I'll have a brandy again Joe...That stuff made me sleep like a baby!! Or maybe it was the result of the good will...A round for the house again too, please and thank you!
Show # 2 is now history also and it went even better than on opening night. That seemed like an impossibility last night, but it ran even smoother tonight........Unbelievable!
We've been sharing our weather reports, and so here goes...It's 48 degrees at (past) midnight here tonight and just three of four days ago, it was below 0. Makes you think that the folks talking about unusualily quick extreme temperature swings as a result of global warming are on the right track. We've had this sort of thing going for about three years now and it really does seem to be happening more and more! Just hope we have some snow to ski on pretty soon!
Sunday afternoon, must be time for a beer and the game.
Plaster cloth is drying right now. I put in a highway bridge from RIX. It was too long, so I cut off a quarter of its length. Next step will be the Durham's Water Putty for the road. I put a couple of more shots on Foto Fun.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Well, it is 5:00 somewhere. It is a little early for beer here, but just wait a few hours.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
Howdy all...I'll take a pale ale Joe, I'm dry as a bone laying in the desert sun!! Man, oh man, it's easy to get hot a dry under the lights on stage!
Well, we closed the Nutcracker this afternoon with yet another great performance! It's bitter sweet and I'm sure I'll be wanting to either rehearse or dance tomorrow night! It's a strange thing as relationships develop with the other performers (a few old timers and some new faces) as we all need to depend on each other to pull off a good show. As time passes a camaraderie develops....
And yet, I'll now have some time to play with the trains.
And speaking of trains...I hope to finish up the turntable at Whyte this week and get a start on some scenery at Sawbill Junction. That's the first scene as you enter the Trainroom and I have some grand ideas for it. I now think I'll add an additional track with another turnout tying a mainline to my programming track. I'll play with that idea for a bit tomorrow, while the drywall mud in the turntable pit is drying.
A round for the house Joe and another ale for me.
Well, JB, all the world's a stage. Great to hear that you had a successful run. My daughter, the swimmer, recently played a Mime in the high school Tournament of Plays, in which each class puts on one short play. From a sparsely-attended "cult" event a few years ago, it's now become an auditorium-filling show that's not to be missed. As a Mime, of course, it was the only time she'd been silent for that long in many years.
I've been looking into my own turntable project. Looking into also meant looking under, and I discovered a support beam right beneath the turntable, which will have to go if it's to become a pit. Not a big deal, but just one of Life's Little Problems that has to be dealt with. And that, of course, will require a beer. Thanks, Joe. I needed that.
Mike, I thought you scratch-built everything. Those cars definitely look like they've been "bashed."
Joe, another pale ale here please....I'm still feeling dry!
Mr. Beasley wrote "Well, JB, all the world's a stage"
How true, how true!! And even though I'm relatively new to community theater (only seven years now) I tell people that Ive been "acting" for 55 years! As the world is my stage and we are nothing more than players!
Actually, I've been on stage before that, as a vocalist and musician with a number of bands in the mid 60's into the very early 70's....But after a stint with the UMM Stage Band in 1972, I had thought I was done with that chapter of my life. That is, until the dance director at the Reif Center (and my then 7 year old daughter) recruited me for a production of the Nutcracker. The rest is history with me dancing the part of Dr. Stahlbaum or Judge Silberhous, depending on which write of the Ballet (but non the less, hosting the party scene) ever since. And, that's the tip of the ice-berg, because we also have gotten involved with the GR Players and Mississippi Medodie Show Boat. I do have to admit, "I love it", being able to be involved first hand with activates that my daughter loves and being able to share that love of the arts with her. No matter how down or ticked off I may be with daily crap....It's a real breath of fresh air to be able to "play" with her!
And so, what is it with swimmers and theater? We've had a number of them here over the past twenty years with two being in this years Nutcracker!
Now on to Model Railroading....You know, if a fellow were able to think everything through from concept to finished (if that were to ever happen) we wouldn't have to be removing support beams, foam sub-base, pulling extra wire, moving trackage, rebuilding what we just built after taking it apart to make it fit better, and so on and so on.... In other words, good luck on you turntable project Mr. B. having to reposition tha support. I hope that the pics I've posted of my bash with the Atlas deck, bridge and the finished skirts have been helpful. I'll post more as I get more done on that project and as stated in an earlier post, I hope to finish that up this week! Wish me luck!
Man, I LOVE this place!
Joe, set up the house, and make mine Ballantine.
MisterBeasley, did you build with L girder design, or are you going to have to do some special subterranian engineering? Reason I asked is that I just installed two special joists to support a removable yard throat. No big thing, just a couple of minutes with pencil, tin snips and power screw driver. That's the glory of using steel studs for benchwork.
