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.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

RockIsland52

Jeffrey......sounds like things on the technology front have all fallen into place.

I'm getting there. I learned how to get into the control panel by one click access from the startup screen and I can shut down with one tap of a key instead of chasing through two menus to find the power icon. I'm getting more comfortable with Windows 8 but I still don't like it much.

*

Got most of the excess freight cars put away. I left two 50' boxcars on a dead end spur. In other news the ignition relay on my van gave up the ghost this morning.  It will no longer trip the starters relay. So I disconnected my starter button wire from the ignition relay and spliced it onto the trip wire for the starters relay. Works like a charm! Press the starter button and power goes from the battery to the starter relay via the starter button. It'll suffice until I get another ignition relay. I went to my fathers place to see if there was a ps2 keyboard connector to USB connector there. Nada! The only one I could find was a USB to ps2 keyboard port. Just the opposite.

Be back later.

[RockIsland52]

Greetings Y'all From Sunny and High 50s Cape Ann,

I got hornswaggled into overseeing a Comcast install (internet, phone, and cable) at my son-in-law's while he was out and about and otherwise detained. 

Was he ever surprised when I put him on the phone with the tech.  Seems his place is a humongous mass of spaghetti wiring/cable from all of the installs he and his Dad had done over the last 30 years while they were jumping around from/to virtually every cable and satellite provider known to man.  He insisted on switching yet again and now is going to be billed for a hefty install that will eradicate all of the savings he thought he would be getting by switching to Comcast. 

It took the tech about 45 minutes just to figure out which was what (basement, first floor, second floor, attic, and telephone pole) and what was live versus dead.  I have never seen so many defunct splitters and cable in my life.  Not to mention the three satellite dishes hanging off the Southern side of the house.  His house looks like a NASA radar tracking building.   Me?  I have switched providers a grand total of......well, I have never switched since I moved in here in 1988.   Comcast and whatever iterations it was in the past.   

HudsonJohn....thank you for the update on your Mom.  She's a trooper, and it sounds like happy days are here again.

Jeffrey......sounds like things on the technology front have all fallen into place.

SJ......hope Granny is feeling better.  Does this mean you are doing the cooking tonight?

Roy.......as others have said, prayers for your neighbor and his family.  When stuff like this happens at such a young age it gets me to thinking about things close to home.

RT........hope you are feeling better.  I think Banks is on to something.

JoeyD, AF Ray, and HudsonJohn.......sorry for the discourteous way the Red Sox handled the Yankees, in your yard no less.

Banks........ are you sure you are up to a weekend with the grandkids?

Brent......no rest for the wicked!!!

RJ/charliebrown........are you sure you want to get to know us better?

JimmyT.....stop spending money and time on the Mustang by spending your time not spending money and watching the Mecum auto auctions on the Velocity channel.

Chuck......thanks for putting the snow cannon away.  Today the very last of my snow melted. 

KEV.......don't you just love it when the fix (1615) turns out to be something so simple?  And cheap? 

Later, gang.

Jack

[charliebrown]

I guess I never said it yet .. sorry ...Thanks for the warm welcomes. I'm glad I found this thread. It is like one big family. It will take me awhile to learn who is who and where everyone is located. Then I'll need to learn it all over again!

Thanks for the kind comments on my dad. We missed out on allot of time together. Him and my mother divorced when I was quite young and he didn't come around much in the early years. My grandpa on my mothers side pretty much became my dad. He is the one that nicknamed me Charlie Brown. 

Kev good news on that engine. I hope to work on mine this weekend. Not sure it will happen though. I have a honey-do list as long as my arm.

I plan to start cleaning out my workshop for an area to build my layout. It was going to be in my man-cave but I figured I didn't wanna take up the space and there is no door to keep little ones out when I'm not in the basement.

Kev I watched all your vids on youtube. It gave me some ideas for my layout and how I can maybe incorporate the trestle in and still run a long train. Thanks for posting them.

[cnw1995]

Aloha. TGIF. A nice TARDIS ride last evening with the lads. Back to cold weather today. Looks like a wet weekend too. But a pleasant Friday thus far. Prayers for the many hurting and a belated Happy Birthday  to Dennis and welcome to Charlie Brown!

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

Good afternoon.

Homework for the weekend (oh joy), but still not feeling bad. Headache, and still feel a little down for an unknown reason. Hope to get the 109's paint on this weekend. Supposed to be nice, so it's a good time to do some airbrushing!

