Running Bear's April 2021 Coffee Shop

[troyphoto]

That is my second "run-in" with propane. The first was a dry rotted hose on an oven/stove in Saudi Arabia 40 years back ... which blew up when I went to light it and blew me out a sliding glass door. Thankful that it was tempered glass!

Believe me - enough excitement for one night!
Cheers!

Costco will deliver one of these beauties right to your home for about a grand.

Just look at that yummy flavor smoke

Did a rib-eye indirect with a reverse sear. So far, I haven't set any thing except the charcoal on fire.

 

[bnsf971]

So far, I haven't set any thing except the charcoal on fire.

Patience, Grasshopper. The life of the grill is still young.

 

[Jaz avalley]

Good Morning Everybody. It's clear and a chilly 46° to start the day here, going up 40° to a high of 86° later today. Only hit 71° yesterday. We're headed into a cooler period coming up, after tomorrow, the high temperature isn't going above 70° for the next ten days or so. Possible rain on Tuesday and Friday. I guess that I'm not quite done with the firewood yet.
A ho-hum day here yesterday, as I did some hoeing in the garden after the watering Thursday, mowed about half an acre on the north side around the train shed and pond, and trimmed some more firewood and kindling to add to next years supply. I'm still concerned about a few of my 35 year old trees that haven't budded out yet, perhaps it's the lack of rainfall. One oak, one ash and one honeylocust. The worst case scenario is that the ash will have to be professionally dismantled, the other two are in locations that I can deal with.

A pair of extra large breakfast burritos should start my day just fine Francine. Tell Mel to skip the hash-browns and just use sausage, egg and cheese.

Thanks for all of the likes and comments received yesterday regarding the ongoing layout tour; Tom O, Joe, Guy, Karl, Hughie, Rick, Gary, Jerry, Phil, Jaz, Ken, Garry, Alan, Sherrel. They are always appreciated.

Yesterday out in the train shed, I continued with adding weeds to the grade crossing scene and I weathered the newer part of the crossing.
View attachment 126845
From there I will move over to the left of the pawn shop and fill in the area between it and the deli.
View attachment 126846
I am basically envisioning a parking area up front with a "junk" area next to the track. The backstory is that this used to be a through street until the railroad and city closed it off to reduce crossings.
On the other side of the layout room, cleaning and inspection continued. I realized that I had skipped one residence in the picture display of a trailer north of the rooming house, across from the propane distributor.
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If I recall correctly, the trailer is a resin model from Nu-Comp, now defunct. Seems like I may have bumped it to the left when I was taking pictures which is why the steps don't line up with the door.
Then working south from the Saw Pit Store, we come upon a few homes. This first one is half of an older DPM "Gold" kit that I don't remember the name of.
View attachment 126850
View attachment 126851
Figures are by Woodland Scenics.
This red house is a Grandt Line Company House, with a scratchbuilt dog house.
View attachment 126852
The dog peeing on the potted plant also came from a Woodland Scenics offering.
Then we have another NuComp trailer.
View attachment 126853
These are hand-painted figures including dog are from a Preiser offering with 120 unpainted ones.
The street for these homes is off the layout about 2"

Guy -

That's the main reason that I don't attach any structures to the layout. I can take them to the workbench and clean/vacuum them there. I don't really consider it an annoyance; I knew what I was going to have to deal with before I built the layout. And then I get an opportunity with every structure to add weathering or details in some way. Sometimes I just re-position figures. They don't always get enhanced when I am doing the cleaning project, but thoughts get added to the "list", so that I remember them as small side projects to fill in when needed. For example, I am going to add another figure to the rooming house, but to make it more plausible I need another vehicle out front since Uber didn't exist in my layout era. That's another reason tof the cleanup being spread out on a two-year schedule.
Tom O - Timers are an important part of my cooking adventures. Don't ask how I know this!
Terry - Somewhat positive news about Marie. I am not sure about nursing homes as I have limited experience with them. Is home care an option? I had a lady working for me that had dialysis ports and she still worked four days a week. She lived at home by herself so as not to be a burden on her kids (other than rides), and the actual dialysis was done at a clinic near her home in the evening three days a week. Of course this was the very large city of Dallas where those services are more readily available. Good luck with whatever decision that the two of y'all make. Continued positive thoughts and prayers are coming your way.

