Elliot´s Trackside Diner March 2011

[Cederstrand]

Oatmeal cookies, please.

***Curt, Ditto what J.R. & Ray said. Speak up, get your thoughts off your chest and clear your mind.

Went down to the train room and started gooping (sheetrock mudding) strategic parts of the canyon walls where bridges will cross over. This was on my (N) layout. When wife sees the progress, wonder if she'll remind me her canyon remains unfinished.

Rob

[blownout cylinder]

Hello...

Now to see how long it takes to post this...

Had a busy day with all kinds of dietitian and doctor appointments...I even have another specialist to go to on Thursday now...yay...  

So, here we go doing some more things like more bloodwork..as it is I got another visit with the vampire next week....

Now...about this site..what was up with this thing last night? It was just a-creeping here...on all 3 browsers...and 2 ISP's....ningh?

[howmus]

Evenin' Folks!

Flo, I'll have the New York Strip steak, medium rare, baked potato w/ sour cream, the fresh picked asparagus, and a trip to the salad bar..... Oh, and a cup of decaf coffee please.

Been a good hobby day so far.  I am almost finished assembling the doors for the main room of the engine house/workshop.

Curt, I agree with J.R.  Sounds like the guy at work is now feeling a bit guilty and wants to make up.....  I would give him the benefit of the doubt and talk with him.  Do tell him you want to discuss the incident and let him know his behavior hurt you.

Have to get upstairs for a bit.  A person is stopping by to get a pile if invites to the scholarship dinner.

Later!

73

[Cederstrand]

Filet Mignon, baked potato and steamed veggies, please.

Ordered a few tunnel portals, retaing walls & bridge abutments for my (N) layout. Considered buying molds, but for the few needed, it was cheaper for me to buy the ready made versions.

Looks like more rain moving in tonight. Need some sun to grow the grass.

Cheers! Rob

[GMTRacing]

Good Evening All,

     About to head out for the museum and display w..k.

Charlie - hope you're ok now - don't need those rides do we? Musta been pretty bad there for a time.

Curt - If your friend and co-worker doesn't bring it up, you could just ask if he wants to discuss what happebned. To me he sounded more like he over-reacted. If you are the Steward and he's the assistant seems he may have felt threatened. If the problem has the potential to be ongoing or fester, best to try to have a calm discussion where all the facts and opinions can be aired and then get on with life. Speaking of out of gauge wheel sets, most of the time once checked, you can adjust an out of gauge set by gently twisting one wheel against the other until the desired dimension is reached. If the track is out of gauge and it is prefab track your options are more limited. If too tight you can try tweaking the rails apart (usually results in the rail ripping off the ties) or lightly filing the rail on the inside flanges (usually increases the frequency of derailments). Many times too tight track gauge is caused by driving the spikes too deep on the ties pinching the track together. You can usually pull the track nails to fix that and straighten the ties carefully.    The derailing pilot on the BLI is something else usually. Does it derail in the same spot or does it derail randomly.  If the problem occurs in the same spot over and over and the gauge is correct on the truck, check the rail and turnout to see if it has a problem. Often Atlas turnouts have the area around the frog too high and they launch the lead truck. Some folks shim  or strengthen the spring for the lead truck (I think Ken can expound on this as memory tells me he has had this issue). Hope that helps.    J.R.

[Curt Webb]

Sorry to keep asking questions but I have another.

I was reading about how wheels and track may be out of gauge. I understand about the NMRA gauge and I have watched a MRR video on how to use it. My question and this is probably pretty stupid to all of you is " If wheels or Rails are out of gauge how do you fix them?

I have a older BLI PRR J1 (2-10-4) that the front truck seems to try to derail on certain club turnouts all the time and this may be the issue.

I expect in the case of  wheels you just replace them, but track would be different I think.

A couple of days ago I posted about a friend that was way out of line. He called me today as if  nothing has happened. I w**k with him Wed, Thur, Fri-Should be interesting. Am I being unreasonable and should I forgive and forget so to speak? I would value your opinions on this.

