Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to try to log on to this site! It took me like 20 attempts to get through! I have never seen such a badly performing business website before!
howmusI really believe they ARE the future for several reasons
I totally agree, Ray. I used to be quite a "petrol head" but that has changed. For the little we drive, only an EV makes sense. I just hope the prices come down when sales numbers rise. I feel that this year will be a game changer for EV. There are so many new models coming up - and not only those big, fat luxury vehicles only the chosen few can afford to buy and use as a nce toy. I have laid my eye on a SMART ForTwo EQ, which appears to be exactly what we need. The current prices are still too high, though. Maybe that changes when SMART goes completely electric by next year. Volvo will follow by 2025.
Motorbikes - not for me. With 6´5" I am too tall and now too old and fat for them. Did some motorbikin´ back in the late 1970s, but haven´t been on one since.
And now for some railroading:
3 days ago, somewhere in the southeast of Germany...
Happy times!
Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)
"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"
Good Morning, a tolerable -20C here but we are supposed to get more snow starting later today.
As far as electric vehicles go, I don't think they have enough range at cold temperatures to be viable here at least with current technology. I read an article in the Globe & Mail today about EVs in the Toronto area when it was around -10 and the range was only 200km or about 120 miles. Also charge times were greatly extended. I can't imagine the range at -25C. There are a lot of plugin recepticals here for block heaters but the charge rate would be very slow. I think hybrids are a viable alternative and there are some on the road. Teslas are few and far between.
As far as motorbikes go, I have never been really tempted. I did ride quite a few times as a passenger on one a friend had in 1970. It was a 500cc Kawasaki. That bike went by the nickname 'killer kawasaki' as it was very powerful and very light being a 2 stroke. If you opened it up too fast in the first 2 or 3 gears it would go vertrical on the back wheel.
Think I'll head out to the gym after lunch. Stuck in right now as they are plowing the street but at least they clear the end of the driveway after the plow goes by.
CN Charlie
There was lots of intenet chatter on electric cars during the recent deep freeze. Cold is hard on batteries.
We still have some snow in the shade, but it's 68 degrees. I need to wash the salt off my car.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
http://bahnmodellbau.ch/forumbilder/asienanlage/100_video.mov
Thats not fair Ulrich! I kept waiting for her to get off and walk towards the camera.
Mike.
My You Tube
Ulrich I don't know whether to say that streetcar retractable awning video was fascinating, funny or both.
I choose both
PS I can see the irony here. You were driving the streetcar. That's what you feel like, trying to get on the Forum sometimes I'm with ya kid! That Spinning Wheel that just keeps on spinning at times
PS again. Just leave yourself logged in like I do. Things seem to work better that way..... usually.
Good afternoon....
Ulrich .... The streetcar video is remarkable. ... I recall seeing a video somewhwere in Asia where they really do have retractable awnings where the train goes through a village market.
....
Everybody : ... Have a nice eening.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Evenin' Folks....
Janie a refill for the decaf would be nice. Huh? Nope don't need desert. Supper has plenty of calories for me. I was right at 192 this morning when I hit the scale before my shower. Was hoping it would be about a half lb. less. The more weight I have lost the slower the loss happenes which is entirely normal, I guess.
Track fiddlerThat Spinning Wheel that just keeps on spinning at timesTongue Tied
"What goes up, must come down.... Spinnin' wheel gots to go round! Talkin' 'bout your troubles an ya, ya never learn.. Ride a painted pony let the spinnin' wheel turn..."
Yep! One of my all time favorite groups - Blood, Sweat, and Tears! Well, I went to college with the lead trumpeter, Lou Soloff. Neat guy and even back then he was one of the best of the best as a trumpeter. Died young, after having a nice supper with his daughter they say. Was a very soft spoken and quiet person.
Well.... (Deep subject) spent almost an hour on the phone with a lady down in Florida. Found out that her Grandfather was an engineer in the LV. Died in a train wreck way back when.
30
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
The diorama of the Maeklong Market in Bangkok was built by Thomas Schmid of Switzerland, an extraordinary talented model railroader with a long track record of building award winning whimsical dioramas/micro layouts.
His layouts have been featured a number of times at the Ontraxs! model railroad show, which is annually held in the Utrecht Railway Museum in The Netherlands.
1. A Gn15 layout in an old suitcase
2. Fantasy Island Rack Railway
I am a huge fan of his work!
Enjoy!
I did not make it to work today, I have come down with a bit of a funk.
.
How can you catch a cold when it is 84 degrees outside?
Not fair.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Eveing Diners
Flo give the gang and I a and I will take a couple of aspirin's.
