Running Bear's February 2020 Coffee Shop


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Good Morning Everyone....sunny day after yesterday's snow storm, but cold and will get even colder as the week goes by. Maybe a half a foot of snow yesterday.

Started the day by working on taxes and I'm 80% finished. Again, I owe Federal so I'll mail the taxes on April 14th. Last night the neighbor did our driveway with his snow blower and then he and his wife came in for a couple of cocktails. He's a computer IT guy so should I ever have any problems he will come to my aid.

Today after lunch will be a train day and I just have some smaller projects to work on. The swampy area with the green slime needs some growth around the perimeter of the hollow as a starter for day's projects along with a coal hopper that needs some black oil paint weathering on the chutes. Then the track cleaning of the mine spurs I been putting off and I'll use a track cleaning train rather than cleaning the track by hand. I'll sit on my elevated chair and run the train as if I was switching the spurs. This will be a good test of the trackage by running the train back and forth.

Still haven't decided about ordering that CN GP9 locomotive especially after I saw that Scale Trains has C&NW model that looks great. Even on sale!!! I have a Jack Daniels Whiskey 1.75 bottle that I use to collect my spare coins and the contents should be enought to paid for the locomotive. Even being in the hospital for the extended stay and re-hab I still managed to collect some coins.

Patrick: If you want to start with DCC, I found some real deals on decoders on some of the websites and EBay. Several years ago I purchased six NCE decoders for $35 on EBay. A Digitrax Zephyr would be a good start in DCC for only $235 or even less on some web sites. This way you would avoid installing the DC blocks. My first DCC layout started as a DC layout with blocks. Just a suggestion.

Willie: Nice work on the silos. Do you plan to do any weathering? That Majestic feed store looks so prototypical and I like the two trash cans in the front of the building. I'm hoping for space for some silos on my layout expansion areas. OK Willie...an Athearn or Scale Trains locomotive for e??? Which would you purchase if you were me???

That's about all for now.

Greg

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My MNS SD39 which was mildly weathered by a fellow in Ohio by the name of Steve Hurt whose been on MRH videos with his weathering projects. Great runner with DCC and sound. Many don't know that the MNS was a branch line in Minnesota and had only 86 miles of trackage and was under SOO Line ownership until the SOO when bankrupt.

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The New River Mine on the CM&N railroad. The mine spur trcaks are on a spur that comes off the Saxeville Interchange. There's three tracks which areat eye level so the engineer must use the twin signals (three) above the spurs tracks to determine which route the turnouts are set. Tomar signals were modified and black flat black to be installed on the structure and mini 12 volt lamps provide the illumination. The building light fixtures are from Walthers and there's three more fixtures on right side of the building that isn't shown. The mainline is below on the right.

All layout incandescent lighting operates on 10 volts or less to prolong life life.-Greg
 
Willie- Your project progress is inspiring. I always seem to have interruptions, especially while I am waiting for glue to dry.
I am anxiously awaiting the completion of Majestic Hardware, Do you have any idea what type vehicles you will have in the scene?

OVERHEARD IN A BEAUTY SHOP- " My mother buried three husbands, and two of them were just napping."

The rain arrived this morning before I got out of bed and the thunder would not allow me to go back to sleep. I took the drawer pulls to the basement and sprayed them with a first coat of paint. Normally, it only takes less than a hour to let the paint dry, but I'll wait 4 hours before applying a second coat of paint. At least I have time to check the forum for new posts today.
 
I haven't seen several of them. Got to start watching WKRP in Cincinnati (this version has *most* of the original music) and Tour of Duty. The latter is the Australian edition and has *all* of the original music (remember, the show's title theme is the Stone's "Black is Black"); a Region 0 DVD player cost less than the boxed TV series did.

Watching Youtube on TV: EASY! Sign into Youtube, hit the square with an arrow sticking out of one corner, and tell it which device you want to watch on. This assumes you can stream via Firestick, Roku, etc, or have a smart tv. If you don't, you're screwed. (It's odd that I can say screwed, but not f*d. They mean exactly the same thing.)

