Howdy Y'all !
The fog is lifting, not to mention it's nice outside.
Paid a visit to an aquaintance last nite who has his "S" gauge Christmas layout still up. Between everybody's schedules it was difficult to get all together. Christmas before last when they visited here he liked our set-up and they had always done the "carpet central" layout but like all us old geezers it was getting very difficult to crawl around on hands & knees. I gave him the idea to invest in a ping-pong table for his layout, which he did, and he is happy as a clam. Indoor/outdoor carpet glued down and a foam underlayment on the tracks and it is very quiet running. Just unplug any of the taller accessories & buildings and it folds up nicely and rolls into the garage.
Jim & Jim, you guys would love the stuff he had running last nite. With the exception of two modern Lionel/AF, UP Bigboy & Docksider, everything was mid 40's to early 50's vintage including most of the operating accessories. The Bigboy is also TMCC & RS, might take over a command base & cab-1 to check out the full potential of that BB.
He is also a car guy and has a couple of really "SWEET" rides in his garage, my preference is the 37 Ford with all of the modern amenities and a 350 fuelie.
Got my new trolley, gave it a quick test run and seems to run quite well. Really like the versatility on the "e-unit" or "bump-n-go" function.
for all in need.
Later all.
Remember the Veterans. Past, present and future.
www.sd3r.org
Proud New Member Of The NRA
Good morning all, completed my colonoscopy yesterday with good results. Nothing new to worry about. Slept a lot yesterday with effects from sedative drugs they give you at the hospital and still managed to sleep some more last night. Went for my usual walk this morning and everything seems to be back to normal. Have another appointment with eye doctor this afternoon for cataract exam. Had left eye done already but right one still needs fixing. Accompanied my wife to her doctor appointment yesterday between naps. Man this has been the week for doctor appointments. Even had a foot doctor appointment today also but rescheduled that one. Enough already!
Need to run some trains today. Nice weather continues but rain on the way for Thursday and Friday.
Don, what kind of class was that where they don't speak English? Maybe you were going to something for another language only. Sounds like a burden to study like that. I have enough trouble when I speak the same language. I haven't done much with my digital camera since I got it. After the novelty wore off, I reverted back to my old ways. Maybe I'll do more when the weather is warmer and get out more.
Later, Ray
SPMan
Ol' Timer, Thanks!
I totally forgot about Sears. I'm going to check on a couple of my parts accounts and check prices. The HD battery is $120, Wally World wants $70. I have to run out for lunch, so I'll check that as well.
Fife - we have the Caliber in fleet and my daughter love 'em. They are a nice serviceable vehicle. Not bad for the price.
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
Lunch Time in NJ. We had a couple of inches of snow last night. I have been here since 3:45am for storm duty. Can't wait to get out.
Chief: Thanks for the reminder for oiling the horn bearing. It is often missed.
Enjoy the day.
John
email subscription still not working. Not the only one having the problem (see my separate thread). Took me for ever to find where I left off last night on the Pot. That's the value of email notification. I was two pages behind.
Animals we feed here on the farm - barn cats, raccoons, ground hogs(garden and clover) deer (shrubs, grass, etc.), opossums, birds, fox (they eat kittens and cats) black sneaks (they eat the kittens). What we don't have is rats.And a black bear once last fall raided the trash cans. O yes, the cows!
6" of the "stuff" last night, expecting 12+ this weekend. Think I will build a snowman that looks like Al Gore and through rocks at it!
Pat
RFD-TV --- Rural America's most important network!
Morning from Town Hall. Meeting about water and sewer rates and capacity. Now off to Lowes for a few items and then wait for UPS. Electronic predator call suppose to arrive. Might just let it "squawk" this afternoon. Foxes might be hungry. Blasted squirrels have found the suiet feeder. Bad enough they get into the bird feeder [black oil sunflower seeds] but now the woodpecker treats. Got several woodpeckers and thrashes feeding off of it. Blue birds and a few other small birds feed off of the apple treat blocks. Air rifle for the squirrels as too close to houses to shoot with rifle.
