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

[fec153]

LUPO- u are too much. Thanks for all the laughs and smiles. HMMMM! Boy o boy, but that coffee is delicious. The strudel is good also.
Phil

[Anonymous]

Good Morning All:

I'm only up to page 120, trying to catch up on what's been going on. You guys are posting faster then I can read. I'm not going to be able to make this very long as the grass kept growing while we were gone and I've got to get it taken care of today. I like a big yard except when it comes to fireing up the lawn mower. It's a 12.5 HP with a 42' cutting deck so it does a good fast job and usually takes about 6.5 hours to cut around the trees, outbuildings, and flower beds. It has felt so nice to sleep in our own bed, I'd forgotten how firm it is and how well it sleeps.

I've got so much to tell and not enought time right now so I'll catch ya'll later.

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

[der5997]

QUOTE: Originally posted by lupo

Morning Teffy ! you are up early after such a trip!
Have a virtual coffee on me!

Lupo: That's some fast coffee machine. Now it's installed - tip of the hat to harrythecat- [8D] krump can buy all the free refills we need[:D]

eastcoast (BTW that's alot of coast, care to narrow it down? Like, I'm on the eastern shore of Nova Scotia, Canada): Thanks, I sure hope it stands well! The only "mobile" bit is actually quite weighty. More picsof much more blue board are available @ the site in my signature. Railimages haven't renamed the Untitled sub album yet, but there are pics there too.

krump:

QUOTE: John - the only trouble with sheep is that we already have the Wile E coyotes, but RoadRunners don't grow in our soil, or maybe I'm just Looney, time to change my Tunes, I guess.
- sheep might happen next year actually, I have a few sources (see also link to insomnics)

Just stay away from "ACME" Brand sheep! [C):-)] [(-D]

Jim:

QUOTE: About floor furnances . . . I am not sure they are even made anymore. But the principle of operation is basically convection heating, the floor furnace is usually installed in a smaller home as it does not have a fan to force the air anywhere. It is installed below floor level with a "grate" over the furnance.

Thanks for the technobyte. Sounds just a bit more primitive than a Roman Villa, without the benefit of slave labour to look after the firing. At least they had heating pipes under the floors! However, the natural gas is a feature I wish we had here. We send all our off shore gas to the States, it seems. At any rate, there's no line down our way, and won't be for generations, likely.[V] Had natural gas in Alberta, and liked it a lot. I even got to install the line from the main house inlet around a corner to where we made an inlet for the basement gas fire. Being from the UK, where, when we were there, such a job was strictly for professionals, I was amazed that I was allowed to do that kind of work, as a rank amature. The gas company came and checked everything before we fired her up. No leaks, no problems.[^][:p]
We are oilfired (with a price cap above which the cost to us does not increase all heating season)
but it is still pricey, as Fergie points out. We have a wood stove in the living room. However, it gets too hot to be near most of the time it's on! [banghead] We chose one we could cook on in power outs. Those happen 2 or 3 times a winter as a rule. Usually I'm the first in our area to report them, and the power is often back on before we've really had to do any serious indoor camping.

[lupo]

Hello Everyone!

John, that harrythecat sure has a nice collection of digital goodies!
I think it is a steampowered coffee machine, that is why it's so fast !

Fergus, remember joking about your crippld bigboy being shoved around by a motorized tender?
well there is a locomotive manufacturer who had the same idea, last week at a swapmeet I picked up a 2nd hand ROCO steamer that was on my son his wishlist,
taking it out of the box at home I found the tender somewhat heavy compared with the locomotive, closer inspection revealed a very detailed boiler and drivers, all piping was there evn under the boiler, but no gears or anything looking like that, then I discovered
the tender is really the engine, and the engine is shoved around the tracks by the motorized tender. ( 8 wheel pickup 8 wheel drive ) The tender is permanent coupled to the engine, with a spring, keeping them together very close on the straight, but going throug corners the distance between the tender and the engine get wider



on a point where I cleaned the tracks and they were still a bit slippery from the cleaning fluid, you could see a steamer move around the tracks without the wheels turning.
now that looks weird.

is this way of building models strickly european, or are there any US manufacturers using the same technique? It does leave lots of room around the boiler to put in a highly detailed drive works, and it is overall a very nice looking locomotive

Ed I quite forgot to compliment you on the progress you are making on the lay-out [tup]
going over some missed pages i saw it progress almost daily in pics you posted
[:)] as well as others! is buiding season coming up?

[Anonymous]

Never have heard of US models being made that way. Oh wait, there are no US models. They're all made in China [:(][;)].

[Paul W. Beverung]

Krump; I'd love to come and cut that 7 acres for you. Want to send me a check for the trip? A job like that goes pretty fast when you have the right tools.

Paul

[Anonymous]

Hi All [:D]

It is 68 degrees at about 6pm. All in all it was a nice day. The only low point was when I opened my 401k quartely statement from the bull. The bull may be bullish on America but I am not too bullish on the bull. My portfolio's cumulative rate of return for the period is . . . -0.39%. Yes, you read it correctly it is a negative number. I had Fidelity at two other companies and always did well with them. About 4 or 5 years ago the current employeer switch from Fidelity to the bull. I have never done well with the bull. Needless to say I am not too happy with the bull.

I have been outside doing a few winterization projects and a mosquito found me. I have heard that only the female bites. lol [;)] Fitting. [:D]

TO THE TRAINS [:D]

I have always wondered why European steam engines and American steam engines looked so differently. They did have some nice looking engines but, in my opinion they also had some strange looking ones too. But they probally have thought the same about the American steam engines. I guess it depends upon which side of the pond you grew up. A while back someone posted a pic of a European steam engine which was blue. The poster said his son wanted it for Christmas. I don't remember which forum or thread it was posted in but the engine looked really nice. I think Lupo finally helped identify the engine, it is in a railroad museum somewhere in Europe. It was a nice looking model and the real one wasn't too shabby either. If someone offered to give it to me I certainly wouldn't turn them down. (Believe it or not I have had forum members mail me HO engines as gifts. We have such wonderful forum members ! ! ! [:)] But that is a bull by a different name, namely John. [;)] Some of you will figure that one out. [}:)] [;)] )

Well, I never got around to cleaning out the floor furnance. Our forecast is for highs in the 70s and one or two days in the 80s. The lows at night will be 50s, so I can handle that for another week. <Jim crosses his legs, toes, fingers, and eyes.)

Well I think it is time to start a few burgers and tots for supper. None for the bull though, he got his already. [B)] [:0]

[Fergmiester]

Good Evening Everyone

Made it to Truro and back despite the rain and high winds! I met Bentnose Willie who was there with his modular group. He has a really nice set up and besides his group, there was about another dozen large layouts. Had a really good chat with him and, again, its nice to put a name to a face. One layout in particular was a Nearsighted scale layout. Lots of UP, BNSF and CP AC4400s, SD90s etc. Unfortunately No steam but the scenery was very well done lots of bridges and valleys. Probably the best show I've been to in a long time.

Came away with 4 unpainted Athearn BB kits and one Juneco CP Woodsided Caboose Kit. Not much else was for sale that interested me.

Lupo: If I'm going to put power in the tender it might as well be a jet rocket! though that is a very attractive engine you picked up.

I see East Coasts "Call of Nature" Thread got kyboshed. I realize MR has the right to decide what stay and what goes. I personally didn't find that post offensive, especially as there has been other threads in the past that made that one look like a fairy tale. Hopefully East Coast will still be around as I do enjoy his input.

Regards
Fergie

[Noah Hofrichter]

John, That second car was a hi-cube boxcar. I belive it was an TTX or Railbox car, but I may be wrong. The sun was at the wrong angle and that sucker really glared.

Well, hopefully pictures like that will get better soon, as I've begun looking into a good film camera with a zoom lens, as I'd like to do some long distance shooting. My digital has a digital Zoom not an optical zoom, so the pictures get blurry when you zoom in. I'd like some thing where you can see what you took a picture of after zooming.

Also Made it to the LHS today, bought my first shake the box building kit in a while. Needed it for my new Plastics company. This one will be straight from a kit, because I plan on comletely scratch building the paper printing building, which will be huge. It's my first kit in I bet a good year or two, so I need to remember how to build these thing. Tonight I'm just going to read the instructions, and tomarrow I'll actually build it, or at least most of it. I'm also debateing possible making this my first wheathering project on a building, but I might wait on that yet. Well, better get going.

Noah

[Paul W. Beverung]

Hi Gang; Well with the help of Der and Ed I've posted some pictures on Railimages. They are of the 7.5 in gauge. My steam engine and a friends GP-7. It's late and I have another E-mail to answere. I'll try posting on here next.

A big thank You to der and Ed and to you to Fergie for helping and prodding me along.

Good Night All Paul

[lupo]

Good Middle of the Night !

Paul, would you provide us with a weblink to the railimages you posted so we can check 'm out?

[egmurphy]

The link to Paul's album is:
http://www.railimages.com/gallery/paulbeverung

Impressive beasts, those 7.5" gauge dudes. Way to go, Paul.

Just what you need for your backyard dirt pile, Lupo.

Ed

[lupo]

Morning all,

Ed: that is just the scale I was dreaming about !

as I said : later , when I grow up! [:P]

[Anonymous]

Good Morning All:

Well I'm cought up to page 121 as of last night - you guys are sure prolifick on this forum lately.

On our trip, I saw the best way to close up the doorway on an around the room layout. I'm not going to go back and change mine but on the next layout I'm going to use this idea. John (der) built a bookcase that fit the opening and he just has to push it into place and the trains run. It has the electrical connections in it so that is taken care of. John, I'm going to ask that you explain it to the guys as they may want to use this idea. His track work was so perfect that the locos run onto this bridge with no guard rails or track jointers. I couldn't believe how smooth his equipment ran (Ed - I should have probably gotten my optivisor so I could realy see the trains. HA HA HA )

Paul:
I went to your webb page (thanks to Ed), Your trees are the best I've every seen on a model RR - how long did it take you to make them? They look so real.

Allright - for you guys with no sence of humor, I know that they are real trees.

Well let me go to page 121 and do some more reading

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

[Fergmiester]

Well Paul, I showed Lisa your layout and she walked away, which means I won't be getting into Garden Railroading quite just yet. As I've said before I know of a club up Windsor way (1 hr drive) that's 1/8 scale. I know two members, one who I sail with who's making a Royal Hudson in his garage. And the other who is a fellow Scout Leader, who also works on a tourist Steam Line in England during the summer (He's a Engineering student at Dalhousie in Halifax).

So how many miles of main line do you have? And has UP threatened to take you over?

BTW to give easy access to your link you can enter it into your profile under: Signature; Text & graphics version.

I'm surprised DerJohn hasn't noticed the change in my location yet[:-^]

John you missed an excellent show yesterday! Don't worry there's on next month at Dartmouth Sportsplex. And if you haven't picked up the paper yet this morning, Sunday Shopping was voted down by a thin margin accross the province. So it business as usual!

It's raining so I'm off train'n
Fergie

[tomwatkins]

Good Morning Everybody,
It's going to be a spectactularly beautiful day in the mountains today. We had our first frost last night. It got down to about 30 F. It's about 9:00AM and starting to warm up a little. The sky is crystal clear, no clouds at all , and what is usually described around here as "Carolina Blue". The leaves should peak this week. The last few days have not been good for airbrushing. They've either been too damp or too windy. I've gotten most of the supports for the fascia mounted. I've only got a few left to finish and then the fascia panels can be cut and hung. I think I'll get some airbrushing done on the passenger coaches first though. I did run down to my LHS Friday morning ( 5 hour round trip) and picked up one of the new Branchline sleepers in Southern markings. It's very nice.

Noah, we do get snow up here. Usually a good snow 6 or 8 times a year. It not enough to stop everything if people are careful, (which is a big if), just enough to be really pretty. The earliest snow since I've been up here was on Nov.5, in 1995. The heaviest was during the Blizzard of '93. That was March 15th, and I was coming up from New Port Ritchey, Fl. to close on my house. I left down there on Sat. Morning, got stuck in Macon, Ga. for 2 nights because I-75 was closed. There was 6" of snow in Macon. Got stuck just north of Atlanta for a 3rd night, and then finally made it up here the next day. When I got to the house, there was 2 feet of snow still in the yard. That was what the weather folks call a 100 year event. It was also a little much for my tastes.

If you're looking for a good film camera, take a look at Nikon or Canon. Both are excellent, with a huge variety of lenses and accessories available, and very reliable and durable. I've got an ancient Nikon FE ( bought in 1984) which I think will last forever. I know a good many people with Nikons and Canons older than mine that are still going strong.

Der, the pictures of the layout are great. I really enjoyed them. It looks good. I really like the moveable entry section. That's a great idea. Yes, I too am Normal sized, rather than Horribly Oversized. Hey, my legs are long enough to reach the ground, and they do it every time. How much more does anybody need? It also makes getting under the railroad easier.

Lupo, that coffee pot is too cool!. The coffee was great too. That is a nice looking steam locomotive. I'm not aware of any US manufacturers using tender drive at this point. I think a few have done it in the past, especially in N scale.

Jim, that's not a coin that they use. It's a Management Digital Decision Making Device. Sometimes it will come down on the edge, which means no decision at all. Those are the times I used to really love. No decision, or no decision quickly enough, is a decision. It's just not a good one. Biscuits at 2:00 AM sound good to me. If I'm awake, biscuits sound good. Sorry about the Bull's poor performance. My company went with Fidelity in 1988, and fortunately stayed with them. When I retired I rolled everything over into a Fidelity IRA. They're very good.

Phil, Thanks for the heads up. I missed it again, though. I'm going to have to start checking RFD out in advance on the guide to see what's coming up.

Fergie, I'm glad you enjoyed the show. There's one in Atlanta in mid November that Bill and I are planning to go to. They are a lot of fun.

Paul, I'm glad John is out of the hospital and on the mend. That's really good news.

Teffy, are ya'll about to get rested up? That's a lot of driving in a short time. How was the visit to Digitrax?

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

[Noah Hofrichter]

Paul, That is one awesome layout! With such realistic scenery too!![;)][swg] really though, i really do like it. I've always wanted some sort of a garden layout, so you've got me green with envy.

Tom, I took a quick look at Walmart to see what they had, and they have two brands of film cameras left. I couldn't find the prices though, and didn't have time to ask, so I'll have to go do that some time. I'm looking at the Cannon Rebel G II, because it has a detachable lens. The lens it comes with goes up to 120 mm, and with the detachable lens I figure I can buy extra longer zoom lenses, maybe going up to 300mm for some really long shots.

Well, I'm here earlier today, as I had some resaerch to do for a science project on insects, so I figured I'd stop in for a quick cappuccino. It's absolutely freezing here today. I've got to go out and rake leaves later, and I'm nto exactly looking forward to it.........
Better keep bumming,

Noah

[FThunder11]

I GET TO SEE THE SOUTHWEST CHIEF on Tuesday!!!

[Anonymous]

Good Morning All Again:

I'm now on page 126 and am getting all of the baseball (?) information. If those guys would learn how to hit an oblong ball (football) it might be fun. I don't like to sit for three hours and only see ten minutes of action. You can see the whole action on the late news in less then five minutes. We were at the Witch Museum in Salem (a suburb of Boston) when the sox won a game - you should have seen the pandomonium. They were dancing in the streets. That area was like a GATS show in TEXAS when the Cowboys are playing, TV's all over the place. Their were at least four in the museum and stupid me didn't even know who was playing. Every store had a TV set on.

I think that it was "eastcoast" that was talking about doing the rocks and not comming out right. We need Tom to tell us about "tin foil" it's a lot cheaper then Woodland Scenics and looks a lot beter. I was very impressed because they looked so real. I wasted a lot of money on rock molds and probably wont use any of them, as I like Tom's idea better. I'm just going to wet your appitite and let Tom fill you in.

Fergie:
I enjoyed talking to you last night but forgot to ask about Greg and A J. I trust that they are doing OK? I was really suprised about Lisa accepting the Thursday night out as she was enjoying the house to herself when I called the other night. When Mrs. "T" goes out with my or her sister, I have a ball. I play MY music, turn off the darn TV, and just do what I want to do.

About the solder falling in your lap - it only took one time for me to realize that you don't ever solder under a layout with no clothes on Since I use an iron, I wait until I've got several joints and then do them all at one time. I think that I might have to start writing the spots down as I forgot one before I left on tour and I didn't know why that track was "dead" when I got back. Seeing trains run is peaceful. It was nice at Tom's and your place just listening to the locos in the backgrown and having a conversation although at your place their was more levity as we had more people.

Well let me get ready for church and do some more reading

Ya'll have a blessed day mnd rmember SANTA FE ALL THE WAY
Bob

[eastcoast]

HEY.
I'm glad to know that I am not the only one who takes time
to READ the entire thread. See what a little time and a good
drink will do ?? I am just about to go down and do some work
on the layout ( A DAY OFF ) and come back on while I wait for
things to dry and set. I have my Acela on track two right now
( I have 3 tracks ) and may stay and "play" today. I rhymed, call
DR. Suess. So I will be back.
My prediction is this thread will be a 135 pager by then. See Ya.

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Noah Hofrichter


Tom, I took a quick look at Walmart to see what they had, and they have two brands of film cameras left. I couldn't find the prices though, and didn't have time to ask, so I'll have to go do that some time. I'm looking at the Cannon Rebel G II, because it has a detachable lens. The lens it comes with goes up to 120 mm, and with the detachable lens I figure I can buy extra longer zoom lenses, maybe going up to 300mm for some really long shots.

Noah

Noah:

I have two old Nikons c/w moto drives, one FM2 and an FE, I also have a 35-70mm, 50-300mm and a 24mm. Both are excellent cameras but believe it or not, I'm going digital as this is the medium of the future as developing costs and film availability are becoming issues. If you are still intent on looking at Film Cameras go to a camera store and buy seond hand. You'll get an excellent system at an excellent price and you may also get a limited warranty with the purchase. You can't go wrong with Nikon, Canon or Pentax as there is some of these cameras still going strong after 30+ years of use and abuse.

Teffy: I always with my pants ON! thank you very much!!! unfortunately Jeans are not bullet proof or able to stop sharp soldering tips coated in solder,

Regards
Fergie

[egmurphy]

Good morning Coffee Clubbers,

Bright, sunny day here on the Mexican Gulf Coast. [8D] That means the temperature will be back up in the mid-90’s [V] (33-35 for our Celsius friends). We had one day where the temp was down in the mid-70’s all day. I was ecstatic, even turned off the a/c. DW and family were shivering, but I was a happy camper for a few hours. I’m really jealous of all you guys with your frost, cool weather, and turning leaves.


Fergie, where did you finally decide to go for your custom decals? I had to laugh at your soldering iron experience. Score one point for the flip-up style of layout. Unfortunately though, it does tend to restrict your minimum curve radius.

Glad you enjoyed the show and that you found something to bring home. I miss not being able to go to a show now and then. And in a week or so, in the Houston area, they’ll be starting their annual fall layout tour. They have this spread over about 6-8 weekends, with a huge number of home and club layouts open for visiting. Includes everything from outdoor live steam to Z.


Jim: for the floor furnace you need a good shop vac to suck out all the old dust and dog hair. Are you trying to use matches to light the pilot, or do you have one of those long gas lighters (like a very long butane cigarette lighter)?

Regarding your 401k, it’s usually an issue of which choices your plan offers (aggressive funds, bond funds, a fund modeled on the S&P500, etc) and which plan you choose to put your money in, rather than whether it’s with Fidelity or Merrill Lynch. (Although ML’s fees may be a bit higher and that does affect overall rate of return). And during the 3rd quarter the market itself (as measured by the S&P500) was down over a percent, so you aren’t doing badly by that measure. Remember, it’s a long term thing.

Personally, I like Vanguard, but you don’t have that choice while you’re working, you have to go with whatever plan your company offers. However if you ever change employers, you could do worse than roll over your old 401k into a Vanguard IRA rather than rolling it into your new company’s plan.


Teffy: 6,000 miles??? Sounds like a real “Busman’s Holiday”. I can’t even imagine driving that far and calling it a vacation. Glad things went well. It was nice that you got to see some of the guys on the forum.

We’re probably not going to make it back up to the Houston area before the end of this year, but will be up in early spring. So we’ll see about coordinating a visit then. Are you thinking about heading over to Houston for any of the layout tours? They've got the schedule posted on a website, so if you're interested, let me know and I'll post the link.

QUOTE: Noah: …tonight I'm just going to read the instructions, and tomorrow I'll actually build it…

You’re going to what??? Read the instructions first??? [:0] Gasp, cough, choke…. What a novel concept. I may have to try that sometime. [:D]

An SLR type camera is a good choice because of the interchangeable lens feature. Remember if you get a long zoom lens you’ll need a tripod to steady it on shots. It’s tough to hand hold a 300 mm lens steady enough to avoid getting some shaking in the shot. I think Fergie’s idea of trying to find one used is a good idea. I agree that digital will continue to take over more and more of the photo market. I was a died in the wool slide film person, but digital is just too easy. They have very nice digital SLR’s out now, but they cost a good bit too.

QUOTE: Tom W: I'm not aware of any US manufacturers using tender drive at this point. I think a few have done it in the past, especially in N scale.

I don’t recall a true tender drive (although if it was before last week my memory isn’t all that clear) but we do have N scale steam with motors mounted in the tender, driving the gears in the loco through a drive shaft/universal arrangement.

Staying with the short memory theme, I don’t recall if I’ve posted these photos on the coffee shop before, but here is a N scale Key Imports 2-6-0 that I bought up in Edmonton back in 1987 or so. The engine does not have either a motor or gears, neither does the tender. The motor is actually in the baggage car, and drive is through the trucks on the baggage car.





Okay EastCoast, where’s Ona Corner??? I know where La Conner is, but it’s on the west coast.


Whew, think I’ve about caught up after a week of only hit and miss posting.

Progress continues at a snail’s pace on the railroad. I have again got to the point of working in relatively uncharted (for me) waters and I need to forge ahead a bit more forcefully. After all, it’s nothing that can’t be redone (or so I keep telling myself). Speaking of which, I need to fix one small stretch of track that appears to have a couple of kinks in it that my steam engines aren’t too fond of. Ah well, that could be my project for the day.

Hasta luego,

Ed

[der5997]

Good afternoon everyone. Had my second cup of coffee after "house church", varnished the woodwork of the new kitchen window, cleaned up the overflow of milky stuff from the scalloped potatoes, and dropped in to see what's up.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Noah Hofrichter

John, That second car was a hi-cube boxcar. I belive it was an TTX or Railbox car, but I may be wrong. The sun was at the wrong angle and that sucker really glared.

Thanks, Noah, the high cube explains the odd look.

QUOTE: Well, hopefully pictures like that will get better soon, as I've begun looking into a good film camera with a zoom lens, as I'd like to do some long distance shooting. My digital has a digital Zoom not an optical zoom, so the pictures get blurry when you zoom in. I'd like some thing where you can see what you took a picture of after zooming.

Good luck withthe new camera. I've not tried zooming long shots, just taking close ups of models,flowers etc. There, of course you can see the results right away.

QUOTE: Also Made it to the LHS today, bought my first shake the box building kit in a while. Needed it for my new Plastics company. This one will be straight from a kit, because I plan on comletely scratch building the paper printing building, which will be huge.

What do you build in? I'm guessing styrene. If so, where do you get your sheets? I showed Bob my supply of scratch building styrene when he was here. One side plain whits, as you'd expect. 'tother side - surprise![:0] all kinds of printing! The reason, the sheets are cut down from advertizing signs that garages frequently have for tires and such. They just junk them when the're too old. Excellent , lots of buildings there, and the price is right![^]
The other thing like that I save is transparent sheets of packaging material. The best recently was from boxes of new cutlery we got last winter. The tops were all this transparent material. In Normal that's whole office-towers full!!

Hi FThunder11: Don't recall seeing you here since I started dropping in. [#welcome] House rules are simple. First cup free, the others cost you a conversation, and krump buys all the free refills[(-D] Hope Tuesday is fog free so you get to see the SWC.[:D]

Tom:

QUOTE: Hey, my legs are long enough to reach the ground, and they do it every time. How much more does anybody need? It also makes getting under the railroad easier.

Couldn't agree more. It's handy too for when I don't want to roll away the viaduct module in order to leave the room. The two shelf units in the module slide out (it's not really a bookcase Bob, morre a module on casters with shelf units inside.) and I can crawl through, as can the grandchildren, which is cool[8D] Drilling and soldering under the layout is easier in Normal too, as you point out.[(-D]

Fergie:

QUOTE: And the other who is a fellow Scout Leader, who also works on a tourist Steam Line in England during the summer (He's a Engineering student at Dalhousie in Halifax).

Would that be the "Bluebell Line"? Bob's got a button from them, I could probably scare up another for when you come over.

QUOTE: I'm surprised DerJohn hasn't noticed the change in my location yet

I was over to your railimages album yesterday[:-^] However, I couldn't find anywhere to leave a message. so I'll just have to gush here in public[:I] Nice shots, really liked the turntable. The size of the "house" on the bridge is an illumination when you compare it to the 42'x20'x20 monster that houses the motor for the Atlas N scale turntable. Mind you, that's not on the bridge!

QUOTE: you missed an excellent show yesterday! Don't worry there's on next month at Dartmouth Sportsplex

Thanks for the heads up, I'll look out for that one.

QUOTE: Sunday Shopping was voted down by a thin margin accross the province. So it business as usual!

And a good thing too, IMHO. In fact only one of the four choices we made yesterday didn't fly[^]
(local elections here yesterday, folks, and a plebiscite on Sunday shopping) Just realized, does taking part in a plebiscite make one a "pleb"?

Paul: Glad to hear that John is doing better.

QUOTE: Hi Gang; Well with the help of Der and Ed I've posted some pictures on Railimages. They are of the 7.5 in gauge. My steam engine and a friends GP-7. It's late and I have another E-mail to answer.

You're very welcome, and as far as I'm concerned, Ed, he de man, he de man![(-D]
Just been to have a look, impressive! Must have taken an age to get up to where you could run trains.

Well, after a break for lunch (the scalloped potatoes turned out fine and none the worse for their mishap [dinner] [C=:-)] Got a second coat of varnish on the window while I was at it.
Sun has reappeared, so it may be a decent day for a walk after all.
See you later, Regards,

[fec153]

Tom- I just checked RFD- They are repeating the 611 show at 3-55 minutes from now.
Phil

[Anonymous]

Good Afternoon All:

Three post in one day - now that's a new one for me. Who is the new lady member? I didn't see that when I was reading all of the posts.

It is depressing to go upstairs and see the plywood prairie with no scenery after seeing so many nice layouts. I hooked up the digitrax and got some trains running but they didn't look as good as what I've been looking at for the last three weeks

I am now the proud owner of a CMRR 105' turntable. It doesn't have as much detail as the Diamond Scale but I think that it'll be better as it's probably more durable. Just from reading the instructions and looking at it, it looks like a two to three day construction job with other projects thrown in also. Rivet counters would enjoy this item - NO RIVETS, so I'm telling everybody that it is completely welded.

This is an answer to a post a long time ago
How I get into the forum:
1) get to the forum
2) sign in
3) go to Model Railroad forums
4) go to General Discussion (Model Railoader)
5) after the directory loads pu***he Favorites button on the very top of the screen
6) Add this page to your favorites page , with whatever name you want.
7) the next time you want to get on the forum you just pu***wo buttons: 1) favorites, and then 2) What ever you named it; and the registration is already taken care of.
8) super simple

I've found out that the GATS shows are different even when only 200 miles apart as they will have different sellers and different layouts. All of them are nice to go to thou.


Noah:
If you want a film camera look at the SLR's as they have the most features for the buck. I agree with Fergie as digital is the wave of the present and the prices are dropping like flies in winter. I was in Wal-mart night before last and saw a Kodak 5 meg camera cheaper then what I paid for my 3.2 meg, made me sick. Before you buy check the pawn shops, they'll ususally give you a forty-eight hour guarrentee which is long enought to see if all of the features work. It's a lot easier to up-load from digital then film. Very few paper pictures are looked at anymore. I've got a Cannon AE-1 that hasn't shot a picture in probably 2-3 years. Digital is so much easier and you can use the TV for big picture viewing.


Ed:
I decided to post this comment so I could ask you when you were comming to Houston as I've got a schedule of layouts and thought you might come over to our place on a Friday or Monday and we'd go layout viewing on Sat and Sun. I've seen a lot of the layouts so we could make an intelegent (SP) decision as to what to go see. Now I see that you aren't comming. I'm not going to say hen-pecked but did the decision have anything to do with the timing of sales of ladies things in town?

I can't believe the progress that you've made with construction. How many laborers are you employing to get all that work done? I saw a simple control panel at Tom's; a 6" X 6" (I think ) recessed, with just a one picture of a turnout and the switch. So nice and so easy to use I'm already designing mine.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH MAYONNAISE ON HAMBURGERS? THE ONLY WAY TO GO


Tom:
I'm going to start cutting up my mainline this afternoon for some bridges.


Paul:
Do you have any brass ATSF steam locos that you want to get rid of?

Well let me get off this forum and get some modeling done.
Ya'll have a blessed day and remember SANTA FE ALL THE WAY
Bob

[Anonymous]

Afternoon All [:o)]

I think the clown face is very fitting for the bull. Them clowns are losing my money. [:(] I found another statement from about 1 1/2 years ago. The rate of return (yeah right) was . . . ----1.58%. If anyone wants investment advice guess who I won't recommend ? ! [}:)] I sure wish my company would have stayed with Fidelity.

This afternoon I did clean out the floor furnance. I used the Dirt Devil upright vacuum to do it. The shop vac has a hose that is just too large to get in there. The Dirt Devil's hose is smaller but still has trouble reaching all the areas that need cleaning.

Kevin has posted in here before. If you remember he had a birthday about a month ago. He imed me last week, he was putting down track. I don't remember if he is done laying track or not. (Halftimers, ya know.) I sure want to ride the "Chief". That is one of my vacation goals for the near future.

Should any of you have aol aim feel free to im me. Talking in real time is much better. Right now my msn messenger doesn't like my computer so I don't use it.

If you don't have AOL AIM the download is free, might as well try it. [;)] A lot of the forum teens and college guys have it. Some of them are very good modelers and they are always happy to show their work. You should see some of the pics they share with me, both 1:1 scale and otherwise.

Speaking of scales . . . when it comes to garden railroading, what are the scale (s) that are most common where equipment is readily available? When I win the loto I might try and do one. [;)] How large / small can you go and still be able to "ride" your railroad? I used to have a "Live Steam" catalog but don't have a clue where it is. Do the larger locos come in kit form or ready to run? What kind of price are we talking about when it comes to an engine you can ride? One last question, [;)] what fuel do they use? Inquiring minds want to know, and so do I. [}:)] [;)]

Noah [8D]

It is a cloudy 55 degrees here and some wind is blowing. Want to come rake my leaves? [:p] Oh that reminds me, I want to post a topic in the other forum. [;)]

Bye now. [:)]

[fec153]

JIM, there is an attachment for vacuums that is flat. Primerily used for cleaning under the refrigerator. Long and skinny. Might be good for your heater.
Phil

[fec153]

Jim- just found the box.It's called -Extendable crevice tool. Made by Kirby Home Care Products.There are 4 pieces that canjoin up- like sectional track- however long you might need. Even states home heating radiators. I think it is for 1-1/4 in. hose.
Phil .

[krump]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul W. Beverung

Krump; I'd love to come and cut that 7 acres for you. Want to send me a check for the trip? A job like that goes pretty fast when you have the right tools.

Paul

can't cut you a cheque, but I'll pay for your dinner, complete with coffee - after the job is done. [^]

[Anonymous]

This weekend I had a hilarious and whacky Amtrak adventure.

Friday morning greeted me with horrible rain and wind. Alas, the photography would not be good. I hopped in the car and made the hour long trek down to Altoona. At 1:05, my train pulled up to the station and I climbed aboard. The rain sheeting off teh windows made photography nearly impossible and I missed a chance to grab more pictures of NS #3357 which is just another SD40-2 but it has sentimental value to me (I have more pictures of it than anything else with flanged wheels).

Then everything took a turn for the whacky. Evidentally, the eastbound Three Rivers had been delayed so long than it had arrived at the time the westbound Pennsylvanian should have. As I'm sure you've determined by now, your intrepid writer was heading in the direction he, ironically, had just driven from which is also the wrong way. I had intended to board the Pennsylvanian but as I was out on the platform the whole time, I never heard this was the Three Rivers. I told the conductor and asked if they could just dump me at Huntingdon, PA (The Three Rivers next stop) and that I'd get someone to pick me up there. Alas, my own lack of attention would be the downfall of my weekend.

Roughly ten minutes later, the conductor said "come with me." We went out to the vestibule and there I was informed that the Three Rivers had called ahead to the Pennsylvanian and held them at Tyrone. I apologized profusely to the nice conductor who told me it happens all the time and said not to worry about it.

Since the Pennsylvanian was at the platform, I got first hand experience on how high those coaches sit when there's no platform at teh bottom of the steps. And walking on that giant ballast they have on the Pittsburgh line is harder than it looks. I climbed aboard the Pennsylvanian, a little happy that I'd managed to ride the Three Rivers before its gone. I grabbed some really blurry pictures of Horseshoe Curve while we blew past a coal drag. Too bad #3357 was obscured by a coal drag at Altoona.

On the way home, this time on the right train from the start, we went through the tunnel that isn't with the rest of the tunnels at Gallitzin. I don't remember what htis one is called. The weather was even clearer today but I didn't take many pictures (only three blurry ones of the Curve again). Being on track 1 is damned hairy, clinging to the side of the mountain and looking down there in teh hole. If you went over, it'd look more like a plane cra***han anything else. #3357 wasn't prowling around in Altoona today. I did see plenty of these odd racks they use to transport three container chassis on spine cars.

Here's the only pictures I took that I really liked in their giant uncompressed full sized glory:



The Three Rivers arriving at Altoona.



The Pennsylvanian sitting at Pittsburgh

Oh yeah, by some miracle, the Pennsylvanian was already 20 minutes late before they held it for me for 15 minutes, but somehow we made up the 35 minutes and arrived a minute early in pittsburgh.