COFFEE POT #10 October 2011 for all to take a drink and chat. 6+ years and going. Plenty of better coffee and sweet ice tea to drink. Plenty of GRITS and Cheerios for the heart.

[fifedog]

Great; world's ending too  And me without my roll of quarters.  Kick my dog while you're at it.  Oh yeah, forgot about the dog.

[fifedog]

Wellllllll..... The owners of the lot we want to buy filed for bankruptcy, without telling the bank or the realtor.  Things will be looking "iffy" at best.  Time is on our side though.

submmbob - Can you yodell something for us...?

+ to drown my sorrows tonight.

[RockIsland52]

Don.........that is wonderful news on your father-in-law!  Prayers continue for his recovery. 

Kevin..........my forum name is RockIsland52 to reflect the first Lionel train I received.  It was Christmas 1955 and I was a 4 year old boy.  Postwar Lionel 2031 Rock Island AA FA1 ALCos, produced in 1952.  My Dad had purchased them and stashed them away until either I was old enough or his thumb wore out and fell off winding up the wind up trains, whichever came first.    Guess he wanted a road name indigenous to Illinois.

Jack.

[RockIsland52]

dbaker48

Good Afternoon All.....

THIS WILL PROBABLY BE MY LAST POSTING EVER !!

Reason Being: Today the world will most likely end!  At least that is according to Harold Camping.  (Of course he is from California, he is an evangalist in Northern Ca..  He has a radio network of over 150 stations.  Now just in case he is wrong, I wouldn't sign over the retirement accounts just yet.  But just in case........  I've enjoyed talking with you'all.........

Regards, and God Bless

I am really going to miss Chief and the REBS on the POT because we Nawtheners are going upstairs while the REBS are going downstairs, much further South where the climate is considerably warmer.  

Jack 

[dbaker48]

Good Afternoon All.....

THIS WILL PROBABLY BE MY LAST POSTING EVER !!

Reason Being: Today the world will most likely end!  At least that is according to Harold Camping.  (Of course he is from California, he is an evangalist in Northern Ca..  He has a radio network of over 150 stations.  Now just in case he is wrong, I wouldn't sign over the retirement accounts just yet.  But just in case........  I've enjoyed talking with you'all.

Regarding FIL, he is doing rather well actually.  Today he is being relocated to the Physical Therapy portion of the hospital, and out of Cardiac Care, etc..  Apparently, he is expected to be in the PT area for 3 or 4 weeks.  He has good mobility and been up with the assistance of a walker.  Has limited usage of the left arm, but does have movement including fingers.  So the prognosis looks very good.  THANKS FOR ALL THE PRAYERS AND WELL WISHES !!!

I appreciate all the comments about the "Job Activity", (can't use any names here, could get in trouble if the wrong person were to read it.)  But, I cant take the credit, I havn't really made the stuff up, just documenting the activities and events.

It has been somewhat low key there the past few days, they certainly do seem to have difficulties with the scheduling requirements.  Especially, when breaks and lunch is involved.  I worked Tuesday and was rather uneventful.  Just the typical stuff. - "Your break time is at 10:00, don't be late!  (30 min later), Your break time is changed to 11:00, (OK), 5 min later, "Take your break now!" OK.  Just another typical shift.  Then Wednesday, I was off.  Had a Dr appt. anyway.  First thing at 9:00 get a call asking me to come in, had to refuse.  Then on Thursday I go in, and find out they had me scheduled on the daily break schedule but NOT the shift schedule.  So tonight and tomorrow night I am the "utility man", so see what that will be.

Congrats on the accomplishments with the Dobys, that is really significant.

Hope everyone has a great day!!  Glad to see all the new people posting, (even Jeffrey, though he isn't so new.   I know he has a lot to share, that we can learn from.)

Regards, and God Bless

[KRM]

RockIsland52

 Kevin.......best wishes for a wonderful anniversary road trip to Wisconsin.  Take your snowshoes.   We are not allowed to burn leaves and yard debris here in my neck of the woods EXCEPT for one very short period in Spring and Fall.  We have to buy a permit to do so and inform the fire department prior to ignition.  One would think our John Baker across the pond would enjoy the sweet smell of burning leaves.

