Good Morning Diners. Flo, would you just bring the whole pot of coffee over please? Thanks.
One of the dogs woke us up really early this morning with, as best as I can guess, sort of a panic attack. Maybe he had a really bad dream that kicked it off? Either way, not enough sleep was had, but what do you do? He's not prone to this sort of thing thank goodness. The last time he acted like this, we had a smoke detector go bad in the house and it was chirping as if it had a low battery. He's terrified of those things. No idea why.
I'm headed to Texas for work next week to go audit another one of our sites. The audits are usually interesting, but massively time consuming. It will be a long week.
Edit: Top of the page! I'll share my mug with you.
Mike
hon30critterI wonder how many times a locomotive was driven into the adjoining pit?
I wondered how many times the bridges collided. It's 2/3's of a Ven Diagram
I don't know if that translates outside the US. but they are right up there with Yellow School Buses.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Good morning, diners. Chloe, I'll have bacon, eggs, and black coffee. Again.
Ulrich and Dave, if you're reading this, thanks for that photo of the double turntable roundhouse! When I first saw the N scale version, I thought a modeler just made something that was interesting. I had no idea that double turntables like that existed. Still learning in my 70s.
Kevin, that's a neat picture of the bald eagle eating the opossum. When I was very young, one image stands out from my grandfather. I went with him with his .22 rifle to kill a family of opossums that were in the corn crib. I'm not sure why I remember that so vividly.
Henry, you mentioned the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. I'm not familiar with Baltimore. Is it changed from when you were there?
OldEngineman, thanks for the photos of EBT's roundhouse from years ago. I'm glad it's been saved.
Mike, that's the kind of coffee mug I need. Not sure how I would keep it hot enough by the time I got down to the bottom.
David, that is a neat video of the man-powered turntable. As I've said before, I'm glad that the UK has preserved so much of the railroad history.
Jim, your mention of your granddaughter's concert was funny. I used to have to attend the school's music concerts. The 6th grade band would play, and it was impossible to tell what the song was. The 7th grade band was better, the 8th even better, and the full high school band was great. It was an amazing thing to see how much better they got each year.
To everyone not mentioned, I enjoy reading all your posts. The diner is an interesting place.
Here in flyover country, there's more housecleanig today. After one day with all the grandkids here, it will be difficult to tell that we cleaned anything.
I could see the first sprouts of new grass this morning. This is my first attempt at starting new grass in the spring. Normally, I plant grass in the fall. I didn't know that Daisy the Dachshund would kill the large sections of the lawn over the winter.
I hope everyone has a great day today.
McCook, Nebraska, roundhouse:
York1 John
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Lion I remember Gunther beer in cans like that. I was too young to drink one.
John The proliferation of suburban malls and shopping centers in the 60's cannibalized the customers that used to go downtown, where there was a intersection with a major department store on each corner. All those department stores are closed downtown.
In the 70's they decided to take part of the waterfront and turn it into a tourist destination. They build 2 pavillions housing fancy shops and restaurants, a science museum, an aquarium, a childrens museum, a Civil War frigate, a WW2 sub and a lightship. Unfortunately that drove the spice company, McCormick, to the suburbs, taking with it a smell of spices that carried for blocks around the area. It was replaced by a high end hotel.
Unfortunately crime has come to the touristy area with robberies, carjackings etc. I would not go back to Baltimore.
In the Pits! A somewhat common occurrence.
3734GTW_Pontiac_6-9-55 by Edmund, on Flickr
I've actually crawled around under this engine. There is still evidence of the damage done to the leading truck and framework.
UP 2954, EMD SD40-2, ex CNW 6805, rolled into the turntable pit at the Proviso Diesel Facility in Melrose Park IL June 14, 2004 by Paul Rome, on Flickr
For the modeler:
Oh @#$%&! by NAPM Model Railroad Club, on Flickr
I recall a story from the B&O roundhouse gang I used to hang out with. One afterrnoon a machinist and hostler were 'truing' wheels on a switcher. This is done using special 'grinding' brake shoes in place of the regular cast iron shoes.
When the next shift arrived on duty the hostler went to move the engine and found he couldn't stop and rolled into the turntable pit. He had neglected to read the note saying the prior shift had removed the grinding shoes but didn't have time to install the actual brake shoes. Oops!
It can even happen Down Under:
B63 by Geoff Winkler, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
Good evening Diners. A Brandy and Coca Cola, no ice please, Flo.
Excellent pictures this month. Thanks for posting.
