Coffee Pot #2 Febuary 2013 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. Farina for the REB'S

[KRM]

Lehigh Valley 2089

May like this photo KRM. This fleet is just from one year's worth of time collecting, and I am real happy about it.

LV Jake, That is a great looking line up. And may I say a good deal for only one year.    Sorry it took me so long to reply.

 John, I told Sandra where to find her card and the tulips from the hospital. She told me see had already seen them when she was showing our trains to her friend Jenny. But it worked out swell.

SJ, 30.4 mpg at 70 mph is good but hard to beat a truck for man stuff.

Well I need to go pick up Lexi, see y'all later.

P.S.

Bob, how about one of these??? 

 

 

[RockIsland52]

wrconstruction

.......Glad Kev survived his almost heart attack

I suffer from something similar, but its from a muscle or nerve contraction in my esophogus (sp?) (lower throat)    this has never been confirmed, because the sympotom (verry much like a weak heart attack) don't last long enough till I get to the hospitle.   It generally goes away after several glasses of Ice Water cold beer.

Ryan

Ryan.......you had none of us fooled with the water comment.

Jack

[RockIsland52]

Brutus

Thanks for the birthday wishes, I'll pass them along.  Not quite ready for the insurance, that's for sure.  We'll see about his license in a while when grades are where we want them.  He has made great improvements and I'm proud of him, but it shows he could have done it the whole time really.  I was probably just the same - I'd ask my folks, but who needs that aggravation

Brutus......  for your son's efforts and great results.  for loving him enough to take a stand. And that this newly lit light bulb in him stays lit!!   Our kids and grandkids can drive us nuts. and cause us to

Jack

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I worked on both the Lima 0-4-0t and the Tyco 2-8-0 today. The motors in both are pretty much shot. They run somewhat but definitely not well. The little Lima loco MIGHT be capable of pushing/pulling a couple of cars provided it could keep running. The pickups are in really sorry shape. The Tyco is a basket case plain and simple. The motor will run but it can't even pull it's own weight. I don't see these two as being anything more than shelf queens. The little Lima Plymouth switcher runs but it needs really clean track. It's a pancake drive and doesn't have any grind or squeal. It only required a light cleaning. I can use it to do the honors when I have pizza. The flanges are massive.

Converting the BN FP7 to DCC will likely be tomorrows project. I'm about tinkered out for today.

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

KRM

Lehigh Valley 2089

May like this photo KRM. This fleet is just from one year's worth of time collecting, and I am real happy about it.

LV Jake, That is a great looking line up. And may I say a good deal for only one year.    Sorry it took me so long to reply.

Hey, if you need to take your time, take your time. No rush here. The 2026 is a great runner, but it't whistle isn't working right. I think the relay might just be shot. Will look for one at the next train show. As mentioned before, 2020 has E-unit issues, will try cleaning it again before I consider replacing the unit entirely. Hope to find a 2055 and 6026W tender for a good price.

[SPMan]

Kev, glad you are OK.  Does not sound like a pleasant experience.  I went to the ER two days in a row a while back for what I thought was a kidney stone attack.  Turned out not to be but they never did find out what was causing the problem except to say your heart is OK.

V8, enjoying the nice weather too.

Stomach and G.I prolems seem a little better today.  For one thing, I am taking some of my medications with food now which works a lot better.  When all else fails read the directions.

Pat, reverse mortgage sounds like a good ace in the hole but be careful.  Read all the fine print.

Been watching the Moonshiners show on TV lately.  Chief, are these your neighbors?  Character named Jim Tom was sort of written out of the show on the final get together of the shiners.  Guess he talked too much and drank too much of the product.  Another one, Tickle by name refers to his drinking habits at the still as quality control.  He sounds drunk about half the time.

later,

Ray

 

 

[Demay]

Ohayō,

It is a very sunny Saturday morning here.  Unfortunately, the two older kids are getting sick, well, the Princess already is.  The temperature suddenly dropped yesterday while they were out playing.  The quick temperature changes trigger their asthma symptoms.  It was also drizzling which didn’t help either.  I guess we’ll stay inside today and play board games or build puzzles. 

