Running Bear's September 2020 Coffee Shop


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Meant to comment on WILLIE there ...
Did you leave him any stock? I never had a Christmas with a haul like that?
Nice to see that 2 Bay hopper - Cement? Where is your plant?
Actually I left him a lot of stock, I didn't touch any N scale, O scale or G gauge stuff. They're pretty well stocked anyway. Just ask Johnny, he's been there a few times when he visited his relatives in Texas. Oh wait, he's on LOA right now.
It's actually a three bay hopper for grain hauling. Cement plant? You'll have to wait until I start with the upper level cleaning in January.
 
Good evening. Things are slowly improving here.
Finally got hold of Dell. They locked my account, so nobody else can use it. They checked the credit card used, and it was from Weels Fargo, which I don't have an account with. That part is officially Somebody Else's Problem. I got a return shipping label for the keyboard, which is leaving tomorrow. Still waiting for the other seller to issue a refund, since they never sent the item.
 
Good morning y'all. 52° and hazy...we are now getting the smoke from the West Coast Fires here in Jersey...

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PRSL at Haddonfield in the 50s. Train looks like either the Nelly Bly to New York, or the Sea Breeze to Philadelphia.
Joe- When I was in lower elementary grades, I took PATCO to/from Lindenwold to Haddonfield.
 
Greetings from the not-yet-frozen lower midwest.

Flo: Coffee and a donut today.
Wife has been working long hours trying to get caught up enough to take off next week. No clue what we're doing then. I just snap-to with a "yes dear!" whenever she tells me to get moving.

Willie: A small town in Indiana I lived in 25+ years ago had a village pizzeria just like that one on the courthouse square: Pizza by George! They made a darned good pie. Unfortunately, the place caught fire (electrical) and gutted the inside a few years later. Hope your pizza place stays safer.

Everyone else, thanks for the well-wishes on the toilet and/or layout. I'm still trying to figure out how you keep a list of everyone's post going and get it all into one response. 😱 :cool:

Think I've finally gotten the main runs figured out. Adding a second 3% did the trick. AND I figured out how to use one of the 2% grade kits to make a more long-train friendly run. It only works West to East (2% upgrade - 3% downgrade).

I'm going to end up with more woodland scenics foam pieces and parts than I know what to do with when this is all done.

Here's the view of the lines heading out of "Seattle." The turnout will give you a 3% grade route through the tunnel (right branch), or the left 2% lower route (we'll call it a branch line since it's not prototypical as far as I can tell) to bypass the steeper tunnel route.

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This area will have the two lines (upper 3%, and lower 2%) grades crossing a river - so a nice valley terrain scene to model: Should have 2.5-inch difference between upper and middle elevations. The return journey will be to camera left, at table level (the blue tape line). Tunnel will be in the far corner.

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NOTE: the lower 2% grade is NOT pinned in place yet. So the curves are still wonky. I'll fit that this evening and get is locked down.

Finally, the 2% middle line will continue to climb after the river, and eventually wye into the 3% downgrade, after bypassing the tunnel.

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The 3% downgrade on this side gives me enough room to level out a spot to install the wye, and still make the underpass to come back.

Here's an overall image of the new middle-grade run:
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Now I just need to figure out how many turnouts I need for the mainline, and where the industrial areas will be. I'm discovering that Peco N Scale turnouts are few and far between right now. Got some #8s on order, but probably not enough.
 
Greetings to a new day. With the cooler nights we've been having, its helping the fire fighters get a handle on these big fires. My thoughts are with you guys that have to deal with the hurricane situation.
Thanks to all for your comments & likes....

Willie & Patric....thanks for the info on the magne-traction, sounds like an interesting concept. Wonder how far away a stray piece of metal would be magna-tated to the wheels.

McLeod...I've got a 20 x 40 free standing shop building, and I put a wall across the inside so the layout room ended up to be basically 12 x 20, man did I want to make the whole thing a layout room! I have more pictures if that would help you out, just let me know.....

