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

[Dr. John]

Started off cold this AM - frost covering everything. Warming up pretty nicely this afternoon, sunny and pleasant.

My son flies back in from Italy this evening. My wife and my son's girlfriend are heading up to Birmingham to pick him up. I'll see him after church tonight.

Have a good afternoon!

[csxt30]

Yeah !! [bday] Roy !! You don't look 70 !! [:D][:D][:D]

[jefelectric]

Good afternoon,

SMK, Sounds like another layout isn't to far off. Sure hope the garage is heated!

Roy, You were talking about the temperature and not your age, Right? [:)] [:)] [:)]

It is cloudy and cool here, I wish we would get a little rain along with the clouds. Very dry, the farmers are plowing and working ground, which is very unusual as it is normally to wet this time of year.

Finished up the detailing of another Walthers background building and started puting together a set of BTS skids. That is a neat little kit of laser cut wood for shipping skids. Glued half of them using crazy glue and had to take a break to let the nerves settle down.

The joint effort produced a nice building for the museum.

All have a great day.

[ChiefEagles]

QUOTE: Originally posted by csxt30

Yeah !! [bday] Roy !! You don't look 70 !! [:D][:D][:D]

Only from a short line RR Yankee. [;)]

[Anonymous]

I miss read about Roy, I am sorry.

[Anonymous]

The Big ENGINE that couldnt.
My MTH UP 4017 just quit. just like that/
so I changed the battery, still nothing. the power to the track usually you can here
the relay in the tender click , but nothing. checked the tether between the tender.
I read where Union Pacific is going to sue MTH and demand back payments and take
all of MTH UP models in there warehouse and destroy them.
wonder if i write UP and ask them to give me a tender for my MTH rail King Big Boy
before they smash up all of them really nice locomotives. Ill send them my used
tender for them to smash up with the rest of MTHs stock.
i called Dry bridge station where i bought the engine and they seem to belive it is a board shot in the tender. guess what the engine had less than 12 hours on it and it
is out of warranty.
I said this once ill say it again MTH will be the American Flyers of the 21st century.
Hello to All in the POT.

Nstrackman
MP N-369

[laz 57]

HI GIZ,
Kinda gloomy and only hit a high of 46.
Ran 6 miles this morning felt good.
Ran trains tonite for about an hour.
Now get ready for the SOPRANOs hope they show some more trains?
All have agood one.
laz57

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

Not a good day today. We lost one in the IRL. Paul Dana passed away after a practice accident. I have followed racing my entire life and when I was growing up, we would lose a driver far too often. Lately, the safety measures have lessened the loss to the point where we almost take it for granted that it is a safe sport. Sadly today is a reality check that I wish we did not have to go thru. Next time I run my trains, I will blow the whistle once for Paul.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[Anonymous]

Good Evening, Everyone!

I'm back from day two of the Moose Jaw train show and had a blast on the weekend at it. My display attracted a lot of attention and had a lot of people saying, "I used to have one of those." I had the same "neighbors" I had at the Regina show, a man and his son with an N scale layout, very nice people. I picked up a postwar 6650 missile launching flatcar, a vintage German-made tunnel, a Marx 999 and some HO rolling stock. My dad was with me at the show. On Saturday there was also a swap meet going on in Moose Jaw dealing mainly in car parts, but with all kinds of other stuff, too. My dad left the train show for a while to go to it and came back a Lionel 1033 transformer he found there for 20 bucks. It works wonderfully. It had a handle missing, but a dealer at the show had one.

However, the most exciting find of the show was an EEL engine. EEL or Efficient Enterprises Ltd. was a Canadian company that produced a 2-rail O gauge electric train set in the 1950's. These were probably the only toy trains ever made in Canada and are quite hard to come by. There is still a great deal of mystery surrounding this set. I had my EEL set in my display and a guy said, "I've got one of those at home." He had gotten an engine in a box of stuff at a garage sale and said he'd let me have it and bring it over later. It's in beautiful condition and what's even more exciting is that it is a different variation from the one I have! The engine is a red-painted cast aluminum diesel with decals. The decals on this one differ in many ways from my other one. I didn't even know that there was more than one version of it. It's things like this that make collecting fun!

[dwiemer]

Roger,
Tuesday Morning is hit or miss. I have found great buys in there some days and then nothing the next time I go. If you email me with a list of things to look out for, era, trucks, cars, whatever, I can snatch them up and send them. Also so some car kits that you build in 1/43rd scale at Big Lots. Again, one of those places I just check in from time to time.
Dennis

[cnw1995]

Good evening all, coaxed a photo of the Birney out of my camera - it's powered by an MTH handcar which is sitting a tad too low - very prototypical but not good on my track. After church, I spent two and a half long hours at a birthday party for 4 year olds at one of those indoor jump-in-the-inflatable-thing places. Got to see the tail end of Bristol. First top ten finish for Junior in a long time... Wife's back still acting up so I'll go wait on her.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by NStrackman

The Big ENGINE that couldnt.
My MTH UP 4017 just quit. just like that/
so I changed the battery, still nothing. the power to the track usually you can here
the relay in the tender click , but nothing. checked the tether between the tender.
I read where Union Pacific is going to sue MTH and demand back payments and take
all of MTH UP models in there warehouse and destroy them.
wonder if i write UP and ask them to give me a tender for my MTH rail King Big Boy
before they smash up all of them really nice locomotives. Ill send them my used
tender for them to smash up with the rest of MTHs stock.
i called Dry bridge station where i bought the engine and they seem to belive it is a board shot in the tender. guess what the engine had less than 12 hours on it and it
is out of warranty.
I said this once ill say it again MTH will be the American Flyers of the 21st century.
Hello to All in the POT.

Nstrackman
MP N-369

That really sucks NS. It seems that UP is really being a pain to the point to where I should get rid of what I have of UP cars. That's sad that they're being so anal on that mess. I wish now that there are other Big Boy engines in roadnames other than UP.

My weekend has been good, served at my church this weekend serving on the video team doing background video images behind the band on the stage. I love working with audio and video and look to get into that as a full-time career. Temps got into the 40's today pretty much.

Also waiting on a pending job application I applied for last week, and have a good chance I will get it. Had to quit my previous one last Friday because the numerous safety problems they have had with their commercial vehicles (and their refusal to do anything about it) are beginning to be too much. Last truck I drove in smoked so bad when sitting or idling I had gotten a headache within a few hours. Quite embarassing sitting in traffic like that with such a polluting vehicle.

Anyway looking at the DCS video I gotten from OGR on Friday, and really enjoying watching it. Makes me want to get my DCS system in layaway out even sooner. Course, wont do any good until I get some PS2 engines.

Have a good evening all!

Chris

[Buckeye Riveter]

I didn't know Roy was 70. He looks younger, but not as young as I look. [:D]

Phase II of the layout is now connected to Phase I. Of course, now I'm working out all the bugs. The surprising thing was how well TMCC is working without new power drops. One switch has a problem, but some grinding should help it. Phase II added about 70 feet of track, so I'm now able to pull some really big consists.

Tomorrow I'll be back on Holy Ground in West Lafayette, Indiana. Going to hook up with my old college roomate who lives near there. Lies and stories will abound. His wife will keep us in line.

[ChiefEagles]

Watched the SOPRANOS and BIG LOVE and now to bed. Hope all have a good week. I've got Orlando Thursday thru Sunday. Bad part of this week is CPA and Taxes tomorrow. God bless and goooood night.

[dwiemer]

Top of the Mornin to y'all,
Chief, on the road again, I would be tired of that life. As it is , I missed church completely as we were saving a few lives. Kim and I are working on the layout plans, so hope to lay track soon. Gotta call Doug to order some fastrack and I may need to get some of the O-27 switches for the yard we talked about.
Chris, I too am on the media team with our church. It is a great way to serve and at the same time, get experience that may serve you in future endevors. I would suggest trying to be the goto guy for as many aspects as you can learn. Try lights, sound, and even your hand at production (Wed. nights seem to be a good time to learn). You can pick up on a particular aspect you like best, and also get an understanding for the whole production end of things.
Well, no CTT yet. I hope to get a surprise in the mail box today.
Dennis

[Jumijo]

I took the wife and kids to the New England Aquarium in Boston yesterday. The last time I was there was when I was a kid. Hasn't changed all that much. The kids didn't enjoy it nearly as much as my wife thought they would. They were scared of all the large fish!

From there we went to Faneuil Hall Market Place for luch. Well, if you call M&M cookies as big as their heads lunch. Saw a very good street performer!

Took a toy train break this weekend, but did get the new CTT on Saturday and was really impressed with the layouts. Great issue. Too bad it's 8 weeks until the next one.

The Sopranos are finally starting to get good. Next week's episode looks to be even better.

Jim

[laz 57]

Hi GIZ,
32 and nice to get to 57!!!! WOO HOO!!!!
Watched SOPRANOs a little slow but not too bad.

All have a good one.
laz57

[spankybird]

Good Morning All from NE Ohio

where the temp is 35 and going up to 52 with Blue Clear Skies

Doug – The trolley looks great. Very good idea of using the MTH handcar for power unit.

Chris – Good luck on the new job hunt.

Buckeye – glad to hear that Phase II is running.

Next OTTS meeting Friday, April 14 Note date change

Pick of the Day


All be safe
Tom

[Blueberryhill RR]

[code]Good Morning from Blueberryhill[/code]It is 29 degrees and SUNNY. Going up to 59 degrees and staying SUNNY. This is good.
I think I may take a walk today. I have to get out and get exercise.
Not much doing today. Have a little paperwork to do.
Buckeye....I like the way that Phase ll is looking. Good job.
Well, y'all have a great day. Keep sunny.
Chuck

[jefelectric]

Good Morning,

44 & Sunny here and going to the high 50s. Going to do a little work on the layout, do a little planting in the greenhouse & workout at the fitness center in the afternoon.

NStrackman, Sorry to here about your Big Boy. Unfortunately that seems to be the way things are going with engines. Glad I have spares. It seems a few are always sitting waiting for me to repair them. Just sent my Weaver VO-1000 back for repairs. After a few laps around the track the sound died. When I contacted them, they said it was probably the speaker, which leads me to believe they are aware of a speaker problem. They mailed me a prepaid UPS pickup label so it hasn't cost me anything to date except the hassle of packing it up. Better deal than I would get with the Big Two.

I'm not sure where I stand on the UP licensing thing. It is their trademark, but they sure could be a little more PR sensitive along with protecting their rights. I think they forget that we modelers are one of their biggest boosters. I would be in favor of the manufacturers charging a surcharge ( as some of the HO suppliers are doing) for the models of railroads that charge a licensing fee. Then the market could decide if it was willing to pay extra for a particular road name.

[Brutus]

Raining here and in the 50's though. Blah day. My back hurts, but I can't decide whether to take the day off or not - need to decide pretty soon.

[cnw1995]

Wow, so warm elsewhere - cold here in Chicago but sunny!
Tom, thanks for the compliment. I have to shim the motor assembly a bit more as it's wonderfully prototypical but too low - I feel sorry for my o scale passengers - Birney riding characteristics were notoriously rough but this is too much for them.
Jim, rest that back. My wife is flat out for all last week, and now this one. Tough w/ the youngsters - hopefully she'll not do too much so it can heal. I can only hope.
Chris, I too am on the production team at church. I'm the video director - direct the camera shots (we have three) for the weekend services, and transitions with video clips from two DDRs, graphics and DVDs. Most of our 'messages' are on video. I echo the advice you've gotten - volunteer to learn different things - I've learned how to do many things out of necessity - graphics, shading, cameras, switching and now this.

[ChiefEagles]

Morning all. Sunny and warming. Really love running conventionals [mainly post wars] with the CAB1 [with TPC]. Features make it so much easier to operate and all remote. CPA/Tax day for me. Ready and all itemized. Hope to do more work in the walkin today. That should make it turn real cold up Nawth. Dennis, good work [saving lives]. Jim, get those kids some rods and reels. Take them fishing and then tell them they can catch those "big'uns". Time for grits and coffee. God bless.

[dwiemer]

Hey guys,
I don't know how to post the link, but Ebay has a guy selling his entire collection. He is from Hollywood, FL. Has lots of good stuff several complete sets, accessories, starting bid $2,500. The auction ends the morning of the 29th. You may wi***o check it out. I would be interested, but if I were to purchase, I think it would be the end of my life[xx(]. Remember, they can only be soooo understanding, then its fireworks.
Dennis

[wrmcclellan]

Morning all!

A bit cloudy and supposed to start raining this afternoon. MAy have rain for next 3 days if the forecasters are right.

Steve - no worries. Good to see you are taking a look here every once in a while. Hope you get to feeling better as soon as possible. My post does read like it is a birthday. Buckeye was happy as he thought one of us TEXANS was gonna kick off sooner than he thought. I have quite a ways to go yet. At least that is my plan!

Chris - good luck. Things always work out for the best. The next job will be better.

Chief - great to hear that the TPC unit is working so well. I recall you got the TPC-300, right?

Dennis - mybe we should all pool our funds and bid. But then we would have to have a rumble to sort out who gets what from the collection!!

NS Trackman - this is an ooportunity to upgrade it to TMCC or DCS. From what I understand you still come out ahead pricewise. If you are staying conventional - try Dallee Electronics for an electronici e-unit and some steam sounds.

Spanky - I see things are "smokin'" at your place today!

Doug - yes - very cool on the trolley.

Have a great one all,
Roy

[Buckeye Riveter]

I have discovered that with my new trackage up and running, everything changes. The timing needed to run the trains, (Blueberry and the Chief will know what I'm talking about), is completely different than when I was running the original layout. I haven't had the head on crash, yet.

It's off to see the Wizard on the banks of the Wabash. [:D]

[FJ and G]

My daughter, in her 2nd year, just called from George Mason. Students are going crazy there.

[danrunner]

NSTrackman mentioned big problems with his MTH rig and said MTH will be the American Flyer of the 21st century.

What does that mean? I'm still a novice at this and miss some of the references. Thanks to anyone for the help.

PS Sorry abut you engine going kaput, NS.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Steve - no worries. Good to see you are taking a look here every once in a while. Hope you get to feeling better as soon as possible. My post does read like it is a birthday. Buckeye was happy as he thought one of us TEXANS was gonna kick off sooner than he thought. I have quite a ways to go yet. At least that is my plan!

Roy thqanks.

The found the proplem.
I hqve toxic levels of some sort of medicine that has been couseing me tremors and confuting.

They are slowly detoxing me.

You dont look seventy I should have known that sorry.

I look here everyday.

I miss takling to my frineds here. [:I]

[FJ and G]

well, my neighbor is on the warpath again, threatening me with police action if I let the beagle run on the nearby public forest, where there's no one but rabbits. I feel sometimes like moving to North Carolina where there's no leash laws. Walking a beagle on a leash isn't really my bag. I'll miss her rabbit calls. [:(]

(same neighbor complained so loudly to police about other neighbor's bassett hound,who used to escape the electric fence to chase rabbits, that the owners eventually took their hound to the pound. Very sad.