Coffee Pot #3 March 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]

Time for me to call it a night. Went to McDonald's with my parents this morning for breakfast. Came back and got the Atlas Trainmaster up and running. It creeps at 0.5 on the Zephyr's  throttle. Pulled out some Athearn cars and installed Kadee couplers on them. Having some problems with a Front Range 'Shorty' covered hopper. Some weight should fix it. Slapped a McHenry shelf coupler on the last car of the train just for the look of it. I wouldn't trust it to hold onto a speck of air. See y'all tomorrow.

[ChiefEagles]

KRM

RT, Yeah I crashed early too.

I got the corp credit card today at 3:00 PM so now I can got to Morton on Monday

Kev

So, now we all meet at Kev's and he takes us all out for steaks and etc.  Puts us up in the Ritz.  

All the walls and studs are out of the box.  Just utility room left and that is my work bench and train engine storage room.

Went to Red Robin for burgers tonight.  Watched part of the UNC and Ohio game.  Not impressive.  Both teams needed to go home.   

[AF53]

Been away for a few days and not able to post because of some "thing" is in my hard drive!!!!!

Was going to take it to the shop, even had it in my truck for the day, but when I was told it would be $99 I thought no. I just had it totally reset about 6 months ago and felt I deserved better. I know it can get infected rather easily but come on! So I'm running malwarebytes to see it will pick something up, it won't let me download spybot, so I will see what turns up in a couple of hours.

Any other suggestions? I just might have to take it in .

MikeC - Good luck with your siuation with Lucas!

Jack - Being a lifelong Giants fan I only cared for the Jets a little. But since loudmouthed Ryan got her that went away real quik. I can only think the reason they got Tebow is for some publicity as I don't think he's an upgrade at all. We shall see what we shall see.

Signing off with annoying pop-ups!

Ray

 

[8ntruck]

Quick post as a place keeper.  Busy this week.  Catch up later.

[Brutus]

Wow - lots of posts!

Bob - glad you are ok!

Jeffrey - ditto, hope your shoulder is healing.  Glad you went to the doctor about it - yikes!

Brent - nice baby pics

Prayers for kids, grades, and schools. 

I got my new CTT yesterday as well, but I haven't opened it yet.  Nice chats and checked out the new catalog - some neat stuff!  Love the zombie cars, of course

Today was Char's birthday, but she has been sick for a few days.  I think she's doing better now after being on the z-pack, so hopefully we will get out to a nice birthday dinner for her.  Yesterday was my Mom's birthday, but the party won't be until Easter when more family is in town.  Some of the family did meet for dinner last night, but we didn't go due to Char's illness & etc.  Just as well, as there was a lot of family DRAMA I'm just as glad to have missed.  I did get some interesting drunk-texts on my phone from my brother, who apparently has issues with me for some reason.  I think mostly because I avoided the DRAMA   Oh well!

TARDIS is ready and Mike is back at the wheel, so better hold on tight!  Ole Mills and/or a full Banilla Bar with chocolate fountain are available for tonight - let's go!

[blownout cylinder]

 

Good Morning

We be dull dull dull and raining upon our'n heads today..going to stop the rain part later this afternoon and just be plain ol' dull then...high of 60F forecast...

Had an interesting day with my friend in hospital yesterday..turns out I've been a bad influence on him..he gets into trouble with the nurses a little.....gee, I wonder why......actually he is doing a lot better lately..he is supposedly going ot be discharged on Monday...

 

Today, since I am off from on-calls for a bit now...I will be hiding in my trainroom trying to find certain items that seem to go missing in there....

Brutus:  I like no DRAMA around me as well...so far none found me ....

Brent:  Good pix!!

Jeff:  Hope you are in less pain ...

[RockIsland52]

Good Mornin Y'all From Overcast Cape Ann Taxachusetts,

Summer is gone and we are back to Spring.  High 50s today and then 40s will be the norm for the work week.

Nrutus........Happy birthday to Gramma and to Char with hopes the crud passes for Char.  You must have a big smile on your face, getting to miss the "Drama."  When that happens to me and then I get the inevitable follow up phone calls, I change the subject quickly with a "So, what else is new?" [swg

Off to take care of Maximus the dog.

Later, gang.

Jack

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill RR....

It is raining and 58 degrees. Going up yo 70 today, with more rain.

Today is an easy day. I have a few chores to do and a little paperwork to finish up. Then, I will take it easy. Nascar race today. Pre-season ball game on TV. And, of course, a nap later.

Dining car is here and we are having Cheerios for breakfast. Then, it is off to all "Points West".

Y'all have a great Saturday.

Chuck

[rtraincollector]

AF53

Been away for a few days and not able to post because of some "thing" is in my hard drive!!!!!

Was going to take it to the shop, even had it in my truck for the day, but when I was told it would be $99 I thought no. I just had it totally reset about 6 months ago and felt I deserved better. I know it can get infected rather easily but come on! So I'm running malwarebytes to see it will pick something up, it won't let me download spybot, so I will see what turns up in a couple of hours.

Any other suggestions? I just might have to take it in .

MikeC - Good luck with your siuation with Lucas!

Jack - Being a lifelong Giants fan I only cared for the Jets a little. But since loudmouthed Ryan got her that went away real quik. I can only think the reason they got Tebow is for some publicity as I don't think he's an upgrade at all. We shall see what we shall see.

Signing off with annoying pop-ups!

Ray

 

 

See if it will let you download avg antivirus its a free virus protection and if it does turn yours off and run it sometimes when you run another virus protection it will find stuff the other misses or was infected some how. I had nortons and had a virus it couldn't find ( this was about 2 years ago) went to avg it found it. so I upgraded to there pay version. it found and cleared a lot out. those pc tune ups you see avertise on tv and all saying they will speed up your pc they also from what I have seen add tracking cookies on you also.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Brutus

Jeffrey - ditto, hope your shoulder is healing.  Glad you went to the doctor about it - yikes!

Thanks. It's feeling much better. I wanted to make sure it didn't get ugly. Been down that road before. That same shoulder has been dislocated several times in the past. Once in a car accident, once in freak accident involving a chain saw, twice in fights. Yeah, infamous Indian temper of mine.

Happy birthday to Char.

[KRM]

Good morning guys,

So much for summer cloudy and damp back in the 40s. A lot like blownout cyl described.

No CTT yet in my mailbox.

Wiefy is sleeping in. Not much going on. I had a long talk with the son yesterday about the need for him to man up in life. He is going through some tight times and finding out that sometimes you got to do things you would rather not to get by. 

Brutus, Happy Birthday to Char and moma . Hope Char can shake the crud.

That goes for you to SJ.

Jack, you almost have me convinced to read the owners manual for my Sony Cyber-shot. I see it has 12.1 mega pixels.

SpRay, hope that neck gets better so you can go look at them train shows. 

Chief how about some box progress shots. 

AFRay. I think what RT said may be a good first move with AVG. I always keep some sort of virus protection on my PC. I get mine from the internet provider. It is called SecureIT works great.

Have a good one all.

Kev

 

[sir james I]

53 and 60s today. Some rain over night. We had some Lionel catalog chat  last night, a lot of nice things but the $$$ ouch. I'll pass on most and let the working guys buy that stuff..S.J.

[NCT]

Good morning to all. I have been gone for a long time. Great to be back. Rain in Round Hill VA today. Good day to work on the layout.

...keep the rails polished...

[laz 57]

Hi GUYZ,

   Rainy here at 55 going to 60s.  Ran trains for an hour last nite NO PILE UPs.  After school yesterday, took my gal for a good 2 mile walk.  Came home and cut grass and sucked up all the oak leaves.  Then ran aerater on the grass then re seeded got everything done by 735.  Now with this rain for next 2 days gonna allow this grass to begin to root?  Hopefully.

SIR JAMES, Lionel catalog is ok but WAY TO PRICY.  I'm a going to wait a few years until price drop, even with BARRYs price break still too expensive.  I'll wait for the READING ES44AC to come out from NS.  Hope it doesn't cost and arm and a leg?

Stay frosty,

laz57

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 56° and sunny. The high will be 82°.

Sunny today! I like to see that! The lake is almost back down to it's normal level. Yesterday the concrete walk around the boat house was above the water. That's about two feet above the normal level.

I was up until the wee hours this morning trouble-shooting and fixing an electrical problem on the layout. Locos were losing power coming around the 180° turn at the end of the extension. Pressing on the track restored power. Problem areas are the areas in red.



The black section between two red sections is where feeder wires connect to the track. The red areas either side of that point (to the turnout on the one side to the end of the red on the other side) were getting spotty power at best and at worst were failing entirely. Turns out that not a single rail joiner in those areas was soldered. So I spent most of my night carefully digging out the scenery at those joiners, cleaning the sides of the rails to either side of each joiner and soldering each and every joint. It took a bit but a train coming around that long curve now has steady power all the way around. That curve was put in years ago and I can't believe I missed all those joints when I went around the layout soldering joiners. Makes me wonder what else I missed.

I'm seeing lots of things I like that I can't afford in the Walthers sales flyer!

Today I'll be going to the voting place to cast my vote in the presidential primary then go into town to the mail drop to return a a DVD to the History Channel Club. After that back home to get some rest then maybe work on the layout some more.

[KRM]

Hey I got a question for you LAZ on beer cars seeing that U B the expert.   I am wanting to build a Miller High Life beer consists train. Wondering if the Lionel 6-9852, K-Line K742-6401, MTH 20-94362, MTH 30-75339, and MTH 30-73313 are all scaled the same or not. Any idea?

 Or should I post this to the forum?

Tks,

Kev

 

 

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

IIABSDISEI with temps in the 60s.  We had a lot of needed rain last night.  We went to see "John Carter" last night while everyone else was at the "Hunger Games".  It was not as bad as the reviews would have you believe.  Continued prayers for Char.  AJ's team was top 10 in practice and Sarah's was top 14 for Indy car.  I had bacon and biscuits on the dining car for breakfast.  TBIL.  I hope everyone has a good day. 

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[SPMan]

Just a quick post to keep my place.  In a hurry.

Happy birthday to Char and prayers for feeling better tonight.

Chief, ditto on request for progress photos on the box.  Maybe before and after shots.

later,

Ray

[blownout cylinder]

Laz:  I'm expecting that the ES44 is going to be a mint...somehow I just get that feeling...

[RockIsland52]

Doberman Pinschers are considered working dogs.  But I don't think potty training of our two year old granddaughter is exactly what the American Kennel Club had in mind when they developed the write-up for the breed standard.    Maximus doesn't care.  He will sit with her for as long as it takes, as my avatar clearly shows.

Jack

[fifedog]

  Mid-Atlantic region ---> --->

[dwiemer]

Good afternoon everyone.  Beautiful day here.  Taught daughter how to ride her bike. Should have done it a long time ago, but it seems I am always on the go.

Ray, I had big issues with Norton 360.  Computer came with it and at the end of the trial run, I paid for the full version.  Shortly afterwards, got a virus.  When the Norton would not remove it, I called Symantec.  Their answer was for me to give them my credit card info and let them remotely access my computer and remove the virus their product was supposed to prevent.  Turned it down and went to www.superantispyware.com which has a free download.  Follow the instructions and it will fix the virus/malware, etc.  if you like it, you can purchase the full version on special for about $10.

Wife brought daughter to a birthday party at a gymnastics place.  Time for me to spray the bug poison and do the attic arranging. We are trying to get the rooms ready for the expanding brood.

Have a blessed weekend.

Dennis

[RockIsland52]

KRM

Good morning guys,

........I had a long talk with the son yesterday about the need for him to man up in life. He is going through some tight times and finding out that sometimes you got to do things you would rather not to get by...... 

.......Jack, you almost have me convinced to read the owners manual for my Sony Cyber-shot. I see it has 12.1 mega pixels.......

Have a good one all.

Kev

 

 

KEV........in about two minutes I could pull out about 15-20% of wasted overhead $ that would be minimally missed, or not missed at all, from each of my family members' expenditures, those who call to complain about their monthly expenses that have them strapped.  I have done this time and again, giving them examples of what I and my wife have done......so they wouldn't have to do a lot of thinking and research.  They don't listen, and they don't do. 

So NOW when the same family members (or friends who had asked for advice) call back a couple of months later, I just pull out my old notes, the list of what we last discussed, and then ask: "So what have you done about this stuff since we last chatted 13 weeks ago on XX/XX/XX ?  Nothing?  Stop wasting my time.  Don't call me back until you do something constructive about the stuff we have already discussed, and we'll go from there with some more ideas."  Bad habits and choices, ingrained lifestyle, and a resistance to give up anything, no matter how small, useless, and inconsequential.  Join the club.

Our children?  I think as we move into retirement the children are under the misconception we parents are sitting fat and pretty on a veritable mountain of rapidly growing assets that we/they can tap into without concern for tomorrow.  Problem is, the assets we the parents have may have to last us another two to three decades; makes us realize we should plan to keep working one way or another until we hit 70-75 while constantly reassessing the landscape, then look at the road ahead.  Example: told my son our home has depreciated 25% about 4-5 years ago due to the 2000-2007 overheated Boston and points North real estate market, then the recession, the unemployment, and a present sky high inventory of unsold homes for sale......and it ain't going to change any time soon.  I don't think he put two and two together about what that simple example means.

 

You are making me feel guilty re the instruction manual for the new camera.  It has been four months and I still have not opened mine. 

Jack

[laz 57]

KRM

Hey I got a question for you LAZ on beer cars seeing that U B the expert.   I am wanting to build a Miller High Life beer consists train. Wondering if the Lionel 6-9852, K-Line K742-6401, MTH 20-94362, MTH 30-75339, and MTH 30-73313 are all scaled the same or not. Any idea?

 Or should I post this to the forum?

Tks,

Kev

 

 

KEV,

  I think all of them should be about the same size height wise, but for length the MTH20-94362 is a little smaller.  I have a Rolling Rock in the Premier and it is about 10 3/4 inches long.  The only one that is true O scale is the older Lionel,I think that number is 9802 that is a bit taller in height.  Even though, it still looks good in any consist, looks like a high cube.

laz57

[laz 57]

BLOWNOUT,

  Yepper, I think those ES44Acs will be in the 700 dollar range, OUCH!

laz57

[submmbob]

Hello all

Sunny and fairly warm here on the mountain today (~47 F).

First, Kev this is for you:

Smokin'

5V voltage regulator feeding the DC motor had gone bad. Found that the motor was a little loose in the housing as well. Put some green locktite on it and tightened it back up. These things smoke so good I was tempted to hide one behind some of the electronics and see what the engineers do

"Doberman Pinschers are considered working dogs.  But I don't think potty training of our two year old granddaughter is exactly what the American Kennel Club had in mind when they developed the write-up for the breed standard.    Maximus doesn't care.  He will sit with her for as long as it takes, as my avatar clearly shows. 

Jack"

As Danny Glover might say..."That ain't right..."

Everyone have a good weekend

Bob

[RockIsland52]

I fear something happened to Buckeye, Chuck, and SJ on their way here.  I have the 4 courtside tickets for tonight's game at the Boston Garden between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Syracuse Orangemen.  The limo is sitting out in front waiting.  But no Potters. 

My fear is that SJ's GPS on the dogsled went haywire and they may have veered off course to the Southeast towards Roseyville and have been captured by the Chief's henchmen.  The Chief must be really mad North Carolina State lost to Kansas last night.

Jack

[AF53]

Thanks guys for all the advice, here's how it got solved.............

I called Dell and they tried to sell me a 1 year plan that would cover any Dell I have (which is 1) and they will fix it up to 5 times over that year for $240. Well I didn't care for that so they offered me $40 off that price. Didn't care for that either. Then they offered a one time fix for $120, I told them I can bring it down the street and get it fixed for $90 (he said it would take 2 days to fix for $90). So they countered with $89. I said ok. They took over the computer and about 2 hours later it's all mine again.

Part of the problem I had was I already had AVG 2012 on my computer and the virus got past that and it wouldn't let me run it. Dell did download superantispyware and ran a scan (30 min or so) then CCCleaner. I was basically advised that although free antivirus programs are good the you need to pay for the better ones.

My internet provider, comcast, switches year to year between Symantec, McAfee and Norton and it's free, well at least they don't charge extra for it. 

So I guess I'll check the reviews on CNET and decide how to best guard it. Probably nothing is perfect though.

Now on to the NCAA!

Ray    

[anjdevil2]

Hey Guys,

Long 3 hour day at work....wow.....some customers....

Had lunch with Princess, mood has been good.

Weather here was great until last night....now cooler and rain...clouds to the south are a deeep blue...and limited bike riding potential until next week.  And moving the roadrunner outside.

Sub Bob - smoke unit is cool!! You have a part number? 

East Coasters!! THIS may happen tonight....

http://www.space.com/14953-nasa-rockets-east-coast-skywatching-tips.html

for Char.....get well soon!

Jeff - nice work on the layout...maybe you should rest that shoulder?

Lowered my ears today as well....I look more "professional"

Schedule has prohibited my departure to Delaware...which I am not pleased about

Fort Dix running artillery this week,,,,we felt a few hit the ground.  More like earthquake than thunder.  Freedom ain't free or quiet,,,

Rich

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

anjdevil2

Jeff - nice work on the layout...maybe you should rest that shoulder?

I hear ya. After I got back from the voting place I looked around online, had lunch then headed for the bed. I woke up about thirty minutes ago.