Coffee Pot #7 JULY 2012 SIX years [April 1 is Anniv.] 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

[Ole Timer]

... lord and behold my new power scooter arrived today !!!!  ... going to my neice's at ocean city .... man I'll be cruisin the boardwalk in style and speed now ....

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Kev: It looks like the coons have got your number!

 

Weather radar shows a bunch of nasty stuff coming so I'm going to shut down for a while.



However I couldn't go without showing what I did with the two NYC FT shells I got recently.





The FT-A shell is on an Athearn clone frame from I don't remember which company. The FT-B shell is on a cut down Stewart frame with Proto trucks.

[Hudson#685]

Lunch Time:

Everything is getting back to normal at work since that storm last week. everyone is back from mutual aid so now it is time to repair what was broke.

Kev, I know what you mean about the younger generation giving up good jobs and moving on. I see that here all of the time. You are right, you did get lucky with the Gator.

RI Jack, Great idea about the tear away plastic for the windows. nrver mind, I can hear our wives now, "I see seams in the plastic".

Chief, The Box is coming GREAT!

Probe, Jim, Good luck on the interview.

BOC, Hang in there! prayers

Laz, 141 days for me to go. I will meet you on the porch for a few cold ones.

SJ, Brutus, I came home beat again and fell asleep before the Tardis.

AF53, Ray, is that clockwork coming to my house?

Thoughts and Prayers for all in need.

Have a Great Day!

John

[KRM]

Well I got lucky on the Gator wiring issue.

When I checked it out I found that the voltage regulator wire harness had got pulled under the frame and a wire was pulled out of the connector. Well the connector had two open ports and I only had one wire. So I looked at the parts drawing on the Deere web site and it showed the inside port as open. So I put the wire back in the outside empty port cleaned the connections and put some dielectric grease on the pins and Bingo, Now charging 14.5 volts. I also rerouted the harness so it is away from where it can get snagged and pulled under the frame. 

 Have a good day guys

[KRM]

Stourbridge Lion

KRM:

Darren, Mr. Marmot looks like a target to me.

 

His cousin says you look like one too...

 Darren,   That is just tooooo good. The wife loved it too.    

These guys here are getting wise to me too.

 

[Stourbridge Lion]

KRM

Darren, Mr. Marmot looks like a target to me.

His cousin says you look like one too...

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill RR....

It is a sunny 75 degrees. Going up to 90 today with sunshine.

Today is a busy day. I have a bunch of chores to do and a project to work on. I'll be busy until lunchtime. Then, a nap. Love those naps.

Dining car was here with Cheerios for breakfast.

Y'all have a great Thursday.

Chuck

[KRM]

 

Hi Guys,

Nice out there now but going to get hotter and sticky.

Got a shot at 2 raccoons last night and found one dead in the drive this morning.

Seems I have a problem with the charging system on the Gator.  I thought the battery was going bad because it will be 7 years old next month but I charged it with the charger and it held a good charge all night. This should be fun.

RIJack and SJ. We used to have birds crashing into our windows but I got some of these static cling humming bird decals for the windows and have not had a crash since. Over two years now.

 

http://www.windowalert.com/hummingbird.html

Check it out.

Nice work on the BOX Chief. 

Buckeye I see they had to clear people out too because of Hazmat issues on the wreck.

Blownout Cyl, Good luck with the Treatment today.

Darren, Mr. Marmot looks like a target to me.

Rich, I know what you are talking about when you try to go for a nice ride.

Guess I will go mess with the Gator.

 

[anjdevil2]

Good Morning!!!

Thursday and it's fire meeting night.  I get to sit and listen to how and why we spent our money....it is a long drawn out affair and it's the same, no matter which organization you belong to .

Was in the 70's when I left for work on the Hog.  Naturally, the clueless and the dumb ruin my trip into work.  Up to 90 later.

Softball last night in Pennsauken, I went 3-4 2 RBI's and a run scored.  We lost 13-12.

Chief - nice box work.

Blownout  - for the cure and recovery.  My Dad is going on 12 years....the chemo is bad, but his attitude is good. 

Laz - Retirement is good? 

Fife - Sorry for your eldest not working for CSX.....maybe something better around the corner.. on the Princess fireworks...

Jeffery - always nice to see what you're up to.  I wish I had the time......

Stourbridge - I see 2 more fires have sprung up but are contained.  The flooding is to expected as all the foliage is more or less gone...and water retention is nil..

That's all from Central Jersey....

[Stourbridge Lion]

Good Morning CTTFans!

Wanted to have you meet a buddy of ours here at 12,000 ft altitude; Mr. Marmot. 

[laz 57]

Hi GUYZ,

  Been busy here and with all this hot weather got to get chores and workouts done in the cooler hours of the morning. 

CHIEF, nicw layout work.  Now thats a BIG SCREEN TV, for RODGERS CORNERS ele.936ft!  People will come from miles to see that Vision.

CHUCK, I'm with you on the nap part.  I had one after lunch yesterday for about 15 minutes, WOW what a difference.

Got GOLF tonite with bRO then for some YUENGs and WINGs,

Stay frosty,

laz57

[sir james I]

It's 72 now, going to 88. Another beautiful summer day. Granny is fixing breakfast and then the day will begin. . . .S.J.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 73° with a high chance of showers and thunderstorms. A flash flood watch is in effect. Locally heavy rainfall is possible. The high will be 82°.


Think I'll stay home today what with the weather being what it is. It's looking like rain through to Wednesday. The grass is growing like there's no tomorrow and I can't cut it with all this rain.

I had a lot of fun yesterday speed matching the Dash 8-40B to run with two locos that have Bachmann decoders (Bachmann GP38-2 and Atlas SD27J). The Dash 8-40B has a Digitrax decoder. Compared to those two it took off at warp one! They'd keep up with it at higher speeds but at low speed it was a speed demon. I had to make minor changes in the mid and high speed settings (CV6 & CV5) but the low speed (CV2) had to be set all the way down to one. It's normally twenty-six.

On the agenda today is more layout cleanup. It's already a mess from working on the new arrivals.

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

And it is a good morning after a great night as we won 2-1 and I had a decent game as well.  We played well together, kept the ball on the ground, and having subs helped.  Went to Steak'N'Shake afterward to celebrate for supper afterward, and then to Fazzoli's for wife's dessert, and Starbucks for my brownie.  It was a good night.  Not too sure what the deal is with AJ's fuel tank being overcapacity, but from what I have read, it evidently did not help in the race so I am not sure what the fine is all about.  IIABSDISEI with temps in the 90s again, but a chance of showers today and on thru the weekend.  I had the regular fare on the dining car for breakfast before sending it on to "Points East".  TBIL and there will be barrel rolls for the victory for sure for sure.  Box is looking good, Chief.  Dennis, thoughts and prayers for the adoption process.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

We are currently sitting at 55F going for a high of 86F in the sun...of course the humidity will make it feel like it is 94F out here...

Got some IV things to do today then it is off until 2 weeks from now to see how the treatments took....

So, after the treatments I am going to my FLHS to see about picking up some more paint and such....

[ChiefEagles]

Buckeye Riveter

Chief....I see your friends at NS tried to blow up Roger's Corners today.  Would you please tell those boys at NS how to run a railroad.  Flames were shooting 70 feet high at the curve just north of downtown Columbus. 

Mission failed.  It was a Southern raid on Rogers Corner.  They got things mixed up and it went off at the wrong place.    [whistling Dixie]

[Anonymous]

Chief,

              on the progress.  Just don't burn yourself out like I did.

Brutus,

               Had the same issues with Firefox.  I am back on IE with no issues, and I'll never, ever use Chrome.

Found out today why it is best to let the pros tint windows.  I should've known how it would've turned out since the tint is like plastic wrap with glue.

Also had an incident with the heat gun and left thigh.  No burn, but some hair is gone.  Someone stop me if I ever mention using a circular saw.  (just kidding)

Interview Friday.

[Brutus]

Buckeye - good job repelling the incursion!

BoC - continued prayers.

Good job, Chief - super progress man!

Trying Internet Explorer again as firefox is screwing up with adobe, and it won't show videos like BTB 45?  This one is working a lot better.  Hope it posts tho!

TARDIS is ready, so let's go!

[Buckeye Riveter]

Chief....I see your friends at NS tried to blow up Roger's Corners today.  Would you please tell those boys at NS how to run a railroad.  Flames were shooting 70 feet high at the curve just north of downtown Columbus. 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Box is looking good Chief!

 

Time for me to call it a night. Went to town today to get refills on my prescriptions and get a pizza. I found that all my prescriptions are expired. So it looks like they won't be filled until sometime tomorrow or Friday. I did get the pizza though. A Domino's large thin crust meat feast. So the trip wasn't a total loss. I learned that a Niagara I recently sold arrived safely at it's destination today. See y'all tomorrow.

[sir james I]

Chief, on the box.

[sir james I]

Its 80 now

I sat outside till dark. A beautiful summer eve.

RI Jack, I have no idea why women think a window will stay clean for more than a day or two. We have had more then a few birds kill themselves crashing into that window. I actually ran some trains today, figured it was time to polish some rails. Laz no pileups. I skipped banilla tonight and had Butter Pecan. But Banilla is ready for the thingy crew...S.J.

[ChiefEagles]

Evening all.  Busy day.  Errands and drove through a flood to take Frankie something.  Reminded me of when I lived below Miami FL.  Went by Mrs. Edna's and got lockons.  Came back and moved some things to the Box.  Then hooked up spare ZW to switching yard.  Tested it.  Hooked up 1033 to the main lines all around.  Then the grain siding and finally the coaling area.  Found that some of the guard rails were touching on some of the switches.  I took MTH tech's advice he gave me years ago.  Took Dremel tool and gapped the guard rails good.  Found one track that had a "bump" at a joint.  Pressed it down and all OK.  Used an old K-Line [can motors in the trucks] NS switcher and another K-Line I had painted and decaled NS.  Very light and conventional.  If you run it slow, you would detect "weak" voltages.  Ran it all around clipped on one end of the track.  No drop for the half of the building on the mainlines.  Made me feel good.  Ran it fast and it derailed at one switch.  Fixed the points and ran OK.  Makes a great test engine.

Photos:

TV and DVD player [combined] that was left in the Box when I got it.  I hid it.  They had not missed it in 6 months, they did not need it.  Plays train videos, CTT layout building series and Backshop videos.  [3 shelves will go below to hold Big Boy and two Challengers.

Switcher testing switching yard.  Far end two dead end tracks are for switcher storage.  Gap at far end is where you leave inner main line and go into switching yard over lift bridge.  [photo taken where big lift bridge goes at shop door.  Both main lines cross together here too.]

Testing the coal mine siding.  Winding track leading in will have a mountain stream winding with the track [just like in a real mountain valley].  The two tracks to the left on the same section are for coal car storage for big diesels to pickup.  Coal mine building is where mountain goes.  Lift bridge for inner main line goes where gap in track is.

   

View from entrance [where lift bridge goes] back to the right showing two main lines and the intermodal sidings.

View of two mainlines [at left at entrance] and where they seperate [one going right across bridge and one going into mountain and coming back to meet at the shop door lift bridge].  Also, close up siding off of inner mainline is John Deere factory siding.

Now for some dinner [tomato and ham sandwich].

Sleep tight.

  

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening...

Got everything done that needed done..tomorrow will be heading back into the hospital to get the IV and ever't'in' else stuck in me for another session.....

We actually only got to 82F feeling like 86F today..nice and mild....

[RockIsland52]

rtraincollector

RockIsland52:

ChiefEagles:

Who is that ugly "mug" with the pretty lady and dog????  

Chief........that was the judge at the Doberman Nationals held in Fitchburg MA last October when Pam and Maximus got high score, first place, and their first obedience title.

Jack 

Chief He was told to get back in her good graces he had to post that pic in his avatar

RT........as if anything would help me with the holes I have been digging..... 

Jack

[rtraincollector]

RockIsland52

ChiefEagles:

Who is that ugly "mug" with the pretty lady and dog????

 

Chief........that was the judge at the Doberman Nationals held in Fitchburg MA last October when Pam and Maximus got high score, first place, and their first obedience title.

Jack 

Chief He was told to get back in her good graces he had to post that pic in his avatar

[dwiemer]

Good afternoon everyone.  Tired, but we have violin tonight.  Ray, I understand about the fence.  In the end, it will be done and hopefully done right.  Fife, it is always great to have such an opportune occurrence to impress our kids.  When we were in China for our daughter's adoption, our son turned three.  Not sure what the event was, but they had fireworks across the lake from our hotel.  Son thought it was for his birthday!  Regarding your son, perhaps he can apply to NS?

God bless,

Dennis

[SPMan]

Good morning guys,

Jack, Dennis, Kev, et al, thanks for your comments on the fence.  I have been revewing some California laws, one of which states that both parties on either side of a shared fence are equally responsible for its maintenance.  Although my side looked cosmetically fine because it was covered with bamboo, I have to admit that his side looked pretty bad.  We did agree with a handshake (nothing in writing) to build the new fence based on his estimate (again nothing in writing) so I think I screwed myself.  I suggested a less expensive fence but he insist on a block wall.  The cost overruns are my big concern.  I could get a lawyer to figure it all out and then may find out I'm still on the hook.  I don't want to pay a lawyer $275 an hour to litigate this.  Would be more than its worth.  Everything I did prior to start up was wrong.  I'm learning the hard way. 

later,

Ray

[RockIsland52]

V8Vega

Hot all summer

........On a Fiero forum off topic was a topic of Why don't more People take the Train. Everyone thought the train was too slow and it is, if I was working I coulden't take the train. What surprised me is they thought the train cost about as much as flying. The trip I take each Christmas the train is much cheaper and I said so. On TV here they show advertizements for high speed rail they want to build between LA and San Francisco. It shows a sleek smooth fast and long depiction zipping along. I don't think there are enough riders, especally competing with the airlines. In the depiction the train is long, they would never fill up that train.

Dennis.......you are right.  There are not enough riders.  And there won't be.

Here on the Right Coast many folks that have to go down to the metro NYC area from Boston have foresaken the airlines to make the four hour drive in their own vehicle, even with the opening of some smaller airport alternatives and the higher speed Amtrak rail service (not true high speed, may hit 100mph in spots).  

Considerations.  "Total" time and stress getting to your final destination is one consideration, door to door.  Transportation costs once you get there is the second.  With airlines you get to monkey around with airline delays, baggage fees, security and carry on limitations, and the cattle car environment of the aircraft.  Food in transit?.  My wife now just jumps in her car, tunes in XM satellite radio, and enjoys a stress-free and quicker, cheaper trip taking something to sip and munch on during the drive.

Now true high-speed rail may be a totally different story for a trip as long as LA to San Francisco.  However, you still need transportation once you get there, rent or livery or public transportation where it exists and is safe. 

IMHO the transportation gurus should nix high speed rail while improving/investing in the current infrastructure to speed things up whle remaining far more cost, time, and ease-competitive in the exchange.  Then people might bite at the train.  My wife and I over the years have sporadically looked at taking the train from Boston to Chicago and back but it makes no time or cost sense.  My sisters actually considered taking the bus out to visit!!!  We all found that it just doesn't add up to make us give it a whirl.

Jack

[jeffrey-wimberly]

The problems I listed with the Dash 8-40B have been corrected. The pickup problem with the front truck turned out to be a loose wire. I cleaned up the wheels some. They still look dirty but the pickup is much better. Later I'll clean them with Krud Kutter then rinse them with alcohol. The problems with the front headlight were fairly simple to fix. The metal tube the LED fits into was held in place with a loop of electrical tape. The adhesive on electrical tape isn't the best for this and combined with with gravity it couldn't hold the tube in place. I removed all the tape. I blacked out the front windows with a strip of tape then placed the light tube where I needed it to be and drizzled hot glue over and to either side of it. Using a small flat point screwdriver I moved it to the exact position it needed to be and held it there until the hot glue cooled. I also wrapped a strip of tape around the LED so the light only shows directly ahead instead of ahead and to the sides as it was doing. The locos headlight now looks the way it should look (a bit too white for my taste but it'll do) with no bleed over to the windows or into the cab. The headlight wire problem was corrected by simply adding a two inch piece of wire to the shorter of the two wires. The loco is now running long hood forward at the end of a three loco consist comprised of a Bachmann GP38-2, my Atlas SD27J and of course the Walthers Dash 8-40B. Speed matching it to the other two locos (both with Bachmann decoders) was fairly simple as it has a Digitrax DH123 decoder. I may have a potential customer for the undec Athearn F7A so I'm not going to do anything to it at this time.