EDIT. Top of page, the tucker's on me.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Thanks John. Feeling very sad here at the loss of our Queen. I was 5 when she became Queen and her image has been on our currency most of my life. I grew up singing God Save the Queen every day at school and in some way she has always reminded me of my own mother, even looked like her. I feel sorry for Charles. He is just a year younger than me and having to assume that burden anhd work load now I can't imagine.
CN Charlie
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
The Queen has such good taste in hats. Always perfectly decked out.
ROAR
Queen Elizabeth was grace, strength, and the most dignified person I think we will ever know. Being a bit of a history buff, the more I read the more I admired her, she will be missed.
She did love her Scotch including Glenfiddich, I found some on the bar and will raise a toast of thanks for a life well lead and a job well done.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
It was a time to remember —
https://www.themetrains.com/royal-train-main.htm
https://www.fdrlibrary.org/royal-visit#:~:text=June%207%20%2D%2012%2C%201939,not%20even%20in%20colonial%20times.
Regards, Ed
up831 This is a picture of a grain elevator in Hutchinson, KS. This elevator is a half mile long and is one of if not the largest elevator in the world. There are several large elevators in Hutchinson, most are serviced by BNSF.
I lived in Hutchinson KS for several years, lovely place, met my wife there, bought a house (with a huge basement!) on 7 acres and had two kids.
As a former "big city boy", I was always amused that one of Hutchinson's "claims-to-fame" was the "worlds largest grain elevator!" "Yee-haw!"
Another Kansas staple is the obligatory inclusion of a tractor exhibit at any public gathering. At first I thought this was "kind-of-corny", but being mechanically inclined, this quickly became the first thing I'd look for!
Fond memories!
Jim
Sad news about the Queen. Her dignity will be missed.
Daddy-Daughter day was great. We went to Ikea and bought some more shelving for her room. I mounted everything on the walls for her. Her room in the house is super cute.
We went out to eat at Outback, and we both had chicken. It was a lot of fun.
I found out she lives on the same lake as one of our former forum posters, the Camaro Guy. His 15 year old son has taken the boat over to her house a couple of times. The kid has grand dreams.
Her classes at UCF are going well. She is the oldest kid in her classes, being 26, but she looks 14, so everything is confusing.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190Daddy-Daughter day was great. We went to Ikea and bought some more shelving for her room. I mounted everything on the walls for her. Her room in the house is super cute. We went out to eat at Outback, and we both had chicken. It was a lot of fun.
Kevin, you have such a great relationship with your kids! It's heartwarming to hear about your adventures.
I am happy to say that we have a great relationship with our son, Cole, and DIL Kaitlin. Well almost - Cole and I tend to bang heads a bit when we are working on a project together. I blame that on my inability to keep my mouth shut!
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
The World Is A Beautiful Place
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
hon30critterKevin, you have such a great relationship with your kids! It's heartwarming to hear about your adventures.
Thanks Dave. I have not had a day alone with one of the babies in ages. It was so nice. We talked about everything and nothing just like we used to. She talked about people in her classes like I knew them. I loved that.
She also has a new puppy. I haven't downloaded the pictures from my camera yet. Maybe tomorrow. It is as cute as a button. She is so happy with it.
Good Morning Diners. Brunhilda, I'll take a couple poached eggs on white toast please. Thanks.
Well I managed to watch the first half of the game last night, which turns out it was the better half to see, unless you are a die-hard Bills fan. Woke up early this morning not feeling the greatest. Stomach. Must have been something I ate. Hopefully clears up soon.
Busy weekend ahead between my wife's birthday and two soccer games for my daughter. Probably not any train or football time this weekend. Bummer!
Mike
I noticed a few weeks ago that there were dozens of American Goldfinch birds at the feeders again and many more flittering around the yard. Then I realized that the blooming sunflowers must have brought them around:
Sunflower-b_2022 by Edmund, on Flickr
That white pole there is a piece of 1" PVC pipe ten feet long. These plants are at least three feet taller than that.
Sunflower_2022 by Edmund, on Flickr
Dee Ann planted some kind of crimson trumpet vine amongst them so the hummingbirds have been playing tag in and around the tall flowers, too. I understand Ukraine is one of the leading exporters of sunflower seeds and the prices at the bird feed store sure seem to reflect the shortages. Maybe we can save some of these seeds before the birds eat them all and plant more, much more, for next year.
My favorite grain is served in a double old fashioned glass, thank you.
Cheers, Ed
Good morning, everyone. Bacon, eggs, and coffee, Flo.
Ed, I'm feeling the same pain when I buy the sunflower seeds. We buy the seeds in the shell, and the price has gone from $17.00 for 40 pounds 8 months ago to $30 this past week. We had 9 cardinals at the same time at the feeders yesterday, eating a nice expensive meal.
Overland Park, Kansas, has a nicely restored Union Pacific station.
Have a great day, everyone.
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."
Good morning everybody.
It is beautiful down here today, but as always, it is probably going to rain this afternoon. We got a lot of rain yesterday.
Today I am going to install the first of five new A/C register outlets. This one is in the living room with a 4 inch feeder duct.
When the HVAC company was out here, they discovered massive problems with my HVAC installation that has just compunded through the years, starting with poor construction, and followed by two improper installations.
None of this was a surprise to me. The system installed about eight years ago has never worked correctly for me.
I have a 3 ton AC unit, but all the air in the house is choked down to a 14" opening at one spot which is not enough for a system this big.
Basically, to resolve these problems, and allow this system to breathe properly, I need to install another set of outlets in parallel to the existing system. There is not enough room in my "attic" going over the vaulted ceiling to install a big enough single system of plumbing.
