Elliot´s Trackside Diner March 2011

[JimRCGMO]

Evening, Chloe, I'll have a hot fudge sundae and a Colorado-Arizona-&-Western mug of coffee, please. Thank you, ma'am.

AmanaMedic

What's THAT Flo? They're CURT's and they're OK?????

... [clip] ...

Man. I can just see the look on some thug's face when after breaking into CURT's house, he finds a squad of skunks staring back at him!!!

Hey, Chris, I bet that Curt's pet skunk Stevie would take a smaller bite (if any) out of your meal if Stevie delivered it to you (remember back when we were up in the deep Northwoods on that siding? You know, the one where Zoe and Chloe had the raccoons helping out, and the moose doing the valet parking - or whatever he was doing outside the Diner then...). And yeah, I can just about see a crook breaking into a cold sweat as he's busy backpedalling out the door, too!

Beautiful weather today - got into the upper 70's (F)/(lower 20's C) this afternoon. Shame I had to be at w**k and inside. At least I had windows to see how good it was outside.

Found out that they apparently gave me (and I guess, the rest of the crisis team) a 3 percent raise (got our paystubs for tomorrow's direct deposit). I'll take it - let's see, that means after you count the loss of the stipend and then add the 'raise', I'm about 13 percent behind where I had been. (Ah, I should be glad I have a job, right? Okay, I'll hushup...) But then again, when I consider our 'public servants', who vote themselves raises and cost-of-living(-it-up?) increases way above that.... Okay, time for to go back to its corner.

Ah, Jeff - good to hear the ball teams will still be playing ball in the park. After all, it is spring training and not far from the start of "Playyyyy BALL!" More good progress on your roads, too.

Rob, from how you described the plastic container, if that ain't the W-S sticky-glue stuff, it's a very close cousin to it. On your layout shots, is that a double slip switch? I was thinking it was just a 30 degree crossing on the one mainline (from the other mainline) going to the siding (to the left of the photo I'm thinking about). I'll defer to our electrical gurus in here about your track wiring question; I may have others of my own once I get the bus wires and feeders hooked up and try to get things where I can actually run a train...

Ron/DrgnTrppr, let's look over those layout photos together - maybe we both can get inspired for our own layouts. (But, that would mean I'd have to actually accomplish more than I've been doing, wouldn't it? Hmm...) Will add your son to the list, and send him our thanks!

Todd, I'm sure *real* classical guitar lovers will shriek when I mention this, but I've seen some brands of classical strings that have balls on the ends, and there are 'shiny' looking strings that are very thin wire over nylon - the bottom strings might be - the old 'silk-n-steel' ones I used to have on my (former) Gibson with the white sideboards (a few decades back). But the silk-n-steel ones had lighter weight steel for the uppermost strings, so maybe Willie's mix-and-matching to get what he likes.

Ray - ("show-off'?) Shavings? Now you're just trying to keep up with DerJohn (but he does his magic in iNvisible scale). That enginehouse is looking even more amazing!

Curt, I missed the photo of (Stevie?) that you'd posted, but went back and found it. Cute li'l (or not so li'l) fella. I'd agree with whoever it was - Rob? Todd? - that he could pass for a badger up close. But I don't think any crook trying to break in would want to face a badger, either... Those layout pics look good - you have (what I'd call) a good spread of territory there for your RR.

Brakie, good story about your sittin' and sippin' stop - hopefully, you're not on Homeland Security's watch list now... (Just kidding, I think...)

Jerry, how's the Illinois & Southern been doing lately? Have you and Sallie been up to anything with the grandkids?

Lee - that (fictional?) exchange of yours with the electrician sounds like why I don't do much fussin' with AC power...

Ulrich, you might try to find online the Canon site for Germany and download your drivers from there. Worth a shot, anyway. I've been able at times to do it for my Canon printer. Hope your rest of the week starts turning up.

