Number Twelve Coffee Shop is now open [Archive] - Page 3

CSX_road_slug

09-26-2008, 05:51 PM

Hi gang,

Haven't posted here lately I realize - been busy doing stuff in the trainroom. Just little odd-n-ends kinda stuff, like: (1) re-laying some track in my [future] engine terminal area, to eliminate some abrupt curves; (2) troubleshooting and correcting a decoder installation in an Atlas C40-8, where the bottom of the decoder had been grounding on the motor housing; (3) replaced a lame orange headlight LED in a Kato SD40-2 with a Minitronics YelloGlo ultra-bright LED, makes quite a difference - now it actually shines! I've cut away a circle in the 2" foam surface where I plan to install a Walthers 90ft turntable. It's the much-maligned 'kit' version, not one of those $300 pre-built motorized jobs. I'll probably be spending the weekend finishing assembling it, it's mostly just there to 'look purty' so I can explain to people how I turn around my locos on those [I]rare occassions when a single engine has to be sent back in the opposite direction.

Rex - I'm nowhere near ready to tackle the sort of electrical work that you've been doing on your layout. Good luck with that!

Carey - hope you succeed in fighting off that GI bug soon, so you can go to the ARG luncheon. Condolences on the passing of your MIL.

Phillip - congrats on your being appointed associate pastor!:cool: It must be great to see a lifelong dream become a reality.

Jim - I hope you won't be too severely impacted by the Wall Street debacle. I avoid news coverage of that kind of stuff because I can't really do much about it, other than trust the folks at Vanguard to limit the damage to my pension funds.

Steve - hope your NZ med exams turn out OK.

Time to go, lunch break's almost over

Steve B

09-26-2008, 07:49 PM

It'll be right Ken, if the turntable is only going to be used once in a while i could never justify spending like $300 on an all singing and dancing version, cheap and cheerful win's the day.

just made the mistake of rubbing my eye after utting red chilly peppers up, AGHHHHH

Medicals went fine, wifes to fat so had to have an extra blood check (£50) and i have to get a specialist report (£???)

UP2CSX

09-26-2008, 10:11 PM

Afternoon, everyone.

Steve, they make you have all this medical work to emigrate to New Zealand? Aren't they still kind of part of the Commonwealth? Are they trying to make sure you won't cost them health insurance money or what? Assuming that Nz has the same RN shortage we have, I would think they'd be paying your plane fare. Maybe you should consider coming to Alabama. :)

Rex, indeed, early season football often show up the loopholes of polls to rank teams. OTOH, Oregon has always been an underrated team. This really makes tomorrow's Bama game interesting. If we could actually beat Georgia, there's a good chance we could move up to #3 in the polls, depending on how bad USC is hurt by their defeat. I agree with Ken about all the electrical stuff you're doing. Getting two grade crossing flashers and gates to work right is taxing my electrical skills.

CJ, I hope you're feeling a bit better. We are all looking forward to seeing you at the Irondale.

Ken, you are about as safe as you can get with Vanguard. If they go down, I'm cashing in my CD's to buy more food and ammo. :mad: With Washington Mutual going belly up and, I suspect, Wachovia fast on its heels, it's a nervous time for all. The collapse of the so-called rescue plan hasn't helped any. I think the Senate will come up with some kind of plan this weekend but it will not stop the market fall. This is just one of the bad economic times we're going to have ride out until enough weak sisters fall by the wayside and stronger companies can get things moving again.

I've never had enough nerve to put in anything but one of those cheesy $35 Atlas turntables so I'm sure anything you do will come out better than if I did it.

It's another warm day here with a temperature of 94 right now. Still low humidity so not so bad and no sign of rain. Luckily, Tropical Storm Kyle and the extratropical low that's now starting move up the mid-Atlantic coast will stay far enough apart not to interact. All you guy up the coast are still going to get some pretty good wind and rain from this low though. Just in case we have anyone in Nova Scotia, it looks like Kyle will make landfall as fairly strong tropical storm :eek:

RexHea

09-27-2008, 05:49 AM

...Medicals went fine, wifes to fat so had to have an extra blood check

:eek:OMG!:eek: You are in serious poo-poo if she finds out you wrote that. Where do we send flowers for your funeral?:D

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-27-2008, 10:21 AM

Good Morning from Tipton IN ! :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/wetidlerjr/TIPTONDEPOT.jpg:eek:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/wetidlerjr/Diner/SteakEggs.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/wetidlerjr/Diner/THECOFFEESHOP.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/wetidlerjr/3dflagsdotcom_usa_2fawl.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/wetidlerjr/Diner/Diner.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/wetidlerjr/Diner/menu_breakfast_1.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v114/wetidlerjr/Diner/waitress3.jpg

Steve B

09-27-2008, 10:57 AM

Jim I did look into America and Canada at first but the CFO won't have it, If you live in the south Pacific islands you can move to NZ without any hassle at all, no medicals or anything and don't work when you get there thats all OK, but if you are hard working with skills they want you get torn to shreds for any tiny issue that crops up, it is stupid.
RexAn Inch to fat, thats all she was but that inch cost us another £50 !!!

jeffrey-wimberly

09-27-2008, 12:11 PM

Good morning.

It's 62 and clear. Today's high should be in the mid 80's with plenty of sunshine.

Yesterday my internet service was about to drive me crazy. Up one minute, down the next, slow post times, photos loading at a snails pace. Last night it took five minutes to get a two line reply posted. This is an intermittent problem that's been ongoing for the last six months or so. Right now it's working very well so I hope the problem has been corrected. If there was a better broadband ISP in this area I'd go with them but there's not, so I'm stuck with what I have. Fiber-optics are great when the system is working right but have just one little thing go wrong and it's not worth crap.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/27/2008

Wind Chill: 60°F
Humidity: 78%
Dew Point: 53°F

So Far Today
High: 65°F
Low: 60°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE

Today High: 85 Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 80s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 55 Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 50s. Northeast winds around 5 mph in the evening becoming light after midnight.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010078.jpg

Steve B

09-27-2008, 12:57 PM

Jeffery Same here, and were quite a distance from the telephone exchange which slows it down some.

Off out again later for some good steamy fun, the train was 90 min's late past us with the empty coaching stock, steam loco and diesel loco up front, after a quick change at Manchester the delay was down to 60 min's for the steam leg to begin, hopefully she'll be under an hour late this afternoon, hopefully !!!

OldGettysk

09-27-2008, 01:44 PM

Good Morning Everyone ! A bit overcast with some rain but nothing like there getting along the East Coast , I guess we're to far west . Not much going on took out the window air conditioners. Two down and two more to go . I thing I'll be spending some time in the train room today so that will be exciting. Well have to go get some coffee in me so hoe you all have a real good day !

rhoward

09-27-2008, 04:21 PM

Morning everyone!

Just another beautiful day here in the Finger Lakes. That is, if you like cool, damp,and rainy. Currently 65°F with the forecast for the forseeable future being "Cloudy with occasional rain showers. High 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%." Right now it is a gentle sprinkle but there is heavier rain headed right for my house. Good day to work on the layout.

NAACP Dinner went well last night. it was well attended and I got to chat with our School Superintendent and the Asst' Superintendent, a bunch of local politicians (A couple state assemblymen as well, yawn!), my minister and his wife (he gave the invocation), and so many wonderful people of color from Geneva that comprise the heart and soul of this city (and serve as our conscience I might add). I sat there thinking how blessed I was to have been welcomed into that community almost as soon as I started teaching here. The local president of the NAACP and her sister have been friends of mine since my first year here. Near the end of that year I got a big hug from both of them to thank me for being one of their children's favorite teachers and one who supported all students. Kind of blew this "white" teacher away! BTW both of those "kids" were there last night. One became a teacher here and the other is a now a local businessman. Got to sit with the family of a young lady who was honored for getting her High School Diploma......... Yea, wow, right? She got it in spite of the fact that she has a progressive degenerative disease that now has her almost unable to walk. She will be in a wheelchair very soon and can barely talk but managed to have almost perfect attendance last year at school. She was very happy to sit with her old 2nd. grade music teacher. I was honored! She is also a very sweet young lady who doesn't have much to look forward to. Another one of my "heros" was there as well. Charles is now 92 and still has a wonderful wit and huge grin! Charles was born and raised here, was the first Black man to be elected to our Board of Education, worked for many years in the Athletic Dept. at Hobart and William Smith Collages, and is now married (first wife died about 10 years ago) to a lady 25 years his junior, and is a blast to be around. When I grow up, I want to just like him! ;);)

Sorry for the long story but it was an emotional dinner.

Have a great day!

Steve B

09-27-2008, 06:36 PM

Went to a great spot to watch the steamtrain,,, and the camera decided to turn itself off just as i was about to shoot,,, so i missed a great shot but the surroundings were stunning, saw it later though on the empty return working

RexHea

09-27-2008, 07:01 PM

Hello fellows, can I join you for some lunch? Just came back inside from prepping the RV and have a bite to eat while doing a quick-check-charlie on the forum. The boss lady and I will be heading to the wilderness Monday for three nights. This will be the first camping trip for the Bama Boys (pups) and should be interesting. I plan on getting them in the water and swimming. We were going the following week, but that is fall break for the school systems and most of the good campsites were reserved. (Alabama schools start back first of August and then have a fall break. I believe they are working toward a year-round system.)

Super football game tonight on ESPN: #8 Alabama vs. #3 Georgia. This should be a real test for my blood pressure pills :D . Hope you tune in;). ROLL TIDE!

:)Ya'll have a good'un, ya'heer!:)

rhoward

09-27-2008, 08:34 PM

Hey Rex! Enjoy your "wilderness" trip. Now if you were backing out into the wilderness, I might want to go with you...:cool:;):D Bet those pups will have the time of their lives. So many new and different smells out there. At one time we had a Springer Spaniel mix that we used to board when we went camping. Out of necessity we had to take him with us one time. He loved it and was the best happy dog you could imagine. After that he always went with us.

Well today has not been good so far! I started work on one of the remaining tortis that will installed in the yard, and had to move cars out of there to get to the turnout. Since the Decapod was hooked on to a string of boxcars that needed to be moved, I fired up the layout, choose the loco, turned on its lights, and tried to back it up into the rest of the cars on that track. Nothing. give it more throttle, nothing. Finally started to move (at mach 3) just as the puff of smoke came pouring out of the tender. Of course now it is backing up at the speed of light and won't stop! Rams into the string of boxcars derailing a couple. This is the only loco I have had problems with from Bachmann. There was a short in the pickup wiring of the loco. Bachmann was supposed to send me the new harness for it as soon as they had it in stock, never came. I have reworked it a couple of times, and now since it also is wider than the other locos I have (it can't get through the ash pit area without binding), I think I will just retire it for the time being.

Then I get the dremel out to drill a hole through the turnout throw down through the sub base as there was never a hole for the turnout throw. I hold the drill after drilling it in the hole so i can see if it came out the other side. SNAP! Tungsten Carbide drill snaps off in the hole. So I say THWI and get my regular drill and put in the smallest bit I have not numbered. Drill the hole. Put rasp cutter in the dremel start to open up the hole under the layout..... Oops! right up through the turnout. Finally decided to to remove the durn thing and get a new turnout. Of course this has already been ballasted..... No problem as water melted the glue quickly. Now I get to start over!

Mail just arrivd so I will see how many unexpected bills there are. Later!

Steve B

09-27-2008, 10:33 PM

Blimey Ray that sounds like a bad day at the office

Rex Have a great trip will ya

CSX_road_slug

09-27-2008, 11:08 PM

Geez Ray, and here I thought I was the only one who has "bad layout" days! Sounds like you got things under control at least.

Rex, c'mon and admit it - you're not going camping, you're spending some time at a wilderness luxury suite! ;) I saw that trailer first-hand when I was there... but seriously though, have fun!

Steve, bummer about the camera failure! But at least this wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing that you missed.

Been taking advantage of the weather and decided to tackle my turntable today. It's only window dressing, so I didn't bother putting a motor in it. Now I know exactly why people hate the thing so much: To get everything lined up right, you need precision tools that are not available to the common man - plus the skill to use them. No wonder the fully-assembled motorized version costs $300, whereas I paid $40 for the motorless kit. That's OK though, I'm getting exactly what I need for my situation.

Made a trip to MB Klein's this afternoon, it was pouring down buckets from the time I left until when I got home. Some of those roads around Cockysville were freakin' rivers...!:eek:

rhoward

09-28-2008, 12:53 AM

Blimey Ray that sounds like a bad day at the office

I took most of the evening off and went over to my Son's house to have dinner, and play with my granddaughter, of course. She was having a lot of fun walking into the house from the deck, and then turning around and walking back outside. There is a small step down (about 1.5 inches) going out to the deck. She was doing this for about 45 minutes straight. She finally was doing this looking straight up in the air, then looking at me and giggling.

Steve B

09-28-2008, 09:58 AM

Ken I'll just have to wait a few weeks and she'll be backkkkkk.
Ray times like that make everything so worthwhile, it makes you forget the day to day grind when you can have fun with the little ones

Steve B

09-28-2008, 10:27 AM

I moved the world today,,
Below is a class 185, on the Manchester airport to Barrow service
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k208/photobucketste/pics019.jpg

And by the magic of paintshop,,, we are now in New Zealand
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k208/photobucketste/gilessnowand185chorley.jpg

:)
:)

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-28-2008, 10:48 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

09-28-2008, 12:05 PM

Good morning.

It's 64 and clear. The high is expected to be in the mid 80's and it will be partly cloudy.

Yesterday I mowed my parents yard (if you could see it you'd know what a job that is, even with their huge mower) then did a few odd jobs around the property. Afterwards my mother and I went to El Giro's restaurant in town. It's good that she's able to get around again and we want her to get out of the house some. After that I came home and worked on the layout a bit and puzzled over the mystery drive in my GP35/S6 (chop-cut-rebuild) to try and determine where the parts came from in case I need to get replacements. I'm 95% certain the frame is Kato. The motor may be Roco. It was made in Austria. The trucks are the big mystery. They look ALMOST like the trucks in my Kato RSC2 but there are differences. All I can find on them is 'China'. I'm fairly certain the flywheels are Athearn. I can't complain about it's operation. It runs smooth as silk and I certainly have no complaint about it's price (FREE).

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/28/2008

Wind Chill: 66°F
Humidity: 67%
Dew Point: 55°F

So Far Today
High: 68°F
Low: 64°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 5mph NE

Today High: 85 Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 80s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 62 Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 60s. North winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010097-1.jpg

rhoward

09-28-2008, 03:00 PM

Mornin' Bill!

Mornin' Jeffrey!

"Its another rainy day
Just a rainy, rainy day
Its another rainy day
Just a rainy, rainy day"

That was the weather forecast for the Finger Lakes today. Hope you enjoyed it. I am going to drink another cup of hot coffee, take my shower, and spend some time in the layout rooms. Last night I got the turnout replaced and a large piece of fascia put in place.

Have a great day!

RexHea

09-28-2008, 08:33 PM

Hi fellows! Hope all are having a good weekend.
Of course my weekend has been grand with BAMA destroying Georgia last night. Bama is still curiously lacking in the 2nd half! But wow, they are awesome in the first.:D

Time to shut down the layout, computers, etc., and concentrate on the packing and go ahead with the hookup to the truck. Guess we will head out early in the morning with a great weather forecast (H mid 80's L upper 50's). Ken: The travel trailer is a luxury suite to us compared to the discount store tent we used when we first started camping 40+ years ago :D. Thanks all for the good wishes and see you toward the end of the week.:)

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-29-2008, 10:29 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

09-29-2008, 01:15 PM

Good morning.

It's 68 and clear. The high should be in the mid 80's and it will be partly cloudy.

Cable problems continue to plague me so I probably won't be on much today.
I've been doing research on different DCC systems and have narrowed it down to two (in terms of price). The Digitrax Zephyr ($179.98 - Walther's) and the MRC Prodigy Express ($118.54 - Amazon). I'm seeing a lot of complaints about the Zephyr about locos just suddenly stopping and about uncontrolled runaways. I certainly wouldn't want a parked loco on a siding to suddenly start up and charge into the middle of a passing freight, though Gomez Addams would probably love it. This has me leaning more toward the MRC system. The 1.6 amp power doesn't bother me. I already have a 5 amp booster that should work well with the system plus I'll only be running 4 locos at a time - max.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/29/2008

Wind Chill: 67°F
Humidity: 74%
Dew Point: 59°F

So Far Today
High: 68°F
Low: 66°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 6mph NNE

Today High: 85 Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 80s. North winds around 5 mph.

Tonight Low: 60 Mostly clear. Lows near 60. North winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010058.jpg

tompm

09-29-2008, 01:39 PM

Good morning folks

It was 65 F this morning. Our high today will be 77 F without rain. All it seemed to do this weekend was rain. We did have times of sun but they were short.

It was a busy and somewhat nutty weekend. Friday we took delivery of our Cub Scout’s pack popcorn so I was running around like crazy. By the time we got done dealing with that it was time for my son’s guitar lesson. The rest of the weekend was spent housecleaning and decorating the house for Halloween. We are pretty much done the inside. Due to the wet weather we have not started the outside. We also managed to get my son his Halloween costume. It is a zombie and since zombies are not politically correct he will have to come up with something else for his school Halloween parade.

Sunday was our 17th wedding anniversary. We did not do anything special. We did go to dinner to a sandwich type place that we like. We were not interested in anything fancy. We just wanted a good meal for a reasonable price. Today is my daughter’s 13th birthday. We will have a little family celebration tonight. She and her mother are in the process of planning her party for next month. Something about a mall shopping party.

Football, where do I begin? I pulled my son out last week after they decided to move him back to varsity. He was doing well with JV. He was learning and enjoying the game again. Under no circumstances did he want to go back to varsity. After my conversation with one of the coaches I realized that they were bigger jerks than I had thought. I always love when a coach says that they don’t need another parent telling them what to do. Of course when I responded with a question as to why so many kids want off his team he did not have a response. Then he tried the old why don’t you coach to which I told him that I have done my years as coaching and then I asked him if I was a coach would he listen to me and follow my recommendations and why is being coach any more important than a concerned parent. Basically all I got was a blank stare and silence. My son is both relieved and upset. He is upset because he wants to play football and knows he will have to wait to next year. (We will go to another organization). He is relieved because he no longer has to deal with these horrible coaches any longer.

I cleaned up the layout and the workbench over the weekend. I put a lot of things away that were just laying around. I helped my son replace couplers on a couple of his cars and we ran trains for a while.

I hope everybody has a good day.

OldGettysk

09-29-2008, 03:35 PM

Good Morning ! From Dreary Lake Erie ~ A little overcast and sprinkles with a high of 65 . Not much to cheer about . Happy Anniversary Tom and your wife and m,any more. Also a Happy Birthday for your daughter , Well the Mets lost on the last day of the season . So what else is new. AT least I can watch there prospects here in Buffalo now that they signed a minor league agreement with our local team . And the Buffalo Bills stand in first place in the AFC Eastern Division undefeated . last week on SF-FI station The GHosthunters did their show from the old Buffalo Central Terminal . They found some paranormal activity there . It's quite a place to see. Their trying to renovate but it's a big project so we will have to see. I will post some pics. of the grand old place that I took awhile ago . Well have to get going so hope you all have a terrific day !!!!

rhoward

09-29-2008, 03:47 PM

Mornin' everyone!

