Hello everyone!
Welcome to Jeffrey's Track Side Diner for May 2022!
This month we get to sit back and relax while the Diner follows vacation trains (holiday trains) all over the world. I think we can be fairly broad in our definition in that the trains don't have to be dedicated excursion trains. If you went on vacation on a train, let's hear about it!
As is our custom, here is the list of fallen model railroaders who have made a significant contribution to the Forums in the past:
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Hi Kevin,
Can you please verify that I have the most recent RIP list? I couldn't get the list from the April Diner so I had to use the one from March.
Thanks,
hon30critterHi Kevin, Can you please verify that I have the most recent RIP list?
Dave: I just sent you an eMail with the RIP Track Script.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190Dave: I just sent you an eMail with the RIP Track Script.
Thanks Kevin. Can you verify that the RIP image is showing now? I was having trouble getting it to post.
hon30critter Can you verify that the RIP image is showing now?
Yes, everything is in place.
The World Is A Beautiful Place
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
See everyone tomorrow.
Good Morning,
Well my efforts to seal up the basement window didn't work as planned. Water is coming in the laundry window but not the other 2 windows like last time. The rain has slowed to a drizzle. I pumped the pond 4 times today, well yesterday. Never had to do that before. The backyard is very soggy. Walking on the lawn leaves footprints as you sink into the soil. Lots of overland flooding. Last year the spring was exceptionally dry.
I cleaned the track on the N scale and ran the RS18 around a few times. I will sell off the Trainmaster and just keep the RS18 and 15 pieces of rolling stock. I had fun building the layout. I guess I will tear it down at one point but it isn't in the way in the furnace room.
I expect I will be up most of the night as the water is still coming in but coming down slowly now. I can see the level at about 3" up the basement window.
It was a year ago yesterday we lost Robbie. Sure miss that little guy.
Well the bucket under the window is full again. Takes about 4 minutes to fill.
CN Charlie
CNCharlieWell the bucket under the window is full again. Takes about 4 minutes to fill.
I'm afraid you are in for a long night!
I hope you can find a solution that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I like water, but not when I am standing in it in my basement!
Good luck!
CNCharlieI expect I will be up most of the night as the water is still coming in but coming down slowly now. I can see the level at about 3" up the basement window.
We are on the top of a hill. Water to our north flows down to the Knife River (20 miles away). Water to our south flows down to the Heart River (20 miles away).
But wouldn't you know it, the water table is very high here. The have done many introventions to mediate the issue, but what do you do when the water comes up from the floor?
They repair the wall, even interior walls, but still the water comes up. But do the liosten to their LION? No they do not.
Solution of LION says to dig a well and remove some of the water from the top of the watertable. What to do with it? Some of it can be piped to the vegitable garden, Some of it can just be dumped over the north side and let it flow down to the lake.
Just need to thake the top foot or so off of the water table.
Never Mind. They will not listen to their LION.
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
hon30critterThis month we get to sit back and relax while the Diner follows vacation trains (holiday trains) all over the world.
Thank you for an excellent transition, Dave!
I was fortunate that my dad hauled me along on quite a few family vacations and some other trips where it was just us guys chasing trains.
Here's one of the earliest I can remember on the East Broad Top:
East Broad Top No. 20 by Edmund, on Flickr
Some time later I was treated to a ride behind the 6218!
6218_Chatham-cab by Edmund, on Flickr
Those CN fan trips were well run and a pleasure to attend.
6218_Chatham by Edmund, on Flickr
This was a stop at Chatham, Ont.
Cheers, Ed
Good morning Charlie
Although I have no way to visualize your complete bad water situation and don't really understand how a bucket under a window collects water. Do you have a floor drain in the laundry room?
In the boiler room we had a leaky pipe in the main that supplies the whole building. The bucket would fill up way too quickly to tend to. The floor drain was about 15-20 feet away. I drilled a hole near the bottom of the bucket that was placed up on a stool, put a hose fitting with a rubber washer and ran the hose over to the floor drain. It solved the problem until the repair could be done, shutting down the whole building for the better part of a day.