SJ – That’s great gas mileage.  I understand Ford has made great strides in this department. 

Kev – It sounds like you had quite the day.  I know it stinks to go through all that but it is for the better.  Plus, what doctor office wants to be held liable for not sending you to the hospital.  Either way, I’m glad you’re okay.

Fife – I’ve seen the Coca Cola version loco for sale separately, but I cannot recall if I’ve seen the Nutcracker version.  Hobbyspeed.com does a lot of set breakups and is probably your best bet.  They also have an eBay store known as jopchen. 

Sayonara,

Joe

[ChiefEagles]

Evening all.  Another long busy Mayor day.  Got home at 3:30.  Did do a side trip to Gander Mountain.  Then did some yard cleaning.  Wifey went to sleep so I went to the Box.  Installed tow motors in a MTH engine I had removed them years ago to use as a dummy.  Going to put an ERR kit in it with cruise and sound.

KEV, you are too cantankerous to have heart problems.  Really glad you are OK.

Now for dinner.

Later.

[RedfireS197]

Kev,

        Glad you're ok. Sorry I missed that before.

Spank,

               Did you put the Camaro away for the winter?

Jake,

          What's going on with the relay?  I've worked on alot of whistles over the last 15 years, and I've never had to replace a relay.  Cleaning, adjustment, and an occasional pass with a VHS tape eraser are usually enough.

[anjdevil2]

Happy Friday!

Fife  - No sweat, It's just being displayed and run occasionally to keep the battery charged.

Kev - Glad you are ok and home.

LV - here is half  of my first year collection:

[dwiemer]

Good evening everyone. Been a long busy stretch with lots of cases to do.  The kids are all doing well. We have the social worker coming by for the  six month follow up.  We will have to do several more of these as time goes on. It is a good thing in that it helps the agency track the kids, but also, we get some gems of useful information from our social worker.

we are all healthy, and with four kids, that can change quickly!  Sorry I have not been around much, just too many things of importance to keep me away.

take care and may God bless,

dennis

[submmbob]

Hello all

Another quiet night on the mountain,  but not for long. We have 5, count 'em 5, astronomers coming up tonight for the weekend.

Fife - heard about the meteor/asteroid that is coming close. We have looked at asteroids before, but we don't do the searches for them. We have a couple of fully automated scopes up on Kitt Peak that look for near earth asteroids.Trouble is the one that is going to hit us is the hardest one to find

Kev - glad to hear you are ok, was a bit worried there. I went thru about the same thing about 4 years ago. Except I was on top of the mountain when it started. No problems w/ the ticker, but like you they try and rule that out first. Found I needed to watch my blood sugar and then after a year and a half they took my gall bladder out. Oh, and I love the 4WD Pinto!

John - Yeah, our '98 Chevy PU is probably our best truck. Just went over 200K recently. Very tough miles too. Driven by morons and put away wet. Has the same dumb front diff locking system, but is old enough to have a transfer case lever. That cable shift conversion for the front drive is the way to go.

Dennis - good to hear from you and glad things are going well!

Working on coming up w/ a setup w/ the circuit breaker and gauges that I can use w/ my older transformers. Found a surplus unit that at my local electrnics store that I can use for a case. Also got a beautiful surplus Triplett voltmeter circa 1955. Some day will have to hunt down a simliar one that shows AC amps. Later in the week will see if we can bring life back to the docksider from the Land of Lincoln.

The astronomers are about to invade so I better sign off here.

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

anjdevil2

LV - here is half  of my first year collection:

