Elliotts Trackside Diner (est 1-1-07)

[Anonymous]

 

THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD AS WE
THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD;
AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM NOR
THE YEARS CONDEMN.
AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN
AND IN THE MORNING,
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

 

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA  71446-6114      11/11/2007

Wind Chill:  60°F
Humidity:  99%
Dew Point:  59°F

So Far Today
High:  64°F
Low:  59°F
Rain:  0.00"
Rain Rate:  0.00"/h
Gust:  4mph SSE

Veterans Day    High: 78    Areas of dense fog in the morning. Partly sunny with a 20 percent chance of showers. Highs in the upper 70s. South winds up to 10 mph increasing to 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon.    
 
Tonight    Low: 62    Increasing clouds. A 20 percent chance of showers. Lows in the lower 60s. Light and variable winds.

[Cederstrand]

***Lisa, give your pet bison a treat from Barbara & I, but watch out for that bison breath. Have spent a LOT of time around bison herds for my work. They are cool and beautiful critters!

I'll have one of those rootbeer floats and then I'm off to bed early. Need to get up before sunrise (art related stuff). Have a good night all. Rob

[JimRCGMO]

Chloe, did I hear Sue say that Garry was buying root beer floats? Hey, get me one of those, please - , make me one with some nice frozen custard and the IBC! Thanks, Sue - hey, let Garry buy you one for telling me...

Garry, that's a sharp pair of SD24's - almost seems a shame to weather them. Maybe you could just do them lightly.

JP, hope you get/got an answer on your Case and CAT question. I may take your question to our MRR club - one or two of the guys are into Caterpillar, Case and such. I gather things are going well with the girlfriend?

Trent, you didn't fall off the face of the earth (close, but not quite - just the wk stuff). Sorry to hear your household's dealing with the creeping crud. Also sorry to hear about Kelly's grandmother. Good that your Dad is coming before too long.

Lisa, sounds like you're finding a way to get some 'train time' in for yourself. Crafty woman! I'd also say that you are making progress on your layout with that most days approach. Keep up the good w**k!

Went by LHS and Hobby Lobby today (HL had their 40 percent off coupon on their website this week). Got lucky at the LHS (in-town) too - they were running all the HO train stuff at 20 percent off, so I got a P2K 50' boxcar kit and an Accurail 50' boxcar kit. Also asked them to order me couple of new Kalmbach books (the new Planning Scenery, and the new Detailing Diesels ones), and the wife/co-owner (as she's starting to ring my stuff up) asks me if I want to pay for the books then and get the 20 percent off. But I told her I plan to use the 40 percent off coupon (that they gave me last time I was in) on one or both of them. At Hobby Lobby, I picked up some more Woodland Scenics pine trees with the coupon.

Oh, RT or any other Oversized scale people - I noticed our Hobby Lobby has added O scale items - Walthers built-up structures, Scenemaster figure sets, etc. So if you get their 40 percent off coupon (every othe week, usually), you could add some more stuff for your layout.

Better get back to my root beer float for now.

 

Blessings and prayers,

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

[SilverSpike]

Evenin folks!

Just stopping in for a quick late night snack! 

Zoe, I'll have one of those frozen custard concrete malt shakes!

Thanks!  

I'll have to play catch ups later on!

Hope everyone is well and everything is going your way!

Cheers,

Ryan

[Canondale61]

Good evening all,

I will take a slice of apple pie with scoop of vanilla ice cream please.

I was able to get more than 3-4 hours of sleep before coming to work tonight (at least it is the last one) so I can function rationally and string together more than three words in an intelligent manner.

Dave I must agree with you about Al being back coreect MO (I watch CSI) long weekend, slam a few try to get people to respond, cruise weekend photo fun, pick on Jeff when the time is right. Remember to resist the troll.

Paul I have thought about going over to the dark side (N scale) but cant see it happening I can no longer tie the tiny aize 12 flies so why mess with trains I could barely see lol.

Lisa In maine I use verizon for my dsl service some places just outside of town have it and some places dont. A few I have talked to say that Verizon jumps thru the hoops to get to you if you request DSL service. I dont know. Worth asking for.

Garry not a modern diesel fan but those engines look great.

Chuck and Kathy - sorry to hear about your continued medical problems.  But glad to see you had a moment to drop by and update us on the situation.

NM Mike Welcome and enjoyed your layout.

JR how is your loco difficulties coming have you got sound yet?

Take care Kevin

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Root beer floats would be great, Sue.  Jim CG says he has some great frozen Custard in his area. Perhaps it would be good with IBC root beer.

 

[der5997]

Back in on a rainy (Nor’easter coming)evening. (It was afternoon when I started this, but every time I tried to copy a photo frm Photobucket, Netscape decided it wasn’t able to cope, and closed down. .  Now it’s evening, and I’ve recovered the file in Word, and am trying again. Same result… so, no pics or gifs today I’m afraid, sorry about that.

<>We had a further power cut this week, which made it three days in a row, but it finally got sorted. Now we’ll see if the storm tonight does anything.  “They” haven’t cleared the trees from where they are leaning on the phone lines along the Sheet Harbour Passage road.  It’s the phone company’s cables, not the power. The power and our phone run on the other side of that bit of the road. Don’t know whose phones are thus jeopardized. 

Ed:  Thanks for those excellent photos.  The one of the blue door could go into an art display! ..and Fran’s shots of the work train and the viaduct are very nice. (I’d have to say that about the viaduct of course! )

<>[ditto] your thoughts and thanks to the Veterans.

<>  <>Paul:

Lisa have you looked into wireless? I went with Verizon and it is great. It is pricey but Mary Ann says it's worth it so I don't spend so much time at the puter.

…if Lisa’s situation is anything like ours here, there aren’t a lot of techno-options.  In our case high speed comes as DSL, and that’s it.  No wireless or cable in our area. BUT AT LEAST HIGH SPEED IS COMING! We should get the modem delivered next Thursday, and should be able to pick up a wireless router and a couple of cards for the PCs on Saturday when I go into town for the Dartmouth Train Show.  

<>However, we found out about the DSL being up and running by chance.  We were told in the summer that wehad been put on a waitng list, and would be contacted when it was ready. By chance we met the driver of the hospital bus that takes Kris' mom to a day clinic on Thursdays.  His neighbour has it in, and he himself  was expecting it next day.  They applied for it through the ISP's web site, or you can phone.  I spoke with the customer service and got it fixed up. Turns out several others on the waiting list haven't been contacted as promissed either. Really poor service, but we expect no more from this outfit.

<>

Kevin:

Der good  luck in getting the blue stuff covered.

<>I’ve been working on the container dock to that end.  So far spacer card is down over the area, cut to size of paper templates. Right now I’m working on the foam board to represent the concrete surface of the entire dock.  The front of the dock is in, and the bit that fills in between the tracks. Now the main storage area, and the trans-shipment warehouse all behind the security perimeter is next. That’s the major part, of course. 

<>Sue:

der,  I must explain the ground foam on the track.  I am planting trees on the hillside, and I found that if I don't prop them up the fall before the glue sets up. " style='width:11.25pt;height:11.25pt'> " border="0" width="15" height="15" />

…as I asked, What no holes???  I plant trees in holes drilled in the scenery, an extra step, yes, but most of them stay where they’re put.  <>

<>RT: Thanks for the medic update.  Not cheerful to have that happening, but know that we are pulling for you! 

Garry:

Fortunately, the cat litter was not used cat litter! " style='width:11.25pt;height:11.25pt'> " border="0" width="15" height="15" />

..reminds me of when I was taking down the layout prior to moving here.  Our cat used the shoe box lid in which I was keeping screws as they came out of the benchwork as a litterbox!  Show his displeasure at the disturbance, I guess. Oh, the screws washed up just fine, and are back in service.

<>

Trains are simply more fuel effciant than highway vehicles.

…and ther is a ship in the harbour right now loading something heavy coming in by tandem truck after tandem truck, because this Government Wharf has no rail link.  Isn’t that grand! Makes selling the port as a viable trade destination so much easier. <>

<>Mark: Seems I missed that about your train club friend, anyway, [ditto] to what Sue and CapeJim said.

Der: Don't be shooting kittens, only shoot siblings.

…I had some alternate kitten solution photos, but they are going to have to wait. 

<>

PC:

Sue, gas prices around here jump around hourly.  Haven't seen a weekly jump in years!

…We have government regulated prices that were set every two weeks, but they’ve shortened that to one week now. Grrrr!!!! It doesn’t stave off increases due to oil prices, but it does take out the daily jumps.

<>

this time of sorrow......

..some of us have really OK MILs.  Kris’ mom is a great one to have stayi

[Dave Vollmer]

I may be wrong. He also replied to the OP in the "wife" thread pretty bluntly.

If I'm out of line I apologize.

[egmurphy]

Methinks Al is back in the form of Austin Redbox...

Boston Redsox?  Al's from Connecticut?  I don't know...  Just seems a couple of the posts by this new member have a "bite" to them.

Just my opinion but I don't think it's Al.  I looked at all 5 posts by this new guy and they really don't fit Al's MO.  Plus, he's been a member for 10 days.  Al usually creates a new ID and attacks at the same moment.  And although his reply to Canazar's post was maybe a bit too frank, I agree that the original post was a bit hard to follow.  I just wouldn't have commented on it.

Please don't tell me that Al is a member of Red Sox Nation.  I'm still rejoicing in their Series win.  Don't spoil things for me.

Regards

Ed

[Dave Vollmer]

Methinks Al is back in the form of Austin Redbox...

Boston Redsox?  Al's from Connecticut?  I don't know...  Just seems a couple of the posts by this new member have a "bite" to them.

[egmurphy]

Good Evening Coffee Clubbers,

Another beautiful day down here in Paradise.    Sunny but not too hot.  It was actually pleasant enough to work outside on a small project I had been postponing waiting for the weather to be at least bearable outside.  [insert hammer and saw smilie]

Unfortunately, no significant progress on the layout.  Maybe a New year's resolution will be the trick?  I even have the new MR and Trains sitting near at hand, unread.  I have at least started on the new Classic Trains.

Paul - thanks for the comments on Fran's photos.  I will email them.  Yeah, buddy, you could do yourself proud in Normal scale with all that space you have in the basement.  Think of the ore carrier and docks that you could have!!

Well, tomorrow is Armistice day.  Guess that would now be Veteran's Day in the US and Remembrance Day in Canada, UK, and Australia.  "Eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month", the cease fire on the Western Front.  Got your poppies?  Thanks to all the veterans for their sacrifices.

Hasta mañana,

Ed

[Paul W. Beverung]

Evening Gang:

Ed maybe you should let Fran do the photography? She seems to have an eye for the great shots. The phoyo she took of the aquduct is very good. True having the sun light the stone work would be nice but not as artsey. Could you send some of those pics to me by E-mail? The ones by Fran. I'd like to print them out.

I went to the train show today. There were some really great layouts in all scales. There were a couple of N shays on a couple of layouts and they really ran well. I also say some Atlas N ore cars that were very good also. NO, I'm not going over to the dark side, but I could do the entire DM&IR in N. I picked up another Bachman G scale wood ore car in undec for 1/2 price, a Varney ore car in HO, and a Bachman HO four wheel bobber. The last two were $2 each. I'm going back tomorrow with John and some friends and see what end of show bargins I may be able to scare up.

Well it's only 6:50 and Mary Ann is allready in bed. I'guess I'll join her.

Good Night All 

[gear-jammer]

Garry,  Are you buying root beer floats?  I am sure Jim will want one when he drops by.

Lisa,  It is good to have you back.  George, Dick, MrB, Philip, and I, along with a few tried to keep Tha Whistle Stop going.  It is hard without you there.  George shares his photos there.

We got some layout time today.  I did some tree planting, and glued in the cardboard strips for my next stretch of our stream and the hill sided at the end of the line by the stockyard.  Tomorrow I will work on the hardshell.  That usually goes pretty fast.

Thanks again for the root beer float, Garry.

Sue

[Cederstrand]

***Ed, I see the dog now. But can you (or anyone else here) see the baby sheep nursing? Rob 

[egmurphy]

Perhaps that Guard didn't say anything because he was "out numbered".

Nope, the guards out at Irolo were pretty laid back.  I think they were amused at the idea of people coming out to the middle of nowhere to photograph old buildings and trains.

Now the idiot at Teotihuacan who told us we couldn't photograph the station was eventually outnumbered as we were coming at the station building from all directions.

Is that a sheep with baby in the lower left or am I seeing things?

You're seeing things.  There were no sheep wandering around there.  It's actually a big yellowish dog.  You don't want to know what he's doing.  Fran noticed that when I was doing the editing of the photos and I was supposed to crop it out of the photo.  But I figured "Who'd notice?" and left it in because the overall scene balanced better without that much cropping.

Regards

Ed

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Hello everyone...

Thanks Rob for the SD24 remarks.

The good thing about high energy prices is it will hopefully convince the governmnet that the shift from railway to highway since WWII was a huge mistake. Trains are simply more fuel effciant than highway vehicles. People in the future will have more trains to model in my opinion.

Happy Model Railroading!

[Anonymous]

Hi all, I really have to stop in more often it's hard to catch up on all the posts when I only come in every couple of days.

 I hate all this gas and temp. talk 'cause I keep seeing one going up($2.97) and the other going down (it's only about 36 and the suns still up!!!) Oh well at least the train is inside now and we bit the bullet and replaced our windows and front door(been needing it for years) so now we're not "heating the neighborhood".

I'm having a great time on the layout finished the waterfall and river the other day, I'm glad I am starting small, that way I can finish one part and add on when That's finished. My boys (9, 7 & 5) won't let me "play" with my train "cause it's for Christmas" but I do get  to "test it" when I add something new(which is pretty much every day) . 

I've looked into wireless but Tom said "No way are we pay them that!" and we don't want to deal with cable their prices change almost as often as the gas, so I get to deal with Dial Up and hope they get moving with the DSL.
 

[Cederstrand]

in a Southern mug, please & thank you.

***Ed, neat photos. Perhaps that Guard didn't say anything because he was "out numbered". Is that a sheep with baby in the lower left or am I seeing things?

***JR, good luck with the M1A. Seems like I read an awful lot about DCC problems? As much as it would cost to go all DCC, is it really worth it?

***Gary, sharp looking SD24's there. Hope to eventually have a combo of both high & low hood versions. Cool locos.

Healing thoughts to those in need.

Rob

[JPowell]

Hey all -

  Hope everyone is fine and dandy this fine Saturday.

Quick stop in w/ a question before the g/f and I head out for a bit....

For those of you in HO scale that have either the Case 340 Articulated Truck and/or the Cat 315C Excavator, please see my thread questioning the scale size of the 340 in comparrison to the 315C and other 1:87 equipment.

Thanks and have a good day!

JP

[TRENT B]

Howdy All,

Been a while so short run down- WORK WORK WORK! sorry for the swearing!(lol) I've been trying to wrap up some last minute projects before the Christmas rush. Big account with UP in making special cars for exes. Oldest turned 17 two days ago. My daughter is comming for Christmas and she just turned 15 and my train buddy, Emily is 8. Kelly (CFO) has been sick and I got it last night! YUCK!!! Some progress on the layout bench work. Kelly left her digi camera at her folks so gotta wait for pics. Kelly's G-ma has now lost her mind and had a mild stroke the other day so that has the family stressed and she is also going down hill.

More good news my Dad is comming after the first of the year to visit. All are exctied!

Prayers for all and God's blessings!

Trent 

[LSWrr]

Good morning all, I hear you about the fuel prices! Diesel is running $3.35 up here, I’m glad I get 27 MPG on my truck, still it takes a chunk out of my MRR funds 

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Good Morning everyone!

OJ and oatmeal for me.  

Here's a view of the new Atlas Silver SD24's with their first train. I posted two other views of these locomotives in WPF.

Happy Model Railroading!

[pcarrell]

Mornin' all!

Man, we just must all be nuts around here with the gas prices.  I'm not talking about the dollars per gallon thing right now, though thats nuts too, but I mean in the price change department.  Sue is talking about weekly changes in price (or thereabouts), inch is talking about maybe a change before turkey day.  Around here I can pretty much bet on the fact that it will change at least once before LUNCH!  It'll change again by dinnertime!  The cheap stuff was $3.19 a gallon last night (at 8pm) when I filled the van up.  That took $60!  And I pulled into the station with just under a half a tank!  I'll bet though, that if I went down to the corner station right now, it wouldn't be $3.19 any more.  I don't know what it is, but I'll bet it's changed!  Count your blessings those of you who have such stable gas prices.  I only wish I knew before I got to the station how bad of a hit my wallet was going to take each time I go.

[JimRCGMO]

Good Morning, Janie - how about a nice glass of Ed's OJ,

some scrambled eggs with toast & bacon (okay, I'll have that near bacon stuff, if you say it tastes as good),

a glass of milk,  

and a cup of the TH, please?

Thanks!

Chuck & Kathy, good to hear from you, and will be keeping both your health in my . Thank you for the update, and we'll look forward to the photos once you get them uploaded and ready.

Ed, more good photos - I'd say Fran has a good eye for the photographs! Thanks for posting those. Lava me, huh? Guess no one could/was brave enough to get that close to the locos to wipe that on... Thanks for keeping the OJ and fresh oranges coming, too.

Paul, I hear you about the gas - ours went up another nickel a gallon since mid-day yesterday, as I noticed on my way home. 

Inch, I guess we're having a heat wave compared to you - we were already at 31 when I got up today! Still supposed to hit a little above 60 (F) today, so not as warm as down SOTB in Paradise.

We might not hear much from Jerry today, if he and Sallie are busy eating & visiting, now that she's home. Hope you two have a great day, Jerry!

JR, hope you get your locomotive difficulties worked out tonight (or at least tomorrow). Sounds like a good dinner with your daughter last night. I'll bite - what's VSCCA?

Got some water dribbling sound in the toilet that I can't figure out the cause for. Called the landlord, and arranged for him to take a look at it this morning (after I go get laundry done). No apparent leaks (no wet indoor/outdoor carpet on the bathroom floor around it), but the tank only has about a couple of inches in it - yet the bowl is at normal height. Go figure! Of course, this building being over 30 years old might have something to do with it...

After laundry and the landlord's checking the toilet this a.m., I'm planning a trip to Hobby Lobby to see what they might have in, and swing by the LHS (down the road) to pick up some Grandt Line relay boxes that came in for me. Then this afternoon, some sorting/tossing/ de-cluttering and clearing off the dining room table (so I can put together some freight cars, ).

Hope everyone has a productive day, and I'll see you all later!

 

Blessings,

Jim in Cape Girardeau 

[GMTRacing]

Good Morning All,

    Just a regular to go please Chloe. Good to see you Inch. Sorry to hear about Chuck and Cathys' troubles, but hang in there and we'll remember to mention you in our prayers. Off to Salisbury, Ct this am for the VSCCA annual meeting. I don't usually go but was elected to the board this year so off I go. Took my daughter and the rest of the bunch out for her birthday dinner last night good hibachi Japanese is always a treat. We went early so once home and still awake i was drawn by the alure of ..... a locomotive. The M1A does pull well - got the decoder in and programmed, but i can't get a peep out of it yet. Downloaded advice from Tony's and an update set from MRC (my DCC supplier) for the Prodigy Advanced so I'll try again tonight time permitting to get sound going. Gotta run the Focus awaits in the driveway.  J.R.

[inch53]

Mornin, coffee n a short stack Janie

Another cold morning [30], but suppose to get up in the mid 50's and sunny today.

Been another busy week with kids, chores n leaves, also started working out in the shed on xmas stuff for the kids. So haven't been round but to slip in for a to-go cup once in a while and keep up on the goings on. But I'm still so far behind, I'm not going to try n cover everything.

On the gas price, it's $2.99 [down .10] here in town and $3.09 in Casey, Jamie was here abit ago and said it was $3.15 in Springfield, $3.12 in Girard. From what I've been hearing, we can expect another price jump before Thanksgiving looks like.

RT,, hope the docs can get you lined out afore long. Those pacemakers can be a pain I know. My little brothers had one about 25 years. Well he's on his third one now [a pacemaker/ defibulater][I know spelling] and it needs a new battery.  Docs told him, if starts hearing beeping before they get it recharged, to get to the hospital.

One question for you though, have ya ever signed up with the VA. I think there's one close to you there. That's where I go for most of my medical.

JERRY,, good to hear Sally's coming home. Bet you can't wait to eat her cooking.

A welcome to NM MIKE, hope you enjoy the visits here. Enjoyed your layout photos

CHUCK n KATHY,, sorry to hear bout the problems. We'll be praying for ya'll

I've sure enjoyed all the pics this week [ED,, another good round from down south]. I got 3 pics last weekend and none came out, so nothing to show.

 Also enjoyed hearing of the progress ya'll been making. Me, I'm still trying to line out some wiring/switch machine problems. Hopefully I'll have some luck this weekend during the football games.

Best get round ta some chores, atleast what I can get done without waking the 3 kids that spent the night. Hope ya'll has a gooden n stay safe

[wetidlerjr]

Good morning ! from Indiana.

11-10-07

[Cederstrand]

A quick (((BUMP))) before doing my late night critter rounds. 

Rob

[egmurphy]

Good Evening Coffee Clubbers,

It's been a couple of days since I got in to post.  I have been trying to stay current with what's going on and hope I haven't missed too much.

Oh, yeah, it was another beautiful day down here in Paradise.    I think that the really hot days of summer are finally behind us.  It's now actually pleasant in the morning and warms up only to the mid-80's in the afternoon.

We went out to the orange grove yesterday.  Let me tell you that the mandarin oranges are really coming into their peak.  They're now turning from a yellow to orange in color, filling out a bit in size, and getting really sweet.  Yes, the FCVN is keeping busy shipping juice and fresh fruit northward to you guys.  And the Reina, the next variety of orange to ripen, are just starting to get some color.  So by January when the Mandarins are starting to finish, the Reinas should be ready.

Jerry - guess you're more than ready for Sallie to come back home.  Enjoy tomorrow, chili and all.

Chuck and Kathy - sorry to hear about your continued medical problems.  But glad to see you had a moment to drop by and update us on the situation.

I know I'm behind in welcoming some of the newer posters here.  But I sure can't remember which ones I've missed.  So let me say welcome to the following, and if I miss someone I'll apologize in advance.

 Kevin, Cary,  & Mike

CG Jim:  do they do in Mexico like we do - anyone wipe a "Wash Me" (in Spanish, of course) on the back of 4430?

I do see "Lavame (wash me) on the back of cars, but not yet on a loco.

You're right about that soot buildup; hate to think what it would've looked like if that were a steamer going through those tunnels...

At least it would be black on black..... 

RT - good to see you posting regularly again.  Hope the problems with the defib get worked out.

Fran was pleased by your favorable comments on her photos.  She's just recently started to shoot trains, and knows that she has a lot to learn.  But it's great that she enjoys going along on these trips with me.  I think I recall where I left off with the photos from the last trip.  Here are the last few, but a couple of interesting ones.  Two were taken by Fran.

When we were in Irolo, some of the group climbed up on this hopper car to get a better angle for shots of the train. Yeah, I realize you can't do this up in the States. We wouldn't be able to do it either if we were in Mexico City, San Luis, or any other large yard. But out here in the middle of nowhere it didn't seem to bother the guards.  In fact, you can see one standing just to the right and slightly nehind the hopper car.




Leaving Irolo we paused at a highway grade crossing to catch this short Ferrosur work train. Another of Fran's shots, as she got herself into better position than I did.

And I saved the most interesting photo for last. Our best stop of the day was at the Acueducto de Padre Tembleque (Acueduct of Father Tembleque). This was built around 1550. This particular section of the aqueduct is 1,020 meters (3,350 feet) long, made up of 66 arches, the highest being 39 meters (128 feet) high. Took 15 years to compete! The track running under the arch isn't part of one of the major lines, but is an interconnecting line that sees some use. Probably built around 1890.

Unfortunately we were there when the sun was directly overhead so we couldn't get a decent shot with the stonework in the sun. Plus, with so little traffic on the weekends, we didn't figure that hanging around for long would yield and shots of trains passing underneath. Maybe next visit.

Fran actually took this shot. Mine from the other side wasn't as interesting.



That's it for photos from the last trip.  I'm not sure when the group will get together for another outing, probably after the turn of the year.  We'll be  heading north for our annual Thanksgiving trip to the States.  But we don't usually get much railfanning done on those trips.

Anyways, have a good evening and we'll catch you tomorrow.

Hasta mañana,

Ed