Good Evening,
Continuing cold here. We had a low of 2F last night and a high of 15F with a strong north wind. It was very cold. We are supposed to get above freezing by Monday. At least it is sunny.
I finally made it out to the hobby shop and dropped off some items to sell on consignment. One was an N scale PK2 0-8-0. The shop owner said it will sell fast and was very impressed that I had managed to get a decoder into it. Her installer won't work on them. I must admit it was the hardest install I have ever done. She tested it and it ran fine.
I have been running trains a little lately which is an improvement.
Hopefully we will hear in a couple of weeks about our trip cancellation claim. Supposedly they will pay up to 50% but we shall see.
Hope everyone is doing ok.
CN Charlie
gmpullmanid you grab a bag of onions to-go,
.
Unfortunately it is the wrong time of year to get genuine Vidalia Onions. However, I make enough trips to Georgia that I never miss out.
Genuine Vidalia Onions from the farmer's market in Vidalia are so wonderful!
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190If you are ever in Vidalia, Georgia, this place is worth a stop.
Did you grab a bag of onions to-go, Ken?
Steak is on my menu for tonight, too
Ed
Good evening and Happy Weekend to my fellow diners.
Stella (is there a Stella here?), I need something light tonight.
I finally made it home from Georgia. I made a side trip yesterday to Vidalia to try a steakhouse I heard about called J&B's Saloon.
I ordered the MEDIUM sized steak and could not eat it all! I cannot image what the large steak looks like!
If you are ever in Vidalia, Georgia, this place is worth a stop.
NWP SWPI can call USPS to see if they'll add my name to the package.
Most of my mail is addressed to somebody named "Occupant" or current resident. Still seems to get here OK.
Happy Days! Ed
Ken I sent you a PM with my address and name, if you could please send my the tracking info I can call USPS to see if they'll add my name to the package.
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Ken I'm sorry, my mistake. Thank you again.
I'll call USPS and see if I can straighten it out.
Evenin' folks!
Janie, I could use a refill for my decaf, please.
Heartland Division CB&QRegarding the song "The City of New Orleans", it is on a CD I keep in my truck. I enjoy hearing it .
I have Arlo's version on a favorites USB Stick in the VOLT. Right now I have my entire collection of Mannhiem Steamroller (including the Mason Williams Classical Gas album) in the slot.
Got over to the Fieldhouse around noontime and got a good solid 2 mile walk in (a little over actually as 2 miles is 11.2 laps and I did 12...). My new goal is to get up to 3 miles 3 days a week. I think I can do that without too much problem. Have my Post Op appt. with the surgeon on Monday morning. I should be able to get home before noon and intend to get in 13 or 14 laps during the afternoon.
Trying to multitask here... I have very little program lined up for the Division Meet coming up on May 5. No clinics at all yet. May see about showing a movie of some kind as part of the morning session. I have to leave there by right after 12 to get back home, change and get to an Eagle Court of Honor and be set up with a slide show by 4PM... Good thing I'm retired and have all this extra time.......
I did get down to the train room, and moved a building I have been working on from the layout to the workbench to add a small shim under one corner to make it fit against the wall better. Glued the shim in place and set it back on the layout where gravity will hold it in place. Well.... That was more than I have done in the last week down there! Between, the NMRA, MLK, Scouts, Train Museum, and trying to decide which local eatery to take a beautiful lady out to lunch at soon (she has the week off and is visiting her family in the mid-west. My job is deciding where we want to get together for lunch when she gets back next week), you expect I have time for work on the layout???
"I look to the future because that's where I'm going to spend the rest of my life." - George Burns
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Afternoon Diners
Flo, the gang and I will have a please and give Steven and Rick a RBF. Why yes Flo leave a stein outside for Ulrich as well.
Felt much better today that yesterday. I think I need to start eating a few more carbs in the moring. Got some things done that I just plain have not felt like doing like getting Steven Box packed up!
Steven Took your package to the post offices today. I was told it stood a 50 50 chances to make it to your PO Box with out a name. I did find it a little odd that you did not send me your name? Going to delay shipping for a week. I all so found it odd the PO think they need a name? But with my Post Offices Track Record (just ask Ed) they need all the help they can get!
Ed The Bessmer Thundering Tennis Balls has caused me no greif! In fact I have enjoyed the heck out of it! Got the decoder out and shipped today. All so found why there has been no Thundering Tennies Balls! Seems the antenna wire had broke off and was not hooked to the transmitter.
I am a train junkie and K-10 Model Trains is my Pusher! Thinking about making my radius to 22 and 24 inch. So I went in for some 22" and 24" turns and new set of rail nippers. Has I was ready to cash out when Ken (the owner) said he nas a new used collection for sale! Dang, there was a set of short Pen passanger cars with full intertiors! LL / Proto E-6 with nice looking short passanger car's and a Erie LL / Proto short passanger cars. Then there where about 60 rolling stock for $5.00 each! The passanger car sets where only $129.00 each with the engine! Kept saying No, No out loud to my self!
Well I did walk out with a $5.00 B&O 293432 50' Box Car. Like I need any rolling stock with 120 of them sitting in boxes! But it is B&O after all!
Later Ken
I hate Rust
Heartland Division CB&QHere is an image of the Southern Crescent Limited which went to and from New Orleans. A classic train.
Nice Stuff, Garry!
Here's a photo of the L&N's Royal Street 5 double bedroom-lounge-observation preparing to leave Chicago. It was used on the Crescent at times.
RR_views_0044 by Edmund, on Flickr
Thank You, Ed
Regarding the song "The City of New Orleans", it is on a CD I keep in my truck. I enjoy hearing it .
Brent ... Speaking of trucks..... Your photo shows a very nice truck and trailer. I have been by the Ford truck plant in Louisville several times. My opinion is pick up trucks last longer than cars.
Richard ... Congratulations to your daughter.
On the layout, I retrieved a Santa Fe passenger train from a storage track with a Burlington SD7. .... I will soon install a decoder in my Santa Fe E6A. The E6B is a dummy. I am looking forward to running a Santa Fe passenger train which I have not done since my layout was converted to DCC.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Yesterday was my daughter's graduation from basic training. I didn't quite know what to expect, but it was pretty amazing. I was a little put off by the attitude of aloofness from the drill sergeants, most of whom were young enough to be my kid. I didn't expect anything more than eye contact and, perhaps, a nod of the head, but they went out of their way to specifically ignore us. Oh well...
Today we took her to AIT at Fort Gordon. We opted not to get a hotel near Fort Gordon, but decided to drive back and forth from Columbia. (This weekend was the worst weekend to try and get a hotel in Augusta. Cheapest was $500+ a night.) What a difference in the way we were treated. Everyone was friendly and helpful. Immediately after getting processed, she was given a leave pass for the weekend so we brought her back with us. We just need to get her back by 15:00 on Sunday.
Richard
Ken, I sent you a PM with my address.
Good morning from the very soggy Eastern side of the Pacific basin. It is 12c and a good day to hide in the train room.
However!
I have to get the trailer out of hibernation so I can take it to a dog show for my wife for six days. No sunny days on the horizon, so I will bite the bullet and get'er ready in the rain. Truck is coming up on its 18th birthday. Made in the Kentucky truck plant. It only has 238,000km on it, and its 7.3 ltr diesel still purrs along nicely.
Been talking to the movie people about the kids shooting schedule. He has rehearsal days in Vancouver for this one, that's a first. Maybe he will get some lines. They are glad he has a lot of experience with dogs so that will be interesting. Then they are flying him out of town for at least 8 days. He gets paid while he travels and a whole bunch of premiums. They found a place in Ottawa that did his measurements for wardrobe, hopefully, that works out. Haven't heard a thing about accommodations yet. This one is a real lips sealed one, so can't say much.
Had a Realtor come to the house on Wednesday to sort of get the wheels in motion to put the house on the market. Its value is over six times what I paid for it in 1996. If we move to Vancouver Island we will spend about a third of the price for the same thing. The wife found a house right on the ocean she likes, but we are not ready to go for at least a year when my Daughter is finished high school.
My wife looks for homes for sale on the online MLS and yells out "what do you think of this trainroom?" What a gal.
Better get at it, HEIGH HO-HEIGH HO.
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."
tin canGary - love the song "City of New Orleans."
I was out at one of my favorite live music bars last night, and the band did that song. The funny thing was not that they did it, it's one they perform frequently, but that someone else in the audience other than me requested it.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Good morning ...... Oatmeal and OJ, please. ... Yesterday we were in Paris, TN ....
Ricky .... That is a lot of snow. ... I hope your breating improves.
Here is an image of the Southern Crescent Limited which went to and from New Orleans. A classic train.
Good evening all.
Zoe - A RBF please. Thanks.
Ulrich - Glad to hear you are still reading the forums. And, while I do miss your participation, I also understand that you are going through quite a bit at this time, and needed a break. While I know it doesn't help much, I wish you and Petra the best!
Weather - Well, not anywhere near as much wind. That's good.
Ended up losing phone and have "intermittent" internet service now. Lost power for about 6&1/2 hours last night.
More snow/mix expected tomorrow, so, Erie is getting closer to taking the lead in the snowfall total in any season in any eastern Great Lakes town. (Over a certain size anyways...)
They (Erie) have already passed the total in any town in Alaska this year, and the all-time record in Anchorage Alaska... Not sure that's a good record to have.
While I don't live in Erie, I do w*^k there. (My area, while smaller in size, annually gets more snow. "Our" record was set a few years ago, at just over 226" on the season. Erie has quite a ways to get to that... In fact, that was the year I took my avatar pic, and we still had snow in 65F temperatures, as it couldn't melt fast enough!)
W*^k - I think I scared them today.... I had asthma issues, and I think they were a bit scared that I didn't leave the front of the store. I used my inhaler, and just kinda slowed my pace for a bit, but kept w*^king. I have dealt with the asthma for long enough that I knew that I was still "okay-ish" at that point, but did inform a couple cow*^kers who were nearby, what was up. (They kinda noticed I was breathing funny anyways... So I told them what was going on, but that I was ok.) I will say, it must have looked odd, as I appeared as though I had just finished a full basketball quarter, with zero rest breaks, instead of doing retail front end w*^k...
Teacher discussion - I've had good ones, and not so good ones, in my schooling experience. However, I was always the "good kid", and smart, so a few times I also had the experience of having teachers "fighting" over who would get me in their class. The funniest time, there was two who were getting quite into it, and neither one was giving an inch. It came down to me settling it, by going to a cyber school the next year.
I had finally had enough by that point of the school politics, (we had a horrible superintendent by that point) and most classes were boring by that point, as that year, if you finished the days assignment early, you were not allowed to read, or do anything, other than sit there "quietly", waiting for the class to be over. (Other years, and teachers, I and a few others were allowed to do "extra" reading, or allowed to start a quiet chess game with eachother, or something along those lines.) I got bored of twiddling my thumbs that year... So, I went with the cyber option the following year, and liked it so much I finished that way.
With the cyber option, if I finished a class, I could just move on and start the next one, or take a quick break between classes and come back whenever I wanted. I enjoyed that much better, and was finished with all my classes much sooner in the day that way as well.
Hope all are well, and all have a good night!
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.
Evening diners,
Got some stuff done today, the pools at hotel A and B have to open tomorrow so I spent the afternoon vacuuming the pools and balancing them, at hotel B some kids threw a bunch of rocks into the pool so I had to fish them out.
I was such a victim of teacher bullying as well, about 6 or so years ago the school I attended (a small church school) had a husband and wife become the new teachers (with zero teaching experience) in addition the lady that was already teaching there (whom had a degree in education) well the lady who was over elementary left because the couple was so abrasive, the 24 student at the beginning of the year dropped by 6 over the course of the year and y more did not return the following year, the wife once called a student lazy and stupid in front of everyone, the next morning he came in and collected his stuff and left. The husband (who was also the assistant pastor) wasn't much better, the pastor also considered add/adhd, autism, etc.. all discipline issues, now the couple is missionaries in some other country and the pastor is in the process of becoming a missionary again, the church has a new pastor, and my family has a new church (same faith). Today's lesson is some people are just crazy!
I saw at an estate sale a few weeks ago a panoramic picture of the levee and railroad tracks and track served industries along the river in Baton Rouge it dated probably about 1920 maybe 1930.
Top of page, drinks on me!
FRRYKid Jump forward to senior year of high school. First few days of Government class and I managed to catch the teacher in a minor error. We were talking about the various types of governments. The teacher stated that at the time there were no confederations in the world. I raised my hand and asked: "Isn't the Commonwealth of Independent States considered a confederation?" He thought for a moment and agreed with me that it was. (In high school, he was the only teacher that managed to put me on a speed limit in the hallways.)
Jump forward to senior year of high school. First few days of Government class and I managed to catch the teacher in a minor error. We were talking about the various types of governments. The teacher stated that at the time there were no confederations in the world. I raised my hand and asked: "Isn't the Commonwealth of Independent States considered a confederation?" He thought for a moment and agreed with me that it was. (In high school, he was the only teacher that managed to put me on a speed limit in the hallways.)
I think Switzerland is still a confederation. Their car tags have 'CH' on them.
Robert
LINK to SNSR Blog
Mentioning teachers:
I had one in 7th&8th grade (rural school with one teacher for two grades) that shouldn't have been one in the first place. She yelled at students. She also was of the opinion that ADD/ADHD was a disiplinary problem rather than a learning difference. She also seemed to find one seventh grader that was different and would pick on them mercilessly. (Unfortunately, I was that seventh grader.) It probably rose to the point of bullying. Unfortunately, she had tenure. (At that time, very hard to remove a teacher with tenure.) However, I did get a bit of revenge at points. As a seventh grader, I ended up getting some math awards and won the classroom current events challenge for the year.
As an eight grader, I won the school geography bee. (My younger brother finished second. I think there were a few people surprised at that. He was a fifth grader. Yes, a few comments were made about sharing the prizes.) However, it took a classroom rerun for me to even make it to the school level as the teacher did the classroom scoring wrong. Every other classroom didn't eliminate anyone when the person answered a question incorrectly. She did. (One wrong answer and you were out.) Later in the year, we had (and still do) an Academic Olympics competition. Many area schools came. Written test in the morning which seeded the teams for the afternoon oral competition. Before the competition, she had the 5 member teams pick their captains. I didn't solict the captainship but my fellow team members selected me. My team didn't get to the medal round (One win short). However, I did end up taking third place in the written exam. I found out later that the teacher had made a comment to the effect of "I had nothing to do with that." Then at the end of the year, I again won the classroom current events competition. (That person passed on last fall. I wasn't crying over it, as you might have imaged.)
hon30critterOur kids had some fantastic teachers. None the less, parents still have to listen to their kids. If your kid is standing at the door crying their eyes out because they don't want to go to school, don't dismiss their complaints. There is a reason they are upset.
Absolutely Dave! There are those in any profession who shouldn't be there... My own kids (primarily my oldest) had a few. Got a call from the elementary principal one day (I was at the intermediate school) That my son was in his office for damaging a desk. He just couldn't take the constant crap from a very poor teacher he had that year. Oddly enough the Principal took my son's side of the story and the teacher was told to knock it off. Luckily she was retiring at the end of the year... Another time here in Geneva, he had an English teacher in HS that was a ...., well, I can't use that word here. She had given him a C- on a short story he had written about being a little kid and getting lost in the cornfield behind our trailer. He entitled it "Lost in the Maize". She corrected his spelling of Maize and probably didn't even read the whole thing or she would have got it! When I saw it, I blew my top and told my son I was going to raise, you know what about it! My son begged me not to make any problems. My younger son (the one now with the MBA and works at Arrgonne National Labs) said that he would get even with her when he had her next year.... Man, did he!!! He told her and the class what certian lines in some Shakespeare plays meant and embarassed the daylights out of her! She at one point called him up to her desk and admitted that he (I) was right, at which time he loudly broadcast that to the rest of the class..... LOL She retired soon after that year as well. (I have had, I think 5 courses that were on Shakespeare and/or Elizabethen English, so I was able to feed him lots of "off Color" info to bring up in class.... (grin)
Sun is trying to make an appearance here in the Finger Lakes region today from time to time.
Yesterday the MLK Committee here got some fantastic news from a couple of local lawyers. They have put together a package for the Scholarship Committee of $6,000 a year for us for 4 years. That is $24,000 total. The catch is we have to use the money for scholarships each year. Not a Problem as we have already committed $18,000 for scholarships this year. We will be adding a $6,000 over 4 years new scholarship in the name of a lady who was a major civil rights and human rights activist in town. You may remember me mentioning her a couple months back when she passed away!
So... Hope all of you have a great day!
Gary - love the song "City of New Orleans." First song I learned to play well on my 12 string guitar. Got to see Steve Goodman perform it live; he opened for Steve Martin, back when Steve Martin toured doing stand up.
Ed .... Thanks for sharing memories.... I wish I could go back to the pre-Amtrak era and ride the great trains then.
Meanwhile .... I'm thinking of the song "City of New Orleans" ... It fits in with this month's theme.
Dave ... Thanks for the update on Ulrich. ... I miss his particpation here very much. He and Petra are in my prayers.
There are others who have discontinued particpation here, and I wish they would return.
Happy Model Railroading, everybody ...
Dave,
Thanks for giving us an Ulrich update. I wish he could get out of that situation.
Hi everyone!
I just got a nice note from Ulrich. He is following the forums. He was responding to my comments about my aversion to having to remove the skeletal remains of something that I have been served on a plate.
He told me that he and his neighbours have developed a convoy system that allows them to navigate through the potentially dangerous parts of town so that they can do their shopping etc. I feel really bad that that is what their situation has deteriorated into. I don't know how I would cope under the same circumstances.
Anyhow, he seems to be in good spirits. He has sold his N scale Swiss railroad and he is well on his way to constructing his Marklin HO layout.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
gmpullmanthe waiter sets my plate down and my dinner is looking back at me!
Dianne and I were at a restaurant recently that specializes in seafood. Several diners around us ordered the fish of the day, which of course was whole. Little did they know that I wasn't enjoying their dinners!
Now, just to prove that I am not a total wuss, Dianne ordered the octopus and thoroughly enjoyed it. Next time that is what I will order. I love calamari too!
Nice pic of your parents! My dad was not a traveller. The only place he would go was to the cottage. I did get a few train rides thanks to my mom and my aunt Mary.
hon30critterDon't serve me a fish with the head and tail still on.
Ha! That brought back memories for me, Dave! I was twelve-years-old and my parents brought me along on a special train to New York City sponsored by a Cleveland, Ohio newspaper. This was in 1968.
On the return trip I was treated to dinner in the Erie-Lackawanna's fine dining car. The special was Rainbow Trout.
Sure enough, here I am with all the excitement of my first "real" dining-car experience with all the silver and linen and heavy china, and the waiter sets my plate down and my dinner is looking back at me!
Prior to this the only seafood I ever had was Gorton's Fish Sticks!
After the initial "jolt" my mother thoughtfully covered the little guy's head with a paper finger-bowl liner that the waiter provided.
Years later we would have a lot of fun bringing up that story at family gatherings!
In fact, I just found a slide of mom and dad from that trip.
E-L Lake Cities_1968 by Edmund, on Flickr
Oh what I wouldn't give to have just one more ride on the old Erie-Lackawanna. Most of the track doesn't even exist today.
I hope that decoder works for you, Ken. Sorry it caused you grief.
Thanks for the memories — Ed
cudakenFlo, I will take a big bowle of Crayfish
I'm sure I would thoroughly enjoy a plate full of crayfish, but please don't ask me to clean them myself. I strongly believe that food preparation should be done by the chef in the kitchen before the food is served to me. Don't ask me to peel shells at the table. Don't serve me a fish with the head and tail still on. I don't even like it when the tails are left on shrimp. OK, mussels in the shell I can do.
A couple of years ago my brother in law, who is quite a good cook, showed up for dinner with a bunch of langoustine (a large shrimp like creature with all the legs and feelers still attached - rather pricey too). He proposed to serve them with the shell and all the attached bits still in place. I asked him to please not do that to us. The thought made me feel ill. He dutifully peeled them. After the shells were removed there was precious little left. Why bother?!?
What a wuss eh!
howmusOften time the worse the problem with the kid is the less the parent wants to listen to the teacher!
howmus:
That can certainly be a problem too. We did listen to our kids' teachers. We didn't listen closely enough to our kids. In hindsight we were really stupid. When your kid is standing at the front door bawling his eyes out because he didn't want to go to school something should ring a bell. This wasn't a minor reluctance to go to school, this was full out trauma and we kicked him out the door anyhow. In hind sight, that was abuse. A few weeks later this same teacher assigned an estimated 35 hours of homework over the Christmas Holidays. It took that occurance to wake us up to the fact that the teacher was being a tyrant. We went to the Principal. He didn't have a clue that this teacher was being so unreasonably demanding. After asking a few other parents about what their kids were experiencing he put a stop to it, but all these kids had already been put through a horrible experience.
I know there are good teachers out there. In fact, the vast majority are really good and many are truly great. Our kids had some fantastic teachers. None the less, parents still have to listen to their kids. If your kid is standing at the door crying their eyes out because they don't want to go to school, don't dismiss their complaints. There is a reason they are upset.
Evening Diners
Flo, I will take a big bowle of Crayfish and give the gang and I a . Keep that darn cake away from me as well! Wife brought one home for Easter and I ate half of the darn thing! Oh, leave my hunk of cake outside for Ulrich!
Steven O Happy Birthday from I as was well!
Furances Pilot Light went out again! Of couse I was at work! Cost me $70.00 but it was after 6:30 PM it he was there quick! Happy Wife, not as bad Life.
gmpullmanI hope Broadway Limited does good for you
Ed BLI told me to pound sand down a rat hole! But then I said "but Ed gave it to me for me 62 birthday" Lady said "Ed gave it to you? We will take care of it sir, would you like free Big Boy as well? We have to keep Ed happy! He is 25% of are sales!
Just kidding Ed. They know there was a problem with the SD 7 and old Rolling Thunder Paragon's. Told me to send the old decoder to them and they will give me a free decoder! She said "You will hear Thundering Tennis Ball's this time Sir!"
Steven PM me your address, I have got to get the Monkey Off My Back! Let me know here in the Dinner that you sent it. Tired of tripping over it!
Train Front Dragging some coal with BLI M1a. While I think the sound is weak, it runs well.
Later, Ken