All is well in my neck of the woods.
I sincerely hope everyone else are all doing OK.
The World Is A Beautiful Place.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Good evening Diners. A Highgrove tea and a blueberry muffin please Brunhilda.
I hope Ken is feeling much better and will soon be here.
Others not here I hope they too are okay.
It has been a busy day today. I was down at Durham Cricket Club arranging a 'Retired People Practice Cricket Session for tomorrow. Afterwards I was doing a few jobs around the house.
Flo said the pie was all eaten.
Teriyaki Sesame Chicken and Green Beans. Dawn's favorite.
Stay Safe Everyone.
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Kevin: Regarding your upcoming trip. We have neighbors here in Kentucky who just took a trip to Michigan driving through Indiana . They said the COVID restrictions in both states had closed indoor dining at restaurants while they were there. ..... So, I just called Zehnders in Frankenmuth. Good news is indoor dining is now available . They must follow rules however. Face masks and social distancing are required. The Cow Path room is open but seating in it is hard to get. They do take reservations, and I suggest you call ahead for that. You could arrive downtown before your reservation and do a little shopping first. Usually, the restaurant gives coupons for free ornaments at Bronners Christmas store. So if you want to shop at Bronners wait until after you eat. Also, if you like authentic German sausage, there is a store selling that between Bronners and Zehnders . Zehnders Facebook page has their phone number and a picture of the all-you-can-eat chicken dinner.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Good morning, everybody .
Ed .... Thanks for all the photos and videos. The C&O business car is very nice. Seeing the old videos of freight trains reminds me of the 1950's when boxcars were so common. I liked watching freight trains and looking at all of the different railroad names in a 100 car train of mostly boxcars.
Kevin .... The Chex mix looks good.
Everybody ...... Have a very nice day.
Good morning everyone.
The afternoon rains have begun down here. They are sproadic right now, but they will become daily very soon.
I am hoping to ready the area by the front door for the pavers today, but outside work is now weather-dependent. I will begin framing the closet inside if outside work becomes impossible.
Everyone be safe.
Good morning
Flo, I'll have a coffee and the breakfast pie that David left me Bring some extra plates please, so I can share it with others that stop in this morning. Tell him thanks if he doesn't make it in before I leave and let him know his nice weather is on the way
Checked out the video of the LV's this morning Ed. I have three U36B's. I haven't seen The 23's or other variations before today, or a live prototypical one for that matter. Could definitely see the superelevation in that video. I wonder if they ever repaired that soggy rail that sagged up and down as it looked like an accident waiting to happen. I wonder if one could model one of those?
Great looking Chex trail mix Kevin. Erv always makes a good version of that for ice fishing in the winter.
Good to hear you got your signals done John. Now you shouldn't have any crashes on your layout like on The Addams Family layout, As long as the little people obey them
Nothing much happened yesterday except getting my wiper transmission and linkage in my truck replaced. Went over to Jerry's on a break in the afternoon to get some chicken for lunch. It's a grocery store but they have the best rotisserie chicken and also a really good Deli and bakery.
I don't know if anyone here remembers the Mickey's Banana Flips from the 70s but it was a real treat when you got one of those packed in your lunch when I was in grade school. They just disappeared one year, I can't even find a picture of one anymore. The bakery at Jerry's had homemade ones that were way more tastier than the processed Mickey's ones ever were.
These things are called Angel Flips and a light fluffy taste of Heaven. Melts in your mouth Man! They also had lemon, strawberry and vanilla ones I'll have to try next. So bad for you but 'Oh' So Good
Well, I have some odds and ends to do in the building today. I'll finish up enjoying my coffee here, drop Judy off at work and see if I can get busy getting a few of those things done.
Have a great day everyone
TF
Good Morning!
The good folks of Scranton left their sign lit up for us!
Scranton_Electric by Edmund, on Flickr
I'll take two big fistfuls of Chex Mix, Kevin That stuff is addictive!
I hope everyone is doing well and has a great day.
Regards, Ed
Today was "Make The Chex-Mix" day!
My favorite grocery store, Publix, puts different stuff on sale buy-one-get-one-free every week. About every eight weeks I can collect all the ingredients for Chex-Mix for 50% off.
I make massive batches when I make Chex-Mix. Here are all four pans mixed up, buttered, and spiced... ready for the oven!
And into the oven for 75 minutes of cooking.
Then all dumped out on baking paper to cool down.
Finally the goodies are bagged up for consumption, but the best is the bowl I eat when it is still warm from the oven!
That was my fun for the day.
They were supposed to be here to install the new garage door tomorrow, but they called and need to delay it until the 25th because of illnesses.
