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

[Jumijo]

CONGRATULATIONS, KURT!!!!!!!!

The fun has just begun for you, man! Now go out and buy her a Williams girl's train!

John, great work on that military flat car! You have a real talent. I always enjoy seeing photos of your layout and trains.

Ran trains for a good long time last night. The Williams 2343s pulled a long passenger train on the outer loop, and the Williams 2023 pulled a post war passenger train on the inner loop. We also ran our post war 2056, 2018 and 2034 for a good long time last night. A bit of leg stretching I'd say. 

Gonna be colder than a witch's t*t in a brass bra here tomorrow!  Single digits with a wind chill factor in the negatives! What happened to all that warm weather we enjoyed before the Chief came up here? Brrrrrrrrrrr . . . .

Jim 

[kpolak]

Smoke 'em if you got 'em boys!

I am the proud father of a bouncing baby girl!  7 lbs.-14 oz.

Kurt

[John Bakeer]

0900 here in a frosty Stockport. Like I said, 2 inches of snow fell over the weekend, 2 lorries jack-knifed and most of the trans-pennine roads were closed. Just been on the news, the overnight frost has frozen the points, so most of our trains can't run. I think the UK has lost the plot.

Grzyboski have confirmed dispatch today, so I shall be acting like a brain-drain when the stuff arrives and the (weird) electrics start to confuse me. I shall be taking Nicks shopping list to Maplins along with the plastic!

Took some pic's in my local last night, oh dear!

[ChiefEagles]

Evening all.  Busy day.  Cut the plywood panel and cut the holes to mount the flush binding posts for the tracks.  Also got the MTH "buss bars" mounted.  Then went to Lowes for conduit.  Drilled 1" hole on each side of stoop out front [two layers of brick on each side, have hammer drill].  Put conduit through.  Now can pull any wires needed from one side to the other.  Pulled low voltage wire through.  Put down three up lights for house.  Put in new transformer and transferred walkway lights to it too.  Did not use their clip like splices.  I striped ends and used crimps.  Also spliced in a jumper for one light that was sitting back from house.  Soldered that splice and wrapped it.  Got through, it was after dark.  Came in and fixed soup.  Sat down with micrpwave popcorn.  Half way through a movie, fast asleep. 

New printer came today [and I did not get express shipping, glad I didn't as it came that way].  Will try to install tomorrow.  Thanks Don B.

Dennis, I've got about all of the Back Shop Videos.  Pretty good.  A couple of things Jim B is a "little off" on.  I could teach him a thing or two on those. 

Hope to do the separating of tracks and sidings tomorrow morning.  Then pull accessories wires.

Good night.

[cnw1995]

Nice job, John - great flat load. I love the detail onthe load tie-downs.

Wes, I saw those 4-4-0s too - they look grand - though I like Spankybird's (Tom's) the best

That crawdad looks like a little lobster. I don't think I've ever seen let alone et one.

Just finished up rewiring my mountain at the back of the layout - Mt Seaman  - and cleaning it up a tad so the cats don't try to sleep on it and crush the tunnel again. I hooked up the beacon to the DC outputs on the HO transformer I'm using. Then rewired more lights on Eagles Ridge Electric Park - some of the MTH standard gauge street lights and an HO beacon - they look better glowing amid the roller coaster and merry go round facsimiles. Tomorrow going to wire the semaphore and other signal lights but this time at the front of the layout. I think I may have broken the semaphore or burned out its movement - but the light works. Me and electricity -- bad combination. Good night all!!

[underworld]

kblester That ad is great!!! I think I'd use it as a billboard or painted on the side of a barn.

 

underworld

[kblester]

This is even an advertising slogan?

[rtraincollector]

Yes!! Just won (williams) ABA Shark nose B&O for $153.5 + $12.00 shipping williams book shows $349.95 ($269.45 members)for double A and $149.95 (members $99.95) for b unit. That will go great with my 8 B&O passenger cars from Lionel 9500 series.

[rtraincollector]

Jim for your bunk lights call Jeff at the www.traintender.com [phone] I get most my parts from him real reasonable.

 

[dwiemer]

Dennis - just thought of you - Hubby was watching Gunsmoke and Festus had a whole bag of crawdads - he was going to fry his!  Around here, we use them for bait!

 Lisa

Lisa, thanks.  I just came upon the whole crawfish thing from a guy I went to school with and eventually worked with for a few years.  He used to have Crawfish Boils which were a whole lot of fun.  Should you ever get the chance to go to one, take it in for the experience and I know you will have fun.

Dennis

[Brutus]

I shall eat no more Crawdads Forever!  Got my MTH AF Sawmill from Fedex today - great!  Was "like new" and just a little dusty.  A good deal and came complete.  Seller said no instructions, but they were in the box, on the reverse of the bottom cardboard. 

