2008 and the Coffee Pot is still on and over 3 years. Here we gather as friends with trains. Sweet ice tea too.

[Wes Whitmore]

Nah, I just had to deal with a sick kid again.  Pick eye this time.  Caught it from his best friend at the sitters.  I also made an offer on the house we were looking at.   It's sad when the basement train layout possibility is a huge factor in my decision.  No windows or doors all the way around the basement.  The stairs and HVAC are all in the center.  There is also a room above the garage much like yours Buckeye.  It's only 15x20 though...

I sent you an email.

Wes

[Buckeye Riveter]

WES....Left you a Voice Mail this morning from work.  You must be working in the antarctic again for OSU.

[anjdevil2]

Hello fellow forum friends...

Up to 62 today, wind & rain gone..just a sunny day here in Paradise (you can hear the Sarcasim from here)

I've been lurking about, with nothing really important to say.  Mike C.  3 letters:GPS  I feel your pain, my brotha...my siginicant other is also directionally challenged.  She could get lost going out of the development....

Being a Certified (ASE) Master Technician (with a degree in Automotive Technology), let me regaile you all on the car thing. 

I worked for a Dodge/Isuzu dealer for 8 years.  The Caravan OD tranny problem(s) is/are stories that are legendary.  Big mistake Iwill be the first to admit.  Intrepid A/C & trannies also.  Dead nuts reliable: Acura.  Worked there for 3 years. Regularly had cars with 180K+ in for maintainence services.  Chrysler for 1 year.  If you were old and senile (like some of my customers), broken cars were the norm..what red light was that?  Oil change?  What's that..etc,etc.  Mercedes 3 years...electrical, interior problems and oil leaks galore.  Heater controls on 190's and E class.  Makes you wonder why you pay so much.  Kia=junk I was there for 6 months.  WORST VEHICLE EVER: TOYOTA I was there 3 years.  I have never, ever rebuilt or replaced so many transmissions & engines in my CAREER as I had with those stinkers (and I can provide you with a better description if you wish..).  Oil gelled engines, burned transmisions, bad struts and mounts (a good buck on those with alignment!!).  And a lot more.  I only mad a living by those who were fooled by buying this junk.  At this time there are 7 million lawsuits pending against Toyota just for the engine gel by itself.  go ahead and tell ME about Toyota quality...

The Americans have a REAL problem with customer service, I understand that.  Each dealer is responsible for that.  The only new vehicle I ever purchased was a 1987 Dodge Dakota V6 automatic.  Ran great up to the day my son started driving it and wiped out the cam (something about oil again but now he knows better). 160,000 miles.  Loved my Jeep Grand Cherokee drove that to 60,000 miles.  Real problems with rotors, ate them like a all night buffet. 

I'm not gonna tell youze guys about your experiences, ALL manufacturers have some junk, but I think that most of y'all are wrong about the quality of American stuff.  Just as good if not better since 1999.

Have a great one, I'll be lurking somemore....

[phillyreading]

Here is my Ford story.

Got a 97 Ford Escort from my parents in 02, I changed the spark plugs & wires as it was running poorly when I got it, had to change the wires as the wire ends were staying on the spark plug. Changed battery and fuel filter next. Then the harmonic balancer falls off the front of the 1.8 litre engine, wife had to get the car towed in to get repaired, $450.00 with tow job.

Bought a brand new 92 Ford Thunderbird from Ford dealer in Homestead FL.  First problem was the thermostat got stuck in the closed position(no water passing by it) engine overheated and melted valve stem seals, a master mechanic with Dade County School district told me what was wrong as he had worked on Fords a lot. Second problem was that the power window on the driver's side worked when it wanted to, dealer could not fix this as it always worked for them. Next problems were; the windshield started leaking, the air conditionong just quits for 12 to 15 seconds(not even the fan), lastly it started using oil between oil changes and Ford put me on oil consumption analysys or as I say "Use up the warrenty miles!"  Traded this car in on a Goe Prism, smartest thing I did with that car because Ford refused to help me, I was on with their 1-800 number more times than I kept count of, even asked them to do a cylinder compression check "Their reply was it is not covered under Chilton's repair manual!"

Had an 86 Mercury Sable wagon with a 3.0 litre v6, had to use Amoco premium to keep it running between injector rack cleanings, also major electrical malfunctions with this car.

In summary I refuse to have a Ford vehicle parked on my property unless it is a visitor's car.

I have had three Toyota Corolla's and  one Camry and I would buy another anytime that I could afford to do so.  Toyota has always been decent with me and that has earned my loyalty to them.

As for Volkswagon, that is whole nother subject as they are German built and very hard for american auto mechanics to work on. Everything seems to be differant on a VW!  Look at the Beetle from the 60's, battery under rear seat & air cooled engine in the back.

Lee F.

[RockIsland52]

Brent, you romantic sly dog, you.  Dinner and a dewalt.  Catchy, I like it.

Mike C., re directionally challenged wife.  That would be mine.  Somehow she must have missed the class back in kindergarten where they taught you that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West.  In Chicago they had a saying: drive East till your hat floats.  Reference to the fact that if you drive far enough East in Chicago you'll wind up in Lake Michigan.  She found no humor in that.  Compass in all of our cars, doesn't help.  Buy a Garmin Nav unit for the wife.  It's the only solution, it works, but there's one drawback.  She can drive to a mall in Anchorage and would not get lost.  Instilling confidence in someone can get expensive.

Sir James, don't forget that not only did we have to walk to school in 3 feet of snow uphill in both directions, it was in blizzard conditions with gale force winds and -15 to boot.

Chief, that fish in your avatar photo looks earily like the fish in that "my river" thread. Those rubber suckers really hold up, and you can keep it mounted on the wall and use it again and again.  Clever, and economical.

Jack 

  

[RockIsland52]

Bought American cars all of my life, but out of extreme frustration finally bought Japanese, a 2004 Infinity.  The amount of money I have spent on after warranty repairs on my last 3 American cars alone would have easily paid for a new car outright, and I stick to the manufacturer's recommended service intervals to the letter.

After an electrical problem which Ford could not find or fix (dead car several times, wife totally ***) there were my 93 Mercury Sable's 4 transmission failures, 2 under warranty and two not.  Ford: "Sorry, Fella, off warranty."  Dumped that one at 84K.  Don't talk to me about service.  On trans repair #2 (warranty), they had my car for a month.  After trans repair #4 with a complete brake job, the brakes failed in the Ford dealer's lot.  First Ford, last Ford.

Chrysler Corp., hmmmmmmm.  Went in to buy a 95 Intrepid, trading an 87 Turbo LeBaron with 54K.  The trade offer was, in a word, insulting.  Them: "Well, you know that Turbo's about to go.  Chrysler has been having a problem with them."  Me: "Sad commentary on your product quality at 54K, and you did all of the service.  Perhaps I should be looking for another brand.  I'll just leave the car tonight and you can repair the Turbo. It's still covered under the factory extended warranty, and you can chat with me about a new car another time."  Negotiations ultimately successful, but they could never keep the A/C working.  Every May for 5 years in a row it was in their shop, no refrigerant, and the die tests never located the problem.  Trans at 64K.  Again at 112K.

I won't go into my GM (Chevy and Olds) woes, past and present  Same general issues, different American car company.

The American car companies' quality has improved vastly in the past 10 years as reported in consumer publications, closing the gap.  Yes, the Germans have been having their issues for the past 5 years or so, including BMW and MB.

I just couldn't be loyal any more to American car companies that weren't loyal back to me.  I refuse to write any more checks to them.  And like others in this forum, it will take a long time to get rid of that rotten taste in my mouth that was 25 years in development.  And I feel no guilt, except for my blind loyalty.

