Come on back to the caboose and get a cup of coffee [or sweet ice tea] - Part VII

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Bad news in the family today. My last uncle is gone. He passed on at 7:45 this morning after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He will be missed.


Went out this morning and paid the monthly bills then went to Alexandria to visit the LHS. Picked up a couple of kits while I was there. I usually don't get kits if I can help it. My physical problems makes putting them together somewhat difficult. But I couldn't find these built-up at a descent price. I wanted them so I grabbed them. Cost me $53 and that was at 20% off. I got the Model Power town hall kit and a Walther's 2-stall engine house. I like engine houses for some reason. After that I returned to Leesville and went out to a late lunch with my parents.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Good morning.

It's 63 and very foggy. The high will be in the mid 70's and there's a good chance of thunderstorms. There's a severe thunderstorm watch in effect until noon cdt today. A lake wind advisory is in effect until 6 PM cdt this evening.

I was up until 1 am working on the Town Hall kit. It turned out pretty good. Still have to black out the inside. I may start work on the engine house kit later today depending on how I feel. It'll be a pretty complex build. I received a few city accessory kits (Walther's #933-3535) in the mail yesterday. I'll be starting on them in the near future and there's a Gorre and Daphetid boxcar kit on the way.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 4/2/2009

Wind Chill: 62°F
Humidity: 100%
Dew Point: 63°F

So Far Today
High: 63°F
Low: 61°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 9mph SSE

Through 7:15 AM...intermittent dense fog will continue over southeast Texas...southwest and central Louisiana with visibilities near a quarter mile possible at times this morning. The fog will gradually lift after sunrise...with a line of strong thunderstorms expected to affect inland southeast Texas and central Louisiana later this morning.

Today High: 75 lShowers and thunderstorms likely in the morning...then a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Some thunderstorms may be severe. Breezy. Highs in the mid 70s. South winds 10 to 15 mph in the morning becoming west and increasing to 15 to 25 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Tonight Low: 48 Mostly clear. Cooler. Lows in the upper 40s inland... In the lower 50s coast. Northwest winds 10 to 20 mph.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Good morning.

It's 47 and clear. The high will be in the low 70's and it will be clear.

I completed the construction of the town hall kit yesterday and started in on the engine house kit which I completed this morning and have set in place on the layout. The older structure it replaced will be added onto another engine house as a machine shop.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 4/3/2009

Wind Chill: 44°F
Humidity: 85%
Dew Point: 43°F

So Far Today
High: 54°F
Low: 47°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 7mph NW

Today High: 72 Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 70s. North winds 5 to 10 mph in the morning becoming southeast in the afternoon.

Tonight Low: 50 Mostly clear. Lows around 50. Southeast winds around 5 mph.

 

[sir james]

Nobody here but Jeffery, ran one train today just to watch, that was it..S.J.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Took a little gray paint to the bricks and instant mortar lines.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Good morning.

It's 50 and clear. The high will be close to 80 and it will be partly cloudy.

Yesterday I got quite a bit accomplished. I got rest of my new engine house done then set to work on the buildings that will be attached to it. I was considering what to use to show up the mortar lines. In the past I always used chalk or powdered tempura but both are hard to come by here. The only chalk (other than wildly colored sidewalk chalk) is the standard white chalk sticks. When turned in a jumbo plastic pencil sharpener I can get fine shavings that can then be rubbed into the mortar lines. This time though I decided to try something else. I have some gray acrylic paint on hand so I used an old structure as a test bed. I used the paint on the bricks on the left and chalk on those on the right and at the top.

The chalk shows up quite bright and the bricks stand out in sharp relief. Not what I'd want for a aged look. The paint shows up the mortar lines just fine and gives the bricks an aged look without having to do any additional weathering. I decided to use the paint. I also got my new Gorre and Daphetid (John Allen's road name) boxcar assembled and got the first coat of Matte-Finish on it before dark. Boy, was it glossy! Sometime today I'll hit it with the alcohol/black acrylic spray then do the Matte-Finish again. I have to get a new pump sprayer first though. My old one is locked up tighter than a clam with lockjaw! The engine house and associated structures will also get the alcohol/acrylic paint treatment so they'll have a dirty smoky appearance.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 4/4/2009

Wind Chill: 50°F
Humidity: 93%
Dew Point: 48°F

So Far Today
High: 54°F
Low: 50°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 3mph SSE

Today High: 78 Mostly sunny early in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 70s. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight Low: 62 Partly cloudy. Warmer. Lows in the lower 60s. South winds 10 to 15 mph in the evening decreasing to around 5 mph after midnight.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Good morning.

It's 66 and cloudy. The high is due to be in the mid 70's and it will be partly cloudy.

Yesterday I finished the weathering on the freight car repair barn and the G&D boxcar. I also worked on the fire station to bring out the mortar lines on it. I may get some time today to weather it with the alcohol/black paint mix. Today I'll be working with my father to clean up the yard some (translation: He'll be working on the yard, I'll be driving the tractor). Later, if there's time, my sister wants me to mow her yard as her mower is still out for repairs.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 4/5/2009

Wind Chill: 66°F
Humidity: 100%
Dew Point: 66°F

So Far Today
High: 66°F
Low: 64°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 8mph S

Today High: 75 Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers. Highs in the mid 70s. West winds 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight Low: 42 Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly clear. Much colder. Lows in the lower 40s. Northwest winds 15 to 20 mph.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Good morning.

It's 46 and partly cloudy. The high should be around 60 and it will remain partly cloudy.

Really nothing to report from yesterday except that I cut some grass. Nothing on the agenda today that I know of so maybe I'll get some layout work in.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 4/6/2009

Wind Chill: 41°F
Humidity: 57%
Dew Point: 32°F

So Far Today
High: 51°F
Low: 46°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 24mph N

Freeze watch in effect from late tonight through Tuesday morning.

Today High: 62 Mostly sunny. Cooler. Highs in the lower 60s. Northwest winds around 15 mph.

Tonight Low: 32 Mostly clear. Colder. Lows in the lower 30s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph.

 

[sir james]

Morning,
Wet snow and 34 this AM. Gave my new Williams F3s a test run and all is well. S.J.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Good morning.

It's 40 and clear. Today's high will be in the mid 60's and it will be partly cloudy.

No layout work yesterday with the exception of routine cleaning of loco wheels, about a 10 minute job. The rest of the day was used doing some grocery shopping and picking up some needed supplies which means spray paint (primer gray, black, white), couldn't find any oxide red. I'm waiting for the weather to warm up a bit so I can replace the clutch in the tractor (looking forward to that like root canal surgery). The PTO works fine but the drive is slipping badly.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 4/7/2009

Wind Chill: 36°F
Humidity: 54%
Dew Point: 25°F

So Far Today
High: 46°F
Low: 40°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 7mph NNW

Freeze warning in effect until 9 AM cdt this morning.

Today High: 65 Sunny. Highs in the mid 60s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 42 Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 40s. Southwest winds around 5 mph.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Good morning.

It's 47 and clear. The high will be in the mid 70's and it will be clear.

Didn't get much done yesterday as I wasn't feeling well. One of the down sides of getting older. I spent part of the day watching some 'Hogan's Heroes' shows and assembling some city details when my hands weren't shaking too bad. These include two phone booths, three double side bicycle racks and two curbside mail boxes. I may get out long enough today to mow my parents yard if the ground is dry enough. It'll tale a bit longer than usual as I'll have to use their new mower (42" cut). The old tractor (60") is down with clutch problems. I'll have to fix that when I'm able. It's not something I'm looking forward to. I took an 'Older than dirt' quiz this morning that made mention of 25 items that older people would remember. I remember 24 of them. Did I mention that I remember dirt when it was a rock?

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 4/8/2009

Wind Chill: 44°F
Humidity: 78%
Dew Point: 40°F

So Far Today
High: 47°F
Low: 39°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 9mph WSW

Today High: 75 Sunny...warmer. Highs in the mid 70s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight Low: 58 Mostly clear until late night then becoming partly cloudy. Warmer. Lows in the upper 50s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Good morning.

