Elliot´s Trackside Diner - June 2014 Edition

[jeffrey-wimberly]

galaxy

The Hotel, even though ALREADY Paid for, DID NIT get our reservation from orbitz!! We had a long phone with them to get straightened out, and fortunately they had a room! They were all booked up!

It's not unusual for many hotels/motels to drop the reservation of the 'low payment' room in favor of one with the standard payment and simply claim ignorance. A dispicible practice but it exists nonetheless.

*

Good morning. It's 76° with 97% humidity. The high will be 85°. There's a better than fair chance of rain.
with

Didn't get to sleep until about 3am because of my back pain and it was the first thing I was aware of upon awakening. If it keeps up like this I'm gonna have to get it checked out.

Not much planned other than watching movies and playing 'prehistoric' (as David calls them) computer games (he plays them too so he's not one to talk). I'm sure something else will come up. It always does.

[howmus]

Sir Madog

Ray didn´t show up yesterday - must we worry about him?

I'm here.  Just sitting in the back keeping my mouth shut so I don't say anything that would get me kicked off the forum...

I thought (evidently wrongly) that politics are a "No-No" here.  I would think that should also include inuendos like "I think you can figure out which one..."

Also, just to add a fact!  My old alma mater now costs $57,606 per year in tuition and fees (Not sure whether housing is included or not).  SUNY colleges in NYS get a lot of support from the State.  What a student has to pay is not the same as what it costs for a year at college...

I'll shut up and go back into hiding for a while as my BP is on the rise again.....

 

[MisterBeasley]

I fixed my computer!  Yes, that problem I had is gone.  It started a couple of months ago when I installed, of all things, a font.  There was a virus, and by the time I'd cleaned up all the rubbish and popups, it had corrupted the driver for my USB ports.  So, whenever I plugged in my camera, I got the Blue Screen of Death with a Bad Pool Header message.  I tried to fix the driver from the Microsoft site, but the link there was to...another virus.  Right from the Microsoft site.  In the process of cleaning that one up, I found a clue on where to get a legitimate USB driver from the card manufacturer.  That worked and now I can turn on my camera without crashing the computer.

Garry, nice picture.  Maybe one day I'll try to put one in.

Nice weather today.  I hope to get started on some benchwork.  Time's a' wastin'.

[howmus]

Afternoon....  I'm out of hiding for a minute or two.

 Garry, my MR Magazine arrived yesterday.  Nice!  Very nice, sir!

What I did yesterday...  You can get a small 2 second glimpse of me way down in the left hand corner at 1:48 on the news Video.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gy4thlbOPY&list=UUuotPN7I3Sz8A9HDLF0_F9A&index=1  BTW, the older gentleman being interviewed is Harold Russell a well known Railroad Author and the guy who got me into Volunteering out at the Museum.

Later.....  maybe....

[galaxy]

hey, all:

Y'all will think I am making this up!

 

Can this vacation get any worse?

We got way-laid on the way down here for about an hour by an accident involving at least 3 cars/suvs that we were close enough to almost see, and could watch the 6 ambuli {plural of ambulances you know} leave and it so happened it was also right in front of the wrecker service provider who towed out two of htem, one accordioned front and back badly, one very totalled front end SUV out of hte way and got traffic moving in an hour...at least we DODGED that bullet, Barely by about 20 cars!

Well, I am tired, naturally sunburned {guess where the tube of sunscreen is? Huh? HUH? that's right, at home in the KIA, which we would have had with us if not for....well the FIRST rear ending!} We never thunk to get a new tube on the way to the winery, and the renaissance Celtic weekend doesn/'t sell any! I should open up a sunscreen booth at these things and make a fortune!

We did go over to Strasburg, but they only brought out #90 of their fleet, which IS my favorite and startd to lube her. We were there too early, unfortuntely.

next order of business after MOH and our friend finish napping is to go eat, probably at the new Red Robbin where burgers are so good they NAME them! I finished napping, but MOH has a leg cramp, i massaged it out, so went back to sleep/rest it.

