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

[Roger Bielen]

BRRRRR! Winter has come to Dixie, it's in the mid 20's this morning. At least we don't have any of that white stuff.

[ChiefEagles]

No snow here. Just you Yanks cold air and wind. [:(!] Don't own a snow shovel. Usually too wet of a snow so it is heavy and some times frozen to the concrete. Use a metal flat bladed shovel to beat it alose. Sometimes, you just have to wait for the sun to melt it from the concrete. This is because the ground is not usually that cold and the first melts and then freezes to the concrete. Once in a while we will get a drier snow that can be moved easy. Buckeye want s to come here because it is warmer. [:p] Well, high will just get above 40 today and tomorrow with winds. BURRR. God bless all.

[spankybird]

Good Morning all,

NE Ohio is very WHITE this morning. Depending on how close to the lake and your elevation, depends on how much snow you have. I have about 8” and it is still snowing. Just southeast of us, Chardon,Ohio has 20” on the ground and it is still snowing there.

It’s time for

Maybe we should clean our drive, which includes the widow next door.

Pick of the Day


All be safe

tom

[laz 57]

We saw our first snow flurries here in Harrisburg, Pa. yesterday. But you know once the weather man said we were gonna get just flurries and I was out hunting that day and we got about a foot of flurries, go figure?
Laz 57

[ChiefEagles]

Hey laz 57, glad to see you at the coffee pot. Missed your town last month. Had a little surgery [bypasses] so had to cancel my trip to work the opening of Bass Pro Shops. Haven't gotten my list of BPS and Cablea's I will work for spring shows. If I get Harrisburg again, we'll have to get together.

[laz 57]

Sounds good Chief! I am about to go there tomorrow,BPS, I was there before the opening getting nose prints and drool on the windows but tomorrow is "guys night out "shopping for our wives Christmas presents. I'm sure we will spend some time there and at train shops too. I've been to Cabelas and spent about 5 hrs. just browsing around. Lots to see.
Laz 57

[jonadel]

Greetings from the freezer, 9 degrees this a.m. BUT no wind, thank goodness. Thought you be interested in seeing how we are going to incorporate the building fronts onto the foam board, working on the windows the next two days and will fit the board later this week.

Here's a rough pic of the fronts and the board, they will be eleveated about 2"


and here is where the board will fit in, the last part to be finished will be in the industrial area--saw mill, log loader, etc. Yes, we have done this bass ackwards but this is our first attempt, NEXT time we will do it the right way :)

Jon

[ChiefEagles]

Jon, you are doing great. Gives me ideas on how to do mine. Thanks man. Stay warm. 36 here and windy. Going for my walk in an hour. Will layer up to stay warm.

[cnw1995]

Greetings all. Jon, that looks great. I like how you weathered the fronts. Very cold here but fortunately little wind - bundled up like an Aleut for my walk across the Loop. Supposed to warm up tomorrow to around 30. I get the greatest ideas on this forum - I'm looking for something to cover the swaths of fuzzy insulation which surround my layout - you can glimpse here http://condor.depaul.edu/~dmurphy/pictures.htm - I've looked at mirrors, wall board, cardstock, fabric, old curtains - and it's all pretty expensive or hard to mount - but I'm now got the idea from the table skirt thread to look for plastic table covers (thanks, Tom!). Duh, you're probably saying. Have to measure though. I'm also going to try to print a whole bunch of Thor's paper buildings from his website at http://www.thortrains.net/index.htm to work on over break. Just one more day of working from the office this month! (have to work from home though)!

[laz 57]

Cool Layout Jon,
How long and wide is that layout? Neat stuff!
Laz 57

[ChiefEagles]

Hey laz, you need to ask how many rooms. [:)] Hey Jon, post some of your pictures. This guy goes all the way. Guess the frozen tundra makes you stay inside. [;)] Jon, you got a snow mobile? Just finished my mile + walk [probably 1 1/2] and got wet from sweat. Put on too many layers. Only 34 and wind blowing. Think my next walk this PM will be with US Army gortex shell only.