Today is National Eight Track Tape Day, I don't know why we need a day for that. Thankfully I skipped that phase (as well as cassettes) and went from albums to CD's.

Everybody have a great Sunday and go to the church of your choice. Keep wearing that mask and make people think that you're responsible.

I rarely clean mine,I have had jokes over this,but I too can lift loads over,I can brush with a paint brush gently,it can lead to some strange monsters

Garry; I have a similarly painted S-2 by Atlas also with ESU decoder and sound. Hopefully, I'll get the Canon out soon and share some photos. BTW, I take it you are doing better, which is great news.


Terry: Unfortunately, Nursing Homes are not family friendly, and seem to go out of their way to make life difficult for patient and family alike.


Terry: Different strokes, for different folks. Not for nothing, we are a community here and share bits of our personal lives, like folks in real communities do.

Jaz: Speaking of the Coppers, why do I think I am looking at the set of "Midsomer Murders", when ever I view your photos? Very well done, I might add, picturesque, and hopefully not as violent. Perhaps the Vicar did it? .

LOL it is that Quintessel English village look, our pubs are often like museums outside preserved for hundreds of years

for dr who fans floating black Dalek dar left!

I have at least 6 church,and many more pubs,and SKaledale usually base them on a real place enhancing the realism

 

[Jaz avalley]

And adds protein...

And alcohol kills germs...

 

[McLeod]

Good Morning!
We here in the frozen north are into some fine weather, at last. Only 24°F this blue-sky morning, but, it's going to warm right up into the 50's. This pattern is supposed to continue over the next many days. - Might be time to put something into the garden.

Sherrel - Perhaps you should stick with flying 747's. Dosen't sound like you can be trusted with a bar-be-que anymore than I can be trusted with soup. Darn good job you didn't burn your eyebrows off.

Terry - I am very sad about your present circumstances. God bless the wife and give her strength.

Jerry - It's not fair to steal all of the the 'dork' title for yourself. You can only have a little bit of it, as a good portion belongs to me, and I don't like to share. Come to think of it, everyone has a wee bit of 'dork' in them.

I have to continue with prototype photos in view of not doing any modeling. The modeling is probably not happening until I get my new layout area renovated, which seems to be taking longer than I anticipated. Lots of life's happenings continue to get in the way of renovation.

Here's what the local CN yard looks like from the street:

All of those buildings in the background are the 'Home Hardware' lumber yard and super-store.

Also, you can see that CN 2466 and BCOL 4620 have returned to town to pick up another train.

There is quite a variety of locomotives in the photo. An SD40, an SD70 I, a C40-8M, and a C40-8W.

I took those photos yesterday.
Today, I'll see if I can catch a photo of 2466 on the move. I don't expect it to be in town for long.

Jaz - Wonderful layout photos you just posted. Thank you!

Thanks for all the likes on past posts! Have a great day!

 

[Jaz avalley]

Howdy ...

Sherrell .... Best wishes to your wife. Hopingner back pain improves quickly.

Terry .... Continued prayers for your wife.



Karl ,,,, Thank you for your thoughtful comment. Regarding Atlas S-2's, I believe mine came in a red, black, and white box. Here it is with a Genesis GP7.

Jerry .... You commented on Burlinton's F-unit paint scheme being hard to keep clean.

Here is one of my F-units with a modest amount of weathering.

Hughie ...... Your riverfront will look great.

Willie .... I like the little houses and the trailer.


Everybody ...... Have a good evening.

