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

[Paul W. Beverung]

Teffy; Well looked up that issue of MR that had Steves' layout in it. I generally don't pay alot of attention to articles on puters. I've been thinking that it would be interesting if we could have someone in another location work as the dispatcher,ctc operator. I wounder if that is possible? We would have to have a way to have the two computers net with each other. It would be interesting to have Ferggie dispatching from somewhere in the North Atlantic.

I just finished a great cup of pinion coffee and a slice of Mary Ann's apple pie with vanella ice cream. Yum Yum

Fergie; I wi***hat I could have been there with you and your friends at that camp fire. It's been a while. One time coneing down the Brazoes at our first nights camp I took a time exposure of us sitting at the fire. When it was developed there were a pair of eyes in the air looking at us. Makes you wounder about things. That night we could hear what sounded like Souix war drums in the distance. My friends were both dancers so they know the drums. We figured out that we were hearing a oil well pump way off. It still sounded good though. Good times for sure.

Well it's time to hit the sack. I've got to drive the old truck with out a heater tommrow. The newer truck is in the shop. Of course it's going to be in the low 40's and raining. I'll stop and get a cup and a large sausage roll to keep me warm. Good All

Paul

Duluth, Superior, & Southeastern

" The Superior Route "

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Paul W. Beverung

Teffy; Well looked up that issue of MR that had Steves' layout in it. I generally don't pay alot of attention to articles on puters. I've been thinking that it would be interesting if we could have someone in another location work as the dispatcher,ctc operator. I wounder if that is possible? We would have to have a way to have the two computers net with each other. It would be interesting to have Ferggie dispatching from somewhere in the North Atlantic.

Paul

Duluth, Superior, & Southeastern

" The Superior Route "

At $1 a minute I'm sure it can be done on a InMarSat Modem!

[Anonymous]

Hi All [:)]

I am here but don't know for how long. [:(] AOL kicked me off 4 times last night. Tonight only once so far.


Now about the Goat [;)]

MRC magazine gives a Dremel and accessories and a $100 prize every month for the best kitbashing contest. This months winner is the Pudgy Goat. Many of us mispronounce words, especially those that are foreign. The Pudgy Goat is actually a 1907 Peugeot kitbashed into a combo inspection car / box car / passenger van. Imagine the Galloping Goose railbus without the bus and with a short wood boxcar. The car was a "touring" type car with an open air approach but with a roof. When the car ends the boxcar begins with the end of the car and the begining boxcar riding on the same truck. Add a locomotive headlight (mounted on the cars roof) a cowcatcher, and the locomotive bell (mounted just forward of the radiator) and you have a unique creation. The only thing missing are the Adlake marker lights but this creation is truly a work of art. The model is for an ON3 layout but is modeled after a narrow guage railroad. Overall I would give this effort an A+.

This reply was not a long as last nights endeavor but I plan on sleeping tonight and not steaming half the night.

Well bed time. Good night. [;)]


Well AOHell strikes again. As I posted this AOL booted me. It took me almost 45 minutes just to get back here and see if the post made it. Thankfully for them it did. I am still not pleased with AOHell. I am beginning my search for a new ISP, I am fed up with being booted off every time I turn around.

[Fergmiester]

Do you realize this is the first post on MR Forums in 1 hr 10 minutes!

WAKEY WAKEY RISE AND SHINE
YOU'VE HAD YOURS AND I'VE HAD MINE

SO

PITTER PATTER LET'S GET AT 'ER

You guys stay up all night or what?

[dave9999]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Fergmiester

Do you realize this is the first post on MR Forums in 1 hr 10 minutes!

WAKEY WAKEY RISE AND SHINE
YOU'VE HAD YOURS AND I'VE HAD MINE

SO

PITTER PATTER LET'S GET AT 'ER

You guys stay up all night or what?

Well, I'm see someone had one cup too many.[;)][:)]
Good morning, Fergie... It's off to work for me. Dave

P.S. One more day of this HEAT. It is forecasted to cool off
tonight....

[Anonymous]

Good Morning All:

Well it's nice to see that Dave, Emerald, and Fla/Phil got all of their neighbors acts together and were able to complete the election in a proper time. Now if Breakie will just kick his neighbors in the butt, we can find out who is our new president. I feel sorry for all you Canadaians and people south of the border, what do you do while the TV networks have only election coverage? Last night was one of the few times that I watched TV (I hate the idiot box). It wasn't so bad to watch the Godfather and then switch over to CNN during the commercials. Ohio is promising a count but it may take eleven days. Thank God for electronic voting machines and being able to get elections results fast. It's amazing that both canadates can claim victory in Ohio. Only in politicks.

Jim:
My ISO is a local company whose rate is $15.00/month and if I pay for a year at a time it is only $150.00 with unlimited time. I save the $30.00 and go for the year.

Tom:
The roundhouse that I built was 933-3041 It's the one that looks like the old "Ideal", that we made from cardboard 40 million years ago. I'm glad to hear that Shawna is able to go back to school. Where is Bill? I kinda thought that he'd get back on when he got to feeling better.

Fergie:
My whole system is Digitrax and Soundtraxx. When Digitrax comes out with sound I may change just to keep it all the same. When you use different manufactors products and have trouble, it's always the other guys fault and you are cought in the middle with something that doesn't work. My new DCS200 (the 8 amp model) died yesterday afternoon and has to go back today for a fix.

Fla/Phil:
Keep me in mind for the milled roadbed if you ever need it. I liked being able to lay the roadbed at leasure and when it's just like you want it, nail it down and then come back and lay the rail. I used Atlas switch kits in the beginning and then went on to build my own. It's funny, but all the time that we were building those switches we ever thought of curved turnouts, and now I probably have as many curved turnouts as straight ones.

Paul:
Where did you go canoe camping? That was what got us into the bus business. We used to take people canoeing in our travel-all (an International suburban) and then we found out the car wasn't big enough to take all of our customers so we bought a bus. We've canoed the Rio Grande, Guadalupe, Big Piney, Cassatot, and a bunch more. We were in the canoe business for better then 15 years. I still have a 17' Old Town wooden Molitor hanging in my office. We stopped by Old Town Canoe company on our vacation and got to see the manufactoring process for plastic, royalex and wood.

Well I've rambled long enough let me get dressed and put out some more bird feed. I've found out they really like chicken scratch and it's a heck of a lot cheaper then bird seed.

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

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dave9999

QUOTE: Originally posted by Fergmiester

Do you realize this is the first post on MR Forums in 1 hr 10 minutes!

WAKEY WAKEY RISE AND SHINE
YOU'VE HAD YOURS AND I'VE HAD MINE

SO

PITTER PATTER LET'S GET AT 'ER

You guys stay up all night or what?

Well, I'm see someone had one cup too many.[;)][:)]
Good morning, Fergie... It's off to work for me. Dave

P.S. One more day of this HEAT. It is forecasted to cool off
tonight....

Hey Dave:
What do you mean ONE cup to many - he drank the whole pot by himself.

Bob

[Fergmiester]

Good to the last DROP!

Actually, I stayed up to 11:30 last night looking at the returns.

Bob: sorry to hear about your glitch, hopefully it will get up and running very soon. I got confirmation Sunday night as to "MyOwnCollection" shipping out the unit on Monday. So now I must sit and wait. I brought my B&O Consolidation out of storage yesterday and ran it on track that it has never seen before (Inside Loop). So much for that four feet of track!

Dave: If you wan't to share the wealth, We wouldn't mind some of that heat up here as it is raining and in the low fifties. Had the woodstove up and running last night, nice heat to sit by!

Regards
Fergie

[der5997]

Good morning all:
Fergie:

QUOTE: Dave: If you wan't to share the wealth, We wouldn't mind some of that heat up here as it is raining and in the low fifties. Had the woodstove up and running last night, nice heat to sit by!

Should have put ours on too. Trouble was we were both out at different functions until later in the evening. The wood stove is great, but Mrs. der finds it's too hot by the time I'm just warming up. Today is pretty cheerless, weather wise. Glad to report the printer problems have been resolved. Now to see if the extended warranty I bought with the first one gets transfered to this, which is a replacement under the warranty. "Customer Care" says it should happen as soon as the old machine gets back to Lexmark. We shall see.

Big_Girl: Is it alright for Mrs. der and me to get back to cheering for the GBPs now?

Waiting to hear if the LHS (H=Hardware) has my foam sheets for insulating the well cover. Off cuts from that project should go a long way to providing material for the rest of the tunnels and mountains. (The re-used building materials place didn't have any. No local building sites, Bob, but thanks for the idea.)