Willie...I like your figurines for your drive in, Flo & Francine, I'm just starting to gather figures for my layout, and...uhh, it appears the wind blows a lot in Texas.. 😉

Lee...glad you and the others enjoy the adds. That's one of the other things I collect, vintage paper work pertaining to RRing or models like the Lionel ads. I do have an older Lionel "O" engine & cars I "picked" from a guys shed, would like to know more about it, perhaps you & some of the other O scalers could help me out?

Chet...ha ha, yea back in the mid sixties when I acquired my first HO set, I got to run it on a piece of 4 x 8 plywood. Back then, it was to see how fast I could get that engine I cars to travel around the oval...o_O 🤪 Fast forward to now, and a layout with a yard and switching, man, this is kewl, I have to have more! So the old layout is coming down, and the new layout will have the yard the length of the long 20ft wall. Nice pics of the club layout, I'm really partial to F units, and even though a lot of people think it's plain, a 3/4 head on shot of NP F units with the "Pine Tree" paint scheme pulling a long freight...👍 👍

Hi Hughie...glad you like the ads. Sorry to hear about your trains, but your mom sounds very caring, I bet they went to a good home. And speaking of American Flyer, the last ad I have for you and the rest of the guys is, yup, you guessed it........
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So, 3/16 scale, not familiar with that, were does that fall into the range of scales?
Every body be safe, HAPPY HUMP DAY!
 
I'm still trying to figure out how you keep a list of everyone's post going and get it all into one response.
Open the previous day's posts in a new tab and scroll down from there. Return to your original reply box to respond. Then go back to the previous day and continuing scrolling and reading. Trick is to remember to go to the original response box for your posts.
 
Good Morning all. 53 degrees in the Ozark Foothills. Flo. Coffee Eggs and Sausage.

Troy. Layout looks good a old man told me one time keep your layout flat and you will have less problems sometimes I think he was right I just don’t have the patience to build grades but it looks like you do and doing a great job at it my hats off to you and others who has accomplished this

Curt. Thanks for the complement glad you liked it

Jerry. If you want post some pics I’ll try to help Lionel made a couple different sized rolling stock it took about 5 years to get this O thing figured out

Thanks for the complements and likes yesterday everyone. I found this old Union Pacific F7 Athearn Blue Box the other day While in the garage I got it with some other junk shells so last night I thought I would fit it on a Bachmann power unit. I also painted the trucks and fuel tank added a Pyle light and lens as well as a headlight and cleaned it. After work I’m going to give it a test run. I’ll check in later have a good day everyone




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Morning, FLO, Must have a BIG cup of coffee to start, please!
Woke up at 4:30 this morning - my allergies are acting up and nose is running like a river - miserable!
It's supposed to be 98 here today - 96 held up for the high yesterday.
prayers for all those affected by the fires and to those affected by the floods.

Nice on the layout plans, TROY!

LEE
- That's some nice looking work on the F-7!
 
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Troy. Layout looks good a old man told me one time keep your layout flat and you will have less problems sometimes I think he was right I just don’t have the patience to build grades but it looks like you do and doing a great job at it my hats off to you and others who has accomplished this

I lived all but 4 years of my life in flat Indiana. I don't want to look at more flat. I don't want to model flat.

When we lived in LA LA Land, I enjoyed the terrain but missed the trees and the greenery.

Looks like I will be modeling lush forested hills and/or mountains!
 
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Good Morning All. Partly cloudy and 69° this morning. No change in the long range fall forecast, other than the chance of rain tomorrow has been reduced to 15% and the night temperatures may drop into the upper 50's a couple of times.
Bad news on my freezer woes. Small inaccessible hole in the coolant line allowed all of the Freon to escape. Cannot be replaced so I need to purchase a new freezer. Blah! Serviceman confirmed that this one was manufactured in 1990, so we got 30 years of service from it with NO repairs. I have a neighbor who could and would surreptitiously refill it with Freon, but it would eventually leak out again. Meanwhile another trip today to see if I can get another one, along with a refill of dry ice. $$$ Guess where my stimulus money is going?

A couple of large breakfast burritos this morning Flo. Sausage, egg, cheese and hash-browns with a big bowl of spicy salsa for dipping.

A great big thanks to all who liked and commented on yesterday's booty pictures (store-bought and painted figures); Guy, Phil, Patrick, Chad, Sherrel, GT,, James, Karl, Chet, Tom O, Lee, Hughie, Jerome, Curt, Tom, Ken, Joe, Justin, Rick, Jerry.

I did not get into the train shed yesterday, quite unusual for me. Spent the day dealing with the freezer, and later I had to wait in the house for the serviceman to arrive since my wife is convalescing and couldn't answer the door.
So a few more critter pictures are in order. The first is a flying fisherman that visits my pond regularly.
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The rest are four legged creatures that I saw when I used to walk after work in the evening.
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I now walk in the morning and they are gone by then.

Patrick - My wife is enamored with her My Pillow, so much so that she got another one for me. Nothing special as far as I am concerned. My best sleep comes after a couple of glasses of wine with dinner, regardless of pillow!
I hope once again that all of your family's medical issues get resolved satisfactorily. Including the doggie.
Guy - Good luck on the elk hunt. Seven years, hope that you're successful.
Lee - Your modeling talents extend to HO as well as O. Nice work on that F7 and surrounding scenes.
No I never modeled O scale myself. I just never really had the room until later in life when I could afford to build the train shed, but by then I had amassed quite a collection of HO. If I did go O, I would go with two-rail O because that third rail always bothered me, no offense to any one who models O scale.
Sherrel -
There have been two of them caught in the MIL's house this summer! No one can figure out how they are getting in - no doors are ever left open?
My experience is that they tend to come in where pipes, dryer vents, conduits, or other plumbing goes through the walls.

Today commemorates the day that the Mayflower set sail from England in 1620. I really don't think that Sherrel was on board.
Closer to home here in Texas, many celebrate Mexican Independence Day. Barbecued goats and Corona beer are the staples of the parties. No, Cinco de Mayo is not their independence day, it's a holiday invented by US beer companies.
Everybody have a great day, I'm off to shop for a new freezer.
 
Good morning gang!

Been at work since 6, so breakfast consisted of 2 cups of coffee and a Pop Tart. It's now 10 and I'm hungry again. Flo, is there any chance of getting some Schnitzel in my belly?

Troy, nothing wrong with hills and greenery, we got it plenty here!

Question for the group. I always wanted to add a V&O engine to the fleet. Fox Valley makes one, but its too modern for me. I was going to paint my own unit, but I cannot find decals for the loco. I can find all kind of rolling stock decals of various types, but no loco sheets. Has anyone made them before????
 
Good morning all. Just passing through town. Coffee and no sugar donut....... watching my figure.
I did manage an hour of operating time yesterday, no de-rails, no uncouple, no stalls, call it good!

I think American Flyers were/are S scale.

STAY SAFE
 
I lived all but 4 years of my life in flat Indiana. I don't want to look at more flat. I don't want to model flat.

When we lived in LA LA Land, I enjoyed the terrain but missed the trees and the greenery.

Looks like I will be modeling lush forested hills and/or mountains!

Troy. I’ve been all over the Hoosier what part did you live in? Yes some parts are very flat can’t wait to see some green on your layout
 
Midday check in well for me I’ve been going since 3am.

Sherrel. Thanks for the complement going to test it then I might add some more det

Willie. Thanks for the complement I started my HO about 8 years ago I need to clean it and tidy some things up on it. I also walk after work I have 5 acres I use to Hobby Farm now I just have chickens. Here’s a few pics of my place.
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