Elliot's Trackside Diner, October 2012

[brank]

What is "Elliots Trackside Diner"?

Thanks!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

brank

What is "Elliots Trackside Diner"?

Thanks!

It's a nice little gathering spot that's off-topic. We discuss many things here including how day went. what's happening in our lives and many other things you can't discuss in the main area. Politics, religion and the other usual flame topics are off limits.

*

Tough day for me today. Been tired all day and was having to hold back a real short temper. That finally got the better of me when I went down to give my mother her shot. She said she tried calling me earlier but my number wouldn't work. Checked the call log on her phone. She hadn't dialed the area code. Here it's 337. I have a New Orleans number! 504 area code. She knows that but she forgets. My father gets home from work and comes in about then and starts yelling that I turned my phone off so it wouldn't ring. It was all I could do to keep from knocking him on his butt! Instead I pushed him down in a chair and explained the facts of the matter to him, showed him the call log and told him he wasn't getting off the chair until he apologized. He knows it's not a good idea to push me over the line but it seems sometimes that he just can't resist. Despite what you see of me online I'm not one of the friendliest people in the world. I'm easier to get along with than I was thirty-five years ago. Jump on me when I'm having a bad day? That doesn't fly! He decided it would be a real good idea to apologize. Besides he hadn't had dinner and the fridge was calling him. I gave my mother her insulin shot and made sure she'd taken her medicine before he and I got into it again. I don't want to hurt him but sometimes he just pushes and pushes and pushes.

Well now that I got that off my chest it's time I called it a night. I have to go to my parents place at 2pm tomorrow so I want to be rested up good. See y'all tomorrow.

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Janie, just mu usual decaf before I call it a day.

I got a few odds and ends done today.  After looking over some boxes of stuff I have been storing for a decade from my parents house, I once again decided much of the stuff could be useful to somebody out there and didn't carry it out to the trash....  Besides the little dumpster I have is already full and I will need to get at least 2 more trash bags into it before pickup next Tuesday.  The firewood guy stopped by this afternoon to see when i want my 6 face cords of wood brought over and to ogle at the panels on the roof...  He thought it was a great idea and complimented me on the new metal roof as well. Did a bit more scenery on the corner mountain module.

The system made about twice as much electricity as it did yesterday...  Not very much.  All of 4.12 Kwh.  No sun peeked through the heavy cloud cover at all today.  Tomorrow should be better. 

Tonight I spent about 4 hours working on a Bachmann 4-8-2 that suddenly just quit running back last Spring.  It was the loco I was using to pull the Lake Shores Limited on my layout.  Beautiful running locomotive, but it just quit.  The little light in the open firebox lit, but no headlight and no motor.  At first i figured it might be the decoder, took it out and checked it using a Loys Toys decoder tester IO have.  Appeared to be fine.  Tried using a different decoder in it,  no difference.  Put it aside for looking at or sending back to Bachmann later.  Got it out a week ago and brought it upstairs where I have the Timesaver set up at the moment.  Tonight I decided to heck with it, I was going to take it apart and see what i could do.  If I sent it back for service, odds are they would send me back a different loco in a road name I wouldn't have on the layout, and since it is long out of warranty I said I'll give it a try.

I downloaded the parts diagram off the Bachmann website a few days ago...  Managed to get her apart to where I could just jump a 9 volt battery across the terminals for the motor.  Nothing...  Hmmm.  continued to tear it apart to where the weights had been removed, the drive wheels were off, and I could see the motor completely.  Tried again.  No dice, then my eyes happened to notice a tiny little screw stuck to the side of the motor.  Not screwed in, but just stuck to it.  Took the screw (being held there by the motor magnet.  Tried the 9 volt battery thing again, and WHALLA!  The motor works...  OK, now all I have to do is get it back together.  Fun with those little bitty screws to get them back in place.  Amazing myself I got it back together with only one extra part that I have no idea where it is supposed to go.  Put the decoder back in the tender, and she runs down the track fine....  Saved another one, I did!  Only problem is not only do I have the one plastic spacer that I don't know where it came from and haven't found on the parts diagram, I also am missing the screw to hold the Tender cover in place.  It may be down cellar as I think I originally took the cover off down there.

Barry, you just went back on my prayer list!

John, wonderful story!  I still remember when I came home from school when I was 16 to find the vet had been to the house and put down my dog....  I was the one who found him dead in the back shed when I went in the house afetr getting home from school.  I knew it had to be done, but I didn't know when it would happen. The poor old dog had a tumor on his spine and couldn't walk at all.  My Father wanted to "spare" me knowing he was coming to do the job.  I think that day was the first time I ever screamed at my father and got away with it.  I cryed for days....  The dog was 16 also.  He was my dog from the time he was brought home...  Pets sure do get to us don't they!

See you all tomorrow!

73

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

It's Thursday, October 25, 2012

TIPTON IN

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

Weather be all foggy at this hour of day..55F presently, going up to 74F feeling like 80F later..in the sun..

Yep...I'se awake again. Not much sleep around these parts. The little Spring is a comfort though...all bundled up between my arms and purring away here...

I've got a bunch of stuff to clean up here...new studio being placed in another room while I can has trainroom back to being trainroom...I am so glad that Audrey understands my quarbles here...after 35 years I'd certainly hope so....

Welb...better be getting at some stuff in here...if'n I be up at funny hours...might as well...

Have a good'un!!!!

[galaxy]

GOOD MORNING!!!

Although we shouldn't, we often say "good Riddance" to a person who has left our "company". It can also mean ANY nuisance. SO:

Meaning: An expression of pleasure on being rid of some annoyance - usually an individual

Origin:

'Riddance' is now so completely associated with this little phrase that it is rarely, if ever, seen out alone. The only sort of riddance on offer these days is a good one. It wasn't always thus. In the 16th century a riddance was a general-purpose noun and meant 'deliverance from' or 'getting rid of'. The first adjectives to be linked with the word were fayre/happy/gladsome and, in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, 1600, Portia wishes the Prince of Morocco 'a gentle riddance'.

A very early use of riddance comes in John Rastell's poem,  Away Mourning, circa 1525:

I haue her lost,    

For all my cost,    

 Yet for all that I trowe    

 I haue perchaunce, 

    A fayre ryddaunce,  

   And am quyt of a shrew.

Shakespeare appears to be the coiner of 'good riddance', in  Troilus and Cressida, 1606:

Thersites: I will see you hanged, like clotpoles, ere I come    any more to your tents: I will keep where there is    wit stirring and leave the faction of fools.     [Exits]     Patroclus: A good riddance.

The phrase is often extended and emphasized as 'good riddance to bad rubbish' or, as that extended form was first coined, 'good riddance of bad rubbish'. Tobias Smollett used the phrase in a none too friendly comment, in The Critical Review, 1805:

But we are sorry ... to consider Mr. Pratt's writings as 'purely evil' ... we should really look upon this author's departure from the world of literature as a good riddance of bad rubbish.

The American journalist and member of President Andrew Jackson's 'Kitchen Cabinet', Francis Preston Blair, wrote an editorial in The Extra Globe, 1841. In this he appears to have been the first to use the precise version of the phrase that is most commonly used now:

[Following the withdrawal of members of a rival advisory group] From the bottom of our hearts we are disposed to exclaim "Good riddance to bad rubbish."

 

HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!

[JohnReid]

Bonjour y'all ! Flo I'll have the usual with some toast and buckwheat honey.Lara's outside teasing the dudes.I think she finds it a little warm in here being a husky and all.My wife of almost 50 years,Micheline,is getting her pre-op for her 2nd knee operation next month so model building time will be scarce for awhile...

[LSWrr]

Stan, I’m the bad guy telling them to remove the bridge, but the historic preservation process of commemorating and documenting the bridge is going to save the memory for a very long time.   I think the State Historic Preservation Board did a great job and some historic items/parts of the bridge will be on display locally. Preservationists were allowed 10 years to place the bridge back into service or move it to a location to preserve it.  In my humble opinion the cost of keeping any moveable bridge in serviceable condition past 107 years would have been a huge drain on anyone’s budget.  I spoke to a RR in Michigan and they budget $500,000 a year for regular maintenance and inspections on their 1930’s bridge.

 

Ray, there are some very cool spiral stone bridges out here still in service by the railroads; they were built in 1857 I think.  Still solid but someday those will be gone as well.  All we can do is document the heck out of them and share the memories because the craftsmanship to maintain and restore them is long, long, gone….

[LSWrr]

Good Morning all,

 Today the weather guessers say we will hit 81F then temps will plunge immediately into the 30’s and 40’s with rain from Friday to Friday with a slight chance of sn*w and freezing rain…..

 Barry, Katje has decided she is a lap dog and curls up in my arm, lap, chest, all 42 pounds of her bundled up with me in my chair at night.  Sometimes it’s hard to see the TV….

 Ray, friend of mine has a 4-8-2, ran fine on my layout and he put it on the shelf then 3 months later he pulled it out and it didn’t run for no reason at all.  Bachman said send it back and they would fix it.

 Ken, that’s a fine lap dog you have there in the picture.  I lost Jasmine (12yo Black Lab) early this year to bone cancer, she was my best friend.  Katje just happened to come along this summer.  The last 3 Labradors have been rescues and mixed breeds, Katje is the first AKC puppy I’ve ever had and I hope she lives a long healthy life.  I plan on adopting another dog in 4-5 years with the hope Katje will help me train the new puppy and maybe keep Katje young at heart….

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 70° with 99% humidity and patchy fog. It's partly cloudy now but is quickly changing to mostly cloudy. The high will be 85°. There's rain moving in tonight.


I'm feeling better this morning than I did last night but I can already feel that I'm on the bad end of a mood swing. I just hope nothing sets it off. When it starts there's nothing I can do stop it. Darn medicine side effects! At two this afternoon I have to go down and stay with my mother for a bit. I hope she'll be watching something other than CNN/FoxNews/QVC. I get what I need from a short news report in the morning but having somebody constantly barking about the same old stories hour after hour is just too much. I don't know how she puts up with it.

No layout work planned for today. If I get a chance later I'll get the tractor and trailer and pick up the pieces of my kitchen cabinet that are still piled up out in the yard and take them down to the burn pile.

I hope everybody else has a better day than I'm having thus far.

[gear-jammer]

Good morning, Diners.  I will  have a large black coffee, please, Chloe.

Since I have my computer working again, many of my buttons for shortcuts are gone.  It has been strange.

Today is the only dry day this week so I plan to work outside on those chores.

Later,  Sue

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!!!

Coffee and oh, I don’t know surprise me. Thanks.

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1pm. Increasing clouds, with a high near 77. Then they say about 3 in the afternoon, the front moves through and the temps will plunge like Charo’s neckline to the upper thirties.

Hm. Seems “that thread” is really being civil. Nice.

Checked my E-mail and the tile order arrived at the store last night and should be ready for pickup sometime this morning. Careful timing on my part should allow for pickup around lunch time. I need a break from cabbage.

Ray- Help you with your firewood? I (ahem) suppose you could say that. Of course I’m not familiar with your property lines and may uh, well, you know, “prune” the wrong tree. Honest mistake of course. Honest.

Might make some chili over the weekend. Mmm. Sounds good.

Ya’ll have a good day, ya hear!!!!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

TMarsh

Hm. Seems “that thread” is really being civil. Nice.

Yeah, and it's being watched closely.

[galaxy]

Hi Daisy,

The tickling frog is still in my throat, so tea or bullion will be good..and more Mucinex please...

I don't want to get on the wrong side of Jeffrey's temper, As I have {graying}  Irish and Norse Red hair and a temper to match..don't need to have  a battle of the wits here...lol

I wsa supposed to be sending off a package to Jeffrey today if I can get it, but I am now stuck waiting for a call back on the insurance..looks like they DID screw it up when the fee I pay was QUADRUPLED on us! SHe is looking into it and I am awaiting a call back..so THAT could take all day! Good thing I got them "fresh in the AM", because by afternoon they are harried. They DIDN't increase the allowances for a couple and looks as if they rated us as "One person"...if we are "one person" I have a larger taller-than-me talking shaddow following me around...Then I have to find out how to get MOH a new card as MOH will be cover on my insurance.

Well, I will busy myself with the dishes then,and maybe toss in a load of laundry so I get something done before MOH comes home...

Getting a headache..the feverish feeling kind..hhmmm.

have a great day, y'all...

[LSWrr]

Wahoo!  Chili at Todd's house Saturday!!!!

[howmus]

Mornin' folks!

Ah....  Daisy, is it?  Yes...?  So where is Zoe?  Got the day off today...  I see.  Well, I'll have the usual.   Huh?  Everyone knows what "the usual" is for me...  Well OK, you're new and I'm just being funny...  The usual is dark roast coffee and the #2 special, eggs over easy, bacon, homefries, and a double order of sour dough toast.  Oh and use the R&GV RR mug for the dark roast please.  Thank you Ma'am!

Lee, I agree 100% with you.  Preservation can take many forms.   While it is great to preserve the actual buildings and structures, most often it just is not feasible.  One of my best friends in the hobby is a guy named Harold Russell who has spent many years photographing, measuring, and drawing many, many railroad structures.  Many have been made into models, many have been published in MR magazine, NMRA Magazine, and several others.  One of those structures is a coal tipple in Medina NY where we had the Division Fall meet.  One of our members owns a small model company and guess what he brought to enter into our model contest...  He also brought one of the kits with him.  It will be raffled off at our next major meet.  So cool to see a beautifully done HO scale model of a structure still standing across the street form the NYC Freight House where the meet was held!

Galaxy, glad to hear the insurance people are going to correct the mistake!  Hope it works out well for you folks.

Todd, you did a great job...  I woke up this morning to find not only wood in my driveway, but it was all split and ready to stack!  Wait...  No, I guess that is the firewood I ordered a couple weeks ago.  He must have gotten here at the crack of dawn.  I never heard a thing.  I think he still has a couple more face cords to bring over so hopefully I can pay him then.  Oh!  It looks the the trees are just about ready to drop their leaves.  Starting to come down more and more.  These tress will drop them almost all at once when they do start to go.  Today or tomorrow I would guess and I should have a bit more sunshine on the rooftop.  That sounds like a song I know...  "Sunshine on my rooftop makes me happy..."  Hmmm, it was something like THAT.

Best get doing some needed things...

Later!

73

[cudaken]

 Late Morning Folks

 Flo, Diet Dew Pleases

 Getting ready to head to the VA Hospital for the Surgeon to look at my toe. It looked a little odd yesterday but looks like it is healing.  

 It was pretty disappointing to have no one reply to my post about my blood sugars levels being in line.  

 Or did I just post to late and it was missed? Anyway I just got my results yesterday and my AC1 test (3 month sugar levels) came in at 5.9!  That is a Normal range for a person with out Diabetes! My last test was 7.2, which is high, not super high but still out of control. So I was pretty darn happy I saw results from my effort! Bread Is Evil to me, all I really did was cut back on the bread and things are looking up!

 See you all later.

             Ken

 

[pascaff*]

 Morning All,

     Currently 36 with an expected high of of 54 onder partly cloudy skies.

      Bobbi is not out of the woods yet still has a slight fever, BP is a little high and heart rate is a bit fast also. Hope today she shows some more improvement.

      Ken - Great news about your BSL's, keep up the good work.

     Prayers to all in need.

         Paul 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

cudaken

It was pretty disappointing to have no one reply to my post about my blood sugars levels being in line.  

 Or did I just post to late and it was missed? Anyway I just got my results yesterday and my AC1 test (3 month sugar levels) came in at 5.9!  That is a Normal range for a person with out Diabetes! My last test was 7.2, which is high, not super high but still out of control.

It was probably just missed. Good numbers on your AC1! Mine usually come in between 6.2 and 7.1. My very first one was 14.3 believe it or not with a blood sugar reading of 745!!

[galaxy]

cudaken

 It was pretty disappointing to have no one reply to my post about my blood sugars levels being in line.  

 Or did I just post to late and it was missed? Anyway I just got my results yesterday and my AC1 test (3 month sugar levels) came in at 5.9!  That is a Normal range for a person with out Diabetes! My last test was 7.2, which is high, not super high but still out of control. So I was pretty darn happy I saw results from my effort! Bread Is Evil to me, all I really did was cut back on the bread and things are looking up!

 

Ken-it probably got overlooked as you posted it later in the day. The later posts tend not to get recognized. Also, I, for example, just thought you were stating a fact, not looking for a glowing report. My A1Cs are just the non-side of diabetes too, and I may mention being pre-diabetic, but don't expect anyone to jump on the bandwagon singing dixie out loud  if I posted something good health-wise,. When we all have something wrong....we look for the prayers and thoughts of others and such, but not for something normal...

Now your toe, on the other hand, we are all praying you can keep it!

[howmus]

Afternoon folks!

Cloe, just a cup of hot chocolate please.

I'm just sitting here waiting for the NYSEG meter reader to show up at my house.  She will show me how to read the new meter.  I think i know which of the readings to put down but it will be good to know I am right or be instructed at any rate...

I made the rounds earlier to church, the bank, get my allergy shot, and over to the LHS to spend some $$$ on supplies. 

Ken, on the AC1 reading!  I knew there was something else I wanted to say earlier this morning.  Great to see you have it under control.  Hope you can keep it under control for a good many years my friend!  Last time it was read, mine was about the same as yours, and I hope when it is done in a couple weeks it will be there still.  My reading this morning was 113, so I am a happy camper today.

Best get on the look out for the meter reader...

Later!

73

[cudaken]

 Evening Dinners

 Flo, Beer Pleases!

 Hospital Visit. While I did not receive the news I was hoping for it was not bad news, just disappointing. THis time around I saw a PA!I like PA's, well this one, and the one below.

 

 She had worked in the VA Foot Ulcer Clinic (Funny I Had Not Been Going There) and she knew what she was looking at! Reason the wounded look like it was healing? It was all Callas, and it had filled the wound!  When she got done whacking away at the toe, the hole was back! 

 She asked me what I had been doing to care for the toe and I told her. She just shook her head. She said "You should have been packing the wound, that will keep the callas from covering the opening and let the toe heal from the bottom up, not over by callas". She gave me some packing material and showed me how to use it.Great news is she saw no sign of infection!

 She all so stated "If I was seeing you in the Foot Ulcer Clinic right now I be doing a skin graft". She thinks that if I get a couple of skin grafts this mess will be healed in the next month. She has sent in a request for me to be cared for by the Foot Ulcer Clinic so I am pretty hopeful I get this part of my life behind me! 

 

galaxy

Also, I, for example, just thought you were stating a fact, not looking for a glowing report.

 Galaxy my friend, you just can't help your self at times can you! Well, that is what makes you you and we like you so that is fine.

 Reason I was disappointed in the lack of replies was when this whole mess started was all the folks here (Think you did as well) told me to start taking better care of my self. I am sure many did not think I would either. Well I have, and the C1A test is proof I am heading in the right direction!  

 Best part of the C1A findings? I can still drink and keep the sugar levels in check!  LIFE IS GOOD RIGHT NOW!

 Paul, sorry to hear Barb still has some hurdles (boy I hope I spelled that right) to clear. God speed and best wishes.

 See you all later!

           Ken

[cats think well of me]

Hi all, 

Flo I'd love scrambled eggs with cheese, samosas and sausage links with a glass of coconut milk please. 

Long time no post I know. I recently sold off, mainly through feeBay, all but a few pieces of my HO collection as I wanted to make some serious money for a move and changing jobs. Off went my PRR freight train and my 8-car Powhatan Arrow I built up with a BLI J, Walthers B60s (in N&W) and the MTH set plus extra coach. Hard? Oh yeah! but I've been wanting to downsize A LOT lately, not just trains, and really wanted to do this move, I also gave away a load of books, but hardly any train books of course, and a 30-gal bag of old clothes. All I kept from the train collection is a Tichy water column, a Pacific Mountain Scale Shops B&O I5 caboose in the '40s paint scheme (custom finished piece I got in a trade years ago) and my BLI PRR Q2 6195 which I love but will be looking to part with too to fund my next model railroading move as detailed in my last paragraph. 

I left the nest, I've been planning to do that for three years now and finally feel comfortable enough to do so, plus I'm not moving in with people who will make me miss living at home. I got a new job about a month ago that I think I'll really like once I get better oriented to it. I'm working in a supportive living program for people with mental illness. It's hard but I think it can lead to good things professionally. 

I'm not getting out of the hobby much as I thought I might. Though I don't truly have room for a layout, I do have room for a nice large loop of track in the living room. I thought long and hard about what I really like as far as trains go and I've always liked the idea of Pennsylvania passenger train that carries mail, milk and commuters. I do see myself building a diorama or two in the future as well. 

Alvie

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Well at 2pm today I went to my parents place as they had asked me to. Lo and behold there was no one there! So I waited for their return. After an hour I put the time to good use and sacked out on the couch. My mother and her minder came in two and a half hours later. She'd been out to get her hair done among other things. Got her dinner for her and after a suitable time passed checked her blood sugar. It was very high. Called MD, instructed to give five units insulin and check in an hour. An hour later it was higher. Called MD again. Give ten more units then check in an hour. At that time my father was home and I handed everything over to him. Glad to be back home.

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

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!

Janie, just a decaf, please.  I rather overdid it tonight on the goodies.  Went over to see Troop 1, the troop I am working the RR Merit Badge with to talk with the Scouts about our trip to the Museums on Sunday.  Of course the fact they were having a Halloween Party tonight didn't influence my attending....

I found out I can no longer use the online form to send NYSEG my electric meter reading as they have to have more info each month than what was needed before.  I can email the information (both the amount I used, and the amount I produced that went into the grid during the month) and they can enter it for me.  They hope to have a new form at some point soon where I can just read it and enter it like I used to.

I decided to put the mountain in place for a couple photos of where it is at present this afternoon.  I am about 2/3rds done with it. 

Gettin' there little by little...

Ken, I hope they get you in to the clinic for your toe ASAP, and they can get it taken care of.  Hey Ken, How do you know when a guitar player is planning for the future?  When he buys two cases of beer instead of one.

Prayers for all in need!

73

[alfadawg01]

howmus

Hey Ken, How do you know when a guitar player is planning for the future?  When he buys two cases of beer instead of one.

What do you call a bass player without a girlfriend?  Homeless.

What do you do when the bass player knocks on your front door?  Take the pizza and give him a good tip.

See what you started?

As you were,

Bill

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening...or whatever after midnight is called anymore.

Tests came back positive..start the BEEEEP!!! treatments Monday.....

I spent the day, outside of hearing THAT "wonderful" piece of news, in my studio trying to rewire/patch my effects racks and other such recording paraphernalia...when I looked at the back of the rack it was loaded with cobwebs...where do these spiders come from?!? I thought my patch cords were bad enough but cobwebs on top?

Bill:  Why would you want to play bass? Aren't they kind of wet and flippy floppy? It is kind of cold out there you know....

Have a good night/morning/whatever it may be in your neck of the woods!!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Howdy ... It's been a little hectic here lately, but hopefully things settle down. 

Barry .... What's the story about the positive tests and the treatments? Galaxy will have to get another prayer candle. The CHapel Car has been at the DIner in recent days, too. 

Ulrich .... Based on your last brief post, we are concerned about you.

Ken ..... Glad your blood tes was good. Now let's get that toe back in good condition.

Paul .... Praying for your wife. Take care of your self too during these days.

Alvie ... Nice to see you again!. Visit more often if you can.

John Reid .... Sorry to learn about Micheline's knee problems. Looks like you are working on a great diarama with a 4-4-0 in the scene. 

Ray .... I like your work with the rocks. ... A year or two ago, I had Bachmann repair a 4-8-2 for me, and I'm pleased with their service. I also like how the 4-8-2's run. 

John Boy ..... Perhaps it would be good if you could include Western Ky with a trip to MO some time. Have a safe trip home. 

[blownout cylinder]

watch?feature=playerdetailpage&v=Qipd65z5W2o

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

It's Friday, October 26, 2012

TIPTON IN