Elliots Trackside Diner IV, Under New Management!

[Flashwave]

Hi new  guys!

[JPowell]

Evening Gang -

  Just a quick stop in tonight before I head off to bed. I've started my last 3 days off until I return from the Sand Box in mid August so I'm going to try my best to enjoy them.

  Welcome to George and K4!

  On a somewhat sad note, there is a MAJOR fire going on as we speak at the F X Matt Brewery in Utica NY. The brewery is famous as of late for it's Saranac brand of beers. Back at the end of prohibition, it was the 1st brewery to make beer in the area. On a good note about it, all employees in the plant did escape unharmed. Do a google search for WKTV. They seem to have the best coverage of the fire.

Ok gang. Off to bed. Night!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Welcome to the diner George. 

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang: Well another day shot. Mary Ann and I went looking for some base board for the first floor. Lowe's and Home Depot had only a couple of types that could be stained. A local lumber company had a better selection but nothing that I really liked. I finally went back to HD and picked up 14 pieces of clear white pine 1x4. After pasing it through the router shaper it looks pretty good. Now only 13 more pieces to do. I still have to do some work on the doors to the den.

Welcome to the diner George. Have a what ever on me and a seat.

Right now I'm pooped.

Good Night All

[georgea]

this is my first posting to Elliots trackside Diner . a little about my self -member of trains.com since Sept 2005 . lost a year when form changed . retired since 2001 , but work at a LHS selling trains .help coach my nephews baseball team - record 12w/3losses. collect, run and repair Std ga,Tinplate  and post war. do have new trains , but prefer old . love to eat-just  had evening snack of ham $ cheese , bowl of fresh strawberies with milk and plenty of sugar and coffee . now playing with computer .GEORGE

[grayfox1119]

Good evening .....another beautiful day here today, 82F, 20% relative humidity, and very breezy. Garden is all planted, water barrels full of limed/fertilized water, now we have to keep the varmints out. I guess I will have to "mark my territory" LOL.

I decided to dig out two rocks that the lawn mowers kept hitting. They seem to grow about an inch a year. Well by the time I was done, each rock had to weigh at least 500 lbs, and I actually bent a 1" steel bar lifting these ice age remnants out of the ground. I had to "walk" these boulders out of the ground. I should have used that new stuff that I saw on the DIY channel last night. You drill a hole in the rock, pour in this mix, and stand back!!! It expands with such force that it splits the rock in two....unbelieveable !!!

RYAN: Congrats to Bryan and a very successful career.

JOHNBOY: That sounds like quite a project with that old F7, but I think your equal to the task!

FERGIE: Many Bergs up there laddie.....you had better keep a sharp watch at night especially of the radar goes down. As for H season, yes, they expect a busy season, but they said that last year and it was a dud thankfully. It all depends on the North Atlantic Oscillation and a few other factors.

The MRR project I am working on now is listing all the locomotives that I have and what power & sound decoder they need. I have some locos with decoders, but most do not. Some can take the new QSI decoders but others have a fit problem with the size of the QSI decoders, so I will use Soundtraxx decoders in those locomotives. That will mean walking the country roads here and picking up cans and bottles for $$ returns. Hey....you do what have to these days right guys ?

Later,

[twhite]

Johnboy--

Wow, that's QUITE  a jump!!  Tell me, are those two ex-Baptists HAPPY Catholics, LOL?

Tom

[pcarrell]

My best and favorite one that I built was a 1959 Buick Roadmaster convertible, lowered, cruiser skirts, continental kit in black and white. have no idea where it got to. Wish I knew..

Thats just sweetness on wheels!

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

Hi Crew,    Chloe, I'll have a grape knee high and a club house sandwich please & thanks..

RT,  I'm sure glad that everything has worked out for you. You had quite a stressful time there for awhile. But we were all pulling for you and sincere prayers get answered.

Jerry & Philip,  Those are some really sweat models. My best and favorite one that I built was a 1959 Buick Roadmaster convertible, lowered, cruiser skirts, continental kit in black and white. have no idea where it got to. Wish I knew..

Rob, Glad to hear that Tinytoones is back on her dancing slippers again.  Kind of like the story of Cinderella there, only no prince to woo her.

Ryan,  Sure must be nice to sneak away for a holiday like that !!  If you would have asked, I would have come along and carried your luggage for you. It would have only cost another airline ticket. I could have slept on the beach.   Remember me next time OK ??

Fergie,  Really glad to hear you are back within sight of land again, and no close dancing with those berg's. Remember to bring enough ice for Ed and Fran's orange juice if we ever locate them again.  Maybe you should consider carrying on south and do a search and rescue in Mexico. 

Not to poke fun at anyone here: but seeing we are all concerned about the price of fuel I thought you might get a chuckle out of this story.

-- Catholic Gasoline:

Sister Mary Anne, who worked for a Home Health Agency, was out making her rounds visiting homebound patients when she ran out of gas.  As luck would have it. an Exxon Station was just a block away.

She walked to the gas station to borrow a gas can and buy some gas.  The attendant told her that the only gas can he had was already loaned out and she would have to wait until it was returned.  Since Sister Mary Anne was on her way to see a patient, she decided she didn't have time to wait and walked back to her car.

She looked for something there that she could fill with gas to get on her way, and then she spotted the  bedpan that she was taking to the patient.  Always Resorceful, Sister Mary Anne carried the bedpan to the service station, filled it with gasoline, paid the attendant and carried it back to her car.  As she was pouring the gas into her tank, two Baptists watched from across the street, one of them turned to the other and said, "If her car starts, I'm turning Catholic".

I'm presently rebuiding an old Bachmann GP7, that someone had really botched up the wiring etc. and it wouldn't run. It looks real good so I bought it for a couple of bucks and have completely gone through it mechanically and electrically to the point that the motor runs and the gearing looks good. Now have to get all the wires back in place and soldered properly.  My question to you fellas and gals is this. Everything inside looks to be Athern, is this possible or is this much more of a mix-match than I thought ??

Well better go and start some supper as Wifey is working a little later tonight. So will try and surprize her.  Brownie points you know !!!!!!!!!!

Keep smiling ya' all.   It looks good on ya.

Johnboy out............

[pcarrell]

RT: Good news for sure hopefully all your house woes are past now and you'll start to enjoy yourself again and we'll see more MR activity! any chance of going HO?

Naw.....he's comming to the dark side!  N scale!

How ya doin' RT?  Good to see you!

[Anonymous]

good evening from monongahela pennsylvania...it is 78% here, and super sunny.  i got some pictures i took in durango in 2002, and got some work done on my 4X8 model railroad in H.O  i also got a wood kit, my first ever woodkit, and it is 20 years old.  

[Fergmiester]

Good Afternoon All!

Well it's a glorious day here today as the snow all but disapeared late yesterday, the Ice Bergs can be seen as far as the eye can see and there's snow in the far off Labrador Mountains!

Got the Erie Shovel and Crane painted the other night and they look real sharp and will be a real crowd pleasr once I weather them and rig them.

Dick! TS ALMA it's not even June yet!! Is this things to come for the remainder of the year? Thank Goodness I'll be up the Davis Straits in September.

Jerry: Sorry to here of your latest problem. When I read about the power bar it made me think. Several years ago Coast Guard banned all plastic power bars on the ships as they were found to be a real fire hazard. The problem stemmed from the fact our power supply wasn't all that clean despite the UPS systems.

RT: Good news for sure hopefully all your house woes are past now and you'll start to enjoy yourself again and we'll see more MR activity! any chance of going HO?

My Other project is really look'n good! just have to do some wiring and lighting on it.

 

Later All

Fergie 

[rtraincollector]

Hi ALL!!!!

Hows it going well were settled in columbia, SC and I'm at work right now. ( break time) Wanted to stop in and say hi to you all . All is well will give more info in a few days

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff:  I think that WS has several packages of people that could populate your park really well. 

I'll be looking at some at Hobby Lobby in Alexandria, possibly this weekend.

[twhite]

Morning all: 

Balmy weather again here in SunnyCal--high '70's, with possible afternoon thundershowers and--yes--SNOW flurries again in the higher portions of the Sierra.  And this is late MAY?  Whew!  The weatherman on channel 13 said that possibly by next week we'll be back to what we're supposed to be--mid '80's--but we'll see.  However, it's GREAT weather to be in the garage working on the trains.  I guess I'm one of those 'opposites'--I tend to get most of my layout work done in the summer.  Sometimes I'll head down to one of the LHS' in my area and be the only customer for an hour or so. 

Got a lot done, yesterday--installed a new NWSL motor into one of my locos--an old PFM Moffat Road 2-6-6-0 that's never really run that well.  Runs like a charm, now.  A little noisy in the reduction gear, but I think that should smooth out over time. 

Put a Cal-Scale deck and ashpan on my former oil-burning kit-bash PFM 2-10-2.  Of course, only a crazy steam-freak like myself would install an ASH-PAN that nobody can hardly see, LOL, but I know it's there, and somehow it makes me feel a lot better around the loco (is that WEIRD or what?).  Going to install some cab-decks on a couple of other steamers today--a couple of older brassies that have a LOT of separation between the loco and the tender.  Amazing how a simple little deck seems to make them look more close-coupled.

Evidently word of my retirement is getting around--two churches have already called to see if I'd be interested in a Music Director's position with them, I politely declined, but told them I'd be available to play any extra Masses they might have, but only AFTER June is over.  I mean, sheesh, I'd like to enjoy a LITTLE retirement first, LOL!

My 'Top-Side Creeper' was shipped from the factory yesterday, I should have it by next week.  THEN the fun starts!!

Well, that's about it from here.  Off to 're-deck' some locos. 

Jeff:  I think that WS has several packages of people that could populate your park really well. 

Garry:  Glad you didn't have any derailments, LOL!  How do we MANAGE that sometimes, right. LOL?

 Best to all, prayers to those in need of them.

Tom  

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff...Now you gotta get some folks in your park...

Just as soon as I get some.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good morining:

Dick said: "GARRY: Right ON !!! I only wish more Americans understood "where" the real problem lies, so many people are so ignorant of the real facts. I heard one guy at the local station giving the poor owner a ration of s*** because the prices went up again yesterday to $3.98 for 87 octane. Another example of dumb people who are clueless as to the real cause."

Yes, Dick, and I certainly don't fall for that grandstanding stuff with Congressional hearings for oil company executives to testify. Oil company earnings after taxes are about 10& of sales. That's normal, and that's not price gouging. Total  taxes of oil companies including things like import duties and payroll taxes, are about 1/3 of company revenues. Dividends to stockholders amounts to only about 2% of sales revenue. The price gouger is none other than Uncle Sam himself with his excessive taxes. Again, I'll say, Congress failed to allow expanded production of domestic oil to accomodate growing traffic volumes on all the new highways Congress has been building over several decades. Combine that with growing economies elsewhere in the globe, and we have high prices. Oil proces were held down a decade ago by the Asian recession. Now, the Asian economies are growing remarkably and consuming large amounts of energy. We need railways as the primary mode of transport and not highways.... enough

My progress report includes completion of both of the wood cabooses I've been working on. The water on my Mrs. Hippy River is finally approaching completion.

I feel badly about JR's house fire. It's really sad he lost his model car collection to the fire. Often however, good follows bad, and so I hope it's an example of "Nothig is so bad that it is not good for something."

Oh, Ryan, why not tell us more about your Hawaiin trip? What did you see and do?

I'm headed for Nashville soon for medical appointments. This is follow up stuff, and I believe nothing of concern.

Model railroaders, Gus and Dan were over last night for a mrr get-together. No derailments here. (Followed Tom's example) 

Happy Model Railroading

 

 

[pcarrell]

PC...The 57 custom chevy is awesome!

The chevy is basically a massaged Chezoom kit.  I added tunneled headlights with smoked covers and I reworked the rear bumper and the front pan a little, but thats about it.  It's all paint (teal and clearcoat with some pearl dust mixed in) and chrome from there.

 

Oh, and Mitch, I think I have a couple of those old 70's cornet kits around here.  If I remember right, I've got one or two of the pro-street versions and a couple of stockers too.  That was a great kit!  It'll make a good start for a Cornet.

[Cox 47]

Good morning....Its sunny and 54 here this morning....I'll have a sasage sandwitch and coffee please...Thank You...

PC...Nice looking model cars....The 57 custom chevy is awesome!...and the model of Big John's Willys looks good to me...I built alot of cars back in thye Mid-60's when I was in high school..at the time I wanted to be a body and fender man...Sent all my money on AMT 3-in-one kits,Testors tube glue [yuck],AMT body puddy,and Model car magazines...

Jeff...Now you gotta get some folks in your park...

Has anyone heard anything from Ed and Fran?....You all have a good one....Jerry

OUCH!! looks like I'm buying today...Get my apron out I'll have to work this out in the back..dirty dishes here I come..Oh well order up and enjoy.....

[pcarrell]

Mornin' all!

Shaping up to be a real nice day here in Indiana! 

Today should turn out to be a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and highs around 77 degrees and low humidity.  Too bad I'll be stuck in the office until the day is over.  Oh well!

Ryan, thanks, but I think Jerry's car is way cooler then any of mine.  I've gotta get some tips from him!

How are you all doing today?

[SilverSpike]

Morning folks!

Got down right cool here yesterday with rain all day too and into the low 50's this morning.

Mitch, funny you should mention the pronunciation of Hawaii because all the locals do sound the "w" as a "v" as in "Ha-vai-i", we wondered the same thing while we were there. Never been to the island you mentioned, just Oahu and the Big Island of Hawaii.

Nice model cars there Jerry and PC!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning.

The temperature here in the Sportsman's Paradise is a pleasant 71. We're expecting a high of 90 today with partly cloudy skies and a slight chance of thunderstorms.

I've decided to remove the mailbox from the park and put it over at Smith's gas station. Seems to be a better place for it.

Today's Weather for:      
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      5/29/2008

Heat Index:  76°F
Humidity:  95%
Dew Point:  69°F

So Far Today
High:  72°F
Low:  71°F
Rain:  0.01"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  5mph N

Now through 07:00 AM CDT May 29, 2008
   
Through 7 AM...isolated showers will continue to move southwest at 10 mph across central Louisiana and into southwest Louisiana. The Kinder, Ville Platte and Opelousas areas can expect rainfall rates up to a quarter inch an hour with some of these showers. Elsewhere, isolated showers skirting the coast from Cameron to Sabine Pass will weaken and dissipate.    
 
Today  High: 90    Partly sunny. Slight chance of showers in the morning... Then slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs around 90. Light and variable winds becoming east around 10 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.

Tonight  Low: 68    Decreasing clouds. Lows in the upper 60s. South winds around 10 mph in the evening becoming light and variable.

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning from Tipton IN !

[Cox 47]

Evening...It a cool nite here posta drop into low 40's....I'll have a root beer float before heading off to hit the sack...you all have a good nite and a better day tomorrow...Jerry

[eeyore9900]

Evening folks-just my usual!

Sorry I don't get in here regular-seems I go in "bursts"-regular for X amount of days, & then disappear. I'm around, & try to stop in when I can. Been trying to accomplish some stuff in the yard on the weekends, & do layout R & D, & try to work in my "weathering" when I can.

Dawn was ok the next day, & better the day after. She was mad about getting shorted hours at work, & fuel was added to her fire by a boss that was pushing her buttons also. (Her other boss & the employees went out of their way the next few days to make her feel better. (I made dinner for her Sunday evening when I got back home from watching trains up in Sterling Ohio)

Ryan-I was wondering where you were! Maybe I'll get there someday when I have the $$$ & the courage to finally get on a plane. There's a beach on the west coast of Kauai I saw once in a tourist book that I found absolutely beautiful. Also this little exchange popped into my head from the old "Benny Hill Show"-Benny & his wife were in Hawaii & were arguing on the correct pronunciation-was it "Hawaii", or Havaii"? They decided to ask a fellow walking past.

"Excuse me sir." Benny asked. "Is this place called  Hawaii, or Havaii?"

"Havaii." the fellow answered.

"See?" Benny admonished his wife, & then turned back to the fellow. "Thank you."

"You're Velcome." the fellow answered. (remember that classic look on Benny's face?)

Phillip & Jerry-love those models!!!!!! I was into those when I was about 10-11 yrs old & then my model railroading interests took over. I got back into them in a few bursts in the late 80's & early 90's, & still have a few kits that need built or finished. 1 is of a '70 Super Bee (of course) that I want to modify to match my Coronet. IMO it would be perfect to keep it's memory alive once it gets sold. The 1 model that I put countless hours in about 20 years ago was a '57 Chevy to match the one in the movie "Return to Macon County"-3 gauges on the dash, Hurst shifter turned vertically, tuck & roll upholstery, dechromed, plug wires, brake lines, the whole 9 yards. I had it at my bud's house in the basement where we worked on & displayed them, but his Mom 1 day let his year old nephew down there, & he destroyed them-blah! (wish I'd at least got a pic of it!) Jerry, your '57 reminds me a lot of the one Darrell Waltrip had in his early days, & used for the inside cover of his autobiography. I love the '57 Fords-I got to watch one of the "retractable hardtops" in action 1 time at 1 of our car shows-truly an amazing process. (just don't try to build a model of one as I did with Revell's "Reissue series" of a '59- multi-piece body, a nightmare from the get-go!

Well, I better hit it-just checking in-nite all!  

 

[Flashwave]

in a SOUTHERN mug, please & thanks!

***Flashwave, Toons is white. Guess I could paint her shoes Armor Yellow, as you suggest. That would be nice and visible when she loses it.

***JR, wishing you a reasonable outcome with all that mess. Bummer!

***Philip, what scale are those cars? Nice work!

Wife & I went to Kennesaw Trains (not exactly a LHS, but closer than any others) where she bought an HO kit of a man with plow horse. She will paint the horse to match our horse Pumpkin. I also dropped off both my Kato Mike & SD90/43 Mac to let him put all those tiny detail parts on. I don't think he was thrilled since I didn't buy them from him. Still, for $10 an hour, it's better than me fiddling with them.

Had to help the wife hang more pictures for her folks. Also put up two more shelves and an extra shower caddy thing that her Dad will be able to reach from his chair.

Need to go rest for a bit. Rob

 

 

Yeah, but white doesn't do the whole UP thing. it would work better if se were grey. Need to medtate on passenger schemes

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang: The den floor is finished. Now there is the base boards and we can move back in. Nothing much else going on here. Right now I'm ready to hit the sack. Boy is this a short one.

Good Night All

[pcarrell]

***Philip, what scale are those cars? Nice work!

Why thank you kind Sir!  They're 1/24 scale.

The vette is box stock, meaning only parts in that kit were used on it.  Here's the motor, where you get to witness such things as no engine wiring and such, because the kit didn't come with it.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Model%20Cars/Captured2006-5-2200021.jpg

The '57 chevy is a curbside, so there's no interior or engine, but the body has been "massaged".

The Willy's is semi-complete, but there's still much to be done.  There are many customizations done on it, including full wiring and plumbing well underway.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Model%20Cars/Captured2006-6-300012.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Model%20Cars/Captured2006-5-2200039.jpg

And it's got the awesome gasser stance......

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Model%20Cars/Captured2006-5-2200049.jpg

And the '32 is a long way from finished, but the basic building blocks are there, including many engine mods and a great set of meats.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Model%20Cars/Captured2006-5-2100023.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Model%20Cars/Captured2006-5-2100021.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Model%20Cars/Captured2006-5-2100020.jpg

[Cederstrand]

in a SOUTHERN mug, please & thanks!

***Flashwave, Toons is white. Guess I could paint her shoes Armor Yellow, as you suggest. That would be nice and visible when she loses it.

***JR, wishing you a reasonable outcome with all that mess. Bummer!

***Philip, what scale are those cars? Nice work!

Wife & I went to Kennesaw Trains (not exactly a LHS, but closer than any others) where she bought an HO kit of a man with plow horse. She will paint the horse to match our horse Pumpkin. I also dropped off both my Kato Mike & SD90/43 Mac to let him put all those tiny detail parts on. I don't think he was thrilled since I didn't buy them from him. Still, for $10 an hour, it's better than me fiddling with them.

Had to help the wife hang more pictures for her folks. Also put up two more shelves and an extra shower caddy thing that her Dad will be able to reach from his chair.

Need to go rest for a bit. Rob

 

 

[pcarrell]

Jerry! Excellent stocker!  Perfect stance!  I didn't know you were into model cars.  I used to do lots of them, but I had to pick a hobby since I didn't have time for them all, and trains won.  Here's a couple of my old cars I built.

An old vette........

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Model%20Cars/Captured2006-5-1800014.jpg

A '57 chevy........

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Model%20Cars/Captured2006-5-1800011.jpg

A few old mopars.......

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Model%20Cars/Captured2006-5-2200010.jpg

And I have a few more that never really got finished, like a '40 willys........

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Model%20Cars/Captured2006-6-300026.jpg

And a '32 Ford.........

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Model%20Cars/Captured2006-5-2200032.jpg