Good morning all,
I had a very brief workout this morning. I was still sore from a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu sparring session a couple nights ago. I had cereal, OJ, and coffee for breakfast. I have a few meetings today and maybe an interrogation to conduct - it should be fun.
Vega - Congratulations on paying off your mortgage; now you can buy more trains.
8N - Have you looked at the RMT Beeps? They have a few military themed models.
SJ - That's sounds like a delicious breakfast.
Traindood - I cheated and Googled the book title. Ron Luciano was the umpire in the photo. I briefly read his bio; he seemed to have an interesting career as an ump and write. It was unfortunate how his life ended.
Good day,
Joe
Aloha. More storms overnight. Sent them off to SJ, Mike C and our Ohioans. Hope to meet with the roof guy today. Dang, there's more water in the basement this am. Not sure where it came from. At least there's nothing affected by it.
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
ChiefEagles Good night all. Busy day and started early. Did do lunch with the female PD Officer that helped me with the anti-litter video. We are doing one on DWI. She has it all "outlined" and got all the LE comunity lined up for the video. Guess who is going to pretend to drive drunk, get arrested, cuffed and put in back of police car?
Good night all. Busy day and started early. Did do lunch with the female PD Officer that helped me with the anti-litter video. We are doing one on DWI. She has it all "outlined" and got all the LE comunity lined up for the video. Guess who is going to pretend to drive drunk, get arrested, cuffed and put in back of police car?
Pretend Chief? I don't think that will be necessary, but some clarification is in order. You would be D W I G.......driving while impaired by grits.
Jack.
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
Lunch Time,
Nothing new on the train front.
SPMan, Ray, One of the guys here has a few birds. Watch what you say by him. They repeat everything that you do not want them to.
AF53, Ray, I heard that they had the best time ever at the Game. "Ray, who???"
Brutus, I grew up in South Amboy, NJ. I am sure that "Amboy-Camden" Railroad was mentioned.
Everyone have a great day.
John
[quote user="8ntruck"]
.........Bummer about the Mt. Washington cog railway going diesel. Economically, it probably makes sense though.
Somebody mentioned the Old Man in the Mountain. That rock formation did fall down quite some time ago. I remember reading about one of the state legislature members demanding that he be picked up from of the bottom of the hill and be reassembled!
[quote]
8n and all...........interesting stuff.
The Mt. Washington rail line to the top of Mt. Washington has a long and interesting history dating back to 1869. The engineering to build it and find an engine/technology capable of the task must have been ingenious in many respects because of the sheer angle of incline alone. The peak sits at about 6,300 feet above sea level. The road they carved out of the mountainside to access the peak, first by horse and wagon and then/now by automobile, traverses back and forth about 7.5 miles from the base to the summit.
The road has no guardrails and is very narrow; so cars have to take great care squeaking by each other travelling in opposite directions. If you make one false move driving, and some have, you are in for quite the quick ride down before you are dashed to bits on the rocks below. There are some pull-offs to stop at on the way up and down, but not a lot of them.
It was the wife (who else?) who decided we should skip the cog railroad , that driving was the safer way to go for us when we wanted to go to the summit. She also insisted I drive, presumably so that she could give me a ration if anything went awry....that is, if we survived an unplanned descent (unlikely).
So she's sitting in the passenger seat on the outside part of the road, back seat driving while all the time taking movies of our ascent, totally in awe of the stunning unobstructed views. That lasted until she decided to put put the video camera down and just enjoy the ride and views, or so she thought. When she saw how close we were to the edge and to death, the good times for her ended. The next thing I know, she is hanging on to me for dear life, as if that would save or protect her. For the rest of the ascent, she could not look over the edge. But none of this impeded her back seat driving! Only made it worse.
The ride back down is far more dangerous. In first gear of course, without giving the car any gas, one still has to use the brakes periodically to hold your vehicle between the posted 7-15mph. At the base you are given a slew of strict driving instructions before your ascent: a verbal lecture while they are inspecting your car's condition, a written set of driving instructions, and a CD you play while making the trip up and down. Folks have indeed ignored all three sets of instructions and burned up their brakes on the descent in short order. There have been some fatalities. Just as we began our ascent, my wife observed a smell that she assumed was coming from our car. She thought the car was on fire. It wasn't. The smell was from cars that had made the descent safely back down to the base.......from their superheated and overused brakes!!!!!
