Elliot´s Trackside Diner February 2011

[der5997]

Good evening Diners: Just a bit of snow down here, an appetizer is what the TV weather guesser called it this evening!  I'll have the Shrimp and Scallop pilaf, and a large JR Regular please, and a booth seat where I can search for my credit card to take care of your orders...should anyone make it in through the storm, that is. Well I guess Ulrich  will for sure, so Chloe get a large Hot Chocolate and a Whisky Mac ready for him please ....

 

Ulrich: Hope the lung / breathing thing is quickly solved

It´ll probably takes weeks for the odor to disappear. It is much better by now, but you can still smell it.

...sounds like the last curry I made!   We can get some colours of acrylics in rattle cans, but I'm not impressed by them. I'd rather use the stir and mix. ( I haven't seen the Krylon acrylics JR mentioned - but that's a good brand.)  I hadn't thought of the hair dryer option, but I use one to speed the plough on airbrushed items. Our acrylics / latex aren't pungent by any means, and we've done a great many interior walls in the stuff without having to take motel rooms! Speaking of Niagara Falls, I see where "the Royal Newly -weds" will be coming to Canada shortly after the wedding - "Honeymoon in Niagara Falls"?????   

Minimum radius on those is 11", which should be OK for N scale.

...should be, but check that the trucks are swinging freely, and that the couplers don't bind.  My container cars won't follow a Kato SD40 through such a curve unless either the cars or the loco have a long shank coupler. This tends to look weird.

 

Barry: Sweet! Kris' comment was "It's made of real metal then!"  Good strategy though. I was thinking last night, you'll have over 12 feet of snow down by the close of play Wednesday. That's what? - over a foot of rain equivalent - what happens in the Spring?

 

Jeff:

Good morning. It's 63° and the storms are running rampant. Chance of rain today is 60%. Low tonight is projected to be 21°.

...our TV weather guesser last night said this system easily  covered half of the North American continent! Shucks! That's got to be almost bigger than Texas! The rain going back up? That's heavy! Brit expression might be "It's stotting down!" Now you mention slow Dodge wipers, I seem to recall the wipers on the push-button automatic Dodge station wagon in which we left Toronto around 1970 were kinda slow.

But I don't look all that old for 50!

..don't feel too bad Jeff, the banks here start their Seniors' Discount Accounts at 50! (Basically I've not paid bank charges on normal chequing accounts for 20 years.

 

Johnnboy:

I ordered some of those Chinese trees they have on E-bay. I think they will have to be topped up with loose foliage but the price was good and they looked quite good.  Will let you all know when they arrive and my opinion on them for what it's worth.

  I'd be interested in your opinion, as I've eyed those for some time. Specifically I'm looking for a reasonable facsimile of an N scale fruit tree. I bought these   a while ago (city gent must be Dept. of Ag, looking lost; but he gives a sense of scale ) They aren't bad, but not cheap either. I can't afford to do the complete orchard with those.

 

Ray:

Sol (the note between Fa and La),

...always thought "La, a note to follow So" a cop out by O&H. Since I'm not a librettist, I have an excuse for not being able to come up with a clever "La note"  "La, the second half of Voi" ( Pronounced Vaw) springs to mind however; and carries the meter, more or less.

 

Bama:

 

...and here's CSX 8450 easing into it!

Ron:

So Mobile Al. do you think we will be here for Marde gra.

...doubt it, as that's in March (8^th. is Shrove Tuesday, and St. Edward the Confessor's Day; patron saint of what we'll have to call my High School ) - but we could hang in the South and take it in, how's that for forward planning Ulrich? 12x8 is nice territory, now if you shift to N.....

 

Vincent:

John, never heard of that movie.

...if you have a video store that caters to older (1980s) movies, they may be able to get a copy. The incident I mentioned is a very brief clip in it, but the whole movie is a fun watch, set in South Africa. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080801/ tells you more.

 

Rob:

***Der, finally took a look at the extra stuff under the magnifier. Should be able to use most, if not all of it. I still haven't made it to the PO yet.

...Good, glad you can make something of it. And don't even think about getting to the PO in THIS!

 

TSF: Great looking plough, and quite the shot angle too!

 

That's about it for now, Goodnight all, and God Bless. Prayers for all in need of Safety on the highways, Healing, Comfort, prosperity and Peace. ht

 

[howmus]

Evenin' again...

Flo just a decaf for me this evening.  I'll go sit in the back booth and get warm.

I have decided i can take just about 45 minutes of dealing with those %*&% little belt thingies!!!  I did about an hours wirth tonight and almost threw the whole %^*&% thing across the room...  You glue one side of the belt in place, then try to glue the other end up where it has to go and the first end comes undone......  You need five hands to get them to stay put while they dry in place and the sticky stuff they put on the belt is completely worthless.  It sticks just long enough for you to bend the belt up and try to stick the other end in place then it unsticks.  Actually it does the same thing with AC, pliobond, and every other glue I have in stock.  You also need to have 4 hands and there is no place to move tools around in the tiny space you are working in.  So push it and the whole thing comes apart....  Don't ask!  OK, rant over.  I glued a couple ends in place and hopefully by tomorrow morning I may be able to get the other end of the belt in place and make it stay put!

der5997

Ray:

Sol (the note between Fa and La),

...always thought "La, a note to follow So" a cop out by O&H. Since I'm not a librettist, I have an excuse for not being able to come up with a clever "La note"  "La, the second half of Voi" ( Pronounced Vaw) springs to mind however; and carries the meter, more or less.

 

Now John the note is spelled Sol.  It is the only note of the scale that has 3 letters....  Remember the Major Scale?  (Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do)  Sixth Graders could not pass my class until they could spell it right....  And don't foget your Music Theory class....  Do is also known as the Tonic, Sol is the Dominant, a 5th. above (Or the 12th. above being the first harmonic at a different pitch).  Remember the overtone series created by every note....  Fa on the otherhand is also known as the Subdominant being a 5th. below the the tonic.  If you use the dominant created naturally to create a new pitch, and continue doing it, eventually (12 later to be exact) you will end back at your original note.  This creates the Chromatic Scale first explained by Pythagoras.  Also known as the circle of 5ths. 

Huh? OK, OK I'll be quiet...  Sheesh

Hopefully by tomorrow night I will have the first room of belt drive tools more or less finished.

Later!

73

[teen steam fan]

Hey folks. Snowing bad here. My home has now gotten the nickname of blizzard central. 

A friend of ours who works for the fire department called. they got a call and couldn't respond to it. That's how bad it is. 

Der- Thanks, I got a few more. Seemed fitting because of the snow. That one was an old flatcar and caboose design I got from trainmanTy a few years ago. I was trying to get a shot of the entire plow and a freight car behind it with sand. It was an attempt at a freelance British plow out of American outline equipment. 

Snow Report- Button Down the hatches for those of you in this thing's path. Wind gusts are 50 mph and there is thunder snow. All the roads out by me are shut down, haven't seen a plow for a few hours now. Chicago Streets and San. just shut down Lake Shore drive. Some people have been stuck out there for something like 5 hours now. Tomorrow the only way to move around out by my place is a snowmobile or a big 4x4 with aired down super swampers. And I mean air down, 2-3 PSI. That Powerwagon won't stand a chance. The snow is not bad, but there is a drift out there near as tall as me (5'11") 

Button down and hang tight.

 

[AmanaMedic]

The State of Iowa is CLOSED.

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooood Evening, bucket of hot apple cider please 'n thank-you.

Good grief Charlie Brown! Two women have gone into labor. One somewhere between Midland and Wyoming (in Jones County). Midland Ambulance is having a tough time getting to her. The paramedic ambulance out of Anamosa is slogging it's way there, with a County snow plow. The plan is to at least get her and baby to the hospital in Anamosa. Just north of Mechanicsville, Adam-3 is trying to get to a woman who is preparing to squeeze out No. 4.... and typically, the more kids they have, the faster they come! The Cedar County dispatcher is trying to get plows from Jones County (it's just inside their side of the line), Cedar County, and Linn County lined up so this momma and baby can get to St. Luke's hospital in Cedar Rapids.

It sounds like Mechanicsville Fire is using their brush truck to break-through and cut a path for the ambulance.

Makes me glad I'm not in EMS no more!!!!!

While the Nat. Guard was mobilized (20 soldiers, deployed to five cities), the closest contingent is in Iowa City.

The band of "heaviest snow" shifted north...and we're right in the middle of it. We even had "thunder snow," much to Rerun's dismay and dislike. It seems to be coming from the southeast...almost as though TODD was sending me his snow! I just shoveled-out Rerun's trail...again. The Wife thought they'd just do without. Had I not shoveled, she would've been up to her waist trying to get through. Rerun would've had an even tougher time. As it is, most of his trail is now a trench...the top of which is a good foot to foot-and-a-half higher than him!!!

The Wife has a "snow day" as the college she w**ks at already closed for tomorrow. I think the whole state has closed. Most of the highways are marked "travel not advised" and "tow ban in effect." The local TV weather geeks have added "whooooooooooooooooooooop whoooooooooooooooooooop whoooooooooooooooooooooooooop" Star Trek alert sounds to their weather break-in spots. The National Weather Speculators say if you get stranded...you will die a slow, miserable death.

Up on the UP mainline, a signal maintainer is stranded in his truck at one of the cross-over points. 2nd-trick dispatcher DWU asked him if his gas tank was "full enough" for him to sit awhile. 3rd-trick just came on, he's supposed to have the first train through stop and pick the poor guy up.

Winter in Iowa...ya gotta hate it just a little...

To those who are in the eventual path of this "weather event," you're in for a real treat...

Chris

 

[TMarsh]

Wind is picking back up.

I am dying to see what Rays machine shop will look like when he's finished. But I'm afraid if I hang around too much while he's working on it....I really will die!

Looks like Ray needs what Brenda has. One of these http://blujay.com/item/Original-Dammit-Doll-Blujay-10050400-1753843

[Packer]

Hey guys. Quick stop before bed.

Spent the last few hours trying to find upgraded a source of upgraded axles for my '94 GT. I have ABS on my car so I was trying to find one with the ring (looks like a gear mounted on the axle end before the wheel studs) on it. After about 2 hours of looking; I didn't find any with 28 splines, but some that had them for 31 spline. I was about to mark up a 31-spline assembly on my junkyard parts list, but then I found an old magazine article that showed that the ring was removable and just had to be pressed on and off. talk about a "doh!" moment. Superior is the only manufacturer of the axles that I am aware of that have axles with the special seat for the ABS ring. I still have to get subframes before I think of axles. and slicks (I do have drag radials, but am not using them with stock axles)

JR, I'll check which ones I have tommorow. I'm guessing there is a number on them somewhere that will tell me which ones I have.

Ken, Digitrax is about an hour east from me, mobile's about hour and a half the other way.

Jeff, from experience working at a fast food joint, it's not always cause your a senoir. Don't know how Captain D's works, but where I work it's a 10% discount that any cashier can use on anyone. Aside from senoirs (which work classifies as anyone 50 or over; wait, I'm not helping am I lol); I've used it on members of the military, girls that I though were attractive (provided they were by themselves ), and friends of mine. I've had a few girls use it on me , but let's just say they were usually the girls I wouldn't use it on lol.

Blizzard and snow stuff, wait till sume and us gulf coasters will probably have some troubles of our own (hurricanes) and want the diner to be up north.

[howmus]

TMarsh

Wind is picking back up.

I am dying to see what Rays machine shop will look like when he's finished. But I'm afraid if I hang around too much while he's working on it....I really will die!

Looks like Ray needs what Brenda has. One of these http://blujay.com/item/Original-Dammit-Doll-Blujay-10050400-1753843

The doll wouldn't stand a chance around here!!! ............  You can hang around, but just stay out of the line of fire....  I hope to have some photos of the progress tomorrow.  The problem is you have to thread the belts through openings that are a fraction of an inch wide and do this this with less than an inch in any direction get get fingers or a tool in there to do it.....

Storm is just about to arrive in the Finger Lakes.  My son should be walking out where he works and getting in his car for a 20 mile drive home.  Hope he is careful!  Right now it is just a light snow without much wind, but within a hour it should be cranking up big time if the map is correct!

[Edit]

[Breaking News..........................]   (BEEP< BEEP< BEEP) Tomorrow has been canceled!  So far the Rochester Cable Channel is listing 42 School Closings for tomorrow...  That is just about all of them in the area I think.  The Finger Lakes is Closed!

73

[Cederstrand]

Veggie plate, please.

***Chris, that thundersnow is cool stuff. Had some here this winter. Enjoy!

Got all sorts of small stuff done tonight on the wife's layout. We discussed what she wants the chicken house to look like, including color. Already cut out a cardboard pattern for it and started increasing the foundation (sheetrock mud) for it.

Kathryn's Feed & Seed is getting right busy now. Need to snap a pic of it tomorrow, along with some other stuff.

Just heard some serious "laying of the horns". Some train engineers have lead feet "hands" tonight. Love hearing that kind of rolling thunder.

Have a good night y'all and stay safe out there.

Rob

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

[fireman216]

Good snowy evening diners!! I will take fresh coffee in a NYC mug if you please....yes...the mug with the shark noses on it...thanks. Just came back inside from taking a ride on the snowmobile. You know you live in a snow band area when you can drive your sled up your own street!! The snow from this storm started here about 20 minutes ago. We already got a quick blast of about 4 inches this morning. That's a dusting as far as I am concerned. Most normal people head to the grocery store to stock up on a few days of perishable items when a storm comes....Noooooo...not my wife....her and the girls go clothes shopping.... We are forecasted here in Syracuse to get anywheres from 12 to 18 inches. This is the "crappy" snow as I call it. It's like sugar. We usually get the nice fluffy lake effect stuff that you can clean a driveway with a drinking straw and a few puffs of air. Since I took the next few days off I will be heading to the firehouse shortly to work an overnight shift. We already have run about 25 calls today with the bulk of them being minor collisions. We better warm up the shovel detail as I am sure we will be shoveling out hydrants all day. Most homeowners are pretty good about doing it...but there are many that don't seem to give a hoot . Other than that I have told the spouse I will be locking myself in the basement for two days with a few beers and my plaster trowel at the ready to get some scenery done. Then take my daughter out for a nice ride on the sled...she loves it!! Stay warm everyone who is going through this blizzard and keep your hydrants clear for us!!!....Tim

[BamaCSX83]

Well, that's something you don't see every day. 

Just stopping in for an evening RBF, had to work this evening, got pretty stormy here tonight, didn't loose power, but did loose some of the front awning area at w*rk.  Dunno where it got blown to, but its not there anymore. 

Welp, I think I'm going to enjoy my RBF at the RC and listen to the night sounds of Mobile....

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

 

 

[blownout cylinder]

 

JohnDer: That's about the extent of it!! We actually got about 10" on the ground up here and more to come...I just finished plowing out the driveway...again...going to have to do this...again...

Well, I have to say that our schools are all closed...except U.W.O and Fanshawe College...there are a larg amount of things closed as well...many roads are closed...more from drifting and poor visibility...Great weather....

Flo, I'll have a coffee and a toast with jam...I'll be at the RC for a bit...

[Robby P.]

Good morning. No snow, but got some sun-shine thou. I did get a video of a rainbow. This is probably the best rainbow I've seen in a long time. Got the Wal-Mart interview this morning. See how that goes. Then after that, I guess I will see what I can get into. Rob.....If I got the NS I would love to see the farm. Even more to get to meet a "diner". Chris.....Between your story and a few I read, they all seem about the same. Now hopefully I can get a "nice/decent" person to interview with, I will be good. I just don't like the poker face people either. Here's a picture of the rainbow. Much brighter in person thou.

[LSWrr]

Good morning,

Lots of ice outside, work is running on a 2-hour delay, I’m just going to stay home.  There must be 3” of pure ice on the driveway.  I see there is more snow on the way.

New album posted:

2011 Progress

http://community.webshots.com/album/579674632BoPFFB?vhost=community

2010 Progress

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/576376778QCKZMD?vhost=home-and-garden

Last night I printed more decals, some MOW, Grain Elevator, and cross buck decals.  I’ll be working with those today and some weathering on the little locomotive and elevator.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 19° and cloudy with a wind chill of 7°. The high is projected to be 42° and it will be variably cloudy. Tonight's low is due to be 20°.

Think I'm going outside if I don't have to? You'd have better odds betting on the horses! That door between me and the outdoors is staying closed and locked unless there's some emergency that requires my attention. Pipes are frozen but they'll thaw later.

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,

   27F with freezing rain over the 6" ofsnow from yesterday. At least the wind will remain reasoable at 20mph or less. At 27F the salting mixture still does its' job on the roads so the ride in was slushy but pretty easy - 45 on the highway no issues.

   Lee - I see you were in already. I have a half dozen AHM engines and most are C Liners or F units of some sort. All have a single engine in the back though I wouldn't think of it as a pancake. Also similar numbers of Lifelike and Bachman pre upgrade era. I don't see anything marked PEMCO and I haven't checked any of the drive trains for usability yet. The PEMCO pic i see online is more like the Lifeline drive truck and I have some of those as well. Let me know http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r132/tonycook1966/Pemco/PemcoGG1PRR3304-015.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r132/tonycook1966/Pemco/PEMCO_F40PH_Page_1.jpg

   Jeff - I think under the circumstances I'd stay in also. Did it at least stop raining?

  I'll have a regular and a corn muffin - toasted with butter and a touch of cinnamon please in a poke to go. Catch y'all later.  J.R.

[teen steam fan]

Hello Diners. Hot coffee in a supersized British Rail mug. Thanks, keep them coming. 

Well, I may need to borrow that Case IH combine. There are drifts out by me that are over 10 feet tall. My Uncle is out punching a hole through this mess with his 3/4 ton plow truck and bobcat. 

Snow Report - I just got back from helping a friend get a car off the road and in his driveway. Since the roads are somewhat clear, it's easy enough to punch through but still a pain. There are spots so bad that the plows can't get through. Wind just picked up again and knocked visibility to maybe 20 feet. I took my quad out, only rear wheel drive, but still, and had trouble staying moving. That's how nasty it is. 

See that mailbox? Use that as a size reference.

And that's after my dad shoveled the dish out. Never sass Mother Nature. Especially in Illinois. (Mother Nature in Illinois is bi-polar-My sister)  

So, I guess I should reconise it. 

The State of Illinois Is now Closed, due to in-climate weather conditions. Blizzard of 2011. 

I'm on the side. 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

GMTRacing

   Jeff - I think under the circumstances I'd stay in also. Did it at least stop raining?

Thankfully it didn't rain last night. My water line from the outside did freeze though. It didn't take me long to find the reason. Looks like an armadillo chewed a hole through the wrap. It's only about an inch but that's all it takes.

[GMTRacing]

Never heard of an armadillo wrap Sounds like some kind of southwest cuisine. Perhaps our resident chef can enlighten us. LOL

[blownout cylinder]

GMTRacing

Never heard of an armadillo wrap Sounds like some kind of southwest cuisine. Perhaps our resident chef can enlighten us. LOL

Given the low temperatures that are going on down that way I'm expecting the Armadilloes will start growing fur!!    

[Robby P.]

Anybody not else having problems with the typing on here? I don't have the options or BOLD or even the faces. I hit reply and post message, and post just pop up. Plus the type looks different. I even hit enter to break up the message, but it doesn't. It looks like one big run on paragraph. I've reset the computer and logged out also on here.....BUT nothing. I was just curious.

[GMTRacing]

Ah that's it then. The little fellow wasn't snacking on Jeffs insulation, he was looking to wrap up in it to stay warm. Hope he doesn't figure out how to plug the wrap into the 110 !

Robby - the only typing problem I have is the keyboard keeps hitting the wrong letter. J.R.

[blownout cylinder]

Robby P.

Anybody not else having problems with the typing on here? I don't have the options or BOLD or even the faces. I hit reply and post message, and post just pop up. Plus the type looks different. I even hit enter to break up the message, but it doesn't. It looks like one big run on paragraph. I've reset the computer and logged out also on here.....BUT nothing. I was just curious.

Maybe it is taking longer to load?

I've ended up doing the HTML ting myself sometimes when it would not load up...

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Robby P.

Anybody not else having problems with the typing on here? I don't have the options or BOLD or even the faces. I hit reply and post message, and post just pop up. Plus the type looks different. I even hit enter to break up the message, but it doesn't. It looks like one big run on paragraph. I've reset the computer and logged out also on here.....BUT nothing. I was just curious.

Try clearing your cookies/history.

[ns3010]

Morning all. Haven't been in in a few days.

I'll take a XXXL stack of pancakes, some bacon, and a coffee, pleasenthankyou.

I've been busy again. Yes, life is still in the way of getting in here every day. Hockey is still going. But we won on Monday! It was our last league game, and we finished third in our league. I'm not sure what's going on with playoffs (it's extremely confusing...), but I'll let you know when I find out.

And yes, I still can't play. Still having headaches, and I can't play until a few days after they stop, and who knows when THAT will be...

On another note, we are off today! Not much snow, but that ICE that they've been talking about. We got out early yesterday as well.

I finally got my last exam back. It was Precalc, 73, and my lowest by far. It was the hardest by far, and everyone thought the same thing, and was in a similar grade range. The good news is that I still got a 90 for the semester.

Today, I have to write a spanish paper (in English, luckily) and the usual homework. After shoveling (I'm waiting till it warms up a little, hoping THAT teh ice melts a little...), maybe I can find some time to fix up some striping on my GP50-3 and install a headlight.

Well, my food is here, so I'll be at the RC if anyone wants to talk.

[cudaken]

 Morning from the Frozen Midwest.

 Flo, Hot Chocolate please.

 Sleep in late today, did not get up till 9:00 AM.

 Looks like we lucked out weather wise this time around. While it is still nasty, we did not get any new snow that I have seen. (have not been out side yet) Did get a couple inches of sleet. They had been talking about 8 inches of fresh stuff.

 Train Front Well for what ever reason the DT 400 is working right again? Did not do anything to it, just started working. Go figure.

 Sue is wanting to do some running around today, not looking forward to going out in this stuff.  It is 18 degrees out there.

      See you all later.

                      Ken

[howmus]

Gloom 'n Doom....  Gloom 'n Doom....  Gloom 'n Doom....!!!

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I'll have a breakfast bagel with cheese and a pot of dark roast coffee!  Please and Thank You!

Wow!  What a night!  We ended up with....  Are you ready for this?  Two point two................... inches of snow.   Yep after all the Gloom and Doom predictions of 16 to 20", another major Winter storm has fizzled out here in the Finger Lakes.  Actually here in Geneva it looks like we have about 4" (the weather service gets its info from Penn Yan about 15 miles South of here).  Evidently after a few inches of snow it turned to freezing drizzle and sleet.  We were right on the edge of the type of precipitation.  Doesn't hurt my feelings one bit.  No sir!

I will go get the sn*w blower fired up and clean out what we have before lunch.  Then I am going to spend some serious time swearing at the project I have going on down cellar in the train room.....

Ken, your DT 400 may have a cracked solder joint to the screen.  It will appear as an intermittent thing.  If it continues, send it in for service.  I once had the same thing in a CB I had.  If I left it on all the time it worked fine, but shut it off for a day and I would have to wait a couple hours for it to warm up and turn on.

Later!

73

[BRAKIE]

Good Morning all.

Not much to report from the land of ice covered Buckeyes on this snowy Wednesday morning..Yesterday I did some more Rubik's Cube track designing and realized Slate Creek was design for N not HO and I won't even come close to that design in HO and at 63 I'm wasting a lot of time planing when I should be operating..

I shall have a cup or 3 and look over the forum.

Have a good'un!

[Cederstrand]

Coffee To Go, please.

Have a good day y'all.

 Rob