Hi, all! Raining here again. There were some tornado touch downs south of me last night.
The ops session was a huge success this last Sunday!! Zero derailments and no loco hesitations! There were 6 guys amd me here, I mostly ran around and worried. I shouldn't have.
Two of the operators turned out to be some guys that are , ahem, well known. I did not know they were attending. Their layouts have been published in more than one well-known magazines, and they operate on some VERY(VERY) well known layouts around the country. I was overwhelmed, to say the least! These guys know their stuff.
The short version is I did good!! They want to come back and gave some amazingly good constructive criticsm to make the layout even better. Nothing major, just add some panels here, flip these turnouts there and add some train instructions. I was asked to do the scenery on one guy's layout!! You would know of him!! I could not believe it. Kinda felt like a Bar band meeting Eric Clapton. Ha! I was extended an open invitation to any of their Ops sessions, and I will definitely go! One attendee offered to put me in touch with a guy whose by-line you would recognize for a potential article in our host's publication. We'll see. I don't think it's quite there yet, but they certainly did. It really was quite amazing!!
I apologize for " tootin' my own horn". But it WAS pretty cool!
Glad you are doing better, Garry!! Prayer works.
Terry
Top of page! Dinner is on me.
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
RideOnRoadRemember these?
Mine was way better than that, everyone needs a steering wheel and an abacus
Terry great news. Anonymous sources would tell us who "they" were.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
gmpullmanImagine having one in HO on your layout?
Hi Ed,
When I was first exploring the possibility of building my own layout many years ago I naively thought that it would be nice to have an operating model of the Manitoulin swing bridge. I made a drawing of the bridge in HO scale and I quickly realized that, unless I won the lottery and was able to buy a house with a much bigger layout room, building the bridge was a pipe dream! The bridge alone spanned more than six feet and the approaches would have almost doubled that. Scaling the bridge down just didn't work. The proportions were all wrong. I didn't bother to calculate how much brass stock would be required.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critterThe bridge alone spanned more than six feet and the approaches would have almost doubled that.
Ah, yes, Dave. The moment when that grim reality sets in for many modelers. I bought (but never recieved) a resin kit of the Edmund Fitzgerald thinking it would look nice alongside my Huletts. She would have been nine and a half feet in HO
Speaking of neat bridges, I got to ride across the Mighty Mississippi in Cuda Ken's neck of the woods some years back:
The Mac Arthur bridge has an interesting history, and a l o n g approach trestle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Bridge_(St._Louis)
Cheers, Ed
Near the city of Rendsburg in Northern Germany, the railroad line to the posh seaside resort Sylt crosses the Kile Canal, which connects the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. It is quite a sight to see a train passing over an ocean liner!
A cable car ferrying cars over the canal is suspended under the bridge.
The bridge was built in 1911 and is 2,485m long and 68m high.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Tinplate ToddlerIt is quite a sight to see a train passing over an ocean liner!
At least that ocean liner looks like an ocean liner (love that prow!). I'm unsettled by these cruise ship "things" that look like an office building turned on its side.
I think those cable-ferries are neat. I posted a video of the Tees Transporter Bridge a week or so back. What a clever concept
saronaterry I apologize for " tootin' my own horn". But it WAS pretty cool!
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
gmpullmanAt least that ocean liner looks like an ocean liner (love that prow!). I'm unsettled by these cruise ship "things" that look like an office building turned on its side.
I never understood why people living in high-rise condos go on cruises in "ships" which more or less look like the building they live in. I don´t understand why people go on cruises at all - I´d be bored to death on these boats!
Tinplate Toddler gmpullman At least that ocean liner looks like an ocean liner (love that prow!). I'm unsettled by these cruise ship "things" that look like an office building turned on its side. I never understood why people living in high-rise condos go on cruises in "ships" which more or less look like the building they live in. I don´t understand why people go on cruises at all - I´d be bored to death on these boats!
gmpullman At least that ocean liner looks like an ocean liner (love that prow!). I'm unsettled by these cruise ship "things" that look like an office building turned on its side.
A Cruse ship, yes I wood be board!
I have been thinking of traveling on a freighter. Plenty of time to read, and write, and sleep, withot being bothered with all of those parties booze and noise.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Good Morning All,
A regular coffee and a sausage egg and cheese sandwich please Zoe. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel this morning - hope it is not an oncoming train.
Ulrich - I think a lot of the attraction of the cruise ships is the wish to go somewhere and just not have to do any w**k. There are enough distractions to keep you busy if you want and enough time to just kick back and decompress if that suits you better. Here most of the lines are also pushing the tours of the places they make port so you can sight see and wander around. I for one only use ships to get from point A to point B (ferry to the Bahamas - ferry to Nova Scotia) having had quite enough of cruises where you had to dress funny and all the ships were painted gray.
No progress on the layout to report but I have gotten the high tension towers assembled to the point where I can paint them. Having looked at transmission lines on the last trip I can see where I have to make some mods to the insulators supplied with the towers to make things more plausible. Thinking I will buzz some insulators up with the lathe here at the shop and see how that looks. Instead of all of them hanging straight down, doubles are used in a horizontal plane where directions change or just to relieve strain with the wire in a half loop in between. Should be easy enough if I can turn the isolators in aluminum and then bend and paint as needed.
All for now, the shop awaits. Ciao, J.R.
J.R. - in my better days, I used to charter a small seagoing vessel with a couple of like-minded friends to enjoy "sailing the seven seas" and exercise our seamanship. My place would be on the bridge, but not in any library, bar or onboard shopping mall or theater. I had the "pleasure" of traveling from Southampton to NY onboard the Queen Mary II and was bored after a few hours after we had embarked. Something like the following is much more to my liking.
saronaterry I apologize for " tootin' my own horn". But it WAS pretty cool! Toot by Bear, on Flickr “Prior preparation prevents poor performance.” ― James Baker Thoughts and Best Wishes to all the need them. Cheers, the Bear.
Toot by Bear, on Flickr
Bear ....... In other words........ Nobody else gives a hoot.
Terry .... It is good to read the great report from you about your operating session. Your trees are impressive. Feel free to post more pictures of them. ... Thanks for the comment about my recent health issue.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good morning, everyone. Great, cool, fall day on the plains. Harvest is starting to go full steam.
Richard and Henry, your car seats were something. Those parents must have been better off than mine -- I didn't get to sit in something neat like those.
Terry, congratulations on your successful session. It's great to get good feedback on something you've done.
I am a little different than some of you, but then again, I was not in the Navy. I have taken quite a few cruises and have enjoyed them. I don't go for the entertainment or activities, but I enjoy finding a deck chair and relaxing. And eating. The best cruise was the inside passage from Vancouver to Skagway.
I like the bridge pictures. We don't have any impressive ones like that around here.
Here is an abandoned railroad bridge in my small town.
It was built by the Fremont, Elkhorn, & Missouri Valley RR in the late 1800s. People around here wonder about the bridge -- we have no stone or rock within 200 miles of our town. Why a stone bridge instead of the more common wood trestle?
The bridge is on our town's college campus. It is sometimes used as a place to take your date ...
Hope everyone has a great day.
York1 John
Good Morning,
A nice, cool, sunny morning here but it is supposed to start raining this afternoon. I think I'll get up on the roof and clean out the troughs as we have a lot of leaves falling now.
Garry, glad to hear you are on the mend.
Terry, sounds like your Ops session was was a great success. Congrats.
Ed, Thanks for that link to the info on the C Liner. I was able to get into that loco and give it the lube job it really needed. Getting those covers off the bottom of the trucks was nerve racking as they are just snap on plastic parts without which to truck would fall apart. No chance of spares if I broke them but those diagrams showed me how they fit into the truck so all went well. I have ordered a decoder for it. Digitrax make on for Life-like engines that will just plop in.
My 10 days dog/house sitting went fine. We had a very severe rain storm here last Friday and I was stuck out at their house while my wife described how that water was coming up towards the windows in the lower patio. It was close but didn't come in. I have a pump but driving home was impossible in that rain.
It has started to cloud over so I better get on that ladder. It isn't a hard job as our roof is nearly flat and the house is a low bungalow.
CN Charlie
saronaterryI apologize for " tootin' my own horn".
Scratchbuilt device so you don't hurt yourself
I'm glad you had a good time with your operations get together the other weekend. I'm sure you were relieved only 6 of the 18 showed up.
As the old saying goes two's company, three's a crowd. Since only six showed up, at that point, I might as well have showed up too. 8 could have been better than 7
I bet you guys had a lot of fun
TF
Last work day for the week is over.
.
Tomorrow I am travelling to Gainseville, Florida (my home town) for the weekend. Then I am working with the Mechanical Engineering department at UF for a couple of days.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
More decades than I care to mention, I was with a bunch of college classmate, driving near Gainsville, on our way cave diving. I made a U turn in front of a home, and my shotgun passenger said "what a buccolic scene, an old lady sitting in her rocker, with a coon hound asleep on the porch"
At that point, said lady stood up, walked to the railing, and spit a big glob of tobacco juice.
BigDaddyI made a U turn in front of a home, and my shotgun passenger said "what a buccolic scene, an old lady sitting in her rocker, with a coon hound asleep on the porch"
The "Florida Cracker" inhabits all kinds of rural areas around North Florida.
Funny thing, "Cracker" is not an insult in Florida. It is the accepted term for a family that can trace their heritage back several generations in Florida. There is even a specific Florida floor plan called a "Cracker Shack".
My family is from Wisconsin. We moved to Florida in 1968. My great grandchildren could be the frist crackers in our family.
@ 7:00 pm edt the 611 is operating out of Strasburg RR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ejEjn57h3A
SeeYou190There is even a specific Florida floor plan called a "Cracker Shack".
Does it come with a prize in one of the rooms?
Oh, wait a minute. That's Cracker Jack.
Never mind!
BigDaddy @ 7:00 pm edt the 611 is operating out of Strasburg RR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ejEjn57h3A
It's a live video, with the link, you can scroll back in time on either. Unforturnately the sun went down when it got to Paradise.
To embed a video, use the link you used, not the share link, and click the video icon and paste the link
Afternoon all, it is a decent day here out West.
Turned on the heat today, a little early this year as my daughter is coming home for the weekend and will enjoy a cozy house I,m sure. After losing two of her floormates in the bus accident two weeks ago she just lost another one with a medical issue. I will pick her up at the ferry tomorrow afternoon. She needs a hug and time with the dogs lying all over her.
Spent a good part of the day in the trainroom and made some progress so I feel good about that. I also ordered two of Rapidos next steam offerings, in for a penny in for a pound. I hope they have ironed out the bugs on their steam offerings. It's the 4-6-0 D10, I need to populate the layout with lots more power, though I will never catch up to most of you guys. There is a rumour on FB that they have a new coreless motor they are putting in the Hudsons, not sure about how much truth there is to that.
I ordered them locally through Britannia Hobbies as it is owned by a young kid and I want to support his business. He gave me a good deal.
Ed that Forth bridge is amazing, 200 trains a day! How is your Hudson running?
Car seats? Never had one. We had a 55 Pontiac two-door and the seats flipped forward to get in the back. My Mother would always be telling me to stand behind her seat while she was driving. If I stood behind the other seat and she hit the brakes, the seat would flip forward and I would go flying. We've come a long way baby.
We have been on one cruise and I was not a fan. My wife wants to try another one and I guess I will have to be game to give it a go. A cruise is the cheapest way to visit Easter Island which is high on my travel bucket list so I told the wife if we go to Easter Island and through the Panama Canal I'll go. Also, Chile is another spot that could be on that itinerary. This is more my speed, I have done similar things in Australia.
https://mapleleafadventures.com/ships/maple-leaf/
Going up to check out the auction tomorrow, they have brand new high-end refrigerators so we will see if we can get one cheap. They also have a ton of Go-Pro cameras so I'll have a look.
I see someone has updated our online family genealogy and it now goes back to 1757 in America, where Canada now is but long before Canada existed. Lots of Howards, Haywards and Harveys along the lines, Ray and I must be related. Poor Ray.
The wife might want to take a quick run to Calgary next week which is fine by me because that means a stop at Banff for a couple or three nights, that's my price for driving. I need to soak in the sulfur spring hot pool. Built by the CPR in 1888. Lots of ghosts roam those corridors.
I could sit in the hot pool and look at the Rockies all-day. And listening to those diesels grinding their way up towards the continental divide from across the valley is music to my ears.
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."
I was going to recommend roof top dining at the Rose and Crown in Banff but it looks like the highs will be in the 40's this week.
Don't look at the guy behind me.
I warned you.
BATMANWe have been on one cruise and I was not a fan.
I have also been on one cruise, and I was miserable. I don't like to eat at buffets, I do not enjoy casinos, and I don't like to be around that many drunk people.
I could not wait for that trip to end.
That being said... there is the possibility of taking a cruise of the Mediterannean on a Viking Cruise Line ship that is followed by a six day Atlantic Crossing to Miami.
That might be a lot more to my liking.
saronaterryI apologize for " tootin' my own horn". But it WAS pretty cool!
Hi Terry,
What the heck are you apologizing for?!? You ran a great session and your skills were recognized by some obviously knowledgable people! By all means toot your horn!!
BigDaddy Don't look at the guy behind me.
"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain...... The Great Oz has spoken"
I'm sorry Henry, I just could not resist that one
You're looking good kid!
BigDaddyDon't look at the guy behind me.
Talk about your gross photo bomb!!
You will just have to go back again to take a better shot! There's your excuse!
Henry, I just looked at the weather for this weekend and they are expecting two feet of snow. I guess we are taking the truck. Maybe by the end of next week when the wife may want to go it will be warmer.
When I was young from about age 20 to age 40 we would do a three-week ski trip in January almost every year and spend a week at the Chateau Lake Louise. We usually did downhill but would do a couple of cross country all day ski trips across the frozen lake and up into the valley, man it could get cold there. It could be dark when we were coming back across the lake but the hotel was a beacon and always looked so welcoming. A hot Rum met us at the door.
At night after an awesome dinner we could skate on the lake and play hockey or skate through all these ice castles they had built and colourfully lit.