Good Evening All,
Just home taking it easy tonight. Fantastic progress Ken. Sorry to hear about all the health issues. Mine was easy with outpatient skin cancer removal and a graft about which I find out results tomorrow.
Steve O - I like mac too but more with cheese and lobster.
To tweak SteveO some more, we have to remember that railroads matured during the age of robber barons and everything for sale. The turmoil went on well into the next century. My favourite, The New Haven was owned by the infamous J.P.Morgan and went bankrupt multiple times for multiple reasons before being stitched into the NYC PRR merger which also turned out badly. The regulatory climate in the country was stacked against the roads for quite some time to the point that many were forced to merge or sell. I don't carry animosity against any one or any thing though it would have been nice to have more passenger service to more places more often survive.
Nice weather today, 70's and sunny. I have crews at Lime Rock and Laguna Seca this weekend but I'm on limited duty so no track. No layout either as the doc says ai need to stay off my feet for a few.
Back to Utah. Cheers, J.R.
Top of the page - dinners are on me. I'd like a nice steak maybe a New York strip with mushrooms and onions and a baked potato on the side with some mixed veggies. Since it's all virtua, no issue with my rocks and dirt diet.
Hey guys, I had my interview today and I got the job, 9 dollars an hour with possibility to move up to 10-11 dollars, at near full time.
So I have now gotten not one but two jobs all on my own!
As far as my mother's back, yes the first doctor was going to do a spinal fusion after three to four spinal injections, the second doctor thought spinal fusion would greatly restrict her and cause more pain.
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
mbinsewi. . . I read that Crown Burgers are big in Utah. . .
Yes, they are. Tough to get into a Crown Burger anytime around lunch. A big ol' patty of beef, a pile of pastrami, and cheese. You can feel your arteries closing up as you eat one. And, if you look closely, that is a cup of fry sauce in the front of the picture.
While I no longer live in Utah, my roots there run deep. My ancestors were some of the early settlers north of Salt Lake City. My grandfather was a brakeman for UP for a few years. (Grandpa had a number of jobs before homesteading and farming in Idaho.)
BTW, my profile picture is from the railroad museum in Ogden. The RR museum shares the space with a car museum and the Browning museum. If you are a fan of old firearms, it is an amazing place to visit.
Richard
Hello Diners,
Hey, what did the UP ever do to any of you guys! (mock indignation)
I grew up near UP trackage and when I was fresh out of high school I worked for the UP for a month as a section hand. Second hardest work I've ever done. So, it has always been my favorite road with SP a close second.
Seriously, though, what other road had the big boys and challengers. What other road had those monstrous turbines Or the 4-12-2. And if I remember correctly, the UP was the first to restore big steam, with 844.
A lot of roads had unique things, all very interesting and likable.
Ray: sorry for the loss of your kitty. I understand it's like losing a family member.
Ken: Keep up with the effort to quit. We're all rooting for you. BTW, I was on I-270 just last week. I know you mentioned K10s and had I known it was so close to the freeway, we might have tried to find it. I was thinking it was closer to Belleville.
Hello to everyone, and I hope everyone is OK, safe, and warm.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
Howdy ...
Jim... you can blame me for starting the razzing about UP. Actually, I was only teasing our good friend Ed because he said he wanted to ride on a UP train instead of riding with other Diners on the California Zephyr. Of course, it was all imaginary train riding and good natured kidding. Like I said to Ken I only razz people who I like. ... The conversations evolved from there. Nobody was serious about being anti-UP.
Richard... Thanks for telling about the Ogden Museum. We are planning to see the railroad exhibits. It will also be good seeing the others .
My wife and I will be in Utah next week with friends. Seeing the Big Boy will be a highlight for sure. We will also have a short side trip into Idaho. Until now, Utah and Idaho are the only two states I have not been in. So, I will have been in all 50 states during my lifetime after this trip is completed.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Heartland Division CB&Q. . .Until now, Utah and Idaho are the only two states I have been in. So, I will have been in all 50 states during my lifetime after this trip is completed.
What is the destination in Idaho? Idaho was where my grandfather homesteaded and where my son currently resides. (Interestingly enough, they are both named Thomas.)
Eveing Diners
Flo, give the gang a I take a Keg of Beer and leave a stein outside for Ulrich.
Work / Smoking Front. Today all most broke my will power! I won't go into all the details but a big stress was my check machine derailed! Nothing like have a 75 year old woman on a walker waiting 25 minutes while I dealed with a automated phone system from hades till I get to someone in India I cannot understand and said are Machine was canceled in 3013? Hum, it is now 2019 so we should still have 994 years left? I just hung up, called the main store and got permission to deposit the check.
