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

[tschmidt]

Good evening all,

We had some rain go through here tonight and the humidity finally dropped a little. They say that the high here will only be about 70 by Thursday. I am glad that the temps are falling. The school has been really hot and the kids are not doing well.

The one thing about this weather is that the fireflies are out in force and it's a pretty cool to see hundreds of them out at night. Makes me think of being a kid again.

Have a good evening.
Tom

[ChiefEagles]

tschmidt, humidity was horriable today. Going to be worse tomorrow. Got wet picking squash [lots of them] after 5 PM. Going to be worse tomorrow. Been watching old "I Love Lucy" shows on DVD. My wife is Lucy. Exactly like her. Time for a bag of micro wave popcorn and then off to bed. Good night all. Trivia: Who use to end his TV show telling his son good night and to say his prayers?

[Jumijo]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dougdagrump

Chief, Don't let them give you to much grief about still being on the floor. You can always look at it as just giving you that much more room to fill with smoke. [swg]
Doug M., I seem to remember from another forum reading that one of the battery powered sets from K-Line had an Easter Egg hidden in it's program. If the buttons are pushed in a particular sequence it played Christmas music. I'll check and see if I still have that info, I had saved it and e-mailed it to my neighbor after they bought one for their son. [8D]

I remember reading the same thing. Was it in the issue of CTT that featured low-priced locos?

Jim

[spankybird]

Good Morning from NE Ohio

where the temp at 6:00am is 78 deg with Blue Clear Skys
kinda if you don’t mind all the hazes. Big T-Storms on the way so says the weatherman.

It’s been so hot, I think my trains are starting to melt, I think you can see right thru them.


all be safe
tom

[Dr. John]

Tom - that Trolley looks like its moving at about 100 mph! Bet the driver left a lot of his passengers in a big pile at the back. [:D]

Yeah, humidity and heat are tough here in central Alabama. Highs in the 90s again today - PTL for air conditioning! [8D]

[cnw1995]

Thanks anyway, Dougagrump. With your clues, I found it on the OGR site - if I push all the buttons together on the remote - it should play Christmas music - I'll have to try it tomorrow night - working late tonight. Much cooler here - pleasant - an open-the-windows kind of day, except here at work where they are painted shut.

Anyone anticipating a train-related gift for Father's Day?

[ChiefEagles]

Morning gang. Super humid here today but better than piles of snow so folks get. [;)] Tom, the engine must have been going in reverse to catch the light beam while the trolly was going forward. Getting pretty good with the camera. Getting lots of squash and some cucks. Now if those green tomatoes would start turning. Going to take "Miss Edna" some squa***oday. Show her the lit and smoking Dash 8 dummy [I bought the thing from her] I've fixed. Out to trim shrubs. Have a good one and God bless all.

[FJ and G]

Tom,

Of late, the photo quality has definitely improved.

More grilling tonight. A turkey basted first in Italian dressing.

[ben10ben]

Morning folks,
I'm leaving for France a litle bit later this afternoon on a trip with my French class at school. I probably won't be able to post for a few days, but have been told that we will have a chance to stop at an internet cafe once or twice during the trip. Our original trip included an overnight ride on a train, however that won't be happening now. We may ride a train from Nice to Monaco, though, so all is not lost [:)]

[spankybird]

Here is a close up of the trolley. You can see the car thru it.

I don't understand the headlight. The train was going forward at the time.

[laz 57]

GOOD AFTERNOON GIZ,
Just got done with some of the mulch. Got 7 scoops Payloader scoops of the stuff. My wife and I spent 3 hrs this morn doing it. Nice breeze but hot and humid.
TOM maybe a little shakey on the camera. Getting older ah[;)]?
CHIEF I took the sleeve off the smoke element last night and SD80 is a smokin up a storm. Looks like one of thoses smoker parties in college days.
Stay cool, got ta git more mulchin done.
laz57

[wrmcclellan]

Ben - have a great time in France! Wonderful place and wonderful people.

Not so hot today, headed for 92. The rest of the front blew through here last night with tons of noise and no more than 1/10th inch of rain as it was moving so fast.

Saw the great progress on Daan's LAYOUT (hint hint Chief) [:-^][swg]

I get to go to Scout camp at 7:30 am Fathers day!

Have a great day all!
Roy

[Roger Bielen]

Took the grand daughters to Chattanooga this weekend. One of our activities was the Tenn. Valley RR Museum and train ride. Can't get over how enthusiastic the girls were about the museum and ride. When they heard the whistle they were the first in line to board, I had to hold them back so others could get off.

Here's a few photos. The proto for Spankybirds photo from the Choo Choo Hotel and the TVRR Berkshire.

[wrmcclellan]

Hey Roger,

We will be in Soddy-Daisy (north up the TN river from Chattanooga) for the 4th for about a week. Where is the train ride located in Chattanooga? How long is the ride?

Regards,
Roy

[Roger Bielen]

Roy,

There are two stations: Grand Junction, SE of the city and East Chattanooga where their shops are. If you stop in anyplace that has a rack of "things-to-see" fliers I'm sure you'll find one.

If I recall the directions for Grand Junction correctly: from the joining of I75 and I24 take I75E (N) to Tenn 153, left at top of ramp, right at first road, it'll be on the right.

There are 2 rides: a short one taking 11/4 hr.that includes a tour of the shops. This one runs steam all summer; and a 4 hr. trip behind a diesel.

[IronHoarse]

Afternoon all,

Roger, great pictures. I just love those steamers.

I spent the last two days working on my old weed wacker. I got it running once them the thing just quit on me. I finally gave up on it and bought a new one. Now I can go play with trains for awhile. [:D]

[dougdagrump]

Afternoon All,
Well Lionel scores customer service points. [|(] I called customer service this morning to order new front and rear powered trucks for my B&O FT, the website ordering was not functioning last nite. I already had the part number for the rear truck but not the front, guess what, customer service couldn't find it. It seems that their computer system is going thru some changes and they aren't complete yet. They said call the techies tomorrow and maybe they will have the part number.
[banghead] [censored] [censored] [banghead]
Now whoever heard of implementing a new system without doing a parallel run for debugging and testing. Shooting one's self in the foot, maybe. [soapbox]

[dougdagrump]

Glory be !!!!
Went to the Lionel site just a couple of minutes ago and they got the info up for my B&O FT. Think maybe the customer service person I spoke with this morning conveyed my unhappiness or just coincidence ????
More than likely just coincidence. [|(]

[ChiefEagles]

ironhorse, you should have tried this. [true story]. Had weedeater that would not crank if hot. One hot day, I pulled and pulled and pulled. I kicked the thing and it went flying across the drive and on the ground. I also said a few words that Dr. John would have been ashamed of me for saying. My smart wife says, "Now did that do any good?" I walked over and picked it up and pulled the rope and it fired right up. I just lookied at her and smiled. [:D] Long Town meeting about folks do not want the town to grow. Can not stop it when folks sell their land and the builders meet the zoning and ordiances. Good night and God bless. [Dougsnotagrump, I'd have probably said more words that Dr. John would have been ashamed of me when getting poor service like that from a national company].

[dougdagrump]

Boy was it ever an exciting evening in the beach communities tonite.
After that 7.4 off the No. Ca. coast a tsunami warning was issued and I guess as a result of the Phuket disaster a lot of people went into a panic mode. It was later canceled so I can only say "Better safe than sorry". [2c]

[spankybird]

Good Morning from NE Ohio

where the temp is 71 with cloudy skies. We had more big T-Storms last night and now cooler temps on the way. Weather Lady says Friday high will be only 60 deg. Where did I put the snow blower [?]

QUOTE: by dougdagrump

Boy was it ever an exciting evening in the beach communities tonite.
After that 7.4 off the No. Ca. coast a tsunami warning was issued

You boys are really trying to change you ZIP codes. Is this not the third one this week [?]

Chief – sounds like you are having vapor lock on that weedeater.

Roger – great pics

Pick of the Day


all be safe
tom

[Anonymous]

Chief----check your spark plug on the weedeater; mine did that one time and it turned out to be a hairline crack in the plug that you couldn't see unless you took it out. If it was just right, it would run like a top; if it wasn't making contact, you could pull on it for hours and it would never even try to fire. Wish you luck, they are tedious little beasts to work on.

[zwbob]

Goodmorning everyone,

What happened to summer?

Tom--- Dark skies all around but no rain yesterday afternoon.

Decided to do a little summer work on the layout last night. My Gargrave switches came in. I am putting in a small service facility inside the reverse loop. Coal tipple, water tower, engine house,etc. But with the cool weather ahead its time to go back outsid and start spreading mulch and all that good stuff.

Have a good day.

[IronHoarse]

Chief, Great story! I believe it too. I did not throw mine but I did use a few choice words. Mine would not start though. It is not the spark plug because I put a new one in, I think it is the magneto because it does not get any spark. Doesn't matter now anyway I got a new one on the way here and this one is going into the trash. My wife was laughing at me. She said that I was so mad that she thought that I was going to throw that thing across the yard. Maybe I should have. [:D]

Have a good one everyone!!

[ChiefEagles]

Morning guys. Gave that weedeater to a friend so he could fight with it. Now I have a 2 cycle small tiller [wife uses it to till up flower garden beds. It cranks and runa nd then cuts off. New plug, fule line and filter and diaphragm. Still cuts up. Got a buddy in town that his hobby is fixing lawnmowers and etc. Think it is time for it to visit him. He'll fix it and charge nothing. [:)] Don't you just love small yard equipment???? Another real hot and humind day here. Got to get the shrub trimming up and grind them. Then put down soaker hoses in garden. Plenty of water last week, now none and none in the forcast. Got to stake my tomato baskets. Rachals have grown out the top and will turn the baskets over if we have a wind. Did pick up two more NS hopper cars at Miss Edna's yesterday. No one has ever heard anymore from SkyRay. [?][?] Who was our buddy in Phoenix that goes back home [nawth] during the summer? [?] Have not heard from him either. All have a good one and God bless all.

[jonadel]

One more weedeater story[:D]

For several years we took care of 16 lawns, great money for kids and taught them about discipline and committment. Had a small weed eater that we couldn't destroy, always started. After we were done with that part of life I decided to upgrade with a bigger one from Sears, just wouldn't work from the get go, took it back and they serviced it. Brought it home (two days before graduation---get the picture?) and it worked for about two minutes, would not start. I had already mowed and was dirty and sweaty---made the trip to Sears and asked for money back, they took one look at me and said NO PROBLEM! They wanted to fix it and I said no. Called the local Stihl dealer on the way home and he had one waiting for me with a big smile on his face, still running great after 11 years. Nothing makes me madder when power equipment won't work. Had a neighbor who told his wife to open the front door and he threw a power painter about 50' into the yard, it laid there for a while!

Jon

[Dr. John]

Morning, everyone!

Wife and son left at 5 am for youth mission trip to New York City. Already 80 degrees that early in the AM - high today is supposed to be 95 with a heat index of 105!

I need to do some yard work after all of this rain, maybe I'll get the yard cut tomorrow, early in the morning. Speaking of weed eaters, I still can't find mine after the move! It is supposed to be in the shop somewhere, but I'm starting to have my doubts. May have to buy another one.

I've been dropping hints for a new grill for Fathers Day. We'll see what happens . . .

Y'all have a good day!

[1688torpedo]

Hello Everyone ! Gee, The weed eaters you guys owned must have been desinged by the Gent who got fired from GM for thinking up the Corvair![:)][;)][xx(] Sounds like Goats would be more reliable than weed eaters in this case. Ben. Hope you have a nice time in France & enjoy the Train ride. Roger B - Those are sharp Train Photo's you took in Tennesee. Looks like a fun Train ride. Willoughby will have a classic car show this Saturday. Will try to make it there. Have a nice day all..................Keith

[cnw1995]

Morning everyone. Overcast today and cool - nice after last week's heat - I got so sick of my small motors acting up when I really needed them to work that I finally went electric - got a plug-in weed eater, and then an edger and now a lawnmower - haven't inadvertently cut the extension cord yet. ;) That reminds me the snowbower hasn't worked for a while now - It's my fault - left some fuel in it without stabilizer and I think it's gummed up. 'Course there isn't a small engine repair shop for miles around. Wish I knew how to fix this stuff myself. Have a good day.

By the way, heard on the radio this morn that 40% less is spent on Father's Day gifts than on Mother's Day - I think it's the advertising - and mom's are certainly worth it - It may inspire me to rectify this imbalance by buying myself something. ;)

[Jumijo]

It rained 27 out of 31 days in May. High 80's low 90's with high humidity for the past 14 days. Now it's 60 and rainy and will be at least into Saturday. I spent the entire winter cooped up indoors. Now this.

Welcome to paradise, huh?

Jim