Elliot´s Trackside Diner May 2010

[Cederstrand]

Orange Juice, please.

Spent 5 or so hours this evening in the ER after FIL had a seizure. He is fine now and back at the assisted living facility. My wife is already fast asleep. Just finished all my farm chores in the dark I would have normally done earlier. I'm beat.

Did make time for a quick first poor of the wife's little (HO) pond. It will be done on the second poor...it is that small.

Good Night, Y'all.

Rob

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

Hi Gang,

Zoe, I see you are working alone tonight. Where is Vinnie hiding out??

I'll have a toasted BLT and a Dr. P.  Thanks.

GARRY,   I was just watching the news about the flood there and telling my Wife that you live on the Cumberland river and that I was worried about you.  So, Please tell us how dry you are and if it is going to stay that way.  How close are you to the river??  They were saying it has come up eleven feet....... I've seen your pictures looking out at it but it is hard to tell the distance by that.Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your neighbors.

LEE, that is some haul you made.  You fellas under the lakes there sure get lots of train shows to attend.  I am envious.

JIM,  Glad you had a good trip and visit to some layouts.  We hope that will spur you on to get that pike of yours up and running. By the way, did you meet any nice young ladies along the way that you haven't told us about??

Keith,  You are impressing us with your great modeling and  unique scenes.  Sure like the amphitheater and roads.

JERRY,   Those are some great looking trees you have put together, your Illinois Southern has come together nicely.

CAJUN RYAN,   you must really be busy, we sure haven't heard much from you in quite q while.  How about firing up some more of those Great Train Recipes...  They were wonderful. My wife has made a few for me. 

Time really flies.  I have been back from Grande Prairie a week already.  My son came through his surgery well.  He had a couple of really tough days but managed to get back to work some today although taking it much easier than he normally would.   Thanks for your thoughts.

Time to get horizontal for awhile, it's been a long day.

Johnboy out......................for now

 

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Shhhhhhh BARRY! .... You'll wake up Duke.

Our lake keeps getting higher, and now it is as high as the highest we have seen it which was 2002.  Shelley's sisters in Nashville. were affected. In nashville, the Opryland Holel was evacuated. Grand Old Opry is close to the hotel. A replica of Elvis's guitar floated away from the country & western musicians wax museum. A train load of 500 people on an excursion was stranded.

The sun came out today. Finally.

[howmus]

blownout cylinder

HELLO!!! Is anyone home?

 

Huh?  What the heck was that!!!  Oh just you Barry.  Guess I dozed off.

Flo, I need a refill of decafe please.  Well, earlier this evening the MLK committee gave 4 great HS Seniors a total of $6,000 toward paying for college next year.  The tough decision was a young lady who was easily our top choice but already has a full scholarship to a well known small private college.   Unfortunately she would lose about the same amount of money in aid from the college as we would give her.  So we opted to give the $ to students who would better benefit from getting the money.  We are going to give the young lady a special recognition instead.  This is a young lady who i have known since she was an infant, taught for a year (music) when she was a 2nd. grader (she stole my heart back then) and I have watched become a lovely, poised, and gracious young adult......  THAT didn't make the decision a bit easier either.  Oh well, she will do very well in life.

I actually did make it down to the train room for a few minutes (it was 65°F down there and felt gooooood!) and got some braces glued in place for the new Quarry.   Did THAT while the washer was running.  Never did get back down there to hang up the wash......

Have to get up early tomorrow to call the guidance office at school to make arr..........................

[blownout cylinder]

HELLO!!! Is anyone home? Just wondering whether chloe has any company tonight!

Anyhooooo----this one is going to Have a g'night

[AmanaMedic]

Packers#1

and the white balance would take care of that cast anyways; there's an incandescent white balance setting

Yup! I have to either fiddle with it on-location, or deal with it in PhotoShop on a routine basis. There are light bulbs THAT have a more "natural" or "daylight" balance to them, but I'd just grab the el-cheapo 100 watt and call it good.

