Morning diners,
The internet connection was down for two days.
Beach Bill yes I did receive the email for C&O information.
While the internet was down I did some track work for my modern SBSO. In the January issue of MR track plan of two railroads in a bedroom. I liked the power plant arrangement. Circling around the coal load. I could push the empty hoppers while putting loaded ones in, and enough for fuel tank cars. The length with two locomotives, 2 tank cars, 8 hopper cars is 55". I had to lengthen the yard an extra 20" for the power plant consist. I could make it a shelf layout. But the plant will be an add on but their's no room.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
If I were up early on the 1st I would move the diner back in time to the Thomas Viaduct Hotel, originally the site where the B&O Railroad would swap out the horses.
It was a hoping place in the late 1880's when people would lay over at the hotel on their way north and south. It housed a station, restaurant and hotel.
In today's world it is an out of the way location, that wouldn't seem to make sense for a hotel. In the days before sleeping cars, it would have been a very convenient spot to stop for the night. It was torn down years ago and there is nothing left except the builders monument to the Thomas Viaduct.
More pics of the hotel can be found here, a lost Victorian treasure.
http://thomas-viaduct-relay-maryland.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-viaduct-hotel-train-station-in-relay_2423.html
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Good morning.......
I am finally feeling better after having some sort of crud since wednesday.
Layed in bed for most of that time, Dr stuck me on antibiotic, head no longer in vise but nose keeps pouring. now has moved to a cough. It acts like it is in the last throws of illness.
You could move the diner to Paducah KY........
My wife has been making some of my favourite meals so I have been well fed since I came home although I find I can't eat a lot at any one time. She made a roast chicken with a leek dressing (stuffing) that has roasted carrots, mushrooms, bacon and a lot of white wine. It is an old French country recipe. Fantastic!
Der, hope your wife is recovering well.
Ulrich: When I first saw a video of the Mt. Washington Cog Railway, I found it quite odd, that most of the line is built on a trestle. It was certainly much cheaper to erect the trestles than to do any extensive grading work in this rough terrain, but maintaining the trestles must be a killer for any profitability. I just love the steam locos for their unique design. I am surprised no one ever had the idea of making a working model of them. Shapeways has a non-operational 3D print in both HO and O scale, the latter one being rather expensive. Hmmm…trestles; I haven’t modeled one of those since the 80s – maybe a small one would fit in my N3n tourist line??? Jan 29 update: I’ve thought some on this and decided against a wood trestle, but for a two arch stone bridge to carry that N3n line across a road and stream right at the front edge of the layout. This is inspired by your last layout, thanks! The arches of the bridge will give a view through to a station, as well as enabling me to include “drainage” for some of the hills which will occupy the layout space to the right of the bridge. The road also solves the access problem for the station. One of those “paint yourself into a corner” layout planning things where the tracks work OK, but the wee folks have no place to come and go!
When I first saw a video of the Mt. Washington Cog Railway, I found it quite odd, that most of the line is built on a trestle. It was certainly much cheaper to erect the trestles than to do any extensive grading work in this rough terrain, but maintaining the trestles must be a killer for any profitability. I just love the steam locos for their unique design. I am surprised no one ever had the idea of making a working model of them. Shapeways has a non-operational 3D print in both HO and O scale, the latter one being rather expensive.
Glad to see you’ve been able to get the Japanese loco out for a run! Did you see my PM? There’s a turnout and another oval of track….. Thanks for posting those many videos. Magnificent!
Ray: Delightful photos of you and new friend. Did you come across this news item? https://ca.news.yahoo.com/hygge-danish-secret-surviving-winter-150000144.html The photos resonated with that for me! Those tile rocks Rock!
Rob: Good to know there is progress in the train room. Yeah! I know what you mean about everything taking ages! Looking forward to your pics.
Garry: Good looking photos – (he said suppressing urge to break 10th Commandment )
Now, Train Front: I’ve started on the scenery. But before any of that could happen I’ve had to fix, which required surgery, no less than 3 turnouts which either started not to function as to derailing, or motor issues. Not clever when the ballast is in – but all seems well now. Then I went over the entire layout to identify the spots where the ballast needed touching up. This is a function of my choice of roadbed. For those new to class (HugeBTW) I used that adhesive-one-side foam strip. Couldn’t split it lengthwise and slope the edges because of the adhesive – so there were sharp edges from which the ballast easily fell or washed away. The straight edge in the foreground shows the effect, but is actually a cut-out in the regular ballast for a station. The blue marker pins show spots needing attention. In all there were 175 such places. Quite the sight layout-wide. Once those were all fixed, and the places where I thought the lighter coloured ballast was too bright toned down with a darker spray, it was on to the scenery for the hills. I’ve stated with the hill which has two tunnels, and in laying that out decided to “Daylight” more of the entrance for each tunnel mouth. I’ve lost the photos of the first 2 layers of foam on the foreground hill, but here’s what 3layers looked like on it, and 2 on the larger one beyond it.
and covered that with flattened out crushed foil. Then I applied Gap Filler foam and waited for it to completely cure. (This photo is of partly cured – the volume difference is significant) Once that was cut away from the layout base and leveled off to below the top of the scenery, I painted the inside surface of the tunnel liner. On fitting the whole thing back in place just now, I see that there has been shrinkage along the length – I didn’t anticipate that and will have to work around it as now that test train snags on the inside of the curve. The solution was to squeeze the sides a bit and peg the edges to the layout base with bamboo cooking skewer pieces. Test run proved OK, but for some reason the pics won't post from Photobucket. Oh well, no time to puzzle that through now. TTFN.
"There are always alternatives, Captain" - Spock.
I´ll be slowly calling it a day. But before hitting the hay, I´d like to share some video footage of a 1/1 scale steam train in rural Japan. The countryside is so beautiful! My stay in Japan was nearly 30 years ago, but I still have fond memories on how neat and clean it was - back then!
Well, here is the video:
Enjoy:
John - thanks for sharing the pictures! There is something really nice in the making! I remember the pictures of all those tiny detailed things you made a few ears ago! I wish I would still be able to do something like it!
Right now, I am making plans for a simple layout based on Kato Unitrack. Everything clicks together, which makes it easy for me to handle, desoite the tremor in my right hand.
der5997There’s a turnout and another oval of track…..
グッドナイト
That´s pronounced "good-(toh)-nite-(o)" and means exactly that!
FRRYKid SS Express YGW......I have no love for the current crop of NASCAR drivers, which makes watching the races on Sunday afternoons more like a snoozefest!! I presume you have seen the new format that the Monster Energy series will be running this year. I think that should make it a little more interesting.
SS Express YGW......I have no love for the current crop of NASCAR drivers, which makes watching the races on Sunday afternoons more like a snoozefest!!
YGW......I have no love for the current crop of NASCAR drivers, which makes watching the races on Sunday afternoons more like a snoozefest!!
I presume you have seen the new format that the Monster Energy series will be running this year. I think that should make it a little more interesting.
The more NASCAR changes things around, the less I watch. I guess I am old school!! Take off the plates and let them race back to the start/finish line like the good ole days. Daytona is the race I watch every year. After that, I would rather watch modifieds at Martinsville, Richmond, or New Hampshire. The series just ain't what it used to be...............
Rich
Rich - I couldn't agree more about NASCAR. I lost interest a couple of years ago because I miss the days when the teams came up with new innovations that nobody else had thought of & blew the socks off everybody. Now it's just plain boring with all cars having to be identical.
Pretty busy weekend railfanning. 10 trains on Saturday & 15 today. Foreign power was 1 BNSF & 3 Union Pacifics.
11 intermodals
2 trash trains
8 mixed freights
1 coal train
2 crude oil
1 auto rack
Last weekend, CSX across the river was having problems, yesterday was Norfolk Southern's turn. At least 1 broken rail & a bunch of problems with locomotives. Computers shutting down, traction motors going off line, etc. makes for interesting radio chatter. Today a tresspasser was reported on the tracks by a conductor. Heard later that the police had nabbed him. I'm amazed with all the fatalities that people still walk the tracks. Takes all kinds I suppose.
Dinner tonight was a London Broil, roasted mix vegatables, key lime pie, & a bottle of wine from Seneca Lake. I'm very contented right now & looking forward to bedtime. Stay safe & have a great week.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
Mint tea, please.
***Ulrich, that is a fantastic vid of the Japanese trains. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Do you know what kind of bird that is on the front locomotive placard?
Cheers! Rob
I have to disagree with my friends on Nascar. In 1958 my parents vacationed in Myrtle Beach and I remember all those wonderful old cars racing around a (dirt?) track. It' not like that now. Nascar has changed. I went to one race at Dover and everyone to the left, right, up and down was smoking cigarrettes and getting drunk as a lord.
I also went to the Baltimore Colts division win before the Greatest Game Ever Played with the NY Giants and nearly every home game after until 2 years before they moved to IN. I no longer recognize NFL football with the taunting that goes on and the victory dances. To paraphrase a popular phrase, it is not my NFL.
There are Nascar drivers I would boo, but unlike most NFL and NBA players, they all have charitable foundations that actually contribute to society. They don't get knifed or shot in bar fights.
All the entertainment related professions make way too much money to be healthy. Because they are in the 0.01% in income, they think they are smarter than the rest of us.
Evening Diners
Flo, Ed will have a Crown Royal and I will have a please.
Work Front Well, the lady that bought the $1100.00 hard mattress from Nancy came in today with her paper work. Seems she did not buy a mattress protecter and sighned where she knew she could not do a comfort exchange with out one. If she had, she could have gotten to do the exchange with in 60 days. She has had the mattress for 4 months now!
Told her in the nices way I could she was up Poop Creek With Out A Paddle. Called Nancy and set a copy of the lady ticket. Told Nancy the mattress was hurting her back. Nancy said Tuff and to be honest I am more on Nancy side than the customer! I am the one that made the customer sighned where she gave up her rights to a comfort reslection with out the protecter says she was warned by me. Plus she waited 4 months to say anything, well she is screwed.
I explained to her "hard mattress are not good for your back". But she said sleeps better on a hard mattress! She said "Her son bought a firm mattress from me and has sleep's great on it"! Looked up his ticket and showed her what he bought! Yep, it was a softer mattress that cost $600.00, not $1100.00.
der5997Ken: The rock formation you showed us just after Christmas looks really good! I like the way you’ve done the softer rock between the harder layers:
Der Thanks for the kind words. Now that I know better and looking at it for years I see many mistakes I made. I painted it from tips I watched on U-Tube and made up a lot of the mistakes I made.
Ed I have no idea of how many F units I have. Guess I like them because when I was bettwen 4 and 8 years old I saw them from my grandfathers house over looking the B&O yard. SD 7 and 9's are around 7 or 8 engines. Need to get the B&O Sd's back on the rails. In the mean time I am enjoying the Bessemers draging coal! Might B&O F7's are working hard on the B line and the CB&Q's are running like they normally do. They are pulling and sounding great!
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
der5997 We found out from Mrs. DER’s recent surgery that she’s alergic to Morphine and Codine (and so probably most of the street drugs out there too!)
We found out from Mrs. DER’s recent surgery that she’s alergic to Morphine and Codine (and so probably most of the street drugs out there too!)
The Codine allergy is something that I have to watch for myself. I always knew that my Mom has a sensitivity to Codine. However, until last summer, I didn't know that my uncle, her brother, also has a sensitivity to Codine. Based on my what doctor has told me with that history, I probably shouldn't receive Codine myself.
Hobby Front: I still haven't managed to find my missing tube of body putty. I am about ready to order a new tube. (As much as I hate to do that.)
I dropped some things off at my layout this afternoon and, of course, found more projects that I need to do: Another support that I need to rebuild similar to the other two for an eventual pass thought for the layout, the yard for the car ferry needs to be rebedded (the existing cork has gotten warped over the years) and the track needs to be relaid anyway (a building was there to keep the entire yard covered. I decided that it needed to come out. [Questioining prototypicality and it has become a house for a mouse I think. The building where the layout is kept was an old chicken coop over 20 years ago but it is a ranch and mice still exist.] The building will be replaced with a building just for the engine and the two idler cars to be covered. Of course, the needed piece of cork can't be obtained here and i have to order it.
CederstrandDo you know what kind of bird that is on the front locomotive placard?
Rob, it´s a grey heron.
Sir MadogWell, here is the video:
Ulrich:
Thank you for sharing that wonderful video. I'm not exactly a steam fanatic but I do get a thrill seeing them in operation. I'm always amazed that all the side rods and moving parts don't come flying off at speed!
I hope you are feeling better soon. You deserve it!
Regards,
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Lunchtime!
Brunhilda, I´ll have a burger and fries, please! Add an RBF to wash it down!
hon30critterThank you for sharing that wonderful video.
My pleasure, Dave! I am always amazed about how professional this videos are made! If you care for some more, here is another one:
Enjoy!
hon30critterI hope you are feeling better soon. You deserve it!
That´s very kind of you, but I am afraid things are not improving. The tremor ha so far been either attributed to one of the minor strokes I had some time ago, or a post-traumatic effect caused by the hold-up. My doc has developed a new idea on this and I am going to be tested for Parkinson´s disease. Not a reassuring thought.
I am scared, to say the least.
Petra will see the doc about her surgery not earlier than coming Monday, which means she will be in for her surgery on her birthday.
It seems as if good old Murphy has moved in and decides to stay with us.
Sir MadogMy doc has developed a new idea on this and I am going to be tested for Parkinson´s disease.
Ulrich, if that is unfortunately the case at least it will be treated in its early stages.
As for the surgeon's choice of dates for Petra's procedure, the least he could do is give her a birthday cake! Save me a piece please!
All the best Ulrich! With all that you are going through I think you are holding up pretty well!
hon30critterWith all that you are going through I think you are holding up pretty well!
I wish this were the case! I have pretty much reached the end of what I am able to bear.
Good morning everybody .
Where is Lion? A sticky bun would hit the post now.
Der John ... Your progress with your layout is very impressive. I do think it is hard for some people in this hobby to avoid violating the 10th Commandment.
Ulrich .... Best wishes and prayers for Petra as well as both of you for the overall situation you described. Your friends in the Diner care. ....... I enjoyed the Japanese vodeo. Looks like the doubleheader easily hauled the fove coaches.
Henry .... That is a great idea to have the Diner at Thomas Viaduct. It would be good to include all of Maryland because there is a lot of railroad history there. The B&O Museum is worthwhile.
MLC..... I like the Paducah idea too. The Ohio River Bridge is very impressive and the former IC locomotive shops are interesting. A lot of locomotives were rebuilt by the VMV company for many years after the IC sold the shops. I recall another locomotive rebuilder bought the shops a few years ago. .... Now locomotives are being rebuilt by a Caterpillar subsidiary (Progress Rail) in Mayfield not far from Paducah. ....
Perhaps one of the months, the Diner could tour both Kentucky and Tennessee because there is a lot of rairloading to talk about.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
My Japanese friend has just sent a message that he mailed a few "things" he built to go with that scratchbuilt tramway loco.
In a week or so, the following should be arriving at my doorstep:
1. Shed made from a "grounded" brake van (that´s a caboose in British terminology)
2. A mini gondola and third class coach:
Now I am smiling again...
Hello all
Ulrich - Very nice. You have one thing to be thankful for - your friends - you have some special friends. Thta is a nice "caboose". I am that your illness is not parkinsons.
FRRYKid - I am confused. Is the new build for the entire layout or just an engine house on the layout ?
Ken - I have done what that lady did. Not on purpose. Just really bad memory sometimes.
Henry - Speaking of 1% did you know that every American is richer than 90 +/_ % of the rest of the world ? Did you know that there are 6 people die every minute from lack of food ? What do you think they roofed the Victorian porch with ? Looks like rubber but I dont think they had that back then
V8 - We have a small drag strip where I live. It had a car leave the track a few years ago and went into the stands. A few people didnt walk away... But they added some more safety stuff and they are back up and running.
Tom - Any left overs. That is some good eating !
Rich - I agree ! Take off the plates and let the ponys run !
Der - That is an interesting way to form a tunnel !
MoeLarry - Glad you are feeling better !
Howmus - I noticed you were AWOL ! I must say, I have never ( that I remember ) seen rock formation built out of ceiling tile. Very impressive !
History qoute :
Temperate, sincere, and intelligent inquiry and discussion are only to be dreaded by the advocates of error. The truth need not fear them...
Controversy is only dreaded by the advocates of error.
I am more and more convinced, of the propensity in human nature to tyranize over their fellow men....
Afternoon Diners,
Der- I liked the process. I didn't think about using cereal boxes and foam to cover the tunnel. I only thought of one. The foam.
Ray- The scenery around the bridges and mountains look really great.
Since I was thinking about my SBSO layout, I decided to take some pictures of graffiti that's on walls around my neighborhood.
Garry,
NRE bought shops from VMV They talked about layoffs a few weeks ago.
NRE still rebuilds here.
Progress is at the old Ingersol rand compressor facility in Mayfield.
Evenin' folks!
Janie, could I get a mug of Decaf please?
First off thanks for the kind comments on the photos of the Keuka Outlet Gorge I posted last night. I got a bit more done today so here was yesterday:
Here is today:
Got the basic greenery done. I just use plain old white glue painted on the surface and then sprinkle various sizes of WS foam greenery followed by some larger chunks of stuff..... I added the tree armatures up on the hill (that whole hillside will be forest, BTW), then mist the entire area (when more or less dry) with WS Scenic Cement. That lets particles that didn't touch the white glue stay put better and also has some ingredient that fixes the colors so they don't fade much. Learned that at a clinic at an NMRA Convention. Appears to work, BTW!
Had snow showers off and on all day and the tempes were in the 20s here in the Finger Lakes. Had to run a couple errands including grocery shopping, got some NMRA items going that need to be addressed, but found a few minutes down in the layout room to get the above done...
Hope you all have a great night!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
YGW : Thanks for the well wishes.
Was good to get out of the house today even if I did go back to w*rk.
Got the 1970 Teac reel to reel going, now to copy the blues tapes.
Over all, pretty boring day. No real customers today, well 2 people came in but nothing really worth calling a ture customer.
Der On the tunnel liner, will it lift off in case of a de-railment? All my hills / tunnels are lift off just in case. My main moutiain you posted the photo can all so be lifted off. Never have had to with the back being open with hidden stagging.
QSI speed reporting using F-10 question? Do you fellow QSI decoder owners think the speed read out is close to being accurate? If the speed read out is correct at a mer 18 mph they seem to be hauling. I do know how to do the timing if I wanted to check, but not real important over all in life. Maybe seems fast because I normaly just make them creep around the layout.
yougottawanta FRRYKid - I am confused. Is the new build for the entire layout or just an engine house on the layout?
FRRYKid - I am confused. Is the new build for the entire layout or just an engine house on the layout?
It's redoing an entire section (about 2' x 2') The area in question is in the southwest corner of the layout. (Cardinal directions not layout directions.) It was originallly installed many years ago. (The section on question is one I built from an old NMRA module that I had from a modular club I was a member of in the early 90's.) I think the cork got wet with some of the landscaping I had done.
Hobby Front: I got the replacement pieces of cork ordered for that project earlier this evening. I also broke down earlier this evening and ordered another tube of putty as well. The storage shed components will have to be ordered later. (Two more Pikestuff 5000 enginehouses. I already have one that was purchased for another purpose but is no longer needed.)
Hi, Everyone—
Just a quick peek in the door before I turn in. Got a Prestige Bedroom all to myself tonight and Hayley has made up the berth for me and even put a mint on the pillow!
http://trn.trains.com/photos-videos/railroads/2015/03/making-a-prestige-class-bed
I hope you are all doing fine on this last day of January and that your troubles be minor and your rewards great!
See you next month in our new locale...
On-the-move—with green flags no less. Sunny, Saint Petersburg, Florida, Jan. 1973.
Regards, Ed
Good morning, everybody ...
Ken ... You remind me of my brother in law who once worked as a salesman in a Lazy Boy recliner chair store. ... He used to take naps in the chairs waiting for customers to come into the store. One day, a news reporter was interviewing people who sleep on the job. BIL admitted he did that, and his story was published. His boss read the story, and he lost his job.
Ed ... Your link about Via Rail's rebuilt Budd cars is interesting. I recall riding on such equipment on Via several years ago and it was very nice.... Nice Amrak photo.
MLC ... Did you ever have a chance to visit the RR history museum in Princeton before it closed? ... I did that, and the man there told about the gold trains going to Fort Knox many years ago. There is a lot of interesting railroad history in Kentucky.
Here is Amtrak on a bad day. The train hit a rock slide in Fraser Canyon in Colorado. Damaged equipment was moved to Denver where the photo was taken.
Note .... The locomtive closest to the camera is 246, the same number as the E8 in Ed's picture.
Heartland Division CB&QWhere is Lion? A sticky bun would hit the post now.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
gmpullman See you next month in our new locale...
Can I request that next month be somewhere down South, where it's warm? I've had enough with below-freezing temperatures for this year...
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Good Morning,
Lion, thanks for bringing the sticky buns, they sure look good.
Yesterday was my first day out driving the car. It sure felt good to be largely 'back to normal'. I went to a class for prostate cancer survivors at the Reh-Fit. It runs twice a week until April. I won't be able to participate much for a few weeks as there is a lot of fitness work and my surgery is just too recent to do that sort of thing.
Ed, Garry, Via has a facility here where they do the maintenance and re-build work on those Budd cars. If I take the bus downtown it goes right past it. There are always a few cars sitting outside.
Today is the last of our warm weather that we have been enjoying for the past 2 weeks. It will get up to 25F today but we will be back to seasonal normals of 5F tomorrow. At least it will be sunny. I plan on getting the car washed in the next couple of days. There is a place here that does a very thorough job especially on the drying and wipe down so there isn't any freeze-up of windows, etc.
Hope everyone had a good day,
CN Charlie