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

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Posted by Dr. John on Thursday, March 22, 2007 8:53 AM

Morning, all!

I hear things are going well for the Rebel raiders who are are taking the fight back to the northern aggressors! Wink [;)] Armed with Grits and sweet tea, our boys will see that the South shall rise again!

Speaking of the south, it's getting warm down here. Supposed to be up to 85 degrees on Saturday. Nice weather, but we need rain pretty badly.

In train news, I broke down and ordered a Railking set with a Pennsy 2-8-0 w/ PS 2 and three Madison cars. I was lured by the sound and smoke! Big Smile [:D] Anyone have one of these and want to share their opinion?

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Posted by fifedog on Thursday, March 22, 2007 8:26 AM
Thanks devil, but I'm feeling fine.  It's the wife who's not running on all 8 cylinders, and she wants me to hug-hold-and comfort her.  I simply can't afford to be ill when I have to fend off raiders from the South.  Perhaps she's a double agent...? Shock [:O]
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Posted by anjdevil2 on Thursday, March 22, 2007 7:51 AM
fife, hope you're feeling better....I've been stone free now for a year and don't miss it, but I haven't forgotten the pain!!!  Get Better SOON!!!

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


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Posted by anjdevil2 on Thursday, March 22, 2007 7:17 AM

FORTRAN??  Wow, that was another life time....learned that on the Princeton University computer and a digital PDP series computer.  Used to stay up all night with that punch card thing... Like to drive me nuts!!!  Graduated to a IBM 3070 a few years after that.  Though we still had LOTS of watermelons on the floor (a real gas at 3am!!)Whistling [:-^]

Cloudy today, should be about 73.  Rained last night, and forgot the 'cycle was out in the weather.  Guess I have my work cut out for me later....been so busy with the work/house shopping thing, no trains until tomorrow.....I hope! 

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


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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, March 22, 2007 6:54 AM

Mornin all.

Fife - thanks for the well wishes.  I didn't see your post till this morning.

All went well with the MRI yesterday.  It is comfirmed, I do have a brain, wife says we have to wait for the test results to see if it is a functioning brain... gotta love women!

Wife and I stopped at Ashley Furniture last night, looked them up since Doug said they were good, and we bought a new kitchen table, 4 chairs, and 2 matching bar chairs to go at the island.

Gotta run to the audiologist and ear specialist...

Brent

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Posted by fifedog on Thursday, March 22, 2007 6:49 AM

Mornin' boys.  Mrs. fifedog and 3 out of 4 kids have a nasty cold...am keeping my distance.

Bakeer - penny a pint?  Sounds like you boys should revolt and toss some beer into the Thames, kinda like that tea party we had a few years back.

I'm reading a lot of worry and trepidation in a lot of posts, concerning Chief's visit.  We're having him to lunch; not for lunch...

B'eye - chocolate cream or banana...?

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Posted by Blueberryhill RR on Thursday, March 22, 2007 6:29 AM

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is a nice 60 degrees. Cloudy skies. Going up to 68 today, with a chance of rain. Yesterday turned out beautiful. 80 degrees.

Today, I am going to take it easy. I got my running around done yesterday. Very busy day. I am planning on working on the layout, later. I spent a lot of time outside yesterday, and never got to the train room.

I hope you PA guys have a nice lunch with the NC guy, today.

Well, I guess it's time to board the Dining car. No previous stops at " points west ", yet. Breakfast is served.

Y'all have a great Thursday.

Chuck

Chuck # 3 I found my thrill on Blueberryhill !!
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Posted by cheapclassics on Thursday, March 22, 2007 6:25 AM

Good morning all,

It is warm and rainy in SE Indiana with temps in the 60s today.  It was so nice yesterday my wife had the windows open when I got home.  I went to the YMCA for weights last night and for some reason it was not very busy:-)  We watched "Lost" and found out how Locke got in the wheelchair.  I ran the trains on the upstairs layout for the first time this season (an unheated attic).  It was a good day.  Time for the dining car to head to "Points East".  I don't want Chuck and the rest of the Ohiozo gang to be hungry.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

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Posted by ChiefEagles on Thursday, March 22, 2007 5:59 AM

Morning all.  Rebel raid into Yankeeland.  Sneak attack during meal with the Yankee leaders. Evil [}:)]Wink [;)]  Getting ready to go to airport.  Jim, great video.   Good smoke.

