Evening Diners,
Ulrich- Has your Swiss layout sold yet?
Ed- Some of those postcards are hard sometimes.
Veteran Sunday is filled with football. I guess the armed forces love football.
I'll buying Ken his beers for a while. Since I'm on the top of page.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
angelob6660Ulrich- Has your Swiss layout sold yet?
No - and I don´t think it will. There is hardly a market for used layouts. I guess in the end it will be dismantled and whatever can be salvaged, will be sold separately. Maybe some of the buildings, the trees and the vehicles. The rest will have to go to the dump.
It is sad, but that´s the way it is.
Hello, Ladies and Gents
Flo, I'd like one of those beers that Ken has been lining up for me, please.
Thanks, Ken!
Last night (well, the wee-hours of this morning) I was tearing apart a two-year old Samsung electric dryer instead of playing with trains
Now, I'm no stranger to making appliance repairs but this one has me at wits-end!
Simple enough problem... motor runs, drum turns, no heat. OK, open 'er up and check the thermal cutout, continuity of the heater coil, motor-run switch (if the motor isn't turning the heater circuit is open).
All good! Still no heat.
I took the heater box out and hot-wired it to a 230V supply. Hot, hot, hot. I could have made a grilled cheese sandwich.
Removed the motor, checked the run switch, good. Put everything back together and checked again with the meter. Heater relay, good. Both leads to heater, 120 V to ground and 230 across both heater feeds. Still NO heat.
A new heater box with over-temp and thermostats was supposed to be delivered Saturday. It is still in the back of the Post Office's truck!
So, tonight I'm not even going into the laundry room. It is trains, trains, trains!
angelob6660Ed- Some of those postcards are hard sometimes.
Yes! That calls for more
RR_Postcards_0009 by Edmund, on Flickr
Toledo Central Station—
RR_Postcards_0005 by Edmund, on Flickr
Like Day & Night! Amtrak is still using this station, built in 1950.
angelob6660I guess the armed forces love football.
The PRR used to run dozens of special trains to the Army-Navy Games near Philadelphia every fall! Passenger cars from all over
I hope you are all doing fine!
Regards, Ed
Howdy ...
Ulrich .... I enjoyed the videos. Thanks for sharing.
Ed ... The Toledo Central Union Station post cards are neat !
Galaxy ... Thanks for your long reply about retirement savings. My comments are well intended advice for young people. Of course there will always be barriers to saving money. Everybody lives through the same economic conditions and business cycles, and so everybody should deal with them as well as possible . Other adversities such as health issues and family issues will impact individual finances, too. You summarized some of your own experiences with them.... There are people who have such adversities during their younger years who overcome them and are able to save for their retirement. On the other hand, there are people who don't have such problems, but still fail to save their money and invest it wisely. ... I simply advise young people to manage their finances as well as they can. They will be surprised how fast the years go by and they become members of the retirement age....
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Evening all! Could I get a Hawaiian pizza this evening? (Something a little different but I seem to be in the mood for one tonight.)
Hobby Front: I finally got all but one of the GP20s equipped with their plows (That one is waiting for parts to fix some damaged areas.) I showed the pink unit last month so here are the other two schemes that my 20s ride around in: This is one of two that serve the passenger trains. The colors are the standard MEC Pine Green, Engine Black, ATSF Silver on the front stanchions, and Reefer White on the end rails. The decals are Microscale 2" stripes and some custom printed decals on an ALPS printer. This is one of five that are in freight service. Basic MEC Green and Reefer White on the end rails. The decals are also custom printed decals on an ALPS printer.
(knock, knock, knock......) Hello? Hello? Hmmmm. I guess the place is closed... Lights are off, heat is set to low, and nobody's been in in over 14 hours.... My, My, guess everyone is out of town....
Oh welll, I just popped in to let everyone I arrived home safe and sound yesterday evening from Rhode Island and the NER Convention. Had a good time, made some good contacs within the Regoin, and met a bunch of fine people there. Only attended 3 clinics, but they were all valuable. Visitefd two great layouts, and spent a lot of time just hanging out. The meetings I was at all ran over so I mossed a couple climics I wanted to see, but.... That is the way life goes. next yerar the Convention will be in New Jersey. A bit closer, but not much.
I am now in rush mode to everything done for the Meet next weekend here in Geneva, NY. I have a lot of paperwork to get done, and my house needs cleaning have several hours of fixing, cleraning, and preperations to do on the layout which will be open for the afternoon session.....
Hope somebody shows up with the coffee soon!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Richard
Good morning, it is noonish on the West Coast and we are having a heck of a blow. It started in the middle of the night and should abate in the wee hours tonight. I am surprised we haven't lost our power yet.
Ken, thanks for the info on Serta. The wife likes it a lot so far, however, if we only get a few years out of it, we got it cheap, so it won't matter.
Ed, You and I must be about the same age, I am January 57.
I just did the element in our Samsung dryer. It was an easy job, however I was surprised how the element just disintegrated in my hand when I took it out, it should have failed long before it did. I also did the pump in the Samsung washer. My wife punched in the code to see the number of loads it has done and all we could say was WOW! We would have never guessed it would be that many. Then again we do hundreds of Hockey jerseys after tournaments and such, so I guess when you think about it.
Ray, sounds like a good trip. With Canada having a population a tenth of that of the United States, our train shows, and various conventions are a little more "Ho Hum" shall we say. Seattle has some goodstuff on through the year, however, they tend to conflict with Hockey or Dog events, but one day!
Galaxy, Glad to hear Mom is still hanging around to watch over us. I was very close to Mom, Dad both Grandmothers and an Uncle. I find it strange that those five come to mind out of the blue and unlike other family members, I get a strange sensation of them being present when they do. While I am open minded about pretty much anything, the proof is in the proof as I like to say.
I like to try and keep up to date in the world of Physics and what is going on with the hadron collider. Theories and discoveries of that world, sure give a lot of food for thought. When people see ghost are they seeing something from other times or dimensions that happen to be colliding (for lack of a better term) I start reading about what is being discovered in the world of physics and before long a few hours have passed. It is better than any science fiction in my book. I just wish I had the brains to be a physicist.
Richard, nothing wrong with going back to school. Back in the early eighties, I became good friends with my stockbroker. He tried to get me to go to school and become a stockbroker. That was a job I had no interest in, however having decided that I wasn't going back to school anytime soon, I got him to list the most important books he used through University and went out to the University of British Columbia and spent a small fortune buying all these books. They were hard to get through as I found most of it really boring, and sitting in my truck reading these things between flights especially in the middle of the night, tough work. That investment in time and money has really paid off over the years and I learned whether you go to school or self-educate, it will only help you succeed.
Well the wind is really howling again, so best hit the post button before the lights go out.
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."
Hi, Fellas'
Just a quick pop in the door then off to do a few ch*res.
BATMANEd, You and I must be about the same age, I am January 57.
August of '56 here, Brent. Old enough to know better
The dryer heater box just arrived. I hope that is the cure. The replacement is a bit heavier than the original, and "Made In USA". The factory one was made with sheet metal that is no thicker than what is used for tuna cans!
I have to get that dryer done soon so I can play with the pair of Athearn, Amtrak SDP40Fs that also arrived today
Best wishes to all for a safe and healthy week ahead...
RR_Postcards_33B by Edmund, on Flickr
Remember to visit the Diner on your trip!
I've been fighting with Samsung for a week. The microwave handle pulled off the door. First they told me my micowave was not in warranty. Their authorized service wanted $200 to replace the handle. I checked and it I bought it 50 weeks ago. I called back and they authorized the service.
The service guy showed up today and announced the handle was broken! duh! He called Samsung and they refused to authorize the repair. They claim this failure has never been reported. Meanwhile there are 7 different sellers of this very handle on Amazon and 180 reviews. Since not many people write a review, it must be a fairly common problem.
There is good news. I had an upper and lower endoscopy of my esophagus and "down there" The took some biopsies of my stomach, it looked inflammed and I woke up in time to see them lasso a polyp in my colon. Actually more of a snare and they burn it off and out. Polyps can turn into cancer so we just prevented cancer today.
The prep was better this time, as in I could actually drink it. The results are what you expect, run to the bathroom double quick. Clear liquids wasn't fun, but one of our regulars can't eat at all, so I can't really complain. I was in no danger of wasting away by not eating for a day.
If you are over 50 ask your doctor about a colonoscopy. I had polyps once before.
Train front: I stumbled on Youtube clip of a Burt Lancaster movie called The Train. I don't mean offend Ulrich. Bad things happened on both sides and there is a bias in US movies. Anyway I seems Burt is French Resistance in a Interlocking Tower without a trace of French accent. The German officers want the trains to leave the yard and Burt is giving orders to the operator to throw this switch and that, the loco going forward and back. It looks like a multiple switchback move in the yard.
I forgot, the steam loco I thought was a Hollywood invention. But I googled and the Russians and the Germans had armored steam. Burt and operator sabotage the move jamming the officer's pipe under the levers and then the air raid sirens start. That's all I know about the movie.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
gmpullmanAugust of '56 here, Brent. Old enough to know better
Same here - older, yes, but wiser? Questionable!
I am struck with insomnia again. It´s just past 1.30am here and no matter how hard I try and how many sheep I count, I don´t find my way to dreamland.
That sucks!
If you like to watch narrow gauge action in Colorado, here is a video showing some amazing footage on fthe D&RGW in the 1950s!
There are 6 parts in total, all of them worthwhile watching!
My own little slice of Colorado NG railroading is rather humble!
Henry - why should I be offended? I wasn´t around then, my dad was much too young and my granddad much too old to be involved in anything but surviving this ordeal. What I have noticed, though, is that Hollywood took a lot of liberty from what must have been reality in those days. the Germans were far from being the brutal, stupid creatures often depicted in these movies.
Ulrich,
I hate not being able to sleep. or sleeping so hard I don't feel like I slept.
Not much going on in this neck of the woods. I just got back from a 4 day weekend to our "hovel" in Mississippi. I fixed the ramp to the back porch which had rotted, I read the entire year 2008 of Model Railroader ( yes I am that far behind. ) We did much of nothing. It is back to w*rk tomorrow. We had to winterize the hovel so that the pipes don't freeze.
I am going to take a "sick" day this week so I can use up some of my sick time as they are changing the way the count sick and pto and basically getting rid of any existing sick time by putting it into a bank that you can oly touch if you have a big time event that causes you to be off work.
It stinks for long time employees as I had a co- worker with 2000+ hours of sick time. He can sell it back for .10 on the dollar or it goes into long term bank dollar for dollar but you can't really touch it.
On my sick day I am going rail fanning because I am sick of the office.
BigDaddy If you are over 50 ask your doctor about a colonoscopy. I had polyps once before.
For those who have family history , think about it even earlier.
Hobby Front: Got my 1200 today. Found that I need to get a few parts to get it right for my prototype. On posts to get the help I need for that purpose.
Also got the GP20 for the repair. Looks very good. Now it is just a matter of getting the engine apart for the shell.
Ulrich- That is very sad to heard.
Ed- I forgot to write down. Hard to read sometimes. Yes I'm doing fine.
I hope you be enjoying your new SDP40F's tomorrow.
FRRYKid- I'm glad you got your switcher. Nice looking paint scheme.
Eveining Diners
Flo, Ed The Great, Gary, Brent, Ulrich, Galaxy, Inch, Angelob, and I will have a please.
Ed Thank You for helping with the parts! I really loved the looks of the Mighty B&O F7's even with the sound not working. The broken chassis (probley a crack when you had it) explains why you where hearing a drive shaft noise. While I did not hear the noise for all most a year, it finally let go and broke.
My Ghost Story. I was a MP at Ft Bragg N.C. 18th Airbore HQ has what was called the Top Secret Library that all times had a MP stationed at it's door 24 hours a day. HQ use to be to seprate buliding and both where 3 storys tall and about 40 feet a part, the TSL was on the 3rd floor. Some time around 1950's they had a bridge between the two bulidings making them one. Think of it as a 3 story tall dumbell.
When the bridge was bulit one of the bulidings stairwell was blocked off so there was only 1 stairwell now and it was by the entraces of the TSL where the MP was stationed. No one could come up to this floor with out passing the MP!
Anyone that has been a military stone buliding will know you cannot not step on there polished floor with out hear a foot step. One night I was pulling TSL duty and around 2:00 AM I heard foot steps coming from the other wing? I had not fallen a sleep with only coming on duty at midnight. I had sweep the other wing when I came on duty. Where I was sitting I had a clear view down the bridge that connected the two bulidings. I saw a officer in what looked like WW II Khaki's wearing jumb boots walk in to what was a copying room. Called for back up and searched the room, nothing but copying machines. Back up was a K 9 unit, no one was found. Night shift Lt showed up and said to me "So you have meet the Colonel".
Legends as it that a full Bird Colonel from the XVIII Airborn was working late one night in 1945. Around 2:00 AM he suffred a heart attack going down the stairs in the second buliding. Staircase use to be where the copying room was when I was at Ft Bragg!
Do I belivie in Ghost? That night heck yea! Have another reason as well, but for a later time.
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
angelob6660 FRRYKid- I'm glad you got your switcher. Nice looking paint scheme.
A lot of my paint schemes are designed from and inspired by actual schemes. I decided that way my freelanced ones would have a somewhat authentic look.
'Mornin everyone!
Well, I was digging around in the storage locker behind the steward's station in the diner and found a whole case of PRR Amber Root Beer!
IMG_0293_W by Edmund, on Flickr
Root Beer Floats for everybody!
It was a No-Go on the dryer heater box. I kind of knew the old one wasn't the problem but it is usually the most common failure so I changed that first.
Now I suspect the heater relay on the main board, which is gooped solid in epoxy. $110 for a new board. Hopefully it will be here Wednesday. If I jumper the relay I get heat. Could still be the control panel? Thermistor checks OK.
So, enough of the dryer w**k. I wanted to stretch the legs on my new SDP40Fs
You know what they say about buying a car that was made on a Friday...
Well—
IMG_0300_W by Edmund, on Flickr
I NEVER had this happen before!
Must have been a long day for somebody.
IMG_0298_W by Edmund, on Flickr
Tomorrow I'll put the trucks on the roof and everything will be OK.
Gotta replace those imitation couplers, anyway.
cudaken Ed Thank You for helping with the parts!
I'll get a package together maybe by the weekend, Ken. Do you have room for an RDC on your layout?
Cheers—
Ed
Good morning ....
An RBF for breakfast ? ... Sounds good. Why not? ... Thanks, Ed
Interesting business news. General Electric is planning to divest of its Transportation Division which includes locomotives. I can not think of a US company that would want to buy it. Caterpillar already owns EMD.
Henry ... I'm glad for you the endoscopy went well.
Ken .... That's a spooky ghost story.
Ed ..... Hmmmm.... Maybe you have a ghost in the train room, and it rotated the coupler. ???
Morning diners,
Ed- Thanks for the Root Beer float! Were those special decorated bottles? Nice to see those Amtrak diesels to bad for the coupler.
Afternoon all,
Getting ready to go take a nap. We had to get up early this morning as I had to be at the hospital at 7:00 am. Had biopsys done on 2 facial lesions a couple of weeks ago. Both came back as "basal cell carcinomas. The larger one on my right temple, & the other on my left cheek. The surgeon did Mohs Surgery on the temple this morning & I wanted to tell all not to worry if you need this procedure done at some time in the future. It is painless & there's virtually no discomfort. The results came back from the lab & indicated that some additional cancer cells were still present, so a 2nd round was done. Again, nothing to it. This time no cancer cells remained. I do have some swelling around the eye, which is also getting quite a shiner, but these were anticipated. Ice & Tylanol should take care of things. I go back next Tuesday to get the other one done, which will not involve as much. I'm only bringing this up as it was mentioned here some time back, but I don't recall too much about the discussion. Just wanted to let everyone know that this procedure is not a big deal, nothing to worry about. I should mention that what made the morning even more enjoyable was the fact that both the nurse & the surgeon were very attractive, young ladies. I'm sure that helped in some way.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
Good morning from the windy West Coast, yep it is still blowin and is expected to get worse later today.
Ed, I think you got a loco that was meant to go to New Zealand or Australia. Send it to Bear and the coupler will be the right way up. Born in 1956 Eh. What an old geezer.
Bigdaddy, "The Train" is actually a pretty good movie.
My Moms cousin was a group captain in the Royal Air Force and flew Langcaster bombers. He was shot down twice, bailing out of the plane both times. When you bail out more than once you get to become a member of the caterpillar club. It is for those that have bailed out more than once and survived. His second time he was bombing Berlin as the war was almost over. He jumped out and landed behind enemy lines. The Germans were retreating at a full run at that point and said to the cousin that he better come with them or he'll likely get shot by the allies because they are advancing so fast. So he went along not as a prisoner, but just as another guy running for his life from the allied advance. Moms cousin had endless stories about the war and didn't mind telling them.
Netflix just released a new documentary about Hitlers personal train "Amerika". It is worth a look.
Amazon Studio's announced a few weeks ago that they will be spending an additional 500 million dollars in the Vancouver film industry. Yesterday they announced that they will be making a "Lord Of The Rings" series and opening a second huge studio up here. They haven't announced where it will be shot, however putting two and two together gives you a pretty good idea. Vancouver is losing 3 series that are filmed here and gaining 15 for next year. The kid has been inundated with calls in Ottawa to book him starting in April, so he should make lots a bucks over the summer. He has worked for Amazon Productions twice and they pay him really well. That show has a 13 million per episode budget which is really high for TV. He wore the same costume the second time he was called and found something he had thought he lost in the pocket when he put it on.
Garry, that is interesting about GE dropping the transportation arm of its empire. I think the profit margin does not warrant the investment into the research and development that is required to compete. Things are changing at a record pace and GE has already fallen too far behind. I have owned a lot of GE stock over the years just because they have their nose into so many enterprises that it is like owning a mutual fund without all the fees. The same with Berkshire Hathaway.
Well, need to do more reading about all this and decide to buy more, sell or hold, so best get on with it.
Brent - according to a Swiss historian, a minumum of 2 1/2 million senior folks, women and children were killed in Germany by the Allied bombing, among them quite a few from my family, so that´s a topic which does not go well with me. According to the same source, over 300,000 were killed on February 13th/14th, 1945 in the bombing of Dresden, a city with no military relevance other than the fact it was packed with refugees from Breslau, Liegnitz and other places in the province of Silesia.That day, my great aunt and her entire family of husband, 4 kids and 2 grandparents ceased to exist. The amount of people burned to death is double the figure of Hiroshima and Nagasaki together!
I don´t feel any anger for those British and American bomber crews who were told they´d hit military installations while the actual target was civilian folks, although the type of load should have given them a clue as to the nature of their mission. You don´t need incendiary bombs to destroy military targets!
I don´t think it is a topic for cheap Hollywood entertainment, nor an issue for anyone directly or indirectly involved to be proud of.
Do a Google picture search "Dresden 1945" and you will understand my point of view.
BATMAN Garry, that is interesting about GE dropping the transportation arm of its empire. I think the profit margin does not warrant the investment into the research and development that is required to compete. Things are changing at a record pace and GE has already fallen too far behind. I have owned a lot of GE stock over the years just because they have their nose into so many enterprises that it is like owning a mutual fund without all the fees. The same with Berkshire Hathaway.
Brent .... GE is one of the first stocks I owned, but it has been a long time since I sold the last I had. I bought some after the Financial Crisis for about $8.00 per share, and I sold it several months later for about $15.00 a share. ..... I briefly owned Berkshire Hathaway (B shares) after that company bought BNSF shares for $100. Warren Buffett bought BNSF shares for $100 with a portion in an equivalent amount of Berkshire Hathaway. It was good for me becasue I paid about $26 / share of BNSF stock only about 8 years earlier.
Ulrich ... I am sad to hear how your family and other Germans suffered during that time. I will respect your views on such topics.
Thank you, Garry!
The ordeal was far beyond what anyone can think of in his worst nightmare and I am just glad that my immediate family came through this unharmed - at least their bodies. Both my mom and my dad have seen and lived through things that make hell a comfy place.
Sir MadogHollywood took a lot of liberty from what must have been reality in those days. the Germans were far from being the brutal, stupid creatures often depicted in these movies.
Ulrich, I was thinking of this when I told the story about my Moms Cousin. When he landed in his parachute, the Germans could have just shot him and been done with it. Instead, they invited him to come along with them in retreat as he had a better chance of survival.
He talked about the war, but it was a horrible time for him and I am sure he talked about it more for his own benefit than anything else. The first time he bailed out he went to a prison camp and eventually escaped. That was a horrible period of time for him.
Sorry didn't mean to offend.
BATMANSorry didn't mean to offend.
Brent - no harm done, I just have very strong feelings about the subject being, IMHO, unsuited for entertainment.
Back to model railroading!
Robert E Lee onece commented, " It is a good thing that war is so terrible, lest we grow fond of it.!"
Dresden was flown at the request of the Russian High Command, most air crews knew that there was no military value to the attack, and questioned why it was flown.
To those of us who have experienced the butchery of conflict--nothing will ever erace the sight, sound, or smell.
I have a real problem with those who make money glorifing combat, to those who seem to like these films, I wonder what the attitude would be if it was experienced first hand.
When my brother first came back from Korea I did not understand why he was so outspoken about some of the comic books I was reading at the time.( He was in Seoul, June of 50, when the N. Koreans moved South, and was one of the few that escaped by swimming the Han River-the bridge had been blown up by the S.Korean Army.) Fast forward ten years, I fully understood.
Unless it has been experienced, there is no comprehension. And if you have experienced it, it will be carried the rest of your life in the dark recesses of the mind. Survival of this varies with each individual, I have no answer, if I did, I would write a book, and never worry about the light bill again.
I greatly upset my DIL, and twin Grandsons, when I made some pointed observations about some of the " Shoot Everything That Moves-" video games they were playing at the time. That was one of the very few times I explained to anyone, just what is NOT revealed in these games, and movies. Words will never describe what it is like to lose close friends, and in many cases, being closer than that of birth family. I would like to think that what I said at that time changed their views, at least they no longer engage in that activity when I am around.
So Ulrich, I have great empathy for your emotions.
After having walked partway down that path, appreciation of "Life" is viewed with a different perspective, and I know there are those who experienced far, far, worse--and those who experienced far, far, less. And those who have yet to experience.
I apologise in advance to those I might offend--time to run a E-8 with a mixed consist, and a caboose.
herrinchoker
Mentioning the upside-down coupler, I find at times that I have to stop and think which way I am installing a coupler or even the box, especially when I have the engine or car upside. There have been a few times (not on Fridays either) where I have accidentally installed the couplers upside down.
Eveing Diners
Flo, Gary, The Great Ed, Tom, Brent, Gary, Inch, Galaxy, Jan, Angelob and I will have a please.
Ed I sure can find room for a RDC on the layout! When I bulit the K-10 Mining Section I forgot to plain on room for a road. The miners are getting sick of walking to the mine I will add! Long time ago I bought a Athearn RDC with the rubber band drive and it hauld butt! Have a kit to convert to gear drive and have yet to take time to intall it.
Ulrich and Brent What happened in WW II was a waste for both sides. Both sides tragted civlian populations and while I understand the reason's behinde there loigc I will never agree with it!
Tom Glad all went well far as the tretments go. Guess it was done by lazers.
BATMANMy Moms cousin was a group captain in the Royal Air Force and flew Langcaster bombers.
Hi Brent:
My dad was a Navigator Bomber in Lancasters during the war. He had a few very close encounters with enemy bullets and schrapnel but he didn't get shot down, at least not in the Lanc. He also flew Coastal Patrol Cansos (Catalinas for you Yanks) out of northern Scotland where he did manage to get shot down, by a U-Boat no less! They managed to make it to land on the Scottish Hebrides Islands so they thought they were safe. Unfortunately the locals, most of whom spoke Gaelic only, didn't accept them as being Allies. They got marched at 'pitchfork and shotgun point' to the local Constable. Once their alliegance was established they were given a very warm welcome.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!