Elliot´s Trackside Diner - January 2012 Edition

[AmanaMedic]

"One more thing: that pic of the Creamsicle loco, I wanted a model one of those so bad as a kid and ended up with a GM blue & white instead, which I learned to enjoy."

ROB, our neighborhood Hy-Vee Food Store had vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet together in a carton. My poor mom had no idea what I meant when I'd ask her to please get "the Illinois Central ice cream."  

The "Creamsicle" locomotives slowly turned red and then later in life...we had "DEATHSTARS" on the local rails (after the "new" IC bought back what they had sold-off in the late 1980s, and before CN showed up).

The LION: Nice shots! Is THAT what the trespasser sees before he steps on the third rail or gets ran over?

Chris

 

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

Worked on the coal trestle for about 4 hours and I have received the scenic items in the mail today so hopefully next week it will be done.

Took Raine to the new vet today and he is leaning toward something like a bulging disco. He got a steroid shot and we have to watch to see if there is any improvement and go from there but he may need surgery to get better but that is down the road. I like the new vet and he has been a zoo vet so he is comfortable around exotics.

Garry- WOW. That is a large layout.

Rob- I sure hope your horse feels better real soon.

Lion- You do great work. Those cars look like they are zipping by just like a real subway.

 

 

 

 

Healing thoughts to everyone and our animals in need. 

 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good work on the coal trestle Curt.

[saronaterry]

Well, you guys nailed it. Took all 23 engines off the layout and test reprogramed 1 of them, that was it. All 23 are now back in service.

I don't do my own installs or address programs because I don't have CV readback on the Empire Builder.Lucky for me I have a great buddy that loves to do that stuff. So, the whole layout ends up being a program track, ESPECIALLY when some DOPE(me) hits the PROG button while playing trains!! At least I think that's what I did. The utility throttles have a program button and I figure that got hit when I dispatched the engine. I prefer them over the DT400.

  Thanks for the help! Lesson learned.

Jeff, did the yellow box show up with the end ladder yet?

Be back later!

Terry in NW Wisconsin

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Janie just a decaf please.  I'll go sit in the back booth by the stove and keep warm.

Jeremy,  Lion gave some good advise, but I will expand a bit if I may.  Kelvin is used to express the color of light and Lion is correct Full daylight is 5000k or a bit higher.  I am using 5000k lighting with CFLs on my layout.  The standard color you see most often (shop light, and most CFLs ) are 2700k, and are early morning and very much in the yellow spectrum.  Full daylight should be 5000k or higher and is considered noontime.  But just as important for the way the layout will look is the quality of the entire spectrum of light.  Sunlight has all spectrums of light and is considered a "Black Body Resonator" which means it has all pretty much evenly over the entire spectrum of light and beyond (infrared, and ultraviolet etc.)  The old tungsten filament bulbs were considered the closest we could come to being a Black Body Resonator except they were on the yellow side and usually are rated at 3000k IIRC. 

So as well as looking for 5000k or higher, also look for the CRI (color rendering index) for florescent lighting.  Florescents are not Black Body Resonators and do not contain all the wavelengths of light.  The best ones can produce very close color rendering and are "Full Spectrum".  However many "Full Spectrum" lights aren't!  There is little standards for it so most any company can claim to make and sell "full spectrum".  Look for a published CRI of at least 85 or higher.  The index is rated by how closely a color matches what it would look like in sunlight to what it looks like under artificial lighting.  The ones I use have a CRI of at least 90.  Shop lights are about 60....

You can find them at the company (best bulbs I have ever used). http://www.bluemaxlighting.com/full_spectrum_fluorescent_bulbs_38_ctg.htm

Here is the layout under 2700k CRI 80 or lower:

Same shot with 5000k CFLs and a CRI of 91 (using the same automatic setting on the camera, and using color correction in Photoshop on both):

Hope this is helpful.

Later!

73

[Cederstrand]

Chamomile tea, please.

***Curt, nice trestle! Hope the shot works for Raine. A zoo vet has to be a jack of all trades, so sounds like you found a winner.

 Rob

[JeremyB]

wow, thanks for all that info howmus and thanks for the link also.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

saronaterry

Jeff, did the yellow box show up with the end ladder yet?

Yes it did. I sent you a PM about it.

[howmus]

Janie, can I get a refill on the decaf please?  Thank you Ma'am.

Company has been here, we talked trains most all afternoon...  The girls were bored out of their minds I think, but the boyfriend and I had a lot of fun.  Decided to run some trains....  You can guess what happened I'm sure.  My Bachmann 4-8-2 pulling the Lake Shores Limited I fired up went a half inch and quit!  Light would turn on and off and that was it.  Played with it for a bit, and then even the light wouldn't respond.  Found one of the buttons was stuck on the DT-400 and the throttle was doing some strange things.  Shut down the entire system, pulled the battery out of the radio throttle we were using put everything back together and still loco was very dead.  Left it and called up the 4-4-0 # 499 on the head of the Milk Run Train and it pulled out of the yard and ran perfectly.  Let Roger have the throttle and he ran it around the section out of Hopewell yard and back into Hopewell Yard....  Of course the LSL train was blocking the main line because I couldn't get it back in operation.  I finally pulled the 4-8-2 off the layout (using the 0-5-0 Big Hook) and brought out a little Connie (2-8-0) freight engine which I hoped would have enough tractive effort to haul the large passenger train up the 2% grades.  It ran around through the yard onto the yard lead, backed down the main line and coupled onto the train with no problems whatsoever!  I put the throttle back ove into forward, and ........ dead!  Finally hooked on the 0-5-0 at the lead and pulled the whole consist about 6 inches forward and the train took off and ran.....?????  Took off up the 2% grade pulling the consist without any problem.  Gave the throttle to my SIL Julie.  She took her up to the top of Bare Mountain and she proceeded over a curved turnout and derailed!!!  I re-railed it and she proceeded over the turnout again....Derailed again.  couldn't find any reason for it to derail??? 

We decided to go out to dinner after that.  Roger and I talked about trains of course...  Actually the four of us had a good time and it was fun afternoon even with the problems o the layout.  Roger is a Catholic Deacon and currently is a CPA at the county nursing facility.  Seems like a great guy!

Oh, any of you wanting more info about color temperature check here: http://www.3drender.com/glossary/colortemp.htm

Checked out most of the posts I missed today before I posted this one....  Now I'm going to check out a few other threads.

Later!

73

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Ray .... What? You had company and you were operating the layout! The quickest way for gremlins to attack teh layout and the trains is to operate the layout when visitors are present.

Chris ... I've heard many stories from my friend running trains on the IC through Iowa. He also spent time in Paducah. 

Curt ... I like the trestle. 

 

[saronaterry]

Sorry 'bout that ,Jeff! Figured two .44 stamps would have been plenty. Glad it worked for you!

Terry in NW Wisconsin

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Time for me to call it a night. I did some work on the two dummy locos that came in today. One is a Varney F3B and it's all metal. It weighs in at one pound, and it's a dummy! It would take a strong loco to pull it and a train. I have got to fit that die cast metal body to an Athearn F7 powered chassis. That would make for some immense pulling power in a consist. The other F3B is very nearly identical in appearance except for color and the fact it's all plastic. I had to put some lead in it to keep the wheels from climbing the rails. It's been stripped and is an almost embarrassing shade of pink. Put a *** cancer awareness logo on it and it would almost look like it belonged there. It looks to be an early 60's model. I've seen the same body used by Varney, Athearn and a couple of others. The all metal one looks to be a 50's model. I bet I could get that body on the F3B powered chassis in my F3A-F3B-F7B all power consist.

See y'all tomorrow.

[james saunders]

Sunday arvo here, saturday night for most of you, so good evening!

 

Just sitting here with a few cold beverages enjoying the 3rd test match vs India in the cricket.

Just a quick stop.

 

See you all tomorrow.

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

Today is Sunday, January 15th, 2012!!!

{almost half way through January already, can you believe it?}

 

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

 

 

 

[JeremyB]

Morning guys

Still very cold out there this morning -16c. I dont think I feel like going to the local train show this year. Its just not like it used to be as they have changed locations and its kind of cramped as the show is in 3 rooms which are connected by small corridors so its just creates a cramped environment. Plus I have alot of work to do on my layout and I know if I go I will make alot of impulse purchases,lol

[LSWrr]

Good Morning,

We only got a “decent” amount of snow over the last 48 hours nothing near the 12”+ the weather guessers predicted.

The brass caterpillar tender kit will go to the bay for reassignment as well as a few brass steam engines and caboose units.  Not sure if I should sell them in a LOT or individually.   Most of them have never been out of the box.

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee and the Sunday Breakfast Buffet please. Thanks.

Sunny, with a high near 34.

Terry- That’s horrible news about the lady and her son. She will have a very tough way to go emotionally I‘m sure. My prayers are definitely with her.

Dennis- Glad you’re feeling better. A two day Churcher eh? I remember as a little kid Going to the Nebo Baptist Church on Sunday morning of course, then evening and then again Wednesday nights. Don’t remember why on Wednesday nights though. Been a long time ago. As a Methodist I’m used to talking about how religious and faithful I am as long as I’m only giving an hour of time a week and then complaining if the Preacher goes 5 minutes over on Sunday. Had this one old codger (rest his soul), I kid you not, would be there ever Sunday, talk about the Lord’s work, give freely because “it’s the Lord’s work”, but when the clock struck 10 am….he would get up and walk out. Yup, no foolin. Just get up and walk out as if the movie ended. Don’t think he ever did in the middle of the final prayer if that’s when it came. But Church was for an hour. And when the hour was up..., he had things to do.

Ray- Sorry, forgot it was only a model. Don’t attach the builts to the ground? Hm. They sure look like they are set in. We’ll have to revisit this subject once I get back into Toddland (of which I am king)

Curt- I am always impressed at how quickly you’re layout has come so far. Seems like just a month ago you laid the first piece of track. I know you had most all the stuff already before you started, but it’s still’s pretty quick. You’re doing a great job too.

Aussie Jim- Do you Australians really drink Fosters or is that just what you save for the tourists to drink and then laugh about it?

Floor Wars Williamsville: Phase….I lost track- Despite the setback, yesterday I finished the floors in the rooms so far. Yup. Nothing left to do. No trim piece to finish, no doorway to complete, no little odds or ends left undone. Well, except for the transition into my office. THAT will depend on what flooring material I (yes, I said “I”) choose. Maaaaybe I’ll break from tradition and today make a transition for now anyway just to make it look nice. Besides I have a car to fix and two other rooms to do before I get to this one. May take a while and it will at least not look, well, undone. Never know.

Sat and talked with Brenda a lot yesterday. She claims to see my points and understands. Again.  A lot to think about still, but, I highly doubt I’m going anywhere but back down to the train room. Maybe the doghouse from time to time. I do love her and this is the “or worse” they warned me about I guess. Nah, could always be worse. Besides, I doubt if she’d let me have the dog. I do love that dog. She even got adventurous and made me a casserole. Some kind of a Greek casserole. Same unusual post traumatic catering? I don’t think so, this thing was awful so she obviously didn’t dig for something she knew I’d like. Who would put cinnamon in a meat dish with tomatoes and garlic?

Welp, wanna cruise the “bay” for a bit to see what I can’t live without, then do some more odds and ends around here until Brenda goes to and comes back from her taking care of her Mother, who is getting along fabulously I must say, so we can go out for our weekly visit to the Chinese Booffay and the to the Walmart for some geroceries. Probably stop off at Menard’s to pick her tile boarder for the kitchen since I’ll be around to do that.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[gear-jammer]

Good morning, Chloe.  I will have my coffee in a NP mug, please.  We woke up to 4 inches of snow this morning.  It appears to have come out of the SW, so it will probably by gone by noon.

Later,  Sue

[blownout cylinder]

Morning..

I got the flu ...so if'n you have a low immune system thing going don't come anywhere near me...where did I put my face mask with the HEPA filter now...

We woke up to a wonderful -20C here this morning..with the windchill at -29C...just a jotous time to be had here in IceBerg/ville...

Lee:  If some of the brass pieces are NIB you might want to consider separating those ones out of the others...you never know you might get good responses on those ones...

BTW...I found a brass barn set recently in HO scale that was in a Goodwill here...does anyone know of a manufacturer that made farm or other building kits out of brass?  

[Cederstrand]

Italian Roast coffee in a  AT&SF  mug, please.

***Todd, do you have a tile cutter? I still have no way to cut tiles when it's time to make the wood stove base. Figure I'll "make it work" without cutting. (About the other stuff, appreciate what you have, it could all disappear before you know it.)

Will be in a corner booth, trying to wake up.  Rob

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 38° and sunny. The high will be 66° and it will be mostly sunny. There's a 40% chance of rain tonight.

Speaking of rain, the most recent rains dropped a little over three inches on us.

Today I'm going to do some work on the F3B in my F3A-F3B-F7B powered consist. It has an Athearn super power frame but no super weight. If everything goes right it'll have the heavy die-cast metal Varney body on it by tonight. That will make the A unit of the consist the lightest of the three. The F3A and F3B both have Athearn frams. The F7B has a heavy Proto 1000 frame. If I don't get too busy with it and there are no interruptions I may be able to squeeze in some time to work on the junkyards. The metal F3B body has a dark primer on it already.

[JeremyB]

I think your sister is right V8 you still can get the flu even after the shot but I think you just dont get as bad of one. At least that's what I have always herd, but hey Im no doctor . Hope you guys feel better soon. Cold and flu season sucks.

[BroadwayLion]

LION, RN says that the Flu Shot is a crap shoot. They design and produce the flu shots in March to May and a more or less guessing what strains they will have to protect against in the fall. It is an educated guess, since they know where it is coming from, but they cannot always get it just right. Each year the flu shot protects against three or for strains that are likely to be about. This is why you need a new shot each year: they are expecting different strains. And even if they guess the strain correctly they might not use the correct key for the lock, and the vaccine will not bind to the virus correctly.

That said, you are better off with the shot than without it.

Most of what "people" call the "Flu" is no such thing at all. They tend to call any cold bigger than a sniffle the "Flu." It is not, although a full week of weakness, aches and pains is a darn good indicator. CDC only counts those cases confirmed by a physician or clinic, the first instances must be confirmed by lab tests, but once it is in the neighborhood, the practitioner can diagnose Influenza by the common symptoms and contacts that they have seen without the lab tests. They will probably do the tests anyway, because that earns them more money.

ROAR

[JeremyB]

What I am always worried about this time of year is pneumonia. I have had it three times since 2003. The first time was the worst though and I still remember it to this day because the girlfriend and I were moving at the time I had a came down with a 104f fever on a friday which lasted until Monday and when I finally went to my doctor he told me that I should have been in the Hospital and for lack of better terms that not going was "stupid" he didnt say that but I could get that vibe from him,lol. Oh well I was 18 and dumb and didnt want to be in a hospital. My mom was PO'd when the girlfriend told her how high the fever really was.

He put me on some heavy medication and actually thought about admitting me to the hospital but the fever had dropped a bit by then and he just let me go home, but told me that if it ever gets that high again I better find myself in the hospital.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

V8Vega

did you have a flu shot? I am curious as I had a flu shot and just got over the flu. My sister says you may get the flu even though you have had a flu shot. Mine started Sunday night till next Sat morning yesterday. I was still weak but realized I was over the flu. I wish you well.

You can still get the flu even after getting a flu shot. The vaccine takes two weeks to build up antibodies in your system. Even though you got the shot you can still be infected but it will be a much milder case than if you didn't get the shot. In many cases you won't get the flu at all or the case could be so mild you'd pass it off as a cold. I had times in the past when I didn't get the shot that I'd have the flu for nearly a month and could hardly get out of bed. Which would you rather have? Flu for a month or for a week?

