Elliot´s Trackside Diner - January 2012 Edition

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Janie, just a decaf for me.  I'll be keeping warm by the stove in the back.

Jeffrey, glad to hear you will still be active in the teaching capacity at the fire Station.  Good training makes for good safety!

Did some more track tonight.  Got about 3 foot more installed and ready for trains.  I also removed the decoder form the 4-8-2 THAT went on the fritz last weekend to see if the decoder was OK.  I found the box with a PK2 0-6-0 NYC switcher I have never gotten ready for the layout.  Pulled the tender apart and took out the CD stuff and then installed the decoder.  Hooked jumpers form the track to the loco and called up the number.  Gave her a bit of throttle and the wheels turned just fine....  So now I know it is the loco not the decoder....  Will send the loco in to Bachmann fro repair later.  Then I decide to use the last of the NCE decoders still in the package I got several Years ago and install it into the 0-6-0 while I had it open....  Wouldn't work!  Found it wasn't seated correctly.  Hooked it up again and "flash"...  Couldn't figure out what THAT was at first, but the loco still wouldn't turn.  Checked again and the jumper form the decoder to the loco wasn't pushed in all the way.  Called up the loco (on 03) and now the wheels turned just fine, right direction even.  Try the lights, nothing!  So, I guess I fried the headlights playing around with things.  Oh well, steam locos in 1925 didn't run with headlights during the day anyway!  I'll fix them sooner or later (bet on later...).

Time to turn in for the night.  Prayers for all in need!

73

[edit]  HEY!  What is this?  Top of the page twice in one day?  Sheesh!  OK, girls, just put in on my tab.  I'll settle up in the morning.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Went to the fire station tonight to turn in my walking papers. While I was there they had a scenario playing out for the newer folks. While the answers being given to the questions were good the reasoning behind the questions and answers wasn't being explained. There were several points that I had to help clarify because I couldn't let them go on without seeing the safety aspect of what was being presented. Afterward I turned in my turnout gear, badge and radio. I will however continue helping out in a teaching capacity but I won't be working fire scenes or working on the trucks. They let me keep my badge and my rank of captain and position of Safety Officer but my job now is just to help teach. Being a volunteer I don't get any pay for it but knowing that what I teach the fire fighters will help keep them safe is payment enough.

Got the prostate exam done this morning. What a pain in the butt! Nuff said about that.

Tore apart an Athearn F7B Hi-F dummy loco and put in a Proto 2000 FA1 frame with EMD F7 trucks. So now I have a powered F7B with an Alco FA1 fuel tank and trucks that are set a bit closer together than is normal for an F7. It's a little bit of an attention getter.

Time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

Hope everyone is well tonight. I have everything done on the coaling trestle except gluing down people which I will do tomorrow since the glue is drying on the ground now. The Bar-Mills wood fencing gives  a really nice touch to it. I figure that I probably spent more on the project than if I had just bought the AMB PRR coaling trestle, but I have a lot more satisfaction with the end product. I will post pictures tomorrow.

Ulrich- That is a sweet looking loco, Congrats.

Everyone take care.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Welcome to moelarrycurly4 of Paducah ... Feel free to visit the Diner often! ... I, too, am in Western KY. It was rather stormy yesterday.

Ulrich ... Looks like the 4-6-4 is a beauty!

Barry .... The cars in the pictures are like the ones my grandparents used to complain about. The car companies left off the running boards. 

I made more progress with my background city scene. The townhouses are done. 

Happy Model Railroading!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Cederstrand

 

jeffrey-wimberly:

 

Today I find myself looking at three dummy locos. 

 

 

***Jeffrey, think it's possible to educate them?

One has already moved up in the world. It has a hybrid chassis made from Athearn and Life-Life parts. The fuel tank is smaller and the Blomberg trucks are a bit closer together than what's normal for an F7.

 

[Cederstrand]

jeffrey-wimberly

Today I find myself looking at three dummy locos. 

***Jeffrey, think it's possible to educate them?

Coffee refill, please.

Time for evening critter rounds.  Rob

[blownout cylinder]

Ray:  Yep. Indeed it be from Sorrycuse NY...I've been collecting a few more of those things too..need to put them up on my photobucket account...

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Today I find myself looking at three dummy locos. An F3B and two F7B's. The F3B is a Varney, one of the F7B's is an Athearn Hi-F and the other F7B is an Athearn blue box body on an old Bachmann F7 frame with a pancake motor. The gears were removed to make it free wheeling. My intention is to repower all of them. I already have one power chassis from a Proto 2000 FA1 with Athearn F7 trucks. It's an unusual looking beast but it works, or will work once I get a decoder for it.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Got the prostate exam and PSA test out of the way. It would have helped if they were both in the same town. PSA test was in Leesville, the exam was two towns over in DeRidder. Also stopped by the bank and the registrar of voters office.

[howmus]

Afternoon folks!

Chloe, I could sure use a cup of Hot Chocolate right now.  I'll go sit next to the stove and get warmed back up.

I've been delivering Art and Poetry, and Certificates/prize money to all the different schools here in town this afternoon...  It is raw outside!  Found a couple reasons much of the city was without power last night.  Several huge limbs and trees came down in the wind storm.  One was a two or three foot diameter maple that got ripped in half...  Too bad I don't have time to go gather some firewood for next year......... 

Thanks Barry!  Yeah, those things are supposed to happen somewhere else, not in our nice little community......  While I was at the High School the city youth officer walked by, gave me a wave, and said, "Hi Ray".  I mentioned to him how powerful a message the police dept. gave marching with us on Monday.  He grinned from ear to ear and gave me the thumbs up.  People forget that the little things that can be done can make big difference at times.  BTW, is THAT last photo you posted from Sorrycuse, NY or some other place?

Now I'm hoping I can find my way down to the train room for a bit.

Later!

73

 

[Cederstrand]

BBQ Chips, please.

***Barry, guitar cases modifed for storing trains. Cool idea!

***Ulrich, that 4-6-4 is a nice looking loco. Congrats!

 Rob

[blownout cylinder]

MLC4!! Come sit a spell!!

Good Afternoon...

Nice and yucky here..all of 20F and snowy...wonderful weather to stay indoors ...

I ended up getting, from our neighbour, mind, two hardshell guitar cases that are being converted by moi into carriers for my locomotives and rolling stock...I found some foam that will be good for storage purposes until such a time that I can find some cabinets for that purpose...

Ray:  What happened there must be rather hard on that community. My heart goes to the families concerned....

[moelarrycurly4]

Mornin from Western KY 

30 degrees and brr here this morning

I think a small tornado went thru the neighborhood yesterday my back yard is littered in shingles and insultaion

[LSWrr]

What were you thinking Todd?  I’m glad you liked the pictures.  The design was completely regulated to fit under the layout and through the side door of the house, LOL. .  I did consider storing the cars on their wheels, but then I wouldn’t be able to see the car sides so I went with shallow drawers where they can lay on their sides.  300 cars without stacking, we will see how good my math is once it’s filled.  Empty the cabinet with drawers weighs about 40 pounds.  I’m still thinking about a second dresser for the other side of the layout for locomotives and passenger cars.  If I do that I will cut grooved boards so they can rest on their wheels.

[Anonymous]

Good Evening Gang!

Thought I´d better drop by before someone puts me on the MIA list. I am still around. Not much happening in my life right now, so there is really nothing to report. Life just goes its usual way - don´t know whether this is good or bad. I only have the feeling that each day takes me a little farther away from living my dream - you know, that little log cabin by the lake, the red pick-up truck parked in the driveway. My search for job opportunities in the US or Canada has come to a grinding halt - not the slightest suitable opening within reach for me.

Petra and I have had it with this winter. It´s not really a winter, just miserable weather with temps around freezing. No snow, fortunately no ice either. Southern Germany got a sizable dose of that white stuff -  I am glad we didn´t.

You folks had me wondering for a while. What the heck is MLK day? It took me a while to find out that this is a day to honor Martin Luther King. Abbreviations, abbreviations ...

Thanks to a donation, I now have this beauty on order in Japan:

Man, I can hardly wait for it to arrive! I need to get rid of that Arnold type coupler - I´d like to change to Kadees (Micro-Trains). I have been searching the web, but all I found are pages in Japanese. The Google translation is, well forum policy prohibits the use of the words that come to my mind.

Jeff - that junkyard looks .

Flo, dinner time! I´ll go for a tenderloin steak, medium, baked potatoes, mixed salad with blue cheese dressing and a , please.

Have a good one!

[howmus]

Mornin' folks!

Zoe, I'll have a breakfast bagel w/ cheese and sausage and a cup (or two) of dark roast coffee in a FGLK mug please.

Curt, but we can have snowball fights, go skiing and sledding.....  You can't!

Still windy outside the door (17mph with gusts to 24mph) and a bit colder, 21°F.  Will also get a few flurries maybe an inch or so.  Nothing to cause any problems.  I shut down quick last night as the lights had been flickering here in Geneva, and suddenly everything outside went black!  For a few minutes the only homes with electric were on my street.  Even with the battery back up I have, I figured I best get 'er powered down as quick as possible.  Rochester news was saying 9000 RG&E customers in Monroe County were without power with a lot more scattered around the Finger Lakes region.

Todd, what you said!   I had THAT exact same conversation yesterday with the lady who chairs our Art and Poetry contest.  She was an MLK Scholarship winner way back, and was a young lady heading down the wrong path in her life.  Went to college, began to think more of herself and who she could be.  She now works at Hillside School (think jail for incorrigible youth) doing student evaluations.  My DIL is a teacher in the same group as she.  They deal daily with those who have had some "difficult" experiences.  many were born addicted to drugs, many have serious medical issues that cause them to have erratic behavior, some have been abused in various ways, etc.  Her take on the incident is, the officer did what he had to do, and it ain't like the kid was some choir boy you know....  Still tragic in our small city, but maybe the start of efforts to prevent kids from going that route....

Train front.....  Last night I checked out the loco THAT quit when company was here.  Put in the workbench and removed the cover on the tender.  Can't find anything making the motor bind (without taking it all apart which I don't want to get into) and the Decoder doesn't physically appear to be burned.  Today if I get a chance, I will pull the 0-6-0 still in the box on the shelf and see if the decoder can be put into it to check the decoder.  If it w*rks in the 0-6-0 then obviously the problem is in the motor or wiring.  Back to Bachmann.  Funny it was running fine just the day before......

Hope to get some of the art and poetry back to the buildings today and out of the back of my car.

Later!

73

[Stourbridge Lion]

Good Morning Modelers!

It's 32F in the Mile High this morning as we head are way up to the 60's.  Those in Seattle, WA area I feel for ya as I know 10" of snow your you is like several feet for us.  Happy shoveling!

[Cederstrand]

Italian Roast coffee in a  Southern Pacific  mug, please.

***Todd, that's a good idea with Missy. Labs are very smart so nothing would surprise me.

***Sue, guess I should check in with my WA. relatives south of you in Rochester & Toledo. If it is snowing that much in Toledo, bet my sister and her family have already made some mighty snow creatures. That is if they aren't cross country skiing somewhere.

***Garry, I have found planning is easier than doing. When I make some actual progress on the ideas bouncing off the walls in my head, I'll let you know.

Need to head down to the barn and remove MsBeDownTown's bandage and then soak her foot awhile. That should be interesting.

Have a good day all.

 Rob 

 

[Curt Webb]

Morning All,

Off w**k today so I'm doing laundry right now. Going to do a couple of things on the layout before going to the LHS. MOH is going with me. I always offer if she is home but she rarely says yes. Last night she jumped at the chance because of  how board she is at the house by herself. I think afterwords I'll take her out to a nice lunch (she deserves it).

I really feel for all of you in the sleet and snow because I'm in shorts today

Jeff- Best of luck on your exam today.

Well I'm going to head up to the layout. Everybody have a great day.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 41° and sunny. The high will be 59° and it will be mostly sunny. It's looking like 39° for tonight.

I have a couple of hours before I have to leave to go to DeRidder so I'm doing a little work on the plastic Varney F3B. Right now it's a dummy unit. As soon as I can afford one I'll get an Athearn blue box power chassis to go under the shell. I like these older shells. They're tough, don't have a bazillion tiny details screaming 'break me' and could be handled by a gorilla and not show it. I've had the F3 A-B-B consist going on a test run with fifty cars, most of the fifty foot variety, nearly a dozen are forty footers and two are of the sixty foot variety. All are weighted to NMRA RP20.1 weight or better. The three locos are running like there are no cars there. Seemingly like no effort at all. Cars? What cars? Oh, is that the piece of paper were pulling?

See y'all later.

The F3 A-B-B consist in action.

[gear-jammer]

Good morning, Chloe.  It is a good day for a hot breakfast with my coffee.  I think biscuits and your great sausage gravy will stick to my ribs.

Cederstrand

***Sue, are you guys going to make a Snow Train in the yard?

Rob & Johnboy,  Looks like we have 8 more inches of snow and it is still coming down.  It is deep enough now that it goes over the top of my barn boots.  They are predicting up to 20  inches at the ski areas.  As usual, both offices are closed.  Western Washington with the hills just shuts down when we have snow.

Snow day, Play day.  I wonder if it is too deep for telemark turns today.  If nothing else, I plan to spend some time on the car shop that I am scratch building.

Later,  Sue

 

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

Lee: We, too, got that wonderful scenario yesterday, except we found ourselves a wee bit of sun and 2 t'underin'boomers here...now..we are snowing and at a wonderful 18F

Going to be an at home fellow today..get to spend some time doing some trainroom stuff ...and run some choochoos....heeheehee

Flo, I'll have a coffee and a toast with jam please...

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee and a waffle sandwich please. Thanks. What? Oh. That’s two waffles stacked with bacon in the middle. A double order. Yes still butter and maple syrup.

Sunny, with a high near 31.

Rob- Yes Missy is fun. But she's not scared of storms, or doesn’t appear to be. It’s that Brenda, whenever there has been a bad storm, goes to the basement and takes the dog with her. Now the dog associates thunder, with going to the basement. Not a bad thing I guess and Brenda encourages the behavior. I was also suppose to take the dog to the basement every first Tues of the month at 10 when they test the sirens. That way, when the sirens go off if we aren’t home, she will go to the basement. Not sure the dog would if we aren’t home and I haven’t wo*ked on that yet.

Lion- The wiper story is funny.

Ray- I’m glad cooler heads prevailed. Many people talk a lot about what someone should do and should not have done in a situation. It all sounds good and looks good on paper. Problem is very few have actually been in a situation where you have literally a split second to make a life or death decision and hope it’s right. Real gun? Fake gun. Gun? Phone. The longer a suspect “stalls” or takes to comply, the more concerned the officer gets. Then tries to figure out why he’s taking so long and if or wht he’s up too. Then when the object shows….there’s that spit second. IF it was a gun, white or black guy makes no difference, that split second is all he’d need to shoot you or someone else. Who says the days of the wild west quick draw show down shoot out in the streets are over. Unfortunately, when the gun turns to be a phone or some other object….sad for all.

Let this be a lesson to you young folks. I hope you are never in that situation, but that officer, whether he shows it or not is as nervous as you actually more. You have the upper hand sse, you have a good idea of what he's gonna do. He has no idea what you are gonna do. Your phone is NOT that important. When he sees your hands up, he wants to see them empty.

Whoa Lee! Impressive! I must admit that isn’t exactly what I had in my mind when you were building it though. I like it.

Me modeling? No not yet. Today I must go to the Church and do the W-2’s I suppose. Then it looks like I’m heading into town to see about getting some tile and or the refridge-a-deezer. They didn't have enough of the tile in over the weekend so if they got more in I'll get it and if they don't I'll wait. I'm NOT gonna get 2/3 a floor of tile only to have the bozo behind the smile say "sorry, I guess they don't carry that anymore." Othernat, I’m pretty much in clean up mode til the tile.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[LSWrr]

Good Morning All,

 

Well we got the deluxe sampler pack of weather yesterday: 1” of rain with 25-55 mph winds followed by driving sleet, followed by hail, followed by a thunderstorm, more sleet, then caped off with 3” of snow.  All we need now is some lemon-lime snow cone flavoring and a giant cherry.

 

Garry, yes we have several stray modelers out there, and who knows what their up too…

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

 

 

 

[galaxy]

{I'm up and not sleeping with this WIND going at 45-50 MPH so here goes:}

GOOD MORNING!!!

Today is Wednesday, January 18th, 2012!!!

Have a Great Day!!!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good evening...

John Boy ... Thanks for the comment. Feel free to make one of those buildings yourself. It's really nit hard using the DPM modular kits. 

Jeff ... I doubt any of the guys here likes that sort of exam. Your F unit looks like it is right out of the paint shop. No weathering yet.

Ray ... You reminded me. I was so busy yesterday, it did not even think about its being a holiday. 

Rob ... Are you getting some new ideas for the model railroad? After soylany green what else is there? 

I'm working on a background scene immediately to the left of the freight house I just made. It will have a retaining wall with buildings about that. 

I'm thinking we have several MIA's. Time to round them up. How about prime rib tomorrow evening in the Diner? 

 

[cudaken]

 Evening Folks!

 Thank You Flo.

  Hail Storm Update Well there is really no up date. I saw no damage done to any of the cars out side. Sure sounded like the hail was the sizes of Canned Ham's!

 Well, need to get going, I go in at 9:00 AM so I have to be up at 7:45. 

 Later.

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Janie just a decaf for the moment.  I'll be in the back by the stove with my flashlight...

Calling for very high winds (already have arrived) Gusts as high as 60mph in some areas.  Current winds are from the West at 32 mph.  I was down cellar w*rking on the layout and the lights flickered several times.  I suppose I should find where I put the kerosene lanterns after the last time i used them......

One clarification I should make about my statement this morning concerning the shooting last summer.  The officer was completely cleared of any mistake by the investigation.  He acted reasonably considering the situation.  He resigned from the dept. a week later.  Unfortunately he had a reputation for being a bit heavy handed during arrests and doing profiling at times.  But, I can tell you I would pulled the trigger myself if I was placed where he was.  The cooler heads I mentioned were from both the community at large (the mayor, etc) and many, many leaders in the Black community.  OK enough said!

Got the banking done today, reprinted a bunch of award certificates that I found were awful looking (printed with the laser printer using ink jet certificates....), printed the snail mail copies of the Division Newsletter.  Need to compose a short plea to those folks to give us a working email address so we don't have to waste funds mailing them a copy.  Little by little.  I did put down some new ties and painted a bunch of the PC ties in the small yard today.

Lee, that is fantastic work on the dresser.  It looks great!

73

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Time for me to call it a night. I have a long and boring day ahead of me tomorrow. See y'all sometime tomorrow.