Elliot's Trackside Diner V, at the diamonds

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang:

Lee when I was in Viet Nam I had to take control of a UH-1-D and fly it out of a valley with high mountains on each side. We were in the soup at the time and low level. The AC was disoriented and had started into a dead mans turn. I managed to get back on course and climbed to a better altitude. After a turn and counting the minutes and air speed I decended and luckly broke out in the clear over the plains. I know about fog.

I was wrong about the temp this morning. It was 42f when we took the granddaughter down for the school bus. I'm hoping that we get a winter this year. That would help keep the bug population down next year.

tomorrow I have to take the portable track out to Clark Gardens and get it set up. Then out to John's ranch and get the flat bed trailer to haul the locomotive and cars with. I will also take my 1.5 inch scale diesel switcher and maybe an unfinished car, trucks, and a pair of unassembled couplers.

My prayers to all those in need.

Good Night All

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

Way to go Sawyer

We are really happy for you. 

Keep up the good work but keep your hands off the face mask.   The made me do it. !!!!!

Will look for the report from the play offs.

Johnboy out......... 

[Packer]

Hey ya'll

Sawyer, Congrats on winning.You're starting to remind me of me when I was younger; guess it means I'm starting to get old.

Well I played football with a group of friends today. I dominated pretty much everywhere (QB, reciever, defense). The last time I played some of these friends, they complained on how hard I was to tackle. Well, they are doing that now, and complaining about how quick I am. Then they got smart; they had a big guy jump on my back when I had the ball, then they had someone else lay down in fron of me. I think in the process of that I may have hurt my left calf, since it is quite sore.

Last night I put a bid on a ABA set of CB&Q F3s with sound/dcc; I probably would have sold them, repainted them, or paint them. Well ebay screwed up on me when I put a bid in, and as a result I didn't win it. I am quite furious with ebay now beause it didn't screw up on me, I would have had that set for under 200.

I went to the MR club and ran my rotarty plow with my Gp9s, although there isn't any snow on the layout. Then I ran my DRGW passenger set (I'm trying to remeber to get pics in action), and had no problems since I added weight to a car that was giving me trouble.

[Packers#1]

YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

22-6. And they WERE undefeated!

Ok, so here's what I did: I sucked at the beginning, got chewed out by coach twice, commited a facemask while tackling the QB, then things turned around. I almost blocked a punt, which on the return, the guy running it back fumbled. Then they went on a LONG drive, but I stopped it when the other team fumbled and I got the recovery, got it with my hands, scooped it against my gut, and then nobody got their hands under there. Then a little later I got a tackle on a quicker QB, #18. He was running out w/ three BIG guys in front of him, but I'm there at their side and they don't see me, and I start running after them, and I latch on, and the QB runs a good distance toward the sidelines (didn't go upfield though) and i finally tackled him. Then our D got a crucial stop in the 4th which pretty much sealed the deal on the win. I did all right, sucked, commited a penalty, then got some good plays, then just played well. But all we have to do is win next week, and then it's the CHAMPIONSHIP GAME! Go RAMS!

[JimRCGMO]

Evening, Chloe - how about a nice grilled steak with potatoes and some veggies. Thanks!

Jerry, glad you gave us a bump - never would've found the Diner 'cept for hearing that sound as I was heading over this way. Nice photo of that UP loco, too. Anyone know the model of that engine? (I'm having trouble seeing all the wheels because of the angle) 

Got a nice suprise today - I'd ordered online the DPM and WS catalogs (they're now both part of WS, if you hadn't heard), and I got an order confirmation email. Then tonight, I get an email telling me that they're giving me a credit back of $1.95 on my order. Nice!

Oh, I did talk with a local Charter rep on the phone tonight, who offered me a better deal than I'd got when I'd called them - about $15-20/month cheaper, for their highspeed (10MB DL/ 1MB upload speed) for the first year. I figure after the first year, I'll look at who else has a good offer, and tell Charter they can match it or I'll switch. Since my primary email now is a web-based email, I can switch at any point without worries about dropped emails. Yesiree, love that free enterprise competition.

Garry, good to hear that your friend from church is home and recuperating. Tell her from us.

Sawyer, that's the way. Keep eating those good meals and drinking your Ed's OJ in the Diner, resting well, and keep your back in shape there.

DerJohn, maybe my calendar is off, but it showed Yom Kippur starting this evening. Dunno... You making good progress on your crane? Sounds like it. Were you able to get all your materials at the LHS today to continue your work?

