Elliot´s Trackside Diner May 2010

[TMarsh]

Evening. Trying to shake this headache. What, 5 days and counting.  

Randy- I live on I-55 (well, not ON I-55....) and travel between Springfield and Lincoln Illinoyz quite frequently. I live in Williamsville exit 109, the Love's truck stop, (which, by the way, Lone Star Beer says they would be glad to drop off a couple cases for me if it weren't for the pesky laws) I see Millis Trans often, will keep my eyes and "ears" on for you.

Think I'll call it a night. Prayers for those in need.

 

[blownout cylinder]

HELLOOOOOO-- is there anyone home?

Oh well--got some work to do tonight and I need to get some

Have a good nite all

[Cederstrand]

Decaf in a  SOUTHERN  mug, please. 

***Jerry, those value packs of little folk are a great deal. Admittedly not quite like WS or Preiser, but a darn good deal for filling a city, park, carnival, etc... Bought a few hundred of the HO versions for my wife's layout and a fair number for my N as well. Those two you posed look great. 

***Keith, I'm afraid any explanation for why no heavy growth or lack of white water will never fly with her. My wife's been down most of the white water rivers in North Georgia and knows what they look like. After all, she is from Appalachia.

MIL was released from hospital today, so had to go help my wife with both of her folks. Long day.

Rob 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 I drove the van from my sister's garage to my back driveway today. That thing has lots of power and it has echo chambers on the exhaust pipes so it really sounds off. The rocker arms tap a little but with nearly 80,000 miles that's to be expected. Otherwise it runs great. I went and checked on liability insurance for it today and it's gonna run about $30 a month. The company says that partly due to the vehicles age. Sheesh! It's not THAT old! I was only 28 when it was made.

[Blazzin]

  Rob... lol... "She now wants whitewater in her canyon river, as well as heavy growth on the banks/cliffs."

  Now is this what I get to look forward to?  Jeanne has her own section of the layout.. and will do the autumn setting... in her neck of the woods.

  Rob..  Concerning the cliffs...  I'm sure you can made up some big story of how vegetation.. is only around water...... make it a good one.  Or.. she'll know~

 Now.. for something New.. and Totallly exciting.. well for me anyways... and for anyone else that might want to do a fruit stand.

Here... Exclusively at the Diner only... not even on my own thread.. so if you miss it.. you've Missed IT~

I had to drive all over my town.. missed it yesterday.. had to ask Jeanne where exactly we saw it.  And I live in a fairly Un-crowded town.   Well so to speak.. its an old town.. mostly built up during the 60's. 

  But in my area.. there are still lots of little plots of farmland... and the original grower of these strawberries.. is/are from the man who developed them.  Douglas is the last name.. even named a certain strawberry after himself.. the Douglas.. lol.  These strawberries are bigger than golfballs.. and super sweet.. so big.. and so sweet.. well I don't think they could go to market without spoiling.  Picked that morning and sold before noon.

  Ok.. lets see the pics.

 Now I don't know about anyone else.. but I plan on doing this.. why not?  I've grown up seeing these all my life.

  It was so bright out this morning.. oh 10:00 AM.. I couldn't even see where I was aiming.  Don't worry more to come.~

  One time.. my daughter and I .. we were coming back from some drive.. and we stopped .. and got some... oh.. one of those big big double baskets.. big big.

   Well we're both allergic to strawberries.. but love em. 

  Here's a straight on shot.. in case someone really needs it.  I do have more.. but just wanted to show you...some.

  Well yes.. allergic.. nothing too too bad.. well slight .. very slight hive.. one.. maybe two.. but the itchy "OW's" you feel get the better of you.   Like someone sticking a pin in you  .. very lightly.  I wouldn't dare eat these before going to bed.. I'd be jumping all over.  Well we drove home..eating and eating.. lol.. hmm good.

  And the other side.. in case someone needs to see how its built.

