Elliot´s Trackside Diner August 2010

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Flo I'll have the Roast Turkey with corn bread stuffing, Cranapple Relish, Brussel Sprouts, and lots of mashed potatos and gravy.  To top it all off, for dessert, how about a slice of Maple Syrup Upside Down Cake.  Also need a cup of decaf in a ON mug.  Please and thank you!

Went over to my son's house for dinner actually.  Had BBQ Chicken, ah, you know, one of those words you can't use here at the forum (the part some think the NMRA Logo is).... Noodles, baked beans, and apple pie a la mode for dessert.  Little Emily was being a sweetheart but Olivia who was asleep when I got there woke up in a foul mood and was being a little brat.  She finally decided to get over being mad and played with Grandpa for a while.  My son will pick up 12 hours of overtime this week which will go toward having several trees cut down on his property.  A couple are already dead and threaten to go right through the roof on the house if they come down by themselves. 

I will try to get in here for one more Canadian style breakfast before we move to warmer climate.... I wonder how big a PITA the "New and Improved" site will prove to be???  Hopefully Ad Blocker will still w*rk and I will be able to click on something without 20 pull down menus clogging up where I want to get...  My late wife used to w*rk in the business office of Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, PA.  her favorite line when asked directions was, "I'm sorry, you can't get there from here!"  THAT is kinda what I'm expecting for the first week or so after...........

Later!

73

[teen steam fan]

Elliot's Diner LLC, doesn't have the same nice ring to it. Aw well.

Hey guys, figured that I would stop in for the end of the weekend, Might be my last time in before the new updates take effect, but that bridge will come and I'll cross it when I get to it.

Actually, I am part of the moderator team on another forum, kinda cool what one can do with proboards. Do have to deal with the occasional person who is ticked at the whole group (only one person), but really kinda nice nonetheless. Gotta go.

[cudaken]

  Keith, if I remember right, this is your first layout? Rather it is your first or 5th, looks very ambulances and impressive. Looking forward to seeing more done.

  Flo, can I have a order of BBQ Chicken Knockers, I like a pair of Big Ones  (can't say *** here, lets see what happens with Knockers) , order of fried mushrooms, side of green beans, slaw big Chief Salad and a Milwaukee Best Light in a chilled Monon Mug.

  So far today it has been a wash. Have been feeling like Caboose, maybe I feel better after dinner. Went to Sears to get the needed glue, wife went with me and she went shopping. Sitting in the car with the A/C off pretty much wiped me out. So there is not going to be any Floor Wars up date this month.

  I might still play with the Static Grass if I feel better.

  Sucks that I am back on the med's taking them right and I am back to the same state of feeling bad all the time. Guessing I am going to have to break down and see the Doctor Bird. With no health insurances it going to cost more than I can afford. 

  Any one here uses the VA health program?  If so what do you think of it? I am a Vietnam vet, so I have partial V A benefits. Local St Louis VA hospital just got a lot of bad press, seems they gave some vet's Hepatitis by not cleaning the instruments right. 

  Train Front Seems it is time to repair another PCM engine. This time it is the Big Boy, sometimes when it goes around a Left Hand Turn, it shorts out. Not all the time, say oneness every 15 laps. Pretty much the same-thing as the PCM Y6 b did. Sent the Y6 back to BLI and they could not fix it, so I had them send it back and found the problem. No lube where the engines mounted to the frame, wore the mounting points down to where the wheels would contact the boiler and short. Used Kadee washers to fix the problem.

  With the Big Boy, I can't see a spark like I did with the Y6. Might be behind the Boiler Skirt and I just can't see it.

  Hum, Elliot have you thought about moving the dinner to St Louis? There is a spur in East St Louis that gives a great view of the Arch.

                  Cuda Ken     

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 Good afternoon. It's 84 and cloudy. The high will be 91 and there's a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms.

