David hasn't checked in lately? I hope he is doing all right.
SeeYou190It only falls apart when someone starts needlessly bragging about their home/money/children/car/wife/boat/career...
Besides the braggarts, Kevin, I've got a "know-it-all" acquaintence that tests my patience. I feel bad for him and that's probably why I'm the only person that tolerates him anymore. Every subject he approaches begins with "I worked on the railroad so I know how it really was —" then goes on to distort some known fact or established precedent. I won't bore anyone with examples but there are many.
Trains on Holiday:
Builder_Stop by Edmund, on Flickr
Builder_Dome by Edmund, on Flickr
Amtrak_PSR by Edmund, on Flickr
Top O' the Page here!
How about some huge, juicy chocolate-covered strawberries? HOn3 Dave will recognize these
CC_strawberry by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
Good Morning Everyone. Happy Friday. Zoe, biscuits and gravy, an english muffin with strawberry jam, and a large coffee in a Great Northern mug please.
Had an Alpha Grads award banquet last night for my oldest daughter. The school did a really nice job on it. It was held at a local country club that always has good food for events like this. They kept the whole thing moving along very nicely so there were no lulls in the evening. The event lasted about 2-1/2 hours. Not bad considering they fed about 45 graduates, plus their parents (including dessert), had three speakers, and handed out the medals and gifts to each student individually.
Looking forward to what should be the first warm weekend of spring here. Have a few things I need to get done outdoors, but hoping I get some time in the basement with the trains this weekend. I think my layout is starting to feel neglected.
Have a great day guys!
Edit: Ed, I think Dave (NorthBrit) has been on vacation (in Norway?). Guessing he isn't able to post right now. Thanks for the strawberries. I'll take one!
Mike
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good morning
A couple of handsome Steamers in the Black Hills last year.
Looks like the lubrication maintenance was done in this spot.
This one in a town prior to Deadwood.
SeeYou190 We had a guy come to one of our game nights from the East Coast, who had moved down from New York. We met at Pete's normal house (with a huge game room) in Bonita Springs. This guy started bragging about how much nicer his house in Miami was, trying to posture himself as an Alpha. Steve and Eric just kept their mouths shut and let him make a jerk of himself, then we were all happy when he left. There are people like that in all groups.
We had a guy come to one of our game nights from the East Coast, who had moved down from New York. We met at Pete's normal house (with a huge game room) in Bonita Springs. This guy started bragging about how much nicer his house in Miami was, trying to posture himself as an Alpha.
Steve and Eric just kept their mouths shut and let him make a jerk of himself, then we were all happy when he left. There are people like that in all groups.
gmpullman David hasn't checked in lately? I hope he is doing all right.
The layout is not mine, but it does look like something that I would want to build.
The cat is not mine, but it looks very much like our cat...
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
gmpullmanBesides the braggarts, Kevin, I've got a "know-it-all" acquaintence that tests my patience. I feel bad for him and that's probably why I'm the only person that tolerates him anymore. Every subject he approaches begins with "I worked on the railroad so I know how it really was.
That made me think about a couple of people that I work with.
One was a building inspector for 30 years, and is actually a past president of their national organization. The second is a fellow that owned a contracting business for 30 years.
They are both very knowledgeable about all things building related. However, the way they present themselves is very different. The former building inspector will tell you how to do it, and you can take his advice or leave it. The former contractor always needs to preface his reply with something like "I know he answer because I built houses for thirty years and I am an expert in the industry and no one know more about this than I do". You will get the right answer, but the self-promotion is annoying. We all know that you know what you are doing.
Trains I Have Seen On Vacation Picture #7:
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
Back to sanding drywall mud...
I have no idea what I am doing.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Good afternoon
Beautiful day and 70 degrees up here in Minnesota. Not a cloud in the sky and the only thing bad I've seen today was a dead reindeer on the road in my rearview mirror.
Looks like Rudolph's girlfriend from the classic animation. The one with the snowman that looks like Colonel Sanders, narrated.
Fine with me, I've had enough of Winter and Reindeer for one year!
TF
Have I checked in this month?
Well if not here is my check in.
not much going on , rain and more rain. going to plant a herb garden.
Trains I Have Seen on Vacation Picture Number 8:
Awesome little narrow gauge critter.
Good afternoon, everyone. It's just about happy hour.
moelarrycurly4not much going on , rain and more rain. going to plant a herb garden.
After a week of rain here, it hasn't rained today, but it's cloudy and dark. This kind of weather gets to my wife, but I really like it. I think she needs a day or two of sunshine.
