Elliotts Trackside Diner (est 1-1-07)

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Hello ................. well if it's on Philip, I'll go easy.  It's my steak and lobster tails day, but won't have too many.

Again, I'll say it's good to see the young guys here with a constructive use for their time and resources.   I suspect each will do well in their years ahead.  BTW, CSXguy, I was in the marching band, too.  Many years ago.

Inch, I'm terribly sorry to learn about your friend, Jan.  We'll be praying for her family.

Dick ........  that's intersting reading about steam on the old B&A line.  The Bershire engines were really something.  There's a C&O berk in the KY RY museum.  You mentioned the 2-10-2's going to the CN.  You forget to say that now every one of them is on Fergie's railroad.

Ryan .  a diet,eh....  let us know how strong the will power is.

Happy Model Railroading! (Toot a Lu!)

 

[cheese4432]

You guys are really taking it easy on my credit card today!

If so you'd better be hurrying back to work! lol

[pcarrell]

You guys are really taking it easy on my credit card today!

[cheese4432]

I'll have a roast beef sandwich with all the fixings..no, no horse radish or whatever the stuff is and no nasty stuff in it either.

Nothing new done yet, but I discovered that no rewiring is needed fo a consist on dc power   A-A power one of them back wards.

[Anonymous]

I've been busy with school and stuff like that.  But now I think I will have time to get back into the groove here.

[inch53]

Afternoon, Zoe I have a ham n swiss sandwich, order of onion rings n tea

Did get some time in on the layout this weekend, but not as much as planned. Started building the trestle going into the yard, seems I glue, wait, then glue some more and so on. Hope to get it done this week

DICK, the 181'st INANG birds are being transferred to FT. Wayne, IN this year, but there was still a couple there last Friday. One of them did a fly over here at Mach 1+, I almost had to change my shorts.

Their suppose to have the 4-8-0 going this summer up to the Monticello rail museum, but we haven't heard anything yet on it. Me n mother are planning on going up when they run it. It'll be the first one I've seen run in over 50 years.

BOB K,  a happy birthday wish to your daughter from us. We didn't get any camping [weather] in this weekend, but I did fix a pot of road kill stew there Sat. evening for us and 2 other couples that were going to camp also, but didn't. Penny fixed some homemade biscuits too. So there was plenty to eat n drink and a few rounds of dominos before it started thundering.

Did get one pic while we were there

RYAN, liked your video, looked like you had a good time there,

CSXGUY, good to hear from ya, where you been all this time

Forgot to say thanks for all the prayers for Jan earlier, but it wasn't gods plan for another outcome. We were close friends with her family for many years. Her husband, Fred and my Deb were the closest, they sleep together for 3 years. Now get yur mind out of the gutter. They both worked the same shift as blenders for a chemical company on swing shift. On the nights when they were loading tank cars, there wasn't much to do, so they'd take naps while the cars were loading.

Best get back ta chores, catch ya'll laters

[Anonymous]

Hey guys!  I'm back, at least for a little while.  How many pages did the old coffee shop get to before it was closed?  I've got a lot to catch up on I see.

[grayfox1119]

RYAN: That is Cajon gravy, after all, this is a RR Diner, LOL...the UTube video was great, you look so natural backing that F unit down the tracks.....there is a shortage of Engineers you know....

[SilverSpike]

Hey Dick, is that Cajon gravy as in Cajon Pass in California? Or as in Cajun as in spicy!

I just uploaded my first You Tube video, check out this from our FP-7 cab ride in the Southern #6133.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swzbc35cv6g

 

[grayfox1119]

LUNCHTIME !!!!!!!!!  French meat pie with cajon gravy on top, garlic bread, and fresh strawberry shortcake for desert!! Mango flavored ice tea for drinks.

JERRY: The Conway Scenic RR is in North Conway, New Hampshire, which is a 2 1/2 hour ride due north of my location.

FERGIE: Maybe you could "commandere" the ship, pick up Luc and John and put in port in Portland. From there it is only a 1 hour drive up route 302 to North Conway and the Conway Scenic RR for that 5 hour ride through the White Mountains behind that 1921 yard goat 0-6-0 made in Montreal for the Grand Trunk RR.

MIKE: Sorry to hear of your loss, thankfully she got some time with family, God rest her soul.

[Cox 47]

Morning All...Its sunny hot and humid here today.....I'll have a Diet Coke please ...Thank You...I got 1 of the two hooper cars back up on trucks and as soon as the other is done I'll track test them...If they work out I think I'll go thru and body mount couplers on everthing....any body need any old Rapedos? When I was in HO I had a Athearn box full of old NMRA hook horns never did find a use for them or find any one to give them to.....

Dick...That sounds like a great steam trip..How far is that from you?

JR.....I like the Testors pretty good..its about all I use for plastic...

Mike....Saw Jan's passing in paper this morning..Our thoughts and prayers with all her Family...It was a blessing she got to spend her last day here with family and friends...

Well I am still getting over the back house trots but seems to be better today....You all have a good one...Jerry

[SilverSpike]

Mike, sorry to hear of your loss! Our thoughts and prayers for you and the family!

Garry, I'm trying to make up for all of those pies, burgers, pizzas, etc... I ate earlier in the Diner. Also, helps in pinching the too!

PC, thanks for lunch today, but I'll have a 1/2 cup of plain tuna, a slice of wheat toast and some hot tea.

Dick, thanks for the Berkshire info.

[grayfox1119]

Good morning everyone, and Happy Birthday to Jennie Marie , what is that box I see with a Nikon label on it????

RIDE STEAM THROUGH THE WHITE MOUNTAINS (NH)  (MEC MOUNTAIN DIVISION )

For any of you guys local, or any of the Diner members who may be travelling to New England for vacation in July, here is a real treat. The Conway Scenic RR is going to be running the former CN 0-6-0 , now numbered 7470 from North Conway station through Crawford Notch on a steep climb to Fabyan RR station which is just beyond the Mt Washington Hotel. This is a long ride, starting at 10am and not returning until about 5pm. Steam is hardly EVER run through the mountains any more, only on Railfans day which is usually in late October, lately in September. There will be several open cars, the dome car, and 1st class car. I rode this steam train several years in the Fall and I can assure you it is well worth the trip and the photo experience. I plan to go there for the weekend and photo the run, and take the Cog RR up Mt Washington. The Steam weekend will be July 14th and 15th. 7470 has been all rebuilt as of 2006.

BERKSHIRE INFO: For the Diner members who are steam enthusiasts, here is some interesting info that I just read:

1. The former Boston & Albany (B&A) was an leader in new power equipment, and bought new locomotives constantly.
2. When the first Berkshire (A1 class) arrived on the B&A, freight over the Berkshire Mountains of western MA was handled by slow moving 2-8-0's, medium sized 2-8-2's, 13  2-6-6-2's, and 10  2-10-2's, and  a small number of Heavy Mike's. Get this.....it took 10 to 14 hours for a freight train to travel 100 miles from Boston to Selkirk, NY ( just outside Albany)
3. In March of 1925, this all changed when Lima's prototype Berkshire number 1 arrived. A test was planned. An H-10 Mikado left Selkirk for Pittsfield, Ma with a drag of 46 cars and 1691 tons behind it's drawbar. 47 minutes later, the new A1 Berkshire, with 54 cars, and 2296 tons behind it's drawbar, then headed east.The Berkshire steamed into Pittsfield 10 minutes ahead of the Mikado that had left Selkirk with a 47 minute head start and a 25% lighter load.
4. The climb from Boston is from sea level (0) to 1459 feet at the highest point in the Berkshires at Washington Summit.
5. The B&A immediately puchased 25 new Berkshires, followed by additional orders over the next decade.
6. The Texas & Pacific was even more impressed at the demonstration and they purchased 10...2-10-4's which became the first commercial super power locomotives.
7. The second order for Bershires fro the B&A was class a-1b which was essentially a squared off and built up sand dome in order to hold more sand for traction on the steep hills.
8. Eventually all the earlier 1-a Berks had their sand domes modified also.
9. All of the 2-10-2's were sold to Canadian National (CN)  and the 2-6-6-2's were scrapped.
10. The H-10 Mikados were thransfered to the NYC for lines west of the Berkshires.
11. The 8 wheel tenders carried 9600 gallons of water and 16 tons of coal which allowed the Berkshires to run all the way from Boston, through Springfield, over the Berkshire Mountains and into Selkirk yard.
12. The Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo, jointly owned by the NYC and the CP was having trouble moving freight, so in 1927 the Heavy Mikado was tested against the A-1 Berkshire, and again the Berkshire proved superior, resulting in an order to the Montreal Locomotive Works for the only two 2-8-4's ever built in Canada. They were numberd 201 & 202 and are near duplicates of B&A 1433.

 See you guys at lunch,

[pcarrell]

Well, it looks like I'm buying again.

Chloe, you still got my credit card back there in the safe?  Break it out, 'cause we're going to give it a workout!  Lunch is on me!

So, whats everyone having today? 

'Cmon, don't be shy!  Order up!

Me?  I'm all about the fajitas!

[pcarrell]

Bob K., happy belated to the daughter.  I completely missed that as I was reading earlier.  Sorry about that.

We got some bad news this morning; found out JAN had passed away last evening from her cancer. They had a family cookout yesterday and she was feeling good most all day. Later Jan said she was tired and wanted a short nap, she never woke up in this life again, it was time to go home.

Inch, my friend....my condolences.  I'm sorry for your loss.  You and your's are in my prayers.

[inch53]

Mornin, just coffee Zoe,

We got some bad news this morning; found out JAN had passed away last evening from her cancer. They had a family cookout yesterday and she was feeling good most all day. Later Jan said she was tired and wanted a short nap, she never woke up in this life again, it was time to go home.

Need ta get back ta chores, may slip back in laters an catch up on the goings on, Just wanted to let ya'll know

inch

[ModelTrainLover]

speaking of food

I'll have pineapple & ham pizza, with a root beer... mixed with Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, Lemonade, and Lemon juice. No ice.

Thanks 

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

 Good morning.....

I'll have some T.H. coffee.  Thanks, der!

Ryan says..... "I'll have hot tea, a slice of whole wheat toast and a tablespoon of peanut butter please! " ....... huh?..............say what? .... what's the story with that????   BTW...... congrats on the layout's one year anniv.! ....and thanks for the progress report.

I need to work on the layout but have been working on trains with my MRR time.

 

 

 

[ModelTrainLover]

Colby,

When you do find the motor, PPW, Mashima etc, you should fabricate a cradle with styrene. I use 1" PVC and slice the curved sections to fit. RTV black (silicone) works the best for me for secureing the motor mounts/ motor. Just check that the motor position is inline and uniform. A perfect shaft alighment is not that critical and sometimes not wanted. A slight skew can stop any shaft vibrations. Motor length and shaft diameter are crucial if you plan to use the flywheels. From looking at the pic, you only may be able to use 1 flywheel. Rocos usually don't take kindly to frame modifications. The die cast material really stinks.

it's an all wheel drive and pickup 

[JimRCGMO]

Good morning Zoe, a cup of coffee and glass of Ed's orange juice for me, please. Just a quick stop through this morning. Expect it to be rather busy today, since we were closed yesterday (on top of the usual Monday morning everyone-who-held-it-together-over-the-weekend).

My co-worker David is out until next Monday, so I'm hoping for a slower than usual week.

JR, that building is coming along great! Like how you've done it (and the roads). Nice weathering, too.

Bob K. wrote:

Jim: ... Do you have a fellowship, coffee and such after church? That would be a great place to "corner", uh I mean talk to her further.

Bob, I know we do between the Sunday morning services (and before the early one), but we started the 'coffee bar' in the lobby area since the previous time I went to Sat. evening service, so I'm not sure. But I'll keep the idea in mind.

Tried to figure out some simpler things that might be causing the problems with the Powerbook yesterday, but only marginal success. Got it to start up, but then when I rebooted to try to update the OS, it went back to the reboot cycle thing it's been doing. Well, may be needing to save up for sending it in to a shop and let them get it up and running again.

I did get the Hobby Lobby 40 percent off coupon they had on their website, and bought a Woodland Scenics figure set ("Bike Buddies") - which makes their prices much better that way. Also started making a list of all my various MRR booklets (mostly Kalmbach stuff), have a total of forty Kalmbach ones and two non-Kalmbach MRR'ing books. I'd been kidding with the LHS in town about before they order more Kalmbach books, that I should bring in my list so he doesn't duplicate any. Some of the books are from a while back (say 30 years ago...), and at much better prices than they would be now.

Well, better get myself going. See everyone this evening!

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

[SilverSpike]

Good morning folks!

I'll have hot tea, a slice of whole wheat toast and a tablespoon of peanut butter please!

The Piedmont Division (PD) layout is 1 year old this week! Hard to believe it, but the layout has been under construction for 1 year now and no loss time accidents have been reported by the PD crew chiefs.

This weekend the PD track laying crew put down just over 40 feet of HO track in a record 2 hours and 30 minutes, and then tested the track within 15 minutes of connecting the first loop and ran a short Southern Railway consist.

On the landscaping front, I got the last of the pavers and pea gravel put down on the front yard patio project yesterday. And we are getting into drought conditions here, had to water the lawn on Saturday and yesterday too. We could use some rain up in these parts soon.

  Did some BBQ chicken and some hot dogs for Memorial Day! Some good too!

John P., that image of the yard taken from the I-10 high rise bridge over the Industrial Canal is certainly a familiar site. That large white building in left side of the background is the NASA Michoud vertical assemblies building were the external fuel tanks for the shuttle are manufactured by Lockheed Martin. During the Apollo mission the bottom stages of the rockets were also built at that facility. We lived near Belle Chasse, so that is familiar territory as well.

Happy Birthday to Jennie Marie!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning

Today's Weather for:  
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      5/29/2007 

Sundown Fire Dept., Station 23
 
Wind Chill:  70°F
Humidity:  88%
Dew Point:  66°F
 
So Far Today
High:  70°F
Low:  68°F
Rain:  0.03"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  8mph ESE
 
This morning   -  Scattered showers and a few thunderstorms will continue moving to the north across southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. You can expect a brief heavy rainfall and occasional lightning.  

Today  High: 82    Cloudy with showers and thunderstorms likely. Some thunderstorms may produce heavy rainfall. Highs in the lower 80s. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 70 percent.  

Tonight  Low: 68    Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 60s. East winds around 10 mph.

[wetidlerjr]

Good morning ! from Indiana.

05-29-07

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang: We had 3.5 inches of rain as of this afternoon at 3:30. They say a chance of more until Friday. The guy from the container out fit came by and said that he can get it into the spot that Mary Ann had picked out. We have to do some tree trimming and wait for things to dry out.

We went to see the new Pirates of The Caribbean. I liked it, Mary Ann was not that impressed. Oh well it's a guy flick.

Bob K: Happy birthday to Jennie Marie. She deserves it. As for you, Be careful on that staging.

We stopped by the cemetary and set a flag on her fathers grave. He served in the Great War. We also placed a flag on the grave of a Confederate solder buried next to the family plot. His name was William Talman of the Arkansas Mounted Rifles. We've been doing that for a number of years, It just seems to be right.

Well I guess I'll check out and hit the sack.

Good Night All

[grayfox1119]

BOBK: For your daughter's D70 ( which I also own ) you can fo to the Nikon web site for ideas, or, go to one of the bigger camera stores in your neck of the woods....not a Wal-Mart or BestBuy, but a Camera Store, they can help you more, and have the knowledge also.

Time for bed, see you guys for breakfast,

[der5997]

Good evening Diners:  Thank you Dick and others for expressing our thanks for the blood sweat and tears we tend to take for granted.  Sometimes when I want to get fancy about giving thanks at meals I take a line like this: “We thank You for all the men and women whose creativity and industry have made this meal, and our lives here possible.  In times of remembrance, we can add those who who fought and fight for our freedom.

 

No mrr all weekend. Between yard work, museum type meetings, and Kris’ book launch, haven’t been able to do more than post a pic or two on Philip’s (yes it is too, PC!) “What’s your favourite …?” thread.  So, Sue, whatever it was I may have had planned for tree planting didn’t happen.  Here’s how the trees now in place look from down the tracks. (I posted this in PC’s thread earlier.)

 

BobK.  Work safe! That doesn’t sound like a choice site.

 

Chuck and Kathy:

that yellow weed scotchbroom,

…They had that planted in the highway medians on Vancouver island.  Had to drive with the windows up and the fans off.  Just the smell is stuffy enough, without any allergy effects.

 

JR:  Those buildings are impressive!

 

Garry:  In case Luc doesn’t make it in tomorrow morning,….

 

Time to look for a bedtime snack.  Goodnight all, and God Bless. Prayers for all in need of healing, comfort and peace.

 

 

 

 

[bogp40]

GMT,

I don't know how you find the time to even think of trains, let alone work on them (model ones that is). Is the cement you mention Tenax or the Testor's liquid styrene cement? That building's looking real good.

[bogp40]

Bob- it's a Roco, and I know it's getting current cause the headlight works.

Colby,

When you do find the motor, PPW, Mashima etc, you should fabricate a cradle with styrene. I use 1" PVC and slice the curved sections to fit. RTV black (silicone) works the best for me for secureing the motor mounts/ motor. Just check that the motor position is inline and uniform. A perfect shaft alighment is not that critical and sometimes not wanted. A slight skew can stop any shaft vibrations. Motor length and shaft diameter are crucial if you plan to use the flywheels. From looking at the pic, you only may be able to use 1 flywheel. Rocos usually don't take kindly to frame modifications. The die cast material really stinks.

[GMTRacing]

Good Evening All,

    Ended up working the entire weekend as we're two people short and we have a big event coming up at Lime Rock Park this coming weekend. Need 9 cars done and still have bits to do on several and one major redo that we're in the middle of. Caught up enough now to sit in the corner and relax a bit.

Did do some more on the industrial section of the layout and snuck in a couple of 1"/1" oil coolers and some air valve work on the museum 44tonner (ex NH 0814).

Has anyone used the Testors clear parts cement? I picked some up last year and used it for the first time this weekend. Seems ok so far except it's too glossy to me. Guess dust will eventually fix that. Open windows on top floor were done with the clear stuff. The rest is dull coated. This is what I've been working on when time permits.

Colby - it looks like you may have a bad solder joint on the motor. If you have some rosin core solder and an iron, try cleaning up the motor connections and resoldering. It can also be brushes in the motor itself. You might try looking for locomotive maintainence tutorials online.

Well what little free time i've had lately is a wastin' - I'll try to stop in and catch up later. 

CUL,J.R. 

 

[ModelTrainLover]

Bob- it's a Roco, and I know it's getting current cause the headlight works.

Well I just got back form baseball practis, did well on hitting but need to work on the way I throw.

had some track issues with my recent set up, so I went with a basic oval