Good Afternoon,
An amazing 40F and sunny today. Got the car gassed up today. It was $7.28 per imperial gallon which was the measure we used until 1977. When I worked for Sunoco back in '73, premium was .55/ gallon for premium. Mind you salaries were a lot lower. I was making 11k/ yr and half my monthly pay covered my car loan, rent on a decent 1br apartment and groceries.
Things are a little quieter on the home front today, at least so far.
Ran the C liner today. Would like to get the Northern on the tracks but it is in a display case on the low bookcase right behind me as I type this.
Time for tea.
CN Charlie
Good afternoon, diners. Just coffee today, Flo.
I started working on the layout this morning, but got sidetracked. My wife wanted help wrapping Christmas gifts. Then, I decided to make some red beans & rice for tonight. That took a while to put together. It's cooking now -- it cooks for about six hours. With that food cooking, the house smells great.
I actually won something!! A fan site for one of my favorite football teams had a drawing. I entered my email, and I got notified my name was picked. I won a T-shirt! It's worth about two dollars, but I won! Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.
I hope everyone has a great day.
Not a beach, but at least it's trains, snow, and ocean. From Brooklyn:
Floating Rails by Benjamin Dziechciowski, on Flickr
York1 John
Good afternoon Diners. A coffee on the go please, Flo.
Dawn is not 100% so playing nurse.
Not seeing the train room again. Maybe later.
Take care everyone.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
wetidlerjrGood morning! Kempton Indiana, LE&W (NKP) 1911
Mike
Good Morning Diners. Chloe, coffee and an english muffin please.
I agree that others should read the posts in the 504 thread. While I feel that Kalmbach waited too long to address website issues and has been horribly quiet about it, it is on their radar. I just hope the forum survives until the upgrade happens.
Making painfully slow progress on some Accurail boxcars I've been working on forever. I have a trio I'm putting together right now. I had the bodies assembled. All I needed to do was add the couplers, trucks, and brake staffs/wheels. Got in the basement last night long enough to add the couplers and one truck to one of the cars. Oh well. At least it's progress.
Still haven't heard from NCE on the status of my power pro system. Hopefully not much longer. I'm getting the itch to run trains and will have the time to do so in force over the holidays. Here's hoping.
Happy Thursday everyone!
Good morning! Kempton Indiana, LE&W (NKP) 1911
Bill Tidler Jr.
Near a cornfield in Indiana...
tstageActually, it's on the Trains General Discussion forum... https://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/296863.aspx
https://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/296863.aspx
Hi Tom,
Thanks for posting that link! There is a very clear explanation of what has been happening with the forums and what will happen in the future. I STRONGLY urge everyone to to read zprisk's posts!!!!!
The information in those posts should have been posted here long ago! Kalmbach has shot itself in the foot IMHO. We may have lost some major contributors because they have kept us in the dark. That is not the way to run a business!
Fortunately there is a very bright light at the end of the very long tunnel.
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 Everyone,
JamesAlan : Welcome to the forums. Hope you can stay awhile.
We've had some very nice winter scenes so far. Please keep them coming.
However, there's not been much "beach", sooo, here's a couple of beach shots.
Here's a shot of surf from Huntington Beach Pier. As you can see the surf is about 2-4 ft.
South side of Huntington Beach Pier 10-7-14 by Jim S, on Flickr
Here's a nature, sort of, shot. This pelican was just resting on the pier railing.
Brown pelican H B pier 10-7-14 by Jim S, on Flickr
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
Actually, it's on the Trains General Discussion forum...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
MisterBeasley So what forum is this 504 errors thread in?
So what forum is this 504 errors thread in?
Model Railroader -- General Discussion
He has several long posts explaining what is happening.
Edit: Top of the Page!
It's 7:15 p.m. here, so for me it's after dinner time for some ice cream. My favorite night time snack:
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
York1 After suffering this week from a slow forum and many 504 errors, it was good to read a response from Kalmbach. I don't know how to link the response, but it's in the thread "504 Errors". The poster's handle is "zprisk". He is working on the software system. It's nice that he is working on Kalmbach's online system, knows the frustrations we have with the forum, and believes it will be fixed. I was happy to read that there is hope to keep this forum active and that it will eventually be fixed!
After suffering this week from a slow forum and many 504 errors, it was good to read a response from Kalmbach.
I don't know how to link the response, but it's in the thread "504 Errors". The poster's handle is "zprisk". He is working on the software system.
It's nice that he is working on Kalmbach's online system, knows the frustrations we have with the forum, and believes it will be fixed.
I was happy to read that there is hope to keep this forum active and that it will eventually be fixed!
Rich
Alton Junction
MisterBeasleyWe actually watched Miracle on 34th Street last night.
MisterBeasleyEven Sirius satellite radio was disappointing.
James Alan, welcome to the diner (& the forum)! Grab a spot at the counter or an empty space in a booth and stay a while.
