Running Bear's March 2021 Coffee Shop

[IronBeltKen]

Hiya Shop Dwellers! We've got 38*F under clear skies with a 4mph North breeze - and as you would expect, it's blowing in a fresh supply of freezing temps. Ol' Man Winter still is leaving his calling cards here in central MD since he knows his time is running out.

Tonight is the first evening where I haven't been out in the workshop making up for lost time on my F7 project. I haven't really had time to read every single post, but I scoured every page looking for comments specifically directed to me...and I found 5 of them. Hopefully I didn't miss anybody. [EDIT:] Oops, too late - I missed Chet's comment on page 28!

Ken: How are you making out with "Das Lokprogramer"?

Joe - I've put that on a back burner for after I get this F7 project wrapped up. I'll probably need to have Karl give me a few pointers on it before I get started.

Ken- Maybe try dull coat with a drop or less of white, or if you can find dust which would be about the same. That's how I faded this AGP green covered hopper.This is before. http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH89472

Tom, the root cause of my problem was that I used un-diluted Enchantment Blue when I should've used aged EB - I just totally forgot that I use different mixtures for 1st generation vs 2nd gen locos (CRS syndrome), more about that in my Thursday post. I definitely like your approach with the tinted airbrushed Dullcote though! Of course I'll have to do take my airbrush outside to do that, since Dullcote is oil-based [i.e. flammable] instead of water-soluble like my Tamiya acrylics.

Ken - Bummer about the F7.

Thanks Willie, at least I've been able to do a full recovery on it!

Ken ..... The blue color looks good on the F7.

Thanks for the kind comment Garry - glad to see you're health is improving again!

Ken--- I like watching your progress on the F7. So the learning curve is a little longer than expected, they're over rated anyway!

Jerry, one would think after all the locos [including F-units] that I've weathered that I would have learned, trouble is that the knowledge slowly evaporates from my mind over time if I'm not doing it regularly...

Ken I snipped the above quote out from another post. What years were you in the USMC? I also was trained to destroy stuff but thank God I never got a chance to use any of my training. In the 1966 they sent me to the Sahara for desert warfare training. The enemy were mostly scorpions & snakes that would attack at night while you were sleeping.

George, I'm not that "Ken" - I never was in the Corps like you guys were, I was just a squid [LOL]! Never did anything dangerous or otherwise heroic, just did my 4 years at sea and financed my college education thru the GI Bill.

Justin - I had a half-dozen of those Front Range geeps back in 1988, when I first got back into the hobby - in fact that's what convinced me to get back into it, with their scale-width hoods. They look great, but their operating quality kind of left me cold. They didn't seem to have very good low speed control, and they were faster than my Athearn and other brand loco models, so I couldn't consist them with anything other than their sister Front Ranger's. Of course, this was before DCC and speed-matching were possible...

* * *
Time for me to report on something other than mrr: I got a last-minute invitation on Monday evening to make a vaccine appointment, but the only time slots available were Tuesday and Wednesday. I couldn't go on Tuesday, because I had to self-isolate in preparation for a minor outpatient surgical procedure on Wednesday morning. At least I was able to grab a time slot 3 hours after the surgery, so that gave me enough time to go home and have lunch first. I got the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, didn't have any reaction to it - apparently that "fun" doesn't start until after the 2nd dose which I'll be getting in 3 weeks. Apparently there was a recent large influx of vaccine doses delivered to Maryland.

 

[Jaz avalley]

Good morning or afternoon, as I type this it is 11:56am in Wisconsin CDT. It will hit in the 50+ mark for the temperature and hopefully finish off Monday’s snow piles.

The son and g/f flew off to an auction in Ohis somewhere, they say they will be back Sunday.

Finished painting some LP ( people) for the layout. The population is growing from 1.

Not sure what today will bring other then shrimp and a baked potato this evening. Enjoy your day.

My 1st attempts at adding a conductor to the crew.

TomO
View attachment 126066


View attachment 126065

The focus on the loco with the model in front has enough blur in just the right places to make you look twice, the fine window wipers, the shine on the lights, the model trees with nothing looking like a model is a really nice picture

 

[2Tracks]

Hey 2Tracks, yes they are, my wife is always after them to stay out of the garden and they were still hiding out there this afternoon when I went outside. I can get to within about 25 feet of them and threw them some apples today, which they devoured of course.

