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

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe...  What?  Oh I am in a better mood this morning..  No, I didn't know so many of the good folks in here were fluent in Yosemite Sam....  I'll be on my best behavior this morning.  Honest (don't want to end up like Barry).  What did he do?  OK, I don't need to know....  I guess I'll have a breakfast bagel and a cup of dark roast coffee.

Another lovely day here in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State!   Currently 43°F outside under dark gloomy damp skies.  Raining again this morning.  Supposed to rain this afternoon, and tonight, and all day day tomorrow and the day after THAT.  Predicting a little over an inch of liquid sunshine in the next 24 hours to add to the 1/3 inch we got yesterday and the 5 3/4 inches we got last month.  "Row, row, row, your boat, gently down the (flooded) stream...."  The lawn needs to be mowed again... already!  No way can be done until the weekend.  Does Rob need hay for his critters?  He can have it if we can figure a way to dry it!

Galaxy, looks like you have a busy social schedule this week......

I will very likely spent much of today down cellar fiddling with things on the layout and cleaning up.  If I start grumbling again, it may be the situation hasn't been solved yet in the tunnel, or that the place is under water....

Hope you all have a good day!

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 49° and cloudy. The high should be 63° with a good chance of thunderstorms.

There's an 80% chance of thunderstorms today. I hope we get more than the miserable 0.03" that we got yesterday. That was barely enough to get my parents back patio wet and settle the dust. Today I have to see if the parts house can match up the part on the steering arm for the tractor. I also have the other half of the grocery shopping to do today. Must remember to pick up some DVD-R's. Two 10 packs would do. But what I want most today is to hear rain on the roof.

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Mug of Dark Roast and a…. Whoa! Ray. Wow. I may not be fluent in Yosemite Sam, but I speak it well enough to know ……must’ve been a real bad spot.

Feelin a bit slow today. Don’t know what I’ll do before w**k tonight. I know I have to get a sump pump and some stamps. Maybe today, maybe not.  Also need to get more grass piles off the yard since I have more bags now. 

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good  morning...

I'll have oatmeal and OJ, please.

Hopefully, I'll get to one or two hobby shops to purchase supplies whil e visiting here in MI.

Neighbors back home say the lake is up to record levels. That means its very close to our house.

As Jerry says: "Have a good one".

[galaxy]

howmus

...

frickinfrafer,  

 

Hey RAY, is that anything like the fricken fracking they want to do for Nat. Gas Drilling here in perfectly beautiful upstate NY and destroy our beautiful surroundings??? I still say it: NO FRACKING!

Have to see the cardiologist today, groan. He will once again tell me i need to loose weight I'm just sure of it. THe diuretic he gave me in Jan took off 6 pounds immediately, but I think it has stopped working. When I take it in the morning, I pee like a tennesee race horse for 3 hours, then it stops. You can tell I still have fluid retention in my legs as you push in the flesh and leave indentations there. SO I think he will have to increase the diruetic I hope.

Nothing else but laundry planned today after cardio.

ANd the pest guy old neighborhood friend of mine must be very busy as it took him about 6 hours to get back to me yesterday and I was out when he called. Then he never did call agian later. I will call him after I get home from Cardio and see if he gets back to me.

 Boy oh boy! gas is getting to be $4.10 here. Have to pick and choose where/when to get it. MOH and I are treating the household as a "one car family" as far as gas goes. MOH has a full work week this week and I have many Dr. appts. and a colonoscopy on thurs, but after than the calendar is dry for me going anywhere so the KiA sedona will sit and only get run once in awhile so we are only filling one gas tank effectively. We think if this keeps up then we will NOT go anywhere this summer, 'cept maybe down to Steamtown and see if they got the new engine rebuilt and running. we were going to do a trip to another steam tourist train in Connecticut, but think we won't. Gas could be around $5.00 a gal then in July when we celebrate our anniversary. For those in other countries with higher gas prices thatn the USA, it's not exactly how high it is that is sticker shock, its the fact taht this time last year it was what...$2.50 a gallon? Steep jumps in pump prices that change daily going higher is hard to budget in than a more stable price!

WEll enough from me gotta get ready for the DR.

