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

[jguess733]

CNCharlie

I worked for Sunoco many, many years ago so a tank car had to have their logo.

 

 

Charlie, my Grandfather also worked for Sunoco, actually he started out at Sun Oil. He worked for them out of Dallas and retired in 1980. I too am going to add some Sunoco/Sun Oil logos to my layout.

[CNCharlie]

Good Evening Fellow Diners,

A relatively Ok day here weather-wise with a high of about +5F but it was sunny and of course its our "dry cold". After 60 years I've never exactly figured out what that means except that the air is so cold even at 80% humidity it can't hold much water. How could there be a wet cold at +5F? Oh well another glass of wine will certainly clear that up or at least I won't care.

Went to one of the LHS's here in town today to get a few Caboose ground throws and as usual they only had 2 of the kind I wanted. The stock level in that store is really poor but the fellow who works there for the owner is really great and is always happy to offer advice and just talk about trains and model railroading.  He's the only reason I still make the trek out to that part of town sometimes as the other LHS at the other end of town is very well stocked and often has better prices.

Jim, for us January and February are the coldest months but December can be cold too. In fact March can be either a winter month or spring depending on the year.

Tom, I think the food of choice for any self respecting cat from Norway has to be Lude Fisk. My grandmother was  Norwegian and she swore it was absolutely fabulous and a Norwegian delicacy so one Christmas my mother cooked some for her and us. Just imagine fish that has been cured in lye. Yes you read that correctly, lye. Remington will be eternally greatful, just don't let him persuade you to try some. No wonder the Vikings drank great quantities of mead- before they ate their lude fisk.

Well time to watch a movie I rented, in fact the first rental in several years. It's the Bourne Identity. My wife says some of it was filmed in the hotel we stayed at in Paris over Christmas. I don't think she'll like it much as action films aren't her cup of tea.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll finish my service yard and then I think I'll start on a tank car kit I purchased a while ago. It's a Red Caboose kit that I've heard can be a bit of a challenge but I wanted a Sunoco tank car and that is the only way I'll get one. I worked for Sunoco many, many years ago so a tank car had to have their logo.

Keep the coffee hot Chloe as I might need some soon,

CN Charlie  

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

fec153

Don't like sleeping alone on the couch with the mutt.

Sleeping alone isn't so bad. I've been doing it for 48 years. Of course I've never been married either.

[BamaCSX83]

*pokes head in the door*  Hey, a new diner!  I glanced in through the old one from time to time, but I really like the place now!  Zoe, I'll have a Root Beer Float please.  Right now the rain is happily coming down here in Bama with it getting cooler. Today was honestly a nice day, I got some work done, changed brakes on our Alero, then did front brakes and rotors on one of my wife's co-workers trucks.  Ahh, the life of a mechanic!  I didn't really do much MRR related, other than watch the weekly rock train run through, didn't get a chance to get engine numbers, but oh well.

[fec153]

Philip- If Rob's wife is anything like mine is, he darn well better do the "Honey-Do" list or he won't be getting any "HONEY" from his honey.  Gotta keep 'em happy so you can be happy.

Don't like sleeping alone on the couch with the mutt.

Flip

 

[blownout cylinder]

Good evening---we are getting snow up here----but nowhere near as much as LEE is getting---thank goodness I'd Like a Chicken and rib dinner with a raspberry pie for desert as well please---and I'll finish that with a cup of hot chocolate as well----meandering around getting stuff done------and no I'm NOT sharing that list to Audrey, ROB, she might get ideas---!!! ;-)

[pcarrell]

saronaterry

Nice ride, PC! I have an '86 Virago(12863 miles) tho you can't tell by looking at it.Custom paint, extras ,etc. kind of like yours.The wife rides a Rebel,small but so is she! I really envy you that you're still riding, it's -8f  here.

Thanks, and those Virago's are nice bikes too!  A buddy of mine had one.  Rode it for darn near an eternity!  I tried to get my wife a bike, but she doesn't think she could handle it in her physical condition.  She just wants to ride on my bike I think!

[pcarrell]

Cederstrand

***Philip, today I'm building a 2 story barn with live-in quarters in the loft, tilling then seeding 15 acres, planting an apple orchard, scraping the driveway, and if I have any extra time before dinner I'll build a couple dog houses, too. (just let your wife read that list )

 

OK, I'd like to call an emergency meeting of all the married guys and all the guys with girlfriends that spend time in this coffee shop!  I will buy dinner while this meeting takes place!

Quoted above, you will find an example of flagrent disrespect for the peace and sanity of all of you in attendence.  The violator has been verbally warned against such actions, but he ignores the warnings and proceeds to post these maniacal lists that threaten to remove our couch potatoe ways from our futures.

Immediate action is called for!

This man must be punished for his crimes!

I move that we offer an official Coffee Shop warning adising him that if he refuses to cease and desist immediately further, and more strenuous actions will be called for.  This may include suspention of pie privilages, suspension from patronage for a time, or a complete removal of future privilages and a call for the return of the front door keys!

Do I have a second on the motion?

[New Haven I-5]

Hello all!

  Just bought a MRC Brilliance Sound Decoder. I learned last night I fried a Sound Decoder. I checked the loco.

 It was fine. Took out the decoder and put in the dummy plugs. The engine ran. Put the decoder back in. Stalling

 Blinking lights. It was a Soundtraxx DSD 101LC Heavy Steam. 

 

                                                    Talk to y'all later

                                                             Luke

[fec153]

J.R.- Thanks for the reply. Yeah, thats what I thought the answer would be. No room from underneath and only 'nuff room alongside of the turnout. Oh, well. At least they are still working.

Wish ya'll warmer weather. Gonna get cold here starting sunday night .They're guessing mid 30's and daytime only near 60

Prayers for all.

Flip

                                                                                            

[howmus]

Zoe, I could use a refill.  Yep, dark roast.  Thanks, and how about a Hot Turkey Sandwich with all the trimmings for supper.

Jeffrey, I know how you feel....  I mentioned all the replacing of business stuff yesterday......  I will say that the new Alesis monitors are awesome!  They do exactly what I need in a monitor system.  I can't tell the difference in the sound at all between a pair of pro headphones and listening with the Studio Monitors.  And it sounds identical to the sound as they were playing.  Nice flat uncolored response!  Sweet!  I am going to keep them and use the old Tannoys elsewhere.

The family I was recording has been here and gone, I have finished the mix and now am taking a break before I do the page layout for the album.  The clients are an English Teacher who goes to my church and her two daughters.  They all play flute and the youngest (6th. grade) also plays clarinet.  Biggest problem was intonation.....  The definition of a major 2nd. in music is two flutes playing in unison.  (Tom will get it I know....)  

I have to get the camera out and get a shot or two of the Freight Station platform I have been working on the WPF Thread.  I'll finish my supper first though. 

[Packers#1]

 Well, I'm glad to say that I don't think my wrist is broke. Probably just got jammed. still hurts a little bit, but no where near how bad it was after I got hit.

[Cederstrand]

refill, please & thanks. 

***Jeffrey, had to suck it up myself the other day and replace my deseased Ryobi belt sander with a new one. Decided to give Rigid a try, sinse the Ryobi didn't last long. Feels pretty good, is a bit heavier and works well so far. Needed it to remove up to 1/4" of wood (in spots) from a threashold. Also to sand down the edges of a small table I made for the big printer, plus will use it occasionally for frame making. Still need to replace my old router which (borrowing your excellent terminology) "has bearings that are singing their death song". OK, it might be the spindle, but it's on borrowed time regardless.

***Terry, that sounds like a fun showdown at high noon tomorrow between your layout & two such experienced Full Scaler's. Will be interested in hearing how that goes.

Fogot to ask: Does the Tsunami sound in the (N) Proto Mallet sound better than that in the Athearn Bigboy, or are they the same? Thanks for any thoughts & info.

Got the hay put out and need to rest a spell. Going to work on little fiddly stuff inside tonight.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Rob

 

[GMTRacing]

Afternoon All,

   Snowing like crazy here. Got some cars moved to the new shop before it started as we were approaching gridlock. That's one of the drawbacks to working on race cars - you can't just shove them outside when they're in the way. I'm now working on some gov't projects - one of our Ford Festivas we want to get repaired enough to drive, and the battery cover panels for the museums RS-11. Talk about contrasts.

   Tom - do you have a digital volt/ohm meter ? Can you determine if the voltage drops are occuring in the bus, the rail or the soldered joiners ? I had a problem at one point with the soldering gun not getting hot enough and the actual solder being too big so cold joints were common. when the track expanded and contracted. the soldered joins cracked apart and since the solder took all the spring out of the joiners, they developed lots of voltage drop. This doens't seem to happen as much with EZ track or others with attached road bed because the track pieces sort of float and there are enough joints that they can give and "forgive". Plus the plastic clips help keep continuity as well. I did all my drops currently by soldering to the joiners and using the dreaded suitcase connectors to clip the drops to the bus 22 gauge to 14 gauge both stranded wires. I hadn't had any real problems to date except with some older Atlas turnouts that went out of gauge. I use Pecos now and haven't any complaints at all (we'll see how it works when I finally get it all out of unheated storage).

   Flip - to answer your question, Peco switch machines can be mounted below or surface mounted to the side of the turnout with a different bracket. I put a couple in buildings adjacent to the track and used piano wire remote actuator rods and that worked as well. The Peco part number for the above layout bracket in Walthers is 552-3003. The below layout bracket using the extended pin works as well, p/n 552-9 for that bracket but my favorite method is to clip the switch directly to the underside of the turnout using a piece of black paper between to keep debris out and hide the machine workings. I then dig a hole in the styrofoam or cork/plywood and install the assembly. I''ve also used the Caboose manual switch stands (like them) and the Rix electric switch machines (not so good - use lots of power).

   Jeff - that's phenominal life from a dremel. My first on went under water this summer and doesn't want to work any more, but the variable speed one I inherited survived fine.

Well, the primer should be dry by now so I can get back to it. Catch y'all later.    J.R.

[saronaterry]

Afternoon,All.

Taking a short break from the layout. I found out that another buddy of mine was a Conductor/Brakeman on the Omaha(C&NW). So I invited him and my other buddy the Engineer(both retired) over tommorow to have a look at my take on the line. I didn't think they'd be as excited as they are! Both the wives are also attending.

They both shared some stories and stuff like train #'s and manifests and some basic operations . I hope with their histories I can simulate actual practices and begin operating sessions. Anyway the playdate is tommorow at noon. I've been extending benchwork,layed another 24' of roadbed and track and will wire it up after this break. Then a shake-down to try to find any gremlins. The layout has been running great, but you guys know what happens when you invite friends over!!

Nice ride, PC! I have an '86 Virago(12863 miles) tho you can't tell by looking at it.Custom paint, extras ,etc. kind of like yours.The wife rides a Rebel,small but so is she! I really envy you that you're still riding, it's -8f  here.

Back to the basement, I'll check in later.

Terry

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Just got back from town. I went to Lowe's and dropped $77 on some tools. A 5 pack of Dremel reinforced cut-off wheels, a 3 pack of Porter Cable jigsaw blades (6 tpi high carbon steel) and a Dremel model rotary tool to replace my old Dremel model 395 type 5 which is going on 25 years old now. I can still use it but the bearings are singing their death song and I have to run it at really high rpm's to keep power up while I'm working with it. I'll probably send it in for a rebuild. If the new one lasts only half as long I'll be happy with it.

[LSWrr]

Afternoon all,

Snow, snow, and more snow.  It started snowing yesterday afternoon and it hasn’t stopped yet.  Right now it’s coming down 1”/hour.  My neighbor drove his plow through my drive at about 7am, I snow blowed at 9am and now at 3pm you can’t tell I ever left the house.  I went to the LHS to pick up my order on those LL cars and trucks and I bought 2 decoders ($24 each).  I ordered the Tsunami decoder.

Took me an hour to get to the LHS that’s 12 minutes down the road! I have a 2003 F-250 4x4 Diesel and the best I could do on the UNPLOWED I-90 was 30 to 35 mph!

I haven’t seen any salt trucks yet, for crying out loud we have two of the largest production salt mines in the US one is 45 minutes east of me and one is 20 minutes west of me.

Ok I feel better now, how are things with you guys???

Lee

 

[Cederstrand]

 in a SOUTHERN mug, please & thank you. 

***Lee, first Spooky & company will have to teach Millie how to open the door to the basement where the train stuff presently resides.

***Philip, today I'm building a 2 story barn with live-in quarters in the loft, tilling then seeding 15 acres, planting an apple orchard, scraping the driveway, and if I have any extra time before dinner I'll build a couple dog houses, too. (just let your wife read that list )

Had the first gutter installer come out today. Estimate was painful, but within the ballpark from looking up prices online. We will see what the next guy offers before making any decision. 

Well, need to do hay runs between rain storms. Lots of Flood warnings are back up through tonight.

Rob

 

 

[ewl01]

About the ex-girlfriend- we've been very good friends the last 10 years.  I've watched her go through 5 other guys since. This one has been going on for 3 years. Probably just wants to talk..... she likes to talk.  Teachers don't get to talk to many adults and her fiance is now one of those Cali. Dudes (a transplant, he's from Jersey).  Guess I'll find out.

Dragged some motive power from storage.  If I can figure out how to post them I will.

The things I talk about!   Eric

[SilverSpike]

Howdy pardners! 

Sunny day today with temps in the 50s' but the prognosticators say rain again tonight! 

Yeah, I was getting some application time out errors too last night. 

Going back into the train room in just a few minutes then will grill some steaks then watch some football tonight. 

 

ewl01

Ryan my friend, let me buy you breakfast, Or lunch... You have given me hope. I have about 2 ft less width but roughy about the same in wall height.  Once upon a time the attic was a finished room, long before I owned it. 

(this page is running off my screen!)  Due to severe damage the entire attic was stripped out and the roof rebuilt. Judging by nail holes, and remaining rafters I should have about a usable space

of 24'x12'.   The stairway comes up 6 ft from the end of hte floor so one would come up 'inside' the layout.  I'm a roundy-round runner, a 'railfanner' I guess you call them.

Your plan has some interesting elements, as I am not much of layout designer I was wondering if I might be able to use some of your design elements.  With full credit of course.

Thanks a bunch, Eric

 

Say there Eric! Glad that I could get you motivated with your attic/layout room. I have spent about the past week working on putting together the upper deck benchwork on the layout and have a revised the upper deck track plan. I'm all ears with any question you may have with respect to around the room multiple deck layout design and construction.  The layout design elements I have incorporated into my layout are taken from many sources and are not unique to my own accord, feel free to use any ideas you need to apply to your own situation.

The track represented in gray is hidden track, in particular the gray track represented on the bottom left side is a part of the no-lix transition from the lower deck. The benchwork lumber sticks are represented as the bold blue items, the thin green lines represent the upper deck benchwork edge and the thin blue lines represent the lower deck benchwork edge.

Upper Deck Track Plan - with benchwork layer enabled

JimRCGMO

Well, they brought out the pies yesterday and PC and all the chowhound Diners (present or past) start coming out of the woodwork! Whatta bunch of eaters, indeed, Vinnie. Oh, you - uh, persuaded? - Ryan that we would really need all that ice cream, eh? Yeah, I'm sure his arm will lose its soreness soon enough. Glad you didn't get rough with him (and I'm sure he's glad, too).

Yeah Jim....I saw Vinnie and he was really worried about that ice cream too! He kept a bead on me the whole time......I think he was preoccupied though....so my arms are intact.....for now.....

 

Today's lunch and dinner specials

 

 

 

 

[Packers#1]

Packers#1

 Morning ya'll, basketball game at 11. Maybe today we'll win one (we're 0-2 so far). I'll be back later.

EDIT: looks like I got top honors.

 

Well, we lost. We were within 1 (28-27 other team), then they just opened it wide open. I kinda committed some hard fouls in the final 30 seconds, so one guy on the other team hit me hard. Now the side of my right thigh hurts and I might have a sprained or broke left wrist. I was sorta asking for it though, so I'm not ticked about it.

[pcarrell]

ewl01

Ex-girlfriend wants to go to dinner tonight, her fiance is in Cali with his kid.  Wonder what she wants?

Trouble?

[ewl01]

So much for the turnouts.  The LHS doesn't carry much in the way of track. "I can order for you!" (that's his standard reply) So can I.   Time for mailorder. Fred at F&S spoiled me with his MRR in stock.   Decided today is not the day for lighing frustration so I won't do the Walthers.  Maybe I should do laundry and wash the dishes instead.  Ex-girlfriend wants to go to dinner tonight, her fiance is in Cali with his kid.  Wonder what she wants?

 Whats the special Chloe?  I'll have a decaf in the meantime.

[pcarrell]

New Haven I-5

Well, it looks as if PC is in a good mood...........................

Luke,........I've had pie.  You should know that I'm ALWAYS in a good mood when I have pie!

[New Haven I-5]

Well, it looks as if PC is in a good mood...........................

[pcarrell]

Morning all!  It's still morning, right?  Oh well, thats OK........

Indianapolis, Indiana
Currently: 34°F Drizzle

Rest Of Today: cloudy. Chance of rain showers this morning. Chance of rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 30s. Temperature steady or slowly falling in the afternoon. North winds 5 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 50 percent. After that, it just gets ugly, so we'll ignore that for now.

Well, I decided to make my famous chili today since it's so nasty out.  It's simmering on the stove now, letting the flavors all blend, you know.  Already snuck a taste.....Good Stuff!

So whats up with you all?

saronaterry

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

Can I help?

saronaterry

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

Yeah, I picked up a 2001 Kawasaki Drifter 1500.  I've been working on it and riding it when weather permits.  Took this shot a couple weeks ago.  It shows some of the changes I've made so far.

(Click to enlarge)

TMarsh

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.

Hey thanks Todd!  I could do some of those pies Terry has there!

fec153

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

I knew I liked you Flip! 

JimRCGMO

Rob, you are one busy beaver there, as PC said.

Jim, why on earth are you giving him a thumbs up?  Thanks to Rob, I can't let my wife look over my shoulder and read this thread any more!  He's making us all look bad!

[gear-jammer]

Jim,  I will be in later this afternoon.  You will find me in the back booth with a RBF.

Terry,  Glad you are back in.  Snow?  Did we send ours down your way?

Sue

[New Haven I-5]

jeffrey-wimberly

blownout cylinder

I spent last night wondering about the timeout messenges that I kept getting---I had no problems elsewhere but here again----GGRRRRRRR

You weren't the only one. At least 2 of my forum members were having problems with the MR site timing out on them. I was also having trouble with it and eventually got so disgusted that I just shut everything down for the night.

Those timeout messages kept me out of the Diner! I was starving.  Well, In my neck of the woods, its very windy, 30 plus! I wish I could have some of the rain SilverSpike is/was having.....

 

                                        I'll be back to bug y'all later........,

                                                      Luke

[gear-jammer]

 

jeffrey-wimberly

gear-jammer

I couldn't get back in last evening.   The expiration thing was happening again.  Does anyone know what that is all about?

You're not alone. I couldn't get back in and some others couldn't either. I believe they were having some server issues.

Server?  

[JimRCGMO]

Morning Janie - I'll have a root beer float, please. Thanks!

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.

 

Todd, and Jeff, I also had a bunch of the timeout errors last night - and "hashtable error", and who knows what else last night when I was trying to get back into the Diner. Finally tried to send Bergie a copy of the errors and couldn't do that either! I was using Firefox (3.0.5 for Mac), if that tells anyone anything. I could get to page 1 of the Diner, but every time I tried to go to page 2, the forum would balk and the Diner door wouldn't open. Glad Chloe and Vinnie got it fixed by today.

Well, they brought out the pies yesterday and PC and all the chowhound Diners (present or past) start coming out of the woodwork! Whatta bunch of eaters, indeed, Vinnie. Oh, you - uh, persuaded? - Ryan that we would really need all that ice cream, eh? Yeah, I'm sure his arm will lose its soreness soon enough. Glad you didn't get rough with him (and I'm sure he's glad, too).

Man, as if the food in the Diner wasn't enough to make my mouth dribble, Eric's talking about his chuck steak dinner!  You're killing me, Eric!

Sue, good to hear Larry's heading back out again - you two have some more scenery and stuff for the logging and mining areas to finish up, and ya gotta pay for that, right?

And nope, not as much done on the layout as I'd like; this weekend I'm the backup for our on-call therapist, so I can't plan much (other than laundry tomorrow a.m. and a chili supper on Sunday evening, that I asked my primary if she could handle things okay without me). Main roadblock for me at the moment is getting back going on my wiring. I really need some 14 gauge wire, but haven't ordered it (and not so sure anyone locally carries it). The terminals I soldered on my 12 gauge stranded won't fit my barrier terminal strip (too wide for the openings between the barrier strips). I've debated about trying to cut one side of the 'U' off so they'll fit in there without delaying things too much more. Any electricians in the Diner know how well that might work?

Rob, you are one busy beaver there, as PC said. How's the house-finishing coming along? The fence looks pretty good. Is that your lake you talk about the level of when it's raining/not raining? Oh, you realize that Remi, Spooky and Spring will be IM'ing Millie now with tips on the finer points of train/caboose-stealing...

Ray, sorry to hear about the (unnecessary?) repairs and your old amp. At least you have a backup now, eh? Is there any possibility that the amp maybe has a glitch that only shows up after it's been warmed up? That might be part of the problem.

Hope all our Diners with a forecast of snow don't get all that your weatherguessers think you will. I think we're maybe supposed to have a chance of snow in the morning, but the chance isn't very high. It's been cooling off this afternoon and tonight so far. I wouldn't mind a little snow (notice that - I said a little snow...).

SaronaTerry, good to see you in the DIner again (and not just your noseprints on the window glass ). What've you been doing on your layout?

Jeff, that's a really nice discount for your shoes. Now the shoe place won't come after you for the difference, will they? I found out our health coverage (last year's) didn't cover all of my last 2008 opthalmologist eye doctor's charges for tests, so I'm left with another $168 and change to pay for my 'deductible'. That's becoming one of my least favorite terms...

Hmm, those ribs Jeff had yesterday looked good - Janie, if there are any left, could I have a half-portion of those, please? Thanks!

Eric, hope you were able to get those turnouts yesterday (or at least can today). I noticed that Hobby Lobby is running their 40 percent off (single item) coupon again this week, so I may go see what they have. I think I missed when they had their after-Christmas MRR stuff clearance sale (like they had last year).

I'm waiting to hear back on some Magnuson vehicle kits I bought (B-I-N auctions) - sent an email asking for the seller to send me an invoice for shipping the three auction items in one package, but no word yet.

CN Charlie, I was meaning to ask (in my backward way..) when the coldest part of your winter usually is (like Jan., Feb. or whatever). I know down here in the 'warm' area, our colder parts of the winter are more likely to be in Jan. or February than in December.

Has anyone notified Ed of the new Diner location? We don't want those OJ tankers getting routed somewhere else and not have our morning OJ, right?

Unca Rog, check if your LHS gets stuff from Horizon Hobbies, who now owns Athearn and is their distributor. Since they sort of compete with Walthers, that's why Walthers carries little/none of the Athearn now. Go here:

www.horizonhobbies.com

and they can probably look up which of their dealers are close to you. So far as I know, Athearn's still making the kits, but they'd rather sell you their RTR's.

C&O Terry, you're getting snow??? I thought you were done with the crazy weather down there.

I'll start on those ribs for now - I don't care if it's a bit early for lunch.

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau