Running Bear's April 2020 Coffee Shop


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Good night America! Well, my wife and I got the tree all cut up and about a third of it burnt. My $60 Craftsman chain saw worked great! I originally tried to order a 16" one from Amazon, but their delivery date was the end of April so I ordered one from Lowe's and got it in three days. The one I got is only a 14" model, but that's all I really need. I will cut the rest of the tree down after I recover from today. I feel like I've been run over by a train!

The tree is/was a Bradford Pear. Really pretty with white flowers in early spring, but they have a bad habit of splitting apart as they get bigger in a wind storm. I'll cut the rest of this one down and we have half of another that was split some time before. It's going too! I want something low maintenance! Same with women

The weather forecast for tomorrow is loaded with three rounds of storms. The first round in the morning is just mainly rain. The second round around noon to 3:00 PM is more rain and a good chance of severe storms with high wind, heavy rain and a possibility of tornadoes. The third round after about 10:00 pm till 3:00 AM is more of the same. Will have everything ready so we can take shelter quickly, if needed!

That's life in the fast lane from our kingdom in Tennessee. Maybe one of these days, I'll get to do some modeling! Everyone stay safe and six feet away!
 
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I'm using a bunch of it in my pike. They were salvaged from a layout at the Gold Coast RR. Preformed 22" curves and some straights . The track must be 40 to 50 years old .I've had it 28 years.
Getting tired. I wish those who celebrate a HAPPY EASTER or HAPPY PASSOVER.
Y'all stay well and becareful with all the bad weather coming. Goodnight,
Phil
 
Here are some work in progress shots of my grade crossing. .. First one was one I already posted.

49758185921_bbce278522_k.jpg


Filler added. I used drywall joint compound, but other plaster will do. There is some cork roadbed used for this also. I cut out the road surface from cardboard.

49761344811_9cd4ed3ec1_k.jpg


The cardboard road surface was installed using a generous amount of construction adhesive. The adhesive is thick enough to be a filler too.

49760954783_f9ac7b5968_k.jpg


I painted over the white plaster with acrylic paint (raw umber). The road surface was painted light gray. I began staining the wood pieces.

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Next ...... I will add scenery material to the side of the road and begin weathering the road surface.
 
tootnkumin said:
Oh goodie! Send me it's address. I need some more of their rosin flux. My 70 year old tube is going off.
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RAY -- This is what I use for everything. A pinhead drop is all you need.
www.ebay.com

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Happy Easter everyone!

It's good to see everyone is busy, lots of good stuff the last couple days. Then there are that couple that, unfortunately, can not be unseen.

My daughter and I had a little "offroad" experience in our driver's ed. She lost it when we got to the end of the pavement in a right turn. We hit the gravel, the back stepped out, she countersteered but then it caught and went the other way. We slid sideways a bit and off into a soft bank. We were probably going about 25.

After we stopped, the left rear is still on the road and we are looking up the bank at a cedar tree a few feet in front of the bumper and she said, "I think I need to back up."

"Yes," I said. "Good call, and look for any traffic first." Overall, I thought she handled it well. I hope it reinforced my reminders to be aware and prepared for anything and when it happens it can go down pretty quick.

If you're going to have an off, it was the best way for it to happen. Nobody got hurt, nothing was damaged she learned about surface transitions in corners. Somebody will probably see the tracks and wonder what happened there.

She wants to go out again. We'll have to work on proper drift technique though, less countersteer, stay off the brakes and drive it out of the slide with the throttle.
 
Sirfoldalot said:
RAY -- This is what I use for everything. A pinhead drop is all you need.
www.ebay.com

MECHANIC Reparing Solder Soldering Paste XG-50 (XG-500) 42g Sn63/Pb37 25-45um CA | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for MECHANIC Reparing Solder Soldering Paste XG-50 (XG-500) 42g Sn63/Pb37 25-45um CA at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
Click to expand...
Ha,ha. That listing says they don't ship to Aus in red letters but ships worldwide (with exclusions) Doesn't name Aus specifically in what looks pretty much like the whole world, but does say Oceana, so I guess that's near enough for ebay to ban Aus.

Another seller also says much the same but names most of the south pacific's nations including NZ, but doesn't specifically deny Aus delivery (guess that's OK then) Both about the same price.

Several others offer cheaper but ebay gives shipping at US$105-106.
All send from Hong Kong/China.

I'll try the middle option which states Hong Kong and can probably rely on them spraying it with disinfectant.
 
GarryCBQ said:
Here are some work in progress shots of my grade crossing. .. First one was one I already posted.

49758185921_bbce278522_k.jpg


Filler added. I used drywall joint compound, but other plaster will do. There is some cork roadbed used for this also. I cut out the road surface from cardboard.

49761344811_9cd4ed3ec1_k.jpg


The cardboard road surface was installed using a generous amount of construction adhesive. The adhesive is thick enough to be a filler too.

49760954783_f9ac7b5968_k.jpg


I painted over the white plaster with acrylic paint (raw umber). The road surface was painted light gray. I began staining the wood pieces.

49762553368_8747b0ee18_k.jpg



Next ...... I will add scenery material to the side of the road and begin weathering the road surface.
Click to expand...
I love those step-by-step photos. I saved this, I hope one day to put some of this stuff I've learned to use on my future layout.

Thank You!
 
Happy Easter!!!
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I have a whole pork lion covered in home made sauerkraut and bacon roasting in the oven.

Don't ask me why I made so much for my Wife and I, but that's how I do! Guess what I will be eating everyday for breakfast, lunch and a couple of dinners for the next week or so?

I usually have ham on Easter, but the sauerkraut is perfect fermented today and it's not an ordinary Easter.

You know your wife loves you when she never once complained about the 5 gallon bucket of cabbage fermenting in the kitchen. :)

Have a great day Everybody!
 
Good Morning All. Happy Easter Sunday. 68° and light rain. Looks like it will go away in a little while. Yesterday's predicted thunderstorms never really materialized. Tonight the temperature is supposed to drop to 37°, with highs for the next few days only getting into the mid-50's.
A friend of ours came by yesterday to briefly visit (including social distancing) with his two sons. Their real purpose was to park at our house while they walked across the field cow pasture to the Corps of Engineers flood control lake across the road. Three hours later they returned covered in mud with 18 catfish, each between 24" and 30". I had told him before that the fish in that lake were probably quite large as I hadn't seen anyone fishing in it in over 25 years. It appeared that they weighed about 6-8 lbs each. They were happy fishermen.

Easter Sunday Flo! I'll have the Eggs Benedict with Taylor Ham and Hollandaise sauce.

Thanks for the likes and comments regarding the ongoing rehab structure adventure; Louis, Karl, Guy, Joe, Bob, Sherrel, Phil, Chet, Tom, Curt, Jerome, Chad.

I'll be back in a little bit with the daily progress report from the train shed. Wife is requesting some assistance.

Louis - Glad to read that you are keeping your distance. Best wishes to your family members who are still dealing with the public.
Garry - Yes, salvaging that structure has been fun to some extent. It's kinda like making lemonade out of lemons! I purchased it already built by someone else, along with three other buildings at an estate sale for $4 each. I had asked the young lady who had passed on, thinking that I may have met him, and she informed me that it was her marriage. She wanted his s**t out of her house. I got structures, scenery items, flex track, about 75 painted figures and some boxes of odd parts. I chose not to take any of the nearly 100 Tyco, Bachmann and Lifelike engines and cars. The other structures needed some work as well, one that I completely disassembled to just parts and reassembled. I put his modeling abilities on the same level as Barney Fife.
Bob - Hang on to your hat with today's weather.
Garry - Road crossings are looking good.

Everybody have a great Easter Subday.
 
From the early part of last week, SD40-2XR #258 (and GP35 #403 behind it) at Belgrade MT, doing some switching
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I dun'no, but there's something about this pic that reminds me of the superman comics. The bit about leaping tall buildings. No, not the one in the background, the 3 steps up to the rear deck.

Then late in the week there was this one of 4 of the GP35's #'s 405 & 404, 403 & 402, after performing work in pairs 'up the top', hitching a tow back to Livingston for weekend servicing, behind an also returning helper set of 2 ACe's and what looks like another '40-2XR.
1586694749806.png


There were several more photos from Len Torney (remembered his name at last) the FB page Author, but I have only realised why I have had some confusion with the sequencing, being not yet fully conversant with the various depot's relationships. He tends to put the last photo in the sequence up first on the page, so it's necessary to scroll left instead of right to read them. Even then it takes a bit of working out sometimes. I've got a map of MRL's tracks through Montana saved somewhere, I'll have to enlarge the section he mostly covers and print it out, so I know where he is taking his pics.
 
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Happy Easter morning gang!
Need a big breakfast today, lots on the agenda. Pancakes, and lots of em!

Sherrel, I'll try that flux! After the soldering fiasco of yesterday, ANYTHING has to help!

Yesterday I was soldering everything from parts and handrails on brass engines to teeny tiny wires onto DCC decoders. I also stripped 2 diesel units (brass) to get ready for paint today.
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I believe it will be best to shoot all of this later today, once the temp comes up a bit, its only 50 outside right now.
Will be back later!
 
Sad, Sad News to report this morning.
The Easter Bunny is self-isolating in my backyard beside the compost pile, which is doubling as his food supply, and is refusing to make his world-wide adventure. I suspect it is not only the virus that troubles him so; he seems quite cranky that the weather is staying so cold. I mean, who wants to be running around when it insists on hovering at -10C on the thermometer.
EasterBunny.JPG


Thankyou to the 13 fine railroad modelers who liked my post of yesterday. Further to that, I'd like to relay how interesting I find this daily news thread to be. So many interesting photos and life updates, along with genuine hoe-too's. Well done, everyone.

I've been waiting on the postman to deliver a package of KD148 couplers, so I could proceed with my flatcar building. The tracking site tells me it will not be delivered until Wednesday. As it happens, though, I got a little bit anxious yesterday and slapped a boxcar together without primer and paint. Sadly, the LHS is completely sold-out of 33" metal wheels as well, so I have none. Plastic wheels, for now.

I will paint the car when I get the couplers. It is also prudent at this time to consider a load, just incase I must add some deck mounted tie-down points. I know the photo shows pick-ups as a load, but, that's not what it will be in the end. I prefer some sort of industrial load, and I have yet to come up with what.
FlatCar_04-2020 (7).JPG

FlatCar_04-2020 (8).JPG


The wife has gone to work, the G-kids are not coming over, and I am alone again today. So I suspect I will start a Tichy boxcar kit, and have a quiet day. Which is ok, because I like it this way, every now and again. If it wasn't for the threats, I would have a hoard of G-kids wanting me to set up the Bachmann EZ track. That's what I would rather do today; it's just not going to happen.
No doubt, I will be dropping in here later.

Everyone have a wonderful, peaceful, and productive day!
Guy
 
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