Jeffrey's Trackside Diner, February 2017 - this month staying "Down Under"!

[ricktrains4824]

Good evening all.

Chloe - A slice of apple pie, with a couple of scoops of ice cream, please. Thanks!

YGW - That commission is above and beyond my regular hourly salary. I actually have enough to pay bills off just hourly alone. For $150 commission and spiff, I would need a couple of leases, a couple of 5 year protection agreements, combined together, plus a couple thousand in sales, on a store card if not on a lease. When the DM runs contests, it is easier, but it would still take a really busy sales day, or hitting the right things. Our current high-paying spiff is a $500 or above lease, with a protection agreement. I make much more on them, than sales commission. But my boss and DM would be more than pleased to pay the $150 in commission if I hit that much, as I would have been "setting the world on fire" sales wise!

And, least I forget again, the "sell a dime for a nickel" is a play on the old adage on a "plug nickel". I just use a real nickel as my boss would really not like my accepting a plug nickel...

Ken - Hoping that the cars lube and filter job fixed it! I hate transmission issues... Almost as much as I hate the way you need to change the alternator on my current car... Let's just say it involves dropping the front axle, as well as a few other things....

Train front - Well, the "gift box" has some nice things in it. Give them a clean and lube job, and they will run pretty good! (Tested and all run, {save for the steamer, but that will be checked out further later, when I have more time.} sporadically, but run. Once cleaned and lubed up should be great!) I'm thinking of passing one on to a friends' son, who is 10, who is big into trains. If I can find him my old E-Z track, he will be getting a nice little gift, and his Mom will get a nudge, in the greatest hobby direction. 

Again, whomever you are, a BIG THANK YOU! is in order.

Well, I guess I will head off to bed now, good night everyone.

Again..... should I?????

Ok.... "And Goodnight, Mrs. Ockmonic, Wherever you are." - ALF

Ok, again, not quite, but, a "goodnight" quote anyways....

Goodnight all.

Hope all are well, and all enjoy the day! (And night!)

[cudaken]

 Evening Diners

 Flo, Ed will have a Royal Crown and I will have a please

 Ed I swear the smart phones are sucking the brains out of people! Very sad. Iam not sure who to feel the most sorry for, the enginer or the 13 year old that lived.

 Work Front Had a darn good day today with $2600.00 in sales and this company needs every penny it can get! With the lack of sales I wonder how much longer it can keep going.

 YGW My car was done before I got off today. Been using Bob for years so he left the keys in the car where I could find them. I will pay him next week when I am off. Grabbed the keys (left the car at Bob's) but I did take it for a short test drive. Still goes in forward just a tad slow, maybe 1.5 seconds but far better than it had been. Car has 192,437 miles on it so I am happy it still moves!

 Gary So I am not the only person that has a Mighty CB&Q ABA?

 Train Front Layout has it MoJo back!   All of the Might F's and Bessemers SD 7's are running great!

  To a friend.

 Ken

[howmus]

Evenin'!

Janie, just need a pot of decaf to tide me over to bedtime please....

We got about 3" of fluffy white stuiff here in the Finger Lakes over the last couple days.  Just enough to make everything look nice but not enough to require shoveling out the driveway....

Spring has arrived very, very early here this year.  Heard some Maple farmers have already tapped trees for sap.  That usually happens in mid march.  I looked out the window at breakfast today and the were 6 pairs of robins gleening the berries off the flowering quince tree along with a pair of what I think are Downy woodpeckers.  Now all of those may be just ones that stayed over the winter.  Robins have started doing that several years back, but I was very surprised to see them out there.  Also had a couple sparrows and 3 crows hoping to pick off one or two of the smaller birds.  The robins were watching them carefully!  Been in the 20's here for the last few days, but will be warming up to the high 30's tomorrow.

I spent the last two afternoons at church finishing the wiring for the new speakers in the Narthex.  Had to solder XLR connectors to microphone/line out wires feeding the speakers.  These are powered speakers which seem to be the norm for a lot of installations (and home use) today.  Only problem is that we had to also put in electrical outlets from the main box with the amps and other equipment out to where each speaker sits.  That was real pain for the electrician who got to do that.  Also printed out this years MLK scholarship applications and took them to the High School.

Tomorrow will be "Clean the House Day"...  (Haven't vacumed since Thanksgioving here...  Yep it needs some cleaning!

der5997

It amazes me the risks some folks take for “the perfect selfie. Real Darwin Award material!

Yep!  And somehow it always seems to be the trains fault in many peoples minds..... 

Have a good one, and prayers for all those in need!

73

[der5997]

Good evening Diners: The seafood bake and the house white please Cloe.

We dodged a bullet on Monday (the day I started this post) when an ice storm blew through but left us pretty much alone! It’s Friday evening now and last night’s Nor’ Easter brought snow and blowing snow, but was over earlier than we had been led to believe, and clearing out he driveway was a not too difficult chore. I waited until the wind dropped and by that time the town plough had done its worst to the end of the driveway – so I didn’t have to do THAT twice!

 Ken:

Der Layout is looking good! I am more with Gary on the tunnel liners but your is still impressive! I swear the more I see of N Scale the more I wish I had not went HO.

Thanks Ken, I agree, N gives much more layout/square foot, so to speak. I was going to go from N to HO if I did another layout because of eyes not being what they were (that’s back in 2012-13) – but there was too much N gear left unsold and economic realities dictated staying in N. Eyes still an issue, but “Suck it up, Buttercup” seems to be the determining factor!

 Ed Good to see you back in the Dinner! Do you think the carpet will help you find missing Kadees? I still find them once in a while laying on the road bed and garage floor.

You didn’t happen to find the horns from my two GP15s down there too did you? They’ve been AWOL over this past month – and don’t seem to want to come out of hiding.

Ulrich:

Give our regards to YOH!

…and she reciprocates! Mrs. DER’s  surgeon says (the appointment was Thursday) that she is cleared for return to normal activities AND SHE CAN EAT WHATEVER SHE PLEASES. That may encourage Petra somewhat, looking down the road.

Ed:

When I wasn't on my hands and knees trimming carpet I was in the "Lab" working on a sweet little two-story farm house from AMB/Laserkit:

Great looking house – I’ve done a couple of laser kits and really liked the way they turned out. Mine were small structures, Yard office, and an Interlocking Tower (Tower is in foreground in this photo from my previous N layout which also shows some of the houses I mention below)  I no longer have either as they were sold.

Picking coal trackside – I know that in the depression some train crews around here would purposely miss-shovel near known needy families’ homes. Neat poster BYW.

 

Train Front: It’s taken some time, but I’ve now just about “topped out” the hill I was working on. I think I’ve space for a small cul-de-sac of modest homes suggesting a larger sub-division off layout. These are nearly all transplants from the last layout. 

In this next view the hillside in front of the houses will likely be carved away for a quarry which will have (it’s out of production by the time of my layout) provided stone for the castle feature on the yet-to-be-built mountain at the far end of the layout. The quarry would be immediately to the right of the tunnel portal in this view, and my N3n track would run (or the roadbed for it would be modelled if I can't afford the actual track which would be used at all) back from the Narrow Gauge station area which will be on the narrow shelf of hill left of the tunnel portal. 

These houses are, as I said in a modest sub-division. I’ve found some smaller bungalows which are even more down-market and may well be placed near a light industrial area. This brings up the subject of “story telling” in a model scene. Garry don’t you have a parade scene on your layout? (or is it temporary for July 4?) I’m thinking that the type of housing and other features we choose can help tell a social/historic story without using a single word. Here’s my row of railway hotel(?),shops and apartments behind on the far side of the layout (Those trains in the fiddle yard will be hidden, I’ve just not replaced the view block [Incidentally, I’m thinking of using a surplus=somewhat damaged 4’ fluorescent light diffuser for that and not try to paint a backdrop on the view block])

Ja Bear; Galaxy; and Duke: Glad to see you in again. Haven't seen a wooden nickel in a awhile Duke

Henry:

Ed how horrific and stupid to be killed taking a selfie.

would it were just cats! It amazes me the risks some folks take for “the perfect selfie. Real Darwin Award material!

