Elliot's Trackside Diner- MARCH 2012!!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

The weather here is fantastic, if you're a duck. The rain is averaging half an inch per hour and it looks like it's going to keep up most of the night. More thunderstorms coming in so I'm shutting down. See y'all tomorrow.

[teen steam fan]

I'm not dead yet

Cabeese- I saw one out west of me on a switching run (Near Utica Illinois if anyone's interested) 

Jeff- The Frankenlocos look good. 

I'm about to head down to the model railroading club I joined made a oversized container load with some joke labels on it. Want to see if anyone gets it, doubt it but may be interesting for our next run night

[james saunders]

Morning all.

I'm not sure if anyone over in the land of Tornados has heard, but yesterday morning a EF2 Tornado touched down in a North Queensland town of Townsville. 

Some of you folks may have heard of Townsville, it has a large military presence with our largest army base and also a RAAF base. 

Approximately 3 suburbs were damaged by the tornados path with many houses losing entire roofs and walls getting blowing in.

Here is a few pictures

http://tools.townsvillebulletin.com.au//photo-gallery/photo_gallery_popup.php?category_id=14521

 

Cheers

OzJim

[saronaterry]

Hi, all! Things are going well here.My friend's boys had a blast running trains! I didn't get everything done before they came over, but Mr. Murphy only showed up once! PFC Son is in his second week of Airborne training and doing great. Weather's been unbelievably gorgeous! We've had the bikes(the ones with engines) out a couple of times, ice is almost off the lakes! Yay, Spring!! I read the IE compatitablity thread. I cannot find a "torn peice of paper" icon ANYWHERE.So, I did the public profile(edit) thingy. Can one of you send me a PM so I can see if I can now reply? Much appreciated! Hi to everybody, with (missed ) b-day wishes and prayers for those that need them!! Terry in NW Wisconsin

[GMTRacing]

Good Evening All,

   Just stopping by for a regular to go before I depart for the museum. Mid 70's today - almost like Fla.

   Barry - glad your  friend is going to make it. The revised order of living will be worth it  if it helps.

   Rob - nice room.

   Ray - can't wait to see the next set of backdrop pics.

   Jeff - instead of a false front, how about a large Westinghouse Air Conditioners sign on the "roof" of that huge building.?

   Todd - how does all that fit in with the new kitchen? Needed to do the wall painting first to save time later?

   Doctors appt today and had some stuff cut off my neck. Thinks it's basel cell something or other but we'll see when the labs come back. Occupational hazard I expect.

   Gotta run - See Y'all later, J.R. 

[gabeusmc]

jeffrey-wimberly

A freight passing through dropped off this mysterious rail car. Nobody seems to know what it's for.

I don't know what its used for either. Maybe its a prehistoric railroad car.

But serously I have never seen a caboose in real life... At least doing what it supposed to do, But I have seen ALCO's running through my town, so don't feel tobad for me.

[Cederstrand]

Coffee refill, please.

***Mark, and tomorrow might bring Liquid Sunshine, you just never know. When I lived in WA., really enjoyed the beautiful summers, all 2-3 weeks of it.

***Barry, that's good news. BTW, neat pic of that train crossing the old bridge.

Healing thoughts to those in need.

Will be in the corner booth awhile, resting up a bit. Rob

[galaxy]

How are all of you this fine Spring day???

Lovely warm weather we're having!

Brought out the Hawaiian shirts and straw hats..which we do every year the first warm weather we have!

Record breaking warmth again, but SPRING iS HERE!!! There is definitely an end to the winter tunnel!!!

Had injections in my back today. Its not that they really hurt {although needle sticks are never pleasant} but I sure am sore and "jerky" walking afterwards. Hence the reason to have a driver on the day of, and I have to rest  off my feet to get some relief..

so dinner will be as quick as I can make it. Steak and veggies and potatoes..the instant kind.

Hope you all have a great evening!!!

 

 

[Hoople]

Afternoon all!

Seattle's weather is being... like seattle's weather. It snowed this morning. Then it hailed. Then it was sunny. Now it's raining. Our weather is quad-polar or something.

JIM: Oh yeah, I still think about the trains... I'm sure they will always be with me and probably when I'm out of all of this school nonsense I'll be real serious with choo-choos again. For now? I'll probably overhaul my 4x8. I have noticed that the AFA seems to be a great school for being a school; and you get payed to go there; but in other parameters it doesn't seem that great. From what I understand It would be difficult for me to bring/have time to play guitar there, which is extremely important to me as well.

Lee: Yeah, the whole "get accepted" part is really hard though. Whole lotta steps to do that- but yeah, in terms of cost, it wins hands down!

That's it for today.

Mark

[jeffrey-wimberly]

blownout cylinder

Welp, he is going to survive, although he will be having a few things he won't be able to touch now.....they had him up a little bit this morning and we did take him to the patients waiting/lounge area to yap...He is doing a lot better today

Great news! I'm glad he's doing better.

[blownout cylinder]

Good Afternoon

Welp, he is going to survive, although he will be having a few things he won't be able to touch now.....they had him up a little bit this morning and we did take him to the patients waiting/lounge area to yap...He is doing a lot better today

 

[Anonymous]

Good Evening!

Just took our son to the train station. We had a really nice day with him. He invited us out for lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant, where we had a gorgeous lunch. Petra made a great tasting cake, which we had while chatting. It was so good to have him ( and only him, not his GF) with us for the day.

I am still feeling sad about not being able to give him more than our love and a couple of slices of Petra´s cake.

Sorry , folks, I better leave now - tears are running down my cheeks. Won´t be a good sport today.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

A freight passing through dropped off this mysterious rail car. Nobody seems to know what it's for.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Cederstrand

***Jeffrey, how did the Alaska loco escape the L&A patch?

It's on the schedule. It's appointment with the paint shop hasn't come yet.

Cederstrand

***Ken, that's probably my favorite car you've posted yet. With wings like that can it fly, or does it handle more like a boat? Beautiful auto!

I used to have a car that looked a lot like that one. 1958 Plymouth Fury in near mint condition and I picked it up for a song. It looked very nice, ran well but rode like a tank.

[Cederstrand]

Extra strong coffee in a UNION PACIFIC mug, please.

***Jeffrey, how did the Alaska loco escape the L&A patch?

***Ken, that's probably my favorite car you've posted yet. With wings like that can it fly, or does it handle more like a boat? Beautiful auto!

***Jim, here's my own version of the Diner. (pardon the mess) Only wish it was inside an old train car parked in the front yard. Would like to replace that flood light with a neon sign one day, like "DINER'S OPEN" or some such thing.

Have a good day all.

 Rob

[cudaken]

 Morning.

 Flo, Diet Dew please.

 I feel like my head is over inflated! Slight head ache, feel lite head but sines are not as bad. Guess I better go to work, I need the money.

 Speaking of money after I pay the bills today we will only have $100.00 to last us to the 30th when I get paid again. Guess the only I can afford will be here at the dinner.

 Todd Reason I have the Screen Name of Cuda Ken is when I joined the Charger site someone had all ready taken Charger Ken. Never did see them post? Besides Cuda Ken as a nice ring to it.

 Well, the wife is rushing me to do some stuff before my head pop's so I may see you all after work.

                          Ken

 

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I'll have a raison Bran muffin w/ real butter and a cup of Seneca lake Blend Dark roast coffee in a FGLK Mug.

I've been sitting here at home looking out the kitchen window and watching a pair of beautiful cardinals that are nesting nearby.  They are eating last years berries from the flowering quince in my front yard.  The squirrels have been using them all winter for food and many birtds finish them off in the Spring.  Some get roaring drunk on them.  I have had several die from insisting they can fly through my large windows......  there are at least two pair of robins nesting here as well.

Have several errands to do this morning so i won't stay long.

Lion,  Jeffrey does have black helicopters in there (Actually just some Southern big bugs, but they are huge in HO! ROFL!

Later!

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

BroadwayLion

 

What is that HUGE building in the middle of your layout? It looks like the CIA headquarters or something.

Maybe you should make a false front for it to disguise it as something less sinister, otherwise people will think that thre are black helicopters in there.

That a/c unit does make quite a statement. I've thought about making a false front for it but it's only a couple of inches away from the track. A false front would have to be thin yet not be sucked right up against the grille. The control panel also has to be visible so the remote will work.

[BroadwayLion]

jeffrey-wimberly

Time for me to call it a night. Had the GP9 Frankenlocos running tonight and made a slow run-by video. It's grainy but my camera only does 320 AVI video. Here's the video link: Frankenloco run-by. See y'all tomorrow.

What is that HUGE building in the middle of your layout? It looks like the CIA headquarters or something.

Maybe you should make a false front for it to disguise it as something less sinister, otherwise people will think that thre are black helicopters in there.

 

ROAR

[galaxy]

GOOD {late} Morning!!!

Today, is, Tuesday, March 20th, 2012!!!

Spring is here!!!

I slept very late.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 72° and cloudy. A wind advisory is in effect. The high should be 78°. There's a 90% chance of rain with locally heavy rainfall possible. Wind is SSE 20 - 25 mph gusting to 30.

Well here it is the first day of spring and I'm wondering what the heck happened to winter. It never got cold here. The mosquitoes are going to be the size of trucks this summer.

Gave the Atlas H24-66 Trainmaster a run this morning. The decoder in it was a junk box find and lasted longer than I thought it would. Third trip around the layout the decoder fried. Oh well. What could I expect for free? Gasoline? It gave me time to evaluate the loco though. It runs smooth and quiet, goes over the turnouts with hardly a sound and can pull a big load. The kicker? This loco was free! The front and rear handrails were gone so I installed a set of metal handrails from an old Athearn GP7. What the heck. They get the job done. When I get another decoder it's going into the Trainmaster.

I have the GP9 Frankenlocos running right now. Amazing how quiet they are considering they were cobbled together from bits and pieces. The Atlas FP7's make more noise than these geeps do.

Well, that's it for now.

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee and an vegetable omelet with cheese please. Thanks.

Hm. Doors were locked here a bit ago for maintenance. All's well now I see. Didn't take long.

Partly sunny, with a high near 82. Breezy, with a south wind between 14 and 24 mph, with gusts as high as 33 mph.

Happy Spring everybody. Sorry, no cards.

Ulrich- Yes we love em. And yes, considering Brenda’s mom is ½ Italian ½ German and her father is 100% German, it is possible they are related. Also, I understand your frustration over not being able to buy a gift for Christian. But I’m sure he is more than satisfied with the pride you have in him.

I agree with Chessiecat ( and others) Ray, those are some of the best clouds I’ve seen.

Sue- You must be rather shor…I mean petite like Brenda. At 5’3” concerts are not fun. She always gets behind someone who stands up and she can’t see even when she does. I’ve even laughed (and got that look) when the only three people who stood up were the three in front of her. Seriously. Happened at a Willie Nelson concert about, well right at a year ago. Bleacher type is no better. I think the folks who always get the tickets in the row in front of her have to be the tallest people row or the big hat club. And standing or what the fair calls track tickets….we won’t even go there. It’s just amazing.

Ken- I forget again why you’re “Cuda” Ken instead of “Charger” Ken. You seem to be a big fan of the Charger. That’s not a bad thing, personally I happen to think the 1969 Charger is one of the best looking cars ever designed. Followed by the ‘68 and then the ‘69 Plymouth Belvedere/Satellite/RR/GTX. After that I don't really rank. Well, maybe the ‘70 Challenger may take 4^th.

As for serving our country. Though being in one of the Armed Forces is generally what is referred to as serving ones country, let’s not forget that it is also accomplished by being and active and productive person in the civilian world as well. Many folks don’t realize that being in the job market such as an engineer, is very much serving your country to make it something to be proud of and, yes, a reason to fight for. Let’s not forget the reason we came here in the first place was to get away from government control. Not live by it.

Today is let’s take the sink out, pull the counter tops away from the wall, scrape the old caulk, mud the parts where the caulk pulled the paper on the drywall and then put the countertop back, then reinstall the sink, so that I can do it all again this weekend or Monday so we can have the kitchen part at least painted when the new counter tops arrive, hopefully, after Wednesday of next week. All in a couple free hours I have today. Probably won’t finish until tomorrow seeins as how Mr Murphy is scheduled to arrive. Then of course it’s plumbing issues as the new sink is designed slightly different than the old and is deeper. One thing though. The PVC piping is one heck of a lot easier to deal with than the old metal stuff.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!

[LSWrr]

Good Morning All,

 

Mark, Ken, a friend of mine, his son is graduating this year with a 4-year mechanical engineering degree. Total cost: $0 and you get paid E-5 salary while you’re going to school.  If you get accepted it’s not a bad way to go.  The catch is you owe us 6 years of hard labor after graduation, LOL.

 

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

 

 

 

 

TIPTON

 

[james saunders]

CapeJim - I used a block of balsa wood which is about 3/8" smaller than the original pine piece I was using as a guide. I'm pleased with the results so far.

Since the photos I've added some more base grass (WS fine turf) I plan to glue some talus in place after feathering the riverbed colour a bit with sandy coloured paint. I will then move onto planting tree's and ground cover in and around the bridges.  I also installed the tracks to the double track bridge, although it still needs to come out to finish it.

I will be keeping you up to date.

As for the on going gas price updates we've hit just a tad over $6 a gallon, not near poor Ulrich's $9 prices, but certainly much higher than the states!

 

Cheers,

 

OzJim

[JimRCGMO]

Evening, Chloe - I'll have a Santa Fe mug of coffee, please. Thanks!

Cederstrand

***Jim, haven't heard the coyotes lately. Did a head count last week and all were still present and accounted for.

So, Rob - how many coyotes were accounted for? Oh, you were counting the other critters! Gee, your cookout dinner sounded pretty good! Your post reminded me that you were looking into a wood stove (wasn't that part of your reason for the extra support, right?).

MARK(Hoople)! Goodness, it's been "a while" (quite a while, actually) since you were in here. And [ditto] what Jeff said (don't be a stranger). Good to hear you're still thinking (some) about trains, even if you are (ahem...cough..) distracted by other matters. Best wishes on your college choices - you have some 'challenging' ones on your list. For what it's worth, I was a second alternate for AF Academy back when I was a senior in high school. For me, I decided not to, after learning that you start in the summer (with survival camp) and your first dance or chance for a date isn't until that year's Christmas dance(!). (No, I was not THAT much of a social guy back then, but sheesh!). I did later on get to see the Academy (maybe 30 or 35 years later). Great-looking place, it is!

Bill T. - nice shot of the Fishers Depot there!

OzJim, I like the bridge - was surprised to see that you got that thick of a pier and made the bridges fit right (to my eye, for sure). What'd you make it with, carve it out of wood or plaster?

Barry, sorry to hear about your friend's heart attack (but good that you were there to help him get to the hospital). Adding him to the list here.

Lee, thanks for the update on your friends in the hospital, and may their healing continue.

Jeff, sometimes that nephew of yours actually CAN learn a thing, eh?

And Todd?... I'm sorry, I forgot to bring you your birthday card. Forgive me? (And did Ziva show up at the DIner and I missed it? I hope NOT!) Oh, I see she missed her plane. Well, that's okay, cause you have paintin' to do, right? (Since you won't be able to get a decent nap in, that is...) [ditto] what Galaxy said about being a parent.

JR, pleurisy is NO fun. One gal I had dated (I later found out) had one of those attacks, and she said it was NO fun, nope, nada, zip! Take care of yourself on that!

Ray, keep at it with the new backdrop (and the new use of the space. Good job on those clouds! (Refresh me about how you do that, please).

Ken, the muscle cars were something I somehow didn't get into, but then again, by that time, I was out of high school and concentrating on college (and didn't have a car, so had some double dates with my older brother (who also for a while was at one college where I went). But I gotta admire those of you all who know that stuff better'n me. [bpw]

Lee, hope you get your photos of those cast items posted. Sound good.

Ulrich, I'm sure you and Petra are very proud of Christian (as well you should be, with his academic record)! Your Bluenose keeps getting better and better looking, too. (Cannot for the life of me, figure out what is wrong with his grandparents..)

ChessieJim, to the Diner (or had you been in before when I was out?)

Curt -........ groan...

Johnboy, you're right, it has been a while since Bama (Eddie) or Chuck was by. But if you have allergies to all those outdoor things, I'm betting our MIssouri pollen and such in the spring or fall is murder on you if you visit you son at college.

Today I made some more progress on my double-wide Heritage Furniture - got the three (visible) walls put together, added the loading doors wall (under the overhang), and added the backs to the columns. Fairly sturdy, which is good. I want to do some painting/weathering to soften down some of the plastic shine (and put some variation in the color), then will be adding the windows. Also (mostly yesterday) I got a couple of Accurail boxcars put together and Kaydees put on an Athearn ATSF 40' boxcar. Hope to have picture of the Furniture building (before painting) posted tomorrow, or at least by Wed. Wednesday night they're talking some thunderboomers rolling through. Won't be painting weather the rest of the week, I bet.

And about time for me to head home (unless I get TOP with this, in which case I'll have Chloe start my tab for you Night-Chowhounds on your midnight (or early morning, in Ulrich's case) run on the fridge).

Prayers for healing on several fronts, as well as some good nights' sleep, Diners.

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape G.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Time for me to call it a night. Had the GP9 Frankenlocos running tonight and made a slow run-by video. It's grainy but my camera only does 320 AVI video. Here's the video link: Frankenloco run-by. See y'all tomorrow.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

howmus

Got the rest of the forest painted on the backdrop while I was getting a couple loads of wash done tonight.  Now I can move onto some other stuff.

Great to hear you're making progress.

[howmus]

Evenin' Folks!

Janie I could sure use a cup of decaf at the moment.  I'll be in the back booth for a while.

Been a long but productive day today.  When I went to my sister's house I took a walk down the trail where the RR used to be in Canadaigua (well it is now one track, used to be a yard) and checked out the top side of the old coal dump I want to model.  There are no keep away signs posted by it so I guess it is OK to check it out.  I will be measuring it with a friend of mine.  I am hoping he can recreate it from what little is still left of it.  Pretty rotted old ties (with lots of carpenter ants all over the place) and mostly filled in with dirt.  But if anyone can come up with it. it would that guy.....

Did a bit more sorting out and recycling of old boxes, and other stuff.  I plan to get rid of all the stuff that has been hanging around here for the last decade or more THAT I will never use again.....  I also spent a few hours getting the Excel File done for the printing of the envelopes for the MLK Scholarship Invitations.  Still need to update info for the schools and city council, etc. but it is almost done and ready to go to print.

Got the rest of the forest painted on the backdrop while I was getting a couple loads of wash done tonight.  Now I can move onto some other stuff. 

We broke another record today.  Not just broke it, completely destroyed it!  Old record high for March 19 was 61°F set back in 1969....  Today the high was 76°F....  Back in 1993 the record low was set at -7°F 

Have a great night everyone and prayers for all in need!

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

gabeusmc

 

jeffrey-wimberly:

 

 

gabeusmc:

Hey Jeffrey what do you model exactly, I mean any thought as to a protype, or do you just like to build whatever enters your head (I am a little like that). Do you have operating sessions. maybe you answered this along with all of thoose pics you posted a while back. Thanks.

Think I'll go operate the layout

 

My layout is protolance based on a defunct railroad (fallen flag) named the Louisiana and Arkansas (L&A). My premise is what might have happened had the L&A not bought KCS. Now as far as building things, I sometimes get the itch to have my shops go crazy and I scrape the pieces together and build a Frankenstein loco. The most recent was a GP9m built with parts from Front Range, Life-Like, Athearn, Walthers and one or two other companies. Another is a three unit consist of F units built from Athearn, Stewart, Kato and Life-Like parts. There;s even a Varney metal body shell thrown in for weight. I don't have operating sessions. My layout room is far too small for that. The most that can be in here comfortably is two people as the ;ayout takes up almost all the room.

 

 

So do you operate it bitself, like me. Ya know run some through freights and local freights?

 

Yesterday and today are the first chance I've had to run the trains in a long while. The front of my layout was so cluttered up with project debris I couldn't run anything longer than a couple of cars, mostly locos for testing after I worked on them. I did have some fun today though. My friend brought his Bachmann GP9's over and we had a time trial race. Could his new GP9's get a train around the layout faster than my GP9 Frankenlocos? The answer is NO. Mine beat his by six seconds. They run the same speed but he lost because of the slow startup speed of the Bachmann decoders. Mine have Digitrax decoders and can almost jump from a standing start. He wanted to know how his would run if they had Digitrax decoders so I let him run my Digitrax equipped Bachmann GP7's. He'll be ordering a couple of DZ125's for his locos.