Elliott's Trackside Diner - June 2012

[Stourbridge Lion]

Afternoon Modelers!

Have I mentioned recently that it's HOT and DRY here?

Well, we have begin breaking Record Highs for several days now as well as hit the highest temperature in June in recorded history.  If we make 100 on Tuesday we will also hit the record for most 100+ days in a row which should happen in June.  Talk to a local Police Officer yesterday and he said the heat is definitely having an impact on the public as folks are running on short fuses just because they are miserable from the heat.

Lots and lots of fires burning, we had one start yesterday that got 100% contained today but in that 24 hours in blew up to 45,000 areas (4th largest in history) and sadly took out 4 homes along with other structures.

The beast up near Ft. Collins is now 87,250 acres and growing and has now wiped out 257 homes.  Seems like most of the US Fire Fighting forces have come here now that others states and the Feds can spare and it just won't die.

[Mr. Dispatcher]

Ken , You might try checking with a major electrical supply house, some of them carry rolls of shrink wrap tubing in the size or sizes that you might need ( or at least packs of the same size ). I've never been able to find any thing I have been looking for at Radio Shack when I've been there. Otto  

[galaxy]

Welm, I did decide to call the pharmacy first.. better if I wait till tomorrow to get them...they will/should be all filled then.

I have grocery shopping due then too, so I will be out and about, not making a special trip.

Rest of afternoon boring...not enough laundry afterall to do.

Rest won't hurt my back's feelings any.

MOH is off work on Sunday...we are  thinking of going to these places {welm, one of them anyway}:

http://www.arcadeandatticarr.com/index.php3

http://www.tiogacentral.com/

MOH is leaning towards the steam at Arcade {}.

We could go to steamtown again, but it is admittedly getting  boring.

SOmetime we will have to go to Ray's "alma matter", though. But for now it's loosing out ot steam.

 

WElm. off to other things.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

cudaken

 While it is a little noisy it is getting quieter as I break it in. B unit went with out a hitch and is quite like a Proto should be. A unit is faster than the B unit and the decoders are sat the same. Darn, going to have to speed match.

Ain't the unpredictability of identical motors and drives loads of fun? You'd expect two locos of the same model made by the same manufacturer to run the same or least very close. Nada! I have two Atlas GP40's, both 70's era, both made by Roco, same motors, same drives. On DC one runs like a race horse and the other runs like the US mail. I put Digitrax decoders in both and set them on different speed tables then speed matched them from there. On the other hand I have two Bachmann GP7's that were almost precisely speed matched right out of the box. I pitched the Bachmann decoders and put in Digitrax decoders, made a few very small changes on the speed table of the faster unit and got the precisely matched.

[cudaken]

 Vince's Just saw your post after I made the last one. Where do you buy your shrink wrap? At radio shack all I can find is the assortment pack with a bunch of sizes I don't need. So that is why I went back to tape.

 Curt I am glad you are enjoying the pictures. I was just wondering if it was bothering folk's or if they where enjoying them.

 Now I off to work.

        Ken

 

[cudaken]

 All's right in Trainville. 

 Decoder Pro could read the decoder and it was set to cab 7. Gave it another try, OK only the headlight worked? Opened it up and the flywheel turned freely. So I started checking the solder joint's, they all looked fine? That's when I noticed that the decoder was not plugged in all the way!

 While it is a little noisy it is getting quieter as I break it in. B unit went with out a hitch and is quite like a Proto should be. A unit is faster than the B unit and the decoders are sat the same. Darn, going to have to speed match.

 Well, no before work nap for me. Sues off with Sharyon (Daughter) so no one to wake me if I do fall asleep.

 See you all tonight.

          Ken

  

[Curt Webb]

Morning All,

Slept in late this morning. I was exhausted  when I got home at 1:30 AM today. Yesterday  was not near as bad for the rain as  Sunday  was. After about 4 PM it just drizzled a little. It's supposed to rain here again today and it looks like it is trying but nothing yet. I go back to w**k at 3 PM today. The ground around  the house is saturated and I asked my son to  drain the pool yesterday via garden hose. When I got up this morning it was still draining and was about 2 foot down.

Lee- I finished the book you recommended and thought it was great. It reminded me of a tradition in Submarine Squadron 7 (Pearl Harbor). When a person qualified for his dolphins for the first time (have to re qualify on each ship) the CO before pinning the dolphins on would read a passage from a large book called US Submarine Operations in WWII of a sub fighting the enemy usually in a first person account. It was a practice that reminded the newly qualified person of the sub service tradition and what would be expected of him if the worst happened.

I am glad you are doing well. I am not yet at 100% but pretty close.

Ken- Great PRR pics

Ulrich- I am glad you seem to be doing better.

Welcome to the new diner's

Well I got things to do before w**k so I hope everyone has a great day and  prayers for those in need.

 

[Packer]

Morning guys

So far this morning I've taken the wheelsets out of my recent aquisitions and have painted them with Rustoleum rusty metal primer. I've been using this primer for a while because it looks like rust when dried.

Later I'll go downtown and pic up a soldering iron or the tips for my weller. at 3pm I have to go by work and pressure wash again. I'm gonna call up walthers and bli to see if I can get some parts from them, then place an order to des plaines and atlas to get that GP5 underway again.

Ken, Do you use heat shrink tubing when soldering? It works better than the tape. I haven't checked the decoder in the P1K F3, as I'll likely wind up trading it to a friend. As for the F9 shells, boy do I want them. They would save me a bunch of hunting down appropriate F9 shells.

[galaxy]

WElm, I have to go get scripts. One for muscle relaxer is on Manufacturer's back order, so Dr. supposed to call in another one to tide me over. One is for pain and one requires pre-authorization. THe pain med may too. Maybe I'd better call first before running over there....

Then I have to go to the Credit union and deposit 10% of MOH's last week's take home pay into savings. A whole $11.00. Oh well,

MOH gets more hours this week and the paycheck for last week should be big, and have OT on it. We shall see. They tried to duck out of paying it before as MOH is a part=timer officially so the computer doesn't compute over 35 hours. go figure.

Then there should be teh mileage reimbursements comming...that should be a nice nickle or two.

My check comes tomorrow, but is blowing right out the door so fast I can't think there will be ANY of it left at all enough to rub two shiney newly minted pennies of it together to try to make a noise!

MOH is stopping by the InLaws after work, Wnated to take a picture to show ILs someday what the urn looks like..I said take the urn with you..MOH said "didn't want the ashes to fall out"????. There is a good "cork" in the bottom of it..should hold very well...but MOH skeptical...I don't get it, though.

Welm. I guess I'd better get to it.

Then home to knock off the few dishes and the load of laundry waitng. tehn vaccuum.

 

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, Just a bowl of granola and a handful of fresh blueberries on top for me along with a few cups of dark roast coffee.

Just taking a couple minutes to check my email and see what is going on here before heading out to my son's house for most of the day.  Have an MLK Committee Picnic out at a home on Seneca Lake this evening.

Good to see many of the MIAs back here recently as well as several new faces. 

Currently 66°F here in the Finger Lakes (eat your heart out Jeff....) with a high 70 this afternoon.  We may get a few rain showers late this afternoon because of the picnic at the Lake........

Catch you all later!

73

[cudaken]

 Morning!

 Flo, Coffee pleases.

 Go to work today, yuck. Work from Noon till closing.

 Last Night Train Time. Chris, here what happened. Well I decided to break out the Y6 b. This has been the best tracking engine I have, not last night! It was picking like Roy Clark and just as fast! I need to check the track, they may have shifted.

 New PK F3 A Taped up the wires last night and took her for a spin, it was a short one! Went about 10 feet and just stopped! No headlight no nothing. DB 150 did not shut down and the other engines kept running.

 I will open it up here in a little bit, but did not have the Fresh BBQ Decoder Smell so one of my solder joints may have failed I hope!

 Vince's Far as the decoder in the PK, pretty sure if you look closely you will see where the blue wrapper has a small melted spot in it. After the Cursed SD 50 ate 5 decoders if a engine eats one, I am done with it till I replaces the motor or find out what caused it. Who knows, you slap in a new decoder it may run fine? 

 Oh, by the way Vince's, you still want the F9 shell's? Yesterday I tried to install the Stewart Rio Grand shell on the A unit. Would not fit? 

 Just opened the F3 A decoder looks fine? Guess I will be hooking up Decoder Pro and see if I get a reading. When I started to break it in, I thought I changed the address to #7. When it stopped running I looked at my DT400 and is said address #77? Who knows?

 Latter, Ken

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

LSWrr

Ray & Jeff, back in the 80’s when I lived in a mobile home the best thing we ever did was install an insulated roof over the existing roof.  I bet it dropped the temperature by 20-30 degrees in the summer.

Don't I know it! I put a roof over mine made of nothing more than 2x4's and fourteen sheets of 30 gauge corrugated steel. The cooling bill dropped noticeably.

 

Good morning. It's 80° and sunny. The high will be 103° (OUCH!) and it'll be partly cloudy.

Heat advisory in effect from noon today to 8 PM cdt this evening.

Gonna be a HOT one today. The expected heat index is 109° and I'll be out and about taking my mother to a doctors appointment. Fortunately we'll be in a car with a/c. It'll likely be a bit hotter in town because of all the asphalt and concrete. Glad I don't live there.

This last Saturday I put two N Scale cabooses into a small paint can full of 91% alcohol with the intent of pulling them out the next morning. Well, I kinda forgot about them. It's not like they're something I'm going to be using anyway. This morning I suddenly remembered them. I had a combination of curiosity and dread as I open the can. What would I find? Would they be melted together? Would they be warped beyond belief? They had after all been in the alcohol for around sixty hours. I haven't left anything in that long before. It turns out they're unharmed. The L&N caboose is nicely devoid of paint while the SF caboose still has most of the black paint on it's cupola roof. I've rinsed them off and they appear none the worse for wear. Even the handrails are intact, nothing warped, nothing melted.

Time to get about my day.

[LSWrr]

Good morning all:

Curt, things continue to improve for me.  I hope your back to 100%.  I got my post-surgery blood test this morning.  My PTH score is at less than 4; 2 weeks ago it was 151.  Normal values should be in the 10-60 range.

Ray & Jeff, back in the 80’s when I lived in a mobile home the best thing we ever did was install an insulated roof over the existing roof.  I bet it dropped the temperature by 20-30 degrees in the summer.

Today I plan on building a few crossing flashers for the club layout and talk Dorothy into traveling to Chardon, OH to pick up my couplers I ordered.  I might do some castings as well.

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!!!

I'll have....OMG!!!! What is that smell??? Ok who let Ulrich have chili and beer! FLO!!!!

Coffee and the fruit plate please. Thanks. Oh and Flo, this time instead of holding the Kiwi, go ahead and fling a small slice on there. I’ll give it a whirl again. Been a several years since I last tried it anyway. If I don’t like something, I’ll usually try it off and on from time to time just to see if my taster has changed. Hey, happened with Asparagus. Didn’t like it as a kid now I love the stuff. Won’t go into the daily changing of liking Okra, and nope, still don’t like beets. ‘Cept for snails. Won’t eat one, won’t even try one or just a teensy weensy itsy bitsy bit of one. Just a slug who hasn’t left home yet. Bleeeeck!!!!!! Talk about a dulled belch .

Almost got the back porch stained. I doubt if I’ll get the thing done today as it’s my “full w**k day” (chuckle). Boy I wish I had someone like Tom Sawyer did to sucker into staining that thing. Like painting, I hate stain/painting fencing with those slates, staves, whatever you call em. Like pickets. Tedious and takes forever. (siiigh) Brenda started it last year about this time, as her little “contribution” to the projects list of things that need done. She got the floor done, after I pressure washed it, then some of the railing before she....let’s see what was her reason????....can’t remember, but what it reeeally was was, she got tired of staining the thing when she got to the PITA part and decided to stop and wait for a month before she starts asking the monthly million dollar question until I finally do it..”are you ever going to finish the back porch? I’d like that to be done.”   “But honey...., Pookie. You said YOU were doing the back porch. Remember Sweetums when I said I was going to do it? And you said.” Oh no! I’ll do it. I waaaaant to do it!”?... Hm?... Remember that?... Stopped me from doing it so you could? And now, a year later.... it’s a crisis.” That’s when you get….the look. And then the thought….why didn’t I just say OK and leave it at that.  

Ya’ll have a good day!!!!

[MisterBeasley]

Well, in that case, I'll have an Adelaide Lager in "solidarity" with the train men from Down Under.

Good morning!  It's cool and cloudy here in New England, and will be for another day or two.  I'm fine with that, since I'm at work, anyway.  Wife Penny is visiting her parents in Florida.  She had one of those two-hours-on-the-tarmac flights yesterday, as they taxied out and then got held by a line of thunderstorms that passed through.  But, she said she had pleasant seatmates and a good book to read, so it wasn't the nightmare we all fear when we buckle in and raise our seats to their full upright and locked position.

Well, back to work.  Hope you're all doing well.

[Anonymous]

Lunchtime in wet & windy Germany!

Chloe, I´ll have a bowl of chili, please, followed by a to wash it down.

A belated to Elliot´s Trackside Diner to our new friends from the land of OZ and Kiwi. The Diner is not only spanning coast to coast, but bridges the oceans - great!

You guys have a couple on me!

This is a nothing up to day. I will run a couple of trains and do a little bit of daydreaming of better days to come - not only in terms of the weather.

You all have a good one, Folks!

[wetidlerjr]

 

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

 

 

 

G]

 

TIPTON

 

[MonkeyBucket]

Time for dinner and some couch time over here in OZ.

Weather is 19 degrees of C and cloudy but we are rugged up inside enjoying the heater.

Looking forward to my sons first birthday tomorrow. Off to see Nan and Pop for him and to find a pile of toys he and I have never seen before. I'm not sure who is more excited. Big party is planned for the weekend and I am looking for somewhere to hide.

Good night all from Perth.

 

 

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

TODAY is Tuesday, June 26th, 2012!!!

Enjoy  your day!!!

[AmanaMedic]

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood evening,

GARRY: Yup, THAT's the Loving Wife kicking back in the coupla. THAT was 2004, 1st anniversary. Our honeymoon was spent (mostly) in Boone, IA with a trip on the B&SV. We rode coach THAT day. A year later we went back and I was able to spring for the caboose. Had it pretty much all to ourselves except for a rather grumpy conductor/crew member who kept passing through. Not sure if he was paid staff or one of the volunteers. I've wanted to get back there and get the CNW bay window waycar. Hasn't happened yet. For the truly adventurous, they've got a CNW transfer caboose. I hear it's quite a sight looking over the edge of the former Ft. Dodge, Des Moines and Southern "high bridge" with only the railing on the car to keep a person from a long fall.

The gift shop had an Athearn blue box model of the caboose, so naturally I grabbed it. A little extra paint and a few details, a piece of track and a plastic case THAT used to hold a diecast car...and the Loving Wife had a momento of the trip. I even placed a pic of the prototype as a backdrop for the caboose. It sat in her cubicle at w**k until some muckety-muck with his/her/it's undies in a bunch passed down a memo THAT everybody was to get any and all "toys" out of their offices and cubicles. So, now it sits on a shelf here at home. I guess it can collect dust here as well as it did there...

 

Well (up a little, but toads/frogs still unhappy), I did a quick search, AHA and the red plus sign don't have any freebies THAT could save a life...but Web MD has a comprehensive overview.

http://firstaid.webmd.com/tc/choking-rescue-procedure-heimlich-maneuver-overview

I used to be a certified instructor, and I think I could still do it in my sleep...but I'll let the website do the educatin'. THAT said, AHA has a "CPR for Friends and Family" program THAT is offered fairly cheap, even free at times. A call to your friendly local community college would more than likely turn up a slate of first aid/CPR classes, same with the big red plus sign. Some ambulance services and fire depts. offer classes too. All-in-all, not a bad way to spend a couple hours.

VINCENT: Interesting haul. With some new paint, new trucks/couplers, THAT Tyco 60' box could be a real gem. On the CNW boxcar, THAT's probably the shop/re-weigh date (and when it got Zito'ed). The Cheap and Nothing Wasted got them between '73 and '77 (in boxcar red/brown paint).  What's the weathering like on it? Those Atlas cars are pretty decent if I remember right.

CUDAKEN: A bad day at Conjunction Junction? Instead of "what's your function?" more of a "what's your malfunction?"

 

G'nite everybody...Chris *in Iowa*

The trip back to Boone, leaving the passing siding at Fraser (end of the line) 

 

[galaxy]

Sir Madog

Flip - io no hablo Espanol, io hablo Aleman e Ingles.

Ulrich, Over here, you would *press "2" for Spanish*! 

You might still want to see your "ale man",  for a  though! 

 

 

Note: {Ich Nine spreken de duetsche}

[MonkeyBucket]

Garry... I have had an Arthroscopy  to remove some broken cartilage from my fema. A piece had broken off and wedge itself behind the left knee during work, stopping me from kneeling down. They found a whole lot of fairy floss in there when they operated so the cleanup was a little more savage than first expected. I am a carpenter by trade and did not like the Doc telling me its almost time to find a different avenue of work. The boss recon my job is safe. I think he has something planned for me.

I have just noticed that the Walthers, Goldline models come with a plan and template for the missing grab irons.   Awesome.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Here is an old photo I took of the layout.

Chris (Iowa) ... Must be your better half. I've taken mine on train some trips, too. .... Do you happen to have a link with first aid instructions for choking incidents? Perhaps, you can share it if you do. It is something everybody should know.

Ulrich ... Appreciate your humor.  Our son in North Carolina said to Shelley: "Does this mean you actually finally laughed at one of Dad's bad jokes?" ... Well, now Shelley can be called my "Main Squeeze".

Lot of good prototype pictures are being shown.

Darren, I like the D&H Alcos. Why do you like D&H? Are you originally from the Northeast near the D&H?

Jeff ... Nice load of lumber.

Chris (Western Australia) ... What kind of knee surgery? Sorry to hear about it.

 

 

[MonkeyBucket]

Good morning all. It a chilly 16 degrees C in Perth Downunder.

I'll just have a coffee, white with 2 and a ham and cheese toasted sandwich.

Thanks.

This knee surgery has really put a dull light on the last couple of months for me. Good news is its almost healed and I should be able to drive my car again soon. *** heavy clutch.

Looks like I need one more fitting for my new airbrush kit and then I will be able to start work on the undecorated RS3 I have waiting for some attention on my shelf. 

I found some photos of my new CRDX trinity hoppers. Gees... they seem to get quite grubby. I suppose leased rolling stock does get around.

Here are some pics.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Time for me to call it a night. Didn't get anything done on the layout. I was too busy enjoying some movies. Tomorrow afternoon I have to take my mother to a doctors appointment in town. She says she can drive there but my father and I both said on a cold day in * and that was the end of that. She's doing pretty fair considering she's in her mid 70's and has kidney and liver issues. Driving isn't one of her strong suits. I'll be taking her in her car as there's no way she can get in or out of my van without a crane or lift of some kind. It's way too high for her. Plus the car has a/c, my old van doesn't. It doesn't even have a vent blower. It's front and rear windows open or nothing. See y'all tomorrow.

[Packer]

Afternoon guys

Well this appointment sucked. It was scheduled for 3:45, but I didn't get seen until almost 5. Tack on 2 hours to get home through traffic (Anyone else here ever been to destin, you'll know why). Then go from there back to work to pressure wash. uggh

Anyways I got home an opened a package for me. I got the following:
Athearn BB Railbox - BN (weathered)
Atlas 50' Percision Design boxcar - CNW Zito (weathered)
Bachmann Silver Series Canadian Cylindrical hopper - Saskatchewan
Athearn RTR 50' P-S - BN (weathered)
Tyco 60' boxcar- SOS (I didn't buy this one, but it was stuck in the box)

The CNW box is a touch too new for me, having a build date of 12-89. As for the tyco, I don't know what I'm going to do with it. If there is a prototype for this type of car, I might try repainting it; but I'd likely just toss it. The hopper will be re-trucked with athearn trucks (bacmann ones look like older 50-70 ton trucks) and the wheelsets will go to another car.

Ken, One of those P1K F3s actually has a decoder in it... I'll leave it thereincase my friend might want to trade some of his stewarts for them.

[cudaken]

 Trains Suck! Yea it been that kind of evening again!

 Flo,

 Good night!

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening

All that stuff is done for today..next thing to worry about is on Wednesday now...

I actually managed a bit of time to go to the LHS up that way and find a few things..and guess what I got..some more Atlas RS3's and 11's....heeheehee

I am a happy camper here ......inspite of feeling like c$%p...

[cudaken]

 Hi Again!

 Flo, another and around for the new folks from Down Under. Welcome Mates

 Well, I guess it was a good day.

 Fix the mail box for now. Going to have to build a new post.

 Dumped the trash and went to the bank to cover last pay-period medical bills. (Infected and rotting toe)  I am all so official broke again.

 Cut the rear yard, was really not that bad because of our lack of rain. Which is fine with me! Had not cut it for 5 weeks.

 Trim the Irish Wolfhound toe nails. Cut one rear one a little short and Shaddy started bleeding, but she was a good girl. My wife on the other hand just about lost it! You think I cut Shaddy's toe off! God help me if I stroke out! I stand a better chances of the Wolfhound calling 911 than Sue!

 Train Front Yes, I even got some train time in!

 Lost the sound again on the RSD 15 Blue Line, have no idea why. This time I was able to get the sound going on the mainline by us Op's mode. Only problem is I will have to hook up my PR 3 so I can set the CV's for the sound and motor decoder. At this point I am just happy to have sound again!

 Moved the Frankenstein Dash 9 over to the B line and it likes it there!  On the A line there was one turn where it slowed down every time and it was getting on my nerves.

 I was whining about not buying a new engine in 2 years! Two week ago when I picked up Vincent's engines I bought a pair of PK1000 F 3's. (great little engines if you can find them) Finally hardwired there decoders today!  Still need to tape up the solder points on the A unit, B is ready to go. Gave them a short test run and they are OK. Going to lube them and open the trucks and pick out any jelled lube. Next is speed matching then find them a good long train!

 OK, now I am worried. Trains just shut down and the DB 150 did not chirp? All the decoders seem to be fine, time for the quarter test. 

 Latter, Ken

 For The PRR and PA fan's!

[wetidlerjr]

Stourbridge Lion

 

cudaken:

 

 Great I like PA's! 

   

 

 

My kind of PA!!!!!!!