MY desk is full of parts and cars ... gotta get to work and finish them ... hopefully tonight ... sure hope that snow does'nt come to Maryland .... have a party to go to saturday night . Come on spring ! Al Gore ...... .... good thing you can't hear me !
Brief chat tonight ... have alot to do anyway ... won a bunch of pulleys and rigging .... just makes that much more to scratchbuild .... ... but it's fun and rewarding ....
ADIOS AMIGOS --------------
Evening all,
Jim F - Increased paryers for your bride and her sister.
May God bless
Jim
Hey guys, just a quick one tonight. We'll have a few tough days now as my wife's numbers are really getting low. They said she won't hit 0 immunity, but will get really close, then the new stuff will start working and numbers will start to climb, slowly at first and then faster. Her sister, the donor, is still having really significant pain, but she is walking a lot better.
Tardis is ready and I'm ready to go, beacons on men! Mike can drive tonight and the rest of us will check out Wes' new crane car, his flat car with load on it, and now a hobo campfire - I smell s'mores!
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
Hobo campground arrived ... with extra shack the seller threw in . Luv them hobo's .... ... pulled out a detailed car I started months ago ... matches the new crane . Waiting for Brutus to come back to the tardis ... and the rest of the train crew to arrive .... the conductor is calling out ... gotta go !
RockIsland52 JimmyT.......you must have me confused with lionelsoni (Bob). I am flattered. But me fix a transformer? Dennis, Chief, RT, Mel, Pat, Lee, Rich, and the rest of the Southern boys would have to be standing by with a crash cart to restart my heart when I electrocuted myself......after they stopped laughing, poured grits all over me, and took a few photos for SPF. Jack
JimmyT.......you must have me confused with lionelsoni (Bob). I am flattered. But me fix a transformer? Dennis, Chief, RT, Mel, Pat, Lee, Rich, and the rest of the Southern boys would have to be standing by with a crash cart to restart my heart when I electrocuted myself......after they stopped laughing, poured grits all over me, and took a few photos for SPF.
Jack
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
A quick pass through. Just walked in the door from Town Hall. Starving as not eaten since breakfast at the lake. Was getting ready to open a can of soup when I got a call to rush back to town for a project. Seems the blanky the blank ~@#^*( Yankee weather forecasted for tomorrow evening and night into Saturday moved a Town project up to this afternoon. Jon, Buckeye, Chuck and Don, project was taken care of. Sad but had to be done. BTW: calling for up to 10 inches of snohio and with below freezing temps for a couple of days after that. BURRRR. Later
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
submmbob I have a book called Clearing Mountain Rails, which talks about the history of railroad snow removal. Some incredible pictures where they got a cab forward stuck trying to pull out a stranded passenger train. Now that's a lot of snow
Bob, I have a video of a film put out by the Southern Pacific Railroad called "Snow on the Run" which describes the same kind of thing. It showed the rescue of a stranded passenger train back in the fifties. It was the City of San Francisco I believe jointly operated by the SP and UP from the bay area to Chicago. It was the worst year ever recorded for snowfall in the Sierras. Line crews were pulling telelphone wires out of the snow which was all the way up to the top of the poles.
I did'nt know about that high mountain of yours in Southeast Arizona. Have to check that out on the map.
Ray
SPMan
RockIsland52JimmyT.......you must have me confused with lionelsoni (Bob). I am flattered. But me fix a transformer? Dennis, Chief, RT, Mel, Pat, Lee, Rich, and the rest of the Southern boys would have to be standing by with a crash cart to restart my heart when I electrocuted myself......after they stopped laughing, poured grits all over me, and took a few photos for SPF. Jack
Nah, Jack, I don't do Grits...Best I could do is scatter some sliced pork roll on ya (sorry, best I could do)
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
Good Evening
Cold and windy. No snow.
