Good Afternoon, Folks!
Happy Boxing Day...
JAMES MOONThat’s just plain crazy. Happy shoveling to all along the Lake Erie shore.
This little fellow will make "short" work of those plowing jobs!
Plough_CN-55499 by Edmund, on Flickr
This has to be the shortest plough I've ever seen on the railroad!
Do you suppose it was designed so it could fit on a turntable along with the locomotive?
CN_Plough_55401 by Edmund, on Flickr
Sure would make a neat little model. Maybe the Walthers plow can be hacked into something like it?
I'll stop by later for a nice bowl of Cincinnati style five-way Chili, and maybe one of Ken's beers
Cheers! Ed
Good afternoon Diners,
Brunhilda, I'll have an extra large coffee with lots of cream, please. Also, set Ken and the gang up with a .
No real winter solstice traditions for me because I don't observe it; however one year my son and I sat on Dec 24th and watched "it's a Wonderful Life" from like 6:00 pm straight through to past midnight just by changing channels. That is a good memory.
Ed: that little snow plow is just begging to be modeled by some skillful modeler. I tend to agree that it's short so they could turn it with the locomotive. My question is where do they put any ballast in a plow that short?
it is cold here! Not weather to my liking, but ya deal with it.
Ken: Condolences on your fathers death. I hope all will be well for you and your family.
Hello to everyone, and I hope everyone is OK, safe, and warm.
edit. I'm at the top of the page. Your orders are on me!
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
Good snowy evening all.
Zoe - A big peppermint hot cocoa please, as it is frigid out!
Ken - So sorry about your dad. That was a horrendous way to find out.
Weather - Erie Pa got all the snow... Snow belt in my area got 8"... Erie has hit 63" in two days. Set the record for the most in a day, two days, three days, and a week.... I will let that one sink in for a bit.
Most Erie has gotten in a month, is 97.5".... In a month....
They got to 34.5" shy of that... In two days...
And it is still snowing, at 2-3" per hour....
Most of Erie and surrounding areas got shut down, due to impassable roads. The movie theater, the Millcreek Mall, and numerous other stores, businesses, and too many roads to count were all closed because of the weather. PennDOT, and PSP (Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation and Pennsylvania State Police) flat out said to stay off of the roads, and were enforcing the rule that no one was allowed out unless they had either one (or more) of three things. Snow tires, tire chains, or four wheel drive. If you don't have those things, you get a massive fine and your car towed for your troubles. (Which, if you were stupid enough to go out without the proper equipment, you needed towed out of wherever you got stuck at anyways...)
They can keep it... No offense to the Erie-ites, and, I do like snow, just do not like to get it all at one time.
Although, where I live, we usually get hit harder than Erie, and do often get much more than Erie. (Our record is 104" in a month, with a 2 day total of 73" before. But as we don't have Erie International Airport, it's not "official" for us.)
And now, it's just plain cold....
W*^k - Been a interesting couple days. I will leave it at that...
Hope all are well, and all enjoy the evening.
EDIT: I should mention, that monthly snow fall record of 97.5" in Erie...This is the current record, and the current monthly total at Erie Airport is exactly, now, as of 11 pm, 97.5"...... Another record will fall tonight. They are forecasting another 3-6" for Erie, so, they have a good chance to be over 100" for the month by morning.
Oh, and, with 34" in 24 hours, they shattered the prior 26.5" in 24 hours record.
Now you know, as they say, the rest of the story.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Eveing Folks
UP831 Thank You for setting up the gang and I with 's.
Flo, Give SteveO, Steven and Rick a RBF and leave a Stein outside for Ulrich.
Still dealing with lossing dad. More than likely it will make me a better father in the long run.
Work Front. Guess who showed up? Yep Nancy! We had $5200.00 in pay in full sales which is pretty good. But in written sales (Means it is not paid in full just a deposit) we had $8000.00 in written sales, that includes paid in full sales and layaways. Nothing like watching a 74 year old woman beg for a $10.00 deposit for a $2800.00 layaway! 95% percent of her $10.00 layaways die on the vine.