 

Also got my Wabash bunk car.  One wire to a truck pickup is separated from the solder - just needs a little fix.  Also, apparently the side lamps are missing - just a small square hole on each side.  I'll have to figure this one out - anybody know if someone makes replacements?  Click on pic and you can see the hole just to the right of the door.

PS - Cool tank car, John! A friend of mine, Dan Smart, was in the Tennessee Guard until about 15 years ago, driving tanks.  One day, we looked out the back window of the office and there was a whole train of tank cars parked in the yard, down by the Amtrak station.  Pretty cool - they were Abrams tanks.

[jefelectric]

jefelectric Nice work!!!

underworld

JOHN, does SANTANAS Min have those covered loads.  I bought lots o cars through him down your way in Lancaster.  Does he have a store or does he just work out of his house?

laz57

Yes they had the loads and tons of other stuff, crates, barrels, tires, etc. 

Had a big display at York.  No store that I know of.  Mail order and shows.

[Wes Whitmore]

Have you seen the 4-4-0 American steam engines that MTH just starting shipping?  Those are very nice.  I would love to have one.

Wes

[Anonymous]

Dennis - just thought of you - Hubby was watching Gunsmoke and Festus had a whole bag of crawdads - he was going to fry his!  Around here, we use them for bait!

 Lisa

[tmcc man]

Good evening everyone,

It has been a very busy week here. I had 2 mid terms today, and have 2 more tomorrow and Friday. I have been studying my @$$ off for them, and I am also battling a cold/strep throat. I don't know which one it is, but I feel awful.

I took a look at the new Lionel Catalog, and boy, did I find some stuff I like in it. The CSX SD40-2 Intermodal set, the C&O Steamer Set, the Legacy, the NYC GP7's, the PRR E7's, the Lackawanna cars, and the MKT(UP) SD70ACe. There is more, but I can't remember all of it.

Jefelectric, very nice job. There should be a Rhino or a Sherman on the car though.

 

[laz 57]

jefelectric Nice work!!!

underworld

JOHN, does SANTANAS Min have those covered loads.  I bought lots o cars through him down your way in Lancaster.  Does he have a store or does he just work out of his house?

laz57

[underworld]

jefelectric Nice work!!!

underworld

[jefelectric]

Evening,

Well I actually did get something done this afternoon at the bench instead of sitting in front of the computer.

Weaver Army flat with add on wood floor.  Corgi tank, Santna Minitures tarp wrapped loads with blocking and chain.

[underworld]

The rest of the week I'm on the road.  Where's the snow?  Gotta have snow to make my trips more challenging.  Heading today to the Firelands.  Only true Buckeyes know about the Firelands and their connection to the Apitz crowd.

See ya down the tracks,

Make sure you stop at the Winery.

There are a few wineries in The Firelands.

underworld

[Anonymous]

Evening all,

Been running the old prewar 201.  A decent semi scale switcher it doesn't look out of place hauling some PW work train cars.  It took some tinkering, including 1 or 2 swift smacks with a hammer to get it running well.  I doubt anyone had touched the workings in 30 years.  While I have some prewar cars I chose to replace the tender trucks and coupler with Atlas's so I could haul knuckle coupler cars with it.  I'll play some more with it and see if I can get the bell tender to work. 

This isn't the 201, it's a Lionel docksider passing by Chesterfield station.

Bruce Webster

[/img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7df03b3127cce815e216383f300000016108AbNWjls3bub[/img]

[dwiemer]

Good afternoon.  Did not think I would be posting again as had a lot to do.  Met up with wife and son (he is 4) down in the lab.  They had to do some test on the poor kid and boy was he upset.  I am glad that I was able to break away and be there for him, but it sure does break a dad's heart to see the little ones in pain.  I think it will take me longer to get over it than him.  Wife stopped by a toy store and got him a cap pistol...everything is alright now.

I got the catalog for the "Backshop" series of videos, can anyone recommend which ones to get?  It is a shame that the format has one thing you would like, and the rest you have no need for.  Anyay, I am sure I will do some ordering and add to my library.

Hope to get the CTT in the next day or so, I am getting anxious.

dennis

[Blueberryhill RR]

The rest of the week I'm on the road.  Where's the snow?  Gotta have snow to make my trips more challenging.  Heading today to the Firelands.  Only true Buckeyes know about the Firelands and their connection to the Apitz crowd.

See ya down the tracks,

Make sure you stop at the Winery.

[Blueberryhill RR]

Good Evening...........

I got the benchwork done on the extension. Switches are in place. Coming out of the mountain with tubular and going to Gargraves thru the bridge and passenger station. Uh Oh....ran out of Gargraves. Have to get some more. Have to make bend with Flex GG to go thru 100 year bridge.

