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

[krump]

greetings from BC where the snow still flies, and the mocha is wonderful. train plans are coming together - doing a new module with the club for now also.

[Anonymous]

OOPS!!! new page. Zoe, drinks for everyone

Luc

[Anonymous]

Hey!!!! Good to see you krump. hope the puter gets back working soon and have a great day

Luc

[krump]

I have no clue what has been going on here, and I really don't want to bother with 20 pages and two weeks of old news, so suffice it to say... my computer is still toast, and has not been replaced.
I stopped by for a mocha, and I'm covering the free refills for anyone here, so enjoy.

Now, I'm off to enjoy what's left of Valentine's day with my Babedate (ie. former girlfriend = a.k.a. wife)

have a great evening all.

[SilverSpike]

Good Evening All!

Another shot of OJ Ed, and then I think I’ll be set with the Vitamin C!

We actually got a little sunshine this afternoon, the morning was cloudy and wet, but afternoon was sunny and starting to dry up again. We’ll take some more of that!

QUOTE: JimRCGMO
Ryan, good to hear you're making good headway on the tile. It will feel so good when you have it done (and any other prep work in the train room).

Jim,
Taking a few days break from the floor now, with Valentines Day, gonna spend some time with the Mrs., if you know what I mean! Then tomorrow night I will be attending a Cub Scout meeting, probably try to get some more tiles down on Wednesday night after work.

Here is a before the tile project photo of the train room, and the current state of the tile project in the train room:

Before the tile laying.
[image] http://members.cox.net/elvistie/Images/TrainRoom1.JPG [/image]

With 2/3 tile down.
[image] http://members.cox.net/elvistie/Images/TrainRoom2.JPG [/image]

QUOTE: TEFFY
Well, we've been told that we can come back for the second weekend of Mediation school (Ryan, I sit cross legged). I sure had trouble getting in touch with my "feely" side. I guess I'm just not much of a feely person. These weekends are get up early and go to bed late.

Duke:
I medatated when I was in college but now Strephanie and I are going to try mediation. Stephanie and I had a good laugh at your answer to Ryan. I can understand the problem as my spelling isn't that good.

Teffy,
LOL, I am happy to hear that I have been the source of some laughter! That was too funny! Thanks duke!

Flip,
Thanks for the update on the photos. Good luck again!

Hoah,
Ditto on the logos! Looking sharp!

Well, I gonna call it a night!

Y’all have a great evening!

Ryan

[Anonymous]

Good evening everyone.

Happy Valentine to all and families.

Thank you all for your comments from my last visit. Gloria is still beaming from our visitors. We have 4 grand-daughters and 6 grand-sons ranging from 5 to 17 years of age and treasure every visits to and from them. We just happen to think that they are the greatest kids around as I am positive you think the same of your own and you do not have grand-children yet, don't worry, one day you too will know this joy.

Looking forward to the weekend to get back in the construction mode, my son Steve said he was coming to kick my *** to get it in gear. [B)][:D][:D]

Big JP - [#welcome][#welcome] Glad you can join us. Drop in anytime and often.

JPowell - Good to see you again. How's the merger going?

John - Great work, I wish I could progress that fast.....

*** - sent you an e-mail from this site. I hope you get it.

Tom - I have to agree, Shawna is a beautiful name and it matches their phisical beauties. [:)][:)][:)][tup][tup]

Ed - Gloria says thanks a bunch. RE your pics, do you supply magnifying glasses? [swg][swg][swg]

Elliot - Happy to hear about the show's success. Sort of makes it worth while, don't you think? GREAT JOB [tup][tup][tup]

Robert - Please don't get too fenced in!!![(-D][(-D] Wouldn't want you to put up too big of a de-fence!!!![(-D][(-D][(-D]

Bill - Thanks a bunch for the heads up regarding glue and latex gloves. Let me see now. It should be gloves before glue correct?[:)][:)]

Bob - Grand-children are a true blessing and we should take every opportunity to spoil them.

Noah - Very simple, attractive. Looks great. [bow][bow]

Well that's all for

Happy MRRing

Luc

[JimRCGMO]

Good evening, Guys and Gals (I'm including Zoe and just in case she comes in while I'm typing, Tammy)! A Dr. Pepper please, Zoe, and a BLT (not to be confused with BLI[;)])!

Noah, the logos (logoes?) look very clean, crisp and modern - good job (again! [C):-)][bow] As for roof clutter for your factory/business, I think there's one of the Kalmbach books - in the Amazon.com book section - which shows a facility you can model (book title might be Lineside Industries You Can Model, or something like that), and it is a large, modern metal building sort of like yours. The "Look inside this book" pages have - I think - some pics of the roof of that building. Might have some ideas for you on what to put on that roof. Hope that helps!

Guess I need to decide on town names for my RR's setting and get moving on a logo, too! Hard part of being in the Coffee Shop is seeing everyone else being industrious - makes me want to do some fun things like that![:)] Spurs you on to get a move on so you don't get left in the dust (no, not construction dust, guys![}:)][;)]).

Will see everyone tomorrow, unless I get home early enough tonight after work. Have the group I facilitate tonight, so I'm staying (at work) a bit later.

Blessings and fair weather (for at least a few days),

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[grayfox1119]

Good evening gents.......a long day today, just getting to the coffee shop for the 1st time.

Sadly to say, no work done in the new Train Room construction today , darn ![V] When I was cleaning the Pellet stove on Saturday, doing a PM ( Preventive Maintenance), the fireback fake brick piece split in half, so I had to go three downs west to get a new one this morning. Now they make then out of cast iron instead of this cleap fiber material. The new Cast iron upgrade will last the life of the stove....real good idea Harmon!![^]
So that blew the morning. Then, I had to remove the train layout we had setup for the Christmas Villasge display in the Family Room, and disassemble 6 tables making up an "L" shape layout . I am very happy that I made these tables with carriage bolts and wing nuts, it only takes about an hour to get all 6 tables apart and stored.
And, I had to call the engineering dept. of the Troffer drop-in suspended light company to have a nice discussion with them over the lousy design for holding the "U" lamps in place.
We had a very good conversation, they were really interested when I told them how the clip took off like a rocket in the store and nearly struck my wife in the face. After I told them that they were sitting on a lawsuit time-bomb if someone were to lose an eye due to these clips flying off, they really took sharp interest. They took my name and email, and phone number, and want to talk real soon about design changes. I have a few ideas for them. We shall see how this goes. I am not holding my breath however.

Der John, I really like how your landscaping is taking shape, very, very nice.

Ed: With the sale of all those oranges, you will be able to buy more locos right?[:D][:D]
If you don't get enough $$ down there, I have an idea. You rent a big U Haul truck, and bring your oranges up here to New England and Nova Scotia, that way you get premium prices. Then, you stop by HD stores here, pick up tons to blue 2" and 4" insulation foam, and bring down south for all the guys who can't get this at their LHD!!
You should make enough $$ to cover your trip, and make a nice profit to buy more engines...AND...I have three or four nice flat doors that you can have for more layouts !!! How about those Apples...err , excuse me, Oranges ???!!![8D][8D][^]

Teffy: Not a bad idea!! I did buy some heavy duty steam pipe insulation, that I can slice in half, and this will fit around 1/2 of the lamp nicely, and by placing another piece stacked right behind it, it holds the lamp very nicely in place. I tis cheap, fireproof, and very safe.....no flying metal clips. Teffy, it is not only a matter of holding that end of the lamps UP, but the clip also places a force on the end of the bulbs to hold it into the sockets, so I need force in X direction, and support in Y direction.

Jim: I mentioned my emails from Fergie, as did Der John, a couple of pages back, you must of missed it, with these pages filling up so fast now, you have to read 4 or 5 pages if you miss a day. Fergie is at Sept Isle, lots of ice and 40 knot winds, but with the ice field, there are no waves luckily. He is building models, and doing well.

Philnrunt: I have used steel 2x4's at my son's house for wall studding. I do NOT recommend them for train tables. As they are used for wall studding, and meant to be covered with plasterboard, the edges can give you nasty cuts. If you are concerned about warpage, I assume you have either a damp location, or the humidity is high in summer. You might consider a de-humidifier, but these can be expensive to run for 2 or 3 months or more. So, I would opt for low warpage wood to construct your tables. Bill had some real good advice, and I agree with his wood choices. You could go with PT ( Pressure Treated) wood, and that certainly would behave, but it is more costly, and that would be for the legs. You could get into oak, poplar, maple, birch, but here again, this is expensive $$$ wood. But it sure is nice !!!

[Noah Hofrichter]

Bill, John and Teffy, Thanks to all of you for the detail advice, I forgot completely about the little things, I was more concentrated on getting it done. I’ll have to start looking for details soon.

Well Folks, I’ve finished the two two tone logos that will become my decal logo for all freight cars, so here it is:






This first is the “slogan logo” and that shows what I’ve decided on as the official Slogan of the ARK. This will sit opposite of the second logo on the boxcar, which is the official ARK logo, simple but it works for me. I hope you folks like it.

Well I better go going, supper and homework beckon....

Noah

[Anonymous]

Good Afternoon All:

Well, we've been told that we can come back for the second weekend of Mediation school (Ryan, I sit cross legged). I sure had trouble getting in touch with my "feely" side. I guess I'm just not much of a feely person. These weekends are get up early and go to bed late.

Duke:
I medatated when I was in college but now Strephanie and I are going to try mediation. Stephanie and I had a good laugh at your answer to Ryan. I can understand the problem as my spelling isn't that good.

***:
Try using those plastic Tye Wraps just don't pull them up tight as you'll never get them off the tube, they should be able to stand the heat of a floresent light. Hook them to the clip and to the tube. (just an idea)

Ed:
Where you saying that Canada only has one day of summer and it's Aug 6th.
On the "pond" statement - I thought that only the Brits called it the pond. I had to entertain some Brits several years ago and they talked about "comming across the pond to the colonies". I'm impressed with your and John's pictures - I'm going to have to get off my duff, quit operating and get with the plaster business.
What is "cerveza" we ate in a mexican resturant the other night and we saw a sign about cerveza beer.

Flip:
We used to have 18 chickens and our youngest son's idea of a fresh egg was to go out to the hen house and look for warm ones.

Snoah:
I'm impressed with you building. Try adding some vents to the roof and some square boxes. look at the roofs of some of your building when your dad is driving over an overpass, all kinds of stuff on roofs. but I'd take it as is and be happy with it.

Luct:
Aren't grandkids wonderful? I spoiled our one alot more then out kids as we made them tow the mark.

Phil:
If you get time to stop by Tom's - BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE A CAMERA WITH YOU, IT'S DROP DEAD GEORGOUS AND VERY WELL THOUGHT OUT.

Tom:
We've had one of out trees sprout leaves, then the leaves turned red and we're waiting for them to fall off.

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

[Anonymous]

Morning everybody !

Just a quick spot of coffee 'cause I need to visit one of the local lumber dealers and find out if I can afford to purchase some Douglas fir for my new built-in workbenches and a chop saw and radial arm saw table/cabinet that I'm building for my woodworking shop. Each built-in is approx 14 feet long, and I prefer to use Douglas fir since it is a much nicer wood than Southern Yellow pine. (Douglas fir is more expensive than quarter-sawn white oak around here lately. And forget redwood - even if one can find it locally) Douglas fir usually has far less splinters and is tidier looking with no knots. and is usually far more stable than Southern Yellow pine - important when one needs a dead flat surface for precision work. I intend to use two layers of 3/4 MDF for the top and then it will be covered with either 3/4 Melamine faced material for the slippery parts and 1/4 tempered Masonite for the rest. I swear by the tempered Masonite for most top surfaces on work benches because it's economical and very durable, yet forgiving enough to not damage delicate chisles and planes. I always lay down several coats of a clear oil, followed by several coats of wax, to ward off errant glue spills, etc.

As soon as these two built-ins are completed. I can start the dreaded drywalling over the 1/2 inch plywood that is being fastened to the 2X4 walls. How I hate to hang drywall - esp the sanding. Most likely will use a drop ceiling since I have an almost 9 ft ceiling height throughout the basement. I intend to use the same materials throughout the separate hobby room where I'll finally be able to put all my modeling spares in a proper place instead of having to hunt thru one box after the other and then work at a makeshift work station, or sit on the concrete floor sorting thru little parts that I barely can see ! LOL Ditto for the layout room less the 1/2 inch plywood on all the interior walls - I use the plywood to fascilitate attaching shelves anywhere needed and for racking resistance on shear walls that are framed above grade, rather than the below grade poured concrete walls.

Phil - re: steel 2X4s - remember that they are quite sharp on the edges and may not be the best choice for model RR benchwork - I can envision getting all kinds of nasty cuts and slices when working under the layout in the dark, and tracing a bad ground. Also, it's a lot easier to modify an in-place piece of wood than a steel stud. And that's a lot of conductive material - namely steel - that may or may not play havoc w/ DCC systems (don't have a clue) and the sharp edges may fray the very frail model RR wiring that we typically use. Noise transmission thru a steel framework may pose other issues, as wood absorbs a degree (how much - don't know) of noise and vibrations. The costs of steel vs wood studs are quite close, with the demand for steel beginning to increase as residential builders have started using it for new construction. I still believe that ripping 2X6s and even 2X8s into smaller dimensioned lumber is still the best way to go if one has a table saw. Don't count on the 'big box store' workers to be able to do that for you. They have a difficult enough time cutting a piece of plywood in two, and OSCHA and/or corporate rules and regs prohibit them from ripping such small dimensioned lumber. You may be able to CAREFULLY rip such lumber with a portable 'Skil- type' circular saw and a rip fence.

A pneumatic brad nailer would be a tremendous time saver for attaching certain pcs of wood, but I'd avoid using a traditional hammer and nails as that constant banging would throw everything out of wack - including your arms if working upside down under the benchwork. I discovered some really neat self tapping screws- no need for a pilot hole or a countersink - made by a German company called Wurth. I swear by them now for fastening most materials including MDF, plywood and Melamine even when butt jointing an edge against a flat. No need for an expensive dedicated step-drill bit, but a special, but very inexpensive drive bit fis needed for use in an electric drill or 'screw' driver. (anyone needing more info re: where to get these should email me)

For gluing up foam core products I use the Liquid Nails that designates on the label that it is suitable for such glue-ups. It's cheap, slightly flexible, and incredibly strong. Plan ahead and use rubber or latex gloves, as it's as ugly to clean off your fingers as polyurethane type adhesives. My fingers have been gray and wierd looking for a week now following a complicated (and messy) glue-up. What is even worse is the expandable foam in an aerosol can -got a lot of it in my hair awhile back while working on sealing up voids under a bath tub in a shallow crawl space. I strongly resembled a mutant 'cone head' when I came out into the daylight, and only Vaseline - one hair strand at a time - would remove it (and about 1/3 of my already thinning hair)!

3M also makes some spray adhesives specifically for foam core products that may be useful for adhering small pcs of broken foam, and for lightly adhering large sheets, since most applications that we use it for are under very little stress or subject to any shear. That stuff is super-flammable, so proceed with caution. Rememebr when I (stupidly) threw a 'what appeared to be an empty can' of it into a construction site burn pile behind my old house, and it exploded like a bomb, and showered the rear deck and the entire back wall w/ flaming debris - a real pain to remove. It set the molded plastic dog house ablaze too. Scared the daylights out of everone, and earned me the 'most stupid' title in our household for sometime. . .

Phil - hope to see you when you're in Georgia. Email me for phone numbers, etc. BTW - my model RR club is having an auction on Saturday Feb 26th, if that tempts you any. . .

Noah - you can build structures for me anytime you desire - very clean build up. Re: rubber vs. wood bumpers on a loading dock - both have been used, and I recall really banged up large pcs of timber with pcs of concrete and rebar attched to them lining the facing edges of delivery docks, as well as large pcs of rubber - perhaps almost like tubing - that were attached to the wood or directly to the concrete. Remember to scatter lots of debris- busted-up pallets, broken concrete and bits of wood, packing materials, fast food wrappers, and other trash - that migrated into the corners of the dock - and where the trucks wheels wouldn't have driven over it. . .Recall all of the above from my (much younger) days of working in shipping and receiving for various companies unloading box cars by hand -often one parcel at a time and then reloading the same into either the warehouse of into delivery trucks. (yes they had fork lifts way back then - just some of my bosses were too cheap to buy one) Whether it was Nabisco cookies & crackers, restaurant supplies, or fishing tackle - most loading docks were much the same.

Der - Liked the viaduct a lot - too bad a similar one would look rather silly in my north Georgia/sw North Carolina locale.

Must go and get to the lumber yard. Later everyone. . .Have a great day!
BILL

[Anonymous]

|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|.....Oh, sorry guy's. I'm just building some fences with the posts I have.[:D]

How is everybody. Zoe, a Dr. Pepper, please.

Not much happening with me. So, back to work I go....|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|.....

Robert

[JimRCGMO]

Good Morning, All! Zoe, I'd like some of Ed's OJ, and a nice glass of milk to go with that.

Phil, I'll need to remember that about the watercolor pencils, since I have assorted art materialsI could use (was art major on my B.S.). May have missed the original post on that, are those the kind of pencils that if you wet the drawing, the colors blend some?

Ryan, good to hear you're making good headway on the tile. It will feel so good when you have it done (and any other prep work in the train room).

See, Elliott, people in other scales can be nice, too![;)] Good to hear confirmation that the merchants appreciate your being there for that.

Well, Tom, this morning we have sunshine and I think we're supposed to hit the 60's around here. Our daffodils may be coming up soon, at that rate. But I'd hate to lose 'em when the next round of snow or ice comes through.

Any word from Fergie, speaking of ice? When does he get to come back in, or how long of a shift out on the ship does he have (30? 60? Till the ice thaws?? Would love to see his face when he opens the pink hat delivery...[}:)]

Actually, with all the skills you learn from working on your layout, home builders should suggest that people start a layout when they buy their homes. Good preparation (though, yeah you do have to hire the professionals for some stuff , like house wiring, etc. where the codes require it). You end up having learned all kinds of assorted useful stuff from MRR'ing![tup][:D]

Well, back to work time. Paperwork day, so I'm trying to dig out from under my (non-foam) mountain.[;)]

Blessings and be extra nice to your CFO's and sweeties (aka future CFO's),

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[trolleyboy]

Bump[tup][^][:D][:D] Rob

[trolleyboy]

Morning all,weve got the nice ice rain here today but temps going up to 50F so it'll be rain rain in an hour or so.At leat my drive in will be in slush Oh joy.Ed yes the little blackflies are a pain in the asphalt[swg][swg] but they are much farther north thank goodness we just have to deal with the mosquitosauruses[:O][xx(][:O]Feeling somewhat better today so looks like I'm on the mend. Talk to you all later. Rob

[SilverSpike]

Good Morning and Happy Valentines Day to all the Coffee Clubbers!

Just a short drop in this morning.

Another tall OJ for me Ed! That fresh squeezed is the perfect elixir for all that ails.

It rained all night and this morning still wet and gray, but the temps are up into the mid 60’s today. Nice not to having to run the AC or heat for a change. Yes, guys, remember your loved ones today!

Flip,
Glad to hear you got the E, and thanks again for the photos. You really went above and beyond on that one!

Jim,
You are so right about the local hardware, and I have a feeling that most modelers are also big into DIY projects too, you just about have to be with all the different facets of layout building and scratch building modeling. The tile in the train room is over 2/3 done now, I hope to finish it this week, and then off to doing the kitchen area. I can see the light at the end.... I will have to post a few pics of the tile progress soon!

Have a great day everyone!

Ryan

[egmurphy]

Good Morning Coffee Clubbers,

Nice morning here in Paradise. It was beautiful walking along the river with the dogs this morning. But the sun is starting to burn through the light fog, and it looks like it will be a hot one. [V]

No big plans for the day so I hope to make some more progress on the layout. [^]

QUOTE: (CG)Jim: Ed, your foam work looks great - you won’t have to do a lot of refining when you add your scenery.

Thanks. I can hardly wait to get some ground foam on it. No, don’t plan on ‘refining’, the FCVN ships pure crude oil. [:D] Actually that’s not entirely true, there is some ‘through’ freight of refined product from the refinery at the southern terminus of the line.

QUOTE: Excellente! (Is that close?)

Very close, just one ‘l’. If you get ‘taco’ and ‘cerveza’ down pat, you’ll be all set with survival Spanish. [;)]

QUOTE: TrolleyRob: Its less busy earlieer on which is an upside but the downside in May is that the mosquitos are the size of your head.

I always thought the real problem were the little black flies, or is that farther north. I know they were terrible in Ft McMurray.

QUOTE: (northern)Phil: …after I opened it I grabbed her watercolor pencils and started weathering it…

Wow, that was quick. Didn’t even give it a chance for the new to wear off first? Weathering is one of the (many) things still on my ‘to try’ list.

QUOTE: Her family is absolutely great when it comes to helping each other. I really enjoy spending time with them.

Although in-laws are usually subject to standing jokes, it really does help if you get along well with them. I’m happy for you.

QUOTE: Not the stuff they pass off for it, but real OJ.Up here, that would cost about 200$!

$200 might be a stretch, but probably $60 anyway. That’s 50% more than we got for each metric ton of oranges. That’s why we had so little when I was growing up. It was a real luxury that we didn’t splurge on all the time. I’m making up for lost time.


Tom, enjoy the exploring trip with Bill M. Wish I could join you two, sounds like fun.

QUOTE: Tom: We've already got crocuses blooming down below the house ( Silly little flowers, they don't know it's still February) and the daffodils are already popping up. It has been a warmer than normal winter so far.

We’ve got stuff blooming year ‘round down here. Of course we don’t have much of a real winter. I do miss the real change of seasons that I was used to as a kid up north.

QUOTE: Tom: Der, the viaduct really looks good. I don't recall seeing it before, but that may just be my memory going out again.

That’s you and me both. He claims he showed it before but I think he was holding out on us. [:)]



Elliot, sounds like you’re getting some energy back for the next show. That’s great to hear. Let us know how the home layout is progressing too.


Okay, got to go and get busy sanding down that foam. Catch you guys later.

Hasta luego,

Ed

[Big_Boy_4005]

Hi guys, busy day and week ahead when it comes to trains, for me. I saw Gary A. (my helper) at the local NMRA meeting last Thursday, and confirmed a work day for this afternoon. Once we are done, I need to start kicking some butt to get ready for the second show which is this weekend.

Also last Thursday at the meeting, I heard from the show's organizer that it was a huge success. He said that we drew over 2000 people, and that Sunday afternoon the parking lot was full. The merchants said they got a real boost having us there, and plans for next year are already in the works. I showed him my plan for the upcomming show, and told him that we would be there extra early Friday to set up. He seemed rather impressed, especially given the fact that he is a Normal guy. [swg]

[tomwatkins]

Good Mornin' Everybody,
It's another gray, rainy day in the mountains today. It's supposed to start clearing off later today, and the next couple of days will be beautiful. Wednesday should be really nice for Bill and I to get out and do some RR archeology and exploring.

Actually, it doesn't matter what the weather is doing outside today. Once I get a couple of errands out of the way, I'm off to the railroad room, where it is always springtime and the sun is always shining.I'll get some more foam glued up, probably start carving some, and start fashioning the removeable access hatch that needs to be in that area. It's going to be a really good day.

JimRCGMO, I'm in complete agreement with you about gray, cold, rainy days. I'd rather it be a bit colder and snow or be a bit warmer or drier. A cold rain just isn't much fun. Actually, I'm about ready for spring to get here. We've already got crocuses blooming down below the house ( Silly little flowers, they don't know it's still February) and the daffodils are already popping up. It has been a warmer than normal winter so far.

Der, the viaduct really looks good. I don't recall seeing it before, but that may just be my memory going out again.

Luc, now that makes for a truly great day! BTW our daughter's name is also Shawna. I think it's a beautiful name.

Ed, the foam work looks good. You're making good progress.

JimRCGMO and Flip. I remember what looked like RR tie bumpers on loading docks. It seems like they were quite common as recently as the late 60's and early 70's. After that the hard rubber bumpers became more common.

Philnrunt, sounds good. I'll email you our phone numbers off list.

I'd better go for now and get the errands run.
Have a great day, everybody,
Tom

[fec153]

Ryan- got your "E". pic's will go out snail mail tomorrow.

Bob-Yours are going today.

Everyone enjoy the day with your love. Best to all,

Flip

[philnrunt]

Hi folks- I was reading the post concerning warped wood, has anyone out there tried steel 2x4s? They talk about them here and there, but I have yet to actually see one. They also say the price is less than a premium wood 2x4. Who are they to say all of this stuff, anyway?
Amyjo picked me up a CSX covered hopper for V-day, after I opened it I grabbed her watercolor pencils and started weathering it. She can't get over the fact that I "dirty up" the brand new cars I get. Anyway, it came out ....ok, not as good as some, better than I expected, but I see a need to get some of these pencils and keep handy.
Also assisted in installing a water heater at Ajo's on Sat, her's quit when the lights went out back in Jan. Her family is absolutely great when it comes to helping each other. I really enjoy spending time with them.
Noah-great building!
Bill- Good to hear from you, and thanks for the excellent information- we really don't know when were leaving, so we don't have a clue as to what free time we will have on the way down, but I will keep a copy of the post with us so we can check it out if we have the time. Now, on the other hand, as for that remark about winter finally coming to Georgia, lets get that over with ASAP!!!!
Ed- Sounds like you had a good time, I hope our trip matchs yours. I know we won't get 80F and sun, but after this winter we'll settle for 60 and clouds! And man, what I would'nt give to have 5 gallons of OJ. Not the stuff they pass off for it, but real OJ.Up here, that would cost about 200$!
Tom- Thank you veddy mooch for the invite, as I said up there to Bill, the drive down might be a bit cramped on time, but we might well have time on the way back. We'll be leaving Savannah on Thur (24th), don't need to be back here until Sat.I would love to meet some of you guys, it sounds like everyone is doin' it, doin' it ...no wait, thats the Lindy Hop. Anyway, how about you e-mail me a way to get in touch with you, and if we can do it, we'll at least get together for a cup of joe- on me.
I have also decided that being away from the forum for a week, I'll not even try to catch up when i get back, so if I sound even more confused in a few weeks, at least ya'll will know why. We'll be on page 500 by then!

[trolleyboy]

[:p][oops] I got the first post in again so Zoe if you are still awake a double dose of everyones favorite form of vitamin C on me.[:D][:D][:D]Rob

[trolleyboy]

Good evening everyone just poped in to catch up been pretty busy the last two days.We just got back from amother trip down to my folks for my nieces 9th birthday.I'm fighting off a cold or flu type thing so Ed's oranges aside if I'm not making sence that's probably why.[:(][xx(]I've not been sick i over a year so it was just a matter of time I've'm just finishing off a stretch of work since last august when I last had vacation so my gas tank is empty ,one more week and I'm off for a week to recharge said batteries.[:p][:)][#welcome] to any and all new members,trains rme good luck with the new house I know what you mean we bought our first home two years ago and it does tke time to gauge what the bills are like ,but I've always said living in an apartment is kind of like flushing your money down a drain you may owe a lot but at least it's yours. Ed as far as the winniers trip goes they can redeem whenever they want,Its less busy earlieer on which is an upside but the downside in May is that the mosquitos are the size of your head[:0][:0][B)][xx(][xx(]Well good night all[|)][zzz][zzz][zzz] Rob

[grayfox1119]

Here I am up late again, I can't keep my eyes open, heading for bed...

Don't forget the ladies in your life tomorrow gents....Valentine's Day!!!!

Good night all !!!

[Paul W. Beverung]

Late again. I've been watching Island At War on PBS Master Piece Theater. It's really quite good.

I'm going to say Good Night for now

Paul

The Duluth, Superior, & Southeastern

" The Superior Route "

[der5997]

Very quickly, as it's past bed time. I'll be away for most of tomorrow, so won't be able to get down to answering the various bits of this ongoing converstion until then. I've noted the page. [:D]
Goodnight all, Happy Valentine's day, and God Bless.

[JimRCGMO]

Good evening, Zoe, and a cup of coffee while I dig through all the posts since this morning.

Almost looks like we’re an extension of our local hardware store or construction companies, with all the projects everyone here has been working on - Ryan, ***, who’s next? [:)] Pile up those CFO points, guys! Do we have a card like Discover, to accumulate the CFO points for train equipment? Maybe someone should write the credit card companies and suggest it.[:)]

Flip, some places probably do use the rubber bumpers on docks, but back 40+ years ago, I recall a fair number used what looked like railroad ties bolted to the dock (maybe they were cheaper?). Plus, I don’t know if the rubber bumpers might have come along later than when I was working at the grandparents. So Noah, if your place is more high class, use the rubber bumpers, or if you want a kind of worn-down, low-budget place, go for the wood ties look. [:)]

LilRob, does that post mean you’re in training?[}:)][;)]

Sounds like you and Gloria had a great time (heck, the whole family probably had a great time, from the sound of it!), Luc.[tup]

[#welcome] back, Big_Boy1213!

Ed, that sure makes me wonder who’s getting their OJ wallets fattened, since obviously it’s not the growers or the workers down there. Also, what’s the antidote for an OJ overdose? I might want to let our local ER people know, just for their information.

I worked on the 1:1 plan this afternoon and it’s 90 percent done. I’m really wanting to just get the wood and start transferring it onto that, so I can figure the flextrack part. I have the locations of the ends of the switches marked and centerlines of straight sections, plus the places where tracks go across the 1’ square lines for important curves. May need to make a run to our local supply place - or have a friend who has a small woodworking shop cut the 4 X 8 board I have in the shed. I want an irregular (curved) front edge on the double 'modular' sections. Then I can get going on the good stuff (like L-girders, tracklaying, and on to operations!).

Ed, your foam work looks great - you won’t have to do a lot of refining when you add your scenery. Excellente! (Is that close?)

Time to do some things and get ready for tomorrow.

Blessings on everyone's labors (which appear to be going well today),

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[SilverSpike]

Well, yesterday was sunny and today was cloudy. The rain just started again, so we don’t dry out for long this time of year. Just got back from the chocolate event, stomach hurts now! I have had enough chocolate to last me a year or more!

QUOTE: fec153
Ryan- What is on your right shoulder in the picture? Cat or small dog? Please don't say it's a boa. Altho, if picture was taken in N.O. during Mardi Gras time , I guess it's o.k..

Flip,
That is our terrier / poodle mix dog Sparky I was holding. I was wondering if anyone would recognize the fuzzy puff of fur on the shoulder! I sent you an email for the photos, and let me know about the shipping!

Ed,
Hey, save some oranges for us!
Great photos and nice work on the foam and painting. Looking good!

Gotta go for now!

Take care,

Ryan

[egmurphy]

Good Evening Coffee Clubbers

Boy it turned warm with a vengeance today. Up in the high 80’s and sunny. [8D] I’m sitting here with the fan blowing on me trying to decide if I need to bite the bullet and run the a/c tonight or not. [:p]

Busy day today out at the orange grove. They came and harvested 12 metric tons of oranges. Not a huge amount, but there’s more to go. Seven guys picked, carried, and dumped all that into the truck in about 4 hours. All by hand, carrying these huge baskets, which weigh about 155lbs, on their backs. I’m not sure what they got paid, but I can tell you it wasn’t enough. That works out to each guy loading and carrying 25 155lb loads during this time period, or one every 10 minutes. [:0] No breaks. Made me tired just watching them.


***, that’s quite the saga of the light fixtures. Better you than me. I’d love to hear your call to customer service tomorrow. Please report back.

QUOTE: (CG)Jim: Ed, I trust that after your surform session all your fingers (and skin) are attached? Oh, and do you cool the OJ bucket after you get it filled up?

Yup, so far so good, no medical emergencies lately. When we get home the OJ gets put in smaller Tupperware containers in the frig’s. Since it has no preservatives (btw, it’s totally organic – Zoe, start raising prices on the OJ!) it’s only good for about two or maybe three days. After that, if there’s still any left, I need to check it to see if it’s started to go off.

QUOTE: Tom W: Ed, now that is as fresh squeezed as it gets. It has to be wonderful stuff.

I’ve never had OJ as sweet as this stuff is. I’m about OD’ing on it.


Hello Pedro, should we assume from your manner of speaking that you’re visiting us from across The Pond? (Note to Teffy – it’s “The Pond” , not “The Lake” .)

Bye for now, TrainsRMe, congrats on the new mortgage. Drop back in when you can.


John, now that’s a viaduct!!!!! [wow] Starucca’s got nothing on that one. Way to go. [tup]

QUOTE: And is the pile on top a rockslide or talus slope?

QUOTE: Neither, actually, it's just a place to put little scraps that may be usefull It also represents the hill that will replace it.

I knew that, it was a joke. [;)] Although it does resemble a talus slope…….. [:D]

QUOTE: (CG)Jim: …I've decided to go ahead and build the double module layout using my current (brass) track (less $$$ outlay at this point, a necessity). Then later when I can afford the NS track and switches, I'll replace the old track/switches…

I think that’s a great decision. Gets you into modeling faster, and the experience is never wasted. Good man. How’s the plan working out in 1:1?

QUOTE: der: One trick is to break it up with little details. The eye is drawn automattically to those, and the GREAT EXPANSE isn't so noticable. For instance, there are always vent pipes for washrooms. Figure out where these might be inside, and glue a couple of short black pipes about 6 inches diameter over those places. Air conditioners, Fan housings, access hatches, these things all help break up the grand desert. They don't have to be super detailed, or even prototypically correct.

Right on. Easily applied details that will make a huge difference. No one really knows what they look like so it’s easy to fake them out of scrap material.

QUOTE: der: Going back to your liquid nails question, I glue all my foam with plain old white glue.

Me too. I only used the Liquid Nails for Projects to glue the foam base sheet down to me door. I probably could have used the white glue for hat too.

QUOTE: Flip: The bumpers at loading docks are hard rubber-not wood.

I suspect you can find both kinds, probably depends on local custom and construction era. I’m more used to seing wood, myself.

QUOTE: radivil: Later today I might print out a light gray version of the letters, as they're white but my printer can't print white. Any decals I later make would require me to print the letters out. Perhaps a light gray, while printable, will be close enough to white for my purposes.

Not having tried to print decals myself, I can't say for sure. But I’ve heard others recommending the light gray trick on other decal threads, so it’s probably worth a try.

QUOTE: Luc: This has been a beautiful day and I wanted to share this little bit with my on-line train friends.

I’m sure it was a real treat. Made me smile. All the best to Gloria.


Here’s a quick update on the layout progress, and a couple of shots.

I’m probably 95+% complete with the foam rough in. There are just a couple of small areas where I’m still deciding what to do. And most of it got at least a rough surform rasping to smooth the contours down some. This has really made a difference, and I can start to imaging that there is some real countryside that the trains run through, even if it is blue.

Here’s a shot of the last of the major foamwork.




I pretty well finished smoothing the foam contours in the southeast quadrant. It’s not completely finished, but I decided to give it a coat of latex paint to help me see how much more work I need to do. Just minor spackling to fill some gaps and smooth some rough spots. I think I was obsessing too much about getting it smooth. I mean, I’m just going to cover it with ground foam in several layers trying to give it some texture, right?

So here’s a shot of this area. Just a bit more work to get it right.





Okay, that’s about all for this evening. You guys keep well. Best wishes for improved health for the spouses who are going through difficult times.

Hasta mañana,

Ed

[Anonymous]

Hi y'all