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.

[SPMan]

Good afternoon all,

Been cloudy all day and cool.  I feel a rain drop once in a while.  They say we might have showers tomorrow.  Looking forward to that.

I went to the TTOS Southwestern train meet in Arcadia today  Heard that the former President of Southern Pacific Division in Anaheim and also former National President passed away.  He had been hospitalized with blood clot problems prior to his death.

Train meet attendance was lighter than usual probably owing to the fact that Fullerton Railroad Days clebration was going on at the same time.  I just bought one small item for the layout and had lunch there. Got a pulled pork sandwich and potato salad.  OK but not like Carolina Bar-B-Que.

Drove parellel to the under construction Gold Line between Pasadena and Azusa on the way to train meet so I could see progress on work.  Lots of grading going on and several bridges under construction.  Several crossing closed too.  The line is going to be double track and electrified.  Will come within 5 minute drive from where I live.  I will be able to jump on one of these and go downtown  to Los Angeles  Union Passenger Station.  From there you can go to lots of places on light rail, subway or Metrolink.  Hope I still feel healthy enough to go somewhere when it's finished.

V8, sounds like you had some excitement in the neighborhood.  One time we had some renters next door with a meth lab that got busted.  I never knew it but am glad those people are gone now.  Funny thing it was right in the middle of a nice neighborhood..  I guess they are all over the place.

Dinner out last night with friends and family.  Cooking at home tonight with ham, corn on the cob, green beans and mashed taters.

Wife has been going to physical therapy for neck and back pain twice a week.  After first two sessions, she was having pain yesterday so they told her not to do anymore home exercises until she comes in next week.  Hope they know what they are doing.  She is taking acetaminophen and using heating pad for relief and also a neck pillow.

Have a good week,

Ray

 

 

 

[Banks]

Jack,

Sent you a PM

[dougdagrump]

Evenin' All.

Boy-O-Boy, is there a lot of catch-up when one is "incapacitated" for a while. Got laid-low by a severe case of gastro-interitous(s?) resulting in extreme dehydration. BP dropped into the low 70's over 40's so needless to say if I wasn't sitting on the throne I was more than likely sleeping. I haven't seen this weight since at least my feshman year in high school.

John, Had to chuckle at your comments regarding your snoring roomies at York. But it could have been worse, think what it mite have been they had Bean Burritos for lunch or dinner.  

Wish I had felt better on friday afternoon/evening. To open the evening's Cruising Grand they had a flyby of three WW-II vintage bombers, first pass was in formation then each made a flight on it's own. Right down the main drag, just a bit to far away for me to properly id. http://cruisingrand.com/calendar.php

Time for some chicken noodle soup , that's my first "solid" food for the week.

If you hear grumbling/rumbling from the West Coast don't worry, it's not a quake it's just my stomach.

  

[wrmcclellan]

Evening all!

We had 30 hours of rain since Friday night here outside of Chattanooga. We had an 8 hour respite today and now it is back. Not sure if it will last all night or not. 

Ray - hope your wife sees some relief soon. I had a bad pinched nerve in my neck over a year ago. Took 9 months to get better. Still bothers me some but at least it's is not painful.

Kev - welcome back !

Chuck - the Gen 6 cars don't have that 2 car drafting. Now they draft about 3 feet apart. Much better than before but still had the big wrecks last few laps. A 3 lap race is anyone's game and to me takes all the skill out of the race. 

for those in need.

Have a great evening all!

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

Good evening. 

Got my English paper typed up, and got my Me 109's second coat of paint on. The instructions said to use grays with a blue tint. I just used a standard light and dark gray two tone scheme. It also is to have a yellow nose. It was to originally supposed to go back to the first exhaust pipe, but I took it back to the 7.7mm machine guns. 

[RedfireS197]

lion88roar

KRM

WOW! seven pages to catch up on! Will have to do it later

Most of us just wait for RIJack's Monday morning weekend wrapup.

Yep.

Bob,

          I got your PM, and I'll reply asap.

Finally get my day off tomorrow.  I removed the fake hood scoop that the previous owner violated the Mustang's hood with, and I hope it won't cost too much to get rid of the seven holes left behind.  Looks so much better without the scoop.  I've got to take it in first thing in the morning.

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

Night everyone. 

[KRM]

RedfireS197

lion88roar

KRM

WOW! seven pages to catch up on! Will have to do it later

Most of us just wait for RIJack's Monday morning weekend wrapup.

Yep.

Bob,

          I got your PM, and I'll reply asap.

Finally get my day off tomorrow.  I removed the fake hood scoop that the previous owner violated the Mustang's hood with, and I hope it won't cost too much to get rid of the seven holes left behind.  Looks so much better without the scoop.  I've got to take it in first thing in the morning.

Hi Guys,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good to be gone and good to be back.

 6 hr of driving home and 3.5 hr of cutting grass with 2.5 hr of grass to go. 

I will do some reading in the morning,

 You all have a good night. I am tired.   

