Coffee Pot #3 MARCH 2013 NINE 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 Yanks.

[Zero Export]

good evening every one.

with all the fire wood I have access to, maybe I should just build a wood fired steam plant to run a generator?

heres the link to the senators show that was filmed at my Yard.  I was sicker than a dog that day, but pushed trough it. its a long boring show. I never realized how big I was...................  watch if you dare

Its strange seeing yourself on TV.....

http://av.pasenategop.com/Vance/2013/0313.wmv

  I went down to the future garage site tonight to shoot the grade with my transit, only to find, that after that snow and melt we had its a total SWAMP  even in 4WD my truck was all over the place trying to get in there.  I dont know if a cement truck will able to get in there.   The excavator guy is supposed to come this week end to look at it. we'll see what he says. 

gettin late alot on the mind looking like its gonna be a toss and turn night

Night

Ryan

[ChiefEagles]

Buckeye Riveter

I have been attending an Oil and Gas Conference.

You are just the right person to attend.  We all know you are always full of gas.   PUE

Evening gang.  Good to see Elliot back.  Says he is mainly posting on OGR but will visit us now and then.  He also corrected me in the Pot is 9 years old per him.  Come to think of it, he is right.  So, I corrected the header.

Now hear this.  There is NO layout up stairs.  None what so ever.  Fred and I completely took it down.  Surprisingly, only one sheet of Soundstop was hauled to the dumpser site.  We have salvaged all the wood and Soundstop except for a few peices.

So tired.  Also sore.  Workout yesterday and then up and down stairs all day taking out rest of train stuff to the Box and layout materials to the truck.

Off to the farms tomorrow.

Glad to see Ryan back.

Now for TV and rest.

Later

[KRM]

Ryan,

Cylinder fills are always OFF the charts compared to bulk tanks. They think your Roy cooking those Texan steaks. 

[sir james I]

Temp is 35, went to 40 today but stayed cloudy.

Well the Harbor Freight store we went to is new and a little smaller than the other local one, but much closer. It was still clean and uncluttered as well. They had the items we went after so that's what counts. The afternoon went as usual and I had a nice date with a comfy couch. Plenty of banilla for the Tardis crew...S.J.

[wrmcclellan]

Buckeye Riveter

I have been attending an Oil and Gas Conference.  I think I need a pair of western cowboy boots and a huge hat to fit in.

I might pay to see that and then again I might not. 

[Zero Export]

I just check my propane receipt , last fill up at work in September 2012 was 3.00 / gallon , now keep in mind were not on any plan, this was for forklift cylinders. so I don't know if its any better if you buy in bulk or not?

Ryan

[Buckeye Riveter]

I have been attending an Oil and Gas Conference.  I think I need a pair of western cowboy boots and a huge hat to fit in.  If you read "Trains"  you will notice that the rails are carrying a lot more oil/gas products.  

[LawsonFarmsRR]

wrmcclellan

Typically a "whole house" generator is only powering critical systems and does not include an air conditioning compressor unless one does have lots of $$$ (for the generator and the fuel bill).

Ours is automatic and powers the fridge, kitchen lights, microwave (we can use a grill outside for heavy cooking) heater blower motor (so house does not freeze - furnace is nat gas), bedroom lights, bath lights, living room lights (inc TV), and a freezer (which we do not have).  I recall the unit is a 12 kw job (two cylinder air cooled) so all circuits cannot be maxed which is less of an issue since we changed almost all lighting to CFL's.

It automaticllay  tests runs for 10 minutes every week (kind of a requirement) and we do not notice it on the gas bill. Have to change oil once a year or after 50 hours (I think - I could be wrong) of running.

We have the compressor hooked to the Electric Meter. It doesn't handle the AC but every thing else you mentioned plus 2 computers. To do the AC we will have to turn off periodically the switch to one or two motor run appliances like the Ref and Freezer.

Pat

[cnw1995]

Aloha. Sunny and warmer today. Snow melting a bit. Nice TARDIS ride last night. I've enjoyed scouring Old Chicago websites for photos I thought you might not have seen. I'll see about posting to Facebook, SJ. Staying home whilst the bride still rests her back - and I can scurry around helping her not move.

[wrmcclellan]

Did a couple of checks. Our generator consumes 152 cubic feet of gas per hour.

Using a national average price of roughly $10/1,000 cubic feet set in Dec 2012 (http://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/n3010us3m.htm - here we currently pay about $8/1,000 cubic feet with all taxes and fees - base price is $5/1,000 cubic feet) I figured out it would cost about $40 per day to run it continuously.