Chris

[Packers#1]

 Chris, we get scorched every summer anyways so it'll sometimes get that way anyways. and during the winter a lot of lawns turn yellow. and the white balance would take care of that cast anyways; there's an incandescent white balance setting

[AmanaMedic]

Packers#1

as to the drought, let's just say North branch is reluctant to pay water bills.....JK. I'll be mixing it in w/ other colors etc, but it's a good base.  Clamp on work lights eh? would they be at Lowes or Home Depot?

 

I still think it makes a good drought scene, here's what Cedar Rapids, Iowa looked like in July of 1988. 

Andddddddddddddddddddddd, from Home Depot: Designers Edge 8.5 In. Incandescent Clamp Light

Model # E-245     Internet/Catalog # 100664506    

$8.97/EA-Each

Guess the price has gone up in the past 8 or 9 years... One would light up a scene pretty well, but using two of them at 45 degrees to each other helps knock-out unwanted shadows. They'll take up to a 150 watt bulb, and put out quite a bit of heat in the process. The downside? You'll get a yellowish cast to the pictures/video...but you're already getting THAT with the desk lamp. It's a side-effect of incandescent light bulbs. You might want to play with the white balance setting on your camera.

El-cheapo studio lighting!

Chris

[Packers#1]

AmanaMedic

SAWYER: Nice pics. I thought the heavy dose of yellow was from an attempt to model a drought...  An el-cheapo lighting solution suggestion: clamp-on work lights. I'd start out with a pair of them positioned at 45 degrees to each other.  The last time I bought a pair, I don't think I gave much over $5. I did manage to get the "wrong" shades for the bulb holders (big box "farm" store with the clamp/lamp holders in one bin and several other bins of lamp shades for a lovely "mix and mis-match") but, they did the job just fine anyway.

 

as to the drought, let's just say North branch is reluctant to pay water bills.....JK. I'll be mixing it in w/ other colors etc, but it's a good base.  Clamp on work lights eh? would they be at Lowes or Home Depot?

John, the yellow stuff is yellow turf from life-like. That bigger lightbulb really makes a difference...DERN I want to get this lighting situation better!

Well, at school it seems everything is getting compressed down into the remaining 4 weeks, so my brain is pretty much ready to splat agaisnt the sides of my head lol.

[LSWrr]

SCRAP you forgot the “S” no these are piles of scrap.  I might make a mold of these for future piles…


The rusty metal I’ll turn into gondola loads and a little to enhance the trash pile at the roundhouse.

Apple Rhubarb pie, you gotta try it!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Blazzin

Jeff, I got up this morning expecting to see some pics. 

Sorry. I'm here. Just been busy. I went down to my parent's place this morning to hook up some Suddenlink Digital Adapters for them. The darn things don't work! I called the techs in Tyler and they told me that if there's ANY noise on the line they won't work. The incoming signal has to be absolutely clear. That's not possible out here. A lot of these line out here have been up since Methuselah was knee high to a grass hopper. That's why I dropped Suddenlink cable TV. Most of the channels were fuzzy and it routinely went down whenever a storm came around and would be down for up to an hour. I don't have that problem with Dish Network. The longest it's ever gone out was just a couple of minutes. My parent's are having a tech come out to look the situation over and if he says the cables throughout the house have to be replaced (very expensive proposition for a 5,000 square foot homewith a minimum of 7 cable outlets) they may well go to satellite as well. Nearly everyone else out here has. Also had to get the grocery shopping done.

[Blazzin]

  "Coffee Please~!"

  "Woot".. lol.. Chris..~!  lol.. "KEITH: See Pally! I told ya not to sweat them decals! Looks pretty durn good from here! As for the loco, THAT there looks to me to be some kind of ALCO product. Seems like a "safe" gamble to me... IF it looks good cosmetically, the inside, I would think "should" be OK. Then again, a wire could be broken off it's contact, drive shaft dis-aligned, and/or a cracked gear somewhere. I doubt it would be anything "fatal,"

  Oh yeah.. sure..  what a mess.  LOL.. Jeanne took off outside in the back.. she said.. "You're on your own,  I'm gonna go pull some weeds"  Even my faithful dog who is always at my side.. took off in the back and did some 'Sun Tanning'.  In short.. after going through a few stripes.. and I do mean a few~  the decals were sticking to my fingers.. breaking.. twisting and the sorts.  But in short.. the decals did come with instructions.. and it was a 'basis' from which to start.. but in the end,  I used the 'Party foam' for fingers and tools... and believe it or not.. it works.. ITS ALIVE~!  ALIVE ~!  I TELL YOU~!    Yep .. that there um Party Foam.. you can use it as a squeegee... no kidding.  Acts and works just like a squeegee..lol.  Desparate times for desparate people.  Necessity is the Mother of Invention.. lol. 

