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Elliot´s Trackside Diner May 2011 - Welcome Aboard, Everybody!

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  • Member since
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  • From: Orig: Tyler Texas. Lived in seven countries, now live in Sundown, Louisiana
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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Monday, May 16, 2011 2:31 PM

So far I've put up twelve more trees, mostly in the 'fringe' area where the extension and the main part of the layout meet. Of those, five are on the west side of the main part of the layout and one is on the north part next to the Westport Terminal billboard. The Heartland Division billboard on the west side has three apple trees to the left of it. I'm thinking about using a patch of conifers as a partial vision break on a section of the curve in the northwest corner. I'm figuring on using a mix of medium green and dark green conifers to show two types of evergreens.

Oh, and I found out for sure that Actos and I don't play well together. The doc asked me to give it another chance so I did. My blood sugar was above 300 this morning so I took one tablet. Within an hour my blood sugar was below 60, my blood pressure was in the basement, my vision was hazy and I was desperately looking for something to bring my levels back up while I could still concentrate somewhat. I was just a hair from passing out. What the heck was I thinking! I will NOT be taking THAT stuff again! It's very obvious now that it causes a very adverse reaction. Changes in vision and low blood sugar are listed in the side effects. It also states that it MAY interact with diabetes medications including insulin. GEE, YA THINK?

Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
          Joined June, 2004

Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
15 year veteran fire fighter
Collector of Apple //e's
Running Bear Enterprises
History Channel Club life member.
beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


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Posted by Packer on Monday, May 16, 2011 2:42 PM

Hey guys

Been working on weathering some cars:
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj301/PackerPhan66/Train%20stuff/5-15-11002.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj301/PackerPhan66/Train%20stuff/5-15-11001.jpg

 

Also came up with (or found)a paint mask for wheelsets:
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj301/PackerPhan66/Train%20stuff/5-15-11003.jpg

Except I don't know what it really was. I think it might be something for holding pistol ammo.

Also am beginning turning these SD40-2s into BN units:
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj301/PackerPhan66/paintorno001.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj301/PackerPhan66/paintorno002.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj301/PackerPhan66/paintorno003.jpg

Linked the pictures so I don't kill anyone's computer trying to load up the dinner.

The chessie unit will be a "normal" BN unit. Haven't made up my mind on wether I should just patch-out the SLSF unit. But on the Chessie unit I need one of those pieces that go on the walkway with the stairs behind the cab.

Rob, Good to hear the repairs coming along.

Luke, Changed to the SP, eh? That's my 2nd favorite road. I grew up watching them at the end in San Antonio.

Attaboy, A certain BUckcherry song comes to mind after hearing about that one.

 

Vincent

Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....

2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.

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Posted by Curt Webb on Monday, May 16, 2011 2:51 PM

Afternoon All,

At w**k today. It is actually nice out today around 84 which is about 10 degrees cooler than normal. Tomorrow I don't go in until 1600 so I think as I run a loco I will install some ground throws in the yard. Sat when I go to the club I am going to fix my 6 lead phone cable lengths so I can use my throttle instead of my base station all the time (more flexibility when fixing things).

Ulrich- I know you have a lot going on in your life right now, but you have to take care of yourself. It's nice that your parents canstay together.

Chris- I am with you. I cringed when I heard about the lawn mower with gas in the basement. Good luck with your Dept new addition.

Galaxy- I really like #19. I know it is true for me--and it is cheaper.

Blownout- Neat pic. Do you know when it was taken?

YGW- Best wishes for your wife.

Everyone take care.

Curt Webb

The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad

http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j372/curtwbb/

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Posted by Cox 47 on Monday, May 16, 2011 3:15 PM

Afternoon All...Its sunny and low 50's here...I'll have a diet coke please..Thank you..Setting here wait on Sallie to get home...Did some work on platform for oil derick this morning other than that not much going on..

Jeff...Layout is looking great...

You all have a good one...Jerry

ILLinois and Southern...Serving the Coal belt of southern Illinois with a Smile...
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Posted by Attaboy on Monday, May 16, 2011 5:08 PM

Evening everyone.  I did manage to get the papers to the court house this morning.  Clerk said we should have the final divorce decree in a week maybe a little over a week.  So by the middle of next week I will be officially divorced.  She'll blow her top when she finds out about it.  Hope that won't be till the final decree gets here.  I have an appointment with a lawyer tomorrow to discuss eviction proceedings to start as soon as the final decree is delivered.

