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

[Anonymous]

Hi all.

Thought I'd stop in and say hello. First visit to the coffee shop and I can't find a cup!

Krump, what's shakin?

[krump]

tondogg -
mocha's on the right, refills left, the sweetner in the centre, and if you need any of that plastic milk / heifer dust / dry cow (whitener) -we've hidden it behind the fridge, creamers are on ice. Help yourself - somebody's bound for coffee sooner or later...

here in the Shuswap, things are pretty calm at the moment, busy week at Court but I took care of the bad guys the other day... they are off to make licence plates [:D][:-^]
getting a might chilly out here these days though (-6 C). Kids are busy with school and activities, snow in the hills (won't be long now) - Blizzacks go on next week.
my Training is generally left for the weekend at present.
How's life in my old stomping ground ?

- I forgot to toss you a cup ( ready?, catch...), they are near the pumpkin pie on the counter, or you may bring your own mug. out of stir sticks though...

[Fergmiester]

Morning All

We got hit with our first heavy frost of the year, which is quite good considering it's almost November.

Phil: I can only imagine what a grecian urns, would that be in Drachma or Euros?
Thought you'ld catch me on that one!

That's almost as bad as asking a shipboard green horn (newbie) to go to the engine room and get a fuse for a Dead Light.

Paul: It's gonna be a cool one this weekend so as we say to the kids, when you're in a sleeping bag and your feet are cold put on a hat!

Tondogg: Welcome and if the coffee is hard to come by it's because Elliot has been by and raided the fridge and pot. Elliot only tells everyone the foods rotten so he can have it all for himself. Hhmmmmm. Poor Elliot is recovering from an all nighter and it will take time as he's not as spry as he use to be!

Anyhow I got to go

Fergie

[Junctionfan]

Good Morning. Haven't been here for awhile.....sorry. It's cold here and than warm but now cold. Darn musical temperatures.

[Anonymous]

Good Morning All:

I couldn't find any squadren green putty at Hobby Lobby so I bought some Testers putty, it takes forever to dry - apply in the morning and sand at night.

You guys talking about weather - 89 degrees yesterday, was 91 this week. We're setting high records almost evey day. That city that's north of Ed (almost all of the continet) Laredo was the hot spot of the country at 101. We've got a cold front comming and Tuesday the high is supposed to be 75.

JP:
Hot Dawg, another guy with a railroad big enough that everyone can see the cars and the locos.

John:
When I find a place where they're buiding a house I start going by their every day or so and ask about their scraps. I never take with out asking but they've never said no. After all we can use boards that are three feet long and still have to cut them to suit. The only thing that I haven't been able to pick up, is 2X2's. I don't know about saving that much money but I get to watch the house going up and I enjoy that. So much unused space in todays houses with the high roofs - would make a nice train room.

Tondogg:
[#welcome] come in when you get a chance, sit and enjoy. I drink tea and by the way the tea kettle is purring so let me go for a minute. A second cup of tea sure makes the day start better.

Paul:
As much as I hate to say this, if you're going into DCC use what your neighbors are happy with and using because they're your suppport staff. I was the secong person in my area to jump and I went Digitrax because it seemed better to me. One guy got an NCE and every time we'd go see what was wrong, we'd have to get out the book. I didn't like going over there but he needed help and I was usually the one. Eventually he found someone to pawn it off on and bought the Digitrax, now trouble shooting for us is a lot easier. In our group we have seven layouts and all of us use Digitrax. We had two buy something else because of the price, but they converted later.

Ed:
It's not personal -thank God baseball is over - now lets get into sports - YEA COWBOYS.

Hawk05:
Glad you're back - haven't heard from you for quite a long time.

Mrs "T" says it's time to get ready for work so let me go.

