lionroar88RockIsland52 Fife......I've been mia for a couple of months and missed the part where you acquired your flagship. Congratulations! How far is it from your home to go out on "patrol?"There are rumors that plans for an extensive excavation project has been submitted to Baltimore County. Seems some one wants to extend the local marina to within inches of their property line so they can build a slip...
RockIsland52 Fife......I've been mia for a couple of months and missed the part where you acquired your flagship. Congratulations! How far is it from your home to go out on "patrol?"
Fife......I've been mia for a couple of months and missed the part where you acquired your flagship. Congratulations! How far is it from your home to go out on "patrol?"
88 - I hear a large piece of land on the bay was condemned, cleared and deeded to one of Marylands finest as a bonus, so he could move his house to the bay.
Jack - Another one of your interesting and informative posts. Thanks. No, we never figured out what caused the blood clot. Several possibilities - banged the leg getting on or off the tractor, kicked by a calf, bumped into a tree while mowing, Etc. These things happen and I don't pay much attention to them.
RT - I am ready to drive the new and improved Tardis tonight. Time to collect on the bet and see Don's neighbor.
Chief - We will drop Don's neighbor off at your cottage just before light tomorrow AM.
Today's Smart Farmer's Saying: Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
Pat
RFD-TV --- Rural America's most important network!
tried to get laz to respond but guess hes just taking it easy this summer and having fun on the Lokie
sent following "Haven't seen you on the foruem in a while did we cross you? did you forget about trains? did you forget about us? "
Got this answer "Nope just taking a break. I have been working one day a week on the Lokie. I put in a 12 hour day there. Been working out and taking care of the ouse and outside stuff. Hope all are well?laz"
so hes doing fine just taking a break scholl is only month and half away so he'll be back
Hate to say it Pat but you might need not to pick up brutus till after your run or drop him off befor as it seems he has a weak stomach.
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Jack--the short answer to your question about my bike is: it's a Honda. In the time I've owned this bike (4 years and 24K) it's never missed a beat, I do not worry about the motor--it's bullet proof. What I do worry about when a long way from home is having a flat tire, I carry an emergency kit for such an occasion but trust me it would have to be in area where there is no cell service. I belong to the AMA with MoTow service and it's simply fantastic and I hope I never have to use it. The other important factor is that every fall just before I hook it to life support for the winter (Battery Tender) is that I have it tuned and fresh tires put on, I don't mess around with tires--10-11K on the tires and they get replaced plus I'm absolutely anal about checking tire pressures every week or more when I'm riding a lot.
I have one more big ride this week (probably last big one for the season) when I'll easily log about 1000 miles from Thursday to Sunday afternoon. Riding to LaCrosse, WI for a big Honda (and other bikes) rally, we'll have organized rides along the Great River Road and into the wonderful back roads of WI. It's a very laid back weekend with lots of couples and seasoned riders, nothing stupid will happen. I think I have about 6 more years of riding but when the time comes to give it up I will own a fast convertible
Jon
So many roads, so little time.
Good morning all, Went to TTOS Southwestern Division meet yesterday. I picked up a Corgi die cast tractor trailer rig lettered for the 7Up bottling company. I also mused over a MTH Union Pacific SD50 dummy unit I saw for sale for $100 with lighting kit already installed. The price sounded fair but I could not bring myself to mix UP with my SP SD45T-2's. I guess I still have'nt gotten over the UP taking over my old company (SP).
Doing a few chores around the house today. Too hot to run trains much in the garage. Been working on the pool this morning trying to get the PH right.
Still need to juggle some upcoming events this year. 50th Wedding anniversary in November. Cataract surgery possible later this year for other eye. They have already done the first one. Cal Stewart big West Coast Meet is one week before our anniversary. Probably could fit that in. Might try selling some stuff this year. We will be in the newly remodeled Pasadena Convention Center this Fall.
