CLOSED////////The Coffee Pot is still on and over 3 years. Here we gather as friends with trains.

[cnw1995]

Doug and Jim, it's funny this comes up today - there was a big article in the Chicago Tribune about the 11 yr. struggle to do something with it - spans an 8 lane expressway - 2 blocks long  - 2.5 million square feet of empty space - that would be a heck of a layout. I am reminded of the MR April Fool's article about Bill Gates building a model RR along the ROW of the Wisconsin Central.  I wonder if you can read the article:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-070418post-officeapr18,1,3341344.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

 

[dougdagrump]

 

"I see that the next Batman movie is filming in Chicago this week at the old post office. That near you? They will be back in Chicago to shoot more scenes in June."

 Really? Yes, it's a gigantic empty space a few blocks away.

WOW !!!!! Would that make a great Co-Op for a bunch of Train Nuts. Turn it into 5K square foot condos with each condo required to use 1,000 sq. ft. for a train layout, even if it is just "Carpet Central".  

[Dr. John]

Prattville, Alabama made Paul Harvey news today. 

Uh-oh. What did we do this time?!?

Well, I checked the Paul Harvey website and got the scoop. It seems a local fellow appeared before one of our municipal judges on DUI charges. He showed up in court drunk.

Heeere's your sign.

[cnw1995]

 

"I see that the next Batman movie is filming in Chicago this week at the old post office. That near you? They will be back in Chicago to shoot more scenes in June."

 Really? Yes, it's a gigantic empty space a few blocks away.

[Dr. John]

Prattville, Alabama made Paul Harvey news today. 

Uh-oh. What did we do this time?!?

[Jumijo]

Hey Doug Murphy,

I see that the next Batman movie is filming in Chicago this week at the old post office. That near you? They will be back in Chicago to shoot more scenes in June. 

Jim 

[Anonymous]

Mike C.,

            This week's episode was another great one.  I also noticed that they said there are four more weeks until the season finale, so it seems that this is not the last season.  All this talk of York has me jealous.  I'll get there eventually.

[Buckeye Riveter]

Prattville, Alabama made Paul Harvey news today. 

[Dr. John]

Everyone going to York have a safe and enjoyable trip. Wish I could go, but I'm not a TCA member and York's a long way from Prattville! Post pics of the "gathering."

[dwiemer]

Hey guys, hope everyone York bound has a great time and that no one gets "Taken".  Still on call and we have a big case looming.  I had hoped to fix the tractor today, but no such luck.  I did drop off our spare car to get some work done....then we will sell it as we have another coming in.  I wonder if......if my bride will let me use the proceeds from the car sale to purchase a few more trains?  I better not go there.  Anyway, y'all have  a great day!

dennis

[Jumijo]

My 2037 is re-finished. It got a little dicey there when the original paint started wiping away! A large part of the shell had to be re-painted (with a brush), but the match is perfect, and no one here can tell where the damage was. The craft store paint seems to be a little too fragile for me. I'm going to look into hobby acrylics, which might be more durable. I have a 2018, 736, and a 2056 or 2 that will benefit from this touch up technique.

Jim 

[cnw1995]

Good morning from a grey, cool Crystal Lake where the aerator guy is coming to put holes in the lawn today. Have a great time at York; can't wait to hear your tales. I'm jealous. Hope to run trolleys later.

[Anonymous]

Hey Fife,
If you would rather, I could swing by and pick ya up after you put the littlest on the bus?  The wife could drive herself to work?

email me if interested...

[Anonymous]

26 hours until The Gathering!  I'm stoked.

Fifedog, I expect you to be the first one in line at the gate at York.  Nothing less will be acceptable.

I'll beat Fife there by 2 hours...

Last evening I had to crawl up on the ladder and fix a new woodpecker hole in the side of the house.  The dirty bird drilled two holes.   We had not been hit for over ten years.  My fix includes expanding foam.  I put the foam in the hole and let it expand and dry.  Scrape off the exterior excess and paint.  I might plate this one due to two holes so close.  (Brent, see what you get to look forward to in the near future.)

Then we headed to the basement, where we have a wet wall under the fireplace.  The cap on the chimney is crooked, too.   Remember several years ago when the tree fell on my house?  The contractor put on a chimney cap that I have always felt was inferior to the existing.  I guess I was right.  New cap to be installed. I have a phone call into the roofer to see if we can also check flashings around chimney.

Everyone have a great time at York and we expect PHOTOS of the group getting together.

Buckeye,
I've actually had to deal with something worse than a woodpecker - BATS - about 100 of them decided to take up residence in my old house's attic.  The fix involved putting a long sock like contraption over one of their exits, then patching the other 8, yes the bastards thought they needed NINE entrances into the attic, exits.  This forced them to all leave through one hole (they had to crawl down the sock and exit, once then were out the sock closed and they couldn't get back in).  Then the inspector came back the next day to see if there were any more in the attic... it took about 3 days for them all to leave.  Then the inspector scrubbed down the rafters, removed the insulation, scrubbed down the ceiling joists, and installed new insulation and installed fiberglass screening under the soffit vents.  No more bats... I think they took up residence in a cave or large sewer pipe in a valley about a block from my house.  Never had problems with mice, moles, or voles!  Rabbits and deer had fun eating my garden as it grew!

----
For some reason I am not very productive today at work...

[fifedog]

Buckeye - gotta put the little one on the schoolbus, and drop Mrs. fifedog at work first.  I plan to drive into the fairgrounds between 1000-1015 hours.  First stop---Purple Hall.

[Jumijo]

Hey, where's that other Nawth Carolina rascal? Lisa, where are you....?

[ChiefEagles]

Morning all.  Cloudy.  Got to shovel beds in garden.  Resting this AM from all the shovel work yesterday.  You York guys discuss MTH switch problems that Buckeye and I have experienced.  That would be very rough switch points, control rails sliding and contacting the next rail and wiring inside touching.  Would be thankful.  John, I have reports you are keeping the CTT gang in line.  No embarassing events yet [LAZ must not be there].  Got to run for now.

[Buckeye Riveter]

26 hours until The Gathering!  I'm stoked.

Fifedog, I expect you to be the first one in line at the gate at York.  Nothing less will be acceptable.

Beautiful sunny and clear day in Buckeyeland. 

Last evening I had to crawl up on the ladder and fix a new woodpecker hole in the side of the house.  The dirty bird drilled two holes.   We had not been hit for over ten years.  My fix includes expanding foam.  I put the foam in the hole and let it expand and dry.  Scrape off the exterior excess and paint.  I might plate this one due to two holes so close.  (Brent, see what you get to look forward to in the near future.)

Then we headed to the basement, where we have a wet wall under the fireplace.  The cap on the chimney is crooked, too.   Remember several years ago when the tree fell on my house?  The contractor put on a chimney cap that I have always felt was inferior to the existing.  I guess I was right.  New cap to be installed. I have a phone call into the roofer to see if we can also check flashings around chimney.

Everyone have a great time at York and we expect PHOTOS of the group getting together.

See ya down the tracks,

[laz 57]

JELECTRIC, and ALL FORUM MEMBERS,

  RT will be there on Friday afternoon in front of the orange hall at 5PM.

Anyone wanting to meet BILL be there or be square.

laz57

[jefelectric]

Good morning,

Will be heading to York today, may run into some of the gang today, but tomorrow is the BIG meeting day.  1:00 PM at CTT.

Sounds like like Laz & RT are meeting at 5:00, are we all invited or is it a private party?

Weather wasn't bad yesterday, in the 50s and cloudy most of the day, no rain.

Dan, you are not the only one that had trouble finding his layout.  Our bus driver was about to give up when a gal sitting in the seat behind me went went up and directed the driver on how to get there, she saved the day.  George from OGR had been there before and couldn't find it.

BTW, said gal and husband had their 2 year old twins with them.  Very very well behaved young men.  I do believe they enjoyed their day.

Take care,

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is a clear, sunny 40 degrees. Going up to 70 today with mostly sunshine. The next 4 days are looking good.

Today, I am taking it easy. May get some company from wife's niece, and her 4 year old son.  I might spend some time outside, working on the winter cleanup.  Looks like I will be cutting grass this weekend. At least, it's better than shoveling snow.  Love the summer.

Well, the Dining Car is here and ready for breakfast.

Y'all have a great Thursday,

Chuck

[Anonymous]

I am SO envious of you guys going to York.  BUT, now isn't my time.  With a toddler on the prowl and a wife changing jobs and us on the move again--well, you see.  Anyway, all of you at York have a great time and bring back lots of good stories and info for us holding down the fort here online. I rarely post on the coffee pot, but I read it regularly.  

 I have always wanted to see tony lash's layout.  I lived in the DC metro and could never track his layout down.  I tried finding his business, tracking him down personally, but could never do it.  I guess I'll have to take the tour at York to see his layout.  I heard he spent a fortune on trees alone.  I saw the TM video that showcases his and other MTH layouts.

 

Travel safely and Godspeed.

 

Dan 

 

PS You Pittsburgh guys--how about a show and tell tour of some of your layouts this summer? I'm from there and know western PA has tons of good layouts. 

Anyone buy/make the reserve on that mammoth layout for sale on ebay based in Pittsburgh? 

[Jumijo]

Good(?) morning from New England.

Julia continues to improve. Thanks again to all of you for your prayers. 

I discovered something I'd like to share with you all. 91% isopropyl alcohol WILL remove the original black paint off of a Lionel post war steamer. And very easily I might add! I stumbled across this little gem of information quite by accident. I was using some to wipe away some acrylic paint I was using to touch up my 2037. Well, it also started removing the original paint!!! As Curly would say, Nyaaaaaa!! 

Life is a learning process!

Have a great day! 

[laz 57]

HI GIZ,

  ITS HERE, CHRISTMAS in APRIL!!!!  Big Meet at YORK, hope everyone gets what they want?

MARTY, have a safe trip see you tommorrow at 1PM.

DON, glad you enjoyed your field trip.

RT, see you at 5 PM.

HAPPY FRIDAY EVE!!!!!

SEE YUZ GIZ, all tomorrow.  HEE HAW!!!!!

laz57

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

It is cloudy, rainy, and cooler in SE Indiana with temps in the 50s today.  Took it easy last night and did some chores around the house.  Did watch "Lost", which was another good episode.  What do you think, Jimtrumpie (sp?) ?  Any of the guys at York see any of the new Tinplate from MTH?  They are usually good about getting the catalogs on the website, but they are slow this time.  I spent most of the day cleaning out files and getting the cubicle ready for the next person.  Last day here is tomorrow, and start the new job on Monday.  It will be different.  The dining car has left for "Points East".  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[MartyE]

And I'm off!  Check in later from Hanover!  Everybody stay safe!

[rtraincollector]

You all have a good week hope to meet some of you tomorrow night when I drop some trains off at york to a buyer.

if I don't get back on will see you all tuesday evening.

[Anonymous]

Jim F - About those mole traps - We've had a problem here and I've been using something called "ROZOL".....rat poison pellets -picked it up from our local farm supply store.  Just poke a few holes down into the tunnels and pour a few pellets in then compress the tunnel.  Pets, etc. won't get to it there - just those darn moles or voles too!  Works like a charm!

Lisa

[dwiemer]

Well, called in for an emergency.  I don't like the call, but hey, it comes with the job.  Anyway, I am excited for everyone going to York.  Hope y'all  have a good safe time and that many deals will be had.  I see that we are getting a number of newer folks on the forum these days.  gotta love it!  Hope everyone has a great night.

dennis

[dbaker48]

Made it to York PA, interesting !  Went on the MTH and Lash tour today.  Hooked up with John Fullerton.  I was quite impressed with MTH's testing activities, EVERY new engine received goes an visual inspection AND functional testing prior to shipment to the dealers.  Surprised !

The repair/warranty area test stations all had a oval track to test engines on as well.  Much better than just applying power and seeing if they ran or not.  (Chief one test station was even working on switches.)  Tour was quite a bit more than I expected, areas included warehouse, receiving inspection, photo lab, resource library, engineering lab, and more.  Served a pretty good lunch as well.  Lost out on door prize for the farthest traveled to some guy from Oceanside Ca.    Did receive new 2007 vol 2 catalog, some folk may find page 118 interesting.

Didn't realize Tony Lash's layout was in DC, didn't help that bus driver got lost, but a very impressive layout, gave me a couple of ideas for mine.  Maybe I will start with a trestle and build from there.  After all its only a little time.

Need to go and revise my shopping list for tomorrow,