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

[jonadel]

Unbelievable weather here this morning, 59 when we got up and supposed to hit 67 this afternoon, talk about balmy. I'm going to mow one more time and then winterize the beast.

Here's two pics of the hobo villiage, progress is being made, very time consuming.

Jon

[cnw1995]

V. warm here today too - already 56 and kind of misty. I'm uncomfortably aware I'm wearing too many layers today. Ugh. As I went to pick up the newspaper before leaving today, I realized one of my neighbors had 'added' to my garbage waiting to be picked up by the curb today. Must've been done between 11 pm when I bought it out and 530 am when I was leaving. I don't mind so much - I could probably guess it's someone with too much of their own trash. Anyway, there was a perfectly good big 'ol foos-ball table in the pile. I called the kids to rescue it before the street pickers come by to do so (we have vans and pick-ups coming by every week to go through the garbage - especially 'round the holidays) That's a happy thing for them - a good project to try to make work. I was doing the New York Times crossword yesterday on the train home and found my first toy train reference in one of those puzzles: 'toy train purchase' with the answer 'set' - maybe it's some sort of a sign...;)

[ChiefEagles]

Morning gang. Doing as good as you can expect. Jon, great pictures. Jealous as I'm on "layout delay". Shave and shower time here. Then rest. God bless all.

[jonadel]

Chief--

The good thing about "layout delay" is all the planning and redefining your ideas you can do in your head and on paper.

The bad thing about "layout delay" is "layout delay", your time to actually begin the building process will come along quickly, this just gives you a little extra time to get more organized.

Jon[:)]

[Buckeye Riveter]

Wonders never cease! Here I am at a hotel in West Virginia and I can still get on the forum and even write a posting.

Chief, you take care of yourself and do what Mrs. Chief tell you to do immediately or faster. [:D]

[spankybird]

Good Morning All,

This morning NE Ohio has heavy FOG with temp at 52 and going to 65 with light rain. Yes it’s Fall. Last nights trip home from work, which is normally 40 minutes took over 1 ½ hours with 4 different accidents on the interstate. I can’t wait for the first snow and see how they drive.

Buckeye, good to see that they have phones down there. Do they have indoor plumbing there [?]

Pick of the day

[daan]

Chief, if you take your time planning the layout, you won't have to tear down the whole setup each time you want to change things. On paper that's easier..
Today the rain doesn't stop. It's not cold, but very nasty to set one step outside.. And I have to get grocery's in today...
Anyway, all the best and stay safe. And Tom, I like your greyhound!

[ChiefEagles]

Morning gang. Feel better [knock on wood] today. Pass due to take pain meds. Will see if I can get by and then use OTC Tylenol. If works, will have turned the pain corner. Cloudy and messy here today. Hope everyone has a great day and God bless all.

[ChiefEagles]

PEEEEWWW, this coffee has been left int he pot all day. Everyone sick? working? goofing off? Made it since 5 AM without Perkiset [sp]. Hope to continue on now. WAKE UP GANG. I'm the one that has been on drugs. [;)]

[spankybird]

They must be on the Lionel site. I couldn't get on.

[dougdagrump]

I tried to log on and everything LOCKED UP.[|(]

[prewardude]

I've been on since about 6:45 EST. Mr. Calabrese is very professional. They are going to post a transcript on Lionel's site. There have been some pretty good questions... I've been trying to ask about the future of prewar repros, but he seems to be overwhelmed with questions - 451 people over there, right now!

[Buckeye Riveter]

I'm back from WV. That has to be one of the best train watching states in the country. Coal, chemical, lumber and cars are all moving through that state following the river up the mountains.

[daan]

Yesterday was seattle on TV (railaway) with the amtrack machines and the odd looking passenger hispeed luxury trains.. Why did they use only one axle between the cars?? It might be enough to handle the weight, but it isn't comfortable since every knock in the track is given through to the cars. If you use 2 axles, like the tgv in France, the bumps are divided over the 2 axles and their trucks and not straight into the car resting on it...
Anyway, near seattle they also visited a museum train with one of those old diesel engines (6axles, looking like a u-boat with a porthole lense on the headlight)
Nice to see them on TV, I'm getting a bit bored of the swiss railway's, norwegian railways and the denish buddcars.
Hope everyone is ok, and stay safe all.

[spankybird]

Good Morning All,

NE Ohio is still in the FLOG, with light rain and temp 52 deg. Same as yesterday.

Buckeye, good to see your home.

Jon – Hobo jungle is coming along nicely. Pics are great.

End of the Week


all be safe

tom

[ChiefEagles]

Morning gang. Hope all are well. Welcome back home Buckeye. Think I have turned the corner on this getting well thing. Taking Tylenol now instead of the real "dope". Wife thinks so too. She is in bed watching TV instead of taking care of me. [;)] She has been a great trooper and nurse. [^] Have a good one and God bless.

[cnw1995]

TGIF! Warm but misty today - same weather as Ohio. Our 'free' foos ball table (I mentioned earlier) looks great. It flips over to be a pool table - even had a few balls in the pockets. I wonder which of my neighbors 'gave' this to us. I had a nice railfan experience yesterday. Took the baby up to the local SSA office to swap his name on his SSN card. The office is in a nondescript building that abuts a UP branch line that rarely sees traffic. No sooner than I point it out to the kids than the UP roars by 6 ft away with 2 GP20s, a few hoppers, gons and an MP15AC on the rear - looked dead in tow...Glad to hear you on the mend, Chief.

Almost forgot to tell you - on a lark, on our way home from the SSA, we stopped at a local 'Farm and Fleet' - it's a rural superstore. What a neat toy selection - an entire wall of Ertl and 1:64 farm stuff. Everything imaginable from a real farm in miniature. I have to come back (without kids) and add a few farms to my empty acreage.

[jonadel]

Thanks for all the comments about the hobo camp, the boss has worked every night on that area and as you can tell she enjoy's the fall colors. Every one of those trees is made indivdually and then placed into the hydrocal foam rocks, we should be able to fini***he area this weekend and then hit the lumber yard by Sunday. I'm starting to feel that we may not have everything completed by the open house, first Sat. in Dec.

Here's one more pic, everyone have a wonderful weekend.

Jon

[Roger Bielen]

I haven't had much time to work on the trains recently, I've been refinishing a bunk bed for the grandddaughters. My spare time is spent with sander in hand.

I did have a few minutes to stop in Memory Station (Watkinsville, GA) yesterday, for those of y'all in the area he has the Lionel houses/buildings on sale, I believe they were all at $20. I'll have to see if I have room to fit any on the layout.

He has no concern for with the Lionel situation, it's normal business practice to buy time.

Granma took the girls to see Polar Express last Sat., they really enjoyed it. I was working and they left before I got home, guess I'll wait a few moths and get it on DVD.

[1688torpedo]

Hello everyone! Glad to hear ChiefEagles is doing much better.Spankybird has some very nice layout photo's,looks like he should have Tom McComas over to video his Christmas & Basement Layouts.Picked up a prewar 1684 from the Village Train Shop in Perry,Oh that is restored and it is a Beauty! Looks better than a mint condition 1684 and runs like a top to boot.Hopefully the 1688 will be ready here in the next 2-3 weeks.Can hardly wait! Have a nice day everyone!...........Keith.

[spankybird]

Hey Keith,

Have you driven past my house and see the outside lights on [?]

[Jim Duda]

It's getting close to Christmas so Duda is dusting off his trains and gettin' ready for a long winters nap (when you're older than the Chiefster naps are a NECESSITY!) I've been keepin' busy restoring an old bike that I used to ride to work in 1965...yup, it's a small one because I've always said, "Size Doesn't Matter!" (wink) The assembled pictures below are BEFORE I started on the restoration.

I trust you folks have been behaving...except Professor Elliot - I hope he's been a very bad boy! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Jim "Easyrider" Duda
Austin, TX USA

[jonadel]

Jim--that is so neat that you've kept the bike, I'm very envious. My first bike was a '70 Honda 350 and I had to get on a waiting list to buy it. She was a smooth runner and I sure wish I had kept her but that "bigger is better" bug bit me. Thanks for sharing the pic, nice work on the restoration.

Jon

[Jim Duda]

Hey Jon - I have you to thank for the picture posting capability! I used PhotoIsland as a web host but they are shutting down for good in a few days. So I picked another freebie host but it wouldn't link to this forum. I started looking at the embedded images in different posts, saw that you use Villagephotos.com, and uploaded those two of the bike to it and it seems to work!

So...THANK YOU!

ps I used to live in Davenport and every year about this time my dad would take me and my brother to Adel for some very fine pheasant hunting. I sure miss trekking through that standing corn, waiting for Mr. Ringneck to flush!!!

[Anonymous]

[:D][:D][:D]Hi Guys, Good to be home. Been down south for a few days. Good to see the Chief is in good shape. I had a great trip.. I took the Amtrak from Sandpoint to Portland Oregon, through the Columbia River basin and the Cascade mountains. Its about a 9 hour trip on the Empire Builder. Sure is nice to ride the train every now and then. My hats off to Amtrak,man oh man what a smooth ride.The only dissapointment was the dining car was split off at Spokane and went to Seattle with part of the train. I was looking forward to breakfast in the dining car. If any of you have not had the chance to eat in the dining car, it truly is first class. Any way the service was good and the ride was smooth. The seats are so much bigger than the airlines, I can actually stretch out. The city of Portland was lovely and rainy as usual. I did find out on this trip they have a fabulous light rail system. From Union Station to Portland Intl.in about 30 minutes and a cost of 1.65 The last time I took a cab and it was 25.00 Having grown up in the south , where hardly anyone has light rail, this was quite a treat for me. If there is anyone on the forum that lives in Portland I can tell you that you have a first rate transportation system. If any of you visit there, you will enjoy it.
I took some pics of the station and trains and will post them in a few days. Next time I think I'll take the Seattle leg of the Empire Builder........Tim

[daan]

Jim, nice bike. We have those in a 50cc version as a moped. In Holland you are allowed to take driving lessons in cars and motorbikes from 18 and up, and mopeds are for the kids being 16 or older. They had a neat 50cc fourcycle engine in it..
I guess I'm the odd one out. My first bike was a Suzuki GS850.. and that's a huge one..
Now I don't have bikes anymore. I had a gs750, and a honda vf750f later on. Now I lack the time to have one besides the car..
Today is a sunny day, the doggies can't wait to get out, but I've to work in the afternoon shift today.. It's not that bad, it's saturday, so no bosses around to look on my fingers when I repair a machine which is supposed to work.
Have a good day all, and stay safe.

[spankybird]

Good Morning all,

NE Ohio in still in the Fog and light rain, temp 55, Humidity at 98 and so Fall goes.
This should be a good weekend for working on the trains, can’t do much outside.

Jimbo – great shots of the bike [8D] – now Daan that’s a real cycle.[:D]

Pick of the Day


all be safe

tom

[1688torpedo]

Hello Spankybird ! Yes I've seen your house lighted at night and it looks very christmasy or christmasee[:D] LOL .Looks like your Christmas village is under attack by Birdzillza from Manila.Oh well, I guess that beats having Gomez Addams in the House and Blowing up Railroad bridges and saying "What a Beautiful Wreck." Gomex is one dude I would never have around my Trains.Probably the same reason Mr.Rogers never Invited Gomez Addams to his Show.The Trolley would go Beep Beep then BOOOM. If Gomez was on the Show LOL[;)] I'll have to give you a call and talk to you sometime Spankybird.Take care everyone and have a nice day.................Keith.

[ChiefEagles]

Warm day here. Sent wife to annual Raleigh Chirstmas Show. Do not need full time baby sitter. Time to go walk. Right now I do laps around the concrete pad in back of house [it is real big]. That way if I get tired, I turn and come in the back door. Yesterday I had to almost run in the middle of the walk. Glad I was not up the street or I would have had a "mess" in my pants. [B)] That was the only thing that was not back to normal and hda been taking med for it. It worked. [;)] Have a great day and God bless all.

[dougdagrump]

Mornin' All !
Out here we call motorcycle riders "organ donors". We used to ride everywhere on ours, late 60's, before coming to Ca. One ride here is all it took to hang up the leathers not to be worn again. Kinda miss it ! [:(]