Elliotts Trackside Diner (est 1-1-07)

[fec153]

Jeff- save me a seat and I'll join you. Be right over. Order a Vodka and 7up, please.

Lee- Had a thought re: the couplers. All I have to do is replace one on each car as all my other cars have KD'S or Bach. autocouplers. What bothers me is, I have 4 multi sets of Walthers FEC Ortners and they all have auto couplers.

Flip

 

[rtraincollector]

Looking good Jeffery. Non model railroaders don't realize 1/4 of what all goes into doing this. I'm still learning from you all . Mine will be in O gauge but a lot goes from one scale to the other.

[JimRCGMO]

I'll have a JD and Coke. Put it on Flip's tab.

I feel like tacos today.

Funny, Jeff - you don't look like one!

Jim in Cape Girardeau (having a little fun there...) 

[Anonymous]

I like Forty Creek myself Jeff. Nice oak barrel hint. Taco sounds good though. Backdrop lookiong good. Just about done dropping feeders now. Then I have to hook the to buss wires. 22 guage feedersand 14 guage buss. Seemed to be the norm I read on here. wealth of info.

Thanks for the wave I*,ll catcth it tomorrw at work.I work by the lake. I build boats for a living. We have built some patrol boats for florida and the east coast of the U.S. Pays the mortgae and hobby. Thjanks guys

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I'll have a JD and Coke. Put it on Flip's tab.

I feel like tacos today.

 

[LSWrr]

bgardner2:  I'm going to wave from the south shore of Lake Erie, let me know if you see me.  Funny thing I sent a friend of mine stationed in Texas a picture of a freighter plowing through 20' waves.  He asked me where I got the pictures from and I told him up here on the Great Lakes.  He still thinks you can swim from one side of Lake Erie to the other, LOL.

Jeff:  Looks like you're making great progress on your backdrops.

Slappy: I'm sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for pictures of your new layout.

I stepped outside to see how the new diner is doing and we have 573 posts and 7,911 views.  If we keep this up we will need to add a few more booths and a revolving door.

Flip: So you have to keep those cars as one string?  For the price of a pack that seems like a rip-off!

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Here's the progress I've made thus far on my backdrop.

As you'll see in the 1st pic, covered the seams in the poster paper with 1 1/2" wide masking tape.
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h80/jeffrey-wimberly/bdb1.jpg

I continued this all the way down the wall.
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h80/jeffrey-wimberly/bdb2.jpg

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

Now for the paint for the backdrop. I use a flat latex paint called 'Nimble Blue' for this. It will dry to a very nice looking sky blue.
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h80/jeffrey-wimberly/bdb8.jpg

The first coat is already on the first sheet of poster board. I'll do the entire length, then put a second coat on. This will fill in any areas the first coat missed and will insure uniformity.
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h80/jeffrey-wimberly/bdb9.jpg

The entire length is now done in two coats. I left one little area unpainted so you can see the difference between what color the poster board was and what color it is now. Quite a difference, isn't it?
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h80/jeffrey-wimberly/bdb10.jpg

[Anonymous]

I'm sunny southern Ontario, farthest southern point of Canada near Leamington. Today I'm trying to finish up some wiring. Those pesky feeder wires. Once I get that done than I can concentrate on senery. I probily should have put the feeders on before placing the track.I think it would have been easier now.Lots of crawling, oh well maybe I can get my grand-daughter to do it for me. After all she could walk right under there.

[grayfox1119]

Good afternoon everyone, a big welcome to B Gardener. What part of Canada to you live in? We have several guys that frequent the Diner that live in Nova Scotia, some in Ontario, and others in British Columbia and Vancouver Island. And, I am 68 in 12 days, going on 12, so don't feel alone, 9 Grandkids the latest is 11 months old, loves trains too, derails them every chance he gets to see how they are made.

No feezing rain yet, but there is a light mist and the temp is 32F, so it will be causing trouble real soon here. Tonight and tomorrow we have everything coming at us, freezing rain, sleet, then to snow later in the day.......Winter has arrived!!

RYAN: Great game last night, but, that was a bonehead play with 2 minutes remaining. Trying a lateral when you KNOW Philly was doing everything to strip the ball was almost a gimme. Never risk those plays with 2 minutes remaining in the game and you ahead...just run the clock out! Of course Philly was equally dumb by punting the ball away at the end....the season was over if the Saints got one 1st down, which they did....... good game to watch though, not boring at all.

MIKE: That is why we have kids when we are in our 20's, it takes three days to recover in our 60's!!

[fec153]

Just coffee, black for me ,thankyou. Almost lunch time.

OPENED UP A wALTHERS 6-PACK of BNSF coal cars and found, to my dismay, the 4 center cars and one end of the other cars have dummy couplers. BLEEP!!! Now I have to get 5 pairs of KD's to have all with operating couplers. They are silver and black and looks cool having them pulled by a War Bonnet F7A. The silver at the back of the loco matches the silver of the cars. 

 

Yeah- not prototypical but darn nice. [Teffy's rule applies here.]                lol

Had an overnight drizzle but only enough to make streets slippery. Every stay safe. Prayers for all.

Flip

                                            

[inch53]

 Well i got to run I am hoping to finnish up and get the engine house to its new home before the Bears game starts. I'm a big Packer's fan but I have a soft spot for the Bears I hope they can go all the way to the Super Bowl they earned it this year. Maybe they can make a new Super Bowl Shuffle song like in the 80's.

FARGO, I be a Bears fan for more years than I care to count, but if they don't play bettter than than have been. They're not ready for the super bowl. Been running more on luck than skill. Grossmen will have to play better than the norm of late [gross] and Greese a lot slicker. Defense will have to go after recievers and runners n tacking, raither than just stripping the ball. Which I haven't seen much of lately

inch

[PA Belt]

hey all

my bench work is 75 percent done, just 2 more boards and its done, then its time for the foam! 

[Anonymous]

That Testors decal set is on sale at our local Super Wally World, $17.00 its in the model area by the Testers stand. I looked at the other day myself, comes with a cd right inside looks like you could do alot of cool stuff with it.

   Goodday to our new friend from the great white north, hey!

  Well are you already for King Day tomorrow, if you didn't see it the girls are cooking a big ol' diner here in the dinner tomorrow. Fried Chicken, collar greens, grits with cream and butter, corn bread muffins, and some watermelon Jello. Also serve first come Catfish cheeks, if you have never had these babys you are in a treat but first you have to beat me here, and I get up at 3:00am. How many of you are off tomorrow, I only have to work from 3:30 to 10:30 am.

 I have been working a engine house for a buddy of mine, splicing two of the Walthers Back shops together. Been at it for a week now, i was down there this morning at 3:00 am, all the left is a light weathering job, he wants it to look like a new shop. When this is done I'm done NO MORE Building for other people. I have enough of my own stuff to do. Counted it up the other day I have 21 cars to put together, most are P2Ks, so they take awhile. Plus we have our yearly swap meet here in La Crosse on Jan 27th, its just a swap meet and word as really spend about it, the guy the runs its all really has 160 tables sold. Whats nice is there are alot of guys that are just cleaning house in their basement so you can find some neat stuff at great prices. Well i got to run I am hoping to finnish up and get the engine house to its new home before the Bears game starts. I'm a big Packer's fan but I have a soft spot for the Bears I hope they can go all the way to the Super Bowl they earned it this year. Maybe they can make a new Super Bowl Shuffle song like in the 80's.

[NeO6874]

well, since bgardener is new, I'll pick up for breakfast.

on the menu this morning is:

 

french toast

eggs (scrambled or sunny side up)

 

and milk (white or chocolate 2%, skim, or whole) , tea, or coffee to drink 

who wants what?

 

 

 

[inch53]

Mornin, just coffee Janie, mother's fixing breakfast sfter bits,

Still raining here with a NNe wind, so another lousy day. FLIP, if I could send the rain your way, I would. We finished last year 13.5 inches over avg., and are already an inche over for JAN avg

DICK, you got the kid part right, We kept KC [13 months now] for a couple hours last night, Mother n me both needed a rest, Bigger ones are almost as bad.

GAS is $2. 23 round here and we're just 30 mile from the Robinson Marathon refinery. Gas is higher in Robinson, round $2.30, the last I heard

 BGARDENER, we;come to the dinner and hope you enjoy your visit here. Bout all our grandkids like trains and grandpa's room is they're favorite.

Forgot to say we're going to be grandpa n grandma to another one. #2 son and his are going to have another one. That'll make them 5 [got 4 boys now] and us 23 [I think].

Not much planned for the day, but staying dry, and some time in the train room. Best get on to chores, hope ya'll has a good one

inch 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning and top 'o' the day to all of ye.

Today's Weather for:  
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      1/14/2007

Sundown Fire Dept., Station 23 
 
Wind Chill:  68°F
Humidity:  90%
Dew Point:  65°F
 
So Far Today
High:  68°F
Low:  67°F
Rain:  0.01"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  18mph S
 
High: 70 °F
Low: 61 °F

Now through 08:00 AM CST January 14, 2007

 High: 72   

Through 8 AM...scattered to numerous showers will continue to develop and move north across the Piney Woods region of inland southeast Texas. Hourly rainfall amounts will be less than a tenth of an inch of rain in most locations. Elsewhere...very light showers will be isolated over coastal southeast Texas and the Sabine River parishes of Louisiana. 
 
Today  High: 72    Cloudy with showers likely. Highs in the lower 70s. South winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.  

Tonight  Low: 42    Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers. Colder. Lows in the lower 40s. South winds around 10 mph shifting to the northwest after midnight.

Today I'll have ham and eggs.

[Anonymous]

Good moring, I'm 46 going on 12. Work  enjoy a lot of outdoors. I was always interested in model railroads. Had a layout when I was 15. Got interested in girls lost interest in railroading. Kids wife job kept me busy. Now i'm back thank God. Started about 3 years ago now.Enjoy the challange of it today. I'm trying to stay in the 60's with HO being my scale. CN is my choice of railroad. Ihave been around here for a couple of years now. Met some interesting and not so interesting people. I go to as many train shows as my wife will let me. We have takin' on the responsibility of one of our grandchildren. She is 9mths at this time. Great kid loves trains. Alot to do for our age, but well worth it. She's a blast. Well guys hope you have fun.

[wetidlerjr]

Good morning ! from Indiana.

01-14-07

[LSWrr]

bgardner,

 Welcome aboard.  Tell us a little about yourself  and what scale and time period your interested in.  I hope you visit often and enjoy the good company of the diner.

Lee

[Anonymous]

 Good mornig all, first time in here. We are in the midst of a freezing rain warning. This is going to stick around all day here. Hope we don't lose the hydro. Just trying to kill some time till the family wakes so I can make some noise.

[LSWrr]

Good morning,

$1.89 here in Ohio for gas $2.54 for Diesel, in 2002 I upgraded from a F-150 with a 302 (5L) under the hood to a F-250 with a 7.3L diesel.  I get between 26 MPG and 32 MPG depending on head wind speeds, air temp and humidity levels.  I went to Jiffy Lube yesterday and they charged me $71.18 for the basic oil change!  I plan on doing it myself next time.  I can buy 2 oil filters and 32 quarts of oil for $71!

Phil: it depends where the refineries are.  There is a couple of refineries in Toledo, OH 2 hours from Cleveland.  So believe it or not Toledo fuel is almost 10 cents cheaper than Cleveland.

Looks like another soggy day on the north coast.    

[fec153]

HI gang! Coffee please, Zoe.  Could ya'll send some of that there rain to Fla.? We are minus 12 inches. They have cut back from 2 days to ONE day a week lawn watering.

Gas here goes for $2.23 per gal. reg up to $2 .31. Doesn't make sense as we have 4 ports that off-load tankers. Uh,oh! Wait, after a brainf--- ,don't you folks have underground fuel lines?

Enjoy the Day. Prayers for all.

Phil

 

[TheK4Kid]

Hi Jeff, Earlier in the week you mentioned an automotive device called the "Tornado".

I have a 1992 Ford pickup, 302 V8, recently rebuilt ( bored .030 over) so it's actually about 317 or 318 cubes now. It has about 7,000 miles on it since rebuild.

I get about 15 miles per gallon.

Do you think the "Tornado' would help the gas mileage?

I looked at the website.

It looks easy enough to install. 

I drive a 52 mile round trip to work and back home everyday, so some better mileage and less fuel used would help.

Gas just fell to just below $2 a gallon here yesterday, is around $1.98 to $1.99 a gallon now in northeast Indiana. 

 

Good luck with "Phase II"

 

 Ed 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeff, you have me curious - what is the light colored thing in the second-to-last and 3rd-to-last pics of your backdrop Phase I? Mountain, some scenery, or...?

That's a Wal-Mart bag.

[PA Belt]

hey all, my pc has ia virus, so im unabel to do alot, so whats up?

[NeO6874]

bah.. the internet lets me down for 3 days and I'm 14 pages behind... I'm not even gonna attempt to catch up...

 

anyway... school is starting back up for me after MLK day... then I'm free for the summer starting in mid-May... 16 weeks... I can do this... I'll survive... I hope... anyway - sorry if i leave a stack of homework or something on one (or three...) of the tables, I just hope that the teachers will accept the papers with coffee-mug stains on them... 

[JimRCGMO]

Good evening, Chloe - a hot fudge sundae and a cup of coffee, please. Thank Ryan for me when he drops back in.

Jeff, you have me curious - what is the light colored thing in the second-to-last and 3rd-to-last pics of your backdrop Phase I? Mountain, some scenery, or...?

Testors makes a good one. You can scale the decal up or down, any size you want it and even make your own.

And for Trent and others who were wondering (as I was) about that item, (after some hunting on Testors' site and Walthers') I found that it is Walthers item number  704-9198:

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/704-9198

(From their description of the decal system) : 

The Custom Decal System allows you to electronically download a series of custom art images and turn them into decals that can be printed on your own computer. Designed for use with any laser and/or inkjet printer, the decals are easy to create: just print out the decals, spray the images with decal bonder, cut them out, soak in water until the adhesive backing softens, and apply to the surface. Each set includes special water-soluble decaling film, spray decal bonder, a series of custom graphics, and complete instructions.

The Testors site has about the same info on it about the system, and also says that for an additional $9.99, you get the ability to import and scale your own images (like custom RR logos, etc.) into the program. Apparently it comes with some stock images to use.

Hope that helps those of us who are wondering. Even at the combined price, sounds like a good deal for what it's supposed to do. (I haven't got mine yet, so can't personally vouch for it).

Not lots going on with my layout today (and maybe not tomorrow, either). I need to do some major de-cluttering of the apartment, is about all I'll say for now. Anyone got a bulldozer I can borrow?  

We've had off-and-on rain today (but my laundry didn't get rained on while returning from getting that done, mercifully!). It's 38 F now, and supposed to drop to about 34 tonight/tomorrow a.m. Western Missouri is supposed to be getting some freezing rain/ice tomorrow, but I think we're supposed to miss that. (Whew!) Those of you in the Southeast (hint, hint, Ryan, Jeff, and the rest of you down there) may want to play close attention to your weatherguesser's forecast over the next couple of days.

I'll see y'all tomorrow (on breaks). for those not feeling too great. Luc, hope things with Gloria and you are going well. Fergie, how's your Dad's progress coming along?

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

 

[twcenterprises]

Well, Dinner's on me this time, but you're on your own for the tips!

Brad

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Testors makes a good one. You can scale the decal up or down, any size you want it and even make your own.

[TRENT B]

 Hey All,

Need help finding decal software that will take an image and scale it for any gauge or scale. I am not able to find specifics.

Thanks,

Trent