February Coffee Pot 14 Years Old And Still Going. Little Debbie's Vallentines Heart Shaped Cakes For All.

[cnw1995]

Aloha. Gee, it is sometimes hard to login here. I wish it was as warm here as it has been out East. Sleet overnight and rain this morning on my careful shuffle a quarter mile from the parking lot to the train depot. Rain atop ice is dangerous! Did the same thing Tues into Wed too. Weird weather. I've been casually browsing for late clockwork - post-war Hornby tinplate. Nothing pops up this side of the pond. Why do I always pick something obscure to run? 

Marty, my deepest condolences!
Kev, we just replaced our Crock-Pot - the old one we got when we were married 30 years ago! This one feels ... cheaper. 

[Banks]

Hello  there     
    Been a slow week.

Kinda had the blahs Monday. Didn't do much.

Tuesday started sorting and putting Christmas away. Was going to get coal but found the Tahoe battery dead as a door nail. Something seams to drain it if it sits a long period. Put the charger on it for a couple hours but still no go. Decided to let it get to 100% and left it go.

Yesterday battery 100%. It will crank, start then immediately die. Some YouTube time tells me by the dash lights the anti theft system is causing it. More time on YouTube showing half dozen ways to reset and none work. Half hour phone call to GM mechanic nephew one more way.

By this time it's time to get Mrs It waits til today. His method is a sequence of key off and on over half an hour. Working on that now and praying. This doesn't work

I'm going to find the schematic in my book and by by anti theft. It's a 20 year old Tahoe. Who'd want it?

Gotta go

Prayers for those in need

[ChiefEagles]

Dennis, depends.  One in living room, on a TV thingy furniture.  Eye level.  Den, its over fireplace as center of room facing fireplace.  One bedroom, on top of dresser.  another two bedrooms, on a table.  So, that is what we do.  

[8ntruck]

Haven't seen the sun since Sunday.  Freezing rain Tuesday night, and more last night.  I agree about the weird weather.  Last night it was in the high 20's and we had a severe thunderstorm warning.

One thing nice about retirement - we don't have anything important enough to get us out and about in this icy crud. 

Taking dog out yesterday morning, I used gravity express to get down the last two of the icy steps.  Ended up with a strawberry on my forearm and a few aches.  The dang dog bounced me while I was down on the ground - thought I was wanting to play with him.

Got some O gage wooden ties stained for the layout at the museum yesterday afternoon.  More to get stained today.

While gathering some information on our property in Ky, I came across an aerial image that includes property lines.  It appears that one of the neighbors has encroached on the property with part of their driveway.  Think I'll get a surveyor to mark that line for a reality check, then figure out what to do next.

About all for now.

[lion88roar]

V8Vega

I just saw a picture on TV and something I've wondered, why do people have their TV's mounted up high where you have to look up instead of looking normal?

Dennis - it depends. Some people like them up high as they think it enhances viewing. Some it is mounted above a fireplace to maintain the fireplace as the focal point in the room, and there is nowhere else to put a TV.

In our new home we will have a Great Room with floor to ceiling stone fireplace. We don't want to interfere with the dramatic effect of the fireplace, so we aren't going to have a TV in that room. It will be a gathering room where people can go, sit, relax, and talk. The TV on the main floor will be in the 'family room' next to the breakfast area next to the kitchen. This will make the kitchen, breakfast area, and family room the main 'hang out' space for our family. The Great Room (off the kitchen) will be between the kitchen and the conservatory (formal living space), so it will make for a nice formal gathering space, next to the informal gathering space... the basement will also be finished complete with 'movie room' - not a home theater because 2 walls will not be solid, the forth 'corner' will be a post. The builder's 'media room' is where my trainroom will be.

You can see it here https://wormald.com/luxury-floor-plans/the-la-belle-2/ if you click on the floor plan you can download a PDF... a few options we are going with are the curved staircase (TheVPQ's wish), the optional owner's suite closet confirguration, elevation 'C', finished basement with wetbar, and wine cellar, fitness room, and full bath in the basement. The powder room in the basement I will be finishing soon after move-in, and the double door to the wine cellar will be a concealed door (another VPQ's wish).

Permits were approved yesterday, so build should start within 10 - 14 days.

Have a good one!

[anjdevil2]

Brent - Nice house...love the kitchen....does the illustrated Cobra come with the 3rd garage?   Too cool, 2 SUVs and a Cobra (or the SRT Durango?????)

