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

[JimRCGMO]

Joe, I am impressed about your upgrade of your diesel! [^] May have to ask you later for some tips on upgrading my engines (once I get back to the storage shed and drag out all the MRR boxes.

Jim H., I don't think the site here uses adware/spyware (or at least, none involving cookies), since I use a Mac and my browser is set to *ask* me before any cookies are set (other than known safe sites). It didn't show any requests for cookies (other than one cookie which expires after I quit my browser session). HTH. [2c][:)]

Hey, Omahanian - My dad's side of the family has relatives in Nebraska (if they haven't all died off since I last was up there) - Omaha and Columbus. The winters do get a tad snowy, though. [:-^]

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Sterling1

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

Jim M [8D]

I have seen a DD40. We have one on pernament display here in North Little Rock, Arkansas. It is in front of the Union Pacific Jenks Shops. It is number 6938. When ever the 3985 or 844 come to town they "park" behing the Jenks Shops. The steam locos will be "sandwiched" between the Jenks Shops and the UP 4 th Street Offices. The local "operator" once referred to as the Locust Street Tower Operator is now located in the 4th Street Offices. The Bearing Cross Bridge, the railroad bridge linking Little Rock to North Little Rock, is within walking distance of the 4th Street Offices. This is where I recently took pics of the 3985 (which I thought were pretty good, right Lupo and Noah, but appearantely Bergie doesn't think so as the 18 pics I send him have NOT made "Photo Of The Day"--not even one of them [:(] [V] [:(!] )

Everyone have a good day. [8D]

Why Locust?

To answer your question the Locust Street Tower is name after the street that runs by it. Many of the streets here are named after trees--Walnut, Cedar, Gum, Cypress, Magnolia, Maple, Olive, etc., etc., etc., so I guess Locust is a tree since it is in that grouping of streets. I am not sure if I have ever seen a Locust tree though. [B)]

There is a tree in my front yard that my neighbor calls a gum ball tree. It has a "fruit" about the size of a gumball that drops off the tree into the yard. When you step on them they pop. It is not one of my favorite trees as it is very messy with all of the "gunballs" and frankly I don't like it. I would love to exchange it for a money tree. [;)] Now I wouldn't mind that "fruit" dropping on the group for me to "rake". [:D]

[lupo]

Morning All [tup][8D][:)] and:

[#welcome] to all new clubbers !

QUOTE: Jim:
I am not sure if I have ever seen a Locust tree though.

looks like this:



and for the money tree: we all will be waiting for fall!


CJM89: Running With Siccors [:-,] = DANGEROUS! [xx(]

but they might come in handy [}:)] chasing those bike thieves.

hope you hear about getting 'm back Fergie !



Stolen property: Last summer I had the same luck Bob wrote about : When I read the newspaper about some stolen powertools that were found when LEO's searched a house nearby, I checked out and mine were missing from the garage, they found them before I missed them! [tup]

[fec153]

[wow][wow][wow]. I am now truly awake. LUPO is the most amazing. That said-
Good morning coffee clubbers. Enjoy the day.
Flip

[pedromorgan]

hello evryone.

once again i have been doing nothing at work and spending the entire day surfing the net. i have come across a great site on ultradome cars made buy the colorado railcar company! wow!!!!!! oah how i wish i could see a dome....

Peter

[Anonymous]

Good Morning All:

The open house went well yesterday. I ended up taking the Spectrum 4-8-2 that hit Fergies floor. I had 25 cars but didn't take most of them out. Several of the guys brought some passenger cars and it became the passenger puller. Only steam on the layout. It did have several people following it around. We had wind problems with the outside layout. When it gusted it would blow cars off the track, luckley one one car left the layout but several of our industries will have to be re-conditioned.

Fergie:
The e-mail that I got this morning is the one that wouldn't open from you or the one that Flip was trying to send? Their are some mornings I feel just like that.

Well I'm off to church
Ya'll have a blessed day and remember SANTA FE ALL THE WAY
Bob

[fec153]

Morning Bob, that was the one I kept trying to send to all clubbers. It took our resident magicman,Lupo, to accomplish it. I to, feel that way on some mornings. Hope ya'll enjoyed it.
Flip

[CP5415]

Good Day EH!
Good morning/afternoon campers!

Greetings from the Great White North!

