Coffee Pot #2 Februry 2012 5+ years and going strong and its for all to chat. Plenty of coffee and sweet ice tea for all. Come and join us and chat. GRITS for the Yankees.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

That 1664 sure does fly!

[rtraincollector]

Went to work today lasted about 5 minutes started coughing to the point I got sick so home I came. Took it easy for about 4 hrs and was feeling better so took wife to the store.

Not much going on here other than above.

Talk to you all later

[submmbob]

Fairly quiet day today. Weather is still very nice.

The work on the 1664 went fairly well. Was able to redo the wheel installation that somebody else had messed up before I got it. The hub non-gear wheel on this thing seems to be unobtanium. But I think w/ a couple of spacers I can get the replacement wheel w/o the hub to work with the side rods. They did give me two right hand drive rods in the package, but was able to flip one around. It's cleaned and lubed, w/ new brushes, and a new light.

1664

What I love about these things is that they just get to running better and better after sitting for a while. And I have grease stains on my hands and smell like petroleum products, just like when I worked on the real ones. Of course there is not quite as much grease on me...

Good news about Char!

Nearly time for dinner

Bob

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening

Got some of the stuff that needed done out of the way. Problem is that there is more stuff that needs done tomorrow now as well......good thing about today was that I managed to get some train time in as well...

for Brutus's OH and for Chief and his OH...hope all goes well with you...

[jonadel]

Dennis -- I bought my last 4x4 truck when GW was in office in late June, gas was at $3.97, got a great deal.  Who in their right mind would buy a truck with a 5.7 engine?  ME-- great deal

It's all relative, I do have a car in the garage right now that gets 51 MPG in town, YES!  We are quickly catching up to our friends in Europe and elsewhere ... not such a welcome thought.  We do have the least expensive food prices and fuel anywhere.

[dwiemer]

Jack, thanks for the kind thoughts.  We are blessed with some great kids.  Giving them a solid foundation is key.  I too had a dad that mentored me along and taught me about hard work.  Another great principle is that there is no limit to what can be accomplished when we stop worrying about who gets the credit.

Chief, I pray for healing in your home.  Hope you and miss Pam are on the mend soon.

Brutus, praying for Char, that she gets great eyesight restored soon.

Regarding gas prices, four years ago, when prices hit $3.50, the news had story after story and everyone was pointing fingers at the president.  Now, we are climbing toward $4.00, and hardly a word.  It would be nice if every state didn't have their own blend requirements, but I digress.  

Well, better get going, have a great night.

Dennis

[Demay]

Ohayō (O-hi-o for Chuck),

The youngest child woke up a little early this morning so I was not able to have a run.  It is a little too cold for him to be in the jogging stroller and I wanted to let the wife sleep.  Today's high is in the 50s and it is very sunny.  It's time to walk out the door for work; I hope it's an easy Friday.

Kev - I hope the wife's drive home went safely.  Enjoy the snow.

Dennis - I understand about not having time to read.  It took me longer to finish that book than I expected.  I am now just getting to Decision Points by G.W. Bush; it's been on the shelf for two years. 

Jack - Thanks for the encouragement.  I heard about this place with lots of books and no noise.  The older folks called it a library.  The base library is very nice and much bigger than I expected.  It had plenty of space for me to work and it had Wi-Fi.  I was happy to see many people in the library as well.  I know many libraries are struggling nowadays.

Doug - I know our kids do not like it when I substitute for mom.  I'm much stricter.

Bob -

Brutus - I hope Char is recovering well.

Sayonara,

Joe

[Brutus]

Char said thank you very much, Chief!  Good luck catching Chuck and Buckeye out by the pond!

Thanks for the kind words and prayers, guys

Started off okay this morning dropping off the kids at school with 45 minutes to make a 20 minute drive up to West County to the eye surgery center.  There was a huge accident on N 270 with a car flipped over and right lanes blocked between Tesson Ferry and Gravois, so we tried taking Lindbergh.  A lot of other people had the same idea, so we were about 15 minutes late to the appointment.  They still took her in for the eye drops and consult prior to surgery, as a lot of other patients were also late due to the traffic.  Surgery went well, but this eye had more astigmatism and required "more cutting".  The doctor had the follow-up this afternoon, but her vision is still blurry due to dilation and swelling at this time. Last time she had good vision in the right eye after just a few hours, but he said this one might take another day.  She's doing fine and taking it easy for a few days isn't a bad idea at all

Doug - hope the "zombie eye" is clearing up and the snow wasn't too bad!  Based on our experience so far, the eye surgeries have already really improved Char's quality of life!

I'll check back later, guys - TTFN!

[ChiefEagles]

Afternoon all.  Meetings over.  Lunch with Raleigh
Mayor, yes as it is a she and she and I are friends [unlike the King Charles former Mayor].  Then Dermatologist and all is fine.  Now slip to the pond and see if I catch "poachers".  Very warm out.  Almost summer.

Prayers for Char [my hero].

Later.

[Train Master]

for all in need.

I went to see Jeff's U25 creation last night. I am quite impressed with it. It runs smooth and quiet. The drive is Athearn and is the first I have seen with metal side frames. Motor is new with Bachmann decoder for DCC control. Everything else in the drive looks original. How can anything that old run so good?

[Anonymous]

Jack,

            I think you might have spoken too soon regarding my Bullitt obsession.  As I rolled up to a quiet stop sign with nobody or,  for that matter, anything else around, I turned off traction control.  After coming to a stop and getting back into first, I gave it a bit more gas than I normally would and slid my foot off the clutch.   I've never done that before, and don't plan to again anytime soon.  Can't afford new tires ATM.  Can't beat an American V8 for torque though.

RT,

        I know how you feel.  I was all set to go to York this spring, then things fell apart.

Bob,

           Do whatever it takes to make your brother pull the trigger.

[SPMan]

Good morning all,  trying to get motivated and go out for a walk.  Looks like a nice day outside.

#2 Son departed on 5 day trip this morning to visit his school friend in Oregon.  Wife and I will have house to ourselves and won't have to fix any big meals for a while.  Maybe we can eat out at least once.

Gas prices continue to soar here.  Was around $4 per gal for regular last time I looked.

Prayers for Char on her eye procedure.

Jack, you have quite an imagination about what running clothes I might wear.  In reality, I just wear a pair of walking shorts and an old shirt most of the time with either a straw sun hat or baseball cap depending on the temp.

Wonder how D.Baker is doing?  Haven't heard from him lately.  He must be busy down at Knotts learning how to run the choo choo.

TCA train meet coming up Saturday.  They always have a show and tell segment and invite members to bring a theme for the month item to talk about.  This month is "trains I love" so I guess you could bring almost anything.

Doug Murphy, see by the weather report that you must be getting some snohio.

Got my chest X ray yesterday but it will be a few days before the doctor sees it unless there is a pressing need for him to see it sooner.  I feel OK and hope they don't find anything wrong.  Been taking a nasal spray once a day for sinus headaches but so far no effect.

I signed up for special offers at the OutBack Steak House near us.  Got something today but did not see a coupon or anything  Finally figured out that if some race car driver at Daytona finished in the top 10 we could get a free bloomin onion.  Big deal!  I get better deals than that from the throw away newspapers like a buy one meal and get one free.

Have a good day,

Ray

 

[dougdagrump]

Mornin' All.

Cheerios Van was empty upon arrival but Tony the Tiger came to the rescue.

Laz, As far as "retirement" is concerned should you get a bit bored there appears to be some openings in the LA area based on what is on the news lately.

Did I hear Fife say it was about time for the Easter goodies to come out of hibernation:

 

Bob, When we were up in the Rockies it was hilarious when we got the June snowfalls with all the "flatlanders" slip-slidin around. It was really good for business though, I operated a tow truck and the better half ran a motel.

Trying to pack for the museum tomorrow but can't decide what to take. Decisions/decisions/decisions ?

Don't know where Chief gets the energy but after a busy day at the museum it takes me one to two days to recover.

Prayers for all sick and others with various procedures coming up.

Later all, breakfast done, time for morning pills.

[cheapclassics]

Good afternoon all,

It is rainy in SE Indiana.  Back at work and really did not miss anything yesterday.  I have balance and closed for the month so life is good.  Wife and I both slept some better last night.  Maybe we are on the mend.  Only situation I have to deal with now is the car pool one.  Perhaps there will be a graceful way out of the situation, but I do not see it right now.  I had one bran muffin on the dining car this morning.  TBIL and I can drive.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[submmbob]

A nice day here on the hill. Back for another week at work. Boss is up here too frittering w/ some projects.

Fairly busy week off. Taxes done, got a couple estimates for the AC/heater upgrade on the house, and finally managed to send off a couple of packages. And half the front yard is cleaned up. The kitchen table is now devoid of projects. All the N-scale stuff is headed to points north and east.

My brother is looking at buying a 90's 5.0L Mustang (302 in my eyes, only thing I ever did in liters is alcohol) this weekend so I've been conversing w/ him on that. Took a friend up to our other telescope on Kitt Peak as he in interested in the position available there.

Alas, no Corvair or motorcycle work this week, but I'm definitely liking the extra room in the garage w/ the MG sold.

Blownout - love the picture of the Lombard Log Hauler! Guess they were fairly common in the backwoods of Maine. Floored a guy from Maine when he found out I knew what one was.

Chief - take it easy for a bit there buddy.We need ya around to handle Buckeye!

Brutus - thoughts and prayers for Char's procedure

Regarding snow, I guess my co-worker had a fairly entertaining time last week leaving the site in a snowstorm. Heater/defrost was not working properly. Got to love that vacuum operated crap. The guys from basecamp were even more entertained when they found out he was wearing shorts... Recommended he might want to bring some heavier clothes.

I think the project for today will be looking into the 1664 and readying it for it's journey to points west. I also got the 140 Banjo Signal and 151 Semaphore (or at least what's left of them) and will be looking into parts needed.

Bob

 

[cnw1995]

Aloha. . Like Kev says, looks like snow tonight into tomorrow - It's all my fault since I put away the snow blower a few days ago. If only I waited, there would be nothing. .  Homeschooling the youngster today to give my wife a break.  Jack, the dismissal procedures here are just as complex - color codes, different exact times to swing into the parking lot, badges, lettered drop-off zones. Let's see... we were Red, 2:23 pm pickup, Aa drop off... LOL. 

Hope to run trains later - especially if it gets snowy. Tomorrow the retina gets looked at again. Still pretty red from the latest zapping a few weeks back.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Laz: You'll learn two things about retirement very quickly. #1 There'll be so much work to do around the house you'll wonder how you ever had enough free time for your pre-retirement job. #2 If you don't have a hobby you can waste some time on you'll quickly go crazy from overwork!

 

[RockIsland52]

Good Mornin Y'all From Hazy and Mid 40s Cape Ann Taxachusetts,

Temps will hit mid 50s today.  Waiting to see if the snow coming from points West miss us yet again.

Brutus......   for Char's eye surgery today and that your son is feeling better.  Re the communication disconnect at the school with your son's assignments, it's always something despite all of the fail-safe communication mechanisms they put into place, not worth the angst.  Just make the phone call to straighten it all out and wait until next week for the next snafu. 

For me, the latest school mix-up was last week when the granddaughter came up MIA after school for the first time ever.  I received a beyond-frantic phone call from the daughter-at-work.  Seems the other grandparents had gone to pick her up at school, somehow didn't realize the kids are all kept inside and then handed over by the teacher one-by-one, face-to-face inside the doors to make sure the child handoff goes without a hitch.. The other grandparents have done this drill a zillion times before.  Don't know what they were thinking.  They elected this time to sit in their car, waiting to see her emerge from the building. 

About five minutes past the appointed dismissal time, the school doors are locked; and remaining straggler students are sequestered to a second floor classroom (?!?) while the emrgency contacts are.....allegedly contacted: "Where are you?"  No phone calls were made to emergency contacts (There are 5 with Mom and Dad #1 and #2!!!)  No calls.  No one in the first floor main office picked up the persistently ringing phone.  No one was available on the first floor to answer the doorbell or to help someone pounding on the door, looking for their missing child. 

Grampy Jack immediately leaped into the car to join the family dragnet commencing near the school seven miles away.  Summary: granddaughter found still in second floor "lockdown," safe and sound, and eventually reunited with a bunch of frantic family members.  No sense in pointing fingers.  Accept the shortcomings and disconnects of the school process and move on.  I told my daughter the next time we should all storm the building carrying Louisville Sluggers and take out the glass on the school doors........but she found little humor in it.   All's well that ends well.   

Chief.......I read the owners' manual on pneumonia.  It appears you once again have everything backwards.  You are supposed to be laying low until it has passed.  If your Doc knew what you were doing she/he would be peeling your skin off.  The bushes and grape vines will still be there next week.  Hope you and the wifey continue to get better.

Rich.......glad the Princess is feeling better and that you have been able to work your magic on the clutch cable.  Fifth gear can wait until adjustments hopefully straighten that out.

RaySP......re your new exercise program, can't wait to see pictures of you out and about, walking in some fluorescent-colored skin-tight spandex exercise outfit.  You may need to get a protection dog to take with you on the walks to keep all of the women at bay.

MikeC.........I don't know what it is, but it seems everyone around us up my way has been or is sick except for me and the wifey.  We are probably next for....cold, flu, noro, or otherwise,  Hope this AM has your wifey feeling better.

Dennis......... with all that each of us face with the stresses of daily life, and now with the pending adoptions, it must be gratifying for your wife and you to see your little ones doing their best and their experiencing what hard work can achieve.  Self-confidence may have a start in the genes, but at the end of the day it is what they DO that develops a lasting foundation and a solid compass.  The heavy lifting starts with the parents and their environment.  All a parent can do after that is watch, wait, hope, and make some mid course corrections.  My Dad always used to say that luck also plays into the way things go with kids, and I believe it.  Luck of the draw with the child's teachers, mentors, friends, environment outside the home, and their choices.  Parents can't control everything.  Child-raising is arguably the hardest thing a parent or grandparent can do.  Prayers continue that the score on the adoption front will soon be DW 2 Bureacracy 0.   

LAZ.........sign me up for your retirement party.   I'll bring the dog and Minnie can teach him to hunt.   I already bought your gift.....it's a bunch of remnants from one of those memory foam beds.  You place the remnants on the floor around your layout and WHEN you have a pileup, and the engine falls off the table, it bounces right back up and you catch it with your free, non-Ole Mil hand.

SJ........something went terribly wrong with the gas prices in Michigan.  You are about $.60 per gallon behind the trend line.  Make some calls and get that straightened out.   We wouldn't want you to feel left out!

Chuck and SJ........inasmuch as we would like to appoint you two to be co-chairpersons for LAZ' retirement party, we are collectively concerned the two of you will come up with too many over-the-top ideas for the entertainment.  So we've put you on the beverage committee instead.  

8N........just take the cinder blocks Chief dropped on your yard last week and place them over the emerging crocus and daffodils.  That is what I did with the ones in my yard, and that should slow them down.

RT........hope you are feeling even better than you were your last post.  Don't pull a Chief.

Jeffrey........take your phone off the hook and rest that foot!!!!!!

KEV.......thanks for the recent pictures of the wildlife roaming you grounds.  While we have those occasionally, my current problems with wildlife are coming from the air.  The Canadian Geese and seagulls are taking turns making successful bombing runs on my car in the driveway.

Blownout........I had to pass-protect the access to this website until your interior decorating frenzy has passed.  Don't need for the wife to get any more ideas.  

JoeyD.......two layouts are still better than one!!!!  In any event, the hiatus from running trains for you and the little ones is well past, and life is good on the train front. that you hang in there on the MBA front.  It can be beyond gruelling while raising a family and working.   By the way, what is a "l-i-b-r-a-r-y?"

Later, gang.

Jack

[sir james I]

34 with sun.

Laz after retirement you will soon wonder how you had time to work. Just wait,you'll see. Our first Winter Storm warning(tonight), it's that time of year when the temp makes for heavy wet sno-. Nice chat last night..S.J.

[dwiemer]

Good morning all.  Back from dropping kids off at school.  I am still on call and will be going in later.  Have a bit of paperwork to jump on.  With any luck, I will get done at a reasonable time. 
Joe, to be honest, had to put the book down till I finish with some tax work and other projects with regard to the adoptions.  It has been good so far, but been a couple of weeks since last reading it.  Speaking of reading, my wife is reading a  book on orphanages in China and getting upset.  Told her to stop till after we get back, but she is almost done.  We are getting anxious to head to get our kids.

Watching the morning news, I am glad we don't get network TV with all this campaigning going on.  It would be nice to be done with these debates, etc.

With regard to Laz's retirement, he is not allowed to retire!  The kids need him!  Actually,  I think he will be quite busy with the locomotive firing and other activities.  Who knows, perhaps he can make a few bucks on the side going around the country completing our layouts for some $.

God BLess,
Dennis

[KRM]

Looks like snow on the way. Heavy and Wet stuff Heart Attack snow. They are talking it up as a lot but what do they know. For the media it is about selling commercials. The heart of it will be going right through DougM’s area. We will be sending it to points east.

The wife is worried about her trip home this afternoon. She may leave school early if it looks bad.

John Deere is ready. I’m not.

Good for you LAZ, But remember it is very hard to know what day it is once you retire. Hope your party goes well. I think you need to move it to a central area so everyone can drive less to get to it. Marstuckey IL. comes to mind as a good location.