Incidentally, I won't tell your daughter what you said! Mine resembles that.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
No L-girder, just open framework. Actually, this will be a piece of cake. Knowing that I might sink the turntable, I intentionally didn't glue the foam on to the T-trestles below. So, all I've got to do is unscrew the trestles and take them downstairs to the saw. I can add a couple of supports and the job will be done in 15 minutes or so. There's enough extra room on either side of the pit-to-be that I've go plenty of room for the supports.
My plan on this one is to mount the turntable so that the top of the fixed rim on the Atlas is at the bottom of the 2-inch foam. This will keep the whole thing even with the "ground level" above. It's deep, but I'm planning a false pit bottom anyway.
Dagnabbit, Rabbit, I'm at the top again! How does this happen? You'd think I could do modulo arithmetic after all these years. Oh, well, set 'em up. Back to Harpoon IPA for me. (No, wait a minute. It's 7:30 in the morning. Make it a Bloody Mary. And some hash and eggs, over easy.)
Hey Joe, looks like nobody else is around today...Oh well, I'll take a tall Bass tap, please. And as long as it's just you and me....do you mind if I have a cigar? I like a Backwoods Black or a Swisher Sweet every now and again.
I did get out to the Trainroom today and worked a bit on the turntable, but mostly I did some figuring on the extra track I want to add at Sawbill Junction. I think I've pretty well got it down in my head and even took the razor saw to the mainline, cutting a spot for another turnout.
As a LD-SIG guy I know that a good rule of thumb is to not have all (or a lot) of trackage at the very front edge of the benchwork, but I'm breaking some rules. Sawbill Junction is the terminus (except that the two legs of the wye travel on, one to Sawbill Landing and the other to Forest Center, just like the prototype....But both off pike) of one of my upper level point to point routes. It is the first scene when entering the Trainroom and is only about 10 feet long by about 28 inches wide. My thought is, that it needs to portray a BUSY place (a bustling small town, the hub for what lies beyond), but not really be busy with a lot of trackage. So, a passing siding in front of the wye and a relatively long team track in front of a busy hillside community is all that was planed...Again, all the trackage is in front of the town.
I also put my programming track here, in front of the wye, and was modeling it as an abandoned, over-grown, track from years gone by. But, as I ran some trains here (kind of using it as a staging yard for the trains coming from off pike...I thought "why did I do that?".... A section of track that isn't tied to anything, can't be used and, YES, it is the programming tack but I have to "handle" every loco that goes there. What was I thinking?
So now, I'll have even more trackage, close to the edge and in front of the town. My hope is that it will serve as a caboose track and / or extra space as a spur when I'm building trains here...But all the trackage is within 12 to 14" from the front of the diorama...Don't tell any of the LD or OP SIG folks or they may have to police out after me.
I'll post pictures when I have something concrete at Sawbill.
Still just you and me Joe? An other Bass and maybe one more cigar too. What the heck...it's a Mon. and one workday is done!
Howdy Joe, I'll have a cold beer and some beer nuts, looks to be pretty slow around here. I guess everyone is to busy on there RR to have some good relaxing refreshment.
I got these in an e-mail this morning and thought you all might get a laugh out of them.
I did find a job yesterday as a line mechanic at the John Deere Dearlership in Altus although the money is not what in should be, but at least it will keep me from going hungry. I don't start until the 2nd of Jan. All I have to do is keep my head above water until I get my first paycheck. (Jan 16th)
Enjoy the pics, see you all later. Mike
I love that overworked mouse!
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Tuesday night apres-hockey. One more cold one to quench my thirst and calm me down. Watching that puck for 2 hours gets me pretty wired, and one or two beers isn't quite enough, but of course I don't want to overdo it when I've still got to drive home.
Working on some roads on the layout, too. I tried adding vinegar to the Durham's Water Putty, and it does indeed really slow down the setting time. I still don't have the hang of working with this stuff, though. Somebody talked about "wet sanding" the roads. Do you just add a bit of water and sand as usual? Since my layout is above a nice carpeted floor, I'd get shot if I spilled dirty water and made a mess of the rug, so is this going to create a drippy torrent or is it pretty well contained?
Howdy, Joe. I'll have an Olde Frothingslosh. Just had the Doc assure me that I'm still fully functional and good for a few years yet. (I knew that, but The Wife was concerned.)
Mister B. There's a new fella asking about help in modeling the IRT in New York. Since I haven't ridden a New York subway for half a century, I left it alone. You DO run IRT cars, so maybe you can offer him some advice.
Have to toddle along. Tomorrow (later today, actually) my eye mechanic gets a shot at me - 18 months since laser surgery, and I'm still happy. I hope she will be!
tomikawaTT wrote: Howdy, Joe. I'll have an Olde Frothingslosh.
The pale stale ale with the foam on the bottom? Excellent!
To be honest, I haven't ridden the NYC subways for about the same length of time, maybe 40 years or so, but it's always fun to chat about subway modelling. But...I can't find that thread. It's early in the AM and it might be staring me in the face, but the coffee hasn't kicked in yet. (OK, got it. Stealth thread. Jeffrey posted to it, which clued me in.)
Afternoon gang.....A cold one here Joe, and put Jeffrey's Bud on my tab too. Anybody that can drink that stuff at 0630 in the morning ought to have it free...At least today.
Mr. Beasley: The wet sanding process isn't all that messy, but if it's going to be done over the boss's carpet, by all means throw down a drop cloth. Use a wet / dry sandpaper with a SMALL amount of water. As far as I know the water does two things here: 1st. It will keep down the resulting dust and 2nd. I believe the water will give a finer finished result. Again, it doesn't take much water, so....No you shouldn't have a dripping mess!
I worked late last evening and so I'm off to a slow start today, but I have spent some time in the Trainroom again today "YES"!
I had mentioned that I was re-thinking the wye and my programming track at Sawbill Junction...Well, it's a done deal as of 10 minutes ago! And, I have discovered a couple of valuable lessons.
I have used PL300 (compatible with foam and plastic) as the adhesive of choice for not only gluing the (blue, yellow, pink) foam board together, but also for putting the cork down and the track too. It has been a "mostly" successful process....But...
The main reasoning for the use of the PL300 was that if I had to remove and re-position any track it should be EZ as the PL doesn't set hard. This seems to be true regarding the "set hard" scenario, but I have found that NOTHING is easily removed. Not only does the foam sub-base tear apart, the cork can't be reused and I wasn't even able to get the track up without a lot of damage being done to it.
Along with this most recent "fooobar"; I must add that I have struggled with the PL300 as an adhesive for the track, either getting it too thin (track doesn't stay in place) or too thick (adhesive coming up between the ties) but have pressed on with it, because of the afore mentioned compatibility and non-hardening reasons. NO MORE!
With the most recent tack laying, I have used Elmer's Carpenter Glue (the yellow stuff) and it works great. Once dry, it's water proof so I can ballast with my white glue and water method, it doesn't have the oozzzing thing going on and I have been successful in even taking up a section of track with out causing extern damage! There you have it, a hard lesson learned. And with that..............
I'll have another beer, Joe. Then I'd better get after the daily chores and start dinner. Chicken, oven roasted with grapes and shallots, smothered with a Sherry and Garlic sauce.....Along with Smashed Potatoes and steamed broccoli is on the menu this evening in the Dining Car. Make your reservation now....Seating is limited.
"Evening, Joe. I'll have an Asahi, please. Have to wash the taste of that Politically Correct season's greeting out of my mouth!
Well, the eye repair crew is still happy. Can't say that I was, until the (fill in the adjective) eye drops wore off. Wasted half of today's layout building time. Bummer.
MisterBeasley wrote: tomikawaTT wrote: Howdy, Joe. I'll have an Olde Frothingslosh. The pale stale ale with the foam on the bottom? Excellent!
Believe it or not, I still have a set of NMRA-issue cardboard sides for an Olde Frothingslosh reefer! At least, I think I have. There are boxes full of things I haven't unpacked since my last move!
In the time I did get to work in the garage, I managed to get the benchwork in to anchor the recycled table to the around-the-wall part of the layout. The new table is still free standing. I could probably get more construction done if I:
On the other hand, it probably wouldn't be anywhere near as much fun!
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - if I ever get out of hidden staging)
For those of us not aware of the saga of Old Frothingslosh, I present this brief summary:
http://cordic-and-co.com/ofs/oldefrothingsloshstory01.htm
Rege Cordic was a radio announcer in the Pittsburg, PA, area, who concocted the whole fantasy. The Pittsburg Brewing Company, I believe, actually canned up a generic beer with the Old Frothingslosh label, and it was typically available even in New England at holiday time.
If you read through the entire web page, you'll discover that Rege was also an avid model railroader. He would have been right at home here, I'd imagine.
A round for Rege, Joe. May his days be happy in the Big Roundhouse in the Sky. (Unless, of course, he prefers to have his layout in the Big Warm Basement. )
Eveng all Joe I think it's time for a cold beer, Thanks. I took a load of copper and aluminum to Altus and sold it to a recycling center, I got nearly $400.00 for a small PU load, Made me real happy this time of year.
I went to Wally World and picked up mom and dad a real nice Christmas card and a digital camara. I wrapped it up and gave to them early so they could get to know how to use it befor all my brothers and sisters ger here for Christmas
They were both very happy, I think my mother started to cry, made me feel good that I could do something to make them this happy. Isn't that what it's all about? Later Mike
Good evening...A cold tap Joe, and set the house too.
