Hi TF
I'm very sorry to hear about your dad passing away. I hope he was happy until the end.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
We are sitting in the sun porch of our rented cottage watching a nice steady rain. Very relaxing. The rest of the week will be sunny.
TF, be glad that you had a chance to know your father. Mine died suddenly at 57, when I had just graduated from college. I really never got to know him as a man. He would have loved my daughter, and I hope he would have been proud of me, too. Growing up, he always set examples of truthfulness, hard work and self-reliance. I've tried to follow in those paths.
Mister Beasley
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Good morning
Thanks to each of you for the kind condolences gentlemen. I found your sincerities helpful as well as comforting.
Something we all had/have to go through is definitely a tough one. Been trying to keep busy through the last couple weeks keeping my mind occupied on other things.
Been a busy Summer and haven't made much time for the layout in a while. That's one nice thing about Wintertime, how things slow down and there's always more time to get back to enjoying our craft. Looking forward to getting back to it.
Thanks again and have a great day gentlemen
TF
Good Morning Gents. Zoe, I'll have a butterscotch latte and one of the sweet rolls from Brother Lion, if there are any left.
I was messing around in my garage last night and wanted to listen to something while I was out there. Nothing good on the radio, but my garage stereo can play cassettes. Remember those? I pitched almost all my cassettes when we moved, but I knew I had a couple still stashed in my toolbox. The one that caught my eye was a recording of an interview I did with my grandparents for a college class almost 30 years ago. My planned 15 minutes or so out in the garage turned into an hour of me sitting there listening to their stories about growing up during the depression, WWII, and the early years of their marriage (into the adolescence of my mom and aunt/uncles). What a wonderful way to spend an hour. The thought of sending that tape off to be transfered to digital media makes me nervous, but I'm going to have to. Don't want to lose it to a broken tape!
Have a good day everyone!
Mike
When I was a teenager, the thing to do was to have a nice component stereo system with a tape deck to play and record tapes. Mine was a Kenwood. My friends and I would share our vinyl albums and each record our own tapes from those albums. Mainly just our favorite songs. Those tapes were wht I took with me in the car.
I guess that was the old way to make your own "playlist". I remember looking for BASF or SONY metallic tapes because they supposedly recorded better. Those fun days are gone and now its all digital.
Another shortline: The Dubois County Railroad runs 16 miles from NS interchange at Huntingburg IN, through Jasper, and on to Dubois. Its the for-profit portion of the French Lick Scenic Railway that continues from Dubois to French Lick. Products transported are mainly oil tank cars and animal feed in covered hoppers.
The DCRR still uses an old ALCO S2 #78 as its main power. The Dinner Train uses a chopped nose GP7, and other locos that run on the line are a GE 80 Tonner and two RS-1s. These pictures came from Google search/ RRpictures archives:
- Douglas
Water Level Route The thought of sending that tape off to be transfered to digital media makes me nervous, but I'm going to have to.
Do it.
The only recording I have of my father is from a tape recorder he gave my middle daughter for Christmas back in 1992. He included a Merry Christmas recording on the cassette.
I am so glad I had this digitized. I wish I had an hour of him telling about his childhood.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Good morning, everyone. Bacon, eggs, hash browns, and black coffee, Chloe.
Mike, that tape of your grandparents' stories was a great idea. I wish I had thought of something like that. I really regret not getting my father to talk more about his life.
TF, you probably have great memories of your father with the time you spent at the resort. Memories like that are great.
Dave, I'm jealous of your vacation. Listening to the rain while sitting on a porch -- that sounds like an ideal time.
Everyone else, it's great hearing from all of you. Please keep posting -- the food and conversation is good.
Here's a shortline with a name that sounds like some fantasy model railroad -- the Geaux Geaux Railroad in Louisiana.
Louisiana's French and Cajun background means that they use 'geaux' for the word 'go' in just about everything --
There's a thousand of them.
York1 John
York1Dave, I'm jealous of your vacation. Listening to the rain while sitting on a porch -- that sounds like an ideal time.
That is what I do five months of the year. Going to do it today.
We have had a great rainy season this year, near perfect. I feel for all those with droughts and floods.
We are only a couple of weeks away from the 30 year anniversary of the Hurricane Andrew landfall event. That was the storm that changed everything for Florida. Now we are rolling everything back. Nothing like forgetting lessons from history.
SeeYou190That is what I do five months of the year. Going to do it today.
We get so little rain out here that when it happens, it's nice to just sit and listen.
I just read your last comment about Utah parks. Dinosaur park is one that I missed.
Out of the five Utah parks, I think I liked Bryce Canyon the best, although Zion and Arches were great, too.
This is along the trail at Bryce. If you like hiking, the trails here are great. The orange in real life is much more brilliant than my photo:
York1I think I liked Bryce Canyon the best, although Zion and Arches were great, too.
Dinosaur National Monument is divided into two parts in two states.
The Utah side is the river and dinosaur fossils.
The real gem is the Colorado side. That has the canyon, and access is terrible. You need to drive down a 20 mile two lane road, then hike to the canyon. When we were there, there were no other people at all. It was completely quiet, and breathtaking. I have never felt so completely relaxed. I could have sat there forever.
It was an amazing experience.
We really would like to visit and hike in some of the Utah parks. Much easier now that we are closer.
Spent a frustrating evening last night working on the new tool box. I cannot find a bank bag that I keep the "working supply" of all of my miniature drill bits; I have multiples of the most used sizes (#78,#79 & #80). I know I had them when I moved to my rent house in Dodge City; cannot find where they were packed in the move across town. Neither can I find the drill bit display merchandiser I had in my hobby shop that had tubes of 12 drills each from size 50 to size 80. I kept that fully stocked on my workbench in College Station; haven't seen it in Dodge City yet. It irks me as I wanted to work on a project that requires those drills.
SeeYou190We have had a great rainy season this year, near perfect. I feel for all those with droughts and floods.
Our weather here in GA has been great too! We had one hot spell back when the rest of the country also had it but now its probably a little cooler for late July early August, mid to upper 80s rather than upper 80s to low 90s. This follows a pretty cool spring.
I think rain across the state has been steady. We also get those pop up thunder showers and storms more than the cold front driven squall lines that the midwest gets. Our particular town has been dry. Thunder and rain all around but we've stayed parched. But the last two evenings the pop-ups have hit us and the landscape appreciates it.
Good evening
My good friend Brent of Canadian Vancouver told me he missed the music I played at night.
Any friend of mine that has palm trees growing on West Coast Canada can have any songs played of his liking any night of the week as far as I'm concerned.
How I wish, how I wish I was there
This one's for you Brent. PF went for vacation in Pompeii when they were quite young. Why?!, I have some idea, ...Because the volcanoes were active and the surface water was bubbling and we were all quite young once!
Besides that, the archaeologists already had it all dug out for them
https://youtu.be/PGwPSPIhohk
I'll play music again at night. I'll play better studio versions, but I hope you like the old school versions as well
DoughlessWe had one hot spell back when the rest of the country also had it but now its probably a little cooler for late July early August, mid to upper 80s rather than upper 80s to low 90s. This follows a pretty cool spring.
We never hit 100 all Summer, but we almost never do. The Gulf Breezes keep us from getting too hot. According to the local weather we were cooler than over 50% of the nation three days this year, which supposedly has never happened before.
Good evening diners.
TF (John) - (Belated - Sorry!) Condolences on your loss of your Dad.
Kevin - Thanks! It was extremely helpful that the units are (relatively) freshly painted, and the lighting was at just the right angle.
York1 - Does Inspector Gadget work for the Geaux Geaux Railroad? If not, their HR team really goofed!
Layout Progress - I needed to rebuild a 4' X 4'6" section of benchwork, have gotten half of that up (and level! in a 1800's farmhouse level ain't easy!) before the battery in the drill died. Time for a break I guess.
I know I'm way-over building it, but it will be strong and level that way. It should easily be able to support leaning on/over if ever need too. (If I really have too, add a support leg in the center and I could walk on it.)
It's 4'6" to allow 24" radius curves on the turnback, with buffer space for some scenery, while not intruding space more than needed. (I know, that's still not big... But for a non-walk-in layout, it's not terrible.) I know all my equipment will be happy on that (tight) of a radius, as my prior layout had 22" radius.
Hope all are doing well, best wishes to those not, and all enjoy the evening!
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Hello diners. I have not looked at the forum in at least a month.
TF condolences on the loss of your dad. Mine passed during my college graduation weeks, after 6 miserable weeks of poorly controled pain. Perhaps today his lymphoma would have been curable. There is so much I wish I had asked him.
York we have thunderstorms nearly every day.
Lion There is no good danish in Harrionburg VA. The Mennonites put a huge amount of sugar and icing on theirs Everyone else puts on too little.
The recovery from my shoulder surgery is slower than molasses going uphill in August. I cannot raise my arm up to wire my railroad from underneath the layout, however, yesterday, for the first time, I discovered if I raise my right arm, with my left, I can keep it there for about 20 seconds I couldn't do that a few days ago.
