8N, so sorry. God bless.
Good night. New Coffee Pot fits right in. RIP Jim Nabors.
God bless TCA 05-58541 Benefactor Member of the NRA, Member of the American Legion, Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville , KC&D Qualified
Good evening all,
Still reeling from loss of Jim Nabors. To have heard him sing at the 500 was one of my favorite memories. Very very quiet day at work. Good weather for a walk. Construction finally done on the roads I normally use for the commute. Should be better and safer going both ways. Went to see Coco tonight. Most excellent movie!!!! Double two thumbs up! I hope everyone has a good day.
Keep on training,
Mike C. from Indiana
Gomer Pyle (Jim Neigbors) has left us. Saw him in person once at a club in L.A. when he was doing comedy. He also sang and surprised everybody with his big voice. R.I.P. Jim
a
SPMan
8N - for your Mom
DonB - Oh, I saw it, just kidding...lol
Center section should be 9'long in the center which will be Main Street with a carosel and the MTH Mel's Drive IN and MTH FireHouse and other businesses and homes, left siding will be 10' long and 2' wide double track which will be SpookyTown.
The right leg will be Christmas VIllage going past that will be another 4', curving back around the stair case when I'll put the Morton's Salt and American P&L buildings on a single track siding and a model of a cryogenics plant where my Dad and I worked. About 2' wide by the stair case.
It's planned to be a double track main with interlocking where I can switch trains from inside to outside loops, but are electricall independant. I have the interlocking in FastTrack done and ready, will just need to add a switch to have adjoining power. Outside O-48 and inside O-36.
God knows I have enough FastTrack and accessories...I have rolling stock and motive power like nobody's business. I have maybe 3 diesels, 1 GG1 electric and at least 50 steam - yes 50....and might be dropping the hammer on the Blue Comet this weekend, but we shall see.
Just need to put up the insualtion and drywall....lol
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
To all,
RIP Jim Nabors
(Back home again in Indiana......) Nobody sung it better
Good morning Boys & Girls !
8n, Condolences, may the sadness pass quickly so you can enjoy all the wonderful memories.
Roy, Re the tumbleweeds, while in the Air Force at Reese AFB(Lubbock) they were a constant threat commuting from town to the base everyday/nite. Bad enuff in a car but it could be really dicey when I got my Honda bike.
Kev, The layout is looking impressive !
Gonna be a very busy weekend, Christmas on the Prado, as us old timers call it but December Nights as the PC crowd call it. Fri the museum will be open from 5pm to 9pm and Sat from 11am to 4pm then 5pm to 9pm. Normally I would be working the Sat schedule, both shifts, but with current health issues will only be working the night shift. Both evenings it is free so with all the other things going on in the park it will be extremely crowded. Last year the museum staff really did a great job in controlling the number of people in the building at one time instead of just throwing the doors open and getting out of the way.
Time to get moving, lots to get ready for the weekend.
Later all.
Remember the Veterans. Past, present and future.
www.sd3r.org
Proud New Member Of The NRA
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
8ntruck - on the passing of Mom...
Morning all!
Sunny, 50, amd headed to 69 today.
8n - so sorry about your mother's passing . Nice about the family gathering! Helps the healing. We were so busy (for months) when each of my folks passed I seemed to miss the grieving. When my best friends folks passed, that triggered me and it was a good thing. I knew his folks well, and not being responsible for the family and arrangements, it allowed me to focus and reflect on my parents also.
Don B - you missed the implied 'wink, wink' in Anj's response to your 'posts'!
Banks - those pics gave me some ideas! Jet pack!
DougM - 'implants'
Kev - the layout is looking great! Good idea with the bridge.
MikeC - the Jan CTT is a good one. I was disappointed that the unique Clarke family layout (for once not a rectangle, free flowing, and appears nicely detailed) only had 5 photos published. Wish CTT would follow the old rule "a picture is worth a thousand words" and cut the pablum verbiage. If not enough photos for layout 'A', then cut the verbiage and add more photos of another...
Ray - like you I seem to keep impaling my hands on projects. Just as one injury heals another occurs. It is aggravating. And I try to be really careful. Yet...
Did first of 4 doc visits yesterday. Dealing with some 'issues', the worst of which is bad ringing in the right ear (have dealt with this all my life, but got worse this summer), some dizziness in the am (low BP), and culminating with a physical scheduled Dec 28th.
Regards, Roy
Morning all. Chilly but warming fast. Going to Lowes by way of BoJangles. Yard decorated for Christmas.
Have a good one.