I saw a Williams challenger 4-6-6-4 lettered for Rio Grande go for $500 yesterday. Good to know what they are bringing. It has no sound but has a smoke unit and is made of brass. I have a GS4 and a N&W J from the same period by Williams. I might sell them because I have since replaced them with MTH Proto 2 stuff with all the bells and whistles.
Pat, hope you are getting better.
Chief, watch out for the yellow jackets. If they bit you they would probably die. How are your tomatoes and cucumbers doing? Where did you get that walleye fish you had a picture of the other day? Was it sent to you from the Nawth or did you really catch it in your neck of the woods?
Prayers for those in need,
Ray
SPMan
rtraincollectorHate to say it Pat but you might need not to pick up brutus till after your run or drop him off befor as it seems he has a weak stomach.
Brutus needs a daily dose of you know what. Grits, Grits, Grits Could it be you secretly have started taking them? That would explain your high speed travels with no ill effects.
LawsonFarmsRR rtraincollector Hate to say it Pat but you might need not to pick up brutus till after your run or drop him off befor as it seems he has a weak stomach. Brutus needs a daily dose of you know what. Grits, Grits, Grits Could it be you secretly have started taking them? That would explain your high speed travels with no ill effects. Pat
rtraincollector Hate to say it Pat but you might need not to pick up brutus till after your run or drop him off befor as it seems he has a weak stomach.
Good Evening
Another great summer day. But a busy one. Started with a hair cut, trip to H.Depot and the train store, filled some cracks in the patio and suddenly it was five PM. Spent the weekend helping to paint sons garage. I hope everyone had a safe Monday the 13th...S.J.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
Howdy from lake house [really at Country Store]. First off, prayers to turn this thing around for Brent and Susan. Prayers also for Brutus' wife. Now, slept till 5:30 AM and Lucy and Burg got me up. Back to bed in 15. Slept til 7:30. Then ate breakfast and reclinerized til 11:00. Then did some work on pontoon and my dock. Ate lunch and rested again. Got gas out of Ranger and fill the pontoon and jet ski with it as it was last fall's gas [with stabilizer]. The Fast Strike [Ranger motor] is super high compression and needs fresh gasoline. At country store getting gas for Ranger. Now on the way back for TV and popcorn. I see the Rat Buckeye is up to his old tricks. Has to wait until he thinks I can not monitor the forum to play. Well, all have a great time except Buckeye. BTW, nice to have SOME of you to visit the lake house this past weekend. Jack, .17 HMR will take care of those chippies. Saw a thing on RFD-TV that will blast then out of thier holes. Think it uses compredssed air. Patrick might know more about it. If it did not cost so much, would buy one to blast all the groundhog around Roseyville.
Chat later. [I think everyone but Buckeye has direction to the lake house. Come on by.]
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Party at the Lake House! I'll come get you all in the Tardis in a few minutes Patrick's turn to drive tonight, Mike, RT, Kurt, SJ, Doug, Bill, other Doug, Don and all you other guys and I can kick back and enjoy the floor show on the way!
No emails about the whistle unit - will probably just go around it for now, get Thomas running, and worry about it down the road. Sorry to have no whistle though, but I'm sure it will work out. If I have to buy the add-on sound card, then I can do that too.
Took tomorrow off from work because of the All Star game in St. Louis - all living Presidents will be there and it will just be too much craziness downtown. They are closing some of the roads and stuff too, including bridges to IL! Brilliant!
Sounds like a good day to run to the DMV and do some other chores that you can't usually do on a weekend to me.
TTFN!
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
Evenin' All.
Off to the museum tomorrow, , I'm getting tired.
Troubles with burrowing rodents ? Here's the solution: http://www.rodenator.com/ . Pretty cool, would love to get one.
Three days of running the A/C, guess there won't be any extra coin in next month's budget = no money for freight cars.
Brent & Susie Q, The best things in life aren't always easy.
For those in need.
Later all !