Brutus hope you and yours get better soon. Prayers for Char’s surgery today.

Good to hear  RT, Chief and his wife are on the mend.

Blownout. I saw one of those logging steam tractors this summer up in Wabeno WI. Boy I would hate to be the guy steering it up front.

Prayers for those in need. 

Have a good day,

Kev.

 

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill RR....

It is a sunny 30 degrees. Going up to 55 today with sunshine.

Today is an easy day. I have a few chores to do and a project to work on. I hope to get downstairs to the train room. Need to run trains. I want to take some pictures of a new car that I was given. Post on SPF.

Dining car is here with Cheerios for breakfast.

Y'all have a great Thursday.

Chuck

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 65° and cloudy with patchy fog. The high will be 82° and there's a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms this afternoon increasing to 30% tonight.

Very odd weather for late February. It should be quite a bit cooler, instead the a/c was going at 5:30 this morning.

I didn't sign off last night due to some nut going off the road and smacking into a utility pole. He didn't take the pole down but he sure blew the dickens out of a transformer. That boom was heard for miles. Today will see more clean-up work on the layout for as long as I can stand being on my feet, which isn't long. So the work will have to be done a bit at a time. If I have time I'll paint out the PRR keystones on the Frankenstein U25C I pieced together yesterday and see about getting some L&A decals on it. You didn't think it was going to escape did you?

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

Snow flurries ending this morning then we go up to 45F...in the dull...

Glad that RT and Chief are doing better...

Have a few things to do this morning then it is off to get some more stuff to redo the entrance way...wood trim is so much fun...

[Demay]

Konbanwa,

I had an easy two-mile run this morning.  It was raining a little but it was not as cold.  I had the usual workload at the office.  We did not do anything exciting tonight; we just hung out and relaxed.  I don't have much else to report tonight.

I'm glad Chief and RT are feeling better.

Dennis - How do you like the Bonhoeffer book so far?

Doug - If I see anything big coming up here in the future I'll let you know.

I’ll pray for all of us in need. 

Sayonara,

Joe

[Buckeye Riveter]

It just occurred to me that with Laz retiring, there should be a big party and because I will need to work harder and longer to pay for his retirement, I should get the first invitation to the party.   

Laz....Please post the date, time and location of the upcoming party.  Although I'm first in line, there are about four dozen posters who are right behind me.  The Chief should get invitation No. 5000.

[laz 57]

Hi GUYZ,

  37 here to get to 57?  I'll take it.  68 dayz to go then I'll be reitered too.

Stay frosty,

laz57

[8ntruck]

Mostly sunny and in the 50's today.

Crocuses are blooming, the daffodills are up and budding, suprise lillies are up, buds on the quince and lilac bushes,  Seems the plants have been confused by the unusually warm winter we've had so far.

Jeff - talking about oddball, hybred locomotives, the KATY line had a few Alco RS3's that were rebuilt with GP-7 type prime movers and hoods.  Rock Island had a couple of these too.

All for now.

[ChiefEagles]

Good night.  Reclinerized a lot.  Big line of bad T'storms dropping down on us.  Thanks for the good wishes for Wifey and myself.  Extra early meeting and not back till afternoon.  Everything pruned.

Sleep tight

[Brutus]

RT - hope you feel better.  We'll hook up another time, no worries. 

Chief and Mrs - hope you are well soon, there is some bug going around here as well.  Son has been on a z-pack 2 days now and was up last night coughing and with ear pain also.  He was doing better today, so hope he's on the mend.  He needs to get back to school and turn in his assignments - teachers are showing them as missing and grading them even though we called him in sick to the office.  Wife and I are pretty angry about it, but just have to deal with it tomorrow or Friday I guess.  Tomorrow is the eye surgery and hoping for good results again.  Had a light bulb emergency - one exploded in my daughter's room just a few minutes ago.  Had to clear out all the mess and glass pieces etc.  Not sure why it would explode instead of just burning out?  It was a 3 - way bulb?  Oh well - kids down for bed and I'm about there myself.  Felt worn out all day and sore throat, so hope I'm not getting something.  I don't have time for it! 

One good thing on that android phone upgrade to gingerbread OS - the microcell in the house no longer eats up my battery.  The phone doesn't try to tether to it like a router and stay connected continuously, so the battery is back to lasting a day or two at a time, even with my normal usage.  If I start playing games on it, the battery goes pretty fast - that display must eat a lot of power.

TARDIS is ready, Freddy