Boy, this is getting serious. Back to engineering dept.

Good Night All.

Chuck, You may have to call in Buckeye to consult on this project, Sounds like it is getting compicated.

John, I have asked him and he replied " I'd be happy to give you a written quote ". I think he's expensive. Probably 2 beers.

[underworld]

The rest of the week I'm on the road.  Where's the snow?  Gotta have snow to make my trips more challenging.  Heading today to the Firelands.  Only true Buckeyes know about the Firelands and their connection to the Apitz crowd.

See ya down the tracks,

What's happening in the Firelands???

underworld

[dwiemer]

 Hello All!     Jim F-  . . . I thought Crawdads were something that the Orkin Man exterminates  . . .

HA-HA!!!!

Now that was funny!

Jim 

You guys are BAD!  You eat the tail and suck the head.  Most of the flavor is in the head. 

...

Dennis

That sounds like a bad line from an adult movie! 

Lionroar88, not the adult movie thing, it is how you are supposed to eat crawfish.  First you eat the tail, then suck out the juices from the back of the head...that is where the cajun flavors are concentrated.  While some bad t-shirts could be made of this fact, it was just instruction for those who have not tried them.

On to other fronts, has anyone heard from Dr. John lately?  Miss his posts as he usually has some uplifting words for this astute crowd. 

Hope everyone has a great day.  I still have not received my CTT  I could cry.  Anyway, take care,

Dennis

[Anonymous]

Hey guys...good morning!  Long time no type.  Been very busy working the NHL All Star Game.  Hoping to have a good broadcast this evening and then home tomorrow.

 To the webmasters... if it wasn't such a pain to post i.e a reply button on every post whether logged in or not I'd probably keep up with this thread.  To lazy when not logged in to scroll all the way to the top to log in then reply.

 

Take care! 

Hey Marty!
Was wonderin' where you've been!

Had a question for you in regards to the Polar Express Cruise Upgrade from ERR that you did... did you have to cut any pins or wires?  Did you have to solder any wire to any silicone board pins?

The reason I ask is I'm in the middle of an upgrade using the TAS EOB and I have to do a cut and two three solders, making this what I would call an irreversable modification... are the ERR upgrades reversable?

Thanks, and hope the NHL All-Star game is a success for you!
Brent

 

Brent.  Besides one metal tab and a couple of plastic tabs on the bracket that holds the original board there is nothing that will render the loco irreversably modified. The original board can have the wires soldered of with just a touch of the iron and if you want to reinstall it double faced tape will mount it back to the bracket that it was mounted to.  

 So yes there are some items that will make it non original but I could revert back to original board in less than an hour if that.  Of course you might have to use some new wire.  The instructions called for cutting in some spots and slicing where I chose to use the wire that would eliminate some splicing.

Thanks Marty!

[MartyE]

Hey guys...good morning!  Long time no type.  Been very busy working the NHL All Star Game.  Hoping to have a good broadcast this evening and then home tomorrow.

 To the webmasters... if it wasn't such a pain to post i.e a reply button on every post whether logged in or not I'd probably keep up with this thread.  To lazy when not logged in to scroll all the way to the top to log in then reply.

 

Take care! 

Hey Marty!
Was wonderin' where you've been!

Had a question for you in regards to the Polar Express Cruise Upgrade from ERR that you did... did you have to cut any pins or wires?  Did you have to solder any wire to any silicone board pins?

The reason I ask is I'm in the middle of an upgrade using the TAS EOB and I have to do a cut and two three solders, making this what I would call an irreversable modification... are the ERR upgrades reversable?

Thanks, and hope the NHL All-Star game is a success for you!
Brent

 

Brent.  Besides one metal tab and a couple of plastic tabs on the bracket that holds the original board there is nothing that will render the loco irreversably modified. The original board can have the wires soldered of with just a touch of the iron and if you want to reinstall it double faced tape will mount it back to the bracket that it was mounted to.  

 So yes there are some items that will make it non original but I could revert back to original board in less than an hour if that.  Of course you might have to use some new wire.  The instructions called for cutting in some spots and slicing where I chose to use the wire that would eliminate some splicing.

[wrmcclellan]

lionroar - everything is relative. LRRC is $20 per year and MTH is $50 (and you get a car - $25 without the car). Either way you are paying $20-25 for catalogs and a newsletter.

Williams and the others are a bit better depending on what you want.

[rtraincollector]

Thought normally the catalogs are about 4 to 7 days behind the online (for Hobby shops anyway.)

[Roger Bielen]

As of this morning's mail the new catalogues have not arrieved at Memory Station.