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

[ChiefEagles]

About time the old man crawled out of his hole. Bet he has been busy mowing grass down there. [:D]

[cnw1995]

Good morning - another cool day here but sunny. As I'm beginning work, I'm puzzling on how to best clean a whole bucketful of 'free' small-rock ballast I've swept up from the bottom of the driveway - I think when I'm home on Thurs, I'll dump it out on a plastic drop cloth and try to wash it with the hose - leave it in the sun all day and dump it back in the bucket - ready to use. Any other ideas? I hope to 'recover' more of the crawlspace this week or weekend now that I've gotten rid of the pain cans that were stored where I now want to move more of the crawlspace boxes. I figure ultimately I may be able to fit another four 4x8 foam boards back there - I want to try to do it soon - because our local hobby store is closing at the end of Sept -and I want to buy more 027 track.

[Anonymous]

Doug, check your email, I have a letter for you!

[FJ and G]

Start my new job tomorrow.

We only got a few sprinkles yesterday west of Manassas; need more rain or I'll be out w/watering hose. My place sits in the rain shadow of Shenandoah's and always rains to east of us.

Saturday went to Luau for singles but all the women were 50+ and fat. I ate and ran out before the dancing started. Went to Hooters, but the women were kinda on the young side; 20s. Guess all the good looking 30s and 40s women are married or otherwise accounted for.

The interesting thing about Hooters is their monorail system. There's cable strung up in several directions and when orders at the bar are placed, they are propelled in "trolleys" down the cable trolley. The employees seem to have a lot of fun shooting these trolleys down to see how far they can fling them.

Had a tooth pulled this morning so gotta stanch the blood.

I'll try & send some notes when I get to Pentagon. May be a few days absence from forum while get orientation. So cherrio.

[dougdagrump]

Doug, You need a collander,small holes of course, or a piece of plastic screening. Just wash it in batches then spread it out to dry on newspaper.

[Roger Bielen]

Doug, to kill off any insects, eggs, or other it's probably not a bad idea to bake the ballast in the oven or on the BBQ. Nothing like an army of ants running around the layout.

[ChiefEagles]

David, I will tell Pam to find one of her buddies at USDA for you. She knows a bunch there. [;)]

[ChiefEagles]

SHOOO SHOOO Frances SHOOOOOO. Good night. Chris, you getting rained on?????

[ChiefEagles]

GOOOD MORNING!!!!! Hope all are well. Go away Frances. Looks like FL is in for another bad hit [can never tell with those hurricanes. we had one several years ago that did circles off the coast before coming inland.] Going to Myrtle Beach BPS tomorrow as the big boss Johnny Morris is coming. Want my smiling face there. Got to try to mow. Keep having Tstorms and it will not dry out. My spillway rebuild at the woods pond held. [:D] A little more concrete work to do. Will have to wait until I get back. Sure was good to hear from Duda. [8D] Old rat always had something good to say and brightened up the day. Be glad when the old ACE [change his name to Snoopy] quits flying planes and starts back running trains. All have a great day and God bless all.

[spankybird]

Good Morning all,

It looks like it’s going to be a nice sunny day in NE Ohio with morning temp of 58 and going into the mid 70’s.

Hey Chief, be extra careful on the Beach, as you say, can’t tell on the big twisters.

If I lived in FL, I would consider taking a small vacation up north this weekend.


Pick of the Day


Hey guys, I have been doing this 'pic of the day' for about a week, what do you think[?]

All be safe

tom

[ChiefEagles]

Tom, makes a good "train" start for the morning. [:D] WOOOOO

[spankybird]

I was thinking of starting a thread just for them.

Anyone could add just one pic per day. If you wi***o add captions to them, why not. Something like never ending story.

what do you think[?]

[ChiefEagles]

Always like the pictures of layout. Gives me ideas. I will not have many right now as how many of carpet can you take???? [:(] Maybe soon. Then I can show construction photos as well as running photos.

[cnw1995]

Another beautiful day here - cleared out some more basement garbage last night - this morning is garbage-pick-up-day. I can't believe the stuff I hang on to - my rule of thumb now is if I haven't looked at it or thought of using it in 2 years, it's out... (course this is only 'my' or 'family' stuff - not things of interest to my wife - though frankly, she usually thanks me for pulling things out - is she ever going to re-use all that 'country-style' knicknacks from the '80s) - if I were more diligent, we'd sell it but I'd rather give it away) So I now I can see that gleaming emptiness where I can stash more stuff off the crawlspace - hurrah!

[ChiefEagles]

Gettin ready for bed. Off to BPS Myrtle Beach SC for a Grand Opening. Hope that Frances does not run me back home. Looks bad for the Florida gang. Strange that a newbee wanted to start his own "coffee pot". Glad you all invited him to this one. Anyone heard from our train guy that actually ran an engine? He had a computer virus and then disappeared. Wish he would come back and stay. Good night and God bless all.

