2008 [PART 2] and the Coffee Pot is still on and now 4 years old. Here we gather as friends with trains. Sweet ice tea too.

[cnw1995]

Now that you've deleted those files, Chief, you'll find yourself wanting something in them again. Never fails.

[johnandjulie13]

Hello All:

I am sorry to hear about Fife's son.  I hope he has a quick recovery.  A beautiful day here in Chicagoland.  It looks like spring/summer is finally here!

Regards,

John

[dougdagrump]

Howdy All,

Quite a few of the club members were able to shoot some photos of 3751 on it's visit to Sandy Eggo. Some of them were taken by those who were volunteer workers at the "Rock-n-Roll" marathon. Funny thing, even a bunch of the marathoners stopped to observe it as it passed by giving a big . One of our members during the event, appeared to be in the Camp Pendleton area, included a photo of another observer who you definitely do not want to encounter. A 4 to 5 foot Diamondback crawling across the road.

Does anyone know if there are any on-line tutorials for creating decals ? Started working on my 4th of July train, if nothing else I can always find stickers at some of the bigger craft stores.

[mitchelr]

Chief - My wife's Daddy was from Gonzales.  She has lots of kin folks there.  Been there,  nice folks.  Great food.  Love that Jambalaya and Gumbo.

 

Mitch 

[GregM]

Question for the American Flyer fans here.  Today I was at a flea market and saw a 1950's (that's what it said on the box)  AF train for sale.  It had a steam engine and looked to be in pretty good condition.  I didn't see anyone nearby so I didn't mess with it.  When I went back a little while later, that booth was empty.  Asking price was just under $400.  Not knowing anything about AF values, I don't know if that is a reasonable price or not.  The cars were all in original boxes so I don't know what they are.  Track looked in really good shape and it had a small transformer too.  Is it worth going back next week to check if the set is there?

 

Brent,

I spent a few hours on Saturday replacing the front rotors and brake pads on my old Dakota.  I had not done anything like that for a long time.  Only had to send Karen to the parts store once for slide bolts as the threads got messed up on one rotor.  I had gone back once myself when I realized I didn't get grease seals for the rotors.  Truck stops much smooother now.  My moto has always been, "my cars may not GO, but they will always STOP!"

 

Does anyone know if there are any on-line tutorials for creating decals ?

I would suggest that you contact ScottSmith, he is a member of this forum and I believe he does custom decal work.

 

[edw]

Anyone have an idea on checking into a patent?  I have an idea, but not sure I can get one for it.  I don't want to go the route of those groups advertised on TV who will help you get a patent for 80% of the proceeds. 

Dennis, here is a link to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website that will answer most of your questions. While there is a lot of information to wade through, there are a few key points you should keep in mind.

• Before filing for a patent, and paying hundreds/thousands of dollars in fees, you should definitely research your inventive concept ahead of time to make sure the idea hasn't already been patented. While there are many commercial outfits that will search your invention for you, you can also do your own key-word search of the PTO database online.
• After you have thoroughly pre-searched your idea, and you are confident that it is a novel invention or an "unobvious" improvement of an existing invention, you can then take the plunge and file for a patent.
• At this point, most inventors will hire a patent attorney/agent to handle the actual patent prosecution for them because there are a host of statutory and procedural requirements which you need to know in advance to avoid having your application dismissed.
• A key difference between hiring your own patent attorney and signing up with one of those outfits that "develop" your invention for you, is that a patent attorney works for you on an hourly basis and has no property rights to your invention. Those other outfits usually want you to assign over to them a percentage of your invention, in lieu of you having to pay for a private attorney.

http://www.uspto.gov/main/patents.htm

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Question for the American Flyer fans here.  Today I was at a flea market and saw a 1950's (that's what it said on the box)  AF train for sale.  It had a steam engine and looked to be in pretty good condition.  I didn't see anyone nearby so I didn't mess with it.  When I went back a little while later, that booth was empty.  Asking price was just under $400.  Not knowing anything about AF values, I don't know if that is a reasonable price or not.  The cars were all in original boxes so I don't know what they are.  Track looked in really good shape and it had a small transformer too.  Is it worth going back next week to check if the set is there?

Good evening from sunny Southern Ohio!

I brought the camper to the house to de-winterize it and clean it up.  All went well except it developed a leak in the rear corner and rotted out a pretty large section.  That can be nasty.  While I was cleaning it up someone stopped and asked to buy the camper, even after I showed them the damage.  I looked on line and the low retail is $9680.  I may see what they will give me for it. 

Greg,

There is a huge difference in the price of the locos and cars based on rarity.  Greenberg's is what I go by for pricing.  If you can get numders off the cars and locos I can look them up for you.  For just under $400 I would expect it to be an upper level set. 

All take care and may God bles your needs

Jim

[sir james I]

Good Evening All

No breaking news today. It was a very nice day but rain expected tomorrow. flirting with 90 by friday. took a walk, read some of CTT,A nap of course, and a burnt offering from the grill. I did pass by the trains today but no running. The train store got some PW freight cars but the usual 027 type, I don't know what engine as he took it into "the room" to check it out.

Brutus and whoever, wife brought home a fresh supply of banilla and root beer, she may still be up when you get here, fair warning Wings are behind so she may not be happy if the tide don't turn.   S.J.

[wrmcclellan]

Evening all!

Another hot one here today - 95/95 I think (that 95 degrees and 95% humidity).

Contruction on the remodeling continues with them cleaning up the exterior trim on the new front door and using a jackhammer to chisel out the front entry tile (3/4" terrazzo - UGLY) on thick set mortar (another 1"). Plus they jackhammered out a 2 foot connector between the sliding glass door in the master bedroom and the pool deck. Also noticed the embedded (between the panes) muntins on the double pane windows on the new front door sidelights are crooked - which means they will have to be replaced.

Spent a nice day yesterday starting and ending on the back patio. Read papers after church and then in the evening nice breeze for grilling some steaks and catfish. Came out great!

Greg - I would agree that $400 is high unless it is a really complete common set with all boxes/inserts, etc., or a higher end set w/o all the trimmings.

Don B - good to see you feeling better. Enjoyed your rant about how much progress you are making on the layout.

Chief - glad to hear you got someone to help your mother. Hopes the lady proves out to be as good as she sounds.

Have a great evening all! Another hot one for tomorrow here! Construction moves to tearing out carpets and baseboards in Dining and Living and prep for wood floors (pecan colored oak - a bit darker than golden oak).

 

 

[jefelectric]

Busy day today, counted money for Church and then drove, one hour, to daughters house to do some telephone wiring for her.  Took her and 3 granddaughters out to lunch and then home by 4:00.  Hung a picture that Wife got for her birthday, today, from Son and DIL.  No trains today.  Weather was excellent, Warm and Sunny.  It was a beautify drive along the Susquehanna & Juniata Rivers.

[fifedog]

Evenin' boys.  Been wonderin' where 88 had been, but with his to-do list, it's a wonder he can visit at all.  Worked in the garden this evening, and almost done the gutters (AX MEN can head back to the NorthWest).  Boy is doin' fine (thanks jandj).  Looks like TONY STEWART is the forgotten man at GIBBS.

Buckeye - How big a cake did you want me to order for his majesty?

[Anonymous]

Fife - I've been reading and recovering from school. Still not back into the swing of things. I'm also trying to get things done around the house before the 19th (Day Susie-Q goes under the knife) and for the week after I won't be able to do anything around the house as I'll have to tend to her. Looking forward to taking care of her for a change (wish it was for something other than what she is having done).

Have to steam clean the carpet in the newly finished room and will probably start painting the ceiling and trim in the master bathroom (don't ask), then I have to get new crown molding for the masterbath, cut, paint and hang it. Guess while I'm doing that I will work on moving and rewiring the switches. After that I have to finish painting the shed and doing final trim work (windows and facia).

If I get all that done by Fall then I'll be working on the basement... that will be an interesting project as I'll be building my first wet bar. And I have to cut down some trees this fall also.

Somewhere in there I hope to find time for the trainroom!

[Buckeye Riveter]

Buckeye - How big a cake did you want me to order for his majesty?

It can't be June 4th again where we are required to pay homage to his majesty.  Fifedog, we will need a huge cake in order for it to hold the hundreds of candles.  BTW, I was thinking of getting the old boy an indoor toilet, but without running water it would be useless. 

[Brutus]

Hey guys, hope all had a good day today.  Prayed for Krawler and now for his family, God bless them. 

Got home from work just in time to go to boy scouts court of honor.  Daughter and I checked out a lake there at Bee Tree Park that is stocked with large mouth bass, catfish, and crappie.  Limit is 4 bass or catfish and 15 crappie.  It's not too far from the house so could go there on a nice weekend, if we ever have any days without any rain!

Doug put a jinx on my washer, which is now dead.  Checked switch and it isn't working.  Bypassed and got some intermittent work, but it takes about 3 rounds of spin to clear the water.  Did this through 4 loads of laundry last night   I figure with the pump and switch (something must have burned out something) this would be more than the washer is worth since I've had it for 2 houses now.  We'll go price check tomorrow.  If we time it right, I can call still call and trash will take old one for free.

Laz, that glasspack really souped her up, why don't you drive tonight?  We'll all go check on Kurt and see if he is feeling better and also drop off some chicken soup for Don?!

TTFN

[ChiefEagles]

Evening all.  Been taking it easy and watching some westerns.  Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up TO BE Cowboys.  Good night all.

[dbaker48]

Good Evening -

Some of you may recall my post from yesterday and all the sucess I had in the train room over the weekend.  Well I did find 1 problem, which most likely was causing a couple of others.

The Big boy engine has a broken rod.  I don't know what to call it, but it is between the points A and B on the attached photo.  Rod C is one of the pivot rods on the front truck, just below that is a rod that connects from under the cow catcher to the bottom of the boiler.  If you notice a white spot at the end of arrowhead B, that is where its broken.  There should be some piece that goes from there and fits into the boiler, a clip maybe?

So going to check Mizells, or directly back to the Big L.

Purpose of this post is to share with others, to watch for a weak connecting rod.

(Already checked the Tardis, it doesn't have one)

 

 

[kpolak]

Morning!

Can you believe the Wings????  Made 3-yo stay up til the end...DOH!  Triple overtime.

Finally feeling better.  Thanks for all the prayers, now Bride has it.

Picked-up a MPC GP-7 dummy...The wheels show that it is unrun.  One of the truck frames has a white mold-like substance on it, that has eaten holes thru the truck frame.  Wierd.  I'll post some photos later.

Looks like I have some catching up to do.

Kurt

[laz 57]

HI GIZ,

  53 and another great day here, to get to 82.  Going to run a nice 4 miler today after school.  Suppose to get humid here this after?  At least nothing like TEXASS where ROY is with 95/95 OUCH YUK!

  BRUTUS, It would be an HONOR to PILOT DA TARDIS.  What a great nite, pick up KURT, DOUG, DON anyone else?  BANILLA and OL MIL well it 'JUST DON'T GET ANY BETTER THEN THIS".

  B GOOD or B GONE,

laz57

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is a cloudy 62 degrees. Going up to 77 today with a chance of rain.

Today is busy. I have a few errands to run and then the chores around the house. I think I will spend some time in the train room, later. Need to clean up and put some things away. I'm getting ready to start my next project of the " flood cars ". This one will be lengthy.

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

Y'all have a great Tuesday.

Chuck

[sarpilot]

Mornin all, Very nice day in Pensacola, Should be in the 90s. Up late last night. Got home from work about 9:30 and my new Sound Commander 2 was waiting for me in the mail box. I just had to install it right then. Took awhile to figue out where to ground it on my old MPC Alco but finaly figured it out. Sounds great! Best 50 bucks I've spent so far. I'm still waiting for word back from my local hobby shop about my gargraves switches. It seems two of the switches I've bought were of the older type and had a stamped sheet metal "frog" instead of the newer solid metal. The older versions don't work real well and have a tendency to short out and derail some of my locos as they go through the divergence. My hobby shop owner is calling them to see if they will replace them. He said It shouldn't be a problem. Hope everyone has a good day at work or whatever. Later.

STEVE

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

It is going to be a rainy day in SE Indiana with temps in the 70s.  I practiced soccer with the high school kids last night.  Sore today, but played well last night.  I also had another incident with a sharp object and an unmentionable part of my anatomy while taking a shower last night.  The moral of that situation is to always check washcloths before using them for the first time! 

Some good news.  While reviewing the information that came with the scholarships, we found out one of the bigger awards is renewable.  That was a pleasant surprise.  I had the regular fare on the dining car this morning.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[Anonymous]

Mornin' Fellas.

Told you Chief's Flush Valve emptied onto my desk! While working on my group's monthly statistics report I found 3 problems that must be addressed. 1 group member is hording trouble tickets (review time, she does this every year), there are two network routers that are going fritzie (or so it seems), and afore mentioned group member created herself a seperate db login to our web application database and used that to create 20+ reports. This account's credentials have expired and now no one in management can run the reports. They called me about it this morning because I developed the front end, I told them I would address it with her. They were not pleased and said they would be speaking with her as well, so I mentioned the trouble ticket issue as well. If you can't tell our 'relationship' is less than cordial.

Looks like Susie-Q's brakes will arrive today and tomorrow, brake pads (which I don't need since I could just use the ones for my car) come today and rotors (which I need) come tomorrow. Also did some research and it appears her 'neutral safety switch' maybe what is bad on her transmission $235.00 part. *this part is a cable that is 8 inches long and has two special connector pins on each end* what a rip-off. I've never had anything go wrong with my transmissions and I've had cars with over 200,000 miles. Toyota = high quality my ***!


Hope to get the lawn mowed tonight as we're expecting storms the rest of the week.

[cnw1995]

Morning all. Sorry about the dryer, Brutus. Looks like I've hexed 88's cars and database too.  1 more day to the big celebration in NC. Here's my bone-head move of yesterday - went to the big-box office supply store to get a printer ink cartridge on my way home. Was swayed by a wiley salesperson and his buy-ink-and-get-a-free-printer deal - the ink was a buck less than the cartridge I had to buy. Got it all home and realized it will not work with the Mac. Back it all goes today. I still need to get the ink. LOL.

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Morning all from cloudy rainy Southern Ohio

It sounds like a lot of folks have gremlin problems taking away from their train time! 

The rain has set in for the next couple of days it looks like.  Our original plans of taking the grandkids camping have changed to a hotel outside of Cincinnatti with a water park.  Cost wise it is almost a wash with the price of diesel fuel pulling the camper.

On the water damage in the camper, the repair may be covered by our insurance.  We will see.

All take care and God bless

Jim

[phillyreading]

Good morning,

Brent, don't know what all you know about brake repairs so I will offer you a few words of advice, if you repair one side you must repair the other side to equal out brake stopping ability. Unless you just want to fix a car to sell, repair both sides equally, new rotors or calipers on both front brakes just an example. From experiance don't rebuild Toyota brake calipers or rear wheel brake cylinders, I did one time and within two weeks a blew a rear cylinder, always buy a factory rebuilt(any auto parts store that carries parts for a Toyota) brake caliper or cylinder for a Toyota!!

Weather getting a little hot this week, only 89 for a high today and an occasional shower.

Worked on the upstairs over the weekend, shaved down part of a door so it would close better, put up trim around the doorway, found drywall uneven so I had to sand it down a bit and replaster a little. Will sand it and paint it before putting up last piece of trim later this week if I get time. The upstairs is not finished, got walls up but need final work done like trim and plastering on corners, also trying to paint rooms all one color instead of two or three colors.

Need to check on item I sold thru ebay in a few minutes. Also going by hazmat to drop off a few items.

Not working today at job, and get paid next friday.

Lee F.

[ChiefEagles]

Morning.  Early trip to the Vet.  Burg's shots [month early] and check a ear thing.  Got meds for ear.   Got there early and parking lot was full.

Kurt, is the MPC GP7 the one with the can motors in the trucks?  If it is, easy to convert to command and sound.   

Shake and Bake, that is a special built-in thing that self destructs when you run Legacy engines with DCS remote.   I requested that to be fixed that way just for you.  They did that while it was there for repairs earlier.

Brent, glad the flush valve worked.  Wanted to do something special for you. 

Off to Mom's and get business done and get lady set up to "baby sit".  Later. 

[RockIsland52]

Good Morning all from Rainy Southern Ohio

Jim

This guy really wants to be a Southerner and not a Yank.    Speaking of Yanks, where is Jack?  MA, NH and on up is about as bad as it can get.    

WARNING......DO NOT GO ON VACATION AND NEGLECT TO READ THE POT FOR 10 DAYS OR YOU WILL HAVE TO SPEND 24 HOURS TRYING TO READ AND CATCH UP.

Took the whole fam damily (7) to Disneyworld, including 4 year old granddaughter.  Spectacular but grueling.  I must have walked 100 miles in the broiling sun and had to spend an hour each night in a hot tub to recover.....my feet felt like they were beaten with a hammer by each day's end.  Animal Kingdom alone is 9 miles if you walk the whole park.

Stopped by a local Florida post office.  Lee, Rich, and Steve must be very important people in Florida as their pictures were prominently posted on the wall.  Don't you guys smile when having your picture taken?

We hadn't been to Disney for about 16 years; the improvements and additions to the theme parks were stunning.  And they continue to expand!  The locals said business is flat due to the current fuel and economic state of affairs.

My wife and daughter are the world's greatest Internet bargain hunters.  We rented a relatively new, fully furnished 4 bedroom home in Clermont for about $1,000 for the week, about 20 minutes from the action: attached screened in gazebo covering the outdoor pool and hot tub; game room; 2 Jacuzzi's indoors.  Got two Hertz rentals, a Sable and an Accord for $234, unlimited mileage.  Spent way too much money anyway.  If you are a sports nut, the ESPN bar/restaurant on the Disney boardwalk is your ticket....the boys ate and downed a few brewskies while watching the Celtics two nights, disposing of the Pistons, while the girls went shopping (what else?).  Even the men's rooms have flat screens so you don't miss any of the action.

Chief, hope Pam is feeling better and your Mom hasn't gotten into a Texas Death Match with the new caretaker.  I was thinking of your upcoming birthday last night while watching a Just For Men hair coloring commercial.  Be sure to post pics as I'm certain we would all enjoy you as a blonde.  Somehow I can't picture the Eagles family with a Shar-Pei as I wasn't aware they were as good for hunting as a coon hound.  Just don't mistake Ming for a squirrel or you will be in a heap of trouble.

Brent, my prayers for Susan's recovery.  You wrote that you will be her caregiver, that the "honeydo" list will have to wait.  Let's see, SusieQ won't revel in ordering you, the indentured slave, to crank out a number of items???  I give you two days tops before she pulls out the whip and adds to the already impossibly long list of her projects for you.  Stay strong, brother.  The job stuff seems insignificant.  But sometime soon you will have to stop to smell the roses and celebrate the MS parchment, not an inconsequential accomplishment while working full time.

Jason, my prayers for your mom and her speedy recovery.  

Fife, sounds like your son's recovery will take longer than anticipated.  My college roommate's son had a spiral fracture that healed nicely.  The bad news is that he flipped a fence and broke the other arm 6 months later.  Department of Social Services began to wonder how one boy could do so much physical damage to himself.  Boys will be boys.  And thanks for thinking of me when painting your water tower....gotta love that Rock Island maroon.

Mitch and Laz.....what is this?  Is June National Mole Removal month?  You've got me rechecking all of those thingies on my body that the Doc chalked up to old age.

Don, my prayers for son Chris, regardless of his course of treatment.  A lack of patience is his worst enemy, but it's hard to get kids to realize that they are not invincible.

Mel, my prayers that your wife's surgery goes smoothly and she has a speedy recovery.

J&J, you're back!  You had better share with the rest of us how you got the wife to mow the lawn while you are recuperating.  As another wrote, I could lose both legs and my eyesight and my wife would NEVER mow the lawn.  If you notice a 7 series BMW sitting in the driveway, you will soon come to realize that hiring landscapers would have been cheaper than having the wife do it. 

Roy, somewhere back in time I must have missed the part where you felt compelled to keep the entire house renovation industry in Texas employed through these tough times.  What prompted this massive project?

Brutus.....I read where you attended the Boy Scouts Court of Honor.  Is that the venue where they dole out 100 lashes to that bully in the troop?  Go slow on the pizza with Chewey.  Carbon monoxide detectors don't detect that type of gas.

GregM, hang in there on the job front.  80% of jobs are found through referral.

RT, what's with your post about getting the house in order and no mention of your train room?  As another posted, the room will be commandeered by wife for another hobby, or she will insist it be used for storage for the next (fill in number) year(s) until you can find a place for all the stuff.  My wife would turn the room into a walk-in closet for all her junk.

MikeC, another parental milestone is passing, Lucas' graduation, and set plans for college.  Now the real fun starts where he's off at IU and you have a pretty good idea what's going on there.  Seems like kids are pretty naïve when it comes to what their parents know.  Like beer and women weren't invented until they were born.  And why were you trying to perform a vasectomy on yourself in the shower?  They've got doctors that will do that for you.

DougM, you're a year behind MikeC on the math disasters and 12 years behind me.  I'm sure you should consult us on what threats work best.  As stated in a previous post, my son had to repeat his entire freshman year in high school, got a 76% average the second time around, then averaged 95% for the balance of high school.  I used bribery and threats when threats alone didn't work.  We parents are a resourceful lot.

Kurt, did you really cut your fingers, or was that a ruse to get out of unloading your truck?  Pretty clever of you to get a neighbor to do it.

CSXect, just when you were beginning to get a taste of leisure, it's back to work.  Congratulations!  Somebody's got to fund Chief's SS checks.

What is it with all you guys?  There is a new invention called a Doctor.  Doctors get rich off of patients like us who wait until we are hauled into the hospital on a gurney.  If we had half a brain, we wouldn't infect the better halves so someone would be available to do the heavy lifting.

I have probably left out a bunch of you guys.  So remember....

WARNING......DO NOT GO ON VACATION AND NEGLECT TO READ THE POT FOR 10 DAYS OR YOU WILL HAVE TO SPEND 24 HOURS TRYING TO READ AND CATCH UP.

Jack

 

 

[SPMan]

Good morning from Southern California.  Cloudy and cool this AM.  Marine layer I think.  Big fire at Universal Studios Sunday.  Wiped out the King Kong exibit, New York Street, City Hall square and some v idio storage building.  Nothing lost as all have master back ups.  This morning I have just been checking out all the pictures of Santa Fe 3751 on her San Diego trip last Saturday.  Railpictures.net had quite a few.  Ray

[dbaker48]

Welcome Back Jack !! 

Glad you survived that trip, I know it is greuling.  We were there for a week, took the Amtrak from LA to Orlando, rented car, train back.  Was fantastic !!

[RockIsland52]

Don, I agree.  Disney is fantastic.  It is amazing how they move so many people around relatively quickly and easily.  Some rapid transit types ought to be required to spend a month at Disney to see how it's done.

16 years ago we got fried in the heat and humidity, standing on black asphalt.  This time it seemed to me that most of the waiting lines were either shaded and had fans or were indoors with fans and a/c.  So you didn't mind the waits.  AND, they added "FastPass" for the venues which enabled you to get a one hour reservation in advance to the rides and exhibits with a separate access to the front of the lines.  You then spend more time doing stuff rather than standing in lines and waiting. 

IN SHORT, YOU SEE MORE, DO MORE, (AND SPEND MORE $ on food and gift shops) IN LESS TIME AND IN GREATER COMFORT WITHOUT THE ELEMENTS TAKING THEIR TOLL ON YOU.  I was only 90% dead at the end of the days instead of 100%.

The one week $250 per person unlimited pass to all of the Disney parks may seem pricey at first glance.  But when you figure how many hours you spend at the numerous Disney parks over course of the week and with access to everything in those parks, it's really reasonable.  I bet we spent 65 hours in the Disney Parks over the course of the week, under $4 an hour per person.

Since the wife and daughter planned this out well in advance, our airfares were reasonable as well.  They used HOTWIRE for a lot of what they booked......car rentals, the house, etc.

Taking a train to FLA like you did would have been my first choice so we could see some of the country, plus unwind to and fro.  But the kids couldn't take the time off to train it.  We flew Southwest Airlines out of Manchester NH.  One airport that makes flying relatively painless.   

Jack