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

[der5997]

Good evening folks. Potentially good news from the Chamber meeting. It is possible that some commercial interests and the necessary levels of government are nearing an agreement to provide for general access wireless broadband for all the Eastern Shore by the end of the year. (Insert smile for crossed fingers[:D])
Ed:

QUOTE: Since my block foam is essentially all that stands between me and ground foam, I have to get mine a lot smoother and fill all the little cracks with spackle.

I’m looking at the places where I carved the drainage ditch and then painted, and I’m thinking that I’d like to try just ground foams of various grades. I think that I can make it look convincing, by the time the weeds and bushes are grown, even with the cuts and scrapes, no sanding. I’m going to give it a try anyway.

QUOTE: QUOTE: (western)Tom: I'll have 11 bridges. Don't most guys have tunnels?
Probably a toss up. Good topic for a poll though!! I have one bridge, no tunnels.

2 tunnels, 2 bridges, 3 hidden or partly hidden loops, one through a bunch of buildings.
..and westernTom, thanks for the kind words on the viaduct, I'm moderately chuffed about it myself[:D]

QUOTE: QUOTE: Today, went to a doctor I saw some time back (he is taking a much more agressive stance on the diabetes than my new doctor)…
Probably a good idea. Not something you want to either take lightly or take chances on. Too many nasty complications.

….and revandy, that’s a disease that several of the customers here are trying to control.

QUOTE: QUOTE: Did I miss a birthday in the last few days?
Not really, I messed up and thought that Feb 29 was Krump’s birthday, which set off a chain of congratulations. Turns out I was wrong.

Krump said for us to pick any date near the end of May. The 30th’s Memorial Day for a whole bunch of the patrons. Why don’t we memorialize Krump’s bd then?
Speaking of bds, Scott, did you? Was it? Enquiring minds want to know[(-D]

QUOTE: Steve, good going on switching to another website for your signature photo. Looks good. Oakways???

…[#ditto]….and Steve, those trees, wild spirea???

Duke:

QUOTE: John-With the loco and caboose going over the bridge,did the engineer notice that it comes to an abrupt end

We lose a lot of trainees that way! Sorts out the ones who wouldn’t have made the cut anyway[swg] Actually, so far , and touch wood, only had one drop off, and that was a freight car. Smashed a perfectly good coupler though[banghead][sigh] Now I stick a pin in the roadbed at the track ends just in case, and if I remember[(-D]

Big_Boy1213

QUOTE: WOWthe coldest it gets here is 52F (don't know Celsius)

That would be around 12 Celcius. Where is it you live 1213, and how hot does it get?

Good to see you're back in one piece Fergie,[#welcome] home. With Luc over his cold, the N.S. squad is at full muster[yeah]

That's about it for tonight., so goodnight all, and God Bless.

[Grubby]

It would be easy to just come in here and say HI, so I will "Hi" :D
No progress for days now as work is so busy, but hopefully the weekend will see the ply down for some track layout.... I will get a few more turnouts this evening on the way home and hopefuly start building up the stock...for my West Virginia layout :D

[Paul W. Beverung]

Hi All; A quick note tonight. 11 hours Monday, 12 Tuesday, so I could only handle 10 today.

Phil; That tanker sounds about right, but what about the other guys?

Capt. Tuck; Have fun with that Lil gasser. Do you plan on laying any track of your own?

Well that's it tonight.

Good Night

Paul

The Duluth, Superior, & Southeastern

" The Superior Route "

[JimRCGMO]

Good Evening, Chloe,
I’ll have one of Ed’s OJ smoothies - too late for the full caffeinated stuff. Looks like the rest of the crew has cleared out already while I was reading through the posts. Ah, well.[:(]

***, my thoughts and prayers will be with your neighbor’s family. I’m sure it was a hard day for you as well, but you did try what you could to save him. End of his run on this line.

Sounds like those of our northern/NS neighbors are going to need a bulldozer more than a snow blower this time around. Phil, I hope that river’s not too close to your house.

[#welcome] RevAndy! I thought you were new to the place, but we tend to let folks introduce themselves when they’re good and ready here in the Shop. Yes, you have the range of topics here pegged about right. So far, the topic cops haven’t been through here and fined any of us. But Elliot (the C.S. founder) doesn’t expect hard and fast stick-to-the-business posts. Eventually we get back to MRR’ing. Feel free to have one of Ed’s OJ smoothies - they’re pretty good and won’t keep you up if you have one later in the evening. What type of layout (scale, setting, time era, roads, etc.) do you have (or like some of us, are you building)? Inquiring minds want to know. See you around the Shop again soon, I hope.[:)]

Hey, Steve, the picture looks great - guess you got it figured out. [;)] Your layout looks like you have it pretty far along. Nice job there![tup]

John, speaking of progress, you’ve been moving along - are you using that same wood filler stuff you used for the road/highway? How is it to work with that for scenery? Great news about maybe getting broadband in your area. [tup] Will put in a “blatant plug prayer” for that.

Matt, those coaches you bought would have to go a ways to outdo Fergie’s fuscia locomotive, I think. But it the colours/colors are interesting enough, you might convince Fergie to modify his paint scheme... [swg]

[#welcome] back, Attaboy! What’ve you been up to (besides viewing naughty emails, that is [}:)])?

Western Tom, I’ll second Ed’s request for news on how the intros between/among ‘your’ new multilingual M.C. cat [:)] and your current ones go. You have plenty of bandages on hand in case they don’t like each other and your have to separate them? [:0] But hopefully things will go smoother than that. On your new extension, maybe you just want more practice on canyons and bridges and trestles (oh my!)?[;)]

Tim, how’s your daughter coming along?

Anyone heard from Scott (TrainFreak) if he got that turbine he was hoping for? And Scott - [bday]

Speaking of presents, I am the very happy beneficiary of an anonymous donor who sent me about 35-40 sections of nickel-silver flextrack, and some 8-10 or so switches (about 8 - #6’s looks like, and maybe 4 - #4’s). The flextrack will definitely get me going through my 2-3 modules for now. Might need to get one or two switches (need a wye switch for my enginehouse track), but essentially I am fixed for track. Color me one very happy camper![:D]

Good to see that you’re back, Fergie! But if your cats are grey in the dark, you must have a light leak in there somewhere... [}:)]

Blessings and a good evening to all,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[grayfox1119]

Good evening gents and Zoe.......productive day today, shoveled another 2" of snow off the driveway, got the new train room walls painted blue, but I didn't like the shade of blue for the sky, so back to HD tonight and found a nicer shade that should do the trick. Of course Lorraine loved the shade, so I had to buy another gallon so we could paint the walls of the mbathroom. See how that works guys? Woman are reaaaaalllll smart.
I also bought a carpet for the floor. I hate lying on cement floors to do work under the benches, so HD had a nice selection of carpeting that is for cement basement floors, no need to glue down, survives hostile environments ( water, soldering iron spash,dropped solder irons, etc.). In fact, this stuff is rated for use on garage floors. $0.75 a square foot, not too bad!!! So I have my work cut out for me tomorrow.
Lorraine had a good scare this afternoon, she had driven our grandson back home and was exiting down the 400 foot long winding "S" curve 160 foot drop driveway, when she started to slide. I received her panicked call and had to leave the train room wall painting job to perform yet another rescue. One good thing about SUV's they have LOW range 4x4. Lorraine was not familiar with that gear range. I gave her a quick tutorial and we did fine the rest of the way down ....E=MC2.

The weather forecasters gave us some good news tonight...no snow for the next 6 days, the next storm will be next Tuesday.

Tim: hope your daughter is feeling better, I am sure you have plenty of Ed'e OJ handy.

Luc: good to see you back in action...*** the torpedoes, full steam ahead !!!!!!

Der John: I love that trestle !!!!! I have to figure a way in my layout to do that !!!

Ed: I was so tired last night that I missed your reply re the doors. Maybe you could put an addition on the ranch? Hey, Lorraine and I need a vacation, I can come down and give you a hand building the addition, and I can bring some doors down too, AND, some 4" blue foam insulation board !!![:D][:D][;)]

OK, I'm tired, see you all tomorrow, God Bless everyone Bon Soir

[twhite]

Well, enough of the canyon on the extension--been out there most of the day. Pete (my RC car neighbor) came over and blinked for a bit ("Man, ANOTHER bridge?") and offered me a Bud Light, which I smilingly refused (got to get that kid weaned off of Bud and onto Tuborg--it's my Christian Duty, right?), and watched me spike down some rail while we talked about girls giving up their Barbie dolls at eleven and guys giving up their toys on their deathbeds.
Jim: You're right. Never saw a bridge I didn't want to build, LOL! And thanks for your interest, will have full report on Wiley, the multi-lingual M.C. mix and Lowell and Spooky by tomorrow PM. Unless I'm in the hospital. (Wiley? Gotta think of some other name, but he COMES when you call him. Weird little feller!)
Now I find out that I can get the pink extruded foam here in California, but I'd have to drive about 150 miles to get it. Don't want to think of all of those 2x8's sticking out of the back of the Buick on Interstate 80, and besides, I overbought (as usual) on the Insulfoam. So I'll have bead-dust mountains for a while, until I slap down the contour filler. Oh well, the Shop-Vac needs to earn it's pay, anyway. My Ribbonrailer and the roadbed finally came to an agreement, so I'll slap on the power for the extension tomorrow morning and see what happens. I'd do it tonight, but Spooky would miss her Chris Meloni fix and I have to treat her VERY well tonight, since tomorrow might be a little un-nerving for her (not worried about Lowell, he's so mellow he's darn near comatose). Time for L&OSUV, Spookys whacking at my ankles.
Take care, guys. And welcome back, Fergie!! [#welcome]
Oh, BTW, anyone hear from Scott about his B-day present? I really hope he got it!!
Tom[:D][:D]

[philnrunt]

Wow, 3 pages in one day- no one can say this forum is sluggish.
Turbone- that job sounds like a great deal. Good luck with it.
Tom- Good quote on cats. I still think they masterminded the pyramids. One thing about our visit still haunts me, as we were leaving I got a good look at that beautiful S curve to the museum side (east?) of the crossing. Man, I'd love to set up there with my tele lens. Might just have to plan another trip to Kennesaw!
Siberianmo and revandy- Welcome, and there is always room here, and speaking of strange names of towns, I live outside Portland Indiana. No port. No lake. No nothin'.Seems like someone was on serious recreational drugs when they named it.
twhite- My planning gene mutated into a spaszilla gene sometime back. I have no problem planning it, but as soon as I engage my hands, the spaszilla gene kicks in and I end up trashing Tokyo. Ah , well.
JimRCGMO- I do the same thing reading posts, but when we add 3 pages in one day, ya gotta be an Evelyn Woodhead sped-redder! And hey, great news that the track fairy- can you still say that- brought you some NS track! I'll be able to sleep better now. Have you ever been to the Mark Twain HS just west of St Louis on 70? I try to stop by there every time I go to my friends in O'Fallon. It's a pretty decent shop.
Ed- I'll be glad to live through you. Only Buffet has it better, and his vicarious life-living line is all full up! Ya know, if you'd get a big boat now, then we could really have a good time! As for the diabetes, I have a bunch of appointments over the next few days. Eyes, bloodwork, counseling. I'm glad I got back with my doc, he's a good guy.
Fergie- Glad to see you cheated death one more time! Seriously, it is good to hear from you. I'm guessing that you built about 200 cars, 40-50 locos and 200,000 trees while you were stuck in the ice. Good to have you ashore.
and finally- Paul- Looks like I'll need to get a unit train of liquid corn ready. I'll get the Transport Dept. on the ball, gathering tanks for it now.
Phew ! Guess I'll check back tomorrow when we top 400 pages!

[Mikeygaw]

3 pages is nothing... i've seen four or five in one day... as for scaring off new customers... i dont scare easily... just prefer to stay cloaked most of the time

[trolleyboy]

Good evening everyone.*** I'm glad lorraine is fine,that must be one heck of a driveway,is it the same one that your son tangled with during the last storm?Cape Jim I think it was me that mentioned the river.It isn't a worry for myself a we're a good 5 miles from it.The stretch of road that's closed is not terribly close to houses,theres a couple of truck yards which at the moment are idle but thank's for your concern.It looks like I'm going to pick up that K Kidder birney i was pondering about last week(as long as it's still at the shop) It's unpainted though and although the detail is very nice and accurate it's very shallow.I'm affraid that if I prime before i paint the detail will dissapear anyone have suggestions. Well i'm off for now. rob

[philnrunt]

Just finished glancing through the April MR, and the 3 Kato SD70s at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry clicked off 2,206 actual miles on 10-16-04. Amazing!
That is the distance between Chicago and Seattle. They had the locos run through a banner, then they were donated to Kato. Something for Kato to be very proud of.
The editorial is a pot stirrer, also. It will be interesting to see what response MR gets to it.
They have 3 featured layouts, all are very impressive, but Cliff Power's MA&G is beautiful, with one of the most realistic photos of water I've seen. He has a great paint scheme, also. But I'm partial to freelanced shortlines, anyway.
As the old saying goes, one man's ceiling is another man's floor, and it is never better demonstrated than by the E-field layout. For those without space for a layout, you MUST check it out! It certainly makes the sky the limit on layouts!

[Anonymous]

Morning all.... nearly 1 am here now and I thought I would check in before I go snore in the corner like some of the other guys in here.

See you all later.

[Anonymous]

Morning all

A good start to the day, Results for my exams of January (covering last semester's modules) are now out, and I passed all three. 64-55-60 which equates to a high 2:2, though at this stage they're only counting towards my final degree score. Now all I have to worry about is getting two essays in before easter break...

Looks like I'm the only one in - is the middle of the night over there though so understandable. Need to pay my brother for the coaches bought on ebay (his account, I occasionally ask him to bid on things then hand him the cash). Bargains do seem to be getting harder to find out there, as Ed mentioned. I think the key is to be well-informed - if the true nature of those coaches was well known they'd have gone for a lot more money, as it was only around 2-3 people bid on them. Rowa have been out of production for some years though the models are truly superb - the Steuerwagen in the photo a page or so ago is one of theirs. All you have to do so they don't look out of place alongside the latest Fleischmann is change the couplers, though I'm not sure if these two will have lighting - the one I have does, but there was no mention of lights in the listing. Still a good deal even if they're not fitted though!

Hmm, time for breakfast I think. Bye for now!

[Fergmiester]

Holy Smoking Brakes!

I go for a little jaunt and don't even recognize the place as I walked two blocks pass the door before having to turn around. Who's the new girl? and what happened to my lazy boy in the corner and what's with the pink drapes or is that Teffy's way of making me feel at home!?

March does not look too promising for weather so I'll have to make the best of it and keep busy in the basement. I'll be adding three new buildings to the layout.

What was the concesus on the shop Coffee or Barber?

I got to play with the Challenger last night (looks better with the lights off) so I'll be busy scraping and painting for the next two to three days! I really like the sound but I realized that theis was the Clinchfield version with the single stack. Bit of a disapointment but hey, I'll get over it real quick! Looked really good hauling 30 MESS cars (added 9 to the roster as of yesterday).

Though the "Cafay" has been altered a bit I must say I like the Arboritum, nice touch!

Later Gents
Fergie

[tomwatkins]

Good Mornin' Everybody,
It's kind of a gray, chilly day in the mountains today. The tops of the mountains are still white from the snow the other day, and it's very beautiful. I'm glad to say that the flowers all came through just fine, and are blooming their silly little heads off. We're really enjoying having things in bloom in late Feb. - early March.

Today will be a railroad day. I need to build the grade crossing for my dirt road and carry the road past the tracks and up to the backdrop. That, plus other scenery and foam stuff should keep me out of trouble for the day.

Wecome Back Fergie, glad you're ashore for a while. It sounds like this one was something of an adventure.

Sibereranmo and Revandy, welcome to the coffee shop. There is always room for more.

Twhite, I think an impaired planning gene is just part of the deal. I've spent several years rebuilding large parts of my layout to make it more prototypical in places and to improve it's operation and reliability. I ripped out a freight yard that didn't belong where it was after I got solid information on what was actually there in my time period. I rebuilt a good many curves to increase radius and replaced a bunch of turnouts to increase frog numbers. It took a lot of time, but it was time well spent. Wiley sounds like a very interesting cat. Let us know how the meeting and introductions go.

Grayfox, it sounds like you have a driveway that can get challenging. I'm glad Lorraine is OK. Color selection is an interesting process, but if you're not happy with it, it needs to be changed. I think the carpet is an excellent decision. I put commercial grade, tight weave carpet down in the RR room before I started the benchwork. It looks good, it vaccuums and cleans up easily, and my knees and feet thank me for it constantly.

Luc, I'm glad you're finally feeling better. That one lasted a long time and couldn't have been any fun at all.

Der, the viaduct and scenery are really looking good. Is that the wood filler you're using? How do you like working with it?

Ed, good for you- done and out at 56! My game plan was 55 and out. I hung in until 58 for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that we were dealing with Louise's neck injury and we had really good insurance through my company. It worked out wonderfully well. So, the truth will out - if you had more space you might look at Horribly Oversized. If I were starting over, with the availabilty of the steamers and decoders that are out now, compared to in the early '90s, I might give Normal a hard look. I could get a lot more of the Murphy Branch in the room in Normal.

JimRCGMO, that's a really nice gift that the Train Fairy brought you. I'm glad! Have fun with it.

Phil, I haven't gotten my new MR yet. It might be at the post office this morning. I'm looking forward to reading Terry's editorial. It sounds interesting and thought provoking, as his frequently are. Ya'll come back to Georgia anytime. Just build in enough free time to get up to the mountains next time.

Scott, Happy Birthday yesterday! I hope it was a great one! Did you get the turbine?

I'm going to go for now. It's time to head to the basement.
Have a great day, everybody,
Ga. Tom
Tom

[siberianmo]

G'mornin' all ...... Just siberianmo sitting in the corner - back to the wall (as always) and enjoying the talk. Don't mind me - and by the way, who is responsible for those great apple filled pastries? One more decaf for me, please ........

Yesterday, 32 MRR binders arrived from Kalmbach via UPS. So, my arthritic fingers will be put to work gathering up those issues and putting them into a respectable place! They have been sitting in my metal file cabinet(s) - within cardboard boxes - for years.
Now that I have a real trainroom, it's way past time to get these issues out of hiding.

Today is the day my Lionel "Polar Express" arrives. I'm constructing a shelf railraod to run around a small portion of my HO "Can-AM" trainroom. This is going to be an operation designed to entertain my grandkids (5). One, in particular - almost 6 - is a train nut from the get go. I take pride, along with my youngest son, in having "steered" him the right way!

Enough ....... I'll just sit here a bit and take it all in.

[der5997]

Good morning everybody: A bit colder today, but nothing like it has been[^]
Don’t expect it to be as mild as yesterday though. That was a pleasant surprise, even our back door stopped sticking. (It’s a frost heave thing. The site supervisor swears that the sonotubes for the concrete posts were dug down way below the frost line, but if so, why does the door frame move every single winter about February?[V])

CapeJim:

QUOTE: John, speaking of progress, you’ve been moving along - are you using that same wood filler stuff you used for the road/highway? How is it to work with that for scenery?

No Jim, this is sawdust and white glue. I ‘m using a dilute glue of course, and mixing to get a consistency like bread dough. That is applied by spatula, back of a spoon handle, or fingers or anything handy(groan). Actually fingers work better than anything, which is why they are so popular![:D] The downside is drying time, especially if the layer is thick, or in humid conditions (not currently the case). For the quantities I need for this layout, the wood filler would be prohibitively expensive.
Thanks for the “prayer plug”[:D]

QUOTE: Matt, those coaches you bought would have to go a ways to outdo Fergie’s fuscia locomotive, I think. But it the colours/colors are interesting enough, you might convince Fergie to modify his paint scheme...

I was amazed at the colour schemes used on UK rail lines, especially the commuter ones around London the last time I was over. Where has the famed British Reserve gone?[:O][(-D]
What a great package to get in the mail..makes it railsnailmail![:D]

***: Glad Lorraine came out of that unscathed! Not a great feeling when the slide begins. I don’t think many people use the #2, let alone the #1 gear on a regular automatic either.

WesternTom:

QUOTE: but he COMES when you call him. Weird little feller!

You are quite sure it’s a CAT you’re taking on there? Barks? Comes when called. Hmmmm…….[(-D]

NorthernPhil:

QUOTE: Portland Indiana. No port. No lake. No nothin'.Seems like someone was on serious recreational drugs when they named it.

Maybe they figured it was all going to be cemented over eventually…Portland Cement, of course[(-D]

Matt: Congrats on the exam scores[yeah]

Fergie:

QUOTE: What was the consensus on the shop Coffee or Barber?

You should know better than to ask us for a consensus! I’d say go for the Barber shop, there’s too many of us here to fit into a coffee shop that size[:D]

***:

QUOTE: I might give Normal a hard look. I could get a lot more of the Murphy Branch in the room in Normal.

that's why i changed to Normal. Couldn't do in HO what I've room for here in N.

Siberianmo: Most of the goodies are left by CapeJim. Enjoy.[:D]

Got to get on with the business of the day. Saw revandy in when I came in, but that was some time ago now. Hi Andy.
TTFN

[egmurphy]

Good Morning Coffee Clubbers,

Well I’m back to the idea of a morning and evening edition of my posts, trying to reduce the length. Outside it's overcast and a bit humid (what else is new?), but otherwise pleasant out this morning.

Welcome back Fergie. Is that the end of this tour? Or are you just in port temporarily? Sounds like this was an exciting voyage. Or do you have another word to describe it? [;)] I sure hope you’ve been logging in from time to time to read posts. I’d hate to think how many pages you’d be behind if you haven’t seen anything since you left. [:0]

QUOTE: der: I’m looking at the places where I carved the drainage ditch and then painted, and I’m thinking that I’d like to try just ground foams of various grades. I think that I can make it look convincing, by the time the weeds and bushes are grown, even with the cuts and scrapes, no sanding.

Don’t know if you remember it, but here’s a shot of that photo diorama that I made last Spring. I did sand it smooth, but after painting and adding ground foam, I don’t think the sanding was really necessary. You just have to get it the shape you want, because there’s only so much build-up you can do with ground foam.




Jim, great news about the track. You must have some nice friends. [^]

QUOTE: grayfox: Maybe you could put an addition on the ranch? Hey, Lorraine and I need a vacation, I can come down and give you a hand building the addition, and I can bring some doors down too, AND, some 4" blue foam insulation board !!!

Now there’s an idea. We’ve briefly discussed the idea of expansion. The problem here is that the lot is so small there’s nowhere to go horizontally. We’re already built up to the lot line on two sides. We have thought about putting a small second story on the in-law’s house (right beside ours) which would be a train room for me and a crafts room for Fran. Not totally outside the real of possibility, but not in the cards in the near future either.

QUOTE: (northern)Phil: I have a bunch of appointments over the next few days. Eyes, bloodwork, counseling. I'm glad I got back with my doc.

That’s better. Seems to me that since last fall you now have more incentive to make sure you stay around and healthy for a while. [:D]

QUOTE: Just finished glancing through the April MR…

Oh right, rub it in. I’m still a week away from getting my March issue. [:(]

QUOTE: Tom: …good for you- done and out at 56! My game plan was 55 and out. I hung in until 58…

Two months before my 57th birthday, but yeah, 56. You didn’t do bad yourself to make 58. If it had been necessary I could easily have stayed longer, I enjoyed my job. There just were a lot of personal reasons for wanting to leave.

QUOTE: So, the truth will out - if you had more space you might look at Horribly Oversized.

Ssshhhh! Man if that word gets out my reputation on the N scale forums will be mud. [;)]

QUOTE: siberianmo: Yesterday, 32 MRR binders arrived from Kalmbach via UPS. So, my arthritic fingers will be put to work gathering up those issues and putting them into a respectable place!

Wow! Great stuff. I should be so organized. At least I do have mine in bookshelves, but not binders.

QUOTE: This is going to be an operation designed to entertain my grandkids (5). One, in particular - almost 6 - is a train nut from the get go. I take pride, along with my youngest son, in having "steered" him the right way!

Good for you. We give extra credit around here for involving kids in the hobby.

QUOTE: der: …but if so, why does the door frame move every single winter about February?

Global warming? [swg]

QUOTE: … makes it railsnailmail!

Groan!



I’ve got to go run some errands. Catch up wil you guys later.

Hasta luego,

Ed

[revandy]

Good Morning Ya'll, I made good on my threat, I'm back. Sitting here at the corner window, with my decaf latte, and a sweet cheese danish, who said the food here was lousy? Enjoying the view mother nature has provided, cold, snow and oooh my, a buck with a decent rack, a doe and her fawn, you guys didn't tell me about these great views! This morning I thought I'd share with you the following, This is a true story.

An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her
car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle. She
dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at the top of her voice, "I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car!"

The four men didn't wait for a second invitation. They got out and
ran like mad. The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her
shopping bags into the back of the car and got into driver's seat.
She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition.
She tried and tried, and then it dawned on her why.

A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces farther down. She loaded her bags into the car and drove to the police station.. The sergeant to whom she told the story couldn't stop laughing.

He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale men were
reporting a car jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white,
less than five feet tall, glasses, curly white hair, and carrying
large handgun. No charges were filed.

If you're going to have a Senior Moment, make it a memorable one!

Well gotta get back to putting together a Bachmann Gandy Dancer thats sitting on the workbench. See ya'll later and as Red Skelton use to sign off, God Bless!

[twhite]

Well, here I am, Vienna Roast and english muffin in hand, getting ready for a BIG day. Got the cat carrier out and freshened up to transport Wiley from down the block (actually, it's a small-dog carrier, but that's the size you use when you have Maine Coons). if intros go well, I'll just hike out into the garage and finish up (yah, sure!) what I was working on until about midnight last night.
Revandy: What a HILARIOUS story! Sort of reminds me of the Safeway parking lot down the block, heh-heh!
TWatkins and Philnrunt: Thanks guys, for your explanations about wierd Planning Genes. Now I don't feel like such a klutz for planning out a railyard and forgetting to add space for a town for it to serve. Or realizing that if I put in a logging branch, I'll have to suspend the darned thing from the ceiling!
Fergie: Isn't that Challenger sweet? I got the Rio Grande version (after much grousing about UP clones), and I really like it! BTW, a couple of months ago, you were wondering how to use your logo on your freight cars--how'd that come out? I was the one suggesting you put the logo on the boxcar door, a-la Burlington or WP. How about popping off a photo for us to salivate over, huh? Again, welcome back.
Matt: congratulations on the exams. TWO essays before Easter? Ouch! But then I remember my Master's Thesis some generations ago--once you get really invoved, it somehow all sort of falls into place. How about some photos of those coaches when you get them?
Ed: Took my stupid computer two minutes to download your picture--worth the wait! Gave me some good ideas on what is going to turn out to be my 'Beaded Foam' mountains on the extension. I think I'll wear that Shop-Vac strapped around my waist, like it was a pair of John Wayne six-shooters (wait a minute, he used a rifle!).
Der: We'll find out if it's a real cat or not in about an hour. It LOOKS like a cat, eats Chef's Blend by the bagful, and it does purr, but everything else about it looks up for grabs, LOL!
Anyone hear from Scott? I am SOOOO anxious to find out if he got that Turbine. He's into Turbines like I'm into articulateds, so believe me, I know what that boy doth feel. Really hope he got it.
Well, time to shower, shave and lay out the bandages for the pending Introductions. I'll let you guys know what transpires either from here or the hospital bed.
Tom [:P][:P][:P]

[Anonymous]

Evening all

Well, we seem to have part-time snow here - it's there when you wake up then departs by about lunchtime. Hoping for more of it and for it to stick around.

John, some of those colours are crazy, I know - I look at new trains over here and think "what went wrong?", say what you like about the old British Rail, at least they designed their trains to look purposeful (rather than the latest ones which look, frankly, daft, and will probably be a disaster for maintainance in years to come - the old locos needed a set of spanners while the new ones need a laptop to fix, so what happens when the software to keep them going gets lost?). There's still nothing on our rails to beat the HST to my mind - built in the '70s, still running today, just hoping that at least one makes it to the preservation groups - though at this rate it'll be doing regular mainline work in place of broken-down new stuff!

Revandy, that was a great story - made me laugh out loud!

Tom, will definitely be posting some photos when the coaches appear. Guessing they'll arrive sometime early next week. The essays shouldn't be too bad - one's due for the 14th of March but the other's not technically due until after easter, so I'll finish one and make a good start on the other. Both 2'500 words so will take about a week each to work on - the hardest part is the bibliography, we have to be very careful about referencing as the uni's regulations are seriously hard-line.

Well, bye for now!

[JimRCGMO]

QUOTE: Originally posted by philnrunt


JimRCGMO- I do the same thing reading posts, but when we add 3 pages in one day, ya gotta be an Evelyn Woodhead sped-redder! And hey, great news that the track fairy- can you still say that- brought you some NS track! I'll be able to sleep better now. Have you ever been to the Mark Twain HS just west of St Louis on 70? I try to stop by there every time I go to my friends in O'Fallon. It's a pretty decent shop.

Phil, I don't care if we call 'em the track fairy or the godfather of track - I'm happy! [:D] Not familiar with the M.Twain HS - is that in St. Charles area (across the Missouri river)?

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[twhite]

Okay, as they say in the National Enquirer, "Inquiring minds want to know". Brought Wiley home in the small-dog carrier. He's only part Maine-Coon, evidently daddy was a traveling salesman. He's got the build, the ruff, the tail and the snowshoe feet, but the rest of him is pretty medium-haired. Anyway, since I'm NOT writing this from a hospital bed, intros went pretty well. Just put Wiley and the cage on the living room floor, Lowell got down and sniffed, got back on the couch (that cat is SO mellow--I think he gets his catnip from some Primo distributor in Malibu). Spooky went over, sniffed the cage, whacked it, Wiley promptly barked and fell over on his side. Kept him in the cage for about twenty minutes, let him out, and the last thing I saw, he and Spooky were surfing on the hall carpet. Man, after all that pre-drama, I think it's going to work! He's sure a handsome little whatever, but he's just two and weighs in at about 14 pounds. If he's got as many MC genes as I think he might, they don't mature until about 5 years, so I may have a real MOOSE on my hands in a couple of years. Brenda (the lady I got him from) says he likes to watch "South Park." Evidently he thinks he's Cartman. Anyway, that's the latest in the Great Cat Saga. Time to go out and hook up the power to the extension, then if it works, start the Great Beaded Foam Canyon. If I'm not completely nuts by tonight, I'll take some digitals and post them on my website.
Later, guys.
Tom [:-^][wow]

[egmurphy]

QUOTE: If I'm not completely nuts by tonight, I'll take some digitals and post them on my website.

Post photos of the furry trio too, por favor.

Ed

[grayfox1119]

Good afternoon gents....a sunny day today, but cold, only 23F, which is 20 degrees below normal for this date.

Ga Tom: I did wind up repainting the room this morning Tom, the blue had too much of a purple tinge to it. The new color is perfect, looks much more like a sky blue, yet not too dark blue. As for carpet, my knees are shot from playing softball in my younger days, so it really hurts to kneel on hard surfaces. This carpeting is like yours, Commercial grade, can take a lot of abuse, water, etc. very short pile, easy to vacuum, and small parts cannot get lost on floor.

Rob: Not the same driveway as my son Brian, put the very same type, just next door, my other son Mike. I am very surprised at the number of people who have 4x4's, and have never used LOW RANGE at all, and never used LOW GEAR in LOW RANGE. Our SUV has three buttons on the dash for selection, 4x4 AUTO ( where it stays 99% of the time), 4x4 HIGH, and 4x4 LOW. In AUTO, the car will automatically go into 4 wheel drive as it needs it, in HIGH RANGE, it LOCKS the wheels in 4 wheel drive, and in LOW range, it also locks the wheels in 4 wheel drive, however, in LOW range, LOW gear, the car will stop dead on the hill, the gear ratio is so high that you need to give it gas to move down the hill. This is excellent gear to use for slippery hills, as you don't have to touch the brakes at all, giving you great steering control.

ED: Going up instead of out is not a bad idea Ed. Nicer views, better air circulation off the ground, and full use of the 2nd floor level. If you use trusses for the roof, all the weight of the roof will be on the ouside walls of the house, so you will not even need load bearing walls on the 2nd floor inner walls if you want wide open spaces.

Der: Makes sense to go N. The results of my POLL indicated that some people run both HO and N, interesting concept.

Fergie, Luc,John, Rob: It looks like we have another stormy week coming next week, starting Sunday night here. That persistant LOW over the Hudson Bay just won't move, so it keeps the northern branch of the jet stream right over the northeast U.S. and eastern part of Canada.

Well, coffee is empty, time to get back to train room,

see you tonight before Survivor and CSI,

[siberianmo]

Before I go .......

Dang it! My Lionel Polar Express did not arrive as scheduled. Now this probably wouldn't upset lots of people that I know - but it really ticks me off. The three things in life that annoy me profusely are: (1) Warm beer (sorry, Brits!) (2) Wet toilet paper and (3) Promises made that aren't kept.

No doubt most of us have gone through this routine more than we'd care to recall. But for me, today was "the day" - the day that my return to Lionel was to take place. Oh, I got the extra track delivered - but not the train set! Whoever planned that shipment at InternetTrains needs my bottle of Jack Daniels more than I do!!

You should have seen the replies I got from them regarding how this all came about - but the bottom line is they decided at the 11th hour to have my set "drop shipped." This had the end result of a new delivery date - Monday, March 7th. Sure would've been nice to have been notified of the change - the two zillion e-mails with the shipping data never mentioned it. Hmmmmmmm. I always knew that trained animals worked those customer service jobs, you know - the one's who are not bi-pedal.

Well, I am happy for small things - it is on the way. The extra track is ready for installation on my shelving. I'm ready. So what's the problem?!

See ya tomorrow!

[Anonymous]

***, sounds like an interesting drive system on your 4x4. I'm used to the Land Rover one - I have an extra gear lever forward of the normal one, which controls the transfer box - pull back for high range, push forward for low range, and push it left for centre diff lock. I've not had to use the diff lock since we got it (even on sheet ice last year - didn't need to, it was going fine without it!), though low range is very handy for bringing heavy cargo up and down steep slopes under control on slippery surfaces.

I've heard stories of people hauling broken-down 40 ton artic trucks using low 1st gear and a decent rope, which gives a hint as to how much power is available. We had a problem with the transfer box when we took delivery - the last owner had never moved the lever from "High Range" and the linkage seizes if you don't use it. I make a point of using low range at least once a month now, just to keep things mobile.

Of course, the really fun one are the older Land Rovers - the "Series" vehicles - where you have three levers - normal gearbox, red-topped one for transfer box (4wd is locked in low range) and a yellow button to lock 4wd in high range - one to confuse any potential carjackers I think!

[steveblackledge]

[quote}Steve: Are those two locos on the head in your photo the 'Oakways' everyone's talking about? If they are, then I don't feel quite so dumb, now, LOL![

[Anonymous]

Paul,
I don't see me laying any track where I live. I live in an RV at a commercial dock. There is a thousand foot long pier that I've really been eyeing. lol
I joined NEFlorida Live Steamers about a week ago. They have their tracks about 10 miles south of me. 2600' of 7 1/2" and 1600' 2' guage. Supposed to adding another 2000 of 7 1/2" and 2000' of 2' in the near future. Takes me about 10 minutes to get there. (I drive a little bit fast sometimes). It's open to members at any time.
Spent the morning turning new bushings for the riding car trucks. The old ones were pretty badly egged and were causing frequent derails. I couldn't back up without a derail.
I guess I'm going to have to check this forum more often. It took me longer to catch up than it takes to get to the tracks. lol

[twhite]

Siberiano: Let's hope your Polar Express arrives tomorrow instead of the 7th. I always get nervous when they tell me they're going to 'Drop' ship something. Actually, maybe some of those people should be replaced by cats--they designed the Pyramids, you know. Keep the faith--saw one in my LHS not too long ago (it didn't stay long) and that's one BEAUTIFUL train!!
Tom [:D]