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

[Fergmiester]

How rude of me!!

I almost forgot Flip and Ed. Listen if you guys keep complaining about the heat John and I will be more than happy sending you some Environmentaly Friendly Water Solids. But be aware don't stick your face in front of one when thrown at you.

[Fergmiester]

Good day Everyone

Paul: I'm going back on the 8th of December. It might seem far but I've been looking at the "Must Do" list and I've got a busy two weeks ahead of me. There's:

Christmas Shopping
Fixing Dryer
Service/snow tires van
Hang Snow Fence
Christmas Lights
Clean out Garage
Weekend Scout Camp
Play with trains

I'm sure I've forgotten some things.

Chuck: Glad to see ya! It's been awhile, How's the Railway running?

Lupo: You've been awful quiet as of late and I don't know if that's a good thing or not! When I first started going to sea I remember someone telling me a story, which goes something like this:

Captain:Mate, what's the crew up to?
Mate: Just your typical grumbling, whining and complaining sir.
Captain:Good! Keep it that way. If they go quiet then you know they are up to no good.

Lupo, I've got my eye on you! Watch it as there's already one marked man on this thread and Keel Hauling is always good for an afternoon's worth of entertainment.

The more the merrier [oX)][4:-)][oX)]

Well I'm hoping my decals will be finished before I'm off to sea as my collection of unmarked cars are now piling up.

Bob: Can you please send me a picture of one of your 40' freight cars!

John: My dog is more savage then yours (must be those savage winters) as Minnie inflicts seeks and inflicts shame on Barney the Purple Dinosaur (one of Greg's old stuffies) on a regular basis. BTW you haven't gotten back to me on the shipping costs, Time is fleeting as the comodity is presently melting!

Gordon: What LHS were you talking about the other day re: bad service? I'm curious as I use to frequent several when I lived in North York. I like to get to George's If I have to go to Toronto.

Anyway Later Gents

Fergie

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by der5997

Good Latte Morning to one and all:

QUOTE: I wonder where Mr. sNoah is?

That's the least of our worries, I would say. We haven't heard from Scott since page 160, and look what was in my yard this morning!

Rosie-the-dog strikes again?[:0]

TTFN

John:
Are you sure that the hat doesn't belong to Sven? Maybe the authorities should take Rosie-the-dog in for questioning and a DNA test for material under the claws.

Yesterday went well, it rained all day so that was a good reason to go upstairs and play. I've started working on my upper loop and maybe in a couple of weeks the mainline will be finished. Then I'll be able to run several trains at one time. With my luck, I'll have a corn field meet with the two most expensive locos.

Ed:
Have you made the run to the border yet?

Well I'm going to run

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

[Anonymous]

There are steamers/locos to stay clear of. We have lemons too. Post your BUY intentions BEFORE you put
down your hard earned cash. Remember, in a nut shell, it's what's under the shell that counts.

Nice dropping in, thanks lupo.

[Paul W. Beverung]

Well good news tonight. I went to the GATS this afternoon and got the replacement for the 2-8-0. Brad was very applogetic for all the trouble I'd had. I told him that it wasn't his fault and I'd be a customer again. Anyway the loco runs great. I let it run for 30 minutes each way. It was so quit that I had to keep getting up from my drawing board to check on it. I'll be getting some more,. I just hope that I don't have to go through all this with each one.

It's been raining again tonight. It just won't stop. On the bright side all the rain will help in the spring to get the pastures off to a good start.

Fergie; Glade to see you back safe and sound. How long untill you ship out?

JimRC; Welcome to the coffee shop. What you need to do is unpack the stuff you have and see what you can use. I've got a bunch of stuff that I need to go through and ether use or get rid of. I'm a pack rat extreme, so I've got alot of junk I need to throw out. I've hauled off 3 trash bags of stuff so far and haven't made a dent yet. Good luck and keep us posted.

The GATS was good. A little small as is usuall here. There were only 4 layouts on display. I did find 4 MDC twin packs of ore cars. Got all 4 for $32. John got another garden RR book. He's started putting the re-taining wall in and is going to come over tomorrow to get some cedar post cut offs. I'll see about posting some pics later.

Well it's late as usuall. I'll say Good Night

Paul

the Duluth, Superior, & Southeastern

" The Superior Route "

[CP5415]

Welcome Jim

As for affordable locomotives, I'd go with Athearn Blue Box a.k.a.Athearn BB or Ready to Roll a.k.a. RTR.
Thes , to me are affordable & the RTR are fairly detailed & not going to cost you an extra rent or mortgage payment.
Proto 1000 are another good source for inexpensive detailed locomotives.

You can find deals on ebay for Atlas & Kato offerings.
I prefer to see what I buy before I pay for it.

Gordon

[Hawks05]

decided i might drop by tonight. went to a train show today. i came home with 10 kits, an Intermountain hopper. i haven't totaled up what i spent yet but i know its in the $150 range. i didn't plan to spend that much but i found a bunch of hoppers that i liked and bought them. to be exact i bought the following Accurail ACF hoppers: DM&E, DM&IR, CP, Golden West, 2 ACF's, and a WC. also i bought 2 Accurail 50' ext. post boxcars in BN and Route Rock lettered for the C&NW. the other kit was a Roundhouse BN bulkhead flat. the Intermountain piece was one of those Canada hoppers, Government of Canada. i saw it for $28 and had to buy it, i saw them at my LHS and they run for $35 so i figured why not. also bought the June 03 MRR and a book, Realistic Trackside Operations or something, and a BNSF calender.

i had an extremely good day. my friend i went with, the guy who got me started, spent $250 for a brand new, never out of the box DCC system, Digitrax to be exact.

hopefully i won't be in to much debt, but the next show isn't for a couple months now so i'll be able to save up for that a little. i'm paying for the early start though now. went to bed around 3AMish and got up at 7:20AM.

thought i'd stop by and share my great day. now its off to total up what i spent and maybe build a kit or two for the heck of it. then its off to bed by a decent time hopefully.

[Noah Hofrichter]

John, I been sitting up on top of a cabinent since the post with Rosie and her "prize." Don't belive I'll be comming down too soon either............

Noah

[Anonymous]

Well I got a few goodies from the LHS today, enough to keep me occupied for a while, anyways.[;)]

Noah:
It's unfortunate just how much Athearn-made styrene tastes like food to Canadian dogs, isn't it....[:0][:p]

[Anonymous]

Hi All

I was living a little dangerously last night. Since I didn't have to work today I broke my normal routine and watched my favorite war movie--Run Silent, Run Deep. (Shucks, I forgot the popcorn.)

Today, I got the truck worked on, went to the LHS (bought 2 mags--Model Railroader December issue and ClassicTrains Fall issue), did some railfanning, AND joined El Parro's UP Forum.

Monday is my last work day for next week as I am taking 2 days vacation and we have 2 days of paid holidays. I will be going to the Springfield, Missouri, area to have Thanksgiving with my family up there. Therefore from Tuesday morning to about the next Sunday afternoon I will not grace you with a post. [;)]
So enjoy my posting now. [:D]

The day started out nice and sunny but as soon as I started railfanning (with a camera of course) it got cloudy. I said, "The heck with it" and took photos anyway.

Allow me to remind you of two things.

1) The day of prayer for the persecuted church

2) Mike (age 13) from New Jersey has started a Yahoo group for people who like trains. Everyone is welcome to join, here is a link

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/trainsrule/

[der5997]

[#welcome] to all the new chaps.
Jim in Cape Girardeau. What Fergie says about the Spectrum is great advice. I was going to say much the same, the technology has moved hugely in the last 15 years. I'm out of Horibly Overiszed now, and in Normal, but I remember both Spectrum HO, and Proto 2000 (P2K) as good mid range locos.

Noah: There seems to be some confusion as to your survival at the jaws of Rosie-the dog. I quote Flip, for instance.

QUOTE: der- Is that all thats left of sNoah? Good Rosie, good girl. {Hope she doesn't get a bellyache.}

It was actually TrainFreak Scott for whom we should be concerned, Flip and Bob. We haven't seen him from about page 160. All that seems to remain is his hat, and the scarf Rosie has assumed as a spoil of war.
So, Noah, as I said before,Be afraid, be very afraid.
Oh, and BTW, all these delivery things are on a four to six week basis,as you will discover on your journey through this vale of tears. That is if you will if you don't go around threatening too many hungry hounds too often.
[(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]

As Fergie has said, the Dartmouth show was a success. I snagged the rear coaches of a VIA Rail consist, and a few odds and ends. Also, I've some footage of the layouts for a video that may amuse the tourists at our VIC on rainy days. Stills from same will be on the railimages site and possibly one or two here in due course.
(As I haven't looked at the vid yet, these are to be treated as forward looking statements, as they say in the financial CYA blurbs)[:D]

Must get on, TTFN. BTW, Jimhh, thanks for the note on the IDOP, a timely reminder for tomorrow.

[egmurphy]

QUOTE: Noah: What thickness of board did you use as the base for the little diorama you did pre layout?

Noah, I used 3/4", because that's all I had. My diorama is only 10" x 17". It's so light that there's no bending. I didn't use any plaster. The foam hills were shaped, given a bit of lightweight spackle where necessary to fill gaps, and painted. There's nothing on it that weighs anything. The only time anything heavy would be on it would be if I'm photographing something. But then it would be sitting flat on some surface.


Ed

[Anonymous]

Hi Jim! Try eBay for finding cheap locos. I prefer to run Atlas or P2K (both in that price range and pretty nice detail for the money) my experience with Athearns is that they are noisy and rough running.

Whatever you do, don't spill the coffee on your keyboard, it makes a nasty smelling smoke if you do.

[krump]

QUOTE: Originally posted by JimRCGMO

Hi all, (and could you pass the cinnamon rolls with that coffee?)

Thanks in advance for any and all assistance,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

How do you like this[:)]? Jim is comfortable enough with the forum[tup] that with his first post, he's already making a Special Order with his coffee [8D][:D][:D][:D] - did you get your Cinnamon Roll??? I hope so, if not, sNoah was probably the culprit - I saw him sneakin' the last bite...[;)]
[#welcome] back to the hobby Jim! And welcome to the MRR forum and the coffee... I've got your coffee refill on my tab [^]. Enjoy.

[Noah Hofrichter]

I am looking for one they call

ROSIE-THE-DOG

She's not here? Well leave this message for her:

Those SD40-2's have not arrived yet, and they bettter soon, in one peice, or you ain't going to like the consequences!

Jim, [welcome]. As far as a good mid range engine goes, you might want to look into Athearn Blue Box locomotives as a starter. They are a little less in quality on the drive train than some of the more expensive locomotives, but they work good. You can usual find them for 50$ or less at train shows, and also some at the local hobby shop, but mostly now it's ready to run stuff. The blue boxes require slight assembly (hand rail attachment, couplers ect) but that's about it.

Well got around to getting some balsa wood for the bridge for my diroama, so I want to start working on that pretty soon.

Ed, What thickness of board did you use as the base for the little diorama you did pre layout? I'm looking into mine right now. It's going to be 2x4, and I'm trying to figure out if the 1-inch thick stuff will be thick enough, after several layers are built up on top, to support it's own wieght without being flexible. The 1 inch stuff is much cheaper than the two inch, and I'd like to save money if I can.

Well, nothing else from me today, so I belive I'll be a moving on. See you all later.

Noah

[Fergmiester]

Welcome JimRC

There is no simple answer to your questions. The search engine isn't bad but you have to be bang on with words, as I don't think it can cross reference with similar words or synonyms.

Personally I have given up on the search engine. As for locos welcome to the 21st century, where steam is slowly becoming steam again. If your searches yield nothing then don't be shy, post a question.

What scale are you doing? If you were doing HO then I would recommend Bachmann Spectrum as a good midrange steam engine. And to put your mind at ease, Bachmann is not the Bachmann of old. This is a far cry better.

Once again Welcome
Fergie

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by lupo

Morning All!
Hey Bob, about the chuffs; don't forget your motto![:D][:D]

btw how do you know how many chufs per revoltution a a locomotive has to give?
does that have to do with the cylinder arrangement?
looking at real steamers I tried to figure out how many times they "chuff " could not quite figure that out !

Hi Lupo:

Their should be four chuffs per revolution on non-artilicated locos. Notice that the drivers are out of sync by 1/4 rev. At the end of the stroke the cylinders will let off the steam that has not been used to pu***he piston and that is the chuff. By having the drivers aout of sync by 1/4 rev you get at least three pistons putting out power all the time. Every 1/4 rev you also have a piston at max power which would be at the center of the stroke. Remember that the cylinders are producing power going both ways

'Ticks are a different story, some are compound which are mallets and others are simple. Malletts use the high pressure in the first set of cylinders and then pass it on to the other set of cylinders. This is the reason that the cylinders are different sizes. The low pressure cylinders have to be bigger then the high pressure cylinders to develop the same horse power since the steam isn't as high a pressure.

Simple 'ticks could have as much as eight and as few as four chuffs per revolution, depending on weather the drivers were in sync, which is highly doubtful. Most of them would sound eight times a revolution and it would probably sound like a heart beat chuff, chuff, pause, chuff, chuff. The length of the pause and the speed of the chuff, chuff, would be determined by how the drivers were positioned in relation to each other. Remember that in real life, 'tick drivers are not all hooked to a common drive shaft.

The reason that, under a heavy load, the steam engines would back up to start the train was they didn't have the power to start the whole train at once. Diesels on the other hand, start with almost full power. My dad told me that the first time they tested the first diesel with a max load they backed it up to put slack in the couplers and then roared off like a steam engine and succeded in pulling the coupler out of one of the cars, and deformed several other coupler mountings.

I've been rather long winded and if I've left a stone unturned please let em know.

Well I'm going back up-stairs and play some more.

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

BTW: I've owned this loco forever and the number of chuffs still doesn't bother me

[SteelMonsters]

QUOTE: Originally posted by lupo

Morning All!
Hey Bob, about the chuffs; don't forget your motto![:D][:D]

btw how do you know how many chufs per revoltution a a locomotive has to give?
does that have to do with the cylinder arrangement?
looking at real steamers I tried to figure out how many times they "chuff " could not quite figure that out !

The only steam loco I've ever listen to are Cedar Points three operating coal fired 2-4-0's. I remember listening to it and counting 5. Not exactly sure why, but that is what it was. That is going forward, in reverse they give off two long chugs and steam spews out around the cylinders.

Heres a picture of Judy K. http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/fun_online/galleries/picture.cfm?id=110

[fec153]

Jimrc-[#welcome]. Sorry I cannot help you. I don't have the knowledge. Hang around and some of the folks will . Great group on this forum.

Regarding small pieces when working on a model, I use the clear plastic containers that cole slaw,etc. are packed in. They seal tight so when interrupted,the pieces wont roll away. I get them from our various food stores like Publix,Winn-Dixie Etc.
Flip

[JimRCGMO]

Hi all, (and could you pass the cinnamon rolls with that coffee?)

I'm (after an absence of a few decades) thinking about getting back into MRR'ing (HO). In fact, from about 14-15 years ago, I have the lumber, some track and switches, and a few cars and structures. Yep, some blue boxes, and both DPM and some of the old Revelle/ConCor buildings... :-)

My main question(s) is (are) - are there affordable engines out there nowadays? In looking online, it appears there are the highly detailed, multi-$$$$ (and usually brass) locos/diesels, or there are the not-so-great, cheap (both made and looking) ones. I guess I was hoping there was some middle ground in engines (like in the $55 or slightly under range, with pretty reasonable details, but not fanatically so).

Specifically, I've been considering something on the order of a SW1200/1500/7 switcher (haven't been through my stuff in storage, so I don't recall if I still have one), and probably also a GP7 or GP9 (either low-nose or kitbashed to a low-nose). Something that would put my fictional road in the approx. 1950's, using second-hand equipment castoffs from the bigger guys. I have an 0-6-0 Saddle tank loco (think it might have been a Roundhouse) for some of the switching as well. I expect to have minimal passenger traffic (1 to a maximum of 3 cars, counting 1 baggage or combine).

Any suggestions and/or comments on whether there are affordable (but not too toy-looking) engines like those out there? I've seen a Walthers GP9M online, but don't know how the detail/realism is on it. Oh, I will be coming up with my own line's paint jobs, so undecorated (or other roads' colors if strippable ) would be fine.

I'll be modifying a combination of the Jerome & Southwestern and the old Boy's Life (December 1958 or so) layout, in a 4X8 size. My apartment size (and hopes of moving in the next few years) limits me in size and I'll also need something reasonably portable when I get to move. Will add to it later when I have a more permanent location.

Second question - how do I easily find what I'm looking for in the forums? I've been trying searches and only get a mish-mosh of slightly and almost totally unrelated posts, and then there don't appear to be links where I can just go to that thread. I hope there's an easier way to get to the topics I want. When I tried the sort by topic title, after the first page, if I try to click on 'next', I get an unsorted second page(!) :-(
I am not impressed with their search engine here, frankly. This should be much simpler to at least get a list of topics you could really track down (beyond the first page, for sure). Can someone suggest where I can find a better way to locate the topics I want to find here?

Thanks in advance for any and all assistance,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[Fergmiester]

Good Morning All

Well we still have sNoahOoops; I mean snow on the ground (though that thought did cross my mind) so Der John and I are negotiating shipping costs right now on a special shipment. John promised to get back to me with the details.

Well John and I went, met, saw, bought, schemed and left on a good note this morning at the Train show. Just to be fair, sNoah is about ready for a big thaw! Anyway it was a good collection of venders today and I actually walked away with some nice stuff, mostly odds and ends. I did pick up an old MDC reefer with Carling Breweries markings. This in itself is an oddity as Carling was a Canadian brewery and if anyone can remember the Carling Red Cap commercials of the sixties (and yes I was only 5 or 6 at the time) you would know what I was talking about. Someone walked up to me as I paid for it ($8 Cdn) and said "You lucked out, I've seen them on e-bay for $25", so you can imagine I feel pretty good about it.

Elliot would have been quite happy as one of the layouts had a graffiti car on it.

I also picked up one of those reamers for use on trucks when retrofitting with metal wheels. I have to say I've already done two cars and man-o-man what a difference, you’d think the cars were motorized as they won't stay still.

Anyway I have errands to do today so time to go

Regards
Fergie

[fec153]

Tom- My Mantua, 4-6-2 President Washington is a lovely green. To bad it's a B&O. My problem with the color is the passenger car set I have is blue. Oh,well so it looks funny when on the tracks but then I'm funny looking also.
Seeing as it's my RR, anything I run in whatever combo is alright.
Flip. {Not a PROTO-RIVIT COUNTER}

[lupo]

Morning All!
Hey Bob, about the chuffs; don't forget your motto![:D][:D]

btw how do you know how many chufs per revoltution a a locomotive has to give?
does that have to do with the cylinder arrangement?
looking at real steamers I tried to figure out how many times they "chuff " could not quite figure that out !

[fec153]

Good morning all. First I need to apologise for not acknowledging the good news, the bad news and the newest members in a timely fashion. During the week,when I get home, all I want to do,HECK,all I have the strength to do, is relax,eat dinner,shower and go to bed. I will read a few comments on the forum but cant think straight enough to reply to most of them.
Paul-Its a week before Thanksgiving, dont ru***he year. Its moving fast enough.

Bob- With 500 pieces of rolling stock, don't need anymore.Of course,there are some items I would like to have. Then again, with this job,I haven't run anything except my track cleaner to keep the rails in decent condition,and I do that only on weekends between what the house requires and of course what the BOSS needs done.

Happy railing everyone-Wife is at work-I'm doing laundry,and the lawn needs me.
Flip

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul W. Beverung

Hi Gang; Well the plan for tommrow is to go to the GATS about 1pm and get the exchange. Then take the new loco home and test it out. If there is a problem I can get back with Brad on Sunday. Lets look at the bright side though,O.K? Even with all the problems I've met some good dealers that I will deal with again.

Paul

the Duluth, Superior, & Southeastern

" The Superior Route "

Paul:
Try the test rack at the show before you leave it might save you a trip. All of the GATS shows that I've been to have always had a test track for the buyers. If you ask, one of the clubs will usually let you run the loco on their layout - you will probably have to do zero streaching but what the heck. Most clubs like to see a new loco run even if it's not a members. I guess it's like looking at the neighbors new car and enjoying his pride in a new purchase.

John:
Did Sven come to see you about your sNOW requirements and run into Rosie-the-dog first?

I think that your layout is comming along nicely, if you wern't so far away I'd come back to look at it.

Ed:
When do we get some more pictures of your endever?

Fergie:
I enjoyed our conversation last night - glad that you're home again and we can get some more of your humor.

Lisa's got the right idea (that means I agree) "how do you know how the back is doing, if you're on the pills all day and can't feel the pain to stop straining the back?"

It's a nice rainy day and a good reason to go up stairs, put on some Roger Whitaker music, lay some track, and play all day. I'm sure that when Stephanie gets up she'll see something that needs to be cleaned a little better. (Maybe mom can do it Hey, Hey, Hey)

My decoders from BLI came in yesterday so that is a "pressing" problem. For the un-initated, the 4-8-4 comes standard with a three chuff per revolution sound instead of four chuffs per revolution. BLI will send out the new chip and only ask that you return the old one. When we were at Fergies no one noticed the three chuffs so I feel that it's not a great problem. If you listen to those darn "Rivet Counters" you'd think that it was the end of the world. On one of the threads on the forum awhile back someone was complaining about the drive axles being silver instead of black, I e-mailed and ask him how many he owned, you know the answer NONE. My reply was quit bitchin' and get a life. Some people can only go up by putting someone else down, I sure feel sorry for them.

Well let me go play for awhile.

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

[Paul W. Beverung]

Hi Gang; Well the plan for tommrow is to go to the GATS about 1pm and get the exchange. Then take the new loco home and test it out. If there is a problem I can get back with Brad on Sunday. Lets look at the bright side though,O.K? Even with all the problems I've met some good dealers that I will deal with again.

Mary Ann and I spent the day going to her doctor this morning and my VA doctor this afternoon. All the news was good ,health wise. We did some Christmas shopping in between drs. Here it is a week before christmas andthe stores have had there christmas stuff out for a couple of weeks now. It gets earlier every year.

I'm going to see if I can get down to the basement and do alittle MRRing. See you all later.

Paul

the Duluth, Superior, & Southeastern

" The Superior Route "

[fec153]

der- Is that all thats left of sNoah? Good Rosie, good girl. {Hope she doesn't get a bellyache.
Bob- Depends upon how I feel. Been putting average 270 miles a day on my van. Don't need a busmans weekend. Yes, it's a little over an hour each way but the roads are awful. So many new homes going up that the big rigs are beating the heck out of all the roads. And there is still a great deal of clean up being done. Trees that have been stacked at the sides of the roads,that sort of stuff.
Thats it for now. I'm beat. Another 11 1/2 hour day. Goodnight,
Flip

[Anonymous]

Hi All

We have all been praying for many people in our coffee club family due to bad weather, family ills, or other problems. Let me have our praying family add this to their prayer list.

Sunday, November 21, 2004, churches across Canada will join together for the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP). You do not have to live in Canada to pray about this item.

Should you have any questions or want more information you may email me. I have a few items I can forward to you and give you an idea of what is happening worldwide in reference to the persecuted church.

Thanks in advance for your prayer support.

[Noah Hofrichter]

Teffy,

QUOTE: I've been to Baraboo many times. We stay their when we go to the Wisconsin Dells. The place is almost a northern Disney Land.

No kiddin! And as a local, one fo the first rules is never go within two miles of down town Wi Dells on a weekend during tourist season. Every shop is packed, and it is very, very hard to get into a resturant without a reservation or waiting a few hours. Driving is nuts too, Just ask my Mom, she makes my Dad drive every time we go over there........

Well, I don't have much else, and wouldn't mind getting a little more work done on the layout, so I better keep moving. See ya all tommarrow.

Noah

[der5997]

Good Latte Morning to one and all:
Fergie: Great to see you are back in touch. Yes, the plan is to be at the Sportsplex for around 9:00

QUOTE: I wonder where Mr. sNoah is?

That's the least of our worries, I would say. We haven't heard from Scott since page 160, and look what was in my yard this morning!

Rosie-the-dog strikes again?[:0]

TTFN