Coffe shop XXXIV - 9/10/12

[railfan]

Here's a good place to start.

Jeffrey, what a fantastic story of james J. hill! Therefore, I shall now model the great northern RR. First I'll need to get the horses ready so my men and I can scout some territory.


Mike

 

[railfan]

Good Morning all....

Well, did it get frosty out here last night..everything is all frosted up here...going to get to a high of 54F later on today..with a cloud/sun mix....we can see the cloudbank to the north of us'uns even now....

Today is our Thanksgiving day and as we are speaking the turkey is right now in the oven for a good little while...we are expecting company later on....hohoho...

Anyways..have a good one!!!

Wow, I guess thanksgiving comes a lot sooner in canadia......hee hee! Did not know that.


Mike

 

[bnsf971]

First I'll need to get the horses ready so my men and I can scout some territory.


Mike

I'd start scouting in the living room. There's more room for the horses.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

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

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good Morning...

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

It's Tuesday, October 9, 2012

TIPTON IN

 

[blownoutcylinder]

Good Morning

We are seeing a mix of sun and cloud today with little tiny sprinkles here and there...high of 55F expected...

Today is a busy one...have a friend who is having some issues with his project car, a 1957 Ford Vicky...need to see what the issue is..then off to see doctor about some new prescriptions..again...sigh...then off to diner down the street from here to meet the gang....then off to Wally World to find a new thing or two...we never know about these things...

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning. It's 47° with 99% humidity. It'll be partly cloudy with a high of 78°.

Cool outside this morning but still no heater required inside. Nothing special on the agenda today except to stay out of the cool air as much as possible.

 

[montanan]

View attachment 32923

Afternoon all.....Busy week simce I was last on.

Railfan: I model the GN railway, for whatever reason. I have a complete Empire Builder (hense I need a LOT of space) from postwar to about 1960. Unfortunately, I bought the E7's whch GN ran from 1947-1949 as they weren't strong enough pulling through the Rockies. They were replaced with the F series which I haven't yet been able to find in the brand I want for a price I am willing to pay. The GN is responsible for putting Glacier National Park on the map as until after WWII it was almost the only way to see the park. They had the Hotel in the park and the trains ran right past it.

On a side note, I go apartment hunting on Friday, so I then have a week to get to Springfield. I start there on the 22nd. Lots of busy work around my daughter's place yet. The wife will follow once the house sells. After 3.5 weeks since the last showing, they showed it last Friday. Still no offers.....you'd think the house was in a bad neighborhood. It isn't.

I have stayed at that hotel. Beautiful building. Inside, they have huge logs, over 3 feet in diameter running from the floor all of the way to the roof, three levels high. This was back in the early 80's. The rooms weren't what I would call four star, but who is there to spend time in their room. From the deck attached to out room I could easily watch the Amtrack trains pull in and out of East Glacier.
Attached is a Google earth image. It's just a short walk from the station to the hotel. I did spend some time on the balcony in the late afternoon and evening train watching. The interior is great. The one picture is the lodge from the station, and the next is the station.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

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

 

[railfan]

Railfan: I model the GN railway, for whatever reason. I have a complete Empire Builder (hense I need a LOT of space) from postwar to about 1960.

You chose a great one. I really enjoy stories about railroad tycoons, industrialists, and the expansion of western USA. Don't know that I will actually do the GN myself....maybe if win the lottery.....but had a moment of enthusiasm at least.



Mike

 

[railfan]

I have stayed at that hotel. Beautiful building. Inside, they have huge logs, over 3 feet in diameter running from the floor all of the way to the roof, four levels high.

The hotel interior looks awesome........and I trust the glacier N.P. scenery is too. The only time I was ever in montana was when I camped at a roadside campsite near Gardiner one night in the mid 1990's. I was touring yellowstone on labor day weekend and the N.P. campgrounds were all full.....so it was a short drive out of the park to where I camped.



Mike

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good Morning...

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

It's Wednesday, October 10, 2012

TIPTON IN

 

[montanan]

The hotel interior looks awesome........and I trust the glacier N.P. scenery is too. The only time I was ever in montana was when I camped at a roadside campsite near Gardiner one night in the mid 1990's. I was touring yellowstone on labor day weekend and the N.P. campgrounds were all full.....so it was a short drive out of the park to where I camped.



Mike

The Northern Pacific used to run a train south from Livingston, MT to Gardiner, MT to compete with the Milwaukee Road. The Milwaukee Road built the Gallatin Gateway Inn in then Salesville, renamed to Gallatin Gateway (where I now live) and would take passengers, who would spend the night at the Inn, south to West Yellowstone and the park. The end of the line in Gardiner had a loop in gardiner so no switching was necessary to return. The track came down the west side of the Yellowstone River. The old roadbed can still be seen in places. The school now sits in what would have been the inside of the loop, right at one of the entrances to the park.

 

[blackz28]

good morning ,its 80* out going to 90* & humid , god i love this weather but i think the dry air is coming lol, so jeffery is it getting cooler by you or still nice & steamy ??

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

good morning ,its 80* out going to 90* & humid , god i love this weather but i think the dry air is coming lol, so jeffery is it getting cooler by you or still nice & steamy ??

It's a little cooler but still feels like a steam bath in the afternoon.


Good morning. It's 73° with 82% humidity, mostly cloudy with fog. The high will be 82°. Partly cloudy this afternoon with a chance of rain.

Nothing on the agenda for today except to rest. I might work on the layout later.

 

[montanan]

The NP and GN were sister railroads, along with the CB&Q and SPSR (the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railroad is the one I usually miss) merged and created the BN. They were all owned ultimately by James Hill or his company. He tried several times to merge them before he died, but the ICC wouldn't allow it. Very intersting history on those rail roads.

Mine are now boxed up pending the move. I just hope not to wait another 15 years before taking them back out of the boxes again.

Hope you are able to get back into the hobby soon. To run those long GN passenger trains you'll need some room. I have an NP North Coast Limited and the only time I get to run it is when I visit a model railroad club in Great Falls. Parts of it may show up on my home layout as a tourist train to Yellowstone Park, otherwise my local passenger service is either a gas electric or an RDC.

 

[railfan]

I just downloaded atlas RTS 10 software.......and made this layout bench top diagram. The squares are one square foot.....ha ha!...everyone knows that I guess . This will fit perfect in one half of the extra bedroom.....and require only two sheets plywood (plus subframe of course). Likely will be constructed using four modules.....two 3' x 5' and two 3' x 4'. Easy to move if needed. It may eventually look even better with a track plan. Use your imagination!


Mike

 

[railfan]

Also in the news......can I say this? Mitt Romney visited Ariel Corp. compressor factory today in our small town of less than 17,000 residents. Thank you Mitt!




Mike

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Yeah, you can say that. You just CAN'T say what his party is, what he's running for, who he's running against, what he had to say, etc, etc, etc. Don't even dream of it!

 

[railfan]

Yeah, you can say that. You just say what his party is, what he's running for, who he's running against, what he had to say, etc, etc, etc.

I hear that.....lol!!!