We picnicked at the base after our trip up and down, right up until some black bear wandered out of the woods 200 yards away ala Yogi and decided to come over for a visit and a snack. They got within 75 yards before they decided we weren't worth it, and then made their way back into the woods. Got some great video of that too with the zoom but had to rest the camera on the roof of the car to avoid camera shake.
Jack
ChiefEaglesGuess who is going to pretend to drive drunk, get arrested, cuffed and put in back of police car?
Like this is a stretch...???
Well it is still triple digits here - well on our way to second hottest summer ever. Maybe it will be the hottest?
Went to the LCCA convention last night and chatted with a lot of friends and attended a seminar on upgrades to Lionel's replacement parts ordering capability on the Lionel web site given by Mike Reagan. As always his presentations are very entertaining. The new capabilities are quite impressive - including pictures of parts and better break downs.
Received my Lionel Vision Hudson. Only had time to quickly unwrap it. Was alittel disappointed with the cross head guides. They are wrong again - being just square bar stock vs tapered. The '96 version (18005) which I also have also had the crosshead guides wrong - they were installed with the tapered sides facing each other rather than facing up and down. A buddy of mine at LCCA last night took the one out he received and at least placed it on a short length of straight track and was able to exercise all the features - noting the whistle smoke and operating bell were quite fun.
Wife and I will be attending the LCCA dinner Sat night - always a fun event with a dance. Who knows, I might even win another banquet car?
Prayers for those that need them. Hope everyone is having a great day!
Regards, Roy
How not to lose weight. Breakfast meeting this AM, luncheon meeting at noon and now off to a dinner meeting in Raleigh.
Busy hot triple digit day and evening. Got to run soakers or tomatoes will dry up.
Later
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Boy, Jack brings up some good NH memories. My family used to camp near Lake Conway every year- back in the early 70s when it was still nicely remote. I remember riding the Wolfboro Railway - I still have a patch from that line - and another tourist line through North Conway, as well as the Mt. Washington line. The drive was as harrowing as Jack noted. I remember having to follow rope guides at the summit where the fog was so thick you couldn't see the person next to you. Unexpectedly busy day of honey-dos. Kelly is very happy to have accomplished so much on her list but me not so much as I'll have to work late to catch up.Prayers for Kay's quick healing. Congrats on paying off the mortgage DennisV8! 15 more years to go for me Roy, I've heard awesome things about the Hudson. Can't wait to hear what you think...
Good Evening
86 and 90 today.
Storms forecast for overnight again. We shall see. Granny enjoyed the visit with her sister, me and the BroIL watched TV. Banilla is waiting for the thingy crew..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
How do we get a hold of that video?
Charlie a.k.a. MichiganRailRoad714 (Charter Member TTC)
Good evening everyone. Been a long day. V8, Congratulations on paying off the mortgage. We have Wells Fargo too. They started accepting the American Express card to pay the mortgage. The nice thing is that it builds up points for air travel, etc. Chief, I am sorry for not filling you in earlier. It is in the early stages. Kim has made contact one of the adoption agencies regarding us adopting a special needs girl from China. I do not know how long this process will take as we need to get the home study done, etc. Also, the forms and all need to be done. This should proceed more rapidly than they did the first go around.Don, actually, the old printer had stopped for some time. It would scan, but not accept print requests. I found a good deal on on the new Epson. I will get with you on the system you sent the information about. Looks like a good deal. Will pray for Kay.Roy, sorry to hear about the Hudson not being perfect. For the price, I would have thought they would be certain. Also, considering how JLC was so flustered when they discovered the tender was off by one rivet, I'd think they would have been very careful. Still, it looks like a great piece to add to the roster.It is a shame about the cog railway. They needed a gang of volunteers like Laz to have worked that steamer and save the money to keep her running. We were just talking about that railroad today during surgery. One of the anesthesiologists had been up there not too long ago. He took the road....had his wife with him along with their 1yo daughter.
Well, I am home alone as bride is off with kids at her mom's house. Been awhile since they have gone there. It will be nice to have a good night sleep and relax, but I miss them. I have a concert for "Truth", a christian group that is having their 40th anniversary reunion tour. They are really good. Anyway, I have been asked to man a camera for the concert, so that will keep me busy over the weekend.Regarding jury duty...never done it. I was first scheduled to do so about three days after I was leaving for basic training in San Antonio. They gave me an exemption, and since, I have not been called again.
Well, better get some sleep. Will keep prayers lifted. May you all have a blessed night.Dennis
TCA#09-63805
well I did win the engine I was trying for and actually got a good deal on it. It was an PA-1 with a PB-1 the PA has tmcc and signal sounds where the PB has coil couplers and rail sounds. I have a set of PA-1 and PB-1 but my PB is Williams so no sounds lol and my PA is missing a piece on each side that the number boards goes in and been wanting to get a PA so maybe I can make the piece myself out of styrene or something. Next will need to figure out how to remove the numbers on all four well 3 the Williams doesn't have any numbers and put new numbers on them that actually go with the real ones that NYC had PA-1 4200 - 4214 and PB-1 4300 - 4303 think it would be cool to have correct numbers that they actually had. well there 16" long end to end and 17" end of coupler to end of coupler so about 5' 6" long when they all get coupled together and thats just the 4 engines lol hope all been having a good week tomorrow is T.G.I.F so have a good one I'm off but work the weekend talk to you all later
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Trip to dentist today revealed need to reline my partial. He did a temporary one today for $225. Afraid to ask what the permanent one will be.
Dennis, hope things work out for your adoption process. I'm sure the child would get a loving home with you.
Short dip in pool this afternoon after running errands in the heat. Couple of friends coming over tonight for trains and BS. Have to cool garage down at sunset.
Got a new gas bar-b-que a couple of weeks ago and still haven't had an occasion to fire it up yet. It has been so hot I haven't felt like cooking in the back yard.
later,
Ray
SPMan
MichRR714 How do we get a hold of that video?
Has not been made yet. I always post the links to my videos.
Long day. All day meetings and working for Roseyville. Just got home. Early meeting tomorrow morning in Durham NC. Then ribbon cutting at 11:30. Then come home and water. Forecasted high tomorrow is 105 degrees. No in sight.
Dennis, always doing a great thing for a kid.
Good night.
Prayers and more prayers, esp for healing and adoptions. Doug, hope you dry out soon!
Got home today and the high in STL was 100 degrees. It got down under 90 by 7 PM, so I went out and mowed the front and sides with the riding mower. I need to mow the back, but still have to use a push mower back there as haven't terraced it out yet. That's for after I finish that basement so I can get my layout going.
Still at about 1825 in the book, but I'm sure it's in there :) Charleston has already been discussed a bit as well as PA and MA etc.
TARDIS is ready and we have an assortment of snack size bags of chips, mostly doritos, as well as banilla and rootbeer if you like.
RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.
Good evening everyone. It's been a while since I checked in with you guys to let you know how everything's going. I'm working as a landscaper and construction worker for my friend's company and I'm enjoying the work very much, even though the hours can be annoying occasionally. As of now we are mowing lawns, powerwashing, snow removal, laying mulch, grading / preparating / laying grass seed / haying / matting (for new lawns and basins.) We plan on going into hardscaping within the future so we can each bump our salaries up. Hopefully I'll be able to get some money together so I can pick up a used Duramax.
Besides working this summer I've been playing too. Shooting ranges, parties and shore trips have been huge parts of my summer so far. I turn 21 Sunday, so Saturday night into Sunday is going to be pretty crazy haha. I picked up a new hobby: cigars. I smoked them a few times a couple years ago, but I never really took it seriously until a few months ago. Now I usually keep my humidor stocked with Perdomo's and Padron's. Padron 1926 # 35 Natural is by far my favorite cigar, and I think I've smoked quite a few in a sense that I can pick out good smokes. I have another a few 1926's waiting as well as a 1964, but I'm letting them age a little. I also have a few Perdomo's and Rocky Patel's waiting.