Also waiting for the fibre optic sample pack to come in the mail. Maybe making block signals will be just the project to lift me out of the Blahs that seem to have descended on the layout room along with the rain and bletch outside. I'm particularly interested in seeing if the fibre that's just about scale thickness for a Normal block signal mast will transmit enough light for the signal to be easily visible in ordinary daylight conditions on the layout. The bi-colour LEDs are not in clear casings, so the light is already cut down. The first attempt I made at this was using the fibres from one of those party lights. Not much light got through.
I'm hoping that the "proper" fibre will give a much brighter signal.
On the subject of LEDs, I note that this year there are LED Christmas Lights available. I'm thinking that a set of those would be the answer to the light problem on my lower level yard. Not much heat build up to bother with. Lots of light from a string costing under $8.00 Cnd. I hope they come in white, (or can be engineered to show a white light by removing whatever is encasing the LED) I haven't inspected a set yet. Anyone taken a look at them?

BTW, Fergie, whatever happened to SHOW A LEG!?

[Junctionfan]

I ran out of coffee this morning. I have to run out and get more. Maybe I should sleep soon........I am starting to see things.

Did Nader just win?...........that can't be right.[%-)][zzz][zzz][zzz][zzz]

[Anonymous]

Good Afternoon All:

According to a lady in the check-out line at lunch - KERRY has conceded because Ohio was given to Bush. Supossedly see saw the concession speach.

Have a blessed day and remember SANTA FE ALL THE WAY
Bob

[twhite]

First time at the Coffee shop, you guys got some kind of strong decaf (yech!)? All I can drink, according to my doctor. Kept myself away from the Returns last night and today, but heard anyway. Oh well--I guess it isn't the year for us RCSLD's (Roman Catholic Screaming Liberal Democrats). Started in on some scenery for the RR, but it's raining out here in Sunny California, so all I can do is some prep work with extruded foam, newspaper and masking tape. It's a California Basement layout (garage), and I don't feel like waiting two weeks for the plaster cloth to dry. Question for anyone out there. If I DO decide to start slapping the plaster around, what's the best drying agent besides our famous (hah!) California sun. Hair-dryer, or flood-lamp? I'm sort of on a roll, right now, after spending months getting the track just right, sort of like to get the train rolling through something else but foam-forms. Any ideas?
Tom

[egmurphy]

Welcome to the Coffee Shop, Tom. Can't help with the decaf stuff, but it should be around here somewhere. Let's see........whoops!

RCSLD.....strike one! [:O]

California.....strike two!! [:-,]

Oh, wait, you're using foam scenery?? Okay, forget those remarks. [swg] Let's see what I can recommend based on my limited experience.

First, remember that plaster doesn't "dry", it cures. The hardness comes from a chemical reaction with the plaster and water. Attempts to dry it prematurely will affect the strength.

Putting a plaster coat over the foam will give you a hard shell. But unless you plan on leaning on the layout, you can get away without putting a plaster layer over the foam. You can just use lightweight spackle compound to help fill cracks/smooth contours, sand, and paint a coat of latex paint directly over the foam. You may prefer to put the plaster layer on for strength, I just mention this as an alternate approach.

Even going with plaster or plaster cloth, I wouldn't think you'd need to wait two weeks for it to dry (or cure) completely. I think that once it's gets hard (like the next day) you should be able to continue to work over the top of it, whether that's adding rock castings, more plaster, latex paint, or glue and ground cover.

One other thought that I've mentioned to others. While we like to actually talk model railroading here, often I think questions get brought up here that the usual cast of characters may not have the experience to answer sufficiently. There are only about 20-25 regulars who come here on a regular basis. So if you don't get the answer you want/need here, consider posting it in its own thread on the general forum. Of course keep coming back here too!

Regards

Ed

[dave9999]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Fergmiester

Dave: If you wan't to share the wealth, We wouldn't mind some of that heat up here as it is raining and in the low fifties. Had the woodstove up and running last night, nice heat to sit by!

Regards
Fergie

I usually don't mind the heat too much. My body has gotten used to it after living
in Florida all of my life. But when it's still steaming hot in November, something's
wrong.[8D] Our winters are extremly mild by Canadian standards, but I still like
a little chill in the air. Looks like my wish will come true....rain tonight and cool
and clear tomorrow.[:p] Dave

[Noah Hofrichter]

Flip, Good for a second there you had me wondering what you meant.......!

Well, I'm rather worn out, as I've had alot of homework lately (hence the no-post yesterday) and I've got a big project due in early December. I get to the point anymore where I quit on my homework and go to bed early and get up early and do it. I just get so tired anymore. Oh well, it will be all right again......... eventually (namely when Chirstmas vacation comes..............) Well, guess I better get going again, as I've got some more homework to do again tonight. See you all tomarrow.

Noah

[fec153]

Bob- to tired to reply to all- 13&1/2 hr. workday is too much for me. The Tru-Scale I used and that which is left all have n/s rails already mounted. It was given to the club after the owner died and layout dismantled. Goes from 20" to 36" radii plus all the straight track.
Can't think anymore,bedtime. Night all.
Flip

[Junctionfan]

Has anybody heard that Lubbock (I think I spelled it wrong) Texas recieved 20cm of snow? What the heck is Texas doing with our snow? I think mother nature is on crack...

[PennsyHoosier]

I stayed up 36 hours straight watching the last of the campaign through the election proper to the final results. All the while my little pennsys went round and round. It's good to know that even while the country might be in an uproar politically, my little pennsys keep going round and round. Thank goodness for model railroads!

[der5997]

PennsyHoosier: [#welcome]

QUOTE: my little pennsys keep going round and round

makes me think of the great bargain I got for my first real layout. A RS1 in Canadian Pacific colours. It had spent the Christmas sales season going round and round in a jeweler's window in Campbell River , B.C. I got it after Christmas for a song, and it was nicely run in[^]

Junctionfan:

QUOTE: Has anybody heard that Lubbock (I think I spelled it wrong) Texas recieved 20cm of snow? What the heck is Texas doing with our snow? I think mother nature is on crack...

don't look now, but it's called Global Warming, coming to a country near you....[swg]

Flip:[zzz] Take advantage of these early dark nights. Hope you slept well.

Fibre optic pack didn't show up in the mail, but the Purolator guy scheduled for Friday pick up was here within 2 hours of the phone call TODAY!!![:O] Good thing the package was all ready to go.
Spent some time carving at the foam mountains. Discovered that if the knife blade happens to break away bits of the foam in the process the result is a rather nice rock effect. I may well incorporate some of that in the final work. Depends how it paints up. The knife I'm using is a narrow bladed small box cutter. I got 2 packs of 5 spare blades for 25 cents a packin the summer. So, if they don't last , it's no big deal. The blades are thin enough to bend while cutting the foam. Makes nice curves.

Weather permitting, early start tomorrow for more yard work at our daughter's place. If it's too cold and windy we won't go. No sense getting miserable when we don't have to.
So, I'll say Good Night, and God Bless.

[Fergmiester]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan

Has anybody heard that Lubbock (I think I spelled it wrong) Texas recieved 20cm of snow? What the heck is Texas doing with our snow? I think mother nature is on crack...

I'd say she's hoarding it! Trying to cut into our sky industry, next our hills will be disapearing. What's next?

Anyway it wasn't a bad day on the MR. Replaced 4 feet of track and reballaste it along with the parallel main line. The Consolidation doesn't hop off the tracks anymore so it looks like I'm in business again.

Not much else on the go except the political pundits are analyzing the election to death.

Lisa's in pain as she threw out her back teaching Beaver's (younger then the Cub's) a new song and dance. She's just about crippled.

Hi winds are forecasted for tomorrow and it's November.

Anyway I'm off to bed

Tomorrow Gents
Fergie

[twhite]

Junctionfan: I lived in the Texas panhandle for four years, and yes, Lubbock (you spelled it right) DOES get snow. It doesn't have anyplace to go, so it blows around and usually ends up six feet deep right at your front door. When I got to Texas from the Sierra Nevadas in California, they kept telling me that "Whah, sumtimes, we'all get over a FOOT!" To which I smiled and replied "A foot of snow isn't a storm, it's a warm-up." That's until I experienced my first Blue Norther and saw it pile up against the second story of the Air Force barracks I was in. I'll take the Sierras and their 30 foot annual snowfall ANY day to a blizzard in Texas!
Tom

[krump]

Fog for Sale, Snow for Rent
weird weather here, Winter calling
coffee please

can anyone tell me why Republicans use an Elephant symbol ( I do recall elephants representing Republic ofs... ), and Democrats have a Donkey symbol (I think that's what it is)? what is the significance of them? no eagles, bears, marlins or ?, there must be a history factor there
- curious Canuck...

