2009 Coffee Pot. Here we gather with friends with trains for chats, 4 years of coffee and sweet ice tea.

[anjdevil2]

 Fife - oh well......my brother in law is happy.

Then again, there is always my DEVILS!!!!!

 

[rtraincollector]

Hey Laz looks like a nice Superbowl might be coming your way Pitt VS Phil oh yeah man let the game begin lol I know Pitt still has to beat SD but man that would be a great match up

[SPMan]

Had a good operating session on the layout yesterday afternoon.  Ran trains for a couple of hours and listened to favorite music (Dixieland and traditional Jazz) while trains were running with sound systems turned off.  The music brought back memories of a dear friend who passed away a few months ago.  He and I used to frequent the Dixieland Jazz scene at a boat club in Norfolk, Virginia before we both moved to California in 1958.

My youngest son, an adult, had a bad fall last night outside the restaurant where we had dinner.  Chipped some of his front teeth , cut his lip and hurt his arm.  It happened in the restaurant parking lot which is poorly lit and some tire bumpers stick out too far from the cars.  When you walk between the cars to get to the restaurant you can trip on these if you don't watch it.  He had to go to ER last night because of pain in the arm.  X rays did not show a break but he has fluid on the elbow.  They want him to come back later.  We will have to get him to a dentist tomorrow morning to evaluate what needs to be done on the teeth.  I don't know if the restaurant is liable for any of this but if they offer a settlement, I think my son should take it. He has no dental insurance and that could be expensive.  I reported the accident to the manager of the restaurant this morning and they are suppose to call us back.  I'm not sue happy but that parking lot is dangerous and I have tripped myself in the same place.

Well, I hope we can do safer things tomorrow and get back to running trains.

 

Ray

[laz 57]

Hi GYZ,

  Watched the EAGLES (not FRANK) beat the GIANTS today pretty good game.  Now STILLERs are beating up the SANDY EGGOs.

FIFE could be a humdinger?

I posted my photos of the new layout I'm working on.  Got bench work done, sank Lionel Rotary Tipple in benchwork and have track and switches laid.  Going to try and get other pieces rigged up this week?

Stay Frosty,

laz57

 

[dougdagrump]

Should be a real barn burner next sunday, they just flat kicked the chargers tushie. Big Time.

[jefelectric]

dougdagrump

Should be a real barn burner next sunday, they just flat kicked the chargers tushie. Big Time.

 

You got that right!

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

It is cold and snowy in SE Indiana with temps in the 20.  Did not sleep well at all last night stewing about the trip on Monday.  Wife said to stay home and get some rest.   Good thing because deacon at Mass was very long-winded today.  All packed and ready to go now.  Did go to the Y today.  Did 100 reps on most machines.  Should sleep well tonight.  Lucas went back to school today.  Tranquility reigns in the household.  I had Captain Crunch cereal for breakfast on the dining car this morning.  Dennis, Happy Birthday!  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[dbaker48]

 Hey,

Big surprise from here, I actually got the exchange car photos posted today, and it isn't even midnight!!  Surprised myself.

Kinda interesting thing going on in the channel behind us;

Remember the picture of the rain, and the flow:

 

Well today, they cleaning it out.  And this just doesn't make sense.  Two guys with leaf blowers, blowing dirt.  Why not use a street sweeper, or maybe a bigger blower?

And then loading in a truck the big stuff...

 Oh yeah, it is a miserable 80 degree's here today, suppose to be that way most of the week.  (I sure miss winter, don't you Doug and Ray?)

 

 

[fifedog]

anjdevil - Ya know.  Joe Flacc-OOOooooo is a Joisey boy.  You may root him on now.

BTW- good luck with that life-altering hoodgie-bob thing you're teeterin' on...whatever it is.

[fifedog]

laz - Ravens came out of Nashville pretty banged up.  Steelers didnt even break a sweat against the Bolts.  Advantage = Pittsburgh (at this moment).  X-factor will be Joe Flacco.  Cam Cameron may have to open up the playbook, all or nothing style.

Oh, and loved how you "sunk" the rotary. 

-

[dwiemer]

Don, inefficiency is built into government projects....When we were in China, they had women with baskets on their backs.  These women were lined up, one next to the other and they were bent over, picking weeds from the median of the highway.  Herbicide would have been a lot easier, but then all the women would be out of a job.

Church tonight was good.  Brought 4 deacons into the fold and several folks joined.  Pastor had to jump on some of the youth who were talking during the service and texting.  He let them know that he had them video taped for both the morning and evening worship services and would have a chat with the parents.

Well, got an early case, so I will see y'all later.

Dennis

[sir james I]

Good Evening

Train show was thumbs down, 21 empty tables, felt like asking for a refund but I know they have to pay for the hall. there was no big wind last nite so the roads were in good shape today, they even did our street by noon. Bad news is more snow coming. then really cold.

Guess i'll just have some banilla and wait for  Brutus and the thingy. Talked to him on the phone this AM but had to leave so no world problems solved....TTFN...S.J.

[Brutus]

Howdy guys - well, with some advice from Sir James, I got my 1668E front shoe fixed and it runs pretty good.  Need to lube it up and that's about it.  Put away some stuff I still had out from Halloween.  Played videogames with my son, watched some tv, did some laundry, ran that train (no pileups!) and then we all went out to the Longhorn Steakhouse and spent some Christmas gift card.  It paid for the tip since the kids decided they should now order steaks too - wowzer!  Forgot about that GP7 on ebay and somebody zapped my bid fo $3, oh well - now I don't have to explain to the wife.

SPMAN - good luck on the restaurant and hope things get fixed up.

Men, we have chocolate chip cookies and some banilla is promised - on the way! 

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Good Evening (morning?) from Southern Ohio

On the last night shift for this week.  First half of the shift gone by pretty fast.  Busy enough to make time fly but not crazy.

Bride made Corned Beef, with cabbage turnips potatoes and carrots for supper, with tapioca for dessert.  Good Eats!!!!

 

The 751 log loader came in the mail Friday and it looks like a good candidate for a re-furb.  I’ve not tested it yet, I will try to do that Monday after I get a nap.  The 714 log dump car is ready to be reassembled.  I think I am going to use some epoxy and build up a small bead where I removed the flare holding the hinge pin in.  We shall see, if it works I’ll send it in to CTT tips!

 

Rich- Prayers for your intentions

 

Dennis – I hope you had a good birthday

 

Laz – Neat rotary tipple in SPF!!!

 

Don – I loved the narrative story with the pics in SPF

 

Aristotle said If you don’t want to be criticized, don’t say anything, don’t do anything don’t be anything.

 

May God bless

Jim

   

 

[ChiefEagles]

TVS installed.  Easy to do.  Since I had breaker box under layout, ran a #10 wire from TVS to equipment ground lug in box.  Ran trains while everyone slept.  Can't hear them as upstirs and on Soundstop too.  No pile ups as LAZ will say.  Now to bed.  Meeting all day tomorrow.    OH Don, had to give the illegal Mexicans something to do.  Good night.  God bless.  

[dbaker48]

 I think I burned up my available space on SPF, and thought I would share these pics of a friends train.  One of my favorite trains.

 

 

 

 

[jonadel]

What is it about fire trucks that just draws my eye to them?  Absolutely superior pics Don, thanks. 

A real winter storm is a brewin' here Doug, batten down the hatches, this one looks like the real deal    We laugh in the face of adversity in Iowa!  Unless it's another 500 year flood again and again..................

[anjdevil2]

Gotta love them Fire Trucks!!  (gee, I have no idea why, either!)

UP TO A BLISTERING 58 today.  Yeah yeah, porr me...cloudy and up to 24 by Friday...hope it snohizo here!

Test ran the Holiday tradition train last night and the musical car that went with it.  runs great and smoke really good as well.  the air whistle goes great an low voltages, so I am impressed!!! Lighted caboose and Santa Chasing the Reindeer also work well.  Need to test my "new" CW just to make such.  Have NO idea were to put my MTH Tunnel...yet.

Something for the Ohizo boys (I recieved this from a pal in Delaware):

Ohio Winter Poem  

It's winter in  Ohio 

And the gentle breezes blow 

Seventy miles an hour

 At twenty-five below.

 Oh, how I love  Ohio

 When the snow's up to your butt

 You take a breath of winter

 And your nose gets frozen shut.

 Yes, the weather here is wonderful

 So I guess I'll hang around

 I could never leave Ohio

 'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!!

See ya later!

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

It is clear (for now) in SE Indiana.  Leaving for Atlanta in a few hours.  Not sure when I will be posting this week, possibly no earlier than Wednesday night.  Did not sleep much last night.  Be glad when Wednesday night is here.  Had cereal for breakfast.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[ChiefEagles]

Morning all.  Chilly [scattered frost] and sunny.  Yankee cold on the way with another charge later in the week.   Must eat lots of GRITS and repell the Yankees.    Mike C, Lucas gone back to school and you did not get much sleep last night.  HUMMMM   Got to go.  Meetings all day.   Have a good one and keep it between the ditches [that was for the Yanks and their slick snow and ice roads]  .

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is a cold day. About an inch of snow.

My old laptop computer crashed last night.  I have to set up the e-mail on this one later. I lost a lot of nice pictures.

Dining car was here for breakfast.

Y'all have a great Monday.

Chuck

[cnw1995]

Morning all. Cold and grey here - supposed to get some good Iowan snow overnight I hear. Wore the wrong shoes this morn to walk to work in the frozen slop. Trying to help the middle boy study for finals this week (ugh)  Ray, hope your son is OK. Rich, praying for your decision, Kurt, sure wish I had RFD - the Indiana RR interurban really criss-crossed that state - all sorts of remnants left. Don, I hate your weather - just for you: it's 19 and snowing in Rockford.

[sir james I]

Good Morning,

Overcast and 20 degrees, maybe. TV news says we are already 13 inchs of  snow over average, oh joy. I think we should send it to the Chief after all he is a mayor and should know what to do with it. No putting it up there won't work. No big plans for the day, I still have some of CTT to read. Roger Carp said he did not like the NYC F3 but I always thought they had the look of an engine ready to go to work and get the job done. We all have an opinion of course. Enjoy the day I will wait for tonites snow to begin. Do they still have reefer cars? maybe we could ship a train load of snow to N.C...S.J.

[laz 57]

Hi GYZ,

  Cold one here this morning at 19 to drop real low by friday?  Ran trains and played with Tipple last nite all cool.  NO PILE UPs. 

  Thanks for the kind words on the tipple sunk into layout.  I have a dream of trying to make a conveyor belt to bring coal up from bottom of layout.  I have an old 397 conveyor that the motor is still good and want to try and rig it up just to make a long conveyor bet somewhere in about 18 inches just so it appears to be coming out of the ground.  Sorta like a mine shaft?

Stay frosty,

laz57

[kpolak]

laz 57

  Thanks for the kind words on the tipple sunk into layout.  I have a dream of trying to make a conveyor belt to bring coal up from bottom of layout.  I have an old 397 conveyor that the motor is still good and want to try and rig it up just to make a long conveyor bet somewhere in about 18 inches just so it appears to be coming out of the ground.  Sorta like a mine shaft? 

What about scratch building a coaling tower?  Then you can deliver the bulk coal, load it into the tower, and dispense it into the tenders.  A dream of mine as well.

Kurt

[phillyreading]

Good Morning,

Foggy and near 72 this morning, should get colder in a couple of days, by thursday.

Speaking of thursday, last week, my water heater blew out the bottom and tried to flood my back porch. There were two water heaters out there so I hooked up the electric one instead of the gas water heater. Had to bypass the pipes from one heater to the other. At first I could not get the joints to take solder as water was dripping inside the pipe, my neigbor who is a retired plumber said to use compression fittings, so I did. Got the electric heater hooked up, then the pressure releif valve would not close, took old releif valve from gas water heater and swapped it out. Also put a timer on the water heater to save money, 240 volt 40 amp timer on a 240 volt 30 amp circuit, electric water heater is an 80 gallon heater. Had to cut gas pipe to remove the old water heater, turned off the main gas valve before I cut the pipe off, then I removed part of the line and capped it.

Still have not gotten the old Sony TV set out of the house, $60.00 to remove is the cheapest I have found so far.

Lee F.

[cnw1995]

There are some interesting MR articles about this very thing. One I recall built the tower out of PVC pipe with a clever loading and dumping mechanism. I'm toying around with what might be possible with a Bachman / Plastiville tower. I want a sort of ramp too. In some British yards, they hoisted the entire coal truck up an elevator to dump into the tower at the top. In others, the cars were pushed up a ramp, unloaded into covered bins that then served tenders for engines on tracks on both sides of the covered ramp.

[laz 57]

DOUG, and KURT,

  Great ideas.  I gotta do some more thinking on this and tinkering around with the coal loader motor.   Just wish we all could get together and talk about this and other subjects on RR for a few hours.  Might be fun?

laz57

[dwiemer]

Good Early Afternoon Y'all!  Well, took quite a long time in finishing this morning's case.  Sometimes they just take awhile as everyone's anatomy is a little different.

Going home soon, have a parenting class at the church tonight.  Hope to get a little train time in, but it is doubtfull.  Some of the guys I used to work with sent me this article on a fire in NJ at a train station.  Rather sad as it was a nice station.  I will try to attach it here:

Fire destroys historic Hackensack train station

by Nyier Abdou/The Star-Ledger Saturday January 10, 2009, 3:15 PM


A three-alarm fire tore through the historic Anderson Street train station in Hackensack early this morning, destroying the local landmark and disrupting service on NJ Transit's Pascack Valley line.At least a dozen fire companies were called on to fight the blaze in the one-story wood structure, which is located close to the railroad tracks, said Capt. Ken Kalman of the Hackensack Fire Department. No one was there at the time of the fire, which broke out around 6 a.m., Kalman said.The fire spread to the three-story building next door, which has a tavern on the ground floor and apartments above, but fire fighters were able to save the building from serious damage, Kalman said. The residents were evacuated from the building, he said.Fire crews brought the fire under control by 9 a.m. No one was injured.Train service on the Pascack Valley line, which runs from Spring Valley to Hoboken, is suspended between the North Hackensack and Essex Street stations due to work at the site of the fire, said NJTransit spokeswoman Penny Bassett Hackett. Buses are shuttling train passengers between the stations. Service is running with about a 20-minute delay, Bassett Hackett said.The Anderson Street station, built in 1869 as one of the stations on the Erie Railroad, is listed on both the state and national registers of historic places. It was the second-oldest in the state system, Bassett Hackett said."It really is tragic," said local historian Albert Dib, who works for the city and also runs the community website hackensacknow.com. "It's really a huge loss, culturally and historically."Dib, who lives a few blocks away from the station, said something good could come of the incident if it helped draw attention to preserving local sites. "This is one of those situations that is going to get people thinking about historic preservation," Dib said.Mayor Michael Melfi said the loss was unfortunate at a time when the city is looking for ways to preserve historic sites. Even if NJ Transit replaces the station, "It obviously won't be historic anymore," Melfi said.

National Register of Historic Places listings in
Bergen County, New Jersey



A circa-1930 Ranulph Bye watercolor painting of the New Jersey & New York Railroad Anderson Street, Hackensack, NJ station. (E. S. Kaminski collection)

20 Anderson Street Station 01984-06-22 June 22, 1984 Anderson St.
40°53'39?N 74°2'40?W? / ?40.89417, -74.04444? (Anderson Street Station) Hackensack

Hope everyone has a blessed day,
dennis

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Morning (Afternoon?) all

Just woke up.  I came home and worked in the 751 Log Loader.  It works really neat.  No to start cleaning it up.  I had a scrap 751 I was parting out to contribute the house on top.  I may start stripping it soon.  I finished the 714 Log Unloader using J-B Weld to make a goober at the end of the hinge pin.  It sem to be working.

I am going to go to church and take down the outside NAtivity Set.  Today is going to be the best day this week.

May God bless

Jim