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

[grayfox1119]

Good afternoon gents......finally a beautiful day here in central New England, but I spoke to soon...what is that falling from the sky??? Nooooooo, another snow flurry!!! We have now had over 110" this season...the record is 122". The snow is so deep I can't see my neighbor's house anymore and my poor dog lives in an igloo now!!!! And they say we may get another Nor'easter next Friday into Saturday AGAIN !!! That would be one week from Easter Sunday....Mr. Rabbit...you had better be a snowshoe bunny here in the NE!!
[:o)][:)][;)]

QUOTE: Bob wrote:I hope you are planing one loop, at least, as opposed to only a point to point. When I'm working and want to hear the loco sounds it's nice to fire up a train and let the chuffs fill the room, and not have to worry about running out of track.

You bet Bob..... I have noted that advise well from all you experienced guys.
Nice job on your layout Bob, I am curious, what are your radii min and max that you are using? As I am planning my 1st layout, and space is limited to 10'-6" wide room, I hate to be limited to small radii so that larger locos might have a problem.

Mitchell: I was watching the Weather Channel last night, and they showed THREE tropical storms about to hit the western part of Australia. One near Perth, one to the north, and another off the western coastline, I hope they are not near your home!!

QUOTE: Steve said:
I took the BLI loco to the trainclub meeting, set up a loop of track and when everyone sat down talking i turned on the power, hey presto instant silence, "how can that train make all that sound on DC" said one another said you have something in that tanker car behind it , i think i converted some to American outline
A VERY GOOD NIGHT WAS HAD BY ALL

Way to go Steve!!! Nice job !!! Are you going to set up a conversion shop?

Time to catch up on some reading...train mags of course, what else... see you guys later,

[Anonymous]

Chloe, a Perrier will suffice – I’ll be heading to my in-laws for a Chinese dinner in about an hour.

I’m glad Sunday is a ‘day of rest’, because, man am I sore – especially my knees and hamstring tendon (after the dropping-the-fiberglass-bale incident). My family has a total claim on my time today [well maybe not total – I’m composing this message to all of you, right?]

Phil:

QUOTE: Originally posted by philnrunt
…Keep MRing, it will keep you at that lower level of insanity that we all operate at.

Excellent advice! Of course, you ARE preachin’ to the choir here[:D]…

TomW:

QUOTE: Originally posted by tomwatkins
Kent, feel free to rant. You're among friends here in the coffee shop…

Yes, that’s why I love this place. Uh…BTW, there’s actually not a ‘t’ on the end of the prototype version of my name, but you're welcome to ‘freelance’ if you want to. [;)]

Teffy-Bob:

QUOTE: Originally posted by TEFFY
I'm sure that you have been to the B&O museum since it re-opened.

Actually I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t… you’ve no doubt heard the truism about people who live in the backyard of great tourist centers never get there themselves [“It’ll always be there so what’s the hurry?”]… fits me to a ‘T’ [:I]. But I definitely plan to take my Alabama relatives there when they come up for their annual summer visit. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed your stay in Charm City, definitely a lot of history around here! [Great self-portrait in your later post BTW...]

Jim:

QUOTE: Originally posted by JimRCGMO
Ken, CONGRATULATIONS!!! I’m sure you are sooooooo glad to have that done (and to have a more temperate place in which to work on your layout).

Absolutely! I plan to post a separate ‘thread’ later on about this (and the sequel[s]) in the main area.

QUOTE: … I won’t start my rant on tech support being off-shored (but I think I have a few comments back several pages if you *really want to know*). Ah, “customer service”!

A humorous anecdote: My mother-in-law Ethel was on the phone with an Indian customer service person one day, totally unaware of the woman’s nationality. Her English was so perfect, including the Midwestern dialect. But she blew her cover as soon as she said, “Have a nice day, Eetal!” [(-D]

CatTom:

QUOTE: Originally posted by twhite
…another Mass at 3:00, then two Priests coming over for a guided tour of the layout…

I’ve had not one, but two separate Catholic Priests urge me to stay active in this hobby when I voiced doubts about it (mostly because of my uncontrolled spending). Apparently they appreciate its power to divert guys like me away from the more destructive pastimes.
...
Well guys I'm running out of time here, maybe I'll check back around 10:30...

[fec153]

Hi again.
***, went to CSX yard in Wildwood [37 miles from my home], told the yardmaster to get those tankcars moving northeast..

Mitch- May I take you up on that old offer for a logo? Confederate gray and Yankee blue, on gp40-2. D&P RR. The Dismal & Pathetic RR. [Debbie & Phil] Deb is a southerner and I'm the yankee.
Rob- When you suddenly awakenand can't go back to sleep,might as well get some " honey-do's" done..Searching for envelopes to send the pictures in. Only one 4 letter word in 'Wal-Mart'.

Steve- only the [censored] red x.

Teffy- My turntable works fine. Plays 78's, 45's and 33 1/3's. Oh,sorry, TRAIN turntable. I must have gotten old to make such a mistake. Like what you have done, congrats.[^][bow]. Also like your Mess. Almost as good as mine. lol.

oleirish-[#welcome]. We enjoy newbies. Pull up a chair and get used to us, but join in at any time. Smoking allowed on the rear porch. Just in time for St.Pat's day.

Cat Tom- Blessings on those that serve Him. His ways are beyond our ken.
Flip

[Anonymous]

Hey, everyone! I've been really working on my layout this weekend. I added a peninsula, which makes my layout 20' by 22'. It used to be 11' by 22' . I'm almost completely done scenicking it. It was a LOT of work!!!!!! I'm very amazed.

[Grubby]

Morning All.... large Coke plenty of ice thanks....do we have any chocolate cake?

Another huge day for the yet to be named RR in the middle of somewhere in West Virginia.. Bolted the new extension into the middle of the layout.... needed a little bit of assistance from the wife to get a few things positioned... and now it dawns on her how "big" this layout really is [:P]

I finally got to mark out some track and check some turnouts..... I should be able to start cutting shortly and laying some track..... and I only need another 30 or so turnouts at $25-30 each [:(]

Anyway, time to be off and ready for work.... it is Monday morning here in sunny Queensland, thank goodness the temperature is dropping. You know it is time for the temperature to drop below 30C when the rugby league kicks off.... Go Brisbane Broncos.

[TurboOne]

Quick hello to all,

Bob, Teffy, awesome pics. Always great to chat. Hope we get to hook up and play trains and drink coffee and smoothies.

Everyone back east, take care, and lets be careful out there.

Smoothies and coffee are on me. Zoe/Chloe, serve them up, the Turbo is buyin'

Tim

[fec153]

Trolleyboy- Hi Rob. If you get the DIY show, tune in at 8:30pm or 11:30. Doing the show about trains AND TROLLEYS. 8:30 show for me. Hope to be asleep for 2 hours by 11:30. Envelope found. Pictures will be in mail tomorrow.

Tim- To close to dinner for me. On my way home now. Take a rain check on coffee and.

Flip

[steveblackledge]

Hello to all in the coffee shop today,
MATT, forgot the HST's
NOAH, if your in the UK Bombardier are having an open day at "Crewe works" in cheshire 10th - 11th September, last one was great so this one should be just as good with lots of main line Steam, Diesel and Electric loco's as well as model railroads etc etc etc

[fec153]

Steve- You're a good looking carrot-top.[:D]. lol
Flip
And the loco behind you ain't bad either.

[selector]

Good day/afternoon/evening, everyone. I am having a heck of a time keeping up to all of you! You see, spring has sprung on Vancouver Island, and I am up to me ***s in lawn-mowing, weeding, garlic planting, staring at steps that need to be sanded and painted, etc. Lawn tractor barely turned over, despite 15 hr charge, so off to Canadian Tire I go tomorrow. [|(]

You fellas are really active on this forum, and I get overwhelmed trying to read all of your posts and keep everything you talk about straight in my head. I hate playing catch-up.

Don't mean to rave, but just so you understand that I am going to be less active and contribute poorly for the next little while.

Welcome to oleirish.

1:1 steamer? Holy smokes. I'd sure like to be kept informed of your progress, Capt_T.

Later, Guys.

[GDRMCo]

Hi all.
***: The tropical cyclone ingrid missed darwin (where I live) so I'm off school for today.
Tahnks to all those guys who said welcome back and we missed you and all that stuff.
Fec: Email me a description or sketch and I'll see what I can do.
Mitchell

[JimRCGMO]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bjdukert


JimCG-Any more on the search for 4 wheels and did you manage to get your plywood cut[?][?]

I have a question. Is there a bullentin board here in the shop that we could put notices up for things that we might sell or would that be best to do eleswhere???

Well that’s about it,everyone have a good day and talk to you later

Duke

Spent a fair chunk of Saturday seeing what vehicles there were in town. But didn't find anything in my price range (lots of 'em higher, of course[;)]) So I didn't get the plywood cut. I did, however, go by LHS and pick up some rail joiners, a terminal switch, and a wye switch. (I really like the first version of my plan, which used a wye). Also went by B&N and bought two MRR books (Kalmbach) and the April MRR mag (love that Barnes & Noble member discount!). Oh, the guy at one place (that looks like they will work with me on financing) is supposed to call me back when they get some other cars in this week. SO maybe something better will turn up.

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[Fergmiester]

Well Now! While all you were chit chatting some of us "worked".

In these parts they call him "the Brute" and the only thing pink about him is the undercoat.









Now Bob: I told Lisa about the Tinned Salmon and you wanting a recipe for it. Lisa's response was "That's as blond as blond gets!" We shant get into any other details shall we[swg] And Bob I think you need to put some goats in that "pit" of yours as the grass is getting a bit long, must be that 85f weather you're getting, that or the "fertilizer" your spreading.[:I]

Later Gents
Fergie

[fec153]

Mitch- If I could draw, I would. Go for it. From what you have posted I am sure you can come up with a beaut. Much better than anything I can. I am art challenged.

Rob- Hope you catch or caught the DIY show. A Trolley dedicated club is located in Ocala which is about 40 miles from my home.
Flip

[Anonymous]

Hello all. I'll have an ice cold coca-cola, please.

TEFFY, I might be down, it will depend on the circumstances at that time.

Still not much happening with me.

'Til later

Robert

[fec153]

Fergie- Looks like you can't get away from PINK. What color do you call that 34' hopper? Your layout is comming along very nicely. Enjoy!

Time to shower and get to bed. Goodnite ya'll.
Flip

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by fec153

Fergie- Looks like you can't get away from PINK. What color do you call that 34' hopper? Your layout is comming along very nicely. Enjoy!

Time to shower and get to bed. Goodnite ya'll.
Flip

It Ain't PINK! It's Florida Orange. For those with discriminating taste[^]

[egmurphy]

Good Evening Coffee Clubbers,

Another real nice day down here in Paradise. Got well up in the 80’s, probably just missed hitting 90. [8D] But we had a bit of a breeze all day so it was still pleasant. The house is warm, I’m sitting here with both fans on. Could tonight be the night I give in and try the a/c? [:0]

Got in a little work on the layout today, more basic ground foam layer. That’s about as far as I can go with it right now. It’s either go back and start the coarse ground foam layer (probably a good idea) or return to blue foam shaping/smoothing on the balance of the incomplete areas. Although I have more foam painted, it’s right next to areas that still have to be sanded, and I don’t relish getting foam dust all over my new ground foam layer.

Got a call from Teffy first thing. Man, you’ve either got a great calling plan with the telephone company or you’re running up some healthy phone bills. Got much stock in SBC?

Also got to shoot some pool with my F-I-L. [8] And during the afternoon we went out to the golf course and played a quick (not as quick as I would have liked) nine holes with Fran and Junior. So all in all it was a pretty good Sunday. [^]

I haven’t posted since yesterday afternoon, so this one will probably be painfully long. Feel free to skip over it if you’re not looking for a specific reply from me.


[#welcome] Welcome to the Coffee Shop, oleirish. In case you haven’t had a chance to figure it out yet, The Coffee Shop is the “off topic” thread on the Model Railroader General Discussion forum. Think of this place as the ‘socializing’ part of your model railroad club. We do talk trains every now and then, but generally just talk about what’s going on in our lives. Just about anything is ‘on-topic’ here, except we tend to stay away from politics and religion. And since we have a number of junior members, we also keep it pretty clean. Oh, and no flaming. This is just a nice laid back place. The hardest part will be figuring out who’s on first and keeping track of the conversations. [:)]

For example, I haven’t posted since yesterday afternoon so I have to wade through 3 or 4 pages of posts, and make a bunch of comments or answer questions that someone may have asked me 12 hours and 2 pages back.

And yes, Zoe and Chloe can prepare Irish Coffee’s too. Amazing what you can find here in The Coffee Shop. Sometime we will expect you to tell us a little about yourself, where you live, what scale you model in, that kind of general stuff. For example, click on the ‘profile’ icon at the bottom of my post and you’ll find out some general info about me.



Fergie, I’ll email you with my questions about the decals.

QUOTE: Siberianmo: Don't know how you guys can handle those "slurpies - gloppies - … creamies - smoothies," and whatever else has overtaken a good cuppa Joe!

They haven’t taken over. I still start and end my day with good strong coffee. But at around 4 in the afternoon a smoothie isn’t all that bad. I hadn’t tried one until a week or so ago when I finally got talked into making one. Came out really good, kind of like a fruity milkshake. I even made one with left over coffee (with bananas, yogurt, honey, and cinnamon)!! Yum. [C=:-)]

By the way, it occurs to me that you said Carol was from Newfoundland, but I don’t remember you saying what part? Just curious.



Looks like you’re making steady progress there John. [tup] I look forward to seeing the rock cuts when you fini***hat face.



Ted, congrats on getting the attic insulation installed. [tup] Nothing like model railroading in a bit of comfort.

QUOTE: mikeygaw: ok quick update on Jim (jhhtrainsplanes): he's gotten himself a new harddrive for his computer, if he get it set up and running correctly... he might try to get on a friends computer and drop by…

I saw he actually posted on the old thread that adrianspeeder started. Just a hi/bye post, from a friend’s house.

QUOTE: grayfox: Ed: Que Pasa? You mean to tell me that Flip diverted those CSX cars to FLA??? Tsk, tsk. And we don't have it bad enough this winter. Flip, fix the waybill buddy, were dying up north!!

Diverted them? Heck no, he was complaining that I was wasting time sending them to Florida. Probably just that no one can read the handwriting on those waybills. Or maybe they got wet and the ink ran when they crossed the border. [swg]

QUOTE: I did manage to get some work done on the train room today inbetween all the snow work. I set up a work area with storage cabinet, work table and desk, a bookcase, and then brought down all the MRR mags, MRR books, kits that need building, locos, DCC system, tracks, scenery supplies, etc. The "room" is ready, now the benchwork needs to start, but first I need to plan the layout.

Good news. [tup] More progress is always good to hear. Keeps the rest of us motivated.



Steve B – Is that your son in that photo at Crewe?

QUOTE: Tom W: Bill did pick up another pair of Baldwin Sharks by Model Power, both new, for twenty bucks. He's cornering the market on sharks. It doesn't matter that the L&N didn't run sharks. It's going to be his railroad.

[#ditto] My sentiments exactly.



Teffy, the turntable and pit look real good. Nice job. But I couldn’t see the tire in the pit?



Capt_Turk, good to see you back. 1:1 live steam on 2’ gauge?? Don’t try putting that on top of the trailer.

QUOTE: (CG)Jim: But I’ll bet there are forums here that even cover 1:1 scale. I’ll let those who know more about the forums tell you where they are.

Well I suppose 1:1 qualifies for inclusion on the Trains Magazine forum. But more likely to find modelers on the Garden Railways Forum. I don’t hang out there (N scale trains get lost in gardens) but TurboTim does, maybe he knows.

QUOTE: Duke: I have a question. Is there a bulletin board here in the shop that we could put notices up for things that we might sell or would that be best to do elsewhere???

Nope, no place on the Trains Magazine forums. But TrainBoard does have a yellow pages forum with a decent amount of activity. I think some other forums do too, but that’s the only one I’m sure of.

QUOTE: TomCat: Like I said, the Friary has a BIG basement, so I may be spending more time at the Parish, only with saw, foam and screwdriver. Hey, fine by me. We may have the St. Francis & Pacific, or something like that in a few months.

You may be on to something there. Like you need more space.

QUOTE: Of course, some of the locomotives may have to undergo Conversion (chuckle, chuckle).

Groan. [:D]

QUOTE: selector: You fellas are really active on this forum, and I get overwhelmed trying to read all of your posts and keep everything you talk about straight in my head. I hate playing catch-up. Don't mean to rave, but just so you understand that I am going to be less active and contribute poorly for the next little while.

Don’t worry about it. Our success with so many people and posts may be our own downfall someday. Don’t feel compelled to read everything and try to answer everything. Read when you can to keep on top of things, post when you have a minute. Stopping in here doesn’t have to be a “life sentence”.

QUOTE: Mitch: The tropical cyclone ingrid missed darwin (where I live) so I'm off school for today.

Okay, I’m confused [%-)] (so what else is new)? The cyclone didn’t hit your area and because of that you’re off school? What would they have done if it did hit, close for a week?



Wow, Fergie, nice shots. And a good looking “Mess” of cars behind that loco too! The trestle is coming along nicely.


I think that about gets me up to date. Hope all of you have a pleasant evening. I’ll catch up with everyone tomorrow.

Hasta mañana,

Ed

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the cordial welcome Tom and Rob. Tom I am not modeling any particular division on the Southern. I have roughly two scale blocks of cityscape on one side and more pastoral, rural scene opposite to that. The bench work for the City is braced off one garage wall (South) while the opposite leg is cantilevered off my work bench (North). The East leg (oval) is a two track mainline spanning the void as a viaduct while a steel girder bridge (removable) spans the West end of the oval. I have limited space so all structures are "fronts" that I've scratch built or kit bashed. The Trolly line is a dogbone effecting a double track down Main Street on the second level. The yards, passenger platforms and freight docks are on the lower level. I'll try to elaborate in later postings. Right now, I need to get some domestic tasks done as it is getting a little late. Oh yes, I watched the DIY channel tonight and found the show interesting. Thanks for the tip. So long for now.

[Attaboy]

Good evening everyone. Almost bedtime again and decided to see what I missed today.

QUOTE: I see from your profile that you are near Harrisburg - is there still a loco megashop at Enola, or has NS closed it down?

Ken, the Enola yard is busier now with NS than it was with Conrail. They haven't enlarged it from the cuts Conrail made...yet. But we can always hope. I drive past it everyday on my way to work in Harrisburg as well as the Rockville Bridge.

[#welcome]Jim(Oleirish), hope you enjoy the shop.

Teffy, who ruined that perfectly good loco by painting it THAT color?[:D]

Getting late, have to work tomorrow so I guess that's it for tonight.

[der5997]

Good evening folks: I’ll have a tea with milk please Chloe, and one of the sugar free Zeros, thanks.

A clearing day today. First the snow, which has to be done over again tomorrow by the look of this afternoon’s flurries [V]; then the train room to get ready for the grandchildren. Two of them will use it for a bedroom on the March break visit which begins tomorrow. (Two others get the tent in the living room, and they will alternate.) We only have 3 grandchildren, but now the oldest is into bringing friends! So, rocks and roads will have to take a back seat for the week, but maybe some trains will be run [^]

Mitchell: Good to see you back again. A little rust won’t do you as much harm as unchanged oil! So, there’s a container tank car on it’s way to Winnipeg to pick up Canola oil, the best there is for frying and your health. It will offload at Vancouver, onto a BHP Billington ship. (Good OZ company [tup]) Direct to Darwin, if there are facilities to handle it, or name your port of entry, and rail line for delivery. Should keep you in fried colas and soup for a while.[(-D]

oleirish [#welcome] Jim, you’ve come to a pretty a-typical part of the MR forum. Should you want hard facts on model railroading, you may find what you want here, but posting a question as a topic on the General Discussion or other forums may get you a larger audience. I see that others have said just about all I was going to on the “how does it work” front. I’ll just add that there are other Jims, so you may get to be called oleJim, or IrishJim, or some other variant in order to keep things straight.
As you are a veteran modeler, maybe you can help out with some advice from time to time.[tup]

Capt_turk: Nothing like the real thing [wow] save the cash for the shrink, you may need it for the other bits to complete. What will you use for cylinders and pistons?

Fergie:

QUOTE: by Noah: Fergie, after you get a chance to use it, let us know how you like the Cold Heat soldering Iron. I’ve been thinking about getting, but I’m not sure if it’ll do what is necessary or not.

[#ditto] We’ve discussed the probability that it won’t handle rail joins because of the heat sink effect of the rail, but would be interested in how it does for other tasks.
That trestle stain has worked very well, and the lowest run of stringer finishes it off nicely[^]

CapeJim: Thanks for the cinnamon rolls with Splenda™ , very thoughtful of you [:D]
BridgeTom: How about Pontifex and Pacific [;)]

Bob: Great photos. The pit has turned out very well. I hope the grass is staying put now.

***: I think Mitchell’s on the north coast, more or less in the middle, west of the big pointy bit. If I’m right, he has a tropical climate.

Ken: ( I may have said [#welcome] before, or it may have been in a reply that got canned in favour of a meal call [:D], so [#welcome] anyhow!)

QUOTE: I’ve had not one, but two separate Catholic Priests urge me to stay active in this hobby when I voiced doubts about it (mostly because of my uncontrolled spending). Apparently they appreciate its power to divert guys like me away from the more destructive pastimes.

A very good principle, that I have often urged on parents of pre- and actual teens in my congregations.[tup] The spending aspect also tends to keep them out of more serious trouble [(-D]

pennsyperson

QUOTE: I'm almost completely done scenicking it. It was a LOT of work!!!!!! I'm very amazed.

As am I! [bow] How do you do that[?]

Grubby Sorry for the misspell on your name a page or two back. Also, for the quote, and no comment. That particular post has left me with no way to edit it!
What I wanted to say was that if you want help with posting photos, either Ed or I would be happy to help. Just E-mail.

Ed:

QUOTE: Teffy, the turntable and pit look real good. Nice job but I couldn’t see the tire in the pit?

I think it’s just before 3 o’clock right by the rail. The goat will probably take care of it [swg]

This has been fun, but bed calls. Goodnight everyone, and God Bless.

[JimRCGMO]

Good evening, Zoe, looks like I missed the evening rush again. [:(] Well, I'll have a decaf tonight.

Teffy, nice job on the turntable - but I’m with Ed - where is/are the tire(s)?[swg] And that is one *pink* package! [:O] I do believe there’s a pretty nice layout under all that ‘stuff’, too![;)]

Ed:

QUOTE:

Got a call from Teffy first thing. Man, you’ve either got a great calling plan with the telephone company or you’re running up some healthy phone bills. Got much stock in SBC?

Ed, I figured maybe Teffy’s avoiding cleaning up the ‘MESS’ on his layout. Hey, I find myself avoiding cleaning up my living room, so I can understand if Teffy’s doing that. [;)]

This afternoon I got going on refining my road’s color scheme, and I’ll still need to do a bit of work, but here is the current revision:



Basically, I like it, but I'm not wild about the shade of turquoise for the lettering on the logo (bit too dark). So I've asked our resident digital artist (Mitch) to make some suggestions on that for me.

Pennsyperson, good to hear from you again - and great to hear about your progress on your layout![tup] Every day of progress on our layouts - even little things - is a good day, IMHO.[:)]

Grubby, you’ve been busy this weekend also - way to go![:)] And I see you have discovered one of the realities of this hobby ($$) But you’ll develop those other skills, like finding where the bargains and better prices are (like train meets, LHS sale bins, etc.).

Bridge Tom, hope you get/got those priests hooked properly tonight. [:)] Yeah, St. Francis & Pacific sounds nice! Though it might turn out (since the Friary has a lot of room) that your layout might end up being a branch for the St. Francis and Pacific!

Selector, one thing that I did when I was new here was to take notes a while until I got names and such figured out. Hope that helps some. But the reading still is necessary...

Fergie do you have a champagne fountain or a baptismal font under that trestle? [ducking and running] At least, you could put a diving board up there to go with that big old swimming hole at the bottom. Ed might think he was at Acapulco when he saw the photos. [:)] I do think those ore cars look more like pink than orange, though.[}:)]

***, we all could use a workbench - to keep all our assorted kits to be assembled, all those specific tools we use, our supplies, and all that other ‘junk’ from taking over the train room and then the whole house(!).[;)] Actually, I need to just organize my books and MRR/RMC magazines for a start.[:)] Glad you got things organized (better for finding things that way).

Mitch, we're glad that cyclone missed you! And since you got off school, hopefully you can get a little work on your modeling, right?[8D] Sent you an email through the forum with a link for what I have so far, for your suggestions.

About time for wrapping up things for the day for me. Will write more tomorrow (and Selector groans after reading that...) [;)]

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[twhite]

Hey, good evening all--am just recuperating from a FULL day--two Masses, plus two really FUN Priests that just left and I'm afraid I reached my limit of beer (3) and cheese. 'Twas fun, Fr. Fohlmer, my German buddy, hadn't had a chance to be let loose on a model railroad in a long time, he took one look at one of my Yellowstones and proclaimed "This needs a train of REFRIGERATOR cars!" I mentioned to him that the original pulled ore cars in Minnesota, he grinned and said, "We're not in Minnesota!" So I dutifully put about 30 ART and PFE cars on a couple of holding tracks, handed him the controls, and WHAMMO! Yellowstone coupled up and slowly left with an absolutely beautiful train. He winked and said, "Don't lie, you do this all the time, right?" I grinned back and said, "Reason I bought them." "Of course," he pontificated, "Only reason for an Articulated in California, to haul trains of refrigerator cars." He ran it twice at very realistic speeds around my layout before halting it and breaking the train back up into components. "How many of these do you have?" He asked, indicating the Yellowstone. "Two," I answered. He muttered, "You need more!"
Gad, I LOVE that man!!
Actually, had a good day. I don't know whether or not we'll have a branch line at the Friary (St. Francis & Pacific,) but it was a lot of fun. Fr. Garibaldi just folded his arms and gave Fr. Fohlmer and I several very amused grins while we got into operation, but as they left, he whispered to me, "I think I could have FUN with this!" I don't know if he meant at the Friary, or whether it was a hint to invite him over more often to watch me run mine, but we'll see.

So--anyway--wow, Teffy--! The yard makes me drool! And obviously it works, too. Like the overhang of the 2-8-8-2 on the turntable, reminds me of the one I had on my first layout (which I hope to re-install on this one, once I get the staging yard in place). Had to place the one Yellowstone VERY carefully so the tender coupler didn't whack the front coupler of the other Yellowstone. And that's the first time I've ever seen the Pink Panther. I bow to you.

TomW: Believe me, those insulated rail joiners solving the problem came about by sheer LUCK! Electrician I'm not, beleive me!

Flip: Thank you for those kind thoughts--I spent a lot of my life being carried by Him, it's much more comfortable thinking that I'm doing my own walking, now, (even if I'm still having to take very large strides trying to keep up).

Well, Spooky says she'll be a good girl tonight, so that she can wake up early enough to have one of Zoe's incredible Tuna Blintzes, Wiley just ran head first down the hall and forgot to stop and whacked his little head on the hall closet door (as I said previously, not the BRIGHTEST light in the harbor!) and Mr. Mellow, otherwise known as Lowell the Cool, has decided that it's his once-a-month lap time. Time to feed furries and myself, and think about all those furnace-filter fir trees I have to construct tomorrow.

BTW, just got an e-mail from a buddy. Seems Florida is considering a 2-cent tax on toilet paper to help the environment. Governor Bush is promising to get to the 'bottom' of this legislation.
Jeez, and some of you think we're weird out here in California??

Later.
Cat/Bridge Tom



[:P][:P][:P]

[JimRCGMO]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Attaboy


Teffy, who ruined that perfectly good loco by painting it THAT color?[:D]

Getting late, have to work tomorrow so I guess that's it for tonight.

Attaboy, there's a story in that - but you may have to dig through some of the older posts. [;)]

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[GDRMCo]

you've got mail jim in cape G

[grayfox1119]

Hi Jim & Paul. Lets sit by the window and watch the main line while we sip coffee.
A great day today, no snow, and some actually melted, and, 8 Robins showed up in the back yard. They will have a tough time trying to get worms under 3 feet of snow!!

Mitchell I am happy that cyclone Ingrid missed Darwin, these storms can do terrible damage. [wow]Glad to see you back in the coffee shop, I gave Zoe a new recipe for deep fried Buffalo Wings, I hope they are not too spicey for you.

ED If you see Eve in Paradise, please tell her to get away from that tree in the center of the garden! [}:)][}:)][}:)] CSX tankers just arrived at 10:42 this evening, one car had OJ as ordered from Ed, but the other was filled with grapefruit juice from Indian River . What gives ???

Almost 11:30, I think I will go check out the DIY channel to see if that TRAIN show is ON up here also.......

Bon Soir gents....

[grayfox1119]

Ohh Oh, top of the page, drinks are on me, and a big chocolate shake for Mitchell.

[Paul W. Beverung]

Cat Tom; A Yellowstone pulling a reefer string? Gad Sooks. You do have a good number of ore cars, I hope. You do know how to hurt a ore road fan.

Jim C; I like that paint scheme on the SW. Some diesels look better in basic black.

Capt. Turk; I’ve thought about 1 to 1. I have most of the hardware from a 30” gauge sugar cane car. I also have most of the lumber and prototype info that I got off of an original. Now all I need is the time to build it. Keep us informed on your progress.

Der; I think that Capt Turk said that he had a winch engine. That would give him the cylinders.

Fergie; Well it looks pink to me too. The PP looks good on the trestle. Kind of makes the trestle look smaller than it is.

Tim; Belated Happy Birthday.

Oleirish; Welcome aboard. Have one on Me. Would you tell us a bit more about yourself. I’m 62, been in HO since I was 11. I’m modeling a free lance iron ore hauling road in northern Michigan. I’m also into live steam, 7 ½ “ gauge.

Teffy; The pictures of your layout seem to look familiar. Oh yea, reminds me of mine. I’ve got to get busy on getting some stuff together to bring down.

Well I’m about to fall asleep here. I’ve got to get up tomorrow and go to town and pick up 3 ½ tons of fertilizer. It might be easier and cheaper to have a bunch of you guys come down and have a bull session in the field. That way I get the fertilizer delivered and spread.

Good Friends

Paul

The Duluth, Superior, & Southeastern

“ The Superior Route “

[trolleyboy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by fec153

Trolleyboy- Hi Rob. If you get the DIY show, tune in at 8:30pm or 11:30. Doing the show about trains AND TROLLEYS. 8:30 show for me. Hope to be asleep for 2 hours by 11:30. Envelope found. Pictures will be in mail tomorrow.

Tim- To close to dinner for me. On my way home now. Take a rain check on coffee and.

Flip

Flip thanks buddy unfortunatly I don't get the channel[V][:(][:(] enjoy them for me okay[^]I've been home with the family today (Heather and her parents) dad brought over a new train DVD on Canadian steam[:p][:p]A really good show.Unfortunatly woth all the video watching we both procrastinated and didn't get any more track down[sigh]I'm going to try and do some the next couple of days so all was not lost. F-I-L gave me alot of good hints so I've got the trouble spots planned for now[:)] Talk to you all later. Rob

[philnrunt]

oleirish- welcome! Hope you become as demented and twisted....wait, you said youv'e been in MRing for a long time, so I guess your already with us in that area.
Capt Turk- That sounds great! Just be sure to keep an eye on the water glass and to keep us posted on your progress.
Twhite- Oh sure, we back east HEAR about the warm weather but rest assured, we don't expect it to ever get here. Seems like theres some kind of weather black hole around Cape Girardeau- just what are you doing with our spring warm-up, Jim? As for a name for the Parish's RR I think it should connect Haven ,Ks and Hell ,Mi. Don't know what I'd name it, but....nope, can't come up with a thing.
Teffy and Pennsyperson-good looking work! Keep it up, it just might get us old deadbeats off our duffs and get us started on our own layout!
Fergie- Lookin' good! BTW, I have a friend whose parents bought him a pink Studebaker, he came up with Salmon. Sure looked pink to us tho.
Ed- Hows the tennis going? They decide it wasn't worth chasing the balls, or did golf just sound better?
Got an e-mail telling me that they shipped my SDs on Friday, via UPS, but I'm thinking that they wern't shipped from Bluffton In, 20 miles north, but from a supplier somewhere. I'd have driven up and got them if they were in Bluffton! If all goes as planned -HAA! WHO AM I KIDDING?!?!?!?- anyway, if a meteor dosn't smoke the UPS truck, they s h o u l d be here Mon. I'm like a pediatrician- a man of little patients!
Well, one of the county deputies just pulled up, think I'll chat with him awhile. Take care all, and keep a good thought!.