This is going to be a ton of work. The guys got the new big duct tube in place running from one end of the house to the other. Installing the new register outlets is going to be a problem for me.
Three of the rooms getting outlets are complete already. I need to get above the ceiling and add these boxes and notruin my previous work. This really stinks and adds weeks to the already massively delayed project.
I need to chill this house, I have no other real option.
Kevin, that sounds like a mess. Here in our area it's all done through the basement which makes it easy to handle. I would imagine south Florida is like New Orleans with no basements.
York1Here in our area it's all done through the basement which makes it easy to handle. I would imagine south Florida is like New Orleans with no basements.
Correct, no basements anywhere.
To make it worse, the middle 25 feet of my house has vaulted ceilings that give about 12" clearance at the widest spot between the roof and ceiling 2 by 4s.
Fortunately I still had a four by six foot piece if drywall down in the living room which made this possible.
Not easy, but possible.
BroadwayLion
SeeYou190This really stinks and adds weeks to the already massively delayed project.
Hi Kevin,
I agree, that really stinks! I hope fixing it doesn't drive you nuts, or bankrupt you!
Good luck!
I worked my way through college running ducts & copper lines and setting air handlers and outside units. At the time, everything was made with fiberboard duct material that came in 4' x 10' sheets; I built supply ducts, plenums and returns. Flexible ducts existed, but at the time, was too expensive to use in most installations.
I was offered a full time job when I graduated, but I didn't take it as I wanted to get a "real" job based on my college degree. As it turned out, I ended up framing houses in my home town for a while before landing a job in a bank. Looking back, I wish I would have stayed in the HVAC business. Although the guy I worked for went out of business when GE got out of the AC business; he lost his franchise/supplier and couldn't or didn't want another one.
The Royal Touch (CN Photo CNX36781)
It was a nice Fall day in October of 1951, when what should have been a normal run on the Edson Subdivision for Locomotive Engineer W.H. Dixon and Fireman T.M. Arnott turned into an experience they would never forget. That's the day Dixon surrendered the hogger's seat of CNR 4-8-2 6057 to none other than Her Highness Princess Elizabeth, then on her very first tour of Canada. Princess Elizabeth appears to be lifting the train out of Peers, Alberta, headed for Edmonton. Prince Phillip watches while his wife puts the automatic brake into running position and will soon notch out the throttle a little more. Little did anyone in the cab of 6057 know that four months later, the Princess would be Queen.( Rian Manson )March 2013 Issue, Branchline. Photo courtesy of CN Images of Canada Collection at the Canada Science and Technology Museum.
hon30critterI agree, that really stinks! I hope fixing it doesn't drive you nuts, or bankrupt you!
Thank you.
This whole thing has driven me nuts. If I could just do it all myself, I could have been done 16 months ago.
Some things need to be done by contractors, that took forever. I had to hire some skilled workiers to do things where I just don't want to "learn the hard way" on my own house. Inspections and permitting were continuous delays. The City Of Cape Coral is currently six weeks behind on permitting. I think I just need one more permit before this is over.
At least I found out that the A/C will never work right as-is before I put the ceiling back together. It can be fixed. It will be nice when it works correctly.
I just put up the steel stringers for the new register. Now I get to run another 4" tube through the "attic" space.
Tin Can IIAt the time, everything was made with fiberboard duct material that came in 4' x 10' sheets; I built supply ducts, plenums and returns.
My system is a series of duct board boxes connected by flextible insulated tubing.
Making these duct board boxes is something I hired out. The tools are expensive, and the guys that are good at do a better job than I ever could.
Attuvian1 It would be nice if Her Majesty were to be returned to London by train, perhaps lead by the Royal Scotsman or another iconic steamer.
It is in the works.
Baby daughter's new baby puppy that I met for the first time yesterday.
This thing just would not hold still for pictures, but she is very cute.
SeeYou190Baby daughter's new baby puppy that I met for the first time yesterday.
aaaawwwwww! How sweet!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
BATMANIt is in the works.
It would be nice but I'm not sure it will happen:
Police and palace officials had planned to move the coffin by rail but changed their mind before the pandemic for fear of overcrowding near live railways. There were also concerns that the slow-moving train could become a target or that it would be disrupted by wellwishers dropping Union Jacks from bridges on to overhead power cables.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bee5f3f6-192e-11eb-8493-5b46eb56a071?shareToken=1fc6c6305bed1812614b9d0ec189a468
We can hope. Still, I well remember some of the tragic outcomes during the last ride of Bobby Kennedy during the June, 1968, trip from New York to Washington on the newly-minted Penn Central.
https://www.history.com/news/robert-f-kennedy-death-funeral-train
howmusaaaawwwwww! How sweet!
Yes, but now the previous precious pet will not come out of her hiding spot.
She has the cutest pets.
And unless you're still wondering?
I've already Hit The Rack!
Before any more damage can be done But I still love you Kids
TF
Good morning, diners. Just black coffee this morning. We're getting ready for a short trip to see grandchildren.
Rain! We had rain! Now the grass will grow again.
I have been having trouble with one of my Kato locomotives stalling or running roughly. I think I have solved the issue, but I will work on it more when we get home.
Kansas is a state much like Nebraska. The people are a little defensive about the state because many people living on the coasts either ignore the plains states, make fun of the farming people, or just look at the states as a long boring problem when crossing them.
If you travel through Kansas, you will find a different kind of beauty in the rolling wheat fields, and you will be amazed at the friendly people.
The neighbor's tree is starting to change color. For some reason, that tree is always the first to begin the autumn change.
I hope everyone has a healthy, happy day.
The old Rock Island station in Liberal, Kansas, which is almost at the Oklahoma border: