OCTOBER COFFEE POT Pancakes and Sausage for all

[KRM]

robmcc,

Well today I got the new motor and installed it into the USRA 0-8-0 and that was the fix.

You just never know.

 

Neighbor Brian had a surgical biopsy yesterday for the cancer to see what kind it is so they can pick a chemo for him. He should get home today but said it may take a week to get the results. His doctors think it is Hodgkin Lymphoma but there are several types and they need to know what kind to pick the right treatment.

 

 

[Banks]

Roy........why not copy that to biography in your profile?

[wrmcclellan]

Morning all!

SJ and Canucks, yuz guz left the refrigerator doors open - 50 this am and headed down before up to maybe 54 today. It was pretty breezy out this am in short pants and t-shirt. I'm holding on as long as possible - but the wife wants a fire in that brick hole thing in our living room tonight? SJ - what do you call that again?

For the new guys, I turned the big 6-5 this year and got my first Lionel train in 1957, a 250 Pennsy loco and set. In 1959 I received the SF Alco A-A, 2412 blue stripe SF Vista Dome, and matching 2416 Observation. I still have all my childhood trains, track, transformer (SW, the xfr from the 250 set fried early on), accessories, and Plasticville buildings, etc. Started back into the hobby around 1986/87 when I dragged the stuff out of my parents attic in Houston and brought it back to Dallas. I had dabbled in HO until college but never in a big way. I got degrees in electrical engineering at Texas A&M, specializing in digital, radio and microwave systems, and then went to work in Dallas for Rockwell-Collins. Recently retired as a senior technologist from the radio division of Airbus. Been married for 31 years and have two adult children that live in the area. Am trying to reduce/specialize in the NYC for scale stuff and I am all over the map with pre-war, PW, and modern traditional size stuff. I have done contract projects for a local layout builder since about 2002, focused on simplified electrical/control systems for large display layouts for corporate/museum customers (No control systems, docents at museums dealing with guests have no time to mess with current remote control systems Where the trains will regularly just stop/loose programming several times a day, requiring a power down and restart). Most recently doing custom machining/rebuilding/maintenance to keep modern era standard ga reproduction locos running for a couple of months during holiday display seasons (something they were never designed to do in the first place). Run a standard ga train for days on end and it will destroy itself quickly.

Forgot to mention I took machine shop electives in college so I formally learned how to set up/run, operate, large engine lathes, shapers, milling machines, heat processes, etc, cutting all kinds of metal. I was a gear head and was always working on cars/hot rodding. '70 Plymouth Satellite/383, '68 Corvette. The Corvette and friends with Corvettes got me into fiberglass body work and repainting. Autocrossed and drag raced. I rebuilt a couple of engines as a result of the racing, but lost interest in that when the parts costs went through the roof. 

Children faciltated the obvious direction into school support, scouts, princesses, band, and coaching sports for many years, so the trains as a home activity were a great hobby vs the cars (plus the insurance rider I carried for racing - typ your regular insurance does not cover that - got really expensive). Built an 8 X 12 layout at dining table height in the bonus room so the kids could easily access it. They played with it extensively until they hit junior high years. The layout went into storage and the room became their game/TV/hangout room.

My friends at the layout builder and I expanded my old layout by 8 feet (8x20) and set it up a couple of times a year for layout festivals.

[KRM]

Brent, You would love that trip,

 I did Yellowstone and the Grand Teton National Park On my 1975 Triumph Trident back in 1982. Don’t think I could do that over but the ride out west was beautiful.  Some of the in between was just flat and hot. Spent two weeks on the trip and lived out of a 6x8 pup tent and a pack bag. I was glad to get home and by the time I got home my rear was leather.

Cold and gray today.

Going to make shrimp scampi for dinner tonight.

Anyone hear from submmbob, Bob?

 

Seems to be a format change here??? 

[lion88roar]

fifedog

88 - It's named SAVAGE Mountain for a reason...(ref 68 w/of Cumberland)

 

Thanks! LOL!

I-81 is what we take when we go to Alabama to visit TheQ's aunts and uncles. It is the major N/S corridor for trucks from the NE to middle southern states, and it sure does get crowded. My FiL is always commenting on the number of trucks and how slow they are and how they should stay in the right lane... and he never drives! I just tell him "I got this, calm down." lol. It would be nice if they would add a third lane, but just can't see them doing that due to how desolate most of that drive through VA is.

I've never driven through The Rockies. One of my bucket list items is to drive across the Northern USA, down the West coast, across the Southern USA, then up the East Coast. I'd do it in 2 - 3 months. Think it would be fun.  Not sure TheQ would be up for that though.

[Banks]

Hello there,

Plate Rails response prompted me to post the Cliff notes of my life.

 

 

Born on 9-11 in ’55 Grew up on a small farm about 12 miles south of Altoona PA. Still live there. Model rockets, trains and dirt bikes were my main interest’s growing up. During Sr. High the list was narrowed to racing motorcycles and girls.

 

Married Mrs in Nov of ’75. Two kids. Daughter in ’78 and Son in ’81. Both doing fine and living nearby.

 

Racing interest continues to this day but I quit competing in ’13. Now I support Son, Grandson (daughters boy) and the son of a friend.

 

Trains returned to prominence when son started expressing interest about ’84. I refurbished the 4x8 I’d built early in high School and ran trains til son lost interest. About that time I found the 1^st issue of CTT and started collecting Gilbert HO a couple years later. Due to limited production I have all the easy stuff and only buy the hard stuff if it’s a bargain basement price.(the guy doesn’t know what he has) I’ve expanded to late 50’s early 60’s RTR that strikes my fancy and is cheap. Also been dabbling with prewar a bit. Have Dad’s 254E set.

 

Still farming as well but son does most of it. We have 4 beef and 7 chickens. Mainly because I like to hear the rooster crow.

 

Started working for Blair Electric July of 73. Still there except for a long layoff during ’82-’84 I spent 18 month emptying trash cans and changing light bulbs at Nason Hospital. During the early years work was primarily coal preparation plants and heavy industry. As that went away we moved to commercial stuff. Box stores and hotels. Fall of 99 I moved from the field to the office and became estimator. Then through attrition Construction Manager/Estimator.

 During the last several weeks the owner succumbed to Pancreatic Cancer and the heirs opted to close the company. Another firm bought the assets and hired most of the men. Could go to the new company but I’ve decided to retire instead of starting over in something that became less fun each year.

Finally gonna build the layout I’ve been planning and buying stuff for. Going for a postwar under the tree look. My last day will probably be the end of November.

Gonna add this to my biography.

 

Prayers for those in need

[fifedog]

88 - It's named SAVAGE Mountain for a reason...(ref 68 w/of Cumberland)

[Banks]

TGIF! !!!!!!!!

PT after work today .

Prayers for those in need

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

Busier day than expected at work, but turned out well.  Trip home took forever as the FFA convention was in town and the "blue jackets" were everywhere walking.  Nice bunch of kids, but there sure is a bunch of them.  Weather was nice for a walk.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[rtraincollector]

Rob I was thinking something like that except the top row won't be able to be covered unless I can hang them from the ceiling itself

 

[robmcc]

 

Hi All,

It was a frosty one this morning! No white stuff yet though and still holding out on the furnace. (I think we explained what a furnace was to the Southerners in a post last winter!! ) I guess I should dig out the snow brush and scraper.

Kev- Happy belated Anniversary! God willing, I hope to hit that number with wife #2!!

Bruce - Nice to have a fellow Canuck here!

RT- Are you not able to hang a couple of those plastic painters drop cloths in front of the shelves you are not working on? Should help with the dust.

Joe - I'm 47 and feel the same as you. It's kind of funny after I've finished playing hockey or baseball and to see the looks on the 20 something kids faces when they find out my age. You nailed it - too much of Call of Duty and Taco Bell!

Have a good one.

Rob

[Demay]

Guten abend,

What was supposed to be relaxing Thursday evening turned into Dad's taxi service. The older two kids decided they wanted to watch a play at the high school. The workday was fine and uneventful. I did well on my annual fitness assessment; however, I am disappointed with how much faster I am than kids 20 years younger than me. I think they eat too much takeout food while playing video games in their rooms.  At 42, I should not two minutes faster than someone who is 22. It was sad to read that Girardi will not be coaching the Yankees next year. I believe he was a very good coach and I liked him as a player as well.

Good night,

Joe

[rtraincollector]

And then you have 95 and 81 going N & S. The 4 worst roads in the U.S. 85 isn't any better either. 

I use to hate traveling 40 to get out of TN. I had to travel it the whole state as I was in Memphis going east. 40 thru the Mountains ( TN/NC ) was really bad with construction all the time. 

Just relaxing today. Need to get more crap out of this room so I can get the cabinet out of here. ( basically its a set of kitchen type cabinets ( 3' long each with a 6' counter top on them. ) But I still have crap on them I need to do something with first. 

I need to do all this so I can put down a new floor in here. I will still have to move my desk around to do the floor but 1 piece of furniture is better than 4 or 5 pieces. I still have a couple of other pieces which I will probably just slide into the bedroom as I should be able to do this floor in one day seeing it is only like 8' x 14' with about 3' x 8' of it a closet but will do it at same time so it matches. Will have to bring shop vac ( a small one ) and chop saw in to do it. To many trains to pack back up and no way to actually cover them so then I will have to redust them all. But that might not be as bad as I'm thinking as then I will have a 5' X 8' train table to set them on, and that may be the time to bring them all down one side at a time to cut groves in the shelves so I don't have to have track on them.It also will give me a little more room on the shelves as some are very tight. ( forgot to caculate track height when building the shelves) 

I have plenty to do here it's just figuring the best way to do it. I have four 17" passenger cars I need to paint the bottom and three sets of trucks black as they are now a olive green ( who know what MTH was thinking of when they did these. ) There PRR in tuscan red. 

I have people to glue into four B&O 18" passenger cars. 

Once floor is done I can start building a small 5' x 8' foot layout also.

Well that's about all going on here today. Talk to you all later. 

Can't remeber if I said it or not, Kevin hope you and the Mrs had a good day.

[wrmcclellan]

Yep - I-80 & I-40 are semi truck "conveyor" belts...and all suffer from trucks on governors and jamming traffic for 5-10 miles cuz they can't pass and refuse to back off when they can't...

[KRM]

We live 1 mile south of I80 off exit 97 in IL. There are always horrible accidents  on that road and we are on pretty much on a clear, flat stretch of it going across farm land. When they raised the speed limits and let the trucks run the same speed as the cars, things got way worse. And 70mph means 85 these days. The slightest bit of common sense, courtesy and drop the D@mn phones things could be way better.  

To make things worse people just get way stupid when one semi is passing another and it takes him 6 miles to get it done because both are on the engine governor limit. For me most times I can get there safer and faster on the back roads.

 

[wrmcclellan]

Morning all!

50's this am and to hit 85/87 today and then a big breezy cold front comes through with highs tomorrow mid-50's! Might have to dig my long pants out?

Ahhh - love the I-80 stories. In addition to snow (I got behind a line of plows coming out of NYC) was in Wyoming with winds so hard it was a struggle to keep the van on the road and the trucks were doing 90 - death race...unable to keep up...tried to avoid getting run over...surprisingly, once I thought about it, I have traveled much of I-80 and in every state it runs through in my life...NJ, PA, OH, IN, IL, IO, NE, WY, UT, NV, and CA..not all at once though...will never, ever, drive the desolated portions in the west again...stayed in a motor lodge one time in the 80's where trucks were idling all night in the parking lot and the only telephone was on a pole in the parking lot!

Ray - that was a great MLB game last night...nail biter...both teams went through their entire pitching rosters...a lot of HRs hit (some series records set)...I am happy the Astros came out on top...On to H-town for games 3-4-5!

Dennis - good deal on the wind turbine repair!

 

 

[rtraincollector]

sir james I

Years ago, way back when. We used I80 on trips to Jersey. Drop down to Philly and across the river. Honest and for truely I80 had outhouses at the rest stops. Not porta potties, outhouses. We didn't mind but todays society would howl.

S.J. 

S.J. Your telling your age again lol

[sir james I]

FIRST FROST this morning. Sun but started the day at 35.

Years ago, way back when. We used I80 on trips to Jersey. Drop down to Philly and across the river. Honest and for truely I80 had outhouses at the rest stops. Not porta potties, outhouses. We didn't mind but todays society would howl.

S.J.

 

[lion88roar]

cnw1995

Aloha. Brrrrrrrr here too - low 40s. But thank goodness for sun. Didn't know snow was so close. Got my free flu shot via my former employer this morning. Happy anniversary Kev! Brent's post reminds me of my closest call was sliding sideways down a hill on I80 in the wilds of Pennsylvania in a '77 Chevy Nova during a blizzard. Hit a snowbank at the bottom of the curve. 

I-80 used to be a disaster during the winter! Haven't driven it in over 20 years so maybe they're done with construction? Only time I've ever seen my dad pull off the road was along I-80, we were heading home from a PSU game and headed up one of the mountains. Soon after we started up it started to get foggy, about halfway it was really thick and we were at a near crawl, then at the summit there was about 4 inches of snow on ground - Dad says 'was that fog, or snow we just went through?' we were at an exit so he pulled off to calm down. Good thing because 3 TTs were involved in a collision a few seconds after we got into the parking lot. Had I-80 backed up for miles, we got back on as the accident was right before the exit and blocked the both travel lanes and the exit ramp.

Worst I've ever driven through was 2011 (just before we adopted Christina). We were headed up to Pittsburgh the weekend after Christmas. I decided to take I-68 across N MD, instead of staying on I-70 up to The PA Turnpike. Figured they were calling for snow and I-68 was further south, so it would be better... COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG! Got to Cumberland, MD without incident, but by the time we got to the top of the hill just W of town the road was covered with over a foot of snow! I stayed behind a big rig the whole way and let him cut the ruts so I had traction. Took over 3 hours to get from Cumberland to the last rest stop just E of WVA. Got to Pittsburgh and my Dad tells me "LOL... dummy... Garrett County has the worst snow storms between MD and PA."

Kev - that is awesome! I think I did that once with TheQ and told her "Well at least you know I didn't recycle last year's card." 

[KRM]

Ray and the WC boys are cooking and we had first killing frost last night.

Bright sun and cold. Hope it dries up enough to do leaves this afternoon.

Plate Rail,,, Old cars and toy trains, don't get better than that!

Best get going.

 

[SPMan]

It has been real hot here for the last couple of days. Temp on the field for the first Dodger game was 103.  It's a little cooler today.  The game tonight was a cliff hanger but the Dodgers lost in the 11th inning.  First 9 innings was a pitcher duel.  There is a retirement dinner for railroaders this Friday but I don't think I can make it unless one of my boys take me.  I'm really not too excited about going anyway.

Ray

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

Busy day at work.  Sunny but cool day for walk.  Worked some more on set up for Halloween exhibit Saturday.  Hopefully will be better than last year.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[Plate Rail]

Greetings all,

Cooled right down today...great for working outside.  Coinsided well as we shuffled around a number of lifeless cars at the museum so we could load up our Panther.  Relatively fresh gas in the tank means it won't take much to get her going tomorrow.

Banks:  I initially joined this forum back around 2005 ( can't recall my handle back then ) when the toy train bug bit.  There's always been an on and off affair with model railroading...HO, N, AF etc., but the '05 restart produced a ceiling layout in the den ( Plate Rail ).  I never got further with it than an operating, unscenicked dual mainline set up.  I have future plans on expanding it and replacing the Atlas track with tubular for a more PW flavor.  I began converting my attic back in '07 into living space for a second layout.  That project lay dormant until 2015 when I restarted in earnest.  The room itself is relatively finished now and the layout has been up and running for about a year.  I lean more towards scale on this one.

