Elliots Trackside Diner IV, Under New Management!

[Paul W. Beverung]

Afternoon Gang: We're back from New Mexico. An all too short trip no time for doing any sight seeing. I did see the American Oriental Express in Albuquerque along with Amtrak and Rail Runner Express all in at once.

I've got to get back to loading so I'll stop in this evening.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good afternoon...

We arrive back late last night (2:00am) .. Son, DIL, and 2 granddaughters still very sad over loss of family dog as i mentioned earlier, but they have a lot of + stuff going for them.

I heard from JP ......."....Please let everyone in the CS know that my unit and I have arrived safely, and that I am now back in business of receiving and sending emails from this account....."  I believe it would be good if everybody emailed a short note to JP.

Best wishes to Jeff regarding his eyes and terry regrading his treatment.

Happy Model Railroading

 

[JimRCGMO]

Good afternoon, Zoe - I'll have the lunch special with the broccoli cheese soup, please!  Thanks!

Been out for a goodly chunk of the weekend, I just realized (after seeing all the posts I had to wade through ).

Good to see you back in the Diner, Sue - hope Larry gets his regular tags on that truck soon. Likely better for you two with the company paying his gas, the way diesel's been going. Maybe he'll get a day or two off after a while and be able to get back to that trestle.

We've been fortunate and have missed about all of that nasty weather the upper Midwest has been having - mostly our northern counties around here are the ones under watches over the weekend. But I will be glad when the front has cleared through - and the temperatures drop!

Dick, you better watch it, with mowing in the heat. Don't overdo it there. You're getting weather more like Paul has down his way.

I wanted to write more, but will have to wait until I get back to w**k. My lunchtime's up, and I have some of my soup to finish yet. I have some comments to make on all the nice photos, too...

Will stop back in after I make an appearance at w**k. Meantime prayers for those in need (and for Jeff's eye doctor trip, and Inch's & Jerry's power not to go out again, and...).

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau (where the temp is 92 F/33 C, and the humidity is a merciful 42 percent) 

[grayfox1119]

Good afternoon, I see the server is slow this noontime, at least here from central MA it is slow. It is hotter than a desert rats armpit here!!! Drinking anything I can get out of the frig thats cold while I cut the west 40. All done now, so we will take it easy this afternoon.

SUE: Good Lord is that Sue at the corner table???!!!!! Where have you been girl??? We missed you here !! That is one long trip for Larry isn't it? Oregon to BC? bout 250 to 300 miles? Is he a long distance trailer driver? Are we going to see him on the History Channel next as an Ice Road Trucker? LOL

JERRY: Glad to hear that things are getting back to normal, but I sure wish the rains would stop for you guys. I hope Sallie gets in for her procedure before anymore power outages occur!!!

Later guys,

[gear-jammer]

I just thought that I would drop in to say, "Hello". 

 Hope that you guys are getting a lot of layout time.  We operate our locos weekly, but not too much construction time. Larry's trestle is half built and at a standstill.

 Larry has changed jobs.  We parked the truck and trailer and he is driving a company truck.   They put him in a new truck that still doesn't have permanent plates.  What a pain.  He is mostly driving between Oregon and BC, which runs him past the house more often.

Later,  Sue

[Cox 47]

Good morning All...Its sunny and humid here this morning looks like more rain this evening....I'll have a cup of coffee and a sweet roll please...Thank You...Thing are trying to get back to normal[what ever that is] around here...we have plenty of bottled water...Sallie had Her dyalissis moved back to 12:30 due to 4 machines being down this morning...

Jeff and Terry..prayers for both of you...

I picked up a LL IC GP 20 on Ebay over the week end...Got another passenger car ready for trucks...I was running trains yesyerday and had a derailment coupler came off one of the cars so I got some work to do.....

I havn't heard any trains so I am guessing CXS main is still closed...

You all have a good one...Jerry

 

[twhite]

Morning all--

Supposed to hit 95 out here in SunnyCal today--no wind, so that means that the Valley will be locked in with SUV fumes all day.  Can't wait! .  Of course a predicted 95 means we'll probably go well over the Century mark by about three this afternoon.  North winds predicted for tomorrow, which means the fire danger will go over the top again. 

