Coffee Shop Number 16

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Good Morning everybody,

I have to make this quick as I'll have to head out the door in 15 minutes, to make a 10-hr round trip to Steubenville, OH and back. I have to bring my daughter back to MD so she can get a new drivers license, SocSec card and other important papers that were in her purse when it got stolen a month ago. At least we recently picked up a 3rd family car, so she can drive herself back! I spent most of yesterday de-winterizing the riding mower - draining out the leftover stale gasoline and changing the oil. First time I've done this myself, my teenage son normally handles it but since he got his license he's got a social life and isn't as readily available as he's been in recent years.:rolleyes: I wasted 4 hours trying to find the owners manual so I could determine exactly what type of oil to put in. That Toro web site is really hard to navigate, and in order to download an online PDF version, they expect me to know trivial details like the [5-digit integer] model number and the serial#, but I didn't know where to look for them (the manual would've shown me that info if I had it, LOL). Finally I was able to get ~75% of the 2-acre lawn mowed.

Bob - sounds like you guys have quite a system for building layouts! If I ever have to go into a nursing home, I hope it too will have a layout (or people to help build one).

LTF and BOC - hope you enjoy the Woodstock train show, shoot and share some pics if you can get 'em!

jeffrey-wimberly said:
... I can just imagine the mess I'll be seeing upon the break of day. ...
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Jeff - remember, Sunday is suppose to be a Day of Rest!

...uh-oh, I lost track of the time, I'm running late, C-U-L
 
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CSX_road_slug said:
remember, Sunday is suppose to be a Day of Rest!
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Amen to that Ken!:D

After cutting tree limbs all day Friday, then raking and mulching yesterday I'm done with yard work for the time being. My forearms are so scratched up from the pine that I look like I lost a fight with a Tazmanian Devil! :eek: What I am left with is a pile of branches for chipping that is 15 x 40 x 5 ft tall. My little chipper cannot handle that, so my neighbor is bringing and industrial chipper in a week or so (he's got a pile just as big!!) Grass still needs cutting, but with 1-2 inches of rain coming today and Monday, I'll wait.
:cool:

Work on the "Psycho" house kit may progress today, but is it really work??:confused:

All I really have planned is watchin a little Nascar & chillin with the new kitty. Yes , a day of rest!!!!
 


Well, some of you may have noticed I was not around a lot yesterday. Seems there was this motorcycle swap meet in Indianapolis, and I decided I'd best go do my civic duty and support the economy. I found some really cool stuff!

Check out these pics!

I needed a new leather, so.......I found this one made out of very heavy weatherproof leather (thats soft as butter) with a zip out quilted thinsulate liner and mesh inner liner. It has zippered cuffs, lots of pockets, an extended kidney pad, and it's even vented front and rear. At $140 I couldn't get it off the rack fast enough!

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Drifter/IMG_0609-1.jpg

So then the guy says he's got a few vests that might fit me if I'm interested. He shows me a bunch of them, and I find this leather with thinsulate lined vest with inside and outside pockets, and beautiful buffalo head nickle snaps. He'll let that go for $65, he says.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Drifter/IMG_0607-1.jpg

So now I've got my four season upper body done (except gloves). I'm going to meet him next week and he's going to hook up my wife and I'm probably going to get some chaps.......and maybe some gauntlet gloves.

So then I'm tooling around the meet, and I spot a few items of interest. This guy has some NOS Indian motorcycle parts......and they're dirt cheap! All wrapped up and still in boxes!

I picked up a 1953 Indian Chief dealer option chrome tool box, a beautiful fender light, 4 bullet tipped bolts (for my license plate), and this chrome box (more on that later).

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Drifter/IMG_0632.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Drifter/IMG_0616.jpg

The fender light goes on the front fender and the face lights up. Very classic art deco!

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Drifter/IMG_0622-1.jpg

Now, about that box..........I thought it was a really cool piece, but I couldn't quite figure out what it was for. Wanna take a stab at it? You try and guess........

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j319/pcarrell/Drifter/IMG_0613.jpg

The guy let me look at it a bit, and then he says, "Give up?" "Sure", I said. He then tells me it's actually a Harley Davidson piece from the 40's and 50's. The two clips hold a couple of spark plugs!

After talking him down a bit it worked out that I got the whole lot for $100. That means that I basically got the cool box for free!

I don't know what I'm going to do with the box yet, but it was just way too cool to pass up!

