Flintlock76https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WysDOYSyrs0 Add
That's perhaps the funniest thing I've seen on YouTube.
And it had never even occurred to me that tanks would logically be equipped with inertia starters!
Flintlock76By the way, know what a Panther sounds like when you crank-start one? Have a listen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WysDOYSyrs0
The new Girls und Panzer reboot looks awesome!
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Well, I don't know, but if I had the heavy money and wanted to make a big splash with a German vehicle I'd pull up driving a Tiger II or a Panther.
Or maybe a Sturmgeschutz, a "StuG's" a bit easier to find.
By the way, know what a Panther sounds like when you crank-start one? Have a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WysDOYSyrs0
Convicted OneTo further distinguish our store, it would be the only hardware store in Manhattan to have an English wheel in the back room...
(And to be honest, anyone actually driving a Duesenberg wouldn't likely be a snob, especially not someone who dented their fenders while driving...)
I would agree that Frimbo was no snob. His literary style was assumed, I think, and in any case this was the 'old' New Yorker, the pre-Tina Brown New Yorker, before conscious snobbery as a 'fashion' became institutionalized in the '80s. Whitaker was one of the least likely to be a condescending snob to anyone; I can't really speak to his persona but I suppose there might be some perceived wish-fulfillment there...
I am grateful for the education on terrazzo, which I had thought was a volcanically-derived material, but does turn out to be the ultimate '80s-style invented-luxury material at LVMH prices. But those chips... I think you mean that paragon of appeal 'variegated schist', no? (As the Ashfield people say "don't take schist for granite") -- and there is a difference between a connoisseur and a snob when it comes to appreciating fine materials, just as there is for engineering with discussions (properly educated people don't have 'arguments') of whether 55 degrees or 60 is better for rolled threads.
I think I figured out part of the difference... it is sort of in The Great Gatsby and in some other Fitzgerald, but not as pointedly as in something an old girlfriend once pointed out to me about the diesel Mercedes S-class. I had made the old joke about the $1.45-of-loose-change-in-a-coffee-can idle, and she pointed out '... but that's a status idle' and it immediately occurred to me why the Mercedes 126 SDL had sold so well. Remember the old Ford ad "They'll know you've arrived when you pull up in a new Ford" ... with the picture at a country club so no one would miss the double entendre? Well, there are country clubs in this world where many of the members boast how much they paid retail for the wife's jewelry, or their wristwatches, or ... their automobiles, as a kind of potlatch in reverse to establish how well-off they were. And in such a culture what's better than pulling up in a costly European-crafted motor vehicle than to have it obvious even out of sight across the parking lot or when traversing the links that you have the ~$9500 diesel option otherwise hidden under the hood of your German masterpiece? Beats all the foaming and smoking and hard starting involved! (Mind you, I swear by the OM617 and know about #14 head precautions on the 603, but I would not derive any joy from buying what is supposed to be an indestructible-engineered car brand new for full MBNA list... especially to show off.
I would further maintain that the chief problem with 'snobs' is that they actively culture the separation between themselves and who they perceive to be their 'lessers' and behave in ways that often painfully reinforce this -- walls and gates around their 'properties' being more than a metaphor ... it's really a sign of insecurity, just as so much else in modern American life even in the age of Babbittry regrettably was, and still is.
(There is also a semantic issue: do we call people 'snobs' just because they have an arrogant attitude? If so I think we need a better word... I wonder if there is a male equivalent for the contemporary use of the word 'diva'?)
To further distinguish our store, it would be the only hardware store in Manhattan to have an English wheel in the back room.
Replacement fenders for your Duesenberg, While-u-wait...
NKP guyI want to guard against making E. M. Frimbo out to be a snob because my impression is that he wasn't. Hell, he even deigned to talk with me once and also wrote me a letter, and everyone here knows I'm no one special.
I see him as a person with a well developed sense of entitlement. One who could be seduced by the niceties of pomp and frills. That "New Yorker" flair, you might call it, where the readers aspire to become a Vanderbilt. And through the mere magic of a subcription, manage to do so, in 30 day installments.
And as for terrazzo....there is terrazzo, and then there is Terrazzo! That black granite from Maximilian's old mine being exceptional. Might be an impurity such as bismuth mixed in with it, but when you walk across such a floor, you know you are walking across something special.
