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

[howmus]

Hoople

He tends to play the trumpet the most, but he can play just about everything... Guitar, Bass, Saxophone, Drums, Piano... all sorts of stuff.

 

Mark if someone is going to teach music, that's what you've got to be able to do......  As an education major with my principle instrument being voice,  at the Eastman School of Music, I studied Voice, Piano, Trumpet, Trombone, French Horn, Tuba, Violin, and Percussion.  Only reason I didn't have to take more was I was already playing Clarinet, Alto Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Alto Sax, and Tenor Sax in High School and was able to pass off on Clarinet by taking an oral exam on the instrument (voice majors normally had one year of clarinet, but could take woodwind class instead).  Then you get all the classes like Orchestration, Choral Arranging, Methods, and then student teaching.  That is in addition to all the English, History and other things all teachers have to learn........  After college I became proficient on Classical Guitar, and Electric Bass. I also have studied Pipe Organ for several years. Yes, many of the music teachers out there are amazing in their ability to play almost any instrument and play it well!  This is my baby:

Galaxy sure hope you get the pipes thawed soon.  I hope you have that guarantee  in writing.......  If they are a good company they will do their best to help you out.  I have had to deal with frozen pipes many times.  In our first trailer (a little 8' X 36) we had the pipes freeze and burst in the center bedroom.  That's right inside the trailer.  We replaced them with a plastic, guaranteed not to break type.  And sure enough the next year when they froze up, no leaks.  Still had no water in the kitchen for a week though.  In the old farmhouse I lived in as a child, every winter the pipes froze in the kitchen.  My dad had installed all the new plumbing there and they had to go up inside the wall.  Must have been a spot that dad didn't get enough insulation in and it would freeze anytime the temp went sub zero.  Good luck with the problem!

Der, that there bike you showed be one o' them AlleyBammy bikes.  They don't allow nothin' like that where Sue lives.........   Love it!  I got that in a long e-mail a couple years ago on Redneck Homes and transportation.

Oooooh!  Looks like supper is on me folks!  Order up..... 

Flo, I'll have a bowl of that freshly made Chicken Vegetable soup, a large garden salad w/ Italian Dressing and crumbly blue cheese, couple of those warm snowflake rolls, and a hot cup of decafe.

[blownout cylinder]

Good evening peoples! I NEED a HOT CHOCOLATE please----with a large chicken and rib dinner----we got up to -17C and then the winds popped up---30kmh sent windchill to -35C at times-----I have 2 clients who live near Clinton---which is about an hours drive from here---The drive there and back were CCCOLD let me tell you----Of course the heater kept up with the cold but you still have to go in and out of the car-------!

GALAXY; Last night our street developed a wonderful crater---watermain broke--they were still at it this morning when I left---we still had water because our side was serviced from the other one that runs behind our house---back alley/sevice road for townhouses that are on other side of our back fence---anyhooo---I hope the ----------- fixes the problem for you

Well I'm going to sit by the already crowded fireplace---share the warmth people!

[Hoople]

 Evening all!

It's almost dinner time in Seattle, so, I think I'll have the steak burger again chloe... And how about a Vanilla Milkshake... yum.

ALL: Thanks for all the compliments on my drumming. It was a great concert... Oh, and GMTRacing:I will have opportunites like this at high school. This whole thing was put on for junior high students by a local highschool. Every band instructor or band I've been in was related to this school... and it's where I applied to go to. My instructor who was playing the trumpet is the jazz band instructor there, so it should be fun.

