ELLIOT'S TRACKSIDE DINER - AUGUST, 2011

[galaxy]

Well.

I am proud of myself.

I cleaned out part of the train/junk room.

I threw out about 6 bags of schtuff to the trash and have about 12 bags fo stuff a lady is coming to pick up. Don't laugh but it's material I had for making quilts. Made 3 of them about 4 years ago and scored MAJOR points with teh MIL for the one I made her!!!!! I had a bunch of material I was never going to get around to doing anything with as I am no longer into the quilting hobby, so a lady who will make quilts of red, white and blue for vets will take those fabrics for that and the rest will go to ladies who make quilts for the nursing home patients and for troubled teens who recylce material into quilts Up north.

Had to do SOMETHING aobut that room, and if the furnace needs replacing they may have to tear into the walls in that room . Now I can store train stuff in the dressers I had the material in and get it "out of sight".

So a good day's work done. TIred and sweaty. Time to relax for an hour and wait for the lady to come pick it up. SHe is thrilled of course!

Good luck in finding new employment Ken.

Later

[GMTRacing]

So true Jeff, so true.

Lee - at least with the Merc your ship handling skills were useful.

Todd - It's all in good fun, right?    J.R.

[LSWrr]

Good Morning All,

Rob, it sounds like your Dad is improving, or at least they found the cause, continued prayers for a fast recovery.  Do you have enough trees removed to be free of falling branches and stuff if the hurricane comes that close?

 

Jeff, in 1988 I drove a 1978 Grand Marquis when I broke my left ankle. Had a huge 460 under the hood (the car not my ankle)!  I loved that car, and the fact nobody would dare cut you off or pull out in front of you, I bet it weighed over 5,000 pounds and was pushing 350 hp.  I hated to give it up when the cast came off.

 

Ken, sorry to hear about the job….

[jeffrey-wimberly]

GMTRacing

"will be independently wealthy and I will not have to worry about anything other than the turnouts on my layout too."

Ouch, and this from some old retired dude who can afford to sit around all day wondering when to go to w..k. THAT's harsh Todd. If you weren't our friend I'd suspect you were starting a rant[ I'm just happy I can stay awake long enough to worry about the turnouts after the usual 12 hour day.  No, Don''t cry for me Argentina.................  J.R.

That's better than sitting around contemplating how much or how little time you have left.

[GMTRacing]

"will be independently wealthy and I will not have to worry about anything other than the turnouts on my layout too."

Ouch, and this from some old retired dude who can afford to sit around all day wondering when to go to w..k. THAT's harsh Todd. If you weren't our friend I'd suspect you were starting a rant[ I'm just happy I can stay awake long enough to worry about the turnouts after the usual 12 hour day.  No, Don''t cry for me Argentina.................  J.R.

[Seamonster]

Welcome to Winnipeg, weary travellers.  Back in the day Winnipeg was a booming rail hub with lines going to every point of the compass.  There was a huge stockyard that rivalled Chicago's.  While you're here, be sure to go upstairs in Union Station and go through the railway museum.  They have the Countess of Dufferin, the first steam locomotive in western Canada.  It was brought up the Red River from the U.S. on a barge.  There's lots of railroading to see here, with both CN and CP having large railyards.  The area behind Union Station used to be a CN yard, but now it's a recreational area and trendy little boutiques in what used to be the railway buildings.  I could go on and on, but I won't.  Enjoy your stopover here.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 78° and partly cloudy. The high will be 99° (feel like 111°). There's a 20% chance of thunderstorms this afternoon.

I got the Trainmaster finished yesterday. All that remains is coming up with a decoder with an 8-pin plug to take the place of this dummy plug.



I converted the SD45 to DCC. It now has a Bachmann decoder hard wired into it. There's a lot of space inside that old wide hood. They had to be wide then to have room for the motors of the day.

As to what I'll be doing today, I have no plans. I had a rough night so maybe I'll just get some rest today.

Ken: I still have your package here, waiting to see what you want to do next.

[cudaken]

 Morning Fellow Dinners.

 Flo Diet Dew Please.

 Thanks for all the the words of encouragement and prayers.

 While the store was picking back up, it is still far from being great. Store was on paces for $35,982.14, a far cry from my best month of $48,000.00 +.

