Coffee Pot #12 December 2011 5+ years and going strong and its for all to chat. Plenty of coffee and ice tea for all. Come and join us and chat.

[jonadel]

Doug -- even though I've been in Chicago several times I will try and go around and avoid the frantic freeways, especially on the bike.  Same for St. Louis.  I did a tentative Google map this morning with the final leg going north from New Orleans the whole way on the Great River Road.  Looks like 3300 miles doing a big circle.

[Stourbridge Lion]

Happy TGIF CTT Fans!

It's 17F outside right now but they say we are in for a nice weekend; YIPPE!!!!!!!

Keep those RPO's running so all can't get their special RR requests this year...

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to #$%@ I go

[sir james I]

Good Morning

32 now staying in the 30s all day. Rain stopped, sun is up. I'm going with Charlie this evening to run trains on the Glancy modular layout at Henry Ford's Greenfield Village. The village is decorated with a Christmas theme. But we have no snow and that's fine with me. It can wait till one day in March. TTFN..S.J.

[Banks]

sir james I

Good Morning

32 now staying in the 30s all day. Rain stopped, sun is up. I'm going with Charlie this evening to run trains on the Glancy modular layout at Henry Ford's Greenfield Village. The village is decorated with a Christmas theme. But we have no snow and that's fine with me. It can wait till one day in March. TTFN..S.J.

Visited there when I was about 13 or 14 and was amazed. A return trip is on my bucket list. I'll bet it's way better now than it was then.

[AF53]

Mornin' all!

Nice and sunny out today. Final touches for the inside decorations to be done today. A bit late this year as work has kept me away from home far too much the past few months.

Banks- Good news about mom, continued progress!

Jeffrey - You baseball diamond looks real nice, are the Yankees winning?

Bob - Those minor errors while driving in snow can be real embarassing.

JoeD - Now that you've been over there for some time, and it sounds like your adapting well, what do you miss most about life back home?

HudsonJohn - How's my set that arrived yesterday? Are you done playing with it, trying it out, testing it, useing, storing it yet?

Have a good day,

Ray

[ChiefEagles]

Buckeye Riveter

TGIF

Jon........Looking forward to drinking adult beverages on the deck with you and you teaching me the words to Ugly Ohio I have Back Home in NC down pat.

Won a huge roadway design project, so my job is safe for another 24 hours or Monday, which ever comes first. 

Great news.  My SS check is secure.

Beautiful day outside.  Extra warm and sunny.  Clouds and rain by evening commute.  Turning cooler.  Still enjoy the day.

Lunch meeting in town.

Hope all are doing OK.

Later.

[Demay]

Konbanwa,

Well I was too tired to get out of bed to run this morning so I will do it tomorrow.  My body needs more than five hours of sleep.  I was busy at the office today but in the afternoon we had a friendly office game of volleyball.  The over-35 team won again.  Today was my last day of work until January 3rd.  I have a lot of leave saved up so I decided to take the next two weeks off.  I will probably stop in to the office once or twice but that's about it.  The only big plan scheduled during this time is a night in Tokyo next Friday.  I will be taking our daughter to see The Nutcracker which is an annual event for her and me. 

I saw Fox and Friends today (of course it comes on at 8 pm here) and saw the Lionel layout.  They used FasTrack, but did not do a good job of deadening the sound.  The hosts had to shout over the track noise and were not happy about it.  The layout had three trains running: The Polar Express, Thomas, and I believe a Christmas set which was possibly Santa's Flyer or The North Pole set.

I just finished my schoolwork for the night so it's time for bed.

Sayonara,

Joe

[Demay]

AF Ray,

I can’t say I miss anything too badly right now.  We obviously miss our family but that comes with the job and we have been at it for over 17 years.  We are used to moving and have lived in Hawaii and Germany before so we have been away from the continental US before.  I do miss not having enough space for our layout but we will overcome that soon enough.  Likewise for trains shows and hobby shops.  We also are starting to miss the convenience of having items shipped to our house.  Many items cannot be shipped here or it is very expensive.  That’s really it for now but I don’t think any of these are too big of a deal to not fully enjoy the experience of living here for three years.

Joe

[jeffrey-wimberly]

AF53

Jeffrey - You baseball diamond looks real nice, are the Yankees winning?

Nope. Just some Sundown kids against some Knutzville kids.

[laz 57]

Hi GUYZ,

  Site was down earlier this morn so couldn't post.  Saw 15 deer last nite on our walk all doe.

CHUCK and BUCKEYE TGIF!!!!

JEFF, nice baseball diamond.  I had one on old layout and trying to find space on new layout for one.

BUCKEYE and JON, something about drinking beverages on the deck?

Stay frosty,

laz57

[AF53]

Laz - Along with a baseball diamond for your layout you should have a small section of woods for you and you bro can hunt!!

Ray

[SPMan]

Good morning all,

Looks like another day to put rocks in your pockets.  The Santa Ana winds are with us again today.  I'm just hoping no more power lines get blown down in Arcadia where our Christmas train meet at TCA is taking place tomorrow.  The TTOS Christmas party was cancelled earlier this month account of power failure.

