Good to see Sturgeon-Phish again!
*
Had Fettuccine Alfredo for dinner tonight, something I don't have often. Well as I reported earlier I got my fifth FP7 today. That makes four Atlas and one Con-Cor. I don't much like the mostly plastic motor Con-Cor used. When it fails I'll slip in a PPW can motor. Enough about that. Back to the new arrival. It's a 70's era Atlas model. I had to put a bunch of work into it, little things mostly but they were time consuming. I did something new on the rear coupler. On all my FP7's a #5 or #148 would be too low. This time I calculated how much I'd have to shave off the rear of the shell to have #148 in a #242 draft gear box at the proper height then ground off that much. I also had to chop off about half the length of the box to clear the rear truck. I installed the coupler and box then checked it with my Kadee coupler height gauge. It's right on the mark. I know what I'll be doing to the other four FP7's. I also installed a DCC decoder. I hard wired in a 9-pin harness and plugged in an old Lenz decoder. It'll do for testing and a good run-in. Later I can pull out the Lenz and plug in a Digitrax DH123 when I have one to put in. That was my fun for today.Time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Sturgeon-Phish Good evening all, It has been a LONG time since I visited. I've not dropped off the face of the world. I hope all is well with you guys. Our world is crazy but good. I'll try and stay in touch better May God bless Jim
Good evening all,
It has been a LONG time since I visited. I've not dropped off the face of the world. I hope all is well with you guys. Our world is crazy but good.
I'll try and stay in touch better
May God bless
Jim
Jim,
Glad to see you're back.
Rainy in SE Indiana. Good to see you back, Stur-fish. Good day at work yesterday. Busy day today. Lousy news last night on that which I cannot talk about. Hopefully by the end of March, a conversation can be held on that topic. Weather is supposed to be even worse tomorrow. Could be an interesting drive. No beacon tonight as I am heading to bed soon. I hope everyone has a good day.
Looked at MTH RTR catalog today. Nothing to write home about. Maybe Tinplate catalog will give me something to think about. If not, there will be some stuff from the Lionel book heading my way sometime.
Keep on training,
Mike C. from Indiana
Good evening. Haven't seen the three legged cat in a few nights but my skunk buddy was back.
he's picking cat food out from between the deck boards.
One of the house cats is real sick..... looks a trip to the vet will be order tomorrow. These cats get better healthcare than I do
Ryan
Jim, good to hear from you. Don't be a stranger. We miss your postings here.
Ray
SPMan
Ended up getting somewhere between 10" and 12" of snow last night - that wet heavy stuff. The last two shots of the snow cannon have exceeded the yearly snow fall here in mid Missouri. Think you could aim that thing in another direction? If not another direction, at least put a lighter load in it!
I hope a plow gets down our street tonight. If that does not happen, I'll have a bunch more shoveling to do before I can get to work tomorrow.
Good to hear form you Phish.
All for now.
RockIsland52Ray.......already worried about your Yankees, I see. And Spring training has hardly begun.
RIJack - You are a cruel man! BTW - I read that Damon wants back!
Bayville, NJ
Life is what happens to youWhile you're busy making other plans - John Lennon
RockIsland528n and Jake......the P38 Lockheed Lightening was quite the aircraft once some of the earlier stability bugs were worked out and the pilots learned how to handle them. I read that some of the later versions could reach 440 mph in level flight and could reach a ceiling of 44,000 feet!!! If that were not enough, we had the Corsair and the P51 Mustang. I have had the pleasure of seeing a P51 in flight at a local air show along with a B17 and a B24. I also find it strange that it took the automotive industry a half century to fully embrace supercharging, turbocharging, and intercoolers.
Don't forget the P-47 and Hellcat. P-47 wasn't fast, but with 8 50 cal. machine guns and tough enough to handle continuous fire from a Focke Wulf 190, who needs speed? Also had the luck of seeing WW1 aircraft at a museum nearby.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad, the Route of the Black Diamond Express, John Wilkes and Maple Leaf.
