Elliott's Trackside Diner - June 2012

[Stourbridge Lion]

Morning Modelers...

It's just surreal to see what is happening here in Colorado with all the fires.  For nearly 3 weeks now we are hearing and seeing reports of someone losing their homes as these massive fires tear into communities.  Here is one of the shots I work up to today on the various news feeds showing northern Colorado Springs burning near the Air Force Academy...

[JeremyB]

Jeff: Im interested what other hobbies do you enjoy, Its nice to hear what we all like outside of trains and model railroading.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Flip!

Good morning. It's 71° and partly cloudy. The high will be 101° and it'll be most sunny.

Today I'll be busy with a couple of other hobbies, nothing anybody is interested in.

My nephew found out (again) the folly of loaning his truck out. He let a friend use one of his pickups for a 'small' moving job. It came back with a busted tranny. No forward or reverse. So he's having to depend on a truck that has no reverse. If the weather is nice he can ride his motorcycle. He wondered if he could use my vehicle. He was quickly told to forget it. I need mine for my own use as I can hardly get off my own property without it. Just walking to the end of the drive and back is agonizing.

Well my father had been feeling somewhat weird for the past couple of months and his vision has been shifting back and forth from good to not so good. He told me what he felt like and I told him it sounds like diabetes. He needed to have his doctor do a blood test and find out what's going on.  Well a few days ago he had the test done. He was afraid the dreaded 'C' word would come up. It didn't. However he did find out I was right. He's a diabetic. His fasting level was five hundred. I told him some years ago all that natural sugar was gonna come back and bite him. Too much of anything, even apples, oranges, grapefruit and such isn't a good thing. He's going to have to make some major changes in his diet. He likes a lot of wheat breads and fruits and now he's finding out he'll have to cut back on those. Now he knows why I don't eat a lot of fruits and those 'high energy' nutritious breads.

My mother's doctor appointment yesterday came out good. She's doing what she needs to do which is good but what's bad is she's doing only what she needs to do and nothing more. She needs to increase her level of activity. Laying on the couch doesn't cut it.

Well, that's it for today.

[Anonymous]

Flip!

watch?v=rEc8rGonrQw&feature=playerdetailpage

Good Afternoon Gang!

There is no end in sight - the weather will stay as bad as it is. Temperature today is at 12 C, it was just a notch above freezing last night. I wish our politicians would send some of the global warming they talk about to my neck of the woods.

I spent 4 hours this morning going through a Japanese web page in search of detail parts. A fairly tedious job, but now I have a "shopping list" for all the parts I need to super-detail my little steamer. Now I have to find a source for them, as the on-line shops I know don´t stock those parts.  The joys of modeling "foreign" prototype.

I am late in running the mid-day train!

Have a good one!

[blownout cylinder]

Flip!!!

[gear-jammer]

Good morning, Chloe.  I will have a large coffee, please.  I should be at least 75 today.

Happy Birthday, Flip.

Sue

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!!!

Fried chicken and waffles please with a side of fried potatoes and of course that mandatory cup of dark roast coffee thank you.

Sunny and hot, with a high near 95. Tommorrow we get our hotern a 2 dollar pistol days. Thursday an Friday are over 100. Then someone said they saw it was over 100 for most of next week, but I didn’t see or hear that. The NWS says mid to lower 90’s sat, sun and mon. WeatherChannel says mid to upper 90’s sat and sun, mid to lower 90’s Monday on. And the locals…..well they are trying to make up their mind over which of Casey’s donuts are the best.

Flip!!

Rob prayers for your brother.

Welp, don’t know what I’ll do first. I’m sure I’ll figure it out. In-cousins ( is there such a thing?) Brenda’s cousin and husband are coming in FRIday now instead of Saturday. Joy. So much for those plans. We have to deal with the 4^th of July celebration and deal with house guests at the same time. Let's see, they'll be here in two days and she doesn't even have a place for them to sleep yet. I suggested the HoJo's in Lincoln. Didn't go over well at ALL. Not only THAT, but Monday and Tuesday when Brenda is at w**k, I’ll have to babysi…I mean entertain them. I don’t entertain well with people I don’t know. Only thing I’ll be entertaining, is the thought of another beer. Whoa. That reminds me I need to hide my Lone star. Oh what’s the use. Brenda will only gleefully blast out “Did you give Tom a Lone Star???” then I’d have to go to an obvious hiding place to get some. Can’t tell her to keep quiet in advance of their arrival either. That would only prompt the “did you give Tom a Lone Star?” accompanied by an evil sneer. OH! And the Blackberry bushes we sent last year,,,,, aren’t good enough. They died. DIED! You can’t kill a caneberry. They effectively are weeds. No, turns out they didn’t actually die. It apparently is trying it’s darndest to survive his yearly cutting it off to the ground. All branches. New shoots, last years, all of em. Was a waste of my time to explain how to take care of them. Anyway, Brenda wants me to dig up a few more shoots for them to take back. I looked at her blankly and thought.., thought!!mind you, didn't say out loud, “ now you threw a FIT when I took a couple more over for Annie this Spring because I "already gave her one earlier. Are you gonna given all to her?", but you’ll give a Caneberry killer all they can carry. PLUS, IF they are any ready when they are here,she’ll pick the whole lot and send them home with her. THEN if I take a small bowl or cup to my friend, I’m giving them all away.

Best get a movin.    

Oh and Johnboy- I appreciate the thought, but Brenda is fine. I would suggest who you meant but there are a couple wives hear who you may have been referring to. Actually of the two of us, I'M the one who needs the prayers and blessings. For SURVIVAL!!

Ya’ll have a good day!!!!

["JaBear"]

Gidday all, thanks for the warm welcome to the diner, and on the strength of that, and also that the $ exchange rate is not too bad at the present, the eats and drinks are on me!

As a note to the person who welcomed "the guys from Oz" that could be construed as fighting talk down here. The New Zealand Government of the day, 1891, had already decided to reject an offer made in 1901 to join the Australian Federation of States, and nothing has basically changed today.

This side of " The Ditch" , the Tasman Sea, Australia is regarded as the wealthier older "bossy" brother, 12% of New Zealanders live there, there is intense rivalry  on the sporting field, and there is the occasional "family spat" but in general the "ANZAC Spirit" is still alive and well.

Sydney, Australia is about a 3 hour flight from Auckland NZ, and if I was to visit Monkeybucket Chris in Perth, Western Australia, that would involve a further 5 hour flight. 

Attended a meeting at the local Model Railway Club tonight the Club has been stagnant for the past 6 years, originally started off as arguments over  layouts and what to do,and lately the Clubrooms are under threat due to a proposed by-pass. While the basic structure is a World War 2 vintage US military relocatable pressed steel frame prefab, it is no longer structurally sound enough to be moved, don't think that the original makers where thinking 70 years forward for their temporary building in 1942.

The latest "North American" layout was recently demolished, unfortunately without much thought, so I presented a "discussion paper" on," What does the club really want to do", incorporating possible modular designs and standards. It seemed to be reasonably well received, but didn't take too long for the disagreements to start.   Told the all to go away ,read the paper properly, put the brain into gear, then put their concerns, objections and solutions in writing. "We shall see what we will see!"

Well as it is now 1119 hours, Wednesday the 27th, 47 F and raining its time for .

Have a good one folks,

Cheers,the Bear

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

Going up to 82F in the sunshine...low humidity today...

Getting ready to go to hospital for more chemo/radiation stuff today...

Have a good one....

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

 

 

 

 

TIPTON

 

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

Today is Wednesday, June 27th, 2012!!!

It's Hump day, Humping is allowed!!!

{in Hump Yard Only}!!!

Enjoy your day!!!

[MonkeyBucket]

Woke up to my son demanding that he open his presents at 6am. Wasn't so bad until he realized I hadn't bought him the  F250 4x4  we talked about. Pointing at the floor and repeating "bbbrum bbbbrum bbbbrum."  I felt as though I had let him down.

Any way... I have just gotten back from picking up a pile of party pies, sausage rolls, spring rolls and chicken nuggets. Hope this will satisfy the hords on Sunday.

This rain is hanging around and will probably cause everyone to forget how to drive again...pain in the backside when  heading out to sort a fitting for the airbrush and then to pick up the wife from work. Must be done.

Be good to yourself and others.

