Coffee Pot #4 APRIL 2013 TEN 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.

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

Good evening. 

Did plenty of scholarship form and application filling out today. Hand is sore. Ah well. Also successfully added songs to my Nokia. Pain to figure it out, but after seeing how it automatically loaded up over 100 songs (most of them favorites of mine), I figured it was worth it. 

Getting late. School again tomorrow. Night everyone. 

[KRM]

Jake good to see you are doing good.

 MikeC, Good to see AJ's team do something after all of these years. Sorry to see the top 4 teams are NOT American teams, why I don't follow it anymore. To Un-American racing for me.  At least that is what I have understood Chief would think .  JMHO.  And I will quit NASCAR to when it is all Toyota.

Have a good night guys.

[sir james I]

The temp is 42

I haven't opened my new engine yet so  can't give you a report on how it sounds. If you have ever even thought about going to York you gotta do it. Meet the guys from the pot, the guys from Kalmbach, go to Strasburg and see the real RR, the Pennsy RR museum, the TCA toy train museum, the Choo-Choo barn layout, and the Manufacture's presentations. but most of all meet the guys, it's always like we've know each other for years. Then grab some banilla and crash for the night...S.J.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Looks like tonight will be nice. Mostly clear and 52.

I got some of the stuff on the layout put away. Not much but it's progress. A little while later the space was taken up by the electrical stuff from the doll house as I was inventorying my gains. Said house by the way is gone. My father took it to Wal-Mart and gave it away. He said he would have been happier if the electric stuff was in it and I told him the stuff is in better hands right where it is. I'll actually use it instead of give it to a kid to destroy or lose. It seems to me that very few take proper care of something that's given to them. Got a doctor appointment to go to tomorrow morning. General checkup and lab work. More needles. Oh joy!

Y'all reckon Slim there can pick up that thar wrench?


Well, time to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.

[AF53]

sir james I

If you have ever even thought about going to York you gotta do it. Meet the guys from the pot, the guys from Kalmbach, go to Strasburg and see the real RR, the Pennsy RR museum, the TCA toy train museum, the Choo-Choo barn layout, and the Manufacture's presentations. but most of all meet the guys, it's always like we've know each other for years. Then grab some banilla and crash for the night.

I second that!

[wrmcclellan]

Hi Guys!

Back safely from York! Had a great time with the 'Pot team! Breakfast Friday at Round the Clock Diner was great! Big turnout! Great that Ryan was able to stop in and go to work a bit late. Photo shoot followed by Ice Cream from New Joy-see (inc Banilla!) was a real treat and surprise! Thanks Doray, Hudson John, & John Jr! SJ was in great spirits and John (JEFelectric) and I got to spend some time with SJ when we were taking a break from walking around Sat. I should note that Charlie was taking a nap in the car according to SJ!

I bought just a couple of things: A Lionel repo dealer sign/clock with orange neon from Lou Palumbo (Orange Hall - Underground Railroad Shoppe & "Views from the Underground" column in CTT - BTW Lou is a great guy and the TCA Orange Hall Captain), a MPC acquarium car (only $40 and with box - gold lettering perfect!), some of the new Lionel telephone poles, a couple of Z-Stuff semaphore signals, and a near mint Marx plastic water tower w/box (to replace the one I received back in the 60's from my now deceased cousin and which got damaged in a house move).

to those in need.

Have to head out on a business trip tomorrow evening so will be back in touch next weekend.

Have a great evening all!

 

 

[8ntruck]

Back from a quick trip to Michigan.  I made it to the middle of Illinois Thursday night, and woke up to snow flurries on Friday.  They continued through Saturday.  I wen t to a reunion Friday night of folks I worked with 35 years ago when I started my carrier and visited mom on Saturday.  Seems I spent more time traveling than visiting!

This trip takes me across the Missouri, the Mississippi, and  the Illinois rivers.  All of them were very high.  Most minor creeks and rivers were also over their banks into the adjoining fields too.

No train stuff though.

 

All for now.

[ChiefEagles]

Good night all.

Wifey home from Church retreat.

Yankee cold tonight.  No frost but mighty cold.  Keeping tomato plants in greenhouse instead of planting in garden [way past planting time normally].

KEV, my 97 Chevy Silverado with Vortec 350 has 130,000 miles.  Had buddy pull intake as they usually have cracked intake gaskets and leak coolant.  It had a slight crack but no signs of internal leak to cylinders.  Found radiator pressure cap with cracked gasket.  He pressure tested and held pressure for over 24 hours.  Now I hope it runs for 130,000 more miles.  I did the interior [cloth seats and carpet] cleaning the other week at the lake house.  Looks almost like a new truck inside.  Exterior is in excellent shape too.  In the past, one waterpump, one set of rotors and one alternator.  So, Chevy's will last.  

CBS still whinning about the Senate voting down gun control.

Sleep tight.

[submmbob]

Hello all

Got the Daewoo back together and need to chase down some wiring gremlins. One problem w/ working on this thing piecemeal like we did. It'll get there though.

Jake - congrats. Hope there's a scholarship coming your way!

Chief  - our best truck is a '98 Chevy. A tough life often driven  by idiots (been in 4WD many times on the highway) and is 200K and still going.

Glad to hear everyone had a good trip to York and is safely home.

Spent some time organizing the storage unit today. Now I can get to the tool locker and workbench w/o moving the bike, bench stool, compressor, etc.

The SF dockside should be here tomorrow.

Ran the Marx 999 tonight. First time w/ the State of Maine boxcar in tow. The house cat isn't too sure what to make of it

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

Good morning.

Not doing that good this morning. Real tired right now. Little sick.

[RockIsland52]

Good Mornin' Y'all From Sunny And Seasonal Taxachusetts,

More yard work scheduled for later today trying to get the lawn rolling. The canadian geese seem to be in hiding, must have given up using my yard as their private restaurant and water closet.  Maximus' harassment helps but I think the arrival of a white crane and a pair of white swans is the ticket......they are not tolerant of geese but leave the ducks alone.

8N.......read with interest your post on your trip up and back from Michigan.  Hope your Mom is doing well.  Re the Mississippi, Missouri, and the Illinois Rivers.......the weather guy on GMA said 41 rivers are at or over flood stage in the Midwest.  Prayers for those folks.  Those rains DougM talked about really covered a lot of geography and a lot of folks are getting wiped out.   

Wecome home, Yorkies!  I was glad SJ was able to keep some of you in line and bail out the rest.  The rest of us are anxious to see what you bought us.

Jake.......hope that is a "good" tired based on the school work you have been doing and the scholarship quest.

SJ.......did Granny eat up all of your banilla in your absence?

Jeffrey......my wife bought our eldest granddaughter a dollhouse a couple of years ago, assembled it with much difficulty, then outfitted it.  She decided that it will last the ravages of grandchildren by putting it on a table with rollers in our dining room and policing the playtime from a not so near distance.  Victoria and Gabriella play with it every Saturday, are required to maintain order.  Biggest problem is that a lot of the house contents are teeny tiny and wind up in the vacuum cleaner or Grampt the Giant steps on them in his bare feet..

Chief.....your weather comments and the delayed tomato plant plantings have me concerned about MY shipment this year.  

MikeC.......based on your very excited reaction to the Indy car race results in Long Beach yesterday, I think you must have had big money bet on AJ's team.

Bob.........I think the Daewoo is haunted.

Later, gang.  Coffee is calling me.

Jack

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill RR....

It is a sunny 37 degrees. Going up to a sunny 65.

Today is a busy day. I have a few chores to do and a big paperwork project to start working on. Busy until lunch.  Then, a nice nap.

Dining car is here with Cheerios for breakfast.

Indians have won two games in a row.  White Sox tonite.

Y'all have a great Monday.

Chuck

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

IIABSDISEI with temps reaching the 60s today.  Kev, I hear you on the lack of American drivers, but Ryan Hunter-Reay did win the championship last year and AJ himself will have an American driver, Connor Daly, at Indy and maybe some other races.  Jack, no financial investment, but a huge emotional one.  I first watched AJ in a sprint car race at Salem, Indiana in 1961 when I was 6 years old, and my family followed him ever since 1958.   He was THE driver in the 60s and 70s and even won some sports car races in the 80s during his "declining" years.  Even in the twilight of his career, he sat on the front row at Indy in 1991.  His team had a brief renaissance in the late 90s when the IRL started up, but has not been a factor for several years.  His son, Larry, deserves major credit for rebuilding the team and making it competitive again.  TBIL and I can drive with major barrel rolls tonight.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[charliebrown]

It's a frosty one out there today. Currently 34 and going to low 60's.

Glad to hear everybody made it back safe from York. I'll have to work on going to that. Maybe even get the wife to go. She likes to sight see and sounds like there is enough there to keep her busy. Probably a few years off though.

Speaking of the wife. It is our 24th wedding anniversary today and I have nothing yet as far as a gift! Maybe I'll get her a new Williams engine and let her run it on my layout.  Of course this would be my last anniversary if I do that.

I have one section of platform almost finished. I think once I get this one done the rest will be much easier.

All for now from the thumb of Mi ... Have a great day

[KRM]

Humm, twice in two days a post has just blown away in the middle of typing it. Well I am not starting over. I thought that was a IE thing but these two times have been with Chrome. Must be the CTT site  guardians kicking me off. 

RJ, Congrats on  the 24th wedding anniversary today. 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

KRM

Humm, twice in two days a post has just blown away in the middle of typing it. Well I am not starting over. I thought that was a IE thing but these two times have been with Chrome. Must be the CTT site  guardians kicking me off. 

Type up your post in Notepad or as a text document in the word processor document of your choice, save it in a temp file then simply copy and paste it into the reply box here. If if vanishes before you can post all you have to do is copy and paste again. When you're done with it just delete the temp file or save over it next time.

[lion88roar]

Mornin' Fellas

Hope to have the CTT pic from York posted either tonight or tomorrow. Had a nice trip to York - for the first time ever I did not go over my budget!

Had a nice talk with the fellas from Lionel. And and even nicer talk with Matthew from MNP Inc. He has, what I consider, the most promising track cleaning car on the market. I told TheQ about it and that I want one for Christmas this year. If anyone is interested check out http://www.mnpinc.com I have to say this is one product I can't wait to see in action on the layout.

I bought Christina and Matthew a gondola with 'DINOSAURS' painted in pastels across the side, included 3 'large' and 4 small dinos. This car was a major hit with Christina! Also bought 2 sets of cut stone wings... upon further review I needed 3! So I will be placing an order with SceneryExpress in a day or so. Also bought a blank caboose shell and some hobos for the 'life under the bridge scene'.

Had an incredibly good time at breakfast with Mr & Mrs Banks! Always a pleasure to talk with them. The remind me a lot of my aunts/uncles/and grand parents.

Great to see the 'gang' for the photo op... seems Carl forgot about us and took a trip to visit some vendors. Hope Kent had a safe trip home. HudsonJohn - thanks again for the ice cream, and that is one fine young man you are raising!

Had a wonderful time walking the grounds with Fife. At dinner I dawned on my who he reminds me of... Stokes on CSI: Las Vegas... I'm beginning to believe that twice a year is just not enough time. Had a great time at 'dinner' and thank you again for paying... that was totally unnecessary. I was very happy to have new tires for the trip home. Been a long time since I've driven in a driving rain like that! Saw two accidents on my way to York and 5 on the way home. People simply need to slow down when it is raining!

Spent Saturday painting the last wall in the sunroom, then watched the PSU Blue/White game with Christina... we then took a nap till TheQ returned home from her sorority luncheon. It was then off to dinner and icecream.

Yesterday I took Christina down to the basement to do some train garden work. I was able to fix a few spots, pics to come this Sunday. Christina found some 'new to her' toys that kept her occupied for 2+ hours. It was fun having her down there with me while I worked, and not have to worry about her getting into stuff that could hurt her, so maybe now TheQ will let us go down there more often... Got the rest of the trim work painted yesterday during Christina's nap and got the table put back that was in the basement since Christmas. Hope to get the floor mopped and the rest of the furniture and rugs put back tonight... then it will be cleaning the house for my parents' arrival on Friday.

As for the events of last week... I don't think we know, nor will we ever know, what really transpired. I'm thankful the kid was caught because there is no telling how miuch more devastation/terror he and his brother would have caused. As for how it went down... IMHO - text book operation by The FBI, Boston PD, and other local LE agencies. If you don't agree - I don't care... share your feelings with the family of Officer Collier and the 3 people who needlessly lost their lives a week ago today.

[cnw1995]

Aloha from a sunny and cold Chicago. York sure sounded like it was a good time for everyone. I love hearing who met whom and what was purchased. Celebrated our anniversary a bit early yesterday by going to see South Pacific. Hadn't seen it in almost 25 years. A great show. Rolled over 150K with the van earlier this weekend too on the way to returning the college boy to college. Fortunately, he's over his bug. May the van keep going. 
Brent, thanks for the link. I'm always looking for track-cleaning cars / ideas. 
8ntruck, welcome to the Land of Lincoln, as it said on the license plates. Sorry it is cold. Promise it will be dry today for your trip northwest. 
RJ, what a coincidence. Today is our 24th anniversary as well. 

Here's something we all need in our backyards: http://www.neatorama.com/2013/04/21/Steampunk-Locomotive-Barbecue-Grill/ 

[cnw1995]

Roy's new Lionel display reminded me - Here's a free poster you can download too. Santa Fe.

http://www.freevintageposters.com/2013/04/every-inch-chief-santa-fe-vintage-train.html

[MichRR714]

wrmcclellan

I should note that Charlie was taking a nap in the car according to SJ!

I confess, It's true ! 

[Hudson#685]

Good Morning, 46, sunny and windy. It dropped into the 30's last night. Wood stove was going in April.

Doray and I are glad that everyone enjoyed the ice cream. There will be more for October.

Jack: Mack goes back to the vet at 1pm. I will let you know the outcome. The good sign is that he has been his normal playful self. The vet is hoping that it was a flawed test.

Chief: Prayers for Joe and his wife.

Jeffrey: It is a shame about your Mom's doll house. I can see that a lot of work went into it. Too bad that a family member could not have finished and preserved it.

Enjoy the Day!

John

[sir james I]

The temp is 41 with bright sun.

Congrats to Doug M. and RJ, both having 24th anniversaries today.

Brent glad you found something for Christina.

I gave the new WBB GP30 a quick test run this morning before posting, It sounds good for what it is but needs to be a little louder. It has a volume control on the sound board but I'm nowhere near that point yet. i didn't look at what it takes to open eer up. I keep a good supply of banilla on hand so there was still some left when I got home..S.J.

[KRM]

Take two,
Thanks Jeffery, seems like a lot of trouble but better than having it just flash and be gone.
Bright and sunny, going to maybe hit 70 today. I will mow grass this afternoon.
MikeC, When I was a kid I followed AJ and always liked the way he told it the way it is. I did not watch the Kansas race yesterday and don’t yet know who won. If you want to know anything about racing you won’t find out from Chicago TV. It gets little to NO coverage. 
Jack, 8N is right a lot of water grief around here. I was in Ottawa on Saturday morning and that is where the fox runs into the Illinois river. The Fox was so high that the water level was above the bottom of the Rock Island / now CSX bridge that crosses the Fox and so the water was blowing around the bridge. A mess 
Chief, It is good to know that your Siliverado is going strong. That 350 was always a good engine. Mine has the newer 5.3 that would be 323CI and it is also a proven engine. Rust is the deciding factor around here on the life of a car or truck. 
Sounds like all of you guys had a good time and scored some nice stuff.
Fife. I would like to see pictures of that general. I have wanted one for a long time but don’t hear anything good about the new ones from Lionel.
Bob, Good luck with the SantaFe Dockside.
DougM, Congrats on the 24th wedding anniversary today also.
John, good luck at the vet I hope they figure something out for Mack. 
Brent, Nice looking track cleaning car. Will they work on conventional operation? 

Chief Next CBS will want us to get a background check to buy a pressure cooker. 
Later.

[ChiefEagles]

Morning all.  Been up early.  Friend Fred came and went to Hardees for a pork chop and gravy biscuit.  Downloaded a big update from Microsoft.  Suddenly have spell check on here.   Been running it a different way.

Got down to 38 this AM but big breeze.  High today will be 60.  Clouds have moved in.  Warmer this week but not the usual late April temps.  Yanks will not give up.

Fred and I did a stealth operation into the pond area.  As I had been telling everyone, dammed up the spillway and water has flooded the sewer line in the main path.  They have dammed up the creek and made another pond.  The dam is probably five feet high and 30+ feet long.  Then down the creek in a narrow spot, another small dam.  I think it goes like this: "Busy as a beaver."  City of Raleigh Public Utilities big pickup was met on School Street headed to the pond.  Wonder how they knew????   Will take a lot of work to remove the spillway dam as mud and grass with some big sticks.   Problem is, they will probably remove the dam instead of the owner.  Also, beavers have built a lodge in the dam of the pond.  Unless you remove the beavers, they will rebuild faster than you can destroy it. 

Have a good week.  Thanks to all of you hard workers for paying my SS.

Kev, this software will eat my posts too.

Later.

Here is a good one my son sent me.  Play the dash camera video.

http://www.policeone.com/Officer-Safety/articles/6194812-One-cops-Not-Today-attitude-ends-a-gunmans-multi-state-shooting-spree/?source=newsletter&nlid=6198334 

[lion88roar]

KRM

Brent, Nice looking track cleaning car. Will they work on conventional operation? 

Yes. The cars pickup power from the track and supply that to the motors. The advantage that TMCC operation gives you is the track power is always 18 - 20volts, the motor speed is then controlled as the engine speed of the assigned engine number. In conventional the voltage is whatever you are sending to the engine.

So in TMCC you can run your MOW train at a slow speed around the track and have the discs spinning at a higher RPM.

In conventional if you are running the train at slow speed the discs will spin slowly as well.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

ChiefEagles

Problem is, they will probably remove the dam instead of the owner.  Also, beavers have built a lodge in the dam of the pond.  Unless you remove the beavers, they will rebuild faster than you can destroy it. 

Down here a few well placed dynamite charges accomplishes both goals at the same time. The beavers can't rebuild if they ain't kicking.

[Banks]

Hello all,

Clear & verrry cool 27 this AM

  for those still suffering the effects of Boston and Waco. ‘nuff said about that

Made it back from York Saturday night.

Congas to Doug & CB on 24 years of marital bliss

Mrs & I had a great time with the POT gang. 1^st Breakfast then later shooting the S**t and posing for photos. Better yet………… the ICE CREAM. On a side note, did any body catch the looks we were getting as we all trooped through the grounds to Hudson’s truck?

I even bought a couple of things while there.

Due to the storms Mrs & I made our dinner of Mountain Pies over a burner on the stove inside the camper. Saturday morning was lazy as we packed up to leave. Then a trip to the QVC outlet at Lancaster with a stop at the Strasburg Train Shop in the same complex,(there I found some HO Thomas stuff at a good price) and a couple of other stores. We capped that off with a visit to KFC before heading west.

Sunday PM found me replacing some rotten fence posts. It’s time to let the cows out (finally)

 

 

Prayers for those in need

[KRM]

lion88roar

KRM

Brent, Nice looking track cleaning car. Will they work on conventional operation? 

Yes. The cars pickup power from the track and supply that to the motors. The advantage that TMCC operation gives you is the track power is always 18 - 20volts, the motor speed is then controlled as the engine speed of the assigned engine number. In conventional the voltage is whatever you are sending to the engine.

So in TMCC you can run your MOW train at a slow speed around the track and have the discs spinning at a higher RPM.

In conventional if you are running the train at slow speed the discs will spin slowly as well.

Thanks Brent. That make the TMCC operation a lot better for the car. 

[lion88roar]

Kev - the car operates more 'effeciently' in TMCC, but not 'better'. You would just have to run it more frequently in conventional mode vs TMCC.

I honestly cannot wait to get this car. When I was talking to TheQ about it her first response was 'You don't already have one?' No - because most of them require the use of a cleaning solution and some of those aren't great for your track. Other dry cleaning cars are based off a 'roller' concept or a 'one strip per rail' concept, both reduce the effectiveness of the pad, and rely on gravity to keep the roller in contact with the rails.

The MNP car has spring loaded mounts, and the disc holders are a dense, pliable material, so with the downward spring pressure the holder keeps the pad firmly against the rails.

I have never cleaned my track since I started building the layout some 5+ years ago, so I would imagine the rails are pretty dirty by now (from the moderate operation and construction).

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

Good afternoon.

VERY hungry now. Don't have to work, so I get to go home and GORGE myself!

Also, something happened in gym today. We were playing flag football, at least until this happened for a second. One person was rushing down the field with the ball at a fast pace. I just happened to be in front...........................and WHAM! He falls to the ground and I am barely phased. Took him a little bit to get up, but thankfully, he wasn't hurt. Should also mention that it wasn't intentional......................................

..............................or was it?