ELLIOT's Trackside Diner VI: The Full Meal Deal!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

LSWrr

Whew, Jeff I thought you guys forgot about the spotlight. Looks like a nice vehicle.  You guys hunt deer and hogs down there?

Deer, hogs, alligators, panthers (yes, we do have panthers here) among other things.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 Good morning.

It's 61 and foggy. The high should be in the low 80's and it will be partly cloudy.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      11/5/2008

Wind Chill:  60°F
Humidity:  97%
Dew Point:  60°F

So Far Today
High:  62°F
Low:  55°F
Rain:  0.00"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  8mph SSE

Important Message
   
Dense fog advisory in effect until 9 AM cst this morning.     
Now through 09:00 AM CST November 05, 2008
   
Patchy fog will occur across portions of the area. The fog will be dense at times reducing visibilities below one quarter of a mile. The visibilities will improve as the fog lifts by 9 AM.

Today  High: 82    Mostly sunny in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Areas of dense fog early in the morning. Highs in the lower 80s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight  Low: 65    Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 60s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

[Cox 47]

Good Morning All....Its sunny and 64 here this morning..Posta stay like this for another day or so then the bottom drops out for the week-end...I'll have a hot ham and cheese sandwitch,and coffee please..Thank You...Read in the paper this morning they found a 33 inch Alligator in the Embraw river near here..Looks like it was some ones pet and was alive when it was put in the river..

Did a little painting on HO kitbash and ran trains..I am still trying to get caught up on my Model Railroad reading..I like the Monon N scale layout in the GMR 2009...

JR...Sorry to hear your mold problem was worse than tou thought but like you said new railroad is gonna be bigger and better and since your old railroad was pretty dog gone good the new one will be a real humdinger!! Keep us updated...

James OZ....Welcome back!  Don't be such a stranger...

Jeff....Nice lash up of Locos look like they could handle a bunch of cars..Have you try out how many?...You nephew's vehicle looks like a full sized Red Neck kit bash!!

You all have a good one.....Jerry

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Cox 47

Jeff....Nice lash up of Locos look like they could handle a bunch of cars..Have you try out how many?

More than I can fit on my layout! That's a Bachmann, an Athearn and an Atlas, all GP40's and none of them are lightweights.

 

I've been working on my SDP40F for the past couple of hours. Keep in mind this is an old Athearn BB loco. Let's see how keen your powers of observation are. Anybody notice anything about it?


 

[SilverSpike]

Afternoon folks!

Hope all is well with everyone!

I think it's...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So how about some...

 

[LSWrr]

jeffrey-wimberly

Cox 47

Jeff....Nice lash up of Locos look like they could handle a bunch of cars..Have you try out how many?

More than I can fit on my layout! That's a Bachmann, an Athearn and an Atlas, all GP40's and none of them are lightweights.

 

I've been working on my SDP40F for the past couple of hours. Keep in mind this is an old Athearn BB loco. Let's see how keen your powers of observation are. Anybody notice anything about it?


 

YES THE PLASTIC BODY IS MISSING!

[Cox 47]

Jeff The drive shafts don't look like stock BB?  Jerry

[Packer]

It has the hex shafts from newer athearns.

[Paul W. Beverung]

Afternoon Gang:

Jim back in the 60s we wore the regular Air Force uniform with CAP patches. As a seinor I wore regular AF WO 2 bars. The cadets wore cadet rank insignia. I guess I'm an old fogey.

Sue we have plenty of hay but some of the quality isn't good. I put a temporary fence accross the bottom of the hay lot so I can move the cattle to the well site with out having them get into the hay. I have to get into the haylot from the gate by the county road, no big deal. I'm thinking about painting one of the flat cars black and lettering it for Northern Pacfic. That OK with you?

Well I need to get back at it. I have 6 pairs of couplers to assemble. The castings for them arn't as good as some I've done. Lots of sanding filling and fussing.

See you all later.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Cox 47

Jeff The drive shafts don't look like stock BB?

Packer

It has the hex shafts from newer athearns.

Correct! It also has new nickel silver wheels and a new motor which is secured with screws.

Lee: I figured you would spot the differences right off.

[Cox 47]

Jeff do you have plans to replace the metal contact strip with a wire?....Jerry

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Cox 47

Jeff do you have plans to replace the metal contact strip with a wire?....Jerry

Yes. The loco will eventually be converted to DCC at which time the contact strip will be replaced with a jumper wire joining the trucks

[james saunders]

Jim: myself and my uncle are buying a house for my parents and my family to live in, in the same suburb as where I live now. It is going to cost us $365,000 but its a two story 4 bed house with a big shed.

