# Why I have not been active on the S Scale Forum



## BrokeCurmudgeon

Here in our small senior community we are allowed a small garden bed. Mine is Number 6. It has been great to be outside for a change! But, my torn apart Post War American Flyer boilers are calling me!!!


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## mopac

Good looking bed Broke. Looks like a lot of different stuff coming up. Is that a fence for beans to climb? My wife liked to grow stuff. She always had tomatoes and bell peppers.
The squirrels were always messing with her plants and the tomatoes. She loved animals but hated squirrel. Speaking of squirrels, my new truck is at the dealer. Stupid squirrel chewed through the gas line from tank to motor. 700.00 job. Insurance probably not happy with me. Squirrels chewed the motor wiring on wife's explorer twice.
I hate to poison them but may have to.


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## teledoc

Squirrels are nothing more than Bushy Tail Rats!!! They have to be one of the most nuisance animals, for chewing things, and destructive critters. I used to trap them with a Hav-A-Heart trap, then relocate them at least 4 miles away. Best total was 135 caught in one year. I hate them. ROFL.


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## mopac

I have one of those "live" traps. Need to put it to use. They are very destructive.
My wife called them tree rats.


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## flyernut

Trap them, kill'em, eat them!!!..I used to eat squirrel, rabbit, waterfowl, and pheasant during my hunting days..My neighbor has oak trees, and the squirrels are as big as cats!!! I have 2 high-powered pellet rifles with 3x9 scopes on them.. They're rated at 946fps, and are very quiet!


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## flyernut

BrokeCurmudgeon said:


> Here in our small senior community we are allowed a small garden bed. Mine is Number 6. It has been great to be outside for a change! But, my torn apart Post War American Flyer boilers are calling me!!!


Are you going to send me that 312 Fred??


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## BrokeCurmudgeon

flyernut said:


> Are you going to send me that 312 Fred??


I am sorry for not taking any action. I have it apart now. I want to try to put it together but I will see how that goes. I would like to keep your most generous offer open if possible Loren. Things are going very slow as to production now a days.:laugh: A few years ago I would have fired someone as dottering and slow as I am now. How we change... :dunno:


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## BrokeCurmudgeon

mopac said:


> Good looking bed Broke. Looks like a lot of different stuff coming up. Is that a fence for beans to climb? My wife liked to grow stuff. She always had tomatoes and bell peppers.
> The squirrels were always messing with her plants and the tomatoes. She loved animals but hated squirrel. Speaking of squirrels, my new truck is at the dealer. Stupid squirrel chewed through the gas line from tank to motor. 700.00 job. Insurance probably not happy with me. Squirrels chewed the motor wiring on wife's explorer twice.
> I hate to poison them but may have to.


The fence is for cucumbers. Al, I also I removed the tomato cages and I am installing five foott trellises to try and force the tomatoes and squash to grow vertically. Time will only tell.


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## flyernut

BrokeCurmudgeon said:


> I am sorry for not taking any action. I have it apart now. I want to try to put it together but I will see how that goes. I would like to keep your most generous offer open if possible Loren. Things are going very slow as to production now a days.:laugh: A few years ago I would have fired someone as dottering and slow as I am now. How we change... :dunno:


Not a problem buddy, just keep me informed, and ask for any help I might be able to give.:smilie_daumenpos:


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## mopac

Broke, I have grown tomatoes on a trellis. You can weave them some. I don't but some people call tomato plants tomato vines.
Do they have Big Boy tomato plants in Utah? That's what my wife always grew.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon

mopac said:


> Broke, I have grown tomatoes on a trellis. You can weave them some. I don't but some people call tomato plants tomato vines.
> Do they have Big Boy tomato plants in Utah? That's what my wife always grew.


Yes, but I didn't plant any. My box is too small. In the end, it is cheaper and more convenient to just buy them at the farmers market. However I just enjoy sitting out in the sun and watching grass and other plants grow!:laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## PRR1950

Yep, watching things grow is a heck of a lot better than being fertilizer for them!


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## mopac

https://www.gardentech.com/blog/gar...ng2019gardentech&utm_content=cucumber-garden2


Broke, I ran across this article on growing cucumbers this morning. Grabbed it for you.
I have no idea if it will be helpful but try it.

You might want to try a couple cherry tomato plants. They do not get big. My wife grew them in pots.


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## mopac

Now I have to tell you guys about another thing she grew in a pot. One day, I think in 2012, I was pulling some weeds out of yard. Spotted a baby pine tree. Maybe 1 inch tall. Just a single stem. Showed it to wife. She dug it up and put in a medium size flower pot. It is still in same pot and I guess it needs to be planted in the yard. I need another tree like I need another AF steamer. The pine tree is now at least 5 foot tall and pot is just roots. I had 32 trees cut down a few years ago and still have too many trees in yard. It is truly a wooded lot. That's why I have so many squirrels. I will put lights on the pine tree for Christmas. Wife would have liked that. She loved Christmas.


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## tjcruiser

Fabulous looking mini garden, Fred. Nice and neat. Yummy, too, I'd bet!

TJ


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## Sagas

I admire people like yourself and others who can grow things successfully. I seem to be an agent of death when trying to grow anything so I tend to let nature take its course and relegate myself to cutting grass and killing weeds. With six acres to look after that is enough. Not that I wanted that much land but it came with the house. J.B.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon

Thanks for the compliments! But just so you know that I haven't completely gone berserk, this is a photo of my current AF 312 rebuilds.


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## AmFlyer

I see two tender shells lettered for Reading Lines but two six coupled chassis. These do not go together. Are there four parallel projects on your bench?


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## BrokeCurmudgeon

AmFlyer said:


> I see two tender shells lettered for Reading Lines but two six coupled chassis. These do not go together. Are there four parallel projects on your bench?


They are what I have. The 312 that is apart came with the tender. The other tender is a chassis that I bought on EBay without the eunit and very dirty. I can't remember where I found the tender shell. You may have noticed that although the lettering says the same, the font is different and one doesn't have "Lines". 
All this may be important to some, but to me, I am not a rivet counter. I will probably repaint every thing anyhow. I am just trying to please myself but I do know that it bothers some by not staying original.:laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## mopac

Broke, that is one nice thing about AF locomotives. Most parts are interchangeable.
Those reading tenders came with Atlantic locomotives, but will work with your K5s.
If you don't care, I don't care.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon

mopac said:


> Broke, that is one nice thing about AF locomotives. Most parts are interchangeable.
> Those reading tenders came with Atlantic locomotives, but will work with your K5s.
> If you don't care, I don't care.


But Al, I do care! I just don't have the money presently, to acquire two proper K5 Tenders.hwell: For some strange reason, all the new golf clubs and cars that I am buying my doctors curtail my train addiction.:laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## BrokeCurmudgeon

AmFlyer said:


> I see two tender shells lettered for Reading Lines but two six coupled chassis. These do not go together. Are there four parallel projects on your bench?


Thanks for the info Tom! I learn things and promptly forget them. I admire those such as you that have so much knowledge.:thumbsup:


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## mopac

Proper K5 tenders are not cheap. Really no tender is cheap. I think they are all over priced. You can almost buy the loco and tender for what people want for just tender.
Crazy world sometimes. I don't even look at ebay anymore. No money for trains, plus
I have enough trains. LOL, never thought I would say that. Well, I am trying to convince myself I finally have enough trains. They are all over the place here. I have some of most scales. It was not the smartest thing I have done. I go a little hobby crazy. That's why I pay 65.00 a month for storage unit to store them Not too bright. Don't know if it will happen but it is time to reduce inventory.


When I was about 20, I wanted all my stuff to fit in one cigar box. Should have stuck to that.


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## flyernut

Prices can be stupid. I needed a tender for a 4-piece boiler 302. I finally got not 1 but 2.. I paid $16 bucks for 1 and $12 for the other. I recently picked up a very nice 4-piece boiler 302 and it came yesterday. All original with just some very minor scuffing, a truly nice little loco.. But it won't run....I did one of my services on it, and now it really flies.. I was going to flip this one but it runs too darn well and looks the part. The nice thing was the seller asked $40 bucks or best offer, and I was just wanting to bid on something and I offered $20...He took it!!!


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## mopac

Good prices flyernut. I see sellers wanting 20 to 30 just for same tenders. I bought all my 302s complete with loco and tender for 20 to 30 ( not my 4 piece).


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## C100

*What I am Not Active on S-Scale*

Hey Broke,
I know you do not have 50 acres of wheat growing, but a great resource for anyone that gardens is Jim Crocketts "Victory Garden."
That has been my "Bible" for a long, long, time. That was a show on PBS hosted by Jim Crockett out of Boston. That book is still available on Ebay for cheap money. When my tomatoes start to produce fruit, we prune them to keep the size in check and put energy into the fruit instead of the leaves. Did A.C. Gilbert produce a tomato variety??
Going out to pull weeds.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon

C100 said:


> Hey Broke,
> I know you do not have 50 acres of wheat growing, but a great resource for anyone that gardens is Jim Crocketts "Victory Garden."
> That has been my "Bible" for a long, long, time. That was a show on PBS hosted by Jim Crockett out of Boston. That book is still available on Ebay for cheap money. When my tomatoes start to produce fruit, we prune them to keep the size in check and put energy into the fruit instead of the leaves. Did A.C. Gilbert produce a tomato variety??
> Going out to pull weeds.