My TV is a dumb TV, not a smart TV. The only thing connected to the internet via wifi is DirecTV. I have one in the bedroom that is a smart TV, but want to get it on the large TV in the living room. My son found what we needed on Amazon and it should be here on Wednesday. Don't know if it is a Firestick or Roku.
 
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Greg: I hear you on the finding deals online. I may go that way in the future. Right now I'm still finishing up my trackage and getting many of my blue box engines finished and running. I'll keep watching for these deals along with other deals I can find. My biggest issue right now is finding time to work on trains at all (along with funding in 2nd place).
 
Howdy everyone!

Thanks to everyone for liking my stuff! :)

Hi Flo - I'll have a fish sandwich, fries, a large cole slaw and unsweetened iced tea.

Willie - I'm impressed with the speed of your modeling. Yesterday it was mostly pieces, today it's near complete.
That would have taken me at least 2 days. I really like the Hdwe. & Feed. That's my kind of business.

Mikey said:
Can I count advice and comments on this forum as charitable contributions? Some folks would only allow me to deduct $.02 worth.
now that's funny! LOL

Greg - Amazing photos!

I've been working on my structure: Hagerty's Market and it's been taking too long. I had to dismantle and
reconstruct a section that I didn't notice until it was almost done. So that set me back a day or so. I have to
build a A/C roof condenser, a Coke machine, a newspaper dispenser and a gumball machine. Then it will be
pretty much done other than a few grocery signs and shopping carts and paint touch-ups.
This is the fourth structure for my little town and it's really starting to look like a layout. I have 3 or 4 more
structures to build for the town, but I'm taking a break from that construction, as I want to finish the
highway that crosses the entire layout. This will really pull the whole layout together, instead of it looking
like two table layouts with connecting tracks.
Here's a pair of Hagerty's photos + 1

I hope everyone has a nice day!
Jim

ae07nS6.jpg


the refrigeration condenser
WdzCfBf.jpg


the B&O @ Westinghouse Air Brake (WABCO) Wilmerding PA (Pittsburgh) in 1905
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Afternoon All,

Today we painted the downstairs bedroom and will do doors and frames tomorrow. Went to Lowes and got a new set of blinds for the room and installed them. They are cordless and pretty neat.

Tom- Very nice job on the hopper.

Jim- Nice job on the market and interesting historical photo.

Ken- Sorry to hear about your mistake. Sounds like you really want one of those I-18 cabooses.

Willie- Nice scenes and tank modeling.

Greg- That loco looks real. Nice looking coal mine scene.

Patrick- I'm kind of in the same boat since I want to get 2 Pennsy I1's for my future coal focused layout.

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Well, here's an interesting bit of family politics. MIL was cremated in early January. Today, we met with BIL and wife at the cemetery office to discuss internment. Naturally, the plan was to bury her urn in the plot next to her husband's. Come to find out that my wife's and BIL's cousin who, with her sister, own the gravesites (that's another story) has stipulated that MIL is not to receive a headstone or any other kind of marker. This is apparently in retaliation for MIL badmouthing cousin behind cousin's back, and cousin does not want to have to see MIL's headstone when she goes to tend graves (the entire extended family is buried in close proximity to each other). In all the family, I'm the one who has got along best with cousin, so it seems to have fallen to me to try and iron things out.

Sigh.

Here's a photo of me pumping an old girlfriend:
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Been awhile since I posted last. Been quite a busy bee lately. Spent the better part of my saturday at the union hall. It's that time again for us to go through another round of contract negotiations. However I spent the better part of my sunday afternoon doing model railroad things. Aside from actually running my trains I have started putting together my C&O hopper kits I got awhile back. They are roundhouse kits with cast metal spines. Ofcourse some of them need filed down.....also i cant find any of my files so that project has been put on hold for the time being. So instead i brought out my non running GP40. After a tear down and look i found i had one axle that somehow or another had gotten bound up. Gauged the wheels for piece of mind. All the wheels checked out good. Reassembled and did a decent wheel cleaning. She runs as good as new now. So I have my GP40 back. Oh and I almost forgot. Seeing as how my GP40 is an Athearn. When I pulled it out of the box the rear handrails fell off. Some touches of glue and reinstalled. It ain't falling off anymore. I have so many projects it's hard to pick which one I wanna get done first. I suppose tonight I'll start to tackle my company store. Itll need a coat of paint to start. After that I need to get the ballast in the yard pulled back up as it's just not prototypical enough for me. I'll end up redoing it all more like the C&O would have. Which most C&O yards were laid out with cinders. I figure an earth, gravel, and cinder mix would work really well. Like I said I have so many projects I just dont know where to start. Well I figure this is all I have for right now. I go back to lurking again until I have something notable to share.
 
. . .
IBKen, no op sessions til you get an I-18?? Are you trying to tempt me to find one?? ;)
. . .
No Karl, I wouldn't wish that kind of heartburn on anybody! (j/k) Actually, I might be looking for an excuse to buy the undec kit and paint it. I enjoy that type of activity a helluva lot more than doing scenery.

kbkchooch said:
. . .
Sounds to me like you need to get on that list!
That's exactly what I was trying to figure out how to do, but wasn't getting anywhere for want of a visible "contact us" link (which Tom uncovered for me, see above). I filled out the form to sign up for their newsletter, but never received a confirmation email from them.
 
. . .
Ken
- That doesn't sound good.

. . .
Willie, I'm assembling all the text for a separate thread about the damage and recovery, stay tuned...

[Later EDIT] Well, I didn't have time to finish composing the new thread after uploading and editing the 14 photos that go along with it...will have to wait until tomorrow. Can't afford to miss sleep over this.
 
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. . .
Ken- Sorry to hear about your mistake. Sounds like you really want one of those I-18 cabooses.

. . .
That's right Curt, all I have on my layout now is I-12 "wagontop" cabin cars and this would have provided some much-needed variety in the fleet. I've already pre-ordered two of the Athearn Genesis ICC cabeese that will supposedly be shipping in June..[?]
 
Just checked on the painted dresser hardware and it is still sticky. I'll try again tomorrow.
With almost three inches of rain today, I found septic tank water backed up in the basement tub. Found the septic tank location is now an eight inch deep pond. The rain intensity has slacked off since dusk, but we will get scattered showers overnight and tomorrow. Wednesday will be heavy thunderstorms again. I am going to have the "pond" filled in with dirt to make the water run off instead of collecting in the septic tank.
Always something to distract me from model railroading.

Jim- The Hagerty's Market looks good and the A/C unit on top is a fantastic detail.
The picture of WABCO's turntable is now safely stored in my computer file. Thanks for sharing.

Beady- What are we going to do with you?
It seems you are coming to us for romance advice. If she is being cold to you, take her inside and warm her up. As you warm her up, things will start to stiffen up. hat you do then is up to you.
 
Good evening, y'all. As usual, it's wet and foggy at the Jersey Shore.
Lot of good photos and models today.

Ken: They are really nice Cabins, hope you manage to add a few to your fleet.
Curt: Glad the renovations are moving along. I know you would rather they were complete, so you can start your new layout.

As y'all may have noticed, I have not been focused on much the last couple of weeks. I have been spending some time working on the layout, mostly house keeping, and fine tuning stuff like leveling the bench work. Thought I did that once before? I'm ready to expand, but I'm surrounded with clutter. that has to be removed.

Pitchers and Catchers have officially reported to MLB training camps, which is a sure sign of Spring. Now that many tulips and daffodills have broken ground, a cold snap is predicted for the weekend. Go figure.

Sign of the times: The City of Los Angeles, Fire Department, has agreed to purchase an Electric Powered Fire Truck, for assignment to a Hollywood Engine Company. Will be neat, if it works and holds up under the workload of a city engine company.

PC Metroliner MU Trenton, NJ.jpg

Morning Southbound Metroliner at Trenton. Most likely # 101 or #103, to DC. Note the Lee jeans Factory Sign, behind station. That was back when Trenton's slogan was "Trenton Makes, the World takes". Now, the slogan is more likely "Trenton's on the take" o_Oo_Oo_O Lee Jeans have not been made there for decades.:(. Trenton is not a stop for the Acela. Times change.
Amtrak Lakeshore Ltd - Chicago - November 1971.jpg

Amtrak "Lake Shore Limited" approaching Chicago Union Station, 1971.
 
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