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

[TurboOne]

Hello all, wow have you been typing a lot on here tonight.

Mitchell, thanks for tinkerbell. She is totally excited, I am printing out one now. Scary part is I think she wants her trains with tink on them, will have to print up some decals.

Paul, good luck with the tractor, hope you get it fixed. Quit driving like a SoCal.[:D]

Trolleyboy, I'll cinnabon friend, in honor of Mitchell.

Flip, your missing out starting pages. Gotta live up to your name.

***, on the diabetic front, I am down to 175. Now that the holidays are over, and the pie is almost gone, I can stay off the 200 and get back to 120s.
Before you guys worry, I use to be 350-370, so 175 for me is good, 125 will be better, but there still is one piece of Cherry Pie left.

[#welcome] wt259, have a smoothie, from San Diego, or get it fried by Mitchell

C-Ya

Tim

[Anonymous]

the soda box referance wasto the machine with multiple taps on it... I have my paint schemes done already... wish I knew how to post them up here for you all to see (wihout having to use a webste).

[lupo]

GUYS!

I am back from vacation!

spend some nice time in southern Portugal, wheater was San Diego-ish [:D][:D][:D]

and offcourse: [#welcome] to all the new visitors! have a coffee on me, and make your pick from the
"Pastelaria " counter, the portugese version of the coffeeshop with an unbeleavable pick of the most delicious freshly baked pastries ! @#%$ want to get back to that right away [:)]

My son and me had a wonderfull time , i got some rest, but not enough to cure the burnout I have been dealing with lately.

TRAINTALK:

Offcourse we put aside our rentalwreck for a day to go training, first encounter with porugese trains made me rub my eyes and doubt my sight because the tracks seemed rather odd, but my son agreed and we tested it out, and found the "problem"
the tracks are wider as usually : almost 10 inch wider , total 1656 mm or app. 5.5 ft
one of the reasons for this wider track in Portugal and neighbouring Spain as in the rest of europe was to prevent "potential agressors" to invade by train or use their own RR equipment once having crossed the border.?!?

the mainline in the south of Portugal was light single track, mainly used for passenger transport. with passing sidings in some stations. the recent renovated trackwork looked rather flimsy to me, track was kept in place with just 2 spikes per rail, per tie, no blocks or plates, just a spike .
The railline went to a major overhaul recently, and as far as I could see all freight facilities on the stations we passed were demolished. so I guess trucks take over .
Passengers traveling use diesel hydraulic trains, mostly 4 units, an engine back and front, 2 cars in the middle :



for those who want to read some portugese details:

http://www.cp.pt/sobrenos/material/p_s0600.html

der / John, and others,
thanks for your concern really appreciate that, but the bad weather completely passed me by on my vacation adress, around 1500 miles south of where I live.
The islands I live in SW of holland are protected by some awesome floodgates and dikes, that can stand waves up to 20 ft above average waveheight

[fec153]

Yo, Lupo, welcome back. We all missed you. Glad you and your son had a good time and able to do some "training". You have a lot of reading to do to catch up on all the happenings. Then you'll need another vacation.
Flip

[fec153]

Mitch- have you shown your parents the 'E' mails from the forum complementing you?
With all the kudos on your work, I'm sure they will relent and at least have some wall space for a shelf layout. Man, do I wish I had your talent. I think I can speak for the others on the forum and say keep at it- don't let your dreams die.
Best wishes,
Flip

[tomwatkins]

Good Mornin' Everybody,
It's a beautiful but chilly morning in the mountains. It's about 9:30 and we're still well down in the 20's. There's not a cloud in sight and it's going to be a great day.

Bill Mathewson said to tell everybody hi. We had a good time at the swap meet yesterday. The turnout, both buyers and sellers was pretty good and it was a lot of fun. I managed to sell a good bit of stuff that I'd acquired over the years and really didn't need, and I picked up a couple of things that I did. I found a new DVD on the Graham County Railroad by American Alta Vista. Shays going up the mountain in the 1950's and 1960's. From what I saw of it yesterday, It should fill in a lot of blanks about how things were set up and what they looked like many years ago. That made it worth the trip by itself. I also picked up a couple of decals, one for "Mail Pouch Tobacco" and one for "See Rock City" . Both go on barn roofs or sides. You can't accurately model the rural South half a century ago without them.

Happy Belated Birthday, Fergie. I hope it was a good one.

Turbo One, I've heard from a number of people that stones are worse than birth pain. I do know that they are bad. I hope she gets better real quick.

Paul, thanks for the tip on the VA. I'll think about it.

Trainwreck, Calumet sounds like Young Harris. We have one place to eat and one traffic light. The Sawmill is in Blairsville, about eight or nine miles away

Jim, I'm sorry the trip turned out to be a bust That's just no fun

Teffy, regarding the Superbowl show, I'd much rather listen to Sir Paul sing than watch him have a "wardrobe malfunction". Fortunately I don't think we much to worry about on that score. He's always been a class act.

Mitchell, you are doing some truly cool stuff. Don't give up on the layout space. You can get a lot of railroading into a small shelf layout, learn a lot, and have fun in the process.

I'd better go for now.
Have a great day everybody,
Tom

[PennsyHoosier]

Good morning everyone!

First off, [#welcome] wt. This is a great place to grab a cup and chat.

Second, I'm sitting on the balcony of the historic St. James Hotel in Selma, Alabama. (Sitting outside in January?!?!?!?!) On my right is the historic Pettus Bridge over which Dr. King led the march to Montgomery in 1965. On my left is a bridge of the Norfolk Southern--and a switcher is moving across it was we speak.

Life is good. [^][^][^][^]

[fec153]

Teffy- Took a bunch of pictures but still have to fill up the roll. There are a couple of old
depots around and I'll try to get some pictures if the weather clears. It's nasty here,
cold [mid 50's-windy-drizzley], feels like I'm back up north. Enjoy the day.
Flip

[grayfox1119]

Good morning to everyone!! It is cloudy and cold here this morning in the hills of central MA. , 20F to be exact with snow predicted for later today...of course...the Patriots are playing the Colts, it always snows for Patriot playoff games, it adds excitement.

My headcold still has me by the throat, but I am gaining on it, especially the two day old coffee, the OJ from Ed, the home remedies from Luc et al.

Tim Great job Tim with your weight loss, that is REALLY an achievement my friend, you will feel much better, and never regret it. BTW, being 66 soon, I can flirt, your wife is a DOLL, great picture!!!

Fergie Welcome back mon ami !! Anything exciting happen? How cold was it ?

Mitchell I thought of an idea for you to spring on your parents. You are so good with graphic arts design, design a nice addition to your home, and then you can take the full excavated basement room for your layout!!! Dad can make the new addition UPSTAIRS into a home theater which he will love, everyones happy.

Rob Better sit at the next table Rob, I'm still contageous!!! Can you pass the honey glazed doughnuts please....you know the old saying....feed a cold, starve a fever.

Well....off the basement I go to start the rough wiring, I have plenty of duplex outlets planned around the room, now is the time to do it while the walls are open.
The lighting is another matter, I favor 2x2 boxes that can drop into the suspended ceiling grids, and use florescent bulbs. There are dimmers now for florescent lights, so I can control the lighting effects, and florescents last longer and are much better on the electrical use that incandescents. Any thoughts on this guys ??

See ya at next coffee break,

***

[fec153]

Good morning ***. Someone was setting up his trainroom and installed track lighting.
Could it work for you? I don't remember who and now it's many pages back.
Flip

[Anonymous]

Good Morning All:

I went out yesterday afternoon and spent about two hours measuring a trestle because I'm starting to scratch build one. I told Stephanie that if the cops called be sure and tell them that I'm a model railroader. No one paid any attention to me, very pleased.

I don't remember who won last night - the cowboys aren't playing so who cares.

Let me warn ya'll Mo/Jim is a long winded person also. He goes for over an hour just real easy. But it was very enjoyable - thanks Jim.

***:
Sound like you're having sooooo much fun. That was the part on the train room that I dreaded the most. After the paneling was up and the framework started, it became fun.
I didn't know that you were such an old fart. But then I'm only a year behind you and Flip is two years ahead.