Tom congrats on 17 years of marriage. I think you did the right thing with your son....... Maybe if enough peole pull their kids from their program, they will wise up.

We have a day of partly here in the Finger Lakes. Very overcast right now but the sun is supposed to peek through from time to time. Currently 58° with a high later of 64°F. Another nice day to work on the layout.

Hope you all have a great day!

Trussrod

09-29-2008, 11:38 PM

Good afternoon to all,
The forcast here was for possible rain last night and that didn't happen, but it said rain this morning and that didn't happen either. Then I see where they are now forcasting Thunder Showers later this afternoon or evening and I do see some clouds starting to build-up so hopefully I'll get some much needed rain!?

I see Rex headed out on a trip and, Jeffery is researching DCC units and Ray is getting more work done on his layout. I think I'm the only one that needs to get going onmy layout and that's what I'm going to do.

Well I just added some new informaion to my supplies listing about now being able to accept electronic deposits to my account when ordering. If interested take a look at my last listing on page 2 for the details.

Hope everyone has a good day and hope Rex has a good trip and hope you get the DCC unit of your desires. Jefery, you also need to be concerned with the cost of the decoder
boards for the unit you choose as well as the decoder quality and price.

Take care, David

leghome

09-30-2008, 12:53 AM

Well I got the last pc of big wood out of the yard today. I loaded the 8 foot tree trunk by myself and it was 21 inches in dia. No big deal I just went to the True Value and borrowed the engine lift. Hooked a chain around the middle, started jacking the hydraulic cylinder and backed the truck under it. The log is at the saw mill being made into 1 1/8th" planks. That Walnut should make some very nice stuff after it has dried and then run thru the kiln. I almost got the yard mowed today but I had to get my grand son at day care at 3PM because his daddy had to work late. That took about two hours out of my work time but he is well worth it. He is gramps train buddy. He loves to go into the train room and look but now he has started to want to play with the good engines so I have to keep an eye on him. I need to get the Digitrax Super Empire Builder system hooked up so WE can run trains. Come on GRAMPS get with the program.

Bill Tidler Jr.

09-30-2008, 10:06 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

09-30-2008, 11:35 AM

Good morning.

It's 64 and clear. The high should be in the mid 80's and it will be partly cloudy.

I didn't get much done on the layout yesterday as I've been busy with other things. Have an appointment to get castings made of my feet today so the work on my shoes can start. Once they're finished I'll be able to get around a bit better.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 9/30/2008

Wind Chill: 64°F
Humidity: 79%
Dew Point: 58°F

So Far Today
High: 66°F
Low: 64°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 3mph N

Today High: 88 Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 80s. North winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 58 Partly cloudy until late night then becoming mostly clear. Lows in the upper 50s. North winds 5 to 10 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010107-1.jpg

tompm

09-30-2008, 02:02 PM

Good morning folks

It was a chilly 54 F as I hit the pavement. High will be 76 F.

We had a little family celebration for my daughter’s birthday last night. Not much else happened. I didn’t get any modeling done. I just kind of hung out with the kids.

Today will be busy. My daughter has a volleyball game after school and flute lesson in the evening.

I hope everybody has a good day.

CSX_road_slug

09-30-2008, 02:41 PM

G'morning,

Haven't been online much lately since I've been working on that WKW turntable kit. Every time I think the 'hard part' is over, I encounter another challenge. The most recent one was trying to solder wires to the rails and still have them fit (line up) properly, while holding a hot soldering iron ~1/2 inch from the styrene TT bridge. One thing's for sure: if I were to do stuff like this every few days, I'd never have to worry about going senile, LOL!

Have a good'un

rhoward

09-30-2008, 03:00 PM

Mornin' everyone!

The weather prognostication for the Finger Lakes is: "A few showers early then thundershowers by the afternoon. High 67F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%." Just another beautiful day here. Actually a good reason to spend the day near the layout. I have to go to the dentist for my 6 month cleaning and checkup this afternoon, but not much else going on.

Ken I have the 90' WKW turntable, and I remember very well the "fun" of getting all that done.

Tom I remember the many years where kids and family had to come before anything I wanted to do..... They were the best years of my life! Enjoy them.

Jeffrey I bet you are looking forward to getting those new shoes. Hope they work well for you and can be made quickly.

Have a great day all!

OldGettysk

09-30-2008, 03:32 PM

Good Morning ! From Western New York ! Weather hasn't ;t changed since yesterday , same overcast and rain ,Not much else gong on so I guess it's a good day to spend on the layout . Jeffrey hope you get a good fit on your shoes. you just reminded me I need to get y=to the podiatrist for some new diabetic shoes . Well gonna get going so hope you all enjoy the day !

UP2CSX

09-30-2008, 03:45 PM

Morning, everyone.

Been a little busy with the stock market. Whew, what a wild ride!I was afraid the "bailout" bill wouldn't pass and my fears came true. I don't believe it will work anyway but the Congress will scrape together some kind of bill by the end of the week to try and restore confidence. It won't work either. The stock market is almost a secondary player now since most people who wanted to sell are already out and all we'll see is some cherry picking. We'll have some recovery today but that will only last until the next big bank failure or money market implosion. The ultimate outcome of this is going to be a deep and prolonged recession and the only thing the government can do is stop the immediate bleeding.

Jeffrey, I'm sure it will be nice to have some comfortable shoes again. I was looking at your locomotive picture and I think it's another Frankenstein. :) Looks like an Atlas frame to me with a Roco motor. The flywheels look like Athearn and the trucks look like Tyco. No idea though except that someone assembled them out of pieces-parts.

Rex, enjoy your camping trip, couldn't ask for any nicer weather this late in the year. Bama is now rated 2, 3, or 4, depending on which poll you believe. I think it's the first time we've been this high in the rankings this early since 1994 so everyone will be gunning for us. I hope they can start playing two halves of football instead of just one. Ohio State and Auburn also won so it was a good day for football.

Tom, getting your boy out of that dysfunctional football program was a good idea. He'll be disappointed for a while but he'll be a lot happier next year if he can get on a real team. Happy Anniversary to your wife and you and Happy Birthday to your daughter.

Ray and Paul, no worries about clouds and drizzle around here. It's still summer, with nothing but sunny skies and highs in the mid-90's the last 5 days. We will have our driest September on record with a lousy 1.06 inches of rain. All those hurricanes around us and we got squat from any of them. My lawn is dying again and I can't afford to water it. :(

BTW, Jeffrey, the runaway problems I've heard of are with MRC decoders, not with the Digitraxx Zephyr. Where have you been reading these reports?

Larry, I guess you weren't kidding when you said you had a LOG to move. :eek: Good job getting it out of there without killing yourself. Maybe you can end up with a walnut paneled train room. It's nice that you have train buddy in your grandson. I'm hoping for the same thing some day.

Ken, everyone who has built one of those 90' Walthers turntables is full of horror stories. I think the only thing they have going for them is that they're cheap.

Like I said, it's sunny and hot down here so I'm going to see if I can spend some time in the basement working on my crossing gates. I have one that I glued in place and I think the glue must have made it down the same hole as the wire gate actuator. Now the gate moves but the wire doesn't. I wonder if brushing some acetone up the shaft would help before I start yanking on it? It is, of course, plastic glue, nothing simple like white glue. Oops. :)

Steve B

09-30-2008, 05:11 PM

Jim and everyone else,,, the economy is in deep do do,,, gold is good though, whats nickel silver rail going to be worth Mmmm could be used as currency if the dollar dies a death :) fingers crossed it won't come to that

Steve B

09-30-2008, 05:48 PM

Ken
Haven't been online much lately since I've been working on that WKW turntable kit. Every time I think the 'hard part' is over, I encounter another challenge. Way to go Ken, these things are not problems but "Challenges" :) thats what i get told,,, it's not a problem, it's a challenge

Anyway thanks to the fool's who screwed up the economy we have to say goodbye to 164 staff, as we are a US owned company we are in a tight spot you could say

Trussrod

09-30-2008, 05:51 PM

Good Moriing All,
It's another sunny day here in Coarssgold with the current temp being 72* & High of 92*,
too hot for me.

Bill, I just happen to remember, looking at your dinner picture, that when I was back in Mass they had several of those around, very unique indeed and in most cases the food was pretty good too. The one I remember the most was the Orchid dinner on Huddlestone and Rockdale, you could hardly get a seat it was so busy.

Ray, you sure seem to get the rain in that area, things sure must be fairly lush and green
and it does help of the water bill of keeping the yard watered.

Ken, hope you have a good vacation ad trip going and comming back.

Jeffery hope things are going well for you too.

Jim, Keep up the good work of helping the forum members.

Take care and Keep em Rolling!

Ps: Electronic payment is now available when purchasing supplies through Foothill Station.

UP2CSX

09-30-2008, 06:02 PM

Steve, unfortunately, nickel "silver" rail has no silver, it's just an alloy of nickel and brass. I'm afraid our tracks are always only going be worth something to other model railroaders. Gold was really a disappointment yesterday. With the Dow down 778, I expected gold to be limit up at $100 an ounce but it only went up $25. Silver went down yesterday and today and gold is off $9.40 right now. One of the scary things bout the present situation is that I'm not sure what's a storehouse of value any longer. In the past, you could always run to commodities when the market was down. Now, commodities are taking almost as much of a beating as the stock market. I'm just hoping the FDIC stays in business right now. :(

Steve B

09-30-2008, 07:14 PM

One thing on the news just now, a local 18 year old girl just won £7 million in the lottery, the TV reporter said "Do you trust the banks with your money" she said, i don't have much choice my bra won't hold £7m ha ha ha ha ha, i beg to differ :o::o

jeffrey-wimberly

09-30-2008, 09:51 PM

She needs my niece's bra. Double D's!

CSX_road_slug

10-01-2008, 12:09 AM

Evening y'all,

It's pouring down buckets as I type this. I got the front half-acre of my lawn mowed just in the nick of time before the storm hit, wouldn't have had any other chances to do it the remainder of the workweek. This coming weekend will be very busy so I wouldn't be able to mow it then either. All this rain is causing my grass to grow like crazy, I can't keep up with it.

Maybe I'll get a chance to mount my turntable later this evening, I dunno...

Steve, my layout could sure use some of that girl's $7mil :D

kjd

10-01-2008, 01:02 AM

I read recently that 100% of lottery winners gain weight. Not that I wouldn't mind trying to be different...

Too much info, Jeffrey.

Secondhandmodeler

10-01-2008, 01:17 AM

This week is Traintastic! I was reading the newspaper yesterday and what did I see? The Union Pacific Challenger is visiting the Mankato depot, which is two blocks from my work! I spent a whole hour just looking at this thing. I may need to buy a model of it.

We are also going to Duluth this week end to ride behind a Pacific. It is a six hour tour up the Lake Superior north shore. Traintastic!

I hope you don't mind if I share a few pics!

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb117/secondhandmodeler/Challenger014-1.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb117/secondhandmodeler/Challenger029.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb117/secondhandmodeler/Challenger005.jpg

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb117/secondhandmodeler/th_Challenger051.jpg (http://s210.photobucket.com/albums/bb117/secondhandmodeler/?action=view&current=Challenger051.flv)

rhoward

10-01-2008, 02:04 AM

Corey she is a gorgeous old girl isn't she! Can't help but love that whistle as well. That is one of the things I love about steam! Thanks for posting those.

kjd

10-01-2008, 07:47 AM

I had a close up encounter with 3985 once. I was sitting on the ground about 30ft from the tracks in a place called Echo, OR, about 1995 or so. I wanted to get a low shot of the drivers as it came around the curve. I didn't realize it would be coming past at about 70mph though, all one million pounds of her flying by. I missed the shot but still have the image in my head. I have never felt the ground move like that under a train before or since.

Speaking of whistles, I had a job in Hill City, SD, one summer and woke up every morning to the whistle of the 2-6-2 Black Hills Central was using then. Steam whistles are still one of my favorite sounds in the whole world, especially at night.

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-01-2008, 10:36 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

10-01-2008, 11:31 AM

Good morning.

It's 62 and clear. The high should be in the low 80's today and it will be clear and sunny.

Yesterdays visit to the docs office was a bust. For one thing they had scheduled me for one time and told me to come in at another time, When I got there at the time I was told to be there I had already missed the appointed time by several hours and they were packing up to leave. Also, there had been a foul-up in the paperwork. They had somehow gotten the impression that I'm on MediCare. I told them for the umpteenth time I'm on MediCaid. Big difference there. MediCare pays 80% while I would have to pay 20%. MediCaid pays the entire cost but all cost estimates have to be sent to MediCaid for pre-approval. That usually takes several weeks. They'll let me know when the paperwork comes back. So it looks like I had a nice drive to DeRidder and back. While on the way there I came upon a slight traffic jam. A log truck had pulled out of an access road and was crossing the highway when the trucks transmission decided it was time to turn into many unconnected pieces. The truck stopped dead as a hammer with both southbound lanes completely blocked. I quickly looked the situation over, decided there was nothing I could do then turned onto the access road, pulled a u-turn then exited onto the highway on the other side of the truck and continued my trip. It wasn't long before those who had been behind me followed suit. Other than that, it was an uneventful trip.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/1/2008

Wind Chill: 62°F
Humidity: 76%
Dew Point: 55°F

So Far Today
High: 66°F
Low: 62°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 6mph NNE

Today High: 82 Sunny. Highs in the lower 80s. North winds around 5 mph.

Tonight Low: 55 Clear. Lows in the mid 50s. Northeast winds around 5 mph in the evening becoming southeast after midnight.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010102-2.jpg

tompm

10-01-2008, 01:39 PM

Good morning folks

It was 60 F as I rolled off into the morning traffic jams. High today will be 74 F and they say we may get some showers. We had a nasty thunder boomer move through last night around 10 PM. It had some window rattling thunder and quite a light show.

No modeling last night. We finished decorating the outside of the house for Halloween. My daughter’s volleyball team won their match. They lost the first game 26-24, won the second 25-17, and the third 15-12. My daughter went in as a sub halfway through the first game and stayed in until almost the end of the third game. She had a couple of miffs but she also had a couple of good saves and scored one point on a volley and also one point on her serve.

Tonight is Cub Scouts. We have popcorn training and then I will be working with the Tigers on their Bobcat badge requirements.

I hope everybody has a good day.

rhoward

10-01-2008, 03:53 PM

Mornin' everyone!

We are already at the high for today, 58°F. Cloudy and damp here today in the Finger Lakes. As much as I hate to, it may be time already to turn on the heater in my living room. I fired up the heater down in the train room last night for a few minutes to make sure it was working properly. I guess Fall is actually here.

Today I get to spend some time finishing projects for the layout. Tonight I will be out amongst the invited guests at the President of Hobart and William Smith Colleges home for a dinner reception. I do feel very honored to be included in the gathering as many community leaders and college faculty will be there. The occasion is a lecture later in the evening by Vanderbilt Professor and Associate Provost Dr. L. T. Outlaw Jr. These are usually quite interesting events so I don't mind putting on the "good" clothes........

Jeffrey glad you at least had a nice drive yesterday. Tend to tick one off when those things are messed up more than once!

Tom have fun with those Tigers - soon to be Bobcats! That is a great age. Popcorn? Cheesh, I still have several packs of microwave butter light left from last falls sale. i guess I better get snacking so I can buy more from the pack...............

Have a great Fall day everyone!

OldGettysk

10-01-2008, 04:30 PM

Morning ALL ! Looks like it's stopped raining for awhile around here .It's 58 which has gone ahead of the predicted high of 57 . Not much going on around here . Last night I finished a Hills Brother Coffee reefer. Jeffrey sorry to hear about your troubles . Sometimes it can be a pain with doctors . Corey that is a real beauty there , Wish they were still making them like that ! Well have to get to finish my Italian Wedding Soup . Have to make the tiny meatballs . Hope you all enjoy this First Day of October !!!!!!!!

rhoward

10-01-2008, 07:15 PM

Started installing the new fascia boards. They were cut to perfectly fit in place out of 1/8" tempered masonite. i sealed them with primer on both sides, and then painted them black. What they say about humidity is absolutely true. On the 8' piece, there is about an 1/8" overlap now. I will let it continue to dry for a couple days, and then sand it down to where it fits again.

Paul, Hills Brother's Coffee and Italian Wedding Soup. Sounds like a nice lunch to me!

Trussrod

10-01-2008, 08:25 PM

Good afternoon all,
This morning was a about 72* at 9:00 so it was already somewhat warm.
Well I wish we were having some of the weather Ray is having, looks like according to the WR we are supposed to get rain on Friday & Saturday which will be a much need event. The other day it just sprinkeled a bit and that was it.

I've been taking a look at a couple of situations with my layout expansion dealing with the first table of three or four along the West wall of the garage and need to cover a window there with aluminum foil and really ought to try and do something about a background facia but I can see that using the 1/8" masonite I bought for that purpose is goint to tend to be a proble, due to the size and weight and also not knowing exactly what the terain height will be? I possibly should have put some uprights on the tables to fasten the back drop too. Well I guess that can still be donewithout too much problem but it's going to require a bit of under the table effort on the existing portion along the South wall. Hindsight is always better than forsight as they say but it will help me with the rest of the tables. I was just thinking that possibly I could build a frame work to support the Masonite boards that is seperate from the actual tables? I'll have to give that a bit more thought.

Hope you all bave a good day.

Steve B

10-01-2008, 08:45 PM

Evening all

just logged into the immigration forum i am a mod on to find close to 30 sick spam threads from 20 different users in bosnia hertzigove, deleted them all and banned then forever, took best part of an hour !!!

UP2CSX

10-01-2008, 10:46 PM

Afternoon, everyone.

Steve amazing that people take all that time to spam little used internet forums. I guess there must be some return but it's hard to imagine how small the percentage must be. Sorry to hear about all the people at your place being sacked. It's stating to happen over here to. GE just announced they are selling $3 billion of preferred stock to Warren Buffet at a 10% dividend and an option of $3 billion more at $22.25 over the next five years. That price is just above the low of the year. They are also going to sell $10 billion in common shares, thereby diluting my investment even more. If GE is doing all this to stay afloat, the rest of the large companies are in equal trouble. It must be nice to be Warren Buffet right now though.

David, build a frame for the backdrop masonite and then mount the frame to the wall. You can do all the backdrop painting while it's flat on the floor and it will be a lot easier to handle. Do it in segments no more than five feet long or it gets too wiggly and heavy to mount with one person. Don't ask me how I know all thing. Let's just say that poor planning takes its evil toll. :)

Ray, I'm just getting the fascia board part of my layout so I'm interested to see how yous comes out. I'm using luan plywood and I'm thinking of staining it but paint may be better.

