COFFEE POT #1, January 2010 for all to take a drink and chat. Welcome all posters. 4 yrs old and still going. Sweet ice tea too.

[sir james I]

Good morning

It was 8 degrees when we got up. 12 now, no wind or snow. Suppose to warm some from this point. Good chat with the guys last nite, ran a few minutes past my bed time but all is well.

Enjoy your weekend....S.J.

[laz 57]

Hi GUYZ,

  12 here this morning and NO SNOW!!!!!  Gonna start taking apart back porch this after and get a nice 2 miler on the treadmill.  Then church tonite and out to golf course for supper.  Run trains later.

Stay frosty,

laz57

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is a cold 15 degrees. No snow. Going up to 30 today with cloudy skies.

Today is an easy day. Physical therapy, yesterday, was rough. I worked out on a machine, pushing myself away from a wall with my legs. I ached last night. Today, my legs are a little bit sore. I did pretty good, according to the lovely, brown eyed, brunette, therapist. I think I will enjoy this.

This weekend, I am running trains, in the afternoon. I started some scenery projects last week. I can stand and walk around as I work on them. Feels good.

Dining car has arrived and it's the usual for breakfast. Cheerios.

Chief.....I hope you still have power. I think you have a generator.

Y'all have a great Saturday.

Chuck

[dbaker48]

Evening ALL !

Really had a beautiful day today, somewhere close to the 70's, and clear skies.  Chris went snow boarding up at Big Bear Mtn today, came back sore but none the worse.

Had a tramatic time in the train room tonight....

Started with a KLine (TMCC) Cotton Belt not having "audible" sounds, noticed it last night.  Fired up the layout and things Lionel stuf started to move, no watchdog signal.  (Still having problem with that, see "Sr. Moment problem thread".)

Tried every button combination I could imagine, still no go, could barely hear the sounds they were there just not audible.  Decided to do a reprogram, no help, then all of a sudden I did something and it was roaring.  Then shut power off to see if the sounds had a delay.  Nope.  Then decided to replace battery.  Getting the old 9v battery unhooked broke a wire on the speaker.  Soldered it back on put it back together and it works great!

Since I have a pair of them thought should check the other one.  Battery needed replacing on it as well, opened it up, make sure being extra careful with the speaker.  So removing the battery, the black wire broke out of the battery connector.  Great!!  So take the entire body off, checking where the leads run to replace the holder with a spare I had.  Then realize big dummy, just connect it to the leads from the old on!     Get new soldered in, heatshrink applied, and it too tests great! 

So now going to park the two diesels on their siding, guess what, the sounds on the first one is barely audible!!!  Try all the button combinations again, no go!  Time to go quit for the night!

Working 1/2 day tomorrow and Sunday, nothing planned for afternoons & eves.  Maybe work on a bridge.

Later

[Ole Timer]

 Good night on the chat with Brutus - SJ - and RT .... sat here trying to put all the  tiny trim back on this crane while typing ... still working on it .... ... how come I've got 100 times more glue on my fingers than on it ...   can't wait to start the matching car ..... yea right ! Oh well ... swore I'd get them both done this weekend .... in case I don't ... it does'nt lightning in January does it ?   " I swear to  ***  I'm gonna finally finish both of these this weekend  "  .... should have never came out of my mouth .... ..... maybe he did'nt hear me .

[RockIsland52]

laz 57

Hi GUYZ,

  Went down to BARRYs TRAIN SHOP today with maintenance GUY at school.  Only got a few packs of scenic people for 40% off and also got a LIONEL BAR STOOL at a GREAT PRICE.  Can't tell because of discount of all business I give him but it is NICE.  Came home ran TRAINs for 2 hrs. NO PILE UPs.

  CHIEF, if that SNO HI O gets to deep I volenteer to come down there to DA SOUTH and help you out.  But you gotta have lots of OL MIL on tap for me cause it looks like 15 inches foe NC?  I'm ready CHIEF just say da word.  And dat is OL MIL.

Stay frosty,

laz57

Just read Chief's post and it appears it's BYOB......bring your own brine!  What is that all about? Next he will be telling us they use recycled crushed road kill bones to treat the roads down there. 

Jack

[ChiefEagles]

Sad news.  Only about 2 inches on the ground.  Funny thing.  Highway in front is overed.  It was sprayed with brine two days ago.  This was to keeep the highway from freezing.  My driveway, sidewalk, pad behind the house and walkway is not covered.   Right now [dogs went out], only some fine icey stuff falling.  Of to bed.

