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

[ChiefEagles]

Looking at Michigan.  Suggestions welcomed.

What kind of fish you looking for???

I hear the Au Sable is great for Trout.

Kurt

Walleye, Pike, Lake Trout, Small Mouth Bass, Musky

Buckeye took his word for it.  Traveled that far to fish in this "lake". 

 

Need to say No more.  Doug M, stay warm.  Hope you get your car doors unfrozen.

We can't even get a drop of rain and we are having above normal temps. Gooood night all.  

[dougdagrump]

Don, No offense, just gotta give ya a little grief. Glad to hear that the Kidz Klub presentation went well and was well received. Now, if words translate into actions.

Quiet day at the museum, experimented with using the DCS handheld to operate the Z-4000 in conventional mode. It worked well, so now we have the two  seperate systems for conventional ops when we have to discontinue the earlier MTH handheld. For an adult operator I think either system is great but for the munchkins with limited experience the MTH DCS with all the extra buttons will create an awful lot of temptation. To me the key benefit of the use of TPC ops for the munckins is one person can very easily and quickly adjust the power with another cab-1, kinda like a traffic cop.

Pretty pooped, so it is gonna be an early beddy bye nite.

[fifedog]

Mornin' boys.  Cloudy and 36 here in the Mid-Atlantic region.  Mild temps are gone for a while.  Fifey's wifey has a date with Barry Manilow tonight in DC.  Bud Shootout (perhaps last one) is on tonight at 8.  Feeling like some hot wings for dinner, let's see, who sells hot wings...?

dbaker48/Chief - Thanks for the "medicine" last night, gentlemen.

laz - I've never taken up trout fishin', but the buffet sure sounds enticing...

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is a cloudy 36 degrees. Going up to 46 today with clouds most of the day.

Today is a relaxing day. After a few chores, I will spend some time in the train room. Need to do some dusting. I think I will run trains for a few hours.

Nascar race tonite. Looking forward to it. I will be wearing the #24 of Jeff Gordon this year. Drives a Chevy.

Dining car is here and it's time for breakfast. Then, it is off to........................ " points west "

Y'all have a great Saturday.

Chuck

 

[jonadel]

Sturgeon-Phish Jim-

My son and I each use the battery tender on our motorcycles, HIGHLY recommended. The $29 model works great or was it $39? Plug it in and forget it until spring, starts every time after a long sleep and supposedly is much better for the battery.

Jon

[mitchelr]

Good Morning Folks,

A light snow is falling here in South Central PA, with temps in the low 30"s, not supposed to be an accumulation of snow. 

Don - My wife also comments about my hair getting gray and my stock reply is,  "At least I have hair." My Dad was bald by age 25 and my brother, 4 years younger,  is much grayer than me and very thin on hair.  My Mom was gray by age 35. My sister's hair would be white if she didn't color it. 

After I fix some breakfast, I am going to go out to the garage, start up the kerosene heater and then vacuum the new car. After car clean up, I'll fire up the train layout for a while.  I haven't run trains in a few weeks. Later on I need to take the Mrs. back to Eye Care Shop.  She has had a terrible time with getting glasses that will work.  She had new no-lines made and could not read with them.  They tried 3 times to remake/adjust the lenses but couldn't get it right.  They finally agreed to refund her money.  Went to a new shop, had her eyes re-examined and the prescription matched what the original opthamologist had prescribed, so she tried lined bifocals, still no good.  Now she is going to try tri-focals.  I told her she may have to go with two pair, one for distance and another to read with, she did not like that idea.

Have a great day.

Mitch 

[laz 57]

Hi GIZ,

  As MITCH said lite snow here this morning nothing much but will keep an eye on it.  Going to work on layout today, paint one wall with KILZ.  Then might put in an overhead bridge on back wall, I was schemming last nite.  Still up in the air yet, might need another nite,

  Hope all is well?

B good or B gone,

laz57

[fifedog]

laz - Make sure you have the 12-pack of OM bottles on hand (go ahead, spend the extra dough, you're worth it) to spur your creative genius.  Pace yourself, can't rush art...

...I, on the otherhand, tend to light a ring of candles and submerse myself in a hot bath, til I achieve a state of train Zen...see the train;be the train.

[jonadel]

Mitch--

I've been wearing no line trifocals for years, God Bless technology, great lenses.  What I will do soon though is get a pair strictly for the computer, eye doc says he does lots and lots of those for folks. My glasses work well for my computer but I'm lucky, I can lower the screen almost to the desk and my chair sits just a bit higher, not much tipping of the head...... unless I fall asleep :)

[kpolak]

Walleye, Pike, Lake Trout, Small Mouth Bass, Musky

Buckeye:  Try Lake Erie off Cleveland or Bays De Noc, Michigan for Walleye.