I've been going to the gym at least 5 days a week. It's a Planet Fitness. I would say at least 70% are under 40 years old. I would say half the kids around 20 have terrible posture. I call it cell phone posture. Their neck is forward, their shoulders are curled up like a pill bug. Can an old guy say something to young people, especially women? I think not.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Tin Can IImultiples of the most used sizes (#78,#79 & #80)
If you really need to find them, simply buy a bunch more.
Terry
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
ricktrains4824Thanks! It was extremely helpful that the units are (relatively) freshly painted, and the lighting was at just the right angle.
Most of the best pictures I have taken have been 75% luck and only 20% skill. Planning accoubnts for 5% at best.
The really good photographers say planning should be 80% of the photograph, but I can't put that kind of effort into taking pictures.
BigDaddyTheir shoulders are curled up like a pill bug.
I had to look this one up.
We call those critters "Rollie-Pollies" down here.
Water level wrote: "The thought of sending that tape off to be transfered to digital media makes me nervous, but I'm going to have to. Don't want to lose it to a broken tape!"
If you already have something that plays it now, why send it off? Just get an analog-to-digital converter (most connect through USB) and use audio recording software to digitize it on the computer.
Then, convert it to an mp3 file (to save space). You could also burn a copy to a CD as well.
York1 TF, you probably have great memories of your father with the time you spent at the resort. Memories like that are great.
John, I must say it like it is and you somehow hit the nail on the head.
The memories of my dad at the resort are priceless. In the end I respected the Dad that raised me the most.
Re-doing the drain field on the septic tank at the resort is some of the best times I can remember now. Funny, I remember Ol' Leo Neeser standing there with his cigar hanging out of his mouth. When my gag reflex went, he took his cigar out of his mouth laughing and asked me if I needed a straw
I learned the best life lessons and fundamentals from my marine sergeant Step Dad.
Unfortunately too much time passed when we moved up north to the resort for the relationship with my real father to ever rekindle. Those things happen sometimes I guess.
Judy told me I should man up and go see my dad in hospice. I cut our vacation time short in Wisconsin. I can't tell you how hard it was to say goodbye to a dad I never knew very well then my Dad from the resort that always took care of me back in the day.
My step Mom told me "John, It wasn't your fault". That helped a bit.
I was there several days, almost a week and I think the step side of the family did respect me for that. I had put my hand on his shoulder and said I'm here, I love you Dad, that last day.
My Stepmom called me an hour and some minutes later to tell me my dad had passed shortly after I had left.
I felt comfort at home with my Judy after 28 years of us.
You're a good man John
John
This one goes out to all the good Makeshift Dads Appreciated!
https://youtu.be/tBBw1MEOMWI
PH
I see She has found braver radiuses
Do you ever find yourself liking things slower as a bystander?
https://youtu.be/c1qzAZbsqJo
Kind of like this old guy does?
You and I got to catch this Train Kids!
POST HOG!
OOPS! I forgot what I was gonna say next and probably for the best
Good Morning Diners. Flo, a large coffee in a Durango & Silverton mug please.
Had great intentions of doing something on the layout last night, but the dehumidifier has made the basement much warmer lately (we've been hovering between 80-90% humidity lately-never helps), so I sat out on the patio swing with my wife instead. It was our first cool evening in some time, so it was really nice. I was down there working on the layout this weekend, and was sweating in not time. Didn't really want to repeat it.
OldEnginemanIf you already have something that plays it now, why send it off? Just get an analog-to-digital converter (most connect through USB) and use audio recording software to digitize it on the computer.
saronaterryIf you really need to find them, simply buy a bunch more.
Henry, I hope your recovery, although slow, goes well.
Track fiddler...but I hope you like the old school versions as well
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good morning, diners.
I'm heading out the door in a couple of minutes to go to a funeral. I'll try to check back later.
It's been great to hear from everyone. Henry, I hope the arm and shoulder continue to improve, even if it is very slow.
The Louisiana and Delta RR:
saronaterry Tin Can II multiples of the most used sizes (#78,#79 & #80) If you really need to find them, simply buy a bunch more. Terry
Tin Can II multiples of the most used sizes (#78,#79 & #80)
Trying to avoid that. But I just may place an order with MicroMark as a hedge. One can never have enough small drill bits.
"MY" shortline was the Indiana Northeastern. A friend once had his caboose kept on a siding in the town of Pleasant Lake, Indiana. I spent many hours there.
Recently the Nickel Plate 765 has been running on the line:
RR_views_4043 by Edmund, on Flickr
4043_woods by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed