Good Evening,
Finally a full day of RAIN!!! First in a month and it was a good soaker too.
Dave, sounds like you had a good time at Point Pelee. Chatham was part of my territory when I was a rep for Sunoco back in the early '70s. I had 6 accounts in that town so it meant an overnight stay. We had 52 species at our Birding and Breakfast on Wednesday which isn't bad for an hour and a half. We go out in groups of about 6-8 people with an experienced guide as a leader. We didn't go this morning as wet isn't part of my birding experience. Mind you it has been great in our backyard with many Orioles and even a Blackburnian Warbler yesterday.
I decided to buy a copy of Railway Modeller magazine for something different. I do enjoy it and marvel at the amount of model railroading that goes on in the UK. My copy of Classic Trains also arrived this week and CN Lines so I have been reading a lot. I guess it rubbed off as I ran trains for about an hour this evening. I did some road switching with the RS3 and made up a new train for the Light Mountain to haul.
I had my semi-annual glaucoma check this week and everything is ok. I asked the Doc if there was any sign of cataracts and he said yes but very slight so hopefully I can avoid that for some years yet.
Well tea and tellie time again,
CN Charlie
NWP SWPthey're hanging at the beach.
.
Sure sounds like the right thing to do to me! I love hanging at the beach, I go every chance I get.
I drove through Denton, GA again today. This time it was not raining, so I stopped to get a picture.
Denton! Denton! Rah-Rah-Rah!
Don't Dream It... Be It!
I tried to do my best "Brad Majors" pose, but it did not turn out the way I hoped.
I hope everyone is going to have a wonderful weekend. I have a great one planned.
Stay safe.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
BATMAN Lots to do today so Pina Coladas on me. I'll be in for one of my own later.
Lots to do today so Pina Coladas on me. I'll be in for one of my own later.
I will take you up on that offer as long as it is a virgin. (As many of you know, I choose not to imbibe.)
Weather Front: The third weekend in May brings a major event to our town. There is a tradition that it always rains at least one day during the weekend. The tradition has been upheld again this year. I don't know how much we got, but it was enough to get everything quite wet. (Heavy enough that I was unable to use a piece of the power equipment at work. Working pallet stacks with a manual jack gets very tiring on the knees.)
Hobby Front: Finally got the two bottles of paint that I need for painting the NP caboose ordered. Had been too cold to do it previously. I don't order paint basically from October to April as it is too cold.
I also did the bidding on equipment that I really don't need thing again. This time it is a flatcar. If I get it, I get it. If I don't, I don't.
Afternoon Diners
Flo, I will pass on the Pina Colada (I do love them) and will have a instead.
Got some Model Railroading done. Got the programing track up and running again. Wires broke off the PR 3 and the rails them self. Saturday I will try to get the Bessmer SD 7 Thundering Tennis Balls engine going. Want to test with decoder pro first to make sure I installed the decoder right.
PRR Coach Wars, PRR 0 Cuda Ken 1! Got the sagging coupler pocket fixed on the new Bachmann 1736 coach. Had to change couples to #5 and gave it a run, not a single derail or uncoupling! It has made it around the layout 30 + times so I am calling that fixed. Next I need to paint the undercarrage. For some reason it is gray and the other coaches are black?
Next is to get the Centfaun going. That would give 7 Heavy Weight Pullmans rolling. That would be a good sizes train for my town of Kingsdown.
BATMANIt is legal in British Columbia for women to go topless by the way.
Brent That law should be repealed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When the kid gets into the goverment get him working on that!
Later, PRR Happy Ken
I hate Rust
BATMANEd, I'll pass on the Sundaes thanks, too many sit-ups in one of those.
Dairy Queen Large hot fudge sundae = 610 calories
BATMANLots to do today so Pina Coladas on me. I'll be in for one of my own later.
6 oz. Piña Colada = 644 calories
Gotcha!
Well, given the choice, I'll join you in a Piña Colada
Cheers, Everyone!
Ed
Steven Otte and all the water in the pipe above the pump comes back down, fills up the sump, and triggers the pump again.
You should have replaced the check valve.
