Elliot´s Trackside Diner DECEMBER 2010

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Careful, Todd. Inch's coffee is like bunker C oil.

Chris I like the action shot of the Geep.

Flip ... Glad to see you. Blessings.

Robby ... Football? Do you wether cars in front of the TV.

On the layout, I'm working an an area that will be a scrap yard. Now, I am working on a replica of an ugly old iron fence as part of the project.

Also, I just replaced wheelsets with gears on my GN Alco FA1's by Proto 2000. Chalk up more broken Proto gears. These engines have been off the layout in recent months pending this repair.

[TMarsh]

Good afternoon. Coffee like Inch gets it, heavy on the Inch, and a nerve pill please. Make it two, thanks. 

Just got back from a quick trip to the Walmart. Needed and few things for the cupboards ya know. I want you to know I did NOT retaliate against those countless nice holiday shoppers who tried to kill me because I was in their way. Neither did I do anything other than appologize to the lady who rounded the corner and rammed my parked cart at the canned fruit section and then gave me the dirty "watch where you are going you thoughtless hoodlum" look as she drove another happy shopper into the canned goods. Nor did I give any dirty looks to the two ladies in front of me at the checkout who kept asking for a total after each and every item was scanned AND decided to take back the two boxes of oatmeal with fruit and exchange it for two without. She can add her own fruit. Thrifty. WAIT! She decided she needed another box......after, of course, she returned to the register with her first two exchanges. "I'm sorry sir it's taking so long" she said to me. "No you're not, but thanks for saying it anyway" I muttered   "What?"    "I said, "that's ok, it's Christmas" "  " next time, I kiiill you "  

Aaaany way, that was a two and a half hour fight for my life, BUT We will eat on and up to Christmas day and have something to wipe our........sit-upon's with.

I've got to make a quick trip out to Mom's house to apply one piece of trim and attach a water line to a toilet, then I will return and hopefully shift a few things around in the, waaaait for it, waaaait for iiiit.....trainroom. (crosses fingers)

Welp, better hit it. Again.

 

[howmus]

Afternoon everyone!

Flo just a large Dr. Pepper to tide me over to the Annual Christmas Open House at the Pastor's Home this evening...

Had a fairly easy day as Head Usher due to the fact it was The Pageant Sunday put on by the Sunday School....  Talk about herding cats!  I did manage to get a semi accurate head count as I got to work on it before the kiddies did the pageant.  I put the count down as 255 people attending + or - 25 or so.....  THAT should give the secretary a chance to roll her eyes tomorrow.........  Amazing how much more fun these pageants are when you have a Granddaughter in it.  She was one of a large flock of Lambs who showed up to make faces at the Baby Jesus and sing a little song.

I have been spending a little time here just picking up a few things and clearing off a place to wrap the Gifts for next weekend!  Did find out from #1 son that the Christmas Schedule will remain the same as it has been for the last many years.  His wife's family will be coming over after the the Children's Service at our church and before the Christmas Mass for most of her family on Christmas eve.  I will go over for breakfast and gift exchange on Christmas Morning, and then we all head out to my sisters for Happy Holidays...........  THAT should keep peace in the Family for another year!

Ulrich, I really liked the plan you posted!  Very, very nice, sir.  Not a bad track plan either!

Currently 27°F here in the Finger Lakes and is at the high for the day.  Rather gray skies, but lots of warm hearts!

73

[AmanaMedic]

Goooooooooooooooooooooooood Afternoon, plate of cheeseburgers with a bucket of Coke please, and thank-you.

ULRICH: I'm liking THAT trackplan! Umscheid Brothers 'eh?? Well, THAT must be Leroy and Eldon (Dad and Uncle repsectively), or Anton (Tony), Delbert (Del), Eugene (Gene), and Ignatius (Nates); Grandpa and three Great Uncles respectively. I'm an "only," guess the parental units decided to quit while they were behind! A hat-tip to you though, for the "honor!"

On my own trackplan dilemma, I'm thinking of going back to an earlier idea, THAT of an "invented" part of Cedar Rapids (City of Five Seasons)...adding some tracks/yardage THAT doesn't exist in reality yet keeps the "flavor" of Cedar Crapids (City of Five Smells). I'm having fits trying to adapt two of my all-time favorite trackplans from MR to fit in my space. There's one from...one of the annual publications...THAT seems to "fit" better, and would still keep me busy running switch jobs. I "might" have another look at it later today.

Oh joy.

Oh rapture.

