Morning All;
I'll have a coffee and while I'm at it I had better get my butt in gear seeing how it is going to be a busy week.
Will check back later.
GUB
Good morning. I'll have a coffee too, Joe.
I'm back....Actually we canceled our trip to Chicago because of the weather, so to speak.
First, we awoke Sunday morning to the news of the flooding in S.E. Minnesota! With all the devastation to the roads, bridges and RR tracks, Amtrak was not running. We would have to take a bus from Minneapolis to Chicago and this certainly changed the scope of the vacation.
Secondly, all the heavy weather was heading toward Chicago with the least possibility of thunder storms and showers being 40% for the entire week! Sooo....We came home.
Talk about troubles: First we have the I-35W bridge fall into the Mississippi and now major flash flooding....both with loss of life.
On to a happier note: Being home and on vacation has it's benefits for accomplishing tasks on the to-do list. We've gotten some painting done, the paneling is mostly all back up in the library and today I hope to get the paneling back up in the solarium! I may even get to the Trainroom this week.....
In regard to grills, it seems we are mostly in the same boat with 20 + year olds. I, like Mr. B got our Happy Cooker (a Weber Kettle want-to-be) as a wedding gift 25 years ago! It's been used, abused and backed into with a tractor...But still serves the purpose. On the other hand, it is in rather sad shape and I would like to replace it with a "Big Green Egg". Just need to come up with $650 to do so!!!
Gotta' get busy....Latter.
Howdy, folks. I'll have an Anchor Steam, Joe, and see what the others are drinking.
Just back from a trip to the bend in the California-Nevada border - sort of. Thanks to careful timing, I managed three train rides in three days - V&T on Friday, CRM/Sierra on Saturday and Niles Canyon Sunday morning. In the meantime, my wife had a long visit with her friend and got to go to the California State Fair.
Finished the curved turnout I was working on, and it passed the 'derailment checker' test with flying colors - in spite of breaking almost every 'rule' of turnout design. It's on a superelevated curve, on a grade, and the one branch starts leveling off about two millimeters past the frog point. Thanks to careful construction, no problem.
Well, the weather person says it'll be cool around dawn tomorrow. Better get some rest. My next project is another hidden yard throat.
See you later.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Good morning, everyone. Coffee and an onion bagel for me Joe, heavy on the cream cheese. Thanks.
Nice to hear about your trip, Chuck. Must have been fun. Any pictures?
I got my Dul-Coat, but I'm not happy with my decals. They didn't take the weathering powders as well as I would have liked, so the decal outlines are still way too visible. I think I'll have to go back and touch up the edges with hand-painted acrylics.
We'll be out of town the next two weekends, stretching each of them by an extra day, so I won't get much more modelling in until after Labor Day. My LHS will be closed, too, but I've got plenty to work with. I wish I could take my workroom with me - the weather forecast isn't very good, and I'm afraid we're going to be spending some indoor time at the hotel, or maybe taking in a matinee at the local theatre up in Miane. It's going to be warm, though. Looks like the cool, pleasant weather we've had for the last few days will be behind us. They even had frost in Maine last weekend, though, so winter is on its way.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Howdy: I'll have a cold tap and I'll spring for a round too, Joe. I think it must be my turn again.
Well, the vacation is winding to a close with both Toni and myself back to work on Monday. And a very busy week it will be for me with extra meetings and the home opener swim meet too.
We have gotten a few projects done around the house....But somehow I'm sure it wasn't as much fun as a trip to Chicago would have been! On the other hand, I just heard that Chicago got blasted with some extremely bad weather yesterday and today!!
Last evening and a little of bit today was spent in the Trainroom working on some signage for the establishments at Sawbill Jct. For the fun (or frustration) of it I tried a method I had heard about at a clinic with Leslie Eaton a few years back, using macaroni to make a raised lettering type of sign. First the letters are sanded flat on the back side, then painted. I waited too long to remove the letters from the tape (the paint / solvent and the sticky stuff don't react very well with one another)....I'm thinking that it should be done ASAP.
Once dry (and cleaned up some) they are cemented in place. Over all, I liked the idea and the outcome....But I did discover that not all of the letters are created equally...Making for some variance once cemented in place. Not too bad though!
And, I am satisfied enough to try it again with Glad's Store, a bit of a bashing of the Bachmann "Pink Lady Boutique".
As for the Dullcote: What is the deal with it's availability lately? I can no longer get it at ANY of the places (K-Mart, Wal-Mart, local hardware store.....) around town that once carried it and now have to travel to the Hobby Shop, 80 miles away, to get it.
Better just have an other cold one!
The Dul-Coat was right where I expected to find it, on the shelf at my LHS. I couldn't find it anywhere else, though. Do Wal-Mart and K-Mart sometimes carry it? The hardware shop and craft store didn't seem to have it, and neither did the new-but-clueless RC shop. The gaming shop indicated that they were currently out of the stuff.
I'm away for the weekend, up at Sunday River ski area. They had some major-league water damage this summer, from a storm that dropped something like 8 inches of rain over a couple of hours. I'm puzzled that they haven't made much progress getting things back into shape. Ski season is only about 10 weeks away, and there's much to be done. And unlike our layouts, they can't just close the door or point the camera the other way from the unfinished work. Maybe I should teach them how to do mountains with pink foam?
With the Dul-Coat, I started working on the brewery decals again. I ended up hand-painting the decal edges with acrylics, which came out pretty well. Next I'll hit it with some more weathering powders, then one more blast of D-C and I should be done with the outer walls. I picked up some "chalky white" powder, which should be an interesting effect. I'm planning to use it on the bottom of my stock cars. I do have to learn not to "over-weather" things, though. The brewery came out too "sooty" for my taste.
Sunday morning and that means out for breakfast, maybe a Train Show and later I will work on the mill a bit. I hope.
Yesterday was a complete washout. Literally, both RR wise and the Lawn Bowling tournament which was played in the pouring rain. Lost both games and that means I don't have to go back today for more humiliation. Although, our first came was only lost by one and decided with an extra end tybreaker. That one hurt to loose. Our 2nd game was terrible, weather wise, playing wise etc. Our women's team is back today. They did much better.
So, on that note I think I will get going. I will check back in later. Have a great day, keep dry and be safe.
Maybe I'll get to see some live steam today.
Just noticed that the last post was my 301st. wohoo!
Good morning: I'll have a REALLY large coffee and the breakfast special this morning...if you please.
Had a bit of a late night at a business meeting with local swim officials and I'm a tired boy this morning! The up side though, we had great food and drink at El Potro, a new and wonderful Mexican place in town!
Not much RRing happening here since the signage for Hedstrom Lumber, but I did finish the detail trim work on Glad's Store and even did some painting of the storage oil tanks for Burnstorms....Grand total of about two hours!
What I have been up to is running! With the girl's swim team at full steam (first home meet tonight) and school starting in a week, I have had extra demands at the pool of late. That along with getting Rae registered for all her dance classes / activities and classes at school too.............seems I have more to keep me out of the Trainroom than necessary! I'll check in later, after I'm done with the meet.
Coffee for me, too, Joe. Thanks. No, I'll skip the bagel today, and save room for lunch.
Boy, I'm still tired from the weekend, too. In my case, it was the bed. We were up at Sunday River, the ski area, and they've put in some new mattresses in the hotel. Unfortunately, they went with the recommendations of the Klingons. Did anyone ever see the episode of Star Trek, Next Generation when Picard and Data did an overnight on a Klingon Bird of Prey? Apparantly, a proper Klingon bed is a raised pedestal made of marble, no bedcovers. And that's exactly what my body felt like. I really couldn't sleep at all on that thing.
The "mattress experts" that recommend these things must sleep on their backs and weigh about 90 pounds soaking wet. I'm a side-sleeper myself, and I can play see-saw with a pair of 97-pound-weaklings and still have a few pounds to spare. Looks like I'll be bringing my own air mattress up when we go skiing this winter.
I've gotten a little bit of modelling time in. I've corrected the over-weathering on the brewery a bit, and started assembling the interior. Next will be figuring out how to mount it. It's a background flat, about an inch thick, but it will hang out over the edge of the layout and need some support. There's a subway station beneath it to add to the challenge. After that, I can install a new turnout and the siding. That was the whole reason for the brewery in the first place - I wanted another siding for operational interest.
School starts just after Labor Day here, so Annie's got one week left of vacation, and, since our club pool shuts down a week later, only two weeks worth of her job. She could probably get an indoor lifeguarding job for the winter, but she's already cut out her fall sport (field hockey) to concentrate on academics, so I guess she's got her priorities right. Still, I don't know what she's going to do with her time once her boyfriend goes off to college.
Ah, yes. I can hear the chorus now,
"Rail men of genius..."
But I've replaced all my Bud Lights with LEDs. Cooler, and more directional.
Well... I see it's time to head out for the night. A 30 min. ride home, a quick bite to eat and perhaps a Scotch or a glass of wine and then a little Lawn Bowling. After that a beer or two and maybe I'll paint another window or two while having that beer. Well that's all she wrote.
I'll have a tall tap, Joe. Make it a Porter. And, a round for the house too.
The swim meet went well and I'm actually home early......NO problems with the pool or any related (electronic timing, PA, computer.....) systems! The girls did very well, winning the opener, going against a strong team from Superior. Even though I am now official retired (again) from the coaching ranks and Rae isn't swimming this season, it still gets the juices flowing to see a good meet!
GUB, you have mentioned many times, the "lawn bowling" activity. I am not familiar with this...Is it somewhat like Botchy Ball? And, I know you are painting the factory....but I am wondering how you are doing on that attic space?? Any progress?
Mike, haven't heard from you for a while, hope you are well....How is the back doing? Are you getting some help, other than with the drugs?
One more for the house, Joe...But then, I've got to toddle off for home.
Morning all, Joe I'll have some eggs sunny side up and some black cofee. Thanks
I am still around, not doing anything. I did go to the Dr. Monday for the MRI but they said they didn't have an approval from the Workers Comp and wanted me to wait all day to see if they could get it. I told the lady that my back was hurting sitting in the chair and there was no way I could sit and wait all day. She then got real snobby with me so I left and called my Dr. and they were pissed and said that she would get to the bottom of it. My Dr. called yesterday and said I have an appointment a week from tommarrow, so I guess I will do nothing but take the drugs for another week.
I have got into the train room a couple of times and run the trains for a short while til my back gives out. I cannot do any one thing for very long at a time, that is why I do not post as much as I would like, although I do read the forums when I can.
Well you all take care and Please, Take care of your backs. Nothing like a hurt back to keep you from doing anything. I get so bored. Mike
colvinbackshop wrote: GUB, you have mentioned many times, the "lawn bowling" activity. I am not familiar with this...Is it somewhat like Botchy Ball? And, I know you are painting the factory....but I am wondering how you are doing on that attic space?? Any progress?
JB
It is more like curling than Bocce Ball. The bowls are waited on one side so when you throw or I should say bowl they will curl one way or the other depending how you hold them. I think typically most people regard it as an old person's sport. I know quite few who would not think of it as a sport.
The reason I am working on the factory is because the plans for the attic are on hold for now. It has been a terrible summer fo getting things done on the house. I'm still working on the Master Bedroom. All of July and most of August didn't see anything getting done. I think when we began this year we had figured it would be like last summer when we got alot done. Don't get me wrong it has been a great summer - California was great. Unfortunately,getting anything done on the house was a complete washout. I think after Labour Day my freind and neighbor will get back into the swing of things once again.
Gotta go Lawn Bowling. I'll try to finish this later or perhaps over the long weekend.
Evening All;
Back from Lawn Bowling. I'll have a glass of Mad Dogs and Englishman. Lost both our games but they were relatively close. Both games were lost to seasoned veterans. Oh well... there's always next week.
On my way home from Toronto today I made a stop at the Credit Valley Raiway Company a very nice Hobby Shop. I picked up a couple of tools - a 6" Helping Hand Tweezer and a set of (4) Burnishers or rather (1) burnisher with (4) assorted tips. I also picked up a 3" x 4" square. But what I am most exited about is the Tichy Train Group # 8134. It contains 130 assorted windows and doors. I didn't think the price was too bad @ $32 Can., which makes each one about 25 cents. I was going to order the windows i need for the office addon for my factory forn Grandt Lines until I found this assortment pack. It came with a price list for each style and a cross reference guide to Grandt. has anyone used these Tichy windows? Finally I picked up what looks to be an interesting catalog - Scale Structures Ltd. (11th Edition) Minature Railroad Supplies - HO Scale. Have you heard of this company?
In any event, I think I should go to bed. Another big day tomorrow. The last one before the long weekend. Three whole days away from work. Yeah!
Good Morning Everyone;
I will start with a coffee and an English Muffin. It's nice to have a long weekend. Especially after these past few weeks. What's on the agenda foe today you ask?
Finish building the neighbors cabinet doors abd maybe work on the factory later.
Will check back later in the day.
GUB,
Glad to see someone is out here. I think that most of us are trying to finish summer projects so that we can get started on MR season.
I plan to finish canning salsa today. When Larry gets home, we are headed to town to get him a mountain bike. I will be better about riding if we both have one. I may paint some RR ties today. What color do you use for old weathered ties?
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
Sue;
Not sure what colour to use. I had to put the layout on hold for now. The attic space is not ready due to other rooms in the house not being finished. I had hoped to start finishing the attic space this fall, but it will have to wait another year I think. So in the mean time I have to be content with models and dioramas. At the present time I am working on a mill complex.
Will your dioramas fit into your overall layout plan? It would be nice to have finished sections for photos.
Not sure. I have a habit of changing my plans almost continuosly. So we shall see.
Well it's Saturday night. Suppers on the Grill. Give me a Corona with a slice of Lime. Tomorrow I will finishn the doors, then on to bigger and better things. Hope everyone had as good a day as I did. Later.
Hi, everyone. A round of Pinot Noir for the house, Joe, seeing as how that's what I'm a'drinkin' tonight. With a steak on the grill, I found it was the last bottle of red in the house. Ordinarily, I'd have gone for a Cabernet Sauvignon, but beggars can't be choosers.
Worked a bit on the water tower today, between computer upgrades. Once again, the old machine bit the big one, and now I'm re-upgrading the hard drive. The next time this happens, I'm getting a new computer. Right now, I'm using my work laptop for my MR stuff while bringing the ancient machine back up to speed.
Walthers has a built-up of the water tower, with "yellow ochre" as the tank color. I kind of liked it, so I've got a kind-of mustard tone to my water tank. Lots of weathering powder on this kit, too, since it's right by the tracks, and should have a lot of both soot and rust.
GUB, I suspect you're doing the right thing by getting the room straightened away before you begin layout work. Nothing worse than getting 6 or 8 months into a layout and having to tear it down again. In the long run, it's better, believe me.
Sue, where's your arial view? C'mon, I showed you mine, now you show me yours. Climb up on Larry's shoulders and take a snap, OK?
JB, Annie is out for her final dinner date with her beau for a while. He's going off to college, so it will be some time before they meet again. A really fine guy. He isn't an MR type, but he really liked the Strumpet Brewery. There aren't a lot of true gentlemen left in the world, but Alex is one of them.
Mike, can you sit up at your workbench with your back the way it is? If so, then this might be a good time to do some scratchbuilding and kit-bashing. You will get over this, and you'd might as well be ready to hit the ground running when you do.
Gack! Something's wrong with the Internet connection to my desktop. It's gone to "Slowski" mode - you know, the turtles in the Comcast anti-DSL ads? Trouble is, I've already got Comcast. Well, time to get back to work. Cheers, all, and Joe, refill those Pinot Noirs, OK?
I'll have a coffee and a Blueberry Muffin to start.
Thanks Mr. B for the words of encouragement. Sometimes I think the attic will never get done or the other rooms for that matter and then in a couple of weeks I'll make all kinds of progress. It is hard to get anything done when I work the hours that I do. By the time I get home at night I really do not want to start any construction projects. But I digress. Thanks again for the kind words.
I probably should finish up here and get my day started. Maybe I'll do a little MR this evening when all is said and done.
Have a great day everyone. Will check back later.
Morning all, I guess it stil considered morning. Joe I'll have some lunch, Maybe one of your Misquete grilled rib eye steaks and a baked potato. Thanks
Mr.B I can sit at the work bench for a short time and have been doing some scratch building, mostly playing around and learning to use all that styrene I was given a few months ago. I have nothing that I would want to post a pic of yet. I have a few things I would like to do on the layout but I don't want to do much there because I hope that in the next few months I will be tearing it down and moving it all upstairs to the new trainroom.
My back won't let me do any drywall there so I an kinda of at a standstill right now. I did get to the train room last night and run the trains some, They sure did run good. BTW How are the P2K steam locos, are they as good runners as the diesel units? I would like to have a steam loco just because I like the way they look.
I guess I will talk with you all later. Mike
At the tpo of the page...... Joe set up drinks for anyone that wants one. Here is my VISA
Mike
I finally have a camera I can do something with. For 1.3 megapixels it isn't bad.
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