I have suggested to her that she could benefit from some psychiatric or psychological counseling.  I believe she does have some major personality problems at least.  That was one of those topics that caused unpleasant things to hit the fan and fly all over the house.

Age is an accident of birth, being young or old is a state of mind
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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Monday, May 16, 2011 5:24 PM

Today I put down 26 trees. No bushes yet. And since the billboards of my railway were in the other photos I consider it only fair to include close-ups of the two in these photos.















Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
          Joined June, 2004

Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
15 year veteran fire fighter
Collector of Apple //e's
Running Bear Enterprises
History Channel Club life member.
beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


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Posted by Cederstrand on Monday, May 16, 2011 6:27 PM

A bowl of ranch beans, please.

***Jeffrey, you sure are making a lot of good progress there.

***Packers, really like those wheels. And yes, sure looks like an ammo incert.

***Chris, we have plenty of those big carpenter bees here. They don't even mind the newer "treated" lumber. They never touched the old arsenic impregnated stuff.

***Ray, we're just using these roofers for the main barn, hopefully for just 2 days worth of work. I'm doing all the rest. I have to take breaks and recovery is very slow, but my price is right.Smile, Wink & Grin Wife is running an ad for Free Sawboard Logs. Someone should be interested in those big trees. The three main sawmills for this area are undoubtedly being inundated with logs right now.

Got a good bit done on the tractor shed today. Actually ran out of wood and tin, so perhaps I'll go hunting in the front pasture tomorrow where there are at least 7 more pieces of tin.

Cowboy Rob

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Posted by CNCharlie on Monday, May 16, 2011 8:36 PM

Good Evening from Summerpeg!

Yes indeed it is really summer or at least a warm spring.  It is supposed to be low-mid '70's all week. People in the office are already complaining about the heat. I actually mowed the lawn for the first time tonight and the leaves are starting to come out on the trees.

Rob, glad to hear you are making progress on your roofing repairs. Sounds like you've got a lot done.

Jerry, oil derrick? Is the I&S getting into the oil business?

Chris, the town where I used to live had a '54 or '55 Fargo ( Canadian Dodge) fire truck that had large flat head 6 with a split exhaust manifold. It did sound good. I just like the sound of those old Chrysler flathead sixes. The marine version sounded good too. Does yours have that split manifold?

On the RR front I ordered a BMan Heavy Mountain today and a Kato RDC from Trainland. I got an e-mail from them yesterday saying the Heavy Mountain was on sale for $70! Now that is less than half of Klein's price plus it has DCC. I also ordered a Kato RDC3 for $30. I placed the order as soon as they opened at 10 a.m. as I thought the Mountain price was an error and I wanted to check. Sure enough it was $70. I've had my eye on that engine for a while but it was $150 at Kleins and I've spent quite a bit so far this year and haven't even got a layout running. Just too good a deal to pass up.

Think I'll go down to the workshop and finish install a decoder in a MP Pacific. It is the 3rd and last MP install I have to do. They are getting very easy.

CN Charlie

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Posted by howmus on Monday, May 16, 2011 8:43 PM

Evenin' folks!

Janie, just a decaf for the moment.  I'll be sitting in the back booth relaxing for a few minutes.

Ever have one of those days where every time you finished a project that has to be done right away, two more appear out of nowhere you had forgotten about?  THAT would be today for me.  I will get everything done I have to before Wednesday evening, but I'm not sure how at the moment.

Found out earlier we had around 750 people visit the R&GV RR Museum yesterday.  There is no way we could have transported that many people on the cabooses we usually run with a diesel.  I guess they made a very good decision to bring out the Empire State Express coach.  BTW here is what it looked like at the museum yesterday.  If you watch carefully at about 1:37 in the video, you will see me standing in the background by the end of our baggage car on the right.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UgseNZHcfA  Notice the beautiful sunny, warm weather we were having...... Whistling

Rob don't overdo it.  Do what you can and then take a break.  Hope tomorrow goes well and they can get the roof back on for you.

Jeffrey, your progress is looking very nice, sir!

Ulrich, hope your mom gets on the road to recovery soon!  I have kept all of your family in my prayers.

Blessings to all!

73

Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO

We'll get there sooner or later! 

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Posted by submmbob on Monday, May 16, 2011 9:29 PM

Hello all

Another quiet evening collecting photons. I think somebody asked what we are looking for, basically different molecules, both common ones and others that have not been found in space before.

Watched the shuttle launch this morning. The commander is the husband of the congresswoman here in AZ that was recently shot. I haven't watched a full launch in a while. The camera on the external tank has some really neat views. 'Course, I guess they toast a camera every time, since the ET is not recovered.

Jeff - I was guessing the NuComp kits were resin. Should be a good learning experience.

Ray - as soon as I opened your video, I was like "hey, that sounds like an Alco..." I used to volunteer for the Nevada Northern when I lived in Ely, NV. They have an RS-2 and an RS-3. Got to ride in one as we used it to hostle the steam locomotives before weekend runs. The other I helped replaced a couple of piston and cylinder sets. There is nothing like an Alco.

Bob

 

 

Bob

Tucson, AZ (aka the Ol' Pueblo)

Home of the Mt. Graham & Arizona Eastern Boiler Shops

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Posted by howmus on Monday, May 16, 2011 9:54 PM

Hi Bob,

Just one little thing.  She looks like an ALCO RS3 on the outside, But look on top very closely.....  she's got 2 stacks.....  #211 was one of 9 Alcos converted by Conrail into what was called a "DeWitt Geep".  The Alco Prime Mover was replaced with an EMD 567B taken from a scraped E8 and was also fitted with an EMD Control Stand.  She is an RS3m also known as a "Hammerhead" with the high hood.  She is one of only five RS3s that were fitted with a steam generator and dynamic brakes so she could run as a substitute on Passenger Runs.

The old girl has done a lot miles since she was built in 1953 and has been on the scrap line more than once over the years.  You can get her complete history here: http://rgvrrm.org/about/railroad/lv211/index.htm

The old girl is the pride of our fleet!

73

Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO

We'll get there sooner or later! 

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Posted by cudaken on Monday, May 16, 2011 10:01 PM

 Evening Folks!

 While it was a little chilly today, sure was pretty.

 Work Front Got my $500.00 bounces check today, and it was a Dime Short! Going to raise some heck over that, NOT. Big Smile Fair day as far as sales goes with $1300.00. What Sucked is I lost a $500.00 deal to Mattress Firm because of lack of Training on what I can do to get the deal.

 Comfort Exchange Certain mattress we do not offer a comfort exchange on because we don't mark them up to cover the cost like other company's. He had seen one at Mattress Firm he liked, but wanted to shop around. Came to me, found him a mattress he likes, I matched Mattress Firms prices. Bought back his wife, she like it but still like Mattress Firms as well and wanted to look at it again. Asked "If I can get you the set for $500.00 do you want to get this over with"? They said yes as just as I was getting ready to run there check they asked about the they asked about are exchange policy. I told them they could not return this mattress and lost the deal. 

 Later Berry called to see how thing where going and told him the above story. Told me "If it is a deal breaker, give them a comfort exchange". Sure would have been nice to know that before hand.

See you all Tuesday!

             Ken  

I hate Rust

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Posted by mononguy63 on Monday, May 16, 2011 10:11 PM

Evening, all. Nothing to eat for me, thanks.

Well, it's been just a great day. Got a speeding ticket (doing 38 in a 25 school zone - I'm such a societal menace), we lost one of our expected upcoming projects at w**k so I'm not sure what I'll have to fill my time for the next few weeks, and this evening I slipped going down the basement stairs. Left a few layers of skin from my right arm on one of the treads and I either sprained or broke the little toe on my left foot. Fully expect my shoulder to be sore tomorrow from the funky way my arm was bent as I slid down the bottom 6 or 7 steps. At least I wasn't carrying one of my boxcar projects from the paint booth (i.e. the garage) to my workdesk.

Tomorrow can only be better, right? Time for me and Mr. Throbbing Toe to get to bed.

Jim

"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley

I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious.  -Stephen Wright

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Posted by Heartland Division CB&Q on Monday, May 16, 2011 10:38 PM

Ray ... The old "Hammerhead" looks good in the LV paint scheme. 

YGW ..... Hope your wife's test results are good news. Certainly will pray the cancer is being cured. 

Ulrich .... Hope your Mom and Dad will be doing much better. 

Rob ... Hope the roof repairs will go well.

Jerry ... Glad to see you.

Jeff ... It's good the signs are clean unlike your locomotive fleet. Smile, Wink & Grin

Ken ... I suppose if we need a mattress we should contact you. 

Attaboy .... I hope your situation is resolved quickly and you recover emotionally from it.  Where is Duke?

There are several MIA's. Feel free to email some of them and bring them back. 

On the layout .... I have been ballasting more track, and I am putting together a building materials supplier to be served by my railroad. 

Here's an old photo in Birmingham, AL in the good old days before Amtrak.

GARRY

HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR

EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU

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Posted by AmanaMedic on Monday, May 16, 2011 11:43 PM

Gooooooooooooood *yawwwwwwwwwwwwwn* Evening.

Well (full, dogs are pulling skeletal bones out as they float to the top), the Wife helped with a major decision tonight regarding the future layout. You see, I had a change of plans for a boxcar project. Some weeks back, I mentioned doing a project out of a Rail Model Journal (I think) article I found online. It called for taking a Life Like boxcar and making something good out of it. The subject was a Penn Central car. So, I got paint, decals, Details West underframe, Walthers steel wheels trucks...ready to rock 'n roll on it. At original glance, I thought the high, flat-roof car would be in appliance service, so figured out where a Whirlpool or Maytag factory was in Ohio, on a Conrail (ex-PC) line and worked out the routing to a furniture/appliance warehouse.

So, I get the thing built, painted, half-decaled and realize the prototype has interior bulkheads...more like a "can stock" kinda car. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Scrap the appliance service idea, look at "food stuffs" THAT could go a carload at a time to the Nash Finch grocery warehouse. So (not a needle pulling thread), I take a gander at an online list of industries, the RRs THAT served them, and what was shipped. Some operations special interest group posted it, I think. I decide to stick with Ohio, on PRR/PC (Conrail) lines, and come up with four possible industries:

La Choy Food Products, Archibold, Ohio. The Wife said I should re-name THAT to "Lajoy Food Products" in honor of my mother..."La Joy" perhaps.

Frito Lay, Canton, Ohio.

Procter and Gamble, Ivorydale, Ohio or Lima, Ohio (food products such as Crisco, or carloads of soaps and laundry detergents).

Nestle Food, Twinsburg, Ohio.

I ask the Wife for her input. After explaining the situation and the options, she decided she liked the Nestle idea the best. Then, she looked at the half-finished car and asked "wouldn't you have to repaint it?"

Huh?

"If it's a car for Nestle, wouldn't you have to paint it and decal it for Nestle?"

God love her.

No Dear...and I proceeded to explain how railroads assign freight cars to industries.

She's now happily clucking about how it'll be a car load of Nestle products...I think she's even posting something about it on her My Space, or Facebook, or My Butt, or Face Space, or whatever THAT social media thing is she's posting on...

Then again, she's still happily clucking about how I grabbed a Pepsi boxcar (Lionel) some years back for a proposed but never built Lionel layout. When I put up the train around the Christmas tree this last time, I made sure "her" Pepsi boxcar was in the consist.

I'll take all the points I can get!

 

CN CHARLIE: You know, I couldn't tell you off-hand what the Dragonslayer has for exhaust...I know she's got a small flathead six...and it sounds like a sewing machine ("clickclickclickclickclickclick") when it's actually running. The chassis itself is a Dodge B-3HH152. Years ago I was a member of the Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motorized Fire Apparatus in America (SPAAMFAA) and they did a feature article in their quarterly publication on those 1950s Canadian Dodge rigs. It looked to me like they tended to stretch-out the hoods on 'em. Looked kinda funny to me!

 

I started a reply to MORGAN's question about how to come up with the "right" number of rolling stock...confused myself...and scrapped it. I guess I hadn't really thought about it much even though I keep adding to the fleet. This PC boxcar is a good example. I'll have to build a few more now, I mean it would be strange to see the exact same boxcar every few sessions moving out of staging, across the layout, and in to the CCP yard. The closest I got to really skulling-out how many of a particular car I'd need was my theory on how many coal hoppers I'll need for the Iowa Electric Light and Power Co. 6th St. Power Station. The CRANDIC served it in real life (until the 2008 flood sealed it's doom). But, in my world....the CNW will bring in six hoppers each week for the plant in addition to loads from the CRANDIC (a subsidiary of IE, now Alliant Energy). I figured: one set at the plant. One in-transit (loaded). One set in-transit (empty, back to Wyoming). One set at the Black Thunder Mine in Wyoming being loaded. I figured (rightly? wrongly?) a six-car block of hoppers might not move quite as expeditiously as a unit coal train, so I might need to add a set or two. At the same time, I'm adding to my CRANDIC coal hopper fleet, which would've been loaded in Southern Illinois.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Remember when we were thrilled just to have Nestle boxcars going around a circle of track on the floor????? It sure was a lot simpler then.... Dad: "why do you want another Nestle boxcar? You already have a Nestle one...you should get a Kellog's or Purina car instead..." Kid: "but the weal wailwoads have mowe than one boxcar..."

G'Night!

Chris

The Cedar cRapids Industrial Branch: Proudly Shipping Yesterday's CrunchBerries Tomorrow!

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Posted by galaxy on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 2:14 AM

Good middle of the night

I developed a migraine yesterday morning and all day. so I slept all day on migraine meds. so here it is middle of the night and Im awake with a pounding headache.

I facatchied the new TV/cable box. {facatchied is a take off on an italian bread called facata, and I use it as a cleaned up word of frustration}

YOu see with our cable bill getting so high, MOH called to cancel the upper channels. Then called back to find out what offers they were offering to new subscribers, and found out htey were offering a yr-long special on HD High Def with many more channels than I think we know what to do with, though I think we will never watch 2/3 of them ata  $20 discount over what we were paying. SO MOH went up tho the office and got a new HD box and remote. WEEEEELLLLLLL, the connections were a nightmare, but finally MOH got the tv connected to the box, but not the DVD player connected. MOH called for a repair man to come out Tomorrow. WEEEELLLLL, I accidentaly hit a tv button onthe tv remote {that doesn't work the cable box,a nd it got facatchied.

So NOW MOH is trying to figure it out and get it straightened out. THe TV does NOT seem to take teh "cable" setting and lock it in, it reads anttenae and there is none.

I tell ya my parents thought hooking up a VCR was confusing, BUT this new HD LCD TV and all it's "settings" and teh cable box with all its "settings' and the DVD player {which does not seem to play well with others} are WAY more confusing than setting up a plain old VCR.

So here I sit, all broken hearted with no TV to watch and bored ont he 'puter while MOH tries to straighten out the TV situation. Now MOH is stubborn and says I do it all wrong, but isn't geting it to workout well either. We DO get an error message witha  phone number to call. I hope somehting isn;t screwed up with the TV and we have to send it back?!!

So, like ULRICH, I am up during the night and so is MOH, who only came to check on me.

WEll enough of that....

g'nite

 

-G .

Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.

 HO and N Scale.

After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.

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05/17/2011
Posted by wetidlerjr on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 3:50 AM

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

Bill Tidler Jr.

Near a cornfield in Indiana...

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Posted by blownout cylinder on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 5:59 AM

Good Morning.

Well, I am having another rainy kind of day, same with tomorrow and Thursday and Friday....there are a lot of fields currently underwater here...Whistling..our sump pump has been running at 1 minute cycles for awhile now....Whistling

Galaxy: I have done a lot of those HD and HDMI interface things for awhile now...they can get rather annoying, especially when one is configuring a ceiling mounted system...SoapBoxBang Head

Ray: I enjoyed that video very much//looked like it must have been a lot of fun!! Even if it was all dribblyWink

Curt: All I know about that shot was that it had to have been sometime in the late 1920's early 1930's.

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

 

Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry

I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...

http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/

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Posted by Attaboy on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 6:14 AM

Garry, I exchange emails with Duke from time to time, I think he's busy planning his summer bike rides.  He mentioned going to Apex in October already.  Actually I might try to get there too.  I've never been there.  I know he looks in the windows sometimes because he mentions seeing things on the forum.

Age is an accident of birth, being young or old is a state of mind
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Posted by Cederstrand on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 7:07 AM

Tall glass of water, please.

***Chris, sure enjoy your sense of humor. Funny post.

***Galaxy, the equipment is most likely fine. If it was working with the new conncetions, then it is probably a settings issue. Between my wife who hits buttons and two cats which walk across the remotes, it seems I have to delve into the settings menus at least once a week to return things to normal. Good luck!

Have a great day y'all.

Cowboy Rob

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Posted by TMarsh on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 8:28 AM

howmus

 Ever have one of those days where every time you finished a project that has to be done right away, two more appear out of nowhere you had forgotten about?  

 

EV-ry SING-gle DAY of MY LIFE! Laugh Nice video, by the way. And was that you ducking behind the car?

 

Good Morning!! Cup of Dark Roast please. Thanks.

Did not get a THING done yesterday I needed to. (shakes head) Always something pops up to stop progress, then when I do progress....see Ray's quote. 

YGW- Prayers continue for the OH.

Ray- Perhaps your sister could paint her lawn mower in a pastel flowery design. Make it a piece of…Hmm...art she can display all year long. At least it will possibly keep it out of the cellar.

Reminds me of the time years ago, when a guy asked if I could check out his push mower for the season and touch up paint the deck. I laughed and said, “more like repaint” He laughed too and said it would be faster to just sand and paint the whole thing, but since it sat outside, he figured just knock the rust down and spray bomb it. He’d done this several times over the years and it's an old mower anyway. Must have only been 5 years old at the time. ( Apparently not to him, but that's a pretty new mower to me). The touch up paint turned into a full black mower complete with a flame job courtesy Rustoleum. He wasn‘t reeeal happy but not mad. What could he say. It was done on Federal time and he was a supervisor from another department. I just smiled and said “hey, you have to pay for it somehow, and since money or favors is somewhat illegal as opposed to against the rules, I guess a flamed mower sitting in your yard is payment enough.” he never brought anyhing back again. Of cours there was the time this guy brought in his whell barrow to weld a bottom in. Stripes it got. Now HE was not happpy at all. Don't like it...., BUY A NEW WHEEL BARROW!!!!

Jeff- Layout is looking great.

Attaboy- Sooo, she signed and delivered the divorce papers, then gets mad when you… file them. Hm. Sounds like a woman I used to know. Used to.

Also sounds like my sister. Now there’s a whacko. She claims she is not psychotic, because she, ready for this, “gave myself the test just to be sure”. (whatever the test is) I will not even go into her powers of reasoning and deduction. They just defy any descrition imaginable.

Enough about Nutjob, let’s talk about me. Not much to report. I hope to get the yard mowed or at least most of it today before w**k, then w**k on the tractor. Spark plug was not it. I suppose I’ll have to break down this year and give it a proper tuneup. Sigh This is averaging a tuneup every ten years. Getting a it rediculouis not to mention expensive. Better start looking for new mowers.

Trying to get stuff done and out of the way, these things are keeping me from playing with my trainset.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

Todd  

Central Illinoyz

In order to keep my position as Master and Supreme Ruler of the House, I don't argue with my wife.

I'm a small town boy. A product of two people from even smaller towns. I don’t talk on topic….. I just talk. Laugh

  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: Orig: Tyler Texas. Lived in seven countries, now live in Sundown, Louisiana
  • 25,640 posts
Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 8:51 AM

Good morning. It's 57° and sunny. The high will be near 80° and it will be partly cloudy.

I made a lot of progress on the trees yesterday. Today I intend to add the bushes IF nothing else comes up to change that. I also have to move a few structures to their final positions. One of these will be the Cup-o-Joe Trackside Diner (slightly kitbashed version of Donna's Diner with a scratchbuilt kitchen added). For the bushes I'll be using clump foliage and lichen. I have so much lichen in the closet (enough to fill six or more shoe boxes) that it's getting in the way. I have three 32oz bottles full of clump foliage. So I should be able to make a good sized dent in the scenery job. The foliage is mostly one color, dark green. So I'll have to see if I can vary things with the lichen, which I have in a variety of green shades. I even have a little in autumn colors. I may be able to do something with the brown shade. Dead bushes anyone? I must remember to spread some dead fall around too. That stuff sure makes a difference.

Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
          Joined June, 2004

Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
15 year veteran fire fighter
Collector of Apple //e's
Running Bear Enterprises
History Channel Club life member.
beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


  • Member since
    September 2004
  • From: Perry County, PA, US
  • 453 posts
Posted by Attaboy on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 10:06 AM

Todd, she's been say things like that since I found out what she has been up to.  She keeps telling me not to file the papers till Friday because (and I quote her) "I want to think about it."  She can't seem to understand two important concepts: 1. the time to think about was before she went out and slept with other men, and 2. I DON'T want to think about it anymore.  She can't save the marriage alone.

Age is an accident of birth, being young or old is a state of mind
  • Member since
    December 2004
  • From: Finger Lakes
  • 10,198 posts
Posted by howmus on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 10:31 AM

Mornin'

Zoe I'll have a short stack of Buttermilk pancakes, Maple Syrup, and a cup of dark roast coffee, no cream, no sugar...  What?  You're out of cream, so how about "no milk, no sugar"....  Uh?  OK THAT will have to do.

Up to my armpits in alligators already today.  I am busy running off the rest of the programs for the dinner.  Then i will start making the tickets for it and the Scholarship Awards themselves...  Have to be at the collage by 2PM and go over and vote on the School Budget after I am through there.  Looks like I won't be getting my "Ears Lowered" before the dinner......

It is currently 51°F under dreary, drizzly skies here in the Finger Lakes this morning.  May get all the way up to 58°F this afternoon.....  Just another beautiful day here.

Todd, yep that was me ducking behind the baggage car....  following a group of visiters to do my guide routine in the car.

Jeffrey, your new part of the layout is looking really good!  I know you are having fun with it as well.

Attaboy, good luck getting through the whole situation.... 

Hope everyone has a great day!

73

Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO

We'll get there sooner or later! 

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: upstate NY
  • 9,236 posts
Posted by galaxy on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 10:51 AM

Morning

WEeeeeelllllll the cable guy came and the setting for the tv WAS off...It should have been for HDTV2 instead of just "cable" for inline connection.

The DVD player and the cable HD box don't have to be connected, so no more cables needed as long as the DVD {with surround sound} is connected to teh TV directly as it has nothing of course to do with teh cable box.

Our "all in one" remotes are NO GOOD for the HD thingy. So SHHHHHHH! we got a second remote free. we have always had at least 3 remotes...one for me, one for MOH and one for the dining table to control the tv anywhere without playing "where is the remote" or "football" passing it around betwixt us. The "all in one" buttons is what knocked it out of the proper setting.

I don't know why they make those thingys so complicated, my computer is easier to figure out than that blasted TV/DVD?HDTV CABLE box is/are!!!!!!

At least teh TV isn't broken as I had feared. but WE DONOT use the "all in ones" now!!!!!!!!!!

What could have been a simple fix for the cable man took a little over an hour as he had to replace teh cable wires as the old connection was outdated and techincally ILLEGAL NOW. So he had to run new wire and a new connection!

AS I said, I don't know why they have to make things more complicted.

 WEll still have my headache. Going to lay down soon.

Have ANOTHER repair bill coming that wil$1****$2me off- for the Grand CAravan. MOH drives it to work, adn came home yesterday and said that the brake light is on and the brakes "squishy". SO they must be facatchied* too. SO made the {groan} appt. for it tomorrow at 9 am at FIrestone to see whats what. abut 1-11/2 yrs ago they did the front brakes only as the back brekes were "ok". But I was warned {$600 later for front brakes} that the back drums are at a point of replacing them next time back brakes are done. RATS! That means another "higher than $600 repair ASSUMING we don't need new front ones now again too!" kinda bill!!!

Always something. Will have to warm up a credit card somewhere along the way.... RATS!

Hope everyone's day goes better than mine.

Have a {great} non- facatchied* day everyone!

* facatchied is a take off on an italian bread facata, modified to use as a word of frustration instead of other words that are not printable.

TTYALLL8R

-G .

Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.

 HO and N Scale.

After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.

  • Member since
    January 2011
  • From: Winter Garden, FL
  • 1,546 posts
Posted by Curt Webb on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 11:37 AM

Afternoon  Everyone,

Not much happening here. I installed 4 ground throws and ran a FP-7 for a couple of minutes. I decided that was enough as I go to w**k in a couple of hours.

Galaxy- I feel your pain. Sometimes you are the bird and sometimes you are the statue.

Everyone take care.  

Curt Webb

The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad

http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j372/curtwbb/

  • Member since
    April 2007
  • From: Western transplant to the Deep South
  • 4,256 posts
Posted by Cederstrand on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 1:17 PM

Coffee in a SOUTHERN mug, please.

While the roofers were on their extended lunch, I got up on the barn roof and ran about 100 screws to speed up the process. Probably would have taken them an hour to do what I did in minutes. Wish I could have read their minds when they returned to find the only thing left for them to do was add the last half dozen sections of tin. Today they will be done, whether they know it or not.Mischief

Wife and I need to take today easy and rest. We're both spent. 

Cowboy Rob

  • Member since
    October 2010
  • From: outside of London, Ontario
  • 389 posts
Posted by lone geep on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 2:38 PM

Good Afternoon. Flo, could I please have a chocolate donut and a lemonade in a CPR glass please. I have finally survived a busy weekend so now I can notch back the throttle for a while. I cut the grass this morning and I nearly need a combine to cut it because it was long and wet! I'm getting tired of the rainy weatherSigh.

Lone Geep 

 \

  • Member since
    April 2007
  • From: Western transplant to the Deep South
  • 4,256 posts
Posted by Cederstrand on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 3:51 PM

Coffee refill, please.

The barn roof is finished. That's one more item checked off the To Fix List.

Cowboy Rob

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Marion, Iowa
  • 1,263 posts
Posted by AmanaMedic on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 5:29 PM

"Chris, sure enjoy your sense of humor. Funny post."

What can I tell ya ROB? I had a head injury once.... bamaged my drain, or is THAT damaged my brain? Either way, it's somewhat modified my perspective of life. Glad I put a little humor into your day. Also, glad to hear the barn roof is done!

 

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooood Afternoon.

Another day, another assignment covered for THAT Editor. This time, it was to North Bend Elementary School in North Liberty. The University of Iowa's PanAmerican Band gave a performance. Whoda thunk a bunch of cut up oil barrels could be used to make some pretty catchy music??? The really cool hippie-amazon principal wanted 'em to perform outside. The band declined. Good thing I packed along ear plugs as they set up in the gym. I got shots of happy musicians (ranging from college freshmen through "kids" going for docteral doctorial doctoreal, PHD degrees). I also got shots of happy kids gyrating to the tunes. For the encore, the really cool hippie-amazon principal released her iron fist grip on the kids and let 'em dance.... I even grabbed some shots of her shaking her tail feathers to the beat. Now I gotta go through 'em all, select out a few, crop 'em and make 'em ready for THAT EDITOR. I also need to e-mail some low-res versions to the really cool hippie-amazon principal so she can ID the young skulls full of mush.

Here's a funny one for you guys: THAT same school put in a "sensory garden" last week. Veggies, flowers, and some other...stuff. I thought maybe they'd use the veggies in the school vomitorium...I mean, cafeteria. NOPE! Really cool hippie-amazon principal says they can't do THAT. Something about regulations prohibiting THAT. But, they CAN donate the veggies to the local food bank/pantry.

Huh?

I can see some federal bureucratic azzzzzzzzzclown shaking his head and scowling. "NO!" You absolutely may NOT feed THAT tomato to the children of this school. BUT, you MAY give it to the pantry to give to the parents of the students of this school."

Lord, deliver us from idiots...or at least from the geniuses in the government!

 

GALAXY: Sorry to hear about the migrane, and the TV fiasco. Thanks for giving me a new word to add to my vocabulary, by the way. I'm kinda in the same boat today. I had the TV set to channel 4.2, WHBF out of the Quad Cities. They show the RTN or RTV network: all Universal Studios shows all day. 4PM is Adam-12, 4:30 = Dragnet, and 5 is "Emergency! 'O clock." Two solid hours of Jack Webb's finest effortsThumbs UpThumbs Up. But...the blinkingbracken flicken frappin digital box done lost the signal!!!!!! I made A-justments to the antennae...no dice. Re-scanned the channels. Gone. Tried a dozen different antennae positions/re-scanned a dozen times.

Gone.

Channel 7.3, KWWL out of Waterloo used to carry these shows, but they switched to an all 20th Century Fox programs format.

I just so dearly love digital television....

JEFF: I'm liking the scenery progress, good stuff!

VINCENT: Looking forward to seeing the SD40-2's evolve into BN units.

TODD: Black with flames 'eh? The Wife would surely love to see THAT. One of her die-cast collections...Yes, I said HER die-cast collections...is a black with flames theme. When we go to car shows, she seeks out black with flames, and any VW bugs on-site.

*sigh* Time to get back at it...pics to edit et. send...

Chris

 

The Cedar cRapids Industrial Branch: Proudly Shipping Yesterday's CrunchBerries Tomorrow!

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