***Garry, video looks fine to me. And the layout looks like a blast to opperate. Excellent ground work around the tracks. Bet those fire flashes look real nice in the dark.
Seeing all the work that goes into creating a great layout, sometimes I wonder if I'll ever have one, considering I haven't really begun one in ernest yet. Maybe next year.
Rob
Garry,
Very cool, thanks for sharing! What DCC system are you using?
Lee
Rob, first build the house, then the train layout :)
BM1 Lee Soule USCG (ret) L.S.&W Railroad Serving the Lower Great Lakes
Rob and Lee .......... thanks.
Lee ..... it's just DC. I have blocks and hand held throttles. Every time I consider DCC for over 100 locos, I can't justify the cost.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Evening Gang: Not a great deal going on here. Daisy is doing allright. She is not supposed to run or jump up on things. espically no going up or down stairs. I have to carry her while supporting her entire body evenly. Not an easy thing to do when she wants to do it herself. She is taking pain pills so that isn't keeping her from doing those things. The vet can give her tranquilizeers if needed. I'm going to wait and see on that.
In other news I went over to the track and got out my diesel to use pulling a work train. Another one of the guys and his son and I went out and worked on several places that needed attention. We got four fixed and will have to go back and try again on two.
I see that Ike is predicted to head for the cost between NOLA and Texas. Sometimes I guess lightning can strick twice. Let's hope not.
Lee I've used full buildings for back round buildings several times. I bought the cheaper Bachman, Life Like, and such. I built the building and then cut them in two at an angle to get two buildings for a corner. It worked pretty well.
Well I am going to head for bed.
Good Night All
Good Morning from Tipton IN !
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
Good morning,
Garry, every time I consider DCC something expensive breaks and I have to divert the funds. I've had money in hand 3 times and the money was diverted to: New injectors for the truck, breaks, and a new starter. I liked all the movement in your movies, local switching, freights going by in the back ground, very impressive.
Der, cool pictures, Dorothy saw it and she demanded I install a replica on my layout, LOL!
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Good Mornin' All.
I couldn't sleep so I thought I would pop in for a few minutes, Laurel, I'll take two eggs and sausage and toast, oh yes, I'll have a hot cup of green tea please, How are things goin'?? I see it's quite here in the early mornin', Well, the weather out here in the beautiful Pacific NW is going to be perfect for the whole week on though next Saturday!!!!! Sunny about mid 70's to low 80's Can't argue that.
Jeff, I have been following Ike on the Weather Channel, and your right, it's not looking to good, hopfully it will (with prayers) come back down to just a tropical strom,
Packers #1, What is your win lost record, When I was a kid, my friends and cousins would have a neighborhood fooball game every Saturday, since there wasn't a park or field close by, we would play our games in the street, and call it the 14th avenue bowl, of corse cars would interupt our play so we would call that a car commercial 14th ave was not a main street, it was a quite side street.
How's it goin' Ryan, Well I think I'll try to get back to sleep, see you guys later
Good night, and Good morning
Trainsrme1
Sawyer Berry
Clemson University c/o 2018
Building a protolanced industrial park layout
in a Southern Pacific AC-12 mug, please & thanks. (yea, I think they look pretty cool. But for over $300 without sound??? Ouch!)
***Lee, I would think any HO scale circus decals might be useful. Not going to worry about it until the new train room is built and wife is ready to get going with her layout. She talks about it often now, which I find promising. Thanks for the heads-up on your friends Champ decals. When I have a chance, I'll look into them.
Wife & I looked at the MR mag last night and when she saw the ad for Sparkling Star Models circus cars, she immediately wanted them. Said they would make a great Christmas present. I don't know what that will cost...GULP! Probably more than a AC-12 when all is said and done, eh?
Dragging today and still tons to do. Hope everyone is doing well. Gotta get back at it here.
Morning all from SunnyCal--it was a nice, pleasant (?) 107 out here in Carmichael, yesterday. Had to go get my injection dressing changed, and then waited in the parking lot of the hospital for my buddy to pick me up. Talk about MELT! Leg's doing pretty well--a little stiff in the mornings, but I'm on an exercise regimen that helps it along. I've gone from wheelchair to walker and am now on a cane. I was grousing to my lady-friend that this is sure taking a long time, and I'm usually a quick healer. She grinned and said, "The last accident you had was twenty years ago when you blew out the same knee skiing. You're 68 now, SLOW DOWN!"