CN Charlie, sounds like your Westie (Jamie) takes about as many meds as some of the ORFs in the Diner.

Rob, how'd you do on your rain today? Got any rain barrels filled up yet? 

Got this pic today from my daughter, of a certain Drew who's trying to figure out what to do with a moustache (Drew's daddy doesn't have any facial hair, and sports the shaved head style that some younger guys like nowadays). This pic was pre-haircut, by the way...

and here's a pic of yon grandson after one of his recent expeditions into the world of semi-solid food...

I think he's still learning about washcloths, also.  

Just thought I'd share those with you Diners - didn't want to spoil your appetite with that other fella in there with Drew.

I'll get back to my dinner now. for healing and comfort for those in need, including for a certain football player.  

 

Blessings and a good night's rest,

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

[Cox 47]

B___U____M_____P !!! Found the dinner on page 2....Jerry

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Hello ...

We lost internet service last night and it's back now.

Also, our water service was disrupted this morning. Construction crews at one of the houses being built on our road hit the water main. Water is reconnected now. Sometimes we take things for granted such as toilet flushing: don't we?  

I'm glad I have the model railroad to keep me occupied and keep my mind off other stuff.

Our friend from church is home from cancer surgery. I said she had many people praying for her, and she said she is very grateful to all who have been praying. She'll need a lot of rest. No news yet on the pathology reports.

Happy Model Railroading.

 

 

 

[Cox 47]

Good Morning All...We had clouds but sun is out now and its 56 with a north-west wind thats chilly...I'll have a Big bowl of chili with cheese and a diet Coke please...Thank you..I started working on another caboose stripped old lettering off gonna decal it for IC...

Here is another photo that a friend sent me thought you UP folks might like...

 

 

You all have a good one...Jerry

[LSWrr]

Paul you should try driving a boat in that "neat" low fog on the lake.

Right now we have a drizzeling rain in the mid 60's and fog.

Lee

[C&O Fan]

Morning all

Guess i missed the birthday party !

Oh well " border="0" width="81" height="26" />  Rob even though i'm late

I've been busy doing roof repair on my mower shed

I'll be out back searching through the dumpster for a piece of Birthday cake !!

TTYL

[JimRCGMO]

Oh, what the heck - Paul, seeing you munching on that apple fritter just entice me. Zoe, I'll have one of these fritters, too, please. Thanks!

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

[JimRCGMO]

Good Morning, Zoe, I'll have a glass of Ed's OJ (the tankers arrived? Great!!), cup of coffee, some scrambled eggs and hash browns, and a glass of milk along with that. Thanks! 

***Paul, it's a good thing you're not sandblasting N scale cars. No rain yet, but it looks like there is some entering our state from Alabama. We hope it will be raining by morning.

Rob, if Paul were to sandblast N scale cars, would that drop them to Z scale?? Hope that rain has reached you by this morning, though, Rob. Careful of those hornets and wasps and bears, oh my! Not something to be bothered, no siree!

Jeff, more good progress on the crossover (and I like those silos, too.

Going to do some figuring on bills today and see what kind of MRR money I can free up from what's left. I checked yesterday, and Hobby Lobby's not running their 40 percent off coupon this week. I saw that Dallas Model Works has a depressed center flat car (Walthers) and some NYC boxcars (P2K) on sale, so I may get some of those.

I'll be in the corner booth while I work on my breakfast.

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff, the red building on the right in your last picture; is that a WS factory with the silos?

Right now it could probably be considered as that. Actually that's a small freight warehouse from Bachmann. It's a single piece structure that I liberated from a larger scene.

[Paul W. Beverung]

Morning Gang: It's a little chilly here this morning. I'd say it's cold but the guys NOCB would laugh at me, 52F is nothing to them.

I see that Jeff and Lee are here. I'll have a coffee and how about one of those vertual apple fritters. I'll tell my doctor that vertual sugar doesn't count.

Lee you should be seeing some of that neat low fog on the lake this morning.

Rob here's hoping that it is raining as you read this.

See you all later. 

[LSWrr]

Good morning!

Today: Rain, mainly after 10am. High near 67. Breezy, with a south wind between 15 and 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Tonight: Showers likely, mainly before 9pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57. Breezy, with a west wind between 16 and 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible

Jeff, the red building on the right in your last picture; is that a WS factory with the silos?

