Elliott's Trackside Diner - April 2012

[cudaken]

 Morning Folks

 Flo, Diet Dew to go please.

 I have about 5 minutes, then off to the showers and then to work. I dropped by a few times yesterday but had nothing to say. Maybe I will when I get home.

          Ken

 

[gear-jammer]

Good morning, Diners.  Chloe, I will have coffee and a waffle with lots of syrup.  Does anyone else want to share with me?

Yesterday I did some math on how many scale 1 x 4's are needed to complete my car shop.  Maybe I will get an order put together.

We replaced a gate post that the ice storm/snow knocked over.  It looks so good.  If we are getting cattle again this fall, we have some post replacement to get done.

I think I will run the mallet while we work out today.  After that we may go for a motorcycle ride.

Busy, busy, busy.

Sue

[jeffrey-wimberly]

TA462

 

You should always help your parents and ask for nothing in return.  

I do what I can. Physical disability and financial constraints sharply limit what I can do. If I do too much it greatly impacts my health then I can't help them at all. On the financial side I can afford to fill up my van ONCE a month and it's NOT a minivan. It's what Dodge used to call a Sportsman. It's big and has a more than healthy appetite for gas to feed it's V8 powerplant. To do everything I need to do for myself PLUS be running back and forth to and from their place on one tank is a fair stretch to say the least.

[LSWrr]

Good Morning,

Had a good trip Friday and Saturday, William and Samantha are growing up.  Samantha is considering buying a house after she graduates next year in Auburn Hills, MI.  William is still in college for a few more years.  Samantha had to work, but we did go to dinner together Friday night.  Saturday William and I went from hobby shop to hobby shop and checked out a couple outdoor shops.  I did miss out on the Blissfield MRR show.  My neighbor went and sent me this link to one of the layouts on the tour:

https://dougscmrs.wordpress.com/layouts/toledo-ho-scale-layout/#

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

 

 

 

 

 

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

Today is Sunday, April 22nd, 2012!!!

Enjoy your Sunday Paper wiht your coffee...All the news that's print to fit...

 

 

Here I sit, fat, dumb and happy

 

 

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

Good Evening all you good looking people,

Zoe,  Just a HC and a couple of oatmeal raisin cookies before bed tonight,  thanks..

Guys, in regard to the headlight issue,  I've done the same thing just using a large straw from 7-11, cutting it down to length and covering it with electrical tape as Jeff did. It works surprisingly well.

I wish I could come up with as simple a solution for the Geeps and U-Boats.

Had to go in and work 3.5 hours tonight for a concert, have tomorrow off then work Monday then four off.  Going to love that.  It is supposed to be in the 20s c.

Great to hear from Packer, (Vincent).  I wonder if he is any relation to Vinnie ???     

Thanks to all who replied about the Civil War Pictures with their stories. So very interesting.

Back in 86 I got to an old Fort at Key West, Florida.  But I can't for the life of me remember the name of it.  All of it's cannons were pointed out to sea.  A lot of it had succumbed to sand that had blown in.

Well, I am off to bed, So sweet ribbon of steel dreams to all of you.

Blessings to all in need.

And Good night Ulrich and Petra where ever you are.

Johnboy out.............................................to ZZZZzzzzland.

 

 

[hon30critter]

Jeffery!

Good job on the headlight. I have used aluminum tubing to do the same thing. I picked up a package of various sized tubing in brass and aluminum a while ago and as luck would have it, some of the tubing is a perfect fit for a 3mm LED. Here is a pic of the tubing installed in an Athearn F7

 

I use a short piece of copper tubing, also from the same assortment, to provide a close fit inside the aluminum tube. It works great to control the unwanted light.

 

Dave

Edit: To all the diners, sorry if I have broken the rules about the diner discussions being about anything but modeling related. My bad.

[Cederstrand]

Sliced turkey with kettle chips, please.

***Curt, cool idea to embroider curtains with PRR crests.  

***Garry, that is some neat ancestry you have there.

Had to gently pull up the 2-8-0 steamer to assist the CSX diesel in pushing the cleaning car around the (HO) layout. Dropped off the trailing box cars when one of them kept derailing. No doubt a wheel gauge issue.

Have a good night all.

Rob

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Jeff ... The headlight looks great. Hope you can work things out with your Dad. You can sometimes use shrink tube on backs of headlights, too.

Curt... The Curt-ain looks great!

Flip .... I'm glad to see you here. I hope you return soon!

Vincent ... The cabooses are a good start. The Bachmann cabooses as you probably know were essentially CB&Q cabooses. They looked funny painted for Santa Fe, union Pacific, and others in their train sets. None I saw had the tool box underneath, and you may wish to remove that. looking forward to seeing your complete cabooses. (Way Cars is what the Burlington called them). .... Thees is a trhea dedicated to cabooses, and you may wish to post pix there.

John Boy ..... More about the Civil War. I have an ancestor who played a signifcant role. His name was Thomas Corwin, and Abe Lincoln appointed him to be Minister to Mexico during the Civil War. There were fears the Mexicans would fight with the Confederates agains the Union Army. He had previously been opposed to the Mexican-American War, and Mexicans regarded him highly because of that. Mexicans stayed out of the US Civil War, and of course, the Union Army won. Thomas Corwin had previously been the first Republican governor for Ohio, a US Senator, and a Secretary of the treasury. Ancestors on my mother's side of the family are from Lebanon, Ohio where Thomas Corwin had lived and is buried.  

 On the layout, I am building a warehouse / distrubution center for a food products in my large city.

 

Where is Ulrich?  

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good evening

It's time for me to call it a night. After all the activity today I had to change the dressing on my foot. As I knew it would be it was a bloody mess but nothing I couldn't handle. My father and I are going to have to have a talk. I can't keep up this much activity. He'll have to find someone to take up some of the load because I can't keep doing it all when he's gone. I have a life too such as it is and I do have strict limitations as to what I can do. Do too much and I'll rip the wound on my ankle open worse than it is and I'll have to tell him 'NO' before that happens. Another infection is the last thing I need.

Today's project was to work on one of my F3A's. The headlight bulb would flood the cab with light and it looked terrible even in a brightly lit room. The solution was much simpler than I thought it would be. I found a needle cap from one of my used syringes and cut it in two then discarded the piece with the closed end. That left me with the piece open all the way through. It was a little small to fit over the bulb so I cut the bottom of it so it could spread open the pressed it onto the bulb. I then wrapped a single layer of electrical tape around it so the cab wouldn't be filled with an orange glow. The open end of the tube is on the same level as the headlight lens. The result of my work is shown below.




See y'all tomorrow.

[Curt Webb]

Evening All,

Back from the club and watching some recorded shows. Nothing else planned tonight.  I pick my Dad up tomorrow morning around 8 AM for our trip. I'm taking the camera but the weather is not supposed to be so good so I will see about pictures after we get there. Our train excursion is scheduled for 1100.

MOH sewed a curtain for the doorway without a door in the train room. It is made from the same material as the layout skirt and she is going to embroider PRR crests on both sides. 

 

 

Everyone have a good night.

[fec153]

Mr. T- It is always a pleasure to view what you post.

Off topic-

" It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."         

General George S. Patton Jr..

Flip

 

[galaxy]

jeffrey-wimberly

I feel a bit better now after a little more sleep. Got soaked last night when I left my parents place. At least I got my hair washed. I be going back over there around 1:30 today. I have no idea where my father thinks I get all this gas to keep going back and forth but there's going to come a point when I have to put my foot down and just say enough. As for the rest of the day, I don't have any plans.

Jeffrey, I am surprised that as much as you do for your parents, that they DON'T do something like buy you a tank of gas a month or something for your time and efforts and being at their beck and call.

But DO put your foot down and tell them quite plainly {Both Mother and Father together} that with today's gas prices and the amount it takes, that unless they DO buy you a tank of gas, you can only afford to make one trip over there a week or something like that.

MOH gets gas from FIL as FIL always has some errand to run that takes gas. MOH had a bad tire {someone slashed it?} and made my FIL pay for it. He didn't like it, but MOH said then I can't do your running for you!

Well, DInner is meatloaf. Side of salad.

Here I sit, fat, dumb and happy

[howmus]

Mornin'..... Er..... Ahem!  Evening folks!

Chloe, decaf coffee, hot deacf coffee in  a R&GV RR mug would be a blessing right now....

I spent most of today out at the R&GV RR Museum working with a Boy Scout Troop from Warsaw, NY.  They were doing a service project for the Museum consisting of raking and removing all last fall's leaves from the ROW.  Raking and removing leaves in the rain....  The pouting, cold, wet, miserable rain!  They kept at it and got a mile of the track done before calling it a day.  I spent some time chatting with the Scoutmaster, and he is my kind of leader!  Runs the troop like a Boy Scout troop instead of the all too common "Leader Scout Troop"  where all the decisions are made by the Scoutmaster and the boys get to tag along for the ride....  They were a good troop to be around and seem like great young men.  I may have some more Scouts to do RR Merit Badge with as well.  Since it is  2 and a half hour drive from where I live to where they live, they may make arrangements to come out to the museum again with most of the requirements done, and I will check then off and reinforce the important safety aspects.  Fun day, but cold, wet and icky out there.  I also am not used to standing and walking on ballast for 5 or 6 hours at a time..........  probably good for me and I should do it more often!

Vincent, good to see you back in here!

I have a couple of cats begging for the lunch they didn't get at noontime....  Catch you all in a bit!

73

[Packer]

I just got back from a junkyard rummage trip that turned into a multitude of adventures. Adventure 1 was when we were stopped at a light. A tan Mercedes comes by in the right lane through a red light and into the front right of a Nissan Altima. The hit was so hard that the Altima did a 180 degree turn and the Mercedes went 90 degrees the other way. Me and my father and a friend all hopped out of the LTD LX we were in and helped out, others called the authorities or directed traffic while we were mostly attending to the injured. The driver of the Mercedes hurt his neck and had to be carried on in a strecher, he was able to walk to the sde of the road on his own, so it's probably a strain. The driver of the altima was unhurt, but the elderly lady in the passenger side had to have another abulance take her away. She said she was having difficulties breathing and couldn't get out. We were about to leave when the authories showed up, but were asked to stay as witnesses. Both cars are toast, and there are injuries. Suprised no one was more seriously hurt.

 I remember my accidcent with my 97 mustang and believe it was about the same intenseity (I knocked a stopped accord with brakes on into a truck, and the truck went foward about 15 feet) but I got just a scratch from a cruise control button flying off when the airbag deployed. I beleive I can safely say my mustang was more safe than that mercedes (IDK if the driver was wearing their seat belt)

Adventure 2 started with a clicking noise coming from the right side of the engine after the first junkyard (about 200 yards from the above wreck). We decided that we'd stop at a friends house to check the rockers (we suspected a rocker was just loose), after the 2nd junkyard (about 3/4s a mile) it got worse. After going through the aforementioned intersection the clicking got worse all of a sudden. We pulled over in a parking lot to check them since we had the tools. Mind you it was raining pretty badly now (Did Jeffery's rain come this way?). We were partly right when we suspected a loose rocker. We were wrong in thinking it was merely loose. It had in fact split along the roller (the large bearing for those who don't know). I though we were stuck, but my father just pulled it off (after much trying to get it off without burning himself), pulled the pushrod out, and disconnected the injector. We ended up driving the 55 miles home on 7 cylinders.  Guess that old (1984) LTD doesn't need fancy electronics to shut cylinders off (like newer chevys and dodges do). Although halfway home it started smoking bad at idle and seemed to have less power. Father believes he lost another cylinder somehow, and made it home with 1/4 of the cylinders out. We are unsure if the pushrod length was measured wrongly, or that particular rocker was defective.

Garry, I haven't been up to much recently. I'm still playing with trains, weathering, and those kinds of things.

Johnboy, There's an Old civil war fort about 40-50 miles away from here. I've never been there though.

[wetidlerjr]

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I feel a bit better now after a little more sleep. Got soaked last night when I left my parents place. At least I got my hair washed. I be going back over there around 1:30 today. I have no idea where my father thinks I get all this gas to keep going back and forth but there's going to come a point when I have to put my foot down and just say enough. As for the rest of the day, I don't have any plans.

[Cederstrand]

Italian Roast coffee in a UNION PACIFIC mug, please.

***Garry, I think the toe is healing well, especially considering daily life here. One could call me "Hobble Foot" for the next few weeks (or longer).

Might just make it down to the train room today and run a cleaning train or two. Layouts are no doubt collecting a little dust.

Hope y'all are doing well.

Cheers! Rob

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Jerry ... Glad you are having a good visit.

Curt ... Thanks for commenting on my WPF.  I will watch your video when I get a chance soon.

Rob ,.... Is the toe improving today?

Ulrich ... Let us know if you are okay. I've not seen you here lately.

We have some MIA's .... Paul, Dick, Ed. Fergie, Sawyer. Morgan, PC  ....... ...Der John: What's up with your layout?

[Cox 47]

Good Morning All..Its sunny and a cool 43 here..Not much railroad'in time this week-end..2 of my grand daughters here and my youngest daughter...You All have a good one...Jerry

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Packer

Vincent's Back!!!

I know it's been a while, and looks like I have some serious catching up to do.

 TIME FOR CELEBRATION!

 

Vincent ..... I'm very glad to see you!  Feel free to update us on "stuff" in your life. ...... The DIners have had numerous doings over the months. Some sad. Some happy. The friendships continue.

Ken .... Watch out! You might be aarrested for tampering with food!. Kidding of course.... That sounds like a unique topping for a pizza..... I'll have to see if I can get that topping here at the Bait Shop Pizza place............ Good job, Ken. That was assertive.

 John Boy ... You were talking about the Civil War. I had some photos I took but evidently they are now deleted. At the TN border there are some huge old Confederate cannons on the banks of the Cumberland River. KY was a neutral state. Union armoured steamboats passed through KY on the river. When they got to TN, the cannons bombarded them. Eventually, the Union boats passed through and continued towards Nashville.  ..... In downtown Nashville an old fort is still there. Sadly there are thousands of graves in Civil War Cemetaries. 600,000 died in the war making it USA's worst war based on casualties.

[galaxy]

Hello- Anybody here?

The diner is slipping on the front page....

well, Dishes are done, bedding is laundered and another load of laundry waiting to go in..

Time I think i can squeeze in to dustthe table top layout. The A/C certainly circulates it!

Our Air cleaner is dufunct. Well, we can't buy the filters at Lowes anymore as Lowes stopped carrying the Hunter models. Bummer. I can order them online but they are about $35. FOr that we could about buy a new filterer, or at least half a new filterer. ANd we need a filter a month so in two months of Hunter filters we could buy a whole new machine. Built in obsolesence, I guess.

Actually I gotta attack the panty in the Kitchen and clean in there....

Posta be some rain heading our way, but I guess it will miss us.

Well, on to bigger and better things...

Here I sit, fat, dumb and happy {Just like a congressman}

[Curt Webb]

Morning All,

Sitting here trying to decide what I want for breakfast. I guess we are like everyone else with the rain. It looks pretty bad outside and is supposed to rain today and tomorrow. The upside is we really  need  it since we are in drought conditions, the downside is going to the RR museum and  excursion tomorrow. The museum is in between Tampa and Sarasota and it rains more there than where I am at.

Ken- You do tremendous auto work. 

Everyone take care.

[gear-jammer]

jeffrey-wimberly

Good morning. It's 51° here. Mostly cloudy with an isolated shower or two. The high will be 70° and clearing to partly cloudy.

No plans for today except maybe to go back to bed.

Good morning from the other side of the country.  Same weather forcast here.

Jeffrey,  Just a chuckle.  Your alcohol bottle could be KingKong.  Your scenery is looking good.

Maybe we will get some work done outside today.  If the weather holds for the weekend, we might take a motorcycle ride.

Later,  Sue

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 51° here. Mostly cloudy with an isolated shower or two. The high will be 70° and clearing to partly cloudy.

No plans for today except maybe to go back to bed.

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

 

 

 

 

 

[galaxy]

BACK Vincent!!!

Always good to see diners returning....

 

 

 

Here I sit, fat dumb and happy.

[Packer]

Vincent's Back!!!

I know it's been a while, and looks like I have some serious catching up to do.

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

Today is Saturday, April 21st, 2012!!!

Keep on trackin'!!!

 

Here I sit, Fat, dumb and happy