Good evening all,
It was a cloudy but warmer day in SE Indiana with temps in the 20s. Miss a day and a half here, miss a lot. First of all, Brutus, the beacon is lit and the zucchini bread is ready. Got some cold O'Douls for the designated driver (courtesy of the "saucy wench"). Been busy the last day or so. Went to the YMCA last night and this morning. Saw one of "my" soccer girls both times. Did housework today. Watched "Numb3rs" last night. Very good show. We went to a concert tonight at Westport. Local lady who went to school a couple of years with Lucas has a bluegrass band. They did a two hour show and we bought two CDs. Her name is Olivia Smiley and if there are any bluegrass fans on the pot, you might want to google her. It was a nice evening.
Roy, I have been in some cold weather during some soccer games and even during snow. My Norwegian soccer friends put it best, "There is no bad weather, only bad clothing." Most extreme weather was one when the younger daughter had a high school. It was pouring buckets and the only two people outside during the game were the athletic director and me. We had big beach umbrellas and were commenting on the "lovely" weather. Rachel came over to me and asked why I was not in the car. I said if she was outside playing, I would be outside watching. Soccer, you have to love it!
Watched Bob's Train Box and got caught up on all the "issues". Really looking forward to the new Lionel MTH Tinplate catalog. Be interesting to see what they make.
I had bran muffins on the dining car for breakfast. I hope everyone has a good day.
Keep on training,
Mike C. from Indiana
The roads are snow covered here. It took about twice as long to get home from work. I accidentally neutral dropped the Sunfire when I pulled out from a stop sign, and I hope I didn't do any damage.
Patrick,
You'll find that this is a great group.
Marty,
I finally made it out to the Iron Horse on December 10. That was the first time in four years. Tom waited on me, but he didn't seem up for conversation though. The store really seems different now. I ended up there by accident, as I got lost on the way to South Hills Village. I put about 45 miles on the Sunfire just trying to find my way in the South Hills area.
Hey everyone !
Havn't posted in a few days, and I AM SURE ALL OF YOU HAVE MISSED MY PEARLS OF WISDOM !
Been busy at work trying to earn some tax contribution money. And of course we have a very busy weekend going on. I did 2 shows today one from 6 to 11, the other from 10 to 5, then back at it tomorrow. Oh the benefits of trying to do your own business !!
Kay was at Costco the night before last, (similiar to Sam's club), and picked up a DVD for me. Looks like Im going to become more "cosomopolitan". The got a DVD titled British Steam, Rare Archive Footage, the video is a full hour and 50 minutes. COST: $1.30
Have spent most of the evenings this week in the train room. Working on defining highways/roadways through out. Trying to get things to make SOME sense. When I did the initial design the priorities were a. being able to run 72" engines,b. having 2 "Main" lines, to accomodate 2, 72" engines at the same time, c. able to reverse directions both ways, d., maximize switching opportunities, and finally being able to reach everything without using "pop ups" or "duck unders". So as a result, all scenery and buildings have what tremaining space is available. Resulting in a true "Unplanned Community"! Then today had some dead time and was reading an article in one of the train magazines about using HElIX's. And now the ideas are forming, to redesign the layout. What a quandry that creates !!! Rebuild everything or at least get the current one down just a little more first.
One of the biggest problems I have working on the layout is, I always find a reason to move an engine or some cars. Of course that means powering up the layout, and soon as I do that, then a good hour is spent just running the trains, and NO work gets done.
I've gone back 4 pages on the pot and was going to get all caught up, with comments. But just to tired, falling asleep at the keyboard.
Just a "few" interium things;
Welcome to PATRICK ! I think you would be considered a Sutherner? right? If so thats OK. The Chief needs the help!
John - Really enjoyed the video! When are you going to do one with your wireless camera? I need to learn how to put them on You Tube!
Ray - That's really unfortunate about the Fullerton Railfest Days! We look forward to it every year. I'm not sure if it would be of interest to you, but there is a small memorabilla show coming up on Feb 8. It is located in Buena Park, across the street from Knots. I have found it very enjoyable, usually end up picking up DVD and some modeling stuff real cheap!
Dennis - GLAD your finally getting some relief !!!! Do you ever need it !!!!
Doug M - Heard on the radio today Northern Central Illinois had a -32 Today! I can remember a -20 or so, but never -32. That's getting dangerous! BTW, I think our heat wave broke here, It only got up to 78 today! AND, there is a Threat of Possible rain later this week.
Heard one of the affects of the upcoming Inaugral Event, is that there are over 15,000 Porta A Potties relocated in the area, Nothing available elsewhere, East of the Mississippi ! So would probably be a good idea if all you guys went on a GRITS Diet for the next few days.
Lots more I want to comment about, but will have to wait, too tired now. Looking forward to SPF. Later !!
Don
Snow has stopped......Thank God..another 6" at least here...I'm with SJ enough snow already....and I like the stuff.
SJ and Kurt- See you at the show, I'll be there from 10-3.
Charlie a.k.a. MichiganRailRoad714 (Charter Member TTC)
morning all!
I finished blowing the snow off our, and neighbor drives, and it started snowing again as i was putting things away...Thought I was ahead of the game by gettin git done before the sun went down. DOH.
Made some scenery progress on another area. Attempting a standing water area. Spent some time painting ground, mud, and spreading sand and gravel. Boy this stuff is relaxing. I understand why people take up painting. The scenery stuff is very forgiving, and takes awhile to dry, so you can get a small area started, and revisit to review throught the day and make changs. I'm trying to keep photos of the process. Watch for them next Sunday.
SJ, Charlie: See you at the show! We'll leave right after Church this am, should be there about 11:30am, camera in hand.
Kurt
Good Morning from slippery Southern Ohio
Black ice coming to work this morning. I did not notice temp change until too late. I spun out and got the front and rear bumper into a guardrail. I’ll probably wait till spring to have it fixed. Grandkids stayed over again last night. We had a lot of fun when I got home from work.
Patrick – Welcome to the pot.
Rich – Gotta love fixing up the AF’s
Don – glad to see your post, I went back and re-read your earlier posts to maintain my IQ as it seems to slip away fast these days
Wes – posted pics of your hopper on the SPF. I’ll be sure and clean out the bird droppings before I mail it to Rich.
May God bless
Jim
HI GYZ,
22 and about 2 inches o snow here this morning. Worked on coal layout last nite for about 3 hrs. Didn't run trains at all. I didn't want to do what DON( SHAKE & BAKE) does. Thats start working then check something with an engine then keep running the trains. I fall off of that wagon too DON. Was working on layout and watching BARRETT JACKSON at same time. Anytime something caught my interest stopped work and watched. Saw that the BATMOBILE, a'66 chevy went for $150k! And one of my favorites a '70 SuperBIRD went for over 500k! WOW, these people do have money to burn? And they say us train nerds are wacked?
FIFE, Big Game today!!!! I gotta side with DA STILLERS, and EAGLES(not FRANK). I would like to see aPA SB.
Stay FROSTY,
laz57
Good Morning
Trains will be part of my day as this is show day. I hope Charlie,Kurt and I can meet for a photo. Now I will say Kurt, Charlie and I so as both have a first billing. Just finished clearing the walks again and it's 19 degrees,cold but sure beats what we had last week by a long shot. No minus numbers in this weeks forecast. S.J.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
Mornin' FellasFirst off - Patrick. I would like to second, third, or forth that request for layout palace pics! Jon is right about the TCA, Fife, Mitch, Jon, Laz, Texas Bill and I are the regulars now from the CTT Boards at York, we've had the pleasure of meeting Don 'Shake N Bake' Baker, Buckeye, Wes, and Chief (not at York) from the boards there. Great time if you can make it!I've been busy in the train room this week. I started construction on another cliff, constructed the second of two timber frame trestle bridges, removed a section of sub-roadbed for the curved trestle bridge, and cleared off the third level so I can start planning the mountain-top coal mine area and trackage. The most important improvement was moving the light switches out of the train room into the main basement area. The switches were partially blocked by the layout this made it difficult to turn the lights on and off. Total project time to move three switches - 1 hour! No electrocutions either! No updates on the Susie-Q job front. Her company did receive a large order and check but they haven't restored salaries or hours! They seem to be waiting for the outcome of 3 events over the next two weeks. Hopefully either she'll have a new job, or the current job will smooth out by the end of Feb. She has said she'll continue to search if these two potential jobs don't pan out. She needs something more stable.
Mornin' boys. 29 and SNOHIZO apparently up in the sky, just not makin' it to terra-firma. Best part of the SWEET 16 bash, was the last dance with my "Kitty" to Baby I'm Amazed by You...4 PAWS UP!
laz - It's ALI vs FRAZIER tonight. My keys to a RAVENS victory : 1)Offensive line better find a way to keep MR HARRISON off the rookie; 2) Deffensive secondary better account for MR WARD in the middle of the 4th quarter.
dbaker - Why not build the city over and about the railroad. Instead of mountain passes, you'll use buildings and structures as view blocks...and think of the money/time you'll save on trees.
mitchie - Glad to read things are slowin' down for you...
Lucky page 13, eh? We'll see....
Good morning! Made some scrambled eggs with some bits of salami and some american cheese. Daughter made toast. Son supervised. Now I'm watching Fringe on hulu and doing the rounds while kids watch some horrible cartoon - super lame. Not like Hong Kong Fuey or Wacky Racers or Fury or Flash Gordon reruns we used to watch
Drywall project day. Also, wife wants a new light over the entertainment center. We'll see. Need to run trains.
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
Good Morning from Blueberryhill....
It is a snowy 30 degrees. Dropping to 22 degrees today. We will have snow flurries all day. Looks beautiful outside.
Today is an easy day. There are two football games today. And I will run trains for awhile this afternoon. Nice dinner is planned. Feels good to relax.
Dining car was here and then headed to " Points West". Had the usual for breakfast.
Y'all have a great Sunday.
Chuck
Good Morning All, or should I say you all:
dbaker48 - Thanks for the welcome. I do consider myself to be a Southerner, although I was transplanted here from Iowa 52 years ago. So GRITS sound great to me!
I am glad to hear I am not the only one who starts out to work on the layout and winds up running trains. Sounds like my afternoon yesterday. I was running two trains on two separate loops, each with its own DCS remote, when error messages started appearing on both remotes. Such messages as To far from the TIU (2'?), Cannot locate engine, Engine not on track, Etc. And the bell, horn, smoke buttons wouldn't work. Finally had to clear the memory from both remotes and reload the information. That worked. Reminded me of my computer - they have a mind of their own at times.
Watched RFD-TV last night - Crook and Chase, The Marty Stuart Show, Midwest Country, Classic Country Hour. Sure am glad we have Satellite, to much Inaugural coverage, I guess because we are only 45 miles from Wash. DC.
Any other train people out there that are farmers? Would love to hear from you. We would then have two interests in common.
How about NASCAR fans? RFD-TV fans? Country music Fans? Run an Internet business?
15 degrees this AM and the tractor wouldn't start. Had to take the space heater from the shop and put it under the blanket over the tractor. That worked after 20 min. The cows were happy to here the tractor start up, they knew hay was coming.
dwiemer, cnw1995, sir james 1, Jim, jimtrumpie, anjdevil2, lionroar88 - Thanks for the Welcome. I promise to post some pictures in the near future.
jefelectric - I got your email, thanks. I will answer it soon.
Catch you all later.
Patrick L
RFD-TV --- Rural America's most important network!
Patrick - NASCAR fan here. You may be getting interferance from the metal in your building.
fifedog - A NASCAR fan. Great! Lets see if I can get something started here by saying Kyle Bush is the most exciting driver to watch. Any comments from Dale Jr. fans? What will happen to Tony Stewart this year? Will Jimmy Johnson make it four in a row?As to DCS interference from the metal in my train building, I don't know. It is a wood frame building with vinyl siding. Good thought though.Patrick L
Gotta go with the local boy,
#48, J. J. !
Kinda quiet this morning, notice it gets that way when Chief and Buckeye are out of town.
Picked-up some NIB Atlas 6bay hoppers at a very good price, they are nice.
need to refill the mug........
Remember the Veterans. Past, present and future.
www.sd3r.org
Proud New Member Of The NRA
Hey, just cleaned the train room finished the (my)laundry and vacuumed. Need to get my coffee, watching the >ugh< Rangers and >ugh<Penguins, Pens just scored, hope the Rangers (rags) loose. Devils beat Islanders last night and the Blue Jackets (sorry Buckeye) the night before. Hope to get more time in the train room, need to download somemore pictures and get some on SPF.
Check ya later!
Rich
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
Lawson - Yes, "Shrub" is certainly an aggressive wheelman, and certainly as polarizing as Hillary at the racetrack. Neither Busch-brat has been a positive image though. The 48 team will be hard to beat right out of the box, due to the ban on testing. I will be rooting for SMOKE in his new venture, and personally think the Old Spice paint scheme is one of the best looking for '09. Still, will be a different look at the track, with my 43 changing hands, TEXACO gone, and Bobby in the 96 (what's up with that...)
Afternoon all. Back from church - served on camera all morn - now have a few hours - before going back to hear more vision-casting from our pastor - bride is making chili to take though (yum!) 'Course he scheduled this for three weeks straight right in the middle of the NFL playoffs. Sigh. Sunny here and 18 - feels so warm - really! Roy, it's funny how the body gets used to temps - if it was 38 here, it would feel so so so warm. Don, I am so jealous of that British train DVD - they are hard to find here ! Brutus, those are great cartoons - I ran across Wacky Racers the other day on some channel called Boom or KaBoom. I just know Junior is going to have a gr88t year!
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
fifedog - Thanks for the come back. For me, aggressive driving is what makes racing, well racing. Like Dale Sr. in the old # 3 a few years back. In my mind the M & M boy would have won the championship last year if it wasn't for bad luck in the first 3 races of the Chase. He will give the # 48 a good run again this year. As to the # 43, I dont have an inkling what is going on.
Smoke will do just fine, both as an owner and a driver.
How about Joey Logano in the # 20 and Denny Hamlin in the # 11? Joe Gibbs has been impressive both with the Redskins and NASCAR.
cnw1995 - I agree, Junior is overdue. Didn't do to badly last year, made the Chase at least. More than Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman can say.
Better put somthing in here about the forum, so what are the bars under our names on the Posts for?
Until next time-----
Lawson - Check out www.jayski.com for your daily NASCAR fix.
cnw1995 - I've been a Jr fan sine '97, and like the look of the Mountain Dew car. He's my pick to win the 500.
Howdy, Kurt didn't make it, sorry to have missed him, had a part for him. Afraid to mail it might get destroyed. We lost a part from his GG1 and I can't find it so I bought him a new one and was going to give it to him today. But he had some open road to travel and said things were real bad. Our local roads were wet but very good considering the snow we had yesterday. The show was crowded with all scales present. I spent $7.50, two plastic coal loads for 027 hoppers and a Flyer conversion coupler for my Royal Blue. I forgot to mention the coupler on another forum, all well no big deal. S.J.
Nascar......Tony Stewart is driving a Chevy this year. He is happy about it. I think he will do well. Jr. is due for some big wins. J.J. has his work cut out for him. But, he is a very good driver.
Afternoon all!
Watching the ballgame, and home made pizza!
Sorry couldn't make out to see Sir James and Charlie...I got on M-14 and it was all ice, all the other roads were just wet. I saw 6-7 cars stuck in the medians and roadsides with people still in them...that was enough for me...Turned around and went home.
I guess I'll need to wait for the Feb 16 show here for more scenery material.
Better put something in here about the forum, so what are the bars under our names on the Posts for?
Patrick L: The bars indicate a members ranking according to number of posts. Place the cursor over the bars of a member with some green bars and you will see their ranking.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
kpolakSorry couldn't make out to see Sir James and Charlie
Always better safe than sorry!!!! Was a good show..but there will be more
Well, no more worries about an all PA superbowl. Now, to see if PA is represented at all.
My preference is for the Steelers for sure.
Well Pitt is out for a great start but still anything can happen but I'm also for Pitt sorry Fifedog
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Back from church - we were disappointed there weren't more folks there to listen to a good vision about the future of our church.. Right when I was thinking 'what am I doing here', the pastor's wife came up to ask if she could sit with us - she is super-shy and doesn't know many folks yet - so I was glad to be there if only to give her some people to sit with... getting ready for work tomorrow. Putting the youngest to bed, cleaning up the kitchen, etc. Hope to make it to the basement to run a train or two before running out of energy. ;)
Back from the lake house early [came back at 3:00 PM]. Furnace guy was suppose to come yesterday and service the furnace [gas pack] as it had acted up once while we were there. Called and begged off late yesterday and came this AM [messed up our early breakfast buffet and Church we were going to visit]. He broke it and did not have a replacement part. We came home. Is not suppose to go below freezing tonight so no danger there. Do have to drive back tomorrow afternoon for him and miss free steak dinner [Mayor's Assoc.].
Welcome To PATRICK. Glad to have a REB to help fight those Yankees.
Off to bed and rest. Good night all.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
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