Howdy ....
Brent ... Thanks for sharing the videos.
Everybody : ... As I said a couple of days ago, we already put up the Christmas tree. Now, the Lionel train is set up beneath it. I just bought the Central Vermont boxcar. We have owned the rest of the trains for many years. (My wife's large collection of Hummel figurines is in the glass cabinet. )
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good Evening!
What a bad day! Not only did it rain all day long, but to add to my misery, I started to feel sick in my stomach. I didn´t eat any bad food or caught some bug, which could have caused this, so I guess I am starting to react to the permant stress we are subjected to. That´s not good!
Brent - thanks for the great vids!
Garry - love the trains, but I am more the old fashioned guy when it comes to putting up the tree. Mid of November is a little to early for me. In my family, the tree was put up and decorated during Christmas Eve and stayed until Jan. 6th. Our trees were real ones, so in those two weeks the tree had shed quite a sizable amount of its needles. We had a wreath, nicely decorated and with for big candles, though, to celebrate each of the 4 Advent Sundays prior to Christmas.
Just like last year, we won´t be putting up a tree. We hardly spend any time in our living room, so it would be a waste of money, as trees don´t come cheap. We will have a desk-sized artificial tree on my desk to provide a little Christmas spirit. I will put it up on Dec. 1st.
Oh, btw - the Christmas pickle ornament is not a German tradition
Zoe, could a have a mug of chamomilla tea, please?
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
More on the Christmas Pickle
The tradition of the Christmas Pickle has got to be one of the strangest modern Christmas customs, in that no one is quite sure why it exists at all! In the 1880s Woolworth stores started selling glass ornaments imported from Germany and some were in the shape of various fruit and vegetables. It seems that pickles must have been among the selection! Around the same time it was claimed that the Christmas Pickle was a very old German tradition and that the pickle was the last ornament hung on the Christmas tree and then the first child to find the pickle got an extra present. However, the claim that it's an old German tradition seems to be a total myth! Not many people in Germany have even heard of the Christmas Pickle! (Similarly in Russia virtually no one knows the supposedly Russian story of Babushka!) Some families now have the tradition of hanging the pickle on the tree, with the first person/child to find it getting a present. But it probably didn't start in Germany! There are two other rather far-fetched stories linking the pickle to Christmas. One features a fighter in the American Civil War who was born in Bavaria (an area of what is now Germany). He was a prisoner, and starving, he begged a guard for one last pickle before he died. The guard took pity on him and gave a pickle to him. The pickle gave him the mental and physical strength to live on! The other story is linked to St. Nicholas. It's a medieval tale of two Spanish boys traveling home from a boarding school for the holidays. When they stopped at an inn for the night, the evil innkeeper, killed the boys and put them in a pickle barrel. That evening, St. Nicholas stopped at the same inn, and found the boys in the barrel and miraculously bought them back to life! There is an old legend about St. Nicholas rescuing boys from a barrel but the barrel was originally holding meat for pies - not pickles! So it's most likely that an ornament salesmen, with a lot of spare pickles to sell, invented the legend of the Christmas Pickle! The American city of Berrien Springs, MI (also known as the Christmas Pickle Capital of the World) has an annual pickle festival held during the early part of Dece
In the 1880s Woolworth stores started selling glass ornaments imported from Germany and some were in the shape of various fruit and vegetables. It seems that pickles must have been among the selection!
Around the same time it was claimed that the Christmas Pickle was a very old German tradition and that the pickle was the last ornament hung on the Christmas tree and then the first child to find the pickle got an extra present.
However, the claim that it's an old German tradition seems to be a total myth! Not many people in Germany have even heard of the Christmas Pickle! (Similarly in Russia virtually no one knows the supposedly Russian story of Babushka!)
Some families now have the tradition of hanging the pickle on the tree, with the first person/child to find it getting a present. But it probably didn't start in Germany!
There are two other rather far-fetched stories linking the pickle to Christmas.