$10/1,000 = $1.52/152

$1.52/hour to operate x 24 hrs = $36.48 per day - possibly not counting taxes and fees depending on where you live.

 

[LawsonFarmsRR]

KRM

Zero Export

  Propane is currently 4.00 a gallon here,  

Ryan,

WOW that is a lot. I paid $1.49  for my 800 gallon contract last July and off the truck now it is around $2.00 a gallon.

 That is a good question to ask. Pat may have a clue he has a whole house unit and I think it is running on LP. I would like to convert my briggs and stratton to LP but it cost $125.00 for the kit and i got the generator for free.

I can't see a whole house one using 4 gal an hour but I just don't know.

 Here is what Generator Joe has to say.

http://www.generatorjoe.net/html/PropaneNGUse.html

Using this info with my 5,000 watt would use about 1 gal of LP an hour Full load @ $1.60 that is about $38.00 a day on Gas using @ 3.70 it would cost about $66.00 a day. It never runs at full load so it would be even less but it does not do the whole house only several circuits. I think I will get the conversion kit now. Thanks for making me think on this. 

Kev and Ryan - We considered propane but went with gasoline manly because we have a 500 Gal tank for the farm. We get 11 hours out of 8 Gal so that is about 14 Gal in a 24 Hr  period. Last tank fill up was $3.65/ gal or $51.00 per day.

Comfort and Piece of Mind - PRICELESS!

Pat

[wrmcclellan]

Typically a "whole house" generator is only powering critical systems and does not include an air conditioning compressor unless one does have lots of $$$ (for the generator and the fuel bill).

Ours is automatic and powers the fridge, kitchen lights, microwave (we can use a grill outside for heavy cooking) heater blower motor (so house does not freeze - furnace is nat gas), bedroom lights, bath lights, living room lights (inc TV), and a freezer (which we do not have).  I recall the unit is a 12 kw job (two cylinder air cooled) so all circuits cannot be maxed which is less of an issue since we changed almost all lighting to CFL's.

It automaticllay  tests runs for 10 minutes every week (kind of a requirement) and we do not notice it on the gas bill. Have to change oil once a year or after 50 hours (I think - I could be wrong) of running.

[Zero Export]

That website was very helpful, thank you, I now see where was confused.. i was asuming that a 20# cyender held 20 gallon of LP.....

so it would only cost me around 400 for three days use.  still ALOT   my issue is the well, its a power hog at 800 feet deep.   I will say that even in the worst of droughts i have seen, we never ran dry.

But you cant put a price on COMFORT.....

Ryan

[KRM]

Zero Export

  Propane is currently 4.00 a gallon here,  

Ryan,

WOW that is a lot. I paid $1.49  for my 800 gallon contract last July and off the truck now it is around $2.00 a gallon.

 That is a good question to ask. Pat may have a clue he has a whole house unit and I think it is running on LP. I would like to convert my briggs and stratton to LP but it cost $125.00 for the kit and i got the generator for free.

I can't see a whole house one using 4 gal an hour but I just don't know.

 Here is what Generator Joe has to say.

http://www.generatorjoe.net/html/PropaneNGUse.html

Using this info with my 5,000 watt would use about 1 gal of LP an hour Full load @ $1.60 that is about $38.00 a day on Gas using @ 3.70 it would cost about $66.00 a day. It never runs at full load so it would be even less but it does not do the whole house only several circuits. I think I will get the conversion kit now. Thanks for making me think on this. 

[Zero Export]

You guys and the generators:

 

DON'T WAIT (like I did)   i needed one at moments notice, and no stores had anything decent left . I got one, that day, but its NOT what I wanted (It works)  so I now have 450.00 tied up in a generator I don't like and is hard to start.

There have been discusions at home about a "Whole" house set up that starts automaticly, but we have concerns about there propane usage that we cant get answers for. , like how much does it use running for a 24 hour period?  Propane is currently 4.00 a gollon here, so if it uses 5 gallon /h x 24 = 120 gallons x 4 = $480.00 to run the house for a 24 hour period......  and out where I live when the juice goes out, its OUT.  were last on the line, three days is typical in the winter.   I can get a pretty snazzy hotel SUITE for three days for less than 1500......... 

Ryan

[SPMan]

Ryan and Elliott, welcome back!

Cloudy morning here.  Rained a little overnight with more showers forcast for today and tomorrow.  Suppose to have lunch with railroad buddies today and possible operating session after that if we don't get rained out.

Not much to report today.  Have a good one all,

Ray

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Banks

Shhhhhhhhhhhh....don't tell Chief.   Looks like I'm going to Geismar LA next week. Visiting a potential customer. Jeffry is that near you?