Remember the Veterans. Past, present and future.
www.sd3r.org
Proud New Member Of The NRA
Hi Guys.. checking in late tonite.. have been out in the train room setting up Legacy, my wife and kids treated me for my birthday. Legacy works great!!!! What an awesome birthday gift.
Tuesday is my official day to feel old....I'm not that old but old enough :)
Brent- Prayers for you and your wife
Charlie a.k.a. MichiganRailRoad714 (Charter Member TTC)
Seeing the "The Great Escape" on the big screen was fun. Forgot that they had some good footage of Deutches Bundesbahn steam in that one. Like those 4-6-4T's. Gonna have to avoid eating out for a while though I guess. What I had was on the level, but I think the dressing on the salad set me off again. Not that bad, but enough to say "hi, I'm here again". Looking forward to the class. Seems there is a bit of conflicting info on the web. And my case doesn't seem typical.
Dennis - thanks for the translation. I'm still coming up to speed on the lingo. Helps that I'm dating a surgeon for questions too, although she doesn't buy the diabetic thing given the numbers I am telling her. Sure seems to be related to what I eat though. I'll stick to the doc's plan until we find out anything more.
Brent - my thoughts and prayers are with you and the wife
GreenProbe - You are way right about rodents in the vehicles. Our big thing here is pack rats. We have mice issues at the scope. Still have one across a couple of the 460V connections in the Krupp rack. Would be a major issue to get him out, and he appears to be "done" and doesn't smell. Once heard of a guy who bought a muffler from my VW mechanic friend. Bolted it on his bug and tried to start the car. Wouldn't start. Tried again and sounded funny but still wouldn't catch. Got into it the 3rd time and then pow! pow! Two little smoking mice went flying across the yard.
Lemme know if you guys want to put some superconducting amps in the tardis. I can get you the liquid helium...
And as far as putting on a governor is concerned I'll share some Maine humor on that: "Governor heck! Not even the President of the United States could hold that down!"
Bob
Tucson, AZ (aka the Ol' Pueblo)
Home of the Mt. Graham & Arizona Eastern Boiler Shops
Brent - It will happen...
I have been pretty busy lately. Still working on things around the new house, as well as trying to catch up on about 5 hours of songs for a band that I'm filling in for bass guitar duties at the OSU football games at Riverwatch tower this season. Two bands is one too much...especially if both try to practice every week and play gigs when they can. They will be big shows, so it might be worth it.
Spent the evening removing a deck for my friend's house expansion project that starts today. I have been cleaning up the garage so I can get in there and start building some train tables. I purchased the wood yesterday. I went with select 1x4" pine this time. Not nearly as strong as strips of baltic birch plywood is used before, but it was easily available. Jack is ready to help. He is good at holding the screw box and handing me the next one.
Have a good one!Wes
Good morning all,
IIABSDISEI with temps in the low 80s again. Chief, had a great time at the lake last night after getting there in the Tardis. Don's neighbor was in fine form and Patrick behaved himself. The new electronics worked well. Good thing I brought the zucchini bread or else there would have been only grits to eat. A good time was had by all. I had soccer practice with "my" soccer girls and then did weights at the YMCA. For some reason, I slept very well last night. I had the regular fare on the dining car for breakfast and am sending it on to "Points East". Beacon is lit. Grandaughter coming down for a three day visit. I hope everyone has a good day.
Keep on training,
Mike C. from Indiana
Morning all!
Charlie: Happy Birthday!
Brent: Prayers for you and your Bride.
We have chipmunks here too. I'm happy to have then out of my garage. One is still occupying the space under the front porch. Better out(side) than in.
Kurt
Good Morning
HAPPY BIRTHDAY-Charlie.
Another sunny morning, ah loving it. No plans for the day so I can finally take a break. TTFN...S.J.
Charlie!
Brent & Susie
for everyone else
SLAMMMED at work - just checkin' in to make sure youse giz are ok
see ya later...!
I am the monster in your head...And I thought you'd learn by now, It seems you haven't yet.I am the venom in your skin --- Breaking Benjamin
Aloha all. Nice day last eve. Took the youngest to the local park after I got home where he played until dark, Boy, the skeeters are bad. Then after he went to bed, re-arranged the innermost loop to be a little curvier - I now have 4 main lines - I've been running the 520 with a short freight on the new one. The innermost loop has a half-loop-sized passing siding for Thomas that I wanted to make more non-linear if that makes sense - around the church and parallel to the Baker Field runway. Here's a photo from my new phone-camera - notice the S-gauge visitor.
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
Mornin' boys. Hey - CAKE! --->MichRR! Delightful and 66 here in the Mid-Atlantic region. I can't remember a more pleasant July.
RockIsland - We bought our HUNTER 27 mid-May. Since then, we've been practicing sailing when we can, and buying lots of goodies to make her pretty.
88 - That engineering feet would be more ambitious than the SUEZ canal. I'll just settle for the 20 min jaunt around the beltway.
Lawson Farms - Having a boat is like owning your own piece of waterfront property...without the fear of eventual storm-surge...or bigger fear of MD property tax assessments...!
Slept in until 8 AM
Happy Birthday Charlie! Congrats on the Legacy and glad your daughter's eye is getting better - that scared me when I saw the pics!
Just chilling out with Chewy today. Need to run to the DMV since I'm off and maybe pic up a piece of brass or something to I can make a holder for the Run/Pgm switch on Annie. Will get Thomas running I hope - my friend's daughter, Ceci, shed a little crocodile tear because I "killed" Thomas I have been told! Gotta get with the resurrecting part now.
BTW - some chipmunks burrowed under my sister's patio and into a crawlspace under their kitchen. Rain water followed the burrows and then flooded their basement. It cost them a lot of money to get it all fixed! Whenever I see a tunnel in my yard, I get that mole poison out that comes in a cone shaped yellow container - works like a charm.
cnw1995 - I totally understand "non-linear". When I develop a track plan, one of the main goals is to abolish as much straight tangent of track as possible. To me, a long sweeping curve of O-72 or larger is more pleasing than two straight 36 sections.
Good Morning :
Actually it is a great morning, going to the mid 80's and LOW humidity. It's been a great summer.
Chief - The "Rodenator" mentioned by Doug appears to be the same one shown on RFD-TV. It shows eliminating rodents in a corn field. I can't see that small rodents would be a problem in the fields, especially when the thing costs $2,000.00 - $3,000.00. I have to question if it really works on larger animals such as ground hogs, badgers, foxes and coyotes as they claim.
Charlie.
Bob - Liquid helium, Hmmm. Sounds like it would work. RT could take us from Alaska to Main in under 2 seconds. Need to check with Brutus first - the Tartis is his baby.
Mike - I had to behave myself last night, I already have two strikes on me this year!
Brutus - Happy to drive tonight. This time I promise to keep it safe and sane.
Today's Wise Farmer's Saying:
Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.
Good Mornin' Ya'll From Still-Sunny Taxachusetts,
What a difference a few days of sunshine do for the positive psyche after about 6 weeks of overcast and rainy weather. Our temps are finally approaching the normal highs of 82 for this time of year. Spent late yesterday afternoon and early evening assembling a new kiddie pool for the 5 year old granddaughter. About 13 feet in diameter and 29" deep, complete with filter and ladder. In one respect it seems like such a waste; she (and her friends) only hopped in the old one about 4 times last summer because the weather and (water) temps were not cooperating. The weather has been worse this Summer. But the kids always have a riot when they are in there. The responsibilities of grandparenthood are great, greater if your daughter and SIL have no place to erect this type of stuff.
I have been duly informed that the headcount for the 5 y/o granddaughter's 6th b-day party at my place could exceed 60 including adults, family, and friends. One grill isn't going to cut it, so I have a problem to resolve. I volunteered setting (back) up the 12' x 12' gazebo in the yard for shade and shelter from the elements, but I got outvoted by wife and daughter. They seem to think a larger, rented circus tent complete with a hired crew to assemble and disassemble would be more suitable. This is one of those things where an opposing viewpoint (mine) is not only futile but fodder for future "you are a stick in the mud" observations that continue well into our 80's, or until dementia and forgetfulness take hold. I shudder to think what the granddaughters' birthday parties will further morph into in the future. I said that last year at this time. When I was a kid........but I digress.
Wes.......long time no read. A redundant but sincere congratulations on your new digs. There is so much to like and enjoy about this place (from your pics). Your comment about finding room in your garage struck home. My garage, like my basememt, is filled with the kids junk and is evidence of my wife's refusal to throw anything out. I'm lucky to fit two cars in the garage for the winter. I was recently successful in getting one of my son's old, long-since defunct junkers hauled away to the bone yard. One to go. Rome wasn't built in a day.
Bob.....hang in there with the erratic blood sugar and bp tests. Think of your body as a revered classic Ferrari that requires the experience and patience af an exceptional medical mechanic to get it and keep it cranking on all 12 cylinders. Sounds like you might have stumbled into the right mechanic.
Chief/JimmyT/DougDG......re the chipmunks solution, I can just picture my wife coming home to see the front porch blown clean off the house. I do know that Chief's .17 solution utilized within my residential city limits would probably be followed by an unscheduled trip to the local police station. And I would have to bribe my wife with some more "funding for shoes" to get her to bail me out.
Charlie....... In the words of Jack Nicholson, yes, in some ways this is as good as it gets. In other ways no. Have a good one!
DougDG........I'd swap some of the a/c costs with you if you could get us folks in the NE some sustainable real summer weather.
Brutus.......re your trip to the DMV. Due to the MA budgetary crisis, our state politicos are cutting state funding to two local zoos by 2/3, without which the zoos cannot survive. The politicos are also shutting down several local DMV facilities. The citizenry can now go zooless and drive a ways on rotten roads, burn up vacation days and gas, and stand in long lines to get some of simplest of motor vehicle and drivers licensing tasks done that cannot be done on-line. The State finally had the DMV mess here fixed, but these Beacon Hill knuckleheads seem hell bent on breaking what works, again. With few exceptions, they can NEVER seem to bring themselves to attack true waste in government spending. I do not like to complain about how things are without offering a solution that is better than the status quo. IMHO, term limits on political office. Some may say that the best and the brightest would never be attracted to public office if there were term limits. So how is the lack of term limits been working out for us? It never has. As a business consultant to big business, I found that the largest impediments to corporate success are short term thinking (operating plans that focus on an annual earnings per share and stock price/stockholders), political infighting, and fear of job loss. So the best and the brightest just hunker down, shut up, hang on to their seats for economic survival, and nothing constructive or strategic gets done.
MikeC.......your comment about the upcoming 3 day visit from your granddaughter put a smile on my face to start the day.
DougM......way to go!!!! Time is the one priceless gift that we can give to our children and the one thing they will cherish forever. Re your layout rearrangement toward a less linear configuration..... those straight runs, while easier to construct to maximize running distances, can get pretty monotonous. I look at Fife's, Brent's project, and Berk765's latest take on "more curves are better" approach and have to agree. Even Dave Smith on a 9' x 5' table works in differing heights and curves to hold the imagination. Re the bug population, we too have a bumper crop of mosquitoes this year. The Chicago Cubs filing for bankruptcy? What is that all about?
Fife.......a school buddy of mine who lives outside of Mentor Ohio lives just 5 minutes from his boat's mooring on Lake Erie. He, the wife, and the kids would make evening dinner and a cruise onto Lake Erie (weather permitting) a part of the daily routine. Really maxed out the use of the boat, albeit a power boat. Same with some friends of ours here in MA. They have two power boats. The 27' one they trailer back and forth to a public launch 100 yards from their house right onto the Merrimac river. Their second one, a 21' Grady White, is moored in Manchester Harbor, the next town north of me on the Atlantic. Marine forecasts are the order of the day for their use of that one. They had a third, a sailboat, but gave up on the effort required to sail and the dependence on the wind, sold it. And finally, another school buddy of mine lives right on the water (Lake Michigan) in Traverse City MI. So many choices and so little time.
Pat......the first two strikes against you don't count because the incidents were part of a highly scientific social experiment, right?
SirJames.......looking at your avatar, is that paint on your head from last weekend's painting escapades?
Later, gang.
Jack
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
Charlie
Another sunny and hot one here in the Ol' Pueblo. Not a whole lot of rain though. May have to drag out the hose again later.
Happy Birthday Charlie!
Brutus - took a look at your SPF pics of the Thomas conversion. Looks pretty neat. Hopefully your young friend will be reassured by his reappearance!
Pat - I can get you liquid nitrogen if you just want to try over-clocking main chip:)
Jack - thanks for the words or encouragement. My doc has been with me for 12 years and knows the animal fairly well. Has certainly been an adjustment as I've never really dealt w/ anything like this before. Forgot that the Merrimack River was in MA. Was, of course, the namesake river of the famous frigate that the guy's down Chief's way got hold of. Have several books on the subject and would love to make an operating model of the Monitor's side-lever engine. Anyone seen the new museum display?
Well the hardware store is going to let me use those out of date gift certificates. Fred wants me to use 'em ASAP so I'm off pretty soon for a little spending spree at Ace.
Hope everyone has a good day!
Can't wait for the Tardis ride tonight. My turn to drive, Bob has the nitrogen and Jack has dismissed my two strikes. Buckle up tight boys!.
Chief - we are on our way.
Hmmm, I have some burrowing chipmunks too below the front stoop. We have a little game - I fill in their holes, they dig them out again. There's some good ideas here. Jack, this benighted state not only hasn't figured out its $11b deficiti but raised all sorts of weird taxes for a road-spending bill. from $10 to $30 for a license; $70 to $100 for a plate renewal; raised taxes on things as varied as wine and dandruff shampoo! The Cubs might go into bankruptcy to help the sale - they're hung up on overvalued broadcast rights. Look what I visited at lunch. See the North Western tracks? Big display on unfunded frieght rail improvements. Bob, good news about the hardware store.
Doug--
Shouldn't that river be green? Oh, wait a minute---it must not be St. Paddy's day
Doug, perhaps you can get that set up for the layout! That would be way cool to run some track around such structures.
Jack, I'm with Chief, only I have a "quiet" 22 that has caused a lot of squirrels to subcome to lead poisoning in the last week, about 14 have done so. Has been interesting in that the other day, we had a Cooper's Hawk and two Turkey Vultures spar off over a carcass. Hawk won. Also, had a falcon visit today.
Brent, We too have adopted....it's a great thing. Funny, so many of the question issues just aren't there when it is all said and done. We have a biological child as well and love them both the same. I commented to my wife about being amazed that from the two of us, our son was born, but followed with the fact that neither of us can imagine life without our daughter. Adoptions take some time and LOTS of paperwork. Well worth it, but you may want to do some serious looking into things as it will be awhile. Also, many couples going through the same issues you and Susie Q are will adopt and soon afterwards, get a "surprise". We have some friends who tried the fertility thing for 10 years. Then adopted from China and within a year, were pregnant. Now they have 2 biological kids and another on the way. This seems to happen alot.
OK, so right now I have dueling banjos in my ears (on the iTouch), but how appropriate that it would come up while posting here.
Have spent the last two days doing a lot of soldering on the layout. I have 20 fastrack switches that I am running wires to and doing the control panel. Also ran power to each switch so I can run them off another power source. My back will never be the same.
Well, better go, but I hope that everyone has a blessed day.
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
Dennis--
Any chance of progress pics? As you know, construction phase is my favorite part of the hobby.
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