My time has been consumed with work on a train bridge. I'm spending lots of time fretting (?) about how to do things. Every step of this project has given me doubts about what I should do and how I should do it. After this bridge is done, I have another one to build. I'm hoping I will be able to use some of the things I've learned. However, I'm a slow learner, so it might take building 20 or 30 bridges before I quit worrying.
For those of you who exercise, I've got you beat. I have an app that tracks how far I walk and how fast, etc. This morning, at the end of my walk, I forgot to stop the tracking. I drove out to a fast food restaurant and back. The app said for my walk, I went over four miles in about nine minutes. I'm pretty impressed that I can walk that fast at my age!
Have a good rest of the day, everyone.
York1 John
I asked my doctor if I gave up delicious food and all alcohol, would I live longer? He said, "No, but it will seem longer."
York1After a week of rain here, it hasn't rained today, but it's cloudy and dark.
Today is our second day without rain (so far, it is cloudy outside).
I enjoyed the break and did some outside yard work yesterday. I trimmed the Giant Schefflera in the back yard, and filled up two trash cans. It looks a lot better now. I think next week I will need to take down its largest trunk stalk.
My Royal Poincianna is just beginning to bloom. It bloomed mightily last year, so it might not be as grand this year.
SeeYou190I trimmed the Giant Schefflera in the back yard, and filled up two trash cans. It looks a lot better now.
My wife and I got a small schefflera for a wedding gift 44 years ago. It was an indoor plant, and we had it for a long time.
The pot was in a wooden planter shaped like a lion. I wish I had a picture of it for North Dakota's Brother Lion.
I haven't thought about that plant for years until you mentioned it!
Evenin' Folks! (And a Good early mornin' to that guy "Down Under" as well.....)
I actually do have some photos to share from vacations with trains... One of my very favorite vacation spots has been Steamtown USA in Pennsylvania these days! Here is a few of the steamer that pulled one of the trains we took a trip on. Enjoy!
Here is one of the campground my son and I camped in that trip. Look real, real close and you will find a pair of eyes staring at you...... Let's see who can figure out what it was!
73
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
howmusOne of my very favorite vacation spots has been Steamtown USA in Pennsylvania these days!
I have never made it to Steam Town. I hope to take one more long road trip, maybe eight weeks, and knock that one out.
Then I will retire the car and spend the rest of my life playing with trains... I hope.
Trains I Have Seen On Vacation #9
I like how you can see the decal film on this one.
Be back later...
howmus Here is one of the campground my son and I camped in that trip. Look real, real close and you will find a pair of eyes staring at you...... Let's see who can figure out what it was!
Rich
Alton Junction
Yes, TF, now you've jogged my feeble memory I do recall David mentioning a holiday he was planning.
Since Kevin showed a "critter" I'll share one from Pleasant Lake, Indiana:
Davenport_pl_2 by Edmund, on Flickr
Davenport2 by Edmund, on Flickr
and South Milford, Indiana:
Switcher1 by Edmund, on Flickr
This one is at Golden, Colorado:
Critter No. 3 by Edmund, on Flickr
Great kitty photo, LION
I had one of those white-tailed things in the yard a while back:
Spare-doe by Edmund, on Flickr
A couple days of rain is in store for us so it looks like I'll have to play with trains
The Critters and Davenports remind me of a possible predecessor example I seen on a extended weekend Holiday in Duluth.
Reading some interesting history over coffee this morning, the same was found as the Willium Crook, (The first locomotive of the Great Northern Railway), so was the Minnetonka to the Northern Pacific.
She was made by Smith & Porter in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and this saddle tanker had three sisters. The Itasca, the St Cloud, and the Otter Tail.
The only Survivor of her siblings was affectionately known as Old Betsy. After an extensive search, she was found all rusted out in the woods at an old abandoned logging camp in Hoquiam and later restored in St Paul.
A hope of mine is to find a close enough N scale version of this saddle tanker to someday kitbash, paint and decal to have a model of Old Betsy on my ore horseshoe
Enjoy your Saturday gentleman
Trains I Have Seen On Vacation #10:
Last night I made a Pork Roast and Baked Potatoes for dinner, and they were nearly perfect.
Pictures taken with my cell phone in the kitchen make the colors a bit goofy, but it was all delicious.
I baste my potatoes in bacon grease twice while they are cooking. The bacon cost me $7.99, for a Store Brand 12 ounce package. Crazy. I have 10 cooked slices of bacon in the refrigerator now. Maybe I will save them for special ocassions.
Good morning everyone. I slept like a log last night. I feel great this morning.
I hope everyone is doing well.
I've got a critter photo, too! I was in Maine on a bicycling vacation, and came across this little engine in Rockport.
Dang, I was fat back then. I also visited the Seashore Trolley Museum. It was a chilly, drizzly day and there were only a handful of visitors and even fewer volunteers, so I basically had a free pass to roam anywhere, even into the Restoration Shop. I rode on this one.
And these two were in the shop, one almost done and the second stripped down to bare wood for a total superstructure overhaul.
Finally, Closer to home at the Lowell National Historic Museum. This is a working trolley, maintained up north in the Seashore Trolley Museum, but running as an exhibit for the museum. I rode this one, too.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasleyDang, I was fat back then.
Hmmm.... That isn't bad! I don't know when that photo was taken but about two decades ago this was me:
I look at that whenever I feel like having that third piece of cake and three helpings of anything loaded with calories and fat these days... Bleeeck! I can tell you I would have had a heart attack trying to run a 5k back then also.....
Glad I finally got my act together, just wish I had done it a couple decades earlier. This is one of the newer ones of myself... (I like this one a whole lot more!)
That is from about 3 years ago and I have lost a few more lbs. since then. BTW, the two cuties with me are my Granddaughters. The oldest is about an inch taller than I am now, and the younger one just recieved her Youth Black Belt in Karate! Don't mess with her!!!
Good afternoon, everyone.
It's been a horrible day. I had to get the lawnmower out, put gas in it, start it, and spend an hour doing my most, most unfavorite house chore. I have cut grass my entire life, starting when I was about eight years old. Every year, I dislike it more. I still can't bring myself to hire a gardener, but I'm close.
I'm looking forward to having an adult drink in a little while.
I can't get to NY this year, but I also cannot get my fill of the Subway...
So you will just have to put up with the photos that I select. (ROAR)
York1It's been a horrible day. I had to get the lawnmower out, put gas in it, start it, and spend an hour doing my most, most unfavorite house chore. I have cut grass my entire life, starting when I was about eight years old. Every year, I dislike it more. I still can't bring myself to hire a gardener, but I'm close.
Dianne and I were forced to hire a lawn cutting/snow removal service many years ago because of our back problems. They do a great job for a very reasonable price, and it is soooooooo nice to wake up to freshly mowed lawns and cleaned driveways.
I actually used to like doing the lawns (not so much the snow clearing), but once my back got to the point where I had to sit down every few minutes to relieve the back pain, I said enough is enough.
You have earned the right to relax, and you have also earned the right to pay someone to do the dirty work, so what on earth are you waiting for?!?
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Good Evening,
A warm day here, about 75F but down to our normal of 65 tomorrow. The snow finqlly melted in the back yard and the ice in the pond went too. We have blitzed the yard cleanup and did in 3 days what we usually take a week to do. The pond has been cleaned, filled and the waterfall is woking. I spent about 6 hours cleaning the pond. The bottom is pea gravel and soil runs into it in heavy rains . I spray it with garden hose and pump out the dirty water with a small submersible pump. A slow process.
We bought bacon this week too. A good brand and it was 5.99 for 375 gm or about $5US for 13 0z. Seems bacon is a lot more expensive south of the border which is strange.
Expecting more rain this week but hopefully will be able to some work done on the front yard. The city left a lot of sand on the lawn by the curb.
Have a nice weekend.
CN Charlie
Evening
BroadwayLion I can't get to NY this year, but I also cannot get my fill of the Subway... So you will just have to put up with the photos that I select. (ROAR)
I like Subway photos.
But I don't like Subway photos.
Ewe ever notice your sandwich never looks even close to the photos on the menu board?
Firehouse Subs look even better than the photos when unwraped with plenty of roastbeast on dem
And support our local Firemen that risk their lives to keep us safe
So we can all sleep well after hitting the rack
Nighty night
Trains I Have Seen On Vacation #11:
Today was one of those very rare days where it rained all day down here. We normally get rainstorms in the afternoon, but we have clear mornings and evenings.
Not today. It rained non-stop all day. Sometimes hard, sometimes very lightly, but I never saw the sun all day.
We cannot get Mango Trees at work. So instead, this year we are selling Peach Trees. I don't know who came up with that stupid idea.
Peach trees barely grow with constant attention in zones 7-9. We are in zone 10, no one should be planting a peach tree down here. They just will not survive.
The World Is A Beautiful Place
I am going to go sand drywall mud for a while. I wish I had the talent to mud without needing to go back and sand.
SeeYou190I am going to go sand drywall mud for a while. I wish I had the talent to mud without needing to go back and sand.
Hi Kevin,
Have you ever tried using a damp sponge to smooth out the drywall compound? If the compound is really uneven the sponge doesn't work very well, but if all you are removing is a few trowel marks it works pretty good. You need to keep rinsing the sponge out frequently in fresh water and squeezing it so it is not too wet. I assume that your Home Depot sells the sponges. This is a Canadian listing:
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/marshalltown-drywall-sponge/1000151115