March Coffee Pot, 14 years and still going. Green beer for all those above the Mason-Dixon, green grits for those below.

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

Made reservations for TCA convention, both trips and hotel room.  Watched 2 Hill Street Blues.  Ate too much for supper.   Ugh.  I have got to learn.....  Nice weather today.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[Banks]

Hello there,

today's activities. Mass, blood work, breakfast out, St. Pats day pot luck, a visit with Mom, groceries. Then home for homemade pitza. Now ready to crash. 

Roy......I tried the link. It took forever to buffer and start playing but it did.

No cameo, they asked but the kitchen is to hectic to have them there.

Tomorrow is another day.

 

Prayers for those in need

 

 

[sir james I]

Sun and 40 today. Looks like a nice week ahead.

S.J.

[ChiefEagles]

Morning.  58 and sunny.  Busy afternoon and night.

Just read Barry on OGR suddenly passed.

Have a good one.

[KRM]

Hi guys, sunny and will hit mid 40s 

Off to the eye Doctor for both of us today. Get me some new lenses so maybe I will be able to read the instructions on the back of the stew mix package.

No train news other than Charles Ro has pushed back delivery of the BNSF Tier 4 again to sometime in May this time.

[wrmcclellan]

Morning/afternoon all!

Nice and sunny today, started in the 40's and to hit 70! Same on tap for the rest of the week. Maybe some rain on Sat...

Kev - I am still dealing with the never ending saga of getting new lenses. After spending the last 9 months on this, may have a set I can live with, but not as good as my old pair.

Dennis - happy dog

 

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

Very quiet day at work.  Good weather for a walk.   American F-1 team did get a 6th in the first race and is now 4th in Constructor points.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

 

[dbaker48]

Good Evening,
We made it to Vegas and back, but what a trip!  Going over (should take about 3.5 hrs) took us 6 hrs.  On the Cajon Pass, their was a truck accident and fire right at the summit.  Took nearly 2 hours to get through that mess.  Then stopped at Eddie's World and returned the candy.  There was no hassle, which was pleasant.  We had decided we would stay in Jean, Nv.  Which is south of Vegas about 15 miles.  The hotel/casino there use to be the Gold Strike, but was bought by Terrible Herbst of gasoline fame.  Allegedly renovated.  Our experience at the Hotel was much less than satisfactory!!!!!
We did go to a place called Goodsprings, NV.  Which is about 7 miles from the hotel.  Their is a bar there called Pioneer Saloon, that has been there since 1913.  It was quite lively and really neat.  Of course a lot of history!! Even a memorial to Clark Gabel and Carol Lombard.  He was waiting at the saloon after her plane crashed, to find out if she survived or not.  Really a great place, and good food.
Got everything loaded Sunday am, and started back shortly after noon, go gome at 7:30.  The trip coming back was worse than the trip going out due to traffic.  Didn't really see any cause for the delays.  Sure is frustrating setting in the middle of the desert, barely moving 5mph.  Finally got home then unloaded, sure made for a long day!!!  I got the trailer returned this morning, and spent the rest of the day reclinerizing.
Gonna call it a day!

[fifedog]

Mornin' boys.  Finally finished the C&O canal wharf, complete with timber cribbing.  Grandsons may be coming this weekend, so I will try to get the Lionel cattle pen, Marx whistling/horn stations, and AF Sam Semaphore Man operational.

dbaker - If I found myself in a back-up in Cajon, I would get myself trackside to take in BNSF.

V8Vega - FifeMax (also a Border Collie) takes his frisbee to the trashman, because why else would he be there other to throw the frisbee...? 10-20 times...?

DJSpanky - Neither gal drives.

Haven't heard from jefelectric in a while...

[KRM]

Good morning,

 30 heading to 50 with FuLL sun!! 

Anyway, the Eye doctor went good. Not enough change to do anything for. Same with Sandra. I like the guy, if you don't need it he don't sell it to ya. Just told me I need to have more light to see the fine print,,, an old guy thing!!

Most who get problems it starts in late 30s and early 40s.

I have had glasses since I was 42 I think it was. Only for things up close not for things out far.

Sandra headed to Walmart later. I think just to get away from me,,,

So I went to the shed and got a beer. 

A trip to Menards later then out to lunch.

[sir james I]

Sun and Hi 40s today.

Oh boy we use to like Vegas, sometimes going 2/3 times a year. Things now are way too pricey and there are a lot of casinos in Michigan to play at these days. Tiss my wifes birthday but I can't even get her to go out for lunch. Her annual saying is it's just another day. 

S.J.

[wrmcclellan]

Morning folks!

Another cool sunny start to the day! 

SJ - spring starts tomorrow   to your wife!

DonB - quite the odyssey! Back ups due to flower watching? Heard they closed the canyon where the Golden State poppies are the best due to influx of crowds.

[ChiefEagles]

Morning.  50 and sunny.  Mow grass today and Town Board tonight.

Ordered buildings from Menards.  $10 rebate on them.  Get receipt after order.  Can only be redeamed in the stores [not on line].  Just like a Yankee store.  

Fifey and Dennis, enjoy the dogs.

Have a good one. 

[anjdevil2]

Howdy Diddly.....

Fife - Just seems like there is not enough room for those O72 curves, I think I maxed out the room I had with the O54s.  I had tried mixing in the O72s but since I'm limited on space, not much else I can do.  I am VERY pleased on the fact that I can retain my Fastrack switches with the non-derailing feature.  I MIGHT have some tubular turnouts, but thats for another update.

I did take the painters tape off the pathway and put down some grass.  Seems like the grass is too light, so I may run back to Hobby Lobby for some darker turf. It almost seems to be the same color of the gravel.  I'll be hunting out back for some smaller branches to make like dead trees on the Spooky Town section.  Need a Michaels run for some Lychen (More plentiful and cheaper than going to the LHS).

Once Spooky Town is done, I'll focus more on the Christmas Village and get the roadway set up.  Seems like the voltage is more consistant throught the Fastrack/Atlas trackage.  I have no clue why.....lol.

Have to tun back to work, can't concentrate for some reason....

Oh, the Princess is getting a promotion to a bigger store on Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia.  Very proud of her, she's almost making as much as me.....lol!!

Happy Belated Birthday, LionRoar!!!

 

 

 

 

[Buckeye Riveter]

Chief....Now this software will not let me read the last page posted. 

Kevin...Are you and I the only ones who have Menards in their area? 

Had a breakfast meeting this morning. Easy money.

Have a good day.

[KRM]

Happy Birthday to Mis SJ!

Chief, be a good sport and send your rebate to Buckeye. He can put it to good use. I used one today.

Buckeye, I don’t think there are any Menards east of Warren Oh.

https://www.menards.com/main/storeLocator.html

Taking wifey to Menards can be a costly thing! Ended up with way more than what was on my list. Stopped at Bozo hot dogs on the way home.

Lots of areas have a lot of flooding going on this year. Been theree and done that. All you can do is watch it go up and wait for it to go down.

[sir james I]

We have 2 local Menards. The first one is about 30 minutes the newer one is about 3 miles. Was there last week with the wife they got me for $99.

S.J.

[Sturgeon-Phish]

 

Good evening from sunny 53°F Southern Ohio,

 

I swapped out some switches on the layout that had a little too much bump in transition, and ordered some replacement switch flags and insulated pins.  I’m not sure if I already said this but I added an additional siding spur so as to have a better place for the 785 Coal Tower.  Accessory placement continues and repairs as needed are ongoing.  Trains still running good on the track.  There is only one remote operated switch and the other two are manually operated.  The automatic switch serves a siding that will hold another AF train that I easily swap out as well as having trackside accessories.  The other two switches are manual because they are easy to get to and will seldom be operated because the spurs they service are primarily for a place to set an operating accessory.  I am having fun with this.

 

Rich - What are you using for grass?

 

Roy - I’ve seen pictures of the areas in the peek bloom and it is unbelievably beautiful

 

Got to go

 

May God bless you and your families

 

Jim

 

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

Quiet but busy day at work.  Normally do not have to deal with Pain 2, but today I was reminded of why that name exists.  Ugh Ugh Ugh.  Weather better for walk but still not super comfortable.  Picked up lots of the larger tree limbs that were in the yard tonight.  Would take a good weekend to remove all the smaller debris.  Lots of evergreen branches down.  Must be squirrels near as I can figure.  Ordered a bunch of Scout style cars issued by Lionel in the past few years as part of their Lionel Junction sets.  Just got the real railroad named cars.   Very pleased.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[8ntruck]

Stopped raining long enough to take the dog for a walk.  Threw the Garmin in my pocket and discovered we walked 3.6 miles, averaging about 3mph.

Looks like the finances will allow me to pull the trigger on just about all of my wish list from the recent Lionel catalog.  Will be interesting to see when the items actually get delivered.

Went to the museum to refresh myself where I was on that project.  Got a list of items and an idea of what needs to be done, so we will be spending some time there this week clicking items off of that to do list.

About all for now.

[dbaker48]

Good Evening,
A belated Birthday Wish for Mrs. SJ !  

RT, you really did well on the cars and trucks!  Sounds like quite a collection!  Hope you get better sleep tonight.

Spent the chauffeuring Kay around today, she was not feeling well yesterday and needed help today.  Then after got home I wanted to mow the yard to get clippings on on Friday, as rain expected Thur and Friday.

