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

[ChiefEagles]

Morning Jon. Glad to see you here too. Think some of the OGR guys don't like it if you visit both but I don't care. Some great folks on both. Was showing wife your layout last night and telling Tom [Spankybird] about it on the phone. I told wife taht whe had to do the part your wife does on yours. Got no comment. That means she will help. I really think forums are great places to exchange knowledge and ideas. Just wi***here was less jealousy. The folks here and on OGR have really given me great ideas and help. Everyone, if you have not looked at Jon's layout, please do [he's also done a good job on his yard, not train yard [;)]].

[FJ and G]

Jon,

Nice seeing you again. Layout has really blossomed.

Liked esp. the long, wide road, the bridge with waterfalls and the smashed up cars on the truck. Did you use a sledgehammer?

Dave Vergun

[jonadel]

David,

That truck is a Corgi and I hadn't seen it anywhere before, I think it's pretty cool. The cab even leans forward to show a detailed engine.

Thanks for the comment about the waterfalls. I "borrowed" that project from CTT and really had fun with it. They did lie about one thing, you won't do that in an afternoon, I'll bet I have 20+ hours in that project (I know, I'm not the fastest) but I enjoyed every minute of that build and our visitors have really enjoyed it. I think we've surprised everyone a little simply because we are such rank amatures but it sure has been fun.

Jon

[Dr. John]

Good evening, folks!

We're having Vacation Bible School at our church this week - over 300 kids in attendance from 4 years through the 5th grade. A lot of fun, but very tiring. They do a lot of games, crafts, Bible stories, songs, food, etc., for 3 hours a day for 5 days.

Different publishers provide some varied and fun themes each year. We've done underwater themes, western themes, outer space themes, jungle themes, etc. I've always wondered why no one has done (to my knowledge) a train theme. I may write a couple of publishers and suggest it - I'd certainly would like to use a VBS train theme for our church. We're doing an oriental theme this year, which is something new. We even built a full-size operating rickshaw!

No time to work on the railroad this week! Between VBS, my daughter's 18th birthday and performing a wedding this coming Saturday, my plate's pretty full!

[dougdagrump]

Loved the layout Jon, who thought of the hot air balloons, we see them most every evening during the summer around here.

[ChiefEagles]

Hey "Leftbanker". Hope all is well out there. Just got in from my Town Board meeting [Mayor Pro-tem]. They are usually long. Hope you are not having fires. Well, I have 97 Chevy Silverado Ext Cab with only 60K. Alternator went out last week [no big deal for me except cost about the same as a train]. This AM the 7 year 950 CCA battery went out. It was under free replacement warranty still. Problem was I had errands to run and it would not crank with out a jump. Went by battery co. and they put in new one [free] but messed up my time schedule and the day. If I was not retired, I'd go trade for a Suburban. ::

[dougdagrump]

Hi Chief, After last October's fires there isn't to awful much left around here to burn, but that doesn't mean it couldn't happen. There is still a lot of hate and discontent as a result of the fires, seems like some of the insurance companies have been trying to minimize some of their losses by playing games with the policy holders. We lived out of the trunk of our car in the garage for a few days, ready to evacuate, fortunately the fire was stopped at the top of the ridge but the wife wasn't quite ready to unpack rite away.
With the cost of gas out here the payment for a Suburban would probably be less than the monthly gas bill to drive it. Being retired really has it's benefits !!!!!![(-D]

[ChiefEagles]

Morning gang. Hope all are will. No special plans for today. May put together my John Deere windmill. Probably build my fast acting circuit breaker box for DCS. Might get some more rain????? All have a great day and God bless all.

[daan]

Loved the layout photo's Jon, you even added hot air balloons and planes. It's nice!
In Holland Temperature rising to 31 degrees celcius today with a high humidity.. Got to go to work this afternoon.. I think I'll do some work in the freezing store[:D] Have a good day all.

[spankybird]

Good Morning All,

We are running a little late this morning, just plain over slept. This a great Blue Clear Sky day in NE Ohio, Temp is already at 73 and going up to 90 without any rain today. Good day for the A/C.

Be careful of the fires out west, don’t need that kind of BBQ. Chief, keep the truck on the road running so you can pay for your new trains.

All have a great day

tom

[FJ and G]

Hi gang,

Going to upstate NY to visit folks this coming weekend (Friday-Tuesday). Dad is 84, mom 75, and I don't know how much longer they will live so I will attempt to try to see them more often.

I've got one train article in my magazine (The Military Engineer) this issue; about the ports of Indiana seeking to build an intermodal terminal. It took nearly 50 years for intermodal to really catch on and every year, more and more trucks are hitting the rails instead of the roads.

It remains to be seen what impact Mexican trucks will have on our "NAFTA rail" once Congress approves their entry later this summer. And, it's a sure bet that they will be allowed in.

dav

[jonadel]

Good Morning everyone,

Thanks for the comments about the progression of the layout, it's been fun. The hot air balloons were the just the result of day dreaming. Every August there is a major hot air balloon get together about 30 miles from here and they are just beautifull. This spring we made a trip to their museum and bought lapel pin's, removed the backs and shoved them into the wall. I also downloaded pic's from the internet, cut them out and just stuck them on the wall (I'm cheap) and then added the blimp & airplanes. It seems like one thing just leads to another with us.