Good evening all, I finally decorated the Christmas Tree that my son put up for me on the week end. Puttering around in the garage got a nasty gouge on my ring finger. Bled a lot and could not put a band aid on it between my fingers. Finally got some liquid bandage and that worked. After that I stabed another finger with an ice pick. Not too bad. I'm afraid to do anything now. Went to emergency room yesterday for a hip problem. Turns out it is a sprained ligament. They gave me some pain medicine and from what they told me it didn't sound too dangerous. Then I read the paper work that came with it. You have to be very careful with it or you could become addicted they say. I don't need that. They hand out this stuff like candy. The medicine was overkill for what I needed. Will speak to my regular doctor about it when I see him. Made a big pot of spaghetti yesterday and have eaten a lot of it. Going out to eat tomorrow at guess where? Spaghetti Eddies. I think I'll order eggplant parmasean or something like that or something not spaghetti. Have a good week,
Ray
Good Evening All,
Gosh where has November gone, wow! This year is rapidly coming to an end! Did a few chores today in preparation for Kay's Bunco party, then some time in the train room. Ran a few trains, and like the new configuration. Will take some time to have the switches memorized. When I assign the switch numbers, I usually start from where the trains depart the "engine yard" and join the main track. That switch is #1, then I just go sequentially until I complete all the switches on that track. Then continue on with the secondary track and sidings. I name the switch relative to a physical characteristic, whether it is a track feature or a room feature. (Dinning Room Window, Kitchen window, etc.). But enjoyed the operating.
Then needed to connect a few more lights, so todays dilemma was drilling through a terminal strip on the underside of the layout! Was trying to avoid some framing, and it was in a blind area. Nevertheless, got one of the jumper wires on the strip. Turned out it was a 3.5v buss line, easy to fix, and no real harm done.
Also received the MTH 2018 Vol 1 catalog today. Don't know why but just did.
All in All, had a good day.
Roy, Heard on the news some significant virus on Apple products today, hope it hasn't affected you.
Kev, I think I was wrong, the El Camino has 14" wheels. I put some of the guttergards on my in-laws house, they have huge Pine trees in the parkway, and get a ton of needles every fall. The guttergards prevent them from getting into the gutter, what a time saver! Sure like the looks of your layout!
Doug, I will keep posting, just don't want to bore you all. Glad you didn't get the other implants. That would have been uncomfortable.
Anjdevil, Yep, I put a post up last night, It appears at the bottom of page 8 on my screen. How big is the attic layout going to be?
Banks, That is one heck of a "gutter blower" ! I am impressed with the nozzle that really looks great. Think you would need a shoulder harness for the blower, especially with 23 feet of pipe. I could just see you hovering abouve ground if you pointed it in the wrong direction.
8ntruck, Sorry to hear about your Mom, at least she's in a better place. And its ALWAYS extremely tough loosing someone this time of the year. Sure sounds like you had a great kids day! It really says a lot for the durability built into a lot of the post war stuff! To go through how many generations and still be around. Enjoyed reading your post, lots of things going on, and you certainly have been busy!
Mike C, Enjoy your posts as well, keep the movie reviews coming!
Take Care All and Stay Healthy !
Don
Don B, love reading your posts! Banks, ingenuous gutter cleaner. Roy, got the CTT today. I cannot remember what everybody wrote today, but it is good to hear from more of you. Work was very quiet today. Tomorrow should be busier. Weather still good. Supposed to rain Thursday. May go see Coco tomorrow night. I hope everyone has a good day.
Wow. End of November already. It has been forever since I've visited the 'Pot.
The last month or six weeks has been really tough. Three trips to Michigan - one week because of mom's health issues, one week for vacation, then back four days later to plan and exciute mom's funeral. Back at work this week, finally returning to a 'normal' routine, I finally realize how exhausted I am. Think I am starting to greeve and heal.
On the bright side, we hosted Thanksgiving dinner. My sister was in from Wyoming, my niece and her family from Ohio, and my nephew and his family from Michigan. It has been probably 12 or 15 years since we have hosted a family gathering like that. We really enjoyed it.
On the train front, we ran a kids day at the KATY depot in mid-October. Probably had 2 dozen kids come through. We had a Thomas the Train layout that the kids could run, a table with Brio wooden trains set up, and I had two loops of O gage for demonstration, with kind of a Halloween theme. Was a mix of about 1/2 postwar, and 1/2 modern including my Harry Potter train. As usual the Moe & Joe lumber car was a hit and got a good workout by the kids - both big and little. The post war barrel loader was well received, too. One girl was marching the barrels up the ramp with intermittant button presses, trying to dump one into the gondola as it went by. I didn't hollar, 'cause that is the sort of thing I would have done when I was her age.
