Elliot's Trackside Diner V, at the diamonds

[Packers#1]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! I'm so happy because there's no practice today. THANK YOU COACH McKNIGHT!

[Fergmiester]

Greetings All!

 Finally... Internet! After three weeks of being in the High Arctic we are now homeward bound and should be home come monday. Just Endured  2 days of Storm force winds in the Labrador sea and its now blowing 40 kts and getting better.

Inch sorry to hear about your family troubles. Hopefully this will come to pass quickly and positively. It seems everyon I know these days is affected by Cancer near to home. Scary, very scary.

So what's new in the CS these days and how is everyone?

Later All

Fergie

[LSWrr]

Garry,

I have family in Columbus, just run a cord to their house.

I live NE of Cleveland and Eastlake just got power back Wednesday. My power went out for maybe 30 minutes.  I hear south of us several homes are without power still.  Ohio Edison and First Energy sent most of their crews to TX & LA to help restore power so you see Pittsburg Public Power trucks running all over the place up here trying to restore power.  I think Elyria is First Energy (out of Sheffield Lake).

Lee

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Inch..........I am terribly sorry to learn about the cancer affecting your family. Prayers for you.

Lee .... can you run a line all the way to Cincinnati area, too? Son and DIL are still without power since Sunday storms.

 

[LSWrr]

Inch, Best wishes and prayers for Beverly, Jamie, and Roni (they say troubles come in 3's). 

You know I live just east of Elyria tell Roni  to run an extension cord over to my house or stop over with a bucket and I'll fill it up with electricity for her. 

Lee

[inch53]

Mornin, an irish coffee please, Zoe.

I haven't been round much for a spell, found I just really didn't much to say seems when ever I started a post, Did didn't have much of interest to say. I still don't have much to say as far as MRR'ing n such today, but to ask for a couple prayers.

Bout a month ago our x-DIL [Beverly, Herman's mom] was diagnosed with overran cancer. She had surgery and all was fine, then she got an infection in the stitches, which has held up her starting chemo, but she's improving now.

While that battle going is on, our middle daughter [Jamie] was diagnosed with cervical cancer . Treatment is still up in the air with that for the moment.

Then this morning our oldest girl [Roni], called n told me she was going in for a biopsy this afternoon for possable cervical cancer also. We'll to wait see how that goes for now.

Every one here is doing what they can, and I thought I bring in a few extras maybe to add to the group. Roni also said thet'd been with electric since Ike came through, hopefully it'll be back on today. She lives in Elyria Ohio now.

Then to top matters off, KC went in the hospital Wed with a urinary infection and a temp of 104.6. She doing betters now and should get back home tomorrow, if the fever is still down.

Every one here is doing what they can, and I thought I bring in a few extras maybe to add to the group. So whatever thoughts I sure will help.

As far as everything, on the good side, me, Deb and everyone else seem to be doing ok, other than the normal aches, pains, grips n crumbles. The youngest grand dauaghter turned 1 year Teu. And my mom turns 75 tomorrow and is in great health still. We're having a surprise carry-in-dinner for her this evening. All us kids will be there, but most the grand and great grand kids will miss it. Oh, n Deb's frying chicken for about 25 or so this afternoon.

School has finally started here, I still have grandkids most everyday, but most of them leave when the bus gets them, then brings'em back. Course I still have KC all day, 2 or 3 days a week. And Jbirds just in pre-school, but she's gone in the afternoons.

Now that football seasons started I'm getting some time on the layout on Sundays, but not much yet.

The fall ham n bean cook is this Sat; I got drafted to do the cooking again. And the Veterans picnic is next Sun. Always plenty of good eatin there too.

Other than the everyday chores n getting ready for winter, that's bout it for here in the woods. Thoughts for all those in need [and there seems to been several here lately] n ya'll have a gooden

[LSWrr]

Dale has been building kits for years but last year his wife said no more kits because they ran out of room to display them.  She is SO EXCITED (NOT) that I'm supplying him with kits to build.  I had about 20 kits to assemble and I got burned out after building number 12, so I started building bench work and laying track.  Dale came over to help and saw "the box" of models and asked if he could put a few together.... About 10 kits later he is asking for more models.  Time to go shopping!  I do supply the paint, glue and whatever he needs and I let him pick a few things out of my bay box.

Lee

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff, best wishes on a quick and simple finishing up the willow. Will you be starting the dock repairs this weekend, or next week? From what you wrote earlier, that sounded like the worst part of the cleanup. Don't overdo things, though.

Not sure exactly when the bridge repairs will commence. Probably sometime next week. We have to make a jacking platform under the bridge first and it all mud down there. Thank God the lake is down three feet right now.

[JimRCGMO]

Good morning (hmm, yeah it still is so far), Zoe - I'll have a ham n cheese omelet sandwich and a cup of Luc's TH that he brought in, please. Thanks!

Rob, I'm beginning to think you are really far out there in the woods (not just a little ways, either) - coyotes? It was a good thing you have the Pyrenees to run interference for your ponies. Does your contract have a clause for if they run over the time limit, that you get to dock their pay some?

Jeff, best wishes on a quick and simple finishing up the willow. Will you be starting the dock repairs this weekend, or next week? From what you wrote earlier, that sounded like the worst part of the cleanup. Don't overdo things, though.

Lee, looking forward to seeing those structure pics. This morning I was sitting in bed and looking at my structure kits stack, and thinking "I need to get at least a couple of those going this weekend..." Those Walthers track bumpers are neat - I am looking forward to weathering ('rusting') those of mine that I have assembled so far.

CN Charlie, good to see you in the Diner, and hope the boat 'extraction' goes well today. You realize that after you get the derrick car, you may find yourself hankering after a bigger boom car, right?

I think our weather here is supposed to be a lot like Jeff's forecast - high in the 80's and slim chance of a scattered shower. Sunny and nice out there for now.

I'll see if I can wake Duke - Zoe, could I have another omelet sandwich? I'll wave this one under his nose and see how his reflexes are - that should wake him up for a little.

 

Blessings and a good start to your weekend,

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good morning....

Jerry ... I'm quite happy with my chevy truck. I would not get much lumber in a Porsche. We'll see if anything happens.

Rob ... I was just thinking. Your remark on the lumber reminded me. We once had a very bad experience with a contractor building a house. He billed for lumber and presented receipts. Number of 2x4's looked excessive. I investigated, and figured out he was billing us for our lumber plus lumber for two other customers. At that time, we also learned he failed to pay the window company the funds we paid to him for the wondow. I investigated. Some of the windows on our bill were for other houses. We had paid for all of our windows plus soem other windows, and he did not pay window comapny. Window company placed lein on our house pending resolution. It was a mess. 

We fired contractor. We prosecuted him for fraud. We sued him. Both civil case and criminal case were refered to an arbitrator. Arbitrator awarded us from contractor restitution for the materials fraud plus a very big penalty. Lesson learned. Audit every bill from contractor and insist on original receipts.

I became our general contractor and got the project completed.

Hope you are OK with your contractor.

[Cox 47]

Good Morning All...Its partly cloudy and 67 here this morning...I'll have coffee and a sweet roll please...Thank You...I got most of the painting done on circus passenger car early this morning before Sallie left..

Jeff...Nice job on flats...

Garry...You would look good behind the wheel of a Porsche but it might cut into some of your model railroading time?...

Jeff got me thinking flat cars too this is a IC flat I got couplers changed out and the deck painted and a back hoe load that Inch gave me...

 

 

You all have a good one....Jerry

[jeffrey-wimberly]

***Jeffrey, too bad you can use a model train crane to move the remainder of that tree around. Seriously though, take your time cutting it up. Will that tree make good firewood?

We have only five feet of the trunk left, but being that it's over 26" across we're have to cut it in 7" thick slices. Each slice weighs around 400 pounds so it takes big guys to roll it up onto the trailer. The only other thing left besides repairing the bridge (that's gonna be a blast. NOT!!) is some branches to cut up and burn. On the question of it making good firewood, I don't think so. When willow dries out it becomes pulpy and falls apart easily. It also burns very fast. The big pile of still green branches we had on the burn pile yesterday all burned down to ash inside of an hour, and it was a very HOT fire. People think pine burns hot, it's a cool customer compared to willow.

[Cederstrand]

in a SANTA FE mug, please & thanks.

***Jeffrey, too bad you can use a model train crane to move the remainder of that tree around. Seriously though, take your time cutting it up. Will that tree make good firewood?

***Lee, looking forward to seeing those pics. There is a part of me that kinda dreads putting together a few of the kits I have. Wish I knew someone close by who builds them.

Contractor was here this morning picking up some of the leftover heavy lumber, undoubtedly for another job. Sure would be nice if he would get back on ours. If we didn't have a contract (or the time ran out), I would finish it myself.

Wife is off to pick up another box of deck screws. Guess I'll start figuring up the next batch of lumber needed to continue with the deck project.

