Elliot´s Trackside Diner August 2010

[Packers#1]

AmanaMedic

TMarsh

Ah your disowned cousin. I know the kind. Let me guess, she also feels the government should be smaller and that taxes are too high, all the while screaming the government should give more money to the people and offer more services so people don't have to do as much.

 

Close but not quite Oh King of Toddland!  She doesn't think the government is big enough! She feels no problem is too small for the govt. to find a "solution." Taxes? Well, of COURSE we don't pay anywhere NEAR enough in taxes...in her warped mind. Taxes for everybody go up 1/1/11... she doesn't think they go up enough! She's really bought-in to the whole "redistribution of wealth" thing. What does she do for a living? She's living in the world of academia, pursuing either her 2nd masters degree...or a doctorate, not sure which (really don't care).  She is one who has no problem with the government "nudging" people into "better decisions." She wants limits on how much/how often you can eat meat. She wants limits on how warm/cool your house can be. She wants limits on how much electricity you can have. Have you seen the Chevy Volt? $41k car with 40 mile range? She would think we should ALL buy one..."to save the planet."

Uh-oh....here comes FLO, and she's wielding a large cast-iron skillet!!!!!!!

 

*KAAAA-WANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

 

*THUD*

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

 

I think your cousin was sneaking up behind you and Flo did us all a favor. I myself wouldn't mind stickin her in california and shovin that whole state off the continental 48 and have it sink, with all inhabitants moving to China. See how well what they preach works in practice 

On a lighter note I got my death sentence, er, SCHEDULE today.

 Spanish3

English3H

Algebra2

Computer Aps

Study Hall

Chemistry

Art

So my morning will suck

[Cederstrand]

Strong coffee in a SULTRY SOUTHERN mug, please. 

***Chris, watch out for those skillet wielding Big Govt supporters, they aren't the most rational of folks. Hope your head isn't to badly damaged. Ask Cloe for an ice pack, she won't mind. 

I'd post progress pics, but I haven't made any real progress in a while. Perhaps tonight.

Cheers! Rob

[blownout cylinder]

jeffrey-wimberly

AmanaMedic

She doesn't think the government is big enough! She feels no problem is too small for the govt. to find a "solution." Taxes? Well, of COURSE we don't pay anywhere NEAR enough in taxes...in her warped mind. Taxes for everybody go up 1/1/11... she doesn't think they go up enough! She's really bought-in to the whole "redistribution of wealth" thing. What does she do for a living? She's living in the world of academia, pursuing either her 2nd masters degree...or a doctorate, not sure which (really don't care).  She is one who has no problem with the government "nudging" people into "better decisions." She wants limits on how much/how often you can eat meat. She wants limits on how warm/cool your house can be. She wants limits on how much electricity you can have. Have you seen the Chevy Volt? $41k car with 40 mile range? She would think we should ALL buy one..."to save the planet."

Thank goodness people like that aren't in charge. Oh, wait a minute. They are!

Gadzooks!!

We've got little 3 wheel scooter things that go that far!! And for $3,000!!!

As for the rest---not going there!!!-----FLO----NOOOO!!!!!-----KKKEEEEERRRRRR----WWWAAAAAAANNNGGG!!!!

Thud-----

[blownout cylinder]

howmus

Barry I see you are having another "interesting" day.....

Got that right---BTW--1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ----- or 3+2's heeheehee, have one piece I've been working on that is in 11's

Robby: Like how that car is turning out I've been doing a few more of mine that I got to put up here sometime.

Welp, I's be ready to go and ge some stuff done around here---have a good one!!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

AmanaMedic

She doesn't think the government is big enough! She feels no problem is too small for the govt. to find a "solution." Taxes? Well, of COURSE we don't pay anywhere NEAR enough in taxes...in her warped mind. Taxes for everybody go up 1/1/11... she doesn't think they go up enough! She's really bought-in to the whole "redistribution of wealth" thing. What does she do for a living? She's living in the world of academia, pursuing either her 2nd masters degree...or a doctorate, not sure which (really don't care).  She is one who has no problem with the government "nudging" people into "better decisions." She wants limits on how much/how often you can eat meat. She wants limits on how warm/cool your house can be. She wants limits on how much electricity you can have. Have you seen the Chevy Volt? $41k car with 40 mile range? She would think we should ALL buy one..."to save the planet."

Thank goodness people like that aren't in charge. Oh, wait a minute. They are!

