Good morning everyone,
Today in the states we celebrate Independence Day which marks a turning point in American history, the day we declared sovereignty and independence from Britain.
Well I’ll be back later.
Happy 4th of July Diners,
Brunhilda, I’ll have a classic RBF made by real 'MericaNs, whatever that means. Auto correct went haywire.
Steven: I like the vintage Bi-centennial locomotives. Virtually everyone had a bicentennial scheme.
4th of July was always my favorite holiday. My cousins and I would get together on my grandparents farm with about 1000 firecrackers each. There wasnt an anthill in the county that was safe. These were red ants. When they bit it really stung. Then at night, the grown ups would come out and we’d set off the night works. Great fun! But I digress.
history front: there were 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Everyone of them knew that they were sacrificing everything for an ideal and principle. And, many of them paid a very heavy price for it. From all the writings and historical sites I’ve been to, it comes clear to me that these men prized Liberty. Just my thoughts, I’m not trying to lecture anyone.
Hello to everyone, and I hope everyone is OK and safe.
Afternoon Diners
Happy 4th Everyone!!!
We will have the red white and blue coffee cake and a coffee. We ended up celebrating yesterday since the Bloomington fireworks are on the 3rd. After that we went to Joe’s for some late-night food and cheer. Conveniently the place is a block-and-a-half from our house.
Sleeping in day was nice since we both have the day off today. We maybe will be recovering like the Canadians did on Monday. It’s really hot and muggy out so we’ll probably just watch some movies.
It was nice to have 5 days off in a row but I do need to get back to work as my joints are starting to feel like the Tin Man’s… Oil…Oil
My mechanic finished fixing my truck it was the alternator, that makes sense. $385 parts and labor which is half anywhere else would charge. An honest mechanic is hard to find.
Ulrich that is strange about the birds over there. They say there is seven birds for every person in the world.
On the bug thing don’t get me wrong I’m not some kind of bug saint. If I’m surprised with one crawling on me it’s a goner.
Angelob that’s nice how you spare the lizards in your house and put them outside. My Judy has family in New Orleans and we see them a lot down there. I don’t find them creepy like spiders I think they’re kind of cool.
Frank thanks for the update on Lion. It’s been a little quiet around here without all the Roars. At least The Bears wilderbeast are safe for now.
Have a great day everyone and May the 4th be with you
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Even the STRATTON & GILLETTE had a bicentennial locomotive. This is pretty neat trick for a railroad that is set in 1954!
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-Kevin
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Since farmers converted a lot of acreage from meadows with plenty of wildflowers to sustain a large insect population to corn fields to fire the renewable energy craze, insect count has taken a dramatic plunge and so has the bird population. The not so green side of going green and hardly reversible. The long term effects on human life are disastrous!
Me neither! Those creepy crawly things better stay in their natural habitat than my home!
Well, we celebrated the 4zth of July with a sumptuous meal of home-made hamburgers and fries, a side dish of mixed salad with Petra´s own balsamico dressing and a glass of Budějovický Budvar, that´s the original Budweiser from the Czech Republic (and my first beer in years!).
Delicious!
Good Day Diners, and to all south of our border here, 
and a very happy
Now I understand. There seems to be a lot of that kind of thing going around. The monarch butterflies that used to congregate by the millions which used to be quite a sight is now a thing of the past. Milkweed their main source of food that used to be abundant fields has been wiped out by development.
There is also a big problem with pollination bees numbers declining drastically over the years. It’s something to do with cell phone waves that conflict with the bees navigation. Now many of our crops are pollinated manually by beekeepers.
By the way Ulrich my daughter who knows I’m into trains sent me a video of, I do believe the world’s largest model train museum in Germany. Have you ever been there?
Jim and Kevin my contribution to the bicentennial locomotives
Here’s my Bicentennial Erie-Lackawanna SD45…
Happy Birthday, America.
Regards, Ed
AFAIK, there are two places in the world competing for that title. One is Northlandz in Flemington, NJ, which has been discussed rather controversely in this forum some time ago, and the other one is Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, which I think rightfully deserves the title. I have been there a number of times, as it is not far from my place. Each time I visit Miniatur Wunderland, I discover new details I have missed out on the previous visit. It is a fantastic display. They just have opened up two new sections - Italy and Venice, which I have not yet seen. I plan on going there on my birthday in August!
A sneak preview:
Enjoy!
Afternoon folks.
I watched the “big” (actually not at all) holiday pee-raid from my house this morning here in Geneva. It has becoime a neighborhood association regular event here. Police cars leading and following with two of our big firetrucks in the middle. Garden tractors pulling little “floats” occupied by little kids and such. They end up at a small park at the top of the hill and had some bike and peddle car races I guess. Since the fieldhouse is officially closed today, I got my 3.5 miles in walking aroun d the neighborhood in the heat later this afternoon… I did it in 3 sections like I do at the fieldhouse. Hope to do one more walk around the block this evening to make it a 4 mile day…
Actually the cell phone idea has been pretty much debunked a few years back… There are several factors thought to be a part of the colony collapse disorder we have here and also in Europe. If you are interested you can read more here or at several other sites… Just do a search on it.
Currently 92°F outside and feels like 99°F…
I should head down cellar and fix my granddaughter’s guitar case… Piece of the little case inside that holds picks and other stuff broke off… I have the part and just need to glue it back in place and then put in a couple screws on each side ot get it back together for her.
Also need to put some stuff away and clean for a training meeting here at my house for the Boy Scout Troop (Youth Protection Training - new version and mandatory before leaders go to ca
Edit it was 75 at 7 am and 81 by 8 am. Only in the low 90’s today and our slow and sudden cooling should happen on Saturday.
Never have seen a real farm with wild flowers. The ground is for making money, not to look pretty. Even though my grandfather had a farm after he left the coal mines, I am not sure I want to know and raise the animal I am going to eat. My world traveling friend tells me in China, they take you to pens, to pick out what the the restaurant will serve you tonight. Not into that either.
Joey Chessnut won Nathan’s Hotdog eating contest in Coney Island, eating 74 hot dogs in 10 minutes. It’s hard for me to understand how a stomach holds that much in 10 minutes. Harder still to see why this feat of gluttony is cause for celebration.
Quiet day with my mom. We played scrabble and tho’ she asked every turn “how many tiles should I have?” 212 to 147, she whipped my caboose.
Yeah… These days if I can actually gag down half a hot dog, I have had enough… Rather fill up on much better (tasting and for you) stuff. Tonight I will have a Chicken Tender (about 1/3rd. a chicken breast) done on the grill, and a nice garden salad and I hope to save room for a small dish of ice cream. That will be it for me…
I got sidetracked on the case… Need to install a new bench grinder I bought a month or so ago before I have room to work on the guitar case. And… Of course that means I need to remove the old bench grinder that was powered by a 1/4 horse electric motor underneath the table with a belt. Got the top part off, but am stymied opn how to finish getting the old electric moter off without losing a finger or two… Oh, well, I’ll get it done!
73
Ended up out and about today after all. As someone said on one of these threads “weathermen aren’t always exactly rocket scientists” 105 never happened today it’s 73 degrees.
Urich thanks for the videos they were fun.
Ray thanks for setting me straight on the bee thing that article was interesting.
Henry there’s three games you don’t play with your mom unless you want to lose… Cribbage, Yahtzee and Scrabble.
Ed another nice Bicentennial Edition.
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I have never won a game of Scrabble. I also have never lost a game of Twixt. I win Carcassonne and Catan about 80% of the time. I am the worst Chess player on Earth, but it is hard to find someone that can give me even a pause in Checkers.
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It has rained here all day. I seriously doubt there will be much celebration outside tonight. The weathermen were right, but predicting the weather in a Florida Summertime is really easy. It is going to rain, and it will be hot and humid. Low of 70 something and high of 90 something… six months straight!
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-Kevin
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Good Afternoon,
It has been a while since I was last in and nice to see so many diners in the place today.
We have been fairly busy here but not in a good way. Our little dog, Robbie, was in for a liver biopsy yesterday. We won’t know the results for a few days but cancer is likely. Depending on the type it could be treatable with surgery. I’m sure glad I bought pet health insurance as the bill is up to $2500 so far what with ultrasound and the biopsy. We are very worried as he is only 9 which isn’t old for a Westie.
Our Anniversary was actually yesterday, year 36, but given Robbie’s surgery we celebrated on Saturday. We had a wonderful meal at a place called 529 Wellington. I had beef wellington and it was truly amazing.
Not much happening on the RR front. I did run my Pacific with a couple of heavyweights for my re-creation of a local beach train. When I was a young lad CN ran a daily train out to a resort town called Victoria Beach that is on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. It isn’t a beach resort like most as there isn’t a hotel, motel or restaurant. It is stricly cottages and in July and August motorized traffic is prohibited. Needless to say there are lots of bikes. Anyway back in 1957/8 the daily train arrived at noon and was the highlight for the day. It was turned on a wye for the trip back to Winnipeg later in the day. Sadly nothing remains now, not even the station. The train was the only way into the beach for many years until the mid-50s when a gravel road was built.
Well time for dinner
CN Charlie
My cotribution to the bicentennial equipment discussion: 
My railroad couldn’t afford a full engine repaint. (In actuality, I really didn’t want to build another GP20. The ones I have were a bit of a pain to build.)
Good evening diners.
Zoe - A Coke float for me please, to go along with the Apple-wood smoked ribs I brought to share.
Everyone dig in!
I will check back later.
Eveing Diners
Flo give the gang and I a [B] and I will take a slab of Ricks Ribs! Rick and Steven tap is on me.
Yesterday day we had a quick [li][li][li]****[li] and lost power again while I was posting. [sigh] Just did not feel like starting over. Might be time for a battery back.
Happy 4th of July! It is hard to belive we use to live under Englands Thumb.
Work Front Yes I had to work today and it was a waste of time. Only 2 customers and only 1 bought for $375.00 and they had to come in 15 minutes before closing! Got out a tad late but not that bad.
Ed Good to see you posting again and thanks for the photos! Have you PM me yet on the cost of the passangers yet? I checked last night I think and did not see a new PM.
Train Front Found the problem with the PRR M1a Heavy Weight Coaches coming un-coulped. Seems the Centfaun 10-1-2 sleeper coaches couplers is saging. The bracket the holds the coupler box is sort of Z shaped and held to the coach with a screw. If I tighten it up, will not swing well. Maybe a metal washer will do the trick?
Later, Ken
Evening Diners
Just stopping in again to say happy 4th. Fireworks starting soon here. We seen them last night, not in the plan tonight.
Back to work tomorrow. We went out today, met a few friends, had a few beers and got home in time for a late dinner.
Judy had found some red white and blue taco shells earlier in the week and surprise me with them. We had our Star-Spangled tacos. Go figure! It was kind of fun… made me chuckle.
Yes we’re quite the exciting folks tonight. We will watch the fireworks on the 10 o’clock news and hit the rack.
I hope you all had a great safe 4th… Fun talking with you all [swg]
Track Fiddler
Started shelabrating the schmaladay on toosday. Had a 5th on the toid to shelabrate the 4th. (hic)