One features a fighter in the American Civil War who was born in Bavaria (an area of what is now Germany). He was a prisoner, and starving, he begged a guard for one last pickle before he died. The guard took pity on him and gave a pickle to him. The pickle gave him the mental and physical strength to live on!
The other story is linked to St. Nicholas. It's a medieval tale of two Spanish boys traveling home from a boarding school for the holidays. When they stopped at an inn for the night, the evil innkeeper, killed the boys and put them in a pickle barrel. That evening, St. Nicholas stopped at the same inn, and found the boys in the barrel and miraculously bought them back to life!
There is an old legend about St. Nicholas rescuing boys from a barrel but the barrel was originally holding meat for pies - not pickles!
So it's most likely that an ornament salesmen, with a lot of spare pickles to sell, invented the legend of the Christmas Pickle!
The American city of Berrien Springs, MI (also known as the Christmas Pickle Capital of the World) has an annual pickle festival held during the early part of Dece
When I first heard about the Christmas Pickle, I bursted out laughing. I have never seen such an ornament being sold here, nor have I ever heard about this rather odd custom. We have friends from all over Germany, but none of them know about a "Weihnachtsgurke".
Edit: Wikipedia tells me that this an American tradition
Tinplate Toddler When I first heard about the Christmas Pickle, I bursted out laughing. I have never seen such an ornament being sold here, nor have I ever heard about this rather odd custom. We have friends from all over Germany, but none of them know about a "Weihnachtsgurke". Edit: Wikipedia tells me that this an American tradition
I think it was thought up by a pickle ornament salesman.
The Christmas Pickle is as much a German tradition as the German Chocolate Cake is German. It was named after Samuel German, an English-American baker who supposedly invented Baker´s Chocolate in 1852. This chocolate became the main ingredient for a chocolate cake invented by one Mrs. George Clay in 1957, which she named "German´s Chocolate Cake", honoring the inventor of the chocolate she used.
Good evening diners,
Yesterday was Veterans Day and I forgot to stop by and thank the veterans here in the diner for their service, my hat goes off to you gentlemen, thank you.
I'll just nudge the jukebox.
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
hey now, the pickle is the best ornament on the tree :P
-Dan
Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site
Hey guys, hows this?
I got the font to not come out wonky after processing.
Good evening all.
Chloe - I will take that RBF from Ken. Thanks! (And thank you Ken!)
Weather - Little Tidbit of the day - Today, November 12th, is the day that, Erie Pa set a odd weather record. It was clear back in 1911, and it is very unique. They set the record low temperature for the day, 11/12, in Erie at 18F. This record, from 1911 still stands.
Remember, 11/12/1911 is the record low temp holder for Erie, at 18F.
They also set the record high temp for Erie for this date, 11/12, that day, in 1911, with a daytime high of 71F.
Coincidentally, That record also still stands....
So, the record low temperature in Erie Pa for 11/12 is 18F set on 11/12/1911.
The record high temperature in Erie Pa for 11/12 is 71F set on 11/12/1911.
Yep.... I choose to live in, arguably, the strangest weather location known to man....
And, now, when you want to impress someone with useless knowledge, you have some ammo.
Other news - The creator of Spider-man, Iron Man, and many others, Stan Lee, has died... A super hero to super hero's found a nemesis he couldn't beat.
W*^k - They goofed up on a sign, and asked me why I hadn't hung it. (It says we will be doing something, that we won't be doing.) So, I answered that the signage is not quite correct, and, therefore, is not hanging.
I was then asked, why I don't just explain it to customers when I am asked, and hang it anyways.
My answer, quite matter-of-fact style, was that I simply do not get paid enough to have that argument every day for the next week and a half.
Yeah, I'm not going to be explaining to my customers that, even though the sign says this, we (and I by rule) will actually be doing that instead... It just isn't worth the hassle.
And, though I may not post all the time, I at least peek through the windows to see who is sitting down as I wander by.... So hello to any I missed.
Hope all are well, and all have a good day.
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.
Eveing Diners
Flo, give the gang and I a and Ed a Royal Crown! Give Rick another RBF if he needs a refill!
ricktrains4824W*^k - They goofed up on a sign, and asked me why I hadn't hung it. (It says we will be doing something, that we won't be doing.) So, I answered that the signage is not quite correct, and, therefore, is not hanging. I was then asked, why I don't just explain it to customers when I am asked, and hang it anyways. My answer, quite matter-of-fact style, was that I simply do not get paid enough to have that argument every day for the next week and a half.
Rick I had that kind of day my self. Spent the day with Nancy the owner lying and idiot wife. She made me hang up posters of old sales we could no longer give the customer? Told her Nancy we cannot offer this any longer! She said No one reads them so just hang it up. I asked If no one reads them why hang it up in the first places.
Ed really enjoyed talking with you again tonight! When I make it to Ohio you may not beable to get me out of your potting shed caboose! Funny we both happen to be running Erie Bulit at the same time! First time I smiled all day I will add.
Later Ken
I hate Rust
Hello, Folks
The snow is just beginning here at 0330 Tuesday. I don't have the blower mounted to the tractor just yet but I'm at least a consistent procrastinator. I didn't expect the lows to be down SO low so I had some freezing of the water pipes in the caboose. So far, the only real damage I see is the split housing on the filter. Hopefully that's all. It was supposed to only go to 30° (-1) night before last but when I went to the rack it was 21° (-6)! Caught me a little short. I usually have the water lines blown out by now
cudakenEd really enjoyed talking with you again tonight! When I make it to Ohio you may not beable to get me out of your potting shed caboose! Funny we both happen to be running Erie Bulit at the same time! First time I smiled all day I will add.
I really enjoyed the conversation too, Ken we covered a lot of ground and didn't even get into politics! We stuck with Cadillacs, muscle cars, trains and, of course, how to keep those women in our lives happy (and preoccupied), so we can play with Trains!
Speaking of ErieBuilts:
NYC_Erieblt by Edmund, on Flickr
And I had an A-B set of C-Liners running, too. I just put Loksound decoders in these. They took off with a sixty-four car train like nobody's business. I have the other A unid getting loaded with a new sound file as I type. These old Proto 1000s run like thoroughbreds and pull like mules.
NYC_Cliner by Edmund, on Flickr
I hope everyone is well these days. Haven't heard from Track Fiddler in a week or so? Wonder if he's OK?
I hope, too, that those folks in California get some relief soon. Such a tragedy.
Well, that's all that's going on in Ohio these days, Back soon...
Ed
Lunchtime!
I just finished off a plate of mashed potatoes, red cabbage and spam, all of which were leftovers from previous meals. I am looking forward to some freshly cooked things coming up now.
The weather is just as bad as you can imagine. Lots of wind and lots of rain. Add to that the leaves being blown about your face and any time you´d planned to spend outside is immediately reduced to the minimum.
Things are getting uglier here day by day, but I try not to get let down by this. My animalistic instincts tell me to get out of here asap, but we just down have the means and tools to do this - yet. If we had the means to buy a small piece of property and put a 800 sqft. log cabin on it, that´d be heaven!I doubt that the roughly $15k we can scratch up in an orderly retreat by selling our marketable worldly possessions would suffice.
Well, at least dreaming of freedom doesn´t cost anything!
Mornin' guys!
Flo, I'll have coffee - strong and black today ...
Steven - Not a bad color scheme, though the font looks a little too "1980s computer company", rather than "railroad company" -- but maybe that's just because I vaguely remember the greenbar days .
Ulrich - Have you spoken to one of the consulate offices already? If not, it may be a good idea ... at the very least, perhaps get some answers you seem to be needing.
Good Morning,
I will have a waffle and greasy hashbrowns.
