Morning
Lee, and the horse that you call Leon, come back sometime and visit us, we ain't got time to stay
Remember that song? Can't seem to find it though.
TF
oh by Bear, on Flickr
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good morning. Just coffee this morning. Donuts later!
It's raining again. A beautiful day.
David, I enjoyed the stories. You have a real talent.
Have a great Sunday everyone.
York1 John
Coffee and one of John's Church Donuts might be good
Good Morning,
I am enjoying my coffee and watching Orioles at the feeder. Have to get more grape jelly and oranges for them later.
The sun is shining which hasn't been the case for several days. Yesterday it was very windy, cloudy, cool and showers to top it off. The atmosphere in the house matched outside.
If the front lawn dries I want to mow the grass. It needs it.
Have a very good day.
CN Charlie
York1 David, I enjoyed the stories. You have a real talent.
Thanks John. As can be seen the thread has been locked with nearly a thousand views.
Posting anymore stories would be 'lost' if posted in the Diner , as requested. Therefore there will be no more stories.
Many thanks to those of you who have read them.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
If the atmosphere is the same in the inside as the outside, that's usually pretty good
TF, yesterday it was very cool indoors too so I stayed in my basement lair. Today it is much better as we just had the 101st bird species in our back yard. A pair of Wood Ducks. My wife took some photos through the back door. She has photos of most.
Off to collect the groceries shortly. May go get some burger patties later. It is a 40 minute round trip at least but worth it. I grilled some for a friend a few years ago who said they were the best he had ever tasted. Should be at $12 each.
richhotrain I was caught in the middle of a railroad track.
I was caught in the middle of a railroad track.
Oh, you got that one!
Afternoon
Those wood ducks are very colorful. Quite a beautiful bird. Post the photo if you would. And I'm definitely in for one of those burgers please
I, too, have read the stories and enjoyed them. You do have a way with words, and the stories draw the reader into another world, often an earlier world. For many of us, it's a world we have not and can't ever see, obscured behind the insurmountable curtain of our now-distant births.
Fan fiction does have its place in railroad history. I'd encourage you and other so inclined and talented to continue here. Perhaps our new host will understand that our interest in train history is well served and enhanced by personal accounts, actual or fiction with a real background story, and all of us on either side of that old birthday curtain can appreciate it. I try to add small historical details to my layout, things like Civil Defense shelters and era-appropriate autos to my layout, to bring out those old memories while I still can.
If you'd like, please continue with an occasional story here. I think it would be appreciated.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Brother Lion, we're art thar?
Good Morning Diners. Brunhilda, coffee and one of those sweet rolls please.
Had a productive weekend (again) getting more projects done. I fear that is to be my plight over a good portion of the summer months. The big ones this weekend were running more wire outdoors for a plug in for our travel trailer, conduit under our deck for some wire that had been previously run under there, and doing some work on our trailer to start getting it ready for camping. Found evidence that a mouse found its way into the trailer at some point. Going to do some poking around, but it appears it didn't really do anything other than explore and poop in a few spots. Doesn't appear it was in there for very long, but who knows what I might find yet.
Last regular season soccer game for my daughter tonight, followed by districts starting Thursday. Supposed to rain tonight. Good thing we got new, bigger umbrellas.
Hope everyone has a good Monday.
Mike
Good morning. Bacon, eggs, and coffee, Flo.
Bear, thanks for posting the link to the interview with the new owners. It sounds very optimistic. I'm happy so far. The owner made sure everyone knows improvements will take time.
Mason City, Iowa:
Milwaukee Road in Mason City, Iowa by The Milwaukee Road Warrior, on Flickr
Well let's give this a try.
Good morning from the sunny West Coast.
I decided it was a good time to get the septic tank pumped out, with the wedding we had dozens of young ladies here over three weeks, and who knows what they flushed down the head even after reminding them we were on septic. What could be more fun on a Sunday morning? Unlike John, I didn't get donuts.
Took bags of returnables from the wedding back to the recycle centre that is just steps from PWRS, so I had to go indulge myself. Came home with these little beauties.
