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

[mitchelr]

Morning to All.

Made a fresh pot. We have a few bagels and cream cheese if anyone is interested, cheddar cheese bagels from Wegman's.  Really a great tasting bagel.

Another long day in store.  More interviews.  This 7:30 AM until 6:00 PM business gets old.  Thank goodness no interviews tomorrow , Friday, or Monday.  By the time I get done interviewing, my brain will be mush.... (I know a few of you are thinking... What makes that different than any other time? )

Well, I need to run off to work again.

Take care,

Mitch 

[Anonymous]

Mornin' Fellas.

Not too much going on here, have to get some work done before my interview this afternoon - I'm interviewing and Mitch is interview - I'm looking for a new job, Mitch is looking for a few good women and men! Best o' luck in your search Mitch... pay attention to those background checks! I don't envy you your task, can't be easy with all these nut cases wanting teaching jobs.

Setup my drill press last night.  Figured I would give it a shot getting the rest of the mortises cut for the benchwork framing. I only have a 1/4" mortising bit and it did a good job, took a long time to do one leg, but it was easier on the drill press than cutting all these mortises with the table saw, so I ordered up a 1/2" mortising bit (largest I could find without spending $100 on a bit).

With the long weekend approaching I should be able to get all the benchwork completed, get the 1/2" ply underlayment down, and get some track laid. Hope to be running trains by Monday afternoon!

Well off to work! I'll leave a bank of lights on to save on electricity...

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is a cold 16 degrees, with clear skies. Going up to 40, today, with some sunshine. About an inch of snow still on the ground.

Today, I am driving up to Cambridge for the weekly grocery shopping. This is one job that is not pleasant. Gas has dropped a little here. The last I saw it was at $3.04 a gallon. It may be higher 15 miles north. No time for trains today. Busy.

Dining car has rolled in and is ready for breakfast. Then, it is off to it's trip to " points west ".

Y'all have a great Wednesday.

Chuck

[Wes Whitmore]

Brent,

I'm sure you tried this, but it looks like a Dad blade on a table saw sure would speed things up.  I have one if you want to borrow it.  I think it was $80 or so from sears.  Let me know if it would would help you out at all.

Chuck - Your gas is always higher than ours.  It was 2.90 for the past couple of days.  I'm sure that doesn't help.  Maybe it's cheaper IN Cambridge.

Wes

[jmkk]

Morning. Had a fairly easy day at work last night ( about time). Now I think I will take a little nap. Then when I wake up I need to do some cleaning around the house, get dinner started and head for the trainroom. 

Jim -I did have some homemade chicken soup does the trick everytime.

 Jason

[Anonymous]

Brent,

I'm sure you tried this, but it looks like a Dad blade on a table saw sure would speed things up.  I have one if you want to borrow it.  I think it was $80 or so from sears.  Let me know if it would would help you out at all.
Wes

Wes,
A dado blade would help if I were doing shallow cuts, but because the cuts are 3 inches deep it would take multiple passes through the table saw. It took nearly an hour to do 4 legs on Saturday with the table saw, it took my 10 minutes to do one leg last night with the 1/4" mortising bit, so I'm thinking the 1/2" bit should speed things up even more, as I had a tough time keeping the leg on the drill press table, keeping the drill press on the table top, and working the drill press. Tonight I'm going to make a base for the drill press that can be clamped to the work bench, and make a rest for the leg so I don't have to hold it up and work the drill, and make a clamping mechanism to keep the leg secure to the drill press table. Then I should be able to knock them out in a matter of a few minutes.

I also have a dado, but it isn't a 10" dado (think only 8"), 10" stacked dados aren't cheap but it is on my list of tools to acquire in the future. Thanks for the offer!

[anjdevil2]

Hello everybody....

Up to 57f today, rain in the offing....this place could use it...too bad it's not another 25degrees colder, then it could SNOW!!!

Have to clear everything up today, I leave for the promised land tomorrow morning 6AM flight.

Been told to expect 6 cars yesterday, ZER0 showed, so it will be a mad scramble to get them out before I leave...should be fun.

Jim & Jason hope youz giz are feeling better...I'd take sore over sick any day

Nick. Marty & Brent....nice bench working there...I'll have to scale back a bit until Mrs Devil decides if we stay here or go to NJ.  I'll do a little job search while I'm there to check things out.

Check ya later

Rich

 

[Wes Whitmore]

I think my dado is only 8" as well.  I didn't realize you were going down 3".   You are probably doing it the fastest way. 

 A bandsaw would be relatively fast as well, if you had a big enough one.  You could clamp a couple of boards 3/8" to the left and right of the 4x4, and just keep pushing the end of the 4x4 into the blade until all of the material was cut away.  It would require much less precision.  Of course, you would probably need a shop sized band saw to cut through the 4x4.  Not sure until I tried it.

Wes

[Anonymous]

Wes,
A bandsaw wouldn't be a good option here. The blade is too narrow to remove alot of material and I have to do just that. With the 1/2" mortising bit I simply remove the material at the bottom of the mortise and the rest of the material just falls out (I already have cut the sides of the mortise with the table saw). I'll post some pics this weekend of what I have done, what the process is for removing the material, and the end result. I think I also need to sand a few spots as the joints act like glue right now (a bit too tight).

Where's our resident shop teacher when you need him? LAZ????

[Wes Whitmore]

I've never used a mortising bit, but precutting the two edges with a table saw solved the problems I was seeing with using it.  That bit would make short work of the extra material.

Wes

[kpolak]

Morning!

What the...Where's my 60 degree weather????  I guess my AZ dream has ended.  Back to reality.  Only a dusting of snow.  Furnace is having a hard time getting up to 68 from the 55 vacation temp.

Came home to 2-superises...

1.  Box from Trainz...Bride sneers and asked if I ordered something???  I told her it was my replacement Burro Crane from Christmas!  She thought that was great!  Didn't tell her I also got a Monon boxcar, and a bunch of parts for less than what she origionally paid for the same crane. 

2.  Power failed here while we were gone.  NEW refrigerator decided not to come back on.  AGAIN.    Last time I had to unplug it and plug it back in to get it started.  Yup, lost everything, including the laminate floor around the refrigerator.  Ice in bin melted, and leaked out the water thru the ice&water in door. 

Will call for new refrigerator today.  Yes it is only a month old.

Kurt

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

It is cold but clear in SE Indiana with the highs in the low 40s.  Unfortunately, I heard Kevin from Alaska left the door open and it is supposed to be not just cold, but tail-freezing cold this weekend.  I hope he shuts the door soon.  Anybody who does not like variety would not be happy here as we have had Legacy discussions, lighting and wiring experiences, and carpentry and safety tips in the last few days.  You could not imagine the twists and turns our conversations have. 

I finally went to the YMCA last night for the first time in a while and the scales told me I had been gone too long :-(  I do not have to start completely over, but it will take time to get back to square one.  The wife is working quite a bit this week, which is sometimes a good thing.  She has discovered watching recent shows on the net and uses the PC a lot to do those sorts of things.  Cuts into my eBay time :-( 

I had the usual fare on the dining car from "Points East".  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[sir james I]

GOOD MORNING ALL

Kurt- fire up that furnace we are going to be COLD this week end. Not a fun way to arrive home and find trouble,good luck with the fridge.

A brisk 23 this AM but sunny. Lets see what the day brings........Sir James

[ChiefEagles]

Jason, sounds like you are doing a lot better.  That is good.  My Mom use to cook chicken and rice soup for sick times.

Kurt, did you say NEW refrig.  If so, refrig company would be coming to replace everything or Atty Gen'l's office would be getting a call.  One good thing, you got a box of trains.

Morning all.  Very cold [Yankee cold] here.  Suppose to get very cold this PM.  Might have mixed presip tomorrow AM.  Have a breakfast at Wake County Schools in Raleigh.  Would you know it.  Free breakfast and cold wet weather to drive in. [spoiled, don't have to drive in bad weather when retired].  Off to Town Hall for several meetings.  Back later this afternoon after haircut.  Chuck, BP gas was $3.01 yesterday.  Later.  

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Morning all

Feel better this morning.  Thank you for your concerned comments.  My hip is the only thing that is sore and it should loosen up.  Just took some ibuprofen to take the edge off.   Still have a heavy frost on but I’ve got the facia and eve trim I can put up with out getting on the roof.

 

Brent, I agree with your technique on the mortises.  The depth pretty well sets what you can use.  My Shopsmith can do horizontal boring and with the mortising bit done exactly what you are doing.  Like with most woodworking there is a specialized tool to make a job go fast and easy, but they are generally expensive, so we work with what we have and work at it a little longer.  I keep telling myself when working repetitive tasks, enjoy the journey as well as the destination.  Before I got the Shopsmith, I was doing some joinery for a post and beam job.  Took a hand saw and chisels.  Many hours on each joint.  I admire your spunk to stay with the joinery.  Temptation would send others to brackets and screws.  While I was lowes saw a bracket that does away with cutting the birds mouth on the end of a joist where it meets the top plate.

Jason-Take care and let yourself rest up if you can.  You’ll kick it quicker.  Funny I should take my own advice.

Well, painkillers taking the edge off, so I will start slow and let things start to loosen up. 

May God bless

Jim

[Anonymous]

Sturgeon - thanks for the pep talk! You are definitely NOT Payton Manning! (love those commercials though).

I know no one will ever likely see the work under the layout, but I (and those here) will know what went into it and if it works or not (that is really why I'm doing it - to see how it works out). Sometimes it isn't about the end result, but the journey that got us there... see Grayson - WOW what a young man we've got in the works... really glad he stuck around and we didn't kick him to the curb! As for those brackets to eliminate the bird's mouth cut... (shaking my head)... eventually the art of wood working and carpentry will be completely lost... no wonder houses built 100+ years ago are still standing and houses built less than 10 years ago are having problems with cracking walls...

speaking of young fellas...
How is Philly Collin doing with his knee? Haven't heard an update on him in about a week now.

[cnw1995]

Morning all - started a new pot - need it today - even though it is supposed to be the warmest day of the week - Suppose to top out at 6 degrees (without the wind) over the weekend. Good indoor days.

Brutus, now why didn't I think of painting the inside of that building? Thanks for the reminder. I'm working on a Blueberry Hill too. Don't tell Chuck, it's a surprise.

Jim, glad you're feeling OK this morning.

Mike C, my bride recently discovered YouTube too.

I wish I knew what you guys were talking about re woodworking and carpentry - saws, dados, mortise...

[dwiemer]

Well, after finally getting home last night, a box from Just Trains was at the door.  Two UQ Z-Stuff signals were in it.  I am looking forward to getting these on the layout, but will wait till a good part of scenery is done.  I had noticed that the MSRP was going up on them, so wanted to have a few on hand.  Got another box from The Train-Station on it's way today.  Big Brown has been busy down south too. 

Got a bunch of cases today.  Not too big, but plenty of work to keep me busy.  I hope to get done relatively early as one of the manufacturers is to take us out for Japanese food.  If the cases run late, I'll have to pass.  Maybe a good thing as I've missed my 15 minutes this week.

Hope Y'all have a good day.

Dennis

[Roger Bielen]

Dennis - I just installed an LQ this afternoon.  Since I've started running two trains on my freight loop I figured I'd install one so that when the oldest Granddaughter is running trains with me she'll have to keep an eye on the signal and respond accordingly.  Notice its her train that has to slow/stop, not mine.

[dwiemer]

Roger,  I like that idea.  I doubt that my kids would be old enough to cooperate with such a system....I'll keep them on another line.  Plan is to have my trains up top and then some older Lionels with operating accessories as a level below the mains so the kids can operate them and not harm mine.  Lastly, I will have a loop of Large Scale trains on the lowest level for the younger ones to just play.