Later,

Mark

[howmus]

blownout cylinder

Last night our street developed a wonderful crater---watermain broke--they were still at it this morning when I left

 

About 10 years ago when my youngest son had just moved to Chicago, he parked his car on a side street in a legal parking spot and went to a party at a friends house. It was one of those sub zero weeks.  About 4 hours later he came out expecting to be able to drive home.  Got to his car and noticed that the bottom of the tires appeared to be missing.  Looked a bit closer and found that they were frozen in ice almost up to the hub caps.  He tried to get out of the parking spot, but was hopelessly frozen in.  He took the train back over to where he lived and figured he could get the car the next day.  After work the next day he went over to get the car.  Ice was up over the bottom of the door.  Whole bottom of the car was in a block of solid ice.  Turns out a water main had broken because of the bitter cold and water had run down the street and frozen everything in its path.  He called the city and asked what he should do and was told just wait till it melts.  He went back every day for over 2 weeks.  Every day the City of Chicago gave him a parking ticket (it seems you have to move the car so they can plow the street...).  He called the city and was told "tough"  you need to move your car.  He told the city that was impossible and had even called two different towing companies who both told him it would be impossible to move the car and if they did it would destroy it. 

He finally got the car out in the Spring and had about 3 weeks worth more of parking tickets before he could get the car out of there.  He refused to pay them.  They took him to court.  He showed up with statements from the towing companies, written notes about his conversations with the city, and a bunch of photos of the car.  Not only did they rip up the tickets, but he got a formal apology from the City of Chicago.......  He then sold the car and used public transportation for the next several years.

Hey Flo, I'll have a mug of hot chocolate please. 

In other news, a friend (soon to be divorced I have a feeling) sent me this:

My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping channels.
She asked, 'What's on TV?'
I said, 'Dust.'
And then the fight started...

I'll be sitting by the window enjoying my Hot Chocolate!
 

[JimRCGMO]

Hi Chloe - I'll have a large cup of hot chocolate, please. Thanks, Ray!

Galaxy, I'd second the dripping faucet tip the others mentioned. Some of their remarks and yours reminded me - back when I was married, the house we lived in had a former coal chute (that had been converted with one corner of the basement into a laundry area), and the place where the chute door used to be had only a single thickeness of textured glass in it (which didn't fit really snug at all). Some of the pipes to the washer went along that wall, and when it got really cold in January, we would leave them both at a very slight trickle to keep them from freezing. Let us know if your contractor lives up to their word (or not...). Maybe if enough of us talk to them about writing 60 Minutes about them, they'll make it good.

Ray, nice axe! Didn't realize how much of a musical background you had. Loved your friend's story about the TV...

Mark, were you the near drummer, or the far one? I'm guessing the nearer (to the camera) one, right? Great video of the band - how often do you all get to put on concerts? Around here, the jazz or concert bands perform one or twice a year each.

Barry, that's COLD, all right!   Our temps (way warmer than yours) were bad enough today, and the winds outside today weren't as bad as yesterday's.

FYI for those near one of their stores, H-L's coupon this week is for 25 percent off any one regular-priced item.

I've been looking over the instructions for a roundhouse kit I have. It's a model of the Como, Colorado roundhouse (stone walls, six stalls), and I'd say is about craftsman level. Luckily for me, one of our MRR club members (from whom I bought it) had already assembled and stained about all of the interior braces (the ones that go between where the tracks are), and had done a basic job of painting the plaster wall castings. The stall doorways seem completely too narrow for the steam locos I have (maybe it was designed for narrow gauge).  So, i'm hoping to convert it into wider stalls, but only about 3 or 4 of them. Will probably need to make some additional castings for the walls and openings closest to the turntable. I'll try to use the work cell phone's camera tomorrow to make some photos of the kit. After looking over the kit and directions last night, I'm hankering to get a corner module started (where I want the turntable and roundhouse to go when I get the layout in a spare bedroom-sized space) so I can start on the roundhouse. But then again, I'd have to do a lot of drawing on the plywood/foam so I could get the spacing and placement right to line up...

I stopped by the grocery store tonight on the way home, and picked up some fixin's for beef stew. Think I'll cook that up tomorrow, if I can find a suitable sized cooking pot. Biggest one I think I have is a Vision (Corning Glassware) pot, about 9 inches in diameter and about 4-5 inches deep. Maybe that'll be big enough.

