Evening guys
Got back from an ops session and got another bi-level autorack. This time it an ATSF one. I'm going to use the 36 citations on my 3 bi-levels (can't find enough of the F150s that went with the citations in sets) since I only have 1 tri-level. I'm going to use tacky glue to hold them in place. I took out an Atlas U33C and U30C (riding on U33C frame) and they both squealed in reverse. I figure the motor bearing needs oil, but I have to find my oil first. Remind me to clean my work bench tomorrow.
Also been dis-assembling the bunch of NKP GP18s (Duke, I don't think they ever worked with Berkshires, probably replaced them) so I can start making BN units out of them. Need to get fans and screens to convert them to GP9s (if they had DBs I probably would have painted them for BN). The lone GP9 in the lot will become a chop-nose GP5.
Garry, The citations weren't really hard, as much as time-consuming. For painting, I just split them into groups of 4, and used 9 different color spray cans I had laying around. So I have 4 each of red, yellow, dark blue, black, teal, dark green, almond, white, and light blue. I avoided using Ford colors. Finishing touched were using a silver sharpie on the bumpers and wheels.
BTW, I love that bridge scene.
David, Good to hear you made it out of Florida and to Lousiana alright.
Ken, you still intrested in the GP30s?
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.
Good Evening...
to all the newcomers here!!
JimRC: Well(not so wet subject)...they did find that my defibrillator did kick in..that was just after I passed out..no wonder my ankle was so bleeding sore!!..I did fall on it....
So, we had a relaxing day here by the looks of things. The neighbourhood yard sale went off without a hitch and garnered about $1,200 and some odd for the new park jungle gym that is getting built for the wee one's up here..
As for train time...megh..not so much....seems that there are a few honey dos that need doing ...again...grrrr
Chloe, I'll just have my usual huge burger platter as well as a tub of RBF please....I'll be at the window booth...in the corner..with my back against the wall...
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/
Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood Evening, BARRY-sized cheeseburger platter with a bucket of Coke please 'n thankya.
Welcome to the newest new guy(s) and welcome back Mr. Parks!
JEFF: I'm liking the GP7-2....or whatever you're calling THAT geep with the dash-2 cab. Ya know, it really doesn't look too bad on there. Better than some rebuilt SD40-3 locos I saw pictures of recently...don't remember who did it, NS maybe.
Busy day here: three hours at North Liberty (NOT) Fun Days. Took a picture of a little girl throwing darts at balloons. Dad says "he's not a girl, and his name is Nathan." OOOPS! The carnival worker thought it was a girl. I thought it was a girl. People I've shown the photo to say it's a girl.... Poor kid is gonna get stuffed in a lot of lockers, I think.
After THAT fun....at Fun Days no less....it was back to Muscatine for the Championship round of Class 3A Girls State Soccer action. My Iowa City West Women of Troy took on Ankeny. 0-0 after regulation play. 0-0 after two overtimes. Penalty kick shoot-out to decide it. 6-5 Ankeny in a heartbreaker.
Now, I get to process/edit/prep the pics from both events, bang-out captions (and a game summary) so it is all good to go to deliver tomorrow morning to Boring Proofreader Dude. For those who may have forgotten, he's the replacement for Maggie the Creepy Proofreader.
On the plus side, the Wife is eagerly pursuing her Master of Lawnmower Operations certificate, having mowed the grounds of Stately Lucky Manor (located at the corner of Eighth and Ball) today.
Rerun is very proud of her...
Chris
The Cedar cRapids Industrial Branch: Proudly Shipping Yesterday's CrunchBerries Tomorrow!
Found this in Sundown today:
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Evening all....
After the rain last night and into this AM I figured that there was no way that the boys would have baseball.....WRONG. So the middle of the day was spent in a hot steamy bleachers watching Andrew's team turn a last inning lead into defeat with a series of throwing errors! It's just rec-league ball, but they have a good time.
Tonight we celebrate life by attending the 91st birthday party of a dear friend of my Wife's. Margie still lives alone, drives everywhere in a low mileage 70's era boat-wagon and his hosting her own party at a local tavern. This woman has more energy than most 30 years her junior! Should be fun.
So staying on the golden oldie theme, here is one of my very first locomotives. A Hornby 0-6-0 tank engine circa 1970. One careful owner, and it still runs, though the pizza cutter wheels make navigating some turnouts a bit of a problem!
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
Coffee in a V.S.&S. (very stormy & Southern) mug, please.
***Garry, sorry to hear you're still going through it with your mother. We really need a Flat or Fair tax system instead of the insane beaurocratic nightmare we live under now. My Dad paid off the IRS one time because it would have cost him more to hire a lawyer to fight the bogus cra* they pulled.
