Coffee Shop Part VII is now OPEN

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeffrey, if I can make a suggestion on the dcc install: Try not to put the decoder on top of the motor as it can get transfer heat from the motor and get damaged, and leave the component side of the decoder open to let it breathe. If you would use double sided tape and tape it to the inside top of the shell, and run the wiring down to the motor/frame, it works better on the athearn units, The athearn blue box units tend to "growl" which is the motor vibrating and being amplified by the shell. I'm not critisizing your work, just making a suggestion.

Suggestion noted. This is just a temporary install. I'm going to put in a better decoder when I can get it, probably a Digitrax 123AT. For now, it's a good use of a cheap Bachmann decoder (NCE Bach-DSL)
=======================================================
Good morning.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/1/2007

Heat Index: 76°F
Humidity: 85%
Dew Point: 66°F

So Far Today
High: 76°F
Low: 71°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 6mph SSE

Today High: 90 Mostly sunny. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs around 90. Light and variable winds.

Tonight Low: 62 Partly cloudy. Patchy fog after midnight. Lows in the lower 60s. Light and variable winds.

 

[rhoward]

Gooooooooooood morning everyone! Hope all of you are having a fine fall day. Yesterday my son and his wife had my granddaughter Olivia Diane Howard baptized at our church. It is always great to see our minister do baptisms as it is one of his true joys as a pastor but fabulous when it is your granddaughter! He takes the child and walks all through the church speaking about the child's family and who they are. What is amazing is the baby almost never cries during this introduction to their church but is very comfortable in his arms. Anyway, here is Olivia Diane during the afternoon at a party at my house for the entire family.

She is already holding her own head up and has rolled over in her crib by herself. She is starting to interact with people and follows everything with her eyes. My son said they have bought a Sesame St. CD and have been playing it for her. I started to sing her one of the songs and she gave me the biggest grin! I think she is going to be a singer like her Grandpa!

 

[Alcomotive]

Boy I like the looks of that sign...lol. I'm a waitin on that cool change down here ....whew!

 

[RexHea]

Hi fellows! We got back yesterday afternoon from our camping trip. Things couldn't have been better: great weather, beautiful scenery, met some nice folks, and caught enough fish for a couple of meals. Oh, I can't forget that we had the honor of seeing a Bald Eagle fishing on the other side of the river. We are planning a return trip later this month during the leaf color change and even cooler (snuggly )weather.

Here are a few shots of the camp:
1. The first is the camp (see my satellite dish? )
2. The view (the river is about 1200 feet across here. The sides of the hills are bluffs several 100 feet high),
3. Me waking up to the morning.

 

[Cjcrescent]

How's everyone doin' this mornin'?...


I thought I saw that!

Phillip;

Seeing that sign reminded me of a story from the pages of Model Railroader. It seems that when John Page was the editor, (back in the 1950's), he wrote an article using stove polish as "paint" for his O gauge locomotives. Floquil paints was one of the "big" advertisers in the magazine, and was very upset at MR for suggesting an alternative to their paints. They immediately cancelled their account with MR. They even went so far as to state that Hell would freeze over before they would advertize in MR again!

Six months later a check for a full year's worth of ads arrived on John's desk, with a small wire article from the API, (Associated Press International, or whatever it was called then, IP?). The article stated the small Norwegian town of Hell, had been hit with a late spring storm and was currently coated under 12" of ice, that had caused some damage to the town. Floquil's been in MR ever since without a break!

Rex;

Great pictures! Wish I could've seen that place for real. Looks like a really cool place!

 

[Steve B]

Blimey,,, must be cold for Hell to freeze over,,,

Rex look's like a great place to go on vacation to, it's well set out to.
Ray Thats a great picture,,, glad all had a wonderfull day.

Just got in from my nephews 4th birthday, the last he will have in England, the family are Australia bound soon for good, mum and dad were upset, shortly after they go we are off to New Zealand, thats going to hurt all of us very hard, i have told them they have to come to NZ with us when it's cold here, we'll pay for the flight's and they can still collect there pension as NZ have an agreament with the UK, they are limited to staying five months though, We'll get through it one way or another.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I ngot some electrical tape today and redid the DCC job on the GP50.

I devised a way to get rid of the heat developed by the motor and decoder. I took the dynamic brake housing off the shell and used my Dremel tool to open up the top of the shell. I then cut the grills out of the sides of the dynamic brake housing. Now the top of the shell doesn't heat up after the loco has been running for a while.

 

[Maxitrains]

Hi Jeff, Instead of cutting the sides like you did, I would have tried with a Dremel cutting tool or something similar, even a surgical knife, to cut open the side vents ( grills ), or even try to model a new fan grill ( which will let air pass through ) and replace the fan/s on top of the dynamic brake housing. It is a little bit of extra work, I know, but it pays in the end.

 

[Cjcrescent]

Hi Jeff, Instead of cutting the sides like you did, I would have tried with a Dremel cutting tool or something similar, even a surgical knife, to cut open the side vents ( grills ), or even try to model a new fan grill ( which will let air pass through ) and replace the fan/s on top of the dynamic brake housing. It is a little bit of extra work, I know, but it pays in the end.

Jeff;

Max has some good ideas, but I think replacing the Athearn fan with a Cannon fan housing, (its see through) and then using a razor saw or a jewelers saw to slot the brake housing would have provided enough ventilation to disperse the heat.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

And I don't have any of those. I can't use something I don't have.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good Morning from Tipton IN !

10-02-07

 

[pcarrell]

What is up with the weather in Central Indiana?

Today: mostly sunny & unseasonably warm - high: 82

Tonight: partly cloudy, scattered showers possible overnight - low: 64

And here's the kicker.......Mid to high 80's for the rest of the week! It's like late August around here! To top that off, we're almost 9" below our normal rainfall since May! I guess you can expect higher prices on anything that uses corn or soy beans this year as the crops are bound to be a bit small. I know the corn and beans around here turned brown a long time ago, and that usually doesn't happen until just before the harvest. Lots of farmers have begun harvesting early already for fear of losing all of their crop. Better a small crop then none at all!

Gotta go to the dentist this afternoon. Not looking forward to that!

Better get moving to work right now though.

Later!

 

[tompm]

Good morning folks

A little on the chilly side this morning as I headed out the door. It was 53 F. High today is supposed to be 75 F with a slight chance of showers. We really need some rain. Actually we need a long soaking rain. The ground is dusty and harder than concrete.

I sealed the trees and foliage on the museum diorama. I painted the ground around the small barn on the layout. I also began weathering the trucks on the hoppers.

I hope everybody has a good day.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good morning.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 10/2/2007

Wind Chill: 69°F
Humidity: 88%
Dew Point: 65°F

So Far Today
High: 73°F
Low: 68°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE

Today High: 92 Sunny. Patchy fog in the morning. Highs in the lower 90s. Light and variable winds.

Tonight Low: 62 Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 60s. Light and variable winds.

 

[OldGettysk]

Good Morning To ALl ! Rain outside so no paiting , well guess I'll just sit and have a cup of Coffee. Hope everyone has a nice day !!!!! Rex looks like a real nice campsite !

 

[rhoward]

Mornin' folks!

I'm just sitting here at the computer waiting for that rain that Paul has at his house to get here.

Philip, I get to go to the dentist this afternoon as well. Just for a cleaning though.

I went to change the NMRA calendar to Octiber in the kitchen this morning and knocked the train clock my son gave me a couple of years ago on the floor smashing the glass into a million or so little shards. So I chased all the cats away and picked up the large pieces, got out the shop vac and vacuumed, then mopped the area. Some shards actually got into the litter box so I had to completely change the litter in it as well. Didn't get breakfast until about 11:00AM...... So today isn't starting off very well! I think I'll try to stay out of harm's way as much as possible.

 

[Cjcrescent]

Mornin' Flo, coffee please. Just got thru with my latest MD appointment, and was told I'm still alive. Don't feel like it.

I will tell you I must have pissed Grandeman off really bad. Logged in, and trying to insult, err, praise, yeah thats it, praise his pics in the CSX thread. Trouble is when I clicked on the topic, it wouldn't let me post! Message said I had to be logged in, well dang it, I was! Is there a size limit on some catagories I don't know about???

I did send Eric a PM about it.

 

[RexHea]

Lunchtime! Hey Flo, how about a hot roast beef sandwich, lemon pie, and a tall glass of cold milk.

Philip/Ray: Lets meet at the dentist and have a party. I have a 1 o'clock cleaning.

Paul: Yes, it was very nice and so relaxing. There are 8 campsites on the river and 28 snuggled in a wooded ravine with a small creek and between two very steep hills. They have a boat ramp, sand beach, large fishing area with piers, bathhouses, and a picnic area. This is managed by the Army Corp of Engineers. The site used to be an old lock and dam, but when they built a larger dam downstream, they didn't need it anymore.

 

[WCWBrassHat]

Definately Lunchtime! Hey Flo, give me the meat & 2 special. and some sweet tea.

Carey is alive? He hasn't been seen in public for months. He may have to post another picture so we can recognize him! Glad you are feeling better!

Rex: sounds like a great camping spot.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Wish we had some rain here. Partly cloudy and sunny with a high of 92.