NKP guy wrote the following [in part]:
"...By the way, isn't it fun watching how this thread keeps morphing into interesting anecdotes and comments?.."
"...from you mouth to God's ear..."
It is amazing how this 'Hobby'; maybe, avcation ? Takes us places,to and people, we might not have personally ever gone to, or otherwise met ?
That is one of the things that keeps many of us coming back; to our 'avocation', and this Forum. Stories ['Tales?] Interesting sights, and the People we meet, as we follow our hobby.
OvermodWho stopped to rescue over 300 of the crew of the Indianapolis after their ordeal?
He certainly did, violating the rule of running at night in a war zone with all his lights blazing, especially the searchlights, so they could spot the survivors and just as importantly the survivors could see help was coming.
He was a bit dismissive of his bold act years later saying, "Oh, if I got in trouble all they would have done to me was send me home, which I wouldn't have minded anyway!"
You know, Claytor was a specialist in corporate law, which means he could have gone into any business he wanted to. Aren't we the lucky ones he chose railroading!
Flintlock76W. Graham Claytor.
When he chose to do something, he did it well. In a wide variety of different contexts. I wish I could do as well.
tree68You just never know.
No, you sure don't.
After I got into trains and started learning names of prominent railroad personalities one of them seemed familiar. So I looked at my commission as a Marine First Lieutenant, and sure enough there was the signature of the then Secretary of the Navy, that now-familiar name belonging to, wait for it...
W. Graham Claytor.
A peripheral contact, but Tree's right, you just never know.
Flintlock76Years later, the writer saw a photograph of Rogers Whittaker and thought "Holy smoke, was THAT the man I met?" He couldn't be 100% sure, but he believed it was.
I was in our local convenience store - just down the street from the house - and a fellow came in wearing a railroad themed baseball cap, which I commented on.
He introduced himself - Ross Rowland.
His son was living about three houses from me, and his wife owned a restaurant in nearby Sackets Harbor.
You just never know.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
NKP guy By the way, isn't it fun watching how this thread keeps morphing into interesting anecdotes and comments?
Beats kvetching about copyrights ad nauseum.
Another Frimbo anecdote. A few issues back "Classic Trains" had an first-person article by a gent who as a young railfan in the Philadelphia area used to hang around his local PRR station and do some train watching.
One day this large, heavy-set gentleman waiting on the platform came up to him and asked "Well son, you like trains?" and had a nice conversation with him until his train came, and then with a "So long!" boarded and was on his way.
Years later, the writer saw a photograph of Rogers Whittaker and thought "Holy smoke, was THAT the man I met?" He couldn't be 100% sure, but he believed it was.
No, Frimbo was no snob.
Convicted OneThinking further, any hardware store worthy of the mighty Frimbo's patronage, would likely have to sport three-tone terrazzo floors throughout.
Terrazzo floors are nothing special. Economy-level high schools use them, while top shelf institutions such as old banks use marble or, better yet in the case of schools, clay-tiled floors. But I take your point.
I want to guard against making E. M. Frimbo out to be a snob because my impression is that he wasn't. Hell, he even deigned to talk with me once and also wrote me a letter, and everyone here knows I'm no one special.
Frimbo was an eccentric, not a crank. Think of him as a railfan with money, no family, and time to explore his many interests. But please, let's not "snobify" him, because I'm sure every one of us here would have enjoyed meeting him. Maybe over a beer, although I'll bet he was a cocktails and scotch man, and in a leather-appointed observation lounge car speeding into the setting sun somewhere west of Laramie.
By the way, isn't it fun watching how this thread keeps morphing into interesting anecdotes and comments?
Thinking further, any hardware store worthy of the mighty Frimbo's patronage, would likely have to sport three-tone terrazzo floors throughout. Seeded in part with those iridescent black granite chips that can only be found in King Maximilian's old abandoned mine outside Zacatecas.
OvermodWhy would potted ferns hanging from a balustrade use Whitworth bolts?
Because of course, the balustrade was hand crafted in the old country under knighted supervision, and then sent to New York by steamer. And only upon erecting it did we recognize that we had failed to specify threading for the plant bracket attachment blocks.
Lucky for us, we own a hardware store, so compatible screws were readily available.
Makes a nice little pre-employment test for job applicants: "Here boy, take this bracket and attach it to the side of the handrail..."
Convicted OneWhy would an ornate metal balustrade use wood screws?
The balustrade would go into the floor with lags, not threads into inserts. More modern stuff with anchors would probably use ANC in this country anyway -- this is architecture, not motorcars or bespoke firearms...
tree68And valet parking for your pick-up.
Don't forget the wildcat shoeshine stand that has set up shop outside the front door, which no one has the heart to chase away, because he does such a damn fine job.
Overmod If you aspire to genteel hardware snobbery you must ken the hardware first...
Why would an ornate metal balustrade use wood screws? I guess the devil is in the details you opted to overlook?
Convicted One tree68 A genteel hardware store... Interesting concept. Perhaps a series of potted ferns hanging from the balustrade around the mezzanine, utilizing Whitworth screws for attachment. Display cases of hand-rubbed Striped Ebony, with beveled glass panels, throughout the store
tree68
A genteel hardware store... Interesting concept.
Perhaps a series of potted ferns hanging from the balustrade around the mezzanine, utilizing Whitworth screws for attachment.
Display cases of hand-rubbed Striped Ebony, with beveled glass panels, throughout the store
And valet parking for your pick-up.
Convicted Oneutilizing Whitworth screws for attachment.
And those would probably be wood screws, which use Imperial gauge, not Whitworth old or new or BSF. If you aspire to genteel hardware snobbery you must ken the hardware first...
OvermodIndeed. Just a hop, skip and a jump to Red Caboose, no?
I've heard about Red Caboose, and if it's the place I'm thinking of not much good either. There was a discussion on the (I think) "Classic Toy Trains" Forum several years ago and those who remembered the place weren't very complementary about it.
Coming to toy trains late ( Mid-1990's) I missed out on a lot of the legendary places.
tree68A genteel hardware store... Interesting concept.
Flintlock76 NKP guy I'll bet Mr. Frimbo was well known at Madison Hardware. Frimbo's office was on W.43rd between 6th & 5th; where was this magical hardware store? That's an interesting question...
NKP guy I'll bet Mr. Frimbo was well known at Madison Hardware. Frimbo's office was on W.43rd between 6th & 5th; where was this magical hardware store?
That's an interesting question...
Indeed. Just a hop, skip and a jump to Red Caboose, no?
That's an interesting question. I've never read anything anywhere that said Frimbo was a toy train enthusiast, Lionel or otherwise. He might have been, even if it was just a train under the Christmas tree, but I just don't know. Maybe someone else does?
Madison Hardware was located at 105 E 23d Street in Manhattan. It was owned by Lou Shur and his brother Carl Shaw (He changed his last name for business reasons) and the store started stocking Lionels as far back as 1914!
I never went there, but I've read Lou and Carl were a couple of colorful characters and the place had a "Looks like a bomb went off in here!" ambiance. However Lou and Carl knew exactly where every piece of mechandise was located. They didn't need any kind of computer inventory control. You could ask for it, and if they had it it'd been in your hands in a matter of minutes.
When they retired in the 1980s the contents of the shop were sold to Detroit businessman and Lionel collector Richard Kughn. Dick Kughn also owned the Lionel company at the time. Another story.
Beebe all the way.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Convicted One Paul of Covington I wonder which hardware store Frimbo would have preferred.
Paul of Covington I wonder which hardware store Frimbo would have preferred.
The one with silk curtains and brass gilding on the windows, velvet ropes in the cashier aisles, and Bobby Short on piano....of course.
Based on what Flintlock just posted about Madison Hardware being the premiere Lionel dealer in New York City, I think we might have to consider it. I'll bet Mr. Frimbo was well known at Madison Hardware. Frimbo's office was on W.43rd between 6th & 5th; where was this magical hardware store?
Just imagine that store at Christmastime during the 1940's & '50's!
Then there was the legendary Madison Hardware in New York City. It started as a hardware store around the turn of the 20th Century and over the years morphed into the city's premiere Lionel dealer! No hardware, but a toy train heaven!
Legend had it the original owner signed a 99 year lease on the premises. He would have gone for a 100 year lease but he didn't think he'd live that long.
Just a memory now.
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