I went to the sale at the LHS today before I went to work, and it really, really paid off. After I bought ten 40" straights, I started to look in the boxes that lined part of the floor. I saw a Flyer 771 stockyard and cattle car sitting in a box, and there appeared to be something underneath them. There were two more 771s laying in the box. I'll post pics in the morning.
Worked 6 hours OT this morning. Then set up my new x-box and played with my son for a couple hours. Then we went to Red Robin for dinner and Barnes and Nobles to look at books. Kids each got a book and so did wife - I'm all booked up right now, have a small stack waiting to be read. Nice weather here in St. Louis today. Think we are going to Harry Potter tomorrow
Tardis is ready and looks like a nice night to set out on the porch with some banilla and good friends - let's go!
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
Chief -
Oooohhhh, not that funny...
Well, back from the lake. SIL, Neice and MIL came up. Took them for a night ride on the lake with pontoon. They loved it. They laid out in the sun today while Lucy, Burg and I stayed in the A/C and watched movies. Yes, Lucy took one swim around [with her life jacket on] and then swam to shore. Jumped on the seat to the golf cart and said, "Daddy. lets go home to the A/C." Rain all around. Looks like we might have some "backing" in here [coming from an unusual dirrection for us].
Buckeye has lost his mind. A lady with her own Ranger bass boat is a lot better than some old train engine. BTW: neighbor was a door gunner on a Huey in Country. His crew chief was from Ohizo and was called Buckeye. His chopper was named Buckeye.
Charlie, good picture there of the family.
Jim, Sound Stop is great. I am sure you read the last issue of CTT about the local store items you could buy. Sound Stop is cheaper than Homasote but can be dusty. Saw outside if you can. A coat of cheap latex paint will seal it and stop the dusting. I used brown. I think it helps with the sound. I used two sheets [alternated so not two seams were the same]. Easy to cut and easy to make rivers and etc.
Jon, in NC a John Deere picks corn and a person pulls it. Yankees that teach music do not know farming.
Dennis, had some great watermellons going for Pam. Looked out two days ago and they had holes in them. Started looking groundhog hole in fence with .17 in hand. No hole. ??? Went back in house for a few. When I came out, five big crows were pecking them. First time ever heard of crows destroying watermellons.
SP, I need a bar-be-que fix. Maybe tomorrow when I drive to Mom's down east after Sunday School.
Now for the best reply. Fifey should be able to crusey all over the water with all the hot air that 88 and Fifey cause in that area.
Later.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Good Evening
Sun and 70s again today, showers here and there but none for us. Spent about five hours at the store feel like I helped out for ten.LOL. I have banilla so Brutus meet me at the front porch..
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
Evenin' boys. Evenin' English. Looks like a front is moving into our area, perhaps giving us some much needed rain.
Back from Ocean City (MD). Sign of the times was we were able to book am oceanfront/boardwalk room 24 hours ahead. Of course at those prices, no shocker. Weather was a little "iffy" at first, then got better. Ate well, and saw dolphins, which is always cool. Funny, wifey and I kept talking about St Thomas. Might have to spend a month there (live-aboard style) some future winter.
rt/Prairietype - Glad you guys escaped serious damage.
SPMan - Will be doing lots of sailing on the Chesapeake...especially since vacation budget axe has officially fallen... Good thing the wind is free...well, for now...
RockIsland - There's about 25% slips still available at my marina. No shortage around here. I like the Beach Boys, but now it's all Jimmy Buffett, all the time. And at age 40, I "get it"...two hundred years too late; the canons don't thunder there's nothin' to plunder...
Wes - Got something in the mail...
Michiganders and Snohizoan interlopers - Love the pics. Keep 'em coming.
Evening all from wet Southern Ohio
We went camping last night in the truck camper. All systems worked well with the exception of the fresh water holding tank. It will need anouther drain and flush with bleach.
Buckeye Looks like youre having a good time!
Need to unload some stuff from the camper. I'll check back in.
Light is on
May God bless
Jim
Low 80's here. A couple of weird accidents this week four or five blocks away from home. 1st one was a pick up truck that got off of the road, sideswiped two houses, then rolled. Next night, two blocks away from that one, was a van that, swerved onto the sidewalk and into a car port, taking a couple of support posts out.
