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Tha Whistle Stop

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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 28, 2007 9:27 PM
Hey Guys and Gals, Man have I ever been slack, here I go and start a thread and I hardly ever check in. I do have some good excuses, Has anyone ever had 4 people ranging in age from 4-49 all male down with the flu at the same time....believe me it's not a pretty sight. Now I'm down with my back out(again) but for a very good cause....we're getting our house ready for sale, we'll be buying my MILs old house(of course we aready own 1/5th of it any way) and joy of joys, I'll finally have my train room. The house is a split entry and 1/2 of the downstairs room will be "ALL MINE!!!!!!!". We have some paining and minor repairs to do to our house so we figure by spring we should be getting settled at the new house. Then not only will I be able to finish my 4x8 layout but I'll have room to start my dream layout-the White Pass & Yukon Route-cica 1900-1910(or so) I want it mostly nature but will have Skagway and the mining town of Whitehorse, I mainly want to capture the Klondike Goldrush, you know those poor guys climbing up and over the mountains while their rich counter parts rid the train home(that sort of thing). This way I can work on my passion Mountains and Scenery.  
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  • From: Orig: Tyler Texas. Lived in seven countries, now live in Sundown, Louisiana
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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Monday, January 22, 2007 10:47 PM
 Just a Hobo wrote:
 jeffrey -- great work there ! I always wondered if there was room for the unit and you answered that question . Was it a hair puller or was it fairly easy ?
It was quite easy really. The hardest part was breaking off the grounding tab from the frame to the motor. After that it was a snap. One of these days I'll get around to replacing the open frame motor with a can motor. For right now, it works well enough.

Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
          Joined June, 2004

Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
15 year veteran fire fighter
Collector of Apple //e's
Running Bear Enterprises
History Channel Club life member.
beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


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  • From: Olympia, WA
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Posted by gear-jammer on Monday, January 22, 2007 10:25 PM

MrB,  Did you leave the loco in the box?  Or did you at least get to exercise it before putting it back in the box?  Isn't it hard on the loco to let just sit? I think that there is a self destruct chip if they are not run regularly.Sad [:(]

Oh, well.  I guess you can just celebrate Happy B-Day [bday] twice.

Sue

Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.

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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 19, 2007 9:45 AM
 jeffrey -- great work there ! I always wondered if there was room for the unit and you answered that question . Was it a hair puller or was it fairly easy ?
  • Member since
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  • From: Orig: Tyler Texas. Lived in seven countries, now live in Sundown, Louisiana
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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Friday, January 19, 2007 9:36 AM

I went a little crazy today and decided it was time to convert my oldest locomotive to DCC. It's a 30 year old German made Bachmann GP40. The only thing I had to do to isolate the motor from the frame was to break off a metal tab and put down a strip of electrical tape. Now instead of grounding to the frame, the motor grounds to the decoder, as it should. It runs like a champ! Before it had no crawl capability and ran like a scalded ape, now it crawls with the best of them and runs at a believable speed.

Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
          Joined June, 2004

Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
15 year veteran fire fighter
Collector of Apple //e's
Running Bear Enterprises
History Channel Club life member.
beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


  • Member since
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  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
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Posted by MisterBeasley on Friday, January 19, 2007 9:31 AM

My birthday isn't until the 9th of March.  Chances are, that day I'll go to work and as soon as I get home we'll load up the minivan and drive up to Sunday River to go skiing.  That's fun, too, but I'll have to wait until Sunday night for my visit from the Birthday Elf.  (Birthday Bunny?  Birthday Fairy?  Birthday Groundhog?  I dunno.)

By that time, I might have the turntable finished, but I don't think this thing will even fit in the Atlas roundhouse.  I know it won't fit on the turntable bridge, but there's a spot right across from the turntable lead track for it.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

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Posted by claycts on Friday, January 19, 2007 9:16 AM

Happy Birthday Mr B Happy B-Day [bday] Another day older and ? I Forgot!

Well here comes th boss, Krysti, Back to CARS!

Take Care George Pavlisko Driving Race cars and working on HO trains More fun than I can stand!!!
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Posted by gear-jammer on Thursday, January 18, 2007 10:10 AM

 MisterBeasley wrote:
Uh, aren't people used to incompetence and delays and stuff?  Well, that Hudson showed up on my doorstep today.  I live outside of Boston, and Trainworld is in NYC, and it took less than 24 hours.  Plain old UPS standard shipping.  The only problem is MY BIRTHDAY ISN'T UNTIL MARCH!  Well, Brown did its thing for me, but now how do I speed up the calendar?

MrB,  When is your birthday?  Mine is the 26th.  If I ordered it that early, I would come up with something else that I wanted by then.  Have fun with your new loco.

Jim,  Have fun with your new loco too.

G, Thanks for the tip on Murphy.

Lisa,  I hope that you are studying which loco will fit your layout theme.  The little 4-4-0 that I got for New Years, has a remote that will let you run the sound on DC. I suspect that most of the sound locos will have that.

Later, Sue

Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.

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Posted by galaxy on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 8:09 PM
 jblackwelljr wrote:

 MisterBeasley wrote:
  I live outside of Boston, and Trainworld is in NYC, and it took less than 24 hours.  Plain old UPS standard shipping.  The only problem is MY BIRTHDAY ISN'T UNTIL MARCH!  Well, Brown did its thing for me, but now how do I speed up the calendar?

MisterBeasley - The planets must be aligned - I ordered the PCM RDG T1 late Friday and my wife called me at noon today to tell me it arrived.  It came directly from PCM in Florida and I'm in PA.  Same thing - standard UPS ground.  On top of that, I programmed it and put it on the tracks tonight......wow. 

 

 

ah, 1) its after Christmas folks. Shippers and retailers are slow now, and can ship faster.

 2) when you expect anything you ordered, like, yesterday, it will take weeks to get to you. When you expect it longer, it appears asap. Murphy's laws!

 enjoy it and your b-day Mr. Beasley! I have to wait all the way til September for that!

G

-G .

Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.

 HO and N Scale.

After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.

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Posted by jblackwelljr on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 7:02 PM

 MisterBeasley wrote:
  I live outside of Boston, and Trainworld is in NYC, and it took less than 24 hours.  Plain old UPS standard shipping.  The only problem is MY BIRTHDAY ISN'T UNTIL MARCH!  Well, Brown did its thing for me, but now how do I speed up the calendar?

MisterBeasley - The planets must be aligned - I ordered the PCM RDG T1 late Friday and my wife called me at noon today to tell me it arrived.  It came directly from PCM in Florida and I'm in PA.  Same thing - standard UPS ground.  On top of that, I programmed it and put it on the tracks tonight......wow. 

Jim "He'll regret it to his dyin day, if ever he lives that long." - Squire Danaher, The Quiet Man
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Posted by MisterBeasley on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 6:48 PM
Uh, aren't people used to incompetence and delays and stuff?  Well, that Hudson showed up on my doorstep today.  I live outside of Boston, and Trainworld is in NYC, and it took less than 24 hours.  Plain old UPS standard shipping.  The only problem is MY BIRTHDAY ISN'T UNTIL MARCH!  Well, Brown did its thing for me, but now how do I speed up the calendar?

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

  • Member since
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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 10:52 AM
 Lisa -- don't know what all the flack is about --- the day I can't click on 3 or 4 chatrooms is the day they need to put me away. I'm NOT GOING TO WASTE MY TIME reading through the whole forum to find them to comment on them --- but I don't think your chatroom is going to endanger anyone on here . Welcome -- with open arms !  I've stopped in here a few times and will be back .
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Posted by jblackwelljr on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 9:06 AM
 MisterBeasley wrote:

I ordered my BLI Hudson from Trainworld yesterday.  This is the one with sound for $129.  Normally I don't buy on-line, but I couldn't pass up a deal like that.  It will be my birthday present in March.

MisterBeasley - I ordered a PCM RDG T1 from Factory Direct Trains over the weekend.  I struggled with this a bit because of the issue of undercutting LHS's that carry PCM products.  I caved in the end because I really want one since I'm modeling RDG.  $252 with sound is just too good to pass up, considering $399 MSRP - at least that logic worked on my wife.

Jim "He'll regret it to his dyin day, if ever he lives that long." - Squire Danaher, The Quiet Man
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Posted by MisterBeasley on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 8:34 AM

Lisa and I go to some of the same train shows, and even shop at some of the same LHS's, but she's just a bit north of me.  In this case, it was just a bit too far north.  We've had nothing but a bit of drizzle and snow flurries, and the roads stayed warm enough to avoid the icing that's been hitting so much of the country.  It's cold, or rather it's "seasonable" for this time of year.  Kind of unusual, actually, since I think this is the first time all winter that the temperature has not gotten above freezing in the daytime.

I ordered my BLI Hudson from Trainworld yesterday.  This is the one with sound for $129.  Normally I don't buy on-line, but I couldn't pass up a deal like that.  It will be my birthday present in March.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

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Posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 7:46 AM

Good Morning everyone, things have been pretty crazy for me lately, I haven't been able to work on the trains,so nothing to report there, winter finally found us here in the NE, big messes to clean up after we had a major ice storm many folks in area still without power and temps around zero or below and I have three boys down with the flu.

Sue, I decided to wait on the steam train for now, hopefully in the next couple of months I'll be getting a check from the sale of my Dad's property. It won't be a lot after paying everything off but my sisters and I will be getting $1,000.00 each, so I'll have some "fun" money. I'll check in again soon.

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Posted by jblackwelljr on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 11:53 AM

Jeffrey - Man, that looks really good.  I love it when a plan comes together.  Thanks for the tutorial.

 

Sue and others - Tracks Ahead is a nice ½ hour show that covers all aspects of railroading.  I'd like to see it go to 1 hour.  All 6 seasons are available on DVD from their website http://www.tracksahead.net/ if your local PBS doesn't carry it.

Jim "He'll regret it to his dyin day, if ever he lives that long." - Squire Danaher, The Quiet Man
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  • From: Olympia, WA
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Posted by gear-jammer on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 8:35 AM

Jim,  Thanks for the list.  None of those stations look familiar.  Most of our programing comes out of Tacoma or Seattle.  They must be cable or satelite stations.  We are lucky to get Thomas.

Jeff,  You accomplished a lot over the weekend. I am impressed.  Thanks for the photos.

Philip,  I will check the diner to see what you are choosing for breakfast.

Sue

Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.

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Posted by pcarrell on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 8:27 AM

Backdrop looks great Jeff!

And that "Tracks Ahead" program.......we used to get it here in central Indiana, but they took it off the air.  Guess they had too much worthless programming that needed air. Blindfold [X-)]

Philip
  • Member since
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  • From: Orig: Tyler Texas. Lived in seven countries, now live in Sundown, Louisiana
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Posted by jeffrey-wimberly on Monday, January 15, 2007 10:20 PM

I finally finished my backdrop project. Here are the links to all three phases.

.

Deleted due to change in copyright (01/17/07)

Running Bear, Sundown, Louisiana
          Joined June, 2004

Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running Bear
Space Mouse for president!
15 year veteran fire fighter
Collector of Apple //e's
Running Bear Enterprises
History Channel Club life member.
beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam


  • Member since
    December 2005
  • From: County Schuylkill
  • 484 posts
Posted by jblackwelljr on Monday, January 15, 2007 9:54 PM

Sue,

Here are stations in Washington that carry Tracks Ahead, at least according to their website:

KWSU      Pullman

KSPS        Spokane

KCKA       Seattle/Tacoma

KBTC       Tacoma

KTNW      Yakima

Jim "He'll regret it to his dyin day, if ever he lives that long." - Squire Danaher, The Quiet Man
  • Member since
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  • From: Olympia, WA
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Posted by gear-jammer on Monday, January 15, 2007 9:39 PM

Jim,  Is Tracks Ahead aired on the west coast as well?  That would be a great program to find.

Lisa,  Have you been around?  Are you still looking for a steam loco with sound?  Sounds like you have had some train shows in your area.

Sue

Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.

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Posted by jblackwelljr on Monday, January 15, 2007 3:03 PM

Hi everyone,

 

I caught this week's Tracks Ahead episode on Sunday morning on our local PBS station.  They featured the Essex Steam Train in Essex, CT.  Anyone ever visit it?  It looks like a nice getaway for my wife and me.  They offer  a few different excursions - you can even get a combination train/steamboat package. 

I like the "you take the throttle" program although it seems a little pricey.  I checked their website, but it's always nice to get a first-hand opinion.  Thanks in advance
Jim "He'll regret it to his dyin day, if ever he lives that long." - Squire Danaher, The Quiet Man
  • Member since
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  • From: Olympia, WA
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Posted by gear-jammer on Friday, January 12, 2007 12:05 PM
 claycts wrote:

Way cool, George!  I was going to send a picture of the motor on the '41 Plymouth, but I could not get to the hood latch because Larry had it parked in with motorcycles.  Oh well, maybe some other time.  Have a great trip.

Sue

Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.

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Posted by claycts on Thursday, January 11, 2007 11:27 PM

Thank you Mister Beasley. The "MUSIC" I am working on comes from this thing.

If this is not singing on the correst note THEN I have a problem. Have and FCA meeting on Saturday and this is our calling card. I have already dumped over 20 shows this year and would like to drop all but can not. The car thing has me burned out after 40+ years of running around.

I will try and sell off my cars so Krysti does not have to worry about what my mom went through when my dad died. He had 28 cars and nobdy had a clue as to what they where worth.

I do not know how my counterpart Barry Maquier does all his live things, I can not anymore.

Take Care George Pavlisko Driving Race cars and working on HO trains More fun than I can stand!!!
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Posted by MisterBeasley on Thursday, January 11, 2007 7:35 PM
George - the hoppers over the water - man, you've gotta stay with us.  I can understand the car thing, but at least dip your toes in the water and keep working on your layout now and then.  I mean, like, even with some foam and unballasted track, that shot is already sheer poetry.  And Kristi, thanks for understanding that sometimes we must follow our Muse...

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

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Posted by claycts on Thursday, January 11, 2007 2:43 PM

AS Requested Miss Sue:

At the Wanamia Storage area

Pictures of the pier at Warrior Run

Big Steam at Ashley Table

Take Care

Take Care George Pavlisko Driving Race cars and working on HO trains More fun than I can stand!!!
  • Member since
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  • From: Olympia, WA
  • 2,313 posts
Posted by gear-jammer on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 10:55 PM
 MisterBeasley wrote:

 To paraphrase the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, "Trains will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no trains."

Good one, MrB.  That is so true.

George,  How about a photo of the Rivarossi Heisler? 

 I hope that your weather is better than ours.  Another 3 inches of snow last night messed up the area.  Tonight, the temp should dip down to the low 20's, and into the teens for tomorrow night.  The cattle sure eat more to stay warm.

Lisa,  We have not heard from you lately.

Sue

Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.

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Posted by MisterBeasley on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 11:29 AM

 pcarrell wrote:
I've recovered just fine.  My wallet, on the other hand, isn't looking so hot.

That's OK.  To paraphrase the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, "Trains will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no trains."

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

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Posted by pcarrell on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 10:48 AM
 gear-jammer wrote:

Philip,  Have you recovered from train show trip?  It always easier to carry bunches of N scale.

I've recovered just fine.  My wallet, on the other hand, isn't looking so hot.

Philip
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Posted by claycts on Tuesday, January 9, 2007 11:21 PM

Here I iS! Miss Sue Big Smile [:D]

Working on cars, have a Ferrari thing Saturday then off to Florida for RROC.

Train wise, put decoders in:

AHM Y6b, IHC 4-6-4 Hudson, Rivarossi Heisler. Built a few carrs (rolling stock).

Krysti is up to her @*$&^ in getting ready for 2007 car season. She wants her "E" type ready for the national show in October But there is no way, to much work and very little time to do it.

Hi Lisa, how are you doing.

Finding a lot of short comings in my layout as far as scenery goes. Looked good in VR Land but not working out as hoped in real life.

Take Care George Pavlisko Driving Race cars and working on HO trains More fun than I can stand!!!

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