We've got the Polar Express themed kids program at the Depot coming up in a couple of weeks. Hot chocolate, cookies, craft projects, Sannta, and my Polar Express layout will be featured.
Think I'm going to pull the trigger on the CTT anneversary boxcar and the Menards armed caboose.
All for now. Hopefully, I'll have time to stop by more often in the future.
Hello there,
today I finished the low gutters and managed to try and ambush a deer. No luck on the deer but I did get a couple of questions on my Redneck gutter cleaner
I used 3" PVC sewer pipe. On my old blower I had to soften the pipe by heating and make it fit the blower outlet. On the new one the bell end fit well enough all I had to do is secure with duct tape.
on the top I used a street ell and a 90. The 90 I modified by softening with heat to form a nozzel. I put everything together with self drilling screws so it can be adjusted as needed.
To reach my highest gutter I used 23 feet of pipe. A word of caution make it blow almost straight down. It has a suprising amount of thrust with 20 feet of leverage. Been cleaning my gutters with this for 4 or 5 years
Time for bed
Prayers for those in need
Banks, Proud member of the OTTS TCA 12-67310
DonB - Did you write a post?
60 ish today and 55 tomorrow -
Really need to get the attic done and start laying permanent track - I have a temp track layout on the carpeted floor up there.
Just checking in.....
Aloha. Sunny and colder today but still lovely for this time of year. I love your posts, DonB! I enjoy hearing about everything from everyone, especially the layout. I had cataracts too - and got them taken care of -- now I have 'implants' (not Those kind of implants ) Roy, Safari drives me crazy...
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
Good morning,
Cooler today, 40 heading to 50 with sun, no wind. Chased leaves all day yesterday and the Oaks still have some to go. Otherwise about done.
Banks, I am sure glad we put guttergards on this house when we built it. I have never had to clean a gutter in ten years. The were costly but worth it the way this place sits in the wood.
Don, I did not know El Caminos used 13" rims?
Best do something.
BTW Last night just for the heck of it I added a bridge to the upper level. It just sits on the top and can be moved any place there is enough straight track.
Well had a nice post lined out and Apple Safari crashed as usual in the middle of it - so will just say Good Morning all!
Don - keep 'em coming!
Mike C - got my Jan CTT yesterday.
Good Evening,
Please let me know if my posts are too long or wordy, no problem.
Spent most of the day in the train room, didn't accomplish a lot, but spent a lot of time cleaning and straitening stuff out.
I decided to use a modified computer power supply for lighting buildings and led type lighting. One power supply and I eliminate all the wal-worts. Cost for power supply and adapter output board about $13, and a lot less wiring. The power supply only has DC output coming of it. And, I have a couple of accessories that require 12vac, (Lionel Hobby Store). So wired that up to the track power. Everything has been working well. Then I noticed the hobby shop seemed to be going off very eratically. Checked the connections and wiring, everything seemed good. Sometimes it would go off and stay off for an hour or more, other times just a few minutes. I began to wonder if something was getting too hot internally, or an internal circuit breaker. That just didn't seem feasible. Then tonight I found out why it was so erratic. The track power that is closest to the shop that I used is from a siding, and I have a toggle switch to turn that siding on or off. Also, IF I have a short on that siding the DCS turns the power off to it. Sooo, whenever I shorted the track the shop went off and stayed off until I would recycle the DCS system. Talk about feeling dumb, so now I've rerouted the power for 12vac accessories to a dedicated leg off the transformer, problem solved.
Then had another problem, a different track segment was dead, troubleshooting that I found one jumper wire I made, when I crimped the connector on the wire, I didn't get the conductor just the insulation. What a PIA, but a easy fix.
The good news is all the switches AND the non-derail functions are working great!
Kay is having a Christmas Bunco party here Friday night and wants the layout looking as good as possible. So trying to get all the building lit. Will need to show her how to turn the layout on, and I will have a couple of trains setting on the track with the lights on. (I won't be here to help her, going to Vegas to him Chris look for an apartment.)
Ray, I remember when you were having the work done on that engine, it was a real horror story. I was really lucky with my engine.
Roy, Glad to hear the CTT issue got resolved, I kinda thought it would have. Especially that they are going to "look" at the process, you may have helped all of us.
Doug, I believe the "lost" screw that I had in my "jar" was the one I found last week. It is so small, I knew I wouldn't find what it went to, just glad I put it in the "jar".
