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Welcome to the August Diner, this time in sunny Mexico Locked

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Posted by Track fiddler on Sunday, August 9, 2020 3:33 PM

Post-hog  Post-hog

 

Nice! 

I just looked outside and seen how beautiful it is right now.  It was supposed to be rainy all day.  Radar weather says nothing's moving in till 6 p.m.

I'm gonna grab my pony and go for a RompStick out tongue

 

Talk to you guys this evening

 

 

TF

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Posted by cudaken on Sunday, August 9, 2020 7:03 PM

 Eveing Diners1

 Flo, give the gang and I a Beer please and Dirk a dog treat.

 Boy we had some Lightning Lightning Lightning Lightning Lightning Lightning Lightning Lightning last night and today. Started last night around 1:00 AM and ended around 11:30 AM. Normally I like the sound of a thunderstorm! Not this one! Some of the strikes where way close to home. It was so bad around 10:00 AM I unplugged the computers to be safe.

 Had a lot of rain. Front yard still has standing water after 8 hours later. Took Dirk to the park and the small lake was up over a foot and a half!

 Fraidy Cat Wife Story. I had bought some bacon for Sunday Breakfest. We nomaly have breakest around 10:00 AM on Sunday while the thunder storm was going on. I hate frying bacon so my wife does it, not today? She thinks it is unsafe to use a stove while there is a thunderstorm!

 If electric, well I sort of understand. But It Is A Gas Stove! Bang Head No bacon for me! Sigh

 Time to sit outside with Dirk and the wife.

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

I hate Rust

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Posted by Track fiddler on Sunday, August 9, 2020 7:08 PM

Evening

My ride consisted of about a half hour 40 minutes, it's just too darn hot out there to enjoy it. 

I left the fan on for a half hour when I got home.  It has an electric fan with a 3 core radiator.  It's not that it overheated but when I shut it off it gets hotter.

When it was rebuilt, one of the Machinists was a master at what he does.  The heads were cracked from overheating.  Finding major engine components for these old classic cars can be like pulling teeth sometimes and if you do find them they will cost you an arm and a leg.

This machinist was a Wisconsin farm boy and would repair cracked heads on John Deere's and none of the farmers that he did the work for ever had problems with them again.  His only rule afterwards was don't ever let that engine overheat again.

He would take the heads and drill a hole at the end of the cracks, fill the holes with welds and resurface the heads. 

I met him at the bar before he retired with my brother-in-law and we all had a beer.  He explained things to me like this.  Imagine a Dorito bag and a Rip,  the Rip will continue all the way down the bag unless you turn the rip and bring it back up,  then it won't continue.  He said it's the same principle with your Heads but don't ever let your engine overheat again.

Erv thinks I'm nuts.  He always asks me why I leave my fan on for a while when it's hot out.  I don't know but I promised that machinist I would never let it overheat again. 

I never heard of such a thing before I met that man.  I thought once heads were cracked they were junk.  I've had the car eight years after it was rebuilt and have driven it hard at times.  That Old Farm Boys work on those heads seem to be just fine.

 

 

TF

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  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
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Posted by SeeYou190 on Sunday, August 9, 2020 7:54 PM

Track fiddler
With the consideration of ME only having a number 6 turnout and how fragile I found it is I decided on the PECO.  My brother said I lucked out on how long I took to decide because now they have the unifrog turnouts.

All my friends in N scale are in agreement that PECO is the best line of track.

My Dream House N scale layout had Peco turnouts and Atlas track. It worked very well. All my other N scale layouts had Atlas turnouts, and I never had problems, but the PECO line has a lot of advantages.

Track fiddler
It's not that it overheated but when I shut it off it gets hotter.

What you are describing is "Heat Soak", which can cause all kinds of wierd problems.

Basically, when you shut an engine off, the coolant is 180 degrees, but the pistons, combustion chamber surfaces, and exhaust manifolds can be much hotter. When the coolant pump and fan stop turning, that heat migrates into all other components, so the coolant temperature rises.

Your fan that you leave running most likely just cools the radiator. You would be better off to allow the engine to idle at low speed for 5 minutes and the excess heat can escape through the tail pipe.

It sounds like the crack repair was done well. You have good advice... never let the engine overheat with a repaired crack. As long as it does not overheat the repair should be permanent.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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Posted by Water Level Route on Monday, August 10, 2020 6:10 AM

Good morning all.  Flo, I'll have the special with three eggs please.  And a large grape juice.  As usual, the weekend went way to fast.  Hopefully work is tolerable this week.  My oldest has her driving test tomorrow for her license.  Not sure how that happened.  In my mind, she's still 10 years old most of the time.  Huh?

Mike

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Posted by GMTRacing on Monday, August 10, 2020 6:13 AM

Good Morning All,

   68F and the sun is coming up into mostly blue skies. Still trees down and power outages here with the utilitiy company catching major flak from government and industry for not being prepared. As usual, lots of finger pointing but at least the mutual aid people are here from all over and progress is being made.

   TF, the few people who can fix iron castings especially in motors are real artists. With all the pre-heat, post-heat etc it is really difficult. We have over the years had a few fixed that were just unobtainable and when the repair holds it is still like magic to me.

   Leaving the fan run allows the coolant to thermosiphon while the thermostat remains open and gets the motor to cool gradually which is good. Kevins' idea is good especially with an turbo motor where there is no cooler except for the oil going through the bushing in the center. I will spare you all the rest of the disertation but I spent 4 years in a previous lifetime running an R&D shop that was devoted to automotive oiling and cooling systems. 

   Back into the shop for me. Lots to do this week.     Ciao, J.R.

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Posted by York1 on Monday, August 10, 2020 8:02 AM

Good morning.  Bacon, eggs, and black coffee.

Got the trail walk in this morning as early as I could.  It's already hot and humid, so everyone outside was already sweating at 6:30 a.m.

 

Water Level Route
My oldest has her driving test tomorrow for her license.  Not sure how that happened.  In my mind, she's still 10 years old most of the time. 

 

Enjoy the days!  Your family will be out on their own before you blink.  In my mind, my daughters are still 10-years-old.  In reality, they all have children of their own.

I remember when my kids were younger, I didn't like the idea of them driving.  But by they time they turned 16 in high school, I was so tired of driving them to practices, lessons, youth groups, etc., that I was happy they got their licenses.  It was nice to just hand them the keys and say, "Be careful".

More indoor work today on the layout.  It's too hot and humid for an old man to work outside.  At least that's my excuse for unfinished projects in the backyard.

York1 John       

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Monday, August 10, 2020 10:05 AM

Water Level Route
My oldest has her driving test tomorrow for her license.  Not sure how that happened.  In my mind, she's still 10 years old most of the time. 

Only one of my daughters got her full driver license when she was a teenager. They all had learner permits at 15, but driving was not a big priority for any of them.

I taught them all to drive, my wife was having none of that terror.

Surprise

York1
Enjoy the days!  Your family will be out on their own before you blink.  In my mind, my daughters are still 10-years-old.

Mine too!

A couple years ago, I received a 8 by 10 picture of them that they had photo-shopped for me. The three of them took pictures of when they were ten years old, and combined them into one image. It is the most perfect picture.

Smile

GMTRacing
TF, the few people who can fix iron castings especially in motors are real artists. With all the pre-heat, post-heat etc it is really difficult. We have over the years had a few fixed that were just unobtainable and when the repair holds it is still like magic to me.

When I was very young I was working on a 6-71 Detroit Diesel 2-valve that was used as a fire pump engine in a condominium. The head was cracked in four places.

2-valve 71 series head castings were unobtainable. The common repair was to replace the head with a 4-valve head with dogbone reliefs, and replace the injectors with N-series with the same maximum CC rating, pay all the bad-core-charges, and be done with it.

However, any engineering change to a fire pump requires the installation to be re-certified by the Fire Marshall which the condominium association was opposed to.

The cracks were repaired by Lamont's Machine Shop in Fort Myers, and as of five years ago, there were still no problems with the repair.

Amazing... just like magic.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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Posted by gmpullman on Monday, August 10, 2020 10:14 AM

 

Monday, again! ?

 

Seen in Tlalnepantla, Mexico. Just outside Mexico City:

 N-de-M_6205_F2 by Edmund, on Flickr

Big explosion in Baltimore? 

Cheers, Ed

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Posted by moelarrycurly4 on Monday, August 10, 2020 10:16 AM

Morning all, hot humid already this morning. Not much going on, I mowed the jungle and whacked down a holly bush that had taken over one side of the house.  Worked on radios, uploaded a new radio repair video. cleaned some basement ( I was looking for missplaced parts). 

That is about all. 

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Monday, August 10, 2020 10:27 AM

Ed: Great picture. I love F units pulling boxcars. That just looks like railroading to me.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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  • From: Flyover Country
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Posted by York1 on Monday, August 10, 2020 10:51 AM

gmpullman
Seen in Tlalnepantla, Mexico. Just outside Mexico City:

I love the look of those diesels -- I have ever since I was a kid watching them pull passenger trains through my town.

Like Kevin said -- that is what railroading looks like to me.

York1 John       

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Monday, August 10, 2020 11:10 AM

gmpullman
Monday, again! ?

Since I retired, the only day of the week that holds any meaning to me is Friday, the day trash is picked up.

That is the only day that I need to get something done.

I am loving this.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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Posted by York1 on Monday, August 10, 2020 11:16 AM

SeeYou190
gmpullman
Monday, again! ?

That is the only day that I need to get something done.

I am loving this.

-Kevin

 

You and me both!  I tell every young guy I know to save their money for retirement.  It's a great life!

York1 John       

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Posted by Track fiddler on Monday, August 10, 2020 11:31 AM

I'm enjoying semi-retirement.  It's nice to pick and choose and only work when I want to.  I think I earned that in the 40 plus years of the grindstone.

The day I do become fully retired I know this like many of you do.  I will always have to find physical things to do every day otherwise I stiffen up like an old board with Rusty Nails in the joints. 

I learned that one the hard way.

 

 

TF

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Posted by Track fiddler on Monday, August 10, 2020 11:39 AM

SeeYou190

the only day of the week that holds any meaning to me is Friday, the day trash is picked up.

 

Sounds good to me Kevin

I can only hope the trash gets picked up on Friday around hereLaughLaughLaugh Whistling

 

 

PH

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Posted by Track fiddler on Monday, August 10, 2020 7:38 PM

Evening

The rest of my PECO Unifrog turnouts came in the mail today.  Made some more progress on my cabinet bench work.  Hope to start laying my track this weekend.

Thanks for the nice Premium Select Pine Bear.  You guys grow some nice pine trees over thereWink

 

Where the heck is everyone anyway?  I guess they must have ran out of margaritas in the diner here.

 

 

TF

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Posted by SpaceMouse on Monday, August 10, 2020 8:37 PM

hon30critter
Bob Hartle aka cmrproducts

I was just thinking about Bob (his layout actually) earlier today. Then I read about his passing. He had a basement 75 feet by 40 feet and filled 3 levels. An operating session could have 20-25 operators. His dispatching room had 6-8 monitors. 

He was the one who sold me on Digitrax. Not that others aren't just as good. He ran digitrax and sold me my Zephyr and DT400. Still using it. 

hon30critter
Harold Minkwitz aka hminky

Harold caused me to rethink how I thought of model railroad space. He also got me to put decoders in my small steam, and it's why I'm running the era that I run today. I liked the era, but this made it accessible.

Andy Sperano wrote the diffinitive guide to model railroad yards. 

Wow. Just Wow.

Chip

Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.

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Posted by howmus on Monday, August 10, 2020 8:48 PM

Hey Mouse!!!!!

Good to see you!  Hope you are staying healthy and doing well.

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 Monday, August 10, 2020 8:53 PM

Track fiddler
Where the heck is everyone anyway?  I guess they must have ran out of margaritas in the diner here.

I kind of wondered the same thing.  The diner waitresses are running low on tips.

I've been working the layout today, but it was tempting to go outside.  About nine o'clock this morning, a cool front came through, the humidity went down, and it only got up to 82°.  It was a perfect day for Daisy the Dachshund and me to sit on the front porch and watch the birds and squirrels.

I have a TV in my layout room, so while I worked today, I have been watching the original Twilight Zones all day.  They were so good.  I really don't think we have writing like that for today's TV shows.

Time to walk the dog.

York1 John       

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Posted by hon30critter on Monday, August 10, 2020 8:54 PM

Hey Chip,

Thanks for sharing some of your experiences with people named in the R.I.P. Track. Knowing something about them adds a lot to the list of names.

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 MisterBeasley on Monday, August 10, 2020 8:59 PM

It's been some years now, but I remember when my daughter was just getting her license.  I bought her a car right away, because I wanted her to drive a lot around our safe little town and get really used to it before she went away to college a couple of years later.  It worked.  I rode with a few of her friends, and my Annie was a calm, accomplished and safe driver, while her friends who had to borrow the family car were nervous and seemed unsure of themselves.

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

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Monday, August 10, 2020 9:16 PM

I took down the ceiling in the bathroom today.

An inspection above the ceiling showed that the insulation around the vertical surfaces of the vaulted ceiling over the living room has all fallen down.

I need to fix all that tomorrow. It is going to hurt. There is very little room to crawl around up there.

We had a toad-drowner of a rain storm this afternoon. The whole street was under 2-3 inches of water. That has not happened in a few years.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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Posted by SpaceMouse on Monday, August 10, 2020 9:46 PM

howmus
Hope you are staying healthy and doing well.

Better than I have a right to be, that's for sure.

Garry--Congrats on a successful surgery.

Ken!!!--You still working on that layout you were starting last time we talked? You have to have outgrown it by now--I mean that was over a decade plus years ago. 

 

 

Chip

Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.

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Posted by Track fiddler on Monday, August 10, 2020 9:58 PM

York1

I have a TV in my layout room, so while I worked today, I have been watching the original Twilight Zones all day.  They were so good.  I really don't think we have writing like that for today's TV shows

 

Some of those old Twilight Zones are a trip John.  

I like the ones where you're following along and kind of think your getting things and then it hits you like a ton of bricks in the end.

The other night I wasn't sleeping well and caught an episode I never seen before.  I would hate to spoil it in case you ever see it but believe it or not it was a model railroad Twilight Zone. 

It started out this couple was hungover and didn't remember much from the night before and didn't know where they were.  They got aboard the train trying to get to some place they could get their bearings and start to realize where they were again.  That's all I'll tell you in case you ever catch that episode.

 

 

TF

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Posted by cudaken on Monday, August 10, 2020 10:13 PM

 Eveing Diners.

 Flo, give the gang and I a Beer please, Chip anything he wants! Dirk will all so loke a dog reat.

 Chip great to see Space Mouse is back!

 Not really anyting to say but all this rain sucks rail spikes.

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

I hate Rust

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Posted by moelarrycurly4 on Monday, August 10, 2020 10:15 PM

We just had the gulley washer, toad strangler, sheep drowner come thru here. 

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Monday, August 10, 2020 11:45 PM

Track fiddler
It started out this couple was hungover and didn't remember much from the night before and didn't know where they were.  They got aboard the train trying to get to some place they could get their bearings and start to realize where they were again.  That's all I'll tell you in case you ever catch that episode.

That episode is where I got the name Centerville for the main town on my layout.

The other train-town name from The Twilight Zone is Willoughby.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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    August 2003
  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
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Posted by gmpullman on Tuesday, August 11, 2020 12:20 AM

Track fiddler
That's all I'll tell you in case you ever catch that episode.  

Is that the one where the conductor calls out "Willoughby" all the time?

I've never seen it but my friend of many years ago used to talk about it as there is a town near me called Willoughby, Ohio.

Cheers, Ed

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Posted by "JaBear" on Tuesday, August 11, 2020 12:26 AM

Track fiddler
Thanks for the nice Premium Select Pine Bear.

I gotta laugh MR.TF. QuestionQuestion  I live in a tourism / timber town and if I want to buy Good Clear Pine, it comes from Chile!!!!LaughLaughLaughLaughSigh
  
Cheers, the Bear.Smile

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

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