Elliot´s Trackside Diner XXIV - on a new track

[Trainman Sam]

EDIT:  Looks like I got top honors!  Eat up everyone!  Chloe, I'll settle up when I get home tonight, ok?

Well, I just finished digging out my house! Grrr...  I had to use a personal day yesterday, I was wiped out after shoveling the snow in the morning, and by the time we (my wife helped) got finished, there was a quarter inch on the ground again...  The roads were HORRIBLE!  There was no possible way I was going to be able to drive to Bay Head in those conditions.   I spent most of  the day in my recliner resting my back...

This morning was an adventure, digging out the driveway in time for my wife to get to w*rk.  Now my back hurts again, but I HAVE to go to w*rk... I'll have the next two days off to catch up on the 9 pages I am behind here...

 

ns3010

Sam: I know what ya mean about those grade crossings. There's at least a half dozen between Bay Head and Point Pleasant!
Also the 2300s are fun to ride. It's the only chance where a diesel-hauled train can run at 100mph (with the exception of ACES)

The fastest I have been able to get the Geep is 79 MPH, she just won't get up and go on the corridor.  THAT coupled with the fact that by the time I get the train up to any amount of speed, the signals are dropping me back down...  Oh, and the Geep's just rock and roll all over the place!  It's such a nice smooth ride in anything else.  The PL-42 and ALP-46 are the best by far.  The ALP-44 would be a close second.  I am looking forward to the new ALP-45 (Dual powered Locomotive)  It will have a pantograph AND two Diesel motors ( we have yet to see if they will synchronise the diesels, or let them free phase)  One should be here this coming fall, and another one goes to the FRA testing facility out west.  If they work out, it will replace most of the Locomotive Roster...

Anyhow, I am off, got to get some things done before I head off to w*rk.

[TMarsh]

( comes in muttering as I shake of the snow) Boy I hate those Youtube links. I spend an hour every time someone posts one poking around. Oh Hi

Good Morning. Cinnamon roll please and some butter to go with it. Yup, coffee thank you.

Everybody sitting down? Good. This morning......., I don't have anything to say.

So, I shall get busy with RR stuff before I get a call and have to do something else.

Have a Great Day!!!

[Robby P.]

 Good morning.  Its still cold, and still snowing.  Well just on the light side.

 Well I took the wife to work this morning, and thought about waiting and see if some trains come by.  Her job is about 50-100ft from a NS line.  So I thought I would just go back home.  On the way out of town a NS carrying coal goes by,  Just my luck.  Then I get home, and my wife is calling me.  "Honey you just missed two BNSF engines".  She also said they were patched out.  I would've love to seen that.  Well thats how my day started.

 Not much going on form me today.  Maybe work some more on my pallet company.   Try some tips some of y'all suggested. 

 Jim......That's is where I got the pictures from (tomkat).   As far as the opening, I thought about stacking the new ones/used looking pallets in that section.  I also wanted to add a fence or some kind of security.   I didn't even think about using a "dremel". 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Heartland Division CB&Q

Jeff ... I was wondering why there were so many ladies in the diner this morning. I figured out why. They say that picture, and just had to see you. Wow! Can you stand all the flirty ladies with you? You picked teh window booth for a reason, I bet.

Always have an escape route planned.

 

 

Good morning. It's 35 with a rain/snow mix. The high will be 43 with more rain. Snow is in the forecast for tonight.

Yesterday I was finally able to get the final two prescriptions I needed, Prevacid and Claritin, so at least I wasn't sick last night as I had been the previous couple of nights. Today I intend to get some light layout work done. What that's going to be I don't know yet. There's still a section of road just begging to be torn up.

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe I'll have a short stack of buttermilk Pancakes and a side of bacon as well to go along with my cup of dark raost coffee in a FGLK mug.  Oh, leave the bottle of NYS Maple Syrup please.

It has already found today's high and passed it by 1* here in the Finger Lakes.  Currently 24°F under sunny skies but with 11 MPH winds from the WNW keeping the chill down to 13°F.  We ended up getting less than 2 inches of the white stuff from the storm, and most of THAT was lake effect on the back side of the system pulling moisture off Lake Ontario.

Got a dentist appt. early this afternoon and a Scout Committee meeting tonight.  In between I hope to get started on a new project for the layout.

Thank you to all of you who want to share your bills with me, but I really have more than I need of my own...........  I am waiting to get a payment from the school for equipment I sold to them and when my son gets finished unloading my trailer, I will be able to get THAT sold to a Scout Troop.  Hopefully I will be able to get the credit card paid down enough I can buy some odds and ends I want for the layout.

Best get going.  BTW Why are all those good looking ladies hanging around the front booth?

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 

The weather guesser is making me mad again. He's talking about a possibility of 2" - 5" of snow. Just the thought of snow in Louisiana is insane but the thought of 5" of snow in Louisiana is something that could get you a straight jacket and a rubber room.

[AmanaMedic]

Good mornin', Chloe? More of Ed's OJ, and a bucket of chicken soup please 'n thank-you.

Welp...either I've got this thing in "submission" phase due to carpet bombing with the OTC meds...or I'm gaining the upper hand/making a recovery. My ears are plugged-up, but I feel the closest to being a human being...than I have all week!

NIK .N: Man, I clicked on the first link, and as soon as THAT mother fired-up, hairs on the back of my neck were standing straight up! I'd never heard the "hi-lo" (fire call) before...at first it sounded like a siren malfunction... Cedar Rapids never used THAT one. The steady tone is/was THE tornado alert. As much as I HATE the sound of tornado sirens...IF I gotta hear 'em, I'll take the sound of the Thunderbolt. It does have a nice sound...for the sound of impending doom. If you like storm sirens and film of sirens in action, you should check out "Day of the Killer Tornadoes." It's a govt. documentary on a massive tornado outbreak in 1974 THAT wiped-out parts of Ohio and Kentucky to name but a few. It's the day Xenia, OH got wiped off the map. YouTube has it, broken into three parts. They went back and recreated the actions/reactions of the day. You'll see guys dialing up/activating sirens, etc. Kinda neat. Oh, and a DT&I freight makes a cameo appearance. The Xenia tornado derailed a freight in downtown, blocking most of the main roads and splitting the shreaded city in half until a construction Bn. from Wright-Patterson AFB came in and removed it.

Hmmmmmmmm. I see a bunch of ladies in the front booth...but I don't see JEFF... Hey, is THAT a Jeff-shaped hole in the window???

Plans for today: write three (thankfully!) small articles for THAT...mostly photo-driven features. Listen to the Gatorade Duals (NASCAR) from Daytona. Interview for this evening was postponed...not too upset about THAT.

Have a good-un,

Chris

 

[Blazzin]

  Chris and others, you should have had the Polish Chili Verde.  You wouldn't be sick right now.  But.. but .. next time I make some.. I'll freeze it.. wrap it up in a ton of zip baggies.. and send it off.  Free of course.  I think I had the flu... but it lasted one day.  What ever it was.. only one day. 

Keith

[Robby P.]

  Just a quick stop.  Gotta go and pick the wife up in a bit.  She's going to try and become a "census taker".  She can pass the test, I'm sure I couldn't.

 Plus.......I thought about getting back into "weathering".  I put this car on eBay at 12:00pm, and it sold at 1:30pm.  Maybe I should get back into then . 

 Here's the picture of the boxcar.

 

[blownout cylinder]

jeffrey-wimberly

 

The weather guesser is making me mad again. He's talking about a possibility of 2" - 5" of snow. Just the thought of snow in Louisiana is insane but the thought of 5" of snow in Louisiana is something that could get you a straight jacket and a rubber room.

I think there are grounds for involuntary commital. That sounds nuts----

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

blownout cylinder

jeffrey-wimberly

 

The weather guesser is making me mad again. He's talking about a possibility of 2" - 5" of snow. Just the thought of snow in Louisiana is insane but the thought of 5" of snow in Louisiana is something that could get you a straight jacket and a rubber room.

I think there are grounds for involuntary commital. That sounds nuts----

Five inches? .. That's nothing. Have you seen all the flakes in DC?  ....

Wow, it's still crouded with ladies over at Jeff's booth! Jeff's photo  really got the ladies interested!

 

[markpierce]

Unusually heavy snowfall hits central Contra Costa County, California:

 

 

Wow! it is deep enough to make snowballs!

This 1937 photo, taken of a farm along Alhambra Avenue connecting Martinez with Pleasant Hill, is the only evidence of significant snowfall in the valleys of central Contra Costa County I could find.  In the sixty-some years living here, I've only seen two or three "dustings" of snow.  (Nearby Mt. Diablo typically receives a few light coatings of snow each year.)

Mark 

[Packers#1]

 Robby, sweet boxcar. geez, at that quick of a sale I'd definitely get back into weathering. I'm pretty sure my mom is also trying to get a job with the census.

Thanks for the compliments on the factory Nik .N and Barry!

 Well, managed to get a ride with a teammate to rugby practice tonight. actually missed it tuesday night because of my sister's playoff game (my parents couldn't take me), and their championship game is tonight. so it was either get a ride or go REALLY early or late. Thank the lord I could get a ride.

[Packer]

Afternoon ya'll, bowl of chicken soup for me.

I've been having stomach issues all day, and I'm beging to think that something may be wrong with my stomach. It tends to get upset usually once every other month; despite the fact I almost never get sick. Or could it be my diet, which is lots of meats, bread, pasta, rice, and lemonade? I quit drinking the lemonade at work and it has seem to be less frequent, but still too often...

The weather guessers are saying we may get snow tonight and tommorrow. It looks like it will rain any second, and it is still cold out. Even then it'd only be an inch or two at the most.

Robby, Thanks for the advice on the wheelsets. Didn't you say somewhere that your fade was thinned testor's white? Does it matter if it's the flat or gloss one? I have a ton of the gloss stuff, and I was hoping it would work for fades. Either that or find some clear flat and mix it up. You sold a car in an hour and a half? Dang, how low did you price it?

Sam, did that autorack arrive alright?

Sawyer, I really like the building and how it has many spots.

JohnP, Sorry to hear about your dog. I had to face the same situation a while ago with one of mine. I'll second what Tom has said.

 

[Packers#1]

 Thanks Vincent. there's three places to spot cars there; the two interior bays and the concrete pad. Thos stomach problems don't sound good.

They're calling for snow here too. odds of it actually snowing though: slim to none

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Heartland Division CB&Q

Five inches? .. That's nothing. Have you seen all the flakes in DC?  ....

You mean the new ones that have been appointed or those that are flying in now? I don't see much difference. One flake is pretty much like another.

[AztecEagle]

Chloe and/or Floee;

Set up ol'RB with a great big ol'bowl of Jambalaya,then put a buck in the jukebox and play "LOuisiana Man"and"Jolie Blon"by Doug Kershaw;"Matilda"by Cookie and The Cupcakes and"Go To The Mardi Gras"by Perfesser Longhair for all the Nawlin's Saints in honor of their first ever Superbowl Win!!!

Then let's get Mr.Peabody and Sherman to set the Wayback Machine to 1960 and ride the Sunset Limited;Panama Limited;Argonaut;City of New Orleans;Southern Belle;Crescent Limited;Louisiana Daylight;Pan American and Orleanian into NOUPT!!!

Now just a bowl of chili and a cup of hot chocolate for me!!!

The BNSF and UP need to bring the plow train down to North Texas,it's snowing again!!!

"Remember,Don't Hang Up On Telemarketers...Track Em'Down and Shoot Em!"-DeeDee Schnively:"Greater Tuna".

-

[LSWrr]

Evening,

I’ve finished the machine shop;

http://community.webshots.com/album/576376778QCKZMD?vhost=community

 

This will be next to the roundhouse.  Hopefully progress on the roundhouse will continue tomorrow.

 

[JPowell]

Evening Gang -

  My what a chatty bunch you are when I am at work! Geesh!!! I posted at the bottom of 41 and here I am almost 24hrs later towards the top of 44!!!

Anyways, here's the situation w/ my dog... Hunter is 10. The vet found a massive mass of cancer next to his anal gland. It was not there 8 months ago. If we elect for surgery, it has to be done within the next 2-3 weeks and will kill $2500. of tax $$$. No one can say for sure if the cancer will come back or not. Nor can they say if he will ever fully recover from it since it's "Major" surgery for him at his age. The vet said that if he was 2 or 3... surgery would be best, but.... So right now, I am leaning towards them putting him down sometime after my sister and her family come to town next. My nephews are very close to him eventhough they are 2 and 3 respectively. I'm not sure who's gonna be sad the most over it... me, my parents (hunter lives with them) or my nephews....

Oh well, g/f wants dinner, so I am off to cook.

EDIT - Ok... so after speaking to mom earlier, we have decided that yes, surgery is NOT an option. Mom told me that our vet wouldn't even be the one doing it as it's that complicated and MAJOR. So we have decided that we will let him live out these last few months until he starts to show pain. That is when we will put him down.

Take care....

 

[nik .n]

AmanaMedic

NIK .N: Man, I clicked on the first link, and as soon as THAT mother fired-up, hairs on the back of my neck were standing straight up! I'd never heard the "hi-lo" (fire call) before...at first it sounded like a siren malfunction... Cedar Rapids never used THAT one. The steady tone is/was THE tornado alert. As much as I HATE the sound of tornado sirens...IF I gotta hear 'em, I'll take the sound of the Thunderbolt. It does have a nice sound...for the sound of impending doom. If you like storm sirens and film of sirens in action, you should check out "Day of the Killer Tornadoes." It's a govt. documentary on a massive tornado outbreak in 1974 THAT wiped-out parts of Ohio and Kentucky to name but a few. It's the day Xenia, OH got wiped off the map. YouTube has it, broken into three parts. They went back and recreated the actions/reactions of the day. You'll see guys dialing up/activating sirens, etc. Kinda neat. Oh, and a DT&I freight makes a cameo appearance. The Xenia tornado derailed a freight in downtown, blocking most of the main roads and splitting the shreaded city in half until a construction Bn. from Wright-Patterson AFB came in and removed it.

Yeah. The old thunderbolts do that to you. I just love the sound of the sirens, especially the double tone models. Another siren I like is the Allertor 125. To me, it looks like a turbocharger.

Darn. THE place on YouTube for siren videos has wiped all their videos save two. All of the good ones of the thunderbolts are gone.  

[blownout cylinder]

nik .n

AmanaMedic

NIK .N: Man, I clicked on the first link, and as soon as THAT mother fired-up, hairs on the back of my neck were standing straight up! I'd never heard the "hi-lo" (fire call) before...at first it sounded like a siren malfunction... Cedar Rapids never used THAT one. The steady tone is/was THE tornado alert. As much as I HATE the sound of tornado sirens...IF I gotta hear 'em, I'll take the sound of the Thunderbolt. It does have a nice sound...for the sound of impending doom. If you like storm sirens and film of sirens in action, you should check out "Day of the Killer Tornadoes." It's a govt. documentary on a massive tornado outbreak in 1974 THAT wiped-out parts of Ohio and Kentucky to name but a few. It's the day Xenia, OH got wiped off the map. YouTube has it, broken into three parts. They went back and recreated the actions/reactions of the day. You'll see guys dialing up/activating sirens, etc. Kinda neat. Oh, and a DT&I freight makes a cameo appearance. The Xenia tornado derailed a freight in downtown, blocking most of the main roads and splitting the shreaded city in half until a construction Bn. from Wright-Patterson AFB came in and removed it.

Yeah. The old thunderbolts do that to you. I just love the sound of the sirens, especially the double tone models. Another siren I like is the Allertor 125. To me, it looks like a turbocharger.

Darn. THE place on YouTube for siren videos has wiped all their videos save two. All of the good ones of the thunderbolts are gone.  

That "Day of the Killer Tornadoes" is amazing--the sirens were something else. We have just up the road apiece an old air raid siren that still works. The power source was taken out just last fall after someone hit the power supply hard enough to activate the thing! LOUD!!

Glad I caught the thunderbolts before that bunch got pulled

[AmanaMedic]

nik .n

I just love the sound of the sirens, especially the double tone models. Another siren I like is the Allertor 125. To me, it looks like a turbocharger.

I guess we all have our vices... "one man's diversion is another man's perversion." - Jules Koefed, criminal justice instructor, Kirkwood Community College, ret.

NIK: Check out Day of the Killer Tornadoes, you'll get your Thunderbolt fix, especially if ya like seein' 'em flip the switch, hit the big button, dial it up, etc.

IF ya wanna hear a really awesome siren...not a tornado/air raid/end of the world is imminent siren, but a FIRE ENGINE siren...check out the Federal Signal "Q." It is THE ultimate fire apparatus siren. 

I'm guessing the Thunderbolt, being motor-driven, is an endangered species as all-electronic stuff replaces them? Kinda like the mechanical crossing gate bells going away to be replaced by the electronic...things. I guess, with the continued dumbification of our society, a loud blasting Thunderbolt just isn't enough to warn the ignorant masses of danger...they have to have something capable of broadcasting a human voice to say "you need to go hide now...Mr. Tornado is coming to town...and he's very, very angry..." or whatever other "multiple hazard messaging capability" the Emergency Mis-management Agency morons deem necessary for their jurisdictions. Sheesh.

Whatever happened to "you hear the big siren, you go inside and turn on the radio or the TV?" I mean, THAT's what they used to teach us! I remember seeing signs posted at parks: "If siren sounds, tune radio to 600 AM for official information."

Hey, who just kicked THAT soapbox over here??? Nope...don't need it, I'm done ranting.

Apologies for drifting away there for a moment... I have bouts of disgust with the human race in general, and our society in particular...especially when tried and true, common sense things are discarded.

JOHN: Man...that's a tough call. It all boils down to the best interest of your furry friend, and his quality of life. IF you're certain surgery isn't the way to go, then I'd have to say make his last days the best he's ever had, and cherish the time he's had with you. I dread the thought of having to even think about making that call with my Rerun. He's turning 7 in a few days...to me, he'll always be a "puppy," but I know sooner or later I'll be having "that" conversation with the vet. I will most likely be a bawling, incomprehensible wreck when it happens. It's nothing short of amazing the effect those furry, four-legged critters can have on us.

LEE: I'm liking THAT machine shop.

Welp, back to w**k...THAT needs her weekly content fix...

Chris

NIK: Any idea why the Thunderbolt videos got pulled? I saw some really....uh....um....."strange" siren videos by your large super pasta piece siren video. You call it a turbocharger, I call it a mutant macaroni piece.

[JimRCGMO]

Good Evening, Chloe, I'll have the chili (the non-jalapeño type), with some grated cheddar on top and some crackers, a grilled cheese sandwich and a RBF, please. Oh yes, and later, I'll have a Rio Grande mug of decaf - I'll holler when I'm ready, so no rush for now on that. Thanks!

Ah, 'only' four pages of posts to go - I might catch up yet!

Cederstrand

Another thing my wife wants to find for her HO layout (along with a go cart, a tot on a tricycle, and a tot riding a tiny bicycle) is a few grocery carts. Anyone know of any of these being available?

 

Actually, Rob, Preiser makes a set of shoppers with carts. Check here. The photo on Walthers shows two carts, but I was thinking the set I have at home had 3 carts, dunno, though. Y'know, maybe your wife should order a Preiser and a Woodland Scenics figure catalog each (and a Merten one, and...). Then again, probably not - she'd find more ideas she might want (and the Preisers aren't cheap (even where you can find them on sale or discounted). Yeah, you probably want to keep her away from the Walthers website, too...

Chris, good to hear you seem to be turning the corner with your variety of pestilence. I'm still doing some occasional hacking, but less of THAT, and it doesn't hurt as often (or much) as before I'd started that blue pill (the antibiotic, not that other one - sheesh!). Rest up and drink your fluids, and Rerun will get his chase-around-the-house buddy back before very much longer, we (and he) hope. Hey, on those Thunderbolts that Nik.n's going to make, for what it's worth, around St. Louis we had the up-and-down-and-up-and... tones.

Jeff, I think your new (larger) avatar pic looks really cool - like it even better than your previous one! But you don't need to drop any more weight, okay? Good to hear they got your prescriptions finally filled (and no close haircuts were involved).

JP, sorry to hear about your tough choice, but it sounds like you likely made your best call on that. I know I can still remember when my dachshund got sleeping sickenss (that's what they called the disease then) - I had taken him out for a walk around the neighborhood, and his legs kept collapsing under him, so I just carried him home myself. After talking with the vet (not a good prognosis), we decided to have him put down and end his (and our) misery. for you and the family. Oh, as for the number of Diner posts, three would be a medium-sized day; some days they can get four or five pages going!

Sawyer, thanks for the info on the 'concrete' lots - have saved that info for any larger areas of concrete I might have.

Ray, good to hear that you're NOT getting all that snow like before.

Tom, I got a chuckle out of your basso profundo story - I can just about see him standing tall in all his glory, singing away...

Todd, what I meant to say, was more like Athearn's Genesis generally is more reliable (and detailed) than the Blue Box locos, like the Spectrums are more reliable (generally) than the regular Bachmanns (of course on the latter, I'm going on others' reports, as the only Bachmanns I have are Spectrums. I have seen some BB Athearns THAT are good runners (I don't have long enough trains to compare how many dozen cars they can pull), though, so it's a lot like you said - it can vary! And I just saw your post from this morning... OHMIGOSH! (faints away.. Comes to with Chloe waving smelling salts under his nose..) Wow, never saw that one coming, Todd!

Nik.n - are you making those Thunderbolts in HO, or N scale? Maybe make good notes along the way, as I (maybe also others) would be interested in how to make those.

CN Charlie - NioCitran, with gin? What's THAT?

Sam, don't overdo on the sn*wclearing, or you'll be out and won't be able to claim it's workers' comp, either!

Robby, great to see your weathering shots again, and hope you sell a bunch more (as you get time)!

Barry (and Jeff) - I'd hazard my (un)professional guess that the weatherguesser might be having some suicidal thoughts, if he/she is publicly making forecasts like that to the populace on-air. Call your nearest mental health service and point that out to them, suggesting that they need to check his/her mental status. Only thing more suicidal would be, if a local sportscaster in N.O. made derogatory remarks about the Saints' performance on Sunday (in a live broadcast from the French Quarter)...

Lee, the machine shop looks good. Did you see my question about the roundhouse support posts? I was wondering if you had painted those or if that was the original color the plastic came in - looked more like wood than most plastic ones I've seen!

DerJohn, check your email again (Part deux).

Another hectic day at w**k - just finish up with one person, and they have a crisis to be seen (in-building, at least), get that one seen/talk with their Dr./relay the med changes back to their case worker and the client, and then another walk-in (and as the day progressed it seemed that the people were running either talkier or just taking longer, not sure which. No lunch and left about quarter of five (only 45 mins. late, unless I count the missed lunch).

Ah, well, at least I got in the casual belt I'd ordered. Couldn't find any men's place or dept. locally that had any I like (or else what I'd bought from them wore out too soon (within two weeks? I don't think so!) after I bought them. This included a Dockers belt, and a Penney's imitation of that one. I ordered an LL Bean one - more expensive, but from the looks of it, it should hold up better. The web portion is more like those web belts we used in the service (with those brass or nickel-silver buckles, remember those?), and those held up well. Okay, how'd this get under my feet? I'll get off of this thing now.

Looks like Chloe had Vinnie board up that window until the glass repair guy gets here in the morning. I guess when the Jeff-shaped hole in the glass got covered over with plywood, the ladies lost interest and started leaving.

I got some Walthers lighting kits for their heavyweight passenger cars yesterday after w**k. Tried putting them in the cars I have, but for the observation car, it seems like the lighting is a bit too long. I'll see how they look and run next Monday at MRR club meeting (I'm hoping we don't get so much sn*w that it gets snowed out). Need to figure out tonight (before midnight) which MR back issues I want/need to order, since they have 'em on sale... I'll be at the other window booth checking over which ones look interesting.

Prayers for those healing up, in need of healing, those needing comfort and those with other/unmentioned needs.

 

Blessings and a good night,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[ns3010]

Evening all. Chloe, I'll take a RBF, thanks.

Wow, two snowdays, and yet I've still been too busy to stop in.

Yesterday, I got the basement completely cleaned and rearranged, although I didn't build any benchwork. However, over the weekend, that will begin, for sure.

Today, we went into NYC, and then I had a game. I didn't need to go into NY, but I just went with the family anyway. Saw plenty of trains on the way in, and got a few photos.
Also, we had to drop off some library books that I used for a research paper. The Morristown & Erie shops are conveniently located between the library and the rink, so we made a quick stop, and saw 563, 4240, 487, and a few random flatcars outside, as well as 54 (the Stourbridge Railroad BL2 that I saw a few weeks ago) up on the hill. I have photos, maybe tomorrow.

And we lost our game 5-1. But we didn't play too badly, and I think I played pretty well (for me, that is).

Well, I unfortunately have school tomorrow (UGH!), so I gotta go. Catch ya guys later.

[howmus]

 Evenin' folks!

Zoe just a cup of decafe for me.  Please and thank you.

Been home for a while after the Camp Properties committee meeting.  Not really a bad meeting all told, I only ticked off the Committee chair once.....  We were discussing some changes in how we do the 5 year conservation plan And I asked a couple questions on weather the new way would please the "Camp Visitation Team" when they visit during Summer Camp.  In doing so I mentioned that all to often the plan gets written up and stuck on a shelf and never read.....  I said it in response to part of the suggestion the Professional Scouter in charge of Camp Properties had said.  He agreed with me as THAT was why he wants to make some changes.  Which of course caused our Chairman to blow his stack.  He is a retired community college instructor of......  Conservation and ecology, and has written the 5 year plan as one of his "babies" for many years....  I backpedaled real quick!

So where did all the good looking ladies go?  Jeffrey did what!?!  Well they sure didn't bother me at all......  I guess THAT explains the boards covering the front window.

John P, just want you to know I understand what you are going through.  My family had a sweet little Springer Spaniel mix about 24 years ago.  He was 12 years old and started having some bad skin problems.  The vet did a skin scrapping and came back with tears in his eyes to tell us the dog had Mange.  Normally he would have told us to do the best thing for the dog and put him down.  But....  There was a new mitacide that had just come out.  It was far more effective on the mange if the dog was a puppy, but he needed to let us decide.....  We shelled out about $450 for the meds and put our dog through 3 more weeks of torment.  He ended up getting several infections and the family finally all came to a consensus it would be best to end his torture.  The vet met us at his clinic at about 10PM took the dog in and gave him some peace at last.  We never got a bill for the service.  This was on a Friday night and the dog would have had to be in pain until Monday otherwise.  Depending on the breed and size of the dog 10 years can be a good long life.....  Know you are in my prayers with this!

I forget off the top of my head who posted the "Cowboy Boots" story, but I cut and pasted it into an email and sent it on to a number of teacher friends including all the principals of our local schools.  Got a few great comments back, but I want to share this one from the principal of our k-2 elementary school here in Geneva who was one of my principals my last couple years I taught (we are in the week before a vacation):

"Really hit the right note today.  Thanks for including me – you remember what the lead up to a vacation looks like?!"

Well........ Deep subject I hear.  Tomorrow I will be driving over to the house of the Superintendent of the NMRA District next to mine to get his signature on several thank you certificates I should have had done before the combined meet last month.  Then we have to figure out how to get them to each of the people.......

So, I think I'll head out to bed. 

73

[AztecEagle]

John Powell;

   Being an animal lover myself,I know how you feel and I;m sure you'll make the right decision about your dog.

Just be sure to give him one last hug before the vet puts him down.

Dogs and Little Children will always love you unconditionally.

Aztec Eagle

[AmanaMedic]

JimRCGMO

Nik.n - are you making those Thunderbolts in HO, or N scale? Maybe make good notes along the way, as I (maybe also others) would be interested in how to make those.

Welp, with the stuff done for THAT, my mind is now free for a few hours at least, to turn back to model RR stuff. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be easiest for Nik .n to cast the darn things rather than try to craft 'em out of styrene. I'm thinkin' outloud here...stream of semi-consciousness time. But, it seems to my simple mind THAT a clay shape could be fabricated much easier than trying to make the complex shape with styrene. Cast it with resin, use styrene strip/bar stock for the brace along the bottom, styrene tubing for the rotator, knock out a styrene box for the...well, the box; and ta-da: a Thunderbolt is born. Hit it with a good "federal" yellow, slap on a CD logo from THAT Tomkat dude's Civil Defense signs... mount the unit on a pole, or atop a building...and the little people of our miniature worlds will be safe and sound. Heck, I'd even buy one or two off the guy if he did all THAT! Heck, there's already a guy who is casting/selling three other air raid/storm/fire sirens in resin; so it probably COULD be done...just nothing I've ever tackled.

I still think the trickiest part of Nik .n's plan...will be getting the rotation in-sync with the sound.

You know...IF this all works, he could mass-produce them. Then, for the guys with cats...when they get up on the layout and play CatZilla...the owner can hit the button, sound the siren and either a) scare the cat, or b) warn all the little people about said CatZilla!

Sometimes, I make me laugh.

Goodnight everybody, best wishes for all in need, be they human or canine companion...

Chris

By the way...JIM: yeah, CR had the steady tone of doom, and an up and down "wail." I just never heard THAT funky hi-lo "fire call" before. If I remember right, and they used to have a page in the phone book all about this stuff... there was the "alert" tone (steady) for 3-5 minutes for tornadoes or other hazards. Then was the "attack" tones, the "wail" which was for "an attack on the nation."  Huh, just looked, phone book still has it, buried among nuke plant info. CR area sirens have PA, steady, and wail. All the new ones have the "voice of God" capability to 'em, hence the PA.

Here in Clarence, we just spent some bucks to upgrade our antique fire/storm sirens. Now, we can remote-activate them by keying up either the base station radio in the fire house (instead of just...throwing the switch), or from a truck radio (handy if we're short-staffed on Storm Watch and somebody out spotting sees something bad coming). Certain hand-helds can do it as well. Sorry Nik .n, no Thunderbolts here...just four or five coffee cans with peaked roofs.

[Anonymous]

 Good Morning,

Zoe, whatever the guys are having, it´ll be on me. This is post # 1500 and if that´s not a reason to celebrate, what else would be a reason?

Did not feel too well yesterday , so I just hung around, doin´ really nothing. Even missed my daily visit to this place - shame on me!

Now that I am out of the GULAG, I need again to find a way to fill my day - hey, that even rhymes! If I just had a little bit more "dough" I could start doing some MRRing, but without, it´s 

CUL, folks!

[LSWrr]

Good morning,

Jim I painted those support posts Milwaukee Grey.  The machine shop did come with a strip of dovetailed plastic, I could have locked it together with the roundhouse, but I decided to keep them two seperate buildings.

If anyone is interested in CN 6 wheel locomotives let me know, my neighbor has to get rid of some train stuff before he is allowed to buy more.

[LSWrr]

Good morning all,


JP – Sorry to hear about your dog, I’ve lost a few and it never gets easier. Sounds like you’re doing the right thing. Now that the new place is about a year old how do you like it?

Wednesday I ordered a new starter and solenoid for the truck, yesterday morning the truck failed to start causing me to use a day of vacation.  Parts won’t be in until Tuesday so I’ll have to find one more ride into work.  I think I’ll have the shop test the current starter and if it still works I’ll send it to the bay at core price, maybe I can help someone out with a cheap part.