Have a good day, all. Rob

[NS Luc]

Good morning

[LSWrr]

Good morning all,

The temperatures are forecasted to climb into the mid 70's this week with lows in the 40' and 50's.

I stopped at Dale's house last night and picked up some of my structures he built for me over the past couple of weeks; Kibri dock crane, W's track bumpers, Atlas switch tower, trackside shanties and an operating mill house.  Pictures to follow later.

Busy weekend coming up; I'll be heading to Port Clinton to visit with my kids, then Sunday it's a trip to Toledo for the Model Rail Road Show.

Packers#1 sounds like a good start to the season keep it up!

Morgan, nice layout pictures, thanks for sharing.

Lee

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning.

It's 71 and clear. The high today is expected to be around 80 and it will be mostly cloudy. There's a small chance of isolated showers.

We still have part of the willow to clear out today. It's gonna be a little harder cutting up the lower part of the trunk as it's better than 24" across and the saw is only 20". Moving the pieces will be like Johnny Cash building his 'Hillbilly Cadillac", one piece at a time.

I have the old Atlas GP40 pulling a 16 car train around the layout. That seems to be it's limit.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA  71446      9/19/2008

Heat Index:  77°F
Humidity:  74%
Dew Point:  63°F

So Far Today
High:  71°F
Low:  71°F
Rain:  0.00"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  8mph NNE

Today  High: 85    Mostly cloudy early in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Isolated showers. Highs in the mid 80s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight  Low: 65    Partly cloudy with isolated showers. Lows in the mid 60s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning from Tipton IN ! 

[Cederstrand]

Just got back in after a quick run around the farm. There was an eruption of coyotes yipping everywhere, or so it seemed. When heard a suspicious whinny from a mini horse, I was trying as fast as I could to get down there. Forunately, all minis are present and accounted for and in fine shape. The Pyrenees responded very well and were doing their job before I even had my shoes on. Not bad for being all old dogs. 

Now, where is that pot of coffee...JUST KIDDING! 

Night all. Rob

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

good evening!

Well, what do you think? Should I go wake up Duke in that booth over there?

Paul... I, too, am glad at least one shooter was captured. 

Luc .. I pray for Glora's recovery. It sounds like the doctor should have solved the problem isntead of telling her to wait. Glad your here again. Beavers are really interesting as Dick will attest.  Keep bring that Tim Horton's coffee.

Rob ...perhaps lack of sleep is partly attributed to all of that coffee you keep drinking. aslo, we will all sleep better when Dick puts his ladder way for the season.

Morgan ... Thansk for sharing club layout photos.

Jeff ... your flat cars look teriffic.

Robby   You sound really busy, there.

Lee ... Do ypou have teh beavers straightened out yet?

Jerry ... I'll ne interested in how the Con Cor passenger car fits in with teh circus train.

Der john .... that's a really sad story about the ambulance accident.

Packers ... great to learn about the big win. Congrats on the tackles!

Ryan... I really like the DT&I box car. Please tell more about it. How are the Cajun spice sales?

trainsRMe1 ........ gald to learn you're a bus driver. I was a transit bus driver long, long ago.

Everybody ... I complete the train set for the two young brothers in church. They will get it this weekend. ..... Not much mrr'ing other than that.... I took more videos with the digital camera. ..

We're still trying to sell an RV travel trailer. We just got a question. Somebody asked if we would accept his old Porsche sports car in trade. Shall I order my gold chain necklace?

Where's Tom? Where's Ed?

PS ... Hello CN Charlie.  Good to see you.

PPS ...worried about TX Terry.

 

 

[CNCharlie]

Good Evening Diners!

It was a balmy 84F here today which needless to say is about 20 degrees above normal but who's complaining. It's supposed to stay warm for the next week or so if the weatherman is to be believed.

I'm off tomorrow to get the boat ready to haul out next week. This was a record summer--it never left the dock once. Hope there's enough power in the batteries to start the engine. If so I think I'll run it for awhile to charge things up as I can't sail it to the crane. I've sailed it into the slip a couple of times which is an interesting process as it weighs about 3 tons and of course there are no brakes--timing is everything.

I've finally finished my MOW flat car and it turned out just fine. Of course I just have to get the derrick car to go with it so I can run a track repair train. I've ordered a couple of decoders,one of which is a sound unit for my Athearn RS3. I'll let you know my impressions of it once I get it installed.

Luc, I hope your wife's knee can be treated. It seems like she needs a different doc or was an orthopedic surgeon who recommended she "grin and bear it" . Usually they can't wait to get at it . A friend of mine has had knee replacement surgery on both knees and although his recovery was slow, he no longer has pain and can move around normally.

Dick, I was impressed with the photos of you up the ladder. If I watch a movie with an actor clinging to the side of a building, the palms of my hands start to sweat. A 5 foot step ladder is about my limit, and not to the top of course. Funny thing though, I wasn't nervous at all when we went up in a hot air balloon in Africa last year.

Well it's time to go pick up my wife who's working at the restaurant tonight. Chef's gone to visit family in France so I expect the kitchen is a bit hectic.

CN Charlie

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang: I took a nap after ducking out this afternoon. I did feel better. After that I went out and did some more brush hauling. It's gotta get done. I did get most of it hauled and felt all right. Now it's time for bed.

One of these days I'm going to get some MRing done.

Good Night All

[JimRCGMO]

CapeJim:

DerJohn, you very much lucked out on the license plate (on several counts there) - whew!

...Now Jim, you and I know it's Blessed rather than lucky

Heck, in iNvisible scale, 45" would be almost enough for 10 cars and a hood unit diesel!

...but looks are deceiving! Between fouling points on the two turnouts, there's room for only 5 well cars on the long track, and 4 on the run-around! Good thing I've only got 3!  The rest of that 45" is taken by the turnouts, fouling distance, and the loco pocket at the far end.

DerJohn, right you are about being 'lucky'! And yep, I was just thinking on your track in terms of 50' length cars, rather than those overly-long well cars. My era only has up to 50' cars, so I forget how long some of the more modern cars are.

I also posted some photos of the Canadian and American beavers - see my previous post...

 

Back to my booth for now...

Jim in Cape Girardeau

 

[TrainsRMe1]

Hey All,

    Chiole, I will take  the ribeye steak,salad and a glass of red wine please, First of all Ryan, I'm so sorry about the news, I'm a bus driver here in Portland, we are trained to watch everthing on and around the road, so when I hear of a accident like this it hits close to home,

    Well the weather here in the Rose City is cloudy temps in the 60's after 80's and 90's for the last two months, this feels like LATE FALL EARLY WINTER!!

   I wanna give a shout out to: Packers 1#, Hoople, Flashwave,Galaxy, Zoe,Choile,Laurel,Elliot, and everbody that I missed, I'll be back later.

                            Clear Tracks, Trainsrme1

[JimRCGMO]

Evening, Chloe - a cup of hot cocoa, please. Thanks!

Dick, you gotta watch out about those naps on the roof, and if it's a metal roof,....[Aiyeeeeeee!!!!] (And there he goes, extreme sports fans, setting a new record on the down-roof run)

Oh, in the interest of some additional clarity (Lee, you could print this page out for Sandy...), here are some photos to compare Canadian beavers with squirrels:

and an American beaver (not actually that much bigger or smaller than its Canadian counterpart):

 

Here are some photos of squirrels (not necessarily Canadian):

and this page shows both squirrel and beaver for size comparison (CAUTION: the pics are of dead mammals, so young viewers should be warned of the graphic nature of the photos):

http://www.vermontmammals.org/studyskins.htm

Hopefully, that will help our makers of model beavers recognize the difference...

I think I'll duck into the corner booth and lay low for a while now...

 

Blessings and a good evening,

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

[Packers#1]

WE KILLED RIDGE SPRING-MONETTA 38 TO NOTHING! GO SCHOFIELD!

I got 2 tackles (both late in the the game behind the line of scrimmage) and got to run the defense in the third quarter and a little of the 4th. I should have had another tackle in the first quarter, I think (again behind the line), but I didn't break down and the guy got through me. Oh well, live and learn.

Our team is now 1-1.

[der5997]

Good evening Diners:  Gloves and the warmer hat for my walk this evening...not even Fall officially yet. (Hope that's not too racy for you PC!

Dessert time! Let's see, I'll have some of that sna "Rolo" icecream please, and a JR Regular to go along with it.

We had a non-weather related power cut yesterday morning. It didn't last long, haven't heard of a cause. Waiting for the container dock to dry out so that I can sand it down, and get it painted. Test drove some container well cars through the trackage last night, and it looks like the re-model should do what I want it to.

Tom:  Here's an actual bear scene from Alaska you may think about.  This family just completed their wonderful and safety conscious playground for their kids.  In the morning, this...

Luc: Good to see you drop in again.  Sorry to learn about Gloria's knee; and your nephew's injury. Please let her know she's in our prayers; and Jimmy that we appreciate the sacrifice they are all making so that a lot of folks they and we don't know can have a chance at what we all take for granted - a normal life with freedoms!

BTW, nice photo of a track bumper, what's that long black thing behind it?

Alex:

Packer: I read somewhere that Kato paint is pretty thin, and that applying a base coat of gray, then the color you are painting right over the original paint doesn't hide any details.

...hope you are right as I've got a pair of GP35s coming that are Kato/Atlas, and I'll have to repaint them.

Honestly, I find it annoying, because I end up getting 3 separate emails for what is "essentially" the same post.

...The way I come and go from the Diner (and I limit my forum exposure pretty much to here) is to bookmark the page, and then just drop in. (most of the time this keeps me logged in too) I can see at once how many pages I'm behind, and scroll on through.  Once I'm caught up, then I re-bookmark.  Saves a lot of email notifications.  My would be that even if you're monitoring several forum threads at once, the bookmark route may be worth a look.

CapeJim:

DerJohn, you very much lucked out on the license plate (on several counts there) - whew!

...Now Jim, you and I know it's Blessed rather than lucky

Heck, in iNvisible scale, 45" would be almost enough for 10 cars and a hood unit diesel!

...but looks are deceiving! Between fouling points on the two turnouts, there's room for only 5 well cars on the long track, and 4 on the run-around! Good thing I've only got 3!  The rest of that 45" is taken by the turnouts, fouling distance, and the loco pocket at the far end.

Paul: Glad they got one of those poachers (that's probably not the right word, but as PC points out, this is a family show!) Let's hope this leads to the others soon enough.

Lee:

But that's a U.S. Beaver! I thought you were going to send us a picture of a Canada Beaver?!?

...Shhh!  All the "US" ones are under cover Canuks

Ryan: Condolences to the Hunter family...hope all goes well for the funeral tomorrow.  Prayers continuing for them, of course.

I really like the gentle S bend in the end wall of that rusted DT&I boxcar!

Some accidents are inexplicable, like the EHS ambulance that suddenly left the highway near Halifax yesterday killing a patient on a "routine" transfer.  No-one seems to know how or why it happened.

Jeff: I see what you mean about cutting down the decks on those flat cars.  Way better looking now.

Well folks, that's it for me for tonight. Prayers for all, and there's quite a number right now, in need of healing, comfort and peace.

 

 

 

[Cederstrand]

Excellent pics, guys. It's getting difficult to tell models from real life. Y'all are good. Thanks for posting them.

***Dick, might not be the best place to take a snooze, but does sound like the right climate conditions for it. Not sure I'm ready for fall yet, especially with the build only half done. But fall will be here before long whether I like it or not.

Spent a couple hours picking up rusted nails and shards of melted glass where the old home used to be. Seems they work their way up through the soil over time and after 3 flat tires, I'm trying to make it safe to use the tractor to bring in some more top soil. Eventually it will all be covered and turned into a lawn. Wife is planting shrubs around the car port. Should look better when everything grows and fills out.

Have a good night all. Rob

[grayfox1119]

But that's a U.S. Beaver! 

I thought you were going to send us a picture of a Canada Beaver?!?

 

Ya LUC!!! Where is the photo of a Canadian Beaver ??? That just looks like a Squirrel on steroids.

JERRY: Thanks for info on trees, very nice process and you can't beat that price !!

JIM: The Greater Bostonians don't have a clue what damage Beavers can do, yet they Ok laws for the rest of the state.

As for ladder, I survived the ladder again today, we had moss growing on the SW roof corner, a patch of about 20' X 10'. Two big Maple trees that we cut down last Fall used to keep this corner in the shade for most of the day, and this caused the moss to grow. I sprayed the roof area with a moss remover and then swept it off the roof. I had to wait 10 minutes for it to do it's thing, and I almost fell asleep on the roof. A beautiful view, clear blue skies, 68F, 30% humidity, a light breeze, trees starting to change color...I was laying on the roof and almost doozed off.

LEE: Thanks for the info, this will look great on the layout...does Sandy know what a Beaver looks like now ?? LOL

Pax Vobiscum,

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I did more work on the Mantua flatcars today and they look a lot less toy-like. The 1st photo shows how they looked when I got them. The 2nd photo is how they looked after I cut the tops down and leveled them with wallboard joint compound and the 3rd photo is haow they look now. I still have to make the scribed paper decks for them. The decks will be painted a dark wood color and will be weathered appropriately.

More later.

[SilverSpike]

Sure Rob, here are a few from my layout: