Elliot's Trackside Diner September 2010

[TMarsh]

Good Morning.

FIRST THING. ATTENTION PLEASE. I’m sorry for the confusion, but my BIL was NOT at the towers or anywhere near there. He was shot and killed while riding a bicycle and got in an argument with the wrong person yadda yadda yadda. But that was a while ago, maybe… 4 years? Single, young, nice guy but mouthy. All is well with the family now. Anyway, I only brought that up as an example that the fact they were Muslims, doesn’t make all Muslims evil, just like not all Catholics or Christians or Jewish are because……well you see what I mean. Sorry again if anyone was mislead. I did not mean to attach myself in any way to the unfortunate and the brave who passed on that day.

OK, Whew, got that out of the way. Coffee please. And a caramel roll thank you.

POTATO SALAD RECIPE!!!!!!! Yipee!!! Sounds delicious (don’t tell Ray I said that) and will have to try it when I get a chance. I loooove potato salad.

Ken- Pretty good buys at the show. I chuckled at you description of the weathered car. At the local shows around here, most the weathered sellers, the weathering pretty much looks like they have sprayed a light brown mist over the whole car (chuckle). I know Robby would be drooled over if he were to set up a booth here. I think I told you I had brass track for a loooong time with no problems. I have all NS now, but I never had problems with brass. Kinda had it’s own built in weathering ability too.

Chris- Sorry to hear that Ross lost the battle. My prayers for you and the family.

Tim- That was horrible. Prayers for those also. Once again, the value of a firefighter and rescue personnel, is priceless.

Best get going lot's to do again today.

I've noticed it seems like Bill’s getting a bit more talkative these days. Has anyone else noticed?

Y’all have a Great Day now ya hear?!!!

[teen steam fan]

Afternoon, 

Welp, I've got pictures coming, as soon as I get them, I'll show you guys. And, I'm going to get my sister. The guy who was announcing the whole show got told by a little birdy that yesterday was my birthday, I am so going to get her at her birthday this year and next year. What I'm going to do is get 2 sheets of plywood and paint Haylie has her permit... RUN. and maybe even screw them on the side of my trailer and drive around.  Definitely put it infront of our house

[howmus]

Mornin'....  Ah.... Afternoon everyone!

Zoe, I'll have the Reuben Sandwich and a large Dr. pepper for lunch. 

Rally day at church.  Rally Day, the official start to Sunday School for the year.  Got together with the kid who will be my Confirmand for confirmation class this year.  I am a friend of his family and have known him since he was a toddler.  He is also into trains, is a young actor, singer, and all around great kid!  My son's family were there as well so I got to sit in church with my granddaughters (until Mom decided enough was enough and took them to the nursery....)

TMarsh

the fact they were Muslims, doesn’t make all Muslims evil, just like not all Catholics or Christians or Jewish are because……well you see what I mean.

 

Todd!  Amen to that!!!  My sister, the Reverend, runs a boarding house for foreign High School Students.  She constantly says she will take a devout Islamic student any day!  There are all kinds of people who are terrorists, and they claim to be from many different religions.  In fact they often claim to be "In the Know" and be the voice of their appointed Religion.  During the events of 9/11 my sister had a young man who had only been here for a couple weeks.  He was from Saudi Arabia.  He sat and watched the horror unfold in tears.  He beat his chest and sobbed.. "No!  That not Islam!  They bad people, not Islam!!"  It took hours for him to stop crying.  He was embarrassed and terrified!  I won't say any more.......

I will be heading out to my son's house for dinner tonight and have a few things THAT should get done before then, so....

Later!

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I got some shots of the old Century this morning. It looks pretty small now that it's been stripped. It shouldn't be too much longer before it's hauled off to the scrap heap.

[Cederstrand]

Strong coffee in a  SUNNY SOUTHERN  mug, please.

Discovered some nice video clips of layouts on this site last night. Neat stuff.