Scenes from the film 'Train of Events'. It starred Jack Warner. He was injured in the film and afterwards always walked with a slight limp.
https://railwaymoviedatabase.com/train-of-events-a-pictorial-tribute-to-the-1949-film/
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Ulrich just sent me this video of the double turntable model that John (York1) posted earlier:
This is Z scale!
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
Good afternnon everybody. Chloe, please bring me a cheeseburger and fries.
I finally finished the last pieces of soffit today. Now I need to just install trim and paint.
The date for the new electrical service entrance is in mid-July, and then the new roof a couple of weeks after that.
Hope there are no more Hurricanes between now and then. Just three more weeks until the beginning of Hurricane Season!
York1Kevin, that's a neat picture of the bald eagle eating the opossum.
Thanks for the comment John. I was very lucky to be in the right place at the right time.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Good Afternoon,
Sunny and warm here so much so that we have the A/C running. Yesterday evening we had a severe thunderstorm with high winds, torrential rain and hail. The pond overflowed so I had to get out the pump as soon as it stopped.
Tomorrow I have to take in the car as the check engine light is on. It seems to be running fine.
Today we picked up the first load of flowers. They won't be planted for a couple of weeks as there still is a danger of frost.
Thanks to all for posting. I read them all. Nice to read what is happening with you.
I think the racoon has taken up residence in the carport locker. I thought I had thwarted its access but they are wily. I will try again tonight when it is out foraging but likely will have to call a professional removal service.
CN Charlie
I noticed on the landing page that today is the one year anniversary of Eric White's tenure as editor of Model Railroader. I think some cake is order in the diner! I think he is doing a great job. Keep up the good work!
Speaking of good work; Steve, I love the free mo module. I hope you are able to take it out on the road, so to speak.
(GOOD) evening
IT ARRIVED KIDS!!!
It was here after Judy got off work early, and didn't discover it till after one of those six pack BBQ chicken picnics at Bush Lake
I'm thinking I'm going to wait till tomorrow to open it, ...Like it's Christmas morning or something...
TF
I just had to run to the store for some plastic zipper storage bags.
There are Sherriff's cars everywhere driving with their lights off. Must have seen 20 of them. Why do they have their lights off? If they are trying to be inconspicuous, it is not working. The street lights illuminate the refliective lettering and stripes on the sides of the cars!
Evening
Do you guys remember the old Budweiser commercials, ...not to many tears ago?
Good morning Diners. A large coffee on the go please, Janie.
What with the Coronation, friends and family visiting and two birthdays, a busy couple of weeks is coming to an end.
Dawn has physiotherapy today. That can be difficult.
Barrow Hill Roundhouse, Derbyshire, U.K.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdpt9vkiPxs&ab_channel=DelayInBlock%E2%84%A2Productions
I tried to post a nice photo of a sunset in Ukraine, and while I could copy it down to my computer, I could not then upload it to a different computer. Seems to be some copyright protection built into the image.
Anyway I slippef out of my enclosure to seak for some breakfastes...
SeeYou190 I just had to run to the store for some plastic zipper storage bags. There are Sherriff's cars everywhere driving with their lights off. Must have seen 20 of them. Why do they have their lights off? If they are trying to be inconspicuous, it is not working. The street lights illuminate the refliective lettering and stripes on the sides of the cars! -Kevin
A donut sale?
Track fiddler Evening Do you guys remember the old Budweiser commercials, ...not to many tears ago? TF
Good thing I started packing for my trip today. Didn't realize how behind we are on laundry. I would have been in trouble if I had waited.
Bought a new (to me anyway) loco on ebay. Hopefully it arrives before I leave. It wasn't a planned purchase, so that makes it all the more exciting. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a decoder in it yet, so I can't just slap it on the layout and give it a go. Oh well, at least I'll have it.
Charlie, hope the car issue turns out to be minor. Often those check engine lights coming on with the car running fine are indicative of something emissions related. Usually not a big deal, but you never know. Good you are taking it in.
Maxman, you did make me laugh.
Turns out there is a problem with the catalytic converters. Only 5 grand to replace them. Not likely! The tech told me the car's performance won't be affected. He agreed with my decision and said they have several customers who did the same. Could have been caused by raw gas when it was missing or even just some bad gas.
Have the CN Hudson on the layout. It does run nice and is a very nice looking engine. Not hard to find them on the market but often with poor paint. Mine has very good paint. My brass guy said this model can be quite finiky but he has lots of experience with them so was able to get it to run great.
No plans for the rest of the day. I'm in the dog house again. I need to get on the roof and clean the troughs as I think one downspout is blocked but no rain in the forecast so may do it tomorrow.
Time for a tea. I was up at 5:45 so not feeling very energetic.
Good morning from the beautiful Pacific Rim where it is 25c.
I just got back from a 7.03km scoot through the forest, there was an older little Japanese man in full marathon attire coming at me and I asked him how far he was going and he said 40km today. He was the only person I saw...heaven. The birds were also very numerous and very loud today.
Lion, I will have breakfast #1 please with bacon and sausage added. Bread and potatoes are full of carbs so will pass on those. Carbs will put me on the pain train really fast with my arthritis. I take no meds unless I eat carbs and then it is anti-inflammatories and Tylenol until I start using my brain again.
BroadwayLion
maxmanA donut sale?
On our recent trip to Alberta, I took two of these photos on a layout at Supertrain and one in Rocky Mountain House from our hotel room.
Of course, I sent these pics to my family members that are and were in the RCMP and they passed them on to other members.
My cousin was just here for a couple of days, he was in the RCMP for 35 years. We were talking about the police officer that just got killed in Ontario and he told me that in his 35 years, he never drew his sidearm while on duty except to put animals down that had been hit on the highway.
A good friend of ours is a photographer who travels the world taking photos. She has had a lot of her work in National Geographic and other publications. She is well into retirement and now has a company that makes calendars and greeting cards and 100% of the profit goes to charity. She comes by three or four times a year to visit and take pics of the dogs for calendars and cards for the upcoming year. Here are three pics of our dogs you may see in a 2024 calendar or on a greeting card.
The wife and I got a lot of the veggie garden planted this morning, can't wait to start eating fresh veggies. We have to put a fence around the tomatoes or the dogs will eat them. As it is the first place they visit every time they go out are the tomato plants in case one has broken off and rolled through the fence.
I just wrapped up a friend's Estate yesterday as the Executor, it was quick and easy. Met the older couple who are the beneficiaries at the bank and handed over almost $900,000.00 to them. They didn't know what they were going to do with it as they have no debt and have everything they need. Tough problem to have.
I got an hour in on the guitar early this morning and I will go sit and play for another hour and then go get another load of bark mulch in the truck and that will take me up to hockey.
It's a hard-knock life being retired, doing what I want, when I want.
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."
Hi Everybody! I am going to snack on a plate of chicken wings over here in the corner.
Cleaning out the garage today. I have the soffit up, so I can get most of that out of the way. I want to make room for the Impala before the rainy season starts.
Australia's National Railway Museum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPg_iZI2JxQ&ab_channel=Kane%27sTrains
Good afternoon, everyone.
We're between ending breakfast for all the grandchildren and beginning to make lunch for all the grandchildren. Lots of action in the house.
I'll try to post more next week when the house goes back to normal.
Found this on Facebook. Sorry I know some of you don't like Facebook but it's a worthwhile pic.. This professional photographer likes steam and EBT.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=808991157416995&set=a.568870601429053
Good morning Diners. Rumour has it the girls in the Diner want it modernising.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppyfYZevTNk&ab_channel=JimZim
St Blazey Turntable. Flying Scotsman having a turn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riuKv29fknI&ab_channel=CarnivalofWildAnimals
My wife informed me we need to buy a Mother's Day Gift for our DAUGHTER because she is a mother now. I tried to explain to her that Mother's Day gifts go uphill, not downhill.
I lost that debate.
Good morning, diners. Bacon, eggs, and black coffee, please.
I think I'm in fairly good shape. I was able to hike around several countries last year keeping up with my daughters. Yet one weekend with all the grandkids in the house and I'm ready to check into a nursing home.
One of them brought their golden retriever puppy, which just added to the bedlam.
They left to go home, and I am confined to my rocker-recliner for several days trying to recuperate.
Today I will look through the diner catching up on any news.
Kansas City Terminal Roundhouse was saved by a company which turned it into some pretty nice offices. I'm not sure if the building is used, but it turned out nice. The video is about three minutes long.
Hope everyone has a great Monday.
Firefox declines to play OoooTooobs from alternate sources (including itself sometimes.) I am going to switch to Edge which does not seem to have this hyper-screening issue.
Good bye, Fox, you have been a good and faithful servant, but the one wand cannot be truly mine while you live. Dinner Nagini!
Man of mulch! Fourth load. What else do you do on a 34-degree day?
Did 7.86km with two of the dogs before I went and got the mulch.
This route takes me up 147 metres in short order. Almost straight up
This way is a more leisurely climb but takes the big circle route.
I did the straight-up route, and burned 2811 calories by noon.
Not bad for a 66-year-old geezer.