Elliot's Trackside Diner XXII-Just a track over

[egmurphy]

grayfox1119

Cold enough yet down there in old Mexico ?

Well, Dick, since you asked, it has been a bit on the chilly side the past week or so.  Chilly for here, that is.  It's been up in the high 60's in the daytime and overcast, but plunging down to the mid 50's at night.  The Mrs. wants to break out the flannel sheets.

If anyone is interested, the orange grove is doing well.  We're into the harvest season, and the mandarin oranges are at their peak.  Not a bumper crop this year, but plenty for us, and to share with you guys here in the diner.

I haven't touched the layout in months, many months.  But hey, maybe this year.  I did buy a new locomotive and a new car last fall.  So I suppose that I haven't completely given up on the idea of continuing.

http://www.wig-wag-trains.com/IMRC-Pages/01AA-Pictures/Locomotives/699xx_FP-7/69961_NdeM.JPG

http://www.wig-wag-trains.com/Atlas%20Pages/Atlas%20Pictures/Reefers/Wood-Reefer/41526_Banana.jpg

Hi to the old "Coffee Shop" regulars who still post here.   And, of course, to all the new guys who I don't know. 

Best regards 

Ed

 

[blownout cylinder]

-------mmmm-------

Snowsquall stopped a few minutes after the winds died down-----now it is all clear----and i'm hearing the snowblowers and the beep beep of the plows and all that------should be a little better driving around here tomorrow---

In our backyard---in a sheltered area-----42" of snow on the ground----that is enough thankyeverymuch---

[Packers#1]

ns3010

Since we have school tomorrow (UGH!), I'm probably gonna hit it pretty early tonight. Over break, I've been completely out of my regular sleep pattern (I was staying up really late, and sleeping in, but I can't do that with school...), and now I need to get back in it...

G'night!

 

Same here. I'll probably turn it at 11 tonight, lol.

[ns3010]

Evening.

Geez, Barry, 4 feet!

Jeff- glad to hear you're OK after that fall

Since we have school tomorrow (UGH!), I'm probably gonna hit it pretty early tonight. Over break, I've been completely out of my regular sleep pattern (I was staying up really late, and sleeping in, but I can't do that with school...), and now I need to get back in it...

G'night!

[howmus]

Evenin' again.....

Flo, cup of decafe if you please.

Rob very sorry to hear about the goats,  Poor little things! 

Jeffrey, sure hope nothing got worked up with your foot and such.  Hate to see you have another setback!

One of the mebers of the Museum (R&GV) sent out this to the membership.  Figured many of you might enjoy it as well!

73

 

[Packers#1]

 Robby, yeah man, I watched the second half for a bit. was a good game.

Jeff, ouch man. Glad nothing major happened though!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 Been taking it easy since returning from grocery shopping. I took a somewhat nasty backwards fall down the steps while bringing the groceries in. Nothing broken but I have a little scrape and a couple of bruises. I'm gonna be moving even slower for a couple of days than I usually do.

[Robby P.]

  It was a good game.  The wife did get mad a few times.   I didn't even touch the layout today.  Hopefully tomorrow.  I also enjoy looking at your layout updates.  I need to do one myself, its been awhile.

[Packers#1]

 Robby, both my dad and little brother are Dolphins fans, lol. Sweet work on your layout btw.

[Robby P.]

 Good evening.  Its been a cold day.  The high was only about 15.  Currently its about 10 degrees, and the wind chill is about 0 degrees.

 Well seems like most of us had a busy day, and a few of us were fighting snow storms.  Well not much has fallen here, but its just cold here.  Didn't get any snow, well what they were calling for.

 The Steelers didn't make the playoffs, so I guess I might become a new teams fan for a few weeks.  

 Got some space heaters going upstairs.   Gotta get the cold air out before bed.

 Well I guess I will stop by in the morning.   Everybody have a goodnight.

[Packers#1]

 Thanks Lee.

