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

[fec153]

NOAH- If it snows here in mid-Florida, there is nowhere you can hide.
FLIP

[Noah Hofrichter]

Realized, that a few of you have been busy going over the 500 post mark! To both John and Ed, I say congrats!

Well it's friday! Which means a whole weekend all to the trains! My family will be going to madison tommarrow, which means a trip to the LHS and to the LRY(local railroad yard)!!!! I can't wait, I've been wanting to get to both for a while now. But other than that, I don't have much else new.

And BTW, I laugh at all of you with the 40 degree, 50 degree whether, as it got down to 20 this morning!! And I had to go to school, couldn't just stay curled up in bed. Thankfully (well, maybe not, I need the money) no SNOW yet. But maybe I should be praying for SNOW for all of the North American contienent, several inches of the heavy, wet, the-kind-you-hate-to-shovel SNOW!!!! SNOW SNOE SNOW!!!!!! ('Scuse me got to run from Fergie now, or I may be comming back as a new user!)

Noah(shh, I'm being hunted)

[egmurphy]

QUOTE: Adding more bits of foam to that rock wall is like bricking up a room. (Not that I've ever done that personally, but it features in several macabre or comic movies.)

My personal favorite of that genre is the old Edgar Allan Poe work, "The Cask of Amontillado". Of course a real cask of amontillado wouldn't be all that bad either. [:D]


Ed

[der5997]

QUOTE: we've got to be at the bank for a lock box drilling and I've got to go.

QUOTE: I have to ask! Hopefully this doesn't include explosives, does it?
Bob Stevens: Last of "the Hole in the Wall Gang". [:O]

I think it's quite innocent,Fergie, as it obviously has to do with hot boxes[;)] so, it's RR, even possibly Santa Fe, all the way[:D]
He didn't even mentioned tunnels.[(-D]

Ed:

QUOTE: I need to get the trackwork gremlins rooted out so that I can continue with the hills myself.

I've left off doing the track gremlin thing in favour of the hills! I've concluded that the really free rolling truck on the passenger car that was showing up bad track was in itself the problem. I'll recheck the guage, and maybe fiddle with the truck's axle retension. Something is too loose perhaps.
Adding more bits of foam to that rock wall is like bricking up a room. (Not that I've ever done that personally, but it features in several macabre or comic movies.)

[Fergmiester]

John: I just sent you an e-mail regarding a N scale shipment, new and used, that just came in a t George's.

Teffy: The cheque (money order) is in the mail!

Regards
Fergie

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TEFFY

Good MOrning All:

Their is so much I want to respond to, but I overslept this morning and we've got to be at the bank for a lock box drilling and I've got to go.

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

I have to ask! Hopefully this doesn't include explosives, does it?

Bob Stevens: Last of "the Hole in the Wall Gang"[:0].

Not much on the go except speaking of walls and wrecking, I've torn down another section to put up another rock face. I'm trying a slightly different medium. I'm using paper backed, silver wrapping paper. It shows promise so I'll let you know how it's working out.

I also realized I misspelled spelled, so for the MESS up

I'll talk later as I'm off shopping with Lisa (Oh joy)

Fergie

[egmurphy]

Good Morning Coffee Clubbers,

Partly overcast down here this morning, made for a really beautiful sunrise. Weather has actually been decent these past few days. Not cool enough for me but at least that really oppressive heat of the last few months is gone for a while.

I ashamed of myself for making zero progress on ripping out the bad spots and reworking them. I need to buckle down this weekend and get a start. I suppose ripping out a section of main so that I can’t run trains would be an incentive, no?


John, you’re really making some progress with those hills. Don’t let them kid you, I can see the future in all that snoam, I mean foam. [:D] Now that I’ve discovered my 'lost' stash of foam, I need to get the trackwork gremlins rooted out so that I can continue with the hills myself.

I don’t know about the melting bit for ditches. I’ll let you try it first. The little bit I’ve done so far I’ve done with a rounded tube of sandpaper, or with it wrapped around my finger.

QUOTE: Chris: I decided that whether I've ever seen trains from that era or not I wanted to model the postwar era again. So now I can go back to 40' and 50' boxcars painted mineral red, woodside waycars, F-units, Baldwin switchers, Geeps, SD's, and Alcos. Besides, what I realized I wanted a modern CB&Q to be like was what the road was like in the midcentury decades, anyways.

There you go! Sounds like a good idea to me. Did you see the ‘map of the month’ back in November’s Trains? It’s a page and a half spread of a map showing growth of the Burlington System from 1850-1940. Sounds like something you’d like.


Speaking of the November issue of Trains, which I just got, they also had an excellent article on rail transport of chemicals, which included an very detailed map of railroads in the Houston area. Very well done article.


Noah, John beat me to the punch with his comment on how valuable it is to be able to speak to a group. Gets even more important as you get up in a career, and gets harder to get used to. So now is the exact time to start developing that skill. Does your jr high or high school have a debating team? That type of activity may have fallen by the wayside, I don’t know. But I participated when i was in High School and I thought it was very good at helping develop the skills for public speaking.


Wow, Scott, that’s some friend to give you an engine like that!!!


Phil(northern) – good to see you coming up for air long enough to stop in now and then. Did you get the materials to start tree making?


What’s up with the trip to St Louis, Larry?


Catch you all later,

Ed

[Anonymous]

Good MOrning All:

Their is so much I want to respond to, but I overslept this morning and we've got to be at the bank for a lock box drilling and I've got to go.

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

[PennsyHoosier]

I had a dreary, rainy drive from Indiana to St. Louis tonight. Long and lonely. Things cleared as I approached St. Louis and, as I got on to the Poplar Street Bridge, I was greeted on my right by the Arch and on my left by a freight crossing the old Municipal Bridge. It was a great welcome!

[Paul W. Beverung]

Elliot; I guess that my mind (such as it is) was else where when I was looking at the posts. That really looks good. I can see why you are putting together a crew. The bench work looks real good. Nice craftsmanship.

Philnrunt; Yes, the lakes can get rough. I've seen Michigan smooth as glass and a couple of hours later it was a rageing torrant. Most folks don't think that a lake can be worse than the salt sea. There are deep sea captains who won't sale the lakes because of there wild nature. My railroad is in the business of moving iron ore. I've set the location of the division I'm modeling in northern Michigan. My ore port is located north of Marquete Mich. on Superior. I havn't nailed down the exact location yet. I'm still going over maps. I've been to Marquite several times and do like the place. There is a restaurant over looking the lower harbor called Veralings. I'm not sure of the spelling on that one. Anyway, I like to sit and look over the harbor while I have a cup of coffee and a piece of there great cherry cheese cake. Some times you can almost see the Henry B. Smith sale out into the storm to join those that went missing. They may have found her last year. Asfar as i know they haven't made a positive ID yet. I need to get back there someday. Drop me an E-mail an we'll talk about the lakes.

Ed; There you went and had me chocked up for awhile. I haven't read that pome for a while. Forgot how touching it is. Thanks

Der; It's a good thing that you don't have a model of the Titanic near your layout. one look at that blue ice looking foam and she'd sink again out of freight. I've got to try that stuff.

Well I've got to get to bed.
Good Night All

Paul

the Duluth, Superior & Southeastern

" The Superior Route "

[TrainFreak409]

I have such good friends around Sykesville. I was giving a new locomotive on Sunday, because he couldn't get it to work. He told me if I got it running, I could keep it, since he never could. And I got it running, so I scored an N scale, Con-Cor, CSX Veranda Turbine! Kind of nuts ain't it?


YAY TURBINES!

~[8]~ TrainFreak409 ~[8]~

[Anonymous]

Hey Noah, a girl and I were co MCs our of Senior Variety Show. I wrote the script and we dress up. I wore a three piece suit with the vest homemade out of the same material her long dress was made. We had to audition and she and I won the audition. I had a blast being MC, it was loosely taylored after the Johnny Carson Show. ([:0] Boy does that date me.) [;)] All in all it was a very good time. As a side note, I learned a while back that she passed away, she had a heart attack. That really makes you stop and examine yourself in light of many things, nonetheleast being your relationship with God and family.


And on another note . . . our weather has turned chilly again. We have had some night down into the 40s. Just last week I was walking the dog in a tshirt and shorts, now a light jacket is recommended.

Also a sign of the times . . . I have heard and seen several groups of geese flying south for the winter. Sometimes their formation is very good and other times not so good. I also heard (don't know if it is true or not) that they all take turns being the leader. I have also watched them when they seemed very confussed and would fly one way, turn fly back the way they just came, then turn and refly the opposite way again. I guess this is when a female is in the lead. [:0] [;)] <Jim really didn't say that, you just imagined it. [;)] >

Well not much else to report. All quiet on the mid south front.

<Jim is ducking in anticipation of flying pots and pans. [:D] >

Bye now. Stay Safe.

[der5997]

Flip:

QUOTE: der- It gets cold here in Mid-Fla.. Why in just the last few mornings its been down to 52
Of course, by 10:30 we are turning on the a/c

And freezing too, I know. Used to rely on that each winter to make money on thechange in price of orange juice concentrate more years ago than I now care to remember.[^]

Noah:

QUOTE: Der, your making good progress, can wait to see that section finnished and sceniced though. And I like the new quote in you sig, and it's true too. You never think about it, but it's right...... Shows you what He can do.

Thanks, I can't wait either, but I gues we are going to have to[:D]
On the ark thing, did you ever consider the forward planning involved in that throw-away line "and pitched it within and without with pitch."? You've got a huge box of a craft that has to be coated with tar all over. If you didn't have it supported just right, that might be a bit tricky. But then the building instructions were pretty specific, and Wonderful, as you pointed out!

QUOTE: I've never been big on public speaking, but I'm okay at it.

#1 fear of 99% of the population! Keep at it, it's a very marketable skill. If you can "wing it" in front of an audience then you have a valuable asset. Take every opportunity to practice it.
The worst occasion I recall was teaching field latrine construction (theory) to a class of young women in a civil defence class in England in the 1960s. I was all of 23 or 24[:I][:I]

Fergie:

QUOTE: and spurt is the the dribble that makes up the remainder

Way too close to home.......[:o)]

Christopher:

QUOTE: F-units, Baldwin switchers, Geeps, SD's, and Alcos.

Alcos? You really like smoke that much?[(-D] I used to get this ribbing from the guys about the Alcos I had on my Horribly Oversized layout. Thing was I had no idea what they were talking about. I'd never seen one, just acquired the loco along the way, and liked it.[8D]

Must get on. Take care.

[Anonymous]

Well it's a rainy, 40-degree day here in Illinois, also had some sleet mixed in with the snow a few times.

I think the modern-day CB&Q has finally went back to the era I used to want to model--the 1950s. After I saw a few pictures of classic-era railroads in MR, and ran my CB&Q steamer with sound, I decided that wether I've ever seen trains from that era or not I wanted to model the postwar era again. So now I can go back to 40' and 50' boxcars painted mineral red, woodside waycars, F-units, Baldwin switchers, Geeps, SD's, and Alcos.[:D] Besides, what I realized I wanted a modern CB&Q to be like was what the road was like in the midcentury decades, anyways.

Well I got off today because of Veterans' Day, hopefully everyone gave thanks to the veterans today.



Christopher

[Noah Hofrichter]

Elliot, I just hope mine comes out as good as yours did in the end.........

Der, your making good progress, can wait to see that section finnished and sceniced though. And I like the new quote in you sig, and it's true too. You never think about it, but it's right...... Shows you what He can do.

Howdy all, I think I'll have another Hamburger, hold the fries though.

Well, we had a Veterans Day Program at school today, and the eight grade always leads it, but I ended up being MC. I had to wing a few things, and didn't have any sort of script aside from the sheet that said who was next. But I got alot of compliments, so i must have done good. I've never been big on public speaking, but I'm okay at it. But I sure do get nervous before I go on. Then again, I got nervous the first time I caught a train with my video camera, sooooo.......

But anyway, that's my big news for the day. I haven't had a chance to do really any Model Railroad work this past week, but I hope that my two new WSOR SD40-2's come tommarrow (I was hopeing today, but the mail didn't run.)

Well, I guess I better get going, I've got homework and I may start on the ARK logo today. See you all tommarrow

Noah

[Fergmiester]

Well with all the changes to signatures I decided to add a little something,

Sorry Der John I hate to be outdone, BTW I missed your question the other day regarding tunnel derailments. I just shove a plow in front of my Allegheny and take a run at it! Not. I have implemented several measures. The track has been anchored and checked, I have installed a guard rail along three feet of the track, at one end I have installed an atlas crossing/rerailer, I have removed tunnels where possible and replaced them with "cuts" akin to the one through the south end of Halifax and I have cut holes up through the layout that are big enough for my hand to reach up and grab cars. Something else to think about is those remote grabbers you can by at the dollar store or Canadian Tire. They are good for two to three feet.

It's a chilly day here but at least it's not raining as we had the Beavers, Cubs and Troop out to the Memorial Day Service in Dartmouth. As always, a good turnout. Memorial Day is a civic holiday in Nova Scotia so the schools were out and the stores were closed.

We then took the Troop for a hike this afternoon so now it's time to grab a coffee and take the chill off.

Lisa's slowly on the mend but again this is one of those time will be needed to fix it.

Bob: thanks for the sight link but I'm going to hold off until after Christmas as I have other priorities that need fixing and building. I have to get ready for my trip to Sydney, though only a week a dare not forget anything.

Well I got things to do so I'll catch you all later

Fergie

[egmurphy]

QUOTE: Flip: Why in just the last few mornings its been down to 52. Of course, by 10:30 we are turning on the a/c.

Very similar here south of the border. Got down into the mid-60's last night, which did allow me to turn off the a/c. But back on in mid morning. It's in the high 80's now with the sun just a-shining down.


Forgot to mention that my monthly mail package came yesterday, so I received the November issues of Model Railroader, Trains, Railroad Model Craftsman, N Scale Railroading and the new 2005 Great Model Railroads, all in one fell swoop.

Excuse me, gotta go read...................

Ed

[fec153]

der- It gets cold here in Mid-Fla.. Why in just the last few mornings its been down to 52
Of course, by 10:30 we are turning on the a/c.[:D].
Flip

[der5997]

Flip:

QUOTE: der-Whats with all the blue ice? Aren't you afraid of a flood when it melts?

Only a Floridain would think of asking such a question at this time of year[:D][:D] Besides, we've got Noah in the shop! (BTW, check out the new quote in my signature)
Actually I am getting a bit bored with all this blue. Trouble is that I think it's too soon to paint. There's much more to be built, and then there will be a great deal of shaping and carving, and adding of rock castings. etc.
Melting does have some interesting effects on this foam, as you doubtless know. I've a number of small craters where solder dripped while the wiring was in progress. One time the end fell off the El Cheepo $Store soldering iron, and all but disappeared into the trackside up by the viaduct end[:O] The trench was easilly filled, but it was a moment! I'm thinking of melting in some of the trackside drainage ditches, if I can arrange sufficient ventilation. Carving gives a very V shaped ditch. I can fill in the bottom, but I think a melted ditch may look more like it was made by machine.
In the mean time, I'll sit an shiver

[fec153]

der-Whats with all the blue ice? Aren't you afraid of a flood when it melts?[(-D][(-D][;)].
Flip

[tomwatkins]

Good Mornin' Everybody,
It's a gray rainy day in the mountains this morning. Sorry I haven't been around the last couple of days, but they've been pretty busy.Shawna is doing well. She's not close to feeling 100% well, but she's improving daily. She's getting things caught up and what she's getting done is being very well done indeed. She made up a mid-term in one of her classes on Tuesday and she aced it.

Phil and Paul, November 10th and November 11th can be kind of a double whammy. Especially in a year when we have people in harms way. It's never easy, and it can't be done without loss. We, and by we I mean all the people of what Churchill called the western democracies are very blessed that we have people who believe the sacrifice is worth it and they go.

Paul, Yes Sir, seeing that helo come in could put a smile on your face like nothing else sometimes. Truly a beautiful sight. Thank You.

Ed, I really enjoyed "Flander's Fields. I'd not read it in quite a while. One of my favorite books is "To Serve Them All My Days" by R.F. Delderfield. It's about an English schoolmaster between the wars. He'd been a young infantry officer in The Great War. It's really a good book and it turned me on to some of the other poetry from the war. Excellent stuff.

Fergie, I agree with Teffy. If Lisa is anything like Louise, you'd better tie her down! I do hope you both are getting better. Our barbecue is on the back porch. It goes year round. Of course the back porch is about 9 1/2 feet above the ground so digging it out from the snow isn't a problem. Congrats on the BLI heavy mike. They are super locomotives. Just remember that sound is addictive. I found that out the hard way.

Paul, sorry to hear about your eardrum. I hope they can fix it, and do it without hassle. Helos are noisy beasts.

JP, I'm truly sorry to hear about what you're dealing with. It makes for about the hardest of hard times. I've been there too, about 12 years ago. Friends help, and you have friends here. Email me anytime you want, and take care of yourself.

I'd better go for now and get some stuff done.
Have a great day everybody,
Tom

[der5997]

A good and solemn morning to you all. The very fact that we can enjoy this international forum comes at great cost that we so often overlook. We also forget the toil and terror that the pioneers, and armies of faceless workers overcame to make the infrastructure we take so often for granted. (and as builders of model empires, we should perhaps know better!) End of sermon [:O]

lupo:

QUOTE: John, if you want a gif in a gif I think you need some software to design these GIF's and store 'm on your own website, I will do another search and if I can find a program that is easy to use and post a link overhere ! for now have fun with the other link !!

Thanks, sounds interesting. If you find a program I'll try the learning curve. Webshots gives me quite a lot of space I haven't used yet. I've not got around to trying my own web page, like Bob, I'm IT techno- challenged.

Tracks are disappearing behind tunnel walls. Looks a bit like a layer cake. Hope it "all comes out in the wash" as my mom used to say.

[dave9999]

A rainy morning in P'cola.... Darn, I can't go to work today.[:(!][:D]. Well, I guess I'll have to find something
else to do. Hey, maybe I'll work on the layout.

I know a lot of you are off for Veterans Day.... but, when you are self employed, holidays are usually just
another day. Have to hope for rain to get a day off.

Thanks to ALL who have served and provided us with the freedoms we enjoy everyday. Dave

[fec153]

To all who have served- THANKYOU.
Flip.

[egmurphy]

Morning all,

November 11th - Veteran's Day - (or Armistice Day if you prefer.)

Thanks to all of you that served, or who are serving now.



eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month...........


Someone posted this on another forum, and I thought I'd include it here. I'd forgotten about the poem even though I was very familiar with the lead line:


In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

--John McCrae

btw, McCrae was a Lt Colonel in the Canadian army. The poem was written in memory of someone who died in the Battle of the Ypres Salient, in 1915.

I remember when the American Legion (and probably other organizations as well) used to sell little paper poppies to pin on your lapel for Veteran's Day.

Flanders is a province in Belgium. The American-Belgian Club holds a memorial service at the American Military Cemetary, Henri-Chapelle, in Aubel, Belgium, each year on this day. The year I lived in Antwerp I attended the service. Very moving.



Regards

Ed

[lupo]

JP: stick to the forum !
It is a nice and cosy " world " filled with friendly people sharing a common interest ( and offcourse great coffee [:P] and "lousy " food )
and is a great distraction from the hassle you are going through,
at least it has been to me.

John, if you want a gif in a gif I think you need some software to design these GIF's and store 'm on your own website, I will do another search and if I can find a program that is easy to use and post a link overhere ! for now
have fun with the other link !!

Elliot, couldn't you get the train to move?[:D][:D]

[philnrunt]

Paul- When you learn the history of the Great lakes, you realize that the oceans have nothing on them. It's good to find another lake fan. 2 years ago on my b-day, I spent the weekend at White Fish Point, and this year we went to Algonac St Pk on Huron. Lots of lakers to see at close range, and CP or CN running across the river.
So does your Superior Route haul ore? Right now I am torn between an island mining RR and re-creating a local industrial RR, indecision is killing me! I've even thought of the ind RR in HO and the island RR in N. We'll see how this madness works out.
Don't forget to thank a veteran today, they are special people!

[Big_Boy_4005]

Paul, I have some photos posted in some current topics, but they were easy to miss. Here are the links:

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24069
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24298

Pennsy, thanks. I try to draw inspiration from the forums, but it is even more fun to provide it for others.

Noah, I was really surprised at how little time it took to create that. Last week I sat and talked about it with Big Girl and Big Boy Jr for about half an hour. Prior to that, I had a completely different picture in my mind. We all made some doodles, and the ideas came out of that. I had been kicking around name ideas for a long time. This one isn't very creative, but it is very descriptive.

I won't be doing decals or paint for this railroad, since it is purely prototype based, so I figured that I could use as many colors as I wanted.

Lupo, I love those smileys. I've always wanted more of them.

[fec153]

JP- Every cloud has a silver lining. Been there-went through that. Felt like [censored]
Second wife,23 years now, got me into mrr. So, hang tough. You have plenty of friends.
Flip.

[Paul W. Beverung]

Philnrunt; Glad to see that someone else remembers. I did the whistle. I 'm sure that no one in the park paid any attention to it. There are alot of others that have "gone missing". One only a year or so ago off Milwaukee. Some 6 to 10,000 wrecks on the lakes. Many " When the Gales of November come early."

To all you Jar Heads out there. Happy Birthday. 229 years today. Wow. The happest Marine I ever saw was in Viet Nam as I landed in the LZ to pick him up. I did so enjoy that. A great bunch of guys then and a great bunch of guys now. God Bless you all and thank you.

Noah; That is exactly what my dad and I liked to get . A jucy burger and a strawberry shake. I guess it must be a Wisconsin thing.

Elliot; I read your post about your layout. Sounds like a fun deal. I'd give you a hand, but the commute is a bear. How about letting us see a drawing or something?

Well I've got to get an E-mail off to Teffy. Take care everyone.

Paul

the Duluth, Superior & Southeastern.

" The Superior Route "