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

[egmurphy]

Fergie

Try this guy for custom decals:
http://www.kcnet.com/~gmcrail/GMCRail1.html
His prices seem reasonable, especially since it seems you already have the artwork.


Regards

Ed

[egmurphy]

QUOTE: I wonder if you look forward to the train shows too? I .....talk to anyone who will listen. .......I would like to hear if you enjoy the train shows as well. Thanks, don-bostonsrock.

And here I thought we had another Red Sox fan on board! [:D] Oh well, at least you're a dog lover.

I enjoyed them when I could go to them. Can I go with you tomorrow, please? Down here they're virtually non-existent. However I live vicariously through the exploits of the other coffee clubbers. So please, go, enjoy, and be sure to report back.

QUOTE: ........I find that face to face contact is still the best way to learn. ..

And it's a lot of fun too. The internet has it's benefits and uses too. For those of us who are far from other model railroaders, hobby shops, clubs, etc., it provides a really useful lifeline for information. And it provides me some contact with the outside world.

We've actually had some coffee shop members meet through the forum and wind up visiting. Speaking of which, doesn't JunctionFan live in Ontario??

QUOTE: Being online is really never a reason to be rude or snide. ........I have weeks that I don't check out the forums because of the snaping and nipping often just over mis-spelling or poor grammer. .

I'm actually a lot ruder in person.......I keep myself in check on the forums because there's no joy in being rude if you can't see the shock on the other person's face!! [:O]

Nope, no snapping and nipping here, nosiree! However you do have to rewrite your misspelled words 50 times. (By the way, that's "snapping" , and "grammar".)

So [#welcome] to the Coffee Shop, drop by often (don't forget your homework).

Regards

Ed (who had to check in the dictionary to avoid misspelling "misspell".)

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by fec153

Fergie- You said bike ride. Bicycle?
Emeraldisle- Glad you are back.
Fla.Phil

Mountain Bike, why yes, two years old steel frame (only original part), 21 speed, built like Brick __ House with 6000 km on it not bad for a 40 something or other.... I try to do about 14 k a day, rain shine and even snow and yes I have a set of studded tires, even the one around my waste!

[#welcome] Don! Toronto eh? Hey I grew up in Willowdale, it's a small world, isn't!

Elliot: you're right, but as I said before it's like those gremlins never go away. partly my problem as I'm using recycled turnouts, which should have been deep sixed years ago. Super elevated curves look nice but are a pain. The Allegheny is burping a bit, the wheels look clean so I don't know what to tell ya. I really don't want to do a major class 1 overhaul. The decals, well that's a whole other story! considering the time and effort I've put into those I'm very disheartened over it. I maybe forced to go to a professional and get these printed off. Big Bucks, to say the least.

Does this hobby of ours get any harder?

[egmurphy]

Alex

I'm not sure we have any coffee shop regulars who are railroad employees or ex-rr employees, so you may not get a good response to your question here. I'll tell you where I have seen similar questions very recently is over on the Trains Magazine forum. They do have a lot of current and ex railroaders that post over there so it's a much better place to get a good answer. In fact there's a thread over there on page 3 (at least at this moment it's there) entitled "What's your life like?" that's right on target.

Don't let this discourage you from hanging out here, but for this particular question you'll do better there.

Regards

Ed

[Anonymous]

Philnrunt:
Don't look for me to do the KCS in Z (!), but I expect to model an HO version sometime when my budget allows. (Of course it has a waiting list to the CB&Q![:D]) I have been eyeing the Athearn SD45T-2 lately though, it would make a nice-looking KCS loco.

Ed:
I pay hardly any attention to TFM, or even most of the NAFTA railroad; the KCS is the only road I really care for in that group.

Jim:
To your more recent, food related post, I say, "You're goin' to die someday, so you might as well die happy."[8D][8D]

[Anonymous]

Ok so this is one of my first posts on the coffee shop. I have a question. For those of you who do or have worked on a railroad, what is it like ? It has always been my dream to work for a railroad. I'm only 13, but one day I would like to go to work on a railroad. I would like to work on a shortline or a regional. Thanks !

[Anonymous]

Don [:)]

[#welcome] To the Coffee Shop


[dinner] Nice to have you here.


We have [4:-)] Fergie , [angel] Me of course lol , [C):-)] several fit this catagory, a few of these [C=:-)] , [:o)] one or two of these (myself included) , [?] lots of these lol , [:-^] and these.

Enjoy the coffee shop, we all do. [:D]

[fec153]

Fergie- You said bike ride. Bicycle?
Emeraldisle- Glad you are back.
Fla.Phil

[Anonymous]

I realize that this is myself having a vague moment. I get re-enthused after I have been to a train show. Here (Toronto) the shows are all bunched together in Oct-Nov & Mar-April. There is a show tomorrow in Brampton and I can't wait to go. I won't buy much, maybe a few old copies of mags and a couple of freight cars. I would get a Spectrum 0-6-0T if I see one priced right. My HO layout is almost finished, just fiddling and adjusting to do. I wonder if you look forward to the train shows too? I take my camera and get a few shots of the club layouts and talk to anyone who will listen. I get the impression that a lot of the club members don't go on the internet much. There's so many ways to have fun in this hobby and I find that face to face contact is still the best way to learn. Being online is really never a reason to be rude or snide. I have weeks that I don't check out the forums because of the snaping and nipping often just over mis-spelling or poor grammer. I would like to hear if you enjoy the train shows as well. Thanks, don-bostonsrock. Yes, I have a Boston Terrier!

[Noah Hofrichter]

Emerald, Glad you made it through in one peice. Hope nothin' else builds up now.

Not much here today. it's home comming weekend in Reedsburg, so the toliet paper's a flyin'. Good news is no homework this weekend, so hopefully I can get a little work done on my layout. Would like to go to the hobby shop, maybe I'll see if I can't convince my Dad that we need to go to Madison this weekend. Wish me luck[;)] See you all later,

Noah

[egmurphy]

Fergie,

A few days ago you commented "...suggested that I transfer over to Railimages as they don't have spectrum issues, just content ie No Ships..."

It didn't strike me when I read it, because I remember their regulation about train only content, but I've found other guys there with ship photos (at least model ships), lots of them. If you look at the very first album on page one (Pete Nolan's album - very nice, by the way) it has a couple dozen ship model photos. After you build up some model railroad content you could try slipping in some ship photos now and them.

Or are you referring to 1:1 scale Coast Guard ships photos?

Ed

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Fergmiester

This has not been a good day! The decals are transparent, That's 1. The track was shorting (finally figured that out) that's 2. The MESS still hasn't been cleaned up, 4. I still have to finish an orienteeing course for tomorrow 5. and for six,someone let the gremlins outta the cage!!!!!!![banghead][X-)][tdn]

Ferg, settle down. You're so riled, you forgot #3. Everything will be fine, RELAX!!!!![:)]

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

Well EVERYTHING you eat these days will kill you. [;)]

So might as well have some biscuits and gravy and go smiling. [:p]

Those were my exact words over some sausages and sweet rolls this morning!!![:p][:D][:0][dinner][sigh][(-D] Trains and food the only way to live (and die)

[Fergmiester]

This has not been a good day! The decals are transparent, That's 1. The track was shorting (finally figured that out) that's 2. The MESS still hasn't been cleaned up, 4. I still have to finish an orienteeing course for tomorrow 5. and for six,someone let the gremlins outta the cage!!!!!!![banghead][X-)][tdn]

[JPowell]

Emerald - Glad to hear that you're ok. I spent 10 days @ a condo in Melbourne Beach back in April. My in-laws talked to the owner about 2 weeks after Frances had gone through... the condo was then topless and the ceiling/floor was about to cave in cause of all the water in it. We have not heard about how bad it is now since Jeanne has gone through. Sounding like my 10-day vacation to the condo next April is off.....

[Anonymous]

Well EVERYTHING you eat these days will kill you. [;)]

So might as well have some biscuits and gravy and go smiling. [:p]

[Fergmiester]

Well it's Friday here and I'm gearing up to fini***he cleanup on the MESS. It was a chilly bike ride this morning as the temp was just above 40F. The good news is this will bring about the fall colours for Bob's arrival. The Layout is up and running now with the exception of one piece of dead track. I'm hoping to solve that today by adding to my rat's nest!

I talked briefly with John W last night and he's putting his layout to the test and like I has put out the Gremlin traps, which are slowly but surely working. We had to end the call quickly as he had his polarity reversed and there was a "situation" that required his immediate attention. Hopefully he's caught that one!

Sausage Gravy? Tasty but I can hear the arteries hardening!

Any how I got work to do
Regards
Fergie

[Anonymous]

E [:)]

Sorry to hear of so much destruction. This seems to have been the worse "cane" season in years. I said before and I say it again, I wi***hey would just stop on go back out to sea and leave Florida alone. So sad, and so sorry you all have had such a bad time out there. It is bad to hear about it, I can't even begin to imagine how worn out and depressed everyone down there must be. You folks will be in my prayers again tonight.

On my trip to the Keys back in 2000 I remembered seeing the remaining parts of the railroad that once went down through the Keys. The bridge structures that now seem to be fishing piers is what I mean. I wonder IF they had not lost the railroad many many years ago how it would have faired in the light of recent years and canes?

Oh Fergie, since it is after dinner and before midnight GUESS what I had for suppper tonight? [:D] [:p] [:D]

Let me just say, it was not biscuits and sausage gravy. [:p] [;)] [:)] lol

<That does sound darn good for breakfast Friday morning though.>

Ed [8D]

I am doing the other half of the roast tomorrow. A N D I have cut up the potatoes into much smaller pieces this time. Hurry on up now you hear. [:D]

I am sure the roast will be ready by 4 since it is NOW on. [;)] I gave the "turtle" a good talkin to and it has promised to walk a little faster this time. [:D]
That is kinda a take off on an old "squak" in aircraft lingo. The story goes something like this: Pilot writes a squak in the aircraft logs reguarding the engines, he says something to the effect that the engine is not flying right. The mec who does the "fixin" of the squaks writes sometime like this, aircraft told to straighten up and fly right. Another good one is, engine was "lost" in flight, and the mec responds that the engine was "found" on the wing after a brief search. There are tons of these little funny things. They are more funny though if you actually have to deal with squaks like I do in my job.

Everyone have a good night and an even better day. [:)]

[Fergmiester]

Good to have you back and in one piece Emerald! Hopefully this is the last storm you weather in a while! Bob is enroute and We'll keep you posted.

Regards
Fergie

[Anonymous]

Dan, checking in . This is the first day we've had power since last Saturday night. Again, we were in the Southern eye wall, but only for about 5 hours. This time though, we were dealing with a CAT 3 storm instead of a CAT 2. West Palm has some damage, mostly right along the coast and of course mobile homes blown apart. As you proceed north through the Gardens and then Jupitor, damage begins to get worse. Thats only 14 miles away. Ft.Pierce, Port St. Lucie, all took some big time hits but the worst of all is the devistation in Vero Beach, on the northern part of the storm. Large homes and condo's just blown to pieces, flooding, like you wouldn't believe. Some parts, along the coast line were scoured. As you keep going north, the destruction just doesn't stop. From Miami Dade County all the way to some where north of Melbourn, power lines are down. Dade and Broward Counties are just about all restored, Palm Beach County will be fully restored by October 8, and the next county north of Palm Beach County, probably sometime mid October. Beyond that point, all bets are off. The Vero Beach area probably won't be fully restored before early to mid November depending where you live and just how much damage there is to infrastructure. . It's just unbelievable. Floridas tourist industry is at a vertual stand still. 100's of millions of dollars lost this year because all the tourist left the state and went else where. Florida is no longer the Sun Shine State, it's now the Plywood State. I have declaired an official end to Summer and to Hurricane Season. We survived Hurricane Season 2004, only by the will of GOD. Anyway it's good to be back online with you guys

[Fergmiester]

Just got off the phone with Bob. He's doing good but he's a day ahead of schedule. I'll post more on the Bob's Most Excellent Adventure Thread as soon as I have supper.

He's hunker'd down in Burlington for the night

Bill and Tim: Bob wanted me to pass onto you that he's looking forward to meeting you so not to worry!

[fec153]

Ed- if its $20 or close to it, I can swing it. How about just a picture or a photo?
Noah- I've been using Atlas 200 and 205 for over 10 years. The last 4 they have been in use in my garage. Haven't had a problem {yet}. Good luck in school.
Fla.Phil.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Noah Hofrichter



as it's stopped raining and the grass has stopped growing. I've been spending my spare time sitting with the grass forcing it to grow![:D][;)]

See ya'll later,
Noah

Noah, I could have used you here. Our grass is dead, brown and yucky. Even with the dog watering it, it is dead. [:(]

[Noah Hofrichter]

Howwwwwwwdy! Just dropped in for a quick "how-do-ya-do" Before headign off again. Not much news around here. And Jim, The whether has been nice here too. Abotu the same as in your area for highs but gettign down to 38 degrees this morning, just a little chilly walking to school (I live two blocks from it) Fall is here alright. I'll probably be raking soon, which means money! I haven't earned anything in a good two weeks, as it's stopped raining and the grass has stopped growing. I've been spending my spare time sitting with the grass forcing it to grow![:D][;)]

See ya'll later,
Noah

[Anonymous]

QUOTE:

I wouldn't worry Jim, school is back on. I haven't seen Hawks either. They'll both turn up eventually.

I'm in the same boat. I try to limit my time so I actually get my homework done.

Jim- thanks for the videos and the pictures. They'll be hanging up in my train room. I'll send some videos when I send your back.

Now off to grab some pizza.
Andrew

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by egmurphy

Good afternoon Coffee Clubbers,

QUOTE: Ferg: And on a final note if anyone is interested I am a free agent looking for a new contract.

??? [%-)]

Sorry Ed

I was lamenting the loss of the Expos and the fact that Hockey is scrubbed for the winter, just one of those off the cuff remarks. Not to worry the Mrs. hasn't given the boot......yet

[egmurphy]

John

Okay, found it on the NMRA website. Per recommended practice RP.20.1, the correct weight for N scale cars is 1/2 oz plus 0.15 oz per inch of body length. So a 40 foot boxcar at 3" length would be just a smidgen under 1 ounce. (You get to convert to grams, cm, etc).

Can't vouch for this, but it's the official NMRA recommendation.

Regards

Ed

[Fergmiester]

The Decals are made! Ran off two sets of 6 today, tomorrow I'll be decalling! Got some cleaning done too!

Oh happy days!

[egmurphy]

Good afternoon Coffee Clubbers,

Can’t speak for Georgia, Arkansas, Upstate New York or the Maritimes, but the past few days down here have been real cloudy, with some pretty heavy rains. At least it’s knocked the high temperatures down to the low 90’s (32-33). But today the sun is back out with a vengeance. I miss the fall change of seasons as much for the cooler temperatures as for the changing colors (colours, eh?) of the foliage.

Who knows, I’d like to make a fall foliage tour someday, whether it will happen or not is another story. If I get it together I'll see if I can make contact with some of you.

I’ve continued slowly working on mockup structures. I’ve moved over to the engine house area. Trying to decide where I can fit in the fuel oil tank, the diesel tank (yes, I admit it, I will run some early diseasels too, oh the shame of it all), the water tank, the sand house, the water and oil columns, the diesel hose station, the engine house, etc. Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about an ash pit with my oil burners. I knew I needed all these things, but never put pencil to paper to carefully figure out where they'd all fit. We'll figure out a way.

Meanwhile, I’ve temporarily shifted from foam to toothpicks and shish-ka-bob skewers for mock-up raw materials. When I came down I didn’t bring any scale model wood shapes with me, so now that I’m trying to do some scratch building (pretty scratchy) I’m resorting to toothpicks. And to think I used to laugh at the guys who made ship models or miniature Brooklyn Bridges from toothpicks. [:D]

QUOTE: Paul: I've done some mock-ups out of poster board. I sprayed them with a red-brown primer and than dusted them with flat black. They are still in use ten years later. They look too good.

I’m not worried about mine looking too good, but they could easily be in use ten years from now because I’m too lazy to built the permanent ones to replace them! [:I]

QUOTE: Going to a train show and sale. Anyone looking for a special item?
Fla.Phil

Now that you mention it, yes. A Bachmann Spectrum 10 wheeler, undecorated, in n scale…….. oh wait, I forgot, they put that on indefinite hold instead of issuing it. [:(]


Chris: If you’re a KCS fan, do you follow TFM, it’s Mexican subsidy? It’s one of the 3 parts that they cut FNM (NdeM) up into when they sold it to private owners a couple of years back.


Okay, it’s well after 12:00 noon here, okay if we talk pizza now? I’m starved and waiting for lunch to be ready.

QUOTE: (northern)Phil: I tried that about 2 years ago, making 3-D backrounds, all went well until I absent mindedly sprayed them with enamel, the it looked like a Dali painting. Also, I do believe I took a picture of the refinery you worked at in Sarnia. It looks like that whole shoreline is covered with industry.

Yeah, I did that with my photo diorama. Hope I’ve learned my lesson.

As I recall, there were a whole string of refineries and petrochemical plants stretching along the river, just as you describe. But once you got away from the industrial zone it was a great place to live. We lived a little south of Sarnia in a place called Corunna. Really enjoyed the area and the people, not to mention the beer.

QUOTE: Ferg: And on a final note if anyone is interested I am a free agent looking for a new contract.

??? [%-)]


John: I’ve seen the formula for correct weight for N scale cars but can’t put my finger on it this minute. Give me a bit.

Good tip on the Atlas controllers. I was wondering how those slide switches would hold up, especially after having a slide switch on my MRC powerpack go bad. Glad to know there’s an easy fix.

Well, gotta run. Lunch time calls. [dinner]

Hasta luego,

Ed

[der5997]

QUOTE: By Fergie: Paul: the turntable is on hold right now as I'm in clean up mode for Teffy......John Wood called last night and will be bringing a friend to my place when Teffy is in town. Hopefully I can get the evil gremlins out in time.

Hi folks: Gremlin City, Sober Island. I've been in full clean up mode since trying to demonstrate the layout for big brother and his wife. Disaster, Disaster, Disaster[:I] [:I] [:I] Things even FELL OVER!! Investigation in the cool light of day showed crud everywhere. Masive cleaning mode ever since. Doing all the car wheels now. (Thankfully I've a small stable[:D]) Track cleaner car has been very busy. All sorts of track glitches have been identified and seen to. Cars are being weighed and brought up to 1 1/2 ozs for 50 ' and above. I don't know the correct weight, any N Scalers with that info, please illuminate me.
Used the toe of stocking in the vacuum cleaner, and resuced 3 N persons from a dark and lonley existence. They were stored in a small building, I moved it to vacuum, and zip![:O]

QUOTE: By Ed: Speaking of John, where is der when you need him? He's in N scale and has DCC, no? I think it was a lack of response to the question on "Need N Scale DCC Decoder Advice" that set n2mopac off on the rant about not being able to get advice and fluff threads like Coffee Shop getting too many posts. John needs to chime in on that one (the DCC thread, not the anti-fluff rant).

Nice to be missed! Actually, my DCC is not yet working, as I am concentrating on getting things ready for Bob's visit, and it seemed best to just go with the DC. As to t he number of posts thing, isn't this shop filling an obvious need? Thanks Big_Boy for getting it going.

On the Atlas controller, and switches generally. I find they have a fairly short life, unattended. The contacts inside seem to get dirty, and the ease of use goes off. My fix is to drill out the rivets holding them together, take out the circuit board and slide contacts, and give everything a darn good clean and polish. Reassmble with a not too firm adhesive, screw the unit to the facia or what ever so it can't fall apart, and you are good for another 50, 000 miles[(-D]

Gotta Go. More cars to decrud, and quite a list of other things I'd like to get done before Monday.
Regards,