The Coffee Shop (a place to chat) Est. 2004

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
8401

Well bed news everyone… I drove into LA this morning after taking my brother to work… I was there with pleanty of time to spare… unfortunately Mapquest gave me bad directions so I was unable to find where I needed to be… I drove around for over an hour and was unable to locate the streets I needed so I gave up after well over an hour and decided to come home… It was already 10:30 when I left the area and that was already 30 minutes after the orientation / 2nd interview was supposed to start.

So hopefully I get a call within the next couple weeks from Amtrak.

-----edit-----

after calling the company back someone else had the same problem as I did with bad directions off of mapquest… so I have been rescheduled for next week same day same time.

8402

Chloe, a Perrier to go, then I’m outta here…

Noah, good job convining the CFO on that ARK fleet expansion! [tup]

Brian -
OUCH! That’s really gotta sting![:(] Well hang in there man, at least they’re giving you a second chance. I NEVER depend solely on Mapquest for mission-critical directions - anytime I ever got scheduled for an interview, I would get the directions straight from the secretary of the person I was supposed to meet with. Mapquest is notorious for inaccurate info - apparently the company realizes that too! Live and learn I guess… I’ll keep praying for you to get the best possible job, wherever that turns out to be.

I’m gone

8403

Hi All’ just passin through.

Ken, have you considered using Scotchlock wire taps to connect the drops to the buss wire? reusable if you’re careful and a better bet than dropping solder on yourself while on your back under the table. I use lots of them on trailer wiring as well as my layout and they go years in all kinds of weather with no problems on the trailers. J.R.

8404

Der- Here in Fla. the grocery store is- PUBLIX .[ Not shouting ].

Cat Tom- I have 20 of their Ortner gons. plus some other Walthers freight cars and have had no problems.

Teffy- Deb got the o.k. from the dr. to drive. She is showing small improvements with the hand and arm. Still has a lot of swelling in the neck . Went to a therapist for the first time today. Will be going 3 days a week. Doc says the swelling will last till it goes away.
[ sounds like an old joke.]

Hope everyone had a good day. Prayers for all that need them. And Thankyou, each and everyone for your prayers when I asked for them. Bless you all.
Phil Fla. Phil Flip.

8405

Good Evening Zoe, and since Duke mentioned it (and it’s been warm today), I’ll have a root beer float, please. Thanks for the drink, Steve![:)]

Looks like I just missed Ken and JR/GMTRacing. [:(]

Steve, that’s a terrible shock for the family - somebody really blew it, you’re right! Hopefully the correction came quickly after the error, to reduce the emotional damage for family members.

Well, Duke, sometimes we go with less than what we want, but still have plenty of what we actually need. [;)] As for your weather, ours appears to be going north and south of us for now. The predicted rainstorms here in Cape didn’t happen - cleared off and it was warm (and slightly humid, but not bad for Missouri). Hopefully the worst of yours may miss you, too.

Brian, [:O] that MapQuest problem is one I know of - ran in to bad directions from MapQuest a few years ago, the first time I drove to where my daughter was attending college. Good thing you got a re-do on your appointment/interview - and that you got correct directions from the (future) company!

Noah, sounds good for the WSOR that you get to expand the fleet. Plus a free freight car, too? As Tony the Tiger might say - Grrrrrrrrreat! [tup] If that transfer caboose was done with spray can, you should have your stuff looking even better once you get an airbrush for your painting.[:)] Will look forward to pics of your progress. I need to get moving and finish my roll of film so I can post some of my own.[;)]

Got back started on tracklaying today - getting the centerlines down and after that, it’ll be roadbed time for module 2! I have decided to switch over to single mainline, with a passing siding for the passenger depot, and a track for a freight station a little further down from the depot. That will free up my (former) freight station site to put something else there (like a scrap metal dealer, for example). Tomorrow is payday, so I’ll see about that Walthers kit (Roberts Printing) to kitbash for

8406

Good evening gents, we received from badly needed rain last night to help wet down the woodlands. We don’t have a drought, the lakes and ponds and reservoirs are full, but the woodlands are so dry due to the clear skies and very low humidity during the past 14 days.
Still working outside all day, but some rain is due here on Saturday and possibly Sunday too, so I will start the benchwork, just like Duke is planning…yesssssssss!