Totally love your cattle grid,beautiful

 

[TLOC]

Good morning Crew from still here in Wisconsin. 49f degrees for the high, 86 where we are heading.

Sherrel, please go to charcoal. Troy, stop showing those steaks. My wife is home and I get to eat, pork, fish and chicken and those wonderful pieces of meat are making me jealous. I love a great steak or hamburger. Enjoy them.

Dinner tonight I was just told is pork chops, sweet potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts and green beans. Meat, the green beans and potatoes will be done on my Weber.

Jaz and Guy, awesome pictures

Flight time is 8am Wednesday morning.

TomO

 

[Jaz avalley]

Good Morning!
When I woke up this morning and looked out the window, it was rather depressing. A light skiff of fresh snow lay on the ground, and the earth was white again. Bummer! - It's sunny and blue sky, but, only 26°F, so I'm not sure if enough heat will be generated to burn off the snow.

Thank you foe the explanations concerning AC/DC/C4. Sounds like alternating current, direct current, or 'C-cell' battery operation. Just kidding!


Sherrel - You made me dig out the flash drive storing last years photographs. It's worth it, though. I'm surprised I saved the real photo of the 'ride on', as it's not one of my own photographs. - I must have saved it because it was my inspiration for scratching up a riding mower copy.
View attachment 126869
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If you remember, that's all the stuff I put into my hardware store.
Sadly, I haven't modeled much since.

Wonderful bunch of photos and stories being posted; I like that! Please keep up the good work, on any subject. And that naked man on the motorcycle; it's legal to photograph him without consent, so long as he's riding in a public area. Riding around naked in a public area might be a bit different on the legal side of things. But, that's his and the mental institutions problem.

Thanks for the likes on my posts.
I'm running late again. Have a good one!

I have one criticism, and I say it only because it was also directed at me and once I addressed it I knew they were right,never ever paint a blond with yellow hair, you need a light faun,beige,taupe whatever, and the reason we make the mistake?Because the manufacturers do it too,as bought
then repainted

pictures are reversed lol
but on layout

excellent faces on yours especially for the size

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Cloudy and 55°. A minor thundershower passed through last night, I really cannot see anything in the rain gauge, but the Weather Underground station around the corner indicates there was 0.02", porch and car are wet but otherwise nothing. While the forecast calls for the possibility of more, it's currently about 15 miles south of here and moving east. Rain is in the forecast every day through Friday. I preemptively mowed parts of the yard yesterday, and hoed the entire garden. Throughout this week, I am going to mulch the tomato plants and install the posts for their cages. Gardening was the name of the game yesterday, I also re-potted ALL of my back porch herbs to bigger pots. Basil, Oregano, Thyme, Italian Parsley, Rosemary, Cilantro, Spearmint and Curled Parsley. I am presently keeping all of my perennial ones in pots as we mull over thoughts and plans for a remodel and expansion of the porch and the current ground level herb garden. Both of which suffered from an unexpected fire started by lighted charcoal that fell through a rusted out spot in the grill last fall.
Well, my tax preparer at H&R Block (my wife), finally finished up our taxes. All of my working years, I tailored my witholdings so that I never owed, and never allowed the government to use my money interest-free, just to get a refund. A few years along the way, my refund was less than $5! This time around, we get a $1300 refund because of the recent pandemic relief bill that exempted much of my wife's unemployment garnered between tax seasons. In the last 14 months, almost all of our income has come from the government in the form of six covid relief payments, $600/week unemployment bonuses along with the unemployment itself, Sociable Security. Meanwhile the retirement account continues to grow with no withdrawals.

Light breakfast this morning Flo, a single egg over easy and a small plate of bacon.

Thanks for the likes and comments on my project progresses yesterday; Sherrel, Joe, Guy, Karl, Hughie, Phil, Chet, Justin, Greg, Garry, Jerry.

I didn't get a lot of activity out in the train shed yesterday. I put down some ground cover in the Rycon Township parking lot area and cut and painted some barrier posts to confine vehicles to the parking lot itself. The cleaning project advanced as I used the Tidy Track cleaner through downtown Vernon. Since there is only 20' of main line and 10' of passing siding there, it was pretty straightforward.
So in lieu of any progress photos, I will continue the layout tour through this section.
Next door to Billie Joe and Bobby Sue's trailer, there is a small Feed & Seed dealer, Plains Grain. It is some re-purposed RR structures, the first being
Williamsburg Freight Station from AM Models.

In the background across the tracks is that beauty shop I posted a few weeks ago.
Next to the main building, is a small hay storage area. The structure itself is a passenger station from a Tyco or LifeLike train set from the 80's.

On the other side of the track from the houses shown Sunday is a large rail-served feed and fertilizer distributor, Simply known as Coop Feed and Coop Fertilizer. It's a low-relief backdrop structure made from DPM modular wall sections.

To be continued.

Tom O - Have a safe trip on each leg of your journey. Thanks for the comments, slowly but surely I continue to make progress.
Joe -

The most serious problem is that in my mind, I'm still in my 20's but the rest of me isn't.

I resemble that statement! Especially when I am near young ladies who totally ignore me.
Sherrel - I got your spread yesterday beat. It's 55° right now and most likely won't get above 70° today. Glad to read that Kate has recovered from her whirlwind cleaning exercise. I am also glad that the fire didn't cause any damage or injury. Be careful out there.
On a side note, we went to Pellegrino's last night, and along with their new computerized cash register/card reader, they have started a frequent diner rewards program. And they had new menus with some added items as well. Of course after looking closely, they had new prices to pay for everything. All tables were full and there was a steady stream of pick-up customers coming through the door.
Chad - I've never been to Utah so I can't comment on the drivers there. But I can agree on the ones from Florida, no one is paying attention there. It hasn't been the same since Chet left their Highway Patrol!
Hughie - Great scenes.

Y'all have a great day. I plan to have one. Rain disappeared from the radar since I started this post two hours ago. Stay safe and get your vaccine despite the overblown alarmist news on the broadcast media.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Greetings from out here! Willie - the spread has narrowed from yesterday - 55 going up to 65 degrees today with cloudy, misty, and just enough moisture to wet the road. They must have had some actual rain around the surrounding city's of LA because of all the wrecks in the TV reports this day.
I will avoid going anywhere when it is raining because of the many idiots who think they can still go 80 when the roads are wet!

JAZ - Great modeling - very realistic buildings!

TomO - Bee careful, have a great trip and have fun!

 

[dennis461]

Sunny morning in New Jersey.
Time to work on my Mantua conversion before work.
Chinese can motor, home made motor mount and milling out the boiler for clearance.
If DC break in works out, a DCC decoder is next.

 

[TLOC]

Thanks for the be careful and too much fun warnings.

Ok, propane is dangerous, now we have burning charcoal dropping through old grills onto the deck and herb gardens. Sounds like this group needs safety lessons on grill management. When I come back in May, I can organize the class. If you haven’t melted or scortched the siding on your house with a grill you are still in the minor leagues of damage. My SIL, I was so proud of him 2 summers ago. Melted 20’ of siding 6’ up from the ground grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. Finally after 30 years of basically doing the same thing to our place in North Central Wisconsin, someone else in the family did it. NO ONE in our family is allowed to do fried turkeys, those suckers can take the whole house down.

Willie good pictures. Also, great to know I am not the only one who can take forever to type up and post

Roads, it’s pretty sad when you hold both hands on the steering wheel doing 90+ at the speed limit of 85 and those passing you make you feel like you are standing still. On Texas 130 toll way outside of Austin. I grew up driving the expressways of Chicago, I learned from high school driving class how to be an idiot on the road. Texas is downright nerve racking. Even I35w out of Dallas/Fort Worth is nuts. I do love the person doing the speed limit in the left hand lane, opposite of the British way JAZ, and all the speed demons are lined up behind them. Driving, always an adventure.

TomO

 

[santafewillie]

now we have burning charcoal dropping through old grills onto the deck and herb gardens.

Yea! I know. I even have a 3' x 4' sheet of .080" aluminum under the grill. The wind blew the still glowing piece of charcoal off the porch and onto some dried vegetation and I didn't know it!!!

On Texas 130 toll way outside of Austin

Texas 130 is a fun road to drive on with the 85 mph limit! Most drivers in Texas consider the posted limit as the minimum. A DPS trooper told us that they rarely stop anyone unless they are going at least 15 mph over the limit. Local police can vary, but they don't normally get on toll roads or Interstates.

 

[kbkchooch]

Sunny morning in New Jersey.
Time to work on my Mantua conversion before work.
Chinese can motor, home made motor mount and milling out the boiler for clearance.
If DC break in works out, a DCC decoder is next.
View attachment 126932
View attachment 126933

I'd reinforce that mount to it can't flex, or you may find your gears separating! Good start though.

 

[MikeInHubCity]

Good morning gang!

Sherril OMG, you could have been blown to smithereens! Glad you got it under control.

In other death defying acts, I got my 2nd Moderna shot yesterday. Pay no attention to the appendage growing out of the top of my head. It's just a cowlick. Seriously, I didn't and still don't feel a thing.

Flo, goy any of those blueberry pancakes left? They were sooo goood yesterday!

BBL

Lucky you- MSU got all-over body aches & major migraines from it. Knocked her down for about 3-4 days.

 

[chadbag]

Texas 130 is a fun road to drive on with the 85 mph limit! Most drivers in Texas consider the posted limit as the minimum. A DPS trooper told us that they rarely stop anyone unless they are going at least 15 mph over the limit. Local police can vary, but they don't normally get on toll roads or Interstates.

We don't even need toll roads in Utah. Though our limit is only 80. (Which most people take as a minimum). I-15 for most of its length from south of Utah county to St George on the Arizona border is posted 80mph except occasionally where it passes through small pockets of civilization where it might drop to 75 or maybe? 70 for a mile or three.

 

[chadbag]

I have one criticism, and I say it only because it was also directed at me and once I addressed it I knew they were right,never ever paint a blond with yellow hair,

Well it could be one of those modern youngins with the really yellow (dyed) hair... (Or blue, or purple, or whatever)

 

[chadbag]

Speaking of driving and speed.

There are three things that stop the US from having higher or unlimited speed limits:

1. Crappy roads. Compared to German Autobahns, US interstates are piles of junk. An Autobahn gets an unnoticeable crack in the road and there is immediately a 120kmh temporary limit and a huge crew out fixing it. US interstates don't know what having unnoticeable cracks are. If there are not cracks, loose pieces, gravel, bumps, etc. it has not passed the test as an interstate. Going 140mph on such roads is not the greatest idea.

2. Training. No one knows that you don't look at the car in front of you when driving on the interstate. You look 1/2 mile ahead of you. You will see the car right in front of you anyway, but by the time that guy puts his brakes on, it is too late. You want to see and react to the guy 1/2 mile ahead of you starting to brake or slow down or whatever. It is really mindset and paying attention instead of being a reactive driver.

3. With a true unlimited speed limit, driving is a lot less stressful, because you are not wondering where the cop (or photo cop) is hiding or what car is an unmarked trooper. Without that stress, you can do a much better job of actually managing your driving.

 

[Mountain Man]

Speaking of driving and speed.

There are three things that stop the US from having higher or unlimited speed limits:

1. Crappy roads. Compared to German Autobahns, US interstates are piles of junk. An Autobahn gets an unnoticeable crack in the road and there is immediately a 120kmh temporary limit and a huge crew out fixing it. US interstates don't know what having unnoticeable cracks are. If there are not cracks, loose pieces, gravel, bumps, etc. it has not passed the test as an interstate. Going 140mph on such roads is not the greatest idea.

