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

[Brutus]

Read, steady go!

Csxect - hey, I think I read some of those computer books Hartnel wrote, maybe even the one you are talking about.  Pretty slick if you can upgrade them to C++.  You could set up map locations as objects etc.  Let me know how that goes!

Nick - you sure are making headway on that gameroom!  Sounds like some pretty strict regulations over there, but probably a good idea for safety sake!

[wrmcclellan]

Evening all!

Cowboys 27 - Packers 10! (so far)

Watching the game on our new 46" LCD TV. What a great picture! This is the family Christmas gift this year - but e\we had to go ahead and crank it up for the game tonight!

Chief - so you got back more than you sent this guy? If so - what a great deal!

Hope all are doing well!

[cnw1995]

Wow, quite a score. CSX, Ohio used to be criss-crossed with Interurbans - wouldn't it be something if they came back again in the form of light rail - too many cars out there though. Recommend looking for American Flyer at http://trainmarket.com - v. decent prices. I've been a happy customer - lotsa good Marx too. Thanks for the email, Brutus. Gotta print it out and bring it downstairs.  Chief, sounds like a repaint in Black and White is in order for the MP set.

[Nick12DMC]

Brutus, Yes some of the regs are tight over here but as you say understandable.

Gamesroom is going really well at the moment. We have the slate floor down in the shower/toilet. This is a warm up for laying the slate floor in the gamesroom! 54 sqM of slate to lay. Should look really good.

Oh I had someone else from the Lionel Collectors Club UK contact me about inverters. Seems I am not the only one building a trainroom here in the UK. This chap had 4 1500W inverters! he had just got them from the States. They sent him the wrong type. Modified Sine Wave instead of Pure Sine Wave. He just wanted to check before sending them back.

I said this is a serious amount of power!  And he discribed his layout which includes 099 curves and 45 switches. Anyone who says there is no market for Lionel in the UK think again.

Also of intrest is that he just got his new Legacy Big Boy which means he will have TMCC II when it comes out.

Have a good day

Nick

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Morning from Blueberryhill....

It is a cold 20 degrees. Clear skies. Going up to 45 today with some sunshine.

Today, I have some errands to run. Then, I will be working on several things around the house. Maybe some train time later. Wife is doing better each day. Back to doctor Monday for check up.

Dining Car is here and ready for breakfast. Later.

Y'all have a great Friday.

Chuck

[cheapclassics]

Good morning all,

IIABSDISEI with temps in the high 40s.  Cleaned the gutters out last night and did weights and some track time at the YMCA.  Watched an Avril Lavigne concert on the net as well.  It was more of an acoustical show.  Even with DSL, the streaming was not very smooth, but the music was good.  Bran muffins were on the dining car from "Points East" this morning.  I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[laz 57]

Evening all... My 394 log loader and 1950 catalog arrived today!

Good.

Speaking of arrivals.  Got two packages from a guy in PA.  This guy took my CN [custom painted and decaled by me] U36B's and was going to convert them to PS2.  Begged to do it.  Been three years now.  He has had one excuse after another.  Well, I got back my shells [filthy], an extra shell for freedon train, old frames [for pulmore motors], one unit with two can motors but no electronics, four can motors, four sets of trucks for the motors, four sets of pilots, other parts but nothing completed.  I did get a LN [can't believe it has been boxed new this long]  Missouri Pacific ABA E6 by MTH Primier set with PS2.  # 20-2260-1 is the number.  2000 catalog vol 2.  BIG units.  Dual motors in both A units and dummy B.  Smoke in both A units.  Great rig but I don't do MP.  Now I think I can assemble all the parts and get canned motors in frames and the shells will fit.  If not, I 've got some new Pullmor motors and trucks I can put under old frames.  If I do get them together, I will TMCC and sounds them.  Anyone want a massive MP ABA PS2 set?

Why did he send the set.  Bet he thought I would send LAZ and in 800lb bear to get him.

 

CHIEF, I'll take my BEAR and we'll have words with him just say so.  Glad its working out for you. 

laz57

[laz 57]

HI GIZ,

  28 and brisk here today,Sunday to get SNOHIO?  Winter Storm watch posted already?

  Going to go to MOMs tonight, to hunt deer tomorrow.  Hope to see some?

All have a nice weekend.

laz57

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Morning all

Clear beautiful and a cool 28 F in Southern Ohio.  Off till Monday dayshift.  Got a call and the garage trusses are to be delivered next week.  Oh I love working on a roof in December!