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

[tomwatkins]

Good Mornin' Everybody,
It's another gray, rainy morning in the mountains. It's supposed to clear off later in the day and be nice this weekend. That will be good, we're ready for some sunshine. If it does dry out some, I need to get the grass cut ( perhaps for the last time this year) and the leaves blown. The bulb orders arrived this week, so we have a couple of hundred daffodils, tulips and crocuses to get in the ground. That will make for a busy weekend but it sure will be pretty come springtime. Shawna continues to be a little better each day now. We're going to take it very slowly. She feels better and looks better, but of course she has no stamina at all, and won't for a while. So very slowly is the best way. Thank you all again for your thoughts, words and prayers. They really do help.

Teffy, I'm glad the turntable is coming along well. What colors did the Santa Fe use on theirs? I know some of their deck girder bridges were big billboards and very good looking ( for bridges that is). I agree with you about show prices. Being an informed shopped really helps. Bill Mathewson and I are going to a GATS show in Atlanta in November. I'd like to pick up another BLI light mike and some more Branchline coaches, but only for the right price.

JP, the layout sounds good. There's nothing wrong about jumping right in and starting to build something sizeable rather than a 4 x 8 or 5 x 9. What I'm building in the basement ( 13 1/2 x 15 1/2) is my first layout ever, and I'm having a ball with it. It's evolved and changed as I've learned more about what I'm doing, but that's part of the fun.

Chris, enjoy the Intermountain hoppers. Intermountain is one of my favorite manufacturers. Their kits are really nice, and they go together well. One thing I've learned from experience with them that I'll mention is that frequently the mounting holes for the detail parts need to be enlarged slightly. I just run a drill bit through them prior to assembly. I think they're probably the right size before they're painted, but the paint tends to close them up just a little. I broke a number of very small parts trying to install them before I started doing that. I find this to be the case with Intermountain, Red Caboose and Branchline kits.

Tondogg, welcome to the coffee shop. Have a cup on me and enjoy the conversation.
Hawk 05, welcome back, it's good to see you again.

I'd better go for now, It's time to get the day started.
Have a great day everybody,
Tom

[Hawks05]

wednesday it was freezing cold here. well not really but it was super cold, really bad fog at night, i think it was around 35 or something, today i wake up and my dad has the windows up and its 70 degrees. the humidity and dew points are in the 60s. we're supposed to get some big thunderstorms tonight i guess. whats up with this, 70 at the end of october. in 1992 it was about 10 degrees and we were getting 26 inches of snow.

stupid weather. anyways i'm off to get something for lunch then go and lift some weights. got another fun night of work ahead of me

[JPowell]

[#welcome] Tondogg! Have a cup of coffee on me. Enjoy the company as well as it's a great place to 'hang out' at!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Hawks05

wednesday it was freezing cold here. well not really but it was super cold, really bad fog at night, i think it was around 35 or something, today i wake up and my dad has the windows up and its 70 degrees. the humidity and dew points are in the 60s. we're supposed to get some big thunderstorms tonight i guess. whats up with this, 70 at the end of october. in 1992 it was about 10 degrees and we were getting 26 inches of snow.

stupid weather. anyways i'm off to get something for lunch then go and lift some weights. got another fun night of work ahead of me

GLOBAL WARMING!!!

anyone else get the feeling that it is broken?

[Noah Hofrichter]

Paul

QUOTE: Noah; I saw that ballast train mentioned in MR this month. Any chance of posting some pics?

Really? I don't remember that. But as soon as you tell me where I'll remember. And sure, I get a few pictures to you in the next hour or so, I just have to get them uploaded to my new Rail Images account. Don't have any recent ones, as the last two times I've gone it's been cloudy, but I have a few from August. I tell you all about it then. I've goten a tip off from the WSOR yahoo groups that there may be conveyor ballast train(don't ask, I don't know yet) going up from Janesville tomarrow or Sunday, and I hope to catch it.

Ed, As far as rail Images goes, how do you add the description they talk about as the first step, I couldn't figure out how.

Well, as promised, here's the list of accomplishments over the past two days:

1.Got the road bed layed under my three new industrial spurs, and got it tested with an engine.

2.Got a few new cars fixed up and ready to run on the road,

3. And got my first engine that came with my first train set, a Walther's trainline GP9M, wheels cleaned and fixed up, it works much better now. Problem is is it has brass wheels that have a gear glued in the middle, and I want to replace them with nickel silver so it'll hopefully run better yet, but I'm not sure where to get a wheel with a gear on it. Reminds me, need to start another thread............. Well, I'll be back with those pictures in a little while.

Noah

[Noah Hofrichter]

Well folks, I'm back. Scuse the double post though......

I'm announcing my new website, at Rail Images. Address is http://www.railimages.com/gallery/noahhofrichter
This will be added to my sig soon. Nothing but these photos that are below there right now, but I'm going to add a few of the usual model photo's that I add, of the TC and my WSOR locomotive, in a little while.

Well Paul, as you requested Here are the photo's and the information on the Rock Springs Ballast train:


Here's a shot of the train over all. Power is alomost always SD40-2's, with the occasional SD70m in there. As you can see, the track is in kind of a canyon, with the Baraboo River to the left of the train down the slope. There's a road just pass that.


Here's a close up of one of the SD40-2's. All of train's come up to Janesville WI under UP power and crews, and the whole entire train is droped off at the WSOR's Janesville Facility. From there a WSOR crew takes it about 8 hours of railroad driving, or 70-80 miles north to Rock springs, 10 miles, by road, 5 miles by railroad from my town. There it's loaded and taken back to Janesville, and turned back over to the UP.


Here's a picture of a Unit that came up one day this last Summer, still in Former CNW paint. I thought this was rather neat. You can see some of one of the type of cars that usually comes up. It's a Herzog car. This picture was taken at the WSOR's Madison yard, which is about half way to Janesville. The train was ideling there getting a new crew I think.


Here's a close up of one of the Hezog cars.


Here's a picture of the chip tower at Rock springs. Now this isn't the tower used for loading the Ballast, this one's for loading bigger peices, like rock that would be used for a fill under the track. Going from left to right, the track in this picture is the Main, chip track, and west pass.


Here's the Ballast tower. You can see the chip tower in the background. Sorry for the darkness of the photo's, but these were taken on one of the cab rides I got, and it was evening and in the shade when I took these. Where that first picture is taken from is the closest you can get to the towers without being on the train.

Well, I hope that was what you were looking for. Let me know if you need any more information.

Noah

[Anonymous]

Fergie:

By the time I talked to you I already had all of the odd pages and about one fourth of the evens, of the Super Empire Builder manual printed. As John said waisth not. So I went ahead and printed the rest of the even pages on the backs. I enclosed one plastic sheet so you could see what I was talking about for a sheet protector. You can not get the three ring binder at a discount house because it has to be over sized or the plastic protectors stick out. I also make a copy of the first sheet and put it in the jacket on the binder as a book cover.

I'm off to dinner
Bob

[fec153]

fergie- OK! not bad for a young man. Glad you caught on.
teffy- krump- wonder how many of us older guys get a chance to put aside our worries about our better halfs and chit-chat on this and other forums. Sure is a pleasure to justtalk to eachother, solve some small problems, and get a few good laughs.
Sorry coffee clubbers, just venting a little. Just like an old steamer. Thanks for the fellowship to each of you.
Donuts-Danish-Bagels are all on me.
Flip

[JPowell]

Ed (egmurphy): How thick is the foamboard you're using?

All - To those that use foamboard...how thick? Do you also use roadbed like Ed is?
I'm going to try to talk my CFO (wife) into letting me get about $30.00 worth of materials tomorrow. Wish me luck!

[Anonymous]

Jim (Hawk05) [:)]

Nice to see you post a few here in the coffee shop. You have been missed [8D]

Did you buy a kit for the grain elevators? I posted a thread about awww, well some time back, about using Pringle cans or Lay Stax cans for grain elevators and water towers. The thread was called, "Resourceful Modeling" if you want to find it and check out some of the other posts in that thread. Somewhere here in this coffee shop I also posted a link to the thread. I am not sure which would be a quicker way to find it. But anyway, nice to see you post again.

