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

[cnw1995]

Morning all. Dank, cold, windy & rainy here in Chicago. Didn't get to run anything last night due to some family stuff. But the good news is the layouts probably up through Wed now since I work late tonight.
John, Mt Seaman and Eagles Ridge are coming back bigger than ever. Haven't the bandwidth to think about a new layout plan - hmmm, I have something like 11 by 19 ft. What can I do differently with that? I'll also have to see what I can work with when they seal the top of the crawl - I don't have the $ or know-how to fill it in with concrete.
Go Laz and Sask! Join the club - remember to send Me a check as well.

Go Electric, Dr. John. That's what my mower is! 'course that's going up next :)

Wish I lived nearer Jim, I'd take care of your lawn. Though you might'nt want me to - mine looks so awful. Mickey, I am tired just reading about your working.

[johnandjulie13]

Good Morning All:

A rainy day in Chicagoland. I had a great day golfing yesterday. We do not get too many 70 degree days in April.

Doug:

What's with the radon? What has to be done that is forcing you to dismantle your layout? I must have missed any previous discussion on this issue.

Sask_Tinplater:

Twenty years from now, you will look back on how quickly your college years went by. Ahh, to be young again...

Jim Fortner:

I am glad to hear that you are feeling better. Good luck with the lawn service.

Regards,

John

[JeffPo]

Just hold off on the rain until I get home from work today. I'm riding the motorcycle. :)

Noticed what looked like an RV or bus parked on a spur near the NC State Fairgrounds (Raleigh, NC) on Saturday. The name is "Spirit of R.F. Silbaugh". Anyone know what this is used for?



JeffPo

[spankybird]

Good Morning All from NE Ohio

where the temp is 43 and going up to 50 with overcast skies. Where did the heat go ! ! !


OTTS Meeting this Friday. Anyone wishing to join us can e-mail me for directions. Updates on York and OTTS meetings with MTH and Lionel for the museum layout.

JeffPo – very interesting pic. Maybe CSXT30 can tell us.



Pick of the Day


All be safe
Tom

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

It is rainy and cool in SE Indiana with the temps heading down into the 50s this afternoon. It is still just April and we got spoiled by all the early warm temps. I did get the yard mowed last night. I ate too much too late for supper and did not get as much sleep as I wanted. I may have to tape "Veronica Mars" tonight and turn in early.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[FJ and G]

sorry haven't kept up here. Kinda depressing to see 20 pages haven't read yet. This post really has been moving along recently at full throttle!

[Roger Bielen]

Jeffpo, looks like a track inspection unit. When I was working in sight of the CSX mainline I used to see similiar units, though contractor owned, go down the line every few months. I don't know what they are measuring nor the technology. Maybe CSX, a.k.a. John can add some info.

[Roger Bielen]

Temps are in the upper 80's here this afternoon with T storms due to move in tonight.

I think I'll fool with trying to open a K-Line alum. obsv. car this afternoon, the lights went out. That's a problem with the lighting system they used in passenger cars, the bulbs are in series and if one goes the car goes dark. I have some bulbs they sent me one other time for a different style car, they have two different ratings and no indication which is used. May try installing LED's instead is I have problems.

[Brutus]

The team cut my lawn in about 15 minutes flat man - takes me about 1.5 hours with a push (self propelled) mower. Cost me $30. They'll cut it again next week and also clean out the stuff at the back of the yard for another $50, I think was the proposed price. Wasn't sure if that was just for the back job or included the lawn cut, so I'll have $80 on hand.

[dougdagrump]

Jim, You're going to get spoiled......[swg]

I was going to be workintg on our yard but the weather is not being co-operative, get things ready but the lawn didn't dry enuff to cut and now it's cool, overcast and kinda drizzly. [:(]
Good Grief, for what it cost for the [censored] gas for the lawnmower I used to be able to fill my car. [:(!]

