Elliot´s Trackside Diner - September 2012

[JeremyB]

Hi Stan

You might want to go and edit your email address, a spam bot can pick that up pretty easy and before you know it your inbox will be flooded with SPAM emails.

write it out like eastsalamancastation at yahoo dot com

Then it shouldn't get picked up by any malicious programs

- Jeremy

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good afternoon. It's 90° and feels like 101°. The high will be 98° and feel like 107°.


Got the part I need for the van. Also got a large bottle of brake fluid and the short steel line that goes between the brake hose and the brake line manifold on the frame. The connectors on the old one were messed up. It's been a long time since I bent a brake line to the shape it needs to be using just a small pipe bender but I managed it without incident. I actually got it very close to the original. I haven't done stuff like that for nearly forty years. Always used a powered bending tool. Put the old line in one side and the new line in the other side, press a button and presto.

Went by the nursing home this morning to take my mother some things she wanted. Nothing really special but it makes being there a little more bearable. Some cans of soup, some small bottles of Sprite Zero, some bananas and grapes. She was asleep then and i didn't want to wake her. I went to the parts store from there and found they didn't have my part yet. The truck bringing it had broken down. So I went back home and waited a while. Close to noon I called and they had it so I went to get it. That's listed above. I went back by the nursing home. There wasn't a wheelchair available so had to walk all the way down the hall to her room. My father says it's seventy-five feet. He needs to check his measurement! My sister house is seventy feet from end to end and that hall is MUCH longer than that, almost twice. She was awake this time so we talked a bit. She appreciated the effort I went to. She wishes they would heat her soup longer. She likes it hot, not lukewarm. From there I headed back home. And that's been my day.

[howmus]

Afternoon folks!

A nice tall glass of fresh Lemonade would hit the spot right now.

Jeremy, good catch on the email thingy...  One thing I don't put on here or any forum (nor even the NMRA Webpages I am listed on) is my actual email.  There are places where my account is blind copied from the site, but never my actually email exposed.  At worst I would have to just have them relink the actual one with a slightly different contact info at the sight.  i have had to have that done once...

Jeffrey, hope your Mom is getting used to the home.  You are good son!

Does this look like someone who likes to behave?  Granddaughter #2 who is a definite character but actually is well behaved most of the time...  I did have to put the pull cord for the dining room light up out of her reach when she refused to not stop turning it on and off.

Progress is happening at my house!  Most of the new inside panels are at least in place.  Tomorrow the installer will be finishing the inside stuff and starting to roof preparation and instal.

He says it will be another month before all the required tests and inspections will get done...  Should be all installed waiting for the inspections by the end of the week.  After he is done, the work has to be inspected by an qualified electrical inspection agency, then NYSEG inspection and approval,  then by the Code Officer and the Fire Marshall.  NYSEG will have to run a series of tests of the system to be sure it is totally within all specifications...

Hope you are all having a great day!

73

[james saunders]

Howmus - that is alot of hoops to jump through to get certified. Here in Australia the sparky signs off on the work (if it's in an existing dwelling) and bobs your uncle. If the house burns down, well then your insurance will chase him if it proves his work contributed to or caused it.

[pascaff*]

Good Afternoon All,

   YouGottaWanna - sorry to hear of your wifes passing. You and your family will be in my prayers.

   Jeff -sounds like you had a busy day so far.

  Current temp is 90 but overcast and a nice breeze. 

  I am waiting for the A/C repair guy to show up. Since today is a regular day off for me, I sure hope he makes it. I have missed enough work already the past two months with my wifes condition. Speaking of which, some bad news, but mostly good news. She had a high fever the other night from an infection,        e-coli they said. Got her antibiotics and she is on the mend from that. Good news, she has a appetite and says food tastes good, so her strength is getting better.

  Since I had to wait for the A/C guy I finally got some earth color paint on the foam. My world is no longer all pink. Once that dries I will start to weather the rails. Made up a train or two, before starting to paint.

Prayers to all in need.

Paul

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

My van is back on the road. The brakes work great. Went to town to get gas. $3.699 a gallon for regular. Prices is starting to get ridiculous.They passed stupid a long time ago but haven't yet gotten to ludicrous.

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening

We actually got to 84F feeling like 96F today...under the dull non-rainy skies of London ON.. Supposed to get thunderboomers and such tonight but we'll see whether that happens here....

We are still paying around $1.28 a litre here for regular...works out to roughly $5/gallon...

Have a good evening!!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Time for me to call it a night. Got the part I needed for the van, the new caliper and brake line are on, pads on both sides have all been changed out, brake system was bled. Road test was great! Got a Bowser roadrailer kit in the mail today. Not sure what I'll do with it or even if I'd put it together. Went by the pharmacy today to get two meds they missed on my last visit. I took in a list of eight meds and they filled six. Still not sure how they managed that. They were happy enough to to get me the two they missed before. Well see y'all tomorrow.

[cudaken]

 Evening Dinners

 Flo, Beer Pleases.

 Today was sort of a good day. Work was not that busy but I still made a little extra $ wises.

  It is semi official that Dave is not going to be our full time manager so I won't be training new people! That all so means I might be able to get back to a full 40 plus week and not for fighting commissions like I do now.

 Have not heard from BoS today and I will take that as a good sigh.  Or it could be bad. But either way I am not going to think about it tonight!

 We will be closing this store forever (being torn down) this Sunday. Rumor has it we all have to be at the store Sunday at 9:00 AM and be open for business and will close at 6:00 PM per normal.  Then we have to move what we are taking with us to the new store so we can open Monday at 7:00 AM. They expect us not to be done till 2:00 AM? I am telling you right now I am not going to work from 9:00 AM till 2 AM for what they are paying me. They can all so take the free and stick it where the sun does not shine! Now, free I would think about!

 Ken

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

It's Thursday, September 6, 2012

Crossing watchman's elevated shanty on the old LE&W (NKP)  IMC Dist. in downtown Kokomo IN.

TIPTON

[LSWrr]

Good Morning all,

 

 

 

Ken, 17 hour day?  Wow, I try to only work half days (12hours) myself.

 

 

Barry that’s not too bad considering your taxes per liter of fuel.  I just paid $4.15/gallon yesterday.

 

 

 

Jeff if your mom is complaining about the lukewarm soup I’m going to assume she is feeling better.  If my mom is content with everything I worry….:)

 

 

 

So, I got on the bus Tuesday with my brand new September bus pass and the machine sucked the card in and didn’t give it back.  I’ve had to walk up hill 1/2 mile to work.  It’s a big hill, I park at track level then I walk up hill to a bridge that takes me over the NS-CSX main lines.

 

 

 

You get what you pay for:  A local marina bought 2 acres of water front land from a railroad for $1/acre. What a deal!  There is a railroad bridge on the property but they found a scrap yard that has offered to remove the bridge for free as long as they get to keep the steel.  The marina does not plan on removing the concrete and wood structure in the river.  Well I’m afraid they are going to need to work out the historic issues since this is one of only 2 pendulum balanced drawbridges ever built, complete asbestos abatement of the bridge and the 4 story bridge tenders house, and dredge the river after removing all the bridge parts in the river, and complete the historic preservation needs.  I’m going to guess those 2 acres will cost them around $1,000,002.00

[blownout cylinder]

Morning...

From a fogged on,  very humid, warmish London ON. 

Wherein another 2 hour bus delay has arrived in the form of a drizzly peasoup fog and generalized stickiness...68F feeling like 80F right now going for a high of 77F feeling like 96F later on...

Today is a busy day for us. Our neighbour is having a few friends over for an operating session and I have to be dispatch....this is going to be interesting.......this on top of the normal grocery getting, pill baying...and all other assorted....schtuff....should make for an 'interesting' day....

Have a good day!!

[galaxy]

Morning Coffee and

Sticky Bun

Sorry I slept late! I am paying in back pain for my journey to the grocery store yesterday!

We often try to AVOID "opening a can of worms", SO:

can of worms/open a can of worms - highly difficult situation presently unseen or kept under control or ignored/provoke debate about or expose a hitherto dormant potentially highly difficult situation - Partridge explains 'open a can of worms' as meaning 'to introduce an unsavoury subject into the conversation', and additionally 'to loose a perhaps insoluble complication of unwanted subjects' ('loose' in this sense is the verb meaning to unleash). Partridge suggests the origins of open a can of worms are Canadian, from c.1955, later adopted by the US c.1971, and used especially in political commentaries, as still applies today. The Canadian origins are said by Partridge to allude to a type of tin of worms typically purchased by week-end fishermen. The OED describes a can of worms as a 'complex and largely uninvestigated topic'. Can of worms is said by Partridge to have appeared in use after the fuller open a can of worms expression, and suggests Canadian use started c.1960, later adopted by the US by 1970. Interestingly Partridge refers to an expression 'open a tin' which apparently originated in the Royal Navy, meaning to start a quarrel, which clearly indicates that the metaphor in basic origins dates back earlier than the specific can of worms adaptation, which has since become perhaps the most widely used of all variations on this theme. Cassells suggests 1950s American origins for can of worms, and open a can of worms, and attributes a meanings respectively of 'an unpleasant, complex and unappetizing situation', and 'to unearth and display a situation that is bound to lead to trouble or to added and unwanted complexity'. Cassells also refers to a 1930s US expression 'open a keg of nails' meaning to get drunk on corn whisky, which although having only a tenuous association to the can of worms meanings, does serve to illustrate our natural use of this particular type of metaphor. Farther back in history the allusion to opening a container to unleash problems is best illustrated in by the 'Pandora's Box' expression from ancient Greek mythology, in which Pandora releases all the troubles of the world from a jar (or box, depending on the interpretation you read) which she was commanded by Zeus not to open. The North American origins of this particular expression might be due to the history and development of the tin canning industry: The origins of tin cans began in the early 1800s during the Anglo-French Napoleonic Wars, instigated by Napoleon Bonaparte (or more likely his advisors) when the French recognised the significant possibilities of being able to maintain fresh provisions for the French armies. The French solution was initially provided via glass jars. In response, the British then developed tin cans, which were tested and proven around 1814 in response to the French glass technology. Development and large scale production of tin cans then moved to America, along with many emigrating canning engineers and entrepreneurs, where the Gold Rush and the American Civil War fuelled demand for improved canning technology and production. The vast North American tin canning industry was built on these foundations, which has dominated the world in this sector ever since.

The prayer candle has been lit for anyone who lost a loved one, needs healing thoughts after surgeries, or will need special thoughts and prayers!!!

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe...  What, yes I am up early this morning.  Wanted to greet the truck carrying 18 brand new Solar Voltaic Panels this morning.  Just arrived a few minutes ago.  The gent who was here yesterday arrived at 7AM sharp and has been down cellar finishing work for the equipment located there.  Lets see I'll have the breakfast bagel with sausage and cheese and a cup of dark roast coffee this morning.

Photos later!

73

[gear-jammer]

Good morning, Gang.  My usual black coffee, Chloe.  Looks like everyone has been busy.  Today my plan is to finish pressure washing the deck.

YGW,  Sorry to hear about your wife's passing.  Only time will heal.  Your friends at the diner are all here for you.

Sue

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!!!

Coffee and a breakfast burrito please. Thanks.

Patchy dense fog before 9am. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 86.

Thanks John! Yes tomorrow is Brenda and I’s Anniversary.

Shower update involving the “only me” scenario. OK. Got the floor replaced where the plumbers miscut the drain and had this giant hole/slot that, while OK I guess for the stall flooring of fiberglass, is waaaay to big to be acceptable for the newtile floor. Now on to the water pipes relocation. Marked where the pipes need to go due to straddling a floor joist and of course, centering the stall. Drilled first hole. No wait, STARTED to drill first hole. About halfway through the baseplate the drill started vibrating coarsely and made weird noises. Pulled it out and saw the blades were now flattened. Looked in the hole and what did I see? Nails. 4 nails. No joist underneath, no reason just four 8 penny nails criss crossed in that area, driven up from the bottom, for no reason. Took 30-40 minutes to remove these nails but I gotter done. Only thing I figure is the framers hammered these hidden things in for one reason. To mess with the plumbers. Yup. Only place these nails were were right where the hole would have been drilled IF the plumbers had put the pipes in the wall like they should have instead of out of the wall like for a sink. No hole was even attempted so the “joke” was not realized until……yep, you guessed it…., me. 18 years….. 18 years that issue lay dormant just waiting for the day I show up. Only me.

We’ll see what happens today.

Ya’ll have a good day!!!!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Hello everybody. Galaxy said he had  a sticky bun. So, be careful where you sit to avoid one yourself.

As I said in my last post, we had our anniversary yesterday. I was on good behavior all day for that. Very nice day!

Todd.  ..... Speaking of anniversaries, have a great one! ..... Your experince with the drain reminds me of many of my "15-minute projects". Those are the ones where I tell Shelley, "I will go fix that thing, and be back in 15 minutes." Of course, I experience sequences of unexpected events, and I return 2 or 3 hours laters to say I'm not done with the repair.

Ray ... You certainly should be proud of "GD 2". Thanks for sharing her photo. I suspect there are times when you wish she could be with her grandmother.

Ken .... So far no news is good news. I think it would be good if you keep in contact with the branch manager to let them know you are doing your best to meet your obligations and things will improve in that regard. You have such a good personality, you should be able to convince them the bank is better off if they allow you the time you need.

Stan ... I sent an email, but you had some good advice about not showing emails in this forum. You may think it is best to edit your post.

I have several projects awaiting me on the layout, but I'm completing some non-mrr stuff first. Rats!

Cheers!

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

Hello again, weather not looking so good. Hope it doesn't get too bad..............................

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Been slaving away putting the Peerless tractor back together today and I am wiped! It runs but the tranny is on the way out. I don't expect it to last much longer. It's already screaming pretty loud. Replacing it will cost more than buying a new tractor so my father and I are waiting for small tractors to go on sale. My main stipulation on it is that I can operate it easily without having to modify it. It has to have a hand shift for forward and reverse, not that darned little bitty pedal you have to step down on. My fathers little MTD has that. I can't step on the darn thing without standing and course standing kills the engine. You also have to wait for it to come to a complete stop before reversing and you have to go through the first seven steps of the ballet in shutting down whatever can't be on when reversing. I disabled the more maddening safety features on his so it can be operated without it dying when you sneeze! For example, when it was new this is what had to be done to reverse. Come to complete stop. Disengage blades. Raise mower deck to lock position. Set throttle to half (what that had to do with anything I have NO idea but it would die if not throttled down to half). Step firmly on reverse pedal. That got old REAL FAST! After a bit of work on it all that needs to be done is stop, step on reverse pedal. The deck can be left where it is and it will mow in forward AND reverse and the throttle setting doesn't have to be changed. Stepping on that reverse pedal is a pain in the butt for me! I have to twist my leg around sideways and catch the end of the pedal with the side of my boot. Even then it's a hit and miss (mostly miss) proposition. That darn thing had to have been thought up by some bean counter who's also a contortionist. If my father gets another one with that on it I may have to consider marching him out in front of a firing squad. I've already told him that when he goes to look at any I'm going along to see that what he gets meets my criteria instead of his idea of what's best for his wallet. Who has to drive the dang thing? I DO!. And I don't expect it to be another small one like his. It has to be big and heavy enough to do the heavy work I been doing with the old one the past fifteen years. His little one just doesn't cut the mustard. Well, enough about that.

No layout work and I haven't even THOUGHT about running a train today. I'm gonna sleep good tonight.

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Chloe, I'll have the fried chicken, fresh garden vegetables, baked potato, and a trip to the salad bar.  A glass of iced tea, unsweetened, would be nice too.

Jeffrey, I am convinced that many of those so called safety features actually make machines more dangerous...  I'll leave it at THAT.

Garry, they are both sweethearts, and either of them by themselves are wonderful to be around.  Together #1 Granddaughter is fine, but #2 considers #1 to be competition...  Quite normal really, but sometimes makes for a handful. Both of them love trains...  First thing they head for is Thomas (#2 has her own set at home that they both play with).  #2 just puts a bunch of track pieces together and starts pushing trains and/or cars around.  #1 has to finish a loop and get the engine house connected, and the water tower in just the right place...

I took the pickup in to the dealer to have the oil changed and the NYS inspection done.  Passed with no problem.  Only other thing they found was that the air cleaner was clogged pretty bad (most likely the original in a 10 year old truck) so I had them replace it.  They have as good prices on most items as the "Big Box" and fly by night crap places, so I still bring it in to them.  At least they know what they are doing...  One of the family members who works there (Son of the original owner) is the husband of a teacher whose class I taught Music to.  He walked by, said, "Hi Ray, how's life?"  I smiled and said something about sitting at the kitchen table this morning watching a big Yellow thing rumble by.  He wanted to know how many years I have been retired...    (12 years)  Makes me feel a bit old...

Progress was made by the electrician today...  He finished up what he can do before wiring inside and out by the meter.

The panels arrived early this morning.  They were brought down by the crew boss who was the one who came over and measured the roof and figured out where the panels could best fit the roof and couple months back. 

I spent part of the day trying to get the books to balance for the MLK Committee...  I Know exactly how much is in the bank, and it agrees with the new figures for the monthly report and all the receipts I have.  The Excel spreadsheet of all the sub accounts and the main debit/credit page are off by several hundred dollars....  I am going to have to print everything out and look at all the pages line by line.  Something is put in twice or not entered right!  Grrrrr......

Only thing I did train wise today was glue a bunch of railbars in place on the rails.  Back has about had it for today.

Later!

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Calling it a night early. I really overdid it today. See y'all tomorrow.

A short video tonight.

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening

Great day was had by all. Neighbour's layout was quite cooperative this afternoon...no incidents, accidents, laydowns occured.  We had a wonderful BBQ out back with ribs and such. Mind, chemo after effects tend to not make for much of an appetite....

Weatherwise we were supposed to have gotten thunderstorms and such...needless to say nothing of the sort happened here...

Ray:  They really do make a great pair!! Now you got me wondering about installing solar here....mmmmm

uuuummmmmm...anyone know what happened with Ulrich?

[howmus]

Evenin'!

Janie, just a cup of decaf for the moment...

Barry, I think you would be better matched to get one of these:

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

Only has 1088hp, 0 to 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds, all wheel drive with motors on each wheel, top speed of 190 mph, range of 373 miles, and can recharge in less than an hour...  Yep I want an electric car!  Only 88 of them will be made in 2013...  Just a bit out of my price range, but WOW!

Time to head out to bed... Been a long day, and I will be getting up early again tomorrow as I expect the installer to be here at 7 again.

Hope you all have a great night, and my prayers to all of you in need.  Have any of you heard anything from Ulrich?

73

[cudaken]

 Evening Folks

 Flo, Beer Pleases

 Well, seems we have some more possible bad news about Sues health. Took he to the eye doctor today. Seems she has Glaucoma but it is in a early stage. She has to g back in in a moth for more test. When we got home, she got a call from her Doctor about a EKG she had done last week, not Normal. She has to go in for a stress test (Like living with me is not one in it self) to see how bad it is.

 Funny thing about all this, is I had not been off due to the Toe Problem for a month, she would had never been able to get the all the test done. I was making to much (yea like $1600.00 is a bunch) for her SSI Medicare to pay for anything.

 Far as Keeping the House, still nothing from BoS rather by mail or returning my phone calls. I am sure the Evil Overlords are up to something. 

 See you all later.

          Ken

[galaxy]

Morning Coffee And Donuts!!!

GOOD MORNING!!!

Today is Friday, September 7th, 2012!!!

Make someone's day and give someone a smile!!!

Balderdash, you say??? SO:

balderdash - nonsense - nowadays balderdash means nonsense, but it meant ribaldry or jargon at the time of Brewer's 1870 dictionary. A still earlier meaning of the word was more precisely 'a jumbled mixture of words', and before that from Scandinavia 'a mixture'. Skeat's 1882 dictionary provides the most useful clues as to origins: Scandinavian meanings were for 'poor stuff' or a 'poor weak drink', which was obviously a mixture of sorts. In Danish 'balder' was noise or clatter, and the word danske was slap or flap, which led to an older alternative meaning of a 'confused noise', or any mixture. Certain dictionaries suggest an initial origin of a frothy drink from the English 16thC, but this usage was derived from the earlier 'poor drink' and 'mixture' meanings and therefore was not the root, just a stage in the expression's development

 

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

It's Friday, September 7, 2012

Altamont Tower, Lafayette IN, 1977, N&W (NKP)/CONRAIL (PRR)

TIPTON

[LSWrr]

Good Morning all,

 

 

70F, 81% Humidity, HI 84F, mostly sunny

 

Not much to report.  I went to George’s and hauled out the old layout Wednesday so last night I did mundane things like wash dishes, ran 3 loads of clothes and that was about it.  I have to wire and test run the 4x8 layout this weekend, replace an outside light on the side of the house, caulk the water leak before it rains again, and do yard work.

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning...

We are going to be dumped on..if the weatherguessers are right...a little more than 2" of rain expected here for the overnight hours...today? Dull and somewhat showery...

Got a few things to do housework wise...so better be gettin'R'done....

Ray:   All I can say is WOW!!!!!!

[galaxy]

More Morning Coffee

Well, well

We had a very bad storm go through here last night and we suffered some damage! It was one of those pink/purple cell nasty buggers that roll through and cause stuff. The PING PONG ball sized hail ripped nad shredded the semi-clear corrugated plastic panels on our enclosed porch just chuck full of holes. But that ain't all. The worst is the Roof Jack {chimney} for the new furnace is now leaking, causing a puddle in the train room!

We just had that new furnace installed last year, you may remember! SO Now I have to call the Heating A/C comp-any and complain that their installer guaranteed it wouldn't leak and that I want the furnace checked. At worst I May have to pay him something for his troubles.

Many trees down, too. For awhile I was blocked in at both ends by downed trees and MOH was blocked out. We were without power for 6 hours and others suffered whole vehicle losses form downed trees on top their vehicles. SO far as the news is saying, not one tornado!

We are expecting MORE severe thunderstorms tomorrow! The word severe is key!

Well, The shop may have opened by now, so I should go call them.

The prayer candle is lit for those in need!!

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!!!

Coffee and lots of it. Gonna be a loooong couple days.

Rain and storms possible or probable depending today for the All School Class Reunion this evening under the tents up on the boulevard though they have lowered the chance to 60% from 90 from Accuweather and the weather channel. Tomorrow, there is still a 0% for the Fall Festival so that’s good. The NWS says this, Occasional showers and thunderstorms. High near 81. South southeast wind around 9 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Garry- Happy Anniversary yesterday to you and Shelly! Sorry I missed it.

All these safety things on lawn equipment I’m sure are good intentions, but…..really. If the operator used just a wee bit of that mass of goo between their ears, then they would be as simple to operate as my 1976 IH Cub Cadet.

Ken- Prayers for Sue’s health.

Galaxy- Keep an eye to the sky. Hope the bad stuff misses you.

Welp yesterday I had a brilliant yet obvious idea. As I was looking at the water pipes in the basement to determine where the best place to splice would be and what I have to disconnect to get the assembly back up the wall and in the new holes AND trying to see all the issues that may arrive with that while the water is shut off AND I have to w**k this evening AND the class reunion I’ll have to attend after (can’t duck out as the thing is right out the front door of the restaurant) AND with the Festival requiring all day Saturday for me means the probability of either middle of the night w**k or no water til sometime Sunday is extremely high. Like 187,000%. So, while complaining and asking the dog who was snoring upstairs but I talk to her anyway ( I mean she is a female so getting no response is normal for me) why plumbers never put shut offs on showers and tubs, I suddenly said…. Why don’t I just install shutoffs to the shower, then I can turn the water back on to the house and Mr Murphy can dance all over this project and we can still flush the toilet and use the other shower. Brilliant. So, that means a trip to Menard’s for a couple shut offs and VOILA! (that’s Spanish) All is well.

 Bets get started, Brenda just called and first I must go to the elevator and redo her bandage. My Anniversary gift to her. Hey, it'll be a special trip.

Ya’ll have a good day!!!!