Tomorrow is the first day I'll be able to sleep in, so I'm headed to bed early tonight! Night guys!
Colin
Still hoooot here. I noticed some clouds that had potential for pop up thunderstorms as I left work tonight. To encourage rain, I ran my black car through the carwash when I filled the gas,and I gave the veggie patch a good soaking with the hose tonight. Might be helping - there is lightening off to the west as I write this.
No train news, other than 'window shopping' in e-bay.
All for now.
Good Morning,
Just getting ready for the safety huddle and I just wanted to check in.
Thanks for the prayers for my friend Bill. He is doing better.
What am I doing at work? I thought that I was supposed to work 4, 10hr. days for the summer with Friday off. Hopefully it will be a quiet day. I doubt it with temps in the 90's.
Chief, have fun with the video.
Brutus, I am glad that you are enjoying the book.
Everyone, enjoy the day.
Hello All,
TGIF!!!!!!!
Foggy 72 degrees at 4:30 today. Passing storms last evening gave us 0.3" of rain. Not sure the crops can be saved at this point. Deer have moved in on the soybean. Son visited PA Game Commission office on Wednesday. They gave him a box of shot shells that shoot an exploding device about 100 yards. They are supposed to scare them off. They said if they don't work we may have to resort to shooting them.
Off to Pittsburgh for another radiation treatment at 10:00 I'll try to get back over the weekend.
tmcc man, Thanks for the update.
SS fund calls
Prayers for those in need
Banks, Proud member of the OTTS TCA 12-67310
Good Morning from Blueberryhill....
It is a warm and sunny 70 degrees. Going up to 86 today with a slight chance of rain.
Today is a busy day. I have a bunch of errands to run and the usual chores to do. I will be busy most of the day.
Hope I can squeeze in a short nap later.
Buckeye & LAZ...... TGIF
Dining car is here with the usual for breakfast.
Y'all have a great Friday.
Chuck
Hi GUYZ,
69 here and foggy. Got last short wall of stone veneer done yesterday. Started to clean off residue of the mortar then nice rain came in so had to stop. Today just going to clean up residue from two completed walls and then call it a day. Maybe go to BARRYs to see whats new?
CHIEF, CHEERS to ya! Gotta see the vid.
ROY, I'm wrestling with buying the VL Hudson, I would like to get it but didn't see it in action yet. Maybe if I go to BARRYs and if I like it I'll get it?
BANKs, does your farm have a green tag on it for deer damage? What the ruling for hunting on green tag land?
BUCKEYE and CHUCK, TGIF!!!!!!!!!!
Stay frosty,
laz57
Good morning guys. Getting ready to head in. Right now, it is just me and the dog....we each have one end of the couch. Colin, good to see you stopping by. Regarding cigars, I have on occasion smoked one, but it always left a bad taste...and yes, they were good quality. These days, I stay away from all smokes.Banks, will keep you in prayers. The sky is blue and no sign of clouds. While this does bring some nice sun to dry out the puddles, it also is bringing estimated heat indices greater than 100.The repairs to the house are coming along nicely. From the looks of it, they are doing a good job. The poor guys who are tasked with working outdoors these days.
Hope Y'all have a blessed day!Dennis
Colin glad to see your having a great summer. Enjoy it while your young.
I do how ever agree with Dennis as I have smoked them once in a while when younger then took up the dreadful cigarette but it will be 8 years this October I finally ended my battle with them and I avoid smoke my self as much as possible of any type.
As you said you turn 21 this Saturday congratulations Be wise and celebrate it safely as it is a big point in your life.
Morning all not a lot going on. waiting for the guy to come check our windows as having problems with some of them and they have a lifetime guarantee
Have a good Friday all
Aloha and TGIF! Hope Laz went on a nice run for me. I need the exercise. And boy, is it hot! Sent more storms off to SJ and Mike C. Good to hear from Colin. Continued prayers for Bill, Kay's recovery, Dennis's adoption paperwork and Joe's pending move. Hung out on Messenger last night but no-one showed up as I worked a long time re-doing a class. Just remembered i have a wedding to go to tomorrow.
Good Morning
73/90 today.
Doug M rain arrived during the night, thunder woke me. We really needed the rain. Two eggs, sausage gravy over one toast for breakfast...S.J.
Good Mornin’ Ya’ll From Overcast Taxachusetts,
Day #3 of the respite from the oppressive heat. High 70s on tap for the day. The wife and I have been enjoying the cooler evenings and open windows. Great sleeping weather! A local man was pulled over by the police after being clocked at 132 miles per hour. He must have misread the speed limit sign, was distracted by his cell phone, or was trying to beat one of those stop light cameras V8 was talking about.
Banks……..continued prayers for your Mom’s treatment regimen. You are a good son. I got to spend a lot of memorable, one-on-one quality time with my Dad when helping him with his medical issues in his later years. It was probably time the both of us should have taken earlier in the journey through life. Better late than never.
Don……Kay should have used a baseball bat on your head instead of her foot.
Dennis and 88……..what an exhausting and complicated process. God bless you. My prayers continue that your paths are less encumbered and that you are both rewarded with a child.
HudsonJohn……….was glad to hear the improvement news on your friend, Bill. He will remain in my prayers. Re your comment on the work load, I have not-so-fond memories of those alleged 4 day work weeks we experimented with. We also tried out longer hours Mon-Thurs. with half day Fridays from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Both resulted in much longer work hours than before for me and my fellow slaves inmates co-workers. A 60 hour work week was the norm. I remember top management’s mantra: “Work smarter not harder.” Great in theory, except then reality hits you in the face. For every item you knock off the plate, 2 more would be added. The four life-and-death, “Gotta happen no matter what” top priorities assigned for the year in January became six or eight by the end of the first quarter kept going up from there. The plate can only hold so much. Don’t get me started on downsizing.
8N……..I am disappointed in myself that I had not thought of your rain-making theories sooner. However, with my wife’s (also) black car just waxed, I see that we now have some rain in our forecast for later today. Off she went earlier to claim her favorite parking spot at work under a tree, the one that dumps tree sap on the car while the birds are defecating on it. About the only consolation for me is that the white bird droppings are easy to spot on her black car. "Jack, some lousy bird pooped on my car! Would you go out and clean it off?" "Gee, honey, I wonder how that happened."
Colin………welcome back! Whatever could you be thinking? For the life of me, I can’t think of anything more entertaining than us. In case I forget, happy birthday #21 this coming Saturday. I think I spent my 21st birthday in a self-induced coma.
DougM……….sorry to hear you got more water in your basement. The heat aside, I’ll bet this has been the wettest Summer on record in your neck of the woods. My FIL about 20 miles Southwest of you in Kane County saw on the news earlier this week that the ground is so saturated around you and him that it can hold no more. He has a drain in the middle of his pitched basement concrete floor that dumps into the sewer system (legal in IL.). That is his high tech. backup to his sump pump if it quits , if he gets an untimely power outage, or if his exterior foundation drainage pipes get overwhelmed.
Chief…..it sounds to me you have my your priorities somewhat skewed. Are you thinking your mayoral responsibilities are more important than watering my prospective tomatoes?
SP Ray………I hear ya about the outdoor grilling this Summer. Standing out in the broiling mid to high 90s sun grilling some steaks and chops hasn’t appealed much to me either. Like JoeyD, we have been doing breakfast for dinner and some easier, simpler eats that include less stovetop and oven usage.
RT……..congratulations on your PA1/PB1 acquisition. Explain to me how this activity is not in conflict with your recent idea of thinning out your train inventory? Subtraction by addition?
Brutus……..like you, one of our neighbors down the street is also confronted with the necessity of terracing their back lawn. But their slope is so steep they are bringing in large boulders to shore up the bottom end of things before proceeding to the next step……backfilling and leveling. Some of the boulders are so big and heavy they hired a crane crew with what appears to be a 5 story crane to take the boulders from the street, lift them right over their house, and drop them in place. I keep wondering what would happen if something went wrong. Skylights I suppose.
V8………congratulations on making that final mortgage payment. One of the largest nuts out of the way. I figure when I have reached your point I will then have to figure out how to finance the property taxes into my declining years. Guess selling my body on the street is out.