[Roger Bielen]

Just finished repairing the lights on the obsv. car. One buld on each circuirt was burned out. Of course the bulbs I have from K-Line are not the right ones, they burn extremely bright compared to the others. I removed the burned out bulbs and jumped across their connecting point and all worked. I added a diode into the feed to reduce power, the bulbs are still as bright as before. I added the diode to the point that it appears the feed connected to the printed board, I'll have to check and make sure that there isn't another feed point at the rear from the marker lights.

Overall opening the car wasn't too difficult once I saw how it was assembled.

[csxt30]

Good Afternoon Everyone !! Love when the guys ask me a question !! [:D][:D] That is I'm pretty sure, a track Geometry Inspection car. It checks for all the defects on the mainlines, in conjunction to FRA rules. Depending on how sophisticated it is & what equippment is in it, it may be able to take pictures of spots in the track & all sorts of things it checks. There was a sight that I lost that tells all about these cars. Much like the Sperry Rail cars do. I think Roy really knows a lot or Lionelsoni had info on this stuff a while back. Now where is NSTrackman when you need him !! He probably has worked with these in the past. Thes cars I know see a lot more things than a track inspector sees. Those are the little pick-up trucks you might see going down the mainline sometimes. Up here, I've only seen the Sperry Rail Cars, which are really nice. They look like old coaches or trolleys !
All have a nice evening !
thanks,

[jefelectric]

Hi Gang,

Mitch, Not your retirement party, is it?

Dr. John, Do you realize that you bought a Yankee trimer? Made in Vermont, unless they have moved production to China.

Laz, Are you scheduling your 5 star post for Friday so you can Party all weekend?

Doug, I must have missed the post about the radon problem also. Feel like I came in at the middle of a discussion. What is the problem?

Jeff, That inspection car is interesting. John gave us the lowdown on it. You might have to go to the trains forum to get more information on it if you want details. Some very knowlegable people over there on prototype rail operations.

Tom, That engine is pretty impressive coming down the track, What is it? Or should I ask Colin. I can see C&O on the tender buy I am not expert enough to identify it from the front view.

[dougdagrump]

OK, who kidnapped John and put in a new photo ? [:o)]

[Anonymous]

Hello All in the POT[:D][:D]
CSXT-30 last week we had the Sperry Car(now a truck).
we had a good operator his name I belive is Ben Hall.
He is one of the better operators that SRS has. he can pick up on a small bolt hole crack
traveling 20 mph. Funny this happened one time we had a piece of rail on the main one
at the signal at Pando, that thing was mushroomed out so bad that the ball of the rail was less
that 1/2 inch thick and the top was about 6 in wide but the sperry cant find any defect and there was a thermite weld in the rail in question. i got so rough that a engineer call me and told me that it rode rough. after a slow order it was changed. and we sent that rail to the test lab and still No defect.

Nstrackman

[tmcc man]

Jefelectric that engine is a C&O Allegheny.

Hi guys,
Just wanted to say hi, and now I gotta go.

[jefelectric]

dougdagrump,
I changed it to the one Roy took at York.

[Anonymous]

Good evening, everyone!

Well, my first year of university is officially over. I finished my English final this afternoon. All we had to do was write two essays from five possible topics that were given to us on the novels we read. I confess that I was rather disappointed in the topics given, but am quite confident that I did well on it. I still can't believe the school year's done. It seems like yesterday that I was just getting geared up for university and didn't quite know what to expect. I'm certainly in no big ru***o finish, though. I definitely agree with those who say that these are the best years of your life.

Getting close to that fifth star. I can smell it already.

[Roger Bielen]

Time to call it a day, night all.

[FJ and G]

So many train and other projects and 100% DID withdrawal from TV; sort of like quitting smoking.[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]. But now my TV fine arts IQ is in the moron stage..[:(]

My TV IQ now is zero but I've been able to progress on the train layout and do a variety of various and sundry other things

[mitchelr]

jefelectric - No, it was not a retirement party for me. One of the real good guys in our Tech Services Department who had been around for a long time retired. He will be missed.

Mitch[swg]

[jefelectric]

David, There is a topic over on the Atlas O forum that I know you would enjoy. Maybe you have seen it. It is titled "This is it !!!! No more dead spots !!!"

[csxt30]

John : Good picture !! Roy is pretty good with a camera !![:D]
You guys wouldn't believe, but we just got done refixing the gas tank on my truck again ! One of the new lines we brazed on the pump started leaking, guess I didn't have it positioned just right & hit the frame up there. Anyway, we got her done in about 4 hours this time ! Now I know that tank like the back of my hand !! [:D][:D]
Laz is sandbagging, on getting his next star !! [:D][:D]
Sask is really closing in now !! [:D][:D]
Good to see NSTrackman on here !! [:D][:D]
Thanks,

[ChiefEagles]

Worked till dark. Cut trees, limbs with chainsaw and pruned all the shrubs at widow lady's. Got up pinecones in widow lady's yard. Then raked the pinestraw for Pam [a truck load packed]. Then mowed three yards [mine, widow's and Mexican's next door]. Got ina nd took shower. Ate at 8:30. Tstorm coming. Signing off. Watching movie on TCM. Jimmy Stewart adn Kim Knovak. Don't make them like that anymore. God bless.

[wrmcclellan]

Really cooled off today. High this afternoon was 63 degrees. Supposed to stay in 70's for the rest of this week.

Our one good chance for rain vanished with this front that went rhough. Lots of threats and not a drop.

John (CSXT) - have to thanks LAZ's better half Pam for that photo! Glad you got your car fixed finally. Nothing worse than when you cause the new problem your self. Boy have I done that!

LAZ - get that 5th star!

Sask - congrats on finishing your first year!

Have a great evening all!
Roy

[Brutus]

G'night guys - I'm worn out. Got excited and started slamming legos together to make a water tower. It's okay, but not what I really wanted. I'd like a round one. Have to buy more curved bricks! Also need to figure out a pulley system. Watching South Park - Their little movie warped my fragile mind! LOL

[FJ and G]

Thanks, John, I'll go over there and check er out.

[laz 57]

HI GIZ,
32 and chilly here to get to 68?
Had some very windy conditions last nite, no damages.
I'm close to that all important fifth star but SASK is closer.
JELECTRIC, nice pic in your name was that from the group pic at YORK?
All have a good one.
laz57

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

It is a lot cooler this morning in SE Indiana with temps in the 30s heading to the 50s. Yesterday was a very long day. Someday I may get into the whys and wherefores, but maybe tonight I will get some sleep. At least I did not have to drive today. I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[FJ and G]

Today we get a quick glimpse of the Dead Sea, after leaving Israel’s West Bank, exiting through this checkpoint and entering southern Israel. The photos show the central portion of the Dead Sea, which incredibly has been drying up so fast, that it now consists of 2 Dead Seas, divided by a dried up portion. Proposals have been made for more than 100 years now of diverting Mediterranean or Red Sea water to refill the dying Dead Sea, as well as generating power, as the water from the ocean flows downhill.

The mountains across the sea are in Jordan, which actually is a part of the historical Holy Land.

The air here was thick with hazy ozone because at more than 400 feet below sea level, we’re now at the world’s lowest point. The thick ozone, btw, helps protect against skin cancer.

We’ll revisit the Dead Sea again further south in a future posting and even take a dip in the salty water. In the next posting, we’ll visit one of my favorite spots in Israel, Ein Gedi, a veritable oasis in the Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea.









There are dozens of more stops will be making. If you’ve not been following this series, here are the Coffee Post pages to find the previous ones:

Tel Aviv 622

Caesarea 624

Armegeddon 645

Nazareth 661

Galilee 673

Mount of Beatitudes 675

Capernaeum 677

Dan Part I 688

Dan Part II 792

Hermon 794

Jordan 797

Beth-Shan 804

Jordan Valley 807