Ken!
You must be reading my "photographic" mind!
Take a look at what my roundhouse sunshine tracks look like at this very moment! Just took these pics ten minutes ago.
Later in the day the hostler pulled the E-9 out and an A-B Shark moved in.
Could there be a hint in there? I go through different "moods" about roadnames. I might see a video with lots of PRR action and for the next six months I'm trying to get my hands on everything Pennsy. A week after that, maybe B&O or NYC. Don't 'ya love the variety this hobby can provide!
Just passin' through for the moment. I'm not even going to sit down, just a quick Hi —Bye...
Ed
Evening Dinners
Flo, I will take a , give Ed what ever he wants and don't forget the Buick Guy either. Good to see you Douglas.
Take A Train To Work Day. Well I picked a good day to do it! I did not get a customer till 7:00 PM? It was a waste of effort to put my book down.
Work / Train Front Finally hard wired a DH166 decoder in my PK 2000 GP7 today. Only have had the engine, what 4 months. Guess wiring a HO engine is a lot like cutting the grass. I don't want to do it and put it off as long as I can. But, when I get started, well that was not that hard after all!
Only thing that gives me fits are the LED's! Question for you folks. How short can you cut the srtalks of the LED and Restistor and then solder with out causing heat damage? Only problem I have is how long I leave the stalks then trying to get them to fit on some engines. F, E, SD's and other larger engines not a problem for me. Smaller GP engines?
Ed I read your PM, are you Santa? I feel like a kid outside of a Train Store! Sure hope to meet you some day!
Douglas I happen to live with in 1.25 miles of a old Nickel Plated Rail Line Right Away. It is hard to belive steam engines could fit down the now bike path.
Well I am beat, felt good most of the day but after I got home I felt sleepy. Never evan test ran the GP 7.
Later Ken
I hate Rust
Don't need anything tonight Flo unless you want someone quietly creating lumber in the diner. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night.
Hobby Front: Got the extra 2x2s this morning as well as the screws. The lumber yard doesn't sell 2x2x16s so ended up with 4 pieces 3' long and 2 pieces 2' long. With a little bit of "surgery", I can make the miscut legs work. Using Dad's radial arm saw, I can make scarf joints on the too short legs and and the scrap pieces in order to get the right length. (I checked YouTube to make sure I was on the right track.) More efficient use of the lumber I have.
Gotta start my week again tomorrow. Not really looking forward to it but without it, can't do my love of trains.
V8Vega,
I agree, supporting yourself is easier than supporting a family. You're in charge of your life, you can go to bed when you want, get up when you want, and live like you want, you take care of yourself while getting things done and keeping it organized. No one is getting on your nerves every 5-10 minutes, believe me kids tend to get in the way. As long as you know your responsibilities and plan things out, you'll be fine. This format can work if done correctly.
Good Afternoon,
Thought I would drop in even though supper is in the oven and due out very soon.
Nice Orca video and stories. We did the Orca viewing thing a few years ago when we were in Victoria visiting friends and relataves. We went out in a high speed boat that was sort of like a Cigarette racing boat. It hit 50 mph with 20 passengers. When boarding I told my wife to grab the seats right behind the captain. Turns out good move as those farther back got soaked from the spray. Amazing rooster tail on a boat that size going that speed. Saw the Orcas too.
Quiet day here. We did take a young Gold Finch to the Wildlife rescue early this morning. I found it sitting on the lawn at 6 a.m.. It couldn't fly but just flutter its wings. Hope it survives.
Thanks for the kind wishes regarding my cancer issue. Turns out they caught it very early and the 5 year survival rate is over 90% so I am not very worried about it spreading just the surgery. It was caught because my GP insisted on PSA tests so be sure you get one too. A friend from high school days died from prostate cancer when he was only 64. He had a very aggressive form that wasn't detected until too late. He was a model railroader too and had a fabulous layout.
Well dinner time is nigh.
CN Charlie
RideOnRoadThe guide told us, since Orcas are an endangered species, we were not allowed to bring the boat any closer than 200 yards. However, if we stopped the boat more that 200 yards away, and the Orca decided to come closer to the boat, that didn't violate any rules. There were a couple who decided to come a little closer, not nearly as close as your encouter, but something less than 75 yards. Mrs. ROR even got to see one of the Orcas breach. (I was in the bathroom and missed it. Lousy old man prostate.)
The Orca use to scratch their backs under the boat and give us a bit of a ride. We were usually in a 30' boat, so no worries. They seem to be the most gentle creatures. I can't recall anyone ever being hurt by one up here. I never saw one while diving, however, I have talked to lots of people who have.
We use to just mooch for Salmon so the motor was not running, however, if we were trolling and they came up to the boat, we would immediately shut the engine(s) down. You can see scares on some of them from prop contact. You could sometimes give their nose a rub when they would scratch their chins on the side of the boat. They do smile at you.
Here is a video that shows an encounter. I suggest you click on the link and view fullscreen. Also if you don't want to watch the whole thing, go to the five minute mark and start there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIrsrRnerHY
My daughter said everyone involved in this movie thing is incredibly nice and very friendly. They all seem to love their jobs a lot. She is having a wonderful time.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
gmpullman PM Railfan I see Cousin Vinnie has been here but for the life of me I cant figure out who broke the rules doing what. I think it was the discussion about the Highway Act of 1944. No politics, even if it was 72 years ago. Just a friendly reminder from Vinnie Be back later, Ed
PM Railfan I see Cousin Vinnie has been here but for the life of me I cant figure out who broke the rules doing what.
I think it was the discussion about the Highway Act of 1944. No politics, even if it was 72 years ago. Just a friendly reminder from Vinnie
Be back later,
I think the discussion also included references to the proposed high-speed rail in California as well as a couple of related politicians.
Richard
BATMAN. . .ROR, It sounds like your wife had a good trip, it is always exciting to see Orcas in the wild. We use to Salmon fish a lot out on the chuck and the orcas would come up very close to the boat and just float there and have a visit. It is a powerful experience looking them right in the eye and having a chit chat. Sometimes they would remain for quite a while, twenty minutes would not be uncommon. . .
The guide told us, since Orcas are an endangered species, we were not allowed to bring the boat any closer than 200 yards. However, if we stopped the boat more that 200 yards away, and the Orca decided to come closer to the boat, that didn't violate any rules. There were a couple who decided to come a little closer, not nearly as close as your encouter, but something less than 75 yards. Mrs. ROR even got to see one of the Orcas breach. (I was in the bathroom and missed it. Lousy old man prostate.)
BATMAN. . .So it was once again just my daughter with five of the main stars. Do you think she was thrilled?. . .
I looked up the movie on IMDB and saw that there were a couple of big names in it. I hope they are decent people.
I now have most of the fascia up on my layout. I still have a little tricky area, but it is almost there. Now I am also looking for a source for skirting to attach to the bottom of the fascia. I am anxious to "hide" all of the junk under the layout.
I could not figure out what was the concern. I'm guessing, we were talking about railroad history, and the decision makers in our democacy happen to be politcians. Nobody was advocating a political party or a politcian. I recall riding the beautiful and comfortable trains of the 1950's, and I sometimes talk about why they are gone. To this day, government spends nearly all of its transportation funding on competitors of railroads (highways and airports). That is how things are. Sorry if that is offensive. Maybe, I should have commented in the Trains Forum.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
PM RailfanI see Cousin Vinnie has been here but for the life of me I cant figure out who broke the rules doing what.
Hello Railfans!
Flo - let me have the 'playing hooky' special, and an incognito dessert to follow please.
In General - Somehow I managed to get a day off. Not by choice mind you. So I decided to come here and take it out on you guys .
I see Cousin Vinnie has been here but for the life of me I cant figure out who broke the rules doing what.
RR Front - In response to Kens' - 'why more cars', here's my excuse....
....because they are there to be bought!
I dont believe in the saying "i have too much" when speaking of model railroading. That term does not apply in this hobby and never will. There are 5 distinct things in this universe no one can have too much of....
Money, Food, Love, Peace, and..... model trains! Period.
(Some will say good health should be on that list. Good health is a given, as none of the list would matter if you didnt have your health to begin with.)
OK folks, enough of my proverbing around, I will check in later on.
Douglas
Good morning from the beautiful sunny West Coast. Even though we are a few Kms. in from the ocean we are getting a good whiff of salt air this morning.
CN Charlie, I was born in Winnipeg and the family had summer cottages at Ottermere Lake in Ontario. The only way to get there was on the train and CN would run a train called the campers special. Friday nights at the lake were when all the supplies the people would have had shipped down would arrive. Most of the time it would be in the baggage cars, even lumber orders, however, if there was a lot, a box car would be taken out and spotted on a small siding. You would then see tiny boats piled high with lumber and other supplies making their way down the lake, back and forth over the weekend.
ROR, It sounds like your wife had a good trip, it is always exciting to see Orcas in the wild. We use to Salmon fish a lot out on the chuck and the orcas would come up very close to the boat and just float there and have a visit. It is a powerful experience looking them right in the eye and having a chit chat. Sometimes they would remain for quite a while, twenty minutes would not be uncommon.
YGW. The kids are having a great time doing this movie thing and at first I had the same impression as you and so did my son as far as thinking the whole thing was very inefficient. I have changed my mind and as is sometimes the case, I didn't know what I didn't know. This filming location covers a huge area (acres) and I overheard that there was about fifteen hundred people involved counting some six hundred extras. I now am beginning to realize what a finely tuned machine it all is.
On Friday the kids arrived at 0645Hrs for my daughters 0700Hrs call. My sons call was for 1145Hrs. He went and was looking out over the Pacific Ocean and fell asleep on the lawn with a couple of big blankets. They took my daughter right to the set she was on the day before. There were 250 extras on this set but my daughter was right in with the main characters. As the day went by they let more and more of the extras go as they didn't need them. Then at 1600Hrs they had to let the final dozen or so go as anyone fifteen and under can't work over eight hours. That is all except my daughter. They had to get a special exemption for her to work past eight hours as she is only fourteen. So it was once again just my daughter with five of the main stars. Do you think she was thrilled?
In the early evening she had to go to wardrobe for an outfit change and then was taken to a different set (outside). This is where my son had been working. They were shooting first day at school scenes for a hoity toity private school in New York. They then changed the same spot to a very cold winters day. This involved another trip to wardrobe to be outfitted with heavy down winter jackets and woollen hats. It was still about 25C/78F outside in real life, so they had to work fast.
While they were waiting between shots the director went over to my daughter and had a long talk with her about a lot of things. He told her that they will often have someone play an instrument in a scene and will usually dub the music in later. They do like the person to know enough about the instrument to at least be able to do a good fake. He then asked her if she played any instruments. She said she plays Piano, Clarinet and Cello. He goes "alrighty then". He then yells for everyone to places.
While the director was talking to my Daughter, the assistant director went to talk to my son who was quite far away from where my Daughter was. He talked to him about how tough he was and could he take a little knocking around. (My son is solid muscle with a major eight pack from all the hockey he plays.) He also asked him a bunch of general interest stuff. I told my kids they were trying to get a feel as to there personalities. They both said at the same time "I think you're right Dad, by the questions they were asking. The funny thing is they didn't know they were Brother and Sister at the time.
At the end of the day they announced they would not need anymore extras until the last week of August. So after 13 plus hours on location Friday with my Daughter having eleven and a half hours on set, they were done.
Halfway through the ninety minute drive home the phone rings in the car. They ask if the kids be at the new location on Thursday.
They are really having a lot of fun. My daughter is a little choked that she has to give up her riding, I think she will get over it though.
As you can guess this household has been turned upside down. It was all suppose to be a day here, a couple hours there. Major schedule rearrangement going on. I can't wait for school to start.
The walking wounded list is long in the diner lately. Lest I miss anyone, best wishes for speedy recoveries.
Morning diners,
I last time I spoke was like 2 days ago?
If we're still talking talking about freight cars, I try to have 8 of each type of boxcars, reefers, covered hoppers. It's harder than it sounds, since I look up freight cars to see if their still roaring the rails.
The most harder freight cars are tank cars, and Auto Racks they wear logos or plain, safety strips and it hard to place them in the era your modeling. 99% of the time there's no picture.
Hoppers, trailers, 1980 TTX flatcars- I buy them if they don't have photos like Conrail trailers and hoppers. Conrail owned over 1,000 hoppers and barely no pictures until the coalporters in late 199Os.
I can't found good accurate gondolas with 13 panels for CR. Or found 60' flatcars other than the 89'.
I have to owe apologies to people. (Who has children and/or multi pets)
It's starting to get a hard to write with two dogs now, it's like having two toddlers under the age of 5. Almost barkings, high maintenance agility, drinks a ton of water, knocking things or taking things he's not allowed to get. I have no time to sit or do any railroading work. Concentrating on walks is 6 times more work.
Wants the point of dogs when both of their owners do absolute nonething, and a parent who's a couch potato since he retired at the age 55. He's financial not ready to retire. He spend a lot of money going to the casino. (And since he retired he completed turned off his brain and legs to do anything except more around the couch.) I hope you guys aren't that lazy and self-sufficent. My mom can't retire until she's reaches 70.
Maybe soon I'll have a photo of the dogs and show you. But for now I'm a little busy. See you when I have time.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Folks,Even though the Diner thread allows off-topic conversation, it's still subject to the Forum's prohibition on political discussions. Talk infrastructure all you want, but once you start getting into which party or politician is responsible for it, you're getting into prohibited territory. Just a friendly warning.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Herrinchoker ... You remind me of observing construction a few years ago near my wife's sister's home in Nashville, TN. Work was being done to upgrade the rail line from Nashville to Lebanon for a commuter train. At the same time, I-40 was being expanded from Nashville to Lebanon to have 8 lanes. .... Now, the 8-lane highway is packed with cars and trucks. The commuter train, called the Music City Star, typically has only two ex-Chicago bilevel commuter cars following its ex-Amtrak F-40. There are plenty of vacant seats on the train.
Ray .... Nice work on your scenery. ... I currently have a scenery project too.
Douglas .... Thanks for the comment.
Ken .... Not trying to convince you to add another railroad, but it is tempting to have more than we need with so many nice looking choices.
ATSFGuyWhen I click on the name (www.trainweb.org/mccann/offer.htm), it says the page does not exisit.
Good morning folks. I haven't spent any time on this site, but there is a www.trainweb.org/mccann page. It look like just a place mark. From what they say on the home page, they lost a good bit of their website and the people that had those pages need to upload their pages again.
There was a guy on Fox Business this am, dark rimmed glasses, dark sport coat, and bow tie that was the spitting image of Cody Grivno
I did not go to the Greenberg Train Show this weekend. With travel time it would have taken most of the day.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
G'mornin' Diners...
Just popping in for a warm bag of Beignets and some Double-XX Java made with Boiler Wash Water
KEN! Love that shot of the B&O EM-1. I live a few miles from the former B&O Lake branck (now a bike path ) sure is hard to imagine those monsters (usually two up-front and one pushin') hammering through the sleepy countryside around here on their way to Fairport Harbor on Lake Erie .
I have two of the Bachmann models of them (7607 in your pic is one of them!) and they ARE fantastic! Sent you a PM
Douglas, I cant believe how simple it was to setup Ad-Block! Right now just on Chrome but I'll do IE11 later today. Perfect! I like the little icon in the address bar that tells you what it's up to Thanks Again...
Well, I see FLo has my order up already. I'm hittin' the sack, the coffee and puffy pastry is for the little lady!
I'll check in on the return trip!
Regards and Happy Monday,
Top of the evening to yas! Very nice outside which made the trip home this evening rather pleasurable. I certainly hope everyone is doing ok. Since its been very slow today I figured now would be a good time to use up my internet crayon.
Ed - Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a good program to use. So is Ad-Block. Zone Alarm (by Check Point Software) makes a great firewall with anti-virus too. Best thing about these three programs is they come in a free version. They work just as good as their 'paid for' counter parts.
While there are many to compare to Malwarebytes and Zone Alarm, there is no substitute for Ad-Block. It is a gotta have in todays internet society.
Ken - Hit me up when you can. I understand your having 'technical difficulties' at this time.
Garry - Nice shot of the 'Red Birds'. Never heard that name for them before. I was always a bit partial to that paint scheme though.
Howmus - Nice scenery work. Cant wait to see a shot of something rolling through it!
In General - Same ole grind. Back to work tomarow.
Railroad front - See 'In General'.
Have a great rest of the evening folks!
Heartland Division CB&Q FRRY ... you mentioned flat cars for your era. What is your era?
FRRY ... you mentioned flat cars for your era. What is your era?
ACI era. Mid-70's to 80-81 (end is somewhat flexible). Hard to find accurate RTR flat cars for that era.
cudaken Train Front Man I still have it bad, the rolling stock sickness. Guess I am going to have to throw away more rolling stock boxes. I have ran out of places to store them again. I just don't understand why we all want more? I now have 120 cars on the layout, around 75 under the layout (project / Junk ) and 110 wrapped and in storage from a few years ago I was going to tear the layout down. Yet I still buy rolling stock?
Train Front Man I still have it bad, the rolling stock sickness. Guess I am going to have to throw away more rolling stock boxes. I have ran out of places to store them again.
I just don't understand why we all want more? I now have 120 cars on the layout, around 75 under the layout (project / Junk ) and 110 wrapped and in storage from a few years ago I was going to tear the layout down. Yet I still buy rolling stock?
I know the feeling. I won that gondola that I placed a bid on. Miniumin bid. but still it's not like I really need more freight cars.
Construction Project: I managed to get both of the new sections built. Unfortunely, I ran into a few problems in the process. First, I ran out of screws. (I thought a 1/2# of drywall screws would be enough. {I had a few extra from another project so I could attach the main section. But I couldn't attach the triangle section.} I also got that batch somewhat too long.) Second, I had the legs cut too short. I had them cut at 30" when I should of had them cut @ 36. I happened to have a couple of 2x2s that were good enough to rig the section so I could attach it. I will go to the lumber yard tomorrow and get replacements (I will get 5 from a 16' board. I can use the extras anyway.) and another 1/2 or 3/4# of the right length drywall screw.
I also managed to get the river extension sketched, the turning wye bedded and laid as well as extending the main line. The industrial yard will have to wait until I can get a cork sheet ordered. Another disadvantage of not having an LHS.
The other thing I will need to find is my jigsaw. Again, it has been too long since I used it to remember where I put it last. All for next week.
Continued from Post 1,
I'm not sure if you guys are aware, but Trainweb.org experienced a major web server failure a few days ago. (Wed July 26, 2016). Because of this it seem my favorite website that I use for reference is no longer available. When I click on the name (www.trainweb.org/mccann/offer.htm), it says the page does not exisit. Do you think this website will return to the internet or is it gone for good?
Hello, is there anyone in here?
Flo, where are you? That's OK, I know where the is kept!
Work was as slow as the dinner today. Only two customers in today and total sales was $11.00? Coustomer bought a fill kit for is Mom water bed.
To be honest, I was glad it was slow, I felt like caboose. When I first woke up I thought I may have had a few to beer's last night. But I never even now felt any better. Guess the ball bearing wars is still on. While I don't have big brass one's now, still sort of red.
Ed Looking forward to your PM. Can I use a credit card for the long tem lease?
By chances, do you have any photos of the East Saint Louis Ill B&O Round House? I still drive by the remains off highway 65/70 heading into St Louis Mo. It is one of the reason I became a B&O Junkie. Use to look like round house when I first saw it.
Gary What are you trying to do to me, get me hooked on another road name!
YGW Not a problem as far as the coal cars.
Later, Ken
Evenin' folks,
Janie, just need another cup of decaf for now. Ate way too much at dinner out at a resaurant to celebrate a late 9th. birthday for my #1 Granddaughter. Then went back to their house for way too much dessert and a glass of wine. Sugar will likely be a bit high when I take it before bed....
I will get to babysit the girls on Tuesday as their mom is going back to work tomorrow after being out for 6 weeks due to the shoulder surgery..... She will be going directly back to her classes... (she teaches at a, more or less, prizon school for problem youths.... Many are badly abused kids or ones with some definate mental problems.) The institution has promissed that she will have extra help (other teachers) with her in class until she feels up to teaching alone again... Anyway, the girls will be coming over to help Papa clean house for the Faculty Dept. Picnic coming up in a few weeks. Ought to be fun.
I have gotten a bit more scenery done down in the train room during the last few days...
Have a good evening!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Garry,
When Ike pushed for the Interstate System it was to prepare for a potential conflict with the Soviet Union. The Iron Curtain came down in 47, one of the things Ike saw was the ease and speed the German Army had when they utilized the Autobahn. Hitler also wanted the capability of the Autobahn to be used as aircraft runways, which was done-the German jets, the ME-262, used several sections of the Autobahn for runways as their airfields were destroyed by Allied bombing.
Many sections of the US Interstate System have that capability as well.
With the expansion of this country after WWII rail could not provide all the services needed, not without major expansion of all rail lines. Because of the shift in popultion, (cars) trains could not provide the freedom that the population wanted.
No-one misses rail (steam for me) more than I, my Grandfather was the yardmaster in Brownsville Texas, retired in June of 40, and re-called January of 42. As a young boy I made several trips to Harlengen Texas on 2-6-2 and 2-8-0 steam engines. It truly is a time I miss---
Unfortuniately/fortuniately, society has changed, and the demands we have as a people are not what they were in 1938, or even as recient as 2000.
The infrastructure is long gone. When rail service was re-established here in coastal Maine my thought was " who is going to get on a train in Boston, ride to Wiscasset Maine--no hotels, no cab service, get off walk around, get back on, and return to Boston, yeah, I had a train ride, jeez--that was fun" That senario can be repeated all over this country. REA is long gone here, the station in Bath Maine is now a information center, the old REA buildng now houses a crew building a replica of the Virginia of Sagadahoc, a pennice, built in 1607 at Popham Colony.
To re-establish the infrastructure would be a cost that not many would support. (Given the iron will of our leaders)
I agree that rail IS the most reasonable way to move goods costwise--the real rub comes when you finally arrive at point B how are said items to be delivered to the customers.
Just some observations,
herrinchoker
This is straight run---no spell check, don't know if I have it, don't know how to use it if I do----
Henry .... I remember when that roof collapsed. I had been to the B&O Museum before it happened. ... As for Ike and highways, he was only one of the politicans who have been anti-railroad since the early 1880's... Funding to subsidize highways and airports has been about 100 times funding to subsidize rail transport since WWII. .. Fuel tax for highways pays only half of the costs for them, and the rest is out of the general fund. Therefore, the fuel tax should be doubled so users can pay full cost of highways. .... USA had the best pasenger trains in the world in the 1950's but Uncle Sam put them out of business. .... Trains are the most fuel efficient means of transport on land, and it was dumb to put them out of business.... A conventional diesel locomotive is capable of going over 100 mph, and many of the expensive high tech trains really are not needed for high speed rail in most cases. What is really needed is a clear right of way with good tracks.
It cost $2 million dollars to rebuild the B&O rail museum roof collapse of 2003. That's a museum that can raise money through donations and rent out the facilities for events such as weddings and corporate events.
A decommissioned roundhouse is just a big building waiting to fall down. Nostalgia doesn't play a big role in corporate America, especially in the boom and bust world of railroads. Had Eisenhower decided to put the US on a path of high speed rail instead of sprawl and crawl highways, things might be different, in a lot of ways.
Almost forgot. I had a patient complain of his package hitting the water when he sat on the john. I thought that was too much doctor patient honesty, but thought my elderly physician uncle would enjoy the story. Uncle: "I hated it too, I had the operation."
Me: "What operation?"
Uncle: "They did a package lift."
Who knew? Gotta run I hear couzin Vinnie coming with a big stick.
Good morning .... Coffee and a donut please.
YGW .... Continued prayers for your Dad. Thanks for the updates.
FR RY ... you mentioned flat cars for your era. What is your era?
Ken ... Speaking of P2K SD's, here are 4 of my six P2K SD's . In the early 1960's CB&Q operated SD's in both paint Schemes. Crews called them "black birds" and "red birds".
Ed ... Your post reminds me of my "round tuit" project. When I get a round tuit, I would like to use Decoder Pro or some other software to manage my DCC locomotives. I converted to DCC a few years ago, and now have roughly 50 locomotives equipped with DCC. Not very many are speed matched. I have not put much thought into what to get if I want to use software to manage my decoders.
In recent months, events have not allowed me to have much time with model railroading as I would like. Just about all of my available model railroad time currently is working on my layout extension. My current scenery project is part of that. When I get back to the workbench, there are several projects with the locomotives and cars which are awaiting me.
gmpullman P.S. If you keep buying me all these beers the keyboard is going to be too blurry for me to type a response!
P.S. If you keep buying me all these beers the keyboard is going to be too blurry for me to type a response!
Hence why I am a teetotaller. As I have said before, I have many reasons why I don't imbibe.
Train Front: It's finally here. Construction Sunday. Adding 17 sq ft to my layout. Of course, as many of you know I have a slight eBay addiction when it comes to freight cars. I found yet another one that I currently have on bid. Before I bid on anything, it has to draw my interest and I have to find photographic proof that the number and car type is accurate for the roadname. (Too many times I've ended up with cars that don't meet those points.) The current goal is accurate flats and gons somewhat hard for the era I model.
cudakenEd I saw on Train Stuff web site they have new B&O SD 7's for $89.00, are they the same as my B&O SD'S? Guessing if anyone knows at the diner it would be you.
Ken, basically, yes. Same "heritage" as the Life-Like and possibly with a better motor and gearing. After Walthers bought LL they made a few design changes to many of the locomotives. The E units are a little slower for one thing and I don't have any of the Walthers versions so can't comment on any "improvements" but generally, Walthers made them better.
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Walthers-Proto-HO-EMD-SD7-B-O-p/920-48901.htm
$90 is probably a pretty good deal on these guys! BEFORE you shell out any money to enlarge your roster give me a little time to get a PM to you. I may have a few "surplus" locomotives I can send your way on a "Long-Term Lease".
Running time? I'm sure the numbers are higher in the colder months but I would judge my average time actually operating, i.e. "running trains" to be in the area of 15 to 20 hours a week. Often I'll have through trains making laps while I'm working on other projects, too.
FYI
Did you know ESU decoders have a built-in hour meter? Here's the screen shot for one of my PA-2s showing 48.00 hours (highlighted toward the bottom). Now I would like to know the exact criteria for that number. I don't think it is actual motor time, but could be. Maybe it is time the decoder is "active" or selected? I'll have to email Matt Herman and ask.
Cheers— Ed
P.S. Ken: If you keep buying me all these beers the keyboard is going to be too blurry for me to type a response! Still... keep 'em comin' I'll tell 'ya when I've had 'nuff
yougottawantaI wonder why they test down the roundhouses? Do you think they get taxed on the building if it remains up ? Removal and haul of a building that size is crazy expensive. The dump feed would be astronomical alone.
I'd imagine it's liability. If kids go there to play and get hurt, guess who gets the blame? No amount of fencing or No Tresspassing signs will protect them.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Good evening. It has been a beautiful day here, today. 72 degrees F and clear blue sky. We went scouting wild rice this afternoon. My friend has been suffering from mono at 44 years of age. He thinks it started out as a strep throat and turned into mono. As he is recovering but not up to snuff, I was the designaterd driver as the rice lake is 100 K away. The crop is not as good as last year as the lake water level is very high this year. Following picture shows how nice the weather was today. Wild rice is on the left of the picture.
Ken, ouch. Hope you have quick healing.
YGW, continued prayers for your father's healing and rehabilitation.Jim