My Brain Hurts! Spent about a 1.5 hours trying to figuer out the heck did Nancy The Ding Bat and Jerry the sale while I was off. My God, I am wondering if the Ash Pit is worth only working 3 days a week!
Jan Thank you for the PM. I will reread because some of it was over my head.
TF I watched a video about installing attic insuulation and saw the tubes for the soffit you told me about. Seems there is more to this than throwing some more insuulation in there.
Well I am beat, so later.
Ken
I hate Rust
cudaken Eveing Diners TF I watched a video about installing attic insuulation and saw the tubes for the soffit you told me about. Seems there is more to this than throwing some more insuulation in there. Cudaken
Cudaken
Cudaken I'm glad you're seeing more than meets the eye on roof rafter insulation.
It doesn't take long for it to pay for itself.
Give me a shout soon and we we'll chat, not only about your house but some world problems too, if we decide we are that board. Not.
May be I could even keep the cold out of my house at five while my wife's watching the News and I'm doing something else
TF
mbinsewi Thats not fair Ulrich! I kept waiting for her to get off and walk towards the camera. Mike.
Just for you, Mike!
Thomas has documented the building of this layout on a German NG forum. The amount of detail is simply stunning!
The scale is 1/35 and the "layout" measures just a little over 3´ by 1`3"
Tinplate ToddlerThe scale is 1/35 and the "layout" measures just a little over 3´ by 1`3"
That is truly a work of art. The detail is incredible.
One thing bugs me though. The blower fan and the duct work on the side of the yellow building aren't credible. The blower is taking in outside air and it is blowing it back outside through some very inefficient duct work. The 90 degree bends serve no purpose and in fact would reduce the effectiveness of the system considerably, even if it was trying to accomplish something useful.
There, I had to say it! The fact that I doubt that I could ever match the modeller's abilities means that I probably should have kept my mouth shut. Something about people in glass houses and rocks.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critterThe blower fan and the duct work on the side of the yellow building aren't credible.
I agree, but we keep it a secret!
Can you imagine building a basement sized layout with that amount of detail? And every bit of it is scratchbuilt!
Thomas Schmid and his fellow Swiss model railroader Marcel Ackle are among the best model builders I am aware of, if not the best!
Here is an example of Marcel´s artwork.
Ulrich, I apologise for throwing shade on their incredible modelling skills. It's just that when I see something that defies logic it bothers me. Maybe I'm missing the point of what they are doing, but I am entitled to my opinions.
I'm not trying to be confrontational. I'm sorry if anyone is offended by my comments.
Dave, there is no need to apologise for your observation! I think your dead right with your remark - for our "western" way of doing things. Different cultures do have different approaches to solve a problem, some of them escape our understanding.
This year´s Ontraxs! show will be held March 15th till March 17th and I think there will be a video available soon after. I am curious what the masterpieces presented this year will be!
Good Morning All,
Just a regular for me Zoe. Good day yesterday. Got the lift gate fixed and found some other potential issues before they became issues, also fixed the porthole in the roof of same trailer replacing the perished glass fibre with Lexan.
That is some incredible work Ulrich. We had a guy at the museum doing similar stuff in HO - just dioramas but with incredible detail. Not all scratch built though as lots of it was kit-bashed.
Ken - It sounds like you need a house cleaning at work too. Or are they all the owners relatives?
Back out to the trailer before the rain starts today. CUL, J.R.
Where MOW realy means MOW
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
hon30critter It's just that when I see something that defies logic it bothers me.
I used to drive people nuts when we would watch a movie together! "Hey, did you see that! A Mercury-Vapor streetlight, in 1942!" or "Why is there a 1955 Chevrolet in a movie that takes place in 1952?" Not long ago I saw a WWII Navy yard scene with a fifty-star US flag flying from the yardarm.
You get the idea... I have sometimes contributed my observations to the IMDB site (Internet Movie Database) where there is a log of "Goofs and Anacronisms" which I get fascinated with.
Maybe in my next life I can get a job as a movie fact-checker
I don't think there's any harm in pointing out, in a polite manner, when sometinng is amiss. I've had good conversations with fellow modelers like that.
Of course there are the extreme "rivet-counters". That's a whole other genre.
Regards, Ed
gmpullmanMaybe in my next life I can get a job as a movie fact-checker
I´ll take that job, too!
I always burst out laughing when I watch "WW II movies" and see German soldiers in uniforms fit for a Mardis-Gras parade, but bearing no resemblance to the real ones, and speaking in a way no German would ever speak, not even in the barracks! Strangely, the movies made in the 1950s were closer than more recent productions.
Tinplate ToddlerI´ll take that job, too!
One of my favorite goofs was in the "Pearl Harbor" movie (2001) Rafe is on a train, supposedly leaving New York, IIRC, and outside the window you can see the California Zephyr "Silver Horizon". The C-Z, of course, didn't hit the rails until 1949.
As the train begins to move you can catch a very brief view of an Amtrak F40-PH at the end of the scene.
Well, it IS entertainment...
Cheers, Ed
Frozen wires:
If you like the artwork of Thomas Schmid, you may find thenfollowing video interesting, which gives some insight how he build the layout called "In the Shadow of the Volcano". Never mind the German narration, though.
Bonus program: Really insane HO scale vehicles!
Tinplate ToddlerBonus program: Really insane HO scale vehicles!
I would really,really,really know how that was accomplished.
maxman Tinplate Toddler Bonus program: Really insane HO scale vehicles! I would really,really,really know how that was accomplished.
Tinplate Toddler Bonus program: Really insane HO scale vehicles!
This is all I could unearth in a quick search;
I keep on searching!
howmus Evenin' Folks.... Track fiddler That Spinning Wheel that just keeps on spinning at times "What goes up, must come down.... Spinnin' wheel gots to go round! Talkin' 'bout your troubles an ya, ya never learn.. Ride a painted pony let the spinnin' wheel turn..." Yep! One of my all time favorite groups - Blood, Sweat, and Tears! Well, I went to college with the lead trumpeter, Lou Soloff. Neat guy and even back then he was one of the best of the best as a trumpeter. Died young, after having a nice supper with his daughter they say. Was a very soft spoken and quiet person.
Track fiddler That Spinning Wheel that just keeps on spinning at times
Ray Very cool that you knew Lewis Soloff. To be honest with you I had forgotten about that song, Spinning Wheel by Blood Sweat and Tears. You sparked that memory. As soon as you brought it up, I could hear it playing in my head like I heard it yesterday.
I had brought up the spinning wheel as Ulrich was having problems getting logged into the forum. I have had that problem as well. Sometimes when you have problems logging in, the little blue spinning wheel just keeps spinning and if you have the patience to wait long enough maybe you get on maybe you don't.
Thanks for the memory refresher. I may have to go down to Know Name Records In Mpls. and see if I can find that one.
Evenin' Folks!
Finally have a chance to sit and relax a bit... been busy scaning MLK Poetry and working with the president of the committee on some new insurance we are getting for the committee. (Also put together an eCard for valentines day to send to a lovely lady that has caught my eye, but is way too far away to take out for dinner that day....)
Track fiddlerRay Very cool that you knew Lewis Soloff. To be honest with you I had forgotten about that song, Spinning Wheel by Blood Sweat and Tears.
Thanks... And you are right it was Lew Soloff. I spelled it wrong in my post. Another one of the greats that I knew when I was at Eastman was a guy that had graduated several years before I went there but came back to direct the Eastman Jazz Ensemble. I used to manage to sit next to him in the main hall for an hour or so before the Jazz rehearsal was scheduled and just shoot the bull. He was best known for playing an unusual member of the trumpet family most often. That would be Flugelhorn. Oh, yep, the guy's name was Chuck Mangione! My first Big success being a teacher that I felt I had a major influence on the kids life was a little 6th. grade girl who ended up taking guitar lessons from me one summer while she was at college at the Crane School of Music (She told me I was the one who got her interested in music). She was a piano major and planned on being a music teacher. Her junior year she got a horrible nerve problem where she could no longer play, but still wanted a carreer in Music. She switched her major to Musicology and did finish her degree. Her first job after college was that she ended up in charge of the music for the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid NY in 1980. Guess who she got to headline the opening of the games..... Chuck Mangione! I was officially in heaven as a music teacher!!!!
Hi Ulrich,
That bonus program was incredible! I thought I was good at stuffing things in small spaces but nothing I have done compares to that. Are these vehicles manufactured, built from kits or 'scratch built'?
Thanks,
Flo, give the gang and I a please.
GMTRacingKen - It sounds like you need a house cleaning at work too. Or are they all the owners relatives?
JR it worse than that! Nancy is the owners wife! Far as Jerry the no one has a clue to why he still has a job here. OK, we do. Owner is 85 years old and still thinks it is 1990 and he pays like it still is. Most of us are old farts, company average is 62? A person that is 30 something and worth a dam won't work for what we do. No one will take the job so we can ditch Jerry the
Late, Ken
hon30critter Hi Ulrich, That bonus program was incredible! I thought I was good at stuffing things in small spaces but nothing I have done compares to that. Are these vehicles manufactured, built from kits or 'scratch built'? Thanks, Dave
All of the above, Dave- There are a few RTR´s and kits, but the cats are scratchbuilt.
More videos on HO scale RC vehicles:
Building a forklift truck