Rich- I sent you a PM with my email but got a delivery error, try this address: [e-mail]

 

IMHO it is going to take much higher fuel prices before the typical American will let go of the independence of personal vehicle for travel.  I would love to see passenger travel from Portsmouth to Cincy, and Columbus.  I have wished for a commuter since 1977 when I started working in Piketon 25 miles from where I live.  There is a rail line paralleling SR 23 that sees a lot of freight traffic and like Doug said there used to all kinds of rail lines connecting citys.

 

CXSect

I’ve thought about getting some “O” American Flyer, but that may start a whole new level of addiction!  I see O AF on ebay often.

 

Got a story:

A wealthy old Gentleman decides to go on a hunting safari in Africa , taking his faithful, elderly Jack Russell terrier named Killer, along for the company.
One day the old Jack Russell starts chasing rabbits and before long,   discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.
The old Jack Russell thinks, 'Oh, oh! I'm in deep doo-doo now!' Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down  to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap, the old Jack Russell exclaims loudly, 'Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?'
Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. 'Whew!', says the leopard, 'That was close! That old Jack Russell nearly had me!'
Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So off he goes, but the old Jack Russell sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up.
The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.   The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, 'Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!
Now, the old Jack Russell sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, 'What am I going to do now?', but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old Jack Russell says...
'Where's that darned monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!'

Moral of this story:
Don't mess with the old dogs -- age and skill will always overcome youth and treachery! Bullshit and brilliance only come with age and experience.

 

May God bless

Jim 

[cnw1995]

G'morning from a sunny and cold Crystal Lake where it is great to start the day with a good story - thanks to Jim. I have been fortunate to receive a few well-thought out options for a yard from Brutus. I'm going to print them out and try to lay them out later today.

[FJ and G]

a link for redneck fans:

http://www.bradrand.com/Pages/redneck_page.htm

 

[laz 57]

FUNNY, thanks DAVID.

laz57

[ChiefEagles]

Afternoon all.  Home with some meds.  Now I will go out in a few and clean gutters and do some leaves.  Tomorrow is Chirstmas in the yard.  All grades of deer, angles and trees made out of lights.  Frosty goes on the porach roof top over front door, lighted train goes over the "mudroom" on that roof.  WOW.  Later. 

[dbaker48]

David - Enjoyed the pictures, kinda reminds me of my childhood.

Doug - Will be interesting to see the yard plan!

Had a perplexing evening last night.  Wife went to an event with her parents.  So my son came up and asked if I had any objection if he went with his friends to celebrate of the guys birthday.  (The are all 18, birthday boy is 19)  Well, they planned on going to a "Gentlemans Club"  (strip joint for some).  Sooo, I was thinking do I just say "NO" or what.  (You know the passing of rite and all).  So I told him that it was "his" decision.  He then indicated that "they" had gone a couple of weeks ago and wanted him to go then, but he didn't really want to.    So he decided to go, and since he was NOT driving I told him if he decided that he wanted to leave, call me and I will come and get him, no problem, no issues!  Suggested that he may NOT want to involve MOM about this.

Twenty minutes later he calls lets me know where he is at.   Got home a little after 2, they were there about 45 min, decided it was boring and way to expensive.  So left and went to a one of the guys house and played video games.

And DOUG, you were concerned about some new vocabulary?????   

 

 

[Anonymous]

"Gentlemans Club" = boring and way to expensive

^--- is why I play with trains... they aren't boring

[FJ and G]

Hope Doug Murphy is OK, just heard there were lots of injuries on a passenger train in the Chicago area.

[Anonymous]

Hope Doug Murphy is OK, just heard there were lots of injuries on a passenger train in the Chicago area.

I hope Doug wasn't on Amtrack!

At least five Amtrak crew members were critically or seriously injured today when their train collided with a freight train traveling on the same track

This brings us full circle back to our discussion on Passenger Train Service... guys this is why Passenger Rail and Freight Rail should NOT be on the same tracks... This is NOT the first time something like this has happened.

[kblester]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8T85KLO0&show_article=1

NEW YORK, Nov. 30 (AP) - (Kyodo)-(EDS: ADDING MORE INFO)

More than 100 people were injured as an Amtrak passenger train collided with a freight train Friday on the south side of the city, U.S. media reported, quoting fire officials.

Approximately 150 passengers were on the Amtrak train, the Associated Press quoted officials as saying. Fifteen ambulances were on their way to the scene.

CNN quoted Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford as saying five people are in serious to critical condition, apparently all crew members.

About 100 passengers have minor injuries, such as bruises and bumps, he reportedly said.