Chief, I assume no deer were taken on your current hunt.

Welcome home to troops returning home from Iraq.  Thank you all for your service to this country.  I hope we can close this chapter of our history.  The troops did all they were asked to do.  They are the best.  Now it is the time to care for our wounded veterans.

Tried out my Lionel 2-8-0 steam engine around tree yesterday as an alternate to my General engine.  The 2-8-0 has sounds and smoke.  The whistle for the General is in the baggage car so when I run the 2-8-0 with that car, I get one whistle from the engine and another from the baggage car.  Sounds great like a multitone steam whistle.

The snow in the Arizona highlands looks nice but I'm glad I don't have to shovel it.

Buckeye, I thought the Ohio song was that one that goes--Down by the O-High-O, I've got the cutist little O-my-O.  Can't remember the name of that song now.  Brain freeze I guess.  Sounds like one that Al Jolson or Eddie Cantor did.

Tried some Tony Roma's baby back ribs last night from Costco.  Tasted pretty good.  They give you about a gallon of sauce though in the package.  That's a lot more than I need.  They are precooked and just warm up in the oven.  We served them with baked beans, cole slaw and baked potato with sour cream and chives.  Yum yum!

Have a good day,

Ray

 

 

 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Well I got front coupler conversion on the old Bachmann 0-6-0 done. It's a Kadee #5 with the trip pin cut off and the height is dead-on. Now I have to get some flat black paint and touch up the places on the body where the bare metal is showing through. They don't build them like this anymore.

[LawsonFarmsRR]

ChiefEagles

 

Buckeye Riveter:

 

Roseyville in the news.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/Player-8220-Matrixes-8221-his-way-out-of-tac?urn=highschool-wp9782

I bet the Chief taught the kid that move.

 

 

 

Tought him everything he knows. 

White Christmas is on.

Then bed time.  Went to heart Dr.  One hour after appointment time, nurse comes and gets me.  45 minutes after that, Dr. comes in.  May get a new Dr.  This is not my original one.  He moved away.  

Shooting in new .30-06 tomorrow and the M14.  

Deer hunting Wednesday.

Sleep tight.  

Add in lab time and over two hours. Not acceptable. I had that problem and I did change Dr.

Pat

[anjdevil2]

Hey Guys...

Fife..got your message....all is good.  Especially since the Princess is here!

Received the last of train items I ordered MONTHS ago came in.  I have been moving stuff from storage to my sisters attic.  I will pay her for storing my stuff instead of a stranger (storage place).  The people are wonderful, I'd just rather give the money to my sister.  A MULTITUDE of Hot Wheels, Die Cast cars, my collection of Ceramic Firehouses and of course all things Lionel.  Found a few things I was looking for and threw out a bunch more.  Just need to find a place for the tool boxes ( 3 ).

It would appear that FEMA in thier infinite wisdom, has denied the repairs on the neon.  I'll appeal, but it sucks since it was at the firehouse when it happened.  If I were a normal citizen, it would have been home and safe.

Bob - nice snow fall...I love it when on one knows what the CENTER means...

Prepping for Christmas here, trying to clean up our living areas and get stuff squared away for my brothers family. 

for us all and those who protect us.

Check ya later!

 

 

[RockIsland52]

Hey!!!!  Where is the "off" switch to this holiday treadmill?!?  I want to get off and play with my trains!!!!   I got about 13 pages behind on the POT reading too.

Jack

[sir james I]

A cold 30 degrees, esp. after almost 60 yesterday. Brutus is in charge of the banilla tonight. Charlie will be here soon..S.J.

[ChiefEagles]

SPMan

Chief, I assume no deer were taken on your current hunt.

Ray 

Coyote interruption.  Bad thing was I did not see the coyote.  Hawled and made nosies as he chased something [probably deer] in the woods near stand right at the time they showed up last Sat.  If I had shot the coycote, I would have been happy.  Fred wanted me to shoot the biggest doe and we had time to take care of it this time [Sat., had to rush home to help decorate the Church].  At my other stand lately, its been yard dogs that come by as the deer scatter off through the woods.  

Sprinkling rain but still shirt weather.  Suppose to turn cool.

Later

[rtraincollector]

It was a chilly 74 when I left work this afternoon. We had our Christmas party at wok today the manager bought Olive garden for us all in a ala-cart type as it was in 4" serving pans aluminum foil type disposable pans. It was good

Not much happening here. Didn't sleep well at all last night so going to bed early tonight as have 8 hrs of O.T. tomorrow. ( got to keep suppling chiefs S.S. Fund

Talk to you all later.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Not much in the way of rain here. Only 0.19" so far today.

[SPMan]

Good afternoon all,

Chief, too bad the coyote ran the deer off.  A good dose of hot lead would solve the problem if you could get one in your sights.

Wind has been blowing all day here.  I've had enough. Thankfully no damage though.