 

Well finally got done with sweeping the leaves around the house. Now time for some lunch. 

Next I have to hook up the 72" mower deck to the big tractor and power mulch the leaves in the large areas. Should be done before wifey gets home from work. Then time to pack for the trip.

Thanks Jack I am looking foward to the trip.  You know I do like the  sweet smell of burning leaves.

I grew up in a small farm town called Plainfield but after 54 years there it turned into just one more tentacle of the octopus known as Chicago and everything was illegal so we moved 45 miles west to where almost nothing is illegal Yet!!!

The Marseilles fire department does give people a hefty fine if they catch the woods on fire. I think they consider it a revenue stream.  I have to watch it out here or it can get ugly fast.

Today is a perfect day for burning. Damp and not much wind. I have to sweep and burn or my house would be under leaves. See attached pictures. It is about the only the bad side of building in the woods.

Anyone ever notice that leaves have only two ways they brun? Like nuts or you can't get them to light??

 

Jack, What is with the Rock Island thing? That was one of the rail lines out here. How did you hook up with it?

Kev.

Trees anyone?

See what I mean about the house in wood..

The boss George is inspecting for the fire department.

[SPMan]

ChiefEagles

Morning. Chilly at lake. Brutus, hit reply, highlite hml then hit the box where you want to tpye the reply. Then keyboard comes up. Soccer,un-American. ;-) BASEBALL Jon, saw a post on the Blue. Said snowing in Ioway. Spring in NC is months before Ioway. ;-) Ray,if I'm in town, may try to travel east and hook up. Have a good one.

Chief, Unfortunately, I will only be in Jacksonville, N.C. for a couple of days but will be passing through Raleigh on the way to and returning from my sister's home.  We are flying into Raleigh.  Maybe, I can call you at least while I am there overnight.  If I had more time, I would love to stop by your place for a visit.  Talk to you later,

Ray

[jeffrey-wimberly]

V8Vega

It has been illegal with a big fine to talk on a hand held cell phone here for a year or two. I see it constantly, I don't think the police enforce it.

If you burned leaves or anything else here the whole fire department would show up.

Dennis  San Fernando Valley CA.

Same here. People get away with yakking on their cells while they're driving but those who are texting get nailed to the wall. As for burning leaves here, forget it! A burn ban is in effect and there's a hefty fine for violators.

 

Here are more photos for your enjoyment.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

RockIsland52

Jeff.........thank you for the photos.  That's some impressive, painstaking work and it brings such realism into play.  I'll bet it took quite a bit of trial and error to get the process down.

When I was using paint it was hard and any mistakes were more or less permanent. Using powders is far easier and any mistakes can be wiped off. It takes me about 10 minutes to go through the powder stage on a car using usually 3 or 4 different shades. When I get it like I want it I then purposefully overdo it a bit as some will be lost when the spray is applied. Once the spray is dried everything is permanent and it doesn't take but a few minutes to dry.

[RockIsland52]

Good Mornin' Ya'll From Sunny and Seasonal Taxachusetts,

Rains have FINALLY moved off the coast and like many of you am trying to decide if I should wait until the wind blows my leaves onto the neighbors' properties.    Picked up granddaughter #1 from school yesterday, early release day for all the kiddies.  Major traffic jam, and I had to park 200+ yards away from the school and walk to the appropriate school exit door and back.  Almost got run over a couple of times.  Drivers totally oblivious to their surroundings.  I don't think I need to tell you about all of the impatient drivers and driver distractions......mainly cell phone.  I feel cell phone signals should be jammed in all school zones so that parents pay attention to their driving and the task at hand, child/pedestrian safety.

The chipmunks that have taken up residence the past few years on my property are once again out and about, looking for a Winter home.  That always happens to be my attached garage, which they generously share with the field mice.   

I heard on the news this AM that  Buckeye might still be on the loose on Ohizo, though the video of him makes him look more hairy than I remember him. 

Chuck.........what?  No pics this time around of the PT staff? 

SJ.....I keep telling you that the stairs up and down to/from the train room would provide great PT for Granny; and the dusting of the layout and it's contents provides beneficial, low-impact, high range-of-motion exercise for her.     

Brutus.......... I hope you get good news on Chewy today.  I got charged $138 by my vet for a similar urinalysis on Maximus.    Fear not, your Cardinals will prevail!!!!!

Rich......I had to laugh when I read about your cleanup efforts before your folks got home, had visions of beer cans and pizza boxes.  Thanks for the take on your new HTC Startosphere cell phone from Verizon.  I'm overdue for a new phone but the recent issues related in this forum have me wondering which poison I want to take.

Banks..... "Mrs. announced 'only 143 days to go.'."  Till York, I presume. 

Jeff.........thank you for the photos.  That's some impressive, painstaking work and it brings such realism into play.  I'll bet it took quite a bit of trial and error to get the process down.

Kevin.......best wishes for a wonderful anniversary road trip to Wisconsin.  Take your snowshoes.   We are not allowed to burn leaves and yard debris here in my neck of the woods EXCEPT for one very short period in Spring and Fall.  We have to buy a permit to do so and inform the fire department prior to ignition.  One would think our John Baker across the pond would enjoy the sweet smell of burning leaves.

Jon.........a Nikon photography school refresher would be good for me, especially since it has been 4+ decades since I last attended one and, as Fife pointed out, Kodachrome 64 is a memory.  I went automatic in the mid 90s and digital three years later.  Plus, the wifey and I are out looking for a new DSLR that will also give us more video flexibility.  Carrying two cameras (still and video) is a pain.  Been looking at the Nikon 3100.  Re options for a possible bike trip East in the Spring, one part  of North Carolina can be particularly  hazzardous to Iowayans due to the unfriendly nature of some gun totin' "connected" locals.  

Chief........you should be able to assist Pam with her job interview with your vast knowledge of ballet. 

Mel and Lee........have you boys dried out yet down there in FLA.?  I can't believe the rainfall totals and envision the flooded areas becoming one huge feeding ground for the alligators.

JimmyT........next time you overload a postwar steamer with smoke fluid, have some hot dogs and marshmallows at the ready.  And don't do it under the Christmas tree. 

LAZ.......had to laugh at your reference to "fire and burger" night.   Earlier in the week, I had promised my wife steaks from the grill and found myself standing outside grilling in a monsoon.   

MikeC........I have a YMCA less than a half mile from my house.  Whenever the urge to join comes over me, I wait until it passes.

SubmmBob........you look like Indiana Jones in that picture.  Nice hat!!!!    How many miles from Mexico are you since you can see it on the Horizon?

DonB.........I must heartilyagree with the rest.  Your Knott's escapades are hilarious!

Gotta run.  TGIF.  Later, gang.

Jack

[sir james I]

Good Morning

45 and cloudy, finally stopped raining though. Too bad about the 2020 they seem to be getting harder to find in good condition. Once those heater elements start to burn through, they do get very hot. Use to see a lot of burnt one's working at the hobby shop. A quick trip to Kroger will tide us over for a few days. Gotta buy coffee soon, prices are unreal...S.J.

[anjdevil2]

Friday!

Jeff - Nice weathering job...I may want to try that one day.  CTT has had an article on weathering, I may try to find a cheap piece of rolling stock and give it a shot.

Sub Bob - VERY COOL!  Wish I was up there with ya!

Brutus - so far I'm liking the phone.  I haven't posted here with it yet, but may give it a shot.  Some of the videos I've looked at have been slow, but generally been jump/buffering free.

Windy here in the 60's again.  Princess works tonight, I have a free day.  May go get my upper tool box and last check.  Need to get that done.

Check back later!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 44° and sunny. The high will be 79° and it will remain sunny.

I had to turn the heater on for a short time to take the chill off. Somebody has done knocked that barbed wire fence between here and the north pole down. Today I'll be checking some of the newer cars I haven't weighed yet. Who knows how light they may be. Other than that I don't see much happening here today.

Here's some of my weathered stuff blending into the scenery.