[egmurphy]

Ask and ye shall receive, oh great white northern curious Canuck (Canuque (sp?)).....

the origin of the
Republican Elephant


by William Safire


This symbol of the party was born in the imagination of cartoonist Thomas Nast and first appeared in Harper's Weekly on November 7, 1874.

An 1860 issue of Railsplitter and an 1872 cartoon in Harper's Weekly connected elephants with Republicans, but it was Nast who provided the party with its symbol.

Oddly, two unconnected events led to the birth of the Republican Elephant. James Gordon Bennett's New York Herald raised the cry of "Caesarism" in connection with the possibility of a thirdterm try for President Ulysses S. Grant. The issue was taken up by the Democratic politicians in 1874, halfway through Grant's second term and just before the midterm elections, and helped disaffect Republican voters.

While the illustrated journals were depicting Grant wearing a crown, the Herald involved itself in another circulation-builder in an entirely different, nonpolitical area. This was the Central Park Menagerie Scare of 1874, a delightful hoax perpetrated by the Herald. They ran a story, totally untrue, that the animals in the zoo had broken loose and were roaming the wilds of New York's Central Park in search of prey.

Cartoonist Thomas Nast took the two examples of the Herald enterprise and put them together in a cartoon for Harper's Weekly. He showed an *** (symbolizing the Herald) wearing a lion's skin (the scary prospect of Caesarism) frightening away the animals in the forest (Central Park). The caption quoted a familiar fable: "An *** having put on a lion's skin roamed about in the forest and amused himself by frightening all the foolish animals he met within his wanderings."

One of the foolish animals in the cartoon was an elephant, representing the Republican vote - not the party, the Republican vote - which was being frightened away from its normal ties by the phony scare of Caesarism. In a subsequent cartoon on November 21, 1874, after the election in which the Republicans did badly, Nast followed up the idea by showing the elephant in a trap, illustrating the way the Republican vote had been decoyed from its normal allegiance. Other cartoonists picked up the symbol, and the elephant soon ceased to be the vote and became the party itself: the jackass, now referred to as the donkey, made a natural transition from representing the Herald to representing the Democratic party that had frightened the elephant.


From William Safire's New Language of Politics, Revised edition, Collier Books, New York, 1972

---------------------------

When Andrew Jackson ran for president in 1828, his opponents tried to label him a "jackass" for his populist views and his slogan, "Let the people rule." Jackson, however, picked up on their name calling and turned it to his own advantage by using the donkey on his campaign posters. During his presidency, the donkey was used to represent Jackson's stubbornness when he vetoed re-chartering the National Bank.

The first time the donkey was used in a political cartoon to represent the Democratic party, it was again in conjunction with Jackson. Although in 1837 Jackson was retired, he still thought of himself as the Party's leader and was shown trying to get the donkey to go where he wanted it to go. The cartoon was titled "A Modern Baalim and his ***."

Interestingly enough, the person credited with getting the donkey widely accepted as the Democratic party's symbol probably had no knowledge of the prior associations. Thomas Nast, a famous political cartoonist, came to the United States with his parents in 1840 when he was six. He first used the donkey in an 1870 Harper's Weekly cartoon to represent the "Copperhead Press" kicking a dead lion, symbolizing Lincoln's Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who had recently died. Nast intended the donkey to represent an anti-war faction with whom he disagreed, but the symbol caught the public's fancy and the cartoonist continued using it to indicate some Democratic editors and newspapers.

Later, Nast used the donkey to portray what he called "Caesarism" showing the alleged Democratic uneasiness over a possible third term for Ulysses S. Grant. In conjunction with this issue, Nast helped associate the elephant with the Republican party. Although the elephant had been connected with the Republican party in cartoons that appeared in 1860 and 1872, it was Nast's cartoon in 1874 published by Harper's Weekly that made the pachyderm stick as the Republican's symbol. A cartoon titled "The Third Term Panic," showed animals representing various issues running away from a donkey wearing a lion's skin tagged "Caesarism." The elephant labeled "The Republican Vote," was about to run into a pit containing inflation, chaos, repudiation, etc.

By 1880 the donkey was well established as a mascot for the Democratic party. A cartoon about the Garfield-Hancock campaign in the New York Daily Graphic showed the Democratic candidate mounted on a donkey, leading a procession of crusaders.

Over the years, the donkey and the elephant have become the accepted symbols of the Democratic and Republican parties. Although the Democrats have never officially adopted the donkey as a party symbol, we have used various donkey designs on publications over the years. The Republicans have actually adopted the elephant as their official symbol and use their design widely.

The Democrats think of the elephant as bungling, stupid, pompous and conservative -- but the Republicans think it is dignified, strong and intelligent. On the other hand, the Republicans regard the donkey as stubborn, silly and ridiculous -- but the Democrats claim it is humble, homely, smart, courageous and loveable.

Adlai Stevenson provided one of the most clever descriptions of the Republican's symbol when he said, "The elephant has a thick skin, a head full of ivory, and as everyone who has seen a circus parade knows, proceeds best by grasping the tail of its predecessor."
+++++++++++++++++++++++

And now you know.....the rest of the story.

Later, got to go walk the dogs and ourselves.............

Ed

[der5997]

Ed: So, the Elephant as Republican symbol, and the Donkey as Democrat symbol are both "Nasties"? [:D] [:O] [}:)] [;)]
I'm with krump, Coffee please!!![:p]

[Anonymous]

Good Morning All;

As you have just seen Ed didn't have anything to do today. HA HA HA

John:
When I was watching the election results I kept thinking about your telling us about the Redskins game and the outcome of the election and I sure was worried. But the prediction didn't work this year (thank God).

Ed:
I haven't seen "pachyderm" used in years.

Fergie:
Would Lisa like to use Mrs. "T"'s cane for a while? She wouldn't have to worry about it falling over. You should be getting the manual pretty soon.

I've got to get busy and get some clothes folded so we'll have something to wear to work.

Have a blessed day and remember SANTA FE ALL THE WAY
Bob

[tomwatkins]

Good Mornin' Everybody,
It's a gray, rainy morning in the mountains today. The coffee is excellent, and I'm being a little lazy so far today. It's supposed to clear off later and turn cold. It's about time for it to cool off significantly, so we'll see.

I got Shawna back down to school yesterday morning. Two of her professors are being very graceous and helpful, one is not, and one she hasn't seen yet, as of last night. It will be OK.

FEC, chiggers are no fun at all. I think poison ivy is easier to deal with. When I moved in up here, I had a lot of bru***o clear and I rediscovered both chiggers and poison ivy very quickly. I'd not experienced either since I was very young. They're just not any fun at all. I'm not a camper either. I love to get out and take day hikes and enjoy the mountains. But when the sun starts to go down I'm looking for a place with clean sheets and indoor plumbing. When I got out of the Marine Corps I promised myself that I'd spent my last night under green canvas or nylon or anything similar and I've stuck to it.

Fergie, how is Lisa doing with her back? I hope she's recovering quickly because that's no fun at all. It really hurts. I'll see what I've got as far as photos of the rocks are concerned. We do have scanner now, so let me see what I can do. I may (Read most probably will) need help from the more computer savvy folks to figure out how to send photos.

Teffy, Bill has been staying real busy getting his business going. He's also been picking up some stuff on ebay. He's gotten a Specrum decapod and light mountain and a P2K E6. He's going to bring them up soon to run them in a bit. That will be fun.

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

[Fergmiester]

I'm afraid she's down for the count as her back stiffened up through the night. I've given her muscle relaxants and a rub of Analgesic Balm (Burns the hide off a cow). So I'll be at her beckoning call. And since I can't go far I'll have to standby in the basement. Already burned myself with the glue gun several times today as I'm realigning two bridges and set 5' of double tracked ballast. The good thing is I used recycled ballast that I ran through a riddle (mesh screen from the front door).

I'm also painting the rock face, five coats to date and several more to go as I'm applying a wash of different shades and colours. To be honest the jury is still out on this and I won't know if it's a keeper until it's finished.

Later Gents
Fergie

[der5997]

Fergie: Please let Lisa know we are thinking of her, and praying for a swift recovery. Mrs. der has used the chiroprator in Porter's Lake with good success when she threw her back 2 Christmasses ago. (FWIW)

[egmurphy]

Good Evening Coffee Clubbers,

Well I think I’m about caught up on lost sleep from election night. Maybe it’s time to get back to normal around here. I don’t watch much television (other than pro football and the World Series every 86 years [;)] ) but did want to see the returns. The only channel down here with coverage was CNN en Español. [|(] I really dislike CNN in general and their ‘sound bite’ approach to reporting, but it was the only game in town. I think I finally folded my tent around 2 or 3 a.m. (CST) when it became obvious that Ohio wasn’t going to be decided that night. I’m really happy that things were decided the following day. We didn’t need to drag things through the courts again.

Cool front blew in last night. No I didn’t say ‘cold’. Got down to around 60 last night and only into the mid-70’s today….. Okay, you northern tier staters and residents of the frozen north can stop laughing and rolling around on the floor now. [(-D] For us down here this is relief from the heat. The wife’s family is already starting to shiver.

Came to a starting realization today. I’ve only got a couple of weeks left to work on the layout until it needs to go into virtual hiding until after Xmas is over!!! [:O] The place where it has been sitting these past couple of months is the place where THE TREE has to go. I’m not even going to try to argue with the VP of Finance and Real Estate over this one. There’s no real option. I suppose that will give me a chance to concentrate on some of the projects I’ve got laying around like the InterMountain tank car kits that I need to assemble.


Tom, it’s good to hear that Shawna was finally able to go back to school. Hope she can make up the lost work without too much problem.


Fergie, guess it’s time to switch our prayers to Lisa. I fell and hurt my back about three years ago. What a pain (literally). Biggest problem (aside from trying not to move) was getting in and out of bed. The only good thing that came out of it was that Fran insisted that we buy a recliner (it was easier for me to sit and sleep in) that vibrated and had heat!!! It’s still my favorite chair to watch football or read in, although I no longer use the ‘heat’ option. [:)]

QUOTE: Fergie: Pitter patter let’s get at ‘er.

I haven’t heard that in over 30 years. When I was working in Sarnia in the early 70’s a lot of my local friends used that a lot!

QUOTE: Fergie: Anyway it wasn't a bad day on the MR. Replaced 4 feet of track and reballasted it along with the parallel main line. The Consolidation doesn't hop off the tracks anymore so it looks like I'm in business again.

Looks like you’re just a bit ahead of me there.

QUOTE: Jim: I am here but don't know for how long. AOL kicked me off 4 times last night. Tonight only once so far.

You didn’t comment last time I suggested it so maybe you don’t like the idea, but I’ll suggest once more that you get in the habit of writing your posts in Word, saving your work as you go, then cutting and pasting them into a reply window. It will really save on the nerves and blood pressure when you lose the signal.


Noah, I can understand the homework thing keeping you away from the forum. Nice to see you have enough discipline to avoid getting sucked in here for a long time. But also nice to see you keep dropping in.


Thanks for the tip on the thin box cutter blades, John. That might work for me too.

QUOTE: Teffy: I haven't seen "pachyderm" used in years.

Now that you mention it, Bob, I don’t recall seeing it lately either. But it was fairly common when I was growing up. Probably part of what I perceive as a “dumbing down” of the language in general, but we don’t need to go down that path here on this forum.


Well that’s enough for now. See you all later.

Regards

Ed

[der5997]

'Evening All: Just a beautiful starry sky for my walk with Rosie- the- dog this evening. There had been some critter along the road, so lots of pulling and sniffing. More rain forecast for tonight/tomorrow..and so on...until Sunday. That should be sunny.
The fibre optics sample pack has arrived. These fibres sure let the light through! I held one up to the dining room light, put my finger over the end nearest the light, and instead of going out completely, as I had expected, the far end turned red! Amazing to me that it would pick up the blood colour in my finger. I've made up a first attempt signal with a fibre that's about true scale for a block signal light. I'm not convinced it will be big enough to show well on the layout. I may have to go over scale in order to have the light show. I really want this to work, as I haven't seen any micro miniature LEDs that are bicolour. (And if there were, wiring them would be, um, interesting [:D]) I don't want to go to 2 lamp (red light and green light) signals if I can help it
I know I can get micro mini LEDs that are red or green.
Ed:

QUOTE: Thanks for the tip on the thin box cutter blades, John. That might work for me too.

You're welcome. If you are worried about the blade breaking,there's always goggles [8D] [(-D]

Well, Im off. Thanks for the coffee, and Noah, [#ditto] on what Ed said. Keep up the good work, and stay out of here if there's real stuff needs doing. You've got your priorities right, it seems. Good luck with the big December thing.