Drinkin' beer on Saturday, so it must be time for a refill. Joe, a Shipyard Export, if you please. Somebody posted a shot of one of their 1:87 breweries to Photo Fun, I think, and it just gave me a thirst for one of those. Haven't had one since, let's see, must be a couple of weeks since my last trip to Maine, at least. Sure brings back memories.
Not much to report today. There was news of a sale at Walthers on SW-8's, DCC and sound for a hunnerd bucks. I e-mailed Gerry at Maine Trains and he's got one on order for me. At that price, it would probably cost me more to put sound into the S1 I've already got. So, one more engine added to the roster. Anybody remember "1000 Clowns" with Jason Robards, Jr.? There was a line where he told his son, "You can never have too many eagles." I think that goes for locomotives, too.
This time, I worked on bending the track for the pit-rail into shape before trying to solder it together. I think it will be a lot easier to line it up without a lot of springiness trying to pull it apart and put my eye out at the same time. (Yeah, I wear safety glasses. But the track doesn't know that.)
Hey, I need some opinions, and I trust you guys to give me the straight poop as well as anyone. What do you think about joining a train club? There's one starting a couple of towns over. I'm having fun with my own layout, but there's always that desire to work on something bigger. I figure I'll have most of my scenery in place in another year or so. I've got some plans to "dual-era" my layout with a few Jordan vehicles, setting the Wayback machine to somewhere in the 1930's. I think I can add a fold-down staging yard to one end before my wife gets suspicious, too, but that about maxes me out.
Hey, a round for anyone who's, well, around.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
JB, I'm jealous that your turntable is so far along. Maybe it's because I'm in here pouring beer down my throat too much. (Yeah, Joe, Harpoon. Thanks.) I'm glad that I used the Atlas deck bridge as a base for my bridge, because the rails slide into the deck and can be "tweaked" a bit by sliding them back and forth.
It got cold here, finally. The weather actually got to be like typical mid-January, and everyone said how cold it was. So, I wore a Hawaiian shirt to work to celebrate the occasion.
I put the BLI Hudson on the programming track and couldn't read it. It works fine on the main, so I may have to pull out the book and do it there. Yeah, I remember the warning about taking all the other engines off the track before I do that. Wow, that thing has a great sound system. I thought I'd end up playing with some of the sounds to make it different from the 0-6-0, but the whole suite of sounds is different, particularly the whistle. I ran it around my 18-inch curves just fine, but it found one more little hiccup in my track work.
Break time! I'll take the lunch special and a tap Joe.
I've been putting the finishing touches on my application and resume (they need to be in by tomorrow), and so I thought I would concentrate on that for the morning...well, at least most of it.
I did get out to the Trainroom for a little while and discovered an Opppsss! Here I had thought I had my TT bridge "all set" to go and was feeling pretty darn good about it. But now that I have the cork down and the pit detailed, I find that I have one end of my bridge just a fraction longer than the other. It will be interesting, and certainly a challenge to cut that down! I hope that eye glasses, my magnifier, really bright lights, a steady hand and a cut-off wheel in the flexshaft will do the trick. Time will tell. Oh well...Remember that building and re-building thing I talked about...It's also very ongoing!
snagletooth, while I was in the Trainroom this morning I went through my notes from the NMRA Madison Convention. I found most everything from the Rockford tour, but very limited info. (like a page or two are MIA) from the Freeport tour. Even though I'm sure (ya, right, ten years ago and counting) I saw a RR club while on that Rockford tour, my notes do not reflect it. The club I do have recorded is in Freeport and I have info. down with two different names. Seems that I did see two, one of which was in conjunction with tha fellow from Caboose Industries and another in a museum or something. Wish I could find all my notes; maybe one club really was in Rockford! Maybe I really only saw one! "Mind like a steel trap"...nothing gets in!
Anyway, here is what I have regarding clubs: Stephenson County Society of Model Railroaders and Stephenson Society for Model Trainmen. What I do know for sure is that the latter, is the Fever River RR.
My notes on the Rockford tour are pretty complete. I have ten names recorded along with some description of their pikes. I have to assume that it would be OK to list the names here, after all they are / were listed for the tour, published for all to see, but I will hold off just in case it's not. And...So, as opposed to listing them here on the forum...if you would like to look up / contact some of these guys in you area, email me and I will be happy to share that way.
Gotta' get after the chores, and maybe see how steady my hand can be cutting that TT bridge too.
Evening all.....
Joe, as long as Mr. Beasley is buying drinks, I'll do pizza again! Stick em' in the oven, keep them coming, and keep the beers a coming too...at least until Mr. B and I run out of money! I'll have a tap please. And BTW, thank you Mr.B.
Mr. Beasley, I've had very good service with Trainworld too. Even with a back order that was, like 18 months or something. Very good service! Hope you enjoy the Hudson...I'm thinking of committing to an S-2 Northern for my Empire Builder!
Didn't get to the Trainroom today...Too many other demands for my time and I did get a bunch of stuff done...But! I do have tomorrow and most of Friday for "training"!
snagletooth, you asked about MRRers in you area. The memory is way foggy but, the area all around Freeport / Rockford is a "hot bed" of MRRing. I know I saw a number of pikes and a MRR club (Fever River something or other...I'll check my files) in Freeport and few pikes in the Rockford area too! Two fellows to check out / up on in Freeport would be John Swanson (I'll check on the spelling..Swen/ Swon / Swan...sen /son/, I don't remember) and the fellow that has Caboose Industries down by the river. I don't remember his name at all, but again, I'll do some checking of my files. I wouldn't doubt at all that you will be able to find many fellow modelers in your area.
Mr. B..You got any more money? I've got a bit more and I'm thinking maybe one more round and this time...some stuffed jalapeno's or nachos....or both!
Set 'em up for the house, Joe, and then do it again. A glass of goat's milk for Big Erik. And if the UPS driver comes in, he or she gets a freebee, too. My Hudson has pulled into the engine house. I ordered it from Trainworld in NYC yesterday before going to hockey, and it showed up on my doorstop today in the near-in sticks of Boston, less than 24 hours, standard UPS charges. But, it's a birthday present for myself (from whichever of the ladies failed to fulfill her quota) and it's Do Not Open Until March. So, I have to wait until they're both out of the house to try it out, and then put it carefully back in the box.
'Till then, I'll content myself with some scenery work. I glued down the sidewalks (How many places do you know where they "roll up the sidewalks?") and I'll probably position some citizens around the shops on Penny Lane later tonight.
Howdy guys..I'll take a tall tap Joe and, I'm in the mood for a little Mr. Tomato with that tonight.
Mr. Beasley and Jeffrey...Thanks for your input!
Jeffrey, you are certainly "right on" when you ask; how long a person will be able to work. I may not even be here ten minutes from now!! One just never knows! Saw that happen to a much younger cousin recently. Here today, gone tomorrow!
For the most part, I do live for today and try to live life to the fullest. On the other hand retirement is a horse of a different color...Save today for tomorrow, prostitute yourself for a better life later in life, work a job that you truly hate to go to every day because the pay and pension is good? What is the trade off?
I guess I'm at a point where a betterment down the road, upon retirement (ten years from now I'll be sixty five), has some appeal. The hard part, going around and around in my head is giving up substantial free time (that I've worked for) now for something that would be beneficial when I do reach sixty five....Again, providing I do reach sixty five!! Ten or fifteen years ago this would have been a lot simpler decision to make!
I did get to work in my Trainroom a bit today, but didn't take as much time as I had thought I would. For the most part I really didn't get too much done other than scratching my head some....The TT itself is coming along fine and I was hoping to snap a pic today, that just didn't happen. But I will....
What I did do, is work out a number of different "layouts" for the buildings and additional trackage at the Sawyer shops. Now that the TT is installed and I'm tied into where it actually indexes, I'm tweaking (a bit right, left, forward, back) the location of the main shop and determining how much space I can have in front of it. This shop building is going to be located in a far corner with tracks going around it and through a backdrop, so getting it right the first time is a must. It will also be the focal point of the scene. Over all, I want to depict a very busy, old and cluttered headquarters, but it has to function too. I think I am pretty close to having everything where I want it and so now "me thinks" I'm now ready to get that additional track down.
One more tap please, Joe. And throw a pizza in the oven too. What the hay...throw in a few...pizza on me tonight guys!
Hi, Joe. Just a coke for me - I've got to be suited up and in the net in an hour and a quarter, and I don't want to lose what little reflexes I've got left. Some nights, I'm exhausted by the time I get all the goalie equipment on.
JB, I've got a job with a company that still has a traditional guaranteed-pension plan. I'll be 60 real soon, so I figure there's no way I'm going to change jobs now, even if I choose to work beyond 65. Jeffrey brought up a good point - what if you can't keep going to work? My guess is, the new job possibility, with post-retirement benefits, might also give you some kind of disability coverage until then as well. That's a good safety net to have, and it would be worth looking into. Hopefully, you'll never need it.
I haven't gotten very far on the turntable. I cut the pit rail, but had trouble soldering it. I finally CA'd the bridge to the deck, and found it was a bit more sturdy than with Aileens Tacky Glue (used for positioning) but still not enough to hold up a locomotive. So, the bogies and rail will have to be real and structurally sound. I'm still churning that one around in my head/blender, so I've moved on to other minor stuff. I put the sidewalks down in front of the shops on Penny Lane, and painted the roads. I've also been working on a couple of birthday-cake plastic trucks that I'm going to detail a bit.
Go Pats! Man, how many more ugly ways can they find to win a football game? All the receivers are covered, so throw it to the other team and then take it away from them? No, the best way to beat the Colts will be for Vinateri to miss a field goal, or better yet an extra point.
Gotta go - have to drop the daughter off at her guitar lesson on the way to the rink.
MisterBeasley wrote: snagletooth wrote: "Man, Ive only been at this site for three days and I've already been deleted from a thread. wow!"Yeah, that big blonde guy in the Viking helmet over by the door is Erik the Barbarian. He doesn't drink and doesn't talk much, but he's there to keep things here under control. Used to play for Green Bay, but he always drew one of those "taunting" penalties after he sacked the QB for a loss. He'd look the guy in the eye and say, "What's in your wallet?"
snagletooth wrote: "Man, Ive only been at this site for three days and I've already been deleted from a thread. wow!"
Yeah, that big blonde guy in the Viking helmet over by the door is Erik the Barbarian. He doesn't drink and doesn't talk much, but he's there to keep things here under control. Used to play for Green Bay, but he always drew one of those "taunting" penalties after he sacked the QB for a loss. He'd look the guy in the eye and say, "What's in your wallet?"
I recently moved to Roscoe, Il. and was wondering if any of you guys know of any clubs or round robin groups in Rockford or even Beloit areas. I know everones from all corners of the country, but maybe someone heard of one. I havent seen any yet. Nice Backdrops, JW
JB: Thanks for the good review on the backdrop project. That was about 20 hours work for me, spaced over three days. Things take longer when you're disabled, but it's not impossible.
On your job dilemma, If the new job pays the same wages but has more demands and better medical benefits 10 years from now, you have to consider whether you want to be saddled with those extra demands or not. Plus, are you going to be working there 10 years from now? If somebody had told me 10 years ago that I wouldn't be able to work by the time 04 came around, I would have had him measured for a straight-jacket, but that's how things turned out. There's only one place in Leesville that I can work and I'm thankful for it. Work gets me out of the house for a while. Believe me, without hobbies, the biggest part of my retirement would be boredom.
If I had to consider a job change like that, unless it was something I really wanted to do, I wouldn't change to a more demanding job without a raise in pay and benefits.
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
One more warm up on the coffee Joe...
Jeffrey, I was going to comment on you backdrops...But forgot, getting wound up with my job stuff.
Wow, you have really done a great job of blending everything together. The backdrops look real good. You seem to make it sound simple, but it looks like a difficult process to me. Over all: how many hours did you put in? That's the hard part to realize on the forum. I have been following your progress on the other thread too...And may just need to do a little more study on how the photos get put together!
None the less, great job!
Heading for the Trainroom (again) still with coffee in hand...Toot, Toot!
Good morning:
Joe, I'll have coffee and you might want to start a fresh pot...I need a lot of caffeine this morning!
It turned out to be a late night, last night with going in late to start with and then dealing with some troubles that required "making right" before early morning swimming this morning...Oh well, I got to sleep in at least!
I did get to spend some time working on the TT and now have it mudded it, the drive is working properly, painted the pit bottom, added extra bracing to the bridge, started detailing the pit wall and even got some cork down! And I hope to work a bit on it today too...I'll take a picture.
I would have gotten even more done, but over the weekend I also taught swimming, skiing, cut some firewood, cooked up a pot of Gumbo and of course worked on the resume for this pending job change.
Really guys (you regulars and especially Mike, now that he has a new day job) I would love to get feedback regarding my dilemma with this job change. In case you missed the post and what my dilemma is...It's back on the bottom of page 56. I'm really torn about going after a job that pays the same, has more demands and also giving up substantial vacation and sick days....for better medical benefits ten years from now. It may seem short sighted, but I am having trouble with the pros & cons.
Hello all. I finally finished my backdrop project. Here are the links to all three phases.
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Deleted due to change in copyright (01/17/07)
Evening, all. Joe, freshen up everyone, especially the soda sippers. Then I'll have a Kirin in a cold glass.
Mister Beasley, I just had a thought that combines your Bill Gates idea with one of Frank Ellison's industries (Which had a prototype adjacent to New York City's Sunnyside yard.)
Bill Gates' Thousand Window Boiler Works
Those thousand windows would make it worthwhile to detail the interior.
The blast that hit Phoenix came through Sin City first - and generated an unlikely problem. Las Vegas now has some really icy roads! Not from precipitation (there wasn't enough to notice) but from water leaking from broken pipes, then freezing on the pavement. More is expected overnight. Boy, am I glad I won't have to drive tomorrow morning.
Not much happening in the layout space. I've been working in the heated spaces, filing rail for the switchwork and working on the control panel for the hidden staging - which won't be hidden for some time to come. That will give plenty of time to debug both the track and the electricals.
A post in this forum was started by a chap who had scored a buying coup, then drew a troll. What the troll didn't know (found this in a different thread) was that the original poster had spent his military time hanging bombs on aircraft! Not the kind of person I'd want to irritate - he might still have a bomb or two.
Chuck (who never loaded bombs, but did stuff 2.75 rockets into tubes on aircraft)
Howdy, ladies and gents, and I notice another young man has show up, too. Trainmaster used to go for Dr Pepper. How about you, PA? Harpoon IPA for me, Joe, and a couple of plates of nachos, one for either end of the bar. Careful with the house hot sauce on the pool table, though. It'll eat right through the felt, the table, the floor, the basement and so on, and in a few hours some dude in Singapore will get a hot foot.
I was just doing some era research for old passenger trains. Looks like I can use my old streamlined Mantua coaches along with a BLI Hudson in the 1930's sometime without stretching history too much. I ran across an interesting quote by the engineer on the first run of the 20th Century Limited from New York to Chicago. That run, which typically had taken 24 hours, was now going to be routinely done in 20. "This schedule can be made without any difficulty. I can do it every time, barring accidents." The engineer's name was William Gates. Funny, because just earlier today I was thinking of naming one of my businesses "Billy Gates' Window Warehouse" or maybe "Bill's Micro-soft Pillow Company."
Well, Im only gonna gripe once here than shut up about it. If Iwas being derogatory or vulgar or such I would of understood right off. It was a mistake on my part, one guy using those end commentson his calloff( or whatever it is called) about joke names for railroad symbols and I mistoke for a thread response and added a few more, nothing vulgar, and they sent me E-mail that it was deleted for being "innapropiate". I didnt even remember responding tp the thread. I had to go back and look it up. went through it twice before I realized what they deleted. I wasnt trying be a jerk, just find it funny i gotted kicked for what somebodyputs out their every time they repliy.
done griping, and I wont make that mistake again. any way, how yall doing today? And where 'd I set my drink?
Well...Not knowing any of the circumstances...I will give just a small bit of advice: Be careful what you say, how you say it and be extremely respectful. This is not a "free for all", even here at the Beer Barn, and we really need to be "nice" to each other, not use profanity and encourage each others work!
To quote my buddy "Red"..............."We're all in this together, I'm pulling for you"
With that said...Joe, I'll take a tap...And how about a pizza too?
See you all later. Gotta' run for now!!
Man, Ive only been at this site for three days and I've already been deleted from a thread. wow!
bartender....BARTENDER!!! i need a drink. double Cutties on the rocks, PLEASE
jeffrey-wimberly wrote:Jack Daniels straight up and leave the flippin' bottle.
trying to get a little tipsy tonight are we, well, you sure aint driving home, ill call the sw1 from the diner
PA Belt wrote:cool, i feel welcomed! ill have a mint ginger ale, any one up for a game on british 8 ball?