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

[Anonymous]

i wonder if da vinci imagened this

[Anonymous]

hello

[egmurphy]

Evening all,

My tournament viewing got sidetracked today when DW informed me that the cable went out 3 days ago and no word on when it will be restored. I hadn’t noticed because the last time I turned the television on was a couple of weeks ago to watch the Indy 500. At least I can follow the leaderboard on the internet.

Phil M shot 4 under this morning and is 6 under after two rounds. He held the early lead today, but there are a lot of players close still out on the course.

(Late footnote: the cable came back on at about 3:00 pm, so I got to watch the last three hours of coverage!)

Oh (semi-)happy day. The carpenter delivered our new bookcase where, among other things, all my model railroad magazines will go. Out of the boxes at last!! It’s no work of art, and Bill M would probably shake his head, but at least it’s a bookcase. The workmanship is marginal, the boards (which I’m sure are hand planed) vary in thickness (even along the same board), and it’s a bit off square. But then again, so is the house. Once it’s full of books and magazines it really won’t look so bad. [:D]

I suspect a piece of Bill’s custom made furniture would look out of place in this house, unfortunately. But that’s a story for another time.

Ferg – My folks actually brought me back to Newfoundland for a visit once when I was young, back in 1956. We traveled by train from New Haven to Halifax, N.S., where we took the ferry across to Port au Basques. Then continued by train to Clarenville (the nearest stop to where the family lived). I’m jealous of all you guys who remember the slightest details of your first exposure to trains. I remember about zip of this trip, and I was 9 at the time. What a shame. [sigh] Is memory the first or second thing to go??? I’m sure at least a good part of the trip was behind steam. I’ve got an old print of the ‘Newfie Bullet’ framed and available to hang once we figure out where it should go.


Boy Phil, you guys are sure getting your share of the rain. All you needed was to have the lightning strikes while you were searching through the morgue!!

QUOTE: “ Only problem is that I enjoy buying more stuff, and I'm reaching a point where I will need to sell stuff to justify (to the wife, not to me just yet) that I need more new stuff. Does anyone else experience this side-effect of Model railroading? “

Well, Bill, I didn’t used to have that problem at all, and I’m still not there. But I have noticed a change in the last year. When I got back into the hobby I thought having one or two engines would be plenty. Maybe 20-30 cars, enough to populate my small yard and sidings. I could never understand those guys who posted ‘..well I have 15 of the GP-40’s and another 20 on order…” But now, several engines and cars later, I can see how the disease starts.

QUOTE: “I also plan to visit the Roaring Camp & Big Trees RR in the nearby Santa Cruz Mtns, a really neat 3' narrow gauge w/ Shays, small industrial diesels, and other steam. “

I had a chance to go there back in ’83. Really enjoyed it, even though it was pouring rain the whole trip. I probably have photos stored somewhere.

QUOTE: Noah – “'nother boring day, not much to do, I take nap, work on project, I take nap, …, I take nap, work on nap. There, itinerary set for the day.”

Man, you’re half way to being retired. It’s not so boring here (or I’m easily occupied) but love those naps! [:D]

Noah, did you see the list of suggestions I made (top of the page) on ways of finding other modelers in your town?

Looks like we have one poster trying to set a record by reaching two stars with least number of words. [:D]

Time to watch the sunset with a nice tall glass of iced coffee.

Hasta mañana

Ed

[Anonymous]

Watch it troops, you don't want to have too much fun on here, someone will write to Bergie and we'll loose another great topic. BTW the coffee's great, who made it.

[tomwatkins]

Hey Everybody,
It turned out to be a really good day today. I got a lot of little odds and ends done and had a good time doing them

Jim, I've seen the "Squirrel proof " feeders. Home Depot has a couple of different ones and so does Gardener's Supply mail order. We'll see how it goes.

I knew they were both smart and adaptable but I wasn't aware that they had come that close to taking over a large part of the universe. It's a good thing that corn was both tall and greasy. Saved us all, or at least saved the future for us. So far the taller, very slippery pole is working. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I love a new challenge.

Bill, Your list of projects sounds about as long as mine was right after I moved up here.
It's amazing how much work is left to be done after the house is finished and you move in. The sense of accomplishment as you get it done is pretty cool though.

I think we're all "collectors" in some sense. I know I've got enough locomotives, rolling stock, structures etc. stashed to keep me busy probably forever. And I still buy more. I did manage to get rid of the model aircraft stuff after I realized that I wanted to build a model railroad. The kits, decals and detail parts I traded to a hobby shop in Jacksonville for a credit. The books and other reference material I donated to the IPMS chapter there. Some of it was really hard to part with.

Bill, I'd enjoy showing you what I'm doing. Email me off list or give me a call. I'm in the book in Young Harris.

It's getting late and tomorrow will be another busy day, so it's time to get off here.
Have a good evening everybody,
Tom

[Anonymous]

hi

[philnrunt]

Tom- it is a little know fact that before aliens mated with cro-magnon man, they mated with squirrel's. It didn't work out because the squirrel's turned out smarter than the aliens and almost took over the entire eastern side of the universe. The only thing that stopped them was that one planet with the 60' tall greasy corn stalks. I understand it was tragic to watch.
Ed- I got cha covered on the night shift, I'll be there until at least 7 years after I've died.At Least.And speaking of died- I searched a funeral home last night due to an open door, and a street officer that wants NO part of funeral homes, and if there ever was a building that needed to be owned by modelers, this was it. There had to be 10 -12 rooms, a nice(albeit damp at this time) basement and an upstairs too.You could have layouts in every scale and a place for coffee breaks. If it ever comes up for sale, I'll let everybody know, we can all chip in 20$ and get it!
Codyr- Looky there, ya got one. To some the stars mean nothing, others take some notice, but I'll bet most were happy when they got the first one.It says that you've made some good posts, you've interacted with folk, and you're past that rookie stage. Good-o.
Today is beautiful, and about time, it might give the water a chance to go down. Reminds me of the blue days in Colorado.
Bill- I envy you the trip to Ca, I have just recently became interested in NG, but like you and alot of the rest of us, I need to focus on ONE scale at a time, and then maybe not be driven nutz by it all. But if you're like me, selling stuff at a swap meet just turns into buying stuff at a swap meet. As Dr Smith used to say- "Ohh ,the pain! The pain!"
Hang in there guys.

[Noah Hofrichter]

Jim, You should try going to the website of your mail server, I think it's aol in your case, and set your e-mail filter settings higher. We did that and I only delete about 50 e-mails a day now, campared to the 400 we used to get. Well it was more like 200, the most we every had was close to 400.

'nother boring day, not much to do, I take nap, work on project, I take nap, clean room, I take nap, work on nap. There, itinerary set for the day.

Noah

[egmurphy]

Morning group,

Well, it may be sacrilege to say it here, but model railroading (and everything else) may take a back seat today as the second round of the U.S. Open is being played at Shinnecock Hills out on Long Island. I went to sleep yesterday and forgot that yesterday was the first round. Supposedly (with capital S) we are going to be able to see it on CNN Latin America. We’ll see at noon if it actually comes on or whether I get replays of an old Real Madrid soccer match from 1994. You can get the best internet coverage of the tournament at www.usopen.com.

BTW – Phil is 2 under today after 10 holes and currently tied for second place.

Jim, a bit belated but I hope things went well with your proposal to management. But who will handle the nightshift if you get switched to days?? I guess Phil can cover.

Thanks Phil, I hadn’t noticed that my profile hadn’t been activated for email. Guess that’s why Lupo had problems mailing me the scorpion gif. I’ve checked the box now.

Tom – no, we're not getting older, we're getting better. Although if you really believe you're going to squirrel-proof that feeder, then maybe you have been losing some cells. [:D] Good luck on squirrel proofing the bird feeder, you’ll need it. I believe those suckers are smart enough to break code. Saw a program once (I think it was one of those BBC documentaries) on attempts to foil squirrels and the success that squirrels had in overcoming or solving every roadblock. It was amazing.

More later, have to head for the market for supplies (and rush back before the Open supposedly starts on t.v.). Sister-in-law has volunteered to make tamales tomorrow and so everyone’s mouth is watering. [C=:-)]

Hasta luego

Ed

[Anonymous]

It's raining like crazy, with scary sounding boomers in the distance heading this way. Boy do we need rain ! And, do I need to get my erosion control in. Don't want to see my basement shop and model rr room w/ my wife's house on top of it, slide down into my other building lot next door. What a great outdoor large scale opportunity exists on that lot - all hilly and rugged and heavily treed. No - never mind - stop -STOP ! - I've got more on my plate than I need already. . .Anybody want to buy my G-scale and take away my temptation?

It's a lot of work to construct a well equipped woodworking shop from scratch, and that will keep me busy for the foreseeable future, delaying the building of my 'dream' layout - the one I dreamed about all these years, and finally have the space (and most of the rolling stock, structures, scenic details, vehicles, etc. I need to flesh it out). Only problem is that I enjoy buying more stuff, and I'm reaching a point where I will need to sell stuff to justify (to the wife, not to me just yet) that I need more new stuff. Does anyone else experience this side-effect of Model railroading? I also model scale hot rods, custom cars, and race cars and have boxes and boxes of that stuff. And then there's the ship and plane models. . . Believe it's time to run some ads & hit some swap meets to thin out my collections.

I used to build full size hot rods - '34 Fords, a '40 Ford, a '40 Huppmobile, and even a heavily modified autocross/show turbo '65 Corvair. I gave that up several years ago, because it was consuming so much time and money that I had neglected my other hobbies, and it was just to expensive to participate in, if I wanted to do anything else. Now my wife wants to get a '50s weekend cruiser to go to all the car shows in the area. It's me saying "no" to that project, for I can never leave well enough alone, and have to restore everything better than new, and modify this and that along the way.

Speaking of being old at 42, my daughter is 36 and will make me a grand father for the third time next month. I plan to visit her in San Jose in Sept and just happen to coordinate the trip w/ the National Narrow Gauge Convention there at the same time. I also plan to visit the Roaring Camp & Big Trees RR in the nearby Santa Cruz Mtns, a really neat 3' narrow gauge w/ Shays, small industrial diesels, and other steam. I havent' been there in years, and look forward to visiting it again. It is right on the route of the old South Pacific Coast branchline of the Espee, one of the most modelable (new word?) railroads on the west coast. It ran from Oakland on the SF Bay thru San Jose and Los Gatos over the Santa Cruz Mtns to Santa Cruz on the Pacific. I have hiked the entire route from Los gatos to the ocean in the past, and it is spectacular. Frankly, it keeps tugging at me to model it, and I have drawn and redrawn many track plans depicting portions of it. I need to get it out of my system, once and for all. Wish I could model both it and L&N's "Hook & Eye Line", which is slowly being designed, as I gather more info about the prototype.

Tom - I'd like to see what you've done on your Murphy Branch (Southern) some day, since the "Hook & Eye" interchanged w/ it at Murphy, especially if the Southern ever needs to divert traffic over the Murphy Branch and onto the L&N's "Hook & Eye Line" due to washouts, as it had to years ago !

Jim - hope your job situation proposal works out for you.

Ron - how's the baby and your sleep?

Fergie- my Dad lived in St. John's on the Bay Of Fundy as a young child, and used to fascinate me with stories of the extreme tidal shifts he observed - of ships resting in the mud, until the tide came back in and refloated them so they could set out to sea. At first, I thought he was telling tall tales, as he liked to on many an occasion, but after seeing it in National Geographic, I was a believer, and his credibility was restored ! Anybody remember looking at National Geographic - usually our first 'girlie magazine' - when we were kids ?

Better get off of here and get something accomplished today. Another muggy day in Georgia, but there's lots to do.

Have a great day everybody.
BILL

[Anonymous]

Birds and Bloom magazine advertised a bird feeder that would allow the birds to eat just fine but the weight of a squirrel would close the food tray keeping the squirrels from eating the bird seed. The squirrels waste as much as they eat. [:(] [V] [:(!] Plus they run off the birds if the birds are there first. I wouldn't mind the squirrels eating if they played fair and shared but they don't. Life is tough for all the animals these days but the squirrels should be nice neighbors and not so wasteful or piggish. [;)]

[tomwatkins]

Good Mornin' Everybody,
It's a foggy morning in the mountains. Actually too foogy so far to tell what the day is going to look like once it burns off. We'll just have to wait and see. It will be a good day though.

Phil,
For what it's worth, I think I'd let Bergie know about the incident. There's just no good reason for that or to have to put up with it.

Jim,
Good luck with your proposal. I hope it works out well for you.

Ed,
Is that what's happening to me? Is the internet rotting my little brain cells? I thought I was just getting older. Somebody made a comment a few days ago about feeling old at 42. 42 isn't old. My oldest child is getting close to 40. She's not there yet, but she's getting close. Hey, getting older is a sign that your luck is holding out pretty well.

It's going to be a good day today. It will be fairly light duty. I've got to mess with the roses a little bit. Spray, fertilize, and water. I really don't like using pesticides or fungicides but with roses you've got to do some of it. I've also got to " squirrel proof" a bird feeder. That should be interesting. Right now it's about 4' off the ground, which isn't high enough. Those little dudes can do a vertical jump from the ground, grab the bottom of feeder with their front paws, and pull themselves up. It's actually pretty cool to watch. But they don't share very well. They will clean the feed out. I'm going to get a longer pole and probably spray it down with WD-40 so they can't shinny up it. At least that's the game plan.

Hope everybody has a great day today.
Have Fun,
Tom

[krump]

[:)] the boat- train thing only works in my imagination, besides, if you're boating on Shuswap Lake you can watch very loooooooooooooooooooong freight trains travelling along much of the shoreline - every few minutes.
(btw - the boat is still in my imagination too - getting sick of fishing from the shore though[:(])


around here - "the boys from BC" are generally laughing at lawyers and politicians presently ... oh yeah, that's the SAME group - double haha's

mocha please!

[Anonymous]

is it 50 to get a star cause this is getting close to 50 for me

[philnrunt]

Bill- in all the years I've tried to use 'puter's that is the first time I've actually seen that phrase-thanks, another cultural icon milestone I can check off the list.
Today, one of the more violent t-storms I've seen rolled thru just as I was finishing up posting, I hustled thru the trailer and unplugged everything I could grab, as this storm was seriously looking to cause trouble!
Hanging on the wall, I have a Merlite Fire Alarm, I would guess by the looks it was made in the 50's or 60's, no wiring, no batteries, just hanging there. I have no idea how it would work in a fire, but whenever lightning strikes within a few miles, it chatters like a monkey! It gives you a heads up so you can duck and cover for the thunder. Someday I'm gonna take it apart and see what makes it tick.
Ed, we picked up another 4-5 " in two storms, don't know where the rain gauge is, I think it packed up and headed towards Mexico.Also lost power, not in the bad storm that hit me, but one that was about 15 miles south. Sometimes I feel like I have the same power company that you have.Little Peppe' Killowatt is their trademark.
Just searched a mortuary due to an open door, I don't go out often, but my officer advised she would NOT go thru it alone. I had her take the desk, and checked it out. Alot of room, a nice basement( but, like Noah's ,a bit damp today) and plenty of room for 6-8 different layouts. Each in it's own room.People would be dying to see them.
Thanks folks, 2 shows on Friday and don't forget to tip your waitress!

[Anonymous]

Jim didn't get any email but Lupo has email. [:D]


Should anyone email me please do so the first time from the forums. I get sooooooo many spam emails that I spend about 30 minutes a day deleting them. I have accidentally deleted email from forum members. So it is a good idea to email me using the forum email for the first time so I WILL know for sure it isn't a span email. [;)]

I am always happy to share my trains pics. Kinda like sharing pics of the kids, if ya know what I mean. [;)] [:D]



D A V E [8D]

G E T [:)] W E L L [:)] S O O N [:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bill mathewson

PHIL - you have mail.

waaaaa waaaaa waaaaa, Jim didn't get any mail. [:(] [V]

sniff sniff <blows nose> sniff [;)]

[Anonymous]

PHIL - you have mail.

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by egmurphy

No apology necessary, my feelings have recovered by now...sniff...[swg] By the way, it wasn't the fantail post, that was someone else. It was where I said I was born in Newfoundland, but not to let anyone else on the forum know that because it would start a run on Newfie jokes. With the number of Canadians posting here I'm actually surprised that no one picked up on it. Is it no longer PC to tell Newfie jokes? I remember when I was out on the prairie in Alberta, it was all Ukrainian jokes out there. Mostly the same jokes, just changing nationality. Although some of the dory jokes don't translate well to other nationalities. [:D] Wonder what group the boys from BC use for their jokes??

Later

Ed

Ouch that makes it worse, Sorry for the confusion[V][:(][B)]

Newfie, Ukranian they're all the same,read them daily via e-mail. Working for the Federalies I've been PC programmed. I only offend when that last nerve has been stomped on by those less PC'd Then they look at me with that "So what's your problem?!"

Go figure. Regardless Sailed with many Newfounlader's and a good bunch to sail with!

Tie that into Railroading then we are talking the Newfie Bullet, which was a narrow guage which spanned the province. I've mountain Biked a couple of old railbeds and knowing what I know now I would have taken the train across the the island before the track was ripped up.

Regards

Fergie

[trainfan1221]

NJMike
Thanks for your reply. We have all had our share of problems with NJT, including crews
telling us they won't wait for us at the ticket machine even though the tix were being printed that very moment. I've found that the crews don't like to do much of anything. I hope they aren't all like this.

[egmurphy]

Noah,

"...but I'm not sure if the library would give me the names, I guess there's no harm in trying..." Yeah, forgot what kind of times we're living in. When I think of libraries I remember the local one I used to frequent as a kid. Different times. Another idea, if they won't give out names, is see if they'll let you put a loose sheet inside the mag (or a small sticky note on the cover) asking other readers to contact you.

"And there is one small hobby store that has some train stuff, but specilizes in RC stuff." If it has at least some train stuff, again ask there for leads or ask to put a notice on a shelf where the train stuff is. Who knows, you might find other modelers in your town who are also trying to figure out how to get in touch with someone. Forming a model railroad group doesn't necessarily need to involve modules or a club layout, just having others to talk to is a big help.

"The city 50 miles away has the headquarters for this section of the NMRA,.." Okay, last suggestion. Contact the NMRA section and see if they have members in your town. I'm not a member of the NMRA so I don't know if they make a membership register available. Hey, speaking of that, if any others in the Coffee Shop are NMRA members, maybe they could say whether such a membership roster is available to members, and if it does maybe they could find some names of people in your area. Just some ideas.

In the long run we all need some real human contact. Spending too much time in cyberspace probably causes cancer or rots the mind. See what it's doing to me.....
[swg]

Hasta luego

Ed

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by philnrunt

Ed- yeah, thats what I was kind of thinking, now all I have to do is do it. Kinda hate to take it to Bergie, I'm sure he has plenty of other things to worry about, but I just can't think of a better solution.
I checked your profile to ask you directly first off,as I was enjoying a large Iced Coffee when I got the mails. That stuff is soooo good, and rather addictive. It was a good thing I wasn't hitting any Cuba Libre's as I might have loaded up and headed west to speak to the young man personally!
Thanks for the info.

Forward it to Bergie. Although he is a busy guy, and doesn't have the time to police the forums minute by minute, he is extremely responsive to issues. If someone get's tossed, they brought it on themself.

Dan

[philnrunt]

Ed- yeah, thats what I was kind of thinking, now all I have to do is do it. Kinda hate to take it to Bergie, I'm sure he has plenty of other things to worry about, but I just can't think of a better solution.
I checked your profile to ask you directly first off,as I was enjoying a large Iced Coffee when I got the mails. That stuff is soooo good, and rather addictive. It was a good thing I wasn't hitting any Cuba Libre's as I might have loaded up and headed west to speak to the young man personally!
Thanks for the info.
Noah- thats what I've done so far, but with it coming thru the Train.com system, it involves more than just him and me. Otherwise, I would do exactly that, as I've been insulted and threatened much better at work! Oh yeah, MUCH BETTER!

[egmurphy]

Phil

Quick response, no I haven't had that happen, thank God. Replying in kind is the worse action. Reporting it to Bergie (obviously with copy of the email in question) is probably the best. jmho.

Ed

[Noah Hofrichter]

philnrunt, I would just ignore it-the person probably just wants attention, but if it happens again, then notify Bergie about it. Just my 2 cents.

Noah

[philnrunt]

A (serious) question for the Coffee Shop gang- has anyone received obscene or threatening off forum e-mails from another forum member using the Trains.com system? If so, what did you do about it, take it in stride, respond in kind or report it to Bergie.
At work I would know what to do, but as this is a community, I need your assistance on this.I asked Bill M in an off forum mail, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet.
Thanks in advance, guys.

[Noah Hofrichter]

Ed, that's not a bad idea, but I'm not sure if the library would give me the names, I guess there's no harm in trying. And there is one small hobby store that has some train stuff, but specilizes in RC stuff. I used to go to a hobby in the Capital 50 miles away, which was the best store for 200 miles, but that closed, so I don't have much. The city 50 miles away has the headquarters for this section of the NMRA, so I might join that sometime, but I don't know.

And yes I have my fingers crossed for Jim today!

Another borring day around here. Got to go work on my Scratch building project after I finnish on here.

Noah

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jhhtrainsplanes

Home [:)]

Tired [:(]

Overworked [V]

Underpaid [:(!]

I give up, I'm going to bed.


Noah, will email the pic of Duchess Friday afternoon.

Lupo, do you want anymore 3985 pics?

Anybody want to see my 3985 pics ? [:D]

See ya later.

Hey Dan, we had a Falcon come visit our Falcons the other night. The guy flying it came in for a special meeting, something to do with security. It had missiles on it but since there was no guard posted everybody figured out that they were probally just for show and not the real mccoy. I know you are a Navy man and all but when are YOU gonna fly in and bring an Orion? I want to go drop some fish. lol

Shoot, I haven't flown anything in almost a year, except my keyboard. As far the armament goes, if not on a secure ramp they were probably training shapes to provide sensor aquistion info for ACM training.

[lupo]

QUOTE: Originally posted by egmurphy


By the way Lupo, I remember a business trip once with a group of Frenchmen who spent the whole trip telling Flemish jokes.

Ed

well these guys seem to at receiving end: we dutch also have a lot off Flemish ( we call them Belg ) jokes
I'll bet they have the same contents like your BC jokes.

why does a "Belg" keeps a knife in his car??
for when he wants to cut some corners ! [:D]

sorry could not think up a railroad orientated one.

BTW let's all keep our fingers crossed for JIM today!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by NJMike

Jim, can I see the 3985 pics? Please

I emailed you 4 this morning and will send 4 more after work tonight.

Since you have cable modem I can send 4 at a time instead of just 2. The upload on my end took about 35 minutes. So I started the upload and went to bed leaving the comp on. [;)]