Good Mornin Ya'll From Rainy Taxachussetts,
Rumor has it the local Salem MA. oil and coal power plant may close. Ownership has been pouring money in, upgrading (stack scrubbers) and adapting (cleaner burning, low sulfur coal) but the progress has not been fast enough to suit the environmentalists and MA's clean air timetables. Conversion to natural gas way too expensive. I don't have a problem with clean air standards, but with no new atomic source in the works anywhere in the US, no new conventional power plants planned here, and the existing regional plants running at or beyond capacity during peak periods, buying power when necessary outside of the region gets expensive. Classic political approach here = drive them out but have no alternative in the hopper. "Turn down/off your a/c, we are short of power.....it's a pleasant 95 degrees out there with 70% humidity."
How can it be raining outside here yet the meteorologists say probability of precipitation is 60%? Looks like 100% to me. They need to go back to school for a math refresher.
Wife had to take 4 "from out of town" work people out to dinner last night. She volunteered to drive, and instructed me to make sure the 3rd row seat in the SRX was at the ready. When we were looking for our current vehicle she had insisted that we get seating for 7, "just in case." We have used the third row just twice in the past 10 months. Didn't need it last night either.....another underutilized if not wasted purchase.
Were the Patriots that good or were the Steelers that bad Sunday? Looks like it comes down to the last Nascar race of the season, closest finish ever, 3 right there. This race will be worth watching.
Brutus.....I have been saying my prayers every night Char will be home soon, and it sounds like she's getting close. Hang in there, buddy. BTW, I hope today's promotion interview goes well for you.
Chief....hope this current crud you have clears up quickly. Pam needs you at 100% to properly take care of her/your herd of dogs.
SubBob.....belated birthday greetings!!!! Sweet 8607, thanks for the picture.
Rich.....with all of the workouts and tests, may we assume you are starting to look like Rocky Balboa?
Banks......ear infections with the grandkids, no fun. I hope that gets cleared up quickly.
Laz.....it's duck season here, and we have a constant stream of visitors to the pond, making their way South for the Winter. Maximus is not happy with the noise or the encroachment on what he thinks is his turf, makes it known.
Buckeye.....come to MA. We have about 269 substandard, deteriorating bridges here and no money or the brains to fix them. The ones they are fixing.....takes them years at a zillion dollars per. Perhaps the bridge guys here should consult WWII vets to learn how they built bridges to withstand heavy armor and traffic (not to mention 10,000 foot runways), and had them up and running in a matter of weeks.
NavyJack.....how is the vehicle research and search coming along?
Chuck.....haven't read much from you on the PT front. Hope all is progressing nicely.
SJ.....you sound impatient with yours, give it time and do like Chuck does, enjoy the scenery. Hope your dental work works. Every time I go into the dentist it is like they feel compelled to "invent" something that needs being done, none of it simple. Dental insurance is pretty weak.
JimmyT.....thanks for the video on the 314AW. Glad your return was relatively painless and what you got alternatively is floating your boat nicely.
MikeC......that sounded like an ambitious road trip mileage-wise. How many did you rack up? Entering the Chicago metropolitan area from the East is always problematic.
DougM......what is the wifey doing at her retreat? Retreating from you?
Dennis.....can it possibly true you are making progress on your layout? When do you think you will be well enough along to run something?
Brent......do you have offset tire sizes on the SuzieQ's BMW? Have the service issues been squared away?
Later, gang. Prayers for those who need them, on the job front and on the health front.
Jack.
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
Good Morning
31 and sunny
I'm heading for the dentist to get an old filling replaced, should be a quicky I hope. Kroger after to start thanksgiving shopping.....I haven't heard from Charlie, so he's either sleeping in a tree or hasn't found a deer yet....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
morning guys, hope everyone is well on this cold day. bob your engine is nice. i have one similiar lettered nyc in black. love it. i think yours is up. navy might take over 121 boats under control of army. sounds funny, but the army has a fleet of mostly flat bottems. have dancing elmo to give to my grandson today, also talking spencer. anyone guess he is part sicilian. navyjack
Good Morning from Blueberryhill....
It is a cloudy 54 degrees. Going up to 64 today with a chance of rain.
Today is a busy day. I have several errands to run and the usual chores. I have to get started on a project, that I keep avoiding. Maybe I'll do a little a day. Nap later.
Dining car is here for the usual Breakfast.
Y'all have a great Tuesday.
Chuck
Hi GUYZ,
49 and rainy here today.
BOB, great engine I have a few of the 8606s they pull great and will last forever.
JIM, great job on the AF. I wish I had that.
Stay frosty,
laz57
Good morning all,
It is cloudy and will be rainy in SE Indiana as well as cool today. I had bran muffins on the dining car this morning for breakfast before sending it on to "Points East". Here is a link to the Trains.com forum with a picture of the group at TrainFest. http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/181661.aspx I think you can figure who the saucy wench is!!! TBIL after "Glee" and I can drive. I hope everyone has a good day.
Keep on training,
Mike C. from Indiana
Good evening all,
It was a damp and cool afternoon/evening here. My wife made chili and cornbread (half with jalapenos) for dinner tonight, which was perfect for this type of weather. I did not anything exciting tonight: a couple of house chores and watched the MNF game. It was not much of a game since the Eagles beat up the Redskins pretty good.
It's time for bed now. I need my rest to suffer through some meetings tomorrow at work.
Good night,
Joe
Howdy guys - back to work today. Have an interview tomorrow for a possible promotion, so keep the fingers crossed. Visited with Char after work for about an hour. She's doing really well, but just can't eat enough due to nausea. If she could eat, she could come home, they said. Thanks for the candle, Bob - it about burned out the scope it was so bright. I had to put on a special prayer filter thanks to you guys, otherwise the light would blind you!
Nice chats with RT, SJ and Doug tonight
Tardis is ready and you can drive, Mike!
Where's Pat lately?
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
cheapclassics Good evening all, Chief, you should go to some of those games. I am sure there would be some NC teams you could cheer for. As the old song goes, "Nothing could be finer than soccer in North Caroliner...." except maybe soccer in Indiana... Mike C. from Indiana
Chief, you should go to some of those games. I am sure there would be some NC teams you could cheer for. As the old song goes, "Nothing could be finer than soccer in North Caroliner...." except maybe soccer in Indiana...
Un-American!!!!!!
Home finally. Had to let the dogs out and feed the cat. Wifey asleep.
Some Coke Zero and popcorn.
Sleep tight.
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
Sunny 51 today.
After PT on my neck this morning I got restless and so we walked the mall for awhile. It looks like a few are already christmas shopping. PeCon pie after supper was good and I saved room for banilla. Brutus the lionel beacon will be humming...S.J.
It was cloudy and cool in SE Indiana today. Greg, sorry to have just missed you at the show. Chief, you should go to some of those games. I am sure there would be some NC teams you could cheer for. As the old song goes, "Nothing could be finer than soccer in North Caroliner...." except maybe soccer in Indiana... DougM, next time definitely. All I did today was unpack, and mulch the leaves. I had bran muffins on the dining car for breakfast. TBIL anytime and I can drive. I hope everyone has a good day.
Bob,
That looks great.
Laz,
I was watching the game, but I turned it off. Reid was on the news tonight blaming everyone else for his failures. LOL
Here are the pictures I promised. First, the 314AW that I returned. That is a shame because it was great from a cosmetic standpoint.
I should have seen this before I bought it. Notice the empty grommets and the weight visible in the hole.
Here is the 312AC that I bought with some of the refund. This is the worst side.
Here is my current progress on the good 314AW.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1U5IET2AvA
Good morning all, had a good 30 minute walk this morning and felt like I had a lot of energy. Yesterday, I could barely make it. Followed walk up with egg and bacon breakfast.
Watched the new Sarah Palin's Alaska program on TLC last night. One feature was a fishing trip with husband and kids in a boat next to two angry bears who decided to fight in front of them. They looked a little too close to the boat for my comfort zone. I suppose somebody in that boat must have had a big magnum canon or something just in case.
Got to dig out stuff to take to Cal Stewart this week that I can run on the DCS layout. I forget where I put things. One of these days I'm going to get organized.
Chief, take care of yourself and don't get sick. You have a busy schedule.
Looked at new AA.com format on the net this AM. Tried getting a sample schedule for using my milage. Looks like everything I choose is unavailable. Maybe you can only fly at night in the middle of Winter during a blizzard right after a hurricane in the month of February. I'll just call somebody when I want to go and let them figure it out.
Have a good week,
Ray
SPMan
Afternoon all. Early breakfast meeting in Raleigh. Mes are making me sleepy and I hve County Commissioners' meeting this afternoon followed by Mayors' Assoc. tonight. Don't think we are having Town Board tomorrow night. No quarm. One out having surgery, one out of Town on business and the other out of Town with family medical emergency. May go to the lake for a visit after 1:30 Dr's apt.
Chat later.
PS: Mike C., got some crazy un-American ball turnaments going in Cary.
Aloha from a sunny and cold Crystal Lake where I am playing Mr. Mom whilst the bride went on a retreat. Savored a big Bears win. Bought the boys pizza for dinner last eve. Lasted through breakfast, might have some for lunch and maybe dinner tonight. Cleared off the dining room and kitchen tables for various projects. (I'll have to put everything back before tomorrow night). Welcome back Tim! Happy belated birthday, Bob! Mike C, we'll connect next time you swing through. Heard great things about this year's Train Fest. Well, I volunteered to watch the pastor's kids so he can lunch with his wife. Then there's laundry. I'll be looking forward to 'work.' LOL.
