hon30critterI'd better not show that fantastic pie to Dianne! Pecan pie is one of her favourites. I don't mind a slice once in a while either.
It's really easy to make. I was surprised.
I hope Abigail doesn't mind if I share her recipe?
Pecan Abby by Edmund, on Flickr
I added a pinch of molasses and a hint of rum-flavored extract since I have to meddle with every recipe I make
Some bi-centennial paint schemes weren't exactly prize winners:
CR 7776; Kiski, PA; June 1976 by Adam Klimchock, on Flickr
Conrail GG1 4800 Bicentennial Morrisville 1976 by Charles Warren, on Flickr
I think we can be glad they're one-of-a-kind
Top of the Page! Well, it's that time of year for Paczki... I get the custard one!
Paczki by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
Good morning, diners. Just coffee this morning.
Thanks for the recipe, Ed. My wife would love it. Outside of ice cream, I'm not a dessert person. My wife, on the other hand, would make an entire meal of dessert. She loves pecan pie.
Super Bowl Sunday. Many years ago we used to go to parties. Tonight, we will just watch by ourselves. I'm a Chiefs fan, as are most of the people who live in my part of the state. I have been to quite a few games, and they are fun.
My friend who lives in Gilbert, Arizona, says he can't believe all the rich people who have flown into Phoenix for the game. It's too bad the game itself has become a rich man's game to attend. We peons have to be satisfied watching a one-hour game stretched into four hours, caused mainly by TV commercials.
I hope everyone has a great Sunday. I will check in later when we get home.
When I first saw this photo, I thought it was fake -- photoshopped. But I looked it up, and Amtrak did do this to several locomotives:
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."
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
Chloe, I think I will have a porkchop and hash browns this morning, and of course, a large black coffee.
OldEnginemanHere's one I'd recommend: "The Last Boy", from 2019. A very interesting "post-apocalyptic" film.
It is not on Netflix/DVD. I will keep an eye out for it. Thank you for the suggestion. I read about it on IMDB, and it sounds good.
Attuvian1Are you limiting yourself to either-or?
I’m with John, run both of them!
Somebody bought it before I made it back to eBay once I decided to buy it. Oh well...
Yes, I should buy it!
York1When I first saw this photo, I thought it was fake -- photoshopped. But I looked it up, and Amtrak did do this to several locomotives.
WHY?
Yesterday I was using my Milwaukee M18 Fuel drill with a 4" hole saw on the soffit. The saw grabbed and the drill whipped around and twisted my right wrist.
This morning my LEFT wrist is sore and tender. Weird.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Just yogurt and fruit this morning for our breakfast. The cats had cat food.
We are going out for our Valentine's Day dinner tonight, because the fancy places we like here are all closed on Tuesdays. Fine with us. It's an elegant Indian place and doesn't have TVs all over. I haven't watched a football game all season and don't plan to start now. The teams don't interest me and the last halftime show I wanted to see was The Who. We were skiing out west that year with a group. I won a quarter in one of those pick a square pools, but the winnings didn't even cover a round for our group.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Afternoon folks!
I will be heading out fairly soon to help celebrate my son's MiL's 75 birthday. I think she is trying to catch up to me, but I'm still a year ahead and will be another one ahead before she turns 76 next year.... At least I hope so!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Another look at a special paint job:
Chessie 2101; Smithton, PA; September 1978 by Adam Klimchock, on Flickr
I remember seeing all three of the Reading T-1s around Ohio and Pennsylvania. The 2100 is presently in Cleveland getting some work done on it.
2100_W3 by Edmund, on Flickr
2101 is sitting at the B&O Railroad Museum and the 2102 has been running on the Reading & Northern Railroad.
I used to have a bit of a working relationship with the 2102 when it was running in the Cleveland/Pittsburgh area even firing on the Pennsy main Line during a doubleheader with 2102 and 4070 from Pittsburgh to Altoona and back for two weekends in 1977.
That's me with my bowler standing on the tender slope sheet of the 4070:
RDG 2102; Gallitzin, PA; May 1977 by Adam Klimchock, on Flickr
In fact not long after this photo was taken it was necessary for some reason to move the engines farther around the Gallitzen loop track and the regular engineer was at lunch so it was up to me to take the throttle for a couple hundred feet.
I remember being really nervous as the tightness of that curve sure made the flanges squeal. I really had to apply quite a bit of throttle to overcome the friction. I was in fear that one of the flanges would surely climb the rail. Fortunately that wasn't the case.
