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

[1688torpedo]

Hello Everyone! Laz 57 most likely the 1688 will be hibernating this summer as Mr.Avery only sets it up at Christmas.However,If you want to see it just mention my name and hopefully he will bring it out for you to see and maybe run it.This past Christmas he found his old prewar 1666 freight set in the attic and displayed it on his Fireplace Mantle.I told him that if he needs any parts or repair for the 1666 to let me know and I'll work on it for him.If he sends any pictures of the 1666 train I'll let Tom post them on the forum.Mr.Avery had forgotten about the 1666 and he found it along with some other things that were put away years ago.Hopefully his train is still in nice condition as I've never seen it before when I've been there.Take care everyone and have a nice day..............Keith.

[jonadel]

For all those hard working folks this week I've got the train loaded and headed your way for the weekend. Have a good one!

Jon

[cnw1995]

Just got into the office a bit late - had to write my regular check to the Union Pacific for my ten-ride ticket for my commute - the trains were backed up a bit due to the weather and some sticky switches - I get kind of a weird kick out of giving money to a real railroad rather than some weird commuter train agency.. Before that, I wrote a check to the Chicago and North Western. Inspired by Tom, I have a whole bunch of pictures of the layout I will try to post under the Photo header. Have a good day everyone.

[laz 57]

KEITH, sounds good1
I will ask him bout it when I get up there.
Almost forgot JON, I' ll have a few of those tonight while watching the trains go round and through the layout. Could be a hard night down in the YARD.
Laz 57

[Buckeye Riveter]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jonadel

For all those hard working folks this week I've got the train loaded and headed your way for the weekend. Have a good one!
Jon

Make sure you stop at Roger's Corners, Ohio before you stop at Roseyville, NC. If you don't we won't get any adult beverages because you know who will drink you dry [:D][:D]

[ChiefEagles]

TGIF????? [?][?] What is a Friday? I only have Saturdays and Sundays. Jon and I have only weekends. [:D] Adult beverages? Drink them up. You must be talking about Tom. I mainly stay away fromt hem. Got one med that says, "No" OH, you Yanks have to have them in the winter to keep your blood flowing. Like anit-freeze in a vehicle. [;)] Do appreciate you all keep it quite this AM. Got to sleep late. OH, we are having a cold wave. Only 59 right now. Suppose to get to 60 but I bet it will get higher. Sun sure feels warmer. Going back into the 70's Sunday and Monday. Man, can not stand this cold. [^] Have a good day and God bless all.

[laz 57]

CHIEF I always heard that when you retire every nights a Friday night and everydays a Saturday. I hope to get there someday? You lucky guy!
ROY what does your ticket cost? If I could ask? You're lucky too, to get to ride the rails to and fro work.
Laz 57

[dougdagrump]

Mornin All, Great day here if you're a DUCK!
Did any of you receive your K-Line e-mail today? Already ordered the Santa Fe boxcar set, showed them to the wife and they are going to be my B'Day present. Think they'll look great spread out thru a mixed freight consist. [:D]
Great news, [censored], they just issued high wind warnings. Just what we need on this ground that is already saturated and more rain falling. Oh well I guess we'll have lots of firewood after this storm is over, hopefully no homes will get damaged in the process.

[jonadel]

I'm always very careful when I talk to my friends who are still working (although most of them have retired or are very close) and they always ask "what do you with all of your spare time?" I always want to say, trying to do what I haven't been able to do for the last 32 years! but I don't, I'm mostly nice and say "just wait, you'll understand when the time comes." One of the GREAT JOYS of retirement has been the train room for me, just going down there without a wrist watch, no deadline, no expectations, no upcoming competitions, and being able to see a tangible outcome. I read years ago that as you approach retirement that you need to have several hobbies, probably good advice but hard to explain to a non retired person. I love to bicycle in the spring, summer and fall; spend lots of time on the lawn during those times also (got that from my Dad) and during the cold months it's the train room. A real bonus to the train room though is the fun it's brought for my wife, she turning into a scenery maniac and she loves it, she's 5 years younger than me and still works but not for a whole lot longer. I'm still working with kids on the weekends (18-20 weekends a year around the mid west) but I'm starting to cut back on that as we really enjoy just being home and enjoying our family when they visit us or we to them--and hopefully some grandchildren. What's really interesting though is that we've never had a cross word with each other about the train room or the work that goes with it or purchases. When we first married we used to sail competitively on the weekends, there were some ugly moments in that hobby! I guess with age we tend to mellow out and that's a good thing.

So like Chief says, everyday is a Saturday for a few of us and that's the light at the end of the tunnel. For the rest of you--check my earlier post today, the beer train is on it's way, you've earned your weekend. If I don't sign off now I'm going to miss my nap[:)]

Have a GREAT weekend, you deserve it. Keep thinking about that next layout, I am.
Jon

[cnw1995]

I'm so happy for those of you like Chief or Jon who are able to enjoy retirement - not sure I'll get one after Social Security runs out of dough, but no matter, I likes working. Laz, if you were referring to me. 10 rides on the Union Pacific northwest line into Chicago costs me $45.05. There are various zones of fees depending on how far away you live. A monthly pass is about $130. I travel from about mile marker 46 into the city and back 4 days of the week. I've done it for about 15 years now - it's still fun looking for all the old rail-served businesses along the RoW - switches still in place or rails buried in the ground or warehouse doors in weird places are clues. I pass by the UP's North Ave. yard which is full of CN newsprint cars and gons full of scrap and some interesting sights - old railcars going to scrap, 'Big John' hoppers, the occasional weird fallen flag. I get to park right new to the U.P' s yard in my home town - get to legally stand with 3 feet of anything on the closest track - usually huge American or Burro cranes or other weird-looking MoW equipment. Crystal Lake still has a few switching jobs during the week and a GP20 or MP15AC is usally singing away when I come home at night. The remnants of a line that stretched from Elgin (IL) to Lake Geneva (WI) are still in place and these are used for switching along Main St. There's usually an odd assortment of old cars there - some ex-C&NW and even older (CGW) car or gons from around the country. Usually during the week, three or four large engines will be parked on that line - it's a rather incongrouous sight among all the cars and stores. I saw a patched SP last week. I think they park there to 'go to beans.'. A bike path runs right alongside so you can get real close - there are piles of 'pink lady' ballast all over the place and some signal stumps and old rails stretching off in the weeds. This is all probably more than you want to know - interestingly the UP still runs 'lefthanded' on this former C&NW line, so I have to wait every morning 'across' the tracks in the bitter cold from the circa-1914, still amazingly extant station .

[ChiefEagles]

Doug, you know I will be in Chicago March 24 [arriving], 25, 26 and leaving afternoon of 27. At Bass Pro Shops doing a show. Got a buddy that lives their. Retired BN cop. He will be dropping in to see me. Mabye we could all get together and you could meet him. Always interesting to fly into Chicago. Fly over a lot of rail lines and yards.

[Buckeye Riveter]

Sping has sprung!

[dougdagrump]

I dunno why but I was sent one of those also. [%-)]

[Anonymous]

That looks like The Chief on the catalog cover, in his younger days. Finally got about 8"of "Ohio" here, and expecting another 6" tonite.Am getting over the ski trips this past week and preparing for w--k Monday. Currently 22 degrees and snowing.........Tim

[ChiefEagles]

Sorry guys. Low tonight to be way down to 56. A little light rain [which they said we should not get]. Back to the mid 60's or higher tomorrow. The cold day now will be Sunday with 60. Monday is back into the 70's. A cold blast is to maybe hit around Thursday. That means OHIO wil get hit about Wed. I going to bed. Be quite tomorrow morning so I can sleep late again. God bless.

[ben10ben]

Evening folks...haven't posted yet today.

It's been an exhausting week at school, as the first week back usually is, and I'm glad that it's over. Now to catch up on some sleep.

[TurboOne]

hey pigseyes great first name, how are you doing up in the north ? I went thru Idaho in July one year and there was a mountain with snow on it in July. If they have snow in July, its definately tooooooooooo cold for this SoCal guy.

Ben, hope school is going well for you. Hang in there.

Doug, how are things going ?

Jon, thanks for the hope in retirement.

You all take care, have some trainin to do.

Tim

[Buckeye Riveter]

Lock up the Women and Children!!!
The Chief is on his Way!!!

According to the latest Cabela's Catalog, they are opening new stores in Dallas, TX, Bruda, Tx, Lehi, Utah, and East Rutherford, NJ.

And to add to your woes, Bass Pro Shops is opening new stores in Columbia, MO, Clarksville, IN, Tulsa, OK, Sevierville, TN, Council Bluffs, IA, Pear, MS, Macon, GA and Denver, CO

This means that there is a chance that the Chief with his battery charging friends are going to be showing up in those neighborhoods.

How about it Chief, are they going to put you on the big tin bird and fly you to some of these new stores? [:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D] Please give the guys and gals on the CTT forum a chance to get out of town prior to you and your entourage swooping down from the skies. West Virginia has never been the same since your last trip.

This is a paid advertisement from MEET THE CHIEF, INC. A very non-profit organization.

[spankybird]

Good Morning all,

NE Ohio has 4” of partly cloudy on the ground and more on the way. What a surprise !! In case you southerner don’t remember just how pretty it can be, here are some pics of our back yard.





tom

[cnw1995]

Chief, I would love to get together!! Hope I'm not teaching then - I'll check. BTW, I get the opportunity to teach a few courses (to adult students pursuing their college degrees, mostly in tech. subjects) in addition to my everyday work - that's where I am today - at a campus right by O'Hare airport, getting ready for a course which meets five full Saturdays. Wish me luck! A beautiful cold day today.

I found a large roll of plastic mesh used to make window screens when cleaning out the basement - I'm going to experiment with it - it's pretty dense - to see if I can use it to make a more 3-D hill and/or tunnel.

BTW, I'm sorry for posting such large photos in the Fri thread. The software that came with my Fuji camera was a huge download so I didn't use it - but I have access to a Mac with iPhoto I will try to make things smaller in the future - I posted the pictures on an account I have through the university - next time, I may just use shutterfly or ofoto...

[spankybird]

Hi Doug,

Check on your camera, there sould be a seting for what size picture you take. If you set it for 640 then you won't have to resize your pics.

tom

[daan]

Looks beautifull Tom, whish I had that view out of my window. It's again around 65 outside and we have a major storm going on. About 10 bft..
The last few days was back to w--k. We had a nice time there since it was only repair and maintenance going on, and the colleages who are normally in shifts before and after me also worked day-time. Normally I work alone in the technics, but it's nice to work with colleages too.
At least we have sunshine here in Holland..

[Jim Duda]

QUOTE: Lock up the Women and Children!!!
The Chief is on his Way!!!

According to the latest Cabela's Catalog, they are opening new stores in Dallas, TX, Bruda, Tx, Lehi, Utah, and East Rutherford, NJ.

Holy shat! If that should read "Buda", TX...that's the NEXT town south of Austin!!! Maybe I'll straddle the little motorscooter and head over to Holland...or someplace FAR away from TexASS...

Doug Murphy: PLEASE don't tell him how to get out of O'Hare, if that's where he lands...he's not used to the BIG airports. Or, better yet, send him out in Lake Michigan in a 10 foot jonboat with a trolling motor...when it's windy...

[TurboOne]

Morning to all. Awesome pics Tom. Now if I only could see snow fall. Someday. But only 1 time that will be enough. We haven't got hit with the hard rain yet. But it rained all not, so everything is wet. Not purty like Toms pics.

Hope you all have a great day. Tonight football.

Tim

[ChiefEagles]

Sunny, windy and warm. Think Southern Cal. moved to NC. Suppsoe to turn cold and high be only 60 tomorrow. Back up to 70 Monday. Now they say next weekend will turn cold [so Ohio will get it about Friday, OH, they are already cold]. Off to boat shwo and tackle expo. Jimbo, I have driven out of O'Hare, Detroit, Altanta and Dallas/Ft. Worth. Guess they are big enough airports. Plus I have driven the cities NY, Boston, Montreal, Ontario, LA, San Francisco, Miami [lived there], Orlando, Houston, San Antonio, Burmingham, DC, Baltimore, Cleveland and Columbus. The worse place to drive is Raleigh, NC.

[wrmcclellan]

Morning all!

Fantastic day today. Started out cold and very sunny. Headed towards low 60's today. Got the last of the outside decorations down this morning (rained all week).

I am going to try the photo past in the signature here in a minute tosee if the size is right.

Hey it worked. Thanks Tom. I resized using MS Photo Editor to about .75" tall.

Hve a great day all!
Roy

[TurboOne]

Hey Chief, you did steal the San Diego weather. It is drissly (is that a word) all day. The big down pour hasn't hit yet, but lots and lots of clouds.

One and a half hours to kick off, so I say hi after the game, or I'll cry after the game.

Take care all,

Tim

[ChiefEagles]

Well earlier today, had the trains running. Stopped my PS2 NS SD90's on inner loop and ran the Polar Express into the inner loop pulling a string of 15 hopper cars full of coal [was going to store them on inner inner loop]. Engine went in and stopped dead. No short. Took it off and put on the old Hudson. It did the same. Then ran the lashed SD90's and the front engine would shut down with back still trying to push. So I checked the voltage. Was 17.9 volts. Changed out the switch that was there. Still did it. Changed out the uncoupling section right past the switch with a straight section. Works fine. Always have to work on the railroad just like a real one. Now Pam and I just get back from seeing, "Meet the Fockers". FUNNY.

[Buckeye Riveter]

I'm exhausted. Just moved daughter and son-law from apartment to a new house. How can a kid collect so much stuff. [:0][:0]

Jim, I guess Daan will be seeing you in Holland this year. I am so glad I posted that warning. I should have labeled it a Public Service Announcement from the Buckeye State. [:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[Anonymous]

Hi Tim, Yes that is a good first name. Our snow here usually melts sometime in late April.
Question for Buckeye or anyone else. I have 5 track loops. One Tmcc(full voltage) 2 loops tmcc, track control with Powermasters, and 2 loops conventional. I am looking at an older MTH (proto 1) will I be able to access its features on the 2 loops controlled by the Powermasters? What I want to access is Sound, Horn.,and Whistle. Using the Cab 1 Remote. Am I on the right track? Dont want to buy more hardware just to access the Engine sound, horn, whistle, etc. I have some MTH Railking stuff and the Cab 1 works great on the bells, whistles. Thanks............The Original Tim, not to be confused with San Diego Tim