Elliotts Trackside Diner II

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,

    I see Bills been in so I'll have a regular and a donut please. I like the bowties (two glazed donuts for the price of one). 13F this morning and no wind but it felt much colder, worse even than yesterday. The overcast is much lighter than norml so maybe we'll have some sun before the snowstorm later today.

Lee - the new link worked a treat and your work is coming along nicely. I have the W power station though right now it is only the foundation pad on the layout and will be for a while yet. I wanted to get the interior bits as well before I started to build the rest. I like the interior on the one building. That looks like a good idea to copy if I can figure out how to get photos sized to fit.

Phil - Ive been quite pleased with the PRR M1 I  got in Blueline from FDT. Every bit as good as the RI E-3 BLI. The only problem I had was getting the decoder to work as one with the sound chip. A real pain in the bazutsska if you know what i mean. I finally went to the BLI website and tried different solutions until I got it to work and no more issues. The SD9 has been a real temptation though truth be told as a New Haven fan, PC is not my favorite road name (sorry PC nothing personal - just ugly history).

Colby - like Der i use a spoon to sprinkle the ballast on then use a stiff brush to arrange it. Tweezers to set it around the switches (not too close - they'll jam). some light oil on the pivot and closing points seems to help. The key i found was using alcohol to sok the ballast before using an eyedropper or amall squirt bottle to dribble dilute matte medium onto the ballast to fix it. Afterwards, touch up with a tooth pick to remove any wayward stones and weather to suit. I now use Tempura powder paint mixed with chalks and plaster of paris to weather the ballast and ties. After applying the powdered stuff dry, I soak it with wet water to fix it. Not perfected yet, but better than painting the ballast. Others may have better techniques for that.

I did get an hour or so in the basement last night woking on the false fronts and the roofs for them to fill in the block. Picked up all three false fronts at the LHS for less than the cost of a single complete building. Should have thought of that before.

Well now that I can feel my toes again, it's time to pick up tools and get on with it. Hope you all have a good one.    J.R. 

[ModelTrainLover]

Morning Guys.

Jeff, Ryan, and Belt. too bad for you guys. the beauty of having a protable layout is being able to easly work on all parts of it.

and now for model railroading. for those of you who have ballasted their own track what is the best way to lay ballast, or the preffured technique?

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning from Tipton IN ! 

[philnrunt]

    Hello all-

     lastmountain- OK, I know that you can't send us oranges, or peaches, or avocados, but would you PLEASE stop sending these Alberta Clippers?!?!?!

   I'll make you a deal- I'll send you all of the corn you could ever want if you just switch the next cold sub zero weather off on a track heading to Yellowknife, or some other place where they don't seem to mind that kind of stuff. I'll even throw in a covered hopper or two of some warm air, if I can ever get Ed to route one this way!

    I enjoyed this weather when I was young, really looked forward to winter, but now I honestly do not see how you NOB folks can stand it. 40 below is just too cold for human consumption. And that is just what I'd have if I lived up there with you hardy souls, consumption!

    JimRC- I checked in to my photobucket account, and what you looked at were other people's pictures that I latched onto and put in my albumn. Sorry about that, but I re-set this and that, and now, if you go back to p-bucket, put philnrunt in the search box, then click on "Do you want to see this albumn" or something like that, you can look at Amyjo in the snow, or the local freights in the philtrans albumn and some other things, like ships and the such. I only took the pictures in the Ajo and philtrans albumns. All of the others are by other contributors. I looked today where I thought my other pictures were, so I could upload them, and sure enough, they weren't there. I hope I can find them soon, before I forget how to do it! I do have a ton of trainpics, starting with an old Kodak 126 camera back in the late 60's, but I only have a few on cd that I can upload, and the scanner here got fried in a storm a while back. You and Silverspike bear with me, someday....someday....

   Ed- and anyone else interested- I sure would like for you folks to see the pictures, please feel free to check them out, I (think) I made it to where no password is needed. Let me know if you see them.

   Heartland- That bug has been going around here, we had another dispatcher off over the weekend, and she heard- from the ever present "THEY"- that to truly get over it you need some anti-biots. Hope you don't need them, glad to hear that you got through it. Hope Shelley does as well.

    I went ahead and ordered the PC SD9 from BLI through Factory Direct Trains tonight. I sure hope it does what I want it to. I was going to wait until after this Sat and the Swap Meet in Ft Wayne, but I got a postcard from the club hosting it, and it has been moved to the 23rd. That worked out great for me, I had planned to get up early, head to Ft Wayne, then shoot home, pick up Ajo and head to Brownsburg for a niece's B-day party. Would have made for a horribly long day. And a horribly long drive, about 100$ in gas, etc, etc. Glad it was postponed.