Next customer was all so a challenge. It was a good but drawen out sale. Funny part we had both been Military Policeman while in the Army. Over all it took 3 hours but he spent $4000.00 dollars.
gmpullmanI'll dust her off alright, just be sure you want the Chessie Steam Special paint. You might get tired of seeing that big kitty-kat on the tender all the time
Ed Ok, now I need a cigarette, or maybe a one hitter!
Day 2 and couniting Ken
I hate Rust
Richard. ... when planning the trip , one thought was to go through part of Idaho to get to Montana. However , we won’t have enough days for that . .. We would like to see Idaho scenery close to Utah. One idea is Shoshone Falls. ... In SLC , we might try that burger place .
Jim, I can understand your attachment to the yellow things, but as a fan of the NP and SP&S, significant competitors to the yellow thing, I have a slight resentment of the yellow stuff.
Also at the NP/SP&S we had Yellowstones, which got very close to the size of a big boy 10 years earlier. We also have some equally good 4-6-6-4s (FYI NP/SP&S don’t use the term challenger, thats a UP term, we say Z-6, Z-7, or Z-8). And while UP never retired their number 844 Northern, up north on the NP we invented the 4-8-4 (hence the name ”Northern”, derived from Northern Pacific)
In all truthfulness you can like the UP if you want, I don’t have a problem, as long as you like trains! Just agnowledging a rivalry.
Regards, Isaac
I model my railroad and you model yours! I model my way and you model yours!
Good morning, everyone. It's cool and cloudy this morning -- may rain later.
I'm not walking this morning. Woke up very dizzy. Almost fell over or walked into the wall several times. I think I'll just sit and watch TV for a while.
Garry
Heartland Division CB&Q Until now, Utah and Idaho are the only two states I have not been in. So, I will have been in all 50 states during my lifetime after this trip is completed.
That's something I've always wanted to do. I still have some New England states and Hawaii to see. The northeast states will be next, but I may never make Hawaii. I just have never been interested in going there, but my wife wants to go, so it may happen unless she goes after I die.
Ken -- "Day 2 and couniting" Great! Keep at it. You have a lot of friends here cheering you on.
Richard -- "Yes, they are. Tough to get into a Crown Burger anytime around lunch."
I've had In-N-Out burgers, and What-A-Burger, and a bunch of others, but I've never had a Crown Burger. Are they strictly a Salt Lake City chain?
In New Orleans, we had the ultimate burger place - Bud's Broiler - that many locals swore by. The old City Park Ave Bud's Broiler had greasy walls, dirty floor, and broken tables, but the dressed burgers with lots of smoke sauce were great.
Steven Congratulations on your new job. They probably recognized you are a hard worker who wants to do well. That makes you stand out from some others your age today.
I'm a UP modeler and UP lover, and I'm not offended at all by the jokes. I know that when you're the best, you have to tolerate all the minor railroads taking their shots at you.
With that, I'll leave and hope all of you have a great day. I wish I was in Salt Lake City Saturday!
York1 John
I asked my doctor if I gave up delicious food and all alcohol, would I live longer? He said, "No, but it will seem longer."
Morning, folks.
Zoe... I'll take a coffee to go, please. Gotta lotta stuff to do today.
Ken - So far so good, and keep it up. Like York said, I know everyone here will have a word of encouragement if you need it. I've seen how difficult quitting can be thanks to several members of my family, but keep with it.
Steven - I'd also like to offer my congrats on the new job. Nothing wrong with hard work, but remember to allow for some "me" time. All work and no play, after all...
Gotta admit those In-N-Out burgers look fantastic. Might be an artery clogger, but there are worse ways to go. We just got Chick-fil-A up here and they've been slammed since they opened. I can't argue about their stuff being tasty, but I don't see what all the hype is really about.
And speaking of yellow things, there are some new vids on YouTube of 4014 out and about for trials under her own power. The beast is well and truly back now. She's due into Laramie tomorrow about 12:30 MT, and I for one will be keeping an eye on the Laramie railfan cams.
- Adam
When all else fails, wing it!
I dunno why a discussion of the old robber barons would be "tweaking" me.
Congratulations on Day 2, Ken! Think of this as your transition era away from coal-burners. You're not quitting, you're dropping fire.
Anti-UP sentiment is just like any other kind of prejudice. You don't need it if you're secure in your own self.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Steven OtteAnti-UP sentiment is just like any other kind of prejudice. You don't need it if you're secure in your own self.
Amen to that Steven!
Heading out for my morning 4 mile walk/run.
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Good morning ..
Coffee and a donut, please.
I posted a couple of photos of work in progress with my coal mine project in Weekend Photo Fun. .... If you are interested, you can look there.
The conversations about UP bring back memories of the 1960's when I saw the UP in action in NB and WY in the 1960's. I saw one of the huge turbines and some big 8-axle diesels. Impressive.
Of course, UP is the only railroad going to Salt Lake City today.
NWP-SWP .... Congratulations on the new job.
Lonehawk..... I like Chick-Fil-A too. I can't comment about the controversy other than to say none of the complaints about them is valid. I think they are victims of misinformation in social media.
Have a nice day, everybody.
York1. . . I've never had a Crown Burger. Are they strictly a Salt Lake City chain? . . .
Yes. There are 7 locations in the greater SLC area.
NWP SWPHey guys, I had my interview today and I got the job, 9 dollars an hour with possibility to move up to 10-11 dollars, at near full time.
Congratulations Steven!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Good Morning All,
Just a coffee regular please Zoe
Second day of staying off my feet and keeping my leg elevated. Doc will take the dressing off later today for a look at how it went so I'm optomistic. No pain from the surgery site or where the graft came from so I'm happy about that.
If I get clearance, I will see if I can spend some time doing more ballast and paving around the backshop/turntable area. I want to try some pave it around the backshop which I will lay over very thin corrugated cardboard I acquired some time ago. I hope that way I can scribe lines in the concrete and the carboard beneath will move enough to allow cracks when the plaster is pushed on after setting up. I plan on trying a test piece off the layout first.
Hang in there Ken. Stress and fustration are hard to ignore. At one point when I was still doing a lot of long distance driving, I bought a whole bags of baby carrots and chomped them down. Anything to keep from getting a cigarette or cigar out.
Nice going Steven. Two jobs and both on your own. Won't go into my Wally Mart diatribe but I have to say I agree with your mom. Not a good career move if other options present themselves. The lady who cooks for us at the track used to be a Micky Dees manager and she pushed all her kids to finish school, apply for college and got as many as she could scholarship help. She grew up upstate in the next town over from Ray then moved to Rochester for what that's worth.
Utah may be a quiet month before the ceremony, eh? I've driven through multiple times but never really spent any time there. We used to run at Miller Motorsport Park outside Salt Lake but I never went on any of those trips as I was needed elsewhere at the time.
Catch Y'all Later. Cheers, J.R.
Steven OtteYou don't need it if you're secure in your own self.
But we do want to maintain a fair and impartial atmosphere in the forums, yes?
NYC_brass-oval-sm by Edmund, on Flickr
There are probably more keystones on my layout than ovals! And I began life as a New York Central fan (I've done my share of good-natured PRR bashing in my day)
Cheers, Ed
Good Afternoon,
I'm a little tired today as I spent all yesterday afternoon raking the front yard. I have an odd looking rake for raking grass thatch. It was purchased in the '70s and I've never seen another. It does work well but takes a fair bit of effort. It was all worthwhile as it rained overnight.
I've never seen UP so can't join that discussion. It is unlikely I ever will so this month's location is interesting to me.
As far as local burgers go we have a chain in Winnipeg called Salisbury House that does a nice burger. They don't have any take out locations and cook all the burgers on a grill where you can see what they do. The burgers are good and feature buns that are baked by Salisbury House. When we were on the trip to Africa I had the best tasting burger I've ever had at an hotel in Victoria Falls. Don't know all that was in it but it had some sort of tomato jam that really tasted good. I doubt I'll ever have another as it is a little far to go for a burger.
Well time to get rolling,
CN Charlie
Evenin' diners!
Today was do stupid stuff that I knew better than to do and drive over to "Urgent Care" around the corner from where I live day.
Started off well.... Sent a nice message to a lady I have been chatting with on the Silver Singles Site and then went over to the Field House for my morning walk/run. Put in 23 laps to get a bit over the 10,000 steps I like to have before leaving. About 3 of those 23 laps were indeed running although only about 1/4 to 1/3rd lap at a time (total running was around 3 laps). Came home and decided I wanted to get the wood from a small tree I took down with my tiny little B&D Battery powered chain saw yesterday over to my son's house to give him a bit more wood for his stove next winter. I wanted to cut up some of the very small stuff to take a box of kindling material over as well. So..... Since my nice thick leather gloves were in the car from when I loaded the main part of the tree into the Volt last night. I decided to work bare handed.... Now I know better to use a chain saw of any kind that way. I used to be certified in First Aid and have been trained in safety by the Scouts, The R&GV RR Museum, other places, and just should be smart enough to know...
Picked up a branch that had a smaller branch coming off it holding the main branch about 10 inches above where I cut. Little tiny chain saw decided to buck on me, flipped up and nailed my hand on the side holding the branch. Didn't bleed terribly but looked like a nice deep cut, so I bandaged it up and went over to "Urgent Care". Signed in... Lady looked at me after I gave her all the wanted ID and asked if she could take a new photo of my for the file (as I don't look at all like the one they have). I thanked her profussly for the compliment....!
Got in and a Nurse looked at the wound, said the good news is that I wouldn't need stiches. You know, I had forgotten just how bad Betadine Solution stings when poured over an open wound!!!! She did that 3 times and then had me soak my hand in the tray where the betadine and water used to wash the wound was for about 3 minutes until the Physicians Asst. came in to do the glueing of the wound and final bandaging.
I can't remove the bandage for 48 hours and then have to put on another bandage after that. Can't get my hand wet either until after 48 hours. I will have to figure out how to shower tomorrow morning......
Hope you have had a better day!
cudaken Day 2 and couniting Ken
I quit November 26, 2016.
Just this morning I had THE biggest craving. Don't know why.
A back-slide isn't the end of the world. Took me a long time to get to 2 and a half packs a day, long time to quit.
Proud of ya, Buddy!1
Terry
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
Ray you have all your fingers, so it could have been worse.
I have seen worse, not from a chainsaw, but some sort of industrial grain grinder.
The last 2 mornings I have been crawling around my uninsulated garage attic, with a 4 gal shop vac, a couple of 1x4s vacuuming up mouse guano. In one corner they had a nest with a pile of attic insulation. Underneath they had scratched or chewed almost all the way through the drywall.
There was enough construction debris and wood chips from the roofers that I had to clean out the shop vac 20 times. I have a sense of accomplishment, but boy am I sore.
No MR news.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
BigDaddyRay you have all your fingers, so it could have been worse.
I'll second that! There are people missing fingers, hands, or worse when a chain saw kicks back.
My saw has an instant stop when it kicks back, but that didn't stop me from cutting my shoe when I got careless.
Be very thankful!
Flo, give the gang and I a and leave a stein outside for Ulrich.
Day 3 and it is going well. I no longer crave a cigarette while driving, did not want a cigarette while I paid my bills! These two things are a big deal to me. Ash tray is off the desk put there is a pack of cigarette with in arm reach. Reason? Well I don't want to feel deprived of them, that would make me want them more. I know that may sound strange but that is how my mind works.
Ray Sorry to hear about your hand. I now do no yard work with out my gloves. As I get older my skin has lost a lot of it's elasticity and it takes nothing to cut skin. With the blood thinners I take, I look like I have been bayoneted.
Ed Does the Kitty Cat need a liter box, or can it use a ash pit instead?
Later, Ken
York1My saw has an instant stop when it kicks back, but that didn't stop me from cutting my shoe when I got careless.
Yep... All the newish ones do, even the little battery one I still have. Doesn't work though if you only have one hand on the saw..... Duh!!! In fact I'm not even sure there is a good place on it to hold on with both hands, but it does have a brake. My old Pro level Sachs-Dolmar 16" one you had better hold on with both hands. No brainer with that one. That is now out at the Museum doing service. I had no use for it when I got rid of my wood stove a few years back. Cut a lot of wood that old girl. That is one reason I'm ticked at myself for being stupid today! I know better. And yes, it could have been a whole lot worse. I was embarassed to just tell the folks at the Urgent Care Center how I did it. Dumb!
I have one of those B&D saws, I no longer use. RPM's are way to slow, and the teeth on the chain are way too far apart, and the old style 18v. batteries are way too expensive.
I have a couple of Stihl chains saws at out place in the North woods of WI., now those are chain saws.
For our misc. cutting, that usually the wifey handles, I bought her a new electric.
Glad your injuries weren't worse! and that heavy battery make them not so easy to hold on to with one hand, and have control.
Mike.
My You Tube
Morning folks,
Almost afternoon actually.
Today is my brothers birthday, he is 15.
Thanks everyone for the congrats on the new job, my only concern is having to be there at 6:30 am, I'm not a morning person by any means but last night I just sat bolt upright in bed wide awake at 5 am, which is about the time I figured I'd have to get up each day, so I'm pretty sure I can transition, with the help of much coffee!
Later!
NWP SWPMorning folks, Almost afternoon actually.
Steven, we are in the same time zone, and it's almost 9 pm ?
You must have did this earlier and saved it, for posting?
Happy Birthday to your brother.
Yeah Mike I had typed it before work but the MR site wouldn't let me post, so I copied it for later and finally posted it on my way home, I'm tired, had to highlight over 400 pages worth of new hire paperwork so my brain has been on autopilot for the past few hours!
And yeah I'm in central timezone.
Ray ... I’m sorry you had an injury, but I’m glad it was not worse .
NWP SWP .. Good to hear your job is going well . Getting up early for it is good for you .
Based on Ray’s mishap, it is again time to think about safety while using tools. Always protect yourself especially your eyes.