Welcome to October in the Diner!
This is a place to gather, a place without an agenda or a topic. It's free to all, to read, to join in, or just to enjoy some virtual food. Our gracious hosts ask only that we avoid certain hot-button topics like politics and religion that sometimes raise tempers.
You'll get to know the friendly staff just by listening. It's a place to share your day, your concerns, your joys and sorrows. Welcome aboard.
This month, the Diner is on a short run-around siding in the Cumberland Gap. (wherever that is)
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
The RIP track is the place for us to pay our respect to our friends and forum members who are no longer with us.
Thanks and a hearty "ROAR!" to The Lion for starting the Diner thread this month!
Cumberland Gap, just so we know what to use for a backdrop:
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Morning diners,
I guess I was a little late opening the doors. Thanks for opening them LION.
I was thinking of getting the new Micro-Trains true scale couplers. My idea was to convert my Kato Bethgon hoppers with them. Since these have the air hose connection, but they cannot be together with other brands of couplers. Which might be a good thing. The bethgons aren't going to be with any other cars. I just don't know if they can be converted.
Happy Halloween Month everybody!
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
It's been a very slow day today isn't it? I know it's been 9 hours since I lasted posted.
Where is everybody? (Me yelling in surprise)
I received my Fox Valley Models 50' boxcars. I got three, one of each Burlington Northern, Montana Rail Link, and BNSF.
BroadwayLion The RIP Track The RIP track is the place for us to pay our respect to our friends and forum members who are no longer with us. Barry Arnold aka BlownoutCylinder Jerry Cox aka Cox47 Wolfgang Dudler aka Westport Terminal Bob Hartle aka cmrproducts Ed Murphy Bill North Stein Rypern, Jr. aka Steinjr Andy Sperandeo Jeffrey "Running Bear" Wimberley "Gone, but not forgotten"!
I'd like to add Alan B to the honor roll. He died Decmber 2007. I was following the construction of his latest and last layout. At one end was the town of AROCK and at the other the town of HARDPLACE. In the middle was the town of Halfway.
After not seeing any progress on his layout I learned that he had died from cancer while he was modeling the layout, thus the names of the towns. He indeed was between a rock and a hardplace.
As you can tell, I'll never forget his acceptance of his fate and wanted to honor his memory.
Coffee for everyone.
Bob
Don't Ever Give Up
Evening Dinners
Flo, I will have a please and give Ed one if he makes it in. What, you have speical on Brother Ellis wine? Does it have Cat Scat in it? OK, give Ed a bottle. If he lives I give it a try.
Thanks Lion for opeing the dinner. I all most did it this morning but with it being a Saturday I had to leave earliy.
Work Stunk
Train Front Either my layout is built on a Indian Burial Site, or I should have never went DCC!
PCM Y6b I have no idea what happend, not a clue! But for some reason tonight it started moving again? I did nothing to the engine, it just started running!Decoder Pro thinks it is the B&O F7a's but that I understand. I did a CV8 to 8 last night and I have the B&O's all so sat at address 3. I was stunned when I started to run the B&O F7a and the Y6b took off, last night all it did was make sound. Y6b gears need some lub, so I shut her down. Taking the Trucks apart is not fun but I have done it before.
Coal Car Front Only I left to go! All I have to do (I hope) is install 1 more Kadee coupler and then they are all done! To bad the spring is missing, but I have gotten half way good installing them. Only takes 2 springs to install one!
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
Hello Diners.
Lion. Thanks for starting the October thread.
A little unfinished business from the September Diner....
CN Charlie... I am not sure who manufactured the sailboat. It is a small one.
Alvie ... Glad you are going to Orlando this coming week. Unfortunately, the weather forecast looks bad for Orlando when you are there . We have plans to go there the following week.
Ed... the Walthers Hulett loader is very impressive. Times four in your case.
ken... I like the PRR T1 photo.
Its been busy for me the last couple of days. I hope to get back to working on the layout late tomorrow.
Cheers.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
angelob6660Where is everybody? (Me yelling in surprise)
I told the ticket agent that I wanted to go to Cumberland Gap, Pullman, of course.
I just got off the train and discover, to my dismay, that I'm in Maryland on the B&O!
The agent is off duty so I head over to the Queen City Hotel where I thought I had a room reserved. Then— I find out it was torn down in 1972! Wait til' I get my hands on that ticket agent!
Tomorrow, I'll get on the Shenandoah back to D.C. then on to Knoxville, on the Southern's Pelican. Maybe I can talk the Conductor into letting me drop-off on the fly as we come out of the tunnel and enter Cumberland Gap, Tennessee otherwise I'll have to hire a cab to take me back there.
Is there another railroad tunnel that occupies THREE states? You can enter the Cumberland Gap tunnel in Kentucky, pass through Virginia while entirely in the tunnel, then exit in Tennessee!
Whew, LION! You sure picked a tough place to get to by train! Well, maybe I'll see you fellows tomorrow night IF I make my connection in Washington...
Thanks for the Ken and the encouragement on the Huletts, Garry! I needed BOTH!
Regards, Ed
Flo, in the spirit of October, could I get some egg nog and a slice of pumpkin pie? Thank you.
Hobby Front: Got the new flat cars put mostly together. (The couplers and and brakewheels have yet to be attached and I have to paint the decks and weather the cars.) The cleaner box car has the sills changed to match the prototype. (The roof plugs will be ordered Monday. I haven't decided when I will order the cleaner unit. The base paint has arrived but I haven't had a chance to get it mixed to match the paint on the car.) The new hopper is ready for me to apply the weathering. (Paint also arrived with the cleaner car base paint.) All the cars have their proper ACI labels attached. The couplers for the flats & the cleaner car should be here middle of next week. If everything goes right, I will try to get some work done on the layout. (Most likely crossings as I have a few more that need to be built.) And there are a few more projects that aren't even in that list.
Yes, these projects should keep me busy for awhile.
Oh Cumberland Gap, I've never been but it looks pretty. I'm from the Shenandoah Valley, so I'm partial to Appalachian locales.
Ed, I'll be excited to see the lakeside scenes with the Hulett unloaders ready to go.
On the MR front, it has not been a good few says for my K4 fleet. I went from three working models to one. I talked about the model with a bad decoder in another thread. I'll get it fixed up when I'm home next week. The other K4 in the roundhouse now is my 1361 model. After programming the decoder's sounds and swapping headlight resistors, I had some fun watching the PowerCab shut off whenever I had it move forward or backward on the test track. I unplugged everything, waited a few minutes, and I tried again. Now, I noticed a bind in the valve-gear, as the eccentric rid had gotten bent and a cross member had been pushed to one side. I worked to straighten out the eccentric rod, then this cross member pushed out of alignment. I got it better aligned but then pushed a little more and... I ended up breaking the cross member! At that point. I put everything into a small box and said I'll get it repaired when I'm back from Florida. I did reexamine the model and the cross member looks replaceable so long as I can get the parts from BLI.
Wishing everyone a good weekend.
Alvie
It is sunny outside, but also raining, and there is a big double rainbow in the west. Nice Morning.
Anybody want some Sticky Buns?
ROAR
Morning everyone
Lion ! I man I love the new location! I am in my home territory! Oh those beautifully mountains and the rolling Piedmont, the valley and the river too AAAHHHHHH the smell of oak leaves after a shower. I LOVE it here. The babbling Brooks and song birds everywhere. There is no place like home ! Living a dream !
Didn't make it to church today. My middle daughter is ill. Stomach flu I think.
Gotta run to check on her.
TTYL
YGW
good morning,
It has been a while since I last visited. Been busy with a over year long work project, which finally went live 2 weeks ago.
currenlty on vacation at our little house in Missisippi
Thanks LION, I'll have some sticky buns.
By more research of the Micro-Trains True Scale Coupler. It will replace the existing Micro-Trains coupler conversion. I forgot the number conversion part that it replaces.
Conversion part for switching bethgon couplers is #1128. That means I'll just keep the original ones.
Hi Diners, (Guys & Gals),
Just thought I should drop in and let you know I'm still above the grass.
Chloe, I know it's late for lunch, but I would sure like a double denver and a Dr.P. Thanks.
Once again we had a great but short visit with my Son and DIL. down Billings way. We took Cody back to the animal shelter where we rescued him a few months back and they were amazed at the changes in him. He is learning his manners and skills quite well and you would not think he is wearing the same coat. It is beautiful and shiney. His missing eye has healed up nicely and he isn't bothered by it at all. He and I walk a lot and that has helped me as well in having my left hip (the old clutch pedal hip) get feeling better and loosened up.
While in Montana I picked up a Buford Shops Transfer Caboose. I always thought they looked neat in pictures, but , boy in real life they are sharp. I haven't been able to find info on whether the W.P. ever had one, but even if they didn't I'll reasign it to the LM&E. Several other items of detailing were also purchased, I never seem to come home empty handed.
Garry, When you live in such a beautiful home in such a gorgeous location, you sure seem to spend alot of your time on the road. Safe travels my friend. Same to you Alvie.
Ed. Those Huelette kits look pretty involved, but you sure are doing a great job on them.
YGW, Sure sorry to hear that you can't get all of your family healthy at one time. Surely that will all come to pass for you very quickly. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Ken, The car (Merc.) that your wife got looks like a fine ride. Hope it performs well for her for a long time. One thing about it is that you don't have to put a new decoder in it as well as all those locos that seem to give you a headache.
Dennis, Hope the new tires and alignment work out well for your car, and I'm glad you got help to get that A/C into the wall. I'm sure you will enjoy it much more than the swamp cooler. speaking of Dennis, I sure wonder what has happened to Choo Choo Willie from the Calgary area. It is like he fell off the planet.
ULRICH, I get the feeling that you still check in on us once in a while, and I want you to know that you are missed and thought about a lot. Prayers to you and Petra.
Was great to see that Cajun Chef Ryan, still hasn't forgotten us either and that special dish he prepared for us looked wonderful. And Brother Otte looks like he has that cooking thing down too.
I best get out and clean up a lot more leaves and some branches that I cut off a couple of days ago and then ran out of time to get them in my waste trailer. Not much time the next three day as I have to work them. Still thinking about a permanent retirement. I think itis time as I approach my 76th a month from now.
Chloe, A round of juice for all the gang here and put it on my tab, that I will pay for before I decide to retire. Maybe Ken could help me out with that new Credit card. Haha.
Hi to Galaxy and Rob. Cedarstrand as well, I think I see them peeking through the windows at times.
Happy Railroading all, especially you Guys in DCC. Boy, I am so glad I didn't go that direction.
Johnboy out......................still in ol' school till reincarnation.
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
We had another nice weekend of railfanning. 15 trains on Saturday, & 13 today. The highlight was yesterday when Norfolk Southern's OCS train came past. Power was ABBA, the A units being F9As, & the B units F7Bs. After all these years, I think they still are some of the best looking diesels ever produced. They were the power for 14 cars. It's just such a pleasant sight seeing all those passenger cars, especially since we don't get a chance to see the likes of them often these days.
I'm wondering where Ray (Howmus) is at. It's not like him to not post no matter how busy he is, and he definately keeps busy. Hope all is well.
I guess I'm starting to feel my age, It's been cool & damp today with scattered rain showers. My knees, back, well lets just everything, are telling me they are not happy. But we finished off a bottle of Reisling with supper, & that helped.
Johnboy, I agree with you about Buford Shops transfer cabooses. They are excepionally well done I think. I picked up the Buffalo & Pittsburgh when they came out. In my case, I have a photo of the prototype, but I would have bought one regardless.
Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend as much as I did mine.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
Evenin' folks!
Janie, I could sure use a cup of hot chocolate right now. I have been home about two hours from the mu8seum and I am still chilled to the bone!
Hey Tom, I'm here! Last night I did sign on for a bit, but had to head out to bed early in order to be able to on the road back out to the Museum this morning by 7:45 in order to make crew call and safety meeting by 9AM. Didn't post as before bed I needed to clean the cats water fountain. It was full of cat hair and was really gross. Also needed to clean the Humidifier tank and the hoses on my CPAP. It hadn't been cleaned for over a month and was pretty gross as well... I slept better last night without breathing whatever was growing in that.......
We had two crowded, busy days for the opening of the Pumpkin patch Trains out at the Museum in October. Saturday was around 700 people on site, and today was just a few less. We serve hot cider up in the restoration building in the upper yard and have a "Pumpkin Patch" of very small pumkins donated by a local farmer. Every child gets to pick a pumpkin to take home.... There is also a petting zoo set up on our lawn and we have a food truck on site for food service. Saturday I had two students from many years ago riding on the caboose with their children, all grins to see Mr Howard working on train. That is always a high point in a day when I see someone who I haven't seen in years get excited to see me! Worked 8 hours on Saturday without a break as we were short handed. Today I got a half hour for lunch as we had more help. Saturday the FM H12-44 ran very well giving us a bit of a rough ride at times. I don't mind that as it gives me a chance to explain coupler slack.......
This morning the old girl was up and running when I arrived and the Conductor and engineer were already doing the brake check. Everything was working beautifully so we had our safety meeting and they tried to spot the train where boarding would be. She reved up, and nothing...... I was on train at that time and noticed she was dumping air pressure just like she did last month on us. The president of the Museum who is a CSX Engineer, who was to work most of the day as a Car Host on the NYC Caboose, climbed up in the cab and started checking things out. We came very close to pulling her out and bringing in the 80 Tonner to do service. Mike (the President) did some more checking and found a relay that wasn't always making good contact. He removed it and fiddled for about 10 minutes, bent some things, put shims in the springs, and then popped it back in place. Loco fires right up, Air comes up, and the locomotive moves!!! "She's Alive"!!!! We ran the safety run and retuned back down the line with 10 minutes to spare before boarding. Whew! The rest of day she ran beautifully.
Next Saturday is our Fall Foliage trips out on the LA&L using the NYC Empire Express cars put in service Dec. 7, 1941! They arrived first thing this morning to couple onto the consist to take it down to their shops for inspection this week. Of course they arrive with a pair of gorgeous ALCO C425 Century units as motive power!!! Here is one of the locos from a few years ago... Two more coaches have been put back in service since then, BTW.
I'll be one of the two car hosts on car #3 all day. Looking forward to that.
I am beat and will likely sleep in tomorrow morning for a bit.
Have a great night everyone. remember "SAFETY FIRST!"
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Flo, Ed and I will have a please.
Work was sort of bussy Had 6 customers in 5 hours. Sales where nothing speical but they where sales.
Wife hit someone in a parking lot with the new car. Well, it was more of a bump than a hit. Gas pedal and brake pedal are very close to each other. I hit both at the sametime 4 diffrent times. Now, I knew what was going on and did not freak out. Wife on the other hand? Lady that my wife bumped and told Sue she was not going to make a claim on my insurance thank goodness.
Ed how big is your layout room? K-10 has a ore dock with a ore ship. The dock and ship is about 5 X 12 by it self. Do the Huletts move?
Best thing that happened today? Bought a 8 pice fry chicken take home from Shop And Save. They where out of wings and drumsticks. So I got 2 breast and 6 thighes! I love thighes!
Ken
Reality...an interesting concept with no successful applications, that should always be accompanied by a "Do not try this at home" warning.
Hundreds of years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...But the world may be different because I did something so bafflingly crazy that my ruins become a tourist attraction.
"Oooh...ahhhh...that's how this all starts...but then there's running...and screaming..."
Don't need anything this evening but thank you, Flo.
Hobby Front: Didn't get the crossings built on the layout due to a minor problem: I forgot to get the needed super glue. However, I did get the needed ties cut so that I will be setup when I do remember the CA. Did spend the time trying to put an angle block on some bridge supports in the river. Ended up deciding to go a different route: cut down some tubing pieces and cover the ends with thin sheet to represent the mortar lines. Will get the painting on the flat car decks done later this evening. Also discovered that I was shipped the wrong color paint. Instead of the emerald green that I had ordered, I received a bottle of white. Will call the company in the morning to get the problem rectified.
Good evening all.
Chloe, any sticky buns left over? Oh good, I will take it. Along with a glass of milk, please. Thanks.
Train front - Was at the show in Berea yesterday, got a few small items, and a old BB SD40-2. (Could not resist the price.) Then went railfanning in Berea, and, like Tom in Pittsburgh, caught the NS OCS with the 4 F9/7/7/9 ABBA set, very nice to see. Have a couple more projects to work on now, thanks to the show.
W**k - Should be interesting, the entire town is shut down, zero water... No restaurants open, no schools, most places are closed until the water main is fixed. The main supply line from the reservoir to the treatment plant ruptured, draining the reservoir of the entire water supply. But, we were not given the okay to close as well... This could get interesting... (Boy, am I glad I don't live in town!)
Weather - Cooler, seasonable temps, with off and on showers today, supposed to be sunny tomorrow. We shall see.
Hope all are well, and have a good night!
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Good morning ......
Lion..... Are you providing sticky buns every morning this month ?....
John Boy .... We have family members in various locations, and that explains much of the traveling.
MoeLarryCurley .... Nice to see you again. You sound busy.
Ray ..... I would love to go see the trains where you are, but JohnBoy will complain if I do any more traveling.
Tom .... Your rail fan stories are interesting. F-units still in operation in 2016 by a Class One Railroad is definately unique.
Ken ... The ore boat is amazing. I have seen the ore docks on Lake Superior, and they are huge.
Our hosts kindly allow non-model-railroad topics. ... Some of you may be interested in this.
There will be a solar eclipse over the USA on August 21, 2017. The path of the eclipse goes from coast to coast. The location of the greatest eclipse will be where we live in western KY. The trajectory will roughly follow Interstate 24 between Paducah and Hopkinsville.
Our county as well as some nearby counties will have a full eclipse. The Land Between The Lakes (where we live) is said to be an ideal location to observe it.
We are already hearing of people planning to travel to western KY from far away places including overseas just to see the eclipse here. Some of our neighbors already have family and friends planning to visit them from out of state just to be here during the eclipse.
Good morning! And it is, bright and sunny today with a high near 70F. I think I'll try this sore leg out on my bicycle for a bit.
They're not giving much information about Hurricane Matthew, but it looks like it will come up the US east coast. Yes, it's going to be a mess in Haiti, but the media should at least be warning the southeast that there could be a major weather event in a few days, instead of making us dig down to get potential storm tracks.
For now, though, I'll take what I've got. Blue skies are nice after this dreary weekend.
Big Daddy (previous thread): That is a fascinating looking hornet's nest! I'm glad I didn't come across it until the previous Diner was already safely locked up, as I'm deathly afraid of hornets and their ilk. Stems from a massive wasp attack I suffered as a kid. I actually got stung again just last month, and it hardly hurt at all, but that primal fear of all flying-stinging insects is still there.
I read an article recently that those different colored bands come to pass when the wasps/hornets/devil-spawned hellbugs in question get their claws on different colored paper. An Italian researcher documented what happened when he gave some wasps construction paper. It's fascinating, but I could barely even look at those close-up photos. http://www.boredpanda.com/colorful-paper-wasp-nests-rainbow-mattia-menchetti/
Gah! There they are again! Now I've ruined this thread for myself. I'll be back when there's a page 2.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Ahh, some of those sticky buns will make it all better. Thanks, LION. And a tall, frosty glass of milk, please, Chloe.
I got a little carried away yesterday buying the last BNSF Bethgon coalporters set -22. I will try not to buy anything else this month if I try hard. The only situation I have is turning the internet off. I don't think that's going to work, other people use it.
Now I have 16 cars, and two individuals cars one brown, and power bar logo. Too bad I don't have SD70Macs to pull them.
Heartland Division CB&QThere will be a solar eclipse over the USA on August 21, 2017. The path of the eclipse goes from coast to coast. The location of the greatest eclipse will be where we live in western KY. The trajectory will roughly follow Interstate 24 between Paducah and Hopkinsville.
It looks like it will track right over my sons house in Idaho. We may need to schedule a trip.
It rained for most of the day yesterday, making this morning's ride a little muggy. (Relative humidity was around 80%.) The good news is the I had my fastest ride in over four years, with an average speed of over 18 MPH over a course of 23 miles including a 1.2 mile, 3% climb. I do need a shower.
Time for a little whine with my cheese. My greatest annoyance with the software powering this forum is the random log off. (A close second is the lack of spel chek.)
Richard
Mornin' everyone!
Zoe..... huh? Yes I am more or less awake and sitting up looking for nurishment. In fact, a couple of those sticky biuns Steven brought in this morning will be great. Ah, yes, a 30 cup urn of Marrakesh Express Organic Dark Roast Coffee will be needed to wahs them down... Thank You Ma'am!
Oh Man! Do I hurt today.... Mostly my feet, but also back are very sore from the weekends "work". I certainly can't call being on train crew "work" I have way too much fun.
Speaking of wasps........ A yellow jacket flew into the Erie Caboose on Saturday to payt a visit. It flew around the main part for a while and then went up tp see who was in the cupola. It was buzzing around a man's head, and i was wondering what the best soplution to the incident might be. i mentioned to the guy to be careful as he was being checked out by a wasp. He looked around, saw it, shrugged his shoulders and said, "No problem." I was very glad we didn't have several small kids up there at the time. I would not have liked to deal with a bunch of panicked children and one adult up there with a moving train......!!!!
Currently 63°F and rtaining outside here in the Finger Lakes. leaves are starting to turn now and should be very nice next weekend for the Museums Fall Foliage runs on the LA&L.
I have some major catching up to do around here today. Need to do wash, grocery shopping, call for a hearing aid appointment (the left one is clogged again), do some NMRA stuff to try to get things ready for the Fall Meet, just to name a few. Guess I better get moving!
Speaking of wasps, we have a fake paper wasp nest hanging from our deck roof.
The theory is that paper wasps are very territorial so they won't venture close to another nest. For us it seems to work for the paper wasps. We haven't seen any since we put the fake nest up. However, doesn't bother the smaller 'yellow jackets' that typically nest in rotting wood or walls. The yellow jackets are a nuisance, particularly in the late summer and early fall, but they seem to leave the immediate area if you take a swat at them.
The performance reviews are mixed as you can see if you scroll down the product listing.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/bee-free-natural-wasp-deterrent-2-pk-0593500p.html
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!