APRIL, 2021
For the APRIL Diner our host David will guide the Diner patrons through the beautiful environs of Scotland. This is sure to be an enjoyable ride!
Please join in and suggest or contribute ideas for locations or trains to ride in your favorite locale.
Mr. Randy Rinker added retroactively.
Ed: Thank you for opening the new diner in Scotland!
The painters have the entire house covered in primer. My house is no longer pink! They painted the soffet and roof trim. It looks great.
The main paint colour goes on over the next few days.
The World Is A Beautiful Place.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Good morning all. Plenty of toast, tea and marmalade.
Thanks Dave for Last month.
Ed. Thanks for setting things up for our trip around Scotland.
Today we start our journey in Glasgow.
For those with jetlag (or whatever) a walk around Glasgow whilst I sought out our train journey.
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Glasgow Central Station
Our first few days will be in the area controlled by The Glasgow & South Western Railway Company
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Settle down with a glass of whisky for a little trip from Glasgow Central to Largs. Then to Wemyss Bay Station and Gourock.
Thoughts & Peace to All who Require.
David
Good morning, diners! I must have slept on the plane flight to Scotland -- I don't remember a thing.
Dave and Ed, thanks for last month and for getting us here safely.
David, thanks for the videos. Great scenes so far.
It's another busy day for me. But, today is the last day for things to do. Tomorrow I settle back into retirement with full days of nothing scheduled.
I wish for everyone to enjoy April 1st.
York1 John
York1Dave and Ed, thanks for last month and for getting us here safely.
Yes.. another thank you to Dave for the very interesting diner trip last month and all the interesting information that Ed added along the way. It was a lot of fun.
David, thank you for the trip to Scotland this month.
Howdy everybody.
Scotland should be fun. I have ancestors from there. Thanks, Ed, for starting the thread, and thanks David UK for your posts so far this month.
I just saw in Facebook, HO models of Grand Trunk Western GP9R's will be made in Detroit, MI by a small company called Motown Models. Remarkable.
Everybody:.... Have a nice day. Watch out for April 1st pranks.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Various Railway Companies had their own stations that had landing stages for the ships to travel to islands and other ports on the coast.
The Caledonian Railway had one at Wemyss Bay. I made many a trip from there to Rothesay.
Enjoy.
Stay Safe
Thanks for hosting this months' tour, David and hats off to you, Dave for last months enjoyable ride!
I found rooms in a quite agreeable little place here in Dumfries:
Dumfries_Scotland by Edmund, on Flickr
Now what do you suppose this little trolley is used for?
Dumfries_Scotland_crop by Edmund, on Flickr
Looks like it could be for carrying 120mm mortar shells? Flower vases?
I'm looking at schedules to fit in my visit to the Forth bridge.
19960606 08 Firth of Forth Bridge by David Wilson, on Flickr
Our April fools' joke is about two inches of snow outside Looks like I'll be forced to spend another night in the train room!
Cheers, Ed
gmpullmanLooks like I'll be forced to spend another night in the train room!
gmpullmanOur April fools' joke is about two inches of snow outside Looks like I'll be forced to spend another night in the train room!
We had a "cold front" go through today. It gave us the first rain we have had in over three weeks. The temperatures are not changing, still 70/90 down here, but the humidity will be lower tomorrow.
SeeYou190We had a "cold front" go through today. It gave us the first rain we have had in over three weeks. The temperatures are not changing, still 70/90 down here, but the humidity will be lower tomorrow.
I've had a traumatic change in my life:
Two weeks ago, I was in Florida. It was 90°, high humidity, I wore a T-Shirt, and I sweated like a cook in a hot kitchen.
Yesterday, for my morning walk, I had on a T-Shirt, regular shirt, coat, gloves, and hat, and I was still cold.
My schedule has cleared up, and I'm going to work on my Arduino crossing signals. I've spent a lot of time on getting the materials, making the crossing signals, and learning the Arduino programming. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it for some small crossing signals that most people won't notice. But ... what else do I have to do? It's not like I'm overloaded with an actual job.
Howdy
David UK .... The Wemyss Bay Railway station is amazing. Glad it was restored.
Ed ..... The Forth Bridge is remarkable, and I agree we should see it this month.
Weather? .... Colder than normal here today.
Happy Model Railroading.
Good Evening,
I got my first covid shot today. The process was quite smooth considering the size of the facility.
David, Robbie was asking me when we will be visiting the Highlands as he is hoping to see packs of Westies hunting badgers. I told him his ancestors did that but not now. Besides with his bad leg he would just have to watch from the train window. He was disappointed but a treat soon made him happy.
Ken, where are you? Maybe he's having computer trouble.
Since I was in a facility with hundreds of people my wife has me in a 2 week basement quarantine. Everyone was 6 feet apart and wearing masks but that doesn't matter I might be contaminated.
Time for tea and some Scottish short bread. One of my favouite combos.
CN Charlie
Temperaturse skyrocketing to 60°F on Sunday!
KBKL_April2 by Edmund, on Flickr
Low of 23° tonight? Brrr.
That's April around the Great Lakes.
19960606 06 North Queensferry by David Wilson, on Flickr
Homemade pizza tonight
The dough has risen, time to punch 'er down, then open a Heinekin
Evenin' folks!
Just a cup of decaf before I hit the hay for the night, Flo.....
York1Yesterday, for my morning walk, I had on a T-Shirt, regular shirt, coat, gloves, and hat, and I was still cold.
Tuesday I put in a little over 5 miles of running and walking. Beautiful day in the high 50's low 60's and I finished up 5,000 miles according to Fitbit with two weeks to spare to get it done in 3 years. That is the equivalent of from my house (In the Finger Lakes Region of NYS) to close to San Francisco and back again. Today, I stayed inside as I don't like to run when there is a blizzard of little white things out there and a 25 MPH wind...... LOL I only walked to the mailbox at the street and back again and wore my winter coat to do that!
Vaccination.... I am now "Fully Vacinated" having been more than two weeks since the second dose and got the great news that the lady I have been dating (if you can call it that during a pandemic... Although we did power walk about 4 miles on the old Erie Canal Trail where the tracks for the Rochester and Eastern Trolley line once were a couple weeks ago) did get her first dose and will get the second dose a week from Saturday!!! We have already started planning some places to go during the summer. I plan to take her on a Helicopter Ride and she want us to visit a museum near Buffalo, NY (might be a train museum I have been to many times but wouldn't mind seeing again).
Hope everyone has a great Easter or whatever you celebrate and stay safe! Great to hear of many of you having gotten the vaccine!!!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
I was weeding dandelions today, in this storm, a first for me to weed in the snow.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
The miscellaneous mechanical doo-dads on the South side of the house have been masked off and painted.
The house should be done next week. Not much happened today because of the rain.
The new garage door should be installed withing six weeks. 170 MPH Category 5 insulated garage door with new track and springs was less than $1,600.00 installed. That was a nice surprise.
Things around here are going in the right direction, but still way behind schedule.
Good morning all. A cold day here in the former land of the North British Railway.
Yes Garry, Wemyss Station is amazing now. A number of stations have been modernised.
Charlie, I shall try and look out for some West Highland Terriers.
A short film of the former North British Railway Station -- Glasgow Queen Street.
As mentioned yesterday we will spend a little time in the land of the former Glasgow & South Western Railway
https://spellerweb.net/rhindex/UKRH/GandSWR/GSWR.html
Today a journey from Glasgow Central to Stranraer. Relax with your coffee and cake.
Thoughts & Peace to All who Require
The railway from Stranraer to Dumfries has long gone. The only film of the railway I have found is 'shaky and grainy'. Not doing the area justice.
Instead some views of the area.
Board the Diner in Newcastle. A trip on The Galloway Explorer.
Newcastle to Edinburgh then to Glasgow. To Stranraer, Dumfries and Carlisle back to Newcastle
Good morning diners! Chloe, I will need lots of black coffee.
I am so tired of getting up early to meet the painters.
David: Thanks for all the information about Scotland you are presenting.
It is COLD here. The weather people were all talking on the news how this was unexpected. 44 degrees this morning when they pridected 66!
It is up to 52 now.
Good morning, diners -- it's great to eat breakfast in beautiful Scotland.
Nothing planned today except afternoon church. I'm still working on some crossing signals. Progress is slow.
I hate to say it, but the neighbor just mowed his lawn. The grass hadn't grown, but I think he wanted to clean all of winter's debris. This time each year I begin to dream of covering my entire lot with Astroturf.
Since we are posting photos of the world as a beautiful place, how about: Not a beautiful place -- Mos Eisley spaceport: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Good Afternoon,
Another warm day here, we have been 10C above normal for several weeks and the trend is to continue. Very dry though,
David, I meant to ask you about that picture of the engine with the westie logo on the side. Is it commercially available? Ordering here from the UK is no problem as we have great mail service.
Think I might put the K5a, CN Hudson, onthe rails. Not a lot to do in the basement.
Charlie. My locomotive is not available now. Probably on Ebay but I would suggest getting a new locomotive from a store over here (to your requirements - DC, DCC Sound etc.) Hatton's or Kernow Model Rail Centre for example. Then contact Railtec for the decals and renumber your model to Eastfield Depot. Their decals have Westies.
https://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=139
Looking at the sheet there are numbers for locomotive classes -- 37, 47, 20, 27, 08 and 26. Six types of locomotive to choose from that were at Eastfield.
Hello Railfans!
Top of the day to yas! Wasnt sure i was gonna make it here to Scotty-Land! You folks ever see the movie "Major League" #1? Do you remember the scenes where they are forced to travel on some rickety ole prop plane? Well, if my phone was the plane.... thats the trip i just had!
Gotta love modern programmers! Fresh out of Apple school and ready to code with crayons. It doesnt matter what they are working on - phones, puters, etc etc. One lil update and BAM - brick city! Funny thing though, if these modern programmers coded it right the first time...... they wouldnt need updates and patchs! I guess as long as the 'steal your info' part of the code works, who cares about what the software is sposed to actually do, or if it works correctly, right?
Anyways, not to be undone - here i am. A few apps short (pun intended on myself) but im here. So, were in Scotland aye? As long as i dont have to wear a kilt, well be fine. I only know two things about Scotland.... Its given us clover, and AC/DC. Thats 2 for 2 - which is thumbs up in my book! I hear their whiskey aint bad either.
Still not much happening in the train room. The latest catch from the 'Bay' arrived. 3 moderately kept Varney cars. In good working condition for $5. They need some tlc - missing most of their brake detail componants. Ive never before collected models older than I until last few years, and I am amazed at how good the models are for this era. Ill be keeping my eye out for future acquisitions.
Spose thats about it for this round. Everyone have a great day!
Riding the Yellows
Douglas
I just started looking at all the new Trains.com stuff and in the model railroader sections is seems like alot of videos are missing? I am just missing something or did everything not get ported over?
Sometimes you just have to spend the money!
I just won three True Line Trains TH&B slab sided hoppers on eBay. I have been looking for these cars for years and they rarely come up. When they do, they go for very high prices so I had been outbid several times. This time I told myself that those cars are mine!
These will be the most expensive RTR cars that I have ever bought but I'm not going to worry about that. I now have a modest fleet of 11 True Line slab sided hoppers in both CP and TH&B livery. Unfortunately not all the hatch patterns are the same but I will take what I can get. They will make a train that is plenty long enough for my layout.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!