That actually works out better for me. I was going to spend the day cleaning out the garage, instead I spent the day doing pretty much nothing.
This was a banner day. I finished the fourth and last set of layout crossing signals. I started this in January with some online Arduino lessons. Tomorrow I am putting all the Arduino stuff away for a while to let my brain decompress.
York1 John
Well, that is the baking done.
TF I did an extra pie and have left it in the Diner. There are some pineapple tarts as well.
Black Beany Beef with Loaded Wedges.
Then a well earned rest.
Stay safe Everyone.
David
Heartland Division CB&QOther interesting sights on the way to Yellowstone of course are Mt. Rushmore and Devils Tower.
We tried to see these in 2019 when we went through South Dakota. Unfortunately, it was raining that day, and the opportunity was lost.
Heartland Division CB&Q At Zehnders , we ask to be seated in the Cow Path Room which is smaller than the large dining rooms elsewhere in the building . It has only 6 or 8 booths. I suggest you have the all you can eat chicken dinner. Their chicken is as good as it gets.
I added this suggestion to my travel notes. Thank you!
NorthBritThe Airfix turntable was first released in 1961. The picture on the box is a 1960s design.
Thank you for this information David. That answers my questions. I think the beams will end up on a gondola as intended, but I might try to make the turntable into a static prop with a lighter bridge structure.
Track fiddlerCould be a subliminal message to stop in Duluth and Proctor to see the Yellowstones before you go to Yellowstone.
If we veer North and see Porcupine Mountain in the morning, we might be able to visit Duluth in the afternoon.
Water Level RouteTop of the Page! Breakfast is on me!
That looks delicious! Thank you for sharing.
gmpullmanHere's a runby with some neat equipment in it.
That was not what I was expecting when the video started. The privately owned passenger cars must be a labor of love. I cannot imagine all the upkeep involved with something like that.
Track fiddlerRental car prices are off the charts.
You are speaking the truth! I think I posted before, but mine is costing $2,000.00 for the month. That is over double what I paid in 2019. It is still better than putting 10,000 miles on my own car, and I do not need to worry about travel delays in case of break down.
Water Level RouteWe've always been a close family and spend a lot of time doing things as a family. My girls are 14 and almost 17. I'm already wondering where the time went.
If you find out where the time went, let me know. I don't know how my baby-baby turned out to be 25!
Ed, those are great pictures of something I've always dreamed of, but never experienced.
Every so often, I will check in on the private car owners website just to see how people I envy live. I also look at the Ozark site to see what passenger cars are for sale.
The train museum in Chandler, AZ, has some private cars parked there. I loved looking at them. It's too bad Amtrak has so restricted private cars and made it nearly impossible to use them.
York1Mike, savor every minute of your daughter's parties. I had three girls, and that time went by so fast. I now look back at it and wonder what happened.
York1Ed, your nephew sure has a neat idea of restoring the passenger cars. Is he doing that for a company, or does he own those cars?
Edit: I see you posted an answer. Pretty cool!
Mike
York1Ed, your nephew sure has a neat idea of restoring the passenger cars. Is he doing that for a company, or does he own those cars? What a great project to preserve the cars.
He owns two and is a partner with the third.
He has an Empire Builder car, too:
L&CP3 by Edmund, on Flickr
He was planning to sell this one and I'm not sure if he did or not. For a while owning a private car wasn't too much of a headache but new policy at Amtrak has made it difficult. The best recouese is to be located near a shortline and avoid Amtrak if at all possible.
I used to spend time with the people who owned C&O Business Car #3. That car would be 100 years old this year and it is still Amtrak certified and can operate at 100 miles an hour
C&O 3 Chapel Hill 9-1975 mb by mbernero, on Flickr
I like traveling by private car
IMG_0435 by Edmund, on Flickr
IMG_0468 by Edmund, on Flickr
You can grow accustomed to it very easily.
Cheers, Ed
Good morning, everyone. After reading some of the cooking going on by the diner crowd, my bacon and eggs seems tame.
Mike, savor every minute of your daughter's parties. I had three girls, and that time went by so fast. I now look back at it and wonder what happened.
Ed, your nephew sure has a neat idea of restoring the passenger cars. Is he doing that for a company, or does he own those cars? What a great project to preserve the cars.
Hope everyone has a good day today.
gmpullman The Golden Ray was only two years old, oh well, she got more use than the Titanic
The Golden Ray was only two years old, oh well, she got more use than the Titanic
POST HOG!