Well folks, back to school tomorrow. only good things that come of that: rugby and friends! However, this also means the pace of the layout will slow down, which is fine with me, lol. The next step will probably be figuring out some homemade ground throws for the town side and also operating the yard more.

[fec153]

Dick- I was there and the camera broke when they took my picture.           lol

I wish you all Enough warmth and a slackening of the snows.\

Blessings and Prayers for all.

Fossil Flip

 

[LSWrr]

Ray; looks like you guys had a great day.

Sawyer; nice job on the factory!

 

Rob; sorry to hear about the goats.

 

[LSWrr]

Rob; I’ll trade you weather forecasts for tonight; 6” of snow this evening, currently 6F outside, 25 mph winds.

 

Global warming; here in Ohio and most of Canada the snow and ice was 12 miles deep, then it slowly melted back to the North Pole creating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River.  Sorry but it took scientists how long to figure out the temperature was warming?

 

Global warming is on hold for me here; Dorothy came home with new wiper blades and guesses who had to stand outside in the snow storm and install them?  Not to mention something on my truck is draining the battery, tomorrow after work I need to have the truck towed to the shop and have “something” fixed.  I think it’s a short in the starter, regardless it’s worth the $21/hour to have them work on it in a nice warm garage than me in the driveway.

 

[blownout cylinder]

grayfox1119

Global Warming caused by humans in 800AD, or, Climate changes caused by other factors not related to humans?

I know a few climatologists who claim that a few mini-tunguskas can do some damage as well---all the dust that the Tunguska comet fragment unleashed way back in 1908 made for some intersting weather effects as well. Just have a few of those set up and off we go. Around the 5th-7th century a series of migrations occured that left a few people puzzled. There seemed to be some mention of fire from the sky etc in a few mss from that period------mmm------maybe this whole thing is just a little more than Big Bad Man---

I usually find that asking "what caused the last Ice Age to suddenly end? mmmm?" usually brings a little more sanity to the debate-----

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

As for this'un we went to do some shopping ---Audrey and I---- and did find that our friendly neighbourhood snowsquall gave us white out conditions everywhere we went It wouldn't leave us alone When we finally got home I had to get the snowblower out and do a quick path to the garage so we could get the car into said garage---now I'm getting ready to go out to do some snowblowing for elderly people down the street.

As far as how much is here now---almost 4' on the ground and the dang squall is hanging around---but only for a bit more----it is settling down for tomorrow-----I HOPE the weatherguessers are right

Now---off to do some MRR'ing-----

Chloe I'll have a coffee and a slice of Chocolate Fudge Extreme Pie please I'm going by the fireplace and warm up----

[ns3010]

Well, the heating guy just got here. Hopefully he can get it back up soon...

Dick- We drove through the beginning of THAT storm on the way home from Mass. on Thursday. The roads in CT were a mess!

Chris- Too bad you missed THAT consist; THAT would have been quite a sight to see!

Ray- THAT looks good!! Thanks for sharing! And the "engineer in training" looks like she's having a great time!

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Just a cup of decafe and a piece of cake for me.  I'm already stuffed and tired out....  I did remember to bring the leftovers for the folks here at the diner to gnaw on for a day or two.  Came out pretty good if I do say so myself.

Of course the high point of the day was playing with the granddaughters!

My DIL is hiding behind Emily.....  It is hard to tell where Emily's hair leaves off and mom's begins.

But the absolute best part of the day was having "help" running trains!  Olivia came in, took off her coat and went straight for the basement door....  "Tains Gampa!" (she still needs w**k on her 'r' sounds....)  So after we ate, she and I headed downstairs for a bit.  She ran over and got the crate she stood on last time she was here and climbed up on it.  Watched me run trains for about 45 minutes straight.  Pretty good attention span for a 2 and a half year old!

