Elliot´s Trackside Diner - January 2012 Edition

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Earlier today I needed an F unit shell with all the ladders intact and couldn't find one. So I ordered an F unit shell on the net. Now that I didn't need to find one I found three in a box under the layout. An Athearn F7-A blue box shell, a Proto 1000 F7-A shell and a Stewart F7-A shell. Three have no headlight lens or window glass but that doesn't concern me. All three have intact ladders. So I chose the Proto 1000 shell to go on the Athearn blue box chassis I fixed yesterday. The Stewart shell is on a Frankenstein chassis and the blue box shell will be used on an old Bachmann dummy frame. The shell I ordered is a new Model Power F2-A shell that's complete. I'll decide what to do with it when it arrives next week.

After no sleep last night and little rest today I'm feeling very tired. So I'm going to call it a night early. See y'all tomorrow.

[wetidlerjr]

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

Not much planned for the night. I started the remodel of the back outer track (elevating it). It's max height will be 2" and will  have a girder bridge over the road leading to the meat packing plant. I have removed all the old stuff and was able to salvage some flex track. I have removed 5 turnouts since starting on the coal trestle (1-coal trestle, 2-inner back track, 2-outer back track.) I went to the LHS and bought WS risers, inclines, bridge, cork roadbed, and Code 83 flex track (don't ask what all that cost).

I have the risers and inclines installed,  bridge ready to install on layout, and painted the sub roadbed brown. I will let it all finish drying tonight and put down the bridge and road bed tomorrow. I will probably wait until next week to put the track down. I will try to post pictures tomorrow.

PA Tom- I am glad your wife is doing well and Congrats on your anniversary. We will be celebrating 34 this June.

Garry- I'm glad your NIL is doing better. Enjoy your vacation.

Ulrich- Sorry you are still feeling down.

Prayers for all those not feeling well and those in need. Please enjoy your evening.

 

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good afternoon.

Is "floor wars" a contageous disease?

Ulrich.... I hope you can feel better soon.

JR ... Glad you can make progress on the layout.

PA Tom ... Glad your wife's recovery is doiung so well. Blessings to both of you for youir 48th anniversary.

It's been very busy lately. Tomorrow, we begin are trip in AZ. So, I won't be on the computer much for over a week.

Thanks for all the concern about our neice's husband. We heard there was some improvement today, and that's good. Doctors are still trying to figure out his illness.

 

[Cederstrand]

Scrambled eggs with all the fixin's, please. Also, a coffee refill.

***Ray, sure wish I still could, as I loved chopping and splitting wood by hand. Physically, I can't do much anymore. It really sucks! I'll have to buy a splitter.

Rob

 

[galaxy]

Well,

A wee bit o' sn*w falling here. Posta be here later, but is early. Posta change to rain though,,,I see it on the march on the radar.

Glad Jeffrey didn't sustain any damage! Tornadoes not posta be tornados here either, but they DO happen!!

MOH went to run some errands so I don;t have to. Not feeling particularly well now. Hope I am not coming down with somehting. Will take some tiem with the snow falling and at least I don;t have to do them.

I have even turned up the heat, which is highly unusual for me, as I am always warm!

Train nut friend's 95 y/o grandmother was in hospital last night. SHe is having difficulties. He is down in FL with her. THey want to get her signed up for home nurse visits, I said LET THEM! He keeps back and forth and can't take care of her greatly. SHe won't eat much, has the runs a lot and is in bad shape. I DO hope if the end is near, she goes quickly, but as I told him if home nursing set up she may fare better with someon to look after her. He thinks he can, but nto really.SO thoughts and healing prayers for her, please.

Well, better go rest some.My heart is starting to jump around..and I DID take my meds for taht...wonder what's up wiht that?

Hope KEN feels better soon..you know what tehy say Ken...it takes 2 weeks for a cold to run its course, but only 14 days if you treat it promptly!!!

 

 

[cudaken]

 Morning All!

 Flo, coffee please.

 Tcwright973, Glad to hear the Misses is doing so much better!  My wife and I have been together for 39 years now. Been a interesting 39 years. Sometimes I don't know what to do with her, but I sure can't live with out her! Congrats on 48 years.

 Cold is back. Nose is runny again and I am coughing some. Oh well, still need to go to work, this paycheck is going to be pretty sad other wise.

No NEW NCIS Till February! Boy Todd that pretty much ruins my day! Last few nights when I go to CBS.Com there has been no new shows, I was wondering what was up with that.

  Later, Ken     

[jeffrey-wimberly]

howmus

Jeffrey glad the storms didn't cause any trouble at your house!

Nothing here but a bunch of wind, rain and noise. A couple of tornadoes were reported but they were well away from here.

[howmus]

Mornin'..........

Coffee!  Need Coffee, dark roast if it is brewed... But anything with caffeine will do!

Didn't sleep last night........   Had all kinds of stuff running through my mind.  Seriously thinking of tearing out part of the SLOW and rebuilding THAT area.  It is in the "new" room, creates a bottleneck, and just doesn't look right.  Haven't liked it ever since I built it.  So I am playing with some options both in my head and on Empire Express (Mac track program) to see what my options are.  No sooner fell of to sleep (about 3AM) when Blackie decided it was time for me to wake up and pet him.....  After he decided to leave me alone, I fell back asleep and woke up with a massive foot cramp!  Found out that Dr. Donahue's pinch the skin between the upper lip and nose trick does w*rk.  THAT kept me awake for a couple more hours.  About 9AM Blackie decided it was time I woke up for the day. 

Last nights paper had a full page spread on the MLK Art and Poetry contest with a photo on the front page telling about it!   I'll be picking up the items they have today and hopefully will get them scanned or photographed for our archives this afternoon and evening.

Rob, the wood in the photo would last me about 2 days here....  Do you have a wood splitter or will you be doing THAT by hand?

Jeffrey glad the storms didn't cause any trouble at your house!

Ulrich, take care of yourself!  Janie, put his hot cocoa on my tab if you will.  I'm still praying that some good things come your way soon.

Gotta get moving before I fall asleep at the computer......

73

[Anonymous]

tcwright973 - congratulation on your 48th anniversary! That´s a rare bird these days. Many more happy years to come! It´ll be Petra´ s and my 28th this year.

Good Afternoon, Folks.

Still feeling really miserable. Spent most of the day in bed, covered up with 4 blankets. I am freezing inside, but´it is nothing physical, just my wrecked nerves playing tricks on me. Maybe a cup of hot cocoa will do, Janie, if you please?

Petra is preparing supper already, burgers, mash & red cabbage - can you figure a more German meal. Hope I can stay up until she´s finished and I´ll be able to eat some of it.

Limping back to the sofa....

[tcwright973]

Good morning everybody,

Things here in the "Burgh" are getting pretty much back to normal. Well, except for the weather that is. It still remains kind of erratic. Hard to know what one should wear when going out. Snow 4 to 5 inches deep one day, then temperatures in the low 50's the next.

The wife has only a couple of more sessions of physical therapy left. Basically three times a week for two hours each session. They are really working her hard, but she never complains. She uses a cane when we go out, or if she has to go up or down stairs, but uses nothing around the house. She has been cooking meals and doing the dishes for the last week or two. Doesn't want my help either, as both the surgeon and the physical therapist have told her walk as much as can and return to her normal routines as fast as possible. All that's left now will be outpatient surgery on Februart 8th to remove the screws in her leg and ankle.

As yesterday was our 48th wedding anniversary, I took her out to dinner at a very nice restaurant last night. We had a good meal and a decent wine. I say decent because no one around here serves wines from my favorite wineries on Seneca Lake. So I have to bring my expectations down a notch. I also had flowers delivered in the afternoon. I don't know what it is about some women getting flowers, but she would rather get them than jewelry.

I received two freight cars this week, one being a US Army 50' from Athearn, and the other a Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh 2 bay hopper by Bowser. This means that for the first time in quite awhile, I have nothing on order, back order or even on my wish list. Kind of a scary thought isn't it?

I hope everyone has a good one...

 

[Stourbridge Lion]

Good Morning Modelers!

It's 36F and Sunny in the Mile High city this morning.  Enjoy the day...

[Cederstrand]

Coffee in a STORMY SOUTHERN mug, please.

Floor Wars/Georgia Edition: Haven't started on it yet.

Little sleep. Storms today through tonight. Probably will do the minimum farm rounds.

 Rob 

[GMTRacing]

 

Good Morning All,

   Just a regular to go please Zoe. 38F and overcast here this morning with the snow having come and gone last week leaving only the piles of same. Been super busy getting ready for the Big E Amhearst  Train Show this weekend. I'll be there with the Danbury Railway Museum contingent  both days. Also the introduction to model railroading program is going well at the local elementary school. We have 8 secondand third graders this year and though they are generally mindful and well behaved, one forgets how energetic they are.

   Progress on the home layout is slow but steady with only and hour here and there to spare. The elevated track is up and proven with the drops in for the buss cables. I now need to engineer about 8 feet of track across a deep gorge and height transition to a swing gate to finish a full loop around the outer perimeter. I hope to get that at least up before we go back out on the road. 

    I'll try to stop back in and catch up on the news if I get a chance.   Hope y'all are doing well or at least recovering.   CUL, J.R.

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

It be all dull and dribbly today..supposed to get up to about 35F so it will become more dribbly as it gets closer to the afternoon...

Got to do some shopping today and then later on finish off the flooring here... 

Floor Wars: London ON division:...I am actually about half way done in the living/dining room part...great room part will be done, hopefully, between emergencies from w**k.  The screwdriver I am using is a 16 volt thingee..good for quite some time here....takes only about 1/2 hour to recharge. The reason we went with this is that it does prevent the later onset of squeaky floor syndrome as my wife calls it...

Todd:  Yeah, well, I have seen some odd measurements being used up here..we had someone, can't remember who now, that actually still uses chains as measurement..as in 300 chains etc..old surveyer he was...as for lumber measurements we still use standard here...I'm not up to that new fangled metric thingee ...

Garry:  My photobucket account is just packed with odd bits of stuff anymore......we'll keep your family on our prayer list ...

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

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 49° and cloudy. The high will be 62° and  there's a 20% chance of rain.

Got the Athearn F7 fixed yesterday and it runs like a champ. Now I just have to find a good F7-A shell for it. The old Mantua shell on it is showing a lot of wear and tear from decades of use/abuse. Not sure what I'll be doing today. Resting probably. I didn't get much sleep last night and I'm feeling it.

[gear-jammer]

Good morning, Chloe.  I would like a quick coffee on the way to the pool. 

I am starting to feel normal again.  I was able to climb last night for the first time in 2 weeks.  The snow really messed up my routine.  We lost several trees from the ice storm that followed the snow.  We dropped the dangerous ones on Sunday, so this weekend will be cleanup of tree debris and the antenna stuff.

Garry,   The stuff came for the NP convention.

Later,  Sue

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee and biscuits and gravy please. Thanks.

A 30 percent chance of rain, mainly before 9am. Cloudy, with a high near 41.

Howdy Andy.

Jeremy- Can’t say I’m tired of the RR now of course, but I may when I get back to it. But for me that’s par for the course on just about all things I do. Probably why I have so many undone projects. When I go on long binges I get tired of doing it. 

Chris- Yesterday…though unusual, was a Local Weather Nut day. Very short lived and very light, but it did sleet. They get the nod.

Barry- That is ….an…. Interesting, way to lay the floor for sure. Screws?  Ya, I figured probably ¾. Thought it might be a meter-ick to Standard thing. But hey, in Canada…who knows.

Say. Did you ever think about that? Standard. Metric. Considering most the whole world, save those who still use cubits and spans like my buddy..(you should see the shed we built based on THAT. I’m about five inches taller than he is. ), uses metric, I’ma thinking maybe they’re Standard and we United Statsians aren’t really whatcha’d call standard.

Rob- I’m glad you enjoy them. The posts that is. I do have a tendency to exaggerate a bit and I try to see many things from a humorous point of view though I admit sometimes it is hard. Life is much too short to take all things frustrating as bad. Doesn’t w**k sometimes, but I try.

Speaking of frustrating, NCIS< Ive discovered they will not be airing a new episode until what Feb 7^th?!! I mean come ON!! I need a Ziva fix. I’m trying to stay away from the DVD’s and the Marathons on TV because I have to get these floors done so a weekly hour is just ok.

Speaking of which:

Floor Wars Williamsville: Phase….I lost track - Got under the dishwasher space and in front of one cabinet leading to it grouted. I would have got more done but I needed to get the refrigerator set up and installed. Of course I had a nice section of coiled ¼ in copper line but no nuts or compression rings. Well one nut but that didn’t do any good. So I consolidated a trip to town with some other needed items and well you know how THAT goes.

Aaaanywho. Today I have to meet with the Preacher about some end of year reports due end of… .nnnnext month I think. And then a bit of floor w**k and then job w**k.

Hope all who have fallen feel better soon.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning ! from Tipton IN.

 

 

 

 

 

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

Today is Thursday, January 26th, 2012!!!

Make it  a GREAT day!!!

[cudaken]

 Evening Fellow Dinners.

 Thank you Flo!

 Gary Sure hope you get some good news about your family member.

 Feel like my normal self tonight finally. My nose getting a little runny but not often. Did go in early today and worked 10.5 hours trying to make up for some of the lost time. Today was real slooooowwwww! Would you believe in 10.5 hours I only had 2 customers?

 See you all later.

          Ken

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Cederstrand

***Jeffrey, I like your modified caboose creation. Loosely reminds me of an old O gauge caboose my oldest brother had.

Thanks. I loosely based it on an old O Scale Red Cross caboose a friend of mine in El Paso had back in 1969.

[Cederstrand]

Chamomile tea, please.

***Jeffrey, I like your modified caboose creation. Loosely reminds me of an old O gauge caboose my oldest brother had.

Garry, cool sighting in your yard. On the wood, that is just part of one tree, which represents perhaps 2% (at most) of the ready to collect "almost downed" timber laying about the farm. I say "almost", because only the top 1/4 or so of many trees are actually sitting against the ground. Will take me a very long time to get it all collected up, let alone cut and split. Looking forward to my nephews visiting this spring.

Have a good night all.

 Rob

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Well, I survived the thunderstorms, a couple of tornadoes popped up and I didn't wake up in Oz. So I guess I'm in good shape. I was finally able to work on the Athearn blue box F7. As I suspected, the bearings and the contact surfaces of the trucks were dirty. I pulled the wheel sets and using a doubled up piece of pipe cleaner soaked with Krud Kutter I cleaned the bearings then cleaned the notches in the trucks that the bearings fit into. I found that Krud Kutter is somewhat of an insulator but once it dries full electrical contact is restored. The F7's pickup problems have been resolved and it runs smooth and quiet.

Well, now it's time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Garry: Prayers for your niece's husband. I hope he doesn't have meningitis. I know how savage it can be. I had spinal meningitis when I was two years old and it's the cause of my mental disabilities and a lot of the nerve problems I have. I learned how to get around most of my disabilities as I grew up but at his age such problems would be virtual career enders.

[blownout cylinder]

Cleveland and Port Stanley Discuss Possible Lake Erie Ferry 

http://www.am980.ca/channels/news/local/Story.aspx?ID=1643893

It's baaaaaaacck!!!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Curt ... I like the Pennsy sharknose locomotives with the antennas.

Rob .... That's a lot of wood. I know many people are getting the wood-burning stoves for heating.

Barry ... You must have a never-ending supply of photos with unique old vehicles.

Thanks to all who commented about our neice's husband. We're learning more. He was completely blacked out at the moment he fell to the floor. His head hit the floor hit the hard surface with enough force to break the skull (not just crack it). ..... A little good news today: He was somewhat awake for a few minutes today. Doctors are not certain he has meningitis, but have not determined with certainty why he blacked out. He is being treacted with anti-biotics in case it is bacterial He is only 39 years old..  ... Our neice and the 3 kids are very upset.

Today, I took pictures of an eagle on a dead tree on our property. I was in the house when I took the photos. It was cloudy.

[Cederstrand]

I'll have the House Dinner Special, please.

***Barry, that is a most peculiar looking car there.

May not have accomplished all the important stuff, but did take a little time to grapple up some future firewood for the future wood stove today. Think I needed a little tractor time to unwind.

The NMRA gauge arrived today. To tired to even try it out tonight. At least now I have one and should be able to figure out where the problems are.

Healing thoughts to those in need.

Cheers!  Rob

[howmus]

Mornin'......... Ah.....  WOW!  That late already?

Guess I'll have a cup of hot chocolate to tide me over to dinnertime.

Been a busy day so far.  I looked on the Staples website and they had the printer I have been looking at on sale (close out) $50 off the $179 price...  Decided I would check it out at the local store since I needed some photo paper and a couple other things anyway.  They had one left!  I grabbed a cart and headd back ove to put it in my cart before someone else "needed" it....  I got there first!  I am currently printing a few 13": x 19" photos for "Thank You" to several people who helped at the MLK Service. 

Back again after an interruption........  Also sorted and attached the Honorable Mention certificates to the entities and have most ready to go back to their schools.  Did some graphic stuff we needed done as well.

Hopefully I will actually get down cellar to the train room tonight some time.

Catch you all later, maybe!

73

[blownout cylinder]

Good Afternoon...

Floor Wars: London ON division:..I got about half way across the living/dining/great room floor and it is looking pretty decent now...I have an interesting way of doing it...butting my foot against the board in such a way as to make the board as flat as possible against the other boards..then nailgunning the board about 3 feet apart...then power screwing them on to the firring strips as well I'll be doing some more of this in a bit...

Rob:  I saw that as well...think I'll join you at the corner booth