Elliot's Trackside Diner V, at the diamonds

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff...As I remeber those Athearn SD 9's would pull the paper off the wall..I picked up one when they first came out and was surprised how much more powerfull the where than my older Athearns..

This one is like that too. It's one of the old wide-bodies and has a bit of room inside it being that it has a new motor. The old one just sucked up too much power.

[Cox 47]

Howdy All...Its sunny and cool with a north breeze keeping it real nice here..weather guesser on TV says a good week-end for the big Pop corn Fest over at Casey..Well we got thru the inspection this morning and they didn't say anything about my work bench so looks like we are OK..I glued a couple of pieces of sidewalk stock together for the base for my Piggly Wiggle and looks like I got a good joint on it..

Jim....Sounds like your Rail road club is making good progress hope we can see some photos sometime...How many members do you have...

Galaxy..Glad to see you back....We have just one Grape tomatoe plant but a bumper crop with more still coming on...

Colby..Go for it!! All of us here in the dinner will cheer you on in the london Olympics...

Jeff...As I remeber those Athearn SD 9's would pull the paper off the wall..I picked up one when they first came out and was surprised how much more powerfull the where than my older Athearns..

You all have a goo one...Jerry

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff, that SD-9 looks good - hope it runs as good as it looks. You sure get a lot of mods and remakes done - now, if I could do half of that... (Guess if I got more time off my keister and off the computer, and started working on my MRR stuff, that'd be more likely, huh?)

The SD9 is an ongoing project. I had wired it last year in preparation for a decoder installation. Soldering the decoder in took about five minutes. The loco came as an incomplete kit. All that was in the box was the body shell and the chassis. There weren't any couplers, window glass, horns or railings. The LHS let it go for $10 because of all the missing stuff. I've been piecing it together with parts I scrounged from old locos that went out on the trashcan express. That explains why it has a hand rail from a GP38-2.

[JimRCGMO]

Good Morning! Zoe, I'll have a glass of Ed's OJ, two eggs (scrambled) with bacon and toast (and blackberry jam, of course) and cup of coffee, please. Thanks!

Sorry for not getting into the Diner yesterday - got sidetracked over lunch, and MRR club ran a bit long last night. Think I may have been a bit tired, too. But today's a new day, and it's only 71 F now and sunny. S'pposed to get into the low 80's F today, and the humidity is to be lower than it was over the weekend, so that's good.

Jerry, hope you get things moved/cleared away for your inspection. Simplest method might be to shove all the workbench stuff into boxes and move the workbench to the other side of the room, as you said.

Jeff, that SD-9 looks good - hope it runs as good as it looks. You sure get a lot of mods and remakes done - now, if I could do half of that... (Guess if I got more time off my keister and off the computer, and started working on my MRR stuff, that'd be more likely, huh?)

Rob, hope your creek gets its wet back (more than a trickle). Sounds like your work crew is making good progress on the house. I'd guess that your wife's resetting the alarm is because she wants to get up but feels too tired. (Maybe, perhaps...)

Fergie, another really nice loco there - is the MESS(tm) changing over to all-brass? Keep picking up those long ones, and you may need to add more room for the curves in the train room.

Colby, best wishes on that Olympic dream - as Fergie said, you're a better man than us. Think about us, when you're doing laps at 5:30 a.m. (but don't call, please..)

Belated , Charlie's wife!

OzarkBelt, sounds like your train show was a good source of new ideas for your layout. Didja pick up any specials while you were there? And 3" X6"? Must have been ZZ scale!

Lee, I figure that Dorothy might not realize that you hear the alarm just as well as she does. Y'think?

Galaxy, maybe you need to start canning the extra tomatoes (tomato paste, tomato sauce, etc.) - at this rate, Franken-tomato might still be producing those grape tomatoes by Christmas! 

I got razzed at MRR club last night - apparently, I put the nails (holding the roadbed down while the glue dried) in 'a bit' into the plywood on Saturday's work session. They were saying they were having trouble getting them out. I just got the angled pliers and started pulling them out (didn't have any trouble except for maybe a half dozen of them). We got almost all of the masonite up for the backdrops last night - there's maybe one section (about 4-6') left to put in, but otherwise it's ready for sanding and painting. More roadbed gluing (I let our ballasting and roadbed guy, Ken, do that). I was busy getting all the nails out that I'd put in on Sat., plus I helped some with the backdrop crew.

Ah, convention week... and the other one is a couple/three weeks later, huh? That's all right, I'll probably get more done on the layout that way. Besides, tomorrow my DVD drive for the laptop should be coming in, and I'll be wanting to get that up and running.

I'd better get back to my breakfast now; OzarkBelt's almost done with his pancakes, and he's been eyeing my plate...  Prayers for the healing and in need of comfort. (Tom, how's the leg coming along, by the way?).

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

 

[LSWrr]

Good morning,

Today: Sunny, with a high near 74. East wind between 11 and 15 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 61. East wind between 10 and 15 mph.

Nice enough to shut off the air and open up the house!  I hear Taconite Harbor area is under a freeze warning for tonight.

Need to call my LHS today; I need some of those clip on draft box covers so I continue swapping out couplers.

Lee

[OzarkBelt]

Morning All!

I'll have a big stack of pancakes!

The train show was very cool! I got lots of pics and some videos of the layouts they had on display, including one that was 3"x6"! Very cool! Also found some goodys, I'll get pics of them soon. I need to upload the pics on to photobucket still...

I'll drop in later, hopefully.

[C&O Fan]

Morning All

Hey Tom I hope your wound heals up a little before school starts

I'll be in the back booth having my Tea

[jeffrey-wimberly]

good morning.

It's 76 and mostly clear. The high will be in the lower 90's with a chance of thunderstorms later.

I spent part of yesterday rebuilding an old Athearn F unit from the workbench up. New gears, new wheels, new motor and an updated hex shaft drive to replace the old spline shaft drive. I also cut off the metal coupler pockets and replaced them with plastic draft gear boxes to avoid hot frame issues after I install a DCC decoder. I tossed the old rubber motor mounts and substituted plastic mounts which are held in place with screws, thus assuring the motor is fully seated. Everything is in place for a DCC conversion. Installing the decoder will take about 5 minutes.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      8/26/2008

Heat Index:  78°F
Humidity:  86%
Dew Point:  70°F

So Far Today
High:  76°F
Low:  74°F
Rain:  0.00"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  6mph NNE

Today  High: 92    Mostly sunny early in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 90s. North winds around 5 mph.

Tonight  Low: 72    Partly cloudy until late night then becoming mostly clear. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening. Lows in the lower 70s. Northeast winds around 5 mph in the evening becoming southwest after midnight.

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning from Tipton IN ! 

[Cederstrand]

***Paul, how's that uninterupted nights sleep working out for you?

From the Snoring Valley RR, where trains seldom run, except between lunch and dinner. Even when they do, the male crews are often waylayed by the girls at Petticoat Junction, or influenced  by the irresistible aromas eminating from The Whistle Stop Cafe. Back to bed here. Night all...again! Rob

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang: Just a quick drop in for a night cap. I woke up at 3:30 this morning and couldn't fall back to sleep. I finally got up and watched TV untill the rest of the family got up. I did catch a nap this afternoon so I'm not dead tired.

Lee your girl friend has a sence of humor. Yea right.

Well my best to everyone and healing thoughts.

Time for bed and I hope an uninterupted nights sleep.

Good Night All

[galaxy]

Hi guys and gals

Been away from the forum for a few days, need to stop in and spend some time catching up on what I missed.Thought I'd stop in and say hi!

I have the country fried steak, extra gravy, and double portion of steamed veggies.

We have grape tomatoes out our preheater here from that ONE plant- franken-mato. The other two plants are giving us big huge ones out our boilerplate that are bigger than softballs.

Planning another trip to Steamtown with an excursion in Sept. for my b-day. Steamtown is a stones throw away. Would like to go to Strasburg again, but it is out of the budget. We wanted to go to Cass railroad but gas prices and vehicle repairs soaked that right out of the budget.

Well, evenin' all

[Fergmiester]

Fergie .. another nice loco! Winning brass is better than winning gold medals. Right?

Oh ya! And without Blood Sweat and Steroids

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Howdy ..

I failed to mention today is my Mom's 89th b'day. Ww had to cancel our trip to Alabama to particpate in the party, but I hear it's ben a good day.

I was wondering how Dick's veggie garden was doing, and I see he already mention ut's doing well. I noted he's been busy with other non-mrr stuff too.

Jerry...that's great news about your son. Glad he got a nice house. I think it is a buyers market, and people should take advantage of that if they can.

Fergie .. another nice loco! Winning brass is better than winning gold medals. Right?

Jeff. Your kinda hungry, eh?

Cheers, everybody!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

One Dagwood special please.

[Cox 47]

Afternoon all..its a great day here sunny and cool...I'll have a ham sandwitch and a diet Coke please ...thank you and put that on Rob's tab...Rob glad to hear construction is going well..You will be in that new train room soon!...I'm sure you can use the water now that the crick is running again Hopefully the back of the drought has been broke...Garry I hate to tell stories on myself but it has been some time since I saw the top of the work bench!! My son called a few minutes ago He had a good day He was promoted to Rig operator with a nice raise and He found a house with 3 bedrooms ans 2 baths and can move in next week..Its out in the country alittle with a big yard for the kids to play in...You all have a good afternoon...Jerry

[Cederstrand]

[Rob ... do you know when you can move into the new house?]

***When it's done! Seriously though, we are living in my studio/workshop/guest quarters, as the addition (master bedroom, extra living space and train room) are being built/added. Every day when the crew leaves, we climb out a window into the new addition to see how things look. One of the last tasks will be removing that same window and installing a door in it's place.

Forgot what else I was going to respond to. Oh well.

The creek is now a steady trickle and if it keeps up, perhaps by morning it will be a full fledged stream again. HURRAY!

Rob

[grayfox1119]

Good afternoon, now that we have had a nice spell of dry weather, projects are in full swing to get completed before Fall arrives. New combo door on the front entrance, move that door to the former garage entrance ( I just "love" installing combination doors ). The front of the house is nearly all painted, the driveway has been patched where needed in prep. for sealing tomorrow seeing we have no showers or rain until the weekend. The veggie garden is coming in fast and furious, so we will be canning today and tomorrow sometime inbetween all the other actions taking place.

CN CHARLIE: Char is real good eatin!! I had that the first time in Fairbanks, Alaska, and later again in Whitehorse, Yukon. And a very happy BD to your lovely wife..

ROB: That 12 oclock alarm going off is for the workers for lunch...LOL

FERGIE: La Nina in the Pacific ( a strong one ) and a warmer Atlantic than usual, spells trouble for hurricanes up in the Northeast quite possibly in late September/early October.

Time to get back to work, see you guys at supper.....cajon spiced Char did I hear RYAN ?

[Fergmiester]

Good Afternoon Guys

 Well I'ze is back! and then off again to the Arctic Wednesday morning

Anyway~ Opened up e-mail and I guess I won the

Boy-O-Boy the MESS Paint Shops will be busy this Winter!

Colby: Our next Phelps? Here's hoping you can see your dream to fruition! I was on the Swim team in high school but after two years and getting little results I said nuff o this stuff and stuck to hockey, Rugby and Sailing. Up at 5am to do 200 laps wasn't my cuppa! You're a better man than I!!

Later All

Fergie 

[SilverSpike]

Weekend flew by again!

We finally got to watch Flag of our Fathers movie last night, really interesting story and movie too! I did not know that the Iwo Jima flag raising in the photo and in the Marines Memorial in DC was actually the 2nd flag to be lifted up on the mountain top!

I spent 4 1/2 hours working in the yard yesterday and I was pooped out after all that fun in the sun!

Just to let you all know, my mom and dad want to thank you all for keeping him in your thoughts and prayers!

..Ryan thats good news about your dad...

Great news and it was a great sigh of relief when we heard it too!

Ryan, we will keep him in our prayers glad things are doing better.

Well my life is now complete, I just won 6,000 HO-Scale railroad ties. 

Thanks Lee we really appreciate them too! And looks like the track laying crew is going to be quite busy for some time now....

Ryan - great news on your Dad - and may the results be just as good when they do the gall bladder surgery (and checking for the biopsy). 

...Ryan doesn't have to go to a ball game....

Thanks so much for continued the thoughts! 

Actually we were looking forward to it, but with Ben sick it was the best for all around too! He is much better now!

Whoa, been gone over a week and it's like I missed EVERYTHING!! 

Happens to the best of us!

  

Ryan--Glad you're better, and if it helps, when I was raising Tommy, Strep was a yearly occasion.  Every late September, he'd just look at me with his big baby browns and say, "Dad--" and I knew HERE WE GO AGAIN!  One of the joys of fatherhood, sometimes you get to re-live all of YOUR childhood diseases.   

Thanks, and I know the feeling too! Being a father now makes me realize what my dad went through when I was a young lad too!

  

Anyhow, she left last night about 5:00 or so--my sister picked her up--and two hours later, I took a seven-stitcher right through my glass coffee-table.  I was coming into the living room from the kitchen with a banana, tripped over a locomotive box that I had been showing my sister's new boyfriend, tried to aim for the couch, and my leg crashed right into the glass.  Tempered, thank God.  But it shattered, ripped my knee apart, I ended up in emergency getting stitches on my kneecap, and the side of the knee.  The Dr. said it missed a major artery by about two nicks.  So right now I'm immobile, sorta, knee stitched and wrapped up--the last time I saw THAT much gauze was in an old "Mummy" horror flick--and every now and then I leak. 

Tom, did you get all that on video?  Sorry about your knee, hope it won't impact your MR time!

***Ryan, hope Ben is doing better now.

Thanks Rob! He had no fever yestarday so seems like quick improvement is on it's way!

...and I will take a bowl of Seafood gumbo, if there's any left, I know Ryan was here.  Hey Ryan, just joshin' ya. Anyway, we have the MT HOOD to Oregon Coast relay, unfortunely one of the runners was hit by a car, and she's in critical condition, prayers are needed for her and the family.                 

In fact, I had a big bowl of Chicken and Seafood Gumbo for lunch today! But you know, there is a virtual limitless supply in the Diner. Sorry to hear about the runner, did you get some sun time in at the beach too?

 

and Ryan, that was great news about your father. You certainly have had a stressful time the past few weeks so I think some R&R is in order. Does cold beer and train operation go together?

We've had some odd weather here the past week with temps in the high 80's and then down to the 40's last night but it is supposed to warm up again. Wish I could send some of our rain down to you Rob, but I think it is just a little too far.

Thanks CN! And, you bet, speaking of beer and MR.....

....oh...and we could use some rain our way too! Still in a drought condition over here in the Piedmont!

There's still very little to report on the layout. Here's the "rest of the story" on my first run train, the GN passenger train. My friend Gus has had some "gremlins" disrupting his operations with electrial problems in the past couple of weeks. Evidently, one of his gremlins visted my layout, too. The train had been running smoothly and had already traveled over a certain section of track without incident. Then, I ran it on another trip with the thottle at a fast speed. Suddenly the train stopped on a dead spot on the mainline behind the brewery. This is one of my first sections of track to be completed and it has been trouble-free for years. I soldered an extra feeder wire, and that fixed the trouble, However, the GN 4-8-2 needs repairs becasue the abrupt stop casued the motor to disconnect from the drive train. It's now on the rip track awaiting repairs, and the train now has diesels.

Glad to hear you are feeling better and on the road to recovery. Gremlins? Never seen em....

Last night we went out to dinner to celebrate my wife's birthday. 

to Charlie's Wife!

Hi Gang: I just got back from the VA. I had to go in for lab work. My appointment with the doctor is Wed at 8am so I get to fight the morning rush again.

Paul glad to hear Daisy is better now! And hope all is okay with the lab work at the VA!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Howdy ..

Colby ... it's good to hear of your swimming and best wishes with that.

Jerry .... Does that mean the work bench is not normally clean, neat, and tidy?

Tom .... It was a belt that slipped off a wheel in the 4-8-2. I question bachmann's wisdom with their using belt drives. A model locomotive should be able to stop abruptly upon hitting a dead spot, without disconnecting the motor from the drive. Anyhow, the locomotive is off the rip track, and it is back in service.  Interesting group of GN locos you have there, Tom.

Rob ... do you know when you can move into the new house?

Jeff .... I like those athearn SD9's.  I'm sure you will like yours.

Is Duke still sleeping in the corner booth?

I'll be running some NP trains again soon when I put away the GN stuff. Reminds me; where's Sue?

Happy Model Railroading .

 

 

 

[ModelTrainLover]

Hey guys.

For those of you who know me, you know that I'm the swimmer around here. well I just maybe the Olmpic swimmer around here come summer 2012. I'm going to train myself when HS swimteam and the local Y swimteam are not going on. This is my hope in the next 4 years all of you might see me at the London Olympics.

all for now.

[LSWrr]

Rob, That is an excellent question! Saturday (my only day to sleep in) my G/F's alarm went off at 0515, then 0530, then 0545, then 0600, and then she got out of bed.  When she walked out the door she asked why I didn't stay in bed and sleep in?

 

Lee

[Paul W. Beverung]

Hi Gang: I just got back from the VA. I had to go in for lab work. My appointment with the doctor is Wed at 8am so I get to fight the morning rush again. Everyone here has gone to work or school except for the littlest one. She starts pre school next week. That will only be three days a week.

I need to get going. The cattle need to be turned in to the pasture and I need to get back to work on the fence and gate at the haylot.

I'll see you all tonight.

[Cox 47]

Good Morning all..Its a greaty day here sunny and much cooler..I'll have coffee and a sweet roll please..Thank You....I gotta clean work bench and layout up today..tuesday is our yearly inspection..I think they will probaly make me move my work bench as it blocks a window..may have to move it and layout to the other end of the living room..you all have a good one..Jerry

[Cederstrand]

A strongin a SANTA FE Mug, please & thanks.

Construction started at 7:30am. Then wife's alarm clock went off at 8:00am, then 10:00 and is now reset for 12:00. Why do some people do that?

Rob

 

[LSWrr]

Good morning all,

Well not much MRing this weekend Dorothy and I had stomach flu or something I had it Saturday and it was her turn on Sunday.  I also had to audit the Light List (20 hours of work) but I did manage to assemble 2 Accurail kits and swap couplers out on 17 box cars for the layout.  I did a little shopping on the bay and picked up 200 replacement wheels for rolling stock and 6,000 scale RR ties for landscaping purposes around the yard and the round house.

I hope to get into some weathering projects this week on the cabooses I labeled last weekend to hide some of the imperfections of the legends.  May weather some of the buildings too.

Prayers and good thoughts to those on the sick and injured list.

Lee

[C&O Fan]

Good Evening Diners!

Turned out to be a really nice day here even though it only got up to 21C or about 68F. We went out ot a pet store here and I can't believe it but we actually bought a stroller for Jamie. With his arthritis and other problems, he  can't walk

Snip 

CN Charlie

 

Actually Strollers are the hot selling item at our Pets Marts Here in Houston

i see people pushing thier older dogs around all the time at the doggie park

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning.

It's 78 and mostly cloudy in the Sportsman's Paradise this morning. The high is expected to be in the upper 80's and there's a fair chance of rain.

Yesterday I converted an Athearn BB SD9 to DCC and prepared an old DC Proto 2000 E6 for a decoder.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      8/25/2008

Heat Index:  81°F
Humidity:  76%
Dew Point:  69°F

So Far Today
High:  80°F
Low:  77°F
Rain:  0.00"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  10mph NW

Today  High: 88    Mostly cloudy. A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 80s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight  Low: 72    Mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening. Lows in the lower 70s. North winds 5 to 10 mph.

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning from Tipton IN !