 

 

Nutz!

will try to have  a good one for the rest of the trip!

Stay SAFE, Y'all!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

galaxy

NOw, the car that did it hit us "gently" {connected with a jult, then still with enough force to move us a foot with brakes full on! And guess what? That light then turned green, and the tan older model sedan car in question not only did not stop, but DISAPPEARED almost immediately into the blaze of traffic!

Still hit and run which everywhere I've been to is a felony. Wanna bet they had ZERO insurance?

[JeremyB]

Hi Guys

Warm one out today, currently its 86 but feeling like 91. It was warm before the sune even came up. I was on the bike at about 5:15am until 7:30am and got bit by a mosquite when down by the river trails. I was out cleaning off the bike after breakfast and came in around 9am as it was hot out by then. Tomorrow I have a few lawns to cut and will be starting around 9:30 and hope to have them done by 12:30 at the latest. Still debating if I want to go for a ride first thing or not. The central air has been running almost non stop today keeping it cool in here. The upstairs is comfy but the basement is almost too cold and thats with the vents closed.

Still making my list of future modelling projects

Gary, I got my MR earlier in the week and forgot to congratulate you on the pictures in this months MR.

[tcwright973]

We had a pretty good day railfanning at our usual spot. 12 trains in a little less than 3 hours. 2 mixed freight, 1 road railer, 2 slab trains, 1 oil train, 1 grain train, & 5 intermodal. As a plus, there was some foreign power mixed in with all the Norfolk Southern engines. 1 Canadian National (SD70M-2) & 2 CSX (AC6000CW & SD60M). The oil train had NS's Penn Central Heritage Unit leading. It's always a bonus when one of them shows up.

There were 2 interesting flat cars on one of the mixed freights. The 1st was a DODX 12 axle with a cradle. Looks like it would hold some kind of a cylindrical object.

The other was an 8 axel with a depessed center.

We sat outside the car for awhile, but then it just got way too hot. So we retreated back into the car with the air conditioner providing some much needed relief. Another fellow who railfans where we do brought about 40+ 8x10 photos he has taken over the years to show me. They were all steam engines he has chased. Just about all of them were what I would call calendar quality. He has a good eye finding nice locations. It's apparently another talent that I don't have. There won't be any railfanning tomorrow as we have another production of the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera to attend. I'm not sure what it will be, but it might be "Footloose". Half of my weekend is now gone, & it's been a good one so far. Hope your's has been too...

[galaxy]

jeffrey-wimberly

 

 

 

 

 

Still hit and run which everywhere I've been to is a felony. Wanna bet they had ZERO insurance?

 

 

 

I was amazed that Thursdays accidental instigator had insurance at all, I am NOT expecting to get out of it "unscathed" without paying something even if inly the extra driver fee on the rental for both to drive it {can't avoid it, MOH is the better lobg distance driver,and of course I will need to get around town.

Now, lets see how quickly my KIA gets repaired as the sides where the bumper attaches on the driver's side was jerked off too, and who knows yet if any frame damage where the bumper underframe is attached. I can only wait til monday to find out.

He {the instigator} was driving a car his father owned and so his father had coverage legally. since he was ticketed, it makes it better for me since that is how we pushed the rental issues. I may still yet owe something for getting a larger SUV on the rental instead of "munckin car" but sorry, even some mid sized and so called full sized ones we looked at when we got the Hyundai I couldn't get in/out of! Even though I SO wanted to like the Cruze, I did get down into it, then had a heck of a time getting up out of it!

I am, and have always been a "truck and van" person. I have owned 3 pickups,and 3 caravans, and one Sedona minivan{s}. I DID at one time had a 
"between throw away car" that was a beater Buick, nice "little" {Mid sized} car for as long as it lasted. My first "my own" car was a pick-em-up truck! A GMC S-15 {same as Chevy s-10} REd with silver fade at bottom. {my favorite color}.

Well,I will find out more on Monday at home, hopefuly. If the repairs take longer to get done, I could be saddled with more rental costs they consider over and above the "going rate" so to speak.

Actually the more I type on this little SAmsung laptop of my friends, the more i think it may actually be easier than my desktop at home! I seem to make fewer mistakes! Of course I don't let my brain get ahead of my fingers.

well, It is bed time here in la la land, though a late nap may mean we will be up a little longer, and our friend is not an "early to bedder", he is late nighter. A happy medium must be found, thouhg he swore he'd never be able to nap, yet slept for 3 hours!

Have a GREAt night, maybe put us on the prayer list to "make it home safely".

Rest easy,

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

galaxy

I may still yet owe something for getting a larger SUV on the rental instead of "munckin car" but sorry, even some mid sized and so called full sized ones we looked at when we got the Hyundai I couldn't get in/out of!

I have rental car on my car insurance. The stipulation is mid-size or larger and I do pay a bit extra for it. Yes, I have comprehensive coverage on a thirty-two year old van. Why? G-L-A-S-S! Lots of it.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good evening. We have a pleasant 78° here if you can live with the 98% humidity. It gives a whole new meaning to being a drip. The rain chance is down to about 30% and the radar doesn't show much. Watched some movies and played a couple of games. I also changed out some of the keys on my //e with some from an older Apple IIe keyboard. The newer keys have small black characters on Apple's platinum gray color they started using in January 1987 and can be somewhat difficult to see. The older keys from 1983-84 have larger white characters on a somewhat dark beige color that I can see more easily.

That's it for today. See y'all tomorrow.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Ulrich, Mr. B, Ray, and Jeremy..... Thanks much for your comments about my photo. They are sincerely appreciated. 

Mr. B.... Don't hestitate to submit a photo to MR if that's what you wish to do. You have posted several great pictures in the Forum. Same to Ray, Ulrich, and others here. 

Ulrich... While you await the August MR, look at my post in this week's WPF. It is nearly the same photos except the photo in MR shows a passenger train instead of a freight train as in WPF. 

Ray... Your comment about tuition is not unusual. College cost have been increasing much faster than the general rate of inflation for too long. Very few can afford it. The college loans serious problem, and students should definately avoid borrowing to pay for college. 

Tom.... I like your photos, but black is not my favorite color for diesel locomotives. (Oops. Sorry Jeff. Well black looks good if it is the L&A.  ) 

Happy Model Railroading. 

 

[Anonymous]

Good Morning!

Chloe, my usual Sunday breakfast, please!

Well, I overdid it again .

I started putting the shingles on the roof and by late afternoon, my wrist hurt so much, that Petra had to take me to the ER. A nice case of tendosynovitis, the right hand is red hot and swollen. They patched it up properly, so I can´t move the wrist. a couple of shots helped to reduce the pain. I am on pain meds now and I have to carefully watch what I am doing with my right hand. Even typing is a problem, so you won´t read much from me in the next days.

Have a good one!

[galaxy]

not so early coffee...

 GOOD Sunday Morning!

Healing energies for those in need

May the highway gods smile on us today as we venture back to the homefront, may the trip there be uneventful!

Have a GOOD day!

-G

[TMarsh]

Good Morning!!!

 

Coffee and the Sunday breakfast buffet please. Thanks.

 

The loss of the magazine distributor didn’t affect me it appears.

 

Speaking of getting the magazine….Congrats Garry!! Wow!! Two page spread! Picture looks fantastic!

 

Ulrich- The engine house looks great! I’da been lucky not to have given up on the shingles at number 32.

