SeeYou190Does anyone know what else is in Texas?
Sgt Hartman would say steers, would be one.
Saw Bohemian Rhapsody tonight. How's that for a segue? Same pronunciation but Segway is a scooter. The band were never on my radar screen back in the day, but I liked some of their songs, including the title song of the movie.
The movie was very good and tastefully done on a subject that could have been portrayed more graphically. I didn't recognize at least half the songs. I would call it an uplifting movie and recommend it.
Watching skiing from Cortina Italy. It looks like the mountains were built by Malcolm Furlow. You would call the mountains over the top; unprototypical if they were on a model railroad.
The announcers still can't let go of Lindsay Vonn, who had a DNF. It was if Babe Ruth, Dale Earnhardt and Marlyn Monroe were re-encarnated into Vonn. In her career, she crashed a lot, which gives them an opportunity to replay those. She was injured back in September and it looks to me like she won't admit her career is over.
Watching the news, I saw the Rams game was in overtime. I broke the pledge and caught the interception and field goal. I'm partial to the original NFL teams. Go Rams.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Well, the diner is in Texas, so I guess we are talking about cars.
.
Does anyone know what else is in Texas?
DENTON, the home of happiness!
Denton, Denton, Rah, Rah, Rah!
Denton, Denton, Rah, Rah Rah!
Here is one from the vaults:
I worked very hard today. Now even smiling makes my face ache.
I will go to bed now.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
cudaken Eveing Diners Flo, give the gang and I a please, Boy Terry and Rick what they like! Winter is back! Right now it is 15 degrees and some snow but not much. Roads where a little nasty, seem's DOT was caught with there paints down this time around! Sheldon Are you sure your 0 to 60 MPH? With it being a 5 flat you quater mile time should have been around 14.3 to 13.90. Guess you did have a very low first gear raito! The lever with the red handle, was it for Over Drive? When my 68 Road Runner was stock 0 too 60 was 6.5 but quater mile was 15.2 and 93.40 MPH. She is not stock now! Ed Did you ever order and of the Wow speakers you posted about? Propane Heater Still don't like having a propane bottle in the garage! But while I am not hot I am comfortable. Lowes site says it will last 39 hours on a 20 pound bottle. I have only been using low and have used it 20 hours and bottle feels pretty lite. I am guessing around 27 hours but still well worth the cost! Train Front Got the layout cleared to where I and the Critter Control guy can get into the attic. Hate to see what is left of what we had up there! I have a complete 1970 Plymouth Cuda interior. My wife for some reason thought it would be a good place to store her familys photo album. Heat a lone will ruin the photos, been up there for 15 years plus. Later, Ken
Eveing Diners
Flo, give the gang and I a please, Boy Terry and Rick what they like!
Winter is back! Right now it is 15 degrees and some snow but not much. Roads where a little nasty, seem's DOT was caught with there paints down this time around!
Sheldon Are you sure your 0 to 60 MPH? With it being a 5 flat you quater mile time should have been around 14.3 to 13.90. Guess you did have a very low first gear raito! The lever with the red handle, was it for Over Drive? When my 68 Road Runner was stock 0 too 60 was 6.5 but quater mile was 15.2 and 93.40 MPH. She is not stock now!
Ed Did you ever order and of the Wow speakers you posted about?
Propane Heater Still don't like having a propane bottle in the garage! But while I am not hot I am comfortable. Lowes site says it will last 39 hours on a 20 pound bottle. I have only been using low and have used it 20 hours and bottle feels pretty lite. I am guessing around 27 hours but still well worth the cost!
Train Front Got the layout cleared to where I and the Critter Control guy can get into the attic. Hate to see what is left of what we had up there! I have a complete 1970 Plymouth Cuda interior. My wife for some reason thought it would be a good place to store her familys photo album. Heat a lone will ruin the photos, been up there for 15 years plus.
Later, Ken
Ken,
The M20 Munice 4 speed was the version used in heavy, full sized cars like Impala's. It had a lower (higher gear ratio) first gear, but the other three gears were the same as the M21, typically found in Corvette's or Chevelle's.
Typically, the stock Vette or Chevelle had 3.54 to 1 rear axle ratios with the close ratio 4 speeds, where the full sized cars typically had 3.23 to 1. So the bigger cars needed a lower first gear.
With the Nova being light, and having that trans, I could get away with the "auto trans" 3.08 to 1 rear, which gave it great fuel economy and high top end. So the bigger jump from 1st to 2nd, cut a little off the 1/4 mile times.
