TOP OF THE PAGE... More Florida Drinks for everybody on me. Let's all have a Hurricane this time... drink up folks... it is Thursday and time to get ready for FRIDAY!
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Track fiddlerUlrich... you put a smile on my face The Muppets. I like beaker
My favorite was always "Pigs In Space" simply because of the way each episode was presented.
They would start with the Narrator giving a description of a dire Sci-Fi problem like "A poison gas leak has been detected on a space outpost and our crew must deliver the new pressure relief valve or there will be a disaster".
Then they would go to the inside of the ship for the epsiode, and the pigs would spend the entire time debating about nonsense like what color lipstick looks best on Miss Piggy. My favorite was the episode where the pizza guy showed up to deliver their "space pizza", and they could not find the controls to open the delivery hatch.
Way too funny.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Tinplate Toddler Today marks a special day for me! Exactly 3 years ago, I put down my last cigarette. I am proud to be smoke free for three years now. I don´t feel the slightest yearning for burning tobacco again in my life. I guess I am really over it!
Today marks a special day for me! Exactly 3 years ago, I put down my last cigarette. I am proud to be smoke free for three years now. I don´t feel the slightest yearning for burning tobacco again in my life. I guess I am really over it!
Congratulations, Ulrich! Hopefully you will stay around a few years longer because of it.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Steven - I at least plan to, but as they say, the sum of all bad habits one can have is always constant. Instead of wasting the little free cash I have burning tobacco, I now spend part of it on my trains, which some may regard as even more evil or "unmanly" than smoking!
The postman brought a package from Japan today, containing a car and a halt!
The scale is British OO scale (1/76) and the gauge is 9mm.
Wonderful pieces of art scratchbuilt by my friend Junichi, who already provided the loco and the other cars. I need to do something with that stuff, maybe build a pizza layout, if I can enlist some help.
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Ulrich, perhaps something was lost in translation, but what's a "halt"? If I had to guess, is it a platform where trains stop only if a passenger flags it down, which we call a "flag stop"?
Steven Otte Ulrich, perhaps something was lost in translation, but what's a "halt"? If I had to guess, is it a platform where trains stop only if a passenger flags it down, which we call a "flag stop"?
A halt in British English terminology is a place where a train stops only in case of demand, i.e. flag stop. Sorry for my "island lingo", but the train is following British prototye.
What the pictures don´t show properly, that the cab is furnished with a fire door, all the gauges and levers you find on a small steam engine. This guy must have the hands of a brain surgeon to be able to do such delicate work! The loco is not even 2" long!
Our weather guessers predicted a thunderstorm to pass over us at 7pm and right here it is! It turned pich black in a matter of minutes and now it is raining. As if I had known this I put some more green down on my tinplate layout. The warm and humid climate will make it grow quickly
I also ordered another tree to be planted next to the station building. This should be the last one to complete the "forest" on the layout.
I am currently devloping a concept for a "boxed" layout, quite similar to what I did some yeafrs ago with the plan for a "Schietwedderooge" island railway layout.
This is what I have come up with - so far.
The left box will contain a town and harbor scene, with a fishing boat in the front and semi-flat buildings in the back, showing typical British small town buildings of the 18th and 19th century.
Morning all! Flo (or whoever's handy), could I get a roast beef omelette (with a side of blue cheese dressing), a couple of pancakes with butter and syrup, and a couple of pieces of wheat toast? Thank you so much.
Hobby Front: Well I've gone and done it again. I've stumped another local business with something I'm needing for a hobby project. (Actually this time it's two.) The first one didn't want to admit that they didn't have what I was looking for. The salesperson just took me to the area where similar items were kept. The second one hadn't heard of it, but they said they would research it and let me know what they find. (I did take the article with me just in case they didn't know what I was using it for.) If they can't find it, they did give me a suggestion on what I might use instead. I told them that I could get what was suggested where I work. They weren't upset over that. (I've given them enough business so that one tube of caulk shouldn't cause an issue. I buy my lumber from there exclusively. It is very close to my apartment.)
On the subject of work, got to get ready to go to work. Type you all later.
Picture update!
"The grass is always greener on the otrher side"!
Afternoon diners,
Ken, no I did not get a chance, the first two weeks of the month I have slow Internet speed so videos are next to impossible to watch.
Last night I saw three, yes THREE, GN F45s with DCC/sound for 250 OBO on the eBay, I considered it, thought well if it's there next payday maybe, today I went to look at it again and they sold, oh well!
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
Afternoon Diners
Flo, give the gang and I a please and Rick and Steven what they like.
Day Off, well not really. Took the wife to the Dentist today. He did a Extraction from my wallet and did a Filling to his. Wife had two fillings done and cost $420.00 which I guess is fair? There goes 2 BLI engines.
Captial One Credit Card. My payment was due on 8-8-19 so I paid it last night and over paid I will add. Site said it would post on the 8-9-18 and did not think anything about it. Looked at the site today and saw I was Charged $27.00 late fee? Called Inda spoke with Hodge and pitch a rail spike (I was nice) about the late fee. I think what really got me mad was when he said "We know you are trying and give you a ONE TIME COURSTERY". Seems I had to make the payment by 8:00 PM Easter Time and I made it at 9:00 PM central time. There website does not state that! While the late fee will be removed, it will take 2 too 3 bussines day's and I am sure they will charge intrest on the $27.00 fee!
Late, Ken
I hate Rust
Video and some history I like to share.
cudakenMy payment was due on 8-8-19 so I paid it last night and over paid I will add. Site said it would post on the 8-9-18 and did not think anything about it. Looked at the site today and saw I was Charged $27.00 late fee?
Sorry. No sympathy for self-inflicted wounds.
Ken I did not know there was a selection process. When I was a kid, I did not understand how they could be unknown. Now I understand, and I will say no more.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Good Evening,
A hot one here today with a temp of 85F and 55% humidity. It is supposed to get up to 98F on Saturday. That is way too hot. It still is dry here but we have had the odd thunder shower so there has been some moisture.
We had a BBQ tonight. My wife had a butter chicken burger and I had a beef one. We bought the meat from a local specialty grocery. It was expensive but wow was it ever worth it. One of the best burgers I have ever eaten. We never buy steaks there as you can imagine the cost when they are aged a minumum of 90 days.
Last week we went down to visit our friends near Thief River Falls. We celebrated a birthday and their 50th anniversary which is this week. Had a very nice time but too short. We can't leave the yard long as the plants will croak if they go more than a day or so without watering.
I've enjoyed the conversations about cars our parents owned. My father had a '66 LTD with a 390. It sure was easy to light up those skinny bias ply tires. I did the lighting as Dad wasn't too keen on such stunts. I never owned any high performance cars. The closest I came was when I was a sales rep for Sunoco in the early '70s. One of my dealers let me try out a car he was selling for a week or so. It was a '68 Mustang that looked very innocent with a vinyl top and all but it had a 390 under the hood. What a silly car. It could burn rubber all the way through first gear( automatic) and wanted to go sideways if the pavement was the least bit damp. It wasn't the type of car for a sales rep so I went with a Nova coupe.
Not much happening on the RR front. I made up a short train with my express reefers as I have 5 of them. For a small layout they are a good compromise for a passenger engine such as my Northern or the Pacific. I want to send out the Northern for it's semi-annual run. It is really too large for my layout but it is ok on the 22" radius turns. Besides it is the only actual CN prototype steam engine I have and it is the best detailed plastic engine I have ever seen. Not surprising it was the one and only attempt that True Line trains made at steam power.
The sun has just set here, it is 9 p.m., and we will soon go downstairs to watch a little tellie.
Have a great evening,
CN Charlie
Evening folks,
Ken, I've been thinking about it and I would like to salute you and thank you for your service to this country and it's people, it's sad that we so often take it for granted.
(P.S. to any of you guys that have served, thank you too for your service.)
I called 1-888-LIT-RBUG today, a guy was cleaning out all the garbage from his car into the grocery store parking lot.
I'm trying to think of some stuff to say to my friend Sarah in her birthday card, she's turning 18 and heading to college at the end I yeh month, I'm going to attempt to sound quite eloquent. Wish me luck!
Well that's about it.
Ken:
Thanks for the video. Very moving!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Morning diners,
I'm posting late due to a bit of insomnia.
I am taking a new melatonin supplement (same brand that I've been taking but 10mg instead of two 5mg) I think I'm just going to go back to the two 5mg.
Well might as well kill some time, perhaps I'll get tired.
Music, you know when I used to listen to the Sirius XM Billy Joel Channel they would have interviews of Billy discussing the songwriting process and such, I found it hard to believe that it's just serendipity, well the music spirits have smiled upon me, I am now working on my first original song! I have the chorus down now I've gotta work on some verses.
Train front, I read the article in September MR about the old AHM flat that received some upgrades and a load made from a old motor, and I decided I might try one myself, use a Walthers depressed flat and a old motor to make a load.
Driving, hey did I tell you guys I got my license!
Well I'm still kinda not tired. I'll be tossing and turning in my berth if anyone needs me.
cudakenVideo and some history I like to share.
Thank You, Ken.
Watching that video was just what I needed to reaffirm my faith in the dignity and honor of our great country and of our Allies in the constant struggle to maintain freedom and democracy. That also brought back memories of a few of my trips to Washington D.C. - usually by train, B&O of course, and of my visits to Arlington National Cemetary where my dad is buried.
Here's a photo of my dad's infantry company F, 181st. Infantry. Hey, I used to watch F troop all the time and I never saw him in that?
JJT_181st-inf by Edmund, on Flickr
And the old man himself:
JJT_181crop by Edmund, on Flickr
I watched the video in full screen on a big monitor and it looked beautiful. Yes, all of the men and women who protect the world's democracy deserve our honor and respect. Sometimes when you think things are really messed up you can view something like that film and be reminded that there are people all over the world willing to make the greatest sacrifice to insure our freedom and safety.
Thanks again, Ed
Mentioning veterans, both my Dad and my younger brother both served in the military. My Dad served in the Army and my brother was in the Navy.
Flo (or whoever's handy), could I get a couple slices of French Toast, some syrup and a glass of OJ? Thank you so much.
(Weird) Hobby Front: I mentioned yesterday about the fact that I was looking for some liquid weatherstripping for a project. About half an hour or so after I started my day at work, a mystery tube of temporary weather stripping appeared on a shelf. As we are prepping for inventory, it was scanned and found that it didn't have a home. I was thinking that it might be what I was needing, so my department manager let me set it on our counter so that I could do some research. (We had a bunch of no home stuff on the counter anyway.) After doing that research, I found that it seemed to be the stuff that I was looking for! I ended up purchasing it and a package of rubber gloves after work. (And yes, I did call the store that was looking into the weatherstripping for me and told them that I had found something so that they didn't need to continue with the research.)
Good Evening!
Iz has cooled off quite a lot! The daytime high did not exceed 70F and that´s right within my comfort zone! However, my back is killing me today, nearly immobilzing me. I cannot spend more than 5 minutes on my own two feet before the pain gets so bad tears start to run from my eyes. Somehow I managed to do a little bit of grdening on my tinplate layout and now there is more green stuff growing.
The poplar trees have been removed from the location seen in the above picture. Three of them have been moved closer to the engine house and the remaining two joined the lonesome poplar behind the church. I am pondering to add a small building to the place formerly occupied by "them trees".
That´s all for the day! I´ll be staying quietly in the back booth, sipping on my - whatver Ken will order for me!
Afternoon folks,
I've bid on a Walthers BN heavy duty flat, and I saw a cable box on a garbage pile beside the road, I'm going to snatch the cable box and try cannibalizing some parts from it for a load.
These days I do most of my railfaning on webcams and there is a new one today at Cajon Pass.
I did not think one train would be allowed to follow another if they were close enough to be insight of one another. Nor have I seen a heavily tagged loco before.
Flo, Give the gang and I a and Ulrich, Rick and Steven what they want.
Glad you folks enjoyed and learned from the video about the Tomb Of The Unknowen. I stumbled across it while watching video of people that earned the CMH. All of them say I wear the medal for the ones that did not make it.
Steven Thank you for the salute! When I was in we where just happy to not be spat on.
maxmanSorry. No sympathy for self-inflicted wounds.
Maxman Guess you are speaking about the $27.00 late fee from Captial One. I do not get a paper statement and all there site tell's me is the day it is due. It's not like it says Payments Due 8-8-18 before 8:00 PM Easter Time! There the the only one that has a time cut off and not the date it self.
Saturday Day Off Plan on painting the Garage Door and god knows it needs it. Hope the weather is clear and high should be around 85 F.
Well BBQ is done and trains are running great, so later. Ken
cudakenTomb Of The Unknowen
The block of marble used in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was quarried at the Yule Marble quarry in Marble, CO, which had a unique electric tramway to ship the marble from the quarry to the town of Marble, where it was loaded onto flatcars of the Crystal River & San Juan Railroad and taken to Placita, CO, where the line connected with the D&RGW.
I have two books on that region, one being the "Roaring Fork Valley" by Len Shoemaker, and the other one the "Crystal River Pictorial " by Dell A. McCoy. Both books are a must for those interested in Colorado railroading history.
I am suprised you, or any of us would know that. The Washington monument construction stalled out before the Civil War using marble from Maryland quarries. Afterwards the marble came from different quarries and there is an obvious color difference.
Evening Diners
Been away for a few days. Went to the doc. I never go to the doc, unless absolutely necessary.
My Doc is a retired customer of mine. His name is Phil. Of course I call him Dr. Phil.
First of all I would like to congratulate you Ulrich on your THREE YEARS!!! of not smoking. Great Job. You not only gave me inspiration but as far as I'm concerned you have been my mentor and coach on helping me with my quit smoking more than once... Thank You!
Second of all there is no second of all........
I found out I have carpal tunnel... Oh well what are you going to do? ... My ring finger and pinky on my right hand feel like they're always sleeping. It goes up the outside of my wrist and creeps up my arm into my elbow and sometimes gets so troublesome in my elbow it feels somewhat like after you hit your funny bone.
Well the prognosis with my friend Dr. Phil was.... my repetitious things are as follows. Screw gun everyday. Pulling mud plastering walls quite often. And using my phone texting for work and in the evening surfing the net, eBay and posting on forums.
Something's got to go. The stuff for work can't so I got me a Tommie Copper wristband for that. My wife got me a pen with a little puffy eraser on it that works the same as a finger on a heat activated screen.
I don't know hopefully that'll all work... This modern-day crap I can't even keep up with.
Best Wishes
BigDaddy I am suprised you, or any of us would know that. The Washington monument construction stalled out before the Civil War using marble from Maryland quarries. Afterwards the marble came from different quarries and there is an obvious color difference.
I did know that, but I do work within eye shot of the thing.
Evening diners,
Music, still kicking around some ideas for the verses, I'm trying to not over concentrate on it and just let it come to me.
Trains, I am currently winning a BN heavy duty flat. And I've emailed a company about possibly purchasing a electric motor load, they have one already on a car but I'm going to see if I can buy it separately.
Work, I applied at home Depot for cart pusher, lot loading, and tool rental positions, I need to supplement the hotel pay.
Car, I went and looked at a 1988 BMW 635CSi, the guy wants 5,500 which is more than I have at the moment. I called my insurance agent, insurance on that car would only run me 200 a month and I figure a loan will be around 100, so when I start working steadily I'll look into it.
We got new insurance through state farm, it's cheaper insuring all three cars, me and my parents, and better coverage than what we had before without me on the policy!
I started listening to this song,
When I first heard the piano at the beginning I thought it was this song!
To further reinforce my hypothesis,
The Stranger album cover.
Strange Desire album cover, Bleachers first album. And Jack Antonov (Bleachers front man) is a Billy Joel fan, and his favorite album is... The Stranger....(you know how it goes)
Well I'll be hanging out if anyone needs me!
Help me! Help me!!
I have had ear worms before (songs that you keep humming to yourself over and over again) but this is the worst case ever!!! I have been playing the Muppet's 'Badda bump' song over and over again in my head for three days!! It won't quit, and what's worse is that I smile every time I think of it! Must be something to do with all the Swedish girls in the sauna!! Somebody, please, borrow the Swedish Chef's cast iron frying pan and hit me in the head with it!!!
Badda bump, da da da dadda. There it goes again!!!
Here dave, try shuffling though this, you might find something to stop the Muppets and Swedish girls.
https://open.spotify.com/user/ng3vsv4mxw2c7cmb888qojq4h/playlist/4FWE2wSIwBvRLEveV9Arf3