ELLIOT'S TRACKSIDE DINER - AUGUST, 2011

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Curt Webb

Jeff- Great looking building. What kind of business is it going to be?

It's supposed to be a feed mill but I'm thinking freight station.

[der5997]

Good evening folks! Between meetings in Town about the building the Museum is housed in (yesterday) and preparations for, and going to, a big party at one NH summer neighbours' today there  hasn't been much mrr. However one other neighbour at the party asked me about the layout and wants to come to the next op session. (whenever that is, that is)

Lee: I've just sent you an email thanks for the reminder. You'll see why you didn't get it sooner.

Sue

der,  Your layout has really progressed.  That scene will be a photographer's dream when you get done.  Your weeds look similar to some of mine.  Thanks for the tip on using sawdust.  Does that do a better job of preserving the tree that hairspray?

Thanks - I think there may be some confusion about the sawdust and white glue and hairspray and so on.

My scenery base is sawdust and white glue.

I also use sawdust (coloured, commercial) instead of WS ground foam for a small number of my trees. Notably those made from Golden Rod flowers. Both the sawdust ad the ground foams are glued on with hairspray - rarely white glue, and I don't think in terms of preservation. I used to boil up my tree weeds in glycerin, but not any more. Golden Rod, BTW when separated into individual flower strands and dried upside down soaked in white glue and sprinkled with green sawdust turn out to be quite good Tamarack (or Larch where I come from.) Works for N Scale - wouldn't work too well in S perhaps. Here's the first ones I tried, drying.

The hair spray (or rattle can grey primer) I use for adhesive for either the ground foam or the coloured sawdust on whatever weed or garden flower I'm turning into trees. Astilbe treated this way is very useful for N scale Spruce. The individual branches of the flowers dry to individual trees. I just clip off a few at a time from the main stem just before planting. They tend to grow, and therefore dry, in a curve shape; but I've found that I can gently break them straight, and they don't fall apart when planted. After that they aint going nowhere else! Many trees from just one Astilbe plant.

Bed time again. Good night all, and God Bless.Prayers for all in need of Healing, encouragement, prosperity and peace.

[BamaCSX83]

Good evening all.  Just checking in for the night.  I'll have a RBF and a hot fudge sundae.  Not a whole lot happening in the house tonight, just relaxing.  Tomorrow is going to be fun though, I'm off from my regular job, but will be helping a coworker replace the timing belt on his '97 Toyota Rav 4 (never had the belt replaced).  Should be interesting to say the least.  I also got a Walther's flyer in the mail, enjoyed getting a chance to look through it, saw some stuff I could use, some stuff I need, and well, some stuff that would be just plain nice to have.

On the issue of lawn mowers, the riding lawn mower that I currently have is about 12 years old right now and was originally my granddad's.  It got to where it wouldn't crank more than once a day (like if you fired it up now, you'd better not shut it off till you were done because once you did, you WERE done for the day).  My granddad fiddled with it here and there, until finally he said forget it and bought a new one.  Then my dad got ahold of it and did a little digging around online and found out that the engine is supposed to have a compression release on the camshaft that allows it to spin up to full rpm before cranking.  Well he tears the motor apart and turns out said compression release was missing....long story short, he rebuilds the engine, puts a new deck belt and blades on it, and gives it to me.   That was 2 years ago and she still runs like a top.  I change the oil, air filter, and spark plug every year and check the oil every crank up and she'll cut like a champ (although she doesn't cut too well right now as I decided that the blades on the deck were strong enough to cut up some pretty stiff fallen branches).

All right, guess that's enough rambling for me, I think I'll check over other things around here and see what's happening. 

Later Taters (might be back later myself)

Edit: Well, I got top, y'all eat up, I've got you covered!

[L&NTim11060]

Thanks Lee I do use plastistruct glue for most of all my modeling. Are the ties(for the ring rail) cast into the pit base or do I have to install these myself?

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

It has been a pretty good day at w**k so far. I'm off at midnight. I have been reviewing a Scuba diving power point lesson plan that I am giving for department training tomorrow as we respond to the EPCOT scuba diving activities. I was asked because I taught Scuba diving for 5 years after retiring from the Navy. We also do regular training drills there. Tomorrow I only work to 4 pm so a early day for me (8 hours).

Jeff- Great looking building. What kind of business is it going to be?

Healing prayers and thoughts to those dealing with the aftermath of Irene. 

Everyone have a good night.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

[cudaken]

 Box is packed Jeffery. I will send you details Wednesday

                               Ken

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Hello everybody. 

I'm back from Alabama, and I'm ready to work on the layout. I'm not quite done with my tracklaying project, and hope I can complete that this evening. 

I'll catch up on everything later. I assume diners are now enjoying the sights in Alberta and BC now.  Where will we go for September? 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I have the Mantua 2-8-2 all packed up for one of my forum members and it'll be going out this week. He saw it last night and snapped it up.

I got the roof of the feed mill painted. All that's left is some trim work.

[cudaken]

 Afternoon folks

 Flo Beer Please.

 Just got done cutting the rear yard, boy it been dry here. It has been a month sens I cut the rear grass and there where very few tall spots, blew more dust than cut grass.

 Getting ready to set up Decoder Pro and start speed matching the Santa Fe Passenger Warbonnet F7's A&B. After that finish packing up Jeffery's engines.

 See you later

 Ken

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I got the walls of the feed mill masked off earlier and painted the doors and windows and thought the hardest parts was done. Silly me! Now I'm masking off the areas where the roof sections meet the walls and all of a sudden there are a bazillion corners. Almost ready to paint the roof though.

[JimRCGMO]

Afternoon, Zoe - I'll have a cheeseburger, cheesey fries and a RBF, please. Thanks!

OzJim, yep, I think most places have the 'locals' who will help you out with disposing of your 'junque' (and do it gladly). Plus, they'll do that for you even if it isn't 'heavy trash pickup' day (or whatever name is used in your locale). And congrats on your new iPad, too.

Ray - careful there, you just never know whether those mimic spiders may just be waiting for you to take a good long sleep some night... (as a tiny chorus echoes through the keylhole: "Mwahaha!...")

Ulrich, hope your headache takes a lonnnnnngggg vacation from you (like, forever)! I'd say, how about crossing SOTB and park the Diner in some of the (US) Rockies? Some might purty scenery to see out the Diner windows there.

Yep, our humidity is creeping back up today - yesterday afternoon (late), it was 87 F with a 'heat index' of 84 F(!?). Got pretty cool last night (mid-50's or 60 F), but warming up to 88F/31C today, and then back to 96 F/36 C tomorrow. [oww!!]

Sue, glad you liked the cabin pics (and hope Larry can get some ideas from them for his). I know there are several manufacturers of logging cabins out there, but none I could find pictures for looked quite like these I bought. Dunno who it woulda been... Hey, got any photos of your backdrop area?

Jerry, looking forward to seeing the new layout plans - will this be an expansion of your previous one, or a replacement for it? I recall that you didn't have gobs of space in your apartment.

Galaxy, best wishes with the new furnace. I'm with you - I would be wanting to get the paying done ASAP, rather than delaying it six months.

I'm like Todd, wondering where Bill T. has disappeared to lately. Hope a grizzly didn't get him along the route across Canada this past week.

MononJim and Ken - OUCH! on the motor/mower problems. MononJim, guess you could deduct part of the cost for the new mower out of any money your sons have coming in (after an 'educational session' on the importance of NEVER forgetting to check the oil before starting the mower up).

Ken, doesn't look like your old employer put the right person in charge of that store, taking long lunches like that!

Bama, napping is good - I do it myself at times (like yesterday morning after getting in from a second on-call that lasted until just before 7 a.m. - I am so NOT a late-night person!). Besides, if I neglect to get enough sleep, sooner or later my body overrules me ("We're gonna take a nap... NOW!").

Galaxy, good to hear you and YOH missed Irene's wrath as she moved through. Seeing some of the pics/video that Ray posted shows how much just the water can do (not counting any areas where they had stronger winds doing damage). Saw some photos of the damage in Vermont, and that state was really 'washed away' to a big degree by all the rains.

Jeff - that steamer is 40 years old? I'm even more impressed that you got it working again, with it being that long-in-the-tooth. Hey, I just saw (and like) your C&O hopper, too! Hey, if you get photos of the Feed Mill, please post 'em; I have the Walthers grain coop elevator I'm w**king on, and could use some ideas for how to paint some 'weathered' wood. (Thanks)

Well (kinda humid in it, but dry here), need to go home, possibly start cutting gaps in the track for some more wiring w**k.

Anybody here who has wired there layout for DC (with plans to switch later to DCC) got any tips for me? I figured out what the throttle and panel for my Digitrax DB150 will run, and I don't want to wait that long to run some trains, so I'm gonna start with DC for now and when I get enough saved up later to get the other pieces, change over to DCC.

 

Blessings and prayers,

Jim in Cape G.

 

[howmus]

galaxy

 

 

With parts of I88 and 90 closed off the stoer my other half works at is having dificulties getting their loads.

BTW Ray, Steamtown has their Annual Train Fest this coming weekend....we are going the Saturday the 3rd. Are you interested in going with us? or do you have to do your museum?

I suppose I should call Steamtown and make sure they are gonna have it as many trains and visiting locos may/were going to use the NE rail corridors to get there and may not be able to get through. Dunno.

Thanks for the invite Galaxy, but I will having about 30 family members over for a "End of Summer, Birthday remembrance for the 2 now gone Patriarchs of the families, and me being out of debt for the first time in my life" party on the 3rd.  have fun at Steamtown if they are in operation!

Recieved another email from one of the Museum members with a link to some more photos of the damage Irene did in Eastern/Northern, NY:

"Here are a few photos from the ground near Amsterdam, NY. Look at the high water mark on the Amtrak shack..."

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/archivethumbs.aspx?id=71555

Have to get going.  Need to finish the lawn and run several errands.

Later!

73

[galaxy]

howmus

I am glad we live as far away as we do from where Irene decided to sit for a while.  Much of what has been destroyed forms the watershed for the New York City Water supply.  It will be a while before it can be brought back on line....

So am I, Ray. to the near East and north east is a different story. We came through relatively unscathed in Tioga county here, and since we are a rock's throw {litterally} to Broome, it is amazing it stayed to east and Northeast Broome. Conklin always floods and so does parts of Kirwood. When we were looing for houses, COnklin and most of kirkwood RIght off our list. SO were parts of Vestal and Endicott that were protected by "nice looking" chunky well-built-appearing dikes. ANything protected by a  dike was off the list. South Vestal got a lot of flooding so glad we not there. Delaware county though...a lot wiped off the map, basically.

With parts of I88 and 90 closed off the stoer my other half works at is having dificulties getting their loads.

BTW Ray, Steamtown has their Annual Train Fest this coming weekend....we are going the Saturday the 3rd. Are you interested in going with us? or do you have to do your museum?

I suppose I should call Steamtown and make sure they are gonna have it as many trains and visiting locos may/were going to use the NE rail corridors to get there and may not be able to get through. Dunno.

Later guys.

[howmus]

Afternoon...

Flo just a bottle of Cherribundy for me at the moment.

Ulrich, I learned when i got my Masters degree that one of the best ways to achevieve success in a class is to make sure the person teaching the class knows your name by the end of the first session.....  And not for being a problem student either.. LOL  It also does help the time go by and you learn more at the same time.  I ended up having a 3.94 average for my Masters Degree.  All A's except two classes I got an A- in (both taught by the same professor who was known fro never, ever giving out anything higher than a B....  It also helps to actually take the class seriously and do the work...   I think your good participation in the class is what will set you up for a better than average job as a result!

This news just in from another Museum member:

"…and I learned last night that Shore Line Trolley Museum had part of its operating railroad washed out by the storm surge and high tides. It has only three operable cars with 90 having their traction motors flooded by salt water and mud.

It will take $2.3 million and several years to disassemble and clean each motor."

I am glad we live as far away as we do from where Irene decided to sit for a while.  Much of what has been destroyed forms the watershed for the New York City Water supply.  It will be a while before it can be brought back on line....

I am trying to think who may be up in the affected area from the forums that hasn't yet checked in...

73

[Anonymous]

Good Afternoon,

back from yet another day at the STALAG. Herr Klink turned into a very friendly chap - at least to me. Seems as if he is appreciating my acting as a "pacemaker" for the others, pulling them along. I do this just because I don´t want to sit there, getting bored. It is much better to be active and participate in class - the time goes by much quicker.

The ballast on my new module has finally dried. There are a few spots where I have to scrape surplus ballast off, but that´s about all. OK, I need to shape some Styrofoam, add a few bits and pieces, but it won´t take much effort to finish it. I still have a gift voucher to buy some stuff - I am thinking of getting some typical Japanese skyscrapers to simulate a town - not an easy task on a module only 6 inches deep. And I have to get some N scale figures with an oriental complexion to populate the now empty platforms. That´s going to be $ 7 for a set of 12, I might be going fro three sets.

Sorry - no pictures yet, I am too tired to get my camera out, put up all the lights and take pictures.  I promise to make up, though...

Chloe, a mug of coffee and a slice of that apple pie, please.

As it seems, none of the folks in here got affected by Irene. I have seen some pictures on television which made me shiver.

I hope you are having a great day!

 

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, first thing I need is coffee....  lots and lots of dark roast coffee.  Guess I'll have a short stack of Blueberry Pancakes with some real butter and oodles of maple syrup....  My blood sugar was all of 99 this morning so i can eat  bit more than I usually do.

Looks like it is going to take a long time for Eastern NYS and parts of New England to recover from the effects of Irene.  I do hope all the people who were complaining about all the news hype about the storm (not on here BTW...) will pay attention to the scenes of the damage that happened (and is still happening) due to Irene.  Even a category 1 when it is 400 miles wide can do a tremendous amount of damage just from the water it leaves behind.  I remember living where Agnes caused so much damage.  The following is an excerpt from an email I received from a member of the R&GV RR Museum this morning.  The video is up as an "online Extra" from the Rochester Time Warner Cable.....

"Take a look at this video just released from the (NYS) Governor's office. In the first few moments, you can see the CSX bridge that goes from the Main at Hoffmans to the old West Shore and the lead into Selkirk Yard.
 
http://capitalregion.ynn.com/content/top_stories/555284/online-extra----aerial-video-of-the-mohawk-river-and-schoharie-creek/

This is video shows where the Schoharie empties into the Mohawk River draining a large area of the Catskills where hurricane Irene ‘parked’ . Also up stream from the Mohawk –to the south-the D&H is washed out at Central Bridge by Schoharie Creek  Map   The roaring creek also just took out the Blenheim Bridge, one of the longest and oldest single span covered bridges in the world on August 27th 2011.

So now we know why CSX isn’t running east of Utica!!!"

It is amazing that the death toll is only at 38 (for the moment at least).  Many very historic railroad bridges, some 100 year old + New England Covered Bridges and so much more were lost forever.  If you haven't seen these photos, they are only the tip of the iceberg:

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2011/08/us/hires.hurricane.irene/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

My prayers go out to all who have lost so much in this storm!

73

 

[Curt Webb]

Morning All,

At w**k today but at a post that I can use my computer. I may get a chance to do some ballasting this weekend. We were supposed to do the kitchen back splash but now MOH may have to work Sat and Sun but she is not sure about that yet. I don't dare do the back splash on my own because since it is in the kitchen she has to be there so I don't mess up. I ballasted a short freight siding before going into work yesterday. It went smoothly and I like the looks of it.

Jeff- Those locos and car look pretty darn good. Look forward to seeing the building you are working on. 

Lee- Thanks for the info. You have convinced me.

Everybody have a good day.

[gear-jammer]

Good morning, Chloe.  Just a black coffee today.  I am heading in for a swim at the pool before work.

We worked on the staging yard.  Most of the track is down.  We still have to fill in the ties at the joiners, but it is moving forward.  We have a good start on the backdrop with just a few custom buildings needed to complete it.

Later,  Sue

[cudaken]

 Morning Folks

 Flo, Diet Dew please.

 Jim Might check into having the mower repaired first. Lot of the engines have pretty much stayed the same design for years. In the long run I would have rather spent $300.00 on getting my 16 year old mower up and running than spend $300.00 on the Plastic Lawnmower I have now.

 Blow Out It would a peer the store was closed for lunch, I never closed up for lunch much less for 45 minutes plus. Now that I know who is running the store, I have a better idea why I got the ax. Dean is a child hood friend of Ben, my boss. Dean was caught leaving early and sleeping at work. Barry gave him 5 days with out pay, cut his wages from $600.00 to $500.00 a week (must be nice to be Ben's friend) and took his store away from him. Dean was not doing anything after that sales wise. I think I got tossed out so Dean could have a store again. 

 Daytona Well I pretty much knew my self Jeffery the motor was junk. But had to give it one last try. It is amazing I nursed that car as far as I did. Most people would have junked it 100,000 miles ago. Even if I got the car home and pulled the head as many time as that car got hot the deck of the block is more than likely is wrapped.

 Well, so far I am feeling pretty good today, need to do some grass cutting.

                     Ken

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 72 and sunny. The high is forecast to be 102. It will remain sunny and hot.

This morning I'll most likely be mowing my parents yard. Once that's out of the way I'll be able to get back to the model of the Sunrise Feed Mill. I got the walls painted last night and it looks like weathered rough paint. That's the effect I was after. I want it to look like it hasn't seen a paint brush in years. That's just what the old wood buildings along the tracks in Leesville look like. Today I'll mask off the walls so I can paint the windows, doors and foundation. For the roof I have a color called 'Cooled Lava' that looks like a weathered black.

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Somebody say Ziva? Coffee please and some sourdough toast please with some kind of Canadian jam. Haven’t had any and it’s about time to leave.

Day 2 and all is well. A bit shakey, but pretty good.

Pictures for the Church Directory were last night. You get one free 8X10 from the photographer PLUS the honor of being able to pick other shots and packages that they are sure you would enjoy  . I think she realized where she stood with me when she showed a grouping my precious loving bride liked. It was an 8X10 and 2 5X7’s behind a piece of cardboard. When she said…$185.00 plus tax and shipping, I turned slowly to her and said….”You have GOT to be kidding.” Brenda said “well forget that. We’ll just take the free one.” The lady said “wait.... I’m not done” I said “unless you can come waaaay down, like $120 down, you ARE done.” She said “THAT was in canvas.” In paper, it’s (scratch scratch look at piece of paper with prices, scratch) $95.00. I blink and said “really. That’s….$5 more than if I bought the three pictures separate.” Still cost me just shy of $38 for a fist full of proofs that su…...weren’t that good anyway.

Today is my “Full day of w**k” as I like to say. So, gimme a couple hours and I’ll be on my way.

Ahhh the retired life. Come and go as I please as long as I have the time, do what I want as long as there’s nothing else to do, not a care in the world. Looks good on paper don't it..

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[LSWrr]

Good Morning All,

L&N and Curt, like I mentioned you really need to fit the pieces before you glue it and you should be fine.  The bridge rides on ball bearing rollers that need oiled before you set the bridge in place.  All the pieces are clear acrylic like a kitchen cutting board so you’ll need an appropriate adhesive, I wouldn’t use super glue the material is too slick and the super glues rolls off and makes a huge mess.  I used Plastistruct glue, tenex seemed to evaporate too quick for me.  Take a look at my pictures; it’s a done in a day project if everyone leaves you alone.

 http://rides.webshots.com/album/555640878mbrPPS?vhost=rides

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning.

Having clear skies right now...going to be sunny and a high of 76F later on. Then we will be back into the stick and mug by tomorrow....

Had not been on for the last few days...my weekend on-call was literally that..I was on the road for most of it!! I've got some reading I see from you lot this morning...

Ken: So I noticed that the fellow who took over your store got the store closed? Was that for that day? I love it when they hire someone else and that person mucks it up...and he was supposed to be a friend? OY....

Ray: Since our little experiment with the perennial gardens took ff so well my lawn cutting has been cut by 60%...as the garden has started to grow a bit more...

Flo, I'll have a coffee for now please...I'll be at the RC for a bit...got to catch up on what happened while I was gone....

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

Today is TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2011!!!

Enjoy it while it lasts, tomorrow could be far worse!!!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Today I took the time to put the Sunrise Feed Mill kit together. This evening I put the first coat of paint on the walls. A thin coat so the underlying gray weathered wood color shows through. I then dry-brushed on an overcoat that makes the coloring more uniform but still somewhat rough like the building hasn't had a coat of paint applied to it in years. Tomorrow I may get started on masking off the walls and doing the doors and windows in a different color. Most of the details are molded on so I had no choice but to paint over them. It's water based paint so it shouldn't dry thick like enamel has a nasty habit of doing.

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

I'll just have a cup of decaf tonight Janie.

Mowed half the lawn (man, is it growing fast...), put up a piece of aluminum flashing (siding) THAT fell off on the porch a year ago (been meaning to reinstall it ever since....), moved some stuff off the porch, read the paper, starred at the computer screen, and yawned a lot today.

Mowers....  One of the things my sister was not happy about last night was THAT her one year old mower died again....  Remember I just got it fixed for her.  I think it is dirt in the gas can she is filling it with.....  Or maybe one of those throw away models some have mentioned.  She is also not happy about the new one as her old Toro lasted 24 years!  This one is a Troy Built which has some excellent professional reviews (meaning the company pays reviewers well....).

I have now heard from about half the people I have invited over for a cookout this Saturday......  Would be nice to know how much food to buy.

Bama, Eggplant Parmigiana....  Yum!  My late wife used to make it.  Wonderful!

Well..... (Deep Subject!) it is getting almost to bedtime here.  i will see you all tomorrow (except for Ulrich who is already there. )

73

[BamaCSX83]

Evening all!  Just stopping in after watching some NCIS and playing with my girls.  They are both in bed now and I won't be too far behind them.  Haven't done a thing today as I was off from w**k, the most extensive thing that I did was go to Wally World with the wife and pick up a few needed items (mostly stuff so that she can make eggplant parmigiana at some point this week).  Other than that I've done a whole lot of nothing (took a few naps today too, apparently I needed to catch up on my sleep).  Well (still dropping), I think I'm going to check out a few other things before I head off. 

Later taters!

[GMTRacing]

James - good to see you back. I agree on the mowers and maintainence in general. Maintainence is not fixing it once it's broken.

  NCIS, CSI, NYPD and before all that Miami Vice or MASH - it's just too easy to be sucked in by the one eyed hypnotist.

   Interesting day in the shop today. Still no power so we were reduced to assembling cars by flashlight. We did end up getting a couple of halogen work light sets and that was much better. Between the hurricane and the power outage we ended up calling a couple of the clients to inform them their cars would not be ready until the weekend and the Tuesday test was a non starter. Still have three trailer fulls loaded and ready but we just ran out of time. Still need to run gears for a car on the gearing program so I'm gonna scoot for now.  CUL, J.R.

[james saunders]

Hey Jim, Mowers have become a throw away item here in Oz, most people just go buy the $150 cheap thing from Bunnings (Like Lowes or Home Depot) and then get 12 months use and throw it as soon as it needs fixing.  

My old man is like this. I can't seem to get him to understand that spending $500 on a mower every 10 years is better than spending $150 every 12-18 months. The cricket club i'm the secretary for has a HONDA mower thats 12 years old thats never skipped a beat.

 

I think I might go buy all seasons of NCIS on DVD now.