Ho, Ho, Ho!!! Merry Christmas!!!
Who was THAT man in Red.........???
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Hi agian
Jeffrey W. check your PMs!
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Just thought I stop in to wish every one a Merry Christmas!
It's been a rough year for us, but things are finally settling down and I expect to be on the forum a little more frequently.
-George
"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."
Snow is coming down pretty good now. Small flakes. Pretty.
Todd
Central Illinoyz
In order to keep my position as Master and Supreme Ruler of the House, I don't argue with my wife.
I'm a small town boy. A product of two people from even smaller towns. I don’t talk on topic….. I just talk.
Merry Christmas Everyone. It's raining here and that's a great Christmas present. We haven't had rain all December. There is a state wide burn ban andthe weather folks are saying that this coming year is going to be very dry. I shure hope they are wrong.
Oooops, I've got to go and turn off the water to the corral.
Have a good one.
The stockings are hung on the.... mantle with ca..... sort of a haphazard fashion. The presents are wrapped and I'm preparing to go to w**k. Brenda is reluctant to go to her evil twin sisters and leave Mom here for a couple hours, but Mom insists she do. She doesn't want us to miss anything because of her. Hopefully she and the dog will be fine. They should, but you never know.
Spent most of the day looking for Straight Caths for Mom. Surprise!!! As common as the requirement is, sorta, there are two, TWO places in Springfield that carry them. The Capital city of this great state (gag) of Illinoise. Both places.......are closed. One being (drum roll please)........the HOSPITAL!!!! CLOSED! Well, the public pharmacy that is. Sounds worse the way I put it. I like it that way better.
The snow AAAGH!! sorry, sn*w, is here. Not as much on the ground as they predicted by now, but it ain't over yet. Hope they are wrong. It looks pretty, but I can do without it. Of course it is Christmas Eve and I've always said s**w for Chistmas then melt away and be gone. Maybe this year will be that way. Think?
May all of you who celebrate on Christmas Eve with your family and or friends, enjoy yourselves and be safe.
OOPS! Ray is right! MERRY CHRISTMAS Ulrich!!!!
All most Afternoon guys.
WOrn out form yesterday, not so much form helping but then we went and made a delivery of My SPenddown to DSS for JAn, and went back to friend house to exchange gifts and have dinner and a well appointed boozed up Black FOrest Cake. LONG day without our naps so we are tired.
I am also coming donw with something. I went to see the DR the other day about a sore throat. Thought it might be strep,as MOH was exposed to co worker who had it and kept working "DUh, I didn'nt know strep throat was a "legal" sick excuse form work DUH!"
SO just in case the Dr gave me antibiotics. MOH is picking up the script on the way home from a short stint at work today,
WEll, there are lots of fragile presents under the tree, I wonder what could be in them, let me see, trains perhaps???!!! Actualy they are where the tree woudl be I never got around to setting up the tree yet. Maybe later today.I gotta find the DC Nscale power apcks first to runt he new GG1Nscale I got MOH for xmas! Darn! just looked where I was hoping they would be and no luck! I think I know another spot.
Oh, well.
If I dont talk at you later tonight, this Christmas evening,
HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS TOMORROW!
Mornin' everyone!
Zoe, I'll have a breakfast Bagel w/ cheese and a cup of dark roast coffee in a FGLK mug. Thank you Ma'am!
Ulrich, Merry Christmas!!! The rest of you will just have to wait until sundown where you live.......
Got way too much STUFF to do today before I have to be at church to usher for the Lessons and Carols Service tonight. Have to make up a big pot of winter squash (fresh from the garden) for Christmas Dinner Tomorrow at my Sister's house. Make sure everything is ready to be packed in the sleigh.... er.... Car. Feed the Reindeer Cats, bring in the Yule Log for the fire, finish the laundry (so I have a good clean red suit to wear), and run to the grocery store for a couple of items......
Catch you all later!
73
Good Morning All,
It's Christmas Eve day so not too early to wish all a Merry Christmas ! As for me I'll have a regular to go with the lumps of coal that are surely on their way to my stocking.
Beavering away in the shop today until later when I'll knock off wrap the rest of the presents for the family and head out home. A couple of the guys are in as well as the CFO finishing up projects or paperw..k. I chose today to assemble the troublesome upright from the Theodore that has just returned from plasma build up and machining. It passed crack test and concentricity testing so we should be good to go
Ken - I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I am for you. The timing is particlarly bad but along with the others I think you'll have some options and soon. Things are picking up in this section of the world and hopefully the increase in hiring will include your area.
Catch y'all later - I do need to take advantage of this reletively quiet period in the shop. CUL, J.R.