With a 3.23 or 3.54 rear, 1/4 mile times would have been much better. But again, I was not really into that, and the great hole shot was often what you needed on the street.......
The whole car was set up to drive everyday, handle as well as that chassis would allow, and be pretty quick under all conditions.
It was very fun to drive, and very "civilized", until you really got into it.
The red knob was a reverse lock out. It was an option you could add to the Hurst Competition Plus shifter, making it impossible to accidentally hit reverse. While many factory shifters had a reverse "latch", the Hurst did not until you added this.
Sheldon
Thanks for the beer Ken. Basement has been ok so far. Just one critter that the toy Rat Terrier got right when it showed up. The CFOs wood shop - formerly the garage- is another matter. We now have peppermint spray and copper mesh around the perimeter for the mice but the squirrels are another matter. Shop storage is the same. I had the seats for my Anglia and a couple of others stored and the mice waltzed right in and had a feast. JR
I hate Rust
Sorry to hear about your mother-in-law Garry. In our prayers.
TF ... I have heard Hot Wherls have adults who collect them. ... thanks for wishing the trip was fun. Unfortunately, it was to visit my wife’s mother who is seriously ill in the hospital.
I am catching up on things and I hope to get back to working on the model railroad this evening .
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good Evening All,
Puter wouldn't cooperate earlier but we're good now. Productive afternoon. Fixed the track on the curved elevated track bridge. Blocking, glue and weight did the trick. It's all setting up overnight. I have recurring issues with a turnout leading to the elevated area and hopefully that is better now too. I keep proving track but even with using expanded foam, latex caulk for the foam track bed and track, it still seems to change from summer to winter. Not sure why either as the basement doesn't change much in temp from one season to the other and I keep a dehumidifier running during the summe.r. First the U-boat was derailing on the turnout, then when that worked consistently my PA-1 would pick the points. Finally my I-5 4-6-4 was awful in the same place. Have all that sorted but the steam locomotive still won't back through the turnout in any direction or setting.
Stayed out of the traffic about electrics and high performance cars/trucks. I have no issue with electrics and actually considered a Volt or Fusion hybrid but thought I'm not getting any younger and went with the Focus ST (250hp - 6spd). Why not have a toy. I drive 10 miles each way to the shop so the lousy mileage is a non issue and the car is a hoot on long trips and very comfortable. On long trips I normally get nearly 30mpg which is ok. The trucks of course don't do nearly that. Pulling a 53' trailer, my KW900 is stuck at 10mpg. I've rented hybrids a couple of times and once used to them, find they're ok. Just not ready to stop being a delinquint yet...
Garry, glad you got home before the weather got too bad. Hope your MIL does better soon. Catch y'all Later, J.R.
Heartland Division CB&Q Good morning everybody ..... TF .... Evidently, that was a bad idea for storing the Hot Wheels. Cheers.
Good morning everybody .....
TF .... Evidently, that was a bad idea for storing the Hot Wheels.
Cheers.
No Hot Wheels anymore Garry. N scale Freight cars in a Hot Wheels looking case. You must have been out of town during that thread. "N scalers did you like Hot Wheels too" Forum page 10. The thread was a little different, I think I may have been sipping a little Scotch that night, I didn't want to pull it up to the front page for my thank you.
No more Hot Wheels anymore. I play with my trains, I'm a big kid now
Hope you had fun on your trip Garry. Track Fiddler
PS Actually if I still had my favorite Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars from when I was a kid, they would be displayed proudly on a Shelf.
All snow and ice was NW of us. Wind gusts to 40 mph. Temp 47 when I woke up is not freezing and on it's way to the teens and 20's for the next day and a half.
Didn't sleep well last night, no interest in watching the NFL and managed to get nothing done on the MR.
I've been curious as to how the Youtube rail webcam business makes any sense, when you can watch for free. Virtual Railfan claims to have 11,000 members. Prices range from $60/yr to $240. That's 600K a year minimum, plus whatever they glean from youtube videos and other advertising. Good for them, I didn't think it was a real business.
I don't think Vinnie will delete this, because even though it is semi-promotional, it is guaranteed to make everyone smile at least 3 times, cringe twice and stop and back it up 20 times. PV for Ed, lots of heritage locos, cabooses, fallen flags, strange loads, crazy drivers in Ashland Va and even crazier people on foot.
