Hi Tom W,
In your descion making do not overlook the Chevy HHR (which we have and bought for that reason as well) and my SIL just bought a Toyota Rav4 2012 and I am quite impressed with it for those similar reasons.
Good luck shopping, it's always fun (not)
Johnboy out....................................
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
Mornin' everyone!
Zoe, I'll have a raisin Bran Muffin with real butter and a cup of dark roast coffee to tide me over 'til lunch.
It has started here in the Finger Lakes... Neighbor across the side street has just mowed his lawn! Actually his son has mowed his lawn as the Doc. doesn't want him doing that sort of thing after his heart attack a couple years ago. He comes out and supervises. Now this is not the nut accross the street who sometimes mowes his lawn twice in one day. He doesn't have a working lawn mower yet this year. He wears them out quickly! Mine should be mowed soon, but I WILL NOT MOW BEFORE THE FIRST OF APRIL!!! And even then under major protest! Current temperature is 65°F, pretty much at the high for the day. I did go outside and remove some wasps for around the house.... There should be 3 less nests to be a problem this summer....
Installed two Fast Tracks turnouts in the rebuild section of the layout last night. Need to find time to make about 8 or 9 more. Everything will grind to a halt soon as Midwest Products can't find suitable cork to make the roadbed I like. Can't use the WS foam as the pliobond will eat it, and I don't like the fact that other types are not flexible, so I guess I will just have to wait and hope.
Ken, I use the plain out Roundup applied carefully to the plants I need to get rid of on the rare occasions I do that sort of thing. With Thistle, I usually just use a round shovel and cut the taproot below the surface. They don't grow back on me usually. Never put on grass seed as that just makes more lawn to mow.... Actually the grass will fill in very quickly all by itself unless you have a very large bare spot.
Best be finding something needing to be done around here and get at it!
Later!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Bob - I was considering a Focus because of the gas mileage, as well as a Honda Civic. But something else came up for consideration that we hadn't even thought about. After my wife blew up her leg last Fall, she has also started to have some pain and motion problems in her hip. When she tried getting in and out of those cars, she had a bit of a struggle. I did as well, having some back problems of my own. With the CRV, the seats are much higher, and both of us basically slide right in and out. I knew when I tried to get out of the Civic for the first time, that she would not like it, and she didn't. So because I'm a low mileage driver anyway, 10,000 a year, we went for convenience and comfort over gas mileage. Hated to do it that way, but sort of demed it necessary. My niece has a Focus by the way, and loves it. Tom
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
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
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
I measured 18.5 mm (3/4") of rain yesterday. At least we didn't get the snow that the western part of the province got. Don't use the "b" word. This area is infamous for its March blizzards.
Killex does a good job. I've used it a few times. Roundup is pretty permanent. It kills whatever it touches. I used one of those shaker bottles of grass seed mixed with fertilizer to fill in a few patches on the lawn last year. It worked well but it seemed that I had to use a lot of product on each patch making it rather expensive.
Which LHS has gone to assignment sales? My favourite has always been Gooch's.
The Honda Civic is a very popular car. According to anyone I've talked to who owns one they like it a lot. We've got a 2011 Ford Focus and it gets very good highway mileage. City mileage in the winter is poor, only 20-25 mpg but on the highway I get at least 42 mpg. With our 2008 Focus, travelling at 110 kph on I95 in ND I was getting 46 mpg. Can't complain about that. Apparently the 2012 Focus has even better gas mileage. Well, with gas at over $4 a gallon in both Canada and the U.S. we sure want the most fuel efficient cars we can get.
..... Bob
Beam me up, Scotty, there's no intelligent life down here. (Captain Kirk)
I reject your reality and substitute my own. (Adam Savage)
Resistance is not futile--it is voltage divided by current.
CN Charlie - I'm getting another Honda CRV. The one I'm trading in is 5 years old and has been the best car I've ever owned. There was only one repair needed in 5 years, and that occured just a couple of months ago. The circuit board for the windshiel wipers went bad. That repair didn't cost me anything as it was covered by the extended warranty. There really isn't anything I don't like about this car. Tom
Good Morning Modelers!
*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*
News from the fire, it's still 0% contained but has only grow to 4,500 acres. We have three large bombers attacking this from the air plus other small aircraft making drops. Homes lost is currently listed at 23 with 2 fatalities and 1 missing. The two lost are identified as Sam Lamar Lucas, 77, and his wife Linda M. Lucas, 76; they were found inside/near a home.
Here are some photos from Day #2
Darren (BLHS & CRRM Lifetime Member)
Delaware and Hudson Virtual Museum (DHVM), Railroad Adventures (RRAdventures)
My Blog
Good morning again.
Well, grocery shopping is done. Went to Wally world. Banking to be done. My check gets deposited today. SO I can pay some bills.
Tomorrow I go and do some errands and then I GET GAS. I will Save $1.70 off a gallon {well over $4.00 here} SO I will get it about half price! I will get close to my 20 gal allotment as I have let the trank run down.
A warm up today to about 70* they say...but could be only 60* today, Make up my mind. Rain too.
Dinner will be mini steaks tonight bought on sale at a discount. WIth herb roasted potatoes and asparagus pieces {can't afford the whole stem must get pieces}.
WEll, gotta run.
Catch a y''all later.
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Good Morning.
So far the sun is still shining..and he is doing a bit better this morning. Still have to phone up a few more of his family...they lost phone service to their home last night..some wonderful nincumpoop went and drove their car through a telephone pole and knocked service out. DUI...
Have some things to get done this afternoon..one is to get some stuff down to Goodwill and get some more pink foam...the stuff disappears quicker around here sometimes...
Have a good day people!!
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
Good morning. It's 58° and partly cloudy with patchy fog. The high will be 85° with south winds at 5 mph.I don't feel like I'm completely over whatever it was but I feel much better than I did yesterday.Yesterday I dug out my old MRC Synchro Sound box and decided I'd hook it up for a while. Well I promptly discovered I'd completely forgotten how to hook the dang thing up! I couldn't find the instruction sheet so I looked it up on the net. Found it easily enough and downloaded it. The listing for the CV's was handy for setting it up for my purposes. The horn and bell and some of the associated noises I can get along with but that constant prime mover racket gets annoying fast. For the moment it's connected via alligator clips to the end of a dead end spur. It's OK for use once in a while but it's going to be disconnected most of the time. Today I'm still running the troublesome trio. Seems like I have all the bugs programmed out. But you know how that goes. Just when you think you got it old Murphy pops up and smacks you right between the eyes! Today I might see how many cars it will pull. They're so darn heavy they'll probably pull everything I have. They already won a tug-o-war with a trio of Proto 2000 E units. They ripped the coupler out of the end one!
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Just stopped by for a quick coffee.
Ken, I use a 2 4 D product that kills everything except the grass. Thistles may need a second spot application in 30 to 60 days. Be sure to read the label for the appropriate PPE and reentry period. Keeping your pets protected.
Later, Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
Good Morning All,
No model railroading last night, I came home took a nap and installed a wireless printer-scanner-fax for the GF.
Urologist called with my blood results: my hyperthyroid is acting very hyper. So it’s off to my MD on Friday for a consultation.
Ken, I have the same problem in the flower beds, I mean I have a bad problem. I spray Ortho right on the leaves and the base of the plant. In the yard every Halloween I put down Scott’s winter weed and feed. It’s the only way to keep my sanity in the summer. I tried the Vigaro winter fertilizer-weed killer but it just doesn’t do as good of a job as Scott’s. You can see where I miss in the spring there will be a thistle standing tall and proud right at the very edge of the sidewalk. In the spring and summer my yard is not a forest green, its conifer color and super thick.
BM1 Lee Soule USCG (ret) L.S.&W Railroad Serving the Lower Great Lakes
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”.
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!!!
Todd
Central Illinoyz
In order to keep my position as Master and Supreme Ruler of the House, I don't argue with my wife.
I'm a small town boy. A product of two people from even smaller towns. I don’t talk on topic….. I just talk.
GOOD MORNING!!!
Today is Wednesday, March 28th, 2012!!!
Make it A GREAT day!!!
Good Morning! from Tipton IN.
New Castle IN-former PRR
TIPTON
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
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.
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
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,
The Cedar cRapids Industrial Branch: Proudly Shipping Yesterday's CrunchBerries Tomorrow!
So much for going to bed on time?
Happy Birthday Russel! I just made the deadline.
Flo, another please.
I hate Rust
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.
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
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
James, Brisbane Australia
Modelling AT&SF in the 90s
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.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
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.
Thanks,saronaterry and the rolling stock looks great.I ran two CSX 8-40C's today and everything went great.
Russell
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
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
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?
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
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...