At least I can truthfully claim that I ran steam on the late, great Pennsylvania Railroad
SeeYou190 wrote: (about "The Last Boy") "It is not on Netflix/DVD. I will keep an eye out for it"
Can be found here:
ytstvmovies.xyz/the-last-boy-2019
(you'll have to paste in the "https://" in the front of it)
You may need a torrent client app if you don't have one.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
I had quite a time back in those days, Bear. Wouldn't trade it for anything.
Chessie says: "Remember your Sweetheart"
Chessie_Heart by Edmund, on Flickr
Good Morning everybody. Chloe, a coffee to go please.
Great game last night. It's never a lot of fun watching a Super Bowl blowout.
Ed, what a thrill handling the throttle on that engine.
Mike
Good morning everyone. Chloe, please bring me a big glass full of cold whole milk.
There has been a FEMA booth set up in the store for the past several weeks. Yesterday was their last day.
What people that had severe loss in the storm have been going through is heartbreaking. It was seeming like everyday someone would walk in with a story even more tragic than all previous stories.
There really is a very vulnerable portion of our society.
Water Level RouteGreat game last night.
I agree. I enjoyed it a lot.
I ate too much chips and dip.
Got an Industrius Woodpecker in your yard. Seven Hundred pounds of nuts were removed from this house by a local exterminator.
Henry: I saw the email you sent me. Thank you for the information.
I will respond this evening.
Good morning, everyone. Bacon, eggs, and black coffee, Chloe.
I really enjoyed the Super Bowl this year, although I turned the channel to miss half-time. I can't say I've enjoyed the half-time shows in quite a few years.
We're in the lull before the storm. It will be in the 50s today, then freezing rain and snow beginning tomorrow.
After starting my new layout, I realized I didn't like one of the sections of track. The curve didn't look right to me. The train ran great through it, but I didn't like it. I tried to ignore it and I thought that eventually when I added some scenery or buildings, it would look better to me. Yesterday, I tore it out and put in a more pleasing (to me) curve. I guess it's all part of the game.
We have BritBox on our TV, and I've gotten hooked on a show called "Death in Paradise". It's a fun mystery. So, over the weekend I watched nine hour-long episodes. I enjoyed it, but I feel guilty about sitting in front of the TV that long.
Not much going on today. I will get Daisy the Dachshund outside more today before the snow hits. I have to drag her out once the snow or rain hits. The little dainty dog can't stand to get her feet wet.
Our Indian dinner last night was delicious. Hardly anyone was there and even the roads going over were empty.
We tried to watch the Kitten Bowl yesterday, but they've moved to a different channel and changed the format. It was actually part of a 5-hour telethon about dog adoption. Pretty sad, but the shelters are full of dogs they can't find homes for. The GF volunteers cleaning out cat cages at a local rescue place. Those cats all get their forever homes very quickly.
A little over a week ago, a thread was started announcing the passing of Elliot, a member who literally started this Diner some years back. Not being regular in the Diner, I don't know if this was announced here or not. A quick review of recent posts suggests that Elliot's passing had perhaps gone unnoticed in the Diner.
When Jeffrey Wimberly passed away on December 14, 2014, it was decided to rename the Diner from Elliott's Trackside Diner to Jeffrey's Trackside Diner with the wholehearted approval of the MR membership.
https://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/243124.aspx
Elliot had passed away a few years earlier, but the Diner remained in his name and in his honor until another giant in our little MR family passed way at the end of 2014.
At the time of Jeff's passing in late 2014, a discussion was begun whether to rename the Diner in Jeff's honor. At that time, we learned more about Elliot, who he was and how he had contributed to the forum. Here are some excerpts about Elliot:
Turns out, Elliot is a fella who joined the forums back in December 2003. He is currently inactive on the forums but goes by the screen name of Big_Boy_4005. His profile indicates that he is a 3-rail O-gauge modeler. In 1992, he was the owner and designer of a large public display layout at the Mall of America, preserved in the pages of MR (October 1993) and CTT (September 1993). He had some serious health issues back in 2007-2012, but has now returned to modeling, building a 2,000 square foot layout in his basement. A Youtube video features the Twin Cities Central as of 10/30/14. He made a brief reappearance on the CTT forum in March 2013 with a short message on the Coffee Pot.
