CN Charlie:
I'm glad to hear that your recovery is on schedule.
CNCharliemy wife has back problems too.
We should start a club! My wife has rods in her back to correct spinal curvature. They were installed when she was 14. Her back aches regularly too but she is a real trooper, although we are trying to reduce the chores like gardening as much as possible. We used to spend hundreds each year on annuals but we cut that way back. We used to have about 20 large planters. Last year we only had four. Now the worst part of the gardening season is cleaning all the vegetation from the perennials out in the fall. For that, I take pain killers in advance but even then I can only work for 1/2 hour or so at a time.
PITB! (Pain In The Back!!)
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Cudaken: In a gada da vida, now that brought back a memory. Like everyone else, I had minimal money for music, but I bought the LP. Friend John Wenger lived in a former cheese factory in Rock City, Illinois (near the Milwaukee tracks) and had a sort of "clubhouse" in the basement for high school kids. Couple old couches, a stereo, and an old bumper-ball table. Walls painted black with florescent paint! I took the record there one night and everyone was saying "what is this stupid stuff".... then the drum solo kicked in and even the cool kids were congratulating me on bringing it. John later got shot up as a helicopter door gunner over Viet Nam. He used to ride a Triumph motorcycle. His little sister Twila was cute. Haven't thought about that for years. Gosh! thanks for the throw-back memories.
Bill
I surely could use a slice of warm apple pie.
Just checking in with not much to say. The report is in from the Amtrak back hoe wreck. Screw ups from top to bottom and everyone on some sort of drug.
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/Chester-train-crash-files-released-today.html
What is shunting? I'm guessing turnout have to be set to keep the train off the fouled tracks, but wouldn't that happen anyway?
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Ankles’ are some better today, I can get around some with a cane, but not a lot. Still spending most the day with my feet up [boring]. Best get my feet up, thoughtsn prayers for those in need n hope ya’ll has a goodenn
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/4309
Garry, no it isn't Tim Horton's. I like their coffee but it is a little mild for my taste. I prefer a dark roast so coffee at home tends to be potent stuff. I put in 2 teaspoons of coffee into a small, 1 cup French Press and let it steep for about 5 minutes. That is one potent cup. I used to drink espresso a lot but not much lately.
Yes it was a great trip. The steam loco was sitting right in front of the station which is open to the tracks. As it is a private station, only the Rovos Rail train is there. You sit in the lounge drinking champange and eating snacks before the train leaves. My wife got to blow the whistle. They only use the steam loco to pull the train out of the station and switch it for an electric loco for the trip.
CN Charlie
Today´s train video shows a consist of 3 class D51 Mikados pulling a freight train through a spectacular Japanese scenery.
CN Charlie ... Is it Tim Horton's coffee taking care of the headache ? That's good coffee. .... Must have been a great trip to South Africa.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good Morning Garry, I'm awake but barely. I woke up early with a headache but coffee seems to be curing it.
I've been in quite a few steam loco cabs but only 1 that was actually running. That was when we took the Rovos Rail trip in South Africa back in 2011. Sure was a fabulous experience and the heat from the firebox when they opened the door was amazing. The loco was a class 25 which is a Northern type but narrow guage so it wasn't much bigger than a small mikado.
Another quiet day here for me. Just 2 more days until I can get in the car again! I suppose I could now but I want to make sure everything has healed up before I try moving around much. The discharge info from the hospital said to wait 6 weeks and Monday will be 6 weeks since the surgery. Everything is going so well and I don't want to mess it up by being impatient.
Ed, I was curious about your layout and wow, it is really something.
Time for more coffee,
Wake up everybody . Happy Saturday !
Ulrich ... That is a cute little engine from Japan.
Ken .... Uh..... Er .... I was not expecting a reply like yours to my post with a photo in a locomotve cab.
Rob .... Nice seeing you too.
JP ... Good to se you in the Diner.
Ed .. Thanks for commenting about the photo. .... Your layout pictures are magnificent.
Happiness is ...
... putting a blanket on the dining table to protect it from getting scratched, laying an oval of N scale track on it, hooking up a powerpack and watch the little scrtachbuild engine my Japanese friend had sent me before Christmas run for the first time!
It´s playtime, just as in my childhood days. It put a smaile in my face and lets me forget the nagging pain I suffer from!
Have a great day!
Evening Diners
Flo, Ed and I will have a please.
Work was boring so that is covred. Reading Seal Team Six, story about a Seal Sniper. Cannot say it is a well written book, but I seem to hold my intrest? Blew through 100 pages today and never got bored.
YGW Far as the cost to install the garage door, I have no idea what the going rate is, but it seemed fair to me. I am guessing you get a break as a contractor as far as garage door install go.
Inch53 I was going to try and fight the ticket, that is why I called. While I was on hold and saw it was only $15.00 I said to heck with this.
V8 Sorry your dog caught you off guard. Hope your face heals fast.
Gary Looks like you are enjoying your self. I have only been it two steam engine cabs. One was the Big Boy in St Louis and the other was a Nickled Plated Berk in Broad Ripple Park in Indy. The last thing on my mind was the controls of the engine. I was with a teenage young lady that was my age that had some missing clothing and I was as well.
Ken: Inagadadavida? (sp?) What brought that on? I remember when I first heard the long 18 min version of that song. Great stuff.
UP831 So do I. It was 7th grade English class of all places? Have no idea why the teacher thought we should hear it, but the class enjoyed it.
CNC Great News!
Ed You think your Mighty B&O's have given you problems! I did not go into details about the 233 problems, like the decoder refusing to take the 233 address in the A unit! Sat it corretly 3 times, but the address kept coming up as 0? But no matter, I finally got them running again on 233 and love them! Still no sound but I am fine with that! Just love to see them run!
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
Evening Gang -
Sorry I have been tardy the last few weeks. The holiday season got me down. I even had to break off my friendship with my ex because it was causing too much stress in my life. Now, instead of having stress from being friend with her, I'm heartbroken and sad. Oh well, life goes on. And eventually, time will curemy sadness and broken heart.
On the train front... Nothing to report.
On the work front, a lot to report. I have submitted my termination notice to Wegmans as I am going to use my educational benefits from the military and go back to school f/t. I will be attending the local BOCES here starting Monday February 13th for Certification in Bookkeeping and Accounting. It happens to be one fo the areas of my landscaping business that I struggle with so I figure why not go to school for it since my GI-Bill benefits will pay for it 100% and also pay me a monthly housing allowance. If you ask me, it's a win-win.
On my eCommerce business front, nothing. I did meet with a lawyer and other than filing for a DBA to start with, all he suggested I do was to start small and see how things go before committing myself 100+% to it.
Anyways, I wanted to touch base with everyone here in the CS and say hi. I hope all is well for everyone and prayers to those in need of them.
Take care and have a good evening gang!
//signed// John Powell President / CEO CNY Transportation Corp (fictional)
http://s155.photobucket.com/albums/s303/nuts4sports34/
Hunter - When we met in January of 2000, you were just a 6 week old pup who walked his way into this heart of mine as the only runt in the litter who would come over to me. And today, I sit here and tell you I am sorry we had to put you down. It was the best thing for you and also the right thing to do. May you now rest in peace and comfort. Love, Dad. 8 June 2010
I love you and miss you Mom. Say hi to everyone up there for me. Rest in peace and comfort. Love, John. 29 March 2017
Good Evening Fello diners!
I hope this finds you all well...
It is amazing how fast the days can go by. I haven't checked in here for a while. Chloe, how about a nice mulled cider to take the chill off?
YGW, you asked about Rivarossi the other day. I only have rumors so can not confirm anything with certanty. If I find anything to substantiate it I'll report it.
That's a great pose of you in the cab, Garry! Most guys would have their left hand on the throttle, I'm glad to see you have everything "well-in-hand". I've seen times when the engineer looked like an octopus, between the throttle, automatic and independant brakes, cutoff adjustments, sand, bell... whistle—injector! A real exercise!
Rob, Oatmeal a real "comfort Food" have you ever tried it with a little dollop of molasses? Sometimes I like it like that.
KEN It sure seemed wierd that my B&O Fs' started having problems the same time yours did. The other ones in the photo are Genesis and Intermountain. I'm almost scared to take an inventory of all the F units I have ! There's probably about fifty even after "Thinning-the-herd"
The computer has Window's Defender. Click the lower-left Windows button, then click the "gear" icon, one above the power icon, to take you to "settings", then click toward the bottom of that window, updates and security to see about the options. For years I have been using the free "Microsoft Security Essentials" MS doesn't push it too much I guess for fear of the FTC yelling at them again.
Now in Win 10 that has been replaced with Windows Defender. Between that and Malware Bytes (I use the paid version but there's a free one, too) I have not had any virus problems, ever.
I used to pay $$$ for Kaspersky and McAfee and others and they were a pain in the caboose!
Railroad W**k!
I'm making a real mess in the layout room
I made a few changes to the benchwork last week so had to remove part of the fascia. So, upon patching that back up I decided I would finish the fabric "indoor-outdoor" carpet covering on the rest of this half of the layout!
Here, I have the glue spread and ready for another six-foot piece of fabric.
Working my way around toward the Big City!
After it's in place and trimmed it's beginning to look much better. I'm also pulling wire in the ceiling to add a few more LED mini-cans to spot-light the new "corner" I worked on last week.
THEN I'll be finishing up the carpeting in this area next week...whew! No wonder I'm sore. I thought Model Railroading was supposed to be FUN
My thoughts and prayers to all and I hope for a better day for everyone tomorrow!
Regards, Ed
Good Afternoon Diners,
Flo, I'll have an extra large coffee with lots of cream, please.
Havent checked in for awhile. Glad to see folks are recovering from surguries and illnesses.
Train Front: not much of anything happening. My prototype rail yards research proved to be semi-fruitful. I was able to compare the yard layout diagrams that I had with some aerail photos of the area from the time period that would be modeled. I doubt that I'll ever have the opportunity to model this, but looking up the info was fun.
Hello to everyone, and I hope everyone is OK, safe, and warm.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
V8Vega. . .today he yanked me forward and I lost my balance and skinned up my forhead some and my nose. . .
You need a better story than the truth.
"Yeah, I went down on the Harley. I was a little too hot coming into the corner. I had the skid lid on but it didn't protect my face."
Richard
Hey all
Train front making some progress - s-l-o-w-l-y . Last two days on my site we are cutting out the construction entrances on three house in prepartion for base asphalt. I have had three loads removed from the site to my hobby barn. Saves the company dump fees, they pay for the haul and I get free fill. Win win for everyone.
I also bought a flat car with load of farm equipment ( which arrived broken up ) and the craziest thing was this PA-1 in Norfolf Western blue ( I do not know that they every owning one ?? ) but I bid on it and thought if it goes cheap I will buy it anyways ( I have always liked the way the PAs looked ) then I forgot about it ! Heck then a few days later I get a win notice and I had actually won the PA and dummy unit for a little over $30
Work front - recieved notice yesterday they have sold another home ( Chinese national bought it for his son and future daughter in law ). Going to be busy soon again.
Rob - So when is the construction starting again ? Set a date ?
Garry - Love your new ride ! Steam up yet ? When are you taking us for a spin ?
Der - Well hello good to see ya in the diner again.
Bill - Morning to you also
FRRYKid - Monster energy ? Whats that ? I have not heard of it yet. I like the old days when it wasnt such a science and you could tell who was who because the cars were actually different looking. Ford, Chevys and Dodges all were different looking. I grew up watching Richard Petty, Bobby Allison etc...I loved Richard pettys car ! I bought a dodge myself
V8 - Hey you know you could tell the ladies that you got into a scrap with some junk yard dogs saving a kitty and then you would have the women swooning over you
Dave - OUCH ! Oh my, it makes me hurt just reading that. You are blessed to be standing erect. I have metal plates and screws in my neck from a car accident (rear ened by large flat bed truck going 55 miles an hour) also. Fortunately all ended well and I am still walking and talking.
Inch - I am sorry about the report. Here is a for you. Hope they get it turned around.
SSExpress - You are lucky enough to have a dirt track near by ? That is on my bucket list. I have always wanted to watch one. When I was a kid my father took me to Old Dominion speedway in Manassas va. It was a small oval track. I fell in love with Nascar racing right then and there ! I always wanted to get in on teh "grocery getter" race. My wife wouldnt here of it !
Ken - If you dont mind I would greatly appreciate it.
CN Charlie - What do they talk about at the Prostrate cancer survivor class ?
Ulrich - Have they scheduled Petras surgery yet? How is she feeling today ? Yourself ?
History qoute :
A chip on the shoulder is too heavy a piece of baggage to carry through life.
people who pay greater respect to a wealthy villain than to an honest, upright man in poverty, almost deserve to be enslaved; they plainly show that wealth, however it may be acquired, is, in their esteem, to be preferred to virtue.
When a government betrays the people by amassing too much power and becoming tyrannical, the people have no choice but to exercise their original right of self-defense — to fight the government.
TTYL
YGW
Oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Also extra strong coffee in a Southern Pacific mug, please.
***Garry, terrific pics. Looks like you were having fun. Good to see you!
***Ken, same old layout, nothing new. When I get some construction done, I will definitely post some pics. Sorry to say, it takes me forever to get much done these days.
Have a terrific day all.
Cheers! Rob
Good Morning,
Inch, good news! Great you don't have to do any follow-up therapy. That must be a big relief. Hope your ankles calm down so you can get back to your normal routine.
Garry, nice photos of you and that loco. Even if they are just static display, it is still fun to be in a cab and imagine what it was like running at least that was my feeling when I was in the cab of CN Hudson a few years ago.
Der, good to see you back. Did you get that nasty storm that hit Moncton a couple of days ago?
Well, have a great day,
Der .... Good seeing you .. Looking forward to the update.
Below are photos of me and an old SP 2-8-0 at the Arizona Railroad Museum.
Good morning all (except for some it's later than that!) Just dropped in to say Hi! and Ulrich, please check your PMs.
I'll get back in with a layout update after the current project is a bit further on.
"There are always alternatives, Captain" - Spock.
Good morning !
Dennis ... Sorry to hear about your mishap.
Bill T ...Cheers.
Ulrich ... I remember your previous Japanese Railway layout, and I liked it.
Dave ... I also have metal pieces in my spine. It was a long time ago now that a drunk driver broke my back.
I'm hoping to get back to working on the layout this weekend. Model rairloading is better than anything on TV.
Good morning!
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
Good Morning!
The night was as bad as the previous one. I just called my doc for an appointment and will be off to see him in a few moments.
yougottawantaUlrich - What do you like about the the Japanese layouts ?
The key players in the Japanese model railroading market, Kato and Tomix, both have an ingenious system for building nice layouts without the need of many tools or skills. Japanese people have very little space to live in, so many layouts are just temporary set-ups on a table or even the floor. Everything just "clicks" together, even the wiring and structures. With the exception of track, all other stuff you need for a layout, including locos and cars, are much cheaper than the US or German counterparts. So if you are into model railroading in a tight space and a tight budget, going down that route could be a good choice.
6 years ago, I already built a mini-modular layout, Japanese style - you can read about it here:
Confessions of a Mediocre Model Railroader
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.
V8VegaI lost my balance and skinned up my forhead some and my nose.
Dennis:
At least nothing got broken!
yougottawantaDave - Ouch ! Where the screws are not run in all the way can you feel that ? Does it hurt ?
Hi YGW:
The screw heads are sticking up a little bit above the surface of the titanium rods that hold my bones in position. They should be flush. The screws themselves don't cause pain but the whole area aches when I stand or walk. The surgeon, who was a petite lady, had to ask her pro-football sized assistant surgeon to drive the screws. He had to straddle my back to get enough downward force to drive the screws. He drove the screws as far in as he could before the risk of the screwdriver slipping outwayed the benefits or potential problems from having the screw heads sticking up a bit. The bone eventually filled the small gaps between the vertebra and the rods.
That was one extreme that they ran into during the surgery. The other thing that they had to contend with was damaged nerves. The bone had healed improperly from the infection and there were bulges of excess bone material. Those bulges had stretched some of the nerves coming out of my spine to the point where the nerve sheaths had split open leaving the raw nerve exposed. They had to stitch the nerve sheaths back together without hitting the nerves themselves! The nerves are tiny! The fact that I am walking and standing at all is a small miracle. Cudos to the surgeons for their skills!!!
I count my blessings!!
Best gets rounds, thoughts for those in need n hope ya’ll has a gooden
Good evening all!! Flo, I'll have a large mug of hi-octane and two boston creams please and thank you...............
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 made it a point to do local Saturday night, grass roots racing a few years ago. Hopefully I can get out to some local dirt tracks this spring with my little ones.
Cuda Ken............Friday will be a full week at the new shop. Not as clean or organized as my old one but so far seems to be a good bunch of dudes in my department. Medical parts can get a bit tricky when trying to hold tolerances like +/- .0002 inch. Some machines do it better than others, but it takes time to learn the different machines, controls and programs. Sure makes for a quick day though!!
I didn't really get a chance to check in on the HVBL this week. Just a quick fly by to make sure there was no flooding in the basement. I have a leaky roof on my garage that was covered up by a tarp. This past week we had some serious wind and rain and the tarp took flight, the garage flooded out and I lost my temporary hobby station and most of my cardboard templates and other home made goodies for detailing. I don't even want to talk about my camaro. That's going to need some serious cleaning come springtime. If it isn't one thing it's another...
Rich
Afternoon Folks
Flo, Ed will have Crown Royal and I will have a please.
VA Visit. Meet my new Doctor and I like him so far. From the Far East, maybe Japain? Could understand him just fine. Only thing he told me that I had not heard before is I have early signs of Kidney problems. I was in and out in a hour which is pretty darn quick by VA standerds.
Got a Goosh Dang Parking Ticket while I was at the VA and I am PO'ed! St Louis installed a parking meter system where there are Poles then one central meter. It was cold, and I needed to hit the head so I was in a hurry, might have done something wrong. Dumped in $3.00 in change, said I was good till 3:59 and I was out at 2:40 and there was a parking ticket on my car! Saw another Vet dropping coins in the meter and he got a receipt, I didn't? Maybe I need to hit the head to much and missed something? I did call the number on the ticket to report a metter error. We all know how that went, never spoke to a live person! With it being only a $15.00 fine, not worth fighting.
Ulrich that Petra is doing well and the cooling pad is doing the trick.
Rob Are you ever going to post any picture's of your layout?
SS Rich Do you like the new Company or is it just the same old stuff?
YGW Do you still need me to post the photos for you? I saw you where able to post some. Photo Bucket bogges my main computer down badly.
Ed, is there any Ant-Vires on the note book? Slowly getting the hang of it. Very happy to have it! The Bessmer's seem to like it much better on the A line with the CB&Q's for some reason. Wheels are staying cleaner for some reason.
In a gadda da vida
Ken
angelob6660 Thanks Beach Bill. I was thinking of something small with two locomotives and less than 20 cars. The track plan I was thinking of using is Deer Mountain and change a few things.
Thanks Beach Bill. I was thinking of something small with two locomotives and less than 20 cars. The track plan I was thinking of using is Deer Mountain and change a few things.
angelob6660: Sent you a PM about C&O steam possibilities in N scale.