Elliot's Trackside Diner V, at the diamonds

[Packers#1]

Fall is definitly coming. Today's high was 73 farienhiet! Thank the Lord, my favorite season is fall. Tommorow's high is supposed to be 78, w/clouds and a 20% chance of rain.

 

And today's high was (drum roll please):

69 degrees. It IS starting to become fall.

[grayfox1119]

Dick, LOOK! Luc has a squirrel on his icon!

Lee

LEE...Yup, I see it yes, a squirrel on LUC's avatar!!!! LOL. Maybe WS and all the other animal model builders in HO scale don't know what a Beaver looks like!!

JEFF: My guess on your Willow tree wasn't far off, I thought it was around 60-70 years old, 57 by your ring count.

JERRY: Those are tooth picks for tree trunks ??? They look fat, or is that the photo doing that? The trees look stunning!! GREAT job Jerry !!! How did you make them Jerry? Give us a Jeffrey step by step please.

LUC: That is a doggone shame that poor Gloria has to suffer because the Doctor wants to se if she can "get by". Is he NUTS, or is this an example of Canadian Socialized medicine coverage...aka Contain the cost? We have kept Gloria in our prayers as well as you Luc....we miss you in the Diner.

Later guys,

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Today I counted the rings of the fallen willow tree in my parents back yard. That tree had been there since 1941, meaning it was 22 years old when the oldest part of the house was built in '63.

[Cederstrand]

Tall glass of lemon water, please.

Sounds like a lot of sad news in the Diner. Healing thoughts to all those in need.

Long day here...much done but very tired.

Rob

[Packers#1]

Packers#1:

Hmmmm... Time for some Celsius to Fahrenheit conversions:

This morning it was a lovely 44 degrees, and it warmed up to a beautiful 64 degrees!

Night all!

very funny (sorry man, couldn't resist )

super chief n: that's why i hate spring. I feel like crap for one week, then I'm ok. dang pollen!

Jerry: How'd you make those trees? and what scale are they?

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Just do what I did. Bite your lip, stop complaining and live with it.

[Flashwave]

Forgot to add:

Bill Tidler Jr: I haven't read or been a part of Elliot's for very long, but is there a reason for changing the Subject name to the date? Honestly, I find it annoying, because I end up getting 3 separate emails for what is "essentially" the same post.

1. Some with yesterday's date, posts posted yesterday;
2. Some with today's date, posts posted today;
3. Some marked just Elliot's Trackside Diner V, at the Diamonds

Could/should we decide on a single title that we would always use? Just my 2 cents.

Nah, cause you'll just get swamped with e-mails anyway. Some of the posters find it useful to know which post was day. These are people we call organized, and are an endangered species.  

Also, you'll get some that will say Trackside Diner, And some that will say Elliot's Trackside Diner. None of the rest of it. The best thing to do is to find the earliest post that's either a date or says it's the diner, click on it, go to last page, and backtrack a page or two until you get to the page with the first new post. It will automatically take you to that post once your on that page. Then just read the new posts from there. When you've checked all the posts, go back and highlight all the e-mails, and tell them they've been read. or delete them. Either way, they don;t get cumbersome.  

Still, I'd like to get 1 email for Elliot's, not 3-4.

So would we all. Just wait until you go on vacation for a weekend during the winter, You might have them all read by the next spring.  But it;s not like we talk alot or anything... 

[Railfan Alex]

Forgot to add:

Bill Tidler Jr: I haven't read or been a part of Elliot's for very long, but is there a reason for changing the Subject name to the date? Honestly, I find it annoying, because I end up getting 3 separate emails for what is "essentially" the same post.

1. Some with yesterday's date, posts posted yesterday;
2. Some with today's date, posts posted today;
3. Some marked just Elliot's Trackside Diner V, at the Diamonds

Could/should we decide on a single title that we would always use? Just my 2 cents.

Nah, cause you'll just get swamped with e-mails anyway. Some of the posters find it useful to know which post was day. These are people we call organized, and are an endangered species.  

