Elliot's Trackside Diner- MARCH 2012!!

[Anonymous]

Good Afternoon Gang!

I spent the better part of the day trying to get those Z scale locos to run. They have not been running for at least 20 years! Opened them, cleaned them, checked the gears and the brushes, lubed them, cleanded the wheels. Well, I got a 6 out of 8 - the boxcab electric and the big Diesel won´t even give me a hum.

Btw, who says, that nickel silver rail does not corrode? The track was so dirty and corroded, that I used up a whole rail cleaner pad to get them shiny (and conductive) again Which leads me to the conclusion, that there is no way to get the "big" layout into working order - I will have to dismantle it, clean all track & turnouts and hopefully can start something new with it.

Darren - we are glad we have not yet had a forest fire in our neck of the woods. It is way too dry here and we are on a fire alert as well. We are hoping for some rain...

Barry - I am glad your friend is doing better. Continuing for him!

CUL

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Sir Madog

Btw, who says, that nickel silver rail does not corrode? The track was so dirty and corroded, that I used up a whole rail cleaner pad to get them shiny (and conductive) again Which leads me to the conclusion, that there is no way to get the "big" layout into working order - I will have to dismantle it, clean all track & turnouts and hopefully can start something new with it.

Not me. Sure it corrodes. The only metal that doesn't is gold so they say. The advantage of nickel silver is not that it doesn't corrode. It does corrode. The advantage is that the corrosion is electrically conductive to a point so it doesn't need to be cleaned as often. It does however come to a point where that corrosion becomes an insulator.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 67° and partly cloudy. The high will be 85° with SE winds 5 to 10 mph.

I was running my Atlas GP40's yesterday and noticed the trailing unit was getting a bit loud. Opened it up and lubed the motor bearings and worms. Put the shell back on then turned it over and applied a couple of drops of lube through the oiling holes in the bottom of the trucks. It runs much quieter now. They both still run pretty good considering they're pushing forty years and still have the original motors.

I hope the trash pickup happens today. They didn't come last Tuesday but I put it down to the weather. This week it's bright and sunny. My father has been heating up the phone line between his home and the sanitation depts office so they can't say they're unaware of the problem.

Plan for today is to relax and take it easy.

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I'll have a breakfast bagel with sausage and cheese and a cup of dark roast coffee in a FGLK mug, please and thank you.

Currently 31°F here in the Finger Lakes under sunny skies.  Low was 23°F with lots of wind last night.....  Not sure how the fruit trees survived the night.  probably will be a report on it later in the day as farmers assess the damage.  They say the high today will be 42°F and the low tonight will be just above freezing with some rain.  We are also under "No Burn" advisory around here as with the lack of snow last winter the grass from last year is tinder dry. 

Next Monday the lawn mower will have to come out....  It will be April, so I guess it won't break any moral rules.   Earliest i have ever even thought about it! 

Ulrich, one of the real problems with the tiny scales is the contacts for good electric pick up.  In z scale I would think everything would have to be clean as HO squared......  Good luck getting it running!

I have a bunch of items I need to get to today including starting Spring Cleaning around here (Lord knows it needs it!). 

My prayers for those who have been impacted by the fires around the country with the dry spell....  And, of course, prayers for all of you suffering with other aches, pains, illnesses, and such!

Later!

73

[tcwright973]

It was cold here in Western Pennsylvania this morning too. Some frost on the grass in the front yard, which by the way, I had to mow yesterday. Second time this spring the yards have been mowed. The farms here were worried about their orchards because all the fruit trees are in blossom. According to the news they were planning on burning hay bales last night and pulling these big fans behind tractors in the orchards. I wonder if it's possible to be a farmer and not have serious issues with ulcers. Gotta love them...

