Good morning all. David, a very happy birthday to Dawn and your son. I hope the day is filled with joy.
I’m headed off to go be a guest judge at a middle school science fair, always a fun activity.
3 Likes
Good morning, diners. Happy birthday to Dawn!
Babysitting grandchildren is fun, but I’m worn out.
In college fifty years ago, I worked summers in a factory in the heavy assembly line. We made fittings that we attached to long wooden electrical supports. An overhead crane would take the pieces as we finished them to some railroad flat cars that were brought inside the factory.
I recently went back to that area, and saw the rail line still runs beside the building, but the track sidings going into the building have been removed. Everything now goes out by truck.
The red arrow show where the siding went into the building, and the red circle is where I worked. Hot, dirty work, but the pay was good for a college student.
Have a great Friday, everyone.
9 Likes
Good Morning Diners. Flo, coffee to go please.
Thank goodness it’s my Friday off work, because I have a ton of piddly jobs to get done at home. First up, making a run to the grocery store for dinner supplies for Mother’s Day, and a trip to Lowe’s for the hanging basket she wants.
Youngest has prom tomorrow, so that will be fun, but picture taking is chaos. Everyone in town goes to the same park to get pictures because the setting is really nice, but egads it’s too many people in one place. After we send her off to her night, my wife, oldest daughter and I will come home, grill up a couple steaks for dinner, and have our first fire of the season in our fire pit. Can’t wait.
6 Likes
Mike, great memories. I had three daughters so I know how fun this is.
I guess what wasn’t fun for me was going along with them on prom dress shopping! How many stores and how many dresses does one girl need to visit and try before finding the ‘right’ dress? 
6 Likes
Morning Diners, Eggs on feast with an OJ please, Flo.
Norwalk is playing Dowling Catholic tonight with a special called Yellow out since one of Dowlings players siblings has a rare disease and we are doing a fundraiser for them, aside from that going to get some more clips for the Southline District Video I’m working on, And Mother’s Day is this weekend and so is my birthday but I’m going to make it about my mom since she’s done a lot for me I suggest doing the same 
Hope everyone has an awesome day 
2 Likes
Especially when she goes back to the first store and buys the one she looked at. there.
4 Likes
Good morning from West of the Rockies. It is 9c with a high OC.
Up early today as the contractors are starting on our master bathroom. We have four bathrooms and I did three of them with one of them being done twice so that makes four bathrooms I have done in this house.
John talking about working in his collage years got me thinking back. Born in 1957, at 10 I did not have my own paper route, but when the shack manager had a no show, I got the call. I would make him pay me two or three times the normal rate of pay to cover the route on a last minute basis. At age 13 I started at Safeway every day returning the buggies to the store and weeding the flower beds and cutting the grass at the store. At the end of grade 10 I was becoming a pretty good golfer and a new golf course opened up that was city owned. I got paid city worker wages through my last two years of high school. I was asked how many hours I wanted to work each week because I was still in high school. I said, how many can I work? They said up to 40. So instead of them hiring another kid or two, I worked 40. I worked two 12 hour shifts on the weekend and during the week went right from school to the golf course. I was making almost as much as my Dad and he still insisted on giving me my allowance. 
Then I got offered a job with the Feds in July 76 and discovered the “postings” book that came out every week that had every job the the Federal Government had in the country that had a position available. I tried a few different positions and ended up in logistics. The best job ever and I would go right back and do it again for another few decade’s. No two days were ever the same and I could work all the hours I wanted. The job had 23 positions in Vancouver based at the airport and it was hard to staff. I think we averaged about 14 at any one time.
Happy Birthday to Dawn.
All the best to all.
8 Likes
Oh, I forgot to mention @NorthBrit, Happy Birthday, Dawn!
1 Like
Just got an email saying $330.00 has been refunded to my CC from ICBC which is the Government run auto insurer. Apparently there were a lot less claims last year and there is a surplus. I see two more Park Cars have come up for sale on the friends of Rapido FB sight. 
7 Likes
Good morning, folks. @NorthBrit a happy birthday to Dawn!
Looking like this afternoon is going to be pretty slow in the lab, which means I can plan on doing layout work this afternoon or evening. Going to try my hand at weathering rolling stock, starting with a Bachmann box car from when I was young.
I’m also looking at ordering a LokSound decoder for a Proto-2000 GP9 I bought off eBay several months back. I had attempted to order a non-sound decoder back in October. That went on backorder and still hasn’t been restocked…
Have a great Friday y’all!
5 Likes
Afternoon Diners, A Hamburger and a Mountain Dew Baja Blast, Please, Chloe.
I finished a lot of things today!
And @Bigguy511 might add text to these!
3 Likes
Hey, Brent - are they $165 each? There you go! Two Park cars courtesy of the exemplary road habits of Canadians.
John
5 Likes
He wants $425.00ca each for them. I paid about a 100.00 less than that for mine. I have seen some pretty high prices being asked for them and they are selling. I bet he gets his $425.00 for them. I would have paid that. He has the Kootenay Park and Glacier Park in Maroon. Not sure how used they are.
1 Like
Brent, You’re a pretty savvy guy; do you advise that I should roll over my gold futures to second-hand HO rolling stock futures?
2 Likes
The last one I saw for sale was about a year ago in the States and it sold for pretty quick for $500.00us. I wasn’t going that high even though the Park Car was the key to getting my train together.
We moved out from Winnipeg to Vancouver in 1959 on The Canadian and my sister provided me with the exact date in April we left on. I contacted Canadian Pacific Heritage site and they were able to tell me that there were two Westbound Canadians through Winnipeg on that day. So, I called my sister who was positive we left on the afternoon train. So I told the guy at the CP Heritage site it was the afternoon train. He was able to give me a manifest for the train.
Sixteen cars total and I know he is right, because, my Grandpa took home movies with his new wind-up movie camera for the three days and two nights of the trip including the whole train in the Rockies from the dome in the Park Car and I can easily count the 16 cars in the movie that my sister had put on DVDs. I have the type of cars from the manifest, but not the names or numbers of the exact cars. Close enough for me to recreate the train. I have eleven cars now and Rapido will be releasing the rest next year and I will have the last five I need. It will be about a $4000.00 train when done. My kids both have excellent high paying jobs so I am spending their inheritance.
I was 27 months old and can remember the trip. My Mom, sister, her blue budgie bird Whiskers and I had a roomette and my grandparents had a roomette.
It was a long time ago.
4 Likes
Watch the ball game tonight, rays won finally
3 Likes
Good morning Diners. Big birthday party for Dawn and our son.
Daughter and granddaughter made Dawn’s birthday cake.
I know our daughter and granddaughter are artistic. They are better than I thought.
7 Likes
9 Likes
Love the scene, Becky. Water flowing gently down the river. A watermill… Oh so peaceful. Thanks for posting
1 Like
Good morning
Black coffee please.
Well, yesterday morning barely felt like a day off, as the better half got me so busy so early, it interupted my morning coffee time. Running her errands, as she dont like to drive, made me feel more like a chauffeur than a companion. I’ve just learned to say “Yes Dear”!!! as it just makes life much more easier that way
Thanks for the info and history on the Great Lakes rail ships Bear, as going down that rabbit hole as you say, IS found to be interesting.
Some how I’d missed somewhere along the way, that your “Makwa” model was a fictitious name. Its no wonder no information could be found on it, beating my head against the wall
Although a few years ago, Google brought up a photo of your fine looking model, much to my suprise.
Speaking of those dome top passenger cars, I’ve been looking for one to add to my Northern Pacific set for a couple years now. Unfortunately they want twice the price for a used one, as they were brand new. Perhaps I’ll keep looking at Train Shows and one might get lucky.
PS Check it out Ed!
Hustle Muscle with Green Machine, Hustle Muscle!
With a signal bridge to boot.
Image courtesy of RRMods
Chuck Zeiler on flickr
Didn’t know they had a Green one, did you?
Happy belated Birthday to Dawn, David!
And a great job they did on it!
Who says ya can’t make a cake and eat it too? Bet that was really good man.
Have a great rest of your weekend everyone 
TF
4 Likes