[jeffrey-wimberly]

It took a little doing but I got the Varney die-cast metal F3B body to fit on an Athearn F7 frame in my F3A-F3B-F7B consist. Now I just need to find some black paint. The antique metal shell takes the place of a Proto 2000 F3B shell which quite honestly was making the F3A and F7B look bad as they're lower quality shells. The consist reads as a real laundry list.

F3A. Athearn frame, Blomberg trucks and shafts. Proto 2000 motor, DZ125 decoder, Stewart F3A shell.

F3B. Athearn frame, Blomberg trucks, shafts, motor. DZ125 decoder, Varney die-cast metal F3B shell.

F7B. Proto 2000 frame, Proto 2000 AAR trucks, Athearn worms/shafts, Power Points West motor, DZ125 decoder, Athearn Hi-F F7B shell.

[howmus]

Afternoon folks!

Chloe, I'll have the fish sandwich, fries, and a Cherrypharm for lunch.

Lots of little white thingies falling from the sky at the moment.  Not supposed to amount to anything, and looks nice.  I can say THAT now being home from church and not having to go out in it at the moment.

I was one of the Ushers this morning and got to give the moment for mission this morning about The Martin Luther King Committee and the work we do in the community.  Part of THAT (M4M) is usually done by me being in the "role" and lettin' loose, so to speak.  I was called up from the congregation, quietly steped up to the podium, and roared, GOOD MORNING!! at the top of lungs!  Then gave my Moment for mission which included the words of Dr. King "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."  Then went on to say what the committee is trying to accomplish with that in mind.  I did not see untill later that a guest this morning in church was one of the local Black Pastors (he was there leading adult education I believe).  After church he was standing by the door of the sanctuary shaking hands with people, I cam along , he grabbed my hand in a vise grip, jumped up and down and proclaimed, "THAT my friend was awesome!"   My minister was next.  He too gave my a huge hand shake and just grinned!  Guess I did good....  I have been on the committee for 22 years now.  I blame my minister for getting me involved....  Seeing the end result of the positive things happening over those 22 years in our community and in the lives of the kids who have received scholarships from us, I am happy to be part of it.

Flu....  Yep, hard for the scientists and medical people to always predict what mutations will come along at any time with the flu.  And yep, a lot of people who say they had the flu, may not have.  I get my flu shot every year.  Have been lucky as anything resembling the flu I have had in the lasy many years has been mild...  Hope my luck holds out on THAT!

Have a bit of stuff to get done this afternoon, so I best get at it.

Later!

73

[Cederstrand]

Coffee refill, please.

***Jeffrey, that will be a good looking MU when the B unit is painted to match. As fast as you work, it may already be done.

Puchased 10 sets of Intermountain trucks w/ couplers. Hopefully they will fit some of my vintage cars. If they do, I'll pick up some more. Sure would beat selling them off to buy new (expensive) models, even if the newer ones probably look better. My eyes aren't that great anyway.

Had a nice chat with some neighbors who dropped by on horseback. Only in the country! Then finished up farm chores for now. Thought I'd use the old tracktor for taking a bale out to the mini pasture, only to lose it off the back and have a real fight trying to pick it back up. Oops!

 Rob 

 

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

I left work early today because I was dizzy and extremely nauseous. My partner said I was as white as a sheet.  I got home took some Meclizine and laid down. After sleeping for 3 hours the dizziness was gone but I have a sour stomach, a bit of a headache and heartburn. Before I left the guys checked me out pretty thoroughly from temp to 12L EKG and everything was normal. I guess that is a advantage to being at work when you get sick.

I bit the bullet last night and bought 2 Bachmann RF-16 A units. They were $113 for both and free shipping so I got a pretty good deal. I will need to put on train phones and put sound in one of them at least initially.

I think Wednesday I am going to go to the LHS and see what I can find for ground cover. I would really like to put grass or maybe brick on the ramp to the coal trestle instead of just painting it.

Jeff- You continue to amaze me with what you can do with so little.

Rob- Be careful and don't hurt yourself on the farm 

Everyone take care.