It seems both ship captains felt navigating quickly opposed to safety was the better decision for some unknown reasons. You would think one would have learned a valuable lesson from history. Leaving a little buffer zone of weight in his ballast tanks instead of risking the chances making a huge mistake could have been a better choice
Leaves me to wonder if in the future they will have an on-scale weight and an off-scale weight, loading and unloading cargo to calculate the ballast tank levels
P.S. Oh man! I didn't reserve my slice of breakfast pie in time David Heartbroken now, ...No nice weather for you!
TF You should have been quicker. News that we are baking a pie spread like wildfire. Son, daughter and other grandchildren want a piece!
Ed. A great host, thank you.
Mike. The sleepover sounds it is going to be manic.
How about chopping up a RORO that is completely submerged?
Looks like they have abrasive stones strung along the cutting line. Handling those wire-rope slings is dangerous enough on dry land. Underwater? Nuts!
This is the MV Tricolor which was rammed by a container ship in the English Channel near Dunkirk in December of 2002.
There's a longer story about it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ENOJBLVgjw
and here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Tricolor
How did we get from hard coal to shipwrecks? (I know, my fault)
If I lived closer I would have came over to help you move that dirt. Your breakfast made my mouth start watering Mike. That's enough bacon to sink a Battle(Golden) Ship It's easy to poke fun at a big disaster like that when luckily no one was hurt.
I know what's on the list of things to do for me today. I have a trip coming up on the 28th to see my grandson graduate in North Dakota and then a short trip to St Cloud on the 8th or the 9th.
Rental car prices are off the charts so I'm breaking my own rule and taking the truck. My windshield wiper transmission motor went out and needs to be replaced. I only have one wiper working on the driver side so it looks like Car Care Seminar on my truck today
Thanks, TF, Glad you're enjoying the ride
It "looks" to me like some of those decks can be adjusted for height? The Golden Ray was only two years old, oh well, she got more use than the Titanic
Here's a runby with some neat equipment in it:
Three of these cars belong to my nephew. The Santa Fe Pine King; the B&O Shenango and the NKP City of Chicago. He just got done repainting and relettering them. You should see the pan of water you have to soak the decals in! I helped him research the B&O paint and lettering.
He's repairing the interiors, too, trying to make them as original as possible. Quite a task for 65 year-old cars. They are being moved for some upcoming trips from Cincinnati to locations in Indiana.
NKP_151 by Edmund, on Flickr
I don't remember if I posted these before. I did volume I the other day and I can't find a vol. 2 so here's vol. 3
Sunny today but still cool. High of maybe 50°!
NorthBritThat's my afternoon taken care of.
Well, I got the rest of my dirt moved last night. Only took a couple of wheelbarrow loads to feel like I never stopped shoveling from the day before! Sheesh!
They opened up the vaccine to 12-15 yr olds yesterday and the local health department made them immediately available. My youngest got her shot, so we are a few weeks away from having the whole family fully vaccinated. What a relief. She had two birthdays impacted by the whole thing, right at the tail end of the age where they (at least for me) still feel like a big deal. She was really bummed about it this year. We are going to let her have a big sleepover with friends once everyone is protected to "make it up" to her. A big group of 14 year old girls at my house going bonkers over being able to hang out again? What have I agreed to?!?!
Track fiddlerHappy Hump Day everyone
Have a good day fellas!
Edit: Top of the Page! Breakfast is on me!
Thanks Ed for the fine job hosting the diner this month. Enjoying the interesting and entertaining videos everyday
The cross sections of the Golden Ray shows how Mammoth that thing was. If a couple decks were removed between each four, it could haul locomotives and make them look like toys. Ships are truly fascinating.
I read a couple articles on the Golden Ray Wreck after seeing your videos. One was called Ship Happens You sure were correct about the ballast tanks Ed. It sounds like a bad mathematical error was made in Brunswick when they unloaded sub-compacts and loaded SUVs. They said the extra weight added in the swap and the amount of water discharged from the ballast tanks at that time, made the ship like balancing a pencil on its tip. That sure was a costly error. There seems to be a lot of ship captains in la la land these days.
Looks like a great travel plan Kevin. I think you and the wife are going to have a lot of fun. I don't know if you noticed but the shape of your travel plan is alarmingly close to the shape of Lake Superior. Could be a subliminal message to stop in Duluth and Proctor to see the Yellowstones before you go to Yellowstone
The Spirit Mountain Inn hotel where we always stay overlooks Duluth on the Skyline Parkway. They have much more reasonable rates than the hotels in town. It's a beautiful 5-10 minute view driving down the hill to get to everything to see in town.