TTYALLL8R

[LSWrr]

Good Morning,

Curt nice job on that board!  Now maybe a PRR Logo in the top corner with your division name in yellow/gold.

 

Thortenney welcome aboard!

 

Todd my girlfriend has learned that she needs to let me know what she wants to do in advance.  I do have to remove a concrete and cast iron sink from her basement and install a new fiberglass tub and faucet.

 

I went to the Firelands train show in Sandusky, OH last Sunday.  I picked up 8 Athearn Blue Box 40FT flat cars; with Kaydee couplers for $5 each and two Varney/Mantua metal 250 ton rail cranes with brass pulleys and blocks for $10 each. These will be re-painted in LS&W livery some time soon.

Now to try and catch up on posts.....

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning...

We are currently under the dull rainy skies of early May here...and cool...only 40F for a high today....

Ray: I know that feeling..I have a non switching switch again...I want to tear it out.... ..but it also is under the layout......right at the back...

Today I get to do some medical stuff..such as another vampire visit then another X-Ray..again...

uuummmmmm...Flo, what are you doing with that frying pan? No!! No!! Not my noggin' again!! 

KKKEEEERRRRWWWHHHHHAAAAANNNGGGG!!!!!!!

*thud*    

[mononguy63]

Good morning from Central Indiana. Forecast here calls for, hmmmmm, let me check...... Oh yeah, more rain. I'll have a heapin' helping of the lowfat low-carb biscuits and gravy, please.

Ray, I must warn you that I also speak fluent Yosemite Sam, and your mother would be very upset if she heard you typing like that!

Hi Ken, good to be here. Hey, did you get any damage from the twisters that came through your neck of the woods a couple of weeks back?

Decided on my next modeling project. I'm going to represent my parents' hometown of Orleans, Indiana. First up is Herle's Cafe (that's pronounced "Hurl-eez" - what a great name for a restaurant). My grandfather ate there all the time. Hated the food, kept going back. It's closed now, but the signage is all still there. Got some good photos of the place last summer, and I have a DPM kit that vaguely resembles the building. Pretty pumped for this project - will post progress pictures.

Jim

[Anonymous]

Just got my June copy of MR.

Robby P. - Congrats on making it into MR´s Trackside Photo pages! I hope to see you soon back in the Diner.

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

[Anonymous]

Good Morning,

oh, what a night. THAT (beep, beep) hay fever would not let me sleep. I have a hard time breathing properly. I am praying for some run to wash the pollen away, but still none in sight. We are at forest fire watch now and people are asked to refrain from smoking outside (which is a funny one, because they are not allowed to smoke inside public places).

Chloe - Coffee in an IV bag, please.

Ray - thanks for the lesson in Serbo-Croatian, or is it Finnish? I hope  you get yout track problems resolved without any further back breaking jobs.

Ken - legal age was 16 for "soft" liquor and 18 for the stronger stuff. In Bavaria, where beer is considered to be liquid bread, you could also see some 10 year old quaffing a few, under parental guidance of course. But that has changed. Alcohol is the # 1 drug among teenagers, so the "bar" was raised to 18, but that did not change the situation.

Good to see so many new faces around. The power of three little words? We have quite a few MIA´s, though. I am worried about the well being of Keith, Bama, Jerry, CalifTom, Sawyer, CajunChief Ryan. DerJohn has also not been posting for a while, although I receive emails from him. Have not seen a post from Sue for a while, either. Cousin Vinnie hinted to me that there are some open accounts to be settled, so will those folks please report back in?

OSL joining the ranks of his ancestors certainly does not mean a loss to us, but unfortunately not much of a gain, either. We will continue to suffer from his heritage for many moons to come. Only education can overcome fanaticism and that´ll be a long way to go.

Have a good day, folks!

[howmus]

Rivvaashubi ficklin flunmshites miken riverfravins!

What!?!  Oh, sorry Flo!  Didn't know it was you...  No, no I wasn't swearing, just using some, ah, words to let off some steam.  Yep, THAT's it just letting off soem frickinfrafer,   ah, steam.... I will have a cup of decaf if you please. Thank you very much ma'am.

I have spent most all day under the &(*%$^&* layout crawling around fixing bad track....  Removed a small section and added a longer piece then relaid it to a wider curve in the tunnel.  Supported the track properly this time and the loco ran through without derailing.......  Backed the whole train through the tunnel and the back truck on the 4-8-2 derailed on the other end of the tunnel.  Derailed each and every time!   Grrrrrrrrr......!   This area is considerably harder to get to.  But, I was able to isolate the problem.  It was the same basic crappy track work I did on the other side.  No proper support under one side of the track.  I was able to shim and glue under the track to level it and stop it from moving as the loco ran over it.  I also figured out this was done after I returned to the hobby just a few years ago. 

I have run the train through the tunnel several times before shutting things down for the night with no problems now.  I did back it through the tunnel once and it didn't derail.  I shall run it several times in reverse tomorrow to see if I finally have it done.

I too feel relief that Bin Laden has now met his just reward, but also fear and more than a little sadness that humankind is so destructive and causes so much pain and suffering.  The victims and their families of 911 and all of us may feel a happiness that he is dead, but that doesn't change the horror, sorrow, and anger they/we have had to live with for the last decade.  I also have to remember the saying, "Those who live by the sword, die by the sword", so true in this case.  While justice has been served, I have difficulty rejoicing.  Rather I will be offering prayers for healing and strength for all good people of this world (both here and around the world and of all faiths).  May there be peace for all those of good will!

Have a great evening!

73

 

 

[cudaken]

 Hello Fellow Dinners!

 Jim, sure great seeing you in the Dinner again. Besides you, I am the only Monon Guy at the dinner. Jim made me 2 Monon Cabooses and they are top notch!

 Flo, are on me tonight! Well for those over the drinking age. Ulrich, what is the drinking age in Germany? 12 or 14?

 Thanks for all the congratulations on the new job and the new pay plan. While I will not get rich at the new job, a pat on the back goes along way to make me feel good. While I will not any harder than I do all ready (for me money is not a motivator, but a necessary Evil) some extra cash will come in handy! 

Curt With you being PRR guy I understand you being jealous if I get a Q2. It may help to let you know if I get one I will not be able to run it till I build my new layout. All 3 of my current main lines have a 18 inch turns. While I cannot see them, they are still there.

 Jim Yep, I am starting to think I might be able to build the new layout again and I am glad you like the plan. Hard part will be tearing down the old layout. Not that taking it a part will be hard, but I won't be able to run trains for some time. Plus besides the track on the K-10 Mining section (best part of the layout) the only part of it I might be able to uses over will be the cliff faces. Oh, and the tress.

 While it runs well, the rest of the Layout looks like's a 10 year built it (hope I did not insulate any 10 years old's by that).  Only thing the layout has going for it, is it big and runs well. Well till a visitor comes by.

 Team Steam Color sanding, boy that brings back memory's! I have wet blocked primer and color sanded to the point my fingers tips have bleed. I wear gloves, and wore through them and then saw my finger tips bleeding. Fingers did not start hurting till after they dried.

 Like to see a bigger picture.

 Boy, I am glad to see all the new dinners! Flo has been be hinting she needs bigger tips lately. 

       Ken   

 

[mononguy63]

Evening, all. Think I'll have the low-carb doughnut nightcap, please.

Joe It goes something this:

"Thank you for the kind offer to return working for you. I truly appreciate the confidence you placed in me. Unfortunately, I have decided to pursue a different path and am unavailable to resume (continue?) our association. I wish you continued success and hope that you are able to find a suitable replacement for me."

Then you cancel your email account, change your phone number, and move to a different state.

I managed less than 10 minutes of basement time tonight, until my oldest son asked for my help with his pre-calculus homework. Boy, have I sure forgotten a lot over the last 30 years! Now that everyone is in bed, maybe I'll go grab a few more minutes. There's a 50-50 chance I'll be snoring at the workdesk within a half hour.

Good night, all

Jim

[ns3010]

Evening all.

Bob!

Color changing: My toolbar lost that button when we upgraded to the new forums. Doesn't really bother me because I just put important stuff (like names) in bold.
Looks like Monon Jim and Garry have the same problem. I'm using IE8.
Let me try Jeff's solution and see if it w**ks.

Sorry, but I didn't have time to do a through "reading of the posts." We had a lot of homew**k from the first day back from break. And it's getting late, and I have to be up early again tomorrow. Well, at least I got in.