Jack    

  

       

[Anonymous]

 I Heard on the news today that American car makers are shrinking their factories, just as Audi is talking of building cars in America (either a new plant, or have Volkswagon build the Audi cars).  Most domestic car companies reported double digit sales declines, while Toyota lost only single digits.  Honda actually went up 1%.  I just don't want to live in a world where  Ford, Chevy, and Dodge do not exist.  The big three have really been creating some good designs as of late.  I think the shrinking of US goods is just slow enough that most people, especially younger people like me, just don't see the effects of our shopping habits.  People hear that the dollar is loosing value, but don't have a clue what to do about it.  I know I don't.  I try to buy american, if I can find anything.  For the record, I own a used 2004 Chrysler and an 11 year old civic.  Only new car I have ever purchased was a different civic, picked up right after college in 2000.

Wes

Hey Wes,

Our opions will probally differ on this but I will give you my opion as to why U.S. car makers are going into the financial downslide, have you considered how poor the quality is & extremely bad customer service is? Ford has to be the worst at quality control & extremely rude & ugly customer service, I had a 92 T-bird that I traded in for a Goe Prism because of Ford's extremely bad customer service and not honoring their own warrenty.

The Japanise car makers have quality cars and are very good at customer service and this is what keeps customers and attracts new customers in my opion!

Lee F.

Lee,
US Auto quality is going up. I've got friends who are mechanics and they are reporting fewer modern US vehicles coming in, and actually Volkswagon is starting to get a poor quality rep. Also, Toyotas and Hondas are starting to show up with greater regularity.

I think the bigger problem with US automakers is that they have too many makes... look at GM: Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, Hummer, GMC... why is it necessary for 4 companies to have basicly the same cars, with slightly different body cosmetics? Also all that extra overhead, just seems crazy. Chrysler did away with Plymouth and now they just have Chrysler and Dodge, as well as Jeep. GM would be better off if they did away with Buick, Pontiac and GMC, and some would argue Hummer. Reduce the number of companies and models and their profits will go up (just in the savings from reduced overhead).

[ChiefEagles]

Got my income tax refund of almost $3800.00 in the mail yesterday after coming back from north Miami FL.

Lee F.

Lee, like I've said several times, your wife was real smart to marry you.  [we know who will get that money] 

[phillyreading]

Good Morning,

Some news on a more positive side, I went to north Miami yesterday to Ready To Roll and bought some Gargraves track and switches to complete my latest expansion project, also bought some K-Line Super Streets 2.5 inch curve to straight adapters. Trying to switch my short passenger train to another track on the second level and expand my trolley run on the lower level.

Also trying to stay dry as it is raining here again.

Got my income tax refund of almost $3800.00 in the mail yesterday after coming back from north Miami FL.

Lee F.

[phillyreading]

 I Heard on the news today that American car makers are shrinking their factories, just as Audi is talking of building cars in America (either a new plant, or have Volkswagon build the Audi cars).  Most domestic car companies reported double digit sales declines, while Toyota lost only single digits.  Honda actually went up 1%.  I just don't want to live in a world where  Ford, Chevy, and Dodge do not exist.  The big three have really been creating some good designs as of late.  I think the shrinking of US goods is just slow enough that most people, especially younger people like me, just don't see the effects of our shopping habits.  People hear that the dollar is loosing value, but don't have a clue what to do about it.  I know I don't.  I try to buy american, if I can find anything.  For the record, I own a used 2004 Chrysler and an 11 year old civic.  Only new car I have ever purchased was a different civic, picked up right after college in 2000.

Wes

Hey Wes,

Our opions will probally differ on this but I will give you my opion as to why U.S. car makers are going into the financial downslide, have you considered how poor the quality is & extremely bad customer service is? Ford has to be the worst at quality control & extremely rude & ugly customer service, I had a 92 T-bird that I traded in for a Goe Prism because of Ford's extremely bad customer service and not honoring their own warrenty.

The Japanise car makers have quality cars and are very good at customer service and this is what keeps customers and attracts new customers in my opion!

Lee F.

[sir james I]

Good Morning from snow covered SE Mich., Deeper than it looked I measured 61/2 inches in the drive way. Got to rest and catch my breath takes a little while so I just relax. At least you don't have to shovel rain. I have OGR and a room full of trains to play with today, wife is gone till after 3 as they closed the schools again. Remember when we walked to school in three feet of snow,uphill,both ways.and walked home for lunch too. I'll drop back later to see how you pitiful guys with rain are doing...S.J.

EDIT-rain outside is one thing,water in the house is no fun whatsoever.

[MartyE]

Good Morning all.  I spent the last week the sickest I have been in many years.  Cough, cold, chills, and aches.  Finally yesterday I started to feel OK.  What a way to spend a week off.  Seems whatever I got or had is going around. 

Getting anxious for York although funding will be limited.  No biggy I just want small stuff.  Looking forward to all 3 days this time around as my wife will be with my daughters in Hershey for a cheerleading competition so I'll stay up there Friday nite and go back to the show Saturday.

Hope everyone else is doing well.  OBTW I got the wife the new stove she wanted.  That was a Legacy engine that doesn't run very well...

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

It may get to be sunny today in SE Indiana.  Got a lot of rain yesterday, but the roads were mostly clear today.  I left for work a half hour later and took my time coming in just to be on the safe side.  I had the normal fare for breakfast this morning.  I did go to the YMCA for weights.  I also got the sump pump out to get water out of the crawl space.  Looks like some one "borrowed" our outside extension cords.  My wife thought they got them for the copper, but if they try to use them for extensions, they may be in for a "shocking" surprise as one of them has some cuts in the insulation!  I am in the doghouse with the wife again as several things went wrong with their trip to Indy yesterday.  When working with a directionally challenged spouse, no instruction is too obvious (important spousal tip from your uncle Mike)!  One of these days I will learn.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Morning all

Cool and damp in Southern Ohio.

Wes-Good luck on the house, it sounds really nice.  I bet the view towards the reserve is beautiful.

The stories of bike rides brings back lots of memories, some painful, most fun in retrospect.

Our weather seems calm in comparison to what you all are getting, and it can staty that way!  Moving a friend Thursday and the weather channel is saying partly sunny.  

Need to get some homework done take care

May God bless

Jim 

[Wes Whitmore]

Still waiting on the short bank sale offer that we put on the house, but it sounds like a much better offer has followed ours, so we probably won't get that one.  That's fine because I think we found the perfect house for our needs yesterday.  Half acre yard backing up to a 250 acre wildlife reserve, all of the "areas" that the wife wants, plus a 20x15 bonus room above the garage, and a large 30x47 foot full basement  (still unfinished, but dry).  Seems like a winner to us.  We will probably have an offer in there today or tomorrow.  I hope it all works out.

Wes

[ChiefEagles]

Morning all.  Sun is shinning and temps cooler after the big line of T'storms went through around midnight.  Breakfast time.  Later

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is a cold 28 degrees. Light snow. Going up to 38 today wih cloudy skies.

Today is grocery shopping day. I get to drive up to Cambridge and have some great fun. Yuk. Gas prices are still high. $3.09 a gallon. Food prices have gone up too. Someone is getting rich.

No train time today. Darn.

Dining car has arrived and it's time for breakfast.

Y'all have a great Wednesday.

Chuck

[Anonymous]

Mornin' Fellas.

Our resident Policeman and Fireman have been rather quiet as of late... hopefully they are doing fine and haven't had any run-ins or fall throughs.

We got a peep out of Grayson, but nothing from Colin... hope that knee is healing nicely.

Susieq was on an audit yesterday and got home before I did so, since she was dressed nice and so was I, I decided to take her out for a mid-week date night! Went to Olive Garden, then went to Sears and picked up my new sabre saw. Got the DeWalt for less than $90 after tax... not too bad. Then spent the night watching TV shows (NCIS, Big Brother, Jericho) with Susieq as she is leaving for Atlanta today and won't be home till Friday... TWO DAYS OF LAYOUT CONSTRUCTION!!!!! So I hope to get the river cut, plaster cloth laid, and the water proofing down before she gets home on Friday. Then we can start work on the river. Also have to cut two double tunnel portals and get them sceniced. Would really like to have most of the first level of the mountain sceniced by next weekend. From here I probably won't be posting update pictures as I want there to be some surprises for the York attendies.

