Aaargh! It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Shiver me timbers, Joe. Rum all around for me hearties...
http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html
Aye, we pulled the Black Pearl under the bridge an' into the harbour at Moose Bay. There'd not be much goin' on, but what there were, well it was all down there by the water. Not so much the dread Black Spot, but even worse, there's the Pink Spot, that last wasteland where there's neither fish nor fowl, train nor ship. And even that's a'comin' to an end. Ye can see where they'd be buildin' a road, for to get from the freight house by the tracks, 'cross the stream at the top o' the mill pond, an' then out to The Edge. I seed some plaster castin's fer the bridge o'er the stream, looked a lot like them things the trains go through on their way under ground.
Cap'n Beasley'll give ye a bit more when he gets hisself off this pirate kick, an' puts somethin' from that picture-takin' thing up where he sez ye can see it. Now, though, the crew sees that somethin' is goin' on down at Lady Bucs, the seaside bar down on the pier. We'll be seein' ye later...
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Speakin' of Black Pearl.........
Shiver me timbers. A rum sounds great. Thanks, MrB.
Chuck, Glad you are feeling better.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
Coffee, Joe, thanks. Doctor says no alcohol, darn it.
Mr B, don't most modern pirates speak Malay?
Well, I went out and blew the worst of the dust off the yard throat and actually got a few trains to run. Now all I have to do is figure out where my, "Get up and go," went so I can entice it back. There's still a LOT of railroad to build. Heck, there's still a lot of BENCHWORK to build...
It's amazing how good it feels when something that has been hurting - doesn't.
I wonder when some of the other regulars will wander back. Of course, I was among the missing for quite a spell...
The race is about to begin, so I'm outta here!
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - and watching NASCAR)
tomikawaTT wrote: Mr B, don't most modern pirates speak Malay?
Not in the Transition Era! Right now, I'm running in the 30's, when I'm running at all, so it's even earlier.
Not in the Transition Era! No, back then they knew what was good for what ails ya. Were you sick back in the Transition Era? Me neither! So, take the guy with the parrot on his shoulder up on his offer. His pieces of eight won't be around forever. Virtual rum is better than no rum at all.
Got to spend some quality time with the layout yestereve and today. As bespoken in pirate prophecy, I'm putting in a mill pond, a stream and a short stone bridge over it. I looked online for a bridge, and could find nothing, so I made a couple more castings from my tunnel portal mold that I made from a WS portal. I cut down the size a bit with some modelling clay, and ended up with a passable stone bridge, or at least the front face. It needed the back side and a bit of stonework on the ends, so I went through my scrap box of old castings and found some stonework I'd made earlier from a Dave Frary mold. Some glue, paint and an India Ink wash later, and I've got my bridge sides. The bridge itself is simply foam, since it will be completely covered with Durham's Water Putty anyway.
Below it will be my first serious water. I gouged out the foam base, and today I coated it with some plaster cloth. I'll have to put some Gypsolite inside, and paint it (it's not suppose to be white water, after all) before the Envirotex goes in, but I'm making good progress right now, and getting excited about how it's going to look.
Saturday PM check of the Barn:
I see it's been WAY slow for a while, until recently with a few dropping by, so tonight would be a great opportunity for me to buy a round for a couple of the old timers! And...I'll still have some "jingo" left in my pocket`.
Well and so...Good to hear you are making progress Mr. B. and Sue too. And glad to see Chuck back on track!! As for me...
Life as I have known it changed this week with a new (old, but changed) job. Even though I have worked 14 hour (or better) days most of my life, Monday saw a major change. I am now working an eight hour, non-flex schedule for the school district with a 1500 to 2300 shift. This is good because I can now look forward to health insurance and a retirement, neither of which were really on the books before this change.
OTOH, I sure do miss the flex hours!! I can no longer officiate week night swim meets, teach swim lessons, LG, WSI, CPR or First Aid classes and...already, I'm missing out on some activities that Raeanne is involved with!!! On top of that, I'm not getting as much done around the homestead! I realize it's only been a week and will admit that work at work is easier than work at home, but with the additional four hour commitment I foresee any number of "things" not getting accomplished....I will also have to be diligent about putting off getting out to the Trainroom, when the modeling season starts!
Sure do hope that the extra income and ability for retirement off set the sacrifice!! With that little "rant", I'll leave you with a thought for the week. "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." Sir Winston Churchill
Morning all, thought I would stop in for sor some breakfast. Joe, I'll have the ham and eggs this morning, with black coffee. Thanks.
I am another of those that haven't been in for a while, been looking but not much posting. During the summer months it gets pretty hot in the new upstairs train room, although there is an AC there it cost so much to keep it cool. I have gotten back there the past week or so doing a few little things, I have been trying to get the track all laid on the N scale but it is a slow process.
I am using all Peco turrnouts and RR crossings and they get pretty expensive so I just order a couple at a time. Sooner or later I will get it all down. I do have the outter track down and am able to run the trains on it at least for now. I am building 2 reverse loops with a the yard off one of the loops, I am getting pretty antsie to get it all up and running.
My back is still down and the DR.s saay I will not ever be able to go back to work, what a bummer. At least I can work on the RR for an hour or two a day until my back gives out and I need another lortab.
I see Joe is bringing my grub so I will stop here and eat. I will try to stop in more regular in the future.
Mike
Hi, Joe. Looks like the gang is showing up again after the summer. We've already had one night here in the Northeast where it flirted with the freezing mark. Just thinking about it makes me want a cup of hot coffee...
Here's a work-in-progress shot of the stone bridge over the mill pond:
It will be work in not-much progress for a few more days. I ran out of plaster cloth, so I'll have to hit the art supply place on my way home from work this week. Got Red Sox tix for tomorrow, and hockey on Tuesday, so I won't be able to keep going on this until the end of the week. Well, there's always a backlog of Jordan vehicles to put together.
Good morning, Joe. I will have coffee and a cinnamon roll, please. Looks like some of the regulars are filtering back through after a long summer.
mikesmowers wrote: I am using all Peco turrnouts and RR crossings and they get pretty expensive so I just order a couple at a time. Sooner or later I will get it all down. I do have the outter track down and am able to run the trains on it at least for now. I am building 2 reverse loops with a the yard off one of the loops, I am getting pretty antsie to get it all up and running.
Mike, Yes, the Pecos are spendy, but they have a nice snap when you switch tracks. We used lots of #8's in both Walthers and Pecos. The Pecos still come with electrofrogs. Larry spent a lot of hours wiring the Walthers turnouts when we could no longer find the old ones on the shelf.
Larry and I are taking the KW and trailer down to Oregon today. One of his buddies is buying the truck and trailer. After today, he will be officially a company driver. No turning back.
I leave Monday for a week long cruise with my office. We leave Seattle and spend Tuesday in Naniamo, Wednesday in Victoria, and are back in Seattle first thing Friday morning.
I will check in later this evening.
Howdy, Joe. Pepsi, please.
Well, it appears that we've had a troll crawl out of the woodwork. A newbie with a provocative handle has used three and four word posts to bring the oldest threads in the archives back to the top, completely flooding the first two pages. Hopefully, the moderators will drive a stake through that business before some of our fellow Forumites rise to the bait.
[Edit - Al Mayo at work, according to Crandall. Too bad we can't trash HIS hard drive!]
I worked my way back to the earliest of my own posts - without adding to them, since I wish to leave the dead to rest in peace. It was interesting to note how many times the same (or slightly reworded) questions were 'polled' before the site redesign consigned polls to the dumpster. It was also interesting to note that there were a number of dead threads (most started by 'anonymous') which showed up in the active list but came up empty when selected. Seems there's still a lot of chaff in this grain silo!
Sue, I hope you enjoy your cruise. The last cruise I took was - interesting. Of course, it was a bit longer (2 months) and my status was fireman-watertender (in the engine room of a steam turbine powered ship), not passenger. I value the memories - but have no urge to add to them!
Have a good one, everybody. See ya.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Good morning, even if it is Monday. I'll have some bacon 'n' eggs, with an English muffin, if you please.
Yeah, he-who-must-not-be-named was here again last night. I thought it was some bunch of stupid kids, but when he singled out Jeffrey on WPF for his tirade, I recognized the smell.
Sue, have a great time on the cruise. We loved our trip to Hawaii a couple of years back. I hope you don't get to see any molten lava on yours, though.
Just a bit of shop work last night. I painted up some sacks and barrels for cargo in the "new" 1923 Ford truck, a Jordan kit I did last week, and "weathered" a new set of Woodland Scenics folks. I got the "passengers" set that's on sale at Walthers, but I just noticed they were sold out. 16 figures for $12.98 is a great price on people these days. I think WS has improved their product line a lot over the last couple of years. With the low dollar, Preiser figures have become awfully expensive, so I'm happy to see a good alternative filling the void.
Well, back to work. See you all later.
Thanks, guys, for the send off. I will be back by Friday. I will wave at Crandall as I cruise by Vancouver Island.
MrB, I can't wait to see your Jordon's when I get back. Looks like you kit bashed the woodland scenics tunnel for your bridge work.
Have a good one, Sue. If you are awake when you sail past Texada Island on your lright, look opposite and you may see Horny and Denman Islands, with Denman being the longer to the west of Hornby. Just north of that, if you can make out the high bluffs north of the inlet to Courtenay, the airport is up on those bluffs and we are at the end of the runway. A map of the area may help to orient you.
If you are departing at night, it will be hopeless.
-Crandell
P.S. - great photo of the black lab. Wow!
I'll take you up on that offer, Ibeam. Mmmm, good taste. As for the jukebox, how about "Sweet Caroline" in honor of our Red Sox, huh? I was at the game last night, a disappointing 4-3 loss to Cleveland. I ran into a guy wearing the class ring of my alma mater, MIT. The weird thing is that he was the hot dog guy. Of course, if you can sell lots of Fenway Franks at $4.75 a pop, you probably understand economics a lot better than those high-priced investment bankers we keep hearing so much about.
No railroading at all last night, though. About the most I managed to do was print out the A.C. Moore coupon (40% off! I get economics, too,) that will go towards more plaster cloth. I want to get that whole area ready for painting over the weekend. Because of the "water," I've got to do the whole thing at once, no half-and-half with Envirotex.
Sue, I hope the weather for your cruise is as nice as we've been having here. Almost all sunshine, all day long, with temperatures in the sixties. Nights it drops down to the 50's, good sleeping weather.
I hope everyone's health is good, or at least improving. Over the past few weeks, I've found that my modelling efforts have had a positive effect on my own disposition, so I want to keep it up. Cheers.
Morning all, Joe, set me up with some scrambled eggs, sausage and black coffee, thanks.
Mr.B. I can understand about the weather, it has been simply beautiful here the past couple of weeks and is supposed to last for another 10 days or so. It has been to nice to stay indoors.
I have a question about the Envirotex.. Is it a two part epoxy stuff and how do you use it? I am getting fairly close to being ready to put some water in the river and would like to try the Envirotex. From what I have seen on these forums it works better then WS Realistic water. I think I have heard that you get it at Lowes, what is it's intended use? Maybe a furniture finish?
I guess I'll go for now and eat my eggs while they are still hot. Mike
Hi again. Joe, can you set me up with the same breakfast as Mike? Sure smells good over here.
Envirotex is a 2-part stuff, mixed 50/50. It dries clear and quite hard. From the packaging, it's intended as a surface finish, like varnish. I think it's primarily used for counter tops, bars, etc. I got mine at A.C. Moore, the art supply place. It's expensive stuff, so I wait until I've got a good coupon for it. Seems to go a long way, though.
I while back I did some experimenting with it. I tried doing a thick pour, about 3/4 inch, knowing that people advise against that. Yup. Don't do that. The air bubbles wouldn't clear out, and it ended up looking like club soda, frozen in time. A shallow pour, or a series of them, works much better. One thing that was important to me is how absolutely clear this stuff is. My tests were done by just gouging out holes in foam and painting them, and it was important to understand that you will see all the way through to the bottom. I found I liked the results better if I added a bit of acrylic paint (just a bit) to color and cloud the mix.
I'll try to take pictures as I do this. Hopefully, it will serve as a good example of how to use this stuff. I'm just hoping it doesn't end up being a "lessons learned" about things not to do!
Bump.
For some reason, I could not access the forum all weekend. I will check in after work.
Later, Sue
Hey, look who's back! It's Sue and Larry from their perilous journey across the briney deep! A round for my friends, Joe. So, how was the cruise?
I've been putting in a bit of time every evening on the Mill Pond project. It's one of those things where I can't do too much at a stretch, y'know, apply plaster, let it harden. Paint, let it dry. Pour Envirotex, let it cure. There's a lot of waiting around in this business.
This is from last week, a follow-up to the previous photo. I've finished the painting stage, and added some sand and talus. This is the Mill Pond side of the bridge again:
That was last week, before any Envirotex went on. Tonight, after finishing 4 pours, I worked on the scenery on the stream side of the bridge. (The mill pond side still needs some Gypsolite, so it wasn't ready for turf and greenery quite yet.) I applied 3 different turfs, 2 kinds of flocking, and a variety of trees to form this scene. I apologize for using a flash, but, well, it's dark out and the room lights just aren't enough over in this corner.
Here's another shot, from a different angle. The low trees are Woodland Scenics, and the tall "canopy" trees are made from seedum from the back yard. There's a single sprig of Baby's Breath in there, too.
Good evening, Joe. I think that a Long Island Iced Tea sounds great. It is good to be back.
MrB, You have really put the time in on your stream bed. At least one of us is working. In a couple of months, you will be skiing again.
Crandell, When we stopped in Nanaimo, they gave us a map, and I realized that we would not be far enough north. At least the thought was there. I did get the recipe for Nanaimo Bars.
Larry is in tonight, but sadly didn't go on the cruise. One of the dentists that I work for took his staff. Larry stayed home to feed the animals.
Hello Beer Barn gang.....
Mr B...... I like your scenery pix.
Sue... glad you had a nice cruise and returned OK.
I'll have one of Mr. B's Strumpet beers.
Cheers!
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
'Morning, Joe. Coffee, please. Have a bit of driving to do today...
Sue, glad you enjoyed your cruise. In a couple of hours my wife and I will be embarking on the dry land version, to Tennessee and back. Have to meet the newest member of our family (and first great-grandson.)
Mister Beasley, love the water scene. Makes me feel somewhat more comfortable about the several water features I will be building once I surface from the Netherworld. The sticking point is that I have to just about complete the netherworld before I cover it over and start building visible trackage.
I have finally acquired the 'makins' for handling photographs. After this land voyage is over I'll attack learning how to post some of my pics with something less than great gusto. Eventually...
The Trip Commander wants me to load the vehicle, so this will be all for the next ??? days. See ya,
Well, you have a great trip, too. Put that coffee on my tab, Joe. I'll have a Dr Pepper, since it's still the workday.
I'm sure we're all looking forward to your pictures. I've found it to be another aspect of the hobby - another skill to learn. To me, the goal is to get the best pictures I can without going out and buying an expensive camera. I dragged a lamp over to the layout yesterday, and with the lamp, the room ceiling lights and the fading daylight coming in the windows, I took this one:
Like any other scenery stuff, I guess the trick is to take your time and listen to the advice of other people. Joe Fugate's scenery clinic was helpful to me. That's where I got the hint of adding just a small amount of coloring to each batch of Envirotex. For the lowest layer, I used blue and black, then just blue, and the upper 2 pours were a kind of olive green that the cheap craft paint called "Foliage." When you're pouring it, the color is so subtle that you don't even notice, but as the layers build up you'll see that the "clear glass" look is not there. Yes, you can still see all the way to the bottom, but the image just gets a bit less distinct the deeper you're looking, the way it would with real water.
I think this scene needs a moose. I've got one more in the box, so I'll probably add him tonight. The Preiser "Moose" set is nice - 3 of them, but they're all exactly the same, so I've kept them widely separated on the layout. Got some ducks, geese and swans, too, and I'll put those on the other side of the bridge, in the wider pond.
I thought that I would stop by for coffee.
Chuck, Have a great trip. I use photobucket for posting. It has been quite simple.
MrB, I have been enjoying your water scenes. It is always fun to try other techniques.
Howdy, Joe. Sapporo, please, and an order of Maguro-sashimi.
(Nicest thing about the Barn - Joe has EVERYTHING!)
Well, the trip didn't quite go as planned. Got a little less than half way and the lovely General tire under the right front corner of the RAV threw a tread. Beat the !!!!! out of the front end - sort of like setting off a grenade in the wheel well! Fortunately, the vehicle still runs. Changed the tire, pulled a 180 and trundled on home to deal with my own insurance agent and a body shop I can trust. The actual damage is about the same as a front end fender-bender.
Come to find out that General tires are notorious for throwing treads - recalls, fatal accidents (and ensuing lawsuits...) Somehow, they have been flying under the media radar. Oh, well. If the damage doesn't total the car, the next move will be to Michelins!
Trying to look on the good side, this means I'll get a week of layout working time that I wasn't expecting...
So far, I've used the new printer to print off the internet, and to make a copy of my pickup's registration papers. One small step...
See ya later,
Afternoon all, finally 5 PM. Joe set up the house with whatever they want and put it on my tab, I'll have a cold Bud. Thanks.
I got my SSI started and am recieving my checks at last, They have put me on total disability and am not supposed to lift over 10 lbs. Luckly there is not to much train related stuff that weighs more than that. I did decide to put some of that back pay to good use, I bought a Sanyo 10 mega pixel camera and ordered a Digitrax DCC system and 2 DCC equiped diesel locos today. I hope I can figure out how to use it.
Chuck, I have had the same results from General tires, luckly, none of them did much damage to my PU truck. I do know I will NEVER have another one, May make descent tire swing, but never on a viehical.
Jeoe, keep the drinks and food comming for anyone that drops in tonight. Take care. Mike
Hey, Joe, pour me one of what Mike and Chuck are having.
Sorry about the tire, Chuck. You would think that a tire would not damage the vehicle. On the brighter side, we will be looking forward to layout photos from you soon.
Mike, For me DCC was easier for me to figure out. I can't wait to see your digital photos , too.
We have had some serious accidents due to the heavy rain. Combined with Friday afternoon traffic, Larry will be lucky if he gets back into the USA before his hours run out. It will be a short weekend again.
Hi, Joe! Whoa, look at all the familiar faces! Next round's on me. I'll have a French Chardonnay. That will follow on to our dinner wine. Noodles and sausage to some, but we think of it as Penne pasta with Italian sausage, sauteed with shallots, peppers, garlic and fresh basil from the garden.
The kitchen sure smells better than the train room. Up there, I've got just a remnant of the gray primer I used on the rocks for the swampy area on the other side of the engine house from the mill pond and stream. I needed a bunch of small rock castings, but all I had was one big one from a Woodland Scenics mold, so I took a hammer to it...
Sorry to hear about the tire and subsequent damage. I'll keep that in mind. Generals will be on my "don't buy" list, probably from now on. On the other hand, I'm psyched about another DCC convert - congratulations, Brother Mike. The congregation applauds your decision.
I took a couple of pictures of today's progress, just because I could. I think I'll put off posting until tomorrow, when I plan to finish the road across that little stone bridge. Just pink foam scraps right now, but the scenery is pretty much in place, and the road surface will be the last big job. It will still need some signs, and the water birds will be a nice touch, but by the end of the weekend I hope to have something more presentable.
I'll have another glass of this, Joe. It goes down real well.
A celebratory round, Joe. The Mill Pond is done.
Well, almost, or maybe just Phase 1 is complete. There are a couple of details to do yet, and of course, the stream must continue somewhere on the other side of the engine house, which is, you guessed it, some more of that pink prarie which will need to be conquered.
For now, though, there are a couple of shots over on Weekend Photo Fun (page 3,) so I won't duplicate them here. I did save one just for the Beer Barn crowd, though.
It's raining today...So I hope to spend a little time in the Trainroom!!!! That will be a first in quite some time!
You folk with / that have taken time to be working on the railroad sure are doing some fine work!