Nice! 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I said that the BN FP7 would be tomorrows project. Well, I got bored and converted it this evening. It now has a Digitrax DH123 decoder in it. I opened up the trucks to lube them and WOW! They were already lubed. Over lover lubed as a matter of fact. Big time! The gears were swimming in grease! I mopped out as much as I could then lubed the gears lightly and snapped the trucks back together. After it was all wired and ready I programmed it and took it for a test run. Quiet as an Atlas it ain't. It sounds more like an Athearn. I discovered one additional thing. The motor was tightened down too tight and causing the flywheel to rub against the frame. Loosening it up a little took care of that. Somewhere along the way someone changed out the axle gears. I have several of these FP7's already and they all have red gears. The gearbox gears in this one are red all right but the axle gears are white. I just looked at the gears in the UP unit and it's exactly the same. My other ones the gears are of uniform color. Of course these are around thirty-five years old so they have quite a bit of use on them already. This BN unit as I said is somewhat noisy but it's a stump puller and it's quieting down the more I run it. Right now it's coupled up with my CN C420 Frankenloco and being run back and forth around the layout. Soon as the donor FP7 gets here I'll fix the UP unit and convert it to DCC.

My CN C420 Frankenloco has a Bachmann decoder in it at present. It'll soon be getting a Digitrax DZ125.

[sir james I]

Temp is 30, looking at a chilly weekend below 30.

Jim the car is a new 2013, gas mileage may even get a little better after I get some miles on it. Has lot's of spunk for a 4 banger, I thought it was a six on our test  drive, and was very quiet on the highway. Yes I miss my P/U but granny was having a bad time getting in and out of it and when I drove we went in the truck. Spent some time at the Bass Pro Shop but didn't buy anything there. We did buy some shoes in the mall. Had some banilla with chocolate syrup and peanuts but saved some for the thingy guys...S.J.

Granny and I loved the idea of exchanging greeting cards right at the store. Well let's see her birthday is next month....Hmmmm might work.

[Hudson#685]

Good Evening:

Spent the afternoon with my wife and celebrating Valentine's Day, since she had to work in the Ice Cream Shop last night. We started with a nice lunch at the Forked River German Butcher (Great Food) and then we went shopping at the shops at Smithville (just North of Atlantic City). After the shopping spree at Smithville we headed down the road to a large antique shop. She bought some glass and I checked out the venders with the trains. I almost made an offer a PW set, a 646 Hudson w/aluminum passengers cars, but I figured it is not far and sometimes it is better to do business when someone else is spending money and York is around the corner.

AF53, Ray, want to take a ride to Smithville tomorrow morning?

Ryan, I knew it was Shady Maple!

SJ: 30 mpg at 70, NICE. Wish you the best with it.

Doug M, We celebrated today also!

Fife, It is the Rock Island and Peoria. She has the cars that go with it.

DJ, Safe trip. Prayers for Linda driving down with the upcoming weather.

SPMan, Ray: Hope you feel better with the stomach and GI.

Demay, Joe: Speedy recovery for the family.

Dennis, Glad to hear from you and that everything is ok.

SubmmBob: Yes, they still have the 98 GMC Pickup that they plow with and use it for everything else. They have a jump starter and Air Compressor mounted on it for road work. Way over 200,000 miles.

LV, Jake, Nice lineup. You definitely need a Hudson. A 2055 is great. The 685 is identical. the 2065 and the 665 have different boiler fronts, otherwise the same. Good luck in your quest.

John

[ChiefEagles]

Was 60 and sunny today.  Now here this:

There is a slight possiblility of the ugly Yankee four letter S word for late Saturday.  Will deffinately have slick icey patches Sunday AM as turning real cold.  

Up for a special breakfast tomorrow morning.  Hunting buddy and I are going to go to a special breakfast restaurant.  I am then going by Hunters Haven for a few.  Then off to the lake house for the night. 

Sleep tight.

[Brutus]

Long day, but had a nice dinner at the local Mexican place with my family and my in-laws, Judy and Charlie.  Great chat after that went on until about 10:30.  I fell asleep, though!  I'll catch up with you all tomorrow, sorry for the short post and missing the thingie.  Good night - BARK!

[fifedog]

Mornin' boys.  Escaped the first round of snohizo today.  Gonna spend some time with my sister today.  She's expecting in September.

Fifey don't ebay.  I use the internet to identify, but prefer YORK as my hunting grounds.  But thanks for the heads-up just the same.

rt - Probably gonna stay clear of the MPC DC Generals for now.  Wouldn't mind finding the Redwood Valley shell for a repaint project.

dwiemer - Take care of that ever growing flock.