JOE: So what exactly does this "theology paper" involve??? I'm a product of 11 years of Catholic schools and never had to take theology. I did get either a C- or D+ in "development of a Christian personality" though. What can I say? The nun teaching the class and I had fundamental differences politically!!!

DER JOHN: On those chicken feed bins: and THAT N-sane scale signal: "WOW!" just doesn't begin to cover it.

I'll have a seat at the RC, cogitate a bit, maybe even converse a bit...

Chris

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

Sir Maddog,   Ulrich, check your conversations.

Johnboy out................................

[ns3010]

Morning all. Just stopping in for a cup of coffee.

No time to stay. Gotta finish up THAT paper.

I'll be back later.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 35 and sunny. The high will be 58 and we're looking at a full day of sunshine.

Been busy this morning. At about 5 am I started in on the repair of my HP F4100 series scanner/printer/copier all-in-one. The printer part worked just fine, however I have a HP 3930 Deskjet to do my printing with. It's easier to use and more accessible. No, the problem with the 4100 is that the copier/scanner functions wouldn't work. The light came on just fine but the scanning device inside wouldn't move. I suspected this was due to a bad board or a bad motor. The problem turned out to be the motor. Fortunately a friend of mine had a similar HP all-in-one that got fried by a lightning strike (he's a firm believer in surge protectors now) that he gave me to use for any parts I could get from it. Only real difference I could see in them is that his cost about $50 more than mine did and had a fax built in. Mine was on clearance and I snagged it for $40 at Wal-Mart. Anyhow, I tore the donor unit apart and liberated the scanner motor. It's the same type that was in my unit. After an hour and a half the transplant was done and I put the 4100 back together. I hooked it up and installed the software then did a test scan. SUCCESS!! It works! It's a little noisy but who cares. In other news, my sale of HO items is going well. I've moved close to half the items on the list. Today I'll likely be doing more work on the layout. There's still some snowy white areas that have to be painted a more agreeable color like some shade of green or brown. That will make for using less ground foam later.

[howmus]

Mornin' all!

Zoe just another cup of dark raost, to go this time.

I'm on my way to Church to count sheep.......  I'll explain later.

hope all of you have a wonderful day!

73

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning...

It is a cccold gray day here... with little tiny snowfluffies abounding...

It's going to be a quiet day today...another in a series of them...might get a bit of the laundry done, that'll be about it...

Flo, I'll have a cup of coffee as well as a breakfast bagel please...I'll be at the RC for a bit...

[Robby P.]

 Good cold morning.

 I was going to get some roof shots of some hoppers this morning, but I think its just to cold!!!   We  might even get a white christmas this year (again). 

 Not much planned today.  Watch the Steelers later, and see what else I can do. 

 Hope everybody has a good morning.

[fec153]

Yes, I know its sunday but with the holidays on the weekend, Dialysis schedules have been changed. So Hi,Ho ,Hi Ho, its off to work I go..

T G I F     Today GOD Is First.

Prayers and Blessings to all     Have a Merry CHRISTMAS.

Flip

 

[fec153]

Oh! Another Fred Astaire . Or Gene Kelly?

Flip

 

[Anonymous]

Lunchtime in snowy Germany!

Zoe, hot dogs & fries and a coffee, please.

Last night, I did not catch an hour of sleep

Thank goodness, one of our fellow patrons volunteered to be a victim of my track planning mania, so fired up my old computer and started to draw yet another track plan.

It is supposed to be a slightly larger ISL, but with a feature to allow for continuous operation. Have fun trying to read the names of the industries the line serves!

CUL - I am going for nap now!

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

 

[teen steam fan]

hey guys, late night visit for me. 

Well, took finals and am on CHRISTMAS break, I don't care what anyone says, to me, its Merry Christmas. 

just got home from a wedding, and learnt two very important things, one is to never trust my mom when she says somethings 'fun'. Very relative term. And secondly, I dance like a white man. Tried telling her I don't dance. Does she listen to me? Nooo. 

[der5997]

Barry:  Hope the healing is going well, so you can get your arm down again! (well more reasons than just that of course, but it must be some inconvenient !)  Thanks for the Steeleye Span link. We now have our Christmas present to ourselves selected! (And WAY cheaper than a new TV anyway.)

 

Vincent: 

John, how are you getting your fiber optics to be bright. I tried some (for lighting beacons) and wasn't impressed with how dim it was.

  From the get-go Ii planned on just attaching the fibres to the top of the LED case. The more I read about fibre optic effects (mainly from the blurbs from suppliers sample packs) the more I realized that a polished end is key to good light transmission. My solution, drill a hole down into the LED case (stopping short of the actual metal parts of course! !) and putting the fibre bundle into the hole (This also makes securing it much easier than the on-top approach.) So, what about the polish thing? Trying to polish the ends of each of the tiny fibres in the bundle, and then aligning them all perfectly to fit the v-shaped depression at the bottom of the drilled hole, and polishing the bottom of that hole as well, is beyond my technical skill or interest!    I hit on the idea of putting a drop of clipper oil in the hole first - this makes a transparent medium all around the uneven ends of the fibres, and acts as a "polish" transmitting the light as efficiently as anything else I can think of.  Caution, securing the bundle to the LED with any adhesive at this point requires the excess oil be thoroughly wiped off before the glue is applied. I used LiquiSilk, and let it dry overnight.  The result is   The joint is a bit flaky because of residual oil, but careful handling has so far not broken the bond. I think the trick there may be to use enough glue that it covers the whole of the outside of the LED case, getting a secure hold on parts that are not oily.  Good luck with this for your application.

On the T Scale, very interesting, especially as they have Flex track for it. However, considering the price ratio of Z to N, I hate to think what T would set a body back - it wasn't even hinted at in the article!

 

Bama: for that family who lost their daughters in the crash – that’s terrible at any time, but especially bitter right now.

until I can find a suitable body to slap on it. 

  I’m not advertizing for him, but it strikes me that eBay Seller sooo-much-stuff ( 11716) caries a pretty full quiver.

 

Morgan: Thanks for the news and the obit.

Wonderful man, very knowledgeable, and a lot of fun. He did a lot for the Naptown & White River and in getting many's feet wet in the hobby. 

May no less be said of us concerning even more important life issues than a hobby, at “the end of the day”.

 

Robby: I see you and Jessica celebrated my birthday by getting married. How cool is THAT?   I hope you two have a wonderful time!

 

Todd:

Actually I have not had any problems with any of the couplers out there. I take that back, the two piece overlapped kind Accumate?

  Try N Scale Kato – or rather, don’t bother. Also, I find the Micro-Trains conversions for Rapido to knuckle type are super-sensitive to alignment in the coupler pocket, particularly the centre line. They are that two piece type as well, and being somewhat smaller can present handling “challenges”, as the euphemism goes.   In other words, I agree with Lee, and think that Kato’s offering wasn’t designed, period!

 

Joe:

and I'm doing it in Courier New, which fills up space faster, but is still MLA format.

….but should you want at some point to save ink, and therefore $s, before you print, change the font to Century Gothic.  It’s a sort of thinned down Arial, and will save you money.

 

Chris and Johnboy: On the B-in-the-kitchen thing, I was sent a text only version the other day….Kris sent it to me!!! Some wives may take themselves too seriously??? 

THAT project has involved shaving off rivets,

…funny thing that, I’ve been putting them in! Now that I’ve a fair idea of what to do with the signals, I thought it was time I got back in the saddle on those silos. So the second, taller one is under construction. 

Parts are cut for the struts, ladder, cap etc.  All has to be thrown together in some idle moments, which given next week’s schedule just discussed with SWMBO, may be hard to come by! Speaking of whom, the “official photos” of the mosaics now installed in our new “Streetscaping” sidewalks were released today.  Here she is with her mermaid. The view is from the sidewalk towards the road. These larger pieces are at each of the 6 benches along the route.

Time for bed, yet again!  Goodnight all, and God Bless. Prayers for all in need of Healing, Comfort (thinking of you Garry -  time heals, but can’t replace), Prosperity and Peace.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Wow, PC! ... Two warbonnets in the hoosier State in 2010. Remarkable.

[pcarrell]

Saw something a bit unusual for around here today.............

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Hello ...

Christmas shopping? We do just about all of that on the internet now. Don't miss the shopping malls at all. My BIL manages a shopping mall and he can have that job.

Today, my oldest daughter had her 40 th b'day. A milestone for her. My other kids are in their 30's. My sisters are in theri 60's. My Mom is in her 90's. Am I getting older? ... Nah.... Can't be.

Today, to is the anniversary of my Dad's death. I'll always miss him.

I worked on the layou some today. I made an ugly industrial crane.

I think I'll have egg nog. It's that time of year.

 

[galaxy]

last mountain & eastern hogger

You all have a great Saturday evening.  I know you fellas will have all your shopping done by now.

Railroaders are always on time , Right ??  Right !!.

My Other Half and I had all our Xmas shopping DONE BEFORE Thanksgiving Day! Much of it online. SOme of it trains!!!

 

[JimRCGMO]

Evening, Flo, I'll have a roast beef sandwich with onions, lettuce, tomato slice, a touch of horseradish (and only a touch, please!) and a RBF, please. Thanks, darlin'!

I see you all were discussing those Accumate couplers. First time I saw them (in an Accurail kit), I decided they looked too complicated, and just put the Kadee #5's that I had in - much simpler process, I would think. But then again, back the last go-round when I got into MRR'ing (late 70's) there weren't a whole lot of alternative to the horn-hook kind. I'm still trying to get the hang of using one of those hand uncouplers (the kind with the 's' shape metal rod stuck in a wood dowel handle, y'know)...

Brakie, I hear you about a dose of the 'not having space enough for all those structure kits I have accumulated' blues ("I got the not-enough-space-to-fit-in-all-my-structures' blues, oh-wo-wooo....I'm gonna need a bigger house, and I ain't got the money for those dues...") Ouch! Vinnie, ya didn't have to use the fryin' pan, just ask and I woulda stopped singing (or whatever I was doing...)

Todd - so have you whittled things down to your 'Really, REALLY wants' yet? (Me neither!) Chuckled a bit at the video - I take it that Brenda is the main baker in your kitchen?

I have to hand it to our reckless brave husbands who are (intentionally, no less) asking their ladies' opinion of THAT video...Hope you survive their reviews!

Thanks, Jeff - got your PM's! (I have mine set up to send me an email whenever I get one, especially useful when I'm not in any more often than I have been lately). Should have that on the way Monday evening.

NS Joe, I see you've learned some of the finer 'points' of paper-writing... Hope your muse keeps you going so you get the paper done and still have some MRR'ing time over the weekend!

And best wishes for our students on NOT having tons of stuff to do over the Christmas break, either!

Ray, you and I think alike on some things - aren't those wastebasket shredders wonderful things? I get the junk letters from some local check-cashing/title-loan companies, offering me all that 'easy money' to buy extra presents (for the commercialized season that seems to overlap Christmastide).

SHOPPING, Johnboy? Ohmigosh!! I KNEW I'd forgotten something (now, where did I put that list, anyway?) (Franticly digging through a pile of assorted papers...)

AmanaMedic

Nothing major....just a complete359 degree turn-around. I left out one degree, since this whole track planning experience has confirmed to me I'm at least one degree, or "a half-a-bubble" off...

Uh, no comment, Chris... I still have to get my paint-stripping done on a certain water tower. But at least I have the right size dish to fit it into, right? I guess my old military training still w**ks, as I figured out your Jack Daniels/whatever thingee.

Well, I should be looking for my gift-shopping list, though I'll have to wait for Monday to actually shop; my boss might frown on my telling some place I'd be a bit late coming to assess somebody ("Gee, I should be done with my shopping in about an hour, and another half-hour or 45 minutes to wrap the present..."). But real soon now, I'll have my shopping done, honest I will.

Prayers for less nasty weather in your neck o'the-woods, and for no additional complications the remaining days of this season (and beyond).

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau (where it's a balmy 30 F/-1 C  - but it's a damp cool...)

[AmanaMedic]

ns3010

Chris, thanks for the coffee (even though I paid for it)
And good luck with the writing on your end!

Oh, my pleasure! What can I tell ya Kid? 'Ol Lucky takes care of his peeps...

THAT Editor will be a happy little camper come Monday. In addition to the content I turned in yesterday, coupled with today's efforts...she'll have plenty to play newspaper with.

VINCENT: N-sane scale is tiny enough to give me convulsions and convolutions...Z would be the death of me. To think THAT there actually IS something smaller than Z scale??? YIKES! Whaddathey use to make couplings/uncouplings? Electron microscopes???? What I need is to just scrap 24 years of mental cogitational design/dreaming...introduce myself to reality...and come up with a whole new scheme.

Nothing major....just a complete359 degree turn-around. I left out one degree, since this whole track planning experience has confirmed to me I'm at least one degree, or "a half-a-bubble" off...

 

With w**k obligations taken care of, I've been attempting to lessfoobicate an in-ACCURAteIL grain hopper. They painted it up real nice for Farmers Elevator in Grace City, ND. I bought it in 1997 on an impulse. Now, I've found pics of the real FELX 100, and discovered the ends are different, the side sills taper, and it's a four-bay vs. in-ACCURateAIL's three-bay. Sooooooo, I chopped some on the side ladders, sliced-out part of the side-sill to get a tapered look and will just live with the other foobifications. W**k also still continues on the MDC-Roundhouse rib-side ballast hopper. THAT project has involved shaving off rivets, cutting out and replacing the slope sheets, installing new ladders, and fabricating other pieces parts. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd, I'm back to battling the paint removal on an Athearn blue-box foobie. They painted it pink for an elevator in Iowa. OK, THAT's cool. But, they used a PS 4750 cu ft. paint scheme on their 4740 body. Soooooooooooooooooo, into the tried and true brake fluid it went. But, even after a week, it barely touched the paint. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?! Got some 91% ETOH, and whaddaya know? It's starting to lift the paint. Odd. Brake fluid has served me well for two decades now. THAT hopper will be hacked and modified to represent a Portec hopper obtained by XTRA leasing. I found a set of Islington Station brand decals to use for this project.

Right then. Enough rambling-on by me, I shall yield the floor. What I oughta do is get my butt in gear and finally shoot the official 2010 Christmas card photo.

Chris

[ns3010]

Evening all. Getting hungry. I'll take some shrimp scampi, please.

Made more progress on the paper. I have 3 and a half done now. I figure that if I can get to four tonight, that'll make tomorrow much easier.

Chris, thanks for the coffee (even though I paid for it)
And good luck with the writing on your end!

Johnboy- Shopping done, pfft, right. Haven't even started... Heck, I don't even know what I'm getting for people...

Oh, food's here. I'll be at the RC if anyone wants to talk.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

last mountain & eastern hogger

I know you fellas will have all your shopping done by now.

Railroaders are always on time , Right ??  Right !!.

I got the last of mine done last Sunday.

[TMarsh]

last mountain & eastern hogger

   I know you fellas will have all your shopping done by now. Railroaders are always on time , Right ??  Right !!.

 

Shopping? For what? 

Oh. Hm. Wonder what she wants. Probably not styrene sheets again. Didn't go over well last year.

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

You are right Chris, I too found it wrong, wrong, wrong, however I found myself really having a hearty laugh and wondering how long he would be sent to his room for this time.

Sounds like he could end up with his career being a Conductor. As I have heard some of them being pretty cranky about schedules and time.

You all have a great Saturday evening.  I know you fellas will have all your shopping done by now.

Railroaders are always on time , Right ??  Right !!.

Gotta run as I need a quick shower from shoveling snow and have an Auxiliary meeting at the Church at 3:00.

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

[Packer]

Hey guys

Well I was never able to get the bolt out of the block.The bolt broke again when I tried kroil (PB Blaster on steroids) and the vicgrips. I drilled a pilot hole into the stuck bolt so I can drill and tap it. I'm putting anti-seize on the bolts when I put it back together.

Chris, look up T-scale. it's a bit smaller than Z even. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_scale

I'll stop in later. and talk some more.

[AmanaMedic]

More coffee please.......put it on JOE's tab, oh...and ya might brew him up a pot since he's also playing the prolific writer today...

JOHNBOY: I think I found THAT video. If it's "bee-itch in the kitchen," then I found it. It's funny, it's so wrong in so many ways...but I had a hearty laugh out of it. We'll see what The Wife thinks of it if/when she ever drags her butt out of bed.

BRAKIE: I don't know, HO and the "ISL" hasn't been a cup of schnapps yet for me! Like everybody else and their cousin, I just want too much in too little space. I've joked THAT if I maybe went to Z scale, or better yet, ZZ scale or ZZZ scale...I "might" be able to fit everything in.The sad thing is, I've been dreaming of this layout since long before Koester ever said anything about his...whatever he calls it where you build modules from real track charts...and long before I'd ever heard of an "ISL." I was ahead of the curve long before I was behind the eight-ball...

"A man's got to know his limitations."

Well, I keep re-discovering mine everytime I put pencil to paper and start drawing track.

Back at it, basketball and Pep Band pics from last night are edited/processed/ready for print. Now I just have to slog through the captions and game summary.

Chris

[Packers#1]

hey folks, jsut stopping in.

WOOOOOOO FINALLY on break! the exams finally got to me, but two weeks of de-tox now :D ahhhhh it feels good to be on break...

[ns3010]

Morning all.

The paper is going well; I have over two pages done, so less than 3 to go.

Last night I was able to post a trip report from last Sunday's Toys For Tots train. There's photos, but after about 30 tries, Youtube still won't let me upload. For those interested, here's the link to it in the Teen Railfan Place (last post):
http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/182294.aspx

Have a good morning!

EDIT: Looks like I've got the bill for today