Now on the subject of groundhogs. Ours did NOT see his shadow. For us, means spring is around the corner. For the Yanks, good old winter time for 6 weeks. Sending extra food to the ones up north in appreciation of their "fine work".
Hudson, glad you are on the "Pot". Sounds like you fit right in with us guys. Glad the engine and tender did great. Might try to get some oil down to the bottom bearing of the tender horn.
50 degrees and melting. School was out again today as subdivisions still had some frozen packed stuff. All roads are dry and clear. Did have a big rain last night and that helped the melt.
Chat later.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
4 - 5 " of snow last night .... all melted off the roads by morning though .... rode the tardis/chat with Doug/CNW last night stop to stop ... all the regulars were there too ... Brutus - SJ .... who keeps us laughing and my buddy RT ... who together we find each other deals on ebay . Fabulous bunch of guys ... got a phone call from Brutus while I was on .... very surprising and enjoyable .
The groundhogs here don't show their faces in the winter that I have ever seen ... LOL . Maybe they're smarter than we are ... . No wild phone calls received as yet .... guess none of the guys posted my phone number in areas they said they may ... .
Anjdevil2 ..... the best darn battery I ever had for my ole 68 dresser was a Sears Diehard ... the heavy duty one ... the Wally Mart batteries never lasted long for me . Do you unhook it if it's not being used for long periods ? I used to keep one of those 1 amp trickle chargers on mine .... and don't forget to check that water level even if they say they never need checked .... and use distilled or that non spring water bottled water which is highly filtered ... no mineral coating of the plates in it .
Doug ... i used to have a possum that came around every evening ... I fed him potatoe peelings or sometimes cut up a few for him ... he loved them ... and the grandkids loved watching him . Broke my heart ... one day I saw him out the road killed by a car .. I knew him since the end of his tail was missing . Our dog we had then did backflips everytime he came up on our deck for his evening meal ... LOL .
Yea guys I feed the animals here ... the racoon that looked like he weighed 20 lbs. or more ... probably because I overfed him or her ... and of course my daily bunch of squirrels ... along with 100's of birds .. feeding the birds I think pays off ... they never drop bombs on my cars ... unlike the neighbors .... ... splatted .
Fifedog .... if I print a CTT sticker and put it on my back window ... does that mean I won't get pulled over by you when I'm in or around Baltimore and get any tickets ??? Old Buddy ... LOL . The FOP sticker always did help out ... and the bondsman decal ....
=== >along with the reflective tape lil piece on my tag .... < === secret sign to the local law enforcement here .
Good Morning
30 degrees and about an inch of snow which I will be pushing off the walks soon. Had a great ride with Doug M. and the guys last nite. Good breakfast of eggs sausage and home made fried potatoes. No lunch today boys. Have a great day.....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
Good Morning – and it’s Wednesday!!!!
Dry today going up to 64F, cloudy.
Phish – very nice buy!!
After work, took Princess to doctor. Then had dinner at home. Went to garage to try to start the Harley – battery toast, even after charging for 2 days. Will put it on de-sulfate and check later. It’s always sumthin with this thing. Bike Week in 3 weeks and a charity ride on Saturday. One of the sales girls here (who is VERY easy on the eyes) has been diagnosed with bre*st cancer. So, the Saturday poker ride is for her. Very much in doubt if I’ll make it. Have to price a battery now. Looks like I’ll be pricing jap bikes again (unless I can find a bigger Harley with a WARRANTY!!!! Looked at a few Yamahas and Suzukis yesterday for lunch.
Relaxed in the train room last night, it’s a better place now that it’s clean. Went to bed early (830), then was up again at 1230...go figure .
Talked to a good friend on facebook last night, she’s on the west coast. Nice conversation for about 10 minutes.
At work we have a resident raccoon, that loves to find food in the trash. Saw him last week, startled me. Cute little thing about 10-15 lbs., probably a baby still.
– Brutus's wife, Chief's mom, S.J.'s wife, Roy's sis, and Ray's friend.
See ya in a while!