Ah, tomorrow is time to figure what gets what part of the payday. Usually, this one out of the month has more flex to it (but I found out I missed last month's electric bill, so will have a double portion of that to pay). Need to get a money order ready to mail, and if I have some left over after the bills (and state income tax payment), may bid on some train stuff on deBay. We'll see.

Time for this fella to head for home and get some shuteye - on-call the next four nights (after tonight) in a row, but I'll have the daylight to run errands. Prayers will continue for those ailing, for protection, safety in travelling, comfort, a good night's rest (and smoky hairdo's), and general well-being.

 

Blessings and prayers,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[howmus]

Evenin' Folks!

Just a decaf for me right now, Flo......  I'll go sit in the back booth and soak up some warmth from the stive.

JimRCGMO

Ray - ("show-off'?) Shavings? Now you're just trying to keep up with DerJohn (but he does his magic in iNvisible scale). That enginehouse is looking even more amazing!

Ah, Thanks Jim,  I think.....  My friend from the museum now says I need to paint a bunch of stuff to get a nice patina look to the metal.....  And fabricate an Armstrong tool holder for the lathe bit.  Anyone have any idea how to make plastic look like steel with the patina look to it???  I may stop in at Michaels tomorrow on my way to Canandaigua to feed the cats (last day for THAT!) and buy some patina green paint....  It might work over gunmetal as a wash....???

Got a lot of stuff done today, but never made it anywhere near the trains. 

Hope you all have a great night!

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

CNCharlie

Good Evening,

Just had a nice post done and then poof! Gone.

Maybe it was too long.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Put your post together in Notepad or Wordpad and save a temporary copy of it. Then it's a simple matter to COPY and PASTE it into the reply box and click post. If something happens and it doesn't post just paste again and click post. Nothing to it.

[Cederstrand]

Chamomile tea, please.

***Jeffrey & Curt, much progress on your respective layouts there. We enjoy seeing the pics.

***Jim, it's just a simple crossover, from the inner mainline across the end-to-end line. Still haven't figured out what that spur goes to? Need to figure that out before making the track permanent.

We placed the rest of the autos on the wife's layout earlier. Need a truck for the farrier and a couple more cop cars (or bikes) to block off sections of the parade route. And perhaps a logging crane or lift of some sort for the lumber mill and a small forklift for the feed store, but that's it.

2:00am Good night y'all.

Rob

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

 

[LSWrr]

Good Morning,

I drove 30 minutes into work this morning to drive 3 hours to Buffalo for a 1 hour meeting then driving 3 hours back to the office and then driving 30 minutes home.  It’s going to be a long day…

 

Well on the electrical front, I’ve replaced outlets and light fixtures before, but this is a little more advanced than my “current” skill level.  The electrician normally charges $100 for the first 3 hours and is a friend of a friend that does odd jobs.  He and his brother are the ones that installed the roof for me last week.

[blownout cylinder]

Ray: I'd almost think that you could use it like a wash...My sister has used it like that to simulate that patina on some dowels that she painted as exposed copper piping for her doll house...

Good Morning..

It's going to get kind of dicey out there tonight - tomorrow morning..they are now forecasting freezing rain for us'uns...

Got another vampire visit to get done tday then another bunch of test done over next week...sheesh      

As well...I'm going to go and find some scratchbuilding supplies at the dollar store near here as well.

                                  

[galaxy]

Morning all

Have to take the Kia Sedona for its anual inspection, Hope it DOES NOT NEED any work done to pass. I will have them install new wiperblades for spring/summer and maybe it needs an oil change, I will have to check the window stricker. It's only 5 years old so should pass with flying colors!

MOH got called into work so that was good as only scheduled for a lousy 14.5 hours this week, so every extra shift helps. WIll be playing cashier up front.

I may go to my dad's this afternoon. sometimes he grease my palm, and hasn;t in awhile, would be nice if he did. I know he's saving for a new kitchen floor, so when he has a major project he is saving for he greases my palm less. I don't count on it, and am always surprised when he does! ANd the duplex in Fl is supposed to be fully rented so he should have some mroe income comming in every month, so when it is rented, he greases more often.

WEll I need to ge t in the shower to get ready for the day

Have agreat day!

TTYALL8R

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Dark Roast Coffee please. Thanks

I don’t understand it, I like dark coffee, dark meat chicken, why don’t I like dark beer? Odd.

Mostly cloudy, with a high near 72. Gonna start cooling off tomorrow.

With the auction not over until tomorrow night, as of right now I’ve been outbid on my loco by a dollar. I only went $50 (with $10 S&H). Yes I know there is no telling how high the bidder after me went, he could have a max bid of over $100. It’s a Proto 2000 SW9 in T & P. Funny thing is the end of the box says it’s an undecorated model. Though it says New in Box, they could have the wrong box, or they could have painted a Undec in T&P and never run it therefore still calling it new, or…figured it looked like new so that’s what they’ll call it. Either way, I figured I’d take a chance with $60. Otherwise, I’ll wait. Could buy a new one and do it myself, that way I know what I’m getting. I have acquired some decals over the last couple years.

NOW we’re cookin’ with grease! Layout pictures are flowin like wine. Settle down Ray and Tom. It’s just an expression. Boy, I never seen two people spin around in their seats that fast wine glasses at the ready. (What, do those guys have wine glasses in holsters or something? It was like quick draw there)

Curt- Looks good! I assume by the what appears to be support blocks in the access holes they will be popups?

Jim- I’ve assumed over the years he (Willie) mixes strings. Many guitarists use their own flavor to create “their sound”. Or, maybe because of the way he plays, the nylon just didn’t hold up long enough on those four strings.

Well last night I did get into the train room with the intent of straightening up and doing some cleaning. What I actually did was stand in the door, look around, shake my head, turn off the lights and walk out. Maybe today between projects. We’ll see.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[Curt Webb]

Morning all.

Flo, could I have a cup of coffee please?

Unfortunately I am at w**k today (no desire to be here), yesterday was ridiculous. First I misplaced my bag that I keep my stethascope in then I misplaced my security pass that  I need to get into Disney when I am running calls. I felt like I would loose my head if  it wasn't attached. The good news is that everything was turned over to park security so I got eveything back. I hate getting old.

I was laying in bed this morning and realized I might have screwed up big time on the layout. I had intended to only tack down the #6 turnouts with Atlas nails until I knew that there were no problems, then use latex caulk on both ends to hold it in place. Unfortunately while laying them down I hammmered the nails all the way in. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. Hopefullly it will be OK.

I will probably start laying Flex  track Sunday between the installed switches. I have never soldered before, but have watched numerous Youtube videos about it and also talked to some of my club members about it.

My  nephew had a great ball game last  night. He hit a home run, pitched 2 innings-3 up/down and had 2 double plays as a shortstop.

Well I will pop in later. Hope everyone has a good day.

  

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 67° and cloudy. The high will be 82° and it will be cloudy with a trace of rain.

I'll be working on some gravel roads today. Most notably the one that crosses the track in front of the north engine house, curves around and crosses the track again in front of Ezra's Exxon station. As for anything else that I'll be doing today it depends on what comes up.

[Anonymous]

Good Afternnon Fellow Diners,

a dull day, despite the sunshine we enjoy in our region. Nothing much to do, nothing much planned for the rest of the day, as my order of track & power pack still has not yet shown up. I am just taking care of my cold which I seem to have passed on to Petra

Zoe, a mug of dark roast and a slice of that cream cake, please.

Jeff - those are great looking billboards!

Curt - those skunks look cute. I bet they make great pets! We only have the two-legged kind of skunks around my neck of the woods, and I don´t want to keep them for a pet for sure!

Anybody knows of a job opening for me in Alaska?

TTFN

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I'll have a short stack of buttermilk pancakes, bacon, and a cup of dark roast coffee in a R&GV RR mug.  Please and thank you ma'am.

Barry, I'm going to stop into Michaels on my way to feed my sister's menagerie today to pick up some patina paint.  I need to get a new set of the 2 stage rust antiquing solution anyway, have the weekly 40% off coupon, so I will spend less on the 2 items.....  I will try out the process on some scrap tubing first to see how it looks.

Jeffrey, those billboards are looking fine!  Your work on the layout is progressing very nicely, BTW.

Currently 37°F here in the Finger Lakes, going down to 27°F tonight and tomorrow we are expecting a couple inches of fluffy white stuff.....  My sister will enjoy it after being in the hills of Mexico for 2 weeks.   This is perfectly normal around here in late March.  Back in '93 (I think) we had the major Blizzard of the season about this time.  Over 3' of blowing white stuff.  I ended up with 5' drifts in the driveway.  It doesn't last long this time of year, but we always get some "Partly Cloudy"!

Hope all of you have a great day!

73

[Curt Webb]

I have a question I hope someone can answer. How do you determine what a distance in HO would be in real life. I want to  determine what distance my 2 main lines would be if  it was full size.

Sorry about the negative post earlier, yesterday was not a good day for me and I got upset this morning when I realized what I did to the turnouts. I guess I was just venting.  I promise to be more positive.

Todd- Yes, they are push out panels.  I plan on putting something like a foam hill or lake on them, so they don't weigh a ton.

[Anonymous]

Curt - simply multiply the distance you have measured on your layout by 87 and there is your real life distance.

And hey, there is nothing wrong about venting or letting off some steam. We all do this here. If it gets too bad, there is still the . Chloe has a reputation for getting it out early along a rant.

[howmus]

Mornin' Curt,

HO is 1/87.1 scale, so every actual foot on your layout would represent 87.1 feet in real life.  To go one mile (5,280 feet) you would need 60.62' of layout......  Don't plan on modeling the entire UP unless you have a very large basement.....

73

[Cederstrand]

Italian roast coffee in a SUNNY SOUTHERN mug, please.

After many weeks up in the barn, Cold Mountain's (a mare) eye is pretty close to normal, now a pale yellow rather than the closed, orange & red mess it had been when I brought her in. Hopefully, in time it will return to light blue. Anyway, I put her back out to pasture with the gang herd. After a few of the usual snorts and high flying kicks at each other, they are all settled back into their old routine. Whew, that lightens up my barn work by half.

Have a good day y'all.

Rob

[DrgnTrappr]

Good Morning, wait make that Good Afternoon Everyone.

Flo, a large soda, easy on the ice please!

This is the earliest that the lawn has needed mowing here, and after 4 hours I got it done. The cool thing is that this is the first time in allmost two years that I have been able to mow my own lawn, and while I was out there I noticed that there is a lot of things that are going to need some attention. I will probably pay for this in the morning but it sure felt good today, last year we just could not get a garden in becuase of my health issues, so I went up the hill to were the garden usualy go'es and it has been completly taken over by morning glories, so if there is going to be a garden it wont be there. Guess the Dr. will probably want to release me to go back to work soon, now if I could just get him to say that I am cancer free I would be happy. I have already promised the family that I would not go back to the old job, but I realy dont know what else I can do.

I have been going back and trying to catch up with everything I missed while my son was here, miss a couple of weeks and a lot has happened.

Jeff; The layout is looking good, and I love the billboards.

Ray; That machine shop sure looks good, I hope to some day have the patience to be so detailed.

Rob; The Wifes layout looks nearly finished, I am waiting to see some more of your great work on that volcano seen.

Robby; I hope the job here in NC is going well, and you have settled in to your new surroundings.

Urich; I am still sending prayers your way for your Mom, I realy like the rail pass idea, guess I need to name my railroad and work on that. My son is stationed in Fairbanks Alaska, he keeps trying to talk the Wife and I into moving there and he says that there are lots of jobs there, seems the locals dont have very good work ethics, I just dont know about having to go to work in -35 degree weather. Anyways I hope that you and Petra start feeling better soon.

Ken; Did you get that new locomotive??? The Wife has put a freeze on my spending, she finaly looked at the books and saw what I have spent so far and she was not happy, then I told her that I will probably need about another 600 for turnouts and controls and the rest of the track. That is when she tryed to take my bank card, no just kidding, but she did ask me to slow down until after we go to Tampa next week.

Curt; Those are sure some funny looking cats you have, the layout is looking good, you have gotten a lot done.

Speaking of cats, we have adopted a freinds cat that they could not take with them to Chicago, it a Himilayen something or other and it has to be the wierdest cat I have ever seen. It has atail that is only about three inches long, it has six toes on three feet and atleast seven on the fourth, and it is all white, and is the noisiest cat I have ever heard.

The Wife just got home and she wants to use my van to haul firewood for a kiln firing, so I better go and see how she plans on loading the stuff.

See You All later.

Ron

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Howdy.

It's good to see so many diners and see progress on some layouts and some models. Keep up the good work, everyone.

Thanks very much for all the thoughts and prayers. With my Mom in AL, much has been done in the past six weeks, but there is a lot more to do. Police are investigating the scams. Unfortuantely, laws are weak pertaining to protection of the elderly from con-artists. .These people know what they can get away with while manipulating elderly people with diminished mental capabilities. It's even a challenge getting a reestraining order.

Regarding my injured sister in Alabama, the injuries were numerous and painful, but fortunately, she can recover from all of that. She'll endure a painful period of time, but then she should be OK.

My sister in Michigan is flying to Alabama to help with all the stuff there. Meanwhile, I've returned to KY, and I am working on a ton of routine stuff here. Also, I still need to work on the taxes (Yuk!). Shelley will return here from being with grandkids, and we will attempt getting back to normal at least for a short period. Then we will be headed away to more of the same stuff.

We are in the "Sandwich Generation" between problems with our elderly parents and with our kids and grandkids.

 

 

 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I got most of the gravel roads on the extension put down today. Maybe tomorrow I'll get back to work on the main part of the layout. Still need to get turf down on the east side.

[JimRCGMO]

Afternoon, Zoe, I'll have a RBF (Root Beer Float, for those newly arrived in the Diner) and a grilled cheese sandwich with a pickle spear, please. Thanks!

Ray, for something to get a patina, I would expect that crafts paints might have a better selection for you. I was actually trying to give you s, since you've taken over (in HO scale) DerJohn's job of showing us "How it's done" (He's been away for a bit, so somebody had to cover in the meantime, right? (And it isn't likely to be moi...) I've been saving your photos of the roundhouse for future ideas if/once I get my layout to the point of putting in my roundhouse and turntable, by the way.

Curt, although it might be (as Winnie the Pooh might say) "Oh, Bother!" to pull them out, you could get the Atlas nails out to loosen up those turnouts for what you need on the flextrack. It's just as Mr. Milne's li'l friend would say, though. Glad your yesterday turned out less of the "Bother" than it appeared at first. And as Ray mentioned about your mainline length, unless you're Rod Stewart and have that huge of a space, some compression of the UP might be in order (or most other RR's) in the average MRR'er's more meager space...

Todd, from what I recall of Willie's playing on TV clips, yeah, he could use stronger strings on the lower end for his guitar. I have wondered how that worn-through hole on his guitar (was that one 'Trigger'?) affected the acoustics of it. Or has he had the top fixed?

Garry, I consider that there should be a special place in  for those who take advantage of elderly persons. (I will restrain myself from continuing on that line, or Zoe will have the soapbox out of its corner for me...) Hope you can set up some procedures/legal/other stuff to keep the from trying to bamboozle your Mom again later, too.

Got some bills paid this morning (a couple online), and in looking more closely at the most recent one (and the couple before that), I saved myself some money on my AmerenUE (electric) bill. Turned out this last bill was bigger than expected not because I'd missed a payment, but because I had for some reason scheduled it to go through late and therefore it hadn't showed up by the time the new bill was sent out. "More MRR'ing money, AaarrrAaarrAarrrrr!!!" (as Tim-the-Train-Man might say...).

I seem to be in a good mood today (or maybe just playful - or as Barry might call it, piculous... Surprising for a grey day hereabouts (clouds trying to move in from Oklahoma, but most any rain is evaporating before it reaches the ground, since it's pretty dry the past few days). Guess I'll kick back in the window booth and see what the local's doing out there...

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[Packer]

Hey Guys, I'm back

I had contracted a really nasty flu or something. I was usually too tired to even get out of bed for about a week and a half. Needless to say I haven't done much; but since it's now spring break for me I might go out and do something.

 

I'll pop in later.

[howmus]

Afternoon folks!

Flo just a cup of hot cocoa for me right now.  I'll have dinner in an hour or so.

Ron said - "Ray; That machine shop sure looks good, I hope to some day have the patience to be so detailed."

Me too.....

Jim, we have to get a font for the diner called "Sarcasm".....  Thank you for your kind words sir.  I think what I love the best about this hobby is learning to do new things and to become better with time as a modeler.  I have been exchanging emails during the last few days with the Superintendent of Schools  here in town on some Martin Luther King Committee business.  He emailed me back with the needed info, and I sent him one thanking him for his time.  A day goes by and I get an email from him.....  He says he spent a couple hours going through all the photos of my model railroading at my photobucket site (I have a link in my email signature like the one on this page.  He was completely WOWed by it as he had never seen a model railroad like that before.  'tis fun when those things happen.

Have a meeting this evening then a couple hours to sit here at the computer before picking up my sister at the airport around 11PM.  It will be probably 1AM before I get back home tonight.  May sleep in tomorrow.

Later!

73

[Cederstrand]

Coffee refill, please.

***Ron, I wish her layout was almost finished. Besides lots of little detail stuff, there is still a river canyon to do and a whole carnival to build. I get tuckered out just thinking about it. I told her the carnival rides would be a summer project and it seems summer is nearly upon us. Man, time goes by too quickly these days.

Ground down the handle of the doornob and set it in a pvc pipe. Wife says it is small for HO and I realize she is correct. Guess it will end up on my layout, above the Soylent Green Plant. 

Opened up the main gate between back & middle pastures and let all the horses join into one herd. Ater the initial whoopin' & hollerin', they have settled down. Took the tractor out and smoothed out a nasty trench that had formed in the corner of the back pasture. Should prevent any horse mishaps there.

Will be in the corner booth resting up a bit.

Rob

 

[blownout cylinder]

Ray: Have a safe drive tonight..they just got a snowfall warning now out for us'uns..about 6-8" of the stuff proposed for here...

Good Evening..

Got the vampire visit done and got told that there needs be 3 more doctor visits next week..on top of the 3 already scheduled...they now want to X-Ray my ankles...like I have any issues with them...

Tomorrow I'll be spending in the trainroom getting some scenery down then taking some piccys... Tonight? Working on some music here...heeheehee

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

The back of Ezra's Exxon with gravel road and drive.

[Curt Webb]

Hi All,

Flo I would likke a country fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans and a ice tea please.

That photo of  the machine shop is awesome. I hope some day I can model like that. Nothing much happened today out of the ordinary. Today was the first day this year that I have sweated while outside, but it is mild out right now.

I have friday off so I will  finish anchoring the last 4  # 6 turnouts (behind the passenger station on the 2 mainlines). I was going to  work on Flex track on sunday, but I picked up 15 hours of OT instead. This will pay for my 14 PECO turnouts that I get a week saturday. That will make the wife happy.

I already have a 12 pack of tortoises , so I will need another 12 pack. I have already purchased the DCC system and components that I will be using (Digitrax zephyr plus) so I think until I start landscaping the really big purchases are done which  will really make the wife happy. 

I am already thinking about signaling systems and have been reading  several manufacturers sites but everything seems so complicated, I know next to nothing about electricity, electronics or wiring diagrams. On one site the wiring looks like it is from the space shuttle! Does anyone have any suuggestions?

Well I have rambled on enough. Hope everyone has a great night and talk to you tomorrow.

[Curt Webb]

I realized that I forgot to say how  much I like Ezra's Exxon. It brings back memories of several Southern gas stations I have been at in my travels.

Have a good night

[cudaken]

Days like today is why God invented Beer!

 Flo yes a beer please. Lots of them.

 It must be spring, because all the nuts where out in full forces, and at my store! First person in the store was a woman that had been next door to get tested for glasses and had no teeth. She then started telling me when she gets out of the halfway house she wound need a mattress but first she need glasses and dentures (spell check) because she sold hers to buy crack?

 Next thing in the door was a 300 pound woman with black and purple hair and a comb sticking straight up in it. Walk in and yelled "Hi Cuss's " and walked straight to the desk, asked here what sizes mattress she was looking for. Looked at me with a blank look. Then she spotted the bottle of hand sanitizer sitting on the counter, and asked if she could have some, I said sure. Squish, Squish, Squish and Squish. You think it was Goop and she had just pulled an engine out of a car! Stuff was dripping off her Paws all over the invoices I was working on before IT came in the store! Asked me if I had a towel, told her there was some in the bathroom and pointed. She sat down on a king sizes mattress and started Whipping Her Hands On It! Just looked at her and said "Leave"! Got up with out saying a word and left.

  Got to fight with the company bank, won't go into details but they would not let me deposit $4750.00 in checks into the company account because I am not on the account?

  Last Customer of the day. Man came in with his 2 year old son and about 5 year old Birch. I cannot use the word I want to, but put a T where the R is and go from there. Dad was holding the boy and the kid was screaming, he wanted down. (he should have stayed in Dad's arms he been safer) Dad but the boy down and started trying beds. Little Birch put here brother into a head lock and started dragging the boy around the show room, boy was screaming for dear life! All dad did was say "stop that you might hurt him"?

 When the Little Birch got bored with the full nelson, she grabbed him by his feet and started dragging him faces down for a while?   Dad said nothing? Next the little Birch backed the boy into the corner and started kicking him! Again the Dad said nothing! All this time I tried to remain composed and tell the Dumb$1***$2about the mattress. It was all I could do from grabbing the little Birch off her brother, or grab him and saying "What the %$& is wrong with you moron".  

 Curt I know a lot of people here like to latex there track down. My self, I latex down my cork road bed and use rail spike into the cork and for me it has held for 3 years with around 600 hours of rail time. I do add some extra holes and spikes in turns. I will all so add spikes on the the outside of a turn. If you ballast, that will anchor down the track just like a real rail road. Just my worth.

 Ron Glad you are doing better and felt like cutting your field / yard. As far as buying the other Big Boy, have not done it yet.Besides the $300.00 cash outlay I keep asking my self if I need another Big Boy, well we really don't need any train stuff when you get down to it. But, they are such great looking engines. 

 We will see what the budget will allow this Thursday after the wife gets done with the paycheck. I will be lucky to be able to afford a set of Kadee Couplers know Sue.

 Sure hope you all had a better day than me!

              Ken

[Cederstrand]

Veggie plate, please.

Went down to the train room, turned on all the lights, was setting a 4th little figure on the wife's layout when "bang bang bang", a poor bird was hitting the windows. Shut off the lights and left the room. Will need to clean up around that porch and providing there are no baby birds around, encourage the birds move their nest. No doubt that is why the bird is back there.

Rob