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

[der5997]

The plaster project didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted it, so I’ll have to fiddle with that a bit more. I went and ran trains instead.

PC:

QUOTE: I took it from just behind and to the left of the engineers seat. You can see the back of the seat in the photo.

…yes, PC, that seat back is what finally dropped it in for me. [:D]
Glad you liked the photos. (Paul and Mike too.[:D]) That Purdue U. crane is a bit of a puzzle. For installing Physics lab equipment like an atom smasher perhaps?[(-D]

TupeloRob: Thanks for the extra info on the HILLTOP. That is indeed a wonderful project for the youth. I bet they feel “right chuffed” about now. Now all we need to know is what, or who is Hill?[:D]

QUOTE: Now Chloe and Zoe, how about a nice cold glass of Iced Sweet Tea ! :-) (Southern Thing) heheheeee

…isn’t that Southern Thang?[swg] [:-^]

Greg: Congratulations – Party Time!



Obviously I’ve way too much time on my hands. The smiliegenerator site was down for maintenance, or I would have had a more colourful congratulations sign.

Mike:

QUOTE: I’ll dig that crane out and get you some measurements and pics sent out.

Thanks, I appreciate that.[tup] Thanks for the train pics too.[^]

Ken L: That’s a pretty productive Spring Break. Good looking outfit that gas distribution center. Do we take it that’s not a kit, but scratched?

Time for bed.
Goodnight all, and God Bless. Prayers continuing for those in need of healing, comfort and peace.[angel]

[SOU Fan]

Hey all,
I said I would update you on our playoff run so here it is. We won both our games yesterday to advance the finals. We played the finals today and we lost 6-4. I'll get a picture of our team posted soon.

talk to you later,
dekruif

[wetidlerjr]

Good morning ! from Indiana. [:D]

[ngartshore350]

Hi All!

Just a quick post.

RT That is a massive Bill!!! Out here in Australia our government seems to think the US system is the best for everything: Health, Unemployment benefits, etc, but looking at that bill I don't think the same OP would cost anywhere near that figure here! I'm not knocking the US system!

Hope all keeps going well with the job & the license!

Fergie I see you have a turntable with housing for your locomotives, how do you cope with them running in the engine sheds? Do they lift up to easily clean the rails? I was considering them myself but I thought keeping the locomotives running well would be a problem?!

My progress: I've managed to wire all the remaining track power from the control panel to the Terminal Strips. I ran out of bootlace pins so I have only managed to run the power to the turntable, but that was great to see it work well!![:)]

All the 40 points are now connected permanently and work correctly, that was an effort![^]

I have a shopping list:
- 100 meters of Red Wire
- 200 Bootlace Pins

When I wire up anything I ensure I label the wires using Brady wire labels at each connection (i.e. termination at a terminal strip) I am just about out of the Brady label holders, that's almost 2000 terminations I've labelled.[xx(]

Regards,

NG

[inch53]

Mornin all , coffee and a couple of Bills dounuts Zoe
Alls quiet here, trying to find my scale rule, no luck so far. So this morning, I’m doing some cleaning on the train room cabinets. Later back outside in the yard, fun, fun, fun.

Ken L , liked your propane plant. What’s the price on yours

Folks down the road were gone over night, so I was taking care of their dogs and cats. I got this pic of 2 CSX engines setting on Little Johns siding, from campground A out behind their house.



This E. bound had left their string of on the main line, while picking the 2 engines on Little Johns siding. Their getting ready to couple back up and clear the line.



View from the front platform of the W. bound looking west.



E, bound finally heading out.



I got to talk to the guys on the W. bound, ao there'll be more bout laters.
bout it fur now, time for chores
inch

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,
Coffee and a blueberry bagel please Zoe. Still haven't caught up on the posts but have gotten the lower level benchwork in for the layout. I can't seem to post and work on the layout (or walk and chew gum for that matter) lately. Also spent a rainy Saturday primeing the interior of 2012, an 86 foot passenger coach in the museum yard. Three of us got through half of it in about 6 hours with all the bare spots hit and the ceiling done. It goes quickly with a good and enthusiastic crew. Still haven't touched the RS-11 though our fearless leader tells me the coaches are a higher priority as we need to use them in June.
Hope those recovering are doing well and can get back to some version of normality soon. Sorry to hear about Charlies friend, but it sounds like she's gone to a better place than here. I'm still waiting to hear back on all the tests I've taken of late, but I feel fine and the new BP stuff seems to be better. It's just been a long winter, now spring.
Work awaits, we have a truck leaving for Atlanta and the Walter Mitty weekend today and we spent Sunday morning breaking one of the cars in half to change the clutch after the new one wouldn't work with the motor running (turned out to be machined wrong and the clutch fingers fouled the driven disc hub). Time to pick up tools
[:D]CUL, J.R.

