Elliot´s Trackside Diner March 2011

[Anonymous]

A little late, but better than never!

I don´t know where the switcher pulled the Diner to, but here we are!

Welcome to the March edition of Elliot´s Trackside Diner!

The place is now open!

[gatrhumpy]

I need a Yuengling.

[Wisconsin Railfan]

Good Morning Folks!

Some sweet tea and a sausage biscuit w/ cheese please.

WOW! the new place looks great!

Have a great day all!

Steven

[blownout cylinder]

What's a yeungling?

Good Morning

It is all sunny looking out there right now..about 17F going to a high of 34F today...hopefully in the sun...

Last night's forums may have been slowed up even further by the fact that the interwebz itself was Sllloooooooowwww...I had 3 browsers going and all ran slower than molasses ....and with 5 sites I went to down...sheeesh wonder what was going on....

Today I'll be getting some groceries into this house and then, maybe, I  might get some traintime in...

Flo, I'll have a breakfast bagel and a coffee please...I'll be at the RC for a bit...

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee and a heaping order of biscuits and gravy please. Thank you.

Sunny, with a high near 50. Might be a pretty nice day for the first day of the month containing the anniversary of my birth. Joy.

Lee- Let me guess. “That guy” feels it’s some sort of infringement on his privacy to list the things he, uh, has for the whole world to see and it is none of the others business what he has. Which is odd considering what it is. Of course, that would be assuming he “has” something to list.

Garry- I’m glad to hear your Mom agreed to Assisted Living. That will make everything so much easier. Like was already said, I’m sure once she gets there, she will enjoy it and say she wishes she had done it sooner. They all seem to think at first, it is like the Stalag type nursing homes. My Mother was actually looking forward to selling her house and moving into one after she had a friend move into one and saw it. She said it would be almost carefree living. Except for the cost. The nicer ones are a bit costly, but even some of them work with SS and Veterans affairs knocking the cost down.

Jeff- I had not see your post concerning your Mother yet when I replied to you. My prayers go out for her.

Johnboy- No, it has not been the best month so far. Actually, in my neck of the woods, it hasn’t been a good year so far.

Well, I’m a moron. Should NOT have stopped at the restaurant last night. Didn’t get a thing done at home like I wanted. No layout work, no sorting through things here, nothing. I need to stay out of that place on nights I know they are shorthanded. No, no, Flo, you don’t have to try to console me and try and convince me otherwise, I know you think I’m a genius and are pretty much in awe of my abilities and it‘s flattering. It is. But alas it’s true, I‘m not the per ….What? Oh, you were trying to wipe the gravy off my face.

Today, I have to put the groceries for the restaurant away about 10:30 and then w**k at 5. In between I must go get the fixing’s for the chili I shall make Wednesday for the chili contest Saturday along with some things for us to eat in the meantime as well. Plus I need to get to the room where I keep my Choo Choo Train set so I can lay another section of track or two. My plans anyway.

Looking around the house with all this new junk, I don’t know where I’m gonna put the first place Chili trophy .

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[Robby P.]

Well here's a stanger.

I made it to NC yesterday.   I'm now going to have to find some work.   I'm staying at a freind of mines house, and thats a big help.

 I honestly don't know what will happen with Jessica and I.   We talked on the phone last night for 1 1/2 hours!!  

 I hope everybody is doing good, and I will pop back in later tonight.  I'm going over to a buddys house and he has internet.  The house I'm staying at......well his EX wife "ran" up the internet/phone bill.    I'm at the library for this chat!!

 Ne back in later.

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I see you have a special on scrambled eggs this morning?  Oh problem with the move, huh?  Well, guess I'll have a bowl of hot oatmeal with brown sugar instead (never been fond of egg shells...) and a cup of your finest dark roast coffee in a FGLK mug.  You girls did a great job of cleaning up BTW!

blownout cylinder

What's a yeungling?

Yeungling!  The oldest brewery in the US.  make some fine brewski!  Didn't know we had a license to serve it though........

blownout cylinder

Last night's forums may have been slowed up even further by the fact that the interwebz itself was Sllloooooooowwww...I had 3 browsers going and all ran slower than molasses ....and with 5 sites I went to down...sheeesh wonder what was going on....

Barry, about 10PM I started to have trouble with just this site.  I was on the Mac Mini down in the train room trying to look up some information and I could get into the main page for Kalmbach but not the Forum.  I shut down everything down there for the night and came back upstairs to my Mac G5, and everything online was down...  My phone is through the cable and that was out as well.  So something definitely was wrong.

Garry, once your Mom settles to her new quarters, I'll bet she will love it!  My Mom was terrified to be going there at first.  Within a few days she thought it was great.  Good luck!

Todd, I sure hope you are making enough Chili to share here in the diner!  Sounds like the Rolaids concession should do well also......

Not sure where we are, but I think it may not be the best neighborhood judging by the rusty old run down "whateveritis" right outside the window...  Barry?  What exactly is THAT?

Prayers to all in need!  Hope everyone has a much better month in March!

73

[AmanaMedic]

Gooooooooooooooooooooood Morning, wherever we are.

ULRICH: Thanks for organizing the move, even with all the turmoil you're going through.

ROBBY P: An hour and a half? I'd say if there were some mutual exchanging of "I'm sorry," then things might not be so bleak. I'll end my relationship counseling at THAT...and wish you both the best of luck.

 

Today's assignment: research on Iowa's self-defense laws. THAT EDITOR has had me doing a series of articles relating to Iowa's "new gun law:" which goes from Sheriffs in a "may issue" mode for open carry/concealed carry permits to "shall issue." Long story. The Johnson County Sheriff wasn't able to tell me what the state says in regards to defending life and property. He sent me a link to a "comprehensive self-defense rights website" which says right in it's first paragraph: "the information contained herein may not be accurate."

Thanks Sheriff....

But, it seems to at least have references to the applicable parts of the Iowa Code, which is apparently on-line...all 20 or so volumes of it.

Fun fun fun in the sun sun sun.

Best wishes to all in need, maybe March will be a bit nicer to us all 'eh?

Chris

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Got my bills paid this morning, got the groceries and the meds. Gas for the van was fifty seven dollars. That was for a hair over seventeen gallons. Glad I wasn't on empty. That would have been ninety dollars! After all that I have a grand total of five dollars and fifty cents to play with. One thing I found that I could cut from the budget was my collision and rental insurance. There's no sense in carrying collision on a vehicle that thirty years old. An adjuster would just look at that and laugh. I know. That was one of my jobs back in the 80's. As for rental car insurance I haven't even THOUGHT about using that since August of 1999. Those two items will chop a third off the monthly premium and that's money that can be of use elsewhere.

[Cederstrand]

Slice of pecan pie, please.

Finished belt-sanding the uneven spots on my (N) layout foam. Ready to start securing track.

Not sure if I previously mentioned escourting 2 stray calves back across the creek. A soft voice and quiet demeanor is all that was required. What a contrast between those cute little critters and that monster bull.

That storm here yesterday rated a BTI of 7.4 and we could hear the distant tornado siren whaling away. Weather radio spoke of rotation, but we saw nothing. Downpour was so heavy, we couldn't see the barn through it. Pretty cool!

Cheers! Rob

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

So, did the diner remain in the same location for March?

Last evening was the most emotionally tough times with my Mom here in AL. She reversed her decision to move, and was a bit vocal about it. .. Tough day today, but we made some progress.  Thanks for your comments on the topic. ... My layout remains idle and I remain in AL. .

As Jerry says, have a good one.

[cudaken]

 Evening Folks

 Flo, just a beer please.

 Dinner is in St Louis parked at Union Station. Great places this month with spring in the air. We are with in 15 miles of St Louis Museum Of Transportation, anyone want to go see there Big Boy?

There me in the engineer seat.

There Class A

 

 Plus, we are not far from K-10 Model Trains, my LHS.

 Gary Good luck with your Mon. My self, I would think it would be great for her.

 See you all latter

 

 

[GMTRacing]

Good Evening All,

    I would reckon we've continued our eastern progress here with the diner. Have we spotted any gators yet? Thanks for finding time to make the move Ulrich. With the site having the slows yesterday I thought  maybe Ray had annexed it to his pike.What's that you say ? St Louis? Wow those winds must have been stronger than I thought!

   Had a day off today but the museums I tried to see here in SF (south Florida) seem to be open only on weekends. Oh well - you can only dig so far. Considered a trip to Broadway Limited (see our new facility) but with the brush fires closing I-95 down here I ventured to Orlando and declared victory. Tomorrow is back to the track for set-up and Thursday is the start of testing.

    Barry - you just gotta hang in there, We attempted  to put my grandmother in a home years ago but she kept breaking out. She'd go and catch a bus home and we finally just got her full time help there, Do they have "extended visits" so your mom can get the flavor of it all? It has to be scary to upset so completely a routine she is comfy with especially if she thinks she's still on top of it all.

   Jeff - more of the silly prices for fuel in the offing. Is the van carbureated or injected? If it has a carb, you might see if you can lean it out a bit to get more mileage. Don't know from memory if yours has fixed changeable jets or adjustable metering rods. I assume it has electronic ignition and no cat. Is that correct.? What sort of speeds do you normally  travel at?

   Robby - good luck with all that. It's a shame it had to wait until you left and it was all long distance before you and Jessica found an hour and a half to discuss things, but maybe some good will come of it.

   Prayers for those in need, and I'm goimg to try to get some sleep before we start up tomorrow.

     CUL, J.R.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

GMTRacing

   Jeff - more of the silly prices for fuel in the offing. Is the van carbureated or injected? If it has a carb, you might see if you can lean it out a bit to get more mileage. Don't know from memory if yours has fixed changeable jets or adjustable metering rods. I assume it has electronic ignition and no cat. Is that correct.? What sort of speeds do you normally  travel at?

Carbureted, no electronic feedback, no EGR, fixed changeable jets, carburetor is leaned out already, electronic coil firing module, no cat. Engine is 318 with 3 speed automatic. Max speed I drive is 55.

[Cederstrand]

Scrambled eggs & bacon, please.

***Garry, we sure do relate to what you're dealing with. Just hang in there and do what you can for her. It can be quite challenging. Not much else to say.

Nice pics being posted in here. Keep them coming!

One thing I like about some folks trackwork (Jeffrey's comes to mind) are the small elevation changes with sidings. Accomplished some of this tonight as I started laying my (N) track. Kept a couple trains running around and over these sections while making adjustments in the elevations to make sure they handled them smoothly. I'm pleased with the direction this layout is presently heading. It has only taken "nearing 50 years" to finally start laying track. Gotta say, it feels pretty dang good!

Also worked on the wife's (HO) drive in theater. Only a few little things left to do before checking it off the To Do list. After that, it will be back to work on her chicken house.

Have a good night all.

Rob

 

[Anonymous]

Good Morning Folks,

I stayed at home with Petra, but will be driving back to my parents´ place early afternoon. My Mom´s surgery will be done tomorrow and I want to be with my father to support his morale.

Janie, buttered toast & jam and a mug of coffee, please.

We will be looking for a new place for my parents, once my mother has recovered. Both of my parents now agree to moving to a retirement home, where they can get the daily care they need. I hope we will find a suitable place a little closer to us, so we can see them more often. Driving a car has turned into a major expense with the price of gas closing in on $ 9 for a gallon. Gas went up by nearly a dollar, the reason being the US buying all stocks from Europe - does that sound familiar to you?

I am still looking for a way to leave this country. There is no way I can find a job here and the thought of having to live on welfare the rest of our lives is an unthinkable one. Leaving my parents and our son Christian behind will be tough, but I guess there is no other option for us. Christian is now going for his master´s degree and already has been invited to stay at the university and go for a PhD. Our little one has turned into a straight A student and I am confident that he will make his way into life. Takes away some worries from us.

Ken - that´s a great picture. I knew the Big Boy is a hefty beast, but seeing that PCC car next to it really shows the sheer size of this brute.

You all have a good one!

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

 

 

(Isn't it "180's" ?)

[Wisconsin Railfan]

Good Morning Folks!

Cup of coffee please!

have a great day all!

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning..

Welb, today is going to be windy and getting cccolder again...we are supposed to go down to 22F then lower to 16F this afternoon, then go all the way down to 4F tonight....

Today is my runnin' 'roun' doin ' stuff day as I have 2 medical appointments to go to plus some blood work needs done ....sheeesh

Flo, I'll just have a coffee ...black....please...I'll be b y the RC for a bit...

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 43° and clear. The high will be around 70° and it will be partly sunny.

Nothing in particular on the schedule today. One thing I have to do is go through all my ballast and turf and consolidate it so it's in large containers instead of a bunch of small ones. I also need to get together my grocery list for tomorrow.

[LSWrr]

Good Morning,

Well had some storm damage to the back roof, contractor quoted me $2000 for a 16ft x 19ft section of almost flat roof with a #90 rubber roof replacement.  Still trying to get through to insurance.  Total snow fall was 12.5 inches in a 27 hour period.  Snow blower is almost fixed after the newspaper was sucked up I still need to replace a shear pin on the 2^nd stage shaft.

 

Todd, there are those model railroaders that don’t want to share anything, or don’t want anyone to know what they have.  I’ve gone to operating sessions where the host will put away every locomotive and rolling stock he owns and cover his work bench with painter’s tarps just to keep it a secret.  Then you have people like me that don’t really care and posts everything online.  Maybe that’s because nothing in my basement is worth your life J

 

Robby, one day at a time, be concerned of the future but wondering/worrying about the future will only lead to health problems.  So set short term goals and in the long term you’ll get to where you need to be…

 

Chris, does Iowa have a “duty to retreat law”?  Ohio just abolished theirs last year.

 

Jeff, I normally park and ride, so I have limited mileage on my vehicle. I get a big discount (State Farm) on that, something to ask about.

 

Garry, good luck with your mother.

 

Ken, forget the transportation museum… an attractive young lady in the last picture holding a Digitrax DCC controller (or camera, I’m allowed to dream big) and no comment on who she is?????  What the heck!!!!  Where are your priorities???? GOSH…

[Anonymous]

Good Afternoon,

I just woke up from a mid-day nap. Needed the rest, as the last few days have been exhausting me. Now I will pack up my gear to get ready for the drive my parents´ place. My Mom´s surgery has now been rescheduled to Friday, which makes her (and all of us) really nervous.

Zoe, I need a strong coffee and a handful of chocolate chip cookies to munch on, please.

Lee - thanks for reminding me to take another look at the pictures Ken posted.  Yes, that is a very attractive young lady on that last picture. Must be signs of age that I missed out on her. She´d be closer to my son than to me - sigh!

Robby - I do hope that the two of you find a way to come back together again. Petra and I had very tough times, but we both fought hard for our partnership. I´d be lost without her now. My to you and Jessica!

Jeff - I am all eager to see a pic of those billboards Lee made for you. Not that I am overly curious, but ...

MRRing has been put on hold until my Mom has recovered. The track and power pack I had ordered won´t be shipped until mid of this month anyway, so my benchwork will just be collecting a little dust till then.

CUL Gang!

 

[blownout cylinder]

...Ken: aaawwww nuts...now I got to recheck those pics again.....

Ulrich:  We put your mother on our church's prayer list as well....take care...

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee and ……I don’t know what I want. How about some fruit. Basic things, none of that newfangled stuff like Pomegranates or Dates. Thanks

Sunny, with a high near 41. A bit cooler today, but still better’n 31.

Well, I see Ken recognized the place. Not too awful far from me either. WOW!!! What a loco! We have GOT to shed some baggage and winter weight if it takes a 4-8-8-4. The power required to move this place is really getting up there.

Ray- Well of course there’ll be some Chili brought in! Don’t worry about the heat though. Yes it’s a little bit spicy, but not what I would call hot. (and I’m not being the macho, melt the inside of your mouth, breathe fire and tell people it’s not hot) This is what I call an “eatin’ chili” Just a bit of zip, but not much. Brenda eats it. She says it’s about as hot as she likes, but she thinks grapes are a bit spicy too. (one of those). Personally I like to taste the flavor and have a bit of heat, rather than the set your britches to blazin eyes bug out hot where it sears your taste buds immediately and you can’t taste the chili.

Robby- They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and …. You never know what you have until it’s gone. Time away may be a good thing. Gives you both time to reflect without the distractions of …., well, let’s face it, each other. Whatever you both decide, I still wish you the best.

Jeff-  I often wonder why I carry collision on my ‘94 Dodge pick up. A scratched fender with the labor would probably total the thing let alone if they need to pull a dent. Chances of me using it are slim to none other than at least I’d get the Totaled value as opposed to the junk yards generous fifty bucks or whatever they give anymore.

Garry- I feel for you and hope things get better.

Lee- “Nothing in your basement is worth my life..?” I like that. I find that behavior kinda strange I guess. Mainly because most of this hobby, to me, is about display. And those of you who operate, or at least have people around you that also MRR, have others over all the time to see the layout and all. So to say I don’t want anyone to know what I have…, just seems odd. Unless…. Is it theft some are concerned about? If so I guess I can understand that, though that is not something I think about or am concerned about around here. Shoot, I don’t think my shed has ever been locked and my lawn mowers cost more than what’s in my house!

Today I must travel the treacherous County Blacktop to Mom’s house before Chili makin and TRAINROOM TIME!!! and do a bit of tidying up. Realtor wants to have an Open House Sunday. Personally, I think they are a waste of time as people just don’t go to Open Houses that much around here anymore. Gone are the days of Mom loading the family up in the car on Sunday and driving around checking out houses (still a few out there (snicker) ) they had no intention of buying, just wanted to see what insides looked like I guess. Some families went for a Sunday drive. We did too, Mom just stopped to snoop through peoples houses along the way.

Yacked too long again. Gotta get movin’ and a groovin’

Huh? What woman? Where? Oh. I see he now. Never noticed. What was that Flo? No I was not, I was, uh, looking at the cabinet door by the little blonde boys head. Yah, it um, (ahem) uh, looks like the same style we have in our kitchen. Good cabinets.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,

     Regular coffee, French toast, bacon and o.j. please. Waiting to go out to the race track to register and get set up today.

Jeff - sounds like you have it all covered on the adjustments. With no EGR, you can try a little more spark advance until it just "pinks" a little then back it off a couple of degrees so you don't have to listen to the anvil chorus when driving.  Other than that, it is what it is.

Todd - i agree those are handsome cabinet doors and we'll probably find out now that they are just the ones Ken has at home and we'll all be sitting here needing a podiatrist (foot in mouth disease, right)

Ken- interesting layout. Did they wind the shop stock shelves in under the benchwork or is that a seperate room adjacent to the store? Either way I'm jealous. I'm trying to work a stub end yard with a balloon track around the outside of my new layout and struggling to get a 6 foot diameter and some length for storage in.

   Has anyone heard from Galaxy lately? He seems to have gone missing and with all the issues he was dealing with, I'm concerned.

Lee - Did you lose the section of roof in the last snow storm or was it already damaged? We redid the flat roof on the shop last year with seamed asphalt product that was heat sealed on the edges and that had the advantage of having the first layer nailed and then the second bonded so theoretically we shouldn't have any leaks. It was a bunch less expensive than the usual EPDM rubber sheet. Having said that, I reroofed my deck over the back of the house (flat 8' x 12') with bonded EPDM and it survived the winter just fine even without the outer edges finished and flashed. The asphalt came with a 20year warranty.

Here comes my order, I'll be over at the rivet counter for a bit.   CUL, J.R.

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I'll have a bowl of Hot Cream of Wheat w/ Brown Sugar and a cup of dark roast coffee in a R&GV RR Mug to start the day.

"Meet me in St. Louis, Louis,  Meet me at the fair....."  Outside we are currently having something called a Flurry...  Coming down hard I might add!  Those big white flakes that usually don't amount to much.  Probably something Barry sent my way...

Todd, I think you make chili just the way I like it.  Glad it won't be finished today for us as I have to do lunch with my sister since we got sn*wed out last Friday.  Most of THAT has turned to liquid and is running off into creeks, streams, rivers, and such causing some minor flooding around these parts.

Ulrich, My prayers to both you and your Mom (and Dad).  Glad to hear they both are now comfortable with moving to an assisted living, "retirement home". 

I went downstairs to the layout yesterday afternoon and turned on the heat and lights, hoping to get a bunch more things done on the Engine House/ Workshop.  I spent most all the day sorting documents for taxes (it's THAT time of year again...).  Spent about 45 minutes w*rking on the Engine House, decided I had used enough of the bad words I know, shut of the heater and the lights, and came back upstairs and decided I might just as well start filling out all the information in TurboTax......  Pretty much roughed in the Federal part.  Looks like I will owe a little, but way less than last year.  Have to recheck all the figures and see what I might have missed, then do the state return.  Pr0obably will spend this evening finishing it up.

Hope you all have a great day!  Prayers to all in need!

73

[LSWrr]

JR, blind nailed asphalt like you described is $1500.00 a new rubber compound roof is $2000.00. These are discounted prices; he is only charging $250 labor. The previous owner used 3 tab shingles on a flat roof so the prices include a tear off and haul away.  The straw that broke the camel’s back was ice between the layers, but the wind has raised havoc with the tabs.

 

Todd, Yea I don’t know, these same people are always the first one to criticize your work too! 

 One day the neighbor told me his son over heard a plan to start breaking into houses on my street.  I told him to tell his son, to tell his friends to pass over my house, while the black lab is chewing on your arm I’ll be loading my shotgun with 3” magnum high brass Rottweiler rounds I bought for bear hunting.  There wasn’t a single break-in on my street yet.  Really I’m a nice person, but if comes down to a: him or I situation I’m going to put up the good fight.  

[cudaken]

  Morning Folks!

 Flo, bowel of Sugar Frosted Flakes and glass of OJ.

 Nothing much planed today, just a little running around (beer run) and cleaning up the garage.

 Lee,The young lady is running a train. If I was 20 years younger I would have gotten her name. 

 JR The layout is huge, it is 61 foot  X 81. Ken does have some stuff in the layout room for sale. Mainly O scale, but the bulk of the items are in the show room.

 Pretty much out of things to say, I will drop by latter.

         Ken

[nik .n]

Mornin'!

Just dropping in to say Hi.

So far, we have most of the floor in the house, and the kitchen is torn apart, waiting for dad and I to make the new cabinets. Other than that, all is good.

 

See yall later,

Nik

[BRAKIE]

Good Morning All.

Not much to report from Buckeye land other then while out and about I saw a NS Eastbound empty hopper train with 2 -9 GEs.

No modeling yesterday I was to busy goofing off...No big plans for today other then doing some serious rethinking about Slate Creek gone wild.

I shall have a cup and look over the forum.

Have a good'un!