Just had a severe thunderstorm (they weren't kidding) with dime sized hail. The screens and windows are plastered with leaves. Branches went sailing over the house and at the height of this cell we couldn't see beyond about 20' or so. Pastures were turned into streams and lakes. That was wicked cool.
Still booming out, but the worst is past. YeeHaw!
Thanks to the goats knocking a gate off it's hinges, there was a mass pony & donkey escape here this morning, but that's a whole other story. Took me about an hour and wore me out, but I got them all rounded back up and in their pasture. Whew!
Hope y'all are having a great day.
Rob
I went downtown to the yacht club and did vessel exams this morning, then came home and cut the grass. Isolated T-storms today, but so far they all missed.
Curt that’s good news about the AR-1, I just bought one for my WYE, haven’t hooked it up yet. It looked easy as plug and pray so I bought it. Not to mention the AR-1 was $40 and the Circitron unit was $69.
Jeff check you e-mails.
Trainmaster, welcome back from Florida.
Simon that’s one cool ice cream joint you have there!
Friend of mine assembled all the kit rolling stock I bought over the past year, must be nice to have that much time to spend on the hobby, LOL. I’m grateful he did it for me.
BM1 Lee Soule USCG (ret) L.S.&W Railroad Serving the Lower Great Lakes
Well (deep subject there), I took the decoders out of four locos I no longer run and stripped one of the locos for parts. I have sitting in front of me three Digitrax DZ125's and one Lenz LE1014JST. All were reset to factory specs AFTER being removed. That's not hard to do at all. I just use alligator leads to connect the motor wires (orange and gray) to a motor and the pickup leads (red and black) to the program track and proceed exactly as I would if I were programming a loco. The Digitrax decoders were easy. Set CV 8 to 8. The Lenz decoder was a little harder as I didn't know the reset code. A quick search online revealed the answer. Set CV 8 to 33. The loco that got stripped was an Athearn RTR SD40 (China made) that gave me fits from day one. The only good things I could say about it are that it looked good and it had nickel silver wheels. The motor that came in it was a dud and was replaced with a blue box motor from an F7. The worm housings fit way too tight (one actually cracked) and wouldn't allow enough play in the trucks. They rocked a very tiny bit from front to rear and not at all side to side. They would bind slightly in turns, no matter how broad the curve. The wiring was VERY sloppy. The connections to the light board were held loosely by clips and the solder connections on them trucks were very poorly done and would pull loose at a touch. The rear truck would make a loud growl. An inspection revealed that the gear tower was cracked. The handrails were a nightmare that gave fragile and do not touch new meaning. The loco was retired on the spot, never to be run again. I hadn't seen workmanship this bad since the offerings put out by Bachmann in the 80's. Today I found that the rear steps and platform had broken loose and were being held in place by the coupler pocket so I can't even use the shell unless I cut it down for a scrap scene. I salvaged the motor, shafts, worms, wheels and the cab. The frame is in good shape but I have no use for it at this time.
blownout cylinder That's a true friend... David: Are you guys out of school yet?
That's a true friend...
David: Are you guys out of school yet?
David Parks I am the terror that flaps in the night!
JR ... Looks like Duke found his way out.
Duke .... Do I know what you mean? No. Please explain! .... Kidding of course! (Vinnie was giving me that look). .... I can't imagine the sensation of using the "compartment" while speeding down the highway. .... Wow!.... Careful. you may get wiped out!
....Yikes!... It's Vinnie! ... Bye!
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Hello Dinners
No Flo, have a pretty bad tooth ache today and need to take some pain pills.
Yep, it is hurting quit a bit right now, on relive I get is by holding cold water in my mouth. I have made 2 calls to my dentist and he has not called me back yet.
I left work today right around 12:00. Did make the 7:00 AM meeting and it was not bad news, just things they want us to work on. Berry told me 2 separate times he was pleased with the way the store was going. So I guess I have another month of employment.
John I missed the Bank Of Stupid the first time around, but did watch it just now. LOL, I wish I could do that.
Well I am out of here, I hope I hear from the dentist soon.
Ken
I hate Rust
Garry There have been times on a trip that a bike like that one would have been really nice,if you know what I mean.
JR The pic I posted is an 07 and the one you saw was an 04. Put almost 43k on that one and I have a little over 42k on this one,with a trip to PA coming up this next week. We are going to Sunbury and I have some pics of the roundhouse,turntable,and coaling tower that was there at Northumberland. There is nothing there now and you would never know there ever was.
