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….
BM1 Lee Soule USCG (ret) L.S.&W Railroad Serving the Lower Great Lakes
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.
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
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Morning all from SunnyCal--supposed to hit 95 here in the Valley today, so it'll probably top out around 102, LOL!
Had our Faculty Retreat yesterday at Jesuit--it's really just a kind of Social Hour extended to the whole day, to get re-acquainted with each other, catch up and find out what the goals are for the year (keep the kiddies Smart, LOL!) and hash out schedules. We've got a new President this year, he's a Jesuit Priest in his mid-forties, comes to us from the New York Province and seems like a heck of a nice guy.
I got three choirs to accompany this year, Men's Chorus, Concert Choir and Liturgy Workshop. I also got a RAISE! Yah, the Economy's Tanking and they're paying me more moneyj. Go figure. And since they don't have to pay me Medical, due to the coverage I got when I retired from St. Francis High School, they're very happy campers. So am I. My schedule is Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and the occasional Fridays when we have a School Liturgy. I've got today off, since it's Orientation day for the Frosh, Sophomores and Juniors and I don't have to Proctor anything. I'll go in tomorrow to do some Preps with the two choral directors, and then we're off with the usual Bang on Thursday. Should be a good year.
Spent yesterday evening finishing up the Engine Terminal and ballasting the staging yard. The staging yard went pretty quick--I'll fill in the landscaping today. And yes, all of the turnouts still WORK, thank God. Hopefully I'll be back to running trains by the weekend. That poor passenger train is still stuck on the Eastbound. I hope they haven't starved to death by now, LOL!
Ken: I'm really sorry to hear about the job, especially after those two big sales you had the other day. I sure hope you find something else quick. Are there any mechanic's jobs open at any of the garages in your area? With your knack for cars, it might be just the perfect place to work while you look for something else.
Rob: I hope your FIL is improving. Sepsis is NOT FUN. Ask me. And BTW, one can stay off dialysis and get along quite well with only about 35% kidney function if they're very careful. That's what I've got right now, and as long as I watch my diet carefully--especially the Potassium levels-- I'm just fine. Prayers for him.
Well, time to hie myself out to the garage and get as much done as I can before the heat settles in. I've got this great idea about connecting the passenger station to the 'off-set' town of Deer Creek via one of those neat Rix concrete overpasses over the freight yard. Right now, there's no way to get TO the passenger station (yah, plan AHEAD, Dork-Brain! ).
Best to all, prayerjs to those in need.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Mornin' everyone!
Zoe, I'll have the #2 Special, over easy on the eggs... What? Oh I for5got we're still in Canada.... OK, Scrambled eggs, bacon, home fries, and a double order of sourdough toast. What, yes the blood sugar was down to 90 this morning so I'm trying to get it back up where used to be...... (NOT)
Been enjoying many of the posts this morning..... Laughing a bit too.
Last night my right hearing aid stopped working. Thought it was probably the battery, so I replaced it. Nope, still nothing, Tried the old turn it on and off a few times to see if it would come back on..... Nope. pulled the battery drawer out and slid it back in a dozen times hoping it was just dirt on a contact. Nope! Went to bed not a happy camper. This set of hearing aids are now getting too old to get repaired (the new ones are sooooo much better, they say, and they don't have the parts for the antiques still in stock... etc.). I am about 2 years away from having the cash to spend $8,000 or so for a new set. I have to put a new roff on the hgouse first and THAT is going to set me back 8 grand. I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE OUT ANY M ORE DF.... LOANS!!! Anyway, this morning I got the hearing aid back w*rking for the time being... Crisis over!
Got a phone call last night from the grandson of a MRR friend. He wants to do the Railroading MB. I told him with his experience out at the museum, I figure we can do it in one meeting. He has been helping his grandfather for the last few years out at the museum and has a lot of experience around the rails. The kid only has his Eagle Project and one more required merit badge for his Eagle. He is 14 so he is hoping to have his Eagle Palms before he is done!
