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

[cnw1995]

Good morning from a sunny and cool Chicago where it is supposed to rain later. Looks like lots of fellows around the table need healing... Jim A is right. The daughter went in to the ortho yesterday from her car accident last Fri. I'll let Blue Cross sort out who will pay for what.

Just got my CTT for Dec. Apparently it came in a week ago and was buried under catalogs. Humph! I love the AceTrains ads.

Waited an hour-and-a-half in line outside a local guitar store yesterday afternoon with the middle boy who is guitar-obsessed. At least I got to watch a short UP freight go by. Bought him one to put away for Christmas. Funny how I price everything in my head in terms of how much it would buy in trains...

The best pizza in the nation is in Chicago.

[laz 57]

FIFE, must ta been some site you running around in socks and wears, SHHESS?

Fife - all kidding aside I really hope you are OK.  When you first posted about the accident I thought you said all was fine, just some bumps and bruises... now you're at the hospital for an MRI???  Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor though!  I'm sure you put on quite a show for the ladies!

When I went for my MRI a few months back the nurse was asking questions and before she could ask if it was my first MRI I looked at her and said, 'It my first time... be gentle.'  She burst out laughing.  We had a good time after that, she made sure I was comfortable and wasn't freeking out in the machine... it did make some pretty interesting noises...

Laz - glad to hear you pulled out a victory over your BRO.  If my memory serves me correct, isn't this your first victory this year?   Maybe he let you win?   I see you also failed to bring cheesesteaks for the room...

RT - Susan says to tell you, 'Dr. Susan says NO MORE TRAINS!'  All I am permitted to purchase right now are supplies for the layout construction, no more rolling stock, engines, accessories, etc.  Just track, wire, boards, etc.

After York I realized I now have 16 engines...

1688 - being faithfully restored somewhere in Ohio
681
2020
Great Northern U-38 (I think that is it)
C&O 0-8-0
C&O S-9 Switcher with calf
C&O Berkshire
C&O Streamlined Hudson
B&O Mikado
B&O RS3
B&O Baldwin Sharks A-B-A
Chessie F-3 A-B-A
Western Maryland GP-7
Western Maryland BEEP
Western Maryland Plymouth
Napa Valley F-3 A-A

I also have the #50 Gang Car, #60 Trolley, and a CSX Ballast Tamper

I would like to get the B&O Triplex, and maybe a Chessie GP-9 or something along those lines.  Just have wait and see how much the layout can support from an operating stand point.

 

BRENT for DA RECORD of THE PGA (PITZA GOLF ASSOCIATION)  ME 7-6-2  BRO 6-7-2.  Also had 4 spring training games that don't count.

Also nice size roster your starting to amass.  Keep em coming.

laz57

[ChiefEagles]

Morning.  Still light rain.  Hope for some heavy stuff this afternoon [forecasted].  Been busy this AM.

Most important: Fifey, good luck [even though you are a Yank ].

John S, thanks for the info on the long line of engines.  Funny, train was headed South so the CN engine was on its way to the great land.   

Going to look at the new 4 Runner that is at dealer's.  This sorry d--- software keeps changing font sizes as I type.

Later 

[Jumijo]

 

Just back from my lunchtime walk. It's a little chilly out there, but clear and bright. The leaves are beginning to change colors, but there is still a lot of green out there that haven't. A pleasant day for walking.

Hope to clean out the train room this weekend. There are wooden and plastic trains all over the floor. Might also make some more shelves for storage.

I got about 1/2 way through the current CTT last night before I dropped off. The Christmas layout in the Florida mall was impressive. And it was all built in a matter of months. Wow!

 

[fifedog]

Evenin' boys.  Still soggy and chilly in the Mid-Atlantic region.  Still haven't heard from the auto adjuster for the good/bad news.  Haven't heard anything good/bad from the radiologist.  One thing I do notice is that I can't sit in front of the computer for any long period of time.