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
green97probe RT, There should be 45 or 045 stamped on the underside of the base of the gateman. It looks to be late 1936-early 1937 production due to the solid post and skinny smooth composition figure. If you decide to fix the figure, let me know. I've got some tricks up my sleeve for those guys.
RT,
There should be 45 or 045 stamped on the underside of the base of the gateman. It looks to be late 1936-early 1937 production due to the solid post and skinny smooth composition figure. If you decide to fix the figure, let me know. I've got some tricks up my sleeve for those guys.
Actually it has 045 on the bottom didn't show that pic. hope to have it by end of week will look at the man then. But still he's going to be on a shelf above my desk with the standard gauge train set will look nice.
RockIsland52 RT.....what ever happened to the room in your house you tried to hornswaggle away from your wife for your trains?
RT.....what ever happened to the room in your house you tried to hornswaggle away from your wife for your trains?
I still have that but I switched rooms as need bigger of the 2 for this bedroom suit and all its furniture but not losing much still will be about 9'X8' so still a fair size layout not big and not small just time and money to do everything put building on hold for a little so I can get new windows in the house which we really need bad. When I do start building my layout thou plan to take a lot of pics so I have a history of the progress and I plan to do about 2'X9' at a time so I can get all the back area done first and then move forward little by little. Still need to sit down and get a drawing of what I want before I get to carried away and then go I should of put this or that back there.
Morning all, great find there Jim. Good friend there to save and call you on items like that.
Well last day of vacation kinda glad as want to get back to my Friends at work and see how things are going there. Have a good day all
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
RockIsland - Had a Dodge Caliber pulled over yesterday and was thinking that was a good looking crossover/sw...
Morning all. Bob, I am very fortunate in that my father had me along when he did a lot of manufacturing with some old milling equipment. That is one thing that was great growing up with him there. He always invited me along at work and taught me so much. While I don't have all that equipment now, I do know how to use it and can often improvise. He has most of the stuff in storage, so someday if I have the room, I may bring it down. Towards the end of his business, he had access to a CNC machine that could make so much...so I think true "machinists" are becoming a rare breed.
First cases are getting ready to start. Bigger case is to follow, so it may be some time before I finish here. I have fallen way off on my layout work. When I do get out of here, I hope to jump on a couple of projects. Of course, we do have violin lessons later, so who knows. Jack, I have been trying to get my Dad to move back with us. I guess it is a reversal of what your situation is. We may end up with a detached garage with a apartment over it for him. I am however not concerned if he gets into my tools. He is the one who taught me to clean them and put them back. In your case, you may want to have a new lock with one key for yours in case you find your son back.
Hope folks have a blessed day. Look forward to anyone going groundhog hunting to post results.....Good Huntin' guys!
Dennis
TCA#09-63805
Mornin' boys. Cloudy and 29 here in the Mid-Atlantic region. 3" of snow overnight (all of which fell on my commute home from PD). Understand PA is trying to introduce Freestyle Snorkling this winter in Vancouver.
Hudson - Kindly stop running with trains. You're making me nervous.
8ntruck - Let's hope it's GOOD hubbub
Phish - Nice things should happen to nice people.
Good morning all,
IIABSDISEI with temps near 40. Tonight is soccer night, which makes it the best night of the week! I ran the 10E last night with only a couple of derailments (one due to the switch, one due to operator error). Nothing else eventful occurred. I had the regular fare on the dining car. TBIL after scrimmaging. Stur-phish, congrats on the AF find! Hudson#685, congrats on your find as well and welcome to the 'pot! You will find we are an interesting bunch, and you could not make up the conversations that occur here. I hope everyone has a good day.
Keep on training,
Mike C. from Indiana
Good Morning from Blueberryhill....
It is a cloudy 33 degrees. Going up to 36 today with a few snow flurries.
Today is an easy day. I have a project to do and then I will relax and run trains, this afternoon. I have a few exercises to do at home. I just take my time and they go well.
Dining car has arrived and we will have the usual for breakfast. Cheerios.
Y'all have a great Wednesday.
Chuck
HI GUYZ,
28 and we got 3 inches of SNO HI O last nite, so I gotta 2 hr delay!!!! Rotten teachers. Good for me. Just got done shoveling mine and neighbor ladies driveways felt great.
STUR FISH, BIG CONGA on all that stuff WOW you made out like a bandit.
Stay frosty,
laz57
Good Morning guys!
Yes, I must go into work. It will take some time to catch up on the stuff. A lot will be verification of things I assigned and inspecting and sign acceptance of completion.
Thanks for the cudos on the find. The owner of the shop has been a friend for a long time and when he aquires AF stuff he calls me. He says I am the only person he has ever had that even asks about AF.
A skunk story. Several years ago I was on night shift at work. It was a hot humid night and we had the high bay doors open and all the building doors open as the A/C was on the fritz. I heard a noise from the back office that had a door to the outside and went to check it out. I saw the trash in the trash can moving so I figured it was a rat in the can. As I was going over to the can to kill the rat, up popped this black and white head about 24" away. I went to plan B (exit) real easy.
We have a lot of skunks at work, some on two legs, so there is a lot of interaction.
May God bless
Jim
Another quiet night on the hill. It was just starting to snow when I looked out the control room door a bit ago. Not supposed to get too much tonight. No return of our furry visitor. With the weather he must be hiding out. Wonder how he liked his first exposure to electrical engineers?
RT - I had an aunt and a friend who had pet skunks. They are actually supposed to make pretty good pets. Think I'll leave this one be though.
8N - I noticed tonight the clock has been reset He got me back sort of. I now have his cold
NavyJack - I work at a high frequency radio telescope. We sit at around 10,500 ft. on a mountain in SE Arizona.
Hudson - Score on the 2055! I was actually looking for one of those, but they always seemed to go a bit out of my price range. I found a 2035 though, which was shipped today so I'll have something new to play with.
Jim S. - Wow! You did good. Can't wait to see the photos.
Spent part of tonight working on our windbird. I used my 7X12 mini-lathe to machine a hole in the plate for the 9-pin connector. It was my first time using it. It'll be a while before I call myself anything close to a machinist, but it was a good learning experience and it got the job done. The milling attachment is fairly easy to change I was happily surprised to find out. Now to start on the new wiring. Once this project is finished, the troublesome electronics board will be in a cabinet w/ the power supply and we will no longer have to remove the bird to get to it.
Prayers for Brutus's wife, Chief's mom, S.J.'s wife, Roy's sis, and Ray's friend.
Bob
Tucson, AZ (aka the Ol' Pueblo)
Home of the Mt. Graham & Arizona Eastern Boiler Shops
I am fading fast so I thought I'd check in before turning in.
SJ.....my apologies. I missed your post. Prayers for a good outcome on your wife's tests. Chief.....prayers continue for your Mom. Hope she is recovering nicely. Roy....continued prayers for your sis' recovery. Ray, the same for your old buddy.
Dennis.....your comment about your Mom hit close to home. What I recall about my folks is how we got closer AFTER I was out on my own.
Bob.....don't listen to Chief when he tells you skunk is good eatin'.
Steve......good luck on that opportunity in Decatur.
Funny the name David Farquhar came up. He was very helpful and patient with me and my ground zero questions when I was venturing back into the hobby some years back and pointed me this way. Glad he did.
Speaking about Groundhog Day and the movie, Bill Murray was in my class in HS.
Don.....before Christmas I bought my first photo software package, Adobe Premier Elements 8. You have the right idea.....take a course and get the most out of the software, the camera, and the photos. Do you back up your photos somewhere? You can practice taking pictures of your neighbor and then "photoshop" 30 pounds off of her.
Wifey has been after me for about two years to get rid of my trusty 1998 Oldsmobile Aurora with a mere 113K miles on the odometer. The end is near. I get attached to my cars; but when the fuel pump recently quit on me out of the blue in the middle of nowhere (winter) at 11:15pm one night with the wife and the dog in the car, I knew my financial justifications, the car's previous reliability, and my personal preferences could no longer keep her at bay. Yes, it is the dog car. And she simply won't permit her precious cargo (no, not me) to be jeopardized. She drives it during the winters up here. Crossovers with awd are the focal point, our first venture into something larger than a car and of course more capable in the snow. The Aurora has been the most comfortable and well appointed car we have ever owned.
Pleasant dreams, ya'll.
Jack
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
High overcast and 40 today.
Work is still nuts. Rumors of a 'mandatory attendance meeting' for everybody up at corporate today. Something is afoot. We've got a visiting V.P here this week, so I expect we'll get some sort of word on the hubub before he leaves.
Our dog is a mostly border collie mix. When we were living in Kentucky, it took him two 'lessons' on how the local skunk did not care to be sheparded to where the dog thought it should be.
Brurus - your wife is in the stage of treatment where everybody needs to be patient and stay the treatment course. Thoughts are with you.
Watched Lost tonight - no trains.
All for now.
JimSP - WOW! Congrats on that haul man, what a deal! Well, did some bills, cleaned up after dinner and Chewy, made a casserole to cook tomorrow, and in the middle of all that I had a chat with some fine men
Tardis is ready so let's go - beacons are on all over including two new ones Gotta swing by and grab some banilla!
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
Sturgeon-Phish Evening all ..............I went to get the 332 and I was in for a surprise. I agreed to pay $250 for what I thought was the just 332, but the $250 was for the 332 and a 632 hopper, 633 boxcar, 630 caboose, a 628 log car, 635 crane car, #14 electronic rectiformer, track, un coupler, boxes, inspector vouchers to boot! I am very thankful! The stuff looks in very nice condition, and I’ve got the smoke wick soaking. It was really tempting to run it, but I’ll do some quick PMing first. I’ll get some pre-clean up pics for Sunday. Good night and may God bless! Jim
Don't you just hate when that happens? Where on earth are you going to put all of the unexpected stuff? Remember, Jim, we are here for you. Just say the word and we will store the stuff for you.
Evening All !
Kinda disappointing about Phil, that means probably won't get to use the pool until Easter. (To expensive to heat up 32k gallons of water.)
Started my Digital Camera/Elements 8 class on Monday, so far I have learned how to "Cut & Paste", make a folder, and copy images from the Internet. But its only day 2. There are some "other" issues going on in the class. Class minimum is 20 people, funny how they count heads. An administrator comes in the class, followed by 2 assistants. The administrator counts ALL the bodies in the room, then "realizes" she missed 2 and adds them. (Actual is 15, count was 20). The class is comprised primarily of retirees, which is fine, the lecture is in English, then questions and answers are in Spanish. In the meantime the Hispanic Teachers Aide is explaining to stuff to a Korean student who translates it to a group of 4 or 5. During the "work/practice" time you can hardly hear yourself think with all the multi language gimberish going on.
Thought I had all my train/layout issues resolved. But, they came back ALL last night, going to have to go to a 2nd level problem solving.
1st Problem; Watchdog signal not consistently starting up, going to try DCS TIU and the TMCC Command Ctr on a priority 1 power up, then the transformer. (I use the TMCC and ZW Controller).
2nd Problem: Sound on 1 diesel engine muted, this too randomly. Going to have to open it up and see if a board is loose. Also need to check and clean the wheels on it, maybe thats part of the start up problem. (Other engines have the start up problem as well.)
Need to go work on the website, hope you all stay warm, BTW the expected bad weather has been delayed for 2 days. So as long as Kevin keeps the door closed you could have some warm days ahead.
Don
John,
Welcome to the Pot.
Brutus,
I'd like to play SH1, but I can't find a reasonably priced copy. SH2 gave me a fear of restrooms, and SH3 made me weary of mirrors.
Jim,
Wow, that is an incredible deal. I could never get a deal like that at my LHS. The last time I was there they had a 628 log car without the box for $80 (yes you read that right). I can't wait to see the pics. That Rectiformer has to be worth $250 by itself. Could I get a preview? I don't think I can wait until Sunday.
