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

[Anonymous]

Good morning folks. Zoe and Cloe, how about a large, black cup of "Joe" ! Hope everyone has a glorious Wednesday. God Bless !

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning ! from Indiana. [:D]


Have a cup !

[rtraincollector]

waiting for old lady to eat shower ect ect so we can head down the road the day is finally here Amen no more real waiting for the day now just to get it done. Boy thought it would never get here lol

Wil keep you all posted the best I can.

have a good day all

talk to you later hopefully tonight but if not most likely tomorrow afternoon sometime

[Fergmiester]

Good Morning Gents

Rain and O'cast here so I'll be ballasting this a.m. then taking Dad over to Physio and another trip to the LHS!

RT Good Luck and may God speed and not to worry (I know easier said then done and yes I'd be pacing back and forth like a cat on a hot tin roof too) as this is a very common procedure today something akin to "A Billion Served" Then again it's that Billion thats done it to our populace. Darn that silly clown!!!

Before you know it you'll be waking up and smiling!

Well That's my morning cuppa come and gone.

Later All

Fergie

[inch53]

MORNIN ALL , coffee Zoe
another sunny on tap for today and rain coming in tomorrow. Mother spent last evening with J Bird and with any luck , she'll be back home today. Jocko spent the night here, and Leroy n KC will be out later, so shouldn't be to bad a day with the tree of them

Tried to post last night , but the key board qiut, don't know what happened , but Mother got it going. Wanted to wish RT the best for this morning, hoping all goes well.
It's a shame bout the engines I found, but don't think they'ed be to far gone to save. Heres a couple shotts from inside the cab on the switcher

JERRY, hope Sally's dad is getting along ok. we'll keep him in our thoughts too









Well time fur mornin chore
inch

[rtraincollector]

well all before I leave cfo took a pic of me almost broke camera but figured I would share it so beware as you look below



[image]http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y280/rtraincollector/Misc_0066.jpg[/image]

[GAPPLEG]

Shock in NW PA., need that cup o joe , badly. Woke up to six inches of snow and that 1:1 snow. Cold this morning. Shold have stayed home and played instead of going to work. Oh, well. Everyone with nice weather , enjoy.[:D]

[pcarrell]

Morning all,

Strong, black, and, oh yeah, on my tab! Thanks Chloe.

RT,

Don't worry, I'll keep your seat warm till you get back. Prayers go with you today.

inch,

Nice cab shots! Just curious, but what was in the suitcase?

luc,

Been meaning to ask you, how's retirement treating you? Used to it yet, or are you still waking up early and getting ready to go?[;)]

All,

Well, were really getting down there. 1000 pages is coming fast! Any takers on who the final winner is going to be? Pretty much down to 2 or 3 guys.

I still think luc needs to get something for his scorekeeping efforts. I think someone suggested a month of free drinks and food at the coffee shop. Thats a good idea, except that he's been doing this now for 3 months. I say we give him the free goodies for that same amount of time. 3 months free food and drink, what do you say?

I remember you all in my prayers, and a special mention for RT today.

[Anonymous]

Just a quick post-and-run:

RT, hope you see this before you leave for the hospital - I'm prayin' for ya![angel]

[Anonymous]

Good morning all!!!
Snow here today, Sheesh!!! Will winter ever end? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but our modest 2,000 sq. ft home uses natural gas and our last bill came in at $123.00
However that is split billing so we pay that every month of the year. Hope everyone is well and I am off to cruise the threads and try to learn something. Wish you the best RT.
David

[Paul W. Beverung]

RT: My best wishes.

Inch: good shots of the cab. had the chance to drive an Alco S-2 many years ago. It was a fun expereance. I took it from Dublin to Gorman to set out empties and pick up three box cars of peanuts. There are a bunch of relays in that elecrical cabinet. One of them would stick pretty regular so the engineer would take a broom handle and give it a poke. 600 volts in that cabinet and so I kind of leaned way back out of the way.

I'm going to light out and drop a line or two in that post about the Beer Line in Milwaukee.

Tootles for now.

[grayfox1119]

Good morning everyone......we awoke to the ground covered with SNOW, and it is still lightly snowing. We have about an inch on the ground. The good part is...it is not sticking to the road or driveway, therefore no shoveling is necessary..YES !!!

RT best of luck to you buddy, we have your favorite seat in the CS reserved, and FERGIE & LUC made a Pizza with just about everything you can think of on top.

INCH53 Tough news on JBird and family, the flu is making a late run at us, maybe it is this or a stomach virus. In anycase, we pray for their full and speedy recovery Mike.

See you guys after lunch..

[SilverSpike]

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

How about a tall OJ and a cup a Java too!

[8D]Dang! Two days in a row![8D]
Looks like this rounds on me, again! Belly up and put this round on my CC!

This morning temps were in the low 40’s but today it should be getting up to the high 70’s. Spring is my favorite time of year, fresh blossoms on the trees, and flowers in bloom.

I’m going to have to fire up the lawn mower this week, with almost a half acre of land the push mower is going to get a work out, not to mention my legs too! There appears to me a surplus of riding mowers in this area, and I may have to invest in one if the push mower gets to be too much.

I have been working on my major decision design points for the revamped layout plan and they include:
* Point to point operation with some switching and layout and is an around the wall bench work only.
* Continuous loop and switching operation with around the wall bench work and a duck under or lift up bridge for main entrance area.
* Two levels with gradual rise double track run along wall to and from each level with continuous loop and switching operation.

The options start with the basic and simplest to the more complex and involved. Other considerations include rumblings that the CFO would like to make the room a game room too, and if that happens then the decision is easy, the layout would be the first option, point to point around the wall only. However, the idea of a cue stick knocking over my short line switcher does not sit well with me!!!! I am going to have to convince the CFO that investments in the pool table area would be more wisely spent on scenery and DCC electronics.

QUOTE: QUOTE: I got an interesting email the other day about useless information, or as some may call trivia:

On Wednesday this week at exactly two minutes and three seconds after one o’clock in the morning the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06. And it will be another hundred years before that will happen again. BTW, I will not be staying up to see it happen.

That is, without a doubt, the most useless piece of information I have gotten in a long time! I LOVE IT!!!!!! It's beautiful!!!!

I'll be sharing that with a few folks!

Philip, glad you liked it, I thought it was neat, and BTW, I did not get up to witness the event. Oh, and since you are buying this round, I’ll put my order in now for a Planters Punch after the whistle blows at 5:00 PM!!!!

Hey Luc, thanks for the welcome! And your graphics are quite fun, I especially like the coffee pot refill.

Hey ***, alternative energy sources are a great way to remove your dependence from the local utilities. Do you have any specific resources that you use for obtaining the solar electric panels, solar water heating, wood stoves, etc??? Our house is almost total electric with heat pumps for the winter and AC for summer, and we do have propane for the stove/oven and gas logs for the fireplace. I would love to reduce our electric bill, last month it was $275.00.

inch, hope all is well with the family and best wishes for speedy recovery for all intended.

QUOTE: QUOTE: Ryan: On Wednesday this week at exactly two minutes and three seconds after one o’clock in the morning the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06. And it will be another hundred years before that will happen again.
Actually, for those of us South of the Border (the Rio Bravo, that is, not the Medicine Line) this will happen next month. We put the day first, and the month second, so 01:02:03 04/05/06 for us happens on the 4th of May, not April 5th.

Ed, How true! I forgot that European countries use that date scheme too, having the day, month, and then the year. I believe that many in the science field also use the day, month, and year notation too.

Good luck RT and our thoughts and prayers are with you!

Thats it for now!

Cheers,

Ryan

[egmurphy]

QUOTE: Ryan: I’m going to have to fire up the lawn mower this week, with almost a half acre of land the push mower is going to get a work out, not to mention my legs too! There appears to me a surplus of riding mowers in this area, and I may have to invest in one if the push mower gets to be too much.

There's always the other alternative, a self-propelled walk behind type mower. You don't need to push it, but you still get to walk. And cheaper than a riding mower.


Ed

[grayfox1119]

RYAN, the company that I had install the solar hot water panels back in 1984 is no longer here. However, there are so many companies online, that when you do a web search you will be blown away. Also, check your local phone book business pages, they will show any LOCAL companies in your immediate area.. You can do the same for Solar Electric panels.

As for Pellet stoves, we chose HARMON, they are one of the best available from all the searching that we did. They are online also, and I think they are made in PA.

For woodburners, Vermont Castings make some of the best stoves around, and they have converters to burn clean to meet emission standards.

Hope this helps, lets me know if you need more help, info Ryan.

[SilverSpike]

Ed,
I have seen those kind and they really look kind of fun. I am going to give the old push mower a try this week and then re-evaluate if I can afford a new mower.

[SilverSpike]

***,
Wow! Thanks for the quick reply! And for pointing me in a focused direction on the alternative energy sources. With the cost of energy these days, seems like a no-brainer when it comes to finding ways to reduce the dependancy on foreign sources.

Thanks!

[trolleyboy]

Morning all chloe a steak and eggs on Ryans tab [dinner]

RT I'm pulling for you buddy,soon you will be good for another million miles or so [tup]

Inch Good to hear that the little ones are on the mend. Also you are right that switcher does not look to bad off, at least it hasn't been stripped yet so ther's hope. I'm supprised that it was unlocked though, that's the owner's just asking for some vandles to do their thing. [tdn]

Well work calls, later gents.

Rob

[inch53]

howdy all, coffee again Zoe

Talked to Clyde while ago and he said J Birds should be home this after noon. Guess she seems to be doing allright now, hope so

ED , sent you an email.

Paul , I remmeber those Alocos running over in Terre Haute, Ind. Had famaily over there, and my uncle retired from the L&N. Had another uncle that live a little N of there, had a coal line that went through his farm. We'd some times see them pulling short coal drags from the mines by Fountainette and Burnette. Course that was many years ago now.

PC , Don't know what was in the suitcase wouldn't open

Gotta go, KC's awake
inch

[JBCA]

998 -- gettin' close. Congratulations to whoever wins the contest. I will probably miss it, too busy doing personal tax returns.

Jim

[KenMattern]

Afternoon All,

Zoe, I'll have a ginger ale please. Didja miss me? Didn’t think so.

As the little girl said, "I'm baaaaaaaack." Well it is a paraphrase. I'm not going to read the last 30 or so pages I missed, so I'll just jump in with greetings to all and try to read back a few pages to get caught up later.

Life has been weird lately and things just don't seem to stop. Miae may or may not have cervical cancer. She has pre-op next Monday with x-rays and all. This Friday she has oral surgery for an implant. She's going to be one unhappy girl for a few days. Please remember her.

Jamie and I haven’t been to do much on the railroads lately but we're hoping to get back to it. My round house is still not finished. sigh...

Spring is definitely here and as soon as Miae is up and about we're going camping. Can't wait.

Well lunch is over so it's back on my head.

Later guys!

KJ

[Anonymous]

Hi all

LAN party went ok, I’ve also been working on that tram. It now has printed advert boards (used standard adhesive labels and an inkjet printer, did the graphics work in Corel Draw), Still awaiting the stairs but they’ll take a while – have to pay by cheque so the supplier won’t be able to ship until that clears. Will try to post a photo tomorrow – have been adding handrails around the entrance area.

John, I’m a bit puzzled about the lead. I’m not aware of an epidemic of lead poisoning, it’s already banned from children’s toys and I’d have thought most kit builders would know how to handle it safely (I always wash up thoroughly after handling raw castings). I suspect the trick spoons would have been banned many years ago!

Scott, you must be getting our weather – it’s been clear and sunny here all day, first time for weeks. Hope to take the telescope out later and see what I can find. Incidentally, I’ve been researching a fair amount of early electronics of late for my dissertation – covering the breaking of the German WW2 Enigma codes which involved both electro-mechanical devices such as the Bombe and also the later Colossus (which was pretty much one of the first computers). Worth a look if you like early electronics.

PC, I think you’re definitely on to something there about the oil prices. There was talk of our government imposing windfall taxes on their profits this year but nothing came of it. Both goverment and oil industry seem happy with the current state of affairs – guess they don’t pay for their official Jaguars fuel out of their own pockets!

Ryan, have you considered refurbishing an older mower? Just thinking there’s a type over here, (not sure if they were exported) named a Suffolk Punch (like the heavy horse) – it’s a very solid, heavy duty cylinder mower with a petrol engine and it’s also self-propelled (you walk behind and steer). They seem almost indestructible, sad to say it’d be no use to us as our lawns aren’t flat enough for a cylinder mower, it’d just take big chunks out.

Bye for now

[Cox 47]

Good afternoon all....Sunny and nice here..I'll have a root beer float and onion rings.Please....Well i did get 1 of the 2 bay hoppers painted I mask the data and painted with rattle can came out a pretty good match...time I get it deacled and weathered should be about right...Old 'Aurther' has hold of me must be rain coming in ....Sallie's Dad is in hospital I think he has kind of given up..

RT..our thoughts are with you today

Ryan...How about a goat?? Takes care of the yard and runs off strangers and heck if he lays down on the job you could always have a goat roast...A win win deal...Good idea to have a loop in the plan sometimes it nice just to watch them go round and round...

Mike...Good to hear J bird is doing better..I'll bet you having trouble finding much train time...

Ken M....Our prayers are with Miae and you ...Keep us posted

Well old 'blue" is calling you all have a good one...Jerry

[pcarrell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Railroading_Brit

PC, I think you’re definitely on to something there about the oil prices. There was talk of our government imposing windfall taxes on their profits this year but nothing came of it. Both goverment and oil industry seem happy with the current state of affairs – guess they don’t pay for their official Jaguars fuel out of their own pockets!

Yeah, ya gotta feel for them, ya know? Life's tough for that crowd. [:p]

[Anonymous]

PAGE 1000 contest update

Flip - March 1
KenM - March 3
luct, TallDude - March 4
manofwar - March 5
Jim in Cape - March 6
Attaboy - March 8
*** - March 9
trolleyRob - March 10
JP - March 11
Kathy - March 12
Noah, Chuck - March 13
Duke - March 14
RT - March 15
Deuce - March 16
pc - March 17
OZJIM - March 18
steveblackledge - March 19
Jerry, Trent - March 20
Fergie - March 21
Greg - March 22
KenL - March 24
Gman - March 25
Paul - March 27
dhilyer - March 28
inch - March 29
JR - March 30
nsscot - April 1
Phisig3 - April 2
Ed - April 3
Scott - April 5
der John - April 6
dekruif - April 7
stripes2 - April 8
TrainsRMe - April 10
avidham73 - April 15

We have reached the cutoff page, page 965. No more entries accepted.

I will post this from time to time and update to the post date.

Good Luck.

The winner will get to help out Elliot!!!!!!

[james saunders]

hello hello, i'll have a coffee with 7 sugars please, thankyou.


looking in the LHS yesterday, man i wish Kato werent so expensive here SD45s $245 and SD70MACs are $220+ i don't think i'll be buying one any time soon, i'll stick to P2K atlas and Athearn Genesis, because i can get them on the good side of $150 and its not like they are crap runners.


any who much happening over in your parts of the world?, we are into our 3rd straight day of unseasonally hot weather, which has brought storms, and looking out the window, probably another one this afternoon.

last sunday i went down to the main line north out of Brisbane, to watch some trains and take some photos, i went down to a level crossing about 15 minutes from my house, so i could get some good shots, i didnt realise the speed limit on that section 120kmph so when the trains go flying past it almost blew me over, but it was fun.

well gotta run

ps my thoughts are with every one who needs them

Ozjim

[Anonymous]

Good evening gang,

Ryan, you're mighty generous these days - must be doing really well at that new job in NC![;)]

KenM don't feel bad, I haven't been here hardly at all lately myself. I'll add you and Maie to my prayer list...[angel]

Luc - seems like we're gettin' mighty close to that 1000-page milestone!

RT - hope your surgery well well, and that you're recovering...

I had planned to post something longer but was called away from the 'putor, now it's time for me to put Stephanie to bed. Have to catchup later I suppose. G'nite!

[Anonymous]

First time I noticed this thread even though am a noobie on this tread. Guess will stop by from time to time to maybe learn alittle about everyone and ya'll may learn a thing or 2 about me.

[Anonymous]

Kick it up a notch !!! I'll take a cup of joe for the road.

Hope RT did well today in surgery. God Bless and best wishes to him.

[der5997]

Good evening Coffe Shoppers! Back online after a mouse crash! Booted up last night, and the cursor was frozen. Mouse had died. Fortunately a friend was going close to civilization today, so now I have a Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 3000, and for only $19.95 Cnd after the in store rebate.[^] This puppy scrolls sideways when you press on thte edge of the scroll wheel, and a little button on the left side opens a magnifier window.[8D]

CalgaryJim: Got the taxes done, Kris’ in the mail Monday, mine mailed yesterday, and Kris’ mom’s will go out tomorrow.[tup] There should be a computer for Kris in the refund.[^] So now maybe I can get back to the layout. Sadly, the track has got all cruddy again from non-use. It must be the sea air here. I’ve never seen anything like this buildup anywhere else, not even in Campbell River, B.C. We were further from the sea there, though, and that may be the difference. Here it’s about 300 yards.

UKMatt:

QUOTE: covering the breaking of the German WW2 Enigma codes which involved both electro-mechanical devices such as the Bombe and also the later Colossus (which was pretty much one of the first computers).

PBS had a series, “The story of one” that finished this weekend. That last episode showed a colour film clip of the Colossus working. Electro-mechanical, strange and awesome!

Jerry:

QUOTE: .Good idea to have a loop in the plan sometimes it nice just to watch them go round and round...

but if Ryan is limited to a point to point, an “out and back” electronic circuit would do the same thing, especially with RDCs.[:D]

Never let it be said that I’m posting just to move the pages along.[swg] [:-^] Just my luck to have the count stall until the 7th![(-D]

nc:[#welcome] Electronic Technicians always welcome! Why not tell us about your mrr plans, layout, scale, etc? [:D]

Has anyone else had ttrouble withthe Preview function on this forum? It's stopped working for me. So this will have to be posted eaoe.[:D]

Bed time, so I’ll say goodnight. We haven’t heard from RT, so I’ll trust everything went OK. Continuing prayers for RT, Ken and Maie, J bird and all others in need of God’s healing hand. Good Night all, and God Bless.[angel]