Best to all on sick call and those recovering
Duke
"Don't take a wooden nickel,because it isn't worth a dime" by my Dad
"There are only 3 things you need out of life:A gentle grade,the wind in your face,and cinders in your hair.....But keep an eye on the water glass!" Jack Evans
Oh gee, that has me all misty eyed.
TMarsh Dave- Um…other than it’s natural beauty (unless Jeff happens to be tanning at the time), why Leesville?
Dave- Um…other than it’s natural beauty (unless Jeff happens to be tanning at the time), why Leesville?
Garry,
Did you fix the lock on the "out building" on Dukes new wheels ? You haven't locked him in back by accident have you? I last saw him headed in that direction with Model Railroader in hand........... J.R.
JR ... Of course, I was kidding you as I like doing to everybody else. Interesting about your former boss.
Barry ... Go for it. There are great universities in Canada, and some of them serve hamburgers in the lunch rooms.
Speaking of kidding people. as I kidding Duke too much with the outhouse bike? I have not seen hime since.
Where is JimCG?
Back to the puter for a bit. Gave up on the hydrocal (and pop) dried the mold and am back to resin. Trying some new 5min set stuff - should be interesting.
Garry - I said (or at least meant to say) the "MBA attitude" which was a well known abberation in the 70's and 80's (along with Micheal Milken and Ivan Bosky) where good business concepts were tanked in the pursuit of immediate profit. My boss, the late Bob Akin at Hudson Wire had an MBA and saved the family business, was concerned about the long term welfare of his employees, and generally acted like a real person not some cartoon character. I would like to assume you and your CFO are of also people of conscience (just being into trains is really recommendation enough for me). Certainly not all or even most MBA's are the solidified remains of yesterdays lunch. Like our attourney breatheren the actions of a few damage the reputations of the whole. I will stop now before Vinnie applies the soapbox upside my head again, but did want to assure you I meant no ill against you.
(whew - that was close).Curt, I applied the plaster cloth directly over the WS foam inclines. It does fine that way and usually you can peel it apart if needed later. I also pinned screen mesh onto the foam and plastered right over that as well and it was ok also (the plaster mixed with sculptamold and poster paint over screen was best). And this just in, the resin casting is way better. You can almost see the resin set as you watch. After 10min I can remove the stuff from the mold (6" x 6" x 1/4") and set it on a flat surface to cure still warm to the touch. I do spray mold release compound each time to stop the resin tearing out the mold but other than that, no tricks needed. I will next try halving the pour thickness to see if a thinner casting is as good or better. J.R.
Garry: I've been considering..yeah..at my age ...to get my MBA....
Todd...... I'm glad Brenda did well with Chase. I don't do any business with Chase at all or any of the big banks if I can help it, and I do not borrow any money if I can help it. . Our banking is at a much smaller local bank. ... Of course, we've occasionally had some battles with companies. One was with Dish TV. Now we have Direct TV..... That was funny what you said about Jeff and Leesville.
JR ... Uh, oh. Careful. Don't pick on MBA's. Shelley and I each have one. Nobody handed it to us on a silver platter. It was a lot of effort and hard work. ... I'm glad to hear about your layout progress. The catenary installation should be a fun project. Keep us informed, please.
Speaking of battles. I hate IRS tax audits. Currently, I'm involved with on for my 91 year old mother. The IRS does not care about people at all, and they act as though they do not know what they are doing. I've been trying to solve this problem for several weeks.
I was working on the last evening. I am putting in some highway bridges.
Haven't left yet, but I will now.
After reading Ray's comment on not all CU's are as good as his, I thought, you know, conversely and in all fairness, Chase wasn't really that bad......until she closed her account. THAT's when last nights supper hit the (preferrably) oscillating wind creating device. Many have had problems with Discover Card. Myself, on the two occasions I had a "problem" so to speak, they corrected it quickly and as Ray said. without the massive pass the hot potato game. Now the phone company...., again as Ray said, I won't go there. It wouldn't be pretty and Vinnie would definately toss me out on my ear.
WHICH should happen as I need to get crackin.
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.
Good Morning All,
Back in the shop to check on things. Power is back up and everything seems back in order save for the electronic keyfobs we use to access the building. Fortunately the one cypher lock does function correctly. In the mean time I'm doing some hydrocal stone wall castings between shop stuff.
Todd, glad to hear your wife prevailed with Chase. Too many of the larger companies have forgotten the concept of honesty or accountability and feel they can do as they please right or not. Loved the BoA ling from Der. They weren't always that way, our next door neighbor in Ca was the local bank mgr for BoA and they were much more of a community bank then (and of course many times smaller than they are now). I put a lot of it down to the 70's spread of the MBA mentality and emphasis on profit before people.
The rest of the crew is up at Watkins Glen this weekend - hope they are staying dry. We're getting intermittent downpours though the temps have moderated nicely (68F just now).
Since we knocked off at the shop early and it was raining again I spent some time in the basement on the layout and hobby bench. After a sort out and tidy up I ran some more track bed into the loop around the yard for passenger car boarding areas (the station is on the outside of the loop and you got on the train by crossing track in the old days). Added a run around for the power as well should I end up truer to the prototype and fit catenary poles for electrics as they had through the 60's. The trains would change over from electric to diesel (or steam earlier) at Danbury with box cabs and later EP-5's taking traffic southbound to the mainline and NYC and non electrics heading north to Pittsfield Ma. The other main through the loop was the Maybrook freight line to Poughkipsee, NY and across the Hudson there to the yards at Maybrook.
Jeff - like the shots of the new areas. Have you posted an overview so we can have an idea where on the layout the shots are from? I'm always impressed by the variation you achieve on a modest size layout.
Time to get back to it. CUL, J.R.
Curt Webb Simon- What are the measurements for on your test track?
Simon- What are the measurements for on your test track?
Curt it is HO and the markings are 1" marks for weight calculations, which makes it about 16" long by 4" wide. I can't run anything on it, just use it for programming and coupler height testing by my desk.
I usually use the bank tellers myself...the best budgeting system around AFAIK...mind...our bank TD Canada Trust now has some branches even open on Sundays now....
Todd - I'm glad to hear your wife got everything settled. Dealing with large banks can be really frustrating at times. But sometimes thery do get it right. This past Sunday evening on the way home from the Civic Light Opera and dinner, I stopped at an ATM to get some cash ($200.00) for the coming week. Processed the withdrawl, my card is returned, two identical receipts print out, and what the h**l, no money. Monday morning I stopped in the branch office and they filled out an "ATM Dispute" form, placed a provisional credit to my account, and said a final disposition would be made after the ATM was audited on Friday. Well, yesterday a letter came stating that a problem did occur during my transaction and the provisional credit was made permanent. Needless to say, I was very pleased with their attitude and expediency of this matter. Of course, I will now worry everytime I use the darn thing. Tom
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
Mornin' everyone!
Zoe, I'll have a short stack of Buckwheat Pancakes with real Maple Syrup, and side order of bacon, and a couple eggs over easy..... Oh, and a cup of dark roast coffee if you please.
Currently 65°F with a few sprinkles here in the Finger Lakes, high of 77°F later this afternoon. Possible to get a coupl strong Thunderstorms today courtesy of the trade winds from where Barry is. The weather here is usually the same as what Barry has only a few hours later.
The Nut across the street has just finished his daily mowing of his lawn.... I figure by this evening he will be out watering the trees again. That is if it stops raining............ As for me, the lawn mower isn't finished being repaired yet. I was hoping they might get it done by Friday, but the repair place figured it would probably be early next week.
Todd, the "low cost loan consolidation" I got last week was from Chase.... I won't go where I might on this! (rewrote a whole paragraph just to keep in line with forum policy.....) Just makes me like my Credit Union THAT much more. Yesterday I got the monthly e-mail telling me my statement for May was up and available at my online account to download. I went online and downloaded it with no problem. Except.... The document said at the top, Page 1 of 3. Checked the document and there were only 2 pages. downloaded again as I figured something happened with it. Same thing, only 2 of the 3 pages were there. I called the CU and talked to one of the tellers. She accessed my account and opened the file. She said it through just fine, and then said, Oh only 2 of the 3 pages are there. She says, "let me get in touch with IT. It may be a while as they are in a meeting." Then she says, oh, here is one of the IT people, hold on. She asks the lady what is going on, and finds out there was a problem with the website company when they sent the info out. They thought it was solved, but will have to get it corrected. they will call as soon as they have the problem solved.... I'm sure i will get a call from them on Monday! Nice to deal with good friendly Humans at times. I know all CUs aren't as good as the one here that I deal with, but a far cry from the Commercial Banks. The teller didn't tell me to wait while she transferred my call to a message machine. She didn't tell me the problem must be my computer. She immediately did her best to get the problem solved. Refreshing in this day and age.
Best get moving! i have a Birthday Party to go to.....
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Morning All,
My riding lawn mower is still not repaired. Now they are saying Monday but of course that means Thursday because of w**k. Right now I am in stand by until the wife decides she is ready to work on the table for the bay window.