  Chris.. Safe gamble?  Better than that.. I don't have one like this.. its very nice... and if it works.. more the better.  I do want you to know.. when I got back home I really examined it. Lol.  I tried to imagine the 'point of impact' and looked for the secondary points as well.  The thin plastic film that the Loco is formed to.. well that had stress fractures.. running horizontal.. as if the weight of the engine.. went into that thin plastic absorbing the impact.  Had it fallen flat.. on its side I really don't think I'd see the breaks in the thin plastic.  I can only imagine the Top of the case was shattered.  I also got the feeling the owner.. he didn't want to know.. it wouldn't make any difference.  No matter what he would have to still sell it as a 'dummy'. 

  Now of course.. I could do as Rob asked..  lol.. Does it work?  Plug it in.. turn it on~ lol. I dunno.. it just doesn't matter at this point.  If I had track hooked up.. I would test.. but then again..

If you remember .. Oh.. Jerry.. leaned back on his recliner.. whiped out a display case.. well one week later.. I dropped a Shay right out of the case..  I think it was Jeff who filled me in back then.  Well even when I had track hooked up.. I just didn't want to know about the Shay. 

Rob, AS far as you liking steamers.. me too.. I love em.  Some day.. I might do a WPS contribution of my steamers.. a few.. nothing too special.. but its my kind of collection of steamers.. that I have found unique.. and my kind of steamers. 

 Although,  I do not have the Cab Forward that just came out in N Scale.  Nor do I see me getting one.. this terrible word comes to mind.. and I've never mentioned and most people try to avoid mentioning the words..

  Plummet Zones  Frightful isn't it?  To see a CabForward going over a plummet zone.. ah leaves my mouth open.  Anyone care to post a pic or two of a Plummet Zone.. and the un-intended guardrails.. so to speak?  So as I build this layout.. I'm wondering.. hmm.. Rocks.. Houses.. and trees shall be my guard rails to fight the .. PLUMMET ZONE~ lol.. Frightful.. simply terrible.

  Der John.. nice to see your threads.. I enjoy following yours. 

  Ulrich.. I sure hope.. you post pics of your layout buidling.. blow by blow.. I wanna know.. enquireing minds want to know.  I would guess you building this thing.. you got your own methods and ideas.. I hope you share your building techniqes. 

  As for me.. believe it or not.. I shall be laying trolley tracks.. and whats so special..? I'm trying to match the cobblestone with the tops of the tracks.  Clearance should be no problem as to the relationship of wheels and tracks.. that is,  wheels running on the inside of the rails.. well thats should be the only clearance I'd have to worry about.. so I would guess.. some party foam right up to the outside of the rails.. would be fine.  On a side note.. I'll be using black party foam to help hide the whiteness of the inside cracks.  Another challenge for me... lol  yeah.. I love it~

Jeff, I got up this morning expecting to see some pics. 

[Cederstrand]

Italian Roast Coffee in a  SOGGY SOUTHERN  mug, please. 

***Lee, a fine haul there.

***Der, that's the inherent risk of playing on the-bay. Surely YOU can fingure out how to fix it up if anyone can.

Tuckered out today, yet determined to get something done in the train room, however small.

Cheers!  Rob

[der5997]

Good afternoon Diners:  not too busy in here today, two hours and counting since Ray was in.  I'm on hold with a credit card company trying to report a pishing email.  The mail brought the third of 4 modern tank cars I Bayed for near the end of April. It's a Roundhouse 50'. Has been built up from the kit , is missing the brake wheel, and one of the weights is lose. I've been able to juggle that into its seating. Can't get at it to glue it because the builder kindly welded everything shut.