I'll join the crew by the woodstove in the back tonight and sit a spell. How's everybody doing? And how does Duke manage to sleep and not fall out of the chair, sitting like that? Guess the better sleepers can sleep anywhere, anytime, eh?

 

Blessings and prayers,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[der5997]

Another very hot chocolate with whipped cream is called for, I think. The forecast is for a 1 degree C warmer (aka less cold) night for us...but I'm not holding my breath. By Monday we are in for a fast moving snow storm, about 8 inches worth changing to rain...so there is hope!

More good news.  You may remember I was talking about getting a GE P42.  Well, the decoder was on back-order, so I said "wait until it comes in, and ship both together."  Well, this evening the eLHS called to say that they were having trouble with the supplier of the decoder, and would I like a plug and play drop in SOUND decoder for the P42?  Of course I asked how much, and his answer was a figure that has to be his wholesale price!  I get sound for about $15 more than the original was costing me!  I call that #1 top notch customer service! On top of that, the reason I went for this particular eLHS was his shipping rate for the loco and decoder to Canada from the US is just $5.75. When I think of some eBay sellers charging $17-21 for the same type of shipment....

Anyhow, this isn't an advertizment, but if anyone wants to know more, send me a message.

Time for bed.  Goddnight all, and God Bless.  Prayers for all in need of healing, comfort and peace.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Been a somewhat busy day for me. I helped my nephew and my brother in law (he's home from Iraq for a couple of weeks) tie a 12 foot flat bed trailer down onto a 16 foot flat bed trailer so the nephew could meet up with some friends and go to Houston to retrieve some items to bring back and drop off in Simpson (a hole in the road about 30 miles from here). The small trailer, once loaded, will be pulled back behind his friends truck and the larger trailer with it's load will be pulled behind a U-Haul truck. My sister got her new car today. A Honda Civic si. That thing is FAST! It'll do 85 mph at 3,000 rpm and redlines at 8,000. The speedometer goes up to 150 mph and the car will do every bit of it. One thing I can say for my sister, when she wants to get a performance car she doesn't mess around! And just when I thought I might get something done on the layout (there I go thinking again) I get a phone call informing me that I'll be going out to dinner with the family. Now that my plans for today had been shot down in a ball of flames all I can do is carry them forward to tomorrow.  

[Packers#1]

 Well, just got back form bowling and dinner w/ our youthgroup. It was fun, lol.

[New Haven I-5]

 Good Evening!

 

     I'll have the Double Bacon Steak burger(meat bacon and cheese only) with a Coke Zoe. I found this

great video a few nights ago and would like to share it with you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hpxq8mzzw8 

 

                                              I'll be back later,

                                                    Luke

[blownout cylinder]

JeffW; At this rate it may only be next month and you'd be saying----Gee! I planned to get this done on the 15th of January, I'm done! ---and it is February 20th------2010-----HMMMNN

You could say----Murphy WAS an optimist----

[Cederstrand]

Peppermint tea, please &thanks.

Some really interesting cold weather stories shared in the Diner.

Rob

[blownout cylinder]

I'll have chamomile tea please---to go---

 I'm off to bed and

[Hoople]

 Jim: I'm the one on the kit, the guy in front of me is on the keyboard, the one to the right of me is playing the tambourine. This is for a October-January once a week honors class, and this was the only concert. Next year in highschool with the actual jazz band there are about 6-12 concerts a year.

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning from Tipton IN !

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning.

It's 40 and cloudy, a darn sight warmer than it was this time yesterday. The high should be around the upper 50's and it will be partly cloudy with a chance of rain late tonight.

I had so many plans for yesterday but Murphy had different ideas about that. First I had to help the nephew get ready for a trip to Houston. He and some friends were going there in two trucks with two trailers (one trailer loaded on the other) and will come back in a couple of days with the two trailers loaded and four vehicles (the two trucks, a small car and a U-Haul van). Went to the nieces place where the door (remember the dog door fiasco?) was being repaired and done right this time. My sister got her new car yesterday so had to make time for the obligatory checkout. By now it's sunset and I figure I'll finally have some time to get something done on the layout. That however was not to be. I got a call telling me that the family was going to dinner at the local Tex-Mex place that my niece likes (Las Margaritas) and my presence was required. After all, my brother in law is home from Iraq for a couple of weeks and that counts as a special occasion. So now yesterday's plans are today's plans.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      1/17/2009

Wind Chill:  40°F
Humidity:  54%
Dew Point:  25°F

So Far Today
High:  40°F
Low:  39°F
Rain:  0.00"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  5mph S

  Today  High: 58    Mostly cloudy. Not as cool. Highs in the upper 50s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

  Tonight  Low: 50    Mostly cloudy. A 40 percent chance of showers after midnight. Warmer. Lows around 50. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.


 

[C&O Fan]

New Haven I-5

 Good Evening!

 

 Snip

great video a few nights ago and would like to share it with you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hpxq8mzzw8 

 

                                              I'll be back later,

                                                    Luke

What a great sight # 93 just a blowing and a going

[blownout cylinder]

Good morning--We are at -20C right now with NO WINDCHILL!!!! YAY!! Anyhooo we are expecting up to 15cm of snow by tomorrow morning as we go up to -8C for a high today/Tonight/Tomorrow---we's crawling our way back up---lows for the next few days are expected to be in the -12 to -10 c range-----

I'm going to Wal-mart today to look at some pieces a buddy of mine came across that just might be in N scale mode---one never knows what they might find---I'm also checking out my neighbourhood Goodwill store----nowadays one never knows what shows up there----considering things-----

[LSWrr]

Good chilly morning all

Currently it’s -10F with a wind chill of -25F outside.  We have a fast paced snow squall heading in our general direction with snow falls of 6” to 10” predicted for this afternoon and evening.  Looks like a good day to get caught up on MRR projects inside the house.

Lee

 

[ns3010]

Morning Zoe, I'll take french toast and a hot chocolate, please. Thanks.

Yesterday, I made a promise to actually get something done on my layout. But this time, it wasn't my fault, although I actually started working before I had to leave. My friends are retarted.

So we were going to see Mall Cop. This girl Brianna, whos idea it was to go, said the movie was at 8. For god knows why, my friend calls me at 6 and says hes on his way to pick me up. They get to my house at  6:20. At 6:45, we get to Rockaway. We stand there for an hour until everyone comes. Now Brianna can't come- genious. When we go to get tickets, we find out that THEY AREN"T SHOWING MALL COP!!! So we see the Unborn. Freakiest movie ever. Who thinks of this crap? Decent movie, but just plain weird. The entire movie was comprised of the audience screaming and the freaky little neighbor kid saying, "Jumby wants to be born now..."

So basically, no, nothing done on the layout again. But I'll try for today. After homework and studying and whatever else crap I have to do, I will make it down to the basement.

Have a wonderful, chilly day!

[galaxy]

Morning all!

A nice big juicy steak to go with scrambled eggs and hashbrowns smothered in country style gravy.

It has been the coldest yet here, and I don't want to talk about it. See below.

RE: Frozen Pipes

We cancelled the plumber as a small space heater under the kitchen sink made the hot water flow again. However, the bath tub drain still seems frozen. They never guaranteed the drains, as they didnt replace those, just the water lines. We colored the water with blue food dye so we can monitor if it thaws. Looks like some sponge baths for a bit.

The water lines were the gray plastic kind that turns brittle and cracks as it ages. When it did, we had no choice but to replace the whole of the water lines. {to the tune of $3,200.00}. There was a lawsuit for those whose homes that were built with it after a certain year- the year taht they knew it would crack but continued to sell and market it anyway. That did not apply to us. Our home was built BEFORE that date. Darn. Then later we found out from a plumber that had we protested and filed a claim, anybody who had the crappy plumbing was covered, but it was then too late to file a claim. Darn again.

Turns out that the PEX tubing they used to replace it is really only guaranteed not to crack when frozen; rather it will expand to accomodate the ice, then contract again when thaws and not break.

But the plumber still said he insulated well and we should not have to worry about frozen pipes no matter how cold it got.

THANKS to all those who mentioned the dripping water trick. That  we knew. You can't live in a trailer without knowing that trick. BUT since we were guaranteed the pipes would not freeze, we didn't do that. We also have not had this cold weather since they were replaced. We let the water run last night. Now as long as the drains don't freeze.

UH OH. D'OH Last night we heard a loud BANG. Unfortuantely, it sounded like it came from wher the bath pipes are. We are HOPING it was  a structure stress bang and NOT the plastic drain pipe cracking. Only time when the drain thaws will tell. We can't do much about it now, and we'll be damned if we are gonna call a plumber on a weekend for that. Now if we can get the skirting thawed from the ice and snow that abuts it....

There were other pops and smaller bangs heard from areas where there is no plumbing so we hope for structure heat stress bang.

We cannot wait for it to warm up Mon or Tues. {to the 20's whoopie}

There is almost always a Jan thaw warm up to the high 40's and 50's. Where the heck is it??? It can't get here fast enough for us.

Thanks for letting me ramble.

A round of Hot Chocolate for everyone Myrtle!   {If we have plumbing issues I may not be able to buy for quite awhile. LOL}

[blownout cylinder]

I'll have 2 eggs over easy and coffee please----

ns3010; I saw MALL COP---that is a funny but weird movie. UNBORN however is supposed to be scary but it is just plain weird---I think it's premise is off a bit----

Galaxy; Weird sounds like that would be odd that is for darn sure----

[ns3010]

No, it was absolutely both. It was weird how Jumby looked like the neighbor, though. And when the guy's head was upside down... Who  thinks of this stuff?

[Packers#1]

 Well, we just got mauled by 2nd baptist 47-6. Now, stem your laughs for a minute; we only had 5 guys inlcuding me (and not our best 5 either), and they had 13 or 15 guys. I scored 2 points, and another guy on our team scored the other 4. The refs were giving us every break they could though. And 2nd baptist had a few guys who dwarfed me. Also, they really knew how to play basketball (I know this will sound racist, but they were all black, and we only had part of our white guys there).

There was one kid that was tal;king all sorts of smack. one of our guys had the ball down, and the guy kept yelling "Come on, shoot it! Why don't you shoot it?" or something like that. well, they get the ball back, and then next thing I know, our guy and their guy were having a stand-off like before a fight. Thankfully, the refs intervened, and my dad called a timeout. the guy on their team was pulle dby his coach and didn't play anymore.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good morning...

I'll have coffee and a carmel-pecan roll, please. 

Sorry to hear about the loss, Sawyer.

If any of you are interested, I posted my diner-parlor cars in WPF.

Happy Model Railroading.

 

[Cox 47]

Morning All.....sun is shinning and its already up to 19 posta hit low 30's says weather guesser feller on the tube....I'll have a sweet roll and coffee please...thank You....Sallie and I watched movie The Other Bolin Girl last night on tube we thought it was pretty good.....

Ran track cleaner yesterday..Derailed in small tunnel darn thing had moved alittle got it fixed...If I can set up long enough later today or Sunday I'll try to get a photo of Pig Train..

You all have a good one...Jerry

[pcarrell]

Mornin' all! 

Mornin' Jerry!  I see you're enjoying the same heatwave we are!

Thats right........The Central Indiana area is experiencing a heatwave today!

Officialy at the Airport:
Indianapolis, Indiana
Currently: 20°F Cloudy

Wind: South at 16 MPH
Humidity: 52%
Dewpoint: 5°F
Barometer: 30.05 inches and falling
Wind Chill: 6°F
Today: mostly cloudy. Highs around 30. South winds 15 to 20 mph. Lowest wind chill readings 10 below to zero until midday.
Tonight: mostly cloudy. Chance of flurries. Lows around 20. West winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 20 percent.

Did you all catch that!  Even with the wind chill, we're above 0!  Break out the bermuda shorts!  It's swimmin' weather!

[Packers#1]

 Global Warming my butt!

In other news, going to be adding the tour of the other side of my layout to WPF next.

[twhite]

Morning all.  I'm not going to tell you what our high temperature was out here yesterday, because you'd all throw stuff at me.  Let's just say the SMUD truck was out on patrol looking for anyone watering their lawn and when I went to the store yesterday afternoon there were a whole bunch of ladies in Bermuda shorts and tank-tops.  Spooky spent the day sprawled on the floor in a sun-spot and Remington the Viking kept looking at me as if to say, "Who ORDERED this weather Daddy, don't they know I"m NORWEGIAN?"

Mark:  Caught your video.  You're the MAN!   You really drove that band.  Terrific solo, too.  Love "Watermelon Man" to begin with, but you guys just COOKED!    Boy, if you lived in SunnyCal, I'd get you over here at Jesuit for our drum-line. 

Sue:  Really wise decision to wait a week between those Realistic Water pours.  I was out lookiing at Bullard's Bar yesterday and just realized that I should have put in some of the ripple 'water effects' myself.  Think I'll do that when the weather warms up.  I keep hearing about the WS getting impregnated with dust, but I don't notice it, even in my garage.  I just go over it with a wet cloth when it starts looking dingy, and the shine comes right back. 

Well, I've got Baptisms at Vespers tonight--six of the little dears, so I guess I'd better study the script and find out when and where I'm supposed to play.  You'd think that after 15 years of doing these things I'd have it memorized, but they always keep changing it on me.  And tonight we have Fr. Fong, who is a really NEAT Priest, but he's tone-deaf, but insists on chanting the Prefaces, anyway.  Last time we had him for Baptisms he skipped three pages of script and nobody knew where ANYBODY was.  So I'd better be prepared.  Oh well, as my Music Director always says, "We do this for God, not Critics." 

Best to all, continued prayers for those in need. 

Tom

 

[TMarsh]

Mornin’ all. Waffle please with strawberries and whipped cream. Aaaaaww quit giggling’ fella’s I like it. Cup of coffee, black.

Not much to report on. Here. Less than three feet to go on the final section of the loop. I guess it’s really a dogbone or maybe a half a dogbone. I was never really concerned over what to call it. Then it’s loopin around.

Galaxy- Glad you’re getting water through somewhere. That’s usually a good sign. But if your drains are froze doya think you oughta be drinkin that much Hot chocolate? Oh yeah, that’s right the great thing about being a guy is the world is our urinal. Best of luck to ya when things thaw out.

Boy I remember some of those stress bangs when I lived in a Mobile home. Make you think the whole back of the house just broke off!  

We are suppose to get our thaw (locals say, I haven’t watched the weather myself since it got real cold) next week. So hang in there Hopefully it’ll come your way.

Have a good day all.

Todd

[Cederstrand]

in a SOUTHERN PACIFIC mug, please & thank you. 

***Galaxy, hope it warms up there soon and your plumbing issues (if any) are minor.

***Jerry, do you have a work crew with crane car to take car of such derailments?

***Joe, [the guy's head was upside down... Who  thinks of this stuff?] People like me and my siblings thing of that stuff all the time. Only difference is we don't get paid to come up with them.

***Sawyer, nothign racist about that....just look at the NBA. Nuff said!

Chance of sleet tongiht and rain tomorrow. Guess I need to put out a couple more bales while the ground is still hard/frozen. Breaking ice is already getting old. When my hands both got sore, I switched to elbow strikes, but eventually gave in to the old sledge hammer. I'm ready for Spring.

Have a good day all.

Rob