Jeffrey's Trackside Diner, June 2018

[Track fiddler]

Morning diners 

I'll have a cup of coffee, black please, then it's off to work.  I Must apologize. To get bent out of shape over being confronted on spelling a name wrong is little unusual. 

I haven't been myself lately. This quit smoking thing is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. This Sunday will be 2 weeks. I'm still quite a bit edgy. My wife tells me so.

I'm sticking with it.... I don't wake up at 3:30-4:00 in the morning with trouble breathing anymore. It's nice I'm getting my rest.

Everyone have a great day!

PS.     Ed and Dave thanks for the compliments. Ulrich thanks for schmoozing over my spelling mistake on your name. I have to say the information and history was interesting

[Tinplate Toddler]

Track fiddler

I haven't been myself lately. This quit smoking thing is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. This Sunday will be 2 weeks. I'm still quite a bit edgy. My wife tells me so.

Three years ago my doc asked me how old I was and when I answered 59, he told me to quit smoking immediately, should I have the desire to turn 60. And that´s exactly what I did. It is much easier with the right motivation behind. The physical addiction is much less than the mental addiction. To overcome that, all you need is the will to stay away from that stuff - I have no doubts that you have that!

Venceremos!

[NWP SWP]

Good morning diners!

Is the diner gonna go the way of IHOP, err, I mean IHOb, and start selling burgers and no breakfast?

If not I'll take an Apple Fritter and a slice of Pecan Pie, wash that down with a big ol' glass of milk!

Track fiddler, congratulations on being tobacco free for two weeks! It takes guts to do it. a recent study showed only 15-17% of Americans smoked in 2017 that's still 52,112,000 out of the  325,700,000 Americans, just 1 percent of the population is 3,257,000 people! All those numbers are above one million, two are above ten million.

Anyways, I've got lots of stuff to do around the house (yard) so Auf Wiedersehen (I think I got the spelling right)

[Tinplate Toddler]

NWP SWP

Auf Wierdersehen (I think I got the spelling right)

Just leave out the "r" ...

[howmus]

Mornin' folks!

Currently 67°F outside under cloudy, grey skies.  Supposed to get some thunderboomers and showers as well today.  That won't hurt anything as I got the lawn mowed last Thursday and the garden is dry.

Well, Steven you can can get virtually anything at most any time here in the diner!!!

Congratulations Track Fiddler on being smokefree for the last two weeks. Stay with it!  You CAN do it. 

I can't figure out how, by making sure I am coming up at least 500 calories a day short, I have managed to gain 4 lbs.!!!!  The personal trainer I talked to yesterday reminded me that as well as losing fat I am gaining muscle, but.................  So I am cutting back another 500 or so calories a day and making sure I keep moving and getting enought steps every day.   Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!

The squirrel feeder my son gave me is now the favorite of the neighborhood bushy tailed rats we have....  I have ordered a couple of cones to put on the metal stake the feeder is hung from.  That will take a week to get here (free shipping).

I will be spending most of the day cleaning house.  Every 4 or 5 months I feel it is probably time........

"I was brought up to respect my elders, so now I don't have to respect anybody." - George Burns

73

[ROBERT PETRICK]

hon30critter

OK, I have to spill the beans! The Barrie Allandale Railway Modellers Association is very close to completing the mainline loop on our new layout. To honour the occassion I have ordered an HO scale Golden Spike to be installed just before the first lap of the mainline is completed. In truth, it will be gold plated silver but let's not sweat the details. I have also ordered a small brass plaque that will show the date of the event. I'm hoping that everybody gets a kick out of the ceremony. Unfortunately, club rules don't allow alcohol on the premises, but I might just break the rules!

Dave

Hey Dave 

Any details on the ceremony?

At our club everyone involved signed the benchwork in the vicinity of the GS. Everything is now covered with paint and whatnot, but a hundred years from now some archeologist will scrape the paint flecks and reveal the names of the craftsmen who created the layout.

Photos, of course; with circles and arrows and a paragraph or two on the back.

Time capsule buried under the 1:87 courthouse square. Tools, scraps, broken jigsaw blades, burnt-out decoders . . . insignificant stuff today, but things the grandkids might get a kick out of in the future.

Enjoy. 

Robert

[howmus]

Tinplate Toddler

Just leave out the "r" ... Cool

Ja, das ist richtig.

73

[BATMAN]

Good morning from the Eastern edge of the Pacific Rim just above the 49th, Light showers this morning but clearing up later.

Ever wonder what happens to all the stuff when a movie is finished or a TV series ends. We have a lot of Auctions up here for that kind of stuff. It is fun to go and look sometimes, especially for films like Star Trek and other biggies that have cool stuff like phaser rifles or shuttlecraft. I always wanted a shuttlecraft in the backyard. We had a bunch of old suitcases and an old toboggan and sleigh and a few other relics. We put an ad online and the movie people came and gave us big $ for the stuff I was going to take to the dump.

https://www.facebook.com/AbleAuctions/videos/vb.287383544614445/2075207015832080/?type=2&theater 

 

Dave congrats on the last spike. How about a live feed on Facebook of the event.

I like Roberts idea of the time capsule. 

Track Fiddler, keep up the good work. I had a friend that gave up smoking, every time he thought he could not go any longer, I got him to go for a run with me and he started doing that on his own after the few times I got him out. Exhaustion took away the urge. He was really heavy and not only did that get him through the urges, he lost over a hundred pounds to boot and that was not part of the plan. He can now still run circles around me. 

Think I will have a deadbeat day today, maybe run a train or two. Going to a friends place later for Prime Rib, can't wait for that. I need to pull a bottle of Cab Sav to take. We are going to plan meals for the big multi-family camping trip coming up. A couple of nights we usually do a big potluck and then just look after ourselves the rest of the time, great fun. I may do the truck and trailer inspection today as we are a long way to a service facility at the campsite, a 100K at least.

Not sure if we will do any "Ghost Towning" this trip as we have pretty much covered the ones where we are going. I think I will head out on my own for a couple of days later in the Summer as there are a couple of spots I have passed by in previous years in other parts of the Province.

Well, the Sun just came out, so I better get off my butt.

All the best to all.

 

[gmpullman]

In keeping with too many letters in a word...

Tinplate Toddler

NWP SWP

Auf Wierdersehen (I think I got the spelling right)

Just leave out the "r" ... 

 

 

NWP SWP

Anyways, I've got lots of stuff to do around the house

If I may... Steven. You can leave off the S at the end of anyway.

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/is-anyways-a-word/

I hope you don't mind me poking my nose into the conversation. Just giving you a gentle nudge. 

 

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!

Cheers, Ed

[Track fiddler]

Evening diners I'll take the special. Whatever that is. I'm so hungry I could eat anything

NWP SWP.... I hope you got my apology and accepted it OK. Without my nicotine I've been a big old bear lately. No offense to the bear, I like the bear. 

Ulrich and Brent thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement and support. You have no idea what that means to me and how much it helps.

My wife is still smoking. She is being good enough to go outside and going behind the curtain on the sliding glass door. I don't need to see or smell it right now. 

Well I just got back home from work I'm going to get settled, have some dinner and then I'll show you guys and gals what I wrestled with today 

[NWP SWP]

Track fiddler, there is no need to apologize, now that we know what is behind the words it's fine, good luck and godspeed on your journey of kicking the tobacco!

[SeeYou190]

Track fiddler

My wife is still smoking. She is being good enough to go outside and going behind the curtain on the sliding glass door. I don't need to see or smell it right now.

.

I quit smoking 10 years before my wife was finally able to kick the habit for good.

.

I feel for you... stay tough... the reward is worth it.

.

-Kevin

.

[Track fiddler]

Evening diners I'll have what Brent's having.... prime rib, now there's a dish after my own heart. I like mine with some sour cream and horseradish.

I also want to thank Kevin, Ray, and Steven for the support. It all helps, means a lot to me.

Ulrich.... Venceremos.... We will overcome, We will win.   Perfect!

Dave your math looks about right. Kind of overwhelming. Thank God I'm not a rivet counter.

Ed The Missillon Ohio Bridge reminded me of my bridge too. Thanks for posting that. I was hoping a Bridge cosmetically close to mine existed somewhere 

[Tinplate Toddler]

Track fiddler

My wife is still smoking

So is my dear Petra. It´s quite challenging not to tell her how revolting the stale smell of cigarettes is - just to keep the household peace. I wish she would quit smoking as well, but there is no way I can make her do that, if she does not have the will on her own.

[FRRYKid]

Evening All!

Hobby Front: Didn't get to go out the ranch today. It rained last night and, at least in town, that lefft everything muddy. Dad declared "No tearing up roads." However, it did allow me to almost get all the rest of my equipment converted over to Kadee couplers. There are two engines that I can't do right at the moment for a non-railroad reason: The battery on my drill needs to charge. I have decided that I am not going to change over the passenger train as those cars are not going to need to be switched at the yard.

As I suspected, it took almost all the couplers in the third package to have enough. I also scared myself again. I did a quick count of all the equipment that I have in town. Not counting what was in some plastic storage containers, I came up with approximately 135. Adding in what I think was in the totes, the total comes to 150-160 or so. With the pieces that will be going to storage (they are pieces that were for a section that won't be built anytime soon.), that gives me around 200 pieces of rolling stock! When I computed that out, I was quite shocked!

[Track fiddler]

Thanks Ulrich

For someone I've never met before that lives halfway across the world, with your words you sure have been a good friend right now.

I must give my Judy her own free will. Although I would love her to quit smoking with me I am by no means an authority figure. I have just started my quit plan and have a tough road ahead of me.

This is not my first time I have quit smoking. A couple of years ago I ended up in the hospital with violent headaches and found out I have an aneurysm in my brain. With my high blood pressure they highly advised me quitting smoking was not just a good idea but a must. I quit for three months with the assistance of the nicotine patch. I went off the last patch as far as I'm concerned two months too soon was the reason for my failure.

My aneurysm has been monitored every six months and has not become any larger. THAT'S NICE I'm not a big fan of brain surgery.

It was found later my aneurysm was not the cause of my violent headaches but I had an allergic reaction to Earl Grey tea that I took up drinking for a while. Obviously I don't drink that anymore.

This time my quit smoking plan is cold turkey. The way I figure it, a little harder in the beginning but it'll be worth it when I get through this hard part of the beginning stages.

Congratulations Dave on completing and joining the track at your Railroad Club. I enjoyed the video, the ceremony of the golden spike on the Transcontinental Railroad Ulrich provided. I have seen that one before. If you guys and gals are fans of Johnny Cash I highly recommend this video that also includes the Golden Spike ceremony recreated with Johnny Cash right there with them. I enjoy it and watch it about once a year.

[Track fiddler]

Oops posting with a phone is really trying sometimes. My post came through twice.  I backed up this one have a great night everyone

[hon30critter]

gmpullman

If you carry one of these Jim Beam "bottles" into the Club to celebrate the occasion, I don't think anyone will object 

Dave

[NWP SWP]

I just saw a preview for a new series on CBS, anybody wanna guess what it is?

 

 

Anybody remember that series from way back when with the guy that had the mustache, Detroit Tigers hat, aloha shirt, ferrari, and short tempered British fella, yeah that's right it's Magnum P.I.

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Howdy .... I'm glad to see the Diner has been busy. There are a lot of comments to catch up on. 

Dave ..... Good to hear about your club completing the main line. Congratulations. 

Track Fiddler .... You can and will break the smoking habit ..... I offer theese words of wisdom. It is not just the fact that smpking kills that is bad. It is how they kill you that is horrific. 

Ulrich .... I'm glad you quit smoking. I hope Petra will do likewise. Perhaps you can share the same words of wisdom. ... Ask her to talk with people who have been with somebody who is dying from lung disease. End stage lung cancer is awful. Next, ask her to imagine it happeneng to her.

Model railroading : .... I have photos of my scenery project in Weekend Photo Fun. I made a hidden access to a tunnel in some rock strata. 

 

 

[Tinplate Toddler]

Good Morning!

Well, it´s Sunday - time for my big breakfast of scrambled eggs, crisp fried bacon, sausages, mushrooms, buttered toast, jams, a tall glass of OJ and plenty of coffee! And add a stack of pancakes, Janie dear, please!

It´s Summer, and our weather is according - a sharp drop in temperature with a daytime high of only 12 - 14°C and lots of wet stuff coming down. The crazy thing is - I feel more comfortable now than when it´s hot!

Track fiddler - you´d be surprised how quickly the nicotine is out of your system - doesn´t take more than three to four days. It takes about half a year to get smoking out of your thinking, though, and about 5 to 10 years to get rid of the damage smoking has done to your body.  Smoking is nothing else than a smelly, expensive, dangerous bad habit. Better to play with my train set!

Garry - I have been through that with Petra not only once. The more presssure I put on her, the less the chance is that she will actually stop smoking. I am just glad she does not smoke anywhere else than the kitchen - standing at the open window, blowing the smoke outside.

My layout building activities have come to a grinding halt for the rest of the year, as the funds I had saved up had to go intonreplacing the tail light of our car. I am just glad I can already run trains on it, so the time until I have saved up enough money for the supplies I need won´t appear too long.

Have a great day, everyone!

[Track fiddler]

Tinplate Toddler

Good Morning!

Well, it´s Sunday - time for my big breakfast of scrambled eggs, crisp fried bacon, sausages, mushrooms, buttered toast, jams, a tall glass of OJ and plenty of coffee! And add a stack of pancakes, Janie dear, please!

 

Track fiddler - you´d be surprised how quickly the nicotine is out of your system - doesn´t take more than three to four days. It takes about half a year to get smoking out of your thinking, though, and about 5 to 10 years to get rid of the damage smoking has done to your body.  Smoking is nothing else than a smelly, expensive, dangerous bad habit. Better to play with my train set!

 

Ulrich that breakfast sounds wonderful. I want it right now and I do believe I have all the fixings for it. I would need a little help with the pancakes though. My wife is sleeping, she's got to work tomorrow. I don't.  It's going on 1:30 in the morning here and I'm supposed to go have breakfast with my train guys at my train club tomorrow.

That's another thing about this quit smoking thing. I have all kinds of energy,  I'm wide awake and a night owl right now.  I can breathe good.  I'm getting to the point where I don't even want a cigarette.

How's everything over there in Germany?

PS.... if you will, paint a picture for me. What does your morning look like. What do you see out your front door. What do you see where you live. I'm very interested I've never been there

["JaBear"]

Track fiddler

...I've been a big old bear...

 to the Clan.

I gave up smoking twice, about six months each time. My attempts were abject failures, I got rather down about it, so I decided to change tack and not bother giving up.

 

What I did do was to see how long I could go between cigarettes, it’s been 8 years and 8 months so far. To be fair, I still very occasionally get a craving but it doesn’t last for long, I quite like breathing, and it's also beneficial to the model railroading budget.

 

“Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times.”  - Mark Twain

Thoughts and Best Wishes to All who need them.

Cheers, the Bear.

[Track fiddler]

That was kind of a brain twist bear. I couldn't quite determine. Did you give up smoking or not.

My mind plays tricks on me as I'm trying so hard. It is said people that died doing what they loved are blessed. I loved smoking for 40 years.  Oh well you get what I'm saying but I'm going to try to stay on track

                                     Fiddler

PS.... Thanks for the Welcome Wagon,.... much appreciated   now feed me I'm ready to eat

["JaBear"]

Track fiddler

Did you give up smoking or not.

No, I haven't given up. It's just my warped way of coping with the nicotene cravings, especially in the early days, and I think it's worked as I haven't had a cigarette for 8 years, 8 months. 

I don't miss coughing my lungs out every morning, and I do enjoy the taste of food again.

Hang tough, kicking the habit ain't for wimps. Good luck.

Cheers, the Bear.

[Tinplate Toddler]

Track fiddler

if you will, paint a picture for me. What does your morning look like. What do you see out your front door. What do you see where you live. I'm very interested I've never been there

Well, I´ll try my very best to paint a picture of where I live. First of all, I live in northern Germany, not far away from the north Sea coast. The town I live in is more or less a suburb of Hamburg, the second largest city in Germany and Germany´s most important port. Next year will mark the 830th anniversary of the port of Hamburg.

My town has about 25.000 inhabitants, but has retained the character of a small village. Until the end of WW II, only 3.000 people lived in the place, but following the post-war economic development, many people moved to it as real estate prices were and still are much lower than in Hamburg. The place is not really a pretty place, but it has all the facilities a family needs. We moved here over 20 years ago, when I built a nice home for my family.

