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Jeffreys Track-side Diner - April 2020, this time in the town of Golden, British Columbia! Locked

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 4:31 PM

Steven Otte
I know! It's Taco Tuesday!

Man, I could really go for a taco.

Unfortunately I do not have the ingredients, and I will not be going grocery shopping again for 2-4 weeks.

I will certainly get taco fixins next time.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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Posted by howmus on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 3:13 PM

Water Level Route
howmus Why do you have a trap on your roof and why would somebody go up there and rip it off???? What were you trying to catch anyway?

Maybe he was trying to catch the drip before it got into the house? Huh? Sorry. Couldn't resist.

I think we need to add a sarcasm font!!!  Sometime I just can't help myself, I was a Music Teacher but my Master's Degree was basically Fine Arts in Education predominately English Literature...  So my wierd sense of humor when I comes to typos can get , ah.... Bad sometimes.  Whistling

 Steven Otte thanks for the Tacos, but they appear to have put those nasty red smatter things in them.  Now, a make your own Taco where one can pick and choose what to put in would be nice....  Not big on Mexican Food anyway....  Music Yes, Food no!

73

Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO

We'll get there sooner or later! 

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Posted by Water Level Route on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 2:44 PM

howmus
Why do you have a trap on your roof and why would somebody go up there and rip it off????  What were you trying to catch anyway?

Maybe he was trying to catch the drip before it got into the house? Huh?  Sorry.  Couldn't resist.Laugh

Another lively day of working from home.  At least I can stay productive.  Now, off to the layout to try a resolution I thought of for my decal project that went awry.  Later guys!

Mike

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Posted by gmpullman on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 2:24 PM

cudaken
PPR GG1 and I1sa are running great! Thank's Ed, great engines! While steam is great, I like the GG1 a little better!

Sure glad you like the GG1, Ken Yes  I was fortunate enough to have been around them and ride behind a few in my time. Once you see them up close and get a feel for their POWER you appreciate them even more. We will never see one run again Crying

 P-C_GG1-4900 by Edmund, on Flickr

I don't get any warnings about Flash Player, which is pretty much obsolete anyway. HTML5 is the replacement, I believe.

Thanks for the taco, Steven. I wish everyone well —

Regards, Ed

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Posted by RideOnRoad on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 2:04 PM

howmus
. . .Hey Ken! Why do you have a trap on your roof and why would somebody go up there and rip it off???? What were you trying to catch anyway? . . .

I think it was an alternate spelling of "tarp".

Richard

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Posted by MisterBeasley on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 12:35 PM

Mmmmmm...real tacos.  For some reason, most places here serve only fish tacos on flour tortillas, with some lame sauce that's more mayonnaise than Mexican.  The GF is not a fan of the one place nearby that has real tacos.  I hope they come back with a better beer selection, particularly on tap.  And no, not that skunky, watery Mexican beer.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

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Posted by cats think well of me on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 12:26 PM

That's a favorite in my family, as well as the original French one

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Posted by howmus on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 11:49 AM

GMTRacing
They seem for the most part to put out around 30 volts DC. The Tesla uses DC batteries and I would guess DC motor(s)? So to do the panels, they use an inverter and then probably another on the Tesla to charge it. From my experience, inverter either A to DC or DC to AC are pretty inefficient.

LOL...  That is a bit out of my knowledge base on the subject.  I do know quite a bit about the subject for an old Musician, but.......  IIRC the panels output is about 35v.  That is run through the inverter down cellar and the box has to push more than 240v into the grid to put energy onto that or maintain the voltage of the grid to be used here at my house.  The meter does tell me what the present voltage the panels are producing and how many kWhhave been produced but I know little more than that.  The inverter for the converting the 240 to DC is done in the car itself (I believe most Electric cars do the same).  The so called CHADMO chargers, I think deliver DC directly to the car?????  I can easily charge the car from almost empty to full in about 14 hours here with my Clipper Creek 16amp station...

73

Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO

We'll get there sooner or later! 

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Posted by Heartland Division CB&Q on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 10:45 AM

Good morning. 

I'm wondering if a computer virus is attached to this forum because of what is happening in recent days. The forum image is replaced with a full scene message my Adobe Flash Playoer is outdated, and I need to upgrade it. 

GARRY

HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR

EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU

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Posted by GMTRacing on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 10:38 AM

Good Morning All,

    I've been by the diner a couple of times but haven't stopped in. Busy doing other stuff I'm afraid. Got the last truck and trailer back from Fla this morning via Indy so we can get after fixing some stuff up on it.

   
Steven - the tacos look great. Sign me up for a dozen.  On Okinawa there was a place in Kadena called Charlies Tacos. They had great tacos and we used to see how many we could eat at one sitting (obviously only on pay day when we could afford it). I had the record at one point for 40 some odd tacos and the zoomies at the air base took offense and brought some huge dude in from Guam to break the record. They must have starved him for a week because he ate nearly 60. I didn't need the record that badly.

   So Ray, did you ever wonder about your solar panels? They seem for the most part to put out around 30 volts DC. The Tesla uses DC batteries and I would guess DC motor(s)? So to do the panels, they use an inverter and then probably another on the Tesla to charge it. From my experience, inverter either A to DC or DC to AC are pretty inefficient. We need to come up with a way to bypass the inverters and charge directly from DC solar panels to the cars. If i didn't know only enough not to stick my finger in the outlets, I'd try to come up with a way to do that. 

   Back to sorting spare parts and tidying up.     Ciao, J.R.

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Posted by howmus on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 9:13 AM

Steven Otte
Where is everybody? It's quieter in here than a non-essential business in New York City.

Huh???  I'm here....  I've been up since 4:45 this morning so I could be at TOPS Market in Waterloo by 6am to do my weekly grocery shopping.  Got there right on time and there were only about 10 other people in the store, all of us properly distanced and wearing masks....  Was back home about 7:00am and went and got my morning shower and fresh clothes on. 

Hey Ken!  Why do you have a trap on your roof and why would somebody go up there and rip it off????  What were you trying to catch anyway?

Sun is shining today for a while here in the Finger Lakes but the thermo meter says it is only 36°F out there.  I will soon put on my Winter Coat and head out to get a mile or two of walking in around the neighborhood before lunch.  Then I will do that again a couple times this afternoon.  Yesterday was the first day since I have been under lockdown that I haven't managed to get 5 miles of walking in.  Just wish I could lose the 10lbs. of wieght I put on since Thanksgiving!!!  Grrrrrrr.  I think the stress of the whole situation has me nibbling way too much once again.  I will get that under control soon.

Be Blessed and Stay Safe out there!

73

Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO

We'll get there sooner or later! 

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Posted by York1 on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 9:07 AM

Good morning, everyone.

I just had breakfast, Steven, so I'll save the Tacos for later today.  Thanks!

It was cold walking this morning.  It's 17° right now, but will warm up into the 40s by afternoon.

Last night, my wife called me to come outside.  We could hear our barred owl very close, but then it flew across the street and started making lots of weird noises.  This is the first time in several years I have seen it, although we hear it often.

I have lots of pictures of our trips to British Columbia, but I can't find them.  They are in our basement somewhere.  But with the amount of junk we have stored, it may take years to find them.

Our gas is now $1.59 a gallon, the lowest I have seen it in years.  This would be a great time to drive our Expedition, which gets about ½ mile per gallon, on a trip, but we haven't got any place to go.

Have a good day, everyone.

York1 John       

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Posted by Steven Otte on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 8:08 AM

Where is everybody? It's quieter in here than a non-essential business in New York City. We need a good lunch special to get people in the Diner door and talking again. I know! It's Taco Tuesday!

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

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Posted by cudaken on Monday, April 13, 2020 10:03 PM

 Eveing Diners

 Flo, give the gang and I a Beer Ed a Crown Royal and Dirk a dog treat.

 

Track fiddler
I wish I was your next door neighbor

 So do I, that way you would not be a Post Hog! Laugh

 This morning by hand was called by Mother Nature. We have been having high winds of late and I found the trap that had been install on my roof where the worse leak was had been ripped off. Sigh Called a roofing company (handy man that installed the tarp will not go back up because the roof is to soft) and they are coming out Thursday to give me a bid and install a new trap till the roof is replaced.

 My big fear is my floors! Have a contractor coming out Saturday to bid on floor jacking and floor joist replacement. The floor where my gas stove, refrigerator and door to garage / train room is sagging a good (should say Bad) 1.5 to 2 inches! Yes this house is a mess!

 Depending on what the floor jacking contractior says will determine what I do next.

 If I can get the needed repairs done for a round $26,000.00 I will try to get a home improvemeny loan. If it is in the $40,000 range I am out of here. Sigh

 Later, Ken and Dirk say's Woof, Woof.

I hate Rust

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Posted by hon30critter on Monday, April 13, 2020 8:48 PM

Tinplate Toddler
Driving a stream lorry is a job not for the faint of heart!

Hi Ulrich,

That is a very interesting video!!! I marvel at all the exposed machinery spinning right in front of the driver, and I'm also amazed at watching how the controls are used. Sometimes the adjustments are very subtle and other times the levers are apparently moved through their full range.

I have always loved the opportunity to drive different vehicles. Driving a steam lorrie would be incredible!!! The first time I got behind the wheel of a ten ton truck I was thrilled! At the time all I had driven were normal sized cars.

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

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Posted by hon30critter on Monday, April 13, 2020 8:25 PM

SeeYou190
they wear tyvek suits and full PPE.

Hi Kevin,

At the temperatures that you are experiencing I don't envy anyone having to wear full PPE! I can barely stand to have a face mask on.

Whenever we have contractors at the house I always fill a big cooler with Gatorade and water bottles and lots of ice. It is always appreciated.

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

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Posted by hon30critter on Monday, April 13, 2020 8:15 PM

Track fiddler
Brittany brightend my day with a better cat Ulrich Like I said my Brittany is silly but I love her so much! Do you see the time she must have spent to make that?

Very tolerant cat!!

Dave

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

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Posted by gmpullman on Monday, April 13, 2020 6:11 PM

Good Evening:

I'd love to find some decent photos of that old clamshell bucket. It was a real piece of work. The boom had been lenghtened by about six feet and the job looked like it was done by a high-school shop class (in their first week).

It got a little breezy here today Whistling

 Aspen-down2 by Edmund, on Flickr

The chickens wasted no time in finding all the uncovered worms!

I hope everyone is getting along fine —

Cheers, Ed

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Monday, April 13, 2020 1:17 PM

gmpullman
I stumbled across this Euclid & Lake Erie gondola.

That is a great looking gondola. 

gmpullman
I used to run a friction-clutch clam shell bucket to fill the tender of a steam locomotive. It helped to be part octopus to run one of those things!

Watching a skilled operator run a non-synchronized friction-clutch dragline is amazing. I remember one night I was watching an operator on a Lima 2400B when the machine started making a grinding noise. The guy started flipping air valves and pulling controls I had not seen him touch before. The machine settled down and he got right back to work. I swear he grew two extra arms when he was going through all those control movements.

York1
I checked out the SGRR boxcars on eBay. That's amazing there are so many cars out there. I still think that was a neat idea to spread the cars around.

I am amazed when people actually buy them. I just give them away for the asking. Sometime I give them to people that don't even ask. They should have no market value.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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Posted by York1 on Monday, April 13, 2020 9:07 AM

Good morning.  Cold, but sunny.

Our high temperature today will be 40° lower than Kevin's low temperature.

I checked out the SGRR boxcars on eBay.  That's amazing there are so many cars out there.  I still think that was a neat idea to spread the cars around.  You never know when you might see one.

Same old same old today.  Sit around the house with nothing much to do.  The same as we were doing before the virus.

We had a good Easter.  The kids and grandkids all got on Zoom.  On a phone, you can only see a few at a time, but on my big computer screen, we see all the boxes arranged like the Brady Bunch.  We see and hear everyone at once.

After we signed off, the grandkids were all going to have their own session.  I never thought I would be this old.  Grandma and I just watch and listen to everyone having such a good time with each other.

Happy Easter Monday.  Enjoy your day off!

 

York1 John       

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Posted by "JaBear" on Monday, April 13, 2020 3:56 AM

gmpullman
Happy Easter Monday for folks in England, Wales, N. Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Thanks, Ed.

A short video taken a couple of years ago.

 

"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."

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Posted by gmpullman on Monday, April 13, 2020 2:02 AM

SeeYou190
I always get a kick when they come up for sale on eBay. Most sellers don't know how to list them, and this guy is no different. His listing has errors in it, but that is OK.

I stumbled across this Euclid & Lake Erie gondola. I don't know who the railroad belonged to but this is from my old neighborhood.

A steam shovel looks pretty challenging to get the hang of as well:

I used to run a friction-clutch clam shell bucket to fill the tender of a steam locomotive. It helped to be part octopus to run one of those things!

Happy Easter Monday for folks in England, Wales, N. Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Cheers, Ed

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Posted by Tinplate Toddler on Monday, April 13, 2020 1:19 AM

Good Morning!

Here in Germany, we celebrate two days of Easter, so it is still a holiday here. The  weather is not as nice as it was in the past few days, but still there are a few rays of sunshine. It´s much colder than yesterday, though. Nonetheless, we had our little friends paying the usual morning visit. Three years ago, I was able to catch them on film.

Driving a stream lorry is a job not for the faint of heart!

No power steering, no power windows - in fact, no windows at all, no power brakes, no air conditioning, just lots of smoke, coal dust, dirt, noise and fun!

Stay safe!

Happy times!

Ulrich (aka The Tin Man)

"You´re never too old for a happy childhood!"

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Posted by Track fiddler on Monday, April 13, 2020 12:47 AM

You're a good man Kevin.  I'm a good judge of character and I got that a long time ago about you.  I know right where my cars are that you gave me.  And that's right where they will stayYes

 

 

TF

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Monday, April 13, 2020 12:36 AM

Track fiddler
don't know what the deal is with the seller I would never sell one of your freight cars Kevin I treasure them too much

I am pretty confident that the seller is not the person I originally gave the freight cars to.

It would be about 30 years ago I gave these away. I think I had about 250 of these cars decorated when I built the Dream House layout. I know Randy still has about 100 of them. I gave so many of them away, and a lot of them to elderly people. There is no telling how many hands they passed through from then to now.

I always get a kick when they come up for sale on eBay. Most sellers don't know how to list them, and this guy is no different. His listing has errors in it, but that is OK.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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Posted by Track fiddler on Monday, April 13, 2020 12:26 AM

I don't know what the deal is with the seller

I would never sell one of your freight cars Kevin

I treasure them too much

 

 

TF

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Monday, April 13, 2020 12:22 AM

There are currently 3 N scale STRATTON AND GILLETTE freight cars far sale from an eBay seller in Conecticut.

These are from the "Dream House" era 1989-1991.

He is asking $30.00 each for them. 

If you want to see early examples of SGRR freight cars, check them out. Not too bad for 30 years ago. I had literally hundreds of these that I custom painted back then.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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Posted by Track fiddler on Monday, April 13, 2020 12:17 AM

Post Hog

Good Lord she looks so comfortable but I need to scrape her up off the couch and get her into bedLaughLaughLaugh

 

P.S.  And I didn't have one of those meatloaf sandwiches either!

 

 

TF

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Posted by Track fiddler on Sunday, April 12, 2020 11:50 PM

Kevin

Can you fax me, text me or email me one of those meatloaf sandwiches

That sounds really good right now and I could use one

 

Thanks

 

 

TF

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Sunday, April 12, 2020 11:43 PM

I guess I am Post Hoggin' this morning.

I had meatloaf sandwiches for dinner. Just enough meatloaf left for one more meal.

The company is coming to install three windows on Tuesday. Not sure how I feel about this having workers in my home during the virus concern. I have been hermit-living for weeks and do not want to give up my safe record. The company says they do temperature scans on all employees every day, and they wear tyvek suits and full PPE.

It hit 95 degrees today and broke the previous record by three degrees! The overnight low is forcast to be 78 degrees, which is four degrees higher than the previous highest overnight low.

They are predicting 97 degrees on Tuesday. This is madness.

Less than 1/2" of rain all year, watering restrictions are in effect, and wells in rural areas are going dry.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds of tomatoes are being allowed to rot on the vines in South Florida. The primary purchasers of these crops are Burger King, Wendy's, and McDonald's. They are experiencing low sales, so the tomatoes go to waste.

This will be the last big hit to our economy in Florida. After Easter the State pretty much shuts down anyway. The Yankees and Canadians go home, Spring Break is over, and harvesting season is done.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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