Jeffrey´s Trackside Diner - January 2016

[Anonymous]

yougottawanta

Nice photo is that near you ?

It´s the view from our living room windows...

[MisterBeasley]

I had to laugh, Ray.  Last winter I took this picture of my own grill:

Yes, the snow was literally up to the level of the grill surface itself, and I had to brush over a foot of it off the top.  But it was worth it for a nice rib-eye steak.

Galaxy, I was on Metformin for a while.  It's fine for most people, but I did not tolerate it well at all.  It made me very tired and seemed to be robbing my brain of energy, too, as I felt kind of dazed and confused and not sharp at all.  I read about it online (as I always do about any medications I'm taking) and they said it takes a long time to get used to.  I tried to find something quantitative (days? weeks?  months?) but the only actual answer anyone gave was "forever."

Anyway, after 6 months I had great hemoglobin A1C numbers, but I told my doctor I felt like dung and he switched me to Glyburide.  I tolerate that much better, I've lost weight and I'm getting a lot more exercise.

[Anonymous]

A little early to go to bed, but I´ll be slowly calling it a day! Started to put the pink foam down to form the scenery base. I made good progress. The electric hot knife I bought some time ago made cutting the foam really easy and less messy than using a regular hobby knife. OK, there are fumes to be considered but they were not as bad as I feared them to be. No pictures yet, as today´s achievement is not presentable at all.

Here is a little heartwarming story I found on the Web:

Enjoy!

I am getting ready to run the evening train now - CU all tomorrow!

[bjdukert]

I have four of these under the layout.  Top row are my jumpers and bottom row goes to track.  It is a seperate board so I can pull it out if needed.

 

Best to all on sick call and those recovering

Duke

[blownout cylinder]

Good Afternoon.

We got to 14f out here....but we had sun and not a cloud in the sky here...ahhh, but we will be paying for it...after tomorrow's little bits of sun we will have about 10 days+/_ of dull and dribblebits....

Welm, I had a fairly quiet time in my trainroom...I have to replan the plan that I thought I had as a plan. But, of course, it ain't working out that way. So, the afternoon down there had some words go out into the air...

Tonight I will be in the corner booth with the padded wall and redo that so-called plan a mite....

[galaxy]

Well,except for probably one more smaller load, us three invalid/disabled people got hte stuff moved WITHOUT THE ABLE-BODIED. Tomorrow we do the rest and final load.

We discovered the trailer pipes froze at 60F the furnace was set at, we certainly won't miss that!

The trailer looks so dejected, but they will ahul it away soon enough. It has bad energy over there.

Metformin: I will give it a shot, but my sugar is still high {214 after lunch} but he DR is concerend about it being too low. Understandable. I will find out how I tolerate it. I remember Mr. B saying it didnt set well wiht him.

well, I need to rest now. big day today. and more to come tomorrow.

[howmus]

Evenin' folks!Janie, I could use a cup of decaf right now, please...

 Galaxy, glad you folks were able to get a lot moved today!  Good luck getting everything out tomorrow.  How soon after a meal are you checking your blood sugar?  I check mine in the morning when I get up, and right before I go to bed at night, at least 2 hours after the last meal.....  I adjust my diet if it gets too high....  Do not have a problem with too low at this point in time.  I am on a combination of Januvia and Metformin and have tolerated it well.  The Januvia both lowers blood sugar but also stops workimng when the blood sugar starts to get low.

I got some work done on the last new addition to my layout today.  This will be a long triangular addition to the yard area of the new room section.  I hope to have room to create "Benham's Elevator" on there.  Will have to do some measuring and finigling to make it fit I think.  The original building is in Canadaigua and There was an article in MR not too long ago with the blueprints for the building by Harold Russell.  I was the one who called his attention to the building and he said he would draw it for me.  I have two copies in HO of his drawings here.  I helped him take photos of it and measure it several years back.  I was supposed to have it built back then so the final model could go with the article...  Haven't gotten to t yet.....  I hope to get it at least started within the year.

By early next week i should have the materials in hand to finish the Girder Bridge project.  Then I will work on the scenery in that location followed by scenery work at the end of the line where the return loop is.  There will be a small rural town there with a couple rail served businesses.  Mostly will be craftsman Kits over there.

Hope everyone is safe and warm out there....