As always I did the roll test. These guys were not nearly as rolly as the single-sheathed boxcars from Rapido in my last video.
It is game 7 for the Canucks tonight, it is the best of seven. Should be a barn burner.
I will stop here and if the post goes kablooey I can live with what little ink I've wasted.
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."
Bear, thanks for posting that video. I just watched it. Interesting.
Rich
Alton Junction
BATMANI decided it was a good time to get the septic tank pumped out,
Probably early in this century I had the same inkling and called one of the local cleanout outfits. During the vacuuming the driver asked when the last time was that I had the tanks pumped out. He said things looked pretty good and I must be taking good care of my system. After giving it some thought I realized it had been at least fifteen years singe the last pump-out!
The approach to South Station, Boston. Oh to be a leverman!
South_Station_1904 by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
Good morning
Yikes! It might be a good day to hang out in Charlie's or Ed's basement
Good Morning Diners. Janie, French Toast and sausage please.
Well, the kiddo's game got cancelled last night due to lightning, but they sure took their sweet time cancelling it. She had to meet up with her team at 4:30 and they didn't cancel the game until 6:30. It was certainly clear to us that the weather wasn't going to cooperate but the powers that be must have had their eyes shut and their ears plugged!
Brent, bummer about your Canucks. Good season though. Those new boxcars look like they just kind of turned on the brakes at the end.
TF, hope you didn't get the nastiest of that forecast!
Good morning, diners. Bacon, eggs, and coffee, please.
After walking the dog this morning, it's time to pick up branches. Lots of stuff blown around after the storms. The good news -- another third of an inch of rain.
Since we've had a wet winter and spring, the water in the creek is fairly deep. A result is that I spotted the Blue Heron. I haven't seen him in a long time with the creek dry.
We are one of the few people with a landline phone. Yesterday was about the limit of my patience. We have had junk calls for several years, but with the phone program, we can filter out most. The call centers must have figured out the program, because yesterday we got a call nearly every 15 minutes. While we don't hear them and they don't leave messages, the call still appears on the TV. It's probably time to pull the plug.
It's a good rainy day to stay inside and work on the layout.
Interesting yard in Helper, Utah:
Helper Overview by Doug Lilly, on Flickr
Good very wet morning from the left side where we are expecting 50mm of rain today. Don't mind the rain as it will help to keep the Province from burning down. Currently, there are 119 fires burning in the Province. I'll just finish my second cuppa and put on the Gortex and hit the trail. It has been three weeks due to the wedding and being away and I can feel my fitness level declining, which will be fixed by the end of the week.
gmpullman BATMAN I decided it was a good time to get the septic tank pumped out, Probably early in this century I had the same inkling and called one of the local cleanout outfits. During the vacuuming the driver asked when the last time was that I had the tanks pumped out. He said things looked pretty good and I must be taking good care of my system. After giving it some thought I realized it had been at least fifteen years singe the last pump-out!
BATMAN I decided it was a good time to get the septic tank pumped out,
It has been eight years since I had it pumped out when the pump failed after 30 years. We have a 6000 ltr septic tank and duel fields with 150m of runs each. With just the two of us here I doubt I will have it cleaned again in my lifetime.
Water Level Route Brent, bummer about your Canucks. Good season though. Those new boxcars look like they just kind of turned on the brakes at the end.
The Canucks did great considering they were not expected to even make the playoffs at the start of the season. Can't wait for September. I keep telling everyone I am not croaking until they win the cup. My wife looked at me and said I guess I am stuck with you for another year. The big screen will be collecting dust for the next four months.
The best way to end robocalls is to pick up the receiver and just place it down on the desk until you hear the tone that the other end has hung up. Whether a live person or a machine the calling computer will show it as a bad # and remove you from the list. As soon as we started doing that our calls dropped to almost zero.
Time to scoot my 10km and then hit the shower.
Nanjing
It's been chilly and breezy here, but we finally got outside for a good long early evening of Happy Hour with the Hummingbirds. The seem to be ignoring the feeders but are "going natural" and concentrating on the Salvia plants. Best of all, we saw a MALE ruby-throated bird for my first time ever.
York1, re the landline phone.
Is it an old-fashioned "copper wire" connection, or is it "VOIP" (voice over internet protocol, coming in over your internet connection)?
If it's VOIP, you can probably use "NoMoRobo" to catch the robocalls. It's relatively easy to set up, works pretty well here, especially in conjunction with an answering machine.
“Freedom without limits is just a word.”-Terry Pratchett
Good morning, diners. Bacon, eggs, and coffee please, Brunhilda.
This is one of those Spring days we dream of. It rained yesterday, so everything is bright green. Today it's clear, high temperature of 70°, calm winds, ... I doubt there will be a better day this year.
Bear, that photo site is great! Now the issue is if I can justify the hours I will sit looking through all the pictures. Very interesting! Thanks.
I take it that Spring Creek Model Trains is not just down the road, York1John.
Spring Creek railroad store is exactly 60 miles from my house. It's a nice drive. The hobby store is in the town of Deshler, population 700. There are no cities anywhere near -- my town has 7,000 people and we are the closest town of that size. Of course, out here in flyover country, a town of 7,000 is considered a 'big' city.
The neat thing about Spring Creek is that they get people from all over the U.S. (and other countries) coming to the store. It's a testament to the people who run the store. They have a very large supply of HO and N materials, and if they don't have something you want, they will work to get it for you.
If you're ever traveling across the U.S. on Interstate 80, the store is about 55 miles off the highway. It's worth the time and effort.
Not much going on today. On the layout, I'm working on a building that will sit on an old brick street. I'm having trouble finding the right shade of paint to make the street look good. I thought I found one online, but it is discontinued. I've tried mixing shades of brown and orange without much luck. I'll try some more today.
Have a great day, everyone.
Minneapolis:
Untitled by MN transfer, on Flickr
Hi Everyone,
John: brown with orange doesn't sound right. The only street brick I've ever seen was a deep dark red, almost a browner version of Tuscan red, so may I suggest that you try mixing brown with dark red or perhaps a maroon with a little brown and see how that works.
Jim (with a nod to Mies Van Der Rohe)
I don't often see modelers depict 'greasy' track. Here's an extreme example:
Southern Pacific - San Antonio, TX by d.w.davidson, on Flickr
That track on the right looks like it would self-deflagrate!
More 'dirty' yard trackage:
up831John: brown with orange doesn't sound right. The only street brick I've ever seen was a deep dark red, almost a browner version of Tuscan red, so may I suggest that you try mixing brown with dark red or perhaps a maroon with a little brown and see how that works.
Thanks, Jim. I'll try it tonight. I looked at some brick streets today in my town, and you're right -- they are very dark red. It's just a small section of city street, so I should be able to mix something that looks right.
Good Morning Diners. Flo, coffee please. Large coffee.
Rough day at work yesterday. After three hours, I was ready to take the rest of the day off, but there was too much stuff going on where people needed my help, so I stayed. I know it was bad when at the end of the day I needed to go talk to some of the folks in one department, and when I walked in my one buddy in there looked at me and said "Mike, go home before you stab someone." After some more joking around to lighten the mood, he told me when he saw me that morning he knew it was a bad day and was surprised I was still at work. I've never left work early for such reasons, but apparently the look on my face was bad enough for him to think that. It all centers around our new plant manager. He's a peach. At least everybody knows it. We're all in the same boat, it was just my turn with him yesterday. Theoretically he will move on to another plant in a few years, but it's going to be a long few years for us. Sucks.
Tuesday night I kept watching the weather as I needed to get some insect killer down on the lawn and it is supposed to be watered in after application. They were calling for rain at midnight (85% chance!) all day long, but at 8:00 they upped it to 90%. Great! I busted out the spreader and got after it. Finished up, cleaned up, and looked at the forecast at 9:00. 30% chance of rain overnight. Sure enough, no rain. Too windy yesterday to try to run a sprinkler and going to be gone tonight. I sure hope I didn't just waste a bunch of money.
Here's to hoping for a better day today. Hope things are going well for everyone!