Mornin' everyone! Good to see a crowd in here this morning. I was getting worried last nighyt that everyone had gone somewhere else to get away from me......
Zoe, I'll have a short stack of blueberry pancakes with real NYS Maple syrup. Yep, they say it should be good and sweet this year after the hard winter. What? Oh, yes, I need a cup of Marakeesh Express dark roast this morning, and will need a couple refills I'm sure so keep the pot on if you would.
J.R., thanks! Of course, there will have to be all kinds of stuff laying around the shop.... Wouldn't be right without it. I understand the Fisher Brothers did a brisk business for many, many years. Back then, keeping the place clean was not a priority!
I got more grass and trees growing on the layout yesterday, and hope to continue with that today.
Jimmy, glad everything turned out well at the Dermatologist appt. Good thing to get those looked at, though.
Currently 38°F here in the Finger Lakes with a high around 54°F later this afternoon. Sure feels good compared to what we have had lately. The big yellow thing is also out there shining....
Have to do some shopping today amongst other things, so I will catch you all later!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Tsk Tsk Mr Beasley. Everyione knows Connecticut was the industrial capitol of the world. Especially Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford. Eli Whitney, Colt, Remington, Chance Vought, Pratt and Whitney, Sikorsky, Jenkins Valve, Bridgeport Machine Tools, Armstrong Tires, Stanley Tool, Stetson Hats, ad infinitum. Just sayin
Morning all. Still sn*wing here but the temp is at least just below freezing. Another dull dull day. Took the Envoy in at 8 am to have all that work done on it. Credit Card will catch hell when it's done. Oh well, maybe it won't wander and go clunk at every bump in the road.
Have to make an appointment to get it "Detailed" inside after the weather shapes up. Had a couple of cans of soda that I'd forgotten in the vehicle which of course froze and spewed soda all over inside. What a mess, not to mention dumb.
Tried some styrofoam carving yesterday and I'm not really all that satisfied with it but will try a few things to see if I can make it look umm more realistic. Maybe not, don't know.
It's chase the hoover around day and then wash all the floors. MOH is doing the wash so we'll be kept busy. Sometime late this afternoon, I have to catch the bus and go pick up the Envoy. The'll phone me when it's done.
Later gators
Dennis
CDN Dennis
Modeling the HO scale something or other RR in the shadow of the Canadian Rockies Alberta, Canada
Good Morning Everyone!
Living in the Bronx, the closest train to me is the subway. It's the #5 line on the IRT. The section of this line near me, was built on the right-of-way of the former New York,Westchester & Boston Railway, which was in operation from 1912 - 1937. The Bronx portion became part of the NYC Subway system in 1941.
Here is a you tube video of archived footage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_Hnmae2cHU
Another site which shows the areas today, is http://forgotten-ny.com/2012/04/new-york-westchester-boston-railroad-part-1/
A little further away from me is the Metro-North & Amtrak to New England trackage. This line is the former New Haven Railroad.
That's about it for my neighborhood. Take care.
Eric
Lowell was the largest industrial complex in the 1850s, when "industry" was synonymous with "making cloth from cotton," and the primary power source was running water. Later, Igor figured out how to turn the water wheels sideways to power helicopters.
Time marches on. By the 1920s, Lowell was already fading in prominence. That cheap labor became expensive as unions grew in power, and the mills moved south of the Mason-Dixon line. The city deteriorated, but it became a high-tech center in the 1970s and has recovered some of its lost population along with renewed respect.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Good Evening!
The sun is slowly setting and supper time is coming up. I´ll go for a bowl of hot chili and a , please.
After an hour´s nap, I feel much better now. Not really refreshed, more a bit drowsy, but that pain in my joints and muscles is gone. I guess I overdid it yesterday, when assembling those two segments. In the morning, I went to a business meeting - how does that sound? Well, not really a business meeting, but I drove to a friend´s place, with whom I am working on those translations. Took my notebook along and we installed a new software package - a device which is "learning" from translations you have done in the past. A lot of that stuff in the manuals and data sheets is repetitive, so this tool helps a lot. We only have to synchronize our work on a daily basis, so we both work with the same dictionary. I was home at about 2 pm, had a salad for lunch (Petra´s special salad, with eggs, tuna, ham, peppers, tomatoes mushrooms, cheese and her special dressing - yummy!) and went for the nap.
Not really a thrilling day.
CU tomorrow!
Mister Beasley, Sorry I couldn't help it. Like Lowell we've fallen on hard times too but still seem to be struggling to get out of it. I think Springfield Mass would quibble a bit too.
What the HE__ is going on?? Another shooting at Ft.HOOD. Prayers for those who protect us.
Prayers for us also.
Flip
Evening guys
Finally got around to testing out those new Athearn BN SD40-2s I got last week. Let's just say they don't run very good. I may need to break them in, but they are very slow and the entire driveline is pretty hard to turn. One of them rocks really badly when starting up, stopping, and changing directions.
This is weird, cause the last 3 I got run great. Even my oldest 2 from the first run run good.
I'm currently insecting them now.
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
Chamomile tea, please.
Excellent pics and vids being posted around the Diner these days. Thoroughly enjoy them all.
***Ray, you should be proud of that result.
Healing thoughts for those in need.
Cheers! Rob
Evenin'folks!
Janie just a cup og hot decaf for me right now please....
Been a busy day around here today. Mananged to get down to the LHS for some needed scenery materials, do the grocery shopping, and actually spend some time working on the Railroad before heading out to the Boy Scout District Roundtable tonight complete with our monthly Commissioners meeting. Tonight the Council Commissioner was there to hear reports on our units. That means how are they doing, what are they doing, hows the leadership, and are they following good Boy Scout policies and program. I was able to give glowing reports on two of my units, but the third is barely keeping alive at the moment. This is due to no program, no depth of leadership, and little interest on the poart of the Scouts due to the forementioned problems...... I ended up having a conference with another Scouter who had been tryingh to help out the unit and has invited them to many of their events and activities to get them going (the problem unit is only a couple years old). I ended up never getting over to Roundtable except to pick up my mail and one of my units mail....
On the layout I got a bunch more trees planted and some stumps put in the ground. One of the hills will be modeled as being recently clear cut logged for firewood, etc. It is a small hill so it should look right. I left a few "Seed Trees" as would have been done back then. One of the trees near the Blacsmith's Shop is the one my granddaughter #2 helped me make. It wil have aprominent location next to the picnic table! No photos today. Hopefully tomorrow. BTW, Thanks Rob! Wait till you see it when it is finished! I'm looking forward to that myself.
Have a good evening. My prayers for the victims and their families and friends of the shooting at Fort Hood today. My prayers also going out to those in here still in need of them...
Ray Wasn't that the chestnut tree by the old blacksmith shop????
Best to all on sick call and those recovering
Duke
"Don't take a wooden nickel,because it isn't worth a dime" by my Dad
"There are only 3 things you need out of life:A gentle grade,the wind in your face,and cinders in your hair.....But keep an eye on the water glass!" Jack Evans
bjdukertRay Wasn't that the chestnut tree by the old blacksmith shop????
Janie, give that man a cigar!!!
Good Morning!
Another sunny day. It should have rained last night, but that did not happen. It is way too dry for the season, no wonder we are under a forest fire warning!
We have concluded our tour of the Great Little Trains of Wales and I hope you liked it. Back home, there is also lots to see. I must admit, that I hardly take any notice of the goodies I have right in my backyard. If I sit down at our dining table and look out of the window for an hour, I can see about 30 trains passing by. Most of them freight trains, pulled by a variety of electric locos. Most of them are container unit trains, coming from all over Europe. Some of them are pulled by rather exotic locos, like the Swiss Ae 4/4, which you don´t expect to see outside of Switzerland. Even locos from Austria find there way to Northern Germany these days. Then there is our local commuter train, running every half hour between Hamburg and Bremen. Add to that the hourly ICE train to and from Hamburg and some international long distance trains from Austria, France, Denmark etc.
Our station:
Commuter train:
... and a rare steam fan special:
I really should getting around taking more pictures.
Any news about Jeff? I miss him!
Have a good one!
morning all...
Quotable Quote:
There is an eloquence in true enthusiasm that is not to be doubted. -Washington Irving, writer (1783-1859)
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
More OF WHAT'S IN MY BACKYARD.
I ran across some videos of the trains traveling through the Binghamton Yard {a smaller affair, but big when it is viewed from atop the passover bridge which can be seen in opening scene,}
It is slow for the CONRAIL loco to start as it pulls out of the yard going W; There is ALso CP and NS in and out of the yard in the video::
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5Yfnd0knsA#aid=P3-d8IHjQoA
Picture frames of CP passing through:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LNEcA2BMsg
Then there is the Conklin yard, where CP passes through with a Holiday Train every year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLA0vZe0nXw
Here is yard job there:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Tp-ri2xPM
There is not a lot of videos of the yard, we went to the Conklin yard to "watch trains" {no videos or pics} and were ordered off and away from the property!
The Binghamton yard has the overpass bridge to watch goings-on, but there is also ONE spot that is near the yard at track level that you can go to IF you know the "secret passage" to get to it that is marked as to where they consider the yard property and "KEEP OUT" sign is. It is always nice viewing when we go there, BUT the diesel fumes choke an asthmataic like me, especially on cloudy days!
The videos aren't the best here, so bear with them. Apparently there are NOt many videos of the Binghamton area yards as they are so adamant about "keep out"!
Google earth:
Binghamton Yard;
42 degrees, 06' 16.55"N and 75 degress 54' 05.80"W at a elevation of just 863'.
COnklin yards {there is a small one leading into a BIG one}:
42 degress 05' 40.20" and 75degress 51' 05.49"W at an elevation of 878 feet.
Make today a GREAT day!
Hi gang
Just ducking in for a quick stop before heading to w*rk. Flo, coffee in a to go cup please!
Wow, lots of folks have neat stuff nearby, and Ulrich, the pics are amazing!
My back yard just has the Maryland Midland, but alas, it has been swallowed whole by the genessee & Wyoming, and "corporate" orange & yellow is replacing the blue & orange of the MMID. Yuck!!!
Gotta trot,,,get in my 70 hours for the week,,,,,,I need more than 1 day off a week!!!
Peace & Prayers!
Karl
NCE über alles!
Just a glass of OJ, and bacon with Egg. Thanks.
Yeah, my scout troop from the past (star scout, and unable to ever get any help to advance any farther). My troop had three or four Eagle scouts, but that was before the leader's son graduated from highschool- and lost all interest in it. Most of the kids there were not that great (in fact, one beat another one up bad enough to give him a concussion. a 17 year old beat up a 13 year old kid), And most of them were just there to "play". For example, there was a civil war reinactment themed campout, we had out of a troop of 25, 6 kids show up. For a camp out at the PA trolley museum, we only had 4 (including me) show up, and the others mocked me for my love of trains. Anyway, It's a good program if you have a good troop.
It's supposed to rain here today, so I guess I can finish up the chainlink fences I have been working on building for my club section. I also have more applications to turn in today, so let's hope one goes in-I need money for train stuff, oh and savings of course. Otherwise, not much going on here today. Prayers for those who are still sick/in need of prayers.
(My Model Railroad, My Rules)
These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway. As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).
Good morning. Wow, above freezing on my early-morning drive to work. Quite a pleasant surprise.
Yeah, Jimmy, a good scout troop needs both scouts and leaders. We had a good one. Our scoutmaster gave us a troop motto, "Scouting Builds Men." After 50 years, I still remember that. We tried to have at least one weekend outdoor activity every month - either a decent hike or an overnight campout. We'd even go out in mid-winter, with snow on the ground, and spend the night in tents in the woods. With a daughter, I never got into the Boy Scouts, and she was never interested in the Girl Scouts in town. Us Dads did take a bunch of them camping once, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. When the Moms took them for an overnight adventure, though, they stayed in a motel. From a couple of Dads in town, I hear that the local Scouting program is still going strong, and still "Building Men."
Todd
Central Illinoyz
In order to keep my position as Master and Supreme Ruler of the House, I don't argue with my wife.
I'm a small town boy. A product of two people from even smaller towns. I don’t talk on topic….. I just talk.
MisterBeasley Good morning. Wow, above freezing on my early-morning drive to work. Quite a pleasant surprise. Yeah, Jimmy, a good scout troop needs both scouts and leaders. We had a good one. Our scoutmaster gave us a troop motto, "Scouting Builds Men." After 50 years, I still remember that. We tried to have at least one weekend outdoor activity every month - either a decent hike or an overnight campout. We'd even go out in mid-winter, with snow on the ground, and spend the night in tents in the woods. With a daughter, I never got into the Boy Scouts, and she was never interested in the Girl Scouts in town. Us Dads did take a bunch of them camping once, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. When the Moms took them for an overnight adventure, though, they stayed in a motel. From a couple of Dads in town, I hear that the local Scouting program is still going strong, and still "Building Men."
Scouting... Ah, the memories. However, in my case, not such good ones. I started Cub Scouts with a lot of enthusiasm, but it quickly faded. All the guys in my neighborhood joined and I lasted the longest, about 2 years. The only activity the Pack seemed to do was sell magazines and candy. The Den meetings were even worse. Our Den Mother was a lady who was the school librian. No talking, frolicking or games. Just sit at a table and do crafts. It got boring really fast with absolutely no outdoor activities. I did win a steam iron selling candy once. My Mother was happy.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
Well,
We have made an "executive decision". We are going to: A} pick up the paid-for NEW CAR tomorrow, and B} Pay off the Kia Sedona. I will do "B" in the early A of M while I do the banking/credit unioning.
Hence, we are hoping to skip the would-like-to's repairs and maintenance on the trailer skirting, we hope to get anohter year out of it then. NEx t year we will have the money and far less debt. We are still paying off the debt from when MOH had no job or very few hours and little or no income besides mine.
That will be a relief, 2 cars PAID FOR in the driveway! Then that Kia payment will go to one loan to pay it off within the "zero interest" period, while it is still "zero interest". Then another loan can be exponentially paid off compared to the payment now. nad store some money away for the repairs next year.
AS it thaws, the trailer is "self-leveling" again, which is not so bad. And the skirting may hold up one more summer and winter we think. Not sure releveling it will have the desired long-term effects anyway.We need a pad under it and that is NOT likely to happen. We could use a whole new trailer, but that, too, is not likely to happen.
MOH has to get the FIL to get teh new car tomorrow. I will have paid off the Kia by then, so both will come home PAIOD FOR. FOr once, and they won't be "junque" models. The kia is still relatively in good shape and the mileage on the '06 is only 62K. It should last another 5 years hopefully, then we trade it in for a newer model. HWo knows what tehn, as they will either have stopped making minivans altogether, or wil have na alternative vehicle to buy. We will see. We woudl still liek to have the roominess of travelling in the minivan. Adn on the rare ocassion we have them, we CAN have up to 7 passengers.
Hopefully, we can get out of the debt we have like RAY did , then maybe NOT get ourselves into it again.
SO that is our big news.
Just wiat and see!
Later I have the psych eval again, and the NP or PA to deal with. They need to make sure i am "healthy for the Mental Illness clinic. I can assure them i am, and for what is not "healthy" like my heart and etc, I have a specialist looking after my interests! Pish posh on that, I say!
WEll, later.
Make it a GREAT AFTERNOON!
Morning one and all! Has anyone seen that big yellow thing in the sky of late? I sure haven't seen if for days and thought I'd check and see if it's still up there. Yup another dreary blah day here is "sunny alberta". Well it used to be. Still have 2 1/2 feet of snow laying on the ground too which is really unusual. Oh well complaing isn't going to help so might as well just shut up.
Got the vehicle back about 4 yesterday afternoon, took it for a spin on the highway for a ways and I can't beleive how much better it is. No weird clunks and shimmy shimmy shakes. Still wanders a little but the Envoy XL's have a reputation for that. Glad it's fixed. Now to get it cleaned up, but not till the sn*w goes.
Did some transforming of the white plaster winterland scenery to dark brown yesterday down on the RR. Sure makes a difference just getting rid of all that whiteness. Need to lay some track for the large yard and for the mine site now. Then I can do some more mountain building.
Have to take MOH for an appointment and lunch so we'll see yall later on.
Cheers
Mornin' everyone!
Zoe, I'll have the #2 special this morning as it is close to lunch time. Ah, over easy eggs, bacon, home fries, and a double order of the sour dough toast with real butter please. Coffee? of course, Marrakesh Express dark roast in the R&GV RR Mug.
Jimmy, Tom, and others, your stories sound way too familiar. Scouts at all levels needs good, responsible, and well trained leaders! Sounds like you guys didn't get any of those people. I used to ask my students at school at times why did you quit Scouting. The most common answer was, "It was boring". No excuse for that! My personal saying I still use much of the time in Scouting is, "There are three things you need to have a successful unit (Pack, Troop, Crew, or Post). They are, Program, Program, and Program" All of those items require good dedicated, well trained leaders. The Mission Statement of the Boy Scouts of America is "to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law. " Too many leaders don't seem to know the difference between the Mission, and the Method. The biggest method is having fun! The methods also involve protecting both Youth and Leaders from harassment. I have not hesitated to call parents on occasion (only needed to do that twice, after that I had a reputation) and tell them to come pick up their son or we have the police bring him home. I would never tolerate harassment within my troop! When talking to Scouts about their behavior I would ask them to recite the Scout Law. Then have them stop when they got to the one they were not keeping. Then we had a conversation about expectations and why! I also make sure that I live my life according to those values. If your Scouts aren't having fun they won't be scouts for long. That is one of many issue I have to deal with as a Commissioner....
Dennis, the big yellow thing is in the Finger Lakes for a change today.... Little wheels down cellar are spinning like crazy!
Flip, I got the email you had forwarded to me! Funny and true... Thanks!
Got to get myself moving as I have a long list of things to get done today. catch you all later!
Good Morning,
CDN Dennis, your yard looks like ours by the sound of it but I think we have you beat on the amount of snow on the ground and just to top it off nicely it is snowing now with an expected 2-4 cm. At the present rate we will still have snow here at Easter. Very little has melted as the level has gone down only about 6 inches.
Speaking of scouting, I have great memories of, well not cub scouts but wolf cubs as they are called in Canada. We followed the set up from England here. In any event you are right about leadership. Our pack leader was a truly great man who had endless enthusiasm and energy. Our pack was the 67th Moostoos Pack. Every summer the leader organized a camp at his cottage and organized it certainly was. I still have a little folder of photos with a mimiographed sheet saying what we did each day and what we ate. It is dated August, 1956. The leader made them up for all boys who went to the camp. I was only in Scouts for a year after Cubs as we moved to a small town that didn't have a troop.
Galaxy, that is great news about your new car. Nothing like a new car especially the debt free kind.
Well I think I will do a little shunting on the HO this afternoon. Time to make up a train for the Mountain to pull. A manifest freight will be the theme so some high speed running will be in order once it is done.
CN Charlie
Janie, it´s dinner time, so I´ll go for a Barry-sized steak, medium, fries, a side dish of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, feta and Greek dressing, please. Add a to my order.
I spent the better part on that translation. Although the new software is a tremendous help, all those application specific terms you don´t find in a regular dictionary makes translating the text into a nightmare. I am pretty much exhausted! I was able to finish about half of the entire text, which is a pretty good achievemnt, given the fact that I have two (paid) weeks to do the job!
Galaxy - congratulations! It´s good not to owe anthing to anybody, especially when money is concerned. I took a car loan only once in my life, when I bought my first new car. All others I paid cash for, even the Porsche 911 I once owned. The little one we are driving now is also paid for - I am glad I can cover the day to day costs of it. Thank goodness it is easy on gas and cheap on tax and insurance. The latter two amount to about $ 175 a year, that´s about the lowest you can get. Senior driver with no accidents on record, low yearly mileage and sheltered parking helps a lot.
No MRRing today
Good Evening All,
55F and the sun is setting. Busy couple of days. PT this morning and now I'm done with that and just need to keep up with the exercizes on my own. Probably look into a gym though I'm not a gym rat kinda person. Had my echo EKG as well (or was it an echo cardiogram) whatever they'll call and tell me if it's all ok or not. The shop was nuts and I'm just getting ready to leave. I was going to download some of my museum shots but all of my pictures seem to have vanished off trainboard with their last upgrade. Oh well, with any luck I can find where the thumbdrive with the backup disappeared to though I haven't seen it since the house fire and suspect it's gone.
Slow day here eh, with Jeffy out and G busy getting ready to do finance paperw..k tomorrow it gets quiet. Glad Ulrich popped in and I sympathize with your translation dificulties. If you really want to get a hard translation job though try translating technical German into English. All my Audi pinout lists are filled with hand scribbled notes gleaned from the German engineers we met testing two years ago. Makes it interesting tracing circuits.
Time to toodle off home. Oh and welcome back to Blazzin. Been a while eh? Cheers, J.R.
Well!
What a long day!
Late in the afternoon appts. tend to wipe me out, as I don't get my afternoon nap in! I have been going-going-going since i posted the "day opener" post!
It is now after dinner and I am exhausted. Bed time soon.
The intro time at the Mental health clinic Seemd to take FOREVER. It is all the mumbo-jumbo needed to get done, history etc. I told them to wiat til they got it form the old county's health dept, and the psych ward at General Hospital {yes, that is it's real name, not the soap opera}.
I saw the Nurse PRactitioner or the Physician's assistant, which ever. SHe was amazed at my detailed "cheat sheet" with medical issues/meds/Drs attendings/ surgeries on it! SHe said she would defer to my GP, and the specialist who attend to my ailments! I told her , I was aware some people may not have Dr.s but I have a regular GP, and specialists to attend to the special needs I have, But that was NOT ME. I was there to get a another speicalist..a Psychiatrist! SO she tried to take my BP, which they need to large cuff for and did not have. SInce it is regulated by medications, and My GP checks it often, she even had to skip that with confidence.
While we are on the subject of "cheat sheet" medical sheets:
I advise all of you to creat a word document with your: name; address; DOB; Insurance COMPANY {not policy number}; General Physician's Name/addy/phone; Your emergency contact/ Health care proxy person's contact info; all your Medical COnditions; your surgeries; your attending specialists; medications list-with name-dose-times daily; and ALLERIGIES {now often called "adverse reactions"}. It will be your "cheat sheet".
Magnetic one copy to your refridgerator{EMTS will look htere}; One copy in your wallet. Take one etra to give a new or existing Dr for file each time you go. And put one in an enveope labled "Health Care" IN YOUR GLOVE BOX. That one, the glove box one, capy of fyour driver license wiht PHOTO and attach it ot the cheat sheet. Do one for any other routine drivers/passengers! In case of accident they will be looking in the glove box for things like your registration and insurance cards, adn will find nad identify you and your medical needs in the envelope! It's really called the "YELLOW DOT" program where you cna get a yellow dot and envelope from your local Sheriff. YOu can "do-it-yourself" though and install the cheat sheet. Google "yellow Dot" or "yellow dot program" to see what I mean.
I have the cheat sheet based on the "file for Life" program sheet for the refridge door! They gave me one when we called ambulance when I had a bad case of pnuemonia to go to the hospital as I was having trouble breathing and I am already asthmatic.
So DO IT NOW! I urge you! espcially those with medical conditions/ meds needed! You MAy not be able to communicate effectively when 911 is called, OR in an accident! They can read your cheat sheet!
Ok, that Public Service Announcement is over!
Well, I should be getting off to work. I mean BED. See how tired i am? W*rk! Seriously!
Have a great night's rest, soee you in the early of A M!