Coffee Shop XL-12/8/2013

[kbkchooch]

Good Morning all!

Minus eleven and mostly clear here.........and most chilly. We've now had more snow and cold temps than either of the last two winters before this......according to memory at least..

7° here. Wind chill of -5° Double boo boo here. I left a six pack of diet Dew in the garage...SWMBO left the door open last night, now I have a frozen six pack! No need to add ice,,,,,its already there!

.....and I also remember my best friends phone number from kindergarten......whoa!

I still remember mine from K-4th grade. See, we live in Baltimore, at the height of the popularity of movies like Goldfinger & Thunderball. Yes, my Dad's name was none other than James Bond, but instead of being a spy, he worked for the local phone company. We got a lot of prank phone calls so my parents got an unpublished number...Someone at the phone company must have really been proud of themselves when they assigned us Hamilton-6-0007. It was easy for a young boy to remember, but convincing other folks it was a good number wasn't easy at times!

Looks like Feb 10th I should be starting w*rk again so I'll be playing with the trains today, and grabbing an armload or two of firewood today. Tonight SWMBO is taking me out for dinner, as I now have made it 53 years without pushing up Daisies!

Stay warm kids, I do have some extra snow shovels I can send down south if anyone needs one!!

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I left a six pack of diet Dew in the garage...SWMBO left the door open last night, now I have a frozen six pack! No need to add ice,,,,,its already there!

Yumm! Dew-cubes!

When I was a kid in Germany we'd fill the ice trays with our favorite beverages and set them out on the window ledge to freeze. I remember those Coca-Cola cubes well. We'd make fudgecicles using popcicle molds.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

That spray-on truck bed liner I used on the foil patch the other day is really tough stuff. NOT! I just went out to check the patch and the liner stuff is cracking and falling off. I'm never buying that brand again!

The snow is falling and already the ground is covered.

 

[Boris]

Coca-cola Ice, loved it....but mom only allowed it when we were sick...... Love that phone number, Mr Bond. Better still, is the prospect of re-joining the work force...... BTW: 53 is painless.......it's 63 when the pain starts to set in.

Stay warm Jeffrey. last night Fox was already promoting the Daytona 500 - as the first sign of spring.... Seriously, places like Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA and even Jacksonville, NC are in a bit of a panic over the prospect of dealing with a "Winter Storm". Having spent time in each of these locations, I can understand why. yesterday's warm-up, it reached 43°, before plunging again, cleared all the residual snow and ice from my driveway and sidewalk. However it turned the remaining snow on the lawn into slick packed ice. Right now, we are at 14°, and sunny, going to 18° for a high temperature. The storm is expected to remain to the South of here.

Today's plan is to prepare a parcel of goodies for my Grand-daughter, and UPS it to TN. Then it's time to tackle the clutter in the train room, and work shop. There will be time for layout work also.

Stay safe, everyone.

Joe

 

[WCWBrassHat]

It was 32 this morning when I left for work at 5:30. They closed w*ork at 11am. I had to scrap ice off the windows before I could drive home. The roads were clear and some of the bridges had been sanded. It is now 28. The weather guessers have used the "S" word. I may have to go locate my snow shovel. LOL

Glenn

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Glenn- the dusting of snow we were supposed to get is now about 4 inches and still falling.

I'm stuck at work until the grid-lock around the schools lets up.

They called off school, but the buses cannot run, so parents are trying to pick up kids on the icy roads.
At least, I am warm and dry.

 

[WCWBrassHat]

Mikey,

At least your drive home is relatively flat

Glenn

 

[bnsf971]

Good afternoon. Work closed early (2:00 PM). I just got home, 25 miles away. Snow and ice is not so bad, it is the ID10Ts that don't have sense to stay their butts home that are the problem. There was an accident about every half mile or so, all the way home. The ABS on my truck got a workout, as morons would zip around me, thinking I was poking along, and then have to jam on their brakes to keep from rear ending the car I was following. Not always successfully...
I made it home safely, now if I can make it to work in the morning...

 

[Trussrod]

Good morning.

Say Jeffrey that an interesting shot of the MDC 3-1 Kit's version of a Rotarty Snow Plow. I have one to build myself but plan on scratch building the a body like the OM1 had although that was Narrow gauge so I'll have to see what I can find for standard gauge or Moose Gauge as my friend Ken Barnhart used to call it as he was a Narrow Gauge Modeler. I'm really not sure there was too much difference in them except the Standard Gauge may have been a bit wider although for the earlier time period I'm modeling the Loco's really weren't all big either so maybe the same Rotary was used for both with different trucks? Some research is due when that times comes around.

If I do build the different body for it I'm going to see if I can't power the blades. But that's a fair ways off in the future.

Thanks for posting the shot.

 

[WCWBrassHat]

The situation is getting interesting here in Mobile. The I-10 bridges across Mobile Bay are covered with ice. I called the weather line at work and found out I don't have to go in tomorrow. There is about a 1/4" of ice on my sidewalk and the freezing rain/sleet is still coming down. The local weatherhead is still talking about snow for tonight.

Glenn

 

[mnbaty]

The situation is getting interesting here in Mobile. The I-10 bridges across Mobile Bay are covered with ice. I called the weather line at work and found out I don't have to go in tomorrow. There is about a 1/4" of ice on my sidewalk and the freezing rain/sleet is still coming down. The local weatherhead is still talking about snow for tonight.

Glenn

Glenn,
I dont envy you guys with the ice. It happens fairly often here but i bet it really screws up everything down there. Good luck!

Matt

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Didn't get much done today mostly due to the weather. Counted up a couple of donations that came in the mail and added them to the bank deposit that will be made in the near future. Got some straight EZ-Track in that was donated. It's black roadbed (steel rail). I need straight track for the spurs, well there it is. I have some nickel-silver EZ-Track coming that I'll use for the mainline. I traded an Athearn GP50 for it. Four 36" straights, three 9" straights, one 9" straight terminal rerailer and four short straight pieces that are probably 2" or 2.5". Seems like a good trade to me.

Tried starting my van. Either the battery is going bad or the starter is about shot. I cleaned the terminals and clamps really good and have the charger going on it now. It'll stay on it all night. It's one of those 'smart' chargers that cuts off when the battery is charged. Sometime tomorrow I'll go out and prime it and see if it starts. If not I may be looking for a halfway descent vehicle that I can get for a very good price or find one that's being given away. Beggars can't be choosers. But a vehicle is secondary. Right now my primary concern is getting my home situation sorted out.

Once again the weather tonight is gonna be disagreeable. Low of 19°. A 20% chance of snow/sleet. Storm snow accumulation up to 1". NE winds 5-10 mph. Wind chill 10° to 20°.

Time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.

 

[IronBeltKen]

... Tonight SWMBO is taking me out for dinner, as I now have made it 53 years without pushing up Daisies! ...

Happy Birthday Karl! (and congrats about the impending job too)

I don't envy you 'Bama guys, I guess this ice is the last thing anybody in your region ever expects...which makes it that much tougher to deal with. Sure wouldn't want to be a State Trooper down there now...

. . .
Not expecting to get much of anything done mrr-wise in the near future, since my time isn't gonna be "my own". It's the final week before my 15yr-old daughter's drama club production of "Annie". They're having rehearsals until 8:30 every night night this week, and three showings of the play this coming weekend. Guess who's been elected to drive her to all these activities..?

Stay warm everyone!

 

[GarryCBQ]

Hello ...

Weather sure has been in the news a lot. Rough weather in the Southeast. Hope all you guys south of me will be OK.

Been busy with non Model railroad stuff, but I did run a few trains.

Karl .... Is it your birthday? Hope it is a good one.

 

[Trussrod]

Say Karl: Happy belated Birthday, but only 53, what a lucky Guy! Also as Ken said, Congrats on the new job, 'Hey it's in the Bag!

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

It's Wed 1/29/14

Temperature in TIPTON IN

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 18° with 87% humidity. Wind chill 13°. High 38°. Sunny with some clouds.

Only plan today is to stay warm. I may lay down some track pieces to see how far the spur behind the //e computer can go. Later when the temp is in the 30's I'll go out and see if I can get my van started. No particular reason. I just want to see if it will.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Good morning!
I'm entering my 27th hour at work.

By the time school pickup by parents slacked off and the grid lock of the people who left work early lessened, I left work about 4 PM.
I got a mile from the plant to get on the main raod out of town.
The traffic light is on a slight hill and at the intersection is a pickup cross ways in the road and a van 50 feet behind slowly sliding down the hill.
From 200 yards away, I quickly realized the whole intersection was a sheet of ice and backing into a side street.

I watched the van back down to a flat spot and the pickup slide backwards into the curb, where he got headed back towards me.
I turned around and went back to the plant.
You CAN sleep in an office chair and not fall out!

It is supposed to warm up to 31 degrees and sunshine today. I'll try for home agin later.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Well I decided the heck with waiting. I went out and primed the vans carb with a little starter fluid and cranked it over. In just a few seconds it kicked over. The starter sounded good and strong. I let it idle for about ten minutes then shut it down. I took the charger off and put it away. Now it can sit until tomorrow morning when i go out to start it again. If it starts like it did this morning no problem. If not, if the battery is down, that will be a problem. Some of the $$ I've received recently will have to be used for a battery instead of fixing my home.

 

[Boris]

Good Morning.

It's 15°, sunny with a light NW wind. It's supposed to go to 25° today with mixed sun and clouds. Looks like I have to clear the driveway again, as we had another couple inches of snow overnight. Remember, this snowfall was supposed to pass to our "South". Guess today, we are South. It may get above freezing by Friday, which will not bother me at all. Trouble with winters like this, is that after the cold, comes moderation, one begins to think Spring, then a late winter coastal storm comes along and dumps an unappreciated 36"+ of snow on us, usually toward the end of February. Saturday, is forecast to be cloudy, and mid 40s, so if the wife is feeling OK, I might take a ride down to Timonium.....it's been a couple of years now, since I've been there.

On the layout, I removed the grey ballast, aand continue to work small sections around the power plant. Once the weather warms up, I can take the building itself into the garage, and dullcoat it. I need to finish the substation and a few other finishing details. Then I can direct my attention to the other side.

Karl, hope you enjoyed your birthday dinner. Jeffrey, it's encouraging that the van started. Mikey, this will thaw out. Ken, enjoy being a Drama Dad.

Have a great day.

Joe