ELLIOT'S TRACKSIDE DINER - AUGUST, 2011

[blownout cylinder]

Good Afternoon...

Well(not too wet)...it got to be a dribbly monsoony kind of afternoon here...

Last nights storm did do us an interesting thing...I found the back stairwell had a 2" puddle of water at the base of it...of course there is a window..not very well sealed there..and, of corse the wind brought the rain right to that side of the house...

Oh Frabjious Joy    

So, having found this wonderful piece of news out we ended up wet/drying the floor up and placing a couple of fans there to dry the air out a bit..which led to more fun and games...trying to place fans in an enclosed area to deal with this is no fun...

Anyway..off to Home Desperate to pick up some caulk to do a temporary seal on the dang window...

And, as Chris, so elegantly put it..hope everyone gets to do stuff without certain nasties coming around to throw stuff at you...

[gear-jammer]

I stopped by for a RBF. 

Lee,  Sounds like you shouldn't have a leak.  I always blame vents.

Rob,  That doesn't sound like very long.  At least we don't have much lightning.

Off to mow the lawn.

Sue

[cudaken]

 Evening Fellow Dinners

 Flo, a beer please.

 Lee I just did a quick peek at the link you posted. First thank you! Second did you see the software I was asking about? I might have missed it.

 Just go figure the printer died! Just when I need it to print stuff! Sue wore it out printing $5.00 gift cards from Kohl s department store for things (well I) do not need. Paper will not load, will pull it apart later but I cannot see anything stuck in the paper shut. (never did like the thing anyway)

 Illinois Department of unemployment. If you are Caring, Intelligent, Problem Solver, and Fast! This is not the job for you!  Hum, I fit right in! Well I filed today so it is official, I am now part of the unemployed figures! There where only 3 people in front of me, so it only took 2 hours to file? 

 Illinois Human Services (food stamps) See above! Sue has been calling on and off for 2 days now. No one will answer the phone! I called and used the speaker phone and let it ring for a hour, no one picked up! Drove there today (35 mile round trip) filled out some paper work, and now have to go back Friday between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM. What can you say, yes we need the help and gas is so cheap here at $3.70 a gallon. 

 Jeffery I may have a box. Funny how the small stuff slows me down.   

 Bank Of Stupid They called today want to help me refinance, where were they 3 weeks ago?

 Rob Keep us posted on your dad.

 Galaxy Good luck on the Bank Of Dad and the furnaces.

 See you all later.

                  Ken

        Ken

[JeremyB]

well I got the tree cleaned up this morning, went quick I was able to get it cut up and taken to the yard waste dump before 10am. Then I went and took the wood to my parents house for there fireplace. Im still lucky it didn't pull the power lines off the house. Still the tree really needs to be trimmed back. There is still a big branch hanging over the house which I dont really like the look of, only good thing is its not as big as the one that came down yesterday. I can only imagine how much it cost to get a 40ft maple tree trimmed. Nice cool breeze blowing now, have the windows open but every time a big gust comes up I get a little nervous,lol

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

Only was able to do 2 hours on the boot drive today. Feeder Rain Bands kept pushing through and everyone was soaked. The dept. has collected around $6000 so far for MDA. Came home and did a quick home cleaning, then put together a test track for ballasting so I can do test runs tomorrow. I also ran all my diesels through the layout and made a couple of minor fixes so I am satisfied with the diesels. Tomorrow I will run all my steam through and hopefully I will be ready for ballasting.

Everybody have a good night. 

[twhite]

Afternoon all (or evening, depending on your time zone) from SunnyCal. 

First day of school--it was only a half-day, but I got the surprise of my life when I checked in with our two choral directors--seems we have something like about 180 students signed up for the various choirs--that's over TEN PERCENT of the Student Body!   We must be doing something right, but our Beginning Choir this year is 84 kids--two periods of over 40 students.  Whew! 

So, I looked at my schedule for the year.  Remember, I was only going to work 3 days a week?  I DON'T THINK SO, LOL!    The two Choir directors and myself are going to be busier than one-armed paperhangers this year.   Here's the breakdown, in case you're interested.

Period 1: Section 1 of Concert Choir (27 students)

Period 2: Liturgy Workshop Choir (26 students)

Period 3:  Prep period for me, AP Music Theory for Leah and Julian.

Period 4: Section 1 of Men's Chorus (48 students)

Period 5: Section 2 of Men's Chorus (40 students)

Period 6: Section 2 of Concert Choir (28 students). 

Now, before you start thinking "So what's the Big Deal?"  Remember, this is a Private school and generally classes are small--between 15 and 20 students per period.   So, compared to public school, the numbers may not seem like much--but for us, it's just short of a Flash Mob scene, LOL!  

Well, got the Engine Terminal pretty much finished yesterday--still got to do some detail work on it, but by and large it's done.  Here's a couple of shots of it:

An overview:

And a little closer in.  Can't get too close with the camera, I still haven't figured out the focus thingie on it.

The weekend project is to finish up the staging yard.  Then I'm done for a while and can run some trains.  Oh yah--the Engine Yard DOES work, thank God!

Best to all, prayers to those in need.

Tom

[JimRCGMO]

Good Evening, Chloe - I'll have a hot fudge sundae and a Rio Grande mug of coffee, please. Thankyouverymuch, Ma'am!

Catching up from the 12 or so pages of posts since I was last in here - or is it 15 by now? (Groannnn...)

First off, for your father, Rob. Hope by the time I get through the posts, that you'll have told the rest of the Diners that he's out of the woods.

Ray, my bad - I'm not anybody's expert (or even close) on the finer points of diesels, unless the CAW uses it. Thanks for clarifying and identifying those small-but-mighty critters for me.

And let me get back to you, JR, on that diesel addition there...

Rob, sorry for misnaming the origin of your wife's hospital building. Guess I'd always thought the IRS On Fire kit had kinda falling-apart walls, from some pictures I'd seen of it. Hope you get your energy back and healed up. All you Diners in the Southeast better watch the weather this coming weekend, with (hurricane) Irene looking to pay your coastline a visit. That, or stock up for your hurricane party...

Curt, if that's the same part of your layout that I recall you laying out the track for, only a few months back - man, you have made a LOT of progress! Even if it's another (further along) part of your layout, still looks great! Great job on your Tyco tower - ya wouldn't guess it started from that kit!

Jeff, your paint shop must have added more staff, they're turning out the new paint jobs so quickly!

Sue, I'm not sure, buy my (MDC) 2-truck Shay may have that same gearing. I had the local MRR club's electronics guru install a DCC decoder in mine, and if memory serves me right, he put in the regearing and maybe a new motor in it as well. Cost a bit, but better to have someone who I know knows his stuff doing it than me (leastwise, when it comes to electrical/motors stuff). I always like your layout photos, and love the video, too. About the logging bunkhouses, I picked up some (through LHS owner, who I think had them on consignment) that I think are resin cast (maybe solid), about half the length (I'd guess) of those in your video. They look like they have been out in the deep woods many, many times...(thanks to whoever got them originally and weathered them).

Barry, that little (yellow & green) critter you posted a photo of, must take the cake for smallest (diesel?) pictured lately here. (Isty bitsy teeney-tiny....) On that fire engine photo, I think somebody's gonna have a LOT of explaining to do...major there!

Ulrich - nice station there (and likely to look even better once you get it all finished up)! Of course, once you land that security job, that may cut into your train time, y'know. (But the additional MRR income may offset that some, hopefully)

Hi, Deranged Santa - oh, it's you, Bridge Tom! Had you posted any pics of the new growth, so to speak? Oh, thanks for reminding me about needing to have some spilled sand under where my sanding tower will go. Important detail there! (Like what you've done on the terminal so far; looking forward to the rest of the progress)

Attaboy, congrats on the 'eviction' (and just in case, you do have the house insurance paid up, right?...). Well, it sounds like maybe she has other things to tend to for now.

OzJim - a belated 

to ya, mate! And try not to delay your "What's in, what's out" choices too long (don't ask me how I know...). Use our other Diners' rule of thumb - if you haven't used it for quite a while (talking in terms of years, not months), it probably can go. If the furniture is in better condition than what you have (and you don't have a likely buyer wanting to buy it), swap out, and your old stuff can go. Some places around here, people will leave their excess good (or even mediocre) stuff at the curb, and it's surprising how quickly that old stuff can disappear!

Well (dry around here, unlike some folks' will be to the east of us in a day or two...), my laptop's battery is about to die, and it appears the little card inside where the power adapter connects has gone south on me. Luckily, I have another laptop (on which I have problems with the display being blank) where I can charge up the battery (and another, older one), so I'll put both batteries in it tomorrow. Time for me to go for now, though.

Prayers for those in need of a good high pressure from the west (that'd be Rob, Bama, and others to the Southeast from me), those in need of rain (those Southwest from me), and all the other points of the compass.

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape G.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good evening! ... Good to see everybody.

I'm in Alabama where today my mother had her 92nd birthday. It was a great day!

Not much computer time though.

HAppy Model Railroading!

 

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang: Well we are still in the triple digets for aour temperatures. I guess it was 105f today. We have gotten some rain. Just a trace here but a good little shower about 5 miles east. Other then that there isn't much to talk about. I haven't been doing any MRRing. I just can't get up the energy to start anything, maybe tomorrow. I did get some more of the silt out of the stock pond. Of course I used the big tractor with the air conditioned cab.

Well It's my bed time.

My best to everyone.

[BamaCSX83]

Evening all.  Just stopping in for a RBF and to check up on things before i go check my eyelids for leaks. 

Thanks to all whom made comments on the SD40-2, it was a definite fun couple of hours, especially since it helps me refine the task of weathering everything I have.  I know that I will have to repaint and renumber my SD40-2 to match closer to CSX current locomotives (actual engine is a nose-mounted headlight with ratchet-style handbrake of SCL lineage), my model more closely represents SD40-2s that were acquired from Conrail and/or L&N.  Oh well, its those things that I find and enjoy about this hobby.  And of course, we all know that practice makes perfect!

My CW40-8 is going to be the next one to get "grungy" as I've already compiled several good pictures of the actual engine so I'll be using them to make her a little dirty too!

Well, guess I'm going to head off and get some zzz's, w**k comes at 9am tomorrow, so I know I need to be up for that.

[AmanaMedic]

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooood Evenin',

JIM! Hey, good to see ya again Pally!

TOM (in Kali-For-Nee-Ah): Nice lookin' coal tower you've got there...looks kinda familiar to me. Let me think for a minute. I know I've seen THAT somewhere before... Wait! *snaps fingers* Yes! Of course!

Photo by Chris Umscheid, Boone, Iowa, March 1991

I'd best just grab a bucket of coffee to-go, gotta sort and process volleyball pics for THAT Editor. Got "facetime" in the morning, yip yip. Woot woot.

Have a good night everybody, and good morning ULRICH!

Chris

 

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

It's FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2011!!!

Enjoy your day!!!

[L&NTim11060]

Good Morning all...just a quick question How do you guys able to have the same little comments below your messages. Like Kens  ( I hate rust ) I,m not very good on these things Thanks.

[LSWrr]

Good Morning All,

Garry, tell mom we said Happy Birthday!

 

Ken, I couldn’t look at work and after work I had to go to one of the rentals I babysit to install a new door lock, sorry.

 

Sue, yea too bad there aren’t any vents on the new roof.  I’m going to cut an access into the ceiling and see what I can see; it’s got to be something simple that I’m over looking.

 

Chris, I can’t remember what body I bought (D3000 I think) I see they have the 55-200 f/4-5.6G IF-ED lens for $249.99.  The 55-200 would give you a better zoom multiplier.  55 is a good lens for taking close up model layout pictures.

[yougottawanta]

Good morning all

Been away for a while. Lot going on. Quick update. W**k going well, seven units we are installing trusses and they just released six more units to start .Wife has been getting great reports from sawbones on the brain tumor, still receding : ) ! Kids started school yesterday. And on the mtrain front my kadee couplers FINALLY came in and have been changing over the couplers with the goal to have kadee on everthing with wheels.

Blown out cylinder  - a suggestion on leak. With the water being two inches deep you need to watch out for mold. Pull the base off, remove three inches of drywall,spray the area with a mixture of clorox and water to kill any possible mold.

Galaxy - good luck with the HVAC system

Tom - great news about the choir ! Amazing !

Garry - congrats on Moms 92nd Birthday - what a blessing

Cuda - sorry to hear about the job. Any prospects ?

[galaxy]

L&NTim11060

Good Morning all...just a quick question How do you guys able to have the same little comments below your messages. Like Kens  ( I hate rust ) I,m not very good on these things Thanks.

Simple.

Go to the right side margin under your sign in name is a blue list of links. Click the "public profiel {edit}" link. there should be a "signature line" entry into which you can type or post an image tag to say what you want as a permenant signature line that will appear automatically on every post you make.

Be sure to save any changes you make or it won't show up.

EDIT: for this I get top honors...eat up guys..just go easy teh CC needs to be clear for the furnace!!!

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,

     Just a regular to go please Zoe.   The usual pre race stuff - we're just up to our eyeballs in it.   CUL, J.R.

[cudaken]

 Morning All

 Flo, big coffee to go please.

 I was up at 5:30 AM this morning, just went to bed to early.

 Need to going, I want to be at the Department Of Human Services around 8:00 AM.

     See you all later today.

                           Ken

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Since G caught the bill for being helpful, I shall go easy on him. Coffee and one of them big fluffy air filled waffles please and lots of butter and Canadian Maple syrup. I guess they have that stuff up here. I mean….really. Wouldn’t that be ironic if turns out Canada had no Maple trees……

Happy Birthday to Garry’s Mom!!

Lee- Sounds like you have one of “those” leaks. Water gets in a crack somewhere, flows under or between the roofing material until it finds a another covered way to get through the wood. Or, follows a slant undert the roof until it drips on the ceiling. Either way it....., well, good luck and try not to pull all your hair out finding it. Can be a real pain in the sit-upon.

Well pump life? So far Mom’s pump and motor is 39 years and humming right along. Now that I say that, you watch…..

Chris- Ooooooh. SCREEN door only. I misunderstood. I thought you were replacing the actual door. You know what I mean. Yes, you could be in a pickle unless you want some goofy looking setup that really defeats the purpose of one. From the sounds of your experiences, you my friend, live my life as well. I feel for you.

Tom- WONDERFUL!! You are right you must be doing something very right for that many students to want to be, and don’t take this the wrong way, in Chorus. Let’s face it, it has a…., less than macho or appealing sound to may guys. They must like what they see and hear. BRAVO to you and the staff!

Ray- What kind of Wasps are they. Over the years I’ve grown accustomed to Mud-daubers. They're not real agressive and don’t really bother people. Just bugs. In fact we have a nest with fresh holes right by the front door. When I saw right by, I mean two inches from the door. Saw one or two around it while they were building it. They just ignored us and we ignore them. Well I do anyway. Brenda isn’t so comfortable around them or any “bee” as she says. Since they sealed the nest we haven’t even seen one around. Now that the nest is empty, I will remove it...someday and they will have to find a new place to build. Boss's orders. They usually just fly around you.

Maybe my lack of concern for Wasps or Hornets is their sting does not do much more to me than a mosquito. True when I get stung it feels like some jokester stuck me with a straight pin, but it doesn‘t really sting. Then it just looks like a mosquito bite. Took a drink of soda out of a can once at work and thought some dufus dropped a cigarette but in my soda to be funny. Spit it out and felt a stick in my lip. On the ground was a wet Sandhills Hornet. (often confused with a Yellow Jacket because they look very similar) Lip swoll slightly at the sight of the injection for about 5 minutes then….gone. Bees now, Honeybees or Bumblebees, they are a different horse altogether. They will sting and swell, though not dangerously. Brenda on the other hand, if she gets stung by a bee on the hand, her whole hand will swell and part of her arm. She makes no distinction between wasps or bees. She runs from them all.

Enough of that. I’m rambling again, so I’m gonna get a move on to my day. Might do a bit more on Mom’s house. I think we may have an offer on the way from a Farmer friend. His son is getting married and his Fiancee really likes the house. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 76°. It's cooled down a little. The high should be 97°. That will only feel like 109°. The chance for rain is virtually non-existent. Maybe 1-2%.

Got a lot of wind and rain in town Wednesday when the storm blew through. Out here we got a lot of wind but very little rain. Only enough to get the bottom of the rain gauge wet, probably less than a tenth of an inch. We did get a thick layer of pine cones. The trees are going to have to grow a new batch to shower us with the next time. Speaking of trees, there are five between here and the Texas highway that are no longer standing. Eleven if you add the six blown down along Ford Stewart road going to highway 171.

Well, yesterday I was cleaning some green onions and nicked the outer edge of the pinky finger on my left hand. Of course having virtually no feeling in my hands I didn't notice it until I saw the rather large trickle of blood dripping in the sink and looked to see where it was coming from. I washed it out with some alcohol and hydrogen peroxide , put a band-aid on it and went back to cleaning onions. Never felt a thing. This is the reason I stopped working with flex track and the sharp tools associated with it. That and the fact that I once had a knife blade go clean through my left hand back in the early 90's. I never felt a bit of pain. Just a little pressure as the blade punched through. I had been cutting a sheet of styrene when the blade slipped. I cleaned it out, did the stitching myself, wrapped it up and went back to what I was doing, only I used my Dremel to finish the cutting of the styrene. These days the sharpest tools I use on the layout are a small pair of scissors, wire cutters and a small pocket knife (rarely used). I've had more than my fair share of gory accidents with Xacto blades, razor saws and other ultra sharp tools and therefore don't even own such tools anymore. Besides, the lack of feeling makes using such tools somewhat difficult. That's why I chose to abandon N-Scale. The stuff is so small I have trouble handling it. You should see me installing Kadee couplers. That's worth buying a ticket to see. And the ends of flex track can make a wicked cut if you're not careful. Those who have wondered why I use Bachmann EZ-Track, now you know. Few if any cut rails sticking out where I can get cut on them, no cork or foam to cut for roadbed as I have been known to nick my fingers with scissors larger than the very small ones I use for cutting decals. For most cutting jobs I use my two Dremels. One is equipped with a small saw blade similar to a micro sized table saw. I'm VERY careful using that thing and have only used it a few times a year. The blade is only about an inch across but it could make a very nasty cut. It has a guard that has to be pushed down to expose the blade but one hand is needed to hold the Dremel (no vise) and the other has to hold whatever is being cut.

Plans for today. I don't have any. This is the last Friday of the month and my mother will probably want to go to the once a month free lunch at the physical therapy clinic and that happens to fall on the last Friday of each month. My father is at work today (how convenient) so guess who it falls on to take her.

[Curt Webb]

Morning All,

Off w**k today. I'm getting ready to go to Wally World to try to find a over sized eye dropper for applying glue to ballast. When I get home I will do a couple of ballast test runs (main line and siding) then start testing my steamers on the layout (wish me luck). I'm thinking about having my Dad come over Sunday to run trains. He will be the first visitor operating on the layout. I wanted to finish it before having him operate on it but his hints have been getting more frequent. 

Lee- Good luck with the leak.

Garry- Happy Birthday to your Mom.

Ken- Best wishes for dealing with the local government office.

for those about to be affected by Irene. See you all soon.

[LSWrr]

Curt, buy a ketchup bottle at Wal-Mart in the home section. We use them on the club layout and my home layout and they work great!  

 

Jeff, sounds like we had the same storm; my rain gauge caught 1.5” of rain yet we had 2 tornados in the area and the freeway was flooded out.  I’m assuming the rain came sideways and didn’t fall into the gauge.  Lots of wind damage from the storm, the roof to a local grocery store was torn off and shoved through a car wash, 55,000 homes without power, and I have to replace the metal flag brackets on the front of the house.  One house west of me had 15 20’to 60’ trees on top of the house, and they only had 2 trees in their yard.  Dorothy’s neighborhood had 50 year old trees tip over flipping complete sidewalk slabs into the road.

 

Todd, the back bedroom that has the leak was a back porch originally and when they built the edition for the current room they wacked off the old porch roof, a portion of which is still in the attic of the bedroom.  So the water is running off that old roof I think to the middle of the bedroom ceiling.  I think my only option now is to gain access to the attic and wait for the next storm to see what is going on.  It only leaks with a driving rain storm and it’s not a very big leak, but I know if I ignore it one day it will become an expensive project to repair.  The hunt continues…

[blownout cylinder]

Blown out cylinder  - a suggestion on leak. With the water being two inches deep you need to watch out for mold. Pull the base off, remove three inches of drywall,spray the area with a mixture of clorox and water to kill any possible mold.

YGW:  We already did just that as well...lotsa fun.

Good Morning

We had fog earlier ..now we are clear and sunny out. And sitting at 64F right now..going to 77F later on with a heat index of 88F....

As for the back staircase...we also discovered that we had somehow missed a little detail...the upper portion of the staircase wall is kind of warped....I'm thinking of later on going up there and seeing what, if anything, is causing that warp. It does not look like any particular water related thing, but, one never really knows....

As for the rest oof today..I'm heading off to do some w**k at w**k today and getting stuff for the weekend on-call. Hopefully things will be quiet here....

Flo, I'll just have coffee for now please..I'll be at the RC...

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I'll have a short stack of freshly made blueberry pancakes (them Canadian blueberries are sure good...) and leave the bottle of Ontario Maple Syrup (almost as good as the NYS stuff....), side oreder of bacon, and some freshly brewed dark roast coffee in a R&GV RR Museum mug, please.

Today I get the pleasure of filing my application to go on my own Social Security rather than my wife's.  I would have just done it on line except for all the changing from hers to mine and the Medicare stuff as well.  I figure better one of the folks at the local office can do it better than I (They are a good and competent bunch down there.  Had to deal with all sorts of confusing issues for my Mom a few years ago......).

Garry, glad your Mom had a great 92nd. Birthday!  Wonderful that you still have her around.

Jim, I wouldn't know one end of a diseasal from the other if folks out at the museum hadn't told me what the F means on the side of the dang things........  I have to be able to spout facts about the locos we are operating or are working on to the general public.  Over the past few years I have heard some of our membership give vastly different answers to the same question.  I have heard anywhere from 300HP to 900 HP as the power of the US Army 80 Tonner 1654.  I did some searching on line and after about 4 hours came up with some definitive facts about the specific loco.  In 1989 she was upgraded by the Army to have dual 450HP Cummins Prime Movers.  Therefore the 900HP is correct.  I have tried to nicely correct a few people out there who had given incorrect info about her.  Some have said, Wow!  I didn't know that" (really helpful when it was done in front of thee expert on prime movers out there who backed me up with a slew of other trivia about the loco....).  Some others have rolled there eyes and given me the "Yeah, Right" look...  A lot of people look at any loco THAT looks like a GE and thinks, "Oooo, 44 Tonner...."  I still have no idea what a SD40-xyz is.....   I don't really even know the fine differences between a Y-3 and a Y-6b or.....  You get the idea...

Tom W. sounds like you folks should have a great year!  Interesting THAT music teachers tend to be the only kind of teachers who when they find out they have a class with 200 kids in it say, "YES.....!"

Todd, the wasps appeared to be one of the Yellowjacket varieties....  Mud Daubers I leave be.  Carpenter Bees don't sting, and most other bees will leave you alone unless you are threatening the nest (The African Variety of honey bee being a major exception...).  Even paper wasps I will not get rid of if they are in a place where I do not have to work next to the nest...  They really aren't that aggressive.  Last time I was stung was out at the Museum when I accidently put my hand right on a paper wasp nest....  Only got nailed once even then.  They were flying around acting really ticked off......  A few years back there was a nest of ground nesting Yellowjackets in an old RR Tie by my garden.  I managed to run the lawn mower over the nest.  I got nailed 21 times before I could get into the house.  6 of them got in the house as well.  My kitties helped me find and "pay back" each of them.  I am very lucky I am not allergic to the venom as even an eppi pen might not have saved me!  BTW, what you described with Brenda sounds like an allergic reation to the sting.  If she hasn't been tested for sensitivity, please have it done.  I knew a gentleman who had one allergic reaction to a wasp sting.  The site swelled up quite a bit.  A couple weeks later he got stung again.  He died within 5 minutes of being stung.  He was on the way to the emergency room..............

Best get moving.

73

[gear-jammer]

Good morning,  Chloe.  I have just enough time for a cinnamon roll and coffee, please.

Tom,  Your engine facility is looking "Wow".  I wish I had the commitment to finish an area.  Is your camera a SLR?  I always try to use the highest F stop possible, however, that means a tripod & remote control.  You may already do that.  Everyone has their own tricks for depth of field.  Thanks for sharing.

Jim,  Hope to see you log camp buildings.  Ours are from Rslaser kits, out of Oregon.  Teeny tiny parts.  Larry was  $%# while working on them, but they turned out very nice.  If your Shay is like ours,  it is the strongest loco on the layout.  We have 2 more shays that still need the decoders.  Larry is thinking of doing the motor & regearing at the same time.  It is expensive when you do it yourself, but it is worth it.

I need to take off.  I scheduled to set a route down at my rockgym this morning.

Sue

[ns3010]

Afternoon all.

Chris, one camera that I'm looking at as a possiblity is this Canon Rebel XS, which is listed for $500. The friend that I was fanning with last week uses a Rebel, and he loves his. You also mentioned that the Rebels are good cameras, which would further push me in THAT direction.
Also, I know the feeling of w**king in a structure THAT isn't straight, level, or square. While I was doing my Eagle project back in the fall, we had many of the same problems. The floor was uneven so we had to shim the corners of the stage, and while we were installing the soffit, we had trouble getting it straight. Not to mention THAT one side of the room had a concrete support, while the other had a steel column...

Todd, I'm glad THAT you like your Rebel XS. Although, as you said, it is a "beginner" SLR, THAT is what I'm looking for right now. For right now, I have no need for anything fancy, and it's possible THAT I will never need a more "advanced" camera, so at this point in time, it seems like the Rebel XS would be a good camera for me.
Also, having a third positive opinion on the Rebel also helps me know THAT it would be a good choice.
Additionally, the lack of video is not a problem by me. The PowerShot A3000IS THAT I have now takes video well enough for me, but I may look into a video camera as well at some point in the future.

Ray, last week while fanning, my friend told me a funny story about wasps.
A few months ago, he was riding a train under the control of one of his engineer friends. They had to take a siding for a meet, so they got a Slow Approach (go through the turnout at 15 MPH, and approach the next signal prepared to stop) at the entrance to the siding. While diverging, they passed a wasps' nest, so the engineer decided to hit the nest. They continued down the siding at 17-18 MPH and stopped at the home signal for the meet. Then, the engineer said, well, something naughty, because he had gotten stung by one of the wasps. The little critter followed the train for the two or so miles, at 17ish MPH, and then knew to fly in the window of the lead MU and sting the engineer!
Who knew that wasps could be THAT smart...

Also, Chris, yeah, I did look at Lee's link. Thanks for THAT, Lee!

Tom, great work on the engine terminal!

Garry, to your mom!

Today is my last day of w**k until next weekend. It was supposed to be Sunday, but the hurricane has changed THAT.

Tomorrow, we will be moving inland. We will be staying at a friend's house across the bridge for a few days. Even though it is still technically the shore, being off the barrier island makes a huge difference. I don't know if I'll be online. THAT will be determined by if we have power and/or internet access. If possible, I'll try to keep you guys updated.

Well, this may or may not be my last time in here before the storm hits. I'll try my best to make it in tomorrow after w**k and tomorrow after we move out, but I'm not going to make any promises. If I make it in, then I'll see you later. If not, then I'll see you after the storm passes.

To all those who are also in the path, do everything you can to fight the storm, and stay safe.

-Joe

4028 hits the brakes as its train glides into Bound Brook station.

[JeremyB]

Just watching CNN, I hope you guys on the eastern seaboard stay safe during the storm.

[Cox 47]

Good  Afternoon all...Its sunny and 84 here...I'll have a RBF please...Thank you....Thoughts and prayers for all on the East coast...Hoping to get started on bench work for new layout sunday when my brother comes..still got a couple of deals working for used Kato track...You all have a great week-end...Jerry

[howmus]

Afternoon folks!

Flo, just a RBF to tide me over to dinner at the moment.

Well (deep and full subject), I spent all of a half hour down at the SS office in town.  Ten minutes of THAT was waiting for my appointment time to arrive.  The lady was right on time, we made all the necessary changes in my Social Security, swore that I had made no false statements, and was on my way 20 minutes after THAT.  The folks there have always been very helpful and friendly.  I have no complaints about them at all.  After the Medicare Fee and the tax withholding are taken out, it still will be about double what I was getting.  This is good as the sooner I can save up to put a new roof on the house the better!  I'm hoping the old roof can hold up one more winter....

Joe, I'll add another positive voice for the Canon Digital Rebel series.  i have two of them, an old Rebel XT, and a newer Rebel Xsi.  The Xsi is the one of choice for model photography.  Has some good options.  Can't speak about the other cameras people have recommended as I haven't used them.  I have heard some very good things about them though.  I went with Canon because several friends who are Professional Photographers in the area are all using them.  There is also a great little Canon dealer in the area who tends to beat all of the online prices much of the time.....  THAT helped my decision along as if anything goes wrong, he is also a factory repair shop!  My advise is, if you can, go somewhere you can pick up and hold the cameras.  Does it feel "right" to you.  How will you be using the camera.... Does it serve those needs well?  Think of those issues as well as the dependability and reputation of the brand.  (You have been given a couple good options by Chris....)

Joe, sounds like the engineer played with a Baldfaced Hornet's (aka: Whitefaced Hornet depending where you are from) nest.  They will follow you for miles, literally.  He is very lucky only one found him.  I would bet there were a good many more near the locos also!  They are the most aggressive hornet with the Yellowjacket a close second!  Looks like my next door neighbor took care of the nest up in his attic...  haven't seen even one around for the last 2 days.  With about 30 people (including little kids) coming over next weekend, I'm glad not to have them hanging around.  Get into Fall and they can get very nasty!  Don't ask how I know.

Sue, good to see you back as a regular!  Enjoy your posts.

All the maps show the Finger Lakes Region of NYS as in a low impact area for Irene.  The forecast for Sunday around these parts is calling for "cloudy".  Hope they are right.  i am keeping a close watch on the forecast as I will out at the Museum on Sunday.

Prayers for all in the path of Irene!

73

[Curt Webb]

Afternoon All,

Well it has been a heck of a day on the MRR. I finally got through all the steam loco's today. There were several issues found and fixed:

1. Turnout in rear of layout causes consisted K4s to derail. Fix: Remove part of backdrop, Remove wood road crossing, Nail down turnout in 2 additional places. Time of fix 45 minutes.

2. Turnout on side of layout causes M1b to derail when thrown but only going forward. Gaged Track and Loco, put level on layout both vertical and horizontal, nailed in additional nail on turnout. attempted shimming both sides one at a time, while squatting down and starring at wheels for the hundredth time (OK I exaggerate) it finally dawns on my slow brain that it appears that the first drive wheel is not following the curve. I put a shim under where the end of the points sit on the far side of the turnout- Works great both ways at throttle speeds of 10, 20, 40, 50, and 60. Time of fix 90 minutes.

For me to consider the turnout tested OK, I ran each loco 4 times forward thru it and 4 times in reverse. If no problems then I'm satisfied.

I also did the test ballasting, one section for the yard and one for the main. I'm not real happy with the outside of the rails on the main. I used a refillable plastic mustard dispenser. The problem may be the glue I used. First I laid down the ballast, sprayed it with wet water then used the glue mix I used for ground cover (1 part white glue, 1 part rubbing alcohol, and 4 parts water). The glue may be too thin.

Todd- Please listen to Ray about your wife. He is absolutely correct in what he says. If it is determined that she should get a EPI pen then make sure she always carries it. I have seen one save a life more than once.

YGW- Congrats on the continued good health of your wife. 

Everybody have a good day.