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

[krump]

Hi All,

It's been a while (February, I see) since I showed up for a mocha and a chat... line me up. someone please give me a quick update as to the nature of things in the coffee shop. there are a lot of new faces and names in here

I've had an interesting few months out here. I've updated my profile a bit, but briefly ...
- I said goodbye to my friend with the brain tumor in March - that was tough
- we managed to avoid a strike at work (yeah) in April, and to celebrate I took two weeks off to get ready for renovating - cleared driveway of old car etc, brush pile burns and yard clean-up, had a few trees knocked down
- volunteered at the school with our kids
- took in a train show
- financing with the bank (for looooong awaited renovations), with our financial planner (for investments), paid credit cards down, completed our taxes, deposit on my quad (for the hobby farm), an above ground pool (June), and a new camera.
- recently hired some guys that I know to build a covered 30x36 ft deck with double garage under it (includes mid bay storage, coldroom for canning / preserves, 50 ft ramp with wheelchair access, quad storage, staircase, and screened room) - after 2 weeks it is about half way complete (tin roof going on in the next 2-3 days) - when the garage is done, the junk stored in the basement will be moved and the train room 10 x 14 will be mine to begin benchwork
- busy with our club and layout
- once the garage is securely closed up, the quad can come home and be put to use
- spent a number of hours at the emergencey ward - daughter injured her knee, and wife just broke her foot the other day.

BEST news - Spring is here !!! I haven't shovelled snow in 5 weeks (yeah)

how is the TRAINing everyone ? coffee please

[Fergmiester]

Good Golly! Krump, My we haven't seen you in ages, good to see you back. I'll buy.

Paul: you missed your chance Tonight is Ribs and Wings[C=:-)][dinner][dinner][dinner]

Der John: You can still see the rails on some of the docks in St John's and Lewisporte and it is a true narrow guage of 3' 6".



***: The last train ran back in the mid 80's and if I knew what I know now I would have taken a lot of pictures as I was here just before the end but the narrow gauge never appealed to me.

Well I gotta go

later Gents

Fergie

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning ! from Indiana. [:D]

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,
Cloudy and cool this morning - must be Dicks aforementioned weather. Hope the rain holds off so we can get the test day in. The car hasn't run in 2 years and it has an all new motor and plumbing plus the entire suspension has been off, apart and back together. Lots of stuff to check.
After all this time I,m still working on how to run the track on the lower level - have a couple of ideas, but no full sketch and no bits down yet save for the part on the swing gate.
Ken and John - looks like good progress is being made. The river and water effects with the log and eddies are spot on. Colors underneath are good too. If I ever change scale or they ever get enough NHRR equipment out there it might be good to switch to iNvisible Gauge as it looks like ou can get a lot more running room without having 3 quarts in a 2 quart bottle. The pike is taking a real spacious turn John - good job. Let us know how the sawdust/glue takes color. Sawdust I have in abundance at home. Stained dark brown and mixed with some ground foam I wonder how it would look in an HO woodland setting?
I,m in envy of the Indiana museum - wish we had a bigger crew and a shed to work in (of course I also wish I could hit the lottery and retire to play with trains more often but......) The switcher looks gorgeous - it's a GE 70 tonner, no?
Dingo - Since you missed the era, let me try some advice we used in the Navy. If it ain't broke, don't fix it ! Or at least wait to get your next engine before you fix the one you have. Good luck on the remotoring or repair.
Morning Paul - having a break on the puter?
All for now, time to skedaddle. CUL,[:D] J.R.

[pcarrell]

Mornin' All!

Breakfast time!

Bill, I'll take one o fthose donuts and a cup of coffee if you don't mind, thanks!

Hey guy's, what's up? I came in this morning and the place was empty!

Bet you didn't know I had a pic of the Coffee Shop (our dining car) did you?

To answer all the questions about the new switcher, I believe it's a 44 tonner. It looks just like the other reference photo's I have of 44 tonners. Plus, if you look at the caboose next to it (out of the same restoration shop 2 years ago), the size looks about right.....

What do you guys think? Agreed? No?

Well, Ive got to scoot for now......


You've all been remembered in my prayers.

I'll catch up with you later..........

[der5997]

Good morning all: Cloudy and cool, but at least it isn’t raining yet. Have the house to myself as Kris is away to town with her co-author to pick up their latest, a pair of kids activity books for Nova Scotia, from the printers.

Krup: [#welcome]back. Sorry to hear about the injuries, hope they heal quickly.[angel] That’s some reno you’ve got lined up![bow]

Fergie: Thanks for the gauge info, and the passenger car photo.

JR:

QUOTE: The pike is taking a real spacious turn

…That’s the widest part, but I’m pleased with the way it’s beginning to look too.[:D]

QUOTE: Let us know how the sawdust/glue takes color.

…Now things are drying up, I think I’ll have a go with some basic muddy green today, and do the road with a first coat of grey/black. Kris says to make it paler in the distance, and I think she’s right. So I may have a photo and tech report later this p.m. Once the paint’s dry, even if the sawdust isn’t fully dry, I should be able to get he ballast wetted down and glued. Eventually the sawdust will dry out under the paint, and it’s far away, won’t get bumped into, and can take its time.

QUOTE: Sawdust I have in abundance

…As do I. I figure I’ve paid for that lumber once, so why spend money for scenery mixes when white glue is not an arm and a leg yet.[tup]

PC: …We were al hiding behind those blue partitions.
I agree on the size of the 44 ton, so thanks for that.[:D]

A JR Regular please, Zoë and some more of that cheesecake.

Things to do TTFN.

[pcarrell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by der5997

PC: …We were al hiding behind those blue partitions.

Ohhhh,....You guy's are GOOD!

[inch53]

Morning all, coffee and the farmers breakfast, Zoe,
Not to bad here this morning, mostly cloudy with highs in the 70’s, but rain is coming in this afternoon. Talking maybe 1” before it gets out of here Thursday.
Got a few things to do outside, then it’s inside and some train time, I hope. If I’d just set down and do it, I think I could be running trains in a couple 3 weeks.

DER , you might try some upholstery thread on your crane. I’ve used it on kids toys and other things, works purrty well, and doesn’t have all the fuzzy.

Krump , does sound like you have been other wise occupied. Sorry to hear bout the wife n daughter and hope both are doing well now. Also nice that you’ll be starting on the layout soon, be sure to keep us updated on the progress
Sorry to hear of the loss of your friend too.

PC , that doesn’t look to comfortable or stable, when it has to have an outrigger

Well the rain hasn’t made it this far yet, so it’s back outside fur a spell
Inch

[DigitalGriffin]

Morning all, *raises coffee mug*

QUOTE: Originally posted by inch53



DigitalGriffin , Welcome to the CS, I think your new to these parts. Tell us some bout yourself, RR interest,scale and such..
inch

inch
Actually you're right I'm am new to the coffee shop. But I've neen on the forum for about 1 1/2 years now.

Right now I'm modeling C&O late steam in HO scale. I have about 630 sqaure feet for the passenger ops, dockside ops, and steel mill I'm planning. It's a lil tight but I think I'm going to pull it off.

rtraincollector
I'm just outside west mancester off rt 30. But lately I've neen hanging out on the wrong side of the tracks. (Near the NS yards that run at I83 more precisely) :-)

There's some interesting victorian era/second industrial revolution buildings around there I might have to model.

Where's lititz?

KenL
I commute down to Columbia Maryland every day from York. But I used to live in Owings Mills. It's about 1000 miles in one week.

If anyone wants to visit, I'll offer some maple doughnuts. They are PA's answer to the krispy kreme with 10x's the sugar. [:D]

[Paul W. Beverung]

Good Morning Gang: I'll have a cup of Bill's coffee. I can't do the donuts, Nuts.

I was in for a quick look this morning before I went to work. I did all the repair work that I could on the Alamo. It's just got to the point where I get the bad spots and hope that nothing else goes bad.

I'll second or third the opinion that that is a 44 tonner. Ive got two of the Bachman 44tonners. The 70 tonner is an end cab loco. I'm building 3 in 1 5/8 scale for the 7.5 in gauge. The next center cab is the 100 ton and it is noticeably larger. They had one of them at the TXI plant over on the west side of dallas.

Time to cut out for me. I'd like to get a coke and sit for awhile. Read that close my eyes and study the inside of my eye lids. I"ll be back later.

[pcarrell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by inch53


PC , that doesn’t look to comfortable or stable, when it has to have an outrigger

It beats walking! Just lean to the left a lot! [:D]

Don't worry, I'll ride that one. Your ride is over here....[;)]

It's a much more comfortable ride! Heck, it's even got brakes![:0]

[pcarrell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul W. Beverung

The 70 tonner is an end cab loco.

I saw one that was a center cab, but It looked like it was a home-brewed creation.

[inch53]

Afternoon Zoe, how bout a rib eye sandwich [MR] and onion rings and a glass of tea,
Rains bout 40 mile out on radar, so, guess I’ll go put stuff away for the day, finish up couple things inside, then it’s train time.

Griffin , that’s a hole lot more area to model than I have. If you would how bout posting some photos some time. I’m sure theres a lot of us that like to see what you have.
1000 mile weekly commute, and the wife complains bout 18, she drives a day.

PC , rode one of those hand trucks when I was a kid a day or two [more like 40 yrs.] ago. I think we were down in the Smokey MT. some where, to many years ago for memory.

Heres a couple more pics from down at campground A





That sure good Zoë, no desert right now need to get the tools picked up
inch

[Anonymous]

Krump- welcome back.

PC- nice pics

inch- nice pics.

The mail will be here any minute and I'm expecting the 4-6-2, so I'm gonna head out.

[Anonymous]

[:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!]
[:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!]
[:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!]
[:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!]
4-6-2 STILL didn't come. Unless IHC ships via UPS, all hope is lost for today. When I'm charged $7.50 for shipping I expect it to be quicker than this. What a rip off.

[Cox 47]

Afternoon all....Cloudy looks like rain here I'll have a root beer float please....spent the morning going thru model railroad mags cutting out buildings to use as part of backdrop I'll have some buildings that are out of my budjet on the layout the picture of the buildings in their ads are just about right size for back drop...I have never cliped a mag all these years the first cut was hard but its getting easy heck I may start just clipping what I want to save and can use and toss the rest of mag I just don't have room to store them...

PC,,,Wow that Nickel Plate caboose thats one of my favorite paint jobs I did a couple in HO and a box car with same lettering....

welcome CS Arthill and Jailbreaker jump in and join in....Jailbreaker got ask where you got the name?

Krump....Sounds like you been busy...

You all have a good one...Jerry

[grayfox1119]

Good afternoon gents, cloudy, cool 50F, and showers right now, but heavier rain is just off to the SE of here and headed straight inland. And, it looks like we will not see the sun again until MONDAY !! Another one of those storms that back-in at us from the ocean instead of heading east like all the rest.

DER JOHN Your lucky, there is a high moving in towards NS that will keep you in the sun until this storm moves your way. BTW, you are doing a banner job on your layout!!!!! Very, very nice !!!

KRUMP Good to see you again!!!! You HAVE been a very busy lad, but what is going on with your daughter and wife? Playing street hockey again?

FERGIE I know how you feel re. taking pics years ago of the trains. I has many "berks" running through the south side of my town, and when I think of all the great photo opportunities that I missed..........man, I could cry!!! Ohh to go back for one day in 1948.

See you guys later for coffee break,

[trolleyboy]

Afternoon guys just a quick run through need to refill the thermos [swg]

Fergie Liked the shot of the NF210 and the passenger car. Neat little system that used to once be there on the Island.T answer your query. It would depend on the size weight and power of the traction motors on the cars. I would suspect that anything over 6-7 % and youwould go with the cable assist. Halifax is a good example, small 20 hp Birny cars ran up and down all the downtown hills for years what would those grades be approx ?

Krump my stars the left coast lives ! Sounds like you have had a busy month or three. Sooo aout door G going on that new deck [?] Hope your wife an daughter recover quickly.

Ken It's still good work anyway,even if a simialr article been done those photo's are worth a send in to the magazines.

*** I saw the sam e nat geo show about those citters in England,still incredible that it ever was allowed for such animals to be kept as pets.

PC Nice shots from the restoration barn. Which musuem are those shots from ?

rob

[pcarrell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trolleyboy

PC Nice shots from the restoration barn. Which musuem are those shots from ?

The Indiana Transportation Museum

[Paul W. Beverung]

Hi Gang: Just a quickie to let you all know how the ore loads mold came out. It works good. I cast up a couple of loads and they came out good. The only problem I have is with picking them up with a magnet. I put a screw in each one and it doesn't work. Not enough iron mass I guess. I'll have to try some thing larger but not so heave that the load is too heavy. I used casting resin for the test batch. I also made up a batch with steel filings in them. I haven't tried picking them up yet. They need to cure and cool first. I'll try them when I get home and let you know how that worked.

[pcarrell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Cox 47

PC,,,Wow that Nickel Plate caboose thats one of my favorite paint jobs I did a couple in HO and a box car with same lettering....

You like that? How 'bout this......

[rtraincollector]

DigitalGriffin rt. 501 and rt 322 is about as close to my house (brothers) as I can pin point you to where I'm at when I come up. email me by clicking email at bottom of post will tlk to you more about there I usually come up 83 to 30 to 501

[james saunders]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dingoix

[:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!]
[:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!]
[:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!]
[:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!][:(!]
4-6-2 STILL didn't come. Unless IHC ships via UPS, all hope is lost for today. When I'm charged $7.50 for shipping I expect it to be quicker than this. What a rip off.

cheer up ding... only $7.50! we reguarly pay $10 here tho' conversions its still cheaper... maybe it'll come today?

[james saunders]

oh fruit loops...

i'm buying have a beer on me [:)] or a milkshake if your under 18/21

[inch53]

Evening all, I’ll have one of Jims barley pops Cleo,
Missed the rain so far, seems to going around us again. No real complaints here though. Going to get some train time in after supper.

Paul , how bout some how to photos when your done with the loads.

PC , they sure have some nice rolling stock over that way. Thanks for the pics.

Jerry ask me to post this photo of him and grand daughter Tootie up at the Mattoon swap meet. OH, she's the purtty one



Need to go throw supper on the grill, back in laters.
Inch

[sunsetbeachry]

Hi All
.............Got as far as 1046 Got to run dinner straberries to get in fridg,paint on wall and tomorrow to get cedar trin I dont have the right kind for trim...............Kathy loves what has been done so far she picked out color of paint I'm color blind to red and green. Have to change sink in vanity,and top of same ........No time for MRR later, this is first to suit Kathy. ............................Prayers for all and good nite............Chuck

[Paul W. Beverung]

Good Evening Gang:

Inch: I'd love to post some how to pictures on the ore loads, but I have 2 problems.
1. I'm on dial up so it would take along time to up load and I do mean long.
2. I've been shown how to post pictures a couple of times but I just can't seem to get the hang of it. I should have gone over that with Ed while he was here but we had so little time.
I'll see what I can arrange. If I can get my puter buddy to come over I'll try again.

I tried the loads tonight and they worked fine. I can lift them out with the magnet OK. The ones with the steel fillings work best. I'll try and make some more tomorrow. I still have to glue on the ore to the loads. I will make several different colors of ore for the different mines. Before they pellitized all ore the ships had to have the grades and types of ore mixed as they were loaded into the ore dock pockets. Lots of switching involved in the ore yard.

I'm going to head to bed now so you guys and gals have a good night.

[Attaboy]

Hi, folks. Just finished wiring up my new ceiling fan/light in the living room. Now all I have to do is patch the holes I had to cut to run the wire and get some paint on the walls and I'll be in pretty good shape until I can save the money for new carpet.

pcarrell, without knowing the details I can't say why your wife and son didn't qualify for SSA disability. As I'm sure you know MD is a slowly progressive process. One thing we consider is how it responds to treatment. If treatment reduces the symptoms and effects of the disease without causing too many side effects itself, it can keep people from being eligible. Without going into a lot of boring detail there are other things that can disqualify people. For example, if your wife is working, even part time, and earning over a certain amount (I think it's around $870 a month atm), she would not be eligible. Also, even though every state agency that processes the claims is supposed to play by the same rules, there's a wide variation in how the laws and SSA policy are applied. Midwest and southern states tend to be more conservative and approve fewer cases. New England and western states tend to the liberal side and often approve more people. Here in the Midatlantic states we seem to be somewhere in the middle.

der

QUOTE: …I would be interested in your thoughts about the incident mentioned (yesterday I think) where neither of the 2 “doctors” for SSA were actually certified doctors, yet had influence that over-ruled 5 actual doctors. How does that happen?

If it did happen it shouldn't have. We're required by federal law to use medical doctors for the exams we order for people. The only exceptions are licensed psychologists for mental status exams and IQ testing and optometrists for eye exams where all we need is visual acuity. If a person is taking psychotropic medication we have to use a psychiatrist, a psychologist isn't acceptable in that situation. We can use records from nurse practitioners, licensed social workers, counselors, and such to support the medical evidence but we can't use it to overide the medical evidence. And chiropractors are not considered medical doctors by the feds. Mike (Inch) was right to get a lawyer and appeal the decision in that case. Also, the doctors don't decide whether a person is disabled, that's our job. If a person's treating doctor, especially a specialist like an orthopedic doctor in Inch's case, says a person is unable to work and that opinion is supported by exam findings and testing, we usually go along with it.

Well, time to go, the eveings really fly by when I work overtime.

[der5997]

Good evening folks: JR: I was able to get the new hill and roads painted. The roads will need a second coat, but the sawdust has a satisfactory fini***hat I think just needs some ground foams dusted on to it. There will have to be all sorts of details added for the orchard scene of course. The raw sawdust hadn’t dried as much as I thought. The technique I adopted for painting was a fairly runny paint mix for good flow, a ¾ inch soft bristle brush, and laying the bristles along the surface of the sawdust scenery rather than trying to use brush strokes. The paint flows from the horizontal bristles into the damp sawdust mix with minimum disturbance of the surface. The road in the sawdust I painted the same way, using a lighter shade of blue-black-grey than that used for the AMI section. Kris thinks it looks like the road goes to gravel, and I may end up doing that. Either way, blacktop or gravel, I’m not satisfied with the result yet. The edges of the road have to get their shoulders of gravel and weeds anyway. That’s why the roads are so wide right now.
Here’s the scene as of this afternoon. The dark splotches on the ballast are places where the moisture from the sawdust/glue mix has wicked up into the ballast and reached the top. This gives me a thought about how to pre-soak ballast before dribbling on the glue, at any rate in situations where one can get away with really wetting the scenery base.

…and here’s the larger view.


The road past the station turned out like this. Again, it looks wider than it will eventually.


I had some road paint left over, so I thought I would have a go at making dilute colour washes for the rocks in various shades of grey and blue/green that are common around here. Here’s the first stab at that.



Mike: Thanks for the upholstery thread tip. I expect Kris has some of that around. I hope so at any rate. We used to re-do furniture from time to time, but haven’t in quite a while now. That’s an impressive consist of CSX power you have there, BTW.[tup]

Don: [#welcome], sorry I hadn’t said that before.[B)] I certainly don’t envy you your commute. Flip in Florida drives a lot each day too, but that’s his work, I think.

***: Thanks [:D]… and the rain has held off until about ten minutes ago (10:50 p.m.)

Chuck:

QUOTE: she picked out color of paint I'm color blind to red and green.

…Um, who does the driving? [:-,]

Paul: Check your inbox re dial up and photos. That iron filings idea for the loads sounds really elegant.[bow]

Attaboy: Thanks for the explanation. I know that the other side of the coin is, also, that because there are those who would like to arrange a free ride on everybody else’s tax dollars, you have to be more than cautious.

Time once more to seek the sack. Goodnight all, and God Bless. Prayers continuing for all those in need of healing, comfort and peace.[angel]

[trolleyboy]

Good evening again gents.

Der The roads are looking good, I almost feel like hitch hiking on them LOL

PC Next time I'm out that way I'll have to check you guys out, looks like you've got a pretty talented shop staff. anything run or are you guys a static display museum.

here's a couple shots of some of our non revenue equipment at the HCRY









Rob