 

Speaking of neglecting…

Ken- Just read my E-mails. I don’t check them very often and just got yours. I was not ignoring you, no way. Just didn’t see it until last night. E-mail is NOT the best way to get a holt of me. I check in here much more than on that. Either way just point out you did and I’ll look at it. Anywho, I didn’t respond to your conversation in the diner because all I could have said was I dunno. Since you’ve hot wired it I cannot determine where there may be a fault in the wiring or if it’s a component failure. Those cars are real simple wiring so unless the bulkhead connectors at the firewall are melted, it shouldn’t be much of an issue to wire it back to the way it was or should be. The whole engine harness is only like 4 or 5 wires. First step, and I can’t recall what all you’ve done is insure the tuneup is good. Points, condenser, plugs, wires, cap and rotor. I think you said you got power to the coil, but is it enough?Ballast resistor? Ignition relay? At this point you just have to grab a multimeter and find what doesn’t get power that should. Last but not least…..(ahem) Gas? Is the gas getting to the cylinders? Shoot a touch of ether and see if she rumbles. If not, well…but keep in mind a set of fouled plugs may fire off ether, but not gasoline. Also, check the grounds. Engine to body and the negative battery wire should stil be attached to the engine though some think it looks better attached to the body or frame.  Like I said, too many variables, just a few ideas.  

 

Independence Day celebration tonight at the park. Fireworks and BBQ pork chop sandwiches, burgers and hot dogs. Like I said before, we here in Williamsville Illinoyz don’t celebrate Independence Day on the 4^th…..we don’t want to disrupt anyones plans. That’s gonna take up most the afternoon setting up and the evening. Wraps up my day.

 

 

Ya’ll have a good day, ya hear!!!!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 77° with 96% humidity. The high will be 92°. There's a small chance of showers and thunderstorms.
with

After sign-off last night I finished changing out the keys on the //e. Most of the keys from a 2064 will fit on a 2128. One of the shift keys needed a little trimmed off one end. The keys on the main keyboard that were nontransferable were Tab, Caps Lock,Open-Apple/Command, Delete, Space and Return. All the others were 100% interchangeable with the exception of the Left Shift key which as I said needed a minor alteration.


As for the days plan, more movies and computer games. I'm sure something else will come up. Maybe I can organize my DVD's alphabetically or maybe by genre or maybe alphabetically by genre.

[Anonymous]

TMarsh

Ulrich- The engine house looks greatBow! I’da been lucky not to have given up on the shingles at number 32

Todd - I was at #700 when I had to stop. This is worse than making puffball trees

I am doomed to do nothing, but I was able to shot a new set of pics of the engine house, which I like to share:

[Firelock76]

Hey Sir Madog, so THIS is where you've been!  I've been worried about you, when are you coming back to the "Trains" Forum?   We've missed your comments!

Firelock76

[Anonymous]

Firelock76 - I seldom post anywhere else than this place. I have not been to the Trains forum for over a year. I did go there daily when I was a moderator, but that´s history. Beware, I may show up one day!

[MisterBeasley]

Good morning!  I'm taking a break from benchwork.  Phase 3 of my layout has begun in earnest.  It will occupy some "dead space" in the train room, behind the couch where we sit and watch the wholesale slaughter and individual eviscerations of Game of Thrones.

I nominate Ulrich to contribute to Trackside Photos.  If everything else on his layout is up to the quality of that engine house, it's one worthy of sharing with the world.

I went to MIT, so long ago that the tuition for a year was $1700.  Although it was up to $2150 by the time I graduated, it was still worth it.  My parents paid for it, which prompted me to promise our daughter the same.  She's been out over a year now, and the last of the loans are down to a manageable range.  It's one of those things that's kept me from retiring yet.  Not only is she working, she's even working in her field of study, neuroscience.  She earned a significant merit-based scholarship through her hard work and concentration on academics, so she did a lot herself to pay for college even though she didn't contribute monetarily.

Since I went to MIT, I will send out mechanical healing energies to everyone's cars.  We're better at that.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Did more work on the //e. Changed out the top cover and most of the keys of the numeric keypad. Those are much easier to see now. The keys should look familiar to anyone who's had an Apple II+ computer. They went in with no modifications needed.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

TMarsh

 

Congrats Garry!! Wow!! Two page spread! Picture looks fantastic!

 

 

Todd ... Thanks for commenting; I certainly appreciate it. 

Ulrich..... Your engine house looks great especially with the blue sky behind it. 

Jeff ... You are quite remakrable with your ability to fix up the old Aplle compters. 

We still have our out of town guests here. The rainy weather was less than ideal for their visit. 

[JeremyB]

Hi Guys

Wow a scorecher out today. I did my bike ride and cut three lanws. When I got home the wife said I look awful, I was really hot and cool down with a cool shower and drank alot of water and gatorade. Had dinner at my aunts tonight. Still not feeling 100% I may have overdone it today in the heat and humidity. The central air is on and cooling the place down. Im in the basment where its alot cooler and with a fan going. I may just sleep down here tonight.

Still making my list and " To " on the layout and I may even start work on a new weathering project this week. It may take acouple months to finish but that is part of the fun. If its one thing I have is all the necessary items to weather. Its my favorite part of the hobby.

[kbkchooch]

Hiya Gang!

Flo, can I get an RBF? 

Got up this morning, cut the lawn, sprayed the Mimosa tree with some Ortho Sevin,,,thing was covered with japanese Beetles,,,went and checked it 15 minutes later and the japs were dropping like it was a re-enactment of the battle of Midway! Killed the weeds in the driveway with Roundup, all before noon. Spent the afternoon chillin in the basement , getting a large group of stuff ready for ebay later this week.

Garry, saw the pic in MR 

Urich, the enginehouse looks fabulous! 

Galaxy, better stop wearing that shirt with the bullseye on the back! 

Back to rounding up boxes for the eBay lot! 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Well, other than doing the aforementioned work on the computer I watched a few movies and played a couple of rounds of Star Fleet 1. Won one outright and almost got my clock cleaned in the other. Yes, I know it's a very old (1984) strategy game and that's about the time I bought it but it still puts me on the edge of my seat.

Watched a couple of old James Bond movies. 'For Your Eyes Only' and 'The Spy Who Loved Me'.

That's it for today. See y'all tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Good Morning!

My hand feels much better today, but I will keep it patched and braced for a few more days, which means still no w*rk on the engine house. I´ll make use of the idle time to give some thoughts on the next building, which will be one on the dock, as I like to finish that scene. The veneer I have left is good for two more small building, although I need to cut about 500 shingles to finish the roof of the engine house.

It´s going to be a quiet day.

Blessings to all and special prayers for Johnboy, Flip, Barry and all others in need!

[galaxy]

Home at last, home at last,

Thank the lord almighty we are home at last.

where morning has broken....

GOOD MONDAY MORNING!

Today is Monday,

June 30th,2014

Healing energies, thoughts

and prayers got out

to those in need.

Quotable quotes:

No man, or body of men, can dam the stream of language. -James Russell Lowell, poet, editor, and diplomat (1819-1891) 

MAKE IT A GREAT DAY

 

[MisterBeasley]

Good morning all.  It's nice here in New England right now, but the temperature is going up and I'm afraid we're in for a few days of heat and humidity.

We had a great weekend weather-wise.  I spent both days building benchwork.  I've got the box frames all cut and assembled, and the triangular gussets for the legs are in place.  I intentionally built this as two small sections that could be disassembled easily when we are ready to relocate.  Given the hot weather, I'll probably get the legs cut and assembled during the week, and then I can do the sanding and staining outdoors over the long weekend, when I can work before it gets too hot, and apply the polyurethane in the garage to keep the pollen off.

Stay cool, everyone.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Heartland Division CB&Q

Jeff ... You are quite remakrable with your ability to fix up the old Aplle compters.

Part of it is years of experience of working on these old computers, and part is making one that nobody else has but most is trying to keep from being bored out of my gourd.

[cudaken]

 Morning Folks

 Flo, pleases.

 Have not posted for a few days but I have stop by to see if Galaxy is still playing Bumper Cars

 Todd I know you don't come to the dinner as often as you use to, so that is why I did the PM. I think I found my problem with the Road Runner. Found a power wire that could be arcking, I hope to have that fixed by this Saturday.

Ulrich as usual your workmanship looks great!

 I am working in St Charles today so it is a short stop this morning. I am still working out, starting to feel a tad stronger.

 Later, Ken