See ya later

 

[herrinchoker]

That picture brings back memories of the Maine Central when they were using steam. Have followed your footchallengee, have you changed antibiotics to see if another type would be more effective? I have had a viral lung infection, was given antibiotics, took them for five days-then I got really sick and ended up in the hospital for eight days receivingng IV antibiotics. Had I been given the proper drug in the beginning, would have ducked the whole incident. I did learn to schedule a follow-up with my regular DR when I am diagnosed by someonene else. Wish you well, herrinchoker

[cudaken]

[hon30critter]

Ken!

I have to say that is some pretty extreme weathering on those switchers!!

When was the photo taken? At least they hadn't hit the scrap yard yet. Perhaps there is hope for salvation ( not for me, I haven't the proverbial hope in heck of being saved from anything ) I mean for the switchers.

Dave

[cudaken]

 Evening Dinners!

 Thank You Flo for the , you are a dear!

 Work Front Was Pretty Boring.That covers it pretty well.

 Jeffery These Proto's F 3 are pretty close, just not perfect. If I run the A at 40% power, I have to run the B at 42% so they are not that far off.

 Vincent So you only want the Proto's as trade for Stewart stuff? Why didn't you say so? K-10 still has some, they are Stewart Santa Fe Passenger Warbonnets. Not sure which F' s they our. They are a little more pricey but I think they are both powered. I think they are $79.99 but with the bad luck with the two burned out A units I sent Jeffery I was done with them! I hope you have better luck with the one's I sent you than I had with the 2 sets I bought! If you run your trains much I would jump on the stock pile of Pk 1000's I found there!

 Toe Front I am taking Wednesday off (sick day) and going to give the VA Walk In Clinic a try. I have a one day supply of one of my med's and cannot afford another refill.

 See you all latter

            Ken

 

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

Hi Crew,

Well we had quite a day here.  Temp with humid-ex slightly over 100 F.  Then had a massive storm come up through Montana and started laying a licking on a lot of the Province. We managed to avoid the twisters but they were all around us. Lots of damage  to farm buildings, equipment and houses.  We had a real heavy rain and wind storm just after supper tonight after which it became calm and the sky was clearing in the west. as the sun was breaking through it was if there were giant white puff balls hanging from the grey clouds above them.  Looks like bald heads sticking down. In the 40 plus years I have spent on the road I had never seen anything quite like it.  But we are safe and are grateful for that.

Prayers and blessings for Todd's Wife, Rob's Brother and all others in need at this time.

Off to ZZZzzzland as work in the morning again.   No train time lately, and boy, I need it.

Johnboy out..........................................

 

[howmus]

Evenin' Folks!

Janie, just a cup of decaf to sooth me right now.

An almost chilly 63°F outside at the moment.  Overnight low will be around 57° just before sunup tomorrow.

Spent much of the day at my son's house cutting wood and cleaning up the brush from the trees he had taken down a year ago.  I brought my string trimmer (since it was already in the truck) and did a bit of trimming while I had some time as well.  Came home, hit the shower, and got everything ready to go to the picnic.  It was at a year around cottage a lady who used to be a member of the MLK Committee owns on the lake.  She and her husband are back in the area for the summer (she teaches at a college in Florida) and she asked us to have our end of the year picnic out there.  I went a bit early and grilled the Chicken.  Used the Cornell Recipe for the BBQ Sauce.  Came out well if I do say so myself.....  Good time and great food!

Got a care package from Caboose Hobbies today.  Now I have some material to get back to modeling.....  Won't happen until next week though.  have way too much to keep me busy the rest of this week.

Rob, my prayers for your brother.  May the choice he makes do the best job of getting him healthy again!

Ought to be time for Ulrich to get up soon, and so it is time for me to call it quits for today!

Prayers for all in need.....

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

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

[Anonymous]

Rob - for your brother´s recovery!

CNCharlie - you´ve got a PM

It´s only 3.15 am, so I am heading back to bed for more

[jeffrey-wimberly]

It's still 97° here. Took my mother to her appointment at 2:45. Finally got back home at 6:30. Polished off some leftover pork ribs for dinner. Now I'll just lay back and watch 'The Last Starfighter'. No trains today. Didn't even run any. All I did trainwise was to take those two N Scale cabooses out of the alcohol and rinse them off. That was around ten or eleven hours ago. They still show no ill effects like warping. Anybody know what alcohol does to resin? Maybe I should get hold of a resin item and throw it in the alcohol in the name of science. Science was one of my favorite subjects in school. It would be interesting to see what happens. I just don't have anything made of resin. Oh well. Something will turn up. I got a couple of comments on my commemorative coins. That's more than I expected. I wouldn't think many modelers would be collectors of commemorative coins. I used to have a sizable collection. I had to sell it off about ten years ago to pay medical bills. Didn't even get a twentieth of what it was worth. Some of them were limited issues. Not these things they issue on TV for years. Who knows how many hundreds of thousands or millions there are of each one? That has no real collector value other than just having it. I have a dozen like that, no two the same. Well I don't want to bore you with coins so I better get to doing some movie watching before I get really depressed. Wish I had some popcorn but that jacks the blood sugar up too high.

[Stourbridge Lion]

Evening Modelers!

Well, a storm has rolled in with little rain and lot's of Wind and Lightning.  Boulder is now reporting 2 major fires have broken out. Colorado Springs was had a wind shift pushing the fire towards the city and 12,000 folks are told to be ready to evacuate.  Homes are reporting as being lost in the fires tonight

Air Force has arrived with multiple C-130's ...

 

[CNCharlie]

Good Evening Diners,

A warm day here with a temp of about 29C or 85F for those on that scale. Had a good day though as I am off on holidays this week although we don't have any plans as such, just a little work in the garden and a few lunches out. We went to one of my favourites, Resto Gare, which is a bistro in an old train station. I had steak frites and my wife a salmon nicoise sandwich. Both were excellent and so was the maple sugar pie I had for dessert. No dinner for me tonight.

I did go to a couple of LHS's here and Ulrich I did get that item. Please PM me your address as I lost it when the hard drive on our computer crashed a while ago.

Well, I seem to be a little tired from doing basically nothing today except drive around and eat. I'm taping Sea Patrol so I don't have to watch the commercials. I expect our diners from Oz are familiar with that show.

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening...

We got sunshine and 72F weather here...and we be going up to 82F tomorrow ...no stick though

Slept in this morning and had a lazy day here...good to just rest on occasion ...

Darren:   to those suffering from or fighting those fires

[Cederstrand]

Italian roast coffee in a  SULTRY SOUTHERN  mug, please.

I learned today that my middle brother in Hong Kong has had his first heart attack. His options include, Do nothing and probably keel over. Full open-heart triple bypass. Or balloons and stents, which is the route I expect him to take. He is only 4 years older than I and our family history has had plenty of heart attacks and strokes, all on the males side of the family. Fingers and toes crossed for him.

Hope everyone is having a good day.

 Rob

[Stourbridge Lion]

Well, it's official, we reach the 100+ degree mark for 5 straight days which ties the all time record...

[fec153]

Mr. Galaxy- No, have not heard of The Yellow Dot medical program. Thankyou for posting it. Darn sure it will be a life-saver.    And thanks for reminding me of tomorrow, the EAGLE flys. Yep,S.S. checks are in the bank. [or rather,will be.]

I take Debbie for her six week checkup. Should pass with no problems.

Prayers for all,

Flip

 

[fec153]

G'day Mate.Happy First Birthday to your son. That makes me 75 years older than he. That's right. Tomorrow, 6/27/2012 is my birthday celebration. -6/27/36 was my coming out day.

Thomas the Tank in his future?

Blessings,  Flip

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Looks like Colorado could use a week of a long steady rain.

 

It's currently 96° here, a bit short of the forecast 103°,not that I'm complaining. According to WeatherBug the highs for the rest of the week will be below 100° and AccuWeather agrees. The Weather Channel however is forecasting temps at the century mark and above. So I'll have to plan my activities likewise. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

I have two new commemorative coins to add to my collection, both with certificates of authenticity. Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Abraham Lincoln's First Inaugural Address.

[LSWrr]

Curt, I’m glad you enjoyed the book.

Jeff, mine was a kit. You had 8” side panels that went around the sides, then 6” of insulation then aluminum roof panels.   The insulation prevented the roof panels from sagging under the snow….