Next week I w**k a wierd schedule-Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The good thing is I will  have a couple of days  with no one home so I will be laying track.

 

[Curt Webb]

Howdy all,

Not much going on here. The wife and I are helping our son pick a health insurance plan from his work (3 options). Wife got off early for MD appointment so she is home early.

Todd- Yes I pre wet the molds with wet water. I think the problem was that  I was surprised by how stiff the molds were trying to get  the rocks out. I may of been too rough. Next time I  will not keep them in overnight and see what happens.

Howmus- Have a great time with #1 Granddaughter. Sounds like  a fun time.

[CNCharlie]

Good Afteroon,

Well I certainly had a new experience this morning. I got to ride in an ambulance as the guy in back!  The saga started yesterday afternoon when I had a Barium colon test. Can't do a colonoscopy as I have diverticulosis. Anyway that part went fine but this morning I had severe and I do mean severe cramps for over an hour so we called and were told to call the ambulance. After another couple of hours of intermittent agony, how shall I say--- it largely resolved itself. They did an x-ray to be sure no barium had leaked into my abdomen and sent me home.  Feel ok now.  I may get a bill for the ambulance but not sure as I wasn't asked for anything but my healthcard. Never seeing a bill is an upside to our form of healthcare.

Garry, you might consider  a Fujuitsu computer. It is or maybe was, the only one actually made in Japan. The tech centre for North America is in Canada and so you can actually talk to and understand them, well I can but then I'm used to the accent.  Never had the tech centre ring more than 6 times and you are covered for support as long as you own the computer. They tend to  be a little more expensive than other makes but we are very happy with ours.

Todd, I too agree with Jeff. You need the alcohol first especially for ballast. I just re-did a siding and that is the only way the glue mix will sink in, at least for me. I've had the same experience as you trying to spray ground foam even with the genuine WS senic cement in the official spray bottle. I just spread glue around with a small brush or my fingers and then sprinkle the foam on top. I use those cheap medicine syringes you get at the drug store for the alcohol and the glue. They are very easy to control. 

Have had some fun trying to put a decoder into a Walthers N scale 0-8-0. It has a plug for a decoder in the tender but the plug on a DZ125 is too tall. I had to take it off and solder on a different one. Seems like it is still too tall but it could be the decoder. I may just have to get the TCS one as it does fit. It is expensive and you can only get it direct from TCS. I have a TCS decoder in a PK2 S3 and it is the smoothest running engine I have so perhaps I should just spend the extra and buy TCS decoders.

I've also had decoder fun with a Digitrax SND144PS. I put it into my BMan GP9 as I had the decoder on hand. I had originally put it into a BMan consolidation but was so disappointed with the sound quality I put the MRC back in. Sad when a Digitrax decoder is worse than an MRC. Anyway you can select a diesel sound for it so I put it in and it did sound better but it would only run a foot or so and then shut down, re-start after a push and so on. I put the stay alive capacitor on it too even though I don't know where it would fit under the shell. I then put the cheap BMan decoder back in and it works just fine. One SND144 for the scrap heap.

Well that's it for me.

CN Charlie

[howmus]

Afternoon folks!

Flo, I'll have a cup of hot cocoa to tide me over to dinnertime and warm me up a bit.....

I have been continuing w*rk on the main doors for the engine house.  THAT means I am typing this at the keyboard I use with my little Mac Mini....

Hey Todd!  Watch It!  I did say over on the, ah, thread, if you don't like the NMRA, are not going to have any fun at our events, and just don't like those in the organization, and think that we are all a bunch of ^%%&^%$*, then "Please don't join!"  Unfortunately some do and cause nothing but trouble.......

BTW your advise on the Hydrocal was right on!  It may be more expensive, but still relatively cheap and quite easy to use.

My son called early this afternoon and said #1 Granddaughter needs to be watched tomorrow for a while and she wants to come over to "Papas" house (that's me) to run trains.  Well, who can resist THAT!  #2 Granddaughter has a doctor's appt. so I get to play with #1 Granddaughter. 

The stain on the little pieces for the doors appear to be dry so I can now put them in place and watch the glue dry.......  Fun!

Later!

73

[TMarsh]

WARNING!!!! The following contains advice from Todd. Others may want to read and take appropriate action.

Curt- Did you spray the mold with wet water first? Usually, but not always, that takes care of two things I have experienced.  1, it helps the plaster release from the mold easier without much prying. Especially for undercut parts which can still prove a bit nerve racking. Just hold the casting as close to the feature as possible pull slowly and steadily and hope for the best. And 2, the extra bit of liquid, or so it seems, allows the plaster to really settle into the fine details. It may be my imagination on the second point but it seemed that way to me on the few I have "forgotten" to wet.  

Also, I recall you saying you let them stay in the molds over night. Not sure if that had anything to do with it but, usually I remove mine after about an hour or so. The plaster is still soft enough that I can, with sufficiant pressure but not just normal handling, smudge the fine detail, but still solid and is seemingly less brittle. Maybe those who have cast way more than I have, such as Lee who has cast everything that would hold still long enough to be molded, has a correction to my theories. That's what seems to be the best for me so far.

There also is the Hydrocal side of the thing. Hydrocal is much stronger than POP, but also is more expensive. Ray, I believe, uses Hydrocal. Now THERE is someone else who could tell you about casting. And soldering also if you have problems. He has a complete training plan if you ask nice. Even though he is a staunch advocate of the NMRA. (sorry Ray, I just couldn't resist )

OW! Gee whiz Flo, will you put the stale biscuits out of Ray's reach! 

[AmanaMedic]

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooood Morning, stack of pancakes, bucket of butter-stuff, jug of maple-flavored corn syrup, and a bucket of coffee please 'n thank-you.

Geesh! Couldn't get in here at all for most of yesterday and last night.

VINCENT: The CNW (Cheap and Nothing Wasted) real-life kitbash started in 1987. The first two were done by XTRA in a Katy shop. The CNW took a liking to them and banged-out 199 of them in the Clinton, Iowa car shops. I don't know of any other roads doing this or if XTRA built any more of them. I found the article (November 1988 Railroad Model Craftsman), but the computer and the scanner seem to be having a spat...neither one can "find" the other. My live-in tech support (no "Bombay Bob" here!) said she'd take a look sometime. THAT might happen sometime yet this year...[:-^

 

Lots to do today, THAT Editor wants me to put together "something" about a proposal in the state legislature to "roll back" property taxes, especially on businesses. Iowa apparently taxes businesses at 100%, but just what THAT means, I'm not exactly sure having never taken a business class in my life. Now, for residential property, the tax appears to be $10 per $1,000 of valuation. Of course, there are hundreds of levies THAT apply as well: school district, etc., etc., etc.  So, I'm looking at a multitude of legislators' websites, hoping at least one of them has taken the time to explain this all to the great un-educated/ignorant masses (like me). What I do understand, is there is a great philosophical difference: one political party wants people to keep more of their own money, the other wants more money to spend... Of course, THAT, I already knew!

The Iowa Department of Revenue website is mostly useless...go figure. However, I did get an education on the hundreds of taxes and permit fees imposed on businesses. At risk of getting the soapbox out of it's storage space, I can see why people claim Iowa is hostile to business. Maybe "the 'Stache" (former, now again Gov. Terry Branstad) can do something about THAT.

Have a good, SAFE day...I'll be immersed in legislative stuff...

Chris

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I'll have a bowl of THAT fruit salad you got over there and some dark roast coffee in a R&GV RR Museum mug, please and thank you.

Fairly nice nice but still chilly day outside here in the Finger Lakes this morning.  Currently 34°F under partly cloudy skies.  High of only 36°F later today.  The white stuff is slowly disappearing though.  This is good actually as a slow melt lets the moisture soak in and help the water table rather than just running off into the streams, lakes, and basements.......

Garry, sorry you have been having puter trouble.  I can tell you that all of the folks I know that have switched to the bright side of computing (aka: Fruit Bowl) have had good experiences with it and have stayed.  THAT includes a couple that were vehemently anti Mac for many years and used to say very bad things about me when I showed up with my Macbook.....  I'm sure there are people who hated them and switched right back.... I just don't know of any.  I have had 4 desktop style Macs since 1993 (had an Apple IIc first)  That's a new one every 4 or 5 years.  All of them were working great when I passed them on to one of my son's who ran them for a few more years....  I upgraded usually just because the new ones were so cool and allowed me to go beyond what I could do before.  I am typing this on my now ancient 2004 G5 dually which still meets my needs (but I am running out of HD space.  I only have 1.2 Tb of hard drive on it.....).  I will probably get another Mac Pro in a year or so.  This is the one I would like: http://store.apple.com/us/compare/mac?mco=MTg4Mjg5ODY&page=mac-pro On the other hand...  probably won't get it.   I have also had 3 laptops (all Macs) and have a Mac mini downstairs (which I love BTW.  It was around $600 as I had a monitor to use already) in the train room.  Of all the computers I have had only one died on me, and that was because it was not shut down when I turned of the power in the trainroom and the battery drained completely.  Something went poof and I could not start it up again.  It was over 8 years old at the time....  All that said.  Get whatever will serve your needs the best and one that you will enjoy!

Jeffrey, stay out of harms way with the storms today!

Hmmmm, seems like there were a few other comments I was going to make, but I can't remember what they were...  Must be true that the memory is the second thing to go!  Can't remember what was first.....

Later!

73

[Curt Webb]

Hi all,

I pulled out the rocks and rock  face, a couple of breaks but not bad. I read somewhere (I don't know if it was here) that something could be sprayed or brushed onto the unpainted plaster mouldings to help seal them that does not effect when you paint them. Does anyone know what this is?

I tinned my soldering iron and soldered 4 pieces of curved track together. One joint I had to reheat and redo. I still feel like I need 3 hands but feel more comfortable with soldering now.

Everyone takecare.

[DrgnTrappr]

Good Morning everyone, Flo Just coffee, Thank You.

Been pretty busy here in the smokies, trying to get things done before we drive down to Tampa tonight. Looks like today is going to be the only dry day this week here and if Curt is right I guess we will be getting wet down in Florida too, have printed out a bunch of Geocaches to go find while we are there and have loaded the metal detectors into the car. I need to keep myself busy down there so I can avoid going to the actual conferance, that is realy the Wifes thing, but she went with me to the model train show earlier this month so I will atleast make a showing at her thing.

Looks like everyone is making some progress on there layouts, I have started on scratch building a 90' turntable and I finally have made some progress on my track plans, it figures that now that i am starting to get somewhere i have to go out of town.

Ulrich I would love to have one of those rail passes, I have just been waiting to get mine done before I requested yours, I will send you a mesage when I get home from Florida. Thanks for the offer to help with my track planning too, I just had to quit trying to put to much into my small space.

To all of you that have beenn feeling under the weather, I hope you all get better soon. Prayers and good thoughts to those in need.

Will try to get on here while I am in Tampa but I refuse to pay for wi-fi at a Hotel so it may be hit and miss.

TTYAL

Ron

[TMarsh]

J.R.- Nope, never had any luck misting either. Always left little craters in the ground covering wherever the drops hit no matter how fine a mist I could get. What I do is use an eyedropper and gently dribble some 70% alcohol, then follow with, until yesterday, WS Scenic Cement (now, at least for a while anyway,  50/50 Elmers and water, the "glue brew" ). I did try misting for ballast. The alcohol wasn't too bad, but the glue part, well I just didn't get a good soaking so I would dense up the spray. That made a drippy mess and my control wasn't, let's just say....very controlled. Went back to the eyedropper.  It also makes cleaning the rails a whole lot easier when you don't have to remove glue from every inch of rail. You may notice I never wish you "good Luck" prior to any of your races. Well, I do, I just kinda believe from my brief time at it (Drag. and well, ashamed to say, not really legal. Waaay over it now. ) I kinda felt wishing someone or getting wished Good Luck was Bad Luck. Just a silly superstition, but we all have something. You may carry a vacum guage around for luck. Wait, you're probably one who still uses one and can. Maybe an old spark plug in the pocket? A favorite wrench?

Mine was a cowboy hat. Like the guy in the 55 on American Graffitti. Silly. Still lost to that Chevelle though. Never should have gone a full quarter with him. 383 against 427 with LETHAL on the plates. I still think he was breathing different stuff than my old Roadrunner was if you know what I mean. My story. 

Galaxy- Oh I hope the OH gets over the sinus infection soon. I also get those soewhat often. Not fun.

Ken- Hope you feel better soon. Shame this happened now. You were on such a roll too. 

Haven't been in the trainroom to check out what I did yesterday night. Have to do the grocery put away thing at w**k now so I'll take a gander after I get back.

[Cederstrand]

Strong coffee in a UNION PACIFIC mug, please.

FIL is parked in a chair here watching wildlife films. Might not be much train room time over the next few days, but I'll squeeze some in when I can. Thank goodness it's just him and not the witch nutcase monster MIL. I cannot stand being around her for any length of time. FIL is a good guy, inspite of being completely messed up by strokes over recent years.

Have a great day y'all. Rob

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 55° and very cloudy. The high will be 72° with a 75%+ chance of thunderstorms this afternoon and tonight.

Any plans I had for doing anything outside today are on hold as we have a storm front coming through. According to the storm warnings I'm seeing the weather is going to be ugly all day and into the night. Good thing I have some things to work on for the layout. I have a plaster casting load for a 50' gondola that has to be painted before it can be placed in the gondola. Another plaster cast gondola load will be cut down to fit a 40' gondola. Several plaster castings of covered flatcar loads also have to be painted and I plan to paint some plaster cast lumber stacks. There are also a few billboards that have to be put in place and secured.

[Curt Webb]

Morning All,

Flo can I have a cup of Java please.

Off w**k today so I am just kind of  goofing off right  now. Just looked at the billboards and they look great. When I get done posting I am going to un-mold my rocks I made yesterday and then on to soldering.

I  will talk to all of you later.

[cudaken]

 Flo, glass of water please.

 I am still under the weather but I am feeling more like my old self. When I checked my temp this morning it was at 99.9. Yesterday I hit a high of 103. I missed work Sunday and Monday. With it being toward the end of the month, it could wind up hurting the commission check. 

 Train Front My DT 400 came back from it little with Digitrax! Guess what? It still does not work? Well, lets hope 3rd time is the charm rule applies. Good thing they have not billed me for the first two repair attempts.

 Time to get ready for work.

              Ken

[galaxy]

Well it seems the site was so slow last night it wouldn't load, or I could not post.

This A of M at about 6-6:30 was the same. I see posts have been made and even a response from MRR correspondent Kawala, but apparently they don't have the problem fixed.

Maybe we do shopping today.

MOH has a serious sinus infection adn goes to the Dr. thursday, earliest could get in. Got up very early with me and now went back to bed, i may join agian shortly. Getting up at 4 am is a bit irregular.

WEll TTYALLL8R

 

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,

     27F and partly cloudy this morning. At least Ken kept all his snow to himself this time. Still have 6ft piles of it at the shop though and a 200ft 4ft high pile down the back of the building so I haven't forgottne what it looks like just yet. Got the trucks loaded and on the way to Savannah the second leaving this morning. The crew flies down tomorrow.

   On the layout front, I have the framing down and table tops cut and fit, the rest of the ceiling done save for some trims around the main support beam for the house and the flourescent lights waiting for installation. Found some 4ft units for cheap at Home Despot and gave up on fixing the old lights I had from who knows when. Ended up with an 8 x 20 space with a bump out at one end where the loop track and yard go and a three foot isle down the middle. I'll use a swing gate again to close the open end of the layout so I can do continuous running as well as switching though it's all probably years away at this point. Just about all the previous layout is now stripped and in my neighbors dumpster.

   On the ballast thing, i side with Jeff. I use 70% alcohol to wet the ballast and 50/50 thinned Elmers white glue to fix it and all the ground cover as well. It allows the glue to soak right in and spread fully so there are no missed spots and keeps the excess off the rails and ties as it flows right down. I got some 8oz applicator bottles from MSC to spread the mixtures with and they w..k well. Haven't had any joy with the old hair spray bottles for mistiing - any advice there?

   Ulrich- sign me up for a railpass please, I'll send info to  you when I get something to send. I haven't even named the layout yet though I'm leaning towards the Danbury and Norwalk branch of the New Haven Railroad.

   Curt - good luck with the trackw..k. When doneyou can really feel a sense of satisfaction - right Jeff?

   Hope those of you feeling under the weather/insomnia/migranes/fevers get better soon.

   Time to get in the shop and make stuff.   Cee u Later, J.R.

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Waffles please with real butter and of course real Maple syrup thank you

Scattered flurries between 7am and 10am. Cloudy, with a high near 48. Already sn*w on the back porch. Not really not enough to even qualify as a dusting, but just enough so you know it still can I guess.

Garry- I heard Dell’s service isn’t what it used to be. I’ve known several people who had them and swore they would own no other. Guess it’s not quite that way anymore. Myself I own a Sony VAIO. Two in fact. Long story as to why that is, but they're 5 and 6 years old and I’ve never had a problem with them that wasn’t traced back to, well……..,me. (combination me and the “Geeks” at Best Buy resulted in the second computer. Wouldn’t ask them how to open a box) Not a sales pitch, I see you’re thinking of diving into the fruit bowl with Ray, I hear a lot of good things about them too.

Since I was in here not too long ago, and have slept pretty much the whole time since……nothing to report from here. Pretty much just stopped in to see if the forums were moving any faster this morning than they were last night. WOW! Slower’ ‘lasses in January. This morning seems to be it’s usual somewhat zippy self.

Guess I’ll cruise the site and then the Bay. Saaaay today’s Tuesday. Wonder if I need to be in the west side of Springfield today……

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[LSWrr]

Good Morning,

Garry, you can grab it from here: http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2222669320029441264goegLA?vhost=home-and-garden  Sorry I didn’t save your address, but you can email me at: [e-mail] and I’ll shoot the file to you.

 

I haven’t had much MRR time.  Electrician came out to fix my kitchen outlet, I should have continued on with the trouble shooting but I got zapped and decided to leave it to the professionals.  Everything worked fine when the electrician came out, then the electrician got zapped.  It turned out to be a faulty light switch (intermittent short).

 

I casted a Borden Butter Dish milk tank and it came out perfect!  Pictures to follow.

 

This weekend I hope to turn my attention to printing decals again.

 

Todd, I’ve never had luck with the wet water (dish soap and water), the 50/50 glue or sometimes I use a 60/40 glue/water works for me every time.  I guess it’s all up to preference. At the club there is one guy using laundry detergent. I didn’t even ask how he mixes it…

[Anonymous]

Good Morning Folks,

a beautiful and sunny day over here in old Germany, but still to cold for the time of the year. Temperatures went all the way down to below freezing last night and will not go much beyond 40 F during the day.

I have nothing planned for the day, other than trying to work my way through the foot holes of US immigration regulations. I tell you, this is a jungle! No wonder that most folks planning to come to the US involve legal services, which are just a little too dear for me

As it as in between breakfast and lunch, I´ll just go for a mug o´ coffee, Zoe, please and thanks!

Have a safe day!

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

 

[Cederstrand]

A double helping of the Insomniac Special, please.

Sounds like a lot of layout progress being made among Diners.  

Nothing to report on here. Have Inlaw stuff to help with tomorrow...oh joy! 

Rob

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Hello Diners..

Looks like good attendance today in spite of the Forum's being slower than molasses.

Let.s see. Who has been here today? Hello to Todd, Jeff, Ray, Barry, Ulrich, Curt, Gallaxy, Rob and Vincent.  I think we have several MIA's.

To where is the Diner moving for April?

Todd... Sounds like you are progressing very well with the layout.

We had quite a time with a computer yesterday. Shelley had been working on our son's business income taxes for a couple of days when the computer froze up. Yikes! ... I called Dell Technical Support. After some annoying phone menus, I was connected with Bombay Bob. .He asked for all sorts of information including the service code on the back of the computer sitting on the floor. Evnetually, he informed me, he works on lap tops and not desk tops. He put me on hold to connect me with Bombay Bob II. I had a similar exchange and agin provided the service code on the back of the computer on the floor. Next, he said he does not work on my model of computer, and he connected me with Bombay Bob III. After again exchanging information including the service code on the back of the computer, he asked me to do several things. I tried each thing he said to do, and then he said I have a software problem, and he just works on hardware. He connected me with Bombay Bob IV. We exchanged info and I provided the service code from the back of the computer on the floor. He had me try several things. Then, he said it was a hardware problem, and it was the hard drive than failed. He said I could purchase a hard drive for $70.00 plus $130.00 for instructions on how the install it plus shipping and handing. ........ Nuts to Dell Computer Company.

I then re-booted the computer with the operating system CD in the drive. The computer then worked. It acted up a bit today, and it may soon stop altogether. .... We're now considering replacing it with an Apple product.

Don't you just love technology?

I did work on the layout today. I began scenery ti be around my power house.

As Jerry says, have a good one.

 

 

 

 

[TMarsh]

Dr Pepper please. Thanks

Piddled around with the layout for a while but seemed to not accomplish much. Some days are like that. I did mix up the glue brew and it seemed OKand about a third the price. I used a bit on what dirt and ballast I had in one of the tunnels I'm working on. We'll see if the dried look is any different than WS scenic cement which I normally use. I doubt I'm done buying Scenic Cement, but it's nice to have a cheaper alternative when the larger areas need done. Speaking of that, turns out 1 bottle of glue is just shy of half a bottle of WS scenic cement. Ta daaaa!!! container for glue brew. Doesn't take much to make me happy does it?

I'm itching to run a train around the layout, but there are a few spots under the tunnels where I have paper towels laying over the tracks and don't want to remove them until I lay the plaster cloth over them for fear I'll forget to replace them when I lay the cloth and end up with a splootch of plaster on the track. (whew! Give me a second to catch my breath after THAT sentence )  I hope to cover that area tomorrow if all goes well and then I'll give the Choo Choo  whirl. Um, after I'm sure the plaster is dried and won't drip. Mr Murphy you know.

Speaking of turn outs, did I tell you I figured it wasn't the turnout that was opening but rather a out of gage wheel set on the car. Getting close to the time I oughta be putting down the Caboose turnout throws anyway. Might work on a couple of those too. Never put one on before. Looks about like adjusting a choke cable. You old guys know what I'm talking about. Young guys.....never mind. (chuckle)

 Brenda was telling me about something that happened on a show calle "Southern Fried Chicken" . Yah, I was confused too until I realized she was talking about the show "Southern Fried Stings" Her keen ability to get names right amazes me. Now you know why I never really know what's going on. I'll still keep her though. I'm used to it. Confused most of the time, but used to it.

Welp, best be headin for the bunkhouse.

PFTIN including Barry's friends and others in the apartment.

 

[Curt Webb]

Hey all,

Hope everyone is well tonight. It rained all day here and we are scheduled for rain all week. At least it will  cool things off.

I made my first plaster rocks today.  They are still damp so I will un-mold them tomorrow and see how I did. I also just put the signage on the 2 billboards that I made earlier today. Tomorrow my foray into soldering starts.  I have watched a ton of videos ranging from tinning to soldering rail and power leads. So fingers crosssed that it goes smooth.

Hope everyone has a good night.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Packer

Jeff, is the shop beast payed in meat or plants?

The dinosaur is a plant eater.

 

I actually ran something on the layout today. Well on part of it anyway. I have a string of three turnouts bang bang bang one after the other. I ran my pickiest loco and  some of my pickiest rolling stock over them without incident. If there had been anything there to cause a derailment it would have been found.