Ok, let me see if I have this straight.....the wife is always after them to get out of what ever their in, and your feeding them apples..........Gary Gary Gary!
There are numerous resident herds here in the klamath suburbs, they know who's lawn, garden, or flower bed to raid......
Of note, the ex planted Marigolds around other flowers she wanted to keep the deer from. Worked ok, not 100% though....
Good Morning coffee shoppers, (and Gary)..... hope this day finds EVERY BODY well!
Should have some moderate weather today, going metal detecting so I need the weather to co-operate some what.
Hi Flo....let me have it with the truckers breakfast, sausage gravy on the hash browns, any of the extra thin bacon left? A couple pieces of Texas toast and deer camp coffee...thanks!

trouble is that the knowledge slowly evaporates from my mind over time if I'm not doing it regularly...

I'll freely admit I am on that same train. If I don't revisit stuff once in a while, knowledge grows thin. BUT, if I write it down, then I have something on a hard copy to look at when I revisit it. All I have to to then, is remember where I put the notes! sheeeees, what a vicious cycle....

DO SOME MODEL RAILROADING TODAY! STAY SAFE!

 

[CambriaArea51]

Good morning....Coffee, eggs, hash browns, and corn beef hash.

Ken- I use Model Master acrylic dull coat I get from Hobby Lobby. They have it now and then so I grab a couple when I'm in the store.

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

Hugging a cup of coffee here at work, watching the sunrise, waiting for the hoards when we open at 8.

IBKen just let me know when you are ready to open up "Das Programmer".

Weatherguessers are saying warm temps are coming, maybe I can get that 2-8-0 sprayed tomorrow,

BBL

 

[Espeefan]

Morning all! Happy Saturday. Not as much work on O'Neill's done as I'd have preferred this week, but, you know, small steps. I'm going to be doing supports, porches, railing, overhangs, etc. next. The Ultimation sander proved its worth on the addition porch. It squares up lumber nicely, and very fast. That's very useful, especially on these small pieces. I'm still learning the tool. It's easy enough to use but the techniques require more attention when you aren't used to using it yet. I expect it will soon all be second nature. The porch is built over a template and is all board by board construction. It's a bit small, but goes together fast. The time here is mostly spent prepping the scale lumber with grain detail and stain.

The porch goes under the addition here, and will be supported by a second support similar to the one shown, and a stairway:

Looking at the roof shingle work I thought it was a little too bright compared with the rest of the building. A little chalk fixed that up. I really like those Rembrandt chalk sticks!

Before:

After:

Even now there are still tweaks and touchups to do, but we'll get to those later.

 

[Boris]

The Roco drive was what I was thinking. You can't beat a Kato drive!

Alan and Karl: Atlas Kato was / is the best; Roco was / is decent. Current China Drive IMHO fluctuates depending on manufacturing date. Not for nothing, I would take an Atlas or Stewart with Kato drive over Genesis.

 

[Boris]

I've put that on a back burner for after I get this F7 project wrapped up. I'll probably need to have Karl give me a few pointers on it before I get started.

Ken: Good, once indoctrinated on the finer points, you can pass along the finer points to me.

 

[Boris]

Good morning. 34° and a frost that the bright sunlight will make short work of. Going up into the 50s later.

Spending this morning shopping for patio furniture cushions, and other out door stuff. Due to changing shade patterns, we need to relocate the veggie garden to where it gets more sunlight.

Looking forward to a day of gardening, and other out door fun. Might fit in the train room later in the day.

later.

 

[Jaz avalley]

Hiya Shop Dwellers! We've got 38*F under clear skies with a 4mph North breeze - and as you would expect, it's blowing in a fresh supply of freezing temps. Ol' Man Winter still is leaving his calling cards here in central MD since he knows his time is running out.

Tonight is the first evening where I haven't been out in the workshop making up for lost time on my F7 project. I haven't really had time to read every single post, but I scoured every page looking for comments specifically directed to me...and I found 5 of them. Hopefully I didn't miss anybody. [EDIT:] Oops, too late - I missed Chet's comment on page 28!


Joe - I've put that on a back burner for after I get this F7 project wrapped up. I'll probably need to have Karl give me a few pointers on it before I get started.

Tom, the root cause of my problem was that I used un-diluted Enchantment Blue when I should've used aged EB - I just totally forgot that I use different mixtures for 1st generation vs 2nd gen locos (CRS syndrome), more about that in my Thursday post. I definitely like your approach with the tinted airbrushed Dullcote though! Of course I'll have to do take my airbrush outside to do that, since Dullcote is oil-based [i.e. flammable] instead of water-soluble like my Tamiya acrylics.


Thanks Willie, at least I've been able to do a full recovery on it!


Thanks for the kind comment Garry - glad to see you're health is improving again!


Jerry, one would think after all the locos [including F-units] that I've weathered that I would have learned, trouble is that the knowledge slowly evaporates from my mind over time if I'm not doing it regularly...


George, I'm not that "Ken" - I never was in the Corps like you guys were, I was just a squid [LOL]! Never did anything dangerous or otherwise heroic, just did my 4 years at sea and financed my college education thru the GI Bill.

Justin - I had a half-dozen of those Front Range geeps back in 1988, when I first got back into the hobby - in fact that's what convinced me to get back into it, with their scale-width hoods. They look great, but their operating quality kind of left me cold. They didn't seem to have very good low speed control, and they were faster than my Athearn and other brand loco models, so I couldn't consist them with anything other than their sister Front Ranger's. Of course, this was before DCC and speed-matching were possible...

* * *
Time for me to report on something other than mrr: I got a last-minute invitation on Monday evening to make a vaccine appointment, but the only time slots available were Tuesday and Wednesday. I couldn't go on Tuesday, because I had to self-isolate in preparation for a minor outpatient surgical procedure on Wednesday morning. At least I was able to grab a time slot 3 hours after the surgery, so that gave me enough time to go home and have lunch first. I got the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, didn't have any reaction to it - apparently that "fun" doesn't start until after the 2nd dose which I'll be getting in 3 weeks. Apparently there was a recent large influx of vaccine doses delivered to Maryland.

I have this issue I am always hopping from one new thing to another so I photograph as I go along the camera sets the time and date and I can see the progression and I photograph the products I use,it is also helpful when others ask what I did as the photographs record it and I do not have to wrack my brain trying to remember or fluffing it.

 

[chessie_system3]

Morning fellers. Hope everyone is doing well. Maintenance time for the layout. Performance was getting lack luster. Didnt take very long to do it all up. Made things just a little bit better. I am about to get into a bid war for the Front Range GP9. Well actually it won't be a bid war for me. I dont need it so it's not dire for me to spend more on it than it's worth. Judging by how well an Athearn BB is going for in the same scheme. I'd say this one is about to explode. Oh well it is what it is. Speaking of GP9s. My parts for mine will be in today. I was expecting it Tuesday. So I'll have my GP9 back today. Good way to start my weekend. Well that's all I have for now. I'll try to stop by later if I get a chance.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Morning from out here! Glad to see TOOT posting - I had began to wonder if he had some issues?
We are at the night's low of 53 degrees and looking for a 66 high under partly cloudy skies.
Not a whole lot going on here - except my list of projects gets longer and I procrastinate more and more.

JUSTIN - glad to see that it was you bidding on the Front Range - I was thinking about tossing a bid in there until you mentioned it was you.

Pups are clamoring for a treat - so, I will return in a few!

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. It's absolutely clear and 42° on this first day of Spring. Probably won't be this chilly here again until November. Looks like afternoon highs between 64° and 80° for the next ten days at least. Possible rain a couple of days next week.
The trip to the airport to retrieve my wife yesterday went well, the side trip to Discount Model Railroads went even better. I got everything on my shopping list, plus I picked up some Preiser figures just to add some variety to my townspeople. The bags are still in the car which my wife just took to work,
On a slight down note, some animal went digging in a part of the garden since Thursday afternoon, destroying part of the radish row and part of the short row of arugula, and dislocating a few onion plants. I suspect that it was the granddog, as the digging was atypical of canine digging, not opossum, skunk or armadillo digging. Yes, there are several distinct differences. While the damage was disappointing, it was not extensive.

I'll take some of Mel's "whole kitchen" omelet this morning Flo, with a double handful of bacon.

Thanks for the likes and comments regarding the random layout shots yesterday; Sherrel, George, Karl, Jerry, Joe, Tom O, Chad, Patrick, Justin, Jaz, Garry, Chet, Phil, Gary, Tom.

Due to the full schedule yesterday, I only had a short time in the train shed again yesterday. I made some progress on the tree house though, getting it mounted in the tree, adding ground cover and the first of four figures. Much of the painting was done over the past 3-4 days.

The camera flash did some funny things to the tree trunk color in some of the pictures!
I may add a fifth figure looking out the window. Only one figure is included in the kit, a young man swinging from a tire swing. As is my usual modeling mode, I am going to add additional details here as well.

Karl - Best wishes for your son. Must be serious since he was admitted to the hospital.
Jaz - Good luck with the mice. So, is that photo that you posted in post #537 yesterday of the white house and stuff, a painting, your layout or a shot of your neighbors?
Jerry -

Willie---nice door detail, now you'll have to detail under the building.

Slowly but surely, step by step... I actually have a notebook with ideas and plans for that kind of stuff that I refer to sporadically. That structure has been built and on the layout for four years now! My modeling tends to wander a bit. Matter of fact, I just did the ground cover on the right of that structure about two months ago when I did the trailers next door.
Garry - Continued positive thoughts and payers for your return to normal health. Running trains can be great therapy.
In regards to your question about Curt, Phil spoke to him earlier this week; he is doing OK, but no report on his Mom.
Chet - You're right about the lack of structure choices years ago. I don't go back 50 years ago modeling-wise, but those Magnuson structures were always good ones. I have four original ones, but I am glad that Walther's upgraded all of them to plastic. I can relate to the lack of business signs in parts of my layout, especially some rail-served industries. So generic boxcars go to them.
So, how's the recovery from the China Virus? Are you completely back to normal yet?
Tom O - Once again I have to compliment you on the trees that you make. Have fun with painting the figures, it is one of my favorite aspects of this hobby.
Phil - The wonder years are just another way of saying that we enjoy retirement.
Ken - Good to read that the "medicine man" has finally made it to MD. Speaking of MD, I wonder how Louis is doing?

Even though the State of Texas no longer has a mask mandate, I have noted in the last three days of being out and about, most folks are still wearing them, myself included.

Today is National Corn Dog Day, so come back to the diner for lunch. I saw Mel unloading a few cases of them out back this morning.
Everybody have a great Saturday. Stay safe and negative.

 

[kbkchooch]

Alan, O'Neills looks awesome!

Alan and Karl: Atlas Kato was / is the best; Roco was / is decent. Current China Drive IMHO fluctuates depending on manufacturing date. Not for nothing, I would take an Atlas or Stewart with Kato drive over Genesis.

I agree! I also have several S2s, with Roco and China drives. They run perfectly MUed together, no speed matching necessary.

Ken: Good, once indoctrinated on the finer points, you can pass along the finer points to me.

Ken & Boris, I didn't profess to be an ex-pert with LokProgrammer, I'm still very much a pert. Think of me more as a fearless explorer, armed with a manual and secure in the knowledge that as long as I don't release the magic smoke, I'll try anything. So far I'm batting 1000.

Justin, Good luck with you bid on ebay, hope you get it!

 

[kbkchooch]

Karl - Best wishes for your son. Must be serious since he was admitted to the hospital.

Thanks Willie, they kept him all day until the late afternoon on IV fluids and drugs, then sent him home due to lack of beds. His younger bother got him home, and he and I are regularly checking in on him via text and phone calls. They did send him home with meds and an inhaler, and we can Instacart anything he may need from the local grocery store, saving us an hour drive each way. He sounded better last night than he did a 4 a.m. yesterday morning when I spoke to him.

 

[Jaz avalley]

537
[/QUOTE]
the White House is our model

the nearby building facing the other way

and a giveaway picture

we live in a village no adjacent houses and live in a bungalow which is long hence our large loft layout I would love to take credit for these houses but in the main they are resin and only have light weathering by me at best, but they have allowed us to fill the layout an awful lot faster than if we made most of these buildings. I have updated things like the statue.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Where did I leave off? One gets behind very quickly here these days.

Alan .. I'll say it again: Your modeling has produced a masterpiece! Love it!

Willie: Glad Arlean made it back safely. Does SW only still serve Love Field, or do they have a terminal at DFW too?

GARRY = Speaking of CURT -- I mentioned a few days back that I talked to him and his Mom is not doing well at all. With her stage 4, he said it's only a matter of time -- sad to hear.

KARL - Hope your son shakes off the Virus -

JAZ - That's some scene there ... Many Kudos on the layout. WOW!

I know that there are many others that I should comment on: Justin, 2Tracks, IBKEN, Gary, Hughie, BORIS, TomO, TOM!
Forgive me - just not on top of everyone!
I see that my construction buddy next door has a bunch of glass crates in his P/U bed and I know he is looking for me to help him on ripping and planning boards this morning - FLO - a BLT to go with a coke, please!

 

[santafewillie]

Willie: Glad Arlean made it back safely. Does SW only still serve Love Field, or do they have a terminal at DFW too?

Yes, Arlene did make it back safely. Southwest still does not fly into DFW, even though they now fly into Chicago's O'Hare and Houston's Hobby. While they have the most gates at Love Field, Delta now has one while Alaska Air has had two for quite some time. Access to Love Field is really easy and simple, and toll-free. DFW charges $6 for 0-30 minutes (pass thru to avoid traffic on surrounding roads), otherwise $2/hour. Picking up anyone at DFW takes longer than 30 minutes because it is so large.

 

[Texas Hobo]

Good Afternoon all! A beautiful get out in the yard day here in Houston. Predicted to reach 70 degrees.
I started experimenting with the Sculptamold yesterday. I did a mold, a free hand wall and a rock cliff. I let them set overnight so I'm on my way out to the garage to see the results.

STAY SAFE

LATER

 

[Mountain Man]

still nice in Colorado but predictions of another snowstorm....definitely - possibly-maybe-who knows? Safest job in Colorado is weather prediction. ;-\

I'll have coffee and a Bear Claw, thank you!!