Coffee Shop XXXVIII-7/20/2013
- Thread starter Bill Tidler Jr.
- Start date
IronBeltKen
Lazy Daydreamer
Good afternoon coffee clubbers...
It's sunny and hotter than H-E-double-hockey-sticks here in central MD - my 15yr-old daughter's school sent me an email at noon saying they were closing early due to the high heat index. SWMBO was able to pick her up so I didn't have to leave work.
I had a typical "Murphy" mrr experience last night. I brought a malfunctioning P2K SW9 over to a friend's house so he could help me diagnose it. Set it on his layout, it ran like a swiss watch, no problems - so he optimized some of the speed settings using DecoderPro. Got it back to my house, put it on the track to test it...and of course it reverted back to its original bad behavior [lights, but no motor]. I've about had it with this unit, I'll just bring out one of my B&O Alco switchers to do the mill switching jobs. The SW9 is now a shelf queen.
It's sunny and hotter than H-E-double-hockey-sticks here in central MD - my 15yr-old daughter's school sent me an email at noon saying they were closing early due to the high heat index. SWMBO was able to pick her up so I didn't have to leave work.
I had a typical "Murphy" mrr experience last night. I brought a malfunctioning P2K SW9 over to a friend's house so he could help me diagnose it. Set it on his layout, it ran like a swiss watch, no problems - so he optimized some of the speed settings using DecoderPro. Got it back to my house, put it on the track to test it...and of course it reverted back to its original bad behavior [lights, but no motor]. I've about had it with this unit, I'll just bring out one of my B&O Alco switchers to do the mill switching jobs. The SW9 is now a shelf queen.
blownoutcylinder
Active Member
Good Evening...
Pouring buckets, lighnin' flashin' thunderin' crackin' ricker frickering mess out here...4 tornado warnings, hail to beat the band...oi...calling for it to 'let up' by 12:15am...sheeesh.
Today was a stay indoor kind of day...in the a/c...and another ding thing...you'd think after all the food I et over the past little while, after ding chemo..I'd weigh a wee bit more than 146lbs? Not a chance....
I remember that day...getting a phonecall from a friend of ours who told me that the WTC had been attacked by two planes...then finding out that a number of my former classmates from UWO were there...and died....may they RIP....
Pouring buckets, lighnin' flashin' thunderin' crackin' ricker frickering mess out here...4 tornado warnings, hail to beat the band...oi...calling for it to 'let up' by 12:15am...sheeesh.
Today was a stay indoor kind of day...in the a/c...and another ding thing...you'd think after all the food I et over the past little while, after ding chemo..I'd weigh a wee bit more than 146lbs? Not a chance....
I remember that day...getting a phonecall from a friend of ours who told me that the WTC had been attacked by two planes...then finding out that a number of my former classmates from UWO were there...and died....may they RIP....
jeffrey-wimberly
Dr Frankendiesel
Not much going on here. No haircut today, maybe tomorrow. I have an appointment at the hearing docs office tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully they can find what's causing the sound of my pulsing in my ears to be so darn loud instead of the barely audible level it was before my surgery. It's keeping me awake quite a bit.
Well I checked USPS tracking and my newest Varney all metal F3A is in Shreveport. I'll have it tomorrow. I have an Athearn blue box F7 drive all ready for it.
This morning the power company was doing a switchover from power station to another. They missed by a little under a second and there was a momentary lapse in the power. It went off and back on so quickly that it tripped the circuit breaker in the computers power supply so naturally it turned off dead as a door nail and wouldn't restart until I turned off the computers power supply, waited fifteen seconds and turned it back on. After that I was able to restart it but it still took a while to start up. Disk check and all that. It even checked one of the flash drives because I was looking for something on it when the power flashed. And this isn't a one-time event. They miss on the power hand-offs at least once a week, sometimes five or six times a week. One of these days they're going to injure or kill a home-bound person who is dependent on medical equipment to survive. Or maybe they'll cause serious damage to someones home or even blow out equipment at the municipal airport near here. I bet they'd love that! They did a pretty neat job of blowing up one of my computers. It wasn't anything I couldn't fix but I shouldn't have had to fix it in the first place.
Well that's enough ranting and raving for one night. It's time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.
Well I checked USPS tracking and my newest Varney all metal F3A is in Shreveport. I'll have it tomorrow. I have an Athearn blue box F7 drive all ready for it.
This morning the power company was doing a switchover from power station to another. They missed by a little under a second and there was a momentary lapse in the power. It went off and back on so quickly that it tripped the circuit breaker in the computers power supply so naturally it turned off dead as a door nail and wouldn't restart until I turned off the computers power supply, waited fifteen seconds and turned it back on. After that I was able to restart it but it still took a while to start up. Disk check and all that. It even checked one of the flash drives because I was looking for something on it when the power flashed. And this isn't a one-time event. They miss on the power hand-offs at least once a week, sometimes five or six times a week. One of these days they're going to injure or kill a home-bound person who is dependent on medical equipment to survive. Or maybe they'll cause serious damage to someones home or even blow out equipment at the municipal airport near here. I bet they'd love that! They did a pretty neat job of blowing up one of my computers. It wasn't anything I couldn't fix but I shouldn't have had to fix it in the first place.
Well that's enough ranting and raving for one night. It's time for me to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.
kbkchooch
"retired" conductor
Sounds like Mr. Murphy is having fun with a cold solder joint.
IF you don't find it before the op session, I'll bring it back to the shop, and exorcise the demon! Need to lease any power? I've got rows of units available!
Cjcrescent
Master Mechanic
Well, I can't believe it. Except for about a ten minute shower earlier yesterday, we've had less than 1/2" of rainfall since Sept 1st! This has been the longest dry spell since the first of the year. We are currently 22.5" above normal rainfall for the year, at my house, and about 20" above at the NWS.
This past week, my wife and I slipped out of town to celebrate our 40th anniversary. We went down to our old haunts in Mobile. That time was for her, and we did what she wanted, not what I wanted to do. I even went so far as to leave my cell phone at home. We were going to visit Bellingraft Gardens south of Theodore Al, until we saw the price of admission. Its now $25 a person. Last time I was there, in 1987, the POA was only $10. While the gardens are extremely beautiful this time of year, and the house is more than outstanding, we decided we wanted to eat more than to walk around the several hundred acres of the gardens. We visited her neighborhood where she grew up, and we met there, our old house there in Mobile, and even visited the church where we got married. We went and passed the Frisco 1527 a 4-8-2 preserved in the park, and its in terrible shape. Most windows are gone as are all the stuff in the cab. Much vandalism and a lot of memories.
Speaking of doing what she wanted, (and eating too), we searched out her, parents, grandparents, great grandparents, great aunts and uncles, and several cousins graves. This was all for her genealogy work she's been working on for her family, and mine as well. I got a lot of pictures of gravestones, and no trains at all. We ate at one of the best restaurants down there in Mobile, Wintzell's. We started with about a pound of crabclaws, a heaping plate of shrimp, and she ate her favorite, flounder. She was very satisfied, as I was. We thought about hanging around on the weekend and have one more go at some more seafood, but we had at least a 4-5 hour drive back up to home, as we had to stop at her sisters house, my sisters house, etc. I'm surprised that we didn't stop at more relatives, but it was getting late.
Right before I left, I picked up my anniversary/birthday present from my wife. It was a Key Imports Southern Railway Ms-1 2-8-2. It was one of only 87, IIRC, imported back in the 1980's. It has all the SRR standard appliances on it, so there is no need to replace any details. While it is basically a USRA Light Mike, it has those appliances that make it a SRR loco. It also has an idler gearbox and a Cannon coreless motor in it. A friend of mine ran it on his layout, for about 4ft before it quit. When I took it apart, the neoprene drive shaft, connecting the motor with the gearbox, had dry rotted over the years and had crumbled under the strain. A quick replacement with some new tubing corrected that problem, and for not being run in many, many years, without any maintenance done to it at all, this loco literally ghosted down the track. You couldn't hear it from 2' away. I think I got a goodin' and can't wait to tear down paint and decal, then install a decoder.