Have a good day and God bless.

 God bless TCA 05-58541   Benefactor Member of the NRA,  Member of the American Legion,   Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville Laugh,   KC&D QualifiedCowboy       

              

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Posted by Jumijo on Thursday, March 22, 2007 5:46 AM

 

Here is our Polar Express Berkshire pulling a set of NYC streamliners. I replaced the original smoke unit material with fiberglass insulation, and the results were better than expected.

 

PE Smoking 

 

Jim

Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale

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Posted by Jumijo on Thursday, March 22, 2007 5:36 AM

Good morning from New England!

Got a lot done on the Chief's tunnel portal last night. Also, I finally got my train videos put on a DVD and will be uploading them today if all goes well. First up will be the Polar Express with it's revamped smoke unit.

Spring-like weather predicted for here today. Train show this weekend and a semi-formal dinner dance with the wife Saturday night!

Have a nice day, everyone. You too, Lisa! Wink [;)]

Jim 

Modeling the Baltimore waterfront in HO scale

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Posted by John Bakeer on Thursday, March 22, 2007 4:39 AM

0930GMT in a slightly warmer and damp Stockport.

Going for a blood test in an hours time. Nursey could not get any last week, have to take a hot bath and drink lots of H2O yuk!! Rather have Robbies. Bad news here is 'the chancellor has just put a penny a pint on the cost of living' SWINE!! He's a whisky man, left that alone.

Smileys done a bunk AGAIN!!! 

John Baker

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Posted by Sturgeon-Phish on Thursday, March 22, 2007 3:28 AM

My first interaction with a computer was in 1978 and the program was on a paper ribbon with holes on a large reel like you woud have movie file on.  As the program ran it fed off the reel into a basket where we would collect the ribbon and spool it up again.  The processors needed for our operation in the early 80's filled a 12 x 16 room, same operation today runs off 4 Dell desk top PCs.

Jim

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Posted by wrmcclellan on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 11:51 PM
 Buckeye Riveter wrote:

Roy, do you remember the green CRT screens?  Pen plotters?  Sneaker networks?  Boy, has it changed.....for the better.

Buckeye - for the better? Used to be when the data center was down we all went home and it was another guys problem to fix. Now we get to fix it ourselves Banged Head [banghead]

Do you remember or did you ever use the IBM punch card "verifier." You had to run your punch card deck through it if you had duplicated cards (you know - the ones the card reader ate) on the IBM "duplicator" as the "duplicator" did not annotate the new cards - ARGH!

Hey and who can forget those high speed "chain" printers. One mistake and if you printed one line per page hundreds of pages of "watermelon paper" (alternating green and white striped tractor paper) ran out onto the floor. Always loved the look from the data center guy when he handed me a few reams of paper with one line per page. Those were the days!

Regards, Roy

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Posted by Sturgeon-Phish on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 10:09 PM
 dwiemer wrote:

 ATSJer, Good luck with Hebrew, have you had Greek yet?  Very complicated language, but also very descriptive....ie: Agape.  It will really help with interpreting the good news.

The Hebrew language  is beautiful and colorful and it is amazing how one word in Hebrew takes several Latin or Greek words to come close to the same meaning.  A lot of the time when researching scripture, I'll read different translations to sense the flavor or intent of the writer.  A Commertary is real handy too!

The sawmill's action is so neat.  I love the simple efficient mechanical engineering.  Really looking forward to getting it on the layout.  I think the grandkids will love it.  I know I do. 

Last night shift, just found out I won't need to cover for my relief supervisor tomorrow night, get to sleep at night.  Time for some popcorn, (I'm on break now)

Later

Jim

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Posted by ChiefEagles on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 9:29 PM
Busy day and busy night.  Up early so I can pack and fly [9:20 AM].  Chat later.

