Good Morning from Blueberryhill....
It is a cloudy 33 degrees here. Going up to a partly cloudy 54 today. WOW...It sounds like a warming trend again. Ok by me.
Today I have a few errands to run and some chores to do around the house. I need to get down to the train room and run trains. Have not for a few days. These Holidays keep a person busy. This coming Sunday, we are suppose to drive up North to see the kids for Christmas gift exchange. The weather is suppose to be in the 60's. Good for driving.
Well, the Dining car has rolled in. Breakfast.
Y'all have a great Monday.
Chuck
John,
Like you, I seldom clean my RealTrax and and I just don't have conductive problems. I will run the Trackman 2000 every now and then but not regularly. Yes, I should put some elbow grease to it and perhaps I will this winter.
Roy--I also use Firefox (because of the "peculiarities" of this forum) and it seems to work well, I bounce back & forth also using Safari.
Jon
So many roads, so little time.
Hi John Baker, I used to live up around your way, well for a while anyway. Lived in a village called Buxworth, Derbyshire, not far from Whaley Bridge and Chapel-en-le-Frith.
I am just starting with the Lionel too, haven't been really able to plan a layout yet, love the motive power but not the American rolling stock, I pine for short two axle open goods wagons but pulled by my home made (mutant Lionel) Atlantics. I have an 'explanation' for this, my fictional English railway company got them for free from the Yanks but they were so clapped out they had to be rebuilt which is how come they look so weird!
Had the good luck to meet Lionels CEO a couple of weeks ago which is how I learned they're going to make the Hogwarts Express (Hooray! I worship the GWR!) and that made my mind up. Our railway is going to be 100% fantasy, its based on an island which is run by and for the benefit of wizards and such, its oddly enough rather like England in many ways and the railway will be like as if Roland Emmett designed the GWR in a Welsh setting.
After all ones trains should remind one of the happiest moments of life, I used to belong to the Tallylyn Railway, I was one of the earliest but those narrow gauge locos are too tiddly for my tastes and I like to invent stories for our little girl, which is actually how the whole train thing got (re)started, we have our own world which is rife with castles, witches, dragons etc and so thats why the fantasy setting.
Got the bit between my teeth this weekend and made a start on the first and most important building, the Inn, naturally. Loosely based on my mums last house in Sudbury, Suffolk, which was 900 years old, with a few modifications, well, quite a lot really. Those old East Anglian cottages always fascinated me because they are so wonderfully distorted through sheer age that the roofs are fascinating, not a straight line anywhere.
Ooops! Time to get her ready for school...
Good morning all,
It is cloudy and mild in SE Indiana with temps heading to the low 50s today. I had a busy weekend with being at the local toy train exhibit, going Christmas shopping, and doing housework. I am glad I am at work to rest up. My back is a little sore from something I did over the weekend. Saturday was a little slow at the museum, but Sunday was a non-stop stream of visitors. They liked the standard gauge as well as the O-27 stuff. We went to Columbus, Indiana to do the shopping. The stores were busy, but not overly crowded. It beat going to Indy and fighting all the traffic. I hope everyone has a good day.
Keep on training,
Mike C. from Indiana
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Hi Thor,
I know Buxworth better known as Bugsworth, some of the toffee nosed residents forced the change when the railway arrived because they thought people would take the rise out of them, which is what we do when we go to the Navigation Inn at the canal basin. My Dear Lady and I will be there on Christmas day for a stroll along the tow path again this year- a regular pilgrimage for us. We are only a few miles from Whalley and Chapel and pass through them often on our outings to the Peak District, we often dine in some of the delightful pubs in the area.
British O gauge is alive and there is a growing membership of the Gauge-O-Guild which is increasingly supported by the trade. My first train set was Hornby clockwork tin plate, regretably long gone.
I have a photo of a model Emett railroad taken at an exhibition in Glossop, if I can work out a way I will post a copy. A number of kind folks have tried to enlighten me, but I must be dumb!
The GWR (Gods Wonderful Railway) built a two foot line in Wales, The Vale of Rheidol which is still very much with us.
What makes you think those East Anglian could build anything straight? They can only just manage a ditch.
NIHIL DICE.