Quick question: What's the best way to give a resignation through email? I got an email from one of my bosses last year (I w**ked two jobs) and I am not planning on going back to THAT job. I never thought quitting would be so hard, but I'm having difficulty figuring out how to word it!

Well, I better head out, since it's a long trip back across the ocean. Catch ya later!

 ___
[Joe]

[AmanaMedic]

Gooooooooooooooooooooood Evening, glad we all survived TODD's shenanigans....

I'll take one of those "Bin Laden" drinks please 'n thankya, and raise it to SEAL Team Six and all other "special operators" and all other members of the armed forces who sent THAT POS to his eternal fate. I just wonder if the US Navy will be served with a fine for polluting the ocean... I'll leave it at THAT.

JIM: I usually occupy the booth across from DUKE. He must be a sound sleeper. Between banging out stories for THAT Editor, and repeated head banging episodes of track planning...he never wakes up.

 

 

Chris

[JimRCGMO]

Evening, Chloe, I'll have a hot fudge sundae and a Rio Grande mug of decaf, please. Thank you.

Paul, good to hear that you got some rain in your area - of course, we'd have told the weather guy that we'd love to share a bit of ours instead of having the 12-14 inches that has been filling our 'Well's almost to overflowing... Also glad to hear that your son's place dodged getting toasted. (Whew!)

Todd, I hear you've been 'stirring things up around here. Chloe seems a bit miffed, and said that Vinnie's got a mop and bucket with your name on it. Ya might want to maintain a verrrry low profile, if you catch my drift...

teen steam fan

As for the picture. I dunno. I copied it from my facebook page

Teen Steam - Ah, they may have shrunk it down from when you uploaded it onto Facebook. If you have a Photobucket or other graphics storage webpage, upload the original photo from your computer to there, and then link to THAT pic. Graphics-type websites tend to not shrink down images much beyond about 800 X 600 or so (which gives you better detail on here). If you don't have a graphics site like Photobucket, theirs are free to get (and nope, I do not get anything for mentioning them). Not sure if Flicker scales photos the same way as Photobucket or not. (I'll let somebody that uses another website speak up for theirs)

Have been foolin' around with that white metal kit, and have taken the two shorter walls apart again (after trying different materials for the roof). Thinkin' about taking acetone or a good file (or alternating both) to strip off all the old CA glue, and then go back and try again on gluing it together. I'd found that the shorter (actually, narrower, since they weren't shorter than their adjacent wall ends) walls weren't aligned right (which left small gaps between where the walls were glued together. Ah, the fun of learning how to put together a 'new' type of kit. Screwy thing is, decade or two ago, I had put together the gazebo kit that W-S makes (but there I had used epoxy), and it went together fine. Now, was it that my eyes and eye-hand coordination were better back then, or that the CA w**ks differently than the epoxy does, or some of both reasons, or both of those and some other things Mr. Murphy tossed into the mix. But I am *determined* that I will master this kinda kit! (Aaarrrrrggghhh!!.....) Or else, I may go back to epoxy gluing again... Think I may go sulk in a back booth - where's that one that Chris used, the one with the indentations in the countertop?

(Photos may be a weeee bit delayed on this project...)

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

[jeffrey-wimberly]

sfcouple

Jeff, like your cars parked at the spur at Sundown.  BTW: Is Sundown near Leesville?  I was stationed nearby at Ft. Polk in my former life.

It's west of Leesville in the vicinity of the Vernon Lake Spillway. It's one of the many small communities that never show up on a map.

[teen steam fan]

Hey guys 

Welcome to all the new guys

As for the picture. I dunno. I copied it from my facebook page

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

Flo I would lovea unsweetened ice tea please, oh and a piece of pound cake please.

W**k has been pretty steady today which is nothing new. It's about 80 F here now so it has finally cooled off a bit. I ordered 3 Bowser PRR K9 stock car kits today. That will give me 4 for unloading at my stock yard and I have a ton of PRR and non PRR reefers for pickup at the icehouse and meat packing plant. I think at some point I will have to kitbash some way for the cattle to get from the yard into the packing plant.

We do seem to be a pretty talkative group this month. I made a reservation yesterday for Mothers Day at Mimi's Cafe for Breakfast. My son and daugher both work later in the day so it seemed breakfast was a better choice for us.

Everyone have a great night.

 

[sfcouple]

Jeff, like your cars parked at the spur at Sundown.  BTW: Is Sundown near Leesville?  I was stationed nearby at Ft. Polk in my former life.   

Jim, thanks and that guy did a great job on his layout:  http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/Logging%20Railroad.htm

I did email him but no response.  

Wayne 

[sfcouple]

I know politics is not suppose to be discussed here but I just couldn't resist:  We have a bar in town serving a new drink called a "Bin Laden."  It is a shot and a splash.

Wayne 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

TMarsh

WOW! Page 6 already?

Yeah, us blabbermouths done struck again!

[TMarsh]

WOW! Page 6 already?

Just came back from Mom's. Need a new sump pump. Naturally the Realtor is going to show the house tonight. No time to get one and still play with trains by 3:30. Of course that one is only 34 years old. I wonder if it's still under warranty. Piece of junk.

Paul- Glad you're....um....wet. Sounds weird coming from up here. Anyway, I was getting worried you might be getting a little warm, or worse. Good news.

I have IE and have a bar just like Jeffrey showed. I can change colors, but, for me. It's easier to make bold. See, didn't even get that right.

Have to be at the restaurant at about 7ish to collect an envelope stuffed with not enough money. (hint to Ken things didn't go quite as planned today. Imagine that.)

LOOK!  A goose! ( bolts toward the door as everyone looks to the empty corner, Recovers nicely from a trip over  Ray's galoshes he forgot sending one flying and landing in Ulrich's soup splashing Chris who jumps back knocking Barry face first into some large pile of food covered in gravy, while Jeff, shaking his head, goes back to looking through the parts manual while wondering why he isn't getting paid to hang out with this bunch. All the while Duke...... doesn't even know he's in Germany yet)

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Went to pull the right tie rod off the tractor and discovered it doesn't have a tie rod as such. It has two independent control arms that are attached to the rack. That made my job a bit easier as I only had to take one bolt out to drop the arm which is about two feet long. In total I had to take two bolts out. There was the one with the ball on the wheel assembly where the arm end attaches. It's worn out all right. I could push the ball into the rod end easily.

[Paul W. Beverung]

Afternoon Gang: It's been awhile again. I think that the last time I mentioned that there were fires all over the state. The one closest to us came within 4 miles of our sons place west of Mineral Wells. We ended up going out there one night and getting the cattle loaded up and empting his shop just in case. They held the fire and now we have had several days of rain so all is well here at least. I guess there are some fires still burning out in west Texas though.

Again I haven't had time to do much more on the HO. I did get to work on the 7 1/2 inch gauge a little since it's close to the corral. I can slip over there while I wait for the water tanks to get filled. Right now I need to get on my CEs for my electrical licence. That;s coming due in June. So, I'd better get at it.

My best to everyone and we are doing fine.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

mononguy63

 

jeffrey-wimberly:

 

The item that's circled in red is what you need.

 

Well that's enlightening, and also just bizarre. My computer shows no controls for font family or size, color, and whatever that button next to font color does. I'm also missing the button to the right of the bullet points and numbering ones, now that I look at it. Guess I'll not use color, then. Thanks anyway Jeffrey.

Jim

You can use the COLOR command in your text.

Here I'm using it to change the color of my text.

A friend of mine uses Google Chrome and he tells me that the tool bar doesn't show at all for him. I'm using Firefox.

[Anonymous]

It may have something to do with the type of browser you are using. I had the same problem when using IE - no control bar available. I am using Firefox and I am "in full control".

[sfcouple]

mononguy63

 

jeffrey-wimberly:

 

The item that's circled in red is what you need.

 

Well that's enlightening, and also just bizarre. My computer shows no controls for font family or size, color, and whatever that button next to font color does. I'm also missing the button to the right of the bullet points and numbering ones, now that I look at it. Guess I'll not use color, then. Thanks anyway Jeffrey.

Jim

 

Jeffrey,

I don't have those font setting either...?

Wayne

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Jim - Monon .... Hello! ... I do not have that bar of controls either.