Weather Front. It is dam cold here for the midwest. It is 9 degrees here in Maryville. I am frezzing my rail spike off in the garage with the gas heater on high, spaces heater going and wearing two pair of sweat pants.
Trains are running great.
Later, Ken
I hate Rust
Ken:
Sorry about your dad, especially at this time of year.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Dianne and I exchanged Christmas greetings with Ulrich and Petra. His message was positive and upbeat. He was disappointed that his son didn't visit over the holidays, but other than that they seemed to have had a good time.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Its cold in NYC MORE COFFEE PLEASE its 23 degrees out.
Joe Staten Island West
DUST!
.
The kitchen project is completed through Demolition now, and I am removing about 15 partial tiles to be replaced with full tiles before the base cabinets get installed.
THERE IS DUST EVERYWHERE! I had no idea how much dust this project would create. I spent about four hours cleaning everything in the workshop room. Terrible. All the furniture is covered with dust all through the house. The Air Conditioning inlet filter (Yes, I am still running A/C, 80 degrees outside), is solid white. What a mess.
I am going to the Dollar Store today and buying a pile of lightweight drop cloths to cover everything.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Ken, so sorry to hear about the loss of your father.
Thanks to everyone for keeping the Diner civil while I was gone over an extra-long holiday weekend. Merry belated Christmas to all!
This morning it was -7° F according to the thermometer in the car. We've been pretty lucky with the snow so far, though -- only four measurable snowfalls so far, all less than an inch. If I have to choose between lung-searing cold and excessive snow, I'll take the cold. Don't care how cold it gets if I don't have to go out in it to shovel.
Next month, how about we go somewhere warm?
We can stop in at the Harvey House to warm up with some hot cider until the Diner crew gets the gas lines hooked up and the grill ready.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Howdy. ... it looks like most of you had a good Christmas and I’m glad .
we drove to Ohio on Christmas Day to see family there. Yesterday we continued north to Michigan to see more family. it got colder. It was about zero F when we got up this morning.
Using iPhone to post. Won’t have the computer for about a week
cheers
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Steven OtteNext month, how about we go somewhere warm?
SteveO,
South Florida is open for business, and should easily meet your requirements for warmth. All tourists with money to spend are always welcome!
Currently 78 degrees and clear blue skies.
Beaches are waiting!
joe323 Its cold in NYC MORE COFFEE PLEASE its 23 degrees out.
23 degrees? HEATWAVE!!!! That *is* HOT!
It is -7 degrees of fairy height out here,
With the windy-chills it feels like -24
I turned on the heat for the first time in my room this morning.
It was only two days ago that I turned off the air conditioner in my office.
Right now all I am running is a small fan to bring ini cold air to help keep the computers cool.
Beautiful 64 grees in here now.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
BroadwayLion joe323 Its cold in NYC MORE COFFEE PLEASE its 23 degrees out. 23 degrees? HEATWAVE!!!! That *is* HOT! It is -7 degrees of fairy height out here, With the windy-chills it feels like -24 I turned on the heat for the first time in my room this morning. It was only two days ago that I turned off the air conditioner in my office. Right now all I am running is a small fan to bring ini cold air to help keep the computers cool. Beautiful 64 grees in here now. ROAR
64 degrees perfect spring day for the largest subway in Norh Dakota.
Meanwhile 1 to 1 subway town it’s winter .
Speaking of subways Iam going to measure the shelves of my subway display tonight before I cut the wood to see if my subway will need any additional support
Pass the biscuits please.
I see it's 14 degrees in Berea this early afternoon, partly coudy, a bit windy, with snow on the ground. In SE WI, we just hit 7 degrees.
West bound CSX unit covered hopper train just went through. Suprising how many old hoppers you see in service, SOO, C&NW, BN, plus a few others so weathered you can't make'em out.
Kids got the old man a new lap top for Christmas, next week I'll venture into my closest LHS, about 40 miles, and get the PR4, and set up JMRI.
Stay warm!
Mike.
My You Tube
Good (chilly) afternoon all.
Welcome back SteveO.
Zoe - A round of hot cocoa for all, make mine a Reese's hot cocoa please. Thanks.
Weather - Cold and windy here too. And it is finally sowing in the snowbelts of NWPA. (But not even close to Erie snowfall.)
Erie snowfall record front - Erie is now at 108" (give or take a few inches) for the month, after getting another batch of snow (12") last night. The USPS has even taken the unusual step of suspending all residential service in Erie and surrounding areas (including but not limited too Millcreek, Harborcreek, Weslyville, Fairview, and Lawrence Park) for the time being due to the weather. Only business locations that are open and accessible are getting deliveries today. Dozens of roads remain closed, and hundreds of stores and businesses are closed today. And the forecast? More snow today, and then more beginning Friday...
They sit a only a handful of inches shy of their normal seasonal average snowfall. And we have at least 3 months to go before the season is over. Records galore could fall this year!
If it weren't for the fact that most of the roads were closed, (and the safety issues of nowhere to safely stop your vehicle), I would have gotten some railfanning shots of some snow-busting trains in the area. (Living in the traditional snow belt, with a four wheel drive Ford Escape that is a absolute tank, I am used to driving in that kind of snow. But the safety issues won out.)
W*^k - Slow is an understatement today.
Hope all are well, and all enjoy the day!
Erie Pa guess GE won’t be producing any locomotives today. As to the USPS what happened to that slogan Neither rain nor hail is etc.
Good Evening, Folks
Just came in from doing the "quickie" version of plowing my drive. Quick as in only an hour. Light, fluffy snow and the wind changing direction every minute or so makes for no fun on the tractor. I have a 60" rear-facing snow blower and I can not get out of the way of the discharge fast enough when the wind is swirling.
Steve O., San Bernadino is looking pretty nice right about now!
One Hundred Forty-One years ago Tomorrow — it was a Friday, too — marks the anniversary of the Ashtabula Bridge Disaster.
Ashtabula1 by Edmund, on Flickr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtabula_River_railroad_disaster
Keep warm, folks...
Check in with you all later!
Regards, Ed
Afternoon Diners,
Ricky- What are going to do with snow?
LION- Do you have a long fur coat? For those cold temperatures.
StevenO- I wished I could have hot cider but it's always spiced.
Henry- A good looking BNSF picture.
I took down the Christmas lights on the house. I left the Christmas tree still decorated until next week or so.
Today is slightly cloudy with temperatures reaching a warm 63 to 75.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Speaking of warm places, my Main Squeze and I plan to see our daughter in Arizona in February. Nicer than Michigan in winter where our other two daughters reside .
Arizona has some good places for train watching .
Evening all.
Really bored @w*^k today. Zero in sales, as of 5:51pm. Good thing I remembered my phone charger, otherwise I would probably be falling asleep by now!
Joe - When all the roads have so much snow that the plow trucks are getting stuck, there is no way those little rear-wheel drive mail jeeps can make it through them. The PA National Gaurd has been called in to help clear the snow from the streets.
Most areas are now using front loaders and dump trucks for snow clearing.
My uncle lives a few blocks from GE's plant, his road is impassable for all but a snow sled (Ski-doo Snowmobile style.) to get through. He cleared his driveway, but will have to clear it again once they find the road again.
Angelo - I only have about 15-20" on the ground, much less than the now 75"+ that Erie has. So, I have all kinds of places to shove it too. In the snow belt areas, anything under 3' is nothing newsworthy. So, no plans for snow fun yet.
However, I do like doing outdoor photography, and love to railfan in the snow as well. I have a shot from several years back, where CSX had a train parked overnight in Erie yard, left with a fresh crew around 7am. It had snowed the night before, and while the train was accelerating to track speed, it was doing two things simultaneously - Kicking up the fresh powder, and shedding its own snow blanket. It made for a very neat looking shot.
Now I will have to see if I can find it to share when I get home tonight...
SteveO - Forgot to say, Thanks for the warm Cider! I could use it! It is currently a balmy 13F where I am. (Inside is a warm 68, but still!) Our warehouse @w*^k is not as well heated, so anytime you go back there for anything, (even to our break room) you get quite chilly. (Warehouse and break room is a balmy 55F right now.)