Thanks for the info! I just ordered one for under $2. Gilbert should had produced a tomato, after all they produced everything else.:laugh: I really enjoyed my chemistry sets!


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## dooper

Tomato plants are of two kinds, determinate and inderterminate. (sp?) Determinate are like bushes. Indeterminate are more like vines and need to be staked. Both home grown types are the best. I have not been on line as we have bought a lake house on a chain of 7 lakes. Getting moved in and getting boat ready to launch. The good news is we have an unfinished lower level (lake side) large enough for a large layout (about 40ft by 20ft) . 
now for the planing stage. If I am allowed.
Al


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## AmFlyer

For tomatos we just buy the nicest looking Heirlooms in the local stores. I got over trying to grow anything decades ago.
Al, I hope the basement floor is at least 5' above the historical high water level. Given that. I am most envious of a 20'x40' layout space. If I had that I would devote a small piece to a train store entry for display of all my original new condition boxed items. Then I would fill the rest with an expanded version of my current 17'x21' track plan including more staging tracks.


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## dooper

AmFlyer said:


> For tomatos we just buy the nicest looking Heirlooms in the local stores. I got over trying to grow anything decades ago.
> Al, I hope the basement floor is at least 5' above the historical high water level. Given that. I am most envious of a 20'x40' layout space. If I had that I would devote a small piece to a train store entry for display of all my original new condition boxed items. Then I would fill the rest with an expanded version of my current 17'x21' track plan including more staging tracks.


Well Tom, I may have spoken too soon. "She who must be obeyed" will only allow me a 10x15 feet for a layout. She has other plans for the rest of the space. The lower level is a walk-out, the upper is ground level. Sorry for the delay in responding but just got home today. The chain has a dam at one end, so flooding is not an issue.
Al


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## AmFlyer

I suppose I need to keep my opinions to myself but I think you should get at least half the space.
We left home last Friday for San Diego then fly to Michigan on Wednesday of this week, then back to San Diego and finally home on the 24th. I am away for a while but still online as long as the hotels have good wireless internet.


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## dooper

Keeping the peace is always good. I'll squeeze more space. We are a 8 lake chain just south west of Jackson, equal distances from East Lansing and Ann Arbor, so we have both kinds of people on the chain. Not in the boondocks, but plenty of birds on the lakes and channels - Herons, sandhill cranes, etc. and once in the channels you are in the boondocks. They call it Michigan center, but a township called Leoni is the government. The old saying is that if you are from Leoni, you must be my cousin.


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## AmFlyer

Are you east of 127? There are some nice homes and condos on those lakes. My wife was looking at townhouse on one of the lakes when she thought we needed a getaway home in the east. It was really expensive, but then she decided Harbor Springs would be better. When I got there and saw the cost for a 3 month a year home these excursions were permanently shut down.
We are in Dearborn now (hotel across the Southfield freeway from Ford HQ.) We then go to Midland, then to East Lansing and then back to Dearborn.


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## dooper

Yes. as 127 goes south, it merges with I94 at mm 138. It continues south at mm 142. We take the second exit then and are a mile or two east.

You may have been looking in the 'Irish Hills' area, probably Clark Lake. It is large, but not as large as our lake- Center Lake with chains allowing you to go about 12 miles east. Clark Lake is a large round lake with no egress on the water to other lakes. Very expensive and very crowded on the lake. There are others which I have not explored.


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## AmFlyer

Nice location. Now if you can get approval to fill about 20'x30' of the basement with trains it would be perfect. How about taking the ask for forgiveness rather than approval path? You could always have your wife talk to mine. My wife will cover the advantages of letting the husband have all the space he wants for trains, and what that will cost him.


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## Matt_GNo27

teledoc said:


> Squirrels are nothing more than Bushy Tail Rats!!! They have to be one of the most nuisance animals, for chewing things, and destructive critters. I used to trap them with a Hav-A-Heart trap, then relocate them at least 4 miles away. Best total was 135 caught in one year. I hate them. ROFL.


Note that in many states the transport of wild animals is illegal. (And I've heard that often times, the animals don't survive in their new, foreign-to-them environments.) You might as well find a way to prevent them from accessing whatever it is that you're trying to protect, or just kill them.

OTH, squirrels attract cool predators such as owls and hawks. This winter I watched a Cooper's Hawk chase a squirrel around a big White Pine for at least five minutes.


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