[Brutus]

Charlie!  Glad you are okay.

Thanks for all prayers and intentions.  They moved Char to a new room today - musical chairs.  They don't want them in the same room for too long.  She is at transplant + 8 days now.  She might be able to come home around +21 days.  Her numbers are not going down as fast as they thought and this is a good sign.  The new stuff really kicks in around +14 days, which is interesting.  I don't know enough about this, just what they have been telling us.  The texts I have found are really about various cancer and don't apply to our case.

SNOW in Saint Louis!  I think we might get a whole inch if these keeps up!

Train show is tomorrow, hope to hook up with an old online friend at last and taking a buddy who might be into trains someday, if he can figure out where to put them etc. 

Good chat tonight with the guys and then spent nearly 2 hours clearing off our old laptop so my mother-in-law can have it to do facebook. 

Tardis is ready, wayback circuit is online and Mr. Fusion is full of old cans again - let's hit it!

[MichRR714]

 Checking in tonight from the frigid north.  Supposed to get down to minus 10 tonight. Yikes.  Cabin is warm...thank god!

[steveo]

 Lee F and 8ntruck,

I started with 027 Rad. track that came with the sets and they derailed a lot, had to slow down. I now have some 072, 042 and some 027 on the layout I'm trying to set up. The 999 does have the fat drive wheels so had to take off the Lionel switches and use Marx, both sets are manual. I have one Marx push button type switch and trying to find how to check electrial conections. Not sure about the other steveo, probably not.

 

Thanks
T 

[laz 57]

Hi GUYZ,

  Went down to BARRYs TRAIN SHOP today with maintenance GUY at school.  Only got a few packs of scenic people for 40% off and also got a LIONEL BAR STOOL at a GREAT PRICE.  Can't tell because of discount of all business I give him but it is NICE.  Came home ran TRAINs for 2 hrs. NO PILE UPs.

  CHIEF, if that SNO HI O gets to deep I volenteer to come down there to DA SOUTH and help you out.  But you gotta have lots of OL MIL on tap for me cause it looks like 15 inches foe NC?  I'm ready CHIEF just say da word.  And dat is OL MIL.

Stay frosty,

laz57

[anjdevil2]

 

Actually, it is the 69th regional meet of the NeHOA (see www.nehoa.org for the information on the 68th meet in Manheim, PA).  

So, no, it's NOT a lame joke.  It's gonna happen for real.  It's for the North East Hemi Owners Assoc., which a club for all Chrysler cars (AMC is also welcome).  I intend on bringing my '70 roadrunner convert, but that depends on the carburetor and other items.  I'll have to check it out over the spring and summer.

See ya tomorrow...

[bfskinner]

LawsonFarmsRR

LawsonFarmsRR

rtraincollector

LawsonFarmsRR

Rich M - Did I read your car club's 69th meet's location correctly, or am I  just a nasty old man?

Pat

Acually pat in your case both and to be honest with you you have to go thru intercorse to get to paradise (both are towns side by side in PA.)

 

RT - I am familiar with Lancaster county, having visited there numerous times, as you have with family there. I was referring to the "69" combined with the town name.

Pat

 

RT - I forgot to add, you have to go through Blue Ball to get to Intercorse and paradise.

Pat

{Quoted only in part]

What goes around, comes around.

Two years or so ago, the regular participants of the Coffee Pot tried to run me out of town on a rail, because I made this very same joke -- and nobody got it. Actually, my joke was far milder. Tongue-in-cheek, I compared the area around the Nittany Valley with those towns in the gentle Amish farmland with the "dirty" names. 

The joke consisted of a list of absurd conclusions ostensibly drawn by a seriously-uptight elderly worman after reading a  post by another member. The joke gently chided a well-known university in central  PA by suggesting -- among other things -- that the "'dirty' professors there required every  female student to "submit her thesis,"  and that the word Nittany itself was "filthy" as were several other Pennsylvania towns, such as Bird-in-Hand. (Note that I used  "Bird-in-Hand" rather than the more obvious choice of "Intercourse" precisely so that no one could possibly be offended.

I figured that even if someone didn't get all the jokes, surely everyone would get some of them and realize that the entire post was a gag. Silly me. It was more the pity because it was very, very funny -- and not at all crude  -- if you understood it.*

I thought that everyone would recognize that it was all a  parody, consisting as it did of  one absurd statement piled on top of the other. As it turned out, only Laz ever gave an inkling that he saw the humor --  and that was several days after the moderator had abruptly pulled the plug on the whole event. Virtually everyone got his knickers in a twist, and no explanation was possible.

So, we've come a long way if today someone can now post what is essentially the same the gag and get away with it. Congratulations!

* It was based on a very old form of humor loosely called "malapropisms." The word comes from a character in Sheridan's play The Rivals but it greatly predates that work. Shakespeare used it. It depends on the ludicrous misuse of words. The comedian Norm Crosby made a living from it. Examples:  "I speak so well because I went to electrocution school." and his "sincere" tribute to women, "I place you on the highest pinochle." Other people famous for using the form were did Dizzy Dean, Yogi Berra, Dan Quayle, and George "Dubya" Bush. (There is now an entire book dedicated to Bushisms.)

An example for this forum might be "I run all brands and sizes of equipment on my eclectic train."

In this case, a few slightly obscure but totally innocent words were confused with "naughty stuff" by an imaginary "uptight old lady."  In such cases, the "dirt" resides strictly in the mind of the reader. I sincerely hope anyone who doesn't "ignore, ignore, ignore" this post finally understands the true nature of what did and did not take place in one of this forum's silliest moments. 

Finally, the the member (who went ballistic and brought the rest of the Coffee Pot crowd down on my head) knows the truth  never acknowledged it here, beyond saying that the "matter was settled." So, for the record, the "filthy" words and phrases  "my mother" (I, of course) used  that so insulted him, his family, and his "religion" were: bimmer, Nittany, thesis, Tempus Fugit, and Bird-in-Hand, the last being a town in the Amish region of Pennsylvania and the first the common term for a BMW automobile. Please look up any that you are still unsure of. Shocking material, eh?  

Not exactly George Carlin's list of Seven Dirty Words, is it? And yet, when I used them in an attempt at a bit of  chiding humor, they sailed  right over the heads of the inner circle of Coffee Pot regulars as well as Moderator Bob Keller, and resulted in the biggest stink I've ever seen on this or any other forum. I posted them in the mistaken belief that the member (and the membership) were smart enough to get the the jokes. So although  I had enough "smarts" to write  the jokes, the few folks who actually got to read them didn't get them, and  then labeled me  as a "VERY ignorant" person. Silly maybe, but scarcely ignorant. The moderator deleted it all before more than a few people even saw it, so that only a scant handful of members ever got to judge for themselves. The moderator had seen it, but did nothing to stop the mob from lynching me. Nice job! If the major documents (one by me, one by the "offended" member) still exist somewhere in cyberspace, I challenge the moderator to re-post them in full; but I gather he prefers peace to justice..

 

 

 

 

 

[8ntruck]

About 20 and snowing on and off here today.  About 1 1/2" so far.

SteveO - I have a Marx 666 that runs well on O27 track and switches.  The thing to watch on Marx equipment is the gears on the drivers.  On some Marx locomotives, the drive gear is a large enough diameter to hit the guide rails, frogs and what-nots on Lionel switches.  Something makes me think that the 666 and 999 use the same motor, though I am not sure. 

Rockisland - we know some of the other spouses, and the resturant involved is one of the better resturants in town, so it would not be too onerous.

Sedalia is on the UP main line between St Louis and Kansas City - one of the corridors talked about for high speed rail.  I heard on the news today that the initial expendature was to widen a bridge from one track to two.  With this done, everything between St Louis and Kansas City will be two track - easier scheduling and no waiting.

Bits and pieces from DigiKey arrived today.  Going to convert my Williams GP-9 and BL-2 to LED headlights this weekend.  Get TVS's installed on the layout too.

All for now. 

[Blueberryhill RR]

jonadel

ChiefEagles

SNOHIO SNOHIO!!!!!!!!!  Falling now.  Fine icey stuff.  Some big flakes.  Melting at the ground but covering the trash cart and recycle cart [things above the warm ground].  Now they say 5 to 6 inches and 8 to 10 inches at the lake house.  I thought I saw Buckeye flying overhead and sifting the mess from a plane.  Oh well.

 

Thank You God for giving Chief a balance to his life!  Thank you also to Buckeye for flying the Red Baron tonight and spreading the joy of winter to Roseyville   With a little luck he will also enjoy some freezing rain

Chief....You are soooo  lucky.  Someone upstairs must love you. ( besides us ). You get all the great weather.  I sure hope you enjoy every snowflake.

I know where you can get a great deal on a big salt truck on e-bay !!!!!!!!!!!

[jonadel]

ChiefEagles

SNOHIO SNOHIO!!!!!!!!!  Falling now.  Fine icey stuff.  Some big flakes.  Melting at the ground but covering the trash cart and recycle cart [things above the warm ground].  Now they say 5 to 6 inches and 8 to 10 inches at the lake house.  I thought I saw Buckeye flying overhead and sifting the mess from a plane.  Oh well.

 

Thank You God for giving Chief a balance to his life!  Thank you also to Buckeye for flying the Red Baron tonight and spreading the joy of winter to Roseyville   With a little luck he will also enjoy some freezing rain

[rtraincollector]

Pat replying via email for the rest

[LawsonFarmsRR]

LawsonFarmsRR

rtraincollector

LawsonFarmsRR

navyjack - Grits go great with that whole hog.

See it would take eating the whole hog to be able to eat a serving of grits

Rich M - Did I read your car club's 69th meet's location correctly, or am I  just a nasty old man?

Pat

Acually pat in your case both and to be honest with you you have to go thru intercorse to get to paradise (both are towns side by side in PA.)

 

RT - I am familiar with Lancaster county, having visited there numerous times, as you have with family there. I was referring to the "69" combined with the town name.

Pat

 

RT - I forgot to add, you have to go through Blue Ball to get to Intercorse and paradise.

Pat

[sir james I]

Good Evening

Sunny all day, no wind, made it to 20. BUT with no clouds 5 degrees tonite.

Well we had our friday meal near home and came right back. Nothing I need to do can't wait till next weeks 30s..I still haven't read CTT the excitement just isn't there anymore. But to be fair it's the same with OGR. Brutus I shall be waiting for the thingy, banilla if you want some.

S.J.

[ChiefEagles]

SNOHIO SNOHIO!!!!!!!!!  Falling now.  Fine icey stuff.  Some big flakes.  Melting at the ground but covering the trash cart and recycle cart [things above the warm ground].  Now they say 5 to 6 inches and 8 to 10 inches at the lake house.  I thought I saw Buckeye flying overhead and sifting the mess from a plane.  Oh well.

[Anonymous]

Don,

         I have had several courses on AC and Transformer theory.  If Jack was a new poster, I wouldn't suggest that he do the work. Since he has been with us for quite some time and has talked about doing repairs, I feel that he is more than capable.  Obviously, when working on a transformer (or any electrical device),  common sense is key.  As long as the unit isn't plugged in while the cover is off, the repairs don't endanger the serviceperson in any way.  I certainly understand your concern though, and I am not trying to downplay that by any means.  I understand that we must be careful with our advice due to certain people out there.  Just in case, I'll add the following:

Disclaimer:  Anyone who services a transformer does so at their own risk.  I am not liable for any injury/damage that may occur.

[dbaker48]

 Jim,

Please be cautious working on those tranformers, they can be lethal, if you aren't careful.  Be cautious as to the advice you provide.  I know it is well intended, but you wouldn't want to be responsible for someone being hurt. Those overhauls should be done by the well qualified for safety purposes, not just the rework but subsquent operation.  Just a word to the wise. 

[Anonymous]

Steveo,

            Welcome to the Pot.  Are you on any other forums by chance?  I was on a forum for my other hobby, and I saw the same username.  I was curious if it was you.

Jack,

          If you can service a locomotive, you could overhaul a ZW easily.  They really aren't as complex as some make them out to be.  I didn't know that much about them when I did my first overhaul, and it was a good learning experience.  What does yours need?  I could walk you through the process if you'd like.

 

Not much going on today.  We lost the poll for the Probe GTS in Forza 3 yesterday, so I was a bit disappointed with that.  Apparently when there were 7K votes in one round, and 30K votes in the next round, it looks fishy.  Our group was dedicated though. Maybe a little too much?

 

 

 

[RockIsland52]

DougM.....I like my Garmin too, but if I were looking now at a portable I would want one that has the traffic conditions built in to the "fastest route" option.  I think it runs via satellite off actual traffic stations.  Avoiding traffic like the metro Chicago area with the perpetual highway construction might really help make the GPS unit pay for itself in saved time.

Jack

[RockIsland52]

Buckeye......I'm packing up my extra earmuffs and mittens and am sending them down there......the pink ones that will match his flamingos.  It is going to drop to 4 tonight.  Oil tank is full.  Gotta gas up the cars tonight.  Similar to DougM's post this AM, this is going to be the coldest day of this Winter season up my way.  Even the dog will be wearing a coat outside tonight.

Jack 

[Buckeye Riveter]

TGIF

I had to wear a coat and tie three times this week.  At least I didn't have to fly on an airplane and eat airport food, like the old days.  Last night I was in Indianapolis for a meeting.  Had a great meal at a German Restaurant, one of those Northern traditions.

Watching the RADAR.  It is so nice to see that blue stuff heading for every one's favorite town, Roseyville, NC.

Not to burst any one's bubble about high speed rail.  Make sure you check out what you are actually getting.  Ohio's "HIGH SPEED RAIL" will have a top speed of 79 MPH when track conditions warrant, but an average speed between Columbus and Cleveland of about 40 MPH.  I think I might be able to get to Cleveland by Moped faster.  The politicians are using the words "High Speed" to put the spin on it in Ohio.

 

[Ole Timer]

DOUG ... CNW ... Garmin is the one to get ... as another posted .... had a magellan ... it blew up and was slow .. bought 2 - Garmin 7400's and am convinced . Years of useage ... fantastic products ... You probably won't want the big 7200 but all of them are great ..... stay away fron tom tom .... screen's about half the size of a pack of cigarettes and you can't hear them .   Garmin also has FOREVER map updates at one price ... others you have to pay EVERY YEAR for new maps ...

[ChiefEagles]

WE are getting 2 inches of snow, 2 inches of snow and sleet, 3 inches of snow, 5 inches of mix, 8 inches of snow, well maybe, 10 inches of snow.  Wait, maybe some sleet and freezing rain with the snow.  Now you tell me what we are getting.  Depends on which TV or radio station you hear it on. ????  Got 40 hours of generator gas plus what is in tractor and lawnmower.  Good "insurance" policy.  Truck is full and 4 Runner is full.  Gas dropped to $2.51 a gallon [with all the lines at the pumps].   Shovel snow.  No way.  I stay inside and watch the fools try to drive by.  TV, CTT, Trains, National Rifleman and trains upstairs will keep me busy.  Then I can get all the rifles and pistols out and clean them.  Plenty to do here.  Got to happen.  Left shoulder is giving me a fit.  Thought  at first it was from helping pull docks in and tie off docks that were about to float away.  I spent most of yeaterday morning helping two other guys [full time residents] gettting out neighbors' docks secure.  seems to be getting worse the closer the snow gets here.  BTW: lake went up 3 feet while I was there.  All the run off from Patrick's up north of the lake.  Also the Dan river rushing down.

Busy day.  Got eye exam.  Got .17 with special trigger back yesterday afternoon.  Took it to the pond for a test.  Better not do a lot of touching or it will fire.  Put finger on trigger when ready to fire.  Now hope to get the new Remington 700 to do that.   Got a shooting bag [filled and used as a rest] adn now waiting for electronic predator call [on backorder].  Foxes beware.  Maybe a coyote too [a few around].

NC getting High Speed Rail too. 

Stay warm.  

[LawsonFarmsRR]

rtraincollector

LawsonFarmsRR

navyjack - Grits go great with that whole hog.

See it would take eating the whole hog to be able to eat a serving of grits

Rich M - Did I read your car club's 69th meet's location correctly, or am I  just a nasty old man?

Pat

Acually pat in your case both and to be honest with you you have to go thru intercorse to get to paradise (both are towns side by side in PA.)

 

RT - I am familiar with Lancaster county, having visited there numerous times, as you have with family there. I was referring to the "69" combined with the town name.

Pat

[rtraincollector]

LawsonFarmsRR

navyjack - Grits go great with that whole hog.

See it would take eating the whole hog to be able to eat a serving of grits

Rich M - Did I read your car club's 69th meet's location correctly, or am I  just a nasty old man?

Pat

Acually pat in your case both and to be honest with you you have to go thru intercorse to get to paradise (both are towns side by side in PA.)