Top of the afternoon, everybody. Joe, I'll have a Pepsi, and the lunch special. Still have some driving to do before I can relax.
Mister B, I think you're undergoing something of a crisis! Coal Smoke is addictive, and California claims it's full of known carcinogens! Careful how many of those dangerous machines you add, or you may end up having to install roof walks on all those 'topless' freight cars!
In the same vein, are you going to switch your subway cars to the old grunge-green clerestory types common in the '50's and before?
GUB, I can understand your remodeling versus railroading dilemma. This morning my wife gave me a detailed rundown on all the 'honeydo' projects that honey hasn't done yet.
Glad to see that the frozen north is starting to thaw out! Hopefully, that won't cause too much flooding when the snow melts (says he, who couldn't fill a bucket with all the precipitation that has hit my yard since the 'lake effect event' started in New York.)
Good lunch, Joe. Now I'm off to the races. (Actually the recycling center, with a load of cardboard and plastic bottles.) See you all later.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with lots of coal-burning steam locos)
And a good morning to you, Mike. I'll be a bit clearer once the coffee shows up. (Wednesdays after hockey night are always slow starters.)
Glad to hear you're well enough to get back to work, even if that means you have to go back to work.
Our company's profit sharing bonus comes out in a couple of weeks, so I decided it was time to thumb through the Walthers sale catalogs and be prepared for a little extra cash. I just ordered some streetlights, fire hydrants and Jordan vehicles for the layout. Monday I had a few hours of "home alone" so I pulled out my birthday present, the BLI Hudson, and this time I managed to configure the DCC address. (I'm not putting the Hudson on the layout until it's "given" to me on March the 9th or thereabouts, but I figured it was a good idea to have the address set and give it a few spins to make sure it's running well.) My Lenz won't program a BLI sound engine on the programming track, and it won't set an address on the main, so I had to go through the whole detailed rigamarole in the BLI manual. Since my engine's cab number wasn't in the list they provided, I had to pull up a calculator and go through all the HEX conversions to get the values, but once I had them the whole procedure went through perfectly the first time. Since I was programming on the main, the hardest part was making sure there were no other locos on powered tracks, or they would have been re-programmed, too. Another argument for having sidings with kill switches, I suppose.
But man, I sure like the steam era with those huffing and puffing sound locos. That's why I'm starting my collection of Jordans. Although the layout is set in the 1960's now, my plan is to have enough old cars and trucks that I can swap out the vehicles and locomotives and push time back about 30 years.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Morning all, Joe, I'll have a cup of coffee to go.
Just a short hello and to let you know I am still doing fine and may start the benchwork on the new layout this weekend. I got to head for work now.Doesn't working for a living suck? Take care. Mike
Taking a break form carpentering... Joe, I'll take a tall cold one please!
GUB, I have both friends and relatives living in CA, that I have visited many times. I love CA as a place to visit and I could go on and on with very interesting places to "scope out" but I'll try to keep my enthusiasm under control.
Mr. B has already mentioned some great excursions...And depending on what you can get away with regarding the non-railfans of your group and how far you may be able to travel, here a few other ideas...not necessarily all in S.F. but close enough to do day trips.
Starting "in-city" a great part of S.F. to visit is the Italian North Beach area (known to the locals as "The City"). There are some great clubs and restaurants there...I have done "Ristorante Fiord' Italian" and came away well overstuffed. In addition to Alcatraz, you may want to check out Angles' Island,taking one of the tour boats. Napa Valley and the Wine Train is fun, even though a little expensive, but also check out the Santa Clara Valley vineyards too, with some great wine tasting and beautiful scenery! In addition to riding the "trolleys" in S.F. the Cable Car Museum is a pretty neat place to visit. Of course the California State RR Museum in Sacramento (a bit of a drive, but maybe part of a worthwhile loop through the Mother Lode Country) is way cool.
And speaking of the Mother Lode country. There are a bunch of things going on around there that may be of interest! The Sierra Railroad out of Oakdale runs a dinner train that is really good fun, with great food and a great train ride too boot! Then just East of Oakdale is Jamestown and Railtown 1897 with the original shops, roundhouse and the water tower that was filmed in Petticoat Junction. It's really a great tour of 1800's railroading and you may be able to even ride a train.
Just a bit North of Jamestown (and a very scenic trip it is) is Murphys CA. and the Ironstone Winery. This place is fun!The winery, wine tasting, restaurant, museum and entertainment in the theater are all really great!
OK, so we went East and now If you find the time and can take a drive South...Take Highway #1 (Coast Highway), making your way down to Santa Cruz to take in the Boardwalk. If the oldest and only remaining wood rollercoaster (and amusement park) on the coast isn't your thing, that's OK, because just inland, North from Santa Cruz (or a nice scenic trip East from Davenport) is Felton, CA and Roaring Camp. Here you can take a ride on the rails behind a Shay, heading up 7% grade switch backs into the Redwoods...WOW!
Now, back on # 1 if you have the time to make another 40 miles South, you make it down to Monterey...The Monterey Bay Aquarium is absolutely wonderful. Often, there is also music in the bayfront park and of course all sorts of places to spook around in. If nothing else the aquarium is worth the beautiful drive! Oh, and stop at the "Fish Hopper" for lunch, you won't be disappointed!
MisterBeasley wrote: San Francisco's street railway system is a living museum for traction and cable enthusiasts. You can buy an all-day pass that allows you unlimited rides. Besides the well-known cable cars, which really do still have Rice-a-Roni ads on them, there are all the streetcars. They are a diverse and mis-matched lot, since they were acquired from cities that now regret dismantling their own systems. SF has lovingly restored these. Most places, you have to go to a museum just to see them, but in San Francisco they still provide public transportation for commuters and tourists alike.To ride the cable cars, particularly the popular ones at Fishermans Wharf, you need to get there early or figure out when an "off day" is coming. These are typically packed with tourists. Or, you can hike up the hill and take the car down. The long lines are at the bottom. One of them has a manually-pushed wood deck turntable for turning the car around.
San Francisco's street railway system is a living museum for traction and cable enthusiasts. You can buy an all-day pass that allows you unlimited rides. Besides the well-known cable cars, which really do still have Rice-a-Roni ads on them, there are all the streetcars. They are a diverse and mis-matched lot, since they were acquired from cities that now regret dismantling their own systems. SF has lovingly restored these. Most places, you have to go to a museum just to see them, but in San Francisco they still provide public transportation for commuters and tourists alike.
To ride the cable cars, particularly the popular ones at Fishermans Wharf, you need to get there early or figure out when an "off day" is coming. These are typically packed with tourists. Or, you can hike up the hill and take the car down. The long lines are at the bottom. One of them has a manually-pushed wood deck turntable for turning the car around.
Mr. B thanks for the comments. We all have to fill out our top 10 list of things to do and so far everyone has put down to ride a cable car along with Alcatraz & Fisherman's Wharf of course. I understand there is a Cable Car Museum in SF. I have heard it was worth going to. This may have to be a solo visit. I know very little about the Railroads out West so any help with suggestions are appreciated. I understand that there is or was a big Ferry / Railroad Passenger Terminal Building in Oakland. I think I just read an article about that recently.
GUB
colvinbackshop wrote: GUB, when you say your going to S.F. and are wondering about some sights....Will you have a car? I have some wonderful suggestions if you will have wheels.
GUB, when you say your going to S.F. and are wondering about some sights....Will you have a car? I have some wonderful suggestions if you will have wheels.
Yes we will have a car. We are actually in the SF area from Saturday to Saturday leaving late on the final Saturday to fly home. I have to be carefull, I am the only true rail fan while there is one other is is sort of and the other three are not sort of fans. In fact the only way I can work in trains or hobby shops is to also work in food and wine. Promising a meal or other libations seems to soften them up somewise to the idea that I like trains. To add insult to injury they regard train shows as "smelly old men shows". I am not of the same opinion as they seem to be. Oh, by the way the teasing is all in good fun, so don't be offended by the smeelly old men comment. I would be very interested in your suggestions and I await your reply. As always I will thank you in advance.
Good morning.
I'll have coffee and ....I'd better stick with the oat meal. I had my cholesterol last evening with dinner!
I will be working on the library for the most part today, putting up the wall between the "rest room" and the book shelves. And as long as it's warm (+20 already this morning) outside, I'm thinking that I'll cut some slate flooring too.
And then if all goes well...I'll get to the Trainroom for a little while this afternoon also!
Latter guys.
Well... I'll have one more before I call it quits and head of to bed. A bunch of us are planning a trip to San Fransisco this summer and i was wondering if anyone has any train related suggestings while in and around San Fransisco. We are already planning on the the Nappa Valley Wine Train.
Evening All;
Up here we don't get President's Day, or Prime Minister's Day off either. Actually ... there isn't a Prime Minister's Day. So I was one of those working bastards as well today. The only bad thing about today is that my office was cold and I could not get warm until I came home.
I'll have a Scotch on the rocks ... only one please and make it a double.
I'll check back later.
Morning Joe. Virtual coffee, to go with what I'm drinking at work. Yeah, I'm one of those poor bastards that doesn't get Presidents' Day off. Oh, well, the commute this morning was a breeze.
I think I've got this Durhams Water Putty thing figured out. I put in the trolley stop which is behind my downtown area. This was my first try at "street running" tracks with the pavement up to the level of the rails. It worked out pretty well. I had a number of small spray-paint jobs that I've been putting off until the weather improved, but I ended up just doing them in the garage and then opening the doors to vent the fumes once I was done. I put a couple of pics up on Photo Fun, about midway down page 4 of that thread for the weekend. (Is it the season where we're all cooped up, or do more of us just have digital cameras now? Seems like Photo Fun has been getting lots of action the last few weeks. All great stuff, too.)
The weather moderated a bit over the last couple of days, but we were back in the single digits for the drive in to work this morning. The last forecast I saw said we were due for some 40's by the end of the week. It would be nice to get some of that white stuff off the driveway.
Evening group: I'll have a cold tap Joe, and get one for GUB too!
All is well here in the Northwoods! Skiing was good with temps. in the teens. The sun went away by about 1430...But we're hoping that means we'll get a little snow this evening! We need it badly!
GUB, it seems that anytime you do any remodeling...you're going to find, out of square, out of plumb and nothing is level. As for the use of trim...Remember that the difference between a good carpenter and a bad doctor...Is that both bury their mistakes! Ha! With the carpenter, it's with trim! Good to hear that you are making some progress!
I've got the day off tomorrow (paid holiday) and hope to work some in the Trainroom and in the library. As usual the demands for time are intense! If it weren't for work, chores and running errands...I would have a lot more track down. But even as it is, I got to play some today doing some landscaping, working on the modification / building of a track cleaning car and just plane running a few trains!
colvinbackshop wrote: GUB, how's the shelving project coming along? Are these for your trainroom or elsewhere?
GUB, how's the shelving project coming along? Are these for your trainroom or elsewhere?
Finished installing the shelving yesterday and then today I filled the nail and screw holes, caulked the joints and put some trim at thenceiling. Can't beleive how bad the the ceiling was. The room is basically 7' x 7' and there is over an inch difference from one side to the other. The crown I had purchased could not be used so I had to improvise with some trim I had from another project years ago. Doesn't look too bad. I need to add a small cove mould on top of what I already have and that should finish off the shelving. The shelving is for my office. I have to get that done as well as the Master Bedroom and the Dining Room finished before I can start the Trainroom. I figure that won't happen till after our trip to San Fransisco in July. That's okay. Now that I am almost finished the Office I can move alot of the stuff from storage and get somewhat more organized.
Good morning! Joe, I'll have a coffee and a bowl of oat meal please.
It's still below 0 this morning, but it's supposed to warm up...Maybe into the twenties. So Raeanne and I will be off to teach skiing this afternoon.
I spent some time working on the railroad yesterday. Red Ria's has a new front door (still need to do windows and a vestibule), the lumber pile is at least now painted for Gary's Standard and I got some more landscaping done. Seems I never get as much done as I think I will...
On the other hand, I did the daily chores and cooked a nice evening meal. The White Plate Special at Dad's was a Stuffed Pork Chop served with a side of Rice Pilaf and a salad. This morning I need to get down to the kitchen and do dishes! Then out to the Trainroom for a bit before skiing.
Have a good one! Maybe I'll see you guys tonight.
Good Morning Everyone;
Coffee to start please. Maybe an English Muffin as well with a little butter, thankyou very much. Well it is Saturday morning and that can only mean one thing. Time to finish the office shelving. Last Sunday we had to quit because one mistake compounded another and another and another. Well ... I think you get the picture. Unfortunately, I lost my shelving partner due to the fact he has to work both today and tomorrow. Oh well .... I am sure i can manage. So .. it is time to shut this thing down. Move some things and get started. I will check back later. Thanks for the coffee and muffin. Have a safe day. Keep warm and have fun. Bye for now.
Evening boys! Looks like I'll put my money away for tonight, thanks!
Joe, I'll take a pint of Salvator, if you don't mind.
Wisconsin, air brushes are great and not all that hard to get used to. On the other hand, as you mention, they are a bit time consuming to keep clean! Especially when we use the new water base paints...paint can even dry up on the needle inside the brush while we are using it!!!
I use both a duel action (Badger 150) and a single action (Badger 200) and can't say that one is better than the other regarding cleaning. I can, however, offer two tips when using acyclic paints: Use a retarder, Badger offers it under their Model-Flex line and use as low an air pressure as you can by with. Still they are labor intensive, but these two things have helped me!
Good to hear your doing all right Mike! Sooo...What did the Doc. say? Did you have a whole battery of tests, or are they coming you way yet? What ever, we wish you the best from the Northland!
Hope to spend more time "training" tomorrow, working as a carpenter at Sawbill Junction. Red Ria's needs a lot of re-modeling and Gary's Standard is just a pile of lumber laying on the ground.
Better get to bed. Thanks for the beer boys! Really appreciate it.
Hi, Joe. A round for the folks and a Singha for me.
Nice to see some new faces among the familiar denizens. Welcome to the party.
Mike, I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. Chest pains are nothing to fool around with! So far I've been lucky - if you can call arthritis 'luck.'
I got to burrowing around in the junkpile and came up with a badly-faded (pre-Zerox) copy of my Official Public Timetable. After 40 years (honest) it was barely legible. Happily, the good folks at my local copying center were able to enhance it to a useable level with high-contrast reproduction, so now I have validation for some of the assumptions I've been making. Just for the record, here is the only part the non-Japanophones among you could understand - out of 4 pages.
Station name(s): Minamijima, Nonomura, Murasaki, Mikasa, Takada, Satsuki, Tomikawa, Haruyama, Itokazu, Toyo, Matsunaga, Nagisa, Takami, Asaoka, Tonooka. On the timetable they appear as a column. Bold names are stations that will be modeled; other names are being used to identify the various parts of hidden staging.
I can feel the pain of those in the great snowy wastes (I used to live in Rapid City, SD) and consider myself lucky that I don't have to share it. Here in Sin City the overnight lows have been in the mid-to-upper 40's, with days 25 degrees warmer. Also, no weather weenie has ever been fired for forecasting sunshine here - we get 300+ days of it a year.
Well, this is Daytona weekend, so I doubt much will get done on the railroad. Should be interesting with a new face among the Fords, Chevys and Dodges. Of course, I'll try to be neutral (says he, with two Toyota vehicles on the garage apron..)
Well, tomorrow will come early, so I'd better toddle off for some rest.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Thanks, I'll have a cold beer, I know that maybe I shouldn't but I have been feeling very good and the doc hasn't put me on any special diet or anything. I am watching the salt intake and drink beer in moderation, I hate to give up everything I love.
I did go out when I got home tonight and turned up the heat in the trainroom so in a while I will get to run my trains for a while. I am looking forward to that. It is only going to get in the low 30's tonight, You fellows in the north country eat your hearts out. Mike
Good Evening Folks!
Tonight's first and second rounds are on me... I'll have a Bud! Well it looks like Ohio is headed for another snow/ice storm this weekend. and I ran out of paint practicing with the new air brush. boy its kinda of a pain keeping the units clean. I am getting better, but still have a long ways to go. Hope all is well with everyone.
Hey, Joe! I'll have a tap and the lunch special.
Mr. B, regarding the job dilemma...I too have been on both sides of that table and I do have to say that this was a very positive interview. I know I can do the job, and do it well, I might add! It comes down to me just having a lot of trouble "banking" on ten years of service to get great medical coverage upon retirement....And therefore, giving up the benefits (time off and flexible hours) I now have with seventeen years with the school district. BTW, none of these benefits I now have with the school district include medical after retirement! It may seem short sighted, but my time off for family is very important to me as I age! I'm only going to have Rae home for another three years (give or take). Maybe another beer will help clear this up for me...Joe, one more please!
Got to spend time playing / working on the railroad this morning! I didn't get to any structures for Sawbill, but I did get a lot of ballasting done (boy, that is a tedious job as far as I'm concerned) around the end of the peninsula, behind the backshop. Also got some cork and ballast down at Cascade Junction....So I did get some accomplished.
I may have some more time out there yet today...But... Now it's time for some chores, before having to run to town, taking care of "running" with Rae (dance and violin) and then work at the pool!
Latter.
Good news on the job front, JB. I hope the positive interview aids in your decision-making process. I always try to remember that a job interview works both ways - the applicant has just as much interest in finding out about the company and the job as the employer does in finding out about the prospective new hire. I've been on both sides of the table a number of times, and I've even coached kids just entering the job market on how to deal with these intimidating situations.
After hours last night I just went up to the trainroom and ran trains. It was late, so I knew I wasn't going to be pulling out a paintbrush or glue bottle. I parked my MOW train back on its siding, and had The Twins make up a short freight. (My McRoberts Fine Haggis reefer hadn't been out of the yard for a while.) I realized that I had just about finished this phase of the scenery on the "front" of the layout, and it's getting close to "turnaround time."
Down in Boston Harbor, the old USS Constitution is sort-of permanently moored at her wharf, but every year or two they pull her out into the harbor and rotate her 180 degrees, so they can expose the other side to the elements and bring the weathered side around for maintenance work. Since my layout is a free-standing table on wheels, I can do the same thing. Fortunately, I don't need tugboats to accomplish this.
And then I'll get to see if my control panels can make the move. I wired them up with all the wires routed through a point along the "keel" of the layout, so I should be able to take them off one side and move them over to the other. At the same time, I'll flip them upside-down so the schematic track diagram remains correctly positioned even though it's on the other side of the layout. We'll see how it goes...
A BIG "Welcome to the Beer Barn" for the new fellers'...I'll buy this round Joe and I'll have a Pale Ale.
Mr. Beasley, yes the MOW train is a mix of True Scale, Walthers, Athearn, maybe an MDC in there too, and I also have some older Bachmann (I think) that I will be painting /bashing /adding to the mix. And, for what ever it may be worth, I think the Walthers MOW stuff (at least some of it) is the old True Scale tooling. Regarding ballast cars: The CCRY doesn't even own a ballast car. Only ones on the pike are GN.
The job interview went REAL well....Now I feel like I really have to buckle down and figure out if I really want to go after it or not. Wish I would have had this opportunity 15 years ago...This would have been a "no-brainer" then!
Haven't been working on trains the past few days, but that will change tomorrow, as I hope to spend the day, other than having to do the normal chores, out in the Trainroom! Now that the SL Backshop is done and I can see what the scene can look like (I'm a visual type), I want to get going on the hillside and the trackage behind it. Also want to spend some time working on Gary's Standard and Red Ria's Roadhouse at Sawbill Junction!
OH!! I got my roll of cork today too, so I want to check that all out and maybe get some cork down for the cross-over, tower and station at Cascade Junction too. Projects, projects, projects!
Mike, hope you are still doing OK!
Jeffrey, we haven't heard from you for awhile!!?? Hope that all is good with you and that you're just hanging out at the diner!
Well, just in case anyone wants to see what it's really like to be down in the dumps, here's the rear of the Star Garage. After a Harpoon IPA, of course.
The building is ancient. My mom found it for me at a garage sale when I was a young teenager, inside one of those "box-o-trains" deals. The old truck body was in there, too. I just finished with the Gypsolite and turf treatment on this part of the layout, so I thought I bring in a photo.
Good afternoon everbody. Lets see...... I will take Bud. I'm new and was reading some of the topics, so I thought I would come on in. Its been snowing here (Monessen Pa) for a few days now, and I'm not use to it. Im from NC and moved up here last July. This southern boy can't take the cold. The bad thing is I have a Mustang GT I drive to work, and it doesnt like snow at all. The other day they let me go early, so... I already had 200 lbs (sand) in the trunk. I added another 200 lbs (rock salt). Told my wife I have over 400 lbs in the trunk. She was more worried about breaking the axel., but I didnt wanna stay at work. I will say this I left a 4x4 going up a hill. HAHAHA. Glad I could stop in. Gotta go wife will be home in a hr.
Everybody stay warm.
"Rust, whats not to love?"
Howdy guys...And a big "welcome" to the newbies! Joe, I'll take a brandy tonight please. The temp. is heading to -20 again tonight, so I'd better put a little anti-freeze in the system!
Mr. Beasley.....I sure do! And congrats to Annie!
Mike, sure glad to hear your home and doing OK! Keep to the S&N and do what the Doc. wants!
GUB, yes, MRN is the over sized publication. I like it, as it seems to be covering things the others skip over...At least a little.
Gotta' pour this brandy down the hatch and get off to bed. Last night was late, I'm tired and I have my interview tomorrow morning!
Latter! And have a god one.
Welcome, gents. Joe, a round for the new fellas, and another Doctor Pepper for Mike. Gee, dude, glad to see you made it through the hospital episode. I have it on good authority that the virtual brewskis here at the Beer Barn will not affect your cholesterol level, but I'm glad you're already tuning into the necessary lifestyle changes that you'll be making. In the long run, you'll look back on this event as "the first day of the rest of your life," and you'll be glad you got such a mile dose of hospital before things got really serious. Hopefully, the doctor will tell you to take up a calming, relaxing activity where you can spend an hour or two each day quietly sitting at your workbench.
Nothing new to report on the layout. It's hockey night for me, so I didn't even venture up to the trainroom. (I'll have to later, 'cause the women folk left the lights on up there.) I am happy to announce that my daughter Annie, now a sophomore, finished the season as the top women's skier at Bedford High School. Sorry, I just had to brag about that a bit. JB understands, don't you?
"im new here"
I am new here too.