Good Morning All. Clear and 69° here this morning. This next week is supposed to be cooler, with temperatures topping out in the low to mid-80's. Chance of thundershowers today through Monday. An isolated but severe t-storm hit Dallas 65 miles south of here yesterday around 6:00 pm, but nothing this far north.
Heavy duty work day here yesterday for me. Weedeater in the garden along the fence and compost bin; and in the yard around the wood stacks and pool. Electric push mower around the house and some close by trees. I cut and then split several logs for firewood. I hadn't split any in a few months, so that was a bit of different exercise. Earlier I did a load of laundry and later I made something new to me for supper, Chicken Piccata. I've made Tilapia Piccata before, but this was my first go at using chicken. Quite tasty. It's split chicken breasts cooked in a lemon/butter/caper/white wine/cream sauce, doused in Parmesan and Parsley at the table. Steamed Asparagus, French bread and Strawberries rounded out the meal. This recipe went into the "keeper" file.
No household tasks on tap today, but garden maintenance will start early, after the dew evaporates and before the forecasted rain hits this afternoon. Firewood is also on the agenda, I have a lot already cut but much needs trimming and splitting; and it all needs stacking.
I don't care where hot dogs or hamburgers came from, as long as they are real meat and not "Beyond Meat"! The Kroger meat manager couldn't tell me why these products were in the meat section to begin with! I make my own hamburgers, but purchase Nathan's All Beef Hot Dogs. A great alternative that I eat more often is Earl Campbell's Hot Links, made right here in Texas.
Yesterday was a run trains day out in the train shed. I ran a local to Charlottesville and switched 4 of the 8 industries there, easy run as they were all trailing point spurs. A boxcar at Miracle Manufacturing, another one at Acme Chemical, a reefer at Federal Cold Storage and an insulated boxcar at the unnamed beer distributor. Then I staged another local for Vernon with cars for all 6 industries on the north side of town. Three trailing spurs, two facing spurs and a grain elevator with a double-ended siding. Besides the elevator, there is a plastics manufacturer, a propane distributor, a fertilizer dealer, a sand mining operation and an unnamed industry. That train is parked on the siding waiting for a manifest freight and an intermodal train to pass through town before beginning it's switching. That will begin my next session. No fast clock for me, just sequential operations.
In Charlottesville, Acme Chemical.
And Miracle Manufacturing, "If It Works, It's A Miracle".
Tom O - While I much prefer the Kadee whisker couplers, I have too many freight cars with #5's to consider changing them out. As long as they aren't giving me any trouble, they stay put.
RANT: It still really pisses me off that I have to change out the couplers in those expensive ScaleTrains engines that I buy. And not that I still have any left to use, but #5's don't work. END OF RANT.
Steel versus plastic axles don't bother me. I really can't tell any difference in performance on my layout. I have a mix of Kadee and Intermountain wheelsets, with many P2K's in older cars. I don't like the newer Walther's Proto because they are too shiny and I have to weather them all.
Dave - I add weight to all my cars that might need it. Unweighted ones will track OK in short trains, but I run more modern trains and most of my "running" trains have 20 cars in them. Going forward isn't a problem, but backing through a series of switches into a yard or an industry siding presents problems that I don't need. I seem to be about 50:50 with running and building.
Troy - Y'all have a safe trip. Enjoy the time.
Everyone have a great Saturday. I now have a household task. My wife closed a bedroom window because the birds out by the pond were making a racket, and she trapped a lizard between the window and the screen. Not sure where it came from, but I'll just take the screen off and shoo it away. It's probably one of those flat lizards that slipped through the space between the screen and window frame to begin with, and it may be gone by the time I get to it.
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