Paul, no rain here. Did you do that Hills Brothers car with the graphic of the Arab looking guy drinking coffee from a pail or something like that? I think that was one of the first Lionel cars I got many moons ago.

Ray, sounds like a great reception with an interesting speaker. Now you just have to go figure where you put that suit that still fits. :)

Jeffrey, sorry you got yanked around about your shoes. At least you still know how to avoid a traffic jam even with bad shoes. :D

Corey, there's nothing like big steam. My late wife, who wasn't a train fan at all, would come out to see a steam engine. She thought they sounded like living beings, breathing and belching.

Paul, I remember many a night laying in bed listening to whistle of the 20th Century Limited, which ran on the NYC tracks about a mile from my house. It always came though Cleveland about 9:00, just when I was ready to go to sleep. You knew it was the 20th Century by the wail of that whistle. I often laid there and wondered who was on that train, where they were going, and if I would get to ride trains like that when I grew up. Little did I realize that 20th Century would nothing more than a memory when I was an adult and the only wail I'd hear while traveling was jet turbines winding up. :(

The "cold" front just went through here. The only way I could tell was that the wind shifted to the north and the temperature fell from 87 to 78. Not even a cloud went by with the front. We should have a few days of cooler weather but no rain for at least the next seven days. The last time we had rain was September 13 and that was only .26 inches. Hard to believe we can have four hurricanes pass by us and we don't even get a drop of rain out any of them.

jeffrey-wimberly

10-02-2008, 01:07 AM

Jeffrey, sorry you got yanked around about your shoes. At least you still know how to avoid a traffic jam even with bad shoes. :D
Try NO shoes! I'm in walking braces and those mothers hurt. They make my thighs cramp up.

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-02-2008, 10:19 AM

OldGettysk

10-02-2008, 12:32 PM

Good Morning !!! A brisk and cool day here on the Niagara Frontier . 46 going up to 52 , with Lake Effect Rain .Not much else to report around these part . Hope you all have a good day !!!! Going to get smoe coffee myself ,., Yep Jim it's the one with the turban fella sippng coffee I picked up the kit at a garage sale . Ray the soup turned out pretty good . But the coffee is Maxwell House Lite !

jeffrey-wimberly

10-02-2008, 12:47 PM

Good morning.

It's 55 and clear. The high today should be in the mid 80's. It will be clear with lots of sunshine.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/2/2008

Wind Chill: 55°F
Humidity: 85%
Dew Point: 51°F

So Far Today
High: 60°F
Low: 55°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE

Today High: 85 Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s. West winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 55 Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 50s. Northwest winds around 5 mph in the evening becoming northeast after midnight.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010119.jpg

tompm

10-02-2008, 01:38 PM

Good morning folks

It was 53 F as I headed out this morning. High today will be around 67 F with sun. I need to mow the lawn but I can’t until it dries out from the storms the last few days.

No modeling. We had Cub Scouts last night. We did popcorn fundraising training and I worked with our Tiger Cubs on their Bobcat requirements.

Today my daughter has a volleyball game. This one is supposed to be a benchmark for them as they are taking on one of the powerhouses in local High School volleyball. Supposedly the Middle School teams are very good also, so we will see how Drexel Hill Middle School 7th grade does against Garnet Valley Middle School 7th grade.

I hope everybody has a good day.

vato loco

10-02-2008, 02:17 PM

Hey GUYS!

Sorry for being away:( I've been tired lately and the will to type my life's adventures weren't on the priority list, rest was!:D I'm Back now well rested and ready to whine:DLOL's

So what have I been up to lately:confused: Hmmmmm:rolleyes: Lets see.....
Go to the park to layout fields and do general Maint. The Kid's are worse this season with messes and unneed damage. So our fixing and repairs have increased. Then I head to the school to watch my son pratice Footyball for 2 1/2 hours then head home with my son and cook dinner and do some chores!

My son Ryan's football career is of and running after a shakey start. Two words that should never be used together or in the same sentence is, "Organized & Sports"!:mad: I my 41 years I have never witnessed any sports program that was ORGANIZED!:mad:

My son is new at the sport and after this past tuesdays game where they actually played him, he came off the field saying, "he loved it, more fun than vidio games, and he want's to be a football player when he grows up!":) Now this is after losing to a team 62-0!:eek: The other team was huge 200+ pounds each and everyone of them:eek: now this is 6-8 grade kids?:confused: his opener game the week before was a sloder at 42-0. His school is new and this is a new team of kids most of them weighing at the most 140 lbs .going against kids of other schools with kids averaging 200+ lbs.
I seen kid (so called 8th graders:confused:) 6' tall 300lbs if not more on the field:eek: Most of the other teams are made up of 2/3rds 8 graders and a third 7th and 6th graders mixed in. Ryans team is 2/3rd 6th graders with 1/3 of them 7th and 8th graders mixed in.......= losing season!:( The teams coach really trys but I'm not sure if he truely knows what he is doing:confused::( But long as my son likes it and he is happy playing and doesn't get dicouraged then I'm happy:D "GO BOBCATS!"

As for my Lawn service the Wet Season has ended way sooner than it should normally and fall weather is setting in quick. with that said the cutting is slowing down some and coupled with the high gas prices and sagging economy......People are holding on to what they got more tightly than ever! so we'll see what's next!

Well got to go..........:)

pcarrell

10-02-2008, 04:10 PM

Mornin' all!

Sorry, I've been AWOL too!

Been busy being a full time pastor, full time phone company guy (that'll end soon) and a full time student.

Been praying for you all though.

rhoward

10-02-2008, 05:02 PM

Mornin' everyone!

Philip life does that from time to time. Personally full time retirement is way to busy for me at times..........

Sun is trying to peek through here in the Finger Lakes this morning. The high has already arrived. It is 54°F outside. The weather people predicted a high of 52°. I am glad they are wrong for a change. I have a chimney sweep coming to clean and check my wood stove chimney this afternoon and if the sun holds in there I may start the Fall trimming of shrubbery. Couple of hedges that have really grown with the warm, wet summer. I often keep putting it off and then they are covered in white stuff so i can't do them. Did that last year, so I think I best clip them this year.

Hopefully I will get to do some work on the layout as well today./ I also have to prepare a presentation for our local NMRA Meet in a couple of weeks. The presentation is called "The Care and Feeding of the Tortoise". Paul the meet will be not too far from you. It is in Oakfield, NY - my old stomping grounds when I taught in Elba way back when. More info: http://www.lsdnmra.org/

I did enjoy the dinner and lecture last night. Every now and then it is great to be in the company of people whose minds are way beyond your own. Most of the people who were at the dinner/reception were college students and professors. Only 3 people from The MLK Committee were there. Two of us are local retired teachers and one is a secretary at the college. It is nice to be included in events like this, it keeps my mind sharper and makes me give thought to some deep subjects.

Have a great day!

(edit) Chimney Sweep was just here. Says the chimney is safe and sound. I should be able to stay warm this Winter.

UP2CSX

10-02-2008, 08:58 PM

Jeffrey, you should be good for NASCAR if you can drive like you did with no shoes!

Chris, good to see you again. Grade school football is always sort of an unorganized mess but the important thing is that your son still likes it. If he makes it on the high school team, he'll start learning some fundamentals that are escaping him now. The kids playing now are sure way bigger than when I played. I'm 5'8" and was about 135 when I was playing (offense, of course, not defense) and I can remember some pretty big kids chasing me when I had the ball but nothing like you describe. No rain here at all so even the trees are dropping their leaves. If the economy continues the way it is, I will have to reevaluate having lawn service next year too. I'm sure hoping things get better before I have to make that decision.

Phillip, nice to see you too and I'm glad to hear you're keeping busy. As Ray always says, retirement is a full-time job too so I expect you'll still be just as busy even without a "real" job.

Ray, I've got a bunch of pruning to do also that I've been putting off until the cooler weather. It's finally just warm here instead of unbearably hot so I need to spend some time this weekend with the hedge trimmers and chain saw. I have some Mimosa trees that have gotten so big that they are almost up to the house from the woods. Those things grow like weeds so I'm going to cut them all back this year.

Looks like the market is nervous about the "bailout" bill with the market down 376 right now. I can't believe the Senate would take a $700 billion bill, pile on another $200 billion in pork barrel spending, and then send it back to the House. I called my congressman and asked him to vote against it. Almost all the things that will really help, like increasing FDIC insurance and changing the mark to market accounting rules, can be done by just a signature from the head of the FDIC and the SEC. Almost all the rest will reward bad decisions. We are going to suffer no matter what we do and I'd like to see us all suffer equally.

The "cold" front is now gone somewhere up by Ray's house since it's 89 degrees again after a high of 88 yesterday. It did get down to 54 last night and actually felt a little chilly in my shorts. :)

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-03-2008, 11:04 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

10-03-2008, 11:29 AM

Jeffrey, you should be good for NASCAR if you can drive like you did with no shoes!
The walking braces are like very heavy boots but with no toes. The bottoms of them are over 2 inches thick. The right one is thicker than that because my right leg is an inch and a half shorter than the left.

Good morning.

It's 62 and clear. The high is expected to be in the mid 80's and it'll be clear with plenty of sunshine.

I made the decision yesterday on the upgrade of my DCC system. Today I'm ordering a Digitrax DCS50 and having it sent overnight mail. The Bachmann system will be going into mothballs should it be needed again. Speaking of which, I have a brand new Bachmann EZ-Command system that's still in it original plastic packaging. It's the transformer, controller, documentation and DVD. Anybody need one? I'll also be stripping the decoders from a couple of Bachmann locos today. I have a couple of Athearn locos waiting for cheap decoders.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/3/2008

Wind Chill: 62°F
Humidity: 79%
Dew Point: 55°F

So Far Today
High: 65°F
Low: 62°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE

Today High: 85 Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 80s. Southwest winds around 5 mph.

Tonight Low: 62 Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 60s. South winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010108-2.jpg

Secondhandmodeler

10-03-2008, 01:43 PM

Good morning folks. The traintastic week continues! I am off to Duluth for our 'anniversary' trip! We will be riding behind a restored Soo Pacific while we admire what nature has to offer in Fall. We are also going to the railroad museum. I know my wife will be bored out of her mind, but it's a small price for her to pay for my happiness. ;) This is payback for all of the Nascar races we've been to. I'll have to make sure it isn't ALL about trains. Maybe we'll have to go shopping or something!

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I know I will!

tompm

10-03-2008, 02:00 PM

Good morning folks

It was 53 F this morning on its way to 70 F.

No trains last night. My daughter’s volleyball game was exciting. Things started off with a change in time. Her game was scheduled for 4:30 PM but it was moved up to 3:30 PM. I did not find out until 3:15 PM so I was late getting there. Apparently the bus bringing the other school’s 8th grade team got lost and was late getting to her school. The other team was very good and well coached. My daughter’s team won the first game 25-23. They got whopped in the second 25-13. The sudden death game was exciting and ended with my daughter’s school winning 17-15. My daughter played all three games. She scored several points on volleys and had a few saves. Next game is Tuesday against Beverly Hills Middle School which is Drexel Hill Middle School’s cross town rival and the other middle school in our school district.

This weekend is nuts. Tomorrow and Sunday we have Cub Scout Popcorn Show and Sells at a local hardware store. My son is working both days. My FIL wants to take my daughter out shopping for her birthday. He has been trying all week since her birthday on Monday but volleyball games and practices, music lessons, and school stuff have prevented it. We also need to do the grocery shopping.

I will be happy if I get a chance to look at the trains this weekend.

I hope everybody has a good day.

rhoward

10-03-2008, 03:21 PM

Mornin' everyone!

So far it has been sunny here in the Finger Lakes this morning..... Currently 48°F with a predicted high of 52°F. Fall is definitely here.

I will be spending a good chunk of the day trimming a hedge, raking up the left overs, bringing in fall veggies (winter squash, peppers, and a some late string beans) from the garden, and cutting up a few smallish tree limbs that have been dropped off for my wood pile. If I get that all done today, I plan to spend the rest of the day playing with the trains.

Have a great day everyone!

OldGettysk

10-03-2008, 03:21 PM

Morning All ! Cool and brisk 47 going up to 53 with a mix of rain and sun here on the Niagara Frontier Have to get going and help a crying beagel so hope you all have a nice day !!!

Steve B

10-03-2008, 04:15 PM

Sunny here but a cold wind is a blowing.

got to work and a work mate collapsed in front of me, had to go to hospital poor lad, not a clue what happened but he was out for 20 min's vomiting.

And tonight it's Fireworks,,, the biggest firework comp in the UK at southport, six teams are after the title over the next three nights, 8pm and 9.15pm.

Chris Hang in there, the grass will be back

jeffrey-wimberly

10-03-2008, 06:16 PM

Just ordered my Digitrax Zephyr and some decoders. The package will be here Monday.

UP2CSX

10-03-2008, 07:26 PM

Jeffry, maybe those NASCAR driver should try your boot. :) I have the Digitraxx DCS 50 also and it was a nice improvement over the Bachmann E-Z Command. Not overly complicated but enough to do all those neat CV adjustments to locomotives you can't do with the Bachmann. The only problem is that there are so many adjustments you can make, especially with sound equipped locos, you can sit there and fool around for an hour with one locomotive.

Steve, I hope your colleague is OK. It kind of sound like my Meniere's attacks. I can get spinning vertigo and be on the floor barfing in a minute. Luckily, I don't have these too often but they are not a lot of fun when I do get them. :( I assume the riot police are suitably equipped for the football matches. :eek:

Ray and Paul, it sure sounds like the cold and miserable days I remember from Cleveland in the fall. At least there's the hope of Indian Summer to look forward to before things really go down hill.

Corey, have a great time on the train ride and at the museum. If I was you, I'd find something a little more...exciting...to do with your wife other than just shop if you want to see her on a train again. :D

Tom, congrats on your daughter's team win. You have three time the energy I ever had though.

Still like summer down here in the Heart of Dixie. 88 degrees with a few cumulus clouds but at least the humidity is low. The downside is that it's sucking the moisture out of all the plants and we're getting brush fires breaking out all over the place. I think our arsonist from two years ago is back at work.

The House passed the bailout bill and now the market is starting to fall again after a rally before they passed the bill. Somehow I don't think we've come up with the final answer to our economic problems.

vato loco

10-03-2008, 08:23 PM

The House passed the bailout bill and now the market is starting to fall again after a rally before they passed the bill. Somehow I don't think we've come up with the final answer to our economic problems.

I'm starting to really not trust the fed. government!:mad: JMO, we're leaning way to much towards Socialism/Robinhoodism it's scary:mad: Jim, if the government/special intrest groups would just stand back and let our economy will fix it's self. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

jeffrey-wimberly

10-03-2008, 09:57 PM

They took a bad bill and made it worse.

Steve B

10-03-2008, 10:43 PM

doomsday is approaching i fear

just read this :)
The USGovt swallowed two really big ugly hairy hungry tapeworms, that will possibly each cost an extra $1 trillion in unplanned expenses. Actually, my guess is the figure might be conservative. A year ago, when clowns like Bernanke and harlots on Wall Street were estimating the entire mortgage fiasco would result in $100 to $200 billion losses, my figure was $1.5 to $2.0 trillion. As the time bombs go off, they will do so in dribs & drabs, actually giant dribs & giant drabs.

RexHea

10-03-2008, 10:47 PM

Good Afternoon Fellows!
I'm back from roughing it in the wilds. Ken, I actually had to start the campfire by hand (well sort-of, fireplace starter:o:rolleyes:). The weather was excellent and the park was quiet with only four other campers there. I got the pups swimming and they had a ball...didn't want to come out of the water. We took them on a nature trail walk and it was stop, smell, go 5 feet, stop, smell... They tree'd bears and tigers and lions and ...:D

Jim/Chris/Steve/Jeff: I think we need a bailout to refurbish our layouts. Dang, if California can ask for $7 billion, why can't we.

Remember the pups up in my arms. Can't do that now!:)

UP2CSX

10-03-2008, 11:41 PM

Just think, if the bailout bill hadn't passed, the market might have closed down 157 points! Chris, you are absolutely right. If the government just got out of the way and let the weak fail so the strong could make the weak assets productive, we'd have more pain in the short run but a lot stronger economy in the long run. Imagine going to dentist and having the choice of getting the Novocaine 1 mm at a time or getting the needle in and out as quickly as possible. I'll take the short amount of pain any day.

I agree with Rex. We should start a model railroad trust and then apply to the Treasury Department for grants since all of us buying some nice, new locomotives would help the national economy. Wait, that won't help, they're all made in China. :) Those pups hardly deserve that name any longer, Rex. Glad you had a good time. Except for the lack of rain, it's hard to ask for nicer weather than we've had down here.

Steve, the next shoe to drop is the credit card market. When that occurs, your source will have hugely underestimated the exposure. If just 10% of Americans don't pay their credit card debt, someone's going to lose about $5 trillion, which is on top of all the other "toxic" debt we have. I don't know that doomsday is coming but the economy as we have understood it since 1933 is going to undergo some drastic changes.

vato loco

10-04-2008, 12:09 AM

If they bailout the banks and wall street.....I WANT A BAILOUT TOO! I only need $100k to retool my lawn service! Scratch that, I want $150K Retool and a paid vacation for my family and me!

Rex, Those dogs are good looking!

vato loco

10-04-2008, 01:38 AM

BTW> some pic's of ryans first game! the second game it was dark and the pic's didn't turn out so well! His third game is this tueday:D

rhoward

10-04-2008, 03:50 AM

Howdy and a good evening to everybody!

I spent almost the whole Durned Day hacking away at the stupid hedge between my property and the neighbors.... Man that thing grew this year. I'm pretty sure I "trimmed" it sometime in the last 2 or 3 years!?! I have to talk to my neighbor about cutting it down and replanting it next year. It has gradually gotten so big I have trouble reaching the top middle of it. I did spend about a half hour gathering the winter squash and some peppers from the garden. It is a small backyard garden but I usually get more squash than I did this year and we had a good growing season. I will hit it with some garden lime this fall as I think there is so much compost added over the years that it needs it. The last few years have been down.

Some of you guys might like a shirt that I ordered last week from despair.com.

http://site.despair.com/despairwear/government/?sort=collection

Sums the subject up for me.....:eek::rolleyes::p

I have decided to start a Country Band locally. I'm going to name us: Joe Six -pack and the Soccer Moms....... (Sorry, I'm just in one of those moods..)

pcarrell

10-04-2008, 04:32 AM

Phillip, nice to see you too and I'm glad to hear you're keeping busy. As Ray always says, retirement is a full-time job too so I expect you'll still be just as busy even without a "real" job.

Ahhh, a real job.......like, on call 24/7.....like always being there for folks......like being the guy who's there to help when it all breaks loose........like.......WAIT A MINUTE! This sounds a lot like the job I have now!

pcarrell

10-04-2008, 04:39 AM

As far as the "Bailout" thing is concernered, I'm still trying to figure out why it's now the governments responsability to bailout private businesses for poor business decisions. I don't recall that being the "norm". And I'm trying to figure out why the U.S. Government feels the need to go into the real estate business. Seems risky with how the market has been as of late. They must know something I don't..........

grande man

10-04-2008, 07:56 AM

As far as the "Bailout" thing is concernered, I'm still trying to figure out why it's now the governments responsability to bailout private businesses for poor business decisions.

I think that's why folks are in an uproar about it, it's normally NOT their responsibility. Of course, since they stuck their nose where it shouldn't have been in regard to Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac and mandated some of the risky loans that brought us to this place, I guess they have some responsibility to "fix" it with our money. :(

The whole thing is a bitter pill to those of us who have worked hard and paid our bills.

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-04-2008, 10:02 AM

vato loco

10-04-2008, 12:45 PM

jeffrey-wimberly

10-04-2008, 01:47 PM

Good morning.

It's clear and 65 degrees. The high should be in the mid 80's and it will be partly cloudy.

My schedule for today: As little as I can possibly get away with. I woke up with a really bad backache so I don't foresee much being done on the layout today.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/4/2008

Wind Chill: 65°F
Humidity: 88%
Dew Point: 62°F

So Far Today
High: 69°F
Low: 64°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE

Today High: 88 Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 80s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 62 Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 60s. South winds 5 to 10 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010143-1-1.jpg

Steve B

10-04-2008, 03:30 PM

Afternoon all,,, pouring down, cold, windy, kids arguing,,, but earlier we had a great time at the manchester MR show

Ken Psttttt,,, i got some great CSX shots,, WPF

Rex Look's like the vacation was a fun one, the dog's are growing FAST.

pcarrell

10-04-2008, 03:38 PM

Morning all!

Got lots to do today. Gotta teach tonight, and have lots of schoolwork to catch up on too. Somewhere in there I have to go to my son's basketball practice. I don't like to miss that.

tompm

10-04-2008, 04:02 PM

Good morning folks

It was 55 F as we headed out to setup our Cub Scout Popcorn Show and Sell location. High today will be 68 F.

My son has popcorn duty from noon to 2 this afternoon so we will be heading over there soon. Afterwards we may go to the King of Prussia Mall. The new Lego store is running a promotion where they are building a 8 foot Yoda in one of the courts. The kids get to build parts of the figure.

No telling if I will get any train time in.

I am glad to see someone is having a good football season.

I hope everybody has a good day.

rhoward

10-04-2008, 04:05 PM

Ray, if you trim your hedges every three weeks and don't let them get out of hand. Your work load will go down big time:):D

If I did that I would have to get snow off them for half the year........ I sure wouldn't want to have to spend a day cutting and raking every three weeks. I'm retired, remember? ;);):rolleyes: Actually this is a row of Hemlock that were cut back to make a hedge. I do the trimming once a year as per advise from local landscapers. Trouble is they have grown over the last 30+ years in width as well as height. I think it is probably time to see if they can be chainsawed down to a reasonable size or if that would not be possible, to just remove them and plant something different there. I'll be talking to my neighbor to see what his thoughts are.

Mornin' everyone!

Another sunny day here in the Finger Lakes. Currently 54°F with a high of 57°F later this afternoon. A frost advisory has been posted for tonight even though the predicted low here is supposed to be 42°. I have to rake up the trimmings today, so I will get a few more odds and ends out of the garden as well.

In hobby news, my AP Certificate for Model Engineer - Electrical arrived in the mail yesterday! Finally! It has been a comedy of errors getting this back to me, missed deadlines, misplaced materials, border crossings, etc. None was of my doing, BTW. But it is here so all is well. I have been asked to bring it to our Division Fall Meet in a couple weeks for "show and tell". I will be giving a presentation on "The Care and Feeding of the Tortoise" at the meet.

Best get to work! Have a great day everyone!

OldGettysk

10-04-2008, 04:33 PM

Good Morning ! Another nice day here on the Niagara Frontier. A bit chilly this morning had to throw on the blanket . It's suppose to get colder tonight but we don't have frost warnings here , Guess it pays off to live between two Great Lakes and a River sometimes . Not much else going on . Wife works weekend now so no place to go . More time to spend doing train stuff . After my laundry list of chores . Gotta get going so hope you all have a good day . Ray congratulations a on getting your certificate .

Trussrod

10-04-2008, 06:22 PM

Good Morning Everybody,
The weather here in Coarsegold, Calif. was a cool 56*F this morning and we had rain last night, .35" so it wet things a bit to begin with. The only problem the roof has a leak
and it dripped in through the cealing and right on my computer chair. That's better than elsewhere such as the computer desk or any or the equipment though. I been trying to fix this leak in the past as I thought it was from the swamp cooler which is very close above as the pan was leaking and causing the same type of leak. I was hoping this wouldn't happen but now I have to deal with it and correct it so the heaver rains don't cause a flood. Hope the train room/garage is Ok?

Take care all and have a good day.

UP2CSX

10-04-2008, 07:57 PM

Afternoon, everyone.

Ray and Chris, both nice t-shirts. I'll bet a lot of that kind of thing is going to get sold, assuming andyof us have any money left six months from now.

The basic problem in this whole crisis is greed, starting with the home buyer who bought a house they knew they couldn't afford right up to the top levels of government who were allowing brokerages to create worthless debt instruments. I have a great Power Point presentation I got from my brother that explains the situation better than anything else I've ever seen. It has a little too much profanity for a family website so I need to get it cleaned up and post it. When the post-mortem is done on this whole mess, there will be plenty of blame to go around.

Ray, I have some kind of hedge that grows about 14 feet a day. I trim it every month and the dang thing is about 8 feet tall again. I'm going to chain saw that thing down this year and not let it ever get above two feet again. Glad to hear you finally got your certificate. I'd sure like to hear your Tortoise talk in person.

Phillip, I kind of thought to myself, I'm really glad he got the pastor's job but isn't he kind of jumping into the fire from the frying pan? :) At least it will be for a higher purpose than telephones.

David, glad to hear you got some rain, even with the roof leak. As long as you can get rain and no lightning in the foothills, that's always a god thing for getting the fuel moisture up a little. As far as leaks, I learned long ago to call a roof. The leak was never where I thought it was and I would was hours patching things that weren't leaking and sometimes even creating new leaks. I've discovered that roofing is not one of my talents.

Another warm, sunny fall day down here with a temperature of 86. Just got my replacement crossing gate and I'll see if I can install it andnot break the gate linkage this time. Trouble is, I now have two of these when I only need one. Oh well, with my skills, I'll probably need so I have one that will eventually work. :)

pcarrell

10-05-2008, 04:12 AM

Phillip, I kind of thought to myself, I'm really glad he got the pastor's job but isn't he kind of jumping into the fire from the frying pan? :) At least it will be for a higher purpose than telephones.

Fire....bad! I'm most likely going to be leaving the phone company within the next two months......sooner if possible. The church knows this and is working with me on it, so it's cool. It's just going to take a long time to train my replacement. There are people at the phone company who cover one aspect or another of service, but I cover all areas of service (equipment, cabling, local & long distance line service, voice mail systems, 800 numbers, conference bridges, etc.), inventory, order processing, project management (inside), and a bunch of other stuff. I've been at the phone company since the dawn of time.....or so it seems!

UP2CSX

10-05-2008, 05:10 AM

Phillip, nothing worse than being indispensable. The interesting part is that, after two months, they'll be saying "Phillip Who?". :) It's amazing how quickly they can just do the job poorly that you were doing well but the company still continues to operate.

You know, I've often wondered they we think of Hell as hot but where exactly does it say that in the Bible? I don't want to get into any religious debates but it seems to me it could just as easily be like the Antarctic. I've often though the worse Hell you could be in would be on a nice tropical beach where you lay in the sun and the weather never changes, the wind never changes, and the ocean never changes...for eternity. :eek:

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-05-2008, 11:18 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

10-05-2008, 01:12 PM

Good morning.

It's 64 and clear. The high should be in the upper 80's and it will be partly cloudy.

Yesterday I picked up several more items. 12 Scene Scapes (Bachmann) trees, 6 conifer, 6 spruce, A shell 3-dome tank car (Bachmann), a MKT single dome tank car (Athearn), a Boise Cascade all door boxcar (Bachmann), a WM 50' boxcar (Bachmann), two 2 bay coal hoppers with coal loads (Athearn), a 50' BNSF covered hopper (Athearn), a 50' D&RGW gon (Athearn), a CSX 4 bay hopper with coal load (Bachmann), a 40' Rock Island boxcar (Bachmann), a Santa Fe wide vision caboose (IHC), a Santa Fe wide vision caboose (Bachmann)a bottle of WS fine gray ballast, a bottle of WS green blended turf, 2 WS Scenic Accents packs (A1871 Welders and accessories and A1851 Road crew details), and a bay window caboose (Athearn).

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/5/2008

Wind Chill: 64°F
Humidity: 82%
Dew Point: 59°F

So Far Today
High: 68°F
Low: 64°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE

Today High: 88 Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 80s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 65 Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 60s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010141-1.jpg

RexHea

10-05-2008, 06:04 PM

vato loco

10-05-2008, 06:12 PM

After noon Guys!

Spent most of the morning cleaning fish tank filters:eek: My sons turtle tank was bad followed by his frog tank! the little filter his turtle tank had wasn't enought to keep his turtles water clean so I got two whisper in-tank filters for them! the two red eared sliders were cute and small when we got them but they got way larger than I thought they would!:confused: I figured they would have been in the pet cemetary by now:confused: Well, they are clean and fed and for thanks the mean one bite me while i was cleaning the tank:mad: I nick named him SOUP!:D If he only knew;)Mmmmmmmm:pLOLs

My tank is doing good, not much new done to it, due to cash flow issues!:(

The weather down here got warm mid 80's and humid again, the rain chances have gone up for Monday and Tuesday to 30% not a great chance but we're on the board:o:):rolleyes: and thats enough for me;):)

My son has a game tuesday evening, I hope the next team is close to their size;) ;)Hate to see another 62-zip again:o

well got to go and clean the fish tank glass now:D

Trussrod

10-05-2008, 08:13 PM

Good [Morning] Afternoon all,
It was a nice cool morning here and the rain was nice too just not enough of it, I guess I should be thankful about only a slight rain with a leak in the area of the swamp cooler, hope I have it fixed?

Well after a long delay work has agained resumed on the C & S West Short Line RR. I'm using a black marker to draw the track lines on the light brown sound board. Not as clean and neat as I would like but it will work I guess.

I'm working on the Serpha Iron and Copper Works [SI&CW] sidding which is elevated a half inch or 3.5' scale in HO, above the main line in front of it plus a second siding for the loading of Oil & Kerosene, can't remember the facility name. It will have over head transfers lines to the outside siding for loading as the tanks will sit along side of the SI&CW. This is just to the South of dry creek wash and the trestle that will cross it. Looking down on all of this from above is McKlear Coal Mine, one of the mines on Rich Hill at 10 to 11" in elevation above the lower main and accessed off the upper main line which is 9" higher than the lower main comming from the Horse Meadow Depot Area.

Well one step at a time so back to getting some ties glued down in place and making the raised area for SI&CW which will have a long wood retaining wall in front of this raised section for added interest, it is 3.5' scale higher than the main line as Paul Scoles has on his very impressive layout, that's where I got the idea. Very good instructional Videos I might add.

Take care and enjoy the rest of the weekend and the week ahead, I know I'm going to now that I'm back working on the layout!

rhoward

10-05-2008, 09:32 PM

Afternoon everyone!

This is the first chance to post I have had today. Had to at church very early to set up the MLK Display for the Mission Fair this morning. It was a time to both honor all the local groups that our church's mission committee helps to fund. Everything from the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Habitat for Humanity, Court Watch, Boys and Girls Club and about 20 more were there to tell what they do in the community. As soon as I got picked up from that and home I set to work on the lawn as that had to get at least partly done before I could rake up the clippings from the Dratted hedge and make a pile by the street. After all that, I decided to take a break and have an apple for snack. About half way through the apple, something went crunch in my mouth........ Figures I, "D@%% I just lost a filling. Nope. Whole tooth. I had a bicuspid that over 30 years ago broke biting down on a "pitted" date that wasn't. I say had because it is now sitting on the counter by the phone. That tooth had been partially pulled way back, then rebuilt several times, finally had a crown, and then not one but 2 different root canals done on it. I have spent at least $6,000 over the years on that thing. Tomorrow I'll call the dentist. It doesn't hurt at all just feels funny.

Now I'm going to go play trains!!!!

BTW, Rex, A long time ago someone told me that if you want to know just how important you really are, fill a pail up about 3/4 of the way with water. Then stick your arm in the pail up to your elbow, yank it back out real fast. Then watch how long the hole stays there.....
Have a good one!

leghome

10-06-2008, 01:22 AM

What a day this has been. Glendia had to work today from noon til six so's I had my orders to prime and paint two of the walls in the living room. Now this room is 18X28 with two door ways and a large window so I probably primed and painted two 18 foot walls today. No wonder I am tired. We painted one of the 18' walls a dark medium blue and the rest of the walls are a light to medium tan. A very nice contrast tween the two colors and she is happy thank goodness. I was finishing up the last section when she got home from work. Now all we have to do is strip the wallpaper off of the last wall and prime and paint it. So I already know what the game plan is for tomorrow. I think I have talked into letting me go north and retrieve my new snow blade for the Kubota before we tackle the rest of the stripping and painting. We started this morning at 9AM and I fisnihed up at 6:30PM so it has been a pretty long day for me.

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-06-2008, 10:16 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

10-06-2008, 12:12 PM

Good morning.

It's 73 and clear but like all good things it won't stay that way. The high should be in the mid 80's and it will be mostly cloudy with a small chance of thunderstorms.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/6/2008

Heat Index: 77°F
Humidity: 85%
Dew Point: 67°F

So Far Today
High: 75°F
Low: 72°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 11mph SE

Today High: 85 Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 68 Partly cloudy until late night then becoming mostly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 60s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010084.jpg

tompm

10-06-2008, 01:21 PM

Good morning folks

It was 51 F this morning. High today will be 68 F. There are Frost Advisory posted for north and west of us. It looks like it is getting time to winterize the fish pond.

We had a great weekend with the Cub Scout Popcorn Show and Sells as we sold almost $900.00. Next weekend will be the crazy one as we have three locations. The third got added Saturday when the church that sponsors us offered us space at their White Elephant Sale. Not much else happened. We did the grocery shopping.

I never even got a chance to look at a train this weekend. Maybe I will get some modeling in during the week.

I hope everybody has a good day.

Secondhandmodeler

10-06-2008, 01:40 PM

Good morning folks. I'm back from my traintastic weekend! I don't think we could have scripted the weekend any better. The train ride was excellent, as was the Railroad museum. Though she wouldn't admit it, I think my wife had a really good time as well. She took the camera out of my hands and went to town at the museum. The leaves on the hillside over looking Lake Superior were stunning. They weren't quite peaked yet, but it was nice to see anyway. To top it all off, when I got home, I found that the Tv I'm waiting for to drop in price went down six hundred dollars. I may need to go shopping this weekend!

I'll post a few pictures when I get home tonight.

I hope everyone has a great day!

OldGettysk

10-06-2008, 02:48 PM

Good morning ! It's sunny and cool here in Western New York . Just another Fall day . Looks like were in for our first frost of the season so I'll have to bring in or cover the plants I guess . Nothing much to report so I'll be going . Hope you all have a wonderful day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

rhoward

10-06-2008, 03:32 PM

Good Morning all!

I'm sitting here waiting for a call from my dentist. I may be able to get in to see him this afternoon...... (Gee I can't wait!) Better sooner though I guess. Lucky I have no nerve endings left near that tooth. What does the Tooth Fairy currently leave? Anyone know!

Like Paul said, sunny and cool here in the finger lakes. Currently 52°F with a high of 57° possible later. We are also under a frost advisory for tonight although the low is predicted as 37°. I would cover my pole beans which are still in blossom if I had a way. I will through a tarp over my peppers and zuchinni.

Hope all of you have a great day!

rhoward

10-06-2008, 07:52 PM

Howdy!

Just got home from the dentist. My old Bicuspid that has given me problems is now history...... Doc is going to do crowns on the tooth in front and in back of the one pulled and then insert a metal bar between them to hold the teeth in place. He is also going to do all this at his cost. Very nice of him since I don't have dental insurance!

Think I am going to skip the meeting I am supposed to be at tonight.

Steve B

10-06-2008, 09:22 PM

Ray Thats very good of him to do it for free,,, was there any gold in the tooth he took out by any chance. you would not believe it but a UK dentist is advertising just such a service, gold capped or crowned teeth drilled out and nice white composite fillings in, for free but the only snag he get's to keep the gold,,, and by the way the paper fiat currency is going down against gold he'll be a winner !!!

The wife is wearing her heart monitor now for 24 hours, and we are on electric toaster number three in a week, she took one back broken today and swapped it for another, you guessed it, it's broken so i just changed it for another and yet again the b****Y thing is broken so she's gone off to declare war on the retailers, the heart monitor will get a good work out tonight.

rhoward

10-06-2008, 10:11 PM

Ray Thats very good of him to do it for free,,, was there any gold in the tooth he took out by any chance. you would not believe it but a UK dentist is advertising just such a service, gold capped or crowned teeth drilled out and nice white composite fillings in, for free but the only snag he get's to keep the gold,,, and by the way the paper fiat currency is going down against gold he'll be a winner !!!

Ha, nope! Besides, all he got was the remains of the roots......... The crown was porcelain and what was left of the fillings in the tooth were plain old amalgam, and not much of that. I think he is just being nice (I taught his daughter the Music Teacher many years ago). We also go to the same church and I taught with his wife. Besides that I have already spent over $2000 at his office on that tooth. Even so it will still cost me between $1200 and $1500 (estimate) for the work.

Hope your wifes 24 hour monitor test goes well for her.

Trussrod

10-06-2008, 10:13 PM

Good Morning/Afternoon to all from Coarsegold, Calif,
It was a cool 54*F here under Sunny skyes with a high of 76*F and looks like it will be a nice day.

Well I finally did a fair amount of work on the C & S West SL yesterday. I'll post this information and pictures under my continuing articles on the C & S West SL RR. Had a lot of enjoyment and a eeling of accomplishent as I got going again. Hopeing to have the main line trackage done by Christmas this year 2008!

Ray, How are the new switch stands working out for you? Are they sturdy enough to actually mov the points as required and withstand the gaff of being handeled in the process of doing that? Your feed back would be appreciated.

Have a good day to all.

rhoward

10-06-2008, 11:35 PM

Ray, How are the new switch stands working out for you? Are they sturdy enough to actually mov the points as required and withstand the gaff of being handeled in the process of doing that? Your feed back would be appreciated.

Hi David! The Details West Stands don't actually throw the points. The installed Tortoise Machine does that. By Manual Switch, I meant that the prototype was hand thrown. Sorry if I misled anyone. I have reworked them to have the signal turn 1/4 of a turn when the points are thrown by the Torti. I got the directions here: http://www.westportterminal.de/switchstands.html It is a fun but tedious project.

One of mine is in the photo I entered in the Sept. Photo Contest. The switch stand target moves as the turnout is thrown. Here is another of the stand.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h259/slow_rr/SLOW_RR/Switcher01w.jpg

leghome

10-07-2008, 03:43 AM

I picked up the walnut from the log I had milled today. Three layers of walnut 1 1/8th inch thick and about 4' X 8' in size and it only cost me 40 bucks. Some where near 144 board feet of walnut for $40 such a bargain I gotsed. All I have to do now is let it dry for 6 months to a year and then to the kiln to finish the drying.
Also went and picked up the snow blade for the new Kubota this afternoon so I am ready for that nasty white stuff. YUCKY YUCKY YUCKY
Finished stripping the wallpaper off of the 28 X 18 living room and got the painting all done and the furniture rearranged to Glendia's liking I hope. I think I will head to bed and get a GOOD nites sleep I hope.

RexHea

10-07-2008, 05:10 AM

Ray, welcome to the club of the toothless. I know your glad that's behind you. I'm just now starting to get use to my partial. Thursday, I go in for another impression and then the partial will be reworked to better conform to my now reshaped gums.
Tooth Fairy! Well, I have heard that tough times has fallen on our sweet little pixie and she has applied for a government subsidy. BTW: Glad you got your AP certificate all right. Talk about mistakes, my Golden Spike had both my first and last name misspelled and they were hand written.

Corey: I'm envious:p:D

Larry: If that is black walnut, it is worth some big bucks;). Several years ago some poachers went into my Great Grandfathers place in Southern Indiana and stole most of the huge black walnuts. I had know idea then, but several were estimated worth over $15,000 when milled.

Steve: I sure will be glad when things come together for you and the family. You guys have some pioneering to do.:)

UP2CSX

10-07-2008, 06:51 AM

Evening, everyone.

Just too much stuff going on today including trying to fix my hacked Yahoo account. Just have time to duck in and say hello and hope things are going as well as they can for everyone.

AndrewC

10-07-2008, 09:19 AM

Good morning all. This is my first visit to the coffee shop. I'll have a quad-shot latte please. :D Failing that, a very large cup of Montana Huckleberry coffee.

Appropriate that I'm typing this while on a train between London and York. Not much modelling going on at the moment, but I did manage to give away my old garage. Put it on the 'net for 'free to a good home' and a nice chap dismantled it and took it away to be recycled as a storage shed. The last few panels disappeared yesterday. A new shed has been ordered and I will finally have my train refuge / man room by the end of October. Small by American and Canadian standards but pretty good size for the UK. (12' x 24') With a bit of luck I may actually have something moving by Christmas. This will be my first attempt at North American modelling.

Thanks again to Jim, (UP2CSX) for the assist and suggestions on the track plan.

Ray, I share your dental discomfort. Just cracked a tooth in half before I could get the crown done. :mad:

jeffrey-wimberly

10-07-2008, 11:41 AM

Good morning.

It's 79 and cloudy. The high today should be in the mid 80's and there's a good chance of rain.

Got my Digitrax system yesterday and I'm busy putting it through it's paces. I've already readdressed some of my locos and reconfigured the headlight on my Athearn F7 A-B set. Now it's a gyralight in forward and a steady light in reverse. I've also reset the starting voltage on one of my Atlas GP40's. It has a cannabilized decoder from a Bachmann DCC OnBoard GP40. I may get time today to install more decoders. I have a pile of DZ125's here that are in search of locos.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/7/2008

Heat Index: 83°F
Humidity: 82%
Dew Point: 72°F

So Far Today
High: 79°F
Low: 75°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 9mph SSW

Through 6 AM...isolated showers will continue to develop and move north at 15 knots across the coastal waters off the south central Louisiana coast. Expect additional development across the inland areas of southeast Texas and Louisiana later this morning.

Today High: 85 Mostly cloudy until late afternoon then becoming partly cloudy. A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. West winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 58 Partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening. Cooler. Lows in the upper 50s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010152-1.jpg

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-07-2008, 12:04 PM

OldGettysk

10-07-2008, 12:33 PM

Good Morning ! It's a bit cold out right now 34 degrees and a bit if frost on the ground . Took my Buddy out to to his potty and he didn't sniff around much . So he must be feeling it also . Ray the price we pay for the old choppers .Sometimes I thinks we should just go toothless . But then that two inch strip steak would have to be ground up and that would be tragic , Oh well gotta get going so hope you all have a nice day !!!!

tompm

10-07-2008, 01:52 PM

Good morning folks

It was a chilly 42 F as I hit the pavement this morning. High today will be 66 F.

Not much happened yesterday. Finished doing the outside Halloween decorations by hanging a couple of ghosts from the tree in the front yard. I had to go over to our storage bin and assemble some of the popcorn orders I need to fill for tomorrow night.

It is beginning to look like my train time will be limited until the popcorn sales settle down.

My daughter has a volleyball game after school today. It is against their biggest rival, the other middle school in the district.

I hope everybody has a good day.

rhoward

10-07-2008, 03:20 PM

Mornin' everyone!

Mouth feels fine this morning. Amazingly I have had no pain whatsoever. Guess all the nerves are long gone on that tooth. We got a frost last night so I will have to see if anything is left out in the garden. Also have to finish mowing the lawn today and picking up some of the clippings from the small hedge (by the house).

Andrew welcome to the coffee shop. Flo, put whatever he wants on my tab this morning. (and switch out the Latte stuff with some good dark roast black coffee.....)

I'll have some black dark roast coffee and a couple of poached eggs this morning Flo. Doc says not to eat anything crunchy for a while. I'll have to take a rain check on Tom's Chocolatey Caramel Crunch Popcorn he brought in (that stuff is decadent!).

Rex that is something about your Golden Spike. National prints them I think and then they go back to the Regional AP Chair for his signature. Do you have any AP Certificates? If so which ones?

See you all later.

RexHea

10-07-2008, 07:43 PM

Hi everyone! We are finally getting some rain and 73 deg after waiting ever since the cane stirred up things.

Ray, my Golden Spike was the printed form, but for some reason, the AP Chair didn't take the time to print my name by computer...just hand wrote it in...looks like...well, it is in a drawer under other things:mad:. Way back I had the hots for the AP and then I started tearing out, reworking, and expanding so much I put it on the back burner for awhile. I had the electrical and scenery near ready to go and dispatcher started, but I now would have to go back through it all. Maybe some day I'll get fired up again. If for no other reason, my personal satisfaction;).

Paul, 34 degrees!!! That makes me shake and I don't blame Buddy for not wanting to sniff around long.:D

Hi Andrew! Welcome to the chatter box:D. 12x24 is a good size to accomplish a lot of good model railroading.

Steve B

10-07-2008, 07:59 PM

Trussrod

10-07-2008, 08:18 PM

Good Morning/Afternoon Everyone,
It was a cool 50*F here in Coarsegold, Calif this morning under clear skys.

More work has been done on the C & S West SL getting the Serpha & Anglin sideings ties
glued down and a heavy wood retaining wall errected to prevent the enbankment from colapsing on the S&A upper sideing. Now I need to figure an easy way to make a ramp to climb the half inch difference. I'll post some pictures in my new post under Layouts & Planning.

Ray: It could have well been my misunderstanding about your intended use of the Switch
Stands. I was viewing them as I would view a Caboose Hobbies switch stand and because they are functional I figured your were too!? So it's probably more my error.

Rex: What is this Golden Spike award or thing your mentioning?

Andrew: Hello and welcome to the forum, a great bunch of guys and a couple of ladies.

Take care, and easy on the Throttle!

PNKFLOYD

10-07-2008, 10:34 PM

Hi Y'all!
Flo, please bring me a piece of apple pie and a cup of black coffee.
This is the first time I can slow down for days.
Looks like a lot of people have been busy the last few days, getting railroads and "outside " projects done.
I was looking for Chris on here. I was in the Tampa area over the weekend and drove through Spring Hill Sunday night on my way home.
I looked for Chris at the track crossing off highway 19, but the rain must have made him stay inside. I wanted to ask him if the "Pickled Parrot" was a popular establishment in Spring Hill or just the people from Wickee Wachee.
I cannot spell those indian names, much less pronounce them correctly!!

To the Alabama Rail Gang: please plan to make it to the Irondale Cafe site on the 18th. I need to put some faces to the names I see on the forum so often.

Flo, I'm going to pay my own bill today! :eek:
Jim or Rex can get it for me next time.
Mikey

AndrewC

10-07-2008, 11:42 PM

evening gents,
Andrew Welcome, have NX got it right on the old GNER yet, i liked GNER.

Well today we got a double whammy, first of all we have 146 staff going up the Swanee river in three week's, then we heard all temp workers are also going 150+ of them, and THEN we get letters asking for voluntary redundancies,,, up sh1t creek without a paddle best describes our business today. The order bank for new trucks is dying at an unbelievable speed
That is a big lump of Brown stuff Steve. Hope you manage to float to the top. I'm lucky and most of my work is government based and has to be done as per the ******* in Brussels, so I'm safe for the next 3 years at least.

NX is crap. Done them too many times recently. This time I ended up trying Grand Central for the first time. Not bad, Ex Virgin HST still with proper seats and tables, not the First Group cattle class plastic things. Decent wireless and a tolerable cup of java with a smiling pretty lady in the buffet car. £59 peak return as opposed to £122 on NX. Sadly it means hanging about the Maltings for 3 hours until my train tomorrow as the cheap tix are GC only. :D What a shame. With a bit of luck I will finish my meetings in time for a visit to the National Railway Museum as well.

RexHea

10-08-2008, 01:58 AM

David: The Golden Spike Award is given to members of the NMRA that have demonstrated a level of familiarity with the many areas of the hobby by completing listed tasks. It is more of an entry level award that probably 90% of this forum's members could qualify...if they would join NMRA.;):)
http://www.nmra.org/education/achievement/gold.html

Mikey: My plans for the 18th are still not clear. Right now, there are a lot of "if's".

UP2CSX

10-08-2008, 07:50 AM

Good early morning, everyone.

Geez, make sure you have all your Yahoo account information saved somewhere if something goes wrong. It's been three days of back and forth including sending in copies of my Alabama and California driver's licenses. They kept wanting to know what the answer to my "Secret Question" was without giving me any hint as to what the question was. Like I could remember that from 8 years ago. I finally got one guy today to tell me it was my S.O. badge number! I sent that back and told him I'd even send him a picture of my badge with the badge number on it if that would help. Still haven't heard. back. The only thing I can think of is that someone hacked my password and changed it since they are going through all this checking. It's all Sarah Palin's fault. :)

Rex, no "Ifs". You live way closer than me and I want to meet you.

Steve, sorry to hear the staff cuts are getting deeper. I don't see an end to this crisis soon and I'm afraid it's going to tough on everyone. I hope you're one of the survivors.

Ray, glad to hear your tooth is better but laying off the crunchy stuff for a while is a good idea.

Paul, I wouldn't want to take a leak outside if it was 34 either. :D

We finally got a whopping .12 inches of rain from a few showers earlier today. There's still some rain around but it's all to the east of us. At least this will settle the dust for a day or two.

The Asian markets are plunging again tonight and I fear tomorrow will be more of the same for the US markets. The Fed seems to be making things up as they go along. OTOH, if you ever wanted to buy a country, Iceland is officially bankrupt. I'm not kidding, look it up. Their eight banks make a lot of very risky investments in the European and US housing markets and the Iceland government used up all the cash in the treasury trying to keep them open. It all disappeared like water down a sewer. Iceland is now officially broke, all its bonds have been reduced to junk status, and they have no idea how they will pay for things like gasoline and fuel oil they need to import. The credit system is closed down and the only thing you can use to purchase anything is cash. A miniature version of what lies ahead for larger countries? We'll see. :(

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-08-2008, 11:01 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

10-08-2008, 11:18 AM

Good morning.

It's 62 and clear this morning. The high will be around 80 and it will be partly cloudy. It's definitely cooling off. That barbed wire fence between here and the north pole must have fallen down!

Got the new crossover put in yesterday. Today I'll be pouring the plaster in around it to lock it in place. It'll be a very thin mix at first so it'll reach into all the areas under the track then thicker as it nears the top. Also got to go see an individual who owes me a bunch of green backs. I should be able to squeeze 5 portraits of Ben Franklin out of that turnip. Other than that it should be another slow day like yesterday was.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/8/2008

Wind Chill: 61°F
Humidity: 72%
Dew Point: 52°F

So Far Today
High: 63°F
Low: 61°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 7mph NNW

Today High: 80 Mostly sunny. Highs around 80. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 52 Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 50s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010158.jpg

tompm

10-08-2008, 01:58 PM

Good morning folks

It looks like autumn is here. It was 41 F as I rolled out of the driveway. Our high will be 70 F with mostly sun.

Yesterday my daughter’s volleyball team had an up and down match. They won the first game 25 to 22, lost the second 25 to 12. The second wasn’t that close. They won the tiebreaker 15 to 4. One server on my daughter’s team had an awesome run and when she gave up the serve the score was 10 to 0. So Drexel Hill Middle School 7th grade volleyball team defeated Beverly Hills Middle School 7th grade to win the Upper Darby School District middle school bragging rights.

Not much else happened. I did not get any modeling in. It was one of those nights where I spent time helping the kids with homework, the wife with computer problems, etc. Before I knew it was bedtime.

Tonight we have Cub Scout den meetings.

I hope everybody has a good day.

rhoward

10-08-2008, 03:22 PM

Mornin everyone!

Another chilly but sunny day so far in the Finger Lakes. Currently 52°F with a high of 64°F. Some rain showers this evening and overnight but supposed to be sunny again tomorrow.... Yep I live in Camelot:rolleyes::D Garden is still around and with a warming trend over the next few days, I might actually get a couple more usable zucchini and some beans (Still in blossom). I haven't fired up the wood stove yet. I'm thinking about buying a couple more face cords of wood to be sure I have lots for the winter particularly considering the possibility of a colder than normal Winter and the economy.

My son was over yesterday to work on the boat trailer. Got a lot done. Hopefully he will pop over a couple of hours today before he goes to work and can get it done. Then we can get a crew and move the durn boat onto it and out of my yard......:(

Have a great day!

AndrewC

10-08-2008, 04:40 PM

good morning/afternoon all. Its a beautiful sunny day here in York. temp around the 15c (58f ish) mark, not bad for this time of year. Lucked out at work and have 3 hours to spare this afternoon so its off to the National Railway Museum. No coffee for me today Flo. Mine's a pint of Centurian's Ghost please. :) The sun is well and truly over the yard arm.

Take care all. We are living in interesting times. Anyone interested in some Icelandic Landbankii shares? They aren't perforated and are a bit rough, but you will get used to it soon enough. :D:D:D

Trussrod

10-08-2008, 05:21 PM

Well Good Morning to Everyone from Coarsegold, Calif,
It's almost 9:00 Am here and a cool 58*F and should get into the 70*s or above. It's nice to have some cooler weather for a change.

I didn't get to much more done on the layout yesterday but did check into a couple of things. I have glued down three sections of ties and even glued some switch ties down to position the curved switch at the beginning of the S&A sideings and main line.

Say Rex, thanks for the information on what the GSA Certificate is all about. To advanced for me, remember I'm still back into the old block system wireing and hand throws for the turnouts, I'd never make the grade, well maybe if I double headed?

Take care all and use those whistle signals so the rest of the crew knows what's going on, Ok?

Have an enjoyable day,
David

Trussrod

10-08-2008, 06:06 PM

Good Morning All,

I was just wondering about a forum member I hadn't seen on here in quite a while.

I don't remember his name, he was an engineer ona Coal Drag someplace? He even posted a couple of pictures of the Diesel Loco he ran and it had a image of a horse on it's nose like the horse on a Ferrari Car, upright on its hind legs!

rhoward

10-08-2008, 07:35 PM

Some of you "Good 'Ol' Country Boys" just might like this...... A musician friend who is also into model railroading sent me this. (Have no idea how he finds this stuff). Good use for a tractor with a couple bad cylinders...... Enjoy! I did! In fact I bet we got a Fairbanks Morse Prime Mover out at the museum that could be used as the percussion for "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1ThSi1wbqU

David block system DC or DCC makes absolutely no difference for the Golden Spike. I would be willing to bet you already have about 90% of it done. You don't have to do each of the suggested items, just the needed number of them for each requirement. Of course you do have to be a member of the NMRA........;)

OldGettysk

10-08-2008, 09:17 PM

Afternoon ALL ! Went to the foot-doctor this morning and had my nails cut and fitted for Diabetic Shoes. I know you are wondering why I have the foot doctor cut my nails ? well I'm having trouble seeing them and I can;t afford to have a cut on my toes . So he does it and checks my feet also . It's starting to rain around here as Ray had said earlier but it's suppose to clear up tomorrow Whit nice and warm days this weekend , just in time for the holiday , Ray that is a good video and I thinks the tractor played better then the rest of the band . Well have to get myself in gear and get some work done , hope you all enjoy the rest of this day . Tom congratulations to your daughter and her volleyball team.

Steve B

10-08-2008, 09:40 PM

What a day, set off to a safety show,,, without my entry pass so had to go back home for it, got home and the wife had broken the cloths washing machine ££££££, so off i went back to the show. Had a blast testing some new fire extinguishers out on fuel, paper, LPG and cooking fat fires, it kept the cold wind at bay. Got three big bags of freebies for the kids, chocolates, pens, reflective arm bands, key rings and so on so they were more than pleased. i then set about the washing machine to find melted wiring in the back of it, that could have been nasty, fixed it all up now so the engineer won't get his £98 call out charge for Friday, tough luck mate. decided to hoover the floor while the washer was out to find the hoover had broken !!!!! LOL give me strength, fixed that as well so i'm off to bed, i am scared of going to the bathroom in case anything else fall's off or breaks when i touch it.

UP2CSX

10-08-2008, 09:46 PM

Afternoon, everyone.

Ray, LOL, that's first time I've seen a tractor being used as a rhythm section in a band. I don't know if you could hear any kind of music over one fo those F-M OP engines though. :) Pretty good that your garden is still producing in October. Don't see that too often up in your neck of the woods. Maybe that boat trailer will finally get gone today too.

David, not sure who you're asking about but the paint scheme you're describing would be Norfolk Southern.

Andrew, hope you had fun had the railway museum. I think I'll pass on that Icelandic bank stock for now. :eek:

Jeffrey, I'm not sure why you'd want to use plaster to hold down your tracks since it seems like it would make it that much harder to rip them up to make changes. I just used a dew track nails and then the ballast/glue mixture to hold my E-X track in place and it seems to work fine. I hope you get that money back - I'm sure it's a big deal for you.

We got some more rain this morning and ended up with almost .75 inches so my grass is now looking greenish brown instead of just brown. :) I finally got back into my Yahoo acount today after about 16 e-mails back and forth between me and the Yahoo security people. Still haven't figured out what happened that my password wouldn't work but just make sure you have you profile up to date and store the information somewhere so you can get it when they start giving you the third degree. Things were looking better in the market today after all the coordinated rate cuts but then we still finished down 190 points. Right after that, my heat pump quit working so I'm waiting for a repair guy now. Some things go good and some things go bad...just life, I guess.

rhoward

10-08-2008, 09:59 PM

RexHea

10-09-2008, 02:05 AM

Odd! I made a post in here around the time Ray did (1:30ish) and it is poofed. Hmmm! Nothing political, nothing indecent, in fact it really wasn't much of anything so I guess it was nothing..... I guess:confused::confused:

So, hi anyway! :D:D

CBCNSfan

10-09-2008, 03:14 AM

Odd! I made a post in here around the time Ray did (1:30ish) and it is poofed.
Rex I've had that happen to me several times on other forums. Now I've taken to copying my posts to the clipboard before clicking the (Post Reply) buttons. Darned if I know what causes it though.

UP2CSX

10-09-2008, 05:39 AM

Paul, having your nails cut by a doctor, preferably a podiatrist, is a good safety measure when you're diabetic. Any cut on the fee can be very difficult to heal and can lead to serious problems. Maybe you and Jeffrey can get together and see if you both wear the same size shoes. :)

Steve, sounds like you had a day like mine. The air conditioner guy got here and, as I suspected, the compressor has blown. Since this is a heat pump, not just an A/C unit, that's going to set me back $1650. :eek: None in stock so it will be Friday before it gets replaced. It pretty nice weather now with the temperature already down to 67 so it's kind of nice to have all the windows open.

Ray, I don't ever remember anything being in our garden in Cleveland on Thanksgiving except dead corn stalks. You must live in the banana belt up there. :)

Rex, I've had a few of my posts disappear occasionally and, as Willis said, I now copy them before I hit the post button. No rhyme or reason than I can figure out. I'm sure your post was intensely interesting and we shall miss it. :D

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-09-2008, 10:39 AM

OldGettysk

10-09-2008, 12:45 PM

Good Morning Bill ! And evryone else from sunny Western New York and it's going up to 68 with some wind . Overall it's a nice Fall Day here . I'm off to the Farmer's Market in search of Brussel Sprouts and Squash . Hope you all have a nice day !!

jeffrey-wimberly

10-09-2008, 01:21 PM

Good morning.

It's 60 and clear. The high will be in the mid 80's and it will be clear and sunny.

I've got all the trackwork for the crossover done with the exception of some ballast to be laid in. The state has seen fit to give me a team of prisoners to help with that. I'll be sure to put them to good use.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/9/2008

Wind Chill: 61°F
Humidity: 81%
Dew Point: 55°F

So Far Today
High: 61°F
Low: 58°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 3mph NNE

Today High: 85 Sunny. Highs in the mid 80s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

Tonight Low: 55 Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 50s. East winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010165.jpg

Secondhandmodeler

10-09-2008, 01:30 PM

Good morning folks.

I had a run in with a little beasty that decided to give me a run for my money. My ninety year old grandma's cat got out yesterday when I was mowing the lawn. She couldn't get him to come in, so I gave it a try. When I finally got a hold of him, He freaked out. I've never felt the kind of power that a scared cat can exert. He managed to bloody up four fingers and sprain three. If I wasn't a cat person, I would have body slammed the little fur ball. I guess that's what I get for thinking it was just a little cat!

I am ordering the rest of my track and cork road bed tonight. I've decided to use Peco flex track to mate up with my Peco turnouts. It just sounds like it will be worth the money to have all of the same track. I will use the Atlas track that I have in the remote areas with no turnouts. I may actually get to move forward with this thing once I get this stuff ordered, yeah!

I hope everyone has a nice day. I'll be chomping on Alleve all day to make my fingers work!

tompm

10-09-2008, 02:18 PM

Good morning folks

It was 63 F as I head out into the mess this morning. High today will be 76 F.

I had a frustrating ride in this morning. I could not go my normal way since the interchange with I-476 was gridlocked, so I went with my secondary route. The secondary route was detoured and the detour took you back into the interchange mess. At one point I almost turned around and went back home. After an hour and fifteen minutes I finally got to work. My normal morning commute is 30 to 40 minutes.

No modeling last night. We had Cub Scout Den Meetings.

My daughter has a volleyball game this afternoon.

I hope everybody has a good day.

rhoward

10-09-2008, 03:07 PM

Mornin' everyone!

Like Paul said. Another nice day out there. Currently 62°F here in the Finger Lakes with a high of 67°F later on today. Partly cloudy with 10 to 20 MPH winds WSW.

Jim, "Banana Belt?" ROFLMAO! No not hardly. The only thing that grows that late is the Broccoli. I have been known to did parsnips in January if the snow is not too deep though..........

Corey my 20 lb. little sweetheart had to be medicated when he was 2 years old and 17 lbs. It took both my son and I to get the stuff down him. He could actually lift my shoulders off the ground as I had to hold him on the floor next to a cabinet here he could not move. I weigh in at 270 lbs. Cats are very strong! Hope your fingers heal OK.

I should get the rest of the lawn mowed today as well as the Powerpoint presentation roughed in for the Lakeshores Division NMRA Meet coming up soon. Flo need another cup of coffee over here.......

Steve B

10-09-2008, 06:08 PM

Corey They may look cute but they are only a few steps up the evolutionary ladder from lions,,, with the way they can fight you off they must be lions at heart.

Jim All is working well today thank the lord

jeffrey-wimberly

10-09-2008, 06:33 PM

There was a bit of an accident in town this morning. A tractor trailer rig with a flatbed fully loaded with sawn lumber was pulling out onto the highway from the lumber mill when his load suddenly shifted sending 2/3rds of his load onto the highway blocking both southbound lanes. With the police, emergency vehicles and recovery equipment, there was only one lane out of four open and that was a northbound lane.

Steve B

10-09-2008, 08:23 PM

Will the driver get done for having an insecure load Jeffrey ???

Corey, this is how to chill out a mad pussy
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k208/photobucketste/cat1.gif

Steve B

10-09-2008, 08:27 PM

BUT,,,,,,, get it wrong and you end up with one like this
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k208/photobucketste/cat3.gif
To much TLC and good music it'll be like this one
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k208/photobucketste/cat4.gif
or
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k208/photobucketste/cat5.gif

Avoid cat food with aspartame in it
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k208/photobucketste/cat2.gif
and to much of everything above and it'll end up like this cat
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k208/photobucketste/cat6.gif

Trussrod

10-09-2008, 10:13 PM

Good Afternoon from Coarsegold, Calif,
Hope everyone is having a good day and will continue too.

The weather here has been fairly mild, this morning at 9:30 it was 55*F outside and supposed to reach 72* and there is about a 20 mph breeze blowing.

Ray, The group playing SGB, were they Sweedish or Norweighen by chance? I didn't take the time listen to but the first part as my land line connection is pretty slow 49.9 is the fastes connection I can get 98% of the time and I have to reconnect several times to get that.

Corey, Ray & Steve, I have two female cats and yes they can be very strong when frightened, I found that treating them with TLC gets the best results, although a few years back I killed a rattle snake to the West of the garage a ways and took one f the cats to show her what a rattle snake was and when we got close she twisted & sprang out of my arm leaving me with about a 2" long claw dig. Didn't think she would get that
frightened!

Jeffery, That is rather odd that the driver didn't check to ensure his load was sequired properly??

I finally got around to taking a few shots of the work in progress at the S&A sideings and
mainline which I'll post shortly. Hand laying is much slower going but I sure do like the results! Although I don't have any track down yet as I need to scrub the ties with a small brass wire brush to distress them and then stain them different mixtures for some variation to give a more pleasing effect and then the switches & rail gets spiked downl!

I visited a RR & Photo Buddy in Fresno last evening and went to a Rallys Hamburger place to have something to eat and noticed on some of the old wall pictures they had of the early era in the '40 showed a Mohawk Gas station which had five or six tall tanks directly behind the station and each was labeled with the the Mohak Indian Head in Red & Black as well as being marked for the contents. One was Fuel Oil Tank, another was Kerosene Tank, quite interesting if your modeling earlier time periods!

I'll post the photo's under the, 'C & S West SL RR,' in Layout designs.

Take care and use a light hand on the throttle.

jbaakko

10-10-2008, 01:18 AM

I dunno if I missed it, but I like the new thumbnail view on the forum!!

RexHea

10-10-2008, 01:53 AM

Thanks STEVE'O, those cats are funny. Still ROTFLMAO!

Secondhandmodeler

10-10-2008, 04:03 AM

Hey folks, It turns out that my 'jammed' fingers are actually a nasty infection. I had to go get a tetanus shot and some horse pills to stop the swelling. The stiffness is due to the bacteria moving fluid into the joints. I told my wife to remind me to never get arthritis! Holy cow it hurts. My kitties are wondering what is wrong with me. The good thing is that my grandmothers insurance is taking care of the bill. The pills alone were over a hundred dollars. Thanks for the cat pictures. They made my wife laugh!

jeffrey-wimberly

10-10-2008, 04:07 AM

Will the driver get done for having an insecure load Jeffrey ???
A common practice here is that the load will be cinched down at mill. Problem is the load shifts around a little while the truck moves toward the exit to the main road. The driver usually pulls the truck out onto the main road the over onto the shoulder and cinches the load down again to take out the slack. This time Murphy jumped on one before the driver got it over to the shoulder. Fortunately no one was hurt.

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-10-2008, 10:21 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

10-10-2008, 12:18 PM

Good morning.

It's 63 and clear. The high should be around the mid 80's and it will be partly cloudy.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/10/2008

Wind Chill: 63°F
Humidity: 79%
Dew Point: 56°F

So Far Today
High: 65°F
Low: 63°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE

Today High: 85 Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 80s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 62 Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 60s. Southeast winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010159.jpg

vato loco

10-10-2008, 12:25 PM

Well, we got some rain on Monday and Tuesday with some brief showers on Wednesday. Got 2" at the park:) Thursday my wife was admitted to the hospital with real bad infection in her intestine:( there's a name for it but I can't remember at this time:confused: Last week I had passed two kidney stones, and this weekend was my wifes turn! It was her first kidney stone attack:eek: Now she knows what I go through every 6 months or so:rolleyes: then while being attacked with kidney stones this intestine infection was brewing in her too:eek: now her doctor had her admitted to the hospital for observation and further test:( :( She's in lots of pain and ain't very jolly!:(

So me and the boy are in charge while she's out......My first day on the job(Thursday evening) the boy get's a inner ear infection:mad: but even in pain my wife senced it from the hospital and called me:rolleyes:! and She laid out my marching orders to insure my son will survive!:rolleyes:LOL's It never just rains on me.......It freakin pours down frogs and dogs!:mad: I got another busy weekend lined up, "Keep the house up, deal with visiting her in the hospital, deal with Ryan and his issues, and of all weekends to have this happen this is my buzzy time with the lawn service this weekend:eek:! My plate is full and there isn't even enough room left over for jello!:eek:

Got's to go now and get the kid ready for school:) Type to ya later:D

UP2CSX

10-10-2008, 01:46 PM

Morning, everyone.

Corey, I hope you got those wounds washed out really good. My cat scratched the heck out of me when I tried to get him downstairs during the tornado we had in February. I wasn't able to wash the wounds immediately and and got a roaring case of septicemia. Oopps, looks like that advice is too late now, since it looks like septicemia is just what you got. No fun and it does hurt like heck.

Steve, those cats are hilarious. :)

Howdy, Paul, hope you got your squash.

Ray, I guess "banana belt" is relative if you lived in Cleveland. :) The only thing we ever had under our snow was more snow.

David, secutring truck loads is not a big deal down here in the South like it is in California. In California, you have the CHP that will give you a ticket and red tag your truck. Here we have about five troopers that cover the whole state doing truck enforcement. We have a loaded log truck lose all or parts of their load about once a week. I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures. Handlaid tracks always does look nice if I ever had skill and patience to actually do it.

Another exciting day in the market. Sit down, buckle up, and hold on. I don't think the roller coaster is coming to a stop yet.

tompm

10-10-2008, 01:49 PM

Good morning folks

It was 57 F when I hit the road. It will be 77 F today. The trip into work was better this morning and it took me my normal half an hour to get to the office. Apparently all the fun and delays were happening on Schuylkill Expressway this morning.

My daughter’s volleyball got smoked yesterday. They lost 25-22 and 25-12. The first game was not that close. It would have been much worse if it had not been for one girl who got in a grove and scored 10 points off her serve. I personally think they need this wake up call since they seemed to be getting a little too complacent. This was a non-league game so it was a good one to have a bad day.

Not much else happened last night.

We have an insane weekend. Tomorrow is more Cub Scout Popcorn Show and Sells. We actually have three locations. We started out with two but the church we meet at gave us a space at their White Elephant Sale. It will be a long day. Then the kids want to go a local school carnival in the evening. Sunday there is another Show and Sell but my son is not signed up for it so all I have to do is deliver and pick-up popcorn.

Modeling, what’s that?

I hope everybody has a good day.

OldGettysk

10-10-2008, 03:13 PM

Good Morning ! From sunny and warm Buffalo , well maybe sunny but only 56 . just stopped in for a quick hello and coffee Flo and it's off to do some errands and stuff. hope you all have a nice day !!!!Oh Yeah Happy long weekend to all and also our Canadian friends north of the border !!

UP2CSX

10-10-2008, 05:24 PM

Chris, sorry to hear you and the wife have been sick. Sounds like maybe she had a bad bout of gastroenteritis. That, combined with kidney stones, is pretty miserable. Hqave you talked to your doctor about using regular ultrasound treatments for your recurring kidney stones? It works pretty good and it's a lot better than going though the agaony of passing a kidney stone. :eek: I hope your son's ear infection gets better too. It does seem to pour when it rains, doesn't it?

Tom, I guess you're now our popcorn king. :)

Hi, Paul, nice to see you and hear it's decent fall weather in Buffalo. Almost looks like you're getting Indian Summer without having a touch of winter yet.

Just got the new heat pump compressor put in. The house is now cooler and my wallet is $1650 lighter. :( Thank goodness President Bush gave us a nice, encouraging speech on how busy the crew is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The market was up 90 when he gave his pep talk and it's now down 300. :mad:

RexHea

10-10-2008, 05:57 PM

Jim, all this economy thing is nothing more than the Yuppies of the early 80's graduating from the Cyber Markets to manipulation of Wall Street. Actually, I think it is all a communist plot :rolleyes::D.
Just thinking:eek:: The real estate credit debacle is mostly to blame for all the woes of the economy, but stop and think: That neighborhood down from yours that has all those +5000 square feet homes, the guy with the Escalade and Lexus parked in the drive, new ski boat, club membership, .....and the he works in a factory???? I would bet that he has less than $20 in his wallet, but about 15 credit cards. borrow! borrow! borrow! How can we have a real economy when we live like this?:(

I know, "You're thinking to danged much, REX!" :D:D

Trussrod

10-10-2008, 06:22 PM

Good Morning from Cold & Crisp Coarsegold, Calif,
It a brisk 42*F at 9:30 here with a lot of moisture in the air so it's even colder feeling.

I finally got around to posting a few pictures of the S&A area I'm working on and still have a couple more to post yet. These first shots are all hand held and th qulaity of the distressed Ties at the S&A switch is not the best but I do have another that I broke down and used the tripod to shoot with. The only problem is the Tripod doesn't have a lens to it so the shots didn't come out? I couldn't resist that.

Jeffery: The road comming out from the mill sure must be pretty rough and rutty to cause the load to shift like that or possibly the driver was going a little too fast? It would seem that if a load was chinced properly that wouldn't have happened.

Jim: I do enjoy the appearance and realism of hand laid track but it does take a lot more time to get it down especially if your also adding distressig by scrubbing the ties with a wire brush to wear away the soft portions and then going back and staining them. The finished result is worth it from my standpoint though.

Rex, You bring up a very good point, where's the cold hard cash being transfered from hand to hand with so much stuff being purchased on credit with mounting debt accruing??

A Tip I'll pass along if you already have an existing layout is to only do a section 3' to 6' at a time that way it won't keep you from operating for too long. I'll be posting other track laying tips as I go along with the C & S West SL, one of those is joining code 70 to code 100 to make a smooth transition of rail surfaces.

Out of currosity, how many of you, who operate alone, actually operate your layouts like the real thing where your droping off an empty/s and picking up loaded car/s to be delivered elsewhere or of course doing just the opposit in delivering a loaded car and picking up the empties from the various locations to be delivered elsewhere to other destinations and of course shuffling cars around in the process?

Hope everyone has a good day and stays warm while delivering the various loads to their destinations.

RexHea

10-10-2008, 07:18 PM

Out of currosity, how many of you, who operate alone, actually operate your layouts like the real thing where your droping off an empty/s and picking up loaded car/s to be delivered elsewhere or of course doing just the opposit in delivering a loaded car and picking up the empties from the various locations to be delivered elsewhere to other destinations and of course shuffling cars around in the process?
David, that is a good and interesting question and I am also curious. Why don't you start a poll with people describing how they operate their layout? Some polls/surveys are good to have ;) .

jeffrey-wimberly

10-10-2008, 07:45 PM

Jeffery: The road comming out from the mill sure must be pretty rough and rutty to cause the load to shift like that or possibly the driver was going a little too fast? It would seem that if a load was chinced properly that wouldn't have happened.
The road out to the highway is quite rough. The trucks leave the mill area with the loads cinched down but the ride out causes them to shift just a small amount and that's all old Murphy needs. Immediataly after getting to the highway the driver cinches the load again to take out any slack. Usually there isn't any, but sometimes ...

I'm always very careful to be behind or ahead of a truck that's coming out, never beside it.

Steve B

10-10-2008, 09:48 PM

Correct Rex Credit is easy, everyone thinks that to fix the hole in the bucket you just throw more money inside, but that does not fix the leek.

leghome

10-10-2008, 11:03 PM

I started a poll in Locomotives and Rolling Stock about how you operate your RR.

rhoward

10-11-2008, 03:07 AM

Evenin' everyone!

Didn't make in here this morning as my son showed up to finish the work on his boat trailer and needed me to hold stuff. You know, 35 years ago or so that used to be his job.....:eek:;):D Anyway it is now ready to put the boat on it so he can install the winch and he is done. Maybe tomorrow he will get someone to help (it will rtake three of us) to lug the thing over and onto the trailer. Then I can see if anything other than mushrooms has been growing under it.....:(

I just spent the last two hours repairing an old HEPA filter unit that started to squeal last winter. I was hoping to take it apart and see if I could lube it enough to get a little more use out of it. Of course these things are made so you can't take them apart without breaking them. I GOT IT APART! Of course I had to break the top piece to do it. Once I got it to that point, I decided to plug it in and turn it on to see what it did. Squeal was gone. Put the now broken cover back on.... Squeal is back.... I think the cover had warped in the sun coming in my dining room/office where it was used. It must have been touching the fan itself causing the squeal. Anyway it is now running quiet without the cover (had to redo the electronics on it) so I will use it down in the train room only when I am down there. Can't hurt to pull some of the dust out of the air. I have a new one on order for the office.

Unfortunately I didn't get to do any layout work today. I will run through my presentation for the Lakeshores Division Meet before I call it a day.

Cjcrescent

10-11-2008, 03:10 AM

Hi fellas!

Finally getting back into some activity. Had that recurring infection the past two months, my wife's mother passing and I had to have surgery last week.

I had an incisional hernia repair done and I haven't hurt like this in years! Dr sez he should charge me for three operations, since within the old suture line there were three separate hernias. He put in some mesh after releasing many adhesions, three separate hernia sacs, and then pulled everything tight. Though I feel much better than I did at first, dilaudid is still my best friend right now.

Then the night I get home, after a 5 day stay, our AC conks out. I now get to spend the next couple of days directing my son on removing the fan assembly, speed control and motor, and replacing these with new pieces/ parts. Not happy about having to do this, but its cheaper than a whole new unit.

Looking forward to ARG next weekend!

Steve B

10-11-2008, 09:57 AM

Carey Thats a tough ride you have been through, hope things get better real soon for you

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-11-2008, 10:54 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

10-11-2008, 12:27 PM

Good morning.

It's 61 and clear. It will become partly cloudy later as the high rises to the mid 80's.

Yesterday I installed a DZ125 decoder in my new Athearn BNSF SD40. The rear light is brighter so I set it to run long hood forward, partly because of the light but mostly because I like to see them run that way. The rear light is set to stay steady while the cab light becomes a double pulse strobe light while the loco is traveling short hood forward. I also put a DZ125 in my GP35/S6, no light options on that one.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/11/2008

Wind Chill: 61°F
Humidity: 90%
Dew Point: 58°F

So Far Today
High: 64°F
Low: 61°F
Rain: 0.01"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE

Today High: 85 Mostly sunny early in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Patchy fog early in the morning. Highs in the mid 80s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 65 Partly cloudy. Patchy fog after midnight. Lows in the mid 60s. East winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010165.jpg

Secondhandmodeler

10-11-2008, 02:10 PM

Good morning folks.

I just ordered a box of Peco Flex track, a box of Midwest cork, and a bunch of cork switch pads. I will finally be able to move forward with my layout. I think I was stalling a while there. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with my city area. Well, I still don't know, but it will come to me as I work. It always does.

My finger is finally starting to heal. It's still swollen, but it seems to be getting better. I pet the little beasty that bit me yesterday. He came over and said he was 'sorry' while I was at my Grandmother's house. I think I'll still keep my distance from that little guy. I'd hate to have to drop kit him!

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I'm off to work.

rhoward

10-11-2008, 03:23 PM

Good Morning from the sunny Finger lakes!

Currently 54°F with a high of 66°F today. The forecast calls for "abundant sunshine, winds light and variable". Just a beautiful Fall day.

Carey, glad to hear yu are doing better! "If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all" seems to describe what you've been through.

Corey glad your hand is getting better. Cats do seem to know when they caused someone pain and do appear to show remorse. I wouldn't have believed that except for I have had it happen when Manet bit me when I was medicating him. Lucky it didn't get infected, but for the next few days he would come over look at it, and then meow. Then he would want to cuddle.......

Hope all of you have a great day!

UP2CSX

10-11-2008, 10:51 PM

Afternoon, everyone.

CJ, good to see you again. Three hernias!?? Ouch. Thanks goodness for narcotics. Seems like we are having an epidemic of A/C failures down here but at least it's less than 900 degrees. :) Do what you can to keep yourself healthy for the ARG meet.

Rex, this whole thing is greed, right from those people down the street who bought the house they couldn't afford because bankers were willing to make loans to anyone all the way up to the President, who did nothing to stop it. The ones that will really suffer are people who have lived debt free and were responsible. While the government spends all out money rescuing the irresponsible, all I see is my investments shrinking. I don't think the government is going to stop by my house with a dump truck load of money to help me out. :mad:

Ray, is that boat gone yet? Sounds like you needed the old ball-peen hammer fix for the HEPA filter. :) I kind of think my cat was sorry after he scratched the heck out me too although he still has an evil look to him sometimes. Kind of an apology and warning not to do it again at the same time.

Jeffrey, that crossover is looking good with the convict work force finishing it up.

Corey, glad the finger is starting to feel better. The doc has you on antibiotics, right? Sometimes the best thing to do is get some track down and then step back and take a look. Like you said, a lot of times things just seem to fall into place naturally about where things should go when see it in 3-D.

Monday will be interesting. The G7 is not doing what the market wants - guaranteeing interbank loans. Even worse, it looks like the EU is starting circle their own wagons hoping not have their banks get taken down with US banks. I don't think this bodes well for a good day Monday but we might get a sucker rally for a few hours. If you have beaten down stocks that go up 10 or 20%, that would be the time to sell. Unless you are under 35 and saving for retirement, don't get caught up in the hype that everything is OK. The market still has a long way to go before the bottom. OTOH, if you're young and saving for retirement, buy good quality consumer staple companies like Kraft and Johnson & Johnson on every drop. The market's having an 80% off sale right now and, as long as you have enough years to wait out this mess, you will be rewarded handsomely when retirement time comes.

jeffrey-wimberly

10-12-2008, 01:33 AM

Ever had that virus you can't seem to shake? I'm fighting one now. It's effecting my concentration and my vision, not to mention my balance. I'm keeping the makers of DayQuil in business.

Trussrod

10-12-2008, 03:51 AM

Good Evening to all,
I just wanted to let you guys know if your interested in any of the shots I taken of the new section I've reposted all of them so they can be enlarged considerably for easier viewing even for me.

They are under Layout Plans, under the C & S West SL, enjoy and if you have any comments or questions feel free to state it or ask.

Say Jim: These images should be much easier viewing for you, they sure are for me too. I thought the earlier ones I posted would be able to be enlarged but for some reason they didn't even attempt to enlarge and I posted them big enough, pixel wise, so they should have been able to be enlarged?? This time I probably went a litte too large at 1204x 806? I think it was, probably could have stayed with 800x600 or there about.

Say Rex: The poll idea sounds interesting but I'm spending so much time behind the darn computer it eats into my RR time and the little folks are getting pretty upset! Besides I'm going to shoot for having at lleast the main line done by the middle of Dec if possible along with getting my control center resituated and everything wired for DC so it
with blocks so I might be a little too ambishous?? Time will tell.

I'm not sure just how much effort I would need to put into a poll but I guess it could be ddone? It would be interesting.

Hope everyone has had a good day and got things done as you wanted.

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-12-2008, 11:00 AM

vato loco

10-12-2008, 11:34 AM

well the wife is still in the hospital with dimaticulitice(SP?) They got her on a clear liquid diet:(. she still has lot's of pain and the hospital she's in ain't great. We're praying for her to come home soon! Monday they plan to scope her intestine to see whats going on? My son and I are holding our own as we wait for her return:) which we hope is soon:) well got to go and gt some chores done around here........:rolleyes:

jeffrey-wimberly

10-12-2008, 12:22 PM

well the wife is still in the hospital with dimaticulitice(SP?)
Is that diverticulitis? If it is, I've had that myself. It ain't fun.

vato loco

10-12-2008, 12:42 PM

Is that diverticulitis? If it is, I've had that myself. It ain't fun.

Dat it! yes that's what she's got, real bad case of it! They tell us there isn't much they can do with it either?:confused: Yesterday a man was admitted with the same thing! Now picture kidney stones+ Diverticulitis= Drug cart parked outside her rooms door!

jeffrey-wimberly

10-12-2008, 12:59 PM

Dat it! yes that's what she's got, real bad case of it! They tell us there isn't much they can do with it either?:confused: Yesterday a man was admitted with the same thing! Now picture kidney stones+ Diverticulitis= Drug cart parked outside her rooms door!
Believe me, I know the feeling. They had me on I don't know how many antibiotics for a nearly a month but it did finally clear.

Good morning.

It's 66 and clear. How long it stays clear is anyones guess. It will become partly cloudy later as the high climbs to the low 80's.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/12/2008

Wind Chill: 66°F
Humidity: 86%
Dew Point: 62°F

So Far Today
High: 71°F
Low: 66°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 9mph NNE

Today High: 82 Partly cloudy. Highs in the lower 80s. East winds around 5 mph.

Tonight Low: 65 Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 60s. East winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010167.jpg

Trussrod

10-12-2008, 05:16 PM

Good Morning All from a Chilly Coarsegold,
It as 38*F at 8:00 so you know it getting a bit Nippy out!

last night I started laying a bit of Dual Gauge to be abll to run HOn3, I'll see how far it goes, I have the sweetest little 0-6-0T Saddle Tank engine I'd love to be able to operate so time will tell how much HOn3 guage I get laid? It may be more trouble than it's worth but looks cute as heck?

Jeffery and others;
After taking any kind of Antibiotics it's very important that you take Asadolphalis for at least a month to replinish all the good gems the antibotic killed off in order to keep your bodys immune system built up.

Oh, I almost forgot, I did post a 'Poll' question under Discussion about how each individual operated their layout alone as far as switching cars around during any operation session for those that are intersted,

Have a good day, a light hand on the throttle prevents excess Freight Damage!

jeffrey-wimberly

10-12-2008, 08:18 PM

Just changed out my keyboard a little while ago. My computer was locking up for seemingly no reason, sometimes the mouse would work and sometimes it wouldn't. I restarted the computer several times and the problems would keep popping up. Throughout all this the keyboard was acting erratically. I hooked up my old keyboard that I bought years ago (made by a company called A-Open), restarted the computer and all the problems disappeared. I looked through my records and found the warranty info on the new keyboard. It died just two days AFTER the warranty expired! FANCY THAT! I won't be buying any more keyboards from CMI.

hamltnblue

10-12-2008, 08:52 PM

Restarting doesn't always work. Sometimes your have to unplug the computer from the wall. Even though you power down the motherboard is still functioning to some extent.

rhoward

10-12-2008, 10:09 PM

Afternoon everyone!

Long day today. Had to be at church before 8 this morning to set up the "fish cooker" for the salt potatoes we served at the Kabob lunch put on by the deacons. Cooked up 50 lbs. of potatoes, helped with the BBQ fire, and ran the dishwasher after the meal. I no sooner got home than my son walks in, so I helped him finish some stuff on his boat and loaded it onto his trailer. YEAH!!!!!!!! Hopefully my lawn will recover. If not I will have a nice patch of weeds until it fills in again.

I am officially pooped for today. After supper I will probably putter around in the trainroom for a bit, rhearse for the clinic next Saturday and then collapse.

jeffrey-wimberly

10-12-2008, 10:26 PM

System works perfectly now. Shut down and hooked the other keyboard (the new one) back up and restarted and it was back to the same problems. The fault is definitely with the keyboard. It now resides outside in the trash can.

Cjcrescent

10-13-2008, 12:30 AM

leghome

10-13-2008, 01:38 AM

Cjcrescent

10-13-2008, 03:30 AM

Chrisdiverticulitis My mother in-law has that and she usually has very few problems with it. She eats no hulled vegetables(corn, peas. popcorn or anything that has a skin or hull on it) and no peanuts. She was in the hospital last year for a week and then a then two weeks about a month later before they found out the cause of her pain. The hulls are not digested and get caught in little pouches of sacs in the colon causing the pain. At least that is the way the doctor explained it to her.

Chris;

I didn't mean to imply that surgery was the best treatment. For me it was. The pain comes from the inflammation that seems to chronically occur, and is hard to stop. The MD's treated me for 5 years medically until the inflammation/infection got into one of the submucosal layers of the colon. Then I was in danger of getting perforated and they decided to operate. They were just gonna remove 8" but because the infection had spread, they had to remove 16".

The older we get the more diverticuli we develop. Most everyone gets them over the years. It doesn't always get to the inflammed or infected stage, but when it does the pain can be intense.

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-13-2008, 10:54 AM

tompm

10-13-2008, 12:58 PM

Good morning folks

It is a crisp 55 F as I type. No work today since it is Columbus Day. The kids have school, however.

We had an extremely busy weekend dedicated to Cub Scout Popcorn. We ran four set-ups at three locations from 8 AM to 4 PM, and another one on Sunday. It was worth all the trouble as we sold just under $1500.00. It was our pack’s best weekend ever.

I had hoped to do some train running but on Saturday night the kids decided that they wanted to go to a fair at a local church. That killed the last bit of free time I would have had. Well, there is always the evening this week.

I hope everybody has a good day.

jeffrey-wimberly

10-13-2008, 01:37 PM

Good morning.

It's 67 and clear. The high will be around the mid 80's and it will be partly cloudy. Weather's getting like a broken record lately.

Yesterday I did another installation of a Digitrax DZ125 decoder on an Athearn BB F7 and took many photos as I went along. I then used these in a teaching post. It's a poor man's approach and doesn't make use of pc board or resistors or LED's. It's just a simple no frills installation. If somebody can learn from it and make their venture into DCC that much easier it will have served it's purpose. Right now it's only posted on one forum (not mine).

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/13/2008

Wind Chill: 67°F
Humidity: 93%
Dew Point: 65°F

So Far Today
High: 72°F
Low: 66°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 10mph ESE

Today High: 85 Partly cloudy until late afternoon then becoming mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 68 Mostly cloudy early in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 60s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010141-1.jpg

OldGettysk

10-13-2008, 02:37 PM

Good Morning Everyone ! HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY!! another nice day here on the Niagara Frontier high up around 77 and plenty of sun ! Also would like to wish all our Northern neighbors a HAPPY THANKSGIVING !!!hope you all enjoy this day !!:)

rhoward

10-13-2008, 03:13 PM

Mornin' everyone!

What Paul Said!

The Finger Lakes weather is going to the same as Paul said also. Currently 59°F with a high of 76° and lots of sunshine this afternoon after some morning clouds move on. We are having a few days of fairly warm weather right now prior to having the first "killing" frost. Result? Probably will have to mow the lawn again, but may get a few more beans and squash out of the garden before I put it to bed for the Winter.

Tom sounds like you had a great day with the popcorn sales. I have a Pack committee meeting tonight. I will take my checkbook and see if they are still selling popcorn.... may get my years supply through them.

Have a great day all!

OldGettysk

10-13-2008, 03:15 PM

Hi all Chris sorry to hear about your wife . I have had problems with pockets on my Colon also. Mine was eating to many sunflower seeds . Spent to different times in the hospital with it . It doesn't help my transplanted kidney when it happens . I learned to stay away from any kind of seed also. Rye , fennel , poppy, caraway any kind that will get caught in the pockets !!On a side note this was our weather two years ago today !!!

UP2CSX

10-13-2008, 08:37 PM

Afternoon, all.

Chris, hope your wife is feeling better. Diverticulitis is one of those problems that range from annoying to really disabling, as CJ described. I hope it's just the annyoing variety for your wife. I've been lucky all my life and never had any kind of stomach or other GI problems. I'm waiting to wake up one morning and have half my body explode. :)

Ray, I'd be exhausted from cooking 50 lbs of potatos too. What did you use all those for? I've never heard of salt potatos before.

Jeffrey, is your seminar posted across the street? I'd like to see it since I've got a bunch of old Athearn BB engines I need to convert too.

Paul, I'll bet your power was off for awhile with that storm. I remember those pre-Halloween storms in Cleveland when all the leaves were still on the trees ond how many broken limbs we'd have down everywhere. One more reason I don't regret leaving.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends in the frozen north. :) Columbus Day seems to be taking on less and less imporatnce here. About the only chnage is we don't get any mail.

Our weather has been distinctly odd the last five days. Low clouds all day with no rain and temperatures only in the 70's. We're getting a little sun this afternoon but this all reminds me of the gloomy days of fall in Cleveland except it's still a lot warmer here. Looks like the MIdwest could get a pretty good drenching from the remains of Hurricane Norbert but nothing will make its way here. There are a few tropical disturbances out in the Caribbean but they will just affect Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands before going north and dying. I think our hurricane season is just about winding down here. It's pretty amazing with how badly Texas and Louisiana got pounded this year that we got absolutely nothing from any of the storms except from TS Fay.

Steve B

10-13-2008, 09:13 PM

Evening all

Chris Best wishes for your wife, hope she feel's better.

trying to get my head round this

One quadrillion one thousand one hundred and forty-four trillion dollars

LOL thats a big pile of money tied up in the banking system as a whole, a black hole :) and to think throwing a few billion at it will fix it,,, not a cat in hell's chance. Paper currency is going to go right down the toilet pan i'm afraid, all you can do is sit back and enjoy the ride.

vato loco

10-13-2008, 10:34 PM

Thank you for your help and kind thoughts!:):):) They(Hospital) plan to scope her and see what's going on:confused: Last night was real hard for her........The pain was real bad:( She is in pain all the time, it seems to never end for her:( all we can do is pray for her speedy recovery. My son and I running amuck her with out her here......:rolleyes::rolleyes:

rhoward

10-13-2008, 11:08 PM

Chris your wife and all your family are in my prayers for her speedy recovery.

Ray, I'd be exhausted from cooking 50 lbs of potatos too. What did you use all those for? I've never heard of salt potatos before.

Salt potatoes are a New York/Northeast thing. Actually started near Syracuse where there are some salt mines. You can read up on it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_potatoes
We didn't cook them in a strong brine as many of our members can't have a lot of salt. They are very tasty!

jeffrey-wimberly

10-13-2008, 11:50 PM

Jeffrey, is your seminar posted across the street? I'd like to see it since I've got a bunch of old Athearn BB engines I need to convert too.
It's on a small forum called 'The KCS Forum'. This link will take you right to the post.

http://kcsrailfan.proboards57.com/index.cgi?board=dcc&action=display&thread=96

vato loco

10-14-2008, 12:51 AM

LOL's I was messing around with Live maps, and looked at my park! the pic must be from two seasons ago but any ways You can see me pindraging the field!LOL's Talk about bug brother watching you! http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=28.344176~-82.277238&style=a&lvl=19&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=28811702&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-14-2008, 10:10 AM

jeffrey-wimberly

10-14-2008, 11:32 AM

Good morning.

It's 72 and mostly cloudy. The high is expected to be in the mid 80's and there's a chance for rain, something my joints have been telling me since I got up.

Yesterday I suddenly remembered why I had stopped screwing the top back on my little container of paste flux. For some reason I had screwed the lid down after the last time I used it. Well, yesterday I tried opening it and the lid wouldn't budge! After getting two jar gripper pads from the kitchen drawer and 15 minutes of intense struggle, cursing and hand cramps I finally got it open. And here I thought it was hard to pry my fathers wallet open when I was a teenager. That's child's play compared to this. My hands still ache!

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/14/2008

Heat Index: 77°F
Humidity: 92%
Dew Point: 69°F

So Far Today
High: 73°F
Low: 72°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 10mph ESE

Today High: 85 Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 68 Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 60s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010079-1.jpg

AndrewC

10-14-2008, 12:45 PM

Good morning all from not so sunny ye olde London towne. Tis a cloudy day with highs of only 16c. (60f ish) Flo, forget the coffee just bring me several litres of pure espresso.

