Good Morning!
Janie, just for me please, Petra is in the kitchen, getting lunch ready for us.
We are enjoying typical April weather, a mix of ra*n, storm and sunshine - all of that within 30 minutes.
I don´t have any plans for the rest of the day, mybe I will go through my MR stuff to see what I can sell to make some extra money. There are two items I won´t sell in any case, that´s my Marklin class 194 electric I got from Petra and my WMC HOn3 D&RGW T-12. I have a couple of unbuilt kits and some cars to sell. Won´t bring a fortune, but any amount helps to feed the piggy bank labeled "move". We have to get out of here, the place and, foremost, our neighbors make me sick.
There was a train show last weekend I wish I could have attended. The layouts on display are all Z scale layouts. I have watched a vidio and I must say that Z scale has left the ranks of a toy and is now eligible for some serious modeling. But see for yourself:
Enjoy!
I hope we got some news on Barry and Galaxy!
CUL!
Hello Ulrich ... Glad you are here. Z scale would be hard for me to work with, but glad you showed it.
Ken ... Those photos of you and your Roar Runner are remarkable.
Lion ... Interesting photo of lions laying under the wing.
DougDagRump .... If people ask me for suggestions about heart conditions, I say to make sure they are at the best heart clinic they can find. I go to Vanderbilt Heart Failure Clinic which is affiliated with Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, TN. I think there is much to be said about going to a clinic connected with a major research hospital.
I'll sit at the Rivit Counter hoping more Diners show up.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Mornin' everyone!
Zoe, I'll have a bowl of heritage flakes organic cereal, skim milk, and a pot of Marrakesh Express Dark Roast Organic Coffee this morning. Oh bring over the crossword puzzle page from yesterday's paper as well.
The PiP is in for repairs today! Got a ride home from the Body Shop and they will call and come pick me up when it is done (probably mid afternoon). I need to get in contact with the vet for how to handle the days I will be at the Convention in Ottawa, Canada. The lady who I have come and take care of the kitties in the morning and give Blackie his insulin will be away that weekend so I now have a bit of a problem.... My son can come over in the evening after work and feed the kitties. clean the litter box, and give Blackie his insulin, but..... That will be almost 12 hours off from his schedule and I want to get the vet's advise on what to do (if she will even OK the evening dosage...).
Garry, you are absolutely right on the Heart Clinic! In the Finger Lakes the leader in Heart Medicine is Strong Memorial Hospital of the University of Rochester. There is now a large coalition of hospitals in the region that all work together. Our local little Horsepiddle here in Geneva is part of that. So, any heart attacks or problems get moved to Strong by Ambulance or Air lifted, depending quickly. Has made a big difference in the outcomes for many people.
Sun is busy shining outside once again today! The solar panel output has averaged a little over 25kWh per day for the last week... 175kWh in one week! That is excellent for the size of my system. And since the temperatrue has been moderate, the Air Conditioner has not been turned on nor has the furnace run very often during the night. That all means that I should have a good surplus of power at the end of the month.... I usually make more electric than I use during about 5 months every year. Now the surplus some months will only be a few kWh but it is nice as those surplus kWh are used against the amount used in the other 7 months of the year.
So... Galaxy and Barry, where are you guys? We miss you and are keeping you in our prayers hoping you are both doing well!
Catch you all later!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Heartland Division CB&QZ scale would be hard for me to work with
Garry - I have to chime in into this song. I am having problems handling my HO scale narrow gauge stuff and I don´t think I can cope with anything smaller. Going bigger is out of question - just out of reach in terms of cost and space. I need to figure out what I will be doing in the future. As I said earlier, I´ll bring my current layout into a state in which I can sell it for reasonable money. Whatever I will get for it, will have to go into the piggy bank which says "move" on it. Maybe I can dabble with a briefcase or box layout in whatever scale comes handy. I already find my 3 by 5 ft. layout "too big" at the moment.
Speaking of heart clinic - mine is attached to the University of Hamburg hospital and belongs to the 3 best places in Germany - that´s a little bit reassuring.
Good Morning all
Flo can I have some of that colored cardboard called bad ticker food and a French Roast with no cream or sugar. . Must confess I had a set back last night. Fell asleep on the coach and when I woke up I went to the frig for a cold bottle of water and what did I see ! left over cookies and cream PIE ! Unfortunately there is a about a third less now than there was earlier that night I know the food Nazi will eventuially discover my indiscretions. So back on the wagon today. Salad with water down dressing and cardboard with seasoning. Feeling better as the days go forward. Less pain, little more energy.
Ulrich - It is amazing that you survived a hit of that kind. You are VERY fortunate. I was hit at only 55mph and I was in therapy for three years with some long term disabilities ! Z scale who can see that stuff ???
Howmus - Go ahead and eat the pumpkin pie. I will just sit downwind and enjoy the aroma as it wafts by
Cuda - Yes ask them LOTS of questions. By the way I think you look better now than you did then !
Lion - SO Glad they didnt mistake you for a mtn lion and cart you off to the far reaches of California mtns !
Grump Doug - So your family is a Nazi about you doing the yard work ?
Garry - That is a real problem that I have to watch. It is very easy to think I am doing okay and then do to much
UP831 - HOWDY ! Yes I did. There was basically an electric short in the heart and they had to go in and remove the offending circuit. Very uncomfortable afterwards ! But the ole ticker is beating smoothly now How are you doing ?
I sent an email to Galaxy yesterday. Have not heard back from him. Does anyone have his phone number ? Ken do you have it ?
Back to the ole rock pile chip bang, bang chip.....
TTYL YGW
yougottawantaUlrich - It is amazing that you survived a hit of that kind. You are VERY fortunate.
Since then, my favourite car was and is a Mercedes (or a Volvo, for that matter). It was probably the load I had in the back of the car which saved me - bottled wine in cases. One bottle survived the crash ...
Born in August, I am a Leo. Cats are supposed to have 9 lives - I think I have spent 8 of them so far.
yougottawantaLion - SO Glad they didnt mistake you for a mtn lion and cart you off to the far reaches of California mtns !
Mountain LIONS, aka pumas, cougars etc. are NATIVE to North Dakota. They even have a season on them : (
THIS LION went to Bismarck to see the Urologist, him says the water works. I had to drive all the way to Bismarck for that? Well, LION planned it correctly, and had a nace BIG, RARE, JUICY, RIBEYE steak!
Pricy (as far as the budget of a LION goes) but well worth it to sneak out and get a lump of meat that is not so grossly over cooked. I do not think that our cooks even know about an oven, they go straight for the potters kiln and crank that sucker up, and then call it dinner. Sometimes our poor LION cannot eat that stuff.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Afternoon Dinners
Flo, please.
This day off as sucked so far. Well, there is some good news, wife foot is healing. Took her to her Dr today and he X-Rayed it, bad news is now she has to go to a Specialist and the Co-Pay will be $40.00 and not the $5.00 for her Dr.
Personaly I have not felt good all day, just tired. Guess it being a day has not help. I thought I sleep OK last night, but even after a 1 hour nap my caboose is still draging.
Gary Are you amazed that both me and the 68 Road Runner can still move?
yougottawantaI think you look better now than you did then !
YGW I think they messed up your eye sight when you had the work done at the hospital! I think I know why you think I look better now.
1 Phot was taken soon after I meet my to be wife. At that point I let her dress me funny and she did my hair the way she wanted it, not the way I wanted it. Plus it was 1973 after all, the start of Disco! I hated 95% of the stuff, but my to be wife loved it!
2 You can not see what is hidden behind my Road Runner's door! In the 1973 photo it was before I joined the Army, I was around 175 then.
Sure wish we hear something about Barry.
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
Good evening diners. This weekend I have a BMW Airhead motorcycle tech day. Airheads are the bikes produced roughly between 1960 and 1985 tho' they did make some as late as 1995. Medical problems kept me off of it for 2 years. I put fresh gas in it last weekend and made it as far as 3 houses down the street. So I am scrambling to work on the carbs, and misplacing parts as I go.
Went to one of the biggest BMW MC dealers and the parts guy looked like he rode a Harley to work. He tried to convince me that BMW never made model of bike until 2 years after mine was built. Don't get involved in vintage motorcycles.
Reenactors. Don't think I saved any pictures. If I did, I would post the middle aged pot bellied white guy wearing a feather and an native American style loin cloth. There.... you can see it, without the pic. It looked as bad as you imagine.
RIBEYE She who must be obeyed and I celebrated our 4th aniversary at Chop House, a high end chain of several different restaurants. It was $$$. I had my first and probably last "dry aged" ribeye. It was good, even very good, but not the best steak I ever had but probably the most expensive.
My wife's friend is staying with us for a couple days starting tomorrow. She lost her husband last year to head and neck cancer, and a grisly battle it was. She is a smoker, so I guess he was, but smoking may have nothing to do with it. Oral cancer is now a sexually transmitted disease. Anyway she is forlorn, couldn't bear to live in her house after he died and is living with her sister, sisters granddaughter and her mother. Don't ask about the sisters daughter.
YGW figured that's what you had. I was being considered for that, but my arrythmia was related to heart surgery. If you open and close a chest on mice they get Atrial fib too.
You probably had general anesthesia with a muscle relaxant called succinylcholine. It's the fastest acting and shortest lived muscle relaxant. Short lived is good, because if you are paralyzed and can't breath and we can't put a tube in your trachea, it usually wears off before really bad things happen to you. You don't have to remember the name of the drug, just tell any future anesthesiologist that your muscles hurt real bad. I'm sure your anesthesiologist would be happy to talk to you about it. The hospital/cardiologist should be able to put you in touch with his/her office.
All that sounds far worse than I intended, though Vinnie would not sanction my motorcycle mechanic language, especially when I misplaced the carb jets. I hope we can show my wife's friend Chris a good time. Airhead guys are about the same age as model railroaders. We are blessed that one of our group is French, and owns a French restaurant. We also have a South African, an Australian, and a guy that collects WW2 tanks. Timonium has a train show this weekend too.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Good evening .
Tough times for several diners, but I have some good news. I had minor surgery last week to remove a growth in my head. I received biopsy results today. It was pre-cancerous, and the doctor did remove it all.
The yellow ribbon is up for Barry and for Galaxy.
Happy Model Railroading.
Early morning diners,
Don't worry YGW I got the replacement fuse to run the cooler on high than low.
I decided to an replacement dvd of Superman Doomsday. Since the old one no longer works.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Good Afternoon!
Quiet in here today!
It´s a beautiful day, sunny, but not hot, rather fresh and therefore refreshing - just the way I like it!
There was an envelope in today´s mail, containing a little box with 48 seated figures from Preiser. It was a bargain, about half of Preiser´s RRP, but therefore the colouring of the figures is predominately white. Nevertheless, I put them into the coaches and call it a hospital´s staff day out.
I was a little too quick in re-assembling the coaches, so the windows started to fog up from the fumes evaporating from the superglue I used to glue down the figures. Fortunately I was quick enough to open them up again. Now I will let them air for a few hours before putting them back together again. Strangely, the panorama coach is not at all affected.
I wish we´d get news about Barry and Galaxy!
V8VegaI saw on a TV nature program once that a Mountain Lion can leap 30 feet, I think that is downhill.
30' is awesome, better sign him up for the cougars.
A LEOPARD can drop 60' feet from a tree and then move at full speed alsmost as fast as a Cheatah-- but far more manuverable.
Good morning all !
Been an extremely busy day today. Had to go to this diner for a mental break
Ulrich - Did you save the lucky bottle ? How in the world did you figure out the glue fogged the glass on the passenger cars ? Did it ruin the glass ?
Garry - Did they remove from the external side or the interior of you head ? I hope the first ! Glad to hear they caught it in time !
V8 - In my case I would need the hubble telescope to se Z scale !
Henry - Oh my ! Thanks for NOT sharing that picture ! Really someone middle aged with a pot belly wearing a loin cloth - excuse me while I go ....I feel sick ....
Ken - LOL - No I think my eyes are okay. It is amazing what we let women talk us into I hated disco too. Still dont like it. Is that a challenger parked behind the road runner ?
Lion - LOL BIG RARE STEAK - Is that buffalo steak ? Mule deer steak ? Nice juicy corn fed Black Angus steak ?
Galaxy, Barry - Hope to hear from you all soon ???
Hi to the missing - DER, Cats think well of me, UP831, Reinhard, Grumpy Doug....
Gotta run w**k is calling
TTYL
YGW
I'll be out of town, and therefore away from the Forums, on Friday and Monday. So, as a precaution, I'll be placing all members of the Diner on moderation until next Tuesday.
APRIL FOOLS! What? It's still April!
But seriously, I will actually be out of touch the next few days. So behave yourselves...
Sending out the usual round of good wishes for recovery of various members...
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
yougottawantaUlrich - Did you save the lucky bottle ? How in the world did you figure out the glue fogged the glass on the passenger cars ? Did it ruin the glass ?
I was really lucky! I saw it starting misting up one single window, so I opened the cars quickly and wiped the mist away with a damp cloth. I should have known - it happened to me before, ruining the glass of the little chapel. You wouldn´t think that the vapors of CA are that aggressive, would you?
yougottawantaV8 - In my case I would need the hubble telescope to se Z scale !
My eyes are also pretty bad. The trick is to bring the trains up to your nose - as close as possible. When your normal HO scale viewing distance is, say, 18" to 24", you should reduce that to 7", resp. 9.5"
After what has seemed like an endless winter, it's 73 degrees and sunny out. I'm going to get out the road bike for the first time this year and take it for a spin.
Yes, I'll bring 2 bottles of water and 2 energy bars. I remember now how dependent I am on drinking fountains at my regular bike stops, and they haven't opened those up yet from the winter.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Afternoon Diners,
Steven- It's amazing that your becoming a regular.
Ulrich- I am really excited about your little layout, especially adding people into your coaches. I couldn't remember what size it was again.
I'm surprised that Audrey isn't posted an update on Barry lately. And still wondering about our missing regular diners who are sick or missing.
angelob6660Ulrich- I am really excited about your little layout, especially adding people into your coaches. I couldn't remember what size it was again.
Yup, I am excited as well! For the first time in my "career" of nearly 53 years in this hobby, I have installed figures to the coaches! And not only a few - if my counting is correct, there are 85 figures seated in my little Glacier Express train!
Btw, the scale is HO, the gauge is metre-gauge, that´s 12 mm, so 1.5mm wider than HOn3. The proper denomination is HOm (m for metre gauge)
Quick stop for a cup o' mud. It has been crazy the past 2 days working 13, and 14 hours each day due to issues at work. Looking forward to the days off; too bad 1 of those days includes a visit to the doctor to hear him say whats wrong.
Garry - wishing you a speedy recovery and thank God they caught it in time. Hope you are not in pain.
YGW - as well, I needed a sanity break from w**k (as you put it). Hope that today will be a "normal" day and be able to think of more important things (MRR). Hope you are feeling better as well.
Lion - always love the Subway layout photos, brings back memories of the old neighborhood. Any plans to model the A train Howard Beach station (where I grew up)?
Ken - fond memories of those vehicles, remember those Road Runners well.
Coffee finished, needed back on the field.
All the best.
Joe F
I think I am finally ready to attempt cutting gaps by my turnouts. I am convinced I am going to screw it up, so I made a test board with some track to practice on.
I am going to use a (knock-off from Harbor Feight) Dremel to cut the gaps. Let's hope for the best.
I mentioned before I completed my first piano tuning. Mrs. ROR was out of town when I did it so I was excited to hear what she thought. She sat down at the piano, played a little, and said, "Do you want me to be honest?" With a question like that, I knew what was coming, and said, "Yes." "It sounds pretty bad." Not to take my failure too hard, I decided to try it again. An interesting factoid. When tuning a piano, it is imperative to strike the key hard when tuning. When loosing the tuning pin, there is residual tension that remains in between all of the bridges. A sharp blow causes this tension to be released, something I did not do in my first attempt. I re-did the tuning with the requisite blows. Mrs. ROR's reaction after playing it this time, "Wow! This really sounds good." Now, I just need to decrease my completion time and I may have a secondary source of income.
Richard
Flo, Beer please.
Day Off My Caboose I spent 4 hours today doing all the running I needed to do.
YGW There is a reason I call my self Cuda Ken, in that photo it shows my 1970 Plymouth HP 383 Cuda. The 383 has been warmed over a tad, nothing nasty but not stock.
By the way I did make it to K-10 Model Trains and got your wheels. It will be next week when I get them shipped.
Gary I missed the fact you had a growth in your head, I miss read it and thought it was your hand.
Ulrich Layout is looking good. 85 passanger, I think my passanger train has 14 or so. But, most of the cars have no seat.
Chessie I never forgot about them, or the Charger and Cudas. I have owned the 68 Road Runner for 43 years now. Where you a Mopar Owner?
Train Sickness Boy I got it bad! Today when I picked up YGW wheel's from K-10 Model Trains I bought yet another 50' Covered Hopper! While the prices was great at $5.95, I still do not understand why? With out counting, OK I just counted. I have 125 rolling stock on the rails as I speak, another 110 packed up and this is a guess around 50 that I have never up graded to where I will run them? Mostly Tyco and Bachmann I bought off E-Bay.
This is my 10th year in the hobby and I bet I has spent well over $18,000.00 on it. I had went 3 years with out buying anything and started when I could still buy Blue Box rolling stock for $4.00 each.
I am sure I am not the only one, yet I do not understand why my Wife has so many shoe's!
A new photo!
Ken
Still bright and sunny outside, but icy cold! This is April! 20 years ago, we had a real heatwave around this date. I remember it very well, as we had our son´s birthday party outside (which eased cleaning up the mess later on).
No plans for the day, other than running my Glacier Express train on schedule!
Ken - nice photo! Are you aware that it shows the dual turntables at Hamburg-Altona (not Altoona) during the steam days. The picture was taken in the early 1950´s. Some folks built a Z scale model of the turntables and the roundhouse:
Quite a job in that scale!
Janie, just a bowl of cereal (does the brand Alpen still exist?), with skimmed milk, and lots of coffee, please!
Ken and Ulrich
I wonder how many times the turntable operators managed to bang the bridges into each other?
Regards all,
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Hardly ever, Dave - they had the same operator!
Morning.
Cup o' mud please before going to the salt mine.
Ken - a neighbor down the block came into money and bought a new 1970 Road Runner. The car was garaged during the week and came out on the weekend spring, summer, and autumn provided it did not rain. A year later he bought a new 1971 Plymouth Satellite which he used to drive to work. They moved from the old blue collar neighborhood a few months later. A very good friend of the family was a chauffer for a Manhattan fashion designer and she would lug around trunks of clothing to buyers and fashion shows. Her car of choice was a Chrysler Imperial Town and Country station wagon decked out with every option in the book. Those were the days that if you wanted a car like that you had to order it from the factory with a waiting time of 6-8 months if you were lucky. He would be allowed to drive the car when she did not have to be driven anywhere and I remember that boat pulling into the driveway my parents house. This may sound strange but how I would love to have that car now. Those were the days when station wagons were still station wagons, you know what I mean. Good memories were awakened by your photos. Thanks.
Howdy ....
Ulrich ... I can only imagine how hard it would be yo line up all of those tracks with the double turntable in Z scale. Actually any scale. What a challenge !
Reinhard and Ken .... When I was young, my "show boat" was a 1962 Chevy Impala convertible ... Loved that car, but we had kids and it was traded in for a station wagon. I still dream of that '62 Chevy. I bet is was junked long ago, but I do not know.
I'm slowly working on my track project on the layout.
Good morning!
I'm feeling particularly good today. That bike ride was perfect. The weather was just right - low 70s, low humidity, not a cloud in the sky. A bit of a breeze, but it was at my back on the way home and it was warm, too. It was my first time on the road bike since late last fall.
Even though it was a Thursday, there were still a lot of bikers out. All of us "serious" riders wear tight, form-fitting outfits, so I'm glad to see more and more young women taking up the sport. Seriously.
I've got to get out a bit earlier today. There's a band of T-storms that may hit us later in the afternoon.
I intended to show pictures of an extraordinary well done layout, but out of magic, the pics disapperared - sorry!
I am more than worried about Barry and Galaxy - I sure wish we´d get an update on them!