John Baker
ChiefEagles wrote:.............before I go to Kerr Lake to help buddy get pontoon off of lake and winterize it.
Why does anyone need to winterize a boat in North Carolina where we have been told the climate is mild and sunny?
Outside train around the tree....finished.
Garden Railroad running good......finished.
Inside train around the tree......finished.
Next, clean up train room for the 15th Annual Neighborhood Kids Christmas Party at our house. Yes, this is the 15th year the kids in the neighborhood show up at our house and run the trains, make reindeer sandwiches, participate in the checkers tournament, make an ornament for their tree and now watch the Polar Express or the Muppet's Christmas on DVD. Of course everyone in the neighborhood brings delicious food and desserts.
See ya down the tracks,
Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum.
Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..
Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR
TCA 09-64284
Work quieted down to a dull roar and I was able to begin cleaning my 2429 Livingston car. I managed to clean the roof and one side of the car. Although it's a little rougher than the Ebay photos showed, it's not any worse than the rest of the cars I have in that set. It's cleaning up pretty nice and will look much better with the numbers and letters redone. Fortunately, the heat stamping is nice and deep.
Jim
Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale
Jim : I'm wondering if the rotating beacon light is working ? !! If not, we'll send a crew up there immediately to get er' goin' !!
Thanks, John
Buckeye Riveter wrote: ChiefEagles wrote:.............before I go to Kerr Lake to help buddy get pontoon off of lake and winterize it. Why does anyone need to winterize a boat in North Carolina where we have been told the climate is mild and sunny?
Just for that smart ^@# comment, I am going to repaint this pretty Atlas O [with TMCC and Railsounds] SW900 that Brown brought today. It is B&O dark blue and goldish yellow. Says limited edition. Think I'll make it NS black and decal it. Won it for a great price on Choochoo. Already ran it and it is great. Pulls and pushes the 15 hopper cars of coal and caboose just fine.
Ranger ran great today. Loves that cold low humidity air. Picked up 2 mph.
Got to fix dinner. Wife gone shopping with one of our friends. She is done so now she helps our friends.
Later.
ChiefEagles wrote: Buckeye Riveter wrote: ChiefEagles wrote:.............before I go to Kerr Lake to help buddy get pontoon off of lake and winterize it. Why does anyone need to winterize a boat in North Carolina where we have been told the climate is mild and sunny? Just for that smart ^@# comment, I am going to repaint this pretty Atlas O [with TMCC and Railsounds] SW900 that Brown brought today. It is B&O dark blue and goldish yellow. Says limited edition. Think I'll make it NS black and decal it. Won it for a great price on Choochoo. Already ran it and it is great. Pulls and pushes the 15 hopper cars of coal and caboose just fine. Ranger ran great today. Loves that cold low humidity air. Picked up 2 mph.Got to fix dinner. Wife gone shopping with one of our friends. She is done so now she helps our friends. Later.
Let me be the first to apologize for Mr. Buckeye here. He didn't mean that, so you don't have to take a beautiful engine like that and destroy..... I mean repaint it.
Good evening everyone,
A long day here indeed. I know for a fact that I am getting sick. Usually, when I come home from school, I am awake and energetic. Well, today, I was dead tired. That is usually a sign that I have something. 2 weeks of school left, and I have to get sick now. Great, just great.
Hey Gang Hope all is well Happy Holidays
SCRATCH
Merry Christmas, Scratch and Family!
Hey Thor- did you say Hogwarts Express from Lionel in 2007??? Man, I am so there! I was checking out some european O gauge stuff that looked great, but way too expensive for me! Glad to see you back John Baker - hope your hand has mended?
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
ChiefEagles wrote: Buckeye Riveter wrote: ChiefEagles wrote:.............before I go to Kerr Lake to help buddy get pontoon off of lake and winterize it. Why does anyone need to winterize a boat in North Carolina where we have been told the climate is mild and sunny? Just for that smart ^@# comment,
Just for that smart ^@# comment,
That wasn't a smart ^@# comment, it was a question?
I've never heard you say that it gets below 32 degrees down there in gritsland. Where my boat is stored it can easily see -10 to -20 degrees this winter and if we didn't winterize, a very expensive repair would be in our future.
Speaking of deals, since my goal was purchasing a certain accessory, I passed up an MTH FA A-B-A unit the other day for $120. Mint condition.
Buckeye Riveter wrote: Speaking of deals, since my goal was purchasing a certain accessory, I passed up an MTH FA A-B-A unit the other day for $120. Mint condition.
Save your money.
Guess it is OK to "bash" the B&O switcher. Gooood night.
Good evening,
No time for trains today, running around most of the day and then to a Christmas Party this evening. Maybe a little tomorrow, after I try to fix sons computer problems.
Taking two of the granddaughters to see trains at the local library tomorrow evening. Set up by a group of guys that calls themselves "The Train Guys" Mostly postwar Lionel and some AF. Will try to remember the camera & take a few pics.
Thor & John Baker, Northlandz is supposed to be something to see. Here is their web site.
http://www.northlandz.com/
Jim, John,
Looked at Northland, the pic's hardly do it justice, unfortunately I will never see it for real. A video would be nice.
We have a similar British OO system at the famous Pendon Museum.
My pinky is fine thanks, but I have to wear a splint for six months. Any of you guys have Scots blood? Aparrently the desease is common among my Scottish relatives who may be decendents of the Scandinavian/Norse invaders who came over in the eigth-ninth century.
Normal temperature here in Stodkport is 4-6, today it is 13, Phew!
Jim my wife and I met Jerry Calabrese at Trainland a couple of weeks ago, figured he'd be far too busy to pester, I mean I could have bent his ear for hours! I just shook his hand and said "Job well done, thanks" and my wife launched into a tale of how I was new to Lionel and she had never realised how much impact Lionel O Gauge had and that I was English and even so had still heard of the company even though I really wanted Ace trains and ETS but couldnt afford them (I'm standing back shaking my head as if to say "he really doesnt need to hear this dear"...) and to my surprise he was very up on the whole European train scene and said "Wait till you see the Hogwarts Expresss we're putting out and if it sells as well as we hope, we'll be making some other British locos, I hope. I wish we could have the sucessful turnaround that Hornby pulled off." (or words to that effect)
Well I was well happy to hear that, I told him that I thought Lionel could do very well in England and Europe if they got the price point right, that all the Thomas engines were based on actual trains and why not go with them but try and get them a bit more realistic, as they have instant recognition and nostalgia going for them.
He was a nice guy especially to take the time to talk to a non-expert on Lionel at a show where lots of people probably had all sorts of questions. He said "Thanks for becoming a Lionel guy!" which was very decent of him. The wife was impressed with him and she's a tough cookie to sell anything to.
He's got a tough job to pull off but I sure hope he stays at the helm. I've told everyone I know how what a good impression he made on me and I'm pretty cynical myself. So keep your fingers crossed chums and lets hope the rest of the team back up his plays.
thor wrote: Jim my wife and I met Jerry Calabrese at Trainland a couple of weeks ago, figured he'd be far too busy to pester, I mean I could have bent his ear for hours! I just shook his hand and said "Job well done, thanks" and my wife launched into a tale of how I was new to Lionel and she had never realised how much impact Lionel O Gauge had and that I was English and even so had still heard of the company even though I really wanted Ace trains and ETS but couldnt afford them (I'm standing back shaking my head as if to say "he really doesnt need to hear this dear"...) and to my surprise he was very up on the whole European train scene and said "Wait till you see the Hogwarts Expresss we're putting out and if it sells as well as we hope, we'll be making some other British locos, I hope. I wish we could have the sucessful turnaround that Hornby pulled off." (or words to that effect)Well I was well happy to hear that, I told him that I thought Lionel could do very well in England and Europe if they got the price point right, that all the Thomas engines were based on actual trains and why not go with them but try and get them a bit more realistic, as they have instant recognition and nostalgia going for them. He was a nice guy especially to take the time to talk to a non-expert on Lionel at a show where lots of people probably had all sorts of questions. He said "Thanks for becoming a Lionel guy!" which was very decent of him. The wife was impressed with him and she's a tough cookie to sell anything to.He's got a tough job to pull off but I sure hope he stays at the helm. I've told everyone I know how what a good impression he made on me and I'm pretty cynical myself. So keep your fingers crossed chums and lets hope the rest of the team back up his plays.
Hi Thor, This sounds very good for the future of Lionel in the UK. Nice to know JC is intrested.
As I live in East Anglia (though I am from Devon, used to work as volunteer on the Paignton and Dartmouth railway as a kid, GWR rulles!(closely followed by the Santa Fe). I can say that none of the old cottages in our village have anything as modern as a right angle in their "design" I use the term loosely.
Regards
Nick
Nick its so great for me to get in touch with folks from back home. I havent been back since 1984, I came here in 76, now America is home to me but I'll always be an Englishman! I know your and Johns neck of the woods well.
I'm from Hertfordshire, originally Cambridge was a hangout for me in my younger days - Grantchester Meadows - . My parents moved to Suffolk, bought the Bridge House in Ballingdon which is at the foot of Sudbury other side of the river.
I got to make American friends very early thanks to the air bases, we had a holiday home on the cliffs of Dunwich, well, almost Minsmere. So all summer long I got to play with American kids which is how come I first saw their Lionel. I'd had Hornby O gauge and my school had those fabulous clockwork pre-war scale Hornby and Basset Lowke O but the Lionel for me, as a kid, blew it all away with real smoke and all those neat gadgets.
BTW I used to live in Colyton, Devon, right close to Beer where the PECO factory is, a village outside Axminster. I worked as a precision grinder in Axminster then, making daisy wheels. I had a long and happy West Country childhood, till the folks bought the caravan at Dunwhich we used to go stay in the lighthouse cottages at Pendeen, Cornwall, mums friend owned them then, I lived in Falmouth and Mullion, then later on after I left home I moved to Cornwall at first.
So its great to hear from you and John Baker as we all must have crossed paths sometime in the past, small world isn't it?
csxt30 wrote:Jim : I'm wondering if the rotating beacon light is working ? !! If not, we'll send a crew up there immediately to get er' goin' !! Thanks, John
I'm embarrassed to say that I could not get it to work, John. Now I know that there only 2 wires, but I tried it with a CW-80 and the big MRC. Nothing. Maybe the bulb is bad. The beacon is back in its box where it belongs. Maybe my bulb is bad!My kids now wear shirts with this guy on them.
Dinner at the in-laws last night. Did not get to run trains or take more photos. Maybe tonight (the wife will be at work). I waddled away from dinner as full as could be.
Gotta find time to start assembling Christmas presents. And I still need to buy stocking stuffers for my wife. I'll be glad when Jan. 2 rolls around!
Jim Fortner wrote: Hey Thor- did you say Hogwarts Express from Lionel in 2007??? Man, I am so there!
Hey Thor- did you say Hogwarts Express from Lionel in 2007??? Man, I am so there!
Another Harry Potter fan, eh? Are they great stories, or what! I've been sitting up half the night, arthritis pain, trying to get my mind off it by figuring out how to make a working model of the 'Leaky Cauldrons' magical wall that opens a doorway to Diagon Alley. Wouldn't that be something? I reckon the trick would be to have a revolving platform with the shops of Diagon Alley modelled so that as the wall is tapped with a wand and the bricks revolve, the street magically appears! I'm sure it can be done, I'm really mad keen on 'special effects' as a kid I was mesmerized by Thunderbirds - the puppet kid show - and spent hours making models to try and emulate some of their neat gimmicks.
As a 'shop' teacher - just a simple shorthand term - I found that stuff like that kept kids amazed and really dying to try it out themselves, many of them, most in fact, had never heard of 'Thunderbirds'. Funny to have a show about Americans produced in England shown to American kids by a British teacher, it always tickled me. Sort of like bringing coals to Newcastle as our saying goes.
I'm heavily biased in favor of TOY TRAINS, I'm not really a railroader at all, trains are an excuse for me to have something around which to build my fantasy land of automatons and working models, using Meccano, LEGO and whatever else I can find to create a magical land in miniature. I know a little bit about 'real' railroading, mostly English, and I love American engines but not the rolling stock, long lines of almost identical boxcars are pretty uninteresting, I prefer our much more colorful pre-nationalisation private owner wagons as they are small and easy to shunt, rolling stock with no buffers rolling on trucks or as we say, bogies, tends to be top heavy and doesnt like being whacked hard to make it roll through switches to the siding you want.
Until we get some English rolling stock from Lionel I guess I'll have to buy up all the Thomas coaches and trucks and modify them to suit!
I am, however, really interested in learning from everyone else on the forums about the ins and outs of American rolling stock and road names and as I learn more I expect it'll become more interesting. Finally its dawn! Two more advil and I guess its time to make morning tea and get the kid ready for school. See y'all later, I've been up half the night. Thank God for the forums to help a chap get through a long night.
jaabat wrote: csxt30 wrote: Jim : I'm wondering if the rotating beacon light is working ? !! If not, we'll send a crew up there immediately to get er' goin' !! Thanks, JohnI'm embarrassed to say that I could not get it to work, John. Now I know that there only 2 wires, but I tried it with a CW-80 and the big MRC. Nothing. Maybe the bulb is bad. The beacon is back in its box where it belongs. Maybe my bulb is bad!My kids now wear shirts with this guy on them. AGREE Dinner at the in-laws last night. Did not get to run trains or take more photos. Maybe tonight (the wife will be at work). I waddled away from dinner as full as could be. A Southerner would have said fat as a tick.Gotta find time to start assembling Christmas presents. And I still need to buy stocking stuffers for my wife. I'll be glad when Jan. 2 rolls around! Fingernail file, nail polish remover [you can get the pads with the remover on it], Emory Boards, Whitman's Sampler and etc.What not to get: Video on losing weight, diet pills and hair coloring.Jim
csxt30 wrote: Jim : I'm wondering if the rotating beacon light is working ? !! If not, we'll send a crew up there immediately to get er' goin' !! Thanks, John
AGREE
A Southerner would have said fat as a tick.
Fingernail file, nail polish remover [you can get the pads with the remover on it], Emory Boards, Whitman's Sampler and etc.
What not to get: Video on losing weight, diet pills and hair coloring.
Morning all. Thought I would help my New England Yank out or he will surely get in trouble. Up early. Could not sleep. Got cold again. Started with runny nose when I was putting up the boat last night. Woke up about 4 AM. Snoozed off and on after that. Want to get upstairs and screw down the layout boards. Got 1 PM Dermatologist appointment. Yes, again. Going to tell her we need to stop meeting like this as people are talking. Starbucks time. Later.
BTW: got spam with train stuff in title. checked the properties and it was from nc.rr.com but some off the wall name. also got my first spam in Spanish. checked the properties and it was from fishkeywest.com.
It is cloudy and mild in SE Indiana with temps in the low 50s and rainy today. My back was still sore so I did very little last night. I did get the Christmas letter written so my wife can work on cards today. Lucas had a CAT scan yesterday and everything was ok. He has another in June or July. I hope everyone has a good day.
Chief,
I've been getting spam from those guys for a few weeks now. Long diatribes about all sorts of strange things written in very small type? None so far this week. And always they come at night.
Oh, Chief - if your nose runs and your feet smell, you're upside down! Feel better! Most people rest when they are sick.
I'm going to let the 3 year old wonder twins wire up my beacon for me.
And yes, I am getting fat as a tick. But surprisingly, many of my wife's friends have been telling her how good I look lately.
Forgot to mention this - I saw a Target ad on TV last night. It had a chrome plated O27 gauge train running under a Christmas tree. A dad and son were running it. Lionel or MTH? Any one else see it?
jaabat wrote: And yes, I am getting fat as a tick. But surprisingly, many of my wife's friends have been telling her how good I look lately. Jim
Yes, I can understand. Your wife is great to do volunteer work with her friends at the blind school.
It is a sunny 38 degrees and going up to 60 degrees today with sun. This weather is really nice, but strange for this time of the year.
Today, I am taking it easy. May run out for an errand. I will run trains later this afternoon and take a walk. Prices are definitely rising on a lot of things including gasoline. $2.30 a gallon here and more in Cambridge. It's a good thing there is no inflation. So they say.
Well, I will board the Dining Car for breakfast. Later.
Y'all have a great Tuesday.
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