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Jeffreys Track Side Diner - MARCH, 2019: Upstate New York Locked

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Posted by Track fiddler on Thursday, March 7, 2019 8:14 PM

Really,  My Kaylee always comes over and sets things straight with my phone computer.

It will be alright Kids.

TF

 

I hate computers

 

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Posted by Uncle_Bob on Thursday, March 7, 2019 9:04 PM

Hey all

Since you're in the general vicinity, you should hop in a car and railfan the Southern Tier; the NS's line from Bimminton to Albany (the former Albany & Susquehanna division of the D&H; and NS's former Lackawanna line from Bimminton to Sunbury.  

My wife and I went to the Perkins across the river last night and ran into the couple who used to operate the LHS in Vestal till they closed a few years ago.  Galaxy, if he still comes by, might remember them.

Nothing new on the hobby front.  Hopefully the weather will break sometime so I can go railfanning.  I'm only half-kidding when I tell people we'll probably get snow in June.

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Posted by cudaken on Thursday, March 7, 2019 10:25 PM

 Eveing Diners

 Flo, give the gang and I a Beer please and leave a Stein outside for Ulrich.

 Kevin Thanks for the Alligator Photo, I have to show that to my wife! Big Smile Most of this winter she been saying "I wish we could move to Florida, I hate winter!" Crying She scared of a Garden Snake! That Alligator sure would stop that nag dead on the tracks!

 Henry Good looking layout and love the bridges!

 By my standards I have to be up early Friday. Have to be at the tax places at 9:00 AM sharp. Normal 9:00 AM I am parked in front of the computer drinking Coffee and see who started a food fight in the dinner. Smile, Wink & Grin

 Later, Ken

I hate Rust

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Posted by GMTRacing on Friday, March 8, 2019 6:31 AM

 Good Morning All,

   A roasty toasty 5F this morning - still waiting on the promised warming trend. I'll have a regular coffee and some scrambled eggs with bacon please Zoe. 

  Got the two planned turnouts into the yard throat last night. I'm trying Garrys method of letting the turnouts float between sections of rail that are secured. We'll see how that is. Once I have this bit done in the yards, I'll finish wiring and then go back to testing everything. 

  DSC_0093 by J.R. Mitchell, on Flickr" alt="new yard entrance" />

Lion, I agree gators can be lazy - until they are hungry or protecting their young. Then watch out. Even on dry land they can move pretty quickly - just not long distances. 

Time to move on into the shop. Chow, J.R.

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Friday, March 8, 2019 6:39 AM

Weighmaster
Shouldn't Kevin have been back by now?

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I am back. Petting attempt was unsuccessfull

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cudaken
 Kevin Thanks for the Alligator Photo, I have to show that to my wife!

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I took this picture a couple of years ago in the retention pond by my office in Tampa:

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Alligators are neat, if you walk towards one, they just get up and walk the other way. They want nothing to do with us.

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-Kevin

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Living the dream.

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Posted by BigDaddy on Friday, March 8, 2019 8:52 AM

Ken C, not my bridges, JR's

Ken Bis  I got your pm the other day.  You must have done something right then.

 I mentioned this in another thread to Mel, my photobucket (free) About 15% of pics are showing as a broken links.  You can't see or download them.  I don't put new pics on there and don't look at my own albums very often, but I think this is new in the last month or so.,

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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Posted by Heartland Division CB&Q on Friday, March 8, 2019 9:34 AM

Good morning, everybody ..... 

JR .... Nice work on your layout. I like the bridges and the yard you are building. I don't recall saying I let my turnouts float.

I'll tell how I lay track. I use flex track with turnouts. I install cork road bed with a staple gun, and use a hammer to drive the staples deeo enough so the don't touch the bottom of the track. I use push pins t ohold the track in place as I cut rail ends as needed. I solder all rail joiners except, of course, the insultated ones. I re-allign the track as needed. Finally, I use track nails to hold it in place. If needed, I drill extra nail holes in the ties. 

Kevin .... I was a kid when I made my first trip to FL, and I recall a tourest attration where a guy wrestled alligators. I remember it was boring, and the gator did not resist at all. Neverthless, I think it is best to stay clear of them. 

 

GARRY

HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR

EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Friday, March 8, 2019 9:43 AM

Heartland Division CB&Q
I was a kid when I made my first trip to FL, and I recall a tourest attration where a guy wrestled alligators. I remember it was boring,

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Yeah, but every once in a great while the alligator remembers it is an alligator, and then things go very bad for the human.

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I don't care for those attractions, I think most are gone now. I am pretty sure Gatorland stopped wrestling 15-20 years ago.

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-Kevin

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Living the dream.

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  • From: Northfield Center TWP, OH
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Posted by dti406 on Friday, March 8, 2019 9:59 AM

My brother-in-law in Cape Coral had an unwelcome visitor one night, his cat was not very happy!

The police called a Alligator wrangler to remove the fellow.

Rick Jesionowski

Rule 1: This is my railroad.

Rule 2: I make the rules.

Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!

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  • From: Kentucky
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Posted by Heartland Division CB&Q on Friday, March 8, 2019 10:10 AM

Rick ..... Cat ?...... (Gulp) ... What cat ? 

GARRY

HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR

EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU

  • Member since
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  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
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Posted by SeeYou190 on Friday, March 8, 2019 10:50 AM

dti406
My brother-in-law in Cape Coral had an unwelcome visitor one night

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I have lived in Cape Coral since 1981. We never have had one in the house, but there was one underneath a car in the driveway once.

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In the house I have had to deal with snakes and frogs.

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-Kevin

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Living the dream.

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Posted by Track fiddler on Friday, March 8, 2019 10:54 AM

Frogs ain't so bad.  I kind of like frogs.  Snakes! Zip it!  I don't know if I could hang with that.  That's pretty creepy Kevin.

TF

 

I would be on a definite mission to find out where those things are getting in.

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Friday, March 8, 2019 11:44 AM

Track fiddler
Snakes!   I don't know if I could hang with that.

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The first one we had was in a dresser drawer when we stumbled into it. It scared the living daylight out of me. 

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My wife saw it first, but she did not realize what it was. She said "what is this?", and I walked over, saw it, and about jumped out of my skin.

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She the realized what it was, and she screamed like a banshee.

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-Kevin

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Living the dream.

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  • From: Northfield Center TWP, OH
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Posted by dti406 on Friday, March 8, 2019 11:53 AM

One nice thing about living in Alaska, no snakes and no rats, but grizzlies and black bears roamed the neighborhood.

Rick Jesionowski

Rule 1: This is my railroad.

Rule 2: I make the rules.

Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!

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Posted by mbinsewi on Friday, March 8, 2019 12:03 PM

Wow, from one extreme to the other!  I'm staying right here in good'ole WI. Smile, Wink & Grin

By the way, I have told lately you how much I love winter?  Indifferent

Mike.

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Posted by Track fiddler on Friday, March 8, 2019 12:07 PM

That's nothing to sneeze at either Rick.  We only had the black bears at the resort up by the Canadian border.  I kid you not,  my mom got so used to them tipping over the garbage cans, she would come out of the cabin she was cleaning with a broom and shooed them away.  My dad and I used to laugh at that hard-nosed woman.

It's those brown bears you have to worry about.  Grizzlies and Kodiaks.  You DON'T shoo those away with a broom.  They would much love to eat you as just to look at you. 

But those white bears you have up there..... Stocker's.  I pretty much heard they are always hungry.  Their life quest is just to full-time look for anything to eat that moves.  Zip it!  Especially in the winter when food is scarce

TF

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Posted by moelarrycurly4 on Friday, March 8, 2019 12:14 PM

Greetings from the southern command,

we were able to make it to the South House for this weekend.  Last weekend was a bust due to my catching the crud. I still have residual crudness, but I am better. 

Not much planned for the weekend, sleep , rest , reading and relaxation, we may go hear a good  blues guy tonight. 

we went for about an hour walk at the picnic area by the lake. Got through right before the rain started. 

we will have to watch the sky for severe storms tomorrow across the region. 

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Posted by CNCharlie on Friday, March 8, 2019 12:32 PM

Good Afternoon,

TF, if you mean Polar Bears, when you mention white ones, you are correct about how dangerous they are. We don't have any down south ( all relative) but in northern Manitoba, they can be a problem. They are amoung the largest of all bears and can weigh up to 1500 lbs. They are also very fast in running and swimming. Basically if you are attacked, you are dead. 

I've only seen a couple of alligators in Florida and they weren't very large. I have seen Crocodiles in Africa and a few were very large. Hippos don't seem to care much about them. Mind you if you've ever seen a Hippo open its mouth wide, you would understand. They can basically bite a croc in half and will if provoked. We were chased by a Hippo once going down a narrow channel in a power boat. They can 'swim' really fast for a short distance. 

I'm still feeling unsettled. I don't feel comfortable explaining and will leave it at that for now. 

CN Charlie

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Posted by Track fiddler on Friday, March 8, 2019 1:21 PM

Spooky stuff Charlie.  I'm glad I don't have to carry that one around in my memory belt.  Sounds more terrifying than some of my most violent nightmares. 

I'm not familiar with hippos.  From your life experience description,  I will scratch off Africa from my bucket list!

Respectfully "Wow"   Track Fiddler

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Posted by Track fiddler on Friday, March 8, 2019 2:00 PM

mbinsewi

By the way, I have told lately you how much I love winter?  Indifferent

Mike.

 

No you haven't.  There seems to be a bit of a standstill here Mike.  We are going to get another big snow storm here in Minnesota tomorrow.

Please do elaborate the reasons you love the winter Mike.  I may need to hear them, might help me weather the stormWhisper

TF

  • Member since
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  • From: Northfield Center TWP, OH
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Posted by dti406 on Friday, March 8, 2019 2:09 PM

Track fiddler

That's nothing to sneeze at either Rick.  We only had the black bears at the resort up by the Canadian border.  I kid you not,  my mom got so used to them tipping over the garbage cans, she would come out of the cabin she was cleaning with a broom and shooed them away.  My dad and I used to laugh at that hard-nosed woman.

It's those brown bears you have to worry about.  Grizzlies and Kodiaks.  You DON'T shoo those away with a broom.  They would much love to eat you as just to look at you. 

But those white bears you have up there..... Stocker's.  I pretty much heard they are always hungry.  Their life quest is just to full-time look for anything to eat that moves.  Zip it!  Especially in the winter when food is scarce

TF

 

I lived in the big city of Anchorage, and the news media loved talking about the grizzlies running though town.  They followed a grizzly one night, and said they could climb a 10' Chain Link Fence like nothing was there. People here in Ohio wonder why I don't put out my garbage until just before the truck gets to the house, but when having bears go through your garbage you get into the habit.

None of the Polar Bears in our area they are north of the Artic Circle which is north of Fairbanks.  We did have a project at the Red Dog Zinc Mine in NW Alaska where a number of Polar Bears took up residence, we were not allowed to get near them for any number of reasons. By the way the only way to that mine was by air, it had its own 5,000' runway.

Rick Jesionowski

Rule 1: This is my railroad.

Rule 2: I make the rules.

Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!

  • Member since
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Posted by Track fiddler on Friday, March 8, 2019 2:34 PM

Thanks for getting back to me Rick.  What you had to say did not surprise me.  We are all creatures of habit and get used to doing things a certain way.  Do not feed the Bears may take some time to go away.

I just have to tell you I really like your last name.  One of my best friends in high school was Joe Lukowski.  My very best polish friend.  Joe was great. Anytime the two of us got together the people around just laughed because of the things we had to say together.

Somehow time took Joe away from me.  I will always remember him.  Very much brings a tear to my eye when I do.

Good talking to you Rick.  I hope to talk to you more in the future.

Track Fiddler

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Posted by Steven Otte on Friday, March 8, 2019 2:49 PM

All I gotta say is, it's great to be a Florida Gator.

--
Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editor
sotte@kalmbach.com

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Posted by Track fiddler on Friday, March 8, 2019 3:03 PM

Nice Banner Steve.

Kind of ironic again.  These are the two colors that I mixed together 50/50 and had picked out a month ago before I painted my grain elevator.

The color wasn't alligator but close enoughIndifferent

TF

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Friday, March 8, 2019 3:17 PM

Steven Otte
All I gotta say is, it's great to be a Florida Gator.

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I never attended UF, but I grew up in Gainesville, so I consider myself a Florida Gator too.

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I was attending screenings of the Rocky Horror Picture Show in Reitz Union Hall when I was in middle school! Good times.

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I used to ride my Huffy dirt bike all around Lake Alice, dodging alligators all the way!

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This was the UF logo in the 1970s when I was hanging out on campus.

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-Kevin

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Living the dream.

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Posted by GMTRacing on Friday, March 8, 2019 3:47 PM

Ok then. When I was stationed at Homestead, we stood watch at the antennae array out in the swamps southeast of the base. Going for mid watch was always interesting as the gators would frequently crawl onto the blacktop and snooze to stay warm at night. We were on watch one night and it was raining and windy all night. When 7am rolled around we were not able to be relieved on watch because the array and central building were the only spot above water and every snake spider and other critter had crawled or slithered onto the high ground. We were surrounded so to speak. Took a couple of hours after the rains stopped for the water to subside and the critters to disperse. No overtime of course, we were on salaryConfused.   J.R.

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Posted by BroadwayLion on Friday, March 8, 2019 4:58 PM

Track fiddler
It's those brown bears you have to worry about. Grizzlies and Kodiaks. You DON'T shoo those away with a broom. They would much love to eat you as just to look at you.

 

Polar Bears are not bad, but you do have to watch out for the bi-polar bears.

 

Photographed in NEW YORK!  NYC Bronx Zoo!

ROAR

The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.

Here there be cats.                                LIONS with CAMERAS

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Posted by Track fiddler on Friday, March 8, 2019 5:39 PM

BroadwayLion

 

 
Track fiddler
It's those brown bears you have to worry about. Grizzlies and Kodiaks. You DON'T shoo those away with a broom. They would much love to eat you as just to look at you.

 

 

Polar Bears are not bad, but you do have to watch out for the bi-polar bears.

 

Photographed in NEW YORK!  NYC Bronx Zoo!

ROAR

 

That's funny stuff Lion.

I will give you that.  I have seen there is such a thing,  you are exactly rightLaugh

TF

 

Just wait,  I got to go look for it.

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Posted by Sparky Rail on Friday, March 8, 2019 5:52 PM

Good evening gentlemen, first time posting here.

Snake in the house story 1- One afternoon my daughter calls me and says there is a snake in the house. I rush home from work and turn the house upside down looking for it, but can't find it. I had to go to bed knowing there's a snake in my house. Couldn't sleep a wink. Wife comes home from work late that night, and she goes out to the hot tub to unwind. Shortly after she comes in, I hear the cat going nuts at the rear sliding door. When my wife came in from the tub, the snake tried to get out, but only made it halfway thru the sliding door before she closed it, so the cat was having a field day with the back half of the snake!

Snake in the house story 2- One day I was emtptying the basket from the central vac unit. It is bagless, so you can see everything in it, and I simply dump it in the woods. Yup, someone vacuumed up a snake, although to this day my wife and 3 kids say they know nothing!

Harmless Garter Snakes both times, but yuuuuck!

 

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Posted by BigDaddy on Friday, March 8, 2019 6:16 PM

I bought a boa constrictor for around $14 circa 1970 and named her Eve.  Fed it mice and at the time, I didn't feel bad for the mouse.  You feed it once a week, it  poops once a week, the perfect low maintanace pet.

We didn't keep our house all that cold in the winter, but the snake would stop eating in the fall and the mouse would chew on the snake.  Despite a 15w light bulb in the cage, the snake wouldn't eat until spring.

My future ex-wife made me give it to my college roommate.  He lived in Connecticut.  The power went out one night and the snake froze.  Had he thought of it, he would have brought the snake into bed.  Snakes are happy to sleep with a warm person.  She grew from 15" to about 4.5'.  She only bit me once, when I forgot to feed her. 

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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