Good morning. It's 44° and sunny. The high is due to be 63° and it will be becoming mostly cloudy.Hello from the bayou state on this sunny (for now) Christmas eve. I have layout work on the schedule for today for as long as I can stand it. When the ankle says no more then that's it. I'll have to get off my feet for probably the rest of the day so I'll have to make the most of what usable standing time I have. There's nothing hard on the schedule, just mixing and spreading plaster. That of course includes numerous trips from the kitchen to the area I'm work on, say ten feet each way. If it gets another step in the layout construction completed then it will be well worth the pain I'll have to endure. Time to stop talking about it and get to it. That plaster isn't going to mix and spread itself.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Good Morning All!Not much to report from the land of Buckeyes on this Christmas Eve other then I will be baking a ham later today for tomorrow's feast that way tomorow all the ladies will need to do is heat it up..I cheated this year and bought a large sheet pan Christmas cake since we are expecting around 24 folk.Well tonight 2 of my favorite Christmas movies is on.."A Christmas Story"(8pm) and "A Christmas Carol"(6pm) and I will watch about 4 hours of TV..Modeling wise no big plans till after the Hoilday and yesterday there was no modeling other then test running my N Scale locomotives.I shall have a cup and look over the forun.Merry Christmas!
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Good Morning! Coffee and a sweat roll please. Thanks Finally got up. Gum feels fine now. I have a Wisdom tooth that never fully came through. It is barely exposed sometimes and others it is not. When my sinus pressure gets to a certain point, it pushes the tooth into and through the gum. Kinda like I’m still teething. Feels like a toothache but is not the tooth. It’s the gum that hurts. I haven’t had an issue for 3 or 4 years now. I used to get it almost every spring and fall. Then it quit. I guess it isn’t gone after all. The sinus pressure along with the gum pain, makes it very difficult to sleep or not rip someones head off. Oh well, could be worse.
Good Morning! Coffee and a sweat roll please. Thanks
Finally got up. Gum feels fine now. I have a Wisdom tooth that never fully came through. It is barely exposed sometimes and others it is not. When my sinus pressure gets to a certain point, it pushes the tooth into and through the gum. Kinda like I’m still teething. Feels like a toothache but is not the tooth. It’s the gum that hurts. I haven’t had an issue for 3 or 4 years now. I used to get it almost every spring and fall. Then it quit. I guess it isn’t gone after all. The sinus pressure along with the gum pain, makes it very difficult to sleep or not rip someones head off. Oh well, could be worse.
Robby- That would be great to get on with the RR.
Ken- Lee is right. I have a slightly different spin on the application process, but essentially we are seeing the same end result. The application is being reviewed by someone who does not have even a tiny clue as to what the job does or anything it entails. The “Selecting Official” is the last person who will see it And will receive only 10 packets, or applications. That number may vary, but at Camp Lincoln it was ten. Unless he called for more. Then he must explain why and mostly some don’t want to bother so they don’t. These ten were the top ten most qualified applicants chosen by someone who as Lee said, counted words. Literally. The best way to think of it is, there is a person who has a list of duties by his side as written in the job description and they go through your application and look for the words. He with the most matches wins the first round. Then they go for length of time. Along with this they assign a pay level you would qualify for. They do this by tabulating the amount of time you have done the work described. The more experienced the more the pay up to the highest level offered for the job. They also have a lowest level allowed. You will see it says something like “Pay Grade WG08 thru WG09” That means they will not send forward an app that does not qualify for Wage Grade 8 experience. (Usually, but not always. There are certain circumstances where they allow for a less than qualified hire. They are payed at what ever level they actually qualify for until they achieve the minimum level. Don't count on that though, usually they just readvertise the job) Don’t have experience? Well don’t look at it narrowly. If you worked in a body shop and counted strainers and told the boss, or supervisor or if you owned it, told yourself, you…took inventory, kept track of supply reorder points, reordered, etc etc etc. Don’t think of the job as a Government job where you must have experience with what they do and the whacked out way they do it. When it comes to the application, you can and must compare apples to oranges. When you get on they will show you the “unique” way they do things. What they want is someone who is familiar or experienced with at least the basic process. I haven’t dealt with filling out an application for myself since, whoa, I guess the late Nineties? (there are no “promotions” in the Government. If you want a raise beyond the highest level of your job or a another position with better pay you must apply like everyone else. Lee probably is much more familiar with the resumes. They were just coming in as an option last time I filled out for a new position.
Welp, just got a light dust of sn*w over night. Pretty much blown off now and there is no wind to speak of. Calling for 2 to 4 inches today and tonight. I see you Barry and Ulrich! Rolling your eyes like whoopty doo. Anyway, I must run an errand to the Pharmacy for Mom, then I hope to do what I’ve been hoping to do all week. Get into the train room. (crosses fingers.)
Y’all have a Great Day now ya hear?!!!
Good "christmas eve" morning.
Got some more snow, but nothing bad. Maybe a warm up next week!!!
I was checking CSX website yesterday, and the train yard near me is looking for 10 conductors. Of course I put a app. in. Maybe I will get a call, if not I still have school coming up.
Not much planned today. Just hang around the house.
"Rust, whats not to love?"
Good Morning
Have yourselves a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!
From moi, Audrey and the little Spring...
who is currently trying to hide in the tree...
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
The time has come...
MERRY CHRISTMAS
to all of you over the Big Pond. 1 It has been a great year with you!
Blessings!
Mornin,,, an irish coffee please Zoe..
Well it’s that time of year again, when Santa’s getting the reindeer all gassed up for their busy night, and he’s about ready
We took some grand kids to get the tree, and Yazee wanted to help with the decorations.
The cat enjoyed the tree also.
Some will get just what they wanted and some will not.
Hope ya’ll has a gooden
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/4309
Good morning,
Friend of mine gave me a $25 gift certificate for the LHS, so after work yesterday I stopped in and bought two AAR Standard 50 TON flat cars, Proto 2000, with loads. My LHS has good deals, but you have to find them. My LHS has a ton of Branchline Blue Print series kits on sale, 20% off. Not sure what he is going to do with them, they have been on sale for over a year now.
Less than 24 hours till Christmas!
BM1 Lee Soule USCG (ret) L.S.&W Railroad Serving the Lower Great Lakes
Ken, the trick is to build a basic resume then go into the job like you were going to apply for it and print the questions and the job description. Your answers to the questions need to be supported in your resume. Some of the jobs require you to provide essay type answers. These answers should be less than 3000 words and I recommend typing it in MS-Word then cut and paste, grammar and spelling count. A federal Job resume is nothing like what you have been taught. The more details the better. The reader wants to know everything relevant to the job description and they will not call for clarification. You can’t go back and edit it after you submit it. The system allows you to upload documents. You should have your relevant documents scanned as a PDF and ready to go. You also need to focus on “KEY WORDS”. If the job requires you to operate a Binford 3000 you should use the word Binford 3000 as often as you can without sounding like an idiot. The first cut is often done by a computer counting key words. Let me know what you want to do we can set up an evening after work next week and I’ll help you out. There is a preference for Honorably discharged military members, purple heart recipients’, and disabled American Veterans with a disability rating 30% or higher.
(yaaaawn) Mornin Bill
Merry Christmas to you too Duke.
Sinus pressure. Waiting for the Aspirin and sudafed to kick in.
Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
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MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
Best to all on sick call and those recovering
Duke
"Don't take a wooden nickel,because it isn't worth a dime" by my Dad
"There are only 3 things you need out of life:A gentle grade,the wind in your face,and cinders in your hair.....But keep an eye on the water glass!" Jack Evans
Good evening all. Just stopping in for a nightcap. No, not that kind, just a warm glass of milk before I head off to sleep. Things went well today at w*rk, got much accomplished, goofed off equally much. Been a little slow but it has been allowing us to catch up on things like price changes and planograms. Although we did have one small glitch, our label printer went ape today! Just kept reprinting the same POG over, and over, and over again....finally called our tech support (which is a call center in India) and let them know what was happening, they basically told us to leave the printer on, but leave the cover open so it wouldn't run and that they would run the issue up to the next level of tech support (completely wasted time...but its procedure), and yeah, they didn't call at all tongiht, maybe they will tomrorow.
Welp, nothing else happening, might get back to painting locomotives tomrorow night after going to my BIL's house for gift giving and fellowship.
Guess I'll check everything else out before I head off, goodnight to all and pleasant dreams.
Later taters!
Thanks Harvey! Already done. This is quarried limestone from a deposit found here throughout the Finger Lakes Region. While there are several types of limestone in the deposit (Dolamite, Oriskany Quartzite, and lots of fossils, etc.) there is nothing that would attract a magnet. I took a couple very strong magnets and ran them through some of the fine material. Nothing stayed on the magnets. It was one of my first tests for the stuff!
There is very little ferrous metal ore in this area either so I think I should be fine using the limestone from the quarry. Now with sand like you had...... The sand is most likely from a variety of sources and would likely have ferrous metal ores, etc. in it. THAT can really mess up things.....!!!
Just one comment on any natural material. I don't know what your findings would be in your area, BUT...I have checked buckets of regular sand from our local beaches, and they are full of metal particals.. Even worse was a bucket of sand from the ocean near Naniamo, BC.. It had even larger particals of mineral.
To test the material take any strong magnet...rattle it around through the sand, dirt or whatever. You may be surprised how much material will adhere to the magnet.
Now, if you use any of this for ballasting, make very very sure it is all glued down tight....If you run any engine over this material the magnets in the motor will attract any of the loose mineral deposits and you can gum up a motor very fast.
Merry CHRISTMAS
Harvey in Kelowna, BC.
Harris Creek Central http://www.freewebs.com/harriscreekcentral/
Evenin' folks!
Flo, just a cup of decaf for me. Need to go sit by the stove in the back and relax for a while.
Got a photo of the boys just being their lovey selves yesterday.... 40 lbs of kitties sleeping on my chair by my computer. A moment earlier they were sleeping with their little faces touching, heads butted together. Manet turned his head and looked up at me when the flash clicked open on the camera. He then settled back down, but didn't put his head back where it was. The chair is almost two foot deep BTW!
Been busy today getting a whole lot of little things done. Had to go get my allergy injections, so while i was out I drove down to Earle Estates Meadery about half way down Seneca Lake to pick up some last minute gift items. Ended up getting 6 bottles of various mead wines. Got to sample one while I was there...... Oh, oh, oh GOOOOOOOOODDDDD!
When I left the house, I walked down the driveway and ended up skating on Black Ice all the way down the driveway and into the road.... Lucky no one was coming and the street had been sanded..... So I took to the lawn and went back in the house and salted all the open area in the driveway before I left. Took a while to scrape about an 1/8" of ice off the car windows as well. Got a bit of freezing rain last night!
Spent much of the afternoon creating the years supply of fire starters for the wood stove. Just ran out this morning after using the last of last years. These are made from the paper egg cartons, and old candle wax my sister gives me. She loves candles and has them going any time she has company at the house. The left overs she saves for me. I pour the molten candle wax into the egg cartons, and after they cool cut them up on the band saw down cellar.
Last summer I got a pail full of various sized rock dust and small stone from the Seneca Quarry located just South of Seneca Falls. A few days ago I found on line a set of sieves made for Science Students. Showed up yesterday. It sorts the stone into 5 different sizes from over 1/4" down to a very fine powder. I got to work this evening with them:
I posed the question I asked in here a couple days ago to the MMR who is my mentor for the NMRA AP. Should I use rock tailings/stone dust/crusher run as ballast or regular ballast, in the engine house/workshop at the quarry or should I use a wood floor over the ties? Here is his answer......
"am assuming the part of the quarry management. Planks over ties for a walkway for the workers. No way - too expensive. Let them learn to walk on the ballast. If they get hurt, tough. I will not pay good money for stone ballast when I can use my tailings. My workers can spread it and it also solves a minor disposal problem. If the workers do not like it, they can find employment elsewhere. Profit, profit, profit. Bah humbug."
Guess what I will do there.....? I will end up using a mix of the 3 smallest sizes of stone I sorted tonight.... Basically Crusher Run.
Hope you all have a great evening!
Hey guys.
Got some more work done on the car today. Managed to get the transmission and clutch out. That area seems to be one part of the car no one else except the person at the factory was touched. The clutch was really wore out, missing pieces of the metal disc, rivets almost in contact with the flywheel, fingers bent, etc. I was pretty impressed the factory clutch lasted for 17 years, and over 212,000 miles. Once I get the flywheel off and one I had resurfaced in, I'm putting in a Spec stage one.
Ken, sorry to hear about your job. Hope you get another one fast.
Rob, dunno how much I'd actually be using it. I don't have a layout at the moment (no space)
John, Might re-visit the issue when I get one of the SW15s that are gonna be coming out. They have the beacon over the cab (not on the lip foward of the cab) so it'd be a bunch easier to light.
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
Just sizing up the body for my work caboose project.
Afternoon folks.
Flo, please.
Ben rattling around the house today with a total feeling of being lost. In other words bored silly! Don't feel like working on the current layout because I want to tear it down. Don't want to tear it down do to the fact I don't know if I can keep the house to finish it.
Lee Thanks for the link! Looks like a lot of the jobs listed you need to go or be in a Reserve or all ready be a government employee. I guess being a Vet helps. I saw a few job's I feel qualified to do, but would need to change around my Resume. Would you have time to chat on a land line after Christmas or before?
Talk at you all later.
Bored Ken
I hate Rust
Good Afternoon everyone,
the snow has been keeping us busy for days now (repeat performances over the past month), and now I see that there is a brigade of snowmen surrounding the house. me thinks the kids are having fun. Merry Christmas to all.
mocha to go please
cheers, krump
"TRAIN up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it" ... Proverbs 22:6
Afternoon Gang:
I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. Right now I'm getting ready to head back to the U.P. and get to attacking the brush so I can work on my fence. This has been going on for the last month off and on. I expect it will continue for another month or two. It's like a jungle down there. I feel like I'm building the Burma railroad.
You all take care.