Cheers! Rob

[cudaken]

 Flo, nothing for me, I lost my appetite after seeing Jeffery's thing! There is no question about it, Jeffery is a Red Neck! When you drove the car, did you take cinder block's with you so you had something to park on, or did you just use them in the front yard? I don't know what is harder to believe, that you had the balls to drive the thing, or the fact you had the balls to posted pictures of it?

 Can hardly wait to see what you do to the van.

 I know folks it hard to believe but I have seen worst. Had one guy running around with bowling trophies, junk in general screwed on his car. He had a electric fan as a hood ornament!  

 Biggest POS I haven sen yet is this thing. Owner drove it in to my shop and said he had $5,000.00 to spend on fixing the car. I asked "which end do you want me to fix?"

 On the last picture, if you blow it up, you can see the car carpet hanging out through the floor board!

 Sorry Jeffery, I could not help my self.

                              Cuda Ken

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Ken: At least mine wasn't rusted out like t6he one you showed there. What did the guy think you were? A miracle worker? There are points at which even I draw the line and that rust bucket was definitely way over it. And no, I didn't have to use cinder blocks to park my car. The parking brake worked just fine.

[cudaken]

 I had a few songs running through my head when I was looking at you car Jeffery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n9prNixjbg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icMTVV5Lwaw&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBLXJoviASY

 I do love good Blue Grass.

 All so thank you for having a scenes of humor about my comments Jeffery.

 Ken

 

 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

cudaken

 I had a few songs running through my head when I was looking at you car Jeffery.

Rocky Top
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n9prNixjbg&feature=related

Foggy Mountain Breakdown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icMTVV5Lwaw&NR=1

Thank God I'm a Country Boy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBLXJoviASY

 I do love god Blue Grass.

Let's just make those links clickable so everyone else can enjoy them too.

[rvos1979]

Evening all.....

Busy at work lately, but got around to working on the layout today, doing some track and locomotive tuneup.  Filed back a spot where I had a short issue, and cleaned and re-gauged the wheels on my Walthers Trainline GP7.  Made quite the difference, as this Loksound Select-equipped engine will now creep along all day on speed step 1.  Now I need to get around to adding LED head and ditch lights, and other details to match the real Wisconsin Central locomotive.....  

[wetidlerjr]

Stopping in for a Diet Coke.

I brought some friends.

 

 

[howmus]

Evenin' folks! 

just a cup of decaf Flo.  I'm going over and sit with Bill and his friends!!!!

Yes I can sit anywhere I want!  I'm a widower and available......  So there!

My son had borrowed my truck this afternoon to go over to a friends house to get some firewood for his wood stove.  He was also on his way to a birthday party for a friend's little girl with the whole family.  His wife was driving back home with the girls in their carseats, when the motor in her car stated acting very funny.  It finally quit down near Seneca Lake and they got it pushed over into the parking lot at the Chamber of Commerce building.  I'm guessing plugged fuel filter, water in the gas, or bad fuel injector(s).  It will more or less start, runs rough for a few seconds and then quits.

My son came into my house gave me the key to my truck, and I followed him over to the dead car.  His wife wanted me to tow it to the repair shop, but since the tow rope I have has been sheared off on one end and is only about 6' long and the fact her car has power brakes, and power steering (standard Trans), it would have been difficult without the motor running to tow it anywhere.  30 years ago I would hooked on and pulled it around..... 

With so much going on today, I once again did not make it down stairs to the train room.......  Grrrrrr!

Have a great evening!

Later!

73

[Packers#1]

just thought I'd drop by and say hola.

The Clemson Game RULED!!! Clemson won 58-21. It was 42-0 at ahlf, got to 52-0, then Clemsons tarted putting in the 3rd and 4th stringers.

Also GREEN BAY WON!!! GO PAC GO!

[TMarsh]

Good evening I'll have a Root Beer Flow-ho-ho-ho-WHOA BABY! Well hello ladies! Yeah, Flo I'll have an RBF. I'll be sandwiched in over here with Bill and Ray and the Tidler Bunnies.

I forgot what I was going to say. Probably wasn't important anyway.  

[Cederstrand]

Tall glass of cool lemon water, please.

***Bill, I like your friends. Good thing my wife is at work, not that she needs to worry about an old fart like me.

Spent a couple hours in the train room again tonight. More wiring done on the wife's layout plus setting in place a few more structures. Progress is good, even if the quality of work is mediocre.

Heard a decent size pack of coyotes up behind the house taking roll call. Sounded cool that close. Had to stop our dogs from giving chase....they are getting way to old for that. Glad we don't have wolves here.

Good night y'all.  Rob

[LSWrr]

Good Morning,

Ken, Nice haul, I knew you wouldn’t “waste” a perfectly good Saturday on house work, LOL!

I don’t have too much to say for myself this morning.  I ran some trains to clean the tracks but that was about it.  Now let me post an email from a friend (Ken) who actually did something:


I decided to try and railfan the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad today, in spite of the heavy overcast that seemed to dominate the morning (at least on the east side), and head towards Brecksville.  Luckily, the further south I drove and the later in the afternoon it got, the weather improved. So upon arriving at the Brecksville station about 10 minutes before the regularly scheduled southbound passenger train, engine 1822 (an Alco RS18) was the first to come through leading the regular passenger consist. Trailing was Alco C-424 4241. With a break in the action before the steam arrived, I decided to head south and see if I could chase the passenger train. Unfortunately about 200 motorcycles were transiting the valley, and after a 15 minute wait behind the directions of a park ranger I decided to turn around and head back to Brecksville to catch the steam train.  Fourty minutes later it was time for one of the featured steam engines, Viscose Company #6, a

 1925 Baldwin-built coal-fired 0-4-0 saddle tank steam engine, to make an appearance.  The CVSR was running the #6 as a shuttle between the maintenance yard, where the Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 Berkshire No. 765 was located and the Brecksville station. After watching the #6 shuttle back north, it was time to head south again and setup for the returning passenger train. So some quick shots at Peninsula and then again at Boston Mills before I paced it back towards Brecksville station. By this time in the afternoon, many fans were out and ready to catch the 765 and parking was becoming a difficulty. Luckily I was able to get close to the station and loaded up the photo gear once again. But first the southbound passenger train was scheduled to return, followed shortly after by the #6 minus its earlier passenger consist. By this time, the light in the valley had turned to shadows and the few clouds were playing havoc with trying to get a well lit photo. Many  "fans" were starting to ignore the photo line in an attempt to get further up the tracks and a view of the 765. As luck would have it, I was staked out early enough that my vantage became the photo line, in spite of some late interruptions by a few folks who just didn't have the proper photo etiquette for this setting. A few comments and requests from our photo line got their attention, although a few still slipped by and wandered down the tracks. Finally about 30 minutes late, it was time for the sounds of the Berkshire to echo in the valley. What a sight to see all of that black and white smoke a full 5 seconds before we caught sight of the engine. Blowing horn and steam as she approached station, it was quite a sight. Upon arrival, she blew out her tubes for a full 30 seconds before coming to a final halt. Both engines were to be part of a steam gala this evening, albeit at a cost of $80 per head. Didn't see many people eating, although the caterer's  tents were up. By this time, I decided it was time to exit and head home. But one last obstacle, getting out of the parking lot, which by now had cars parked out all the way to Riverside Drive. I'm estimating that easily there were about 750 people watching the event.

 

Photos can be found at the following link.  Hope you enjoy them.

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/pb.sc12/2010SteamInTheValley#  

[Wisconsin Railfan]

Good Morning Folks!

Just a cup of coffee please!

Just passing through, going to be another busy week at work.  Not complaining, happy to have a job, but this latest Virus is keeping us busy.

Steven

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 73 and mostly cloudy. The high will be 93 and it will be mostly sunny, not to mention humid.

I probably won't be around much today. I have to take my mother to a doctors appointment this morning. After that I have to take her to the bank then shopping. What is it about women and 'shopping'? Seems almost like an obsessive/compulsive disorder. They have to go then when they get there they don't know what they want which brings on a lot of looking around at things they wouldn't be caught dead in then when they get back home they wonder why they went shopping then they can't wait to do it again.

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

 

 

 

[TMarsh]

Good Morning. Coffee please, gotta get going.

Jeff- Actually. little known fact they don't teach in school any more. Like lions, they are the hunter gatherers of our species. It stems back to the begining when they did the gathering of wood, housemaking materials and of course the food. Back when the man did what he was born to do. Relax, watch TV, play with trains and be waited on by woman.  

Ya'll have a Great Day now ya hear!!!

[Robby P.]

Good morning.  

 Well the Steelers won yesterday, and maybe on the way to the Super Bowl !!   Maybe work on a UP refer car today.  

 I hope everybody has a good morning.

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe....  Coffee!  Dark roast, lots of it!  Oh and a blueberry muffin with real butter as well.  Thanks!

Turned on the computer this morning, opened up Firefox, and was just about ready to walk into the coffee shop for breakfast when... KLA_BOOMMMMMMMMM!!!  Thunderboomers outside.  So I very quickly shut back down.  Storm has past, but still a bit of drizzle out there.

Currently 62°F out there with a high around 71°F maybe....  Good day to see much time I have to play with the trains.  Have to do some laundry so THAT is a good excuse to be down cellar.

Jeffrey, I think the old car was "cool".  Don't listen to them City-Slicker guys......  Personally if money was no object, I would get me one of these.  Believe it not it has the same stability as a high powered sports car, the safety in a crash of NASCAR vehicles, can do 0 - 60 in 4 seconds flat, has a top speed of 135 MPH, and with the top battery pack has a trip range of 200 miles.  Of course it retails for $108,000 right now and only 600 are being made this year.  Ah, batteries are extra, and the top range ones cost $20,000.  Well.....  maybe next year.....  Talk about "Bleeding Edge" technology!

Best get a move on.

Later!

73

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Howdy ...

I just tried the "start a conversation" with Ulrich. Has anyone here used teh "start a conversation" feature? Is it like a PM?

Well, evidently, Bill T is enjoying retirement .......

Rob ... You asked about the on-coming train. If I recall correctly, it was stopped on a passing siding, and our train was moving slowly. So, we did not feel anything. Not like two high-speed-rail trains passing each other at 150 mph.

I think we still have several MIA's to track down.

[nik .n]

Chloe, a steak and a RC please.

'Ello!

Not much is going on around here. Yesterday I did a display as a member of the EMRRC in the town's street far. We had a switching layout and a HO and a O track loop set up to the enjoyment of the crowds. Did't get much out of the book sale or the donation bucket, but I gained a good time and a few memories. One of which was when I was running the loops and a little girl came up to the table, stood on her toes, and stared at the passing O scale 4-6-4. Just as the steamer came around the second time, I hit the whistle right as the loke passed her nose. Her eyes lit up and there was an ear to ear smile on her face.

Model RRing is magical, no?

Dad is still trying to find a job before he gets laid off, but no replies as of yet. We'll have to see what happens next month. 

Garry:   "Start a Conversation" is the same thing as a PM. Same premise, differnet name.

[AmanaMedic]

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood Afternoon,

Dang! I see Bill's Angels have done moved on... rats.

RAY: Man, you are more than welcome to those little golf cart put-put cars... I'll stick with my pickemuptruck as long as mechanically possible. The greenies will have to pry my truck key from my cold, dead, hands... Don't get me wrong, I think there are places those little machines would do just fine. And I do NOT begrudge anybody who wants one. I just hope it is always and forever up to the free market and personal choice if people drive those things. I dread a government mandate forcing people to drive these things. They've already banned incandescent lightbulbs, they could ban certain types of vehicles too. I see their safety claims, but I still think they've neglected to mention that when a semi splatters one like a june bug...it doubles as a coffin. Just dig a hole next to the road, drop it in, plant a cross (or the appropriate symbol for the decedent) and move on...

nik.n: Hey, good to see you again Pally! Did you ever figure out how to make a Thunderbolt in HO scale??? Also, IF you seriously want to try to obtain a real one, or know someone THAT does...I can put you in touch with a lady who spear-heads siren replacement projects. She sells...Whelen products http://feslers.com/ and has put a lot of those T-Bolts out to pasture. Oh, and she's used to dealing with "siren-heads" who want to buy the old units...apparently there's more people out there wanting them than one might imagine!

TODD (and others): Thanks for the prayers and words about Ross. He didn't really "lose the battle," it was un-winnable from the start. He just put up a helluva fight and persisted longer than anybody thought he would. I think that speaks to his character. Still waiting to get the marching orders for Wednesday's funeral.

 

Well, best keep moving, I've got a Johnson County Heritage Trust "Family Day at Belgum Grove" photo shoot from yesterday to deal with; a pleasant early fall afternoon in the country. I also gotta get a little farther on an article hanging over from last week, and get a start on another. Busy week...a good thing where the paycheck is concerned.

 

Chris

[galaxy]

Hi guys

been away for a few days as the computer crashed.

After some work to clear the hard drive and reinstall everything, it was surmised that since we have a metal desk sitting on a thick carpet that perhaps a rubber mat to discharge the static electricity may help as only one minor spyware program was found to be disturbing the hard drive. The AOL and McAfee were destroyed or blipped off the hard drive, perhaps due to static when we were using the program. Only a shred of McAfee was left to show that the firewall was there but in reality it wasn;t and when AOL screwed up, the AOL help desk shoved it off as a virus they couldn't fix meanwhile the AOL program wasn't even on the hard drive any more. SO if you have carpet make sure you have a rubber mat under you as you use your computer. Never had problems with teh chair/carpet before, but 2 hard drives crashed and the tech thinks the static is why.

COmputer withdrawal is always hard. Had to load in trains.com the long way as my bookmarks won't show up on the reinstalled AOL for a few hours yet. Pain when that happens but it has to verify that this is new computer installation at this address as us I guess.

I won't try to catch up on anything I missed in the last three days, just say hi cuz if someone had anything specific to me they can now update me. I doubt it though.

The Fracking issue here made national CNN news today where they commented on it sounding like a dirty word, LOL. The EPA is hold 2 days of hearings about fricken fracking {hydrolic fracturing for natural gas} here in Binghamton. The issue is that it hasn;t been shown to be clean and safe just across the PA border where peoples wells have become unusable and the gas drilling companies claim fracking itsnt fracking their water so to speak. Several movies aobut fracking, including "All Fracked Up" have been shown about areas where fracking has ruined the surrounding environment. They discarge a sludge of water, hydrolic fluid chemicals and mud slury while they drill into shallow ponds enarby which leach into the ground water. Small towns around here all feed off the underground well water. Here int eh city of Binghamton they are worried about the Susquehanna River basin which ultimately dumps out in Chesapeake Bay, and the Upstate resevoirs for NYC. AS much as we like our nat gas heating and hot water, we are definitely sure we don't want our backyards all fracked up with effluence from drilling. There is supposed to be decades of nat gas in the Marcellus Shale rock formation under most of W VA, the eastern third of Ohio, the Western and NE regions of PA and the lower SOuthern tier of NY state Upstate. They want to release it through fracking which will also cause minor earthquakes as they fracture the rock.

Well, I shall go on to other things.

TTY'ALLL8R

[fireman216]

Robby...The Steelers??...Really??...At least my Dolphins won!!!

[nik .n]

galaxy

The Fracking issue here made national CNN news today where they commented on it sounding like a dirty word, LOL. The EPA is hold 2 days of hearings about fricken fracking {hydrolic fracturing for natural gas} here in Binghamton. The issue is that it hasn;t been shown to be clean and safe just across the PA border where peoples wells have become unusable and the gas drilling companies claim fracking itsnt fracking their water so to speak. Several movies aobut fracking, including "All Fracked Up" have been shown about areas where fracking has ruined the surrounding environment. They discarge a sludge of water, hydrolic fluid chemicals and mud slury while they drill into shallow ponds enarby which leach into the ground water. Small towns around here all feed off the underground well water. Here int eh city of Binghamton they are worried about the Susquehanna River basin which ultimately dumps out in Chesapeake Bay, and the Upstate resevoirs for NYC. AS much as we like our nat gas heating and hot water, we are definitely sure we don't want our backyards all fracked up with effluence from drilling. There is supposed to be decades of nat gas in the Marcellus Shale rock formation under most of W VA, the eastern third of Ohio, the Western and NE regions of PA and the lower SOuthern tier of NY state Upstate. They want to release it through fracking which will also cause minor earthquakes as they fracture the rock.

Aah, the age-old Hydrofracturing controversy.

Being a resident of NE PA and having a gas well next to my house that has completed the fracturing process, I have to say from first-hand experience that most, if not all, of this is false. We have had several complaints from residents that the fracturing ruined their water, saying it made it made it taste like rust and so on. It turned out their water had always been like that when tests were run and compared to samples taken before the drilling started here. As for the fracturing ruining the surrounding environment, that is false too. As I said before, the well is close, about 3000 yards away. Our well, the grass, and the trees are all perfectly healthy.

As for the "poisonous waste sludge" (as one of the ladies at the borough meeting called it) is a mixture of sand, water, and decontaminators, which kills any bacteria which may effect the gas. The shallow ponds are just holding tanks to hold the mud until it can be hauled off to be cleaned and reused.

No earthquakes to report of here when they fracked though.

 

Chris: Good to see you too!

I managed to make one:

All I have to do now is make the roatator box smaller and finish the blower box/pole details. I have the drive that rotates it done; It is a geared down motor driving a wire which goes through whatever it's mounted to, up inside the pole, and the horn sits on top. The sound part I'm still working on. I have a good recording for it, though.

I would love to have one for my own, but that would have to wait until I finish my restoration of a '67 John Deere 110, I have money, and there is room to house it

[Robby P.]

 

fireman216

Robby...The Steelers??...Really??...At least my Dolphins won!!!

 Someone at Sports Illustrated said Steelers over the Packers in the super bowl .  I think the Dolphins, and the Steelers got lucky yesterday.   Next week they play the Titans.   Plus they haven't even hit the HARD part of the schedule yet!!!

[Packer]

hey guys

Not a whole lot doing since the heat is back. I got some more frieght cars today, an E&C 50' DD high cube (SP), and 2 LBF ACF modern boxes (UP and BN). The SP is too new, since it from a class built in 1996. The UP is a bit rouch since most of the end details are MIA. The BN was complete and I put it together. Can't really say I like how these cars went together. the end details are a bit of a pain to get on. Guess for more of those "ACF moderns" I'll use athearns. The DD high-cube is pretty good though, but I actually like the E&C modernized PS1s.

Sawyer, I saw that game too. Looks like the offensive line is starting to get it's act together. Defense did pretty good, and Crosby didn't miss

Jeff, what are the buldges on either side of the hood scoop for, and is the scoop functional? As for women and shopping, who knows?

Ray, as impressive as the stats are, having a top speed of 130is with 803hp isn't really all that good.. Having to replace close to 2,000 pounds of batteries under the floor might be a bit of a pain when they all go bad at once, the cargo room isn't that good, and it doesn't look like it has an AC.. Personally I'd rather just have a harley (21 is not too young for a Harley) than that.

Around here I think the harley might be safer with the kids and senoir citizens around here driving while texting....