[AmanaMedic]

TMarsh

Ah your disowned cousin. I know the kind. Let me guess, she also feels the government should be smaller and that taxes are too high, all the while screaming the government should give more money to the people and offer more services so people don't have to do as much.

 

Close but not quite Oh King of Toddland!  She doesn't think the government is big enough! She feels no problem is too small for the govt. to find a "solution." Taxes? Well, of COURSE we don't pay anywhere NEAR enough in taxes...in her warped mind. Taxes for everybody go up 1/1/11... she doesn't think they go up enough! She's really bought-in to the whole "redistribution of wealth" thing. What does she do for a living? She's living in the world of academia, pursuing either her 2nd masters degree...or a doctorate, not sure which (really don't care).  She is one who has no problem with the government "nudging" people into "better decisions." She wants limits on how much/how often you can eat meat. She wants limits on how warm/cool your house can be. She wants limits on how much electricity you can have. Have you seen the Chevy Volt? $41k car with 40 mile range? She would think we should ALL buy one..."to save the planet."

Uh-oh....here comes FLO, and she's wielding a large cast-iron skillet!!!!!!!

 

*KAAAA-WANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

 

*THUD*

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 Good morning. It's 87 here with a projected high of 99 and a heat index of 112. Great weather if you're a lizard hunting for a warm spot. There's a 60% chance of a thunderstorm this afternoon.

I was in town this morning and spotted KCS SD40-3 #3137 out in the open. By chance I just happened to have my camera with me. Please excuse anything that's wrong with the photo as it was taken on the fly from my father's 3/4 ton pickup.

 

[Robby P.]

 Just a quick stop.   Gotta go meet the wife for lunch.

 Here's some updated shots of the "rock".

 

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!  A fine day today, eh?

Zoe, I'll have a breakfast muffin with sausage if you please and lots of dark roast coffee in a FGLK Mug.

Allegheny2-6-6-6

I would much rather have the bear for a neighbor then this knucklehead

 

Allegheny, my late FIL used to have a sign in his kitchen THAT read, "The more I deal with people, the more I like my dog!"  Certain amount of truth there.  We have bear sights a few times a year here around Geneva.  One was photographed about 3/4 mile from my house.  Most are young bears (Yearlings) looking for new territory.  Have had a few articles in the paper this Summer about not leaving garbage outside in accessible cans and such.  Have problems with bears in our Boy Scout Camp in the Adirondacks but THAT is prime bear habitat. 

Thanks for the many kind words about the quarry project.

Kieth, I like THAT bridge!  Nice job!

Barry I see you are having another "interesting" day.....

Well (deep subject), I see the clock is still moving even though I haven't.  So, I better get going and get a few things done today.

Later!

73

[Allegheny2-6-6-6]

  A large coffee to go please,Well it's another beautiful day here in New Jersey NOT! I knew we were going to be in for a hot one today when I saw the widows loaded up with condensation when I went to bed at 2:00am Got kinda carried away adding the streets to my new town. I picked up a bunch of the Walthers Street system at a train show and all in all their not too bad I know you can make em cheaper bla bla bla but I already have em. Well ran a little short and of course Walthers is out of what I need and it's hard to interface another product and make it look right but I'm gonna give it a shot with some .050 sheet styrene

We've been having bear sightings a lot around here lately and it's never a good thing especially for the bears, haven't seen any yet myself but what usually happens is all these city people people who move out here to "the country" think they are so cute and then feed them and take pictures and then call animal control to come trap them or shoot them. The neighbor up the road said I think they terrible and the town should get rid of all of them. I said funny he didn't say that when you all moved to where he's lived for hundreds of years but maybe he should have.

I would much rather have the bear for a neighbor then this knucklehead

[blownout cylinder]

Good morning--

Welp, after going to bed last night at 12 midnight I got woke up at 3 am by a loud crash outside our home. Go and look. See car upside down in the ditch in front of house. Great. Go help dude stuck in car--find another car rammed up against tree across the road. get him out of car--smell booze on breath. Great--anyways he passes out from booze. In meantime neighbour comes out and tells me he phoned for ambulance and police--the road outside is now closed as the investigation is ongoing. But we do know one thing--dude with car against tree will be charged DUI. Grumble Grouch Mumble Snort

I'm not going to go on any right now---I'm still from that excitement early this morning.

Zoe, I'll just have a coffee and a toasted bagel with cream cheese please--I'll be in the corner booth trying not to be falling

[TMarsh]

Galaxy- That is ONE of the reasons I want Mom's house sold and gone BEFORE she passes on. If it were still hers my sister, of whom we see once in a dozen blue moons, would appear and say she wants at least half of the sale of the house, or she would fight to get it herself. The money parts, should she sell it are already taken care of as to how that would be taken care of, but I don't want tax burdens with a second house. The other reason is it is basically her nest egg to sell and have money to live confortably on. Good luck with your future SIL. She sounds like you'll get along .......swell

[TMarsh]

Good Morning, and how's it going eh?

Didn't look at the weather today so I have no idea what I'm in for. Well, that's not exactly true. Saturday they said hot all this week so...... don't want to know. This year the hot days seem to feel hotter than in the past and I've figured out why. This is the first year I'm not out working in the heat every day all day and I just haven't got used to it like in the years past.

Derjohn- Looking good!

Ray- Your start of a quarry looks better than a finished project would for me.

Chris- Ah your disowned cousin. I know the kind. Let me guess, she also feels the government should be smaller and that taxes are too high, all the while screaming the government should give more money to the people and offer more services so people don't have to do as much. Make less, spend more. Don't see how they figure. Oh! I remember now, the services are free. Then they argue that this country was built on immigrants and that it is and always was a haven for those who want freedom etcetera... etcetera... ectcetera.. blah... blah. And they have a very good point. We should welcome as always. HOWEVER! Our founding fathers did not intend on what is happening. How do I know what they want I'm continually asked. The same way you do I respond. When a person arrives in this country we have a set of rules. You must learn enough of the language to get by is one ( to paraphrase). Assuming all the while you will continue to learn more. NOT make us speak your language so you will feel welcome and not get your feelings hurt or have to take time out of your precious schedule to learn the language used by the country you chose to reside in. Try that in ANY other non English speaking country and see what happens. Not counting tourist signs and if you point out that many other countries have English signs I will point out that English is the most universally spoken language in the world so it only stands to reason for tourism etc and I could go on and on and that the reason is for MONEY making purposes NOT because they don't want the U.S. to feel....... however the people are suppose to feel if we don't speak or write in Spanish. They also never expected and I bet never DREAMED, we as a government would SUPPORT them on the TAXPAYERS back!!!! To allow them to bust in the border, shoot out a kid, and start collecting a paycheck from good old Uncle Sam. All the while we have our own honest to goodness citizens who could use some bucks because of injuries, health issues, loss of jobs due to the economy blah blah blah... AAAAAAAAGH!!! (Falls to floor)

Oh Flo. Thank GOODNESS you kicked that Soapbox out from under me when you did. Someone left it laying in the middle of the floor and I didn't see it and stepped right on it. That could have gone on all day!

I think I'll pull a Ken today and blow off w**king on Mom's house. Just do the bookwork for Church then home until w**k tonight. I'd like to sit in the train room and do something like the rest of you, but I'll probably either go out there anyway or grab the mower and mow around the berry patch.

Have a Great Day!!!

[galaxy]

HI guys, or should i say Morning guys!

I put down tubs of vinegar and it doesn't seem to help much. But maybe the two will work together at it. Febreeze and other smelling agents are out as they bother my asthma and sinuses too much and they alone can make me ralph my guts out. My other half has for years tried to find a smelling agent I can handle and has failed. THe only scent I can seem to get along with is OUST Lemon scent. WE have gone trhough a can spraying that around the house.

The trip to my fathers was great. Though he asked if he were to die, would I wnat to live in his house {3br/1ba 1400 sqft ranch with fireplace and attached garge}. I emphatically said yes, cuz that is what we are looking for in buying a house, though we may have to settle for a 2 br/1ba instead due to prices. Then he tells me that my brother and his girlfriend fiance of two years has only been out there 3 times to his house and all three times SHE has asked "when you die, who gets this house?" she has laid claim to it and hes not nearly dead yet! Then he has two couches in the LR, one is mine. He bought it for my mother and was going to give me the old one, but my mother didn't like the new one in the house, so the old one got restored and the new one {mine} is sitting there waiting until I get a place to put it in. SO he told her it was mine and she'd have to talk to me about it if she wanted it. {I'm not aobut to give it up unless my father makes me move it out and I still don't have a place for it}. Now keep in mind my brother already owns three properties with 5 houses on them! He rents out 4 of them! the problem is they are are all 2 br/1ba, except for one, and it is a 3 br/1bath {the one he shoulda moved into really, but didnt know he was gonna come up with a girlfriend finace who came with 4 children! ANd that would put him smack in the middle of all his tennants, and he wanted the end house with the pool in the backyard}. SO my father figures there will be a fight over his house, I agree,  so he's thinking of putting it in the will/trust that both his house and the one he inherited from my mother inherited in Fl from my G-ma should be sold at auction to highest bidder, making it "fairer" for both to inherit. Problem is, as he said , my bro can still strip equity out of his properties and out bid me easily, while we sit here with disability{for me}  and a{now} a parttime job for my other half. I was hoping to talk my bro into taking the Fl house {a duplex} and me taking the NY house...about similar in value, roughly. since he likes to rent out anyway. BUt if his GF fiance has anyhting to say, I don't think so! SHe has eyes on my father's house already!!!

Well, I have written a book agian, so the smell must be getting better. Of course I still wear a mask when at teh computer with teh window wide open.

y'all have a great day!

 

[Robby P.]

 Good morning.  Its going to be a warm/humid day, and the next three. 

 Thanks for the comments on the boxcar.  I hope to have it done today, and for sale later tonight.  The other two car's I finished up last week, are going to new "layouts".  Its good to see people are still buying.   I was going to see about selling the GP30 I have, but it still has the coupler problem.  I will have to see about getting a shorter shank coupler.

 Ray.......Very nice.  It has some good color to it.

 Der John..........GREAT shots!!

 Keith.....Good looking bridge.  That's one thing my layout really doesn't have.

[Blazzin]

  "Some Hot Chocolate please"

  Chris,  I just love those pics of C&NW.  If there was one, just one I had to pick from all the liners, C&NW. 

  Der John, So I'm going over some of the photos,  I blow em up so I can really take a good look.  What do I see?  Spent toilet paper rolls.  Who'd ever think of that? ..lol.  You are really moving along.  I am impressed.

  Ray, they say the best compliment is someone copying your work.  lol.. Guess what?  I want to do one.

  Ok.. today.. I dunno~  I finished the bridge.. its in.. and movable.. until the rest of the trim (final attachment later) goes on.  But then I have to lay more cork.  I can't lay track, I have to weather it first.  I guess so long as I am doing something on it I'm making progress.

  I also want to thank you all for the support.  It really gets me motivated. 

Der John,  I just finished the how to do on the bridge in my own blog/thread.  They are just pics, no writing.  My borders are still messed up.  I keep hoping I'll make it to page 3, in hopes of starting fresh, with clean borders. 

[wetidlerjr]

[Cederstrand]

Burritos, please. 

***Der/Keith/Ray....GREAT progress pics, y'all.

I left the soaker hose in the garden running for 2 days until realizing it tonight. Tank went from full to 1/3rd full at best. Praying for rain now.

Rob

[Zandoz]

Hello folks!

I'll have a big glass of something fizzy and with no caffeine, please.

It's been a long week...cook'n hot, and I've been having a lot of knee pain.  The pain meds make me want to sleep a lot, so I'm blissfully ignorant of what went on arouond here most of the week...LOL

My friend who is going to be helping me build the train table finally had some time today.  I decided to go with a cut down hollow core door for the top.  Today we got the door (and some of the poplar I was needing), and got the door cutoff.  Also picked up a small 2 gallon air compressor with a trim gun, for future use.  I had an 8 gallon compressor with several size nail guns, but they all got stollen last year 

Tomorrow is another doctor appointment day for wife and I, so there will not likely be much accomplished tomorrow.  But at least I've finally gotten a start on the layout, even if it was only a baby step.

[Packers#1]

 John, awesome job on the mill!

Ray, the quarry is looking really sharp.

Chris, I hear ya. My mom's little sister (my aunt) is the liberal help everyone govt-involved third world country helper tree-hugging America-isn't-the-elite one of our family.

Now I believe in some of the enviromental stuff. but it's just getting out of hand now. Have you seen that Audi commercial for their green diesel engine that has the green police? I'm sure there's a lot of folks here in America that would love that. And also this healthy eating thing. Same thing with education. This government system just doesn't care. Does Obama care? No, his MISSION is to make our gov't like canada's and great britain's (no offense to you folks from there). No capitalism, no competition, just Marxist.

Now everyone who thinks America has a wrong to right because we're the arrogant cocky know it all country. BULL! A lot of people came to look at it that way. They confused American pride, struggle, and the burn to be top of the heap with arrogance.