So anyways, that was my afternoon yesterday!
 
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Evening everyone, Spent the day working on the train room. I worked on the ceiling and got the rafters up. Now I can start rewiring the room and hanging the lighting:) as soon as i got's some more money's;)
 
"Sandy, that's going to be a tough drive to Boulder, assuming you can make it. Last I heard, the Boulder Expressway was closed by drifts and the CU weather station reported 27" of snow on the ground with more still coming down. You should check with CDOT before heading out. They've got the National Guard out trying to bring aid to stranded motorists and you don't want to join that crowd."

Jim...I made it to Boulder this AM. Because this snow was so flippin' wet, and it was followed in many areas by rain, the roads were clear. I think if I was headed South I would have encountered a different situation. Boulder is almost straight West of Brighton. (But thank you for the heads up! I appreciate it!)

Bob...I could reverse the weather fans, but I don't want any of that Southern humidity! I love the south, but they can have the humidity! Arid Colorado is the place for me. ;)

Chris...Sounds like the healthy eating and exercise is really paying off! :)Congrats!!!

Have a fabulous week!
 
Hey folks,

I finished covering the valley with sculptamold this afternoon. Between family time this morning, and Sunday dinner I managed to get some work done. I really wanted to get the plaster on today so I can start painting on Tuesday. I would like it to be quite dry before I do. I will have to go to Hobby Lobby before I paint to get some Talus for river rock. I also have to devise a way to mount this bridge to the river valley. I'm thinking of using modelers clay, then surround the mounts with vegetation. Anyone have any thoughts on that subject?

I hope you all have a good night. I'll check back in the morning.
 
One cup of Joe here, Flo.

shm, I mounted my bridges with HydroCal, or plaster. I glued them to the wooden frames and plastered them in. Seems like you're making good progress. I remember reading somewhere that you should wait 72 hours before applying paint or anything to the plaster. I use a wash and not paint. That may be a difference.

Phil, I've got one of those "spark plug boxes" on my '58. I've had the bike out a couple of times this year, including my "New Year's Day" jaunt. It's become a tradition over the past 25 years. Sometimes I just go around the block, others I'll ride until I get too cold to ride. One year is was minus 3!!! They had to carry me off the bike. I was frozen stiff. Took a few hours and a gallon of coffee and spirits to warm up.

Getting new pipes for it now. A shop is fabbing them up and should be here in a couple of weeks. I've got a new saddle and will be taking the "solo" seat off. The better half is all for that. She says the old set up hurts her butt. lol

Karl, it's beginning to sound as if you are regular Paul Bunyon. Tree work is not for the weak or faint of heart, that's for sure. You'll be sore for days. Muscles you never knew you had will be talking to you.

ken (the other one, from MD), Yes we had quite a system. I had already cut the wood for the "frames", most of the legs, and x-bracing. The tack guns were full and the clamps ready. Each group of two had a module. Many got the basics done for two. Having the guys bring some of their own tools, sabre saws and such, made downtime a minimum. Everyone had a master plan and a plan of the module that they would be working on. Went real well. I guess my experience as a construction project manager was pretty well evident. The worst thing to happen is we had one guy lose his coffee cup.

Well, time to clean up. I worked on the yard a bit today. I have the basic layout done. and the track tacked down with thumb tacks. I may have to adjust it when I start placing structures. There's a lot of pencil marks on it now. They will be covered though. The experience of building my two yards has definitely made things easier there.

All, have a good night. Sleep well.

Bob
 
well, train show was interesting. Never been to one before. it was a bit overwhelming for me, since I'm completely new to this.

one thing though. although I have a sort of "starter kit" of HO sized trains, I'm sort of drawn to the next size down. I like their elegant tiny-ness.

and I did learn something personal to myself, I guess. I find that if something on the lay-out is not quite the right size, it really detracts from the overall effect.

so I'm going to make sure whatever I do, that everything is properly in scale.

Sadly, I didn't find any tiny horses in small size. there were quite a few way too big sizes.

I noticed that the trees are never REALLY tall. made me notice the trees more (well, in a more related to train layouts way insteadof just admiring them and noting species sort of a way) on the way home. Trees DO get to be more than twice the height of buildings. just an observation. :D

I'm starting out simply, but am designing things so that I can add and add, including heights, and changes in elevation. I know it won't happen all at once, but I figure this is a sort of lifetime work in progress. :)


and I also discovered that I would like a SMALL circle, just to go round and round, slowly. on its own. not related to the BIG lay-out I have planned.

and I would like to build my own buildings.

and I want a turn-table. that's a must have.

also, (and this is the big one) holy cr@p, this is an expensive hobby!


and I saw a couple of really nice brass engines. I want a brass engine. maybe in my circle lay-out. I might have to sell a horse or two. hmm.
 
Good morning.

It's 56 and clear. The high should be in the mid 70's and it will be clear.

I got a little accomplished yesterday. I weathered a MDC/Athearn PFE reefer and a Bachmann Shell tank car. I also did some fine tuning on the Atlas GP40's to get them to run smoother at low speeds. The old 70's era motors were good for their day but by todays standards they're considered jerky at low speeds. The only way to eliminate this is to install skew wound motors but I really don't want to go through all that work at this time. Actually I like the sound of the old Roco motors. They have a low pitch that makes them sound like they're working hard even though they're running easy. Don't know yet what I'm going to be doing today.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 4/20/2009

Wind Chill: 53°F
Humidity: 82%
Dew Point: 50°F

So Far Today
High: 60°F
Low: 55°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 9mph NNE

Flash flood alert remains in effect until 10:52 am.

Today High: 75 Sunny. Highs in the mid 70s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

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

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm18/forum-2/DSCN0957.jpg
 


Good morning folks

It was 44 F as I headed out on the still dry roads this morning. Our high will be 52 with lots of rain coming. So much rain that we are under a Flood Watch starting this afternoon. Sounds like I will I have fun commute home.

This was a busy weekend. We went with my daughter to the Daughters of the American Revolution Annual Awards Luncheon. My daughter’s essay won the Essay Contest for the second year in a row. The rest of the weekend was spent doing spring cleaning around the house. I also had to bring out the mower and cut the grass for the first time this season.

On the train front I did get a chance to look wishfully at the layout several times over the weekend. No work got done to it.

I hope everybody has a good day.
 
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Good morning folks.

It's a cold and dreary day today. That's okay, we need any moisture we can get. The grass is finally turning green! As soon as everything starts to grow, I can go and take pictures of the trestle as it looks in the summer. All of the pictures I have are from the late winter and late fall. That helped with seeing the structure itself without being blocked by vegetation. Now I need to see how to 'plant' the tress and such. The timing should work out well.

I have one of my long days ahead of me. I don't mind because I have Tuesdays off as well as Sundays. It makes Monday a lot more bearable.

I hope you all have a great day!
 
its raining. I'm sweeping ten years of accumulated dust from the riding arena walls.
up the ladder, sweep sweep sweep, down the ladder. move the ladder. up the ladder, sweep sweep sweep....

70X160. 16' high.


I am out of my mind.
 
pcarrell said:
Bob, I'll have to keep an eye out for ya!
Click to expand...

I'll be the guy wearing the leather "Snoopy" helmet(an old aviator type) and goggles or sunglasses. The Bike is pearl white metallic with leather bags.

I've also got a '51 Indian. Got it all put together last summer. What a difficult bike. All original though. Including the suicide shift. Bought it in a crate, unassembled. You do not want to know how much I paid.... A lot of layouts and trains could have been bought with that amount of money.

Bob
 
Had to cut out on a 911 callout about a couple of hours ago. A truck snagged some low hanging wires across Texas highway just outside Leesviile and pulled them down, pulling several poles down at the same time. I did my bit with traffic control until the authorities got everything under control.

Got my May Walther's flyer today. I see a couple of things I wouldn't mind having. Banded lumber stacks #506-130, National Oil Company 433-1331. I figure I can tack them onto an order for a Digitrax DZ125 decoder. That'll take some of the sting out of the shipping cost.
 


stationmaster said:
I'll be the guy wearing the leather "Snoopy" helmet(an old aviator type) and goggles or sunglasses. The Bike is pearl white metallic with leather bags.

I've also got a '51 Indian. Got it all put together last summer. What a difficult bike. All original though. Including the suicide shift. Bought it in a crate, unassembled. You do not want to know how much I paid.... A lot of layouts and trains could have been bought with that amount of money.

Bob
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Aww, now quit teasing me! Thats just not nice! Now I'm not gonna keep an eye out for ya......I'm gonna come lookin' for ya! :D
 
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