[Hudson#685]

Good Afternoon:

Gee, you miss one day here ad it takes an hour to catch up. I spent yesterday first looking at a 1968 Chevy pickup with a friend of mine. Later I went to Mom's and spent the night. She insisted on showing me where all of her documents and what she wants in her obituary when she dies. I told her that except for the cancer that is on the run, she is healthier than me. She laughed and we had dinner. She wanted pizza.

Happy Belated Birthday to Dennis!

Roy: Prayers for your neighbor and his family. 60, too close for me.

Bob: Prayers for your friend Ed.

Barry: Good Luck at the Doctors.

DougDG, Rich, RT: Get Well soon!

Kev: Good news about the 1615.

Jim, Refire: That Mustang is sounding meaner. COOL!

Brent: After reading that list of things to do, How Long Are Your Weekends?

SJ: Best wishes for a quick recovery for Granny. Happy Birthday wishes for the Kids!

AF53, Ray: A box came today, but it was for me. 2 came for Doray though, but not train related!

Have a Great Weekend!

John

[cheapclassics]

Good afternoon all,

IIABSDISEI with temps in the 60s.  Finally a nice day weatherwise.  Work has been busy.  Got a lot done so far and will try to get mostly caught up this PM.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[Banks]

Hello all,

TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Late lunch here, Two weeks from now we should be posing for photos

Clear high 20’s here this AM. 50 is predicted. Hopefully spring is finally here.

Lots o’    for those requested

Belated    to V8

Gonna be an interesting weekend. Grandkids are spending the night tomorrow

RT has any one considered asthma? My shortness of breath lead to a full battery of heart tests, including a catherization and my heart was declared fine but I still couldn’t breath. I went to a lung specialist who did more tests and was diagnosed with asthma. All though not back to normal the medication has me much better. 

Best get busy

 

Prayers for those in need

[KRM]

The little engine that refuses to is back to work hauling ore cars again! 

After a complete  tear-down it seems that there was a large accumulation of loose Photons gumming up the brushes, armature and the electromagnetic field.    It is now back in action. What a mess of gunk was in there. The brushes were sticking in the brush plate and the armature contacts were black with crud. Also when it was painted and reassembled the paint was not removed from the shell where the grounding spring makes contact to the shell for the tender hitch. They use the tender as ground for the engine so that did no help. 

Now what to do with the rest of the day?

Man am I having a bad sinus day? 

[sir james I]

Temp is 37 with sunshine. 50s today.

April 5, we have two kids with birthdays today. Not twins born six years apart. Well I guess they could be but that's a long time in the oven. Granny's not feeling well so I will just have to have another goof off day. Some sort of tummy problem. Oh wow I hope it's not another kid..

S.J.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

lion88roar

I've been so busy recovering from a massive screw up at work, then dealing with car repairs and hot water tank replacement... still have to replace the windshiled washer pump on TheQ's 5 series, do an oil change on the Murano, and I think the 5 series is complaining about the cabin filter needing to be replaced now too. Hope to finish sanding the sunroom wall this weekend, then cleanup that side, then move all the furniture to that side so I can fix the other skylight and side wall. Then I have to repaint the ceiling and then the walls... don't ask.

Fun, fun, fun! Sounds like some of my days. Getting the hot water heater here replaced was a gigantic PITA, then there was getting the power service pole replaced, then the meter box arced out and the breaker box and all the breakers had to be replaced.

[lion88roar]

jeffrey-wimberly

lion88roar

Jeffery - you may want to rethink just tossing the computer in the trash. The MoBo and PowerSupply should really be removed and taken to a recycling center. They are loaded with really bad stuff for landfills.

I would if there was one in this area that took computer parts. I've never been able to find one here.

When I lived in PA I had to call my refuse company. They didn't pick up on their own so they told me to call BestBuy... seems some will take old junk like that and deal with appropriately. Here in MD each county has at least one landfill where we can take stuff and they all appear to have recycling stations... very nice.

---
Feel like I've been squeezed through a 2 inch hole. I've been so busy recovering from a massive screw up at work, then dealing with car repairs and hot water tank replacement... still have to replace the windshiled washer pump on TheQ's 5 series, do an oil change on the Murano, and I think the 5 series is complaining about the cabin filter needing to be replaced now too. Hope to finish sanding the sunroom wall this weekend, then cleanup that side, then move all the furniture to that side so I can fix the other skylight and side wall. Then I have to repaint the ceiling and then the walls... don't ask.

