Running Bear's Coffee Shop August 2018


What about a feed mill? I looked up plastic manufacturing plants and :eek: that's a lot of piping and other stuff. And I could also add a farm on the next module. We grow a lot of feed corn 'round these parts.
A few ideas here. Feed mill is a good choice, incoming covered hoppers with various grains. outgoing boxcars with sacks of feed. Tankers can be appropriate at grain elevators to bring in propane to use in grain dryers, but you wouldn't need boxcars unless you were modeling older facilities. Rarely were open hoppers used to transport grain. I use tankers and covered hoppers to represent traffic at my ethanol facility. As Terry pointed out regarding a plastics manufacturing facility, incoming covered hoppers with plastic pellets, incoming tankers with fuel and outgoing boxcars with Tupperware. I think (I may be wrong) that the piping heavy plants actually process raw materials into plastic pellets.
 
You don't need the piping. One of the industries I've seen has made plastic glasses. It gets plastic pellets in covered hoppers, tank cars for dye and resins, and boxcars to ship the finished product. It you really wanted to, you could have a hopper outside the building to house the raw plastic materials, with a pair of pipes to the building. I remember a company that I still deal with called Tervis Tumbler that has a similar operation.
 
Good morning all,

Its 63 degrees going up to the mid 80s with no rain, so it should be a fairly nice day.

A question for the group. I ordered some .030 styrene yesterday to try my hand at scratch building some of my own structures. What are the sizes most of you keep around to use. What else is handy to keep in stock?

Have a great day!
 
Good Morning Everyone. 70° and very light rain falling. Rained all day yesterday and last night in Dallas/Ft Worth area but didn't get this far north until about 20 minutes ago. It's forecast to be around until Tuesday. Spent time yesterday removing the old air conditioner from the train shed and installing the new one, much better now.
Once the shed cooled off, I installed the windows and roof in the small manufacturing structure that I've been working on. Next is roof details and some additional weathering. I am not sure about the interior yet, it has some real possibilities. I have time to think about it while I position and reposition it on the layout to determine the final resting place. I know the general area but none of the surrounding area is settled yet; it's kind of like a jigsaw puzzle.
Here's a few "progress" pictures.
08-11-18 001.JPG

08-11-18 002.JPG


Train running will resume today.

Karl - Missed commenting on the grain elevator/engine scene the other day, nicely done.
Mike
A question for the group. I ordered some .030 styrene yesterday to try my hand at scratch building some of my own structures. What are the sizes most of you keep around to use. What else is handy to keep in stock?
Using .030" sheets will require some interior bracing/stiffeners. I use .040" which also requires bracing, just a little less. I use .080" x .080" for interior corners for both bracing and to provide a gluing surface. Elsewhere I use .060" x .060" to provide rigidity. To provide support for roofs, whether flush or recessed, I use .040" x .040", although any square or rectangular sizes can be used. Evergreen Scale Models offers various sheets such as corrugated, clapboard and sidewalk to complement all of their other stuff. Plastruct is another company that has an extensive line of products. Most hobby shops around here only carry Evergreen. For the technical minded, Evergreen products are a white polystyrene while Plastruct is a gray ABS type of styrene. Properties are mostly similar

Everybody have a great day and an awesome weekend.
 
Willie,

Thanks, that’s the advice I was looking for. Never having scratch built anything i wasn’t sure of what thickness to use. This gives me more of an idea.
 
Good morning. Starting the day off at 58 degrees with an expected high in the mid to upper 90's. I saw 92 here at the house and my wife saw 97 as she was leaving town after grocery (and beer) shopping. This is quite uncommon here in the valley. Temps should moderate to the mid 80's tomorrow.

Willie - Like the building. With the large windows,you could add some interior details easily.

Mike - I agree with Willie on the styrene. This building was totally scratch build using Evergreen sheets. I used .040 styrene and it needed no bracing,.

pictures 1422.jpg


pictures 1424.jpg


Genetk44
suggested a Go Pro app for movie editing. I did find a program and after dicking around with it for a while, I managed to splice the three videos I posted yesterday together into one continuous video. Thank Gene. Here it is. I also posted it in the Video section.