The engine of the Amtrak train was resting on top of the last car of the freight train, but the Amtrak cars remained upright and on the tracks, the AP report said.

Langford added that passengers said the train was coming from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

 

[ChiefEagles]

Normally, I think he rides the comuter lines and not Amtrak.  I have an email in to him for sometime.  He usually answers pretty quick.

[cnw1995]

Thank you for your concern - Chief is correct, I ride a Metra train to the northwest -and I have taken today offl  This was southbound Amtrak - big wreck. I wonder what happened.

[rtraincollector]

Last I heard was the Amtrack train backed onto the stopped freight train . If so is this one amtrack with an engine at each end? Ihave seen that before when I lived in VA.

[Anonymous]

Last I heard was the Amtrack train backed onto the stopped freight train . If so is this one amtrack with an engine at each end? Ihave seen that before when I lived in VA.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/30/trains.collide/index.html

From the sounds of it RT it appears that the Amtrack train was going forward.

[CSXect]

Read, steady go!

Csxect - hey, I think I read some of those computer books Hartnel wrote, maybe even the one you are talking about.  Pretty slick if you can upgrade them to C++.  You could set up map locations as objects etc.  Let me know how that goes!

Nick - you sure are making headway on that gameroom!  Sounds like some pretty strict regulations over there, but probably a good idea for safety sake!

Well first I will need  to get better at C and C++  before I can Translate from basic may be awhile on that project, realy enjoyed the book when I got it back around 88 or 89 used basic in TI994a, Apple IIe and IIc and on the old xt computer(put it out of its missery a few years back) My local libbray belive it or not has a ton of books on C and C++. The Sams book on C and C++ has been the most helpfull have used thier book on op-amps and thier applications in signal processing I am more towards the hardware side but have dabbled in programing and even took a class on network + still not confident enough to try to get a cert..

CNW Doug,

I was interested in the Scioto Valley Traction company as it was in my end of town and surrounding areas that are my stomping grounds(South Columbus, Obetz, Groveport, Canal Winchester and as far south as Circleville and Cillicothe(sp?) The Ohio Historical sociaty has drawings of some equipment and buildings as well as a history of the line that eventualy became a local bus line and then latter on to become a charter buss business that is still in business today.

[ChiefEagles]

No wonder no one watches the CBS Evening News.  They waitied unitl after Hillary bomb threat, Iraq, lots of other stories like the Gov't now bailing out the mortgauge screw up and finally the Amtrak running over the NS freight.  Then it was a fast and quick story.  What a poor job of reporting the news.   

[rtraincollector]

No wonder no one watches the CBS Evening News.  They waitied unitl after Hillary bomb threat, Iraq, lots of other stories like the Gov't now bailing out the mortgauge screw up and finally the Amtrak running over the NS freight.  Then it was a fast and quick story.  What a poor job of reporting the news.   

No it was just a NS train no real importance there Probally amtrack enginer will get promothion for hitting NS but demotion because of injuries so nothin will happen to him.

[sir james I]

Friday nite and nobody home. I'm tossing this stale coffee and just brew a 1/2 pot. Did some shopping today, reg. stuff wife does christmas I don't like that shopping.  Still havn't found a magnatraction F3 power truck, my most dependable source doesn't have one. I may have to shop the shows but it has to be a price i'm willing to pay. I don't need it bad enough to over pay. besides I may still find one here someplace in the train room.  Good nite Chewy,  Sir James

[CSXect]

Has anyone gone to the Mercury the magic train site and watched the preview of the dvd??

It is no polar express, the concept was good but most kids would turn up thier noses to it.

Just watched part of the Polar Express a min. ago. Saw a pic of the Amtrak train on top of an intermodule car someone will be drug tested

Question for those on the other side of pond that model American style railroads, why do you perfer them to Euro trains? I like european trains as well as those from the U.S.A.

[ChiefEagles]

Good night all.  Went to sleep in recliner and slept through movie.  Funny, wife on couch and did the same.  Me, I'm on meds.  She, just falls asleep as soon as she get still.

Oh Don B, Just a chip off of the old block.   

[jonadel]

CBS news, now there's an oxymoron. Haven't watched since Dan Rather dropped the ball or for that matter, when Walter Cronkite retired. I really miss Tom Brokaw, good South Dakota kid. Midwest balance for sure.

[jefelectric]

Good evening all,

David, nice to see you posting.  Haven't heard much from you lately.  Guess the cool weather drove you inside.

I think I am spoiled from posting on that other forum that lets you see the whole thread while typing your respnse.  Can't remember anything else so I'll head to bed.

Good night,