Todd- Glad you and your wife won your battle. Big companies have got away with so much for so long they believe they can do anything they want.
Everybody that has posted on WPF has done amazing modeling jobs
Have a Good day.
Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j372/curtwbb/
TMarsh Jeff- Is Dave near you? Or closer to/in town.
Jeff- Is Dave near you? Or closer to/in town.
Good morning. It's 70° and sunny. The high will be 94° and mostly cloudy.Yesterday I visited with some friends who just moved back into the area after living in Orlando Florida for a while. They're happy to be back here where it's a bit cooler and someone isn't trying to break into your home at all hours and people aren't going to complain about them having pets. They have one cat and one dog and they get along with each other just fine. Most everybody out here has at least one dog, many people have four or more and there are many cats of seemingly every size and breed including a few domesticated wildcats. They're referred to here as 'Wampus cats'. No dog in it's right mind would bother those big cats and the few that get the crazy notion they can don't last long. Many people think the 'Beware of Cat' signs are a joke until they see the cat. If you've never seen a wildcat think Maine Coon Cat on steroids. However most of them are as harmless as your ordinary house cat unless they have reason to think they or their family is being threatened. Well, enough about cats. I have some locos I don't run anymore so today I'll probably be taking the decoders out of them. I have a few newer locos that would run much better if they were refitted with Digitrax DZ125 decoders.
Good Morning!! Coffee and the Hungry man’s special please. Over easy and wheat toast please. Might as well make it whole grain. Since I’m ordering wheat, I suppose it should actually be better than white. I’ll pay for it too. Give Ray’s card a break, I know how proud John Deere is of their toys.
Partly sunny, with a high near 78. Really cooled off. Of course the humidity at the moment is 90% and just finished raining, but it’s really cooled off.
Rob- I often do what you do. Help people out that is. My response to them is usually, “just pay it forward”. Maybe if enough do it, this world will clean itself up. Nah.
Ken- Yes, that’s what it is for me too. The “clean” part. I can make my Tele sound like a Strat in a concert hall with a Marshall double and a bazillion watt sound system being overdriven to the point of explosion, all at a comfortable volume for a small bedroom with the door open and not wake the wife. Or, make you think you’re on VeniceBeach listening to the sounds of Dick Dale, but a good clean base sound, haven’t been able to dial that up and that is a preprogrammed sound.
Welp best get to Mom’s house and suck the water out of the basement. Can’t start digging my window well drain until Monday after 1:30 pm. Of course, it’s supposed to rain Monday thru Wednesday I believe. Oh well, digging in the wet ground is easier than the old hard clay.
OH! Hey! Speaking of credit card schmucks. Did I mention Brenda finally got her face time with a Judge on the Chase card last month. Yup, I can say she beat the corporate giants even with all their fancy smancy lawyers and whacked out way of doing things and deceit.... filled..... stuff. (just wanted to get "deceit filled" in there) They showed up with a couple motions, one to zap her with all the phony, blown up, deceit filled bill (mainly because they failed to notify Brenda of the trial thinking she may not show up. THAT got a glare from the Judge, especially when he found out it was the second time they tried to keep her from showing up. Luckily she was watching on the website for it.), one to settle for some other figure plus something weird, and of course a motion to dismiss. When the Judge asked the Attorney for Chase why are you here, there’s nothing you can do. Just bcause you hold a check doesn't make it late nor does it indicate a failure to pay. She dug around and said they have decided to drop the case pending further investigation. Judge reassured Brenda he doubts Chase will refile considering they have no case based on whet he see's and they had beter clear up the credit report. They have been reporting her as late this whole time. That is a completely different charge we can bring on Chase if they don't. A couple days later the Attorney’s office called Brenda and said” Say, funny thing, we just got this check from you dated back in February. You know, the one you gave to our associate attorney? It must have gotten misplaced and he just got it too us. Can we cash this and call it settled? She said, “well, since the Judge told you to find that check as that is your payment, I’d say yes.” She is still waiting on the paperwork acknowledging the settled debt. Par for the course with these “beast of burden wipes”. Thank goodness for cancelled checks. I look to be back in court within a year despite all the evidence.
Funny thing is, Chase sends me something every week trying to sell me a con…I mean card. Right now I am exploring the legalities of attaching their pre paid no postage required return envelopes to some decorative concrete things we’d like to be rid of.
Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!
Good morning..
It is dull with a little bit of rain be falling on our heads...
I'm having to do a bunch of different things today...none of which involve train time...
Flo, I'll just have a coffee for now please..I'll be at the RC for a bit...