Great pictures from the steam festival in Owasso. Makes me jealous that I am unable to attend.
Was cool enough in the attic that I could run trains for a bit this afternoon.
It is also cool enough to mow the lawn. Suppose I'd ought to get it done.......
Aloha from Tiffin OH. Made it to Freshmen Orientation in just five hours from Chicago. Pays to leave at 5 am. Daughter couldn't get rid of me fast enough - LOL - I found the Mad River and NKP RR Museum only half an hour away in beautiful Bellvue, OH. A very nice time with just our youngest - the bride tolerated it wel. Without the teens, his enthusiam about everything makes me feel younger. This place is train heaven - all sorts of through trains- paced a long tanker train for miles - pulled by a CSX MP15AC - TrainFest looks wonderful!
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
Rain/storms expected in lower Mich. today, hope the train fest go's ok. Off to help at the store. A good day to all. S.J.
Morning all, bit tired as we stayed out late last night. Went to dinner for a friends B-day and then to a cold stone ice cream parlor for some desert. I have to head in soon to check on a patient and then, hope to come home and work on the layout.
Buckeye, I have seen that girl before on one of the train shows. I'll stick with what I have, but it is still pretty neat to know that the fairer gender has such a love of trains.
Chief, we have just done the watermellon picking. With the early cold followed by the wet weather in the early season, the watermellon crop here is great! Folks in Florida got too much of both and their crop suffered.
I know at some point, Bob has said they will be doing service on the site. Hope it doesn't stay down for long and when it is done, that it is faster and able to hold more memory.
God Bless,
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
Morning to All,
Jim - that's great news about the 322. Good luck with the layout construction.
RT - what a scary situation. Glad it turned out OK.
Chief and Jon - you guys are making my mouth water talking about peaches and cream sweet corn.
Last night the Mrs and I went to a (new to us) little diner for dinner. We almost didn't stop because there was only one other car on the lot. Of course it was nearly 7:15 when we got there. Turned out to be a great meal. Had some of the best cream of crab soup I've had in a long while.
Things at work are starting to get busy. One of my teacher's got a promotion to a reading specialist position so I have to hire another teacher. Lots of decent candidates left because most districts are cutting back due to the economy.
Today we are heading down toward the Chesapeake to visit with friends. Probably will have some steamed crabs along with regular cookout fare.
Take care,
Mitch
Bob Mitchell Gettysburg, PA TCA # 98-47956 LCCA# RM22839
Good morning from the Great State of Michigan, where yesterday Mrs. Buckeye and I attended the Train Festival in Owosso.
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
Morning all!
Sir James: Is that the elusive caboose you've been after for years?
Great time at Train Fest! Saw Charlie and his wonderful family all thru the day! Running that engine looks like a lot of fun! Thanks for the video! The girls pooped out by 12:30, so we were off, and the youngest was asleep as soon as we hit the road. Bride was suprised I didn't come home with the Pere Marquette drawings Charlie found...
I was hoping to see Buckey, and Tim 'O, but to no avail. We were in line to get in as the Daylight was pulling out of the siding.
Kurt
Neat pics and video Charlie!
No trains today. Took that netbook back to Best Buy and they exchanged it - had some kind of hardware defect. New one is working fine - downloaded windows updates, security stuff, etc. Hope to get to set up the xbox tomorrow after work. Sunday we plan to see the Harry Potter movie.
Nice talks with SJ twice today and with RT tonight for a little while. Sure glad you are okay m8!
Tardis is ready - don't know what we will do if Mike is out of town, have to give you the tracker so we can come get you on the road Worked for Doug and Don in the past
Trainfestival was a riot. Here are some pics and video of me and the family.
Charlie a.k.a. MichiganRailRoad714 (Charter Member TTC)
My 322 arrived early this afternoon from Marty C. of Marty's Trains in Oceanside, NY. I am very impressed with the 322 and even more so with Marty's desire to please his customers. When I bought the 322, it was clearly missing the eccentric rod on the left side in the pics. Marty went above and beyond the call of duty by replacing the rod free of charge before shipping the 322. I didn't even ask him about that. That made my day right there.
I also went to Lowes tonight to buy the wood for benchwork, so I'll get started on that Sunday if I am not scheduled to work. The LHS is having a 25% off sale tomorrow, so I might stop in before work to buy some track.
Chief,
I am considering buying Soundstop to put on top of the plywood. I know you've talked about it before. Is it worth it? What is the average price of a sheet?
81 today, I think. No rain yet but storms tomorrow. Could make the big steam train show quite messy. Some that went yesterday in the showers said rain, mud and soot do not make a pleasant mix. I will a spend lot of Saturday, at least till late afternoon helping at the train store. I don't expect a busy day as a lot of the regulars will be at the trains. So banilla at the ready waiting for Brutus....S.J.
A quick hello from Orlando...
Spent the day lounging,stopped by a Harley Dealer after dropping the "kids"off at Warp Tour, went to a photo & hobby store, picked up a couple of items I needed, had lunch at Long John Silvers (Chicken - all the LJS's have closed up shop in Jax), oggled read some at the pool, took a nap then going to get something to drink- soda most likely.
Tornadoes/waterspouts jus teast of here in Daytona with Hail- weather here is sunny and 94. Mrs says raining back home.
OK, that's all from here,catch up later tonight if not tomorrow- hotel computer sucks....
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
Chief--
A farmer "picks" corn and "pulls" weeds, sheeesh
Jon
So many roads, so little time.
jonadel Chief-- Don't you be putting any nasty Grits in that beautiful JD car When I ship my next car to Doug it's going to full of Peaches & Cream SWEET corn We are entering the peek time for sweet corn (it's been late this year) and it's absolutely wonderful.
Don't you be putting any nasty Grits in that beautiful JD car When I ship my next car to Doug it's going to full of Peaches & Cream SWEET corn We are entering the peek time for sweet corn (it's been late this year) and it's absolutely wonderful.
Already loaded with GRITS and SWEET TEA. BTW: we are pulling Peaches and Cream corn here and another batch behind it. Good stuff.
Dennis, we've birthed butterflys, caterpillars, ant farms, just about every critter habitat possible via mail.Your kids should love 'em. Jon, sweet corn is not as available in our part of Illinois this season. I can't recall whether it was too wet earlier or too dry now. Off to Ohio at about 4 am tomorrow...
Wes,I would install a solar powered gable vent fan inside that gable vent. This will suck any and all hot air out of that space. You won't need a very large one either. I would HIGHLY recommend the durovent as well. This will provide the necessary air space to allow for air circulation. Oh and that gable vent will suck the air out of those side cavities as well. And your AC will be more efficient as well.If you are using faced insulation there is no need for an additional vapor barrier. That is over kill and could actually create a positive preasure situation inside your house which could cause moisture inside your walls causing your house to rot from the inside out. I was thinking about doing what you are thinking about doing and my carpenter told me he wouldn't do the work on the sunroom if I did that, as he couldn't gaurantee his work.The only concern I would have is space, but if you think it would work then I say go for it!
Don't you be putting any nasty Grits in that beautiful JD car When I ship my next car to Doug it's going to full of Peaches & Cream SWEET corn We are entering the peek time for sweet corn (it's been late this year) and it's absolutely wonderful. A gourmet meal for the two of us is fresh green beans fried in bacon grease w/onions and sweet corn picked that morning. Not so sure the medical gurus would approve ........... but I don't care
Afternoon everyone. Been a busy week so far and I am still on call till Monday. Have a few things to take care of this weekend. One patient is on support, but we should be able to wean her tomorrow and then, only emergencies will keep me from other tasks. Want to tie up some wires and make things a bit neater. Then, I have to diagnose that turnout and get it straightened before moving onto scenery. Have all the ideas in my head, but have to make the work something fun that the kids will help me with.
My son's former teacher bought him one of the butterfly homes that is a mesh "box" habbitat. They send you live catapillars that you keep in a special cup till they form the crystalids. Then, pin the sheet with the crystalids onto the inside of the mesh and wait. Well, yesterday they started to appear. Kind of neat to watch, but the kids really like it and another opportunity for them to learn. We are trying to expose them to a lot of things you can't get on a computor or in a classroom. We also have plans for them to spend some time at a friends ranch. Want them to learn about cattle and horses as well as see some animals born.
SJ, you may have seen the giants of steam in your younger years, but they are still great to look at. For me, unless something was keeping me from going, I'd be there. I don't like the crowds, but I'd find a way to get over it for a little while. Even if I had to resort to hanging out when they were departing town, something about seeing 70 year old equipment that makes the ground rumble.
Morning all. Shave and shower time. Sprayed Roundup in some area on my block that I maintain [keeps me from having to weedeat it]. Had rain last night [well, early this AM]. Mowed shoulder on School Street which is th street to the pond and some poor African-American homes [they are not in Town limits]. Town seems to forget that street. Gave some good bait to some fire ants along the way. Picked a bucket full of Tomatoes. Taking a box of tomatoes, cucumbers and hot peppers downtown to County Atty [buddy of mine]. Also a bag of squash and two cantalopes. Got to run few errands. Probably go to the lake tonight. Need to ship out some JD box car. Enjoyed running it. Later.
Hey guys, First would like to thank all of you for your help!!! I really appreciate it ! It has helped me a lot. The site had over a 100 hits yesterday, I think we may be under control. Always a lot of work there.
Glad to see the progress with the medical issues! I havn't posted much recently but that doesn't mean the concerns have not continued. Brutus and Bob, make sure you guys continue with the updates. Of course these are the things that really matter!
Surprised to see so much train work progress in the summer! As everyone says the planning stage is probably the most important. I know when I was planning mine, I made a list of goals, which also included negative goals as well. (example: No duck unders, it was really difficult and frustrating at times to avoid. But created a pause in my subsequent planning and building to analyize do I want to comprimise the goal for convience? Also, wish I would have been more particular regarding the wiring. I started with drawings and schematics, but they quickly become out dated. I would make sure I seperate wiring bundles, Power Distribution, Accessories, Switches, and Lighting. Would make subsequent trouble shooting easier. And also, using plenty of terminal strips, (they are cheap), and identifying what they are and voltage. I tried various methods but ended up writing on the bottom of layout with a marker.
Speaking of wiring, I FINALLY, finished connecting my signal gates (2) and crossing lights (2) using relays and isolated track wiring, eliminating the IR detectors. Operation is significantly improved! Involved a total of 11 track sections, also found a couple of places that the neg from the track power got connected to the inside rail instead of the outside, which created some issues. The relays really worked well. They are 12v DC auto relays, paid $2 each for. Powered them up using an old wall wort xfmr. (Recommend saving all those unattached wall worts that everyone ends up with, they can be useful.)
I also got a phone call from John Baker, (UK) yesterday. That was cool ! Enjoyed the conversation! We sure covered a lot of topics, as expected he is really a nice guy! While I was talking to him, received another call from a customer. Had to put John on hold for a second, and the incoming call was from Hawaii. Really peculiar to be talking to London on one line, and Hawaii on another at the same time, definetly covering distance!
Again, I want to thank all you guys for your assistance! It has been a hassle to try and chase down some of the "ghost problems"
Take care, those of you fortunate enough, enjoy the MI. show!
Don
Aloha all. Sunny and warm on my day off. RT, glad you and the Mrs are OK. Prairetype, water damage stinks. I had issues earlier this year. Hope everything is drying out and recoverable. A buddy in the business has priced a new a/c and furnance for me - a tad more than I expected but at least I saved the cash. Not much more left after first college tuition bill. LOL. Off to Ohio tomorrow - TGIF!!
Good Morning from Blueberryhill....
It is a sunny 70 degrees. Going up to 80 today with mostly sunshine.
Today is busy. I have a bunch of chores to do and then, relax, this afternoon. Not much is new on the train subject. This weekend, I will do some dusting in the train room.
Dining car was here for the usual breakfast.
Y'all have a great Friday. TGIF
Chuck
RT,
That would have scared me as well. It is probably better that you put the fan in the garbage rather than try to get another one. If that fan had a problem, I wouldn't want another for fear that it might do the same thing. Glad to hear that you and your wife are okay.
Not much planned for today. I went to Lowes last night to order the wood that I need. The wood will be about $120 for 60 eight foot 2x4s. I was going to have them deliver it, but they want $70 just for delivery. So, I'll go pick it up tonight. I will put the table saw together while I wait for the 322 to get here today.
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