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
I did not get to check in again yesterday as I kept busy the entire day doing preventative maintenance on the van and layout work. The van has fresh oil and the tires are rotated. The layout work is coming along nicely: I finished the lake feature and have scenic turf down on about 40% of the layout. However, I need to buy more glue and foam turf. Fortunately, this week’s Sunday paper had another Hobby Lobby coupon. The only downside right now is I have the track covered up so I will not be running any trains until I finish the scenery. By the time I finished and my wife's cousins left, I was pretty exhausted and turned in early.
Up early today for a 4-mile run and I am now at work. I will be heading home for lunch soon. That is one of the best things about living on-base; I can go home for lunch with the wife and baby every day. It was pretty chilly this morning and it is raining right now. The rain should stop this evening and no more is in the immediate future.
I check in tonight.
Hello all
Fairly quiet night collecting photons. I did finish lubing and reassembling the 8607. The Labelle oiler works great. Gets a tiny drop right where you need it, unlike the zip-it oiler I had been using.
Here she is just out of the Mt. Graham Boiler Shop in time for my birthday.
As first she didn't move but a squirt of contact cleaner on the roller contact spring and she was off! The plastic cluster gears sound much quieter and different and it's weird not hearing the buzz from the e-unit. Seems to smoke well so far. Pretty good low speed for conventional too.
I'm waiting for the HVAC guy to show so maybe I'll set up a loop of track in the electronics shop after I finish here. Been up since 5PM yesterday. Fortunately the schedule is getting a bit better.
The phillips head self-tapping machine screws that hold the crosshead guides were stripping out in the phillips head. The original hole tapped easily for 4-40 threads w/o drilling. I used a 1/4" button head cap screw that I filed off about a 1/16" to keep from bottoming out. Worked pretty well and looks fairly decent too.
Brutus - had the candle lit again last night. Doubt you can pick it up on the Tardis' radar, but thoughts and prayers for you and the family
Bob
P.S. - found an Ace Hardware boxcar on the bay for a good deal so I definitely got something w/ flanged wheels for my birthday!
Tucson, AZ (aka the Ol' Pueblo)
Home of the Mt. Graham & Arizona Eastern Boiler Shops
Overcast and 38, going into the 50s.
PT on my neck in a little while I am going to tell the sweet young thing to discharge me as I don't see any new progress. I can always go back later. No trains yesterday just a nice nap thanks to the Lions and some TV after. Had a chat with Brutus hope his wife improves soon, its got to be a burden on the entire family....S.J.
Good morning everyone. On call and will go in later. Have to get son bathed and take him for a MD's appointment. Has had a ear infection and this is the one month follow up. I will bring him to school afterwards.
Mike, I would love to have had the chance for a trip to Trainfest. It sounds like a great event. With regard to the lack of dealers, I guess it is a sign of the times. We are seeing it in the medical field as well....fewer small dealers and only the big guys survive. I suspect we have not seen the last of the smaller guys fading.
While I type this, the dog is laying on the couch next to me, and I am thinking....That's the life! Lay around all day, eat, sleep, run around the back yard for awhile and bark at the mailman. He even likes the trains.
Hope everyone has a blessed day,Dennis
TCA#09-63805
cheapclassics then went to Train Fest Saturday. Huge gathering. Did manage to make the forum picture at noon, but did not see any of the CTT bunch. Keep on training,
then went to Train Fest Saturday. Huge gathering. Did manage to make the forum picture at noon, but did not see any of the CTT bunch. Keep on training,
I got to the Kalmbach booth just as the folks were breaking up from the photo. I wasn't sure which one was you. Sorry I missed you and the "saucy wench" Mike. It would have been nice to meet someone else from the forum. Maybe next year.
Northwoods Flyer
Greg
The Northwoods Flyer Collection
of
American Flyer Trains
"The Toy For the Boy"
It is a cold 26 degrees. Lots of frost and ice. Rain froze. Going up to 50 today.
Today is a busy day. Chores this morning and PT this afternoon. Maybe a nap afterwards. Ran trains yesterday. Needed a good dusting.
Dining car is here for the usual breakfast.
Y'all have a great Monday.
BUCKEYE,
Nice to hear from you. Safe travels here in PA.
48 and cool here, rain tomorrow.
JOE, thanks for the well wishes MOM had a good day!
DOUG M, BEARS WIN beat FAVRE!!!!!
Watched the STILLERs last nite and saw the new BMW commercial featuring a LIONEL train pretty cool.
Hello All,
Back to work,
Never made the trip to Harpers Ferry. Spent most of Thursday night in the ER with my Dad. Long story short he has a virus. It had his blood pressure and pulse all screwed up. There was another doctors visit on Friday and a couple of phone calls on Saturday. He seemed to be doing much better last evening just before I went to bed. I'll check with him in a bit.
Did run trains for my grandson on Saturday. He stayed with us Saturday while his sister was at the Doctor on Saturday. She was diagnosed with two severly infected ears amd was feeling much better on Sunday.
Best get to work. SS needs my money.
Prayers for all those who need them
Banks, Proud member of the OTTS TCA 12-67310
It is cloudy and cool in SE Indiana, but good to be home again. Had a nice trip. Spent Thursday on the road to Michigan to see a co-worker from the Federal-Mogul days. Got to see an original Carnegie library and a church built with fieldstone. Drove on to Chicago and survived rush hour traffic. We had a nice visit with Roger Carp at CTT and then went to see the Frog exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum. Doug M, I must apologize for not connecting with you this trip. Next time I will plan better. Spent Friday with friends and then went to Train Fest Saturday. Huge gathering. Did manage to make the forum picture at noon, but did not see any of the CTT bunch. Saw many layouts, but very few dealers. Did bend the ear of both Lionel and MTH people. Saw pre-production samples of the Scout expansion set and the Alaska two dome car. Spent rest of Saturday and Sunday with our friends and came back this evening. I hope everyone has a good day.
Good evening everyone. It has been a good weekend. Son and I painted the well yesterday (prime), then finished today. I will put the side panels in place tomorrow. Also, after that birthday party, son was interested in shooting a BB gun as they had them at the party and he wanted to do it at home too. Mind you I have been trying to get him to go shooting with me for a number of years. I have a limited edition Friends of the NRA Red Ryder that I had won about ten years ago, so we got that out and he is loving it. Daughter saw all the fun and she wanted to try. I have another BB gun in the safe, so now she has one too. Have a .177 dart rifle as well, so we can all have some fun. Once they have demonstrated good gun safety without error, I have a Chipmunk 22 rifle to teach them on. These are great, though you can't get the originals anymore. They are designed for young shooters, no magazine, just a single shot bolt action. Has a peep site and is very accurate.
Bob, hope you have a great and happy birthday! Seems you have been busy at the scope. I am sure they appreciate the knowledge and ingenuity you bring to the work force there. Glad you are able to work around someone else's rigging.
Brutus, sorry to hear Char is not getting healed as quick as everyone would like. Just stay strong for her and I know you and the family are really looking forward to her return home. I will keep her and you in my prayers.
Chief, glad you and the guys were able to have a good impact on the area with the DUI stop. Glad they are also getting the trouble maker taken care of. Hope he gets a lasting lesson from all this.
Well, today was the start of our state's Southern Baptist Convention which is being held at our church. Is a big deal with thousands of pastors and church staff from all over Georgia coming together. It really fired up the passion for so many which we hope will bring it back to their home churches.
I am tired and will be starting call in the morning. Hope everyone has a blessed night.Dennis
Looking for you on the screen SJ - I'll keep checking, your beacon must be having a problem?
Bob - thanks man, appreciate it. Hope you get that thing fixed!
JimGP - glad you got that returned, sounded like the guy tried to pull a fast one on you.
Talked to my wife a few times today. I was going to go visit her, but her numbers were too low for visitors today. So much for hopes of a return home this week, I guess. Just a lot of weird stuff went on this past week - sure hope it turns around in this new week.
Prayers for us all and for our friends and loved ones.
No trains today really - just played some video games and did laundry while the kids did their chores.
TTFN - Tardis will be ready shortly.
Good Evening
Nothing at the TTOS show that I needed. Saw where the Lions game was headed so got my nap started early...LOL.
Waiting for the tardis, banilla is ready....S.J.
Green Probe glad it all ended fine in the end.
Got some John Deere loads for my flatcars nice addition. Posted pics in SPF.
Hope all had a good weekend. Worked OT on sat but just relaxed today basically.
Talk to you all later. Oh chief good on DWI check point sent you an email with a big Bust not fat from my house here on 77
Don Hope all turns out good by your lake house.
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Jack,
I'd be lying if I said that thought didn't occur. I hate it when sellers pull this stuff.
I went back and returned the $250 314AW this morning. The seller took it back, but he kept trying to imply that I removed the whistle after buying it. After explaining that I did nothing more than test it and look at the bottom of the tender when it didn't whistle, he refunded the money. Unfortunately, I also had to return the controller, so I am looking for one for the complete 314AW. I used the money to get the cleanest 312AC that I've seen in person, and I get pics asap.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month