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

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

 

 

Wishing a quick recovery for Sir Madog !

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning..

Foggy out here now but it will become a mix of sun/cloud with the ever-popular chance of those t'underin'boomers again......

Got some reports to write up this morning..so I  be getting ready to go to the office this morning..maybe get a chance to go to the LHS later this afternoon for a bit...

Garry: ...and I keep finding more of 'em!!

Ulrich!!  Glad to see you back!! Wishing you get well quickly....

Flo, I'll have a coffee and a Bran Muffin please...I'll be a the RC for a bit..

[Cederstrand]

Tall glass of cool water, please.

***Todd, I like what that fella has to come home to.

Healing thoughts for those in need. (like you, Ulrich)

Have a great day y'all.

Rob

[LSWrr]

Good morning,

My former FIL’s doublewide was hit by lightning; it split open the siding and burned out every appliance including a toaster.  The computer was on a surge protector and survived without a scratch.

Curt, it’s DC, so the worst thing that will happen is the turnout will move the opposite direction you wanted it to, then all you do is rotate the DPDT 180 degrees or swap the wires around.

Today was going to be train room day; but that’s not going to work out…

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee and toast please. Thanks

Welp, today started out..., or I should say, yesterday it looked like today was going to be a train room day, but then the shoes fell. Today is a do something for everyone else day. Plus I told this kid who graduated High School this year I would work for him tonight so he could attend the graduation party his parents are throwing. I thought he should be there and after all you only graduate High School once. Unless of course you’re Cletus Smothers. He actually graduated 3 times. He loved school, but his family didn’t have the money to send him to college, so he went back thru 12th grade 2 more times. Said he'd been looking at College classes and for the first year or two, they looked pretty much the same anyway. He got a job selling to contractors at some Contractors supply house somewhere after his second year of “College”. He only had one more year to go anyway. I asked him once if he was gonna go for his Bachelors degree. He said no, he thought he'd rather get married.

 

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[blownout cylinder]

Huh..I knew someone who went through university for 15 years to get his BA...then went through another 5 to get his MA...now he is into year 6 for his PhD....He's been here for more than most professors here....

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Sir Madog

I am fine, though not feeling well. The surgery went OK, but I must have lost a little more blood during the process than they´d figured I would. I feel weak and have an itchy feeling inside my body without being able to scratch it - aside from a nagging pain in my chest.

I was hooked up to quite a lot of monitoring equipment until this morning, so I was not able to get to my notebook yesterday. If everything goes well, I´ll be out of this place by coming Thursday.

Good to see you again Ulrich. I was thinking we were going to have to send in the 1st Infantry Division to find out what was going on. I had the same itchy feeling with my foot after the doc took some infected bones out of it. Like to drove me nuts!

 

yougottawanta

Jeffrey How is your ankle doing ? That is some Hornets nest, Hope the transformer doesnt go bad. Folks in that neighberhood may be with out power for a while! Ringing in the ears may be caused by nerve damage in the ear. I have it from a car accident (head trauma) . It can also be caused by other factors such as exposer to loud noises, diet defiences etc... It can be masked by other sounds. fter a while you dont even notice the sound , your brain kinda of makes it background noise after a while . Still it is annoying at times.

The ankle (what's left of it) is doing OK for now. Hurts like heck where the bones are grinding against each other. The foot is rolled inward at about a 75 degree angle and seems to be holding at that point. They finally got the paperwork for my brace through to Medicaid and it's under review. Only took about four months! It was submitted in January (supposedly) and Medicaid says they received it on May 15. The doc says they've been having some problems with the clinic that did the review and he's thinking seriously about dropping them. I agree with the nerve damage idea concerning the ringing in my ears. It seems to be more to the left ear than the right and I've had an increasing tingling sensation that started on the left side of my head a couple or three weeks ago and has since spread down the left side of my jaw, neck, arm and ribs. I just had a physical not too long ago. My heart is healthy and my cholesterol count is in the low 90's. I'm no stranger to nerve damage as I've lived with it since 1962 due to spinal meningitis. It did a good job of messing with the order in which I hear things and that of course had direct impact on my speech, being able to understand speech, recognize objects and the list goes on. It's a condition called global or total aphasia.