Kev, If you need any more 13" rims and tires, let me know. I have 4 already mounted that has been sitting up in my garage for probably 10 years, they were on the El Camino.
Dennis, I havn't hit one of those (yet), close a number of times. Always been concerned they get caught under the car and catch on fire.
Mike C, I think you and I posted about the same time last night. Anyway, what do you think is going to happen with Danica since she doesn't have a ride in Nascar anymore? Maybe go back to Formula, or start a family? And again tonight, checked for new posts before I submitted this one. Hope Lucas' wife is doing better soon.
Banks, Got our "winterizing" done as well, cleaned the pool filter, checked the gutters, and, and, and, guess that was all. Watch out with the cateracts, I had a couple of small ones for years, last year at this time they told me they were still small. Then in March they wanted to schedule me for cataract surgery ASAP. I was surprised, they ended up correcting an astigmitism in my left eye with the cataract lense at the same time. I now see better than I ever have. And, don't need glasses anymore, except for reading.
Thats it for me for the day. If anyone feels my posts are too long, please send me a message or something.
Take Care and Be Safe!
spent the day yesterday sitting in son's field hoping for a Buck to walk by. Didn't happen. Saw only a squirrel, several pair of Cardinals and I watched a mouse make several trips from field to woods.
Today I moved the neighbor ladies leaves and took the sucker off the Gravely and put it away til next year.
Later I made the gutter cleaning extension fit my new leaf blower and got all the high gutters done.
Tomorrow I'll do the low gutters and I'll be almost ready for winter.
This evening I had my annual eye exam. Every thing looks good. Only a sign of aging. Barely detectable cateracts forming on both eyes.
Off to bed.
Prayers for those in need.
Busy morning at work. Not so much this afternoon. Took swings down tonight. Talked to Lucas. Only pizza wife can eat right now is Pizza Hut so they have to travel some to get it. She is doing better. Weather was great for a walk today. Roy, glad to hear you will get your destroyed issue. Has anybody gotten the January CTT yet? Usually here by now. Probably will get that and MR and TRAINS all on the same day. I hope everyone has a good day.
Posted my Classic Trains missing issue over on the CT forum plus sent it to the CT editor who responded very quickly on the forum and via email. They will replace the issue (never any doubt on that - the issue was the process) and he looped in the Cust Svc Mgr to look into the problems I ran into. He noted some other subscribers had run into similar problems.
Dennis - that would have scared the el out of me too! Glad there was no serious impact!
SPMan Kev, looks like quite a trophy for a 12 year old. Bet he was happy. Ray
Kev, looks like quite a trophy for a 12 year old. Bet he was happy.
Ray, that is Bank's grand son in the picture in my post. Sorry .
53 and windy with overcast skies will get to 60 then back to more like late November over night and tomorrow but still above average for here. I will take it!
Had to order a new tire for the log splitter yesterday to replace the one my neighbor Brian drove the tire spoon through the bead on trying to dismount it. $49.00 mounted is not bad. It was hard to get because it is a 13" rim from a early 60s 6 cylinder mustang / Falcon.
Caught the cat and did his flea stuff,,, now he is ,,
Aloha. Warmer today! Doesn't seem like holiday weather. Pulled the trigger on my first clockwork train set by Hornby (No. 20 goods train) for the bride to give me for Christmas. Can't wait! Hope today is better, Roy. DonB - don't forget to look for the tiny missing screw on the layout!
Another sunny day, cooler, 50 right now. Possible shower this evening as a front moves through.
Don - good story and you kept the suspense until the end! Toy train repair mystery writer!
Goood to be hearing regularly from Dennis and Ray!
An issue with the Kalmbach response system - it does not send you an email (you have to use it to identify yourself in the on-line system) to verify that you contacted them (like all the other similar systems I use) and what you contacted them about so you have no idea if they are really going to act on it. All one gets is a generic web page that 'thanks you for contacting them'. On the voice system there is no case # given for tracking. So you have nothing to use as proof you contacted them on a certain date.
So hopefully in the next couple of weeks a replacement mag shows up and if not I will probably not remember it until the next issue shows up...then I will wonder what happened to the last issue.
Dennis, glad you found a friend. We have a fillipino community at our church. They are lovely people. My son used to date one of them in college. She would have made a good DIL but she married somebody else. They were very caring when my wife passed.
Don, glad you got the big boy going again. That sounds like a nightmare taking one apart. I spent about a year trying to get an MTH 4-8-4 going. Finally sent it to MTH. They fixed it but they were sloppy on a few things. At least it runs now.
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