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

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 

pcarrell

jeffrey-wimberly

 

My special shoes have finally come in! I'm going to the docs office tomorrow to pick them up.

Yeah, I've got them all ready for you!

Very funny. Excuse me while I die laughing.

[fec153]

Jeff- you have to "Weather" them first.                               lol

Any news about Jerry and Sally or Luc and Gloria??????????????

Phil   [Flip]

 

[pcarrell]

jeffrey-wimberly

 

pcarrell

jeffrey-wimberly

 

My special shoes have finally come in! I'm going to the docs office tomorrow to pick them up.

Yeah, I've got them all ready for you!

Very funny. Excuse me while I die laughing.

Oh, not those kind of "special" shoes?

[LSWrr]

Do any of you N scale modelers have the Walthers N scale catalog?  I’m looking for the stock number for N-Scale evergreens or Christmas trees to be used on a Christmas tree lot for my layout.  Thanks for your help.

 

Da ***: Nice seeing you in the diner again, what have you been up to?

  

Lee

That's interesting trains.com beeped out your name......

[Robby P.]

I will take a cheese burger with the works!!!  Oh, and a coke. 

Heres a few shots from what I could get today.  Right when I got to the yard/mainline, a train was screaming through.  I didn't get to it for any shots.  All I got was a train doing some auto-rack switching.   Heres the 2 engines doing all of the work.  I also got a shot of the new lights they just put up.  The old system was very rust and not as many lights.  Next was a shot of a sign. No idea what it means, but I am sure some engineers out there know.

[LSWrr]

16.0 RULES APPLICABLE ONLY IN DIRECT TRAFFIC CONTROL (DTC) LIMITS

16.1 Authority to Enter DTC Limits

The timetable will designate DTC limits. A train may enter DTC block limits only after receiving verbal authority from the train dispatcher. DTC territory will not include territory where Rule 6.13 (Yard Limits) is in effect.

16.2 DTC Block Authority

The train dispatcher will issue DTC block authority to a crew member on the head end of the train when possible. An employee operating the controls of a moving train may not copy DTC block authority.

A. Recorded in Writing

The employee who receives or releases DTC block authority must record it in writing and include the following:

1. Name of each DTC block where authority is issued
2. Time each DTC block authority is issued or the time that work and time expires
3. Identity of the train ahead when DTC block restricted authority is issued
4. Train identity when DTC block authority takes effect after the arrival of that train
5. Time each DTC block is released
6. When a DTC block authority is voided, the word "void" written in the space provided for release time

Each DTC block record must be kept until the block is released, and the engineer and conductor each must have a copy available.

DTC block authority must not be transferred to a relieving crew, unless authorized to do so by the train dispatcher.

When verbal authority is received from the train dispatcher to leave equipment in a DTC block, the train dispatcher may instruct a crew member to void the DTC block authority.

Employees cannot act upon DTC block authority until the train dispatcher says, '(Train), that is correct." B. Multiple Authorities

Not more than one DTC authority may be issued in the same DTC block except:

1. In ABS territory, as provided by Rule 16.3 (Movement in a Specified Direction), authority may be issued to more than one train in the same direction.
2. In non-signaled territory, as provided by Rule 16.3.2 (Restricted Authority).
3. As provided by Rule 16.4 (Work and Time).
4. When directional authority will not take effect until after the arrival of an opposing train. The words "after the arrival of (Train)" must be included in the issuance of the authority.
5. Directional authority may be granted after an opposing train with directional authority has passed the location where movement will enter the DTC block

[LSWrr]

Robby,  I bet that was more than you wanted to know.

 

[Robby P.]

I always wondered what it ment. 

[LSWrr]

My DCC system came in the mail today!

[C&O Fan]

LSWrr

My DCC system came in the mail today!

Whoo Hoo !!!!!

Time to download Decoder Pro !!!!!

[fec153]

NO WAY, JOSE. You have to know this stuff by heart to be a train engineer. He$$, have enough problems with traffic laws just driving a car or my w/c van.

Flip

 

[Packers#1]

 I'll take the biggest glass of water you've got on the menu.

Whew, just ran/walked two laps of my usual route around the nieghborhood, instead of just one. Had Skillet's CD "Comatose Comes Alive" playing on my mp3 player (a creative Zen V plus). Hey, gotta keep in shape for next football season, lol.

[da_kraut]

 Hi Lee,

been working in Fort McMurray Alberta.  So not much time at home, unfortunately and now getting ready for another move.

So been doing a lot of lurking here and other parts of the forum.  This helps me keep my sanity when up there.

Frank

[LSWrr]

Terry, What is the best web site for decoder pro?

[C&O Fan]

LSWrr

Terry, What is the best web site for decoder pro?

Here ya go

Have fun !!!

http://jmri.sourceforge.net/

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 Got my new heater today. Only put a $370 dent in my Lowe's card but it's tucked neatly under the front of the layout (after I loped the base off of the heater that is). It heats the place up in no time and has a very nice looking fireplace effect too.

 

[fec153]

Hi Jeff, looks like you got the heater just in time for another cold snap. Is it one of those that can be placed in any room when needed or is it stationary?

Flip

 

[blownout cylinder]

OK good evening peoples---I'll have the largest burger you have in here plus a large coke please---oh brother talk about w88k. I had two elderly people to look after and well we did all kinds of stuff---took both down to the nearby mall and hung around there,did the grocery bit took them back home and helped them with compooter issues---finished that, went to RONA's to find ABS(?) piping for cylindrical elevator bins,found a bunch-grabbed them,picked up some more insulation stuff then got them into the car. Somehow between getting back to the mall to get my groceries and coming back out to go home a new bunch of nastiness in the form of high winds shows up---up to 70kmh expected with higher gusts(yay)

Now I is home and we are sealed in for the night---we can hear roaring from the evergreens getting blown about---

I'm going to take a closer look at my wash for weathering. I got some of the streakiness out so I can have a more realistic thing going here---mud and guck on the trucks---

[twhite]

Good evening all--

Just got word from my son that he and his wife are leaving Washington tomorrow and will be here for New Year's Eve.  Also my sister phoned and announced that she and Mom will be here, also.  Seems that our Christmas Celebration will finally happen, now that the weather out here on the West Coast has finally settled down.  So that finally means a houseful of people for at least PART of the Holidays.  Of course, Tommy will just slam his suitcase on the couch and head out to the garage to rewire the train (dang Computer Experts, LOL! ) which means I get to spend the next two months trying to figure out what he DID!  

Jeff:  Congratulations on the heater.  Wish I could find one that would heat the garage up without blowing out every circuit in the neighborhood! 

Sue:  If you heard a lot of noise over Christmas in Olympia, it was my son.  He and his wife went up there to spend the Holidays with his best buddy--it was easier to get to Olympia than down here in Sacramento.  The boy is not the QUIETEST human being in the world, LOL! 

Remington developed a bad morning/evening cough last week, so I took the guy to the Vet today for some tests.  Heart and lungs are fine.  Vet asked me if he was 'high-strung', I said "Only when Spooky whacks him."  Anyhow, the Vet ran a blood-test (THAT was fun!) to see if perhaps he had residual "Kennel Cough" from either his stay at the Pound or his Foster family.  Evidently some cats get it, but it goes away after they adjust to their new home.  He could also have an allergy, which should be fun trying to find out exactly what it is.  Vet asked me if he coughed around the Christmas tree, I just laughed and said, "He's a NORWEGIAN FOREST CAT, how allergic can they get around TREES?"   So we'll see.  Right now he's eating Spooky's tuna, which could possibly lead to a Major War.  NOBODY touches "She Who Must Be Obeyed's" Chicken of the Sea and lives, LOL!    Since he's become comfortable, the two of them just enjoy the Hell out of bugging each other.  Reminds me of Lowell and Spooky in their prime, by golly. 

Well, that's about it from my end of the world--just paitently waiting for my Z-6 next month.  Hey, anyone know anywhere that I can find an HO Mountain Lion?  I was working on the MR today and noticed that I have WAY too many deer in the forest.  I don't remember 'planting' that many.  Do you suppose those little Prieser plastic figures are multiplying when I'm asleep?  And don't tell me that Mountain Lions are secretive and you never see them.  Not where I'M from, LOL! 

Best to all, prayers to those in need. 

Tom

 

[blownout cylinder]

Tom; ---Our vet told me that 'Spring' could get dry throat sometimes---if you live in a really dry place(like we do) that could get the little one coughing---something to consider if nothing comes up.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

fec153

Hi Jeff, looks like you got the heater just in time for another cold snap. Is it one of those that can be placed in any room when needed or is it stationary?

It's quite stationary. It's 34" wide x 28" high and weighs about 70 pounds. I'm not gonna be moving it anytime soon.

[twhite]

Barry--

That's something to consider about Remington.  Despite the fact that it's the California Central Valley, where wet winters and dry summers are normal,  it has been basically a 'dry' climate around here the past couple of winters.  I'll mention it when I take the Big Guy back after the tests arrive.  Should be Friday. 

Thanks, I never thought of that. 

Tom

[jguess733]

Hey Sue, just wanted to say hey and find out how hard the storm hit you. The wife and I flew out of SEATAC at 8 last Saturday morning, to spend my Christmas leave down in Texas with my folks. When we got back to Bremerton on Friday, I couldn't believe the amount of snow everywhere. I had to dig my truck out to go turn in my leave papers. I'm kinda sad I missed all the snow. I can't get enough of it.

[Packer]

This is what I've been working on recently:

The CP is MDC, the N&W and B&O are P1K, and the DT&I and NP are Accurail (not 100% on that). The coal loads I made usning the leftovers from when I did 25 hoppers at once. I could proably do another 20 or so with what's still leftover. Pretty darned good for 8 bucks to be able to do over 50 cars. I'm going to P-coal again tommorow, maybe I'll get some more cars. I also put in an order to Atlas for some parts for my U30C and some shells for my C424 projects.

[gear-jammer]

Hot cider, please, Chloe.  It felt good to get back to work.  The snow makes you lazy.  Well as lazy as you can when you have outside animals.

Tom,  Was that your son making all that noise.  Actually, the snow made it so quite.  Very peaceful.

Jason,  After you left, it snowed everyday.  As one point it was 1 1/2 feet  deep with drifts up to 2 feet.  Our driveway only  has 6 inches now.  With a couple more days of rain, maybe I can drive my car again.  For fun,  I got my husband to pull me on the toboggan behind the quad.  It sounded like you got more snow in Bremerton.  Is your wife a model railroader, too?

Sue

[jguess733]

I don't know how much we got, but I know the base was covered still today. It seems like they coated the entire base in about 12 feet of sand. I wish she was a model railroader too. She tolerates it. I don't have a layout, so I'm stuck building kits and such. She likes to quilt and cross stitch, and all that other stuff that has to do with fabric. I had an epiphany the other night when we were on the couch. she was sewing something or other, and I was bent over the coffee table working on a kit. We're in our mid to late 20's and and it was like I fast-forwarded 30 years, and saw the same scene. We both got a good laugh out of it. Hope you can get your car out soon.

[der5997]

Good evening Diners, and if I don’t get in tomorrow,

 

Barry:

John der; All that salt encrustation leaves me wondering---how do you get it off the windows?

…No worries, we had rain and wind the night after I took that pic.  Here’s the morning view…

 

 

I too suspect salt doing the verdigris on the connex, loads of fun scraping that off.

…I’m leaving the feeder wires as they are.  The track I’ve got about 2/3rds. Of the layout cleaned off. On the lower yard I started with 320 grit Emery Paper, followed by 600, followed by 1500.  The rest of the layout is getting just the 600 and 1500.  I’m not going to burnish and polish as in the Gleam method, because that excellent shine hasn’t lasted. I’ve taken Jerry’s suggestion, and loaded a fresh roller on my Centerline track cleaning car, and am applying Clipper Oil to the cleaned track. I hope that sealing the surface against the atmosphere will keep the salt at bay. The track cleaning is turning up all sorts of maintenance chores and glitches too.  There are two turnouts that need attention, one with a misaligned rail joiner, fortunately that one is in a non-ballasted section of hidden track.  There’s another in hidden trackage, but the fault is in the Atlas Switch Machine controllers (two for  this particular turnout).  I’ve taken them apart and cleaned off the contacts (they are both over 20 years old, and I’ve cleaned them before, so I didn’t have to spend time drilling out rivets this go around). Now one works just fine, but the other still only works one side of the turnout. Then there’s the two turnouts I was going to replace when I got around to it. Now’s the time, and I’ve got a wet towel soaking the ballast around the first one.  May not get that done tomorrow as I really  have to get the snowblower working, from the sound of the weather forecast; and then I’m going over to Truro to get our daughter and sons.  The second one will have to wait until I’ve got the first back in operation.  Way back in the summer I bought a built up station on the Bay.  It didn’t exactly fit the site, so I’ve  now trimmed the roof line on both sides, and although one side isn’t quite to NMRA standards gauge for clearance, trains can squeak by, which is all that maters, and that side is away from view. The front of the station has to fit onto a section of Atlas station platform.  So I had also to cut down the ticket office to fit under the awning.  That part is now attached to the awning rather than the building!  That’s until the whole thing gets glued as a unit.   #1 grandson asked on the phone today what I wanted for my birthday, and I said “Enough time to get my layout cleaned off, and a year where you don’t break any more bones!” What’s been really good is running trains again.  I took the time to move the cars in the lower and upper yards by loco rather than the 0-5-0, once the initial 320 emery work was done and something could move! 

Well I did it. Put my attempt at weathering on display and found that STREAKINESS happened. I thought I had it out but---   ---not quite.

…know what you mean.  The sun was just right thisafternoon for me to take some natural light pics of my storm-tossed cove.  I dusted off that part of the layout, and took 8.  All seem to have white specks on the waves….grrrr! Guess I didn’t dust enough. I’ve got them in a sub-album in my Photobucket account.  I can give folks the url if interested, but I don’t want to take up too much space here.   

 

 

 

CapeJim:

DerJohn, that gizmo looks really handy - she got it at Wally World? I may have to check that section out tomorrow. Looks like #11 blade that fits it - that about right?

…X-Actomundo!  Yes Wally World, and yes #11 is what it came with.  

 

 

 

Todd:

Der- Glad to see you are fine. I hope this storm heading east peters out before it gets to you. You don’t need it. That knife looks great. Probably has a good feel to it when cutting I’ll bet.

…Thanks, and yes it missed us, but the New year’s Eve snow won’t.  The knife works fine, as I found out making emery belts for my  handy dandy mechanical (that is spring loaded) sanding sticks in order to start the track cleaning.  

 

 

 

Morgan:

Just a quickie. SOmething is bugging me that I forgot to do. Train related. No clue

…In my case it’s generally some part of the layout power, thank goodness for indicator lights…but even then it can be hours before I notice there’s a light still on!

Mom used to ride, before life got in the way and made her busy. (ah, job security) she hated riding in winds, when they picked up suddenly on her.  

…reminds me of my scooter days in England. Driving along pointing the thing at the curb in order to go straight!  Great until the wind drops and you are headed for the ditch. Ooops!   

 

 

 

JR:

Der - those winds up north have been wicked. Mom has lost power several times down Lockport way and has had trees knocked over and trellisses flattened by the wind. She's not as far from the water as you but on higher ground. Some of the gusts are clocking in at 140 kph plus! Do you have trouble with the windows getting etched by the salt spray? She's got all plastic covered storms now because the aluminum got eaten alive by the salt air.

…Our milk delivery guy said he’d heard that Yarmouth had a sub-station burn down, and so NS Power are trying to route power around that.  Wouldn’t surprise me if Lockport is involved with that mess.  As to the windows, we had plastic frames from the get-go., but thanks for asking.  Despite the salt, algae continue to grow however!  

 

 

 

Sue: Sounds like you’ve had your hands full, but the extra storage in the train room will pay off, I bet.  

 

 

 

Well, that’s caught up to page 160, and the beginning of the 29^th Dec. so I’ll say Goodnight  and God Bless. Prayers for all in need of healing comfort and peace.

 

[railroadnut675]

Another pleasant day in Tampa. Who knows how to weather without an airbrush or liquids? Advice appreciated.

[twhite]

Hi, there, Railroadnut.  Try the Bragdon self-adhesive chalks.  They're available at most hobby stores and really work well for me--and I'm NOT a guy who weathers so that I want to show it off, LOL!   Dull-cote the model you want to weather, apply the chalks with a Q-tip.  If you don't like what you just did, wash it off with warm, soapy water and try it again.  But the chalks stick to the Dullcote really well.  Bragdon makes a whole array of weathering colors. 

Here's a car I weathered with them--my ashpit car.  It turned out pretty well, I think, considering my very limited talents at this sort of thing.

 

Tom

 

[blownout cylinder]

I just spent time with the learning curve of XtraCAD. Yeeessh. Loads of fun---trying out various turnouts for Exceda Yard which is the collector point for the Exceda wye which ultimately should bring everything down to Leemer at the bottom end(even tried to do handlaid turnouts on this). I's be going to have a lot of fun on this program----

I am going to head of to bed and work my little head to sleep---g'night---