[KRM]

green97probe

             It shot a flame back the length of the boiler, and probably would have caught the livingroom on fire had I stepped out when it let go.  I lost the hair on the back of my hand in the process of getting it into the kitchen sink

 

Probe, Al I can say is it made for some great smoke when it worked. Too bad you did not get the video of it burning out too. Flames the length of the boiler would of been cool to see with fireman Jim trying to put an end to it all.       

Hi All, good morning,

Cold but the sun is out and looks like little to no wind, 35 degrees.

Well lots to do today, getting ready to get out of town with the wifey for a few days.

Lots of leaves to sweep and burn today. Got to hit the bank and see the neighbor with the list of contact numbers and the how to deal with George the devil cat instructions.

Jeffrey, I have always thought about trying weathering on some of my old Scout cars to see how it would look. You have inspired me to keep it in mind. 

Bob, Better you up there than me! I am not one for more than a 6' step ladder. 

DougM we did get a frost last night. Had to bring all of moma’s plants inside last night that she wants to over-winter.

Spent most of yesterday after the hospital ultrasound thingy on my back under the table doing more wiring. Close to the end now but no table work today.

Well everybody, have a good weekend and I will check in when we get back.

Kev.

 

[cnw1995]

Aloha from a sunny and cold Chicago. TGIF! Think we had our first frost last night bu tit was too dark this am to see. Glad to rejoin the Tardis last night with Brutus, SJ, RT and Charlie. Jim, glad you're OK after than 2020 flameout. I remember when I first heard of soccer or football. I went out for a team that was forming to play the sport way back in 1978. Our coach was real hard-line - from Austria. It was fun to learn - I recall travelling a long way to find other teams. We lost every game for our first four years...

[ChiefEagles]

Morning. Chilly at lake. Brutus, hit reply, highlite hml then hit the box where you want to tpye the reply. Then keyboard comes up. Soccer,un-American. ;-) BASEBALL Jon, saw a post on the Blue. Said snowing in Ioway. Spring in NC is months before Ioway. ;-) Ray,if I'm in town, may try to travel east and hook up. Have a good one.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

laz 57

JEFF in LA.  LOVE what you did with the weathering.  Big CONGA to you give us some tips.

The weathering isn't difficult to do. I use AIM Products weathering powder to get the colors. At this point anything I don't like can still be washed off with water and a rag. The next step I use makes it permanent. I lightly spray on a coat of Valspar Frosting spray. This stuff is normally used to frost glass or plastic windows. While it's still wet I lightly spray on a coat of Valspar Clear Flat. Say good-bye to any remaining gloss. Most O Scalers I know don't use weathering but a few do. I showed them the products I use and how I use them and they agree that it's a good fast easy and efficient way to weather locos and rolling stock. One thing, remove any window glass/glazing BEFORE applying the sprays or they will be permanently frosted.

[Banks]

Hello all, 

Windy with scattered showers this AM

TGIF        

As we were getting ready for work this am Mrs announced "Only 143 days to go"

Jeffry, thanks for sharing.

RI Jack. If you burn hot continuously creosote will be no problem. I'd recommend the chimney be inspected annually and cleaned as required.

Sub bob, looks like a wonderful place to work.

Please, more Berry Farm stories

Fife, keep us posted.

I'll be at the ALtoona Train Show  on Sunday. Much yard work to be done the rest of the weekend. 

SS Fund calls. Try to get back over the weekend.

Prayers for those in need

 

[Northwoods Flyer]

Jon,

Congratulations on the article in the December CTT.  The photos of your layout are inspiring.

Northwoods Flyer

Greg

[jonadel]

Up early today to get my "chores" done before I take off for northern IA later this afternoon, this is my last weekend commitment until December and I'm kinda glad.  I really do enjoy adjudicating when kids are at their best, the money is also very nice but I'm tired as I had an extra three days this week at two different schools just helping out.  My trip this weekend is only 90 miles north and I should be home tomorrow night before dark, YAY!

For those of you on the "right coast", I pulled out my well worn atlas last night and started doing daily mileages to see if an early spring trip might work.  I've never done an April trip, hmmmm.  Fun to think about where I might end up, turn around point could be North Carolina ..............

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is dark and cold outside. 44 degrees. We will get a frost soon. Maybe no rain today with a high of 62.