We had our first Sn*w this morning, not much but enought to turn the ground white. Mrs MLC thought I was lying about snow, but she saw it for herself.
Steven, your logo does look kind of 1980's computer company.
I need to get some Christmas pickle ornaments for my office cube. We have a co worker who hates pickles. We got him a "yodelling pickle" one year. The Dollar Tree had pickle ornaments last year I need to load up.
Just Google yodelling pickle if you want to see one.
Friday we go to Nashvegas ( Nashville) to pick up some new furry freinds. We are adopting new guinea pigs to add to our current ones. We have been trying to figure out names and I was told train names are out..... (sigh)
Another winter storm is supposed to track through here Wed into Thursday I have a feeling that it is going to dump some snow.
Rick and Ken, I know all about " just hang the sign" and then they are not the person who has to beat the customers off when the sign is wrong.
Well enough rabmling for now I guess I better pretend I am working.
moelarrycurly4We got him a "yodelling pickle" one year.
Ouch
Dan - we have the info on what conditions must be fulfilled to be accepted and are building up the necessary documentation. We also have info on what kind of support we may get, so that side is pretty much covered. Nevertheless, we need more funds to cover the time it would take to settle in.
Ulrich, that sounds like a pretty good place to be in -- sure, money is always a worry, but you know it's still possible to get over here (rather than being given a flat 'no' by the consulate).
It's probably a small consolation, but don't forget that the US was built on nothing more than a faint glimmer of hope, and hard work...
Never hear of a Christmas pickle until it was mentioned here. It immediately brings Arlo Guthrie's song, I Don't Want a Pickle to mind.
Walked into my LHS and saw the unbelievable. A guy walked in and said he bought a Bachmann trainset at another hobby store a month ago and it stopped running. He seemed clueless about the warranty card included in the trainset.
The owner opened a new train set with the the same BNSF engine, tested it on the test track and handed it to him and said "we will take care of it"
The guy said he drove 60 miles, because the original hobby store refused to help him and he would purchasing all his future supplies at this store that helped him out.
I am building a wooden loading dock. It's my first completely scratch wood structure.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
NeO6874Steven - Not a bad color scheme, though the font looks a little too "1980s computer company", rather than "railroad company" -- but maybe that's just because I vaguely remember the greenbar days
Hey! That's where I get the connection, too. Remember the "Sperry-Rand" logo of the early '80s?
So, while "doing the Google" for the Sperry logo I stumbled across a site you may find helpful, Steven.
https://www.logolynx.com/
I guess it is a "logo database" for corporations to use so as not to infringe on another registered design.
It may be handy for you to browse some of the different designs. For instance, I clicked on this category and found all kinds of distinctive logo ideas:
https://www.logolynx.com/topic/railway
You just might stumble on something that you like.
Good morning, everyone, from a wet and snowy NE Ohio.
Cheers, Ed
BigDaddy Never hear of a Christmas pickle until it was mentioned here. It immediately brings Arlo Guthrie's song, I Don't Want a Pickle to mind. Walked into my LHS and saw the unbelievable. A guy walked in and said he bought a Bachmann trainset at another hobby store a month ago and it stopped running. He seemed clueless about the warranty card included in the trainset. The owner opened a new train set with the the same BNSF engine, tested it on the test track and handed it to him and said "we will take care of it" The guy said he drove 60 miles, because the original hobby store refused to help him and he would purchasing all his future supplies at this store that helped him out. I am building a wooden loading dock. It's my first completely scratch wood structure.
Now there is customer service.
Ed, I was ... uh ... just old enough to use those old green-on-black terminals at MHR library in the early 1990s. So, don't remember much about specific companies, unless they're nintendo or atari or something.
Flo, give the gang and I a please.
Reason for the , I should have stayed at work! It was Peacful and Proitable. One customer all day and made a extra $55.00.