Lawrence:
I think that their's a club in "Monkey" town. Be sure and go to the "Capital of the Confedircy (SP)". Their is a lot of history in Montgomery. If you get a chance drive out to Selma.

Lupo:
Glad to see you are back, I thought maybe you'd found a woman that owned a Farire (car) and drove off into the sunset.
Their rail is held down better then the handlaid that I did - four spikes every seventh tie.

Tim:
Are you talking blood sugar or weight? I agree with *** - What does a DOLL like that see in a ******** model railroader? You realize that we are only a couple of steps from idiots. HA HA HA.

Paul:
You remember the slogan: First time shame on me second time shame on you. How do you knock the exhast pipe off so many times. CUT all of those low hanging limbs. I did that one day not realizing that one of the trees was a pear tree, boy did I catch some flack about that. I did that three years ago and that darn tree sill has not recovered. I still hear about "harvesting those darn pears"

Flip:
I hadn't thought about it but the Junkyard RR fits mine also. About the only thing that stays clean in the mainline so the track testing can continue. I have trouble with your e-mails, I haven't gotten any from you in a long time.
How is Deb doing?

Well I've got to leave and get to church

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

[Anonymous]

Now I finally have my future layout figured out:
1945-1955 CB&Q main on Chicago & Aurora Div. between Aurora and Galesburg, IL. In a few years I'll build a small portion of it depicting either Galesburg or Mendota, IL....[:D]

Christopher

[fec153]

Bob- Does your church have a fire and brimstone preacher? Left one church because
of the preacher. Not a child and dont like being talked down to. The one we joined later was a pleasure. Learned more and was able to join in on discusions in sunday bible
classes.
I have sent you 3 E's. Texas must have something against Fla. Now I don't remember what the heck I wrote you. Your E's get thru to me so send me your 'phone # and when
would be best times to call.
Flip

[Anonymous]

Mornin' y'all

Went to the Monster Truck Winter Nationals last night, had a pretty good show, 4 out of 5 monster trucks broke something, and the other one got high centered on the mud bog track. Th monster trucks were alright, but the best show was all the local rednecks in their mudbog trucks. Mostly old chevy 1 tons, and the odd suburban or one Toyota. Thy had a 200 foot long 4 foot deep mud bog in the arena, but no one made it the full 200 feet before they had to be pulled back out.

Der: No other shows on here after The Last of the Summer Wine, they go off air after it.

Rob: Oh!! Canadians Eh?

Mitch: Nice work, I can't believe some of those ideas you have come up with, great artist.

WT-259: Welcome, and glad to see another HO guy!!

Paul: What kinda tractor ya got? And what did you do that for? Its amazing how things like that happen, especially going from a low pro tractor to a taller or cabbed one.

Lupo: Welcome back!! Nice pics you brought back! What else did you bring me?

Tom: Good size town isn't it?

Well, see y'all later
Greg

[Anonymous]

Tom: here's a pic of our town Christmas tree, and thats our stoplight


You can also see the volunteer fire department in the background, to the left of the tree.



Greg

[Noah Hofrichter]

Mitchell, I really like the new SD70 paint scheme, but that would be fun to put on a model with all that masking. Not!

Brian, I couldn't agree more with Jim Mitchell comes up with some of the best drawings, he even inspired me to model one of his "creations." I’m working on finding the parts now, so I can get working on it.

Lupo!!!! Glad your back!!!! Glad your vacation went well too.

I should be saying [#welcome] to all the newbies I’ve missed over the past two days.

Chris, is this the Third “I got the final plan figured out for my layout” in the past few days?[:D][;)][%-)] Really though, every thing you’ve come up with has been pretty good, I just hope you make up your own mind before you go bonkers!

Well, I missed yesterday, as I was over at a friend’s house for part of the day. And I can’t stay today, as I got my Dad to agree to let me drag him out in the cold to go chase the train this afternoon. That and I have to finish my Homework for the weekend. I really haven’t got much done on the building either, so I’m behind on everything. I got to go!!!!

