The pot of coffee is always on [even after 2 years have passed]. Come on in. Sweet ice tea too.

[Buckeye Riveter]

[?][?][?]

Are your trying to save some money to buy more trains? Here is a web site that will help you reduce your food costs this summer if you live in the right place.

urhome.umd.edu/newsdesk/pdf/cicada%20recipes.PDF [:D]

[spankybird]

Good Morning All,

T MINUS 6 HOURS TO DSL

After now three heavy storm systems in two days, we have plenty, maybe even to much rain. Some area got over 4” of rain in less than 12 hours and have some flooding.

Hope you all are safe.

Yesterday my wife and I went to the Station Restaurant for lunch. This is one of Buckeyes favorite places. This is a converted train station right on the CSX main line and the NS main line is just a couple hundred feet away.











tom

PS Shutterfly is down this morning – must have been the storm

[Jim Duda]

Tombo - Chiefie called me last night...you and/or any of you O27 masters might have to 'splain to him how to get his Williams Diesels to negotiate O27 curves. I thought Willams could handle 'em...??? I know mine can handle the high profile Lionel O22 switch housings and have no problem with O31 curves...is there that much of a difference?

Oh yeah, he also said the two ladies that stopped by his booth at the Fishing Show were too drunk to hold his 9' split bamboo fly rod so he couldn't demonstrate the art of fly casting too well...

JD

[spankybird]

DSL HAS ARRAVED

Once it loads up, its great. Scotty give me warp 9.9[:D]

So far it is running great.
tom

[daan]

Hey spankybird, congrats on your highspeed internet! [bow][bow]

[spankybird]

Good Morning All

We had another night of bad T-storms come thru. God has blessed us with still having a dry basement. The weatherman say we may get more today. I think he should get a new job. Some of the rivers are flooding and boat docks are breaking away with the boats. Damages are in the millions. I always said that boating is just a whole in the lake that you put money into. But I do feel sorry for their looses.

DSL is great. [:D] Maybe my wife will find the end of the internet yet [(-D]


tom

[ChiefEagles]

Hey Bums, I'm home from Hampton VA. Langley Air Show was this weekend. Saw a P38 and Mustang flying in close formation fly over BPS. Saw lots of tain tacks but no trains. Saw the biggest pile [should say piles] of coal I've ever seen at the ship yard. Send rain and God bless all.

[spankybird]

HI Chief,

We have area with 2” of standing water in the back yard. And would you believe more rain is on the way. Some areas of NE Ohio have got over 6” of rain since Friday afternoon.

Glad you are back safe.

tom

[Buckeye Riveter]

Chief, I don't get it. You were at an airshow with a fishing boat?

Spanky, Isn't the Station a great place and the food is very good. I still am hoping to meet you there for supper sometime this summer.

[spankybird]

Maybe it was a sea plane??? Who ever when fishing with a sea plane [?]

[Jim Duda]

That's why he fishes with a "fly" rod...

JD

[Buckeye Riveter]

Good one, Jim.

[ChiefEagles]

Wise guys. The planes were doing the air show at Langley and flew over BPS. Needed some excitement around that dead place. Slow time in the BPS this weekend. It was the last show of the year for me. I am kind of glad. Now lets work on trains.

[spankybird]

Good Morning all,

Not wanting to give up a habit, we had two more T-storms last night again. Hard to sleep when you keep having all that thunder. Just what we needed, more rain.

We might have a sunny day without rain today. I am glad that Chief knows how to do that fly fishing.

tom

[ChiefEagles]

Morning all. Retired again. The last BPS show for me this year. Now maybe I can get my chores and layout done. Tom, send me some rain. Rained in Hampton/Norfolk/Newport News area [actually stormed, caused by all tha thot air just outside of DC, right Dave? [:D]]. Rained north of Rolesville and south of Rolesville. 1 tenth here. Soaker hoses today. Have a good one and God bless.

[FJ and G]

This time I caught the rerun of the Travel Channel's "Most Expensive Toys" show; featured Northlanz. Nice but, of course, not enough time devoted to it, IMO. Can you believe, 9 miles of HO track.

Cost: $9 million; expects to keep building for 15 more years and spend millions more.

Travel Channel on Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST, will feature hi-speed rail. Every country has it except us. LOL! Acela is barely hi-speed.

-----------------------------------------------------

Most often, the most powerful guy calls the shots; but not all the time. I found this out last week, when the peon gained the upper hand.

I was awaiting my VRE train home at Alexandria station, while talking with several foamers who hang out there logging train numbers and car counts in notebooks (pretty boring logging all that stuff in if you ask me).

Anyway, about 4 or 5 of us were sitting on the motorized baggage cart. The baggage handler, an Amtrak employee, likes railfans and lets them take pictures and even gives us rides on the cart. In exchange, we sometimes give directions or help out the passengers in various ways. A very cool arrangement, I think you'd agree!

We were chatting about trains and up pulls a garbage train and stops. Two SD60s at the point, about 100 yards downwind from the station.

I don't know why new yawkers and massacchussettsanians don't dump their trash in their own states but they don't. They pay Virginia to dump it in theeirs.

Go figure!

But CSX is more than happy to haul it; as to them, garbage is treasures.

Well, this isn't the first garbage train thats stopped in Alexandria. Usually, they stop right in front of the station instead of downwind. The stench you can only imagine. I won't even try to describe it. When the train stops at the station, the passengers all flee indoors, it is so nasty.

Why do the trains stop at the station?

Well, the conductor is usually tasked with running inside to get cokes and junk food and these conductors are usually pretty beefy guys. I'd say 300 lbs on average. I don't know how they ever scale the ladders to the cab or walk a train to fix a busted knuckle.

Well, I said to the baggage handler; that is real peachy of him to stop the train downwind.

The baggage handler smiled and remarked: "I arranged it that way. Two days ago, the engineer stopped right in front of the station with a ripe smelling train. I walked over to him and politely asked him to move the train away from the station. You should have seen the dirty look he gave me.

"So, I went and called the dispatcher and told him the situation and you know what?

"The dispatcher made him move the train. Now, when the garbage train gets a red signal, he is no longer allowed to stop in front of the station. That fixed him," he concluded, smiling.

It is very rare when a peon scores a victory. But when it happens, it's sure sweet.

Dave Vergun

[Dr. John]

It's hot and muggy in lower Alabama (so what else is new?). Still waiting on some rain to come our way.

Had a nice but busy weekend. My oldest daughter's graduation was Sunday afternoon, plus a graduation party aferwards, all squeezed in between morning and evening church services.

I'm kinda glad it's Monday!

Y'all have a good day!

[ChiefEagles]

Dr. John, my pastor is retiring end of June [been here 30 years]. How about you coming up here to our church? Then we could play trains and fish. [:D] Soaker hoses were going in the garden this AM and watered Pam's flowers this PM. Big job. Need rain.

[Dr. John]

Depends, Chief . . . are the fish biting? [:D]

That's a tremendous accomplishment for a pastor to serve one church for 30 years! My hat's off to him! I've been in the ministry for 24 years now, 10 years in my current church. I don't know if they'll let me hang around that long, but they've sure been good to me and my family!

My wife and kids will be out of town next week, so it'll be quiet here for a few days. Just me and the two weiner dogs. 'Course the up side is that I should get some work done on the layout in the evenings! [;)]

I'll try to get some pictures of my progress sometimes next week and post them.

[ChiefEagles]

Morning gang. Still no rain. Off to build a garden for youngest. Have to fence it as deer in her back yard. Be glad when she moves in. That means cleaned out room. Ran the Williams SD90's double headed. Ran them through a lot of tests at various speeds. They did great. Hope all have a great day and God bless all.

[spankybird]

Good Morning all,

1st night in a week without rain. It was great to sleep without being woke up by thunder and lighting. But its not to last, more t-storms coming to day. Too bad we can’t sent some of it south to Chief.

DSL at home is great.

tom

[Buckeye Riveter]

Did you guys see this post:

QUOTE: Originally posted by bethani

do you kno who plays Atreyu in The Never Ending Story 2?? im 13 and think he is hot! i want sum pics so post back if you kno! [:D]

I'm sure glad Lehigh was able to decipher the code words, because I was beginning to think that I had been asleep for the last 50 years. We could post some pics of Chief and Jim, they are both complaining that it is hot all the time.

[ChiefEagles]

Now Buckeye, we do not want to start a rush of young groupies into Rolesville. Barney could not handle the traffic jam. [:D]

[spankybird]

Ha, but remember, Buckeye got that wild cat. He doesn't need Barney.

[FJ and G]

My dad is 84 and in a nursing home in Troy NY & mom lives in Gloversville NY. Going up there to visit on Father's Day. If there are any 3-rail fans in the area; let me know & I'll stop by for a short visit. I think that Brian(el) might be in that area but haven't heard from him on the forum for a while.

Dave Vergun

[FJ and G]

This is something to think about when negative people are doing their
best to rain on your parade. So remember this story the next time
someone who knows nothing and cares less makes your life miserable.

A woman was at her hairdresser's getting her hair styled for a trip to
Rome with her boyfriend She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who
responded, "Rome? Why would anyone want to go there? It's crowded and
dirty and full of Italians. You're crazy to go to Rome. So, how are you
getting there?"

"We're taking Continental," was the reply. "We got a great rate!"

"Continental?" exclaimed the hairdresser. "That's a terrible airline.
Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they're
always late. So, where are you staying in Rome?"

"We'll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome's Tiber River
called Teste."

"Don't go any further." I know that place. "Everybody thinks its gonna
be something special and exclusive, but it's really a dump, the worst
hotel in the city! The rooms are small, the service is surly and they're
overpriced. So, whatcha doing when you get there?"

"We're going to go to see the Vatican and we hope to see the Pope."

"That's rich," laughed the hairdresser. "You and a million other people
trying to see him. He'll look the size of an ant. Boy, good luck on this
lousy trip of yours. You're going to need it!"

A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser
asked her about her trip to Rome. "It was wonderful," explained the
woman, "not only were we on time in one of Continental's brand new
planes, but it was overbooked and they bumped us up to first class. The
food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward
who waited on me hand and foot. And the hotel was great! They'd just
finished a $5 million remodeling job and now it's a jewel, the finest
hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and
gave us their owner's suite at no extra charge!"

"Well," muttered the hairdresser, "That's all well and good, but I know
you didn't get to see the Pope."

"Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a
Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder and explained that the Pope likes
to meet some of the visitors. He asked if I'd be so kind as to step into
his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me. Sure
enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook
my hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me."

"Oh, really! What'd he say?"

He said, "Where'd you get the shi**y hairdo?"

---Dave Vergun

[spankybird]

Another great story Dave, I loved it.

tom

[ChiefEagles]

Garden for youngest done. Fenced with welded wire. 8X14 Why did God make red clay that is so hard it could be sawed up for bricks. Had to pick the hole to get the hand post hole digger going and then dive it sideways into a big hole to break the chunks of clay aloose so I could get them out. 6 post holes and wire nailed. Then had to dig 7 more post holes so plants would grow in the hard stuff. Filled holes back with mixture of fertilizer, lime and soil. Got them within three inches of the top. Poured in water. Sat and waited. 15 minutes later, still water. How did he get a perk for a septic tank [they are out in the boonies, think I glimpsed Buckeye's lion]. Had to fence as the deer come right out of the woods and across the open area to the back of the house. This old man is tired. It was 90 degrees and no shade nor breeze. [xx(]

[dougdagrump]

Chief, I usually rent a post hole augar, quick and so much easier.[banghead]

[daan]

Red clay is bad, grey clay is even worse. We have that at our back garden in Holland and the only way to get is away is with an aks. We build a stone wall past spring and because of the rain in winter those walls have to be fundated quite well. We had to dig a 3ft deep rin for 24ft long in that grey stuff. It's like set concrete.
So I know that you're tired Chief, take a cold beer and sante..[:P]