Jumijo -  I'm gonna hold off on Dewey, Cheetum & Howel for the time being.

Chief - Hope the YANK didn't get YANKED too hard.  Enjoy those Canadian engines when you can.

Laz -  I was thinking I might have  THE Halloween costume for this year.  Black socks, tightie-whities...and EARS! BTW, when you tee off on wet grass that little white ball must go into the next zipcode.

cnw1995 - my boy is gettting an Ep3 bass guitar for Christmas.  GUITAR CENTER is his favorite store lately.

Buckeye/kpolak - Staff took one look at my face and said it was far worse than I explained on the phone...

Mitchie - Unfortunately this has slowed up my CUMBERLAND EXTENSION progress.

88 - 2 things that if I lose it's "all over" 1) sense of humor, 2) contents of tightie-whities...and not necessarily in that order

RRCharlie - Kudos on your literary triumph.

BRUTUS--->

 

[Jumijo]

88 - 2 things that if I lose it's "all over" 1) sense of humor, 2) contents of tightie-whities...and not necessarily in that order

So as I see it, if you lose 1)your laughter and 2) your skid marks, it's "all over" for you. Here's hoping you never lose either! 

[jefelectric]

Good evening,

Spent the morning baby sitting the one year old granddaughter, a little angel.  The HS football game for this evening has been postponed till Monday night.  Hope it dries out a little by then.  Spent the afternoon editing pictures from the latest trip.  About to leave to visit FIL at assisted living facility.  Great guy, just a little forgetfull. 

RT, Fife & Sir James, Best to you on your health problems.

Take care,

[fifedog]

88 - 2 things that if I lose it's "all over" 1) sense of humor, 2) contents of tightie-whities...and not necessarily in that order

So as I see it, if you lose 1)your laughter and 2) your skid marks, it's "all over" for you. Here's hoping you never lose either! 

Man's gotta have standards.

[sir james I]

fifedog-remember what Bill Cosby said about tightie-whities"first you say it, then you do it"

[ChiefEagles]

No Toyato visit.  Raining too hard.  Pond has now covered the structure I put in while it was low.  Still rising but will need another 4 or more inches to go over spillway.  Something down in the islands is brewing and might filler up.  Off to Hamlet for Train Days [unless pouring] early tomorrow AM.  Back tomorrow afternoon.  So Big Boys are ariving.  Finally.  Will see if Miss Edna has mine.  Our secret agents have their eyes on Buckeye.  Later.

[Brutus]

Fifedog, hope you are feeling better!  My Bday is still about 2 weeks off, so HP train will be here in good time, but thanks!  Hope they are taking good care of your whiplash or whatever is ailing you man.

Great joke with the nurses 88! 

Doug and Jumijo, I think it would be really cool to have the Thomas train, but it's got to wait its turn. 

Sir James and CSX John, I've got key lime pie (WW) in the freezer - ymmy!  Chewy got a piece of my roast beef sandwish at dinner and she is just laying over my head on the back of the couch, guarding me in case Sir James is still in ChewyMan mode   Reminds me of one of grandad's few jokes.  Many man smoke, but Fu Manchu!

Rained off and on for 2 days and we were in the low 50's today.  Worked an hour of OT and got home after wife and kids went to a Fall fest at school, so I'm watching an old Italian flick I picked up on ebay - A Whisper in the Dark. 

Pretty scary, kind of like A Turn of the Screw.  At least 1 "real" ghost though, not just imagination.  I think the 3 kids in this one had an older sibling who died before their mom and dad met up together - but just a guess at this point. 

Booga Booga!!!

[sir james I]

Evening Brutus- Wife let me stay indoors tonite, Chewy curse can't get me no moon light rain. That roast beef sandmich sounds good though. saved you some butter pecan or as my grandson would say banilla.

[CSXect]

Fifedog, hope you are feeling better!  My Bday is still about 2 weeks off, so HP train will be here in good time, but thanks!  Hope they are taking good care of your whiplash or whatever is ailing you man.