[ChiefEagles]

Morning all.  Clouding up and chilly.  Rain coming and very slight chance of it turning to some snohio.

Off to the breakfast with hunting buddy.  Wives are off to the Farmers' Market restaurant and shopping.  I will go by Hunters' Haven and Todd's Train Depot before heading north to the lake house.

Have a good one.

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill RR....

It is a cold 18 degrees. Going up to 32 today with a chance of snow flurries.

Today is an easy day. I have a few chores to do and then I will work on a train project. Not much else going on here. Lunch and a nap.

Where is LAZ ??

Dining car is here with Cheerios for breakfast.

Y'all have a great Saturday.

Chuck

P.S.   Almost forgot....There is a Nascar race from Daytona on TV at 8 o'clock tonite.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 35° with 66% humidity. It'll be sunny with a high of 55°.


Well today I guess I'll tear into the CN C420 and rip out the Bachmann decoder that's in there and replace it with a Digitrax decoder. Other than that I suppose some layout cleanup is needed as there's locos, cars, boxes and other stuff all over. It looks kinda like the result of an explosion in a machine shop.

[blownout cylinder]

Morning..

Kinda sunny but ccold out today...getting those little tiny snowflurries later on..high of 22F expected...

Got a few thing to pick up today then off to friend's to go play with his trains...lol

Have a good one!

[LawsonFarmsRR]

RockIsland52

V8Vega

Lawson Farms I have read articles in the newspapers where Reverse Mortgages are great for some people and bad for others, I don't remember why but I would google it and try to find the pros and cons.

Pat.........  let me first praise you for asking a question that is on the minds of every person here on the POT looking ahead and wondering how to most effectively set themselves up for retirement, how to best use ALL of the assets and benefits we have bought and paid for and are entitled to.

This topic came up when I noted that my FIL (91) and MIL (89) see their retirement income (pension, SS, and savings/investments) getting annihilated by costs they never dreamed of a half century ago.  Staying in their home is their objective.  Paying the monthly freight to do so while making the nest egg last is their challenge, just like it is for all retirees.        

Most of us more "seasoned" guys were brought up (brainwashed) with the philosophy that you must to pay off all debt (preferably asap) and be debt free when you pass.  Home and property were an untouchable, sacrosanct forced savings.... brick, mortar and dirt you could not or should not spend.  That we owed it to our kids to pass on an inheritance. 

The fact of the matter is, first and foremost, WE DESERVE the benefit, comforts, and peace of mind of the fruits of our labors.  We earned it.  We sacrificed for it.  And we should be placing our children behind us, second on the stack, not on the top of it. 

We are living longer.  The resulting financial pressures later in life, driven by health, our ever-rising overhead, and the tax/ fee burdens have radically changed the game, have gotten worse.  So despite what we were taught, the reverse mortgage can and should be an integral part of our financial planning in our golden years, even if we don't intend to, or have to, tap into this savings.  I suspect many of us will.  We have to live somewhere.  Why not our homes if we can?

Germain to this discussion are home and property values.  They tanked 4-5 years ago.  The trough/bottom has generally been reached in most geographical locations.  And home equity (home and property value) is finally on the slow rise, may take 5+ more years to get back just to where property values were in, say, 2008.  If you graph property values for the past 60 years, you will find that they have over the long haul always increased.  So while you remain in your home, and perhaps drawing down your home equity with a reverse mortgage, you are simultaneously realizing a positive return/offset..... the recovery of your home and property equity status in the real estate marketplace.  

(1)  For the vast majority, reverse mortgages are the real deal.  They do not follow "It is too good to be true" philosophy  You are essentially loaning yourselves (you and spouse) your own money from your accrued home/property equity. 

You don't surrender title to and ownership of your property.  You and your wife remain living in your home.  You (or your heirs) just owe what you borrowed which will become your heirs' responsibility after you are both gone, whether they want to sell off the property or choose to retain it. 

Yes, you are still responsible for maintaining the home, paying the utilities, and paying the property taxes to keep the reverse mortgage terms satisfied.  The cons of a reverse mortgage are few.  With the right up front advice and choices, these can largely be avoided. 