Not much new around here. We have a birthday party on Saturday for one of our great nephews. Hard to believe how fast they are growing up. It will be fun because some of the other great nephews and nieces will be there as well. I also have a new car that should be delivered to the dealer on Wednesday or Thursday. I'm looking forward to that. Well, the wife just let me know that the washer is done, so it's time to get the dryer up and running. Everyone have a good one. Tom

[cudaken]

 Morning From Maryville ILL!

 Flo, Coffee please.

 Feeling pretty good so far today, my feet don't hurt!

 Sorry it been so dry in some of you folks neck of the woods. Sure don't have that problem in my area! Rear yard is getting nuts and real need to get it cut.

 Weed Wars Rear yard has been over taken with weeds. I think they are called Thistles, they are the weeds that have the round blue flower. Need to find away to kill them so I can get some grass growing again. Any ideas?

 I have toyed with the idea of cutting a section say 10 by 10 foot on the lowest setting of the lawn mower they spraying the area with round up. How long would I need to wait to plant the grass seed?

 I was all so thinking about using the patching mixes they have been pushing on the radio, any one uses theses and what kind of luck have you had?

 Z Scale So Ulrich, do you enjoy working in that scale at all? You and I am with in 6 months of each other in age. I bet our eye sight is close to the same. So what are your thoughts on the scale? All so what do you do about sickening (spell check could not help me). I would think the normal stuff for HO and N scale would be way to big?

 Wife is feeling a little better. She now can back it out to the garage to tell me how bad she hurts? Guess that is a good sign.

 Going to the Lowe's sight and see what I can find out about my weeds!

           Ken

 

[LSWrr]

Ulrich, Nickel Silver (also known as German silver) oxidizes but the oxidation still conducts electricity unlike copper or steel where the oxidation does not conduct electricity.  Too much oxidation and the resistance peaks preventing some of our trains from operating properly….

[Anonymous]

Hi Guys!

Frankly, if that Z scale layout had not been a gift, I would have never considered that scale. You need an eagle´s eyes and very steady hands for it. Of course, you have to keep the track painstakingly clean. Maerklin has a track cleaning car, that actually grinds the grime off the track, but it does not help to get rid of over 20 years of corrosion. To clean the track, I use a track cleaning pad, which polishes the rails. The ones I did are just as good as new.

Once they run, the locos perform surprisingly well. I have a cab controller, which I built myself some years ago. It used adjustable pulse-width DC (or is it chopped off AC?) to control the locos, allowing them to creep along the track. The Maerklin power packs, however, know only three speed settings - 0 mph, 100 mph and 500 mph. 

I am still not sure what to make out of that layout. I would just hate to see that stuff rotting away...  What I am aiming at looks a little bit like this:

[galaxy]

Good afternoon

Chilly here in the Southern tier. Hope the apple crops will make it it was 29* this early Am.

made the pharmacy run, so my running is done for the day.

ULRICH...Z scale is TEMPTING as we have little space, but the prices are enough to keep us away. Plus N scale is about as small as we'd likely to go. THere was at last years train show in Syracuse a vendor who ONLY dealt in N and Z scales...MAN was it tempting...the Z scales were so "key-ute". They had everything,...but I don't translate teh degree rating of curved track well to the measurements of what space I need to set up that curve. If we'd had money and such, we woulda got us some Z scale runners!

to those who need them.

Have a great afternoon.

[Stourbridge Lion]

Afternoon Modelers!

Sadly a second person has been found dead in the fire zones today as the main fire is still 0% contained.  I have seen confirmed reports / photos that air assaults are well under way so hopefully they can get this thing beat down soon...

[csxns]

Hope the Fire get's out fast and think you all for the B-Day wish.Will now take a trip down to the layout and see what to run,Be Back.

[blownout cylinder]

Good Afternoon.

Managed a bit of traintime as it appeared that a few things that were supposed to be fixed did not need to....

So it was a quiet day...Audrey went up to the hospital with his guitar so that was done while I went and picked up some survival foods for the rest of the week....so far everything is ok with him...

[Cederstrand]

Italian roast coffee in a SOUTHERN PACIFIC mug, please.

