Morning diners,
Flo- I'll have the french toast, thanks.
I just popped in to say hi.
Top of page: I'll be paying for my meal and everyone else's.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Here we are at the end of a pretty nice weekend here in the "Burgh". No rain and the temps have been moderate compared to what they have been.
Had a very good day railfanning yesterday. 15 trains in 4 hours. 8 Intermodals, 4 mixed freights, 1 coal, 1 coke & 1 grain train. Downside was no foreighn power or heritage units. But with 15 trains, I'm not complaining. I'm just wondering if any of you guys have a wife who enjoys railfanning like mine does.
Spent most of this morning washing the car & cleaning the interior. After the sun goes down, I'll try to give the windows a cleaning. That will finish that project until the next time.
Tomorrow looks to be a busy day with grocery shopping & a ton of errands to be run. I mentioned awhile back that I had an appointment with a dietician. Her suggestions are proving to have some merit, as my blood sugar is slowly coming down. That's a good thing. She wanted to see me walking more, but the arthritis in my knees aren't going to let that happen. Still, I'm pleased I had interview.
Had a nice dinner tonight of chuck roast, masked potatoes & gravy, roasted vegtables & a bottle of Reisling from Seneca Lake.
Hoping everyone has a nice week. Stay safe & keep smiling, iy's bound to get better.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
Evening Diners
Flo, Gary, Ed, Brent, Inch, Jan and I will have a and leave a Stien outside for Ulrich. Just in case.
Work was dead till 3:35 PM then, well heck sort of cut lose. Had 3 customers at the sametime. Plus I had a coustmer come in to pay off a layaway and take his mattress. 1 customer bought and then at 20 minutes before closing I hear Ding Dong, GREAT! Just what I wanted, another coustomer! They bought a cheap queen mattress and wanted to take it with them. Some how I got them loaded, got the paper work done and got out on time at 5:00 PM!
Toilet Would not flush right this morining. Was not looking forward to this after work! And it was not me that caused the problem! Used a trick I saw on U-Tube.
1 Put Dish Soap in the bowle and let set around a 1/2 hour.
2 Bring a fair sizes pan of water 1/2 gallon or so to a slow boil. (bubble slowly come up)
3 Dump the hot water and flush at the same time.
Has worked like a charm for me about 5 times now!
Trains are running Great!
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
Good Evening,
Another beautiful, warm, sunny day here.
This past week we went to visit our friends in Thief River Falls. We had a great time and had some really great ribs at The Evergreen Restaurant. I also picked up my new binoculars. I was a little nervous about spending that much on something I hadn't actually had a chance to try but sure needn't have been as they are really great. They are a big step up from the Celestrons I had before.
Gosh, I haven't purchased anything for the RR since the RS3 last October. I have most of the rolling stock I want or need and there just aren't any locos I want in either N or HO. I did run the HO for about 5 minutes today so perhaps that is a start. I won't be running the N scale until we are using the furnace again as it is really cold in the furnace room when the air conditioning is on.
We start the birding and breakfast this coming Saturday and I am looking forward to it. Then it is every Wednesday for 4 weeks. A far shorter series than the spring but most of the birds are in fall plummage for the journey south and with the leaves are hard to spot. Nevertheless it is fun. A large part is the camraderie with the other people over breakfast and also out spotting.
Have a great week,
CN Charlie
You know I haven't been posting on these forums for very long but I got to say I'm a little concerned. I've been reading these forums for many years but only joined and starting posting months ago.
Something is missing here. I'm a little worried about Alrich. I've always enjoyed his videos and his kind words.
To me he's a veteran Community member, a Kingpin of the members that have been here for a very long time. The ones you really enjoy reading what they have to say.
I know he's been having health problems. I will say a prayer and hope he's okay. I really hope he's allright. The forum is not the same. Somethings missing here.
Good evening.
Track Fidler... I'm not sure what to say about Ulrich other than I think of him as a good friend and he has contibuted very much to the forum. I would certainly welcome him when he returns. Meanwhile, feel free to conrtribute to the forum yourself .
Tom. ... good to see you and read your posts about rail fan adventures you have .
Ken. ... sounds like a good Sunday for you.
CN Charlie.. I hope you enjoy the bird and breakfast adventures. I suppose most of your model railroading is in the wintertime.
Happy Model Railroading
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
CNCharlieWe start the birding and breakfast this coming Saturday and I am looking forward to it. Then it is every Wednesday for 4 weeks.
I wish you success in your birding adventures!
Dianne and I don't seem to have to go far from home to see lots of birds. We are going through about three cups of nyjer seed and three to four cups of black sunflower seeds every day. We recently replaced our nyjer seed feeder. The old one was terrible! Either it spilled tons of seed, or if the rain got to it, it totally clogged up. The waste mound under it grew by about three inches in height in just a few weeks. The new one is a vast improvement. We have had up to 15 goldfinches on it at the same time, and the waste pile seems to be going down thanks to the rabbits.
Cheers all!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
We use to have a feeder for the Goldfinches, but between the price for nyjer seeds really going up, and the Goldfinches dropping most of it on the ground to rot, we did away with it. But this year they are back every so often. I have a bush thats about 8 feet tall with yellow flowers that remind me of small Sunflowers, & they have been going after the centers as well as feasting on my Zinnias. This is the first time I've seen them on either plant. I do enjoy watching them, but they are very shy & apt to leave at any little disturbance.
It's storming here in Bloomington Minnesota. Judy and I love storms that's why we haven't gone to bed yet.
All this talk of birds sparked a distant memory for me.
His name was Harry Everts. I just loved that old man when I was just a young teenager. His wife Edna would bring me a French silk pie at least once a month. Scratch made. It was so good I would wolf it down in one sitting and pay for it the next day. The next time she brought one over I would do the same.
Harry loved his dog Thumper, a little Dachshund wiener dog. He hired me to paint stickers to put on the front of his boat of his dog Thumper and I did. When he tried to pay me I wouldn't take it. His company, his conversation and the things he taught me we're good enough for me.
The man was like Doctor Dolittle. I remember going to his cabin on the north side of the lake. He had bird feeders but he would feed the birds right out of his hands. He would have a bird sitting on his shoulder waiting for their turn.
After frequent visits the birds got used to me and I got to feed the birds out of my hand. I will never forget it.
Good morning, everybody .... I'll have oatmeal and oj, please.
Birds? ... We have plenty of them where we live. Eagles, ospreys, blue heron, geese, and so on. .... One of our granddaughters just got some parakeets if that counts. LOL
We're getting ready for the out of town visitors arriving in a few days so they will be here next Monday for the solar eclipse. ... Much on the news pertains to eye protection. I will heed their advice becaue I need my vision to work on trains ! I suppose eyes will be safe inside Mamouth Cave during the eclipse. LOL
Does anybody have any interesting model railroda projects in progress now ?
Cheers !
The occasional birds I seen are woodpecker, hummingbird, a few cardinals and roadrunners (I love seeing those birds).
Garry- When I get my box from Walthers. It contains a box of sculptamold in which I might started next weekend or so. I haven't started building structures yet. I might just tape together to get an idea where to place them when I place in the sculptamold.
Flo (or whoever's handy): Given that it is close to lunchtime, could I get a club sandwhich, american fries with white cheese on them, and a pineapple milkshake? Thank you so much
Hobby Front: I ended up getting outbid on the SD40-2. Decided that I couldn't justify raising my bid on it. But I have decided that I will be on the lookout for an SD40-2. Not that I really need another engine (I have 23 diesels already and three steamers) but, as many of us know, it gets rather addicting.
On the rolling stock side of things, I also have three freight car projects sitting next to me on the couch, considering yet another caboose project, and waiting on some weight kits to arrive to upgrade a bunch of cars. (7 cabooses and one of the cars sitting on the couch. Additionally, 2 more for additional future cabooses.) I don't really want to know how much rolling stock I have.
Track fiddlerTo me he's a veteran Community member, a Kingpin of the members that have been here for a very long time. The ones you really enjoy reading what they have to say. I know he's been having health problems. I will say a prayer and hope he's okay. I really hope he's allright. The forum is not the same. Somethings missing here.
I've also exchanged messages with Ulrich. His departure from the forum was voluntary on his part. He has issues with freedom of speech, particularly in current-day Germany, and he sees parallels with the way his posts are moderated here. His health is not good, and he feels that the added stress of having to watch every word he says here is not good for his heart or his blood pressure.
I, too, have expressed my hope that his absence will be temporary.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Good morning, it is a blue sky, perfect temperature kind of day.
Turned on the news this morning and they were covering the death of a stunt women on Deadpool. The kid knew her as she was one of the stunt coordinators on the project and they chatted a lot in all the down time on the set. Needless to say, he is a little bummed out this morning.
On a brighter note, he got his housing assignment at University in Ottawa. He thought he would be sharing a room in one of the older residences being his first year. He found out he has a ninth floor private room in a new building. He emailed to make sure they didn't make a mistake and the response he got was, it was because of his high academic achievements. In a follow-up call, the lady said they hope to keep him around for a few years so it is a bit of a perk.
On the wildlife front, we have had an onslaught of wild beast passing through as development a few Kms to the West of us is moving like a juggernaut in our direction. We even had a cougar recently and had to keep an eye on the dogs til it moved on. Lot's of eagles and hawks to watch, they are magnificent.
My Sister took us all out to a snazzy place for lunch yesterday before the kid heads off to University, you'd think he was going off to war the way she is carrying on about the whole thing. It was a nice time and great food.
Well, the pull out of the job jar is, "installing the pot lights in the kitchen". OH JOY!
All the best to all.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Evenin' folks!
Janie.... So, where is everyone? Been empty since Batman left 3 hours ago. Well, I need a cup of decaf to calm my nerves and get me sleepy before bed time.
Today I brought in the first Pole string beans from the garden. Could be a good enough crop to actually put up some cans for the winter. Brought in a couple yellow squash, a zucchini, and some snow peas as well. Finished demolishing the old picnic table that was on the deck. It was at least 15 years old and had gotten in bad shape. Don't want any guests to the house to get wood slivers in their..... Ah, well you know. Now I have have to figure out how I am going to dispose of it.
Tomorrow is going to be a... Well... an interesting day I guess. Tomorrow morning I will stop down to a local Florist and get a single long stemmed red rose. Then at 1PM I have to be at an Endodontics place in Victor, NY to have a root canal done. After that I plan to drive to Canandaigua on the way home to Geneva. There I will stop at Woodlawn Cemetary to visit the grave of my wife..... And of course to place the red rose on it. She died 30 years ago tomorrow. I still miss her!
I did look up some of our favorite Robert Frost Quotes. We both were in Miss Helfer's English Class for both our 7th. and 8th. grades. Miss Helfer was feared by every one of her students! My class decided to do something unusual for her and threw her a party at the end of the year (we were either very brave or stupid...). We had her for homeroom which was double scary! She actually let down the "Tough" persona for the party and we found out some absolutely fasinating things about her and was fun! She grew up (was almost 70 when we had her) at a time when very few girls had even an 8th. grade education. She graduated 8th. grade and went for a year of "Normal School" which allowed her to teach "Common Branch" (K-6). She ended up finishing high school and finally was one of the first women in the USA to recieve a Master's Degree from college! While she was in college she lived at Robert Frost's farm one summer. Believe me, we learned a lot about Robert Frost. Now why am I sharing this here? One of the best vacations my family ever had was the summer we made a pilgrimage to Bennington, Vermont and stood at Robert Frost's grave in the old Churchyard. And cried! (Our son's thought we were nuts, but they knew something special happened...)
So, in honor of Miss Helfer (She and I had the same birthday.... That is another story) and my wife who also revered Robert Frost's works, I end tonight with these:
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." - Robert Frost (This is on our gravestone, BTW.)
"Love is an irresistable desire to be irresistably desired." - Robert Frost
"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." - Robert Frost
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on." - Robert Frost
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Flo, Gary, Ed, Brent Inch and I will have a please. If Jan makes it in give him one as well. Yep, leave a stine outside for Ulrich!
Very Peaceful at work. Had 3 people in but only 2 count as customers. A woman I did not count wanted me to run a credit app for her boyfriend with out him being in the store? I am not touching that with a 10 foot pole! Said she be back with him around 5:00 PM, yep did not show!
Last month was a very good one for me at work. My next check will be sweat between $950.00 to $1075.00 range, like the old days. I sure do miss when I made decent money.
I am off Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week. But at last not for a happy reason. My wife goes for a Echocardiogra and depending on what they find may have to have Stent or 2 installed. She was told if they install a stent she will have to stay over night. I am a little worried, but I have talked with 3 friends that have had it done with out any problems so I am hopefull.
Got My New Diabetic Shoes and they hurt my feet! Hope they break in fast! Last time I had to go back and refitted 9 times! No blisters today so maybe they will be all right, I hope!
Trains Are Runing Great so it has been a good day.
Ken,
Thank you for the "hooch"----I have had three of these proceedures to date--
the worst part is having to lie flat on your back and not move for 12 hours while a gauze compress is kept on the site where the incision is made in the carotid artery in the groin. I suggest morphene, helps a lot.
They have the ability to insert the camcorder and reaming device in either the arm, or the groin--I have had it inserted in the groin all three times. The pressure is applied until the doctors are reasonabily certain that there will not be a "blow-out" of the artery, this makes for a very excited medical staff-- if it happens!
The tool that is used to maintain pressure is identical to a hub cap hammer, down to the rubber hammer part. A strap is run under your hips, it has a loop on one end that catches the curved part, (the end that is used to pry the hub cap off the rim), pressure is applied by pushing down on the handle, and the other end of the strap is made fast to the end of the handle to hold the gauze pad in place.
While this is in place you are not able to move. Wraping ones-self in the arms of Morpheus helps at this point. To me this was the worst part of the proceedure.
While any surgery involves risk, this proceedure is reasonably straight forward, I would not have any great anxiety should I have to have it done again.
Prayers for your wife, and yourself
Jan
Hello, Folks!
I hope everyone is well and safe this day...
cudaken Broke out the Big Gun's and running the Mighty CB&Q's F7's. Thanks Ed!
Glad those "Covered Wagons" are holding up for you, Ken! Thanks for the compliments on my models. Master? Well, that's a stretch— but I'm glad to be here with so many other fine modelers as well.
My thoughts and prayers are with you and your wife during this procedure
Thanks for spicing up the piano photo with the great tag-lines, Bear
howmusShe died 30 years ago tomorrow. I still miss her!
I can relate, Howmus. My wife passed away in Feb. of 1986. We shared so very much during our brief time together.
Tonight, Mrs. Pullman and I were invited to our neighbor's house for a wonderful pool-side cookout. They did this in appreciation for the excavation work I did for them back in June. The patio looks beautiful! A fine bottle of 18 year-old, single malt Scotch followed me home, too!
Here's a "flashback" photo from a trip I was on with my nephew. We were ferrying two private cars from Charlotte, NC to D.C. to Cincinnati, back in 2006...
IMG_0468 by Edmund, on Flickr
IMG_0519 by Edmund, on Flickr
IMG_0474 by Edmund, on Flickr
Have a great day, everyone!
Cheers— Ed
Good morning
Angel ... Sounds like you have fun plans for your layout using Sculpamold.