Mentioning cold: I didn't even go to work this morning as a result. When it was time for me to go, it was -6 and the windchill was something like -26. WAY too cold to walk 2 miles in. Didn't have a ride. I have the absences to spare, but I still don't like using them, but as I tell people: I'm practical. I'm not stupid. The weather is still expected to do this until next week. I have a ride arranged to Friday (I think. I will have to ask nicely.) Saturday and Sunday I will have to ask another person who I think will help.
Finally decided to open up a present that I bought for myself: A Lego fire department kit. (Yes I am a AFOL. Adult Fan of Lego.) Given I wasn't going to work and didn't want to turn the computer on, I figured I might as well get it built. As it is a large kit, it is still in process.
Railroad: Bought a few needed things: The pair of overhead cranes needed for the shop building (Didn't really want to, but the seller was down to 2 and they were the least expensive of all the options.) and the adaptor plates for the Peco switch machines to use them undertable. The machines themselves will be purchased later this evening. Also found that the quantity of straight track should be on Tuesday based on tracking (provided that it is not delayed again).
hello, guys
Cold..well its a nice tidy 7F here today/tonight. High was 12. All week this way, tonights windchill in the negative teens.
Erie's snowfall...we had 35" dumped on us last march, at once in about 16 hours, it stopped after 18 hours. he jet stream went right up over us and pulled all the east, west and southern moisture into the cold front and just dumped on us. We didn't have power outage, thank you, but it was a go-nowhere fast two days.
They say after the global warming there is typically a mini ice age. I'm wondering if we are entgering it now. The artic bitter cold winds come calling earlier and earlier, last longer,a dn reach farhter south. Also last year and this year are some record snowfalls acroos many areas, probably due to the extra moisture the melting ice caps are putting off. Even our chosen retirement area is only going to be highs of 40s-50sF. Its far south, just not florida. If Louisiana starts getting smow enough to make snowmen regularly.......thats a whole different winter for tehm there.
Like Mr. Otte {whom I have always addressed as such} i agree that I'd rather have the cold than snow. The wet and heavy snowfalls and moisture period, be it rain or heavy wet snow, causes my bones to ache fiercly. I know we;ll have rain down south, but at least it won't need to be shovelled too, adding insult to injury on my poor bones and joints.
The washer and dryer in the kitchen are VERY quiet. Can't hear the washer running in hte next room, and the dryer noise is only the buttons banging against the drum, tolerable easily enough. I listed our old washer for the going rate on CL, we'll see if I get any buyers. I put in my add to call my cell, and leave a message as I can't always answer. GOt two phone calls while driving adn couldn;t answer, but no messages. I cant exactly answer nwo whiel Im at work either.
SPeaking of work, only one day this week, they "dont wnat to overwork me before my surgery" and "have to cut hours"...so if i can't get and maintain 2 days, or 16 hours, I'll have to look for another job. Maybe have to now anywas to supplement.
My surgery is Jan 8th, for a hernia in my chest wall. Before it gets to the point guts are hannging out getting strangulated. Oh goody. I'll need that week off too. They'll love the payroll, buti won't. Problen is many palces cut hours come jan and feb, so I'll be in the same boat. Oh well.
My fil lost his new cat. SOmehow she got enclosed in a cabinet over his toilet. at least she didn't leave him a litter of kittens.
well, thats all for now from this lake woebegone....
Time to brave the cold for one of the last cigarettes I'll have before years end when we quit. It's so boring here, I'll smoke more just out of boredom.
hae fun, since I'm off until after New Years, I may not be on, but I;ll look in time to time. I;ll have to PM Mr. Otte sometime about the trouble geting this site to accept my valid email address on my smart phone.....maybe he can someone to help.
-g
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Evening Diners,
Heartland Division CB&Q Arizona has some good places for train watching .
I know a few places in my city. The Amtrak station, Tucson yard, the power plant, and others locations. When I travel to these locations, I miss it or no train movement. I really need to get a radio. So I can track down the local. Which is still a mystery
FRRYKid- Building a lego kit, can be interesting. I finished one a month ago it was a Star Wars Turbo Tank from the Clone Wars. It was fun assembling the vehicle. Thinking about the people who has to test and retest to build this kits before booklets.
Galaxy- That's an interesting story about your fil lost his cat. Rereading it still makes me puzzled.
