Elliot´s Trackside Diner July 2011

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Lee: Check your PM's.

[galaxy]

steamfreightboy

So, who chooses the diner's location each month?  

Basically whoever gets the diner moved, gets to pick the new location, either on their desire, OR on the suggestions of those who make such suggestions before the diner moves at the end of the month.

Now, for a different question that may be on your{s and others} minds: Who moves the diner each month?

Basically whoever moves it late at night the evening of the last day of the month. Ulrich {Sir Madog} usually beats everyone to it because he is in Germany, which is hours ahead of us timewise in the USA.

i often get honors to do it, if ulrich hasn't beaten me to it. Anyone who moves it late the last night of the month gets the honor.  One has to close out the old one late at night and open a new one and announce the location for the diner for the new month.

That's the BIG secret behind the diner. It's really NO Secret!!!

 

 

 

]

 

[Paul W. Beverung]

Here's Paul:

Been awhile, hasn't it? I've been around just not enough energy to think of anything to post.

Mary Ann and I are doing well. She is still on dialysis and will be for the rest of her life. Tom it's good to hear that you escaped.

I am still working hard on the ranch. That new tractor we bought 3 years ago for $33 thousand plus is has given us more trouble the the one we have that is 37 years old. So much for Case International. ( Lemon) 

The weather here has been very hot and no rain. We have only gotten 43 bales of hay so far. Last year by this time we had 150. It's going to be along year at this rate. I am going to cut our neighbors 11 acres tomorrow. I don't excepect there to be much but am hoping for at least 15 bales. So far this year is shaping up to be the worst drought since 1950. Mary Ann said that it was so bad her father was really worried. Since they were farming mostly peas and mellons it was really serious.

Not much MRRing going on here. I did grab some more ore cars from Trainworld. They were on sale for about half price. I only got a twelve pack since that was all they had left. No big deal since the layout is still in a state of disaray. ( read that used for a storage place ). The live steam stuff is on the back burner ( is the a pun? ) because of the weather and all that has tobe done on the ranch. It's hard to get in the mood when it's 110F outside.

Well I guess I'll head out into the heat and try to get something done.

My best to everyone.

Paul

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

The ladies have been saving Tom W's and Paul B's seats all of this time.

I'm glad they did.

It's good to see both of you back in the diner.

However, i'm sorry to hear about some of the events. Tom, that's not the best way to lose weight (as if you don't know). Tom, I'm sad to hear you lost your Mom during your ordeal. Good to hear about your new locos, Tom. Looking forward to more photos. 

Paul. I've heard about the drought, and I wish we could send our excessive rain there. We had severe storms, and flooding was very bad. We had about 20 to 25 inches of rainfall just in April plus more afterwards. The lake came dangerously close to our house, but fortunately just missed it. Sad to learn that Mary Ann must be on dialysis. 

Now, where is Ed? ... What about Fergie, Luc, PC, and Dick? 

Duke is still sleeping in the corner booth, and if somebody unlocks the side door, JimCG will show up soon hopefully. Inch and Bama are here sometimes but not enough. ...

 

 

 

 

 

[blownout cylinder]

Tom: back!!! That articulated..the GN 2-6-8-0 sounds like a neat little thing...oh...and what is this about the weird reduction gearing on the other one? 

Paul:  back as well!! Yep..you guys down there are seeing some nasty drought conditions that is for darn sure, meanwhile, other places seem to be having way too much water....

Good Afternoon...

Kinda milky skies be here...gonna be a hot one tomorrow...going up to 88F and heat index of 108F...mmmmmmm

The old lawn mower up here be still working..rebuilt motor twice....heeheehee...oh...and it is that evil 2 cycle job.....

But I have been looking at those cordless ones still....

Chloe, I'll have a coffee and a big ol' ribeye dinner please..I'll be at the corner booth for now.......BBBBLLLLLOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRTT!!!!!......OK...who left the whoopie cushion UNDER the bench cushions?!?!?!?  

n a genuine 1918 color Autochrome shot by Australian army 
photographer Frank Hurley in Palestine, a cavalryman of the 
Australian Light Horse Brigade pauses to pick a bouquet of 
anemones (not poppies). Autochromes were NOT hand-tinted 
black-and-white shots, but were a three-stage true color process. 
The complexity probably limited Autochrome use to still and 
slower shots.