It's 59 and partly cloudy. Today's high will be in the upper 70's and it will be partly cloudy with a small chance of thunderstorms this afternoon and evening.

I don't expect to get much done on the layout today as I am in pain from my neck to my knees. I really overdid it yesterday. I should have left the sweeping of the porch for today. Instead I did that AND the mowing yesterday plus some other smaller tasks and now I'm paying for it. I'm so stiff this morning you could drop a quarter on me and it would probably bounce to the ceiling! It's definitely going to be a stay at home day, no real problem there as I'm at home every day anyway. I have some pain killers I can use but I really don't like the way some of them react with the meds I have to take every day. It can get pretty interesting. Finally got the lighting problem for Ezra's home taken care of. If you recall it's on top of his gas station garage. Sure makes life difficult for a 2nd story man. Anyhow I didn't want to run a separate set of wires under the layout. Instead I considered the possibilities that already existed. There was really only one that would work. The garage is lit by four 4 volt bulbs that are in a cluster. I merely separated one bulb from the cluster and ran it up through a hole I had drilled in the garage roof. Viola! Quick and easy lighting for Ezra's home.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 4/9/2009

Wind Chill: 58°F
Humidity: 96%
Dew Point: 58°F

So Far Today
High: 61°F
Low: 59°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 9mph NNE

Lake wind advisory in effect from 9 AM this morning to 6 pm cdt this evening.

Today High: 78 Partly cloudy in the morning...then mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 70s. South winds 10 to 20 mph.

Tonight Low: 65 Partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening. Lows in the mid 60s. South winds 10 to 15 mph.

Fairly easy to see from the condition of the guard rails why 6319 is in the shop.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Good morning.

It's 70 and very cloudy. The high will be around 80 and it will be partly cloudy.

I stayed home yesterday and rested up from the previous days stupidity/overwork and now I feel much better. About the most strenuous thing I did all day was to reorganize my closet. It contains mostly my model railroad junk collection, scenery materials, rolling stock and computer components and paper towel rolls. A few nights ago the middle shelf collapsed. You never heard such a racket! Fortunately there was mostly junk below so there no real damage. Rebuilding the shelf was the hard part, something any eight year old kid could do. I had it reorganized in about three hours. That was about the most exciting thing I did all day, about as exciting as watching paint dry. Maybe I'll do something more exciting today.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 4/10/2009

Wind Chill: 70°F
Humidity: 88%
Dew Point: 66°F

So Far Today
High: 70°F
Low: 69°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 20mph SSW

Today High: 78 Partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 70s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 58 Partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the upper 50s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Good morning.

It's 50 and clear. The high will be in the mid 70's and it will be partly cloudy.

Spent most of yesterday transferring a bunch of shows from DVR to VHS tape and making sure to knock out any and all commercials. The DVR only holds 150 hours worth of shows and I want to keep as much of that as possible clear for train related content. I'm not sure what I'll do on the layout next but I'll think up something.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 4/11/2009

Wind Chill: 48°F
Humidity: 77%
Dew Point: 43°F

So Far Today
High: 61°F
Low: 50°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 10mph NE

Today High: 75 Partly cloudy in the morning then becoming mostly cloudy. Highs in the mid 70s. Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 60 Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows around 60. East winds 10 to 15 mph.

 

[sir james]

Good morning
Bright sun, a beautiful day. Family coming tomorrow for dinner so I will set up some trains to run. Happy Easter......S.J.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Happy Easter to you all.

It's 65 and cloudy with a threat of rain. The high is expected to rise th the mid 70's and there's a good chance of thunderstorms. Good weather if you're a member of the Addams family.

Tornado watch 143 in effect until 4 PM cdt this afternoon.

Now through 12:15 PM CDT April 12, 2009

National weather service Doppler radar indicated a line of strong thunderstorms approaching Hardin and Tyler counties in southeast Texas from the west. This line of storms is moving to the east around 35 mph and will produce strong gusty winds... Torrential rainfall... And cloud to ground lightning. Elsewhere...fast moving showers continue to stream out of the gulf and into southeast Texas and southern Louisiana at this time.

Rest Of Today High: 75 Thunderstorms and showers. Some thunderstorms may be severe. Highs in the mid 70s. South winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80 percent.

Tonight Low: 62 Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening...then partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance after midnight. Some thunderstorms may be severe in the evening. Lows in the lower 60s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Good morning.

It's 55 and very foggy. The high should be in the upper 70's and it will be partly cloudy.

Went to lunch yesterday with my sister and had a very good steak and chicken meal in spite of the fact that the weather was severely ugly. Came back home then attended an Easter celebration and birthday party at my niece's home. Railroadwise I installed DZ125 decoders in a pair of GP40's that are now electronically and physically MU'd together. We dodged the bullet on the weather. The worst of it went to the north of us but that's not saying that it didn't get bad. It got downright nasty! Just thinking about how many limbs could be down on my parents property gives me some hesitation about venturing out.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 4/13/2009

Wind Chill: 55°F
Humidity: 100%
Dew Point: 56°F

So Far Today
High: 56°F
Low: 52°F
Rain: 0.01"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 6mph SSE

Dense fog advisory in effect until 8 AM cdt this morning.

Today High: 78 Mostly sunny. Areas of dense fog with visibility one quarter mile or less at times early in the morning. Highs in the upper 70s. West winds 10 to 15 mph.

Tonight Low: 50 Mostly clear. Cooler. Lows around 50. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Good morning.

It's 46 and clear here in the Sportsman's Paradise. The high is due to be in the low 70's and it will be clear and sunny.

Weather Alert! Due to the presence of an unusually bright yellow orb which has yet to be identified it is suggested that outdoor activity be limited to short periods not to exceed 30 minutes at a time. Staying out longer can and has resulted in skin damage that while not fatal has been known to be very uncomfortable.

Spent part of yesterday working on locomotives, in particular lightly weathering one of my UP GP40's. I eventually got the effect I wanted, subtle and understated and not something that's going to jump out, grab your eyes and scream 'LOOK AT ME!'. I see too much of that on my friends layouts and to me at least it doesn't look good. Today I'll probably be busy cleaning up the layout. With all the projects I've been working on materials have gotten strewn about and are in the way.Even as heavy as they are my two SDP40F's don't take kindly to something like a paint brush lying on the track or a roll of solder for that matter. There's also numerous bits of paper and a myriad assortment of tools (Dremel, multimeter, drill bits, etc) that need to be policed up.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 4/14/2009

Wind Chill: 46°F
Humidity: 85%
Dew Point: 42°F

So Far Today
High: 53°F
Low: 46°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 8mph N

Today High: 72 Sunny. Highs in the lower 70s. North winds around 5 mph.

Tonight Low: 45 Clear. Lows in the mid 40s. Northeast winds around 5 mph.

 

[jeffrey-wimberl]

Good morning.

It's 48 and clear. The high will be in the mid 70's and it will be partly cloudy. That'll give us some cover from that giant yellow orb at least.

I've got most of the junk off the layout at this point. Still a few tools and some odds and ends scattered about. There's still a few structures to place as well. This includes the new town hall. It's a good sized squarish structure so somewhere on the backside of the layout would seem in order. Went outside yesterday to do some work in the yard, picking up stuff and putting it in a trailer mostly and almost instantly regretted it. After moving three loads to the burn pile I felt like I was on fire from the back of my neck to to the backs of my knees. I called it quits at that point and had to withhold an urge to kick myself as it would have hurt too much to bring my foot up that high. Instead I came in and relaxed for awhile. Yard work is NOT on the schedule for today. Maybe some nice relaxing layout work.

Today's Weather for:
Sundown, LA 71446-6114 4/15/2009

Wind Chill: 47°F
Humidity: 91%
Dew Point: 45°F

So Far Today
High: 50°F
Low: 47°F
Rain: 0.00"
Rain Rate: 0.00"/h
Gust: 0mph NNE

Today High: 75 Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight Low: 50 Mostly clear. Lows around 50. East winds 5 to 10 mph.

 

[sir james]

Sunny and 63 today, ran a F3 yesterday for a little while....S.J.