Elliot´s Trackside Diner April 2011

[Anonymous]

Good Afternoon,

Zoe, I think I deserve a strong coffee and a slice of that apple pie, topped with vanilla ice cream, please.

I tried my hand at ballasting the Kato Unitrack. First, I spray painted the rail with a dark brown color, using the good old rattle can - worked nicely. After that had dried, I started the ballasting job. Boy, what a tedious task! Took me 35 minutes to spread the ballast, get it off the ties, shape it properly - for only 12" of track! I then sprayed it with 70 %-isopropyl alcohol and applied the good old white glue, diluted with water, added with a drop of detergent. My desk is a big mess now, but I wait until the whole lot has dried properly to clean the place. Petra is not really amused, but ballasting will be about the messiest job I do inside the house. Will post a picture tomorrow.

Jeff - I hope you are feeling better. A dislocated disc should not be taken lightly, not only for the pain. Take care, buddy!

We keep getting more news on the devastating storm and the damage it has caused. Our blessings go to the families who lost a loved one or their home!

CUL!

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I'll have a breakfast bagel w/ cheese and a few cups of dark roast coffee in my FGLK Mug please.

Wow!!!  The news from down South is really something today!  My heart felt sympathy and prayers to all who were in harm's way from the line of storms that devastated Alabama and several other states yesterday. 

Today is partly sunny with a strong wind herein the Finger Lakes...  I think it is about time to sharpen the blade on the lawn mower, and do some outdoor type yard w*rk....

A couple days ago i switched out the wheelsets on the Rivarossi coaches to Kadees.  Only place there was any problem was on the  Baggage car where the new wheelsets bind a bit.  I say "a bit"  the loco couldn't pull the train with the baggage car in the consist...  I had, as a matter of policy, hit the trucks with a goodly amount of powdered graphite, but they were quite tight.  Got out the Micro-Mark truck tuner, cutter thingie and used it, but still the trucks were tight.  Yesterday early afternoon (before the airport run) I put a polishing tool in the Dremel and ran the wheelsets for a minute or so at about 20,000 rpm....  THAT seems to have helped a bit, and the loco can once again pull the train up the 2% grade to the quarry on Bare Mountain....  I think I shall hit the wheels in the coaches with the same tool and see if performance improves.......  Oh, BTW, no derailments!  YES!

Catch you all layer, and hope all the missing from down South will check in soon and let us know they are OK!!! 

73

[yougottawanta]

Floe , I will have a sweet ice tee with a slice of lemon and a veggie salad , dang doctor scales ! It appears that we have a short period of calm before the next ban of storms is due to arrive, I think the latest prsediction is around 3pm. Its going to be interesting driving home .

Jeff - is surgery an option on the spine ? I had c4, c5 , c6 removed and some spacers inserted and then a plate screwed in place (from a car accident four or five years ago ) I put off the operation as long as I could , then went in had the operation. Should have had the operation three years earlier. Vast improvment

Todd - Flo what did you put in his drink? Williamsville? Leesville ? Maybe you had some sensory overload from having to pay for a permit to sell hotdogs ! Still cant believe it. Why that is just unamerican!

Barry - sorry for your friends house, glad his family survived that. Wow on the direct hit on your home. Did you suffer any electronic damage ?

Ulrich - hope the ballasting therapy worked. It will be nice to see the pictures when you post them. I am sure the work will be outstanding.

Ray - Congrats on the MRR without derailments

Lee - No trash to model? There was plenty of trash. People believe it or not used to throw those coke bottles away , along with food wrappers, cigarette packs (empty ) , beer bottles (schlitz & pabst  blue ribbon ) .... heck once when I needed to buy some comics (sgt fury) and BBs for the ole daisy (shoot your eye out kid ) I picked up soda bottles on our country road. When I finished I had $32 worth of coke bottles at 5 cents each. Thats a lot of BBs and comics with some fireballs thrown in

Gotta get back to w**k

Jerry aka YGW or UGW

 

[Mike Kieran]

Bacon Cheeseburger with fries and an egg cream.

Yougottawanta,

I'm glad to see that you appear cheered up from last week.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

yougottawanta

Jeff - is surgery an option on the spine ? I had c4, c5 , c6 removed and some spacers inserted and then a plate screwed in place (from a car accident four or five years ago ) I put off the operation as long as I could , then went in had the operation. Should have had the operation three years earlier. Vast improvment

It is but only if there's danger of paralysis or it becomes life threatening. My only insurance is Medicaid and it only goes so far. At this point they're more interested in my ankle. There's talk of trying to straighten it and put in a pin or two. But there's a problem there as the Charcot condition makes the bone soft and the pin(s) may not hold. Plus my other health problems present an obstacle. There's also talk of having a California brace made to support what's left of the joint. So I have a bunch of docs running around in little circles wondering what to do.

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

Hi Gang,

Just wondering if any of you have heard from Rob  or  Bama ?  Sure hope they came through those twisters unscathed.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all those in Al, Tenn, Georgia, WV, & Virginia and others there in their losses, especially those losing family and friends.  

Jeff, take it easy old boy, you seem to be pretty hard on yourself.          Hope you are doing well.

Johnboy out......................................back to work and .......waiting for test results.......................

[yougottawanta]

Hey all

No flow dont want any thing thanks though.

No storms here. We do have some clouds and it is rather breezy. But the storm the weatherman predicted has not materialized.???

Mike - yes much better thank you. Cheese burger and fries ? Mike sorry I have got to sit a couple of tables away. This salad diet I am on , that cheesburger is not safe .Sure looks and smells good ....

John Boy - did the doctor/sawbones give you any thoughts on what may have happened ?

Jeff - your ankle condition makes me wince for you , ouch !!! I understand about the spine thing. The reason I put the operation off for three years is because the list of possible outcomes started off with - Death, paralized,loss of voice (they go through the front to get to the vertabrae ) , loss of nerve .. that was just the stuff at the top of the list. There was an entire page of possible bad outcomes !!!  When I read that, I said no thanks and walked out of the doctors office. Three years later , I literaly crawled back in the office and begged for the operation. By that time the consequences seemed better than all of the issues that had developed due to the injuries. They were bad. Pain in my arms, spasms, migraines 24/7, loss of muscle mass in right arm, nerve damage from neck to right arm, loss of sleep .... The next day after the surgery 95% of the problems were gone. Of course I asked doctors if they had to have the surgery who they would have do the surgery , one name came up time and time again. And believe it or not his name is "Dr. Hope" sounds like a buisness name for MRR rail road. But he performed the surgery in thirty minutes! He gave me my qaulity of life back and my life back.

Hope every one came through the storms. Have said a prayer .

Gotta go.

Jerry

[cudaken]

 Afternoon folks

 Flo, Hamburger Helper (yum what wife is making) and a beer please.

 YGW Did you find the answer I posted?

 Customs Papers  I really have to wonder why company's don't want to ship overseas? I shipped a box today to Europe and the paper work took a whole 2 minutes if that? Plus I was a little shocked with how little shipping cost was. 

 Bank Of Stupid! Made another over sizes house payment at a local branch. Found out today what ever I pay over the normal payment is applied to Principal, not to what I am behind!  Boy they don't make it easy to get caught up!  Guess I am going to have to call the Dumb Asses on the phone again and I am 99.9 sure I won't get anywhere with them again!

 See you all Friday if not later tonight.

            Ken

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Was on my way to check the mail today, van wouldn't start. Easy fix. Used Dremel with wire brush to clean posts and clamps. Started right up after that.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Hello .... All my AL relatives are prsent and accounted for. My sister had damage to her property. No power yet for them. She was lucky because a large uprooted tree cam close to striking the house but missed. She knows some people who lost their entire house in the tornado. 

Here the weather has cleared here but flooding is a problem. Our lake is rising. It is not as high, yet, as last year following the Nashville flood.

Tomorrow, I leave for Michigan and Ohio. I'll see the youngest papoose born in February. My 18 month old grandson in MI fell and split his head. Six stitches in his forehead.

Mike K. Welcome to Eliots Diner. 

John Boy .. I hope the Doc said all is OK.

YGW ... You mentioned back surgery. I had back surgery about 20 years ago to repair some broken vertebrae. Cause was a drunk driver hitting me at 50 mph. Surgery went as well as could be expected. 

Rob .... Are you OK? The killer tornado was moving from AL and headed your way. Hope you are OK. I suspect you lost power, and it will take a while to restore it.

Bama ... Haven't seen you in some time. I recall you are in Southeast AL, and the big storm was away from you.

Jeff ... It's dry there? Would gladly send some water if I could.

Ken ... I'm not sure I understood the banking situation. 

I am working on another industry for the layout. Can't complete it before the trip.

With all the traveling, I may be absent for several days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ns3010]

Evening all. It's been a while.

Hope all of you guys down south are fine. Everyone down there is in our prayers.

Even with spring break, I've been busy. Break is almost over (we go back on Monday), and I've barely had any time to myself! I had lacrosse almost every day (we were off Good Friday, Easter Sunday [but we're off every Sunday anyway], and today because of weather), and all my free time has gone to homew**k. *sigh*

I'm getting closer to the point of being able to be in here again. We have nineteen days of lacrosse left (not including today), and then I'm relatively free (free with the exception of school) until mid-late June. I'll be w**king some weekends, but other than that, I don't see much that could prevent me from visiting here daily. I'll probably be w**king a lot in the summer (gotta make my MRR money somehow!), and I'll be busy with AP work (I'm taking AP Calculus, English, and Physics next year), but I should still have plenty of leisure time left.

I haven't made much headway on the railroad (gee, wonder why..). But, so that I can have something train related in this post, I'll tell you about "Yard Office." Before, I had a little free time (shocker), so I took a look at the forums. I saw the inventory thread, and clicked on it, and saw that someone had a link to a free program called "Yard Office." Seeing that I had no organization system in place, I decided to try it out. I like it a lot. You can put in as much or as little information about your roster as you wish, and there are several different rosters you can print out. It is a great tool, and will be helpful as I build up my roster. Here's a link to the download: http://musicmixradio.com/yardoffice/index.html

Well, I better go. I would like to get a little more done on my Precalc paper tonight, and I have a little other homew**k to finish up.

Catch ya later!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Heartland Division CB&Q

Jeff ... It's dry there? Would gladly send some water if I could.

It's really dry here. I saw a weed holding up a sign. 'Will Provide Shade For Water!'.

[blownout cylinder]

YGW:  So far as we know it seems that it did not do any damage to anything here electrically...but it did scorch our siding.

Good Evening...

So far we had a bit of sun, a lot of rain be falling on our heads, some hail, a lot of thunderingboomers and a lot of wind...and we are now sitting at 50F...in the windy sun...

So ar everything seems to be working normally as i  said at the top...but I have a nice burn mark down the side of our house from that hit. As far as our friends in AL...weeeellllll, it appears that their house is a goner..they are now at a relatives who lives somewhat nearby...

Chloe, I'll just have a coffee for now please..I'll be at the RC for a bit..

 

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

Flo I would love a BLT with a chocolate shake please.

Not much going here. Got up to 93 today. It rained for about 10 seconds today. I guess the weatherman was right...It rained.  I made up my shopping list for Lowes. Buying fiber board, hardware, and paint for fascia along with control panel and power panel. I also found out that I have a burned out brake light I need to replace tomorrow. Department had a BBQ today. Free food is always good.

Heartland- Havea great trip

I love the PA's. They have personality.

Prayers for everyone affected by the stoms. Have a good evening. 

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Flo, just a decaf for me. 

I have learned that early this morning there were 3 confirmed tornadoes here in New York State.  An F2 tornado hit a town in Chemung County tearing apart a few homes and barns and downing trees.  An F1 tornado has been confirmed in Herkimer county and another in Oneida county.  There was also what looks to be a tornado that did some damage in Tompkins County just to the East of where I live.  These all hit in the wee hours of the morning.  There were a lot of other reported storm damage from high winds all throughout Central NY...  Luckily no deaths except for two horses who died when their barn fell on them.  One family whose house was hit by a tornado managed to get the whole family to the basement of the house 10 seconds before the chimney came down on the staircase....  scary!

Not much damage here in Geneva (none to be exact), I slept through the whole thing........  although I did here someone sawing wood with a chain saw..............????

Decided to start mowing the lawn tonight.  Got out the mower.  Started right up.  Didn't need any gas or oil or anything like that.....  Grass is soaking wet.  I was fine doing a bit by the shed out back, but then decided to tackle the side yard.  It bogged down the mower and tripped the heat switch about every 10 foot as the grass was too heavy and sticky to be mulched.  After a few passes, I took out and installed the grass catcher and figured I would just catch it and dump it into the garden to be tilled under later.  That worked a bit better, but still very slow going.  Got about a quarter of the lawn done when I ran out of battery....  it is now back in the shed recharging.  I can usually do about 2/3rds. of the lawn on one charge...  As I said heavy and very slow going.  Maybe by Saturday the swamp will dry up....  Nope, not according to the weather people who predict more rain tomorrow.......

OK, I'm heading down to the train room to fiddle with a couple things...

Later!

73

[AmanaMedic]

Hey CURT, I must've missed it somewhere along the line...but what do you do for a living? With the shift schedule, time-trades and "Department had a BBQ" it kinda sounds like Fire, EMS, LEO????

Goooooooooooooooooood (I 'spose) Evening. Bottle of Pepto Bismal, a tall 7-Up, pile of ibuproffen please and thank-you.

So, I'm w**king on the property tax article. I have some info from the donkeys, and some from the elephants. I'm ready to take both species of critter out back and shoot 'em both! This little project from THAT Editor has me literally feeling physically ill. I've never attempted a piece like this...it's not a stretch to say it's a bit outside my league. I kinda think she's (THAT Editor) trying to show off a little bit for the new owner...we've never covered anything like this in my almost three years on staff. She might be trying to do a little personal development on me... I don't know. What I do know is the donkey I talked with last night is a lot less "bipartisan" today and instead is spouting the usual tired party line rhetoric. Since both papers are in heavily "donkey" areas, he's likely just playing to his base.

I at least have the basics figured out. Elephants: Drop commercial property tax rates from 100% of its taxable valuation to 60% over five years, and "back-fill" dollars out of the state's general fund to the cities and towns, which would see a drop in revenue.  By way of comparison, residential property is taxed at 50% of it's taxable valuation.  Donkeys: Keep the tax rate the same, but offer a "tax credit" to commercial property owners. First year would see $600 going to any business worth $30,000 or more. The credit would be paid out of a newly created "Business Tax Relief Fund." What I haven't found, is how the fund will be created. At least the Elephants are telling me where they intend to get the bucks from. Both say "the tax is too high." But, the Donkeys accuse the Elephants of favoring evil corporations and shifting taxes to the residential and agricultural sectors while screwing the schools. Elephants say "something has to be done!" and claim the Donkeys aren't willing to do anything, THAT they are not shifting the burden and have a mechanism in-place to actually INCREASE money to the schools.

I'd offer MY plan...but then the soapbox would have to come out of the corner its safely tucked-away in.

 

I'll be in a back booth alternating banging my head against the table, and hammering-out this article and a "new business feature" which is just a guy milking us for free advertising. He opened a new restaurant in North Liberty. I did a feature on it late last year ("coming soon to North Liberty") and now he wants another feature ("now open"). I'll be recycling the previous article since the guy said absolutely nothing new or different this time from the last.

Somedays...I love my job.

Today ain't one of them.

Chris

 

[CNCharlie]

Good Evening,

Glad to hear that those of you to the far south of me, have weathered the storms relatively unscathed. We had another sunny, warm, well isn't warm a relative term?  Anyway warm for us at 65F!! I raked the front yard tonight to get all the dead thatch up so perhaps it will turn green after the rain we are supposed to get tomorrow, followed by possible snow on Sunday.

I had the car into the insurance claim centre today and was shocked to find out the repair estimate is $4500.  I now can take it to the repair shop of my choice to get the work done. I also filed a police report on the accident as the damage was over $1000. The other driver hasn't reported it to insurance or police. He will hear about it now.

Finally got the probate documents from the court so I can now basically complete my executor duties on my mother's estate. I'll be glad when that is done.

I ran trains for a while last night. I just let it go round and round but did use the horn for some grade crossings. It was very relaxing. I might go down tonight and do a little switching. Not all that easy for some moves what with a switch back and no run around track. Oh well, just makes it more challenging but often at night I don't want a challenge, hence the roundy round.

My wife will be up all night tonight watching the Royal wedding. Luckily for her she is off work for the summer as she is every summer. She only works while university is in session, i.e., Sept.- mid April.

Chris, it seems to me that for many politicians, it is really just a shell game--see if you can trace the tax revenue, bet you can't . They talk about tax cuts but never how they plan to pay off the government debt that they are very good at increasing. Okay, put the soapbox back, I'm finished. 

Well think I'll go play with Robbie. We got him a new toy last weekend, a stuffed giraffe. We tossed it for him the other night for about 5 minutes and told him to get the giraffe. Next day my wife asked where is the giraffe, and he ran into the living room and got it out of a pile of 25 other toys.

Time to head downstairs.

CN Charlie

[Curt Webb]

AmanaMedic-  I am a Paramedic with Reedy Creek Fire Dept. We cover Disney World and the surrounding area. The department  was originally part of Disney but for a long time now we have been a county government agency with state retirement.  

[inch53]

Evening folks,, how bout a barley pop please Flo

Got some sunshine today finally, still a chance for a shower tonight, but we have a day or so afore the next rain. We set a record here for the wettest April ever according to the weather guessers.

Well tomorrow is the 7'th anniversary of the original coffee shop. 1804 pages, I think I joined them in early 2005. You can find the beginning here

 http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/t/15409.aspx?PageIndex=1

Well need to get my shower and tween the sheets, got kids early morning, then spend the day cleanin yard n mowin. Thoughts go out for all those folks down south. Hope ya'll has a gooden

 

[AmanaMedic]

CURT: I had a hunch, Brother. I was an Iowa Paramedic Specialist (Nat. Std. curriculum EMT-P) for about eight years, started as a First Responder in '93 and w**ked my up through the cert. levels until I got the EMT-P (upgraded to PS) in 2000. I w**ked EMS in Creston, Iowa (ER and ambulance, we did both), was a factory paramedic (hence my "name"), and also was the Campus Paramedic for a community college in Cedar Rapids before finally deciding to get OUT of healthcare (long story). Now I'm just a volunteer hose jockey. In between I taught EMT-B, First Responder, Medic First Aid and AHA CPR courses and even ran the paramedic training program at THAT community college.

In your case, I guess you could say...you worked for a *wait for it* MICKEY MOUSE agency!

Sorry pal, couldn't resist...you've probably heard THAT one a bazillion-million times 'eh? Stay SAFE Bro.

 

Tax article: I'm gonna take one last look for HOW the donkeys plan to create their fund. THAT Editor will get pretty much what I described in here earlier, although cleaned-up and a weeeeeeeeeee-bit more on the pro-fessional side of life. I don't expect to hear much more out of either party as they've descended into the usual finger pointing, each trying to claim the moral high ground.

I just want it done at this point.

Tomorrow, it's an early-up for Grandparents Day at Heritage Christian School in North Liberty...an easy gig, some quotes from the school's muckety-mucks about how wonderful the grandparents are, some pics of kids and grandparents together, some quotes from both about how wonderful it is to be together at school...then back to Solon for facetime with THAT Editor. Then, with paycheck in hand...it's get a haircut, get the check in the bank, get food and kill a few hours before a varsity boys and girls soccer double-header in Tiffin.

In other words, back into the comfort zone.

Have a good night guys, best wishes for those in need and crossed fingers for those in the tornado zone we haven't heard from yet...

Chris

 

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

[Anonymous]

Good Morning Folks,

Bill - burning midnight oil again?

More alarming news from Alabama, need to put a prayer candle for the folks over there.

Zoe, just a coffee, please.

The ballast has dried rock hard. I amnot sure whether I am happy about the result. But see for yourself:

OK, it´ll look different when I add some "greenery" around the track, but I am still having second thoughts on my w*rk. Despite wetting the ballast thoroughly with the "wet water", the ballast started to float. Lessons learned:

• Apply glue in between the ties, sprinkle ballast, let it dry
• Do the same outside.
• Finally, add ballast to the shoulder.

I am going to try this and then compare the results.

Have a good one & stay safe!

Edit: Today being already the 29th of April, is there any idea where to move next month´s Diner to?

[blownout cylinder]

Ulrich: That looks pretty good from here. I'd like to see the results of that experiment...

Good Morning...

Well, we woke up to a nice monsoon again....and we are currently sitting at the mighty 44F right now...

I got all kinds of banking stuff to do then it is getting groceries and getting ready for the on-call stuff over the weekend...everybody's working for the winkler 

I've got a few things I'm going to try to accomplish over the weekend as well. Namely finish a couple of grain silos and a conveyor system for the bakery...

Flo, I'll just have a coffee and a toast/jam please..I'll be over at the RC for now..

[LSWrr]

Good Morning,

Jerry, thanks maybe I need to mold some coke bottle and other household refuse piles.

 

Garry, will you be in Michigan the weekend of the 13^th??

 

Got home from work yesterday and found I lost about 300 sqft of shingles. We had 60 mph + winds out of the south most of the day yesterday.  Contractors will be at the house this morning to do a tear off and replace.

[galaxy]

Good morning

Did you all see the Royal Wedding? caught some of it.

Went and looked at a house yesterday. we found many deficiencies that can be worked on periodically over ownership. {like the cut to fit styrofoam basement windows! and the fireplace in the basement's metal chimney is "sealed to the house" with starting to rot and shifting PLYWOOD panels cut to fit that are loosining alowing wated penetration. It is very close to {borders} hte hiway, so a little noisy inthe back yard. But nto so bad in the house. It did have some rot on window styles that apparently wasn't addressed when they put in new repacement windows-cheap ones at taht some mnay odd years ago.. We naturally pick apart a house especially if our offer is below asking price. ANd we pick apart so we know what must be done. Our agent is offering a verbal offer fo rus to feel out the listing agent, who naturally thinks she has a palace! its only a 2 br 900 Sq Ft above grade with half finished basement with the fireplace...which looked like they NEVER hauled of the ashes out of it! Not finished very well, and one windo wiht a window actually in it was walled over.

Market around here in our price range is dryingup. I see fewer and fewer liostings even above our price range we may get reduced.

One house we had hopes for was really a dump built to minimum Code and needing to be rewired, new furnace, anda leach field attached tothe 500 gal new septic tank they put in. Strange layout of small rooms too and the cinder block foundation was bowed and cracked. SOme sucker bought it thoug as it went under contract just after we looked at it. Even out agent saif it was only worth $25 k less than asking. WHen you are talking a $75 k asking price thats a lot. Its not like we are in a $200-300K market where $25k is less impactive.

WEll we will see what we will see when we see it.

WOn't be any train stuff done until after we move, where we hope to have space for 2 layouts. {4x8s will do fine}.

 

WEll, Y'all have a good day!

[cudaken]

Morning Folks

 Flo, coffee pleases.

 Gary As you may know I way behind on the houses payments. I make a payment of $1500.00, house payment is $878.00. They are taking the extra $622.00 I am paying and applying it to Principal (around $60,000.00) and lowering what I owe on the house. So after the $622.00 over payment is applied the principal is down to $59,378.00 but what I am behind remains the same? I know it sound weird but you need to think like a banker.

 If I understood Banker talk, I would not be in the mess that I am in!

 Well, bout time to get ready for work and the site seems to be slow today so it is time to go.

 See you all after work.

                 Ken 

[Mike Kieran]

Hey guys, sorry that I left early yesterday, busy, busy, busy.

Heartland, thanks, glad to be here.

Yougottawanta, don't worry about the calories. In MRR Forums, the burgers have 0 calories .

The housing market may be in for a real mess now. With fuel prices possibly doubling, I can't even imagine what the foreclosure market will look like.

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee and a stack of pancakes please. Thanks

Another beautiful day. Yesterday turned chilly a damp on me after I left here. Today is not supposed to be that way.

Brenda has left to set up the Community Center for the all town garage sale tomorrow. Last night and today they are taking donations of ju...…items that people want to get rid of but have too few to want to have a garage sale of their own, or just don’t want to bother having one. One guy (the next door neighbor in fact) said his wife wanted to get rid of this stuff (an SUV full Brenda said) but didn’t want to waste the time having a garage sale when she wanted to walk around and shop herself. He wasn’t exactly thrilled about his wife’s plan.

YGW- What it actually is, is a Temporary Food Service Permit. Basically the same thing restaurants have and get every 6 months or more depending on the outcome of the inspection, but for a single day or a couple depending on the event. Anytime you serve food to the public, in Sangamon County at least, you have to get one of these permits. Not For Profits pay nothing for the temporary permits. Others pay based on the amount of people they estimate they will be serving. The Health Department then comes out prior to the serving time and inspects the food storage, preparation and serving areas for food safety and sanitation. Not a bad idea for some things, but a hot dog …. Well, where do you draw the line I guess.

Garry- Glad your kin is accounted for and only minor damage.

Jeff- too bad you can get some of the river water they are gonna get on the east side of the state sprayed over your side.

Ulrich- I think you ballast job looks good. As far as the experiment you described, you can try it if you want, but I wouldn’t recommend glue before ballast. You're getting older and can’t handle pulling that much hair out anymore. I tried it once. Just once. Made it maybe 2 ft before it ended. Actually, less. You know, the first part gets done and you have no choice but to do the second part and you wish you hadn’t done so much of the first part feeling? Yup. Exactly.  I think I actually just let the glue dry for the last few inches or so with no ballast. Getting the glue in between the ties without getting any on top was to say the least, mind numbing. Get glue on top of the ties and the ballast sticks there. Try to brush it off and it collects on the brush. Gets all pick uppy and gummy. Fun..... Lots of fun. Instead of wet water as a wetting agent, or tension breaker, or whatever you prefer to call it, try using rubbing alcohol. I use 70% for most things (except attempts at paint removal) but 90% would work as well. With the alcohol, it is much thinner than the wet water and I have no problems with floating ballast or ground foam, or even actual dirt. I’ve had the same issues using water(wet) in the past and said sometimes I might have just as well skipped the step because the wetting solution floated the same as the glue. I highly recommend rubbing alcohol over water for most everything. Give it a try first. I use an eyedropper to apply. The same with the glue

Well, went to Castle Trains yesterday (yippee!!) bought a couple tunnel portals and a station house for the Tourist Trap town WHICH I named but neglected to write down and have now forgotten what fabulous name I came up with. Stink Springs maybe? No, I doubt it. And the little garden tractor and lawn mower kit I’ve been wanting for some time now. They will be mowing the grass at the bed and breakfast on the hill I can see.

Today, I’m afraid, I will be hijacked for this garage sale thing. Morn likely no MRRing today .

If Lee is gonna cast Pepsi bottles INDIVIDUALLY as trash, the cigarette butts are not far behind. My eyes hurt just thinking about it.

 

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Coffee and donut to go. I'm leaving on my trip in a few minutes.

I briefly posted two photos in Week End Photo Fun  Here's one. There's some "water" between the tracks. Let me know if you see the 1/87 mosquitos.

Lee ... I will be there a week. So it looks like we miss again.

Ken ... I hope the bankers don't cook the books and make your $'s vanish. Perhaps, you can keep your own tally of how it should be with supporting documents just to be dafe.

Curt .. Thanks for welll wishes.'

Todd .. thanks for your concern.

Ulrich ... If you move the diner, I suggest a title suggesting everybody is welcome such as "Elliots Diner; May 2011; Welcome Everybody" .. .. If someone else does it thye may wish to do that.

Where is the diner moving for May?

Take care everybody.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Anonymous]

Me again,

now that William and Kate are "coupled", I thought I´d post a few pictures of a different kind of a Royal Wedding - the union of a stretch of ballasted track with a JNR D51 Mikado.

Here we go:

 

The track doesn´t look that bad with a loco on it, does it?