Brutus - I would love to have 12 inches of snow at my place. I've only been able to use the John Deere and plow twice this year. 12 inches would be a blast! It has been in the mid 60's here the last few days, which has given me the opportunity to fire up the grill a couple times!

[mitchelr]

Morning Folks,

 

Getting drenched here in South Central PA.  The rain is predicted to end today and then get pretty windy.  More rain predicted for Friday.  Beats that stuff that Brutus has been talking about. Of course, we're not throught with winter here.  We'll probably et one or tow more snow/ice events, in fact some of the biggest blizzard type snows I remember occurred in March.

The school is progressing nicely.  Met with the tech folks to get final specs on ordering computers, servers, switches, etc.  Wall and base cabinets are being hung in classroom. Classroom tile floors will be done by the end of this week and then the only big area left for tile is the gym and cafeteria.  The terrazzo floors are done upstairs, down stairs are in process but the grinding and polishing takes forever. They sure are pretty though and will last forever.  Exterior gutters and trim work will be done this week if the weather cooperates.  Carpet should be coming soon.

Got to get to the dining car and then get ready for work.

Take care,

Mitch 

[RockIsland52]

Jack,
One summer, think we were 12 or 13 we decided we would ride our bikes from our neighborhood out to a strip mall about 12 miles away. We started out around 7am and didn't get home till after 7pm. We made it out to the mall, but were too tired to ride back so we had to call our parents! I'll never forget that because we had spent all our money on drinks and food so we couldn't even call from the pay phone... we had to call collect!

Never forget that...

Operator: "Sir, this is the operator. I have a collect call from Brent. Will you accept the charges?"
Dad: "Yes."

Pause

Dad: "Where are you?"
Me: "Cranberry Mall"
Dad: "Where?"
Me: "Cranberry Mall"
Dad: "How did you get there?"
Me: "I rode my bike. Me, X, Y, and Z rode out here this morning, we are too tired to ride back."
Dad: "Well I'm too tired to come get you. Guess you are staying there."
Me: "WHAT!?!?! Dad, I'm really too tired, and X's bike blew a tire. We really need a ride."
Dad: "Let me talk it over with your Mother. What number are you at?"
Me: - gave him the pay phone number
Dad: "OK, I'll call you back at that number."

2 hours later

Operator: "Sir, this is the operator. I have a collect call from Brent. Will you accept the charges?"
Dad: "Yes."
Me: "You didn't call back."
Dad: "I know I can't find your mother. Guess you're stuck."
Me: "Dad, please... we really need a ride."
Dad: "OK, but the four of you have to mow the backyard tomorrow. Then you have to wash the cars, and you have to mow the rest of the yard. I'll talk it over with their fathers and see if there is anything you can do for them."

I told the guys and they all agreed.

Me: "OK, we'll do it."

I think we ended up mowing each others' lawns the rest of the summer, washed all our parents' cars for the rest of the summer, painted 2 houses, split somewhere around 10 cords of wood, and I can't remember what else.

Never got yelled at for the ride, but we paid for our stupidity for that entire summer. And we NEVER thought we would get hurt or someone would kidnap us...

Brent, that is a great story.  Did the same thing, but carried a spare tire tube!  I don't think we ever needed it.  My parents live on the top of a long hill.  It takes about 1 minute to climb it at 55 MPH in a car.  We would pedal for 15 minutes, standing the whole way, and were exhausted.  We always kept some energy in reserve, knowing we had to climb that hill.  I didn't wear a helmet, and I rode on the highway.  We would go down that same hill and not touch the breaks.  It only took two minutes to get to the bottom, and cars barely passed us!  It's a wonder we didn't wreck and die.  Those were the days!
Wes

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brent and Wes,

Those are killer stories which mirror my experiences.