[Fergmiester]

Good Morning From the O'cast and Misty Eastern Shore.

Well that about sums it all up. Found out Friday that I will be going to St John's Newfoundland for a two week refit this Thursday. So I don't know what to expect weather wise, actually I do but it isn't printable. According to the Radar imagery they were getting extreme rain half an hour ago as it was showing deep purple in areas (200mm/hr) That's 8 inches!

Don't worry I can swim but will take my life jacket anyway.

Spent Friday afternoon packing up a 40 litre bucket with tools and modeling kits so I'll be keeping myself out of mischief.

Finally had a nice weekend to do some gardening and finished 16' of fencing I started a year go! It's more of a wind break/garden protector as it's on a 30 degree slope and is holding up a retaining wall which is slowly but surely creeping down the hill and will eventually topple.

NG: Some questions are best not asked, especialy ones without answers[:-^]

Yes the whole structure lifts off but requires the Round house to be cleared first and I'm hoping I can reach inside with a long stick with a cloth doused in rubbing alcohol to scrub the rails, which should do the trick. Things get busted when I lift up the Roundhouse!

***: Keep your lows stationary would ya?! please and thanx! The news had more scary revalations about the Arctic last night as one credible scientist has the Artcic ice cap melting at an alarming rate, which may mean the Polar bear could be extinct within the next 50 to 100 years. From what I've seen he's not too far off the mark if off at all.

Well on that cheery note I got to run

Later All

Fergie

[james saunders]

howdy howdy howdy...

BOY have i missed alot.. i have been caught up with comittments and there have been some health problems within the family, my grandma (on my dad's side), has just been diagnosed with *** cancer [V].
And my Uncle (my Mums brother) has been diagnosed with depression in the last week.

DerJohn: i have the updated trackplan but haven't had time to scan it to the computer as late, i may get it up by the end of this week, but can't guarentee anything. [^]

well one of our forum friends GDRMcO (mitch legg) is battening down the hatches as Tropical Cyclone Monica(catergory 5) is heading his way, fingers crossed he makes it through.

i think that's all for now, i will go back and read the last few pages and edit as necessary.

cheers

OZJIM

[pcarrell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by KenLarsen

PC - those are some excellent shots of old equipment, but I thought you had moved from that town? Anyway my fav was the Boilermaker crane - my father graduated from Perdue in '51.

Yeah, that move got delayeduntil the end of this summer. You know how it is when you work with the govt., hurry up and wait! We did find a house much closer to where we live now that we are getting. Actually, it's being built right now. This means I'll still be able to take those walks!

Anyways, yeah, the crane was pretty interesting I thought. You don't see that every day.


Hey inch,

Nice shots as usual. You get some really great shots of modern equipment out there. While I'm mostly into the older stuff I can certainly appreciate the kind of heavy equipment you have around your place. My new house will be near CSX's doubletrack heading out the northeast side of Indy, so I'll be posting lots of newer stuff soon too.


All,

Thought I'd throw one or two more shots from yesterday at you.









That's about it for now.

Prayers have been offered for all those in need. Have a blessed day.

[Anonymous]

Chloe, since Bill the Doughnut Man has taken the pressure off PC's credit card, I'm gonna go full-bore: A Western-style omelet with hash browns, a tall glass of Ed's OJ and the standard cuppa joe.[dinner]

QUOTE: Originally posted by pcarrell
...We did find a house much closer to where we live now that we are getting. Actually, it's being built right now. This means I'll still be able to take those walks!

Phillip - that's great news! You'll get the best of both worlds now, a new house and a scenic neighborhood.

QUOTE: Originally posted by der5997
Ken L: ... Good looking outfit that gas distribution center. Do we take it that’s not a kit, but scratched?

Thanx John, you guessed it - the original kit by Walthers was discontinued several years ago and it always attracted top-dollar on eBay.

Inch - excellent CSX photos, it's reassuring to see that crews are [sometimes] still willing to talk with local bystanders and give them access to some of the better vantage points [;)]...

QUOTE: Originally posted by inch53
Ken L , liked your propane plant. What’s the price on yours

Actually Mike, I'm separating that into two categories: the structures and the vehicles. For the tanks, buildings, etc., since the original price of the Walthers kit was $30, I probably came out about even - spending $20 on Plastruct (min amt. for direct mail orders) plus another $8 on the Evergreen sheet. I'm counting the trucks separately since the Walthers kit did not include those. I bought 3 Athearn Ford C-Series flatbed stake trucks on sale at MB Klein for $7/ea, and spent another $10 on plastruct tubing to convert two of them into propane delivery tankers - adding up to a total of ~$30. So the combined total dollar amount for everything was about $60.
BTW I snapped a few pix of the truck conversion if anybody wants to see them...

Later y'all!

[Anonymous]

I was too busy to stop in all weekend. I've missed a lot but-

pc: great pics. It's great you'll get to see that NKP mike[8D]

OZJIM: that's too bad about health problems in the family.[:(]

Gotta run. Cya

[SilverSpike]

Monday, April 24, 2006

Well, another weekend in the history books, and it seems like they fly by faster and faster each time. But, it seems like life is happening faster too the older we get! That’s enough on philosophical ruminations for now.

I have been pulling out old cook books that have been on the shelves for years and reviewing recipes that I have never made, we are trying to interject some new variety in our diet. I found a neat story in one of them; it is supposed to be of Japanese origin:


The food is just as extravagant, tasty, and plentiful in hell as it is in heaven.
Huge meals with tables and tables fully adorned with all the refinements of a full repast.
When you eat in hell they give you a fork that is three feet long, and when you get to the point of getting the food to your mouth the devil swipes it away and have you turn it around to hold the tines in your hand. Getting any food to your mouth from the small handle side of the fork is very difficult.

In heaven the food is just as plentiful, tasty, and pleasing; it is expertly prepared and available all the time. In heaven they have the same three foot long forks for eating. The only difference in heaven is that you are using the three foot long forks to feed the person sitting across from you.



We visited my friend and his wife from New Orleans that came up for the Duke Reunions this past weekend. There was a champagne breakfast Sunday morning at the Duke Gardens with a small orchestra playing classical music, and all the flowing mimosas you could drink. Taking a tour of the university grounds is like going back to England, the buildings look like Hogwarts inside and out. Needless to say, my 10 year old wants to attend Duke when he turns 18. Hopefully a scholarship will be available, that place is not on the economy education list.

QUOTE:
Posted by Ed,
QUOTE: Ryan: Oh, and I found another avocado soup recipe, I made it last week, it is a cold soup. Great for one of those hot summer days coming up soon!
Coming up soon??? They're already here. Send recipe.......

Ed, I forgot to copy that one down, but it was very easy to make. Here is a stab at it from what I remember:

Cold Avocado Soup

2 ripe avocadoes, pit removed and diced
3 cups milk
2 tbsp. lemon juice
to taste salt and pepper

Put all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Serves 4 to 6

I found that this recipe does not keep very long, maybe a day in the fridge. Any longer and it starts to turn on you, so eat it fast. I also found it to be very creamy, and the blender did a great job of whipping some air into the mixture.

On the solar panel and temp gauge issue, I have removed the solar panel and installed a small transformer I found at a thrift store, paid a $1.00 for it and attached it to the device. Only problem is now it is getting overcharged and the LCD panel is not responding, all the LCD digits lit up. The device runs on 3V and the output on the power supply is 4.5V. Any idea on how I can step down the voltage output from 4.5V to 3V before it gets to the device?

QUOTE:
Posted by ***,
RYAN The solar panel needs to see enough sunlight so that it can produce enough energy for the batteries. The LCD panel must be drawing more power than the Solar Panel can produce over time, so lets see how moving it to more sunlight helps.

***, I think if I can get the power supply issue resolved I will use the solar panel on something else. Or use a longer set of wires so the solar panel is exposed to the outside light as opposed to the indoor lighting. There are five windows in this room and no curtains, much outdoor ambient light gets in, but very little direct sunlight.

Matt, I did not know that the rail gauge varied so much in Spain as compared to other European countries still to this day. I thought a standard gauge would have been instituted by now. Does the EU have any input on this issue?

QUOTE:
Posted by Ken,
Ryan - Glad you found my ballasting pix useful [as derJohn apparently did]. But I'm no Fugate, so you may want to recall the old adage about the true value of "free" advice....!

Ken, You mean a “grain of salt?” Or is it a “grain of ballast?” I couldn’t resist! Also, thanks for the great photos on the layout, the propane depot is great!

QUOTE:
Posted by RT,
Okay guys here we go I just looked at the Hospital Bill and it breaks down like this
1 day Intensive care $ 2,826
Pharmacy $ 813.83
Laborastory $ 164.00
Radiology/diagnostic $ 233.00
Anesthesia $ 243.50
Supplies/implants/devices $ 72,164.50

total $81,592.83

Hey RT, That hospital bill is enough to give me a heart attack! Just think about how much layout you can get with $81,000.00 dollars!!! Glad it only cost you the $120 out of pocket. My son broke his arm roller skating about 4 years ago and that bill was just over $30,000.00 and insurance paid about $7,500.00, I have not heard from the doctor or the hospital since, we will let the insurance co. and the hospital battle it out. Then again if they do sue us for the remainder we will have to counter, the doc was a quack and s#$%ed up my son’s arm, so we ended up at another doc for 18 months of therapy. Ben is fine now, but for awhile there we were uncertain if his arm would continue to grow straight and correctly.

Also, great find on that plywood deal!

QUOTE:
Posted by John Wood
Ryan:
QUOTE: I will not be surprised with gas reaches the $4.00/gal level by 2007
I think I heard on the TV this afternoon that it had gone over $4 in some parts of California today.

John, Wow! I will have to call my sister, she lives in Malibu, just north of LA, see what she is paying for gas. We did break the $3.00 barrier for a few days here in NC. I also found out that we have 30 cents per gallon state sales tax on gas, so our prices might be higher here. Alabama only has 18 cents per gallon state tax. I wonder what the sales tax is on California gas?

And, thanks for the prayers, we need them. Monique started a new job today!

Hey Duke, You following the hockey playoffs too, huh! The Hurricanes fell to the Montreal Canadians Saturday in a 6 – 1 killing! Hopefully the Canes can make it past the first round, they played so well this year and hopes are high.

Hey Inch, How was the train show this weekend? I know what you mean about the oil companies, some of them posted the highest reported profits ever last year. Makes you wonder how they get away with it sometimes. I hate to ba***hem too much though, my dad worked for Texaco for over 35 years, so you know what they say about “…the hand that feeds you.” He still does consulting as a “semi-retired” paleo-geologist and gets paid better now than his last 10 years with the company.

I loved the fish joke of the day!

Here’s another one for ya:
“Give a man fish and he can eat for day”
“Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day and drink beer.”


Great photos Phillip, thanks for sharing your RR adventure! Look like it was a lot of fun too!
Now, refresh my memory, where are you finding these old gems?


[#welcome] to all the new and returning faces!


Cheers,

Ryan

[pcarrell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SilverSpike

Great photos Phillip, thanks for sharing your RR adventure! Look like it was a lot of fun too!
Now, refresh my memory, where are you finding these old gems?

It's no problem,....I enjoy it! I'm finding them at the Indiana Transportaion Museum in Noblesville, Indiana. If you click my railimages link, most of the pic's are from there, though not all. If you get a chance, say, if you're in Indianapolis, you should swing by and check it out. It's not a huge, high-dollar museum, but it's pretty cool. You can see a good sampling of their stuff in my railimages account.

[Cox 47]

Good morning all...Sunny and a little cooler here....I'll have coffee and one of Bill's sweet rolls please....My brother brought me a bunch of pink foam board yesterday and say's he bring more next week probaly use most of it on my sons layout...I am still messing with that blasted DPM building...

Pcarrell....You must live in a great neighborhood!! Wish I could go out a see stuff like that...Thanks for the pictures.....

Paul...Got me worried now how many Gaters you got in this Gater pond?Do you get hazardus duty pay?

John...Wow ! John were those pictures taken from your home? That was a couple of great shots....I couldn't work on the layout for wanting to look out the window!

Ed ....Have a safe trip...

Kenl....Nice propane center ...Good modeling...

House keeper is running carpet sweeper I'm headed out side...You all have a good one .....Jerry

[Anonymous]

Hi all

Just been burning weeds on the garden path so I currently smell of smoke – no matter where you stand with the gas torch the wind will invariably change direction. Thought I should do it now rather than later in the summer as there's less chance of it getting out of hand – the lawns are well soaked at the moment and the weeds are on concrete, so no risk of uncontrolled fire. I've also ordered a new G scale loco – this time it's a RhB 4-axle electric railcar in yellow. Over 2ft long and weighs in at just under 4kg, so I'm expecting great things as far as haulage is concerned.

Scott, hang in there, sounds tough. I guess when you have an upheaval of that sort it takes a while for things to settle, but they will in the end.

Ryan, the problem is that the older lines would cost a fortune to relay to standard gauge, also the broader gauge works well with Talgo sets as you can build very low and wide cars, so you get excellent cornering stability. I get the impression the EU would rather avoid it as any suggestion that they should regauge would be met with “ok, but we need money to do it” and they're currently trying to help out the new member states from the old Eastern Bloc, we're seeing a lot more Poli***rucks than we used to here. Diesel is hovering around the £1/litre mark here although about ¾ of that is tax. Methinks pigs will take to the skies before they cut that down – our government seems not to realise that we don't all have the option of public transport, and a hybrid car would last about 5mins here due to the hills...

Bye for now

[SilverSpike]

Hey Phillip, Thanks for the info on the location! I did a Google search on Indiana Transportation Museum and found their web site. http://www.itm.org/

Kewl stuff!

Hey Matt,
Our neighbors just burned a bunch of dead garden material from last years gardens and had to get a burn permit from the local fire dept. With drought conditions here there are some days when the humidity is in the low 20% range, very dry at times.

Yep, I would suppose that cost is always going to be a limiting factor when it comes to upgrading infrastructure.

Cheers,

Ryan

[pcarrell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SilverSpike

Hey Phillip, Thanks for the info on the location! I did a Google search on Indiana Transportation Museum and found their web site. http://www.itm.org/

Kewl stuff!

Yup, that's the place. They also have a fully restored turn of the century trolly that runs off of an overhead wire through the park that you can ride for free with the price of admission into the museum. Outside the museum there's a fully restored and operational merry-go-round for the kids along with putt-putt golf and swimming. There's also a big people's golf course for those who'd rather go that route.

[Paul W. Beverung]

Hi Gang: I'll have to make this short as lunch is just about over.

KenL: Nice job on the LPG facility. The trucks turned out great too.

PhillC: Did you get to make sure that the new house had a basement that was MRR friendly?

Jerry: The gator pond has 2 gators in it. Neather one is a full gator just the front third. One is animated to lunge at the guests. I've seen some great reactions from some folks and not all are kids. The animated one did get me one day. I had him proped up so I could work on his mouth. The prop slipped and he got me by the hand. For a minute I thought I'd have to holler for help but I managed to get him up enough to get my hand out. Then it was to the first aid to get a band aid for the cut. Yea I had a lot of fun for awhile answereing people as to why I had that bandage on.

Well lunch is over and I've got a suppervisor that wants some stuff done ASAP.

See you all later.

[pcarrell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul W. Beverung

PhillC: Did you get to make sure that the new house had a basement that was MRR friendly?

Nope, no basement. The house is on a semi-private lake, so the water table is too high for a basement. Instead, I'm having a 15' 6"x10' room built just for N scale trains. Seeing as I go the multi-deck route, that shoud provide for an ample amount of room to keep me busy for a while. I'll have lots of electrical outlets, a phone jack, lighting, and a cable jack in there, along with some storage space. Fully carpeted and climate controlled,.....life is good!

[inch53]

Lunch time, how bout a fried bologna with cheese n spicy mustard and a cup of coffee

Been working outside today mostly. We have rain and cold coming tomorrow for a couple- three days, so I’m doing what I can while it’s nice

Fergie , hope your voyage goes well, maybe the rain will be out of there by the time you arrive.

OZ Jim , thoughts and prayers for your family troubles down your way. If you hear any thing from Mitch, let us know.

PC , I all ways enjoy your pics of the older equipment, wish I was where I could get some.
I’m so jealous of your train room already.

Ken L , looks like you came out Ok on the cost, it does look good. Would like to see the truck conversion pics
Most the train and mow crews are more than willing to talk that come through here. I’ve got to ride a time or two while they were switching out back. Wish I’d had a camera then.

Ryan , We didn’t get up to the swap meet, didn’t think we really had the money to spend this month.
GAS PRICES, seen on the news where some congressmen are calling for another investigation of the oil companies profits and price gouging. There’s a waste of taxpayer dollars, congress has had 3 or 4 investigations and decided “ there’s nothing they can do about” all ready.
Congress looking into any thing is kinda like having an, egg sucking dog guarding the chicken house, from a chicken stealing fox? Either way the farmer comes up the loser.
Enjoyed the fish story, hit a bit close to home though.

Paul , bet you did have some fun with that story. I tell the grand kids, I got into a fight with a bear, whenever I get a new scratch on my arm. Some of the big ones say they didn’t know there was any bears round here

well back to chores.
inch

[grayfox1119]

Good afternoon gents, cloudy, raw, and showers off & On here today, temps is only 44F, hopefully some sun tomorrow.

So today, being a rainy day, the wife asked me to look into a problem with the Front loading washing machine. Ya, real exciting right guys ? Here are the problems:
1. The water does not run into the softener dispenser to dispense the softener.
2. The washer stops after the wash cycle, and does not start the rinses, and powers off.

At first glance, this would seem to be a controller problem, quite possibly the PC board that houses all the electronics. But luckily for me, this was NOT the cause. Believe it or not, it was caused by a dirty filter on the inlet water connection. After removing the hoses, I noticed that the stainless steel filter screens were dirty and the screening was fairly well blocked with rust particles, etc.. Not surprising seeing that I had done some plumbing on the lines a short time ago. After re-connecting the lines and observing one wash/rinse cycle, all is well again with washer AND CFO. It seems that there is a timing circuit on the PC board, and if the water flow is insufficient, it will power off the washer. Keep this in mind guys for future problems, a cheap fix too.

FERGIE Ohhh noooooo, you have to associate with the Newfies again ? I think I would stay on board the ship. I saw a very similar program on the NGC, and they were saying the very same thing about the glacier melt, and the Polar Bears. The sea levels are rising at an alarming rate, you may have seashore real estate soon.

MATT My smoking cloths are all done for the year!! LOL. Last week I was lucky enough to get the last burn done before the fire chief ended all outside burning due to extreme dryness.

RYAN I misunderstood your original message, I thought you had an OUTSIDE monitor station like my neighbors. He had to put a solar panel on his, and it is working great. His is located about 30' from his house on a pole.
When inside, you really should have DIRECT sunlight to get full charging current. As for over-voltage with xformer, you can use a clamping Zener Diode to clamp the voltage at 3.5V so as not to overvoltage the LCD display.

OZJIM We have not heard from Mitch in quite a while here in the CS, but we certainly will pray for his safety with the TC that is headed his way!!

J.R. Sounds like you guys are doing job restoring the equipment. I was up at Tuckers last Thursday, I thought I might run into you up in Warren.

Time to go do some work. This afternoon I need to clean out the woodburner stove, and then the Pellet stove ,I have proclaimed officially that the burning season is over!!!!

See you guys later,

[der5997]

NG: That’s a whole lot of wiring connections! Feels good to get it done, I bet.[tup] On the roundhouse and track cleaning, the one I had on the A&W in Alberta was quite close to the layout edge, and just lifted off. It was a Heljan 3 stall, so no great weight. I’d think it might be a different proposition with a near complete circle and far back on the layout.[2c]

OZJim: Sorry to hear about your grandma and uncle. We can put them on our churches’ prayer chain if you like. First names would be helpful. Post here, or email. We’ll be thinking about Mitch’s safety too.

Ken L: Does Plastruct provide those round tank ends too? The truck conversion would be interesting to see.

Ryan: Thanks for the excellent Food-in–Eternity story. I’ve copied it for forwarding![:D]

QUOTE: On the solar panel and temp gauge issue, I have removed the solar panel and installed a small transformer I found at a thrift store, paid a $1.00 for it and attached it to the device. Only problem is now it is getting overcharged and the LCD panel is not responding, all the LCD digits lit up. The device runs on 3V and the output on the power supply is 4.5V. Any idea on how I can step down the voltage output from 4.5V to 3V before it gets to the device?

Try garage sales for a 3V one Ryan. I think that’s where all those adaptors breed.[:D]

QUOTE: Alabama only has 18 cents per gallon state tax. I wonder what the sales tax is on California gas?

In the absence of Ed, here’s what I found at http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/statistics/gas_taxes_by_state_2002.html

Alabama All State and Federal $0.39.4
California All State and Federal $0.50.4
Nevada $0.51.7

The Alabama Stat taxes are a total of $0.21
California is $0.32
Nevada, not to be outdone $0.333

Jerry:

QUOTE: I couldn't work on the layout for wanting to look out the window!

…which is why the train room is on the other side of the house![swg] Right now you can’t see a thing for the fog.[X-)]

PC:

QUOTE: There's also a big people's golf course for those who'd rather go that route.

…but they wouldn’t be true mmrs, would they.[(-D]

***: Thanks for the washing machine fix tip.[:D]
We’ve noticed our high tides have been a bit higher than we’re used to, but not beyond the drifts of wrack furthest in from the sea. We keep an eye out.

No mrr time yet today. I’m trying to decide if I’d be further ahead on my botched plaster to break the offending piece off, and start over, or try to cover the errors with another form of ground cover. It’s the edges of the hatch that’s the issue, and what technique to use for doing the rest of them.

TTFN

[bjdukert]

Afternoon all

First [#welcome] to all the newbies

*** We won’t make it out East this year as we are going to head South,but have some of that Strawberry-Rhubarb pie ready just in case,PLEASE[:P][dinner]

Ken Have you ever thought about going for the Master Modeler in the NMRA??? With what you are doing it is fantastic[^][8D][bow][bow][bow]

Ryan I am following the playoffs the best I can,but I am like Paul as I get up at 4am so it makes it hard to watch some of the games and on that note,I think I will say GO RED WINGS!!!

Best to all that are in sick call and those that have a loss [angel][angel][angel] and hope for a quick recovery for those on that road.

That’s about it
Talk to you later

Duke

OH NO!!! Top of the page so belly up but remember I am not PC and I have learned from him and did put a cap on the card[:D][;)][:-^]

[Attaboy]

Evening folks. I come bearing pictures and a question. On Friday on my way home from work I saw two NS cars parked on a passing siding. At first I thought they were a couple restored Pennsy cars on the way to a museum because of the color. It's along a four lane divided highway and since it was rush hour I couldn't stop for a closer look. So I went back on Saturday morning, camera in hand, and they were still there [:D]

This is the lead car, notice except for the small lettering on the right and the railroad's name across the top there doesn't seem to be any identification.


This is a closer view of the lead car. Sorry, I didn't think to zoom in on the lettering on the end.


This is a close up of the second car, note the "RESEARCH 36" markings.


This is a full length view of the second car.


Anyone know what these might be? Obviously for research of some kind, but what? I suspect the two cars may be permenantly paired because of the lack of markings on the first car. I went out in a steady downpour of rain and risked a ticket for parking along a four lane divided highway to get these pics. And just due to curiosity! [:O] Oh, well, I learned something in the process. When taking pictures with a digital camera in the rain, and especially with other items in the foreground, use manual focus.

[#welcome] to all the new folks I've noticed in my reading since I last posted. And I hope all those who are ill begin to feel well soon. My condolences to those who have lost love ones recently, from experience I know it is difficult but will get better in time.

See you later.

[grayfox1119]

Good eveing gents, the CFO is happy, she did 2 more washes and the washer behaved perfectly.....YESSSSS !! Got the maintenance completed on the two stoves, so they are cleaned and ready for next season. Time now for a little reading on MRR'g, several excellent Kalmbach books and John Armstrong books as well.

DUKE Sorry to hear that you and Faye will not make it east this summer. Now I'll have to eat all the pie myself..hehehhehhehe...BTW, have you heard from Bill North lately? I haven't heard from Bill on the forum in weeks, maybe months!!!

DER JOHN I have no doubt that the sea level is rising. We used to go to Cape Cod every Summer as a boy, and I can remember where the water line was near the tip of the Cape. Now Truro and Provincetown are almost an island as the ocean has cut a channel through just above Wellsfleet. So, maybe you had better place a measuring rod in the ground near the high tide line, and keep a record each year. NOAA will be happy to get your results.

[bjdukert]

HI Attaboy and have one on my tab since I have the TOTP. Are you starting to get the itch for Philly yet?? I went to Toledo a couple weeks ago to a model airplane show and it is similar to what I think Philly will be and that really started to give me the ithch.

Talk to you later
Duke

[rtraincollector]

Evening all man you guys went from page 1025 lastnight to 1027 tonight you guys sure flew threw the post today. lot of catching up well just a quick note to say hope all are dooing fine and the sick ward ones getting out soon and hello and welcome to all new members of the coffee shop will talk again later need to go rest busy day today then came hom and cleaned all 14 boards on both sides so I can get some kilz payday and start painting them . I'll probally get the 5 gallon bucket as I will have 24 boards to do as I'm picking up 10 more tomorrow.

till then take care

[Anonymous]

Hi gang,

I just got summoned to pickup my daughter from work so I have to make this quick - I'll come back later to continue the dialogue.

Duke - thanx for the compliment, but I've been down that road once - and it almost killed my interest in this great hobby, it was so f.....ing political! I'm content to simply share with my friends.

Well, there appears to be sufficient interest, so I'll go ahead and post a photo mini-essay on the Athearn truck kitbash.

John, you were asking does Plastruct offer the domed ends to use for the tanks? Yep, they sure do - here is a photo to prove it:


The ones I used on the truck (VHH-28) are 7/8" diameter, they are available as small as 3/8" - definitely small enough for iNvisible scale[;)]!

Here is a before-and-after photo of what the original truck looked like, and what it became. I had to glue the pieces of white evergreen styrene strip onto the frame to hold the pieces together:


A side-by-side view from the BOTTOM...


...from the left side...


...and from the top:


The bright green areas show what has to be cut off and discarded:


I haphazardly piled-on various sizes of strip, to resmble toolboxes, machinery enclosures, etc...


Here are the finished tanks:


...and finally, the completed trucks:


Gotta run, hasta bananas or whatever....!

[Paul W. Beverung]

Good Evening Gang: I'm going to just say Good Night. My knees and wrists are hurting. I go through boughts of aching pain sometimes. It comes and goes. Tomorrow they want me to work overtime so I will as long as I can stand it. That's good money and Mary Ann splits it with me. More for the MRR you know.

KenL: Thats the way I feel also. Way back when the four of us who had been going to school together since kindergarten and modeling as long built a small 4x4 HO layout and took it to a hobby show at one of the city parks. Our layout was running and complete with scenery. We also had demonstrations of car building and other modeling skills. There was another HO layout there that was toy train like but ok. It was owned by a couple that set up every year. They treated us like tresspasers. Cordual but cool. Wehn the awards were given out we got an honerable mention, they got a ribbon. That was it for our competing. I, like you, do this for fun.

Well I'm going to hit the sack.

Good Night to All

[GMTRacing]

Good Evening All,
I'll have a slice of the banana cream pie and a coffee please Chloe.
Ken - nice pics. The trucks came out great as well and thanks for sharing.
*** - Next time you decide to go to Tuckers, let me know. I'm all the way on the other end of Ct from you, but from what I saw at the Springfield show, they have tons of stuff and a road trip may be in order. Are the prices good as well? Went to Branford Hobbies last week and met Mark, the owner, ended up ordering an FL-9 and EP-5 kit for when my skills improve. Very enthusiastic and knowledgeable young man. Runs a very friendly place.
Inch - good to hear some of the train crews remain friendly and accessible. Between TSA and the railroad lawyers, it's getting to be rare.
Put some time in cutting foam sheet for the new benchwork (okay - old recycled benchwork) Started the second level swing gate track. So far so good.
Inquiring minds want to know - why the regearing kits for the RDC's? I've not had mine out of the box yet - are they too fast or slow as delivered?
Time to go round up son #3 - he has school tomorrow. CUL [:D], J.R.