Also, you'll get some that will say Trackside Diner, And some that will say Elliot's Trackside Diner. None of the rest of it. The best thing to do is to find the earliest post that's either a date or says it's the diner, click on it, go to last page, and backtrack a page or two until you get to the page with the first new post. It will automatically take you to that post once your on that page. Then just read the new posts from there. When you've checked all the posts, go back and highlight all the e-mails, and tell them they've been read. or delete them. Either way, they don;t get cumbersome.  

Still, I'd like to get 1 email for Elliot's, not 3-4.

[LSWrr]

Jeff, thanks for the crossing tips.  Wear your Life Jacket.

Jerry, nice trees, those are tooth picks??

Dick, LOOK! Luc has a squirrel on his icon!

Lee

[Flashwave]

Forgot to add:

Bill Tidler Jr: I haven't read or been a part of Elliot's for very long, but is there a reason for changing the Subject name to the date? Honestly, I find it annoying, because I end up getting 3 separate emails for what is "essentially" the same post.

1. Some with yesterday's date, posts posted yesterday;
2. Some with today's date, posts posted today;
3. Some marked just Elliot's Trackside Diner V, at the Diamonds

Could/should we decide on a single title that we would always use? Just my 2 cents.

Nah, cause you'll just get swamped with e-mails anyway. Some of the posters find it useful to know which post was day. These are people we call organized, and are an endangered species.  

Also, you'll get some that will say Trackside Diner, And some that will say Elliot's Trackside Diner. None of the rest of it. The best thing to do is to find the earliest post that's either a date or says it's the diner, click on it, go to last page, and backtrack a page or two until you get to the page with the first new post. It will automatically take you to that post once your on that page. Then just read the new posts from there. When you've checked all the posts, go back and highlight all the e-mails, and tell them they've been read. or delete them. Either way, they don;t get cumbersome.  

[Railfan Alex]

Forgot to add:

Bill Tidler Jr: I haven't read or been a part of Elliot's for very long, but is there a reason for changing the Subject name to the date? Honestly, I find it annoying, because I end up getting 3 separate emails for what is "essentially" the same post.

1. Some with yesterday's date, posts posted yesterday;
2. Some with today's date, posts posted today;
3. Some marked just Elliot's Trackside Diner V, at the Diamonds

Could/should we decide on a single title that we would always use? Just my 2 cents.

[Railfan Alex]

Hi Guys!

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.

Garry: I guess Montreal is a nice city! I haven't lived anywhere else, and it's #1 on Monopoly, that must mean something!

[Packer]

Afternoon guys.

Well I worked again today. My only MRR related plans are to install a decoder into a GP7, and finish up that caboose. I managed to get someone to work for me on saturday, so Hopefully I can make it to the Dothan train show.

Last night I went to the local MR club. Ran my 2 SD45s as a pair, made it up the helix with 50 actual cars. But the clubs cars don't roll well and are too heavy, so it's closer to 100 something cars. Now I wait for athearns F45s in BN to MU 2 F45s to my SD45s. Probably could pull every club car with that set up.

Also, a club member knocked over one of my SD45s, and it hit the floor. Luckily it was in it's box, and the horn was the only thing to to come off. So now I need 2 Leslie S3K horns. (one for one of my U28Bs, and one for that SD45). I also took a spin with my U28Bs after I parked my big train led by the pair of SD45s. I maganed to have a cornfield meet, with myself . Not just once, but twice. After that I took my Gp9s for a spin, just did a little bit of switching, then tested 2 of my GP30s. One needs new axles... I left after that becuase it was 9, and I had to be at work by 6.

So I have a fairly large list of stuff to get and do.

Do: Finish caboose, install decoder in PRR GP7, take off the drop steps on my U-boats, secure buehler motor to my athearn Gp35 frame (I did the milling the other day)

To buy: 2 Leslie S3K horns, coupler boxes for my U28B (had the kadee box in it), motor and flywheel for P2K SD9, worms, worm bearing and the worm socket from an athearn with the hex drive, and some driveshafts with the ball and two nubs.