Our major push now is the east room that needs to be detailed. On Sunday afternoon we probably spent 3 hours looking through old magazines and browsing the internet trying to figure out what we are going to do with those paneled walls. I think we will try to do that next before we hit the table. We tend to do things the hard way (backwards) since this is our first layout but we've learned.

Jon

[Buckeye Riveter]

What a great day! [:D][:D][:D] I'm still alive..........
Oh, I forgot to mention the kidney stone problem. Well, this morning I headed over to one of our major medical centers and was sedated and they performed a lipotripsy on my kidney. A lipotripsy is where they use sound waves to bust up the stone. This was my third time and hopefully the last time for this stone. Did you know that spinich is one of the foods that can give you stones?

[spankybird]

Hi Buckeye, sorry to hear about the stones. If you can't eat spinich, How about drinking Beer on this warm day[?]

Hope you are feeling better.
tom

[Buckeye Riveter]

Can't drink beer anymore either. [:(] Spent my beer money on trains. [:D]

[ChiefEagles]

Buckeye, did not know spinish would give you stones. I eat it raw in salads. Have you got a burise or two [buddy has that done and leaves bruises. Now you know how it feels to have a baby [so they say]. I've been lucky to not have stones. Tan't good. [:(]

[Anonymous]

Chief,
Thanks for the info on upgrading my conventional Lionel F3's to command control. I found http:/tastudios.com will upgrade my F3 ABA set full TMCC spec's for $213.00 in parts and $40.00 install. If you go with the units TETHER'D its a bit cheaper $183.00.
I have several units to convert. They told me to have the one set installed by them and then I should be able to copy what they did to upgrade the rest of my units.
tks again...
LIONELAL

[spankybird]

Hey Cheif, when did you get your 3 stars[?] Good Going [:D]

[ChiefEagles]

Last week. [:D]

[daan]

Good morning all,
It sounds early in the morning, but it's half past 10 at my place.. Yesterday I really had to help the garden stay alive in the heat, but today it's not that humid anymore and temperatures stay normal.
Hope everyone's okay and have a good day!

[ChiefEagles]

Morning gang. Dann, have not had to water the garden in over a week. We are finally getting rains [the Texians and Ohio Yankees were trying to hold it all]. Not much to do today. But I will always have something that needs doing. Build the breaker box for the DCS TIU and start working on cleaning out the room. Dr. John must really be busy with VBS and etc. He has not even checked in. Hope Buckeye is doing better [kidney stones]. All have a great day and God bless all.

[Buckeye Riveter]

Made it through the night without a trip to the emergency room as has happened in the past. A little sore this morning but off to work. They can call 9-1-1 just as good as anyone else.

As a side note, I installed my own TASTUDIOS unit. It is not too hard, just read the instuctions two or three times to understand what wire makes what work.

[spankybird]

Good Morning All,

It’s going to be a hot day in NE Ohio. Temp at 6:00am is 76 and going over 90 deg with a big chance of T-storms. That comes with the heat and Lake Eire.

Chief, you better knock off feeding Buckeye those big breakfast. Your making him sick. Jim’s wife must have caught him helping the lady next door, he hasn’t been post much lately.

tom

[ChiefEagles]

Tom, you are right. The OLD MAN has not been around lately. Guess I'll have to call and see if she gave him black eyes. Now in the summer, he plays airplanes and not trains.

[FJ and G]

Hot and humid here in the capital city of the USA. Friday, expecting the VRE to be crowded with people attending Reagan's funeral. I've got a picture of myself, Reagan & Powell & their wives at his library in Simi Valley back when I was in the Marines.

dav

[Anonymous]

Looks like a bunch of hot air on the OGR forum as well.

[Anonymous]

Buckeye Riveter, maybe I'll try installing the TASTUDIOS unit myself then. At least a DUMMY board in the F3-A unit. If it's turns out ok, the RAILSOUNDS 4.0 in the Dummy F3-B unit.
Thanks for the info...
LIONELAL

[Buckeye Riveter]

Lionel Al, If you have any trouble with your installation, call Phil at TAS. Again, just read and re-read the instructions. Take time matching the drawings in the instructions to the actual board. I had never done anything like this before and it worked the first time on the track.

[ChiefEagles]

Morning all. You all drink coffee at your W--K [bad 4 letter word]. I'm going back to bed for a snooze. Got my first MTH NS SD90 with PS2 yesterday. Now I can hook up my DCS and test it on the test track. Will give me time to learn the system before I hit the big time layout. Now if my truck will coooperate, I'll get something done I have planned. Think it is jealous. Alternator, battery next [full warranty] and then waterpump yesterday. All in two weeks. More showers due today. Have a good one and God bless all.

[spankybird]

Good Morning All,

Well we are at the W**K place and we are having our coffee, so Chief, enjoy or cat knap. We had heavy rain last night and more coming today. So is live in NE Ohio. Temp is 74 at 6:00am and a high of 71???. What is the weatherman thinking?

Chief have fun on the Short Line with DCS. You will love it.

All have a safe day.

tom