    Hey LSWRR- One of the deputy's was just here, and we are planning a trip up your way to see the U.S.S. Cod and William G. Mather, are there any other places we should check out? Other than the obvious (R&R HOF, for one). He's not a train nut, but he has a healthy interest in anything industrial or military, as do I. If you can think of anything we might see, please let me know. And just where is that not so LHS at? Thanks, Lee.

   Fingers are too cold to keep going, m u   s   t    s   i   g   n     o   f  f.......

    aaa

              rrrrrr   

                        gggggggh

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good evening...

Just checking in. You've all been busy I see. That was a nasty flu. No sooner was I getting over it than Shelley caught it. Now she's about over it, too. I would not wish this flu on anyone. I'm definately well enough for one of Ryan's Po Boys.

I'm just getting back to mrr'ing. I just got some track to the end of a branch line. I now have a large enough area for scenery and Ill be preparing for that next.

Jim CG ... So you missed getting to Chuck's eh.  As for restaurants, Marion has a normal selection of Interstate highway restaurants. If you want something unique, there's pizza. No just a regular pizza restaurant but a combination pizza joint / Lionel train dealer. Yes, indeed. I kid not. I was there about three or four years ago. Maybe it's gone now, but Chuck will tell you (he sells no Lionel). It's west of Marion in a little town. Perhaps you can get an O27 pizza.

Take care, everybody.  

 

 

[LSWrr]

GMT, http://www.lswrailroad.bravehost.com/ if you still see the under construction page hit refresh or F5.

Paul, believe it or not that's a card table I set up in the computer room, if I remember correctly I have a 5' bench in the basement, some place.

I'm glad you guys liked the plans, I'll sort through my stuff and see what I have stashed away and try to post some more.

I called the dealership about new brake pads and rotors for my truck; $460/axel I called the local tire and break place and they said $210/axel, so I took tomorrow off and dropped the truck off at the local place before they changed their mind.

Went to the west side of town to the not so LHS and picked up a double track truss bridge and ordered W's northern Light and power, it was on sale this month for $25.

Big storm heading our way tonight....

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang: Not much going on today. I didn't get to any MRRing. I did get to the basement and worked on the plans for the Clark Gardens layout. I'm still not happy with the concept. I'd like to get more action in it. It has to keep the viewers attention. 

The weather is turning colder tonight and they are predicting stroms possiblely with hail. I took the box blade off the new tractor so it would fit in the barn. Now I suppose the barn will fall in on it.

Well I think that I'll head for bed. there isn't much on TV as usual.

Good Night All 

[egmurphy]

Good Evening Coffee Clubbers,

Another beautiful day down here in Paradise.    Last night, shortly after posting, the storm clouds rolled in and we had a pretty good thunderstorm.  The rain let up through most of the night, but started again early this morning and rained until around noon.  Good, we needed the rain.  I loved it this morning, as I like cool, rainy, overcast weather.  It got a bit warm and muggy in the afternoon, but it's nice out right now.

Inch - my notes had you marked down for later this month, but a little bird tells me that it's your birthday today.  So Happy Birthday youngster!! 

CG Jim:  Almost like a thaw for our friends NOTB (the Medicine Line, Ed).

There you go, son.  You catch on real quick. 

Just to vote in the poll, yes, I can easily rotate my layout!!

That's about it folks, another short one.

Hasta mañana,

Ed

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff I got an old 386 PC that I might be able to pull out the power supply and use it for lighting! Just need to find it....now let's see.......hum  BTW, nice night pics once again!

Make sure to get the power switch with it. You'll be needing it.

[Flashwave]

Flashwave, on the layout (if you're like a lot of us were when we were young pups (and pupettes ), the hard part of keeping the MRR work going will be when you get your license and (ahem...) the ladies start noticing you. That is, unless you find one who's into MRR'ing herself.

that may not happen for a while. I;'m a joke for them, not an interest. And as for the working thing, I'm hoping (though he doesn't have an opening yet) to apply at the LHS.

  

DerJohn, that trouble with the one turnout is puzzling indeed, and I'd probably do like you are thinking and just pull the troublemaker. It looks like if you want art for a decal, just ask - and Flashwave will provide! Way to go, Flashwave...

Thank you. I'm now going to make a sig. What can I say, I picked up experiance making decals for the Freedom and Ringling. Per chance I should post an article?

  

All my neighbors to the east - better watch out for this front. They're telling us to expect freezing rain in the morning and then a smattering of snow after that (but no real accumulation, unless I can talk those clouds into stopping by for a while). Hey, I'll try to offload some of it before it gets to you, but I haven't had much luck in that department so far!

For all us Hoosiers, I'm going to translate this: Expect sub freezing temps during the upcoming week and small patches of ice covered by strategically placed patches of snow so you don't see them until you hit them. Expect closings and delays in every place except yours, and more than usual idiot drivers.

Flash I like the long mainline runs on the track plan and 15X40 is a great amount of space too!

Yeah, one of the large points from the getgo was to allow the 56 car Circus Train (that I need to get off my butt and do when the flats thaw out...) sufficent room to run. Still gonna be a nightmare.

By the way, in what order should Track>>>Scenery>>Building>>>Road go in? and should upper or lower levels be started first?

[inch53]

Afternoon, just a coffee Zoe

RYAN,, what makes it fun to drive is the kids. Where ever we went, there were always kids wanting to ring the bell and blow the whistle. The train show n swap in Mattoon use to be held at the airport and we ran shuttle from the parking lots to the hangers, so there was always kids around to get their turn.

Note the bell and headlamp come from a NYC steam engine that ran the Cairo line.

[OzarkBelt]

Colby no way to rotate my layout, thing is bolted to the walls being an around the walls design.

Mine is also attached - three walls, a bookshelf and a entertainment center!

[SilverSpike]

Jeff I got an old 386 PC that I might be able to pull out the power supply and use it for lighting! Just need to find it....now let's see.......hum  BTW, nice night pics once again!

Jim you make that breakfast look too good for anytime of day!  Strange dreams ...what are you talking about?   Actually, that cough syrup has codeine in it, which might have something to do with it... BTW, thanks for those two decal website links. 

Mike  "now if you can dream they will build it" rings a bell here. The 40 n 8 sure has the tires don't it! I bet that was fun running in parades too!

Jerry you know...we didn't have any cornbread muffins with the white beans but they sure would have been great with em too! Now that Hot Sausage Po-Boy is some good and spicy too....Chloe...we need more beverage over here...

Colby no way to rotate my layout, thing is bolted to the walls being an around the walls design.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Wish I could rotate mine sometimes. There's three walls in the way. The layout is also bolted to them.

[ModelTrainLover]

afternoon guys

well last night I rotated my layout so it's easier for me to work on the industry siding area of the layout. 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jerry, you were probably right on the gas station - I turned up this Heljan (discontinued) one that looks a lot like Jeff's, except for the bay doors, maybe: http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/322-908 It was $24.98 when Walthers last had it, so if Jeff got it many moons ago (or on close-out at his LHS), it could've been around $10 then. Guess if I want it, I'll have to watch the online auctions... That, or see if I can put together some DPM or Walthers modules and some Grandt Line windows to get something close.

That looks like the same kit, with the exception of the doors. I bought mine back in the late 80's.

[JimRCGMO]

Jim...Carefull if you have to be out this afternoon..Champ Decals are they still in business?..They used to have a great line with decals for almost any road...

Jerry, you can count on that being careful - having grown up with cold & at times nasty winter weather in St. Louis, I give the other cars extra room when I have to drive out there. I've had my 11 and 12 o'clock appointments reschedule (and I won't be surprised if my afternoon appointments do the same in a little bit). I'd agree that you did a great job of scratchbuilding your Quonset hut, also, Jerry!

As for Champ, yes they are still in business, and selling down their decal inventories. Check their website to see if ones you want are still in stock, as I think they're trying to retire/close, but want to sell things off first. They're at: http://www.minot.com/champ/catalog.htm And of course MicroScale Decals is still around also. I've ordered decals from both of them and am well satisfied with their respective products. (and no, I don't work for them or - darn! - receive any compensation from either company...)

Jerry, you were probably right on the gas station - I turned up this Heljan (discontinued) one that looks a lot like Jeff's, except for the bay doors, maybe: http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/322-908 It was $24.98 when Walthers last had it, so if Jeff got it many moons ago (or on close-out at his LHS), it could've been around $10 then. Guess if I want it, I'll have to watch the online auctions... That, or see if I can put together some DPM or Walthers modules and some Grandt Line windows to get something close.

Think I'll thaw out a bit by the stove with a cup of hot cocoa, please, Zoe. Thanks!

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff....Thats a nice Gas Station...I think its a Helgen [sp] from their old Court house square line,the gas station must of been kinda rare as I remeber seeing picture of them in Mags but your is the first I ever saw on someones layout..The molds for that stuff must be around somewhere looks like they would still sell well today..

I don't know if anyone still makes it or not. I checked Walther's and came up empty. I can remember that I paid less than $10 for it.

[Cox 47]

Good Monday Morning all....Its C-O-L-D here this morning 9 with as jim said winter storm watch out..I hope Sallie gets home from effingham before it gets bad...Wow Ryan's got a great menu today..I'll have the Po-Boy, apple pie with cheese and Iced tea and I'll be back latter to try the Cajun meatloaf.....

Jeff....Thats a nice Gas Station...I think its a Helgen [sp] from their old Court house square line,the gas station must of been kinda rare as I remeber seeing picture of them in Mags but your is the first I ever saw on someones layout..The molds for that stuff must be around somewhere looks like they would still sell well today..

Jim...Carefull if you have to be out this afternoon..Champ Decals are they still in business?..They used to have a great line with decals for almost any road...

Ryan....those Great northern beans sound good did you have any cornbread with them? Maybe beans gave you nightmares?...Thanks you for kind words on my quonset hut My eyes are not as good as they used to be and my hands ain't so steady but scratch building gives me alot of satisfaction not to mention "bang for my buck"....

well I am going over in the corner to enjoy my Po-Boy annd see who comes in...Jerry

[inch53]

Mornin, an irish coffee Zoe, it be cold out there.

Clouds and snow flurries are moving in today as the temperatures stay below average in the lower 20's. This afternoon and evening the snow will pick up and become heavy at times with snowfall accumulations between 3" and 6" by midday Tuesday. Areas of sleet and freezing rain will mix with the snow in counties south if interstate 70 late tonight making travel difficult early Tuesday morning. Temperatures will fall to 20° tonight and only warm to 25° on Tuesday.

ED,, I am lucky on the rail fanning part. I even get to watch them going through outback.

JIM CG,, me n JERRY live 3 mile apart so the drive to Marion is just as long for him.

I was never on the bridge, just next to it. I did hear him coming across the grade.

RYAN,, the 40 n 8 has an engine that runs down the road on truck tires, but it doesn't go down the rail.

I drove it for 5 years to parades n such, n  Mother would help some times if we were short handed.

Best gets back ta chores, no kids today n I have plenty to do. Hope ya'll has a gooden

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff, I like your service station - who makes/made that? Nice one for a city, and not same style as the usual ones. 

To tell you the truth, I've had that thing so many years I've forgotten who made it. It has Exxon style pumps so it has to be after the mid 70's.

[OzarkBelt]

Morning all. its been a long weekend. I'll try and stay around later. but i got to do a lot today.how's everybody? Lots of nice pics in the WPF. 

[JimRCGMO]

Good (Freezing) Morning, Zoe - I'd like some scrambled eggs, a couple of strips of bacon,

 

and a cup of coffee, please.

Thanks - I needed that. You can leave the coffee pot here for a bit.

Kind of cold here - it was 19 F (-7 C) this morning as I was getting ready for w**k, with a wind chill of 8F (-13 C). Almost like a thaw for our friends NOTB (the Medicine Line, Ed ). The weather folks here are talking winter storm advisory today, mostly because of the freezing rain

 

about midday, then turning into snow late tonight before it pretty much stops tomorrow a.m. But only 1/10th of an inch - of ice.... You lucky people east and north of Cape G. will get the snow (and possibly not the ice).

Johnboy (or others in our more northern areas) - who makes some good snowboots? I likely will only need them for a few days at a time, but my rubberized pullovers that I used a couple of winters ago are falling apart (Totes).

The local schools are already talking about/closing (now or in the next hour), so we may be one of the few places open by noon today. But hey, I only live a mile and a half away, so I can walk home if necessary, and lunch today will like be at Panera's (local sandwiches/soup/bread/hanging-out place) - not far from the office. 

Not so sure about if our MRR club will meet tonight or not. Well, there are a couple who may try to come regardless. When I was last at the clubhouse layout, it looked like almost all of the benchwork was done (and the back staging yards were probably 90 percent of the track down). Before too long, it'll be roadbed and scenery time!

Philnrunt, you have a passle (spelling?) o' pics in your Photobucket account. Looks like you have been able to get a lot of railfanning in so far. AmyJo's album only had one subalbum, and no pics in there. You've been keeping her too busy with getting your pics up, huh? I noticed one layout pic with the station by the wye, and the people walking down the road - was that part of your layout? And from that one pic of Runt, does he have some fox in him?

Johnboy, were you talking about GAPPLEG from the forums? I've noticed several of his posts before. So he will be joining the Royal Order of ROF's, huh? Congratulations to him! (Now, once I can get the car and those student loans paid off...) 

Rob, sorry to hear you're not sleeping well. Hope that gets itself corrected. At least you aren't having the strange dreams like Ryan has.

And Ryan, what kind of cough medicine were you having at bedtime? F-7 with tires, huh? I don't usually remember any of my dreams (if I have them). The ones I've remembered in the past have been way less exotic than yours.  

Jeff, I like your service station - who makes/made that? Nice one for a city, and not same style as the usual ones. 

Got looking through my Champ Decals freight car catalog/reference yesterday. It actually is pretty useful in showing how prototypical some of the rolling stocks' decaling isisn't. (Creative license, I think, would be the term for some of them)

Those of you east, definitely get to the store if you need some grub to hold you through this storm. Hate to think of the lake effect off this. Take care of yourselves and avoid getting out if you don't have to go.

 

Blessings and a warm and safe place for you,

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff nice tips on the PC power supply for layout lighting.

Everybody ought to use these things as their lighting power source. They can pull a big load, much bigger than ANY wall wart, there's an internal circuit breaker that will trip at the slightest short circuit so the chances of a fire from the wiring shorting out is almost nil and they're so easy to use. I've been using this same unit  for about ten years now and haven't had a single problem with it. Many of the original bulbs that I removed to put in these newer bulbs have been going for eight years or more 24/7 with their only break being hurricane Rita. The funny thing is that ALL those bulbs are cheap Christmas lights that I picked up at Dollar General! Over all the years they burned only two burned out.

Good morning.

It's 51 degrees here under partly cloudy skies. Expecting a high of 70 with a passing shower this afternoon.

Today's Weather for:     
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      2/11/2008

Wind Chill:  53°F
Humidity:  84%
Dew Point:  48°F

So Far Today
High:  53°F
Low:  50°F
Rain:  0.00"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  3mph SSE

Today    High: 72    Mostly sunny in the morning...then mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain showers in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 70s. Southeast winds around 10 mph.     

Tonight    Low: 55    Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain showers. Warmer. Lows in the mid 50s. South winds around 10 mph.

I got my service station put in yesterday. This is an old chalk weathered structure.







Here's a few night shots I took of it early this morning.






 

[SilverSpike]

Morning folks!

Funny how being sick gives me some very interesting dreams while I'm asleep, mostly they are nightmares when I am sick, but some of them are quite interesting too. Like Sunday morning I woke up and remembered a dream that Monique and I were riding in the cab of an F-7 locomotive and it was more of a room than a tight fitting cab. Then we stepped out of the cab and I looked at the side and the locomotive had large heavy rubber tires like those of a tractor-trailer rig, not the trucks and wheels of a regular loco. In the dream I remember thinking that was really neat that the loco could ride on regular roads too. After waking up and thinking about the dream, I wondered that the roads would not be able to handle the regular weight of such massive equipment. Anyway, that's why it was a dream and not reality huh!

Just laid low most of this weekend and rested, went out to eat sushi on Friday night and went to the grocery on Saturday, then cooked up some Great Northern white beans with ham and sausage on Sunday.  And watched a couple movies on TV the Queen was quite good, and Sicko is very interesting take on our ailing health care industry in the US. And no model railroading at all, except for reading a few articles in the latest MR and Trains magazine, does that count?

Kim at Train Buddy dropped me a line and said some fall color scenery foam that I ordered came in, so I need to go pick that up soon.

Flash I like the long mainline runs on the track plan and 15X40 is a great amount of space too!

Jerry you did a great job with the scratch building of that Quonset hut! I thought it was a kit, but the fact that you built it up yourself is even more impressive! Thanks for the well wishes too! I'm better, but Monique is still fighting it still!

Der John, if you can afford the $120 I would recommend the CMX rail cleaning car, it works wonders and saves a lot the time it takes to clean track by hand.

Paul Das Boot is a great movie, I saw that one back in the early 1980's when it first came out and loved it!

Mike nice pics along the NYC Bridge even though the sun did not cooperate, and thanks for the well wishes!

Jeff nice tips on the PC power supply for layout lighting.

CN Charlie I only hope that I can still cook with I'm 94, your mother must be quite a women! Good thing you have her around for when I'm MIA from the Diner, I promise a new menu for today!

Jim that hot toddy sure looks quite good; I might have to make one of those tonight!

PhilNRunt yep Photobucket worked for me, so you must be doing something right!

Johnboy that ceiling to floor hard-shell sounds like a great sight to see! (Hint hint)

Rob I feel for ya, I had trouble falling to sleep last night, but finally got some shut eye! Hope you can catch up later today.

PC, J.R., Johnboy, Philnrunt, and the rest of you northerly folks, please try to stay warm and please keep the cold temps; we don't want any of that stuff down here!

 

Today's Lunch and Dinner Specials ~ The Piedmont Division ~ Lunch and Dinner Service Route of the Bayou Cajun
~ Starters ~
Chicken and Andouille Gumbo	cup $1.20 bowl $2.50
Grilled Chicken Tenders with Cajun Sauce	$3.95
Sandwiches (on toast of desired) add cup a soup for additional $0.95
Grilled Ham and Cheese	$2.50
Turkey Club	$3.25
Hot Sausage Po-Boy	$3.25
Entrée's Choice of bread and beverage included.
~ From the Grill ~	$5.95
Blackened Catfish with Cajun Rice Pilaf and Green Beans Almondine
~ Dinner Special ~	$4.50
Fried Chicken Livers In a spicy brown gravy with mashed potatoes and broccoli casserole
~ Blue Plate Special ~	$3.95
Cajun Meatloaf Beef, pork, and veal and baked the ole fashined way served with Turnip Greens, BlackEyed Peas, mashed potatoes, Dessert
~ Desserts ~
Apple or Cherry Pie	$.45
Freshly Baked Pie with Cheese	$.55
Blue Cheese or Camembert Cheese, Ind. Wedge with Crackers	$.46
~ Beverages ~	$.40
Tea, Assorted (Hot or Iced) Malted Milk Coffee (Hot or Iced) Milk Cocoa

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff, sorry for missing the waffle special this morning! I wouldn't have guessed 16 v. on those lights - I'm with DerJohn, I would have figured 5 v., or maybe (but not really) 12 v. Never realized those old power supplies put out 16 v. as well. on the nice clutter, too. 

They don't put out 16 volts, rather it tops out at 12 volts. Using a bulb with a higher voltage rating than the supply puts out insures that the bulb will last much longer.

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,

   BRRRR. 7F (with the wind chill -8) and really windy this morning. The wind howled last night as well so I can sympathize with you Rob - I was up several times through the night and woke up this morning tired. we're to have that wintry mix the next few days with the temps back and forth during the day either side of freezing so it should be big fun.

Lee - what is the link again to your site? I just get an under construction message from your host.

    No MRR'ing this weekend save for a bit of curtain printing/cutting for the false front buildings on the one city block. No pics until I get the roof/back walls done and mock it all up again. The plan is to narrow up the street adjacent to the big elevated curve so I can have enough clearance on the track behind the houses. Hope y'all have a goodun'.  J.R.

[Cederstrand]

Good Morning all.

Insomnia is no fun at all. Rob

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning from Tipton IN ! 

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

Good Evening Gang,  Just stopped in before hitting the sack.

Zoe, you are looking really sharp tonight, there is a sparkle in your eyes any time that Vinnie isn't around.  I'll have a hot Chocolate and cinnamon toast.

Sorry fellas, I told you it was coming. Boy, today the humidity must have been up as well as I haven't felt this cold all winter. Windchills still in the -40s. But they say it will get somewhat milder tomorrow but lots of snow moving in. Another workout for those shovelling muscles.

CONGRATULATIONS: to Gerry Applegate,  on your retirement.  That is a long time model railroading in 1:1, so now you can get down to some serious  railroading.  Enjoy your time, but if you are anything like me, that darn work just keeps finding me and I have a tough time saying "NO" to it.

  My accomplishment for this week-end was some hardshell on another four feet of my mountain range and another four feet wire meshed and masking taped.  Now I am to the corner of the room where the canyon will go from the ceiling almost to the floor. Any other time I had down there was just letting the "Wobbly" run and admire how it looks running through the tunnels and along what will be the river. I LIKE IT.............

Hope we all warm up other than Ed, so he doesn't have to run his A/C.

Have a good night and sleep well.

Johnboy will be horizontal shortly