Must get on with other things before bedtime. Goodnight all, and Prayers for all in need.

[gmpullman]

Hello, All...

up831

Ed: Yes, that does look like Kansas from the air in late April or in May.  That's the only time of year one sees that deep green because of the winter wheat.  Do you know more specifically where that is a picture of?

Buffalo River in Moorhead, Minnesota?

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/farmer_imagery.html

Yes, right where the Buffalo River joins the Red River:

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.0674329,-96.7695458,10857m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

Just a quick HI! Lots to do, the grandchildren wait for no one! 

Prayers for those in need...

Cheers,

Ed

[BigDaddy]

Ed how horrific and stupid to be killed taking a selfie.

YGW I never saw the temp lower than 33.  We had some snow for about 1/2 an hour but it didn't stick anywhere.  Enough to cause all sorts of wrecks in Baltimore.

Nothing on the train front.

[up831]

Good Afternoon Diners,

Brunhilda, I'll have an extra large coffee with lots of cream, please.

Nothing of note to report here.  However, we're one day closer to spring.

Ed: Yes, that does look like Kansas from the air in late April or in May.  That's the only time of year one sees that deep green because of the winter wheat.  Do you know more specifically where that is a picture of?

Another thing that the picture shows is that fairly early on in its history, they divided the entire state into square miles.  There are gravel/ dirt roads every mile with corrections for longitude, and it divides the state into square miles, which conveniently allows 4 quarter sections of 160 acres each.  To attract settlers, they offered 160 acres land grants for free or next to nothing to settle.  The only stipulation that I know of is that the settlers had to reside on and work the land.  I don't know if there was a time limit on that.

Ricktrains:  That is hilarious!

Those are either Rots or well fed Dobies, probably from other selfies.

Hello to everyone, and I hope everyone is OK, safe, and warm.

it looks like I'm at the top of the page.  Brunhilda, please find out what everyone wants and put it on my tab.

[angelob6660]

Evening Diners,

yougottawanta

Angel - What industries are you going to put where ?

I wouldn't know. I haven't gotten the track since I just ordered it but hasn't been shipped yet. The track will tell me and it will go by that.

The only items to cover the so-called industries are: (1) trackside freight house (2) loading ramp (3) grain elevator

I have a few trees, concrete and girder bridge and a grass mat. My layout is very limited except for locomotives and rolling stock.

 

Ed- I remember that poster, it makes me sad when children has to steal coal to heat their houses. And also getting killed by an oncoming train.

Ricky- That's a pretty good one. I know that's funny.

[ricktrains4824]

Good afternoon.

Zoe - One of the pulled pork sandwiches with fries, and a and a coke Please. Thanks.

Weather - Cold and white still. About 7" currently, with ~2 expected.

W**k - Reletively slow, selling only a washing machine so far. However, someone, named Steve, but whom I have no other information on currently, brought in a gift box, and left it for me, along with a note, gifting me a goodie box of HO Scale equipment... 6 locomotives, 2 rail cars, and a D.C. power pack... So, if you are reading this, THANK YOU!!!!

I'm really not 100% sure who it was....

I see ED posted a story link about a "last selfie", and it made me think of a more humorous "last selfie"...

Hope all are enjoying the day!

[bjdukert]

Afternoon all

Best to all on sick call and those recovering

Duke

[yougottawanta]

Evening all

Train front no news today.

