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Welcome to the November, 2020 Jeffrey's Trackside Diner in New Zealand

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  • Member since
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  • From: 4610 Metre's North of the Fortyninth on the left coast of Canada
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Posted by BATMAN on Friday, November 20, 2020 9:35 PM

Looks like my early Christmas present has at least made it to Canada. I just got my RDC! Now this, my cup runneth over.Laugh

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

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Posted by Track fiddler on Friday, November 20, 2020 10:37 PM

Break out the Glenfiddich Brent!  Rum and Cokes, or the Red!

Looks like you be playing Choo-Choo for a whilePirate

 

 

TF

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Saturday, November 21, 2020 1:01 AM

Ed: Phoebe is an adorable cat.

Wow, it is 2:00 AM already. I am still wide awake. I slept until noon today.

The contractor called and said they will be here December 1st to install the sliding doors and window... we will see... I have heard this before.

-Kevin

 

Living the dream.

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Posted by "JaBear" on Saturday, November 21, 2020 4:41 AM

Sum trainz...

Smile

"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 NorthBrit on Saturday, November 21, 2020 5:43 AM

Good morning all. 

Ed.   A gorgeous looking cat with a lovely name.

Now the jobs around the house are done, hopefully I can 'lock myself in the train room'.

It is Halloumi Cheese with Peppers and Sweetcorn Tacos  with a Chipotle Mayo for dinner tonite.

Thoughts and Peace to All who require.

 

David

To the world you are someone.    To someone you are the world

I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought

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Posted by Track fiddler on Saturday, November 21, 2020 8:42 AM

Good morning

Thanks for some more train vids BearYes   

Wouldn't you know it?  I ran out of 261 C-channel on my last bent last night.  The hobby store 2 miles away is out too.  They have a sister store up in Little Canada but I don't want to drive an hour and a half round trip for a piece of plastic.  The hobby store in Saint Paul is in a little rough of a neighborhood for my liking these days.  I'll have to wait till they come in next week.

Back out to Erv's again today.  By the time they got my rims and tires pulled and we went back to pick them up it was dusk, so were putting them on today.

 

Have a good day all

 

 

TF

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Saturday, November 21, 2020 10:53 AM

Track fiddler
Thanks for some more train vids Bear

Yes, thank you Bear. You have done a wnoderful job with all the contributions this month.

Track fiddler
I ran out of 261 C-channel on my last bent last night.

I am going to need to make a final bulk purchase of evergreen plastic. It is just becoming too much of a pain to find these small items when needed.

Next time I go hobby-shopping, I am going to buy lots of plastic strip, and all the HO scale lumber I can get.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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Posted by York1 on Saturday, November 21, 2020 11:11 AM

We're sitting here waiting for the contractor to bring the new cabinets.  Kind of par for the course, he said he would be here two hours ago.

York1 John       

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Saturday, November 21, 2020 11:15 AM

York1
We're sitting here waiting for the contractor to bring the new cabinets.  Kind of par for the course, he said he would be here two hours ago.

My new kitchen cabinets and appliances were delivered several weeks before the contractor showed up to install them. They took up all the room in the garage, and it was such an inconvenience.

-Kevin

 

Living the dream.

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Posted by ROBERT PETRICK on Saturday, November 21, 2020 11:25 AM

SeeYou190
 
York1
We're sitting here waiting for the contractor to bring the new cabinets.  Kind of par for the course, he said he would be here two hours ago.

Hey Kevin and John-

I hesitate to bring this up because it might appear to be spiking the football and doing the ickey shuffle . . .

The guy from the window and door shop came out yesterday and fixed my window. The job didn't take very long at all: half hour to assess the situation, remove the ragged shards still stuck in the wood frame, remove the moldings, scrape off the old caulk, and take a few measurements; half hour to buzz back to the shop (I live in a dinky little town) and cut out a new piece of glass; and half hour to install the new pane, reinstall the moldings, and apply new caulk. Piece of cake.

The real take away from this adventure is that a Wyoming window was repaired and replaced in the same week it was broken. Almost unheard of.

. . . status quo ante rumpitur.

Robert

LINK to SNSR Blog


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Posted by GMTRacing on Saturday, November 21, 2020 12:09 PM

Thanks for the videos Ja Bear. The single lane bridges were always a hoot. I can imagine how the multi mode must work with all the tourists many of whom didn't have a clue what the difference was between the red and black arrows and had obviously never been on anything bigger or faster than a bicycle. The trackage on the industrial spur looked as bad as anything we have here off the main lines. 

   Cheers, J.R.

 

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Posted by gmpullman on Saturday, November 21, 2020 12:11 PM

ROBERT PETRICK
The guy from the window and door shop came out yesterday and fixed my window.

My house was built in '77. The windows are aluminum-framed sliders with two-layer thermopane on the outside and a single layer of glass inside.

