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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. Locked

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KRM
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Posted by KRM on Friday, April 26, 2013 6:35 PM

rtraincollector

All shook up tonight monday befor last house burnt tonight the house across the street burnt. Don't know how much more of this I can stand niether of these houses are more than 80 feet from mine. Sad

RT,  Where I come from, and I think where SJ is from they call that urban renewal.  Laugh Keep your eyes open and be safe. Confused

 No train news. Worked in the yard most of the day. Mowed the northeast lot but the south side is tooooo wet. Maybe Sunday.

 Have a good night. 

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Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL. Whistling

 

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Posted by RedfireS197 on Friday, April 26, 2013 6:29 PM

rtraincollector

All shook up tonight monday befor last house burnt tonight the house across the street burnt. Don't know how much more of this I can stand niether of these houses are more than 80 feet from mine. Sad

RT,

       That would be scary.  I probably wouldn't be able to sleep for a long time after something like that. 

Jim

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Posted by Zero Export on Friday, April 26, 2013 6:21 PM

RT one but two.....    I understand the anxiety 

Ryan

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Posted by rtraincollector on Friday, April 26, 2013 5:35 PM

All shook up tonight monday befor last house burnt tonight the house across the street burnt. Don't know how much more of this I can stand niether of these houses are more than 80 feet from mine. Sad

Life's hard, even harder if your stupid  John Wayne

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Friday, April 26, 2013 3:15 PM

I've been doing some more work on the Pathmark GP40. I straightened the short hood handrails, mounted handrails on both sides of the long hood and replaced the front handrail. I also mounted coupler cut levers on the front and rear. The next time I get such a wild idea to add such details to an old model like this will somebody please smack me with a 2x4?





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Posted by submmbob on Friday, April 26, 2013 3:00 PM

Hello all

Still too many people here at the telescope. I'm hiding in the electronics shop right now.

Just a couple more days and we are off to New Mexico w/ all its attendant problems I'm sure. But it should be interesting and that's what they pay me for.

Working a bit of a different schedule so I haven't had a chance to try out the docksider yet.

Need to figure out how much money I don't have after last week and order that wheel cylinder.

Heard about a big factory fire in Bangladesh today on the radio. Sad.

Sounds like the kitchen has cleared out. Time to go find some breakfast.

Bob

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Posted by RockIsland52 on Friday, April 26, 2013 2:37 PM

Ray.....although I wished her a Happy B-Day already, I hope your better half enjoyed the night out and the upcoming family celebration this weekend.Angel  Did she love the brandy new engines you bought her? Whistling  I can't believe that your wife admitted to missing any of the questions on her driver's license test because now you can tease her to death. Laugh 

I very much have enjoyed your accounts of your son's East coast road trip.  Many years ago my sisters and family made a similar trip 350 miles North from Chicago for a family reunion.  It was not too far from my deceased grandparents' homestead in Rib Lake Wisconsin (up by Rhinelander between Routes 51 and 13). 

So I suggested we take a detour to see what the old place looked like.  Everyone in my family was mortified that I would go up and ring the doorbell, thinking these folks didn't know us from Adam and would not take kindly to our stop.  I spent many a Summer there in my youth and remember with fondness many wonderful times there.  Of course, the family living there were quite accomodating.  And if they weren't, who cares? Stick out tongue

Jack

IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.

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Posted by Zero Export on Friday, April 26, 2013 1:37 PM

Afternoon

RJ just what type of work do you do that entails getting in that type of situation?

I saw some thing on TV last night   SHRIMP and GRITS   apparently they eat that

a nice 70 ish degrees today

My buddy is breaking ground on his new house tommorow , and since he works for a huge  excavation company , he had them "Just bring One of Everything" out to the site. 

