Coffee Pot #5 MAY 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]

I was pretty busy today. I put 'KEEP OFF!' labels on nine locos. Still some to go but I don't run those much as they're really too big for the layout. I laid out some structures and vehicles as a proposed layout for 'Knutzville' on the east side of the layout. I cleared some of the area at the back of the layout for the proposed site of the grain elevator. Still lots more work to do on that. I did some work on an Atlas signal tower kit. The box is quite aged and the instruction sheet is yellow and somewhat brittle. Looked at the date on it. I was only two years old back then. I already have three of these towers so I built just the top half of it. I have some kind of plan for it rattling around somewhere in the dark recesses of the back of my mind.

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

[KRM]

fifedog

Durango? Traverse? Durango? Traverse...  Surprisingly, didn't care for the Hemi, and preferred the cruising characteristics of the 3.6

Fife, We have a 3.6 and so does the daughter. The dealer has a 2011 in the shop now with 54K locked up. They had a lot of issues in the early models. As RIJack alluded to earlier in some other post they have issues. They are rocket ships and a ton of power with fair mileage. But I am kind of cheeped out at this point on the fact we have two of them in the family. Arron the dealer Tech said if you get the 3.6 only use a fully synthetic oil like Mobil1 and you should be fine. Like you said about the Lionel Generals  the rap may be worse than the item. I hope so. You can blow up anything.Try a Drango with the 4.9. I had that engine in my Dakota, traded it off at 168K with NO engine issues at all, smooth and plenty of power but it loved gas. 

 Wife's 3.6 has 80K and the daughters has 60K still running but that is low milage today.  JMHO

 

[KRM]

Hi guys only have a sec, Just got home from the Baby  for the new grandson. It went well. Lexi is doing well and will get her cast on Monday. Great news is the break is clean and above the elbow , not what they thought at the ER, so she should heal fast.    She seemed fine today and wanted to do everything for herself even with just one arm.  I will need to watch her a day or two next week till she can go back to day care.
Ray, Fife, Brent, SJ, and all of you guys,,,,,,,Thanks soooo much for the prayers, they work.  
We had .25 “ of rain last evening, just enough to shoot the grass up 6” today. So I know what I need to do tomorrow. 
Bob, Dockside is running fine ,,,,,,,but your right I think it is possessed.   have fun with the PEOPLE 
Jeffery, the Keep Offs look great and fit perfect. 
I apologize if I missed anyone but lots going on. I will catch up.
Have a good night. I think it is time to run some trains and have a   

Come on Chief, come home from your vacation. The weather is fine.  

 I need to take some lessons from SJ on how to say so much with so few words. A talent I don't have but need. BTW SJ thanks for the mail. I hope the stuff will work for you. 

[fifedog]

Durango? Traverse? Durango? Traverse...  Surprisingly, didn't care for the Hemi, and preferred the cruising characteristics of the 3.6

[sir james I]

The temp is 75

Not much to say tonight, I did talk to Charlie on the phone for a few minutes. Mostly train talk of course. Doing some outside chores has brought my weight back to where it was, now I have to make sure I can keep it there. Which means if we have Banilla tonight It's going to be a smaller portion...S.J.

[submmbob]

Hello all

Well we are back to a zoo of people up here. The group that is testing their receiver just brought up a couple more. I'm encouraging a few of the folks who have already  been up here to go home. So far so good. Should be an interesting weekend until we get back to normal.

Other than that, it's just another day @ 10,500'.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Just setting out some structures and vehicles to see if I can come up with something I like. This is the site of what will someday be Knutzville. The area way at the back between the track and backdrop is the site where the grain elevator will be.

[SPMan]

Kev, prayers for that lovable precious little grandaughter of yours.  I just want to give her a hug.  Most times kids heal quickly and I hope that is the case with her.  She is so sweet and looks so sad in her little arm sling.

V8, best use for those firearms is shooting those lousy rattlesnakes.  They probably won't let you do that at the range though.

Our infrequent Thursday night get together with train buddies was cancelled this week due to lack of interest.  2 of the 4 of us were MIA so we decided to wait until next time.

Good to see post from D.Baker the other day.  Must be his busy time of year now at Knotts.

#2 son is off to Sacramento this morning on another railfan weekend.  He wanted to go up to Donner Pass and shoot some action but the line is shut down for work I think.  He said he might go over to Feather River Canyon on the former Western Pacific instead.  That will be where the detour is.

He and I have talked about taking a trip sometime from L.A. to Sacramento and then riding Amtrak over Donner Pass which is the route of the first transcontinental railroad.  We would wind up in Reno and fly home from there.  Just can't seem to get motivated though.

Just heard yesterday that the county is about to terminate the lease to a local tourist railroad out here called Filmore and Western which runs over a former SP branch line.  They have a steam engine and several diesels including F units.  Hope they can work out a deal.  Would be a shame to lose it.

Went out to dinner with our friend and his wife who is living in an assisted living/nursing facility.  He is able to take her out occasionally to dinner with friends.  It was nothing fancy but we all enjoyed our mutual company.  She was looking better than I have seen her for some time now.  Husband has been run ragged taking care of her though.  He is finally getting some help now.

Our church is having their annual festival this week end with rides, food, prizes, games, bingo etc.  Our grandson has lost interest in the rides now since he is in high school.  Most rides are too tame for him now so I will not go on them either.  My main contribution is buying raffle tickets.  I have never won in over 30 years but it is for a good cause.  Odds are still better than the state lottery.

I have put on about 5 lbs. lately so now have to walk more and eat less, darn it.

#1 son got a new refrigerator which is being delivered today so he can pick up the frozen stuff we are storing for him by tomorrow I think.

Grandson has a concert as part of the high school ochestra this coming Monday.  Will go to that.

Happy trails to all,

Ray

 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Part of my weekend has been devoted to applying these small labels to some of my locos. Here are two on a couple of rebuilt GP40's.





Today I'll be applying them to some others. Those include a GP7, a C420, half a dozen FP7's, and an F7. I think that's all my eyes will be able to handle today.

[cnw1995]

Aloha. What a gorgeous day here. Had a cuppa joe with some friends. Now to some projects around the house. Maybe training later if there is a thunderstorm. Found a nice cache of Lionel and toy train books at a local used bookstore I have to peruse too.

[sir james I]

Tis 60 degrees now. The clouds just moved on east so the Hi is suppose to be 77. My friend Andy just dropped off the very late to arrive MTH catalog. I have not thumbed it yet but I didn't see anything online that jumped out at me.  I know some of you like using the net for reading but I like the old take your time and look over the pages, much easier on the eyes. Enjoy your weekend...S.J.

[submmbob]

Hello all

Back @ work for a few more days. Will be helping the receiver group up here exit stage left.

Kev - that little docksider continues to amaze me. That's a new board and a new motor w/ a new connector. I must have ran it for the better part of a half hour. It must be possessed, or allergic to extra photons... Hope your grandaughter mends well. I too have steel holding one elbow together.

DougD - prayers for family and friends

RJ/lionroor - I used to have a TJ. Fair reliability, built well, and absolutely great offroad. I started disliking it when I stopped using it offroad. As a commuter car it's a four wheeled bucket. I think the straw that broke the camel's back was having to buy a new softtop after just 5 years. The Arizona sun ain't friendly.

Well the 4-door got another fuel pump and an oil change on Thurs. The old pump wasn't dead but I was curious as to how it would perform w/ the new pump I already had before I add the electric unit to it near the tank. This will help for those heat soaked starts (remember AZ again). Then today it decided it would also like an oil pressure switch. The good outcome of that is that I made yet another clean spot on the engine and have now stopped all the leaks. Yes, even in a Corvair... Viton seals are what they should have  come with.

[fifedog]

Mornin' boys.  Cloudy and 64 here in the Mid-Atlantic region.  It's Preakness Day, the one (1) day that Maryland lawmakers talk like they care about the horse racing industry.  Why go to the track when you can go straight to the slots parlors to deposit your savings more quickly and efficiently...

KRM - for the little one.

anjdevil - Glad bro made it back safe.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 73° with 94% humidity. It'll be cloudy with a high of 88°.


Last night I spent about an hour putting 'KEEP OFF!' labels on the three Bachmann GP40's. The Atlas GP40 was done over a year ago. I had to redo a couple of the labels because the water in the glue made the ink run. Overall they look pretty good. They must be effective as Ray Johnson isn't on any of the units this morning. Being the son of the towns owner he gets away with a lot. He's also the foreman of the Sundown shops, so he figures if he wants to take a ride on one of the locos then he's taking a ride. Who's gonna be stupid enough to tell him he can't?. The owner of the locos. That's who.

Nothing going on today, that I know of that is. Who knows what other parties might have planned for my day? I figure it's a good day to watch TV and play with trains.

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill RR....

It is a cloudy 60 degrees.  Going up to 80 today with rain later.

Today is an easy day. I have a few chores to do and then I can relax. I have some reading to catch up on and some phone calls to make. Lunch and a short nap. Indians game at 1pm this afternoon.

Dining car is here with Cheerios for breakfast.

Y'all have a great Saturday.

Chuck

[charliebrown]

Trying to catch up .... again!

Working Saturday morning selling poppies. If you're in the thumb of Mi area stop by. lol

Estimate on jeep - $4,800.00. They said if they find more damage that pushes it to 5,700 it will be totaled.

Changed out the braces on the layout - stiffened things right up. Started working on a track configuration.

lion88roar - not enough wheeling area around to do all that to the jeep. I do plan on a 2 1/2" lift.

Kev - prayers sent out for granddaughter. Hope she heals quick with little pain.

Jeffrey - nice job on the spider.Spotted a few on the layout & it's not even started.

Mike c - praying for daughter and family.

Time to hit the hay. 

Have a great night fellas

[KRM]

blownout cylinder

 

I do wonder what happened with Phish and Demay...hope they are OK....

 Joe is right here on the front page guys with a good question I also would like to know the answer to but no replies., just not on the Pot post., http://cs.trains.com/ctt/f/95/t/217770.aspx

 

Thank you Ray.  A lot to do the next few days,  Night guys!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

A couple of shots taken on the move while Ray Johnson 'rides the nose' of the lead GP40.





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

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening

We found a whole pile of dullness for our viewing pleasure here..no partly was involved...

Also, Lost Cause won round one...still more stuff than there was before...sigh....so, on to round two tomorrow.....sigh....

As well we will have our Saturday afternoon operating session..and see who shows up....

Kevin:  Good to see Lexi is doing OK....

I do wonder what happened with Phish and Demay...hope they are OK....

Have a good'un....

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

It is rainy in SE Indiana.  Took it easy tonight.   Watched a PBS show on Neil Young tonight.  Work was quiet today, which was nice.  Going to watch grandson play 3 games tomorrow.  Daughter will have another procedure tomorrow and maybe another one after that.  Not sure what is going on.  Not looking good for the home team.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[Banks]

Hello all.

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

for Lexi.

Being off on Monday made a busy as he**  week into a real PITA week. I should work a few hours over the weekend but I need to unwind. I'll start all over again on Monday

It finally dried up enough for Son to start planting corn. Soybeans will be tomorrow.

Belated to those I missed

8N........nice place

I have room for squatters in the barn for a few weeks..... till we fill it with hay

Chief....the box looks good

Dwiemer...come back more often....whatever happened to Phish & Demay?????????

Fife....one of my more vivid memories of Mt Storm is working out doors in bright sun wearing only a T-shirt one late April day. Thirty minutes later the ground was white with snow.

Think I'll go to bed and hopefully feel like doing something tomorrow.

Prayers for those in need

[sir james I]

It is 63 now. Oh it's also dark..

We haven't heard from Joe in Japan for awhile. I will assume he is ok. Got the grass cut, had Almond Chicken, a nap, and them trimmed the lawn. Sat on the patio for a little while and now here we are. I skipped Banilla tonight but there is plenty for the thingy crew..S.J.

[AF53]

Kev - for your granddaughter, she'll be ok.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

lion88roar

Jeffery - looks good! I'm thinking the RR would actually do it the way you did.

They'd appear even smaller on an O Scale loco or car, about half the size. Actually they could be scaled and printed to any model size ranging from HO on up. The stock image is quite a bit bigger than what I print it at. I scale it down in the printer to 25% or smaller for the ones I print.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I dropped one of my F7 Frankenstein locos this morning. Busted the body into three pieces, knocked some drive parts out and broke a couple of solder joints! Put the drive back together and test ran it. Everything seems to work fine. The body however is beyond all hope. Looked on Ebay and found a used Athearn F7A body (UP) that'll make a suitable replacement after the Sundown shops have painted it into the L&A scheme. There goes $11 from the grocery fund. Oh well. It should be here Wednesday. I was going to put the Frankenstein F unit trio in service today but that'll have to wait unless I put on a Bachmann FT-A body.

I got the large 'KEEP OFF!' labels cut out and put into an old pill bottle. That's what I keep my small model railroad parts in. Old pill bottles. Seems like a good use for them.

In other news I spotted a brown recluse spider crawling across the top of my night stand. The TV users manual came in handy for once and the spider was no more than a greasy smear on the table top!

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

Kev: Awwwwwwww. (Hard to get me to do that!)

Good afternoon.

Real tired right now. Hope to be feeling good soon.

[KRM]

sir james I

Kevin she's adorable, I'm sure she will mend quickly.

Yeah she is SJ, Thanks, 

 The Doctors will not do anything till the swelling goes down.   She has an appointment with a specialist who works with children and breaks like this. The problem is if it is not done correctly she may not grow correctly.    So kind of scary.    Katie is stressing too much. She wants to bring her to the shower tomorrow so I told her if she is not taking it well I will take her home and sit with her till they get back from the shower. 

I have been working on the layout some and got the addition track back down and wired up. 

Have a nice afternoon.

Thanks Brent, I will do that, They are so fragile at that age and run wide open with no fear.  

[lion88roar]

Jeffery - looks good! I'm thinking the RR would actually do it the way you did.

[lion88roar]

Kev - Give her a hug from The POT Gang! seeing those pics just makes my eyes fill up with tears.

[sir james I]

Kevin she's adorable, I'm sure she will mend quickly.