Nope. That's below Baton Rouge near White Castle, about 200 miles from here. I'm about 18 miles from Texas.

[Banks]

Hello all,

Snow cannon got us. 'bout 8" of heavy wet snohio yesterday AM. Driving to work was nasty. Schools closed so Mrs was off. By the time I got home it had settled/melted down to less than 3". I expect most of it will be gone today.

Belated to Mrs Hudson.

Kev......unfortunately that stuff is becoming normal in today's society.

Back to Elliot and Ryan.

Vega......Co-workers tell me .223 and handgun ammo has become verrrrrry expensive here too. If you can find it.

Shhhhhhhhhhhh....don't tell Chief.   Looks like I'm going to Geismar LA next week. Visiting a potential customer. Jeffry is that near you?

Best get busy

Prayers for those in need

[KRM]

Hudson#685

 Kev: Did you expect anything else from that kid!

 

John, No I guess I did not. This is the same kid that last summer stabbed his pregnant sister in the back because she took away his X-Box. His mother had told his sister to take it away because he did not do some chore or something like that. There were Cops all over the place for a few days. He is a High School senior this year but if he is like the rest of the pack he will be around for years.  Since then we call him Eddy the Knife.  

The mother and father got divorced the year we moved here. There are six kids three of them still live here most the time alone. They come and go depending on where they are wanted on warrants. The mother is a teacher for CPS and has an apartment in the city so that she can keep her job in the Chicago school system and may be gone for weeks at a time. The kids float from there to here. The dad lives in town but I don’t think he can go to the house. The place is a very run down doublewide trailer with a added roof that is way over 30 years old and beat. I am amazed it is still standing. No one wil spend a dime on it till the property split is done and that won't be till the youngest is out of school. They all have police records and the sister who got stabbed has two kids from a guy in jail. One is two and the other is a newborn. Bet they are living on the goverment dime.

Sad story all the way around. Mother has a degree and father has a double degree. So much for higher education.

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

Hello again.

Nice day so far. Nothing to report.

[Hudson#685]

Good Morning, 38 and wet at the Jersey Shore. Went to bed and it was a wet heavy snow. Turned to rain and all is gone. The wind died down finally. They had non mandatory evacuations for coastal towns.

Today it is help the wife dedecorate the store then go and unclog a drain for Mom.

Jack; Doray did enjoy her "Birthday Weekend". To keep me out of the dog house, we went to a Depression Glass Show on Saturday and of course she got some glass there. Trade Shows on Sunday and Tuesday, but the BIG ONE is the trip to Ford's Jewelers for a new wedding ring. Whoops to quote her, "My Birthday Month". I also bought her some more Depression Glass on Ebay. A nice distraction when train stuff comes. I just tell her it is a surprise for "Birthday Month" and I have to wrap it first. Then I have something stashed and I give it to her wrapped later. It is a funny game we play. I ask her what came for her and she will tell me that it is a surprise for me. The surprise is that it is scrapbooking stuff for her!

Kev: Did you expect anything else from that kid!

Douddagrump: I am still laughing! Thanks

Doug M: COOL PHOTO! Thanks

Pat: Following your lead on a whole house generator. We have natural gas lines in the street now. So we are planning on switching over to gas and have the generator installed at the same time on the budget plan.

Ryan: BACK

Elliot: Nice to meet you.

Have a Great Day!

John

[sir james I]

Temp is 33, with a cloudy sky

Granny made BLTs this morning with a tasteless store bought tomato. Oh well the bacon was good. We are heading out to check the new Harbor Freight store that opened nearby. We should have gone there yesterday, BEFORE the grocery shopping :)....S.J.

[wrmcclellan]

Morning all!

Elliott - nice to see you back in action and moving forward again. Also saw you got some help Witt the layout! Looks like great fun! Will check on your progress over on the OGR!

Question? WHAT IS A SNOWBLOWER?

Pat - yes generators are good. We have one at our lake house. Last summer a tree fell across the power lines during a huge wind storm and since the population density is low we are last on the list to get restored. Ours runs off natural gas.

Going to be a very nice day today - 70's and sunny 

Jeffrey and Doug M - great photos!

LAZ - we actually had a couple of French fries with our salt. 

The wife and I stopped using salt many years ago. Don't even have it on the dinner table. Only add a bit to certain recipes.

Ryan - Welcome back!

DougdaG - hmmmm. I&O'S in LV? That means $10 cab ride one way and $10 for a burger....

Have a great day all!

[LawsonFarmsRR]

RockIsland52

LawsonFarmsRR

RockIsland52

Pat.......you've got 12"?  That is impressive. 

Jack

Jack - Not quite 12", only 9". But the new whole house generator is working great! First time we have used it. We are warm, watching TV and using the computers. Why did I take so long to get the generator??

Pat

Pat........I said the same thing about getting the snowblower.  I kept telling myself I needed the exercise.  That procrastination caused some permanent damage to my elbows, overdoing it with snow removal and ice chopping the Winter I got 120+ inches of what FIFE aptly calls "white death."  It could have been worse, a heart attack. 

Better late than never I say.  I'll bet you have more than one neighbor sitting in the dark and cold, cursing themselves yet again.  Self sufficiency no matter what Mother Nature throws at you is actually comforting.  

Jack

Jack- 26 hours now the electricity has been out. My neighbors I expect are fuming. The only one we have had contact with is my son and his family who live on the farm. The are down here frequently for showers and a hot meal. The generator is very comforting!

BTW you were talking about 12" of "white death", correct?

RT - don't wait to long. As soon as you can, get the generator. $800.00 is doable!

Pat

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

It is finally not snowing in SE Indiana.  Got to sleep on the way to work this morning.  Jeffrey, that is one awesome Rock Island engine.   Could be interesting days at work still.  TBIL and I can drive after Glee.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[KRM]

Good morning boys from The North Bluff,

I got to go to the post office as soon as they open and send out some more Briggs & Stratton FH parts. Stuff is selling well and I have made some train money.

Nice to meet you Elliot. You have one heck of a project going there. I thought I was overwhelmed. 

Brent, The granddaughter has the ear tubes. They WORK! Did that link I posted help with the door card?

Ryan, I like the picture of your cat pal. He looks like George. I am looking forward to the link of the video.

Jack, When I was young and my mom passed they did not let my brother or I go to the services but I was just six and Rex was eight and she had been sick for over a year. She had prepared us for what was coming as best she could. When our grandma died and I was 10 and Rex was 12 we went. What you did with the granddaughter was the best way to do it. IMHO

[jeffrey-wimberly]

RockIsland52

rtraincollector

........I have a single stall engine house coming so thinking of spray painting a lite tan where its going to sit ( the green carpet I have there) so it looks warn and dried out and add some old couplers and wheels and axles I have to the area and I have a cheap older engine 2037 which really needs work but not really worth it so may put it in there and add some rust color to the front of it where it will be sticking out and more or less make it look like an abandon engine house and engine. Has no doors so thinking of making a pair to put on it and have them like handing off and wore out.

RT........I think you just got the weathering maestro Jeffrey's totoal attention.

Jack

I'd really like to see that.

[RockIsland52]

lion88roar

Got some good news.... Matthew is being admitted to daycare 1 day early! This means he will start on 3/18, the day after my birthday, and the last day TheQ has off from work - and the day I took off to 'relax' now it certainly will be relaxing - we plan on sleeping all day.

ROOKIE!!!!!!!  You are now entering the parental phase when you learn that you cannot plan anything this far in advance.  One, the other, or both little ones will come down with something, have to stay home, and dash any fleeting hopes you and the Q may have had catching up on sleep.  The following week will find the two of you self-treating some sort of crud.

Jack

[lion88roar]

Big_Boy_4005

Hi gang!

I got an email from the Cheif yesterday. Yes, the rumors of my return to the hobby are true. However because of the time I have been spending on layout construction, my forum time is limited. I have a topic running on that "other" forum that will bring you up to date on my six year absence and the new progress.

There is a new helix going up.

http://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/displayForumTopic/content/12129987972340381/page/1

I'll check back here from time to time.

Have fun,

Elliot

Elliot - it is with the greatest pleasure that I welcome you back to THE forum and to the hobby. You were one of the few when I joined the forum back in 2005 and your absence has been noted many times. My FiL survived two bouts with stage 3 and stage 4 melanoma and then stage 3 prostate cancer. You are an inspiration to all of us and we hope you are around for many fortuitous years to come. Great to have you back!

Your layout reminds me of my dream layout that I hope to start building when my wife and I build our dream home in a few years. Just have to get the 19mo daughter and 1mo son into school!

Nothing else seems to matter at the moment...

[RockIsland52]

rtraincollector

........I have a single stall engine house coming so thinking of spray painting a lite tan where its going to sit ( the green carpet I have there) so it looks warn and dried out and add some old couplers and wheels and axles I have to the area and I have a cheap older engine 2037 which really needs work but not really worth it so may put it in there and add some rust color to the front of it where it will be sticking out and more or less make it look like an abandon engine house and engine. Has no doors so thinking of making a pair to put on it and have them like handing off and wore out.

RT........I think you just got the weathering maestro Jeffrey's totoal attention.

Jack