Being that it is supposed to be so warm today, I thing I'll get my rain birds set and retire down to the train room.

Here's a rail picture for today.

Free HD Wallpapers Download (thewallpaperdb.blogspot.com) - (93).jpg


Later
 
Good afternoon, it's about to start raining heavily, and 88.

Does anybody here use Paypal's Bill Me Later?
 
Warning: Rant in 3...2...1...

So, I show up on the job site where I spent a grueling day and a half hand digging nearly 200' to lay 300' feet of pipe for a new sprinkler zone and a drip irrigation zone after the landscaper tells me the sod is down and they are ready for me. I am expecting to see sod covering all of the areas that the home owner told me we're going to be grass and nothing in the areas where the drip irrigation is going as they have not finalized a plan for what to plant there yet. What do I find? With the exception of the a small patch inside the gate leading the the backyard and the pool that necessitated my services to repair the irrigation, there. Is. NO. GRASS. At least not on the area where I busted my cahones digging because the sod had to go in AFTER I laid the pipe. That's right. They did the side yard where the pool contractors destroyed the yard to keep the clay from washing into the street, but I did no work there. Piss poor communication resulted in one giant cluster**** and me being an exhausted, overworked, and miserable b*stard for absolutely nothing. I could have waited and done this on a more timely schedule and avoided all of the hassle and headache of rearranging two week's worth of work for something that wasn't the even done and won't be complete for God knows how long.

Ok. Time to breathe.

Rant over. Hopefully I will find time for trains over what is left of my weekend. Tried to layout a small switching setup last night but I don't know if I have enough correct turnout to make it work. Will back up, punt, and try again.
 
Warning: Rant in 3...2...1...

So, I show up on the job site where I spent a grueling day and a half hand digging nearly 200' to lay 300' feet of pipe for a new sprinkler zone and a drip irrigation zone after the landscaper tells me the sod is down and they are ready for me. I am expecting to see sod covering all of the areas that the home owner told me we're going to be grass and nothing in the areas where the drip irrigation is going as they have not finalized a plan for what to plant there yet. What do I find? With the exception of the a small patch inside the gate leading the the backyard and the pool that necessitated my services to repair the irrigation, there. Is. NO. GRASS. At least not on the area where I busted my cahones digging because the sod had to go in AFTER I laid the pipe. That's right. They did the side yard where the pool contractors destroyed the yard to keep the clay from washing into the street, but I did no work there. Piss poor communication resulted in one giant cluster**** and me being an exhausted, overworked, and miserable b*stard for absolutely nothing. I could have waited and done this on a more timely schedule and avoided all of the hassle and headache of rearranging two week's worth of work for something that wasn't the even done and won't be complete for God knows how long.

Ok. Time to breathe.

Rant over. Hopefully I will find time for trains over what is left of my weekend. Tried to layout a small switching setup last night but I don't know if I have enough correct turnout to make it work. Will back up, punt, and try again.
JESSE, There is nothing like owning your own business. But you already know this.;)
Dave
 
Good afternoon, it's about to start raining heavily, and 88.

Does anybody here use Paypal's Bill Me Later?
TERRY -- I have used it mucho times. Bought my wife's MAC using it. Great for "no interest" if paid in six months.
As Tony the Tiger says: It's GREAT!
 
TERRY -- I have used it mucho times. Bought my wife's MAC using it. Great for "no interest" if paid in six months.
As Tony the Tiger says: It's GREAT!
Not any more...
Paypal Credit, formerly Bill Me Later, is now owned by GE Capital, and their business model has been restructured to maximize profits for the new company. Instead of the no interest or payments if paid in six months, you have to make a minimum payment monthly. No problem, except the payments don't equal the 6 month term. If you pay what they tell you, you will end up owing 29.99% interest on the entire amount, because it won't be paid in six months.
If you pay an amount that will equal those 6 payments, Paypal Credit will apply the overpayment to any other amount you owe, such as a 24 months no interest purchase, first. That's because it costs them the most money for those purchases.
I have two 24 month payment (no interest) purchases, and four 6 months same as cash purchases, and the 24 month purchases have been paid down to almost 6 months ahead, each. The other purchases, however, haven't had a dime applied to them since GE bought the accounts. This means that, instead of me paying $50 like I should for the 24 month purchases, and the rest going to the short-term purchases, I will have to pay several hundred dollars next month to avoid paying an exorbitant interest charge. So, they changed the terms of the agreement in mid-stream.
 
Terry - credit companies are the legal equivalent of the bookie that'll send his muscle to rearrange your kneecaps if you don't pay up. I understand their purpose and have had more than my share of experience with them, but I've tried to make and stick to a commitment to never buy anything else in credit again. This is part of the reason business is so tough right now. I started out with next to no start-up funds and after a couple of months of hard work, I still have most of it left. Lol. But I'm still eating, the lights are burning, and I've been able to buy some trains so I'm doing alright. It's definitely hard, but still more satisfying than working for the man. It did however, royally suck when I was the bank account drop to below $20 while waiting for people to pay for services rendered.
 
Warning: Rant in 3...2...1...

So, I show up on the job site where I spent a grueling day and a half hand digging nearly 200' to lay 300' feet of pipe for a new sprinkler zone and a drip irrigation zone after the landscaper tells me the sod is down and they are ready for me. I am expecting to see sod covering all of the areas that the home owner told me we're going to be grass and nothing in the areas where the drip irrigation is going as they have not finalized a plan for what to plant there yet. What do I find? With the exception of the a small patch inside the gate leading the the backyard and the pool that necessitated my services to repair the irrigation, there. Is. NO. GRASS. At least not on the area where I busted my cahones digging because the sod had to go in AFTER I laid the pipe. That's right. They did the side yard where the pool contractors destroyed the yard to keep the clay from washing into the street, but I did no work there. Piss poor communication resulted in one giant cluster**** and me being an exhausted, overworked, and miserable b*stard for absolutely nothing. I could have waited and done this on a more timely schedule and avoided all of the hassle and headache of rearranging two week's worth of work for something that wasn't the even done and won't be complete for God knows how long.

Ok. Time to breathe.

Rant over. Hopefully I will find time for trains over what is left of my weekend. Tried to layout a small switching setup last night but I don't know if I have enough correct turnout to make it work. Will back up, punt, and try again.

IMAG0395.jpg
 
Terry - credit companies are the legal equivalent of the bookie that'll send his muscle to rearrange your kneecaps if you don't pay up. I understand their purpose and have had more than my share of experience with them, but I've tried to make and stick to a commitment to never buy anything else in credit again. This is part of the reason business is so tough right now. I started out with next to no start-up funds and after a couple of months of hard work, I still have most of it left. Lol. But I'm still eating, the lights are burning, and I've been able to buy some trains so I'm doing alright. It's definitely hard, but still more satisfying than working for the man. It did however, royally suck when I was the bank account drop to below $20 while waiting for people to pay for services rendered.
I think it's unethical, at best, to change the terms of a payment agreement after the contract on both sides has been agreed to.
 
Just came up out of the train room to move a sprinkler and get an iced tea. Showing 95 degrees. Walked right into the sprinkler. Damn, that felt good. Back down to the train room. Later
 
Last edited:
Just came up out of the train room to move a sprinkler and get an iced tea. Showing 95 degrees. Walked right into the sprinkler. Damn, that felt good. Back down to the train room. Later
That's the spirit! Sounds like if you didn't need an iced tea that sprinkler would have stayed right where it was.
 
Just came up out of the train room to move a sprinkler and get an iced tea. Showing 95 degrees. Walked right into the sprinkler. Damn, that felt good. Back down to the train room. Later

I hear you! I just went out to grocery shop, and fill both cars. The bank thermometer said 91. The forecaster's kind of blew that. It was only supposed to be low 80s.
 
I think it's unethical, at best, to change the terms of a payment agreement after the contract on both sides has been agreed to.
I agree. Especially since you didn't get the option to agree to the new terms.
 



Back
Top