Train / Bird Front. Got home and went in the garage and saw a B&O freight car on it side, hum that seemed odd. Maybe I bumped the layout last night? Came back out and it seemed I had 6 rolling stock on there side? Then I saw the sucker! Some how a Sparrow got in the garage and dive bomb the layout! So far I have not found any bird droppings but neither a less it attacked! Of corse it was in the hardest part of the layout to reach!
Captial One Credit Card. They have tighten up there security on line. When I try to sighn on I have to have them.
1 E Mail a code
2 Call me at home
3 Text me a code.
Well my E-Mail not working, I don't text so I have them call me on the land line. Not tonight! Seems I left the cordless phone off the hook last night and it was dead. Long story made short, when I called they could not understand why I did not know my cell phone number and why I did not text?
Ed I love Proto 1000 engines! Turly under rated engines.
Later, Ken
Knocked out my loading dock in one day.
My 90 year old mother is refusing physical therapy. She does nothing but watch TV and walk down the hall for 3 meals a day and we are trying to keep her out of a walker. She needs work on her strength and balance, but she doesn't think so.
Howdy .....
I am spending only a little time on my coal mine project for the layout..... A lot of other stuff going on.
I visited train friend in the hospital Monday. It is Dan, the guy who has cancer.
Yesterday, we attended a funeral in Tennessee.
I'm leaving in a few minutes for another costly dental appointment.
More and more other stuff..... I just want to work on the layout.
..
Henry ..... your loading dock looks outstanding. ... With my mother, my sisters and I had similar experiences as she lived to 96.
Ed .... I like your NYC FM Erie Builts...... I have a Santa Fe ABA set on the layout now. Cheers, everybody ...
MLC.... You mentioned a Christmas Pickle celbration in the "American city of Berrien Springs" , MI... I used to vist there years ago when my sister lived there for a while. .... It is not much of a city. .. It is a small town, and I never heard about any Christmas pickles when I was there.... They did have a small greasy spoon restaurant where they served road kill pizza to die for literally. LOL
The reason our Christmas tree is up early this year is becasue we will celebrate Christmas early for some of the family members who will be visiting here next week for Thanksgiving...
Cheers !
Well, tomorrow is my heart procedure day. Wish me luck.
My GF got stuck with her Dad's cat after he passed away. She has a big dog and a small cat herself, and didn't want this new cat, who is not people friendly.
Anyway, we haven't seen the cat for a couple of days now. He hasn't touched food, either. He's overweight, but this can't go on forever. We haven't heard him. He may have crawled somewhere to die, but we can't find him anywhere. Or, he may have snuck out and run away. That's my guess.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
On a brighter note, we were looking for the cat and I found an old Tyco train set under a bed. It's still in its original box and has never been used. It's set number 7311 and it looks like it dates from the early 70s. eBay dealers are asking $80-100 for similar sets.
MisterBeasleyWell, tomorrow is my heart procedure day. Wish me luck.
I'm wishing you luck, Mr. B, but I'm also passing a little luck on to your surgeon, too.
We have a local "stray" that has been visiting (begging) us for the past six or seven years. I remember seeing him in early June and he hasn't been around since — until just last night! Twenty degrees outside and he came around asking for his bowl of gruel. I thought for sure he had been hit by a car or grabbed by the fox but, sure enough, there he was.
Did GF's dad live far away? I have heard of cats travelling miles to return to their "stomping ground".
Anyway, I wish you well, and your girlfriend and cat, too!
Found the cat, hiding in the basement by the furnace. He still wouldn't come out but we gave him some food.
Good luck, Mr. B!!
Terry
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
Sometimes I love computer then I hate them. Tonight I hate them. My Mortgage Company changed there website and when I tried to log say 4 times it lokced up my computer! At one point I had to crash the computer to get on line. Never did get the house payment made.
Wife thinks there is a new Ice Age coming Thursday. Weather guessers are calling for 4" to 9" on snow in are county. If we get 9" that is a lot for us, 4" well it will be just pretty as far as I am concern.