I have been working on another controls assignment today. I had to get away from it for a while though.
Yeah Brutus, we should have snapped a photo. Glad you got to check in with Dave F. Used to like his posts here as he has a lot to offer the hobby. Got his contact info if I need anything from his perspective as I value his input.
Jack, you do indeed add to the fun of this forum. You are missed when you take those long hiatus stints. What I used to like to do is read all the posts, then respond using your post as it has the cliff notes of all the things I would like to respond to. The way the forum is, if I stopped to address each issue separately, I'd be up to 10,000 posts by now. So please do keep us informed with your wit and humor.
Regarding skunks, the only two stories from my past: 1st, was hunting on a farm where I was in a big southern Oak tree on a ladder stand. The bow of this tree hung down at my 10 O'clock position and it reached all the way to the ground. All of a sudden, I see this black and white thing come running across about 100+ acres to the limb and jump up in it and scurry right up in front of me. Up until it got real close, I thought it was a skunk. Turned out to be a fox squirrel. I should have shot the thing as when it discovered me, it ran up to the top of the tree and started to bark and wave it's tail. No deer would dare come out with that racket. 2nd, was in Colorado Elk hunting. Was shadowing some elk up a mountain pass when I hear this little scurrying up ahead. As quiet as possible, I crept up and just as I raise the rifle and round this big bush, there, facing me is a skunk. I got away before I tested his scent shot.
With regard to groundhog day....here in the south, we have Gen Beauregard Lee. He says spring is right around the corner. I hope he is right. Please don't take this personally, but if Phil wants winter up above the MD line, that's for y'all to deal with. I have had enough of this cold stuff. Our house has two heat pumps, which are great for summer and OK for cooler days. But, with real cold for any length of time, they have a hard time. Our electric bill this past month was the highest it has ever been. Even in the hottest of summer months.
Well, heading to bed as I have the early cases tomorrow. One case is the same type that my Mother had died from. This will be the first case like that since her passing. Tomorrow also would have been her birthday. These are a lot of firsts for us, but we are still blessed to have had her as long as we did.
God Bless each of you.Dennis
Evening all
The all school Mass went great. The Bishop was impressed with the kids, and the kids were in their best behavior. I was really proud of them.
I went to get the 332 and I was in for a surprise. I agreed to pay $250 for what I thought was the just 332, but the $250 was for the 332 and a 632 hopper, 633 boxcar, 630 caboose, a 628 log car, 635 crane car, #14 electronic rectiformer, track, un coupler, boxes, inspector vouchers to boot! I am very thankful! The stuff looks in very nice condition, and I’ve got the smoke wick soaking. It was really tempting to run it, but I’ll do some quick PMing first. I’ll get some pre-clean up pics for Sunday.
Good night and may God bless!
Got home from work before my wife and son. Made a bee line for the garage. Diassembled, cleaned, lubed (I tried 5w20), reassembled the engine and tender. Ran to the layout, put the 2055 on the track, moved the E-Unit lever, and it lunged backwards, Stopped it, hit neutral, tried the horn, it growled and then a nice blast, just as my wife came into the door. She saw me beaming and said,"Another engine? Looks and sounds good. How does it run?" I clicked the direction lever and it ran smooth as silk. I then replied, "Great!" She then said,"I guess we will have pizza for dinner, I'll call, you can pick it." I guess that I married the right girl. I really lucked out with my wife and the engine. The engine has hardly any run time. The guy that I got it from said that it was set up around the Christmas tree a few times and when they moved his mother, he found the engine, thought of me and the rest is history.
Good Evening
The lite snow we have been getting all day is starting to stick as the temp goes down. Maybe an inch by morning so they say.
Doug M. I am working hard to get to the station on time. Should see you soon. I have had my banilla w/chocolate syrup and peanuts but I saved enough for the thingy ride...S.J.
Stupid groundhog. Greetings from the lab (computer) where I'm teaching. Looking forward to our ride home tonight. Decatur is quiet. Soybean capital of the planet.- classic Midwestern small city.
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