Move over Rob and let me slide in there too. Yeah Chloe, coffee......thanks!
Afternoon, Janie. Whoever that is in the booth is shivering so much, I can hardly tell who it is... Fergie? Man, what happened to you? Must've been way too cold if a Nova Scotian is shivering.
Janie, get me a coffee in one of those Christmas mugs like Rob has, and a bowl of stew - nasty cold out there this afternoon, with the winds a'blowin'.
Yeah, and another hot drink for Fergie, too!
What? Okay - Janie, he says he needs "more o' the Cap'n," whatever that means... Here, let's put another log in the stove and help warm him up!
CNCharlie, (and all the others...) thanks for the info on the grain cars. Garry thanks for the photo from your layout, too. (How many tracks do you have that can be loaded at the same time there?) I'm guessing that the last few feet of the loading pipe/hose must be flexible on that type of grain elevator, since I've seen the pipe coming almost straight down in the loading area's roof, but it'd have to have some flex or curve to fit into the top of the doorway on the grain boxcars, right? Oh, I got some 1/32" balsa yesterday at the LHS which I'll be cutting into different widths for the door 'hoardings'. Figure I'll make a jig of some kind with the widths marked along one side of where the balsa goes before cutting.
Jonathan, hope you get the Saab up and running enough to make it until you can trade that thing in on something a bit more [ahem] reliable...
Paul, if your young granddaughter was wondering about the family & trains, it was only because she hasn't seen the trains run yet! Good to hear that Dyanne's doing better, too.
wedudler wrote:Here is black ice. We resigned to go with the dog, only in the garden. A day for the basement?? Wolfgang
Here is black ice. We resigned to go with the dog, only in the garden. A day for the basement??
Wolfgang
Ja, Wolfgang - to the basement indeed (und der MRR'ing)!
PC, I see that your area got the weather that we had Saturday afternoon & evening. It was cold (enough!) and wet. I got soaked *with* an umbrella at one point in the afternoon. Your pic of the tree was something else. Until I read the closeup, I was thinking they must've been horse thieves.
Bob K., good to see you in the Diner again. Sorry to hear about your van's unauthorized trip on its own... Good that you have the deductible still that low. Reading about your Navy experience, I wondered - did you ever see the movie "The Guardian" (featured Kevin Costner, I think)? It sounded a bit like your instructor tour, though the movie is about the Coast Guard. Glad all of us could be here for you - and we still are, remember...
As for my w**k schedule, it should - in a way - get better after New Year's when I go back from my vacation - I'm going from two days a week seeing outpatient clients, to four. It'll be... interesting keeping each client straight, but the paperwork isn't as much in writing progress notes as that for walk-in and (day) crisis work. We did find out last Thursday at our meeting of all the on-call people (who cover nights & weekends) that we will be covering an additional county. Usually, you don't get as many calls from out there, but it's a 45 minute drive when you do. Hope we don't get any in the nasty weather months...
Johnboy, with your weather there on the tundra, I can understand why the bears there hibernate until spring! As for what your *really* cold days are like - uh, no trade... But do thank your eldest son for his work. Have any of the wolves adopted him yet, since he's out there a lot?
Colby, that sounds like both a fun and productive trip for you. Two layouts, huh? Cool! Too bad your brother was bored; maybe he could take along a book or MP3 player next time.
I bought two albums (and three free songs) to download on the iTunes store this afternoon. The albums were Christmas ones - new Michael W. Smith one and a Hillsong one (from last year).
Janie, think I'd like a cup of eggnog for dessert, please.
Thanks, and I'll cover my eggnog - Bob K. may need the money, depending on how expensive the custom paint matching is.
I did pick up another covered hopper Saturday morning (Cotton Belt RTR - the LHS owner/club member's a retired Cotton Belt conductor, & likes the SSW stuff; go figure, huh? ), and an Accurail PS-1 Frisco boxcar (40') kit. The rest of the windows for the church came in, so I'll need to check and make sure I have everything I need before cutting window and door openings. Also got the Woodland Scenics/DPM Coal River depot re-glued. I'd had one side wall get bumped or something, and I wanted to have the little roof that fits over the bay window glued to the main roof instead of just being glued to the top of the walls. May start painting that depot
Good Evening Coffee Clubbers,
Well it was a pretty nice day down here in Paradise. Only got up to around the low 70's, so working on the pergola was almost a pleasure. If I can get the last of the material delivered tomorrow I think I can wrap the project up in the afternoon and just sneak in under the Christmas target.
Of course, we may need to head out to the orange grove tomorrow too, so we'll see if there's enough time to do both.
Bob K - geez, guy, that's a bunch of tough luck car-wise in a short time. Good thing you're handy. 1600 lights??? Just how big is that tree?
last mountain & eastern: However my oldest Son is a Instrumentation Tech and Electrician and works in the Natural Gas fields north of Grande Prairie Alberta, which is 250 miles northwest of Edmonton or 750 miles from here.
Colby - sounds like you had a good outing. A rail museum and a new LHS?? And a discount to boot!
Catch you guys tomorrow,
Ed
Evening Gang: The baby is still doing all right. Dyanne is doing all right also but is hurting some from the C section.
Mary Ann is getting for the daughter and grand daughters coming from New Mexico. We hadn't planned on having a tree this year so I guess we'll go out and get one tomorrow. I guess I'll gut out now. I need to check on Mary Ann and see if she needs any help.
Good Night All
Hello everyone.......
I heard that the chapel car will remain at the diner for those in need of prayer.
Bobk.... Good to see you visiting the diner and that was a long, thoughtful message. We're all pulling for you, and understand it's a tough CHristmas for you without April. Good luck with the van repairs.
Duke .... I did not know about your losing your Dad recently, and am sorry to learn about that.
Paul .... I'm gald the little baby is doing fine.
Lee ... I looked at the cement plant links. Thanks for posting.
Colby .... I'm glad you had a good Chistmas eve eve!
Johnboy .... Tell your lonely son his work is appreciated up there as people are enduring winter weather.
Der .... I believe you are the winner of the most colorful colourful posts of the year.
Jim ....... My grain elevators are tightly crowded against the wall. Accordingly, I compromised on details. The farthest loading shelter is for trucks. I assume a lot of outbound grain is bagged and it is loaded on the track behind the fence.
Ed ..... You just have to rub it in with those warm temperatures. Sorry you have to suffer in the 70's. When you said it was 90 degrees recently, I thought you had the "right angle". . Feel free to send some manderine OJ!
We're packing and depart tomorrow for our trip.
Merry Christmas
PS >....
Here's a link to an improved version of our Christmas message if you did not click on the last one I posted. http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1740427974
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
"There are always alternatives, Captain" - Spock.
Good Evening All,
It's been a busy weekend on the model front. Got most of the Peco switch machines installed (under the benchwork so a bit of a fiddle) Using the 1/2" plywood and 3/8" foam on the lower table worked well. The one switch I'd moved over the 2x4 framing was solved thanks to DerJohn. I'd wondered what the extra moldings on the below table mounts were for and it turns out that they are for a top mount with remote link which I promptly made from a piece of Plastruct I beam. Also did some more with the DPM buildings and my decoders that finally showed up from NCE. The only problem that surfaced was the TrueLine C liner blew out one block of the layout when I turned on the headlight when running. The auto breaker won't reset so it'll be a call to Tony's if I can't resolve it myself.
Bob - it's good to see you back in the diner. I can sympathize with you on the ouside repair. Seems we always had a major on one of the trucks or Suburbans and every winter I ended up on my back in the driveway in -20F weather with the wind howling through. For that matter, I had to work on the Ford plow truck and the backhoe at the museum this weekend but it wasn't that bad out. That must have been some icy driveway. It's a wonder you got up it in the first place. With the new computer matching at the paint stores a close match should be doable as long as you can bring in a suitable piece for them to match up (picture now Bob waltzing in with a fender under his arm.)
PC - glad to hear the missus is doing better this time. Always irksome when the surgery is less than brilliant the first time.
Paul- good to hear the grandson is doing better - how is your daughter holding up?
Jerry - hope all continues to go well with Sallie. Bet you're looking forward to Christmas with her at home after Thanksgiving.
Welcome to all whom I've missed lately. Been a bit flakey responding since I've not spent much time in the diner of late. Haven't kept up on the Santa gropping incident here in Danbury though it seems there's a fair bit of distance between story and complaint. I prefer to remember the better stories about the track team out training and coming to the aid of a man who had fallen in his driveway, broken his leg and couldn't move, or the Eleven year old who sent 300 pairs of bluejeans to flood victims in South America. Seems more in the spirit, no?
Time to head upstairs and get some shuteye, gotta go in tomorrow to the shop and continue with loose ends. CUL, J.R.
He is not in a blue mood he is frozen.
Hi gang,
Just shutting it down for the night, but before I hit the feathers I wanted to share this with you. I'm sure you are going to like it especially those further south like Jim, Jeff, Ed and all the others.
This is the link.http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=23798966
I'm not sure how to make it clickable so you will have to Google it.
I see that it is clickable, so go for it all you snow plow freaks..................
Night all, no time for even a quick cup.
Johnboy out...............
james:1 Verse:5
The "Wobbly" won't be wobbling tonight.
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
That's a cool video, Johnboy.....
Well, I'd better get out of here. have fun, everybody!
Hey everybody- took awhile to catch up, alot of posts since last Thur. I'll have a cuppa joe and some of Der's- sugar free C-mas cake. Oh yeah!
We have been enjoying the winter weather, our nephew from Hawai'i is really having a blast with it. We built a snowman on Fri, also had a snowball fight and general mayhem all around. On Sat, of course, it was in the upper 50's, and the only snow he had to play on was the plowed pile at W Mart, but he made the best of it. A kitten followed me home Sat, and now he wants to take it back to Oahu with him, we explained the quarrentine- is that even remotely how you spell it?- and the cost, he got over the idea pretty fast. His mom has a new kitten waiting for him when he gets home for a C-mas surprise, so it will work out fine.
Today, the wind was in charge around here, I spent the afternoon reparing plastic tarps and relocating firewood for my MIL. Also had to work on my FIL's F150, he has an aftermarket remote starter on it and sometimes I think it's alot more trouble than it's worth. But he's a great guy, so I was glad to get his truck running.
Let's see, first of all- Fergie- Remember when you come ashore and kiss the ground- NO TONGUE!!! Not only does it cause the problems you mentioned, it also gets you a bad reputation!
Heartland- Thats a good looking elevator!
bogp40- Boy, does your car repair story bring back memories. We shorted out/froze up/mudded up a starter on a Jeep CJ-5 one winter weekend, and we spent about two hours chipping frozen mud and ice from the underside to get to the starter. We took shifts, we'd work awhile and then hug our heaters for awhile. We rebuilt the darn thing on the tailgate of another CJ, and took turns replacing it. The amazing part was how much fun we thought it was at the time. Ahh, to be young and plenty stooooopid again! To this day, just the THOUGHT of icy water on my neck sends shivers through me!
And about the drywall mudding, this is my first experience with it. My BIL is a great guy, but a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to drywall. When we see him tomorrow, I plan to tell him that the $3.00 per sheet recycled paneling had come in, and we would be slapping it up this weekend. You should be able to hear the scream from your house!
You hang in there, you never forget them, but sometimes the smiles don't always turn into tears.
Ed- The next cut of cars I send your way, while your'e sweating there in the sun watching your crew load them up, just go ahead and slap yourself for me! 90F ! As Dr Smith from Lost in Space would say, Oh the PAIN, The pain!
We'll be back tomorrow night, for those of you celebrating early, Merry Christmas!
HEY, ya know what I just discovered? If you click on the PM icon, it brings up YOUR private messages! Only took me 4 years to learn that! Yessir, when it comes to computers, I'm the dim bulb down at the end of the strand.
Evening folks-pulling another late nighter but bed shortly so just coffee for me.
Woke up this morning to my clock radio playing the 1st notes of "Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer."-in my fog those notes sounded like the doorbell going wonky at 1st, but then got a little sense. Turned out they were doing a phone interview with "Elmo" that wrote the song. Anyways, turned it off, heard the rain & wind hitting the house & rolled over & went back to sleep until 11:30.
Kinda blah day with the weather-got some snow squalls as evening rolled in & laid enough cover to send out the salt trucks.
Just for the heck of it, late afternoon popped my vid of "Wheeling in the Rat Hole" in the player for awhile. Logan, not being around "train things", was cocking his head to the NKP 765 whistle. Gonna take him awhile to get used to living with Daddy & his "train sounds!"
Worked on my train cars in the evening, but one of "those" days. The bottom of my old Duncan Phyfe (SP?) chair that I have at my workbench is giving out, & then Dawn brought down the scarf she knitted for me (I was right!) but when I went to try it on, the CSXT Coil car project I had brought out of hibernation got swatted by the scarf to the floor. Came out ok though-a grab (which may get replaced anyways) got cracked, but not terminally, & a crack on the coupler screw sleeve. Nothing irrepairable IMO.
Then I put 2 A-Line metal stirrups on the ATW ex SM car. I wasn't really happy as to how they went on, but still look ok. But I felt that things wouldn't get better, so decided to shut it down for the night & start fresh tomorrow.
& speaking of shutting things down, I better do that (looks at clock) I'll try to stop in for a bit sometime tomorrow-Merry Christmas from Mitch & Dawn (& Logan & Magick)
Good Morning from Tipton IN !
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
Good Morning all,
Just a little chilly in Euclid, OH but not too bad. The wind was blowing so hard the past 2 days the snow didn't have a chance to stick.
BM1 Lee Soule USCG (ret) L.S.&W Railroad Serving the Lower Great Lakes
Mornin, an irish coffee please Zoe, its a cold start to the day here and the house doesn't want to warm up [Mother turned the heat down to much last night].
Well we survived the high winds yesterday, even with the electric being out for 3n ½ hours during the night without much damage. Had a tree blown over and half the road was blocked. #2 son lost a storage shed that was anchored, and it blowed the outhouse over on the door at the campground [thank God I wasn't in it]. It's back up n usable again. Other than being cold, today is supposed to be nicer and we're suppose to see some sun [that helps a lot].
Haven't been round much, busy with kids n such, and just haven't had much worth saying.
PAUL good to hear the new baby is improving. It's amazing what the docs can do anymore. We'll keep ya'll in our thoughts.
Sounds like most every body's health is getting some better, other than the normal colds n such for this time of year and the crazy weather.
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/4309
philnrunt wrote: Let's see, first of all- Fergie- Remember when you come ashore and kiss the ground- NO TONGUE!!! Not only does it cause the problems you mentioned, it also gets you a bad reputation!
Sorry The comment was more tongue-in-cheek.
Anyway I am starting thaw out and loosen up as I get in to the festive Season and say I have all my presents bought and "wrapped" (Thank goodness for Christmas Bags!)
Dick: Not a day goes by without thinking about "the Old Guy". However these are all good and warm thoughts. I find myself getting back into the swing of things and doing the stuff that we did before his passing which can be bitter sweet at times. Saying that there is a season for all things.
Onto a more positive note Heavy Traffic is once again rolling the rail on the MESS as I was able to clear a path (several actually!) to and around the MESS. Yes say it ain't so!!
Paul: Very happy things are working out on your end. Nothing worse than worrying about the wee ones.
On behalf of Lisa and the boys
May you and yours have a warm, safe, loving and festive Merry Christmas and Holiday!
Fergie
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=5959
If one could roll back the hands of time... They would be waiting for the next train into the future. A. H. Francey 1921-2007
Good Morning all! And Merry Christmas!
It's a beautiful morning here in central Indiana, though a bit chilly.
Christmas Eve: variable clouds, cold with a few snow showers - high: 30 Tonight: clearing skies, cool - low: 22Christmas Day: mostly sunny, not as cold - high: 42
So, who's ready for tomorrow? The bigger question......who's not!?!
I hope each and every one of you have the merriest of Christmas' this year. And please remember the reason for the season!
M ERRY CHRISTMAS, everyone
We had our family Christmas get together yesterday evening since my one nephew has to work all day today and tomorrow. We have it at my place every year since I am fairly centrally located and it keeps everyone from having to travel too far. I had eleven other people here for the evening. It's a lot of work to get ready and then clean up afterwards, but it's well worth it. Here's a pic of my grandnephews (my nephews' kids) playing with a G scale Bachman Christmas train I put around the tree this year.
They were so busy playing with the train all evening they lost interest in opening their gifts or playing with them after they were opened.
Hope everyone is healthy for the holidays.
Good frosty morning, Diners, and a Merry Christmas Eve (day)! Zoe, a glass of Ed's finest, a cup of coffee, and some waffles with bacon and syrup, please.
Thanks!
Current weather in Cape Girardeau:
32 F (0 C), 64 percent humidity, sunny, with
winds out of the SSW at 7 mph, so a wind chill of 25 F.
(Johnboy'll get jealous when he sees that - hey, Johnboy! We're having a heat wave here! But none of that snow like in your video, though. (Blue/frozen man there...)
last mountain & eastern hogger wrote:Just shutting it down for the night, but before I hit the feathers I wanted to share this with you. I'm sure you are going to like it especially those further south like Jim, Jeff, Ed and all the others.This is the link.http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=23798966
Nice video, Johnboy - is that SP locos driving the plow/flanger/mystery plow? Looked like the SP bloody nose paint, but could be a CN/CP too, I guess. Hard to tell with all that snow flying... It sounded like the plow & diesels started to slow slightly just after it got past the crossing (more than the usual Doppler sound change).
Fergie, I hear you on the joys of Christmas bags - they are more fun (even though I can wrap a present without butchering up the paper tooooo badly...). Good to hear you're warming up and your tongue can work again. Will the MESS(tm) be making a Christmas run? Or are their locos hired out for a 'special' run to some fella from north of you? An Amen to your Christmas greetings for all the Diners!
Better get going for now on these waffles. Zoe told me that there's more batter. so the cook can get some more for the rest of you in almost no time!
Blessings (of the Season),
Jim in Cape Girardeau
hey guys.
merry christmass eve
Good Afternoon Crew,
Whose working today, Chloe or Zoe ? Whoever can hear me I'll have Potatoe soup and a toasted cheese,onion and green pepper sandwich, hold the mayo and S&P. OJ to float.
Well everyone, the evening before has arrived and I hope you are all ready for the festivities. Please keep in mind the Reason for the Season.
My family would like to extend to all of YOUR families a very happy and Blessed Christmas. May the greatest gifts we give and receive be that of the Spirit of Christ, Love to one another,and health in our bodies, spirits and minds. Do enjoy the time with your loved ones and may everyone travel in safety.
My third oldest son has his Birthday to day as well, so over the years the Eve of Christmas has been extremely busy at our home. This year however it will be much quieter down from the average of about 35 people to four for sure, maybe six tonight. It has thrown my wife a real curve ball here as she is so geared into the prep for a large group that she feels like it isn't Christmas not having all the work that she normally goes through. But what she makes is really appreciated by all. The boys even though they are long since out of the house all have their specials that they want her to make when they do arrive. So it will be just spread out more this year.
Haven't had much time with the "Woobly" of late. but sure looking forward to getting back at it. I have reached a bit of a stumbling block on a double tunnel portal, but I think I am close to working that out now. I really wanted to be a little further along for when my youngest son and his wife get home (in a couple of days) , but just have been to darn busy with this post retirement work. ( I'm going to quit--- I swear I'm going to quit), but it does help support the hobby.
The link below is for the previously mentioned snow plow video.
Jim & Garry, I thought the same thing. I believe that plow was being pushed by SP power. But it sure shows how well a push plow throws the snow.
Well they just informed me that I can do a lock-up here at 3:00pm so that is good news. As you can tell I am at work. But now I am off until Friday. Then off again till Jan.02 /08.
Do have a wonderful time, but no Drinking and Driving. We all want everyone back after the holidays, and not as an
Stay Well, Stay Warm, Stay Full.............
Johnboy out..........
James:1 Verse:5
Forgot to change the color back.. Oh well, first mistake today.
afternoon
well 8 hours and 30min till christmass
let the count down till the magical hour begin!
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
I thought that I would stop by for a quick coffee. Merry Christmas Eve. I have been working on the layout. I managed to get the ground goop done under the stockyard. I need to get some trees in before I put it in permanently. It would be a shame if the trees fell down the hill and damaged it.
Larry is working on the trestle, so I still have a deadline.
Have a Merry Christmas.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
In case I don't get a chance to drop by tomorrow we'd like to wish you all a
We spent most of the day at the shop cleaning - wished our Brit fabricator a safe trip (he's off to England with his family for a week) and generally made ourselves useful. Tree up, presents wrapped. Time to sit back a bit and enjoy it all. Hope the rest of you have a good time as well. CUL, J.R.
Guess I'd better get after the Christmas feast as well. How about some ham, taters, corn, salad and we always had a tradition of Strawberry Shortcake for desert growing up.
Evening Gang: Not much doing here. I managed to sneak out and get Mary Ann another little gift and got all her gifts wrapped. We haven't gone to the hospital tonight. John said the baby is still doing well. Mary Ann is working on getting the place ready for our daughter Lara and the grand kids Sara nd Rachael. There coming here from New Mexico tomorrow.
Well I guess I'd better go and give Mary Ann a hand.
Marry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
Merry Christmas All . Well I was at work today and about 10 after 3 the wife called and said I need to come home i think the house has been hit by a car. I told her I would be right home . Heres what I found when I got home.
The steps you see above were bounced about 8' and turned 45 degrees There is one set of blocks holding the house up knocked down. That i know of have notice the front is leaning down so need to try and see under the house tomorrow when its light out to see if anymore blocks are knocked out of there position.
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
Evening, Chloe - how about an eggnog, please?
Thanks! Need to leave room for the cookies and other goodies.
Looks like most of ya are down to the home stretch on your preparations. I got my present for my brother off to him, and got the present for my daughter & S-I-L's present (cash for them to get photos of their new baby when he gets here - early next year). Then went to church I used to attend for their carols & Communion service before dinner.
Then (hey, Dick!) I fixed some salmon for dinner. (Memo to myself - cook it for a bit less time next time...)
RT, that's a heckuva mess(tm) the car did! Couldn't tell for sure, will you be able to get into/out of the place without a stepladder, or how soon can you get things fixed? I sure hope the guy's car insurance gets in contact quickly (ASAP).
Everyone have a good Christmas and remember that whatever you eat extra, you'll be heading for the track or the gym in January to lose.
As for me, I have some more clearing away to do between now and Friday, and some books to go through.
Blessings,
Just a quick one to wish all of you a Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo.
Yes, I did complete the pergola project this afternoon, just as it started to get dark. Maybe tomorrow I can actually put lights on it. I should have so much drive to work on the trains. After New Year's, I promise.
Best regards