Good Afternoon,
Another frosty day here, it was -30C with a -40 windchill at 9 a.m. but it has warmed up to -24C and a sunny sky helps take the chill off. Should be good conditions for viewing the lunar eclipse tonight.
Garry, we used to have restrictions on driver's licenses here if your test was taken on an automatic transmission car. When I got my license in Ontario( 1963) I took the test with an auto tranny but I got around the restriction by paying extra for a chauffeur's license. Crazy I know. The province I live in now, Manitoba, used to restrict by transmission type too, but no longer as so few cars have a manual. Mind you I believe manual transmissions are more popular here than in the U.S. but not by much.
Just finished a mid-day snack, a nice slice of Red Leicester cheese and a small glass of red wine. Very nice combo.
Well time for something, not sure what.
CN Charlie
Good snowy afternoon from a very cold and white NWPA.
Zoe - A nice big mug of hot cocoa please. Thanks.
This snowstorm was so powerful it even snowed in Texas!
I *was* supposed to be at w*^k today, but the snow stopped that. Too much and too many accidents have me stuck at home today instead. First time I have missed due to weather in over 2 years.
Of course, this is the first time I have a 35 minute drive one way in good weather this time of year for w*^k as well. Before this passed year, I always had a 7 minute commute one way.
Made it safely yesterday, but it took over 1 hour due too the road conditions.
Nice too see some more face in the diner lately.
Weather - A bit over 12" of white stuff, with wind and very cold temps now.
Trains - While the layout is still not quite back up yet, as the room is not quite ready, I did stumble upon a Atlas Yellow box GP40 for a whopping $30, so snatched it up quickly. While it will need some updates for DCC like I run, I could not pass up a Atlas unit for that low of a price.
Gives me something to do in the meantime.
Hope all are well, and all enjoy the day!
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.
Good Morning All,
Ended up with about 3 inches of slushy s**w. Temps hovering around 34F but due to drop so tomorrow will be icy.
I read most of the link Ja Bear sent. We had the MG/Austin 1100 here and especially with the automatic it was just awful. I chuckled when the article quoted an engineer a BLMC saying the old pushrod motor still had useful life. Not really. The essential issue with the entire motor industry can be traced to the lack of development overall. The companies that survived all had either unique products (Aston Martin, Jaguar, Rolls Royce/Bentley) or modern thinking management (Ford, Vauxhall). True, militant unionism played a role, but the lack of investment and proper thinking did most of the damage. Case in point, I remember that when Honda went into the stamping plant that made Triumph body panels, they were confronted with two piles of stamped panels. One was quite large the other small. The Japanese said "Very good, just a small pile of rejects". No came the reply, the large pile was defects and the small pile was of good panels. Around the corner from the stamp press they found a room full of old fashion panel beaters bashing the rejects into something usuable. Not the model of efficiency needed.
Still proving trackage in the yard, but I found some more issues on the main where track has broken free of a bridge on a corner and allows the trucks on the outer track to contact the bracing on the bridge. Back to the drawing board there.
Catch you all later. J.R.
Forget the Rivian, I´s go for a Bollinger!
No. that´s not a French champagne, but this:
I do like the boxy look of it! And now for a glass of
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Mornin' folks!
Chloe I could sure use another pot of dark roast fair traded, organic coffee to warm me up!!!
Still a few flakes falling from the sky at the moment, might get an inch or two more from all of this, but I measured just over a foot of sn*w in the driveway when I was out earlier playing with the EGO snowblower. Walked through the stuff with no problems but did drain the first two batteries fairly fast... LOL I'm back in warming up for the time being. Have just a small area around the huge pile that was at the end of the driveway by the house. Had a heavy electric cord coming out of it. That was how I remembered that under that huge pile I would find my Chevy Volt.... I have the car cleaned off now but need to remove all the white STUFF that came off it. The city has been out clearing the streets and left about 3' of icy stuff at the end of the driveway. Got that cleaned out too. So most of the w*rk has been done for today.
Most likely the MLK March Service, and Dinner will go on as planned, but at the moment the temp outside is 7°F and that will be worse tomorrow they say. That reminds me... I need to make sure both camera batteries are charged and I need to down;load a bunch of photos from the last NMRA Meet onto the computer before I take any more. I am also the main photographer for the Committee.
I like the electric truck and it looks like Ford is going to make an electric F-150! BTW, there is a small company in California that has been making electric pickups for over 20 years. Very small range though from what I read a few years ago.
Later!
14
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
Only a foot of snow here, and another to come...
Harrison
Homeschooler living In upstate NY a.k.a Northern NY.
Modeling the D&H in 1978.
Route of the famous "Montreal Limited"
My YouTube
good frosty morning here from Western Ky. We did not get as much snow here as predicted ,but ice on the roads is the issue. I have to get out and buy some “ important papers” as we are down to a roll.
It is about 23 F here this morning .
i finally finally got a customers radio completely fixed. It has been vexing me for a while.
2 other radios left Friday back to their homes. Now i only have 4 in my back log.
Not it much to report on modeling I will work on museum layout this week with some wiring that needs to be done.
zoe give me that large plate of bacon
Catching up a bit on your posts. .....
Terry .... Happy birthday, and it is good you have recovered from hip replacemnt .
Sheldon ..... Intersting vehicles over your lifetime.
Bear ... i wonder why NZ designates typr of transmission on the license plate. ... Also, you said " Still money has little importance in a labour of love.".. Yep! I don't keep keep track of how much has been spent on model trains. It's a hobby.
Good morning.
It was important to me to stop in the Diner to give a grateful thanks to tstage and gmpullman.
I had shown how I lined my storage containers in the Hot Wheels thread for my N scale Freight cars with mechanics diamond pad. Tom and Ed had warned me that it will eat the paint on the cars.
We had been busy on our time off for vacation and then back to wxxk when we returned. It was my wife that cracked the whip yesterday and said didn't your guys on your forum tell you that stuff will eat the paint on your cars, let's change that out today, I will help you. So I cut while she changed them out. It only took about an hour and a half.
Garbage!!!
This stuff was peeling off about five or six Freight cars like a Band-Aid. It had started. I'm glad I didn't wait any longer. The warning is well appreciated.
Thank you Tom, and Thank you Ed.
Track Fiddler.
PS This Forum is a great place to be. It's somewhat like a Brotherhood helping one another out
I´ll be spending my afternoon with the "Emma Sweeney" today!
Ulrich, that Rivian looked interesting until I saw the front view! I’m forced to conclude I’m shallow!
You are not shallow Bear! You have a good sense of taste! The front end of that truck is just plain hideous! It reminds me of something that would be found deep in the oceans, and better left there too.
Congratulations to your daughter for being willing to get her nails dirty! My wife likes to get her nails dirty too, but only in the garden. Anything mechanical throws her completely for a loop. She did manage to make a major step forward last Monday though. She changed the batteries in the TV remote all by herself! Well, not quite. I had to text her to tell her how to do it. That was after she requested that I cut my train club meeting short so I could drive home to fix it for her! Heck, it's only a 40 minute drive!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Yup - the looks of the front is a deal breaker! I´ll bet they´ll change that soon!
In general, I think we are too stuck in the "classic" look of a car, which is dominated by the motor compartment and usually a humongous front grill. I guess we will have to get used to different looks - electric vehicles don´t need big motor compartments and front grills.
Incidentally, NZ drivers licences now differentiate between cars with manual and automatic gearboxes. I learnt to drive on various farm tractors and a Series 1 Land Rover, all, with crash boxes.
Tinplate ToddlerInteresting vehicle!
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good Morning!
It´s Sunday again and this time I will go for my big and unhealthy Sunday breakfast, please!
Temperatures are currently in the low 20sF and the world around us is all iced up, but no more snow. It´s a bright and sunny day - very enjoyable!
Terry!
All this car talk made me think I had accidentally entered a car forum .
Sheldon - I like your Chevy Nova convertible. I like the clean, yet elegant lines it had - much easier on my eyes than the pseudo-sporty lines of today´s BMWs and Mercs.
Has anyone of you heard about the Rivian R1T? It is the world´s first electric pickup truck, which will enter the market by the end of the year. It features 567 kW power and up to 1,120 (!) Nm of torque, accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds and will have a base price of about $70k - less subsidies.
https://electrek.co/2018/11/29/rivian-r1t-electric-pickup-truck-order/
Interesting vehicle!
Happy Birthday Terry!!
Howdy ....
We returned from Nashville this afternoon before the hravy rain became snow. We spent two days visiting Shelley's Mom in the hospital. She is out of ICU for now, but she is still suffering unfortunately.
Not much model railroading to report.
Howdy again....
Almost all the counties around here are now in a "Travel Advisory" condition which means no unessessary travel is allowed. Anyone who must be on the road is to use extreem caution! Nice night to sit here and stare at the computer screen I guess. I could actually do some model railroading too... Maybe I'll go down cellar and what trouble I can get into...
OK, for you hot car lovers out there..... You might like this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT7KKxoAvvk
I would love to have a concept one but they are a little pricier than I can afford. They are something like 1.2 million US dollars, have 1200 hp at the wheels... That is the combined for all 4 wheels, but... you get the idea.
Enjoy!
Flo, give the gang and I a please.
New cars. I never thought I would say this but the HP Car's are making way to much Horse Power? Give a break no one needs a 700 HP + car stock from the factory. Then theres the Dodge Challanger Demon, think it is 808 HP.
Am I opposed to 700 HP cars? No! But I think it is something a person should work up to! Not someone with deep pockets and no driving experience should be able to buy!
So with Steven and the Mustang, there has been a lot of car talk on here this month.
I mentioned earlier that I completely restored a car at age 19.
A few details, and a few photos, this was the car, a 1963 Nova SS convertible:
These photos will give some idea of the amount of work done:
Specs when complete:
283 cid V-8, factory Corvette 327 high output heads and cam, 600 cfm Holley, headers, dual exhaust, about 300 HP, 300 lb/ft torque.
4 speed Muncie M20 transmission with high ratio first gear, 3.08:1 rear axle.
Manual steering/manual drum brakes.
This unusual drive line setup provided excellent performance in this roughly 2600 lb car.
1/4 mile time - 15.5 sec
0-60 - 5 sec
top end - over 135 mph, that was as fast as I was up for in a twisty little convertible.....
Fuel economy - 16 mpg city, 21 mpg highway - if you kept your foot out of it.
I rebuilt the engine with help from a friend of my father. I rebuilt the transmission myself, did all the body work, installed the new convertible top and interior, did all the paint prep and final assembly.
I completely rebuilt/repaired the wiring harness before reinstalling it.
I rebuilt the front suspension and added ADDCO anti sway bars front and rear.
I subed out the finish paint, the custom dual exhaust, and the seat upholstery.
I spent about $4,000 on the car, in 1976, I drove it for about 8 years and over 80,000 miles.
I built or owned a number of other street machines after this one, but today the wife and I drive this:
A 2015 FORD FLEX with all wheel drive and the eccoboost twin turbo 3.5 V6 - 365 hp/360 lb/ft torque.
About the same performance specs as the NOVA, but with a lot more room and comfort.
This is our second FLEX, the first one, a 2012 model with the same driveline, was totaled in a crash, but its superior construction saved the lives of my wife and two grandchildren. I ran out and bought the next one as quickly as possible.....
I never really got into sports cars or drag racing.
I always perfered "practical" cars that were also fast.
I learned to drive on one of these:
A Checker Marathon powered by a 327 Chevy small block.......
And I owned several more CHECKERS in my lifetime.
The FLEX is the only car I have owned that I consider more practical/better than the Checkers were.
My other "car" today is this, my work truck:
2015 FORD F250 extended cab, long bed, 4x4 pickup - 7,500 lbs of brute force.
6.2 liter (379 cid) V-8, 385 hp, 405 lb/ft torque, of 12 mile to the gallon power........
It replaced a 2000 F150 that I put 240,000 miles on with minimal repairs.
That's my car story,
Afternoon, everybody! 4f and clearing. Supposed to be under a wind chill warning overnight. Yay.
Nice to see some old faces in the Diner.
Today I turned 61.
I am replacing Atlas turnouts around the layout. Nothing wrong with the old ones, just want to update. Some are brass I used over 3-4 layouts!! Number 6 and a couple 4's. Most are the old mark #(can't remember) nickel silver. They need the minimal ballast cleaned off, then they'd be good to go . If someone could use them , shoot me a PM!! Hate to trash them.
Been lurking, just not much to say. Doc gave me the go-ahead to return to working if I want after the hip replacement. Don't want to rush it and SWMBO's honey-do list is long! LOL! The inside work I have I want to save for the spring road ban season. I socked away enough that I don't need to go back right away. Plus , the trains are always calling!!
Wife decided "we" needed a puppy. Got a rescue mutt . Cute terrier/rottwieler(sp) mix. "We" are home all day so "we" get to train her. "We" are too old for this stuff! Hahaha!
That's about it. Hope all is well for everyone!
Terry
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel