Jeffrey´s Track Side Diner - December, 2019 - Christmas in Vermont/Maine

[York1]

Good morning.  Nice morning for a walk.  Around 32°.

We had to leave our dog in boarding for a week last week while we were gone.  She now sticks to me like glue.  I can't get up and walk across the room without her following me every step.

Ken, it's nice your dog walks with you.  Our Daisy needs to stop and smell every square inch of sidewalk.  A walk with her goes about 100 feet in an hour.  She has me trained very well.

Have a good day, everyone.

 

Edit:  I just noticed I'm the first!  And it's on my birthday!  Cake, ice cream, and whatever you want to drink -- I'm paying!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

hello 

Steve O, JR, and John Boy ... thank you for your expressions of sympathy. ... I am thankful to all for condolences and prayers. 

Steve O ... Sorry to hear about the cold .  There is a nasty one going around this year. 

John / York 1.  ... your story about boarding your dog remind me. I often wish we could talk with our pets to explain what we are doing. 

I continue working on my Super Chief when I can. Not enough time lately. After changing couplers, it was deraili on curves.  Partly because truck screws were too tight. I loosened them.  Also cars were coupled too close together and diaphragms rubbed against each other. I changed the Kadee # 5's to long shank couplers on the front end of each car. That gives enough space between diaphragms . Now the train runs nicely without uncoupling and without derailing. Next I will install grab irons and other details.

 

Have a good afternoon. 

[MisterBeasley]

York1

Edit:  I just noticed I'm the first!  And it's on my birthday!  Cake, ice cream, and whatever you want to drink -- I'm paying!

 

Cool!  Now pick up the tab for the excess blood sugar and I'm all in!

If you're not already diabetic, gang, do yourself a favor.  Lose some weight and increase your exercise.  I was at a fundraiser last night, and had to skip the whole dessert table, and bypass almost everything at the tree lighting, too.

I've never been big on dessert or even sweets, but Christmas can be as bad as Thanksgiving if you're on one of these Deprivation Diets.

[saronaterry]

York1

And it's on my birthday!

HB, John.

Terry

[howmus]

Afternoon folks!

MisterBeasley

I've never been big on dessert or even sweets, but Christmas can be as bad as Thanksgiving if you're on one of these Deprivation Diets.

Yep!!!  Christmas is even worse as it goes on for, well, 12 days if you celebrate it correctly! LOL  Sweets are my downfall and probably always will be.  I am up 5 lbs. from Thanksgiving and have yet to see any loss.  I will now be on a strict low carbo and no sweets diet until Christmas day.  I will have to go off for the day at least and also New Years most likely, but I am now back on a strict no candy, or other sweets in the house! 

Will be going out to dinner tomorrow night and then to a movie (Dark Waters) with my Lady Friend so I'm sure I will eat to much...  The weekend will be at RIT for the Tiger Tracks Train Show.  Luckily the food thing is way over at the other end of the fieldhouse and upstairs.  Probably will eat almost nothing there.

Oh, Happy Birthday York1!

I've been busier than a cat covering poop on a marble floor and will be for the next couple of weeks at least.  I will be stopping in to see what others have written a couple times a day.

Take care and 73.

["JaBear"]

John

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

to John York 1! 

[GMTRacing]

 Let me add my Happy Birthday too, John.   

[Track fiddler]

SeeYou190

.

Yesterday I found a restaurant nearby with Shrimp & Grits (and sausage) on the menu, and went and enjoyed a plate.

.

So yummy! Thank you for the suggestion.

.

.

-Kevin

.

 

 

Kevin.... I say this with the upmost respect.  I do not wish to come across disrespectful at all.  That plate looks like the drop of a big Saint Bernard that ate good and has been chewing on an old leather shoe for a while

Sometimes the plates that do not look very appealing taste the best.  Just like sometimes the rundown joints have the best food compared to a fancy lad place.

I'll take your word for it.  Most of that southern food is usually really good

 

 

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear John....my name is John too.  Happy birthday to you

 

 

TF

[up831]

Hi Everybody,

Im sure it was good, but that plate looks significantly less than appetizing!

Went to the DuPage train show last weekend.  Could‘ve Spent a bunch of money, but didn’t.  All I bought was an old MDC 2-bay covered hopper lettered for SP.

Got home and looked at it and realized the lettering isn’t quite right.

Not sure what to do about it.  I suppose I’ll end up stripping all of the old lettering off, repaint, and put on correct decals if I can find them.  Probably take the lazy way out and assemble and leave it as is.  Hey, maybe have the worlds only cement hopper with SP speed lettering.

Hello to everyone, and I hope everyone is OK, safe, and warm.

[Track fiddler]

Evening Diners

I went to my daughter's last Sunday for a visit.  I usually spend the night when I go there because it's an hour away.  

We had a great time,  good conversation of the old days and cooking together.  We put together a puzzle and I helped her put up her Christmas decorations. 

I saw a six locomotive Union Pacific train off her balcony with one Chessie System loco that I never seen up here.

Late afternoon we watched TV.  I don't watch a lot of TV but my daughter has the Premium Amazon Prime with the friends and family package.  She hooked me up at my place.  I get Amazon Prime for free thanks to my daughter.

As suggested by Big Daddy and confirmed by Kevin we decided to watch The Outer Limits.  We watched The Sandkings episode with this mad scientist and these freaky extraterrestrial intelligent ants from Mars.  Disturbing,  it's a good thing we watched it in the afternoon or I would have had nightmares.  

We were having such a good time I decided to stay the night even though a snowstorm was coming.

To make a long story short I drove home in the morning through the snow.  It was only about two inches but usually that's the worst.  At least 3- 6 inches of snow grips the outside of your tires.

It was extremely slippery.  Even in my four-wheel drive I'm the same as everybody else, I have four tires touching the road.  Some of these Cidiots seem to forget that in their SUVs and think they're invincible.

There's always an idiot and I saw about three of them passing me like I was standing still.  Visibility was about an eighth of a mile.

I swear it was one of the idiots that passed me that caused it.  I came up to the worst Highway fatalities I've ever seen.  I caught the tail end of it.  My foot was like a machine gun on the brakes on the glare ice. I slid a little sideways back and forth and managed to steer out of the slide twice.  I stopped two foot shy of a gas tankers bumper,  he was on the shoulder slightly off the road and there was no where else for me to go but the ditch with everybody else.  I would have if I had to.

There were 5- 6 Semis in the ditch along with 10-12 cars.  I took many deep breaths as I told myself,..... somehow you handled that well.

I'm going back to my daughter's this weekend and my other daughter is going to stop by too.  I sure hope it doesn't snow this weekend

 

 

TF

[hon30critter]

Track fiddler

I came up to the worst Highway fatalities I've ever seen. 

Hi TF,

I'm glad you were able to stop in time. I'm even more glad that you weren't hurt or hit from behind!

We have a stretch of Hwy. 400 just north of us that is infamous for whiteouts. There have been many, many accidents and many fatalities in that stretch since the highway was built. I won't go near that highway if there is even the remotest possibility of snow squalls. Why the Ministry of Transportation hasn't implemented speed limits based on conditions is beyond me. It would seem to be a no-brainer.

Dave

[Track fiddler]

Thanks Dave and I agree with you.  

It's a matter of simple common sense.  A lot of people don't seem to have it.  It's those people with no common sense than endanger everyone else on the road.

I think if they applied new laws to regulate safety conditions for types of weather,  these same people would not abide by them anyway.

These same people think everything is just fine on the road over driving their limits of control. 

Weather changes on a dime, it thaws in an area, then the currents shift,  it freezes minutes later and you hit zones that are glare ice out of no where.

You can't learn them,  they're always out there.  The scary thing is some of these lack of Common Sense people decide to buy a high-powered rifle and go deer hunting

 

 

TF

[cudaken]

 Eveing Diners

 Flo, give the gang and I a please and Boy York1 what ever he likes. Oh, give Drik Pip half of a Dog Treat.

 

York1

Ken, it's nice your dog walks with you. Our Daisy needs to stop and smell every square inch of sidewalk. A walk with her goes about 100 feet in an hour.

 York If Dirk had his way I still be outside while he smells things! We have no sidewalks in our neighborhood and I cannot see what he is smelling. So I just keep going, afraid he will find some thing he should not eat!

 Work Front Well I did better today with a $834.00 sale, and that is not saying much! Last month I made draw and made a extra $632.00, not bad working 3 days a week.

 Think I will call Ed, so later, Ken and Dirk say's Feed Me Dadddy Woof Woof.

[Track fiddler]

Dave

I have stretches in the city I drive on a day-to-day basis.  I go out of my way to go to a different road even though it's longer.  I don't mind that it's longer,  it's calm and relaxed.  I don't have to deal with all the crazies on the road

 

 

TF

[Track fiddler]

Post hog, Post hog.

It's a bad picture but I thought it might be a little fun to try to pick it out behind the tree.  The sixth locomotive was the Chessie System off my daughter's balcony.

Like I said, not a very good picture.  I never seen the Chessie system up here.  I gotta hit the rack,  wxxk tomorrow

Have a good night.

 

 

TF

[hon30critter]

Well TF, the crazies were out in full force on Thursday here in town.

I can't decide who was worse. When we were coming back into Bradford on Thursday there was a dude doing 65 kph in an 80 on a four lane highway in the fast lane. Of course, there had to be another dude doing 65 kph in the slow lane right beside him. The truth is that we might have lost two minutes of travelling time because the first guy wouldn't move over, but the real problem is that almost everyone behind the two of them was tailgating (not me). The slow guy in the fast lane was oblivious to the potential traffic nightmare that he was causing. What added insult to injury was that he continued to drive at 65 kmh after he got into town where the speed limit is 50 kmh.

The second occurance was when we were stopping for a yellow light. Some whacko in a very loud pickup decided to run the yellow light. That's okay if you are too close to the intersection to stop safely, but this clown wasn't even close to the intersection when the light turned red. That was bad enough, but what really ticked me off was that there was a cop right there, first in line at the intersection in the cross road.

There actually isn't much use in ranting about the nutcases out there. It won't change their behaviour one little bit.

Dave

[gmpullman]

cudaken

Think I will call Ed, so later, Ken and Dirk say's Feed Me Dadddy Woof Woof.

Sorry I missed your call, Ken. A Full Moon  before Friday the 13th is my day to hit the shower   Maybe tomorrow?

Regards to all, Happy Belated  to John!

Anyone who visits New England is sure to encounter the New Haven Railroad sooner or later. Here is an excellent look at that railroad's Wartime Efforts:

Check out the "Slip Track" at 15:05!

Regards, Ed

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good morning everybody .. Coffee and a donut, please. 

 

[maxman]

Track fiddler

Track fiddler wrote the following post 19 hours ago: SeeYou190 . Yesterday I found a restaurant nearby with Shrimp & Grits (and sausage) on the menu, and went and enjoyed a plate. . So yummy! Thank you for the suggestion. . . -Kevin . Kevin.... I say this with the upmost respect. I do not wish to come across disrespectful at all. That plate looks like the drop of a big Saint Bernard that ate good and has been chewing on an old leather shoe for a while

I think you're being charitable.

[RideOnRoad]

Thought I would share a picture of the new occupant of my garage.

[Track fiddler]

hon30critter

Well TF, the crazies were out in full force on Thursday here in town.

I can't decide who was worse. When we were coming back into Bradford on Thursday there was a dude doing 65 kph in an 80 on a four lane highway in the fast lane. Of course, there had to be another dude doing 65 kph in the slow lane right beside him. 

 

 

I hate that!  Pokey in the passing lane as I call it.  Sometimes I think these type of drivers do that sort of thing on purpose just to piss people off.  I don't get it.

Minnesota just passed two laws this Summer.  I think they are good laws.  The one is the left lane is for passing only.  If you continue to pass cars you can stay there but if you're moving the same speed as other traffic you must get out of the left lane.  The thought is if there is an emergency that lane needs to be clear.  Many are not complying to the new law.

The second is no handheld phones or texting.  You can hit one button only for a speaker call and that's it.  As I see it,  Its just the same as it always was, many people are still on their phones and texting.  More people get killed every year by texters then drunk drivers anymore.

Oh well, what are you going to do though

 

I just got home from wxxk here,   Jammy time,  ready to do some relaxing

 

 

TF

[Track fiddler]

Sweet bike Richard,  I like it.

I've always been a big fan of black and red together.

 

TF

[hon30critter]

RideOnRoad

Thought I would share a picture of the new occupant of my garage.

Cool!

Dave

[BigDaddy]

We have laws against using a cell phone, but they are rarely inforced.  I stopped at a light the other day and everyone left, right, front, behind was on their celll phones.

Around here the slowest cars gravitate toward the left lane.  I don't know why, maybe they get freaked out by other cars passing them or want to annoy the rest of us.   We also have a law that on a multilane highway, it a cop is stopped on the right shoulder, we are supposed to get out of the right lane entirely.

People don't.  Two kids were hit, one killed by her school bus and another by a car passing a stopped school bus.  People are just no darn good.

No news on the train front.  I've been reviewing LED lighting past posts.  They say you should definitely go for a CRI higher than 80, but most of the example people post are 80.  I am not going to have a dropped ceiling, so that limits the options.

[hon30critter]

Track fiddler

Minnesota just passed two laws this Summer.  I think they are good laws.  The one is the left lane is for passing only.  If you continue to pass cars you can stay there but if you're moving the same speed as other traffic you must get out of the left lane.  The thought is if there is an emergency that lane needs to be clear.  Many are not complying to the new law. The second is no handheld phones or texting.  You can hit one button only for a speaker call and that's it.  As I see it,  Its just the same as it always was, many people are still on their phones and texting.  More people get killed every year by texters then drunk drivers anymore.

We have had those laws here in Ontario for years. The police do a pretty good job of enforcing the hands free phone thing but apparently the problem is getting worse, not better. Every time they do a blitz they catch more people than they did the last time.

They also pull over the "pokey" drivers when they see them, but there just aren't enough cops on the road to make a real difference.

Personally, I think one of the biggest factors is that the fines are not high enough to be a deterrent. The average fine for talking on your phone (officially called "distracted driving") is about $150.00. Big deal!! One guy recently had 12 outstanding distracted driving offenses. He could care less! Apparently there is no extra penalty for repeat offenders. Now, if the fine was $1000.00 or maybe $1500.00 for the first offense with an escalating scale, that might get the offenders' attention.

I know what I need for the 'pokey' drivers. I saw a cop show years ago that had a villain with a method for removing the slow drivers from the fast lane. His truck supposedly had a pair of forklift type forks that he would use to pick up the offending car in front of him and then he would take them for a wild high speed ride! I'm probably going to get in trouble for even suggesting such a thing on the forums, but it would be so, so satisfying to be able to just move them out of the way!!

(Bad) Dave

[cudaken]

 Eveing Diners

 Flo, give the gang and I a and Dirk half a dog treat.

 Worried about my daughter. (she is my step daughter but I have never thought of her that way) She has major health problems and probably should apply for disability. Today she was having major back pain and could not get any med's because's of the opioid restriction's. I understand why, but she has a history of health problems. She see's a pain management Doctor that have killed never end's with lasers in her back, see's a Chiropractor for back problems.

 She is no wimp! She keeps working and is tough. But sometimes the tough need's help.

 Took Dirk to the local park. We try to take him when it is decent weather. Pretty much told my wife to sit in the car, Dirk and I are going for a long walk. The park has a paved path so walking was easy. While we only walked only a half mile, we would have went all the way around the park if Sue was not waiting.

 Richard Where's the pedals? Never been a Harley guy, I have been a Knee Dragger my self. Maybe a 1000 CC Sposter down the road.

 Later, None smoking Ken and Dirk says feed me daddy Woof

[saronaterry]

RideOnRoad

Thought I would share a picture of the new occupant of my garage.

Nice!! 

Terry

[Track fiddler]

That's funny Dave. 

I can envision you doing that almost like a Dr. Seuss thing. 

Obviously it's just a hypothetical vengeance way of thinking that somewhat makes us feel better.

My thought was putting a BB gun concealed behind my grill with the controls on my dash.  Rocks do fly up off the road and you hear the ticks hitting your car.

No one would even suspect or think such a thing was going on.  When pokey's doing the same speed as everybody else in the passing lane and he keeps hearing the ticks,  maybe he's going to pull off the road and try to figure out what's going on. 

At least I got pokey out of my way.  And when he pulls over and sees all the dings on the rear end of his car,  I'll be ten miles down road instead of 5

Just kidding of course but it did make me feel better

 

 

 

TF

[Track fiddler]

maxman

 

 

I think you're being charitable.

 

 

No,  but your comment gave me a good laugh..... Thanks

Believe me,  I've been around this Forum long enough to know Kevin is a food connoisseur and he knows the good places to eat.

I'll take his word for it,  that dish did look dog but sometimes presentation is not everything.

I know my little hole in the walls where I go back repeatedly and get my favorite dish.  The dish doesn't have the presentation like the fancy lad restaurants that Judy and I do go to but the price is right and it tastes great.

My grandmother used to make us kids chip beef on toast.  Crap on a shingle it was called,  it was called something else but I know you get my gist.  The plate was not appealing at all but it tasted great and we looked forward to it every time she made it.

 

 

TF