Home front - LOTS OF Excitment this morning. Apparently a mouse has worked his way into the garage and then into MOH laundry room. When she opened the door it scurried across the floor and then all HECK BROKE LOOSE ! I have never heard so much drama ! I was upstairs and then MOH came stomping up the stairs fussing  and carrying on about how this mouse has made the worst mistake of his life....She had murder in her eyes ! "No one is allowed in MY HOUSE unless its a kid, pays the bills or is invited in and this critter was NOT invited in..... I would say that mouses days are numbered if he doesnt leave this place soon !

CN Charlie - I understood your post I just had this funny vision of a Jackolope ( Mythical cross between a rabit and an anteploe.) Funny looking thing ! Yep I bet the owls will make quick work of the rabbit population.

JPowell - Glad you are popping in right regular. Good to see you again. When do you have to start school ?

Dave - Wow it sounds like Christmas again. Three kits ! That will keep you busy for a while.

JaBear LOL - "Flat out like a Lizard drinking water " I love it ! That does sound busy. Wondering where you had gone. I always enjoy your comments and your lingo.

Garry - LOL !! "Whistling Dixie" Now that is funny. I am sure they werent singing Yankee doodle dandy!

Ken - Did the fluid change help the tranny ?

Angel - What industries are you going to put where ?

RickyW - So what do you have to sell to get in the $150 a day range ? How can you survive on a $25 a day commision ?

ROR - 80s !!!! Oh my gosh please pipe so of that this way ! It feels like its in the 20s today here!

Beach Bill - You have been out of Va for a while. We havent had semi annual inspections in decades ! Thank God too ! That was such a pain in the rear.

Henry - Did you guys get a hard and fast snow flurry blizad yesterday. We had a white out for about 30 minutes and then it was blue skies again.

Steve - I watched the 200 Cody video last night. I am always amazed at how people look and sound in real life verse what our minds think they will sound like. You were totally different than I expected. Cody blew right by you didnt he ? a man on a mission !

Lion - Where did you go ? Are you okay ?

Ulrich - I hope your computer didn die ???

History qoute :

Insurrection is the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties.

Marquis de Lafayette

 

Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights.

Marquis de Lafayette

 

Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government; when this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved, and tyranny is erected on its ruins. Republics...derive their strength and vigor from a popular examination into the action of the magistrates.

Benjamin Franklin

 

TTYL

YGW

 

 

[gmpullman]

Greetings, Folks!

I'll just have a nice piece of pecan nut roll, Flo, and maybe a glass of cow-juice on the side.

I'm burning the midnight oil here and then some. Had a 0800 doctor appointment and instead of setting the alarm clock I just stayed up all night and did some modeling projects.

I'm sure ready for the lower berth now, though!

yougottawanta

Does Kanassas really look like that from the air ?

Well, sort of... maybe the layout room has a little less green to it:

But you get the idea...

I came across this site while answering a thread in the Prototype for Modelers forum and thought I'd share it. It just hit me that sometimes something so seemingly fun and innocent can end in tragedy and affect so many lives.

http://www.up.com/aboutup/community/inside_track/selfie-tragedy-12-7-2016.htm

So often, way too often, I read news stories about people not respecting, or comprehending, the dangers of being around railroad property. There have been campaigns for years trying to educate the public of the hazard... to no avail.

This... from 1927

I'll check in with you fine folks later...

Regards, Ed

[CNCharlie]

Good Morning,

Getting warm out there! Must be at least 25F by now! No sun but I guess you can't have everything. 

Had a great lunch out yesterday. We went to a restaurant that is part of a large, local book store. While we go to the bookstore a lot it was my first time to eat at their restaurant and I was impressed. The food was really good. 

Beach Bill, the course is sponsored by the Prostate Canada Foundation and so there is no cost for it. They do an assessment of your fitness at the beginning and end to see the results of the programme. We have to assign a level of fatigue before and after each class as well as the type of exercise we did. The results are then sent to a university in Canada that are monitoring the results of exercise on prostate cancer 'survivors'.  There is also yoga and other exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor. A nice side benefit is that you get to meet a great bunch of guys with whom you have a lot in common.

YGW, the rabbit is just a common cottontail but it is aided in its leap by a large snow bank against the fence so it only has to jump about 3 feet. We have a lot of cottontails around here especially where I live as we are very close to a river and a golf course. I heard the Great Horned Owl last night so I expect the rabbit population to drop soon. The owls will mate and lay eggs in a couple of weeks. When the owlets fledge the rabbits will largely disappear. We also have snowshoe hares here but they aren't very common. In winter their fur turns white. I have seen them run and I bet they can hit 30 mph or more. Absolutely amazing.

Well I didn't get down to the trains yesterday but perhaps today! I have the rotary plow on the layout with the mike pushing. Yes I suppose it looks a little silly as the layout is set in summer, but I like it so that is all the justification I need. 

Have a good day,

CN Charlie

[JPowell]

Morning Gang -

  Chloe - How about a nice fritatta with swiss cheese and wheat toast, a side of bacon (cause we all know everything is better with bacon), a tall glass of OJ and coffee, please? Thank you!

Hey Galaxy - How much snow did you get overnight out your way? I got about 8 inches so far here in Camillus. The sun is poking its head out from time to time when there is a break in the snow activity.

Well not much to report yet today. Chloe, I will be over in the corner booth waiting for my order and watching any trains go by, if anyone is looking for me.

Take care!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good morning ... 

Bear .... The video with double headed steam is very interesting. 

Galaxy .... Good to see you. 

Dave .... Your roundhouse project sounds ambitious. It will keep you busy. 

[galaxy]

Nothing new to report on this front.

Escept lots of snow., of the major larger cities in NY, we are just barely behind Syracuse in total seasonal snow fall, at about 70". Thats right more than 5' and close to 6' of snow.And it's frigid here, nothing new for Feb here. The sun is actually shining here, it hrts my eyes!

trains: nothing new, but I should go through the boxes and better organize the trians so I can find things better with boxed labels.

The garden stuff is starting to ship. good, but plants won't be shipped until April here. wish the green hosue was up, been studying ways to heat it. I think some heat sinks {usually made of water jugs or drums} won;t really work as they will freeze if the greenhouse gets cold enough. Propane heater might work, and hte ventless propane heaters might be best. Then I have an ugly propane tank outside my bonus room. Oh well, the plants will need warmth.

finances. well like many others we are broke. lol Se kEn, you aren;t th only one. debt sonsolidation came through. lowers payments.

Paying off the house more though, so its a trade off. sending in double the required payment so going down. We will still ahve it paid for in 5 yeras. good.

relationship: nothing new there.

winter doldrums {officially called S.A.D.- Seasonal Affective DIsorder for me, part of my mental illness}} is setting in big time. TG we are halfway through February. Only one more monht. Easter is later this year, April 16th, but perhaps spring will sprung early and warm sunny days ahead sooner than later.

thats about it form this corner of the world.

ULRICH: Hopefully Petra wwill be good soon. It is a bear I know when food is an enemy, but excpet for fats, she will feel better after it is out. AS mentioned by others, here we get things done as soon as the surgeon can get you in. Perhaps freebie health insurance is not so great.

whoops the garbage man just came gotta get the can. Recycle came through an hour ago.

later

-G

[hon30critter]

I have my work cut out for me! Today I received three Walthers roundhouse kits. I was originally going to have just one Atlas three stall kit, but a rather inspired (if I can say so myself) re-design of my service facility gave me a bunch more space. I decided to sell my Atlas roundhouse and replace it with the much larger Walthers nine stall facility. Some of you will know about my Walthers 90' turntable build so it just made sense to match that to a Walthers roundhouse.

I just ordered a bunch of Plastruct HO brick sheets to finish the interior walls, and I have a ton of details already on hand for the interior, although I will need more to do it right. I love the fact that the roundhouses have service pits included. The Atlas version did not.

Perhaps my biggest challenge will be clearing enough space on my workbench to build a nine stall roundhouse. Then, once it is done, I'll have to figure out where to store it until it can go on the layout.

Dave

[hon30critter]

Bear:

Very interesting and entertaining video! I wish it had shown more of the action inside the cab but oh well, I enjoyed it none the less.

Thanks!

Dave

["JaBear"]

Gidday YGW, this is the busiest time of year for me and especially this year, to borrow an Australian saying, “I’ve been flat out like a lizard drinking.” I have been looking through the Diner window but would have made for poor company and have headed for bed instead.

yougottawanta

Why does the KA942 have the shroud on teh front in New Zealand ? What is that for ?

Some of the Ka Class locomotives of 1939 were built with streamlining, and though it was removed mainly due to servicing issues due to manpower shortages in WW2, when Ka942 was restored, the streamlining was fitted. At the start of this video Ka 945, without streamlining, is the lead locomotive.

 

Thoughts and Best Wishes to All that need them.

Cheers, the Bear.  

[JPowell]

Good evening gang!

Hope all is well with everyone. Prayers for those in need. 

I''ve had a great week so far. Today was my last day of WORK for the regional supermarket chain Wegmans. 

Monday, I beggin another new and exciting chapter in my life. I will be a f/t student again. I'm going to be attending our local BOCES for their Bookkeeping and Accounting certificate program that will run through Friday August 4th. This happens to be an area I lack skills in for my landscaping business and since my military educational benefits are going to pay my full ride, plus give me a monthly tax free housing allowance, it's a no brainer for me.

On the train front... nothing new to report.

On my ecommerce business... again, nothing new to report.

Well that is all for now. I am off for the evening. 

Take care!

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

yougottawanta

Garry - LOL -Northern called a "Dixie" ... Southerns sure are proud... 

 

YGW .... When approaching grade crossings, they were whistling Dixies.  

Beach Bill ... Gald to hear you did not allow a minor problem such as a missing front wall stop you from working on the building kit. 

Ken .... Sounds like you are enjoying the F-units. 

Hear is a partial view of my Walthers Proto CB&Q 167 ABC ... 

[cudaken]

 Afternoon Diners

 Flo, Ed will have Crown Royal, I will have a and we will both have some fried chicken.

 I have had better train days! Sometimes I am still amazed how just adding one car and using a diffrent turnout can just Fobar the whole layout!

 Dropped of my Town Car for a Trans Fluid Change. Fluid is brown and smells a little burnt. Only real problem is it goes into drive very slowly. What I have been doing is starting the car up, placing in drive for 10 to 15 seconds so the pump bulids some pressuer then go. Does not slip so I hope a fresh filter and new fluid will take care of the problem.

 Had a little more to type about but the trains beat me down! I bet I got up 15 times trying to get the layout MoJo back. Well the B line with the Mighty B&O F7's are running fine, so what more could a man want?

 Ken

 

 

 

 

[angelob6660]

Here is the track plan.

The final plan is measured 56" by 28" or 2'4" x 4'8". The scenic divider may or may not be on.

Era, theme, location is still unknown but don't worry. I have some ideas. But first I'm focus a little on scenery than motive power.

[ricktrains4824]

Good afternoon all.

Chloe - Hot cocoa please. Thanks.

YGW - It's not so much as how much I sell, but more so of what it is I sell. That day the big ticket item was a clearance refrigerator, so very little (maybe .3%) for commission on that one. It was only as high as it was due to the extras that went with that clearance fridge. Some items pay a much higher commission than others.

Weather - While not as bad as the coastal areas, it is cold, windy, and white here. Have a few (3-5) inches, with more snow showers, but lots of wind, as air temp is 14, wind chill below zero.

W**k - Meeting with the DM went well, we will be doing a remodel, but there-in is where the problem was... Our new floor plan calls for one section being 120' long... Our space along that wall is only 118', but there are 3 support posts along that wall, giving 115' of space that is usable... ....

Trains - Ended up getting a new GP38-2, not so much as I needed it, but the price was right, (from a friend), and it will fit my layout, so.... Now to get it programmed on DCC and tested, and replace the plastic clones with real Kadee's. Still working on a few other projects, including the SD40-2 project, then I will be starting in on making a few extra adjustments to the new GP unit. 

Hope all are well, and all enjoy the day!

[angelob6660]

RideOnRoad

For what it is worth, it is currently 80F in the Valley of the Sun. (Don't hate me because I am in shorts.)

I'm already in shorts. I barely worn pants during the winter. Yes my legs were freezing cold.

It was a hard decision to buy track, but I did it anyway. So I'm on the way to make that small 2x4-ish layout. When the track gets delivered on Monday I will figure out the space inside the oval. Later on I'll show the plan.

[RideOnRoad]

For what it is worth, it is currently 80F in the Valley of the Sun. (Don't hate me because I am in shorts.)

[Beach Bill]

I've been away from the diner for a few days and had some catching up to do...  the good ole basic cheesburger with lettuce and mayo would be great.

Ulrich:   Glad that you have a date to work with for Petra, and hope that it is kept by the doctor and by the weather for travel on those dates.

CN Charlie:    I didn't have any offer of "classes", but surely would have obliged myself to them had they been available.    I often say "cancer changes everything, and it doesn't change anything for the better", so there are a lot of variations on the new normal.   I did go to a class once offered at the community room of the local big shopping mall, with a well-qualified urologist presenting.  Unfortunately, there was only one topic area that the other attendees wanted to, er, erect.

A fast-moving line of thunderstorms went over just after dawn and now the temperature is dropping fast.  We might get down to freezing tonight.   With that rough weather just over, it was almost like walking on a private beach this morning.   I greatly enjoy covering a quarter or half a mile without meeting anyone else and with only the waves to listen to.

Car inspections:   Used to live in Virginia that had semi-annual inspections (a bit much keeping up with two cars) and then went to annual.   There is no such thing down here in South Kackalackie, and one thus sees some terrible examples of broken windshields, smoke clouds, and even missing fenders on the road.    We would be better with some level of safety inspection.    Our state is again considering (finally) adding more gas tax to pay for road improvement, and they want to tack on an extra tax to anyone driving a hybrid car.   Civil engineers and examination of any major road will tell that it is the heavy trucks contributing the most to road damage.   I'll pay the fee and keep my 50 mpg.

I did start work on a little HO fire stations (an old Campbell kit).   This kit was purchased at a train show several years ago.  My first joy was laying out the parts and discovering.....  there is NO FRONT WALL in the box.   The instructions are a schematic without a scale drawing of that front wall.  Scribed wood in several varieties is here in the stockpile, and now I am considering also adding a floor so that the door can be positioned in "open" and the fire truck could be parked half-way up in the door.     Wood, glue, X-Acto, sandpaper and time to engage a few of the brain cells if I can find them.

Bill

[yougottawanta]

Evening all

Where did spring go ? It is chilly today ! ( I know you northern folks think anything above zero is a heat wave ) but it is in the 20s ( from 70 yesterday ) and the wind is whipping us around ! Blowing shingles off of the roof, causing our cars to rock back and forth as we drive ...

Train front - I am getting closer to back filling the garage. Todays weather wouldnt allow it to proceed.. To wet.

CN Charlie - What a rabbit jumping a six foot fence !!? Must be a jackalope ! I didnt know they got that far north Watch out those things have horns and pretty bad tempered too from what I hear

Angel - Oh So you are not familiar with "Beats, Savage, Lit, Salty " ? Sometimes I have to go to the internet to google what my daughters are saying...Thank God for the internet or I would be clueless a LOT more... Here is an example of kids slang if they were talking Steves article:

Steve is Fam ! His article in this months MRR was FIRE ! It was Lit to read and it was not to much sauce.

