April already? Worn out. Moved another 3 yards of dirt (one small wheelbarrow at a time) and now have the area graded out for new sod. Will pick that up this afternoon and lay down later when the sun is not direct on the area. Have 4 sprinkler heads to reset before laying the sod. I now have a large pile of dirt next to the garage - come and get it!
SJ and Charlie - [Y] on the avatars! Chief better watch out!
Doug M - welcome back!
Dog woke me up at 6 this morning - she is sick and we do not know why. Had some cleanup to do so missed some sleep.
Watching Marx Bros “At the Circus” on TCM and saw an act I never viewed before - woman walking upside down with magnetic shoes?
Well, it looks like the SDP40F’s (my two biggest six axle locos) will keep their decoders after all. I put them on the layout for a final chance to redeem themselves after their deplorable performance of a couple of weeks ago and they’ve decided to play ball. They’ve been running the entire route around the layout for nearly an hour now without a single problem and that’s even pushing a train backyards at high speed without so much as a hiccup. Considering the rough state of my track there’s something to be said for that. Miraculous might be the word. There’s been some minor track work between then and now, mostly clearing out some excess ballast and dealing with a set of turnout points that were sitting too high. That little bit must have made all the difference. I got some of the run on video too. SDP40F run.
You are right. I started with Pro Mariner in Jan. 04. The Coffee Pot started that April. Thanks for the correction. Adjusted the title.
Sunny and cooler. High only 70 today. Slept late and then reclinerized off and on with TV on. Wifey just left with SIL to go get plants at Lowes for MIL. Pick her up at MIL’s later. Going to get electrical cable to wire area light behind box. Hope to light the whole back yard behind the box. Maybe keep uninvited guests away.
OSU lost. [:‘(][:’(] Since NCSU lost, they were the only true Red and White left.
Got these two shots of the SDP40F’s. Both have Athearn blue box shells. The lead unit is on an Athearn blue box chassis that was rebuilt to RTR using the motor, drive parts and wheels from an Athearn AC4400. The trailing unit is on a cut down Proto 2000 E6 chassis. Both have Digitrax DZ125 Z Scale decoders and are speed matched and permanently mu’d. You’ll never see one without the other.
Happy Palm Sunday everyone, also April fools day so watch out!
DBaker, thanks for the kind words about my layout. Yes it does seem like the dark ages when I started it compared to what’s available now. I started it in 1976 shortly after moving in here. At that time about all I had was post WWII Lionel trains and an old type V Lionel Transformer that had four throttles and put out 25 volts to the track. I started with track just around the walls of a 20X24 foot garage/room and added the center section later with an 8 track stub end passenger terminal. The station on top is a T Reproduction model of the Lionel 116 large station and terrace. Like you said, the trains run underneath. The layout has two wye tracks and a two reverse loops. I now have an MTH Z4000 transformer amoung others and run mostly modern era trains with DCS. Every now and then I just run a conventional engine and train to get back to my roots. It’s still fun. Don has made a big improvement for me in opening up the layout with two removable track sections. Don’t know why I put up with that for the last 36 years but no one ever accused me of rushing into anything.
Went to the Great Trivia Challenge local quiz show at Azusa Pacific College last night to benifit the Glendora Library. We had a great buffet dinner and a fun time at the show trying to outguess the contestants with the answers. I did pretty well for an old codger only missed a few. Did not win any door prizes but had fun. My wife and I met two very nice young women who were there for the first time and we talked a lot while standing in line. They wanted to know how everything worked at the show so we clued them in.
Got to get ready for church but will post anything I forgot later,
Afternoon all been straightening up the den today off and on ( train room/ office) wife came in and ask where I was hiding the mini bulldozer?[(-D] as the room looked 1000% better it wasn’t really bad just everything just needed a little rearranging.
did goto to the flea market but they where out of my cheap bread so it was a lost for me. Wife did get some tomatoes thou.
Guess I could start working on making my loop on the ceiling seeing I have the track and I could actually drop down to O-42 seeing the passenger cars can handle that. Need to get proper screws and start predrilling my track. Boy guess I’m going to be busy come mid April when I’m off. [:-^]
Listed some items on ebay that are just sitting around here. And one that I won and forgot I had bidded on and bidded on another item wanted instead lol
Well you all take it easy talk to you all later have a good one
Good afternoon everyone. Finally home from FIL’s house. Had a bad headache most of the time, so had my bride drive home. It did allow me to take notice of some scenery that I am planning to incorporate into the layout.
Don, glad it worked out for you. I sent you an email.
Chief, it has been a long time with the pot. We have met a number of fine people here. We have lost some friends, shared good and bad times with many, and been blessed by it all. I am thankful to CTT and you as well as so many contributers here.
Time for dinner and medicine to get rid of this head pain. Hope each of you has a blessed week ahead.
Fife: [(-D][(-D] I know what you mean with the ‘paying’ for mistakes with these things…I did have a 65 foot catamaran that a friend bought off of me when I bought my new house a few years back…back then we were doing the great lakes to caribbean trip via the intracoastal …wish sometimes I could have kept that one…
Good Evening…
We had another operating session tonight with about 4 people this time…and had 6 mishaps…[banghead][soapbox]…I am not going to recite them…[|(]
Busy day today. Got the 4 sprinkler heads reset to the lower elevation the area is at - took a bit of creative plumbong on one. Went to get sod and all 3 locations I can usually get it at were out. One said they would have more at 7 am tomorrow morning - fresh from Houston area.
Grilled some Tilapia tonight - son joined us for dinner!
Watched the NASCAR race - good one! - if you watched did you see the big Lionel banner trackside? Watching the NHRA race replay right now but that will be short lived as the wife will assume command control of the TV remote soon.
Just finished up dinner at TGIF Fridays [dinner] and will not have to report till 11:30 so I can un-drive myself and not have the driving jitters in the morning. [zzz]
SJ like the Avartar. You hold those engines like I do the grandkids.
RT and Brutus I like yours too. Devil cats. [}:)]
Welcome back DougM sounds like you have covered more ground than me,
IIABSDISEI with temps in the 70s. Ever had a day you wish you could rewind and start over. Lucas and his sister are in one big “conversation” concerning certain aftereffects from his recent events. Patience is one virtue I never passed on to the kids unfortunately. While inspecting the evergreens for new growth, I noticed some odd aspects to them. Turns out the neighbor kids had hacked a path between the two rows. Made a real mess. Talked to the parents who live in the duplex and they assured no more activity will take place there. Even had the police over and they said they would patrol the area for awhile as well. Kids don’t realize how badly hurt they could get. Conway got a 7th for AJ today, which is better than last week, but not quite as good as I was hoping for. Right now, life is not good for the Mikester. I hope everyone has a good day.
Hey Chief, that’s what I thought because I remember posting on here really early on and I’ve been on since back then, so… I knew for sure we were on before 2006 because I remember working at home then and I would check on here a few times a day to keep from going “stir crazy” [(-D] Get a little sanity from you guys [tup]
Well, I dug out some rose creepers from down around the trees and one volunteer tree. My legs were still tired from yesterday and it was hot out, so I didn’t get as much done as I had hoped. Got cleaned up and we all went shopping as a family. My wife’s old laptop should be fixed tomorrow for about $80. She’s giving that one to our daughter and bought a new one with windows 7 & etc for herself. It was a belated birthday thing, but also to make up for my trip to York (a bit - lol!), so it’s all good. Kids wanted to stop at B&N and Gamestop, then we hit McAllister’s for sandwiches, I set up her new laptop, and just had a nice chat with the guys. Busy day!
We are going to be sunny today and a high of 52F is expected…
I am still grumpy from last night’s ‘misadventures’……so I am leaving my out of this……let us put it this way…when having a few brewskies it is better not to operate as well……and I include myself in this…
This day will be getting a few things done around the backyard…we still need to clean up all the detritus from the previous few weeks of storms and such around here…then see about whether the mower will actually start here…backyard grass height? …7 inches…
40 here and a bit breezy. Tried fixing an older Lionel conventional steam engine with the hole in tender to allow the whistle to blow. Took off the shell and tried whistle it works well with shell off. But when you put the shell on no whistle just the motor running but no whistle. Anyone know anything about these whistles? There is 2 holes on the underside of tender to gather in air for whistle.
SIR JAMES Love the avatar. What a set you got there?
FIFE, no wOes fan but saw lots o games at Municipal stadium. Love that old place.
…so I am leaving my 
out of this…
…and I include myself in this…