Now I'll step down before I get kicked off or get a lot of people ticked at me. But there's one fundamental root to this whole problem, but that crosses into religion, and out of respect of friendship I'll leave that untouched.

Anyways Chris, I'm sure I woulda been moved at that ceremony too. POW/MIA: Gone But Not Forgotten. I remember back when the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall came to Aiken. I think I was maybe 8, but still that was a sight.

I hope y'all will forgive my liberal (ironic eh?) use of the soapbox tonight. I'm gettin ticked at how the country is going, and even though I'll be the first to admit I hardly understand it, I know what I lvoe about America's past and what I'd wish we'd get back to.

[AmanaMedic]

Packers#1

Whoops looks like the soapbox is under my feet. anyone else want a turn?

 

Nope, you said it all for me...  My disowned cousin tried to "explain" to me why this theory is so..."evil and wrong." Oh, and..."jingojistic," "elitist," and some other words I'd never heard before. Then again (uh oh...here comes the box) she's all "open borders for everyone!"

I guess the LEGAL immigration our ancestors went through, the assimilation and learning of the English language they went through...just a little too "19th century" for such an "enlightened" little walking malfunction as her to contemplate.   There are some radio talk show hosts I darn-near pray she calls up someday...I'd love to listen to 'em as they try to educate her! I've long since given up on her.

She probably would've gone into spasms yesterday at the Swisher Fun Days Parade. The American Legion Family put on the events. Patriotic music was playing (loudly, I might add). The Color Guard stopped just past the reviewing stand, with the Sons of the Legion right behind pulling a caisson bearing a casket in honor of the POW/MIAs. In the pouring rain, they marched to this point. Standing at attention, "Fanfare for the Common Man" was played followed by the singing of the "Star Spangled Banner" by a Legion Auxiliary member.  I had chills up and down my spine, had to bite my lip a time or two...my eyes were trying to sweat. My ex-cousin on the other hand would have been reviled by the display...

 

I'll just put the soapbox back into the corner now...

 

JIM: Glad you're making progress on the water tower. I'm sure by now you've noticed some "fit and finish" issues where some of the gussets (I think THAT is what they are called) don't sit quite as nice and pretty as they should. I'd planned on going back someday and applying a little Squadron putty here and there to blend things in a bit better...never got back to it.

 

I'm gonna have a seat at the RC...and try to give the soapbox some needed rest...

Chris

***EDIT***

I got so riled up, I forgot to complement KEITH on THAT fantastic bridge  and RAY for THAT incredible rock w**k in the quarry ; and DER JOHN on the awesome mill complex! I see some tricks I'm gonna try to remember to use when I finally build my version of Quaker Oats...

 

[howmus]

Evenin' Folks!  Pleasant evenin', eh? A nice cool 14°C outside the door. 

Flo I'll have a cup of decaf.  Yep, THAT's it no desert, I am still full of cake and ice cream from the party this evening.

Did a couple more coats of the stain wash on the quarry tonight.  Starting to look like I want it I think.  One thing I have found from the photos around of the local limestone, is there is a wide variety in the rock layers for color.  THAT happens as the rock is laid down as sediment.  The color is very dependent on what materials were being deposited along with the remains of the little shelled creatures THAT make up the limestone.  Anyway I got a couple of shots of how it looked as a of few minutes ago:

JimRCGMO

How'd you do the wash - it looks like you avoided getting it on the 'floor' of the quarry, 'cause that also looks good. C'mon, what's your secret there?

 

OK, Jim!  I used 2 different kinds of plaster to start with.  I made the basic coat from Drywall Mud and then put a couple of washes of Hydrocal over the base.  Each plaster has a unique way of accepting the stain which gives some variance in the depth of the color.  I lightly sanded the plaster to expose a bit of the drywall mud underneath in a few places.  The colors are from Woodland Scenics.  I bought a set of the rock colored paints several years ago.  Just tried to find them at Walther's (It was called "Earth Color Kit") and I guess they are no longer available....  [edit] Found it.  Not listed under paint or painting supplies.  You can see it here. I found they are fantastic for coloring hydrocal from rock molds.  Anyway I have used dilute solutions of Stone Gray (the light color) and the Slate Gray (the darker rocks) as well as a mix of Yellow Ocher and Burnt Umber for some highlights and color variations.

Oh and the floor of the quarry was painted with the Stone gray and has been repainted with more tonight.  One more thing, the little dark thing sitting on the plywood in front of the photo of the quarry is a rock from the quarry......  Glad you like it!

Hope you all have a good evening out there!