Kurt

[danrunner]

Good morning all.  Should go into the 60s today here in vegas.  Family time and some graduate work on the slate today.  Then off to the pet store for my little one's first fish.

 

Dan 

[sir james I]

GOOD MORNING

Chief- good tip on thawing frozen car door. I was thinking about what would I do away from home and the doors were frozen. I could not think of a good plan. Was not the locks, but the doors.

Another lite snow  this morning but going to 37 today and zero tonite.ouch. Very cold and windy forcast for tomorrow. As for the hair thing, I still got it,salt and pepper I think is what it's called. I figure I am what I am.  Have a safe weekend,,,,Sir James

[Brutus]

Good morning, Coffee Pot.  Watching Cool Tools on DIY while wife just went to a funeral for a coworker.  Need to put in a couple hours on insulation today.  Wife told son to clean up his room before she gets back.  10 minutes later he says he is done.  Hmmm, we'll see.

[Nick12DMC]

Afternoon All, 16:20 Hrs here in Peterborough. Very bright and sunny.

Poured some self-leveling compound in the garage this morning and put some cable clamps on the AV cables under the layout to keep things neat.

I have a double batch of fudge cake brownies with pecans in the oven (recipe my mum sent up, She got it from Southern Living). Any one want some? come on over.

Nick 

 

  

[Brutus]

Nick, I'll be there in about 20 minutes, okay?  Need to make a couple stops on the way over....

[cnw1995]

Morning all. Nick, those brownies sure smell good. I'll have one. Thanks for the de-icing tip, Chief.  Well, all that rain from last eve froze. I've chipped away at the ice at the bottom of the driveway and carved out some access to the mailbox. Had to use my fox-hole digging shovel with the pointy end. Temps dropping - supposed to get wind enough to hit 35 below zero. Now,  that's living. On to starting taxes!

[dougdagrump]

If you use Chief's de-icing tip just make sure you don't slip, wouldn't want to hear about anybody getting a "tip" frozen to a car door like the kid & the flagpole in that Christmas classic.

I don't believe Kevin can get out to close the icebox door in Alaska, Anchorage was a brisk -44* today.

Here it is abundant sunshine and 70+*. Please pass the sunscreen.

[wrmcclellan]

Afternoon all!

Lazy day here. Do not feel like doing anything today. Wife is out til 5 so I can proceed with reckless abandon!

Beautiful and sunny here today - might hit 70 - but if that's to be - it better hurry.

Have a great day all!

[cnw1995]

Well, taxes done. Now time for train-running. Wish it was 70 here, Roy...

[phillyreading]

Jim (Sturgeon-Phish)

I have a chev 02 diesel with 2 batteries and the same thing was happen to me if I did not start it for 2 days it would not start and I had to charge the batteries to get it to start it turned out that one of the batteries was bad so I replaced them both (5 years old) and that fixed it. That's not saying that is what is wrong with yours. But just a thought. Gary

For batteries, not bad ones, go to a battery speciality store [here, we have Batteries Plus] and get a Battery Maintainer.  It is aplastic block that plugs into an outlet or dropcord.  It has a long lead that is polarized.  It comes with a short pigtail for hard wiring to your battery posts [ring terminals] and a spare with clips.  It actually does the same thing as our high $$$ battery chargers [goes through three stages, charge, desulfation and maintenance float].  The biggest difference is it is not a high amp charger [about .75].  Will keep batteries fully charged without trickle charging [which damages batteries].  This will hold them at about 13.5 V and that is safe to maintain batteries for over a year at the time without using the battery.  Thye run about $39.  I saw them on sale at Cabela's for $29.

Been using them on riding mower, farm tractor and other battery cranked equipment.  Great for show cars, motorcycles, jet skis and snowmoblies.  All that is attched to the battery is the short pigtail. 

Just make sure that you get a battery charger and not a regulated power supply, a battery charger will shut off when it needs to, a regultated supply puts out a stead flow of electricity to maintain a certain voltage but does not shut off. Another tip on charging batteries and this comes from Johnson Controls, the people who used to make the Sears Diehard and still make the Interstate Battery, slow charge a battery when it is under 50% of its charge or won't crank your vehicle as fast charging will only give you a surface charge! A surface charge is like when you go ice skating up north and the ice is very thin & you can fall thru easily, a full charge is likened to thick ice and won't let you down but a full charge can take up to 72 hours if your battery is really low in charge.

Lee F.

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Evening all,

Night shift again.  I was nice today but I slept through most of it.  Got up, went to church, ate, then off to work.  Love 12 hour shifts!

Jon-I'm going to get one of the battery tenders, and hopefully find the current draw.

Mitch- My wife ended up getting one contact for reading.  I know of others who get one contact for reading and one for distance.  I guess the brain automatically uses the eye that is in focus.  Wife reads a lot and loves the setup.  It may be worth considering for your wife.

Lee-I did not know about the rate of charge difference.  Since I have had to do a lot of battery charging lately, I noticed the charge does seem to last longer when I have the charger set on the 2 amp setting instead of the 10 amp setting.

Thanks for all the suggestions on fixing the truck.  I've got a thread on another forum, a GMC diesel truck forum, seeking advice there also.  I need to get this fixed so I can spend time on important things like trains!!!

Check back later

May God bless

[phillyreading]

Evening all,

Night shift again.  I was nice today but I slept through most of it.  Got up, went to church, ate, then off to work.  Love 12 hour shifts!

Jon-I'm going to get one of the battery tenders, and hopefully find the current draw.

Mitch- My wife ended up getting one contact for reading.  I know of others who get one contact for reading and one for distance.  I guess the brain automatically uses the eye that is in focus.  Wife reads a lot and loves the setup.  It may be worth considering for your wife.

Lee-I did not know about the rate of charge difference.  Since I have had to do a lot of battery charging lately, I noticed the charge does seem to last longer when I have the charger set on the 2 amp setting instead of the 10 amp setting.

Thanks for all the suggestions on fixing the truck.  I've got a thread on another forum, a GMC diesel truck forum, seeking advice there also.  I need to get this fixed so I can spend time on important things like trains!!!

Check back later

May God bless

Battery tender sounds like a good way to go, keeps it charged but don't overcharge.

Worked at a car repair shop for a little while and learned a whole lot about automotive type batteries. If you can't put water back in a car battery here in south Florida I won't buy it!! Wal-Mart sells the generic Interstate battery called the Everstart & is made by Johnson Controls/Globe Union Corporation the same company that makes the Interstate battery, a very good low cost battery that you can add water to. Other battery fact is that you only need to put water back into a battery after it has been put into use, putting acid into a battery after it is in use is a waste of money, your automotive type of battery will turn distilled water(that's what I prefer to use because of being more chemical free) into battery acid within three to five days with only using your car as the alternator keeps the battery charged.

Lee F.

[ChiefEagles]

Lee, I'm going to have to give you a battery charger class.  That is what I have been doing since Jan 04.  Some old "miths" there.  Regular chargers like the ones a Walmart and so on do NOT really charge a battery right.  Slow charging only means a battery gets charged slower.  A solid state 3 stage charger, charges with full amperage to until the battery reaches about 14.6 to 14.7 volts, then hold it there for some time [our, 3 hours], this desulfates a battery and "packs" all the energy into a battery and then it drops to 13.3 to 13.5  Volts.  Hold it there with out trickle charging [trickle charging damages a battery].  Only two companies make a solid state 3 stage charger.  Only one has distributed on demand for multi-battery charger.  That means that the charger sences the weakest battery and distrubites more amperage to that battery so all the batteries come to full charge at the same time.  All others are old transformer wound chargers.  Transformer chargers are slow and very inefficient. 

Evening all.  Back from Mom's and Miss Edna's.  Long day.  Did a plumbing repair early this AM.  When I left at 10 AM, house was full of women for a baby shower.  Chat later.

[phillyreading]

Hey Cheif,

I hate to burst your bubble but you may be asking for an explosion charging an automotive battery that way! Sounds like you have been listening to a SHADE TREE mechanic again!! Hydrogen gas is very explosive and that is what a battery puts off when it is discharged. I have been in the US Army as a unit mechanic and worked at Sears Tire & Auto Center for almost three years. Got a short class from Johnson Controls on how to properly charge an automotive battery.

Fast chargers are only good for quick starting a car or truck as your battery will need to be charged again sometime if fast charged.

Other quick fact about a new battery, if a 12 volt battery it should read 12.6 volts on a digital meter when fully charged and the charging source removed.

Lee F.

[jefelectric]

Evening all,

I'll stay out of the battery discussion.

Ran some trains today, first in about a week.  We had a heavy rain on Wednesday evening and got a small amount of water on the bridge section of the layout.  Only happens when we get a real hard driving rain from the West, every couple of years.

Today was pretty nice, sun was in and out with temps in the 40s.

 

 

[Brutus]

Went out to eat with family after I got some work done in the basement.  Long wall is now all insulated except one gap where I need wider insulation?  I used metal construction and in this section the "c" sections are facing each other like [   ], making a wider gap - should have been [   [.  Just need to fill up one C with some foam insulation or something really.  I would just flip one of the tracks, but I already ran wire cables through it, so easier not to do it.  Still have 20 feet of outside wall to do, but I got tired of choking on all that dust and stuff so quit for the day. 