Waiting on: Decoders for my C425s, and my dad's work to get it's media blaster (In october). I searched, and the media blaster is supposed to be the best way to remove the paint on a Kato.

[Geared Steam]

Lazzez les Bonne Temps Roulle......Geaux Tigers!

Rolling on dude rolling on :).......Geaux Tigers!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Mowed the grass this morning then helped my father move half of that willow tree. The pieces were cut 12 to 14 inches long but they're still really heavy. We were using a dump bed trailer to move them. He'd roll the section up into the lowered bed and I'd push the front of the bed down and lock it then drive the tractor over to the edge of a marsh area not very far away and he'd roll the section out. We kept that up until all the pieces that have been cut were moved. About half the tree is still there but the bridge is clear. It has some damage underneath, Two 2x8 cross members were torn loose and a 2x6 cross brace was pulled loose. That part of the deck is down about 6 inches. Fixing it is gonna be a royal pain in the butt because it's all out over the water! The 4x6 runners holding the deck have to be jacked up into position before the cross members can be raised back to where they need to be. That gets real interesting when you're working from a boat.

[NS Luc]

Hello all.

Have not visited the old diner in a while, so I thought I'd let you know that the rumours of my death have been highly exaggerated and I'm still living...

Gloria has had a scope done on her knee way back in July with the results showing that her right knee is basically bone-on-bone.  The surgeon wants to see if she can get along like this.  The answer to that is a simple NO.  Currently her knee and everything below it has swollen to 3 times normal size and she can hardly walk.  Much of my free time has been spent looking after her.  Ebony, the cat, keeps her company when I'm at work.

One of my nephew, Jimmy, was severely hurt in Afghanistan by an attack from the taliban who blew up a tank in front of his then proceeded to fire Armour piercing ammunitions on the other ones.  Three of our brave Canadian heroes died that day.

So needless to say not much work has been done with Gloetown.  The table is full of things that should not be there, to the purists in our hobby, this would be consider 'sacrilegious'.

Gloria and I thank you so much for your prayers, we both know that many have and continue to pray for us.

I have missed a lot on here, birthdays, anniversaries and the not so happy moments of our lifes, I keep wondering how our great founder Elliott is doing.

And life goes on...

[Robby P.]

Well, all I need is what ever you have thats 100 proof for me thanks!!!!!!!

Thats been my day so far.  The back porch is on some center blocks, and the one side is starting to lean.  OH GREAT!!!!  So......I thought later this week to reinforce with some 4x4 and cement them into the ground for now.  That should work.  Next the basement has a bathroom, and I took a pit stop.  Hit the light switch and BAM, a fire ball out of the light box.  Now its not a finished basement, and it will be a easy fix.  The bad thing is, half of the basement has no power(work bench, radio outlets) so far.  I guess its time to call the father in law.  Looks like a breaker is bad now.  Won't switch over.  I have some electrical exp, but not enough.  Now, hes a electrical engineer.   Hopefully he can make it this weekend.  I have some trains to weather, and I just don't feel like running drop cords. 

I think I will hear it from the wife later.  We just don't have any goodluck at all.  

[Paul W. Beverung]

Afternoon Gang: Well just barely. I just came in from hauling brush that we trimed along the fence lines. My allergies have me on the ropes. The whole deal, sneezing, running nose, itchey eyes, headach, etc. It's been about 15 years since I've had this much trouble.

Ryan I'm sorry to hear about Brenda. Please extend my sympathies to the family.

Jeff I think that I have some Mantua flat cars that I'll have to get running. They are cast metal and will have to go under the milling machine to remove the slopped mount for the old loop couplers. Yes they are very old.