2. Training. No one knows that you don't look at the car in front of you when driving on the interstate. You look 1/2 mile ahead of you. You will see the car right in front of you anyway, but by the time that guy puts his brakes on, it is too late. You want to see and react to the guy 1/2 mile ahead of you starting to brake or slow down or whatever. It is really mindset and paying attention instead of being a reactive driver.

3. With a true unlimited speed limit, driving is a lot less stressful, because you are not wondering where the cop (or photo cop) is hiding or what car is an unmarked trooper. Without that stress, you can do a much better job of actually managing your driving.

I drove on autobahns and motorways all over Europe for years. Not for the faint of heart or slow reflexes. For most Americans, it would be like transitioning to NASCAR or the Grand Prix. Accidents, BTW, are often massive due to the high speeds, especially in bad weather and fog, during which time the Europeans drivers did not slow down.

Incidentally, there were large stretches of autobahn falling apart all of time, especially the newer stretches made of asphalt instead of concrete, due to the extremely heavy truck traffic and the high costs of repairs.

Unlimited speed sounds great until you actually do it, and then you quickly realize that you are literally unable to make any mistakes, because at eds like that there are no minor mistakes or accidents.. Your insurance rate is very high as well.

 

[chadbag]

I drove on autobahns and motorways all over Europe for years. Not for the faint of heart or slow reflexes. For most Americans, it would be like transitioning to NASCAR or the Grand Prix. Accidents, BTW, are often massive due to the high speeds, especially in bad weather and fog, during which time the Europeans drivers did not slow down.

Incidentally, there were large stretches of autobahn falling apart all of time, especially the newer stretches made of asphalt instead of concrete, due to the extremely heavy truck traffic and the high costs of repairs.

Unlimited speed sounds great until you actually do it, and then you quickly realize that you are literally unable to make any mistakes, because at eds like that there are no minor mistakes or accidents.. Your insurance rate is very high as well.

Speaking of driving and speed.

There are three things that stop the US from having higher or unlimited speed limits:

1. Crappy roads. Compared to German Autobahns, US interstates are piles of junk. An Autobahn gets an unnoticeable crack in the road and there is immediately a 120kmh temporary limit and a huge crew out fixing it. US interstates don't know what having unnoticeable cracks are. If there are not cracks, loose pieces, gravel, bumps, etc. it has not passed the test as an interstate. Going 140mph on such roads is not the greatest idea.

2. Training. No one knows that you don't look at the car in front of you when driving on the interstate. You look 1/2 mile ahead of you. You will see the car right in front of you anyway, but by the time that guy puts his brakes on, it is too late. You want to see and react to the guy 1/2 mile ahead of you starting to brake or slow down or whatever. It is really mindset and paying attention instead of being a reactive driver.

3. With a true unlimited speed limit, driving is a lot less stressful, because you are not wondering where the cop (or photo cop) is hiding or what car is an unmarked trooper. Without that stress, you can do a much better job of actually managing your driving.

I forgot one or two things

4. Driving in the rightmost lane possible. Germans learn (and it is the law) that you drive in the rightmost lane possible on the open Autobahn.

5. Germans don't get their license until a minimum age of 18. They are a bit more mature when they learn. It is also much more expensive to get the license. So they treat it with more respect

In the US, people think of a license as a teenage "right of passage" and with most states allowing driving around 16 or 16.5 years old, which is exactly the wrong age to put the responsibility of driving on someone, US drivers do not learn proper driving skills from the start. (16 is the wrong age, as, according to those experts who track development, kids at 16 are going through the same brain development phase as a 3 year old -- figuring out about consequences for actions, or in the 16 year old case, re-learning it in the 16 year old case -- something that should already be learned when learning to drive and not the phase of brain development to be in when learning to drive [this info was given to me by a HS teacher I know who was at a conference learning about education and learned from the development folks about the phases of brain development]).