(2)  Read and then read some more.......but gravitate toward the more recent articles and those written by non-profit organizations and for profit national periodicals who have less/no vested interest in mortgages and your decision.  

Banks and loan originators are selling the loans to make a profit while Money magazine, AARP, and like organizations are more interested in providing sound guidance (and readership).  With all of the articles, take what they say as a guideline, not fact.  The folks writing the articles are not necessarily experts at what they write or what they think they understand from their research and interviews.  Oftentimes they just plagiarize what others have written, correct or incorrect.. 

On the first pass, don't let yourself get overwhelmed in the details.  I'd print out some articles, highlight stuff, put question marks if you don't quite understand, with particular attentiion to your (say) top 3-5 wants and needs, short and longer term.   

(3)  Income and estate tax implications:  DO NOT take as gospel truth what is written in the IRS tax code.  The government's income tax code can (and does) conflict directly with the government's own revenue code; and the revenue code trumps the former in tax court.  A tax advisor knows where.  There are reverse mortgage options better suited for your particular situation.   

I would highly recommend that you pay your/a tax advisor for the best way for you to proceed short and long term, and the best timing for you.  Your tax advisor can explain reverse mortgage tax deductibility (who gets the deductions, you or your heirs, when, and how), for the up-front costs (mortgage origination fees, closing costs, and reverse mortgage insurance where applicable), and for the reverse mortgage interest payments (simply deductions from your equity).            

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0192-reverse-mortgages

http://www.smartmoney.com/taxes/income/would-a-reverse-mortgage-affect-my-taxes/

http://assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/articles/money/financial_pdfs/hmm_hires_nocrops.pdf

http://www.reversemortgage.org/GetHelp/MostFrequentlyAskedQuestions.aspx

I am not a certified financial planner.  I am not a tax expert nor an estate planning expert. 

I determined long ago that tax and estate planning matters were becoming far too complex and were changing too quickly (every year) for me to remotely believe I could or should be the expert in these disciplines.  If I were to try and do this stuff myself, it would be kind of like:  "An attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client." 

Yes, earlier on I moved to filing long form, then graduated from paper and pencil to Turbo Tax software.  But the first year I used a tax expert, he wound up finding me lost money on previous returns (refiled, refunds).  Always saves me more money than I spend on the actual tax preparation, always gives me sound advice on how to prepare for the coming year, and provides considerations for the longer term.    

So I "buy" the expertise I am deficient in.  What I pay to my tax and estate advisors is very short money versus what they save me in the short and longer term.  And they do it knowledgeably and legally.  Plus their services are mostly tax deductible.

Jack

Jack: Thank you for the very detailed answer to my question. Very sage advice. You have obviously looked in to it in depth. I checked your references and we are leaning towards a reverse mortgage as the best way for us to go in retirement.

I agree that we earned the equity and our kids come second to our retirement. Besides we have enough equity, fortunately, to live comfortably in retirement and still leave the kids a substantial amount.

I realize the bank (or whom ever) takes a good chunk up front, but to us that is preferable to living a meager existence in retirement just so the kids can get all of that money. We earned our way and they can to.

We will ask the attorney that prepared our living trust for advice. He also specializes in reverse mortgages.

Thanks again, Jack , for the advice.

John and Jon - What problems have you seen with revere mortgages?

Pat

[KRM]

Good morning bright sun but not yet 20 degrees yet.

Thanks guys for all of the concerns. Having the granddaughter over this weekend makes it all worth it. Our daughter is paying off the promissory note today and getting her first car loan without my cosign. A big deal for both of us. I am proud of her.

Well I got to get back to being grandpa,

Yous guys have a good day.

[Hudson#685]

Good morning! 38 with a high of 38 at Bayville, NJ, with s--w on the way, or at least in the forecast.

Today it is service the log splitter and if the weather holds out split some wood. I have about 3/4 of a chord split, and plenty to split. I let it dwindle down because we are moving the wood cribs and redoing the layout of the yard. I have burnt a lot of wood this winter. The thermostat is set at 60 and the house is 72. Thanks to Sandy I have enough oak to least at least 3 years. Hmm, the wife opens the store at noon, maybe I will take a lunch break and take a ride South to check out that 646 and passenger cars. It has been in the shop over a year, and the price was dropped down to a workable price. The wheels are turning.