Someone shot 5 cows and 2 horses about 3 miles from us. They used a high powered rifle from a car on the road. Later that night they came back and cut out the toungs of two of the cows. The sheriff called they low life cowards and he will find out who they are. I know that H.D. Britton the Texas Southwestern investergator will also be looking for them. He's good and that is his only job so they are going to get caught.

Jerry those are really good looking trees. From tooth picks hu. What did you for follage?

Well the water works are really running so I need to find another hanky.

See you all later.

 

[Cox 47]

Good Morning All...Its sunny and cool here this morning dipped down into upper 40's last nite and headed for low 70's for a high..Great weather!!....I'll have biscuits and gravey and coffee please...Thank You...

Jeff...Nice work on old Mantua flats I'd call that Sows ear to Silk purse modeling..I'd like to see photos when you get them done...

JR...Thanks for tip on circus wagons..I am going to give that a try..Sounds like you are gonna be busy the next few weeks...Have you had any time to work at Museum?

Ryan...Sorry to here about Ben's Friend Eric's Mother...

I was fiddling around yesterday afternoon and made some trees with tooth picks and a little WS....

 

You all have a good one...Jerry

[grayfox1119]

Good morning gents, a beauty of a day today, 64F, very low humidity, completely clear sky. The new Bow window ( 4 lite ) arrived here this morning at 7:45, so I was still in bed asleep ( yes, but I was up until 12:30 last night dead tired ). I flew out of bed at the wife's begonning to help the driver unload the window. Thankfully he had a roller ramp, this window is a heavy beast. When we converted all our upper level windows back in 1998, we did not change this window out ( $$ ) the budget was spent. The window is in sad shape, not energy efficient, and faces the Northeast, and being on a hilltop, this gets a beating in the Winter. The new one has all the latest energy efficient features, Argon gas filled, thick double pane, UV glass all that stuff. So Saturday that gets installed with the help of sons, daughter and SIL and 2 grandsons.

JEFF: You really should start documenting your tips and construction ideas Jeff, they could be printed in future editions of MRR. And, you may also get MRR craftsman award, you certainly earn it with your fine workmanship!!! I like the gravel road, I am going to use your tip for mine.

RYAN: That is horrible!!! Please convey our thoughts and prayers to the family. I think each of us has been touched by traffic accidents in someway. I lost my cousin years ago in a traffic accident, his wife was 9 months pregnant. How long do you think it will take to do your house???? I ddi mine in a three days....split level ranch with an "L" out the back.

GARRY: Yup, had an accident of sorts with ladder back in 1993. I had just cleaned the chimney one nice February morning, and was coming back onto the ladder with the poles and brush. I had one foot on the ladder and was swinging my other foot onto the top rung when the ladder slid out from under me. The ladder was on the wooden deck which had been sealed in the Fall so it was water beaded in the early morning dew. So there I was hanging from the eaves as it slowly was giving way. I finally realized that my wife could not hear me, so I dropped straight down with my legs bent slightly. My left foot landed ona small patch of ice and was taken out backwards like a rope was tied to it. My Patella Tendon was ripped off my lower leg bone and my kneecap was up in upper thigh. I ddin't feel any pain, but when I tried to stand up, I went down just as fast. I was later told by the surgeon that these type injuries are very common in Paratroopers. I told him, "close Doc, just not from a plane". I no longer trust ladder rubber feet on any wood surface, I only use the ground now, and if the ground is questionable, I drive a crowbar inbetween the first rung...that ladder is going nowhere.

Later guys

[SilverSpike]

We got some very sad news late last night. We had just returned from TLC at the church around 9:00 pm and listened to a voice mail from Bens' friend Eric who said something about his mom and to call back, mostly unintelligible message but we knew it was Eric on the phone. Long story short, we learned that Eric's mom Brenda was involved in a fatal car accident yesterday afternoon on the way to work. Apparently her Mustang got hit on the passenger side from an oncoming van traveling on Jones Dairy Road, which is the main road out of our neighborhood. It was raining all day yesterday and with little to go on for now we think that either the van or Brenda's Mustang must have hydroplaned and caused the vehicle to swerve into oncoming traffic. We will know more in the next few days with arrangements and such.

  In Loving Memory of Brenda Hunter-Envoldson  

Mother to Eric and Carrie Envoldson, and Wife to Michael Hunter and friend to many

 

Rob: Prayers for your wife's shoulder to be fixed ASAP.

Ryan: Monique is very much a keeper!

Kim P said that would be great if everyone bought their kits because they were named after family members....

...Three identical stations yet to be built for the Maritime Trunk are the Model Power MALDEN kit.  I grew up in Morden, Surrey, and Merton and Malden were not far away.  So when I saw the name, it definitely went into the purchase decision!

Rob I was not aware of your wife's shoulder so prayers and thoughts for her recovery and healing!

Thanks Der, she sure is a keeper and all my heart too! Kim will be glad to hear of another common named kit buyer.

I served up some Cajun Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya and some of my Black and Bleu Chicken. Just click the links to view and print the recipes.

aaaaaaeeeeeeeeee boy dat sum nice luziana cookin you got going dere son. Make us proud Geaux Tigers....  

Lazzez les Bonne Temps Roulle......Geaux Tigers!

  I think I have two paint jobs lined up so far, RYAN needs his house painted, and now ROB needs his barn painted. I really don't mind painting, I actually find it relaxing when I am not rushed. Lets see, we can work out a barder deal here, Ryan is a great Chef, so I can get room and board, and great Cajon meals, and Rob, what do you have to offer? Of course I would need toll and gas money both ways to get to your houses.

Yepper Dick....Cajon meals fer sur.....and that should keep you busy for a few months too!

Good evening diners!

Cajun Chef Ryan's recipe's look terrific. Ryan, I think my friend from Paducah was at your train show. Did you notice a guy from Paducah selling RR books?

Thanks and sure enough Garry, we saw him there with about 10 tables full of railroad books and some dining plates and wares too! Wish I knew he was your friend before so I could have properly introduced myself, oh well, next time I guess.

Jeff, your grade crossing technique is much appreciated, thanks for posting it here!

Gav, I like your building!

Tom W, I've seen some bumper stickers around here that say, "Yankee go home" I think it's a red neck thang!

TrainsRMe1, glad you like the Gumbo!

Thoughts, hugs and prayers for all my Train Buds, their families and friends!

[pcarrell]

Morning all!

A little nippy this morning!  I rode in on my scoot and it was, shall we say......brisk!  54 degrees, and I was doing 40mph most of the way.  I'm awake!

Rob, take care of that wife!  Hope she's better this morning.

[LSWrr]

Good morning from the chilly north coast!

Well I think fall fell a week early up here, can only hope for a good Indian summer.

Garry, that's pretty cool I bet the kids will enjoy those trains!

I did a little work on the MoW cars last night; maybe I can finish those this weekend.  I need to get myself back to the layout and finish laying the spurs for the MoW equipment and that rotary dumper I started.

Lee

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff - thanks for sharing the tip on crossings. I've been rolling an old Tyco diesel truck with the big deep flanges through the partially set plaster which is messy. Your (Lifelikes) idea is better. The graveled road looks great as well.

The gravel road was really easy to make. I just made a semi-smooth road surface with wallboard joint compound and allowed it to dry. Afterwards I coated it with white glue and applied a generous layer of WS fine gray ballast and gently pressed it in. I carefully blew off the loose stuff. After that I sprinkled on some WS green blend turf. The result is what you see in the photo.

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,

    Loads of fog this morning and a bit of a chill. A nice hot cup of coffee (cream no sugar please - what we locals call regular) would be a real treat just now. Maybe a toasted, buttered hard roll as well. Buried in work again and off to Elkhart Lake Wisconsin tomorrow morning for the weekend. This will be the start of three weekends in a row again with Danville Virginia the week after and then Lime Rock after that.