York1After suffering this week from a slow forum and many 504 errors, it was good to read a response from Kalmbach.
Charlie, I'm thinking of you bud. Wish I could do more. Hang in there.
Have a great night guys.
Good Evening,
Dave, that is good news about your knee, strange way to fix a medical problem.
John, I too liked the dome car picture. I was only in a dome car once, on CN's Super Continental in the Rockies back in 1960.
I too can't stand the movie Elf. Family Stone isn't bad. I first saw it when recovering from my prostate surgery.
Things are rocky on the home front as has been the case at Christmas for the past 6 years. That was when my wife had her breakdown.
Weather is still mild here, at least for us it is with 30F today. I haven't plugged in the block heater once yet, must be some sort of record.
York1York1 wrote the following post 6 hours ago: Good morning, everyone. I'll have bacon, eggs, and black coffee for breakfast.
Hi John, I like the 1960s era caught in that image.
Paul.
"It's the South Shore Line, Jim - but not as we know it".
Trains Through Time (youtube.com)
York1I don't know if Ed posted this already, but I love the scene. I was a kid when I took my first Union Pacific trip -- two days and nights. I spent a good amount of time in the dome car.
I haven't posted that particular photo, John. My dad always used to get the Union Pacific calendars every year and I could dream of far away places while riding in their beautiful equipment. New York Central and later, Penn-Central didn't compare.
UP_Dome-diner-art by Edmund, on Flickr
The view these diners are enjoying is of a coach yard somewhere, probably Chicago, looks too big to be Omaha.
UP_Dome-Diner by Edmund, on Flickr
My first 'real' dome car ride was in a former Northern Pacific Budd dome on the Abraham Lincold from Saint Louis to Chicago back in 1972 (post Amtrak). It was after dark but still a pretty neat thrill for a while. The train still had a heavyweight diner!
GMnO_Diner-1075 by Edmund, on Flickr
Fun times!
Cheers, Ed
JamesAlan I love the concept of combining winter and summer themes at Winter Wonderland Beach! It's a delightful idea to imagine skiing and surfing in the same locale. The thought of railroading through snowy mountains and along sun-kissed coastlines is truly enchanting
I love the concept of combining winter and summer themes at Winter Wonderland Beach! It's a delightful idea to imagine skiing and surfing in the same locale. The thought of railroading through snowy mountains and along sun-kissed coastlines is truly enchanting
Welcome to the forums and to the diner, James! Your first posts will take a while to clear, but if you post several more times, the posts will appear immediately.
Hope to hear from you again.
We actually watched Miracle on 34th Street last night. What a show! We watch it every year. It's a Wonderful Life came on next, but it was already bedtime. Maybe tonight. White Christmas is around somewhere, too.
As any steam fan will tell you, they don't make 'em like they used to.
Even Sirius satellite radio was disappointing. The GF was looking for real Christmas music, but all she found was more Holiday Pop. We get enough of that at the grocery store. I'm down to one station on my car radio now, so I've got an Eric Clapton CD in there. The GF's car doesn’t even have a CD player anymore.
We've got yogurt with fruit for breakfast, topped with fresh home-made granola. A cup of coffee and a glass of milk to wash down my old man pills and I'm good to go for the day.
Sunny and low 50s today.
JamesAlanI love the concept of combining winter and summer themes at Winter Wonderland Beach! It's a delightful idea to imagine skiing and surfing in the same locale. The thought of railroading through snowy mountains and along sun-kissed coastlines is truly enchanting
Hi JamesAlan,
Welcome to the forums!!!
Please tell us about your model railroading. Do you have a finished layout or perhaps a 'plywood paradise'. Even if all you have so far is an idea, we are interested.
Don't be afraid to ask questions! If somebody complains that the question has been asked many times before, just ignore them!
Good morning, everyone. I'll have bacon, eggs, and black coffee for breakfast.
Dave, that's sounds great! Next time something hurts, try falling to see if that helps! I'm glad your pain is gone. I have not kept up with other threads since I keep getting 'timed out' messages on this forum. Did you ever work out a way to get that guy to be able to come and build your layout setup? Edit: Never mind, Dave. I just found the answer on your thread. Good luck!
Water Level RouteMy wife and oldest daughter watched another Christmas movie without me last night. My choice, not theirs. They watched "Elf". I can't stand that show.
I'm with you. My wife loves that movie and I can't watch it.
David, that's was a nice surprise visit you got. We don't get too many of those. When it happens, it's always amazing how fast time has passed.
My oak trees are nearly done with leaves. We have a possibility of rain or snow tomorrow, so I have another trip to the roof to clean gutters. I wish the oak trees would lose their leaves all at once.
Our town had a Christmas celebration, and one of the attractions was an ice skating rink. Except ... it was a synthetic surface, not ice. I had never heard of that before.
