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

[egmurphy]

Bob

We're on the Gulf Coast, about a 10 hour drive south of the border crossing at Brownsville, Tx.

Try this for a link to a large scale map. We're located on the coast just above the large 'O' in Mexico.
http://tinyurl.com/6fl4m

The area just south of Guadalajara, generally known as Lake Chapala, is a real hotbed of retirees from both the U.S. and Canada. Most figures put the expat population in that area at about 60,000 or so.

After you mentioned that 60 cars would about make a train around your mainline, I checked on mine. I think that 60+/- would also fill my main completely. Of course, my cars are only about 3-1/2"long as I model in Normal instead of Horribly Oversized. How big is your layout?

You know, even though the progress this week hasn't been dramatic, I feel a lot better now that I'm actually doing something on it.

Hasta mañana,

Ed

[der5997]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TEFFY

Good Afternoon All:
John:
That's what I'm worred about - the return of the bow after instalation. I don't need any help from the plywood, putting contures in the scenery, I have enough problems with the plaster cloth.

I threw my small piece out, but you are talking a whole sheet. Any virtue in seeing if it will cut into strips that can be fitted into the plan so as to accomodate the warp a bit? I'm thinking like on a grade. Or, perhaps as strips, the pieces could be made to flatten by making them L or T girder and fitting them into the plan that way. The Scottish connection in my genes is saying " I canna abide waste!" [:p]

Got most of the milling of the frames done before the sun came out and the yard work took over for t he rest of the day.

Mrs. der and her mother have decided to go on a trip for 2 days starting tomorrow. They are grabbing the forecast break in the weather, moving the planned trip up a couple of days. So I'm fending for myself. Good thing my ma taught us how to cook, as the roast came out of the freezer before the decision was made to go!

I'm rambling, must be time to quit. Have a good night all, God Bless.

[Anonymous]

Hi All [:)]

I should be studying BUT I had a homemade meal of fried catfish, french fries, navy beans, cole slaw, and apple pie and am just too full to study. So this is the next best thing to study. [:D]

I already can't remember everything I want to say. [:(] [:(!]

About the test scores -- I am not sure what the "m" is, and I don't really want to know either. I am not a "m" kinda guy. Just the opposite, I overdo everything. When I plan something I always go overboard to make sure there is more than enough. I actually went blank on several questions, but when you study and study and study it is "somewhere" up there in the mind and somehow managed to remember enought to pass. Praise the Lord, now with His help I will study and pass the next one.

Well I have several AIM chats going on so I better get back to them. [;)]

[fec153]

srvfan- on sat.channel 103 I am watching Stevie Ray. Yeah, great sounds.
Phil

[fec153]

Hi gang! Well it has started. First band of wind and rain has hit. Mild, mayby 15 to 20
mph. Now drizzling. Most of the neighborhood has been cleaned up but some
bleeped folks have left items laying around. I'll keep in touch.
Phil, per your request, I shall use our name.
PHIL.

[Anonymous]

Good Afternoon All:

ED:
The race is on and I'm going to go upstairs and start workin' dreamin'. I'm thinking about going and getting 15 more cars and try those engines with a full circle train. I guess I haven't grown up yet. Isn't it easier to lay roadbed where the track tells you it wants to go. Where in Mexico are you? We had a friend that retired to Guadalaharra (SP). She was very pleased living there and cried when she had to come back to the states because her health failed.

FLIP:
It isn't looking good right now for you. At least the wind has died down a little. This is the first time I've ever heard of a storm getting weaker when the forward motion stops or slows. Usually it's the other way around and the rotation picks up when it slows forward motion. I can't get over how big the eye is, I guess that is what made it weaker.

John:
That's what I'm worred about - the return of the bow after instalation. I don't need any help from the plywood, putting contures in the scenery, I have enough problems with the plaster cloth.

I'm going upstairs and play.

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

[Noah Hofrichter]

Chris, Yep that's the way she works. The reasons there's only four is because My class only has twenty two students, I go to private school.

Flip, I have been keeping you and every body down there in my thoughts, please keep safe. I'm watching coverage of it as we speak, and it looks to be pretty bad. Keep safe now.

Track work begun. Must go finnish, which means I got to get off of here again. So long.

Noah

[fec153]

Juntionfan- don't know what csx does. FEC did a couple times.
Phil

[Junctionfan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by fec153

Junctionfan- Very nicely put. Thankyou.
A CSX yard is nearby in Wildwood. About 35-40 miles from my home. U.S.301 goes
next to it and from a bridge get a good view of the cars. One day saw the same loco
I have a model of ,7768.
Phil .
Ouch-watching the weather has I write this.Hope to be back monday.

Do the railroads evacuate any railcars or locomotives away from dangerous wheather's path down there provided they have ample warning?

[egmurphy]

Morning sports fans,

I’ve calmed down enough to take keyboard in hand and restart this message. Spent a long time writing it last night and just before sending it the computer locked up and all was lost. [:(!] It had been so long since that had happened that I had become careless and was writing the response in the quick response window instead of doing it in Word, as I had been accustomed to do when the machine was acting up. At that point last night I just decided to turn it off and go to bed.

Ah well. It’s a beautiful morning here. Bright sun but a bit warm and humid for my tastes, but that’s Mexico. I expect that we have another month and a half of real heat before it starts to cool off a bit, but who knows.

Actually was a pretty good day yesterday layout-wise. Got more of the mainline glued down, and started on the drill track. Dropped a few more feeder wires. And even the time I spent just looking at it and thinking served to point out a couple more small changes that need to be made. While I’m not exactly burning up the world with progress, I have at least kept at it slowly but steadily since I got the layout unpacked earlier in the week.

There was one ‘oops’ yesterday. When I was drilling holes through the foam and door for the feeder wires I failed to move the door sufficiently to clear the table (real furniture) that it’s laying on. The table now has a nice small hole in the top. DW doesn’t know yet as the layout covers it. So I guess I’m off to the hardware store today to get a tube of plastic wood (or whatever they call that stuff these days) to patch it up. [:O] [*^_^*]

And I’ll admit that temptation got the better of me. I wasn’t satisfied with running a loco back and forth on the length of mainline completed, so I had to waste time assembling sectional track roughly following the trackplan so that I could run the loco all around the layout. It actually served a purpose as DW likes to see it run and this way she feels that I’m actually making progress instead of just wasting space. [:D]

Who knows, maybe some progress pics later today. Or, failing that, maybe in SNFF tomorrow.

(edit - Aw, why wait. here's a shot showing 'progress to-date'. The lines in the foreground are the ones fastened down. The yard is just laid out with sectional track to check final configuration. The curved track at the top of the photo is the upper level of the same folded loop. )


Phil/Flip – stay battened down and dry. Maybe the storm will continue to weaken as it has over the past two days. Looks like the outside bands of rain should already be reaching the Florida coast by now. Guess you still have enough time for a short run for any essentials you haven’t already stocked up on.

Andrew – real sorry to hear about Dimsdale. Several years ago I lost a dog that had been almost a surrogate child, so I can relate. When they’re that close it’s real tough to lose them. They move from being just a pet to being part of the family.

Congrats on the great score on the test Jim. Either you really know your stuff or you did a great job of prepping for the exam. Good luck on the Airframe test. Thanks for explaining about the dates. I always wondered where you were mining that info from.

Looks like Lupo is off on a good railfanning weekend. I believe that on a per square mile basis, Europe has done a much better job on preserving old steam locos than we have here in North America. I know the U.K. is buggy with old locos preserved in museums or tourist roads.

QUOTE: I got three track feeders hooked up. At this rate I'll be done with the layout sometime in the winter of 2020. (ED - want to have a race to see who finishes first or last?)

I don’t know Bob, seems to me that you have a bit of a head start. And I’ve got all of 3’ x 6’-8” to cover. Maybe we could work something out. If I extrapolate the time it took me to finish my small diorama to the size of the layout it seems we might actually have a horserace. I figure I’m capable of dragging things out with the best of them. [swg]

Okay, enough for now. Going to try to post this before I lose anything again.

Hasta luego,

Ed

[fec153]

Junctionfan- Very nicely put. Thankyou.
A CSX yard is nearby in Wildwood. About 35-40 miles from my home. U.S.301 goes
next to it and from a bridge get a good view of the cars. One day saw the same loco
I have a model of ,7768.
Phil .
Ouch-watching the weather has I write this.Hope to be back monday.

[Junctionfan]

Good morning everybody. It is a rather nice day in Ontario and I am hoping everybody will be safe today. My respects and prayers go out to Florida and the surrounding states that have had to endure a tropical storm and a hurricane in a relatively short period of time only for another hurricane to pop up. My best wishes also go out to the all the other countries who have suffered from hurricanes, typhoons and other natural disasters.

What ever religion you practice or name you called God,

May your deity protect you.

[der5997]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TEFFY

I've got some 3/4" plywood (sub roadbed) that was starting to warp so I left it outside all night, the weatherman assured me that it was not going to rain, propped up on some garbage cans with weight in the middle. Upon waking up, I heard rain on the AC unit. Now the bow is going the other way. I've put it in the garage standing on the end, we'll see how it does. I don't like to mount it with a bow in it as I think that it puts a strain on the framework.

Had the same problem with a much smaller piece of 1/2 inch ply that had wintered over in the basement. (not the absolutely driest part of the house yet, but you should have seen it before we started the renovation [:-^]) Tried to flatten the warp with a wet towel laid over it and weighed down with about 20 lbs of kitty litter (yes, in the container [}:)] ) Long story short, the bow came out, only to reappear when the piece was installed on the layout[banghead] Strain on patience, as well as the benchwork.[;)]

Raining today, so yard work on hold. May get to try another decoder instal. TCS M1 in an Atlas you- name- it GP 38 / 40 but the body shell is a GP 7. Nice clear instructions for this at http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/grela/atlasgp40.html

Feels like coffee time, and the virtual stuff served here just won't cut it today[(-D]

Have a great weekend.

[fec153]

bnsfkline- on heritage locos, is the roof dark green or is it black?
Phil

[bnsfkline]

Anther Fallen Flag...... THE DIMSDALE SYSTEM..............AKA Three Rivers

[Anonymous]

Noah:

Your school probably had the same sort of program mine does, I got into that too and it counted for HS credits, only we had a lot more than 4 people in it.

Not much happened today, only we get a 3 day weekend [tup][yeah], so either tomorrow or Monday benchwork contruction will BEGIN!!!!

The bean field behind our house is gettin' awful yellow, the corn behind that field is ready to combine, after they combine both fields I need to start practicing with my 20 guage for huntin' season...

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone, I just got back from Cresson early dismorning. I saw some good stuff, this is what I saw, 8 BNSF pumpkin units, 1 ATSF engine (yellow and blue paint), 1 CN, and UP Flag unit.

[fec153]

Hi y'all.John and all. Thanks for the prayers and good wishes-Not just for me but for
all Floridians.
lupo- Nice picture. Do those ears flap? Or are they spoilers to keep the wheels on
the rails?
Phil-Look at projected path.Supposed to go right over us.N.P.Richy should get wind
and rain.Who knows,Fla. may sinkunder all the water.Darn,too late to build an ARK.
Teffy-Bought from Dans at various train shows last 4 /5 years.Been to his store 3
times. Hour each way,lousy roads either way I go. Eye should be close.Expect 50 to80
miles an hour winds. Mucho aqua.
Andrew- sorry about your Dimsdale. Know to well how you feel.
Noah- Good going on algebra. Wait till u get to geometry.Different ballgame.
Tom-Thanks for good luck.First 'cane was back in 43 or 44. I was 7 or 8.Remember
trees down and schoolclosed.Been in more since.Whereever u go,its either floods,'canes,tornados or blizzards.Oh,yes, 'quakes. At least with 'canes we get good
warnings.
I'll stay in touch with all my new family . Peace and love to all.
PHIL.

[Noah Hofrichter]

Jim, Nice job! Hope the rest of your tests go as good. If you read this, what is the minimum grade you have to get?

Andrew, I feel really sorry for you. I've never had a pet personally but my aunt used to have one and I used to love to play with him. He died a few years ago so I know kind of what it's like.

Track work begins as soon as I can get myself out of here (it's those pies darn it[:D][;)]) I hope to work hard this weekend and have everthing good again on Sunday. Then comes Ed's suggestion, to build card board mock ups of my new industries. I hope to have those done next weekend, and then begin building the real things after that. I assume I won't get those done till after christmas break, and besides that I want to paint a few engines that I have sitting around too. In fact, I doubt I'll get oen building done by christmas.

Oh and by the way, anybody seen Hawks lately? He seems to have gotten lost.

Noah

[der5997]

QUOTE: Originally posted by george745

OK today was a bad day. My dear friend and cat of 15 years was put down. He was a great cat who always knew when you were down or sick. Like my grandpa, we knew this day would come back it always comes as a shock. I never thought I'd say this but I'll miss being wokn up at 6 in the morning or his stinkey breath when he would nibble on your ears. R.I.P. Dimsdale 9-03-04
Andrew

Andrew: Feel for you. We've had a series of dogs, most of whom have been outlived by our cat who is now 20. He's getting very thin, and we know he will die some day in the not too distant future. However, it will be a shock and loss when he goes. Doubt if we will get another. Our daughter and grandkids will miss him too. Dimsdale, a cat who cared. That's got to be special.

[Anonymous]

Good Morning All:

It is amazing what useless stuff you can learn in "the coffee shop" IE: how much slack do you think their is in a 45 car train with KD-5 couplers? (answer at the end of the post.) I was playing last night and was amazed at how much slack their was in the train so I measured it and was really suprised. Last night was just a go-play, sit, think, and enjoy. I found out that a Genesis single "B" unit will pull 45 cars. I'd started with an "AB" set and was watching the caboose to be sure the train didn't part and lo and behold here comes the "A" unit by itself leaveing the "B" unit to pull the train. I'm not knocking the BLI, as I like my locos, but the 4-8-4 wouldn't pull the train up my grade. I thought that it's eight drivers were as strong as the eight wheels on the diesel but alas NO. Now in its defence these cars did not all have free-wheeling axels, just whatever was around and under the layout. This weekend I might pull a teenage stunt and get 17 more cars out of storage and see if it will pull a train that goes all the way around the layout. It sure was a pieceful evening. I did do some work thou - I got three track feeders hooked up. At this rate I'll be done with the layout sometime in the winter of 2020. (ED - want to have a race to see who finishes first or last?)
I've got some 3/4" plywood (sub roadbed) that was starting to warp so I left it outside all night, the weatherman assured me that it was not going to rain, propped up on some garbage cans with weight in the middle. Upon waking up, I heard rain on the AC unit. DARN WEATHERMAN. If we lied as much as he does, we'd lose our job. Now the bow is going the other way. I've put it in the garage standing on the end, we'll see how it does. I don't like to mount it with a bow in it as I think that it puts a strain on the framework.

Andrew:
Sorry to hear about Dimsdale. Before the kids we had a dog. Trouble is still remembered as the best of all. She lived to the ripe old age of 12. She taught us to put her out when she jumped up, feed her when she sat up, and give her a treat when she shook hands with us. We were slow learners but she was patient with us and their were no kids to distract us.

Flip:
I' sorry to hear about where you live I thought you lived further south. I hope that you are spared the full wrath of the storm but you are going to get some winnnnnnd. Our prayers will be with you and your neighbors. Sitting on the gulf coast, I understand the pre storm jitters.
Have you been to Dan's Train Depot in Ocala, I bought from him, on eBay, when he and his dad were just getting started. Their Frenchie Gratts kits are a delight to put together but don't think that you're going to do one in an evening.

Noah:
Congrats on the advanced algebra class. It's a very satisifying feeling to understand and make it work. I always felt good when I came up with the right answer.

Jim:
Congrats on the test. How many more are you required to take and what is the time frame? This is probably a stupid question, but do you get a raise after passing each test since you are more qualified? Some companies do and some don't.

LUPO:
Your package is in the mail, the post office said about ten days to two weeks even with airmail. I put the whole address that you gave me including the street and P O Box.

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

How much slack? Over 1/2 car length, 4 3/8" to be exact. A 50' car on my layout is a long freight car, since I use a lot of 36' truss rod cars.

[tomwatkins]

Good Mornin' Everybody,
It's going to be a great day in the mountains today. There's not much to do this morning and later I'm going to go to a hobby shop to see what I can find. When the closest hobby shops are about 2 hrs. away, the trip takes on certain aspects of an adventure. I've always got a list of what I need or want but it's fun to see what surprises will await. I'll pick Shawna up from college on the way back. It will be really good to have her home for the weekend. The house gets really quiet without her.

Ed, you're right, basic steamer black simplifies things considerably. The only questions are lettering colors, white, bronze gold, gold leaf, or dulux gold. But Southern green and gold is so pretty! When the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum redid the 4501 Southern mikado a few years ago, they repainted her in the accurate black freight scheme that she wore during her working life instead of the green and gold passenger scheme. She'd been green and gold for years in excursion service. It's accurate paint and it looks good. But the green and gold was truly beautiful. I miss it.

Phil, congrats on qualifying expert. Marksmanship, particularly with a pistol, isn't an easy skill to master, but it's one worth doing well.

Flip, good luck with Frances and be careful. Hurricanes are one thing about Florida that I don't miss at all. I've still got a son in Tampa, and relatives and friends all over the state, so this time of the year the Weather Channel is on a lot.

Teffy, the Genesis F3's are a Southern green A-B set. All my locos are either Southern or L&N. The Warbonnet scheme is one of the prettiest any railroad ever used, but they just don't fit my area. Specializing on the two roads that ran here was a good decision for me. I keeps me focused and has saved a ton of money.

Jim, Congratulations on your first test. A 98 is excellent. I know what you mean about "Management". We had way too many high level managers who came up through sales to a point where they had authority over service and parts. They'd never worked in service and parts and knew nothing about it. It was very frustrating and in some cases harmful.

Lupo, that's a great picture. Hope you have wonderful time, and yes, take lots of pictures.

Andrew, I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. Even when you know it's coming and has to happen it leaves a terrible void.

It's time to get the day started. I hope everybody has a great one.

Tom

[Anonymous]

Andrew and I were talking on AIM when we were both posting earlier.

Dogs and cats are more than just animals to many of us. Losing one is like losing a family member. It is just as hard to take and is never a good thing. I lost Sasha over 2 years ago now and still miss her so much. She was just the best. I know the pain and heartache you are going through Andrew. Even thought I knew she was gone when I would hear a noise I would look in that direction to see her, only she wasn't there. It takes a long time to heal after losing one so faithful and dear to us. Hang in there. It is going to take some time, and no matter what people say, noone or nothing else can take their place. Each animal is special and different and all have their own personalities. Duchess is no where close to being a Sasha, but I still love her and try to treat her the same as I would Sasha. We must all take one day at a time. It will get better, it just takes time.

[philnrunt]

Hey lupo, sounds like a good time. As a matter of fact, it sounds like a great time. Get lots of pix!
Ed- Turns out the chief was finished cleaning the gun and was putting a round in the chamber when it went off. I saw the spent shell and it had no firing pin mark on it, it was just deformed over it's entire face a bit. As for not being in the way, I'm a big boy and a .22 in the right place might have given me enough time off, and of course alot of guilt money, to get something accomplished on any one of about 200 projects that I need to do before winter gets here. Or it could have turned me into a piece of broccoli and for Christmas people would be buying me cheese sauce. You just never know.
Flip- I was hoping you would keep using Phil, as I was always impressed by your posts and thought that maybe I was doing them in my sleep. Glad to hear you survived, I didn't realize you were in the line of fire. I have friends in New Port Richey, they gave me a pretty good idea of what it was like. Stay safe, you have a good name.
Andrew- I am sorry for your loss. I have 13 kits & cats and they are alot more affectionate than they are given credit for. All of them are special and they really do become a friend and one of the family. Godspeed, Dimsdale.
All of you take good care, it seems like the world is getting a bit rougher this year.

[lupo]

Morning all, and Hi Phil!
how re you doing tonight?
It's a nice and sunny morning overhere and we are preparing for a short railfanning trip
this weekend Steamer extravaganza! gonna leave in a few hours!
get back sunday-night.

[lupo]

Andrew, sorry to read about Dimsdale.
a cat can be REAL friend and comfort


take care

[Anonymous]

Hi All [:)]

Well I FINALLY got around to taking my first test today. I scored a 98 as I missed one. It was very nerve racking as it is an important test and is highly monitored by cameras and such. I went to the FAA about 10 days ago and they changed my forums to where I can now take the Airframe test next. [:)]

It is real important to get that test taken as soon as possible. It will be at least 2 weeks before I am ready to take it. But now with no overtime at work I can study on the weekends.

It will take forever for me to catch back up here in the coffee shop.


Now to answer the question about birthdays. [;)]

Most of the time these are people I talk with on AIM or MSN Messenger or by email. I do have phone numbers and addresses of many forum members and some of us write or call each other to chat.

Everyone take care.

[Anonymous]

OK today was a bad day. My dear friend and cat of 15 years was put down. He was a great cat who always knew when you were down or sick. Like my grandpa, we knew this day would come back it always comes as a shock. I never thought I'd say this but I'll miss being wokn up at 6 in the morning or his stinkey breath when he would nibble on your ears. R.I.P. Dimsdale 9-03-04
Andrew

[fec153]

Ed- I live in Eustis. It's about 31 miles north of Orlando on 441. It's south of Ocala
by about 39 miles. Tavares is the county seat, Mt. Dora is a quaint (read expensive)
antique and tourist hotbed. These 3 towns comprise the golden triangle.
Renninger's antique mall and flea market are 3 miles on 441. Beautiful country.
Big problem is a multible amount of new housing coming in. Roads not up to the
increase of cars. Schools under duress for enough space for students.Water short.
Money talks. People squawk,but to no avail.
Well, it's my bedtime. 5 a.m. comes early. Goodnight.
Flip

[egmurphy]

Lee van Cleef was 'The Bad', Eli Wallach was 'The Ugly'.

Bob - thanks for the suggestion, but I did okay with the first feeder connectors. Drilled the holes on the centerline of the rails, about a quarter inch beyond the end of each rail. I was able to fi***he wire lead down the hole and out the bottom and had enough slack to maneuver the track connector onto the end of the rail.

I'm trying soldering the leads to the connectors this time. If I have problems I'll solder to the track next time. The only rail I plan on soldering is where I use flex track in a curve and need to join two sections to complete the curve. But I'll be soldering before fastening the track down. At least that's the plan.

And I think the 'optivisor' is s.o.p. for people our age. [8D] A few years back I wouldn't have considered one. Now I'm more concerned with seeing what I'm doing.

Congrats on the Advanced Placement Algebra, Noah. Nice work.

Hasta luego,

Ed