Well, kinda late but here's the completed benchwork to connect for a complete loop. Pardon the blur but I fgured out how to shoot a picture without the flash. Camera sets all the settings for me, (nicely I might add) but I neglected to use a tripod as I should have.
Here's what I did today. The starting of the framework for the plaster cloth.
And lastly, the tunnel portal I spoke of earlier.
You see what I meant by in a bad spot for touch up. So far the bridge to nowhere (sorry Ray. I helped myself to your name) is removable, but someday it won't be.
The bridge is in a weird place and I probably should have eliminated it and made the hill straight across, but I couldn't envision anywhere else it could go and I liked the bridge so.....
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.
Bowl of brown rice & refried beans, please.
***Todd, your progress looks most interesting. Looking forward to watching it all develope.
OK, now have 2 working mainlines, one for freight, one for passenger / tourist line. Also started an inner line (not connected) for some minimal operations. The two mains can run loop-de-loops. Any further description gets confusing (for me to relay details of).
Gone is the extra creek. Gone are tracks running over other tracks. Gone is the roundhouse. Harumgh... Better get back to working on wife's layout and let all this sit awhile. I could still change my mind.
Will be in the corner booth awhile. Rob
TMarsh Question for the experienced. Would you recommend dullcoteing the tunnel portal, or any casting, that has been washed with color. I've got the tunnel portal "painted", if you will, and wonder if I should hit it with Dullcote to preserve/seal it, or will it be fine as it is. I think it should be fine myself, but this particular one will be in a very difficult locale to repair or refinish if it should need it. Can do but would rather not sort of spot if you know what I mean.
Question for the experienced. Would you recommend dullcoteing the tunnel portal, or any casting, that has been washed with color. I've got the tunnel portal "painted", if you will, and wonder if I should hit it with Dullcote to preserve/seal it, or will it be fine as it is. I think it should be fine myself, but this particular one will be in a very difficult locale to repair or refinish if it should need it. Can do but would rather not sort of spot if you know what I mean.
Hi Todd,
There are lots of things to seal it with ie. KRYLON, low odour clear matte.
The thing you should be considering right now is the tunnel liner. If you go any further you will be kicking yourself that you didn't get that in place first. Portals without liners really stick out as WRONG....
Johnboy out for now.................................
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
Hi All.
Flo an extra big glass of OJ and I will sit over there in the corner.
Well the flu or something has made its rounds at our house, the Wife was the first one to get sick then a few days ago I started getting it and now the teenage Daughter has it. So I have not even looked at the studio let alone try to climb the hill and work up there, guess all that lumber I bought will have some time to dry out a little more before I can get up there and working on the modules. I so want to get to work and be able to start posting some progress photo's but just do not have the energy.
Thursday I knew that I was starting to get sick so I went out and ordered my wifes Birthday, Valentines day and, Anniversary cake, thats right I can never forget the date its right on the callendar and as long as it is a substantual gift I get away with one gift. The people at the bakery looked at me funny when I wrote down that I wanted the cake to say "Happy ValenAnniBirthday". Now I just have to figure out if we will feel well enough to out or if I should buy some steaks and just eat in.
So I am outta here going to go and get some sleep hopefully and perhaps tomorrow will be a better day.
Good Night All
Ron
I refuse to grow up!!!
Test: trying to post pics from Photobucket. Two mainlines (loops). The switch nearest viewer (by pile of lose track) will lead to staging tracks for passenger trains. A factory will be in the middle here.
Let's see if this pic works??? Rob
Seems to have worked. OK, only 1 crossing track now. Innermost line runs end-to-end, within the two mainline loops. With the addition of a few switches, this will allow for some minimal operations, moving materials collected from the volcano to some sort of sorting plant. As for the inner loop track crossing the above described line, perhaps this will lead to the geo-thermal power plant, which will sit at the edge of the volcano. Hope this makes sense. Rob
OK, pardone my ignorance, but what is the grade if the rise is 3" over 17' ? Presently, the rise is about half that with all the shims in place. Would be kinda nice if I could lose the shims though.
Healing thoughts to those in need. Calling it a night here. Rob
WHOA! Thanks Johnboy!!!! I didn't even think of the liner. Luckily I did for the end I have somewhat done, but this end........completely slipped my mind. I use the term Dullcote generically by the way. Just curious if it would change the texture of the stone/rock.