Well, that was some time ago and the bucket's still there. I wonder if that could buy you some time to somewhat tide you over until you can come up with a more permanent solution.
Hope that can help.
TF
Great pictures Ed. I barely have any pictures of from when I was young, and none with trains.
I do see trains on vacation. I make a point of it.
Trains I saw on vacation picture 1:
This one was in Utah. I have many more to share this month.
The water stopped coming in around 2 a.m. and it is now dry
TF, the floor drain is in the laundry and we could just let the water run to the drain but my wife is afraid the water will get out of the laundry. Not sure how but sometimes best not to argue. We need to get the window well replaced at a higher level so the ground against the foundation can be built higher. Until that can be done I need to seal up that window better and I do have a new plan.
Ed, nice photo of you and a U2g. For me a U2g is one of the best looking steam locos. It has a nice balance to it and I like the Boxpok drivers and the Vandy tender. I have a model of 6232. CN sure did like Northerns.
Looking forward to seeing the train vacation photos.
Time for more coffee. I am tired this morning. Plan on doing nothing today.
gmpullman TF, your new moniker can be the Tunnel Fiddler!
TF, your new moniker can be the Tunnel Fiddler!
...
Track fiddler —when there's someone better looking that's doing the same thing?
Too bad she isn't riding a horse. She'd be the Fiddler on the Hoof...
For the past four years we've been keeping track of the day the Baltimore Orioles arrive. Without fail it has been May first! Today didn't disappoint
Oriole_Return by Edmund, on Flickr
Just a grab-shot through the window glass.
Oriole_Return_5-1 by Edmund, on Flickr
Yes, that's an orange pool noodle threaded through the hanger. Orioles are attracted to the orange color.
Speaking of orange:
Hot Ford train by Mike Danneman, on Flickr
I really dig these units with the Olympian emblem on the nose
gmpullmanToo bad she isn't riding a horse. She'd be the Fiddler on the Hoof...
Thanks for the laugh Ed. I needed it.
Good evening from the beautiful West Coast.
The day started with me dropping by the Animal Emergency Hospital early to pick up supplies and I was put to work. There was a bit of a rush all of a sudden.
I then came home and did 10.01 kms through the bush in 2:16 minutes, slowin down in my old age. The dog was also dragging a bit but we got'er done.
My daughter got quite sick on Thursday so she had a box of covid test kits dropped off and tested positive instantly, didn't even have to wait the fifteen minutes. She had been coughing up a bit of blood but is starting to feel a bit better. She is triple vaxed, can't imagine how sick she would have been had she not been.
I am enjoying Lions subway shots. Maybe next month we can have a commuter rail/subway theme where we show the systems from our local areas.
Charlie, been watching the Winnipeg flood situation on the news, looks like it could be a bad year.
We already have a significant forest fire going on in the Province. This does not bode well for the months ahead.
Just shot a puppy quickie just after their dinner so they were just starting to settle for a snooze.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5vJqlSyPX0&ab_channel=BATTRAIN1
We have three friends with kids in the armed forces. All three have deployed on short notice, one is in the Army and the other two are on frigates. Unsettling to say the least.
The engineer in these two photos is the same man. Started on the fire-breathing beast which is exhausting work, he now sits in the cab of the latest railroading has to offer, monitoring things. The only way life could get any easier is if he moved into management.
Time to sit in front of the idiot box, too tired to be productive. All the best to all.
Time to sit in front of the idiot box, too tired to be productive.
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."
CNCharlieThe backyard is very soggy. Walking on the lawn leaves footprints as you sink into the soil.
We have had five days straight now with heavy afternoon rains. This is after our usual five months of almost no rain.
One week ago the news was saying that we were in for a Hundred-Year-Drought with the dry conditions. Tonight on the news they expressed concern that the ground might get too saturated before the peak of rainy season, and we should expect flooding. Wow. Weathermen. Just one month until Hurricane season starts. Then their party really begins.
My backyard is also quite soggy now.
I made Red Beans And Rice for dinner. For the second time in a row that I have made this dish the beans are not as soft as I want. I am doing something wrong.
