Frank,
I did read the opening post and went back to the original post "Elliot´s Trackside Diner". I was still a bit confused - as I said I am not really conversant with what happens here. Just a newbie who has got some GREAT info from people much more experienced than me. So It was a surprise to see this post. I guess people who have been here for years "GET IT" - I don't - so please enlighten me instead of asking did I read the original post.
I would like to join in on the conversation - but cannot until someone lets me know what its all really about.
Chris.
Loco Guy - is a state of mind - not an affinity to locomotives.
Sit back and enjoy your track...
As some one who lives across the "pond" I discovered the diner by accident but once I got into it what it is ala about is or it appears to me -- its just a load of like minded people all railroaders but who just talk about everydaylife. The highs the lows, what matters to them just life!!!
As some one who lives across the "pond" I discovered the diner by accident but once I got into it ,what it is all about is or it appears to me -- its just a load of like minded people all railroaders but who just talk about everyday life. The highs the lows, what matters to them just life!
Hi Chris and welcome aboard!
The reason Frank told you to read the very first post in the thread is.... That is exactly what the diner is about. Think of the old passenger trains from years gone by. People went to the dining car to have some good food and while they were there they they talked with freinds and people who they hadn't met before.... There was a time when we had the switcher couple on to the diner and moved it to "wherever" for the next month. (I'd like to see that restarted, BTW.) Then we got to see the sights of wherever we were for the month. But basically the diner is (as has been said) the only place on the forum where we can sit and chat off topic (non-model railroad stuff)
What it is not..... It is not a bar and grill, Nightclub, Casino, or a Speakeasy... The Diner doesn't have a "license", but the girls do keep a 6 pack under the counter for a couple people who can only relax with.... LOL The diner is not a place to discuss or argue, Politics, Religon, or some other topics that are against the main forum rules!
Cousin Vinnie is the bouncer (Steve Otte maybe) who will be in to clean house when the "Rules" are violated. Vinnie has been known to bend a tire iron with his bare hands, so you want to keep in his good side, so too speak. I think really it is all summed up in the first post!
So have a seat, sit back, order lunch or supper, and tell us a bit about yourself... Flo, get Chris aka: Loco Guy a cup of decaf so he can just relax with us for a bit!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Thank you Howmus.
Okay I get it now. You have to realize that I have no railroad background - I guess thats obvious. But the original references were a bit obscure for me.
Well I have tried to explain in other posts about my background but as this seems to be the place to let it all go - then I will.
I was a steelworker in the 70's and then I became a computer geek. I have travelled the world UK, USA, Africa, Middle East, Portugal, Germany and other places doing computer stuff. I adopted the USA as my home and married a southern girl (redhead - dont ask) and live here now.
My first interest in trains was when I was young (lego train set) and being a part of a locale that had a train history - Liverpool UK. I rode the underground to get to work and sometimes used the rail lines to get to "beach" locations if you can call them that. When I got older I used to visit steam railway preservation society railroads in Buckinghamshire and oxfordshire in the UK. I moved south because of my job.
Anyhoo, a few years ago I watched the "polar express" which rekindled my interest. Being a computer guy I was interested in gradients and which locos could climb a railroad winding around a mountain in minature (ho scale of course). After sepnding months creating a snow covered layout with a mountain at the end with a spiral railroad up to the top and then dropping down to Glaciar Gulch I was hooked.
I then built a 25 X 12 layout in the garage (without knowing what the hell I was doing) and started buying crappy DC engines from ebay. Of course I then started to join forums like this to get advice and or knowledge and found that I had missed a whole universe of possibilites by not knowing about DCC or anything about model railroading at all.
Since then I have take advice from a lot of member here - lots of members have helped me but special thanks to ED or (gmpullman) who gave me some really good advice knowing I was a newbie. The lighting on my Spectrum PRR heavyweights is due to his expert advice and I have now converted almost 20 cars to full DCC LED's with passengers and car mounted couplers. They ride the 22" and 18" curves on my layout.
So I'll take the decaf now FLO and hope that this post gave a little bit of insight to my past and experience.
cambus267,
Sorry I missed your post. And I am also from "across the pond" - if you mean the UK - but I am an adopted USA dude now.
I think I am gonna take a while to get used to this diner thing though. We dont have diners in the UK only greasy spoon cafes.
LOCO_GUY And I am also from "across the pond" - if you mean the UK - but I am an adopted USA dude now.
...[color=red]Chris[/color=red] as am I, but adopted Canadian since 1967 (which explains my lack of knowledge [color=red]cambus[/color=red] of Americano, as St****cks wasn't invented then, at least as far as we knew. LOL ) Anyway, , and you'll get use dto us quickly enough. Technical questions are quite OK, but the whole atmosphere in which they are received is just plain friendlier than that to which you may be used in other Forae. In the mean time, celebrate with me, here's a suitable means
"There are always alternatives, Captain" - Spock.
der5997,
Yikes!
Now I am on the SPOT - are those Profriteroles or am I missing the point completely as usual?
I guess my snobby Engish is showing already - but I aint had a cherry topped Profriteroles in YEARS.
Now that gives me a good idea for superbowl snack - but who would eat them?
Evening Dinners
Flo, I take a and give Chris some warm beer. Yes, he is a Brit.
Work Front Only intresteing thing today was to figuer out all of Jerrys mistakes! There was a lot of them, like selling 3 box springs that we only had 1 of and they don't make them any more? Plus they where to be deliver Saturday and he is off Friday? OK, He is Off Everyday!
Der, Congrats on the new train fan!
Chris Post often and post photos, we like to look! Far as Ed, he is a great guy and I have more than a few reasons to call him a friend! He is all so a fellow B&O fan, that is my current Road Name Flavor of the year!
OK, The Important Stuff, Train Front! I have installed the DH126D decoder in the PK1 C&O RS2. Gave it a 45 minute break in time by it self. First I was very pleased with the factory lights, they are LED's and very bright! It was not quite nor a racket maker during the break in, with it being a Proto 1000 it had to be around 8 to 10 years old. I did oil it and lube the trucks with it being so old.
After the break in I lashed up a 17 car coal train. As I was guessing, with the load the engine became quite. 17 Coal Train does not tax it at all, and these cars are a little over NMRA weight. So far it is a keeper!
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
cudaken,
Now I am feeling the love a bit like Patrick McGoohan on the Silver Streak.
I don't like warm beer - I always loved American beer like that stuff from the rockies and chasers like Dirk Daniels or whatever its called. Most Americans say I am more like them than a Brit. Thank goodness for that.
I love my adopted country and can leave the warm beer behind. Okay maybe not Guiness but that's Irish.
Good Morning, Folks!
I see a new face in here - aboard, Chris! As I am one of the very few (in fact, only two at the moment) Diner regulars from "over there", i.e. the other side of the Big Pond, I am always either a little early or a little late to drop by this place. We also have "the Bear" from down under and beyond that to come in and sit a spell, so we can claim to be really international!
Ray´s (Howmus) explanation really says it all - the Diner is the place to go and meet friends, eat food which would make our doctor´s cringe, chat about the day, share our joy, but also our grief and - the most important, be with people who care!
Janie, coffee and a cinammon roll, please! Looking at those profiteroles made me hungry!
My magic tool is to arrive today, which will mean the end of the truce in the foam war I am fighting with Petra. I may borrow my friend Lothar´s shop vac to clean up the mess I am dedicated to make, so that will help keeping the household peace!
I am worried about Galaxy - any news from him?
Chris!!
Welm, before search and rescue get called out for me...I'm over here!! I ended up with pneumonia so got stuck in hospital for a few days. The doctors bombed the bug out from me with about 3 different antibacterials in IV form so I was somewhat slightly ill-disposed here...
Going to be another sunny day for us by the looks of things, high of 36F expected.
Today is going to be a day of nuthin' doin'...and that is a good thing!!
Have a good day!!!
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
Good to see you again,Barry. Pneumonia seems to be endemic these days. I had mine a little over half a year ago and it "ignited" a series of other issue, but, fortunately, I am on top of these now.
I just had one of those senior moments. Years ago, that rather expensive but usually rock-solid and reliable vacuum cleaner of ours, for which I had paid close to $ 1,000 a few years earlier, just quit working - out of the blue! I stored in the attic in disgust, planning to get it fixed by my friend Lothar, but that somehow never materialized. Now today, the cheap replacement we bought started to act up and that literally sucks! I was about to order a new one when I remembered the one in the attic. I took it downstairs, checked it and noticed, that the mechanism for the control switch on the handle wasn´t properly positioned. As you can take off the handle of this type, it was not put in the right position when the handle was put back again. As a result, you couldn´t switch on the darn thing! Fixing it was a question of seconds (!) and now our good old vacuum cleaner is back in business!
I´ll now be able to use the cheap one for my MRRing!
Welcome to the madness Chris. Stopped in to say hello, I'm on my way to the Timonium MD train show. I read where some people here are willing to drive 300 miles. Not me, about 45 miles.
Put legs on my first bit of bench work at at 47" to the top of the foam, it is great for my neck and back, but it's not going to work with my shredded rotator cuff. Better to discover this now, than later.
Have a great weekend.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Good morning ..... I'll have coffee and an apple turnover please.
Wow... Glad to see so many people participating in the diner.
First of all, Galaxy we Diners continue to be concerned about you.
Barry (Blownout Cyl) ... I was tarting to wonder where you were. I hope you continue to get well.
YGW ... Starting to wonder where you are.
Chris ..... !!! ..... Glad to see you particpating here. Sounds like you are leading a full life. I saw you are now in the USA, but I did not see where. Maybe you said, but I missed it. ....... My wife and I are retired on a lake in western KY. I was born in Texas and lived in various states including IL where I grew up. Most of my years of employment were in Michigan, and that includes some years with the railroad there. We have five adult kids scattered around the country with spouses and children. .. I model the Burlington Route (CB&Q) because I could see their train from my house a I grew up in IL. My layout period is 1962, but I'm not too strict about that. .
Ulrich ... That vacuum cleaner experience sounds like some of my senior moments.
Der John .... Those deserts look good !
Ken ... Your C&O RS2 apparently is a keeper. I bet you will have a lot of fun with it.
Ray ... Looks like you are on the home stretch with your bridge project. That's the kind of stuff I wish I could see in person.
Frank ... Good to see you. I still appreciate your help decideing what tractor to use for my livestock trailer.
Cambus ... Good to see you. What is new on your side of the pond?
Henry ... Glad you got started with the layout benchwork. 47" should be good.
Model railroading .... Currently, I'm trying to debug old problems. Some of my trains are sensitive to imperfections in the track, and I am making corrections to either the track or the lcomotives and cars. ..
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
LION is home. Him went to Fargo with one of the monks for a Doctor's Appointment. It is rather serious when the best doctors at this end of the state send you to the other end of the state, but that is how it is. At least I got a juicy, red, rare, tender lump of ribeye steak out of the deal. (Don't tell the Abbot, he thinks we stopped at McDonalds.)
Aslo got to stop at the zoo, I saw Ramu (my favorite Tiger) and his main squeese Veemila. Doesn't matter how many visitors are in the zoo, Ramu will follow me from one end of the enclosure to the other. Cats have an afinity for each other, you know.
I have (at least) four computers on my workbench that need service, after that, I can head on up to the train room and hibernate up there.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Mornin' everyone! Good to see the place busy....
Zoe, I'll have a short stack of buckwheat pancakes with real NYS Maple Syrup... What? You only have Vermont Maple Syrup in stock? That's OK I hear that most of the Vermont Stuff came from NYS Trees anyway... Personally I buy the syrup made on a farm about 3 miles down the road from my house. Oh I need a couple sausgae links, and a pot of Senca Lake Blend Dark Roast Coffee for my FGLK RR mug. Please and Thank You Ma'am!
Garry, any time you find yourself way up North in the Finger Lakes Region, let me know. I would love to meet you and give you a tour of the SLO&W. Little by Little the Girder Bridge Project is getting done... Here is what it looked like last night:
Lion, hope the Vet appointment went well and you didn't claw or bite the vet like one of my sister's cats does!
Good to chat with all of you.... But, I need to get on with the day and get a whole bunch of STUFF done. My sister's cats are among the Stuff needing to do. I hope they haven't destroyed anything else in the house.
Later!
Lion go far to Fargo.
..........
Ray .... It's been a long time since I've been up in that part of the country, but wish I could some day.
Goooood Morning!!!!
Nothing for me thanks, just stopped in to say howdy.
Not much going on here, all are well. Been in the train room a couple times, but ended up just shaking my head. I still need a couple four sheets of drywall before I can continue.
Sorry haven't read any posts so I hope all are well. Wife is itching to go to thhis giant garage sale they call it at the convention center in Springfield. It's not really a giant garage sale, though it started out that way years ago, as much as a giant flea market for vendors of cheap stuff. But you know what they say about a happy wife. Happy wife.......and I will live.
Well, I've been in here for all of about 5 minutes and she's stuck her head in twice so.....
Ya'll have a great day now ya hear!!!!!
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.
A familiar face - oh, it´s you, Todd! Good to see you!
Guess what did not arrive in today´s mail? My magic Japanese saw! I am really angry, as I paid a few bucks extra for speedy delivery. I´ll be claiming this money back!
So, Petra´s happy - no dust, no dirt, no mess = no fuss!
Someone mentioned a senior's moment? Well, guess what happened now? I just spent the last half an hour looking for my optivisor...and found it...on my head
Someone beat this ADMX with an ugly stick....ouch!!
That post by blownout cylinder about the optivisor just made my day. I found it hillarious and hauntingly familiar.
Garry,
To add a bit more about myself (i.e. where I live) is Purvis Mississippi. It's a really podunk little town with a railroad that runs right across main street. I sometimes go down to the railroad crossing and watch the Amtrak passenger train whizz by in the morning. Apart from that, nothing happens here except the odd freight train and occasionally we get to see wood products loaded on to a center beam flatbed railcar. As the siding is right in the middle of town with no fences or barriers you can go up to the flatbed and see the wheels, bed and couplers up close. Which was actually quite interesting for me.
Anyhoo back to the Diner...
A lot of people here at the Diner seem to know one another pretty well - so I gotta ask do you guys actually go meet each other in person or do you just get to know one another by meeting here?
Good Afternoon,
Chloe, I'd like a cuppa Yorkshire Gold and a couple of HobNobs. I'm sure the Brits in here can relate.
We are having a heat wave here with a high of 32F but it is cloudy. Must be all that hot air Chris is sending up from the Gulf. Welcome to the diner by the way from someone north of the border or The Great White North as we sometimes call it. It actually is white from November until April.
Well nothing to report on the RR front. I have run trains on the HO layout a little but not much. I have a Hog pulling a short freight in the counter clockwise direction which is opposite to normal. Sometimes I think I might be a little like the first Westie we had who would only run around in a clockwise direction.
I've been enjoying the wonders of computer technology this week(not). I spent a couple of hours on the phone with Sony trying to find out why the WiFi hookup for the TV doesn't work and why the TV stopped recieving a signal. After unplugging it a couple of times the picture came back as normal. Go figure. I think I will wait a bit before I try that again. I also managed to get the new tablet I bought hook up to our router. I had forgotten the network password but luckily I bought the router from the service provider and they were able to give it to me.
We went out to dinner with friends last night to a Spanish restaurant and really enjoyed it. Some people think Spanish food is like Mexican but it isn't at all. I don't care much for Mexican food but really like Spanish.
We are heading out later today to have dinner at friends who are cooking a huge turkey they didn't use at Christmas. Dinner is always early at their house which is ok with us.
Well Robbie just rang his bell so he wants outside.
CN Charlie
LOCO_GUYA lot of people here at the Diner seem to know one another pretty well - so I gotta ask do you guys actually go meet each other in person or do you just get to know one another by meeting here?
In my case, meeting you folks (which I dearly would like to) would be quite difficult. John in Nova Scotia is about the guy living the closest to my place - just a little over 3,000 miles, with a lot of water in between ...
Seriously, some of us come here for a number of years now, sharing the good and the bad bits of our lives, but with very few exceptions, we have never actually met.
With my health the way it is right now travel would be a bit dicy for me. But I do see a pretty closeknit group here. And that is the next best thing
Betty, I would like some tea and scones please -with clotted cream and strawberry jam.
CN Charlie - not sure about the yokshire gold and hobnobs although I know what they are :-)
My wife (a southern gal born and bred here in the US) spent about 18 months in England with me and got a fettish for UK stuff like Tetley Tea and Digestives (she event tried Jammy Dodgers). We now have to order stuff online to get her the Tea and digestives but she also likes Jelly Babies, Curly Wurlys, Flake Bars, Caramel Bars and lots of other stuff you cannot find here.
Its really cool to watch her in a restaurant or fast food joint asking for hot water to make tea with (she event brings her own tea bags). I've seen the brits in Orlando on holiday (vacation) order "hot tea" and they get a cup of warm water and a liptons tea bag. The looks on their faces is priceless.
Its kinda weird as I will make a pot of coffee in the morning and she will drink english tea all day. She owns about 50 english tea pots - so we are talking about a serious devotion here not a passing phase.
Anyhoo, I like this Diner - you can chat about all kinds of stuff.
I be looking for some help here: I am trying to post a photo that I have stored in my new phoyobucket account. I followed the directions listed by Mr.Otte above, and reached the point where I pasted the photo into the post successfully: except that the photo was so big you could only view it by moving the mouse around. I logged out ( did not post it), saw that the photo must be about 1000 x 1000 : how do I do that? I assume if I save it as a smal image it will be a small image when I paste it.
I may also need sosmething stronger than a cuppa joe.
You can use the restrain image size if you are using the insert photo tool in the editor. If you use something like 500 X 375 in the dimensions box it should post okay.