Good luck with it, my friend!!  That is an awsome domicile!!

 

[KRM]

Good afternoon,

The Big rain they squawked about all day yesterday went south of us. Fine by me! We too have been having weird weather. Was in the 40s this morning and will get into single digits tonight?

 My son came over today and set up a Seagate back up hard drive for my PC. Glad he did. One less thing to worry about.

 Dennis, that is so you get a straight line look at the TV from the recliner when reclined.   

Brent, WOW!!!   Lots of angles there. Those angles give a great look but come at a high cost. I am sure you know that by now.  Going to be a nice place!

Doug, we replaced our old Crock Pot from 1991 with a new one too about one year ago. Same thing the new one feels cheap. The other thing we found out is the new one cooks way too hot set on low. It will burn the food. Today my son said the same about theirs. That is one reason we got this new smaller one made by Hamilton Beach this time. It seems to cook way better when we used it day before yesterday.

 

8N, our county has the same kind of map where they place the property lines over a satellite view. When I checked out our place it was evident the east line was about 15’ off to the west so I would not bank on that as correct but never hurts to have it surveyed and pipes placed. They were going to build a 10-lot subdivision to our south. I paid for a survey and had them place pipes in the ground along the line. That way there would be no questions when the people started moving in. The good thing is in the crash of 08 it sold to a single owner and he did not want to subdivide it.  

Best get!

 

[cheapclassics]

Good afternoon all,

Quick post to let you know I may not be posting the next two days.  Phone and internet are both down at home.   Phone company can't get there until Saturday.   Lot of rain may be drowning the line.  I will be back when I can.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

Internet is working.  Phone is not.  Strange.  Quiet day at work.  Got sump pump working overtime before temps drop below freezing.  Watched a nice video on Indiana Railroad on Netflix.   I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

 

[Banks]

Hello there,

quick check in before bed.

88......NICE PLACE!!!!!

8N......I  agree with Kev. Those aerial maps are usually off. Had my place surveyed last fall. The aerial map on my western line was off at least 15 feet.

V8...........what slot cars are you buying, Thunderjet?????

Best try to sleep. 

 

 

Prayers for those in need

[Sturgeon-Phish]

 

Good evening from a wet balmy 50°F Southern Ohio,

 

When I woke up this afternoon around 2pm it was 71°F.  It was actually warmer outside than inside.  They are calling for temps to drop through the night and be in the low 30’s by Saturday.  For it to get there the winds will be heavy and if so I’ll not be burning brush Friday.  It may be a good day to clean the track for the layout.  I won a Marx Set on ebay last night.  It looks nice and it has the 666 engine.  Love that engine!  I’ll report back on the set when it gets delivered.

 

Banks - have you looked at the fuses in the fuse panel by the driver’s knee.  The upper right fuses go to the unlock function and the unlock function interfaces with the Passlock system and may affect the resetting.

 

Dennis - We’ve got two TVs, one in living room and the other in the family room, and both mounted about 6 foot at the top of the screen.  They’re both mounted at a slight tilt for best viewing while sitting.

 

88 - NICE!!!  Take lots of pictures during the building process, especially what is in the walls before the sheetrock goes up.

 

Good night and may God bless you and your families

 

Jim

 

[fifedog]

Mornin' boys.  Mild and damp in the Potomac Highlands.  Need to put my EPA hat on this AM and get a water sample at the yard.  Been very busy at the office lately.  I did have off yesterday, and finally hooked up the Gold Medal milk car platform I received at Christmas.  My buddy Tom provided me a used Lionel operating track section, and the animation works flawlessly and smoothly.  Love it.

Had a nice chat with the Chief, solving most of the world's problems this side of the Mississippi.

88 - Good luck with the new digs.  Exciting.

[rtraincollector]

Morning all, 

88 the pic after the bathroom would make such a great train room ( LOL ) Nice looking place

[anjdevil2]

TGIF from a quickly cooling and rainy South Jersey.......up to 50 then the nose dive later today with high winds and 20s for temps.

Bloodborne Pathogens Class was cut short due to "technical" issues, safe to say, report all incidents and use all protective barriers/means to keep the bad stuff out.

Registered for Incident Command 200, 300 and 400.  Designed for the "commander", or those who ride shotgun in the big red trucks, to run those incidents that may require 2 or more "agencies" to manage a call.  The deprtment wants me in on this because of my previous command experience and I do run as officer on occasion.  1 class next weekend, the next in April and the final class in June.  Hey, I can actually run for Chief then......hahaha, not on your life, pal.....