I like that turntable kit. It's quite unique as it looks heavy duty like a turntable/bridge all in one
I'll be sending warmer weather over there for a slice of that pie David. A slice of quiche is always delicious for breakfast
Good morning Diners. The usual tea and toast please, Brunhilda.
A day of sunshine and showers.
Kevin. The Airfix turntable was first released in 1961. It is still being produced under the Dapol Brand. The picture on the box is a 1960s design.
I have been asked to bake a pie. My younger granddaughter likes me to show her to bake and is visiting after school. We shall bake a three types of mushroom, bacon and egg pie. If possible (if there is any pastry left) some pineapple tarts.
That's my afternoon taken care of.
Thoughts & Peace to All who Require.
Good evening ...
Kevin ... Other interesting sights on the way to Yellowstone of course are Mt. Rushmore and Devils Tower. ....
You said you plan to stop in Frankenmuth , Michigan , so I will say more. There are two main restaurants downtown. They are Zehnders and Bavarian Inn Restaurant. We go to Zehnders although they are nearly the same. At Zehnders , we ask to be seated in the Cow Path Room which is smaller than the large dining rooms elsewhere in the building . It has only 6 or 8 booths.
I suggest you have the all you can eat chicken dinner. Their chicken is as good as it gets. Several side items are served including really good German style noodles. They have ice cream for dessert which is included with the meal. We like swirled with vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet. It hits the spot following a huge main course.
Everbody ... Have a nice night
BigDaddyKevin Do go to Cody, there are 5 museums, Buffalo Bill, Winchester, Native American, Art and Natural History and catch the rodeo. The road to Red Lodge, via Bear Tooth Pass is beautiful.
I am spending two nights in Cody. Definitely a lot there I want to see.
BigDaddyLittle Big Horn is another must see. They have the graves marked and you can see how they were chased up the hill.
I went to Little Big Horn in 2019. It was the second most impactful battlefield I have visited, the most powerful being Shiloh Church. I still need to get to Gettysburg and Bull Run.
I received a nifty item in the mail today.
This old 12 inch long HO/OO scale turntable by Airfix Models.
The instructions are ancient. I looked all over the box and paperwork, but I could not find a date anywhere.
I did a dry assembly of the model, and every single part is still there. It is 100% complete! What a surprise.
I have no idea what I will ever do with this. I bought it for the girders because I thought they would make a great over-length gondola load. Since it is complete, which is surprising, I might do something else with it.
Here's a few minutes of activity at PRR's Enola yard. Lots of horn dubbed in because Ed Kaspriske was the "Horn Guy" RIP. The neat thing is that it shows the ramp track where the cabin car was "humped" onto the rear of the departing train (did Ed run out of film?)
I wonder just how much savings the big RRs reaped by eliminating the caboose and all its related handling and maintenance costs?
I'll second that. I didn't want to stop, but my wife did. I was so glad we took the time. It was an amazing place, especially if you like history.
cats think well of meI'd like to just get some loops of track up and running in I hope a few months. One of my friends from the train club I used to belong to said he'd help. I'll post more pics soon.
Great news. Keep us posted with some photos.
LazersThis latter allows us to mark Steelwork 'UKCA' (equivalent to 'CE' marking used previously) Now we can Fabricate Structural Steel for Buildings etc. It all represents us taking the Co. to higher status than just a local 'Jobbing-Shop', repairing anything from broken Baby-buggies to Industrial machinery.
Congratulations! Hard work pays off. It's nice to go to w*rk each day when you feel you are accomplishing something and are appreciated.
Glad to hear that Ken is Ok.
Kevin Do go to Cody, there are 5 museums, Buffalo Bill, Winchester, Native American, Art and Natural History and catch the rodeo. The road to Red Lodge, via Bear Tooth Pass is beautiful. Little Big Horn is another must see. They have the graves marked and you can see how they were chased up the hill.
The rabbits have chewed on every tomato plant I planted despite surrounding them with marigolds. I am now trying a cut up bar of Irish Spring soap. I found, walking the dog, that they feed at night. I have neighbors on the other side of the golf course, so there is no ballistic option.
Saw my mother and kids for Mothers' Day. My DIL says she is getting email where the sig line includes their pronouns
Henry
he, him, his and that son of a....
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Hi all,
I posted about having some layout space finally. I'm thinking out how it'll go. As it'll be a fairly temporary enterprise I'm not going to make it a super detailed thing. I'd like to just get some loops of track up and running in I hope a few months. One of my friends from the train club I used to belong to said he'd help. I'll post more pics soon. The room will still be used for storage, but I'll work it around the bench work in there, and I have a work bench there.
Alvie