Elliot´s Trackside Diner - January 2012 Edition

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Janie just a decaf for me right now.  I'll go sit in the back by the stove for a few minutes and unwind.

I have the Art and Poetry finally ready to go back to the schools today.....  Tomorrow it leaves my house for good!  Got photos of everything too large to scan and have them on my second hard drive on the G5.  I also gave my old wide format HP printer to a local church today.  They sometime have a need to make some large posters so it should work well for them.  Their associate pastor is a close friend of mine and it is a poor church in town, so i feel good the old printer will have a good home for a bit longer befor it goes to recycling.

The new Epson Workforce 1100 is awesome!  I printed up about 10 13 x 19 full bleed color photos on it so far.  Beautiful results.  It will become the workhorse printer for me just as soon as the old Samsung Color Laser printer either runs out of toner, or decides it can't print with the damaged/worn out imaging belt and other internal stuff.  It is about 6 years old and has worn out 2 units now.  Each belt, etc. is rated for 50,000 copies and will cost $350 to replace.  Don't do that kind of volume anymore.

So Ken, just another day in paradise, huh?

Garry, sure no one was on the bridge when it happened.  Should snarl up traffic for quite a while I would imagine.  Have a safe trip!

Barry, I used to live a quarter mile from the county fairgrounds when I was a kid.  every Saturday night was either stock car or drag racing....  You could hear those monsters inside the house without any trouble.  Went to a few of them.....  Liked to sit as close as I could....  Huh?!?  What's THAT you say!?!  Them Nitro fuel thingies could sure make a racket!!  Last time I saw one up close and personal was at the Mopar Nationals back about a decade or so ago....  Can't understand what happened to my hearing?

Prayers for those in need (and that is probably all of us)!

73

[cudaken]

 Good Morning Fellow Dinners!

 Well it is now Friday 01-27-2012 and I am still awake.

 Hum, need to go to , I will be paying for it shortly.

               Beer is good.

                            ken

[Anonymous]

Good Morning Gang!

Although I did not catch much sleep last night, I feel a little better this morning. The shivering inside is gone, but I still feel kind of weak. Nothing much planned for the day, so I will try to get some more rest.

This morning we had a surprise - the first real snow this season! Yesterday, we had a temperature drop down to about 25 F, and there is about 2" of snow. The first snow always causes a disaster on the roads - I am glad I don´t have to go anywhere.

Ken - I feel for you. Working in chaos and disaster is not my cup of tea, unless it is my chaos!

Have a good one & stay safe!

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

 

 

 

 

 

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

Today is Friday, January 27th, 2012!!!

Let the weekend commence when the work day is over!!!

Time for WPF!!!

[LSWrr]

Good Morning All,

 

I’m only 6 pages behind this morning.  Tuesday night the steering was acting funny on my truck found one bolt holding the steering gear box had broke flush with the frame, another was loose and ready to let go, and the third was good to go.  Lucky I caught it before I lost steering on the highway or something.  Each bolt and washer cost me $9.50 from the dealership.

 

Galaxy, I can go into home Depot or Wal-Mart with a simple list but I can’t seem to leave without spending $100.

 

Wednesday night I was heading out to the train club meeting and there were several police cars and the medical examiners car in front of my house.  The woman across the street had passed away a few years ago and he granddaughter and great grand daughter from Cincinnati moved in.  The great granddaughter (10?) had cancer and was being treated in Cleveland.  Any way I guess the Mom was found dead in the home when he mom came home from school.  Very sad.  Both of them were good neighbors over the past 6 years…

 

Garry, that’s a big job I have making the bridge owners repair lights on their bridges!  They just don’t understand what might happen.  Those bulbs may cost up to $300 each, but is worth the investment.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Two bridge spans are were knocked down. One is across the bow of a cargo ship (not a barge).

Our neighbors on our road were on the bridge. They were in two vehicles. She drove across okay. He was a short distance behind. He was immediately behind vehicles that were able to stop without going in the water. A close call for them.

Nobody was hurt.

News video:

http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Eggner-Ferry-Bridge-collapses-after-barge-strike-138171574.html

We are leaving now. Don't know when I will be on a computer again.

 

 

Lee ... I thought of you because of your job.

bye

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

We  are going to see a bit of everything that might fall from the sky today..otherwise just plain ol' dull and dreary and cold...

Floor Wars: London ON division:  Next job...coating said floor. Then it will be kitchen/powder room/bathroom and entrance way....

Ray: A few years ago some big city types moved into Sparta and tried to shut down the St. Thomas Dragstrip here due to noise complaints..that got turned down though as they had been there for years before they showed up. Of course one has to ask why buy a property not more than 400 yards fro m a dragstrip in the first place Myself, I have, yet,(knocking on oak flooring here) to have hearing issues...and that was in spite of working in a foundry and other various noisy environments....try bars as a member of a band....

Lee:  I can see the argument from here...but it costs money!! Waaaaaa!! Or something to that effect Here, we had a bridge, that crossed over the CN tracks on Sarnia Rd that finally is getting replaced after getting clobbered I don't know how many times. That bridge was a single lane which crossed over the CN at 90 degrees to the track..while the road was at a 30 degree angle to said track..trucks usually did the number on it..and we would have to go around the long way to get home...

Today is going to be get a few things for w**k at w**k this weekend and maybe, if'n I'm  really lucky I might be able to see about some mrr time...

Flo, I'll have a coffee and a breakfast bagel for now please..I'll be at the RC for a bit...

[blownout cylinder]

Oh...something to consider....

Apostrophe to the Apostrophe 

O, little mark upon the page 
I see your use is all the rage. 
With every use we must assess 
Whether there's something you possess; 
Or are you employed without any thought 
Just to keep a sentence short? 
Does your absence suggest you're single 
Have you gone someplace to mingle - 
Are you with company and getting closer: 
Are you making out with the grocer? 
O, Little mark, hear my indignation 
Please remain an an indication 
Of things possessed, held or owned 
(where the truth must be intoned), 
Or missing letters within a sentence - 
Be punctuation in transcendence! 
Hear these words I write to thee, 
My dear, sweet apostrophe

a little missive by Duncan Parsons

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,

    37F and rainy this morning. Still up to my eyeballs in it here in the shop. Got the Amhearst stuff sorted and underway at home and they will load the rent a truck this morning at the museum for the trip up. Started checking couplers and trucks on the cars I'll run on the display this weekend- so far so good.

   Ken - I hate it when all THAT stuff happens at once. Any better prospects yet?

   Ulrich - glad you feel better.

   Garry - you won't see this likely til you return, but have a good trip.   Here's my coffee andI'm back to the shop floor. CUL, J.R.

[galaxy]

RAY and BLOWNOUT-In my younger days so long ago,  I used to race mini cars at the nearby stockcar racing track, abut a mile form our house as the crow flies. We raced on different days from the WInston racing series and the stock cars were rather loud on calm summer nights at  our house and rthe surrounding neighborhood. A guy came to the door witha  petiton to get them to stop racing earlier than 11:00 pm. My father saiid "oh, I can't sign this. We are racers".!!!!

Hope everyone who is feeling under the weather {including myself } feels better!!!!

Well, back to what I was doing..

[Curt Webb]

Morning All,

Not much planned. MOH and I are taking my parents to lunch today and who am I kidding, I'm going to try to get track laid today since I put down the roadbed last night before going to bed. It's about a 12 ft section with most of  it straight.

I'll talk to yau all later.

[blownout cylinder]

Galaxy:  Most of my racing was straight line..1/4 mile. I used to drive a 1968 Mustang that had a 429 Cobra Jet in it plus a set of Lenco shifter tied to a transmission of some sort..forgot which one..the rear gear set was a 4:10....bizarre set up it was..and yet I could drive it to school as well...

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 41° and sunny. The high will be 61° and it will be partly cloudy.

I got a fair nights sleep and I feel much better than I did yesterday. I may be busy for a bit today doing some prep work on the F7-A shells I found yesterday. That shouldn't take long. Other than that I have no plans for today.

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee and one of them fluffy waffles please. Oh thow a couple strips of that maple bacon on there too thank you.

Increasing clouds, with a high near 41.

Ken- Kinda ruined mine too. I looked back and December and January are slow months for episodes of Ziv…. I mean NCIS.

Well, thanks to G, I think I’m gonna start taking better care of myself when I feel a bit under the weather.

PATom- Congrats on the anniversary and glad to hear she is recovering nicely. Activity is the key.

Lee- Sorry to hear about your neighbor.

Barry- Same reason people buy houses next to railroad tracks and airports and complain about the noise. Here the big thing is the grain elevator and the dust and chaf at harvest plus the fans droning on. I guess they didn’t notice them. Farm equipment is also a major surprise to folks living in a town literally surrounded by fields. Most houses on the edge of town have their back yards right up against the fields. So, they complain because the tractors make so much noise and you oughta hear em holler when th combines take the field in the fall. Oh my the dust is just horrible and they should do something about it or not plant so close on their property to ours.

Floor Wars Williamsville: Phase….I lost track - Ran out of mortar so I’ll have to make a trip to Menard’s this morning. Floor in kitchen is progressing slowly because of other obligations. I could be doing this for like ever at this rate. Oh well. Keeps me outa trouble I suppose.

Also have to stop and get Missy some Oinkies and laundry soap and maybe a stop at Sonic. I have a Tater Tot craving.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[Anonymous]

Good Afternoon!

Flo, just a mug of coffee, please. I must admit that pie looks delicious but it is not in my budget. You all know this - at the end of the money, there is still a lot of month left. It´ll be left-overs for the rest of it for us.

With nothing else to do, I fiddled around with that plan of mine. Just made the curves in the upper part a little less "curvy":

That´ll be it - I don´t see any area where I could introduce improvements - other than changing the whole concept.

What I am wondering about is how to make those curved scenic dividers. I plan on using mason 1/4" masonite, that should take care of the curvature. It´s fastening it to the "base" which gives me the headaches. Oh, btw, I plan on covering the layout with a lid and add lighting to that, so it´ll look like "trains in an aquarium".

Well, CUL, Folks!

[blownout cylinder]

Todd:   Oh I know that one..we used to live in a house that backed onto the CN mainline here as well as the Ralston Purina feedmill in Woodstock..the one that I took the photos of. All the noise and dust there was just looked at and dealt with...mom never complained..at least around us..I used to sit in my bedroom and watch the unloaders/loaders doing their thing all the time. Oh ... then we also had the Beachville Limestone quarries with the Tuesday/Thursday afternoon explosions as well...used to sit at school watching pencils and such bouncing off the table tops...

Floor Wars London ON division:  uummmm...verithane....wonder how that holds up uder heavy traffic...

 

[howmus]

Mornin'....  Dang, afternoon already again!

Zoe, I'll have a Turkey Club Sandwich plate and a cup of dark roast coffee, please.  I'll be sitting in the back booth with Barry.

Yep!  Them there city slickers seem to think the crops just pick themselves and farmers shouldn't have to go about the business of farming......  Of course years ago THAT used to happen during the day rather than at 3AM when you are trying to sleep.   Quite a different matter when you have the property and later some business wants to start creating havoc next to your property line.....  THAT is what is happening right now over in the place that used to be called Seneca Falls.  The Mega Dump wants to put in a clay mine within the legal set back from the property lines of people who have lived their whole lives there.  Actually the mine would be far more efficient in terms of hauling clay for building the next piles of trash than hauling it in from half way across the state.....  But I sure as H$!! wouldn't want to own the place next door!

Barry, I would bet you DO have a hearing loss and a treatable one at THAT!  Anyone in the music business for more than a few years has one.  Even acoustic musicians.  Almost all violinists playing for 20+ years are at least partially deaf in their left ear.  (I have the research article here for that one.) One statistic I have is that 80% of America's 8th. Graders have a treatable hearing loss.  Scary!  Looking back at my life I almost certainly had a treatable hearing loss by the time I was at Eastman School.  I can remember many times when my voice teacher and my language teacher tried to teach me the proper pronunciation of words (Italian and German mostly) and it took me forever to get it right.  I couldn't tell any difference from what I was saying and what they were telling me.  Had the old rolling eyes, and frustrated deep breaths aimed at me many times and a few rather irritating loud snickers from classmates....  Driving trucks and tractors all day long without any mufflers for so many years growing up I believe did take its toll.  I do tell people I sure had a lot of fun going deaf though!

Been exchanging emails all morning with the AP manager in my division concerning an application there has been trouble getting passed.....  This has been going on for a few weeks now and hopefully it will be solved before too much longer (have an email saying it should be from the region...)  The wheels of progress turn slowly at times...  The more likely someone is to want it done NOW!  The more likely it is to get held up for some reason.....

Later!

73

[blownout cylinder]

Good Afternoon

Got some old fashioned rain be falling on our'n heads here that we have to contend with. At the mighty temperature of 33F...lovely stuff....

Floor Wars, London ON division: Well( fishies and froggies doing their thing)...we are now going to have to find some verithane for the floor, or some such thing..it is all done except for that. Then to finish the floor..the next job will be the kitchen area...which needs some sort of tiling ...

Ray:  It actually would not surprise me if I do have some sort of hearing loss. The last time I had my hearing tested was over 10 years ago...so.... As for the property scenario..I'm a'guessing that some of that also might be if the landowners then did not put up a fuss about a landfill site back when the original idea was floated around that anything else coming down the pike might be an issue...I know here that when the fine city of Toronto go to the deal to buy up some landfill site here in London ON for their garbage( to replace all the garbage trucks going across the border in MI) that there was a bit of a hoohaw here about it.  Another example would be the gas fracking issue cropping up all over the place...

Anyways...better be cracking at getting over to Home Desperate to get the whatever it is that I am going to use to protect the wood surface.......see y'all later!!

[LSWrr]

I just looked at the pictures of the boat allision with the bridge, doesn’t look like he drove through the navigational span does it?

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

LSWrr

I just looked at the pictures of the boat allision with the bridge, doesn’t look like he drove through the navigational span does it?

 

The ship was in the wrong channel as far as I can tell.

[howmus]

Afternoon again folks!

Flo, I could use a nice cup of hot chocolate please.

Finally have most all of the Art and Poetry back to the schools (just waiting for a lady to pick up the ones going to the Middle School and High School on Monday).  Now I can start sorting and getting things ready for tax return time.

Barry, the two landfills (Two of the biggest in NYS) nearby here were originally owned and operated by the county.  Both are now rented out to Huge Garbage Corporate Conglomerates that pay $$$ to the counties and towns for the right to bring in trash from all over the Northeast and parts of Canada.  About one night out of 3 I can smell the stench from my house from the Ontario County Landfill (according to them there isn't any and we are all imagining it).  I live about 8 miles away from it.  The people who didn't have a problem about these things years ago had no idea what it would become.  We also know a great deal more about the effects of the toxicity of even household waste leachate and other stuff today.  We have huge trucks 100 or more every day traveling the roads near Geneva (and Seneca Falls).  Guess who gets to pay for the damage these trucks do to the roads....  The money they pay to the counties almost covers it, but doesn't save us much tax wise while the rich get richer!  Complex issue to say the least.  I tend to be fairly moderate actually in my ideas with the issue.  No tinfoil hat at least. 

Best get to doing some stuff.

Later!

73

[Cederstrand]

Coffee refill, please.

Phone calls made, errands run, can now rest the ol' noggin through the weekend.

My Model Train Stuff order is at the P.O.. If up and about early enough, might pick it up tomorrow.

Hope y'all are having a good day.

 Rob

[saronaterry]

Afternoon, all! 26f and snow, 1-3 ". The NIMBY stuff made me chuckle! There was a person up here that shortly after they moved in called the Highway Department and asked if they would move a " Deer Xing" sign because " too many deer were getting hit by cars at this site."

SIL, Daughter and Grandbabies on the way up, along with MOH's parents. Should be a fun weekend full of train-running!

Terry in NW Wisconsin

[jeffrey-wimberly]

saronaterry

There was a person up here that shortly after they moved in called the Highway Department and asked if they would move a " Deer Xing" sign because " too many deer were getting hit by cars at this site."

They walk among us! Where do they come from?

[saronaterry]

No kidding,Huh Jeff!!!??! Big CITIDIOTS!!

Terry in NW Wisconsin

[Cederstrand]

Hamburger patty, please.

***Terry, enjoy the train running with the family. Man, you have some really smart deer up there, huh! 

 Rob

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening

I had a wonderful time with getting the verithane..now we have to get it onto the floor...

A friend of mine who lives not too far away from here had an interesting scenario happen on their concession road..note, I said concession road...he lives out in the country near the rural hamlet known as Denfield...they had a BIG CITY type move in next door to him..within weeks he made it very plain to all and sundry that he was going  to petition the county for curbs and gutters, as well as sidewalks and et cetera so on and so forth....until a few of his neighbours basically asked him why he moved from Toronto...to get away from the city life....d'uh...

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

Only thing planned for tonight is cutting cardboard strips for plastering next week. I have the track installed, test run, and rusted.The plate girder bridge is solidly installed but it looks like it is going to fall so I need to find a couple of piers for appearance sake.

Lee- I'm sure you know like I do how many collisions and groundings really happen every year. There was always new material in our mandatory yearly collision and grounding presentations (was in Navigation in the USN). I can't remember a single one that wasn't caused by a chain of dumb mistakes.

 

 

 

 

Not the best lighting. Everyone take care.

 

[Cederstrand]

Veggie soup, please.

***Dennis, I'm in the wrong business. Would love to make parade floats and get a healthy paycheck for having so much fun. Although, not really into the flower thing. Would rather make real fire breathing dragons.

***Curt, excellent layout pics.

Ordered some Ladies of the Night for the HO layout. Already turned a couple figures into those kind of workers, so this will increase the small town competition.

 Rob