Good Morning Diners. Zoe, a large mocha please.
Chilly this morning. Currently 9F with a wind chill of -7F. I will say this though. All the snow we got sure is beautiful! I love it.
John (York1), I hope your wife is okay. One thing about an early morning surgery is they seem to get you processed and on your way faster.
It was great to see the Lions win a playoff game. It's been a long time! For that matter, I was happy with how all of the games came out, other than the Packers/Cowboys. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the Cowboys lost, but would have been happier if they both could have lost that game!
MisterBeasleynever let a good crisis go to waste. Time to go buy beer.
Track Fiddler, glad to have you back! How is the latest project coming along?
Bear, I got stuck halfway home on a work trip one time as my company would not pay the $20 fee to reserve my seat on the flight. That cost them as half of my travel time was being paid as overtime, not to mention not having me available the next day. Silliness.
Bill, keep the neat old pictures coming. Any connection to the Mr. Rafferty in the photo?
David, sounds like a lovely time with Julia. Great memories for all involved, I'm sure.
Building the Panama Canal. Such smooth trackwork!
Mike
Good morning Diners. A large coffee please, Zoe.
Well the weekend went well. Younger granddaughter, Julia arrived on Friday. Here she can do girly things with Dawn; dancing, dressing up and play with girls toys. No interference from her two older brothers.
Saturday I took her to the Aircraft and Transport Museum. (She asked to go there.) Great fun sitting at the controls of a light aircraft. (Made me think of my mother piloting (unarmed) aircraft during WW2 ferrying them to air bases.
Then Julia looked around Military Hardware, Tanks, AA Guns, Jeeps etc.. She was allowed to sit in most of them. (No girly thoughts. Oh no!)
Nearby is an indoor kiddies play area were she could 'let off steam' climbing and running around. Julia met a couple of other 'single girls' her age which made it more fun for her.
One tired girl Saturday night.
Sunday was 'baking day'. Cheese, bacon and tomato wrap was the order. Julia was adamant it was a pasty. Whatever, pastry made, bacon in the air fryer, tomato sliced and the cheese grated. Julia did 75% of the work and a very good job it was. So much so, Dawn wants us to bake again next time Julia stays over.
Have I been teaching Julia well? Is she a very good baker (without my help) like her great, great, grandmother was?
The house was rather quiet Sunday evening.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Good morning!
Former dispatcher's board at Lima Ohio (NKP/N&W).
The dispatcher is the late Bob Rafferty.
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Evening
Been busy down the hall here
First and foremost, was so saddened to hear about Wilson Ed. Your favorite pet, and rightfully so, one Cool Cat
My favorite picture of Wilson is the Caboose Watch Cat. And what a great job you did restoring the exterior of the Caboose a few years ago
And a favorite picture of one of my better Freinds here, also from my railroad log, ain't too shabby either
How could one not Love these guys?
Prayers, thoughts, and best wishes come from our home here. Hopefully help with a tougher road ahead.
I'm thinking of you in the weeks ahead Ed. Love Ya Man!
Come on Brent, you should know who your friends are by now. I've been your friend since you told me the story about the native family across the lake you befriended one Summer, and had a good time that year back in the day.
And the exchange of Gordon Lightfoot back and forth throughout the years here, and the Edmond Fitzgerald snow sculpture. Maybe even an occasional UFO or two flying around now and then.
Long winded is labeled by me, at the end of some of my long posts, let alone yours. It's not the length of the posts. Long winded for example is personal finance and wealth, that's nobody's business but ones own.
You may have taken things out of context here. I'll always say it like it is, being a Scotsman. You're already Man enough from deep down within, as that's all that really matters, and understood here. There's no need to add any extra Bells or Whistles.
We're all good here
I've had a sore shoulder in the morning, from lesser words spoken at the Joint. Some nights it's a Challenger, to see what one gets away with...... Kidding
(The Joint), Minneapolis
MisterBeasley Oh my gosh, people are acting like Snowmageddon is coming!