Noah

[dcztrainz]

Bear with me guys. I'm new at this stuff, and I don't know how to use the smileys and all that jazz. Besides, I need another cawffee. hAhhh. I'm lookin' for bits 'n pieces stuff for my layout, when i can finagle some money.. Also would like to generate a coffee shop aroma, among other scents, on it. Oops! Gotta look busy! See ya later, alligators.

[Fergmiester]

Just to let you know I'm and alive. We were in a cabin so the temp inside was a balmy 0c with the wood stove being stoked through the night. Food was good, comapny was good and the kids had fun.

We're in for a nasty NE'r and have been warned to expect a foot or more of snow followd by freezing rain along with high winds. In other words no one will be going anywhere tomorrow.

Lupo welcome home!

Later Gents

Fergie

[fec153]

Fergie- Thanks for thinking I'm about 36. The number is correct for my birth year.[:D]..
It's cold here in mid Fla. Not even 60 , windy and rainy. NO- not going further north. Keep
your snoah and ice up there but send some down about mid July.[swg][(-D][(-D].

Flip

[JimRCGMO]

Good afternoon CC'ers, and [#welcome] to Brian and dcztrainz![:)]

TurboOne, I'll have a mocha smoothie, please. [:)]

Lupo, good to see you're back and had a good time on your vacation. That one pic looked a (very) little like an RDC car (but I know it wasn't). Didn't bring yourself back a Ferrari, huh?[swg]

Belated [bday] Fergie! From the sounds of it, you better drag in all the logs you can before that nor'easter gets there.

Paul, you're gonna get in trouble with Teffy, talkin' that way about SF.[}:)]

Mitchell, you might take a look at Iain Rice's book "Small, Smart and Practical Track Plans" (MRR/Kalmbach) in your LHS if they have it. It has some shelf layouts that are *very* small and take up next to no space - you could probably build one across the top of a dresser or bookshelves. See pages 26-33 if your LHS has one.

Hope everyone's power stays on for a long while, now that it appears most all of you have the power lines up and running.

Friday I got a new toy - Canon scanner, under $55. So I've been busy scanning some plan ideas in that I want to compare (cheaper than making plain ol' black and white copies, too). As for my layout, after a (long) talk on the phone with Teffy last night (moi? talk long? Hrrrummpphh![:O][;)] Actually, I think I recall that Stephanie said Teffy's phone calls with Fergie and another CClubber went long too...

But back to the layout - after Teffy and I talked about some possibilities last night, I may use some of Iain Rice's ideas but modify them some. He had the Roque Bluffs plan in MRR last year, but I want to move it further west than Maine (no offense intended to *** or any other Maine folk on here). I could make several shelf-type/module layouts from my 4X8 sheet that I already have, and would have reasonable radius curves on them for when I can make a more permanent layout later on. When I get some more final plans, I'll post a link to them here.

Chris, good to see you back! Hope things have been going well for you.

Elliott, my request if I got the 5000th post would be for a nice undecorated SW1200 (with some detail parts, if possible), HO scale, of course![:D][8D]

Oh Brian! - If you'll look over by the pool table, there's a soda machine. It's one of those ancient ones - you slide your soda over to the end where you put your coins in, and pull the bottle up! Never mind that the machine says Coca-Cola, there're several brands in there so you should find your favorite in it.

(Catching up some) Philnrunt, you must have either a woman who loves you a bunch, or you sure trained Amy right, if she's figuring what cars you need next for the layout...[bow]

Oh, one last question - any suggestions on who has decals for an SW1500/7 (Athearn) for Southern Pacific-style zebra stripes? I'm making my own line (no name yet) and like the pattern on the Proto1000 SP version I saw in a LifeLike ad in MRR. Or are there more than one company who's good on decals for that? I'm figuring doing it with paint could be tricky to mask, etc.

Well, I'd better finish posting this before another couple of pages get posted. Remind me never to wait 2 or more days between trips to the Coffee Shop!