I called for my son to bring down the camera near the end of the session and he got some great shots of us.  I know she isn't smiling...  She was concentrating on the train.   Won't be long before she gets to try a throttle.......

Hope you all had at least half as good a day as I did!

73

[AmanaMedic]

Good Evenin', Rerun will take JIM up on his generous offer of a plate of singles...please 'n thank-you. Me? I'll take a double bacon cheeseburger basket with a Coke...thankyamuch.

JIM: I can get light-headedness, dizziness, and take a wonderful "trip" anytime I want just by holding my head at the right (wrong) angle...a permanant side-effect from the '96 fire engine rollover and resulting head trauma. But no...haven't done THAT yet today.

grayfox1119

more snow today ( 4", now 11.5" total ) as this huge Category 1 winter hurricane just stalls and spins backward dumping copious amounts of snow over upper NY and most of New England, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. 

Izzat the monster we had for so durned long??? Sure sounds like it, complete with the "spins backward."

I'm trying very hard to stay out of the "global climate change" discussion...I think I came very, very close to getting in trouble about Christmas so don't want to push my luck. The ONLY thing I'm gonna say about it is... GRAYFOX 1119:

IF I was to get going on THAT topic...I'd surely end up alienating, irritating, and probably getting myself tossed out of here .

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I just won't go there. I was going to rant about THAT instead...but decided against it. I've done too much ranting lately.

I think I'll just sit back and see whom else comes in this evening instead.

I will add THAT our current deep-freeze conditions screwed me out a chance to view/photo UP 1996 (SP heritage unit) with the UP 1995 (CNW heritage unit) in perfect light. The pair are on a stacker, THAT was due through here this morning. Hmmmm eastbound with the morning sun shining on it....sweet!

But, out in western Iowa, a manifest freight had an issue with a pull-apart/possible derailment of a car. The resulting torn-up track/disabled train bogged rail traffic to a crawl. The heritage units are apparently on the move again, out around Boone. They'll roll by just a few blocks away...in the total darkness of a January night.

Chris

[grayfox1119]

 Good evening gents, more snow today ( 4", now 11.5" total ) as this huge Category 1 winter hurricane just stalls and spins backward dumping copious amounts of snow over upper NY and most of New England, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.  The winds were fierce all night, so much so that it awoke me nearly every hour. Drifts all over the place.This retrograding Low pressure is being stalled here due to a huge High pressure system up over Greenland, nothing can move eastward per normal, until this HIGH breaks down.

Global warming is also brought about by the erratic orbit of earth around the sun, in concert with zero sun storms (spots). This is an 11 year cycle that also varies with a longer elliptical pattern of orbit. The glacial ice has covered the Great Lakes at least 3 times, and humans did not cause those ice ages, nor the following warmer periods. Why did the Vikings call Greenland "Greenland" when they first settled there for a couple hundred years before ice returned? Global Warming caused by humans in 800AD, or, Climate changes caused by other factors not related to humans?

JIM: Plenty of firewood stacked, over 6 cords, enough for a "short" ice age. Micro Engineering are indeed very nicely detailed, and time consuming to build, but WELL worth the efforts. I will shoot a photo tomorrow unless we get another foot of snow. We will be able to use the upper windows to exit the house soon.

DUKE: Any progress on the layout?

ED: Cold enough yet down there in old Mexico ?

FOSSIL PHIL: (aka Phil, aka, FEC ) 34F???? you Pansy, I saw on the TV yesterday where Floridians were jumping in the ocean, nude beach somewhere near you, but I didn"t see you, how come ???

MRR: Now I have an issue to deal with on the layout. The large bridge is too high, so I either have to chop ( landscape) away some of the 4" of foam to lower the bridge, or, raise the meeting tracks. Man, that layout designer is going to catch h...!!!

Later guys,

 

[ns3010]

Evening all. Janie, I'll take a bacon cheeseburger and some hot chocolate, thanks.

It's currently a chilly 18 here, and our heat is out. Sometime this afternoon, my dad noticed that it wasn't as warm as it's supposed to be. So now I'm sitting near the fire, since it's the warmest place in the house. The heating people are supposed to be here sometime tonight, so hopefully it'll be back soon.

Ew, school starts again tomorrow... Break was way too short. Oh well, at least I'll be starting with double chem...

CN Charlie- Prayers for Pippa, and hope she gets well

Jim- Sorry, I guess I'll stop talking for a while...

This just shows how cold it is...

Have a nice, warm night!

[bjdukert]

Garry

You've been to live steam meets. Do any of them have bershires?

Ray

Live Steam Berkshires??? Now there's something worth remortgaging the house for!!!

No Berks,but will this do???

Best to all on sick call and those recovering

Duke

Looks like top honors and just in time for supper.

[JimRCGMO]

Afternoon, Flo, I'll have a roast beef sandwich, bowl of chili, some cheesey fries and a RBF, please (and if Rerun's still around - or Missy, for THAT matter, I'll cover a platter of the single greaseburgers for each of those rascals). Thanks!

Sam, the two things I noticed were the mercury vapor lamp on the left side, and the bigger, multi-transformer power pole (top middle). Did I win the prize?

Trainman Sam

About the "camoflauge" idea, I was already planning on hiding the crossing and the associated loop.  With THAT in mind it would seem prototypical until the train THAT just disappeared into the woods comes back into the station!  Talk about deja vu!  With THAT in mind it would seem prototypical until the train THAT just disappeared into the woods comes back into the station!

  I have a solution for you, Sam - either a time clock, or delay, by leave the loco on the shelf part (powered down) and run another loco on the 4X8 part! (That, or have another loco, and maybe some cars, on a 'dead' siding on the shelf, or else have a wye/turntable on the shelf part to reverse and run the loco around the cars).

And if your shelf plan isn't totally firmed up, check this site, where (Classic Operations-Oriented Layouts album, I think) he has a couple or three "Tuttle Creek" (nice name change...) variations, as well as some Inglenook and other 'shuttle' type layout designs.

Jeff, good to hear that you already found a solution for your drive.

Ulrich, that does look like a lot of space there - will your door area have a lift-out section for when you need to go take a 'potty stop' (trip to the w.c./loo)? Pelle's layout also uses hidden storage yards underneath, as I'm sure you noticed. Well, I see you did notice that. Like the plan!

Ah, I see you've been in again, Bill T. (with another lovely photo of a depot ). A color shot this time (or at least hand-tinted)!

All right, Flip - now you know what we in the other half of the country/countries have been 'enjoying' the past several days/weeks... Just repeat our mantra: "I know that spring is coming, I know that spring is coming...." (And I'm NOT referring to Barry's furry feline friend!).

Todd - about the way (muscle) cars should be:... ROTFL!! Good luck with finding THAT TV today.

Chris, now it looks like you might be getting some of that dizziness and light-headedness that Ulrich was talking about.

Ray, that roast looks absolutely-tooty YUMMY!! Dang it, I can't be there, either (because I'm on-call today)

NS Joe - careful there, you're getting a tad too talkative today...

Rob, for a while there, I was wondering about WHAT you were about to cook on the grill... Do you think the other goat might've been dinner for some wolf or cougar, or were there any signs of that?

We already hit our high of 24 F this afternoon, and it's dipped back to 21 F (-7 C), with a windchill of 11 F. Supposed to drop to 8 F/-13 C for tonight (not counting any windchill...). Brrrrrrr!!! No new white stuff, so I'll be thankful for that much.

Except for a couple of calls this morning about 3:45 a.m. and another around 4:45 a.m (only phone calls, yay!), nothing to get out in the cold for last night (well, after the 12 - 12:45 a.m. trip to the ER for one who we didn't need to admit. Another yay!). Hoping to just take some time this afternoon/evening to start lining out what all I'd like to accomplish (MRR-related and otherwise) in 2010. My focus has been down the tubes in the past several days. I'll get on the internet, stop by the Diner and a couple/few other places on the 'net, and there goes my afternoon or evening (or both). I can find more things to just piddle with, it seems...

Will check back in tomorrow after I am off this on-call (and don't have to go to the office). You Diners take care of yourselves, your loved ones (two-legged and  four-legged), and stay warm. Prayers for those needing them (most of us, it appears).

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

 

[Cederstrand]

Grilled chicken with veggie soup, please.

It's 31 degrees here currently with a low tonight of 14. Have been breaking ice for the critters the past couple nights, tonight the ice will be thicker yet. I am not a fan of winter.

Lost 2 pygmy goats. One I have no idea why. The other seems to have been caught in some deep mud & probably froze to death. Very sad I never saw it.

Will be interesting to see how grilling in the cold works out with charcoal briquettes. Just got them lit, inspite of sporadic wind gusts. I've lost a good 20 lbs so figure I need to up the protein a bit more. Didn't really have that much to lose...yikes! (and no, I'm NOT cooking any of our pet goats)

Rob

 

[CNCharlie]

Good Afternoon Diners,

Well it is a sunny -2F right now with a -20 wind chill. One thing about it being a very dry cold is that we rarely get much snow. Barry on the other hand is much warmer and more humid so he has to buy a snowblower. I remember living in London in the early '70s when I worked for Sunoco and there sure was a lot of snow.

As far as global warming goes, right now the polar caps are melting and for our far north the impacts are getting severe. The ice sheet is extremely thin and thinning at a far faster rate than originally predicted so that more land is exposed which then absorbs the sun's heat which makes the whole melting process a lot quicker. The impact on wild life is already significant. In northern Manitoba there are a lot of polar bears and they are in trouble as they can't get to the seals they normally feed on as there isn't enough ice on Hudson's Bay. They can swim, but not that far. If the Gulf Stream stream disappears Europe might get colder but our Arctic is getting warmer, not colder and there isn't any ocean current influence there.

Well yesterday was a little surprising for my wife and I. We went out to lunch with friends who are dog breeders and we came home planning on calling our vet to come in as we thought it was the end of the road for Pippa. When we got home she went outside and did her business ( first time in 3 days)  then ate a jar of baby food. In the morning she wouldn't even eat chicken out of my hand. She seemed much her old self and ate some supper and breakfast this morning. Her eye still has that tear in the cornea but she now has it wide open so it can't be bothering her as much. It is likely just a short repreve as there is still a little blood in her urine but we will take every day extra we can get. Think I'll take her downstairs and watch a little TV. She likes to sleep on the sofa beside me as she always has when I watch TV.

I may run trains a little too.

Ulrich, there was a post and how-to a few years ago of a fellow who designed a layout for a bedroom with removable sections as you are planning. I printed it out so I'll try and dig it up so hopefully I can get you the link. I am planning on a switch to N scale when we move to Victoria in a couple of years as I know I'll only have a small amount of room in an extra bedroom for a layout. I've been collecting N scale stuff in anticipation of that change. I like HO and first thought I might have to give up model railroading but N scale is better than no scale and, now that I have some, I quite like it too.

Must go now as Pippa wants her TV time.

CN Charlie

 

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Ray! .... That prime rib looks really tasty. I'd like the most rare piece from the center. Yummers! ( I assume you did not season with Green Grunge.)

Thanks again to those who visited my thread. Tom mentioned steam power. I have several steam locos, but don't operate them much.  

 

[Packers#1]

 Thanks for the kudos on the furniture factory everyone!

[ns3010]

Afternoon all. Flo, I'll take a pretzel, thanks. Yes, with salt!

As always, not much going on today. Mostly just hanging around.

