Geezer's Lounge (Rev 1) - Volume 2

[Larry C]

Morning Gents,

The coffee, OJ, and other assorted morning beverages are ready. Breakfast is steak, eggs, hash browns, and toast.

Curt thanks for breakfast #2; we both must have been writing at the same time. Cute little critter; looks very comfortable.

What'ya doin today.

It's a clear 50 with a high of 86 in New York. Not sure about the rest of the day except "foil dinners" on the grill tonight.

Hae a great day!! Be well and stay safe.

[Jerry]

Morning everyone

Thanks for the coffee & breakfast Curt & Larry.

I'll make this quick we have to go pick ip one of the grandsons at the bus depot.

Everyone have a great day!! 

Jerry

[KentuckySouthern]

65⁰ with hazy/smoky sunlight in S. MI. 

Kept busy here and there yesterday, The car deal didn't go beyond the quick peak and a big NO from the intended driver.  It was a bit more used looking than we want.  Son not disappointed he said he always hated selling refurbished stuff to people he knows.  There were too many folks at the art fair for me, I stayed in the car while the Doll made an appearance.  People watching in the parking area was like a carnival side show.  Folks have little or no pride in themselves anymore. 

Our evening with friends was fine.  The corn in the area here is 8-10 or more feet tall and it was like a privacy fence all around our friend's back area.  The sun looked like a Ft. Valley, GA Peach as it set last night in the smoke.

Today, well, I'm up.  I'm sure things will come along.  The Doll has a memorial for a fellow dealer at the antique store that died recently.  Not sure I'll go. 

Little to add.  Rick, the fine fotos continue! Good looking on the big monitor.

KS

[elwoodblues]

Good morning Curt, Larry, Jerry, Karl and the rest of the crew that drops in later. 

Thanks for the coffee and breakfast Curt and Larry.

Curt, those little guys are cute, looks like they run the place.

Larry, enjoy your day.

Jerry, have fun with the grandkids.

Karl, enjoy your day.

TomO, sounds like a fun and productive day yesterday, never head of using drywall for the layout top.

Weather here is 17c (63f) and hazy as the forest fire smoke is affecting us up here too.  High is supposed to get to 31c (88f), probably a good day to stay indoors.

For once I got everything done on the list and even spent some time laying track.  Out of the 5 tracks to be laid, 2 are completed, one only has 18" left to be laid which leaves 2 to be done.  Today's plan is to do the laundry, walk Gracie, do a grocery run and then do some more track laying.

Have a great day everyone.

[Rick]

Good morning everyone.

My Idaho weather: Sunny with some clouds and highs in the upper 70's.

Curt and Larry, thanks for the coffee and breakfast.

Curt, nice pics of some of your crew.
Star stretches out on her back next to me at night and expects belly rubs.
Do you trim their claws?

Larry, enjoy your foil dinner.

Ron, you left out watching the race. 

Karl, I'm amazed at what people wear when out in public.

Jerry, hope the pick-up goes well.

ACLTom, making those changes on your corner is ridiculous.
I'm sure some bureaucrat's relative has a construction company and this project was approved to line pockets.
Sorry you have to deal with that.

TomO, you sure have some huge layouts in your area.

Dave, Philip, Mike, Greg, Dale, James, Jim and anyone else looking in, what's new?

Star and I did the short less than 1.5 miles hike yesterday.
Almost zero pain in my foot when walking.
Still some pain on the side of my leg where it all started.
Another hike planned for today.

This was last week on the way to Box Lake.



Have a great day everyone.

[TomO/Tloc]

Good morning from Wisconsin. Even though I hit the sack at the normal midnightish time I slept straight through to 8:10. Guess I needed it.

Weather is the same old same old. Dry with heavy smoke haze and we may reach 80f degrees.

Rick I just after reading your comment went to the 2 operating groups I belong to websites. One group has 12 layouts remaining but with 4 being built. All except 1 have at least 500' of mainline. 5 have more than 1200'. The more local group to me has 2 others besides mine to make 3 under 100' mainlines. They are hugely fun to me to operate on. The 3 layouts under construction are over 1000' with one that it's says may top 1500'. 2 other layouts are over 500' one of which is still DC and really brings back the old time feel of using blocks and rheostats to control the power distribution. I'm in a great area in Central and western Wisconsin. 

OPS sessions are prevalent in most areas of Wisconsin and much of Minnesota and Northern Illinois. If it's within a 2.5 hour drive most of our groups are up for it. The real difference between other parts of Wisconsin are my 2 groups have websites to sign up for sessions. Lots of the northern Illinois and Eastern Wisconsin only operate their layouts once or twice a year. One of the clubs in Wausau has a superb layout downstairs in the historical museum. They operate 1 day a month but rarely do more than the 2 member organizers show up. They advertise the sessions and they get operators from all over Wisconsin but can't get their own group members to operate.

It's why the world goes round, we are all different
TomO

[friscomike]

Good morning folks,

Curt, thanks for opening, coffee, and breakfast.  Pets seem to love the master's chairs.  Cute!

Larry, foil supper sounds terrific.  I think I'll do one, too.

Jerry, I hope you enjoy the day with your grandson.

Karl, congrats on the no-sale.  The corn sounds delicious.  Is it for food or industry?

Ron, sounds like a busy day.  Congrats on the track laying.

Rick, hope your leg keeps improving. Nice capture of the pink clouds.

TomO, all those layouts are fantastic.  I am jealous.

How is the rest of the crew?

It's another cloudy day with some rain this morning and more on the way.  The temperature is forecast to be just 72°F.  Where is my sweater?

I primed the inside and out of the Masonic Lodge, so it should be ready for painting tomorrow.  The layout received four grades of soil, stones, and detritus.  I worked around the track, so I can pull the tape and begin painting the ties.

[KentuckySouthern]

Mike, the corn grown here is cattle feed or moonshine...(fuel) use as far as I know.

[Larry C]

Good Morning,

The coffee, OJ and other assorted morning beverages are at your disposal. Breakfast is hash with eggs and English muffins.

What's your plans for the day.

It's a sunny 59 with a high of 84 in New York. Taking Mr.B back to the Vets this am and hoping for some good news for a change. After that who knows.

Have a great day!! Be well and stay safe.

[friscomike]

Good morning folks,

Larry, thanks for opening, the coffee, and breakfast.  Good luck to Mr. B.

How is the rest of the crew?

It's another overcast morning with rain forecast all day.  The temperature is nice at 68°F.

I hope to start work on desert scenery today.  It will be a new adventure for me.

Have fun,
mike

[deemery]

Happy Monday (is that an oxymoron?)   Warmer here today, but fortunately the humidity isn't climbing as well.  I get my new lenses installed today.  Last week I spilled some CA on my glasses and scratched one lens pretty badly to get the blob off.  Fortunately, I had a new prescription and was planning new lenses anyway.  (They aren't cheap, $500!)  I'm going to keep the old lenses and try some experiments with them, seeing how the plastic lenses react to various solvents, and maybe seeing if I could sand out a scratch using really fine sandpaper (but that last thing sounds like too much work   )

dave

[Rick]

Good morning everyone.

Coeur d'Alene weather: Partly sunny, with a high near 81.

Larry, thanks for the coffee and breakfast.
Hope it's all good news for Mr. B.

Mike, I look forward to seeing your scenery.

Dave, $500. 

TomO, the lumber yards in your area must love all the model RR'ers.

Ron, what's wrong with Hamilton?

Jerry, how was the beach?

Karl, it's time to harvest the corn when it's as high as an elephants eye.

Curt, do you live on your trip today?

ACLTom, grass at the curb all fixed?

Philip, how are the peppers?

What's everyone else doing?

Star and I tried to hike to Elk Mountain.
The last 1/4 - 1/2 mile to the peak was non existent.
Tried bushwhacking some to get there but gave up.
Still did 6.85 miles and 1,263' EG.
Packing up and back into to town.
Gym will be first and not sure what else today.

Box Lake



Have a great day everyone.

[deemery]

A good friend is building a home near Sandpoint, ID.  Once it's done and he's settled in, I'd like to go to that part of the world for a visit....

dave

[PRR Modeler]

Good Morning All,

Thanks for opening and breakfast Larry. Best wishes for Mr. B.

Today the AC people will be here to remove the old AC and install the new one. Tomorrow we take off on our trip and will return a week Tuesday. We're doing 2 different excursions on the Cass RR.

Other than the AC we're just doing last minute things and packing. I take 10 minutes and MOH takes days.

Mike have fun with the scenery. I would think one of the hardest things about your scenery will be getting the colors right.

Dave $$$

Rick beautiful photo. Enjoy your day.

I hope everyone has a good day.

[TomO/Tloc]

Good morning fellow modelers and adventurers! Another hazy smoke filled Wisconsin morning. While at times it's been annoying and difficult here I can't image the misery the smoke is doing to the Canadians near the origins or the Minnesotans near their fires.

Another day, sane as every day since last Thursday. We will top out again today between 78 and 82. It's dry, calm and we have mild humidity. That supposedly changes tomorrow when the smoke may lessen but the humidity will be back in the high 80% range!

Layouts in the area. We have many more especially in the Madison area that have running sessions but not operating sessions. If there is an opening they will text it's open if you want to come. They are not part of any organized group. The RiverRail group is super organized and the website sign up call boards are sometimes tough to get on. Most layouts will take 12-18 operators with one that can handle I'm told 30 including a dispatcher and trainmaster. BadgerRail is less than a year old and many of us also belong to RiverRail. We are organizing the Madison area layouts and use the same website sign up as does RiverRail. I wish I'd found RiverRail when I retired in 2014, but it's great now!

I know being in Model Railroader or RMC doesn't have the same cache as it did years ago but I still consider it a huge achievement. I have operated on 3 this year that have appeared in either magazine in 2024 or 25. Bob Wundrock's marvelous layout Rice Lake and Menominee has appeared in both multiple times. A small layout with plenty of action both mainline and switching operations, it is just an overall excellent fun experience. Over the years there are quite a few others in the area that have appeared and many more including my previous layout that have had the pictures taken and stories written but have not been published but still hopeful.  There are 3 area modelers that have that Master Model Railroader title from the NMRA certification but of the 3 only 1 lets you know he has it!

Lumber yards! I used 1/2" 7 ply plywood and cut 4x8 sheets into framing. I used 2'" pink insulating foam sheets and added a cork road bed. Most of the layouts around Madison were using cabinet grade plywood cut into framing strips but that is doggone awful $$$. No one sees your framing after scenery is in! But to each their own. Rarely is HD used because their lumber, plywood and service totally sucks! There is a local yard with 3 locations I'm told is where most of the new layout lumber and drywall comes from. Menards surprisingly is well liked in my circle of layouts. I have to be dragged into a Menards! The local yard has been very accommodating and will get the cabinet grade 7 ply plywood and the 5/8's drywall the guys like for a decent price. My feelings about using the drywall on top of the framing is mixed. I know the guys says it's less expensive and easier to work with. I'm not sure about the last part but the 2 layouts I'm helping with both use it so by next Summer I can give a better answer.

Enjoy your day
TomO