Elliotts Trackside Diner (est 1-1-07)

[Anonymous]

Good morning

Happy MRRing

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang:  Well today was cold but not too windy. I did some more  cleaning up in the barn. I cleaned off one area and under all the clutter was a HOn3 layout that I hadn't thought about in some time. It's a 4ft x 4ft that I got in a trade for something. I did some work on it and got it running at one time. I built a gallows turn table and installed it but it got busted up at sometime. I doubt I'll do anything with it but you never know. I did get enough room in the shop finally so I started working on the track panels for the 7.5in gauge. I got one stick of 2in channel cut up into 16in cross ties.

Funit: I guess the weather has been high on the list of things to talk about lately. So what's up with you? What scale are you in? Do you have a layout?

Jerry: Belated anniversary wishes.

Trent: Anniversary wishes to you.

Well I guess I'll head out and see what else is going on. I'll see you all tomorrow.

Good Night All

 

[der5997]

Good evening Diners.  Still cold and getting colder, and the wind won’t let up for the weekend either.

Mrr today was making 7 N Scale 15” x10” bollards for the edge of the wharf.  I used a thin sheet of rolled out FIMO, cut the things out with an Exacto knife, and cooked them at 150 C for 15 minutes in the toaster oven while Kris’ lunch time roll was warming up.  I did all this on a piece of silicone paper, so nothing stuck. (Don’t buy that BTW, it’s what self adhesive postage stamps come on, just don’t throw it out…or, as in this case it’s what AMI roadbed comes on too.)

I’ve painted them this evening, and will glue them on presently.

No I won’t, I just tried one and it’s too tricky, especially with ACC, for this time of night!

 

 

Dick:

Der John - did you fix that dinner for Kris?

…but naturally…well to be exact, I bought the chops, seasoned and cooked them.  The veggies we had on hand, a combined ops affair.  The 99% Cocoa chocolate bar she nibbled with her coffee was my idea too.

 

 

OZJim

I actually thought about a holiday down south, but I doubt whether I could get a couple of 2X8 sheets of foam onto a plane.

…Maybe a squeeze, but since you will be cutting the sheets anyway, why not cut them there, and stack them into a shippable bundle, tape them and take them home? Then just re-cut and glue as needed.

I think I have some styrene around... that could work, yeah?

…sure, anything that will stack in layers, be glueable and be level at the end of it all should be fine.

 

Trent: Happy Anniversary!

 

Funit:  to the diner.

Hey are you guy's model railroaders or is this the weather men club? LOL

…not all, some may be “just” railfans  as you’ll see if you take PC up on his offer, a seat, and enjoy your coffee; this is a great place to hang and not get hung up by the crowd. (PC mentioned Flo, who’s new to me, but forgot Janie, who can outrun an ostrich, and never spill a drop.)  Mrr is the reason we’re here, however.  Care to tell us a bit about your plans? Interests?  BTW, first time top of page is let off free, so while RT is right, we waive it for you this time!

 

JR: I’ve been able to fix a 6”x9” N Scale Canada flag above the grey painted sign on the front door of the office / lab building, so your sister now has an official base of operations at the Omega 3 fish oil plant!

 

Too windy for our woodstove to work properly tonight.  The furnace just came on, not a good sign.

 

I’m off to bed.  Goodnight all, and God Bless.  Prayers for all in need of healing, comfort and peace.

 

 

[pcarrell]

Caught at sunrise today..............................

Notice the lead loco is in UP colors, but it's HLCX.

(Sorry it's so blurry.  It was -9 degrees when I toke the shot and I was shivering!)

[grayfox1119]

RT: I had a 2:15 call with Teffy many moons ago! LOL Does that top Fergie's?

[rtraincollector]

Hi all yeah I knew PC already said he would buy but couldn't resist mouthing off

had a good short talk with Cox 47 today it was only about 30 minutes and 57 seconds lol. not a fergyy/teffy call but still a good one

[rtraincollector]

Hey are you guy's model railroaders or is this the weather men club? LOL

]

Seems like that at times but scince you have top of page honors I'll have the steak and lobster dinner with hush pupies green beans and alarge diet coke and for desert a piece of that apple pie ala mode please

 

Thanks

By the way in case you didn't know you do know top of page buys for the whole page

 

 

[pcarrell]

Hey are you guy's model railroaders or is this the weather men club? LOL

Hey, how ya doin'?

Come on in, sit a while in our virtual diner.  Let me introduce you to our virtual waitresses, Chloe and Zoe (the twins), and there's also Flo that fills in part time.  They'll take your virtual order, bring you virtual food, and you can pay with virtual money. 

This is just a place that we come and hang out.  We talk about all sorts of things here, and sometimes even trains!  Lately the hot topic has been the weather with the way it's been in the midwest and the northeast.  Really though, we talk about all kinds of things here.

BTW, it's customary for the person who gets the top of the page to pay the tab for all on the page, but since you're new, I'll pick it up. 

So come on in, meet the guys, order up something for yourself and hang out a bit.

Chloe, I'll have a Moxie please,.....and whatever my friend here wants!

[grayfox1119]

Good afternoon everyone!!! Busy day clearing the "backlash" snow that fell again last night after big one left for Maine and the Maritimes. 12F here now, so it is going to one cold night, at least a 2 dog night, maybe 3!!!

I have never measured a Barometric Pressure so low in Winter for a Nor'easter. This storm bottomed out at 29.06" last night as the Low center passed by Boston, due East of my location to the west 50 miles. This was like a Winter Hurricane with pressure this low, I was hoping to see it break into 28" range, but it fell just 0.06" short.

For any of you guys have relatives that are/were Firefighters, and I know Jeff is heavily involved in his town, here is a video that is both informative and moving. It is a training film for aiding families who suffer the loss of a firefighter.

mms://trinilearn.wmod.llnwd.net/a607/o1/previews/038-7009_pre.wmv

J.R. We were a bit luckier than you in southern CT, were mostly all snow here in central Mass highlands receiving 9".

Speaking of accidents that Jeff mentioned above, New Hampshire had a bad time of it this morning on I-93. Both lanes were closed with accidents due to icy roads caused by winds blowing the snow across the road making many icy spots. Car, trucks slid off the road, and several people were killed also.

Pennsylvania had their share of trouble during the storm last night when a trailer truck blocked all three lanes of a highway and no one could move. Cars ran out of gas, people were freezing in their vehicles, the Governor called out the National Guard to bring fuel, blankets and other support to the scene. This was one nasty storm in many states!!

So how many of you guys have sore backs today?

[Anonymous]

Hey are you guy's model railroaders or is this the weather men club? LOL

[JPowell]

Afternoon all -

  Cold and brisk out here now. Some sun to the southwest and lots of very dark clouds to the north - That would be the 'Lake Ontario Lake Effect Train!' Take a look at a national weather radar or even a northeast regional one (weather.com) and you'll see what I mean by the 'train!' Same set-up as they had last week when they got 8-12 feet in those 5 days. Not suppose to last as long this time as they're calling for temps in the low-mid 30's and sun for Sunday. I call that a Heat Wave! Will help in melting some of this snow we got yesterday too.

  Well, on the MRR front, I made a purchase today! Nothing big, but something I enjoy and find useful every month... I renewed my MR subscription

  So I am listening to my Fire dept pager and CSX's Jacksonville FL office has just called our 911 center to report 'wires down' on the Montreal Secondary near the intersection of Buckley and Bear Rds (zip code 13090 for those that want to look up this location). CSX has a small siding in that area and keeps a GP Switcher in the area as well.

  Ok folks! I'm off for now. Need to start thinking of feeding the stomach.

Take care!

[SilverSpike]

Good afternoon!

How about a tall chocolate malted milk shake!

Yum! Thanks Chloe!

Talks to you all laters!

Cheers,

Ryan

[JimRCGMO]

Afternoon, all - Zoe, a bowl of that broccoli cheese soup, with whole wheat bread and
a cup of coffee, please. Good on a cold day!

Trent, I see you're getting a taste of the nippier weather down there. But do you have any snow yet? We could ask Lee or PC to send you some, so you don't feel deprived. Congratulations on the anniversary, too! Macaroni Grill, huh?...

Hoople, you might ask them to check with the shipper on your Zephyr - that's running too late! Should be there by now if they're using Priority Mail.

Well, about the end of my lunch time, so I'd better be going - see everyone tonight.

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

[pcarrell]

Morning All,

Its COOLD in S. Texas this Feb. 15. The wind chill is 21!!

For Texas, thats nippy!  If you want a real taste of cold though, you're going to have to do much better then that.  I spent a year in Cheyenne, WY. in the early 80's and they had wind chills one night of -72 degrees!  Now that will get your attention!

Oh, Congrats on the anniversary!

[Hoople]

Still no Zephyr.

I hope empire northern models has shipped it...

otherwise, USPS priority mail is slow.

[TRENT B]

Morning All,

Its COOLD in S. Texas this Feb. 15. The wind chill is 21!!

On a lighter note today is my 5th Anni. We are gonna celebrate it Fri. nite where I first proposed to her. MACARONI GRILL!!!!

BTW Say hello to the new super of the Lingenfelter Div. (fictional)of the SANTA Fe. Yes, I finally named my layout and plans will be photo'd and posted with my wife's digital camera.

Today is gonna be REAL busy as tomorrow we start building the new party room. Gotta clear out the area for the const. and its just me til 1pm. so gotta go.

Prayers for all and be careful in the bad conditions.

Trent 

[Cox 47]

Good Morning All....Like Inch says Sunny but cold here this morning....I'll have coffee and one of Bills dougnuts please and Thank You.....Pdragon Yes I plan to go to the show in Mattoon on Saturday ...I'll be the Fat guy with a beard in the Hooveround power chair  if you see me come up and say Howdy....Hope to get some train time in this afternoon..Caregiver brought DVD Descent and where getting ready to watch it....Thanks to all who wished us a happy Anniversary yesterday...We had cake and ice cream and watched TV had a good evening...You all have a Good'in.......Jerry

[pcarrell]

Well, it's a chilly one this morning!  But at least we're mostly dug out from the snowstorm!

MY WIFE IS HOME!!!!!!

Later guys!

Now that is a great Valentines Day present....

Great news PC!

Yes indeed!  She's been gone since January 27th!  Nice to have her back! 

[ModelTrainLover]

GOOD MORING FROM SNOWY MAINE!!! 2ft of snow!!!! and a snowday yesterday!!! first of the year!! also I would recomend "Rollin' The Ballad of Big & Rich" as a song that most railfans should blast in thier radios

 

Colby 

http://www.locustfork.net/radio/brballad.mp3

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I was watching CNN this morning and saw an Ohio state patrol car get creamed by a FedEx truck that went out of control on the icy roads. It spun the patrol car around 180 degrees.

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,

     Regular and one of Bills douts please. About 9F out and breezy, but the suns out. Ended up with about 6" of "wintry mix" yesterday most of which is granular or what we would normally call ice. Not fun shoveling. Hope the rest of you made out all right with no real problems.

   James. I like the plan. For most of the Northeast lines we have curving main lines and little straight track due to the terrain. If I had a choice, I would hide a yard of some sort either behind a backdrop or incorporate the engine service facility as you mentioned so you have a place to interchange cars. What about the price of the Woodland Senic foam inclines and risers? That might be an alternative. Also decidedly old school - but I used to use regular expanded bead sheet from packing for sub bed work and then covered it with paper and plaster. There was an article in Model Railroad Craftsman by Howard Zane about paper shell scenery that looked interesting . I also echo what Der said about cutting the bench for a river and shimming it down to the depth you want then filling in the sides.

Not much MRR work going on - didn't go out last night but did Tues eve at the museum working on the yard of the HO display. Finally fixed the low bridge by cutting the superstructure away from the track girders and adding blocks to the bottom where the bridge shoes fit. I can now at least clear all my locomotives and the wreck train. Sort of makes it like platform shoes no?

All for now still thrashing to get ready to leave for our first road trip. Off to Florida next week for testing and then the start of the new season. CUL, J.R. 

[inch53]

Mornin, an irish coffee Zoe,

A cold one outside  -1 this morninm high today mid teens and some sun. Talking snow again FR. into Sat., another 1 to 2 inches

I may have missed the posts, so I was wondering if any of the central Illinoians are going to the Mattoon show this weekend.

Pdragon, Deb n  me planning on a Sunday trip to Mattoon [weather permitting].

JERRY was also planning , but don't know when their going.

Best get onto chores. Hope ya'll has a gooden

inch

[Anonymous]

Good morning

Happy MRRing

[wetidlerjr]

Good morning ! from Indiana.

02-15-07

[jeffrey-wimberly]

It's going to be cloudy and cold today.

Today's Weather for:  
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      2/15/2007 
Live Conditions 2:20 AM

Sundown Fire Dept., Station 23
 
Wind Chill:  27°F
Humidity:  78%
Dew Point:  24°F

So Far Today
High:  31°F
Low:  30°F
Rain:  0.00"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  6mph NNE

Today  High: 45    Mostly cloudy. Highs in the mid 40s. North winds 10 to 15 mph.  

Tonight  Low: 25    Mostly cloudy in the evening then clearing. Lows in the mid 20s. Northwest winds around 10 mph becoming light and variable in the evening.

I'll have the scrambled eggs today.

[james saunders]

OzJim - like the expanded plan! Of course, if I were doing it, I'd be sticking a few more turnouts and tracks in there for switching, but it's your RR, not mine! Like the curves and lack of straight mainlines (who cares if it's prototypical or not? Not me!) - they look nice and should make for some really nifty photos once you get the scenicking done. About the river, you could maybe raise the whole top level a bit to make a deeper river, right? If you can't lower the river bottom, raise the upper banks!

CapeJim:

As you can see by the plan there is quite a large space there, maybe for future development, possibly a diesel servicing shed. I tried to squeeze more in, but following the original design, I didn't want to clutter it too much.  I agree on the curving mainline, as although it's not prototypical as such, it makes the layout look a little better as a side note, it's not entirely uncommon to have quite a few "S" bends in and around Brisbane.

  

 

 

OZJim:

This of course rises the prices of products. I'm sure it would be cheaper in southern (cooler) states but then i'd have to factor in shipping for bulk items.

...or you could plan a vacation that "happened" to go there!

On the river bed, you can get lower than just the one thickness of ply by stacking strips of whatever (I suggested ceiling tile, but I don't know if you guys have those) along the bank.  Use as many layers as you need to get the depth you are after.  Attach the river bottom to the underneath of the lowest layer.  Seal the whole thing, and pour your plaster.

This is the layout plan updated, witthe extra piece spliced in to make a Rectangle. Thoughts?

...Looks workable, and will give you continuous running,  Duck under? Lift out section?  Got to get in there somehow.  Each has its disadvantages.  I've used a duck under, and currently have a roll away module to gain access to my layout at the door of the room.

  

DerJohn:

  

I actually thought about a holiday down south, but I doubt whether I could get a couple of 2X8 sheets of foam onto a plane.

  

I want continuous running more than anything, which I Will have achieved with this plan. It will be  a Duck under to get in there, Like I said whilst I'm still young... There may be a couple of other guys who come around but it shouldn't be too bad. At least I can just run a train around in circles if I feel like it. handy for taking photo's of a long (or short freight) it's going to be so much fun with DCC too...

  

DerJohn & CapeJim:

  

I like your idea's about just building the banks up I think I have some styrene around... that could work, yeah? And then use plaster to smooth it out.

  

  

  

All for now Oz.

[JimRCGMO]

Evenin', Janie - just a quick cup to go for me. On my way through before heading home for bed.

Der John - did you fix that dinner for Kris? Certainly (for your sake) hope so...

A little colder here now, 19 degrees (F) and a wind chill of 7(!). No more snow that I've seen since this afternoon, but a lot of northerly wind. They're saying we have the possibility of some snow by Friday night (but the prediction maps look like it'll be heading north, in Jerry and Inch's area). They are saying some light flurries tomorrow, but I expect that'll be like today - not much of any accumulation. And no, all you guys east and north of us in the Winter Wonderland - not asking you to share any extra snow with us, thanks!

Guess I'll be heading off to get ready for bed and pull that blanket up to my chin. Time for bed for me!

 

Blessings on your (hopefully warm) night,

Jim in Cape Girardeau

 

[der5997]

 

  There’s wet snow sliding down our bathroom window, and it’s been doing ht is for about 2 hours now.  High winds too, but none of that was happening (just a fresh breeze) when I took Rosie-the-dog for a walk after dinner. (Candlelit, grilled pork loin chops with mashed potato, green beans and broccoli with cheese sauce)  Hope your Valentine’s day is going well too.

 

Got the roof of the office / lab worked on.  I’m using sandpaper glued on styrene sheet.  The sandpaper is weathered by sanding a piece of black plastic on it.  There’s all sorts of details to add yet, but the basic effect is quite good I think.

 

PC:  Thanks for the Mud Pie.  I sent it on to Kris today.  The local restaurant who do a Banana Cream pie she really likes didn’t make any, so couldn’t fill my order for a take out last night!

 

JP: Sorry to hear about your health concerns.   Hope turns out OK.  Pity about the cat too, I know how attached one can get.

 

Jeff:  Thanks for the tips on the castings and the roads.  I guess I must have used a bit too much paint at one go on the road I tried.

 

OZJim:

This of course rises the prices of products. I'm sure it would be cheaper in southern (cooler) states but then i'd have to factor in shipping for bulk items.

…or you could plan a vacation that “happened” to go there!

On the river bed, you can get lower than just the one thickness of ply by stacking strips of whatever (I suggested ceiling tile, but I don’t know if you guys have those) along the bank.  Use as many layers as you need to get the depth you are after.  Attach the river bottom to the underneath of the lowest layer.  Seal the whole thing, and pour your plaster.

This is the layout plan updated, witthe extra piece spliced in to make a Rectangle. Thoughts?

…Looks workable, and will give you continuous running,  Duck under? Lift out section?  Got to get in there somehow.  Each has its disadvantages.  I’ve used a duck under, and currently have a roll away module to gain access to my layout at the door of the room.

 

Jerry: Happy Anniversary!

 

Luc:  Yes, really BBBAAADDD!!!  Hope you are enjoying the weather from indoors with Glo!

 

Well gang, time to think about a nightcap.  (Kris’ mom just knitted me another touque, so I’m in that frame of mind!)  Of course, moderation is the key.

Goodnight all, and God Bless.  Prayers for all in need of healing, comfort and peace.

 

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang: Not much doing here. The temp was in the 20s most of the day with a few snow flurries. I tried to find a kerosene heater for the shop but everyone is out of them. The electric heaters only keep the temp a little above freezing so it's not to good for working out there.

You folks up north have been getting a few fluries. Well I guess a few is an understatement. Take it easy and drink plenty of hot liquids.

Well I guess I'll check out and take Daisy the dog for a walk.

Good Night All

[Pdragon]

 

 I may have missed the posts, so I was wondering if any of the central Illinoians are going to the Mattoon show this weekend.