***Barry, that pic looks like part of a  Soylent Green Plant  to me.

***Ulrich, that is a mighty fine looking layout. Look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Long day running errands. Tuckered out. Only have evening critter rounds left to do. First need to stoke my boiler with some coffee and bring up the energy a little bit.

Cheers! Rob

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Been running an F2A/F3B/F7A Frankenstein set today. Had a few programming bugs to work out and I finally got it licked. At maximum speed it tops out at 55.5 smph. I usually have it running at 35-45 smph. The body shells are from Model Power, Varney and Athearn in that order. The chassis of all three are Frankenstein creations consisting of so many parts from so many sources it even confuses me! One of them has parts from three different types of locos from five different companies. They do all have three things in common. They're HO Scale, they're heavy and all three have DZ125 decoders. As for slow speed performance, when they creep they move so slow I half expect them to take up squatters rights. Is an inch and a half in one minute slow enough?

[saronaterry]

Hi, all! Really windy today! Happy birthday to Russel and Sue! Prayers for those that need'm! PFC Son has completed 3 of 5 jumps at Airborne school. He's jumping twice on Wednesday, then will get on a bus Friday for Ft. Bragg to begin SF training. Very proud Dad here! Friend's boys came over to run trains, it was FUN! Didn't get everything done(again) but still had a good time. Speaking of trains, look what came in the mail today: Thanks, Lee!!!! Terry in NW Wisconsin

[saronaterry]

Hi,again. For some reason after I clicked "plain text" so I can respond to PM's, I can't get any paragraphs.

So this is a test. It is only a test. If this was an actual emergency you would be directed to the proper forum for official news, information  and updates. Thank you for your attention.

 

Back to our regular scheduled forum.

 

Terry in NW Wisconsin

[csxns]

Thanks,saronaterry and the rolling stock looks great.I ran two CSX 8-40C's today and everything went great.

[LSWrr]

Terry, now all you need to do is sand those loads to fit and do some detail painting and you’ll be good to go.   

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Howdy!

Terry ... Best wishes to your PFC Son! ... Nice to get model railroad stuff in the mail, right?

Jeff ... Evidently your Sundown Shops have a real master mechanic!

Barry .... Was that one of your pipe dreams?

Not much MRR'ing today. However, I did add some 1/87 critters to the layout, and I am doing the last of the retaining walls for the city.

It's tax preparing season. Yuk. Worst part of Spring.

 

[CNCharlie]

Good Evening Diners,

A rainy, cool night here with a little snow in the air but we are just happy to get the moisture. We had 3 thunderstorms through here last night which is unusual for this time of year, a blizzard would be more typical.

Ken, according to my wife, who is an accomplished gardener, you should not use roundup if you want grass to grow again anytime soon. We have used one of those 'instant grass' products made by Scotts and they do work well but cost a lot. We used it as we have a lot of shade and wanted something that would germinate fast on an area where the grass had died off. The alternative was to dig up the old sod and re-sod but it was a lot easier to use the stuff in the shaker bottle. Anyway she says look for something that kills only broadleaf weeds but not grass. We have a product up here called Killex but I'm not sure if Green Cross products are sold in the U.S.

Not a lot new here . I went to one of the LHS stores in town on Saturday. They don't have a lot of new stock but are now specializing in consignment sales.  I did pick up a Walthers gondola kit that must be at least 25 years old. The prices are almost as high as new from internet stores but sometimes there are decent deals.

Ulrich, a while ago you mentioned Smart cars. They are quite common here and until they started importing them into the U.S. we got the diesel version but no longer. The most popular new car in Canada is the Honda Civic. I guess Canadians are a thrifty lot.

Tom, What kind of car are you getting?  Always an exciting time picking up a new car. I have done it a few times but we kept the last 2 for 12 years so it doesn't happen often at our house.

Well time to go back to my hill/tunnel building on the door layout. It is kind of fun to cut pieces of foam and just see how it will look. I don't use much of a plan just sort of carve out pieces with a hot wire and plunk them down. If I don't like the look I just modify it with the hot wire.

CN Charlie

[james saunders]

Morning all, 

I've been scrolling through my photobucket site and I found a couple of shots of the now retired F-111C jets from the 2008 RAAF air show I attended. I thought I'd share with you.

 

 

Also this is the result of an FA/18 doing a mock strafing run on an enemy target :

They had set explosives near the runway, I'll never forget the boom from that.

And also of a QR locomotive I shot in 2007.

 

 

Cheers,

 

OzJim

[cudaken]

 Evening Folks

 Flo Beer please.

 Charlie, what instant grass thing from Scott's?

 Wish I had more time to hang around, but I have to be at work at 9:00 AM Wednesday.

          Ken

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Time for me to call it a night. Apparently whatever had a hold on me has gone off to bug someone else. I'll know by how I feel in the morning.

Some photos of what was for a while today the troublesome trio.

F2A - Model Power shell on an Athearn frame with a Proto drive and Athearn side frames.


F3B - Varney metal shell on a Stewart frame, one Athearn GP40 truck and one Stewart F7 truck, Proto motor, Walthers shafts, Athearn worms and a piece or two I can't remember the origin of.


F7A - Athearn shell on Proto frame and trucks, Athearn motor and shafts.


See y'all tomorrow.

[cudaken]

 So much for going to bed on time?

 Happy Birthday Russel! I just made the deadline.

 Flo, another please.

[AmanaMedic]

Good evening,

Wow! An F-111 fly-over with a strafing run by an FA-18? Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet

And, JEFF is running English Stagecoach Yellow and Candy Apple Green with a mighty "Ball and Bar" upon the nose!

I knew I liked it around here for a reason...

 

TEEN STEAM FAN: First, I am so sorry to hear about your furry friend. There is a book THAT might help: "Rescuing Sprite" by Mark Levin. It's a book by a dog lover for dog lovers. It's a quick read, but tough at times. Rerun got several extra big hugs the night I read it. 

BARRY: I've been meaning to give you a hearty pat-on-the-back for saving your buddy's life. I'm not the most spiritual guy in the Diner, but I do believe He put you there at THAT time for a reason. 

 

THAT pic of the "strafing run" reminds me of the time I was targeted by a pair of A-10 Warthogs. I was 16 and w**king for my favorite Uncle in Kansas for the summer. I was out disking a field and watching a pair of A-10s off on the horizon over the Flint Hills. They meandered over my way, circled, then made straffing runs on me! I guess they were pretending I was a Soviet tank or something (1980s). They both made several runs, and I was loving every minute of it! They finally waved their wings and headed off toward Ft. Riley. Maybe they were going to go annoy the Army, I don't know.

This was also back when you could still see B-52 bombers on low-level training flights in the area. Nothing like seeing a "BUFF" cruising along a few hundred feet over the hills.

 

In other news, this week marks seven years of living in the "Eight-Ball House" (located at the corner of Eighth and Ball, clever 'eh?). We've made so little progress on the place, it's almost depressing at times. But, Loving Wife, ever the optimist says we'll have it all done up nice by the time we own it all free and clear. Uh-Huh.  

W**k has kept me busy, to the point where I ended up turning in my Fire Dept. pager and door key recently. I only made two business meetings last year, no training sessions, and very few runs. Not good. Not good enough for my standards, not good enough per the Dept.'s by-laws, and not good enough by the State's minimum training standards. Already this year, I'd missed two training sessions and my schedule looks to be on-track to be pretty much the same as it was. So far, I don't miss it as much as I thought I would. I've got a standing invitation from the Chief THAT "if you see us out on something, stop by, we can always use the help!" THAT tells me I'm leaving on good terms, far better than if I had become an agenda item and had to be voted off.

I still lay my clothes out at the end of the bed at night, ready to jump into them at the sound of the pager though...

Best wishes continue for all in need,

[Cederstrand]

Chamomile tea, please.

***Terry, nice cars!

***Ken, 2D4 works good here. Very rarely use it and I keep the horses off the area for a good 3 months, just to be safe. More often I just use the pygmy goats (or "Little Frackers" as I call them).

***Jeffrey, nice layout pics, especially the middle one!

***Garry, I completely agree. Will be filing an extension again.

Good night all.

Rob

[Anonymous]

Good Morning Gang!

I did not sleep well, my whole body is just one big pain. Each move hurts. Tried to find a comfortable position to get some sleep, but it did not work out

Janie, coffee in an IV bag, please.

Just some thoughts on that Z scale stuff I have. Although the locos run surprisingly well, it is not really suitable for prototypical operation. This is due to the couplers, who are not that reliable. American Z stuff has Kadee-like couplers, so that may be different. For those of us with very little space it may be appealing, as you can get as much railroading on a 4 by 8 as you can get into a room of 10 by 20 in HO scale. Some of the Z scale locos and rolling stock are highly detailed, but that detail is hardly visible at a normal viewing distance. To achieve that "railroad feeling" we want to have, you will need to bring up the layout close to eye level. This may prove to be cumbersome for certain layout types. The ideal layout form is a fairly narrow shelf layout, mounted up high at eye level. Z scale is also not really suitable for those enjoying a wealth of detail. You need to have watchmaker´s hands and tools to produce it, and you will need magnifying glasses to see it. In my case, I will just leave it out and go for atmosphere instead. I will include only those details, which contribute to the overall atmosphere of the layout - some of them will have to be oversize, so they can be seen with my bespectacled eyes.

Aside from the size (better: visibility) issue, Z scale´s biggest draw back is its price. Those tiny locos are really expensive, and so is track and accessories. There are only a few suppliers, and in most cases you will have to buy the extraordinary expensive Marklin stuff.

Summing it up, Z scale is certainly more than just a gimmick, but you need eagle´s eyes, watchmaker´s hands and a well-filled wallet to go down that route. And you need a lot of room - sounds contradictory, but if you don´t want to have a spaghetti-bowl type of layout, you need a lot of space!

Y´ all have a good day.

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

 

 

 

New Castle IN-former PRR

 

TIPTON

 

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

Today is Wednesday, March 28th, 2012!!!

Make it A GREAT day!!!

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!! Coffee and a waffle with butter and maple syrup please. Thank you.

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 7am. Sunny, with a high near 75. West northwest wind between 8 and 14 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph

Ken- There are a number of products that kill weeds and not grass, but as Rob said, 2-4-D works just about as well as anything. Yes Roundup is best IMHO, but alas it doesn’t care about grass surviving. I forget how long it takes to wear away but it’s a couple months or so, maybe longer, before you can plant grass. Thing I like about Roundup is it isn’t ground transferring meaning it kills only what it touches. Unfortunately my ain isn’t what my wife refers to as “adequate for unsupervised applications”.

Welp, the countertops should be arriving in Springfield to the shop today so I’m waiting for the call to deliver. Hopefully Thursday or Friday as I’m tired of living in a super duper mess.

I should file my taxes today. I’ve had them done for a bit now, but I always seem to be not anxious to send them in. Probably because I have to pay. AGAIN! This is the last year for my grain sales so I am officially NOT a farmer anymore. I tell you what, I know every self employed person has to do it and I’m not alone, but no more than I made, with Self Employment and SS and all….., it weren’t worth it. Maybe next year we’ll break even or pay just a tiny bit. Maybe get some back, but I doubt it. I think I also should mow this afternoon. Yep, that's what I'll do. Watch Ziva, file my taxes, paint the last wall in the kitchen, then mow. Sounds like a plan. Of course the best laid plans of mice an men..... 

And now....Time to check out Ziva.

Ya’ll have a Great Day!!!