ELLIOT'S TRACKSIDE DINER - AUGUST, 2011

[teen steam fan]

ow....ow.....ow......ow......ow.....ow.....ahhhhh. 

 

Sorry guys, sore from powerlifting. 

I'm back in school, My schedule's pretty good but my lunch period's at the worst time of the day. 

1st - Freshman only

2nd - intro to foods

3rd - Welding

4a - Lunch (Told ya my lunch is at the worst time of the day.) 

4b- advisory (I got my school's resident crazy cat lady YIKES) 

5th - Interactive media development

6th - English 4 

7th- Strength Training (So sore, but its a good hurt) 

8th - Woods shop

I never eat lunch at school, mainly because I'm not hungry. But today I think I had a low sugar reaction. My dad told me how  bad he feels when he has one and I put two and two together and got 4. What did me in was my woods teacher was telling us about the time he severed a tendon in his pinky, and I was already weak in the knees from the safety video we were watching. I can take some gore, but I don't know why my body reacted like it did. So I am going to eat something like a protein bar before strength training mainly so I can keep my strength up. 

Regular dew for me please and thank you girls. 

[blownout cylinder]

We have a big tunderinboomer coming through...had seen some rotation on this one...I's be outa here!!!

[howmus]

Evenin'!

Janie just a cup of decaf for me right now.

JeremyB

.......So first thing in the morning im taking the sawzall out and start to cut it up. My dad is coming by with the pickup truck around 9am and then he's going to help cut it up and haul it to the dump. Its going to be at least 2 pickup truck's worth.

WHAT????  Haul it to the dump???  You are sending maple, an excellent wood for fuel to the DUMP??? AAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!

Ahem..... Clears throat..  Can't you cut and stack it at the curb and let some guy "Steal" it for the wood stove or fireplace???  (To the dump.....????)

Galaxy, sorry to hear the furnace is going to cost you so much.  Have you looked into any special emergency funding around the area to see if you can get help???  Any community groups or churches have any way to help you folks out?

I had a friend (he is the current Scoutmaster of my old Troop) who is an electrician put in another dedicated computer outlet for me today.  Not an easy place to get access.  He had to bring the line inside the cellar staircase and through the wall to the dining room where the computer is.  Of course we then spent an hour chatting about what is going on in the troop these days.  I am still trying to talk his troop into doing RR Merit Badge this fall.  I have 2 Scouts from other troops looking to take the MB and I would sure like to find a bunch more.  I get points toward Association Volunteer for every month I counsel a Scout for the Merit Badge and a point when each Scout earns the MB.  Need a total of 60 points for the Certificate.  As of November 1st., I will have completed the requirements for Association Official.

Hope you all are having a great evening out there!

73

[AmanaMedic]

NS3030 JOE: Pentax PC-333 film point and shoot, 1987 vintage. Only one setting: on/off.

Photos by Chris Umscheid, 1987

I have no idea what your camera budget is, but both Nikon and Canon have digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera packages in the $400-$500 range, last I looked. THAT said, I'm looking at a new lens in the $2500 range... And yup yup, cropping is very, very, very subjective. I'll crop one way, THAT Editor or MR. BOSS will crop another. I often use cropping to compensate for a "short" focal length (18-200), making it look like I used a 400 or even 600mm lens. Or, when shooting sports, I'll crop-in to make sure the "warrior face" or other facial expressions are the focal point of the shot. THAT's part of why I love photography: other than shooting with the camera turned off... Or with a dead battery... there's really no "wrong" way to do it. Heh, back in the day, I had some really awesome, incredible, never gonna get THAT good of a shot again pics...or I would've IF I'D REMEMBERED TO PUT A FRESH ROLL OF FILM IN THE CAMERA! Fortunately, it wasn't an assigned gig, and the local daily paper's ace shooter was there (I was just a freelance), so my shots wouldn't have been used anyway...

 

Choo choo stuff: I've somehow managed to get the makings of a GP-15 fleet going. I'm rebuilding/repainting one (Walther's Trainline brand) I first did about seven years ago. I shot the CNW green last weekend (finally replaced the dead air compressor). This weekend, it'll be masked an CNW Zito yellow will be applied. In the meantime, I grabbed an undecorated copy off of TheBay auction site. Now I'll have to obtain more grab irons, lift rings, drop steps, rear footboard-less pilot, and a few other parts. Maybe next month, they will be procured. THAT will bring the GP-15 fleet to three: CNW 4421, 4422 and 4424; all three were "frequent attenders" at both Beverly Yard and the ex-RI North Yard. Eventually, I'll need to build-up the GP-7 fleet as older Athearn Bluebox geeps are rebuilt and/or replaced.

I've also found four more "foobie" Athearn bluebox CenterFlo hoppers. Two will be replaced with Accurail 4600 Center Flo hoppers, two others by Front Range/McKean...uh, when I find 'em again for a decent price on THAT huge Bay auction site, THAT-is.

Anybody want a bunch of foobie CenterFlo hoppers????

Chris

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

At w**k tonight and not much is happening here, we got about 45 minutes of really hard rain today. It looks like FL dodged this hurricane bullet , to those that will be affected by Irene. I feel pretty good now so I will be doing the MDA boot drive tomorrow. MOH picked up 2 types of ballast for me to play with-fine cinders and fine mixed gray from WS. Friday I'm going to do a trial run on a separate piece of track.

Question- If I wanted a reduced amount of ballast on the track such as cinders going to the engine house do I just run the ballast applicator quicker over the rail or is there some technique I should use? 

Lee- The PRR video is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. I can't wait. 

Rob- I would try replacing the thermostat first. We had one go bad. Just be careful, you need to match the same number of input wires from the house to the new thermostat. I remember that there are 2 different number of wires you can get. I think it is either 5 or 6 wire but it has been a couple of years and I am not home to look at it.

Chris- I think part of it is the devil you know versus the deil you don't know. 

Everyone have a good night.

[JeremyB]

well I have had a bad day........................................................................

The wind today broken a very large piece of my maple tree off and it landed on the house and slid off. No damage to the house at all, not even a scratch on the rain gutters I guess the leaved cushioned the fall but still the noise was very scary, I heard it crack off and then land. The initial land just sounded like a giant pile of leaves dropped on the house. So first thing in the morning im taking the sawzall out and start to cut it up. My dad is coming by with the pickup truck around 9am and then he's going to help cut it up and haul it to the dump. Its going to be at least 2 pickup truck's worth. I dont think that the branches are thick enough to use a chainsaw. The thickest part I can get with a 12" blade. The worst part of it is having people drive by my house and stare at the huge piece of tree in my yard.

Still I cant complain. People to the north of use are still cleaning up after a F3 tornado. And when the tree fell in my yard it missed the power lines to my house, so like they say it could have been worse.

- Jeremy

[galaxy]

Well, well well.

$3,600.00 for the new furnace that I/we don't have. ANd the winter coming on.

Have to juggle it amongst several credit cards I guess.

I don't care if the layout is able to be rebuilt or not.

 

[Cederstrand]

Coffee in a  AT&SF  mug, please.

No updates on my Dad today.

The good news is our well pump motor lasted 6 years past the average life expectancy. The bad news is it costs $1,050. "OUCH" Wife will be working a lot of overtime to pay for it.

Question: Anyone know why our AC (Trane heat pump) thermostat says it is getting hotter inside the house when it is actually getting quite cold? Is this a faulty thermostat or something in the computer panel in the outside exchange unit? The little green indicator light has a steady green flash. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Nothing on the MRRing front. Kinda overwhelmed at present.

Hope y'all are doing well.

Rob

 

[ns3010]

Evening all.

Enjoyed the day off today. I finally made it up to the outlet mall, which I've been wanting to do since it opened a few years ago. It's only about a half hour away, and it's very nice (and big!). I came home with a new pair of shoes, five shirts, and two pairs of jeans. The Nike outlet had the shoes for $50, and Pacsun had the shirts for "Buy three, get two free" and the jeans "buy one, get one free." Cost me about $150 all together. I should be pretty good on clothing for a few months.

JR, yep, I've also been to the Morristown & Erie a handful of times. Catching them running is difficult because it's always when I'm in school, but stopping by the shops to see what is sitting outside is also neat:

Thanks, Chris! I didn't realize THAT THAT was you THAT commented on the photo on Flickr! Thanks again!
As for the cropping, I've gone to both extremes, having tons of space around the main focus of the photo, and having the main focus take up the entire frame. I tend to go easy with the cropping, letting the surrounding atmosphere compliment the main focus. The photo in question (32A smoking up a storm at Bound Brook) doesn't have anything going on to the sides, but cropping from the sides would make the photo anorexic looking, and I want to have some sky above the smoke, and I like the curve of the tracks below the train. The way it is now was the best balance, at least to me.
The great thing about photography is the freedom THAT is gives you. There are so many variable aspects in a photo, and two people will never completely agree on each and every one of them, but THAT's ok.
As for cameras, I use a Canon PowerShot A3000 IS. For the $150 point-and-shoot THAT it is, it's a great camera. However, I want to become a more serious photographer, and I have already reached the limits of my camera. I bought it knowing that it, as a first camera, would allow me to expand my skills, but would eventually need to be replaced with a more advanced camera.

Well (sunlight reflecting on the surface), I have to go for now.

Catch ya later!

-Joe

The blur of a Dash 9 can be seen as a NS autorack train races through Bound Brook.

[cudaken]

 evening

 Flo, Beer please.

  Reason for the faces, it seems one of the moderators pulled my post on the main board. 

 I was asking for help with a problem I am having with Java so I can take pictures of TRAINS! When I went to my active's there is a + and show the posting is gone!  No PM as to why, just gone?

 Well I was depressed before that, now I am mad. I rather be mad than depressed!

 Well, here is the question that was struck. Reason I have not been posting any new pictures is because I cannot get my HP photo & imaging software installed in the replacement  computer I am on now. It is HP Version 1.1 for Windows. When I try to install it I get "Error Microsoft Java Machine not installed".

 While I have Java installed, it must be the wrong version.

 Jeffery Can you help with this problem?

  I will drop in a little later.

                 Ken

[AmanaMedic]

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood Afternoon, hope all are well. Just back from a lunch meeting with a former  EMS Lt. for the North Liberty Fire Dept., talking about upcoming changes in certification levels, and any potential impact on the all-volunteer departments in our newspaper coverage area. Yup, nothing like talkin' EMS (and swapping "war stories") in an eatery!

Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooood times.

"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."

Yup, THAT's what's deterring me: the cost! Seems anybody can get anybody out of any kind-of a jam...for a price. I'm thinking there has to be a way to restore the mechanism...maybe even just soaking it in liquid wrench for a few days. The wood itself just needs stripping and refinishing. The glass...well (still clear full, toads are back swimming), having a single pane of glass isn't so great, but once the storm door is replaced, THAT should help make up for "energy efficiency deficits." It'll more or less have to be done in-place, can't take the front door off the house and leave a 36" wide by 89-1/4" hole for the dishonest world to see! The freak we bought this house from never really took care of anything, and let a lot of things go. We're still (6+ years later) getting rid of stuff left behind and trying to figure out how to repair/restore/replace things she let go to crap. Her answer to everything and anything seemed to be: 1) get drunk, 2) buy paint, 3) paint anything and everything. We hauled out 52 cans of paint when we moved in. There are still some in the shed out back, solidifying enough I can sneak 'em into the trash. Fortunately, when she slapped paint on things, she didn't do much if any surface prep...soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo the paint comes off (mostly) pretty easily.

 

Twisty things in the sky vs. big spinning things on the ocean: I guess the bottom line is, if you're in the direct path of either...it's gonna be bad. And I wouldn't want to be, nor would I wish it upon anybody to be in the direct path of either. Living in eastern Iowa, we don't get very many twisters, and when we do...they tend to be smaller. We seem to get more "leading edge spin-ups" around here in the F0-F1 range. Now, my aunt in Moore, Oklahoma on the other hand....they seem to have almost daily tornado warnings, and they get the BIG ones down there. I read somewhere THAT Moore is where the twisters gather to "do some partying before they head out across the rest of the plains/midwest."

My parents did a week of house-sitting for her last year, and watched the local weather geek do his song and dance on the TV: "IF you don't get to the center of your house RIGHT NOW...YOU WILL DIE!" The "storm tracker" radar show had one on a direct line, street map level, for the very block they were on. Dad watched the TV and looked out the window, mom took a bath and dealt with a scorpion in the bathroom. Just another summer night in Oklahoma!

I haven't (knocking frantically on anything/everything wood within reach) been in a twister, but have seen a few at a very safe range (out on Storm Watch duty). I've had them hit within a mile or two of me. THAT's close enough. But again, it was a very small damage path compared to the widespread devastation of a hurricane...which is why I'll stay here, and keep moving the fan in the yard to blow Irene even farther out to sea for our friends to the east!

NS3030 JOE: I agree, your photography skills are improving! I even put a compliment on your Flickr page. One thing I would do differently, is a little cropping. But, keep in mind THAT Editor tells me I tend to crop "severely." I don't know what you've got for a camera, but also remember, it isn't the camera, it's the person using it. I've had great shots from a Pentax K-1000. I've also had crappy shots from my Nikon D-90. But, it's also pulled-off shots I would've botched left to my own mental faculties. Keep shooting, seek honest critiques of what you shoot, and yes...look at what others have done. In my younger days I was fascinated by the photos of Don Ball Jr. and his book "America's Colorful Railroads." Keep shooting!

Well (toads currently napping) I 'spose I ought to bug some contacts again, see if they've got the answers I'm looking for yet, so THAT I can whip-up some more content for THAT Editor...

Have a great rest of the day everybody...

Chris

Photo by Chris Umscheid, 1993

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Well my mother wants to have lunch at Ryan's in DeRidder then go shopping at Wal-Mart, so looks like I'll be doing some driving. Be back later.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Ken: I spent quite a few days in the unemployment office after leaving the army. That was during Reagan's time in office and the economy/job situation was in the toilet thanks to him. Jobs here were few and far between. I finally got a job at my parents insurance office as an asst administrator for a nationwide insurance brokerage called Financial Strategies Inc. The office was closed in Nov 1990 but I learned a lot in the eight years I worked there. By that time I ran the computer services department and was a self taught programmer and tech. The money was good and I liked what I was doing and I pretty much had a free hand in what I did. Back then our computer download speed was 300 to 1200 baud. Folks in the high cotton had 9400 baud download speed but as I indicated that was pricey.

[TMarsh]

Just stopped in before I left, figured I'd best do a load or two of laundry first. Getting a bit short....on shorts.  HA! Brenda's Mom is home and between her working and going into town to take care of her of an evening, she doesn't have much time to do it. She prefers to do the laundry her way, the "right way", as opposed to my way, the "bachelor way". Or as she calls it "the wrong way" Personally I think my way is much more efficient. (see signature line)

Realtor just called and now I have to do a bit of sprucing up around Mom's house inside. Closed up and vacant it does collect dust and a......closed up smell.

J.R.- I ASSuMEd you probably understood how I meant it, buuuuut just in case. I figured better safe than sorry.

Ray-  I know what you mean on the laoding of some web pages anymore. The few websites I do go to I've noticed either a slow down in loading on some or part way through my visit, it seems to lock up for a few seconds, then free up with a FB or Twitter or both with others box shows up like the advertisement boxes in the right margin here. Sometimes there is a FB link for me to make a comment on my page. Or wall. Whatever it's called. It includes my icon and kinda makes me wonder. Today I noticed on the local newspaper website, it also brought up a list of come of my "friends" on FB on the papers page! Now THAT really got me thinking.

Gotta go, my plans are being changed as we speak.

 

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe I'll have a short stack of blueberry pancakes a side order of bacon and my usual dark roast coffee in a R&GV RR mug.  Huh?  Don't have the usual coffee???  Free who?  Yeah, their stuff isn't bad but not nearly as good as the usual stuff...  more like dishwater to me.....  Oh well, at least it's free....  Sol (a needle pulling thread), did Horton hear a Who?

Currently 74°F here in the quiet and stable Finger Lakes so far today....  No earthquakes, lightning strikes, or other type things out there, although the weather prognosticators are calling for "Isolated Thunderboomers" today and something called wind.....  Looking ahead we may be in for quite a bit of "wind" depending on where Irene decides to go.  The Finger Lakes is in a Medium threat area at the moment.  Most likely will get a bit of rain from her and not much else.

The weather.com site has been very slow to load ever since they started allowing twits from tweeter on the site...  Gotta love (or hate actually) the completely stupid things people just have to put up there for all the world to see...  "It's raining LOL I R wet! U2? LOL LOL LOL  hahahahaha"  I tried everything I could to get ABP to block Twiterdum with little success other than to remove a few of the idiotic little icons.

Rob, continued prayers for your Dad!  Good to hear he is recovering.

Ken, have fun at the Unemployment Office....   Hope the other job comes through for you quickly.

Best get moving as I have a lot of things to get done today....

later!

73

 

[cudaken]

 Morning Folks

 Well it is going to be a hot one today! It is all ready 79 and the high will be 98.

 Flo, Diet Dew please.

 Well, guess today I will go down to unemployment offices and start the filing. I am getting sick to my stomach just thinking about it.

 Thanks for the answers on the diamond sizes.

              Ken

[Curt Webb]

Good Morning,

At w**k today. I still have a bit of a sore throat and hoarseness but not enough to justify staying home. I think I am going to go with the TT and roundhouse from the company someone mentioned here a couple of days ago. My CRS is acting up and I can't remember the name right now. It will be a 2012 project. MOH is buying me some ballast today from the LHS so I can practice before laying it on the layout.

Rob- Continued prayers for your Father.

Galaxy- I can feel your pain. A couple of years ago we had to replace the AC unit (minus duct work) and I think it ran about $4000. It was done in a day, but it sure hurt the wallet. I wish you luck.

Everyone take care.

[GMTRacing]

Todd,

   There is no apology needed at all. I knew what you were doing and have read enough of your posts to recognize your sense of humor. That is why when I replied I used those silly yellow thingies in an attempt to let you know I understood (or at least thought so), and followed up with the all in good fun in a later post. No harm no foul and now please put down that cudgel - ok?     J.R.

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee, scrambled eggs, bacon, fried potatoes in a pile and covered with sausage gravy please, thank you. No, the coffee is separate in a mug please.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 96. Heat index values as high as 105.

First order of business, an apology to J.R.;

Sorry J.R. ole buddy. Once again I forgot you cannot see or actually hear me talking. Problems with the written word. I forget that no matter how comfortable I get in the diner, you folks really don’t know me like people here at home know me. That is well enough to know I would never insult anyone. Ever. Unless, well…., you know. They had it coming. But if that were the case, you ALL would have seen that one coming before I ever made a peep. No, I was in no way poking fun or being sarcastic, nor implying that that is all some have to worry about or that is all they do. Oooh no. I know better than that. I made the comment RR related and used the turnouts as the subject simply because turnout problems had recently been discussed ( I believe Tom had some also) and that was just the most recent thing on the top of my mind. I actually intended it as a dreamy type statement that could have been as easily ( and in hindsight, should have been) worded “ ….. lay around on the beach sipping Margarita’s”. I did not mean it as (and I see it now, but unfortunately not then ) a comment complaining about people talking of having troubles with turn outs, nor was it meant to insinuate you, or anyone here has nothing better to do or worry about than turnouts. THAT, I assure you never crossed my mind. I’m very, very sorry if I worded it wrong and gave you the wrong idea of what I was saying.

I didn’t feel the quake, but we have some cracks around here. We need some of that rain they keep promising us.

Ray- Thought of you last night while watching the local news at 10. Came across the screen a man was murdered and he was a Scoutmaster. Had a beard and glasses too. Didn't appear to be as kept as you, and I would not say he looked like you, but he reminded me of you. Probably would not have had I not seen Scoutmaster. Anyway, just caught a glimpse of him and saw what they had written on the screen before they changed subjects (usually don’t watch the news) so I know no details and I can‘t find it in our local paper on line (not surprising). Just thought you might want to add one of your fellow Scoutmasters who apparently met with a violent end and their families to your list of thoughts

Ulrich- Relax hoss! Despite any rumors you may have heard, I am not moving in next to you.

Well, hate to do it because it is gonna be hottern a two dollar pistol, but I have to clear some brush. Oh well, sweating will maybe help me lose some weight. (ahem) just kidding there too. With the weight I lost last year and for some reason haven’t been able to replace, I would probably blow away if I lost much more. (chuckle)

Best get a move on. Too much stuff to do and not enough time.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good morning. 

I'll have some TH coffee to go. Thanks again, CN Charlie. SM Bob, and JohnBoy for the hospitality. 

Leaving shortly for AL. Won't have much computer time for a few days. Tomorrow, my mother in AL has her 92nd b'day.

Rob ... I hope your Dad can recover OK. Prayers for him.

Jeff ... I had 3 of those U25C's for a few years (1 CB&Q and 2 NP) . I recall installing the Kadee's was not too hard. Removed and discarded the stamped metal piece, and then filed and adjusted before using #5's. I sued them quite a bit for a while. I wonder if the U25C's will be made again with present technology. I recall Burlington used them between Denver and Billings in the late 1960's, and sometimes they were MU'd with SD7's, SD9's and F-units. Later, SD-40's were MU'd with them. .  

Leaving soon. 

Happy Model Railroading

[jeffrey-wimberly]

GMTRacing

Jeff,

   That's an unusual looking driveline in the A/R U-boat. Most of them I've seen had the same motor turned sideways and drove just one truck. Have to look through the box of museum cast-offs and see if we have anything similar in there.   J.R.

That's what struck me as strange too. I've seen the junk with the motor mounted on the truck but this has the motor frame mounted driving a central gearbox that drives BOTH trucks.

Here I painted the drive shaft from the motor to the central gearbox so it can seen better.

 

[GMTRacing]

Jeff,

   That's an unusual looking driveline in the A/R U-boat. Most of them I've seen had the same motor turned sideways and drove just one truck. Have to look through the box of museum cast-offs and see if we have anything similar in there.   J.R.

[gear-jammer]

Chloe,  I made it in  this morning before work.  Let's try one of those cinnamon rolls with my coffee, please.

Off to work, & climbing tonight, so I will check in tomorrow morning.

Sue

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 75° and mostly clear. The high will be 101° (feel like 114°) with a 20% chance of thunderstorms increasing to 50% this evening.

Worked on an old AHM/Rivarossi U25C yesterday. Cleaned up the motor and the transfer case then cleaned up the gear boxes in the trucks. Gotta love those old brass gears. They make more noise than plastic but they last a long time. I could see no discernible wear on the worms or the gears. The lube was a little cruddy so I cleaned it out and applied new lube before sealing everything back up. I thought the motor was going to be a pancake type but despite it's short length the armature is nearly half an inch long on a shaft one and a quarter inch in length. I was impressed. With all the toy train stuff I'd seen from Rivarossi over the years here's something that's built fairly solid. Wish I could say the same for Athearn's RTR line. Yep, got my hands on an Athearn RTR GP38-2 late yesterday. I have two of these that I bought over a year ago and had to remotor both of them. This one I picked up yesterday had a good motor (already removed it for use elsewhere) but one of the  trucks is bad. I can place my thumb on the wheels and turn them and hear the gears clicking as they barely engage each other. The frame also has an issue. At first I thought it was a crack from being dropped but on closer inspection it looks to a fissure left over from molding as the paint is in the fissure as well as on the surface. If I was a newbie getting an Athearn for the first time and I got this one it would probably make me want to avoid them just as some modelers avoid Bachmann after having gotten burned in the 80's on their 'toy train' fare. Funny thing last night was when I went to power up my Zephyr I kept getting a short. I was wondering why then it dawned on me that I had left my kadee coupler gauge on the track. DUH!

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,

    It was just gorgeous on the way in to the shop this morning. 58F and just a light high smattering of clouds. The sunrise was great also earlier. Making progress on the w..kload for next weeks vintage racing festival at Lime Rock so even if it were overcast the sky would have been brighter.

   Rob - Glad to hear your Dad is improving. W'll keep him in our prayers.

   Lee - silly me I didn't even notice the quake. Must be too unstable myself.

   Chris - I've been through hurricanes and tornados and I'd just as soon face a hurricane. Granted Andrew leveled nearly all of Homestead where I used to abide but usually the outcome is better than a direct hit from a tornado. Worst memory is Pensacola watching the fortunately empty barracks across the runway from us disintigrate whilst realizing we were in an identical building and would have suffered the same fate.

   Ulrich. Can't wait to see pics of the new module. You really do a nice job with them.

   Ken - good luck with the job interview when you get it.

   Joe - That is a nice location. You've photographed the Morristown also right?

   Galaxy - I can sympathize. We lost out last boiler in mid winter a while ago right after I'd left my job to start my own shop. We were close to flat broke then. The bids to replace (single pipe steam) were all astronomical until I found a guy who'd also just left to start on his own. He had the best bid and was able to provide financing as well at a good rate. When we moved shop later that year and at subsequent shops, we always used him so I guess it all w..ked out for both of us.

   Lots to do again today so I'd best get to it.    CUL, J.R.

  

[simon1966]

Ulrich, this would not be your bad neighbor would it?

"HAMBURG, Germany – German police were investigating Wednesday after a woman was apparently kidnapped in the northern city of Hamburg and kept captive in a homemade torture chamber."

[galaxy]

Well, It's a little early yet, but awaiting a phone call from the heating company about a new furnace.

Did some online checking and Miller furaces, the leader in Mobile home furnaces run about $800-$2200 with Central ac on the higher priced end. Who knows what tehy will offer and how much they charge to put one in.

Then we have to figure out how to pay for it!

Oh, goody!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

galaxy

 

Sir Madog:

 

Galaxy - I understand you have given up on house hunting for the time being. Now that you have taken down your layout, will you build a new one?

...Need to start looking for a new place to live. We are getting new neighbors - not the kind of folks you want in your neighborhood

 

 

Ulrich, I have been talking about taking the layout apart to build it a shade bit bigger. Problem is there is so very little room in the room that a bigger one would be more trouble than the current one, which became a "table" for things BESIDES MRRing. SO I don't know yet.

Secondly,,, we had neighbors like that in the trailer across the street. 3 adults and 7 kids in a 3 BR trailer! They had to move {we think Department of Social Services made them}. The kids were brats who played in the road and wouldn't get out of the way for a car until we honked the horn and grandma, mom or dad would come yell at the kids. They were also more fascinated with our small pond in front of the trailer than we were comfortable with. But they were out, finally after a year. That was fine for a month. Then in moved some new neighbors across the street with fewer children, but still the same thing- kids playing inthe road. It is a thoroughfare NOT a dead end. So I sympathize, empathize and comiserate with you on "neighbors you don't want"

Y'all enjoy your day!

We had something similar out here once. People with out of control kids who felt they could do anything they wanted wherever they wanted at whatever time they wanted. After several of the other neighbors complained and a few of the kids were picked up by the police a couple of times the problems stopped. They eventually moved. Nearly everyone was on hand to see them go. That was a special day.

[LSWrr]

Good Morning All,

Well we had a good shake yesterday afternoon; I’m on the 20^th floor of the federal building and the room swayed back and forth for 5 minutes.  The people on floors 1-12 felt nothing.

 

Last night I went over to Lakewood, OH to tour a 1930’s layout that would impress anyone.  Logging layout running shay, climax, and a couple variations of those logging locomotives, all the trees were handmade and the scenery covered all the way down the fascia board.  I took several pictures, but got home too late to post anything.  If I have time tonight before the MRR meeting I’ll get to work.

[galaxy]

Sir Madog

Galaxy - I understand you have given up on house hunting for the time being. Now that you have taken down your layout, will you build a new one?

...Need to start looking for a new place to live. We are getting new neighbors - not the kind of folks you want in your neighborhood

Ulrich, I have been talking about taking the layout apart to build it a shade bit bigger. Problem is there is so very little room in the room that a bigger one would be more trouble than the current one, which became a "table" for things BESIDES MRRing. SO I don't know yet.

Secondly,,, we had neighbors like that in the trailer across the street. 3 adults and 7 kids in a 3 BR trailer! They had to move {we think Department of Social Services made them}. The kids were brats who played in the road and wouldn't get out of the way for a car until we honked the horn and grandma, mom or dad would come yell at the kids. They were also more fascinated with our small pond in front of the trailer than we were comfortable with. But they were out, finally after a year. That was fine for a month. Then in moved some new neighbors across the street with fewer children, but still the same thing- kids playing inthe road. It is a thoroughfare NOT a dead end. So I sympathize, empathize and comiserate with you on "neighbors you don't want"

Y'all enjoy your day!