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Elliot´s Trackside Diner - September 2012 Locked

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Posted by kbkchooch on Friday, September 28, 2012 6:46 PM

Evenin ya'll Cowboy

Pretty much laid around the house all day, seems the wife got a cold earlier in the week and out of the kindness of her heart, gave it to me!Sigh 

I did however, get the last of the "wedding cars" unpacked and in the display case. See about 7 years ago, a friend got married, and I gave him, as part of the wedding gift, a commemorative boxcar to mark the occasion. When Jan & I got married he told me we would get a similar car in return to commemorate our nuptials.   

That was 5 years ago this month.Surprise

Several months ago he presented us with that car! Also, he had constructed anniversary cars for the 1st 3 years we were married, for a total of 4 cars!! Out of guilt maybe?? Confused Better late then never huh?Big Smile But we were, at that time, coming up on our 5th anniversary.  When I jokingly asked him where the other 2 cars were, he kinda laughed it off. Well, he recently brought by the other 2 cars in the series, so in the display case they all went!

Now I gotta get off my butt and finish the 2 BL2s and the GP40 that I'm installing sound (and some secret upgrades} too! Oops - Sign

Galaxy, it may be too late, but I know our local utility, for a small monthly fee, will give you a major appliance service contract, so stuff like this is paid for by them. Might want to look into it!

Ray, cant do it till next year, but your solar array has convinced me,,,,,,I want it!!

Here's to everyone, may the sun shine of your face, and your problems kiss your butt! Big Smile

Karl

NCE über alles! Thumbs Up

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Posted by Curt Webb on Friday, September 28, 2012 6:10 PM

Evening All,

About all I accomplished today was some weathering and doing my laundry.

Welcome to the new DinersWelcome

Galaxy- Sorry to hear about your furnace problems. I did not realize there was a difference for trailers.

Jeff- Great job on the grain silos. I look forward to seeing more.

Lee- Hope you are feeling better. I watched a show on our infrastructure falling apart especially bridges and I thought about you and your inspection job.

Ulrich- I have had lots of teeth issues. Did you get antibiotics? If you have a infection they will help with the pain as it clears up. As a temporary fix I have swallowed a mouth full of tepid water and held it in my mouth. It seems to sooth the ache to me.

Ray- Glad the solar power is working for you.

Paul- I'm glad your wife seems to be doing better.

Hope everyone has a good night and prayers for those in need.

Curt Webb

The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad

http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j372/curtwbb/

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Posted by Mr. Dispatcher on Friday, September 28, 2012 4:18 PM

Galaxy- Do you live in a mobile home park or do you own your land?. You may be able to build a shed like building outside to put the furnace in,it might give you better options for warranties. And if you are in a mobile home park check to see if they will allow a building if it's not visible  from the street. Good luck I know repairs are a pain in the caboose. 

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Posted by galaxy on Friday, September 28, 2012 3:33 PM

JeremyB

howmus
My furnace (Main Furnace) was old when we bought the house 30 years ago.  Other than replacing the thermocouple a few times, it still works just fine albeit rather inefficiently.  Since it only comes on during the worst cold spells I will try to get one more year out of it and then go to a new Energy Star one and whole house air conditioning at the same time.  At least THAT is the plan.  Whatever I get will have at least a 10 year warranty which should last close to as long as I will be living here...

I went that way Howmus. Had the furnace replaced and got a central air unit at the same time, cheaper and easier that way. The worst part was like I was saying ( along with the price,lol ) was when they installed it, it was mid October and they had to test it out for the first time. Talk about a chilly house for 20 minutes,lol

Bang Head

Here is the problem: the furnaces you guys are talking about are house furnaces which seem to come along with longer warrantees. This is a mobile home furnace, which gets the short end of the deal. THOUGH someone suggested I call the furnace company I may just do that..BECAUSE i DON'T know that the installing company isn't 'cheating us" on the warrantee so they don't have to repair it...wouldn't that be a hoot if they were!

Bang Head

The problem is there aren't gobs of choices for downdraft furnaces for mobile homes- there are lots of choices and models for houses! SO we miss out on some of the choices you guys have! It is STILL a 930 sq foot dwelling with 2x6inch insulated walls! AND it needs a heating system too! ALso it is what is available here..there is a place that sells the furnaces cheaper to regular people, but no one will install them if you buy it form the wholesaler, and I don't know a thing about installing a furnace, and A company who WOULD install it {If I could have found one} would probably not honor any warrantee.

I didn't think about warrante at the time of install as I didn't expect it to fail one year later...5 years maybe, 1 no?

Anyway it is giving me a HEADACHE about it...Bang Head Bang Head Bang Head gee, I wonder why?

The other part is the labor to install the parts. A relative  said his igniter was cheap online, but the installing company wanted a few hundred for installing it.

SInce he has to come back on Tues with the parts I will fight it if they want to charge me another fee to install the parts tehy already charged inStall on!!!

Bang Head Bang Head why oh why do I have this headache?

Actually I do have a bad headache..not quite a migraine, but close...may need migraine medication yet. BUT, the weather outside is NASTY. Chilly, rainy,. misty, etc.

Bang Head Bang Head

I jsut know which company i won't deal with anymore.{for service and repairs}

Maybe i go lay down now..maybe it will go away.

Sigh

Geeked

 

 

-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.

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Posted by JeremyB on Friday, September 28, 2012 1:55 PM

howmus
My furnace (Main Furnace) was old when we bought the house 30 years ago.  Other than replacing the thermocouple a few times, it still works just fine albeit rather inefficiently.  Since it only comes on during the worst cold spells I will try to get one more year out of it and then go to a new Energy Star one and whole house air conditioning at the same time.  At least THAT is the plan.  Whatever I get will have at least a 10 year warranty which should last close to as long as I will be living here...

I went that way Howmus. Had the furnace replaced and got a central air unit at the same time, cheaper and easier that way. The worst part was like I was saying ( along with the price,lol ) was when they installed it, it was mid October and they had to test it out for the first time. Talk about a chilly house for 20 minutes,lol

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Posted by howmus on Friday, September 28, 2012 1:05 PM

Afternoon folks!

Chloe, a cup of hot chocolate would be in order right now...

I have finally raised the temperature inside the house to a comfortable 72°F with a small fire in the wood stove.  Feels good, but outside it seems to be liquid sunshine even though the weather channel says there isn't any precipitation going on in the area... It is still in the low 50s out there too.

I finally got set up so I can see what is going on with the solar Voltaic System on line rather than going down cellar and looking at the equipment....  They had my email wrong and it wasn't until the electrician who was here asked how I like seeing it at their site and I told him I haven't heard anything yet that they caught to error.  Not much electric being made today around here for sure.  Best it has done so far is all of about 400 watts.  Very dark and dreary outside!

My furnace (Main Furnace) was old when we bought the house 30 years ago.  Other than replacing the thermocouple a few times, it still works just fine albeit rather inefficiently.  Since it only comes on during the worst cold spells I will try to get one more year out of it and then go to a new Energy Star one and whole house air conditioning at the same time.  At least THAT is the plan.  Whatever I get will have at least a 10 year warranty which should last close to as long as I will be living here...

Paul, glad to hear your wife is doing well!  Keeping her and you in my prayers!

Need to finish packing for tomorrow (NMRA Fall Meet) and then head out to my son's house for dinner.

Later!

73

Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO

We'll get there sooner or later! 

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Posted by pascaff* on Friday, September 28, 2012 12:00 PM

 Morning All,

   Well it is still morning here. Currently 61 with an expected high of 87 under sunny skies.

    Well as I mentioned a few days ago I ordered some Arizona Rock and Mineral ballast from Caboose Hobbies. The shipping was a little high so I decided to throw in a pkg of Floquil weathering color markers to maybe touch up the track weathering I did the other day. I really needed the ballast. Well they were out of stock on the ballast but sent the markers. I got then testerday. I have closing shifts for the next 5 days, so I don't think I will get a chance to use them till Wednesday, as I will go to the hospital before work and then get home sometime around 10:00.

    Wife seems to be tolerating this round of Chemo quite well. Only side effects so far, she is very tired. Doc says she is doing well. All things considered.

      Galaxy - we have a house in Carson City that Our daughters live in. It was built in 1976, furnace is starting to go bad. Local heating guy has been able to get some makeshift parts to keep it running, but will probably have to replace it next winter. I will be looking for a better waranty than you have. I never realized some warranties were so short. Sorry for your issues there.

    Jeff - I guess after looking at the color you have chosen by popular demand, it is probably the correct one. As it looks good to me now.

   Prayers to all in need.

    Paul

Living in Fernley Nevada, about 30 miles east of Reno, also lived in Oregon and California, but born In Brooklyn NY and raised on Long Island NY

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Posted by AmanaMedic on Friday, September 28, 2012 11:11 AM

Gooooooood *grumble grumble* Morning. Bucket of coffee please and what the heck...give me the cardiologist's delight: huge pile of bacon and scrambled eggs please. Thank you.

Got up bright and early for the weekly facetime with THAT Editor. Got to the office. No meeting. Usually she or Mr. Boss notify us if we're not gathering. Oh well, had content to drop-off and a paycheck to pick up so not a total loss of time/waste of gas. Last week's meeting was cancelled so I just e-mailed the stories and dropped-off all of the photos on Sunday with Friday night's football coverage. W**ked out well, maybe I can talk 'em into doing THAT on a regular basis. With the wonderful invention known as "e-mail," and the Devil's creation (the telephone), "facetime" is, in my humble opinion...a waste of time.

Now THAT THAT is out of my system...

Lightbulbs. I like my incandescent bulbs. Cheap, dependable, used to be abundant. I like 'em. I've got a stash of 100-watt bulbs THAT should last me for several years. I'll soon be stocking up on the 60-watt bulbs since they go away at the end of this year. Much like the hybrid, electric cars and those little itty-bitty "smart coupes," if somebody else wants 'em. I'll give them no grief. I'll offer no argument. To each their own. I just don't want them forced upon me.

End of rants.

A box of misc. structure and other parts has departed in the company of The Wife. If all goes as planned, she "should" deliver said box to Post Office staff at some point today in her travels. Within a few days, it will hopefully arrive in good shape at a southern destination.

JIM: No stairs, no ladders on those way up high doorways. I've often wondered if there is some kind of "bail-out" rope or rope ladder or something. Then again, I don't know if it'd make much difference in the case of a grain dust explosion. Interesting fact: In a grain dust explosion, there are actually TWO explosions, a "small" one which puts a crap-ton of dust in the air, then the second and much bigger one THAT levels the elevator at worst or blows the gallery or head house off at the least. 

Furnace woes: GALAXY: Man, I hear ya on the toils and troubles. Our vintage oil burner became too expensive to run with the thermostat set above 50 degrees. So, we discontinued its use and now use strategically placed electric oil-filled space heaters. We've seen a slight increase in the electric bill, but it's far less than what it cost us to fill the oil tank. The only "down side" is they suck a lot of current, and some of our outlets have older wires. THAT leads to the plug/cord getting kinda warm. Dialing the heat setting back solves the problem. We've got four (fifth one needs a new plug) THAT keep a two-story, five bedroom, 100+ year old house "comfortable" in the worst of an iowa winter. 

Rerun says our mail has arrived and he wishes to go and see what the mailman, mailwoman, mailwhat'sit, left us.

Have a good and SAFE day!

Chris

The Cedar cRapids Industrial Branch: Proudly Shipping Yesterday's CrunchBerries Tomorrow!

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Posted by NeO6874 on Friday, September 28, 2012 9:51 AM

Sir Madog
Dan - trains in Europe (and that includes the UK) have long been equipped with air brakes on every car. The brake van was used later as  a guard´s van, similar to the caboose.

Knew I was gonna get something wrong Embarrassed ...

-Dan

Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site

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Posted by howmus on Friday, September 28, 2012 9:40 AM

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I'll have the #2 special, over easy eggs, sausage, homefries, and a doub;e order of sourdough toast this morning.  Oh and bring me my R&GV RR mug and just leave the pot of dark roast coffee on the table!  It's cold in here so I will be in the back booth away from Barry but next to the wood stove I see is lit....

My indoor thermometer said 63°F inside the house...  Outside a chilly 50°F and precipitating a bit. Lots of dark clouds out there, but the weather people say it will clear and we may (notice I say may) get some sunshine later today.

Todd, thank you sir!  I rather like how the town came out myself.  Only thing I would change if I was doing it over would be to add awnings to the store fronts.  I still may do that at some point, but have way too much other stuff to do first. 

Lee, some of the new LEDs are giving out some good rendering of color.  They are improving all the time.  I have a few around my house including 3 that light up my workbench.  Their color isn't the best, but they can last for a long time and are about the same efficiency as the CFLs.  BTW, people worried about the mercury in the CFLs should realize that if they eat tuna fish, a single tuna sandwich may contain 60 times more mercury than in a CFL, and it is in a form that can be readily absorbed.  The mercury in the CFL in a gaseous state would have to be completely inhaled by a person and then only a small fraction of it would be absorbed.  Now, put a few million of them in a landfill and you have a potential problem...

Dan, good explanation of the "buffers" found on European train cars...

Jeffrey, those silos are looking good! 

Got many things to get done today, so I best get a move on.

Later!

73

Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO

We'll get there sooner or later! 

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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, September 28, 2012 9:39 AM

Good Afternoon, Gang!

The pain killer I bought yesterday did a good job. I did get some sleep last night. Unfortunately, I have to wait just about a month before I can see the dentist - I hope my teeth stay quiet that long.

Today is one of those days. As we are nearing end of the month, today´s supper will be somewhat minimal and frugal. As you know, at the end of the money, there is still a lot of month left... Sigh

Galaxy - that furnace of yours is just one month out of warranty - get on the phone and give that manufacturer a call! It sucks a lot having to spend $$$ on a furnace you bought anew just a little over a year ago.

Dan - trains in Europe (and that includes the UK) have long been equipped with air brakes on every car. The brake van was used later as  a guard´s van, similar to the caboose.

Have a happy day!

Edit:

I just found this little video on Youtube.com to give you a view on European model railroading practices:

watch?feature=playerdetailpage&v=nMjjFIz9Z6E

Did you see the bicyclist?

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Friday, September 28, 2012 9:01 AM

Here's a fast and sure trick I use for making a straight line around a piece of pipe.

Here I have a piece of two inch PVC pipe and a two and a quarter inch hose clamp.


I put the clamp on the pipe and tighten it until the clamp can just be pushed up or down without tilting to either side.


By placing my thumbs under both sides of the clamp I push it to the location I want to mark and use my marking pen to carefully trace a line around it.


When I remove the clamp there's a nice straight line all the way around. If you tightened the clamp enough that it couldn't tilt to either side the line will be at ninety degrees in relation the edge of the pipe.


Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
          Joined June, 2004

Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
15 year veteran fire fighter
Collector of Apple //e's
Running Bear Enterprises
History Channel Club life member.
beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


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Posted by NeO6874 on Friday, September 28, 2012 8:58 AM

TMarsh

If I had the space and the money…Hmm..say, why didn’t the U.S. put those bumper things on our trains like the Europeans do? Or should I say why do they. Anyway, I’d change to a steam era. Not nitpicking, but the smoke doesn’t make for a good representation of steam to me, but it still looks cool.  

because we did away with Link and Pin couplers and hand brakes on the cars in favour of automatic knuckle couplers and the Westinghouse air brakes. 

If you look at mid-late 19th century equipment, you'll see the buffers on those cars.  Though the Euro (well, UK) version was a little different than the US.  Instead of a single link with pins, cars would be coupled with a short length of chain; then effectively a come along was used to pull the cars together until the buffers touched (or nearly touched).  Chain was to keep them coupled when pulling, and the buffers are there to keep everything from crashing together.

Note that (for the most part), the only brakes on a UK train were the locomotive and the caboose (aka "Brake Van"), rather than on every car as with in the states (well, every car has them, though in operation it'd be the locomotive/caboose where they were set, rather than on all cars as with the states).  Suppose it helps that UK trains are a lot shorter (lighter) than here...

*disclaimer -- this is from memory, and I'm probably glossing over bits or leaving other bits out... as I'm not home with my reference books atm (ugh, w**k).

-Dan

Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site

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Posted by JeremyB on Friday, September 28, 2012 8:58 AM

Galaxy: Our furnace gave out on us last year also, pretty much around this time. We had to get a new one also so I feel your pain. We also had to get a new roof put on last November also.

They only warrantied the parts and labor for a year? With ours we got 10 years parts on the furnace and 5 years labor.

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Posted by galaxy on Friday, September 28, 2012 8:25 AM

TMarsh

Galaxy- SurpriseNone of that is under warranty? Shoot my new outside unit is warrantied for ten years, the A-coil for five and the furnace was for 5 years when it was put in way back in ’94. Even if it was only two years, didn’t you get it just last year? Less than a year ago? Or has time really flown by.

Negative on the warrantee....the new furnace was installed Augst 31st, 2011. It is now past the one year warrantee on parts and one year warrantee on labor. Miller furnaces used to be known as good furnaces..and are specifically designed for mobile homes as well. But now, I have my doubts! The Old MIller furnace was installed when the trailer was built in 1983. It lasted 28 years and was even converted from oil to nat gas! But alas, when the parts started to fail, they were no longer avaiable! I am also supposing we will have to replace the whole thing in about 9 years as funraces today have a "life expectancy" of 10 years...I hope we are not in here in 10 years! If nothing else, I think we buy a new trailer to grow old in...I'd rather have a house, but they too have their maitenance issues!

Oh, and we need a new roof-over as the existing roof is needing help too...we will se about at next year..another $3600.00 which will probably go UP to $4k you watch and see!

Our budget is tight already and we want to save save save what we can for the roof but who knows..Sad

Sigh

Geeked

-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.

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Posted by TMarsh on Friday, September 28, 2012 8:10 AM

Good Morning!!!

Coffee and fried bologna and eggs please with some hashbrowns and whole grain wheat toast with apple jelly thank you.

Mostly sunny, with a high near 71.

If I had the space and the money…Hmm..say, why didn’t the U.S. put those bumper things on our trains like the Europeans do? Or should I say why do they. Anyway, I’d change to a steam era. Not nitpicking, but the smoke doesn’t make for a good representation of steam to me, but it still looks cool.  

Well Jeff, you know me and colorsWhistling, I think we’ve had that discussion before, so take this for what it’s worth. I prefer the stone gray, but a bit paler. Mainly because it says “Gray” in the name. I kinda like the test one, but don’t know if it has silver or some such. Name says silver you see, but I can't tell if it does. Like I said, me and colors don’t get along especially in pictures. Hard to explain how I see all the colors others do, but can’t tell what some are. I can see the difference, but can’t tell why. Don’t know. Anyway, most concrete silos around here are flat white. But a rather dirty and dingy white after a while of course. Maybe a mixing of some colors would work. Something to fade out the gray a bit. Just my opinion of course. Aaaaaand I see the polls have closed anyway so….why I didn’t erase this is anybody’s guessLaugh.

Ray- Hopewell is and has been, my favorite MR town to look at. You really captured a feeling with that one. Many have very nice towns and look very realistic, but with Hopewell when I look at it, it gives me a “feeling”. Like…..oh I don’t know warm, relaxed, homey. Like you can just picture yourself sitting in the park, hear the dog bark…smell the fresh cut park grass, hear the sounds of a small town, lean back on the bench and put your arm up on the back and realize you put it in a bird quite possibly the size of a Pterodactyl’s deposit. Ah yes is that the noon whistle? But seriously, for me, you really captured it with that town. A comforting feeling I guess.

Galaxy- SurpriseNone of that is under warranty? Shoot my new outside unit is warrantied for ten years, the A-coil for five and the furnace was for 5 years when it was put in way back in ’94. Even if it was only two years, didn’t you get it just last year? Less than a year ago? Or has time really flown by.

Now see, to me the last photos Jeff posted of the silos, looks like a completely different color than the ones where he asked what color. Still inside and using the same light bulbs. Much lighter and, IMHO, looks better. Not that the other looked bad, cause any silo can be painted whatever color the owner chooses.     

Ya’ll have a good 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. Laugh

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Posted by NeO6874 on Friday, September 28, 2012 7:21 AM

'Morning everyone!

I'll have a coffee and short stack of pancakes this morning ... oh, and bacon -- just keep that coming with the coffee Smile.

Pretty dreary here today.  It's been a LONG time since I've seen the fog in the Cuyahoga Valley as thick as it was this morning ... going to have to plan on taking a drive through the park once things start changing colour.  It's always a beautiful drive ... maybe I'll just hop on the railway and enjoy the scenery that way... (too bad the locomotives are diesels -- we really need to get 4070 running again).

Looking forward to this weekend ... it's the open house for the museum/roundhouse (where we store/work on the 4070, and our other stuff).  So it's always fun taking people around and showing off our work (though I absolutely hate it when they get uppity when I'm telling them to *not* walk between the cars).

-Dan

Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site

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Posted by gear-jammer on Friday, September 28, 2012 7:18 AM

Good morning, Diners.  Coffee, please, Chloe.

Jeffrey,  I am glad you went with a light color.  Can't wait to see your finished elevator.  Oh yeah,  I like your lights on in the house when you sign off for the night.  Great touch.

I am meeting some friends for coffee at 8:00, and I plan to swim first so I will check in later.

Sue

Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.

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Posted by LSWrr on Friday, September 28, 2012 7:15 AM

Good Morning all,

 

Fall has fell on my street.  The leaves are starting to turn.

 

I don’t know anything about the color rendering index but I do know those LED bulbs I bought for the bathroom and my desk light are the closest thing to outdoor natural light I’ve ever seen.  They are a little expensive until you factor in the low energy usage and the 20 to 50 year life span.  Don’t even price them at LOWES or HomeDepot since both are selling them for around $40 each.  The local computer store sells them for $7 to $20 each.

 

Ok, I’m going to try and read the past week’s worth of posts and see what happened…

BM1 Lee Soule USCG (ret)
 L.S.&W Railroad Serving the Lower Great Lakes

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Friday, September 28, 2012 7:09 AM

Good morning. It's 67°F with 99% humidity. Yeah, dry but wet at the same time. It'll be mostly cloudy with a chance of rain. The high will be 88°F and feel like 98°.


Today I'll try and get started on designing the structural elements for the grain elevator project. First I'll need to scan in the image of my scale rule. That way I'll be able to draw out the pieces right next to the rule. The structure walls will be printed on card stock. For the mass of the main structure I can use a box and glue the card stock elements to it. That'll save me the trouble of building a framework to mount the elements on. So far it sounds easy but I'm sure Murphy is waiting to pounce at the most inopportune time. Anybody got a sure-fire Murphy trap I can use?

As for the rest of the day we'll see what happens.



Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
          Joined June, 2004

Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
15 year veteran fire fighter
Collector of Apple //e's
Running Bear Enterprises
History Channel Club life member.
beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


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Posted by galaxy on Friday, September 28, 2012 6:54 AM

*grumble* *grumble* *groan* *groan* *creak* *Crud* *Arrggghh*

I slept late this morning, but my one eye that is open tells me its time for:

GOOD MORNING!!!

I was being a smart aleck above. Since I mentioned "eye", I figure the apple of my eye and smart aleck are my tidbits today, SO:

smart alec/smart aleck/smart alick - someone who is very or 'too' clever (esp. in a cocky manner) According to etymologist David Wilton the most likely origin was suggested by Gerald Cohen in a 1985 article which appeared in the publication Studies In Slang. Cohen suggests the origin dates back to 1840s New York City fraudster Aleck Hoag, who, with his wife posing as a prostitute, would rob the customers. Hoag bribed the police to escape prosecution, but ultimately paid the price for being too clever when he tried to cut the police out of the deal, leading to the pair's arrest. In describing Hoag at the time, the police were supposedly the first to use the 'smart aleck' expression.

apple of his eye/apple of your eye/apple of my eye - a person much adored or doted on, loved, held dearly, and central to the admirer's affections and sensitivities - the 'apple of his eye' expression first appeared in the Bible, Deuteronomy, chapter 32, verse 10, in which Moses speaks of God's caring for Jacob: "He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye". Brewer's 1870 dictionary of Phrase and Fable describes the 'apple of the eye' expression (or apple of your eye, apple of his/her eye, apple of my eye) as being a metaphor based on the pupil's significance within the eye. The theory goes that in ancient times the pupil of the eye (the black centre) was thought to be a small hard ball, for which an apple was a natural symbol. Logically the pupil or apple of a person's eye described someone whom was held in utmost regard - rather like saying the 'centre of attention'. Strangely Brewer references Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 3, which seems to be an error since the verse is definitely 10.

Now that everything is in Apple Pie Order:

APPLE PIE ORDER: Tidy and well-ordered.

The phrase may originate from the French 'nappes pliees' = neatly folded, or from 'cap-a-pie order'. There's no definitive evidence to support this and the origin remains uncertain. It is recorded first in English in Sir Thomas Pasley's Private Sea Journals, 1780: "Their Persons Clean and in apple-Pie order on Sundays.

Also:

Prim and precise order.

The origin of this phrase is still doubtful. Some suggest cap-à-pie, like a knight in complete armour. Some tell us that apples made into a pie are quartered and methodically arranged when the cores have been taken out. Perhaps the suggestion made above of nap-pe-pli (French, nappes pliées, folded linen, neat as folded linen, Latin, plico, to fold) is nearer the mark.

It has also been suggested that “Apple-pie order” may be a corruption of alpha, beta, meaning as orderly as the letters of the alphabet.

“Everything being in apple-pie order, ... Dr. Johnson ... proposed that we should accompany him ... to M'Tassa's kraal.” —Adventures in Mashonaland, p. 294 (1803).

Well, The prayer candle is lit for those in need!

Later gators:

Geeked



 

-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.

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Posted by wetidlerjr on Friday, September 28, 2012 2:35 AM

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Former NKP Depot, Lafayette IN

Mischief

Bill Tidler Jr.

Near a cornfield in Indiana...

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Thursday, September 27, 2012 9:09 PM

JimRCGMO
Jeff, I'm partial to the light grey, dark grey and tannish colors (since they could highlight some weathering easily). You're coming along nicely with that elevator. Thumbs Up

Well really I have a big problem with grays. I can see light gray and dark gray. The other shades of gray show up as white and silver and black. That's why I don't use gray all that much. In this case the majority liked it so that's what I used.

*

*

Time for me to call it a night. You know what I've been up to so I won't bore you with details. See y'all tomorrow.



Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
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Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
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beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


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Posted by JimRCGMO on Thursday, September 27, 2012 8:55 PM

Evening Chloe, how about a nice glass of a fine Finger Lakes wine, please. Think I'll go join Ken tonight. Bang Head Bang Head Been one of THOSE days... busy, hectic, and one of my least favorites about 10 minutes before leaving time. Sigh

OzJim, I tried to read that article about your CAPE, but my eyes started to glaze over. Way over my head! (Yeah, I was thinking of one of those other Capes you mentioned).

Todd, maybe those little wood chips could be used for HO scale scrap wood around the local lumber yard or sawmill? (Hey, just a thought - didn't say it was a good one...).Smile, Wink & Grin Should I guess that your son might've had some expensive repair bills before he got all that wisdom? Wink

Dennis and Mobilman44 - Todd mentioned the server staff here, which is:

Zoe and Chloe (the twins - Bill T. previously had posted some sketches of them, I think...Wink)

Zoe usually covers weekdays in here and sister Chloe covers the weeknights, then there's

Flo, Janie, and a couple others who help out on weekends and holidays so the twins can be off a little more. And cousin Vinnie (who was mentioned earlier by myself), who 'handles' things, like if somebody fails to tip the servers properly or gets a bit too feisty in here. If somebody has too big of a tab for getting TOP (Top of Page), Vinnie will (ahem...) "have a little chat" with the person who's taking too long on getting the (virtual) tab paid down. It also is possible to wash dishes to help cover your tab. Vinnie smiles if you bring in some thing nice for the twins or other servers (but no touching, and definitely no pinching, unless you want to see Vinnie really mad (and Chloe packs a mean walllop - don't ask how some know...). Whistling

Also, no swinging from the chandeliers if we have a special occasion (aka party) in the Diner. (You might be drafted by Vinnie and/or the twins, to help with the cleanup...)

I think that may cover most of the more critical (life-saving) particulars in here.. Other Diners who know of additional area to enlighten you.

Jeff, I'm partial to the light grey, dark grey and tannish colors (since they could highlight some weathering easily). You're coming along nicely with that elevator. Thumbs Up

Chris, I'll share the roast beef with others (especially Rerun, who has sharper teeth than most of us...). Like your elevator - will you have some stairways/ladders from those way-high-up-there door-looking things? Ya got me curious. And you're likely right - I'm sure that somewhere, there is a green elevator!

Lee, I hope you will be feeling better soon. Will add your health to my Angel list.

Barry, continue to have your 'code' on that same list. Maybe you need some of Todd's mother's "special medicine"? Whistling

Oh my gosh - you too, Ulrich? We're gonna hafta reserve a couple of back booths for the recuperating ones.Take care of yourself with that tooth problem, too. AngelAngel

Best get your rest (as best you can), fellas, and try not to overdo until you're all healed up to your usual self (whatever that may be) Whistling Chloe, maybe you'd better see about ordering in a carton of tissues for the back booths...Oh, you already did? Good.

Dan - see, Barry's already welcomed a fellow N-scaler (DerJohn - once he gets back in here - is another N-scaler (and bit of a master at scratchbuilding N-scale stuff, like the snow blower he made many months back); I think we have at least 1/3 or more of our semi-regular Diners (and what IS a 'regular' Diner, is up to debate...) who model in N scale. Have some O scalers too, and one or two live steam modelers, including Paul B. who lives down in Texas (retired from w**king at Six Flags there, and has a farm). By the way, (in jest) some of our 'iNvisible' scale-modeling Diners refer to HO as 'Horribly Oversized', and S as 'Super-sized'... Smile, Wink & Grin And Dan? That's (even as is) quite a list of things to fix for 4070. Wow

Course, I don't know about $3800 a pop for a verrrry nice #1 Scale loco, even with all the (lteral) bells and whistles like the one Ulrich showed us! Surprise My budget's a bit tinier than that, I think...

Ray, your new building there on the corner almost looks too clean (nice job on the brickw**k, though). Thumbs Up Best wishes on your preparations for the NMRA meet!

Galaxy was kinda quiet earlier (until the furnace repair guy handed him the bill (OUCH!) That is a whopper of a bill, G. Hope you can find ways to not do THAT again!

B&O Stan, another excellent 'fog' photo there.Yeah

Dennis(ChooChooWilli), that's an expensive way to learn a lesson about leaving the battery out, all right. [ouch!]

Yep, Johnboy, with all the folks (new and returning) in the Diner lately, pretty soon the twins will need to start adding another car (or two) to the Diner!

Jeff - former professional photographer here. Fluorescents (except for more expensive ones such as I see Ray mentioned) do not have a continuous spectrum of colors given off - that is why photos taken under only fluorescent lights tend to have rotten-looking color (or colour, for our NOTB and Oz/NZ Diners) rendition. Even the so-called 'fluorescent filters' for cameras are only a partial help. (As you can tell, I am not much of a fan of them, nor CFB's - they require almost a Hazmat bag to clean up if/when they break...do NOT accidentally step on CFB glass fragments!)

Ah, I see I missed the cutoff for the poll; luckily, it turned out the stone grey one, which was one I liked anyway. Smile

Dennis, I (at first) misunderstood you kinda like Ken mentioned, but I figured you just left out a word, and it was supposed to be "her stuff and all", right? Hey, we have ALL made that kind of goof-up/typo...(Unless the going rate is up way beyond what I would've guessed...) Whistling Smile, Wink & Grin (Hey, we're just funnin' ya)

Tomorrow is FRIDAY!! (Yay!) Because I'll be on-call Saturday, I will have to do laundry after w**k tomorrow night (and see if i win an item on deBay), but good thing is, I'm off Sunday. Big Smile Unless I get called out, should be able to get back to the (RDA) gas station kit Saturday, and continue removing things from on top of the layout.

About time for me to head on home. Prayers for all our ailing Diners, as well as those in need fo comfort, other healing and/or needs. Hope to be by tomorrow, but we'll see how hectic w**k is.

Blessings,

Jim in Cape G.

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Thursday, September 27, 2012 8:46 PM

howmus

Hi Jeffrey, I did a search on the Bright Effects Light bulbs and found a lot of complaints about them.  They are evidently a store brand sold at Lowes and Wal Mart and some other places.  Lowes doesn't sell them anymore.  Most of the complaints were about them burning for a few hours and dieing.  Some spoke about a brown goo leaking out of them as well and that it was almost impossible to get the stores to honor the Guarantee on them.  If yours are working well, I guess you got lucky... Brightness has nothing to do with it...

My guess is that because they are a cheap brand, the CRI (Color Rendering Index) is probably below 80 and possibly down in the 60 range of a shoplight no matter what the Kelvin temperature of the bulb.  On the photos I showed earlier of my layout the CRI is the biggest factor in the difference in color quality. 

Thanks for the heads up on light bulbs. I'll be looking for replacements when these start going bad. I've never had any problems with them at all and never had any burn out. Just after a few years they start getting dim and need to be replaced. My nephew uses my old CFL's as his outside porch lights.

*

Packer
Jeff, I love how you post your pics of your elevator, right when I'm considering selling my Walther's ADM one. Reason being is it takes up storage space.

Well I was looking at getting the Walthers ADM elevator but that fell through, so I decided to make one from scratch. Been a long time since I've done ant scratch building and I'm a bit out of practice.

Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
          Joined June, 2004

Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
15 year veteran fire fighter
Collector of Apple //e's
Running Bear Enterprises
History Channel Club life member.
beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


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Posted by howmus on Thursday, September 27, 2012 8:24 PM

jeffrey-wimberly

howmus
Jeffrey, yes the color of the standard fluorescent is usually around 2700°K and most have terrible color rendering.  Just look at the difference in the color of your photo from outside in comparison to the one taken inside.  Yes I know you have also used a Matte Finish on them.  2700°K is the color of the light at sunup and at sunset and generally has a lot of Yellow in it.  The color of midday is usually more blueish.  I use 5000° to 5500° Daylight CFLs that also have a very high CRI.  The ones I am get these days have a CRI of 91+ which is exceptional.  Colors run very true with them.

The lights I'm using are Lowe's Bright Effects 123tm/65k CFL's, four to be exact. They're quite bright.

Hi Jeffrey, I did a search on the Bright Effects Light bulbs and found a lot of complaints about them.  They are evidently a store brand sold at Lowes and Wal Mart and some other places.  Lowes doesn't sell them anymore.  Most of the complaints were about them burning for a few hours and dieing.  Some spoke about a brown goo leaking out of them as well and that it was almost impossible to get the stores to honor the Guarantee on them.  If yours are working well, I guess you got lucky... Brightness has nothing to do with it...

My guess is that because they are a cheap brand, the CRI (Color Rendering Index) is probably below 80 and possibly down in the 60 range of a shoplight no matter what the Kelvin temperature of the bulb.  On the photos I showed earlier of my layout the CRI is the biggest factor in the difference in color quality. 

I'm not saying you should run out and buy better lights...  They work well for you, don't worry about it!  Poor CRI generally means there is a lot of holes in the color spectrum of the bulb.  Our eyes generally adjust and we don't really notice the difference until compared with better lighting.  The CFLs and Tubes I am buying these days are from Blue Max.  Some of their lights are up in the 96 range for color rendering!!!  True Full Spectrum or as close as you can get to a Black Body Resonator in a CFL. They are the best I have found, and a bit more pricey than most others on the market.....  But the color rendering is impressive!

Photoshop is able to fill some of the missing color back into the photo which helps the total rendering of the photo.  That is probably what I saw in the difference after I ran it through Photoshop.  OK, I'll stop boring everyone!

Janie can I get a cup of decaf please?  I'm sitting here watching the printer run.  Printing maps, programs, and a list of local restaurants for the Meet this Saturday.

73

Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO

We'll get there sooner or later! 

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Posted by Packer on Thursday, September 27, 2012 8:14 PM

Evening guys

Been away busy sleeping. Went to bed around 10pm on tuesday, woke up at 11am, at, then took a nap from about noon to 3pm. This isn't the first time where I've had no energy, but drinking some gatorade always seems to help.

Had a minor mishap at work today. I was using one of those box-cutters with the breakable blades, and it broke when I was using it. Guess where the broke piece went? Into the knuckle of my left index finger. It doesn't hurt much, I must have gotten lucky with the angle. It didn't go straight in, but rather it skimmed the knuckle. So it's more of a scrape than a cut.

My father wants to experiment with my car again. He wants to try a breadbox intake with an 80mm thottle body (IIRC, I have a 70 on an explorer intake). He says I might get an 8.1 with the change. I'm skeptical it'll knock off half a second in the 1/8th. I know I have an 8.5 capable car now (had an 8.60 slow shifting)

Haven't done a whole lot with the trains lately. Ran around at the MR club on tuesday, and have been painting wheelsets. Out of the 100 36" wheelsets I bought, I only used about half of them. Still need more 33" wheelsets.

Ken, your daughter sounds like my brother. He always washes and vacuums his car, but rarely checks fluids, levels, etc. I'm the opposite, clean every other week, but check levels weekly.

Ulrich, $3,800 a loco? Is scale 1 1"=1'? If so, where will you find the space?

Jeff, I love how you post your pics of your elevator, right when I'm considering selling my Walther's ADM one. Reason being is it takes up storage space.

Vincent

Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....

2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.

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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Thursday, September 27, 2012 7:26 PM

Silos are done for now. The next step will be to start designing the accompanying structures. These will be made of card stock for the most part.



Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
          Joined June, 2004

Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
15 year veteran fire fighter
Collector of Apple //e's
Running Bear Enterprises
History Channel Club life member.
beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Thursday, September 27, 2012 7:02 PM

howmus
Jeffrey, yes the color of the standard fluorescent is usually around 2700°K and most have terrible color rendering.  Just look at the difference in the color of your photo from outside in comparison to the one taken inside.  Yes I know you have also used a Matte Finish on them.  2700°K is the color of the light at sunup and at sunset and generally has a lot of Yellow in it.  The color of midday is usually more blueish.  I use 5000° to 5500° Daylight CFLs that also have a very high CRI.  The ones I am get these days have a CRI of 91+ which is exceptional.  Colors run very true with them.

The lights I'm using are Lowe's Bright Effects 123tm/65k CFL's, four to be exact. They're quite bright.

Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
          Joined June, 2004

Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
15 year veteran fire fighter
Collector of Apple //e's
Running Bear Enterprises
History Channel Club life member.
beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


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Posted by howmus on Thursday, September 27, 2012 6:45 PM

Evenin' Folks!

Just a decaf, Janie.  So why is Galaxy crying in the back booth.  Furnace Repairs?!?  I thought he had a brand new furnace just last year?  Don't that beat all!  Something doesn't sound right with all of that!

Tom, according to one of the pharmacists at the Big Chain Pharmacy, they got audited a few months back, and certain chains are being made to account for where all the supplies paid for by medicare have gone....  Therefore the patient has to show he/she did the blood tests...  The place I am transferring my accounts to has told me he hasn't heard a thing about it and none of his customers have to do that.  Interesting, Huh?

Jeffrey, yes the color of the standard fluorescent is usually around 2700°K and most have terrible color rendering.  Just look at the difference in the color of your photo from outside in comparison to the one taken inside.  Yes I know you have also used a Matte Finish on them.  2700°K is the color of the light at sunup and at sunset and generally has a lot of Yellow in it.  The color of midday is usually more blueish.  I use 5000° to 5500° Daylight CFLs that also have a very high CRI.  The ones I am get these days have a CRI of 91+ which is exceptional.  Colors run very true with them.  Here is a comparison of 2 photos on my layout.  The first was taken with dollar store CFL bulbs at 2700°K using the auto white setting on my Digital Rebel:

Here is basically the same area after changing to the 5000°K daylight with a high CRI index:

Hopefully you can see the difference!  The outside shot of your silos now looks much more like concrete than the inside shot.  If you can later add some of the other gray colors I suggested earlier, you will have it spot on! Thumbs UpThumbs Up

Later!

73

Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO

We'll get there sooner or later! 

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