-Jake, modeling the Barclay, Towanda & Susquehanna.
Temp is 35 but the rain has turned to snow. So here we go again. Weather won't stop the Tardis so I will be ready with banilla...S.J.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
KRM Jim, Trust me 4.10,,,,,,,,,,, NO unless you will only drive the car on weekends. But do what you want and find out later the real deal.
Trust me 4.10,,,,,,,,,,, NO unless you will only drive the car on weekends. But do what you want and find out later the real deal.
Kev,
That's part of the whole issue. It's a weekend/nice weather toy, and gas mileage isn't a concern. It has only seen parking lots and rain three times each since I've owned it. If I wanted gas mileage, I would've went for a V6. I don't trust anyone to do the gear swap, and I don't trust shops trying to push parts. Ford never offered the 4.10 as an option. Optional ratios have been 3.55 or 3.73, with the 3.73 being standard on the 2008-09 Bullitt.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
Jack,
I am still not sure which way to go about the gears. If I trust shop#1 to do it, I'll hopefully have 4.10s with no issues. If I swap the entire axle myself, I'll have 3.73s, but at 3x the cost of shop#1.
I finally received my Atlas FP7 in the mail today, eleven days after it was shipped. It's a 70's era model as I expected. Originally Santa Fe, somebody stripped it and very carefully sanded off all the molded on grabs then painted it primer gray. A diesel detail kit came with it. It's standard DC of course. I test ran it to see if the motor works. It works quite well but the gears were as dry as burnt toast and very loud! Add to that the pickups on the rear truck were loose and the pickup keepers had fallen off. I had my work cut out for me. I got all that sorted and it runs smooth and quiet now. That makes five FP7's I have now, four 70's era Atlas and one 80's era Con-Cor. Here's what $20 bought:
Now I gotta get me something to eat. My blood sugar is down to 67. When I get to working on stuff like this it's almost to the exclusion of all else!
Greetings from the Heartlands where we are working hard to stem the drought of 2012! Last week we received a disappointing 4" of snow, we were hoping for the forecasted 8.2" but oh no, not to be. This morning I awoke to barely a dusting of precip and the most we were to receive today was 1-3", at this very moment we are getting close to the 6" level, YES!!!!!!!! It's supposed to snow most of the night, sure hope so. The good news is that this snow is very wet and shouldn't blow, the even better news is that it's right at 32 degrees so we at least don't have that bone chilling wind. I might plow the driveway or I might just wait until tomorrow since the boss is in MPLS and I have plenty of food and adult beverages to survive.
Ice makers: ours began a slow death about 6 months ago, this was also the same line I had used for a previous fridge w/ice maker. Long story short -- that original copper line had one of those valves that you simply screw into a water supply line, self tapping. My friend the plumber was here installing a new sink and ran a clear plastic line to the fridge with a proper water valve shut off, works like a champ now, same ice maker. There are better alternatives than those self tapping water lines, lesson learned.
Geo thermal is a great idea if you plan on staying in your home for a length of time, it's a long pay back as the front end costs are very high. Our friends who have them also have supplemental heat for those colder days/nights.
Time to throw another log into the fireplace, life is good
Jon
So many roads, so little time.
AF53.......Took Nyquil last night at 10:00 and still saw 3:00am on the clock. . If I don't sleep tonight I'll be posting tomorrow afternoon from home.
Ray.......already worried about your Yankees, I see. And Spring training has hardly begun.
Jack
IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.
RockIsland52Ray, make sure you take pictures and post them from the sex party.
And what, get arrested? Oh, you mean Wed's party, gotcha.
KRMRay, These sex parties are not as much fun as the ones in the 70s. What you hoping for? A boy or a girl? I am glad Katie is having a boy this time! Take it easy and get better.
Kev - This is our first and to be perfectly honest I really don't care if it's a boy or girl. Just glad to have a grandchild. Also, it gives me more reasons to buy more trains! And these don't have to be delivered to HudsonJohn's house either!
Just got back from the doc's and the pharmacy, antibiotic's and cough syrup. Took Nyquil last night at 10:00 and still saw 3:00am on the clock. . If I don't sleep tonight I'll be posting tomorrow afternoon from home.
SPManGood morning all, .........Finally decided to keep our long term health care insurance for another six months. It's expensive but the alternatives are not good if you need it later on. I feel better about it for now. IMHO, a very wise move, a smart move. Insurance, all insurance, is for a catastrophic event should you ever need it. What alternative(s) are better than what you already have put into place? This is an investment albeit an expensive one. You have invested for a long time in yourself, for your future welfare, and for your protection. You previously made the comment that the money might have been better spent taking the premium $ and investing them, growing them. The fact of the matter is that few people do so. Think of it as a forced savings just like your home. Statistics show that in a rent versus home ownership comparison (over a lifetime) that while home ownership costs more over the life of each choice, one has the home equity at the back end whereas the renter wonders where all of the money went. I was looking at a railroad engineer's profile on another forum and saw this funny comment. Under the heading of hobbies or interest he wrote: "Are you kidding? I work for the railroad. I don't even have time to mow the lawn. If only you could go back and print out all of your posts with your RR observations, stories, and experiences, you would have half your book written!!! You write beautifully, and your words put the snapshot in my head as I read. You have a gift. later, Ray
.........Finally decided to keep our long term health care insurance for another six months. It's expensive but the alternatives are not good if you need it later on. I feel better about it for now.
IMHO, a very wise move, a smart move. Insurance, all insurance, is for a catastrophic event should you ever need it. What alternative(s) are better than what you already have put into place? This is an investment albeit an expensive one. You have invested for a long time in yourself, for your future welfare, and for your protection.
You previously made the comment that the money might have been better spent taking the premium $ and investing them, growing them. The fact of the matter is that few people do so.
Think of it as a forced savings just like your home. Statistics show that in a rent versus home ownership comparison (over a lifetime) that while home ownership costs more over the life of each choice, one has the home equity at the back end whereas the renter wonders where all of the money went.
I was looking at a railroad engineer's profile on another forum and saw this funny comment. Under the heading of hobbies or interest he wrote: "Are you kidding? I work for the railroad. I don't even have time to mow the lawn.
If only you could go back and print out all of your posts with your RR observations, stories, and experiences, you would have half your book written!!! You write beautifully, and your words put the snapshot in my head as I read. You have a gift.
later,
.......and thank you for your kind words about Maximus. He has given back so much these past four years to my wife and me.
We spend quality time together we might not otherwise spend and has provided Pam with a hobby she earned, she deserves, one she thoroughly enjoys, and relishes. There is always some antic the pup pulls that brightens our day and prompts smiles and laughter. Most important, the dog always happily and eagerly greets me at the door no matter how much trouble I manage to get myself into with the better half.
what a slow afternoon.
In re to the cloudy headlamp lenses, in PA you will no longer pass state inspections with cloudy head lamp lenses.
Kev, dont forget the magnetic can holder for the tractor, might get the whole way down that lane and get thirsty!
Rain and sleet here. heavy rains coming tonight
I have been advised that the wife is going to Florida in a few weeks (she won't tell exactly that date untill a day or two before as she knows me all too well)
As much as I love her, its nice to have some peace and quiet at the house for a week or so.
"KEV......what brand did you use? My son-in-law said the Meguires kit came with a final sealant to (allegedly)prevent the cloudiness from coming back (or come back as quickly). I don't know if the sealant works though because it has only been a week or two since he did his headlamp covers. Needless to say, no product will work if the cloudiness is caused by a moisture leak and the film/cloudiness is on the inside of the lens. "
I have the Meguires kit and it has the same thing with it. Moisture is not the issue. You will see. Give it a month and they will be cloudy.
4" and counting about to make the first pass with the tractor. Yuck very heavy snow.
The wife came home early from work said it was a long hard 50 mile drive. She said the idiots are all ready filling up the ditches with their cars. Wet slippery snow on warm ground. The dopes abound!
Good morning all,
Had my blood test this morning for doctor visit next week. I was relieved to find out that what the doctor wrote as reason for test was to rule some things out. None of these things are conclusive. I was thinking I actually had some of the things they were testing for. Will know next week for sure I guess.
Jack, thanks for the kind words about writing a railroad book. I did write a short article once for The ACL/SAL Historical society magazine about the trains I rode as a kid.
No news about our 90 year old friend who had the stroke. Last I heard was that she had taken a turn for the worse after they moved her to a rehabiltation hospital. Hope for better news on next report
Wonder what the Chief is doing at the lake? Maybe ice fishing? I think he is mad at me. Haven't heard any comments from him lately. You guys with the snow cannon can have fun while he is gone.
Need to check up on our other friend's wife in the nursing home. She is probably feeling abandoned at this point. Situation is sad. Husband has reached the point where he can no longer be the care giver. He is worn to a frazzle so he had to place her in a home with round the clock care. Hospice people are involved also but don't know to what extent yet.
Finally decided to keep our long term health care insurance for another six months. It's expensive but the alternatives are not good if you need it later on. I feel better about it for now.
Weather is nice now and will warm up to the low 80's by the weekend they say. I need to get out and walk some more now.
Jack, glad to hear that Maximus the wonder dog is doing good. Nice to have a pet like that. Speaking of pets, my neighbor next door got one of his Collie dogs back that he had given away. Now he has four all together. Initially he gave away two to a friend and he said he gave two because he didn't want the dog to feel lonely. After that one of the two dogs got out and was killed by an automobile so the surviving dog was returned to his original owner. He originally had to give away two dogs because the city has an ordinance that only allows pet owners to have three dogs. He has four now but I'm OK with that. He is a good neighbor and the dogs don't bother me.
KRM RockIsland52 My son-in-law used the Meguiars according to the directions and his 13 year old van headlamps look like new. He let his drill do most of the buffing work. I am going to give that product a try. Jack FYI Jack, I have some of that stuff in the shed. We used on Katie's Taurus. They looked good when we were done but it DON"T last. You have to redo them every few weeks or they just go right back to cloudy. ........Humm, strange things happen. Our ice maker has not worked for years. So I just buy a bag and put it in the hopper for ice. Well I filled it half full on Sunday and now the ice maker is working again. Go figure?
RockIsland52 My son-in-law used the Meguiars according to the directions and his 13 year old van headlamps look like new. He let his drill do most of the buffing work. I am going to give that product a try. Jack
FYI
Jack, I have some of that stuff in the shed. We used on Katie's Taurus. They looked good when we were done but it DON"T last. You have to redo them every few weeks or they just go right back to cloudy.
........Humm, strange things happen. Our ice maker has not worked for years. So I just buy a bag and put it in the hopper for ice. Well I filled it half full on Sunday and now the ice maker is working again. Go figure?
KEV......what brand did you use? My son-in-law said the Meguires kit came with a final sealant to (allegedly)prevent the cloudiness from coming back (or come back as quickly). I don't know if the sealant works though because it has only been a week or two since he did his headlamp covers. Needless to say, no product will work if the cloudiness is caused by a moisture leak and the film/cloudiness is on the inside of the lens.
My ice cube maker went South on one of my old refrigerators (think it was 12 years old) and I was quoted $300 to get it fixed!!!! The repair guy said they do more ice cube maker repairs than any other. I declined the repair and bought another refrigerator.....with an ice cube maker. They sure are convenient and I like the option that lets you get cubes or crushed. My current refrigerator has another feature called "acceler-ice" that speeds up the process when the demand gets heavy. It also has "parental controls" for those curious grandchildren who like to push levers and buttons.
Jack.
Hello all, back again
My boiler temp is controlled by the coal supplied.
Dad and son both have hard coal stoker boilers by EFM. We keep the low limit at 130 degrees. In milder weather more than adequate for heat. In cooler temps it takes a bit longer to satisfy the thermostat and of course it runs longer and the boiler temp gets a bit higher. It seemed silly to have the boiler standing at 180 and sending heat up the chimney in 40 degree weather. It cut dad's coal consumption by almost ten percent when I turned the temp back..
The down side is 130 isn't hot enough to maintain the domestic hot water so we have to keep the electric water heater going all though the boiler tempers the water going in to it. In cold weather it can be turned off.
Most of the newer hot water systems use an outdoor temp sensor to control the boiler temp to reduce heat loss.
Ryan, my hot water is tempered by the boiler also. I can turn it off during really cold weather
SS Fund is screaming now
Ptayers for those in need
Banks, Proud member of the OTTS TCA 12-67310
BANKS: I put a water heater timer on our water heater, paid for it self in two months. (about 60.00) only thing I dont like about it is on the weekends I forget and want a hot shower at 3 pm, its warm at best. Maybe I'll try one of those blankets for it.
My shop cat is attacking me, guess he wants fed
Good Mornin' Y'all From Overcast Soon-To-Be 40 Degree Cape Ann Taxachusetts,
Sunshine later. Mother Nature continues to take care of the last of this past weekends' snowfall. I procrastinated, did not shovel/snowblow, and it paid off. The accumulation from our blizzard back on February 8-9 will take some time to dissipate, however. The next storm is expected to commence overnight tonight, but the warmer coastal temperatures here will keep this mostly a rain event for me. Points West and North will not be so lucky.
I ran trains this morning with Maximus the dog in a down/stay off leash right next to me. This is a training exercise to make him (continue to) learn to accept strange noises and movement even when he does not want to. This build's the dog's trust in and respect for the owner's decisions, and it builds his confidence that nothing bad will happen to him when he defers his decisions to Pam or I. It is really nice to have a dog who does not react negatively to strange, new, or startling things like weather (thunder, lightening, and high winds), fireworks, illegal Harley Davidson and automotive tuner exhaust systems, gunfire, the vacuum cleaner, the high pitched sounds of a 2046 whistle, or the inevitable and at times unexpected ear-percing shrieks of the grandchildren while they are playing.
This morning I ran my 63 year old 2046 Hudson with the 2046 tender and just 6 postwar cars this morning at 9 volts on the ZW. I always wondered what this engine could haul (total # of cars) if I had the cars and layout size to do it.
It sounds like a grandchild epidemic is breaking out!!!! We've got Kevin, AF Ray, and HudsonJohn now all expecting. All three of you are in my prayers as the days and weeks progress to G-Day!! Ray, make sure you take pictures and post them from the sex party. And I hope your Doc gets that cough squared away.
BOC.....I hope your white blood count is coming up.
MikeC.......I also hope your daughter is continuing to make progress.
8n and Jake......the P38 Lockheed Lightening was quite the aircraft once some of the earlier stability bugs were worked out and the pilots learned how to handle them. I read that some of the later versions could reach 440 mph in level flight and could reach a ceiling of 44,000 feet!!! If that were not enough, we had the Corsair and the P51 Mustang. I have had the pleasure of seeing a P51 in flight at a local air show along with a B17 and a B24. I also find it strange that it took the automotive industry a half century to fully embrace supercharging, turbocharging, and intercoolers.
Buckeye, RaySP, and 8n............thanks for the refresher on the 611J. What I find amazing is that these were produced in 1950 when diesel was king and the steamers were on their way out. I hope that the 661 project moves forward and that this important part of our history is preserved and running for future generations.
Buckeye........when are we all supposed to convene in Roseyville to "liberate" the Chief's entire train and gun collections from the BOX?
I sincerely hope that JoeyD was insulted by my NYY comment and is not paralyzed from running his marathon. He probably is so sore he can't even walk to the refrigerator to get himself an Asahi Super Dry
RaySP.........you ought to write a book about your railraod exploits. I enjoy everything you write about them.
Banks......my father-in-law keeps on me about insulating the hot water pipes in my unheated basement. I have baseboard hot water heat with my heating oil furnace. While the basement temperature never gets colder than the low 50s, even when the outdoor temps approach zero, I should probably just do it. I also should look into what the best boiler temperature would be. The HVAC companies say around 180 degrees to find the right sweet spot for providing adequate Winter heating and hot water recovery, bumping it to 190 when the outdoor temperatures are forcast for the single digits.
LAZ/Minnie, HudsonJohn/Mack......glad to hear your pups are hale and hearty even though your wallets like mine were recently emptied to the tune of $250 just to get a thumbs up.
JimmyT.......I did not realize that the differential ratio change to the lower gear you are contemplating would not raise the highway rpm of your Mustang nowhere near 3,000. Forget all of my previous doom and gloom warnings about the increased (engine) noise factor and go for it. You don't need the 5.0 if you simply make the gear change. The 4.6L is still the more advanced of the Mustang engines anyway in my book. BTW.....there is a funny editorial section letter from a reader in my current Road and Track magazine commenting on how the Camaro SS 1LE is faring against the Boss 302: "At least the SS 1LE will afford its owners a nice view of the Mustang's taillights."
V8 Dennis........my goodness, when oh when will you ever get some relief from those frigid California temperatures. How are those Del Sole wheels looking now that you have performed your magic on them?
Later, gang.
Hello all,
Cloudy mid 20's here this AM. Mix to freezing rain predicted this PM
Got the coal in the basement and the water heater installed, even added a blanket to to try to save some $$$
Fife What's your Mrs have against an outdoor furnace??????? I,m sure there is coal available near Mt. Storm.
Seriously were I building a new home I'd look at a geothermal system. My BIL put one in his new house about 12 years ago. We haven't talked about it for a few years but then his highest ever electric bill was $200.00. That's heat and AC in a 1400 sq ft house. He has two propane logs/fireplaces for looks and backup heat if necessary
SS Fund calls
Prayers for those in need
My son-in-law used the Meguiars according to the directions and his 13 year old van headlamps look like new. He let his drill do most of the buffing work. I am going to give that product a try.
Rocky is here and he is all snow at this point and a lot of wind. 45 mph. Good luck getting home Doug. The wife may have to stay in Plainfield at her friends place if it gets too bad.
Humm, strange things happen. Our ice maker has not worked for years. So I just buy a bag and put it in the hopper for ice. Well I filled it half full on Sunday and now the ice maker is working again. Go figure?
Ray, These sex parties are not as much fun as the ones in the 70s. What you hoping for? A boy or a girl? I am glad Katie is having a boy this time! Take it easy and get better.
cnw1995Aloha. Supposed to be snow stormy on my long day (with class tonight) so I threw a shovel and canvas bags in the back of the van in case they plow me in tonight. Nothing like getting off the train at 11 pm to find a wall'o snow around the only car in the lot. .
Doug......just text the wifey when you are leaving school for the train and tell her to get right over to the commuter rail parking lot, dig out the van, clean it off, and heat it up for you. Also tell her to be careful she doesn't burn your dinner in the process. Then let the rest of us know how that worked out for you.
Re those clouded and yellowed plastic (polycarbonate) headlights covers.....read this:
http://www.autogeek.net/headlight-lens.html?gclid=CNufxY-x1LUCFQSg4Aod6S4ASA
jeffrey-wimberly .........My plan today is to get some more of the clutter off the layout. But you know, it almost never fails. About the time I pick up the second or third object the phone will ring and my plans will be put on hold.
.........My plan today is to get some more of the clutter off the layout. But you know, it almost never fails. About the time I pick up the second or third object the phone will ring and my plans will be put on hold.
Jeffrey..........call forward your phone to your Dad's house when you want some uninterrupted layout time and he will get a busy signal when he calls to interrupt progress.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month