A-yuh. Lookin' good, Ulrich. You've captured the coastal look of Maine very well. I like the way you've blended the natural rock with the cut stone wall.
We got a sad phone call yesterday. Our nephew, who has been a troubled kid since he was a teen, was found dead in his apartment on Friday. No cause of death yet, but he has fought a running battle with drugs for the last 15 years. There are frequent stories here about overdoses from "bad heroin" on the streets, and I suspect that's what happened to him. To those who say "stop the war on drugs and just legalize them," well, remember, there are consequences.
Sorry for the morning bummer. For those of you who still have influence over young people, please let them know that street drugs are never the answer to anything.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Good morning ...
Ulrch .... You are doing a great job with the layout!
Galaxy .... Funny limericks from you. I like the hobo one in particular.
Ray ... I bet you are already at the museum being a train crew member.
Mr. B. ... That is very bad news. I fully agree with you regarding drug laws and enforcemnt of them...... Countless lives have been ruined with that stuff. Just about everybody knows sad stories of people who have become addicted to bad stuff with tragic consequences. We must speek out to our government on this matter. In addition, we can be pro-active supporting programs which help people with these kinds of problems,
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Mr. B. - that´s bad morning news! I have never understood why anyone would take drugs, have never seen the need to take them. My sympathy is with his parents and my prayer for his soul.
I am in the process of ordering the ballast, but I am not sure which one. Here are my choices:
#1
#2
#3
My favorite is #3, but I have no idea, which one would be appropriate for a coastal line in Maine...
The ballast I see around here is all gray. The primary rock of New England is granite. Geologically, it's some of the oldest rock on the surface of the Earth.
Would that be more like #1 or closer to #3?
Good Morning,
A cool, cloudy day here but that seems normal this year. We have a flowering grabapple tree in our backyard that is usually covered in pink blossoms by Mother's Day but this year the leaves are barely buds. We are about a month behind. We did make it up to 70F yesterday and it did seem like summer. The tulips are just starting to poke through.
Ulrich, your layout is looking great. I really admire you for the amount of work you get done and done well. I have a N scale service station sitting on my work bench that is painted but for the past 2 weeks it has just been sitting there. As far as ballast goes I don't know what was used in New England but in Canada most ballast is now crushed granite which is dark grey. It wasn't always that way as colour photos and video I have that was shot in the late '50s shows a lot of light coloured rock that is largely limestone plus my memory is that of light coloured rock. Perhaps you can find some colour photos taken in your era to get an idea.
Johnboy, glad you are feeling better and you do have my sympathy about not being able to swallow. I expect it is one of those thinks that comes with time but just not soon enough.
Seamonster Bob, we should get together for a coffee sometime. Send me a PM with your phone number if you are interested. Now that I'm retired I do have time.
Well I guess I had better get going here, where I'm not yet sure. Tonight is our marathon TV night starting at 5:30 courtesy of Detroit PBS. Between PBS and TCM I think those 2 channels account for 75% of our TV viewing.
CN Charlie
Good morning. It's 72° with 78% humidity. The high will be 85° with some clouds.Didn't get much sleep last night so I'm feeling tired and stiff this morning. Maybe I can get some nap time later.I'm trying to convince my friend to upgrade his Apple IIc. It's an original '255' ROM version with all the bugs that were inherent to that model. He has some software and a few devices that were made to be used on later versions and he'd like to be able to use them. A ROM upgrade won't fix the serial timing problems inherent in the original IIc but it will enable him to use the devices and software he has. I've shown him a couple of ROM 3 and ROM 4 upgrade kits online that are available at a very low price. However soldering is required. He can't solder and I really don't like doing pinpoint soldering anymore because of my eyesight and nerve problems. Replacing that RAM chip yesterday had me cross-eyed for a while.My father is supposed to be making hamburgers for lunch today and I'm invited. I'll have to limit myself to just one.Other than that I have no plans for today. But I'm sure something will come up.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Ulrich, I would definitely go with #3 for your ballast. Also remember that you're running steam, and it will get even darker from the soot.
Mr. B: I lighted an extra candle for your nephew's passing to show him the positive way.
The legallization or non-legalization of drugs COULD be a hot topic leading to a flame war here, so we need to tread carefully here as there are those who are for leagalizing illegal drugs. Though if they ARE for it, most likely it would hint that they are users of them and not a favorable impression they would want to put out there, especially to prospective employers, I would guess.Could be wrong. I would not hire a drug user if I owned/ran a business. Many today REQUIRE drug testing to GEt a job.
It's just to bad he got a raw deal on it and was hooked, hat is all i will say.
ULRICH: #3 the gray one is the one to use. It is what I have seen here in NY, PA and in Mass. {when I lived there}. Vermont/New Hampshire have lots of gray granite rock {many quaries for it too}, so it would be the stone I would use, without a doubt! I WOULD use a mixture of "light gray" and "dark gray" though to get a more realistic mixture {at least I think so and did}, if you don't want the trouble or expense of two types, then go with the "Medium gray" or just go "dark gray" ballast. It would be darker in the center too during steam time, as noted, so mixing in some "black cinders" to represent lost oils, dirt, grime and coal droppings would be nice. just like a 5-10% black cinders into the bunch in the center of the rails, not much just a hint. Just a suggestion, not "law"!
Jeffrey: I DO hope you get some sleep, I know how it is. night before last I woke up evert45 mins to an hour and did not get much sleep, last night I slept well for about 5 hours, but it wasn't enough, and now am physically tired, I think a nap is in order! MAybe you cna ask your Dr. for a sleep inducer???
well,
I went to Wally WOrld and took bac the stove liners that didn't fit, I spent an additional $36 too.
Then I went to Harbor Frieght, and to buy jsut a ladder- one of those fancy mutli-positional ladders for $124, walked out paying for $175 worth of stuff including the ladder AND all that was WITH 20% off total order coupon!!! It could have cost me another $100 more, and for what really, I don't know!
The I went to Lowes to return $18 worth of stuff, but spent an additional $98 there!!! so about $80 to teh poorer!
I gotta stop going into stores for ANYTHING!
It was all stuff needed/usable. so nothing really as a want. The ladder is needed as the kid next door will need it to get up on the roof, {well, to me he's a kid, but he is an adult with an 8 or 9 year oldest child}erm...THE YOUNG man next door is going to do the roof...I gotta outlay another $150 for roffing materials..the stuff csots $65/4.75 gallon container! That and another gallon of tar sealer at like $15, plus two spreader brushes, adds up! AND I still have to pay him! He does his all the time, and I can scarcely climb a ladder with my cane, and MOH cannot/won't do it either and finding someone who will do a trailer roof is rediculous here...so...
well, I shall go lie down as my back, after all the concrete floors I was on, is KILLING me.
First I gota eat something!
-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.
We are about to wrap up another nice weeked here. A little cool & very cloudy, but no rain. Good enough for me. Had a good day railfanning on Saturday. Watched 10 trains in anout 2½ hours. 4 intermodals, 4 mixed freights, 1 grain & 1 coal train. The 1st train spotted was an intermodal with Norfolk Southern's Southern & Wabash heritage units. We have seen both of these units before. But not long after, we also were lucky when the Norfolk Southern heritage unit showed up on another intermodal. Haven't seen that one before. That just leaves 3 heritage units that we haven't seen yet.
Today was sort of slow. We started out on CSX, but only caught an intermodal, an auto rack, and a track inspector in 1½ hours. The track inspector in his pick-up truck was interesting, as he got off the rails at the crossing almost directly in front of us. It's the 1st time I've actually seen a high railer either get on or off the tracks. Pretty simple, actually. Left there, had lunch, & then headed for NS again. Slow there too. Only 5 trains in 2 hours. 1 empty crude oil, 1 coal, 1 mixed freight & 2 intermodals. Still, it's better than what a lot of folks have available for their railfanning pleasure.
Also had a nice dinner this evening. A Delmonico roast, baked potato, & pickled sliced red beets. All washed down with a bottle of Reisling from Ray's neighborhood. Think I'll be in bed early tonight. Tomorrow is breakfast, grocery shopping, the library, and a couple of other stores the wife would like to wander through. Hope your weekend was great, and this week even better.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
Went to my fathers place for a late lunch. He makes great hamburgers. I had said I was going to have just one and I was determined to lock my desire down to that, but my appetite quickly picked the locks. I had two. Later when I went to go home my vans engine turned over twice then stopped. I pressed the starter button several times but nothing happened. The battery had a good charge on it so I surmised it must be something wrong with the starter button. Well way back when I originally ran the wires for this starter button setup I had stripped a tiny bit of insulation off the two wires that went to it for just such an eventuality. I popped the hood, turned the key on, went out and raised the hood then grabbed those two wires and pressed the two bare spots against each other. The engine kicked over, I dropped the hood and drove home. Once there I removed the starter button from the dash and looked at it. The problem was very simple. One of the wires had come loose. I put it back on and tightened the screws down good then tested it. The engine started on the first try so I put the button back in the dash. It would be nice if all my problems were that simple.
Evenin' folks!
Janie, I could sure use a cup of hot decaf coffee right now. Got home a little over an hour ago from the museum...
Had better ridership today at the Museum than we did opening day. We just covered the crew and had to send out an email begging to get someone to show up and open the museum itself. The "you know what" will be hitting the fan this week to our membership... Already had several emails from the trustees that weren't happy about one person having to work alone out there and no one else signing up... The good news is 3 different people talked to me on the train about what is involved in becoming a volunteer at the museum. I headed them all in the right direction.
About our 4th. run of the day, I am waiting by the steps of Erie C-254, look up and my best friend from the years I spent at the Middle School and his family are walking down to the train.... I haven't seen him in almost two years as they now live in Canandaigua. We all went nuts of course. He was there with his wife, and her brother and his wife, along with another relative who just happened to be one of my students way back when... They decided they would ride in my caboose, and I asked them if they might want a ride in the Locomotive cab? They went nuts! I wish I had a camera to catch the grins and wide open eyes on the two guys! Ended up getting the two guys and the former student in the cab on the way back North... My old teacher friend has always loved trains (in fact the two of us tried to start a Model Railroad club at the Middle School at one point - lost the space we were going to use and that took care of that) so he is very interested in becoming a member and volunteering. He would bring some great skills to the museum. He was a technology teacher and before that taught metal shop and is a fantastic woodworker. I will be in touch with him!
Galaxy, yes I do remember you saying a while back that you do caligraphy... My sister (the Artist) is a very skilled caligraphist. I highly admire those who can do that well! What I am doing is just printed out from the computer using various typfaces (I have about 300 on my iMac) that gets the job done quick and easy. The tickets are just generic ones that just state which of the dinners the person will get and each different dinner choice is printed in it's own color. No names or anything like that on them. The Reserved Table Signs are just printed to have the name of the group reserving the table on them.... pretty plain actually. I don't know who they are until just a few days before the dinner, but can print them fast (have the template on the computer). All I have left to print out are the actual programs for the dinner. One of our members who acts as my proofreader was just here and will let me know what stupid things I did on it that need to be changed and I will start printing them...
Mr. B. So sorry to hear of your nephew's passing. Always sad to hear about these things! The bad stuff has been around the Rochester area and has already taken several peoples lives. At least a few have been college kids.... I will keep all of you in my prayers for healing during this time!
Need to read more emails that just showed up in the in box... Later!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Evening Dinners and Good evening Ulrich!
Flo, I would Love a Beer!
Work Front, I was there, Dave was there and we had 4 customers all day! I sold a $700.00 Futon, Dave got a layaway and that covers that.
Mr B, I am soory as well for your lost.
Ulrich, layout is starting to look out standing! I as well vote for number 3! On on 30 scale right? is that HO scale track and O scale sizes body?
Galaxy, I think you miss what my was about. I do not excpet the $241.00 to last all month. Last year when Sue was real sick and could not do the shopping I strached the SNAP benafits for a soild 3 weeks not 15 days. Yes I am very thankful we get what we do.
See you all Monday, Ken
I hate Rust
Evening all. Today WAS a good day, but turned to junk later.
It was nice seeing scenic express's warehouse and I even got a free same of their new leaves (every member got a free sample bag of it). I also bought a welder set there as well (HO scale). I then got home and had a decently cooked hamburger. Then I lost my car key(Thank goodness I still have the second key),but am not looking forward to getting a new spare key (2006 car so yeah, I would end up having to get the more expensive one)...sigh, amazing how a good day could turn so bad so fast....
(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).
Spent some time today putting the IIc computer back together and thought a few photos of the inside would be appropriate.The motherboard laid bare. The red arrow at right points to the chip I replaced. Yeah, the gray one.And there's the label I put in every computer I work on.Here's everything back in place before I closed it up.Besides the above I had hamburgers at my fathers place and I worked on the van a bit. Sometime tomorrow morning I'll be heading to the post office. I'm shipping a computer off to New York.Well that's it for tonight. See y'all tomorrow.
Morning, All - Guten Morgen, Ken!
Our place still smells, although we left the windows in the train room open all night long. Never again I will use solvent-based paint!
Mixed weather today, partly sunny, partly cloudy with a chance of ra*ny spells in between. Petra´s back seems to be getting better, that means some extra MRRing time for me today. Later in the morning, I will get some more stripwood to start on the platform/dock thing at the depot´s side. Thought I will make it in two levels with stairs connecting them. That should add some more visual interest and lets me use up material I already have, saving a few $$ I can use for other things. I have already dug deep into next month´s budget
cudakenOn on 30 scale right? is that HO scale track and O scale sizes body?
Ken - On30 is O scale on HO gauge track, you are right there. The track, however is not HO track, but bespoke On30 track from Peco. On30 locos and rolling stock look silly on HO track, the ties are too thin and too short, and tie spacing is too narrow. I´ll be using Peco HO track I already have ( a gift from a friend) only in the staging area.
Got to get going - CUL!
Have a great day!
Morgen, Herr Ulrich!
Morning coffee in the diner...
Use your fingers and rotate the cobGet some butter, a generous globEat across or around,But one thing that I've found,Corn is best when you eat like a slob
There once was a girl named Sam
Who did not eat roast beef and ham
She ate a green apple
Then drank some Snapple
Some say she eats like a lamb.
Quotable Quotes:
The thing that makes you exceptional, if you are at all, is inevitably that which must also make you lonely. -Lorraine Hansberry, playwright and painter (1930-1965)
Language is more fashion than science, and matters of usage, spelling, and pronunciation tend to wander around like hemlines. -Bill Bryson, author (b. 1951)
Use your fingers and rotate the cob, eh?
As soon as I saw that, I smiled. Yesterday was our first corn-on-the-cob of the season. It started showing up at the grocery store over the weekend. Butter-and-sugar variety, and really very tasty. It used to be we had to wait until the end of the summer to get it locally, and then the season was over in a few short weeks. I guess that's one thing to be said for the 21st century. We had ours with grilled burgers and a few beers.
Well
I have a few things to do today
Since the cable company put me off so long to get the ACTUAL bill OWED now with the new deal we have, I have to take it into the office, stand in line for goodness knows how long, complain about the lack of "in service" channels and pay the stooopid bill in person.
Then I have to find out from DMV exactly HOW to get the lein release off my title to the Sedona. I have only done that once before in my life, all other vehicles, new and used have been paid for in cash when bought them.
Then mail off another bill
then i think I will have something else to do, just can't remember what...
So I will have a SHORT but busy day IF I don't wait for eons in the cable office.
Then I will see what other trouble I can get into!
Have agreat one!
Ulrich
Which scale is this N ? Isnt that the scale you model ? Were the rails painted gold ? Incredible detail ! How in the world did they get the rail ties to look so realistic or did you do that ?
Good morning .
YGW .... Good to see you here. Hope you are doing well. I think Ulrich's photos of ballast are manufacturer samples, but I'll let him say for sure.
My agenda today includes a visit by a friend of mine who attended high school with me. Back then we were interested in model trains and real trains. We grew up near Chicago on the Bulington main line. After getting our drivers licences, we traveled around northern Illinois railfanning. We also road some of the famous CB&Q steam excursion trains. We'll do layout tours of my layout, Gus's layout, and Dan's layout.
Happy Model Railroading
Thanks Garry. I have popped in a time or two and read a few post but have been overly busy with w**k, raising kids and remodeling my GF house ( 14 years of maintenance negelect ! ) and church . Finally will have GF house major items finished in a week or two and then I will have a bit of time until the new w**k project starts then I will be hanging on for dear life again. I have 49 houses to build near George Mason University with an overall project value of around 49 million in total sales. Also my GF and I plan to get married in August. So there is a lot to do.
Glad to see you here and a bunch of the others. I hope to be back in here more often.
Prayers to all in need and Hi again to all.
YGW
Afternoon Folks!
Taking a break, enjoying a cup of coffee and a slice of that apple pie , which tells me "Eat me!"
I´ve been cutting stripwood for endless hours, starting right after lunch. Now there are all sorted and weathered. Better to do that before assembly! Guess how I learned that?
All these parts will finally end up as the ship´s landing opposite of the depot. A few parts are missing - I will make them as soon as I can get the correct measurements, i.e. after installing most of it.
yougottawantaUlrich Which scale is this N ? Isn´t that the scale you model ? Were the rails painted gold ? Incredible detail ! How in the world did they get the rail ties to look so realistic or did you do that ?
YGW - good to see you back in here. The ballast pics are manufacturer´s photos of O scale track (German prototype), handlaid on wooden ties. The rail has been painted golden, for whatever reason. Maybe to show the detail better.
I have switched scales, from N to On30, as my eyes are not getting younger. On30 is ideal for me. You get the heft of O scale, yet the space you need is only a little more than HO scale. On30 is really a scratchbuilder´s scale - due to the bigger size of structures, they are easy to make, using el cheapo materials - suits me fine, as my budget is very limited.
I´ll stay here at the RC for while, watching the yard goat doing some fine switching.
Strong coffee TO GO, please.
***Ulrich, I definitely prefer #3 to the others. Your layout is coming along nicely.
Healing thoughts to those in need.
Cheers! Rob
Herr Ulrich- Very fine work you're doing.
Garry- I have a GN DoodleBug that I hooked up a 60 ft. passenger car to and the Walthers novelty passenger cars as a consist. Sure did look different going around on my pike. I think I sent a picture of it to Cape Jim. Can't remember.if did or not. Heck it was fun watching it.
Flip
Just a quick update on the shoreline - right part of the layout:
Good afternoon. It's 78° with 52% humidity. The high will be 85° with some clouds.Not much going on today. Went into town to ship a computer off to New York City then went to Wal-Mart to get some things I needed. Got back home to find that a package with my Star Trek Voyager Season One DVD set had arrived. Looks like I have something new to watch this week. Now I'm just waiting on the Home Health nurse to call. Nothing else planned.
Well,
Went to the PO to get off a bill that needed to go and it went out early pickup, so it is probably on its way to, if not already in, Syracuse. Used to be our sorting center here took care of such things, but due to cut backs, they now sort in Syracuse only. It gets it out early enouhg to make up for not neing in the mail on Saturday. I have seen a few news programs about how mail can "nysteriously get delayed" if mailed on a Fri, Sat. It can often get 'shoved aside' til Tues or Wed before it goes off, SO best to wait to Monday when all postal workers are working for the week again. I know, some of you htink I should go email payments, I don't think so that risks the compromisations I HATE.
So, next was DMV, I can get a clean title for an exorbitant amount of money to simply reprint it with "no lienholder found" on it, OR just keep the lien release letter with the title for later use. I guess i will just keep my money. It will be years before I sell/trade it in anyway. Although, there is a nice Dodge GR caravan, no frills model wiht spare tire that I can get IF I get what I want for a trade in, add a little cash and voila have a brand new one for a few dollars over the old payment. IF I want to saddle us with another payment!
Then off to the cable office...40 minutes wAIT! The new payment is correct, and they siad I'd have to bring the bloody box to get the "dopped channels" or "missing channels" {"XXX channel is not available, please try again"} FIXED. We are thinking of back-charging THEM for the droppoed/missing/not avaailable channels ass we spent 20 minutes last night trying to get some! Take a WILD guess who I saw a the cable office? {besides some college boppers turning in their equip {or parents doing it for their kids} My FIL! He ws busy talking to a young india kid who drove a Mercedes, who was probably studying to be a Dr. or scientist or somehjting. No doubt my FIL was "imparting some 86 years of wisdom" to the young man, who appeared to take it well. He doesn't have to routinely listen to FIL's chatter!
Then to BB&B. OT get the new curved shower curtain rod. It will give us a shade more room in the 2' wide narrow, 4' long shower we have. It says it will fit down to 48", it had beter, but looks very LONG in the box! I will put up later.Also picked a clearance set of Queen sheets for a song and a dance. Actually 2 songs and a dance. Then I ran across a clearance pillow for $5 I picked up for me at nigth time..I use it replace a well-worn pillow I call my 'snuggle pillow" you can figure it out form there.....
tehn home to meet my Ohter Half and off for a nap we went. My back has a SHOOITNG PAIN spasm that has been there since standing on the hard tile floor at Cable so long! It started there, I thought it would decrease/go away when I sat down, but it appears NOT,
Now for dinner will cook off some beef for dinner, bought some marked down specials on saturday to cook today must be cooked today or frozen. Don't knwo yet how it will be cooked...
well, have a great night...
good afternoon folks. Let me pick up a round for all of you,as it's been "forever"since I've been in. I'm glad to see the lights are still on.
trolleyboyI'm glad to see the lights are still on. Smile, Wink & Grin
*
Time to call it a night here. see y'all tomorrow.