Blessings and lotsa fun working on your railroads today,

Jim in Cape Girardeau (currently only 23 with a wind chill of 9 degrees F)

[Paul W. Beverung]

Tractor Talk; International 574, 52 hp, deisel. Well I was going along on the 100th pass on the field. Kind of thinking about everything but plowing when I got to the end of the pass. So I lifted the plow, hit the left brake and swung her around and into the tree limb. I saw it coming just in time to duck and figured that it would just brush by the muffler. Well it didn't and it was such a small limb. As to trimming the trees. I've been trying to for a long time. There just isn't enough time in the day. The worst part of trimming is getting the trimmings picked up and disposed of. That 's what really takes the time. Anyway I'll call the local dealer and they should have a replacement part in a few days. Sometimes I can weld the part but htis time it can't be fixed.

It's cold here today. Not as bad as way north but cold for this area. Managed to get some cleaning up done in the workshop and yard. Now I'll head out to the stables and pickup some there.

See you all later.

Paul

the Duluth, Superior, & Southeastern

" The Superior Route "

[fec153]

Cape Jim- Haven't seen one of those soda boxes in 30 or 40 years. Most gas stations had them.

Fergie- 0c equals what in f ? Or anyone else who knows.
Flip

[TurboOne]

[#welcome] dcztrainz, have a smoothie on me.

Greg thanks for putting up the pics. I have never seen a tree in the road like that. In CA someone would sue the town for blocking the road ! It looks awesome, especially the night pic.

Mitchell, do print the posts and show your parents. Maybe !

Jim, smoothie for you mocha style, slice of chocolate on the side of glass.

Teffy, blood sugar. Top weight ever was 217, now 188. Hoping for 170 by 46th bday in march.

*** and Teffy, thanks for the compliments, I'll pass them on.

Take care all,

Tim

[egmurphy]

Good Afternoon Coffee Clubbers,

We may have exceeded the critical mass of people dropping in here, it’s getting harder to keep up with what’s going on. And (CG)Jim was right, staying away for more than a day is recipe for disaster. Once again I’m faced with forgetting trying to catch up with all remarks made since my last post, and just trying to hit some of the highlights.

I asked the boys in Q/C at the juice lab if they could come up with a sugar-free version for those of you who are sucrose challenged, but what they produced left a lot to be desired in taste. So what I’m going to try is to continue supplying real OJ, but also putting out a tray of fresh cut orange sections. So maybe you can do like Teffy and just munch a section of two without OD’ing on the sugar. You guys with the colds, keep on downing that vitamin C packed OJ.

I’m shipping the OJ unadulterated. Don’t want to run afoul of the FDA guys. You’ll have to spike it to suit your tastes. Now I could ship up some of that Kahlua they produce down here to go in your evening coffee, how would that be? What the heck, I’ll even throw in a few cases of some good coffee from the mountains here in central Veracruz.

Luc, sorry to hear that Daisy’s problems are continuing. That’s got to be wearing on her and very frustrating for you when there’s nothing you can do to really alleviate it.

Let’s see, how many newbies have dropped in since I was here last? [#welcome] to:
brclem - Brian
wt259
dcztrainz

QUOTE: Kolja:
…those of us in the Puget Sound area hop on the train there, my dad and whoever else he can round up in Spokane hop on the train there, and when we wake up we are in Whitefish, MT for 2 days of skiing. Sunday night the westbound train takes us back!

Wow, best of both worlds. Family, railfanning and skiing. Is that at “Big Mountain” in Whitefish? Went there once back in ’75.

Fallon sounds like a decent place to be stationed. Just a short drive from some drop dead gorgeous country. Sounds to me like you’re lucking out with the postings.

QUOTE: Rob:
…don't worry my extra stong is in the old discoloured pot so it should not be difficult to tell which pot is drinkable…

Uh, that’s the same pot I use for the good Mex coffee, which, while very strong (when I make it), isn’t quite ready for use as stain. I prefer to think of that pot as just ‘unwashed’, not ‘discolo(u)red’! I was taught never to wash out a coffee pot.

QUOTE: der:
The "Screw lobby" in the States kept them out of the USA for years.

Did you mean the “screwy lobby”? We’ve got plenty of those in the States. I suspect most of us have no idea how much money gets spent trying to influence votes in Congress. Ooops, sorry, didn't mean to go political on you. [:0]


Jim – sorry about the way the trip turned out. I knew you were into trains, but I was surprised, after all the studying and tests you’ve been taking to upgrade yourself on planes, that you were seriously considering changing careers.

QUOTE: GDRMCo:
I'm now 13 as of Nov 28 2003…

Does that mean you’re now 14 as of Nov 28, 2004? Either way you need to update your modeler’s license. [%-)]


Rob, here’s another link to a trolley museum. This one is in East Haven, Connecticut. It’s probably the one that grayfox referred to earlier.
http://www.bera.org/main.html


Welcome back, Lupo. Glad to hear the vacation went well.

QUOTE: Teffy:
I went out yesterday afternoon and spent about two hours measuring a trestle because I'm starting to scratch build one. I told Stephanie that if the cops called be sure and tell them that I'm a model railroader. No one paid any attention to me, very pleased.

That’s good news. With all the postings about problems with railfans and police, it’s good to hear that it’s not like that everywhere.


Whew, that should about catch me up. Going to watch a bit of the Colts and the Patriots. Catch you later.

Hasta luego,

Ed

[Anonymous]

http://zzyzx.bravehost.com

link to my ideas for my passenger line.

[Anonymous]

Flip:

-42 C and F are equal. 0C is 32F. 27C is comfortable. 100C is 212F

I THINK the formule is:

F=9C/5 + 32

Bob

[Anonymous]

Hello all. m'I kcab. Been hooking up my new computer. see you all later.

[#welcome] to all the newbies.

TTFN, Robert

[egmurphy]

QUOTE: Teffy:
27C is comfortable.

Depends on your internal thermostat. My scale of temps (Cº) is:

0º = cold
10º = cool
20º = comfortable
30º = hot
40º = let's not go there often

Regards

Ed (who's enjoying 20º C temps +/- this afternoon)

[fec153]

Thanks Bob.
Ed- My wife used to drink "Rumikins". OJ-Rum-Grenadine. Me, Vodka & 7 up . It's
funny, can't drink oj in the morning as it tears up my gut and yet, after noon into the day,
no problem.
Flip

[Anonymous]

Evening All [:)]


Fergie Happy Belated Birthday [bday] Sorry I am late, but that is the story of my life. [;)]


Now about the necessary tools for model railroading . . . don't forget the half inch drive rachet and sockets. [:D] Just kidding. [;)] In avionics we use a 1/4 inch drive set and the mechs use a 3/8 inch drive. One day a guy showed up with a half inch drive set. [:0] I ask him what he thought we were working on, Mac Trucks? [:(!] I won't even tell you some of the other "stuff" he showed up with, maybe that is why he didn't last too long. [;)]


ED [8D]

When 9-11 happened it brought the aircraft industry to a stand still. Sales of new aircraft dropped to almost nothing. Customers who had orders on the books cancelled those orders, and even planes half completed became surplus. We went from tons of overtime to 32 hour work weeks. It is hard to pay all the bills on a 32 hour work week. Things are picking up now but another 9-11 style attack will have the same effect. We had layoffs because of 9-11 and it was a real nailbitter for everyone in the business at every level. Considering that plus the fact that my parent's health is not the best and they are beginning to need more help in many areas,that is what fueled my desire to change.

Yesterday afternoon I started coming down with a sore throat. It is worse today. Soup sounds good right now, just don't have any. [:(] Not wanting to go out in the cold to buy some either, so not sure what supper will be. [8] [:(]

Mitchell completed an RS3 in Frisco colors for me. Frisco didn't buy any RS3s new but by buying small railroads became the owner of some of the RS series. My Frisco will use them in the Mandarin orange and white paint scheme. Funny thing about the mandarin orange paint, when it was new it really looked red, only when it faded did it look orange.


Mitchell [:)]

I am still looking for the issue you requested. I think I might have it. Oh, I think I might have a poster you don't have. One of these days it just might show up downunder. Did the other package arrive yet?

Well got to go, kinda getting hungry.