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

[mitchelr]

LAZ - great photos of the new layout.  I am impressed with the quick progress.  How do you like the FasTrack?

Mitch

[ChiefEagles]

Evening guys.  Just got back from Lowe's.  Wife is getting them to install ceramic tile [she's paying] on the back porch [she calls it the mud room but it was a screened in porch when the house was built in 40.  converted to a room sometime in the 50's].  Hey, a project she wanted me to do.  Put my foot down and said, "No, train layout first."   Also has chest freezer, washer and dryer to move [they are doing it].  Went to see The Devil Wears Proda [however you spell it as I'm not into fashion].  It was really a good movie.  Rained there but not in Roseyville.  Later

[1688torpedo]

Hello All!   Welcome back Jim A. Maybe the sound you heard was the 800lb Bear in the Chief's house making sure that there would be no more Grits Raids on the north & the Chief got nervous & it sounded like a loooonnng Trombone sound over the phone! Laz- You sure work fast. Nice looking layout you've got there. Jim C. Keep us up to date on Lucas. Dave- Good Luck on the Garden Railroad Magazine article. Gil Fin- Sorry about the loss of your Mother. Forgot to mention that earlier. Colin- Hope you have a nice time at the shore.Take Care all.

[BMRR]

Laz, the layout is looking good.

 

Stan.

[Anonymous]

Did we ever have a huge storm come through!  Looks like the Lord turned the lights off outside.  Anybody north of Central Illinois up toward Chicago get it?  Staightline wind/rain and hail - no tornado Thank God.

Jaabat set me straight with the Polar Express Berkshire switches. Boy I feel alittle stupid now.  The switches were right there.

All have a good night,

Dan

[jefelectric]

Laz,  Great pics, nice work on the layout.  I see why you put the plastic up at the corners, could be an expensive nose dive if you got carried away with the speed.  It is almost invisible in the pictures.  Is it correct, you have no switches on the layout?

David,  Be sure to keep us up to date on the article for Garden Railways.  That is the only Kalmback publication that I don't read on a regular basis.

All have a good evening.

[FJ and G]

THanks, guys; will definitley keep you up to date on when the article appears; probably won't submit it for a month, as I want to redo my rock cliff and do some other odds and ends stuff. I will try to get BB the beagle in one of the overall shots, as she will add a sense of "scale" to the railroad.

[FJ and G]

BTW, after doing this article, I'm planning a followup on a prototypical log rail RR using a modified R/C ATV that I got for $10 to operate on log rails (they had a line in Kentucky and other locales in US and abroad). The biggest challenge was to get the tram to not pop wheelies. I'm going to have the tram haul logs to a slack water area and dump them into the water (real water). It will be a bit of fun. I will be scratchbuilding a frame of wood for the loco and handturning wood wheels and axles for the log cars.

[csxt30]

Well, lots of action over on one of the other topics tonight !! I'm glad I didn't get involved !! I always come out the lookin' dumb !  I did get the grass mowed !! My new Mercedes arrived today ! No, it's just 1/43rd. scale diecast !! Only 4 dollars but 5 dollars shipping off e-bay. I think they were selling for 18 dollars when I saw it before at a hobby shop.

Tomorrow is our safety breakfeast for work, at Bob Evans !! I always eat to much, then don't want to work !!   

Well, here's one of my favorite shortline RR pictures, for "You Know Who "  !!

Thanks, John

[Anonymous]

Great picture  John.

 

I tried all day to get here and it must have been down.

 

Nothing to say now.

 

By the way, my mom passed away Monday.

Memorial service is Thursday afternon.

 

Just mentioned that.

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

It is hot and dark now in SE Indiana where the temps were over 90 today.  What a difference a day makes!  We went to the doctors at IU Med Center today, and they said no surgery was required at this point.  There is going to be nine weeks of chemo-therapy that should get rid of the ONE tumor that exists.  Surgery would only be an option if the chemo does not get rid of it.  I am grateful for the outpouring of support from all of you and from others.  I really do appreciate all the words and prayers of encouragement.  Please keep thinking about us during this next nine weeks as this will be no picnic either.  I believe it was Winston Churchill who said one time after a battle, "This is not the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning."  Believe me, from now on, whenever there is a prayer request here, I will be there for you as well.  Gil Finn, I wish to extend my condolences on the loss of your mother.  My wife had her mother pass 17 years ago and she still misses her as well. 

Dave (FJ and G), congrats on your article being selected.  It is a thrill to be published.  Please keep us posted as to when it will come out so I can get a copy.  To all (and especially Tmcc man), it was a good night as well as the soccer team my daughter and I play on won our first tournament game to advance to the championship game next Wednesday. 

I hope everyone had a good day, and thank you again everyone for your support.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

 

 

[mickey4479]

Hello.  Its 11:30 PM in KC and its about 87 degrees and humid does not begin to describe the wet feeling.  For the past few days, I get up around 6 AM for my 3 mile walk and thats about the end of outside tasks.  I had a cardboard mock up of a building on my layout that I was going to finish in wood this fall, but I decided to tackle it yesterday and today since it was dangerously hot both days.  The building turned out OK, nothing special, but it fills out an open spot.  I think we have one more day of intense heat and a cooler weekend ahead.  I have an MTH PRR RPO car on order and I believe the ship date is in July, but I will not hold my breath.  I like the new design of this site, although I know some preferred to keep the stars.   Hope all is well with each of you.  

[mitchelr]

MikeC - sounds like some pretty encouraging new that they will not have to do surgery.  We will keep your family in our prayers.

Stiller hotter than blazes although not record setting.   Hope the cool front gets here soon. 

TomS, LAZ and any other educators- I have been working on a research project trying to find examples, samples, webpages, articles, etc. that show how school administrators use technology to make decisions for staffing and scheduling, and how they use technology to plan and implement home and community support services.  If you have any ideas, drop me an e-mail.

Have a great day.

Mitch

[Jumijo]

Laz,

Your layout looks great! I think we'd all like to know more about it. I counted 4 different loops. Is that right or are there more? What did you use for the top, homasote? What are the dimensions of the table?

Great work in a short amount of time!

Jim

[Jumijo]

Got a lot done around the house yesterday. I mowed the lawn, put down some insecticide, did a few loads of laundry, made myself some dinner.

With the fam a good 120 miles away, I also had ample time to work on the layout last night. I got a lot done on the coaling facility, but feel that the color I painted the lot is too dark. Might have to lighten it tonight. Or better yet, I'll hit the train store and buy some kind of dirt colored ground cover.

Right next to the coal yard is the end of the layout. I was going to populate it with a couple dozen trees, but I think a nice hill would look better. More restfull. So I glued up a bunch of 1 inch foam panels. Tonight I'll shape them and maybe paint them with a base color. Or I'll invite Marylin Monroe over for a few glasses of champagne. It could go either way.

I'll be heading back up to the lake tomorrow morning. First stop will be the train store to look for some more post war bargains. Last weekend I bought a very nice early Lehigh Valley hopper and an even more pristine black NYC gondola. Both are 50 years old if they're a day. I ran both last night in a post war consist behind my 2025.

Jim

[IronHoarse]

Good Morning All,

      It is kind of humid here this morning.  Maybe we will get some rain.   Sure could use it. 

 

      The Tigers beat the White Sox last night , so things are looking up  for Tiger fans.  Go Tigers!

 

[ChiefEagles]

Man, the Coffee Pot has grown with lots of "sippers".    Sure is nice to get to know all the guys from around the country.  Off to a County meeting [too early] and then one at 5 PM until 9PM [means 10 getting home].  Sent an email to all the folks on the TCA District's email list about our visitor that sure was rude.  Us Southerners have another word for it [well two used together].  Jim, one word.  BEHAVE!!!   Have a good day and God bless all.

[Anonymous]

Humid here also and will be in the 90*-s.

 

Have a funneral to go to today and then I will pass some time making a steam donkey. A project I have had put a way for a while.

 

I didnt grow any tomatoes this year so I think I will stop by a road side stand and get a few for sandwiches.

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill.........

It's 72 degrees and a little foggy. Going up to 87 today and sunny. No rain until tomorrow. Humid.

Today, I will cut grass. I cut the side last night. 30 minutes. The front will take an hour and a half, today. The back takes a good hour. Wife likes to cut the back. We team up on it.

Found out that the Hobby Shop I was suppose to get the Madison set from, suddenly found out that they were out of stock. So, that is on hold for a few months. Williams is getting a boat in from China this month, so we will see what is on it. "Made in the USA" is getting scarce.

Well, time for breakfast. Talk more later.

Y'all have a great day.

Chuck

[laz 57]

Hi Giz,

  Little cooler today.

Got my workout in only a 4 miler and weights (light) got GOLF tonite and don't want to be too tight.

Thanks GIZ on the kudos of the layout.  The answer to your questions is yes I used the HOMASOTE and there are 4 loops two with 0-27 track, with a 0-54 curve and another with a0-42 curve and the other two loops are fastrack in 0-72 and 0-48.  And yes the fastrack is a little loud but when everything is turned on you can't tell.  I am planning to add two more smaller loops of 0-27 curves in to put a smaller conventional train and also just a 0-27 cicle for small handcars speeders etc.

I still have lots of stuff to do and if it stays this hot will get lots done?

All have a good one.

HAPPY FRIDAY EVE!

laz57

[jefelectric]

Good Morning,

John, CSX, Nice picture.

Mike C., Thanks for the update on your son's condition.  We pray for his recovery.

Jim,  Looks like you are making the best of your families absence.

Chuck, Sounds like you are waiting for your ship to come in!

Weather yesterday was the coolest in a while, not cool but cooler. Spent the morning doing yard work with the grandson. Most of the afternoon in the woodshop with him and finished one of our projects. Placed my stockyard on the layout, need to do some blending into the scene & populate with some cattle. Bought some Life-Like O gauge cattle, but I don't like the color they come in. Sort of a light brown and white. Don't resemble any beef cattle I have ever seen. Thinking of painting them to resemble Hereford and Angus. I'm not much of an artist but may give it a try.

Here is one for you computer guys. I recently collected the parts together to build myself a new computer. Thought I would go for the latest tech, so bought an AMD 64 bit proc. & motherboard to match. Got everything together and working. Installed a few programs with no problem. Tried to install antivirus (Trend Micro) and got an error message that it would not work on this platform. It turns out that, to my knowledge, there is not a reasonably priced antivirus that will work with Windows XP Pro X64. It appears that you have to go with the office version (expensive) of antivirus to get one that works. I talked to Bit-defender via live chat and they say they will have something out later this year. Anyone have any suggestions. Guess I will have to check some of the computer forums.

Going to stop at the LHS today and pick up a 180 brick I had ordered. Need to add another power block.

Enjoy your trains and stay cool.

[tschmidt]

Good morning everyone,

It is going to be warm here again and humid.  I guess after today it will cool down a little.  Hopefully the rain that is coming in tonight will hold out till I get home and get the grass cut. 

Laz-  The layout is progressing nicely.   You and Reggie are both making good headway. 

Gil- Sorry to hear about your mom. 

Mitch - I would like to see the research paper when you're finished.  I know that I spend a lot of time keeping the website updated so that the public gets a the latest information form the district.  Programs like PowerSchool are becoming more and more popular as they have a lot of ways to keep various records.  Good luck.

Buckeye- I really didn't want to see that picture of the lake this time of year.  Those days will get here soon enough!!

Have a great day everyone.
TomS

[Locomotive681]

 

Good morning from hot hot cortland ny just wanted to check in and see how chief was acting  If hes bad Ill be  sure to send down 100 string of tankers filled with NY maplesurup and the railline is Susquhanna with them bumblebee engines pullin for your town Chief Ill shut them grit factries down. On the other hand I have been ruin my railking 0-4-0 America steel loco with some postwar and railking diecast today will run rmt beep buddy 2035 and 224 2026 and turbine hence my name.I am going to start a poll If you are from the south you have to pick a roadname and a loco from said road name same thing for the North.

Mike.G Keep the trains rollen.

Give Me Trains Or Death

[cnw1995]

Good point, ironhoarse.

Beautiful work, Laz - what is that incline-thing in your last photo?

Thanks for the update, MikeC.

Dan, absolutely ferocious storms coming through - all night one after another and now all morning. Lotsa lightning. Heavy rain - then a lull and then another one. Running this thing wirelessly to hopefully  keep it from getting fried. Thank goodness all the utilities are buried here - so much for outside work - and it's 100% humid - oh well - good excuse to go into the basement

[ChiefEagles]

Back from County meeting.  Got a few hours before the next one.  Think I will finish grinding the trimmings.  OHH its hot but not like the last few days.  My joke for the day:  The guy that has posted about another forum is getting it.  He was rude, crude and then arrogant.  You notice I did not call him a Yankee.  Would not even put that you Yankees.

Have a great afternoon.

[Anonymous]

Your exactly right Chief.  He was very rude - here's hoping no more posts from him

Doug, I was watching the doppler this morning.  It was looking like northern Illinois was getting bad storms.  Hope you have power to run the A/C!  We had one more line come through this morning about 8am but it passed through quickly.

Thanks,

Dan

[cheapclassics]

Good afternoon all,

It is cloudy and muggy in SE Indiana with temps in the high 80s today.  It is nice to make a "normal" post for once.  Thank you all again for your thoughts.  I am off work this week and so I am taking it easy today for once.  My wife will no doubt think of chores for me to do today and the rest of the week, but it has been so dry here I will not have to cut the grass for a while.  The rains and storms Doug was talking about are headed our way some time in the near future so we will have to see how it goes.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

 

 

 

[laz 57]

DOUG,

   The incline is a coal breaker. This is where the coal goes after it has come up from the ground and then get broken to more managable size.  I made it from wood and it is a replica from the one the they used in the movie The Molly Maguires.  The movie was filmed near my home town of Hazleton, Pa. back in 1968.  My father helped build the breaker there.  Now the whole town is a history trip set back in the 1800s and the breaker is now getting redone. 

laz57 

[dougdagrump]

Bob M., Included you will find one of the most valued decision making tools available at any price. No matter what the issue, personnel, systems implementations, or curriculum planning it can help you along your way to your needed answers.

 

 

[ChiefEagles]

Bob Keller posted the stats on the new forum and the number of members that are subscribers.  Its locked so I could not reply.  I feel so good about the "new" forum and CTT that I just renewed for 3 years.  What the heck, I got a pay check from Pro Mariner.  Spend it now or spend it later [and save a few $$ by 3 years].  Getting ready to go to another County meeting.  Send rain.  Grass is looking bad again.  Had to soak garden.  Jim A, think the storm is going to remake and go yuor way.   Told you so.  Later.