 That is one of the problems with being in sales, it is all wise the Salesperson fault. And there is all wise someone they think will do better.

 Far as Shaun getting my old store, don't think that is going to happen. When I spoke to him last night, he is afraid of getting the ax him self.

 Going to look at this on bright side. I was going to have to get a part time job anyway, could not make it on the base wages. I was all ready looking for a new job anyway, so what the heck. Time to pull my self up by the boot straps and have at it.

 Rob Have not heard about your dad for awhile, I hope things are going better for him.

 Well, I am going to poke around the site some, then go eat.

               Ken

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee please. I’ll just cruise the sweet roll section at the Breakfast Bar thank you.

A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 88

LIBRARY! Our library is actually, believe it or not , in the old train station here in town. I’ll have to post a picture sometime. Books are donated and videos, unless someone donated here recently, are not available.

Ken- Sorry to hear about the job. Tough break again.

Happy late Birthday Aussie Jim!

Welp, this is my slow start day as I have to do the grocery thing at 10 to 10:30 depending on when the trucks show. Then I have a break until 5 when I have to w**k for real. Somewhere in there I need to go do some vittle huntin’ for us. Probably after I get the restaurants done I’ll just head into town to do ours.

I do not like w**king evenings . It ruins my whole day. Those who like it…, fine. But me, I spend my entire day clock watching so I do not run myself up against ….well I don’t know where I was going with that, but I’m worried all day about being late. So I spend much of my day deciding what I can get done or started enough and if I can get it to a point where I can walk away, and then there’s cleanup if recquired of me and of course there is feeding time. So I really get nothing done. Irritating. You’d think w**king in a restaurant you’d wouldn’t have trouble eating. Well, when you are there only for what, 4 to 5 hours and the restaurant is open for most of it minus cleanup time. You have no time to eat. And when is supper time? When I’m at w**k. So there is THAT little show stopper. Oh well, one day I will be independently wealthy and I will not have to worry about anything other than the turnouts on my layout too.

(ahem) I did not mean to imply you guys have nothing to worry about other than turnouts. You have jobs and stuff. I meant….um… You know, I’m just gonna shut up while I can.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Ken: I installed a decoder in my 70's era Athearn SD45 last night and it works perfectly. I did the same motor and shafts changeout on it that I did with the old PA. It should work.

[Cox 47]

Good Morning All....It is 64 and sunny here...hope we get some badly needed rain....I'll have biscuits and gravey and coffee please...Thank you...You all have a good one...Jerry

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,

     I was just gonna have a regular to go but since G is buying, I'll just plop down here at the RC and have the Lumberjack Special with Bacon (that would be Canadian Bacon here, eh?). A little steam and smoke with cinders will do just fine for flavoring - hope we make a tieup point soon though - don't like coffee with cinders much.

   Ulrich - hope you get the position. Just think, moderator here and supervisor there! We can all say we knew you when.....

   Ken - that is just awful. Hope you find a new situation soon.

   Rob - Hope your dad is doing better. Sepsis is serious stuff.

  I see we had James through on his birthing day - Happy Birthday belatedly. And we all hope your train room gets a sort out and you can get back to it soon.

   Speaking of train rooms, I dug ditches on the layout last night. Final positioned and excavated pits in the foam for the first 4 turnouts on what will be the far back side of the yard area so it there were mistooks they would be easy to hide. followed up with a 1" hole through the wood beneath to run the switch pigtail and signal wires through. Haven't retested yet, but so far, so good.

   For those of you intrested, MRH (the online magazine) has a blurb on a lab analysis of the black crud found on rails. Turns out it is nickle oxide from arcing between the locomotive wheels and the track when the wheels run over dust particles. It is further postulated THAT the reason metal wheels keep track cleaner is they burnish off the oxide (just like real wheels burnish off the rust on 1:1 rails) and the more you run, the cleaner the track stays. This also accounts for the reason the gleam method of polishing and burnishing does so well as most of the polishes have a barrier coating to prevent corrosion and the final rubbing with stainless burnishes the polish into the rail tops. since it is virtually impossible to stop dust accumulating in the train room, the obvious solution is to run more! and keep the tracks clean.

   Well, (full again after the last rains) thanks Galaxy, the full breakfast was grand (and the bill less than a grand). Time to shove off at the next whistle stop and get into the shop. Lots to do again today.  CUL, J.R.

 

[BamaCSX83]

Good morning all.  I'll have biscuits and gravy, side of sausage, and a tall glass of milk.

Ken, I sincerely hope that you can find something else to provide you with pay.  I know that its not the best paying job (I've been doing it for 9 years now), but have you thought of working at a parts store?  Like I said, its not somewhere you'll make a fortune at, but since you have an honest interest in cars, it could be, I dunno, fun.  My thoughts and prayers will continue for you.

Rob, I'm terribly sorry to hear about your dad, me and mine's prayers are with you for him. 

Other than that, I think I'm going to be having a "do nothing" day today.  Gotta go pick up a check from my associate pastor for some work that I did.  Then I've gotta get some money sent off to places that need it.  Might stop at a local Chinese place for lunch today (haven't had my weekly quota of fried rice, cats, and dogs).  I also, might, and MIGHT I say you, get to work on some train stuff.  

As for right now I'm going to tool around here and see what's happening, might do some digging around on a couple other forums.

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

It is going to be sunny today with a few clouds thrown in for good measure..tonight clouding up with a 40%-70% chance of rain and those ol' t'underin'boomers.

today is another medical appointment day for myself...so I better get ready to do dis..

[galaxy]

Heartland Division CB&Q

Galaxy and Bill T ... It's still 8-22 in Central Time Zone here.

 

Usually Bill beats everybody by posting just after midnight ET.I usually post when I wake up later earlier in the morning. I just happened to get up and see if I could beat him...but remember...just like the international Date Line..it is a different day somewhere! for us in the east  a NEW day has begun...we can't help it if you are behind us!

I'll bet you still like to watch the ball fall in NYC at midnight our time on New Year's Eve! ANd by then, half the world has already had their celebrations and are sleeping it off!!!

Ulrich used to beat us as he is 6 hours ahead of us!!!

Enjoy your day and don't let nothing get you down!!!

EDIT: I also got top honors for posting so early..so FLo here is my CC..charge 'er up cuz breakfast is on me!! I'll have the 2 eggs scrambled, two french toast, two sausage links, and two strips of bacon!

 

[ns3010]

Morning all.

Sorry it's been a while. I've been swamped. W**k almost every day, and the three days THAT I was off last week while I was up north, I didn't have internet access.

Hope all is well with you guys.

Not much going on here. Same old stuff. W**k, sleep, repeat. THAT's about it.

Well, it's getting late. Or, is it getting early...

Catch ya later,

 -Joe

A Conrail Shared Assets Operations local based out of Manville Yard approaches CP BOUND BROOK in its way back to the yard. Today's power is a pair of NS GP38-2's 5637, and 5277, which still wears its Conrail Quality blue paint.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

CN Charlie and JohnBoy .... Thanks for the big welcome for the diner! It is very much appreciated! I bet the old steamer makes it to Regina.It should be nice riding behind it... I'll give Barry a hard time because when we went through Ontario, he did not even give out a souvenir such as a T-shirt. I had to buy my own Tim Horton donut and coffee.  ... Meanwhile, Ulrich sent some of his birthday cake from across the pond..... We have to wonder about Barry. 

Ken ... I am very sad to learn about your news. You seam to like that kind of work. Is there a competitor nearby where you could go? 

Rob .. I certainly hope your Dad improves. 

I did some track-laying today. This will be the tracks for the mail, express, and baggage cars at my Union Station. 

Galaxy and Bill T ... It's still 8-22 in Central Time Zone here.

Cheers. 

 

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

Today is TUESDAY AUGUST 23, 2011!!

This day shall be but fleeting by,

A memory to fondly make,

So make it a memorable day

that will last the rest of your days!

 

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

 

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

Rob & Ken,  sorry to hear the news from you fellas.  Keep your chin up and realize you have a lot of prayers on your side tonight and always.

Ulrich, I told ya so.........................................

CN Charlie,  I'll keep an eye out for the Prairie dog and the Diner, in fact I'll reserve a special siding for it right next to the casino in downtown Regina, and we can tour around from there.  Hope it can stay for a couple of days,but, I know those Yanks will want to get going to see some REAL mountains between Calgary and Vancouver...............What can I say..............

Good night ladies.......................................

Johnboy out..............................ZZZZzzzztime

[Anonymous]

Ken - that´s no good news early in the morning for me to read about. you have proven more than once that you are an excellent salesman, how can they show you the door! What a stupid thing to do! Never met nor will I ever meet your boss, but I am REALLY mad at him!

My that you will find a good and well paid job in no time! A man of your talents is a boost to any business.

Good Morning!

Seems as if I am beating Bill this morning, not to talk about Galaxy. The perspective of getting a job, and even a somewhat interesting one, did not let me sleep. It´s not high and dry yet, but chances are pretty good, as I was told. The perspective to earn my keep again really perks me up!

Chloe, coffee and a breakfast bagel, please.

CUL & have a good one!

[CNCharlie]

Good Evening,

Rob, sorry to hear about your Dad.

Ken, that is a tough break. It seemed from your posts that things were picking up but sometimes it seems that if a superior takes a dislike to you, they are just looking for an excuse. Hope you land a new job soon and it is a better one.

Garry, you were wondering where the diner is up here in the GWN. No it hasn't reached the Rockies yet. In fact it is parked at the Union Station here in Winnipeg. I hear the staff are staying for a couple of nights at the Fort Garry Hotel which is an old, restored railway hotel in the grand style. The steamer from the Prairie Dog Central is supposed to take it to Johnboy in Regina if it can go that far. After all it was built in 1887, that's right 1887. It was completely rebuilt and was just put back in service last year. It will be a slow trip via branchlines as she doesn't have enough power to maintain track speed on the mainline , but who's in a hurry? Should make the Rockies by the end of the week and then on to Vancouver.

Jerry, do you have a trackplan in mind for the new layout? I bought the cork for the roadbed this past weekend but I have to build a bridge first and then I will start putting the roadbed and risers down. That won't happen until fall as it is too cold down there in basement right now.

Well my U2g is supposed to be on its way back to me so we shall see if they fixed the lurching problem. True Line Trains say that they think I'll be happy with the result so we shall see.

Getting late so have to get to bed as it is an early but not busy morining for me.

CN Charlie

[AmanaMedic]

Evenin',

KEN: Sorry to hear Pal. Sounds like they're more...generous?...with the unemployment checks in Illinois. In Iowa, you get it pretty much only if you're laid off or there is some major reason why you can't work. Getting fired doesn't automatically mean money. Oh, you can apply for it and file an appeal for it, but then the company THAT booted you gets to explain why they don't feel obligated, since it was "with cause." Hence, the two times I got canned, no dollars from the state. I could've fought Amana, but their lawyers are probably pretty handy in these sorts of cases. It was just easier (and much, much, much quicker) to sell some things and move on. Best of luck to ya...

CURT: I've always wondered about fire-rescue/EMS in the land of hurricanes. Do they just say the regularly schedule crew for "hurricane day" is stuck hunkered down? Draw straws? Look for "volunteers" to ride it out in the stations? I'll put a fan in my yard blowing east...maybe it'll help steer THAT thing out to sea, where it belongs. Maybe its just the midwesterner in me, but I'll take my chances with a twister any day over one of those hurricanes. Stay SAFE!

 

Speaking of twisty things in the sky, here's some useless trivia: The infamous "Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak" of 1965 began just a few miles from me. Yup. The first twister dropped east of Clarence and south of Lowden. It moved north through Lowden (you'd never know it today) and meandered on up toward Peosta and Dubuque. The weekend guy at WMT-AM in Cedar Rapids saw a "hook echo" on the radar and called the Weather Service. After it was all over, based on inconsistencies in warnings (some called "tornado alerts," others used other terminology), WMT meteorologist Conrad Johnson and program director Grant Price met with NWS officials. A new methodology was born, thus creating the "tornado watch" and "tornado warning" of today. Yup...the terms used by today's weather clowns was "born" in the conference room at 600 Old Marion Road NE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa...at "Broadcast Park."

And now you know...the rest....of the story.

Best wishes to anyone/everyone in need, have a good night.

Chris

[simon1966]

Ken, that really sucks.   From your postings it seemed as though things were actually going quite well again.  It sure does not seem like your co-worker that worked the store is going to make any better numbers.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I hope you can get another job quickly Ken, not to mention a better paying one.

[BamaCSX83]

Evening all!  Just stopping in to check up on things, haven't been able to really keep up like I wanna.  Just an RBF for me, had a pretty good dinner tonight cooked for the wife.  I am awaiting a package from LA, according to USPS, it was supposed to have arrived today, but it didn't, so I guess it'll be tomorrow.  I honestly can't wait!

Gotta give the dog a bath tonight, he's got a couple of ticks on him, so its time.  He's a nutcase (lab, german shepherd mix), but that's all right too, he's a good dog.

Welp, guess I should get to bathing him and getting myself off to bed.

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

W**k has not been bad today probably because school started here today. I picked up 8 hours of OT tomorrow morning so no sleeping in, then my regular shift starts at 1600-2400. I wanted to run trains tomorrow but I need the money more. Watching the hurricane to see what it is going to do. I think they said it is going to be a cat III when it runs up our coast. I also think our dept is going to EMCON 1 on Wednesday.

Ken- Really sorry to hear about your job and I hope you find one quickly.

James- Happy birthday.

Ulrich- Hope the job works out for you. 

Have a good night.

[james saunders]

Hi Folks. Today is my birthday (22!)

but no train related gifts so far this year... Maybe I can buy myself something... Who knows?

Work on the layout has stagnated for now, as the space around the layout is being used for temporary storage of alot of cr*p as my ill grandmother is downsizing her home and we've received alot of her stuff at home. It's just sitting there whilst we work out what furniture we will be keeping and getting rid of.

Better keep moving! 

 

TTFN.

[Attaboy]

Hi, I'm back.  Still cleaning and rearranging but spent a good part of today mowing grass.  With all the rain we've had lately it was really thick.  Took a lot longer than usual today.

Flo, I'll have one of those world famous RBFs after all that mowing.

For all those who said I should be careful for a while, I don't think that will be a problem.  After the initial anger outburst the ex seems to have settled down and come to her senses a bit more.  She's staying with a friend or someone right now and wants to keep picking up her mail here twice a week.  She said she found a place to rent but hasn't signed the lease yet.  After eight months of saying she could not afford to move out it is amazing what she can do when she has to.

[howmus]

tcwright973

Ray - I have a question for you. Is there a nice restaurant in Penn Yan open for breakfast? I was thinking about staying overnight there this Fall.

Tom

Hey Tom!  If you are going to be only 15 miles away from where I live, I hope you can drive over and get a tour of the SLO&W..........

OK, Breakfast in Penn Yan.  The best place in Penn Yan for breakfast is supposed to be a little dinner right in town called........  ahem......  The Penn Yan Diner!  Been there just about forever I guess.  I have never eaten there so this is not from personal experience, but it is supposed to have great food and low cost.  It's THAT old town hang out all the people downtown go to.  Now there is a real honest to goodness farmer hang out nearby in Dresden, NY about 7 or so mile due East of Penn Yan right where route 54 crosses Route 14.  Right at the flashing light in Dresden.  I haven't eaten there in about 8 years, but it used to be a great little place for breakfast. (I will check this week to make sure it is still there...) If your up to some hiking and want to see the remains of the old NYC corkscrew RR that went from Desden to Penn Yan, the trail starts just a couple hundred feet away.  You can also drive the back route along the Keuka Outlet (and Canal) and stop at several places where industries used to be along the outlet and were served by the RR.  The Agnes flood in '72 caused the closing of the RR and took out the few remaining industries along the route.

If you want to drive further and come up to Geneva, there is Water St. Cafe.  Best around, hands down!  That's the place I'm thinking of when I order the #2 Special here on line......  Owned by the Mother of a couple of my favorite students, It is the hangout for most everybody who works downtown...  You'll see Doctors, lawyers, businessmen, teachers, college kids, and just about anyone else you can think of in there....  Similar to the Penn Yan Diner in being around a while and a traditional landscape.  Great food, great prices!

There are also the usual "fast, (so called) food" places in town.......  Here is a review blog of some the better restaurants in and near Penn Yan.  http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g48378-Penn_Yan_Finger_Lakes_New_York.html There are quite a few that I have heard of not listed as they are over near Branchport or in the country near Keuka Lake.

73