Take care.
SeeYou190 For the second time in a row that I have made this dish the beans are not as soft as I want. I am doing something wrong.
I always seemed to have mixed results with dry beans. Sorting the beans? Took me all day once when I made fifteen bean soup! Soaking overnight. Usually I resort to canned beans (Hanover brand is my fav.)
Dee Ann always used dry beans with better results. Now, a few years ago my son gave us a what I call "digital cooker" (Instapot) which is a new-fangled pressure cooker. Dee Ann cooks the beans in that before using them in a recipe with very good results.
Plus for roasts and other "tough" meats the Instapot is great!
Check it out
Won't replace the smoker but sure is handy sometimes.
gmpullmanPlus for roasts and other "tough" meats the Instapot is great!
If you think 'roasts' are tough, then you are not doing it right...
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
BroadwayLionIf you think 'roasts' are tough, then you are not doing it right...
I generally have the filet mignon. Those lesser cuts are for the hoi polloi.
So far I haven't had any complaints for the way I've prepared my eye of round.
We can't all eat like LIONS
lion_1939 by Edmund, on Flickr
Happy Monday! Ed
Thanks for all the get well wishes and positive feadback, funny on Sunday afternoon while our club was hosting the Division 4 Layout Tour I got a call from a heart surgeon to call and set up an appointment today, will let you know how that goes.
Got woken up at 7:00 am by a roofing contractor tearing off our roof, no notice from the management company that this was happening. This type of stuff has been going on since the old company retired and we got a new one.
Rick Jesionowski
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
A cool 32F with afew white things floating down. Supposed to be 70F by the end of the week.
Bear , the problem with the basement water is a window that is below grade. The metal guard holding back the soil is too low so we can't build up the earth to change the slope. It was put in 62 years ago when the house was built so needs to be dug out and set higher or a taller one installed. Will have to get a foundation contractor to do that. We also have an evestrough drain there that often overflows. Might change that too but means new troughs along front of the house. In the meantime I am trying to seal up the window.
No plans today. Maybe I'll run a train! The Pacific with the combine might actually leave the station.
First, more coffee.
Good morning
Went to Menards to look in the bargain bin for a 1/2 sheet of damaged plywood for my mining horseshoe. It seems bargains are a thing of the past now I guess. Paid almost $30.00 but at least they sell 1/2 sheets as some full sheets were almost $60.00. And since when does OSB cost more than plywood?
I wouldn't be surprised if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac formed a coalition with building material suppliers to drive up the price of real estate as it appears they already did...
We used to nail half slice oranges to a board and put out Welch's grape jelly for the orioles at the resort. I remember they were attracted by bright colors as well.
We had some favorite guests that would come back for a vacation every year. Living at the lodge was almost like a continuous Holiday up there.
One afternoon Mike and I were having a beer in cabin five. Although I didn't condone it, I found out he had spiked the red sugar water in the hummingbird feeder with a little vodka. Those little bug birds would shake their head and sit in a tree for a while. Surprisingly enough, they kept coming back for more. I asked him not to do that anymore and he told me he wouldn't.
gmpullman Hot Ford train by Mike Danneman, on Flickr I really dig these units with the Olympian emblem on the nose
I had to look at my new models to see if I have those Olympian emblems on the front.
Nope, no such luck
I really like the Chicago & Northwesterns with the bird of prey Falcon on the side of them as well Ed. I had two of those in my cart before I found out they were rare. That explains why they were gone within minutes while I was shopping for something else
I have a friend everyone calls Marky Mark that likes to railfan with me. We'll start at the Saint Paul yard where many times you still see some of the old Green Machines mixed in with BNSF and CP rail.
Next stop in Prescott Wisconsin just on the border past Cottage Grove to watch the double stacks. Scabs bar and grill, a good place to have a burger and a beer on the two-story deck overlooking the lift bridge.
A little back to the Southeast is Hastings Minnesota, where at times I've been lucky enough to see one of those bright orange Jack O'Lantern's buzzing the tracks at the Milwaukee Road Bridge.
I also hope the Tunnel Fiddler stays relatively heathy!!
gmpullman Track fiddler —when there's someone better looking that's doing the same thing?
Gotcha Covered.
Fiddler on the Hoof it is.
Make it a great Monday gentleman
Track fiddlerSince when does OSB cost more than plywood?
Isn't that crazy!
OSB is $8.00 more per sheet in my store right now. Needless to say, we barely stock any OSB. It doesn't sell.
Trains I Saw On Vacation Picture #2
Time to watch my show, the off to "work" for the day.
SeeYou190 Track fiddler Since when does OSB cost more than plywood? Isn't that crazy! OSB is $8.00 more per sheet in my store right now. Needless to say, we barely stock any OSB. It doesn't sell.
Track fiddler Since when does OSB cost more than plywood?
Yes it is crazy.
Who's going to buy pricier OSB when plywood is better. It's kind of a shame as OSB is more environmentally friendly. It helps our forests because it's made out of smaller pulpwoods that grow much quicker than SPF conifers.
Track fiddlerLaugh Gotcha Covered. Fiddler on the Hoof it is.
You cannot fool me. That is NOT Lady Godiva!
Good afternoon from the soggy West Coast.
The daughter in Victoria with covid is feeling a little better, the public health nurse is checking on her a couple of times a day. What a great system that is. The son was at a huge function last Friday and now he has tested positive for covid, however, he is also triple vaxed and is showing mild symptoms. Once my daughter tests negative, I'll go get her and bring her home, she can stay in the car on the ferry if she still feels lousy.
Bear, I like that "spicey cough" name. I am going to pass that on to her.
Got our Hydro bill, can you tell when the puppy laundry started.
TF, too bad you don't live near me, I have plenty of partial sheets of ply on hand I would give you. Also some new sheets along with a good selection of lumber. I always keep stocked up as it is a real pain to have to go get what I don't have. My cousin from England was visiting once when I was building something and he came to the mill with me to get the lumber. I told him to throw an extra ten of everything in the back of the truck and he gave me the strangest look. When we went to pay he couldn't believe how cheap it was compared to what he pays for the same stuff in England. I have three mills I can go buy from within a 45-minute drive and the quality is the best and the price is 35-40% of what Home Depot charges for their warped garbage.
I have a 5' x 10' sheet of 5/8" we use as part of our Christmas dinner table as we usually have in excess of twenty for Christmas dinner. I also used to put the kid's Thomas wooden layout on it, he had so much of that stuff it filled it. I put the sheet on 30" high sawhorses so he could walk around it. He had several battery-powered engines and I will admit I use to turn them on and watch them run after he went to bed. That inspired me to get back into MRR shortly afterward, so Thomas can even influence adults.
I am low energy today and the wife has people in to see the puppies for the first time. Choosing is a very long-drawn-out process for top competition dogs so the house will be busy for the next six weeks. At least three of the husbands of the future owners are train guys with good-sized layouts so you know where we will be while the wives are talking dogs.
The wife brought home some big juicy steaks this morning but then our guest brought a feast with them for lunch so the steaks will wait for tomorrow.
The Sun just popped out so I am going to hit the trail with my Bud.
Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 Class H-1e 2862 was built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1940, one of five locomotives in the final order of Canadian Pacific Hudsons. They were built as oil burners for operation in the far west hauling passenger trains between Revelstoke and Vancouver. She had 75" drivers, 22 x 30 inch cylinders, operated at 275 psi boiler pressure, and could develop 45,254 lbs of tractive effort.
Track fiddler Relatively.....I think I understand what you mean by your wording
BroadwayLionYou cannot fool me. That is NOT Lady Godiva!
Photo was taken before the big gust of wind came along
BATMANThe wife brought home some big juicy steaks this morning but then our guest brought a feast with them for lunch so the steaks will wait for tomorrow.
Therefore, aged beef! Yum!
On Holiday at St. Petersburg:
St. Petersburg FL by Edmund, on Flickr
1972.
Homestead, Florida, if I recall correctly. Florida East Coast Railroad.
Homestead, FL by Edmund, on Flickr