Around 1995 several of the thremopane windows fogged up as they are prone to do. One of the guys in the model RR club I belonged to owned a glass shop. He contracted out the making of the thermopanes but he said give him dimensions and he would get the glazing made up at his cost.

I turned in an order for about 20 replacement panels of double-pane glass, vacuum sealed and filled with argon. The biggest one was 47" high by 54" wide. IT cost me a whopping $55! The total for the whole glass order, with new gasketing came to just under $300. I was doing a happy dance. Can you imagine the markup if I had a window shop do this?

All I had to do was remove 8 pan head phillips screws to remove the old glass, wrap the new gasket around the new glass and reassemble the sash. Including cleaning and all it took about an hour for each window (2 sash).

It pays to be handy YesCool

Thanks for all the comments on Phoebe Snow. She's already outside making her rounds and checking out her new territory. The other three are keeping an eye on her.

Shades of PRR Streamlining!

 GVR, Putorino, New Zealand, 1995 by Center for Railroad Photography & Art, on Flickr

 GVR, Wairoa, New Zealand, 1995 by Center for Railroad Photography & Art, on Flickr

Cheers, Ed

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Posted by York1 on Saturday, November 21, 2020 1:56 PM

The cabinets are here, the countertop will come next.

This guy has a small custom wood shop and built the cabinets there.  He was late with some family medical issues.  Lesson:  don't get too upset about something minor like several hours.

York1 John       

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Posted by cudaken on Saturday, November 21, 2020 5:49 PM

 Eveing Diners

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

 Well the ash hit the fan tonight! Wife pushed the wrong button and I told her what I thouht about her Hoarding!

 Pretty much told her it is betwen her junk or me. There is not a sngle chair or couch in this house I can sit on! There has been 5 laundry baskets in the laundry room for 4 years! She has filled all of the cloest with her clothes, and the back bedroom! Rubber Made beens all though house with her junk.

 Told her "that is the rason I have not gotten a loan to fix the floor or roof, I don't know if I want to live here any longer! If we move the junk stays here! So oneway or a nother it is gone !"

 All so told her "Ask Sharon I spoke with her about this a few months , I am not kidding!"

 Sue keeps bring up my tran stuff. My train stuff is only in the garage. I hope K-10 Model Traind opens back up so I can give the extra stuff to him. But I will throw away my train junk.

 Told her "I am not going to die living in this mess!"

 Trains are running great and time to take Dirk out for his last pee.

 Later, Ken and Dirk says "Mommy has a lot of junk daddy, me pee's on it Woof, Woof!"

I hate Rust

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Posted by "JaBear" on Saturday, November 21, 2020 5:49 PM

gmpullman
Shades of PRR Streamlining!

I gather Ed, that the NZGR J class streamlining was influenced by The New York, New Haven & Hartford I-5 class locomotives. I know not who they were influenced by.
As you are no doubt well aware, streamlining may have looked good, though beauty can be in the eye of the beholder, but it made maintenance more time consuming, and with the wartime demands, streamlining began to be discarded.
 
In these photos given to me by the late J.A.T (Trev) Terry we see that J 1218 with just the top cowling removed and later with all the streamlining removed.
 
North British Locomotive Works, J class, blt 1939, stiil retains "bullet nose" by Bear, on Flickr
North British, J Class, built 1939 by Bear, on Flickr
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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Posted by Track fiddler on Saturday, November 21, 2020 7:05 PM

Evening diners

Well I got my new wheels on my truck today and I got to say I'm really happy that my buddy found them because they look great.  What a steal at 450 bucks. 

I must say I'm getting to the age where a Friday night or a Saturday doesn't feel much different then any other day anymore.  It's like the Magic and the thrill of the weekend has kind of faded through recent years. 

I have to admit though, I almost felt like a young Kid with the excitement of new rims and tires on my truck today.  It almost felt like the first time I got some back in the day.  Maybe cuz I did the body work and spruced up my work truck this spring and made it look nice again.

 

I hope your contractor shows up one of these days Kevin.  How discouraging he keeps putting you off.  I got to tell you my name is John and I'm always Johnny-on-the-spot when I tell people I will show up to do their job.  I just don't understand that kind of unprofessionalism in some of these contractors bad practices.  I hope John's guy showed up today.

Well I might yet drive up to Little Canada tomorrow to get my 261 C channel.  I only have the 3-hour football game to watch.  Other than that I'd really like to finish up my bents.  It's going to be another sunshiny day so a nice drive tomorrow might be the thing to do.

 

P.S.  Thanks for doing such a great job being our host of The Diner this month Bear.  You've outdone yourself so far and I really appreciate it! Yes

 

Make it a great evening guys!

 

 

 

TF

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Posted by York1 on Saturday, November 21, 2020 7:38 PM

Good evening, everyone.  It is cold and misting out.  We didn't get any snow, so that is good news.

Ken, I wish I could give you advice, but I don't know what I would do.  About all I can say is to take care of yourself.

Bear, thanks for all your photos and videos.  Like I said some days ago, at my age I'm pretty sure I won't be getting to NZ, so it's great to see all the images of your beautiful country and the railroads.

TF, retirement did that to me.  One day is the same as any other.  There's no such thing as a weekend anymore.  Or, better yet, every day is part of a weekend.

 

 

York1 John       

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Saturday, November 21, 2020 8:01 PM

Track fiddler
I'm getting to the age where a Friday night or a Saturday doesn't feel much different then any other day anymore. 

The only way I know it is Friday or Saturday is because the neighbors make more noise on the weekends. Other than that, for me, it is all the same now.

Ken: Sorry for all your troubles. My wife and I have too much stuff, but we are thinning it out room by room.

TOP OF THE PAGE:

Everybody have a Three Olives Triple Shot Espresso Vodka and Cream on ice. Better than a White Russian.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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Posted by tuilockie on Saturday, November 21, 2020 9:33 PM

My uncle was the last engine driver in New Zealand who went through the old NZR steam engine school. He retired from New Zealand Railways back in the 90s I believe.

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Posted by BATMAN on Saturday, November 21, 2020 10:55 PM

Good evening all.

Spent all-day helping the electrician pull cable. It is a good thing I got a huge panel put in when I had the power bumped to 200 amps. I booked the electrician 3 weeks ago and he showed up at 0800hrs, exactly on time and worked his butt off. I have a lot of holes to fix tomorrow.

The restoration company left the place spotless when they left Friday, could not be happier.

Were livin like the Beverly Hillbillies these days.Laugh

 My son felt sorry for me and came home with some high-end stuff.Laugh Note the name on the bottle. It is actually really good for cheapo wine.

Image may contain: drink

Bear, I have really enjoyed the videos and pics this month.YesBeer I liked the volcano pics. I did a very long all-day hike at Mount Cook when I was there, that was a good day.

Ken, sorry to hear about your wife and her hoarding problems. Therapy can really help with issues like that. Maybe start by doing some reading on some reputable mental health sites and go from there. 

All our appliances are at the store waiting for our call to deliver them. We did not want to risk not getting them as there are shortages due to so many people renovating because they can't do anything else with their money with this covid thing going on. The store is happy to hold them for as long as we need.

The wife is finally getting her new kitchen and there will not be the usual 20 for Christmas dinner, just the four of us this year. It should make next year more enjoyable after missing a year. We always have a busy social calendar over Christmas and it is all cancelled this year. I can't imagine the thought of losing someone just because we got together for Christmas dinner.

ED, the new cat is cute. Wish we could have a cat but both the wife and I are really allergic to them.

Jimmy, good to hear from you, haven't seen you much on FB either lately. How is the bike riding going?

Time for part three of "The Crown" and then the rack so I can get up and patch drywall all day. The best part is it will all be behind where the cabinets go so perfection is not required. I have to keep reminding myself of that though.

All the best to all.

 

 

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

  • Member since
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  • From: A Comfy Cave, New Zealand
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Posted by "JaBear" on Sunday, November 22, 2020 4:55 AM
In light of the current transportation issues across the Pacific, and that as the Diner has been regauged, and converted to run on 240 volts, I believe that it’s my duty to try to be a good host.
I like to preview my video offerings to see if they could be interesting to other ffolkes, not too long or boring, and are appropriate for the Diners patrons. Recently watched a video of a great low pass by a fast-moving aircraft which was unfortunately spoilt by someone’s’ not the cameraman, expletive filled expression of amazement.
 
So, thanks to those Diners who have made the kind remarks.
 
On our flight on Friday we headed back home via Stratford in Taranaki which allowed me to take another photo of Mt Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe, but from the west.
 
West view by Bear, on Flickr
 
However, it wasn’t until we landed at Stratford that the cloud cover around Mt Taranaki moved enough for me to be able to take this shot.
 
Mt Taranaki. by Bear, on Flickr
 
The things you can see in a blokes shed…
 
Tig by Bear, on Flickr
 
And as Batman keeps on finding great boat/train photos, here, courtesy of the Lakes District Museum, is another taken at Kingston of the locomotive for the Kingston Flyer and the TSS Earnslaw.
 
Kingston Flyer, Earnslaw. by Bear, on Flickr
 
Finally, a video taken in the Waikato.
 
 

Thoughts and best Wishes to All that need them, Kia Kaha.
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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Posted by hon30critter on Sunday, November 22, 2020 5:32 AM

Hi Bear,

Thanks for all the great videos and pictures! You live in an incredibly beautiful country with a wonderful history. My niece and her husband lived and taught in NZ for three years. They loved every minute of it.

Cheers!!

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 SeeYou190 on Sunday, November 22, 2020 5:43 AM

Meanwhile, here in Lee County, Florida (yesterday):

He never dropped his cigar!

"Gunner is now a little hesitant getting near the water", Yeah, I'll bet he is!

The Florida Wildlife Federation has cameras literally everywhere.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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Posted by hon30critter on Sunday, November 22, 2020 6:02 AM

cudaken
 Well the ash hit the fan tonight! Wife pushed the wrong button and I told her what I thouht about her Hoarding!  Pretty much told her it is betwen her junk or me. There is not a sngle chair or couch in this house I can sit on! There has been 5 laundry baskets in the laundry room for 4 years! She has filled all of the cloest with her clothes, and the back bedroom! Rubber Made beens all though house with her junk.

Hi Ken,

I can appreciate that you are in a tough situation. My parents kept everything they ever owned, and while they managed to keep the main living areas in their house fairly free of clutter, the basement and attic, and my mom's sewing room were disasters!! When they moved out of the house, we took 17 large trailer loads of junk to the dump. My mother was furious that we were throwing away all of this 'good' stuff but there was very little worth salvaging.

There are people who specialize in dealing with issues like hoarding. They will come in and gently persuade the hoarder to part with most of their 'precious' belongings. There will be a cost involved of course, but that cost will most certainly be less than the cost of moving out and establishing a second residence, and much cheaper than the cost of a divorce. 

It may be time for a little bit of 'tough love' Ken. That's easy to say but really hard to do.

I really hope that you can work things out.

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 Cederstrand on Sunday, November 22, 2020 8:36 AM

Italian roast coffee and a bowl of bean soup, please.

Expecting one last parcel with extra power connectors for our dueling HO layouts. 

Have a fantstic day all. Healing thoughts for those in need.

Cheers! Cowboy Rob

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Posted by Heartland Division CB&Q on Sunday, November 22, 2020 9:06 AM

Good morning, everybody. 

It is hard to believe Thanksgiving is only a few days away. I'm still not up to par after that long lasting upper respiratory infection. Hoping to be okay by Thursday. 

I have not touched the model railroad in a month because of all of that. 

Railroad news. ...... I heard the Rocky Mountaineer will have an operation in the US next summer. It will be on the former Rio Grande in CO and UT. My wife and I have been on that train in western Canada., and it is very nice. 

Everybody ..... Have a nice day. 

 

 

GARRY

HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR

EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU

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Posted by York1 on Sunday, November 22, 2020 9:33 AM

Good Sunday morning.

Not much going on here.  I'm going to work on the layout church's cemetery today.

We are having family get together Thursday.  My youngest daughter is having a another baby in December, and she says that if we are getting together, absolutely everybody has to quarantine for two weeks before.  Seeing the grandchildren is worth it.

So we have another week of not getting out.

At one time in my life, I would have considered quarantine life to be great.  No where to go, no work to do -- what could be better?  Now that it is forced onto us, I'm finding it's not so attractive anymore.

Hope everyone can stay healthy and in good spirits.

 

York1 John       

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Posted by Track fiddler on Sunday, November 22, 2020 9:47 AM

Good morning

I love the lazy relaxing Sunday ones.  I was flipping through channels over coffee this morning and came across the Flintstones.  I liked that one when I was a Kid.  It was the classic episode where Rock Roll got laryngitis from accidentally eating dodo bird eggs.  Fred looked just like him and had to go on stage and perform Music In Bedrock Twist Twist Music.  I had to stop and watch,  I got a kick out of that one Back in the DayLaugh  I think everyone has a few classic cartoons they remember.

Well normally we'd be having our big Sunday morning brunch at 11:00.  Judy's still not able to eat much from getting her tooth yanked so it looks like just scrambled eggs and shredded cheddar this morning.

 

Have a great Sunday all

 

P.S.   I hope you're feeling better for Thanksgiving GarryDinnerWink   

Congratulations on your upcoming Grandchild JohnYes

Dueling layouts sound interesting!  Hopefully not like The Adams Family oneStick out tongue  Hopefully your parcel comes soon Rob

 

 

TF

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Posted by maxman on Sunday, November 22, 2020 10:41 AM

hon30critter
My parents kept everything they ever owned

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Posted by NorthBrit on Sunday, November 22, 2020 10:47 AM

Good afternoon all.   Well Plan A 'went out the window'.  Dawn took a tumble and fell rather awkwardly.  Being disabled hasn't helped.   Paramedics arrived and gave her a thorough check-over.    Fortunately all is well apart from a graze on her leg.   She is okay now and 'larger than life'.

Needlessly,  the running of trains has stopped for the moment.

English fish and chips with mushy peas (comfort food)  for dinner tonite.

 

Thoughts and Peace to All who require.

Stay Safe.

 

David

To the world you are someone.    To someone you are the world

I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought

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