Oh my gosh, people are acting like Snowmageddon is coming!
Mister B, Snowmageddon?, but what about Rodan?
Well, ........ Categorized as some classic cheesy good yucks
This site is still really freaky, it's almost impossible to post from a phone, let alone from a phone to a freind?
Have a good evening gentlemen.
TF
York1Ed and Jim, are you all dug out from the storm? It looked like you were going to get quite a bit of snow.
Completely missed us this time, thanks for asking John. Maybe an inch. We do have a chilly minus 1°F this morning.
A few years ago...
Looking_West by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
Oh my gosh, people are acting like Snowmageddon is coming! It's going to be below freezing! We could get 1 (one) inch of snow! The GF thinks we should stock up with a lot of food to tide us over. Of course, it will warm up and rain after dinner and wash the flakes away. But, never let a good crisis go to waste. Time to go buy beer.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Good morning, diners. I'll have bacon, eggs, and black coffee.
It was an early morning -- I took my wife to the hospital for some exploratory surgery. Hopefully we get a good report. I'm not sure why it was so early.
Mike and Ray, you talked about sympathetic vibration. I've often wondered about large football stadiums. For example, in Madison, Wisconsin, the students at the college football stadium have their jump around. The entire stadium shakes -- alot. I've wondered how much stress that puts on the structure.
Brent, I was surprised when I set my NCE controller to show the amperage draw when running my trains. Mine is N scale. I was surprised that, with three trains running, one of them with sound, the draw was less than a tenth of an amp. I expected it would be more.
Mike, it was good to see the Lions finally win a playoff game. I can't remember the last time that happened.
Lion, it's been good to hear from you again. Do you keep busy enough that you don't miss your trains? With your North Dakota weather, I imagine you're inside all winter.
Bill, you have a nice collection of old train photographs. I'm glad you're posting them for us.
David, I hope your weekend visit with the granddaughter went well. If you're like me, you look forward to the visit, and you sigh with relaxation when they leave.
Ed and Jim, are you all dug out from the storm? It looked like you were going to get quite a bit of snow.
MisterBeasley, I watch "This Old House" each week. The latest is another house in Massachusetts. I'm always amazed at all the regulations the builders have to follow -- far beyond what we do out here. Just the amount of insulation, energy, and water regulations are amazing. I would imagine it would add a huge amount to anyone building a new house there.
Dave, I hope your new layout is coming along. Your garage is going to seem a lot bigger when you're finished removing all the stuff from years of living.
Charlie, I also watch those car auctions. Same thing here -- I'm amazed at the prices. It's obvious there are a lot of people who have way more money than me to use on a hobby.
Bear, I don't want to hear anything from you about your weather until at least April! We won't be above zero F for several more days. Even the dog comes in quickly when she goes outside.
For any diners not mentioned, I hope you're doing well.
It's nice to have a group of friends in the diner. I know we've lost quite a few over the past months, but I still enjoy coming here for the friendships.
The bacon is done. Time to eat.
For people my age, Laos was important in the news about fifty years ago:
DMU leaving Thanaleng for Nong Khai by Don Glover, on Flickr
York1 John
Good morning!IMC District (former LE&W/NKP ) Tipton, IN to Indianapolis, IN
BATMANThink I'll see how many trains I can juggle today. I am worried about not having enough power with only 5 amps, I have 20 locos on the layout and was running seven with no issues. I will stick the meter on it to see where I am at.
My power supply puts out 10 regulated amps of power.It has an ameter and a voltmeter and I have never drawn as much as two amps even with all of the trains running.
If the power supply were not regulated trains would change speeds as the started and stopped independantly from each other. With DCC, I guess that accounts for such vagrencies by itself.
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
-17 degrees with -40 wind chill.
There is no heat in our hallways, reminds me of when we went to school at Hogwarts.
Evening diners. Getting ready to watch the Lions and Rams play. Spent a good portion of the day reprogramming decoders, but I got the entire fleet done. Phew!
John, congratulations on getting the streetcar line working. Has to feel good and it will be neat to have it running while you do other work. Brent, nice having the fireplace in the train room. Wish I had one! I had my little space heater running hard the whole time I was down there.
Bear, maybe a field trip to North America during your winter. Can't imagine what that would cost as we would all want you to stop by!
Have a great night guys.
Yikes! I missed I was top of the page. Drinks are on me.
Good morning from the balmy West Coast where it is only -10c today.
John, I did not find your post too long at all, though I read pretty fast so that may have something to do with it.
Compared to the cold some of you are dealing with I am in the tropics. I have not spent as much time outside as usual as my old bones are starting to notice the extreme change in temps. I think it may be the dryness as well that is affecting me as I am used to a more soggy environment. To think I would spend 20hr days out on the ramp at the airport in the cold, snow, and wind and loved it.
Bear, I have been on the Karanda Railway. I seem to recall we all got off the train on that bridge so we could take photos. It was an enjoyable day.
Kuranda Scenic Railway by Joersch, on Flickr
Think I'll see how many trains I can juggle today. I am worried about not having enough power with only 5 amps, I have 20 locos on the layout and was running seven with no issues. I will stick the meter on it to see where I am at.
I need to take a dog for a scoot first, not the usual 10km, probably 5.
I put the fire on today.
All the best to all.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Good Sunday morning. Just black coffee, please. I'll have donuts later.
Kind of a strange Sunday morning for us. Our church is having only one service this morning. There are a lot of people who are unable to get out of their houses yet. I don't expect too many people to attend this morning. Most roads are still drifted shut in the rural areas.
The good news? It only got down to -18°F last night. They had predicted -25°.
Enough weather complaining.
The best news from me? I got the streetcar running. It took me all day yesterday to get the reversing programmed. Part way through the day, I finally unsoldered some connections and basically started over.
A frustrating part was that part way through the setup, I could not get anything to work. I finally checked the old DC transformer and found it was not working. I dug out an old buck converter and rigged it up to be the power to the track. It worked! Since I won't be varying the speed, I just adjusted the voltage on the buck converter and let it go!
Amazing to me are the computer boards for programming. I bought those for only $3.00 each last year, and they can be programmed to do just about anything.
The streetcar now sits at an endpoint (future station) for about 15 seconds, starts and runs to the end of the line, stands for about 15 seconds, and then returns to the station. It runs automatically, so it will run itself when I am working on other trains or showing the layout to grandchildren.
Talking about sun dogs, several years ago I saw one that had a partial rainbow with it. Like I said, I've never seen one as bright as the other day.
This has turned into another long post. Sorry about that.
We're getting ready to head out the door. I'll check back later to see how everyone is doing.
The death railway at the River Kwai:
The Death Railway, Khwae Noi River (river kwai) by Geoff Challies, on Flickr
Morning Folks!
up831It is -11F this morning,....COLD! And it's supposed to get a bit colder tonight. The coldest weather I'd ever been in was -25F. It's not uncommon here. Argh!
Here in the Finger Lakes Region of NYS, "We're Havin' a Heatwave, Tropical Heatwave...." Yep it is 27°F outside the door at the moment. We got some wind over the past couple days, but not much white stuff. Only a trace and that blew over to the next county....
up831 We were under the upper deck and that upper deck was flexing a full 6" in time to the music.
The ancient old High school I went to in Canandaigua, NY was built in the early 1800's. In the huge "Study Hall" we would start lifting our feet with our toes and get everyone in time together. We could set up a sympathetic vibration at certain frequency that made the entire floor bounce up and down! Used to scare the $... out of new teachers and the principal and vice principal would make sure those of us that were seen doing that served a few detentions!!! LOL That old building is still in use as senior housing these days and an arts academy. The old auditorium is now a community concert venue for shows and local orchestras (not to mention some big name performers as well).
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Hi Everyone,
It is -11F this morning,....COLD! And it's supposed to get a bit colder tonight. The coldest weather I'd ever been in was -25F. It's not uncommon here. Argh!
Ed: The Seaboard postcard reminds me the time my wife and I went to see Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Emmy Lou Harris, and the warm up band Alabama at Anaheim Stadium. During Merle Haggard's set, he started a three fiddle version of Orange Blossom Special. It almost brought down the house literally. We were under the upper deck and that upper deck was flexing a full 6" in time to the music. I remembered that military units break step when they cross bridges to not set up a rhythmic stress on the structure so as to prevent collapse. I was getting real concerned about that upper deck. Fortunately, it all stayed together and nothing happened, but I was having some angst over it. The engineers did a good job of designing the stadium. Other the those few moments, it was a good show.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
Snow dogs and -12°F!!
I recall the line in The Deer Hunter where Stanley talked about 'Sun Dogs' being a blessing on the hunter. Maybe a snow dog is the same thing? The Deer Hunter is one of my favorites and parts of it were filmed in Cleveland near some of my old haunts.
Tropical enough?
Seaboard by Edmund, on Flickr
Damascus seems to also qualify as a sunnier clime:
CFS, Damascus, Syria, 1991 by Center for Railroad Photography & Art, on Flickr
Good morning! Frankfort IN (former Clover Leaf, NKP)
No luck on the train room : ( -22 -57 windychill
Of coure if I actually TRIED it might make a difference.
Good morning from the West Coast, it's cold here just like the rest of the continent.
I had the fire on in the train room yesterday, usually, it makes it too hot in there, but not yesterday.
My wife and I had a good trip to warmer Latitudes in the Pacific before Christmas and a lot of friends and family are currently there and sending us photos of the tropics. We are seriously thinking of hopping on a flight to Kaui as my cousin is there for another 7 weeks. A dog/house sitter is our biggest problem. Usually one of the kids does it, but my daughter is at University, and my son is working full-time and started school for yet another degree. We were bugging him about all the letters he is going to have after his name when he is done and he said ya, but I'll never catch up to you Mom. He may be right. I was glad to just get through high school.
Had a great looooong day playing with my trains, once my NCE controller was fixed things ran flawlessly. I ran five trains at the same time, talk about juggling.
The Canucks are on @1300hrs in Buffalo so I will park my butt by the fire with a huge mocha and a couple of dogs and enjoy that.
Good evening Diners. A large rum and coke please, Brunhilda.
We have our younger granddaughter staying this weekend. I took her to a huge indoor play area. she teamed up with other 'single girls' and had a great time. So much so she was a little sad at having to leave.
Dawn is entertaining her now as they play with the dolls house. I can see the shine in Dawn's eyes as it takes her back to when she was a Children's Nanny before we met many a year ago.
Time I made dinner.
Pesto & Mozzarella in a bun with sides. Yoghurt Surprise to follow.
Good Morning,
John, you are nearly as cold as it is here. We are at -12 but it will be colder tonight. Nice and warm in here though. Although our house is 63 years old we do have tripple pane windows which really reduces the heat loss. I have to go oout tomorow but the block heater is plugged in so the car will start easily. It will start without it but it is easier on the engine and it warms up very quickly.
Watching the Mecam car auction. Amazing the prices for some muscle cars that were quick but not regarded as high quality back in the day.
CN Charlie
Good Morning Diners from finally snowy west Michigan. While we didn't appear to get the worst of the forecast, we still appear to have gotten a decent amount. Guessing 8" looking at the railing on our deck. My daughter has to work at 4:00 so I have plenty of time to not go out and snow blow for now. I won't mind doing it. It's one of the seemingly few times I'm running the snowblower in the daytime and it sure is beautiful out!
York1As you move the dial, the speed jumps. I may have get a different one.
Well, I'm off to sip some coffee, watch the snow, and grin ear to ear on the inside.
Take care guys!
Good morning, everyone. I'll have bacon and eggs, Flo.
Bill, for some reason I couldn't view your photo today. It may be my computer.
It's 8:00 a.m. and this is our high temperature today:
Last night my wife called me from the layout room to see this. It happens occasionally here, but was still very neat. I had to walk down the street to get away from the trees, but then a house blocked part of the view. It was too cold to walk any further. Sun dogs! They were very bright. At one point, the sun dogs were nearly as bright as the sun itself:
The layout's new trolley is coming along. One problem is that since I have DCC, I didn't have a power source for the DC streetcar. At a train show, I bought a used one. Trying it out, I notice the control is very jerky -- it's hard to get a certain speed. As you move the dial, the speed jumps. I may have to get a different one.
Have a great Saturday.
Indonesia:
Tracking up to the hill by Zudi Susanto, on Flickr
Clover Leaf (former NKP/N&W)
I had two interesting episodes with eBay today, both quite positive. The first was a pair of CP Algonquin corregated business cars that got personally delivered by the seller who just happens to live a few miles north of us. He refunded the delivery fee too! I didn't need two of the same model, but the price for the pair was about the same as that of a single CP business car, also listed on eBay, when the delivery for the single car was added in. I had a very nice chat with the seller, Dan.
The second thing that happened was that I ordered about 2800 scale feet of aged concrete sidewalk. I had seen the sidewalk on eBay and was interested in it, but the cracks (not the expansion joints) just were not realistic. Most of the cracks ran straight across the expansion joints and they also terminated mid slab. That's not how it works. The expansion joints are there to stop cracks. The cracks rarely cross straight over into the next slab. They usually stop at the joints or at the edge of the slab.
The other issue was that most of the cracks terminated mid slab. A crack that only goes part way across a slab would be impossible to see in HO. That is because the slab hasn't broken all the way though and the part beyond the crack will still be in one piece. Cracks only show once there has been frozen water in them for a period of time, or if the subsurface has shifted. Both will push the broken pieces apart.
I took the liberty of contacting the seller to tell him how I thought the cracks should appear. He got back to me immediately and thanked me generously for pointing out the error. He then offered to re-do the crack paterns, which he did, so I placed an order for 1/2 of an HO scale mile. The sidewalks will still require some weathering and I may mute the cracks a bit, but they will save me having to cut 30 actual feet of styrene and etching all the lines.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Thanks, Tom! Yep, the raggedy, grey cat we adopted is named Swiffer. I tell her she looks like something that plugged up the vacuum cleaner hose
Here she's having a bad hair day:
Swiffer-2 by Edmund, on Flickr
Wilson was one refined, cool dude. He was the only one I trusted to join me in my work shop or layout room. He knew how to conduct himself.
Wilson_Relaxing by Edmund, on Flickr
Now the only boy of the house is Juno, here meeting Wilson for the first time:
Juno_First day by Edmund, on Flickr
Juno meets Wilson by Edmund, on Flickr
Thanks again, everyone! Maybe there's something in the DNA of us hobbyists that we are inclined to be pet lovers, too. Seems to be the norm here
I have two office chairs that the gas lift developed leaks, in fact one is pictured above that Wilson is occupying. Since it is a taller, bench-type chair I always use it in the high position so I bought a 28mm, two-piece shaft collar to clamp onto the piston and it locks it in place.
Digging out a frozen switch by Mike Danneman, on Flickr
Woops, I forgot... T R O P I C A L well, these guys won't mind a little recognition.
Regards, Ed
Ed-
I was very sorry to read the news about Wilson, and your unexpected left turn. I seldom post but I am often lurking, and have always appreciated your contributions here. I have a lot of bookmarks on my computer for some very cool railroad sites, thanks to you.
I also lost a one in a million type of cat last year. He looked just like the grey-ish long haired-ish stray you took in maybe a year or two ago. He was to me what Wilson was to you, always hanging around, even when I was doing construction things or working on cars in the garage, when most other cats would have gotten spooked and been long gone. Tough stuff.
Best, Tom
Chair1 by Bear, on Flickr