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Today I put a Digitrax DZ125 decoder in the rebuilt CN GP40 and it now runs like a dream. I started on another GP40 this afternoon using parts from a GP40, a GP38 and a GP30 and a few parts from other sources. You can look at the photo below and decide for yourself which is which. The shell is pretty obvious. The GP40 is about the easiest Bachmann diesel to rebuild. So many of the parts are universal.



Most of my day was fairly slow. I only ventured outside once and that was for a very few minutes. I'm still quite weak. I doubt if I could fight off an anemic Cub Scout in my present condition. At least I'm not cold anymore. Neither the a/c or heater have been turned on at all today.

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

[charliebrown]

Early morning work on layout frame. Spent a few hours at conformation party. Three hours working on yard. Late night work on layout frame and it is finished! Now to fine tune it and put the sheeting on.

Temps were awesome today but it didn't take long for it to drop. Sitting at 54 degrees at this time.

Hope everyone has a good night.

Off to lahlah land for this boy

Here are some pics of frame work

[8ntruck]

In the 50's and brief periods of sun today. 

I ended up donating several hours to work yesterday and today.  When I pulled into my driveway today on returning from work, I noticed that the grass was slightly taller than the grackle that was hopping around in the yard.  Figured I'd better mow.  Ran the string trimmer around too.

No train stuff this weekend.

All for now.

[ChiefEagles]

Good night all.  Back from the lake house.  Yard work Saturday and today.  Actually had to mow grass up there today in my army field jacket.  You Yanks keep send cold air.  Was A/C on during the day and heat at night except today.  Heat on all day.  Drizzled off and on yesterday but we worked in the yard anyway.  Why I mowed today and when I finished, started again.  Actually warmed up tonight.  Rain on the way for the next few days.

Sleep tight.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Very good looking benchwork R.J.

[submmbob]

Hello all

After church today I spent some time looking for a replacement for the chest of drawers that came w/ the new room. It is severely lacking. Would like to find something w/ drawers that I could also use as a work surface. Didn't see much in either the size or price range I needed. I did see a lot of standard gauge track @ one 'antique' shop which is a bit more like a flea market. Will keep looking.

Came home and managed to get some new shelving up. Gives me a bit more space. After 5 months I guess I got used to my old setup.

Rode the 'new' bike today. Got the shifter adjusted fairly well,

Should be getting a wheel cylinder tomorrow, a right side mirror, and a bolt to tighten up the rear view mirror. Maybe even some work on the van this week.

Saw the Southwestern RR on the run between Hatch and Deming on the way home Friday. Some very nicely painted blue GP's.

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

Good morning.

Nothing planned for this evening other than work, so looking to just kinda relax tonight.

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill RR....

It is a cool and cloudy 52 degrees. Going up to 60 today with cloudy skies.

Today is a busy day. I have the usual chores to do and then, I will run an errand. Lunch and a nap, for sure.

Dining car is here with Cheerios for breakfast.

Y'all have a great Monday.

Chuck

[charliebrown]

Going to be in the mid 70's for today but cool down is coming. Supposed to be below average for the weekend.

Words for today - service calls.

Have a great day!

[charliebrown]

jeffrey-wimberly

Very good looking benchwork R.J.

Thanks! Hope to get a decent camera so I can get better pics. Plus need to get my modeling skills up to par. As I learned with the bench work though - it all takes time. If it wasn't for this forum and modelers such as yourself  I wouldn't be no where near this stage!

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

Sunny and a high near 74F ...

Another day of runnin' 'roun' doin' stuff ...medical stuff, house stuff, official stuff...just plain ol'.....stuff stuff

So...off I go...doin' stuff......

Have a great day!!

[sir james I]

Temp is 52 with bright sun

We need an Alexis report, I assume she has recovered. Busy day today. Got to keep moving...S.J.

[Blueberryhill RR]

Does anyone on the CTT Forum know anything about Ma & Pa Junction?  I am wondering if Marty is no longer in business.

Thanks,  Chuck

[cnw1995]

Chuck, on the OGR forum, there is a discussion about his 'retirement' due to health reasons. There was some other discussion about someone else taking it over but I didn't see who.

[lion88roar]

Mornin' Fellas

Well Christina and I got some work done on the bridge replacement project yesterday. New boards have been routed for the upper and lower framing. Between measuring, checking clearances, setup, cutting, shaping, rechecking clearances, and cleanup in prep for the next stage not much else got done. I have to cut the panel to width for the inner and outer faces then cut the support boards to width and height. Once that is done I can start assembling the framing. I was able to take pictures of the progress - including a few of my helper. Hope to get the skins and supports cut tonight. Then start assembly tomorrow.


During cleanup a local boy stopped by to raise money for the local little league... they are hoping to replace a consession stand grill and some other items that were stollen this past winter... REALLY???? Who would steal from kids???? I am really beginning to question society today. These kids worked very hard a few years ago to raise money to build the consession stand, now they have to redo that effort as well as work just as hard to raise the money for field maintenance. The little league receives NO money from local government or the state. All of their money comes from fund raisers by the players. And some low-life,scumbag, (word not appropriate for this forum) has to go an steal from them.