Big_Boy_4005 came up with the idea to start the diner back in April 2004. Initially it was called “The Coffee Shop (a place to chat) Est 2004”. Prior to that, and there seems to be some confusion here, there was a similar thread called the Beer Barn on the forums. The Coffee Shop closed on 12/31/06 and was restarted at the beginning of 2007 as the Trackside Diner. It was later renamed Elliot’s Trackside Diner by its participants.
Reappeared on 3-13-2013 on CTT Coffee Pot.
Elliot is Big_Boy_4005.
A 3-rail O gauger.
I'm 51, and have been interested in trains all my life. I have worked in every major scale (including full size) at one time or another. Today I focus all my energy on O highrail. (3 rail O) For a number of years, I actually made a living in the hobby industry. In 1992 I was the owner and designer of a large public display train layout at the Mall of America. If you would like to see the layout , it has been preserved in the pages of MR (Oct. '93, p 92) and CTT (Sept. '93, p 86). Now I spend my time working on my dream layout. With a 2000 square foot train room in my basement, and all of the material left over from the mall display, I have my work cut out for me.
UPDATE: It has been over 6 years since my cancer diagnosis. Two surgeries in Jan 2007 seem to have gotten it all, but one of the scars was I've lost much of my interest in trains. In May 2012, my oncologist said he didn't want to see me anymore. Time for a comeback!
RGrande, Elliott (AKA BigBoy4005 - not sure on the number part of his old handle) was the one who started this Diner, then known as the Coffee Shop, as a place where off-topic posts (non-MRR-related) were permitted. Before the Diner (and another topic, which I believe was the Beer Barn), if you got off of MRR topics you might get a talking-to from one of the forum moderators (not quite as hard on you as Vinnie is, though).
From what I recall, Elliott was involved with a MRR club (in Minnesota, I think) which had a layout (modular?) that they would set up in one of the enclosed malls in their area at some point in the year (like around the holidays) and run trains to infect expose the general public to model railroading. He wasn't as active in the Diner when I started hanging around here (and I would have to look up when that was - 2006, maybe?), and a few years ago (maybe even 7-10 by now), his health began to give him problems, and he did eventually die. We renamed the Diner after him several years ago, in his honor.
The Coffee Shop (a place to chat) Est 2004
Closed 12-31-2006
Renamed Trackside Diner
Later renamed Elliot’s Trackside Diner
First called Beer Barn , later Coffee Shop
Still alive, apparently building a huge o gauge layout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IeoACNbw3o
Walking tour of the Twin Cities Central 10/30/14
Rich
Edit Note: Sorry for the somewhat chaotic nature of this post. I am working to edit this bits and pieces into a more comprehensive summary of the origins of the Diner.
In any event, I felt that the current Diners should be aware of their origins.
Alton Junction
Good Afternoon,
Our heat wave continues for 2 more days. Supposed to hit 32F today.
John, we have watched many episodes of that show. There has been 3 different actors in the role of the English Inspector. We find it to be good light entertainment. Our last Westie, Robbie, didn't like getting his feet wet either. I would take him to any patches of snow left as it melted as he was okay with snow.
I have to admit I don't like pecan pie, in fact I don't like any desert that contains nuts especially walnuts.
All quiet here. We don't go anywhere as my wife's fear of covid precludes even going for a walk wearing a mask. There might be a cloud of it from a passerby that could infect us through our eyes.
Not sure what I will do today, likely a whole lot of nothing.
CN Charlie
Rich, thanks for that informative post. I did not know this background for the diner.
Not all vintage F units made it into museums:
Milwaukee Rd F-units Franklin Pk IL 1976, by Mark LLanuza, on Flickr
Heart-to-heart on the New York Central!
Central_Hearts by Edmund, on Flickr
gmpullmanNot all vintage F units made it into museums: Milwaukee Rd F-units Franklin Pk IL 1976, by Mark LLanuza, on Flickr Milwaukee Rd F-units Franklin Pk IL 1976, by Mark LLanuza, on Flickr
Those pictures are almost depressing. All in the name of progress!
Cheers!!
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 Diners. Tea and toast please, Chloe.
It had to happen. Our younger granddaughter (Julia) had her last day in the 'Rainbows'. On Sunday she held the flag at the gathering of Rainbows, Brownies and Guides for World Thinking Day. Now she is to go into the 'Brownies'.
For the past couple of days Dawn has been in tears reading messages from the Rainbow Troop about how well Julia has performed. Dawn says, "Her grandchildren have grown up and are no longer 'babies'."
The Physiotherapist is here today for Dawn, so a busy day ahead.