When I was a kid, our town would flood the park's tennis courts and we had ice skating all winter. I don't know if they still do that. Something fun about it was that the tennis court - ice skating rink was across the street from the Roman Catholic convent. There were often nuns in their full black and white habits out ice skating. What a scene.
Have a great day, everyone.
I don't know if Ed posted this already, but I love the scene. I was a kid when I took my first Union Pacific trip -- two days and nights. I spent a good amount of time in the dome car. However, I don't remember eating in the dome. Maybe the City of Portland train didn't have the dome dining cars. Not sure about that.
Good afternoon Diners. Afternoon tea with sandwiches and cream scone please, Chloe.
A pleasant surprise today. A visit of an old friend (Lynn). We have been friends since taking our children to the same nursery school. Her children played with ours through school and beyond.
Her son died young; her husband (Dave) died shortly after, leaving a daughter to bring up. We have remained friends through good time and not so good. Lynn had been in hospital and it was a great, pleasant surprise as she knocked on our door looking so well.
Good Morning Diners. Zoe, corned beef hash and a couple fried eggs please.
Realized last night we are less than two weeks away from Christmas. How did that happen?!? Now, to be honest, I'm sitting much better in terms of being prepared than I was last year. Still don't care for the limited time left.
My wife and oldest daughter watched another Christmas movie without me last night. My choice, not theirs. They watched "Elf". I can't stand that show.
Good morning!
Barnaby Lumber Mill, Greencastle Indiana
hon30critter Amazingly, the pain has almost totally gone after the fall! Figure that one out!! Cheers!! Dave
Amazingly, the pain has almost totally gone after the fall! Figure that one out!!
Sounds like my friend Chuck from hockey. He'd always had an ugly broken nose, perhaps from his baseball days in college. He'd been playing hockey with us from his 40s.
As one of mature guys, he had his helmet and mask on as he came to the bench. He raised his mask to towel off his face, and Wham! A puck came off the ice and hit him in the face.
When he came back a week later, that ugly broken nose was, well, normal. I asked him if they had fixed it and he said "No, the puck fixed it. They just put on a band aid."
Last Thursday I had a rather nasty fall and I split my right knee wide open to the tune of eight stitches!
Normally that would be a rather bad experience but in this case it wasn't! I had been experiencing increasing pain in my right knee starting in late October. The joint was replaced in mid August and was fine for about 10 weeks. Then the pain started. Amazingly, the pain has almost totally gone after the fall! Figure that one out!!
Not a Christmas picture, but I had a copy of this on my school office wall:
Lazers For me, it has always been the lithograph, "Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas", by Norman Rockwell. I first saw a print when I was a kid and my mom worked in the house of a wealthy family, who had returned to the UK from Canada. I used to stand looking, because it depicted a lifestyle that seemed so far removed from my own. As the saying goes, 'a picture paints a 1000 words'.
For me, it has always been the lithograph, "Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas", by Norman Rockwell.
I first saw a print when I was a kid and my mom worked in the house of a wealthy family, who had returned to the UK from Canada.
I used to stand looking, because it depicted a lifestyle that seemed so far removed from my own.
As the saying goes, 'a picture paints a 1000 words'.
I've made a few trips out to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, when I lived near Boston. The Tanglewood Music Festival is there in the summer, and the Shakespeare Company puts on the Bard's plays, although the plays are indoors now, not outside like they used to be.
Yes, I've been to the Norman Rockwell Museum to look at his artwork. It's great to see the originals of paintings I remember from those Saturday Evening Post magazines decades ago. Rockwell had local citizens sit for him as his models. As I sat on the porch of the Red Lion Inn in the center of town, I realized that the people walking by looked familiar. They are the descendents of the characters in Rockwell's paintings. It appears that kids stayed around Stockbridge for a while, grew up and raised families of their own.
I looked at an image of the Main Street photo. At the right side of the painting, the large white building (where Main Street crosses Route 7) with the long front porch is the Red Lion Inn. The Rockwell Museum is a bit further north on Route 7. The Red Lion Inn is one of the oldest inns in the country. It boasts a fine restaurant and serves draft beer from an inside bar out on that old porch. As I recall, I had a beer after about a 30 mile bike ride through the hilly countryside.
Good morning, everyone. Brunhilda, I'll have bacon, eggs, and coffee, please.
LazersFor me, it has always been the lithograph, "Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas", by Norman Rockwell.
A favorite of mine, too! So much going on in that picture.
Well ... I've finally reached the miracle age. I have to start taking money out of the IRAs. I told my daughters their inheritance now begins to go down, with the money being wasted on trains!
The layout is a little closer to actually having a train run again. Today, I should be able to finish the double track. Then, I need to vacuum and clean all the track. There is a lot of dust and other junk that has gotten onto the tracks with the track relocation and bridge repairs.
Let it snow!: