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

[FJ and G]

I got a call from Kalmbach on Friday saying they are considering me for the sr. editor position of MR mag. I'm trying to plan ahead just in case, you know, and looking at real estate in Waukesha, Wisc.

It's higher than I expected, perhaps b/c of proximity of Chicago and Milwaukee so I may need to expand my search, being willing to travel up to about 50 miles. If anyone, like Doug M. lives in that area with tips; much appreciate.

BTW, it's a real buyers market in NC and Tenn and a few other picturesque places. :-)

[ChiefEagles]

Afternoon all. Been lazy today. The real thing was yesterday with all the gangs here. Pam's family and the kids too. Big feed. Will post pictures of some of the presents I got under Sunday Photo. Dave, 50 miles is not far to comute until it is winter up there. Another story then. Have a great day and God bless all.

[dougdagrump]

In the winter up there either get out the snowmobile or hitch BB up to a dogsled. [swg]
Almost forgot, picked up my Father's Day goodies yesterday. Went to the All Gauge event over in La Jolla and found a couple of Atlas airslide hoppers and an MTH flat with two NP trailers. [^]

[Dr. John]

Happy Fathers Day to all of you dads and granddads. Hope you're having a great day!

My two girls took me out to eat after church today. Got a call from my wife and son in New York City. They are having a good time on the choir tour and getting used to travelling by subway.

Got a new weed eater yesterday for Fathers Day, so put it to good use yesterday afternoon.

Dave, good luck on the sr. editor position at MR. You would do a good job. If you get it, don't forget us toy train enthusiasts! [:D]

[csxt30]

Happy Fathers day to all, & that was a nice salute there from RT!! Tom sure got some nice pics. of the show & thanks Tom for havin' us & the extra walkin', looking for Rusty, as usual, just like at the train shows, always loosing Rusty!! Sure wish Dave the best on that MR job !! Glad everyone is enjoying the day! Thanks, John

[IronHoarse]

Afternoon all, Hope everyone is having a great Father's Day. Nice day here with cool temperatures and low humidity. I did some much needed cleaning out in the pole barn today. It should have been done long before this but at least it is done now. The next project will be the grass, it never seems to end does it? Well work is done so it is time to play...out to the train room. hehe.

[rtraincollector]

That salute was intended for our vets and active duty guys it has been a signature for a while on my signout( started it on Memorial Day.) It was my next to last ship the U.S.S. Wisconsin BB-64

My wife just told me [:(] That I must be devoleping old age already all I said to her was I think I will change from running my O scale train set on my shelf layout I'am building to buying and running a standard scale set it should be able to be done for about $700.00 including track LOL she wants to know if I'm [censored][censored][censored][censored]crazy[:-^][:-^]

[dougdagrump]

rt,
Not having enough space for a traditional layout I did just a single track around the walls up close to the ceiling in our office/toy room. You should have heard my wife when I showed her my plans to extend that single line thru the walls into four other rooms. Needless to say I didn't do it. [:(]

[ChiefEagles]

RT, keep on with your salute. Dr. John, good picture over on Sunday Pictures. Oldest two gave me 1:50 scal JD equipment. Now i will have coal mine and track construction equipemnt for the layout. [:D] Watching the TNT West series. Later

[Buckeye Riveter]

Back in the saddle after a few days of R&R.

Tom, I love that Auburn. As far as I know the folks back home never painted one that bright of red. Incidently for all you car fans, the museum in Auburn, Indiana, my home town, is full of restored classic cars. (Please note that a restored Plymouth Roadrunner is not a classic car.)

Dave, I knew you were the man for MR the first time I saw that dog of yours. Good luck and if you end up in Milwaukee, we will try to send you a care package, i.e. a snow shovel.

Chief, I was at my local John Deere dealer getting my mower blade sharpened and I looked at all the die cast. I did not see anything at 1:50. What's the secret?

[FJ and G]

thx guys, for kind comments. I'm checking up on real estate there just in case, but I doubt if the agents know the best rabbit terrain. BB and I might have to sniff out a place if the job comes available. If not, still having lots of fun in this area. But model trains for a living is just too cool to pass up; if ya know what I mean.

Tom, those are some cool car pix.

Now, what's this about tying BB to a dogsled? :-)

someone called the cops today about a prowler in the woods about 6 p.m. (was me and bb). Police officer came out and asked who I was and apologetically told me that they just were doing their job as a follow up to some neighbor's concern. He indicated I was on public land and had not done anything wrong. He was fascinated watching BB flush out rabbits and asked me about getting one himself.

[ChiefEagles]

Dave. he had better be careful or he will get "rabbit fever". [;)]

[Anonymous]

Yes gang I am still alive, work, work, work.........
Great pics today of the cars, and I love the salute from the DD ??. Would'nt want to be on the receiving end of those puppies.

Good Luck on the job Dave V.

I received some Lionelville buildings I bought last week. I think they are pretty neat and have bought some more today on ebay. Also bidding on some more maxi stacks. Even though they are more traditional sized I think they look fine behind a scale dash9 or the new SPSF SD 40. the larger cars won't go through my Lionel 022 switches.

Chief, refresh my memory from last week, did everyone decide that the NS SD 80 LIONMASTER, is a little shorter than the regular SD 80 and will clear 031 curves??

Still got to clean out the horse stalls and feed them before bed......Later .....Tim

[spankybird]

Good Morning from NE Ohio

where the temp is 62 with Blue Clear Sky’s and heading to 80.

QUOTE: by Buckeye
(Please note that a restored Plymouth Roadrunner is not a classic car.)

I would have to differ with you, being a former owner of a ’69 roadrunner




Especially if it has a 426 Hemi


Dave – good luck on the job hunt.

Chief – nice diecast

Csxt30 – I am glad you and Rusty had a good time.

Pick of the Day


all be safe
tom

[ChiefEagles]

Morning all. Hey, Tom's picture of the morning always gets us started. Got early meeting with Town Manager and Police Chief. Got to cut down some small trees and bushes next door for neighbor and then widow lady. Street pickup is tomorrow. Dr. John, need help. Need rain. Seems everyone has gotten rain except this part of NC. Been dry for a couple of weeks.
PETim, yes the Lionmaster is shorter [not much and will go through 031]. New catalog says the regular ones will too but older catalogs say 042. Mine will not go through 042 Lionel switches as they scrub the switch stand [well, they will but makes them lean some]. Ben was running his through 031 but I wonder if his is the long version like mine. They are BIG engines. Everyone have a great day and God bless all.

[Jumijo]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rtraincollector

Just wondering if thats the Batmobile that the place in Tallahassee has or is it another if I remember right there were about 3 total made back in the early / mid 60's for the show. I know theres one in Tallahassee, FL. can't think of name of the place in fact used to live near it lol but they had a lot of clasic cars in there seems that the name was something like Tallahassee Antique car Museum. They also had the batmobile from batman movie # 1 I believe.

That Batmobile is NOT a Barris-built car from the 60's. It's a modern-day replica made from a fiberglass kit. At last count there are almost 100 of these '66 Batmobiles running around. Several builders offer turn-key cars for $55-75K, depending on what you want it to do. Non of them are accurate replicas (not even close), although to the casual fan or car guy, they look like the real thing.

This is perhaps the last place I'd expect to see a photo of a '66 Batmobile replica!

JAABAT

[spankybird]

OK not being a Batman expert, this car was shown as being a turbine in the movies. Was it really a turbine [?], or only a V-8 with turbine engine sounds. The one at the car show had a 460 cu in Mercury V-8 in it. The rocket launcher were on an angle, but I didn’t take a protractor to the show to measure them. Nor did I realize that I should have done that.

Bottom line, it look cool.

[1688torpedo]

Hello all ! Made it to Car Cruise in Willoughby after 8:30 in the evening. Walked around with my Brother,His Wife & Nephew. Left at 10:00. Saw some really nice cars.Was Hoping CSX, Rusty , And Spanky would still be there. Oh well. Maybe another time. Dave. Good luck on your Job Hunt with Kalmbach.Maybe one of the other Editors at Ctt know a good rabbit field for BB to run in.[:)]

[Dr. John]

Morning, all!

Warm and sunny in Prattville this morning. Chief, I need to pray for rain for Prattville too! It's been a dry June (except for about a three day period in the middle of the month.) Sprinklers are going overtime!

Enjoying the car pics, especially the Roadrunner - very nice!

[Jumijo]

The purpose of my post was to point out this Batmobile was not an original Barris creation. I wasn't knocking the replica, and I agree, it is cool. I guess my point is that these replica owners spend humongous sums of cash on them and they aren't as accurate as they could/should be. To me, seeing one is kind of like watching an Elvis immitator. If I spent over $50K on one, I'd want it to be exactly like the tv car, not "close enough", but that's just me. Where this car is concerned, I'm a rivot counter, but as I said, to the casual fan, it looks like the real thing. Absolutely no offense was intended by my previous post.

Researching and documenting that particular tv car's history and lineage from 1955 to the present has been another hobby of mine for many years. I'm part of a small group of fans that is lobbying to have it restored correctly to it's 60's tv appearance, and it's looking more and more like that lobbying will pay off. As the real car stands now, it's a dilapitated mess that only vaguely resembles what it once was.

Below are photos of a scale model I built in 1/25 scale for a collector in Pittsburgh. Aside from the body, tires, rims and canopies, all of the details on the body and interior are scratchbuilt.





Jim

[cnw1995]

The Barris-built 'original' Batmobile from the TV series is in the Volo Auto museum located in beautiful Volo, Illinois. I was there about a month ago. See it at http://www.volocars.com/attractions-hollywood.html

I got an unexpected gift from the kids for Father's Day. A six pack of Labatt's and a glass mug! I enjoyed drinking a few while running the Pennsy kid set out on the deck. My 3 year old filled the gon with playsand - it's built tough - perfect for kids - though it would be better if I got the diecast trucks. They set up a 'DadsFest' at church too, with classic cars, basketball, putting greens and....a dunk tank. As someone had to set an example, between services, they each got to dunk me.

David, that's great news about being a finalist for that job - I've sent in resumes to Kalmbach over the years myself. Boy, wouldn't it be great if you got that job! Email me if you wish so I can share with you a bit about the whole area. I would recommend looking west from Waukesha as compared to east toward Milwaukee. There's some pretty country there for BB if you're willing to go 50 mile out - still fairly rural with nice quality of life. The west to east commute isn't bad at all. I live about an hour or two southwest - but over the border in Illinois where I don't recommend you live because of the whole cross-border state income tax thing

[IronHoarse]

Morning,

dougdagrump, I think the through the walls idea is great. My wife wouldn't go for it either. [:D]

All this talk of SD80's is getting my blood stirring. Maybe I can hold off a little longer before I get one. We have a nice sunny day here today. Hope everyone has a great day!

[Jumijo]

Doug, That car at Volo is a modern replica as well, built in the 1990's and "authenticated" by Barris (it's the second one they've had there). Only one was ever used on the show. Several other Barris built replicas were made for touring purposes only and are even less accurate than the fan-built cars. I know for a fact that the real one used on the tv show is at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles, on loan from George Barris, also from LA. The plan is for Barris to eventually sell the car to Petersen, who will then do a complete restoration. Not that anyone on a toy train board gives a hoot, and I apologize if I sound like a know it all. I'm merely trying to provide correct information.

http://www.petersen.org/default.cfm?DocId=1813&CarID=318

Jim

[cnw1995]

Go figure, Jim. Maybe there was more than one. Volo makes the same claim as Petersen - and they run a video loop with Barris describing the car and its use on the show. Now as for the Batman-motif GP9 I was thinking about the other day...

[laz 57]

HI GIZ,
Been doing lots o work round the house.
Got done with all the mulch now working on organizing my work shed and giving it a good cleaning out. Just got a new craftsman air compressor 33 gallon upright. Works great now I can get all the grass off the top of the mowing deck.
TOM and JOHN great pics of the oldsters and the cars.

HOLY CRIME FIGHTING MACHINES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They just did an article on the original BATMOBILE in the paper here, I guess cause of the movie and all. It states that it was Barris that had purchased the Lincoln Futura a concept vehicle designed in 1955 by Ford and built by the Itialian Ghia design studio. Orginally valued at $250,000 the car featured dual jet aircraft style plexiglass canopies full length grille and giant fins. Barris with the help of Dean Cushenbery spent the next 21 days reworking the car. They tossed out the original engine and replaced it with a 427 V8 twin supercharger with power enhancing nitrous oxide system. They also did all those neat little accents on the car too, to be topped off with the bat spinners on the mag wheels.
It goes on to say that Barris went on to make just three more replicas of the BATMOBILE. He still has the original and that 3 other people own the others.

Sounds like a BAT HISTORY LESSON?

PE TIM that SD80 like I said a while back will negociate 0-27 curves as long as it is broken up with a straight track. Runs and looks fine. This came with the Black Diamond set and that is with all standard O gauge. But I ran ot with ) 27 stock and it looks well. Did some of the smoke repairs now smokes like a chimley.
DOUGSNOTAGRUMP sis and bro in law felt those tremmors if you go into the ocean they are going to have one big hill leading to the ocean. They live on top of one of the mountains in ESCONDIDO.
Have a good one and I got to get back to work.
laz57

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone!

Sorry I havn't posted awhile, because of my truck. (Ive been so busy working on it) I have not worked on the layout in a week, since I don't have a KW yet, so I can't advance really on anything at this time. This is because all the track is very assesible to be wired, so I dont want to do any big scenery projescts yet until I can get it operationly sound.
But the main pproblem with me getting a KW is that my truck is syphoning all my $$$ out of me.
Now, I just need to get a job....



I will be gone until Firday night, Im going on a mission trip with my church.

The progress I have done on the truck is that I have painted all the maroon body-panels in the interior flat black. (it looks nice and fresh now) I also did get the 318 cleaned up and painted Hemi orange with Black valve covers and oil pan. I also painted the radiator Hemi Orange too. ( the whole ornge/black combination looks great) I got the firewall and and wheel well area cleaned and painted regular gloss black. Everything is starting to look very fresh and new. The body needed to be Bondo'ed in a few spots, and I got to try out a sheetmetal repair at the bottom of the doors and it turned out awesome. I repainted some of the black parts of the trim, they had nicks all over them.

Now I need to get a gallon of racing yellow at sherwin-williams for $40. (you now can see how my truck syphons my savings!)

This truck is going to look great when its done!!!!

[Anonymous]

Here is sort of what I wnat my truck to look like, except it will have a single stripe down the middle...

[ChiefEagles]

Tom, noticed that Shutterfly downloads fast on CTT and some other photo sites seem to take a while. Notice Doug does not want to mention the deeeeep snows they have up nawth. [;)] Real pretty drive when you can not see over the snow drifts. [:p] Speaking of SD80's:

[jonadel]

Good afternoon,

A NEW trolley added to the layout, this is #4. I rarely pre order but I did on this one, it's the MTH PCC 30-2558-1 Boston. We had a great trip about 20 years when our boys were young to Boston and rode the sub way everywhere so I thought we needed a trolley to bring back some of those good memories. This unit has been fine tuned even further than previous models and just works flawlessly. I know on the next build we will have a new subway line and a dedicated working trolley loop. If I just had more room................. I could.................

Jon

[csxt30]

Jerry, your truck is gonna look great & you might be one of our next generation truck designers!! Now, I forgot to mention thet thet Batmobile started out from an old Mercury. The fellow that built that car is from Toms' area Mentor Ohio, & there is a full write up on it on the bulletin board at Stuarts Hobby. He is a friend of Mr. Stuart,also. We can now begin to see the Train - Batmobile relationship here!! [:)] Next Time I go to Stuarts, I'll copy down that article. I believe most train guys are Batmobile enthusiasts,too. Boy, I used to love watching that when I was A kid & they didn't fool me, cause I knew it was really Adam West. Same as the Lone Ranger,Clayton Moore!! [:)] Well, all stay tuned for more BAT INFO!!!!!! Thanks, John