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

[grayfox1119]

Good evening gents, the rain stopped last night and the day was sunny and in the 70's, so I got more garden work done, now I will read more of Armstrongs books tonightbefore we watch "Survivor" and CSI.

FERGIE That is one big prop!!! What is it's composition?

DER JOHN Several books that I have read all seem to say that painting the rails 1st outside is a better choice, but guys like yourself who have been there say nay, nay. I have a train room that has no windows, so I would have to use fans if I painted that much at one time, or even a smaller amount I imagine. Maybe, I could fit the track roughly for the curved pieces without fixing them in place, and then take them outside and paint them, that way I would not have hardly any bending to crack the paint, and any fix up that I would have to do should be minor. What do you think Der?

OZ JIM Thanks for the trivia lesson, very interesting Jim. We are happy to hear that you missed the big cyclone. When I heard on the Weather Channel that it was going to hit the coastline with 200mph winds, I said my prayers for you guys. BTW, we got to see some Australia on the Amasing Race last night, you have some BIG Crocks there!!! I think I would be darn careful near any waterways.

Time to head out, see you guys later,

[bjdukert]

Evening all and *** come on over to the table and have a nice big Rootbeer float with me and we can put them on Ding’s tab

Ryan Don’t worry about feeling bad because you have to do and take care of other things as they come up. There is an Oct meet that I make it to each year and it is the first full weekend so may be something will work out for that one. I will let you know when it gets closer and make sure you have directions and you will be my guest so that won’t be a problem like we went through. [:)][tup]

Everyone take care and a speedy recovery to all

[#welcome] to any newbies

That’s about it
Talk to you later

Duke

[Anonymous]

Good afternoon shop dwellers,

Just a quick gulp n' run (a small iced latte for me please Cloe)...

On the MRR front, I've been twiddling with scenery on the 'rural' section, also finding ways to improve the appearance of the water (maybe add some ripples). I just found out a 6-pack of Walthers' CSX bethgons I special-ordered has arrived at my LHS so I'll be stopping there after work. Also need to find a way to modernize my Kentucky Fried Chicken eatery to a 'KFC' to fit my later modeling era.

John - glad you solved the mystery of the malfunctioning locos!
T-Rob - thanx for the kind words on my scenery endeavors! I do plan to add some 'work' vehicles to the Seven-Eleven scene for a "coffee break" [;)] but they won't be Gov't-related...
Ryan - glad you finally got to see the photos of the roadway. I really do like that River Rock paint, it gives road surfaces an 'abrasive' look.


Uh-oh I better be going, still a lot of work todo!

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by pcarrell

Fergie,

Nice toy, but you bathtub must be HUGE to fit that thing! [:p]

Your looking at it! Unfortunately it's a killer on hot water!![:0]

[pcarrell]

Fergie,

Nice toy, but you bathtub must be HUGE to fit that thing! [:p]

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Railroading_Brit

Hi all

Fergie, would the holes be for icebreaking by any chance? I recall reading about a design that pumps either air or water out with some force to break up ice. Then again, if you could pump enough air bubbles out through those the ship might well move a tad quicker - I've read about a few experiments into increasing speed by doing this although I'm not sure how effective it would be in the real world. I do know that this thing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VA-111_Shkval uses it to pretty astonishing effect.

[:(!]OH L-O-O-O-K! It's Mr. Smarty Pants... That's it steal the thunder[}:)]
What you are looking at is about midships located about 2 metres above the keel and 6 metres below the waterline. The "Fox" has three sets of Air Nozzles that pump air into the water when cutting through the ice. The air acts as a lubricant making it easier for the ship to keep moving. It is very effective and not knowing the actual numbers but would guesstimate it increases our efficiency by 20-25% when in heavy ice.

We are in the process of cropping out one third of the pipes as they are badly corroded and run through fuel tanks. The set amidship is our least effective and pose the greatest liability with the possibility of fuel spills.








Not my best picture but gives you an idea of how big our props are.

Fergie

[Anonymous]

Yet another quick in-n-out for me.

Silver spike- welcome back.

icmr- graduation is getting close. congratulations!

I'm off to paint a passenger car. Cya

BTW, UP 844 is on the move this very second
schedule
track the 844

[icmr]

Morning guys. Im at the college right now and in 20 minutes will be back at the high school. My last day is May 16 and graduation is the 21st. Im having fun while it lasts. Before I graduate I am going to apply for a conductor job with NS. Cya later guys.



Victor

Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]

[SilverSpike]

Thursday, May 04, 2006

It’s been almost a week since my last post, and page 1033 was my last stop in here, what’s happening in the CS this past week?

Glad to see the sign out front has been update. Wow! Established in 2004, time sure does fly, huh!

We have a small bridge that goes over the creek behind our house, and I caught one of the neighbor kids urinating off of it the other day and had to discipline him. Not exactly what I was looking forward to after a day at work, but I hope he learned that it is not acceptable to just relieve yourself anywhere in the great wide open. Parenting is the biggest challenge for adults these days. Should I tell this boy’s parents about his activities?

QUOTE: Posted by Duke
Ryan Have fun this weekend and everyone is looking forward to meeting you.

Duke, We missed it! My apologies, as we ended up missing the event this past weekend. The CFO ended up having other plans and I just could not fit it into the schedule and my son had a project due that he needed my help on starting. When I tried to find the directions to the place, I could not remember where I put them, I thought about emailing you again for them, but then something else came up. Sorry for the mix up! I really feel bad that I missed it especially with all the trouble you went to organize our admission to the event.

QUOTE: Posted by Phillip,
QUOTE: Originally posted by SilverSpike

QUOTE: Hey Phillip, Hello! You must have a hole in your pocket by now, huh! How many rounds you going to buy this week, my friend? As long as you’re buying……… how about a banana smoothie, girls!

Oh no,no,no,....this ones on icmr!

Phillip, I was a day late and a dollar short!

John Wood, Looks like the layout is coming right along. Thanks for sharing the photos of the new plaster.

QUOTE: Posted by Jim in Cape Girardeau

Ryan, sounds like your garden should hopefully be going great by now, if all the plants and seeds germinate. Well, that’s if they didn’t cook in that 90-plus weather you had there. Whew!

Jim, Sure was hot here the other day, it got up to 92. But the past week has been great, highs in the 60’s and 70’s, although today it is supposed to get up to 84. The AC and heat have both been off for over a week now, temps are perfect. Today the AC might come on again after work though. The planting tray has over 20 Morning Glory seedlings, and the heirloom tomatoes have around 14 seedlings that are starting their second set of leaves. Almost time to transplant them into larger containers. They are all still inside, I will start to harden them off after the first transplant into some ½ cut milk cartons.

QUOTE: Posted by Ken Larsen,
Ryan - I'll try to post some pix of that styrene roadbed painted with the River Rock (BTW I lightened it with white so it would have more of a 'bleached' appearance like most asphalt roads).

Ryan - You wanted to see some pix of my styrene "asphalt" road segment? Well, here are a few; I was going to include a view of the unpainted underside also, but with direct sunlight, there was so much glare that even my 'dimming' software couldn't fix it.

Ken, Well, well, well! Great job on the road! You really have a talent for scenery and your photos are great too! Thanks for sharing once again! The River Rock paint looks great on the layout, and it adds texture too. Great job on the water too. When are you going to start a “Scenery by Ken” thread?

Hey inch, Are you standing on the tracks when you snap those photos? Thanks for sharing the local activity.

***, Thanks for saving a few donuts for us working stiffs! But since I am a few days late I guess they might be a bit stale by now!

QUOTE: Posted by Matt,
Ryan, spot on, the response to a foul-up by authority is always to impose even more on the rest of us. I wonder if they'd be so enthusiastic about spending our tax money on daft ideas (think Millennium Dome – in England they built an expensive and pointless tent, in Wales we built a very useful multi-purpose stadium to mark the year 2000) if they knew they'd be held responsible...

Matt, Just goes to prove again that the good always have to suffer for what the bad do! Here is some good news in our area, the Raleigh city council just voted to lift the water restrictions ban since all the local water reservoirs are above normal levels. We have had some good rains lately that have pushed the levels up. So, it was interesting how in the past few days everyone is getting their lawns watered and now we can wash our cars in our own driveways. Before the ban was lifted we had to go to carwash stations only.

Looks like I’m all caught up now!

Cheers,

Ryan

[pcarrell]

Mornin' All,

Coffee and doughnuts, yeah! Thanks Bill!

QUOTE: Originally posted by der5997

If so, food and drinks on me, but NO AUTOS. PC, are you listening?[(-D]

Yeah, yeah, I hear ya! [:D] I just thought Bill was offering! I mean, here he is teasing and taugnting me with those things and it's his treat too?!? I learned my lesson though,....I got a thourgh tongue lashing for that one! You notice he's still teasing me with that too, right? [;)]

[inch53]

Mornin all, coffee and a couple of Bill’s doughnuts, Zoe
Quiet for now here, but Leroy and KC will show up in a short. So it’ll be a cartoons and baby bottle day. Worked on the layout some last night, and decided that the sawmill I’ve got won’t work. Just to big, makes the park look crowded, so on to plan H, don’t know for sure what that is yet.

RT , what did you find out at the doc’s yesterday.

GMT , sounds like you have a lot of work for the next couple weeks. Look at it as job security.

Need to get back ta chores laters all
inch

[Anonymous]

Hi all

Not a lot happening here, currently waiting for the weather to decide whether to rain or be sunny so I can get some G scale outside.

Fergie, would the holes be for icebreaking by any chance? I recall reading about a design that pumps either air or water out with some force to break up ice. Then again, if you could pump enough air bubbles out through those the ship might well move a tad quicker - I've read about a few experiments into increasing speed by doing this although I'm not sure how effective it would be in the real world. I do know that this thing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VA-111_Shkval uses it to pretty astonishing effect.

***, that statistic is kinda funny in a dark way - we're currently getting what might be termed "edicts from on high" about how the entire nation is overweight and should only eat salad and similar rabbit food. Guess the problem is rather less than the officials would have us believe!

Bye for now

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning all,
Coffee to go please. Nice day out - no extra sweats or jackets needed this morning. Work continues apace between the museum and the shop it's back to 12 hrs a day min and 6 days a week when not on the road. We have a feature at the museum in June with the Little Engine That Could program so we're sweating getting all the equipment in place along with repairs to the switch and bed we need to move the cars and loco around and past the turntable.
We also bought a used 53 ft car trailer for work and need to outfit that enough to take on the road in two weeks. The new trailer is ex Skip Barber School and holds 11 cars. We will wall off the front to make a small drivers area and still be able to carry 9 cars. Lots of work, little time - I'll catch up on news later and wish you all well, but I really must be going cause I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! CUL[:D]J.R.

[wetidlerjr]

Good morning ! from Indiana. [:D]

[Anonymous]

D'oh! [banghead][banghead]

[Anonymous]

I'm kinda in a hurry. I finished the first passenger car and have started on another[swg].

I gotta run, bacon cheeseburger to go, please[dinner]

[der5997]

Good evening folks. Good to hear that the Tsunami situation in the Pacific came to nothing disastrous. Strange how the earthquake on Boxing day 2 years ago caused such widespread devastation, and this more powerful one (7.8 I’m told) had hardly any significant wave action to it. It’s a blessing anyway.

KenL: Found out that a major part of my problem with the newly painted/ballasted track and the loco was the loco wheels![B)] Once they were re-cleaned, things went fairly well. The mainline still needed some attention from an alcohol-rag-and-fingernail treatment, but the timesaver section runs pretty much “as is” without that extra cleaning. I had a second train waiting further up the line and brought it down through the new section. No problems with that, so it wasn’t a misplaced ballast issue, and any residual glue seems to have been dealt with. Thanks again for the tips.[tup]

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find this posts at the top of page 1040.

If so, food and drinks on me, but NO AUTOS. PC, are you listening?[(-D]

Past bedtime. Goodnight all, and God Bless. Paul, I hope those storms stay far enough away. Prayers for all in need of healing, comfort and peace.[angel]

[Paul W. Beverung]

Hi Gang: I have a feeling that when I submit this I'll be buying. Oh well, it's only vertual money.

I think that the "gun ports" in Fergies ship are so that crew men can reach out with soldering irons and melt the ice. Much less strain on the ship. They do look like they are alittle too close to the water.

Not much to report tonight. We had a heck of a wind storm last night. There are leaves and small branches all over the yard and one of our neighbors had half an oak tree blown over into her drive. I talked to one of the supervisors at the county barn and he said that they were busy all day cleaning trees and branches off the roads. Now they have posted severe thunderstorm warnings for tonight. Here we go again.

I guess that I had better say Good Night and unplug the puter. That's all I need is to have it blown up.

Good Night All

[Noah Hofrichter]

Jerry, There have been a few times when I've gotten news worthy stuff I've thought about sumbitting to trains. I never have done it yet though, but I think I'm going to jump on the next chance I get.. It probably won't make it into the Mag, but I'm still going to submit it.