This past week, my wife and I slipped out of town to celebrate our 40th anniversary. We went down to our old haunts in Mobile. That time was for her, and we did what she wanted, not what I wanted to do. I even went so far as to leave my cell phone at home. We were going to visit Bellingraft Gardens south of Theodore Al, until we saw the price of admission. Its now $25 a person. Last time I was there, in 1987, the POA was only $10. While the gardens are extremely beautiful this time of year, and the house is more than outstanding, we decided we wanted to eat more than to walk around the several hundred acres of the gardens. We visited her neighborhood where she grew up, and we met there, our old house there in Mobile, and even visited the church where we got married. We went and passed the Frisco 1527 a 4-8-2 preserved in the park, and its in terrible shape. Most windows are gone as are all the stuff in the cab. Much vandalism and a lot of memories.
Speaking of doing what she wanted, (and eating too), we searched out her, parents, grandparents, great grandparents, great aunts and uncles, and several cousins graves. This was all for her genealogy work she's been working on for her family, and mine as well. I got a lot of pictures of gravestones, and no trains at all. We ate at one of the best restaurants down there in Mobile, Wintzell's. We started with about a pound of crabclaws, a heaping plate of shrimp, and she ate her favorite, flounder. She was very satisfied, as I was. We thought about hanging around on the weekend and have one more go at some more seafood, but we had at least a 4-5 hour drive back up to home, as we had to stop at her sisters house, my sisters house, etc. I'm surprised that we didn't stop at more relatives, but it was getting late.
Right before I left, I picked up my anniversary/birthday present from my wife. It was a Key Imports Southern Railway Ms-1 2-8-2. It was one of only 87, IIRC, imported back in the 1980's. It has all the SRR standard appliances on it, so there is no need to replace any details. While it is basically a USRA Light Mike, it has those appliances that make it a SRR loco. It also has an idler gearbox and a Cannon coreless motor in it. A friend of mine ran it on his layout, for about 4ft before it quit. When I took it apart, the neoprene drive shaft, connecting the motor with the gearbox, had dry rotted over the years and had crumbled under the strain. A quick replacement with some new tubing corrected that problem, and for not being run in many, many years, without any maintenance done to it at all, this loco literally ghosted down the track. You couldn't hear it from 2' away. I think I got a goodin' and can't wait to tear down paint and decal, then install a decoder.
Last edited by a moderator:
Bill Tidler Jr.
Retired NS Signal Construction Gang Signalman
Good Morning! from Tipton IN.
It's Thursday, September 12, 2013
Temperature in TIPTON IN
High in the mid-80s today with rain likely this morning!
It's Thursday, September 12, 2013
Temperature in TIPTON IN
High in the mid-80s today with rain likely this morning!
railfan
junk collector
***GOOGLE CHROME***
After using google chrome awhile now it seems to work much better. Internet explorer locks up constantly and is very slow. But on my same old laptop google chrome doesn't seem to have these problems. I hope this better performance is not just a momentary fluke.
After using google chrome awhile now it seems to work much better. Internet explorer locks up constantly and is very slow. But on my same old laptop google chrome doesn't seem to have these problems. I hope this better performance is not just a momentary fluke.
Have you tried Firefox? I think the last time it crashed, or did anything weird at all, was about three weeks ago. I also think it was operator error that caused that glitch. The time before that was about 6 months ago. It's very stable.
Dr. John
Member
Carey - glad you had a good trip to Mobile. Sorry to hear about the old Frisco 4-8-2 in the park. I used to pass by it all the time but haven't seen it in about 10 years since we moved up to Prattville. Someone threw a slap-dash paint job on it back in the '90s but it was a poor job with cheap paint. Congrats again on the #40 anniversary and your acquisition of the SRR Ms-1.
railfan
junk collector
If those old cars were vintage porsche 911.......I would consider that even better in my book. And I'm sure your own preferences in old cars are fine too since you seem to have good taste in old locomotives.
jeffrey-wimberly
Dr Frankendiesel
Good morning. It's 77° with 82% humidity. The high will be 95° and will feel like 102°.