I stayed in today but a train friend stopped by and we played toy train for awhile. Grannys babysitting as son in law is schooling trying to learn a new trade. Unemployeed since Dec. 08. He has worked maybe four weeks total when someone would take time off. A polite rep from the cable company said they had a major breakdown last nite and web was down till after midnite. My kids all used the same co. so I am going to see if any tried to use the web late last nite. I have banilla if your brave enough to eat in this temp. Brutus fly by and pick me up. You can land on my lawn it's froze. In the summer we land on the neighbors lawn. :)
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
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
JACK,
Great suggestionn about those 12ozers.
Demolition on back porch will comence Saturday. We have till end of month to get it down. Last Saturday, took all the stuff out. So this week going to gut the inside moldings, panelling and ceiling. So essentially gut the inside. Then in a few weeks get dumpster and take off roof and sledge hammer bricks. Going to pace myself, don't want to be to eager.
laz57
Cold ... windy ... and downright nasty outside .... the wind's blowing so hard it blows the taste right out of your mouth ! Saw a big hairy - furry thing flying down the street ... shocked at first ... then realized it was some woman's wig ...
Doing some detailing and just fooling around .... will be heading for the tardis later .. printing some signs for the railroad .... gotta check my ebay bids so ...
Adios Amigos ... until we meet again .....
Good Mornin', Ya'll, from Cloudy Taxachusetts,
Day 28, and my cold-turned-into-sinus-infection has improved significantly. Most symptoms gone except the ears.....I still can't hear much out of one ear, but crackling and popping may be a good sign. Antibiotic regimen completed 5 days ago. Nurse practitioner had confirmed day 7 no train gear lube in the ears. Had a chest xray then to rule out pmeumonia. So I guess I just need to remain patient for a few more days. Sporadic nausea and a touch of vertigo have made me cranky.
Prayers continue for Mrs. C. Brutus as the news continues to be good. Roy, prayers continue for your sister.
Chuck, your progress is great, stick with it. The race does not go to the swiftest. I am surprised Laz has not suggested you include 12 ounce Ole Mil curls in your exercise regimen. The soreness might be mitigated with an over the counter topical analgesic (Ben Gay?), supervised hot baths, and stretching before and in between formal workouts. My MIL was told to try these things and found they helped quite a bit. The stretching always preceded any exercise. Re the hot baths, she also found getting into the tub was far easier than getting out. That hot water can wipe you out, and quickly.
Fife....thanks for the heads up on the Iowa Interstate ES44 repaint in my namesake.
Laz.....how is the demolition going?
Brent......enjoyed your layout pics.
I missed all of Barrett Jackson because I refuse to pay Comcast one more cent for my cable TV service. They moved the Speed Channel, Turner Classic Movies, and WGN Chicago (among others) up a service level a couple of years back and I refused to bite. BTW, I don't think Comcast offers RFD.
Chief......hope your neighbors have been maintaining a low profile. It is a sad state of affairs when family members only serve to make things worse for one trying to straighten themselves out.
I have been following the weather from the left coast, and it sounds like Doug/Don/Ray have managed to keep things dry and under control. And Bob still is keeping his head above the snowline, barely.
Don.....thanks for the CPI recap (Coffee Pot Interchange). It was great! That recap must have taken you hours to pull together, but it is much appreciated.
I've been reading with interest all of the exchanges on adoption and child rearing. It reminds me that one size doesn't fit all; "things" don't replace affection, encouragement, attention, and solid and consistent boundaries; self esteem is built, not inherited; and that this isn't Kansas, Toto. There is a reason raising children is better suited for the young from a stamina standpoint, but better suited for the older from the experience perspective. If anyone had all the answers, we wouldn't be having this back and forth, and child-rearing books wouldn't be as common as the spiders in my garage. Positive only doesn't work. Negative reinforcement only doesn't either. Child rearing isn't a straight line static process either as those parents that don't adapt to the ever changing dynamics are bound to find out the hard way. Terra firma moves, sometimes ever so slowly and others with a cataclysmic event. Honesty, clarity, and mutual trust round things out. My old man used to put it this way: normal is but a single point on a bell curve.
You guys remember Olympic Gold hopeful Nancy Kerrigan's getting clubbed by Tonya Harding's significant other not so long ago. The story on the national news of her brother Mark being held in the death of their father is unfolding about 15 miles from here.
Prayers for all who need them.
At the request of RockIsland, and Doug, I posted some info on the guy that did my xfmr. But it was deleted. So if you need it email me and I will send the info.
(Guys just helping guys, nothing more)
Don
Don - One thought (final?) on the 13 Yr. old. You didn't say how old he was when he was adopted. We have several adopted kids in our family, adopted ages - birth to 10 Yrs old. I believe the younger they are the better chance you have to raise them without as many problems.
Bob - Don and I received a 24 DVD set on "Trains of North America". DVD # 2 has spectacular footage of the Rotary Snowplow through the Rockies.
Pat
RFD-TV --- Rural America's most important network!
SJ,
Calling would probably be a good idea.
Brutus,
Continued prayers. I wonder if Brent knows about the Bosch dish washer recall. I remember him posting that he bought a Bosch.
Jack,
Fixing a ZW isn't hard at all. I learned how to do it after my LHS charged $92 to replace one roller, both rectifiers, and one bulb in one of my ZWs. When I did a full overhaul myself, it didn't cost any more than $20.
I haven't had much train time lately due to school. I spent last night with MATLAB writing code for a second order mechanical system. I rewrote it three times because there was an error that I couldn't figure out. The problem was that I put a space in he filename when I was saving it. I have been following an online poll that allows people to vote to get certain cars into Forza 3. I saw that there is a 1997 Ford Probe GTS involved, so I am all over this. The finals are today, so I am excited and nervous right now.
Aloha all. 4 degrees here (air temp) but sunny. Just back from dropping off the youngest - the kids still play outside before school and recess. Wow, must make them hardier. Sir J, call the co. When I called ATT on Christmas eve, they had a guy out the next morning to give me a new routers !!! Great chat with Sir J, Brutus and Wes last night.Don, never any offense here. It's reality sometimes. I'd like that Illinois contact info too. Dennis, from March CTT store index: Franklin/Nashville: Southbound Trains, 1265 Columbia, 615-599-5697. Murphesboro: Thor's 416-F Medical Cntr Pkwy, 615-895-6918. There's also one in Memphis.Probably prepping for taxes later.
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
Good Morning
COLD
Way back in the old days about 1909 I think. Every school class room I went into, the teacher had a paddle sitting on the desk where it was easy to see. That's what that kid needs. Once my youngest son said you hit me I'll call the police, my reply, go ahead but by the time they get here I will have gotten my moneys worth. End of arguement. I have a few things to do today, nothing major so maybe some train time. My cable co. web went down last night,never did come back on before I went to bed. Second time in a week, do you guys think a call to complain would do any good?...S.J.
Mornin’ Guys---
– Mrs. Brutus, Dennis & family & Roy’s sister
40F here at work, going up to 65F or so and sunny. The boss is away, so I need to finish up the invoices and try to complete the internet inventory. ONLY 35 cars to do . I just hope my computer tablet can hang on that long.
On the oft chance for a bargain, I stopped in to Hobby Lobby (sans coupon) and found the Great Western add on pack. $39 later that and a Katy box car ($12) found it’s way to the car. Not a bad haul for $55 & change. Sometimes ya jest git lucky!
Put more of the Christmas stuff away, the pool table is now usable. Just need to get the Polar Express boxes down so I can store the engine & 3 add on cars. The plywood and foam need to find a place in the garage soon.
Sent in my vendor fee for the 2/20 Model Train show here. I’ll be finalizing the sale of all the consignment and Train Work inventory then and a few of my own things. Need a few extra bucks, so that will help.
Hey Fife--- this one’s for you:
http://www.silverstatechronicles.com/wordpress/television/jack-webb-on-what-is-a-cop
That’s all for now....