  I do have Josh's permission to take these photos.. we're a fairly small town.. NOT counting the summer months.  But here is the only straight on shot I can give anyone... people were in and out of the place.

  Ok.. thats it.. I like em.. I hope you all do!

 

 

[Cox 47]

Afternoon all..Its cloudy and 67 here...I'll have a double cheese burger,onion rings and a diet coke please..Thank you..Not much going on waiting on feller to come to change tire on my van..

Keith you ask about the 100 N scale figure deal I got on Ebay..Think they are pretty good...maybe not  great but 100 for 6.00 with shipping...Here is a couple in front of DPM building I just finnished

You all have a good one...Jerry

[teen steam fan]

blownout cylinder

I'm going to say that we now have another project car in our garage---a 1957 chev 210 post with a 6 cylinder and 3 on the tree. we's going to sort of "modify" the thing a tad---

Well, you aren't the only one with a project. I bought a 1990 Jeep Cherokee Limited with a Jeep 4.0 liter straight 6. Bought it for 300 bucks. Can you say lift kit? Mud pits here I come. Get some Super Swampers, and off to the Badlands.

A ruben for me. Thanks a bunch,

[Robby P.]

 Ray........Thanks for  the comments.  As far as the driveway, I'm probably about 45% done.  Its a gravel driveway, and the weeds are bad this year!!!!  I was trying to get it done by today, well that's not happening.

 Ulrich......Thanks !!

 Keith.........Some people say they don't like doing trucks.  I think they are rather easy.  I've been doing them first before I start the car.  Seems like I car get the car done/up for sale quicker.

 

[blownout cylinder]

Well--Firefox crapped out on me so here I be trying---one mo' time -- to get this posted.

I'm going to say that we now have another project car in our garage---a 1957 chev 210 post with a 6 cylinder and 3 on the tree. we's going to sort of "modify" the thing a tad---

Welp---got some more doctor related things to do---CULTR!!!

[Cederstrand]

Coffee in an extra large SOUTHERN PACIFIC mug, please.

MIL might be released from the hospital by this weekend. My wife spends a lot of time with her dad. Also been paying extra for additional help at the assisted living facility. He needs it.

Wife approved of the little (HO) pond, so scratch that off the endless To Do list. She now wants whitewater in her canyon river, as well as heavy growth on the banks/cliffs. This presents a problem for me, as I used tile mortar for the rocks. Ain't no stickin trees into that stuff without predrilling holes.

Have a good one y'all.

Rob

 

[Blazzin]

  Jeff.. just go ez on the feet.. OK? .. I was so happy to hear your MD report concerning you feet.  I knew it was a long journey.. but hey.. you're getting.

  Jeff.. dag nabbitt.. I wish you lived closer.. I give my cars away.   And I wouldn't recommend driving the distance.  My dad and I drove back from St. Louis.. MO>  in 33 hrs.. almost straight through driving.. and I wouldn't recommend that for anyone.  Oh yeah.. we were moving.. and with a CB back then. 

  Robby.. I'm taking notes on your weathering... wow.. Nice~  So whats next.. the trucks?  And what approach if any.. or just one color?

  As for me.. I'm making molds of many parts of things I need.  One of them.. I decided to try to make a hanging traffic signal.  Could be fun.  But .. no.. no working on the layout.  Not until the rest of the stuffs comes in the mail.  Downtime.  I hate it.

  Jerry... You never did tell us... about those people / figures you got from China.  Do you like them.. btw.. is there a figure you can painted to look like 'Where's Waldo?'  I'd love to do that~  So tell us about the people.. are they the correct size.. action?  Come on Jerry.. let go~!

  Yesterday.. I mentioned about only going proto-typical.. so far.  Yeah.. remember.. my Mad Max truck?

  Well, there are other things.. how about some Monolithic Stones.. two of them lined up.. with some crack of a line going through it.. representing.. oh.. spring sun rising through it.  Ah its just me.. don't worry... lol.

[Anonymous]

 Good Afternoon,

Zoe, strong and dark coffee, please - I can hardly keep my eyes open. The sleepless nights seem to be taking their toll now.

Robby P. - that hopper is beyond words - I like it very much!

Jeff - not a bad looking van. Are you by any chance considering painting it black, with some red striping on it? The A-Team of model railroading! I remember, when the craze for vans started in the mid 70´s. One of my classmates in high school had one, adorned by a sticker, which read "Don´t laugh - your daughter could be in here!" I hope that you will get it up and running soon and that it will give you a good service.

See you all later!

[howmus]

 Mornin' everyone!

Zoe how about a breakfast bagel to go along with my dark roast coffee this morning?

Cold, cloudy, damp, and gray here in the Finger lakes this morning.  We will be be having showers on and off all day.  I think this is something Barry sent my way.... Currently 43°F with a predicted high of 47°F.  Not complaining as we needed the rain.  We got a quarter of an inch overnight and may get about THAT much today.  So much for rototilling the garden or mowing lawn.

Got a call last night from a friend letting me know that the college is having a recyling day for batteries and electronic equipment today.  He said they will take anything electronic.  So I will be loading up my old 3 tray CD burner, the ADAT Audio Tape recorder, and some other old business stuff THAT doesn't work any more and hopefully get rid of it.

Robby, nice!  Very nice!  in fact I'd say it is very, very nice!  So you go out of your way to do some excellent weathering on the cars, and then weed the driveway???? 

Jeffrey, I think the van is already weathered very nicely just the way it is...........

Need to get going, so I will catch up with all of you later!

73

[Robby P.]

 Gooooooooood morning.   Still got a chance of rain, and most of the week.  Maybe some thunderstorms tomorrow and Friday.

 Well I finished up the ROCK hopper.   I think turned out pretty good.  The problem is that you can't get a good roof shot.   The boxcars I can, but hoppers are hard.  I did get a close up of my rust work.

 The plan today is to try to get the driveway done.  I still got a lot of weeds to go!!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 If everything goes right I should be able to pick the steering column and gas tank I need for the van. That should come to just under $100. I got the title last night so today I'll be contacting the insurance company to have it added to the policy. After the van is back on the road I'll be dropping the Century from the insurance. As I told my father yesterday that thing is about to become a white elephant. He and I did the math on the work it needs and here's how it works out:

Injectors (6) $100 each, not including the seals and gaskets required for the injector system. Estimated cost for rebuilding the entire injector assembly is about $1300. Estimated cost for replacing the piston rings, valve guides and valves, around $800. Replacing the tranny, about $1000. Getting the crack in the chassis welded and strengthened, about $400. That comes up to $3600! After he saw that number the $400 for the van plus $100 for parts looked pretty darn good. Something my nephew said yesterday struck me as funny. He said my Century would the perfect car to give to a guy who's looking for a car for his mother-in-law whom he doesn't like. Personally I wouldn't give it to a beggar on the street. I'll probably sell it to the boneyard for scrap.

[LSWrr]

Good Morning All….

Ulrich, that is a good first step with your mother, I hope things continue to progress positively.

Randy, the underpass for the CSX yard (yea the whole yard, 15 tracks, has an overpass) sees 1 truck a month crunched under the bridge.  There are flashing yellow lights and clearance signs marking the bridge but they still try it with those 18 wheelers.  As a bridge guy I spoke to the street and road bridge guy; every time a truck gets stuck under a bridge they check and double check the clearance.  The sign says 12’ 4”.  Looks like a square peg in a round hole when the trucks get stuck.

Keith, the mosquito is our State Bird.  If you buy a bug zapper you have to remove the pan from the bottom or it will get clogged up in one evening.  Port Clinton, OH is the worse, looks like smoke rising over the trees at night, but it’s not smoke.  Just driving through the area on the highway you’ll have to stop and clean the bugs from your windshield so you can see.

Jeff, obviously time for an upgrade.  Now that van; I see some potential for a definite L&A paint job.  Last train show I went to someone had their small pick-up painted Conrail Blue with all the little caution markings you see on a diesel locomotive on it and the big CONRAIL markings on the sides, looked great, but not something I would drive every day.

 CPD95; I hope some group gets the locomotive….. I’m heading to Homewood at the end of the month for a meeting at CN.  Working on a meeting in east Chicago for the RR Bridge at the steel plant.  Not sure if that meeting will ever happen.

[rvos1979]

Evening.....

Todd, I also happen to be a fan of the Dukes of Hazzard, which is where I got the quote from.  As for the other one, I give credit to JD Santucci for showing me that line in one of his 'Hot Times on the High Iron' articles.....

I am currently a long haul trucker, mostly doing eastern half of the country, I have not been west of I-35 much.  Am thinking about switching to midwest regional, if nothing else, to be home more often, would be nice as long as I don't have to switch to a coffin sleeper (current rig is a 2006 KW T2000 with a 72 inch double bunk sleeper, C15 Cat, 10-speed tranny, and 3.55 rears).  If you see Millis Transfer truck number 6026 flying down the highway, that would be me.....

See everyone later.... 

[TMarsh]

Headache seems to be gone. For now. I'm not alone with this. Apparently this is a bad year. I know I've never had sinus problems this bad. EVER!

Jeff- You and a van. Somehow it works.

Randy- Been meaning to comment on your quotes in your signature. Yes I've had many many of those days. AND Ole Waylon just happens to be my vary favorite singer/picker.

Ray- Great news from the doc. How bout a steak to celebrate? The diners of course.

Well time to hit the hay. Can't think of a bug zing so I'll just say "Prayers for those in need" and especially for those Tornado victims that JP already mentioned.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 The scrap yard should have the parts I need for the van by noon tomorrow. They have plenty of steering columns but finding one with a matching key can be tricky. I told them if they can't find one with a key then find one that's had the key switch removed and I'll use the key switch from the existing one. As far as the gas tank goes I made sure they knew it needs an old style one, not one that has the pump in the tank. The title has been signed over to me so next month I'll go in and have it registered.

[JPowell]

Evening Gang -

Sorry for being so trady the last few weeks. Work, house and g/f ahve all kept me very busy of late.

Prayers and well wishes to those in need - Ulrich, etc

Also prayers andw ell wishes to those in Oklahoma and Kansas after the tornados there yesterday!

Take care!

[CPD95]

Well, I had a good day of railfanning on the citys dime. I got a call for a burglar alarm at a factory by Lake Calumet ( south east side of Chicago) and while there I got to see their Alco s-1 shuffling cars, then a few hundred feet south at Calumet Tank, I saw 2 SW-1's parked by a fence. One was painted for NIPSCO , the other in black paint but you can still clearly see the original MONON lettering underneath. It was their #5. An employee told me it has a blown engine and will probably rot in place as it is considered a company asset and if it is sold they will have to pay taxes on it. I told him they should look into donating to a non profit railroad museum for tax puposes. He said he was surprised no one had thought of it before. So, hopefully it will be preserved.

[howmus]

Heartland Division CB&Q

Be nice to Berkshires. Duke was here!

 

While I can only speak for myself, I am always nice to all steam locos!  (It's them diseasally thingies I'm not always nice to......) Actually I like 'em all!

73

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Keith ... Are monster turcks now tractor/trailers? ... Interesting creation.

Jeff ... Will we see "L & A RR" stenciled on the van soon?

Be nice to Berkshires. Duke was here!  

 

 

[Cederstrand]

Coffee refill, please. 

***Keith, neat trucks! And who wouldn't appreciate a Mad Max version.  Also agree with your thoughts on street lights and such. Who could afford the time and expense of a layout like Wunderland in Hamburg anyway.

***Ray, Congrats on the health improvements. Excellent!

Rob

[blownout cylinder]

Hello

Nice and dull and heavy rains be fallin' and the wind be windin'. And we are at 3C today---ain't it fun?

OK--had the cardiac rehab session this afternoon--now we have more bloodwork to do---I'm getting the feeling that the nurses at the lab are going to know me by my first name soon Oh well---on we go

So----what you been up to? Here, we been very busy with cleaning the house and attempting to find some more tools that I swear I had in my workshop----unless neighbour got them----

Ray: I thought it was a berk. Sure looked like one---

Chloe, I'll have a strawberry sherbet and a coffee in a  Iowa Southern  mug----I'll be at the RC for now--

[Blazzin]

  Duke ...   LOL... "Could be the new moon rover." 

 No.. closer to something you need to drive on a L.A. freeway. 

  This is similar to the tractor rigg in a movie..  one of Mel Gibson's earliest movies... called.. ?

 Mad Max... Road Warrior.. Packers.. wow.. I would have thought you'd know that one... but for me.. I'm only going proto-typical so far.. the rest.. I'm gonna have some fun.. even with my T-Rex.

[howmus]

 Afternoon folks!

bjdukert

Talk to you later

Duke

 

Who was that masked man?  Was THAT a berk I just saw highballing down the track???

Kieth, all I know is THAT truck sure wouldn't be in the right place on my layout.......

Jeffrey, THAT van looks like something you would have on your layout.....  Hope you get many years of good service out of it.  Sure gonna miss THAT Caddy ornament.  Any way you can save it and put it on the van?

Went to the Docs this afternoon.   All my blood work came back with good readings.  Cholesterol total was 147!  Best it has been in years (probably from giving up red meat because of the gout..).  Sugar was up a little but still within the limits where he wants it.  Blood pressure was good.  He also took me off the Thiazide and put me on a different blood pressure med to see if it keeps me from having the gout.  I will be back taking my blood pressure every day for a while until we know how this stuff is working.

I also went over to the Credit Union and filed for a new VISA card.  Mine had been in a "closely watched" group for the last 6 months as one of the local chain stores got hacked and they may have gotten about 6000 of our credit card numbers.  A week ago I had the card refused by VISA while trying to make a purchase from a company (MRR) in Canada.  Almost immediately I got a call from an 888 number.  I never pick up the phone when I get an 888 call.  Tried again, got refused, and another 888 call.  Looked up the number and found it was the Fraud line from the CU VISAs.  Called back, ID'ed myself (Yep, this is definitely me....) and they let me put the purchase through.  Now every other time I use the card, it gets refused....  The final straw for me was they refused a $25 charge at a local restaurant on Mother's day from me!  I was ********!  Called and vented and they turned the card back on.  Lady in the loan dept. at the CU said best thing to do is get me a new card.  Told her THAT was exactly what I had in mind.  She has had the same thing happen to her (she was another one of the 6000).  I do appreciate them being vigilant and I could very much understand the first one, but $25 at a local restaurant????? 

Later!

73

[bjdukert]

Keith  

Now who can tell me.. what kind of truck this is?

   Could be the new moon rover.

Best to all on sick call and those recovering

Talk to you later

Duke

 

[Packers#1]

Robby, sweet lookin workstation. that hopper is looking good too! Jeff, looks like a nice van, but you might want to give it a new paint job. Keith, you got me stumped. Well, I ain't stressin bout school much anymore, but next week is going to be rather interesting...

[Blazzin]

  Randy.. if there is one thing.. I really like aside from Model Railroading.. is trucks.  I just might have to do a photo shoot of all my N Scale  trucks.  All kinds, some very custom.. down to even having ..yes.. oh.. I won't tell ya.. I'll just show one. ... or two.. lol.  Hold on..~

  Ok.. two of my top 10... well I like em..

And...~  Low and behold .. a one of a kind.

Now who can tell me.. what kind of truck this is?

  Lurkers in the dinner.. here's your time to speak up.

I would guess. only a few know this truck.  Care to guess?  Need a hint?