Morning folks!
The fog is really think here this morning, looks like London in the spring.
Heard on the NPR radio the other day that there are many folks complaining about railroad cars being parked on tracks and sitting for days...weeks....months at a time and not moving due to the downturn in railroad shipping.
"New Castle, Ind., is divided by a freight train that's two miles long. It hasn't moved in months. The company that owns the empty rail cars used to transport new automobiles. When auto sales plummeted the rail cars stopped because there wasn't anything to transport".
Same folks who complain happen to live near the tracks that have been there years before any homes were built. While I feel for them I have no sympathy, because the folks who lease the storage tracks are getting less fees for storage than they would be getting if the trains were moving. And on the other side of the story, folks home values are dropping and real estate sales are harder when you have a parked train in your back yard. Interesting, any comments are welcome on this discussion.
blownout cylinder Ryan; Don't be such a stranger!
Ryan; Don't be such a stranger!
Heartland Division CB&QRyan .... Playing "wii", eh........and then you say you are you are busy.... uh, huh........
Ryan .... Playing "wii", eh........and then you say you are you are busy.... uh, huh........
Garry, believe it or not it is for my physical health. Wii Fit and Wii Sports are awesome ways to get in a low impact workout, Wii Fit has Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics and Balancing routines that really make a difference. And even though the Wii Sports Tennis kicks my you know what most of the time, it gets me sweating in just 10 to 20 minutes. We are canceling our YMCA membership because I get a better workout from Wii than I do at the Y, same some $$ too!
JimRCGMORyan, I don't think they could miss that loco too easily - wonder what the side view of that paint scheme looks like. Have fun at your conference/training thing (but not too much... we don't want to have to send you bail money in San Anton!).
Ryan, I don't think they could miss that loco too easily - wonder what the side view of that paint scheme looks like. Have fun at your conference/training thing (but not too much... we don't want to have to send you bail money in San Anton!).
Hi Jim! See the side view of the same loco below. I am looking forward to some Tex-Mex and a few tequila infused libations.... If I need bail money I'll look you up!
I'll have the Fiber One cereal with fresh blueberries please Chloe! Thanks!
Bryson City, NC GSMRR
Ryan BoudreauxThe Piedmont Division Modeling The Southern Railway, Norfolk & Western & Norfolk Southern in HO during the merger eraCajun Chef Ryan
Hello Ryan.... yes, I believe you about wii. We did bowling game on wii when visiting grandkids. We rediscovered some muscles in the process!
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good Morning All...Its sunny and a cool 53 here...I'll have a Polish sasauge,onion rings and a diet Coke please..Thank You...I had touble getting in here all morning,anybody else have trouble?...I got some track laid in fiddle yard yesterday..I laid it right on board hope this doesn't come back and bite me..I am using all used track and switches ..some of which are over 40 years old!..
You all have a good one...Jerry
Large coffee in a UNION PACIFIC mug, please & thanks.
***Jeffrey, my wife & I watched that video and fast forwarded through most of it. That being said, I was impressed with the layout that had everything weathered & detailed. (forget which it was) Will be returning ours as well, as soon as I can locate the return envelope.
***Jerry, are those switches all electric of manual? Are you going to have them wire for remote comtrol? That's cool you got so many to work with.
Welcome new folks.
Storms are over until tomorrow night. All this rain is good for the trees & shrubs we planted recently.
Healing thoughts to those in need.
Rob
Afternoon all! Been a bit tied up lately.
Don Z welcome to the "off topic" thread. Dispite what some people say, we do in fact discuss and share our MRR. We're just not so ummm.... "particular" about some of our 'practices'... And when, rarely, there is a critque, it's done in a form of friendly suggestion. We respect each others abilities and know that not everyone is a NMRA Master Modeler. I've seen you on some other threads, so sit down for a while and have a coffee and some PIE!!! It's a diner joke, you'll see.
Having grown up in suburban areas most of my life I'll offer my congrats on your son's hog based on the experts comments. It is a nice looking animal.
Well, I'm sure I bored Don to tears, so I'll bid fairwell till after work and see what I accomplish on the plant building scene.
Eric
"It's another rainy dayJust a rainy, rainy day...."
Afternoon folks!
The assembly Program went well and was very well received by the students and faculty this morning. I have afew hours this afternoon to just chill out for a bit. Then back to school by 5PM for the final dress rehearsal tonight.
Found out the calling hours and funeral for my FIL will be on Saturday and at a time when I can get to it before I have to be at school for the show.
Don Z, welcome to the diner! Your son is proud of that nice "Hunk of Ham on the Hoof" I bet. Tell him "great work" from yet another 4-H member (NYS Master Guernsey Showman way back when)!
Flo just a mug of hot chocolate and a nap in the back booth for me.
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Well its afternoon, and still raining.
Ryan, great looking shot. I was on that train a few times when I lived in NC. I loved the "Steam Days".
Jerry, I had some trouble as well. I don't think you should have any trouble with the track. Maybe a good cleaning.
Well I will be back!!!
"Rust, whats not to love?"
Coffee refill, please.
After walking the pastures and finding nothing in need of repair, went into the dungeon and tried a couple model road experiments. The one that shows promise is a mix of tile setting compound, charcoal grout, and a little added elmers white glue. Mixed up a little, smeared it over a small cut of tar paper, then dragged a flexible semi-hard scrap of plastic over it a few times. Won't know for sure until it dries, but I think it might just work out. Can also touch it up if needed with paints. I'm bound and determined to use only leftover stuff from the build. Only exception might be some rail weathering pens.
There are other materials laying around I will try using for that little canyon and the volcano (if I do that one). All the base material will still be carved foam though.
Bit of good news, with all our efforts to cut power usage, our latest electric Bill dropped from almost $500 down to $260. Still higher than I would prefer, but that previous Bill was INSANE! Basically I'm using windows instead of the heatpumps to cool or warm the house during particular times of day/night. That and hanging laundry instead of using the drier.
CederstrandBit of good news, with all our efforts to cut power usage, our latest electric Bill dropped from almost $500 down to $260. Still higher than I would prefer, but that previous Bill was INSANE! Basically I'm using windows instead of the heatpumps to cool or warm the house during particular times of day/night. That and hanging laundry instead of using the drier.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Caught this shot a little while ago.
CederstrandBill dropped from almost $500 down to $260.
I hope it drops in summer! We have natural gas here for heat, hot water and cooking. The gas co. has a budget plan so those $460 winter heating bills don't kill you. I pay $209 per month and usually don't have to pay the last 2 months.
Got one of those 'right clamps'. This helps glueing the inside corners my plant has. Vacation next week!! Maybe I'll be able to show something for all the talking I've been doing!
Chloe!! Grilled Cheese and a Dr. Pepper, please!
Rob; it's finally in the mail.
Jeff, you should be getting yours soon.
Good Afternoon/evening--or what ever--Whew. What a day. After I got the forum issue thing I got off compooter to get ready to go to work and did all three client visits in a matter of 6 hours--one only was for 15 minutes--talk about fast throughput!
Got home to a couple of people I know who were waiting at neighbours place--Audrey just getting around corner from afternoon walk so everybody is nicely ensconced in the house with me doing the cooking---yeehaw---or is it hawyee--nevermind----
Chloe--I'll have a large tub of RBF and a Strawberry Rhubarb PIE!! please--
So. What was up today?
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
Good evening,
Chloe, I'll take THAT IV coffee...no, that's OK, I'll set the drip rate on it, thanks for offering though dear.
Gonna be another long night of hammering out school board articles. The district secretary finally got the info I've been needing all day long e-mailed to me...at 4PM. Good news though as I've already got two stories filed (2009-2010 budget, and fuel contract awarded), so the pressure isn't too bad this time around. THAT editor likely won't use more than two next week anyways, so whatever is "extra" automatically rolls over for the following weeks.
She already has three articles held over from last week (one of those from the week before THAT even), and I've got another big feature filed too...so, she oughta have plenty of content to choose from. She keeps saying something about me being a "prolific writer." I guess the previous reporters didn't do a whole lot. All I can say is "darn work ethic."
Aw heck...Chloe, fix me up a huge cheeseburger and fries (in beef fat...oh, yeah, you already knew that) while I contemplate the next article.
Chris
The Cedar cRapids Industrial Branch: Proudly Shipping Yesterday's CrunchBerries Tomorrow!
Welcome Don Z. that is one fine looking son you have there in the front and that pig in back well all I can said is I can see why he's so happy. Welcome to the diner we are all a little crazy here. As you can tell I've been in the bar car for the last few hours.
Erm...I see they keep the old yard switcher permanently coupled to the diner now. Hi, all, haven't stopped in lately. I think I missed the last couple relocations completely.
Things have been really busy around here lately with getting ready to retire in November, helping my sister after hip replacement surgery, and getting ready to hire a new CFO on April 18th.
I exchanged a couple emails with Duke a couple months ago. He was going to be in the area to visit the East Broad Top in July and we were going to meet. He decided not to come because of the economy right now. He was still planning to go to Apex though.
I've decided to dismantle the layout I was working on in the basement. It's taking time and money from getting the garage out back converted to a train room. I have some cash saved from a nice tax refund this year and a little I managed to squirrel away. I'm going to get started adding a piece to the garage for a model shop and converting it to a train room. I want it ready for climate control by the time I retire in November. Otherwise I've just been busy with non railroad things. See you all later.
We had thunderstorms here to beat the band! Power flickered several times but didn't go out. Winds at times were 60+. Everything OK here. Still under tornado watch until 11 pm central time.
Evenin' all. A bowl of pears please,
Jerry- I tried to respond this morn about some body hole used mainly for evacuation using a name similar to Jeff's but kept getting OOPSed to the point where I couldn't even get in the forum also. Probably just as well. A reaction is what they want. Is this the same guy that comes on these forums and blasts everyone like no one is worthy of posting their work?
DonZ- Welcome to the diner. I'd be proud of the boy myself. That's one good looking hog.
Jeff- Keep an eye to the sky. At least you are probably a trained weather spotter I assume? Or maybe an untrained but experienced one? Either way you have the advantage of getting a bit ahead of the game when the sky's look that "certain way".
Ryan- Have fun in San Antonio. Be safe and remember sometimes they refer to it as Tu-kill-ya. Tip yer hat to the Alamo for me.
Welcome back all the ones who have been gone for a bit. And welcome to the new diners.
About this dream-Plan -Build thing. I have had it for a while and I have yet to return mine. Here is my reason why. I do not agree with, nor do I acknowledge, that type of sales. You can E-mail me, or send me advertisements in the US mail and I will take it under consideration. You call me on the phone and I won't even hardly consider it. You send it to me and expect me to pay for it or send it back and I consider it mine. A gift. I will throw it away before I return it. I have breezed through it and like someone said, It's nothing great. Even if it was worthwhile I would not purchase it based on their sales tactics. I have received a few requests to pay or return this video. I ignore those also. Maybe if they pay attention they won't send me anything again. Or maybe they'll send me the whole series. I am contemplating sending the magazine a copy of my policies regarding unsolicited items received in the mail. They know the law, they stated it. I do not in any way agree or condone for any reason the "send it to them and maybe they'll buy it" method. Harrrrumph.
Todd
Central Illinoyz
In order to keep my position as Master and Supreme Ruler of the House, I don't argue with my wife.
I'm a small town boy. A product of two people from even smaller towns. I don’t talk on topic….. I just talk.
Well, managed to roll my ankle at soccer practice. went to kick a ball, and another kid kicked the ball on the top while i was kicking it on the bottom, and I was moving to the side, so the ball came up and over and my ankle got rolled. Wearing my ankle braces from now on.
Sawyer Berry
Clemson University c/o 2018
Building a protolanced industrial park layout
Sawyer: R*I*C*E*, that's Rest, Ice (20 minutes at a shot for swelling), Compression (ace wrap), and Elevation (prop it up when ya can). Also, consider Tylenol or Ibuproffen (with parental consent, given your youth) for pain control if needed.
Chloe: my coffee IV is about gone, better spike another bag of that stuff. Three articles filed. I'll probably suffer through a few more just to err on the side of caution. Better to give the powers that be too much...than have them scrambling to fill pages.
Jeff: Not quite sure where yer at in Looooooueeeeeeezzeeana, but the radars around there look like a Jackson Pollack effort. Keep an eye out, and be ready to bug-out.
Did Philip bring some lemon pie in for my birthday? Or did he eat it all?
, Don. Great photo. One of my good friend's son put himself through college with his champion hogs. There is money to be made.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
AmanaMedicSawyer: R*I*C*E*, that's Rest, Ice (20 minutes at a shot for swelling), Compression (ace wrap), and Elevation (prop it up when ya can). Also, consider Tylenol or Ibuproffen (with parental consent, given your youth) for pain control if needed.
I was icing it, but I finally went insane from having one leg on the ground and one propped up parallel to the ground w/ the foot turned 90 degrees for ice. I've taken 3 Ibuproffen; I prefer Advil WAYYYYYY more.