Gonna get started early and play on heavy equiptment all day. of coarse we'll be having some Beer while were doing it

slow day at work today.  I've seen funeral homes busier on a friday than we are today

Ryan

 

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Posted by SPMan on Friday, April 26, 2013 1:06 PM

Good morning all,

Buckeye, congratulations on passing the stone.  I know how they hurt as I have had several over the years.  No fun!

Went with wife yesterday to get her drivers license renewed.  She passed the test Ok but was worried since it has been five years since she did the last one.  Only questions she missed were non driving related questions. I.e about smoking with children in cars, drinking etc.

We celebrated her birthday which was yesterday also by going out to dinner last night at the Outback.  Had steak and coconut shrimp for appetizer.  They gave us free desert for her birthday.  We will celebrate with the entire family on the weekend.

My adult son traveling in the East finished his visit in Jacksonville, N.C. yesterday and headed North to visit my brother and some more cousins of his in Suffolk, Va.  Said he went fishing with cousin in N.C. but only caught two fish.  However he said it was a beautiful day and they had fun.  He found the place where my grandparents lived which I have not seen in over 60 years.  A little place called Pinetown, N.C. between Washington N.C. and Plymouth, N.C.  The original Norfolk and Southern Railway went through there.  It is where a branch line takes off from the main and he saw a train there and took some photos.  The depot is long gone but a short line railroad services the area now.  The old NS discontinued through service from Norfolk to Raleigh and Charlotte before the line was bought by the Southern Railway which is now part of the present day Norfolk Southern.  They had a 5 mile long trestle over the Albemarle sound which is gone now too.  Hence the reason for no through service.

later,

Ray

 

 

SPMan

              

 

              

 

              

 

              

 

              

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Friday, April 26, 2013 11:05 AM

RockIsland52

jeffrey-wimberly

Good morning. It's 59° with 69% humidity. It'll be cloudy with a high of 78°.


No plans for today. I may work on the layout later but nothing will be done this morning. I just don't feel up to it. I didn't get much sleep last night so I'm rather tired.

Jeffrey......based on your engine work, it sounds like the new medication is helpng.  Hope you can sneak in a nap today.   JACK

Thanks for reminding me. I hadn't taken my meds yet. At times I make the absent minded professor look like an obsessive clock-watcher.

*

Blast from the past? I dug this Bachmann GP40 body (late 90's) out of the junk box. I'd never heard of Pathmark so I looked it up. I guess like many stores Pathmark marketed train sets at one time. The drive I pulled out of this one is definitely 1990's train set quality. Front truck picks up power and the pancake motor on the rear truck powers the unit. The shell is now on the GP38 frame and the other Bachmann GP40 body is back on the Atlas frame. It wouldn't take much work to get this one presentable again.



Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
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Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
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beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


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Posted by RockIsland52 on Friday, April 26, 2013 10:01 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

Good morning. It's 59° with 69% humidity. It'll be cloudy with a high of 78°.


No plans for today. I may work on the layout later but nothing will be done this morning. I just don't feel up to it. I didn't get much sleep last night so I'm rather tired.

Jeffrey......based on your engine work, it sounds like the new medication is helpng.  Hope you can sneak in a nap today.   JACK

IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.

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Posted by sir james I on Friday, April 26, 2013 9:24 AM

Temp is 44 with bright sun. 60s today.

No plans for today except our Friday eat out meal. The grass is starting to look ratty so mowing is not too far off. No green trees yet though. Oatmeal and one toast this morning..Weekends a-commin.

S.J.

"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks 

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Friday, April 26, 2013 9:15 AM

One thing I am doing this morning is taking some photos of the Bachmann GP38 chassis (wears a GP40 shell) to show the decoder setup. It has two decoders, Bachmann and Digitrax. I didn't feel like redoing all the lighting so the Bachmann decoder controls the lights. Now as anybody who has ever tried knows the Bachmann decoder has lousy motor control. Speed matching it is virtually impossible as far as I know. Playing with the start voltage has some effect but that just controls when it starts moving, not how fast it moves in a given speed range. For that I piggy-backed a Digitrax DZ125 decoder onto the Bachmann decoder. This gives great motor control and speed matching is a snap. Programming an address is like programming an address to any single non-sound decoder. This loco still has it's capacitors. They haven't caused a problem so I don't see any need to remove them.





Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
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Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
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Running Bear Enterprises
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beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


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Posted by cnw1995 on Friday, April 26, 2013 9:08 AM

Aloha and TGIF from a sunny but still-cold northeastern Illinois.  Belated birthday and good health wishes to Rich! Cake  Buckeye, I hope you can recover this weekend. It looked like a nice trip - especially the Acela ride and B&O museum.  Missed the TARDIS last night because I was just so tired I went to bed early. I think it's allergies as everything wakes up. Watched the White Sox win,

Kev, I think you have a good idea with the lattice. My most successful tunnel was built on cardboxes boxes - I had seemingly a million of them so I could choose different sizes that I used as a frame - I cut out the tunnel mouth in their sides, lined them up and stacked them up, fit in a Lionel and later MTH tunnel entrances, then covered it all with tunnel cover paper put out by Lifelike. It looks like pre-war tunnels with brown and green streaks, draped well after I wet it - it's essentially colored butcher-block paper - and trimming the cardboard fit the curves perfectly... I'll look for photos.

As an aside, I'm debating how to tackle a sudden blossoming of rust in the 13 year old minivan. Probably a bit more than I could grind down, primer and repaint myself...

Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.

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Posted by Blueberryhill RR on Friday, April 26, 2013 8:51 AM

R.j.   (charliebrown)...  I have bought a few things from T & K and have been satisfied with the prices and service.  I visited their store and was impressed.

Chuck

Chuck # 3 I found my thrill on Blueberryhill !!
KRM
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Posted by KRM on Friday, April 26, 2013 8:20 AM

Sunny but partly cloudy on the North Bluff and going to the mid 60s. Yes
I will be heading to town to the post office to ship some Pontiac rally 2 center caps I sold on the Bay last night and then whenever the wife gets moving off to Krogers for food. Dinner
Rich, I hope you had a good birthday and get a handle on the other issues.
Jack, bummer on the video. Bang Head
Fifedog, can you post pictures of those Generals when you get them? I for one would like to see them.
Roy,  Welcome Back.
Banks, It is good to be in charge. Even if only for a day or two. Laugh
RJ, 54” curves are nice. I think you will like them. You could use a mix of 54 and 72 and miss the Bar.
8N, $1,300 Ouch Surprise
Bob, Sure sounds to me like you got plenty on your plate.
Jake, your young and got nothing but work in front of you. So don’t knock yourself out. Bang Head

 Well off to town.

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Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL. Whistling

 

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Posted by charliebrown on Friday, April 26, 2013 7:42 AM

Good Morning All ...

Going to a high of 61 today. Dry for once. Headed out to service call. Praying I get done and come back in one piece.

Headed to the Home depot tonight. Hope to see some progress on layout this weekend.

I have been looking at T and K hobbies out of Bridgeport Oh for track and new engine. Anybody deal with them?

Guess that is it for now.

 Question

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Friday, April 26, 2013 7:37 AM

Good morning. It's 59° with 69% humidity. It'll be cloudy with a high of 78°.


No plans for today. I may work on the layout later but nothing will be done this morning. I just don't feel up to it. I didn't get much sleep last night so I'm rather tired.

Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
          Joined June, 2004

Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
15 year veteran fire fighter
Collector of Apple //e's
Running Bear Enterprises
History Channel Club life member.
beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


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Posted by RockIsland52 on Friday, April 26, 2013 7:11 AM

Good Mornin' Y'all From Sunny Taxachusetts,

Well we will have 70s and sun for the next 5 days, the grass is green, the daffodils bloomed this past weekend (tulips taking their time), and the buds are showing on the trees.  There is nothing like warming temperatures, fertilizer, sun, and rain to get things cranking. Thumbs Up

My granddaughter's school play last night was fun.  She was scheduled to go on for her solo song after the halftime intermission and I was ready to videotape as I was asked!  Except for the part where the other little granddaughter sitting next to me in the audience went to press buttons on the camera hanging around my neck.  Unbeknownst to me, her little hands spun one of the dials.  So when I went to video Victoria's song, the screen was black!  Yup, missed the whole song because it was dark in the theater.  Could not make adjustments in the dark and get the video rolling.Bang Head

Later, gang.

Jack

IF IT WON'T COME LOOSE BY TAPPING ON IT, DON'T TRY TO FORCE IT. USE A BIGGER HAMMER.

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Posted by cheapclassics on Friday, April 26, 2013 7:09 AM

Good morning all,

IIABSDISEI with temps in the 60s.  Will pick up some more shelves for the attic tonight if they have them in stock.  Maybe mow the yard as well.  Going to a TCA meet tomorrow morning and maybe visit some family as well.  Perhaps go to a dance Saturday night if not too tired.  TBIL and I can drive.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

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Posted by Blueberryhill RR on Friday, April 26, 2013 6:57 AM

Good Morning from Blueberryhill RR....

It is a sunny 36 degrees. Going up to a sunny 60 today.

Today is an easy day.  I have a few chores to do and then I will relax and read my latest copy of "Classic Trains" mag. This issue really looks good.  Lunch and a nice nap later.

Dining car is here with Cheerios for breakfast.

Buckeye & LAZ..... TGIF

Y'all have a great Friday.

Chuck

 

Chuck # 3 I found my thrill on Blueberryhill !!
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Posted by Lehigh Valley 2089 on Friday, April 26, 2013 6:11 AM

Good morning.

Work tonight. Will get a little bit more of some scholarship work done tomorrow. Don't expect to be home from work early tonight. Will be preping for the long haul.

The Lehigh Valley Railroad, the Route of the Black Diamond Express, John Wilkes and Maple Leaf.

-Jake, modeling the Barclay, Towanda & Susquehanna.

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Posted by fifedog on Friday, April 26, 2013 6:10 AM

Mornin' boys.  Sunny & 50 here in the Mid-Atlantic region, where the wait for my LCCA Generals continues...

anjdevil ---> Happy B-DayCakeIt ain't the years, it's the mileage,kid...

bc - Remember, don't feed them after midnight, and never ever get them wet.

88 YORK picQuestion

Buckeye - Hope you are feeling better.

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Posted by blownout cylinder on Friday, April 26, 2013 3:23 AM

good morning....

We be going to be sunny and much milder today....a couple of days ago we had almost blizzard like conditions just to the north of us here...not much fun...

Today will have some people over over to run an operating session....and find out issues, no doubt..oh well...

Have a good'un!!

Anjdevil2...Angel

Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry

I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...

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Posted by anjdevil2 on Thursday, April 25, 2013 10:43 PM

Thanks for the Birthday wishes, Guys!!

Doc said brain scans were normal......I'm sure he switched them with someone else.

Another test on Tuesday, I get an MRI soon, and start some kind of therapy....God know what.  Looks like something I'll have to live with.  Short driving to start then longer as I get "better" at it...Bang Head.

Viewing on Sunday, funeral on Monday.  I plan on attending both. 

As an aside, the Chapter President of the Red Knights (my local chapter) past away as well...at 56...

Was not well most of the day, took an Meclazine and got tired.  Dinner was Baked Chicken Mashed Potatoes and Corn...Cannoli Cake afterwards!!  Was a good time and JUST BECAUSE it was my birthday, my NJ Devils came from behind and beat the Penguins...life ain't bad.

Off to my bed, see youse giz tomorrow!!

I am the monster in your head...And I thought you'd learn by now, It seems you haven't yet.
I am the venom in your skin  --- Breaking Benjamin


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Posted by submmbob on Thursday, April 25, 2013 10:34 PM

Hello all

Back at work for a few days.