 

[Curt Webb]

Morning All,

Plans today are to start soldering my DPDT's. There are 26 so I have no clue how long that will take. After that I will connect them to the power buss. I was thinking that I should bend the tortoise throw wire, install it, center it, and then solder the 2 leads to the Tortoise. After that actually screw it in place. My Dad offered to help when I install them. If anyone recommends a different sequence please let me know.

Ulrich- I am glad you are doing OK. I think when you posted there was a collective sigh of relief  from the diner. Take care of yourself and I hope you have a speedy recovery.

Todd- Yeah I know the skunks are big for HO. I will probably just end up using the 2 smaller ones in the background. Please thank your Dad for his service. The barn is extremely easy to make and the price is right. Your mobile home looks great and I had to chuckle about the person going out the back.

Lee- Thanks again for your patience with all my wiring questions. I know I must be a pain in the butt at times. I honestly have no electrical or electronic expeirence, but I am learning.

Thank you to all the diner members and their family members for their military service. A special prayer to those families that have service members in harms way this Memorial day.

Everyone have a great Memorial Day weekend.

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Chloe, I'll have a Breakfast Bagel w/ cheese and a cup of dark roast coffee in my R&GV RR Mug.

Ulrich!!!!  You're back!  Glad you came through the surgery OK and pray you get to feeling better very quickly.

Curt, I do all the soldering and assembly of the Torti at the workbench, then install them under the turnouts.  At last count I have done 65 of them.  I use a terminal strip to do the final electrical connections after they are installed on the layout.  Here is photo of the setupo after installation on the layout if it is any help to you:

Here is a couple in progress on the workbench:

Also a couple videos from a soldering clinic I presented a couple years ago for the NMRA Division:

Hope they are helpful...

Have a great day everyone!

73

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

ULRICH, OLD BOY,  Welcome back to the land of the living.  Keep doing what you are told as we want you back, up and running as soon as possible.

You have sure had lots of prayers and best wishes happening here.  I believe Garry said that the Chapel Car had to stay open 24 hours a day as there were so many folks coming through for you.

Really hope your release date comes soon.   No pinching those nurses now !!!!!!!!!!

Johnboy out...................................

[TMarsh]

ULRICH!!!- Glad you're doing ok.

Curt- Oh I knew you knew, you'd said so. I was just being...silly. Acting like I really saw giant Skunks. Some of us will do that stuff here, some won't. Ok, most won't. You should have been here when the dinosaurs invaded Sundown.

It seems everyone who needed my help......, is waiting to come at once, possibly with the intent on pushing me right up to the time when I'll have to leave for work (to which their response could likely be, "well, what am I gonna do now?" I'll respond "should have come over earlier, I told you I had to work at 5." They'll respond "I had things to do this morning." I will generally bite my tongue at this point because I will remember that my life revolves around them and I made the mistake of having something to do when they wanted me to do something for them) That way there will be no time for me to squeeze in what I want to do for even a few miutes. I guess I could go down now until they get here, but as soon as I get doing something they'll showup. Of course they will not have brought what they needed or there will be a problem and that will put me up against the wire to go to work, and then the above conversation will take place except the end remark will be replaced with, "You said wait and didn't get started." Therefore making it my fault they are in this pickle barrel.

I love grateful people. Especially when it's family. 

[teen steam fan]

morning

Ulrlich- Trust me, I do. Only reason I won't is if I'm driving my Farmall (Doesn't even have a cab, so...) or off roading through creeks. My Jeep's been lifted so its easier to roll and is a road queen.  Glad your back from your surgery 

Rain- anyone want some? my yard now has a creek running through it. 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 82° and mostly cloudy. The high will be 92° and it will partly sunny (mostly cloudy again).

The ringing in the ears is still with me. Looks like it's just another thing I have to learn to live with. That's a long list! I'm down here at my parents place again today in case my mother needs help with something. She gets around fairly well for an old bird in her 70's though she does move slowly. Shoot, so do I so what's new.

No plans for today other than try to stay off my feet as much as possible. Good to see that Ulrich is back amongst us.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Ulrich .... I'm certainly happy to see you could post JohnBoy was correct about the large number of people passing through the Chapel Car. ... Please follow doctor instructions very carefully! 

I'm hoping to do more work on the layout later today. 

 

[Packer]

Hey guys

Got another deal on some proto 200 locos. Last time I got 3 GP7/9s and 3 SW9/12s for $75. This time I got 2 GP18s and 2 GP30s, with an extra GP7/9 shell, for $56. 4 P2Ks for $56.00. Although this lot is all NKP. The GP30s will probably be sold off, since I have a bunch. GP18s will become either Ph3 Gp9s or ex-GN GP5s (smokey valley / detail associates parts). Might use the GP7/9 shell, depending on what phase it is. there's another lot like this one from the same seller I'm gonna try to get. Except this one is ATSF/NKP

I'm cooking lasgana and bread stick ATM.

MRRing can be dangerous, Last night I was trying to pop the panels off the autorack that will become BN. Unfortunately the blade slipped and went into the side of my thumb. Kind of made a fillet out of my thumb; about an inch long, quarter inch wide, but it's not really deep. I did that last night around 8:30-9:00. Still bleeding a little bit. It's my left thumb, so I can still do some MRRing

Ulrich, Good to see you back.

Curt, have those skunks been using steroids ? What;d you use for the ice?

[Anonymous]

Thought I´d drop by, as the days is closing in.

Zoe, just a tall glass of OJ, please - I have to stay away from all that delicious, but not so healthy food for a while.

Did not do much other than sleeping and walking up and down the hallway, toting a rack with an IV bag along. I certainly do stay away from the nurses, as they appear either to be protected by law or by nature

I really hope to be out of this place by Thursday - there was so much material in the package Ken had sent to me that just begs to be used on my bridge module.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers - it is such a big help for me to know that there are folks, who care!

Blessings!

[blownout cylinder]

Vincent:  I did something like that awhile back..except it was me nailing my foot to the floor with my nailgun!    I caught the foot right between the 2nd and 3rd metatarsal ...that was a shock...

Ulrich:  Yep..gotta watch what you eat more now...take good care of yourself...

[galaxy]

Huh?

What?

WHo? ME?

Where?

WHere have I been? Where have I been? Where have I been? WHere have I been?

STUCK HERE WITHOUT ANY ELECTRICITY, THAT'S WHERE!

I had just come home from early AM shopping at Wally world and just put everything away and just turned on the A/c fopr the day...and 5 mins later BAM! Out went everything! I went next door {in case I blew somehting but circuit breakers showed nothing} and asked them and THEY were out too! SO I called NYSEG and got the recording "no know outages in your area". SO I called again and got the recording"outage has been reported in your area. Two thousand Five hindred sixty seven customers are without power in your area. No known time for restoration of power is known at this time". Bosh!

So I went to my fathers for awhile. Thought it might be cooler, but he likes it warm. Power just now came back on. It was 90* in here. about time for the a/cs to cool it down? maybe 3 hours. Power was oput to traffic control lights for a ways too. It was a bigger outage...

Though some people are STILL without power from last THurday's storms that blew through here.

ULRICH...my man- see you are back amongst the living! Prayer candles work wonders don't they?

Now we are going to have to go out to eat as I have nothing ready to cook for dinner here since the power went out.

Dunno what. I have some coupons, guess they will have to do.

TTYALL8R

[yougottawanta]

Hurray Ulrich , Glad to hear from you again!!! : ) Been praying for you. Listen to those ole saw bones.

Jeffrey - ouch - 75% ! oooh that make just makes me  wince just reading that !

Galaxy - sent you a PM , Did you get it ?

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

Ulrich- you really need to follow your MD's orders about diet, us Diner's expect you to be here for a good long time. If it is a help to you, you can send me your share of Dark Beer, German Rolls, and Sausage. I am here for you

Jeff- I like the locomotive on the ground being used for other purposes.

Todd- thanks for the photo's.

I finished soldering the DPDT switches and tested them on a club Tortoise. I found one that would only throw in one direction. After looking at the DPDT I realized that one of the wires did not have a good solder. I fixed it and now works like it should. All told it took about 4 hours while MOH was shopping. I am a Electrical Wizard. OK probably not, but I do feel a sense of accomplishment of completing the job successfully. It only took about 40 Emails with Lee in preparation.

I w**k tomorrow and it is probably going to be busy so I hope everyone has a great holiday.

[blownout cylinder]

Heaping barrels full of those ol' t'underin'boomers are heading our way...red/purple and black specks too...yuck

[galaxy]

yougottawanta

Galaxy - sent you a PM , Did you get it ?

Yep. I got it.

I just thought it was one one is supposed to read and not reply to.

Also I got it late last night afore bed time and thought IF I had a response I would today. AS you can see by my above post THAT was impossible today around these here parts.

Thank You.

We shall see what we shall see when we shall see it.

[cudaken]

 Evening Folks!

 Flo, you have anything that Ulrich can suck down a tube? My self, I will take a Porter House Medium Rare, Tender of Onion Rings, Texas Toast, Brussels Spouts, Side Salad and a please.

Ulrich, Seeing you back has been the best part of my day!  Looking forward to seeing some pictures from you and the layout.

 Work Front If I was not there, I would never believed it! Only one customer all day! While they spent $1269.00 they don't need the mattress set for 2 months, does not help me with my Bonus (or in Cuda Ken Bounces) I only need around $2800.00 more out the door to get the $1,000.00 Bonus. Anyone want to do a little Rug Action for me I will take it. If I can hit the $50,000.00 mark Ulrich gets this.

 Pretty cool.

Packer, buddy, friend and pal of mine. What road names are the GP 30's and how much? Send me a conversation would you pleases. Have not bought my self a new engine I over a year.

                      Ken

[jeffrey-wimberly]

My mother and I went to Captain D's today for lunch then went over to Lowe's. They had a grand total of ONE operational ride-on cart so my mother got that. I got a regular shopping cart. I went to the paint section and checked the mis-tint rack. Found a half pint of a dirty looking purple. Might be able to use some of that on something. At the cost of $1 who cares. I'll have it on hand if I need it. My mother made a beeline for the garden section. She had intended to look for ONE item. RIGHT! When does a woman EVER look for ONE item and leave with ONE item. My cart was full of plants (weeds by any other name), her cart was full of plants and to top it off she couldn't seem to find her Lowe's card. After sorting through enough credit cards to pay the national debt she FINALLY found the card she was looking for. Only took twelve minutes. After the weeds were paid for I took them out and put them in the trunk of the car then we went home. No side trips to the clothing stores or anywhere else. I was hurting too darn bad to be reasoned with so home we went. I unloaded the weeds and put the next to my parents RV. She and the housekeeper can deal with them tomorrow. I'm not lugging those darn things around.

[der5997]

Hello Diners:

Thought I'd better put in an appearance before the switcher hauls us out of Germany to parts unknown. (Really great to see  you came through OK Ulrich!

Haven't been in, but have been looking in the window pretty regularly; and rooting for those going through the various situations mentioned here - y'all know who you are!   Apart from a cold I probably picked up at our daughter's / grandkids place on Wednesday (or maybe from our friends in Trenton whom we visited the same day) I've been fairly fine. Just rotting away in the rain and fog like the rest of the Island.  

Someone kindly PM-ed me to ask if things are OK - I explained that I'm a victim of my own twisted psychology - I set myself rules, and get bent out of shape if I don't keep them.  So, I had told myself I wouldn't post in the Diner until I had some landscaping progress photos to show.

Nearly a month has gone by, and I still haven't started on the tree planting I had planned. Also, I managed to fry yet another decoder - and I  had checked every stage of the install for no continuity between the frame and the motor, etc.  But there is progress on the decoder front, so let's get to that. 

I bought a Bachman MTD Plymouth switcher to replace the Atlas Trainmaster on my container dock. (Nothing wrong with that loco, just a bit unlikely anymore for my trying-to-be-as-modern-as-I-can-afford era.)  Now, as you know the MTD isn't overly large, and in N Scale putting in a decoder presents some challenges.  The TCS installs web site shows how - but their method takes power for the decoder from the 12 volt bulb wedged between the frame halves. I wanted to use LEDs. That means more frame surgery than the standard "Saw off the top of the frame in the cab" which makes room for the decoder. I had to open up the hole in the front of the frame into which the bulb fit, to take the LED, and also cut a groove behind that so a resistor could be wired in. This shows an early view of the cuts, taped with Kapton.  

I found that Kapton doesn't want to stick, even to metal cleaned off with Acetone. Later photos show my eventual solution involving just plain paper. The lugs on the frame that contact the motor brushes for DC operation had to go as well The decoder sits on top of the motor, and I brought the power pick up leads down beside the brushes and through two conveniently placed holes, soldering the wires to the power pickup gizmos that contact the wheels.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/der5997/General/?action=view¤t=009.jpg 

(The insert image thing doesn't work for that one - don't know why!)

The LED and resistor came together quite well, and can be made to fit in the spaces I'd hacked out for them. Here they are test-fit before the paper insulation was installed.http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/der5997/General/?action=view¤t=008.jpg

(Nor that one either!)

You'll notice the decoder is off-set. That's to make room for a filed down LED to act as a strobe beacon on the roof, as there is no space in the rear for a light - at least I haven't yet figured how to do make one fit.  That LED and its resistor is the strange looking wired thing beside the decoder. I'd  carved a bit extra off the frame at the rear of the cab to be sure I had room.

Putting it all together the final assembly goes:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/der5997/General/002-5.jpg

This is the first Function I've tried with a decoder - and it works quite well.

http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/der5997/MT%20Videos/?action=view&current=StrobeonMTDPlymouthNScale.mp4

There is a problem with performance however. While the loco will haul cuts of 3 container cars with no problem on the test track (here in DC mode before the conversion) http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/der5997/MT%20Videos/?action=view&current=UnitracktestloopMay132011.mp4 , its wheel base is too small to go across the turnouts at the container port without losing contact!  So, I'm going to have to figure out a way to put extra slider type contacts between the wheels to make a more or less continuous pick up surface along each rail. Wish me luck!

Here's an inspiring piece sent me sometime in April - thought you might enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU

Jeff:

Packer:

Gonna go try to wire up my not dcc-ready P2K GP9. (older run with the weird short circuit board.

Those are such loads of fun aren't they? The board works fine by itself but combine it with a decoder and it's fry time. Been there and done that.

I'm wondering if cutting the traces might be a solution - That's  what the directions for DC to DCC conversions of light boards seem to call for.

Anyway, enough of this book, a big to all those new since I was last in.

Better get this posted - have a meaningful Memorial Day for those south of our border here; and prayers for all those in need of same.

 

[Packer]

Evening guys

Making a bunch of headway on my CP Mckean centerbeam car, and adapted to not using my left thumb. Have all the main structure, most of the tiny details, and the underframe are done. All that is left are the grabs and it's done. Already been working on wrappers to make loads for the cars. The wrapper is just a computer print out. I have a version for 1/4 and 3/8 blocks of wood (using balsa), but am gonna make a 1/4 x 3/8 version tomorrow after work. The new workplace is next door to AC moore (and an autozone and an orielies is across the street) so I'll get the balsa then.

Ken, Every engine in the group I bought is NKP. I'll PM you more details when I get them (it'll be about a week)

Ulrich, my mom's been doing the same thing since her surgery too. I thought it was just because of what hers was.

Barry, I can imagine that one smarted. One of the MRR guys I know nail-gunned another guy in the elbow on accident. It was small nails (think thumb tacks or track nails) so he wasn't hurt too bad, but talk about a blue streak.

Jeffrey, 75 degrees. Yikes.

Gonna get back to the race.

[cudaken]

Packer NKP Nickel Plated Line right? You want a SD 40-2

    Ken

[howmus]

Evenin' Folks!

Just a decaf for me Janie.

Been a busy day for me here in the Finger Lakes.  Got almost all of the lwan finished, just one small strip i didn't get back to tonight.  Went over to a friends house to pick up a bunch of "n" scale track, turnouts and a few cars....  Nope, not changing scales!  i am making a small "n" scale timesavor to take to meets and shows.  I traded him some old condenser type mics I am no longer using.  He is happy and so am I...  Good trade.  He got 3 Shure Beta Green 4.0 mics...  When I got them back a dozen or more years ago, they went for around $150 apiece.  Today you can get a similar quality condenser for about $50 retail...  I got about $150 of Model RR stuff.....

I also finished the roof over the workshop area of the Engine House.  Comes off without a problem, and stays in place very well...  i am now turning my attention to making the last of the scratch built items for inside the Engine House and starting the lighting.

I bets be signing off for the night as a band of very severe thunderstorms in just to West of where I am and they 3 different warning posted.  Could be a wild night here.

Have a great night and stay safe!

73

[TMarsh]

I’m finally home. I’m glad I got to take my niece out to dinner though. She is great. Best thing ever to come out of my Sister since……I guess that about says it.

DER!!!! Just about to try and get aholt of you myself. I knew you were having some vision issues. Better now?

Ulrich- Kinda hard not to care about you Hoss. Kinda hard. BUT, I’m sorry. Can’t help you get the loco. I absolutely love my mattress. It’s a 3 minute matteress. Within three minutes I’m sawing logs. And with Missy the dog and Brenda the wife, if you ain’t asleep in three minutes or less you ain’t gonna get to sleep with racket they raise. Good Lord they snore like a couple Berkshire’s under full steam.

Curt- I see you’ve found one of the great things about this group. If we can, we will help you until you don’t need it any more. Of course, it’s only polite to show what you’ve accomplished. Rob and Cape Jim just loooooves pictures.

Jeff- Weeds…., flowers…, like you, I see no difference. Well Blue Bonnets are nice. Doesn’t it just torque you off to see what you and people like you ( the ones with legitimate issues) have to go through to get just what is required to get by, and then see people who milk and tweak the system just skate out of there with all the gravy? Does me and I’m not even involved. How does it make you feel to lose your handicap parking space to someone who literally RUNS from their vehicle to the front door of the buffet to beat the crowd? (rhetorical question. I’m sure I know.) Many times me and Mom had to walk to the door with her walker after losing to someone who could move better than me.

Actually I know that just because some can move fine at that moment, doesn’t mean they will be able to later, or tomorrow. But with all the milkers out there it gives the ones who really need it a bad rap. Ok, Let me off this soapbox before Vinnie kicks me out. We’ve had this conversation many times. (where’s that picture of the dead horse being beaten.)

At 22 years old you should NOT have to have your Mother call you to make sure you’re up for work.

Alright, my curiosity has got the best of me. I have to go back and find out what this 75 degrees and Jeff is all about…….ugh. I shouldn’t have looked.

Who wants to see if they can get Ray to model some cobwebs in the rafters.

PFTIN

 

[Anonymous]

Good Morning Guys,

I am feeling much better this morning, although sleep was an issue again last night. I am positive they will give me an honorable discharge on Thursday. It is a holiday - Ascension Day - in Germany, this will give me plenty of time to commence work on one of my modules. It´s about time, as I am suffering from withdrawal symptoms this month.

This month has been a tough one for me and I shall be glad when it is over. I might not be able to conduct the move of the Diner to the June location, so I´ll gladly pass on the honors to someone else who likes to burn midnight oil.

Todd - I don´t have a problem of falling asleep, it is just that I wake up after a few hours and can´t get back to sleep. Things get worse when I take one of those pills - then I wait to fall asleep...

John - good to see your are posting again - I was getting worried about your vision issue.

Curt - it is not only Rob and Jim who likes to view pictures . Pictures of what other modelers and friends are accomplishing are a great source of inspiration for me, and also, at least sometimes, the necessary kick in my lower back to get moving on my own layout. I have to admit that I am awed by the work Ray, Garry, John and Jeff do - makes me feel humble towards my own accomplishments. I still don´t know how John does all his wonderful work in N scale - he must be able to scale down his hands!

Ray - beware of N scale! It is infectious!

Gotta go back to my room - doctor´s visit is approaching!

Have a good one!