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

[egmurphy]

...well my dad's engine is not what you call typical... It gets it's power from the center rail not the outer ones....

Believe it or not, that's "typical" for O tinplate.  It may be getting power from the center rail, but to complete the circuit it needs to return the current through one of the outer rails.

[ModelTrainLover]

As stated before 1st you need an ac transformer not dc(ho/n) second one wire to outside rail and one to center rail (the 2 outside rails are usually connected by the ties the center as an isolation piece of carboard) If you have problems don't hesitate to email me I'll help you all I can depending on wheater you have conventional O-27 track or you have some of the newer stuff as to how easy to connect the older type I can send you a clip that connects to the track that you connect the wire to.

You may even get to like the Oversize gauge.

well my dad's engine is not what you call typical... It gets it's power from the center rail not the outer ones the 3rd rail. It's a MARX 0-4-0 and it's 40+ years old.

[egmurphy]

 Cool morning here,   40,    got a fire going.     suppose to be sunny,    with a high of mid06's.

Warm morning here, mid 70's.  Got the a/c going (as usual).  Supposed to be overcast and rainy all day.  High in the 80's.  Humidity at 100%.

Yeah, I miss the north. 

Slow morning here.  Fortunately the coffee is hot and strong.  Trying to figure out something to do on the layout.  After the excitement of building the tank car kit two weeks ago and weathering last weekend, things have quieted down.  Not that I lack things to do on the layout, just that I lack 'get up and go'.

Normally we would go out to the orange grove today, but I suspect that things will be pretty muddy out that way.  It rained  off and on all day yesterday, and steadily from about 7:00 p.m. until about 04:30 a.m. this morning.  The words "drought" and "Veracruz" seldom get used in the same sentence.

Could be a good day to try Ryan's tomato soup recipe...............

Chris:   ...Have any of you ever hit the wall in your layout work?  Do you ever sit and second guess yourself as to your design plan and just how much you have done it wrong?

I know I have a lot of shortcomings in my plan, but that sometimes results from having a small space and trying to put too much in it.  But I'm going to live with what I have until I get it somewhat completed and operational for a while.  If I ever get a chance to build another I will be able to make it better based on experiences with this one.   Also, I 'hit the wall' a lot, but it's not the fault of the layout, I'm just lazy.........

Later

Ed

[ModelTrainLover]

Evenin' Ya'll

How 'bout a cup-o-joe for me.  Well, I got home tonight from work, and what do you know; they took my pile of trash away.  I am so happy!  I guess the wife was right; you can catch more flies with honey (if any of you tell her I said she was right, I'll deny it )

So onto a train topic.  Have any of you ever hit the wall in your layout work?  Do you ever sit and second guess yourself as to your design plan and just how much you have done it wrong?  I think I may have.  I walk into my train room and look at my layout, and think of ripping it all up and starting again, or at least, redesigning parts of it.  Is this common?  How do you deal with it?

Oh yeah, I can't believe we don't have a smiley with tears coming out of his eyes.

Thanks for letting me verbally vomit.

Chris

Edit - I hit TOP so dinner is on me.

when I'm trying some thing new

[rtraincollector]

As stated before 1st you need an ac transformer not dc(ho/n) second one wire to outside rail and one to center rail (the 2 outside rails are usually connected by the ties the center as an isolation piece of carboard) If you have problems don't hesitate to email me I'll help you all I can depending on wheater you have conventional O-27 track or you have some of the newer stuff as to how easy to connect the older type I can send you a clip that connects to the track that you connect the wire to.

You may even get to like the Oversize gauge.

[pcarrell]

I got the track yesterday. any one know how to wire 3 rail track?

Talk to RT.

 

Well, with all the breakfast going around here lately we're all going to have to widen the isles on our layouts if this keeps up!  So how's everyone doing?

 

Paul, sorry to hear about the vision thing.  Man, that's one thing I'd really hate to lose!  I work with a lady who is slowly going blind and I really feel for her.  I have some idea of what it's like through her eyes.

[ModelTrainLover]

I got the track yesterday. any one know how to wire 3 rail track?

[inch53]

Mornin , I'll have a farmers specail today Zoe.
 Cool morning here,40, got a fire going. suppose to be sunny, with a high of mid06's.
Had Kids yesterday, son much else done. Did go over to Terre Haute last evening for a little rail fanning. IND. Rail Road has a civil war history train made up of 3 old box cars on display. Didn't get there in time to go inside, but did get some pics of the outside. I've also been wanting to get up to N. Terre Haute for some pics of the old Merkle Mill dam, to help with the layout back round. The old NYC tracks to Indy crosses over the mill pond. While we were there a pair of CSX engines stop on the bridge, so of course needed some pics of them. I'll get the pics posted this weekend maybe.

Ryan ,,,, been trans planting perrenels, irish, roses,  holley hocks, mums, and such. Best time of year for it.
 May have to try your corned beef recipe, sounds better than store bought.

Chris,,,,  I'm the same way on my layout, part of the reason it's taking so long to get it running again. I look at it and just want to tear it out and start over. As the old saying goes " the best laid plans of mice and men.
 What stops me is the fact Mother wood hurt me bad, if I did after the money I've spent some far on this one
Glad they got your brush pile cleaned up off the street.

 Only thing planned for today is outside work again, going to finish cleaning out the garden, getting some lime and manure on, and tilling it in. Still got some flowers to do.  Need to clean up leaves, the wind yesterday brought down  some more, but the mower will take care of them. Hope ya'll have a good day.
inch

[wetidlerjr]

Good morning ! from Indiana.

 

10-06-06

[Anonymous]

Good morning



Happy MRRing 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning and top 'o' the day to all of ye.

The Coffee shop on page 2? That can't be allowed to happen! Bump!

This morning I'll have the bacon and eggs.

And a bit of coffee, please.

Just getting ready for another day at work. I have to cut 1,000 lengths of 3" pvc at 22" inches each. That's about 4 hours work.

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang:

Chris: The answere to your question is, yes. I've been doing that for the last several years. The layout I have is modular 12x26 foot that runs so it's hard to take it apart and start over. I've been looking at ways to make it work for me. I'll keep plugging away and some day I'll get it worked out

We've been spending another day doing chaseing and no MRRing. The dentist got hte tooth ready for the crown. In about a week he should have it back and I'll get it put in so I can chew on the left side of my mouth. It's funny but food tasts better on that side.

Any way tomorrow it's to the VA for lab work and then take Mary Ann to the eye doc for her check-up. I've got to get the VA doc to get me an eye check up. My distant vision is getting bad.

Well I'll be heading for bed. Ya'll hang in there.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Assuming a 22 foot wide two lane road with no shoulder, HO scale size would be 3 inches. With shoulders, think about 4 to 5 inches.

[TRENT B]

Hey Folks,

Still letting the dust settle.

Question- What is the actual width in inches for two way roads since I don't have a conversion ruler and momma won't let me buy one yet.

Prayers for all.

Trent

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Evenin' Ya'll

How 'bout a cup-o-joe for me.  Well, I got home tonight from work, and what do you know; they took my pile of trash away.  I am so happy!  I guess the wife was right; you can catch more flies with honey (if any of you tell her I said she was right, I'll deny it )

So onto a train topic.  Have any of you ever hit the wall in your layout work?  Do you ever sit and second guess yourself as to your design plan and just how much you have done it wrong?  I think I may have.  I walk into my train room and look at my layout, and think of ripping it all up and starting again, or at least, redesigning parts of it.  Is this common?  How do you deal with it?

Oh yeah, I can't believe we don't have a smiley with tears coming out of his eyes.

Thanks for letting me verbally vomit.

Chris

Edit - I hit TOP so dinner is on me.

Constantly. It's normal to think that you could have or could do something different on the layout.

[91rioja]

Evenin' Ya'll

How 'bout a cup-o-joe for me.  Well, I got home tonight from work, and what do you know; they took my pile of trash away.  I am so happy!  I guess the wife was right; you can catch more flies with honey (if any of you tell her I said she was right, I'll deny it )

So onto a train topic.  Have any of you ever hit the wall in your layout work?  Do you ever sit and second guess yourself as to your design plan and just how much you have done it wrong?  I think I may have.  I walk into my train room and look at my layout, and think of ripping it all up and starting again, or at least, redesigning parts of it.  Is this common?  How do you deal with it?

Oh yeah, I can't believe we don't have a smiley with tears coming out of his eyes.

Thanks for letting me verbally vomit.

Chris

Edit - I hit TOP so dinner is on me.

[pcarrell]

They look pretty good.  The bottom one is a bit out of focus, but the subject matter is good.  The top one is a great shot.

[PA Belt]

fire, grease, and paint thiner dont mix, lol, never use them to clean bike parts

[ModelTrainLover]

well I'll get them on here again anyway

 

[pcarrell]

Afternoon Gents!

I've been busy today, so this is the first chance I've had to pop in!  Finally got the internet up at home about an hour ago.  Thought my daughter was going through withdrawls so I'd best get it going!  Teenagers!

Hey guys!!!  any one enjoy my pics?

Didn't catch em.  I'll have to look back and check them out.

Paul, was it you that asked if I had a track plan yet?  I do.  I've shown it in here before, but it's been a while.  The staging deck still needs work, but here's the plan.  It's a double deck N scale plan with staging under that.  http://s83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Track%20Plans/My%20Plan/  The idea is the mainline passes by and drops off / picks up cars.  The shortline RR ( Autumns Ridge Railway & Navigation Company ) is the real focus though.

[PA Belt]

hey yall, good news, layout pics comeing soon

[ModelTrainLover]

Hey guys!!!  any one enjoy my pics?

[Cox 47]

Howdy all....Cloudy and cool here today...I'll have aWindy City Hot Dog drag it through the garden, onion rings and strawberry shake..Thank you and thanks Jeff isn't this the 2 nd day in a row your buying? You may have to cancel that trip to the hobby shop.....Well I got in gear this morning and decaled one side of the F unit..Got decal setting stuff on it now...Got my parking spot back a new resident was claiming sqwaters rights....

Ryan...We are gonna try the corn beef sound like some good eats..Maybe you should put out a cook book the railroad gourmet ?   How about Hobo Stew?

Luc and Dick...Great joke I have a friend who is a undertaker can't wait to tell him that one...

Gotta go check my dacals..you all have a good one...Jerry

[91rioja]

CHRIS: Do what we do here, we make a brush pile each year, somewhere in a safe place in our yard, and then each year when the town allows burning ( here in our town it is Jan to end of April ), we burn all our brush and wood scraps ( from MRR benchwork, etc. ), cook hot dogs on the open fire, drink beer, tell stories, etc., then, we take the ashes and spread them all over the garden area and rototill into the soil.

That was my idea.  The wife thought otherwise. . . .   Anytime there is fire, beer, and beast involved, I'm all for it.

Chris

[grayfox1119]

Good afternoon everyone, man what a beautiful day to be retired and outside....don't worry you guys still working, it is coming to you a lot faster than you can ever imagine, trust me!!!

CHRIS: Do what we do here, we make a brush pile each year, somewhere in a safe place in our yard, and then each year when the town allows burning ( here in our town it is Jan to end of April ), we burn all our brush and wood scraps ( from MRR benchwork, etc. ), cook hot dogs on the open fire, drink beer, tell stories, etc., then, we take the ashes and spread them all over the garden area and rototill into the soil.

RYAN: Great Recipe for corned beef, wife has that now, hope she tries it soon.

LUC: Glad you enjoyed the Taxi driver story, it gave me a good laugh too.

Time to get back outside, see you guys at the supper table...

[91rioja]

Mid morning all:

So as some of you may or may not have remembered, I cleared a bunch of brush from the woods at the back of my house last weekend.  The wife and I got about halfway through it, and realized that we had no means of transporting the stuff off the property.  I wanted to light a match *( in Beavis and Butthead voice FIRE! FIRE! )* but she wouldn't let me.  So on Monday I e-mailed the City of High Point to ask if I could leave the stuff beside the curb for them to pick up on trash day.  They said yes, so I carried this huge pile out for my wednesday pickup.  Got home last night, and the pile was still there!!!  I was livid.

The wife came home much later, and the first thing she did was to laugh at me; she knew I was ready to inflict bodily harm on someone over this.  Can you believe she laughed????

So anyway, I left another e-mail and a follow up call this AM; we'll see if I still have a trash pile when I get home.  I can't wait till it gets cold so I don't have to work out in the yard anymore; at least my trains have not been this much of a problem.

Ryan, somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that Kroger bought King Soopers.  We used to print for Kings at our Denver plant.  That was why I asked; strange to hear that name on the east coast.

Ya'll have a good one.

Chris

[SilverSpike]

Ryan:

Where did you find a King Soopers in this neck of the woods?

They are also a part of the Kroger grocery store chain. But I bet you can get the stuff online too!

[91rioja]

Ryan:

Where did you find a King Soopers in this neck of the woods?

[SilverSpike]

Ed,

Here is a recipe for "How to Corn Beef" to make your own corned beef. It is an old recipe I found and you can "corn" just about any cut of beef. I can remember years ago one of the local restaurant meat purveyors in New Orleans used to sell a whole corned steamship round of beef, which is the whole hind leg of a beef animal, usually weighing about 50 - 75 lbs with the bone in.

"Corn" your own beef

1 beef brisket
1/4 tsp salt peter
1/4 C warm water
2 T sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp paprika
1 T mixed pickling spices
3/4 C salt
2 quarts water

Place the meat in a large crock. Dissolve the salt peter in the warm water. Add the next
four ingredients. Dissolve the salt in the 2 quarts of water. Mix everything together and pour over the meat. Be sure the meat is beneath the surface of the liquid. Refrigerate for three weeks, turning the meat once or twice per week. Prepare according to any standard recipe for corned beef.

Salt peter is commonly used in veterinary medicine. Some drugstores carry it. King Soopers pharmacy will special order it on request.

By the way, I read the live journal and that guy has quite a story to tell. I bet he could get someone to write a screenplay and it would make a great movie highlighting the odyssey he had years ago.

 

[Anonymous]

Good morning.

I got this from Dick and wanted to share it with you.

A passenger in a taxi leaned over to ask the driver a question and tapped him on the shoulder.

The driver screamed, lost control of the cab, nearly hit a bus, drove up over the curb, snapped-off a fire hydrant and stopped just inches from a large plate glass window.

For a few moments, everything was silent in the cab, and then the still shaking driver said, "I'm sorry but you scared the HELL out of me."

The frightened passenger apologized to the driver and said he didn't realize a mere tap on the shoulder could frighten him so much.

The driver replied, "No, no, I'm sorry, it's entirely my fault. Today is my first day driving a cab. I've been driving a hearse for the last 25 years."

 

I fell off my chair laughing....

Happy MRRing