Take Care and Stay Safe.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Lehigh Valley AND Monongahela heritage paint:
Double Heritage At The Packsaddle by Adam Klimchock, on Flickr
Congratulations for the rite of passage for Julia —
I hope your day goes well for both of you, David
For those that know my daughter is at Michigan State University: She is safe and is coming home today. Pray for those that aren't. No sleep last night, and my youngest is going in for surgery on her knee (outpatient-relatively minor) in a couple hours. I'll fill you all in when I can.
Good morning
richhotrain From what I recall, Elliott was involved with a MRR club (in Minnesota, I think)
From what I recall, Elliott was involved with a MRR club (in Minnesota, I think)
Hi Rich. Your recollection is correct. Elliot was my friend as we were club members of the Saint Louis Park & Western MR Club, that took place every Sunday morning, trackside to CP Rail in St Louis Park, Minnesota.
Elliot was one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet and loved by all. The kind of person that would give you the shirt off his back if you needed one.
I'd sit and chat with Elliot at the Club breakfast bar, many Sunday mornings. He had talked about his layout exhibit at the Mega Mall a few times, and was planning on having me build a curved bridge for his basement layout. Unfortunately this never happened, as other complications and covid took place some time after.
Elliot was in a leg brace, having a tough time with circulation loss, my recollection from a diabetic condition. Some time later, he had to have his leg amputated. He just couldn't get a break, as he developed some rare infection that ate from the inside out of his hand.
Tamera was Elliot's, in home dialysis caretaker, and sent pictures to our club host Gary, who forwarded them to all of us.. Elliot never gave up fighting.
What an inspiration, that Elliot still had that same beautiful smile on his face he always had, even after everything he was going through.
God rest Elliot's soul as he's at peace now. He will always be remembered as the kind soul he is.
TF
TF,
What a beautiful story about Elliot.
Sometime back, he was talked about at length in the thread that I linked and how he started what today is the Diner. Although I am not a regular in the Diner, I have always been intrigued with its origins. So, I hope that today's regulars will find all of this as interesting as I do.
If you have the time and inclination to do so, if you could post this same information and photos in the other thread about Elliot's passing, I think that everyone who reads that thread would appreciate your thoughts and recollections.
Good morning everyone, and I hope we are all feeling great today.
They are putting a new roof on the house across the street today. Noise, noise, noise.
I am getting more excited about the upcoming train show this weekend.
SeeYou190I really enjoy the movies most people refer to a "Rom-Coms" or "Chick Flicks". I don't like either one of those terms. I prefer movies that tell a story and have an emotional story to go along with them. There are plenty of decent movies I am "discovering" on Netflix. I look at upcoming releases, and just have no desire for any of it. I have 512 movies on DVD (two folders of 256 each) that contain every movie I have a desire to see more than once. I can pop one in the player any time I choose. The last movie I saw was either Star Wars IX or Avengers End Game. I cannot remember which one came out last. I felt it necessary to see these movies in the theater, and now I am done. I cannot stand how rude people are in theaters now.
I look at upcoming releases, and just have no desire for any of it.
I have 512 movies on DVD (two folders of 256 each) that contain every movie I have a desire to see more than once. I can pop one in the player any time I choose.
The last movie I saw was either Star Wars IX or Avengers End Game. I cannot remember which one came out last. I felt it necessary to see these movies in the theater, and now I am done. I cannot stand how rude people are in theaters now.
Last week I saw A Man Called Otto. Not bad, a little slow and pays obvious tolls to modern topics, but its an emotional/relationship kind of movie.
The theatre had about 30 people total. Big comfy seats (I assume because theatres know attendance is dwindling so they reconfigure the space). An enjoyable movie. An enjoyable experience.
I'm not a big movie goer. Once every couple of years, but I've never had a bad experience...just maybe bad movies.
- Douglas
Good morning, diners.
It's too bad about Elliot. Even though I've been drinking coffee in the diner for four years, I still feel a little like a newcomer -- I did not know about the founding and history of the diner.
TF, it's good to hear from you again.
CNCharlieJohn, we have watched many episodes of that show. There has been 3 different actors in the role of the English Inspector.
Charlie, I really enjoy the show -- it's more fun than most. I couldn't believe it when the main character was murdered at the beginning of the third season. I wondered how the program would continue since that dead inspector was the guiding force in the program. They did a very nice job of putting in another inspector.
Now, last night, I watched an episode when the other main character, Camille, is moving to Paris. I wonder how the show will continue now.
I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day.