Noah

[james saunders]

QUOTE: Originally posted by grayfox1119

James Saunders Jim, how did you guys survive the cyclone that hit last week? I heard that it came ashore with 200mph winds !!! That must have caused some real heavy damage at least at the coastal areas!!!

It was luckily about 5000 kilometres from me, it was on track to hit Darwin, but swung inland at the last minute and missed Darwin, however it did wipe out a few aboriginal communities on the coast when it hit. My town, (it's only a small place about 1 million) Brisbane hasn't had a cyclone since 1974, and that was only really a severe storm, it was the rain from that storm that caused the 74 floods which flooded something like 81% of our city, and our city is quite spread out.

little bit of trivia for you [:)]

cheers

OzJim

[Cox 47]

Good afternoon all....Sunny this AM but clouding up with rain coming later here..Sallie got home about a hour ago she had a better day at dialissis today.....Got the angle of mirror right glued pink board to back of mirror to hold it to right angle now working on hiway overpass to hide top of mirror..Its kinda neet looks like a hole in the back drop...Still thinking about a coal mine....

Scott...My son is hung up on those Sims games and plays them for hours when he gets a chance...

swdave....please keep it suitable for all ....plenty of other things to talk about...

Noah...Congrats on picture...Great shot we will be seeing your work in Trains before long...

Its nap time and old Blue calls...You all have a good one...Jerry

[pcarrell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by KenLarsen

I'm so annoyed, I had a chance to get something on Fergie's tab yesterday and I missed it![banghead]

Yeah, but I noticed you didn't miss out on my tab! [;)]

[der5997]

***:

QUOTE: Others said that the paint would crack after you mounted the track when bending the flex track. Well, how bad could that be to touch that up a little with a brush if need be?

… I was really talking about painting when the track is down, but before ballasting rather than after ballasting. However, I wouldn’t paint flextrack before installing, at any rate no piece that will be bent. The track under the holders (sorry don’t remember the proper name.[D)]) on the ties doesn’t get painted, As soon as the flex track is flexed (and I challenge anyone to lay section straight without it ever flexing at all) the bright unpainted bits beneath those holders show up as shiny metal spots all along the rail. Been there, done that.[banghead]
I’d be leary of oiling where I want to solder. Maybe that’s OK, but your tape idea would be my choice.[:D]

Mike:

QUOTE: Saves complaints for the boss bout the smell in the house.

…Which is why I use acrylics almost exclusively, that, and my own health![swg]

KenL

QUOTE: I've probably missed a few of you, but I'm typing this directly into the Quick Reply box and I don't want to lose it by clicking to another page; I have to leave for work now, later all!

…Ah grasshopper! That is why cut and paste is so handy. ControlA, ControlX, ControlV on the new page.[tup]
Thanks for the tips on why the loco may be stalling out on the newly painted/ballasted section. Now the paint is hardened, I’m going to try an alcohol wipe. I’ve checked for heaped ballast, and am clear there. As to the glue, could be, as I run the eyedropper along the outside of the rail to soak the edge ballast. However my paint scraper is a piece of scrap rail, the web running along the railhead. I would imagine that would also take off glue. It does a (visibly) great job on the fresh paint.

Victor: Glad the prom went well.[:D]

Fergie:

QUOTE: We're hoping to put in the other two rows next year when funds are available

…A ship of the line! Wow, Canada will be joining the 18th Century after all. What wonders are wrought by a favourable budget.[(-D]
Just seen JP’s notice on the Tsunami warning. 8 on the Richter is huge. Prayers indeed for anyone in the way of that.

TTFN

[JPowell]

This just in....

CNN Breaking News Alert -

-- Tsunami warnings issued for Fiji and New Zealand after earthquake measuring a magnitude of about 8.0 shakes southern Pacific Ocean.

Prayers that this is not as bad as the one in 2004.

JP

[inch53]

Lunch time, how bout a fired bologna loaded, onion rings and strawberry milkshake, Zoe.

Fergie , those gun ports look mighty close to the water line. Are you going to carry torpedoes.

Grayfox , possum soups not one of my favorites, but I eat it. Granddad always said “better eat boy, you never know fur sure when your next meal is gonna be”.
Been hungry for some road kill stew though. Got 3 young sow coons in the freezer, maybe the girls will make up a pot.
If you find some photos, maybe they’ll let you post them on here.

Need to get back outside, so laters all.
inch

[trolleyboy]

Morning folks just a quick run through. Long enough to just tank up on some fresh OJ.

Der The scenery is definatly starting to take form there [tup] Just wondering though, wasn't that cookie stealing dog Fergies [?]

Ken I like the road peice sir, looks great.The road running into the trees looks right on, excellant scenery eye there sir. I think you need to add a few public works vehicles in the 7/11 parking lot on their coffee break however. LOL


Fergie Shhh your not supposed to show everyone our new secret weapon.Hope you get over that flu quickly.

Have a good day folks.

Rob

[grayfox1119]

Good morning everyone, we have another rainy day today, but no one is complaining (yet), as we need the rain. No more forest fires thank God !!! I have a bunch of pictures taken of the fire if anyone wants to see them, send me your email address, I don't want to clog up the CS for the sake of those with dial-up service. We have had 1.87" of rain so far, not too bad.

INCH53 Yes, it is a shame that the layout was destroyed in the fire, at least all the cars and locos were not there. The original owners/builders of this mansion owned a wire mill at the foot of this big wooded hill, about 2 miles away. The view was spectacular. I don't know who might have pics of this layout in it's glory days, but I was going to try to find out via the Worcester Model RR club.

FERGIE It sounds like you are getting back to your normal self..hehehehehe, lol. So those are the "gun ports" huh ? I guess you could peek out those holes and use pea shooters. At least the Polar Bears could not possibly sneak in those ports. Are these ports being closed off? For rough seas? BTW,. you mentioned picking up some MRR stuff where you are docked with the ship, are you in New Foundland? If so, I am surprised to hear that they have LHS that far north, is it well stocked?

KEN Ahhhhh, roto tilling season is upon us again. Yes, I ahve to get out and do the same this weekend if it dries up a little. I have a Troybilt Wheelhorse, 1988 vintage. This is the one that you can detach the tiller and attach a log splitter....very handy when deep in the woods, you don't have to carry out heavy oak logs, just split them right where you drop the tree and cart them out.

James Saunders Jim, how did you guys survive the cyclone that hit last week? I heard that it came ashore with 200mph winds !!! That must have caused some real heavy damage at least at the coastal areas!!!

MATT No more fires here for while, we only have a brush fire permit season from Jan to May 1st, no burning the rest of the year. I do have plenty of hose handy, as there is so much wooded areas around me that I need to reach in case of sparks.
BTW, there was an article in the morning paper regarding the comparison of the health of men in England vs the U.S. England is much healthier in every category, such as heart attacks, stroke, diabetes, etc. I guess you guys manage stress far better, as well as eating a healthier diet. I am doing my part to manage "stress" by watching all the re-runs of "Are you being served". I love this English comedy.

Ok, coffee break is over, time to get back to some MRR stuff, see you guys for lunch...I hear that Zoe made French Meat Pie, and we have Possum soup for appetizer, I hear that Mike likes that soup also.

[pcarrell]

Mornin' All,

Chloe, a Moxie please,....thanks!

Just stopped in to say hay......HAY!

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

This is just a continuation of my earlier post...

John, I see your ballasting is underway - looking good! I try to paint my track before laying the ballast, but I often miss a few places so I find myself painting after the ballasting anyway. That problem you described - about the locos not running smoothly even though the rails are gleaming - I've been there too! A few possible explanations: (1) some ballast cement may have gotten onto the track in spite of your best efforts to avoid that, and since it dries invisibly it's hard to see; (2) if the ballast 'rocks' are piled up high against the outside edges of the rails, your wheels may be riding up on them and briefly losing contact with the rails. (I did a graphic illustration of this concept once, wish I could remember where I posted it...)

RT - Hope you get back 'on your feet' again soon...

*** - Sorry to hear about those forest fires, esp. the one that destroyed the house with a layout in it (John Allen redux?).

. . .
Back to work, C-ya

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by grayfox1119
[
FERGIE Hey big guy, I didn't know you had the flu? Aren't you drinking Ed' s OJ daily? And "gun ports" being cut on the ship? Are you expecting a war with the polar bears.? LOL Or, are you going to lob a few at the Atlas forum guys to stir the pot?

Well *** as you are a non believer here's the proof in the pudding!



DerJohn thanks for the defence! It can be a rough and unruly crowd at times... Might have to bring guns to bear sooner than originally anticipated[oX)]

We're hoping to put in the other two rows next year when funds are available[:D]

Inch: Thanks for the concern and yes I'm able to venture further away from the Head today! Oh happy days!!

Fergie