Shaping up to be at home doing what I want for a change, so this will put in a good frame of mind.  Just need to get food at the house, since the kids are on a diet to get themselves fit and healthy.  Might be a Wawa and BK kinda weekend.

Since Phish brought it up and V8 has as well, I have a collection of T-Jets by Aurora and some Tyco.  Still have most of the track from the 60s.....they still run.  Will need to get the track up and running after the trains are running, lol!!  I also have a few Parma cars for the slot car track in Wall Township, been ages since I raced the slots, but it's something I'd love to do again.  Sunday night at the slots?  Yeah, maybe it's time to go back....lol

 

 

[KRM]

Morning,

Cold, 4 when I got up but bright. Very windy the rest of the day so won't go out unless I have to.

Back before kids I had one room set up with a 4 lane slot car track. It was Aurora AFS G+ cars I used. Was great fun. I wonder if there are any of the pay to drive tracks like back in the day where it was 24th scale racing. That was fun too.

http://www.hoslotcarracing.com/GPlus.html

Yeah, Bloodborne Pathogens Class. Had to do that every year as a suppervisor at Cat. Along with about 30 other classes.

[cnw1995]

Aloha. Boy, is it cold today. Super-cold. like -24 cold. Just because of the wind. It actually froze the gas cap cover when I was trying to fill up the CRV's tank. Banging on it finally opened it up. Then the hatch froze shut when I was trying to load groceries. Gee - 

8n, hope you can rest after your fall. That's nothing to fool with.
Dennis, glad you got a clean bill of health. None of our TVs are mounted for the reason you mentioned; I personally don't care to look up to view the screen, compared to having it at eye-level when seated... I also have slot cars for the old Aurora AFX sets from the 70s - still work! I've also picked up a few of the large Carrera (non-digital) cars too.
Banks, sorry about the trouble with the Tahoe. 

[ChiefEagles]

83 degrees.  Had an early out and meeting.  Raleigh Chamber breakfast was an excuse of a breakfast.  Lady said outloud, "Where are the bacon and eggs." 

Later.

[sir james I]

Cloudy 19 degrees and like Chicago the Detroit area is windy COLD.

Our 2 TVs are on stands at eye level. I have no desire to watch a TV mounted above the fireplace.

S.J.

[SPMan]

V8 Dennis, I started the layout in 1976 and finished the around the wall part in about a year.  I added the passenger station in the center of the room several months after that.  The garage is 24 x 20.  I started off with all Gargraves track. Then I found out the magna traction on old Lionel did not work too good on the stainless steel rails so I converted the main lines back to tubular track on the main lines only.  Now I run MTH mainly with DCS but also have a little Lionel conventional trains as well as some others like Williams.

 

[KRM]

Sturgeon-Phish

 

 

88 - NICE!!!  Take lots of pictures during the building process, especially what is in the walls before the sheetrock goes up.

 

Also my . Get an extra set of prints. Figure out where you want things like towel racks TV holders, TP holders, coat racks or anything else that you will want to attach to the wall. Then "before drywall" put backer 2x4s or 2x6s between the wall studs so you have meat to drill into and attach those items. Then measure it out and put those measurements on the extra prints so you can place those items and know you will not be trying to ancor to just drywall. 

[Banks]

Hello there,

Near 50 this AM with a stiff breeze. near 20 now with a strong wind.

Phish.........thanks for the input. Security fuse is #21 and it's good.

Tahoe saga continues. A conversation with my mechanic ruled out bypasing the security module. He spent days trying to make it work on his shop truck. seems the signal is analog and varies. Spent  an hour this morning getting it out of my Tahoe. Several hours at Johnny's U Pull it getting it and a CD player.(less than $30 for both) Son was along too and got some parts for his truck. keeping my fingers crossed that both work. The 97 Suburban I got the module from was marked running. A different part number but checking it out says it fits my 99 Tahoe. Going to wait for a warmer day to see.

Going to take son's truck to get coal tomorrow. With the cold coming I'd need to add wood constantly to keep it going.

Off t bed soon

 

Prayers for those in need

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

Very quiet day at work.  Spent most of the afternoon working on analyzing yet another problem with the new application.  When I finish this research, I am done with the new app.  Others will have to solve it, not this puppy.   Walked inside at lunch and did a "taxi" run for oldest granddaughter as her mon's van was on the unavailable list today.   I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[Buckeye Riveter]

Good morning from the Valley! 