[ChiefEagles]

Looks like our Florida friends are in for it. Think we might have dodged the bullet. I'm sure we will get some of the wind and rain as Frances is a big storm. Off to Myrtle Beach SC BPS as soon as I get one of the dogs to the groomer for a haircut. Hope you all have a good morning. When is Buckeye due back home from his Canadian fishing trip? God bless all.

[spankybird]

Good Morning all,

We have a Blue Clear Sky morning in NE Ohio with temp at 60 and going into high 70’s today.

Look real bad for our friends and families in FL. God be with them and keep them all safe.

Pick of the Day


tom

[ChiefEagles]

Great picture Tom. Looks like one of my cabooses but mine is NS. [:D] Thanks for the NS map you sent. It has the other lines too. Great.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by spankybird

I was thinking of starting a thread just for them.

Anyone could add just one pic per day. If you wi***o add captions to them, why not. Something like never ending story.

what do you think[?]

i gues ill start it right now.............

[Anonymous]

Tom I always love your pictures. They are so clear. Do you or anyone else, have any suggestions for a new digital camera? I might get the wife one for Christmas. The one we have now is a real cheapie, hence the fugly pictures. Say a prayer for the folks in Fla.........................Tim

[MartyE]

My goodness this is a big pot of coffee.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by adirondackrr

QUOTE: Originally posted by spankybird

I was thinking of starting a thread just for them.

Anyone could add just one pic per day. If you wi***o add captions to them, why not. Something like never ending story.

what do you think[?]

i gues ill start it right now.............

adirondackrr--i think you are being just a tad presumptuous. i'm sure this was not your intention but that is how it came off.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by pigseyes

Tom I always love your pictures. They are so clear. Do you or anyone else, have any suggestions for a new digital camera? I might get the wife one for Christmas. The one we have now is a real cheapie, hence the fugly pictures. Say a prayer for the folks in Fla.........................Tim

Hey Tim,
A nice digitalis the fujifilm finepix s5000 (i have one its great look at the pictures i took with it. http://www.geocities.com/minimesmini2/ ) also if thats a little bit out of price range the s3000 is also really nice. hope i helped and let me know how it gos.

[FJ and G]

I'm back; now at Pentagon; don't yet have my email, however. Perhaps later today or Tuesday.

Tim, ensure digital camera at least 3.3 megapixel, as that is what the toy train magazines accept and good for personal use as well so you can blow images up that you like.

Personally, I'd go 5++MegPix

Black bear again sited behind neighbor's house (3 houses up). 2 years ago, I found a dead clow in pasture w/bear marks around it.

[spankybird]

Good Morning all,

It is a partly cloudy morning in NE Ohio with temp at 66 and a high into the 80’s today.

Our prays are with all in FL .

Dr. John, please watch this thing, I believe it is going to be like Andrew and go into the Gulf..

Tim – the camera I use is a Pentax 3.2. My wife pick it up on QVC for about $125.00 last year. The only thing I wish it had, was sound for the movie part. Most cameras can also do 30 second flicks, so look for one that also has sound. As far as the resolution, IMO, you don’t need better than 3.3 for what we are doing. I have mine set a medium quality at 2048 pic and that produces a file of 1.2mg to 2.1 mg per pic. Most of the pics have to be re-sized smaller to e-mail them or post them on the web. Therefore why buy a camera with more resolution when you can’t use it.

Adirondackrr – nice pic of the macaw. If you check my web page, you will see Spanky, my macaw.

Pick of the Day


all be safe

tom

[spankybird]

Welcome back Dave.

[Roger Bielen]

Getting ready to head to Miss. for a long weekend visiting with friends and spending some time sitting in a dove field. Can't say hunting, it's more a social event.

Got an e-mail from my sister in Boca Raton this morning, winds are starting to pick up. They have everything boarded up, stowed away and tied down and hope to ride Francis out. That is, unless the storm surge targets thier area, then its head inland, they're maybe 3mi from the ocean. Today's my Dad's 88th birthday, lives with my sister, talk about a memorable one. He's been having some heart problems recently, hope he doesn't have any more till well after the storm, everything is shutting down in that part of FL.

In case I don't have time to get back on line later today - Enjoy your Labor Day weekend all.

[cnw1995]

I hope everyone has a good day today - it's dark and kind of damp here - probably because I got up so early this morning - but supposed to be a nice day. I noticed a lot of mist rising evocatively from the tracks as the Metra trains blow through. Moved some of our many 'Rubbermaid' containers off the railway uh crawlspace yesterday - just in time to see my wife dump several garbage bags full of things she is cleaning out of the kids' rooms 'to go over later' - hmmm, we have lots of such bags that are several years old... Oh well, hope to clean some of my bucket 'o ballast this weekend. Our prayers are with those of you in the southland...

[Anonymous]

hello. have a questionwhat is your least favorite model making company i should stay away from?????????? thanks.............

[Dr. John]

Hmmm. Tough question. Most of the O gauge manufacturers today have some good offerings. I'm sure some of our crew will be glad to share their feelings about a particular bad purchase, but as to one company?

Any takers?