Keith: those lines worked out really well - I find eyeballing things works OK for most hings, but not for track, unless I can get right down at eye level, which on this layout isn't in too many places! 

Well, pishing is all sorted and forwarded to their online fraud squad; and I've a stand to build for Kris. She's doing a craft demonstration this coming Saturday, and needs to be able to hang up what she's working on while she works on it.

I'll have a peppermint tea and a cookie to take out please and thanks.

TTFN.

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe could I get a bowl of the apple rhubarb crunch to go along with my dark roast coffee (in a FGLK mug)?  What?  Yeah, for breakfast.  You know fruit is always good for breakfast!  Huh?  Well I usually out some sugar on my cereal, what's the difference?

Mornin' Bill!

Oh, Kieth!  I think they them thing's, ah, Diseasals.  Yep that what it is it a Diseasal!

A very gray day outside, still quite humid, but only supposed to get up to 71°F today.  Currently 66°F under partly cloudy skies.  Got a little rain last night, but not a whole lot.

I'm hoping to get back down to doing stuff on the layout this week.......  Have to do some banking today, pick up an Rx, do the treasurers report for the MLK Committee, and finish the agenda for Deacons.  Lots of evening meeting to be at all week long.............

Best get at it I guess.

73

[TMarsh]

Good morning all. Coffee please. Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74. Well, I'm awake. Didn't sleep well again, even with the Spring Tonic. Oh well it's short lived. Always is. Last night it seems to be drying up a bit so I think tonight I may get a bit more sleep.

Church books this morn work this afternoon. Yard needs mowed and the brush needs cleared from the brambles. Doesn't look good for MRRing today but you never can tell. uppose to storm after 1. Should be quick at the Church being it's the first week of the month.

Lee- Apple, hmmm. What do you mean rusty metal and steam era crap. Gondola loads? Or just what you said . If so whatcha gonna do with the rusty metal? Sprinkle it around the trash cans for the neighbor you were having trouble with a while back?

Barry- Boy, I wish your neighborhood was closer to me than it is. This was the first time we've seen train stuff in a garage sale for yeeeeeears. You must live in a train infested neighborhood. Any houses for sale complete with well paying job?

I will be walking around Williamsville on the 15^th this year. Cleanup can wait til afternoon.

Have a Great Day!!!!

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

Nice and dull dull dull. And coolish---going to be 19C for a high

Got back from a good morning walk around the neighbourhood. Oh, yesterday found a yard sale just down the block from us'uns. Ended up getting a couple of HO scale ATLAS RSC11's for $10. Heeheehee These'll do just fine for the HO club layout

Chloe, I'll have a toasted bagel and a coffee in a Burlington Northern mug please----I'll be at the RC watching the place wake up

[LSWrr]

Good morning,
Ulrich, thanks for the link!

Todd, Apple Rhubarb Crunch is good too!

I went to the Erie County Fairgrounds yesterday morning for the Firelands MRR Show: 

2 NYC oil cans, Bachmann 70 ton switcher w/DCC, 8 tank cars, 1 gondola, several pounds of rusty metal, several piles of steam era scrap, 2 chooch gondola loads.  The tank cars all have knuckle couplers and the 70 ton switcher is new in the box.  Spent $100.

[wetidlerjr]

[Cederstrand]

Mixed baby green salad, please. 

***Keith, I had 3 of those in N scale myself once. Sold them to buy more steamers. Kinda miss them now as they are very interesting looking locos. Had the same paint scheme as yours, too. So, does it run after all or not?

Drilled some holes for lighting some buildings on the wife's (HO) layout tonight. Also base coated the tiny pond. Then set in some retaining walls. After looking at Keith's work, my walls should come tumbling down until something a little more convincing can be made. Mine look like #*@^ by comparison.

Rob

[AmanaMedic]

 Good....mornin'. Ladies? Ya got any of THAT "sleeping medicine" TODD is using tonight??? No? OK...RBF then, please 'n thank-you.

 

KEITH: See Pally! I told ya not to sweat them decals! Looks pretty durn good from here! As for the loco, THAT there looks to me to be some kind of ALCO product. Seems like a "safe" gamble to me... IF it looks good cosmetically, the inside, I would think "should" be OK. Then again, a wire could be broken off it's contact, drive shaft dis-aligned, and/or a cracked gear somewhere. I doubt it would be anything "fatal," and the other N-sane scalers here could probably talk you through whatever internal surgery it would need. IF it does have fatal internal injuries...well, nothing wrong with having a dummy in a loco consist.

 

I've just spent the last 2 hours sorting a box of old trading cards: Star Wars blue, red, yellow, orange, and green series bubble gum cards, M*A*S*H cards, Battlestar Gallactica, and a pile of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I've got 'em sorted/organized and bagged for Loving Wife's "mother of all garage sales" next month. A quick look at eBay (at least on the Star Wars cards) tells me they ain't worth squat. So...if they don't sell, I'll take 'em to a geek store and plop 'em down on the counter. "Whaddaya give me for the pile?" Kinda like a trip to Half Price Books with a box of books to "sell," and then realizing you only get a nickle on this one, a dime on THAT one...

 

Rerun and I have identified some buildings (HO, of course) THAT I've had going back to 1986;as "surplus." I don't want to screw around with the eBay nonsense... but also doubt they'd sell in the "mother of all garage sales (unless BRENDA stops by...)." They are:  a Magnuson (I think) resin 2-story/2-bay fire station, Design Preservation Models (DPM) Cutting's Scissors Works, DPM Laube's Linen Mill, DPM B Moore's Catalog Showroom (I think), DPM small 2-story with recessed entry (decorated as "The 400 Club) with CNW yellow and green trim tastefully applied, and a water tower (mfg. unknown). All are assembled and painted. Some have even been repainted a time or two. I did NOT attempt any mortar effects on these...but some do have "vines" as well as "windows" made of either tape or film negatives. IF anybody is interested, I can grab some pics of 'em, and would be willing to w**k out some kind of deal. Mostly, I need to move 'em out as they are taking up valuable space and have no assigned role on the progressing future layout.

Speaking of Rerun, he is insisting it's bed time. Almost 0100...he's probably right. Oh, and seems he's found some "night medicine" for me as well...

G'night, best wishes to all...and here's hoping for a good and SAFE day.

Chris

[Anonymous]

 Keith - it is a Modelpower Alco RSD-15 with low nose   Santa Fe owned 50 of those. A nice looking loco, photographed in front of a spectacular background.

Good Morning Everyone,

well, already Monday again. And a wet one, too! Flo, I´ll be going for a light breakfast today - just some coffee and a bowl of cereal, please.

Nothing planned for the day -just the regular  Monday run to get the groceries and putting the week´s ration of gas into the car. I hope there won´t be any "surprises".

Have a good one!

[Blazzin]

  "Oh Jeanne~.. you see what Todd's wife Brenda bought him?" .. lol. 

  Good show Todd.. way to go Brenda.. lol.  Todd.. don't under-rate those latex molds there.. I believe thats exactly what I've been using.. I'll probably go back to see if there are numbers of them moldes of yours.

  As for me.. the weekend blew by.. you know.. one of those.. "Don't tell me its already Sunday.. What ..?  Dinner tonight with our son and his girlfriend?  Lobster?.. oh OK~"  "Was there a memo on this?"  "You did tell me about this..  right?" 

  Aside from the weekend.. if you haven't heard from me.. I've been working on the layout.. my motto.. no matter how little no matter how much.. everyday I shall work on it.

  But today.. I took on the decals.. another story in itself... and of course I've learned something. 

