Monthly Archives: September 2010
Winding down in Elkhart . . .
Found this photo this morning on Shawna Oakley’s Facebook page. Shawna is our daughter Brandi’s BFF, and this is her son Dylan holding our grandson Landon.
Today started out with coffee about 10, and then leftover lunch with fried chicken from Das Dutchman Essenhaus and potato skins from Lunker’s. All still great.
After lunch I finished up aligning my cargo bay doors and tightening them down, getting ready to travel on Wednesday.
Next I wanted to check out the freon level in my dash AC. So first I started up the coach engine and raised the levelers. I went ahead and did this today since in the last month they had sunk into the ground somewhat, and I wanted to be sure I didn’t have any trouble getting them unstuck.
Luckily they came up with no problems.
Then I turned on the dash AC and went back to the engine compartment to attach the gauge and check the pressure. But the first thing I noticed was that the AC clutch did not seem to pulling in. I went back and forth between the dash and the engine several times turning the AC on and off while checking the compressor function.
Finally, the last time I stuck my head out of the rig and started to the rear, I saw smoke coming from out from back there.
A quick run (very quick) back there showed that the clutch had locked up and the drive belt was smoking. so I ran back up and shut the engine off and check out the damage.
I’m not sure if the compressor has died, or hopefully, the clutch has locked up. The clutch is much cheaper and easier to replace. But whichever it is, it won’t get fixed before we get back to Houston.
If we need AC before then, I’ll just run the generator and use the coach AC’s to keep cool. We had to this several times this summer anyway when the dash AC wasn’t enough to keep us cool.
About 4:30 Jan and I headed over to Bob Evans for dinner. We really like the place and it’ll probably be the last time to eat there this year.
About 7 pm Nick and Terry came over and we sat outside talking and greeting friends as they walked by. Jim and Chris Guld of Geeks on Tour stopped by with their dog, Odie. Our cat Mister was outside and he and Odie sniffed at each other for a while and then agreed to ignore each other.
About 8:45 we called it a night before the bugs carried us off.
Another nice evening with friends.
More tomorrow…
Quote of the Day:
"Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform."
Mark Twain
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Fall is in the Air . . .
Fall is here, at least in northern Indiana. Yesterday’s high was 63 and then down to 50 last night. Today it made it up to about 68 with a low tonight of 58.
Of course, if it’s too cool for you here, you could try Yuma. It was 114 on Friday, and 109 yesterday.
But it’s a dry heat. Of course, so is an oven.
About 11 this morning Jan and I headed over to Bob Evans for breakfast. As usual on a Sunday morning, there was a wait, but only about 5 minutes. Bob Evans has moved into their Fall menu so they’ve got their flavored cappuccino’s again. Really good.
After breakfast we drove over to the National New York Central Railroad Museum here in Elkhart.
They have a dining car set up and all ready to go for the restaurant they hope to open soon.
And here’s a display of signal lanterns ranging from the 1860’s to the present.
Maybe the most amazing thing they have there is this 8 foot long toothpick model of a Pennsylvania K-4 Pacific locomotive.
It has over 420,000 toothpicks, 40 pounds of glue, and took 7 years to build. The brakes, wheels, tie rods, and windows actually move.
The builder, Terry Woodling, has built several other toothpick models, including a DC-3 with a 5 foot wingspan, a Huey helicopter, a touring motorcycle, and a Learjet with an 8 foot fuselage.
They also have a model railroad layout that’s under construction.
Outside in the freight yard they have a number of old engines and railcars. The oldest locomotive is this L3A 4-8-2 Mohawk built in 1940, one of 25 in the series.
It ran until 1957 when the New York Central completed its transformation from steam to diesel.
They also had one the first diesels on the NYC, an EMD E8. Built in 1953, it’s 70 feet long and weighs over 330,000 pounds.
This wooden boxcar probably dates from the 1920 – 1930’s, but according to the reporting marks, it was rebuilt in 1965, probably as a maintenance car, and then retired in 1975.
This tank car is somewhat newer, being built in 1952, rebuilt in 1977. and then retired in 1985. It’s really in good shape.
This caboose was built in 1963, and was in use until the 1980’s when most cabooses were retired from service due to their function being handled by more modern technology.
Across the tracks from the museum is the Elkhart train station. Built in 1900, it replaced one built in the 1880’s. It’s still in use today as a regular stop on the daily train from New York to Chicago and back.
A lot of the museum is still under construction and we look forward to visiting again next year to see how things are coming.
Leaving the museum and heading home, we stopped off at Ace Hardware to pick up some new bolts for my cargo bay doors, and then stopping at Martin’s for some cat food.
About 5:30 Jan and I drove over to Cracker Barrel for supper and then back to the rig for the night.
We’ve only got two more days here in Elkhart before we leave on Wednesday.
More tomorrow…
Quote of the Day:
You don’t have be brilliant. Just not being stupid is enough.
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