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

[JimRCGMO]

QUOTE: Originally posted by RDLkrbyvllRR

Hello, everyone. I have a few more pictures I want to post. So, here they are. The first is my updated logo. This is the final product. The second is a boxcar with the logo on it.





The lettering on the boxcar is out of alignment. So, I will adjust it when I ever get around to painting and decaling it. Just thought I'd post it to show everybody how it will look.[8D]

'til another time.

Robert

Looks good to me, Robert - Go for it!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by egmurphy

QUOTE: Robert: I've used Woodland Scenics dry transfers. Take care when using them, or you may transfer more than you want. They're easy to use. I bought a burnisher that's made for dry transfers. Look at your LHS (local hobby shop) for one. A dull pencil will also work.

Yeah, one of the things you have to watch out for is pressing on other letters while you’re trying to transfer one. It may be easier in HO. I’m using an old golf tee as a burnishing tool, but then again I don’t know what I’m doing.

I’ve got two airbrush starter kits, each with a can of air. I’m still intending to try them one day. One was purchased a long time ago and was hidden when I purchased the second one at a show about a year and a half ago.

Even though I’m not in the market for a compressor at this time, I do look from time to time when I’m at a Home Depot. I think they’re like electronics. I see smaller and cheaper ones coming out over time. By the time I get up the nerve to try the airbru***he compressors will probably be within my budget and storage space limits.

Some of you have said it before, but the Coffee Shop is a nice, easy going place to hang out and chat. Just like Elliot envisioned it when he started it, I guess. That disagreement about compressors was as close as we’ve come to having words that I can remember, yet the people involved defused it rapidly. Seeing how things deteriorate on some of the other forums, I can’t tell you how happy I am that we’re maintaining the level of friendly conversation that we have here. Thanks guys.

Ed: If you can fit it in somewhere, you might want to consider a larger belt drive compressor, they are quieter and longer lasting, but also a lot more expensive. Can you easily get cans of air and hobby supplies down there?

Good point about the way it operates in here, everyone is almost always in a good mood.

Robert: I'll look at the burnisher when I get to the city, (hopefully tomorrow) I didn't know they made anything special for that kind of work. When I see how much they want for a cheap little tool, I'll probably end up using the pencil anyway[:D].

See you all later,
Greg.

[JimRCGMO]

Good evening everybody!

Think I'll have a mocha tonight - we've had some cool/colder weather the past couple of days. Had to scrape the frost off the car's windshield yesterday and this a.m. S'posed to be some colder weather coming on the weekend, too.

Got several pages of useful info copied from the MRR's and books I'd checked out from my local library. Got another 25-35 to do before I turn 'em back in tomorrow. Probably will buy the scenery one later (the Dave Frary/Kalmbach one).

I've been toying with doing the Lou Sassi book layout (in the book mentioned earlier here), but instead of a New England setting, re-doing it with more 'pine' trees in the mix (like a Western/Southwestern setting?). With some time for faking contour lines, etc. I can probably modify the landscaping part. Any suggestions/comments from the crew here?

Well, back to my cup of mocha for now. Happy RR'ing, all![8D]

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[Paul W. Beverung]

Tom; If you can find that article on raising the layout, that would be a great help. It's cooled off a lot here . I had to put the heater in the old pump house to make sure that the pipes didn't freeze and plugged in the water heater on Mary Anns tractor so it would start easy in the morning.

RDL; Try breaking the white strip in the middle of the long hood and putting in the logo. The small lettering dosen't show up real good. I'll go along with Jim on the first scheme. It is better looking.

Warthogdr; Have you used the bee hive rockets? They were real bad news for troops. Do they still have the 14 lb. warheads? I'm going to get an E-mail off to you as soon as I can get on the puter at a decent hour.

Mary Ann and I had a great day today. We took a load of pecans to the outfit that buys them. I figured we'ed be doing good to get $.45 or $.50 per pound. When they told us they were giving $1.10 I couldn't believe it. We rushed home and started picking again.

Well it's past my bed time again. I'll try and get on earlyer tomorrow. Until then Good Night All.

Paul

the Duluth, Superior, & Southeastern

" The Superior Route "

[Anonymous]

Good Morning All:

I over slept and don't have time to read all of the post but this was in my E-mail tis morning and I wanted to share it with you:


'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through my
pike,
Not a steamer was stirring, not even a Mike.
My yard tracks invitingly empty and bare,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

The diesels were nestled all snug in their sheds,
While visions of DCC danced in their heads.
While I, in my blue-and-white engineer's cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When down in the train room, there rose such a
clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the basement I flew like an ace,
Tripped over the cat and fell flat on my face.

I stifled a curse meant for Chessie (the cat),
And I muttered to no one, "I meant to do that,"
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But an HO-scale sleigh and eight Preiser reindeer,

With an engineer driving, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than GG-1's, onward they came,
And he blew a steam whistle and called them by name:

"On Athearn! On Lionel, Kato and Walthers!
On Kadee and Micro-Trains, Atlas and others!
To the top of the mountains of Hydrocal plaster,
Now dash away, dash away, dash away faster!"

As dry leaves that behind a new Genesis fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So in through the window the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of trains, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, on my roundhouse, I saw on the roof
The prints in the dust of each HO-scale hoof.
As I drew a deep breath, and was turning around,
From beneath the benchwork, St. Nick came with a
bound.

He was dressed like an engineer from head to foot,
And his clothes had that fine smell of ashes and soot;
A bundle of trains he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes - just like marker lights! Dimples, how
merry!
His cheeks like a Warbonnet, nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And his beard was so white, it would please Phoebe
Snow.

He puffed on a pipe as he refilled its bowl,
And the smoke, it smelled just like bituminous coal.
He had a broad face and a belly (I found)
That shook like a tank car with wheels out-of-round.

He was chubby and plump, and I wanted to shout,
"Yes! The man's got a route the UP can't buy out!"
A wink of his eye as he passed near the door
Soon gave me to know I'd have freight cars galore.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work.
He filled all my yard tracks; then turned with a jerk,
And leaving an airbrush he'd found on eBay,
And giving a nod, he returned to his sleigh.

He pumped up the brakes, blew two blasts on his
whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! KEEP 'EM ROLLING!
GOOD-NIGHT!"

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

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,
been out of commission for a few days. Nature's way of telling me to slow down... [;)] I'm reviewing the last few days in the Caffee, you guys have been busy [8D].

[JPowell]

Teffy - Great poem for the upcoming holiday! I had a few chuckles from it.... just what I needed this last day of work before the holiday!

To everyone - I'm off till the 27th. I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas, or for those of you who do not celebrate it, Happy Holidays! Also, Have a safe, happy New Year's celebration! Hope everyone get's their wishes answered. I'm sure hoping for mine to all come true.

I'll try to make it on a few times during the upcoming week, but can't guarantee it. Keep the coffee warm and the lights lit and most of all...Keep the Coffeehouse at the top of page 1!

Happy Holidays to all! And to all, a Good Night!
JP

[Noah Hofrichter]

Teffy, Thank you!!! I loved that poem, I sat here reading it out loud to myself with gusto, it's fun! I will be sure to pass it on to a few of my friends.

Well, I ahve really, really good news. I found the problem with my SD40-2 that wasn't running well, got here fixed, and cleaned, and now she runs better than the one that was running good at first! SO I'm am really on a high today. I also got the picture of about half of my WSOR consist uploaded. Missing from thsi picture are, my MR boxcar, my WSOR blue boxcar, my WSOR RBL, and my GP38, 3808. But, here it is:

Well, cancel that, I just went to rail images, and my browser can't find my site. That explains why I can't see Robert's pictures either. Ed or Der, do you guys know anything? They wouldn't be in the process of that switch of servers, would they?

Noah

[fec153]

Teffy- Thanks for the poem. Enjoyed it. Did you get the xmas animated pictures?

Bob- The VB RR. Very nice logo. Does V B stand for- VERY BEST?
Flip

[egmurphy]

QUOTE: Noah: I just went to rail images, and my browser can't find my site. That explains why I can't see Robert's pictures either. Ed or Der, do you guys know anything? They wouldn't be in the process of that switch of servers, would they?

I would suspect so. It was going to happen soon. RailImages actually looks like it's back up now. TrainBoard, which is based off the same server is unavailable. So they may have completed the migration of RailImages and be in the process of moving TrainBoard. Or, it could be something else like a computer gremlin.

Ed

[tomwatkins]

Good evening everybody,
Today was a great day in the mountains. Shawna and I went to Gainesville so she could finish up her Christmas shopping. She got the last of it done, and we really had a good time together.

Progress continues, slowly, on building up the foam for the scenery. This area is in the corner of the room where one of the tracks exits through the wall to go into the staging yard, so I've carved a "blasted rock portal" and incorporated some rock castings. I'm not quite ready to start carving it yet, but it won't be much longer. This is fun.I'm going to use slightly diluted white glue for the initial bonding agent. That sounds like a good idea. It will be less expensive than matt medium and should hold better.

Trainwreck100, MicroScale has lots of letter and number sheets available in many different fonts. The white lettering is very opaque, and covers very well. I've used a lot of these letters and numbers and really like them.

N2mpoac, that's very true. This is a lifetime hobby. I don't ever expect to get "Done". There is also a lifetime's worth of stuff to learn and fun to have.

Ed, thanks for the info on the camera. I'll definitely take a look at it. I couldn't agree more about the coffee shop. It's a really nice place to spend time. I'm sure everybody here has strong opinions, as I do, but it's a very friendly, non-confrontational atmosphere.

Noah, great going on solving the problem with the SD40-2. What did you find wrong with it?

Teffy, that's a great poem. I really enjoyed it. Thanks.

Der, good luck on the yard. It will look great when you get it done.

Paul, I'll track down the article on raising the layout and let you know. Question on beehive rounds. Are these the ones that are full of flechettes? We had several types of ammo that used them. They are fierce. On a happier note, that is really good on the pecans. A very nice surprise to get this time of the year.

I'd better go for now. There's still time to glue up a bit more foam this evening.
Have a great evening, everybody,
Tom

[JimRCGMO]

Evening, Clubbers!

Time for a nice cup of mocha to warm up after dinner. Do I see a lone cinnamon roll under that cover? I don't care if it's from this morning - let me at it! [dinner]

Noah - I'm sure it feels good to have your SD40-2 back up even better than before. Now you can make up those longer consists, with the greater pulling power! [:D]

JP, enjoy your time off. What kind of plans (MR, of course [;)] ) do you have for your holidays? Or will you be heading out of town? Best to you, no matter where you'll be.

Teffy, I'll second the others' comments - your poem had me smiling through it. One of the things I've wished I could do is to be able to (easily, without a major overhaul) set up a layout for 'winter' time, and after the holidays be able to switch it back to another season(s) for the rest of the year. But short of having entire sections of a layout removable to switch in or out, I guess that's a ways off, huh?

Anyone here ever tried different/switchable seasons? [:)]

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[Paul W. Beverung]

Tom; Yup, that's the one with the flechettes. They are awsome when they hit.

Teffy; You'er a poet! Great poem. I really enjoyed it.

I'm going to cut and run early. I've got to work tomorrow, which means getting up very early. So I'll say Good Night.

Paul

the Duluth, Superior, & Southeastern

" The Superior Route "

[Anonymous]

Hello, everybody. Thanks for all the comments on my paint schemes & logo. The locos are just a few experiments for schemes I'm working on. I'll experiment some more.

Guys, as for my railimages site. The pictures I have posted are the only one's there. I'll add more though. So, keep looking.

T.W.100: The burnisher cost me about 3 bucks. I bought it several years ago. They may not sell them anymore. A dull pencil would probably be a better choice. A pack of pencils costs alot less than the burnisher.

fec: The Very Best [#dots], could be.

'til later, Robert

[Anonymous]

Good Evening Y'all

Teffy: I got that one printed off, I'll take it down to the train room.

JP: Hope you have a great Christmas break!!

Noah: What paint is your SD40-2 in? I have an Athearn in UP paint, but don't have a decoder in it yet.

Luc: Glad you're feeling better.

Got to go to the hobby shop today!!! I got a chain link fence to put around my backshop, and a decoder for my Kato. Mostly got a lot of instruction and information. Have any of you heard of Tony Parker? He works there on his days off from regular work. Knows everything about Digitrax, and electronics in general. Also got Merchant's Row 2, I'm trying to get my town complete. Now I've got to figure out how to put a track down the middle of the street. I want to pour it in when I pour my plaster instead of using the kit though, that sounds too easy [:D].

see y'all tomorrow,
Greg

[fec153]

Gee whiz, how many of you are /or have birthdays this month? Lupo's is tomorrow. Thats 3 . { if 1/2 yr counts, I'm 4th}.
[bday] to all, and to all happy RR ing.
Flip

[fec153]

Anyone else read the comic strips? Check out Blondie today. Little steamer, tender, boxcar and caboose.
I agree with Dagwoods comment. How about you?
Flip

[Anonymous]

Good Morning All:

I'm gald that ya'll enjoyed the poem, I'd like to take credit for it, but I only changed a couple of things and then passed it on.

I agree with Robert a dull pencil works very well as a burnishing tool.

Jim from Ark called the other day to tell me that he lost his hard drive and will not get a new one until afer Christmas so he may not be back on line until then. Besides, he is going to see family for Christmas so he'll not be home.

Jim:
I used the book by Lou Sassi for ideas on how to do some scenery, not the track plan. I've built one layout from MR and helped neighbors built three others and never have we built one just like the book. The first one that I built was The Yuletide Central in high school, then later I helped build The Pinetree Central, and then Layout # nine out of the Atlas "N" book. None of these layouts was built like the book. The book was used as a starting point. I'm a firm believer in making do and doing my thing. Lou has some good ideas that are worth using. Another book that I've gleaned a lot of information out of is "The Pennsy Middle Division in HO Scale" by Dave Frary. I think that John has done a good job of describing what he has done and it would be a benefit to others.

Flip:
In the order of December birthdays mine is the 13th. I was a Friday the 13th baby back in 1940.

Ed:
If I've got some transfers that I want to do and the letters are to close I put a paper under the ones that are close and that way they go on the paper and not the model. You can put a piece of scotch tape on the end of the paper so it isn't under what you are burnishing. If you use waxed paper sometime the transfers will not come off the origional paper. Is all of this clear as mud?

Well I'm going upstairs and do some serious wireing today.

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

[Anonymous]

I got a railimages account created: http://www.railimages.com/gallery/gregleck Now I'll try to expand it as time goes by. Got to fini***he layout first so I can get bigger pictures. Sorry, but the Dash 8 is kind of a photo hog[:D]. I'll try to get some of the others on there later.

Greg[C):-)]

[egmurphy]

Good Afternoon Coffee Clubbers,

As usual, no earth shattering news to report from down here south of the border. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose. Weather has continued overcast and cool. I’m enjoying it. It’s not exactly the white Christmas weather I grew up in, but it’s better than 85º.

QUOTE: Chris: Ed: If you can fit it in somewhere, you might want to consider a larger belt drive compressor, they are quieter and longer lasting, but also a lot more expensive. Can you easily get cans of air and hobby supplies down there?

Thanks for the recommendation, but I’ve still got to test drive the airbrush with one of the cans of air I have (that came with the airbrush) before I ever think seriously about a compressor. But space is really tight around here, so if and when the day comes, size will trump noise suppression.

To answer your other question, no, supplies are almost impossible to find. There are a handful of hobby shops in the country, but all of them are in the major cities, none out here in the “lesser provinces”. I save up my model railroading needs until I can get back to my LHS (Papa Ben's) in Houston.

QUOTE: Paul: We took a load of pecans to the outfit that buys them. I figured we'd be doing good to get $.45 or $.50 per pound. When they told us they were giving $1.10 I couldn't believe it. We rushed home and started picking again.

