Phil – Yeah. My wife jabs me about spending so much time in the basement – calls me the “man who lives under the steps.” At least she knows where I am.
MrB – I see some scratchbuilding in my future – a few structures I want to include on my layout for which there is no kit even close. Right now I’m working on Scale Structures Victoria Falls hotel – very close to an existing building in my hometown. My first resin kit – a bit of a challenge. Tournament of Plays sounds interesting. My community theater group judged all the local high school plays last year and then had a sort of “Tony” award ceremony in the spring – amazing talent among the schools.
LisaP – Thanks for the encouragement. Never having been on DC I can’t really compare, but I was amazed at how easy DCC makes things.
Jeff – BP can be a real problem to control. It took my Dr. a year to help get mine under control and I never realized it was high until a checkup showed 200/130 - yikes. Mine is stable now but I monitor it closely. Take care.
MisterBeasley wrote: British Car Fan joke: Why do the British drink warm beer? Because Lucas makes refrigerators. Dave, I've always wanted to know. Does Lucas really make refrigerators? (And for our non-British-car-fans, Lucas made the notoriously unreliable electrical systems for cars like the Triumph and MG.) Also, for our non-American friends, over the next few days you'll see a lot about our holiday of Thanksgiving. It's a tradition that goes back to the early days of colonization, when the Pilgrims and the Native Americans got together for a big feast after the harvest. The traditional dish is roast turkey, with lots of side dishes and pie for dessert. It is a dinner which is at its best when the group is large. It's a time for family, when possible, but where families are too spread out geographically, other traditions (like Jeffrey's fire department) are started.
British Car Fan joke:
Why do the British drink warm beer?
Because Lucas makes refrigerators.
Dave, I've always wanted to know. Does Lucas really make refrigerators? (And for our non-British-car-fans, Lucas made the notoriously unreliable electrical systems for cars like the Triumph and MG.)
Also, for our non-American friends, over the next few days you'll see a lot about our holiday of Thanksgiving. It's a tradition that goes back to the early days of colonization, when the Pilgrims and the Native Americans got together for a big feast after the harvest. The traditional dish is roast turkey, with lots of side dishes and pie for dessert. It is a dinner which is at its best when the group is large. It's a time for family, when possible, but where families are too spread out geographically, other traditions (like Jeffrey's fire department) are started.
OOPS! I guess I should have looked at how many pages there were... opened page 1 and thought the "dogfight" about threads just started today. Anyway... the coffee shop is still way too pic heavy for those of us without broadband. Whatever.
Lucas electrics were no better and no worse than anything else of their day. I was talking at work on Monday with another "old git" like me and we agreed that the "British" car "worker" did more than anyone to help out the Japanese car industry in this country.
What we didn't get round to was that after WW2 the bulk of Japanese industry (and German) was rebuilt with new plant paid for in US $ under the Marshal Plan. It was a far better "plan" than Versailles but US industry had taken a pasting and British industry had been ground into the dust.
When I started in signalling in 1978 we were still using worn out equipment that was obsolete in 1939 (when WW2 started...) Just this weekend I was at an "Armstrong" Box (Interlocking tower) that still has equipment made pre 1940 in regular use - next to the laptop... which goes down much more often than the old stuff fails...
If I'm being rude about the British car industry I would add that I love proper HDs (Springers that aren't sound controlled) and Indians... but look what happened to Harley... and Indian are no more...
I don't recall Lucas making fridges. I think it was GEC used to make gas fridges for campers.
British Beer (if it is proper beer not the muck produced in billions of gallons) is drunk at ambient temperature because that is the way the flavours come out. I guess that this is a bit like red wine. (Red wine gives me massive head aches so I don't know too much about it). Again (for the cooks here) British beer is made with a different hop - I can never recall which way round this is - Eu and (as far as I know) US beer is made with (I think) the female hop while British beer and ale is made with the male hop. (Or the other way round). The difference requires different recipes and produces a completely different result. If you are used to one there is no point in comparing the other to it... just like the is no use in comparing red with white wine or rum with gin. (Do you have Sloe Gin)?
Compared to the mostly light coloured Non British beers British beers tend to be dark and heavy. Ales are usually darker or different colured - as in an amber ale - again. You can get some really great fruit Ales. Blackberry can be great. I used to be able to get Pete's Wicked ales from the USA. I liked them.
I tend to think that chilled beers are chilled to stun the taste buds so that you can't taste how bad they really are. Chilled beers seem to inebriate faster and flow faster (putting it politely).
Oops! I'm talking beer here... but to me it's part of eating well for the taste same as cooking well... talking of which I got myself some superb Welsh lamb last Sunday. YUM!
Don't know if any of you would do this (as in cooking for thanksgiving)... roast potatoes...
This makes a roast spud with a fluufy area inside a crisp shell... which can have a spicey zing in it. You may know all this of course but I love doing my spuds this way... so, if you didn't know it you can try it...
So, what's all this got to do with trains? Well rail staff do tend to like their food and beer...
Question for you all. You see a man not in uniform walking out of a rail location anywhere in the world. Briefly he stumbles... what is the one action that he will instantly take that tells you he is a rail worker?
jblackwelljr wrote: Phil – Yeah. My wife jabs me about spending so much time in the basement – calls me the “man who lives under the steps.” At least she knows where I am.
At least she calls you the man under the steps and not the troll under the stairs.
Jim: They checked mine when I was lying down, it was 110 / 70, then they checked it while I was standing up. It should have dropped somewhat, but it didn't. It was 170 / 140. They checked it twice, with two different machines. They're trying to figure out what's going on. I'd like an answer too. That's most likely why I passed out, because of the BP being way too high.
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
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Jeffrey, my BP was running at 230/150+ for some time before anyone noticed and it never made me pass out. I think that low BP is more likely to do that. I don't have a lot of faith in the new fangled gizmo machines... they get near me and they conk out (with fright) anyway. give me the old style arm band and stethoscope any day.
There was a Herman Munster sketch where he went to see a short sighted old Doc. The Doc tried to take his BP and said "One at a time please".
Herman is my hero. I have the poster of his head and shoulders in a huge ornate gold frame... must get down to the local theater and scrounge some artificial cobwebs to drape it with.
I struck lucky... all my BP did was blow up part of one ear... missed being a stroke by a millimetre or so. That's enough for me. BP is regulated where they say it should be now. I don't fret about it... fretting puts your BP up...
I just hope/plan to fall of my hang-glider not drown in my "good for the heart" cereal and low fat milk or my tiny measure of fruit juice. (I'll be careful not to land on anyone).
Hope you solve the riddle and get fixed up soon.
Dave-the-Train wrote: Jeffrey, my BP was running at 230/150+ for some time before anyone noticed and it never made me pass out. I think that low BP is more likely to do that. I don't have a lot of faith in the new fangled gizmo machines... they get near me and they conk out (with fright) anyway. give me the old style arm band and stethoscope any day. There was a Herman Munster sketch where he went to see a short sighted old Doc. The Doc tried to take his BP and said "One at a time please". Herman is my hero. I have the poster of his head and shoulders in a huge ornate gold frame... must get down to the local theater and scrounge some artificial cobwebs to drape it with. I struck lucky... all my BP did was blow up part of one ear... missed being a stroke by a millimetre or so. That's enough for me. BP is regulated where they say it should be now. I don't fret about it... fretting puts your BP up... I just hope/plan to fall of my hang-glider not drown in my "good for the heart" cereal and low fat milk or my tiny measure of fruit juice. (I'll be careful not to land on anyone). Hope you solve the riddle and get fixed up soon.
DAVE: with the specail footwear jeff need to walk, he walks a lot like herman. look kind of funny when hes goin up or down steps
David Parks I am the terror that flaps in the night!
jeffrey-wimberly wrote:I walk almost like Herman Munster.
Just don't run trains like Gomez.
Who's this Adams family? Bunch of imposters!
Then again, when I had a rather serious eye infection I looked like Uncle Fester for a week. I am really fortunate, from being almost blind for four days (that is SCAREY!) I now only have a bit of trouble with being photophobic.
I hate the overlighting in stores and malls! There's not enough infra red (or whatever) to make my reactive specs work so I get stopped in my tracks and have to change to Raybans. Then the Security people start following me. Actually it's good fun letting them get close , going round the end of an aisle and turning back suddenly.
I do get fed up with Newbies at work making smart cracks about it "being sunny today" in winter or on night shift. If they annoy me enough I show them the pics of my eyes. When they come back from the bathroom they don't usually make any more remarks.
Anyway... now you know who I look like and how fortunate/blessed I am.
Good morning everyone from northeast central PA. The skies have cleared, it's a beautiful sunrise and I'm not going shopping today. Actually I have to drive my son to the bus station so he can head back to NYC for work - too short a visit but at least we were together for 24 hours. Living in Brooklyn and working in Manhattan makes a car impractical for him but the express bus service is really convenient.
Later, it's putting up outside Christmas lights with my wife. We usually end up doing this when it's 10 degrees with a 40 mph wind - ahh - winter in the northeast (wouldn't have it any other way!).
Hope everyone came through yesterday OK.
Dave-the-Train wrote:You're sending him on a bus! Not Amtrak?
I know! FOR SHAME!
I posted this elsewhere on the forum, but I thought I'd share with you all as well.
Well, as many of you know, I had to tear down the last layout so we could move. Now we're in the new place and the boxes are mostly unpacked.
This morning the train room looked like this:
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Autumns%20Ridge/Picture005.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Autumns%20Ridge/Picture031.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Autumns%20Ridge/Picture033.jpg
Lots of fun if you're into guitars, but not much for trains.
I took two hours this morning and changed all that though.
I built the first of a whole lot of benchwork. I've got a long way to go, but I had to get more wood for some cross braces and such. Here it is now:
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Autumns%20Ridge/Picture006.jpg
My road will be a freelanced road based on the Belfast & Moosehead Lake RR called the Autumns Ridge Railway & Navigation Company. I've done a lot of studying of this road and my grandfather was even a conductor on it.
I've posted my plan a couple times, but here it is.
I'll have a port scene and an interchange in the rolling countryside, with a few towns between. The B&ML had 33 miles of track, so using that as a base model works for my 10.5 x 15 room. I can wrap three walls and have a peninsula so I end up with a walk in plan. I'm planning on two sceniced decks with staging under the bottom one.
I've got the staging deck pretty well designed, though I'm not married to it. Here it is:
Here's the bottom sceniced deck that shows the interchange area:
And here's the upper deck with the port. The helix rises higher then it really needs to so thet the run into Autumns Ridge (the port) is downhill. In the port area is a car float and scales.
Man, I treat myself pretty well, ha, ha!
Well, time to go build something!
Later!
Lisa, Did you find a steam era loco with sound?
Phillip, Nice start on the layout. Looks like you will get alot in that space. We will watch for pictures of your progress.
I am working on ground goop on the top of my mountain. It is so great to get some color. Now I can start thinking trees. I even put in a switch-back trail for hikers or pack horses.
Well, back to some family things. Later, Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
pcarrell wrote: Dave-the-Train wrote:You're sending him on a bus! Not Amtrak? I know! FOR SHAME!
Dave/Phil - Let's see, a 40 minute car ride to the bus stop, then 2 hours nonstop direct to the Port Authority for $18 vs a 1 hour car ride to the Amtrak station (due the-opposite-direction-to-NY) followed by a 3 hour train ride to Penn Station. Yea, he took the bus.
Phil - I have a nook - er, knook - er, nuik....a corner just like where you have those guitars. An interesting way to display them. Maybe I can integrate my trains and guitars.
Jeffrey - How's that BP doin?
jblackwelljr wrote:Phil - I have a nook - er, knook - er, nuik....a corner just like where you have those guitars. An interesting way to display them. Maybe I can integrate my trains and guitars.
In my plan for the layout room I didn't even include that section of the room in the plan. If you look at the plan that section would be in the upper righthand side. That little nook is made by a closet in the room. I planned the room from the closet over, leaving that area untouched. I've got that guitar stand (which is awesome BTW) and the door to the room in that corner. I'll have room for a decent sized amp under the layout.
As an alternative to the stand you could hang the guitars on the walls in a nook like that. That way when you're not playing them they'd be like art on the walls. You could cover the wall in a nice felt cloth, then hang the guitars at different levels. It'd look pretty cool I think!
jblackwelljr wrote: pcarrell wrote: Dave-the-Train wrote:You're sending him on a bus! Not Amtrak? I know! FOR SHAME! Dave/Phil - Let's see, a 40 minute car ride to the bus stop, then 2 hours nonstop direct to the Port Authority for $18 vs a 1 hour car ride to the Amtrak station (due the-opposite-direction-to-NY) followed by a 3 hour train ride to Penn Station. Yea, he took the bus.
So now you're telling us that you're denying him all those hours of pleasure as well as using the opposition?!?
Dave-the-Train wrote: jblackwelljr wrote: pcarrell wrote: Dave-the-Train wrote:You're sending him on a bus! Not Amtrak? I know! FOR SHAME! Dave/Phil - Let's see, a 40 minute car ride to the bus stop, then 2 hours nonstop direct to the Port Authority for $18 vs a 1 hour car ride to the Amtrak station (due the-opposite-direction-to-NY) followed by a 3 hour train ride to Penn Station. Yea, he took the bus. So now you're telling us that you're denying him all those hours of pleasure as well as using the opposition?!?
Jim,
I was gonna let you off the hook, but he's got a point.
Umm.....well........he had to take a train (2 in fact) from the Port Authority over to his apt in Brooklyn, so it was...uh.......intermodal.....yea that's it, intermodal.
lisap...where are you?
Speaking of Amtrak, one of the dentists that I work for is taking the whole office to Portland on Amtrak this Friday. We are staying Friday and Saturday evenings and coming back on Sunday. He does this every year. It should be great.
We have snow today. Since I-5 south of here was closed, I thought that I would stay home. I have never done this before, but half the patients will cancel anyway, sooooo.
Hope everyone survived the long Thanksgiving weekend. Sue
jblackwelljr wrote: Umm.....well........he had to take a train (2 in fact) from the Port Authority over to his apt in Brooklyn, so it was...uh.......intermodal.....yea that's it, intermodal.
See, now we're on the right path!
That's a "good" thing!
gear-jammer wrote: Speaking of Amtrak, one of the dentists that I work for is taking the whole office to Portland on Amtrak this Friday. We are staying Friday and Saturday evenings and coming back on Sunday. He does this every year. It should be great. We have snow today. Since I-5 south of here was closed, I thought that I would stay home. I have never done this before, but half the patients will cancel anyway, sooooo. Hope everyone survived the long Thanksgiving weekend. Sue
So you got an extra long holiday weekend? Good for you!
pcarrell wrote: gear-jammer wrote: Speaking of Amtrak, one of the dentists that I work for is taking the whole office to Portland on Amtrak this Friday. We are staying Friday and Saturday evenings and coming back on Sunday. He does this every year. It should be great. We have snow today. Since I-5 south of here was closed, I thought that I would stay home. I have never done this before, but half the patients will cancel anyway, sooooo. Hope everyone survived the long Thanksgiving weekend. Sue So you got an extra long holiday weekend? Good for you!
Philip, Yes, all my weekends are long. Right now I am only working Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The job today was to be a temp job.
I did ground goop on the top of the mountain this week. This morning, while we were waiting for the snow to melt, we put up the plywood ridgeline in one of the corners. It is predicted that we will get another 2-4 inches this afternoon. It is a good day to stay inside.
How much benchwork did you get done?
Sue
WOW! That's gonna be some out of gauge load! How'd you stop bricks dropping off the edges?