Elliot's Trackside Diner....JUNE 2013!!!!

[JeremyB]

Wow Jeff, The construction crews have moved in quick.

Didn't really do much today. Went out a bit this morning but in the last couple days my allergies have been really bad with all the pollen in the air so I came in after a few minutes and took a allergy pill. Still sneezing but I shut the windows and turned on the central air even though its not all that warm out ( 82F) so with any luck that will help a bit.

Spent the afternoon cleaning up the workshop and around the layout and planning on cleaning some track after and working on some weathering.

[Burlington Northern #24]

Hey guys, just checking in real quick. 

I've given up on the 4' x 6' layout, and will be opting for another 2' x 4' layout. I'm going to switch to DCC because one of the loco's I will hopefully be buying soon will be DCC equipped, so I'm going to avoid a big layout for the time being. 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

MisterBeasley

Are you concerned with dust?  I'd be boxing up the trains, or at least putting a big sheet of plastic over them, before ripping up plaster.

Little concern about dust. The shop vac will be sucking up the dust from the Dremel cutting disk as the plaster is being cut. The plaster will break along the cuts and there won't be much (if any) dust from that.

[chochowillie]

MisterBeasley

This has me looking ahead to retirement with fear and loathing.  We like our house, but the real estate taxes are outrageous, and our benevolent state government wants to raise my state taxes so they can be even more benevolent with my money.

Well, we did that exact thing 4 years ago come October. Yes it was not a fun or enjoyable experience as we had been in our other home for just about 30 years and loved it and still miss all the space, mature yard and a two car attached garage. This 1100 sq foot bi level is just sort of ok. But it's what we can afford being retired. Frankly I don't think it will ever feel "like home" but that's life. At least I have a nice model rr space  The yard is coming along but it's only 35 feet wide and no space for a garage without losing a big chunk of back yard. My yard is my joy so the will be no garage. The trees and shrubs are growing well and will be mature just about the time we have to move on to an old poop place.

Oh well, life is full of compromises so best to just get on with live and enjoy it as best one can. 

Cheers

Dennis

[MisterBeasley]

What a mess!

Are you concerned with dust?  I'd be boxing up the trains, or at least putting a big sheet of plastic over them, before ripping up plaster.

This has me looking ahead to retirement with fear and loathing.  We like our house, but the real estate taxes are outrageous, and our benevolent state government wants to raise my state taxes so they can be even more benevolent with my money.  So, we'll likely be packing everything up ourselves once I'm done working.  The layout can be broken apart with some effort and transported as large pieces, but it's still not a job I'm looking forward to.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Been working hard on getting the layout extension ready to be taken down. I've got most of the track pulled up off it. The next step will be to cut the plaster in strategic areas and peel up the white foam that covers the plywood. It's not pleasant and I don't enjoy doing it at all but it has to be done.

Somebody on one of the forums I post on asked me to keep a photo record. Here's today's progress. As you can see much of the track is pulled up and is in a couple of piles. Some of the scenery base came up as well. What I call plaster is actually drywall joint compound. The stuff was put down years ago. It's less than half an inch thick yet is still wet underneath in places. Guess it had nothing to soak into sitting on top of Styrofoam.

[BroadwayLion]

Hey! I want some of those pancakes with NYS syrup. Hey, I'm a BIG LION, I eat lotsa pancakes.

ROAR

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe...  What?  Yep got here in time for breakfast today.  So, I'll have a short stck of blueberry pancakes with real NYS maple syrup and a side order of bacon to go along with a pot of Seneca Lake Blend dark roast coffee.  Yes leave the pot right here and bring me my R&GV RR mug please.

Well (overflowing from the rain here in these parts), the precipitation has stopped for a bit, but still not much in the way of any shadows outside here in the Finger Lakes.  A lot of vegetable farmers near here had their crops severely damaged by the water draining through the fields yesterday.  Many with strawberries can't get into the fields to pick much of the crop due to the mud.  I will wait until my yard dries up a bit (a pond has formed in the back corner) to order the topsoil we need to fill in the holes where the hedge used to be.

Garry, I agree with you on the mpg per seat in part.  I think that has been done over the years to allow access to HOV lanes for car pooling. But they have to carrying the proper # of passengers to be able to use the lane!  That would make my PiP get 255 miles per gallon (using only gasoline) if it was full (5 people).  However seldom do I see a 14 passenger van out there with anything more than 2 or 3 people and a load of trash that got thrown in the back waiting for recycling day (my son usually carries $10 or so worth of empty bottles and cans in his little Ford Escort...).  So, I still think we need to be able to know what kind of mileage the gas guzzler will get 90% of the time.  And yes, I mention out at the museum that trains are by far more efficient than trucks hauling tonnage as are passenger trains when they are somewhat full.  But running them empty is horribly wasteful...  Just my 2¢

OMG!  The bright ball up in the sky just broke from behind a cloud and I see shadows out there...  OK, gone again.

I best get moving as I have a whole lot of stuff needing to get done ASAP.  Unfortunately none of it involves anything to do with the layout...

Later!

73

[edit}  Was going to say, Happy Flag Day!  My Mother's Birthday, BTW.  She would have been 96 years old today....  Oh, and Todd...  We did not get a "little" rain here yesterday.  We done gots a whoooooole lot of rain here yesterday!!!  LOL

[pascaff*]

  Morning All,

     Currently it is 48 with an expected high of 81 under sunny skies.

    I was able to wire one DPDT switch with the red and green led's last night. I had not wired them in a long time and there was a bit of trial and era to figure how to do it. This time I made detailed sketches so it will not be so difficult next time.

    Opening shift today, and the daughters are coming over tonight to try out my new deep fryer. Proposed menu, corn dogs, onion rings, French fries, and hush puppies. I also made some enchilada pie just in case we overdose on fried food. We also plan on trying out some Jim Beam Honey and watch some Alfred Hitchcock movies. They will spend the night.

    Prayers to all in need.

     Paul 

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good morning!

Wow, Ray! ..... Looks like a jungle was hauled away.

Jeff .... Looks like a lot of work. 

Ulrich .... I like the photos of the trains. Congratulations on the car.  ...... My thoughts on fuel economy are I don't think the government is correct. Usually the calculation ignores the capacity of the vehicle. .... People can get good vehicle MPG's with a two seater car. However, if they often have six people needing to ride, there is an obvious problem. I think the calculation should be seat miles per gallon instead of vehicle miles per gallon. Also, there should be consideration for cargo capacities in the calculation because vehicles will often haul things as well as people. ...... The big passenger trains you showed may actually have better seat miles per gallon than a smart car, but the train miles per gallon would be very low. .... Here in the US, CSX has been advertising on TV about trains being able to haul a ton of freight 436 miles on a gallon of fuel.... (hmmmm ... my thoughts wandered a bit.)

On the layout, I have built more benchwork but I'm not done with what is needed for my layout extension. 

 

[JeremyB]

Yeah Jeff the stuff I had was the black roadbed and steel. Its been packed away for close to 10 years now as I use Atlas code 83 now. If you do need some though just let me know. I hope you take lots of pics to show use the construction as you go along?

[jeffrey-wimberly]

JeremyB

Jeff: Wow, looks like there is going to be some major construction going on for the railroad. Any idea on how long its going to be down for? I have a ton of that ez track from years ago but I can only imagine the shipping from Canada to the US.

I intend the down time to be as short as possible. The EZ-Track I use is the nickel-silver with gray roadbed. I tried the steel variety many years ago. It became a maintenance nightmare. Steel has a tendency to rust and in this high humidity said rust went nuts.

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!!!

Coffee and the Philly beef and Swiss omelet please, thanks.

Mostly sunny, with a high near 81.

Watchin the radar yesterday, looked like Ray may have got a little rain. Wonder if he did…

Brenda used the dishwasher!!!!!! It’s official. Of course she kept asking stuff and I said I don’t know, did you read the instructions? After about 4 times of this she said “fine! I’ll read the instructions later” and she closed the door and pushed the start button. Off the dishwasher took and yes, it is muuuch quieter with dishes in it. Actually surprisingly quiet.

Ken- Oh sure I think about the Roadrunner. All the time. Everyday in fact. I say….”I really should get that thing going this summer” of course I’ve been saying that for how many years now? 15, 16? Remember now I got it back in 1980 sooooo, that's not as bad as it sounds.  I’ll check to see and  if I do I’ll let you know about the parts but…..you may not wanna here this but….I got rid of most all that stuff, block, heads, basically a whole 383 to…..scrap. Sorry I know it’s like a dagger through the stomach but I said I’m not keeping this stuff and paying for a storage unit “just to have it”. Besides,  after the car gets running if something happens where I need a new engine, I’m either getting rid of the car or just getting a crate for it.

Welp, I’ll be doggoned if I still don’t have that return done!!. Little things I tell you, little things. Oh well. I only have to box the intake end and I should be done. That’s should only take what, 15 minutes to 5 hours depending ….? My luck and Mr Murphy.... Ole buddy.

I should mow today before w**k too as it’s supposed to rain for the next two days. I shoulda mowed Wednesday but had no chance. Probably won’t today either.

Ya’ll have a good day, ya hear!!!!

[blownout cylinder]

G'Mornin'

Be all sunny and cool out there right now..high gonna be around 72F later on

Welb, I think I may have beat this dang cold senseless yesterday...in between bouts of mattie's hot chili and quilts..it left me...I think..

Today I'll be seeing the gang at our local diner and getting the news therefrom..then getting some more cold supplies ...as it seems Audrey now has it...

Have a good day!!

[JeremyB]

Hi Guys

Haven't been in for the last few days.

I have been off work this week ( and next ) so have had some time to do a few things. I did the garden and yard in between all the rain we had on Wednesday. Still have to trim the large bush that runs at the back of the yard but since it rained last night its still too wet to trim, figures also since its nice out.

Went and did a little rail fanning yesterday and down to the dam to get some pics before it rained. I plan on doing a little railroad work today also but might try to get outside, usually I like doing yard work but lately haven't wanted to do it at all. Here is a pic of the river.

Jeff: Wow, looks like there is going to be some major construction going on for the railroad. Any idea on how long its going to be down for? I have a ton of that ez track from years ago but I can only imagine the shipping from Canada to the US.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 78° with 94% humidity. There's a small chance of rain. The high will be 95°.


Layout demolition is progressing. Today I'll be pulling up some of the track on the extension. You know, it's kind of funny. The extension was put in to extend the layout into an area that had been occupied by a computer station. Now it's being removed to make room for a computer station. Is that ironic? Pulling the track up won't be easy. It's Bachmann EZ-Track set in plaster. If it proves to be too difficult I'll just leave it and pull the whole extension out track and all. Here's a couple of photos of how it looks now.

The former location of the fire dept, engine house, freight station and oil pump jack.:


The former location of Ezra's Exxon and take-out pizza.:

[galaxy]

Morning coffee in the diner...

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING!!!

HAPPY RESPECTFUL FLAG DAY!!!

Today is Friday, June 14th, 2013!!!

I will light the prayer candles at 9 AM for those in need.... 

MAKE IT A GREAT DAY!!!

 RED LETTER DAY:

Back in days of old, calendars were only made by monks and made by hand in monasteries or convents.  Scribes often emphasized days of Saints or other important events by using a red ink made from ocher {a mineral of oxide of iron}.  A quick look at the calendar instantly showed all the red marks from the black, so that preparation or anticipation of those days could be acted upon.  Today, we consider a "red letter day" as any important day to us in our lives such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries or the beginning of vacations or ending of school years. Some even use them to mark special emotional times such as first dates,  births of babies,  etc

Meaning:

In earlier times a church festival or saint's day; more recently, any special day

Origin:

This comes from the practise of marking the dates of church festivals on calendars in red.

The first explicit reference to the term in print that we have comes from America. This is a simple use of the term "Red letter day" in the diary of Sarah Knight - The journals of Madam Knight, and Rev. Mr. Buckingham ... written in 1704 & 1710, which was published in American Speech in 1940.

The practice is much earlier than that though. William Caxton, referred to it in The boke of Eneydos, translated and printed in 1490:

"We wryte yet in oure kalenders the hyghe festes wyth rede lettres of coloure of purpre."

The term came into wider use in 1549 when the first Book of Common Prayer included a calendar with holy days marked in red ink; for example, Annunciation (Lady Day), 25th March, was designated in the book as a red-letter day.

The term is sometimes written without the hyphen - 'red letter day'

 

[howmus]

                  Huh?              What?   Snort..........  Ahhh, !!!

          Hey!      What was that!?!   Uhhhh,  Ho  YAWNNNNNN!  Stretch.......  Silence?  Suddenly got quiet in here.  Oh, sorry Jeffrey.  I still can't believe you are taking down part of your layout. 

Ahh....  I came home from a retirement party put on by the Teachers Association at a local Country Club this evening, sat down at the computer and promptly fell asleep in the chair for a couple hours.  Must be short on my sleep over the past several days and it has caught up to me.  Right now I can't get warm either.  Got chilled a few times today...  Hope I'm not coming down with something..

Had to get up early to drive out the Museum in the pouring rain...  I do mean pouring!  Decided to only open up the Depot and the baggage car for the group supposedly coming today.  A 3rd. grade class.  24 kids and 5 adults.  Did I mention the pouring rain?  After several phone calls with the the guy in charge at the other end of the line (New York Museum of Transportation) the group decided to only have the trolley ride to Midway and not take the track cars, in the pouring rain, to the R&GV RR Museum.  A couple phone calls later and I found they were coming down in the School Bus to the R&GV RR Museum and I would have 15 minutes to show them a few things.  Seems I made the right decision to only open up the Depot and the Baggage car.  My 15 minute tour took 18 minutes and I had them back on the bus to back up to the NYMT to have lunch in the trolley they use for such things when it is raining outside and the picnic tables are wet.  I did mention it was driving, pouring heavy rain I think.  I locked up and ran out to the PiP to not get wet (didn't work!), and headed back home.

BTW it was raining...  Oh, I already said that.  It was really raining hard by that time (How hard was it raining, Ray?)  For the first time in my 66 years I found the average speed on the NYS Thruway was 10mph LESS than the posted speed limit, and that was way too fast.  The smart folks had pulled off the road and were waiting it out that way.  I figure if I am going to get rear ended by some fool I am probably better off being moving in the same direction...  My 50 minute drive took an hour and 15 minutes in the rain....  Did a lot of praying even though I was going 50 mph at times as You couldn't see 20' in front of you.

The weather channel says we got a little over half an inch of rain today here and that Rochester got just under an inch.  I think you could double that amount and be closer to what we really got.  That on top of the 4.5 inches I measured in the wheelbarrow yesterday...  (That would be about 3.5 actual.)  Did I mention it rained today?  Oh, yes I did didn't I.

I did finally got to the photos of what got done here yesterday.  Ever since I have lived in this house (29 years) there has been an overgrown hedge between my property and the neighbors.  The lady next door grew up in that house as her parents owned it before she and her husband bought it.  She estimates it was about 35 to 40 years old.  Here is a shot of it a couple years back after an ice storm:

Yesterday it got removed:

Yanked right out of the ground...

It now looks like this:

I think I shall call it a night.  Need to catch up on some   Later!

73

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I was busy much of the day removing structures from the layout extension. I knew I had seated them well but man, I didn't know how well! Most of them were a real pain to remove. By 8pm only Ezra's Exxon was still standing, and now it's gone. It came up in pieces so I'll have to fix it before I can reuse it elsewhere. The extension is devoid of structures and by the end of the weekend will likely be devoid of track as well. It's EZ-Track embedded in plaster so it's going to be a job to get it up.

The town of Sundown is no more. It's gone. May we observe a moment of silence to mark it's passing.

Signing off a bit early tonight. It's been a busy day and it's time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.

[cudaken]

 Evening Dinners

 Flo, Beer Pleases.

 Just dropping by to say Hi.

 Had a fair day today, well till the Auditor stopped by! Called the store when I got home to find out if the tires I ordered ever showed up and where installed. That's when JR (fellow I work with) told me that Dave (Area Supervisor) will be at the shop in the morning! Hum, makes me wounder what the Auditor was up to!

 Ulrich Boy I would love that MPG! Any pictures yet?

 Todd So, are you thinking about your Runner at all? If you happen to have unwanted BB parts let me know!

 Later, Ken

http://s83.photobucket.com/user/cudaken/media/Real%20Cars/Runnerin1984.jpg.html]

[Lehigh Valley 2089]

Good evening. 

10 hour days have really taken their toll on me recently. Been too tired to check the diner or pot. 

Been doing some work on the MRR equipment. Mainly decal work. Other than that though, nothing much. Been napping. 

[chochowillie]

jeffrey-wimberly

uly 9th? Two days after my birthday. How about that?

You still have those Jeffrey   Me, I keep trying to ignore them but MOH won't let me. She's 6 months older than I am and hates it when I'm "Younger for 6 months of the year" 

Dennis

[jeffrey-wimberly]

chochowillie

On the subject of Cable/Internet/Land lines,  our contract runs out July 9th and I can hardly wait! We used to be with the cable company for the whole meal deal and dumb me, thought I'd try out Telus for their services. Big mistake but it was a one year contract sooooo as of the 9th of July I'm running, not walking back to my previous provider where you actually get to talk to real people and you get service for problems super quick. You even get to pick exactly what TV channels you want on an individual basis. Way less money! They have a super fast internet connection available as well.  Live and learn

July 9th? Two days after my birthday. How about that?

[blownout cylinder]

Good Afternoon..

So far so good..managed not to be a coughin' fool this afternoon..we'll see what transpires this evening...

Spent some time in the train room..reorganizing the spaces under the layout..so that more rewiring can be got to... Think I may need to get some redone again I have one little turnout that seems to like moving reeeeaaaaallllyyy sslllllooooooowwwwllly ....not sure why

Oh well...off to get some grub...have a good evening!!

[chochowillie]

jeffrey-wimberly

Well Sundown has been evacuated! The locations that had the fire dept, water storage tank, freight station and the Guns & Tackle shop are now vacant lots. The engine house will be next to go.

Jeffrey you HAVE to relocate the Fire Department... I mean being a retired Firefighter  means that there must be a Fire House on the layout. Good Lord, who would respond to the derailments, crossing crashes and building fires/collapses? 

On the subject of Cable/Internet/Land lines,  our contract runs out July 9th and I can hardly wait! We used to be with the cable company for the whole meal deal and dumb me, thought I'd try out Telus for their services. Big mistake but it was a one year contract sooooo as of the 9th of July I'm running, not walking back to my previous provider where you actually get to talk to real people and you get service for problems super quick. You even get to pick exactly what TV channels you want on an individual basis. Way less money! They have a super fast internet connection available as well.  Live and learn

Dennis

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I forgot that I had to make a trip into town today, so I got that done. To the bank to make a deposit, to the pharmacy to get my prescriptions refilled (all of them) then to the gas station to get gas for the van. The van vapor locked again but now I've pretty much figured out how to break that. Just shake up the can of starter fluid to get it good and cold then spray some into the base of the carb, push the gas pedal to the floor and crank. It doesn't always work but it does most of the time. Everybody within a couple hundred feet knows when it does!

Well Sundown has been evacuated! The locations that had the fire dept, water storage tank, freight station and the Guns & Tackle shop are now vacant lots. The engine house will be next to go.

[MisterBeasley]

Cool and wet the next couple of days here in Massachusetts, too.

On the bright side, I got my Intermountain wheelsets yesterday, so I'm ready to start converting more cars to metal wheels.  Some will likely need new trucks, too.  SWMBO goes to Florida to visit her parents next Monday - I'll have a week and a half with reduced responsibilities to do stuff like that.

[chochowillie]

blownout cylinder

Well, today is another dull wet day for our ...cough cough cough gack wheeze...viewing pleasure. Going to a high of 70F later on..right now it is 58F Getting kinda tired of this one day sun, several dull wet days scenario...rea..cough cough cough...lly now..

Same out in Alberta. Temps way below average, either cloudy for day on end then one sorta sunny day but then the wind has to blow at 50 km/hr just to spoil that.

Stupid weather 

Cheers

Dennis

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 80° with 88% humidity. The high will be 95°.


My only plans for today are to start removing the structures from the layout extension. Ezra's Exxon will likely be the most difficult as it's base is buried in the plaster. Other structures to be removed are a Guns & Tackle shop, fire dept, engine house, oil pump jack, a freight station and a passenger station/tourism center.

[pascaff*]

  Morning All.

     Currently it is 50 with an expected high of 77 under sunny breezy skies.

    Opening shift today, so should be home early enough to make one or two turnout control switches before I Skype with my son.

   Was able to get the WS Track Bed glued down to connect the outside loop. Can not lay the track until I get the  turnout control switch for the crossover finished.

V8Vega  What kind of shooting, rifle or pistol?

Ulrich  Nice trains you got to ride on. 67 MPG very nice, good luck with the new car.

   Prayers to all in need.

    Paul