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

[ChiefEagles]

Dr. John, got generator? I have one now to run house [except A/C] Ran house for 4 days during the winter of 2002 ice storm. Have natural gas heat so all I need to do is run air handler. Thing is finding gas to keep it going. I have 4 5 gal. containers, fill tractor, boat [24 gals], lawnmower and all vehicles. Have too, sphion. After Fran and Floyd, most NC folks got them. I can run mine under the equipment/boat shed and feed back to the house. Good luck and let us know how it goes. God bless.

[Anonymous]

Jon, My favorite is the Durango -Silverton . The Misses and myself have camped the entire state of Colorado over the last 15 yrs. Sometime take the jeep trail from Lake City to Silverton, its fabulous. Did you see the city of Ouray?. Its like a swiss village. All the places I wanted to live the wife couldnt breathe. Too much altitude.I had to get her oxygen one year we camped at the Rio Grande headwaters. Anyways thats how we landed here. Same scenery not so much altitude.... Tim

[ChiefEagles]

You guessed it!!! Its raining. Good day to do nothing and sit in recliner and snooze. Go over and visit train lady after 1 PM [when she opens]. Hope all of you that have to W--K, have a good one. Best to all of those in the path of the storm. God bless all.

[spankybird]

Good Morning all,

I am not sure with the dark morning now, but it looks like we are going to have another Blue Clear Sky morning in NE Ohio, temp at 65 going into the 80’s again. Sounds like yesterday. Can’t complain as compared to what you boys in the South are going to have. I guess it makes me love snow all that much more.

Chief, your are right[^][^][:D]
Jerry, the next time you are in the Cleveland area, be sure to stop by. Cleveland has many good spots [8D] and some not so good [B)], just like any city.

Pray for our families and friends in the south, as Ivan has not yet passed, here comes another one. LOL.[B)][V]

Pick of the Day


All be safe.

[Buckeye Riveter]

Cleveland, a clean and beautiful city??????

Yea, I guess so when you compare it to Detroit. But for your information, the largest city in Ohio is not Cleveland or Cincinnati, its Columbus. Look it up.

[spankybird]

Columbus [?][?] is that only when school is in[?] [:D]or when the big cat isn’t hungry[?] [dinner] Collage towns [8D], what can one say, or is it because that is where all the politicians live [B)] with it being the State Capital [?]. Really Buckeye, you have to be kidding. [(-D][(-D]

[cnw1995]

It's expected to get a bit cooler here - in the 70s. But still sunny. Thanks to Chief's assistance, I have the bigger version of the layout working. I hope to post a few pictures soon.

[ChiefEagles]

My gracious, someone let the Buckeye on the computer this AM. I really liked what I saw of Columbus [Interstate and airport, if you had to be in Yankeeland]. Buckeye, you don't live in Columbus. You live in that town [forgot the name] that I saw on the side of the police cars. [:D] Buckeye lives in a neat neighborhood. Tom, you all still have baseball in Cleveland? [;)]

[spankybird]

Good Morning all,

IT a clam morning in NE Ohio, temp at 70 and rain on the way from the NW.

It look like the boy in the Gulf area are going to have a very ruff day, our prays are with you.

Chief, we have to check on that baseball thing, I think we still have one.[:)]
Pick of the Day


all be safe today

tom

[ChiefEagles]

HOWDDDDYYYY all. Cloudy and suppose to rain [what is new???!!!!] Going in to town to do some shopping for Mom [she will be 88 Saturday] and Frankie [29 Sunday]. Tath means I go to the train shop in towna nd eat Mongolian Stir Fry. [:D] Best to Dr. John and all those down south of me. Doug, need a report on how the layout is going. God bless all.

[cnw1995]

Hi everyone -boy did it rain last night. We sure needed it. But today's beautiful again but cooler - definitely not shorts weather (drat). Going to Ace Hardware to get some 14 ga. wire - and hopefully tackle a few things this afternoon on the layout. If not, then this weekend. It's fun just to be able to run the train on it - maybe my expectations are too low ;)

[ChiefEagles]

Doug, might price Lowe's. I was going to get mine there [spool of black and spool of red] until Frankie [son] got me some from his other job [not Deputy but auto electronics]. He got me 100 feet each. About time he looked after Dad. [;)]

[ChiefEagles]

Where the heck is everyone?????[?][?] Been to town and filled up and stir fry [Nexium time] and spent too much money. Now I have to sit at home and not buy any train stuff until I get paid Saturday week. [:(] I am looking for two screened auto carrier cars. Anyone got any for sale?

[Roger Bielen]

What's left of Ivan is marching through Georgia this afternoon. The first band through spawned a number of tornados, heard of a few touchdowns. Found I drove through a warning area after picking up one of the granddaughters, heavy rain and wind. The second band is predicted to be worst. Hope it shows up while there's still some light.

[ChiefEagles]

Yes Roger. Bad storms at night seem to be worse. Fran and Floyd came through here during the night and and it seems to make things worse when you can not see it happening. Good luck. I was just lloking at the WC and saw the red in Atlanta's radar.

[Anonymous]

Hey Buckeye Riveter. I dont know when you have been to Detroit lately but downtown is really looking good.

[cnw1995]

Really, Jim? That's neat. I've just seen the city through the 'lens' of all these 'urban exploration' websites with people crawling over abandoned hotels and movie theaters and office buildings all over downtown Detroit. Chief, are you referring to one of the modern auto-carriers - the big ones? I think I saw a review on a website of them - they looked really great but needed super-big curves. The digital camera I borrowed has a dead battery so I can't take pictures tonight - I got 10 ft of 14 gauge stranded wire and my first pair of 'real' wire strippers which I'm going to try.

[ChiefEagles]

Way to go Doug. The fun is on the way. On the auto carriers, the one I got jsut went through an 027. They are extra tall so I will have to make my portals real tall. Now as for Detroit Jim, I made a wrong turn back in early March and ended up over near the old Detroit airport. Interesting neighborhood between there and I 77. In fact, I would not call it a neighborhood, just the "hood". [:D] I did have to stop and wait for a NS to go through a crossing by some factories or warehouses. I did a show at the Detroit BPS [which is not in Detroit but Auburn Hills].

[Buckeye Riveter]

The last time I was in Detroit was on business at the Federal Building. To kill some time before the meeting we drove out to this park in the middle of the Detroit River to see the freighters. The park was the most trashed up municipal park I have ever seen. Trash was everywhere.

On one occasion our company pilot landed the plane at the county or city airport north of downtown Detroit, (Not Romulus) The dilapidated and blighted areas were constant. Weeds and trash were a constant visual reminder of the blight. Detroit has a mono rail that goes from no where to no where. Yes, the Tigers and Lions have new places to play, and that may be a start, but several cities have done that a long time ago and are way ahead in terms of revitalization.

My comparison of Detroit is based upon my travels to Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Buffalo and Portland this last two years. Detroit is dead last in quality when compared to those cities. Now the suburbs of Detroit are really nice, especially that town where Edsal Ford used to live by the lake. I'll stay downtown in most cities and even go out at night for a walk. In Detroit I don't stay downtown, not even at the Renaissance Center, which is really nice inside after you get past the security guards at the elevators.

There is one place worse than Detroit. It is the only place I ever had to survey while stepping over dead rats in the streets and the need for an armed guard escort for protection. The sky is orange and the air is foul in Gary, Indiana the worst of the worst. Where train crews run the gauntlet as they head east from Chicago.

[ChiefEagles]

Buckeye, that is the airport I am talking about. Really wished I had my weapon with me while I drove through there. The hotel thing reminds me of Queens. Drove a DMV car from Raleigh to Boston. Stopped in Queens for this guy to visit his "Auntie". Stayed in the Hilton or something and had security guards and fences [thought I was in prison]. Never will forget that up the street from his "Auntie's", this big tall "lady" was standing over her husband [I guess] that looked beat up and threatening the two policemen in their car [they had the spotlight on her and would not get out]. The guy with me said, "Don't get us shot!" I was thinking, this is your neighborhood and there are only three white guys in the whole area [the two policemen and me]!!!! Good night.