I got the screws "glued" on the BFOC finally, then ran in reverse (screws the back screws in) with plenty of Lionel oil on the drivers.  When I switched to forward, the screws did not start to unscrew.  Will be sure I keep it well lubed and watch for any more unwinding, but I think I finally got it.  If this doesn't work, I'll switch to CA glue.

I noticed that Justrains has the 2008 Lionel stuff listed for preorder.  Trainz does too.   Other than those RR modules Chief, did you preorder anything?  From whom did you buy?

[Brutus]

Hey John, how's the diet going?  I lost some weight in Orlando, but need to get back on the WW diet now.

[Buckeye Riveter]

Roy....Photos of the Chief at York would be appreciated.

Chuck....Did you ever hear anything from Marty at Ma & Pa?  I sent an email two weeks ago and still nothing. 

Glad to see Magic back on the board. 

Sport show in town.  My fishing gang after reviewing the price of fuel and the value of the dollar have decided not to go to Canada fishing.  Looking at Michigan.  Suggestions welcomed.

Don...You mean that you don't already dye your hair?  Fooled me.

Buckeye.... Nothing from Marty. Sent 2 e-mails.

Michigan.....Just above the Straits, to the East is a town called Cedarville. Used to have great fishing. Rustic. Cabins.

Chuck

Chuck....I would like to place an order with Marty, but I'm getting no response either.  I know were Cedarville is located just north of the straits.

Kurt...The Au Sable is a great trout stream near Grayling.

BUCKEYE, you are cordially invited to the opening day of trout fishing here in PA.  Last Saturday in March, you'll get, a good PA AMISH breakfast, of eggs,scrapple,homefries,bacon, and choice of toast.  Along with a shore lunch of chicken wings, with choice of hot sauce, and a few OLD MILs. ( you gotta carry your on beer,we do).  And for supper, deer steak,deer chops,and deer tender lions,(we just got a road kill and cut it up) ( no joke), on DA GRILL at outside fireplace and more OLD MILs ( you gotta drink your own beers, we do).  You will have accomadations for sleeping either on the wifes footon that she has reserved for me when I get out of hand Probably will be that nite when you and me are together, along with my brother) or the dogs bed next to ours?  All of this to have your own privately stock hole of brown, rainbow, and brook trout stocked by our great high school conservation club students.  This is a one time offer especially for you for the low LOW price of $1000.  Sounds like the same price you gave me for your annual Canada trip?  HMMM?  What ya say?

This could be you.....?

Laz....How deep are the pot holes in Pennsylvania?  The Ohio pot holes are too shallow for walleye, but we do get good catches of crappie.   Could I get a better price on the fishing trip  if we left out the scrapple?

Buckeye, come visit the real Crystal Lake...I'm sure there's something alive in it you can catch.

Doug...Are you saying there is something dead in Crystal Lake?  Does this mean you know where Jimmy Hoffa has been for the last 33 years?

Walleye, Pike, Lake Trout, Small Mouth Bass, Musky

Buckeye:  Try Lake Erie off Cleveland or Bays De Noc, Michigan for Walleye.

Kurt

Kurt...That Bays De Noc looks like a great place.  Thanks!!

Wow, what a day.  The relatives were here with the 4 year old who is nuts about trains.  He has his first Lionel set.  He will watch train videos all the time.  We ran the trains for about 4 hours while he was here visiting.   The layout performed flawlessly.  We had four trains running simultaneously on one track using the return loops to wait for passing trains.  Chuck...Remember what you said about my layout.  Well now you really "run" the trains and you better pay attention. 

[sir james I]

Hello Saturday nite,

No excitement today, just lazed. expecting very cold temp for Sun. & Mon.,I miss football, watched golf for awhile helped me fall asleep on the couch. Baseball works in the summer, better than a sleeping pill. The wife likes the red wings, she watches them all winter,they lost in ot today. Lionel is correcting their catalog errors and now I understand the new 0-8-0 price on page 34 of their set catalog. Its $119. not $219. I could not understand why it was more than the Penn. flyer set at $199.

Brutus-we got banilla and Breyers strawberry. Breyers is using smaller containers but did not lower the price. nothing new there eh. GOOD NITE Chewy,,,Sir James

[cnw1995]

Jim, sounds like you had a productive day! Hope your boy is feeling better, and this cures what has made noises in the BFOC - what a great little model! We went out with old friends tonight for dinner and then visited at their spectacularly large house for a while. Finished taxes. Always second-guess myself after I send it off to the IRS. Mmmmm, strawberry.

Shhhh, Buckeye, that was our little secret.