Well while he was at the house he asked 'what are you building?'. So I explained it to him and he was really interested. I told him to bring his parents by some time and hopefully I will have the train garden running.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 51° with 88% humidity. It'll be sunny with a high of 75°.


I had a relatively uneventful day yesterday. I finished rebuilding an old Bachmann GP40 and put a decoder in it and got the base programming done then started on another GP40 project that involved using parts from at least three donor locos. I got it completed mechanically and the wiring was done but it still needed a decoder. I had one ready to go in but didn't feel up to it so I set the shell on the chassis loose so I could just lift it off and set to work. I got to bed 12:45am and woke up at 7am. I don't recall anything in between. However it seems I was somewhat busy at some point during that time. When I went to lift up the body shell I lifted it all right. I lifted the whole darn loco! What the heck was going on here? I didn't put the screws in to anchor the shell. Did I? No, I distinctly remember that I didn't. I wanted to just lift the shell and start working. What was this? The loco was completely put together. Not a thing out of place. I popped the fuel tank off, removed the screws and took the shell off. There was the new DZ125 decoder completely installed (and programmed) and it was a very neat job. The decoder is just to the rear of the rear headlight and the wires are very neatly bundled in a straight line and taped down so they can't get in the way of anything. I did a very neat job. Too bad I can't remember doing it.

There's nothing on my schedule today so I figure I might as well get some rest.

[KRM]

I slept in. 

Brent, good idea. I will have to catch up latter if RIJack does not post his Cliff Notes.
A lot to do today. I need to get softener salt. Yesterday I power washed about 200 ponds of Wisconsin sandy soil off the truck so today I have to Finnish cleaning and detailing it. It was a mess up there Thursday and Friday. Cold wet and muddy. They have been having the placed logged and those logging trucks sure had the dirt roads tore up on their land. It was cold too. 29 degrees on Friday morning but on Saturday it was full sun and in the 70s. So we worked inside the cabin the first two days and rebuilt the roads and planted 2,500 trees on Saturday. The 4x4 works great in the truck and it averaged 19.9mpg. 
Good to know the Yankee weather is keeping you from breaking a sweat Chief. 
Bob, Got the PM, Thanks. I hope I remember how to reassemble it. 

AFRay, looks like you had a great ride over the weekend. 

Later gang, have a good day.

[RedfireS197]

Brent,

             I think the same thing happened to a kids team in the Pittsburgh area not that long ago.  My solution to these criminals, while not appropriate on this forum, would work great for all sorts of criminals.

Seriously, any idiot that steals from kids deserves to really pay the price. Shame on their local government/city  too for dropping the ball.

[ChiefEagles]

Morning all.  Turned real warm and breezy.  Suppose to be raining.????  Maybe soon.  Will make garden grow.  It is looking good despite the cooler weather.  Going to work in bedroom where layout was and get it ready for ceiling and wall repairs.  Town Board tonight.

Chuck, Marty [Ma & Pa Junction] retired.  Was suppose to sell to a buddy of mine and a partner.  They got ready to take over, walked in building and found inventory sold.  $crewed them bad.

Have a great week.

[Hudson#685]

Good Morning:

51 and cloudy down the Jersey Shore.

We had a busy weekend. Saturday morning it was rebush a spindle for my son and go over the mower deck on one of his older John Deere's, then install and and level it. I then greased and checked the machine over. 21 years old and still in great shape. Then I took Mom to a First Communion party for my cousin's granddaughter and the main reason is so that she could be with her 89 year old sister, my Aunt Annie. The 2 of them had a great time. Yesterday we had a bridal shower that my wife organized, I helped set up and then helped my nephew Brian cut some trees and general yardwork. Today it is cut, rake, aerate, fertilze and reseed the front lawn. Some of the seed did not take, since the saltwater came up the street and ruined part the lawn during Sandy. Now the lawn has bald spots that look like the top of my head! Then the last Monday night of school until September.

Brutus: Glad that you had a safe trip. Too bad about the meds. Good news about your daughter's choir concert.

Rich: Good luck with your health and the Reliant.

DogDG: Glad that you are feeling better. My roomates at York like to tease each other. Between use we must have sawed up a cord or 2 of wood!

Brent: That is low when they steal from the kids. The bright side is that you may have introduced a young man to the hobby. Hope it works out.

Kev: I do not miss those getting the solar salt for the water conditioner days. I also had a whole house filter. The "City Water" lines were installed about 20 years ago in my part of town along with the sewers. I do not miss the well and septic at all. My well water was very hard for it contained high levels of iron, in fact before it went thru the filtering it was tea colored. I had a mini water treatment plant in my basement to get the color and smell out before it was used. Untreated it smelled like rotten eggs. After treatment it was fine.

Everyone Have a Great Day!

John

[lion88roar]

For those who have not seen this before... The Chief goes fishing http://deadspin.com/outdoorsman-and-tv-host-bill-dance-has-a-spectacular-bl-493112773?autoplay=1

[Zero Export]

Afternoon.  Finally got the Laptop fixed

lotsa catching up to do on here, maybe later tonight

very stressed out right now, and the last few days

see ya later