Coffee Shop XXXVIII-7/20/2013

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

It's Saturday, August 3, 2013

Temperature in TIPTON IN

 

[Boris]

Good Morning: Happy Saturday!

70°, 83% humidity, and overcast at the Jersey Shore this morning, but only a 30% chance of a thunder shower. The ground is still wet in places from the ¾" rain we hads Thursday and Thursday night.

Yesterday, I finished the painting project in the family room. Now, to move forward to the next project. The nice weather won't last all that long.

Need to do some work in the train room also, but right now that task seems overwhelming. Plus, the grass keeps growing.

Enjoy your weekend!

Joe

 

[bnsf971]

I'm far from expert....I could be wrong.....yet I think these new steerable kind do something in addition to the center pivot which has existed for some time. It may be that rather than merely being free to pivot and follow the curve......the trucks are mechanically forced to pivot (very slightly) in the desired direction......purpose being to reduce friction and wear on the wheels and rail. In any case it is all automatic as I understand it......and sadly no steering wheel for the engineer to play with.

I'm not as familiar with GE's version of the radial truck, but the way EMD's works is the center axle pretty much stays put, and the two outer axles pivot slightlyto better "bend" around curved rail. This helps traction, since the truck is not binding against the rail, and reduces rail wear in curves.

The engine shown in the video has the standard GE "rollerblade" trucks. I'll post a video of a CSX unit later, and maybe take to still photos of both for comparison.

 

[railfan]

the way EMD's works is the center axle pretty much stays put, and the two outer axles pivot slightlyto better "bend" around curved rail. This helps traction, since the truck is not binding against the rail, and reduces rail wear in curves.

I saw a diagram of a steerable truck which appeared to be showing what you are describing above.......but was not sure enough to mention it. The engineering of these things is pretty awesome to say the least. Enjoyed the video!

 

[railfan]

Thanks, guys! It made my wife and dogs happy too! It means we all get to eat. Maybe some more train stuff as well.

Bob, best of luck on the new job!

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Good luck with the new job Bob!

*

Good morning. It's 85° with 64% humidity. It feels like 102° outside. The high will be 98° and will feel like 108°.

with

Gonna be hot today. I have some grocery shopping to do later. For the most part I'll be staying inside where it's cool. Besides the shopping I have no plans. But I'm sure something will come up.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Used my fathers truck to go to Wal-Mart to complete my grocery shopping. Dang store was packed! Seemed like a traffic jam, insane asylum and political rally all rolled up into one. As for the weather, man it's hot out there! It feels like 104 now. Think I'll stay inside the rest of the day.

 

[blownoutcylinder]

Good Morning

Had an early morning here...needed to get some stuff to our church for next weeks garage sale and then it was off to the university to catch some football practice sessions....then off to the mall for coffee with the gang...then off to Walwart to pick up another camera...Nikon Body with two kit lenses...and an iPad....then...home....sheeesh, lol!

Have a good afternoon/evening!!

 

[bnsf971]

Here are the promised photos of the AC6000's. First is a good portion of my fleet:

 

[bnsf971]

Next are photos of the truck sideframes of one of the SP AC6000's and CSX 651. 651 has the steerable trucks. The angled bars on either side of the center axle are part of the pivot mechanism:

 

[railfan]

Here are the promised photos of the AC6000's. First is a good portion of my fleet:

Nice Terry!

The new ES44AC Gevo came with the mail today.....number 5542. Now I have two gevos and one AC4400CW. (Sorry about the blinding white primer! )

 

[L&N Castle]

Hey Mike. I was wondering,have you seen any of the new Bluford Car Shops N scale cabooses? Particularly the Mopac,UP,and SP Short Bay Window cabooses? I have one of the L&N/Family Lines cabooses in N Scale,and they are sweet. William.

 

[railfan]

Hey Mike. I was wondering,have you seen any of the new Bluford Car Shops N scale cabooses? Particularly the Mopac,UP,and SP Short Bay Window cabooses? I have one of the L&N/Family Lines cabooses in N Scale,and they are sweet. William.

I'll take a look at those Bluford cabooses. I should have bought the four bluford ATSF rib-side coal hoppers when I saw them on sale for $10 each.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Had dinner at my fathers place this evening. Beef stew and biscuits. He came across a 64k memory expander and 80 column adapter for $15 and snapped it up for me. It'll go into IIe #3. I still need a 650-X104 Disk II drive controller and two CP/M cards. The controller is no problem. They're like pine cones. They are everywhere! The CP/M cards are a different story. There are some out there but they are quite expensive. I could buy them new in the early 80's for much less than some of these people today want for the old ones they have.

Well it's time to call it a night. See y'all tomorrow.

 

[bnsf971]

Nice Terry!

The new ES44AC Gevo came with the mail today.....number 5542. Now I have two gevos and one AC4400CW. (Sorry about the blinding white primer! )

Looks like Cheyenne in Winter...

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good Morning! from Tipton IN.

It's Sunday, August 4, 2013

Temperature in TIPTON IN

 

[blownoutcylinder]

Good Morning

Sunny and a high of 70 today....

Today church then BBQ time .... not much else...

Have a good day!!

 

[blackz28]

Good morning its 88* and big suprise ,,,,, thunnder boomers
are coming in the afternoon, well my son sent me a package,
with an athearn big boy & mth 2-8-2 & a union pacific calender
, hummmmmm wwonder what he wants lol

 

[Cjcrescent]

Loud thunder woke me up at 0320 this morning. My daughters dog is very afraid of these things and we have to tranquilize her during these things or she can have a seizure. After getting the medicine in her I just stayed up. Used the time to do touch ups and clean up in the room downstairs. I must say, it looks good! My wife has already said that if something happens to me, she'll move downstairs, and let daughter and grandson have the up stairs. Can't say that I approve of this as son should have a say in this as well.

Wait a minute, why would I care? I won't be here!

Another thing I'm doing as I wait for the light rain to ease off, (radar shows nothing else coming in or forming to the NW of us), is I'm going thru my inventory of all my train stuff on an Excel spreadsheet, and assigning resell values, based on current used prices for the same locos and cars. Wife and the children, (Children my rear end, Daughter is 32 and son is 27!), wants me to get this done for when I do pass on.

Estate planning, esp. with a hobby like ours, is extremely important the older we all get. By going ahead and doing something like this, I can possibly ease the burden on the family after I'm gone. While I do have certain wishes regarding a few pieces of my equipment going to friends, the rest will most certainly create a big problem for the family to dispose of, as they see fit.

So let me see if I can't at least get the basic sheet set up and maybe even started.

 

[Dr. John]

Good morning from Central Alabama! I thought I'd check in before I head to church this morning. My wife and I enjoyed our 29th anniversary yesterday - tried two restaurants we've been meaning to visit (both were very good!). Didn't make it to the train museum (mutual decision) but we already have plans to go when it gets a bit cooler. Also have made reservations to take the granddaughters on the Polar Express excursion the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which ought to be fun!

Carey - great idea about creating an inventory of your train equipment. I need to do likewise. Probably should divest some of the Lionel and American Flyer stuff but I suffer from rubbergaugeitis. Can't make up my mind what gauge/scale I like best. Currently, HO, N and On30 are neck and neck with HO holding a slight lead.