Good morning all,
It is cloudy again in SE Indiana with an inch of Snohio on the ground. Corvairs rule! (Just thought I would toss in that semi-random comment). Chief, painting the ball black does nothing for the boundary lines (of course anybody playing in those conditions would say,"Lines....we don't need no steeeeenking lines"). Only my Norwegian soccer friends play outdoors in this weather. Last night scrimmaged for hour and half on a full length basketball court with high school kids. Was goalie for about a third of the time. While playing "in the field", I "took one for the team" but kept on playing. Slept very well last night and did not have to drive into work today. Should be a relatively quiet day at work (TG!) compared to the rest of the week. Dennis W., be safe on your trip. Doug M. and all the rest of you who have adopted kids, you are to be truly commended for your willingness to raise some one else's kids. Brutus, thanks for the update on the missus, and continued prayers for her improvement and recovery. Any time you need a substitute Tardis driver, I am "on call". As Dennis W. wisely pointed out, man can only do so much and the rest is in the hands of a Greater Power. One of the side benefits of this group is a deeper understanding of what faith means. There are days (and I think we have all been there) when I get up and I wonder why I am doing that, and then I read the accounts that occur here and my interest in getting thru another day is restored, whether it is based on a serious matter such as Brutus' wife or something much lighter, such as another GRITS war. I had the regular fare on the dining car as it rolled in from "Points East". TBIL anytime tonight. I hope everyone has a good day.
Keep on training,
Mike C. from Indiana
Morning guys. I will check for a AutoZone, or other such place today. Chuck, be careful. Don't over do it, but certainly do the exercises and get back in top shape.
Got a bit more driving to do today and then it will be to the meeting. I checked the local hobby shop/train store listings in the phone book here and "HobbyTown" is the only one listed. Been there before and not much happening with that one. Will check more on the way to Nashville.
Chief, going to make a flanking maneuver to make sure the weather is the only thing coming in from the north! Actually, that will be enough. Just think, it was in the 70s when I left.take care everyone.Dennis
TCA#09-63805
Good Morning from Blueberryhill....
It is 32 degrees. Lightly snowing. Looks like we got about an inch of snow last night. Going DOWN to 22 with cloudy skies.
Today is a busy day. Wife will be grocery shopping. She loves that job. I will be doing a few chores around the house. Legs feel achy from the exercises. But stronger.
Dining car is here for the usual breakfast.
Y'all have a great Thursday.
Chuck
HI GUYZ,
BUCKEYE, as of right now 16 hrs 50 minutes 9 sec. , then it FRIDAY!!!!
Not much doin just teachin and running also been throwing the weights around after runs inthe afternoon. Feelin good!
Stay frosty,
Laz......How much longer until Friday?
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
Back on the hill for another week. Not sure we quite got 9 feet, but it's more than I've ever seen up here. And I've been up here when he had 4 feet or so within 2 weeks. Hard to say with all the wind we had.
Ray - I work on Mt. Graham is southeast Arizona. We are over 10K feet up here. The photos of the guys using the loader mounted snowblowers is what reminded me of Donner Pass. I have a book called Clearing Mountain Rails, which talks about the history of railroad snow removal. Some incredible pictures where they got a cab forward stuck trying to pull out a stranded passenger train. Now that's a lot of snow!
Brutus - continued thoughts and prayers your way. Glad to here you all are hanging in there.
Roy - sorry our winter weather was not all it is cracked up to be and hope your sister is doing better.
Dennis - glad to hear your trip has been safe. Will keep you in the prayers as well. Advance Auto Parts (should be in Nashville) carries a couple different brands of the de-icer fluids. Use to be an asst. manager for one in Colorado.
Chief - most folks usually pull the whole motor before attempting much disassembly, but I was using the daylight to do a compression check, and couldn't resist turning wrenches and I knew it was going to get pulled apart anyway. It is a Corvair panel van and is a maintenance guy's dream. Everything pulls off the top of the engine and trans. The cradle is built, I just have to figure out where to put the sheeting on the top. I'm leaving enough of an open hole so I can fit the jack plate through. I want to use the cradle to move then engine/trans around and as a work platform. Hope to have the engine out and in the garage the day after I get back next week.
I got up here after dark today, but I'll try and get some pictures when I get up tomorrow.