AmanaMedicJeff: Not quite sure where yer at in Looooooueeeeeeezzeeana, but the radars around there look like a Jackson Pollack effort. Keep an eye out, and be ready to bug-out.
gear-jammer , Don. Great photo. One of my good friend's son put himself through college with his champion hogs. There is money to be made. Sue
Sue, et al...
Thanks for the warm wlecome and the kind words regarding my son and his hog. His college is already taken care of....he took the SAT in 7th grade and scored in the top 10% nationwide, including all high school students that took the test. Sometimes I wonder how much smarter he can get!
Don Z.
Research; it's not just for geeks.
Sawyer: I'm a little rusty on my pharmacology, being a FORMER paramedic and all...but I think Advil IS ibuproffen (trade [brand] name vs. generic [chemical] name). Either way, take it easy on that ankle for a day or two.
Jeff: Good man. Looks like yer in the clear for the rest of tonight, at least. I've got in-laws in the Pearl River/Slidel area. I think they're in for a rough night. It sounds like you do the same thing I do: turn the house into something resembling a communications center.
Sue: Did this groggy reporter/photographer read right? It's your birthday? Congrats! Haven't seen that particular pie however.
Don Z: SAT in 7th grade? Top 10%? Man, that's just downright frightening to a dummy like me!
Chloe, spike me another bag of IV coffee... I'd better hammer out at least one more to keep THAT editor happy...
AmanaMedicJeff: Good man. Looks like yer in the clear for the rest of tonight, at least. I've got in-laws in the Pearl River/Slidel area. I think they're in for a rough night. It sounds like you do the same thing I do: turn the house into something resembling a communications center.
AmanaMedicSawyer: I'm a little rusty on my pharmacology, being a FORMER paramedic and all...but I think Advil IS ibuproffen (trade [brand] name vs. generic [chemical] name). Either way, take it easy on that ankle for a day or two.------------------Don Z: SAT in 7th grade? Top 10%? Man, that's just downright frightening to a dummy like me!
Yeah, it might be. oh well. Point is, it's pain killer.
Yeah, you can take the SAT in the 7th grade. i could have, but didn't want to. I did take the PSAT this year (for the SC Junior scholar bid; a 50 in one category gets you Junior Scholar; I got 70 in Critical Reading, 55 in Math, 52 in Writing, I think (I know 70 in reading, the other two might be switched). Oh well; they give you all these different chances to take tests etc., and compare yourself to toher high school students. It's kinda fun, lol.
Oh, and here's an old joke my dad told me a while back:
There's a Clemson graduate, and he goes up to Harvard. he's walking around, and he wants to find the library, so he goes up to a Harvard guy and asks (in good southern manners) "Excuse me sir, but i'm not from around here. Could you please tell me where the library's at?" The Harvard guy draws himself up and in a tone of disgust and snootieness says "We here at harvard do not end our sentences with a preposition!" The Clemson guy says "Oh, I'm so sorry sir. What I meant to say was "Could you please tell me where the library is at @$$h---"
Just a tall glass of cool lemon water is all, thanks.
***Jeffrey, just remember to jump on top of your layout and keep it from getting blown away.
***Todd, I completely agree with your take on those particular sales tactics. I'm also on the same page when it comes to any kind of phone "annoyances".
***Eric, Thank You...will be keeping an eye out for it. Much appreciated.
Long and productive day here. Some thunderstorms tomorrow. Jeffrey's storm (with nasty predictions)won't hit here until Sat..
Anyone have about a dozen strait sections of Bachmann (or compatible) plain old (preferably NS, but brass would do) snap track they might be willing to sell me? I still need some for the wife's trestles & for either side of some vintage signal crossings. If you do, please let me know. Thanks!
Have a good night y'all.
Good Evening Diners,
Well we're back to Winterpeg up here as we just recieved about 25 cm. of snow after about 30mm of rain. It started on Monday and finally quit today. At least the snow shovel elves were still on duty and cleaned the drive. They're gone April 1 so I hope that is the last of the snow. Now to top it all the temp is supposed to go down to -21C tonight and up to -10 tomorrow if we're lucky??? Wind chills are predicted at -30. Things are looking a little desperate just south of us in Fargo with the flood on the Red River. That river is just about 500 ft. from our house but we should be OK as the diversion is supposed to be activated on Sunday. There is a large control structure with huge gates that move up to effectively act as a dam to divert some of the water into the floodway. The gov't spent 600 million expanding the floodway since the last big flood in '97 so they say we're protected. It was a close call in '97.
Not much new on the RR front. I did get some seats into an Athearn heavyweight which does make it look a lot better. Now that the passenger train has had a good bit of running, it's time to put the Mountain class loco back into the shed and remove the passenger cars from the layout. Next week, the Mortimer sub will be back to freight mode.
Hope everyone is doing fine,
CN Charlie
JimRCGMO KRUMP! back to the Diner! It's been a lonnnnggg while. Whatcha been doin'?
KRUMP! back to the Diner! It's been a lonnnnggg while. Whatcha been doin'?
yes, It's been awhile. I think I've just figured out this new forum format, so now I'm good to go. to answer the question though Jim, LIFE threw a few curveballs my way in the past 2 yrs and we've had a few priorities as a result. I feel free to share a few things without all the details, suffice it to say that it's been a difficult journey... some of you (der) know a lot, but here's a snapshot... perhaps I'll have a brew, save the mocha for a bit later.
our adopted son was diagnosed with special needs including severe ADHD, wife's health has improved significantly (praise the Lord) in the past year but there were times when the days were medically in crisis and life threatening, I began a new career / changes within the office a year ago; renovation of the garage / deck kept us busy in 2008 (yeah !) - now to catch up on some bills...school, soccer and ringette kept the kids (and me) busy. Probably the most difficult trial in all of this was that in early Oct 2008 my 42 yr old younger brother was diagnosed with lung cancer - succombing to this 13 days later. so 2008 was busy, difficult, leaving little to focus on.
we are now busy with chickens and honeybees also - so generally coming out of an induced hibernation and a long winter. God is good, and we're licking our wounds and looking forward.
I don't want to be a downer to the diner, but my absence needed some explanation. I'm back into TRAINing and hope to clear the train room out over the summer. things are going well, and my BS men's group (Bible Study) is getting some balance between work and play - I need to renew my fishin' licence.
you are all doing AMAZING mrr. thanks for sharing your thoughts and craftmanship for that is truly inspiring.
cheers, krump
"TRAIN up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" ... Proverbs 22:6
jeffrey-wimberlyI'm a volunteer firefighter and the dept safety officer.
Yep, I knew you were a Brother Firefighter, and figured you'd be on top of things. Looks like another round for you tomorrow. We're still a few weeks away from having guys assigned to Storm Watch duty, and my turn doesn't come up until May. But, if they page us out for spotter duty, I'll respond anyway, even if it's not my assigned 2 weeks.
Sawyer: Ibuproffen is good stuff, I practically live off of it when my sinus explodes. Just watch that you don't go over the maximum dose. You're still young, but it can mess up the liver. Naproxin is a little bit stronger, but can really do a number on the stomach. Working at Amana Refrigeration, I had a guy on 2nd shift that came by First Aid every night, like clockwork, for his "skittles" as he called the ibuproffen. The version we had was the same size as the popular candy, but with a white coating.
As for the SAT, etc. I took the ACT, very reluctantly in either my sophomore or junior year. I was scared to take the SAT. I can NOT imagine taking either of them in jr. high. Wow. My junior year, I took the Army's ASVAB test. I did much, much, much better on it than the ACT. The recruiter was thrilled with my results and swore I could pick and choose whatever Millitary Occupaional Specialty, I wanted. Something just didn't "smell" right and I didn't join. I was toying with the idea of joining the Reserves since it was possible at 17. Took it again in '91 or '92 when I was contemplating joining the Guard as either a medic or a photographer. The recruiter was so eager to sign me up, he wanted to run me down to Des Moines for processing the very next day. I told the Sgt. I needed "some time to think about this."
He did NOT like that at all. Went from real chummy, real buddy-buddy to, well, a SGT.! The gal I was seeing at the time also went all out to discourage me from joining. As it turns out, I took a lot of bad advice from her...
I decided not to join. I've regretted it ever since. Maybe that's part of why I've always taken so much pride in being a vol. firefighter. I'm serving my country...just on a very local basis. I know it's a big part of why I have such a deep and abiding appreciation for those that have and do serve in the military. They've taken the oath and made the committment I never did. And I am in awe of them.
Oy. It's gettin' kinda philosophical in here. Time to finish this batch of coffee, finish this bracken-fracken news article and get to BED...
Love the joke, by the way. Good thing I scored well in english...otherwise I might not have gotten it!
G'Night all,