fifedog Mornin' guys and gals. Cloudy and 25 along the Alleghany front-range, with some dicey weather later. Due at the museum at noon. y Uncle Richard passed Saturday overnight. The most kind and just man I ever knew. He guided his nephew into a career in law enforcement over 30 years ago, so I owe a lot to him. Heaven, take the W.
Mornin' guys and gals. Cloudy and 25 along the Alleghany front-range, with some dicey weather later. Due at the museum at noon.
y Uncle Richard passed Saturday overnight. The most kind and just man I ever knew. He guided his nephew into a career in law enforcement over 30 years ago, so I owe a lot to him. Heaven, take the W.
So sorry to hear, you and your family are in our prayers
Condolences for your uncle Richard, Fife.
Coincidentally, my uncle Rrichard passed a couple months ago. Like your uncle, he was one of the people who inspired me in my career choice.
Condolences for your uncle Fife.
Wife and I got a dog yesterday. A Malinois X is Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd. She was a barn dog that some Amish people had, 3 hour drive one way to get her but she is a nice looking dog but has a lot to learn. Puppies can be a pain that is for sure.
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
fifedog Mornin' guys and gals. Cloudy and 25 along the Alleghany front-range, with some dicey weather later. Due at the museum at noon. My Uncle Richard passed Saturday overnight. The most kind and just man I ever knew. He guided his nephew into a career in law enforcement over 30 years ago, so I owe a lot to him. Heaven, take the W.
My Uncle Richard passed Saturday overnight. The most kind and just man I ever knew. He guided his nephew into a career in law enforcement over 30 years ago, so I owe a lot to him. Heaven, take the W.
https://brentsandsusanspicutures.shutterfly.com/
Mornin' guys and gals. Mostly sunny and 33 along the Patterson Creek cut-off. Weather tomorrow will affect travel plans...
Thanks for your thoughts. And thanks for checking in, 88. Been thinking 'bout you.
KRM Puppies can be a pain that is for sure.
No doubt! That's why our dogs for the past 20 years have been rescues, but that little one you've just gotten looks like a real sweetheart!
Best of luck to you!
Sorry for your loss Fife... been hard to find the words. KRM, congrats on the pup!We had snow out here yesterday, it was enough to shovel this time. Got it all done in good time though! Played a very heated game of Ticket to Ride with my youngest brother... I lost, but it was a close game.I've been working on making a basic test track for a friend, going to give it to him when we see eachother at the train show this weekend. Only so much time left, so I have to hurry up and finish it. He does HO and N, but thought it might be useful to have something to test bigger stuff in case he ever needs to. Hoping to make some progress on it today!-Ellie
Good Morning!!
FINALLY have my new computer so I can get back in the swing. I'll try to catch up later.
Fife - Condolences on your Uncle.
KRM - Congas on the pup - very cute. Shepards and Schnauzers are my favorite dogs.
We lost our cat Cloud and our guinea pig Arnold within a week of each other, so it's been a very sad time here. Jenni is still very upset.
House is sold and moving all the trains out with the accessories is a real challenge. I need this house empty by next Monday. I took Friday off to accomplish this, I still have to work Saturday. Still have to get the certificate of occupancy from the borough. The inpsector is being a bit of a d@ck, so I'll need to call the borough office to get this finished. Just wahat I needed is to delay this closing. I't's already cost me $2200 just to get it ready for the inspection
OK back to my job - I think retirment will come in 2025, I've had enough I think, 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
Sorry to hear about the loss of your pets, it's never easy.Train show fast approaches... only 3 days off now. I've been making good progress on a test track which will be a gift for a friend- he doesn't do O or S gauge but I talked with him and he thought it could be useful to have something to test stuff on- hence the test track! The overall length of the board is about 4' 8.5" (I thought I was being clever, you decide), ~6" of the board on one end is left open so that I can install some stuff to control the Lionel remote control track sections and some terminals to hook the transformer up to. I don't have any control boxes I can spare, but I found a broken one... I'm thinking maybe I can salvage the guts to make something usable.Staged some equipment on it for a "progress" shot:It's been so much fun to work on stuff since I finally managed to get my workbench cleaned up. I started a new system of keeping most of my tools hung from nails on the wall, and making sure that before I pull out a new project or walk away from the workbench (if I'm not coming right back) I clear off the workbench, making sure all the tools go back where they belong. Let me tell ya... life has never been better. Can't believe it's taken me this long, the difference is night and day comapred to how I used to do things.-Ellie
Good lookin' test track Ellie! Nice job!
Good Afternoon
Heavy rain dampened most of the attempt to get stuff out of the house, but I did get some done. I did get all the boxed up stuff in the dining room out and into storage. There was no point getting more out as the rain got much heavier, and I was soaked by the time I was done.
I'm off tomorrow to try to complete the attic evacuation. I'll be bringing my sawzall to release the Spooky Town module from the attic bannister. The new owner wants the train tables gone, so it looks like the sawzall will take the other tables apart and on the street.
Ellie - Nice test bench
Not much else - the Lawyer is coming over with paperwork shortly - the borough is dragging it's feet on the certificate of occupancy, which I need to sel the house.
OK off to work
Well this year I'm taking the plunge and going to the April TCA train meet at York PA, made the arrangements this morning. Club members have been telling me "You gotta go to York! You've GOTTA go to York!"
OK, I'm going to see what it's all about. I haven't felt any pressing need to go having had pretty good luck finding stuff here in Virginia but the curiousity's gotten the better of me. So I'm gonna find out!
Flintlock76...but the curiousity's gotten the better of me. So I'm gonna find out!
Mornin' guys and gals. Sporadic flurries and 31 along the Patterson Creek cut-off. Babysitting youngest grandson today, and waiting to find out if the rest will join us, as the curly-top has had some type of stomach bug.
Made the trek back to Baltimore yesterday for my uncle's service. Was a fitting send-off, including all of his 17 grandchildren. I headed back home from the cemetery, with no traffic issues.
Flint - If you're going to YORK, you had better buy a bigger barn!
El Fixes ThingsSo we'll be seeing you up at Springfield in a few years?
I can't say it hasn't crossed my mind, but it's a long way to go from Virginia. And the "Russian Roulette" of New England winter weather's a bit off-putting as well. But, it's a "maybe."
fifedogFlint - If you're going to YORK, you had better buy a bigger barn!
Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of! Lady Firestorm says she expects the Barn to collapse one day from the weight of all the stuff and to laugh her head off watching me crawl out from under the wreckage!
Hi all,
Ellie, nice test track, looks about the same as mine!
Fife, glad the service went well.
Not much time for the traimns the last few days.
Flintlock76 fifedog Flint - If you're going to YORK, you had better buy a bigger barn! Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of! Lady Firestorm says she expects the Barn to collapse one day from the weight of all the stuff and to laugh her head off watching me crawl out from under the wreckage!
fifedog Flint - If you're going to YORK, you had better buy a bigger barn!
Reminds me of a song: "Crawl out from the fallout baby, when they drop that bomb..." I guess the "bomb" in your case would be going to York!
Same me, different spelling!
Very anxiously anticipating the show tomorrow... supposedly less vendors this year, because they're hosting more operating layouts. I didn't quite finish the test track, but I did manage to finish my frankenstien control box for the remote control track section. It's a mix of pieces from a broken original control box, and stuff I had to scratch build. Shockingly, it seems to work just fine.Here's a close up profile shot of the control box before I installed it:For the record, the bakelite case was broken and many of the pieces long since missing. I was surprised I still had both buttons, to be honest. Was it worth it? Well... I'm glad I got it done, but ideally I'm never doing that again.At least my wiring is neat...-Ellie
That looks great, good job
Ellie - I don't recall ever seeing an operating accessory feature on a test track. Pretty clever.
Very professional-looking wiring Ellie! You know, in a way it kind of reminds me of the switch linkage rods from old-time railroad towers.
Wayne, I had a lot of fun trying to make that wiring look tidy.thanks for the complements all!Tonight I wrapped the wiring up, going to hand it off to its new owner tomorrow. It won't see a lot of use most likely, but the important thing is that if my friend ever needs to test an O or S gauge loco or car, he'll be able to.I hastily scrawled notes onto it so that it was a little clearer how you're supposed to connect it up, and what does what.First day at the show in Springfield was a blast. I didn't buy nearly enough O or S gauge stuff, clearly gotta fix that tomorrow.Didn't have all the luck I hoped to have, but I picked up a few desirable Lionel HO cars, including an 0880 maintenance car that's in near pristine condition aside from some little rust on the searchlight yoke, and oxidation on the wheels. No broken railings, paint is nearly immaculate.I picked up a heap of Lionel parts for an absolute steal, lots of bus connectors for my super O track, finally can use that stuff!I'll be sure to post pictures of all the goodies, but that may have to wait until Monday, right now I need to get some sleep.Take care all.-Ellie
fifedog Ellie - I don't recall ever seeing an operating accessory feature on a test track. Pretty clever.
Fife, Having operating accessory testing is a must have for a work bench test track.
My bench is not near as neat and organized as Ellie's. But it works.
KRM - Point well made. I meant train show test track.
fifedogKRM - Point well made. I meant train show test track.
I laughed a little bit at that. About three years ago I built a two track set set-up for the club's shows. The old one got lost! One O Gauge track and one S Gauge.
THEN last year I built another with one HO and one N track. The club didn't lose the one they had but the old one looked like hell! I wanted one that looked professional.
Last show a gent who does toy train repairs told me they were the nicest looking test tracks he'd seen in years. Very gratifying, to say the least.
If anyone want to see pictures my e-mail's in my profile, I'll send you some.
KRM... I appreciate the praise, but my workbench only recently started looking that nice. Yours looks spotless compared to how it used to look. Trust me!Fife- the track was a gift for a good friend. One time we got talking and he didn't have anything to test Lionel or Flyer since he does HO and N. I asked if he would like a little something, he said okay, and before I knew it I had decided to build him a test track. It turned out purdy good! Handed it off to him right before him and his friends had to head back home... promised I'd tell him how it all works later. Wayne- yes please to those pictures! You know how to reach me already, of course I should update- got to see my friend one last time, as mentioned, gave him his goodies from me before he left for home. I fixed up an N scale engine of his during the morning... he gave me two identical locos, between the two, both of which had problematic motors, I somehow got one good one. It's not easy working on stuff that tiny...The Springfield MA show was fantastic, but even though I spent a total of something like 12-16 hours there across 2 days, it wasn't enough time.I had a bigger budget this year than ever before... I wasn't expecting to use anywhere near all of it, but I ended up coming very, very close. Yikes! I can't wait to share the finds with everyone, but for now I need to get some sleep. I'm beat. Should sleep well tonight... then tomorrow, if I'm not too busy, I'll start posting pictures.Take care all!-Ellie
Mornin' guys and gals. Mostly cloudy and 42 along the Patterson Creek cut-off. Nothing on tap today. Had a nice visit with the daughters and grandsons. Set up a carpet loop in the train room, and 5 year old enjoyed running his CP set all by hisself. His brother has a new BB gun he wanted to use, and we set up a tin can alley. Ms Kelly went back with Oldest Princess and grandsons, as there's a grandparents day at their school, and a soccer game, that she wanted to attend. We'll swap her back Wednesday. Until then, it's just FifeMax and me.
Good Morning
Its sunny, mostly clear and a numbing 0 degrees. We won't even talk about the windchill. It won't get much warmer than that today. Its a pretty sight overlooking the frozen St Louis Bay. The John Beargrease sled dog race has been underway since yesterday; it should finish up sometime this morning. I'm happy to stay inside and watch the updates.
Have a great week.
Northwoods Flyer
The Northwoods Flyer Collection
of
American Flyer Trains
"The Toy For the Boy"
El Fixes ThingsWayne- yes please to those pictures! You know how to reach me already, of course
Will do!
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