Later!

73

[der5997]

 Hello folks: WAY too far behind to reply to the odd question or two that came along - but I do remember CapeJim asking about how the roof repair insurance figured things. AS far as I can see it Jim, they are not able to match the shingle colour on just replacing the actual few shingles involved, and so are springing for paying for the re-shingling of the whole roof sections involved. We're getting the entire roof done, but the insurance is a big help.

Keith: That is a very interesting bridge came out nicely. I've got an arch project coming up, and may well borrow some pointers; thanks!

Since I was last in both Kris' computer and mine had their hard drives wiped by a Trojan - despite our usual precautions. Dollars and angst later we're up and running again - and I'm on Windows 7, with Firefox and Thunderbird. Had to get a driver up-date for the wireless adapter - but all seems OK now.

So, progress on the layout?  IIRC I was beginning to build-on-site the flour mill and bakery complex that replaces this card mock-up. Here's a bit of a blow

-

by - blow

of how it has gone.

Late one evening I broke down and cut some templates for the roofs, they made an instant difference!

I've changed the concrete colour too, (too much green in the one I was using) and added (today) a bunch of details

to the Shipping and Receiving areas.

I re-paved the road with a cereal box side sprayed both sides and the edges with gray Rustoleum (it was on-hand, and is water proof, or resistant anyway) and glued down with "Liqui-Silk" so that the card won't buckle when I re-ballast the spur track and surroundings.

 

On the "measure twice, cut once" thing, I thought I had the awning for the spur measured right, but ended up having to add another 2.5 scale feet so the cars would clear the supports!

THAT added some of the statutory "it takes longer than you think" time.

We get at least one grandson and friend tomorrow, so I'm not sure how much mrr time will be available. They will be tenting - and we're hoping they are old enough now to handle the inevitable rain!

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

[TMarsh]

SURPRISE!!!! eh. I'm home early!! I have decided something today and THAT is.... I would NOT want to be a cabinet installer! Aaaand I found out why they do not put soffits in kitchens anymore. If they aren't perfect, neither can the wall cabinets be. But, they are done and look pretty good if I do say so myself. Come to think of it...., I just did. We showed some pictures to Mom and she said she wants to move back in. Too bad it is her nest egg otherwise I'd be all for it.

Farmers take care of something? HA!  Well some do, but most put stuff away and don't even mess with it until they need to use it again. I've seen more than one shed door hang from one hinge until the wind finally ripped it off. Also, the wind blew the sliding doors up and flipped them onto the roof one year because my buddy only closed one side of the doors. They stayed there for two months until, yes once again, the wind blew them off.

Looks like at least some of you got some MRR time in today.

Glad to see you back at it again Jim. I also had one heck of a time finding a container that was large enough to hold a loco body, but small enough I didn't have to use a gallon of alcohol to cover the thing. I ended up doing what you did and rotate.

Galaxy- I can't remember the details on just what you‘ve done, but I would use some spot cleaner on the area that Mr or Ms Mouse expired on after dousing with Lysol spray to kill the...... whatever Lysol kills. Not sure now. I just know my Mom's answer to all things yucky was to spray with Lysol. Anyway, after a generous shampoo and dry then I would spray with Febreeze using a fragrance of your choice. Setting a bowl of vinegar by one side and a box of baking soda by the other. I agree with you on the dead smell. I have a real strong stomach but not for that.

Keith- Forest? What forest. I guess I couldn't see the forest for the trees. ( I just HAD to beat Garry to THAT one!!! ) The bridge turned out great by the way.

Teen steam fan- Though I don't feel a second language should be mandatory, I do feel it is a real good thing to learn. Spanish seems to be the one to pick if you ask me. But that is just my opinion.  First, the Canadians speak English well enough as a whole we don't need to learn French. Sounds a little self centered, but, we like 'em and need to be able to talk to them. They just made it easier on us Second, and probably most important, if you don't speak Spanish, you won't know why the little cones are placed on the floor at the Casey's. PLUS, if you speak Spanish you can understand Italian well enough to get along. Kinda like two languages in one.

Other than that, I'd go for Comanche. Could come in more handy than you think.

Good night eh!

 

[Packers#1]

 Jim, nice snag on the GP7.

Keith, good looking bridge.

TSF, the main thing I have is; you migrate to America, you learn english. If I move to Germany I'll learn German; Africa I'll probably try Swahili first, or the country's national language. China Chinese, Mexico Spanish and so on. Here in the USA it is English and I dnt care how many latinos move in they immigrated HERE! If I immigrate to their country I'll learn spanish. Whoops looks like the soapbox is under my feet. anyone else want a turn?