We have a group up here putting in a receiver for a test. They come up every year about this time. 5 extra bodies. Just too many people in this building. Plus we have a trainee besides the 2 regular operators. Will be heading to NM on Sunday thank goodness.

Buckeye - peeing baby sea urchins is no fun. Had a couple of 'em.

JimT - sorry to here about the Mustang. Glad to hear is is working out w/ the parts.

Kev - got the SF dockside yesterday. Looks good, but we'll see how it runs laterWink

Thoughts and prayers for the flood victims.

No further progress on the Daewoo as yet. Need to take a look at the electrical diagrams. Trouble is the electronic version of the manual my friend has is for a 97 not a 2000, so it doesn't cover the 2.2L. We got an Isuzu Rodeo manual that covers the engine so we had something to actually put our hands on while working on the car, but it of course covers a different electrical system. I'm sure we will sort it out. Right now at least the engine turns over, although we may need to clean the starter solenoid. Apparently it's known for being iffy. Too bad I didn't know that when the intake manifold was off when it was easier to get toBang Head Oh well, I love a challenge. Intake manifold is the craziest one I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty. All these weird dead end chambers to make it quiet. Before we installed I held it up and blew on it like a conch shell. Hoping to appease the gods of speedStick out tongue

8N - a throttle position module? Of course, since it's drive by wire, just a sensor wouldn't be enough. We now need a servo and control unit to move said throttle, and the aforementioned sensor so we know where the servo moved it. As Mr. Scott once said, "the more they overtake the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain"Big Smile

I even got a chance to work on my own carSurprise Just got new rear brakes including drums. One wheel cylinder was weeping just a bit and the brakes were sticking. Will be ordering a replacement cylinder this week as I didn't have time to get to that piece. Was told the car got a complete brake job before I bought it, well not quite as it turns out.

Bob

Tucson, AZ (aka the Ol' Pueblo)

Home of the Mt. Graham & Arizona Eastern Boiler Shops

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Posted by 8ntruck on Thursday, April 25, 2013 9:58 PM

Sunny and maybe 60 today.  Didn't get out at lunch time today.  We were invited to a 'free lunch' (code for meeting through lunch time) at work today. That meeting lasted until 2pm. 

RI52 - I guess that statement I made could be seen as having some political implications.  What I was talking about was my Cobalt SS. 

Speaking of which, the dealer called and informed me of the amount to get it out of hock - just over $1,300 Surprise

All for now.

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Posted by AF53 on Thursday, April 25, 2013 9:42 PM

Good Evening All!

Just a quick stop in to say:

DevilRich - Happy Birthday! Happy B-Day

Buckeye - Hope all is better and those stones stay away. Reminds me of a Seinfeld episode when Kramer had stones and passed one at the the circus.

Later 

Ray

Bayville, NJ

 

Life is what happens to you
While you're busy making other plans - John Lennon

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Posted by rtraincollector on Thursday, April 25, 2013 9:41 PM

RJ check around for the best price as the price goes up and down depending on who your dealing with

Life's hard, even harder if your stupid  John Wayne

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Posted by charliebrown on Thursday, April 25, 2013 9:12 PM

Well I didn't get to the really bad service call they scheduled for me. We had other issues arise. Now I have the joy of going to it on a Friday morning.Thumbs Down

Rich - Happy Birthday

Buckeye - prayers for a quick and easy healing.

Rt and cheif it looks like I will be using 054 curve. I measured across from the wall to the bar. It is 63 inches. So unless I cut holes in the bar (which I have been thinking about doing) it will have to be 054 or a mix.

I have been looking and thinking about getting a williams engine. Any suggestions. Looking to be in the 150 to 200 range.

To top the day off - I didn't get to work on the trains!

Hope everyone has a good night.

From the frigid thumb of Mi

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