Already had breakfast. Scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy. Very good. Had a virus scan going on the computer while I was eating. The power company decided they needed to switch to another power plant and they dropped the ball again. It was just a flicker but it was enough to make the computer crash and reset. Luckily the scan was finished when that happened. I spent about twenty minutes untangling the mess that was left on Firefox. It had been running at the time. It was throwing a bunch of application logs at me and many of them had nothing to do with Firefox. I finally got it all ironed out. What a mess!
Right now I'm waiting on my caregiver. After she's made my bed and I've had my bath (she scrubs my back as I can't reach there yet) and helps me get dressed. I've gotten to the point that I can do most everything myself. She's worked with amputees in the past and has given me some great tips that have made my life a bit easier.
Later my father and I will be going to town. First stop will be the barber shop. I'm starting to feel like I need to apply for a dog license. Time to shorten the hair. Then it's on to the docs office to find out what's causing this racket in my ears. So far the theories include it being caused by the anesthesia or the massive doses of antibiotics I was getting. But as there are still a number of possibilities that need to be checked.
Already had breakfast. Scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy. Very good. Had a virus scan going on the computer while I was eating. The power company decided they needed to switch to another power plant and they dropped the ball again. It was just a flicker but it was enough to make the computer crash and reset. Luckily the scan was finished when that happened. I spent about twenty minutes untangling the mess that was left on Firefox. It had been running at the time. It was throwing a bunch of application logs at me and many of them had nothing to do with Firefox. I finally got it all ironed out. What a mess!
Right now I'm waiting on my caregiver. After she's made my bed and I've had my bath (she scrubs my back as I can't reach there yet) and helps me get dressed. I've gotten to the point that I can do most everything myself. She's worked with amputees in the past and has given me some great tips that have made my life a bit easier.
Later my father and I will be going to town. First stop will be the barber shop. I'm starting to feel like I need to apply for a dog license. Time to shorten the hair. Then it's on to the docs office to find out what's causing this racket in my ears. So far the theories include it being caused by the anesthesia or the massive doses of antibiotics I was getting. But as there are still a number of possibilities that need to be checked.
DairyStateDad
Mumbling in the corner
Reading about that brought to mind the train trip DairyStateMom and I took in April from Chi to NYC. The Lakeshore Limited took us through Buffalo about breakfast time, and we passed the ruins of the big passenger station -- now looking positively post-apocalyptic... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Central_Terminal#Abandonment
When I read in the Wikipedia article above that it had been used as a set for a low-budget horror movie, I was not surprised at all.
It was deeply depressing to see that once magnificent building in such disrepair and abandonment. I do hope (as Wikipedia tells us) that the newest plans to restore it to service will be able to accomplish that.
kbkchooch
"retired" conductor
You mileage may vary here. SWMBO likes Firefox, I don't. Her PC thrives on it, mine slows to a crawl. Hers is 32 bit, mine 64, maybe thats the diff, maybe not. In either case, we both cant stand Internet Exploder!
kbkchooch
"retired" conductor
She puts up with you for 40 years and deserves a medal, instead, YOU get a brass loco!!!
Oh please please, tell us how you did it!!!.Congrats to you both!
DairyStateDad
Mumbling in the corner
I used Firefox for many years, but had the same experience eventually. Switched to Chrome and most of the time I am happy. Every once in a while I find that a particular site won't work and I have to use Explorer, but that's very, very rare.
IronBeltKen
Lazy Daydreamer
I too am a recent convert from Firefox to Chrome. Firefox was always telling me to upgrade to the latest-and-greatest version. Whenever I did, afterwards I would get this message saying that this-or-that plug-in was "no longer compatible" with the newer version. List kept growing longer every time. It got to where I couldn't even watch videos on it.
I've never had any of those type of problems with Chrome [at least not yet]...
I've never had any of those type of problems with Chrome [at least not yet]...