Did you understand that ?

Tom - Hey you may want to watch the use of word involving w**k. Some here take a lot of offense at words like Ch**es

Rob - Hey you want some Blue Ridge Anthracite coal for that KA942 ? Here is a little blue Ridge coal dust for the coffee too ! We will get a poke and throw some in an N&W boxcar and ship yall some way over yonder where ya abode.

JaBear - Where have you been ? We have missed you in here ! I have a question for you. Why does the KA942 have the shroud on teh front in New Zealand ? What is that for ?

Garry - LOL -Northern called a "Dixie" ... Southerns sure are proud...

Howmus - Oh thanks. It is so interesting how many places get there names from American Indian names of places.

Ed - You are welcome.Does Kanassas really look like that from the air ? Fascinating ! Good thing you put down some extra glue. Peel and stick has a habit of unsticking. I will watch teh videos tonight using my internet at home. The company takes a very dim view when that hapopens at work, even during lunch hours.

Henry - Did you get any snow ? We didnt get a lick ! Lots of WIND though and some showers.

Ulrich - Havent seen you in here hope you are well.

History qoute :

We have had good and bad Presidents, and it is a consoling reflection that the American Nation possesses such elements of prosperity that the bad Presidents cannot destroy it, and have been able to do no more than slightly to retard the public's advancement.

Henry Clay

 

Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees. And both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people.

Henry Clay

 

A government that does not trust it's law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms is itself unworthy of trust.

James Madison

 

Oppressors can tyrannize only when they achieve a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed populace.

James Madison

 

TTYL

YGW

 

 

 

[CNCharlie]

Good Morning,

A not so balmy -3F here with a -20 windchill. But it is sunny. We are supposed to have a heat wave tomorrow with 30F!  Downside is that it will be accompanied by snow and ice pellets. 

I made it downstairs yesterday and looked at the layout but didn't fire it up. Perhaps today. I did watch a little tellie last night a show called the Coroner that my wife had recorded. It is a BBC production and we really enjoy it plus it has fabulous music. I have the sound on the downstairs TV hooked up to an old AR amp and some large Paradigm speakers. It is really quite good for shows that have good music. 

Getting ready to go out shortly. We are meeting a friend for lunch. She was a great help to my wife, taking her grocery shopping and doing anything we wanted when I was out of commision. A true friend. After that it is on to a few errands as we are getting low on bird feeding supplies.

Garry, that is great they are restoring that Northern. It seems that most of the running steam tends to be small locos which isn't surprising considering the cost of running a large one. The largest one running in Canada is a Mountain that was last steam built for the CNR. Mind you I think it has run out its boiler time so I suppose it is waiting until funds are raised for that large project. 

Well we found out how the rabbit is getting into our back yard yesterday. It is jumping the fence. The fence is 6' high so there must be a large snow bank on the other side to help it along. We have had them go under the fence through a small space but never over. When we take Robbie out it gets out of the way fast. Robbie would dearly like to have a rabbit on which to practice his grab and shake. He is quite good at it but not as good as  the female we used to have. When she shook a toy bits sometimes used to fly off. It was really amazing in its ferocity. 

Time to go, so I wish everyone a great day.

CN Charlie

 

[MisterBeasley]

Yes, the weather.  My daughter and her boyfriend drove down from Maine last night.  The plan was for me to take them to the airport for a short trip to Florida.  It was one of those "leave the house at 5:30 in the morning" trips.  When we went to bed at 9 last night, the airline was still reporting on time for their flight.

Not so this morning.  That flight was cancelled along with pretty much everything else.  It wasn't even snowing yet.  They just went back home to Maine before the snow hit.

I've got plenty of food in the fridge.  I always laugh when we've got a 12-hour "snow event" coming in, and people mob the stores the day before as if it's going to snow for a week.