You there, Bear! While you have that spanner in your mitts gert up there and change out all those props! Go on, now — make it snappy!
80-HAN-27-5 by National Museum of the U.S. Navy, on Flickr
80-HAN-27-2 by National Museum of the U.S. Navy, on Flickr
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do
Cheers, Ed
Some years back, a workmate and I were tasked with removing, cleaning, inspecting, gapping, and testing, and refitting all 224 spark plugs that were fitted to two Aviation Trader Carvairs, converted DC 4s, each powered by 4, 14-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-2000 radials. That was a mission in its self!
Those wooden four bladed propellers would be things of beauty, though you’d need a large wall if one was to be made into a base for a clock!
Prop clock by Bear, on Flickr
There is work underway to build a non-flying replica of a DO X. More power to their elbow!
Thoughts and Best Wishes to All that need them. Kia Kaha.
Cheers, the Bear. 
Good morning diners. Chloe, bacon, eggs, and coffee please.
Cruises. Never been on one as my wife has been resistant to the idea. Lately though, I’ve had her coming around to the idea. No idea if we would like it or not, but you never know unless you try. Sounds fun to me. Somewhere in the Caribbean is where we would end up. I would be open to one of the Alaska cruises as well, but I don’t think she would go there.
Pennsylvania caboose with a train phone system installed:
Cheers!
We did an Alaska land- and- sea cruise a few years back and it was incredible. Just a beautiful place and a wonderfully organized trip. Took a couple of train rides too! Until my recent trip to Japan, Alaska was my favorite vacation.
Some photos from a train ride in Skagway.
Morning all, great to see life here!
One of the projects ive got going on- built literally from raw material
Ive been in the process of replacing most of my switches with these hand built turnouts. Usually takes about 2-3 hrs to do a #4 from scratch. The Wye above was 3.5 hrs.
Amazing. Well done
David
Wow, very, very nice. Post that in the Projects thread currently running.
Rich
Good morning, everyone. Flo, I’ll have breakfast, please.
The new forum is great. However, I’ve been sucked in several times to clicking on a thread that is years old. I’ve got to remember to check the timeline on the right-side of the page!
I’ve been having trouble lately motivating myself to work on the layout. I make a resolution each morning to get to work on some needed projects, but then get sidetracked by other things, and later in the day don’t feel like carrying through on the layout work. Maybe today!
While I model N scale, the past few weeks I’ve enjoyed seeing some of the Classic Toy Trains layouts. I wish the Garden Railways thread had more people posting. That is one thing I would attempt if I had the backyard space.
I hope everyone is doing well.
Communications on Trains: the phone system.
I feel your pain, I keep meaning to get started on my layout and just haven’t. I have a very temporary track just to get my fix of trains going in circles (and to make sure they work) but no progress on an actual layout. I think some of it for me is also just the fear of the amount of work needed!
Also having to go to work for a living gets in the way too, drat.
Start at the beginning. A board 3 or 4 feet in length, a foot or so wide.
That is all I did. Leeds Sovereign Street was born. 4ft x 1ft and a bit
Then add on, and on. Simple!!!
Younger granddaughter loves to operate Sovereign Street
David
I agree with you Brent. Owning your own seaworthy vessel is far superior to going on a choreographed cruise excursion. We can move at our own pace, let the sky anchor keep us private, and enjoy the sea as we see fit. We can cruise into any island in the Carribean and stay as long as we choose. All it takes is a call to the dockmaster, and we will be ready to leave in two hours.
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We made it safely back home from our weekend in Boston for the big scale train show. What an adventure that turned out to be. This has been two of the greatest weeks of my life.
My wife’s brother met us at the airport, took us to dinner, and then drove us to our hotel. I had the best seafood meal that night I think I will ever experience. He surely does know all the best places to eat in Boston.
I took an Uber to the train show while my wife and her brother spent the days at museums and enjoying seeing each other again. They have such a strong connection with one another. She has the best family of anyone I know.
At the train show I bought every 1/48 scale detail I was able to find. The show was huge and there was no time for being selective. If the package said the detail part was O scale, I bought it immediately. I bought easily twenty times more than I will ever need, but I am pretty sure that I now have everything that I will be needing. I did not buy anything other than detail parts. I can get everything else I need at the local hobby shop.
On Monday morning I went to the post office and mailed all my purchases back home. They filled six of the post office large priority mail flat rate boxes. They weighed a ton, and even using flat rate boxes it cost well over one hundred dollars to send them back home.
We went to the airport and just as they were to begin boarding, they announced the flight was overbooked and asked for volunteers to give up their seats. My wife looked at me and gave me a wink. I knew what that meant. We took the vouchers and gave our first-class accommodations to someone else.
We rented a Ford Explorer with all wheel drive and took off on a spontaneous unplanned adventure.
The train show in Maryland was the next weekend, So as I drove West out of Boston, my wife sat there on her tablet and in about three hours had rented us Air BnB cabins for the next ten days with a Saturday in Maryland for another train show.
We did not drive back through the Northeast Corridor route but instead went inland and drove around all the congestion. We stayed in some incredible cabins and woke up in the snowy woods with only the sounds of nature to greet us. It was a great week.
The train show in Maryland was much different from the one in Massachusetts.
There was very little scale O scale merchandise for sale, but if you were looking for HO or N, it was everywhere. I spent a lot more times looking at the display layouts and talking to the operators.
We took a route through Shenandoah to get home, and even though it was Winter it was still a beautiful ride.
We zipped over to Savannah for some good food, and then drove home yesterday.
The condominium management had my packages waiting for me. If I had known we would be renting a wagon, I would not have mailed them. Nothing was damaged, so all is OK.
I am glad to be back in the warmth. I don’t think I will ever go to another of the shows in Boston, but I am very glad I went to this one.
My wife was such a joy on the ride home. She planned perfect stops and a perfect route. There is no one in the world I would rather be with for ten days in a small car. We laughed and talked and really enjoyed one another. It could not have been better.
@Doc_Fowler where was the train show in Maryland? Sounds like quite the adventure.
Excellent post, Doc_Fowler. Sounds an absolute dream of a journey.
Thanks for sharing.
David
I think that’s going to happen for a while. Between migrating threads over from the old forum to folks regaining access after months of not being able to participate. I’m guessing it will level out in a few months.
Thanks for the pic of the AMT 900, Ed.
Ran that one a few times. But it didn’t make it 'til “the end” – it and the 903 were lost in the Chase, MD wreck in 1987…
@Doc_Fowler where was the train show in Maryland? Sounds like quite the adventure.
Must be talking about the Great Scale Train Show, Timonium, Md.
Thanks, as a new HO scale modeler it sounds interesting and somewhat local to me.
Thank you. Ive got a club member who’s able to build one in under an hour.
Good morning from snowyville, we only have about 20cm and it is quite nice as we have only had flurries on and off to get that much. It is -5c with HOC.
It is garbage day tomorrow (highlight of the week!) so I was out poking around the acres and Holy animal tracks…Um…Me? 
I have a trail cam that I use to have outside to catch the action and I think I will have to put it back out.
I was staying at the Whaler in Kaanapali once and the airline phoned and asked if I could changed my flight home and offered a free round trip to anywhere as compensation. I said let me make a couple of calls and get back to you. The condo belonged to a guy I worked with, it was a beautiful 2 bedroom on the ocean and he let me stay there for nothing, I asked if I could stay another two weeks and he said sure. I then called work and told them I would be taking more time off and then called the airline back and was booked out two weeks later. The girl I was there with had no problem taking more time off work either.
The best part about road trips with my wife is we rarely eat at chain restaurants. If we start to get hungry she starts looking for highly rated eateries that will be more in town away from the highway. When she finds one she says follow the nice lady’s voice as she puts it up on maps. We have had some stunning meals and great experiences doing that.
We also stay at bed and breakfast places and have never had a bad experience. Oceanside and lakeside hideaway’s that were spectacular. We were in the foothills of Alberta once and decided to call it a day and she found a B&B at a ranch about 5km off the highway. What a place and cheaper than a roadside hotel. They asked if we could ride and we both have a lot of experience with horses, so they saddled up a couple of horses for us and off we went for a couple of hours. No extra charge.
All this talk of travel is giving me itchy feet, however, I had some adhesion sutures pop yesterday and I am on the tender side for a couple of days. This is the first time in forever we have not gone to the land of palm trees for a mid winter break. There is always next year. 
All the best to all.