Here is an overview of the town:

That´s all history - I lost my job and subsequently, all my worldly possessions. The German job market plays by a different set of rules, so finding a job once you are over a certain age is impossible - even more, when you have a university degree. We now live in a small, 2-bedroom apartment on the wrong side of the railroad tracks, surrounded by people you don´t want to get acquainted with. The place I now live in is marked with the red arrow on the top right of the picture.

The extra bedroom is our guest/laundry/office/train room and Petra and I spend most of the time in it. My layout is right behind me and all I have to do is turn around in my office chair to run a train! Quite handy.

Fortunately, the place at situated where the town ends, so when I look out of our living room window, I see meadows and a forest - sometimes with a beautiful sunset:

Sometimes, we can observe dinner guests:

Our surroundings are quite flat, so no breathtaking scenery like you´d find in Bavaria or along the Rhine river valley. Actually, it´s rather dull here. It used to be quite peaceful, but that has changed dramatically in recent years. Some years ago, you could leave your door unlocked, but now even the grocery run has turned into a dangerous event. Life here has turned into a nightmare - especially for young girls, women and senior folks, like Petra and I.

I still have dreams of living in a small loig cabin by a lake, with moutains in the distance, a boat to go fishing and a red pickup truck in the driveway. Maybe in my next life...

 

["JaBear"]

Tinplate Toddler

Some years ago, you could leave your door unlocked,

I certainly don't wish to down play your situation. Ulrich, the TV news, sadly, makes it very clear what's happened in Germany, but unfortunately locked doors have been necessary here for some years as well. 

Still it's good to see that  beautiful sunset.

Regards and Cheers, the Bear. 

[Southgate]

I'm sure glad I don't have any health threatening habits. Nope. Not me. Never smoked, or drank more than about 2 bottles of beer a year. Just don't like the stuff. Or other alcohol.

Flo, I'll have a side of beef and a cup of decaf!

Yeah, it's calories around here. I'm all too familiar with starting calorie counting and giving in. And with mother-in-law with us for the summer, who has no problems resisting all the chocolate chip and oreo cookies she brings home, they taunt me. I have a horrible sweet tooth. There's always something we all gotta work on, right?

Hey, let's talk trains! I just finally finished wiring the new trackwork in my hidden staging. I had 2 long parallel tracks, but rearranged them to fit a 3rd. Basically had to re-lay and rewire it all.  The new switches (turnouts) are not quite finished up, but are not in the hidden area so I can put the scenery back in.

This track improvement is in conjunction with replacing my poorly designed original (and wrong shade of blue) backdrops. Old ones were masonite, lots of ugly joints and gaps. And not tall enough, the tops were about 8 inches from ceiling.  New ones are sheetrock, clear to ceiling.  Lotsa work there, and just some touching up to go now. Since the scenery had to be hauled out to replace the backdrops, the track was exposed, and gave me the idea to add in the 3rd. 

Pretty soon I'll be done redoing what should have been done right in the first place, and can proceed on with actual forward progress. like NEW stuff!

Well, guys it's 1:24 am here on the west coast. Just wanted to make a little noise about the RR progress. Hey, everyone who's battling health habits, hang in there. I like to think that group support helps with the will power. 

G'night. Dan

[Track fiddler]

Ulrich  I don't know what to say. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence doesn't quite apply here. I do know this. You and your wife are beautiful people.... It can always be felt from your kind words. The sunsets you shared were beautiful.

None of us bring anything here, or take any thing when we go. We are all here a short time. Our riches are reflected by the people that remember us. The kindness left behind while we were here.

You have shared and left a lot already. You are loved by many!

 

[Jimmy_Braum]

morning all. 

gonna be in Ohio today, so I won't be on (nmra division meeting). 

  Still waiting on the certificates, the commonwealth of PA messed up with their system, so Im as far as I can get, until I get the cerficates.  I found his narrow gauge stuf downstairs. Two samsongha units and a blackstone, in addition to several wooden kits, so I'm gonna do what I can to get them running again. The locos are nice, but I'd give them up in a heartbeat to have him back.  

  I go back to work tomorrow, and I'm ready. I need to start earning funds again, and I'm debating about moving into the house...I rent and with how much work is going to need done at the house....

im just ready for some Normlacy again.