Hey all. Had a bad day. Car went in for inspection....turns out it's gonna be 600 dollars to get it able to pass inspection. Everything underneath failed at once Pretty much. So yeah, I'm gonna be hurting from that for awhile.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
BATMANSometimes a bear would wander into the clearing, all we had to do was fire up our little .049 airplane engines and they left in a real hurry.
That's funny! I'd much rather carry an .049 than bear spray!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Henry. ... I agree it is sad about the woman you talked about. I believe people should be thankful for what their Creater provided, and they should not feel any need to change what they have.
Jimmy... sorry to hear you have to spend money on your vehicle. We do not have mandatory inspections of vehicles where we live .
ken ... so far, I have not considered using ATF on my rails.
Everybody. Have a good evening.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Jimmy_BraumCar went in for inspection....turns out it's gonna be 600 dollars to get it able to pass inspection.
Hi Jimmy:
Too bad about the repair bill, but if it gets you back on the road again for a while then it is worth it. Just don't fall into the trap that I did with my 1995 Chevy Impala. The body was in really great shape and I got it used for a fair price, although it took about $2000 to get it back in shape mechanically. At that point the car had still cost me less than market value so I thought I was ahead of the game. Not so! The car was a real lemon. It constantly had things going wrong with it that just weren't normal failures. For example, the baffles in the plastic fuel tank broke loose. If the tank wasn't full the car would stall when going around a corner. The tank cost $1500.00!! Then the engine started to use oil big time. I should have quit when I was behind, but it was still rust free and drove so nicely that I spent the money on an engine rebuild. Shortly after it was back on the road the transmission quit. That left me with a car with a fresh engine, new tires, new gas tank and numerous other new parts that was essentially worthless because it couldn't be driven. Yes, stupid me put a transmission into it.
I sold it immediately for about 1/4 of what the repairs had cost (to the guy who had done all the repairs on it - he was happy).
So the moral of my long winded story is 'don't let your car nickle and dime you to death!'.
I'm a Cussler reader as well. Want a great read of his about railroading ? yes the Wrecker is good, but I liked the "Chase". except of course when they ran one of the old steamers into Flathead Lake in Montana.
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
Yeah, if it gets to the point where the repairs are about hald the market value, I'm gonna look into maybe getting another car. It's 10 years old 72,000 on it, so hopefully it'll hold up for another 5-10 years without a major problem.
'evenin Folks...
Well, we're still in Texas for the next few days so I'd better get some of that tender Longhorn, medium rare, please and one of the brews that Ken so thoughtfully provided, thank you Flo.
Hey, Brent, I have a couple of long boxes of balsa, too. Given to me by a friend of my mother who's husband had passed away. That stuff is sure handy for a layout. I use it like other folks ude the blue/pink foam board. Cuts, carves, glues easily.
Great story about the Flying Mountie, too
Glad your birds are feeding well, Charlie. I sat for about a half hour by my feeder today. Only a few visits by tufted titmouse, gold finch and chickadee... that was IT. No blue jays, cardinals and not a one downy or hairy woodpecker. Mind you, I have fresh shelled peanuts, black sunflower and nyjer and a fresh cake of suet at the bird-buffet. Come to think of it, I haven't heard the Pileated woodpecker lately, either. He normally makes a daily visit in the evenings. Odd, indeed.
hon30critterOne thing that we do have in abundance is yellow jackets! We still have food in the Hummingbird feeder for any straggling migrants, but the feeder is covered in wasps.
I'll second that, Dave. This has been the BUGGIEST summer I can remember.
In the previous thirty years we've had maybe three or four of these paper wasp nests...
This year alone we've had SIX! Plus another six hives of the ground hornets. Not to mention the spider webs, stink bugs, tons of house flies, et. al. A few years ago it was ladybugs! Tens-of-thousands of them getting into the screens and all over the siding of the houses.
BigDaddyMy wife and I have a mutual friend, a woman I used to work with. She works for plastic surgeons and gets surgery for free. She also likes tattoos and gets plenty of those. She posts photos of herself on social media, and I no longer recognize her. Kinda of sad, really.
Funny you should mention that, Henry.
Just yesterday there was a young lady featured on the local TV news. She was looking for funding for cancer treatments and I happened to see that, at least everything you could see on TV, she was covered in tattoo ink. I made an off-hand comment to Mrs. Pullman, "gee, I wonder if all that ink may have contributed to her cancer?"
Don't 'ya know, I was flipping through the latest TIME Magazine and saw a little tidbit about a study where nanoparticles of titanium dioxide were found in lymph nodes of cancer victims whom also had extensive tatoos. More research is needed, the item goes on to say... Like yourself, I don't exactly see the benefits of the art— but c'est la vie.
Good luck with your car repairs, Jimmy. I think we've all been there. Like Dave, I once had a 1987 Mercury Sable and had just put about $3K into it. A week later parked it in the Amtrak lot and made a trip to Pittsburgh and when I returned... poof! No car. The police found it three weeks later stripped and burned. I had canceled the comprehensive insurance shortly before to "save money"
Well, it's off to the layout for a while. Glad you still have some tread left on the wheels of those covered wagons, Ken! Big trains keep on rollin'!
Best wishes to all— Ed
Evening all. Flo (or however's handy) could I get my normal late night snack of breaded mushrooms and blue cheese dressing? Thank you so much.
angelob6660 FRRYKid- Yes I remember those Atlas bridges are they old? Impressive job!!
FRRYKid- Yes I remember those Atlas bridges are they old? Impressive job!!
That construction has to be somewhere between 15 to 18 years old or so. I remember that my late grandmother (She passed away in 01) paid for one full bridge kit from the store that had some train stuff at that time. The rest of the pieces for the other two bridges were built from parts lots scrounged via eBay. And I only discovered eBay in 1999.
BATMAN Holy power consumption! Got the first Hydro bill to compare house with kid in it and house with kid at University. If Universities ever get their hands on it, they will ban Playstations from Universities. It is down a whopping 34%. Even so, I still wish he was here.
Holy power consumption! Got the first Hydro bill to compare house with kid in it and house with kid at University. If Universities ever get their hands on it, they will ban Playstations from Universities. It is down a whopping 34%. Even so, I still wish he was here.
That reminds of something that my Mom said related to that subject. She made the statement that when I was home from college the food budget would double.
Good Morning!
September seems to be willing to say good bye with some nicer weather, which gives a promising outlook for a "Golden October". This is my time of the year. I just love the autumn colors, the early morning mist painting beautiful pictures and the flocks of geese heading south. They have already started their annual trip to more friendly places than Germany - and this is not a political statement, just a mere meteorigical observation.
I am coming closer to solving my car problem. With the little we drive these days, the best would to give it up completely and call a taxi each time we want to go places. But having a car also means having a tiny bit of freedom, so we will need to find a vehicle we both can get in and out and drive it. The best would be getting some old, cheap hulk of a 4WD, but I am not much of a car mechanic and would have to take the car to a garage even for getting the spark plugs exchanged. Those dinosaurs also cost a fortune in terms of vehicle tax and car insurance, so I ruled out this idea.
The only solution to the issue seems to be buying a used, but rather young Smart Forfour, which is very similar to the car we have now. It rides much higher than my Volkswagen, so getting in and out of it is more like entering a SUV. This car is nothing more than a shopping cart with a motor and a roof, but that´s exactly what we need it for. Now I´ll have to do some math to find out whether we can afford it.
Here is to a great day!
Tattoos are linked to a higher incidence of Hepatitis C. I've seen enough screw ups in sterilization in hospitals and doctors offices. There is no way I'm going to trust a guy with no education at all in sterile technique. I got a letter 2 months ago from the hospital where I had my heart valve replaced. They cool everyone's blood during bypass. The machine that does that was reported to be blowing some rare bacteria around the room. Oh by the way, it's hard to diagnose and treat, call us if you have any problems.
Ulrich you have me thinking of fall. https://smokymountains.com/fall-foliage-map/ Have seen some Canadian geese, but then we have an immigration problem there and some stay year round. Golf courses hire people with trained dogs to run them off. They are very prolific in a gastrointestinal way. Parts of Maryland have snow geese, which are all white and hang out in flocks of several hundred. If you are next to a field where the flock takes off or lands, it sounds like a football stadium at the winning touchdown.
Had some idiot tell me in another forum it was going to be bad winter because acorns are falling to the ground. Acorns fall every year, that's what nuts do. Some years there is a bigger crop than others, but the fact that they fall to the ground signifies nothing.
Ex-wife, son and myself took one of those DNA tests. My FIL was Italian, but my son only had a small percentage of Italian. I have 0.1% Asian DNA, no idea where that came from and less than average Neanderthal DNA. I thought we were all Neanderthals but no, they were a coexisting separate species that occasionally comingled with Humans. Were there ethical, social, moral, religious or even legal concerns back then?
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Good morning, everybody ........ Coffee and a donut, please.
Afternoon Diners,
Brent- I'll found out when I get my crown replaced on the 17th.
Jimmy- Spending a lot of money at onces hurts a lot. I still don't feel comfortable.
FRRYKid- Yeah my grandma (dad's mom) she died that year also in December.
Layout Construction #3
I started cutting the slit for the backdrop. Using my wallpaper knife, flat head screwdriver and some tweezers and forgetting the shop vac.
So this weekend hopefully backdrop priming for painting, laid the rest of the cork (since it will arrive tomorrow). Maybe if I have time glue the track in place.
I went to shapeways two days ago I got some guard rails. They will be placed between the hills and roadway on the desert scene.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Afternoon Diners
Flo, Ed, Gary, Bent, Bear, Inch, Ulrich, Galaxy, Jan, Jimmy and I will have a cold please.
Jimmy Way I look at it if I like driving the car it is worth the repair cost. I perfer my old Town Car over my wife newer Mecury Grand Marquis. Plus if you have to finances you have a bill every month. If a person can afford a $350.00 a month payment, just stick $150.00 a month into savings for repairs. Will not be as pain full when there is a repair.
Gary I don't blame you about wanting to try ATF on your rails. I held off for sometime till I was at my wits end with stalling engines!
Train Front. For some reason the Pen SD 7 couple height was off and coud not keep a train hooked to it? Went to K-10 Model Trains and bought a pack of rasied couplers Kadees and pulling like a charm. Think it is the lease amount I ever spent there! Ed it is nice and quite now and I really enjoying it! Great job on the lighting for being a none LED eingine!
New Walthers Protos VS Older Proto 2000 question. Do you folks think the older PK 2000 Motor and Drive Train is the same, worst or better than the current Walthers Protos? K-10 has a used PK 2000 E-9 A B&O (think it is a E-9) in a blue box for $80.00 and it is DCC ready. Model Trains And Stuff has the newer Walthers B&O E-9 A for around $130.00 plus shipping. I would not pay $80.00 but if Ken (owner) would do $70.00 I might buy it. I have know about it for 3 years now.
Remember I am only asking about motor and drive train parts and not detail parts.
BBQ is done so later.
Ken
I hate Rust
Hio, all.
Colder here. I wish that would hold off for a while.
Did you 2 guys get what I sent?? let me know!
Terry
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
BATMANHoly power consumption! Got the first Hydro bill to compare house with kid in it and house with kid at University. If Universities ever get their hands on it, they will ban Playstations from Universities. It is down a whopping 34%.
How about your grocery bill? When Cole was here we were spending $150.00 to $200.00 per week in groceries. Now that he is gone we have a hard time spending $80.00!
We also have to be very careful about not making too much food. The leftovers used to be gone by the next morning when Cole was here but now they just sit there. Dianne will take some for lunch the next day but that gets old really fast, pardon the pun.
saronaterry Hio, all. Colder here. I wish that would hold off for a while. Did you 2 guys get what I sent?? let me know! Terry
Pmd you.
Yes it's colder here too, I've never liked when my birthday cones as it means colder weather is definitely coming.
Actually turned on the furnace as the house was cold this morning. Ugh that's way to early. I don't like to start it until Nov 1!!!
Oh well. Tomorrow night will be in the 30s!
Ugh.
Gniteall
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Evening diners.
Just kicking back on a Friday night doing some relaxing.
I don't watch TV too much but tonight there's a little series of some Andy Griffith episodes I'm watching.
The old TV shows were wholesome. A story and a moral. I like that.
Track fiddler
saronaterryColder here. I wish that would hold off for a while.
Hi Terry,
Same thing here. We went from highs of 40C with the humidex to about 19C, and from dry, sunny calm weather to wet and windy. I like fall weather, but getting the change all within one day is a bit much!
Howdy.
Cooler? Yes. Highs were about 90 F until today. It will be about 80 F for next few days.
I wonder why there are so few contributors to Weekend Photo Fun so far this week .
Cheers
Evenin' Folks!
Janie a cup of decaf would be great right now.....
Tonight was the annual NAACP Awards Dinner. I make it most years (couldn't last year because of a conflict) and had a great time at this years dinner. It is held at a well known "Party House" in Geneva (Club 86) and the food and company is always good. I really enjoyed seeing a number of former students, colleagues, and friends that I haven't seen in a while. If I had any regrets about shaving off the beard, it is sure gone now!!! A large number of (Beautiful) Ladies whom I know from various community groups I have dealt with as a member of the MLK committee were all grins and gushy to me. One that was especially Wowed is a Hispanic woman who is a College Professor at the local university who at first couldn't quite figure out who I was. Then she said, Oh My Gosh, Ray!!! You look 20 years younger, WOW! I did get a nice hug from her... Her Lawyer Husband didn't even seem to mind. Another lady who is about 15 years younger than me and is considering retiring from teaching this year (and possibly joining the MLK committee) is a lady whose daughter won an MLK Scolarship many years ago and I became a friend with when I was teaching her disabled k-1 class music at the end of my teaching carreer. She is single and also very, very easy on the eyes. We had a great chat... (ahem....) Several members of city government were there including the Chief of Police and his asst., a few City Board Members, and most of the local politicians who are running this fall for County Supervisor. Of course one of those happens to be one of my Eagle Scouts. Lets just say I'm really glad I went tonight..........
Tomorrow I might get back to doing some Model Railroading. Who knows?
Hope you all have a great night!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Evening all! Flo (or whoever's handy) could I just get a piece of apple pie a la mode? Thank you so much!
All the mentioning of October brings a few things for me. (Some good, some annoyingly unavoidable) The unavoidable is my birthday (No I am not going to mention my age but I will say that my favorite prototype merged out of existance only a couple of years before I was born.) but that leads to a good thing: A certain hobby company, which I won't mention (just to be safe so I don't draw Vinnie's ire), gives a 10% discount for orders (with a code) when they are placed in the person's birthday month. I am planning to put in a good sized order on Monday. There is a specific detail part that I need for my SD45 that will be ordered. I had a different headlight part but misplaced it. I searched and found this part. It has the details that I was going to build for the misplaced part. Now I don't have to.
Ray:
Glad you had a good time at the NAACP function. You have obviously contributed a lot to your community, and deserve compliments for your work.
Lunchtime in Germany!
Flo, make that a ham&cheese sandwich and a bowl of lentil soup for me. I feel like contributing a little to the greenhouse effect
Last day of September! My own forecast of a nice start into the new month seems to be proven wrong, when I look outside. Just the usual "Schietwedder", for which my region is famous.
I drove to the nearest place selling Smart cars, which is about half an hour away. While driving through the countryside, I noticed that Mother Nature seems to be in a haste these days. Not only have the leaves turned into a reddish brown, but you have to watch where you are going, as the acorns and chrestnuts are falling from the trees. Add to that the flocks of geese and cranes heading south, and you have all signs of an early winter in this neck of the woods. I am not really looking forward to that.
Well, I took a close look to that Smart car in question and my verdict is simple - that´s a car of no real use to anyone. It rides a little higher, but getting in and out of it is not so much different from my current Volkswagen. So that´s back to square 1 in the search of a suitable vehicle. Maybe I should read this as a sign to forget about looking for another car and keep this one until we will have to pack up and go, which may not be very far from today.
I´ll be spending the afternoon watching the British comedy series "Oh, Dr. Beeching". Dr. Beeching was the head of British Rail, who is responsible for the closure of nearly all of BR´s branchlines in the early 1960s, a measure undertaken to minimize losses and reinstall profitability. A third of BR´s main- and branchline mileage went out of service as a consequence, but the move failed to achieve its objective.
50 years later, it spawned the idea to a rather entertaining comedy series of typical British flavor, filmed at Arley Station (dubbed Hatley in the film) along the preserved Severn Valley Railway.
Enjoy!
Morning diners,
More work on the layout. To bad I didn't get the can depress air that you use for computers because I really needed it. I couldn't get enough suction out the 1 inch trench for the backdrop. My situation: plucking out the foam.
I tested the backdrop to see what it would look like when it will be decorated. It showed me I needed to add two more hills to make a reason why the road turns like it does.
Waiting for cork later today to continue.
It's been a busy week at our house, nothing special, just the usual list of chores. What frustrates me sometimes is no matter how busy I keep after things, that darn list only seems to grow & grow.
I spent Thursday & Friday putting up the Halloween display. The wife collects Department 56 Halloween Village & has accumulated a significant number of pieces over the years. All the work is worth it though, as everyone seems to enjoy it, especially her. I must admit that all the trips up & down from the attic are getting harder & harder though.
But never fear, Saturday came & we got in our 4 hours of railfanning. It was another good day too, with 13 trains, including the Norfolk Southerns Interstate Heritage Unit.
4 mixed freights
6 intermodals
1 coke train
1 stone train
1 coal train
Although it was sunny, the temperature was in the low 50s most of the morning. I had a sweater on, but the breeze was blowing right thru it. So we sat in the car all day. I think the days of sitting out on the folding chairs are over for the year. Another fellow who railfans where we do showed up today and we had a nice chat. Turns out his birthday is tomorrow & he will turn 85. Never would guess that to look at him. He is a nice guy & we enjoy his company.
Tomorrows schedule is over booked to say the least, but I need to get the bathroom cleaned along with the dinning & living rooms. Hoping everyone is having a great weekend.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
Eveing Diners
Flo, Ulrich, Galaxy, Ed, Gary, Inch, Brent, Jan and I will have a please.
Work Front was Ho Hum today. Had 5 customers, 1 was looking for a $100.00 queen mattres, told him "we don't sell used mattress" and he left. Other 4 did buy and spent $1400.00 or so. Pretty lack luster day.
Seems like there was no one here that could help me with the Walter Proto vs Proto 2000 quality qustion so I posted on the main page about it.
Angelob6660 Reason the road turns is to avoid the lake. Unless you like painting hills.
Trains are running great!