Elliot´s Trackside Diner July 2011

[AmanaMedic]

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooood Afternoon, bucket of lemonade, uh without JEFF's little enhancements please, and thank-YOU!

First:

YOU GOTTA WANTA: Sorry if I came off a bit over-zealous yesterday...wasn't trying to pick a fight with you or argue with you. I see your point about the worst-case scenario neighbors. Believe me, I've seen such evolutionary rejects. I just think there are enough ordinances/laws/regulations/etc. on private property already (and more coming all the time) THAT I don't see why somebody would want even more placed upon them. I also know my property wouldn't pass muster with any of the HOA's I've heard of, neither would the majority of my neighbors. I see RAY echoed my advice to GALAXY: read the HOA agreement very carefully, read the fine print. Having lived in a number of small towns, I'm used to having nosy nattering nay-bobs driving by slowly...very slowly...looking for something/anything to crab about. I just wouldn't volunteer to live someplace where these self-important jack wagons actually have some kind of power behind their crabbing... And yes, I've got a neighbor right now THAT I would be thrilled and dancing the Snoopy Dance if he'd choose to go live someplace else. I had crappy neighbors when I rented, I've got a crappy neighbor now as a home owner.

If men were angels, there would be no need for laws...

Then again, if the UN Agenda 21 crowd have their way...there will be no more private property and thus nothing to worry about!!!! Think I'll quit while I'm behind...

Again, sorry if I came off the wrong way, wasn't trying to start anything.

STAN: Welcome to the "lucky to be alive club!" Also, on the latest masterpiece!

 

A rare event is unfolding: a full weekend of "no deeds to do, no promises to keep!" Well (another toad happily floating, neighbor's cat drooling) other than mowing the yard. With the heat/humidity, I'll be breaking THAT task down into segments over the next three days.

Have a good, safe day everybody!

Chris

[howmus]

Afternoon folks!

Flo just a RBF (without the Tabasco sauce) please.

Packers#1

btw, anyone ever try to learn to drive a stick in a Nissan 350Z? I managed to not blow the tires or kill the tranny, although I haven't gone and checked to see if there's skid marks where I really smoked the tires. That thing's gas pedal jumps to 4,000 or so rpm if you barely touch it with the clutch in.

Nope!  I learned to use a clutch on a Ford 8N when I was about a month and a half away from my 5th. birthday.  A year later I learned to try and be gentle with the clutch on an Alice Chalmers B.  As far as shifting from gear to gear THAT I learned on a 1936 Chevy 4 ton axle farm truck at the age of 7.    None of THAT woosey syncronized gears either.  Ever heard of double clutching?  It had a 4 speed on the floor and a straight 6 engine that more or less ran on 5 at the time.   At 9 I could handle the Dodge pick up with a three speed on the column because I was now tall enough to reach the clutch and see through the windshield at the same time. 

Stan, THAT does not sound like fun to me....  Glad you survived!  Love your paintings.

Back to w*rk on the trim for the shed.....

73

[Cox 47]

Afternoon All...Just dropped in for a RBF please...Thank You...I got a box of goodies from a fellow N scaler in mail today...Its gonna give me rehab cars for a long time...

Just had to brag on my haul!..You all have a good one...Jerry

[howmus]

Afternoon!

Flo, need another RBF to tide me over to dinner tonight.  (Get to take my sister out to dinner to celebrate her birthday a couple weeks ago....)

Thought you folks might enjoy this movie of a 1918 Fairmont Speeder called Miss Daisy... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MGFPLvnzRw&feature=youtu.be

73

[Cederstrand]

Coffee in a UNION PACIFIC mug, please.

***Stan, nice work there! That was some crash to have been involved in. I missed the story. How banged up were you after that one?

***Ken, I'll wager my cousin could figure out what's going on in that engine. He's the one who builds racing motors. If you'ld like to pick his brain, I'm sure he'd be happy to help.

Rob

[galaxy]

Trip to the dentist was 1.5 hours long. He got the first canal finished and the second one finished, but ran out of time to do the third canal. so I have to wait till the 22nd to get it finished. The reason for multiple sittings is molars are nto easy root canals to do, and I have a small mouth, and some of his work is done by hand with the files, not the high speed drill files, as he can't get those in my small mouth. I have new antibiotic just in case and have NEW meds for pain.

blownout cylinder

Galaxy...or any one else for that matter:  Regarding house hunting or any reno work involving piping...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2011/06/29/wdr-kitec-ipex-class-action.html

The Kitec plumbing system consists of blue and orange flexible piping and brass fittings, used to carry cold and hot water through a home. Kitec products were also used in radiant heating systems...

VEEERRRYYYY INTERESTING reading. We had PEX plumbing {white piping with brass compression fittings} installed to replace all the gray plastic piping they originally put in the trailer in 1983 when it was built. THe gray stuff crumbles as it ages and is not salvageable. AFTER we paid $3K for the new plumbing throughout, we found out we COULD have been part of a class action lawsuit!!!

The article does NOT mention the WHite stuff they installed here in 2003 or 2004, which, we were sold on as it supposedly can take freezing {expands} and thawing {contracts to orignial shape} without breaking. Supposedly they had ben testing freezing/thawing in Europe for 40 years and the pipes held in tests.

We will have to look into this class action lawsuit if we can.

RE: HOA's we are NOT buying that house and prefer to stay away form HOAs if possible.

I'll be floating in a most peculiar way over the corner booth....

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good God!! What's that floating over the corner booth! Oh, that's just Galaxy. Vinnie really should tie him down. Somebody could come in and see that and we would be on the UFO sightings list.

I'll have a Tabasco Pomegranate lemonade and a sweet roll.

Not much happening other than I had to tear down a Proto 2000 E6 I had put back together not too long ago. Dang thing had a loose drive shaft and rattled like an Athearn PA2. One of the spline sleeves is cracked so I put some super glue in it and tied some nylon line around it which will be removed when it's dry. Yes, I took the shaft sections apart first. I hope this works. Getting parts for these old Athearn drive Protos is probably going to get harder. I was rather surprised the first time I tore it down to find an Athearn motor and spline drive shafts. I already knew it had Athearn type trucks but thought that was as far as it went. I tore down one a couple of years ago to move everything over onto another frame (dropped it and broke the frame) and it had a completely different type motor in it. But it was also a lot newer than the beast I'm working on now. This is one of the old ones with the opening doors front, back and sides. The newer one had a Mashima type motor (ala Kato) that must have been installed at the factory as I bought it new.

[blownout cylinder]

Gooooooooooooood Afternoon...

Everything is getting warmer up here now...82F and feeling more like 84F out..pretty dry out here...

We have the AC on so that my den..which faces south does not feel like a bake oven...we have some large windows in it...

Galaxy: I had a check of our pipes here, thankfully none were converted over that piping...but I notified our neighbour who recently had a pipe burst like that mentioned..they are looking into it as well

Oh well...back to the trainroom....heeheehee

[Seamonster]

HOAs were something we didn't want to have to deal with when we bought our house.  If you want a real hassle with an HOA try being a ham (amateur radio operator) wanting to put up a tower with an antenna on the top.  It ain't gonna happen!  No kind of antenna sticking up in the air is gonna happen.  Even without an HOA to deal with, you can be facing a lot of opposition from your neighbours and the city if you put up a tower and antenna.  It doesn't matter that, being a transmitting antenna, it's federally regulated and falls under federal jurisdiction.  Somehow, local rules and bylaws can supersede federal jurisdiction.  Go figure.

 

[AmanaMedic]

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood After....what's GALAXY doing floating up there like THAT???

Oh.

Good Afternoon...more of THAT un-JEFFified lemonade please, thank-YOU.

SEAMONSTER (BOB): My dad has been a ham for about as long as been alive. He has a simple "stick" up in his backyard currently. From time to time he gets the idea of moving him and Mom into a condo someplace. No more mowing. No more shoveling. I think he forgets THAT his days of being a ham would probably come to a screeching halt as I doubt they'd let him put up any kind of antennae, like you were saying.

 

Sweet Holy Moses on a soup cracker! Did I see one of them funky round-a-bout thing-ama-jigs????

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The city of Mt. Vernon wants to build one of those crazy things at the (very busy) intersection of US Highway 30 and State Hwy. 1. This is a bad idea. I know there are some of you in the Diner who swear by the roundy-round traffic things.... I swear at them, especially where a near-constant stream of semi tractor-trailer rigs will be rolling through. It's suicidal enough as a 4-way stop. They could've gone with traffic signals, but some enviro-mental-person sold 'em on the idea it was "greener" to keep everybody rolling, with nobody stopping. There will be some epic wrecks if this goes through. I can already see a "Smart Coupe" wedged underneath a semi load of corn going to ADM in Cedar Crapids... BIG BOSS ("new" owner) said he'd think about opening up an insurance adjuster office in the immediate vicinity to deal with the steady flow of new customers it will create.

Soapbox? BACK! Back into your corner! NOW!

Sheesh.

On this tropical Iowa afternoon, with no obligations (other than mowing the yard, THAT comes later when it cools down a wee-bit), I've gotten some decals placed on THAT CB&Q grain hopper. Itty bitty red decals on a grungy gray car body... Wow. I need to go back to the CNW fleet! The Far-Mar-Co hopper (itty-bitty white numbers on the black ends) turned out much better than anticipated, will have to get a shot of it for the curious. I'll get a shot for the non-curious too!

Chris

[galaxy]

AmanaMedic

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood After....what's GALAXY doing floating up there like THAT???

Oh.

It's the GOOD drugs!

[AmanaMedic]

galaxy

 

AmanaMedic:

 

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood After....what's GALAXY doing floating up there like THAT???

Oh.

 

 

It's the GOOD drugs!

So did you bring enough to share with the rest of us????????

Chris

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Well it seems that only one of my Proto 2000 E6's has a Kato drive. My P2K PA1 also has a Kato drive. My other E6-A, E6-B and the two E7-A's (all Proto 2000) are all Athearn drive. Didn't take me long to figure out that if the trucks look like Athearn it's a pretty safe bet the motor and drive line are also Athearn. So why are the Athearn drive Proto units so quiet and the Athearn locos so God awful noisy? I can only assume it's the quality of the parts.

[Paul W. Beverung]

Hi Gang: The heat drove me into the air conditioned office this afternoon. The last I heard it was 105F and rising.

An up date on the fire. We heard last night and confirmed today that a young fire fighter died. He was 25 and died from heat stroke. That is the third fire fighter that has died fighting fire here this year. Nobody really gives those guys the credit and respect that they desirve. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family and friends.

With that I think I'll head out and check the stock.

My best to all.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Paul W. Beverung

An up date on the fire. We heard last night and confirmed today that a young fire fighter died. He was 25 and died from heat stroke. That is the third fire fighter that has died fighting fire here this year. Nobody really gives those guys the credit and respect that they desirve. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family and friends.

Sorry to hear that. I've been a fire fighter for 17 years (Safety Officer for 15 years) though involved only in training for the past 2 years due to medical and physical problems. Believe me, when a fire fighter is injured or killed in the line of duty, I care. I helped put in place many safety regulations in my department to prevent situations like this and in all that time we had only 2 heat related injuries, those were both due to heat exhaustion and both fire fighters recovered with no ill effects. The only other injury we've had in that time was a twisted ankle. I spent many training sessions drilling the safety rules into the heads of our people so they become second nature. I'm semi-retired and am thinking about making that full retirement. I hope that whoever replaces me takes the job as seriously as I did. To me the lives of my people are more important than any piece of of equipment. Equipment can be replaced. Lives can't.

[blownout cylinder]

Paul: Our thoughts and prayers go out to that family tonight...

Good Evening..

The cat has decided that while I am here at the laptop he will grace my presence with his fluffiness....

So I am typoingh with a few exctra lettersd in this missdive.....

Chris:  You would just love the traffic circle on a bridge we have here...it is an accident waiting to happen...

[galaxy]

AmanaMedic

galaxy:

 

AmanaMedic:

 

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood After....what's GALAXY doing floating up there like THAT???

Oh.

 

 

It's the GOOD drugs!

 

So did you bring enough to share with the rest of us????????

Chris

If you haven't had a root canal done today, you don't qualify for the "free handouts". SO, WHO had their root canal today????

OH, OH, I Did!! I Did!!! ME!!! ME!!!

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

Pretty muggy here now. It rained most the day. I'm happy it has finally started raining here. I got all the Tortoise switch machines installed except the one that goes to the turnout I have to replace. Going to the train show tomorrow. There are several things I would be interested in, but we will see. I was not too impressed with it 6 months ago.

Prayers for the FF and his family. It is always a loss to our society when a person that dedicates their life to the public good dies.

Prayers for everyone in need.

 

[AmanaMedic]

"If you haven't had a root canal done today, you don't qualify for the "free handouts". SO, WHO had their root canal today????

OH, OH, I Did!! I Did!!! ME!!! ME!!!"

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, but I was taught to share!

On a more serious note...

PAUL: Thanks for confirming what I'd feared. I received notification, either last night or this morning, of the Line Of Duty Death via a firefighter safety email called "The Secret List." We run a lot of ditch and field fires every spring and fall...but nothing, nothing like what you guys are seeing. I've had a number of really good bouts of heat exhaustion, it is almost scary just how fast it can hit a guy.

Some additional information on the firefighter and the fire:

"It is with deep regret that we advise you that a Firefighter (who was airlifted this afternoon from the 337 Fire northwest of Mineral Wells TX) has now died in the Line of Duty.
The 25-year-old was an out-of-state Firefighter working for the Texas Forest Service. Initial reports are that he was overcome by heat, leading to cardiac arrest and he died at the hospital at 1900 hours this evening.
The fire began Monday west of State Highway 337 burning 1,200 acres and forcing the evacuation of people from 20 homes in the Coronado's Camp and Devil's Hollow areas. The fire is reported to be 50% contained. More details to follow, as always our most sincere condolences"  Credit: The Secret List/Fire Fighter Close Calls.com

Chris

[wetidlerjr]

[jeffrey-wimberly]

wetidlerjr

That is just so funny!

[blownout cylinder]

 

 

 

[teen steam fan]

Evening

driving stick- I learnt on a 1952 Farmall, When it came to changing gears I got a rough idea on a 1980 International 1860 that had NO glowplugs. My skill was perfected on my uncle's TJ. Needless to say I learnt country style. 

Ken- Glad its not in the heads themselves. Hope its spark plugs and wires. 

Jeff- Tabasco lemonade. Sounds good, I'll try it when I see lemonade mix for sale somewhere. 

Historic districts- My high school is about a couple blocks from a historic district, and right next to a housing project (I'll stay away from that one) but there are major problems Its not uncommon for the talk of my school on Monday or after breaks to be about shootings. 

BUT.. I do like driving through the historic districts (Not stopping unless I had to for traffic lights) because the Victorian houses do look cool, but I can get the same thing all around me. Heck the farm I work at has a house that was built in the Victorian days 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

teen steam fan

driving stick- I learnt on a 1952 Farmall, When it came to changing gears I got a rough idea on a 1980 International 1860 that had NO glowplugs. My skill was perfected on my uncle's TJ. Needless to say I learnt country style.

My first driving lesson was on a tractor, an old John Deere model AW made in 1949. It wasn't long before I was driving my grandfathers old Mack B61. And I hadn't even driven a car yet! But then again I was only ten years old.

[cudaken]

 Evening Folks

 Flo Beer Please

 Work Front Hum, got a E-Mail today telling me to take Saturday Off, we are over staffed. Hum, see bad things coming from this. Lets see, I finished last, last month and my junior will be running my store. Thinking it is time to work on my resume again. Time to get while the getting is good.

 While I like the job, playing Guitar and Reading is not paying the bills. It still amazes me how in sales you are only as good as your last month.

 Todd Thanks for the advices and it is one of the reasons I am toying with repairing the 1991 Daytona. Hum, never thought about the fuel system. I guess TBI does have more than one injector, or does it?

 Rob Thanks for the kind offer to let me bug your brother about my current engine problem. But till I cover the basics I would be wasting his time like I am Tod's right now. I need to check for Fire, Compression and Fuel then I will know what problem I am trying to fix. I should have done more testing the other day but I took the easy way, not the right way.

  See you all later.

                 Ken

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

For Jeff

Sorry I missed the party,  sounds like you had a good time though.

You are such a youngster Jeff, My goodness I have twenty years on you.

Will try to get in again tomorrow, not much time this evening.

Keep smiling ya all...

Johnboy out...........................for now

[Cederstrand]

Chamomile tea, please.

Been watching a distant lightning show. Nothing here though.

***Update, it's 4:30am and we're in the middle of a really neat thunderstorm. Mother Nature has the coolest sound system on the planet. Just love her woofers. Time to head out to the porch and enjoy the show. Won't be wearing the cpap tonight.

Dug 8 post holes today and set 2 posts. Need more quickcrete.

Have a good night/morning all.

Rob

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

Now,, where ARE those pills...

...so I can float in a most peculiar way...

[LSWrr]

Good Morning,

I can’t sleep very well with this cold so; I guess I could do something on the layout…

Interesting PRR train facts for your personal edification;

July 8, 1901 the largest guided tour sponsored by the Pennsylvania Railroad to date leaves New York for a month circuit to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vancouver, returning via the Canadian Pacific. The tour travels in four sections to carry the 400 travelers.

July 8, 1946 The Pennsylvania Railroad's Hulett ore loaders at Cleveland load 970 railroad cars with 61,530 tons of ore in 24 hours.

July 10, 1875 A solid train of 29 cars of tea passes over the Pennsylvania Railroad, having run through from San Francisco in less than 10 days.

July 10, 1887 Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel opens. The 600 room resort hotel, famous as the setting for the movie "Somewhere in Time", has been built by the Michigan Central, the Grand Rapids & Indiana and the Cleveland Steamship Company to increase tourist traffic on the lines.

July 10, 1920 The Pennsylvania Railroad issues keystone-shaped medals to all its employees who served in World War I.