Today is a busy day. I have a bunch of paperwork to do and a few little chores. I will be busy until the afternoon. Then, a nap.

Buckeye & LAZ..... TGIF

Dining car is here with an omlet for breakfast.

Y'all have a great Friday.

Chuck

[laz 57]

Hi GUYZ,

  Nice and cool here today.  Gonna have fireoutside and cook burgers with wife tonite. LOVE this cool weather.

JEFF in LA.  LOVE what you did with the weathering.  Big CONGA to you give us some tips.

CHUCK and BUCKEYE, TGIF!!!!

Trains tonite!!!!!

Stay frosty,

laz57

[Hudson#685]

Good Morning,

A cool Friday morning in Jersey and so far quiet here.

Jon, You seem to be missing the "Right Coast" of this Country.

Probe/Stang GT, You were very lucky with the 2020.

Mike, Enjoy your 9 months of soccer. We had a guy here who came from Scotland after WW2 who help organize soccer here in NJ.

Enjoy the day,

John

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

Finally, an end to the rain.  I will play soccer in November!   Nine months of organized soccer this year in one form or another!  One of life's little pleasures!  Went to YMCA with wife last night.  Hate going there, but have a new plan of attack concerning workouts.  Had regular fare for breakfast.  Sent it to "Points East".  TBIL and I can drive.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[Brutus]

Probe - yikes!  Could have been a big fire, glad you caught it!

Chief - hope you get your Droid problems fixed.  Rich, I have a galaxy S type droid and it works pretty well, just have problems with a few functions like posting here? 

Texas won tonight, so we shall see what happens.  Both have been really close games. 

One more day and then the weekend.  I have a lot of work to catch up on tomorrow, so hope I can figure out what I'm supposed to be doing!  I know part of it, but some is kind of up in the air?

Good riddance to Ghadafi, that's what I think too.

Good work on those cars, Jeffrey - I think I had some similar stuff back in the day , but I never weathered it.

TARDIS is ready, let's hit it guys!

[Anonymous]

Kev,

          That 2020 had the lamp type generator replaced with a modern fan driven unit from a recent Lionel Hotbox Reefer.  Apparently the element got too hot and became starved of fluid at which point things got ugly.  It shot a flame back the length of the boiler, and probably would have caught the livingroom on fire had I stepped out when it let go.  I lost the hair on the back of my hand in the process of getting it into the kitchen sink.  Although I haven't had a chance to get to it, that 2020 will probably be parted out.

[8ntruck]

Partly sunny, windy and about 50 today.  Busy, busy lately.  Just a quick stop today to leave a placemarker.

Like the Knott's Berry Farm stories.  Hard to believe that anything this entertaining is not scripted!

Scored an 'I Love Michigan' boxcar on e-bay, found a reasonable deal on a K-Line PRR boxcar with volt meter, and sent my brand new Texas Special SD70 back to Lionel to get the intermittant sound system fixed.

All for now.

[submmbob]

Hello all

Working on finishing up a few shutdown projects today. Receiver is cold and working well w/ a few new parts.  Anxious to put it on sky and see what it can do. Just waiting now for the computer guys to beat the control system into some version of functionality.

Here's a photo of me on the roof last week. You can see the new seals on the right. The camera is looking close to due south. The horizon is in Mexico.

Don - keep up the anecdotes from Knott's. I love 'em.

Bob

[sir james I]

Good Evening

43 now

Lite rain most of the day. I did nothing productive today, just goofed off. The PT guy told granny one more visit next week and she's done. Translated, probably really means the end of Medicare allowed. Banilla is waiting...S.J.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

anjdevil2

Jeff in LA --- I can't speak for my O gauge brethren but I'd LOVE to see what you're up to....after all a train is a train....  In between O gauge I had HO for a while as well..

Well, since you asked:

I weighted and weathered these tank cars then installed body mounted couplers.

And these cars have been weighted and weathered:

The tank cars were a lot of fun to take apart for weighting. They're 1970's vintage so getting replacement parts isn't as easy as ordering from Walthers. Sometimes I get lucky and find another car on Ebay then I can have some replacement parts on hand. Each company puts them together a little differently so mixing parts from one to the other isn't always easy.