The sun is down now and it is still 82 degrees. [:(]

The new River Rail here is operating now. Rides are free for another week or so to get people to see it and ride it. They have had some minor problems with cars and delivery trucks blocking the tracks for the streetcars. This is not rapid transit by any means. The area covered is downtown in North Little Rock and Little Rock and streets are congested with traffic. The rails are laid close to the curb but parking downtown is parallel and cars must really watch how they park now. Police are ticketing any vehicle that blocks the tracks. One streetcar was delayed 45 minutes the other day because someone had the track partically blocked. The streetcars run on tracks and do not have rubber tires so they cannot manuever around those that block them. I have not had time to ride yet but hope to soon. It might be a way to do some railfanning from the railcar but will actually have to ride it to know for sure.

Well I still have some poison ivy, it is not spreading but isn't going away either.

The mosquitoes are really bad now. We had tons of rain here lately and only a little cold weather (50s) so they are still here. <Maybe I can pawn them off on Paul and Bob [;)] >

The Cotton Belt 819 use to run to Tyler every year for the Rose Festival there. I remember one year the mosquitoes were really bad here before the trip. The trip was in mid October. I really miss not getting to go on that trip. [:(]

Those who say they don't like steam engines probally have never ridden a train pulled by one of them. Seeing one steam up can really change one's mind about them.

Well it is 7 pm now. Time to think about going to bed soon. We are working Saturday and still have to be there at 5 am. We will get off at 1:30 so the day will not be a total loss. I might actually stay up late Saturday night, maybe even to 9:30 (yeah I know, I am really pushing it these days [:p] ).

Sleep Well.

Eat More Pizza, it helps Jim have more money for modeling. [;)] [:p]

[egmurphy]

JP

My foam was 3/4" thick because that's what was available in Houston. I understand that up north they sell thicker sheets, maybe up to 2" thick. Since it's pretty chilly up where you are located, you might find thicker sheets Got mine at either Home Depot or Lowe's.

By the way, I'm using cork under my mainline and engine service area. All other spurs and yard area are being done without cork roadbed (to get the spurs at a lower elevation than the main line, and to get a flat contour throughout the yard.)

Regards

Ed

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tomwatkins

Good Mornin' Everybody,

Chris, enjoy the Intermountain hoppers. Intermountain is one of my favorite manufacturers. Their kits are really nice, and they go together well. One thing I've learned from experience with them that I'll mention is that frequently the mounting holes for the detail parts need to be enlarged slightly. I just run a drill bit through them prior to assembly. I think they're probably the right size before they're painted, but the paint tends to close them up just a little. I broke a number of very small parts trying to install them before I started doing that. I find this to be the case with Intermountain, Red Caboose and Branchline kits.

I'd better go for now, It's time to get the day started.
Have a great day everybody,
Tom

Tom,
I found out those things early in the hobby-both drilling the paint out of the holes and that high-end kits from IM, Red Caboose, and Branchline are some of the best kits to build.

Jim:
No kidding about J*** G*****! Whiny as I don't know what. Jimmie Johnson isn't much better. I can't stand either one of them.

I got a kick out of "not buying a certain brand of paint," too![:D]

Well I sort of got an early birthday present from the BNSF (my birthday's tomorrow).[;)]

I was walking through the woods about a 1/4 from the tracks when I heard a train horn, so I ran through some fields and got to see my first train on this line for quite a while; the three locomotives up front were:

A BNSF 4-axle GE from the 70's/80's, still painted in the blue/yellow Warbonnet scheme,
Two BNSF SD-series locomotive, again from the 70s/80s, one still painted in BN Cascade Green, the other in Heritage 1.

So that was pretty much the highlight of the day, since nothing else good happened...

"If you're not shipping with Burlington Route, you're doing without!"

[JPowell]

Thanks Ed! I was at Home Depot and prices go from $7.33 for 1" x 2' x 8', to 9.43 from 1.5" to 11.99 for 2". What does everyone think I should go with? I was thinking of 1.5"....

[Paul W. Beverung]

Jim; I'll take the mosquitoes. Trade you fire ants one for one. I just got into a bunch of them alittle while ago while cleaning up under one of the pecan trees.

Noah; CAB RIDE???? How'd you manage that? I like that garvel operation. Are you going to model it? Herzog is big down here too. I see strings of there cars often. They have an unloading and transfere point in Ft. Worth. They use crawler excavators to unload. They drive them up a ramp at the end of the siding and into the first car. when they then start digging out that car and move from car to car. At another location they have excavators mounted on over rail frames that have crawler tracks and move along the sidings. Very neet set up. I'd model it ,but not my era.

Well I've got to take the dog out. She just won't do her business unless I'm watching her.

Paul

Duluth, Superior & Southeastern

"The Superior Route"

[egmurphy]

Good Evening Coffee Clubbers

Another sleepy day down here in the land of the siesta. Nothing really new to report. I worked a bit on correcting minor track kinks at a pair of curve/switch combinations, and while the results are improved, I still get the occasional derail at a few locations. Looks like more fiddling yet to come.


Wow, JP, you certainly know how to give confusing descriptions. But once I actually tried sketching it out on paper it was more obvious. Sounds like a decent space for a layout. Regarding the foam question, if I had the option I would probably go with 1-1/2”. The ¾” has worked out okay, but I’d love to have the option to carve some gullies a bit deeper and have a bit more slight roll.


Flip, your not far off JP in describing benchwork. I thought I was with you until you got up on the second shelf. [%-)]


Paul, it’s always good to have a LHS you feel comfortable with and where you like to do business. I just emailed my order to my LHS in Houston (and you think you have a long drive!) who will mail the stuff to the border. We’ll be up there in Mid-Nov and I can pick the stuff up.

Fire ants? Tell me about them. [:(!] If I get more than a few of their bites at the same time I get an allergic reaction. They’re common down here too.

Exhibitionist dog? [:0]


John, are those ‘Dungeness Crab’ enchiladas that you’re asking for? Not sure what I can do along those lines, but I could probably send up some done with our local blue crab. How do you like your enchiladas, spicy or mild?


[#welcome] Welcome Tondogg. I’ll assume that by now you’ve found the coffee pot. Should we assume that you’re from North of the Border (the other border) since you already know Krump? I think we’ve met already on your thread on ‘getting started’. How are you coming with your search for a track plan? Hey guys, we’ve got one more Normal scale modeler here!!


Okay you guys in the northern tier are killing me with your talk of frost, and pumpkins, and SNOW. Knock it off, I’m homesick. It’s the end of October and it’s still getting up into the 90’s here. I guess the cold front line must be north of Arkansas as I see Jim is still suffering with me.


Well, Teffy, I was with you on the football idea until you said “Cowboys”. I suspect you already know I’m a N.Y. Giants fan. Or were you traveling when I told that heart-wrenching tale of how I came to be a Giants fan? Want to hear it again??? No? Well okay. [:D]

QUOTE: Tom: She feels better and looks better, but of course she has no stamina at all, and won't for a while. So very slowly is the best way.

Yup, exactly the way I remember my bout with mono. Vaguely remember that is…….. okay, so mother had to tell me how it was when I had it. Memory lapse started to kick in young with me.

QUOTE: Kevin: GLOBAL WARMING!!! anyone else get the feeling that it is broken?

Although I’m not sure of the cause or cure, it sure seems to me that things are warmer too. And NO, it’s not just because I’m living in the tropics, either. Any of you guys read the September issue of National Geographic magazine? Great articles on Global Warming. A lot of info I had never heard. Really worthwhile reading, at least if you don’t have a new MR waiting to be perused.


Noah, I don’t remember offhand about the description. It’s been a long time since I opened my account. Let me check. Good progress on the layout. And nice shots of the train. Next time, try posting them without the .thumb in the address. Using that you get the real small thumbnail versions. Try it with just aaf.jpg for example.

QUOTE: Flip: …wonder how many of us older guys get a chance to put aside our worries about our better halfs and chit-chat on this and other forums. Sure is a pleasure to just to talk to each other, solve some small problems, and get a few good laughs. Sorry coffee clubbers, just venting a little.

I really enjoy the chance to chat with you guys each day. It’s a virtual mrr club for me, since I don’t have much access to other model railroaders down here. I’m really glad that Elliot started this thread.


Jim, should we assume that River Rail is Little Rock’s new light rail transit system?


Well, at least I did get something accomplished today on the layout. Tomorrow it’s probably be back to the foam. I’m thinking of trying a bit of the dreaded white beaded foam. [:0] I only have a little blue foam left. While I don’t need a huge amount for the little hills I have, I don’t think it’s enough. I have a bit of white stuff left from the refrigerator packing. I’m going to test it on a small section. Yes, I’ll keep my shop vac handy and plugged in!


Hasta mañana,

Ed

[JPowell]

Ed: How are you attaching the track; Liquid Nails, Caulk, Glue, or what? What brand of track and code are you using? In the yard, what's the spacing bewteen center lines?
JP

[egmurphy]

It may not help a whole lot with brands and spacing since I'm in N scale. But I use mainly Atlas flex track. My N scale tracks are about 1-1/4" on center.

I used Elmer's regular white glue (or something similar) both to glue the cork roadbed to the foam and to attach the track to the cork or directly to the foam. Actually, if memory serves me, some of the roadbed was glued down with Elmer's Carpenter's Glue (the yellow stuff). I held it in place with push pins while the glue dried. I don't think there's one right way, I have heard various reports from people using all sorts of glues.



Regards

Ed

[fec153]

JP- I used Liquid Nails. Worked fine.
ED- originally had 2 sidings on shelf. Had brainfa-t! By adding 2 turnouts, 1 at each end,and using bridge piers as raisers, I got the track up to a second shelf. I had Tru-Scale ,20 " radii curve and using 1 as a template, cut out as many pieces as needed and put flex track on it. Does this clarify what I said?
Flip.

[Hawks05]

Noah: 2 weeks ago i think it is we had a string of Herzog's go past. i wasn't counting but i'd guess about 60-70 in all. it was crazy that day. i heard the whistle and took off and caught up to it to get a few shots. then when i was getting out of the truck at home i heard another whistle and went and caught that train, same direction and everything. this one was doing some ballast and had to go back through town to get the rest of the cars.

Jim: I did buy the grain elevators. bought them off ebay for $33.75 total. should be here monday or tuesday i'd imagine. bought the ADM towers. now i have to get the Sunrise grain thing i believe it is to complete what is in town here. i also have to purchase some of the bigger grain silos, the metal ones. i still have to put together the kit i have right now. but i really need to get to a hobby shop and get more turnouts before i'll put anything on the layout. also need to buy homasote yet and paint that.

i'm going to try and have the grain stuff look like what is in town here. i will need to probably buy a few more buildings yet before its all said and done. and somehow still have a little yard in the middle of the layout.

oh, i was going to say this to but forgot about it when i first posted this. anyways i had 2 weird dreams last night, one about my grandpa and one about trains. the one about my grandpa is sad and mean, he was diagnosed with Alzheimers back in May/June and he's been going down hill lately. i won't finish it because its mean. the other was about trains. the church i go to is about a block away from the tracks, the town is 3 miles east so its the same track that runs through the town i live in. well i was church for something and was leaving when i heard the whistle. so i go to this bridge overlooking the tracks, which is now a double main for Norfolk Southern. the weird part is there is no NS through here hardly ever and there is no double main unless i go into Minnesota and there is no bridge in this town. so i'm standing on the bridge and i see one car on this train come uncoupled from the car in front and the one in behind it, that car derails. then i see 3 engines in the middle of the train, 2 NS and 1 Conrail, both derail as well. thats all it was, i woke up after i realized there is no bridge in this town. kind of a weird train dream, i did however wake up thinking that i was going to chase a train.

sorry, kind of weird i know.

[fec153]

Paul- Here in mid Fla. we are blessed with both. Fire ant mounds all over and with the storms we had Skeeters are bigger than ever and there are more of them. I thought the wind would blow them to Texas but these are so big I think they came FROM Texas.
Enjoy the coffee, on my second mug.
Flip

[Anonymous]

Afternoon all

Starting to find my way around now, thanks

Ed - yup, north of the other border, and the track plan isn't coming too far yet, i checked out the site you posted, nice little layouts, thanks.
I Just picked up Track Planning for Realistic Operations, perhaps that'll get me going.

Krump - your old stomping grounds are doing fine. Wet and windy but not too bad. Atleast I won't have to shovel it!

If anyone has any other layout literature/sites that they have found useful, Id love to hear about them.

I'll buy the next round.[:)]

[Hawks05]

we had a soggy night last night, started to hail around 2-2:30 last night and the siren in town went off again. crazy weather for this time of year.

all i did today was put together a Accurail Burlington Northern centerflow hopper. nothing much, ran the trains a little and that was about all.

now i'm waiting for a friend to call, my mom is going to help her with some homework because the math teacher we have is pure crap and my mom teaches math. then we're off to Applebee's and a movie hopefully.

[der5997]

Good Late Afternoon all. (or is that Latte afternoon in here?[:D])
JP:

QUOTE: All - To those that use foamboard...how thick? Do you also use roadbed like Ed is?
I'm going to try to talk my CFO (wife) into letting me get about $30.00 worth of materials tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Our LHS (local hardware store[:)]) only stocks 1" foam, so that's what I use. I cut off the 1/2" strip and save it. You can see what I do with it in several shots of themountain foundations on railimages - URL in my signature. I'm looking to get some 1 1/2 or 2" to play around with. However, most of my vertical rises are fairly steep cliff like things, and building up with off cuts (I've thrown out very little of the scraps and off cuts) makes for interesting shapes in the rock. The 1" has worked out fine for the base. In those areas where I didn't lay it on plywood, it's noisy where the track is glued directly to it. I'm considering retro fitting pieces of ply to the underside just to quieten it down a tad.
Glue is Elmer's White. Track is laid on AMI, except as aforementioned glued bits.
Track spacing, much as Ed has done. I did make a snazzy template with 3 or 4 different spacings on it, but in the main 1 1'4 seems about right for Normal. However, I found that my track laying skills were not consistent, and the reality was more in some spots.

kevinstheRRman[#welcome] On the Global Warmiing thing, I'd say this Hurricane Season should serve as a wake up call for those who think it's a bunch of hog wash. Having said that, I agree that the Quebec and Maritimes experience so far would suggest it's more a case of Global Freezing[V]

Flip:

QUOTE: teffy- krump- wonder how many of us older guys get a chance to put aside our worries about our better halfs and chit-chat on this and other forums. Sure is a pleasure to justtalk to eachother, solve some small problems, and get a few good laughs.
Sorry coffee clubbers, just venting a little. Just like an old steamer. Thanks for the fellowship to each of you.

That's what I appreciate about the Coffee Shop too, that and the fine food![:D] [dinner]

Christopher:[bday]

Paul:

QUOTE: Well I've got to take the dog out. She just won't do her business unless I'm watching her.

Came home to a royal mess from our geriatric cat.[:(!] It's not that it missed it's box, because it had peed with normal accuracy. It had dumped on the stairs. Teach us to go out for t he day!!!!! Forunately we've now developed a technique for dealing with this, and we chose industrial carpet when we had the renovation done seven years ago. That has paid off over and over. It cleans up a treat.

Hawk05: Thanks for sharing the dreams, as they can be quite personal. There's a ton and a half of dream interpretation stuff out there, and most of it (IMHO) not worth the paper it's printed on. The approach that makes sense to me is based on Carl Jung's psychology, and looks at the elements of the dream as elements of the dreamer's personality. So your grandfather in the dream may not be your actual grandfather so much as a characteristic of your personality that your subconsious (or possibly The Holy Spirit) wants to draw to your consious attention. Similarly, means of transport could be metaphores for the journey through life. (That may be why the locations aren't quite exactly as you "know" them, no bridge in town but a bridge in your dream. ) If you care to follow up on this, try going to bed with the thought, "Please show me more about that train derailment. Why is it important?" Then note the next few dreams you have. You may be amazed at what turns up. Incidentally, if you keep a notebook beside your bed, and note down details of dreams whenever you wake up from one and rremember bits of it, you will find that you begin to remember much more.
There are occasionally dreams that are strictly predictive. So if you do dream of some disaster and recognize the location and other details as accurate, phone the Emergency Measures folks. They may think you wierd, but then you play with trains, so you're used to that , right?[(-D] [(-D] [(-D] The thing is, you will have given the warning, if that's what it was.

