Bear. Thanks for the update on TF.
Glad he is okay; Junk and spam a real pain.
David
Bear, it looks to me like you did a phenomenal job on the floor.
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Good morning all. Flo, coffee please.
Bear, the floor looks fantastic! Really nice. Thanks for the update on Track Fiddler too! Sure hope he comes back sooner than later.
My wife and I have been kicking around a couple project ideas, kitchen being one of them. One problem in our situation is when they installed the cabinets, instead of putting them on top of the tile floor, they put the cabinets in first, and then tiled around them. Now, if we want to do anything, we have to either match the base cabinet layout, fill in the height difference in the floor and go slightly larger/wider with the cabinets (not much room for that), or potentially have to rip out all the tile floor, which isn’t high on our want-to-do list (especially considering the floor is continuous into the adjacent bathroom and pantry areas). Still, long term we have to do something. The cabinets were installed tightly around the refrigerator, the size of which isn’t made anymore. Newer fridges are bigger. Ours is about 15 years old, and I’ve made several repairs to it at this point to keep it chugging along. Not sure how many more times I’ll be able to get away with that.
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I will join in on the kitchen remodeling issue. Our home is now 25 years old, and it has never been touched since the initial construction. Some years back the MoenStone sink cracked. The faucet sprayer started to leak. The oak cabinets are beautiful but dated. The backsplash looks a bit silly 25 years later. The countertops are Formica. So, I set a very generous budget to remodel and upgrade the kitchen. Years later, that budget is still untapped.
Rich
Rich, sounds like you’ve discovered a new train fund.
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Not for a moment have I overlooked that fact. 
Rich
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No new kitchen here. With a country house built in 1782 got to keep it in character. The town house is different. Had a new kitchen not so long ago.
Mediterranean Waves
David
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The Fifth of Forth?
Sorry, David, I could not resist.
Rich
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Good morning, diners. Chloe, I’ll have bacon, eggs, and coffee, please.
Bear thanks for the info on TF. It’s good to hear he’s just taking a break and not worse. Also, your floor looks great. I’m afraid our dog could put some pretty nice scratches in it pretty quickly. Ask me how I know. 
Our predicted snow ended up being a few flakes along the edges of the driveway. The TV weatherman now says we’ll get only five inches by Wednesday. That could mean we won’t get any or we’ll get two feet.
David and Bear often comment on some place names that are normal for them but unusual for us. In the U.S., Louisiana has some pretty strange names. Not sure if they’re really strange or just strangely pronounced.
In the 1880s, my great-grandfather homesteaded about two miles from the town of Worms, Nebraska. The first settlers were from Worms, Germany. There’s still a church and several houses there, but not much else. Sadly, the Worms tavern, The NIghtcrawler’s Bar, is closed. I guess the good news is the town is still on Google maps. When the town disappears from that map, I guess that will spell the end.
I hope everyone has a great Tuesday.
Communication on Railroads: The bag of mail is about to get picked up by the moving train.
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Still going through all my purchases from a couple of weeks ago. I have way too many 55-gallon drums. I wonder if 55-gallon drums were even used in their current design in 1887. I wonder how I would even look into that. I went through the books I have covering the Denver South Park and Pacific, and there is not a 55-gallon drum to be seen in any of them.
When we bought this condominium the only work we had done before we moved in was a complete kitchen renovation. This was a multi-million-dollar residence with a one-thousand-dollar kitchen. Completely unacceptable to us.
We had four designers come in and give us options. We went with the not very creatively named Kitchen Remodeling of Sarasota. They were the highest of the quotes, but their design was brilliant.
The kitchen originally had an island like Brent showed, but smaller. I could not have that. The island makes everything a nightmare. In Brent’s pictures you can see no matter how you open the pantry you trap yourself against the island. No sir! I will not have something that much of an obstacle in this house.
They built a galley style kitchen with all custom-built hardwood cabinets that extend to the ceiling with tasteful molding and absolutely no wasted space. Things that look like spacer pieces are actually spice racks or hidden towel bars. Everything is placed exactly where it is needed.
All the appliances are top end KitchenAid professional series. The panel ready built-in refrigerator was over ten thousand dollars, which I thought was extreme, but it is beautiful. We have dual ovens, a 48-inch cooktop, and a dishwasher that will actually eat a cake. It is all amazing; I had to try it.
They also remodeled our dining room to match the kitchen. This was a great decision because they took just a little dining room space to add a pantry and a warming buffet. These were needed and add everything to the design. All of the paneling, crown molding, and flooring in the dining room matches the kitchen. It is lovely. They even positioned the dining area to make the most of the glass pocket slider wall that opens to the Gulf of Mexico. It is a world class way to dine.
You get what you pay for, and I am very glad we chose not to cut any corners.
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Hi all. Feeling sad today. No idea why… just very upset
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Is it because we have had no water due to a burst pipe? The pipe is now repaired. Tea or coffee for everyone.
David
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That’s too bad, Jimmy. I hope that low feeling goes away. You have a lot of friends here on the forum who, I’m sure, hope so, too.
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Good morning all from Beautiful British Columbia where it is -10c and sunny.
Just had the contractor and tile guy in for a final look see and we are pretty much good to go on the bathroom. It sounds like it will be pretty spectacular when done, we shall see. When the kitchen was finished they came in and set up lights like a movie shoot and took photos for a couple of hours and it has been in a few design magazines. We had been using it for a week and it was funny to watch them clean it for the shoot. You would have thought there was ten years of grime in there the way they went at it.
I am going to head out and go to the Recycling Depot. With me being out of commission with the surgery I have a load of stuff to take back and I am finally allowed to drive again, YIPPEE!!! There is a recycling depot in the same warehouse complex as PWRS. Last time I took the bottles back, the $8.65 I got for them turned into this! Amazing how that works. I would give my left…for a matching Park Car.
Glad to hear TF is still around, I was seeing if we had an old laptop I could send him as I am taking several to the recycle centre today, however they are all past their best before days. Starting in grade four the kids got new laptops every two years at school so two kids times five new laptops each is ten laptops.
Speaking of kid’s, last night I climbed into bed and flipped on the TV and there was #1 son on the screen in Deadpool 2, I then flipped the channel and there he was again in Legends of Tomorrow. We often see him in things as he did do a lot of stuff, but seeing him twice in the span of a couple of minutes is a first.
Well, best get to it.
When I’m calling Yooooooouuuuuuuuuooooouuuuuu
I asked Jason if they would be doing a re-issue of the Park Car and he said yes, 
but he didn’t say when. 
All the best to all.
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Good evening all. Oldest grandson has gone home. Dawn shed a little tear. Her oldest no longer does things he used to. ‘It’s called growing up’ I say.
She knows well enough, but still.
I am going through my old photographs. Some I haven’t seen in a long time.
The Pacific Ocean. Ships waiting. Ship owners have to pay before entering the Panama Canal. No paying later.
Queen Mary 2 in Fremantle, Perth, Australia.
David
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Brrr!
Milwaukee_Road-snow by Edmund, on Flickr
Those old F units can take a beating!
I didn’t know Park cars were so scarce, Brent! I bought mine on a whim and use it in private car service on my layout. Maybe you need to make a ‘saved search’ at eBay? One just went for about C$130 a few weeks ago.
I’m awaiting the re-release of some of Rapido’s early ‘Continental Line’ cars. I have a set of four Erie-Lackawanna coaches that I made necessary modifications to and they run OK but lack interior lighting. I’m debating the $500 outlay for another set of four of the new ones just for a tiny bit of added features?
E-L 816-track-2 by Edmund, on Flickr
The E-L ran a four-car commuter train from Cleveland to Youngstown, Ohio that I rode several times back in the '70s.
I’ll post some bridge photos. That sometimes brings TF back!
Cheers, Ed
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Thanks Ed, that’s a good idea about the saved ebay search. I did find one locally but upon seeing it, it was in rough shape. There was another in the U.S. but it worked out to $800.00 Canadian for what he wanted for it. I’ll get one sooner or later as more and more of that stuff is coming up on the market.
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Thinking back to my last train ride- this on the Wilmington and Western Railroad. I’ll have to go back, as we were hoping to ride on their 0-6-0 switcher, but it was unfortunately switched due to mechanical issues. One day I’ll get to ride a steam locomotive.
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1:1 lift bridge.
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Automatic Draw Bridges.
One for TF to do.
David