Elliot's Trackside Diner NOVEMBER 2010

[cudaken]

 Evening AZ

 Flo, I take the whole keg of tonight!

 Called the bank at 9:30 AM, all I had was $6.15 in the account. Go figure. Told Sue and she wigged out. ( I was as well, but was keeping it in)

 Now for the folks that do not keep a Cuda Ken Life Sucks Log. Sue is disabled, but SSI will NOT pay any benefits to her because I am on unemployment? So she called them told them I was out of benefits, they are sending Sue a check for Nov for $634.00. Well that better than a stick in your eye.

 Drove down to the unemployment offices to see what the heck happened! By chance I got the same rep. Reminded him of my visit last week, and I did not get the funds today as I was told. He looked on the screen for some time, and mumbled to him self a lot. (I was taking this as a good sign)

 Finally looked up and told me "The program messed up and did not up date your extinction, it a new program and it messes up a lot. I manually up dated your extinction and it is taken care of now".

 I asked him when I would get the missing funds? "It will be this coming Monday, we are closed Thursday and Friday for the Holiday"' Well that is just Peachy, I have a 1/8th of a tank of gas and $6.15 in the bank to live on for 5 days. Plus he knew the automated program was a POS last week, why did he not update my file while I was there?

 That was my day, how was yours? 

 Gary Love the picture, what is the span of the bridge? I am guessing 54 inches.

 JR and Lee. I know I can fit in a turntable if I really want one. They are just plan cool looking even if I don't use it. And if I do get one, it will have to hold my Big Boy! Other wise, for get it.

 Ulrich Come on, some of the Turkeys in Germany have to be eatable! My wife only make two a year, and they are all not shipped to Germany!  My wife theory is "if it is not over done, it is not safe to eat"! You ever lift a Turkey of of the pan and have it fall a part? Ever year at the Cuda Ken Thanks Giving. I once told her she could been a cook at Auschwitz after I let her do a BBQ. She took it as a complaint? She had no clue, and the Dogs would not eat the pork steaks. They just looked at me wondering "What Happened"?   

 See you all dried up and over cooked falling apart Turkey Day!

             Ken

[jeffrey-wimberly]

bjdukert

Jeff and Der  I have done the one click and then tried the way Der does it and I get the same results.  The first [img] does not highlight with the rest.  That has been the whole problem and I never had a problem until they did their update.  So I guess the easiest way to take care of it is to use the Email code as it doesn’t cause any trouble.   I am trying to work it out with one of their techs but no luck so far.

Duke

The problem I initially had with it was that it would copy only the first one-third of the IMG line. Kind of hard to get it to show with two-thirds of the tag line missing.

[howmus]

Hey Duke......

A work around until you get it figured out is to just type in the missing [img] after you copy the location in your post...

Just a thought.

73

[bjdukert]

Jeff and Der  I have done the one click and then tried the way Der does it and I get the same results.  The first [img] does not highlight with the rest.  That has been the whole problem and I never had a problem until they did their update.  So I guess the easiest way to take care of it is to use the Email code as it doesn’t cause any trouble.   I am trying to work it out with one of their techs but no luck so far.

Duke

[howmus]

Afternoon folks!

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!  What?  Oh, Janie, I just want a sour cream glazed donut and a cup of decaf for the moment.

Oooooooooh....  I am now hurting officially.  My left hip and left ankle are talking back to me.  I have managed to get a lot of cleaning done so far.  my sister (the Reverend) should be arriving in about 3 hours, and all I really have left to do is mop the kitchen floor.  I guess I can take a short break.

My son and oldest granddaughter came over about noon time to borrow some folding chairs and my warming tray (to keep things hot for serving) for tomorrow.  Granddaughter wanted to run trains......   Her father told her, "Not today Honey, we have too much to do".   I did take her into the workshop and showed her what Grandpa has been building.  Her eyes got real big and she grinned.  She is starting to understand how much time and effort some modeling takes.  I hope to have the quarry finished enough to reinstall the section on the layout.  Then I can get back to running trains for a while.  I'm sure granddaughter will be one of the engineers......

Dark, gray, and chilly outside right at the moment.  The high for the day (39°F) has come and gone.  Woodstove is lit and the house is nice and warn though.  Currently 36°F here in the Finger Lakes with an overnight low around 27°F.  It's THAT time of year!

Catch you all later!

73

[ns3010]

Evening all.

Sorry I haven't been in lately. I was sick for two days, and I've been busy working on my English paper and the MRR.

Since I posted the link to my blog with photos a few days ago, I got a little more track laid. I also started a new project. I'm building a shoving plaform, or SPLAT. I'm using a Walthers Platinum Line bay window caboose for it. I'll only be using the frame and trucks, and adding handrails. That's about it: a caboose that has no walls or roof. Should be a fun little project.

Not sure if I'll make it in tomorrow. So just in case, Happy Thanksgiving!

[AmanaMedic]

LSWrr

I have a question for the Chicago & NorthWestern Rail fans out there…

 

Hello, yes???

 

LSWrr

There use to be a swing bridge 1.52 miles from Lake Michigan over the Kinnickinnic River in Milwaukee, WI.  Current owner is UP.  When was the bridge removed?  Was it removed by UP?

Sorry Pal, my general CNW knowledge runs from Morrison, IL to Council Bluffs, IA on the east-west main...with "advanced studies" on the East Iowa Sub. from Clinton to Beverly inclusive and including the Cedar Rapids Industrial Branch.

 

THAT EDITOR says "no meeting" on Friday...so I have extra time to finger-out how to write this week's stack of stuff for her. Hmmmmmmmmm. More time to do RR stuff instead! *smacks head on counter* Darned lack of personal discipline... Actually, I justify it by trying to w**k around writers block through the distraction of RR stuff. While cogitating on how to do some RR thing... the solution to a writing issue will suddenly slam into my brain.

Yup.

Best wishes, and even a few prayers...to us all. It sounds like we could just about all use some.

Chris

 

 

 

[Anonymous]

BRAKIE

.As I near 63(Feb 2011) and seen my nearsightedness fade over the last 7 months should I bail out of N and go with a small HO layout? Am I panicking? Overly concerned about nothing?

No, you are not! I am only 54, wearing glasses for 47 years now. I find handling of HO equipment to be a lot easier on my eyes and my shaky hands. Just the right size to actually see all this fantastic detail.  HO for me is the ideal scale, as I like operation more than running trains. And I like small HO scale (or HOn3) layouts

Good Evening Folks,

we just had supper - health food again - Frikadellen (this is the original German hamburger), fries and mixed veggies 

Zoe, I´ll need a digestif to help me digesting this kind of food, please.

Thanksgiving must be coming up, with all this "turkey talk" going on. Have not had any since 1974 ... The turkeys we have here are of the non-edible type

I must have caught something, lots of coughing and sneezing - yucch! Still sn*wing outside - this winter is going to be as bad as the last one.

Have a good one!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Hello ..

Lee ... It should be an easy drive without a GPS... Just follow I-71 from Cleveland to Louisville. Then I-65 to Elizabethtown. Then the KY parkways to Hopkinsville. Then US 68 to Lake Barkley. It's so simple even a hillbilly can do it. ... Watch out for the crouds. It'll be a full house. I'll have to get police to direct all the traffic.

I tried out the gas grill, and it was not working right. Looking underneath, I saw the tubes from tank to burners were punctured by some sharp teeth. .... Dang those raccoons!

While the DIner is in AZ, I'll post one Santa Fe train photo. I have several Santa Fe locos, but do not operate them much.

What's our next destination?  I like Texas because I was born there. How about going there?

Everybody .......... Have a nice Thanksgiving. Travel safely.

 

 

 

[BRAKIE]

Good Morning All!

Not much to report from the land of Buckeyes on another cold and damp morning other then NS sounds busy.No modeling yesterday and nothing planed for today other then some deep thinking..As I near 63(Feb 2011) and seen my nearsightedness fade over the last 7 months should I bail out of N and go with a small HO layout? Am I panicking? Overly concerned about nothing?

Ah well..

Thankfully I still have tons of HO-if needed beyond the club...

I shall have a cup and look over the forum.

Have a good'un! 

[LSWrr]

I have a question for the Chicago & NorthWestern Rail fans out there…

 

There use to be a swing bridge 1.52 miles from Lake Michigan over the Kinnickinnic River in Milwaukee, WI.  Current owner is UP.  When was the bridge removed?  Was it removed by UP?

[LSWrr]

Size doesn’t matter unless you’re talking about turntable diameter, go large….

[howmus]

Mornin'!

Zoe, just a bowl of hot oatmeal w/ brown sugar and a dark roast coffee in a FGLK mug for me this morning.

Well (deep subject), I am up and moving.... barely.  I am very surprised my back is not talking back to me at the moment.  Last night I figured I would have trouble just getting out of bed.  I am going to have some nice bug bruises on my right arm!  Already got started finishing the house cleaning.  Need to get back to it or it will not be suitable for company!  Maybe I should clean more often......                      Nah!

Later!

73

[GMTRacing]

Ken,

 In the continuing saga of your round table, if you move it back towards the corner you could have the lead skirt the storage tracks (or roundhouse) and have the storage and lead(s) on the same side of the turntable. That would also allow a ready or coaling/water spot between the area and the yard. The other option is to have the turntable access off the tracks to the rear instead of the yard but that's hard for operations without fouling the main.

   Back to the shop.   J.R.

[galaxy]

Morning guys,

Its chilly but a nice bright sunny AM here. 38* here now, but nice.

The MIL is in the hospital, kidneys not working so good, and infection of some type and she's in there because she also fell yesterday. She will probably stay in the hospital for a few days or so until the get her straightened around a bit, then go to a nursing home for some rehabilitation afterwards like last time she fell ayear and a half ago. So now she is in good hands so to speak, but special thoughts and prayers are still requested.

Todd: Well 20 mins per pound is for larger birds, 15 mins per pound for smaller birds, and is only a guideline, not carved in stone, that is why every bird company started putting those pop up thingys in the birds so people would know when the bird was done. I wait til bird is done under cover than broil the top to a nice golden brown.

Everybody ready for TG? I got the turkey, some chicken stovetop stuffing {the other half only likes it and doesn't like my homemade version form my mother's recipe} so I will add the diced giblets to it and the use the turkey drippings to make the stuffing with so it will have semi-homemade taste to it. I will also make gravy witht eh turkey drippings. And some veggies and whole berry cranberry sauce-we both like it that way. Simple dinner. Other half loves turkey for TG but doesn't like all the leftovers later. Maybe I invite my father over, maybe he won't come.

WEll, best get to it, I guess.

AHve a great day you all.

 

[cudaken]

 Mourning AZ

 Flo, just a Diet Dew.

 Well, I have not called the bank yet to see if I got my unemployment yet. To be honest I am afraid to at this point. Guess I will wait till 9:00 AM to make the call.

 Ulrich and Morgan Thanks for the tips and I will try them later today. Next Plan I try I will start with the different color lines. 

 Todd Next plan, I will be trying a little shorter Yard. Or maybe two smaller yards. While I like the looks of the big yard, it does dominant the layout. If I do get to build a new layout, I would like some lower staging.

 Here is what I have been playing with today.

 Can start to see some short comings, but I think the basic idea well be the new layout bench work. Starting to get real crowed in the middle upper right side.  One of the things I don't like is how one of the Branch Lines runs parallel to the inside Main Line Bridge on the right side.

  On the left side of the Bloop (am I spelling that right?) where the bridge is. I thinking about running that line straighter before it makes the left. Them make a small Bloop for the Mine or Grain Elevator.

 Well, 16 more minutes before I make the phone call.

                 Ken

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 69 and cloudy. The high should be 80 and it will be rather cloudy.

Got some more track soldering to do today but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I had old Mr Murphy slowing me down yesterday but hopefully I have the problems out of the way now. If nothing else comes up I should be able to finish it today. After that I need to get the track permanently anchored. It was rigid enough for soldering but it's not ready to have a heavy train on it yet. I have a gallon of drywall joint compound here that I need to use so that will be good to put under and around the track. If that's not enough to do the job I have another gallon of the stuff out in the van. The next project will be to get the structures (the ones that will be lighted) wired. That's gonna be a real joy. Working above and below isn't going to do my back any favors but it will go faster than wiring the track did. With this new setup I can all but one of the turnouts and it's already wired to the control panel. Below are just a few of the dozens of solder joints I made. Once they're painted to match the track they'll be virtually invisible.

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning all,

    Just a regular to go for me please. Hope everyone has a better day today.   CUL, J.R.

[TMarsh]

Good Morning! Coffee please and……….I don’t know what I want! I know…., no. Let me think about it. Just coffee for now I gue…WAIT I know, a couple Toad in the Holes. Thanks.

Today will be like every other day except different. And COLD!

Galaxy- I’m ramping up the prayers hoss. 20 minutes per pound? Gee. I only go about 3and a half. Perfectly done. Crispy outside and moist inside .

Ken- I agree with Ulrich. I do believe I like this last plan the best. Could you maybe shorten the yard just enough to fit in the larger turntable. I would say you must have the larger one if you have one at all. My opinion.

Duke- Oh. I just guessed. In this version it seems to take so long for the posting to commence, (like the "more" button) that I just figure. Nope the delete a post didn’t work without authorization on the last version either. I ran into that when I posted some long rant a long while ago and decided to delete it.

Robby- Can’t blame you. It sounds like your layout was just like the one I had prior to this halted one.

Money? what’s that? I can’t complain. My “retirement” covers my half of our bills plus enough to pay my hell phone bill and gas for the truck with a little put aside for the insurance on the thing every six months, PLUS a diner out every other week, sometimes once a week if it works out that way. The rest I get from the little part time job at the restaurant. Not much, but I haven’t had much time to spend anything. It takes awhile to save up some money, like for my camera, but I can. Mom’s needs pretty much keep me from getting another job. But she scrimped and saved and lived of not much raising me, I guess it’s the least I can do. How about a poor man's hug

OK. Seems the track maintenance has come to a halt for the holidays. They’ve turned the signals back on and the trains are running. A very nice mixed freight went by, missed the loco, and of course an Amtrak. Next week they should be using all the nifty equipment to remove and lay the track and I hope to get some pictures. Normally one would say “hope? Why can’t you?” If you knew me you’d know. If I didn’t have a neck, I’d forget my head. Jeff, close your eyes …..it’s UP.

SPEAKING of the UP, One fine feller is gonna loose his job I think. Made the news last night. A UP employee was driving his service truck and parked at a local Italian restaurant in Spfld, and backed into the restaurant brick wall. Partially caving it in and buckling the ceiling. (boy those track wheels are sturdy.) the owner said the driver appeared to be drunk, spoke slurred and said he didn’t do it. They found the truck at the hotel about a block away. The reported laughed a little when they showed the truck was dented as well as the taillight broken and “a brick from (business name) was still on the back bumper”. Yes, they showed that too. Driver apparently still denies he hit anything. Ain’t booze grand?

I’m gonna head out to Mom’s house and take her with me. She’s itching to see the place, but that won’t happen til noon. The In home Therapist and Senior Services lady will be here about 11 to 11:30 to set her up a schedule. Late start, but Brenda gets off at 2 so she will come out and pick up Mom and bring her back here. I will continue my sla… work, and then prior to me leaving, I will receive the mandatory last minute, after her “I got everything for Thanksgiving” trip to the store, shopping list for my Thanksgiving eve trip to the grocery store. (Tradition) Usually this list contains common items like, rolls. Sweet potatoes (yams), vegetables, pie fixing’s. Pretty much everything except the Turkey and ham that I buy on an even earlier trip to spread out the cost, but mainly to ensure she gets the birdcicle and pig chunk she wants.. Which actually this year was given to us by the MIL.. What is purchased earlier you ask? I haven’t figured that out after all these years myself.

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

[LSWrr]

Good Morning,

Be careful out there guys, tonight is statistically the worse night for drunk driver fatalities for the entire year…

 

Hi today of 43F, low of 38F tonight, right now its 37F. Rain tomorrow, snow Friday and Saturday.

 

This afternoon I will be installing a 1:1 scale toilet at a friend’s house then Friday working over at my Aunt’s old house.  I hope to make some progress in the train room this weekend.

 

Jeff, nice weather and patch job on those UP units.

 

Galaxy, I’m sorry to hear about your MIL.

 

Ulrich, sorry to hear things aren’t working out for you.  Keep your chin up I’m sure better days are in store for you and hopefully soon!

 

Ray, I had that happen last year; the arm rest that supports the back of my office chair broke while my neighbor was sitting next to me at the computer, we were programming his locomotives when we heard a big snap.  I rolled over to the right, did a reverse summersault and landing in a sitting position with the dog on the floor.  You and I are lucky the sharp broken spears of the chair arm didn’t turn us into modelers on a stick.

 

Barry try to add a reverse transition curve before the curve in the corner.  Like when you pull into a narrow driveway with a trailer….  Real railroads do it on grades so the flanges help slow the train.

 

Garry, I’m adding your house to my Garmin as we speak; put another setting at the table J

[Wisconsin Railfan]

Good Morning Folks!

Just passing through today.

Hope everyone has a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving, don' eat to much!

Steven

[Robby P.]

 Good COLD morning.

 Well...............NO more layout!!!   Its gone.  The one I had was ok, but it had a lot of things wrong.    Wiring, the curves, the table  pieced in places, etc..........   I was a matter of time when it was coming down, and lately it was getting closer to that time. 

 I have a few track plans in mind, and will take my time planning it out.  This morning I will get everything together, and start from scratch.

 Todd.........I agree with what you said yesterday, but  this layout had to many flaws.   I have a 12x15 space and it wasn't used good at all.   Do I regret taking it down without a plan, not really.  I'm excited about the new one in the works!!

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

 

[Anonymous]

Good Morning,

woke up this morning, only to find out that everything is covered with a nice layer of sn*w

Zoe, a Sunbird Special breakfast, please, with toast, butter, bacon, fried egg - sunny side up - Ed´s OJ, and lots of coffee, thank you!

Ken, Morgan - I played around with RTS and I have found out, how to assign a height to the track. The most important step is to detach the part of the track, which is supposed to have a different height, from the rest of the track. If you then assign a height (using the icon with the arrows going up and down) to the beginning of the grade and to the end of the grade, you will see the "incline". Don´t forget to click on the box "calculate grade".

The trick is to detach the track, otherwise the height will be assigned to all of your track.

TTFN

[Flashwave]

Sir Madog

cudaken:

 

 Ulrich, You and Petra move in with Sue and I and that would net us $3285 a month. Plus you have a good sizes train layout to boot!  But, you would have to go HO scale. We split the utility's and house payment and Petra could guard Sue against a possible mouse attack!  If only life could be that simple.

 Two question for Ulrich.

1 How do I make each line a different color.

2 Grade and elevation. I still have not got the handle on using it. I can get all the line at one height. But I have yet been able to change the grade and get changes in grade. Lets see if I can make that anymore clear.

 

Ken - seems to be a good idea, teaming up, but two women in one household? I doubt that this would work

2 answers for you.

1 Click on the track you´d like to have a different color. Remember it needs to be detached from the track you´d like to have unchanged. Eight click and select properties - lines - color. Select your color. Now go to the tab Filter and click on the box Line color and the box properties acc. to Filter. Click OK and the track should have the color you want.

2 RTS does have a feature to allocate different heights to track, but I never found out how to use that function. I guess you have to allocate a height to each track segment. - too clumsy for me.

It´s back to bed now!

1.5 answers to go with Ulrich's

1)  If you are doing the entire mainline, make sure it is unhooked from the other mainlines. Then when you go into (I do it View>Properties>Line color) there should be a check box towards the bottom left that will allow you t o recolor all of them at once instea dof telling it "Yes, I do want yo uto dye each and every trackline X color 1 by 1"

.5) I too haven't figured out the height grades. So I say screw it, and just run with a 2D view. If you need to, open up the text box tool and mark your grades as you need to,  

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Hello ...

It's busy here getting ready for T-Day visitors. .. Family members are coming from MI, OH, and TN. The MI family members have passed Louisville and will arrive here in a couple of hours or so. We'll have two turkeys and tons of food on Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, Shelley just baked some chocolate chip cookies. They are still warm, and they are great.......... Help yourselves, you chow hounds!

Der John ... Thanks for the remarks yesterday. Glad you liked the photos.

Good to see so many of you here! ... Keep on posting!

Happy Model Railroading!

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

der5997

...I'm quite liking the new Photobucket for posting pics, and to expand on Jeff's explanation... The "Copy" feature actually works now!  Here's what I do.

 

On the pic I want, mouse over the "Direct" url and click it - a grayish "Copied" appears and disappears. The photo is now on the clipboard.  Back in the Forum "Reply" field, Go to the strip-of-film icon (next but one to the smilies icon) Click it. A new field pops up. Paste into the URL field and click "Insert" - the photo goes directly into my reply. Easy Peasy.

That's a little more involved than what I do. Click on the IMG tag line, come over to my post, right click, paste and it's in my reply. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

[der5997]

Good evening Diners:

 

Duke:

Having trouble with Photobucket's newer version with posting pics,

...I'm quite liking the new Photobucket for posting pics, and to expand on Jeff's explanation... The "Copy" feature actually works now!  Here's what I do.

On the pic I want, mouse over the "Direct" url and click it - a grayish "Copied" appears and disappears. The photo is now on the clipboard.  Back in the Forum "Reply" field, Go to the strip-of-film icon (next but one to the smilies icon) Click it. A new field pops up. Paste into the URL field and click "Insert" - the photo goes directly into my reply. Easy Peasy.

 

Flip:

May everyone enjoy Thanksgiving and family.  

...Got a head start on that this afternoon - a second Thanksgiving dinner for us.  Our New Hampshire summer neighbours are up since Monday, and had their Thanksgiving Dinner today - we were invited, as were our other NH neighbours who live the next lot but one south of us. Very merry time and we left at about 8:00pm "well fed up and agreeably drunk" -  to borrow Gerard Hoffungn's phrase. (http://www.proz.com/forum/prozcom%3A_translator_coop/2316-%3A_from_gerard_hoffnung%3A_french_widow_affords_delightful_prospects_translation_humor.html )for anyone(Ray?) who may want to follow that up.

 

Nothing much on the mrr today - except when I looked at the trucks for one of the box cars I weathered and now wouldn't mind having on the layout - they are arch bar - not too good for a modern setting!  So now I have to find a set of trucks I can spare with micro-trains couplers and modern suspension., and get some mud thrown at them.  More delays....Photos when I'm done.  Once more bed time - Good night all, and God Bless. Prayers for all in need of Healing, Comfort, Prosperity and Peace. Here's another for you Ulrich h

 

[blownout cylinder]

Good Eveninig people!!

Had a nice quiet day---for a change--

I am rethinking the layout---again Seems that I have an issue with a certain recalcitrant corner in my basement that seems to want to leave me with not much space to maneuvre a 22" bend--but will let me do a 18"---and my trains don't seem to like that corner at all-----grrrr So I'll be doing some XTRACad stuff to see what can be jurymangled together

Chloe, I'll have a coffee and a piece of Apple Pie please---I'll be at the RC for a bit

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Flo just a cup of decaf and a couple Advil for me tonight.

Oh man!  I was w**king at the laptop that i keep set up (most of the time)  around the back of the office area in what is supposed to be my dining room.  A couple weeks ago at the Batavia Show I was approached by a young acquaintance who is starting a career for a publisher of hobby magazines (I will wait to identify which one until I see if this actually happens...).  He saw the slide show I had done for the NMRA Modelers Corner for shows.  He handed me his business card and said send me an email, we need to talk.  So after a few emails, I am sending him the materials I used in the slide show.  But first I need to check out what ones I actually used.

So....  I was sitting on an old keyboard seat there.  I leaned forward and the whole chair snapped off the steel braces holding it.  I landed on the floor a bit hard, but was very lucky not to puncture anything THAT could have been fatal (could have happened....).  I did wrench my back pretty good and will have a badly bruised elbow for Thanksgiving I bet. Chair has been properly disposed of in the dumpster!

I should have been cleaning house instead!

Anyway I just sent off a bunch of my layout photos to the guy.  I also got permission from each of the other modelers to send their photos as well.  I will tell you more as this unfolds........

[edit] And on top of all THAT, I get to buy everyone midnight snacks!  Order up people!

BTW, Duke what browser are you using.  What you are describing sounds like an incompatibility of your browser and the site....

Have a great, and painless evening!

Later!

73