73

[Uncle_Bob]

Reading what Ray and G have said, I have to ask, what's low or high blood sugar?  My last blood test had it at 120, at my last actual office visit it was 112, but a dietician says I'm a raging diabetic because my A1C is 6.2, down from 6.5 over 6 months.  My previous GP  was an incompetent quack, but he said all my numbers were great except my weight.  So, the dietician gave me a blood meter.  My readings have varied from 83 to 147.  I don't know what to think.  I don't want to screw up my body chemistry, but I also don't want to literally kill myself, so I've been a good boy and taken my Glyburide (since Metformin disagrees with me).  Still, I just don't know if I buy this stuff.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good evening ... 

YGW ... If you are plowing snow, I think you have your work cut out for you. ... Thanks for updating your SIL.... Is she able to communicate okay with her family? You did not say what was affected by the brain injuries.  

Ray ... The joke about winter in the South would be funny if the South only had a small amount of snow. The real hazard is the ice in the South combined with hilly roads. , however. The photo of the exit ramp in AL shows it was badly iced up. Even tractor trailers have problems with that stuff. 

Galaxy ... Glad you are moved and hope your health improves. Hopefully, you can soon do some model railroading in the nice sized basement at the new place. 

Duke ... Good to see you here. Your wire connections look like good work. 

The snow stopped here last night, and today it was sunny and cold. Our road has been plowed, and we should have no big problems because of this storm. It was a lot worse east of here. I saw on national news hundreds of people were stuck in their vehicles overnight on I-75 near Lexington, KY because of the big winter storm. .... and it was much worse farther east. 

[MisterBeasley]

Uncle_Bob, my A1C was up at 9 something.  I hadn't had a physical for a couple of years and I was feeling very good, so the diagnosis was based on numbers, not symptoms.  The Metformin got it down around 6 but left me feeling terrible.  Glyburide + lots of exercise actually got it under 6.

My doctor said he would have been happy with anything below 7 for "managed diabetes,"  so he's very happy with me.  I'm not a dessert eater or a sugar fiend, but I just eat a reasonable diet, not particularly depriving myself of anything I like.  I still tell people I'd rather have 20 years of steak and beer than 25 years of brown rice and vitamin water.

I found that I had a mid-morning low point when I took the Glyburide as directed when I got up.  This would have interfered with skiing, so I asked the doctor if I could take it at bedtime.  He said that was fine, and a quick Google search on the topic also indicated no issues, so I switched to taking it at night and I find that the mid-morning blahs have gone away.

[howmus]

Heartland Division CB&Q

Ray ... The joke about winter in the South would be funny if the South only had a small amount of snow. The real hazard is the ice in the South combined with hilly roads. , however. The photo of the exit ramp in AL shows it was badly iced up. Even tractor trailers have problems with that stuff.

Absolutely!  My son's and I got "Snowed" in in Lumberton, NC going to Florida to visit My sister and her family over Christmas back in 1989 or 90.  Talk about everything stopping.  We saw a police car do a 360 and smash into a stopped car at a stoplight... (Sheet of ice and the policeman didn't know how to drive on it.)  Big problem is the lack of the equipment to clear the streets properly.  Not much salt and no real way to spred it.  There was a huge Tractor Trailer stuck half way up the ramp on ice...  When we left the following morning there was a tow truck with a winch inching the Semi up the hill....  No doubt about the seriousness of the weather when you folks get snow and Ice....  Frankly I would rather drive in snow here in the North than the snowy Ice down there!  (Drive on snow and you make ice....).  Just thought the photos were funny!  BTW, Tonight I cooked a hamburg on the grill for supper in my heavy carhart and a knit hat with my winter gloves on my hands.  We do that around here all the time this time of year.

This was me a few years back after being outside running the snowblower.....

Just got off the phone with my sister...  She is supposed to take a flight to Korea out of Newark, NJ early Monday morning......  She is not happy at the moment.  Most likely they will have the airport up and running on time by then.

Have a good one out there!

73

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening

Welb...having Lucy up here all cuddled up between my arms again. Had a rather productive day with plans and such around me here.

Going back down to 5F again tonight.

Garry: Yep, and around your part are a lot of hills to worry about. A friend of ours has about 40" where they live.

Now, that I think of it....Chloe? I'll have the 64oz prime rib rack with the 10lb bucket of poutine and 4 Strawberry pies...and a coffee as well please.

[Anonymous]

Good Morning!

Today promises to become a dull day - at least in terms of our weather. Time to w*rk on the layout! I hope to cover some more ground in the true meaning of it, putting more pink stuff down to get rid of this 2-dimensional look of my Plywood Central RR, turning it into the Swiss Alps

Zoe, it´s Sunday, so I´ll go for my usual big Sunday breakfast! You know, bacon & eggs, buttered toast - what? You won´t be serving my order? Why? Well, OK, I´ll have that diet breakfast, then. An ounce of wholegrain muesli with a cup of skimmed milk. Will coffee be OK? Thank you!

Have a great Sunday!

P.S. YGW - thaks for the update on Kelly. She remains in our

[BigDaddy]

U.B. Without knowing if your blood sugars where fasting or not, it's hard to say.  A1C is a reflection of your average blood surgar over the last 3 months.  If you are on treatement 6.1 is pretty good.  There is lots of bull on the web, not much at the Mayo Clinic site:http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/a1c-test/details/results/rsc-20167939

[blownout cylinder]

Morning

Had to change three lightbulbs this morning. My knees are feeling it now.

Getting a mix of sun/cloud with the high near 32 today...the heatwave is on!!!

Rest of today will be in resting. In the trainroom, hah!!!

Make it a good'un!!!

[howmus]

Mornin' everyone!

Zoe, I'll have the breakfast buffett this morning.  You can bring me a pot of Seneca Lake Dark Roast Coffee to keep my R&GV RR Mug filled.  Thank You Ma'am.

 Barry, so how many model railroaders does it take to change a lightbulb???

 BigDaddy, spot on, sir!  My doctor, who is supposed to one of the best around here for people with diabettes, says that the goal is less than 7.0 for the A1C.  He is very pleased as mine has been around 5.8 for the last 4 years.  I have a tendency to get up in the morning and find my blood sugar is higher than when I went to bed the night before...  He says it is probably due to the liver boosting blood sugar during the "Wake up" process and not to worry about it. 

Looks like my package may arrive tomorrow....  That would be nice so I can get the Girder Bridge finished and in place on the layout.

I'm still waiting to here from my Division members about having them sign the petition!!!  Model Railroaders tend to be very, very hard to get in touch with sometimes......

I'll catch you a bit later this afternoon!

73

[Anonymous]

Good Afternoon!

We are having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave!

Today´s high reached + 6°C, that´s up by 15°C from yesterday´s high! I don´t like the temperature to climb that rapidly, it´s making me feel like riding in a high speed elevator with my body going up, but my blood pressure remeining at first floor.

For that, I didn´t feel like putting more pink foam down on my layout - I started to w*rk on the tunnel portals instead. The Rhaetian Railway has different looking ones than you can buy from any of the big brands. There are handmade tunnel portals available, but they, while looking really nice, don´t fit my wallet. So I´ll be going for scratch building. The rough structures are up - I need to add retaining walls and the inner lining before I´ll cover them up in modeling clay and engrave them

I know that I have some left over modeling clay stashed away somewhere, but where?

Edit: Looking at the picture I think I will reduce that slope a little.

It´s now closing in on bed time - it´s been a quiet day in the Diner, over 3 hours without anybody showing up. Is everyone out, fighting the sn*w?

 

[der5997]

Good late Sunday afternoon on the so-far-snow-free Northumberland Shore! I’ll have a Russian Caravan tea please and some cookies so long as they aren’t peanut.  I guess there’s little point in asking for strawberry pie today…

BOC:

Lucy is all cuddled up between my arms whilst I am trying to type chicken wing style here, lol!! Her purrs are loud here....

…our Penny likes to stand in front of the monitor – hasn’t the patience to sit still on my lap while I’m typing – too much movement. The monitor blocking gets her far more immediate attention!

and. promptly ran into my favorite bugbear... losing coupler springs...which, of course, meant crawling around on my hands and knees looking for the dern things...which I managed to do.

  The last layout ( and work area) was on carpet – so that task was that much more frustrating! For what it’s worth, I find a flashlight beam horizontal at floor level helpful in revealing the glint from the springs.  Any-one remember the “Tips and Tricks” page from the old MR? I see that Klambach have revived it as a subscription service under a different title!

Now, because of that, my sciatica is having war with me.

Hope that is now a thing of the past!

Ray:

Been a very long and frustrating day around here.  I won't go into a lot of details, I'll just say it involves someone getting into my ebay account…

Glad you’ve been able to sort it. We should close out the account my wife has had dormant for years.  Your layout extension sounds large! Or, is the elevator small?? In either case from what I remember of your modeling  skills, the pics will be worth waiting for!

Ulrich: 

John - SCARM is supposedly an easy program to learn how to work with, but it has a learning curve to it. It took me quite some time to figure out how to shape flex track or how to cut off track sections. I also find designing structures in the 2D mode a little cumbersome, as there is a lot of trial and error involved in adapting and positioning the roof and doors/windows. Let me know if I can be of any assistance to you for your layout design.

  Thanks Ulrich. Yes, I agree buildings present some challenges, especially when one has set the layout height at anything above 0! Figuring the Vertical height of building components in relation to each other and then remembering to add the Layout Base height…. Also, I wish there was a quick way to produce a rod or beam at an angle to the horizontal. I can rotate in the horizontal plane OK, but not the vertical….?  Also, I’m bugged by a tunnel portal which always shows now (it didn’t used to) when in 3D as being partly filled by terrain. I’ve checked heights etc for the land form polygons, but can’t get the earth moved!

I like very much the way your layout doesn’t have the whole of the track visible.  Yesterday, Saturday, I added a return track so as to more easily reverse train directions. It clutters things a bit visually, but I think gives more flexibility for running.  What do you guys think?

 

Charming video – hope the north of England accents aren’t too hard to follow!

Thanks for reminding me about providing tunnel liners – I’d forgotten about those – but then I’m way out from construction!

Henry:

SCARM, not as steep a learning curve as XTrckCAD, the later I haven't figured out.  SCARM has better teaching videos, but I never figured out how to add buildings, which is too bad

.. What I do with those SCARM teaching videos is to have a blank SCARM page open – and when a particular technique is taught, I pause the video, go to SCARM and try to do what the video showed. As Ulrich says, lots of trial and error, but one can roll back the video to catch the point they were making, and carry on on the SCARM page until it’s been nailed.  Rotating the basic building rectangle to get the roof to go run in the direction you want it to, then grouping the whole structure together  took me a while to be familiar – but I reckon I’ve got that down now. PM me if I can be of assistance on this.

because I think I am planning too much track and not enough space.

An ex-Coffee Shop denizen in Ontario sent me this yesterday! Took me a second or two to see what it was… 

YGW:

I would recommend a separate program track. I read an MRR article that gave multiple reason some years ago. Don't remember the reasons.

  …one that I recall is the danger of inadvertently programming all the locos on the layout identically to the one you thought was going to be exclusive! – I  don’t remember any others. To make for more confusion, my NCE unit has a “Program on the Main” feature which enables one to reprogram any loco – just enter the ID – on the layout regardless of others.  I’ve used that to reset CV values “on the fly” as it were.

Thanks for the SIL update. I’ll pass that along to the other folks I know who are concerned for her.

Hey Duke long time no see! But I've been MIA for 3 years or so….

Uncle_Bob:

Reading what Ray and G have said, I have to ask, what's low or high blood sugar?  My last blood test had it at 120, at my last actual office visit it was 112, but a dietician says I'm a raging diabetic because my A1C is 6.2, down from 6.5 over 6 months.  My previous GP  was an incompetent quack, but he said all my numbers were great except my weight.  So, the dietician gave me a blood meter.  My readings have varied from 83 to 147.  I don't know what to think.  I don't want to screw up my body chemistry, but I also don't want to literally kill myself, so I've been a good boy and taken my Glyburide (since Metformin disagrees with me).  Still, I just don't know if I buy this stuff.

…I’d suggest going to the American Diabetes Society web site and asking questions of them. They will probably not give you the run –around. At least, the Canadian equivalent doesn’t.

 Clock says time to get busy helping with dinner (Rainbow Trout, Rice/wild rice mix, green beans) - see you later this evening, or not depending on circumstances, there are a number of programs recorded on the PVR which may intervene!

 

 

 

[blownout cylinder]

Good Afternoon

I am cuddling Lucy between my arms right now.

Have a good afternoon!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

howmus

 Barry, so how many model railroaders does it take to change a lightbulb??? 

 

 

(I took this photo a couple of years ago of our cat, Sassy, on the ladder. I had set up the ladder, and went to get a new light bulb. When I returned, she was on the top step.) 

[blownout cylinder]

Good Evening

Lucy is still cuddled by me here. Purrmotoring away.

Spent the last little while having fun with reprogramming some Atlas RS2's after I had roasted some decoders.

Garry: Sassy looks wonderful.

Chloe, I'll have a roast beef sandwich with it in a cheese and onion bun and a coffee as well, please...

[cudaken]

 Evening Dinners

 Flo, Beer Please.

 Last few days have been some what dull, which is fine with me.

 Sue Foot Front. She seems to me to be getting around better and is doing somethings around the house. She still complains about the pain, but with Sue that is the norm for the last 10 years with all her problems. I hope when we go see the Surgon this coming Wednesday the X-Ray will show some healing! But, I am not holding my breath.

 Work Front Well Jerry is still Jerry! Far as sales, I am kicking his cabosse by around $5000.00 for the month. Nancy is coming down to my store to help him with sales on my days off. I am turly glad I will not be there for the Meeting Of The Minds!

 BBQ is just about done! I just hope I can chew it! Lost yet another molar. Back when I could afford dental work my denist died. Could not find a denist that would take any more weekend customers.. Now that I can go during the week, no funds.

 Later, Ken

 

[howmus]

Evenin'folks!

Janie, I could use a refill for my decaf if you please!

Well I did get a bit done today.  The good part was that I now have all the Certificates signed and ready to take over to the schools for those kids that didn't pick them up at the service, I gave my granddaughter her guitar lesson and she had a pretty good lesson, and I had nice supper consisting of Spagetti and Meatballs, Smoked Turkey Breast, salad, and birthday cake and ice cream.  I know a bit of a strange combination, but my son wanted to try out his new smoker unit out on his deck and the MIL needed to make spaghetti and meatballs fort her brother's birthday....

The not much fun was another day of trying to get the ebay account fixed and done with.  Lets just say, by tomorrow it should be able to be closed, cancelled, kaput!  And, I might just be able to leave a note telling exactly what I think of them!  It won't be nice and I certainly couldn't put it up on here!!!  I ended up getting a new PayPal account to get the bogus charges paid off which I just did....  Tomorrow I will delet that as well after I make sure everything went through like it should.  Folks!  If you have not used your ebay account in a while, at least go in and check it once a week or so.  If you aren't planning on using it?  Get rid of it!!!

I started my account about 13 years ago, bought 2 or three items, and then never went back.  Someone got into the account and was using it to sell some crap and they somehow managed to pocket the $$$ but I got nailed for the costs.  i talked to their "Help" people twice and was basically tough, it is your account so you are responsible and liable..... I will be seeing my lawyer to draw up a new will soon, and will take paperwork down to him and ask if it is worth persuing the..............!!!

 Garry, What a pretty kittie!  I think my Blackie is giving her the once over....

I plan to sleep a lot better tonight...  You all stay safe and warm out there!

73

[MisterBeasley]

Garry, we too had a cat named Sassy, back when I was a teenager.  He lived a long and relatively happy life.

I watched the football games today and wasn't happy with either outcome.  On the other hand, I used the time productively to work on my City Classics "company houses."  Over the week, I installed a couple of LEDs as porch lights, and found I needed over 11K in resistance to get them down to the light level I wanted.  (It's fine.  What else was I going to do with those 5.6K resistors, anyway?)  Today I spent all of my multitasked modeling and football-watching time, all 6 hours plus of it, installing varieties of window glazing with curtains, pull-down shades and Venetian blinds.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

 

Barry ... Lucy sounds like a lover. 

Ray .... Blackie looks like a nice companion.

Mr. B ... Interesting name. 

 

Here is our Trio.

Front to back ... Tabitha (Tabi), Sassafras (Sassy), and Victoria (Tori)

Tabi was rescued in Paducah, KY, Sassy was resuced in Cincinnati, OH, and Tori was rescued in Clarksville, TN.

 

[Anonymous]

Good Morning (or should I better say "Meeow"?)!

It´s been a short night - first I couldn´t find any sleep for over two hours, so I cot up again, and when I finally went back to bed, I woke up after only 4 hours. I feel tired and weary. Flo, the only known remedy for that is coffee in an IV bag, please!

While I was up again, I watched "The Unstoppable" on German TV. Whoever made that movie should have done some research on how to run an engine. I still don´t know how a speed lever advances all by itself ... Well, at least there was a lesson to be learned - trains are bad

I´ll be doing some more w*rk on those tunnel portals today. I may have to spoend a considerable amount of time to retrieve that modeling clay I have stashed away somewhere...

John - the moment you click on that tunnel icon after having selected a length of track, SCARM "buries" the track under a thin layour of scenery. I could do without this automatism, but it´s not a big concern. The real issue is that you just can´t place a tunnel anywhere you would want, unless you cut the track at that specific location using the clipping (or is it snipping?) tool.

Ken - continuing for Sue´s foot issue!

I am still undecided as to the season I would want the layout to be in. I recently saw a video of how easy it is to build a good looking Winter landscape. Winter with lots of snow in the Swiss Alps certainly is appealing...

Make it a great Monday!

[galaxy]

GM, MEN!

Today's word:

autolycan

 

PRONUNCIATION:

(o-TOL-uh-kuhn)

 

MEANING:

adjective: Characterized by thievery or trickery.

 

ETYMOLOGY:

From Autolycus, the son of Hermes and Chione in Greek mythology, who was skilled in theft and trickery. He was able to make himself (or things he touched) invisible, which greatly helped him in his trade. Shakespeare named a con artist after Autolycus in A Winter’s Tale. Earliest documented use: 1890.

 

USAGE:

“In a disarming note at the beginning of the book, Adams offers an apology for his autolycan procedures.”
Times Literary Supplement; Jun 5, 1981.

“His art was Autolycan, snapping-up, catching the mean minnows of the commonplace when they were off their guard.”
Anthony Burgess; Tremor of Intent; W.W. Norton; 1966.

 

Today's quotes:

Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one's mind. -William Somerset Maugham, writer (25 Jan 1874-1965)

The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.

Maya Angelou

I believe in living today. Not in yesterday, nor in tomorrow.

Loretta Young

Hope is the pillar that holds up the world. Hope is the dream of a waking man.

Pliny the Elder

MAKE IT A GREAT DAY!

[der5997]

Good morning folks, and we have "sunshine on a cloudy day", which isn't bad for a "Monday, Monday" LOL 

I’ll join Ray in a having a mug of decafe please – as it’s my second coffee of the day. Ulrich sorry that sleep eluded you – I had a choppy night too, who knows why…but I’d like to get the 4 straight hours you had on any night! Getting the temperature right is more difficult now we’ve gone to the winter duvet – but we are also following the advice of our heating engineer who said not to turn down the ETS units at  night because one looses a whole bunch of the heat stored overnight just by bringing the house back up to temperature in the morning.  (“Stop children, what’s that sound?...” Oh it was only Dennis  )

Sir Madog

John - the moment you click on that tunnel icon after having selected a length of track, SCARM "buries" the track under a thin layour of scenery. I could do without this automatism, but it´s not a big concern. The real issue is that you just can´t place a tunnel anywhere you would want, unless you cut the track at that specific location using the clipping (or is it snipping?) tool.

  Thanks Ulrich that was helpful. I went in to the plan and deleted the short section of flex which had the offedning portal over it, and when I did the portal snapped to the end of the next track. So I deleted the polygon which was also involved, re-drew it to be close to the new portal, and voila! the earth movers did their thing. Anyone feel that?

Here's an item which was sent me by a Derry NH resident whom we know from their visits to a summer cottage near to our old address. She thought it would amuse, and here it is:

Have to go check emails, may be see you later...

[Steven Otte]

Wow, I came back from a weekend off to find not a single fight, no off-topic posts, not a single abuse complaint of any kind! Flo, are on me.

der5997, looking at your track plan, I find the switchback connection to the industrial tracks along the front of the long leg of the "L" puzzling. What's the purpose? It just complicates things. I can't imagine a prototype railroad ever building such a track arrangement, when they could simply connect directly to the runaround track.

I like seeing pictures of other Forum members' cats. My wife writes a blog about the antics of our youngest kitten, Clinchfield. Here he is with our oldest, Pixel, who looks like he should be a relation but isn't.

Despite his mischievousness, he hasn't ravaged my layout yet. Though he does occasionally bring upstairs the odd stick of stripwood or styrene from my workbench and play with it.

[BroadwayLion]

Here is Callista (cat of the LION) when she was much younger.

She is an outdoor cat (sort of) and in never really happin when brought indoors.

Our routine is, I open the courtyard door, she comes in, runs down the hall, down the stairs and then up the basement hall, waiting at the door to my infirmary office. Once I open that door, she scampers up the ladder, jumps up to the window ledge and waits for me to open the window which will put here exactly where she was when I opend the courtyard door anyway. At least this way she is sure that I will fill her breakfast dish and check her water.

Train room, three buildings over and two floor up, nah she is not going there, and would be in a panic if I tried to take her up there. I have only just now gotten her accusomed to sitting in my computer office, next to the nice warm servers.

PS Her house has a heated bed pad and water dish.

ROAR