I'm 63, married to a wonderful woman for 35 years and have one son.  He recently moved into a group home for special needs folks, so we've been empty nesters for only a year. We're located about 20 miles north of Toronto.  I've worked with my father for over 30 years in the antique car business.  Basically, I'm a glorified lot person...if it stays still long enough, I detail it to within an inch of it's life. 

Roy:  adapting the motorized MTH pan mechanisms to operate under ERR command control is probably a bigger challenge than I can handle, but I'm up for giving it a try.  Looking at bypassing the PS2 electronic board in favor of some relays and limit switches.  I think this is my 5th ERR upgrade and definitely my most ambitious.

Gonna go stretch out for a spell.  The old back is reminding me I ain't 20 any more.

'Night all.

Bruce

 

[rtraincollector]

sir james I

We have our own way of doing cards. We pick out a real expensive one say here read this and then put it back.

About the same here SJ 

Evening all. Happy Anniversary Kevin

Banks that was a close one for you. Glad all came out okay.

Nothing really new and big news here. Need to put brakes on again on trains, Made a couple of purchases for a total of about $200 but that's the first in about 3 1/2 months which is real good for me lol. 

Hope all have a good evening 

[sir james I]

We have our own way of doing cards. We pick out a real expensive one say here read this and then put it back.

[KRM]

Took Sandra to get her mammogram in Aurora this morning Then stopped at Newark for a anniversary brunch.
Thanks for all the well wishes.

BTW a word of advice for the guys,,,,,,don't buy your wife the same anniversary card two years in a row. LOL

Yeah I went to the store and got her the same card I got her last year.

We had fun with that dumb move.

Yeah, what a screw up that was. I thought it looked familiar,,, .... Problem was I went to the dollar store and they only had one anniversary card for a wife because they had all these Halloween cards taking up the space. Who sends Halloween cards??

 Oh well we laughed  it off.

So I cut grass I hope for the last time on the east end. Then we had Curly's ribs and steamed beans.

 

[Demay]

Guten abend,

Another busy Wednesday evening driving the older two kids to and from ballet and soccer. It did not rain too much today and the high reached 59.  I do not see any rain for tomorrow which will be nice since I have to complete my annual fitness assessment tomorrow morning.  I need to get be in bed earlier tonight so it's time to shut down the electronics.

Happy Anniversary Kev!

Good night,

Joe

[cnw1995]

Aloha. Brrrrrrrr here too - low 40s. But thank goodness for sun. Didn't know snow was so close. Got my free flu shot via my former employer this morning. Happy anniversary Kev! Brent's post reminds me of my closest call was sliding sideways down a hill on I80 in the wilds of Pennsylvania in a '77 Chevy Nova during a blizzard. Hit a snowbank at the bottom of the curve.

[sir james I]

A chilly 40s today.

The furnace is on.

Kev Happy anniversary.

Flu shot will be soon.

S.J.

[lion88roar]

Mornin' fellas

Banks - holy cow! On the way up to State College for the Pitt game in September I met my parents and older sister in Altoona, on the way up we were passing a group trailering ATVs, well apparently one guy felt putting his spare trailer tire under one of his ATVs was secure enough... well just as we are approaching on his left the tire bounced out right in front of us. Bounced across out lane of travel and into the median. After having a tractor trailer tire hit the front of my old car it kind of gave me pause. Those things can do some damage! Sounds like your's wasn't too bad?

Got my flu shot a few weeks back during my annual visit. Arm was sore for a few days after, but nothing major.

Looking into Lasix or PRK for my eyes. Tired of glasses and contacts! Sucks getting up at night or in the morning and not being able to see anything.

Fife - sounds like the princess is enjoying working with and spending some time with pops.

Kev - happy anniversary