[teen steam fan]

Jeff, thanks for the condolences. In my mom's words, 'It will help you in life and college.' Yeah right. I'll be lucky to remember any of it past senior year. And in college, I pray that they don't make you take a test on it, cause, guess what? Fail. I've actually offered to pay my sister who is also in Spanish one. I'm probably going to sleep through the whole bloody class. Don't get me started on foreign languages because I heard the soapbox start up. Usually, at school, if I am in a foul mood, (Nothing to do with ducks) I mutter German and Slovak under my breath. I am the only one who knows what I am saying. I'm going to sit down before the soapbox revs up again. Sounds like a Deltic.

[Blazzin]

  "Coffee please, quick I need it!"

 Jim.. I switched to brick.  The stone really seemed a bit more than I could chew.  Just building a bridge seemed a bit much.  After all, I wanted to see if I could construct one.. for a curve.  This also, was more of a small project.. just see if such a thing was possible.  If I known it was going to be this good.. I might have taken my time.  I just had to see it with my own eyes~ 

  Take a look!  My very first bridge made out of plastic sheets.

  If anyone is interested.. I'll give a blow by blow description with pics of how I did it.  I think I've posted a bit much today.   Also considering how much I've gotten done today, well, it went fairly fast.  I just dropped in for some coffee.. and soon I'll be up a ladder cutting a tree.  You now ..the typical sunday accident.. lol.. as a X-ray I saw em all the time.  In fact, I'd used that on my kids.. "Do you really want to spend the afternoon in the emergency ward?"  "Now knock it off"

  But Jim.. you see the forest pics?  No one talked about that, not even you~!  lol

  "Ok... coffee break is over.. back on your heads"  (lol.. old joke) Levels of Hell, he finds one level..ppl sitting around drinking coffee and smoking cigs.  All kinds of .. you know what is on the floor and on ppls heads,  after seeing all the other levels.. he figures .. hey thats not so back. So he picks that level. Next thing he knows.. a voice says.. "Coffee break is over.. back on your heads."  lol.. I forgot about that joke.

[JimRCGMO]

A Sunny Good Afternoon Evening to you, Janie! (Well, it was afternoon when I started this post...) I'll have a RBF and a bowl of chili, with some of those 'oyster crackers', please 'n' thank-you!

Dodging around THAT soapbox, I'll try to stay off of it today... We got up to 94 F this afternoon (heat index of 100 F). Not too bad, so I'm guessing the humidity's down a little, perhaps.

Got the Wabash gondola done (except that the chain from the level to the brakewheel gizmo disappeared while I was trying to get the brake lever glued to the end panel...), and an Athearn 40' flatcar as well. Well, I tried to do some weathering on the Athearn's 'wood' deck, and THAT still needs some more w**k on it. I was surprised at the underbody detail on the Accurail gondola, compared to the detail on their boxcar underbodies. Puzzling... Also got started stripping the paint off the water tower. THAT's a w**k in progress, as they say. I found I needed a slimmer container for the 91 percent, as the two and a fraction bottles (16 oz. each) of alcohol only come about halfway up the sides. So I rotated the water tower, and after church, took an old toothbrush to the paint. The paint and scenery on the base came off, and one side's paint on the crossbracing pieces came off with some scrubbing. Rotated it again, and went out, looking for a smaller/less deep container at K-Mart and Wally's place; no luck either place. K's had one that I wasn't sure if it was that much different size than what I have now, and WallyWorld had some smaller, but too shallow to submerge the tower under the 91 percent.... Back to the "let-sit overnight, scrub, rotate, repeat" cycle. It'll just take a little more time than anticipated - something I've NEVER had happen to me on a MRR'ing project, nosireee! And you Diners? Every have THAT happen?

Also picked up three more tubs for MRR storage. Will maybe use one for locos (they're stacked on the shelves in their boxes for now), maybe another one for scenery/ballast stuff, and we'll see what gets put into the third one.

CudaKen, you're ballasting the kitchen floor? Drying the sand - I guess that's prototypical, isn't it? And are you using mainline or siding sized ballast? Will definitely need to add THAT project to the list, methinks!

Jeff, I don't know if I should ask about the car... But hey! I have an idea for you - get it to Hayti Heights, MO (where they've been without police officers for a few months - small town, smaller budget), and you maybe could turn it in on your insurance if the local penny ante criminals do like they did to the two (unmanned/unused) police cars recently there. They torched them(!). (<-- Link back there) Or (after seeing your post today on the car), maybe you could just rent it out to the police for a little extra cash (until they run short on their ticket quotas for the month?). Oh, heck, you got it moved before you could try either of my ideas!

Ray, you have entirely TOO much fun at the grocery store (and likely at a few other places)!  If I tried THAT, it'd be my luck that they'd call the police to take me into custody. I love what you've been doing on the quarry - saved those pics to my drive. How'd you do the wash - it looks like you avoided getting it on the 'floor' of the quarry, 'cause that also looks good. C'mon, what's your secret there? I see Barry covered counting for "Take FIVE" before I got to THAT. (Thanks, Barry!

Robby, that's a nice shade of... lavender? on that hopper car. Hmmm... might be trickier to weather that one, though. How far apart were the CSX and the 'Santa Fe' trains? (Hey, I'll call 'em like I see 'em) Ah, you answered my question, I see. And definitely, you don't want those feathered friends telling all of their buddies "HEY! Full feeder at Robby's place!"

Keith, the bridge is coming along nicely. Will it be brick or stone, when you get it done? And thanks for the art lesson about the trees from the forest (so to speak).

Galaxy, hope the combination of baking soda, and then the vinegar bowls helps get the rest of that mouse smell knocked down enough for you. That trip away from the house sounds like a good idea.

Allegheny, sounds like your neighbor might need a little reporting to the county health officer (anonymously, that is)...

Johnboy, good to see you again (briefly, before the Tea Party (Victorian, not THAT other one...) starts.

Chris - thanks for taking over the baton from DerJohn in providing our daily train photo fix. Cool ride for your BIL there.

Vincent, Nah, you don't have too many locos - you just need more freight cars, eh? Of course, to be able to store those, that means you'll need to double the size of your layout, but what the heck!

Speaking of locos, I won a (second) P2K undecorated GP7 that will become another CAW loco eventually. Got it at a decent price - suprisingly, I was the only one bidding on it. I'd thought for sure that somebody else had one bid on it before I sniped.

Well, back home to start some more scrubbing on that water tower, and see about putting some MRR stuff into tubs. Might have pics up by tomorrow of THAT Wabash gon and the Athearn flatcar (if I can fix up the deck some so it looks tolerable).

Prayers for those in need of healing, de-scenting, comfort, parts for repairs, and a good night's rest.

 

Blessings, 

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[cudaken]

  Said to heck with the floor today and played with the trains.

 Cleared another item from the RIP track today. Got a Athearn RTR SD 50 back on the rails. It never stopped running, I just did not like the way it ran. I had ran both DH 123's and 126's and to get it to move at 1% power I had to bump CV 2 up to 35. I forget what I had Kick start at, think it was around the same.

 Today I installed a NCE D15SR with Torque Compensation.I played with CV 116 and 117 and did they ever make a differences! With CV 2 sat at 6 and CV 116 and 117 sat at 10 it moves at 1% power and is very smooth. Have it MU to a Dash 9 and they seem to work well with each other. Have two other Athearn RTR I pulled for the same reason. I still two more D15SR, will see how they run with these decoders Monday.

 And here lately I have been wanting to buy more engines? I have 1 F9 Stewart that needs a motor, 3 F3 PK 1000 that need motors (they have well over 400 hours before they died) 4 20 Year Old BL2's that need decoders and maybe motors, 1 F3 PK 1000 that needs a decoder, 2 F7 Athearn BB's that I need to install decoders 1 FP45 Athearn BB that needs a decoder, 1 E6 PK 2000 that needs a decoder and a 1 PK 2000 SW8 that needs a decoder.

 That 14 engines plus 16 that are pulling freight for 30 and about 5 others that are in parts that I more than likely will never mess with. Yep, last thing I need is more engines! 

  Hum, kind of got thinking of the top of my head and on to the keyboard about the engines thing.

  Anyway, at this point I really like the D15SR NCE decoder.

  Have a good night folks, Cuda Ken                   

[Packer]

Hey guys.

Been messing with some more kits I have. Got them all assembled except for 1. That one bieng an MDC FMC covered hopper in WP paint. The guy I bought it from threw a Plano walkway in there and I haven't decided if I'm gonna install yet. Been raining like nuts here so no work on the car.

Haven't been in a few so I'll be catching up to you guys.