Great joke with the nurses 88! 

Doug and Jumijo, I think it would be really cool to have the Thomas train, but it's got to wait its turn. 

Sir James and CSX John, I've got key lime pie (WW) in the freezer - ymmy!  Chewy got a piece of my roast beef sandwish at dinner and she is just laying over my head on the back of the couch, guarding me in case Sir James is still in ChewyMan mode   Reminds me of one of grandad's few jokes.  Many man smoke, but Fu Manchu!

Rained off and on for 2 days and we were in the low 50's today.  Worked an hour of OT and got home after wife and kids went to a Fall fest at school, so I'm watching an old Italian flick I picked up on ebay - A Whisper in the Dark. 

Pretty scary, kind of like A Turn of the Screw.  At least 1 "real" ghost though, not just imagination.  I think the 3 kids in this one had an older sibling who died before their mom and dad met up together - but just a guess at this point. 

Booga Booga!!!

Columbus is full of haunted areas. There is the thurber House, the old pen area where you guessed it Rebs were inprisoned and the very top of the linconLevec tower(modeled after the empire state building only much smaller.) there is even a wreck of a confederate iron clad that was on a mission to "free" prisoners of war it faild of course pretty sure it is in the Scioto river.

[laz 57]

HI GIZ,

  Just got done running trains for two hours, NO PILE UPS.  Great nite!!!  Had a few beers watch em go, as DA OLD MIL comercial once said" It doesn't get any better then this.  They were right.

  HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRUTUS!!!!  Hope you get something with flanged wheels?

laz57

[mistyk11]

Hello everyone, just a quick note to say that things are starting to return to normal (as normal as California can be). The smoke is terrible out here. Several school districts have cancelled school the last several days due to the air quality. At least they are starting to let some of the residents of our mountain communities go home to what is left. Thanks for everyone's good wishes. Now if they could only get these stubborn fires put out.

Fife glad to hear that you are doing ok after your accident. Sorry, its hard for me to keep up with everyone anymore since I've been working so much overtime. Maybe I'll finally be able to afford the new BNSF or Santa Fe engines my son has been asking for for Christmas! Speaking of Christmas, does anyone here use the christmas village buildings that they sell at Walmart? I saw some of them and I actually bought some of the lighted bushes and fencing however the fencing seems pretty big (larger than scale) and I wondered if the buildings would be too large for the layout we are going to use for under the tree.

[cnw1995]

Greetings from a rainy and cool evening in Crystal Lake. Went out to a local bistro to drink a glass of vino and catch up with the bride. Now we've returned and she wants help editing photos for her blog. Vino not conducive to editing. Going to run trolleys for a while instead whilst she watches TV. Reading one of my new books about 'firing' on the Great Western in the 50s. Even though it's in English, I can't understand half the words. LOL.

Jim F, "Whisper" is a great flick. You have most excellent taste.

Misty, glad you're OK - OT is good sometimes. Saw those Walmart items. They're a little above scale but when you're looking down on them around the Christmas tree, it is not noticeable.

[Brutus]

Thx Laz - a little early but I'll keep it!  Hogwarts Express was my birthday present to me from the kids and wife!  Kids are excited too!

Doug M - "Whispers" was very good and creepy.  Next up I have a recent dvd purchase - The Mario Bava Collection vol 2 (bought it preorder on a buy 2 get 1 free sale) which includes several great old Italian movies and and a couple clunkers, all by MB, one of my favorite directors.  I guess it's Italian night at the F's!

BTW - we had a thread a long time ago about toy trains in movies and tv shows.  Found a new one to add.  Kids were watching Casper the live action movie from a couple years ago and at one point they find Casper's old toy room and Casper flies up and lets the toy train drive through his mouth - interesting special effects, but the movie dealing with the issues of dead kids with unfinished business etc was just wrongheaded for "casper" in my mind.  I like the old time Casper cartoons ---  It's a g-g-g-g-ghost!!!  LOL

Sir James, thanks for that great icecream - beats the weighwatchers stuff entirely.

PS - I see VP Cheney will be hunting in New York soon.  I guess Hillary is doing well in the polls???    I don't care who you are, dat der is funny!

[Brutus]

CSXect - they kept some prisoners in St Louis.  True story, they had a huge pile of "canonballs" on an old base there and my Dad used to work there.  These were left from the Civil War.  They would go out and smoke around them and put their cigs out on them etc.  One day some guy was nosing around and the next thing they know they take them all out on flatbed trucks - very carefully!  These weren't solid canonballs, they were high explosives left over all those years.  They took them out to a field here and exploded them - it was on the news, too!

[ChiefEagles]

Sir James and CSX John, I've got key lime pie (WW) in the freezer - ymmy! 

Now Key Lime pie is enough to make me take a trip to Yankeeland.

Now I'm getting excitied.  Got email that Miss Edna is expecting her Big Boys next week.

Off to bed.  Got to hit the road tomorrow AM for Hamlet and Train Days.

GOOOOOD NIGHT.

[Anonymous]

Still no Dec CTT... last month I was near the top of the list and now this.... ????

Spent the night picking up Susan's B-Day gift from Pier One... she saw a Wine Cage she liked, so one is now happily at home in our Dining Room, now she has space for 48 bottles of wine.  Went to Home Depot tonight and picked up a new set of fireplace tools, two bundles of wood (nothing is dry here in MD so I had to buy wood for the weekend), light bulbs, and some kindling.  Then hit Lowes to return some plumbing supplies I don't need, and to get some tile I need to finish the bathroom, and some fireplace gloves. Then we stopped at WaldoWorld so we could get the Halloween Candy for the kids... now we ONLY get some 20 - 30 kids and we brought home 8 bags of candy... WHY???  I have no idea.

OH... forgot about the new programmable thermostat from Home Depot!  Got home and installed it... Susan asked if the Furnace blew up... ha ha... we'll see how the electric bill respondes.

Cold and Rainy tonight and tomorrow... 8 month drought and we get over 3 inches in less than two days... someone upstairs has a warped sense of humor...

Chief - You're going to check out Miss Edna's Big Boys????  First it was Beavers now its Big Boys... hmmm... anyone else notice a trend here?

[ChiefEagles]

You and Apitz are going to get a bar of soap for Chirstmas.  To wash out your Yankee mouths.

[Anonymous]

Its not the mouth that's the problem its the mind! LOL!

[dbaker48]

Afte the two proceeding posts, I don't even think I will talk about my Big Boy !!!  I will have it displayed on the hutch in the dinning room though.

 Speaking of which, my travelers are in Alberqueque already.  Must have kicked in the afterburners !  Got to get the smoke film cleaned off the mirrors in the hutch.  Can't see the cars as well!  So will spend the weekend cleaning house.  Gotta remember where I put all the dirty dishes. Oh yeah in the tupperware in the refrig., used to put in the oven, but that made the stuff very hard to clean.   She will probably be very surprised to see everything so clean.  All I have left to do is clean out the refrig of the lettuce, fruit, and few other items that she left in there.  Will probably have to do some laundry too.  But that's OK, the stuff has been sitting on the furniture shouldn't need to do any dusting, but I will have to move the wood pieces that I had soaking in the washing machine.  (Was trying to bleech some wood for a driftwood appearance). 

Need to pick up some flowers and welcome home balloon on Sunday. 

Will have to spend some time cleaning outside too.  As I thought we have had a couple of days with fog in the morning, and ash is settling real fast.  Makes kind of a paste on everything.  The issue is that the Orange Co. fire is still burning, generating more ash.

The fire location has been in a wilderness area in Cleveland National Forest.  but, tonight its moving back to the populated area.

