me credit?"
Both my sons went through a similar situation. I suggested they stop in to a larger chain-type furniture store and buy something relatively inexpensive, say $200-or-so on credit. The furniture store was willing to sign them up, so they could get the sale and the creditapplication put them on the radar.
If I recall, the balance was paid-off within the six-months or whatever and the interest was deducted.
Maybe something like this could help you out? Just a suggestion... Of course, maybe today, things are different.
Good Morning!
Well, look who´s here! The prodigal son is back! Not really, just a short stopover. I am still battling a number of health issues and others, which keep me from being back into a normal life. Until they are resolved, I have to run in a "protected" mode one could say, if I were a Windows computer.
I just received my October copy of MR and, hey, there is a great article in about a familiar looking octagonal structure, excellently written by a guy with a name which is also familiar to me. Congratulations, Ray!
Other than running the occasional train over my layout, I did a few jobs on it, the most noticeable being the painting of the backdrop. Although the job was done in a rather crude fashion, it did transform the look of the layout to the better. Just a couple of pics to show off a litttle
I also reworked the platform at the train station. My Preiser folks now don´t need to wade through the ballast to reach the train. Proper safety markings have also been made, using self-adhesive 1mm tape.
I have to say that this job was challenging - my right hand is already too shaky to get those lines fairly straight over a longer strtch. My attempt to do the road marking failed.
That´s all from this end. It´s fairly cold outside - and also inside, as our heater is not working properly. Our landlord needs to have a nerw heater installed, but I am afraid we will have to live with the cold for a while.
Back into hibernating or "protected" mode!
Blessings to all of you!