[jonadel]

Laz,

The bench work under construction is about 20' x 48" and it leads into another room which is about 10 x 14. I originally started in the smaller room but with the help of my two sons and daughter in law we talked my wife into "allowing" me to branch off into the longer room. I started the bench work in the smaller room 3-4 years ago but in all honesty didn't do squat because I just couldn't decide on a layout plan, it was just a lot of bare wood with no objective. I have lots of books with layout plans and I tried several and finally just did my own. I started wiring and building 11 months ago as there's not much to do in Iowa in Jan/Feb/March and it's been a blast. My wonderful wife has a big collection of Dept. 56 so you will see it everywhere and that's fine with me. We kept working through the spring and then off until Oct. Our hope was to do an open house this Dec. but I ended up getting pretty darned sick just before Thanksgiving and just now I'm starting to feel OK again so our open house is going to be in January.

No snowmobile here but I do have a new ATV I bought in late Aug. There are lots of winters in central Iowa where we get very little snow but then there was the winter of 2000 when it wouldn't stop snowing. If you live in northern Iowa you would have better opportunites for snowmobiling.

If you have some time, go to our album at jands.logicalgeek.com you can kind of see the progression of a year. It's a great hobby.

Jon

[laz 57]

Jon,
You are one lucky guy!!!!!!!!!!! I wish my layout was that big. I have one that is an L shape that 10 X 22 and about 5 ft wide. My wife has helped me in the past and really does enjoy it. I keep telling her we need a bigger house but she just says we don't. I will have to check out your sight, and keep up the good work.
Excellent Job!
Laz 57

[dougdagrump]

If it gets much warmer I might have to change the filters on the air conditioner. [(-D][(-D]

[Buckeye Riveter]

QUOTE: Originally posted by laz 57

Jon,
You are one lucky guy!!!!!!!!!!! .......... I keep telling her we need a bigger house but she just says we don't. .................

Now why didn't I think of that [:D][:D][:D][:D]

Tom, I think a used snow shovel would be a great Christmas gift of the Chief. He could donate it to the local museum with a short description telling all those Southerners that this is why we are buying up all the good land in NC, SC, GA, and FL.

Jon, keep posting those photos. I love them and really like to see what others are doing.

[ChiefEagles]

Time to turn it in gang. Tired from all the walking today. Happy dreams to all and God bless all. Until tomorrow morning.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Buckeye Riveter

Here we are, 120 miles from Lake Erie and we are getting lake effect snow, but you know what? The snow is not from Lake Erie. Our lake effect snow is from Lake Michigan. [:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

Almost deep enough to run the trains.[:)]

Hey Buck, doesnt LGB make a rotary snowplow unit......Tim

[Anonymous]

Hello gang! Sounds like your all keeping busy, jonadel; gettin readdy to start on a layout in a guy's whole house, We will document with many pictures and we will post when the games beggin!

[daan]

Hi Guys,
No snow here. We have 5 degrees + in celcius.. (what's the calculation key to invert degrees celcius in your temperature reading?) We had a few frosty nights, but are expecting rain and storm from the atlantic coming in around noon...
Just bought an sd28 on ebay. The Lionel Lines one for $105.. Of course it has to be sent first before i can see it in real, but it is said to be mint, but without box..
Hope everyone enjoy's the snow! Since I have an ATV as well, I hope for snow too..

Stay safe (and warm) everyone, and I love the background on your great layout Jon!

[Buckeye Riveter]

QUOTE: Originally posted by pigseyes

QUOTE: Originally posted by Buckeye Riveter

Here we are, 120 miles from Lake Erie and we are getting lake effect snow, but you know what? The snow is not from Lake Erie. Our lake effect snow is from Lake Michigan. [:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

Almost deep enough to run the trains.[:)]

Hey Buck, doesnt LGB make a rotary snowplow unit......Tim

I have not seen a rotary, but Aristocraft makes a V-Plow that really works.

[laz 57]

Goo Morning All,
Went on the site with Jon's Train making and lay out was real imprsssive. I suppose when I hit big on the lottery I will buy a big building and put one up like that. Oh please let me win???????
Laz 57

[cnw1995]

Good morning all. Boy it's cold again today. My Christmas gifts are starting to arrive in the mail - the gifts I've ordered for others... Last day in the office for a while. I can't help thinking about what to do with some of my time 'off' during the next week or so - I hope to work on pasting together some of the downloadable building drawings from Thor's train site, get back to ballasting, and try to work out how to cover the back of my layout with some plastic sheeting.

[laz 57]

Hey Chief,
Since I'm doing my Christmas shopping at BPS can I get a discount from You? Just Kidding, but I am looking forward to going there tonight.
Laz 57

[jonadel]

Good Morning,

After viewing our layout one of my freinds asked me how much I had invested in our layout and I honestly coudn't give him a quick answer because supplies and trains were bought over a 3 year period (most of the engines are Railking) but my simple answer to him was "less than the Harley you ride"! That question has come up a couple of other times, I'm not sure I want to know the answer. I'm afraid if I'd had to buy everything at once I wouldn't be able to have this layout. But over a period of time it seems OK simply because it was just pay as you go.

If any of you are having trouble getting onto to the web site keep trying. My nephew on the east coast (Raleigh, NC) has the server and he's in the process of moving but he said it shouldn't be down that long, Keep trying.

Chief--how far do you live from Raleigh? We are coming out in May for a wedding of the forementioned nephew, would be fun to hook up if possible.

Stay warm--
Jon

[spankybird]

Good Morning All,

NE Ohio has a partly cloudy morning with Sun shining and no snow for now. Just southeast of me has feet not inches of snow. Just think, I used to live out there.

Well Chief, Buckeye, Keith, and I are loading up a train to send some to you. Got to have a white Christmas.

Pick of the Day


all be safe

tom

[ChiefEagles]

Jon, 5 miles north [use to be 10 but we are growing closer together each day]. Laz, I get 15% on most items at BPS [except electronics, reels, rods & guns]. Cabela's, I get 45% on all Cablea's brand items and no less than 15% on all others. BPS are a bunch of tight A's. Cold here this AM. Guess I will layer up for my walks. May walk up to strip mall and get haircut. Need it bad. Lady should come and pick me up as she gets big tip each time I go there. We'll see. All stay warm and God bless.

[1688torpedo]

Hello Everyone ! Had no student drivers due to the bad weather the past two days.When the first snow comes some people forget how to drive but sure do remember how to go get into accidents or wind up in a ditch somewhere.I guess its called "Loretta Lockhorn Syndrome". Which is the ability to drive bad or turn your Car into a Accordion.If a Corvair got turned into a Accordion I suppose you could get together with Grandpa Munster and his Smokey Organ to form a Two Piece Band called Grandpa & his Smokey Mountain Band[(-D] Chief,Spankybird,and everyone have a nice day.Later.......Keith.

[ChiefEagles]

Corvairs ran right on through snow with out chains. Weight in the rear over drive wheels. [;)]

[wrmcclellan]

Hello all!

Cold here this morning - low of 23 last night.

Work stuff winds down this week and does not pick up again until Jan 3.

Will spend some time at the club layout for the open house we do to benefit some local charities. There are several of us that get together at the club layout on the evening of Jan 1 as kind of a New Year tradition. Got to run those Christmas presents.

I was able to direct the administration here for the Lionel NYC TMCC Crane this year.

Regards all,
Roy

[ChiefEagles]

Well, walked the mile+ to the strip mall up the street [15 mintues is good for a crip]. Got haircut which was past due. Did not like the frigid YANKEE air and wind. Really was not that bad. I really like walking when it is chilly. Wife picked me up so did not walk back but could have. she took me to do some Christmas shopping [lose ends to round up]. Now ran the SD90's a little and then the old 1952 Hudson and the smoke rolled. Think I'll do that again tonight. Seem to be able to reach around the floor a lot better. Would have been easier if I had the around the room table layout built. Well, keep getting better and I will be working on that room. Frankie come to help me the Monday after Christmas with leaves, gutter and etc. I hope to have the HO layout dismantled so he can carry the board out. Then things can move along. [:D]