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Janie, I will have the BBQ chicken dinner with all the trimmings.  Oh, also a tall glass of regular iced tea this evening....

WOW!  What a great day!  Not only was this about the 6th. best day of my entire life, we have both Paul B and Tom W. back in the diner!  Yes!

Paul, good to see you sir!  Hope both you and Mary Ann are doing well.  Also hope you will be able to put up enough hay to keep all the critters fed.  i have been watching the news on the major drought out your way.  Hope you get some rain from the storm that hit Mexico.....????

Tom W glad to see you are doing much better.  Sounds like you really got knocked for a loop!  I bet you are looking forward to getting back teaching.  Have you been able to keep the fingers limber during all this?  I'm also saddened to hear about your Mother.  I am keeping you in my prayers for good health and strength.

Welcome back to the diner to both of you!

I  got the rest of the first side (the back which faces into the garden) of the shed painted today.  Used almost all of the first gallon of paint!  After dinner tonight, I plan to finish up the lawn and then head downstairs to the train room to take a few new photos of the Engine House.  Hope you are not sick of seeing them....

  What a great day!!!

73

[lone geep]

Hi, Flo, could I have a Manitoba style steak with Montreal steak spice and some baked P.E.I potatoes. I'll have a Canada Dry gingerale too please. Sir Madog, and your mother will be in my prayers. Today, we went down to my aunt and uncle's. My uncle has stomach cancer so we went down to surprise and to do some yardwork for my aunt. When we were there, he came down and chatted with us for awhile. He even gave me a distortion petal for my electric guitar(which he had given me earlier.)!!! Happy Canada Day!

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

I believe I was on the top of  page 2, so Flo give whatever the diners want on me. I would love a please.

Rained most of the day on and off. The car dealer called about my son's car and said some bolts did not  come in so it will be done Tuesday. My son borrowed my truck tonight to go to work. He asked me, Is there any special instructions--to which I said Not to Wreck It.

Hello to the new, I mean old members

Today I completed all the prep work on my Tortoises. Next step installation. If there are techniques that make installation easier from our experienced modelers I would love to hear them. I do have double sided tape on the top and I laminated the mounting template and punched out the appropriate holes.

I really like the Altoona rail shot (1951)

Prayers to all those in need. I hope everyone has a good night and a great 4th of July weekend. 

[GMTRacing]

Good Evening all,

     Welcome back Tom and Paul. Sorry to hear about your trials and losses but glad we're all still here. Speaking os still here I'm just now leaving the shop - engine change gone bad (new motor hung a valve so back out it comes). Then the magnesium engine adaptor need helicoils.... You get the drift..

Tell you what though - I'll have whatever Rays' been having - I think he's positively giddy. Oh and maybe some of that same Curt's having after that. Time to head on out until tomorrow  -  maybe even spend a few minutes in the train room.    Catch U'all Later,   J.R.

 

[teen steam fan]

Hey guys. 

Curt- I get the same response from my dad when I borrow his truck and I tell him the same thing when he borrows my Jeep. 

Speaking of my Jeep, I have to buy a new tire for it. One of the leaf springs on the back swung over (No bend clip it was my dad's and a gearhead friend's idea) and made a gouge the whole way around on the sidewall. A new 31x10.5 R15 light truck BFG all terrain tire is $225 out the door installed I'll replace the other one on the same axle in a month or so depending on pay then replace the last two when school starts back up before winter. The new tire's going to be in Tuesday so I guess I'm without my XJ for a while 

[howmus]

Evenin' everyone!

Finished the lawn and trimming around the property just now, so I can now head down cellar to the train room.....  In MY house!

GMTRacing

Tell you what though - I'll have whatever Rays' been having - I think he's positively giddy. Oh and maybe some of that same Curt's having after that. Time to head on out until tomorrow  -  maybe even spend a few minutes in the train room.    Catch U'all Later,   J.R.

J. R., Yes I am a bit giddy and quite happy today....  You see sometime after Midnight last night my Credit Union did an automatic fund transfer for me in the amount of $1,100.  This was put against my Revolving Credit Mortgage on my house.  When I got out of bed this morning I transferred $188.70 from one of my savings accounts at the Credit Union to make my outstanding debt on THAT loan $0.00!!!  (Huge Grin!!!) With the exception of a small balance on my Credit Card which will be paid in full on August 1st. I am, for the first time in my adult life out of debt!  The house is completely paid off.  From now on I will pay in cash or check for everything.  I mean everything.  No more loans!!!  Ever (I hope!)

Today has been a happy day for me.... 

A for everybody (except those underage... They can have a root beer...)!

Later!

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Got the bills paid this morning and got the first half of the groceries home and in the fridge. Going back for the other half of the groceries Sunday. Spent $47.10 to fill the tank on the van (13.422 - 1.422 gal over half a tank). Spent some time with my parents today and had some pizza for dinner. Got home a little while ago to find that my forum is offline due to power problems. The staff are working to remedy the problem. It's also getting very noisy here as a thunderstorm is closing in on the area. Will it rain here or will it go around? No more icing problems with the vans carb. Looks like I nipped the problem in the bud.

[Curt Webb]

Ray- That is huge. I can't wait until the house is paid off (10 years). Congratulations.. I understand why you seem giddy.

[Cederstrand]

Sweet & Sour Chicken with rice & veggies, please.

It's great seeing some old faces returning here. Welcome back guys! 

Got 12 postholes dug today. Not much else.

Healing thoughts to those in need.

Rob

[cudaken]

 OK, why am I having to see saw back and forth to read this?

 Evening Folks.

 Flo, did someone say Curt is buying! I will take the Monon Special Plate, and you guessed it a

 T White! Tom, great to see you back. All wised love your layouts and the Articulated engines! Glad your kidneys are holding there own. Looking forward to some more pictures of your engines!

 Work Front. Well, thank Goodness the traffic picked up today! I just hope it stays this way over the weekend. While not a great day, did have 3 sales $1700.00. All so saw the new Sealy line up, my store was set up with them while I was off. I am not impressed by them. We are going to miss are old line up,

 Home Improvements Folks

 Should I buy a window A/C to help my old Central A/C? My central Air unit has to be somewhere around 30 + years old. With the temps we are hitting now, the central air unit runs 24 hours a day and the house never really cools down. In fact my garage will get cooler than the house with the old AC window unit I have out here. 

 Do you think a window unit in the house may lower my electric bill? Or at the very lease not raise the bill much? House needs to be a little cooler, say by 5 degrees. House is 1500 sq foot and I am thinking about a 5000 BTU unit in the family room. That will keep me cooler (I now sleep in the family room) and cool the kitchen as well. The air intake for the central unit is in the hallway 2 feet from the kitchen.

 Other odd thing is the pricing. A 5000 BTU unit is $99.00, a 6500 BTU unit is $160.00 and a 8000 BTU unit is $209.00 and a 10,000 BTU unit is $250.00?  So lets see, I could buy one 10000 unit for $250.00, or two 5000 units for $200.00? Just does not seem right. If anyone cares to look at the inits I am thinking about they are on line at the Lowe's site.

http://www.lowes.com/pl_Air+Conditioners_4294859075_4294937087_?Ns=p_product_price|0

 What does EER rating really mean anyway? Guessing the higher number is better, the 10,000 BTU unit is rated at 10.8 and the 5000 BTU is 9.7, is that a big deal?

Well other than Galaxy and Ulrich's family nothing else on my mind.

 See you all later!

         Ken

 

 

Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!!

got another round of 5 day antibiotics form Dentist and a new patch to cover tooth til Tuesday when he can hopefullly finish the root canal {and not on Friday next {the 8th} for 3rd sitting} And some percocet to help put...

“This is Major Tom to Ground Control I’m stepping through the door
And I’m floating in a most peculiar way And the stars look very different today

For here am I sitting in my tin can Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue And there’s nothing I can do...

...Ground Control to Major Tom Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom? Can you hear....

[LSWrr]

Good morning,

Tom, welcome back sounds like you had one heck of a year.  I wish you continued good health..

Thunder and Lightning this morning, but it looks like Canada is getting the worse part.

[steamfreightboy]

Morning!

Ken: We got a window AC for our family room for the same reason, and it has made the room much more bearable to be in. I would go to a Lowe's near you and see what they recommend.

 

[blownout cylinder]

Lee: I don't see anything here but clouds and dull...lately we have been relatively dry here...only microdribbles and two little booms and that is about it....west and east of us can get even more...north and south the same...here..we have a bowl over us. As for the heat, haze and humidity...oh...we'll get barrels full....

Good Morning...

As I stated above we are seeing a 30% chance of showers and a possibility of a t'underin'boomlet but that is it for us...high today will be 84F with a heat index of 106F....in other words...bad air quality today....

I'm on my on-call weekend now so I'll be either doing it at the office or at home...might pick the office actually today...home is going to be a bit crazy as we are having a yard sale as mt wife and a few others in the neighbourhood have decided that they wanted one....

As far as i am concerned I am not going to stick around.....

Nice to see some of the mia's coming back ....now if only we could find the other one's...

Flo, I'll have a cofee and a breakfast bagel please..I'll be at the RC for a bit...

[galaxy]

cudaken

  Should I buy a window A/C to help my old Central A/C? My central Air unit has to be somewhere around 30 + years old. With the temps we are hitting now, the central air unit runs 24 hours a day and the house never really cools down. In fact my garage will get cooler than the house with the old AC window unit I have out here. 

 Do you think a window unit in the house may lower my electric bill? Or at the very lease not raise the bill much? House needs to be a little cooler, say by 5 degrees. House is 1500 sq foot and I am thinking about a 5000 BTU unit in the family room. That will keep me cooler (I now sleep in the family room) and cool the kitchen as well. The air intake for the central unit is in the hallway 2 feet from the kitchen.

 Other odd thing is the pricing. A 5000 BTU unit is $99.00, a 6500 BTU unit is $160.00 and a 8000 BTU unit is $209.00 and a 10,000 BTU unit is $250.00?  So lets see, I could buy one 10000 unit for $250.00, or two 5000 units for $200.00? Just does not seem right. If anyone cares to look at the inits I am thinking about they are on line at the Lowe's site.

http://www.lowes.com/pl_Air+Conditioners_4294859075_4294937087_?Ns=p_product_price|0

 What does EER rating really mean anyway? Guessing the higher number is better, the 10,000 BTU unit is rated at 10.8 and the 5000 BTU is 9.7, is that a big deal?

Well other than Galaxy and Ulrich's family nothing else on my mind.

  

Ken: we looked at a house that had Central A/C. It was an older unit so we knew the heat pump outside unit would need to be replaced sometime probably sooner than later. Here the nat. gas company and electric company are one and the same. His budget bill {same each month spread out }electric bill for lights and A/C/nat. gas heat/water only for a house with 300 sq feet more than we have in our trailer { on a second floor cape-style attic room with no furnace vents} was $250.00 per month. Our Trailer's bill for 300 sq feet less and a tin can that heats up quickly and holds heat for electric for lights and 2 window a/cs- one 12,000 BTU for living/kit area {front of trailer} and a 5600 BTU for master BR {back of trailer} AND nat gas heat and water is only $125.00 a month!! we figured either : a] he kept heat giher than the 67* we keep heat at in winter, and /o b} he kept A/c at a cooler temp than the 70* we try to maintain in the trailer.

SO, Yes, I think you would save money by using  2 windows units!!! BUT I would buy 10,000 or 12,000 BTU for your main rooms, and a smaller unit for your BR like we do. The small unit in a large area will bog down, wear out and nto be effective and use more energy trying to heat a larger livign area. That is why I say to get a bigger unit for the larger general living area.

It will aslo save the wear and tear on your whole house unit, avoiding having to replace it at a  cost far more than a  couple of window units. After all, you really only need cool air where you are living, and nto all over the whole house. You could keep the whole house set to say 80*-82* and run  the window units when you are needing them.

The two units, one in front of trailer {12,000 BTU} for LR/Kit and the one in back BR {5600 BTU} do a good job at keeping the whole 910 sq foot trailer fairly comfortable and fairly even temp at around 70*. WE run the Br at night, while LR is shut down, and run LR when up for the day, and ocassionally we run both during the hottest part of the day. The computer room next to LR, usually is at 72* when Lr/kit is at 70*. WE can pick and choose when to run them. And for all utilities: nat gas heat, nat gas h2O, electric of all types and window A/Cs for cooling, our mothly nut is $125. and we get to knock off $25/month of that when we get HEAP. A trailer, even though well insulated, heats up like a tin can of beens on a campfire firepit fire at camp in a hurry each day. Often cools LR/Kit area to 68* at night when that 12,000 BTU unit is off. Both units are energy star so save energy.

I would recommend you invest in the window units, but get a 10,000 or 12,000 BTu for your larger living area! DOn't fool around trying to save $50 to overwork a smaller unit just cuz it works out to $50 cheaper UNLESS you have two windows on opposite sides of your main Living area that you thik you can run the two smaller units.

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning all,

     Back in the shop after going off site with the CFO for breakfast. Same place we've been going to since the 70's and some of the same waitresses are still there.

    Ken, The higher the rating the better the overall efficiency of the unit. Minimum you want is "Energy Star" rating and go from there.  If the whole house unit isn't doing it, it might need service or overhaul. No way it should run 24/7. If it's an older unit your state or utility company might have a grant program to replace it with a better more efficient unit. Usually a tax credit goes with that as well. All depends on how much you want to do especially if you're still tangled up with the Bank of A.........s.

   Ray, yup Independence Day has more than one meaning. We finished our mortgage off about 10 years ago but still carry a second mortgage which we use for the shop and used to finish the house since insurance didn't cover it all. So we can look forward to a second party at some point.

   Galaxy - good luck with the tooth and I hope your dentist has his act together next week. Root canal not fun.

   Shop today - museum tomorrow as we will do a rough survey of our roundhouse site and try out the fuel gage socket we buzzed up here to service the fuel level gauge on the 44 tonners. No model railroad last night - the baseball field PA's went off early so I went to sleep instead.

     Catch U'all Later,   J.R.

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe just a cup of dark roast coffee this morning.

I am on my way out the door to Alumni Day at Boy Scout Camp.  Should get fed well out there.....

Later!

73

[Seamonster]

Good morning, everyone.  Haven't been around for a while.  Haven't felt much like doing anything lately.  Don't know if it's just a case of the blahs or all this dental work.  Flo, I'll just have a cup of coffee and a softboiled egg in a bowl with a slice of buttered white bread.  I'm on a liquid and mush diet for a while.  No upper teeth any more.  I'm on my way to getting an upper denture.  Got dentist appointments coming out the ying yang.  I have to give my wife a lot of credit for inventivness when it comes to my meals.  She serves me the same food as she eats for meals but mushes it up with the hand blender so I get three different coloured piles of mush on my plate--the white one is potatoes, the grey one is chicken and gravy or if it's brown, it's roast beef and gravy and the green one is peas or if it's brown, it's peas and carrots.  Looks like baby food, doesn't look appetizing, but the taste is the same.

Enough of my problems.  Howmus:  isn't it a great feeling to have the mortgage paid off?  We managed to pay off ours before I retired.  Those mortgage papers made a nice little fire!

Ken:  I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who has to see-saw or stretch the window to read some of the pages.  I thought it was a problem with my computer.  I wonder if they can fix that problem.  It's annoying.

Galaxy and Ulrich:  My thoughts are with you.  It's so hard to see a parent so ill.  I've been there more than once.

Railroad front:  Nothing.  Went downstairs and stared at a large blank area trying to figure out what trackwork to put in there and what industries or whatever to put in, then came back upstairs again and watched TV.  Didn't even feel like working on some structure kits that I'm putting together.

We're off to our favourite provincial park and beach for the day.  We go there a few times every summer and for sure on the Canada Day long weekend.  Forecast is for 25C (77F) and sunny so it will be very crowded.  The park has a large campground so it will be full and overflowing too.  It will be nice to just sit and vegetate for a few hours.  I'm going to miss having a burger and onion rings for lunch though.  The fellow who runs the concession stand makes great burgers, big and juicy.  I'll have to take a Cheese Whiz sandwich and a peanut butter sandwich to eat and watch my wife eat her burger and onion rings.  Oh well, next time we go I'll have teeth.  I can still have a dish of soft ice cream in the afternoon, though.

 

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Porter House steak medium-rare, a baked sweet potato with sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon and butter, a side salad with Ranch dressing and a Dr Pepper please. Thank you. Better eat now, you never know when you’ll eat again.

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. Heat index values as high as 102. Real sweatbox yesterday I must say.

Looks to be a sticky day again today. I need to mow Mom’s grass but I’ll be riding for that one. Too bad the old Cub Cadet was built before drink holders was standard issue. Shoot it wasn’t even an option back then.

Bridge Tom!!- Hey good to see you again! Glad to hear your better from the food poison thing. Sorry to hear of your Mother’s passing. Lost mine too. The first couple of months here were kinda filled with bad news.

Janie, bring me a bowl of peaches please. Tom just flung a cravin on me.

Paul- Good to see you and Mary Ann are still up and around. Been watchin the drought myself and thinking of you especially when the fires where the news. Case usually is pretty good around here, but I will admit they are not the best of IH and Case combined into one glorious piece of equipment. We are mostly split between Green and Red around here with Green having the lead.

THANK YOU for asking J.R. I thought Ray would NEVER tell what made him so happy. I was fixin to ask myself this morn.

Ray- Congratulations….here’s a match! I dream of the day myself when it’ll be just me and the government that owns my home and we can get that pesky bank out of the picture. Just mailed another stop to a foreclosure today. Less than 15 years to go. Barring a lottery win anyway.

Ken- J.R.’s right. Have the AC unit checked or serviced. Probably be cheaper than a new unit. They don’t just wear out. They either work or they don’t. Efficiency now, well that’s another story. You may need Freon. Of course that doesn’t just go away either so there’d be a leak. Or. If you’re lucky, the outside unit just needs the coils cleaned out (think radiator) and maybe the inside evap…er A-coil needs cleaned out. Especially if you are not good with replacing filters or worse, (gulp) don’t use them.

Knew one guy who said they (furnace filters) were a waste of money because it was drawing air in from inside and that the dust was in the rooms anyway so no filter would not keep the dust from flying etc, etc, etc. I explained to him the lack of, or should I say reduction in the amount of, dust was just a perk of the need for a filter. Don't think it mattered to him. Oh well, his repair bill.

Welp, best get a movin. Lots of things need to get done this weekend. Notice I said need to get done? Not will get done? Pretty slick on my part I‘d say.

OK gotta get going before I sweat just walking out to the truck.It’s not as much the heat, as it is the humidity you know.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[Curt Webb]

Morning All,

Not much happening here. A lazy day planned. MOH is sewing in her sewing room and I am watching a stupid movie on SyFy channel drinking my morning coffee. Later I am going to the train club, always good to see the guys. Next Saturday there is a train show so I will most likely go to it (1 hour away).

I think when I am done with my coffee I will go to the train room and install a Tortoise as a test to see how much a pain in the butt it will be since I have a bunch to install. I am pretty much on my own doing this. At this point I see the biggest issue will be getting the stiff wire through the turnout hole.

Healing wishes for all the diners with dental problems. Prayers for all the diners and family with medical issues.

Everyone take care. 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 85, sunny and dry. High today will be 96, partly cloudy, hot and dry.

I'm hoping that people here will lay off of the fireworks this year due to the overwhelming dry conditions brought on by the drought. Have i mentioned it's very dry here? I haven't seen it this dry here since the late 90's and even that is starting to pale by comparison. As for myself, I haven't used fireworks for many years. At a rough guess I would say close to twenty years now.

Laundry day today. Oh joy! Well, it has to come around sometime. So all projects, large and small, are on hold until that's done.

[twhite]

Good morning all.  Janie, I'll have a big bowl of peaches (no whipped cream--dang it!--) and some cinnamon toast and if you've still got some of that Peets coffee left over from the last time I was in--the Major Dickenson's brand--a big mug of that, too. 

Warm morning here--supposed to hit about 95 here in the Valley today, and 102 for the Fourth.  Which means hot and dry, but at least my Sculptamold will dry quick today. 

My little PFM GN 2--6-8-0 decided to quit on me yesterday, so got into the innards and--guess what!  It's got the same kind of weird reduction gear as the Balboa AC-9 that I was telling you guys about.--it's a box that isn't connected to any of the geared driver sets, but sits in the rear set of cylinders.  All of the drive shafts connect to it.  It's kind of like an NWSL reduction gear set, only  crossways instead of parallel.  Hmmm---

Anyway, one of the little pieces of rubber tubing had given out with age, so it was an easy replacement.  Now she waddles along like a little champ.  I'll post a photo of her just as soon as my camera finishes re-charging.   Can't get over that VERY weird reduction gear thingie, though, LOL!

Got news that my son and grandson will be down from Vancouver next week.  Tommy's going to re-wire the layout where it needs it (he's young and skinny and can get around Down Under better than his old Dad--) and my grandson Chris has decided to help me on the scenery.  When he's not in the pool, I mean.  Kid's 15 and has decided he's going to become a Geologist.   He looks like a little Viking--acts like one, too, LOL!  Needless to say, we're going to spend some time in the mountains so he can go rock-hunting. 

Galaxy:  Ah, PERCOSET!!   Be careful though, that stuff really plugs you up, if you get what I mean.   I do NOT envy your upcoming Root Canal--after one of them, I just told my dentist to pull any others he came across.   Best wishes for you. 

Well, have to finish my peaches and get out into the garage before the heat starts in for real.   I've promised one of my ex-students an on-line game of Bejeweled 3 this afternoon--so far he's beating the pants off of me.  But then he's 19 and VERY fast with the Mouse.  I asked him if he doesn't feel the least bit guilty of massacring a 71-year old, he just grinned and said, "Nope."  Ah, youth!

See you guys later.  Have a great day, everyone.

Tom

[BRAKIE]

Good Morning All!

Not much to report from the land of Buckeyes on this rainy Saturday morning other then while out and about I saw a NS coal drag and I should have waited because I heard another horn before I got home..I plan on going to a cookout tomorrow at my sisters.

Slate Creek news:I decided while waiting on my new quarters I will weather my cars and build a structure for the Crispy Creme Bakery..I do want a more modern concrete style structure. I decided Slate Creek with be served by a 2 or 3 mile long short line since I want to try a completely different approach.

I shall have a cup and look over the forum.

Have a happy and safe 4th!

[Packers#1]

Hey folks, not much going on here. looks like another slow, relaxing day. The nationwide race last night was exciting. I'm expecting the Cup race to be even better! I think Trevor Bayne could DEFINITELY pull off a season sweep of Daytona...especially driving for the Wood Brothers. They know how to build a car. I'm also tired of hearing everyone complain about the two car draft; I like it WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY better than the old pack racing. All that was was about 30-something cars (don't forget there are some start/parks so a 43 car field shrinks to about 37-38 at least after the first 10-15 laps) running around and shuffling. These two car drafts are like big cars, and with the runs you can get and the momentum you lose by losing your partner, well, that seems more like an actual race than the pack. 

Ulricha nd galaxy, I can't imagine what y'all are going through, prayers definitely for y'all.

Welp, updated my website just now. Deleted a few pages and changed the layout page to a blog format.

EDIT: TOP again?! ok, ok Vinnie, yes I've got the tab, no worries man. Dang y'all, i do need SOME money left over for fireworks on the 4th! ahhhhhhhhh how I love thee South Kackalacky