Elliotts Trackside Diner (est 1-1-07)

[Anonymous]

Good morning to all. Great to see all the old faces in here and a few new ones too. Hope this finds every one well.

Been away for a while so I have a lot to catch up on. Unfortuntally I don't have a lot of time.

First let me say that we will not be moving to Mississippi. Infact we will be putting the house there up for sale as soon as I can get every thing moved back to Lafayette.

Spent a couple days in the hospital last week only to find out I have "Malignant Pleural". This is a terminal cancer that is caused by exposier to asbestos. I guess this goes back to my old navy days. The first Destroyer I was on was commissioned in 1943. They used a lot of asbestos in those days. I guess by 1958 the asbestos was starting to break down and bingo!

When we got moved to Mississippi I was going to be modeling the Illinois Central. Well I bought up about erery thing I could find in the IC livery. I guiss none of it will ever see track on my layout. 

People, let me say I have no regrets. I feel I have lived a full and wonderful life on this earth. I have done about everything a person could want to do and probibly some things I wasn't suppose to do LOL!

I have an appointment with an Oncoligest tomorrow. I guess I will find out the details then.

I'll keep you informed.

Hope everyone has a fantistic day.

Neal

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,

     I'll have a regular and one of Bills' donuts please Zoe. 42F already and the high today to be in the 80's. Was it really last Saturday we were struggling to start race cars in 26 degree weather? The truck left for Road Atlanta this morning the crew will follow Weds. but I'll stay here and keep up with the job load.

Antonio - Elliot has been having health issues, fairly serious, and word on him is more easily obtained on the Classic site. David seems to have gone quiet here as well as on the NHRHTA site.

All for now - got to get back to it and crank out some billed hours.  CUL,J.R.

[AntonioFP45]

Hi, friends.

I seldom stop here, but I have to ask.........I Big_Boy_4005 (Elliot) still around? I certainly have missed his posts on the General Discussion forum.  David Telesha as well.

BTW: I'll take a good, long swig of some refreshing, ice cold orange juice.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Guten Morgen und guten Tag zu Ihnen.

Today's Weather for:  
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      4/23/2007 

Sundown Fire Dept., Station 23
 
Wind Chill:  67°F
Humidity:  96%
Dew Point:  66°F
 
So Far Today
High:  67°F
Low:  65°F
Rain:  0.00"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  8mph SSE
 
Now through 06:15 AM CDT April 23, 2007

 High: 82   

Through 6 AM...isolated showers will affect portions of central and southern Louisiana...generally along and east of a line from deridder to pecan island. Only a trace of rainfall is expected with these showers as they move off to the north at 30 mph.  

Today  High: 82    Partly sunny. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs in the lower 80s. South winds around 10 mph.
 
Tonight  Low: 65    Mostly cloudy. Patchy fog after midnight. Lows in the mid 60s. South winds around 10 mph.

The breakfast bar is open!

[wetidlerjr]

Good morning ! from Indiana.

04-23-07

[gear-jammer]

Larry is cooking steak tonight.  

Even with nice weather, we found time for the layout this weekend.

Sue

[Hoople]

Everyone: I may be 12 but your not fooling me with that.

Jeff: Yeah if its an older standard, nah I don't want it.

Gotta run,

Mark

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang:

JR: How about leaving the switch in the road. I can remember there being switches in the road back in Milwaukee in the industrial areas and I've seen places in Ft.Worth where switches were in the roads. Just remind you crews about the 5 min rules. You know don't block the road for more then 5 min. The factory building looks good.

The pin looks like it maybe from the brake gear of a car.

Ed: I was just hoping. If you can give me a call if a phone is handy.

Mary Ann and I mowed the yard today. She got the front half done except where it takes the push mower to get into the tight places. I had the push mower in the back. I was doing the tight places and the railroad. Yes I had to mow the grass on the railroad. At least I don't have to do that on the HO layout. Next I'll have to put out the Roundup. I'd do that tomorrow except it's supposed to rain for a couple of days. We still have to finish the back and that could take the best of tomorrow.

Hoople: You'll like the consolidation. It ran real well on my layout. I think I sent it on to Jim.

I guess I'll head for the showers. You all take care and I'll see you tomorrow.

Good Night All

[jeffrey-wimberly]

JEFF: You mentioned a Steward F7...I was at a train show several weeks ago, and they had two Stewart F7's, one was selling for $65, the other for $110. I have no experience at all with Stewart products, so I did not make the guy an offer. Do you have any idea what they are worth? They "appeared" to be in nice condition, and he offered to try it on his test track.

New they sell for about $115 for a Phase I F7. An A-B set (A powered, B dummy) goes for around $150. The Traditional Line F7 A unit goes for $170 and the Traditional Line A-B set goes for around $170.

[JimRCGMO]

Just a go cup of hot cocoa for me, Chloe. Almost time for me to head out for bed, anyway. 

Jim: Lets hope it does otherwise a UPS man will find a grenade in his truck... Just joking.

[egmurphy]

Good evening sports fans,

Well I have to say that it feels good to be back in the group again, even if it is only sort of temporary (we leave for two weeks on Wednesday morning and I don't expect to have too much computer access during the trip).

Lazy day today.  By popular acclaim I had to take the whole extended family to the beach.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and I managed to escape with only a minor sunburn.  So I guess it was a success.

Paul - Sorry, schedule is pretty tight on this trip.  I don't think we'll have a chance to head up to your neighborhood.  But give my best to Mary Ann and John.

Dick - So that goes without saying that a trip to NE is out too.  Even when we fly to Nfld in late June we'll only be changing planes in Newark.

Sorry to make this so quick this evening, but I have to pay more attention to the game between the Red Sox and the Yankees.  The Red Sox just scored 4 in the bottom of the third on 4 consecutive solo homers after two outs.  This game is good!

Later

Ed

[grayfox1119]

Good evening to all, a perfect day here today...78F, dry air, clear skies, no flying insects...just perfect. Got a lot of yeard cleanup done..cleaned all the leaves from amomg the bushes and plants...oak leaves LOVE to hide among the plants, what a pain to get them out.

JEFF: You mentioned a Steward F7...I was at a train show several weeks ago, and they had two Stewart F7's, one was selling for $65, the other for $110. I have no experience at all with Stewart products, so I did not make the guy an offer. Do you have any idea what they are worth? They "appeared" to be in nice condition, and he offered to try it on his test track.

FERGIE: The painting should be excellent at sea, ultra clean air 200 miles out. The next trip sounds more interesting, please keep me posted. There is a heated argument going on down here in the local newspaper, in the "People's Forum". There are two views, one says that humans are causing Global Warming ( CO2 ), and the other view is that this is all natural, has occured before, and will occur again, and that humans have very little impact on the climate.

HOOPLE: Two days ago from Illinois? Lets see MIKE was interested in trying out that loco, as was DUKE, GARRY and PC......everyone knows that in two days from Illinois it would have been in California. hmmmmmmmmm I won der who has it now??

MIKE: I will be picking up the part for my Rototiller this week, if that doesn't fix it, I will have to load it onto a trailer and haul it over to the local guy who repairs this model....usually I can fix any of my equipment, but this has me stumped.

ED: If you make it to Paul's ranch, it is only 1500 more miles to my house.....two days ought to do it Ed...and the SOX are in town!!

TIFN

[GMTRacing]

Good Evening All,

     We got our frame repair finished while I went through the front suspension and replaced all the bent stuff for a customer in Georgia. The frame is loaded on the truck to be delivered at Road Atlanta next week so we can breath a sigh of relief.

    Got the burst hydraulic hose off the dump truck finally about half an hour after I got to the yard.

Inch - no tie markers yet, but we did unearth this pin we're trying to identify. Probably just a really large rivet (1 1/2" dia x 4 1/2" lng) but the track above was marked 1905 and the ties are at least that old.

Bob - The yard is the Danbury Railway Museums where i help out with the mechanical department doing whatever needs doing including diesel maintainence and construction equipment repair. I also work with the Tuesday night group helping with displays and the model train exhibits. Time permiting I am project leader on the ex New Haven DL-701 #1402.

Did find some time to work on some of the factory area mock up of the home layout. I'm not at all sure that I like the switch in the middle of a road and will probably move it.The street comes under the underpass and off into the backround picture and the section off to the side will be an alleyway to a loading/parking area. the factory is a rough aproximation from dim memory of the old Armstrong Rubber plant in West Haven compressed to fit. The final road will be as the Crowley asphalt road seen elsewhere.

your comments would be appreciated. For now it's back to the layout, CUL,J.R.

[der5997]

Good Sunday Evening Tracksiders.

Cape Jim:

DerJohn, good that you got your outside stuff mostly done.

…would it were so! What I meant was that most of all I planned to do outside Friday got done! That included walking the shore past our place to the neighbours to look for a piece of dock that had been floated away sometime over the winter. Found it beached just out of sight of the neighbours house. Not that that would be a problem, even if they weren’t city folks rarely around in the winter / spring. So Saturday we waited for high tide at about noon, and went to get it back. Luckily it had trailed its mooring ropes, and one had snagged a small tree on the shore, thus re-mooring it. We freed it, cleared off the mounds of seaweed covering it, and flipped it over a couple of times to get it into the water. ( The rear end was already in when we got there). With Kris acting as tow horse, and me poling it along and past rocks, we brought it the 300 yards or so to the bank from whence it came. We got one end onto land and waited for low tide to get behind it and push it up (on logs for rollers) to where it now sits, once more tied down to rocks, and other sections of the dock. Other yard clearing chores took up any other mrr available time, and so it goes. Did get some rock castings made in the evening however, and ran out of plaster doing some more today. Now I had better get them put on the layout!

Paul:

getting the dimensions from the photo. That ain't easy as I know too well.

…I was lucky as the boards in the photo looked like 4 inchers, and the doors I assumed to be 30 inches wide. Everything fell into place from that.

Ed: Welcome Back! Good to see you in here again.

Zero progress on the layout. I'm trying to get reanimated. Too much "mañana factor" down here I'm afraid.

…I know the feeling all too well, but made it a New Year’s Resolution to get busy again. So far, so good. Don’t leave it to New Year’s though!

Jeff: The 0-6-0 rusted out and needing TLC looks terrific. Interesting scene, and the ladder is a nice touch (and the checking out crew later). The empty look through the missing domes on the boiler is great.

Dick: Here’s and emergency fix. Sorry to hear of your trouble.

Garry: May we borrow Charles and Camilla to see away the porcupine that was in our yard Saturday evening?

Well, now to see if the sawdust/ white glue mix I stored in the fridge (plastic tub, but it was marked!) before I started on the indusrial park make-over is still OK. Hope it’s not furry, or I may need C&C for more than the porcupine! TTFN.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff: What a waste of a perfectly good bachmann 0-6-0. I would have taken it. :)

You wouldn't have wanted it. It's an old standard line Bachmann loco. The motor (pancake type) burned out years ago, the pickups are no good and the axle gear is cracked.

[Hoople]

Jeff: What a waste of a perfectly good bachmann 0-6-0. I would have taken it. :)

Jim: Lets hope it does otherwise a UPS man will find a grenade in his truck... Just joking.

Mark

[JimRCGMO]

Afternoon, folks! Chloe, I'll have a root beer float like Jerry did, please. Thanks!

Jeff, I like the 'little' bit of work you've done. Looks even better now, so it should look outstanding with some ties and rails and those guys checking the steamer out.

Fergie, good to hear you're getting to see the sun and calm seas. Even better to hear your MRR projects are moving along. Nothing like a productive sea voyage, huh?  

Some more MRR'ing work this afternoon for me. Have to finish some soldering (that, or just hide in the corner when I come in the Diner...). Hope everyone gets a chance to get some outside time in, and that Hoople's Consolidation arrives on time.

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Hello everyone. 

For lunch ......... leftover burgoo.......

Beautiful day here: "Charles" and "Camilla" are out of their hole and loving every minute. BTW, "Charles" and "Camilla" are our pair of black snakes. They keep away unwanted pests so we leave them alone. In turn, they leave us alone.

Piles of rusted rails on my layout are from old brass rails track.

asks bob: "Think any trains are getting worked on this weekend?" ....not much........ outside projects are under way.

 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff: I like the idea of old rusted rails and ties piled up, what do you think?

That's one of the details that will be added later. In the meantime, I've cleared the brush somewhat so the junk laying out in front of the loco is more visible.

[bogp40]

What a fantastic morning with all the sunshine here in the NE. Still getting up real early and having a cup before stopping in here. It looks like most are planning to enjoy the day.

It's nice to see you back Ed, I thought you got lost and couldn't find the forum.

GMT:   Is your project for a historical group or? Work like that is for the young not just the young at heart.

Jeff: I like the idea of old rusted rails and ties piled up, what do you think?

Sounds like there's lots for everyone to do on a great yard day. Think any trains are getting worked on this weekend?

I found that my idler arms on the work truck are shot when getting an inspection sticker yesterday. Just what I need with all the upcoming  driving into Boston. I plan to pick up the parts and head out to a friend's shop to replace them. So much for the yard work...Hope the alignment is still OK.

Have a nice day,

 

[Cox 47]

Afternoon All...Sunny and warm here a great day....I'll have a root beer float please..Thank you...Its a lazy afternoon here on pearl street...Had "brunch" then sat down in old blue and took a nap havn't even turned on TV to watch the ball game after yesterdays not sure I want to...Have a good one...Jerry

[Hoople]

Grayfox: Riiight. Of course.

I wonder where it is now. Who knows except UPS. I think I'll check the tracking... Well it doesn't say anything new. It's been two days since Illinios, so I'd say its getting close. Of course the tracking DID say this wednesday...

Mark

[Cox 47]

Morning All...Sunny and warm here this AM....Just a cup of coffee now and B-U-M-P the dinner back to page 1....You all have a good day.....Jerry

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Today's Weather for:  
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      4/22/2007 
 
Sundown Fire Dept., Station 23

Wind Chill:  61°F
Humidity:  94%
Dew Point:  59°F
 
So Far Today
High:  64°F
Low:  59°F
Rain:  0.00"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  8mph NNE
 
Today  High: 82    Increasing clouds. Patchy fog early in the morning. Highs in the lower 80s. Light and variable winds becoming south 10 to 15 mph. 
 
Tonight  Low: 62    Mostly cloudy. Lows in the lower 60s. South winds up to 10 mph in the evening becoming light and variable.

I'll just have some scrambled eggs today.

[pcarrell]

Mornin' all! 

Just thought I'd pop my head in the door to see who's up yet.

I see....it's pretty much Jeff and Bill.  Hi guys!

I'm just grabbing a cup of coffee for the road, so I'd best be off!  Later!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

JEFF,, the pics look really good now. Have you thought about piling some old ties and rail sections by there too.

That's one of a myriad of details to be added. There'll also be a couple of guys checking her out with hopes of something more than a cosmetic restoration in mind. They don't know what lays ahead of them.

[wetidlerjr]

Good morning ! from Indiana.

04-22-07

[Fergmiester]

Good Morning All

Dick: This program was more to do with content as there was no current monitoring done. CO2 saturation, organic content, etc. Seas are all but gone as we recovered three science moorings off the entrance to Halifax first thing this morning, even got to see the sun rise.

I did the priming yesterday and it worked real well, no contamination . That's why I hate painting at home as there is dust and crap everywhere.

What's next? Don't know as the next several days will be very busy. Nothing worse than a change in programs. Dick the next leg is definately current science.

Well that it for me

Later all

Fergie

[inch53]

Morin, just some coffee Janie

Another nice day before the rains set back in for the week and cools off some.

DICK, didn't get my tiller going either, changed plug and cleaned the points,  still won't start. Plan on working on it some today, Mother pick up a new set of points last night.

JEFF,, the pics look really good now. Have you thought about piling some old ties and rail sections by there too.

JR,, did you find any year nails in those old ties. There was a guy selling them at the flea market last year for $3 each, said they came from the NYC Cario trackage that ran through here.

No big plans for the day, still not moving good. We may run down to the flea market if Mother gets up n movin early enough. Might have to help Clyde tearing down n cleaning up at the old house, if he doesn't have enough younger help this afternoon. They're suppose to start pouring footers for the new one next week. Hope ya'll has a gooden and stay safe.

inch

[GMTRacing]

Good Evening All,

    a little sore but a hot shower and a cold Newcastle took care of that. Spent about 10 hours shovelling about half of that in the yard digging out rotted ties. The yard area has been in use since the first railroad came to Danbury well beore the Civil War and the present yard is built within the perimiter of a loop track on cinders. Most of the rail in the area where we're working is marked 1905 and is still in short segments. The cinders are well compacted after all this time with a lot of pick work involved to loosen up the ballast. We're finding lots of spikes in the ground and some other artifacts some of which I'll blast clean and photograph. Worst part of the day was the hour and a half I spent trying to get a burst hydraulic hose off our dump truck. They're just not made to service in place sowe finally used a backhoe to empty out most of the bed and then used chain and said backhoe to lift the dump body enough to put thebed brace in. Tomorrow I'll try again to get the ram end of the hose off. Today none of my tools or obscure (ok - ok - obscene) incantations worked although I did return home looking like the coal miners you see pictures of.

Jeff - nice work. We have a single steamer at the museum which hasn't been pampered but it is still black albeit very rusty under it's paint. We also have a section of track in the yard that doesn't connect to anything at either end. I'd like to see our hi-rail stuff exhibited there along with our Mack rail bus. The point is track that goes nowhere is not all that unheard of.

Time to wander off to rest. Good to see you back Ed.   CUL,J.R.