BR60103

Well, I do have the book. (Vol1, couldn't find Vol2)

I have claimed some uncommon combinations at times. A model of Walt Disney's 7.5" gauge backyard railroad at a scale of 1:12 on 5/8" gauge track. TTC streetcar/subway gauge is 1.5 meters (or very close: 4' 10 7/8"). This can be modelled at 11mm to the meter on 16.5mm gauge track. (1:90.9 but no rolling stock at that size)

In our statistics class, there was much betting on with the professor about the probability that 2 people in the class (of 50 or 60) would have the same birthday. I was tempted to put up my hand to ask if "the twins" were in that day. Professor won; I wonder if he tried to collect. (AFAIK, we didn't have twins.) My father died on my sister's birhday.

Ontario has had more restrictions imposed, apparenly due to increase in cases. The number of people wh may gather has been decreased. So the concert by The Elderly Brothers today was cancelled, as is one by A Beautiful Noise tomorrow. We went to Waterloo today and walked from the University area to downtown and found that the bookstore is closed to visitors. Saw a number of trams and assorted four-legged types at the zoo. Temperature at night appraoching freezing point. The high may get above room temperature midweek.

At work, after a few meetings, one person observed "He who writes the minutes controls the meeting".

We went to St Jacobs today. She wanted some muffins and we needed other bits at the hardware store. We were going to walk on the trail, but it was well blocked off because social distancing was impossible. So we walked to the railway shed instead and saw: On inquiry, the loco is being sent to Connecticat. I didn't push for more details. (Pictures bt SWMBO)

The requirement is two reversing switches which are not in the throttle/power pack. One controls direction in the base part of the layout; the other controls the loop. #1 is set to take the train out of the station; #2 is set to take the train around the loop CW (say). while the train is in the loop, the direction switch for the station is changed and the point is changed to receive the train from the loop. If you want to run the other way around the loop, #1 is for out and #2 is CCW. Change point and #1 switch as before. If there are more throttles, each would require two direction switches. You might get away with shunting in the station using the throttle direction switch, but leave it in the standard position when done.

We once came back to Toronto from Florida in 2 days. That looks like 1370 miles total. There were two of us driving but we never tried that again. One year we were coming back (this time in the motorhome) and started in southern Kentucky. Instead of stopping at Detroit, swmbo kept going due to snowy weather -- she didn't want to get off the motorway -- and she drove from there home. That day was 637 miles. I'm lucky in that there are always 2 of us on any major trip. The only times there weren't were the first years of our marriage, when I didn't know how.

The turtle lives twixt plated decks Which totally conceal its sex. I think it clever of the turtle In such a fix to be so fertile.

Cats know what the rules are. They just don't care.

Weather has turned very fall-like. The pipe band gave a concert tonight and commented how it was like Scotland. The event was free-ticketed to limit attendance. About 50 may have been there. It started at 6:30 but the ticket said we should have our chairs set up by 6:50. Big bookstore chain still trying to sell MRJ from about January. We bought a new plastic mat for the computer chair. The previous one seemed to have developed a slippery surface in places.

I don't know about ERs, but I think they used to run a hobby shop near me.

There is a town called Paradise in Pennsylvania where the Strasburg RR meets what used to be the Pennsylvania. Te souvenir book of the SRR is called The Road to Paradise. If you look for it on maps, check out other nearby towns for interesting names.

I'm using cab control and common rail with 4 controllers. One thing is that I'm using household insulated wire to take the current around the layout -- what we call lamp cord. I found that I could get several colours of thick wire at the hardware store. With common rail you can run locos across blocks which are assigned to different controllers as long as the direction switches are set the same way.

The Gas Company we dealt with is one of Canada's largest and even has controversial pipelines in the U.S. We now have a working vacuum cleaner again. Last week the central unit refused to shut off. It was taken away, had a circuit board replaced and was returned late this afternoon. At 6:00 there was a performance rehearsal by The Lady and the Gramps -- our local Dixieland group. Thunderstorm held off but I hear it's going through the north part f the county.

When we first bought our motorhome we took an extended holiday in Florida. During this I needed to pay the gas company. I tried to phone the -800- free number but it only worked in Canada. There was no local number that I could call long distance. I ended up calling my sister at work and she created a 3-way call. My sister commented that when she set up the -800- number for their company, full North American access cost very little more than limited.

Toronto (Canada) Union Station for the better part of 100 years had platforms numbered from the station building, 1 to 12 or 14 (I forget exactly). Most of them alternated a passenger platform with a baggage platform and odd and even tracks were accessed from opposite sides of the underground (undertrack?) walkway. Since I retired the station has been (is being) majorly rebuilt and the commuter area moved from one end to the other. Platforms 1 to 3 are now in the subway station (3 is a streetcar line) and the numbers seem to go up to the 23 range. Nobody in authority will tell you which platform to use until the train appears on the display by which time the regular users have filled all the seats. (We now only go there twice a year.) (Note: station building is on city/north side of the tracks. Tracks were on the lakeshore or possibly on fill in the lake.)

In one of the novels continuing the Lord Peter Wimsey series, there is a discussion of a school IQ test. (I can't locoate my copy.) The question is Which of four substances is the odd one out. The adults looking at them say first "3 are solids, one is a gas". Another says "3 are fuels, one isn't." The one is different in each case. If anyone has it handy, can they tell me waht the four substances are? (Jill Paton Walsh The Attenbury Emeralds, I think.) Further discussion: Can we come up with a group of 4 items where each of them could be the odd one out?

Comic strip plus its follow ups https://www.gocomics.com/poochcafe/2020/08/24

My father told me that some of my mother's aunts (?) had the family tree looked at . Since they were Stewarts they were hoping to put a claim in on Edinburgh Castle or something. The search was terminated when they reached The Black Douglas and Rob Roy. The other side of the family apparently had to flee some city in north England for union activity.

It's like an article on making your own miter box -- If I could make a square vertical cut, I wouldn't need a miter box.

When my father was researching for his coat of arms. he found a few errors in the government's records. He reported them and was told that they could be fixed for a fee. They've been promising us thunderstorms "tomorrow" for a week. Last night at bedtime there was thunder but no apparent precip. SWMBO reported it was opressively humid for her morning walk. Our central vac. is acting up. It won't shut off. I've unplugged it. Tried the ohmmeter but there is no short circuit there. I heard that when WW2 was coming up there were two attitudes towards tanks. The British remembered what a cumbersome nuisance they were to operate. The Germans remembered how terrifying it was to see one coming over the trenches.

(This may be a repeat) There was a major flood warning and the army sent its trucks out to collect residents. One lady refused to leave, sayin "The Lord will provide." When the water reached her front porch, a boat came by, but "The Lord will provide." Later she was sitting on the roof and a helicopter offered to take her. "The Lord will provide." A bit later, she was knocking at the Pearly Gates. She told St. Peter "I thought the Lord would provide." St. Peter said, "We sent a truck, a boat and a helicopter. What more did you want?"

Jason just put an ad in the newspaper commemorating his 20 years of marriage.

The Americans came up with 3 variations on O gauge. 1/4" scale on 1 1/4" track. 17/64" scale on 1 1/4" track. 1/4" scale on 1 3/16" track (called Q gauge). One of my neighbours showed me a car body he built in 17/64. Lionel's diagrams of track cross-section measured the 1 1/4" to the middle of the rail (with the circular head). I don't have anything left to actually measure. We went to Stratford again today. They were having "Bargemusic" down the Avon river. Today was violin cello duet. SWMBO felt that Bach partitas were a bit low key for a public offering.