Kays best friend lives very close to the area currently burning and have been on a voluntary evacuation since Monday, tonight its heading back toward them again.  So we may have house guests real soon.  Hope Not, for their sake. 

 

AND THEN..... THE NEW BIG BOY ARRIVES, PROBABLY LATE NEXT WEEK!!!!!!  CAN'T WAIT. 

 

 

 

[Jumijo]

I'm up at 6:00 on a Saturday morning because my daughter thinks we should be up...

A quick scan of the forums shows nothing of interest. MR came yesterday. Maybe I'll go read about Rod's layout. 

[mitchelr]

Morning to All,

Up at 4:30 this AM.  No idea why.  Must be getting old.  Go to sleep with the chickens.  Get up with the roosters. 

Company coming today, so no train time this AM or afternoon.  Maybe tonight or tomorrow I will get a chance to work on the Beep sound board.

Have a great day,

Mitch 

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is a dark 52 degrees. Sun is coming up. Going up to 65 today, Maybe we will get some sunshine instead of rain.

Today is a busy day. Have to get the house ready for the wife' return. I am driving to Columbus, later, to pick her up. It's been a long 4 days. No time for trains today. But tomorrow will be better and I will spend some time in the train room.

Nascar races today and tomorrow. Sunday is best.

Dining car is ready and this is the last day with no waitress. It is now time for breakfast. Later.

Y'all have a great Saturday.

Chuck

[kpolak]

Chief - You're going to check out Miss Edna's Big Boys???? .....

See..I thought that was the Roseyville secret service name for the Chief.  I think it's code for he'll be returning to the shop for a visit when he should be refereeing a planning meeting.

Remember, there is a Yankee (Buckeye) in King Arthur's court, so everything is in code.

Brutus:  Yup!  Funny! 

Sir James:  I'm planning on going to the train show on the 4th!  Can you tell me where it is?

Today I get the afternoon off, and will forge ahead on the Christmas layout benchwork, and the final go round on the Birney base.  Bride will be off doing shopping and planning for a friend's baby shower this am, so she said I could have the afternoon off!

Girls in for Flu shots yesterday...I spoke to oldest about getting shots when you're not sick...she understood sort of...She said ouch, and that was it!  No crying.  Almost 3!  Whew.

'Tis pumpkin carving weekend for the girls!  The oldest wants a happy pumpkin????

I'll try to carve up a train pumpkin for Halloween...in my spare time....   Doug???  Can we expect a Thomas pumpkin from you???  We did Elmo last year with ping pong balls for eyes.

Kurt

[fifedog]

Mornin' boys.  Mornin' MISTYK.  Still raining and chilly here in the Mid-Atlantic region (enough so that an old leak has reappeared in the kitchen ceiling).  Took Mrs. fifedog out to a local bistro for dinner and some medicinal beverages last night.  At 0300 hours, our collie barked loud and with authority, probably to alert us that oldest daughter was sneaking in.  Good dog.  Kinda been up since.

mistyk - I've bought from WAL-MART in past years, but this year's offerings seem a bit chunky & blah.  The one piece that caught my eye was the WAL-MART Store itself;might look good in the background.  Be sure to check other stores like MICHAEL'S, JO-ANN Fabrics, HOME DEPOT for items as well.  On my layout are SANTA'S WORKBENCH, DEPT 56, LEMAX, THOMAS KINCAID (Hometown series), HEARTLAND VALLEY, and HOLIDAY TIME structures. I even have some MTH and K-LINE buildings.  You just have to blend things right.

[mitchelr]

Posted a question about sound card in my BEEP.  Not working as expected.  Horn will sound but not continuously if I hold the whistle button.  Anyone have ideas?  Could it be my ZW whistle rectifier gone bad or dirty track?

Mitch 

[fifedog]

Mitchie - A BEEP is half an engine, so you only get half a horn.  Gee Bob...