Some sad news this morning from Ohio. Many of the longtime members of this forum will remember an infrequent poster, Keith Woodworth who lives in Northeast Ohio. Last night Keith passed away at age 54. I met Ketih years ago as we visited Tom Pescha's basement layout. RIP Keith and keep those trains on the track.

sir james I

Our 2 TVs are on stands at eye level. I have no desire to watch a TV mounted above the fireplace.

S.J.

 

SJ.... Mrs. Buckeye and I agree with you 110%. In fact, she compains about it more than me. Just try and lay on your side on your couch and watch Judge Judy on a TV above a fireplace. You get a stiff neck! 

 

Well onward and upward.

[sir james I]

Buckeye, exactly. It's just not comfortable.

We have soared to 13 sunny degrees this morning. There is no snow on the ground here. 

Clud meeting tonight that I'm sure will be well attended.

S.J.

[wrmcclellan]

Evening folks!

Been extremely busy the past week trying to move the big layout project along. Training a new kid. So far so good.

Cold and raining here. It has been a long winter this year. Weather wonk said this winter hit the norms so far - past few winters have been warmer than normal. Normally we have a lot of sunshine through the winter, but this winter has been gray and damp.

Marty - I had a chinchilla pet while in college. They make great pets, they shed a fur coat for your mom or missus each year! Unfortunately mine met his demise while he stayed at my parents house for a summer while I was off working. As you know chins need to constantly gnaw on something as their front two teeth keep growing. I kept a block of wood in his cage. Well one night when they let him out to roam around he disappeared. Well he got inside the electric organ and decided to gnaw the 110 v power cord....

[KRM]

V8Vega

 Ho slot cars are the most popular and were sold in sets like Lionel. Many are really 1/64. Some people collect the sets, seems kind of dumb to me as they just sit.T Jets were sold in the millions. Mine are all more modern ones. 

Dennis,,,, the question is what cars are you runing today????? G+ Mega G+ or something else I am thinking of building a track for the grand kido and would like to know. I do know that the T Jets were sold in the millions and I hated them. Way to many gears and toooo slow. 60s stuff.....I loved running those G+ cars back in the late 70s and early 80s.

Still only 20 out there but warming and snow for tomorrow. could be way worse.

[Banks]

Hello there,

13 this AM, got up to 28. 20 A bit ago when I came in.

Used son's truck and my trailer to get coal today. Had enough to get to next weeks predicted snowmageddon but didn't want to deal with that. Yard way to soggy for trailer so I got 6 wheelbarrow loads in before cold and asthma made me quit. Try to get the rest tomorrow. If I don't it'll be one big lump till it thaws,

88......Kev has a good point with the blocking. As for as wiring I'd recommend you specify no 14 AWG wire and a maximum 10 feet between outlets instead of the Code maximum 12 feet. Good electrical's will do that but many will cut as many corners as they can.

Tahoe will wait for a warmer day.

Wupped. Off t bed soon

 

Prayers for those in need

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

Sunny but cold today.  Did get a 9 mile practice in today.  Did a 2:19.47 for a 3.86 MPH average speed.  Was making 4 MPH for the first 5 miles before slowing down a bit for the last 4.  Watched 3 episodes of Hill Street Blues with the missus tonight.  Will have a houseful tomorrow.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[ChiefEagles]

Morning.  38 degrees and partly cloudy.  Buckeye and Sr. J weather is back.  But, only for a couple of days.

Think Buckeye sneaked into Rolesville early AM yesterday.  Big power outage at 4 AM.  Came back on at 7:10 as I was leaving for a trip to Stumpy Point NC on the coast.  Their annual oyster festival.  All the steamed and fried oysters you can eat.  Fried catfish too.  Got my money's worth of all three.  Monster crowd.  Was 38 and 20 MPH winds when we arrived at 11:45.  When we left at 4, was 36 and blowing hard.  Cold.

Off to foreign country tomorrow AM early.  Chapel Hill and UNC for Town retreat.  Guess when I go to Dr. and they ask if you have traveled out of the US  in 30 days, I'll have to answer yes. 

Nothing going on today.

Buckeye, yes Keith was a great guy.  Use to contribute a lot here.  God bless.

Later.

 

[KRM]

Thanks Dennis, Now I will know what to look for! 

I hate to paint , Been taping off stuff so I can paint the bathroom now that the drywall is fixed.

26 here and snow in about an hour so what else is there to do?