Ron- Hope the family feels better soon. In case I forget tomorrow, Happy Anniversary to you and the wife and Happy Birthday to her!
Rob- I like your layout so far. I don't believe I've seen your part (chuckle) before, yet the bridge seems familiar. EDIT: I calculate 1.5%. Check my math guys.
Bedtime. PFTIN
Evenin' folks!
Just a cup of decaf Janie.
Didn't light the woodstove today for the first time in weeks. Temperature got all the way up to 40°F for most of the day. Will be heding back down below freezing tomorrow. It will be lit then
Rob, 3" rise in 17'..... Well, 17' would be equal to 204". Easy way to figure it would be divide 3" by 204" to get percent rise. The answer is...... 1.47% Very usable grade.
Oh... I forgot to tell you earlier, I got a Valentines card from my #1 granddaughter. She signed it herself! Three and a half years old. She was very proud! Grandpa got a big hug too!
Hope you all have a great night!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Evening.
All of today just disappeared. Went out to lunch with the family (and I mean, the whole family!), and that was most of the day.
Then we had a game 45 minutes away. We won, 5-4.
Playoffs are Tuesday. We'll see how THAT goes. But, to be honest, it's not looking too good...
It's very late, and I have school tomorrow (ugh), so I better go. Catch you guys later.
My Model Railroad: Tri State RailMy Photos on Flickr: FlickrMy Videos on Youtube: YoutubeMy Photos on RRPA: RR Picture Archives
Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
Good Morning!!
Gonna be a windy day here..winds up to 80kmh during the early morning to late evening with temperatures going from 38F down to 17F this afternoon then down to -1F by morning on Tuesday...
Have classes today after my shift is over then it'll be getting a few things done on Tuesday...heeheehee...think I may just pop over to the LHS to see what is there...
Rob: Like how the layout is working out there... ...and yeah, the 1.47% grade should work just fine...a lot better than my 2.44% grade...
Flo, I'll have the breakfast special this morning with coffee as well please...I'll be at the corner booth for now...
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/
Good day Folks!
Cup of coffee please!
Have a great day all!
Good Morning!! Coffee and a breakfast burrito with medium sauce please. Thanks. Today: Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 42. A little cooler than yesterday, but I’ll take it. Hmmmm. What to do, what to do. Ah! Find my plaster to mold a tunnel wall. Or at least the south side as that is all anybody but a mouse or a contortionist with a teeny tiny little head will see. BALLAST! I must ballast as far as the eye can see also before THAT too becomes an ordeal along the lines of the tiny belts Ray was involved in.
Good Morning!! Coffee and a breakfast burrito with medium sauce please. Thanks.
Today: Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 42. A little cooler than yesterday, but I’ll take it.
Hmmmm. What to do, what to do. Ah! Find my plaster to mold a tunnel wall. Or at least the south side as that is all anybody but a mouse or a contortionist with a teeny tiny little head will see. BALLAST! I must ballast as far as the eye can see also before THAT too becomes an ordeal along the lines of the tiny belts Ray was involved in.
Welp, like I said, gotta find my plaster. Pretty sure I still have some. I guess. If not, next time to town, couple $‘s at Mee-nard’s. Maybe do a little ballasting, though I’d prefer to wait until the side is done, or maybe it would be better before. Depending on accessibility. Nah, best do it before. I’m gonna have to assess the area and decide how I need to approach this as it’s so small I may have to do something out of order to what I usually do. (which, is not always the best order anyway so…..) The bookwork for Church, I'm still recovering from the latest computer crash here. Yes it’s true. Had to restore back to original. It’s embarrassing and I didn’t want to admit it, but I, well, I did something very stupid. I mean VERY stupid. Let’s just say no matter WHAT the name of the program is or how much it sounds like something in windows, if it finds a corrupt or missing file and says it must fix the file, do NOT repeat DO NOT turn off the anti-virus program no matter HOW good the reasoning sounds. POW! I opened the door and said “come on in! Make your self at home. Lock the computer and disable EVERYTHING except the browser and only allow it to go to one website to correct the problem for like $80? Why sure! Sounds good! Why not!” (long ) if anybody had asked me what to do when that popup showed up, I would have screeeeeamed “ STOP! Don’t do a thing, scan with AV and spy ware/ad ware remover and reboot” Why I didn’t will never be known. Anyway, all is well except I lost a few things. Nothing important, just the time. And….., yes you guessed it. Still haven’t done it. Take the snow blower out of the back of the truck.
Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!
Good Morning All,
42F and cloudy this morning. Didn't get in from Saturday on but did get some done in the layout room Sunday afternoon. Still haven't started benchw..k but nearly have the other half of the room floor cleared so I can paint the floor and put in the ceiling. Won't do the outer walls there until I have the bench done as the layout is 6' wide there and I'll need access to all sides. To keep access, I'll make the outer walls removable so i can easily remove them and do maintainence.
Last night was the breaking in of the refinished dining room set (a family heirloom from W.T.Grant) so progress continues on the house stuff.
Gotta run, CUL, J.R.
BM1 Lee Soule USCG (ret) L.S.&W Railroad Serving the Lower Great Lakes
TMarsh (buuuuuurp) Oh, excuse me! Ate at the Chinese buff-et, then to Walmart under the clever guise of needing a few groceries. "OH", I says " I'll zip to the other side and get Missy a bag of Oinkies." Sly devil I am stopped by the card section and got the required VD card. As any great wife would do, she did not acknowledge the card that I deftly hid from her, yet obviously had, at the checkout. Question for the experienced. Would you recommend dullcoteing the tunnel portal, or any casting, that has been washed with color. I've got the tunnel portal "painted", if you will, and wonder if I should hit it with Dullcote to preserve/seal it, or will it be fine as it is. I think it should be fine myself, but this particular one will be in a very difficult locale to repair or refinish if it should need it. Can do but would rather not sort of spot if you know what I mean.
(buuuuuurp) Oh, excuse me! Ate at the Chinese buff-et, then to Walmart under the clever guise of needing a few groceries. "OH", I says " I'll zip to the other side and get Missy a bag of Oinkies." Sly devil I am stopped by the card section and got the required VD card. As any great wife would do, she did not acknowledge the card that I deftly hid from her, yet obviously had, at the checkout.
Good God, everytime I read your posts I get a chuckle especially this mornings. No not this one, the one after this one. In my honest opinion~ lol.. to the Dullcote question...
You hit it with the Dullcote to preserve it. If you don't .. the colors can fade a tad. I like to hit it with the Dullcote not only to preserve the colors, but also to protect my efforts. Stuff.. colors, paint, plaster flys around here and there.. maybe a part of a breakfast burritto .. lands on your work.. if you sprayed the Dullcote.. the cleanup is easier. On a personal note, I like to ever hit all plaster works with a watered down versioin of Elmers glue, before any paints / wash is applied. It just seems to keep a handle on the 'wash' soaking into the plaster. Using a wash technique is fine.. I love it.. but that wash can also be easily rubbed off as well.
I'll take a break and think about model railroading. It'll help preserve my sanity.
It's good to see progress. Ray's scale model machine shop looks great. Jeff's Sundown shops are busy as ever. The layout progess looks good for Todd and Rob. Glad to see Ulrich is building some modeluels.
Happy late b'day to Ulrich's Petra.
Todd...... I don't seal plaster castings. ... I color them with washes of water based paints such as acrylics. Each wash is almost entirely water with only traces of the color. I wait between washes until each wash is all of the way dry. (overnight or longer). I start with yellow which may look funny at first (like dog pee), but it is a good base color. Then I use browns (burnt umber, raw umber, burnt siena, raw siena, or a mix of browns from the craft store) I use grays made from black and white mixed. Final coats are black. Green can be used in very thin amounts to simulate moss. ... I add "smoke" to tunnel portals with black pastels as the final step.... Experiment on old scrap pieces of plaster before working on a good piece. Read scenery books, too.
I'm in Alabama working with Mom's problems. It is really difficult. One small example is she has 3 contractors with service contracts to inspect her furnace twice each year. It must be the most inspected furnace in existance. Unfortunately there were many scams victimizing Mom which are very costly, and we are working on those. ... Mom remains deeply saddened due to loss of her companion.
Good news is the new grand daughter in MI is fine. We now have 2 grandsons and 4 grand daughters.
Happy V day
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good morning. It's 61° and sunny. The high will be 65° and mostly cloudy.I spent a good part of the day yesterday GLEAMing all my track. I could have gotten away with doing only the new track but I decided to have it all the same so I redid the areas I did in 2006. I had to stop several times to let the fumes from the Blue Magic metal polish dissipate. I had the a/c set on vent so it would ventilate the room but there's only so much it can do. Now that all the rail heads are shining like a bunch of thin mirrors I have to get ready to do the ballasting of the new track. I have half a bottle of WS gray medium ballast on hand and hope to have withing the next couple of weeks. I'm not really concerned about color as I can mix them up if need be. I have some low areas to fill in with plaster first. At least that's something I have plenty of. I have half a box on the kitchen counter, two boxes under the layout and two boxes in the closet. I also have a gallon of wall joint compound I can use. The plaster serves two purposes in that it fills the holes and it anchors the track. The layout also needs a good vacuuming. I vacuumed the track and the area immediately around the track yesterday before starting the GLEAMing operation. To say that I was tired after all that work would be an understatement and I was glad it was done. Once all this trackwork stuff is done I can move on to doing the scenery.
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
Mornin'..... (looks at watch), uh, Afternoon everyone!
Still need breakfast Zoe. I'll have the #2 special, over easy on the eggs, bacon, home fries, and a double order of Sourdough toast (THAT ought to hold me 'til suppertime).
Currently 41°F here in the Finger Lakes with a forecast for Rain, Snow, and Wind today. The middle one will happen later as the thermometer slides back down to 10°F tonight. Better get more wood in the house.
Today or tomorrow I should be getting a package from Walthers with some toys in it..... In the mean time I have some ballasting to do to keep me busy.
Thanks Gary! Sorry to hear your Mom was being taken advantage of. Makes losing her friend even worse if she knows that she has been a victim of scams..... I will keep you and yours in my prayers.
OK, back to doing something else... (Lord knows I have enough "something else" to keep me busy.)
Later!
Good Morning All...Partly cloudy and in low 40's..got up near 60 yesterday so getting rid of some of the ice...I'll have coffee and a swet roll please...Thank You...Not much going on on the I&S today.I'm trying to figure out how to get new printer going...
Sallie and I are celebrating our 43rd wedding anniversary today...sure don't know where all those years went but 6 kids and 14 grandbabys make it pass alot faster!..
You all have a good one...Jerry
Hi,
just a short stopover, as I plain ol´ tired. Spend the entire day moving furniture from the old office to the new one, so I can hardly stand on my feet now.
Zoe, just a for me, please.
Garry - I am so sorry your mom is a victim to fraudulent action. Ripping of the elderly is (expletive, deleted, as the forum rules will not allow me to put in here what I really want to say).
Jerry - congratulation on your wedding anniversary. We will be celebrating our 27th this year, so we have some more years to go...
Out again - too tired!
Gooooooooooooooooood Afternoon, I think...
Not sure, but maybe I just earned some "karma points."
I placed an order with Atlas a few weeks ago, and it arrived last week via the USPS: a Railbox boxcar, piping for the Pressurade hopper, another saw, and a TCAX grain hopper; which has since been weathered and patched to Iowa Intersate (IAIS).
Just a few minutes ago, the UPS guy showed up with a box, from Atlas, containing: a Railbox box car, piping for the Pressurade hopper, another saw, and a grain hopper.
Yup, an exact repeat.
So, I quick-check the bank account online...looks like I was only charged once. So, I figure I'd best call Atlas and see what they think of the situmacation. After first attempting to speak with some...India/Pakistan/something-stan native, I get connected to a genuine Jersey-Girl. After confirming and re-confirming I'd only been charged once, she said "we'll send you a call slip to have UPS pick it up. Thank you" and hung up!
Friendly...NOT.
Yeah, I'll admit it, part of me was kinda hoping they'd say "just keep it." Oh well, karma points earned (I hope) for "doing the right thing." Now, if I'd been charged twice, I woulda just re-numbered the cars and rolled with it.
JERRY (COX 47): Congrats on the anniversary!
TODD: Congrats on the benchwork, foam board and track laying! Also...glad to hear you're rid of your...charming...sister!
Guess I oughta find something productive to do this afternoon. I've got a city council meeting in Swisher this evening. THAT Editor has me doing a series of articles about Iowa's new gun laws, and in response to Sheriff's going from a "may issue" gun permit policy to "shall issue" cities across the state are freaking out, thinking everybody and their cousin is going to be packing heat. Thus, new ordinances, policies, and procedures are being rushed through. Swisher is going to look over a policy the city of Kalona has.
Have a good 'un peoples...
Chris
The Cedar cRapids Industrial Branch: Proudly Shipping Yesterday's CrunchBerries Tomorrow!
Afternoon All, Zoe I will have some coffee and a slice of that peanut butter pie.
Well feeling a little better today, still hacking and coughing but I can breath today. The better half and the teenage daughter both felt well enough to go to school this morning, giving me the chance to go out and get the Anniversary / Birthday / Valentines day gift. Long ago the Wife and I agreed not to make a big deal of birthdays and such because we are always giving each other things for our art and hobbies, but I know she went to the hardware store while I was sick Saturday, and I am not about to let her upstage me. After being together 21 years Married for 19 she still thinks she can slip something by me, but she has been my wife, my business partner, my muse, my care giver during this last battle with cancer and, my best fiend, so I pretty much know when she is up to something. I had already ordered a cake and planned on taking her to dinner tonight, and I know that she loves tools as much as I do, but I have a surprise this year, you know what they say "Diamonds are a girls best friend" .
The weather is beautiful today in the 60's and not a cloud in the sky so before dinner and while I am feeling better I have to go and fix the fence hopefully this is the last place the horse has found to escape and we can take him out of the barn. Then after dinner I am hoping to get up into the studio and start working on the bench work again, after I get these next 4 modules framed and the plywood mounted I will be half way done with the layout. I am going to start laying some track on that as we are going to Tampa for a ceramic artists conference the end of March and I have to wait till after that before I can spend any more money on the train stuff.
Well that fence ain't going to fix itself so I had better get to it.
TAYAL Ron
Afternoon folks!
Flo, a nice big mug of Hot Cocoa would be great right now. I just got home from running a few errands.... In the rain! Oh yes ,THAT 35°F liquid sunshine soaking through layers of clothing and removing all the heat from your body......... This, my friends, is NOT good camping weather. -10°F is much, much better. Take it from me 37° and raining is not nice to be outside in...... The 30mph wind blowing doesn't make it any better!
Ron, and others in those "long term" relationships such as Marriage. Here is what you need! I found this miracle bit of technology for you! Get it soon and improve your relationships!!! http://www.flixxy.com/woman-language-translator.htm
I finally made an order to New England Brownstone for some cut stone strips. He has been waiting to remake the molds for them. i emailed him yesterday and he got back to me and said he thinks he can find enough from the old molds to fill what I need..... So a check is sitting in my mailbox waiting for the Mailman to pick it up today.... (Well, it could be a Female Man.... Not sure who is delivering today.)
Time to find something of value to do....
Ahhh..........The interview for Norfolk Southern is finally over.
I think it went well. I passed the tests, and I think I did good on the interview part. Only 17 people were in the room, and they only interviewed 10 of us. Of course my name was the last one called. Talk about a nervous wreck!!
They only asked two questions. #1. How "safe" are you. #2 Why do you want to work for NS?
Now its a waiting game. I should know something in a few days. The one good thing "I hope" is......The supervisor with NS is good friends with the owner of the car wash I worked at. He asked about three times if I think he would say something good about me. I hope he does!!
Like I said....Now its a waiting game.
"Rust, whats not to love?"
Coffee TO GO, please.
***Robby, we'll keep our fingers & toes crossed for you!
***Ron, having numerous horses here, we got a real chuckle (at your expense) over the fence/horse in the barn comment. They have a way of finding the flaws in our perfect plans. BTW, we're the same way here, except we usually just buy our own gifts.
***Chris, nice "repeat". Perhaps we should all place orders with them while the gittin's good.
***Jerry, CONGRATS to you and Sallie.
***Jeffrey, after gleaming track, do you add a light coat of oil or does it remain dry?
***Garry, it is ashame there are people like that in this world. Taking advantage of elderly is about as low as it get. Glad she has you to help with such nonsense.
***Lee, looking forward to seeing the layout pics.
Cheers! Rob
Afternoon all. Coffee please. Ta Daaaa! Unloaded the snow blo….Waaaaaaaait a dog gone minute! Did Chris just post the wrong color of yellow? Or is he trying to see if Jeff will edit that pic as he does with most other UP stuff? Thanks for the opinions on the sealing of the tunnels portals guys. Both reasons sound, well…, reasonable. Garry- Sorry about your Mom’s situation. I hope you’re able to do something to stop it. Too bad what is done is done on some things, but may be worth a little looksee anyway. Never know. People who take advantage of the elderly should be horsewhipped. They can still do that can't they? Congratulations on the Grandbaby too!. Jerry- Congrats on the Anniversary!! Give Sallie a little peck on the cheek from the guys. “Why do you want to work for NS.” I HATE questions like that. Try… “because you pay pretty good, have a possible future with retirement, AND…..you’re the only railroad hiring.” On second thought, good thing you didn’t ask me.
Afternoon all. Coffee please.
Ta Daaaa! Unloaded the snow blo….Waaaaaaaait a dog gone minute! Did Chris just post the wrong color of yellow? Or is he trying to see if Jeff will edit that pic as he does with most other UP stuff?
Thanks for the opinions on the sealing of the tunnels portals guys. Both reasons sound, well…, reasonable.
Garry- Sorry about your Mom’s situation. I hope you’re able to do something to stop it. Too bad what is done is done on some things, but may be worth a little looksee anyway. Never know. People who take advantage of the elderly should be horsewhipped. They can still do that can't they? Congratulations on the Grandbaby too!.
Jerry- Congrats on the Anniversary!! Give Sallie a little peck on the cheek from the guys.
“Why do you want to work for NS.” I HATE questions like that. Try… “because you pay pretty good, have a possible future with retirement, AND…..you’re the only railroad hiring.” On second thought, good thing you didn’t ask me.
Welp, just got back from runnin ( OK, “driving” Ray) a few errands, mainly taking my boots to get re-soled and heeled for spring. About time to put up the Winter Wolverines. Went to my usual place and the place is gone. Well, closed and something else is there. So I had to find another. Only two left in town and I recognized one as a not too great stories place so I went to the other. Aaaas luck would have it the cobbler I had to find was in the area of the “other” LHS so, I stopped in. They had an abundance of cork roadbed and I remembered to pick up some I-beam styrene for to make my bridge supports with. Sadly, their amount of MRR stuff was much less than last time I was there. Funny thing too, of the maybe 10 people in there, they were all shopping for MRR stuff. Only one was looking at those remote offroad truck things to the tune of $400. Without of course the maintenance kit. I guess that isn’t bad, now that I think of it, compared to some locos. A lot bigger, though not as well detailed I might add.
Best head to the restaurant to see if they need assistance or not. I don't w*rk tonight but I may need to help them open. This is usually how I get roped into working. Especially when I want to look into starting my bridge.
Cederstrand ***Jeffrey, after gleaming track, do you add a light coat of oil or does it remain dry?
ROBBY P: Sounds good! We'll cross our fingers for ya. I just hope Jess understands what a RR career is going to mean...
ROB: Yeah, well I guess it was a "nice repeat," just remember...they want it BACK! I was kinda hoping they'd say "just keep it," but...I guess they're looking out for their bottom line/investors/etc. and would like to sell THAT merchandise rather than give it away; especially over a clerical mistake in the shipping department.
I was more surprised by the way the "customer service" lady handled it all, almost like it was an annoyance. Her "thank you" was more like a "thank you for handing me a crap sandwich, and not giving me a bottle of ketchup to put on it." It's hard to explain adequately.
Oh well, as I've been trying to get my Wife to see: "NO good deed EVER goes un-punished."
All THAT said, I'm planning on ordering some more of the TCAX hoppers in the not-so-distant future. I guess we'll see how THAT works out! IF they'd do the same paint scheme (red with white diagonal stripe) and "Minden, Nebraska Co-Op" lettering, I could replace some more foobie Athearns.