 As for the layout the restrictions for my time and room means i'll be constructing something on the size of a entry door to a house. (6 x 3) plenty of room in N scale. Since it's going to be a small layout I'll probably wind back the prototype to the 50s/60s so I can run 4 axle jeeps and plenty of 40' reefers...I'm thinking SO Cal... orange groves etc...It would be hard to run coal drags with 3 x 6 axle GE AC4400's at the front on a small layout.

 I'll drop by when I can, but don't always have time at work to post, If you want to keep in touch more regularly use the email function, as I check that daily.

By the way, Congratulations from Oz to Senator Obama on becoming the 44th president of the USA.

[JimRCGMO]

Evening, Chloe - Since Ryan so nicely pointed out 'what time it is' (and I don't mean Howdy-Doody Time...), I'll have a bowl of chili with some grated cheese and some chopped onions on the side to add. That, and a RBF, please. Thanks!

OzJim, I'm thinking your door is smaller than the design you'd originally posted (was it in HO back then?), which I knew ran mostly around three sides of your room (and maybe a shallow bridge or swingable section to connect the sides back around). Am I fairly close on that? You're probably right about needing to change over to 4-axle units on your diesels. Hey, you could model Ed's orange grove (just transplanted north a few hundred miles...). Another possible idea (if you like the ATSF) would be to borrow some ideas from the article in the December (2008) MR (p.56) about the Cat Mountain & Santa Fe layout that Dick Barrow has revised over the years. His originally was a very shallow shelf type layout, with almost no scenery (unless you counted the backdrop).

Jeff, does that Athearn body have connections on top for a decoder plug? I was noticing that thicker piece at the top center and wondered if that was a decoder, but not likely, if you're still going to be adding the decoder.

Paul, if you're an old fogey, you probably aren't the only one of us in here. Do you have much to do to get the hay yard rearranged? Or will you have to clear out any and all questionable parts of the hay? Bummer if you got your haying all done, only to have to 'weed out' some of it.

It was a (mostly) better day at w**k today - fairly busy in the morning, but very laid back in the afternoon. Got my EPA (Employee Performance Appraisal, not that other EPA) done with my supervisor, and was able to talk her into two 4's on it. (Scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being darn near perfect, and 3 being satisfying requirements but nothing above. I started out by asking my supervisor if the admin. folks expected perfection, or realistic results. She pretty much agreed with me that their expectations were probably a 'trifle' high for mere mortals like us.

I did also find out (early afternoon) that another therapist had left (that one was kind of a 'you can resign or be fired' choice). Somehow it was connected to the other person who left on Monday, but again, no details provided/offered. I kind of wonder if this person kicked up a fuss about the other one being fired and got admin. ticked off with her. Sad part is, there were one or two newer programs that the one who left today was in process of training the other therapists for more specialized clients, and that will likely go by the wayside now. #$%*^& administrators... Doesn't do much for the morale of those left in the place, I'd say. Okay, step down from the  now...

Tomorrow, we're supposed to start seeing some rain and maybe winds moving in. Hear something this morning on the way in about 30 mph winds with it. But this afternoon at lunch, it felt like mid to upper 70's (F).

Just gonna kick back with my float for now.

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

 

[Packers#1]

Hey folks. I got a new avatar, thank you google. Hey, I like favre in his green bay gear a little more, hehe.

Boy, am I glad I didn't try out for my school's basketball team, there's 50 guys trying out for 14 spots, lol.

Well, I'm looking forward to tommorow a little bit, one reason i won't say, and also church league basketball practice starts tommorow.

Well, I'll see you folks later.

[rtraincollector]

Evening all been awhile again a lots been happening and really not much time to talk tonight as its late for me. Basically wanted to stop in and say hi to you all will try to stop in and give some info this weekend

[jeffrey-wimberly]

JimRCGMO

Jeff, does that Athearn body have connections on top for a decoder plug? I was noticing that thicker piece at the top center and wondered if that was a decoder, but not likely, if you're still going to be adding the decoder.

No. It's old blue box technology. No decoder plug and no place to tuck a decoder into.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Hello everybody.....

JimCG ..............You metioned the Cat Mountain and Santa Fe.  I studied past articles on Mr. Barrow's benchwork, and I designed my bench work based on his. I wanted my layout to be able to be moved if necessary, and therefore, I could relocate the layout at a future date. I hope that never happens, but I do not want to demolish the layout if we ever moved. I've demolsihed too many layouts.

Oz Jim ...Good to see you again.

RT ... glad to see you too.

Jerry ...Good you are getting stuff done.

Jeff ... you too.  Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Paul ... An NP flat car sounds like a good idea.

Happy Model Railroading!

 

[pcarrell]

OK, so for those of you that know me, you know I'm married to a wonderful woman.  She loves me to no end.  I'm very lucky indeed!

Matter of fact, I count myself doubly lucky because two nights ago my wife INSISTED I get a new girlfriend, and she wanted to go with me to pick her up!  Yeah, you read that right!  She picked out a BEAUTIFUL new girlfriend for me, and she insisted on taking me to pick her up.

I must say, she's an absolute KNOCKOUT!

What do you guys think of my new Lucille...............

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Lucille.jpg

[Hoople]

Evening all.

Had dinner already-just a coke, please.

Jazz Band just started today again. It was fun, and I can't wait for it next week. I also have tommorow, friday, and tuesday off from school. Yay conferences and Veterans Day!

PC: I like your new girl. Play some good stuff on her, alright? (Zeppelin? Hendrix? Aerosmith?)

That's it... Oh, lemme find a funny pic.

 

[gear-jammer]

 

 Good evening, Gang.  I will have a hot cider and with my apple pie.  If anyone else shows up, I will share.

Paul,  NP you say?  That would be great to see one on your layout.

Philip,  Nice girlfriend.  Does that mean that you will be playing for us on Youtube?  By the way, did I say PIE?

I took my camera into the shop.  As usual, one of us had pushed buttons and affected the focus.  I will try to get some photos tomorrow.

Sue

 

[pcarrell]

Mark, I've played all that and more.  So far though, I have to say that I'm most impressed with the bluesy tones and strangely enough, the way you can get a perfect Randy Rhoades sound out of it.  Crazy Train is just monsterously HUGE!

Sue, girlfriend?  What girlfriend?  Did you say PIE?!?

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang:

Sue the car is in 1 1/2 inch scale on 7 1/2 inch gauge track. I'd like to find a small herald for the NP. It needs to be 1 1/2 inch dia. I'll look at the next train show. Untill then it will be lettered but no hearld.

Not much going on since this afternoon. I got the trucks on the two long gons. That isn't much of a job. I had John help me flip the cars over on there tops. Then I put a 1/8 inch thick washer over the king pin, dropped the truck on and added a washer and put in the cotter pin to hold the truck on. Then the two of us turned the car up right. That car weighs some where around 80lbs +. This is why we call this gauge hernia scale.

Well I think that I'll head for bed.

Good Night All

[egmurphy]

Good evening sports fans,

 

We were back out at the orange grove on Tuesday.  That made 5 of the last 7 weekdays.  So yesterday we took a break and Fran and I played a round of golf at our little local course.  It was a really nice day to be out on the course.

 

Out at the grove, the mandarin oranges continue to ripen and fill out.  They’re fine right now, but they will peak in December.  Oh, and by the way, besides oranges we have grapefruit (only a few left on this tree):

 

And papayas:

 

 

And bananas (at least banana trees - bananas yet to come):

 

 

CGJim:  Those Monica oranges look like a nice size. Are they good for eating? Thanks for the pics of your river ferry (that's a wider river than I'd imagined) Also, are you doing the colors in Word and pasting in, writing the colors in HTML, or some other way? Got me curious. (I'm just doing some cutting and pasting of the colors you used and retyping)

 The Monicas are indeed eating oranges.  In fact, about 95% of what we grow (in the way of oranges) are usually considered eating oranges, (our mandarins, monicas and reinas).  But we do juice a lot of them just because we can consume more at home that way.

colors - no, while I might write the initial post in Word, I'm bolding the words and using the color palette provided in the tool bar of the reply box.

 

Fergie – thanks for the shots of the 900 and 906 pre-restoration.  I looked for the 906 in Bowring Park when we went up back in 2006.  But I didn’t know exactly where in the park it was, and that’s one big park.  Never found it. Flashwave – that Turkey Shoot game was fun.  Thanks for posting it.

 

Paul B:  Jim back in the 60s we wore the regular Air Force uniform with CAP patches. As a senior I wore regular AF WO 2 bars. The cadets wore cadet rank insignia. I guess I'm an old fogey.

That’s the way I remember the uniforms too.  I spent several years in the CAP back in the early 60’s.  Dropped out in ’64 when I was moving off to go to college.

James in Oz:  I'll probably wind back the prototype to the 50s/60s so I can run 4 axle jeeps and plenty of 40' reefers...I'm thinking SO Cal... orange groves etc...

There’s a great website that specializes in So Cal orange groves and the railroads that served them.  It’s the Yahoo group “Citrus Modeling”.  You ought to check it out. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/citrusmodeling/?yguid=177635965

 “Welcome to the Citrus Industry Modeling Group, a group for modelers, railfans and historians.

Our group collects and shares information about the operations of the Santa Fe, Pacific Electric, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads as they relate to Southern California's citrus industry. The group also collects and shares information about citrus farming, packing and shipping activities with a concentration on the ice bunker reefer era.
 

We help members to use this information to model prototype railroad equipment, conduct realistic operations on model railroads and create accurate citrus industry facilities.

Lastly, our group is a resource for historical research into what was once one of Southern California's most important industries and a major source of high-value railroad traffic.

The group is open to all persons with an interest in the above. Discussion participation is encouraged but not required.”That’ll wrap it up for this evening.  

Hasta mañana,

Ed

 

[CNCharlie]

Good Evening Diners!

Just thought I'd drop in for a coffee before I go off to bed.

We're under a winter storm watch here for tomorrow as a Colorado low is headed our way. Anyway hopefully it will just be rain and wind but there is a chance it will turn to snow.

Jeff, the RV is warming up in the driveway. Can't wait to park it by the station.

Talk to you later,

CN Charlie

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning from Tipton IN !

[LSWrr]

Good morning all,

 

70F and sunshine for us up here today must be some weather from Jeff’s neck of the woods.  The honeymoon weather will be over soon.

 

PC, your new gal is a Queen of a fat bottom girl for sure!  Congratulations! (lets see who gets that comment).

 

Sue, I’m glad I’m not the only one with button pushing problems; I can really mess up my Nikon some days.

 

Paul, would a NP drumhead work?

 

Lee

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 Good morning.

It's 63 and  cloudy. The high should be around 80 and there's a chance of thunderstorms later.

I put in a lot of work on my Athearn SDP40F and now it runs as quiet and smooth as any of my Atlas or Proto 2000 locos. I removed the blue box motor and drive with the exception of the trucks and installed a new Athearn motor, hex shafts and worms. I also installed new nickel silver wheels. The frame, trucks and body are all that remain of the original BB items. All the new components came from a scrapped AC4400. The nylon motor mounts were removed and the motor has been properly mounted with screws. All in all a good rebuild.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      11/6/2008

Wind Chill:  64°F
Humidity:  88%
Dew Point:  61°F

So Far Today
High:  64°F
Low:  63°F
Rain:  0.00"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  9mph SSE

Today  High: 80    Partly cloudy in the morning then becoming mostly cloudy. A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 80. South winds 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight  Low: 58    Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 50s. Southwest winds around 5 mph in the evening becoming northwest after midnight.

[pcarrell]

So, it looks like California is going to get bullet trains.  How about that?

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081105/D94925900.html

 

LSWrr

PC, your new gal is a Queen of a fat bottom girl for sure!  Congratulations! (lets see who gets that comment).

Oooo, I haven't tried playing that one yet on her.  I'll bet that will sound awesome!  (I know what I'm doing tonight!)  Wish I knew some Metallica.  I bet that would rock.  (I really need to learn some christian rock.  Love to jam some Linclon Brewster or something.)

[JimRCGMO]

 Morning, Zoe - I'll have some waffles (with Maine maple syrup, natch),

           

cup of coffee in a Santa Fe mug,

           

and a glass of Ed's OJ, please.

           

Thanks!

So Jeff, where will you be hiding the decoder on that Athearn? I might need a suggestion when I get to converting my SW7... Love your shot of the siding back of the gas station.

PC, I'd say that B.B. would approve - nice choice for your new 'girlfriend' - and your wife nudged you to get her? Is she trying to wean you away from MRR'ing (I hope not)?

Rain and windy weather coming through Cape G. area today, so our Ohio Valley Diners may need to make sure the lawn furniture and other outside stuff is tied down or taken in.

Paul, good to hear of your progress on the gons. Good that your son's able to help you flip them, and I can understand what you said about 'Hernia scale.'

Sue, you know how to perk up PC's attention, huh? (someone say PIE?...)

I'll be at the window booth, watching the morning runs go by. One more day until the weekend(and MRR'ing time, hopefully).  

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau