Jeffreys Track Side Diner January 2022

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
141

Good Morning All,

My apologies for not noticing I had top of the page. I never have been a good host. Brekkie is on me so order up. I’ll have loaded hash and coffee please, Zoe.

David - You logged in at 5:24 so no except for sleepless TF you will be flying solo. At 5:24 I am just rising out of bed (I sleep in these days). I know you are 5 hours ahead of us but… Love the shop photo and the stub ended station. Looks like the right had tracks end at a car float loader?

081 by J.R. Mitchell, on Flickr

This is also from Glenbrook Vintage Railway. We got to go through their shops as part of the tour and ride.

080 by J.R. Mitchell, on Flickr

Makes the lathes I work on look like toys.

I agree it is great to ride in the dome and watch the signals flip. We got to do that on our one Via Rail trip from Montreal to Halifax and back. I was surprised so few took advantage of the dome car.

All for now, time to pick up tools and get to it. Ciao, J.R.

142

Hi J.R. Yes I logged on 5.24 am (U.S. time. 9.24 U.K. time[:-^]) My previous post was 1.52pm yesterday U.S. time. Nobody in the Diner in between?

Not sure about a car float loader at Warnemunde. Everytime I have been there I have only seen the passenger carriages.

David

143

Goat Morning all.

survived our 3 inches of snow. It all metled off by Saturday. Not much going on. Trying to get more radios finished as more are in the queue to come in. I have been working on a German radio from 1956. Man I do not like working German radios way over engineered.

144

MLC - They didn’t seem to break that habit either. The 70’s Audi 90 and 100 were also good examples of over engineered and underdesigned. They had front drive and inboard disc brakes that took hours to service. There are other examples in the automotive world. I’d bet the woodwork on them is phenomenal though? J.R.

145

Good morning

-10 actual without the triple F clause (Frigid Freeze Factor) taking Judy to work this morning.

I ain’t about to put the Carhartt bibs on driving her a mile down the street and back. But I’ve gotten a little wiser as I nurse the truck up to the main entrance to go in the breezeway to sit on the electric radiant heat while the truck warms up[(-D]

My mechanic Damien and I were talking last fall. A conversation of Tradesmen planning a trade. I’m installing a big sleeved air conditioner in the wall of his shop next summer, while he puts remote auto start in my truck.

He will be liking that in the summer as I will be liking that in the winter[Y]

TF

146

I remember the pictures of those old-school radios you restore MLC. And a mighty fine job you do at that[Y]

TF

147

Good morning, everyone. Bacon, eggs, and coffee, please.

I’ve had a busy couple of days. I hope things calm down a little bit today.

That should have been in every set of instructions on some things I’ve owned that had a solenoid. This reminds me of what I remember from Apollo 12’s time on the moon:

"Bean [Alan Bean, Lunar Module Pilot] was instructed to try and fix the camera by tapping it with his hammer. He radioed, “I hit it on the top with my hammer. I figured we didn’t have a thing to lose. I just pounded it on the top with this hammer that I’ve got.” The capsule communicator in Houston joked, “Skillful fix, Al.” Bean agreed. “Yes, that’s skilled craftsmanship.”

Kevin, have fun with your yard work. As much work as it is, think how good it will look when you’re sitting in your lawn chair with a cold drink.

Brent, I’m the opposite of you. In my work, the last twenty years included news stories, some interviews, etc. I’m always amazed at the number of references that show up when I search my name. It’s a little unnerving to see how much personal information is out there.

Dave, congratulations on the snowy owl sighting. That is a bird I don’t believe I’ve ever seen in the wild.

Jimmy, nice work with the 3-D printing. If I was younger, I think that is something I would have enjoyed learning and working with.

Ed, that Western Maryland photo is amazing. Can you imagine living in or working in a building that close to those steam locomotives roaring by?

JR

148

Only once, John. I dislike airports. Flying back from New York, a few years back. It took ages to recover; about five days if I recall. I struggled every day to get to work.

When we flew back from Jamaica in 2018 we were okay!

I prefer to travel by sea. Suez and Panama Canals plus the Pacific Ocean were all ticked of, off my Bucket List. There are now too many restrictions due to Covid.

David

149

By poplar demand

Before

After

1930’s RCA

1942 Philco

1925 Sonora crank phono

1950’s RCA

If you want to see the guts, I have a youtube channel that shows restoration. PM me as I don’t want to violate any forum terms by posting that link.

150

Actually the German sets of this era are quite plain wood work.

151

I prefer a sea cruise to a flight any day, but from where I am, I can’t get a cruise without a flight and usually two. I like to make sure I’ve got an extra day after flying in in case of problems, and an extra day at the end just to recover and reset.

One of our cruises in the Caribbean all went fine, but out flight home was cancelled. There was a Snowmageddon event that shut down Washington, D.C., so we had the staggering misfortune to be stranded in Phillipsburg on St. Martin. Oh, well, we took one for the team.

152

Oh, that’s too bad, Mister Beasley! That’s a terrible place to be stuck. Actually, I guess I’d like to know how you did that. My being stuck in airports occured in Atlanta, with no place to go but try to sleep in the airport chairs.

MLC, those radios are a work of art. That’s an unusual hobby – you’re the only person I know of who restores old radios. I guess I’ve never asked anyone else and there may be millions of others, but I’d bet you are one of only a few doing work like that!

We are in the middle of a heat wave here! It’s 44°F. After the below zero weather we had for the past month, this feels like July.

153

I’ve never been stuck in Atlanta, but my luggage has. It took them two days to find the bags.

154

! Funny you should say that.

Last year in March, I flew from Orlando to Omaha with a stop in Atlanta.

After a four-hour layover in Atlanta, we flew to Omaha. Every single person on the flight from Orlando to Omaha had their bags left in Atlanta.

I can’t complain too much – they brought my bag to my house on the second day – not too bad out here where there are a lot of miles between houses.

155

We did 960 s/f of carpet removal over the weekend; did three pickup loads to the dump of old carpet, old tile, padding, and underlayment. Had to come to work to get some rest. Flooring guys showed up today to do prep work; leveling and tear out of a tile entry way. Hopefully, they will start laying floor tomorrow.

I told my wife the only work we are doing next weekend is taking down Christmas lights. Then I intend on doing some work in my train room.

I am expecting an order from Proto87 stores that will let me build the last two towns on my branch line (going to start at the end and work to the junction). Branch line will be longer than the main line. The purpose of the main line will be to operate trains from staging to the junction to the end of the branch and to run the different trains I have built and run on modular clubs the last 40 years.

156

I got stranded in Phoenix when East Coast flight control went down and they told us it would take 4 hours to get our bags. We never got our bags. We checked into a motel with no clothes and the motel didn’t have toothbrushes or toothpaste for the guests. It torpedoed our idea to relocate to AZ.

Brent, I would message you but I can’t do that anymore any of my browsers. Why would a puppy have a liver shunt? I tried to ask that on Ask a Vet on Facebook and they would only allow me to ask it: if it was my dog. It was not my dog, but a rescue, undergoing a 5 figure revision of a “liver shunt”

I’ve done porta caval shunts in cirrhotic patients with bleeding esophageal varicies and it’s a miserable operation for the anesthesiologist and I will spare the forum the details. From a medical standpoint, I was extremely interested. From a personal standpoint, if I had to spend 5 figures on a puppy, who needed another 5 figure revision in 6 months, I wouldn’t do it. My wallet biopsy alarm is going off.

In real life I woke up at 2 am wondering if my shoulder surgery would be canceled. The esteemed governor of Va has declared a hospital surgery, but so far no word from UVA

MR Front, I am trying to hook up some wires from my Powercab but it is working above my head, which is painful and shakey and I am going to have to revise it to build my reversing loop but I hope to get it done tomorrow before my surgery on Wednesday.

157

I found out while trying to get my bag back that Don’t Expect Luggage To Arrive Airlines only scanned in bagged ID tags at the departure and destination airports, but if you’ve lost a bag at an intermediate stop, forget it.

I remember telling some phone bot that no, I did not know the Zip code of the hotel where I was staying, but if you walk to the other end of the hallway where the bags should have come in and go up the escalator, you’re there.

158

Good Evening,

Still working on that Branchline sleeper kit. It is the most difficult kit I have ever done, the ice A/C unit has 26 parts and that is just part of the underneath detail. The brakes, air and signal lines were another twelve. The parts fit well but my 74 year old eyes are struggling. A Red Caboose boxcar kit is simple by comparison.

TF, thanks for sending some warm air our way. It should arrive tomorrow. Our dishwasher only has one dial and it is going strong 32 years after install. It is a noisy unit though.

Jet lag is something that has never bothered me much. I travelled a lot when I was working, and in Canada that means across time zones. Perhaps I just got used to it. Even flying across the pond only took me a day or two to adjust.

Time for supper soon. We tend to eat late as my wife gets up very late.

CN Charlie

159

Good evening —

One for David:

Midland_Manxman-1905 by Edmund, on Flickr

And one for John:

Omaha_Union_Station by Edmund, on Flickr

I was ten years old the first and last time I set foot in this station. My dad and I were heading to Durango and we stopped in Omaha to smell the stockyards and buy a newspaper. Fond memories. Most railroad stations then were truly cathedrals of transportation.

Have a great night, everyone!

Cheers, Ed

160

Gidday Chloe, hot drinks for the chaps, please. Whatever they wish for, whether it be a hot toddy, mulled wine, a wee dram or simply a hot chocolate. However, for myself, and I suspect Kevin, a large handle of iced lemonade would be a good starter, please.

“Well, …I’ll be patient and wait for that cake for quite a while Bear. Maybe another year. Especially if “Her Indoors” makes it, and not you.”

It might surprise you Mr TF, that I’m a far better cook than “Her-in-Doors”. And she’s happy to admit it. I’ll cook tea if I manage to get home at a respectable hour.

A strawberry shortcake I made at my daughter’s request for her 21st.