Re those stoplight cameras......it sounds to me to be a lot more cost-effective than paying a bunch of police officers there to enforce what folks should already be doing, being responsible, attentive, and safe, for their own benefit of others. DougM is familiar with Skokie IL, traffic enforcement, and how the courts can effectively eliminate the backlog of every Tom, Dick, and Harry trying to explain why their particular traffic infraction was warranted.
I recall waiting in the Skokie traffic courtroom in my youth over a minor traffic matter. The judge asked all of the defendants to rise, must have been 50 of us. He then asked all those professing their innocence to stand over to the left while all those wishing to accept their charges to step over to the right. He then informed the courtroom that the folks on the right would have their charges dismissed with just a fine (no nick on one's driving record). He then informed the folks on the left proclaiming their innocence and/or extenuating circumstances that he finds 95% of these defendants guilty anyway, and if found guilty they would get nailed with both the fines and the nick on their insurance record.
The next thing I know virtually everyone ABOUT TO PROCLAIM THEIR INNOCENCE who was standing on the left joined those on the right. The the courtroom was cleared in a matter of minutes. Morale of the story: if you obey the traffic laws, drive with attentiveness and responsibility, and with a civic concern over the safety of others, you have little to fear from the police and the courts. Or........when you hit em in the wallet they might take notice the next time! Sure did get the BS out of the prcess in a hurry.
If this all sounds like I am beyond fed up with discourteous and dangerous drivers who care about no one or nothing except themselves, you would be right. And I am not in favor of shelling out my tax dollars tieing my police up trying to enforce what responsible folks should be doing on their own. My police have a tough enough job and have far more important things to do. DRIVING IS A PRIVILEDGE EARNED THROUGH DEMONSTRATED RESPONSIBILITY, NOT A RIGHT IN MY BOOK.
DougM and all………New Hampshire is still one beautiful, relatively unspoiled state, with all of the lakes, the White Mountains, forests, and mountain passes (notches) with stunning views. Just between Lincoln NH and North Conway alone, there are three railroads operating that I am aware of, not including the Cog Railroad up Mt. Washington: the Hobo Railroad; the Winnepesaukee Scenic Railroad; and the Conway Scenic Rail Tours. I think the Wolfsboro Railroad is still operating tours South of North Conway. Speaking of Lake Conway, Doug, West of there and North of Lincoln is a small lake near Franconia Notch named Echo Lake. It is like God plunked a lake in the mountains, with the White Mountains surrounding on three sides. We stumbled on that one and spent the day picnicking and swimming with the whole family. The Lake must be a well-kept secret because in the middle of the Summer there couldn’t have been 50 people total on the beach. Canoes and kayaks for rent too just steps away!
JimmyT……….from your post it sounds like Boysenberry desperately needs you for a ride and a shoulder to cry on.! Her ProbeGT is out of action. Be a gentleman and help her out.
LAZ……..your mention of scaffolding conjured up pictures in my mind of Brent’s header off his ladder. Whatever Brent would do in a precarious position, do the opposite!
MikeC………you need a dog to take with you on those evening walks with your wife.
Gotta run. Later, gang.
Think good thoughts, do good deeds!
Chief- I'll be looking forward to the link.
Headed bank north tonight to continue breaking in the pontoon boat.
I need to get some fishing in this weekend. Would be nice to have walleye for dinner this weekend.
Hope everyone has a safe weekend!
I had a nice three mile run this morning and then had some cereal, OJ, and coffee for breakfast. I am only going to work a half-day today; we will be going to the in-laws house this evening. The wife will be going out to dinner and a Christian comedy concert with her mom, aunts, and cousins. We are not going to spend the night as we have plenty of chores to knock out this weekend.
SJ - I need to start coming to your house for breakfast. Your eats sound tastier than my cereal.
Colin - Happy Birthday! I hope you have a great time. I enjoy a cigar every now and then; however, I am no aficionado.
Afternoon all., Back from meeting and ribbon cutting. HOT!!!!!!!!!! Soakers going now.
Way to go Colin.
Charlie, nice looking "toon". Where are the rod holders? Walleye!!! Best eating fish in the water. Wish we had more at Kerr. Hard to find there.
Later.
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