Hi everyone,
It would seem that the forums have been down for a while. I'm going to post this as a test and I will edit it if the post is successful.
EDIT: The forums are still working really slowly. I tried to copy and paste the intro for the Diner but I got a 504 Gateway Timed Out message. I'll try again later.
Meanwhile, if you can post and want to, by all means do so.
We need to decide where to take the Diner. I had suggested moving it to somewhere in the tropics for the benefit of those of us who are in the throes of winter, but there was another suggestion which I can't remember. Where do you want to go?!?
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Hi Bear,
Thanks for posting the intro!
I don't know where we're headed but it sure looks warm and sunny...
Almost there by Mike Danneman, on Flickr
Let's hope for a little tune-up of the bits and bytes here at the forum in 2024!
Cheers, Ed
Night shot, CNR steam locomotive #6006, 4-8-2 Mountain-type, Train #7, Truro Nova Scotia, 7/5/54 by Jon Archibald, on Flickr
First I have been able to post this month.
Good morning!
Atlanta Indiana interurban station (date unknown).
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
Got in through Firefox. Tried to post. "403 Forbidden"!
I haven't had any recent problems. A couple of months, or so, ago I had trouble, along with everyone else. haha
Mike.
My You Tube
Yea!!! It's great to be able to post again after several days off.
A good side of that is that instead of sitting at the computer, I had more layout time!
I need some tropical trains! I am already sick of winter with three months to go. In our part of the continent, we don't really warm up until April, and even then we sometimes get snow.
I hope everyone had a good start to the new year.
I have never been there, but this says it is a train in Panama, and I know Panama is in the tropics, so I guess it's OK to post in the Diner!
Panama train by Dan Hitchens, on Flickr
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."
John! How ya doing my Freind?
Just had to tell you this cuz, you of all people could apreciate this.
Judy sent her Mom Gumbo on dry ice from Commander's Palace, New Orleans for New Year. Her mom used to live down there too. She just called with her mouth watering, and is so deleted
She's got her grub on tonight
Wish we all had some
TF
Hi guys. Looks like they got the forum back on its wheels. THANK YOU! Just a quick stop in to say Hello tonight. Glad to see we're back in business. Will check in later.
Mike
TF, that's great food!
Commander's Palace is usually considered one of the best, if not the best, food in New Orleans. They've had a parade of the best U.S. chefs working there.
I only went there several times. I was with the faculty for some end-of-the-school-year celebrations.
https://www.commanderspalace.com/
Enjoy the Gumbo!
York1 https://www.commanderspalace.com/
Yep, That's it, Thanks for posting the pic John. Brings back the memories.
We used to go down there every year, if not twice. Always for Mardi Gras, always such a good time, and if we could, another time just to visit family.
The last time we were there was the Millennium, Mardi Gras 2000. Judy's sister, and my brother-in-law, that rebuilt my Stang, moved up to Wisconsin, so we haven't been back there since then.
Her and her sister are Conjuring up something, from hearing them clucking on the phone, something is coming up soon...
Just dreaming about going back to Commander's Palace and getting some of that World Famous jambalaya
What's interesting John, is the best Po-Boy's were at the gas station, a half a block from Judy's sister's house. There was no better as Barb said, as they dripped down your wrist while eating them
We stayed down there a week once, and only missed one day going to the gas station at 10:30 in the morning, to get a fresh one, as soon as they opened. That was my perfect breakfast, Mouth Watering.
Good Evening,
Glad they got the forum back in operation.
We had a very quiet Christmas and New Year. My wife fell and hurt her arm and no break per the Xray. Then on Christmas eve afternoon she was feeling poorly with BP up so called 911. The paramedics gave her an EKG which was good so gave the all clear and no trip to the hospital. The bill was $237 which isn't too bad. She then spent many hours cleaning in case they brought in covid. We finally had Christmas/New Years dinner on Jan. 2. How's that for a fun holiday. Glad it is over.
Tonight we had sticky toffee pudding for dessert. Was really good. Straight from the freezer to the oven so no prep at all. Dave, you might like it as I think we like similar desserts. It is a PC product.
Nice we are going tropical this month. I have only been to a couple of really tropical places, Bali and Borneo.
We had the third mildest Dec. on record here but is starting to cool off. Still very dry with about 2" of snow on the ground.
CN Charlie
NS signal gang erecting signal in Toledo Ohio on the former Conrail
property circa 2001
Good Morning Diners. Zoe, coffee and a blueberry muffin please.
We had a nice enough Christmas with family and all, but we had absolutely zero snow. I really struggle getting in the Christmas spirit without it, and this year was particularly difficult. We did all the usual stuff between Christmas cookies and movie watching but it still just didn't feel right. On a positive note, my new Christmas lights on the house roof and our fence looked great! All the lights on my deck stayed working this year too! I wanted to add a couple more spots of lights around doors on the house, but GE quit making the ones I had been using in sensible sized strings and now only make them in 50' lengths. Grrr! Glad I'm slowly switching over to a different supplier. Commercial grade stuff so should last much longer.
Got some good train running time in over the holidays too. So glad NCE got my system back to me. I'm going over the locomotive fleet right now reprogramming all of them to run a bit faster. After 10 years of this layout, I finally admitted to myself that I needed to do that. I had them all turned down too far. Passenger engines are done. Freight is about halfway.
Have a good day everyone!
Good morning, everyone. Bacon, eggs, and black coffee, please.
Normally, I get up about 6:00 a.m. and walk the dog. This morning, we got bundled up, started out, and turned around and came back in. I could not tell in the dark until I took several steps outside -- we are covered in ice. My feet just about went out from under me. I thought it would be better to get to the snow, but all the snow is also covered in ice, and almost impossible to navigate. We came back in, so the dog is sitting there looking at me, depressed.
Charlie, sorry to hear that your Christmas was not real pleasant, but good to hear your wife had nothing serious. I think your winter is quite a bit colder than ours, but our conditions may be worse.
TF, Endymion was one of our favorite parades. It made for a great Saturday night before Mardi Gras. Our church's pastor was a member of Endymion, so it was always fun to spot him. When the parade came by our church, he unloaded tons of beads and doubloons on us.
Bill, thanks for the interesting old photos. I didn't think about Atlanta having a streetcar system, but I guess most cities had them back then.
Dave, Ed and Bear, you three seemed to have better luck getting into the forum than the rest of us. Thanks for keeping the diner open over the New Year. The waitresses appreciated it.
Mike, it sounds like you did a large Christmas light display. It must have looked great. I used to put out lights, but over the last years, we've had fewer and fewer until this year, my wife bought a projector that showed a nativity scene on the front side of the house. One extension cord, one projector --- that's it. And she put that out herself, which means I did nothing! I didn't mind at all.
I have a great day scheduled today, which means I have nothing scheduled. I can spend the day on the layout. I'm beginning to put in the long delayed streetcar line. I've got a streetcar that looks like the New Orleans ones. I'm having a hard time deciding how to lay out the route. I've finally cut a bunch of strips of paper and I'm going to lay them down to see how the line may look. I guess this is all part of the fun of the hobby.
My hope for this new year is that we can get back some of the old diner customers and get some new ones, too. Maybe, just maybe, this will be the year the forum is revamped to make it easy to login and post!
Have a great day, everyone.
One of the train rides I always wanted to try was the Mexican Copper Canyon. You could park your camper on the flat car. I've seen neat videos of people sitting outside their campers on the flatcar, having a drink and riding through the tropical scenery. I've heard the train doesn't do this anymore -- too bad.
img048 by wrd39, on Flickr
img065 by wrd39, on Flickr
img069 by wrd39, on Flickr
This video shows the great ride:
Good Morning,
John, your mention of streetcars got me thinking and I remember riding on them here when I was young. They were gone in 1954 but were used to the neighbourhood where I lived until I was 5. We moved to an area served by trolley buses but a transfer to a streetcar was needed to get to grandma's house. I remember the seats were dark green and had upholstery that felt bristly.
I too have a quiet day but we may run over to the MIL .
Keep safe,
Good early evening
Hope you had a smooth trip to the MIL and back Charlie. It feels like one of those days, where the MIL chewed me up and spit me out for breakfast
Have you ever had one of those days, where you go to do something you've done so many times before, and it should be just like clockwork, but everything just goes South on you?
Had one of those days today, as the tool belt got thrown into the corner in a haste. Started looking around, and thought that perhaps, the Stars don't line up correctly around the Sun today
Ya, that's it! Days like this, it's just better to throw in the towel before one gets too Flustered, and regroup fresh in the morning to try again
Everything had been going too smoothly for too many consecutive weeks. They throw a wrench in on you sooner or later
But there's always tomorrow
York1Mike, it sounds like you did a large Christmas light display. It must have looked great.
Xmas Lights by Michael, on Flickr
In the first picture, you can see the lights hanging garland style down the fence. It's about twice as long as you can see in the picture. Also, if you look in the front window closely, you can see our two downstairs trees. The one right in front of the window done in clear lights, the other in the next room over done with multicolored lights. Their bottom branches were only about 5 feet apart.
Track fiddlerDays like this, it's just better to throw in the towel before one gets too Flustered, and regroup fresh in the morning to try again
Thanks Mike, now one can be sure I'm not nuts...
Taco Tuesday is Tuesday, but Thursday is Broadway Pizza Night
And we're already chowing down here on this Bad Boy
This pie is really thick in the center It helps to know Kenny
Those are some neat lights Mike Looks like Candy Land over there
Very nice lights Mike. I for one can still hear the bell and got a great score at Home Depot today. 4-25' sets of C-9s for 2.29CA/$1.71USD. Only 356 days til Christmas, can't wait.
Planning for next year.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Here's looking at you Kid
Just don't forget who your friends are
Evening
Does 450 width and 250 height work okay?
BATMAN Very nice lights Mike. I for one can still hear the bell and got a great score at Home Depot today. 4-25' sets of C-9s for 2.29CA/$1.71USD. Only 356 days til Christmas, can't wait. Planning for next year.
Hey, Brent! Are you sure you didn't score electric strawberries, there? Man, that's gobs of preservatives if they'll keep for another ten or eleven months. Just hopin' you're not putting all that good health at risk.
John (of Attu)
Mister B
You've never said as far as remembered here, But is there a Mrs Beasley of yours?
Hi Everyone,
First chance to see the diner in about 3 weeks. I didn't even get to read the last week or so of last month's diner.
Dave: Nice job of moving the diner in somewhat adverse circumstances. Looks like we're doing tropical this month. That's fine. I'll have to see if I have any appropriate pics to share.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
York1I am already sick of winter with three months to go. In our part of the continent, we don't really warm up until April, and even then we sometimes get snow.
We're tough here around the Great Lakes:
This was Mother's Day 2021...
May_9-snow by Edmund, on Flickr
Streetcars. I was a bit young to see any actual street cars of the Cleveland Railway but I did sometimmes ride a trolley bus to school. I did enjoy the PCC cars of the Shaker Rapid which mostly ran on private right-of-way.
Shaker_56_1966 by Edmund, on Flickr On cold days it was inviting to get on the cars and feel toasty warm.
19680225 19 Shaker Heights Rapid Transit #53 Interior by David Wilson, on Flickr
During rush hours the cars could be MUed:
PCC_Shaker by Edmund, on Flickr
Regards, Ed
Here are some trains in the tropics:
A northbound train led by BPMX 9224, a GP38-2 of NdeM heritage, rounds the bend at the intersection of Calle 25 and Calle 38A in Mérida on February 14, 2020.
Sri Lanka:
Seems there was a shortage of ties when they built this one:
A critter after my own heart!
Lush growth!:
Queensland, Australia:
Hawaiian Railway Society:
A little overgrown to say the least!
New South Wales, Australia:
The tropical garden inside the Madrid Atocha railway station:
That's all for now. More later.