Jeff - thanks for sharing the tip on crossings. I've been rolling an old Tyco diesel truck with the big deep flanges through the partially set plaster which is messy. Your (Lifelikes) idea is better. The graveled road looks great as well.

Jerry - glad your chair got fixed. Could you try embossing the back of your pictures with the end cap off a sharpie or similar rounded off point? That could add some depth without a lot of extra carving.

Gavin - perhaps it is time to petition management to tile the lift floors or at least add slop buckets for the urchins. "I almost made it back to the room" wouldn't cut it with me.

Well - time to get back to it. Lots to do and little time left to do it.   Cheers,  J.R.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning.

It's 62 and partly cloudy. The high is expected to be around 80 and it will be partly cloudy.

Most of yesterday was taken up with getting started on cutting up the willow that fell on my parent's island bridge. Man, that tree's big! We made a cut through the middle of it. It's just under two feet thick there. We also cut off several of the large branches. It's gonna be slow going. I cut down the tops of two old Mantua flatcars last night to make them, well, more flat. I leveled off the tops with wallboard joint compound. Later I'll put scribed paper over them and paint it to look like wood decking.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      9/17/2008

Wind Chill:  60°F
Humidity:  84%
Dew Point:  56°F

So Far Today
High:  62°F
Low:  61°F
Rain:  0.00"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  8mph NNE

Today  High: 78    Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 70s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

Tonight  Low: 58    Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 50s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

***Jeffrey, I can't believe that car warped that much through a window. How hot was it inside? Yikes! Nice tutorial on the RR crossing. Thanks for posting that series of pics. Is that a farm pickup truck with hay/grass in the bed? Sure resembles the bed of ours.

My windows are made of a type of tough plastic called lexan. I got tired of rocks, baseballs and  basketballs breaking the glass. It has a weird habit of twisting the light into bands. The part of the car that isn't warped was in partial shadow. The trick with using shoestrings to make the flangeways is something I picked up from Life-Like's scene-tips magazine many years ago. That's Ezra Smith's old '71 Chevy truck. He runs a gas station as well as helps his daughter raise horses.

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning from Tipton IN ! 

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good evening diners!

Cajun Chef Ryan's recipe's look terrific. Ryan, I think my friend from Paducah was at your train show. Did you notice a guy from Paducah selling RR books?

Packer, I know waht you mean baout walthers grab irons. You have to be extremely patient. I'd only do one or two per evening if your new at it. I sometimes cheat using #78 drills instead of #80's, and that works fine for me. Have plenty of spare drill bits, too, if it's your first time.

Gav .. the building looks great!

Rob:..Sorry to learn your wife was hurt lifting a heavy patient. I saw some big patients in my recent stay in the cardiac unit. All that weight is not good for health. They even have double wide wheel chairs for them.

Dick:  One of my retired friends here fell off a ladder similar to yours. He badly broke a leg. Next time, consider getting a young guy to do that sort of work.

Tom: You can attest to the dangers of senior clumsiness; correct? Perhaps you can explain the concept to Dick.

Montreal Alex...... I used to make business trips to your beautiful city back when I actually worked for a living. Nice town!  

TrainsRMe says he's introducing the hobby to the neighbors. Thumbs up for him! 

Everybody: Did you know a covered hopper is a rabbit wearing a hat?

Our family in Cincinnati is still without power since Ike passed thru on Sunday. That city had a huge blackout form Ike.

Like many of you I accumulate trains. Now, I'm fixing up some old Tyco and Bachman train set type stuff. I have put together a steam pwered freight train and a diesel passenger train. I'm giving this stuff to two brothers of about 10 years old more or less. Their parents bring them to church regularly, and they don't have much money. So I'm giving the boys the train set I'm putting together.  

Happy Model Railroading

 

 

 

 

[sleeper33]

unfortunately Der no

did the building while they were at V.R. busy when the got back now got to clean up someones stomach contents which they decided to leave on the carpet in the lift lobby dirty sod!

 yes Paul that would be preferable at least i woudnt have to do the above job