Elliott's Trackside Diner - May 2012

[galaxy]

WEll

I called for an emergency appt. at the Center for Pain Relief {CPR}. Because my back has been absolutely killing me! I went to Wally World this AM and 10 minutes into my trip I was near tears. SO at 15 minutes into my trip I went to the mens room just to SIT for 5 minutes. Then I left at a half hour because  I could no longer stand the pain!!

So I called and Monday I get to see the Dr. for injections.

I was a busy beaver here at home not only doing laundry, but going through clothes that either: I cannot any longer wear, won't wear cuz I no longer like, or won't wear as they don't fit me right and prepared 4 tall kitchen garbage bags for Salvation Army Thrift store. THAT was  a BACK breaking chore!

Yesterday our *train nut* friend came over and we entertained him. He had back surgery to implant electrodes in his back that don't do much. He can no longer stand the cold, so he was asking about Hawaii. His wife would like beach front in Florida.

Some of you may have seen me mention Hawaii. That is where MOH and I would like to retire to.  Dream of retiring to. I have an inheritance in FL to share, but MOH and I have decided we don't like Fl all that much, and the duplex is rented . but has migrated into the bad section of town,, so we don't want to live there. WE will take all inheritances {IF there are any} and invest in HAwaii. Problem is NOW is the time to buy in Hawaii and we have $0 for it!

Train nut friend  would like to take a trip there to look around because as he said " I just have to get out of here" to a warmer climate. SO we hooked him up with lots of info found online we had bookmarked OR that were the result of our trip there in 2005. WE are so looking forward to going back..if it doesn't sink into the ocean!  We expect to maybe retire there when MOH is 70...just a few 17 years away! {lets see now, 17 years into 1 Million $$ retirement fund, means we have to save ...oh bugger, bother and nutz!}

   *ALas*      Oh. to dream. perhaps to live it...

WEll I got to tend the washer now and my back has rested a few minutes now and MOH is home and after I put in dryer I join MOH and the putkins {cats} for a nap. I need it.

Dinner will be Chili tonight, Hot tamali!

[Packer]

Well I tried calling Ashley's number. I got a recording from verzion saying that said the line is either disconnected, changed, or no longer in service... IDK what's up with that (then it is verizion, and they kinda suck). I'll probably bug her the next time I see her.

Garry and Curt, Nice work in the WPF. I'm waiting on stuff in the mail to show up so I can put something in there.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Howdy ... 

PA Tom .... Sorry to hear the latest about Mrs. PA Tom... Prayers continue. 

Ken ... I recall when Santa Fe acquired the RSD15's. Those locos along with Santa Fe's SD24's were the first with low noses for the short hoods. Other railroads soon followed with low noses on other locomotive types. .... PRR's RSD15's had the traditional high noses for the short hoods. 

Curt ... Nice video in WPF. 

My picture in WPF has a dynamometer car with 2 SD24's. 

[Packer]

Afternoon guys.

Got the car washed. It really doesn't look that different when washed, but it needed to be done because it's been about a month or so.

Jeff, Trust me, we noticed you do things your own way (Fs on AAR trucks). I tend to be fairly strict about my stuff bein prototypical, Chris is probably a little more strict than me. Each to their own I suppose.

Ray, Never was a Boy Scout, but I know I should be very catious.

Ken, the PRR had high-hood RSD15s. I think they were called RSD7s or RSD12s though. They look and sound the same.

[tcwright973]

My sincere thanks for all the prayers and expressions of good will you folks have offered to my wife. We really appreciate it. We saw the surgeon this morning and he told us he didn't think putting in screws or screws with plates would work well for her because the bones have seperated so far and the amount of arthritis. So we are to see another surgeon in two weeks and see if he thinks bone fusion of the entire ankle or an ankle replacement would be better options. So we shall see.

In the by and by, I have spent the last couple of days roto-tilling the flower beds, planting flowers and watering the new sod in the front yard. Because it's getting harder to plant all this stuff, especially with the wife not being able to help, I converted half the flower bed to perenials this year. If that works out, maybe I'll eliminate annuals altogether.

We might ride up to Conneaut, Ohio someday this coming week to do a little railfanning on CSX. I don't have much luck on the CSX line here in Pittsburgh. Traffic is kind of spotty. But Conneaut is very nice and we sometimes drive up to the lake and just chill out. She can't walk too far, but being in the house this much is driving her crazy. Her words, not mine.

Hope everybody has a great one. Tom

[cudaken]

 Morning Folks

 Flo, Coffee please.

 Far as the One Day Rest In Seven Law. I know it and have it booked marked. From when I was wrongly let go from Mattress Giant. At this point I am scheduled to have Wed off. If he ask me to come in Wednesday I more than likely will. I am still hoping for a store. I am all so hoping my feet don't fall of either! Besides, I need the money badly, still have the $998.43 house payment.

 Curt I forgot to tell you about the engine with the long hood. Nickname of the engine is a Alligator. Official name is RSD-15. Mine is a Blue Line version. Sadly for you I don't think PPR ever had one. Good puller, I would say around 30 cars and has very good sound.

    

 Only thing I do not like about the engine is I never could keep the handrails in places.

 See you all later.

     Ken

[howmus]

Mornin' everyuone!

"It's a lovely day today, and whatever you've got to do..."  Ah yes, Zoe, I'll have a short stack of buttermilk pancakes w/ real dark amber Maple Syrup, and lots and lots of fresh brewed dark roast coffee for my R&GV RR Mug.

Just as I was finishing up the crossword puzzle this morning I look out the window and see the roofer's truck out front.  I was sitting there with only my bathrobe on so I ran to the bedroom and threw on a some clothes and met him more or less fully dressed at the door. he came in and we both signed for him to get working on my roof....  Told me he had someone back out at the last minute and he will be here on Monday morning to start the job.  YES!  I also showed him a section of the lower roof over the living room by the wood stove that we think may have a rotted and broken beam in it....  He said not a problem, they can repair it easily as we are taking all the roofing off anyway.

I spent about a half hour on the phone yesterday afternoon with a company that partners with NYSEG Solutions talking about adding solar electric panels to the new roof...  Surprisingly affordable.  Pay back with all the state and federal credits available today is about 10 years with a system that would provide me with about 84% of the electric I currently use.  I am seriously thinking about going that route as I have a perfect roof alinement to take advantage of the sun, and i sure hope to be still living here 10 years from now!  She said my electric usage is very low compared to most of the people who call about it.  i do need to get the old Blue Spruce cut down this summer though.  I is starting to crown up at the base and if it fell the wrong way would take out my house very fast.....

Todd, I shall keep an eye out on the horizon for any fireballs......  If you end up being around then I would suggest taking up a periphery position and have your cell phone ready to dial 911!

Vincent....  just remember the Boy Scout Motto, Be Prepared!

Best get moving as I have much to get done today!

Later!

73

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!!!

Coffee and an order of biscuits and gravy please. Thanks.

Sunny, with a high near 85.

I also am a three finger typer. No four….. Five.  One finger on my left hand and at least two soooometimes three fingers on my right. The thumb on the right is used exclusively for the space bar. Guess that makes me a four finger and a  typer. Impressive suh!

Not much going on here. Super Duper Evil sister is to bring records of MIL’s spending to the house Sunday of all days, so the siblings can see just where MIL’s money has gone. She has been taking care of her finances for a couple years. THIS should be interesting. I’m thinking of contacting Homeland security so they don’t assume it’s some sort of terrorist explosion. Just a family exploding. Did I mention I won’t be there. Could be a doozy.

Gotta trim up tree or three today so I can burn tomorrow. Last day to burn til September. Actually if I don’t get them burned it’s no biggy. The village has limb and yard waste pickup throughout the summer or, I can just haul it down there myself.

But first…. laundry.   

Ya’ll have a good day!!!!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Packer

Jeff, Nice looking Trainmaster. I assume it's an athearn? Have you tried sticking the TM drive under an AHM/Rivarossi U25C? I've tried finding the Kaslo shops U25C drive and detail kits to upgrade my U25C to no avail, but the trainmaster truck has the same wheelspacing as the GE tri-mounts...

Ohhhh! You assume incorrectly! It's an Atlas Silver Series (DCC Ready with 8-pin plug) H24-66 phase 2 Trainmaster originally in Reading colors. It was made about 2005 with an MSRP $139.95. Didn't cost me a cent as it was in one of two large boxes of donated locos, cars, structures, etc from a modeler who'd gone to O Scale. One of the locos in those boxes was a Rivarossi U25C with a junk motor. I stripped the ribs out of the shell and mounted it on a 70's era Athearn SD45 chassis with SD9 trucks and pitched the old black ring magnet motor in favor of a modern motor from a blue box PA2. I'm not as interested in fidelity to prototype as others are so the wheel spacing doesn't bug me. Almost nothing on my layout is strict to prototype. Even the Trainmaster has been changed. The front and rear handrails are metal railings from a 60's era Athearn GP7 and I removed the air tanks for used on the SD27J. When I get around to it the Trainmaster will be equipped with torpedo tubes and the rivet counters will scream foul.

[MisterBeasley]

Good morning.  Black coffee for me, and a bowl of mixed fresh fruit.

We're starting the first of a few nice days here, temperatures in the 70s and blue skies.  I hope to get out on my bicycle, maybe even take the road bike out one day and then ride the old mountain bike down the even older Bedford and Billerica narrow-gauge right of way the next.

Yeah, I've got my own Bank of Stupid stories.  My daughter spent a term studying in Italy.  We told the bank before she left that she would be there, and they should expect ATM activity.  For some reason, they would only make note of this for 90 days, at the end of which we had to call them again and tell them that she would be there another month.  So, when the time approached, I called the Bank and gave them the information.  But, no, they wouldn't do it, because I'm not the account owner.  I explained that she was in Europe, and didn't want to run up a half-hour of cell-phone charges getting through to a person on their convenient, automated phone system.  Nope.  No dice.  I ended up calling my Merrill Lynch guy, because they are associated with this particular bank and can approach from a different direction.  It took a half an hour of a 4-way conference call to deal with this silly little problem.

While wife Penny and I were in Italy, incidentally, we could not get the ATMs to work.  We never definitively got the answer, but we think it was a password thing.  Most of the European ATMs have only a 4 or 6 character password, and ours are 7 or 8 characters.  Remember that if you're going there.

[Packer]

Morning guys.

I took one of my dogs for a walk this morning. I probably needed the exercise, but those dang mosquitos were out in force. I swear my legs will look like I have hives later today...

I have today off as well. The weather is supposed to be good, so I finally get to wash my Mustang (pics will be taken aferwards) and paint an extra interior trim panel I have for it. My folks rented a 2011 mustang a few months back, and it have a black interior with some silver highlights. I though it looked cools, so I'm collecting extra interior pieces to see what mine would look like with some silver interior pieces. As it sits now it's all black interior, and all silver exterior. If I have any clear gloss left I'll hit my last centerbeam kit that is factory painted. I have 2 undecs I've been using for spares, and I may wind up painting one of them into NP or BN at a later date.

I'll probably call Ashley (the staring girl) later today to see what she wants to do. I'm hoping she'd go to dinner with me, but I think she may have other plans.

Post count: I need 90 to get to 2,000. I type fairly quickly, because I use both hands and all 10 fingers. Just being inactive for 10 months kinda slowed me down. It doesn't really matter anyways.

Labor Law: I ususally work 8 hour shifts and don't get breaks. But I usually only work about 30 hours a week, and I usually get 2-3 days off in a row. Guess I don't have to take breaks? It's never really bugged me (it bugs the crap out of my mother), as I've worked 12 hour shifts without one.

Jeff, Nice looking Trainmaster. I assume it's an athearn? Have you tried sticking the TM drive under an AHM/Rivarossi U25C? I've tried finding the Kaslo shops U25C drive and detail kits to upgrade my U25C to no avail, but the trainmaster truck has the same wheelspacing as the GE tri-mounts...

[LSWrr]

Good Morning All,

 

The one day off after 40 hours of work is a Department of Labor Law that applies to full time employees.  You also get a 30 minute lunch break every 4 hours during an 8 hour shift.  If you’re employed as a part time employee I can’t find anything that says you get a day off.  Time off and hours/week is supposed to be in the advertised position for your job.

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

Posta be be sunny and a high near 75F today..right now..plain ol' dull and 57F

Have the consultation to get to later this morning then it will be off to the LHS to see about a couple of tree kits...need something fiddly to work on..as I'm all fiddly now

Ken:  I think Galaxy hit the nail on the head...

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 61° and partly cloudy with patchy fog. The high will be 92° with patchy clouds.

Nothing planned for today except to run some trains and watch some movies. Last night my father actually managed to get some information together from the internet. A great accomplishment for him. Problem was he couldn't figure out how to print it. So he calls me and tells me I have to hotfoot it over there and show him how to do this simple task. I told him what has to happen is he has to listen to what I tell him and do it exactly the way i tell him to to. So I go through the simple step by step process with him making sure he does everything right. After a couple of minutes I hear the printer start. It prints four pages and stops. He says that's everything. Now how does he shut everything down? So he gets a quick lesson over the phone how to exit the browser and shut the computer down. Now he's learned a new thing. He's gonna be impossible to live with. Glad I don't live there.

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

 

 

 

 

 

[galaxy]

cudaken

  Today Dave told me to be prepared to work 6 to 7 days straight next week! On the schedule right now, I have 1 day off and Tuesday he has me coming in at 3:00 AM and working till 9:00 PM for 18 hours? Sure hope that is a mistake. 

 I will be hitting 6000 post here at the site in the few days!

Ken: Illinois has a "one day rest in Seven" Rule of law {unless employers are granted a waiver  like farms where animals need tending to continuously}. Here is the FAQs:

Can my employer require me to work seven days in a row?

 

The One Day Rest in Seven Act, as its name implies, allows for at least 24 hours of rest in every calendar week. A calendar week is defined as seven consecutive 24 hour periods starting at 12:01 a.m. Sunday morning and ending at midnight the following Saturday. Under this Act, employers may ask IDOL for a relaxation of this requirement. If IDOL grants a relaxation, it requires a statement from the employer demonstrating that all employees who will be working seven days in a row are in fact volunteers. For more information, click here. 820 ILCS 140/2 and 8 and 56 Ill. Adm. 220.200 - 220.700.

If you click the link it will take you right to here:

http://www.state.il.us/agency/idol/laws/law140.htm

Now you have some ammo next time they ask you to work on your ONE day off!!! {Unless NTB has applied for waiver which I doubt.}

And it sounds as if Dave is becoming "I AM the DAVE" like Larry LOLOLOL! {and will rule and ruin your life!!!}

Congrats on your Posting counts!

 

The One Day Rest in Seven Act, as its name implies, allows for at least 24 hours of rest in every calendar week. A calendar week is defined as seven consecutive 24 hour periods starting at 12:01 a.m. Sunday morning and ending at midnight the following Saturday. Under this Act, employers may ask IDOL for a relaxation of this requirement. If IDOL grants a relaxation, it requires a statement from the employer demonstrating that all employees who will be working seven days in a row are in fact volunteers. For more information, click here. 820 ILCS 140/2 and 8 and 56 Ill. Adm. 220.200 - 220.700.

If you click the link it will take you right to here:

http://www.state.il.us/agency/idol/laws/law140.htm

Now you have some ammo next time they ask you to work on your ONE day off!!! {Unless NTB has applied for waiver which I doubt.}

And it sounds as if Dave is becoming "I AM the DAVE" like Larry LOLOLOL! {and will rule and ruin your life!!!}

Congrats on your Posting counts!

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

cudaken

 Far as catching you Jeffery, I will have to learn to type way faster!

Wow. I thought I typed slow. I average about one word every two or three seconds and I use three fingers. Two on the left and one on the right.

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

TODAY is Friday, May 18th, 2012!!!

The weekend approacheth!!!

Make Today a Great Day!!! {even you Ken! LOL}

 

[james saunders]

Post ores

[cudaken]

 Good Morning Fellow Dinners

 Flo, I will take a beer and a pillow.

 Far as catching you Jeffery, I will have to learn to type way faster!

          Ken

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

cudaken

 My reward you ask? Today I started training a new person and I am getting a new Services Writer Monday to train? I asked Kevin if Dave has asked me how I did helping him? Kevin said he never even asked by Dave. Guess that is why they give us dark colored paints! So if I pee my self it will give me a warm feeling, but no one will notices. 

I had a sign on a wall in my office very similar to that. 'Doing a good job here is like peeing your pants in a dark suit. It gives you a warm feeling but nobody notices'.

And if you can catch up to my post count you're welcome to it. I'm working on getting to 20,000 now.

[cudaken]

 Evening Dinners

 Flo, Beer Please.

 Hum, no comments of Bank Of Stupid? Oh well, I guess at this point nothing they do surprises anyone here.

 Work Front More fun for me! Finally Jeff is up to 80% speed and Kevin while not sure of him self is now not totally worthless. So what happens? They go to there stores as Services Writers while I am still stuck as a counter person.

 My reward you ask? Today I started training a new person and I am getting a new Services Writer Monday to train? I asked Kevin if Dave has asked me how I did helping him? Kevin said he never even asked by Dave. Guess that is why they give us dark colored paints! So if I pee my self it will give me a warm feeling, but no one will notices. 

 Today Dave told me to be prepared to work 6 to 7 days straight next week! On the schedule right now, I have 1 day off and Tuesday he has me coming in at 3:00 AM and working till 9:00 PM for 18 hours? Sure hope that is a mistake. If not I am pulling my car into the shop at 3:00 AM and taking a nap till 7:00 AM when we open! 

 I will be hitting 6000 post here at the site in the few days! I am sure everyone i holding there breath to see if I can catch Jeffery!

 See you all later.

                         Ken

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.

[Packer]

Evening guys

Had a doctor's appointment I forgot about. It went well.

I managed to snag a pair of Atlas GP38s in BN for about 105. Both are decoder equipped. 1 more loco I'm watching them I'm gonna take a break from buying stuff.

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

jeffrey-wimberly

 

 

The program A & B wires are all you need. The Zephyr sends power to the program track ONLY when it's needed. The rest of the time the track is dead. If you connect a meter to the program track and set the meter to AC then press PROG then STEPS then CV-RD you'll see the reading on the meter jump up for a second. This is normal.

 

JEFF,   I'm just a thinking,  that sounds much like my DC, Controlmaster 20s.

Just use the A & B wires,  (Red & Black ) and the system only sends power to

the track when needed.   Lol... 

Something old is new again,  who would have thunk it ??

Hope you are feeling better.   But have a good laugh anyway.

Johnboy out..................................Now which is Red and which is Black ?  Where's my glasses...??? 

 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I never read that part of the manual myself, only the parts I was fuzzy on. So it didn't get read much. The only sections I refer to on a regular basis are from the decoder manual on CV's for lights, speed tables and addressing/speed steps. I find the Zephyr very simple to use.

[Curt Webb]

Thanks Jeff.. I guess I need to do some reading in the manual.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Curt Webb

One thing I do need to do is hookup a programming track. I'm going to do a portable one. I have a Digitrax Xtra command station and I have the Program A & Program B connected to the track. I would of thought that the power to the track would come from those connections but evidently not. So am I missing something or do I need feeders from the main power busses to the program track?

The program A & B wires are all you need. The Zephyr sends power to the program track ONLY when it's needed. The rest of the time the track is dead. If you connect a meter to the program track and set the meter to AC then press PROG then STEPS then CV-RD you'll see the reading on the meter jump up for a second. This is normal.

[Curt Webb]

Afternoon All,

I will try this again. My server disconnected on my last attempt. I got the little people put down so the extension is officially complete. It really feels strange that it is done after waiting for the TT for so long. There is only 1 more thing I want to do on the layout which can be done in a couple of days (add a pond by the farm).

One thing I do need to do is hookup a programming track. I'm going to do a portable one. I have a Digitrax Xtra command station and I have the Program A & Program B connected to the track. I would of thought that the power to the track would come from those connections but evidently not. So am I missing something or do I need feeders from the main power busses to the program track?

Barry- Prayers for your consultation tomorrow.

S. Lion- Is that fire by you? If so, be careful.

Ken- I like the long low nose on the Santa Fe loco. I will show my ignorance and ask it's designation.

Garry- The bridge seems to be going back together much quicker than I expected (probably seems forever to you).

Here is a video I shot of the extension today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEk1YDBMuoc

Everyone take care and prayers for those in need.  

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good afternoon. It's 83° and sunny. The high is due to be 89°.

Had a bad night and didn't get to sleep until the wee hours so slept late. Today I performed preventive maintenance on the Frankenstein trio of F units. That's a somewhat difficult job as all three are permanently coupled and electrically connected to each other. Put any one of them on the track and the other two get power also because they're all connected with jumpers. Getting to the gears in the bottom of the trucks isn't much of a problem as I made sure all the trucks had the Athearn style pop off plates when I built the locos. A small drop of ATF on each axle gear and a drop on the main gear then snap the plate back on. Do that six times and that gets it done for the entire trio. Lubing the worm can be a little more tricky as none of the locos are what they appear to be from the outside. The appear for the most part to be Athearn's but when you get inside you quickly realize you aren't in Kansas anymore. An example is that the third unit has a Proto/Stewart style chassis and Athearn type worm clips. How do you get those clips off? It's tricky but it can be done. The lead unit has a Stewart chassis with Proto trucks. In this case the high sides and ends were cut off the chassis. The lack of weight was made up for by adding a modified Athearn super weight. That simplifies the task of getting the worm clips off enormously. Getting them back on is the trick as the Stewart frame wasn't made with Athearn style trucks in mind and the Proto trucks are simply better made Athearn type trucks. I got them to fit the frame by performing very extensive surgery on said frame, something I won't do again. That was too much work. The middle unit is a real Pandora's box containing parts from seven types of locos made by at least four manufacturers. The ones I remember are Athearn, Proto, Kato and Varney. The Varney part is the metal body shell. It's a tight friction fit on the frame and will make you cuss in several languages while getting it off and back on. It's needed because of the heavy weight. The frame is an Athearn clone made by some other company and the parts inside is real a melange, some of which weren't made to work with the parts they're connected to. The drive shafts will have you scratching your head as you try to wrap your brain around how they're made. Scrap parts, super glue, a Dremel and some ingenuity can go a long ways.