BOB: I didn’t want to mention Quebec, but I had the very same experience…and get this, my father’s side of the family all came from Quebec!!! We were camping along the St. Lawrence in 1978 in a seasonal campground that the locals all live at in summer. I went to the little tavern that they had at the campground for a couple of beers and no one even spoke to me or acknowledged me. My daughter met some girls her age ( high school) and they got along fabulous, and we met their mother who invited us to their camper. She was very nice, we talked until after midnight, no husband though, they do socialize with outsiders very well at all. I found that very sad.

STEVE: WOW, I guess that sort of thing happens everywhere Steve, the same thing happened here in Mass a short while ago…the bed was empty when the family came to see their father, and they were told he died. He had NOT died, he was moved to another room. The family left the hospital devastated only to find out later that he was alive and well…of course the sharks were all over this one from the legal world.

DUKE: It is by sharing that we draw strength from each other…we don’t seem to learn this lesson ,usually, until we are past 50 or so, or have seen the great outpouring of support from not only our friends, but complete strangers who we have never met, and may never meet. Just like the brotherhood of firemen, or policemen, or military, we model RR’s are also a brotherhood, and I thank God every day for that great gift of all of you out there across the globe. We will be there f

8407

Hi GATom have one on me

Need to go for now it is time for The This Old House Hour be back a little later with an update.

Duke

8408

Hi ya’ll, Debbie says Thankyou for your prayers and thoughts. And YES, prayers do really work.
Flip aka “Mr. Debbie”

8409

Railroading_Britt said - ‘JP, good luck with the move.’
Thanks for the luck. I’m sure I’ll need it.
brclem said - ‘JP - good luck on your move and I hope you have no problems with your not so significant other while you are getting your things from your old place.’
Again - thanks for the luck br. As for the s/o, well she called me earlier. She had taken our queen bed apart (one I’m taking) and was mad as her bed is a full and the support braces for the box spring and matress were almost split in half lengthwise. So she’s extremely upset that she can’t use it till she gets more supports. I offered to get her some, but she’s gone from Mrs. Independent to EXTREME Mrs. Independent saying " NO! My worries and problems are yours no longer ***it!"
Duke / Ken / Nick - Hope you all enjoyed the refreshments!
JP

8410

Good evening clubbers,apologies in advance for any errors in punctuation,grammer etc but am somewhat the worse for the drink . Just home from the weekly thrash with the other band (Telecasters out and full Keith Richards mode) ready for a showcase in a local bar and a "live"slot on Pembrokeshire Radio to promote our newly opened local rehearsal facility (stardom beckons…not) so,in no order at all, STEVE-delighted to join you in a pint of warm,murky and thoroughly English beer,G.A.TOM-if its too loud youre too old[alledgedly] CAT/TOM-I never thought I would hear myself say this,but that is one cool nun !!! G.M.T-My Grandad spent most of WW2 up in Norfolk repairing the runways on the U.S. airbases( he was declared unfit for active duty having been gassed twice in Flanders during the first lot) and apparently the standard form when a squadron was due in was to have a fire tender on hand to hose out the ball and tail turrets-it seems the only way to get the drop on a formation of B-17s was to approach from below and behind,come up at a 60 degree angle and rake the belly with cannons,machine guns or whatever you had and then drop away in a stall turn whilst the crew were still panicking-usual end result dead ball turret gunner,dead tail turret gunner and most likely the waist turret boys as well. Apologies, this seems to be in very poor taste in view of the number of clubbers going through hard times just now. Well, some time later and still rather wobbly on the pins, the morning beckons and with it the prospect of 4&a half tons of concrete to shovel,mix,barrow,raise 10 feet by bucket,barrow again,lay and finish–life is good-be happy,regards,nick

8411

Evening all and just a short for an update

They did some tests on Lou today and as far as we know it was with dye and the bladder will have to go. It looks like they will try to make one from an intestine but not sure right now as everything is still in the air until they do go in and see what it is really like. Right now my hope is that it has stayed in the bladder only and hasn’t gone to any other area. He can see visitors now so I will make it there in the next couple days.
I have told my wife about the Coffee Shop and the people in it and tonight she took a first hand look and said that you guys are very supportive[8D][:)][tup] I told her that I have been very lucky to find a group like YOU [^][:)][tup]and that everyone is the best even though we don’t have the chance to meet face to face.

That’s about it for now will do replys tommorrow
Talk to you later

Duke

8412

Evening Jim -
Move has gone good so far. Got all the train stuff out, all the clothes, the dresser, stereo are also out. Tomorrow is the 2 lazyboys and the bed, tv and bird.
As for ‘off’ well, I still have to ‘scope’ out the rest of the complex. Saw one female who lives a few doors down from me. Let’s just say this…atleast a 12pk, if not more before I’d even think of her!
As for tv, the cable company here does not carry any channels that would have “New England” sports on 'em.

8413

Duke and NS - Sorry to hear the sad news.

Not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this, but my mom was diagnosed w/ a cronic form of Lukemia, nicknamed “CML”. She’s done her chemo, and is in remission ( at last time I talked to her about it.). Today, she had to go to a dr for a pain in her upper back, thinking it was a pinched nerve. Wrong…hernieated (sp) disk and may require surgery. She’ll start Physical Therapy as pre-treatment and may get some shots in her back to try and help out. If all else fales, then I guess is the surgery.

8414

Thinking back on what I just posted, and what others have posted about family/friends, it still seems like yesterday that I lost all 4 of my grandparents.

Being the oldest of 3 kids, (sis is in the middle (30) and due to have her 1st baby on Father’s Day; bro is (24), and is engaged to a very lovely girl! (A Hottie, if you ask me!); Wedding is set for next August), I still hold fond memories of what both sets of grandparents did w/ me.

My dad’s parents used to take me to the then ConRail Yard here in DeWitt NY to watch the ‘hump’ in action. (As you can tell, trains have been in me since about 5 or 6, and I’m 33 now.)

My mom’s parents, well they tought me how to play poker, amongst other things.

I was in 11th grade (April/May 88), and can remember walking up the sidewalk to our house after getting off the bus from school. I saw my dad sitting on the wall (only about 2-3 ft high) along the driveway and wondered why he was home so early. My sis had just gotten home as well and our father had us sit and join him on the wall. That’s when he broke it to us about his mother (heartatack).

As the months went on, his father’s health went downhill and they ( He’s the middle of 3 kids - older bro, younger sis) decided that he had to go into a nursing home (Feb/Mar 90).

As fate would have it, (Apr 90), my mom’s father had a brain anurism (sp, again) and died at the hospital a few hours later. My last surviving grandmother, came to live with us (summer of 90)

I was fortunate to see my father’s dad at the home (Jan 91) about 6 hrs before he left us.

I joined the Marines in Sep of 91 and left for Boot Camp in Jan of 92. My mom (only child) had to make the toughest decision a only child could have…sending her mom to a nursing home.

After spending a few years stateside while in the Marines, I was finally given orders to Okinawa for a 1 yr tour (Dec 94-Nov 95). I returned from there, and ask

8415

Before I forget, as to ‘Why?’ - Can’t say I know that answer. Only the Good Lord knows that one!
JP

8416

Good evening everyone: Wet snow for the start of our day today, but not a bother. Went to our daughter’s in Truro. Saw CN loco (a GP35? the # is 4727 - Nick do you have their roster?) doing a switch move across the road up to her place. On our way down to the store 20 minutes later it was heading back across the road with a covered hopper to add to it’s enormous train of one hopper and a caboose sitting on the main. Talk about "a railroad you can model ![^]

JP thanks for telling us that, really helps to get to know where people are coming from. Thanks too to all of you who help make this a place like no other I’ve come across on the web. [bow]
My prayers are with all those in need of healing.
I’m beginning to feel like I shouldn’t have mentioned the B17[B)]

Flip: re PUBLIX, I was just told the name, no spellings offered[:D] How would you know PLUBLIX was a food store when your locals ones are Foodland, and Save-easy?(they didn’t see the stores, BTW, just signs[%-)]

Brian: they want to interview you still. That’s got to be encouraging[tup] I try to “dry run” critical appointment directions if I have the time to do it. That way I feel more sure.

Got to go. Good night, and God Bless.

8417

Hey Guys!!
Duke& NS you gusy and your families are in my prayers along with the rest of the guys.
Always remember that your problem,issue or concern is never so little, BIG or just plain [banghead] that you can’t share the load. All of you guys have helped or helping me carry my loads so if I can hepl and you don’t want to post then send me an e-mail. That goes for anyone!!!
Big test tomorrow over 4 subjects!! will post results.
Trent

8418

Good evening everyone.Was too tired to catch up yesterday so I’ll take an extra large hot choc Chloe while I go through a couple days of posts. Duke, NS &Ken I have no reeal answers for you either. Only that i don’t think that there is any family that hasn’t been touched by this type of illness. Heather and I will certainly add our thoughts and prayers to everyone elses here. We are here to support everyone else. Cat Tom I have a grand trunk walthers caboose that didn’t like any sort of switch or non straight track. That is until a replaced it’s trucks with a set of atlas caboose trucks now not a problem.I’ve never had much luck with their frieght car trucks either. Mostly it’s a lot of out of guage type problems[:(!]Concidering what they cost I don’t pick up too much of their rolling stock as I find that I need to always change trucks or some other little bit to make them operate. Oh well maybe I just always pick the runts of the litter[:D] Well keep training everyone I’ll check in again later. Rob

8419

Just dropped in to say goodnight to all, I see Trent over there at the window table…Hi Trent , have a coffee colata on me.

Has anyone heard from ED? I guess when the temp gets over 90 down there in paradise, and the humidity gets over 90%, the dsl lines go to the Parrots…I think the blue ones, right Flip?[(-D]

JP: thank you for sharing your thoughts with us, it is so amassing to read how we all have such similar experiences, and sharing these feelings really is a good thing for each of us as it brings back thoughts of our own love ones gone before us.

Good night all, God, please lay your healing hand upon all our friends tonight who are in need of healing, and give strength to their families to remain forever faithful.

8420

Hi again, had to get off the computer a bit back. Storms decided to get closer to up here, and I heard a loud thunderclap, and shut things down (still a bit of a ways off, but I decided not to push my luck). Chloe, could I have a couple of those brownies from the cake case, and a glass of milk for dunkin’ them? Thanks.

While I was on ‘break’ from the computer, I got almost all of the centerline marked out on module 2 of my layout, and started gluing down cork - until I ran out of pushpins to hold it down. Found myself wondering about how to cover over the joints between the modules… Ah, well, I’ll get to that after a while. First, roadbed and track!

***, Fergie’s beginning to remind me of the Flying Dutchman.[:O] They are going to let him come back home at some time, right? Good to hear that Fergie hasn’t completely run out of MRR stuff to work on - he might be even more unhappy then.[;)] Good to hear that you got some rain. Maybe that’ll cut down the chance of fire hazard for several days in your area.

JP - sometimes it seems like you just can’t say anything acceptable. Good to maintain a low profile then (less of a target). You offered your assistance, and perhaps that may register later on with EMI. The ‘mad’ probably has very little (if anything) to do with your actions/words at this time. Good to hear you’ve been making progress on the move. On the cable front, wouldn’t one of the ESPN channels carry the Sox? Sorry to hear about your mother’s disc problem. Will add her to my prayer list. It is good that you have good memories with your grandparents.

Lucky for you, Nick, I don’t think Chloe works for any law enforcement agencies, so she won’t have you do the breathalyzer thing. You did walk home, didn’t you?[;)] Hopefully, you won’t have any ill after-effects in the morning…

Duke, good that you can go visit Lou now. Will keep him and his doctors in my prayers, and as you say, that things will b