Hi everyone and WELCOME to Jeffreys Track Side Diner for August 2023!
I hope that you are all having an enjoyable summer. For August, how about we discuss the subject of depots. Depots can range from a small shed sized whistle stop to giant big city terminals that handle a dozen different railroads. This should prove to be interesting, so let the fun begin.
Enjoy!
Jim
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
Well, for some reason I can't seem to get the RIP track to post. I'll continue to work on it, but it had been 6 hours since last posting for July so why not move it now even if there's a few more hours of July at least in Central time. So, welcome all and I hope theres some great info on depots this month.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for moving the Diner. You have chosen an interesting topic.
The RIP track is in its proper place so I guess you sorted the problem out.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
August Already! Only 5 more months of Summer to go!
Depots should be great.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Good Morning Diners. Flo, bacon, eggs, and pancakes please.
I just saw an article that a group has restored a couple former New York Central cars and are offering a 20th Century Limited experience. The cars are restored to show what a trip in the late 40's would be like. Round trip between New York and Albany. Tickets in the tavern car include sandwiches but not drinks run $150 and tickets in the observation car include a chef cooked meal plus drinks and hors d'oeuvres for $300. Sounds reasonable to me for a fun experience like that. I would sign up if I were closer.
Mike
This should qualify as a depot. My dad's brother-in-law, Stanley Mackenzie, was the B&M agent at Warren, New Hampshire when the Dartmouth Outing Club decided to stop by on a Sunday afternoon:
Flying-Yankee at Warren, NH by Edmund, on Flickr
My dad grew up in the town of Barre Plains, Massachusetts and he and his brothers spent lots of time at the solidly-built Boston & Albany depot.
barreplains60 by Edmund, on Flickr
While his father, Francis, was agent for the B&M in the same town.
barredepot_FXT by Edmund, on Flickr
That blue, porcelain station sign now hangs in my little pavillion down by the pond.
Pavillion by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
Good afternoon Diners. A coffee on the go please, Zoe.
Temple Mills & Orient Way Sidings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II1kl4aZPWQ&ab_channel=DestinationTrainsPlanes
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Good morning, everyone. It's been a busy morning, it's almost noon, and it'll be a busy afternoon.
Jim, thanks for starting the diner in a new month. It's always a pleasure reading the posts.
Mike, that sounds like a great ride on a tourist railroad. It's too bad we can't experience the full effect of that train by spending the night heading to Chicago.
Ed, that's an interesting background of your family's railroading history. And that's a great looking pavillion on your property. How far away is the caboose?
David, that's a neat aerial tour of the Temple Mills depot in London.
We spent four days in Vernazzo, Italy, hiking and riding the trains. The train station is right next to the tunnel portal. Standing on the station deck, you can feel cool air being forced out of the tunnel by the approaching train before you can see or hear the train coming.
Have a great day, everyone.
York1 John
We moved my Dad this weekend. My brother and niece started the process two weeks ago. My wife and I went down last weekend to pack, and Thursday to start the move. He is moving into my sister's new home that includes a bedroom and a bath for him. She and her husband moved to Lubbock to be near their grandchildren. My Dad isn't a hoarder, but he had a lot of stuff packed into a 2 bedroom duplex. It took two trips in a 20 foot truck to move him and his woodworking projects. One of my brothers took a 15 foot truck of stuff to Wisconsin. We took a pickup load last week to Kansas, and followed it up this week with an 8 foot trailer. Both of my kids and all of my siblings came to help pack & load. My baby brother rented a roll off dumpster Monday morning that we filled 3/5 way full (we had already taken 2 truck loads to the transfer station). My wife and I cleaned until 4:30 Monday afternoon. It was 109 on Monday, btw. I lost 7 lbs. over the long weekend.
Oh, and our pickup truck broke down Saturday while we were in Wichita Falls. It was repairable, but not ready until Monday afternoon. My daughter stuck around to help and to transport us. My brother in law let us borrow his pickup to pick up the trailer.
My son texted last night that he and his wife have made an offer on a house in Wylie, TX. So it looks like we will be painting and moving for them later this year.
Hi Everyone,
Brunhilda, coffee with cream, please.
Offering my own contribution to the topic. The picture is of the UP depot at Manhattan, Kansas back in the mid 1950s. I remember this structure from when i was very young. The sign was the UP overland route logo and at night was lit up with neon. It had the red neon and blue I think Xenon, but not sure about the gas. Anyway, it lit up red and blue. I seem to remember the station as being red brick. Not sure on that either, but it was brick with stone.
Manhattan KS depot mid 50s by Jim S, on Flickr
I'll have to see if I have any more depot pics.
up831I seem to remember the station as being red brick. Not sure on that either, but it was brick with stone.
Knowing Manhattan, I'll bet it had some of that light-colored limestone in it somewhere. I don't think I've ever seen a city with that much stone in the buildings.
I installed the new battery in my wife's car this morning. That was a pretty easy chore.
The roof was delivered, and it is now sitting in my driveway. The installation begins tomorrow.
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
It sure is white!
SeeYou190The roof was delivered, and it is now sitting in my driveway. The installation begins tomorrow.
Hope it goes well! The house looks great. I really like those stone accents and retaining wall. I also like what looks like concrete edging around the gravel planting bed. It looks like that make mowing the yard easier when you can get one side of the mower onto the concrete.
You've done a nice job!
York1 And that's a great looking pavillion on your property. How far away is the caboose?
Its about 200 feet or so, John. Far enough that if party goers are still reveling at the pavilion and folks want to sleep at the caboose there's no problem, yet close enough that the 'facilities' are nearby.
Hops Arbor by Edmund, on Flickr
I know I have better photos showing both the caboose and pavilion but I'll have to dig further. The caboose would be well to the right in this photo:
Distant Pavilion by Edmund, on Flickr
Actually in this view you can see the caboose far off to the left looking from the path to the pavilion:
IMG_3957 by Edmund, on Flickr
One of my favorite depots in a scene that just reeks of 'Railroadiness'
Thurmond - Dec. 1969 by Joseph Petric, on Flickr
Regards, Ed
Good morning everyone. Chloe, I would like a hearty bowl of granola with raisins and dates.
They are up there installing the roof now... so much noise!
York1 I also like what looks like concrete edging around the gravel planting bed. It looks like that make mowing the yard easier when you can get one side of the mower onto the concrete.
I had the concrete landscape curbing installed 22 years ago. That was one of the best things I ever spent money on. Having a permanent border in between the stones and the grass has been worth every dime.
SeeYou190 I installed the new battery in my wife's car this morning. That was a pretty easy chore. -Kevin
The battery died in the GF's Mini Cooper a while back. We couldn't jump start it. We couldn't find one anywhere locally, and none of the local shops would touch it. Minis are made by BMW, but the BMW dealer wouldn't touch it. She had to have it towed to Annapolis, Maryland, about two hours away.
I hate this trend to make things unrepairable. Whatever happened to jump starting your car, driving to Sears and getting a Die Hard dropped in while you waited?
There's only one shop in my whole county that will work on electric cars, too.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
My boss had a Chrysler 300, the older body style, and one of the rear wheels had to be removed to access the battery compartment.
My 2015 Impala is a pretty basic car. Nothing seems hard to work on.
My 2008 Colorado is as easy to work on as my 1976 Chevrolet C10 or my 1989 Ford F150 were.
None of this matters for my next car... it will be electric.
Replacing the battery on my Harley requires the removal of the seat, a side panel, and the skin from my knuckles.
Richard
What is it like changing the battery in an electric car? I know they eventually need to be replaced. I wonder if it's like replacing a motor in a regular car.
York1What is it like changing the battery in an electric car? I know they eventually need to be replaced. I wonder if it's like replacing a motor in a regular car.
For the most part the Batteries today will outlast the car itself. Tesla, I know has some tech in place to limit the damage from overcharging the cells which shortens the life of the batteries. Normally you only charge to 80% and you never want to totally empty the charge in them. My Tesla Model 3 is about 4 years old now and I see no change at all in battery function and range. Found this online....
"Most manufacturers have a five to eight-year warranty on their battery. However, the current prediction is that an electric car battery will last from 10 – 20 years before they need to be replaced."
There is at least one production Model 3 Tesla out there with over 1,000,000 miles on it and the batteries supposedly are still fine.
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
RideOnRoadReplacing the battery on my Harley requires the removal of the seat, a side panel, and the skin from my knuckles.
I replaced the battery in my 1973 1200 FLH Shovelhead, and swore I would burn H-D to the ground if I ever had the chance.
Then, about a month later the starter solenoid failed. Replacing that was almost impossible, and the battery had to come out again.
Good Morning Diners. Chloe, just a coffee please.
I can't remember for sure the last battery I had to change out. I had a 1994 Grand Prix in college that had a battery die without warning (plates must have shorted). Of course it happened at night alone in a parking lot on campus. I've not had to replace the battery on my Colorado. I drove a GMC Sierra for 11 years prior to getting the Colorado and I cannot remember having to change the battery in it. Seems implausible, but I just don't remember having an issue with it although I almost had to have changed it at some point.
I do remember helping my father-in-law change the battery in their Chrysler Cirrus. Had to pull a wheel off on that one like the 300 someone else mentioned.
Good morning everyone. Chloe, I am not feeling hungry this morning, so just a cup of coffee, and I promise to leave you a decent to if you can keep it full.
The roof is being installed!
-Photographs by Kevin Parson
Happiness is happening.
Hello diners... is anyone here?
It rained today... rained HARD for an hour. Flooded all the streets in the neighborhood.
The metal roof is not one bit louder than the shingled roof was. And the rain did not make the pitter-patter that I was expecting.
I wonder if that is because I did not get a traditional corrugated roof with exposed hardware. Mine is a standing seam crimped roof with all hidden hardware. It has thick peel-and-stick underlayment beneath it.
Anyway, nothing outside of what we are used to as far as noise is concerned.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
A couple of B&O Classics that have that certain 'railroady' charm:
Washington, Indiana:
Thomas Underwood Coll B&O013 by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr
Olney, Illinois:
Thomas Underwood Coll B&O023 by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr
Lawrenceberg, Indiana:
Thomas Underwood Coll B&O029 by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr
Laurel, Maryland:
Thomas Underwood Coll B&O129 by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr
I wish I had room on my layout for all four of these!
Good morning, diners. Bacon, eggs, and coffee, Chloe.
One more busy day today, and then things seem to settle down and I will have some time for the layout.
My little town sits on a double mainline BNSF route used mainly for coal trains from Wyoming. The station is still used by BNSF.
It looks a lot like what Ed showed is a typical station/depot style for many railroads:
Good morning everyone. Chloe, could you bring me half of a cantaloupe and a glass of unsweetened iced tea please?
We saw the Barbie movie, in the theater, and it was a lot of fun. It was just a wonderful feel good movie that provided a two hour escape from reality. I cannot remember the last movie I saw where I left the theater with a smile on my face after experiencing "movie magic".
What a care free great time it was. I like it a lot more than LaLa Land.
Kevin, your roof looks great.
We have a lot of people in our area getting metal roofs, but I've seen that most of them don't have the hidden hardware. You can see the screws along the seams. Yours looks better.
Insurance companies here give a home insurance discount for metal roofs. They will give a bigger discount if you get a policy that does not replace the roof if it is dented.
When we have hailstorms with baseball or even softball sized hail, even the best metal roofs end up with some dents. It does not affect the roof other than some people don't want the look. The letter from the insurance company said that if you can leave your metal roof with the dents, you get a great lower rate.
The people with the metal roofs agree with you -- they have said the rain is not any noisier than with a regular roof.
Enjoy the finished outside of your house!
York1 Kevin, your roof looks great. We have a lot of people in our area getting metal roofs, but I've seen that most of them don't have the hidden hardware. You can see the screws along the seams. Yours looks better. The people with the metal roofs agree with you -- they have said the rain is not any noisier than with a regular roof. Enjoy the finished outside of your house!
I put a metal roof on my house 11 years ago. So far no problems at all. I don't notice that it is any louder in rain storms than the old roof. Of course.... I'm DEAF! LOL One reason I went with the metal roof is so I wouldn't have to remove the other stuff up there when it wears out.... (See photo below.)
The panels have just about paid for themselves I think by now. They provide about 1/3 of the electric I use. I could claim I drive for free as they produce more in a year than I use in the car... I also got funding from the state towards the solar panels.