[Buckeye Riveter]

Chief, one of the ways that companies can get rid of employees is to send them to a meeting in Detroit and the night before put them up in the downtown Ramada Inn. Most of them quit after only one meeting.

[cnw1995]

You really haven't lived until you take the South Shore line to South Bend or back - especially if you go through Gary in the evening - the industrial skyline is spectacular ... There are some interesting sights on the line. You can see some of the same scenery from I-80, along with many CSX stack trains. It's the only area where I switch the air to recirculate within the car while I drive through... though since recently Gary's lost even more industry, the skies a little less orange.

[ChiefEagles]

Morning gang. Slow here. Cloudy and windy. No rain yet. Maybe Ivan has lost it. Think the mountains are getting it though. Have a good one and God bless.

[Buckeye Riveter]

If you have not seen the photos of the devestation [:0] in the south it is unbelievable. [:(] I believe it was the Interstate 10 bridge in Florida where the wind and waves of the hurricane knocked the superstructure and deck off of the piers. [:0][:0] The codes stipulate that one design a bridge for a wind loading depending on its location, but I don't believe I have ever seen documentation for a "wave" load. My, oh my!

[spankybird]

Hi all,
Better late an never, had a busy day at work and didn’t have much time for the forum. Well Ivan has made its way to NE Ohio with some rain, nothing like the south got. Temp has been on the cool side, at 6:00am we had 67 deg and now it is 62 deg.

Well we did another up-grade to this old box and put in a new larger, faster Hard Drive, 60 gigs, plenty of room for pics now. Boy is it fast.

Hey Buckeye, I used to have property down there, now it’s my X-Wifes. Hope she knows how to swim.

Pick of the Day


all have a good evening

tom

[ChiefEagles]

Well it came and it went. About 45 minutes of IVAN. Lots of rotations on radar but nothing on the ground. RDU International airport got some small planes blown over due to their ropes breaking and damage to some of the terminal buildings. 79+ mph straight line winds. Rolesville had a rain at the rate of 4" per hour but only rained that rate for 30 minutes. Sun is now back out. We are lucky. I mowed grass this PM and we had nothing but wind and sun until 4:30 PM. Large protion of I 40 through the NC mountains is closed for washouts and mud slides. Mountains are flooded.

Don't tell Buckeye but OSU is at NCSU tomorrow for a soggy and wet game. Last week they had a double homicide at the tailgating parties before the game. Actually was in an ajoining lot. Two drughead brothers [with lots of bad past] got in a fight with a Marine and his buddy. Got their "A"s whipped and then left. Came back and shot the Marine and his buddy. I am sure they have a needle reserved for themsleves. Their girlfriends [college girls with excellent reps] are being held as accessories after the fact. They claim they feared for their lives and were forced to help the guys escape. They did call police and gave whole story, location of the guys and weapon location. Shows, you better be careful who you hang out with.

[Dr. John]

Hi all!

Well, we heard Ivan howl a couple of nights ago. Mobile was spared the worst of it as the storm veered east at the last moment. Pensacola is a mess!

We lost power and phone for a couple of days, but we are back up and running now. My father in law is still without power and water, so he's staying with us a few days. No damage to the house, but we did lose a couple of trees. I talked to my daughter in Birmingham and she's still without power.

It sure makes a difference being prepared! We have a generator and boarded up the house, stocked up on canned food, water, batteries, etc. Not as bad as Hurricane Frederick which hit Mobile back in 1979. We went without power for over two weeks and no water for three days. The folks in Escambia County Florida may not have power for three weeks. My prayers are with them! God was good to us - it could have been a lot worse.

Now the bad news - there's still two more months left in the hurricane season!

[spankybird]

Glad to hear that you are ok, Dr. John.

The other part of the bad news is there is already 2 more storms on the way.

Our prays our with your family

tom

[Dr. John]

Thanks Tom! My heart really goes out to the people in Florida - 3 major hits in one year! And like you said, two more out there!

[ChiefEagles]

Glad to hear from you Dr. John. Had you and a few others down that way in my prayers. WORKS!!! All unscafed. God Bless. Anyone heard from Dougsagrump?? He went to Florida just before the hurricane and he has not been on here for days.