BigDaddy Rain rain go away, my sump pump is running every 10 seconds.
Rain rain go away, my sump pump is running every 10 seconds.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Evening diners,
Had orientation, saw my friend, she was with her sister, their family is not doing any of the school activities they're hanging at the beach. I know for sure that I WILL NOT be going to PCC (abekas partner college) they are attempting to control every aspect of the weekend, but ahh well. A little side note on the swim wear thing, I just learned this earlier, the Waterpark is open to just girls for a few hours and then just guys for a few more hours! They're a bit too over the top!
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
BATMANThe only thing I would like an upgrade for would be on the recall stacking. I like to run three trains sometimes and it only recalls one so it is a bit of a pain that way.
That's not an upgrade, you just have to change the recall to 3. p 58 of the powercab manual.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Good morning, it is a pleasant day on the West Coast. Warm and bright with a high OC.
Drove the kid into Vancouver at 0700hrs for his exam this morning. There was no rush hour traffic for some reason and thus we were an hour early. There was a McDonalds across the street so he went for breakfast and I went home. He is taking the bus back as far as he can get and I will pick him up.
Steven, I laughed at the bit about the kids having to cover up. Those people better never visit Tahiti, they will be in for a shock. I find it is the same people that get bent out of shape about scantily clad or topless women, have a fit if a woman chooses to wear a head or face covering. It is legal in British Columbia for women to go topless by the way.
Got four tickets for Deadpool2 tomorrow $81.00 for four at the IMAX. I want to see Solo as well and that will be it for movies at the theatre for a while. When the kids were younger I would load up the truck on a rainy Saturday and take them and a bunch of their friends to the movies. That would be an expensive afternoon but we had lots of fun.
Garry, hope you have a great trip and yes take pic's.
Ed, I'll pass on the Sundaes thanks, too many sit-ups in one of those. I had a sit-up competition with the kid when he got home. We always have competed in cycling or sit-ups or push-ups, it keeps me young. He cleans my chronometer every time though.
I think I will look into seeing if there are upgrades for my NCE system. The thread on the DCC command systems has got me wondering. Mine is ten years old. The only thing I would like an upgrade for would be on the recall stacking. I like to run three trains sometimes and it only recalls one so it is a bit of a pain that way.
Been thinking of Hawaii a lot because of the volcanoes. The wife and I are thinking of getting a place there, maybe on Kaui, it is a quick trip to get there. Once both kids are in University there is no reason to winter at home and they can join us at Christmas over there. Train stores may be an issue though.
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."
Good Evening!
I am back from a tiring, but successful day! Claus and I met at his place and we drove to the nearest DIY place to buy the plywood table top for my layout. Well, at least we tried. My local store didn´t have what I wanted, and the place close Claus´ home didn´t either. The next place we tried had it - and even considerably cheaper than the two we tried before. It took us all day to build the frame, round the corners of the table top, assemble the whole thing and give it a first coat of paint.
Now it´s at my place, ready to receive the second coat of paint on the surface, which I will do tomorrow, providing Petra lets me.
Pictures to follow tomorrow!
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Heartland Division CB&Q Howdy .... Coffee to go please. We leave in an hour for Branson, MO ..... Tomorrow night, we ride the dinner train. Altogether, there will be 4 couples (2 from KY, 1 from IL, and 1 from MO) .... 4 model train nuts and their wives... ....Should be fun. Have a great weekend, everybody !
Howdy .... Coffee to go please.
We leave in an hour for Branson, MO ..... Tomorrow night, we ride the dinner train. Altogether, there will be 4 couples (2 from KY, 1 from IL, and 1 from MO) .... 4 model train nuts and their wives... ....Should be fun.
Have a great weekend, everybody !
Take pictures!
gmpullman. . .How about a round of Tin Roof Sundaes all around!. . .
My all-time favorite! Thanks!
Richard
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good morning everyone!
Later today is registration and then a tour of the high school, if I happen to see a few of my old video teachers I'll grab a selfie! I'm hoping to meet up with my friend she's from Louisiana too and graduating. After the tour all the seniors are going to be hanging out at the PCC activity center which has bowling, ice skating, a water park. (Now theres a conundrum a Christian college has a water park, but they are so conservative that they want guys and girls to wear T-shirts over their swimwear, even while in the water?! Don't they know that Tees get very clingy when wet? Whatever!)
Tomorrow at 1:50 PM Central Time, Abeka begins the live stream of the ceremony, I'll probably be one of the last to be called being that my last name is Zechnick KIDDING it's actually Ward like a hospital ward?! Here's a link to it for anyone who wants to watch!
http://athome.abeka.com/GraduationEvent/Default.aspx
Well I'll be back later if I have time!
Good Morning, Folks!
Well, shiver me timbers! Top-'o-the page!
How about a round of Tin Roof Sundaes all around!
hot-tin-roof-sundaes by Edmund, on Flickr
hon30critter I've seen lots of pictures of wrecked trains but watching it actually happen is very sobering.
One powerful, massive force meets another powerful, massive force! Truly sobering as you say. Especially the sight of that tank car, sparks and all, heading right toward the cab!
I remember in the early 1980s a co-worker said his cousin was clearing some timber in western Pennsylvania and if I wanted any free firewood, come-and-get-it.
When I got to his site he had a working sawmill setup. The guys around said I should climb up that hill and take a look at what they were working on.
Once I got to the crest I could look across the valley and clearly see a path of mowed-down trees and timber that looked like a gargantuan back-hoe had scraped that valley and cut a trench about a mile long and maybe a hundred-yards wide.
Come to think of it, I recall posting this photo not long ago:
Kinzua-1 by Edmund, on Flickr
The great Kinzua bridge laid-to waste by a "gust" of wind.
Congratulations Master Steven! Hats off to you!
Here's hoping we ALL have a great weekend. Thoughts and prayers to those not so well off —
Regards, Ed
Good night diners,
Got to the hotel, guess what's two blocks over from the hotel? Some in-the-street track! I saw a SP Hydra-Cushion boxcar at a masonry place.
Well early morning so goodnight all!
Howdy.
Kevin ... thanks for your comment in my thread about LaGrange Hobby Center. . It looked like nobody was going to say anything, and I would have felt like nobody cared.
Ray. Congrats on the weight loss.
Ken .. sounds like you too are losing weight. Kudos.
Ed:
That video is scary! I've seen lots of pictures of wrecked trains but watching it actually happen is very sobering.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Evenin'Folks!
cudakenRay Congrat on losing the weight. I lost 125 pounds my self but it was a diet. Soon as I hit the weight I wanted and stopped the diet it came back with a extra 25 pounds to boot. So no more diets for me! This time I changed my life style. Pretty sure the weight I have lost will not come back.
Ken
Thanks to several of you for the kind comments, BTW!
Have to get a couple more things done and then head to bed for the night. Tomorrow is walk at the fieldhouse day again, and then run several errands in the afternoon.
"In those days the best painkiller was ice; it wasn't addictive and it was particularly effective if you poured some whiskey over it." - George Burns
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Good evening Diners,
Brunhilda, I'll have a Shirley Tempest, please.
Ray: congratulations on your weight loss. Well done.
Steven: congratulations on granulating high school (Intentional spelling). Now that the world is closing in, I hope all your dreams come true.
Mr. B: Having grown up in tornado alley, I feel marginally qualified to speak. Growing up, when the weatherman on radio or TV said tornado "warning," that meant that one was sighted on the ground headed your way. Nothing less! That was saying take cover immediately! When I moved up to Chicago, the weather people would throw around the word "warning" non chalantly like they throw around "wind chill." That has since somewhat changed for the better, but still not the imperative that we had back home.
Oh well, my.
Hello to everyone, and I hope everybody Is OK and safe.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
Flo, the gang and I will have a please and give Rick and Steven what they want.
Felt a tad better today. Did get the front yard cut and it was not as bad as the last time. Need to start working out again.
Ray Congrat on losing the weight. I lost 125 pounds my self but it was a diet. Soon as I hit the weight I wanted and stopped the diet it came back with a extra 25 pounds to boot. So no more diets for me! This time I changed my life style. Pretty sure the weight I have lost will not come back.
Steven Congratulation on the Graduation. On the T-1 first thing I would do is run the engine upside down and check the front drivers for wheel wabble. Is it a Pargon engine or Pargon II. Reason I ask is BLI has no parts for and will not work on a pargon engine.
Boy I am a Glunt For Pushiment! I went to K-10 Model Trains and bought 2 more PRR Coaches! One is a Bachmann and it should not be much on a problem. Famous last words! One of the couplers pockets is dropping but I know the fix for it. Other one is name is Lake Merritt and it is made by the same company of my Centfaun. Bought more truck to fix the Centfaun than anything.
Later, Ken
Tornadoes ... I recall many trips to basements over the years for tornado warnings, and I have seen the devastation caused by tornadoes.
Ed .. I have seen that video a few times before it is remarkable.
The o shoot moment in that train vs tornado video is when that tank car comes bouncing up and hits the engine.
Hello everyone
Recollections of tornado strength:
This was in January of 2008. Tornado? January? Amazing.
Cheers, Ed
Good morning from the left side of America (the Canadian part) just above the 49th. It is cool today and that should slow down the snow melt. Parts of the Province are running up to a "hundred year flood" situation. The wife and I always check the altitude of any property we are looking at, we don't want any part of that thankyou.
The national sledge hockey tourney was a big success last weekend. The kid ended up being the public address announcer for the games, announcing goals, penalties and awards presentations. He did a great job, the whole tourney was online so even when I wasn't there we could watch. They had plenty of help this year which was good as I didn't have it in me to do more than a day.
There were guys from the Olympics there on some of the teams, the caliber of play was top shelf. Lots of war vets that have lost legs, seeing how they cope and hearing their stories makes me wonder how some physically unscathed people can complain so much.
Got to get up at 0530hrs tomorrow and get the kid to Vancouver to write one of the exams he got deferred so he could do a movie.
Had tornados in Winnipeg when I was a wee lad but was too young to remember.
That guy in the video should have been running for cover, that's for sure.
Ray, keep up the good work on getting back in shape, I am afraid I am going in the opposite direction as just moving is becoming more and more painful. I was told it would get this way but was hoping they were wrong. At least I still have the discipline to push myself away from the dinner table. That is hard as my wife is a tremendous cook. She comes by it honestly as her father was a big-time executive chef. I was in incredible condition up into my early forties so that may help in the long run.
Steven, congrats on graduation! That was a long time ago for me, 1976 to be exact. Real life took off big time after that and considering I had no idea where I was going, it turned out really well overall. I decided what I wanted out of life, not what anyone else wanted and set out to get it. A goal can give you focus, without it you go in circles. My goal was to have what my parents had minus the occasional financial stresses they ran into, planning made that easy. The first thing Dad did when he retired was to go out and buy his first brand new car ever. I have done way better than my Dad did, but it was only because I followed his example. My roots in Canada can be traced back to the late 1700s in the Swan River Valley and every generation has been better off than the previous one. My kids are well on their way to continuing that story by not only working hard but working smart.
Dave, that story about your neighbour is too bad, I hate to see that. I always say to my wife and family that want to hire acquaintances, would you sue them if things go bad. They usually then don't hire friends or family. My wifes stepbrother was an example of this. Without going into details, I would have seen him in jail after what he did to us. He just got his electricians ticket and my wife wanted to help him out by giving him some work, nuff said.
Kevin, nice shot of the Pacific, too bad that guy photobombed it.
I am glad I am not the only one that can't instantly recognize Diesels. People expect me to know everything there is to know about trains, I am a long way from even being close to that.
I discovered yesterday why the Deere was doing a lousy job all of a sudden, it is missing a bit off the end of a blade. only a year old to boot, oh well I have a new set ready to go as I had the dealer throw in an extra set when I bought it.
There are four deer snoozing on the front lawn as I type, time to go wake them up and get to work out there.
A round for all and give Ken a pitcher full.
I am in Delaware house-hunting right now. We had a tornado warning a couple of nights ago. It ended up being very wet and windy, but no tornado.
I wish they would use better words than "warning" or "alert." How many people know which is which?
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Ulrich I did not know Germany had tornados. A friend of mine in the panhandle of Texas has alarms in his house for tornados. On the east coast we might have a tornado every other year. I've only ever seen one in my life, a waterspout in the Bahamas.
We have had rain all week and more rain to come.
The ads were there for me, off and on, over a couple days. I am not sure of cause and effect but I installed Privacy Badger ads are gone without side effects. It is currently blocking google-analytics addservice.google.com and s7addthis.com and a few more of 15 potential trackers. Not sure what any of that really means.
I didn't do anything else to my browser or cookies. Yesterday there was a big Windows 10 update, but they disappeared before that.
howmusThat guy who took that movie was putting himself in harm's way big time. He should have immediately gotten into the safest inside or basement room in the house (the bathtub is usually a good place to ride it out)!
I couldn´t agree more. people in this country do not know how to deal with tornados and I am really surprized the number of folks getting hurt or killed by them is so low.
howmusOh, BTW, as of this morning I have now lost 105 lbs.! Weighed in at 220lbs.
Congratulations - what an achievement. I am at 260lbs. now, which is way too much, but I have a hard time doing the necessary exercise with my wobbly knees and hurting back. In addition, Petra is feedimg me too well and too much ...
Good Morning peoples!
"The sun is a shining to welcome the day......." Yep, nice bright sunshine out there so hopefully today will be a good day for solar enery from my roof!
Ulrich, Tornados are scary things to be near! I was right near an F1 that hit in Batavia, NY back when I taught in Elba, NY. It tore up some brand new houses right in it's track. Tore the roof off of one of them and put it into the swimming pool behind the house, Drove a 6" limb from a tree right through the walls of another new house. There used to be 5' wide willow tree near the side of the road on the route I drove every day to get home from Elba Schools. Can you imagine millions of toothpicks being about all that was left! That guy who took that movie was putting himself in harm's way big time. He should have immediately gotten into the safest inside or basement room in the house (the bathtub is usually a good place to ride it out)! Our tornado came up to within a couple hundred yards from the mobile home we owned and miraculously turned at the last possible moment to not even blow over the chairs outside on our patio....... Our poor dog who was at home at the time was always terrified of storms after that. He would sit and shake and cry loudly and want to be held!!!!
Well..... MLK Dinner was great last night. Got to see some parents of the kids who were students of mine way back when. Lots of hugs and grins going around! I asked the featured speaker (who was one of my students back many years ago) who graduated from the U of R if his paths there ever crossed with an old friend and classmate of mine from Eastman School of Music. The guy now has a Doctorate in Music and is a Vice President of the University and still a dean of some dept. The kid got very wide eyes and a huge grin on his face. Told me that Dr. Burgett was a mentor of his when he was there! Dr. Burgett was the first "Italian" Dean of Students at Eastman. Now, Dr. Burgett is black...... His mother was Italian and his Father Black American. Both of them were musicians as well. Dr. Burgett grew up in the "Italian Ghetto" so considered himself at that time to be "Italian". His accent and mannerisms were Italian. He was also the President of my class at Eastman all 4 years! He is also known as "Mr. Eastman" as he usually gives the opening pep talk to every freshman class starting their journey to excellence!!! Mostly nhebtells them about how scared he was his first fes weeks at Eastman. I remember that feeling well!
Last night I told my Minister (Deb) that my 50th. Eastman Reunion was coming up in the Fall. She gave me the strangest look and said, "Eastman is a four year school isn't it?" I assured it was and she got this, "That can't be right" look on her face. She is either 69 or 70 now and I think she thought I was younger than her.... I'll take that as a compliment!!! Oh, BTW, as of this morning I have now lost 105 lbs.! Weighed in at 220lbs. Also walked over 15,000 steps yesterday. Amazingly, I feel pretty good today, and plan to have about 14,000 steps in today. Need to mow the lawn! Then the house needs to have some major cleaning done as well!!!!
Have a great day out there!
"I look to the future because that's where I'm going to spend the rest of my life." - George Burns