Dennis

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Evening all

Thanks for the words of concern.  Worked on the roof, got the fascia on and the panels cut to length and screw holes pre-drilled and three panels on the roof.  Moving considerably slower today.  Hopefully finish the panel tomorrow before starting dayshift on Friday, then maybe I can rest.  This starts my 7 day/night stretch, so what does not get done Thursday will have to wait.

Painting the inside of the plasticville houses makes a big difference when adding lights.  I also take a piece of black electrical tape and put it on the inside corners so the light does not come through the glue regular white paper over the windows for more of a glow and you don’t see a light bulb.

 

May God bless

Jim 

[sir james I]

Phish I'm with you, the light should come through the window, not the walls. I do that to Lionels cheap cabooses for that same reason.

[Blueberryhill RR]

Doug M. .....................I love surprises..

Chief..The snow from Ohio is coming your way !!!!!!!!!!!

Where is Buckeye ???

[Roger Bielen]

NEWS FLASH 

Its snowing in GA!

THAT'S JUST SOUTH OF ATHENS 

First snow around here in a few years.

[ChiefEagles]

Back from Church meal.  Big bowl of Burnswick stew.   Brought a quart home too.  Walked home to work some of it off.  Still full.  Cold here.  Calling for some bad weather tonight.  Wake Co. Schools and their breakfast.  Polled us.  Now they say 8 AM if not inclement weather.  If inclement weather, two hour delay.  Now who is going to call the weather?  What is not inclement to you might be to me.  Why didn't they just delay it 2 hours.

[Manamanah]

Kpolak,
The warm weather last week was a nice treat but I’m happy the cold & snow is back. The lake has no ice covering therefore we might get a lot more snow this winter. To bad about the refrigerator, the good thing is if it had come back on after the food spoiled, you may have not noticed until the food made you sick.

All
My employer is moving me to Detroit. MI. My wife and kids have only known small towns, this will be a big change for them. When I say small I mean counties with no more than one red light. I currently live in Mackinac County and there are no red lights. They are all very excited though and so am I. We have always had fun were ever we have been and made many new friends. We’ll move in June.

Have a good evening all, got to go Paul wants me to run trains with him.

Mike

[magicman710]

NEWS FLASH 

Its snowing in GA!

THAT'S JUST SOUTH OF ATHENS 

First snow around here in a few years.

LUCKY!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing but near freezing rain in Reidsville!!!!!

[Brutus]

Well, its cold and supposed to snow tonight?  Or rain and snow tomorrow morning.  Hope they cancel school - I'll take an extra day off!  Just got off phone with my buddy Dave and they lost their water pressure due to a water main break - still not back after like 6 hours.  I told him not to drink the water - don't know if that's right, but better safe than sorry!  Oh well, we've got sample girlscout cookies for anyone that wants a few, so come on over!

Oh, I had a security interview today and they asked if I had any regular contact with foreign nationals!  I said Nick and John B on a train site.  Oh!?  Well, we just pass around jokes with a lot of guys and also talk about toy trains.  I guess it's okay as long as you don't influence me or something?  LOL  Anyway, if you guys get a phone call or something, sorry!

[CSXect]

NEWS FLASH 

Its snowing in GA!

THAT'S JUST SOUTH OF ATHENS 

First snow around here in a few years.

LUCKY!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing but near freezing rain in Reidsville!!!!!

So, you all winter weatherly challenged poor souls have it easy, this weekend they are predicting 3 and 4 degrees sunday and monday here in Ohio

Sad news here in Columbus Ohio Meijer is closing two stores and moving them farther out into the subburbs also closeing is the Radio shack  distrobution center/outlet store

[Buckeye Riveter]

Chuck...I'm still here.  I have been out the gate before 6 and back after 7 today.  Tomorrow, out again by 6.  Yesterday was the same.