Have a great time Paul and Shirley! How long did it take to get to Eau Claire?
Mark, took two days to drive. Did two thirds the distance the first day leaving a shorter drive for the second day... Paul 2
Paul come over around 6:00. You'll get to meet Patrick and my son, Matthew. That's it, just six of us, and you're the only guests. Patrick is sort of family after all these years.
Elliot, even though its a small group I sure hope you and everyone else has a great pick nick! Make sure Paul takes lots of pictures!
Hey Elliot- I was surfing for some photos to post on the "Any D&H Fans" forum and came across these. I was surprised to see a D&H Geep still working and in Minneapolis no less. Thought of you right away. The first photo says it was taken at Shoreham. The second over the Mississippi on the Robert St Bridge.
Have a great time today. Paul is a lucky guy to get to see your layout in person.
Bob
The guy who took the photos seems to have a lot from around your area.
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Mike - Will do.
Bob - Cool, that is why I can buy just about any road name and run it on my layout. I have some Conrail, CSX and NS locos, because I have seen them around here, over the years. Next time Lionel offers up a D&H geep, I'll give serious thought to it.
Hi Elliot, just wanted to share with you on such a nice day some great news! My MRI of my brain came back clean and normal! SO I guess you don't have to be crazy to be into trains! LOL
I sure hope you have a great BBQ!!
Excellent news Mike. I did give Paul your message, and he spent about 20 minutes toward the end of his visit, just running around with his camera. The train ran flawlessly, four laps, two westbound and two eastbound. I just set the throttle, and left it on the desk. I was running one of the new Legacy Bluetooth engines at a nice medium slow speed. Almost an hour of solid running. My son got the caboose camera running, and Paul really liked that. Unfortunately, Patrick had car trouble, and didn't make it down.
Sounds great for you, your son, and Paul! I’m sorry Patrick couldn’t make it! Stinking cars!!
mike g. posted:Hi Elliot, just wanted to share with you on such a nice day some great news! My MRI of my brain came back clean and normal! SO I guess you don't have to be crazy to be into trains! LOL
I sure hope you have a great BBQ!!
Great news. Keep using that brain on your layout! God bless.
Elliot, I am glad everything went smooth! I will be keeping my eyes open for Paul's photos. Did you happen to get some footage from the caboose cam to share with us? If so would love to see it!
Sorry Patrick didn't make it, I am sure he would have had a lot of fun!
Matt, thank you sir! The wife and I have always thought we are luck that we have God watching over us. Been a hard road to travel for the past 5 years!
Mike g, good to hear the MRI came out clean and that you will be back on track soon. The Menards show was as good as last year. Had a good time seeing Mark and Dad (bob) again. But Saturday night at Elliot's was the icing on the cake for me. Always amazed to see the progress on his layout. The caboose cam was fascinating to watch. The train that was running ran without any problems. We missed out on meeting Patrick but we got to meet Elliot's son. He was helping set up the caboose cam. It was another great evening. Elliot and Tammy are wonderful hosts and very nice people to be with. So Mike g be patient. I took a lot of pics but can't post till we get home........Paul 2
Mike, I obtained the pictures from your MRI, very interesting. I'm not sure "clean" is what I'd call it, but lookin' good! 
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Mark - Yes, we all had a great time. Paul could have stayed all night, but Shirley was ready to go. She had had a long day, with the show and all. There were a couple things I had wanted to show him, but I had forgotten what they were. Of course five minutes after they left, my son said something that reminded what one of them was. I was going to show him, on Google Earth what the layout represents in the real world. I've always wanted to make a video that showed that, so everyone could see it. I may have my son help me with that.
Mike - I know what it's like to get a clean scan. After my skin cancer diagnosis in late 2006, I stopped working on the layout, because the prognosis was so bad. That cost me five years of progress, and I'm still here, almost 13 years later. Trains are good therapy. I wish I had taken my own advice, but the prognosis messed with my head. Keep having fun. BTW, Paul used his camera, not his phone, for the pictures, so he won't be able to post them til he gets home.
See what happens when you're a slow typist? People lap you. While I was typing Paul woke up. John, I thought that was my scan. I do have a one track mind to go with it. Actually, maybe that's not my scan. Mine would be diesel.
Sorry Elliot, couldn't find a diesel shot, apparently your scans are not on file!
gunrunnerjohn posted:Sorry Elliot, couldn't find a diesel shot, apparently your scans are not on file!
Well played sir!
gunrunnerjohn posted:Mike, I obtained the pictures from your MRI, very interesting. I'm not sure "clean" is what I'd call it, but lookin' good!
I wonder how many of us have the same scan? Definitely healthy!
RSJB18 posted:
The guy who took the photos seems to have a lot from around your area.
Bob - I missed this link the first time through, because I was looking at the pictures. Now I've looked at his page. I don't recognize the name, but I know I have seen a number of those pictures before. He seems to be local here. I recognize most of the locations. I wonder if he submits stuff to "Trains Newswire". I have a buddy who emails clips of local train stories, to about 150 of us, and that may be why so many of them look familiar to me.
Wow, congratulations on building such a really nice, hugh, enormously large model railroad. From the beginning through today, it’s so impressive. It’s also fun to have your friends chime in, so, keep up the great work. Elliott, one day I would like to see your trains run through your fantastic layout. Stay healthy. Happy Railroading
Elliot, any chance of getting the layout on a cargo plane so I can see it? Love the layout. Hawaii here it comes. LOL Don
Don, as large as that plane may be, I'm not sure it would fit...
Thanks for all the kind words everyone! John that's a great photo . The wife thinks it would look great on the door going into the train room!
Best of b’days, Mike & once again God bless!!!!!😃
Larry - Thanks! Beyond its size, what makes this layout so unusual, is that it is more in a style of layouts found in HO or N, with distinct multiple decks and connecting helixes. From some of your posts, I've learned that you actually have some of these features on your layout. The difference is, on my layout, trains only pass trough each scene once, and I'm modeling a section of the real world. If you just want to see the train run through my layout, click on the links in my signature for videos. If you want to see it in person, visitors are always welcome. The hard part is making the trip up here to the Twin Cities.
Don - Jon has a point, how wide is the body on that monster? We'll need 40' to get it in. I'm not worried about length, I'm sure there's plenty, I only need 57'. Of course there is the problem that it is kind of attached to the house. If I could "Harry Potter it out", it would be a fun trip, as Hawaii is one of three states I've never visited. The others are both Carolinas. On the other hand, it would be a lot easier to put YOU on the plane and bring you here. If I ever make it out to the islands, I will be sure to visit you and your layout. The thing is being on dialysis makes travel more difficult. As I type this, my blood is being filtered. I have never been away from my home clinic, except for a couple nights at the hospital back in December. I'm coming up on two full years of this. Up until now, we've stuck close to home, and only done weekend trips. We are planning on making a trip out to North Platte, NE in a few weeks to see all the UP steam engines in one place. I will have already seen 4014 when it comes here. I saw 3985 years ago, but I've never seen 844, even though I lived in Denver for 7 years back when it went by 8444, and ran rather frequently. Last year, we had planned to take a five week mega road trip out east, for a wedding, and see a bunch of forum people in the process. My stepping on that nail put an end to that one. We were even going to catch the Carolinas, and Steam Town in Scranton, PA, which will have my final Big Boy to see. Bucket list stuff! This is kind of a mini test trip.
Elliot, It could fit with a little re-due. We met the 844 with our engine the 2472 a few years ago when I did all the filming for the Golden Gate Railroad Museum. She a beautiful loco, take a look see. Don
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Don - Cool! Nice video. The steam engines were talking to each other. You know, if we're going to Harry Potter the layout out of the house, why not go all the way, and Reducto it too. Then I can just check it in my suitcase. When I get to your place, just wave the old wand, and hit it with a little Engorgio. Hmmm, I always wanted a bigger layout... On second thought, maybe not!
That cargo plain is certainly massive inside, Don!! I saw the inside of a C? at the local airport about 10 years ago. You can tell I'm not up on cargo planes; but the point is you could park a lot of them inside this one!
Elliot, The Harry Potter thing is a good idea for transport. Or is it "Beam me layout up Scotty!!??"
Well I had my sleep deprived EEG this morning. Hard to tell what they will find in my brain. Cobwebs is my guess!!
Mark - There might be a problem with your Star Trek method. The layout probably won't fit in the transporter room. Being Harry Potter has some real advantages to compensating for other sci-fi series' shortcomings.
Oops, I just remembered the thing about the whales. My wife told me that they can just beam from one place to another, without ever going through the ship. That changes everything! Now that would be perfect. Can you tell I'm not that big a Trekkie.
Elliot, Oh yes! You are so right!! Harry Potter it is!! 
Actually Mark, you were right. I snuck an edit into my last post, but you were just too quick.
Elliot, IMO I think its in a perfect place! Now all I have to do is figure out how to get there some day! I checked and its a 9 hour drive from my in-laws in North Dakota! LOL
Matt thanks again!
Mark, I hope your test come out good! I hate the waiting came when it comes to getting the results !
Elliot, I see the edit. I'm not a big Trekkie either, but I did watch the show when it was on prime time back in the '60s. My friend, who is my one daughter's father-in-law and my other daughter's grandfather-in-law, knows all there is to know on the subject! He was delighted to see the original Enterprise on display at the entrance of the Air and Space Museum when they were down a couple weeks ago. Yes, you read that next to last sentence right.
Mike, Thank you! We don't have results from that one, but the doc I saw today said the symptoms were somewhat like seizure, stroke, Parkinson's, some goofy sounding heart thing, or reaction to med. He said it probably is a fluke and nothing to worry about, but they have to do all the tests to find out. My next test is the 48-hr holter monitor. I've had that thrice before and it never showed anything. 
So, I just keep hobbling along!
Hey Elliot, I have a silly question for you, Is there an Airport near you and the Menards train show grounds?
Mark, I am so sorry, but I have been there also, heart monitor for 24 hours, sleep test at the hospital, it all sucks. Then it really sucks when they say not sure what it is, but we need to do more test! Good luck and know that your in our prayers!
Mike, it will be alright! You have been through a whole lot more than me!!!! Thank you!
July 2019 update
Well guys, not much to report this month. Paul came over at the beginning of the month, and we had a good time running trains. My son was there too. Jon (Mill City) came over for lemon bars, and to catch up on the last three years. Patrick never made it down to work on the layout this month, which is part of the reason nothing got done.
On the bright side, after taking it easy for a couple weeks, my knee is finally healed, and I was even able to walk up the stairs when Jon was here. I would say I'm at about 95%. There's still a little pain once in a while, but I'm working through it, with the help of the occasional Tylenol.
Just because there was no layout work this month, doesn't mean it was a month without trains. Quite the contrary, Big Boy 4014 came to Minnesota, and I was all over it. We went and saw it at St Paul, then we chased it up to Duluth, and finally caught it a couple miles from the house, as it was leaving the state.
I started a topic on the real trains forum for everyone to post their photos, videos, and stories. I saw Big Boy 4014 Today is now on page six, and has a lot of neat material. We'll keep that topic going throughout the year as the tours continue.
I did actually see Patrick this month. We met up with him in the town of Henriette, about an hour and a half north of the Twin Cities, and waited for 4014 to come through. Here's that first video:
My wife shot this one. She turned the camera sideways to get it through the bars of the railing. This was taken up in Duluth as the train had to back up about two miles from the depot down to the wye.
This is the one taken near the house. It's my favorite. I felt a little guilty about standing as close as I did, especially since Ed Dickens posted a video later that day about safety and keeping back from the track. I'm sure I wasn't the only one that day.
This isn't the first time I've stood rather close to a speeding train. A number of years ago, I was on the Metra platform in Elmhurst, IL, when a BNSF intermodal came flying through.
Elliot - we don't see BIG steam like that here in New Hampshire! Thank you for posting.
Eliot, thanks for sharing as it will not come to Long Island.
Elliot, Sounds like a good month all in all! Most of all, I'm glad the knee is feeling a lot better! Your time with 4014 was well worth time away from the layout!
Elliot, thanks for sharing the videos as I know it wont make it to Washington State. It was very cool to see the videos. I am very happy to hear the good news about your knee! Just take it slow and watch your step! Side note I am still working on the project I got from you and the wife just laughs at me! LOL