Those terrible Midwest storms and flooding were relegated to page 14 of the local paper (Sacto Bee), so I had to hunt to find out what was going on.  I guess Indiana and Iowa are getting really slammed with flooding.  I called my daughter-in-law who lives in Rock Island right across the river from Iowa last night, she said that she and the grandchildren were okay, but tired of the weather.  It seems to be those Gulf of Alaska storms that aren't dipping low enough to hit us, so that our Sierras can take the brunt out of them.  They're moving too far north and dipping down and plastering the Midwest.  Evidently it's because of our El Nino or La Nina, or whatever it's called out in the Pacific, it's a kind of semi-permanent high ridge that's knocking the weather to the north, instead of dipping down in over the coast and drenching us like it's supposed to.   Couldn't believe the paper relegated it almost to the back page--but it's more important that we find out whether 'Bradgelina' REALLY had their twins, or something. 

Okay, I'll get off of my

Terry and Jeff:  Good luck at the doctor appointments today.  Drive carefully coming back, Jeff, and Terry, I hope those treatments dont' take TOO much out of you.  I liked that comment about 'glowing in the dark.'  Reminds me of my dad when he had his heart attack and had to take Nitroglycerine pills.  My mom told him, "For God's sake, Lloyd, don't stumble and FALL, you'll blow up!"   

Railroadnut:  Ah, NOW I get it!  Now I know that there's more than ONE USF running around the country, LOL!  Have a good time there.  That library sounds fascinating!

Well, finally got the bridge-track laid.  Either I'm really slowing down or I'm getting VERY careful in my old age, because what normally would have taken about thirty minutes somehow got stretched into two days.  But it works.  Still haven't gotten my Topside Creeper yet, but maybe today--(he said, hoping).   So I spent the rest of the day at the kitchen table, tuning up a little 4-8-2 that I bought used a year or so ago and has this teeny-tiny little Sagami motor in it that gives it a top speed of about 35smph.  I think it's time for a trip to the LHS for a NWSL replacement that has a little longer shaft to it.  I've got about 1/2" of neoprene tubing between the motor and the gear-shaft, and it wobbles like crazy.  Though I have to admit it's kind of fun watching the loco 'waddle' down the track. 

Well, I'm heading out to the garage to do a little work before the temperature gets too uncomfortable.  Have a great day, everyone.  Prayers to those in need of them--especially our friends in the Midwest.  I hope the weather eases up for you. 

Tom  

 

 

[grayfox1119]

Good morning, steamy and hot this morning, 83F already and it's only 8:30, I guess we will hit 90's today OK. We had another trajedy on the CSX tracks again early this morning, a 23 year old was hit by a train at 3am. No idea what he was doing on the tracks that early in the morning. It was so hot yesterday that all I did was read MRR and Train mag and a few RR books. Today, I have to cut the grass, as this heat is not going to let up and we don't own a goat.

JEFF: Good luck this morning, praying for a safe and successful laser treatment.

TERRY: Prayers for you too Terry, keep strong and trust in God my friend.

                I see the upper Mid West is getting hammered again with rain, Indiana with another 10" of rain, this is just plain crazy!!! Bush just declared many counties a Fed disaster area qualifying those flooded areas for relief money.

Later guys, have to get outside before the extreme heat of the day and verticle radiation.

[C&O Fan]

Mornin All

Green Tea and Honey Please

Just stopped by on my way to the hospital for another dose of radiation

Soon i'll be glowing in the dark !!!

JEFF Good luck at the eye Doc

PHILIP Those bikes sound like fun !  Pictures please !

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning.

It's foggy out here by the lake this morning and it's a pleasant 73 degrees. It'll clear to mostly cloudy conditions and the high is expected to be in the low 90's.

I'll be heading out to Alexandria shortly for an eye exam which will probably take most of the day. I don't much like the idea of someone looking around inside my eyes with their finger on the trigger of a laser.

Today's Weather for:      
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      6/9/2008

Heat Index:  78°F
Humidity:  94%
Dew Point:  72°F

So Far Today
High:  73°F
Low:  73°F
Rain:  0.00"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  6mph NNE

Today  High: 92    Partly sunny with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 90s. South winds around 10 mph.    
 
Tonight  Low: 72    Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the lower 70s. South winds around 10 mph in the evening becoming light and variable.

[NS Luc]

Good morning

[railroadnut675]

EDIT: Upon further inspection I found out it does say New 3-67. What does that mean?

New in March of 1967.

Wow...

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning from Tipton IN !

[jeffrey-wimberly]

EDIT: Upon further inspection I found out it does say New 3-67. What does that mean?

New in March of 1967.

[TrainsRMe1]

Hey All,

   Did everybody have a great weekend? Zoe I"ll take a green tea to go please, The Grand Floral Parade was good, the weather held (NO RAIN)We had Party favors,food ,noise makers and silly string ,we were the life of the party,15 parade crazed people in our group, enjoying the parade. Thanks for the tea Zoe, Anyway our layout is coming along well, I want to add signals, does anybody have a preference of type signals that might be the best to install, I want to have either the target or hooded signals, in Nscale (UP PRACTICES) Well I gotta get to sleep tomorrow is a work day  Talk to you guys and gals soon, Thanks again Zoe

[railroadnut675]

twhite: Sorry to disappoint you, I am going to the University of South Florida. In my defense, my church was run by Jesuits until they left three years ago, but we still have Jesuit High School.

LSW: Which part of the car are you looking at? This car was packed away in 1970 (or '79) by my neighbor, until she accidentally found it and gave it to me a few years ago.

EDIT: Upon further inspection I found out it does say New 3-67. What does that mean?

[pcarrell]

Evening all!

Just wanted to pop in and say hi.  It's been a busy weekend, that's for sure.  My wife and I went out and bought ourselves some bikes.  Not motorcycles, pedaL bikes.  She got a pink three wheeler that she can ride while she's healing (therepy, ya know), and I got a real old school tanker bike, like they had in the '50's.  Then, just for laughs, we bought a tandem bike (bicycle built for two).  It's a hot rod bike with flames painted on it and stuff.  We also swung by the jewelry store and got some of her rings resized so that she can wear them more often.  Today we took the tandem out for a spin.  We took it up the road a few miles and stopped at a little shop to grab a coke.  It was fun, and we got a lot of compliments on it.  I'll get some pics of the new toys soon, maybe Tuesday since Monday is booked with work and school.

Jeff, I hope all goes well at the doc's tomorrow.

Prayers for all those dealing with weather and health issues.

So how's everyone else doing?

[georgea]

evening folks - 9:38 and it still 95 deegres .have had a lot of baseball games this week - make up's for weather -  4 games this past week - to days game it was 111 degree on field ,  95 degrees under trees , but we won ,  had great pitcing for a change. another game tomorrow night. took car to strawberrie festivle yesterday - no berries at show . took my son and grandson to the diner for my sons 44th birthday this evening - then he went  to the pool , i went home to play with trains - a cool 75 degtees in train room . must carry rule book to games as umpires always  quote a new rule to me and my nephew gets mad at me for arguing with them , but i am the asst. coach and like my say . untill later George .

[NittanyLion]

NITTANY LION: Is your garage attached to your house? Is it on the South side of your house, that could explain the warmer temps in winter. In anycase, you still might want to consider a dehumidifier for those times it goes over 55%.

Yeah its attached to the house and is on the southern end of things.  And as luck would have it, I am already the proud owner of a dehumidifer.   

[LSWrr]

Good evening all,

Railroadnut; does that covered hopper say "NEW 3-47"?

Garry, sorry for the loss of the dog I can't believe some people.

Jeff, the park looks great; maybe enter it in the MRR diorama challenge?  Or send the finished picture to Walther's to post in their 2009 catalog?  I bet you would be a contender.

Inch, thanks for sharing the pictures. Been 2 years ago we had over 12 inches of rain in less than 6 hours, first time my basement has flooded in the past 15 years I'm told (only lived here 8).  Lost all my MRR boxes and a ton of scenery stuff.

Just got a TXT message from my kids I guess a tornado touched down less than a mile from their house this evening, everyone is ok.

Inspected 7 vessels today under our voluntary vessel inspection program.  Sad to say ony 2 passed.

 

Lee

[grayfox1119]

MIKE: I can't imagine how bad that is!! Great photos Mike, I'm glad to see you stayed high and dry. There is going to be a lot of county road rebuilding from your phtos show, not the least is the RR.

NITTANY LION: Is your garage attached to your house? Is it on the South side of your house, that could explain the warmer temps in winter. In anycase, you still might want to consider a dehumidifier for those times it goes over 55%.

JEFF: Hope all goes well for you buddy, no fun with any type of eye work.

All the TS's hit Connecticut this afternoon, it sure looked like J.R.'s area got belted.

 

 

[NittanyLion]

NITTANY LION: Being in PA, and knowing what the summers and winters are like in your neck of the woods, what are your plans to control the environment in the garage for your layout?

Prayer and lots of it.  For reasons I'm not entirely certain of, the garage seems to be the same temperature all the time no matter what the weather or season is.  Even in the deepest darkest parts of winter, its warm enough out there to be comfortable in short sleeves.  I've never had to contend with temperature before, so this is new territory for me.  There are new doors on the garage that keep the summer humidity at bay if you keep them closed and winter is rarely humid.  It was more humid in the basement that I used to use way back when.  Dust is my primary enemy, of course, and I have a few ideas in my head for covering the layout when not in use that hopefully has a winner in there. 

[inch53]

Afternoon, a cold barley pop for a very hot n humid day, Janie

I posted mostly links of the pics from yesterday [for those with dialup] that are not RR related, keep in mind these were taken when the water levels were already dropping. First is of little Creek just below us.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/inch53/floodof2008005.jpg

Part of the road bank slid on us. This one's from yesterday, it's even larger today

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/inch53/floodof2008008.jpg

We then headed up to the first road [1500 rd] north of us, close to where Little Creek starts and found this

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/inch53/floodof2008010.jpg

We headed back down to US-40 then and there was a coal drag headed west, waiting at Cline crossing waiting for clearance and he was still there waiting this morning

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/inch53/floodof2008011.jpg

We found this at the CSX viaduct

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/inch53/floodof2008013.jpg

You can see a car that an hour before had been completely under water, the driver's ok

There are 3 main streets into town on the north side from 40.This one is Mill ST, not to far from Jerry's

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/inch53/floodof2008017.jpg

Next over is York, no problems there. After that is Washington [oldest boy lives on it].

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/inch53/floodof2008022.jpg

after the water was down, they found the blacktop had been lifted and piled up along the other side. Then we headed for old 40  [by the high school] to check out the North Fork grade.  There's suppose to be a about a 15 ft grade and if ya look close you can almost see the bridge.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/inch53/floodof2008025.jpg

Next is uptown looking at one of the streets out to the south

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/inch53/floodof2008027.jpg

These two are of the other road [York st]

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/inch53/floodof2008028-1.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/inch53/floodof2008029-1.jpg

Going back west to where tracks are damaged

Here one of the first blowout

Here you can see the water boiling through it. The building in the back round, is the pump house for the city water [now ya know why Jerry's hauling drinking water]

While we were there, we heard a banging and seen a 55 gal drum shoot out from under the tracks.

This one is just another one from there

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/inch53/floodof2008038.jpg

You could see water leaching thru the ballast all along there

 http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g214/inch53/floodof2008032.jpg

About two hours before these pics, an eastbound inter-mobile and a westbound mixed freight had been across there.

I wanted to get back in there today, but the county fairs starting and Mother got called over early.

The last time this flood this bad was in 1957. The flooding even took out the Big Creek bridge and one abutment over by Marshall.

JERRY,

If ya get to need water, holler. Us or one of the boys can get you some from out here.

Also we talked to a guy at the fair grounds yesterday, who was hauling racehorses over from the Greenup fair grounds. It's under water now. He figured there'd be a new high water mark on the grand stands for this years flood.

DICK,

I've bought off of Northern before. Harbor Freight had Generators on sale [$730] and if I'd had the money, I'd be owning one now.

Sorry for being so long winded. Hope ya'll has a gooden n stay cool. Thoughts for all those in need

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff:  Hope the eye exam goes okay.  Every time I have one, it takes about three hours to un-dialate, and I have to turn every light in the house off PLUS wearing those dark glasses.

Those dark glasses are the only part of it that I really hate. And it's not even glasses, just a strip of dark film. I just put it behind my regular glasses. At least then I can see well enough to drive. I hope it's cloudy tomorrow, driving 60 miles in bright sunshine is gonna hurt a bit.

[twhite]

Morning all--

It's warming up out here in SunnyCal, I think our mild weather is Gone With the Wind for a time.  Sure like to send it out to the Midwest where they could USE it!  Myself, I wouldn't mind some more rain out here.  I think it's going to be a nasty summer in the mountains for forest fires. 

Railroadnut: Is this the USF I think it is?  University of San Francisco?  If so, you'll come out of that six-week course crammed to the earlobes with knowledge.  Those Jesuits have been doing absolutely PRIME education for 450 years, they sure know what they're doing.  I say that, because I just retired from teaching at a Jesuit high school here in Sacramento, and 98% of our students go on to four-year universities whose names and reputations just boggle my mind, LOL!  Enjoy the courses.  And the cafeteria--AND that incredible library!

Garry:  What a bummer, and the idiot didn't even stop after he'd hit the dog!  Some people have no brains at all--or consciences--they shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car. 

Jeff:  Hope the eye exam goes okay.  Every time I have one, it takes about three hours to un-dialate, and I have to turn every light in the house off PLUS wearing those dark glasses. 

Well, still re-laying the track on my viaduct.  Taking my own sweet time on this episode--I laid it too fast the last time and wasn't thinking, obviously.  VERY CAREFULLY curving the Sinohara bridge track to 34" radius--luckily it holds its curve, but it's also tricky because sometimes the guard-rails want to spring out.  So far, so good.  Should have it finished this afternoon, hopefully.  Luckily, the Sinohara track is 39" instead of the standard 36", so it's long enough that there are no track joints on the viaduct itself, this time.  Should have used it in the first place, right?  Sometimes I just try and work too FAST, and it always comes back to bite me in the behind. 

Well, out to the garage.  Thank God the Pollen has stopped blowing around. 

Best to all, prayers to those in need. 

Tom

 

 

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Hello everyone..

We left home yesterday at 5:00 am and got here in the Cincinnati area in time for a grand daughter's birthday party. Nice party with kids having fun. The fence gate was left open. Their dog got out and ran into the road. The driver of the pick up truck did not even slow down, and the dog was killed. It messed up the mood at the party. We'll be home late tonight.

Happy Model Railroading.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I propably won't be posting anything tomorrow. I have an appointment at an eye clinin in Alexandria in the morning, so my vision will be pretty much shot.

[grayfox1119]

Good afternoon to all,,,,3 H weather here. We had several TS's go through yesterday about 9 and 10 pm, but they were one town south of us. These storms seem to like to follow the Mass Pike or , route 2 to the north. Each of these two roads runs directly west to east across the state, about 130 miles in length. My theory is that these wide 4 and 6 lane highways are like heat islands of asphalt. The really give off tremendous heat to the atmosphere, and this in turn results in cloud formations above these roads at 10k to 30K feet. Then the storms follow these heat sources east.

It is 86F here now at 1:30pm (EDST), and is supposed to hit the low 90's "if" it doesn't cloud over with thunderheads, or cumulus nimbus clouds.

MIKE: Thanks for the updates on the track washouts and flooding in your area. I am looking forward to seeing the pics of the action in that area. BTW, I don't know if you have ever heard of Northern Tool & Equipment, they are in Minnesota, and they have GREAT prices on all sizes of home generators. They bactually had 13KV generators on sale for $700!! You can get 5000 watt generator for considerably less. They have units that run on gas, natural gas, propane, or both fuels. You might want to look into one of these smaller units which would be perfect for your home.

JERRY: I was watching the news yesterday and today, I can't believe the  flooding from these fronts and storms, this is crazy!! I saw the picture of the semi trailer off the highway in your area on TV. I am happy to hear that you guys didn't build on the flood plain and are high and dry ( relatively speaking )

JEFF: Another layout scene for you to build.....a wash out section of track with a flooded river......give that a try, with your talent it should be a piece of cake. I hope you get your layout featured in MRR mag, that would really be great !!!!

DER JOHN: Rats !!!! I'm all out of OJ !!^%$#$$##$# Of all times, hot and humid and no OJ !!! Where is Ed when you need him.....probably on his front porch with a Pina Colada that fox !!!

DUKE: That front in Wisconsin is headed east and looks like it will cross the lake and head right for your area. Better head for the Train room

NITTANY LION: Being in PA, and knowing what the summers and winters are like in your neck of the woods, what are your plans to control the environment in the garage for your layout?

Later,

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff: That park is exceptional! Thanks for the progress pics.

There's more to come. I'll post photos as I go along.

[railroadnut675]

   Tomorrow I start a six week summer program at USF for math, science and computers (I am not a nerd)

   There will probably be a lot of down time, so I can go to the Barnes and Noble on Campus and (hopefully) pick up July's MRR.

   May I also mention the 6 floor library? And Cafeteia? And gameroom?

   I also think I owe all of you these pictures:

Pillsbury 3 bay covered hopper; Answer to how I weathered this one at the bottom

An old Heidelberg reefer

And returning now is this fuel car.

Apologies for any low camera quality

Answer: the covered hopper isn't weathered at all.