Looking forward to the long holiday weekend coming up, might get some MRRing done down in the basement.  I have a motor for the turn table I need to install and finish up working on some rolling stock.  Sunday I bought a few Mantua (1970's) tank cars all metal very nice and they roll forever with a slight push.

Lee

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning.

It's 62 and clear this morning. The high will be around 80 and it will be partly cloudy. It's definitely cooling off. That barbed wire fence between here and the north pole must have fallen down!

Got the new crossover put in yesterday. Today I'll be pouring the plaster in around it to lock it in place. It'll be a very thin mix at first so it'll reach into all the areas under the track then thicker as it nears the top. Also got to go see an individual who owes me a bunch of green backs. I should be able to squeeze 5 portraits of Ben Franklin out of that turnip. Other than that it should be another slow day like yesterday was.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      10/8/2008

Wind Chill:  61°F
Humidity:  72%
Dew Point:  52°F

So Far Today
High:  63°F
Low:  61°F
Rain:  0.00"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  7mph NNW

Today  High: 80    Mostly sunny. Highs around 80. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight  Low: 52    Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 50s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning from Tipton IN ! 

[Cederstrand]

***Paul, it's a good thing you're not sandblasting N scale cars. No rain yet, but it looks like there is some entering our state from Alabama. We hope it will be raining by morning.

Rob

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang:

Happy Birthday Rob. Did you get any rain?

It's been cooler here today. We haven't gotten any more rain. I came home about 3pm and got some work done on the 1.5 in scale cars. I lightly sand blasted a flat and one of the 50ft gons. After I did that I shot a light coat of red primer. I still have to flip them over and spray the bottoms and give the whole car a second coat. I think that I'll go with the red primer as the finish coat. I still have 6 more cars to do so I'll be at it for a while. I have to do the painting outside so the weather has to be right.

Well time for bed.

Good Night All

[Cederstrand]

Tall glass of cool lemon water, please & thanks.

***Packers, hope your back recovers quickly.

OK, here is a pic I took reaching through a shed window of the nest. The small white nest (far right) is typical of what we see around the farm.Anyway, these hornets/wasps are themselves very large and heavily bodied. I have seen yellow jackets & the darker hornets, both of which we have many on our property. Sometimes a few of these larger critters will repeatedly hit the kitchen window at night, making quite the thudding sound. I'll try to find a dead one and snap a pic of it for IDing.

And I like bees as well, as long as they are not stinging me. Hole different temperment/response from most bees, when compared to nasty little yellow jackets & hornets. Speaking of insects, I have seen an excess of velvet ants this year, which ofcourse are not ants at all. Kinda miss seeing allthose tarantula hawks back in AZ. Now those things are cool!

Rob

[Packers#1]

Yep der. My back still hurts, but i'll be playing tommorow.

[CNCharlie]

Good Evening Diners!

A large piece of cake and a bevy of his choice to our birthday guy please Chloe. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROB!!!

Well I've been very busy the last few days, since Sunday actually, so I haven't been able to get into the diner. Great to be back! Great food and great company! What more could one ask? I haven't been on holiday but at work as my company had its fall dealer market where we have approx. 400 suppliers showing off their wares for next spring. Not really that much work for me being on the credit side of the business, but you have to put on the happy face and talk it up to the dealers. It is tiring as the days are long and you are on your feet most of the time. I did get to talk to the rep from the company that does TruLine trains to see if they are doing another steamer. I think Fergie has ordered the CN Northern they are producing. He told me it should be delivered in January and that the 1000 unit production run is sold out. After much proding he did say that they have a small steamer in the works. Another source I had said it was a CP D10. He said he could tell me but then he would have to kill me. I opted for not knowing.

I did get a wire stripper from my LHS. It is made by General Tools and it was an import---from the U.S.  It works just great on those little wires on a N guage decoder. Expensive at $15 but quality tools are always worth it.

We had another scare with Jamie, our Westie. He developed an infection from his tooth extraction a week ago so we had him at the emergency vets on Saturday night. More meds for the little guy. A total now of 5 oral, one injected( insulin) and 3 in his eye.

See you soon,

CN Charlie

[der5997]

Good evening Diners, and for those for whom this is significant, a solemn celebration of Yom Kippur.

Sue: Good to see you back. Looking forward to some more of those awesome photos in due course.

Rob:

Dick:

ROB: Those are most definitely YELLOW JACKETS. They are nasty critters when disturbed, they sting in swarms.  I have been stung by these bees many times over the years, one time when chain sawing in deep brush, I stepped on an underground nest hole and before I knew it I was covered with bees on my heavy wook sweatshirt. I got stung 7 times. Luckily, I am not alergic to bee venum. The all brown bees are wasps, they like to build paper nest high up in the eaves of barns and houses. Yellow jackets typically go into holes in the ground, walls, cracks in siding, etc.

...in defence of the good old HONEY BEE, may I ask that a distinction be made between general stinging pests, (wasps, Yellow Jackets, Hornets, etc.) and the HONEY BEE which (in the wild) will also build in walls, etc and will swarm when moving house? Without the HONEY BEE we would be in very bad shape for fruit and veg, but by calling all stinging swarming pests "bees", general panic and the insecticide sprays are too often the result.

Sawyer:

Took me a min. or two, but I walked it off.

...that's what Champs do!  At least so my reading of Hawthorn the Crab in Sherman's Lagoon leads me to believe! (or even this, if it isn't too geographically incorrect!)

Jeff: I really like the photos of the crossover install (the heavy equipment especially!) Thanks for posting those.

Progress on the container crane has stalled over the last 36 hours, but the control cabin is essentially finished, and I'm looking hard at videos to get the details of how the spreader looks and works.  Tomorrow is LHS day, and I need some more Evergreen Scale Models I Beam, the smallest I can find for the cable to the spreader, and the spreader trolley to run on. Once they're built, it's just the trucks and about 15 thousand feet of handrails and stairways. I think I can rig up a jig for making lots of stairs by cutting slots in an aluminium bar, and putting the plastic strips that are the treads in it so the sides can be glued on.  For the handrails I figured I'd have a go at doing my own etching. Has anyone tried that before? I know I'd need a fine  etchprotect pen.  I've done circuit boards before, but there the board protects the other side of the metal. Is there a coating (I'm thinking maybe contact cement) that would be resistant to the etching fluid in order to produce a free-standing thing like a handrail? Maybe I should say goodnight and go and Google a bit. 

Goodnight all, and God Bless, Prayers for all in need of healing, comfort and peace.

 

 

 

 

 

[pcarrell]

Hey Rob.........

[Packers#1]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROB!

I got the wind knocked out of me at practice today. i was running to block a punt when a guy hit me. I got completely airborne, landed on my back, and hurt that, my front, and got the wind knocked out of me. Took me a min. or two, but I walked it off.

[grayfox1119]

ROB: Those are most definitely YELLOW JACKETS. They are nasty critters when disturbed, they sting in swarms.  I have been stung by these bees many times over the years, one time when chain sawing in deep brush, I stepped on an underground nest hole and before I knew it I was covered with bees on my heavy wook sweatshirt. I got stung 7 times. Luckily, I am not alergic to bee venum. The all brown bees are wasps, they like to build paper nest high up in the eaves of barns and houses. Yellow jackets typically go into holes in the ground, walls, cracks in siding, etc.

[Flashwave]

Hey guys. I gots bands strung atwixt my braces, so this wuioll stay short.

Happy Birthday Rob. Someone in the engine house wired up a bunch of lokie whistles to an organ and put on a flatcar. I'll wheel it up for tonight.

Why was WPF locked?

[Packer]

Heating and air folks are still at work. They take more extended breaks than any workers I've seen here yet. Doesn't matter to me, as long as they do a good job.

Rob

You do know they get paid by the hour, right?

[Cederstrand]

 in a SOUTHERN mug, please & thank you.

***Jeffrey, EXCELLENT construction work on your layout. Thanks for sharing the inspiring pics.

With this group, thought a second cake might be in order. Especially since once I have that first piece, I can't stop. Thanks for the birthday wishes. Hopefully, by this time next year I'll be able to celebrate it by running some trains on a real layout.

Saved enough scrap wood from the build to probably build most of my shelf layout, or most of wife's layout table. (probably the wife's will come first)

Go the barn tank clean and am still transfering water to it (via 300' of hose - gravity feed).

Discovered a MASSIVE hornet (or whatever those HUGE black & yellow giant wasp critters are???) inside a shed. Would take a photo, but am leary of getting stung. Will have to wait for a freeze before doing anything with it. Yikes!

Heating and air folks are still at work. They take more extended breaks than any workers I've seen here yet. Doesn't matter to me, as long as they do a good job.

Rob

[jeffrey-wimberly]

The crossover is in place.





Now the real fun begins. Getting the track leveled and set in plaster. Messy!