Running Bear's September 2021 Coffee Shop

[Sirfoldalot]

What I built, a failed experiment in my opinion. Not enough trees, trees too thin and in some cases you can see the twisted wire so the rubber mold compound needed to be thicker

TomO -- FIDDLESTICKS!
YES ... could use a mixture of larger trees mixed in further away from the RR track and along the ridge.
NO ... Not a failure - just incomplete.
Sorry, I do not see any wire? AND the color looks VERY GOOD!

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Somewhere out there, is a crazy Mule Deer than likes to follow people and dogs. Kinda creepy, actually.

GUY -- Not creepy -- just looking for a handout. Take a pocketful of raw peanuts in the shell with you next time and you will have he/she eating out of your hand after a bit.
Like TomO, I like your "non descript" photos.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

GARRY -- Those are some really neat photos today!
AND, Again - Hope your BD was special!

 

[Sirfoldalot]

WILLIE - I enjoy all your ramblings even though I may not comment on them all?
I had made some notes on your blog, but lost them. I'll try to look tonight and see if U can re-do what I had.
In the meantime - It mostly all looks, as TONY would say, great ... keep up the work!

Here is an Example! Us old folks need reminders to help us remember where we are??
You have a page with the name 'MAIN STREET"?
Main Street where? This happens to be where I stopped two days back - and - I forgot where I was? Make the page "MAIN STREET - MAULTOWN" ... There is nothing on that whole series of photos on that page that says where you are???

FWIW - These are just my observations - Your mileage may vary!

 

[Patrick]

Back again...had the dryer vent cleaned out yesterday as it was taking forever to get stuff dry. It was 75% plugged with lint. Drying is taking so much less time. It's getting dry in one cycle instead of 2 or 3.

I am currently "seasoning" the grill grate on the 45+ grill I brought back when I was helping mom when dad was in the hospital in December. My brother and I gave it to them as an anniversary present when I was in high school. It will be used again for the first time in about 5 years this weekend. It is completely redone except paint. It's cast aluminum so it doesn't rust. I got new wheels, new vents, new SS bolts that are the correct size (dad used what he had, even 4" bolts where a 1" is needed). Took 2 pumice stone grill blocks to get the cooking grate back down to a point I could start to season it. Mostly time consuming to locate and remake some parts. Then waiting for it to get cool enough to want to be working outside getting it back together. Starting to get caught up on projects, so hopefully more trains soon!!!

Sun starting to shine..reports of 5-6" of rain overnight.

 

[Jaz avalley]

You had pancakes and that burger…..wow!

Hey I was good I passed on dessert…..pancakes were on the breakfast menu which I just caught…..yum yum piggy bum…..

 

[Jaz avalley]

ooh I forgot to say I transformed one of these into

 

[troyphoto]

Hmmm.... what is Troy printing today?

No, not a screenshot... (for those of you mousing over to see the pic filename.)

In a couple of weeks, I'm heading to Florida for an author convention. The organizers of the event are requiring masking at all indoor events/seminars. My guess is that it helps with the event insurance...

I can mask. No issues there. I've had my two Pfizer shots, so I'm not worried, but still want to be careful, as well as support the rules of the organizers.

So... with my new "party shirts" AKA Aloha Shirts that wife has been kind enough to make for me, she's making matching masks.

These headbands take the loops off the ears - where my hearing aids normally sit. Everytime I remove a loop, the hearing aid goes flying across the room. They're a tad too expensive to do that often.

So, the strap goes around the back of the head, and the loops attach to it. But the normal size is too small for my fat head. So I'm printing them at 120%, 140% and 150% to see which is the better fit.

As for hobby... I built a workbench (mostly) today. Just need to attach the plywood top, cut and attach the plywood shelf, and maybe add a middle shelf. And clean out the junk from the furnace room to put the workbench into. Eventually, at least one 3d printer will be on this one. And maybe the airbrush station.

 

[santafewillie]

OK gals and guys. As you may remember a while back I posted that I was interested in starting a blog with some pictures of my model railroad empire, mainly structures and scenes. I had hoped to have enough to announce it by mid-August, which I missed as I didn't think that it was ready. I did ask a couple of Coffee Shop visitors to "beta test" it, and obviously from the post earlier today, Sherrel was one of them. I am currently taking his suggestion as well as a couple from the other tester into consideration and hopefully will have something ready for the "masses" later this month. As of today, there are 111 pictures in it, but there are gaps and loose ends in what's there. Judging from what I have done so far, I expect there to be well over 1000 pictures when I am close to finishing. Some of the ones that are there now need replacing as they are slightly out of focus, other structures need additional pictures. Three of my eleven towns are partially completed, so you can imagine how much more there is to do. I am still learning the blog software and hope to improve my throughput this month.
I would like to add a couple more testers, and if you feel that you have the time, PM me and I will send you the link. Note in advance to all, I cannot include a track plan at this time as I don't nearly have the time to learn Anyrail, SCARM or any other planning software right now.

 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Spent the day doing chores and running errands included looking at tile samples for the shower. Going out to Dad's tomorrow.

TomO- Maybe a few more trees but the scene looks very good.

Jaz- Nice job on the figures. That sandwich makes my stomach hurt.

Tom- Nice fire pit.

Lee- Nice locos and modeling job on the trailer.

Willie- Nice scenes and fencing.

I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[montanan]

Good afternoon. A nice warm day with temps in the low 80's and a lot less smoke than we have neen having from the western widlfires.

First off, a Happy Birthday to Garry


Jaz - Are you able to open your mouth wide enough to take a bite out of that???

Tom - Like the photo. Excellent work.

Willie - I sure like that chain link fence better than the one from Walthers.

Tomorrow we have a birthday party in town for my grand daughter who will be turning 11.

Off again on Monday to look at some properties up in the Flathead valley. Saw a few that were interesting but the agent we are working with came up with a few more.

Yes, I had to get the dachshunds to sing for Garry

Later

 

[GarryCBQ]

Thanks, all, for the added birthday wishes.

Yes, I had to get the dachshunds to sing for Garry

Chet: ....... Thank you. I see a " paradox " times two singing. Happy birthday to your granddaughter.

Troy ...... That is an interesting idea for your 3D printer.

I have to be on my good behavior tomorrow. It's our anniversary .

 

[santafewillie]

Yeah I had to go look in new posts as no one left a link……lazy buggers

For the record, I left a link but the thread was locked before I hit "Post Reply".

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet MRR people.

Today, let's talk about holidays.

For those of you in Europe, tomorrow is what you'd call a Bank Holiday here in the USA AND in and the great white north. One of the few times we celebrate a non-religious based holiday with our northern neighbors.

This is one of our few bank holidays that doesn't celebrate something to do with war or a special person (eg President's day, Dr. MKL Day, etc)

From the Wikipedia page:

According to one early history of Labor Day, the event originated in connection with a General Assembly of the Knights of Labor convened in New York City in September 1882.[8] In connection with this clandestine Knights assembly, a public parade of various labor organizations was held on September 5 under the auspices of the Central Labor Union (CLU) of New York.[8] Secretary of the CLU Matthew Maguire is credited for first proposing that a national Labor Day holiday subsequently be held on the first Monday of each September in the aftermath of this successful public demonstration.[9][7]

P. J. McGuire, Vice President of the American Federation of Labor, is frequently credited as the father of Labor Day in the United States.
An alternative thesis maintains that the idea of Labor Day was the brainchild of Peter J. McGuire, a vice president of the American Federation of Labor, who, after a visit to Toronto where he saw parades celebrating labor that May,[10][11] had put forward the initial proposal in the spring of 1882.[4] According to McGuire, on May 8, 1882, he made a proposition to the fledgling Central Labor Union in New York City that a day be set aside for a "general holiday for the laboring classes".[12] According to McGuire he further recommended that the event should begin with a street parade as a public demonstration of organized labor's solidarity and strength, with the march followed by a picnic, to which participating local unions could sell tickets as a fundraiser.[12] According to McGuire he suggested the first Monday in September as an ideal date for such a public celebration, owing to optimum weather and the date's place on the calendar, sitting midway between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving public holidays.[12]

Labor Day picnics and other public gatherings frequently featured speeches by prominent labor leaders.[13]

In 1909, the American Federation of Labor convention designated the Sunday preceding Labor Day as "Labor Sunday", to be dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.[9] This secondary date failed to gain significant traction in popular culture, although some churches continue to acknowledge it.[14]

OK Flo, just coffee and bacon today. Our holiday weekend involves a cookout at my sister's place. Get to see my niece, the librarian from Philly and her wife. I might even take her some of my books.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Good morning....The overnight rain has ended so just a few clouds left with sun on the way. Coffee Flo anda menu, not sure what I want yet.

 

[bnsf971]

In France it's just another normal weekend followed by another normal week. Nothing else.

Y'all always take Monday off?

 

[McLeod]

Good Morning!
Another fine day starting out at 50f and headed up to 70 under blue skies. It's going to be a good one!
Going to work on my Coles crane-truck model first thing this morning, after the dog is walked. I'd like to decant some primer today and get the model ready for paint. I'm thinking orange and black for a sawmill truck, not construction yellow.

Sherrel - There is no way I'm going to start feeding that Mule Deer doe peanuts. I believe it would kick me right in the gonads as soon as it got close enough. I also believe it's original intention is to kick the dog to death, and not that it is taming in any way. Plus, I've seen her boyfriend. He has a massive rack. - The most I'm going to do is stay away from them both.

I dug up all the potatoes we are going to get, yesterday:

I expect that's only 50lbs; not a good year for potatoes.

The wife's flowers are doing good, though. Still in full bloom and more are coming:

They look kinda cool, in real life.

Well, that's enough blabbering for one day. Coffee is gone; I may as well get on with it!
Thanks for the likes on these simple posts.
Have a good one!

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning Everyone. Partly cloudy and 77° this morning, a warm start for the day. A sudden change in the forecast for today, the NWS has added isolated thunderstorms for today. I wonder if it has anything to do with the ones that I see on the radar 15 miles away in three different directions; none of which will likely hit here.
Road trip this afternoon to check in with my brother to see how his first week without chemo went.

Just an apple fritter and a glass of OJ this morning Flo.

Thanks to all who commented or liked yesterday's post; Karl, Justin, Troy, Lee, Christian, Hughie, Sherrel, Tom, Garry, Patrick, Tom O, Curt, Gary, Chad, Chet.

I did spend some time out in the train shed yesterday, continuing with my odds & ends projects. I added some paint to a couple of the gas station details that I haven't installed yet, added more weeds to various places around the layout and installed the first three sides of fencing around the vacant lot. Nothing photogenic yet. I did run a couple of trains as well, no switching yesterday, just blowing out carbon on a few SD40-2's. That means another trip through the archives.
How about a farmhouse in Budville.

A church/wedding in Coles

And finally a liquor store in Charlottesville.

Lee - Good to see you posting again, especially since it is Santa Fe equipment! If I recall, you were down with a bout of Covid; I hope that you have fully recovered.
Tom O - Your comment yesterday rings true.

CDC asks anyone not vaccinated to not travel this weekend. If they aren’t vaccinated by now does anyone really expect them to listen to anything the CDC says now?

However I might add that I think that the CDC lost all credibility over a year ago. Dr Fauci (from the CID) didn't help matters either.
Regarding the Woodland Scenics fencing kit. The panels are assembled, they come in scale 24' long by 6' high sections.

Four sections come with posts on the ends, four without. The poles are plastic and the fence is metal wire mesh. Everything is a bit out of scale, but that doesn't detract from the product. The poles scale out to about 6". I intend to purchase some more for another site on the layout. However for larger runs of 4' high fencing, I will continue to use scale size wire and tulle (wedding veil material) painted gray, despite the hassle of installing it. I'd like to try out the Woodland Scenics barbed wire fencing some day.
Sherrel - Be sure to point out to Kate that the cancelled Paris trip fits in well with her desire to cut unnecessary expenses.
Troy - I had the same issue with masks and hearing aids last spring. Since around the head masks were not available here, I got several hand-made ones from a quilting shop nearby. The owner and some of her friends made a bunch, both around the head and ear straps and sold them in her shop. The ear strap types even dislodged the aids while wearing them, not just when it was removed.

Everybody have a great day.

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!
65° and cloudy. Rain is on the way so inside chores today (cat box

cleaning, laundry,, and sneaking away to play trains)
Lotsa cool prototype pics lately, thought I might share a few from my collection this morning.

Railfanning back in 1999, outside of Enola PA. All the worries of the coming millennium upon us, Y2K and all and I found this. 2000 wasn't looking too go eh?

Here we are, 75 ft above the CSX tracks as 2 helpers return after helping a train over the infamous Sand Patch grade on the former B&O main. I took the shot from on top of the WMs Salisbury Viaduct.

Old main in the rain. My former commute took me across the B&Os old main line daily, and occasionally I would catch this train on my way home going from Baltimore to Frederick, One rainy day I had a camera with me!

Finally, a real MMID unit in front of the Union Bridge MD parked there for National Train day. If I aver get around to it, I can recreate this scene in HO scale. I already have to loco, the station kit is waiting for me to build it.

That's enough for now.

Peace out homies, BBL

 

[TrucTrain55]

Good Morning all. 66 degrees in the Ozark Foothills. It felts good to post again I get kinda busy during the summer but this one is so different. I’m suffering with long Covid like many others they did a CT scan on my lungs to make sure there’s no damage thank goodness there’s no damage. But I still shortness breath, Fatigue and I lose my smell a lot. They want to send me to a Heart Specialist because I have a enlarged heart probably from Covid. Thanks for all your likes and complements yesterday.

Willie. Thanks for the complement and your farm looks good on the layout and lots of progress too. All the rest. Your pics look good there’s a lot of talent here and I’m proud to be a part of it. Enjoy your day.