Quartz wrist watch battery was going dead today so I went to local jewelry store and found out they had been closed for several months.  I heard the owner passed away and the heirs are closing the store.  The place was an institution here in our town with large display area and many nice things for home decoration as well as jewelry.  Found a small shop that fixed my watch though.

Been getting good reports about my sister in N.C. with the cancer.  She is well enough, at least for now to drive again and has been getting around pretty well since they patched up her back problem.  Of course the long term prognosis is not good but at least her quality of life is good for now.

Looking forward to Christmas train meet tomorrow at TCA.  It's a pot luck lunch and my group has to bring desert.  I got a nice chocolate cake to bring.

Wife's church group is putting together Christmas baskets tomorrow for those in need from our church pantry.  They have plenty of volunteers so my services will not be required this time.  I can't do much lifting now anyway with my back problems.

Prayers that our forum family stays healthy and happy for the Christmas season and in the coming year.

Ray

 

[KRM]

Hi Guys, I am back. I love to get away but I also love to get home. But after 6+ hours of driving 2 hours of unloading mom’s seeder from the trailer and unloading the truck I am dead!! No mom here I have been left to fend for myself but that is okay because mom is with the daughter to spend the night and go shopping tomorrow to get me something for Christmas. Plus and a ton of post on the pot I have to give up at 12-14-10:00AM I will finish catching up tomorrow. All I want to do now is take a whirlpool and crash

Good to be back,

Kev.

[cnw1995]

Aloha. Just sitting in the front room keeping an eye on my teen and a girl visitor as they watch a scary movie. Yep, the lights are certainly on. Glad you're back, Kev.  Off to help a friend move tomorrow out of his foreclosed home - week before Christmas too - they have 3 little girls. Ah well. Got them a Christmas tree set-up as a surprise at their rental.

[dwiemer]

Good evening everyone.  Been a good day here. Met up with wife and kids for lunch since the kiddos had a half day.  Got the shopping done for our guests this weekend.  Have to make deserts as we are having the main meal catered.  Then it was time to wrap presents for each of the visitors.  Came downstairs to see kids watching the end of a Veggie Tales video.  They have an interview with Stephen Curtis Chapman.  Our daughter took special interest in that as he has a few kids he adopted from China.  Also, they have a segment on trains that they shot at the Tennessee Valley Railroad.  

Joe, I agree, they should have done something about the noise.  It was loud, but they still gave a good amount of time to the segment.  Also, with all three trains running, it made me wonder how many families would be attracted to having that much noise in their living room?

In addition to having our guests this weekend, our church is having it's choir special.  The dress rehearsal is tomorrow night and the actual special is Sunday night.  I have to film both, so I better be loaded up on ibuprofen for my neck and back.

May each of you have a blessed weekend.

Dennis

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Well this evening I took a break to watch an old movie. Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart in 'Up The River' (1930). Not a bad prison flick for the time.

Time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.

[8ntruck]

Sunny, in the 40's today.

Had three very active sample programs running in three presses at work today.  I finally relaxed about 2pm when I realized that there was not enough time left in the year to help them along other than let the projects run to their natural conclusion.

Jeffery - neat bus.  For a holiday touch on your layout, you could stage it crashed in a tree - you know - 'Partridge in a Pear Tree'

All for now.

[ChiefEagles]

Good night.  Reclinerized in the recliner too long.  Wifey asleep on couch.  We were suppose to be watching old Christmas movies on TCM [Bishop's Wife, Christmas In Conn. and Shop Around the Corner. originals in black and white].  

KEV, welcome back home.

8N, thanks for the hard work.  Makes those SS checks come on time.

God bless all. 

[fifedog]

Mornin' boys.  Cloudy and 40 here in the Mid-Atlantic region.  Started the laundry.  Have to tidy basement up a little for a possible train guest visit.  Either way, needs a-straightenin'.  Also, I need to get started on my Christmas shopping this weekend.  Need to get fifepup behind the wheel some more.  Find myself doing this after each trip...

Chief -

...let's face it, who can hunt when someone is dragging a bagfull of ACME anvils around anyway?

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is a cloudy 32 degrees. Going up to 40 with rain this afternoon.  Yuk.

Today is a busy day. I have a bunch of chores to do and a project to finish. Then, I can relax and take a nap. Not much else new.

Dining car is here with an omlet for breakfast.

Y'all have a great Saturday.

Chuck

[dwiemer]

Morning all.  I too have a lot to get to.  Woken by daughter around 5am, so the only day to sleep late was not so much.  Have to make some deserts for the guests and have to finish getting ready for all the intruders....I mean in laws. Have to get things done in a timely manner as I also have to do the filming at church tonight.  

I am hoping to load up on people to occupy the layout shortly after Christmas.  Does anyone have a suggested source?  I hope to add some areas for the kids to play and make additions with their imaginations, who knows what they will come up with.  Anyway, layout is certainly coming together.  After reading the article about Fastrack TMCC switches I may have to add a section with some wide turnouts so I can run some of the scale engines out there.  

Check later,

Dennis