Ed: Yes, the blue crab would be just fine, I expect. Dungeness was what I was thinking of, but we're always open to new culinary delights. Mild please.[dinner]

Well, I see the sun has set on this summer's daylight saving time. Enjoy the extra hour of sleep time people, and don't forget to put the clocks back. (Saskatchewan modelers excepted.)

[Anonymous]

Hello All [:)]

I received an email with the following item. It is worth sharing with you all. My sister emailed this to me, she got it from a friend who got it from . . . well who knows. [;)] I do believe in giving credit where credit is due but just know know who to give the credit (started to end with "give the credit to" but caught myself.
Some of you will appreciate this more than others.



Grandpa's Hands


Grandpa, some ninety plus years, sat feebly on the patio bench.
He didn't move, just sat with his head down staring at his hands.
When I sat down beside him he didn't acknowledge my presence
and the longer I sat I wondered if he was ok. Finally, not really
wanting to disturb him but wanting to check on him at the same time,
I asked him if he was ok.

He raised his head and looked at me and smiled.
Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking, he said in a clear strong voice.

I didn't mean to disturb you, grandpa, but you were just sitting here
staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were ok.

Have you ever looked at your hands, he asked.
I mean really looked at your hands?

I slowly opened my hands and stared down at them.
I turned them over, palms up and then palms down.
No, I guess I had never really looked at my hands,
as I tried to figure out the point he was making.

Grandpa smiled and related this story:

Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have,
how they have served you well throughout your years.
These hands, though wrinkled, shriveled and weak have been the tools
I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life.
They braced and caught my fall when as a toddler I crashed upon the floor.
They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back.
As a child my mother taught me to fold them in prayer.
They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots.
They dried the tears of my children and caressed the love of my life.
They held my rifle and wiped my tears when I went off to war.
They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent.
They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn son.
Decorated with my wedding band, they showed the world that
I was married and loved someone special.
They wrote the letters home and trembled and shook when
I buried my parents and spouse and walked my daughter down the aisle.
Yet, they were strong and sure when I dug my buddy out of a foxhole
and lifted a plow off of my best friends foot.
They have held children, consoled neighbors, and shook in fists of anger
when I didn't understand.
They have covered my face, combed my hair, and
washed and cleansed the rest of my body.
They have been sticky, wet, bent, broken, dried, and raw.
To this day when not much of anything else of me works real well,
these hands hold me up, lay me down, and continue to fold in prayer.
These hands are the mark of where I've been and the ruggedness of my life.

But more importantly it will be these hands that God
will reach out and take when He leads me home.
And with my hands He will lift me to His side and
there I will use these hands to touch the face of Christ!



Well hopefully I will come back and post again a little later. The sun is going down and all the ladies at work told me to expect the trick or treaters tonight so I don't want to miss any of the little folks. [;)]

Be nice and take care.

[JPowell]

Well all, I submitted the budget to the CFO this morning...and it passed within a minute of submission w/ a max price tag of $100.00! So, after hanging some of that plastic window stuff in our bedrooms and some running back and forth to the basement to do some figuring for materials, off I went to Home Depot. I got 2 - 1.5" x 2' x 8' pink Insulfoam Board, 1 qt of joint / spackling compound, 2 - 1" x 2" x8' er's, 1 - 1" x 4" x 8' er (woods for attaching fascia to parts of the layout), plus some things the CFO added to the list. All told, $35 was spent, after 10% military discount!
I'm now waiting for some compound to dry as I had a few 'low' points on the plywood.
Off to go check out progress, and read current issues of Trains and MR that came today!
Have a good evening all
JP