Elliott's Trackside Diner VII: Best View Of The Rails In Town!

[pcarrell]

Well, we were about to wear out our welcome on the old track, so we've had the local switcher come by and move us over a couple of tracks. 

Come on in and sit down a spell.  The coffee is hot and the food can't be beat!  Zoe and Chloe, our virtual twin waitresses, will get you whatever you need.

In case anyone needs to grab anything over on the old track, here's a link back.

[JimRCGMO]

pcarrell

In case anyone needs to grab anything over on the old track, here's a link back.

Uh, PC - where's the link? Ah, I see you put it back in. Thanks!

I followed the breadcrumb trail and those signs you tacked to the utility poles along the way - good idea! I knew you were the man for this job, PC!

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[pcarrell]

JimRCGMO

Uh, PC - where's the link? Ah, I see you put it back in. Thanks!

You grabbed that nanosecond that I was between posts and got me with it!  Man, I can't slip anything past you!

[Cederstrand]

in a SOUTHERN mug, please & thank you. 

If bread crumbs don't work, perhaps Barry, Todd, & anyone else interested could have a jam session out front to help any lost patrons home in on tha Diner's new location.

Been helping the wife put up a 3 rail fence today until we ran out of painted boards. Also made some progress on my deck.

Have a great day all.

Rob

[pcarrell]

Rob, it seems like even in the muck and mud, you're getting more done on your hunny do list then I am!

[LSWrr]

Look Yogi we made it!

Nice job PC you earned an extra ration of pie ala mode for the day!

Lee

[pcarrell]

LSWrr

Nice job PC you earned an extra ration of pie ala mode for the day!

Mmmmmm, PIE!!!!!

[SilverSpike]

Hey Flo, Janie and Chloe did you all get those pies in the back pie shelf?

....PC might need em after all that moving around this morning!

Darn it! I forgot to pull that homemade ice cream from out the back cooler in the other car. Gonna have to get on the hand car to go back an get it! All the RBF orders will just be RB and no F!

Be back in a few....

 

 

[ewl01]

Just stopped in for a sec.  Nice view, I'll join you for some coffee on my way back.  Need to pick up a couple of #6 switches.  Gonna put a short passing track on my test track, it's wide enough.  To bad it doesn't go anywhere....... yet!  The gears are slowly turning

Fianlly getting the motivation to do some simple track work.  

Be back in a few!!  Eric

[jeffrey-wimberly]

JimRCGMO

Jeff, with those pumps out front, that Shell station still looks like it could stand a couple or four more pumps. You're right, you might be able to fit a small switcher in there... (Just teasing you a little). Will that be a full-service station?

Self-service Pay by Card or Pay by Cash before you pump.

 

 

LSWrr

Jeff,

I have some spare HO-Scale gas pumps if your interested.

I'm interested. Anything that'll keep me from having to buy another kit just for the pumps.

[howmus]

So they put the diner on this track.  Sure wish somebody had woken me up.  Spilled coffee all over the front of me when the switcher hit the coupler.  Anyway I like the new view right here next to the mainline. 

SilverSpike

Darn it! I forgot to pull that homemade ice cream from out the back cooler in the other car. Gonna have to get on the hand car to go back an get it! All the RBF orders will just be RB and no F!

Just looked outside the window and I think SilverSpike is loading half of that Ice Cream in the trunk of his car..........

I spent most of the day figuring out why the fuzziness is still in the Nearfield monitor system.  My son came over and I had him listen to it and he said yep, still there.  So I changed where the inputs got signal from.  Still there.  Hooked up the laptop and played songs from my DJ collection into the system.  Still there.  Switched out the big Mackie Onyx Analogue/Didgital board to a small Mackie 1220 mixer.  Still there.  Hooked up the old amp (12 year old Stewart 200 w) and tried again.  Clean as a whistle.   GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!  That was what started the whole thing in the first place.  Now the amp is working the way it should.  It was kicking on and off and making some very bad sounds.....  I have a feeling that in reconfiguring the inputs and outputs something got hooked up wrong.  Gonna fire that sound tech...(me)  That means I have spent close to $500 replacing stuff that was fine.  The Behringer Amp will be going back for a replacement. 

Zoe, I need some comfort food so bring me a cheeseburger and fries and a RB Float (if "you know who" ever gets back with the ice cream...) 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 I just saw the charge to MediCaid (paid) for my new shoes. $130, each ($260 total). That's $440 LESS than my last pair 3 years ago. That's kinda like the prices of low-end running shoes vs high=end dress shoes.

[blownout cylinder]

HEY---HEY---HEY---look at the new digs!!

Chloe--can you bring me a hamburg with fries please---oh and a coffee---So we havn't lost anyone I hope? The breadcrumbs are still out there---that's good.

I'm cleaning up after spending the better part of the afternoon painting the bathroom---last minute hunny do issue here----

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 I'll have the ribs.

[ewl01]

Got sidetracked (no pun intended) as usual.  We're expecting the white stuff tomorrow, some of it anyway. Well, the boss has a theory, if we mount all the plows, load all the sanders, no snow or not enough will come. Fine by me, overtime doesn't pay enough on weekends.  Fortunately it's a small town, some of us non-natives call it Mayberry.  I'm sure a lot of you will know the reference.

Anyway, those ribs look DELICIOUS!! I'll have them too!

Eric

ps; didn't get the turnouts yet

[gear-jammer]

Good afternoon, Chloe.  I like your new digs.  Nice decorating with all those locomotive photos on the wall.  Thanks to Philip we had a map with directions to the new location.

Jim,  Looks like they opened I-5 so Larry has to head down  to pick up a load of sheet rock headed for BC.  That means that he will either head out early Monday am or Sunday evening.  The last 2 days have been quite mild so the rivers are receding.  How are you doing with layout projects? I have been procrastinating with the water in my streambed.  Making the first pour is the hardest.  Maybe this weekend.

Later, 

 Sue

PS.  Looks like I buy this round.

[Robby P.]

I go to work for 8 hours and come back to a new Diner.  Man what I miss when I work.

Well I guess I will have a root beer float.

We are now under a winter storm warning.  1-2 inchs to night, and 3-6 tomorrow.  Th enews said it will be the first good snow in several years.  OH BOY!!!!  I might be 29, but I still slead!!!  It brings the inner kid out of me.

Well I will watch some tv and hit the sack. 

I will be back in the morning for a hot breakfast.

[pcarrell]

Robby P.

Man what I miss when I work.

Yeah, but think of all the "fun" you do get to have at that job!

[Packers#1]

 Ah, new diner. Anyone up for a repaint?

I'll have some hot chocolate if you don't mind, little cold outside.

ah, the joys of the weekend. Get to leave all the crud from the school week behind for a couple of days.

[GMTRacing]

Geez guys - I go out for a pizza and come back to find the diner gone? Thank goodness PC left the extra link! You get an atta boy PC.  Like the new view but now the pizza's cold. Might as well have a coffe while you warm a couple of slices up for me. Sometimes reheated is better anyway.

For what it's worth, I think Jason probably calls anything other than a boat a target. For sure that's why we spent so much time tracking the Russkis boats. You needed to know which direction the torpedos were going to come from.

Finally got confirmation my new locomotives shipped from FDT along with an appology for the delay. Like I can run any time soon, eh?  Not much else going on as we wait to see how much snow tomorrow brings. With all these guitar players and drummers, we need someone to take up the bass. Think we can get Tom to direct us?   Catch y'all later,   J.R. 

[twhite]

Hey, just dropped in from SunnyCold (for us) Cal and I like the new place!  But who put the photo of the Big Boy on the wall above my booth?  C'mon, you guys, you KNOW I'm a Yellowstone guy!

However, Flo and Zoe, thanks so much for stocking those little 3-packs of Chicken of the Sea tuna--Spooky is going to be one very HAPPY cat.  She tells me she'll drop in more frequently.  However you really didn't have to stock the jar of Pickled Herring for Remington, he's not THAT Norwegian a Forest Cat, LOL!   The occasional rib steak will do him very nicely.  He'll drop in and say 'hi' once he finishes polishing his horned helmet. 

Well, sweet and clear and breezy out here today--and the high pressure we've got building is supposed to expand into the Northwest over the next couple of days, so I hope it helps the weather up there. 

I was out working on the layout today, installing more Busses underneath the tracks, and I started thinking:  You may not know this, but when I originally started the Yuba River Sub some 8 years ago, I laid most of the mainline with Bachmann EZ track--the wide-radius kind.  And it ran very nicely.  Then I started thinking about all of those track-joints and re-figured the whole thing.  Except for Yuba Summit and the Buttes, where I really NEEDED exact curves to keep my trains from taking a 6' drop to the garage floor, I re-laid it all with Atlas and Sinohara flex-track.  Now I don't know whether or not it's just the age of the layout (and I think most of you know it's a relatively large one), or what,  but I'm starting to have current-drop problems all over the place, EXCEPT the section over Yuba Summit that I laid with the EZ track.  All the rail-joints are soldered, and I'm running busses all over the place, and I'm suddenly at a standstill.  I don't know whether to tear out all the wiring and start over again (UGH! ) or tear out all the flex-track and re-lay it with the EZ track (and yes, I've still got all of it).  It's really a conundrum for me.  Or, it may be the fact that it's in an uninsulated garage and we've had a really COLD winter (for California) here, this year and there's been a lot of rail contraction.  I don't know, I'm really at a kind of crossroads.  . 

Maybe I should just putter around and keep bussing the track and wait until spring, when the weather warms up.  Sure has me in a kind of bind this winter, though.   Oh yah, I'm still DC.  This layout would be a DISASTER in DCC right now, even if I were to live long enough to get all of my roster converted.   

Well, sorry to cry on everyone's shoulders, but it gets kind of depressing when one of my locos just suddenly stops and goes dead on a perfectly straight, level stretch of track.

Anyway, I like the new place.  Okay, even the Big Boy photograph above my booth.

Best to all, prayers to those in need. 

Tom

[saronaterry]

Could somebody help get the rest of the pies outta the back of my truck? PC missed a couple.

Someone say bass player? Sold my stuff years back but ,like riding a bike you don't really forget.

Speaking of bikes, PC what did you get a few months back? Saw the pic, Never read a discription.

Rob, sounds like things are really moving along on the home front.Jeff, you get more done on your layout in a day than me in a month!

Everybody else, HI!

Terry

[blownout cylinder]

Tom; I'm thinking almost boosters? Would boosters work then all of a sudden with all that wiring? Maybe trimming it back---sounds like haircutting---by combining some stuff but then you have current drop and then I'm back to boosters----Then I think why not DCC?---eeeerrggh then another problem shows up REMI & SPOOKY---wires----ooopps

Chloe---can I have a mocha java and a cinnamon bun please--

[TMarsh]

Whew! Talk about confused! Went to the other diner and tried to follow the link, got shutdown with an IE error. Panic set in BUT luckily the signs were up and I found it. Guess I’ll have some of those ribs too. Some beans with brown sugar and molasses and some tater salad, you know how I like it.

If you need someone to run back and get that homemade ice cream I’ll get it. No don’t trouble yourself, I’ll get it. Really I will. I’ll get it.

Saaaay! Love the new place! PC- you did great! Let me buy your dinner, whatever you want. I’ve told the girls your money is no good even if you grab the TOP.

If you heard me play you’d know where I was alright! You’d probably go the other way!

Well just stop in to say howdy and off to do some things to keep my wife and dog happy. Might make it in later if not,…Ya’ll know yer in my prayers

Todd

[jeffrey-wimberly]

twhite

I was out working on the layout today, installing more Busses underneath the tracks, and I started thinking:  You may not know this, but when I originally started the Yuba River Sub some 8 years ago, I laid most of the mainline with Bachmann EZ track--the wide-radius kind.  And it ran very nicely.  Then I started thinking about all of those track-joints and re-figured the whole thing.  Except for Yuba Summit and the Buttes, where I really NEEDED exact curves to keep my trains from taking a 6' drop to the garage floor, I re-laid it all with Atlas and Sinohara flex-track.  Now I don't know whether or not it's just the age of the layout (and I think most of you know it's a relatively large one), or what,  but I'm starting to have current-drop problems all over the place, EXCEPT the section over Yuba Summit that I laid with the EZ track.  All the rail-joints are soldered, and I'm running busses all over the place, and I'm suddenly at a standstill.  I don't know whether to tear out all the wiring and start over again (UGH! ) or tear out all the flex-track and re-lay it with the EZ track (and yes, I've still got all of it).  It's really a conundrum for me.  Or, it may be the fact that it's in an uninsulated garage and we've had a really COLD winter (for California) here, this year and there's been a lot of rail contraction.  I don't know, I'm really at a kind of crossroads.  . 

And people tell me I'm a fool for using EZ-Track (this from people who never used it). Sounds like you have some bad connections somewhere. I've had this happen on some flex-track layouts in the past and usually had to replace the feeders going to those sections. On my current layout I went with all ns EZ-Track (starting in 2004) and haven't had much in the way of current drop problems with the exception of a broken solder joint which was easily repaired. Identify the section(s) giving you trouble. Start at the track and work back to the control panel checking any and all connections as you go. If you use suitcase connectors check them really closely. Many of the problems I had in the past were due to suitcase connectors and that's why I no longer use them. If it's not soldered or screwed together I don't trust it.

[ewl01]

The ribs are great.

Ryan, I have a question about your layout.  I looked at your plans, what is the basic size of your layout?  Also, your attic, do you have knee walls?  I have a very steep pitch roof so the usable interior width isn't that great.

Eric

[fec153]

Philip- GREAT job.  Deb is going to make a Pecan Pie just for you.

Flip

 

[TMarsh]

Heeeeyyy! No gum under the tables. Well see y'uns later gotta go to the Casey's and get a pack. G'night

Todd

[CNCharlie]

Nice move PC and right beside the mainline too.

I think we should start putting Root Beer on tap and get a larger freezer for the ice cream. An awful lot of RBF's go out of here and Jim hasn't even been in yet. In fact we should have a name in Jim's honour for RBF's, perhaps some of you out there have a better imagination than I to name Jim's bevy of choice.

Der, that caboose is exactly what I'm looking for so I'll send you a PM and thanks for thinking of me.

I've decided to take a different approach to the weather. From now on I think I'll go back to Farenheit as it is far nicer sounding than Celsius. After all the high for tomorrow is supposed to be -15C which is +5F. Too many negative numbers with Celsius which could contrbute to winter depression. Ok, who said I'm delusional? 

I recall Jim that you asked when we had our coldest December and that happened in 1876. I'm surprised they were even recording the temps then as Manitoba had only been a province for 6 years at that time. Heck, there wasn't even a railroad here then.

Hope I can find my way home in the dark from the new location but then again I'm used to been kept in the dark. Say I just thought of one advantage of a snowy landsape-- when there is a moon it is in fact quite bright outside at night at least it was last night when I had to go out a 2 a.m. with Pippa. If I don't go with her she'll stay out for a half hour and I then I just lose too much sleep.

CN Charlie

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Wow........ You chow hounds wasted no time filling up a couple of pages in the new diner.

Has anybody hear how Jerry is doing in recent days? I hope he is improving.

Also, who has heard from Ed. His OJ is running low.

I'll dispatch a reefer full of country hams to feed y'all at breakfast.

We'll be off to Nashville in teh morning.

Below is a photo I posted in WPF.