This morning I took out the bolts that were holding the Century's light bar. When I feel froggy enough I'll lift it off the roof. The sucker weighs 80 some-odd pounds. I had gotten the fuel pump working again yesterday so today I cut the fuel supply line, put the end of the line into a 6 gallon gas can and turned the fuel pump on. I filled the can full three times and filled it halfway the fourth time. The main tank on my father's truck is full now and there was some left to put in the reserve tank. Tomorrow I'll take out the 2-way radio, the electronic air horn module and the light bar switch box. I'll also be pulling the stereo.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 Ulrich: I sent you a PM.

[howmus]

 Afternoon folks!

I see lunch is being served Zoe, so I will have the Fish and Brewis plate special, with a good Canadian Beer.

I'll go sit in the front booth and see who else arrives.

Later!

73

[Robby P.]

 LUNCH!!!!

 Well I guess we will all see what happens in the next few days.  I don't think they will shut-down the "diner".   We are to nice of guys (sometimes gals) to do that until...... we have the pie fights, and the soap box rants  .

 Not much planned for me other than work on a boxcar (Ashley Drew & Northern).    Hope everybody has a good Sunday, and I will sit in the corner and wait and see. 

[howmus]

 Mornin' everyone!  (Mornin' Bill..... nice photo!)

Welp, let's see Zoe.  Last day up here in Moosonee, so I'll have a big plate of Bannock and Back Bacon and some Pure Canadian Maple Syrup (you know the one with the Canadian Flag on the bottle) to celebrate a month in the great (not so) white (this time of year) North.

I think we must have brought some Southern Weather with us this month as right now Moosonee is 23°C (73°F) and will get up to 28°C (83°F) this afternoon.  Glad I'm not working train crew for the move South.  Tomorrow up here it will be 30° C (86°F) .....  Bright sunny day Here in the Finger Lakes and cooler than Moosonee.......

I managed to get a couple of the S S LTD kits assembled last night and primed.  The parts THAT were missing arrived a couple days ago and I finally found time to spend down cellar.

Here's hoping we all find our way back to the diner after the "New and Improved" upgrade!  Hope the "New and Improved" version doesn't include mugshotbook or twit thingy........  At my age I refuse to Tweet!  Although I have been known to toot now and then....

I'm sure I'll be back in before the place gets locked up.

Later!

73

[wetidlerjr]

[TMarsh]

(sniff) Well it's been nice knowing you guys. I know I'll miss this place alot. Even though things haven't been progressing lately, I know if it wasn't for you guys I wouldn't be as far or have the desire to do what I have and eventually will. (sniff) I was hoping we could all watch as everyones layouts grew or were built but I guess it wasn't meant to......... (whisper from Flo, then a smack on the head Gibbs style) OH! Well then, I'll just say Gotta work on the house some then visit Mom and maybe some more work this eve. I should be able to make it by the time they lock the Yard gates, but, If I don't, have a safe next couple three days and I'll see ya in the new place and of course........

Have a Great Day!!!

Oh, Ulrich, since they have referenced enhancing friendships made on the forums, I would assume they still have no problems with the diner. What better example of a group of friends made through a common interest in MR and on their Forums, than the ELLIOT'S TRACKSIDE DINER (LLC)

The LLC is new. Tax and liability reasons.

 

[Blazzin]

   Ulrich,  quote:  " Looks as if you have taken down some of the work you did before, right? Must have missed it during my absence. I hope you saved that wonderful scene behind the station, though! "

  LOL.. no no no.. That diorama is setting in another room.  When planning the first diorama I took into consideration of being able to move it but still have it very secure.  I didn't want things falling onto it while other parts of the layout were being built.  The first diorama was / is 'set' with wood screws.  So when the time comes I will bring out that first diorama and screw it in and than lay the track down accordingly.  I only built the first diorama to know exactly how much room I needed for the 'Main Double Lines'  In fact that particular diorama will be one of the last items to be screwed in right before the main lines come into play.

  This town is / was more of an exercise of 'placement' and 'visuals' of elevation.

  I didn't want the 'flat look' of buildings and so if you look closely you will see as the houses progress back into the background a small elevation was added.  I wanted the church to be on a hill as well.  I also tried to visualize a small road going on up into the background and so that is where I was.  I must admit it was a fun exercise.  The pic you see here is kept for records because I knew that all the houses and buildings would be removed and packed for a later date.  I took a few photos for future reference and plan on also building another diorama, one that can be screwed in and taken back out if needed.  Also,  just like the other diorama all houses will be made in a fashion to add fiber optics at a 'Even' later date to aid in over-all visuals.  I plan on making 3 towns/diorama's with even my wife's home town in there too.. so that will make 3.5 towns with the support buildings to go in also.

  I also took out some mountain ridges that are numbered for re-placement, but I just didn't want to hem myself in anymore than what I have done. That vice you see in the above pic was used for a reason.. to make things just a tiny bit easier when it came to laying cork and track.  I know one day when Jeanne came home from work,  one of the first things she noticed was the mountains had been removed.

 Jeff, I watched The Train Friday night, it was perfect for all the cork laying.  With the commericals added it gave me just enough time to lay cork.. and then go back to watching the movie.. with minor checking on the glue.  Lol.. it was perfect~

  Ok.. time to go.  I'll be getting ready to go visit my 86 year old mother who has lived in that house since 1947 when it was first built.  She is getting on in years and at times I believe it won't be long.  These sort of things can go fast and I want to see her before her time is up.  Although at age 86 she is still a fisty one with a sense of humor... she tells me when she does pass on into the next dimension that "She will give me a good shove,  not a tap on the shoulder .. but a good shove" to let me know~  ouuu ha haa ha!

  Take care Keith

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

Chloe, I'll have a big ol' stack o' pancakes with maple syrup--not that coloured stuff!--and a coffee please--I'll be at the window booth watching the day unfold.

Welp--the week my sister takes off to go camping with her friends looks to be a hot one up here--going to be sticky and hot Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and even Friday now

I'm having a time with these on-call weekends, I'll tell you. Had three emergencies to contend with yesterday alone. Hopefully, nothing of the sort will happen today

Ulrich: Nice to see you actually getting a vehicular vehicle! I'm only 5' 7" so I can fit--well---sort of--into anything. BTW--one thing a 6'5" guy could fit on to would be a Harley-Davidson chopper I know a couple of guys that height who own them

Vincent: A really belated from us'uns here too!!!

Keith: I like how that town is coming together there!

Welp, gotta get some stuff done to my own layout today---provided no one phones up in a panic--

 

[Anonymous]

 Good Morning Folks,

Janie, I´ll have a big Sunday morning breakfast, with scrambled eggs, bacon, buttered toast, a bowl of mixed fruit and coffee in an IV bag, please. 

A "dull" day, lotsa ra*n and way too cold for August. The leaves are turning yellow and I have seen the first flock of geese heading south - signs of an early winter to come. Hope it won´t be as bad as last year´s.

Sam - good to see you! Nice picture as well! You look smart in that uniform - like a Trainman. My  to your wife for moving house. It is about a year now, since we moved into our little flat and not all gear has found its permanent place, yet. Petra is not really complaining, but now and then I get a certain look from her  

Todd - being 6´5" ain´t no fun - too tall to ride a motor bike and not look silly on it, too tall for those nifty sports cars, too tall to make use of those clothing bargains, too tall for just bout anything. Must have been the workout and the good food during my days as an exchange student on Bainbridge Island, Wash., which made be grow that tall. I was about 5´ 11" when I left Germany and those 6´5" when I returned - all that in just 17 months! Talking of growing pains...

Ken - looks like a highly professional job you´ve done there. Be interesting to see how it works!

I see that the forum will be down the next two days - I wonder what the new forum will look like and whether there will be a Diner... I have seen so many "new and improved" things in my life, that I have grown to be somewhat suspicious about that.  Or maybe this is just an old fart´s rant 

Blessings to my friends!

Edit:

Keith - you have hit the enter key a minute before I did - I am too slow in typing  Looks as if you have taken down some of the work you did before, right? Must have missed it during my absence. I hope you saved that wonderful scene behind the station, though!

[Blazzin]

  Ken I just hope we don't read about you in the newspapers titled 'Spontaneous Human Combustion"  or "Man's Hair Stands Up Permanantly" ~

  Oh Ken all in good fun... but be careful SHC can happen.

  Ok.. all its late and I am short for words.  So here goes.

I have finished laying 200 feet of cork with another 100 feet to go.

  Yes it took 100 feet each way to get to the next town in which will consist of many buidlings and yards.

That whole white area is .. well tomorrow after I lay the cork, I will lay out some track and see what I got.

  As previously stated before,  I have left certain areas open and not glued in for reasons of being able to

come back and lay cork or track.  But not as I look at things,  aside from glad I left things open for future

laying of cork and track.. well I just may want to change a few things around.

  Take for instances.. this proposed area of a town and houses.

  And change everything to a much more hillside town with gulleys and hills.  And redo this area left open.

  Like I said.. I'm glad I left some things open for many reasons.

Ok.. I said I'm tired and short for words.  Just wanted to let you guys know I've been busy, and around.

Keith

 

 

 

[TMarsh]

Belly Dancer! Did someone say there was a Belly Dancer here?!

Howdy, long day but I got the floor grouted and the new back door set. Of course Mr Murphy once again, arrived and I discovered the old door was unusually tall, They cut into the floor joists to set it which required me to repair and raise the floor to the original height. All is solid and correct now.

He he. I see Ken tried to use the "B" word for "Chicken Knockers" (giggle)

J.R.'s chained to the floor? Hm, must have a frame straightener. (old fashioned loops on the floor and a floor jack)

Ulrich- 6'5"? I bet you and Jim see eye to eye on many things. He's up there in your area. Me, only 6"3" with not so lofty ambitions. ( I have no idea what that is intended to mean, it just sounded good)

Turned onto the Williamsville Blacktop, now known as South Williamsville Road by the 911 address thing, from highway 54 and there at the tracks is a truck with his rear end on the tracks and an SUV behind him with 2 vehicles in front. Since I had my window down anyway I decided to, without thinking, slow down enough to say to him, "you know, trains can't stop even if they see you are on the tracks" He was appreciative of my comment. I know this by the way he gestured that I am "number 1" in his book. ( must have been from Riverton. They excel in sign language.) I nodded and drove of saying "see you in the Obituaries"

Sam- I hope it's not too late, but I will add your wife to the prayers for a safe load and journey. You made me almost run downstairs to check my layout for changes by some elves. Then I realized you were talking about Jeff's layout. By the way, I could not help but notice the toilet paper roll in the photo seems to come from the backside of the roll. I myself prefer it to come over the top. I guess it's just a personal preference.

Ken- I see J.R. has hollered from his chain on the paint. I have used floor leveler, the brand I can't tell you off the top of my head but it is very similar to concrete so it's probably the same as you have just a different brand, and the answer is ......yes. I have nailed and screwed (and glued but don't tell anyone as I wouldn't recommend it even though it has worked for me) with no problems. As long as the nails and screws go through the leeveler and into the sub floor of course. I've not noticed a smell with Liquid Nails, though others may. I don't think there is a problem with nailing or screwing through it either. I've used it, but don't know if the nails have gone through it or not. I assume some have. I am waiting to see if your static grass thing works. If so, it will be one of my projects that wil probably be half done.

Yeah TSF, Jeffrey does fire off a good one now and again. He's full of it... OW!!!! He doesn't run very fast anymore, but he's still got one heck of an aim!!! (rubs noggin where semi solid projectile has struck).

Steven- diorama's looking good.

Welp. Tired, so I'll say Prayers for those in need.

 

[cudaken]

  Thanks for all the help JR, I be better suited to do what you do for a living than doing wood working.

  I did play with the flyswatter

  Like many here I had read about making a home made Static Grass Dispensers. I found a video on U Tube by bige61 and he sure made it seem simple. So I ran out to Harbor Freight and bought 2 of them. They are on sell for $2.99 each.

 First thing was to open the thing up. Having watched  bige61 video I all ready knew which wire went to the strainer and to the ground. So just clipped the wires at the base of the swatter end.

 Next part was getting the handle off the strainer and cutting the handle down some. Getting the plastic handle off was easy, 2 pound dead shoot hammer made short work of the plastic handle. Hard part was cutting the metal part of the handle, could not find by cut off tool, so I did it with a hacksaw.

 When you open the swatter up, the wire on bottom of the screen goes to the strainer. I solder the wires, the one for the ground I wrapped with electrical tape to be safe. The wire being held up is the basket wire.

 When I watched bige61 video, he did not know which wire was witch so he had to break the swatter end open to find out. He then had to use bass wood to fill the gap between the handle and the strainer. Rather unsightly but it worked. I on the other hand knew which was witch. So I cut off around 2.5 inches of the handle. Broke it open and found the strainer handle would fit fairly tight. Also note I took off more of the metal handle.

 I also decided I want to run the wires under the yellow part of the handle for a tighter fit. Wires that go to the circuit is not robust. I filled some reliefs in the black handle and the yellow part where the wires hang out.

 Button up the handle and ran the + wire to the strainer. Ran the wires through the stainer, twisted and solder. You all so need to added a Alligator clip to the ground wire. Pictures is before I twisted and solder.

 Here you go, it is done! 

 All I have done is test it. Pushed the button and touched the alligator clip to the strainer and we have spark. If I had all the tools at hand and knew how I was going to mount the strainer, I could have done it in 15 minutes. Pretty simple, I like simple!

 Pictures of the grass Sunday.

             Ken

[JimRCGMO]

Evening, Janie - I'll have a bowl of beef stew, some oyster crackers, a Rio Grande mug of coffee, and a grilled cheese sandwich, please and thankyou!

Todd, actually, to post progress photos, I thought I had to have some kind of progress, right? And while I've been thinking about MRR stuff, the actual w**king on it has been another matter...

Ray, glad you got your bird (identified, that is!) I'll have to see if I still have the canvas in my storage shed, but when I was an art major in college, I started one painting of a red-tailed hawk. The canvas was about four by five (feet, that is), and showed the hawk flying - sort of like this:

 

except viewed from the front, head-on (the initial drawing had the talons slightly lowered). The background was about five different colors, with a blue toward the top and the other four being various earth tones (red oxide/rust, yellow oxide, etc.). I didn't get it finished in that painting class other than the background and the pencil drawing - the wingspan was almost all of the five foot width), and after I got married, my wife told me that I couldn't put it over the couch (finished or unfinished). ...  I'll check the storage shed and see if it's still there. Hmm...

Vincent, my belated Happy Birthday wishes! Hope you find something to do with your birthday loot.

Ulrich, sorry about your MB wearing out, but good to see you got a replacement for it. I can recall when they did sell Renaults in the USA (but maybe that shows my age...?). Stay afloat, and hopefully for you and Petra that will NOT be like your unfortunate neighbors to your south. By the way, your new wheels look good! (Of course, the Merc looks more impressive, but hey, South Africa will get a classy taxi once they repair it.

Garry, good to see the layouts (and your local 'MRR club') photos. Have a good trip to... (Michigan, or Ohio?). Good trip, anyway!

Jeff - I'm in shock - your nephew actually showed up? Talk about flying pigs, indeed! You're getting closer to having your own wheels again. How's the layout refurb coming along?

Trainman Sam, will keep your wife and uncle's moving experience (no pun intended, but what the heck!) in my Also keeping your qualification for Wash. Terminal there as well. You're probably right about Ulrich's new mileage - bet it will be better.

CudaKen, keep at it and I'm sure that (someday...) you'll get THAT floor done (as your CFO might say, "Perfect or not"). (And trust me, I am sooooo NOT able to answer your home project questions, being about in the same boat on that topic..)

I w**ked some more on the P2K 50' boxcar last night and today. Their grabirons are prototypically sized - and they break way too easily! I now have none of those I need for the end-of-car ones (they use a different number to identify each), but I have all the ladders on, and (I think) the links and the chain/line to the brake wheel in place, plus the roofwalk (or whatever it's called - I won't be sitting at the RC tonight, thanks, Vinnie). The undercarriage/chassis is done, doors are on, so I just have all the itsy-bitsy tiny-teensy parts left to put on. Reconsidering all these Proto 2000 kits I have. Welp, guess I'll try to get them done this decade (maybe)...

Today's on-call has been delightful. A bit after lunchtime, I was drowsy, so took a chance on Mr. Murphy and got a short nap in (hour and a half). Or I could blame it on my at-w**k incident Friday afternoon. AFTER I had finished our annual Non-Violent Intervention training, I'm upstairs kidding around with another therapist (slow afternoon), and short version is, I got tripped up and go down, brushing a steel doorframe on the way down. Didn't hurt (except my ego) anything, no bumps, not blood, no deal, I thought. Had to convince the other therapist (and my co-w**ker who helps me cover walk-ins) that I was fine, thankyouverymuch! Thought that was the end of it. Apparently not - after I get home, I get a call on the w**k cell from my supervisor - my fellow therapists had expressed their concern about me to her, and thus, we are required to fill out an 'incident report' because I fell down. (Little do they realize how hard my head is! And no comments from you Diners, thanks..)

Monday at MRR club, we're supposed to do the rest of the roadbed/tracklaying on the connecting sections, paint second coat over the I-beam across the middle of the train room so it's not obvious at first glance, then we can see how things are starting to look. Should have my MRR order in - it has the Sparky and the Chief fire chief's van to go with the LaFrance fire truck (yet to be assembled) and the fire station.

Gee, I'm finding more and more MRR stuff to do. Better shut up soon, or Todd's gonna remind me about those progress photos I haven't been posting. I'll see everybody after the move, I expect. Hope you're having a great MRR'ing weekend.

 

Blessings and prayers,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[GMTRacing]

Good Evening All,

     Three visits in one day. Left w..k early - didn't feel all that well and was exhausted plus I needed a haircut so off I went. Feel better now that I've had some dinner and a sit (and a little nap).

     Ken - we used cement to fix the hardwood floor to our subfloor because the subfloor carries the radient heat pipes and nails would have punctured the plastic tubes. So far so good just using the construction adhesive and gravity. Of course we leveled all the layer below the sub floor before it was applied so no worries yet about bowing or heaving. I think we were told we could just stick it all together and not cement it at all but that seemed to be tempting Mr Murphy.

   If I feel ambitious I will try finishing some shelving later and see what other trouble I can cause here. J.R.

[Wisconsin Railfan]

Good Evening Folks!

I will take a jumbo BLT on Italian bread and a Dr.Pepper please!

I added the ballast and loose rock to the C&NW Diorama.  Next up different layers and colors of grass including foliage.

[teen steam fan]

jeffrey-wimberly

teen steam fan

Crud, tops again. Vinnie, what are the odds of me getting a job here?

Slim to none, and Slim just left town.

Good one Jeff. I gotta remember that.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

teen steam fan

Crud, tops again. Vinnie, what are the odds of me getting a job here?

Slim to none, and Slim just left town.

[teen steam fan]

Cuda, I don't think that liquid nails has that strong of a smell. Of course I love the smell of diesel exhaust, the non-emissions variety, in the morning.

Hello diners. no more riding the school bus for me. I'm drivin to school. Used to be that I wouldn't get off the bus until 5 to 4, maybe even 4 o'clock. Talk about a long bus ride. and I was sharing a bus ride with my sister and her friends. Thats enough to up the wall!! Aww well, can only get better right?

On the topic of birthdays, one thing I read that really brought a smile to my face is when someone says they are 20 with 30 years experience. All depends on how you look at things right?

Crud, tops again. Vinnie, what are the odds of me getting a job here?

[cudaken]

 Another Bob Villa Question How strong is the smell of Liquid Nails Carpenter glue and what is it cure time? Reason I ask, my biggest patch is 2.5 feet by about 5 feet. This was the section I used the Henry Floor Patching Compound. It is pretty much Concrete. I am wondering at this point if I will be able to screw or nail through it effectively. I was wondering if I could use some glue to help the screws hold down the Luna. That way I could use fewer screws. 

 I all so want to thank all the folks here that have tried to help me on this quest.

                   Ken 

[cudaken]

GMTRacing

I wouldn't mix and match or you could have a mess on your hands

 

 All ready have that! 

 Any other idea? Something that does not smell!

GMTRacing

Seems you've found your mountain to roll a boulder up.

 Well, the biggest bad spots are level, cutting the inserts I need around the stove and counters. So the bolder is half way up the Mountain. Spots left to patch are about 6" around.

               Cuda Ken 

[GMTRacing]

Ken,

   Latex paint is not water resistant not water proof. If you use something like polyurethane sealant or spar varnish or other water proof wood sealant you should be ok, but of course that stuff smells a ot more. If you already have multiple layers of latex stuff already applied I wouldn't mix and match or you could have a mess on your hands. Seems you've found your mountain to roll a boulder up. Good Luck,   J.R.

[cudaken]

  Quick Bob Villa question. I have two more bad spots I have to fill before I can lay the Luna. If I paint the spots with Latex paint, do you think that will keep the wood from swelling while the sub floor patch filler is drying?

 Time to remove the moldings.

                     Ken

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I picked up something this morning that my father can use with his riding mower and dump trailer. He's doesn't bend over too easily these days and dislikes having to mess with safety clips. And he says I don't think of him.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I was busy stripping the Century for any parts I can use on the van. I decided to see if I could get the fuel pump to work and was turning the switch for it on and off trying to get it to start working again. I stopped for a moment with the switch on and just stomped on the floorboard (with my good foot) and said 'work or die you piece of crap! The fuel pump whirred to life and I started the engine. It ran OK, not great but OK considering the electronics for the injector manifold are fried and the injectors are worn out (345,000 miles of use will do that). I didn't run it for very long though as I had already removed both radiator fans and their relays. I also removed the 100 watt cone speaker for the air horn and disconnected the power cables for the light bar, it's control box and the 2-way radio. Probably tomorrow I'll remove the light bar and the 2-way. Another project will be to disconnect the fuel line and use the fuel pump (for as long as it works) to pump the gas out of the tank.

[Trainman Sam]

Good afternoon friends! Long time no see… I’ve been busy during the week, either as an Assistant Conductor on the Virginia Railway Express, or sleeping between trains…

Here’s a photo of what the uniform looks like for us… the neck-tie is an ACTUAL TIE! Talk about serious safety hazard! We have the union working on resolving THAT matter!

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(EDIT: I see the annoying double photo has struck again.  Only one entry in the insert photo column... Grr)

Please pray for my wife this week, as she moves the rest of our house from Pennsylvania to Virginia. Unfortunately I cannot be there to help with the move, as I have to work tomorrow. Which is actually a GOOD thing, I get to do my Engineer’s Qualifying Check Ride at Washington DC Union Station (Otherwise known as Washington Terminal)! Thankfully her uncle has offered to drive the moving truck down here. Which will be happening on Tuesday… Thank you all for your prayers!

Ulrich- I’m sorry to see you had to give up your Mercedes… I know how it feels to give up a vehicle you like so much. I had a ‘00 F-150 before I got my Hyundai Elantra… I miss being above traffic, but the trade off of more than doubling my gas mileage has made it somewhat worthwhile. I am praying that you will make it “over the Pond”!

Todd- I loved the photo’s of the “Construction Site” as you renovate your layout! Sorry to hear of the Century’s demise… Hope you can get the van up and running quickly! BTW- How’s your foot been doing lately?

Robby P.- Kudos to YOU my friend! I loved the weathering jobs on those cars! Just right if you ask me!

Packers- Happy belated Birthday!

Teen Steam Fan- Trust the word from someone who made the mistake of thinking he could “assist” in a situation. It doesn’t work out in your favor when you get involved the WRONG way…

Galaxy- Glad to hear you got relief on your “dry eyes” problem…

Glad to see most of the regulars are still here! Thoughts and prayers to all! Have a great weekend! I’ll try to get in here tomorrow with a detailed description of how the day went! Wish me luck!

[Robby P.]

 Just a quick stop.

 Doing some shopping today, and not much MRR for me.

 Vincent......Sorry if its late, but Happy B-Day!!!

 Ulrich......Not a bad trade.