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

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Posted by fifedog on Monday, March 10, 2008 9:16 PM

Sounds like a good idear, Sir James.  Mocked up some of the next ridgeline for the CUMBERLAND EXTENSION today, so hopefully I got the momentum boost to knock out this next section.

G'nite Chief.  Left the light on...

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Posted by Brutus on Monday, March 10, 2008 9:51 PM
Sad [:(]  Man, missed ya again, Sir James.  Son had boyscouts and had to take him before I could get on computer and then I had 33 emails, including 2 that were really long from non-train friends in Texas and Florida.  Sorry, nothing train related today - was back doing my regular job today and it felt good to get some regular work done for a change.  Made a doctor appointment for Wednesday morning to get my foot looked at.

RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.

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Posted by mitchelr on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 5:39 AM

Morning Folks,

I made a fresh pot of coffee.  Not much happening around here. Only two night meetings this week, one is tonight.  Next week there are three.  Still haggling with the budget, furniture, materials, etc., etc. 

Not used to the time change yet, slept in until 5:45. Gotta run.

Mitch 

Bob Mitchell Gettysburg, PA TCA # 98-47956 LCCA# RM22839

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Posted by Wes Whitmore on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 6:37 AM

Those Honda generators are very nice, and super quiet (under 65 db?) and light/portable.  They are pretty big here in the tailgating scene.  That would be perfect to run your new gig saw, Brent!  And you can chain multiple units together when you really need some 120V power. 

Wes

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Posted by cheapclassics on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 7:08 AM

Good morning all,

IIABSDISEI with temps in the 40s.  I did weights at the YMCA and watched "Deal or No Deal".  I got caught up with balancing the checkbooks and paying bills.  I went to bed earlier last night and slept well.  It should be a quiet day at work with only phone call meeting scheduled.  I had a little extra on the dining car this morning for breakfast before I sent it to "Points East".  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

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Posted by anjdevil2 on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 7:21 AM

'Mornin'

Up to 68F today, saw all that SnoHizo...Geez, I remember that....So much for "Global Warming"Laugh [(-D]

Ran trains yesterday for lunch...sorta theraputic...my job makes me crazyBanged Head [banghead]  Got up @ 0215 to see the Shuttle go up, all last night it was clear and I get outside at 0220 and it's cloudy....so I watched it on TV (on clear nights, you can see it from JAX, and clear days as well)  SOOOO now I'm tired (YES I DID go back to bed..until 0515!)  So I goes outside at 0630 to get the princess to school and now, of course, it's clear again!Banged Head [banghead]

Softball practice after work, late din din then the cycle repeats.....

Later!

I am the monster in your head...And I thought you'd learn by now, It seems you haven't yet.
I am the venom in your skin  --- Breaking Benjamin


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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 7:26 AM
Mornin' Fellas.

Comcast is playing games now... no internet at home since the power came on Sunday - there is an unknown outage in my area, tech was out last night and identified that I don't have a signal, said he called it in and they would have someone out last night to fix it... nothing this morning. Banged Head [banghead]

Wes - can't get a NG generator as there are no NG lines in my area. So I would have to get a propane tank. We are still not sure what we want to do. The generator alone is $4,000+ and a tank is $2,000+ and we haven't even touched installation (they have to be installed by a licensed installer and you have to get a permit to do the installation and they won't sell those to a homeowner).

Got the girder bridges JB Weld(ed) last night. Will check them when I get home to see if the stuff worked. Then it is on to finishing the plaster cloth for the river bed and putting down some more spackle. We'll see how it goes.
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Posted by Wes Whitmore on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 7:53 AM

Sorry about that Brent.  I assumed you were in a subdivision like me.  I had painted a different picture with what I pieced together from your postings!

Wes

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Posted by wrmcclellan on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 7:58 AM

Morning all!

Cloudy and very foggy here this am. Should be 70's today!

Another busy day. Did not get much accomplished yesterday and today the office server is down - which will make for another non-productive day! If I could leverage that somehow???

Have a great day all!

Regards, Roy

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Posted by RockIsland52 on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 8:21 AM
 spankybird wrote:
 RockIsland52 wrote:

To the Ohio boys, didn't this last storm set single storm records for you?  I heard Columbus totalled more than 20".  Single snowfall record for my locale North of Boston was 34" on 1/26/05, not the Blizzard of 1978 at 27". 

Jack     

Back in 96, I lived in a small town call Chardon, Ohio. Once again the weather channel was there. We had 60" (yes 5 feet of snow) fall in a 3 day storm. It took the National Guard to dig me out.

Spanky, are you the guy the Guardsmen found playing trains in the basement knee deep in a pile of Hostess Cupcake wrappers?  Big Smile [:D]  A lot of folks don't know how bad that Lake effect snow can be.

Buckeye, our problem is the drifts.  My garage door was covered 2/3 of the way up when I opened it.  Told my wife to back the car out to knock it down, and she almost believed me, hoping against hope she could hit the malls on her free day.  Some drifts 6 feet high.

Jack

IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.

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Posted by phillyreading on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 8:35 AM

Brent,

I have a gasoline powered generator that I used after hurricanes Francis & Gene, bought it at a generator shop. The generator has 120 volts 30 amps and 240 volts 20 amps, will run almost everything but the air conditioner, even run the well pump and two refridgerators and some lights.  No need to have a professional come and install a small generator, just put up a small metal cover or wood cover completely over it until you need it.

When you run any generator make sure it is outside in a well ventilated place!  Never run a generator indoors!!

Sign - Off Topic!! [#offtopic]Did someone say Concast? At least that is my name for Comcast as they are gypsies tramps & theives!My 2 cents [2c]

Been working on my upper track again and got almost three/fourths of it done now. Also bought some more stuff at my local hobby shop, has anybody seen small trestle like supports that are about four inches tall? They don't work with anything but I bought them at my local hobby shop thinking that I could use them for an overhead track above my current track. Some 027 passenger cars just barely go under these trestles.

Lee F.

Interested in southest Pennsylvania railroads; Reading & Northern, Reading Company, Reading Lines, Philadelphia & Reading.
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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 8:40 AM
Lee,
That is what we were planning to do, but when we were discussing it we decided it would be best to have one with an Auto Switch. When we went away on our honeymoon the Balto/DC area got hit with heavy rains for about a week, then we got hit this past weekend and a couple other times for short periods. When we were sitting at home on Sunday with nothing to do Susan decided a 17 - 20Kw generator that can power the whole house was what she wanted... so we are now in the process (slow methodical one) of figuring out how we want to go about it. Lots of questions to ask. But with our schedules over the next two months it isn't something that is happening tomorrow! LOL!

Wes,
No problem. Most people do have access to NG in our area, but since we're in the middle of the woods in the middle of farm land, we don't...
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Posted by cnw1995 on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 8:43 AM

Morning all. Hope everyone's well. Supposed to be in the fifties today. It certainly wasn't close to that at 0-dark-thirty this morning. Tonight is my last class for this quarter - then (thankfully), it starts again in a few weeks. Ran the trains last night again. Percy's front coupler fell off. Looks like the CA I used didn't take. Maybe I have to use something else.

Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.

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Posted by RockIsland52 on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 9:03 AM

Some time in the future......... 

Susieq:  "Brent, it's freezing in here!  The furnace isn't running.  I don't think the generator is working."

Brent:  "It's working just fine, dear.  I had to turn off the furnace to run trains and the beer fridge.  Just put on another sweater and you'll be fine."

 

Jack 

Big Smile [:D]

 

 

IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.

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Posted by johnandjulie13 on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 9:05 AM

Good Morning:

Went to the doctor today.  Not much improvement, I will be stuck in bed for at least the rest of this week.

Wes:  I love the ingenuity of those tailgaters!  In addition to the generators, they will have their directTV dishes set up to get all of the games on cable.  Now that is how to tailgate. Cool [8D]

Brent: 17kW to 20kW? Shock [:O] That is a lot of power.  When we purchased ours we came across two major brands, Generac and Briggs & Stratton.  We opted for the less expensive Briggs unit and it has worked out fine.  Good luck with the search.  The peace of mind is well worth it.

Doug:  What happened to Percy's coupler?

Regards,

John

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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 9:15 AM
Jack - Laugh [(-D]

 johnandjulie13 wrote:

Brent: 17kW to 20kW? Shock [:O] That is a lot of power.  When we purchased ours we came across two major brands, Generac and Briggs & Stratton.  We opted for the less expensive Briggs unit and it has worked out fine.  Good luck with the search.  The peace of mind is well worth it.



John - that's what I thought! With that kind of power we could power the entire neighborhood! I told her I would be willing to get something in the 8Kw - 10Kw range as I think that is all we need. When she was researching online the only ones she found with auto switch/whole house power were the 17 - 20s... I told her we need to have a professional come out... that went over like a lead brick!
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Posted by Sturgeon-Phish on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 9:31 AM

Morning All

Welcome from overcast Southern Ohio. 

All this talk of generators is interesting.  We've talked about getting one ourselves.  One sized to take camping and keep essentials working during outages. The 5-8KW is what we were looking at. 

The Honda is a great unit.  I had one at work that I would need on occasion and it would start easy and run flawlessly and very quiet.  If I remember it was 2KW and was easily carried by one man.

I picked up some salvage metal kitchen cabinets to put in the garage addition, and will try to get them up today.  Bride said, don't you insulate first?  I said I wasn't planning on insulating, but it is a good idea Whistling [:-^].  Who knows, when we get to two vehicles the garage addition would make a great place for a train room.  13 x 30 bay, 8 x 24 layout????

Later and may God bless

Jim

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Posted by Blueberryhill RR on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 10:05 AM

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is 34 degrees with a little sunshine. Going up to 45 today with maybe some sun and then showers tonite.

Busy today. But not too bad. Little jobs around the house and cleaning up the junk. Later, I will run the trains and maybe, do some scenery work.

Dining car has been here and we had breakfast. Then, it left for the western trip. Columbus and " points west " will clean it out.

Y'all have a great Tuesday.

Chuck

Chuck # 3 I found my thrill on Blueberryhill !!
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Posted by johnandjulie13 on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 10:25 AM

 lionroar88 wrote:


John - that's what I thought! With that kind of power we could power the entire neighborhood! I told her I would be willing to get something in the 8Kw - 10Kw range as I think that is all we need. When she was researching online the only ones she found with auto switch/whole house power were the 17 - 20s... I told her we need to have a professional come out... that went over like a lead brick!

Hello Brent:

Check out this website:

http://www.briggsandstratton.com/engine_power/category.aspx?cid=31&scid=30

They have units as low as 7Kw, able to run most everything in your house (except an air-conditioner).  They will even refer you to a local dealer/installer.  We put ours in when we had the house built, so the cost for us wasn't bad.  The plumber added the natural gas line and the electrician provided the conduit installation.  My Dad and I (he is an electrician, so don't be alarmed) connected it ourselves.  It is interesting that propane provides significantly more power than gas.  Good luck.

Regards,

John

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Posted by johnandjulie13 on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 10:27 AM
 Sturgeon-Phish wrote:

I picked up some salvage metal kitchen cabinets to put in the garage addition, and will try to get them up today.  Bride said, don't you insulate first?  I said I wasn't planning on insulating, but it is a good idea Whistling [:-^].  Who knows, when we get to two vehicles the garage addition would make a great place for a train room.  13 x 30 bay, 8 x 24 layout????

Hello Jim:

This is another reason why I like this forum so much...you guys are smooth.Wink [;)]  I learn a lot about family communication on these boards.  An 8x24 layout sounds nice.

Regards,

John

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Posted by RRCharlie on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 11:18 AM

anjdevil2;

And I thought I was the only one crazy enough to stay up past 2:30 AM to go outside and see nothing but clouds. What a let down!

Getting more familiar with LEGACY, Marty's videos area big help, but I'm still having problems with the center column of "buttons" only working part of the time. Statistics class tonight-5:30 until ?? The Assistant Dean will be in to observe. Always fun.

Mel Hazen; Jax, FL

Mel Hazen; Jax, FL Ride Amtrak. It's the only way to fly!!!

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Posted by Wes Whitmore on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 11:44 AM

They even make portable units that run on bottled propane as well.  It all depends on what you want and how much you want to pay for it.  I already have a pretty solid battery/inverter system that I can use.  Brent, you could probably keep your eyes open for some 3KVA inverters with extra batteries at work, then you could just pick up a bigger portable unit to charge the batteries and run the furnace when you really need it.  Plus, it's portable, so you can run trains while tailgating at the next PSU game...

The perminant ones would be great, but seem to be a little pricey for me at 5-8% the value of my home.  You'll find something that works for you.

 

Sturgeon-Phish - This is probably the one.  This thing is whisper quiet if you don't need to run too many things.  Maybe a heater, or a sump pump.

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/ModelDetail.asp?ModelName=eu2000i

Wes

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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 11:53 AM

Rich,
According to a certain delivery service's website I'm due to receive a package any hour now! So should you, but it isn't stating 'out for delivery' although it made it to your city last night... hmmm.

Tired... had a soft pretzel for lunch and some yogart... blech... why do women find it necessary to force this stuff on men???? Now I'm craving a big juicy Filet Mignon or Porterhouse...

Speaking of Dinner [dinner] what's your favorite cut of steak, how do you like it done, any special sauces? Be prepared to provide recipes...

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Posted by Wes Whitmore on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 12:38 PM

Sounds like someone is home, eating...not much fun.

Has anyone considered multiple small generators instead of one larger one?  I'm sure that there are pros and cons of each, but flexibility/portability is a pretty big benefit.  A couple of 2000-3500 watt inverters would allow you to run just one at partial throttle while running the other at full, or switch units back and forth during low usage times (also allows you to service one and still have some power available), possibly lower dB compared to bigger units (although two units running at the same RPM would probably be up 6 dB from the single unit), or give you the ability to let the neighbor borrow one of the units if you have power to spare.  Price is incremental as well.  Downfalls?  More fillups, more service upkeep, no 240V output, and wiring complexity.  I'm sure there is more that I'm missing.  I just wanted to stir up the thinking pot.

Thoughts?

Wes

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Posted by tmcc man on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 12:47 PM

Brent,

Since I know what I like, I always make mine, and, it's always grilled. I prefer Filet Mignon, with Guldens Spicy Brown Mustard and seasoned salt, cooked rare, with a side of asparagus or brocolli, and some A1 Steak Sauce.

Afternoon everyone,

I went to the doctors this morning, I've felt sick since about Sunday. I went in because of Strep throat symptoms, and found out I have a small ear infection. I'm hoping whatever it is goes away soon, after all, the East Coast Large Scale Train Show is coming up in two weeks.

Have a good afternoon everyone.

Colin from prr.railfan.net
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Posted by anjdevil2 on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 1:44 PM
 lionroar88 wrote:

Rich,
According to a certain delivery service's website I'm due to receive a package any hour now! So should you, but it isn't stating 'out for delivery' although it made it to your city last night... hmmm.

Tired... had a soft pretzel for lunch and some yogart... blech... why do women find it necessary to force this stuff on men???? Now I'm craving a big juicy Filet Mignon or Porterhouse...

Speaking of Dinner [dinner] what's your favorite cut of steak, how do you like it done, any special sauces? Be prepared to provide recipes...

Brent,

yep, been watching that.  Receptionist said he's coming back, something he can't find.....Banged Head [banghead] and you are on the cusp....Smile,Wink, & Grin [swg].  Let me know how it goes....!Thumbs Up [tup]

Seems that the Baltimore guys are more with it than the Southern boys (lazy toof less....Sign - Dots [#dots]) nevermind...it just showed up, I gotta go n get it.

OK Mel, I feel better now!!!Sigh [sigh] Wish I coulda saw it....!

Be back later.....

I am the monster in your head...And I thought you'd learn by now, It seems you haven't yet.
I am the venom in your skin  --- Breaking Benjamin


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Posted by fifedog on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 2:44 PM

phillyreading - Thank you, Lee.  Now I can't get that tune by CHER out of my head...

Phish - G-e-n-e-r-a-t-o-r-s ---> Zzz [zzz]

88 - Montreal Steak seasoning, and don't forget the sauteed mushrooms (very important).

No laz Sad [:(] No dbaker Sad [:(] No just-us No peas.

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Posted by MartyE on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 3:28 PM
Not much going on.  Was looking for the Legacy N&S diesel without luck.  My LHS is under a ownership change and things are a bit chaotic.  Other than that just trying to catch up on things that I was too sick for last week.

Trying to update my avatar since 2020 Laugh

MartyE and Kodi the Husky Dog! ( 3/31/90-9/28/04 ) www.MartyE.com My O Gauge Web Page and Home of Kodiak Junction!

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Posted by cnw1995 on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 4:21 PM
 John, I installed front couplers in both Percy and Thomas. I used some I took off an old K-Line engine. I used CA to glue the coupler to the shell and frame and it just fell off in front of me. So obviously I used the wrong adhesive.

Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.

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Posted by phillyreading on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 4:52 PM

Fifedog, just thought that I would mention what I have been through with Concast Criminals; late delivery of cable service, tried to go through my drain fielf for my septic tank for installation of underground cable line and hook-up to a dead cable, lucky I cauhgt the lieing theive about to leave and told him where to run the cable. The office was even worse as they don't keep good records of what they do, didn't know that first time or primary cable guy had come out and didn't tell him where to run cable.

Also Concast cable bill going up in October of 2008, approximate $135.00 month, as it will be one year that I have service with them if I keep the liers that long. I am considering going back to Direct TV, maybe more expensive but they are more honest than Concast!

Lee F.

Interested in southest Pennsylvania railroads; Reading & Northern, Reading Company, Reading Lines, Philadelphia & Reading.

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