Mutter.
Paul: So sorry to hear about Daisy--hope she mends soon. She probably will--she seems to have an owner that cares for her a lot. Lowell's doing pretty well--still eating like crazy. Yesterday he chased a bug for about five minutes (the Great White Hunter, LOL!) so he's still pretty active.
Garry: Those movies were WONDERFUL! I really like that mill. And who says that we DC'ers are limited to just one train at a time, HUNH? Great job!
Jeff: Hope Ike changes his mind--the last thing you need is TWO whammies down there.
Cox: I know that Champ is out of business, but I was wondering about WS dry transfers? They used to have a HUGE variety of them--possibly some circus transfers? You might check their catalogue. I like the colors on that circus car.
Rob: If I were you, I'd check and see what the regulations are down there for idiot teenagers and rifles. The kid sounds at the least stupid, at the worst: dangerous.
Lee: Well, I'm one of the Oldest Farts I know, I might be able to help you on those Roundhouse cars--what have you got? Are they plastic or metal? Let me know, I'll see if I can be of any help.
Should have my four Sherman tanks next week to finish off my military train. Also have an appointment to have my stitches checked--possibly removed--so maybe I can hobble out to the garage and dust off the layout. Just found that my brass Z-6 has been moved back a month, so it looks as if it's going to be my Christmas present to myself. Hey, I'm patient--I mean it's not as if I don't have any OTHER Articulateds to run, LOL! I think when I've got the military train finally assembled, I'll hook up one of my L-105 Challengers to it. Saw a photo of one like that on the Rio Grande in one of my books, and it was DEFINITELY drool-inducing
Well, that's about it from SunnyCal--Lowell's staring at me VERY patiently, so it's Gerber's time.
Best to all, prayers to those in need.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Tom, I found MDC on the inside of the car, inside the center I beam. These cars have a cast metal bottom that the couplers and the wheels mount to, then a 1 piece plastic body goes ontop. I found online they are MDC/Roundhouse kits. The couplers and wheels are laid over a cast metal post then the post is mushroomed to hold everything in place. I know they are older than 1971 since they don't appear in anybodys catalog from 1971 to 1974. I wonder what year MDC made these. In 1974 roundhouse re-released these cars in all plastic.
Good afternoon
Thanks Tom for the remarks on the movies. Thanks again to Rob and Lee. I'm thinking of doing more. I posted the movies on wpf, but I don't know if anybody there saw them. Actually, I am considering DCC because of complciations with control panels, blocks, toggle switches, and all of those stupid gremilns. It won't be cheap, and I would need to thin out my locomotive fleet considerably.
Also, I would again want to thank each of you for your friendship and support regarding health issues. I go back to medical appointments tomorrow to follow up after my events in mid-August. I believe the new treatments have the heart rhytm under much better control. It will be better to ride in a car to Nashville than being nearly dead in a helicopter flying there as was the case for me last time I went to Nashville. Speaking of such, I'm hoping to learn it's safe for me to drive again.
Another personal thing. It was a year ago yesterday that Shelley lost her youngest sister to lung disease, and she's thinking a lot about that.
Take care of your health everybody.
Happy Model Railroading.
Lee:
I'd probably date those MDC cars to the mid to late 'sixties. I've got several that I picked up about that time and they had the cast metal underframes. I remember I spent more time filing the darned frames than I did putting the cars together. I've got several Milwaukee rib-side boxcars from that era. They track really well. Their older all-metal cars were REALLY sturdy--total screwdriver assembly--I've got several cattle cars from the 'fifties, and I have to put them toward the head of my stock train--even with new trucks, they'd stringle the train if I put them near the caboose, LOL!
But I'd say '64 to '69 for those metal-bottomed cars.
Garry, sorry to hear of the loss in your family even though it was a year ago it's still tough on a person. On a brighter note: I'm thinking of the Super empire builder DCC system for my layout, yea it will cost a little to install the decoders in your locomotives, but it will be worth it in the end. I've seen simple decoders for $10 each and hey I was sweating converting all my old rolling stock from horn couplers to knuckle couplers and here I am almost 60% of the way done. I hope your check-ups end with pleasant surprises.
Tom, thanks for the info (sounds like antique road show in the diner). I haven't seen them on EBay over the last couple of years and can't find them online. I didn't want to ruin them by installing knuckle couplers, but I think I will anyway. My dad built them years ago he might enjoy seeing them on the mainline now and then.
Well the laundry room in the basement is almost done. I re-pointed the blocks, and put 2 coats of Killz on the walls. The floor is ready for the epoxy paint, but need to let the walls dry a couple of days before I can do that.
Lee-- On those MDC cars--Kadee #5's will pop right into those coupler boxes with no problem. I don't know about the new Kadee 'whiskers', but they look as if they might work, also. I replaced the wheelsets in mine with P2K 33" rib-back, and they roll right nice, by golly.
twhite wrote:Lee-- On those MDC cars--Kadee #5's will pop right into those coupler boxes with no problem. I don't know about the new Kadee 'whiskers', but they look as if they might work, also. I replaced the wheelsets in mine with P2K 33" rib-back, and they roll right nice, by golly. Tom
refill, please & thanks.
***Lee, sounds like progress on your laundry room is coming right along. We can't wait to move ours into the new build where the hot air exhaust can go right out the back of the structure, instead of through a very long duct I had to put up across my workshop. It will be soooo much more efficient, too.
Shot an e-mail off to the DNR Wildlife Resources Division with an explanation of what I have witnessed with those two teenagers. Will wait to see what they suggest. I would not mind getting them on camera again. Caught one of them on video last year, holding up what looked like a migratory egret, but lost that tape in the house fire....gurrr! Wife is torn between reporting them and just turning a blind eye so as not to start a war with a neighbor. I understand her point, but personally I would rather put some heat on them and deal with them as need be if they become more stupid than they already are. Tough call. Any thoughts?
Got the ledgers loosely up and the 6"x6" post set for the deep end of the new porch. Wasn't too hard considering it's just me.
Oh, having computer problems. "Disk Boot Failure" came up several times. Ordered a new power supply (long overdue). Not sure if that could have anything to do with it or not? I finally opened up the case, blew all the dust out and it started normally again. Whew!
jeffrey-wimberly wrote: twhite wrote: Lee-- On those MDC cars--Kadee #5's will pop right into those coupler boxes with no problem. I don't know about the new Kadee 'whiskers', but they look as if they might work, also. I replaced the wheelsets in mine with P2K 33" rib-back, and they roll right nice, by golly. Tom The whisker (#148) will work anywhere the #5 will. Kadee has a 25 pair bulk pack of the #148 for $39.95.
twhite wrote: Lee-- On those MDC cars--Kadee #5's will pop right into those coupler boxes with no problem. I don't know about the new Kadee 'whiskers', but they look as if they might work, also. I replaced the wheelsets in mine with P2K 33" rib-back, and they roll right nice, by golly. Tom
Jeff:
Thanks for the information--I've been thinking of trying out those Whisker's--I've heard really good things about their 'centering' capabilities. Have I heard correctly that Kadee offers them also in a shorter-shank version for close coupling on diesel cab units and passenger cars? That would be good news.
Tom, not a problem with what coupler to use since I have a few of each here (just finished car #155 coupler swap since July). The interesting trick will be the posts. The car body is one piece of die cast metal. The couplers are mounted on die cast posts that have been mushroomed to hold the coupler in place. I'll have to grind off the metal mushroom post then mushroom it again.
If you have the 2008 Walther's catalog page 275 ish is a complete comparison chart for Kadee.
380-11 Kadee #5 couplers, 20 pair $25.75. 280-140 Whiskers are $79.50 for 50 pair.
Rob, look for the 1-800-poacher number for the DNR in your state. It's an anonyms tip line anyone can call. Try to do a Disc Check on your hard drive. Might be a hard drive going bad or a loose connection on the Hard Drive.
Well I just won 2 piggy back flat cars. Looks like this guy is selling his father's complete collection off on the bay. I see locomotives starting at $12 for proto 2000.
Ok back to work, LOL
A tall glass of lemon water, and grilled salmon with garlic mashed potatoes, please & thanks.
***Sawyer & Lee, speaking of a fence: I went out (while they were shooting) to work on the fence on our side of the creek, digging new post holes. Also put my old video camera in an obvious location, just for good measure. Right before dusk one fella came over to let me know he was just shooting at doves and he wouldn't shoot in my direction. (((Gotta get this guy on video when he doesn't know he's being filmed))) I gave him one stern warning, "Don't mess with my animals". Then added, "and don't shoot at anything you don't want the DNR to know about". Thought I heard a slight scoff at the mention of the DNR, which makes you wonder if he's had others report him before. ps: I took his photo, too.
Got a lot done today and am completely spent. Will be in a corner booth, perhaps nodding off.
Evening, Flo - I'll have some beef stew, please,
and a root beer float, too.
Thanks!
I see that DerJohn was in - and I missed him! Oh, well, good to see you were in and that you've been working on the scenery, Der. I like your rocks, even if you still have some greenery to go. I loved your Starlight Diner pics, too. Have you talked with Luc & Gloria in a while?
Rob, what'd you end up doing with your quickcrete and phone cable decision? And how about your gun-happy neighbor kids? One thing that should help you is, your layout'll be in iNvisible scale, so you have less square footage to get covered up (with plywood, foamboard, plaster, scenery, etc.) and it should go quicker for you. You may have to hide the MR issues from your wife until after Christmas, at the current rate her list is growing.
Garry, your layout's going like a (ahem...) blast furnace afire! That is awesome, given that you're using DC. Do you have speakers and tapes hidden under the mill complex? You give me hope that some amazing things can be done with 'lowly' DC. I'd have to agree with you and Lee, that there are times (more than one or two) when I wonder how I'll get the funds together for a 'basic starter' DCC setup (not counting decoders for all the locos I have just now).
LSWrr wrote:Does anybody know anything about early MDC/Roundhouse rolling stock? Trying to put a date to some old box cars.Rob/Jerry, what CHAMP decals are you looking for? There is a guy east of me that is a retired CAMP dealer and has thousands of decals in his closet. Most of them he sells for $5. Problem is you would need to know what stock number you wanted.Lee
Does anybody know anything about early MDC/Roundhouse rolling stock? Trying to put a date to some old box cars.
Rob/Jerry, what CHAMP decals are you looking for? There is a guy east of me that is a retired CAMP dealer and has thousands of decals in his closet. Most of them he sells for $5. Problem is you would need to know what stock number you wanted.
Lee, you might check this site: (HO Seeker)
http://www.hoseeker.org/
It has a lot of Roundhouse and other instruction sheets, etc. which may help you put a date on your stuff. If someone else hasn't already told you by now, that is... You're making excellent progress on your laundry room (and moving toward the layout 'expansion'...)
For Jerry - and others, here's the Champ Decals site, which is still up and running:
http://www.minot.com/champ/
They have online ordering of what they do still have in stock. The last I heard (and that they have posted), they are trying to trim down their stock, but they keep the website updated close. If I recall correctly, on a lot of their decals you can see images of them online, too. I ordered some decals from them last year (for passenger cars and for my CAW locos). They ship 'em right out pretty quickly, too. Tom, listen to your lady-friend! It does sound like Lowell's feeling better if he's 'on the hunt' again. Do you have your cabeese hidden away, since you can't move around as quickly? Being as how Lowell's feeling that spunky...
Jeff, I hope Raul's little island gets the main whallop of Ike, so you and the rest of the Gulf Coast don't. Besides, I think it'd be fitting for a hurricane named 'Ike' to make a mess of one of the last Communist dictatorships... (but that's just my ...)
We've had nice weather here today, reaching to about 79 F this afternoon. I was able to have the fans on and windows open for a while. Then went over to a single friend's house to finish getting some of her (ancient) WordPerfect files transferred from her old Mac (Performa) to her newer iMac (the flat-panel one that looks like an overgrown Tensor desklamp). I was just doing it because she's a fellow Mac user, and then as I'm heading out the door, she gives me a (nice) check. Heck, I would've done it for free - now I feel like I should've been wearing a mask, but she won't hear of taking the check back. Okay, I guess I can find some bills or maybe some MRR stuff to apply that toward, right? (Now, if I could get her more interested in me...)
'bout time for me to finish up my dinner and head out, Diners. See you in the morning. Prayers for safety along the east coast, and for Ike to near empty itself on Cuba instead.
Blessings,
Jim in Cape Girardeau
Here's a couple of items I worked on today.
A Bachmann GP40 shell on an Athearn GP60 frame.
And a Bachmann GP50 shell on an Athearn GP50 frame.
These were both shotgun weddings. I like the look of the ALCO trucks.
Evening all. Did you kbnow there was a Train Show in Danville? Neither did Dad or I until today. Walked in to find about a half-dozen booths, mad a comment about this being a bust, and proceeded to walk out later with info on two clinics (working with styrene ((Ugh)) and on Operations: waybill and/or switchlists) an Athearn RMC 40th Anniversary, a Trainline Tracks Ahead advertising Boxcar for 23, a free kit steel Gondola of an obscure maker handed out so kids get uinterested in building models and trains and probabl;y retailed at about 15, and a set of 6 beautiful N&W worktrain cars by IHC (Kitchen, Bunk, Tool, Engineering, SpikeRail, Tie), plus a Wells Fargo Old Tyme combine, Plus a Palace Car kit in B&O coloros, but letters for Pullman for 40. The Work Train alone was 6 each, for 36. What kind of steamer would look good with them?
Tom and all: While your laid up, you might look up a book called Merle's Door by Ted Kerasote. It about a dog, but Lowell's personality through all of his ordeals reminds me of the stories he told of Merle. It's a good read, but I skipped all the history of the evolution of the species and how they intertwined with early Man
-Morgan
Hey all, wat hapinin',
I just finished having a nightmere of a time tyring to wire up up the classicfacation tracks in my UP yard, After what I thought would work, it did for a while than as only DCC can do I had a short somewhere , after three hours of work this happens frasutration sat in I tell ya, so after a deep breath, I'm just going to do the work RIGHT this time and not try ant short cuts!!!!!!!! OKOKOK I'm cool now, I didn't pop a aorta or nothin' like that, I did get so angy that I thought about taking all my trains and sell them on E-bay, ( I did'nt though) I feel better now, Flo I'll take a Arnold Palmer please, that's all, I just needed to vent, as a modelrailroader your leran to not take short cuts and have patinece. Whew, Now that's off my chest, how's everybody doin' tomorrow is the start of another work week,so I gotta get enough rest, take care and I will stop by tomorrow
Clear tracks and Happy smiles (all the time)
----trainsrme1
***trainsrme, sure glad I'm sticking to old fashion DC. That fancy DCC stuff seems to present lots of folks with headaches. Glad you decided against selling all your trains off on the-bay. I have considered trying DCC, perhaps one day, but would stick to a separate, single, isolated loop of track around all my DC layout stuff.
***Jim, I ended up wrapping the cable in some scrap TyVek, taping it closed and then pouring the cement. Only took 200lbs (2 1/2 bags) to fill the hole. That post isn't going anywhere. Sure hope we never need to dig up the phone line.
Tomorrow I'll start on the joists for that section of deck. This will make it easier for the builder to install a storm door on that end of the screened porch. I'll have some hand sawing to do sinse my last Milwaukee 18volt battery decided to give out. The sawzall sure would make the cutting easier.
Evening Gang: Our son John started cutting the hay today. He insisted on using the old International tractor even though I had the new one in the barn. It has a cab with AC. So he got one field cut and did about four rounds on the beg field when he quit and wasn't felling well. Mary Ann took him to the house. On the way the left front tire on the truck blew out. so they had to walk. I got the new tractor and hooked the swather on it and did about half the field. The AC was so good I had to turn it down. Anyway he is feeling better. His wife came and got him. Kids don't listen to old dad.
Now that we have about half the hay cut there is rain predicted for Tues through Friday. Sometimes I just want to scream. It won't do any good though.
Ike is still heading for Cuba. If it hit's there it will loose a lot of it's punch.
Well I'm going to head for the shower and then bed. Daisy is doing too well. She is trying to run around and jump up and down the stairs. I may talk to the vet about the tranquilizers.