Everyone in the cross hairs of this latest storm front be careful.

Chief: Safe trip.

Fife: Good luck with the 4-4-0 quest.

Chuck, I had my Cheerios.

Jeffrey: Looks like clean up day for you.

Blownout Cylinder: Careful driving and enjoy your friend and his trains. Bringing any of yours?

Have a Great Day!

John

[sir james I]

Temp is 23 with sun.

Not much new since last night so I'll tell our "other forum" friends that Breakfast was eggs, hash browns, 1 bacon and 1 toast. Granny talked me into buying a pair of soft shoes yesterday, I never wore any except years ago when they were known as tennis shoes. They are very lite weight so maybe I can have them broke in for York. Yes I plan to be there gonna give Laz a tongue lashing for deserting us...S.J.

[Hudson#685]

Pat:

I planned my retirement from the beginning of my carrer, through encouragement of saving by purchasing company stock before the 401K and other retiremnent savings plans where available to us (Thanks Artie Johnson and Ray Rahill, RIP). These 2 seasoned gents showed me how to save and not miss it and make a game out of it. I started at $15 a week in 1972, when my starting salary was $3.57 an hour, by having a direct deduction from my paycheck into the employee stock purchase plan. I increased it accordingly and when the 401k was available to us in the 1990's, I set my sights on a retirement age of 59 1/2. and I did it almost to the day. I also observed and learned from peoples triumphs and mistakes. There are pros and cons of reversed mortgages that I observed. I had thought of it also. The pros are what you said this morning. I could not agree with you more. The negative side that I observed and these are real people:

Bill T: His inlaws were great people. They could not do enough for their 5 kids. To pay for elaborate weddings and to enjoy life after retirement, they took out a reverse mortgage. All was fine for years. His father in law would work a part time job to boost the income. They never told the kids about the reverse mortgage. 1 son lived at home. He had a "heart murmur" and never really worked. The father told Bill when he was close to dying that he screwed up and spoiled "Danny". He then told Bill how they were broke and about the reverse mortgage. The mother in laws health also was deteriated and she had to be put in a nursing home. If there was no mortgage on the house she could have gone into a really nice home. Since they had nothing she was put into a State run home.

Gene K: Gene retired at 64, was a cancer survivor at 55, started a 401k too late and too little. Always lived beyond his means. He and his wife took a reverse mortgage, with Gene getting a part time job as a parking enforcement official with his town to boost his income. He retired 4-1-2010. He bought a new Mustang GT, a 22ft boat, his wife a new Nissan Murano and a host of other things. He was diagnosed with brain cancer September, 2010. He died 11-11-2011. He also did not take the survivorship option with his pension. Result: his wife has no equity and only SS. She can not afford to live in their house.  

Pat, these are the first 2 to come to mind. I know of others who used it to their advantage. Everyone has a different situation.

Good luck with your decision.

John

[ChiefEagles]

Headed north to attack CHUCK.  Turned his snow cannon this way.  Snowing hard.  Was not suppose to snow hardly at all and later this evening.  Wasn't suppose to rain until about noon.  Started raining at 8.  Snow and rain at 9.  Snowing hard at 10.  Might get an inch on grass but ground and highways too warm right now.  Getting on the road soon, as it is suppose to turn freezing later tonight.  Black ice tomorrow.  Can't you Yanks keep your weather up NAWTH.

[KRM]

NEWS FLASH! 1.0

1" of snow expected in Roseyville NC. National guard has been called out in force to contron the panic in the streets help people figure out how to walk and drive. Major problem is most,  none of the NC National Gaurd can drive in snow.

The Roseyville mayor (AKA Chief Eagles) has asked his President for federal aid and Northern troops to save the NC National Gaurd, to help with cost to clean up the snow and restore order in the town. He has also asked FEMA for a supply caravan of Grits to be delivered.

 Word has it, the storm was started by a Yankee agent name of Chuck.