FRRY ... Looks like you will be busy working on a caboose and freight car kits.
Ken .... Sorry to hear your wife needs an operation. Praying all goes as well as can be expected. Good to hear about the F-units.
Ed ... I saw your mine in "Show Me" thread, and I am impressed. I like seeing the photo of the former NCL dome car.
Ray ... Root canals are no fun of course. .... I'm glad you shared with us about your taking a rose to visit your wife in the cemetary. I really do have a lot of respect for you for being able to lead your busy life without your wife a well as you do.
Jan .. I was glad for morphene following a surgery several years ago. (Not the same surgery, but painful for sure)
As of today, I have been at Model Railroader for 10 years! Treats are on me.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Steven OtteAs of today, I have been at Model Railroader for 10 years!. . .
Happy anniversary!
Richard
Good morning Diners,
Brunhilde, in honor of this occasion, please fetch a bottle of Russian River Pinot Noir. 2015 should do nicely. And bring glasses all around. And for the beer guys like Ken and Ed, please bring some bottles of Mirror Pond Ale, or whatever their preference is. Thank you.
Steven: Congratulations (or condolences)! I hope you have many more! It's not that common anymore for people to stay at the same job for 10 years or more. You must like it here even though we test your patience.
I've been making decorations for our upcoming church picnic in the evenings. MOH and I have been doing decorations for church functions and weddings for a few years. We do it on the cheap and basically make all of them. I've been thinking of making a separate Facebook page and posting the pictures on there for folks to see for their own ideas and inspiration.
I got a Pinterest acct. to do the same, but I'm not really enthralled with Pinterest. In the first place, there's no directions on how to pin something, at least not that I could find.
That's probably why I never have any modeling projects going. Alas, bummer! There's always something else that takes priority.
Well, gotta run.
Hello to everyone, and I hope everyone is OK and safe.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
Steven ... Congratulations on your 10 years at MR. You are an asset not only to MR but to the entire hobby. .... Thank you for the yummy treats.
Steve - This coming Sunday the wife & I will raise a glass of Reisling from Seneca Lake as a toast. If you want to stop by at dinner time, I'm sure we will have an extra glass for you. Well done...
That's awesome, Steve!!
Congrats!
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
Congrats Steve on your 10th anniversary. Great job!
Well as it happens exactly 10 years ago today I joined and did my first post. I didn't join the gang in the Diner until Nov.27th. Nice to see that there still are some of the old faces still around but quite a few aren't and I sometimes wonder what happened to them. We know about some from the RIP page but many others just drifted away.
Not much new to report here. I certainly didn't do much today and must try to be more active than I have been lately. I do need to get back to the gym but I always seem to come up with an excuse to not go. We are hoping for the forecast showers tonight as it is getting quite dry here but nothing like what Johnboy is experiencing.
Have a great evening,
Well......... Welll? Yes a deep subject I've heard. Evening to those that are here.
Steven, Congratulations on ten years in the trenches. You do an admirable job of keeping the hostilities down in this place, I would say. Probably not always a fun job even though we are a good bunch of Model Railroaders that hang out in the diner. Just remember:
"By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day." - Robert Frost
Well, as I said earlier.... Today was not a real nice day for me. Lets just say that the best thing of the day was the 2.5 hours I spent the chair having a root canal... That was painless except for the numbing of the area which I told him was no worse than a yellowjacket sting. The good news was, he was able to do the root canal and save the tooth. There was some concern when he looked at the x-rays from my dentist whether he was going to be able to do that. He took about a dozen x-rays before and during the procedure. I now can make an appointment to get the crown done with my dentist.
Of course, late this morning I went downtown and bought the longstemmed red rose for my wife's grave. I had a heck of time finding it in the huge cemetary in Canandaigua when I got there. Finally found the hillside for the Family (mine) and knew our plot was across the road and in the third row. Got to it and found that someone in (her?) family has a nice planter sitting beside the headstone. That gave me some snuffles.... I said a prayer and placed the rose on the headstone and got all choked up. I was OK until I got back to the car.... Then the flood came out. Normal when I go there, but this was a tough anniversary for me. You'd think that after 30 years I would be over it, but I guess that isn't the way it works.
Somehow the car got me home without incident... Don't really remember the drive. I was able to make the whole days driving on electric and still had 3 miles of range left when I backed in the driveway. Haven't done anything else except throw some stuff together for a quick supper...
"Take care to sell your horse before he dies. The Art of life is passing losses on." - Robert Frost
Hope you all had a better day than I. Prayers for all in need!
BATMAN he got his housing assignment at University in Ottawa. He thought he would be sharing a room in one of the older residences being his first year. He found out he has a ninth floor private room in a new building. He emailed to make sure they didn't make a mistake and the response he got was, it was because of his high academic achievements. In a follow-up call, the lady said they hope to keep him around for a few years so it is a bit of a perk.
he got his housing assignment at University in Ottawa. He thought he would be sharing a room in one of the older residences being his first year. He found out he has a ninth floor private room in a new building. He emailed to make sure they didn't make a mistake and the response he got was, it was because of his high academic achievements. In a follow-up call, the lady said they hope to keep him around for a few years so it is a bit of a perk.
Well, that's one way to improve retention!
Heartland Division CB&Q FRRY ... Looks like you will be busy working on a caboose and freight car kits.
I do that because I don't get an opportunity to work on the actual layout very often. That is true especially during the winter as the layout room is WAY too cold most of the time. (unheated shop space.)
Steven Otte As of today, I have been at Model Railroader for 10 years!
As of today, I have been at Model Railroader for 10 years!
Ten years at anything in this day and age is quite the accomplishement. (I've been at my job for over 14. In retail especially that is saying something.)
up831 Brunhilde, in honor of this occasion, please fetch a bottle of Russian River Pinot Noir. 2015 should do nicely. And bring glasses all around. And for the beer guys like Ken and Ed, please bring some bottles of Mirror Pond Ale, or whatever their preference is. Thank you.
As many of you know, I don't drink, but if you have some sparkling apple juice, that will work for me.
Keeping with the apple theme, could I also get a slice of apple pie a la mode? Thank you so much.
Hobby Front: Thought I would give you folks a glimspe of something I have been working on lately. I finally got the slope on this part of the hill covered. This was finished a couple weeks ago. This part was finished this afternoon. It was just uneven raw foam. If I am ever to put whatever I decide to, it needs to be relatively flat. (My thinking is to eventually make this a sandstone rock face.) For those who haven't seen this hill before, this hill is 5 feet long and about 2-3 feet wide. (Very big hill and not easy to move.) However, I did move it to prevent making a mess on the layout. The board in the bottom picture is a scrap piece that I used for catching the Sculptamold that didn't want to stay where I put it.
Edit: Forgot to mention that I also got additional weight installed in seven of my caboose. They are the kits that I had on order. They arrived yesterday and I took them out this morning. The additional weight makes a big difference in the caboose. They install in the top of the car body. No, the cars don't seem to be top heavy as a result. I also got the weight kit for the hopper installed yesterday and put together a few subassemblies for ease in painting. The paint should be here end of the week.
Steven OtteAs of today, I have been at Model Railroader for 10 years!
Congratulations Steven!!!
You do a great job!
Evening Diners!
Flo, Gary, Jan, Ed, Brent and I a please, and UP831 is picking up the tap! Oh, leave a Stein outside for Ulrich as well.
Played Maytag Repairman at Work today. Had 1 customer in 9 hours, they spent a whole $67.00 for a closeout twin box spring!
Steven 10 years, bet it seemed much longer!
Jan Good to see you! You think they would give me Morphine? While Sue is the one going under the knife if I have to stay there that long it would help!
Has anyone heard from Galaxy?