Not much happening on the modelling front. Awaiting my new train room/shed to be delivered. After preparing the ground we found part of the existing cement pad was unsuitable due to a nice 5cm (2") hump that was hidden under a lot of soil. This weekend will see the pouring of a levelling fillet of concrete over top to smooth things out. It seems to be a case of 2 steps forward one step back these days. Take care all.

OldGettysk

10-14-2008, 12:48 PM

Good Morning ALL ! Another nice day here in Western New York .I mean another warm day with temperatures around 71 but the clouds and some rain are coming in front of some cooler weather . Back to reality I guess. Ray ,I'll take an order of salt potatoes with lots of butter . Sure are tasty,with a nice beef on weck , loaded with horseradish,yum mo. I better get going . I'm making myself hungry. Hope you all have a real good day !!! In case your wondering .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_on_weck

tompm

10-14-2008, 01:33 PM

Good morning folks

It was 58 F as I begrudgingly hit the roads this morning. High today will be 80 F.

I cut some branches off the tree in the front yard to keep it away from the house. I also cut off some dead branches. I did, however, get some train running in. I also organized a few things on the layout and did two photo sessions!

Today is crazy. My daughter has her first away volleyball game at Strath Haven Middle School. The trip will not be fun since it will require traveling some congested roads at the beginning of rush hour. She then has her flute lesson. We also have Cub Scout Roundtable. Then we found out last night that my son’s school’s open house is tonight. I love the amount of warning they give us; less than 24 hours.

I hope everybody has a good day.

jeffrey-wimberly

10-14-2008, 01:48 PM

I love the amount of warning they give us; less than 24 hours.

Keeps you on your toes.

PNKFLOYD

10-14-2008, 01:53 PM

Morning all!!
I just want to remind folks of the ARG gathering at the Irondale Cafe this Saturday.
There will be eatin and greetin!
Maybe a few trains, too.:D
Y'all come!
Mikey

rhoward

10-14-2008, 03:44 PM

Mornin' everyone!

Mikey wish I was closer. I'd be there! Actually, this Saturday I will be at the Lakeshores Division NMRA Meet presenting a clinic called "The Care and Feeding of the Tortoise".

Weather here in the Finger lakes is just as Paul said only a couple hours later...... Paul I got the brine boiling. Hope you like 'em salty!

Andrew at least when the shed is in place, it will be right. Those things do tend get the blood pressure up there though. Not too much of that espresso now......

I have a bunch of errands to do today, but I hope to get some real progress made on details on the SLOW.

Have a great day!

Trussrod

10-14-2008, 04:50 PM

Good Morning to Everyone,
It was a cool 42*F here in Coarsegold, Calif. this morning at 8:00, a bit on he cool side.

I've got a lot of clean up to do around here and haven't yet got around to getting my tractor going and I need that to hook the dump trailer on for hauling the trash to the dump pile way out back and down hill a bit. That 18 Hp Garden Tractor I bought shortly after Dad passed away in '89 sure has come in handy except at times like these.

I had a bit of a surprise yesterday evening as I was thinking of taking a picture or two of a gem of a little 0-6-0T HOn3 loco for the contest only to realize that was last month and I missed it I guess?

Yesterday I didn't get any work done on the layout like I planned so maybe today for a while?

Take care and have a good day!

RexHea

10-14-2008, 08:00 PM

Paul/Ray: 'nuff that talk of food. I looked that stuff up and now have to head to the kitchen. Boy! That sounds good.

Steve B

10-14-2008, 08:59 PM

evening all,

Argers Ya'll have a fun time won't ya,,, wish i could be there.

Tom sounds like my last week,,, and it all starts again this sunday, more childrens parties, more christenings, swimming, martial arts,,, the list is endless,,,,,,,,.

Just putting some anti sabotage grill's over the Tiger tanks engine radiator grill's, they were large enough for a grenade to be dropped through so they put mess over the top, this worked very well but it didn't stop planes shooting from above.

Secondhandmodeler

10-14-2008, 10:39 PM

Good afternoon folks. The track laying has begun! Well, the road bed laying anyway. My plans are slowly getting tossed out the window. The general vision is the same, but a few things are getting tweaked to better accommodate my space, and abilities. I've decided that I don't want to have to kit bash or alter every single structure in my town. It will now be inspired by Mankato instead of trying to copy it. I don't want to be paralyzed by the fear that I won't get it 'right'. It will be right to me, and that is what matters. I just have to remember to not call it a scale model of Mankato.

While waiting for my shipment of supplies, I decided to start priming and painting one of my kits. While I was gone getting more paint, the track and roadbed arrived. It has been a modeling kind of day!

I hope you folks have a great day!

UP2CSX

10-14-2008, 11:18 PM

Afternoon, everyone.

Chris, hope the wife is feeling better today. That's pretty weird the satellite just happened to catch out in that park. You're no on a terrorist watch list, are you? :eek:

Ray, and Paul, I though we had some strange food down here but those salt potatos and beef whatever is right up there with our more unusual foods. I'm glad you're still having such nice weather for so late in the fall.

I'm looking forward to the Irondale Café, meeting you guys, and getting to see some real trains again for once. Our paper mill local gets more than a little boring at times. :(

Andrew, it always seems to go awfully slowly when you're first getting the infrastructure for the layout set up but things will pick up once you get the building in place.

Corey, I think you've made a good decision about trying to capture to the "feel" of your hometown rather than duplicating it. I know some guys who have tried that and and it took them years and they were never happy with the outcome. You really can't go back in time and every time you look at a picture of one of you scratchbuilt or kitbashed buildings, you'll notice something else that was on the building you were trying to duplicate. The fun aspect of the hobby leaves real fast.

Steve, you'd think the tank designers would have thought about the hand grenade issue when they designed the screens. Of course, you'd think our banks and governments would have thought about what might happen if we lent money to anyone who walked up and asked for it too. :mad: Looks like we haven't quite reached the bottom yet by today's trading action.

A nice fall day down here, with less clouds and some more sun. In theory, we might get some rain on Thursday but I'm not betting on it. Looks like Tropical Storm Omar may be a hurricane tomorrow but he will only affect Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands before proceeding north and stirring up the fish. From all appearances, it looks like Omar will be the last of the 'canes this season.

vato loco

10-15-2008, 03:03 AM

Yes, jim---- Big brother is always looking over my shoulder wondering who i'm taking to and what I'm saying! I found these shots of my park! a little more newer the $36k walking trial was just installed! http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=nqqnjv8497jp&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=28811708&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1 I must of been hiding in the shop!LOL's

BTW: wife said the test today No surgery is going to be needed! Thank God! She might be released on Friday or Satureday!

UP2CSX

10-15-2008, 04:14 AM

Chris, that's good news. Now she'll need to watch her diet to help prevent a reoccurance of the diverticulitis. Those satellite photos are something. There was one of our sheriff's department range when we were requalifying with shotguns. I was the fifth guy in the shooting line and, although you coudn't quite read my name tag, you could see it was me. Makes me wonder how much better the real secret stuff is. :eek:

RexHea

10-15-2008, 04:55 AM

vato loco

10-15-2008, 10:11 AM

Chris, that is wonderful news about your wife. I hope she can recover from it all quickly.

Jim, that satellite shot is for the DEA and that is not a real baseball field he's cultivating:rolleyes::eek:
You got that right, what do you think i chalk the fields with;) dang straws left after a game are anoying:D

Bill Tidler Jr.

10-15-2008, 11:11 AM

tompm

10-15-2008, 01:23 PM

Good morning folks

It was 63 F this morning as I headed out. High today will be 77 F.

I had to drop my daughter off at school early this morning. Her class/team is going to Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair.

Yesterday was crazy. My daughter had an away volleyball which they lost 25-14, and 25-19. They are suffering from lackadaisical coaching. A couple of girls were having really bad games, one girl was responsible for giving the other team 12 points, but the coach did not take the girls out until it was too late and the damage was insurmountable. We then had to go to her flute lesson and ended the evening with Cub Scout Roundtable. My wife stayed home and worked with my son on his first essay. He had to write a full page about something on his vacation.

No trains last night and probable none tonight. We are taking our Cub Scouts to the library tonight.

I hope everybody has a good day.

AndrewC

10-15-2008, 01:47 PM

Morning all. Another cloudy damp day in ye olde London towne.

Concrete ordered and as long as I can keep the neighbourhood kids from snorting it before Its mixed I should have a nice smooth pad by the end of the weekend.

Chris: that's good news.

Ray, Jim: the additional work will be worth it I hope as it will also raise the workshop an additional 75mm (3") making it less suseptable to flooding. At my last checkup the doctor actually found traces of blood in my caffeine stream. :D

As I understand it, Google Earth and Live Search use satellite images for the wider angle shots but they are morphed into old fashioned aerial shots for the closer images. There was a helicopter circling our area a couple of months back. Just checking Live Search, its showing a fun fair being set up in a nearby park, which just happened to be the same weekend after the helicopter visit. http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=nqqnjv8497jp&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=28811708&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1#JndoZXJlMT13ZWxsaW5nJTJjK2tlbnQmYmI9Mjgu MzQ0ODc3OTc1MTc5OCU3ZS04Mi4yNzU2ODUwMjg2ODMlN2UyOC 4zNDM5OTM0Nzk3NzMlN2UtODIuMjc2NzE4MDgzNzI5NQ== (http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=nqqnjv8497jp&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=28811708&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1#JndoZXJlMT13ZWxsaW5nJTJjK2tlbnQmYmI9Mjgu MzQ0ODc3OTc1MTc5OCU3ZS04Mi4yNzU2ODUwMjg2ODMlN2UyOC 4zNDM5OTM0Nzk3NzMlN2UtODIuMjc2NzE4MDgzNzI5NQ)==

oops, the fair is just south east of the map position.

pcarrell

10-15-2008, 02:30 PM

A fine good morning to all of you!

I woke up this morning and fully expected to see a wet world out there. Rain was in the forcast, but it didn't get here after all. They say it'll be here later though. Anyways, I decided to ride my scoot to work. Figured I can catch a ride home with my daughter later since the humidity will probably be inconducive to scooting.

That brings me to my next big deal!

I'M OLD! I'm REALLY OLD!

The reason my daughter is able to give me a ride is because she started college yesterday! That's right.....my baby girl is in college! Now granted, she graduated a year and a half early, and she's still only 17, BUT SHE'S IN COLLEGE! I'M OLD!!!!!! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?????

OK, time to settle down and drink my pumpkin coffee..........

jeffrey-wimberly

10-15-2008, 03:41 PM

Good morning.

It's 73 and cloudy here in the Sportsman's Paradise. The high is expected to be in the mid 80's and there's a chance of thunderstorms later.

Today is track cleaning day. Should take take all of about twenty minutes. Well it is almost 90 feet of track and I do have to be careful not to break any tiny details you know. Other than that there's not really much on todays schedule.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/15/2008

Heat Index: 78°F
Humidity: 88%
Dew Point: 70°F

So Far Today
High: 74°F
Low: 72°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 10mph SE

Now through 11:00 AM CDT October 15, 2008

Through 11 AM...light rain will continue to spread northward out of the gulf and across parts of the area. Much of the rain will be confined to Cameron...Vermilion and Calcasieu parishes with rainfall rates up to a tenth of an inch per hour. But elsewhere over land...light showers will be widely scattered...mainly west of Interstate 49. Over the coastal waters....areas of light rain with a few heavier showers will be scattered between Sabine Pass and Intracoastal City. Visibilities less than 3 miles can be expected beyond 30 nm out from Cameron in the showers.

Today High: 85 Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. Southeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 68 Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 60s. South winds around 5 mph.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n3/proudIndian/P1010167.jpg

OldGettysk

10-15-2008, 03:59 PM

Good Morning All ! Looks like another nice day here it's 55 going up to 63 with lots of sun and to many clouds. Not much else going on . We have CXS working on some of our crossings thru town, If you knew our city you would know you can't get out of town without crossing railroad tracks. So it does causes some traffic problems . Gotta go get my coffee so hope you all have a real nice day !!!!!

rhoward

10-15-2008, 04:02 PM

Mornin' everyone!

A very pleasant sunny day so far here in the Finger Lakes. Currently 55°F with a high this afternoon of 64°F.

I have a SciTek Camp committee meeting this afternoon, but the rest of the day I will be cleaning house and working on the layout. Last night I cleared out the yard at Hopewell Junction and painted the rails..... Have to clean off the rail tops and touch up some spots, but I think it is goig to look really good.

Philip.... Old? You have a kid in college and you think that makes you old? My baby boy turns 39 today and you think you are old?

Have a great day all!

pcarrell

10-15-2008, 04:23 PM

Philip.... Old? You have a kid in college and you think that makes you old? My baby boy turns 39 today and you think you are old?

But I digress.......... ;)

rhoward

10-15-2008, 04:32 PM

But I digress.......... ;)

That's one of the first signs of old age you know......:rolleyes:;):D

Actually they say that the memory is the second thing to go. Can't for the life of me remember what was first...........

Steve B

10-15-2008, 04:58 PM

Well,,, Philip just thinking the same thing yesterday, my little boy will go onto secondary school in two years and the thought occurred to me that time is REALLY marching on, hope it slows down some very soon,,, not to a dead stand just a slow crawl will do

Trussrod

10-15-2008, 06:29 PM

Good Morning All,
The weather is warming up a bit, at 10:00 it 50*F so it's not too bad, at least it not going to be High 80's, the high will be 79* so claimed.

I haven't got much work done on the layout in the last couple of days but I'm going to get to it this morning, distressing some ties and then staining them so I can finish laying the connecting rails to the S&A area man and sideings.

I'll probably take a few more pictures too, can't beat Digital Cameras for convience and cost effectiveness as well the computer!

Have a good All.

RexHea

10-15-2008, 07:09 PM

Hi everyone!
Philip, they say you are only as old as you think or feel, but it is times like that you think old. Wait until you get called Grandpa for the first time...that really smacks you in the face - worse than getting an invitation to join AARP. :eek::D

jeffrey-wimberly

10-15-2008, 09:23 PM

worse than getting an invitation to join AARP. :eek::D
I've already gotten one and I haven't even hit 50 yet!

I went shopping today for Christmas lights. Specifically for clear mini lights in strings of 20 lights each. I snagged 4 boxes at $1.25 a box. The math on these works out to 6 volts per bulb, making them perfect for replacing the Model Power lights in my structures. Two bulbs in series on an 11 volt connection. As I see it I have enough to do all my structures with ease.

vato loco

10-15-2008, 09:27 PM

Well my wife has Diverticulituse, Bleeding ulcer, kidney stones, and a fungus in her stomach.......She's one sick woman:(:( Talk about rolling snake eyes! Other than that Things are O.K. for now:rolleyes:

pcarrell

10-15-2008, 09:31 PM

Philip, they say you are only as old as you think or feel, but it is times like that you think old. Wait until you get called Grandpa for the first time...that really smacks you in the face - worse than getting an invitation to join AARP. :eek::D

http://www.nbrii.com/blog/content/binary/homer-simpson.jpg

leghome

10-15-2008, 11:35 PM

Paul CSX just redid all the crosing here in Pendleton Indiana about a month ago. Closed all three crossings nezr our store so you had to drive thru town form just across the tracks to get here. A real pain in the well you know. I am glad the redid them though becfause now you do not take a chance of losing your car in one of the potholes.

jeffrey-wimberly

10-15-2008, 11:38 PM

A little while ago I did some work on my new Athearn SD40. The reason? a turtle could outrun it at full throttle, somewhat less than 30 smph. This was no surprise to me. This is the third (3rd) Athearn rtr loco in my possession to have a bum motor. I changed it out with one from an old Athearn F7 and the difference is night and day. What had been super slow was now greased lightning. I wasted no time in setting the decoders speed table to the road switcher settings. This cut the top speed in half, to about 80 smph. If this is an indication of things to come for Athearn then I don't want any more of their new motors. I also found that the top of the front truck is deformed thus it won't allow the worm cover to snap back in place. They'd be wise to find out what's going on or they'll be going the way of Tyco.

leghome

10-16-2008, 12:19 AM

Jeffery "they'll be going the way of Tyco" I went to an NMRA Regional Convention several years ago with a good friend and one of the entertainment options was the TYCO toss. It was fun until they found out that there was a TYCO collector there who would have paid decent money for the pcs we had tossed. It was a fun toss all the same. They also had a hog roast and they had named the hog fluffy. Fluffy was very tasty and there was not much of him left at the end of the day. It was a very good weekend and the first time I had ever done a model RR operating session

Secondhandmodeler

10-16-2008, 03:47 AM

Big thumbs down for the changes across the street!:eek: I don't see how that could possibly be an improvement. Is it slick? Yes. Is it user friendly? NO!

pcarrell

10-16-2008, 03:54 AM

rhoward

10-16-2008, 04:17 AM

Big thumbs down for the changes across the street!:eek: I don't see how that could possibly be an improvement. Is it slick? Yes. Is it user friendly? NO!

You got that one right! There are a couple of good things in the mix like having the spellcheck in Firefox be compatible, but overall, I see very little to like. Those who think that "new and improved" is better by virtue of it being "new and improved" seem to love it.

I spent some hobby time today finishing painting the yard tracks. Makes a big difference in the looks of the rail. I was using the Rusty Rails painter and it works very well after a bit of practice. The only problem is that it also paintes the top of the rail. I found that my thumb nail worked the best to remove the paint after it dried. I then ran the CSX Clean Machine by hand over the rails to remove anything left. Then I used my 0-6-0 to restock the cars in the yard and check out each track for problems. With the exception of a couple turnouts that had found some stray ballast that had to be removed, everything worked great (and it gave me a reason to run the layout for an hour).

Tomorrow is supposed to be be cold and rainy so I may get some of the mainline tracks painted before I go to the NRHS Meeting.

UP2CSX

10-16-2008, 05:41 AM

Evening, everyone.

Been a busy day so haven't had much time to get to the coffee shop. Chris, sorry to hear your wife has even more problems. I hope she's better soon.

Ray, when I painted my rails, I jest kept a rag with a little paint thinner handy and wiped the tops of the rails as I went along. A few swipes with a bright boy and all was well.

We only have one train a day here and I don't think any crossing has had any work done on it in 10 years so that's one traffic problem we don't have to worry about. :)

My boy just turned 38 this year and I'm drawing social security so that makes me an official old guy, I guess.

Phillip, got your PM but haven't had time to respond. I think the idea of being freezing all the time is worse than being hot for me.

Jeffery, I haven't noticed the slow speed problems in my RTR's but they are are all B-B's. I wonder if the C-C truck has some manufacturing problems?

I haven't been across the street yet but, knowing their track record, I've never expected the words "new" and "good" to show up in the same sentence. :D

Looks like it's a good thing we passed that bailout bill or the market would have been down 743 points today! :eek: Apparently there are a few more problems than just the credit spreads...like no corporate profits. I wonder how many suckers bought in Monday thinking the government could really fix things as bad as our economy over the weekend? There sure are some happy short sellers that made a few bucks off them in the last two days. The futures and the Asian markets aren't making things look too good for tomorrow either but maybe the shorts can come in and buy again and catch some more suckers before they lower the boom in the last half-hour of trading.