Elliot's Diner, Mark XV

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good evening ......

Thanks to Bama and JR for their thoughts on our recent loss. DIL is recovering OK from the surgery. They are still heart broken about losing their baby. Also, thanks to those who emailed me with encouragements.

I've been looking over recent posts and I see you diners continue to be chow hounds who report the weather.

Ray ... thnaks for sahring Sci-Tek with us. I'm glad to know some of our young people are doing things like that.

Chris... The CNW 429 looks great.

Robby... I like the AA car. Best wishes for the Fed Ex job. Regarding the Cubs, I used to go to their games when I was kid living in Chicago area.  Rode trains to get to Wrigley Field.

JP ... That is great news about the GF, the SD70ACe, and so on!

JR .... Sounds like you are on the home stretch moving back home. Good to hear about it.

Jim CG .... Would you like some pun lessons?

 

[twhite]

Hello from SunnyCal.   I've been remiss in my visits here, sorry about that--been tied up for the last month with rehearsing a 'Farewell Recital' for Raymond, one of my Jesuit students.  Took place last Sunday, and was a roaring success--about 500 people were there, and he got a standing ovation.  He's off to the Cleveland Conservatory of Music next month.  18 year old tenor (just!) and a voice like a bloody Angel.  Gonna miss him like crazy.  

Weather has turned mild (upper 80's) after about a week and a half of 100+ temperatures, and if anyone says, "Yah, but it's a DRY heat out there,"  I will personally come out and clobber you!     Heat out here means no breeze AT ALL and stultifying and SUV fumes and staying inside with the air-conditioner on so that you can actually BREATHE!   And of course, the utility bill.  Yecch!   I could afford a Division Point brass steamer every month with what I pay the Sacramento Munincipal Utility District every month, and that's setting the AC at 80! 

Okay, enough grousing.  With the temperatures the way they are, haven't been able to do much on the MR until yesterday.  Went out and hooked my trusty Atlas track cleaner up to my new (gasp!) DIESEL Athearn RS-3 (in black and yellow Rio Grande stripes, of course!), and it was running just perfectly, cleaning the track and everything, then it entered the South Yuba Tunnel. 

BAM!  WHACK!  WHIRR! 

Stuck.  I mean, STUCK!   Said tunnel is on a long 36" radius curve.  There has NEVER been a problem in this tunnel.  And it was too long to reach in from either portal--they're removable, BTW--it was right smack in the middle.  Only thing to do was to go in from above, cut and peel back the scenery I had so carefully set down about 7 years ago.  Hurt like crazy to do it, but me and the X-acto knife had to go to work.  Peeled back the WS plaster cloth.  Looked down.  Went UCK!   A mouse had crawled in there sometime this month and DIED!    Lying on the tracks.  Track cleaning car wedged into its little dessicated body.  Peeled out said mouse, re-railed track cleaner.  Dipped my portaVac down there to clean up--oh, never mind, it was all dry, anyway--lifted out track cleaner and RS-3, sprayed the whole darned thing inside with Febreze, then Brite-boy'd the rails.  Well, at least I now have an access hole in case this thing happens again.   For a moment, I thought I was in one of those CSI programs on TV. 

So, I'm keeping the 'peel-back' access hole--going to disguise it with underbrush and trees.  I've had raccoons use the garage as their passageway from street to back-yard, but I've never given mice a thought.  And of course, this is the only tunnel on the MR that is non-accessable from the back.  Now that I think about it, I'm really glad I didn't line the entire thing with foam forms. 

Well, school starts in two weeks--we have a week-long "Chamber Choir Camp" the week before classes actually start, beginning on the 17th.  Classes start the 24th and I will be off and running.   Busy year.  Some private schools out here are suffering from the usual, but Jesuit still has a waiting list of over 100, so we seem to be trundling along, even despite the Recession out here.  And remember---California is the last to feel the Recession.  It's also the LAST to recover.  And frankly, with the clowns we've got in our Assembly and Senate, the rest of you will be in GREAT shape before we are. 

I remember when I lived in Texas during the 'sixties, my Air Force buddies said I was from the "Land of the Fruits and the Nuts."  Well, yah--but the're always the ones we seem to ELECT to Office, LOL!

Best to all, prayers to those in need.

Tom

 

 

[JimRCGMO]

Good Evening, Diners. Chloe, I'll have a bowl of beef stew and some whole grain bread, please, and a glass of milk, too. Thanks - I'll maybe have a RBF for dessert later on. Just bring it to the RC later on.

Kinda rainy tonight in Cape Girardeau (and points south) - looks like Memphis has some tornado watches and warnings this evening. Jeff, better watch yourself down there! Garry, you may get some rain, depending on how much this front moves, whether mostly east/slightly south, or if it creeps north and up the Ohio River valley.

Garry, take care of your bride, and thank you for sending along my thoughts and prayers to your daughter and SIL in NC. As JR said, hope her physical recovery from the surgery will go well; the other will take a bit longer, alas. Send her a hug from us in the Diner.

Ulrich - ah, now that you mention that use of 'Donner and Blitzen' (the non-Claus one), I do sorta recall hearing that before. Hmm, I just realized that the Donner Pass probably gets a lot of storms through it, after hearing what 'Donner' means...

Jerry, I heard the Cards won in the 15th inning last night (but I wasn't up that late) - Got that news from our true die-hard Cards fan at work today. 

Jeff - nice-looking patrol cars, though with that lightbar on top, I'm not sure how well that 'unmarked' one will be able to sneak up on the crooks... I won't tell JR about the Schultz Garage building if you don't. Oh well, you tipped him off on that.

Bama, on those locos vs. train length questions, I'll leave the definite answer to those modelling more modern times, but I'd say it mostly depends on how much room you have, as much as what's truly 'prototypical'. Use your 'artistic license' (You did renew that this year, right?).  Hey, I'm only sitting at the Rivet Counter, I'm "not really one in real life..."

BridgeTom - (Sorry, missed your post while I was typing mine) - I just want to know when you, Uff-Dah, and Princess Spooky are going to have a heart-to-heart about their slipping on one of their duties by NOT tending to that furry rodent... Tch, tch, tch - half-rations for the Felines, I'd say. As you said, at least now you have an access hatch, eh?

Thought I was going to swing by the Diner by way of Barnes & Noble's place (had heard they had opened up their WiFi for free now), but the connection seemed waaaaaaayyyyyyyyy tooooooooooo slllooooowwwww..... (had a flashback to my old dial-up days). So instead, I went the usual (Panera Bread Co.) route here.

Got our August on-call schedule for work this morning . Unfortunately (maybe partly since I'm taking a week of vacation in August), I'm on-call for this Sunday, the backup for four days after I get back from my 'off'/vacation time, and then I have an on-call the last Saturday in August too. Sheeesh!! Enough to discourage a guy from taking vacation (well, almost...).

Chloe, I'm ready for that root beer float now, please. Thanks!

 

Blessings and prayers,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[BamaCSX83]

As far as the room I'll have, it'll be whatever I make it, since I'm going to be building a completely separate building to put the layout in, so I know that I'll have plenty of room, and it'll also be a multi-level layout.  I know that it won't be easy to do, but I do plan on modelling most of the entire sub, from Montgomery, AL. down through Dothan, AL (about 120 road miles, haven't really measured how many rail-miles.  Thankfully most of the route is through the woods, so I know that I can creatively compress the distance that way, but I've just gotta get an idea of how long the trains are going to be, and how many other locomotives I've got to tie into the layout.  Oh well, any other suggestions would be more than welcome.  I'll still be hanging out here in the window booth, watching the night-time train action.

[Cox 47]

Jim Thanks for the score..I just checked in the 5th inning Cards were out in front..Maybe they will sweep the Dodgers!!..I ran trains for awhile today..Got most of track cleaning done...You all have a good nite...Jerry

[jeffrey-wimberly]

JimRCGMO

Jeff - nice-looking patrol cars, though with that lightbar on top, I'm not sure how well that 'unmarked' one will be able to sneak up on the crooks... I won't tell JR about the Schultz Garage building if you don't. Oh well, you tipped him off on that.

The lightbar was added on request when the town purchased the car.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

We had a big storm blow through earlier today that dumped nearly an inch of rain in less than an hour. I was coming back from Alexandria when it hit. The rain was so heavy my speed was limited 30 or less with the wipers on high. Even with that I was barely able to see the road. I've been working at the fire station tonight helping to get it cleaned up. We got our brush truck fixed too. Both batteries were shorted out, both alternators were burned out and the starter was jammed. To top things off we have another big storm heading in.

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

OK time for everyone to wake up!!!

Actually that was the "salute" to the flag as it was being lowered during Retreat tonight before dinner.

Here at camp learning is very often an active thing.  The Renewable energy group spent part of the week building these solar heating panels for the pool.

The Engineering Track took apart some old computers:

Bugs, Birds, and beasts did a study of the deer in the Northeast with the NYS DEC.  And... This afternoon we had a Career Fair.  This was part of a working exhibit from ITT/Goulds.  They were using a laser to scan in a deer skull.  After several scans, you have a 3D image of the object that you can rotate on the computer screen....

Hope all of you had a great day!

73

[pcarrell]

OK, so we've ripped through 50 pages in about 20 days!  Man we're a talkative bunch!

Looks like the switcher is headed this way.  Hey Flo, you got the kitchen ready to move?

[blownout cylinder]

pcarrell

OK, so we've ripped through 50 pages in about 20 days!  Man we're a talkative bunch!

Looks like the switcher is headed this way.  Hey Flo, you got the kitchen ready to move?

I thought we had our own switcher---

I'm up and getting stuff together for a day of dribbling again---we had a 40% shower come along and surprise us with its presence---can't seem to shake the rain around here

Chloe, I'll just have a quick coffee-----have a good one people--

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 I'll open a new one then.