Hobo Jungle

[Mitch]

Let's see if this works.

This:



Or this:



Which one would you choose?

[AG]

The first one is Lionel 3 rails and the second one is Atlas 2 rails.
and both are different kind of cars either.
I like the first one.
Andre.

[2railjon]

Thats a no-brainer for me, Mitch. Car No.2 !!!!!!! Although I probably would'nt purchase it, it's the detail factor, I'm into.

[Mitch]

Ya know, Jon, ya gotta love some of those places in the New Orleans area. I remember delivering a load in Galveston, then deadheaded over to New Orleans to pick up a load of Celotex goin' to Shamokin, Pa. It was about 95 degrees and after I got loaded and tarped, I pulled out of the gates of the Celotex Corp., hooked a left and just went a short distance down this side street and I spotted a bar. I needed a place to cool off as my truck didn't have AC, and I'd built a powerful thirst up too. Parked the truck and went in, and it was a really neat Juke Joint. 4 piece band doin' jazz and blues, though not too many people in there. Kept smellin' something like seafood, so after 3 or 4, I had to go to the can, and there in the corner sat a big laundry tub of steamed shrimp. Got a huge plateful for like 3 bucks. Easy livin' down in that country. No wonder they call it the Big Easy.

[Mitch]

Actually, car #2 is MTH. Notice the wheels on the front truck are 2 rail, while the rear truck shows the big flanges of 3 rail. This was the 1st year MTH did a super scale high cube. Andre likes the toy look of standard O, with the big thumbtack uncoupler, but I prefer the scale high cube.

I just posted them 'cause I was tryin' to figure out why my pictures wouldn't show.

[MartyE]

From the pull...





And a little on the weird side but my Great Grandparents...

[hev52]

Dirt Man...........................................

I was tring to git a hold of to see if you wanna to go halfer's on that NH but....................................you were nowhere to be found. That was high for a 3hp.
Dirt.................9 days to you know what...........................

Tell Airborne I like the hat.................................

Hey Jon ............................now I could have set up shop there at the Shed....................................
Like you said, my kinda of place.


As far as the boxcars I don't like either one......................
There's somthin' about that calf shit yellow that bothers me.....................


hev

[Mitch]

Oh c'mon, Hev. Don't ya like a little color on your railroad? I saw a freight goin' through town a couple of weeks ago, had 3 damn near new ones of the yellow railbox cars in it. I thought they looked pretty good. Won't stay bright and shiny like that for long, though.

[The Dirt]

Jon, that looks like one damn comfortable joint. What kinda luck is that, walking into some live music?
Reminded me of when I lived in NJ outside of Manhattan. I went in one weekend just to tool around Central Park, there was always something to watch or listen to, but that day I walked into a free concert by the Grateful Dead. Very cool.

Hev, I thought that was high, for the NH. You'd know more than I would. I was only raggin' you about letting 'er go. But like I said, I would have thought long and hard if you'd asked.
On the other hand, it could be cool to rehabilitate one, too, besides costing less. I still don't completely understand the mechanisms that lock the valves and fire the spark. Nothing like taking one apart to figure it out. Gotta be one somewhere with our names on it.

Bad news.
If it ain't TOO bad, I've blown a head gasket.
If it ain't white-boy day, I've cracked another f-ing head.
I guess those damn engines just weren't made to go 150.
I'll keep you posted.

[2railjon]

Mitch, You know that Hev is fascinated by bright and shiny objects.

[webenda]

Went to my first Tractor Pull yesterday in Wattsburg, PA.

Hey Marty,

Did you ever have so much fun in slow motion?



Those with farms on their layouts could add a tractor pull scene. It would be a good
excuse to display your tractor collection.

[2railjon]

German trains, soccer fans, and BEER!!!!!!

BERLIN - Germany's national railway wasn't about to risk sending a trainload of soccer fans to a German Cup match without beer.

Federal police said Monday that the beer tap failed aboard a special train carrying Bayer Leverkusen fans to Hamburg on Saturday. The fault was discovered half an hour into the journey.

"In order not to endanger the good mood" of the passengers, railway officials halted the train in Wuppertal for 25 minutes and had a replacement part delivered by taxi, a police statement said. It added that there was no trouble among the fans.

[The Dirt]

Now THAT'S a railroad!

I was taking a walk around my north field, and no word of this a lie- on a ten yard wide path I had already mowed, there was a groundhog lurking who made no run for cover until I got within 20 feet. Even then, he didn't head for cover, but down the strip toward the woods. So I lit out after him, and damn, he must have been a geezer, because I ran him down and gave him a kick in the *** that rolled him over twice. He got up again, and I got in one more lick before he reached the brush. THAT made up for the rest of my day.

Which was, my grand experiment with a salvage engine took a crap. Blew a head gasket, (the huge vaporous Cloud-of-Death), and quite possibly have a cracked head, the same thing that killed my first engine. Two local mechanics and the local Ford service manager tell me to scrap it because, 1st, there'd be a reason the headgasket went, either the head is cracked, warped, or corroded, 2nd, I'd have trouble finding a good salvage head because of the age of the car, and 3rd, the bottom end has 165000 miles, and chances are good the bottom end will crap out soon.
'Way she goes', (to quote a friend).
Looks like I'll be driving my tractor down to R&T!

After kicking groundhog-ass on my walk, I then found THIS little critter and brought him home. He was a lively one! I'm having trouble identifying him, but I think it's some variant on a King Snake. Never saw one like this around here. It's a constrictor- he's flat on the bottom.





Coming in the driveway last saturday, I find THIS propped up with rocks out on the end of our lane. Seems Airborne and his local friend had decided to become entrepreneurs! They had set some plastic jugs up.

Guess they had an afterthought about keeping out some of the older teenage riff-raff!!

Gotta love it!

[Mitch]

So Pete, are you at least gonna pull the head and take a look? Often times, an aluminum headed engine blows the gasket just from fatigue caused by the different expansion and contraction properties of the aluminum head on a cast iron block. On our Chrysler engines, most notably the 2.4DOHC, this expansion and contraction literally shears off the dowel pin on the right side of the engine block due to the head growing so much bigger than the block. Also both the 2.0L and the 2.4 sometimes crack the exhaust manifold between 2 and 3 from expansion.
Second, some engines
with high pressure water pumps induce water cutting next to the cooling jacket holes in the gasket. Since aluminum cuts easier than cast iron, you often times have holes in the head, (sometimes .015 to .020 deep) right beside the water ports. Antifreeze corrodes the aluminum, (let me correct that to OLD antifreeze, which has lost its corrosion protection ability), and it begins to eat the aluminum out. If it eats toward the outside of the block, you end up with an external coolant leak from under the head. These generally occur on the back side of the engine on Chrysler and GM engines. If it eats toward the cylinder, then it cuts a path under the fire ring of the head gasket, and causes the white cloud of death. Most all of the water cuts, and usually all of the pitting in an aluminum head can be repaired at the machine shop with welding and resurfacing. We have a shop close by that does these heads so well, that it takes a well trained eye to see where the repair was made.
Third, 160K on the bottom end is nothing. If the car has had its regular oil changes and maintenance, that's nothing to worry about.
And fourth, SCRAP that damn Ford and buy a real car!

[AG]

Dirt sorry about.
anyway before buy another ford
read this:
FORD ACRONYMS:
Fix Or Repair Daily
Found On Road Dead
Backwards... Driver Returns On Foot
Backwards... Dorks Ride On Fords
Factory Ordered Road Disaster
Factory Ordered Rebuilt Dodge(Datsun)
Flip Over Read Directions
Four Old Rusted Doors
Fixed On Race Day
Ford Owner Really Dumb
For Only Retarded Drivers
Ford Owners Recommend Dodge
Flipped Over Russian Dunebuggy
Found On Russian Dump
For Off Road Death
it Freaking Only Runs Downhill
Fat Old Rusted Dog
Freaking Old Rusted Dodge(Datsun)
Frigin Oakies Really Dig it
Funky Old Road Dog
Found On Roadside's Destroyed
Backwards...Don't Ride Over Fifty
Fixed-up Old Repossesed Dodge
Found Old Rebuilt Dodge
Forget OutRunning Dale
Found On Railroad Deserted
Found On Railroad Dead
Fools Only Read Directions
First On Repair Dolly
Favorite Of Redneck Drivers
Backwards- Dumb Retards Own Fords
Funny Old Rebuilt Dodge
Fast Only Rolling Downhill
Found On Russian Dump
Forfiet On Race Day
Found On River Dead
Failure Of Research & Development

Andre.