 "DON'T"  lol,.. nah.. it worked.. and came up with my own application approach.  Truly boring unless you always wanted to know ALL about applying decals or in the middle of trying to do it.. with decals breaking.. flip flopping.. can't even see which was the applicating side.. where's my magnifying glass.. and remembering somewhere along the line of someone telling me.. .lol.. I think it was Chris.. saying.. "Don't sweat it".. oh yeah.  I also remember Der John saying.. asking.. me about 'lining up lines.. and how was I to do it.."  Well John .. at that moment.. I was planning on using a pencil.. and marking it.. but in truth. I go by the 'eyeball'  and to line up everything perfectly.. I dunno~.. seems to me too mechanical.  eh?.. to each his own I guess... but for me.. I just had to see it with the 'Naked Eye'.

  Lol.. but in short.. (as I look at the pics)(before I type)  its seems ok.. I made room for other things.. like taxis double parked.. and .. we'll see later.. this was plenty hard for me.  I also didn't necesary liked.. totally solid line either.. and broke it up.. 'just to see~'

  But whats really exciting for me this weekend.. was.. of course.. going to the Hobby Store.  And I go to 3 total.  Two out of the three.. always have discount tables.. truly a fun time.  So I come up to this.. B&O Diesel.. well I guess it is.. looks like an older type.. really cool looking.. can't say I've seen the type.. wow.. the price.. $12.99.

  Hmm.. no plastic Top for the case.. the rest of the case is there.. cracked a bit. heavy.. its an engine.  For the price.. I'll take it.

  I get up to the cashier.. and ask.. so whats with the Engine here.. why is it only $12.99? 

" Oh.. that~  yeah.. well~  .. Thats been dropped.  Don't know if it works.. shattered the top off of the case.. so I'm selling it for the price of a Dummy engine"  "And I don't know if it works.. and I don't want to know"

.. LOL.. "I'll take it!"

  Now you decide.. considering .. everything.. and there are no busted pieces of the engine.. on the outside..

  Would you buy it? 

  Working or not.. "Sold~!"  I like it.. what ever it is.

[TMarsh]

Today went by rather quickly. I spent most of it in Toddland (of which I'm king) where I was doing something almost continuously, yes staring and thinking also, yet when I stand back and look.... doesn't seem like much was done at all. Oh well, better this way than hurry just to get it done.

The creek scene is coming together pretty well as some dirt is added the appearance, naturally, is changing for the better. Never did mix up some plaster to add to what I have, so we'll see when that happens.

DerJohn- THIS was an event of a lifetime for me. All the times she's drug....er... I mean of all the garage sales we've gone to, I've never seen train stuff. A few consignment shops selling TYCO as antiques for 50 bucks or better but no bargains. I'm counting this as my event to talk about even though it wasn't me who bought it.

(yaaaawn cough) Took some of Mom's Magic Spring Tonic so maybe I can sleep some tonight. Tired.

Prayers for those in need. Which, as has been said, is all of us for one reason or another. 

 

[der5997]

Hello again Diners:  The trip into New Brunswick was wet going, perfect coming home, and awesome in the between trips content. PTL!  On driving standards -

by Jeff Oh but of course! Everybody just keeps getting in his way as he flies along at 20-30 miles over the limit.

on the homeward highway I was passed at speed by a large white SUV with SOTB (for us) plates. Passed me like I was doing far less than the 100kph that is my standard gas saving highway norm. Well - a piece down the road here's buddy pulled over by the RCMP.....About 20 minutes later here's buddy roaring by faster than before, making up that lost time, don't you know?

Morgan: Praying for you all through this time. What Keith said is powerful, true, and worth heeding. You'll all miss your dad, but you have memories, and each other too. Loved the Facebook quote, but I see that Ulrich looks deeper than the surface of things, and he's made a huge point as well! Great to see you back in, and Congratulations on the Trainman thing.

Sawyer: Nice work on the scenery. What is that yellow anyway? My yellow stuff is not-yet-painted sawdust/white glue  foamboard cover stuff.

I shoulda brought the desk lamp over. but anyways...

...took the liberty of screwing in a bigger light bulb

Rob:

Think I'll give this one a try: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SNA3HE/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A3NUNNXXHUJDMF Any thoughts and/or suggestions?  

...I'd check to see if the neck is flexible enough to be bent so that the workspace beneath the lens is large enough for your needs. Also, if you scroll down that page to the "People who...also bought" section you'll see a gadget for holding work while you toil away. If you don't already have one, they are handy. (The lens isn't much help I find as it's hardly ever positionable  on that rod to be exactly where I need it. Besides, the larger lens should do the trick.) That Winnebago looks just the ticket - I wouldn't worry too much about the scale - as you say placement can trick the eye - so long as the CSI and police aren't midgets!

Keith: Thanks for your reply to Morgan.  I trust the Mods have by now caught the flavour of this particular Forum Topic. As I see it, to put it in mrr terms, it would be like being kicked off for answering a question - or better, a request for help - with a N Scale-related answer, and objectors to that being convinced that HO is the ONLY scale anyone should model in!

tsf:

Maybe one with Mallard or Flying Scotsman.

...I wonder if that set will have track with concrete ties?

Ray: for your clinic success! Sounds like a all round good event - and the Deacon's do as well!

Todd:  That's grand news about Andrew

By Rob ***Todd, are you kidding....$10 for all that? You dog! Looks like you should be making Dinner for Brenda for the next week. What a great catch. Rob

...I continue to be amazed at the good fortune of you guys in the US (..and Barry too IIRC) in getting mrr supplies in garage/yard sales. The largest of those here is a 50 Mile yard sale in the Musquodoboit Valley - but I've yet to see any mrr stuff (let alone N Scale [whistle]

Then I must pick some Rhubarb...

As did Kris this afternoon - the first live thing from the garden this year. Got our daughter's  gas mower up and running (we stored it here for the winter as she has no-where to do that.) and it goes back on Tuesday - but I'm looking for a new deck for it, as the previous years' outside storage etc has pretty much rusted the thing through.  I'll pass on the used Kleenex thanks, my scenery is past that stage!

Ulrich:

... but no dabbling around with my layout plan, either. 

Promise? Ah, I see you agree!

I have declared my layout plans to be final -

  That's a very useful site, the Texture one. I missed getting a CD of buildings one can print off that was on the Bay a year or two ago, and this may be a possible substiturte. Thanks!

Jeff: A power bill of $120, now that would be a pleasant surprise around here! $72...in my dreams.

BTW, Keith wasn't in today....anyone heard from him?

Time for bed. Good night all, and God Bless. Prayers continuing for all in need of Healing, Comfort, Prosperity and Peace.

[AmanaMedic]

 Good evening...

SAWYER: Nice pics. I thought the heavy dose of yellow was from an attempt to model a drought...  An el-cheapo lighting solution suggestion: clamp-on work lights. I'd start out with a pair of them positioned at 45 degrees to each other.  The last time I bought a pair, I don't think I gave much over $5. I did manage to get the "wrong" shades for the bulb holders (big box "farm" store with the clamp/lamp holders in one bin and several other bins of lamp shades for a lovely "mix and mis-match") but, they did the job just fine anyway.

MORGAN: Sorry for your loss, but at least he's found peace. Here's hoping you and your family are able to find comfort and strength.

 

Welp, today ended up as mow the pasture yard day. The spark plug "boot" stayed put the whole time. I still don't know how Loving Wife got it to do so... Now the yard looks almost decent again. Good thing I attacked it when I did. We had a soaking rain not long ago. Naturally, a head-start for the grass and weeds (mostly weeds) in their never-ending quest to deprive me of RR time by sprouting and regenerating!

But now, it is off to the RR room. Perhaps to paint, or put up the 2nd (and last) set of blinds, or just cogitate/ponder/dream.

Chris

[howmus]

Evenin' folks..........

Flo just a cup of decafe for me tonight.  Still full from a great Ziti Dinner at church.

Vincent, time was when I would have done the same thing.  I was probably very lucky to have survived it.......  At this point in life, I follow the adage a principle I worked for many years ago had on the wall in his office:  "When Arguing with an idiot, make sure he is not similarly occupied".    Glad you are safe!

Garry, the photos are of Red Whitman's On30 Aspen and Western RR.  It was featured in  O Scale Magazine in August of 2009.  Definitely a fun layout.  Some great modeling, and a bit of "tongue in cheek" as well.  Red is also a very nice guy and fun to be around.  It is one of the Gems we have in my NMRA District.  There are several more here.

Dinner/Talent Show is over for another year.  Went very well.  We ended up with twice the people we thought would be there from the sign up.  Our Deacons now understand a bit more about "The Feeding of the 5000"....  They did it and still had some crumbs left over.  This was the biggest turnout I think we have had in years.  There is a lady ion our church who is the "Designated Photographer".  Her husband is a retired Music Teacher (we worked together for many years).  He came in (he was in charge of the program) and was quite upset as his wife was sick and couldn't be there tonight.  He said he was hoping someone will come with a camera and be willing to share photos with the church, unless we knew of someone who has a good camera and would be willing to do THAT for him.  I tell him I know someone who has about $4,000 of photographic equipment and might be willing to do it.  He asks if I have his phone # and if it is too late to get him.  Some others are now laughing knowing I am talking about myself.....  I tell, "No problem, I'll run home and get it".  He looks at me and says, Oh, I wouldn't have you go home and get yours.  I  laughed and said I will be right back.  So I ended up taking a bunch of photos for the church tonight.

It is still 74°F outside as I type.  Got up to 81*F  with approximately 110% humidity.  No rain though.  Rain all around us, but Geneva.... No rain!  They say we are going to get .5 to 1 inch tonight.  Can only hope.  We are very dry!

Later!

73

[edit] Hey, I got the top!  Just about get the credit card payed down and I get the top..........   Order up folks.

[Packers#1]

well, had some more fun with the camera. tried to help the lighting, but with a desk lamp and another lamp you can only do so much; I really need some better lighting equipment!
Dern, NO ONE is downtown today!

DANG living by the ANRR is good! Here we got an excellent shot of U23B #6330

Another shot of the 6330:

A rather artsy shot:

looking down the long hood:

Finally, we saw an extra pulled by GP9 #3. the old 3 rarely leaves the yard, so this was a treat!

N-JOY

[TMarsh]

Heartland Division CB&Q

Todd ... That's a great haul of scenery stuff! I have to wonder why it was at a garage sale so cheap.   

The story I got was this kid, who Brenda said looked to be 17 or 18, s dad has a layout in the basement. Supposedly a good sized one (I wish I'd gone with her) and said he could have this extra stuff to sell at the garage sale. He must be done and doesn't know anyone who also has a railroad nor does he belong to a club or I would think he would give or sell for pennies on the dollar to them. I'm guessing surely they would have tried to sell some of that stuff for more earlier on as Brenda showed up just about an hour before the sale was to end. She started out by just asking him how much he wanted for the whole lot and he said $10 She knows the stuff is expensive to buy and didn't have the heart to haggle any on such a cheap price. She knows to ask HO and did ask about cars and such, he said the layout was HO but he said no they were in the basement and his dad didn't want to get rid of any. Sometimes I wonder what his dad said when he told him he got 10 dollars for it all. 

 

[ns3010]

Evening all. Yes, Janie, I AM making an appearance!

No need to worry guys, I'm (mostly, more on that a little later) fine. In addition to having no time, my computer decided to take a trip down the crapper AGAIN, so I haven't had a computer for a while.

Other than THAT, things have been pretty good around here.

Having a good time at lax, even though we're still losing. We lost the first round of counties yesterday, so we're out, but we still have 5ish regular games left.
I couldn't play in the county game (and of course, I was SUPPOSED to start, so much for THAT). Cause I got cross checked in the chest during Friday's game. The trainer said the ribs are bruised, but probably not fractured, so THAT's good, although it still hurts a hell of a lot. I think I'll be good for Tuesday's game, and we'll see how it goes from there.

Also went to see my school's spring musical (Kiss Me Kate) last night. It was excellent. I have a lot of friends who were in it, and they were great. Congrats to them.

Not going to practce tomorrow cause we're making our Confirmation. Fortunately, THAT'll be one less thing I'll have to do.

Prayers for all in need (and for those who don't need them as well, because everyone really does).

Well, I can't stay forever, so I'm gonna hafta go. Dunno when I'll be back in, so I'll catch ya guys later.