I hope your future surgery will go well.
Get Ken a beer from me.
The nice icey snow can chill beverages from outside. No refrigeration needed.
Let's see if this picture works....
CSX in the snow by Richard Woodworth, on Flickr" alt="CSX in the Snow" width="600" height="400" />
It was about 14F that morning, and yes, I did get plastered with the flying snow. It felt like a gazzilion frozen needles, but it was worth it! (Spent the next 30 minutes getting it all out of my camera.)
Although, it must have been quite funny for the gentleman waiting at the grade crossing behind me!
Eveing Diners!
Flo, give the gang around and thank Angelob for the cold .
Work Front. It was a pretty gooday! First I did not have Nancy there so that made it a plus! Second it was slow but the few customers I had where good ones. Made a extra $127.00 in spiffs money that was badly needed.
Weather Still very cold to us, when I got up it was 1 degree. Right now in Maryville IL it is 8 degrees so it is warming up.
Rick I sure don't mind a good snow fall. 12 inch is nice and I have driven in St Paul Mn after 32" of snow in 12 hours, that was a tad hairy but did not un-never me.
Snow Fall at Fort Bragg NC. Guessing it was around 1977 and Fort Bragg got 2" of snow and they shut the fort down! I was a Military Policman and a Acceident Investigator and we had 100 T/A in one hour. Funniest part to me was my Partor Partner Jason. He grew up in Miami and never seen snow in person. I was scaring the ash out of him by sliding our partol car around on the snow!
Trains are running great and it is getting late.
cudakenSnow Fall at Fort Bragg NC
The OH ended up in the hospital. Fevers after chemotherapy aren't a good thing, because it knocks the infection fighting white blood cell count down. They also discovered she had mild hepatitis, which may chemotherapy drugs or it could be infectious.
The whole time we were in the ER, her sister bombarded me with text messages like "Did you tell them she is being treated for cancer?" They did know that and took her back right away. Except for that initial burst of speed, nothing happened fast. It took 9 hours for her to get to her room upstairs, even though it was a certainty that she would be admitted.
She is on industrial strength IV antibiotics and they act like they see these low white counts all the time. The hepatitis, not usually seen, and is improving, may change her planned chemotherapy.
She is being taken care of by a hospitalist and someone from the oncology group is "consulting" In the old days, you would be taken care by your doctor or your oncologist. I miss the old days.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Afternoon diners, I'll have a glass of ginger ale...
I'd suggest that the diner go to Vicksburg near the bridge but from my trip there last January it can get a wee bit chilly there... so alternatively how bout Tehachapi or Cajon pass???
Gotta run but I'll stop in again later...
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Hi gang,
I signed in a few days ago with Christmas wishes for all and prayers for those under the weather. Some comments on some other posts, but when all was said and done either the Forum or my puter ate what I had written as it sure never showed up anywhere.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and the enjoyment of Family & friends. We sure did here other than my Son and DIL from Montana couldn't get enough time off to make it worthwhile, but they will be here tomorrow for about five days. We are looking forward to that.
It has been extremely cold here, every morning for the last week has been close to -30 with a wind chill of around -43. That is getting tough to put up with, but we must.
Doing a bunch of RIP track work right now. Some couplers and grips, a couple of locos to tune up and I cleaned wheels on seven locos last evening. Will start a round of landscaping soon.
Hardly working anymore, I put in five evening shifts of 3 to 4 hours this month and only have one of those for January. So I am officially retired at 77.
If I don't happen to get back in before 2018, I would like to wish all the Diners particulary, other Forum members and of course Br. Zero and other Kalmbach Employees Happy New Year with all your wishes and dreams being fulfilled.
It was great to see Fergie ,Flip, JR and others who have been away so long stepping back into the Diner this past year. A special greeting to Ulrich and Petra, and of course YGW, sure miss you guys. I Hope Choo Choo Willy , Sue & Larry, Cajun Ryan, Chuck in Texas, V8-Vega in Califire are all doing OK, would like to hear from you and all the MIAs.
Good night Mrs. Calabash where ever you are. (J. Durante)
Johnboy out................till next time
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)