Elliot´s Trackside Diner XXIV - on a new track

[TMarsh]

Lee- Not sure I understand what you mean.

Keith- Oh I look for good deals for sure and don't necessarily fall in the "gotta be cabinet grade wood" for sure. But, I don't go for the super cheap stuff either that twists and bends as soon as it sets in the house for a day. I have been usin 1X4's and have some 2X4's to use up. I will prabaly use some 2X4's on some parts and 1X4's on others depending.

Oh wait, Lee- are you refering to the 2x4's that are cut to about 91 or 92 ish inches? If I recall, they are cheaper than the 8 footers.

[Robby P.]

 Good evening.   Finally stop snowing, but its cold, and we got about 22 inches of snow.  They are calling for 2-4 by Tuesday - Wednesday!!

 Didn't do much on the layout other than run the train some, and touched up the swamp. 

 Rob..........CSX will be fine with up.  It could be like a "lease" to UP.   When I would go and get some video of CSX I was getting a lot of BNSF with CSX.  Someone told me CSX was leasing them.   So I think you will be fine with a mix .  Plus I've seen video with a NS mixed with UP, BN, etc.....

[AztecEagle]

Yep!!Luckily there are a few out there who haven't sold out to NashVegas:Roseanne Cash;Steve Earle;Dwight Yoakum;Randy Travis;Hank Williams III and Asleep at the Wheel to name a few!!

And one of the sad things is that when the suits in NashVegas'll let em',Alan Jackson and Brad Paisley can sing some really true country songs!!

They both have pure country voices,but for the most part they record some Pop Country Fluff!!!

A really good book to read is"Sing Me Back Home"*by Dana Andrews Jennigs.

(*Not to be confused with Merle Haggard's Autobiography of the same name).

He talks about growing in New Hampshire in the 60's and listening to the C&W of the era and he too isn't fond of Hat Act Pretrty Boys!!!

My SIL made Nachos for supper tonight.Tried to watch"DaVinci Code"but since it'll be on until 10,I decided not to.

"Outside Of a Dog,A Book Is Man's Best Friend.Inside Of a Dog It's Too Dark To Read."-Groucho Marx.

[howmus]

Evenin' Folks!

Back home from having Christmas Dinner at my sister's house.  (I already explained this earlier...  Don't Ask!)  She cooked a couple very tasty pork tenderloins, a rice pilaf, and cabbage salad (with raisons and apples and good stuff like THAT).  I brought my famous baked Winter Squash.  Then had Various fruit sorbets for dessert.  Opened our presents.  Kinda of interesting as I had totally forgotten what I had bought her for Christmas...  Played with the Granddaughters (Her Grand Nieces!), and generally had a very restful and enjoyable afternoon.

My son is still having trouble with the furnace in his new house.  They heard a strange sound down cellar this morning and Art went downstairs to see a huge cloud of steam in the part of the basement where the furnace is.  Seems the high temp shut off switch was malfunctioning and the gas was boiling the water instead of just heating it to 180°F.  The temp was 220°F and the emergency pop off valve blew.  Art shut down the funrace manually and called the guy who they have as a handyman. He came right over.  He was still working on it when They had to leave to come up to my sister's.  He got a call from him late afternoon saying he had fixed THAT problem, but could only get one of the 5 zones on the system to work properly...... Hopefully they will get everything running on Monday for him (has to pick up some parts for it).

BTW, I used to tell my 8th. grade classes when we would start to study American Musical History and would discuss the "Tossed Salad" mentioned earlier.  That I am decended from a long line my Father told my Mother........

OK. I'll be quiet and go sit in the back by the stove!

73

[AztecEagle]

I don't see why not.On run throughs and lease units,I've seen Helm Leasing;First Union;General American;CN;CP;KCS;CSX;NS;BNSF and TFM/KCSdeM from time to time on UP and BNSF Freights,so if anyone asks tell em'the UP Unit's a Run Through!!

[blownout cylinder]

Cederstrand

Veggie plate, please.

When my wife and I were in town, we watched a couple CSX trains pass each other in town. She suggested having CSX on one of our layouts. Somehow, this lead to an impulse buy (on my part) tonight on the-bay:

 

This one is N, so my question is, will CSX mix well with UP? Rob

mmmm---I think I saw summat with a couple of CN and UP engines going through London ON recently. Of course no dang camera!!

I suggest a "power move" of a sort---even if some find it a bit odd

[blownout cylinder]

AztecEagle

Yep!!Luckily there are a few out there who haven't sold out to NashVegas:Roseanne Cash;Steve Earle;Dwight Yoakum;Randy Travis;Hank Williams III and Asleep at the Wheel to name a few!!

Asleep At The Wheel is a wonderful band. Saw them a few years ago.

AztecEagle

Alan Jackson and Brad Paisley can sing some really true country songs!!

My wife got some of their CD's around here---they do sing the true country style---you just have to get by the obligatory contract "schtuff"

[AztecEagle]

I've seen em'in concert twice:In January 2007 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra at the Bass Hall in Fort Worth then about a year later when I saw their Musical"A Ride With Bob"about the life and times of The King Of Western Swing,Bob Wills!!!

At least two Texas Music Legends were born near the old T&NO Houston-Dallas Line:Bob Wills was born in Kosse and Blind Lemon Jefferson was born in Wortham.

Now it's true that Turkey,Texas in the Panhandle was where Bob Wills grew up at and claimed as his hometown,but he lived in Kosse until he was four or five.

Blind Lemon Jefferson's buried in the Negro Cemetery in Wortham.On his tombstone,the phrase"See To It That My Grave Is Kept Clean"is engraved on it.

And sure enough,his grave is kept clean.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 Those twp prescriptions I need didn't come through today. Maybe Monday. Somebody at the docs office is working on getting real close haircut.

[Cederstrand]

***Robby (& anyone else): Does this mean I can also justify picking up one of those BN road switchers I've been pondering for some time? Not that I actually need a legit reason, but it doesn't hurt.

I thought I had given up diesels all together!?! Seems I'm smitten with them once again. Hope all the steamers won't mind some company now and then. Of course none of them have a N layout to roam on yet anyway and probably won't until the wife's HO layout is closer to completion.

Rob

[tcwright973]

Rob,

I've seen UP units on CSX trains running through Pittsburgh on many occasions, so it wouldn't be hard to justify at all. I sometimes think you can mix anything and it would more than likely be prototypical somewhere at some time.

We ended up with a little over 24" of snow in the North Hills area outside of Pittsburgh. I was right as my little snowblower was overwhelmed. But the main problem for us was the electricity went out about 5:00 AM on Saturday morning. Looks like it's going to off for awhile too. Having decided that sitting in the dark with no heat, lights, phone, internet, etc and waiting to freeze to death didn't sound like a good option, the wife and I threw some things in a bag and are now comfortable at a motel about 20 miles north of where we live. She is happy and looking at it like a mini vacation with no cooking or other household duties.

Tom

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good evening ...

Rob .... Is that tunnel on the wife's layout called "Tunnel of Love"?  ... You were talking about CSX an UP, we see plenty of UP and BNSF units (including Santa Fe and BN colors) in loco consists with CSX units on the CSX line near here.

Regarding ancestors. .. I'm 1/2 English, 1/4 Scotch, and 1/4 Dutch. Or just say 100% American. Some of the notable ancestors include a state governor in the 1800's who later worked in the Lincoln Administration. Also, anyone familiar with St. Louis history may be familiar with Boyds department store which my great grandfather started.

I operated trains in my now cleaned up layout room today. I'm fixing some Lionel trains for grandson in Grand Rapids.

Sad note from son and daughter-in-law in Cincinnati. Daughter-in-law's father died yesterday. DIL has 2 sisters and a brother and the father was living in KY.

 

 

[AztecEagle]

Supposedly I'm Related To John WEsley Hardin On My Dad's Side.

"He Came In Like a Texas Wind

And Took The Eastbound Train.

Goin',Goin'With Jane Bowen.

Til'The Lawmen Caught Up,

So Long Janie,Cheer Up,

Cause I'll Be Back again."

-Johnny Cash:"Hardin Wouldn't Run".

[Trainman Sam]

Well, I got a lot accomplished tonight.  I went through on Google Earth and Bing.com Maps and mapped out the NH&I from Warminster up to Upper Mountain Rd.  Now I just have what is the "reality" NH&I passenger section to map out... then it is on to a design phase, where I will have to decide what will be eliminated due to "selective compression"

Anyways, I'll be heading home.  Have a great night friends!

[Cederstrand]

***Garry, more like "Tunnel Of Labour"...ok, I suppose love did have something to do with it, too. Sorry about the DIL's father.

I started searching pics of lashups and has been suggested in here, just about any combo can be found. Hmm, now that opens up all sorts of excuses reasons for future roster expansion.

HO Question: Which brand(s) should I consider for a general purpose diesel (CSX for the wife)? She might end up with DCC one day, but she likes the simplicity of DC. Doesn't like complicated things much. Her circus loco is a Bach 2-8-0 DCC/DC-compatible loco. I just thought it might be nice to get a CSX road diesel for her, since she did bring it up the other day. She still needs a logging loco, which will probably be one of those 2-6-6-2 Mantuas, which are DCC ready. Suggestions? Wish the sound equiped locos were not so bloody expensive.

Rob

[Anonymous]

 Good Morning everyone!

Well, Chloe, I need a good and healthy breakfast this morning. No, not that French stuff I had in recent days, but a good old American breakfast with coffee, bacon and eggs, toast and butter, sausages and mushrooms, not to forget the OJ!

I went to my house to clear the side walk again. It is covered with a 4 inch layer of ice, which resisted any of my attempts to clear it. A neighbor helped out with a few buckets of sand, so it is not slippery anymore. It still hurts to see the house. I need to find a way to cope with that...

It was interesting to read about this ancestry thing. My side is just plain old German, which is boring. My father´s origin is way east in Eastern Prussia. The family tree goes back into the 13th century, when this area was settled in the wake of the Order of the German Knights´ sweep towards the east. The family castle got burned by the Red Army in 1945, so there is nothing left of those 600 years of family tradition. My mother´s origin is in Silesia, now Poland. Silesia was Austrian and became Prussian, when Frederic II. beat up his Austrian cousin Mary Therese of Austria in the so-called 7-year war.

In Germany, it is quite difficult to follow your ancestry, as a lot of documents went up in flames during WW II. Only with the help from a guy in Australia, we were able to find the missing link on my father´s side. Putting it all together, I am the offspring of rowdy medieval knights, who spent their time drinking, singing (Carmina Burana - Tom ) and beating up the peasant population of slavic origin.

 My wife´s origin must be Italian, as her last name indicates. De Gene - from Genova. Her family migrated from Italy to Germany via France and Belgium. They arrived shortly before the industrialization started in the middle of the 19th century. All of her relations have worked with Krupp, since. When I met her, I was with Thyssen, with whom Krupp enjoyed a century old, fierce competition...

Rob - I was quite happy with my BLI SD40-2. I don´t know whether they have one in CSX paint scheme, but I liked the sound. Converting them to DCC was just a matter of dropping in a decoder - took me less than 5 minutes. Factory Direct trains sells them for less than $ 120, plus the cost of a decoder. Athearn Genesis has a SD45-2 or a SD60I in CSX colors, which are just about in the same price range, but without sound. Atlas has a Dash8-40C. There may be more around.

Garry - my condolences on your DIL´s father´s passing.

 I hope everyone is having a good day!

[blownout cylinder]

Heartland Division CB&Q

Sad note from son and daughter-in-law in Cincinnati. Daughter-in-law's father died yesterday. DIL has 2 sisters and a brother and the father was living in KY.

Our condolances to your family and theirs

My family is of German heritage from both my parents being born in the erzgebirge region. My father born in Mulde and my mother born in Dresden. Both of the families had a lot of "characters" in them--robber barons, landed gentry, artists, musicians. All kindsa fun stuff

Good Morning--

Kinda early to be up but I got some stuff to do today---weekend seminar series this afternoon and church related fiddlebits this morning I'm heading outa town Monday as well so I might not be on until Wednesday----

Chloe, I'll have a strong coffee and a 2 egg special on a bagel please---with sausage please----I'll be at the RC for a bit-

[LSWrr]

Good morning all,

Todd if you want to achieve a nominal rail height of 41” I highly recommend using 2x4x92 studs. Not 2x4x96 boards.  Studs are less than $2 each and you can get 2 legs from each stud.  2x2 legs are ok but they require a 1x4 or 2x2 stiffeners or cross member to give them the proper right and left strength.
If you build a 1x4 box frame and use 2x4 legs screwed together with a ½ plywood top a 220 pound person can sit on your layout (trust me on this).  Granted you’ll have an 11” scrap piece (less if your building on a unlevel floor) after you cut the legs, but on a model railroad build you will find a use for those scraps and a typical 2x4x96 costs almost $3 in comparison to the 2x4x92 that costs about $1.50 to $1.90 each.

No matter what you use to build the top surface of the layout remember you will forget and reach across the layout at some point and put your weight on the layout to support yourself or your buddy will stop in for a visit and lean on it. 

[LSWrr]

Garry sorry for your loss.

I’m Scottish, Irish and German.  My mother’s side is 100% German having come over in the early 1800’s with the entire family buying 2,500 acres of land in what is now Perrysburg, OH and some of the family buying land in Napoleon, OH. In northern Ohio it seems immigrants settled in groups and most towns or county’s have a Polish section, Italian section, German section, Slovak section, etc… so keeping the German culture alive in my family was pretty easy. On my father’s side one family member came over on the Mayflower, not as a pilgrim but as an ordinary seaman.  He couldn’t pay for the voyage so he crewed on three trips across the Atlantic to pay for his passage.  Over the years my Mother’s sides of the family were farmers, orchard growers, hucksters, or railroad men.  On my father’s side of the family most worked in the military, police Officers, and railroad men. Then you have me who started as a carpenter (finishing and mill Wright) to running off and joining the Coast Guard.

[Trainman Sam]

Good morning all! Chloe, may I please have two eggs over-easy, with French toast, a side of fried pastrami, and hash browns? Thanks. Oh, may I also have a Chocolate Coffee in a NH&I mug? Again Thanks!

Well I am underway with my layout planning, again! This time I should have a little bit more “Playability” in the design.  I want to have where all three NH&I Diesels can be running at the same time to switch the industries, then lash up together to pull the entire set of cars to the respective “interchanges”.  We shall see.

Rob- I have an HO ATLAS CSX C30-7, it came DCC ready, which would allow you to upgrade if your wife ever wanted to go that route. It is a smooth runner too! Very quiet running as well. I think I paid around $60 or $70 for it. It has an 8-pin plug, which some manufacturers offer sound decoders for it, I know Digitrax is one of them, I have yet to order mine though, but it will be soon! On the BN road switcher front, I don’t know which ones you “favor”, but I have always been particular towards either the SD40-2 or the GP30, Just my …

Garry- My condolences on your D-I-L’s loss.

On the issue of Lash-ups, I have seen photos where NJ Transit locomotives were in consist (not Mu’ed) with freight trains. They were in route from Transit to the rebuilding company, and vice-a-versa. So, almost anything IS possible!!!

Jeff- I hope someone gets their act together on your behalf. I dislike it when people screw up something as important as my prescription, it’s like, HELLO this is your JOB, HOW can you SCREW it up so BADLY??? But as George Carlin used to say “Someone, somewhere, has an appointment with the worlds worst doctor!” Lol. I would take comfort in knowing that your doc isn’t the one George was speaking of! Hope everything works out.

Tom (tcwright)- Any word on how long your power will be out? Glad the wife is enjoying the “trip.”

Well, my food is up. So, I’ll just meander on over to a booth and “keep on keepin’ on” with my “research” for my layout!

[Robby P.]

 Good snowy morning.  Its currently 1 and the windchill is -9.

 Well I still gotta clear one car off.  I was to cold to do it yesterday.  Right now the snow stopped but what melted on the roads is now ice.  I am suppose to go to work in the morning (3:00 am), but our county and city is still under a "state of emergency".  I might just call later this afternoon and tell the supervisor "your crazy to be out".  

 Maybe work on the layout some more today.  Try to make it to the grocery store, well if that will be possible.

 Hope everybody has a good morning.

[tcwright973]

Nope. No idea when the power will come on. I have Duquesne Light and they are pretty good at these type situations so hopefully it wont be too long. Another power company here in western Pennsylvania was reported as telling its customers that not all power would be restored until February 10th to the 12th. Ouch.

The wife is enjoying herself. Me too to be honest. I'm not sure what we will do today, either the new Rivers Casino or Phipps Conservatory here in Pittsburgh. Might try to slip and slide down to the Strip District and do a little railfanning on Norfolk Southern. Not exactly roughing it, is it?

I got to thinking last night how I use to complain about how hot and miserable it was when I was in Viet Nam. But I'm thinking I would rather have been there instead of places like Korea and Europe in the winter. It seems to me being cold and frozen like those guys was a heck of a lot worse. I better include all other cold area war fronts too, like the North Atlantic, so as not to forget them.

So no matter how tough circumstances get, somebodys always in worse shape. My life is good.

Tom

[Robby P.]

Tom......The Rivers Casino is closed today.  Just a heads up.

[fec153]

Garry-My condolances to the family.

Tom-TC  Welcome back and thanks for serving.

Prayers for warmth and no flooding when Global Warming sets in.

Flip

 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 Good morning. It's 36 with some clouds. The high will be in the low 50's and it will be partly cloudy.

I'm feeling the effects this morning of not having my allergy medicine. I'm going to try to get some layout work done today, if nothing else intrudes on my time. Photos show that there are plenty of gray hairs on the layout and they need to be dealt with. What can I expect? I shed like a dang cat! There's also a section of road that needs to be taken up. The railroad crossings it led to have been gone a long time. I'll be glad when I can get under the layout and get the shop-vac that's under there. I'll be able to give the layout a proper cleaning then. Not much of anything else on the agenda today.

[howmus]

Morni' everyone!

Zoe I'll have the #2 special this morning.  Over easy on the eggs, bacon, homefries, and a double order of sourdough bread toast.  Oh and my usual cup of dark roast in a FGLK mug, and bring over THAT jar of strawberry preserves if you would.  Thanks!

Guess I'll sit in the front booth and watch the little white thingies floating down out there.  Just a sn*w shower they say.

Garry my condolences on the loss of your FIL.  I'll keep you and yours in my prayers.

My sister's Christmas present to me yesterday was something quite special.  She bought it last summer at Ganondagan State Historic Site outside of Victor, NY.  Ganondagan is translated as the "Town of Peace".  The Great Peacemaker who was Huron came to this Seneca Village to propose the start of the Confederacy of the Hodenosaunee.  The Mother of Nations is buried near the site and it is a revered and holy place to the Seneca.  Anyway my sister went to the Pow Wow held there last summer and bought a Seneca Water Drum for me.  It is far more special to me as I am friends with the couple who hand crafted this drum.  They are a couple who for years came to the Geneva Schools Outdoor Education Program to teach about Native peoples.  Tanya is a Mohawk person and her husband Mike is of a western nation.  He has become the authority for the history of the Seneca here in this part of NYS. I will post a photo when I have time.

On the ethnic origin discussion earlier, I always have liked Robert Fulghum's statement about nationality.  He said most peoples nationality means, "The People who live here..."  

My son is coming over this afternoon (hopefully) to get stuff out the the trailer....  May actually get the darned thing out of my driveway and towed over to his house so he can unload it!  Then I can go about getting the trailer sold and off my property....... YES!

Hope you all have a great day!

73

 

[ns3010]

Morning all. Flo, I'll take some pancakes, thanks.

Semi-busy day today:
Submit Spanish paper-Done
Print Spanish paper-Done
Clean and rearrange basement
If time, cut some lumber?
Superbowl party at friends'

I'll be catchin'up for a bit over at the RC.

[Cox 47]

Good morning All...Its sunny and 25 here..Ice is melting where sun is hitting our ramp...I'll have biscuits and gravey with coffee please..Thank You..I been working on acouple of rebuilds from the scrap box and a ice house..Sallie and I are planning on alittle party tonite and watch the game..chicken wings and chips...kinda of a fan of both teams..colts train at Terre Haute so we see lots of news on them and Our Son is a big saints fan..You all have a good one...Jerry

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Thanks for the concern. I guess being my DIL's father, he was a BIL to me, but he was "Dave" to me. My DIL has 2 sisters and a brother. They are, of course, very sad.

 

[AztecEagle]

My Condolences about your Daughter In Law's Father's passing.

Been busy animal sitting this weekend.

Had to watch my Sister in Law's Dog this weekend.

She's Blue Heeler;Chihuhua and Pomeranian.

Big time spoiled,although not as bad as"Chloe"in"Beverly Hills Chihuahua".

We also have a kitten that my SIL found where she works so she brought her home and my wife's family wound up keeping her.

Problem is my SIL's Dog is scared of the Cat!!!SERIOUSLY!!!

Have a great Super Bowl Sunday!!!