Got my clearance for York! Also breakfast and dinner look like goes as well!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

lion88roar

Jeffery - you may want to rethink just tossing the computer in the trash. The MoBo and PowerSupply should really be removed and taken to a recycling center. They are loaded with really bad stuff for landfills.

I would if there was one in this area that took computer parts. I've never been able to find one here.

[KRM]

Well the sun is up,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,that is a good thing.  Colder today than yesterday on the Bluff, may hit 45.

Wow lots of  needed out there. It seems to come in groups. 

Bob for your friend ED.  I have a friend I worked with going through the same thing. He was a avid cyclist with no hair. The skin caner started on his head.  

WOW RT 100% Ins. I can barley remember when we had that. Late 70s I think, been getting worse every year since. Makes it hard when you on the fixed income thingy.  I hope they get you figured out soon.

Chief has been quiet,, I wonder how the interview went? 

I think I will take the little engine that refuses to apart today and go deeper. I hope that maybe it is something simple like a bad wire coming off the e-unit or something like that. 

Later

[lion88roar]

Jeffery - you may want to rethink just tossing the computer in the trash. The MoBo and PowerSupply should really be removed and taken to a recycling center. They are loaded with really bad stuff for landfills.

The PowerSupply can also be reused on your layout if it is still putting out power - just need a voltmeter to determine what the power coming out of each wire is.

Roy recommended this to me years ago - I just haven't had the time to really dig into that.

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill RR....

It is a cold and sunny 27 degrees. Going up to 56 today with sunshine. This global warming is cold.

Today is a busy day. I have chores to do and the wife is running errands. Lunch and a nap for sure.

Buckeye & LAZ........  TGIF

LAZ.... As someone asked me..." How can a team with 14 hits lose a ballgame??"  Indians pitching was not good. Too many runners left stranded on base.

Dining car is here with Cheerios for breakfast.

Y'all have a great Friday.

Chuck

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 42° with 100% humidity. The high will be 72°.


Today I have some freight cars to put away, about eight of them. I may leave a couple on the layout for a while. There's still computer related stuff to clear away, screws, wires, small circuit boards, etc. Maybe later I'll be able to run a train or two. I may have to get my left thumb checked out. I popped it out of joint somehow last night. I popped it back in this morning after discovering it. It seems all right, no swelling or anything. Time will tell. If it gives me a problem I'll have the doc look at it.

[laz 57]

Hi GUYZ,

  29 here and getting up to 58.  Got PT done now walk to river then work in the yarden.

CHUCK, TRIBE lost. Oh well there goes the season of perfection.

ROY,

RT

DOUGDAGRUMP

DEVIL

With all these flying around we should be taken care of?

CHUCK & BUCKEYE, TGIF!!!

Stay frosty my friends,

laz57

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

Good morning.

Same as usual. Feeling kinda down though. Why? Not real sure, hope to be over it by this afternoon.

[rtraincollector]

Kevin my insurance pays 100% so I'm good . In about a year or so they will probably look at replacing my difibrilator and that will be cover. ( I know I'm one of the lucky ones and count my blessing on that for sure)

Well time to start work talk later 

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

Sun but a little cooler today...still another dry day for us!!

Got another doc appointment to attend to today...see about my white blood cell count....hopefully nothing else shows up....then it is off to find a few things that disappeared in our house...again..

Bob:  For Ed as well...

[Demay]

Konbanwa,

I wonder if this warm weather is now here to stay.  It probably hit the high-60s today and the sun was shining all day.  I think it may rain tomorrow which stinks since we need to start getting the yard in order.  The workday progressed nicely and I finished a bunch of administrative work.  I’m not sure what our plans are for the night. 

Dougdagrump – I’m glad you are feeling better.

Rich – I hope they find out what ails you soon.  Same for you RT. 

Kev – I hope you get the loco issue fixed.  I enjoyed the video you posted the other day.

AF Ray and Jack – Yes, thankfully the Yankees got a win.  Petite looked pitched strong as well.

I’ll pray for all of us in need, especially those who have lost a loved one.

Sayonara,

Joe

[submmbob]

Hello all

Got a number of things done today, especially considering my first day off I usually just sleep. Hair cut, car washed, picked up mail, dropped off taxes, and even made it to the LHS. No train stuff, just painting supplies.

Stopped by a friends house on the way back who I had been out of touch w/ for a while. Well his skin cancer came back and is now bone cancer as well. He went thru chemo yesterday and is having a rough time. Please keep my friend Ed in your prayers.

RT - take care buddy.

Rich - you too, have they done any gall bladder tests yet? I went thru some pretty weird stuff a few years back and after a 1 1/2 years that's what it was. A common issue which is seemingly often not considered.

Kev - engines just don't seem to like you I'd check the brushes and commutator too. If it does end up being a pinion gear they can be replaced. I did one on the Marx 999 and even have a nifty little puller. Motor eventually found it's way back to Tucson btw. Hopefully we can get the dockside-lined moving again.

Hopefully we will finish assembling my buddies Daewoo tomorrow. I love a challenge.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Well I didn't get the old computer out the door today. Maybe tomorrow. I got most of the salvaged parts put away. A powered 4-port USB hub that's made to fit in a 3.5" bay, three EIDE hard drives (80G, 6.5G and 8G), two port USB add-on board and a two port USB add-on that plugs onto the main board USB jacks. I may be able to reuse them at some point. I put the 80G drive in an external USB drive case and have it hooked up to the computer. I've been transferring my favorites bookmarks from it to my Firefox bookmarks.

I took the DVD drive apart and salvaged three small can motors.


The computer case with the media center, media center harness, power supply, main board and Zip drive will be going out with the trash.

Time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.

[dougdagrump]

Evenin' All.

RT, Be careful, hopefully they can figure out the problem soon.

Boy, now this would be the way to catch your limit,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EehujHwR70w&feature=player_embedded#! 

[AF53]

Good Evening All!

Just sitting here after a Yankee win catching up on the posts while running my 1950 AF Loco #290 pulling a 1953 crane,  1949 searchlight and lastly 1947 operating side dump car. The only lights that are on are from the layout. Just the sound of the chuff chuff and the cars going by is as good as it gets. 

RT & Dougnotagrump - Easy there guys, Be careful and feel better soon.

HudsonJohn - No new boxes yet? What, you didn't order anything lately?

CharlieBrown - to this motley crew of ours. As you can read we have a lot of fun here and every once in awhile some interesting stories.

V8 - and many more!

JoeD & RIJack - Mo finally was put to some good use. FINALLY!

[KRM]

Thanks Roy,  Sorry about your friend and neighbor. Charlie B and Roy, Way too young. My dad went at 66 years old 4 days before he would of been 67. in 1991

The 1615 is what it is, just my luck.   Maybe I will get lucky tomorrow when I take it apart again. I just tried to start it up under no car load and ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Nope. 

[RedfireS197]

RT,

       

charliebrown,

                         

[blownout cylinder]

rtraincollector

To be honest today has been a little crazy went into work to come home because of having hard time catching my breath this has been going on for a while seems to be getting worst. They can't really find anything. Chest hurts also. so went to ER again ( went the first time back on 19th of March) They think its acid reflux ( the first time thought to much liquid in me also ) any way I understand where acid reflux could cause chest pains but not the shortness of breath ( Dennis where are you when we need you Buddy)

anyway I still feel tightness in chest tonight and it seem to get worst with any exertion. IE walking to hand out trays handing out trays ( let alone if I have to push one of those carts)

Then in the mail I get a letter from the V.A. ( well let me back up a few months) back around the early fall S.C. came out with that there computers been compromised well today get a letter that one of the laptops which had my last name last 4 and maybe even date of birth was stolen from the V.A. and it had 7200 patients info on it that went Thur cardiology. here we go again.

Just been sitting around today relaxing as had a rough night last night almost went into the ER actually thought of calling for a ride in the big white boxes they have around here.

Hope there is an answer to that issue!! In my case my heart did have some fluid build up around it..do take care!!

Good Evening

Got all kinds of outdoor work today...as well as w**k w**k Even found a bit of train time in that lot as well... 

Going to be an early evening here...have a good night all!!

[wrmcclellan]

RT and DougNottaG - please take care and feel better soon. Doug you may need a good dose of your chili!

Chuck - hang in there Tribe!

KEV -  1615 - that is aggravating  - emergency rooms too 

CharlieB - sorry about your dad and grandfather. My father passed at  67.