Regarding the traffic with the trip to Vegas, I believe the biggest issue is the volume of traffic and amount of available road space.  First issue is there isn't an alternative route, unless you go 100+ miles out of your way.  The highway is 4 lane almost the entire way, a couple of places it widens to 6 lanes.  Assuming there are no major accidents, fires, dust storms, or snow storms the trip can be done in 3 1/2 hrs easily.  15 - 20 years ago the existing highway was more than adequate, not anymore.  With one lane being taken up with the trucks most of the time, lots of passing.  Then that increases the traffic on the fast lane.  And all of the idiots that think they driving in a Nascar race, and weave back and forth creating more hazards.  Friday nights going there and Sunday afternoons coming back here is the worst.  It is not unusual having to drive 40 or 50 miles at 20mph or less.  Oh yeah, then we have the road construction too.  It just is what it is.  (Roy, the Poppy are about 50 miles south of the Cajon Pass, so its not really a factor.)

I'm not sure what the guidelines are here regarding pictures, if there are any please let me know.  Below a couple of pictures of the Pioneer Saloon (Goodsprings, Nv about 7 mi west of I-15).  

Obviously, the others are of the Poppy fields near Lake Elsinore, (about 1/2 way between San Bernadino & San Diego).  Kay and I went out there the last Wednesday before all the crowds.  Thankfully.

[dbaker48]

A couple of the Poppy fields.....




Needless to say simply BEAUTIFUL !!!!!!!1111

[wrmcclellan]

DonB,

Wow, those pics of the poppy's are amazing! 

[Banks]

Hello there,

kinda had the blahs Monday, didn't do much.

Yesterday I changed the boiler control at the farm house. It's been sticking and getting the house really warm.

Then started gathering up the sod snowplowed into the neighbor's yard before he b×××hes about it. Need to finish that today.

Finished the day with a visit to the retirement advisor. Had a quick dinner at Perkins and saw the latest Madea movie. Funny as usual with some serious stuff included.

Jeffelectric should surface soon,York is getting close.

Don.....great pics!!!!

Best get on with the day.

 

Prayers for those in need.

[anjdevil2]

Hey, Good Morning....

Not much happening, Long days, short nights, get home have a little dinner and off to bed....

Phish - I'm using Elmer's glue with foam brushes and then sprinkling - for the path - Woodland Scenics medium ballast and Light Turf for the grass.  I'm thinking I need to go with a darker turf as the ballast and the lighter turf look about the same color and, at first glance, cannot tell the difference.  Once I'm happy with the outcome, I'll spray diluted white glue on the whole thing to cement it down.  So far, as this is my first attempt on my own, I'm very pleased. 

Will check back later, work is starting to ramp up again.....

 

[KRM]

Morning,

Raining here and will be mid 40s. Today, first day of spring, is our daughter Katie's 31th birthday, hard to believe she is that old.

Don, great pictures. That Bar reminds me of one I stopped at back in the 1980s when I rode to the Teton mountains on my bike. There were some pick-up trucks there and some horses tied up in front and the guys at the bar had pistols and holsters. But they were all nice guys, just lived their own kind of life.

Krogers later.

My elect toothbrush died today. Always something!

[Buckeye Riveter]

There are at least five Menard stores in Ohio that I have visited. The second floor has the train stuff out of season. 

Don...Did you photo shop those poppy photos? California has been in a drought, all the fish are dead, the crops burnt up and Grapes of Wrath, Reverse Course is now a hit movie.

Fife... What do you think of this technique?

 

 

[RedfireS197]

Phish,

I need to get back to work on my Flyer layout.

 

Been MIA for too long.  Sent my 89 Probe GT to the crusher last week after stripping for anything I could sell.  Pretty car up top, but being someone's year round daily in Mantua, Ohio for 14 years before being put into storage in 2003 did it in.  Strong runner though for 191,014 miles on the original powertrain.

 

[wrmcclellan]

Evening folks!

Day started as overcast, then the sun eventually come out. Spring has sprung and to celebrate my nose is running...

Working on a another 400E that was a parts donor for a project. Picked up enough parts at the last York, plus made a couple of shoulder screws (that secure the pony/trailing trucks) on the mini-lathe (that I did not realize I needed while at York last fall). Have it nearly completed.

[robmcc]

Evening All!

Haven't popped in for a while. A mild-ish day with a bit of rain right now.

I'm in the process of booking my father/son trip with my dad to Pennsylvania this September. We're planning to take in seeing and riding behind N&W 611 as she makes a rare trip to Strasburg. I'm sure we'll stop at Horseshoe Curve and go by the Altoona yard (Banks country!) as well.  We've been talking about revisiting that area for 20+ years. I know my time is running out with him, so I'm definitely looking forward to it.

I'm fortunate to have a Menards near by. It looks like they have kept the trains out this year. Ironically, I still end up ordering online and having my stuff shipped to the store. That way I can get their "Freebie" add-on promos.

Roy - My leaky nose is telling me it's spring too!

Rich - Nice progress on the layout.

Kev - Still waiting on my Autoracks from 2018 Volume 1 order, about 13 months since ordering. I hear the end of March, but.....???

Don - So what exactly are those poppies used for???

Have a good one and prayers,

Rob