[Packer]

Todd, that's exaclty the type of thing I want. I would kill to get my hands on a 1969 or 1970 mustang fastback, resto mod it with a 351 bored up to a 418 and kick some major tail on the track!! Right now, my car is just a 1990 mustang hatchback with a 2.3 liter I4 and a T-5 manual. Here's a list of modifications:

• Steeda clutch cable adjuster
• 3.73 8.8" rear end
• '93 Cobra master cylinder
• American motorsports short-throw shifter
• ported intake
• 95 mustang GT thottle body
• Spectre cold air intake filter with home-made tubing
• Dual exhaust with afterburner mufflers

This is what I put on it that I carried over from my 1997 that got wrecked:

• SN95 power brake booster
• SN95 seats
• H&R super super sport springs
• 4-wheel disc brakes
• subframe connecters
• 17x8 '03 cobra wheels

I'm going to be trading the cowl hood with pins that came with it in for a hood scoop and a mach 1 hood that will fit it. It'll probably stay a 4-banger for a while since it gets great mileage. I may rebuild the 3.8 liter V6 that my father is pulling out of his 1986 LTD when he gets it out (to put a heavily modified 351W in it; will be a 10 second daily-driver station wagon) and monkey with it for a while. He said I could have the 94 Mustang Cobra motor he has when I graduate college. Hopefully it'll be by the end of this year!!

[AmanaMedic]

Good mornin', a bucket of HOT coffee please 'n thank-you, "global climate change" has us still in the sub-zero deep freeze.

ULRICH: Again, I'm no doctor, but it sounds like extreme fatigue and exhaustion to me... but yes, by all means, keep at 'em to keep looking. Also, I'm liking the initial track plan... another guy making me wish I'd gone to N-sane scale.

TODD: In reference to "run away (HAZMAT):" last year we had to take HAZMAT Operations, a step up from Awarness. About the higher level of training, the Chief said "If nothing else, when the other guys see us running away, they should know enough to follow!"

I'm thinking (always a dangerous operation) THAT for my lift-out, since it will (hopefully) be removed on a very infrequent, extremely rare basis (he says knocking on anything/everything wood); THAT using those magnetic metal things THAT hold cabinet doors closed in conjunction with alignment dowels, would be the way to go. For the wiring, it seems I "should" be able to run wires to the magnetic metal cabinet closing parts. Lift out the board, power is cut. Replace the board, power is reconnected.

OK...what am I missing?

It CAN'T be THAT simple... NOTHING can be THAT simple.

SAM: Like I said, I think you're on to something with that plan. I just hope I didn't come off as a jerk with what I was trying to say. For a guy who makes something just short of a living, using words...I don't always come up with the right ones.

I'll be at the RC pondering "global climate change," opportunistic vermin associated with "global climate change," "funny feelings in the head," "roundy-rounders," HAZMAT, seemingly too simple lift-out schemes, and whatever else I can get myself into trouble with...

Chris

[howmus]

Mornin' Everyone!

Been up for a while but this is the first break I have had long enough to pull up a seat at the diner.  Zoe just a cup of dark roast in a FGLK mug and a Sour Cream Glazed Donut to dunk in it if you please.  I'll sit for a couple minutes at the front booth and watch all the comings and goings outside.

TMarsh

I missed the plane. I'll never get to Ray's by 2. And medium rare is perfect for Prime Rib too. Oh well, thanks for the invite.

 

Well bummer Todd!  Oh well ther'll be more room for the food at the table I guess.  especially with Ulrich not being able to get a ticket as well.  I'll bring in some left overs (if there are any) later.  Roast is in the oven and starting to look and smell good!

I have the Winter sqaush cooking on the stove as well.  It will soon be mashed and seasoned and then gotten ready to put in the oven as well. 

Todd, the "Green Grundge" comes in the Bragdon Large Weathering Powder set.  It can be bought separately. http://www.bragdonent.com/smpic/item6.htm

Need to peal some potatoes so I'll finish the coffee and get moving....

73