 God bless TCA 05-58541   Benefactor Member of the NRA,  Member of the American Legion,   Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville Laugh,   KC&D QualifiedCowboy       

              

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Posted by Buckeye Riveter on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 9:08 PM
 wrmcclellan wrote:

Well some sad news for those with "the knack".

John Backus, retired IBM employee and the inventor of the FORTRAN programming language, died last weekend at age 82.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/business/20backus.html?ex=1332043200&en=31f3231c1458c56d&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa072198.htm

Inventor of FORTAN????????   Oh, do I remember those Censored [censored] punch cards!  I remember programming the computer to handle matrix algebra problems.   After we put the program in the que to be run on the computer, it sometimes took hours to get back the results.  One mistake punching a card and you did it again. 

Roy, do you remember the green CRT screens?  Pen plotters?  Sneaker networks?  Boy, has it changed.....for the better.

Celebrating 18 years on the CTT Forum. Smile, Wink & Grin

Buckeye Riveter......... OTTS Charter Member, a Roseyville Raider and a member of the CTT Forum since 2004..

Jelloway Creek, OH - ELV 1,100 - Home of the Baltimore, Ohio & Wabash RR

TCA 09-64284

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Posted by wrmcclellan on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 8:55 PM

Well some sad news for those with "the knack".

John Backus, retired IBM employee and the inventor of the FORTRAN programming language, died last weekend at age 82.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/business/20backus.html?ex=1332043200&en=31f3231c1458c56d&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa072198.htm

 

 

Regards, Roy

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Posted by jefelectric on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 8:43 PM

Had a nice chat with the Chief this morning, all set for Saturday.

We had beautiful weather today, to be warmer the rest of the week, but may get some rain Friday or Saturday.

Finally finished the TMCC conversion of the DOCKSIDER,  Works great, but the only sound is the horn.  I know steamers are supposed to have whistles but the Docksiders sound like horns to me.  It seem wierd running a TMCC engine witout sound, almost like a stealth engine as there is very little noise, especially at the slow speeds the TMCC allows.

Take care,

John Fullerton Home of the BUBB&A  http://www.jeanandjohn.net/trains.html
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Posted by dwiemer on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 8:16 PM

Evening all,

     It was an eventfull day, did a few scheduled cases and finished with an emergency that pretty much made for a long day.  No train time and I didn't even get a chance to do some good reading.

     Lisa, congrats on the new additions!  We have two, both mutts.  One is shephard/collie, other is Rott/lab.  Great dogs and they are a big part of our family.

     Chief, good luck on your trip.  From the messages I have been reading, it sounds like a bunch of good guys getting together.....but we know better, they are the enemyBig Smile [:D].  Just kidding guys, hope y'all have a great time and I hope y'all have a healthy serving of GRITS!

ATSJer, Good luck with Hebrew, have you had Greek yet?  Very complicated language, but also very descriptive....ie: Agape.  It will really help with interpreting the good news.

Have a great night y'all,

Dennis

TCA#09-63805

 

Charter BTTs.jpg

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Posted by Brutus on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 8:15 PM

Got an email from my old buddy in SC - he's headed to the highland games in Mint Hill NC this Friday (around Charlotte) -- that's about 180 miles from Roseyville BTW (looked it up).  Sounds like a lot of fun, so hope they have good weather. I wonder if they use grits in the haggis, instead of boiled oats?! Whistling [:-^]

Congrats to Lisa!  Lee, hope you are feeling better!  Sturgeon - I've got that same sawmill and it's a big favorite with the kids, really adds a lot of cool animation to the layout!Thumbs Up [tup]  Got outbid on a handcar on ebay - just as well, since I'm angling for a RTR set...

RIP Chewy - best dog I ever had.

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Posted by Sturgeon-Phish on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 7:19 PM
 ATSJer wrote:

Good Morning from the Bluegrass!!

 It's mid-term time and for some reason my Hebrew prof wants me to learn this stuff Banged Head [banghead]

Evening all,

Wow was it beeeuteeefulll today in Southern Ohio, sunny and warm, hello springtime!  Heard the spring peepers this evening.  God is good!Big Smile [:D]

ATSJer,  I can identify, I feel your pain!  I want to study more before the final, and it is starting to come together, now that's scary. Blush [:I]

I finished cleaning up the sawmill I just got.  It is so neat!  I can't wait to get it on the layout.  Here is a picture of it.  I'll post more Sunday.

Jim

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Posted by BDT in Minnesota on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 7:10 PM
Lisa,,, Now you get to spoil the six little pups....How about hooking up six O scale gondolas and give the pups a ride??? BDT
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Posted by wrmcclellan on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 4:13 PM

Back from my trip to DC to make the world safer for democracy. Lucked out and snagged a big chair for the trip home last night.

Warm and drizzly here. 70.

Got to go pick up son and get him to orthodontist for a repair job.

Have a great evening all!

Regards, Roy

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Posted by Dr. John on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 1:24 PM

Lisa, the pups sure are cute! When I was a kid, my uncle raised Beagles. I always enjoyed rabbit hunting with them. My first dog was a Beagle - Pinnochio (we called him Nokie for short).

These days, we are owned by two dachshunds that allow us to share their house and feed them. Big Smile [:D]

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Posted by phillyreading on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 12:14 PM

Buckeye,

Thank you and I am doing much better today, probally have to go to work in the afternoon. 

Had the same problem in the waiting room as you only the nurse got to witness it too.  Last friday had an out-patient procedure to break up the stone, non-invasive with either ultra sound or lazer beam.  Was a little groggy afterward but fine friday night with just some minor pain. Going back for more X-rays later this week or next.

Jaabat,

I am doing pretty good for right now but must see the docter again.

Been trying out a new locomotive that I got in the mail yesterday from Historic Rail, may have to go to the Model Railroad side of the forum as the new loco is H.O.  I am more into O gauge but do some H.O. at times to keep things interesting.

The temp is around 70 and a little windy, maybe I can do some more irrigation work later in the week or next week in between work and docter appointments.

Lee F.

Interested in southest Pennsylvania railroads; Reading & Northern, Reading Company, Reading Lines, Philadelphia & Reading.
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Posted by rtraincollector on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 11:40 AM

Lisa congrats on being grand mom again lol. They sure look cute. I wish I could have one but don't think it would be liked to well with the cats I have lol. in fact I have 3 that would probally out weigh it when it got full grown . 1 24LBS 0ne 22LBS and one 19LBS. still have a few others also lol.

Chief wish you well on your trip north as I'm sure you will be trated right

Hey john did you give all the directions to chief backwards as you said you would.

Life's hard, even harder if your stupid  John Wayne

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 10:34 AM

Good Morning from the Bluegrass!!

It's 55 and clear outside right now, although it was thick as pea-soup this morning.  No trains yesterday, and none on the schedule today either. *sigh*  It's mid-term time and for some reason my Hebrew prof wants me to learn this stuff Banged Head [banghead]

Congrats Lisa on the new puppies!  My son wants a puppie, I keep telling him that he has a little sister but that's not workingBig Smile [:D].  Anyways, it'll be a late day here on campus for me, I doubt I'll be home before 10 or 11pm tonight. grrrrrr.  Oh well, this thing comes in seasons, I guess I just have to weather the storm.  One of the biggest problems that I'm having is that all of this is hitting at the same time that my wife just went back to work after almost 3 years at home so needless to say our schedule is a bit frantic right now.

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Posted by ChiefEagles on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 9:01 AM
On the way to Mom's.  John, I'll call while in route.  Got to go.  Frankie is waiting.

 God bless TCA 05-58541   Benefactor Member of the NRA,  Member of the American Legion,   Retired Boss Hog of Roseyville Laugh,   KC&D QualifiedCowboy       

              

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Posted by fifedog on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 8:58 AM

LISA - Nope, not me.  Just have one Lassie dog, and I still see grass out in the back yard, so it's not time to scoop yet.

cnw1995 - it would be a great day if you had your camera next to you!

Bakeer - welcome back, English.

88 - hey brother, good luck this afternoon and tomorrow.

 

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