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

[Roger Bielen]

Dave - Great photos, thanks.

Your comment about meetings holds true for our government, afterall Congress is nothing but mettings. Also, for months prior to my former employer downsizing, me included, it seems I spent more time sitting in boring, meaningless meetings, almost just for the sake of meeting, than doing productive work.

[tmcc man]

I found this on that site I put all my videos on. To me it was pretty disturbing.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=y1ZIGQQKq8M

[Anonymous]

This is for Colin and any other young person on here, for us old guys as well.
I got this in an email a while back.

When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in
a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar & the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front
of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and
empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then
asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.
He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between
the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They
agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of
course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar
was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes.! "

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and
poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space
between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to
recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the
important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends,
and your favorite passions--and if everything else was lost and only they
remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things
that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything
else--the small stuff."

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room
for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all
your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the
things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things tha! t are
critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take tim e to get
medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There
will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of
the golf balls first--the things that really matter. Set your priorities.
The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee
represented.

The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no
matter how full your life may seems, there's always room for a couple of
cups of coffee with a friend."

[Buckeye Riveter]

Where's BUCKEYE?

Buckeye is in the Heart of Dixie, Nashville, TN dodging tornadoes! Boy, when they catch wind of you down here they really get riled! Haven't caught me yet, but they sure are looking for me as I hide out here at the Starbucks running the computer. Did you know that the Batman Building is in Nashville?

Nashville's trains station is another marvel of railroad architecture.

Chuck and Colin, yes waiting is the worst part. Pain with waiting is even worse. Take care.

[wrmcclellan]

Buckeye - Chief has it in for you - watch out and don't blow away!

Sustained 20+mph winds here since noon have brought tons of dust from West Texas and filled the pool (which I had cleaned this morning) with several bushels of oak tree flowers (some call it pollen) and some leaves (all from next door neighbors trees - I really hate trees). This fine stuff plus the dust have turned the pool green. Next it will clog the filter. Roger - you can still tune back on that pool you are building!

Buckeye - go visit the replica of the Parthenon in Nashville built for the 1897 exposition. They claim it is full size but others say it is 3/4 scale. It is in a very nice park. http://www.nashville.gov/parthenon/

[Roger Bielen]

Buckeye - try the Stock Exchange for dinner. Its downtown, used to be the trading/sales house for the livestock moving through. Offices were upstairs, stock downstairs. An interesting place.

Those tornadoes are heading for GA, the northern part of the state is under a tornado watch till 5 a.m., the rest of us severe weather watch.

[Roger Bielen]

Roy, we have are share of pollen here, 5000+ count this past Wed. I love when my truck turns from dark green to a light yellowish green.

Buckeye, in the park that Roy mentions there is also a steam engine on display, I don't recall the RR nor the class. Last time I was up there the Parthanon was under renovation, maybe 5 yrs. ago, I would hope they're done by now.

[Anonymous]

WE have been getting it here all evenging. We are under a tornado watch untill the front passes about midnite.

I have turned off and unpluged the computer twice today.

[tmcc man]

Good night everyone and everyone that has a tornado warning be safe and may the
Lord be with you, AMEN.

[spankybird]

Good Morning All from NE Ohio

where the temp is 31 and going up to 52 with mostlyBlue Clear Skies

Train Show this Sunday, April 9, Medina Fairgrounds


Next OTTS meeting Friday, April 14 Note date change

Buckeye – hope that you held onto your hat! Have a save trip home.

Our bad weather, which wasn’t all that bad, was hard rain and heavy flog.

Today we will be working down at the museum.


Pick of the Day


All be safe
Tom

[tmcc man]

Good morning everyone

Spankybird Tom, you must have had nothing compared to Cincinatti, where my dad was yesterday. His original flight was at 5PM, ant the flight he finally got on was the 12AM flight. He got home here at 2:30.

[Blueberryhill RR]

[code]Good Morning from Blueberryhill [/code]Currently, it is 37 degrees. Cloudy. Going
up to 48 and SUNNY. Had some nasty rain last night and this morning..

Well, I have good news !!!! I got a call from my Pulmanary Specialist yesterday, and
it appears that all I need is my right lung drained, and be put on a very strong
antibiotic. This made my day. I will keep you guys posted.
OH, today is my young, beautiful, wife's Birthday. I forgot her age. ( was told to )
Well, I will go for now........
Y'all have a great day.
Chuck

[mitchelr]

Gret News Chuck[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]. I know you and your beautiful wife are relieved.