Bob
Tucson, AZ (aka the Ol' Pueblo)
Home of the Mt. Graham & Arizona Eastern Boiler Shops
Don.....I may need the name and address from you on your transformer repair guy in Illinois. My local repair shop sounded hesitant to tackle anything other than a power cord replacement on my ZW275 watt. Curious. They have always come through on all my engine work in exemplary fashion and have been as cautious as I would be about returning the units in the same cosmetic condition they received them in.
I didn't mean to start anything regard the comment about the 13 year old. I have numerous nephews and nieces that were adopted, they are all essentially grown now. And, they are just as much part of the family as anyone else. It is a VERY complicated issue! Especially today! So many more bad situations, like the guy that kidnapped the girl from Lake Tahoe and held her prisoner for 18 years, and the list goes on, and on. Young children are so vulnerable and subject to so many dangers, something has to be in place to protect them, but government agencies just cant do it all. Due to lack of funds, overwork, and individuals that can be calloused, or even don't care. I don't know of a viable situation, or alternative. And even this friend of mine, they have a nice house, seem like good people, but dont know how they with the kids. I remember one family that lived near us when I was a kid, and they were Foster parents, unfortunately they were in it for the money. Kids went through that place like it was a revolving door. Nothing ever done for them and they weren't treated as well as the pets were. And of course their are also the people that want kids so bad, and the process here makes it next to impossible. One of our societies biggest problems, and most embarrassing ones.
On a brighter note, do any of you guys have problems with marker lights on cabooses? Invariably, I seem to always have one led burn out. I don't know when it happens but suspect that if I have a derailment, a surge may cause one to burn out. I have 18v on the layout, maybe I need to put some kind of a load resistor in series or something. Interested in suggestions!
Also, sent a LW transformer to a guy in Illinois for repair, got it back today. It is in fantastic condition, looks and works like new! Completely refurbed for $40, and he sure did a great job.
Dennis ... threw a prayer in for all of you for a safe trip .... drove through that huge blizzard years ago across the smoky moutains .... from alabama to maryland .... think my hair greyed 3 times as much and aged 10 years before we got home ! Will be worrying about you all until you're safe home . That washer fluid with deicer is worth it's weight in gold when you need it ... walmart and discount stores usually have it on sale this time of year ... i usually grab a couple gallons and keep it on reseve .
Great night on the chat/tardis with Brutus - SJ - CNW - and Chewy .... although she slept through it ... lol . Needed expert advice and got it from SJ and CNW/Doug ... saved me from a bad buy .... . As Ben Franklin said .... " a penny saved- is a penny earned " . Too many darn train items out there I don't know anything about ... but i think SJ knows about everything made and if it's any good .. that man is a walking train knowledge base .... a valuable resource ... and he tells it like it is .... although some may not like that .... but I do ! Many thanks again SJ ... !
8NT - here are the Bosch dishwashers on the recall:
SHE43C, SHE44C, SHE46C, SHE56C, SHU33, SHU42, SHU432, SHU43C, and SHU53A
I have the model numbers too, so if you hit on one of those, let me know and I'll give them to you.
I got the Topham Hatt gateman last year, but never set it up yet, it looks nice :)
Wife is doing well. Her numbers are excpected to bottom out on Sunday now and then slowly rise. She has lost some hair and some other symptoms, but overall she is doing well. I was looking up other computer cards since she says the ATT one keeps pausing every little bit? I'm not sure, Doug said it might be an interference issue and he's probably right. The ones you buy with prepaid time on them only offer up to 1GB per 30 days and that runs $60 a shot, and she's already exceed 1 GB in 2 weeks now. It might be cheaper to keep what we have since it is working for emails and for her to do the video chats with us. Then pay off the card and close the line when she is done.
TARDIS is ready to fly- sorry about last night. Hope someone caught that one for me You all know where I keep the key, I see
I'll catch up on the pot on the weekend I hope - ttfn!
I got so tied up at work today, I'm not sure what the exactly the weather was - even though I went out for lunch and filled tha gas tank! I do know it was a little above freezing.
Buckeye - I remember that storm in 1978. I was living in Landing, Michigan. I think we got about 30". I was driving a Trimph Spitfire at the time. I put a 7' bicycle flag on it to increase the chance that people would notice me from the other side of the snow banks.
All for now.
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