The Coffee Shop (a place to chat) Est. 2004

[JimRCGMO]

Good evening, Coffee Clubbers! Zoe, a mocha, please, and a cup of coffee (but not ***'s weathering batch), please.

[#welcome] Dave and BigJP! I very much expect that you’ll have fun in here - this crew sure does! [swg]

John, nice work on the scenery - the wood filler looks pretty good. One thing with that (vs. styrene sheets) is that you could have more up-and-downhill roads with the filler (and, shape it to a degree!). Good job!

Noah, very good job on the building. Bit too modern for my era, but great for yours! If you wanted, you could add a loading dock in the back, kind of like this:
(tried making a text picture, but that didn't work too well)

See picture, which may be easier to understand:


So Tom, does that mean I’m the honorary Sgt. at Arms for your bathroom? What a feather in my cap (even though it’s not pink)! [:)]

Ed, I trust that after your surform session all your fingers (and skin) are attached? [;)] Oh, and do you cool the OJ bucket after you get it filled up?

But don’t necessarily trust MapQuest’s maps as being 100 percent accurate. First time I went to Jonesboro (Ark.) to visit my daughter when she was in college there, their map would’ve taken me down some dusty road that went nowhere near her university. I decided it didn’t look like I was heading the right direction and backed up and asked a local in a gas station. Good thing I did... Maybe get the Mapquest directions and call Teffy to make sure they match up with his. [tup]

Well, I'll leave the shop in Zoe and Paul's capable hands. See everyone tomorrow!

Blessings on your night (and morning, for the late risers),

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[Paul W. Beverung]

Hi Gang; It's really late tonight. I had to work today so I'm going to make this short. I still haven't gotton down to the basement. I'll try tomorrow. We have alot of lumber to move away from the road so the seismic crew can get there equipment in. Mary Ann stacked some of it on palletts today and I'll have to move it tomorrow.

John; That wood filler looks good. I too want to know more about that stone bridge in the back round.

Gang that's about all I can do tonight. I'm falling asleep at the key board.alsdkjfa;dklfj zzzzzzzzzz.

Opps.

Paul

[pedromorgan]

good morning evryone.

i am extreamly bored. i have only been at work for 30 mins.
i work in a TV station as an engineer. i start a tape that lasts for 2 hours and then I start another tape that lasts for 2 1/2 hours then i get a special feed from C-span then I go home. i have a dateline london feed but that is another "fire-and-forget" feed!

i have a book on edison to read that my father gave me but its about 4cm thick and i just cant be bothered to start it!

i did some painting last night. a LNER beaver tail observation coach. for anyone who is thinking of doing the ian kitk kit. a word of warning, my roof was 1cm (yes CM!) too short! on a OO coach! i had to fill it with about 30 yayers of plasticard!

i also doing some resin casting. my Mk3 coach roofs are now comming out nicely. the sides still have some air bubbles though but nothing a bit of filler wont fix!
i am going to try and cast a Mk3 sleeper next. they are fetching about 50 (i'v lost my pound sign again!) on ebay. i am still to try the bogies as i have run out of latex.

anyway i am going to check out the concorde forum.
£ (found it!)
Peter

[Anonymous]

Hey everybody!!
Zoe, I will take a double dip Hot choclate with a slice of hot apple pie please, Well coffeeteers how's it going? Today was not one of the best, My wife had a migrane and it rained all day(what else in Oregon) But, I did get a brainstrom about our layout, So that helped brighten the day, This will be my last visit for awhile we just bought our first home and that MORTGAGE is staring us dead stright in the face so we have to do a temporary cut back on some things, the choice was to sell a couple of my UP SD40MAC'S or shutdown our server for awhile", well you know my decision, I will be back soon, Zoe thanks for the lovely coffee, and conversation.
And remember everybody,
without duckunders, there will be "good backs & smooth tracks" SEE YA AROUND IN A MONTH EVERYBODY TrainsRme

[fec153]

Gooooooood MMMMMMMMMOooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrnnninnnggggg,
Ccccccoofffffeeee Llooovvveerrrrssssss. Darn slow coffee maker. Man I need my caffine. I used to be nervous and jerky but i'm not nervous anymore. [or any less].
Went outside to get the paper and heard a couple of roosters crowing. Brought back some OLD memories. Grandparents had a chicken farm in Conn. Always had eggs and chicken during the War. [be nice-W W 2-not earlier]. Also sweet Conn. corn.
Wish ya'll a nice safe day. Blessings to all.
Flip

[bjdukert]

Morning to everyone.

Noah- The building looks great.Maybe I missed it,but is it scratch built or a kit??

***-I know the type of tube you are talking about.We have them at the dealership where I work,and I have changed a few of them.I hope this will help you out on install and uninstall.Put the prongs into the slots first then pull back on the spring clip(and yes it is a pain)and then put the bend of the tube in place.If you have to replace one,pull the clip back,pull the tube down and then pull the prongs out of the socket.No,they don't give you much room to work,and watch out for the knuckles when you put the tube into the clip,the edge of the fixture is very sharp.

John-Are the blocks held in place with something like liguid nails,inquiring minds would like to know so that when they get to that part they might remember.

TrainsRme-Congrats on the first house.Yup,those decisions are hard to make and I hope you will be able to join us again soon!!

Ok,I'm out of here,time to go to breakfast with the motorcycle group.Oh,and Zoe here is all of the extra change from my pocket,hope it is enough to catch me up on my tips.[*^_^*][*^_^*]

Talk to you later

Duke

[fec153]

Duke- Do you have a A B A T E chapter in your area?
Flip

[tomwatkins]

Good Mornin' Everybody,
I just thought I'd pop in for a minute and say hi. It's a gray, rainy morning in the mountains. Louise and Shawna are still snoozing. The coffee's made and it's really good this morning.

I might even get some work on the railroad before the day is over. It's about time to start carving foam on the Hiwassee River section and start building the next section over, which will include a removeable access hatch. It's going to be a good day.

Grayfox, I hope the work goes better with the lamps and clips. Dealing with poor engineering is very frustrating.

Ed, now that is as fresh squeezed as it gets. It has to be wonderful stuff.

Der, the culverts and ditch look good. It's coming along very nicely.

Have a great day, everybody,
Tom

[JPowell]

Big JP - From one JP to the other... Welcome. Have a serving of your favorite beverage on me.

Morning all -
At work again. Have another 7 hours to go....ugh... Enjoy your Sunday!
JP

[fec153]

Oh, boy. 2nd pot of joe is now ready.
RFD at 3pm- Vermont rails- Steam. Enjoy!

Flip

[Noah Hofrichter]

Flip:

QUOTE: Keep up your school grades, your MRR ing, and you'll end up having your own RR.
A real one that is.

Shhhh!!! Be vewy vewy Qwiet, it’s my master plan. No one most know, and were I to tell you more I’d have to kill you.....

Ed, exactly. I’m basing the story around this industry to the story of a real plastics company here, that does blow mold for companies. That’s what this place on my layout will do to. I’m also working on a parking lot base for the structure, picture of that when it’s done too. I also hope to get photos of it on the layout after that point.

Der John, I stuck with the roof they provided, and I’m hoping the weathering makes it look better yet. As my Dad mentioned, a building may really be like that, it’s just that I’m not used to seeing the roof of a building much.

Jim, you know, I really like the loading dock idea. I was just going to leave it as two doors for trucks to back too, but I think a dock may look better. I can also add people and clutter on it, make it look used and not just sitting there. I got to go buy some styrene!!

Duke, It’s a kit, but it’s a rix products kit, Made to be modified lightly. I left off one set of Dock doors, and changed a few other minor things to make the building more unique.

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments on the Building, I really appreciate it. I guess I better keep moving, see you later!

Noah

[der5997]

It was morning when I started this, and now it's not. So, I'll do a Mitchell and say G'day!
First squirrel in over a year came onto the deck this morning, and is now off the island.[(-D] got back from that little trip and was asked to put the trap out again as a second had come while Iwas away. So far no reports of any additional transportation requests!
Ed:

QUOTE:

QUOTE: der: …When we were on the west coast at Campbell River on Vancouver Island

…I didn’t know you once lived in Campbell River! (Or have we had this conversation and I just forgot about it?)
I had a chance to go on a fishing trip out there in the fall of ’75. What a neat place. Loved salmon fishing
in a small boat out in the middle of the Strait of Georgia.

The tide race in the passage between Vancouver Island and Quadra Island @ Campbell River can be quite something. Exciting in a small boat.
We never caught anything, too many seals and dolphins!
Eventually the invitations dried up, seems we were/are bad luck in the fishing department[sigh]

QUOTE: John, forget the wood filler road, tell me is that a tall stone viaduct on the right side of the picture?
Have you shown that before or was I just sleeping?

Probably, but here it is again for Paul, and others new to class[:D]
The viaduct is 6 Atlas N stone viaduct packs = 12 sections long, and has cast plaster extensions for the pillars. The Atlas sections are filled with the kind of insulation foam you squirt from a can. Power is fed through a drinking straw cast into one of the plaster pillars. This is necessary because the viaduct is movable. It's on a module that fills the doorway and rolls out of the way. 51 3/4 inches long (If i've got the math right that's about 690 feet in N, and about 100 feet high.)

QUOTE: And is the pile on top a rockslide or talus slope?

QUOTE: (by Duke)Are the blocks held in place with something like liguid nails,inquiring minds would like to know so that when they get to that part they might remember.

Neither, actually, it's just a place to put little scraps that may be usefull[:D] It also represents the hill
that will replace it. That's the next landscaping
project.
Those with way too much time on their hands may notice that the pile has changed shape as it has
grown, and been picked over in the continuing construction.






Jim:

QUOTE: John, nice work on the scenery - the wood filler looks pretty good. One thing with that (vs. styrene sheets) is that you could have more up-and-downhill roads with the filler (and, shape it to a degree!).

Thanks, Yes, the foamcore is experimental for me (as are many of the scenery techniques on this layout.) Definitely a flatlands material! I prefer to build my roads more undulating, but he smooth surface of the foam core appealed. I've got to fill the edges so they aren't 90 degree drop offs![:O]
Peter: Welcome back! It's been awhile since you dropped in, and there are many new faces, including Matt over at Aberystwth University.
Thanks for the explanation about your job, no wonder you get fed up.[banghead][|)][tdn]

Looks like lunch is nearly ready.[dinner], so I had better see to the laying of the table.
TTFN

[fec153]

John- Nice work. Icy blue is a good choice for this time of year.[:D].
Normal is just to small for me. Have fun.
Flip

[JimRCGMO]

QUOTE: Originally posted by fec153

Gooooooood MMMMMMMMMOooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrnnninnnggggg,
Ccccccoofffffeeee Llooovvveerrrrssssss. Darn slow coffee maker. Man I need my caffine. I used to be nervous and jerky but i'm not nervous anymore. [or any less].
Went outside to get the paper and heard a couple of roosters crowing. Brought back some OLD memories. Grandparents had a chicken farm in Conn. Always had eggs and chicken during the War. [be nice-W W 2-not earlier]. Also sweet Conn. corn.
Wish ya'll a nice safe day. Blessings to all.
Flip

Flip, are you sure you didn't have a double cappacino (with extra caffeine) before you got to the shop this a.m.? [;)][}:)] You are way too happy if that's before your first cup of coffee for the day - and at 5-freakin'-thirty in the a.m.? I don't even set my alarm for any earlier than six, even to get up for church... [8D] Well, I think you can guess who is (and who is NOT) a morning person around here, huh?[|(][|)][;)] Luckily, I didn't see you post when I first got up.

Blessings on even the ones that beat the early birds up,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[JimRCGMO]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Noah Hofrichter


Jim, you know, I really like the loading dock idea. I was just going to leave it as two doors for trucks to back too, but I think a dock may look better. I can also add people and clutter on it, make it look used and not just sitting there. I got to go buy some styrene!!

Noah, if you do the dock sort of like the pic I posted, you could have trains load off the "side" of the dock (the longer side facing you) and trucks load/unload off the "back" of the dock (alongside the door stairs - which would be prototypical, since the driver has to come inside usually to sign for the delivery/pickup). On the truck ("back") side, you could put wooden bumpers (so the sloppy truck drivers don't crack the conrete or whatever). And wood lets you model it as cracked, in need of replacement/re-staining/creosoting, etc. Guess some of my summers as a teen working in the warehouse of my grandparents' business got me more than just the pay...[:)] So Noah, notice stuff now, and 30-40 years from now, you'll have all kinds of things to use on your layout(!).[:D]

Blessings on your additional work (may it be every bit as good as what you've already done),

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[JimRCGMO]

Good ‘lunchtime’ Coffee Clubbers!
Zoe, I’ll have a slice of that apple cobbler to go with my coffee, please. I hope Flip didn’t make this pot of coffee (right? puhlleeeze tell me he didn’t[:O]), or I’ll be up until tomorrow morning, I fear. [;)]

Tom, I’ll see your gray and rainy day, and raise you one. [C):-)] Similar weather here in (Swampeast) Missouri today. Warmed up to 52 degrees, but it’s that dampish weather that feels cooler than it really is.[|(] Today, I’d trade this kind of weather for some of Maine’s or NS’s - so long as Fergie or John or *** would throw in a shovel (don’t have one of those).

***, your problem with the lights and the clips reminds me of something I heard once: "Engineers who design things should be forced to have to use them before the gizmo goes into production." - Or something like that...

John, when I saw your roads, the idea of having vertical variation in the roads came to mind (I’d seen Pelle Soeeborg’s layout in the “Big Diesels in the Desert” in - this?/last? - month’s MRR). The BDITD article showed the roads doing like real roads do - having hills and valleys they go up and down. You could even have some local teenagers doing the hill-jumping thing, if the road actually had hills (which you could with the wood filler). Here’s a link or two to that layout, BTW, for those who want to see more pics of it. I fear he definitely gives us all something to shoot for on layouts. But what are dreams for, right?[:)]

http://www.soeeborg.dk/photo.htm
or here’s the discussion topic link in the forums:
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=30283

Hopefully that last one won’t make the page width here go wacko...[:-^]

I might be repeating if I posted this last night, but I've decided to go ahead and build the double module layout using my current (brass) track (less $$$ outlay at this point, a necessity). Then later when I can afford the NS track and switches, I'll replace the old track/switches (or sell the old layout off and transfer the buildings over). Getting antsy for some real progress and getting to where I can run some engines and cars.[banghead]

And speaking of my layout, I promised myself to get the 1:1 drawing of the layout done this afternoon. Will send a progress report later.

Blessings on your afternoon/evening,

Jim in (rainy) Cape Girardeau

[JimRCGMO]

Oops, and looks like the round of beverages and munchies are on me! [C=:-)][dinner] Zoe, go ahead and get everyone's orders and I'll settle up the tab when I return.[:)]

Jim in Cape Girardeau (still rainy - are we sure I haven't been transported to Oregon or someplace up that way?)

[der5997]

Noah:

QUOTE: Der John, I stuck with the roof they provided, and I’m hoping the weathering makes it look better yet. As my Dad mentioned, a building may really be like that, it’s just that I’m not used to seeing the roof of a building much.

It looks like a whole lot of the same now possibly. One trick is to break it up with little details. The eye is drawn automattically to those, and the GREAT EXPANSE isn't so noticable. For instance, there are always vent pipes for washrooms. Figure out where these might be inside, and glue a couple of short black pipes about 6 inches diameter over those places. Air conditioners, Fan housings, access hatches, these things all help break up the grand desert. They don't have to be super detailed, or even prototypically correct. The brain fills in a lot once given the suggestion.

Jim: I like the rough tracks in those photos, and yes, the dips and rises sure look authentic.
Paul: Going back to your liquid nails question, I glue all my foam with plain old white glue. However, in the Sept. or Oct. MR there was an article on rock castings where the adhesive of choice for putting on pre-cast rocks was the latex based liquid nails.

Heard from Fergie who is in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Sept Illes region. He's glad to be in the ice, because that keeps the ship upright in high winds![tup][4:-)]
TTFN

[fec153]

Ryan and Bob- Picures are here. More after I watch RFD-Vermont RRing and STEAM.
Flip

[bjdukert]

I'm in for just a short one and then I think I will head to the basement and try to get a little more benchwork done.

Flip-As far as I know we do have an A B A T E in the area,but I don't belong.I'm really not much for clubs or things of that nature,been there done that.The group that I ride with all feel the same way,but I do belong to the HRCA (Honda Riders Club of America),but that is only because they offer an 800# with roadside assitance.

John-I don't think I asked the question right about the foam and how you keep it place.I was asking about what you have around the tunnel portal,so that it stays in place when you form it.

Noah-That is a nice looking kit,and all of the suggestions are good ones that will help take the eye away from the things you will see but no one else will.That is the hard part to remember,you will see it but others won't.

Talk to you later

Duke

[SilverSpike]

[#welcome] Welcome to all the new faces in the Coffee Shop! Good Sunday afternoon! I’ll have some more of that fresh squeezed OJ!

And another two rows of tile down today, now over 2/3 done with the train room, next is the pantry area and kitchen.

QUOTE: egmurphy
Yum, sounds delicious, too! I’m glad it’s you and not me doing that tile work. I’ve got a good tile guy to do what I need done here. Our entire house is floored with ceramic tile, even the roof terrace.

Wow, lobsters, chocolate, home improvement work!! Man, you’re racking up some big points with the Mrs.

Ed,
I am a true do-it-yourself kind of guy, and about the only stuff I will not do is roofing and brick laying. I love Mexican tile, I am using a new terra cotta style to match our foyer that was built with inlayed terra cotta pieces in a mosaic pattern. We are going for that Mexican or Southwestern US feel. The lobsters were great, I made a lemon butter sauce for dipping, AKA “Beurre Blanc”, it is made with ½ a fresh lemon and its juice in a reduction of ½ cup white wine, then ½ lb of room temperature butter cubes are whisked into the pan off the fire. Succulent lobster tail and claw meat melts in your mouth with the butter sauce. YUM!!!!! Yep, the points with the Mrs., they are adding up, it is time to cash some in soon! LOL

QUOTE: der5997
Just so we are on the same page, this stuff has the consistency of butter icing, and sets up on whatever you are using to spread it with while you are not looking - sound familiar?
Hope you enjoyed the lobsters. Around here Sober Island lobsters are regarded as the best in the world. Fergie and Luc would doubtless argue the point however!

John,
Your description sounds like the same type of stuff I have on hand, and your images look just like it when it is dried, that tan color is about the same. The lobsters were great, see above for my Beurre Blanc sauce recipe! I miss the north east lobsters, I spent three months in Maine and Nova Scotia back in the summer of 1983, man are those lobsters, clams, and mussels good eatin! BTW, that viaduct looks great, awesome job!

QUOTE: [i]fec153[i/]
Ryan- There isn't any activity. The cars appeared last monday on the tracks. They-CSX, has done this before. I have not been to the other area where I saw them last year. I will get the prints tomorrow after 2pm. I'll let you know they come out.

Flip,
Interesting how they just park the rolling stock there for such a long period of time, and for a week now. Great news on getting them back and thanks again for taking photos! Looking forward to seeing them soon!

Got to go for now! Chocolate fantasies await ….

Ryan

[Anonymous]

Evening all.

Not much to report, just popping in to say hi. Have been doing some further work on a couple of OO scale passenger car conversions - based on old Airfix MK2s, one a Brake Second Open (a bit like a Combine on US rails) and a First Open. These are being converted into a Driving Brake Second (Cab car) and an RFO (food service/buffet car), the latter's easy as it just needs three windows filling and a repaint, the former's had one end chopped off and a set of whitemetal castings added to provide the new cab end. Hornby offer the Class 86 electric loco along with the First and Standard open cars for this paint scheme (Anglia Railways) but not the RFO or DBSO, I have the loco so am slowly working on converting the cars to match, will post some pictures when they're done - right now the DBSO needs to be stripped back to bare plastic and repainted properly, while the modifed side of the RFO is in white undercoat. Filling and sanding the windows has taken a while but I think it looks ok now, so ready to proceed to top coat when I get round to ordering the right paint.

Jim, I couldn't agree more about engineers being required to use the product before it goes into production! Have had to deal with more than a few things that would have failed this test, including a home sand-blasting kit that lacked a nozzle (it had a brass blanking plug where the sand was supposed to come out...) and DVD players where all the controller buttons were tiny and grouped so close together you needed a chopstick to press them!

Well, can't think of anything else, bye for now. Welcome to the new people by the way, hope you like it here, seems a decent crowd!

[fec153]

Ryan- What is on your right shoulder in the picture? Cat or small dog? Please don't say it's a boa. Altho, if picture was taken in N.O. during Mardi Gras time , I guess it's o.k..
If you want pictures, click on my E mail and send me your address. No way to send via 'puker.

Cape Jim- The bumpers at loading docks are hard rubber-not wood.

Teffy- Searching for envelope to put your pictures in. Will get them out manana.
Flip

[Anonymous]

Hello.

Being an unemployed college student, not much got done this week. I'd meant to clean up my apartment (its getting pretty messy) and see just how many turnouts I have stashed away in the few boxes of stuff I have here. Also further mental planning on my benchwork and other construction methods was done. When I get home for spring break in a few weeks, I'll retreive more stuff. I have a whole box full of rolling stock that has apparently vanished and I'd like to find it.

I did, however, get the idea to visualize things a bit more. I carefully measured the side of a caboose and printed a properly sized 'decal' of the paint scheme I'd draw up. It looked better in the drawing than how it looked when i'd laid the cutout paper side on the caboose. I'm glad I learned this now before painting the somewhat complex paint job only to not really like it as much as I'd thought I would.

I also printed out the large AM&LE that goes on the long hood of our locomotives and I was pleased with how it looked. I inadvertantly printed a much larger size the first time and liked how it looked. I think that my SD40-2s will have a smaller version of the AM&LE on the left side of the hood (that has that elevated section of walkway along the hood) and a larger version on the right. Or maybe I won't! Who knows. Later today I might print out a light gray version of the letters, as they're white but my printer can't print white. Any decals I later make would require me to print the letters out. Perhaps a light gray, while printable, will be close enough to white for my purposes.

[grayfox1119]

Good evening gents and a big welcome to Nick [#welcome], the coffee or Oj is on me Nick, Zoe, please bring a cup for Nick !!!

Didn't work in the Train room today, I have to let my poor hands heal fro all the tiny but very sore little slices and cuts from trying to mount the T12 "U" shape florescent lamps into those very poorly designed clips.

Duke, I was happy to hear from you, that you also had experience with this rediculous design. After finding out that "yes" I had the right size lamps, and "yes" those dumb clips are the right ones, I decided to do my own engineering to mount them. When the worker at HD tried to remove the lamp last night in the store, the clip took off like a rocket, struck the shelf 2" from my wife's face, and bounced back at the worker. THAT was enough for me.
Today I purchased a length of boiler pipe insulation, the same diameter as the florescent lamps. I am going to use this, cut in half, to hold the bulbs into the socket. I "will" be calling the company tomorrow and have some "fun".[:(!][banghead][;)][;)][;)]

I heard from Fergie, he is near Sept Isle (Quebec), and they had 40Knot gale winds where his ship was, but luckily they were in ice, so no big waves.

Jim: you are correct with that saying. I would like to have that design engineer here at my house to climb the ladder and try to install these working over his head, getting nicked, scratched, and having the clips fly off past his face. Then I could praise him for such a wonderful , well thought out design.... MITCHELL, NOAH, come show this engineer how to do this correctly!!!

Nice day here today, temps in the 30's, so I was able to wa***he car and get all mud and salt off. No snow storms forecasted this week, but some rain is due, from the same storm that dumped all the rain on Tim in CA, and then Jim in MO.

I smell pancakes and sausages........time for supper guys, come and git it!!!!

Catch ya later guys....

[Anonymous]

|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|==|=|=|=|=|

Robert

[Anonymous]

Good evening all.

We had some very special visitors today. Our beautiful 16 yr old grand-daughter Shawna anf one of our grand-sons Christopher dropped in for a visit. Shawna to pick on me and young Chris to tell his grand-ma that he loved her and missed her. Gloria is still wiping her eyes. Well, yes, me too.

This has been a beautiful day and I wanted to share this little bit with my on-line train friends.

Good night all

Happy MRRing

Luc

[grayfox1119]

Luc, that is great!! My grandson stopped by today also, with my three grandsons. So I know exactly the pleasure that you speak of.... I hope Gloria is feeling chipper Luc !!
Goodnight buddy,

[Anonymous]

Hi y'all

[egmurphy]

Good Evening Coffee Clubbers

Boy it turned warm with a vengeance today. Up in the high 80’s and sunny. [8D] I’m sitting here with the fan blowing on me trying to decide if I need to bite the bullet and run the a/c tonight or not. [:p]

Busy day today out at the orange grove. They came and harvested 12 metric tons of oranges. Not a huge amount, but there’s more to go. Seven guys picked, carried, and dumped all that into the truck in about 4 hours. All by hand, carrying these huge baskets, which weigh about 155lbs, on their backs. I’m not sure what they got paid, but I can tell you it wasn’t enough. That works out to each guy loading and carrying 25 155lb loads during this time period, or one every 10 minutes. [:0] No breaks. Made me tired just watching them.


***, that’s quite the saga of the light fixtures. Better you than me. I’d love to hear your call to customer service tomorrow. Please report back.

QUOTE: (CG)Jim: Ed, I trust that after your surform session all your fingers (and skin) are attached? Oh, and do you cool the OJ bucket after you get it filled up?

Yup, so far so good, no medical emergencies lately. When we get home the OJ gets put in smaller Tupperware containers in the frig’s. Since it has no preservatives (btw, it’s totally organic – Zoe, start raising prices on the OJ!) it’s only good for about two or maybe three days. After that, if there’s still any left, I need to check it to see if it’s started to go off.

QUOTE: Tom W: Ed, now that is as fresh squeezed as it gets. It has to be wonderful stuff.

I’ve never had OJ as sweet as this stuff is. I’m about OD’ing on it.


Hello Pedro, should we assume from your manner of speaking that you’re visiting us from across The Pond? (Note to Teffy – it’s “The Pond” , not “The Lake” .)

Bye for now, TrainsRMe, congrats on the new mortgage. Drop back in when you can.


John, now that’s a viaduct!!!!! [wow] Starucca’s got nothing on that one. Way to go. [tup]

QUOTE: And is the pile on top a rockslide or talus slope?

QUOTE: Neither, actually, it's just a place to put little scraps that may be usefull It also represents the hill that will replace it.

I knew that, it was a joke. [;)] Although it does resemble a talus slope…….. [:D]

QUOTE: (CG)Jim: …I've decided to go ahead and build the double module layout using my current (brass) track (less $$$ outlay at this point, a necessity). Then later when I can afford the NS track and switches, I'll replace the old track/switches…

I think that’s a great decision. Gets you into modeling faster, and the experience is never wasted. Good man. How’s the plan working out in 1:1?

QUOTE: der: One trick is to break it up with little details. The eye is drawn automattically to those, and the GREAT EXPANSE isn't so noticable. For instance, there are always vent pipes for washrooms. Figure out where these might be inside, and glue a couple of short black pipes about 6 inches diameter over those places. Air conditioners, Fan housings, access hatches, these things all help break up the grand desert. They don't have to be super detailed, or even prototypically correct.

Right on. Easily applied details that will make a huge difference. No one really knows what they look like so it’s easy to fake them out of scrap material.

QUOTE: der: Going back to your liquid nails question, I glue all my foam with plain old white glue.

Me too. I only used the Liquid Nails for Projects to glue the foam base sheet down to me door. I probably could have used the white glue for hat too.

QUOTE: Flip: The bumpers at loading docks are hard rubber-not wood.

I suspect you can find both kinds, probably depends on local custom and construction era. I’m more used to seing wood, myself.

QUOTE: radivil: Later today I might print out a light gray version of the letters, as they're white but my printer can't print white. Any decals I later make would require me to print the letters out. Perhaps a light gray, while printable, will be close enough to white for my purposes.

Not having tried to print decals myself, I can't say for sure. But I’ve heard others recommending the light gray trick on other decal threads, so it’s probably worth a try.

QUOTE: Luc: This has been a beautiful day and I wanted to share this little bit with my on-line train friends.

I’m sure it was a real treat. Made me smile. All the best to Gloria.


Here’s a quick update on the layout progress, and a couple of shots.

I’m probably 95+% complete with the foam rough in. There are just a couple of small areas where I’m still deciding what to do. And most of it got at least a rough surform rasping to smooth the contours down some. This has really made a difference, and I can start to imaging that there is some real countryside that the trains run through, even if it is blue.

Here’s a shot of the last of the major foamwork.




I pretty well finished smoothing the foam contours in the southeast quadrant. It’s not completely finished, but I decided to give it a coat of latex paint to help me see how much more work I need to do. Just minor spackling to fill some gaps and smooth some rough spots. I think I was obsessing too much about getting it smooth. I mean, I’m just going to cover it with ground foam in several layers trying to give it some texture, right?

So here’s a shot of this area. Just a bit more work to get it right.





Okay, that’s about all for this evening. You guys keep well. Best wishes for improved health for the spouses who are going through difficult times.

Hasta mañana,

Ed