Elliot's Trackside Diner, DECEMBER, 2012!

[galaxy]

Morning Coffee in the Diner

GOOD MORNING!!!

There are only 6 more days before the day the world ends according to the Mayan Calendar!

 

Perhaps if we go to the ENDS OF THE EARTH, we can find a cure for The End of the World!

Meaning:

The furthest reaches of the land

Origin:

The phrase 'the ends of the earth' derives from the Bible, Zechariah 9:10 (King James Version):

And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.

Caxton used the expreession in his 1483 translation of  J. de Voragine's Golden Legende:

And all the endes of the erthe shal worshipe the Nacions shal come to the fro ferre and bryngyng yeftes shal worshype in the our lord.

In that passage, and in other  religious usages, the phrase was used to indicate the furthest reach of man's dominion, as opposed to the heavens. It wasn't widely used untilk the 19th century, when it began to be used as we use it today, i.e. to mean 'a very long way away'.

 

There will be  3 prayer candles lit today: one for general prayers and one for MRing people here on the forum and one for those in the tragedy of yesterday.

 

HAVE MAKE it a GREAT day!!!

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

TIPTON

[Anonymous]

Good Morning!

Is it a good morning? Can we go back to our normal life just like that, after what happened yesterday? I don´t know. I am still shocked and my heart is filled with sympathy for the victims and their relations. I wish I could express my feelings, but forum policy won´t allow that.

Temperatures are back to what we normally have at this time of the year, and they are expected to increase in the next days. We all were hoping for a white Christmas, but as all of the snow is gone, chances are petty slim.

Chloe, I´ll have a big weekend breakfast, you know it´s ham and eggs, buttered toast, a stack of pancakes with maple syrup, a glass of OJ and lots of coffee, please. We will be skipping lunch today, as we are invited to a birthday party tonight. MY friend Lothar is turning 56.

Have a good one!

[howmus]

Evenin' folks....  Sure is quiet here. 

Janie, just a cup of decaf please and a seat by the stove in the back.

Just got back home from the party at the museum a few minutes ago.  I heard about the tragedy in Connecticut shortly before I had to leave to go to the museum....... Party was a fun time with lots of good things to eat and good conversations.  I wore my "uniform" I wear when I work out there plus my Santa Hat.  I took about 5 dozen cookies (the butterscotch toll house ones).  They disappeared pretty fast.  At the end of the night there was one and one half cookies left in the container.  The president of the museum walked by and grabbed a cookie, took a bite, and said oooohhh!  Who made these? Couple other guys pointed to me, and he turned, grinned from ear to ear and gave me a thumbs up, and took another one...  I guess they were good!

Did have a serious accident out there tonight, complete with medics, and an ambulance....  An older gentleman who was a guest walked out one of the doors. missed the step and fell down on the sidewalk breaking his leg just below the hip we think.  May have fractured his hip as well.  We had a couple of our members there tonight who are first responders, so the guy got immediate help.  We ran an accident free season this year as we have for several years in a row.  We do our best to keep everyone safe, and then something like that happens at a holiday party...  Do hope the guy recovers well, and very glad we have good insurance out there!

Hope all of you are safe and warm tonight.  My prayers for so many people out there tonight...

73

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

GMTRacing

Good Evening All,

      Some of you mentioned the events today in Newtown. They took place across rt84 from our shop. We do our museum outreach program Introduction to Model Railroading at the other elementary school in town and being a small town most everyone knows everyone else.

    The principal of the school was a friend who used to be in the Danbury school system when I was on the board there and was assistant principal at the middle school and then the high school. All our kids knew and liked her, a true professional who fought for "her kids" even when it incurred difficulties for her.

    The scope of the tragedy is beyond my comprehension as is the depth of hate that would drive someone to murder innocent children. May God have mercy on us all.    J.R.

JR .... Blessings to you, your family, and neighbors. Suggest you read Ulrich's " A moment of Silence " thread when you can. 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Time for me to call it a night.

It's been a busy day for me today, physically and emotionally.

See y'all tomorrow.

[cudaken]

 Sometimes I don't give mankind a chances!

 

[GMTRacing]

Good Evening All,

      Some of you mentioned the events today in Newtown. They took place across rt84 from our shop. We do our museum outreach program Introduction to Model Railroading at the other elementary school in town and being a small town most everyone knows everyone else.

    The principal of the school was a friend who used to be in the Danbury school system when I was on the board there and was assistant principal at the middle school and then the high school. All our kids knew and liked her, a true professional who fought for "her kids" even when it incurred difficulties for her.

    The scope of the tragedy is beyond my comprehension as is the depth of hate that would drive someone to murder innocent children. May God have mercy on us all.    J.R.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

The loco I'm working on this evening is a Mehano Alco Century 628 (C628), a rather enormous Lehigh Valley Snowbird, Cab #638. It's a 6 axle diesel, 4 axle pickup, 4 axle drive. The appearance of the trucks, motor and drive lead me to believe this is a product from the late 60's to mid 70's. I could be mistaken. The drive is similar to early Athearn shaft and gear drive. The motor is 3-pole. I somehow managed to break one of the universal joints during the inspection. I used an Athearn universal as a replacement. I had to cut the Mehano shaft a little shorter to fit but it works. The loco didn't run at first but after a tear down and a good cleaning and light lube it now runs quite well and has a fair pull. The wheels are a bit of a problem. Can you say 'Pizza Cutter'? They do OK on most of my track but on turnouts they tend to lift and bump. Right now I'm trying to do something about the lights. They light up the thin white shell like a couple of fireflies on steroids. I've applied some black paint inside the shell at the problem areas. I hope it's enough. I'll see if I can make a short video of it running later. At this point the only part I've replaced is the universal joint I broke.

[blownout cylinder]

last mountain & eastern hogger

Our sympathies to all affected by the tragedy in Newtown Conn.

The families of those who died and  those who have been injured are in our prayers.

But also to those who had to view these terrible things from other students, teachers and the Police as well,

this is not right that we are loosing our children and our safe places either.  My feelings are so mixed from sadness to anger and bitterness, it is so distressful and disturbing.

God bless those who are suffering in any way.

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

Your thoughts echo mine John...tragic is all I can say at this time...my heart reaches out to those who lost loved one ...

[last mountain & eastern hogger]

Our sympathies to all affected by the tragedy in Newtown Conn.

The families of those who died and  those who have been injured are in our prayers.

But also to those who had to view these terrible things from other students, teachers and the Police as well,

this is not right that we are loosing our children and our safe places either.  My feelings are so mixed from sadness to anger and bitterness, it is so distressful and disturbing.

God bless those who are suffering in any way.

Please bear with me as I post this following Quote.  It is very applicable here and thought provoking and then I will leave the soap box to someone else.        Here goes >>>>>>>

Subject: Fwd: Remarks on CBS on Sunday morning 
  
  I only  hope we find GOD again before it is too late ! ! 

The  following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS  Sunday  Morning  Commentary. My confession:  I don't like getting pushed around for being a  Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for  being Christians.  I think people who believe in God are  sick and tired of getting pushed around, period.  I have no  idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly  atheist country.  I can't find it in the Constitution and I  don't like it being shoved down my throat... Or maybe I  can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we  should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God  as we understand Him?  I guess that's a sign that I'm  getting old, too.  But there are a lot of us who are  wondering where these celebrities came from and where the  America we knew went to. In light of the many jokes we  send to one another for a laugh, this is a little  different:  This is not intended to be a joke; it's not  funny, it's intended to get you thinking.    In  light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings,  etc..  I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she  was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she  didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.  Then  someone said you better not read the Bible in school...   The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and  love your neighbor as yourself.  And we said  OK. Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our  children when they misbehave, because their little personalities  would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr.  Spock's son committed suicide).  We said an expert should  know what he's talking about..  And we said  okay.. Now we're asking ourselves why our children have  no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it  doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and  themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard  enough, we can figure it out.  I think it has a great deal  to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.' Funny how simple it is  for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to  hell.  Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but  question what the Bible says.  Funny how you can send  'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when  you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think  twice about sharing.  Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and  obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public  discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.  Are you laughing yet? Funny how when you forward  this message, you will not send it to many on your address list  because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will  think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more  worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks  of us. Pass it on if you think it has merit.   If not, then just discard it... no one will know you  did.  But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit  back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.   My Best Regards,  Honestly and  respectfully, Ben  Stein

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

[Curt Webb]

 

I do not know what the heck is happening to this country. I am saying prayers for all the families and first responders.

[Anonymous]

Just heard about the Connecticut Primary School shooting. I am so saddened. How ill must a man be to kill little children!

My prayers go out to the victims and their families. May the Lord provide them with the strength to endure this ordeal!

Calling it a day - CU tomorrow

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

I'm shocked at the news from Connecticut today. How horrible. Prayers for the families of victims. 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good afternoon. It's 58° and mostly cloudy. The high will be 62°.


I've been down at my parents place all morning. First for breakfast then to be on hand while the tech from the cable cut the cable and phone service for the old half of the house then ran cable into into my fathers office then set up the modem in there for the internet and phone service for the new half of the house.

The mail carrier brought me a big box today. It's chock full of old freight cars, a few old locos and some containers. I've already done a preliminary sorting. There were a few things that even I can't use but the vast majority of the stuff has possibilities. One of the locos is a large Mehano diesel that's got many years of age. The former owner has told me that he'd love to see it running again, so that's going to be a priority. I haven't opened it up yet to see what what it needs but I'd imagine the main thing would a new motor.

Just getting ready to pack up now and head back home.

[Seamonster]

LSWrr:  I hope your mother is okay after that accident.  Hopefully the airbags and crumple panels protected her.  I see too many drivers running red lights and stop signs.  And the other driver's insurance company!  Words fail me.  How do they think an argument like that would hold up in court?  The sad part is that the driver probably won't get the punishment he deserves.  Years ago I got hit by a drunk, speeding, license-less driver and was held 100% responsible for the accident even after taking the insurance company and the other driver to court to reverse the decision.  That incident completely destroyed my opinion of how insurance companies are so rigid when they assess blame and don't take extenuating circumstances into consideration and also completely destroyed my opinion of the justice system.

[galaxy]

Here is I, THE "famous" Galaxy!

Don't I just brighten your day?

I, too, have had my "famous moments".. And some :infamous" ones too....I have even been mentioned on TV..when my {rented} house burned down one night with me in it! {yes obviously I got out-through a window wearing only a pair of socks and underwear and my winter coat which was on the chair under the window I crawled out of. Thank goodness my roomate wasn't home {he'd have been "toast" as he put it} and that I kept my BR door closed when I slept}. The cause? bad electrical- or rather aged worn out electrical.

Well the banking or rather the Credit Unioning is done.

So is the 4 scripts at the pharmacy.

I can still move about at half speed.

I have the dentist yet to pull the tooth. That is at 3pm. MOH will be able to drive me there as I don't like to drive home when in great deal of pain {headache, jaw ache even with novacain} from the dental work. Its a bit of a trip there and back, so MOH will be able to take me {not really wanting to, but will}. Then we come home and BOTH rest our backs.

Well, gotta go brush the lunch out of my teeth...

 

[Burlington Northern #24]

putting the final touches on my layout, the power lines are going up.

[howmus]

Mornin'... ah...  Ahem..  Afternoon folks.

Chloe, can I still get breakfast?  All Day? great, I'll have a couple sour cream glazed donuts and lots of dark roast coffee in my R&GV RR miug, please and thank you Ma'am!

Was going to vgisit about 2 hours ago, but just as I hit the site the phone rang.  It was my son, who said he was sitting in hios car in my driveway and that granddaughter #2 wanted to come for a visit!  I told him to give me 2 minutes to throw some clothes on (I was sitting here in my bathrobe after finishing breakfast...  He was on his way to get a haircut about a block from my house and so I got to play with the granddaughter for about an hour.  She is starting to learn that if she is gentle with my cats they will let her sit next to them and pet them.  She spent most of the time here with grandpa and the two cats being a good girl.  Then I asked her if she would like one of the cookies I baked for the open house tonight.  She grinned from ear to ear and said, "Uh huh!"  I also give her a glass of milk in her favorite cup, the one that belonged to her Dad when he was her age (3).

When her father showed up she was back to petting Manét again.  he was pleased she is learning to be gentle with animals.  Asked him if he would like a fresh baked cookie as well, and he just stared at me and said, .... well yeah!"  There are now less cookies for the open house tonight....

LSWrr

Hitting the sauce? I did something I’ve never done before; I took a cab home after the last party I went to because I had been drinking too much.  I don’t know where I got the cab or how I found the keys but it’s still in my garage and I don’t know what to do with it. LOL

Lee, that is great!  I have to remember that one!

J.R., sorry to hear about the car, but so glad your son is OK!  Cars can be replaced...

Barry, sure hope they find the "Hit and Run" driver.  Did anyone get her license plate #?

Galaxy, I have spent most of life being "Infamous".  Does THAT count?

Best get moving.  Have a bunch of things to get done before I head out to the Museum tonight.

Later!

73

[Anonymous]

Good Evening Gang,

it´s kind of late today for me to show up, but it has been a busy day for me. I needed to do some work to get on with my "career" as a politician. In order for my nomination to become effective, I need to round up 1,000 supporters. That´s quite a lot, but in the days of the Internet it is much easier than to take one´s ideas and opinions to the street. My Internet page now list 936 supporters - in roughly two days! Seems as if I am hitting the nerve with quite a lot of folks.

Zoe, whatever the Gang is having, put it on my tab, please!

J.R. - I am just glad to hear that your son didn´t get hurt much - could have been a lot worse. I lost my teenage love to a drunken driver killing her, so I have zero tolerance for anybody, who thinks he/she can still command a motor vehicle after "just a few". It was a miracle that I escaped unhurt, reading about your son´s accident brought back all the memories. The diver was sentenced to three years in prison and had to serve the term, but what a price for a life!

Hope you are having a good one!

[chochowillie]

galaxy

We have all heard we will be "famous for 15 minutes"

I've had a few too many "famous for 15 minutes moments in my life. Don't need/want any more. 

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!!!

Coffee and 48 hot donuts please, thanks. Cold, I can only eat about 6.

Garry- Hope you’re feeling better! Flu's goinn around up here. Had 30 guys out sick up at the mine in the last couple weeks.

J.R.- Sorry about the Focus, was that the one you just put back together a little while back? Sure glad your sons ok.

Statistically speaking, in regards to personal injuries, it seems safer to drive drunk. Statistically speaking. I wouldn't recommend it though. Bad idea.

Speaking of Lee and his new found part time Taxi business, had a bit too much to drink last night myself, so I asked for them to call me a cab. For the rest of the night, I wasn’t sure who they were talking to.

Ya’ll have a good day, ya hear!!!!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good morning..... Well, I'm trying to get back to normal. It was a rough week.

Lee ..... I hope your Mom is okay from the accident. She must have run a green light. ... Also, sounds bad about there being a shooting.

JR ..... Sorry your son was in an accident. You mentioned a drunk driver. .... Drunk driving really makes me mad...... I never fully recovered from a wreck 20 years ago. A drunk driver hit my drivers door at 50 mph. I had surgeries and physical therapy. It was a year before I could work again..... The @#$*! drunk driver spent only one night in jail, lost his license for 3 months, and had no injuries. ... Not fair.

Ken ... Nice photos.

Bob ...... I like your model TrackMobile

Have a great day!

[LSWrr]

Good Morning all,

 

Barry, I can one up that, I hear on the news someone did a drive by shooting on Dorothy’s street last night.  Dorothy was over at my house at the time so she is going to check on her house tonight to see if she as any extra lead in her walls.

 

Some guy ran a red light and t-boned my mom last week.  The other guys insurance is claiming my mom, who had the green light, should have slowly edged into the intersection to see if anyone was intending to run the red light before she proceeded.  Really?  Maybe the accident is my mom’s fault because if she would have stayed at home it wouldn’t be her fault?

 

Hitting the sauce? I did something I’ve never done before; I took a cab home after the last party I went to because I had been drinking too much.  I don’t know where I got the cab or how I found the keys but it’s still in my garage and I don’t know what to do with it. LOL

I wouldn’t use a track mobile to put sound in a small locomotive, screwdriver and a small drill bit work fine for me.

Dennis, I used an n-scale sound decoder in my small 50 ton switchers.  The speaker and DCC chip fit in the cab without any problems.

4-day weekend starting tomorrow for me so I might not be on until Wednesday since I plan on sequestering myself in the train room….

[blownout cylinder]

Good Morning

It is kind of dark out...but it is going to be a sunny day anyhoooo....high of 44F expected...

We had some excitement last night...seems that a hit and run driver clipped next door neighbour's hedge and went into their backyard...but before anyone could get to the car..s/he backed up and took off down the street. The car had  few branches and things attached to it though....

GTR:  After having a few run ins with drunk drivers myself I'm always glad when there is one reported that the injuries are not always severe...glad your son made out OK....

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,

   21F and all is covered in frost this morning. Even the lawn crunched under foot retreiving the morning paper. Been a busy few days again. Youngest son called Tues just as I was leaving to the museum to ask for a ride after a car crash. He's ok but the Focus he was driving will be a writeoff. airbag deployed front end mangled and 180,000 miles on the car make me believed the ins co will declare it totaled. We will have it towed to the shop today and see for ourselves while we wait paperwork catching up. Seems this drunk lady pulled out of a side street into the wrong side of the road and the van in front of my son hit her and collected him as well trying to avoid a head on collision. The lady went to hospital rather than take a breathalizer test so we hang fire until the PD can supoena the blood test results for the crash report. Like I said, no serious injuries so we can stand a little inconvenience - it could have been so much worse.

   No layout progress again but I did get to the museum and started on revisions to the HO working display fitting ironwork to carry an arched cover over the layout, etc. By the time I've gotten ho,me this week I've been tired and just get sucked in by the one eyed monster and some reading. 

    Oh well, here's my coffee and into the shop I go. Catch y'all later.   J.R.

[galaxy]

morning coffee nad donuts with friends in the diner

GOOD MORNING!!!

Today there are only 11 more shopping days until Christmas!!

We have all heard we will be "famous for 15 minutes", SO:

meaning:

This is a well-known as a quotation from Andy Warhol. It does derive from Warhol but his actual line was somewhat different - "In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes.".

Origin

In February 1968 Warhol exhibited his first international retrospective exhibition at the Moderna Museet gallery in Stockholm. The exhibition catalogue contained "In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes.". It is far and away the best-known of the many quotations attributed to Warhol, in fact it is probably the only comment of his that most people know.

The line began to bore Warhol in later years when interviewers kept asking him about it. In 1979 he did repeat it though, claiming that the line had truth - "my prediction from the sixties finally came true: In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.".

As things have turned out the rise of celebrity culture and reality television in the Western world since then has shown Warhol to be quite prophetic.

We have also heard of the "famous last words",

Meaning:

A remark or prediction that is likely to be proved wrong by events

Origin:

Before "famous last words" became used as a rejoinder to  point out the possible recklessness of an assertitions of safety or certainty, it was used to refer to the actual dying words of prominent people. It was probably brought into the realm of sarcasm by such well-known last words as "They couldn't hit an elephant from this distance" - an actual statement made by U.S. Civil War General John Sedgwick, immediately prior to his being shot dead by a sniper.

It was initially used in a fugurative sense to suggest in jest that something that had been said might cause offence and result in the speaker being put in a dangerous position; for example:

A. "I think I'll ask Mike Tyson if he's always had that lisp". B. "Famous last words!".

The first instances of this form were printed in a series of newspaper cartoons in the 1920s/30s. This early example is from The Milwaukee Sentinel July, 1928.

The phrase was later extended to refer to more general potentially lethal situations, not necessarily involving the speaker, as in this piece from  Shell Aviation News, 1948:

Leopoldville is easy to find because you cannot miss the Congo River. (Famous last words!)

It is now used widely and in reference to situations where the outcome might be bad, but in a minor rather than lethal way; for example:

A. "We won't miss the train. Mike's never late". B. "Famous last words!".

A more recent version of the comical but rather tragic actual last words to rival General Sedgwick's are the final words of Terry Kath, a  founding member of the rock band Chicago, He said, "Don't worry, it's not loaded." just before accidentally shooting himself in the head with a 9mm. pistol.

 

The prayer candles will be lit as long as I am home, even though there have been fewer requests lately!

 

Have a Great DAY!!

 

[wetidlerjr]

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

Friday, December 14, 2012

TIPTON

[cudaken]

 Good Morning and Happy Friday.

 Only 6 more days to the end of the world, well as far as the Mayans where concerned.

 

[Rastafarr]

superbe

Looks like Jeff has been in the sauce.

If you can put sound in a small loco how about using my trackmobile.

 

 

Bob

 

 

I could put sound in that for you. Fair warning, it would resemble a giant near the tracks muttering 'ding! ding! ding! ding! ding! Vroom, vroom, rrrrrrRRRR!'