Fran is crazy about pecans. I think we get them here for about $5.00 a pound from the street vendors.


Luc – hope your being out of commission wasn’t too serious. Glad to see you back posting.


Teffy – thanks for the tip on dry transfers. I’m probably going to need to try some again next month. Did we miss your birthday or was I just sleeping on the 13th????? Just in case, Happy Belated Birthday youngster.

Speaking of birthdays, guess we missed a couple this month, iirc Gordon’s (CP5415) was back on the 15th. Haven’t seen him here in a couple of days. Busy house training the new puppy, I guess.


Rail Images and TrainBoard have both been migrated to their new server. Hopefully this will resolve the occasional problems with exceeding bandwidth that they were experiencing.

QUOTE: CapeGirardeauJim: Do I see a lone cinnamon roll under that cover? I don't care if it's from this morning - let me at it!

You Dog, you! I was counting on that for my night snack. Guess I’ll have to run by the bakery when I’m out this afternoon.


Got a few things to take care of. I'll check back in later.

Hasta luego,

Ed

[Anonymous]

Afternoon, all. Not much going on with me.

Paul: I took your advice. Broke the stripe on the long hood, and inserted the logo. Here is what it looks like.



Guy's, check out the slogan. "For a good hold on your load...Use Valley Belt".

See everyone later.

Robert

[Noah Hofrichter]

Tom, It had something to do with a watch-a-macalit, and a whose-it that I re-alligned and cleaned.[:D] No really, I just cleaned a few electrical contacts, and pushed in a peice of metal that was sticking out on one of the rotating parts of the motor. It doesn't make a sound any more, a side from the normal motor noises.

Jim, and just in time too! The line's mainline is just finnishing being rehabilated, and I'm adding a few industries, so the line will have mroe trafic, and more cars!

Greg, it's painted for the Wisconsin and Southern railroad. Neither of the locomotives I have is in this road number, but both are in this paint:


I didn't take this picture, it came from the WSOR company store website. (www.wsorrailroad.com)

Robert, I must say I think the third scheme you've some up with is the best. I like that one myself.

Well, I've got a building I'd like to work on today, so I better cut out of here and get to work on that. I'll see you all tomarrow!

Noah

[Anonymous]

Happy Saturday all.

Still trying to catch up. went to work today and found my in basket overflowing, I was only able to cut the pile down by 25%. Got home in time to "assist" the CFO in wrapping more presents.... Plan for tommorrow... rearrenging presents under the tree, CFO not happy how it looks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ed - was serious enough to have to make major adjustment on work schedule and medication not to mention diet. [tdn] not my style....

Jim please have that cinnamon roll, the darn thing is talking to me... [swg][swg]

Robert - That looks great, I like it a lot. good slogan too. Well done indeed!!! [tup][tup][swg]

A friend has loaned me a "toy" digital camera to play with for a while. The resolution is not the greatest but it appears to take average quality pictures. I'll experiment and possible add pics to my webpage.

[dinner][dinner] I have been paged.... See you all later.

[PennsyHoosier]

Hi friends!

It was a strange weather day in northern Indiana today. I was able to wash my truck in the drive, though, since it was late in the afternoon, by the end of the endeavor my hands were getting very cold. Word from the weather folks is that it is going to get very cold in the next few days.

My 9-year-old daughter took a turn with the airbrush (Badger 200) today on an old boxcar. It turned out pretty well. Now she, like her older brother, are convinced that airbrushing is the only way to go. But he wants to use the dual-action brush.

If I could find my camera I'd post some pics for y'all.

[Anonymous]

finally, my 300th post[:D]

[JimRCGMO]

Good Evening, and I hope it's been productive for everyone here in CC[:)]

Robert, that paint scheme looks even better with your logo there! A little reminded me of the Allegheny Midland (no offense to one of the great MRR'ers, of course).

Luc, glad I could keep that temptation away from you (though Ed might not agree - should I be woofing?) [;)] But Ed may feel better now - I brought a sack full of fresh donuts and cinnamon rolls for all![:D]

Hey Noah, maybe you should give your tracklaying crew a bonus, since they got the new maintenance done on the mainline done just in time for the upgrade of your new engine! [;)]

Teffy, I rarely do anything "by the book", heh, heh, heh![(-D] I made a tracing of the track layout this a.m., and was thinking about revising where Sassi has the town's road (plus where some of the structures are located, etc.), plus trying to add another track in parallel on one siding (Got this Pola enginehouse I've built and want to use without cutting it back to a single track). Plus, I'll have my own mix of structures - fair number of the old Revell stuff (with some simpler mods), some of the smaller DPM kits (2 stories or less), and I'm thinking I want to use the CC Crow firehouse, with the lower back wall set into the slope of a hill so it looks more like 1-1/2 stories. Oh yeah, plus some of the MDC/Roundhouse 'simple kit-bashing' ones (the ones where you start with a box car or tank car and make them into a storage shed or branchline fueling station).

My birthday was about 2-1/2 weeks ago (Nov. 30th). When I was growing up, it was pretty good, since if I got bored with my birthday presents (not that likely, though), a month later I had a shot at getting more neat stuff. Of course, when I grew up, some people figured out that they could give me one better than average gift and claim it was for both.

So Greg, those must be pretty contented cows to ignore the engines that close...[;)] Nice pics!

Well, time to finish dinner (and the dishes). Blessings on a productive and (natch) fun evening of MR'ing (or railfan trips, as the individaul case may be)!

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[egmurphy]

Evening folks,

Just checking in quickly while I keep one eye on the Falcons/Panthers game.

QUOTE: CapeGirardeauJim: I brought a sack full of fresh donuts and cinnamon rolls for all!

Okay, all forgiven. You're right, the other one was going stale anyway. Just to show there's no hard feelings I just fired up a fresh pot using some of that good mountain grown coffee from here in Veracruz state.


Joe - Don't worry about the post count, just concentrate on meaningful posts. It's amazing how fast they can add up. 300 in 6 months is a pretty respectable pace.


Larry - nice that you are getting both the kids involved. Especially that they're getting some good experience in air brushing at an early age.


Luc, sorry to hear that is was that serious. On the other hand, it's good that you can deal with it through some adjustments. A number of us here are starting to get up to that age where parts start to wear out.

With cameras that have lower resolution, it's important to keep the pictures a bit smaller. If you try to enlarge them too much the lack of resolution is noticeable.


Good work on the loco troubleshooting, Noah. It's always satisfying to work on something and have it work better afterwards. Unfortunately some of my efforts have had the opposite effect.


The loco paint scheme and logo is coming along nicely, Robert.


I was reading through comments on the thread/poll regarding how people thought the forum was. One guy complained about the "grammer and spelling mistakes". I had to bite my virtual tongue to keep from responding. I tend to just overlook that kind of error, and thought it was the height of foolishness on his part to complain while making a spelling error! I finally decided there was nothing to be gained by pointing out his own error to him.

Okay, game is getting interesting. I'll see you guys tomorrow.

Hasta mañana

Ed

[Anonymous]

Tom W:
To bring back our old conversation about drag racing, I found out those cars have 8,000 horsepower. No wonder they need to be overhauled every time they run them, with twice the power of a EMD SD70MAC, it's gotta be hard on those engines!

The mrr'ing hobby's been pretty boring to me lately, mostly because I don't have a layout to work on.[:(] So not much going on this week.

Christopher

[Paul W. Beverung]

Robert: The picture didn't come through on my puter. I just got a small box with a red x in it. Could you try and e-mail it direct to me?

Late again and I have to get up and go to work. Have a good one everyone.

Paul

[fec153]

Good morning all. Dont have to go to work and I still awoke at 5:30. Oh well,its 45 minutes later than usual. Coffee is almost ready.
Thanks to all you northerners. Its going to be freezing down here. 30 degrees and maybe a bit lower. Der will be even colder. [oh,oh, making of a bad pun there].
Ahh,coffee is ready. Enjoy the donuts.
Flip