Elliot´s Trackside Diner - September 2012

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
641

Good Afternoon, Gang!

The pain killer I bought yesterday did a good job. I did get some sleep last night. Unfortunately, I have to wait just about a month before I can see the dentist - I hope my teeth stay quiet that long.

Today is one of those days. As we are nearing end of the month, today´s supper will be somewhat minimal and frugal. As you know, at the end of the money, there is still a lot of month left… [sigh]

Galaxy - that furnace of yours is just one month out of warranty - get on the phone and give that manufacturer a call! It sucks a lot having to spend $$$ on a furnace you bought anew just a little over a year ago.

Dan - trains in Europe (and that includes the UK) have long been equipped with air brakes on every car. The brake van was used later as a guard´s van, similar to the caboose.

Have a happy day!

Edit:

I just found this little video on Youtube.com to give you a view on European model railroading practices:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=nMjjFIz9Z6E

Did you see the bicyclist?

642

Mornin’ everyone!

Zoe, I’ll have the #2 special, over easy eggs, sausage, homefries, and a doub;e order of sourdough toast this morning. Oh and bring me my R&GV RR mug and just leave the pot of dark roast coffee on the table! It’s cold in here so I will be in the back booth away from Barry but next to the wood stove I see is lit…

My indoor thermometer said 63°F inside the house… Outside a chilly 50°F and precipitating a bit. Lots of dark clouds out there, but the weather people say it will clear and we may (notice I say may) get some sunshine later today.

Todd, thank you sir! I rather like how the town came out myself. Only thing I would change if I was doing it over would be to add awnings to the store fronts. I still may do that at some point, but have way too much other stuff to do first.

Lee, some of the new LEDs are giving out some good rendering of color. They are improving all the time. I have a few around my house including 3 that light up my workbench. Their color isn’t the best, but they can last for a long time and are about the same efficiency as the CFLs. BTW, people worried about the mercury in the CFLs should realize that if they eat tuna fish, a single tuna sandwich may contain 60 times more mercury than in a CFL, and it is in a form that can be readily absorbed. The mercury in the CFL in a gaseous state would have to be completely inhaled by a person and then only a small fraction of it would be absorbed. Now, put a few million of them in a landfill and you have a potential problem…

Dan, good explanation of the “buffers” found on European train cars…

Jeffrey, those silos are looking good!

Got

643

Knew I was gonna get something wrong [:$] …

644

I’ve been thinking about upgrading my furnace this year. I’ve got a bunch of brochures in front of me and all but one is 5 years labour and 10 years on parts. The other is 3 years labour and 8 years on parts. A one year warranty is BS, I wouldn’t have even wasted my money on it and looked around for a better deal. Cheaper is not always cheaper…

645

Gooooooood grumble grumble Morning. Bucket of coffee please and what the heck…give me the cardiologist’s delight: huge pile of bacon and scrambled eggs please. Thank you.

Got up bright and early for the weekly facetime with THAT Editor. Got to the office. No meeting. Usually she or Mr. Boss notify us if we’re not gathering. Oh well, had content to drop-off and a paycheck to pick up so not a total loss of time/waste of gas. Last week’s meeting was cancelled so I just e-mailed the stories and dropped-off all of the photos on Sunday with Friday night’s football coverage. W**ked out well, maybe I can talk 'em into doing THAT on a regular basis. With the wonderful invention known as “e-mail,” and the Devil’s creation (the telephone), “facetime” is, in my humble opinion…a waste of time.

Now THAT THAT is out of my system…

Lightbulbs. I like my incandescent bulbs. Cheap, dependable, used to be abundant. I like 'em. I’ve got a stash of 100-watt bulbs THAT should last me for several years. I’ll soon be stocking up on the 60-watt bulbs since they go away at the end of this year. Much like the hybrid, electric cars and those little itty-bitty “smart coupes,” if somebody else wants 'em. I’ll give them no grief. I’ll offer no argument. To each their own. I just don’t want them forced upon me.

End of rants.

A box of misc. structure and other parts has departed in the company of The Wife. If all goes as planned, she “should” deliver said box to Post Office staff at some point today in her travels. Within a few days, it will hopefully arrive in good shape at a southern destination.

JIM: No stairs, no ladders on those way up high doorways. I’ve often wondered if there is some kind of “bail-out” rope or rope ladder or something. Then again, I don’t know if it’d make much difference in the case of a grain dust explosion. Interesting fact: In a grain du

646

Morning All,

Well it is still morning here. Currently 61 with an expected high of 87 under sunny skies.

Well as I mentioned a few days ago I ordered some Arizona Rock and Mineral ballast from Caboose Hobbies. The shipping was a little high so I decided to throw in a pkg of Floquil weathering color markers to maybe touch up the track weathering I did the other day. I really needed the ballast. Well they were out of stock on the ballast but sent the markers. I got then testerday. I have closing shifts for the next 5 days, so I don’t think I will get a chance to use them till Wednesday, as I will go to the hospital before work and then get home sometime around 10:00.

Wife seems to be tolerating this round of Chemo quite well. Only side effects so far, she is very tired. Doc says she is doing well. All things considered**.**

Galaxy - we have a house in Carson City that Our daughters live in. It was built in 1976, furnace is starting to go bad. Local heating guy has been able to get some makeshift parts to keep it running, but will probably have to replace it next winter. I will be looking for a better waranty than you have. I never realized some warranties were so short. Sorry for your issues there.

Jeff - I guess after looking at the color you have chosen by popular demand, it is probably the correct one. As it looks good to me now.

Prayers to all in need.

Paul

647

Afternoon folks!

Chloe, a cup of hot chocolate would be in order right now…

I have finally raised the temperature inside the house to a comfortable 72°F with a small fire in the wood stove. Feels good, but outside it seems to be liquid sunshine even though the weather channel says there isn’t any precipitation going on in the area… It is still in the low 50s out there too.

I finally got set up so I can see what is going on with the solar Voltaic System on line rather than going down cellar and looking at the equipment… They had my email wrong and it wasn’t until the electrician who was here asked how I like seeing it at their site and I told him I haven’t heard anything yet that they caught to error. Not much electric being made today around here for sure. Best it has done so far is all of about 400 watts. Very dark and dreary outside!

My furnace (Main Furnace) was old when we bought the house 30 years ago. Other than replacing the thermocouple a few times, it still works just fine albeit rather inefficiently. Since it only comes on during the worst cold spells I will try to get one more year out of it and then go to a new Energy Star one and whole house air conditioning at the same time. At least THAT is the plan. Whatever I get will have at least a 10 year warranty which should last close to as long as I will be living here…

Paul, glad to hear your wife is doing well! Keeping her and you in my prayers!

Need to finish packing for tomorrow (NMRA Fall Meet) and then head out to my son’s house for dinner.

Later!

73

648

I went that way Howmus. Had the furnace replaced and got a central air unit at the same time, cheaper and easier that way. The worst part was like I was saying ( along with the price,lol ) was when they installed it, it was mid October and they had to test it out for the first time. Talk about a chilly house for 20 minutes,lol

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[banghead]

Here is the problem: the furnaces you guys are talking about are house furnaces which seem to come along with longer warrantees. This is a mobile home furnace, which gets the short end of the deal. THOUGH someone suggested I call the furnace company I may just do that…BECAUSE i DON’T know that the installing company isn’t 'cheating us" on the warrantee so they don’t have to repair it…wouldn’t that be a hoot if they were!

[banghead]

The problem is there aren’t gobs of choices for downdraft furnaces for mobile homes- there are lots of choices and models for houses! SO we miss out on some of the choices you guys have! It is STILL a 930 sq foot dwelling with 2x6inch insulated walls! AND it needs a heating system too! ALso it is what is available here…there is a place that sells the furnaces cheaper to regular people, but no one will install them if you buy it form the wholesaler, and I don’t know a thing about installing a furnace, and A company who WOULD inst

650

Galaxy- Do you live in a mobile home park or do you own your land?. You may be able to build a shed like building outside to put the furnace in,it might give you better options for warranties. And if you are in a mobile home park check to see if they will allow a building if it’s not visible from the street. Good luck I know repairs are a pain in the caboose.

651

Evening All,

About all I accomplished today was some weathering and doing my laundry.

Welcome to the new Diners[#welcome]

Galaxy- Sorry to hear about your furnace problems. I did not realize there was a difference for trailers.

Jeff- Great job on the grain silos. I look forward to seeing more.

Lee- Hope you are feeling better. I watched a show on our infrastructure falling apart especially bridges and I thought about you and your inspection job.

Ulrich- I have had lots of teeth issues. Did you get antibiotics? If you have a infection they will help with the pain as it clears up. As a temporary fix I have swallowed a mouth full of tepid water and held it in my mouth. It seems to sooth the ache to me.

Ray- Glad the solar power is working for you.

Paul- I’m glad your wife seems to be doing better.

Hope everyone has a good night and prayers for those in need.

652

Evenin ya’ll [C):-)]

Pretty much laid around the house all day, seems the wife got a cold earlier in the week and out of the kindness of her heart, gave it to me![sigh]

I did however, get the last of the “wedding cars” unpacked and in the display case. See about 7 years ago, a friend got married, and I gave him, as part of the wedding gift, a commemorative boxcar to mark the occasion. When Jan & I got married he told me we would get a similar car in return to commemorate our nuptials.

That was 5 years ago this month.[:O]

Several months ago he presented us with that car! Also, he had constructed anniversary cars for the 1st 3 years we were married, for a total of 4 cars!! Out of guilt maybe?? [%-)] Better late then never huh?[:D] But we were, at that time, coming up on our 5th anniversary. When I jokingly asked him where the other 2 cars were, he kinda laughed it off. Well, he recently brought by the other 2 cars in the series, so in the display case they all went!

Now I gotta get off my butt and finish the 2 BL2s and the GP40 that I’m installing sound (and some secret upgrades} too! [#oops]

Galaxy, it may be too late, but I know our local utility, for a small monthly fee, will give you a major appliance service contract, so stuff like this is paid for by them. Might want to look into it!

Ray, cant do it till next year, but your solar array has convinced me,I want it!!

Here’s to everyone, may the sun shine of your face, and your problems kiss your butt! [:D]

653

Hi guys, Thanks for all your concern adn comisseration over the furmace issue. I have checked the furnace company website for warrantee info, here is what it says:

XXX heating and cooling products for manufactured housing are warranted for one year. This warranty covers parts and labor as well as mileage for the technician:

  • 1 Year Parts
  • 1 Year Labor
  • 1 Year Mileage

Extend your standard 1-year parts and labor warranty to 5 or 10 years under our Watchdog Protection Plan. If you ever sell your home, the protection plan is transferred to the new owner at no cost. See your XXX dealer for details

Since my dealer never offered me the OPTION of buying an extended plan, I don’t think I will get far with the manufacturer as they state they only offer the 1 year parts/labor/mileage {did not know mileage was included? moot point now}

NOTE : I have purposely not mentioned and avoided the manufacturer’s name to avoid any issues, though the fact that it failed so soon after warrantee and that I am complaining here that it did are facts, not any other issue.

the most I think I could do is take the Intial installing {and sales} company to task over not offering me the extended plan…but I think I am litterally “out in the cold” {BAAAAAD pun, I know} where the furnace and repairs from the manufacturer are concerned!

I am SURE he told me the warrantee on the furnace when he sold it to me,they are a large dealer/servicer of heating/A/C stuff in the area, BUT I never thought about it failing in the first year of its life {basically since it only ran for 7 months of life then stilled for the summer months}

Like I told the Sears saleswoman who tried to sell me an extended 5 year warrantee on the washer we bought, “if it isn’t going to last at least 5 years, then it’s not worth buying”. she said “oooh, good point”.

654

How many ways can you say RIP-OFF! Probably as many ways as there are to say HIGHWAY ROBBERY! Down here we see warranties like that on REBUILT equipment, NOT NEW. Some of my trains have better warranties than that, and they’re USED!

655

I did a test printing of part of a structure wall to see ahat adjustments I’ll have to make. To me the windows look too big.

656

Evenin’ folks!

Janie, just a decaf please…

Found out why my son invited me over for dinner tonight. He needed the truck to pick up a new water softener for his house. The old one is on its last legs and is costly to run as well. The new one will do the same job (only better) at a fraction of the cost as the old one. Had a nice dinner and got to play with the granddaughters for a while. I walked in and went over to the big chair the youngest was sitting absorbed in a Disney Video… She didn’t see me come in. when she looked around and saw me she got very excited, threw her arms around my neck, shouted “Papa!” and gave me a big hug! This grandfather gig is a great one!

Galaxy, while we were at the supply place to pick up the softener for my son, I told the clerk what is happening to you. He couldn’t believe they only gave you a year warranty on a brand new furnace! Actually got angry for you! I would keep your options open on this. Do call the manufacturer and complain about it dieing so soon!

Karl… [tup][tup] Just do your homework on it!

Jeffrey, looking good!

I probably won’t have time to stop in for breakfast tomorrow morning as I need to be on the road a few hours before I usually get up…

Have a good one!

73

657

Time for me to call it a night. See y’all tomorrow.

658

Evening, Chloe - I’ll have a hot fudge brownie sundae and a mug of decaf, please. Oh, any of the Western RR’s would be fine. It’s the weekend (until tomorrow 8 a.m., when I am on-call for 24 hours; then the rest of the weekend is available to enjoy). [:)] Thanks!

Galaxy, good to see you were awake enough for our ‘morning lesson’ today. [swg][tup]

Jeff - sorry, I think Mr. Murphy did something to my Murphy trap… [oops] Hey, you’re movin’ along on your elevator there! Do you ever find sales on styrene or other wall materials for scratchbuilding/kitbashing at online (or LHS) places? (I was trying to recall if you had a LHS (or not-so-LHS) in your end of Louisiana). I know anytime I get to a LHS (near or far), I check out if they have a clearance box or stuff they’re clearing out. Figure it might come in handy later…

Lee, sounds like you might be feeling some better today, if you’re ready to tackle a week’s worth of posts. [wow][:-^]

Any other Diners see that they’re predicting a worldwide shortage of pork and bacon in the next year? Miss Piggy had better watch out![:O] (Wee, wee, wee… all the way home…)

Yep, Ulrich, I’ve had a few of those “too long” months at times. Sometimes they were good for reminding me that not everything I wanted was actually THAT vital (Well, except for food, electric, heat, etc., y’know…[:-^]) Good to hear that ‘over-the-counter’ pain medication is helping. Maybe we should add your teeth to the [angel] list?

Ray - if you want a starting point for your awnings, get one set of awnings from Frenchman River Modelwo

659

I try to avoid stuff that has to be cut with a razor or extremely sharp knife. I can get a very nasty cut and not even know it. (Been there and done that).

660

Evening Folks

Flo, Beer Pleases.

Well it is Official, As A Whole I Hate Stupid People! Well, that pretty much covers the Work Front today. [banghead] I swear if 15 people walked in at the same time and there where 10 Sales Persons at the counter everyone of them that where IDIOTS would wait for me to help them! [banghead]

Guess that is why I wound up having Bank of Stupid owning my home loan! I am a Idiot Magnet!

Paul, glad to here your wife is fairing well so far.

Galaxy Sorry to hear about your furnaces problems. I would have thought it would last longer than a year.

Ulrich my friend, I know all about rotten teeth. Uses a lot of mouth wash, it might help.

Well I am beat up pretty bad tonight.

Ken