Brent, in retrospect you must agree it would have been better to have sucked it up and walked the 12 miles home rather than become an indentured slave for the balance of the Summer.  Granted, my buddy's flat tire occured only 7 miles out.

Wes, when watching the TV show Jackass, my wife will comment how stupid and dangerous some of those bicycle escapades are.  All I can do is agree, remain silent, and run my hand over the back of my head where the stiches had been applied liberally.  We didn't have no stinking bicycle helmets back then.  Bent more rims than I care to admit.

Jack

 

[ChiefEagles]

Beating rain now.  Lots of bad storms floating around eastern NC.  Good night.

[Brutus]

Watching the news and they just used a ruler to show 1 foot of snow somewhere and also said that we will have black ice tonight with refreezing on the roads and also more snow coming tomorrow night?  Oh - the winner was Florissant MO with 1 foot.  Glad it wasn't at my house.

[Brutus]

I'm going to ship some special to you in yard waste bags - got the idea from Roy! 

[sir james I]

We passed on the banilla tonite,just went with a cup of pudding. Weather channel says your area got up to 10 inches of snow.please don't send all that here.

[Brutus]

Hey Sir J, just got back online myself!  I was reading an issue of Classic Trains I picked up with lots of pics of transit rail and the red line etc - I hope Doug picked up this issue.  Leg was hurting after I "blowed" the driveway, think I pinched a nerve?  It's fine now, so it was just really bad for a minute or two and then since then it gradually got better.  Made a big bowl of mixed veg and some chicken for dinner.  Only my daughter would eat the veggies, so I ate mostly veggies and only a little of the chicken.  I made up for it with a serving of icecream, though - banilla with some caramel in it.  Finally, got a call and school was already cancelled for tomorrow.  So, I'll be home tomorrow as well.  If it goes a 3rd day, I'll have to make my wife stay home, since I do have to get some work done you know.

[sir james I]

Good Evening All'

Snow has arrived wind is blowing it like a blizzard from north to south. But I still see cars going down the street so folks are out anyway. Nothing new since noon as I had the usual,a nap,OGR arrived so I thumbed thru that,and a little golf. I turned the tv off at 830 nothing there I wanted to see so here we are. Well I bored you enough so off I go.Good nite Chewy,,S.J.

[ChiefEagles]

Morning.  Rock brought it up so I will mention this.  How many of you Vets have gotten a framable certificate of appreciation signed by the Secretary of the Army and the Commander of the Army for past service?[68-69]  I got one yesterday.  Strange. Later

Chief, sounds like they're buttering you up to get you to re-up for another tour.

Yes, as Commander of the Joint Chiefs.  That would be the only thing at my age.   Evening.  Tests were OK for me and Pam [she had a different one].  Good night all.

[jefelectric]

Good evening,

So far we are getting our snow in the form of rain.  Hope it stays that way.

No train action today, baby sat 3 grandduaghters.  Normally we run trains but they were busy with playing and eating and didn't have time.

Hope everyone gets through the snow OK.

 

 

 

[jmkk]

 Evening.  Wife stayed home from work today. I got some much needed sleep. She even suggested I go to the basement for some train time. She must be feeling guilty because she will be out of town all weekend. Little does she know that does not bother me. I get more train time that way. Talk about freezing rain WOW our front ward is full of cubed ice. At least it looks that way. Chunks of ice are falling of of the one large tree in the front yard (about 130') and it looks like someone spilled bags of cubed ice in the front yard. Looks like I will have to leave early for work tonight, accidents everywhere. Have a great night all.

 Jason

[sir james I]

No Brutus no more suprises,quit after our talk. called the cable co. to get a reboot for the cable box.took care of that. The biggest treasure I found was about a year ago.Among the empty engine boxes was a shiny new Lionel TM in southern green. I remember buying it,but forgot I had it. snow has reached southern areas of Detroit but not here yet,I sure hope we don't get as much as you. S.J.