Have a great day.

Mitch[8D]

[tmcc man]

Chuck, that is great news. I am happy for you.

Spankybird Tom I found out from my dad this morning that when he was on a flight scheduled to leave at 6:30, there was a hail storm, and they had to go back to the terminal because they had to inspect the plane. It was shut down because it would not be safe to fly because of the dents in the wings, and the body of the plane. He didn't leave until about 11:45 last night.

[dwiemer]

Morning guys,
First, hope y'all start feeling better, seems to be a number of the forum suffering from some illness or allergies. We have a very high pollen count as we are surrounded by Long leaf pines and pecan groves, and yes we suffer from allergies and a fine coating of the yellow crud.
Dr. John, congratulations on the fine work by your son. While his efforts have paid off, I am sure he had a fine environment to work in. While he may be going to those other guys, UAB, instead of Georgia, I still wish him well.
Roger B, I grew up in that neck of the woods too, and I did a fair amount of my clinical work there. One very good restaurant in Clifton on Piaget ave is the "Belvadier", if you are looking for a great meal. A little on the $$ side. If on the other hand, you want a good brew with your friends, the Harp and Bard is a nice Irish establishment and I believe that Fridays they have some good entertainment.
Chief, don't worry about any Yankee invasion or infiltration by Buckeye spies, we have them under close watch and if the tornados don't move them on, we will force them to eat grits and convert them to the confederacy. He will be singing "Dixie" by the end of his stay.
Thor, Don't worry about scale or anything else. Trains are made to enjoy. Live out a fantasy life in minature. I too have HO items and have had Lego structures to add to the scenery. If you can bring good clean fun to a child and perhaps have her to learn some life lessons on the way, great!
Everyone have a great day.
Dennis

[csxt30]

Good Morning Everyone !! well daughter returned for another day or so & now gone home, sure was fun with the little one & I do have a few things to repair now !! [:D]
Glad Chuck is getting somewhere now on his illness. Boy, this lasted a long time.
[bday] to Chucks beautiful wife !! You're very fortunate !! [:)]
Dennis : There are a lot more secret covert missions in the planning stages that will be getting underway soon !! Look out if you hear some one singing Dixie with a New York accent !! [(-D][(-D][(-D]
Hope everyone has a nice weekend !!
Thanks,

[Roger Bielen]

When I talk to friends I grew up with I realize that I did get out of NJ at the right time, they all speak with a strange accent, I call it Brooklyneeze. I think mine is more southern MD having lived near Annapolis for 15 yrs.

We dodged the bullet again last night, the really bad weather passed to the north of us and/or died when reaching Atlanta. A few scattered thunder storms moving through with drizzle the remainder of the time so far.

This is going to be a clean the train room day and then watch a race at 3pm.

[dwiemer]

John, thanks for the heads up.
dennis

[Brutus]

Chuck - Happy birthday to your wife!

We were out at some friends last night - got home about midnight and there was a message from the roofer. They showed up this morning at about 9AM and started work tearing off the old roof. They are supposed to replace all the felt and stuff, so I'm going to check on them again in a little while. When I went out earlier, there were 4 guys working on it and it looked to me like they were about 1/2 way done stripping off the old roof.

Meanwhile, the neighbor is working on his yard. I might just ask if he'd like some help with his fence....

What a day this is turning into!

[jefelectric]

Good morning,

We had a bit of a storm last evening. Today, just a nice soaking rain. A few minutes ago I went outside to check the greenhouse and it was then giving us a little freezing rain. It has gotten colder since sunup. To go down to 27 tonight, hope this is winters last gasp.

Chuck, glad to hear there is nothing serious, although having a lung drained doesn't sound like a lot of fun.

Dr, John, Congratulations on your sons accomplishments. You are justly proud.

Colin, I hope you are feeling better. Can't be a lot of fun for you being housebound so much.

I have been having a little problem with the DCS, I think I need to run the track cleaner. It has been working fine up til now.

Have a good weekend.

[cnw1995]

Good afternoon all, sunny and cold here in Illinois. Great news about your lung, Chuck - I'm sure it makes enjoying your gracious wife's birthday even sweeter. Had a nice busy day so far (dumping more grass seed, fixing some furniture, raking out the Little Leage fields, fixing the tramp), and now a calm while my assistant, our youngest naps - I'm prepping for our small group mtg., listening to Space Patrol on the old time radio program I've been listening to every Sat afternoon for the past 16 years.

[lionel2986]

spanky - I like the way your track looks, very realistic. Makes me want to reconsider converting from O-27 to O track. What did you use to add additional track ties? I'm thinking of cutting chip board, painting it brown and gluing the strips of chip board to my o-27 rails is that how you did it? I also noticed you have some very large engines, they take the 0-27 curves fine without derailing? I wanted to go O because it feels more reliable than O-27. What kind of track do you use in the turns that your large engines take? My largest engine is a Lionel Daylight from around 1991-1992. I don't know it's minimum radius, I run it on O-31 and it barely makes it. How did you get your smoke to look more gray? mine is white and less "puffy" compared to yours.

[spankybird]

Lionel2986 – so many questions, here we go:

QUOTE: spanky - I like the way your track looks, very realistic. Makes me want to reconsider converting from O-27 to O track.

1. Q: What did you use to add additional track ties? These ties are made of foam. There was a place in Canada that I bought them from.

Great Plains Hi-Rail
4707 Sherwood Drive
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada S4R 4B7

There was like 200 ties for $13.25. I don’t remember the exact amount of ties per bag. These are made of a foam rubber, so it also makes the trains run quieter.
2. I'm thinking of cutting chip board, painting it brown and gluing the strips of chip board to my o-27 rails is that how you did it? Nope, I place the foam ones under the rails.
3. I also noticed you have some very large engines, they take the 0-27 curves fine without derailing? They all run on O27 track without any derailing.
4. I wanted to go O because it feels more reliable than O-27. What kind of track do you use in the turns that your large engines take? It’s all 027 with 027 curves. I have some of both K-line and Lionel track and use K-line switches.
5. I wanted to go O because it feels more reliable than O-27. Actually, the 027 track is more prototypical in height than 031 trarck.
6. What kind of track do you use in the turns that your large engines take? It’s all 027 with 027 radius.
7. My largest engine is a Lionel Daylight from around 1991-1992. I don't know it's minimum radius, I run it on O-31 and it barely makes it. How did you get your smoke to look more gray? mine is white and less "puffy" compared to yours. It really is white, but with lighting and trick photo it looks more gray to black. The ‘puffy’ part is because it’s an MTH engine.

[FJ and G]

Tom,

Your 027 looks better than O or RealTrax on your layout.

Here ya go crew; a California special... (OOOOUCH):

http://www.dumpalink.com/media/1132916301/Trains_Smashes_Into_Truck

Hard to see the train slowing down. GUess it takes a mile or 2. [:D] nice no one was hurt; probably just a bit surprise.

[dwiemer]

Dave,
thanks for the video. Reminds me of the Hess truck VS. Passenger train in Florida a number of years ago. I wi***hese guys would learn.
Dennis

[Anonymous]

Good evening everyone, I am finally back home from the long trip in VA! Got in this morning and had a friend bring me home. I left my car home safely in the garage since I didnt want to leave it out while I was gone.

Telling you though, it feels great to be home! Back to my own warm bed and all. Took a nice long shower and went right to bed shortly after. Just now gotten back up. But what a temp change though; in VA yesterday afternoon it fely like summer with pretty warm temps. Now that I am back home the familiar cold is back, heh.

Hope everyone here has a blessed weekend.

Chris

[FJ and G]

Chris,

Wait till August and July in Virginia. It feels like Hades. [:D] (that's why Southerners drink Sweet Ice tea.)

[FJ and G]

Geeee, I've heard of Seaboard Air Line,

But, Pan Am Airlines??????

http://www.guilfordrail.com/

CSX airlines anyone?

[laz 57]

HI GIZ,
It was 45 and cold windy snowy sleety and just plain ugly today.
Got to run my trains this afternoon cause the MASTERS was also on rain delay.

BUCKEYE hope you put some rocks in your pants pockets?
Watch your topknot down there in the south?

CHUCK glad to here the news I prayed for you tonite at church.

laz57

[Anonymous]

This is the finest locomotive that was ever built.
this was the finest locomotive that was ever under steam.
in my opinion this is the finest model of the finest period.

Hey CSXT-30, Iam leaving in the morning with this machine and
heading to Ohio. Iam going to layover at Portsmoth and Monday heading to
Sandusky.

Nstrackman
MP-N-369