Gifting...Or Re-Gifting can be touchy.....Once in a while we hit it right, but then there are expectations that must be lived up to. It's a very sticky wicket! But, and so...congrats Mike, on a gift well done!
Didn't get to the Trainroom today, maybe tomorrow, as the wife had the day off and we spent the day catching up on chores and running errands. We did, however, have a nice lunch out (don't do that very often) and had a good day.
All is right in Northern Minnesota...except we don't have any snow and (Dag-nab-it) it's raining this evening! Could be a real mess by morning if the temp. drops just a little bit.
.
Morning all, A cup o coffee and some bacon & eggs will do the trick. The weather here in SW Okla. has been surprisingly warm the past couple weeks (since we had all that nasty white stuff) the temps are supposed to reach into the low 70's the next couple of days. I am not doing much in the train room, too nice outside and trying to get some yard cleaning done
When I was in Altus yesterday I stopped in a farm store to get some stove pipe to put up my pot bellied stove in my shop. $40.00 for a 3 foot stick of heavy wall!!! I think not, I am not giving $80.00 for pipe so I can have a wood burning stove, I can heat with natural gas for about the same price and don't have to cut wood. Are the prices that way everywhere or just here? Later, I see my breakfast is here. Mike
Good day all...I'll have a tap, Joe.
Mike...That sounds wrong. I need to get to our local Farm-Fleet this afternoon and will check it out.
Been working on the library today.....But also took a little time to play in the Trainroom working on ballasting the new siding at Sawbill. Also pulled out the sketch I did for the community there, checking on what structures I have built and what I still need to build. One of the establishments is Louie's Saloon, not that far down the block from Red Ria's Roadhouse. Granted, I'm doing the early1960's....
But in today's element: Louie's would most likely be a "cyber-saloon" and I have had troubles with the "server" there.
I am pleased to report that the major problem was nothing more than a "too" high pressure on the CO2 line and that everything is now back to normal.
Hey!
I like that tap! Set me up a round over here please!
It's just about quitin time and......a-hem.....errrr.....ahhhhh
.......I think I will have a beer!
Yes, that's it............a tall cold one..........in one of those frosted schooner glasses too!
YES!!!
Ryan BoudreauxThe Piedmont Division Modeling The Southern Railway, Norfolk & Western & Norfolk Southern in HO during the merger eraCajun Chef Ryan
Yeah, a cold, frosty one for me, too. Got an iced mug? Mmmm, that goes down easy on a warm day like this. Again, in the 50's in Massachusetts (soon to again be Taxachusetts) in December, way to high for skiing. We opted out of this weekend at Sunday River in Maine - not enough trails to be worth the 3-hour drive each way.
Been doing a little roadwork. Before you think I've signed up for Rocky VI, let me change that to "highway department" and you'll immediately catch on how much actual "work" is involved. I've got my roads over in the corner by Burns Coal and Oil all painted now, and I'm working on the grade crossings. I think I'll paint the bridge tomorrow so I can do the smelly Floquil Weathered Concrete outside, and maybe I'll try my hand at masking and painting some center lines. I'm thinking of putting down a strip of blue painters' tape, and then cutting the line out from the middle with a hobby knife. We'll have to see if I can do that more evenly than trying to either paint a curve free-hand or putting down the edge of the tape around a curve. Or maybe...hey, how about just cutting one line in the middle of the tape, and then just shifting half the tape over an eighth of an inch?
See, drinking beer does make you smarter! I'll have another, Joe. I'll be a genius before the night is over.
Evenging all, Joe I'll have a cold one over here.
Mister B. Let me know how the lines work out, If the beer really does make you smarter, Try drinking 8 or 10 cold beers, THEN painting the lines. As for me, after drinking that many, I would be doing good to see the line let alone paint one! LOL. Mike
Evening All;
I'll have a Scotch on the rocks tonight if you please. It's been a while since I was last in. Busy at work and busy at home with Christmas and all. Looking forward to some time off between Christmas and New Years. One more week, it won't be too soon. Curled last night. We lost. Stayed on my feet so at least that's a plus. Works a pain as usual, Not ready for Christmas. So what else is new. I seem to be rambling so I will have another drink and then I will be off to a party. Everyone ... have a Great Weekend. I'll check back later.
GUB
Good evening everybody.
A merry Christmas from me to you.
Evening all, Joe I am mighty dry right about now, you know what I need. Thanks.
Spent all day doing yard work and I am tired, almost ready for some cooler weather so I can get back in the train room for some FUN.
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM S.W. OKLA.
You know, one year ago I did not have a model train and had never as much as even thought about having one. Last Christmas I got a gift that has changed my life. Guess what it was.. May be good, may be bad But I love the Hel* out of it.
Supposed to turn cold again on Monday, maybe I can get in some train time in. Mike