Good to hear about the open house Bob!
I hope none of the passengers were hurt Teffy with the derailment! If they were, how do you plan to keep the lawyers at bey? [:D]

I hated going to my LHS on Friday! UGH!!!!!
He found a bunch of BB Athearn locmotives & is selling them for around $30 Canadian each.
So naturally I had to pick out 3 of them! [:D]

If the wife finds out I'll probably look like this [B)]

Have a good day all!

Gordon

[Noah Hofrichter]

Howdy all! Not much to report over here today, it's just a sunny day with the temp just below freezing(or maybe above now, I haven't looked in a while). I got over to the local Walmart and bought some spray paints for my Locomotives I'm going to do as soon as the decals come in the mail. Also got my Dad's Chrismas present, as he wasn't along, just my Mom.

I was looking at Walmart, and for twenty bucks I can get an airbrush set, single action, using an Aresol can. I figure if I'm not going to be using an airbrush very much, I might get this as a starter set. So now I'm wrestling with that idea. Really that's the only update for MRRing today for me, so I think I'll keep going.

Noah

[Sterling1]

After sitting and reading the earlier posts, i think I tired myself out, so i decided to see what in the front end. Weather here in Florida is pleasant, and not much else to say, except the end of a Thanksgiving weekend and back to the high school grind. Yes high school, and my last year too. a few more months and the nest may empty soon. Now i wonder how the my postal service (Internet) will keep up? . . .

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by JimRCGMO

Hi all, (and could you pass the cinnamon rolls with that coffee?)

I'm (after an absence of a few decades) thinking about getting back into MRR'ing (HO). In fact, from about 14-15 years ago, I have the lumber, some track and switches, and a few cars and structures. Yep, some blue boxes, and both DPM and some of the old Revelle/ConCor buildings... :-)

My main question(s) is (are) - are there affordable engines out there nowadays? In looking online, it appears there are the highly detailed, multi-$$$$ (and usually brass) locos/diesels, or there are the not-so-great, cheap (both made and looking) ones. I guess I was hoping there was some middle ground in engines (like in the $55 or slightly under range, with pretty reasonable details, but not fanatically so).

Specifically, I've been considering something on the order of a SW1200/1500/7 switcher (haven't been through my stuff in storage, so I don't recall if I still have one), and probably also a GP7 or GP9 (either low-nose or kitbashed to a low-nose). Something that would put my fictional road in the approx. 1950's, using second-hand equipment castoffs from the bigger guys. I have an 0-6-0 Saddle tank loco (think it might have been a Roundhouse) for some of the switching as well. I expect to have minimal passenger traffic (1 to a maximum of 3 cars, counting 1 baggage or combine).

Any suggestions and/or comments on whether there are affordable (but not too toy-looking) engines like those out there? I've seen a Walthers GP9M online, but don't know how the detail/realism is on it. Oh, I will be coming up with my own line's paint jobs, so undecorated (or other roads' colors if strippable ) would be fine.

I'll be modifying a combination of the Jerome & Southwestern and the old Boy's Life (December 1958 or so) layout, in a 4X8 size. My apartment size (and hopes of moving in the next few years) limits me in size and I'll also need something reasonably portable when I get to move. Will add to it later when I have a more permanent location.

Second question - how do I easily find what I'm looking for in the forums? I've been trying searches and only get a mish-mosh of slightly and almost totally unrelated posts, and then there don't appear to be links where I can just go to that thread. I hope there's an easier way to get to the topics I want. When I tried the sort by topic title, after the first page, if I try to click on 'next', I get an unsorted second page(!) :-(
I am not impressed with their search engine here, frankly. This should be much simpler to at least get a list of topics you could really track down (beyond the first page, for sure). Can someone suggest where I can find a better way to locate the topics I want to find here?

Thanks in advance for any and all assistance,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Sterling1


back to the high school grind. Yes high school, and my last year too. a few more months and the nest may empty soon. Now i wonder how the my postal service (Internet) will keep up? . . .

So what plans do you have for after high school? College? The Armed Services? Working for a Railroad? Or a combination of two of the above?

[JimRCGMO]

Hope everyone's having a cozy Sunday (indoors, if need be) today.

I went back and tweaked the design (the sort-of-Boy's Life one I mentioned earlier) for my layout this afternoon. Added another siding in the middle (where the biggest town is located), and added two tracks so I could add the side panel from the Jerome and Southwestern and hook into it.

Do we have a place where we can post layout plan images here? If so, I'll post it there for anyone who wants to take a look (and even offer suggestions on further improvements).

Gordon, my thoughts are "A bad day at the hobby shop beats a good day at work"...[;)]

Hey Sterling1, maybe we should come down by your place for the winter (until it starts getting hot next May/June or so). [}:)][;)]

Well, better finish my coffee and go fix dinner. Blessings on your dinner, whatever delectables you may be having... [:)]

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TrainFreak409

Howdy everybody, I haven't been in here in a few days. Friday was Black Friday, and Purkey's was busier today, than Friday. I guess Black Friday doesn't really apply to train stores and hobby shops, since they don't hold 75% off sales, and stuff like that. We did have a very good crowd though, but it is always greater at Christmas time. Christmas = Trains, Thanksgiving does not. (At least to the general public. But to train nuts, freaks, geeks, buffs, enthusiasts, whatever, trains equal everyday of the year[:D]).
I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

~[8]~ TrainFreak409 ~[8]~

That's part of the problem Scott, "normal" people only think of trains during the holiday season. That is only about 10% of the year.

I used to work in a hobby store. Now it is YOUR job to get them hooked.[swg]

[egmurphy]

Hello Coffee Clubbers,

No, I didn't drop off the end of the planet. We finally got everyone healthy at home and so Fran and I took off last Wednesday morning to make the run up to the border. So I've effectively been out of internet contact (gasp) for several days. I'm several pages back in trying to catch up. So this is just a quick one to say 'hi'. I'll probably try responding to individual posts that came up during my absence rather than trying to write the new modern novel in one grand post.

Trip went fine. We accomplished most of what we set out to do. No major problems except that my mail shipments of model railroad stuff went astray (for various reasons) and so I didn't get any of the stuff I was waiting for. No major problem (other than disappointment) as at the speed I'm building I have enough stuff to last for six months or more.

I've already noticed that we have even more new Coffee Shop patrons. Welcome to all the new customers.

Okay, back to page 169....................

Hasta luego

Ed

[Anonymous]

didnt get much done on the layout today, had to put christmas lights on the roof and finish up my homework for tommorrow. oh, pizzas here, gotta go...

[Anonymous]

GP60 update:

The handrails are soldered and painted. I replaced the numberboards with better numbers. I have decided I will install a DH163 decoder so I can run it on the local club's layout. I have also decided I will use LED's for the headlights.

Does anyone know if the LED circuit in the PDF on this site will work with DCC?

[Fergmiester]

Well today was low key,cleaned the basement, which the kids have ceremoniously trashed since, Cleaned the debris field (layout by any other name) and started to tackle the ground fault and rewire/prep the layout for DCC.

Made final approvals on the decals, so it is now a case of wait and see.

Speaking of falling off planets, we haven't heard from Philnrunt in awhile. Anyone know of his whereabouts?

J: Sounds like youv'e got quite a little project on the go, have to admit Rio Grande was a livery I admired (even though it's a diesel)[:D]

Ed: It's good to see you're all back on your feet. Lisa has made big improvements as of late but had a set back yesterday as she drove herself a tad too hard. And yes I too dread going back to sea as when I get back I'll have a trilogy to go through. Some of us are getting very prolific.

And Gord: Which one of us twisted your arm at the LHS Mmmmmm. Shame on you for dragging the rest of us into your little dieseldom of sin![angel]

Jim RC: There have been thread that we have posted opur layouts on but it is long buried and good luck posting it. Unless you have your own webpage you'ld best get an account with someone like Railimages.com. This way you can post your stuff through them and have a quick link for the rest of us to see progress on your layout.

Noah: Nothing wrong with a cheap spray gun! just make sure you keep it clean and do it in a well vented space. Most importantly don't use paint with Tuolene or Xylene as these ones are potentially deadly and have long lasting effects!

Goodnight all
Fergie

[PennsyHoosier]

Good evening friends,

Well the great midwestern tour is over. It is good to be home after a LONG trip. I was able to get in a little time today, including making a DPM kit and three blueboxes. All are set up for some serious weathering over the next few days.

I kept my sanity on this trip a new way. I picked up a cheap copy of Railroad Tycoon 3 and played that some. I had RR Tycoon 2 several years ago. The new one was pretty good. You've no doubt talked about this, but have any of you played this?

All the best,
Lawrence

[Anonymous]

i have been modelling for about a year and i havnt found out what CSXT standfor.

bnsf6733

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by PennsyHoosier

Good evening friends,

Well the great midwestern tour is over. It is good to be home after a LONG trip. I was able to get in a little time today, including making a DPM kit and three blueboxes. All are set up for some serious weathering over the next few days.

I kept my sanity on this trip a new way. I picked up a cheap copy of Railroad Tycoon 3 and played that some. I had RR Tycoon 2 several years ago. The new one was pretty good. You've no doubt talked about this, but have any of you played this?

All the best,
Lawrence

I still have RR Tycoon II, but haven't played it in quite a while. I like playing the China scenario. India and Great Britain were also interesting. [:)] What is new on 3?

[der5997]

QUOTE: QUOTE: Originally posted by der5997
Does anyone know if there is a F40PH in N made by anyone other than Model Power or Life Like? The most modern Walthers catalogue I have is 1999.
I will need a F40PH to paint up for VIA Rail, and get a decoder into. I would prefer to get something a bit more upmarket than MP or LL. (I typed more upscale at first, but reconsidered, not wanting to give the impression that I was thinking of not beingNormal. )

QUOTE by jwaldo As far as I know, only LifeLess makes them now. Actually, I'd kinda like one myself...

Thanks, rumour(aka WigWag on the Trainboard site) has it that Kato is going to bring one out in about 18 months....start saving[8D][:D]

QUOTE: John, from your experiences with the foam, I may stick with plaster and/or hydrocal.[:O] I'd been thinking I wasn't sure about foam because of all the scraps/shavings and having to vaccuum them up, but I think you may have swung me over to using the lighterweight plaster scenery. Figure I'd be using plaster for rocks and such, anyway...

Jim: This is the first time I've worked a layout in foam, so there are a # of things I would do differently. However, I'm very interested in the way mountains can be put together in this stuff. I'm finding it a lot of fun, especially working out fixes for the things that don't go exactly as I thought they would. I too am thinking of plaster rock castings, and lots of them. but then I'm going to be using quite a bit of sawdust and white glue mix as filler as well, quite a hybrid. I'm saying this because you seem put off foam by what I've reported as my experiences so far. Ed is further ahead of me in the finishing techniques. Have a chat with him before you abandon the idea entirely.

QUOTE: Do we have a place where we can post layout plan images here? If so, I'll post it there for anyone who wants to take a look (and even offer suggestions on further improvements).

What you need is a web hosting service of some kind to park your pics so you can download them from there.
A # of us are using www.railimages.com That's a free service dedicated to train and mrr related pics. If you join them, remember that there is no free lunch. They get their $ from advertizers, and member contributions. So consider making a contribution to keep the service going. If you want to use them, and need a guide through their start up system, just ask.

On the subject of suggestions for improvement, I showed my latest mountain terrain to Kris today. She had some very helpful suggestions to make,[^][8D] and I've been able to re-construct the section in question, and the glue is drying as I type. (that ability to make swift changes is one of the things I've found useful about building in foam Jim.) I'll see if I can take a pic or two and get them up.

Jimhh:

QUOTE: Smiley Central is very bad about "giving" adware/spyware with their smileys. That is one reason I don't accept Smiley Central smileys. However there is a program called Ad-a-ware that can get rid of them. But they (the smileys) can be difficult to deal with so I just try to avoid them altogether. Many programs that you download online will contain spyware. When you "accept" the download you have also accepted the spyware. That is one of those "clauses" in the fine print that we seldom, if ever, read.

When my computer came back from being fixed by the local chap who does that around here, he had added a program called "Spy Sweeper". What it does, when I remember to run it, is scan the entire hard drive looking for adware and spyware, unauthorized cookies, dialers, etc. It then quarantines them and lets me delete them etc. The last sweep I did (Friday) turned up 2 bits of spyware and 10 cookies. One of the spyware things was apparently a porn dialer [:O] [}:)] [:(!] that had come in despite all the shields etc I've got out there. I'm wondering if it came from smiliegenerator? Anyway, it's toast.

We are due for 40-50 mm (that's up to 2") of rain over the next 12-24 hours. That'll water in the evergreens for the winter![^]

Just watched Shrek so as to get ready for Shrek2 What a hoot.

Peter: Sorry you've got such a booring job. What is it you don't do? [(-D]

OK, photo's taken, processed and put on railimages, so here we are...more blue foam "icebergs"!

That's the corner Kris suggested be lowered, so I took two inches off, and had to put about 1/4 inch back to cover that light box thingy with the other side of the tunnel scene.

This is the other end of the tunnel, as you see, the mountain is higher and steeper.
Here's the whole end of the room with the mountain foundation pretty much done.


Well, that was fun, now it's bedtime.
Goodnight, and God Bless.

[AntonioFP45]

Hi Guys,

It's Monday morning here.

Well, sad to say, just heard it on the radio. Two trains have collided just north of me in Pasco County, Florida. I'm sure it's two CSX freights as Amtrak would have been mentioned immedietly. The report stated that at this time there's 2 people trapped in the wreckage. I pray that there are no deaths.

As a railfan, I do find it frustrating that railroads today are having just as many collisions as they were back in the 70s.

This wreck will definitly add more fuel to the www.csx-sucks.com website. For those of you not familiar, apparently some very frustrated railroad employees created the site. It's quite an eye opener!

[Fergmiester]

Well I must say thanks to my American Friends as that package of rain you sent me and John will force me into the basement for the rest of the day, except for the odd occassional coming up for air!

Larry: I never played III but really enjoyed II. Though it did become apparent why I'm not the CFO in this household. I can build 'em but I can't make money from 'em.

John: I have to ask: did you ever figure out what to do with derailments in the tunnels or are you turning them into multi-layered random manual staging yards? A shop vac with an extension would work!

Fergie[:D]

If ya can't join 'em, Stir 'em

[Anonymous]

Good Morning All:

Well open house went well yesterday - one couple showed up. Next year another guy and I are going to try and be ready for the open house. Maybe four layouts will be more worth the drive.

sNoah:
How is the car comming along?

Fergie:
It sounds like the layout is on hold. How will Lisa make out with her back while you are gone.

Ed:
Glad that you are back, sorry about the "stuff" not getting to you. Why can't Papa Ben sent it all the way to you? Is the postal system corrupt also?

John:
I can't believe how nice the layout is looking.

Ya'll have a blessed day and remember SANTA FE ALL THE WAY
Bob

[CP5415]

Good Day Eh! From the soon to be Great White North!!!

Morning/Afternoon Fellow MRR Enthusiasts!

Now Now Fergie, we all know that it takes absolutely no arm twisting when any of us goes into our LHS!!

Not much else happening here

Gotta run
See's yas laters

Gordon

[CP5415]

HEY!!!!

Will ya look at that!!!!!
I just realized that this is my 1000th post

WOO HOO

Gordon

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Sterling1

After sitting and reading the earlier posts, i think I tired myself out, so i decided to see what in the front end. Weather here in Florida is pleasant, and not much else to say, except the end of a Thanksgiving weekend and back to the high school grind. Yes high school, and my last year too. a few more months and the nest may empty soon. Now i wonder how the my postal service (Internet) will keep up? . . .

Lucky!! I'm just a junior, still got another year.

Been away a while, how was everyone's thanksgiving? Had family in and I have been busy for the last week. Maybe I can get back to the train room now![:D] Uh Oh! The teacher's looking gotta go!

Greg

[egmurphy]

Congrats on reaching 4 stars, Gordon. That's a lot of wear and tear on the old keyboard.


Teffy, it's an issue of customs duties on the imported stuff sent through the mail. They're high in general and extra high on anything made in China. It was a disappointment, but there was nothing in the package I can't live without. until spring. Plus mail delivery out where we are is pretty spotty. It's not a case of corruption, just another issue of inadequate infrastructure. That's the main reason I have all my mail sent to a mail forwarder in laredo who collects it and sends it down once a month by a courier (like FedEx) service. No duties on magazines, but the delivery is more reliable (although possibly slower).

Regards

Ed

[JPowell]

Paul wrote:
JP. What do you do for the UP? I'm just west of Fort Worth on the UP main to Abalene. Any chance of you getting down here?

I do nothing w/ or for UP. I was crusing the Trains.com forums and came across that in one of the topics I was reading and thought I'd post it over here and see what kinds or reaction I'd get.