Ulrich, hope the management position w*rks out for you. Sounds like an excellent match for your experience!
Later!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Hello Fellow Dinners
Flo, Diet Dew please.
Well, there might be a job. We will see, just got of the phone with Sues friend named Ronda. Seems her husband is a manger for for a plastic company that makes air plane parts. He told Ronda he can get me on!
Well, that would work for me! Starting wage is between $14 and $15 a hour, good benefits and not a lot of standing. Will find out more after Jim (Ronda's husband) gets off tonight. Keeping my fingers cross.
Well, going to run some trains for awhile.
Ken
I hate Rust
Ken - I am keeping my fingers crossed for that new job! Sounds, as if there are a few more $$$ involved in it as well. Whenever there is a window thrown shut, another one opens...
Blessings and prayers for all in need!
Afternoon All,
Not much happening here. It appears that hurricane Irene has moved further east but in a couple of days that can change significantly. I actually called off from work today. Last night I really started feeling bad, I'm feeling better now but I am still not 100%.
Chris- I would rather deal with the hurricanes. I have probably been through 10 of them. Tornadoes scare the hell out of me....no warning, and unlike Tornadoes most deaths could be avoided as there are no surprise hurricanes. Staffing is usually on shift and off going shift weathering over and any other personnel that are needed.
Todd- I think I know what you meant. When I start work at 1600 I always am judging what I can do before I leave.
Everyone have a good day.
Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j372/curtwbb/
This morning I worked on an old AHM/Rivarossi U25C and got it running fairly well. It still has the original motor so converting it to DCC is out of the question. It's one of those 'something to do' projects that I keep around.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Gooooooooooooooooooooooood Afternoon,
Well (clear full after the multiple T-storms this morning), looks like the fan in the yard did the trick: hurricane is moving away from CURT...but now it looks like the Carolina region is in for it!
Speaking of CURT: I'll stick with the twisters...thanks. Something about better odds of coming through un-scathed, i.e.: a one or two mile wide damage path (at worst) vs. hundreds of miles wide damage paths. More often, the damage path isn't more than a few hundred yards in width. Even as pounded as Joplin, MO is/was...there were still some parts of the city the twister missed. Not many in the path of Katrina can say THAT. Warnings are pretty good on the twsties, at least around here. We go out and watch for 'em, Ham radio is out looking for them, and the weather geeks are doing dances on the TV during their "wall to wall" coverage if there's even the slightest chance of one dropping out of the sky. If someone truly has no warning about a twister, they probably have zero situational awareness going on. THAT or it dropped out the sky right above them! The only advantage I see to dealing with hurricanes, is yeah...you can pack up and go be somewhere else long before it arrives. It's a little hard to do THAT with twisters.Here's hoping she keeps moving away from you, and also hoping she turns even farther back out to sea. I've got family who went through Katrina...wouldn't wish it on anybody.
W**k front: Playing the waiting game again today, waiting for Hy-Vee Food Stores corporate muckety mucks or their media relations clowns to get back to me about a possible new store in North Liberty. Also waiting for Johnson County and VJ Engineering to get their story straight about the project to rebuild the historic and flood damaged bridge at Sutliff. Tomorrow I get to talk EMS with NLFD's former EMS Lt. With the state of Iowa adopting new EMS certification levels, I think there may be a story for the general population about the transition classes their volunteers will have to endure, or be dropped to the next lowest level. I've got the first high school volleyball match of the season on Thursday evening, and Friday is Week One of the nine-week varsity football season...Friday Night Under the Lights! Yea Baby.
So, which is NOT a needle pulling thread in this case, I can either spend today doing further battle with a 100+ year old door needing major restoration; or I can continue w**k on the entryway/utility room to make it look less crappy, or I can replace the hardware on an entry door to match another replacement I did yesterday, or I can sit in the sun with Rerun as we w**k on our tans, or do some choo-choo stuff.
I might "look" at the 100+ year old door. I'd just replace it, but it's a very non-standard dimension: 89-1/4" tall, 36" wide. Even the custom doors through Menard's only go to 80"... Somedays, I wonder why the wife and I bought this place...
Of course, about the time I get elbows deep in any of these endeavors...the phone will ring with Hy-Vee on the other end, or VJ Engineering, or some other yahoo needing me.
Have a safe day, hope you Easterners rode-out the big shake OK...
Chris
The Cedar cRapids Industrial Branch: Proudly Shipping Yesterday's CrunchBerries Tomorrow!
Afternoon all.
Just a quick stop in before w**k. Maybe I'll have time to catch up on posts later.
Felt that earthquake a little over an hour ago all the way up here in Central Jersey. Was sitting in the chair, and all the sudden, the chair started moving across the room! Took me a minute to figure out what was going on- at first, I thought a ghost was pushing the chair around!
Did anyone else feel it?
Well (water still splashing back and forth from the earthquake), THAT time is approaching. Time to go.
Catch ya later,
-Joe
After starting from a dead stop, NS 32A works hard to get moving again while crossing over at CP BOUND BROOK.
My Model Railroad: Tri State RailMy Photos on Flickr: FlickrMy Videos on Youtube: YoutubeMy Photos on RRPA: RR Picture Archives
Felt quake here in Southern Ontario, lasted about 15 seconds here.
Hmm - Must have slept through it. Nice shots you're posting lately Joe.
I felt the the quake here in central PA. I was sitting in my truck and it felt like a high wind was blowing it around. But there wasn't any wind. Hope our diner patrons closer to the epicenter are all okay.
Attaboy I felt the the quake here in central PA. I was sitting in my truck and it felt like a high wind was blowing it around. But there wasn't any wind. Hope our diner patrons closer to the epicenter are all okay.
I felt it too, but didn't realize it was an earthquake. Felt like a big truck going down the street. If fact I looked up from the computer to see what was making the rumble, and didn't see anything so i figured it had turned the other way at the tee on my street. Found out we had an earthquake when I got back on the computer when I got home from the dentist office.
Actually we have a lot of earthquakes on the east coast. In the Niagara Escarpment in NYS they happen almost every day. They are so small in magnitude we rarely feel them. Those we do are just a little jiggle usually. I have felt a couple that did wake you up out of a sleep though right here in Geneva. Worst one was back when I was a college student in Rochester walking down East Ave. and the earth really shook for a few seconds.
You guys felt it when I tripped and fell down? Boy I need to go on a diet.
Flo, is on me for the dinner tonight! Why you ask? I don't like to drink alone!
No, no news yet about the possible job, and I am not holding my breath. Ronda is a bit of a flake
Model RR question. What sizes Diamond do I need to make 4 number turnouts form a X? Did some more switching today and decide I need a few more runarounds. I am starting to like switching more and more.
Giving the old Y6 b a workout tonight, doing a 40 car coal drag. Still pulls like a bear, got to love the Loksound 3.5 decoder.
See you all later.
I am just paying the Bar Tap, OK!
Ken,
IIRC it's the 12 1/2 deg crossover with the Atlas #4's. A better idea if you have the length is to use two of the turnouts back to back and then just go across to the other two so you make sort of a DI pattern. Still describes an S curve but it's easier on the equipment. My stupid crossover always derailed the trains. J.R.
Good Evening
We had sun all day today..now i am a lobster....oooch.
Ken: I have two crossovers...both at 12 1/2 degrees...they make so much more sense than the dang things I used, which were toastie...
Chloe, I'll just have a coffee and a slice of that lemon meringue pie please....I'll be over at the RC...
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
Evening All,
Spent most the afternoon napping and I am feeling better but still a little tired. Based on this I acomplished nothing today but that is OK. I go back to w**k tomorrow for 16 hours. If I feel up to it Thursday I'm going to participate in the dept MDA boot drive.
Jeff- I meant to tell you that you did a good job on the hand rails.
Simon- That barn and tree are fabulous. I swear that tree looks real.
Everyone have a good night.
Ken: Check your PM's.
Well, I've gone and done it.
Or started it anyway.
For awhile I've been saying I think I have to take down the layout. SO today, after cleaning out some schtuff to the curb and giving more schtuff away, I had cleaned out a whole bunch of plastic shoe boxes. SO I started packing the layout in them.
Buildings and structures and RR cars that I couldn't immediately find the boxes for and etc. all went into plastic shoe boxes and sitting on shelves in there.
All that is left is the trackage.
I have a tool box cabinet that had more MRR stuff in it than tools, so I took out everything MRR {ecept teh MRR tools} and packed it away so I could put my tools in the toolb ox cabinet drawers.
Of course, at the time I was doing this packing away of the layout, the earthquake hit the east coast. Do you think it's a sign I shouldn't be taking down the layout???
main reason is so the room is cleaned out of schtuff because the furnace must be replaced no parts for it anywhere anymore. ANd they MAY have to tear apart the walls that box in the old one to get it out or get the new one to fit in. I am hoping beyond hope NOT, but...never can tell with a trailer.
Then we can put more schtuff in there later!
Still will have a healthy load for the trash collectors next Tuesday morning when i get into that closet. Then when I clean out the rubbermaid bins in there, I will {i think if they fit} fil those with the see through shoeboxes.
I have out a few of my favorite pieces to run under the CHristmas Tree already still up in the LR. SO I won't be trainless.
Big thanks t the Canadians for hosting the diner as it passes through the prairie provinces. ! Do any of you have photos of the old steam locomotive/
Curt ... Your layout looks great.
Joe ... I like your railfanning pictures.
Ray .... I'm glad your H A worked in the morning. Also good to hear about sciut activity.
James Downunder ... A late happy b'day to you!
Lee .. I while back you asked if I had a brewery. One of the buildings in my boot factory is a European kit for a brewery, but I call it the tannery for making shoe leather.
Bob (Seamonster) ... I think you're the one with nice remarks about my HO layout a few days ago, but I could not find the post again. Anyhow, thanks. It's HO
Rob ... Hope you Dad is improving.
I did some more track work on the layout today. I made my own earthquake in the process.
A birthday is coming up in two days. My mother will be 92. So, I'll be leaving for Alabama tomorrow. I'm gald to say, my Mom is doing much better after all her problems a few months ago.
There are several MIA diners. Who wants to track some of them down?
Happy Model Railroading
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
I had no internet connection this morning, so I missed your giant cinnamon rolls, Chloe. How about a RBF for the evening?
Rob, Hope your dad starts feeling better.
Curt, You have been working hard with that camera. Thanks for sharing.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
Good Evening All,
Obsessed about the turnouts some more this evening. Ran track between them and have left it all with caulk to hold the track in place and my collection of large heavy objects on the rail between the turnouts which will "float". Soldered all the joiners in place and reattached the entry to the points on one recycled turnout. Oh, and watched the tail end of NCIS. Don't want the directors job - too dangerous jockeying that desk around.
Time to get some shuteye as tomorrow promises to be another frantic day in the shop. Weeks worth of projects and just over a week to get them done. BTK, J.R.
Good Evening,
A hot one here today, we actually hit 100F!
I took my wife out for lunch today for her birthday. It is really tomorrow but the weather today was better for eating on the patio at the place where we like to go to eat on a patio. It's in back of an old mansion and is right on the Assiniboine River. Had a nice time and a nice lunch.
Well my replacement U2g arrived today but haven't yet tried it out.
Garry, If you want to see pictures of old No.3 you'll have to google Prairie Dog Central. It is a 4-4-0 that was built in Scotland for the CPR. It doesn't look British at all as it was to CP's design. Anyway I hear that we have a new loco about to take over at the Alberta/ Saskatchewan border. It is a CN Mountain class built in 1944, affectionately known as Bullet Nose Betty. Anyway she is run by the Rocky Mountain Rail Society and will certainly get us to the Rockies, lickety split. Hope the bearings are good on the diner as we could easily hit 90 behind Betty. If you want to see a picture of her just google CNR 6060.
Oh and by the way the diner is serving nothing but Tim Horton's coffee for the remainder of the trip, free. Hope you like it. There is a rumour up here though that they put something in it to get you addicted. You'd believe it if you saw the lineups in the morning here at all their outlets which are many indeed.
Chris, we had the same problem with exterior doors on our house and it was built in 1960. Anyway they are all 82". You can't get them at your Home Depot or any big box lumber store. You need to find a specialty custom door outfit. There is one here in Winnipeg called Yarrow and they build custom doors to any size you want, for a price which we found out was a high price. Nice doors though. They ship all over North America.
Getting time to head to the land of nod so Good Night.
CN Charlie
Chamomile tea, please.
Dad has slightly improved. Cardiologist is checking him out as it seems there has been heart damage from this episode. Time will tell.
After picking up a new capacitor for the well the other day, it worked briefly and then the breaker in the house popped. Tomorrow the well man will be out. He's been busy for 2 days from that storm. This could get expensive.
All for now. Rob
Evening (Morning) all.
Decent night at w**k. I say decent because I was constantly busy, so I can't say that I was bored at any point in time. Tables kept flowing in, but it wasn't like last night where everything hit at once. Busy, but not in a stressful kind of way. The downside is that I did relatively bad. I made $69, plus $18 in the jar, totaling $87. $69 from total sales of $499 is a little under 14%, which is my worst night on record. I usually average at least 20%, often more.The bright side is THAT I'm off tomorrow.
Before w**k today, I had to go to Sears to get a new battery for my mom's car. Cost $107. Maybe it's just me, but IMHO, you are being completely robbed. Luckily, I'm getting reimbursed for it...While I was at the mall, I did a little shopping for myself. I was short on time, so I only spent a few minutes in Pacsun, but I got a nice pair of shorts for half price, so I was happy.
JR and Garry, thanks for the comments on the pictures! This set is from a trip to Bound Brook, NJ, last Tuesday, with a friend from another forum. From the station platforms, you can see New Jersey Transit's Raritan Valley Line, Norfolk Southern's Lehigh Line, and CSX's Trenton Line (the latter two make up the Conrail Shared Assets Lehigh Line), all within a hundred feet of each other. Probably the best railfanning spot in the state, if you ignore the fact that there are always younger railfans running around foaming at each and every train...
At the risk of sounding like I'm bragging (believe me when I say that I'm not), I honestly say that, especially in the past year or so, my photography skills have increased exponentially. The next step is getting a better camera, which would be nice if that could happen within the next year, give or take.
Ken, sorry to hear about the old job. Hopefully this one (or any that come your way, for that matter) w**ks out for you.
Galaxy, you better put THAT layout back up if you have any hopes of stopping Hurricane Irene!
Rob, your dad is still in our prayers. Hopefully he continues on the track to recovery.
Well, it's getting late. Or, is it getting early...?
The golden evening sunlight reflects off the side of NS CW40-9 9295 and UP SD70M 3959 as they continue to bring NS train 32A back up to speed on its way toward Oak Island Yard.
What? No wetidlerjr????
Well:
GOOD MORNING!!!
TODAY is WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2011!!!
It may come but once,
and never again to behold,
SO enjoy today and make it memorable
before we mark it "sold"!!!
Also, If I disappear for awhile it is because I am computer-less.
I got what I thought was the "blue screen of death" this morning when I turned it on. But I read it and it said "if you are reading this windows did not start correctly. Please turn off your computer and restart".
So I did, and got a black screen that wanted me to select a format. I chose the "start windows normally" button just to see. It came up.
BUT the old girl {computer that is} MAY have to go in for a tune up!
So if I disappear for a few days that is because I have taken it in for servicing. It DOES need a new fan as the old one is cantankerous and makes noises once in awhile like it's grinding rocks. I don't trust myself not to fry something if i open it up to fiddle with changing it myself.
SO,,,just hought I'd let you know!!!