Running Bear's April 2020 Coffee Shop


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By All Rights I should be contacting a Divorce Attorney! I just got all the "stuff" upstairs where I could set it up on a large work table - got it all arranged - picked up the phone, fully charged, to call TERRY - and what did I find?
I cannot call anyone as Verizon recorded message informed me that service had been terminated! However I am receiving text messages - just cannot respond.

Terry, if you see this - I am going to the T-Mobile store and tell them to FIX-IT -- then I will look for an Attorney!
I asked her to leave the Verizon alone until I mastered the transfer. Perhaps it was T=Mobile who switched the service after she activated her phone - leaving me in the dark.

Maybe I will just toss it and go back to the landline? Served me well for 65 years!
 
By All Rights I should be contacting a Divorce Attorney! I just got all the "stuff" upstairs where I could set it up on a large work table - got it all arranged - picked up the phone, fully charged, to call TERRY - and what did I find?
I cannot call anyone as Verizon recorded message informed me that service had been terminated! However I am receiving text messages - just cannot respond.

Terry, if you see this - I am going to the T-Mobile store and tell them to FIX-IT -- then I will look for an Attorney!
I asked her to leave the Verizon alone until I mastered the transfer. Perhaps it was T=Mobile who switched the service after she activated her phone - leaving me in the dark.

Maybe I will just toss it and go back to the landline? Served me well for 65 years!
That explains the sound of no phone ringing.
 
Good afternoon gang!
I am now jealous of retired people, sleeping til 8 and not knowing what day of the week it is , that's the life! Of course I know I will be back to work pretty soon, but still. only 8 more years to go!

Sherrel,, calm down, don't pop a gasket, otherwise she wins!

I have managed to get some progress on the kits, the hopper is 75% done. I'm not sure about the operating roof hatches on the kit, life on the layout can be rough. The Box-O-sticks kit has a complete floor and underbody complete with train line, and "kc" air brake parts. Just waiting for side sill glue to dry a few hours before sanding and paint.

For now, there's yard work to do, L8ter gang!
 
KARL - That is a beautiful Pacific. Riddle me this? Is that a straight boiler; It looks like it has a taper?
My "Mike" has a straight boiler. I have only seen Mantua's with straight boilers.

EDIT: Ignore everything above - There are several on ebay - I stand corrected!

You could interchange the Mike and pacific boilers Sherrel, as long as you swapped the steam chest too.
Mikado+painted+002.jpg

Here's a mantua Pacific boiler on a Mikado chassis, to make a "light" Mike
 
Afternoon All,

Started with some chores then put together my modeling area upstairs:). It feels good to have a area again. I start back on kits tomorrow. I have 3 small ones and the large mine.

Johnny- Nice layout shot.

Sherrel- I feel your technology pain.

Karl- Nice layout shot.

Willie- Sorry to hear about the kit issues. You could put strip wood all around the chimney and call it flashing.

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I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Good Morning All. Clear and 59°; another nice day in store, a bit breezy though. Breaking the quarantine today for the grocery/beer trek. It's been two weeks. Don't need TP or hand sanitizer though. Mainly fresh veggies, eggs, condiments and Diet Coke for the wife. I'll pick up some more beer even though I have plenty. I have beef, chicken and seafood in the freezer so I'll look for some pork chops.

Ham and grits for me this morning Flo.

Thanks for the likes and comments yesterday on my latest progress; Rick, George, Guy, Phil, Greg, Sherrel, Garry, Patrick, Mikey, Chad, Mike, James, Paul, Karl, Chet, Tom, Johnny, Ken.

It was not a stellar day in the train shed yesterday. I have come to the point in the structure build that several uniquely Bar Mills issues have come into play. Those who have built any of their kits will understand. Their instructions always seem to trail-off as you get to the end and all of a sudden there are mis-fits about. First is one of my own doing. The cast metal chimney comes with a square bottom for an angled roof; thus requiring the modeler to cut a hole in the roof to install it. What should have been a two scale feet by two and a half scale feet, I made two and a half scale feet square.
View attachment 45892
I had to fill the extra space with a piece of stripwood as seen above. Fortunately it goes on the back side and the patch/paint job won't be too visible.

View attachment 45893
Next, the covered stairway doesn't fit where intended.
View attachment 45894
As you can see, it is too tall.
I spent too much time on it to just throw it away, so what happens if I put it over on the side?
View attachment 45895
A little long, leaving a bit of a gap.
View attachment 45896
That can be fixed with some leftover siding cut to fit.
View attachment 45897
Yeah! This is clapboard instead of vertical siding, but I don't think that it will be noticeable. Also visible is the edge of the roofing that pulled back a bit when the roof was bent into position and fastened to the stairwell.
View attachment 45898
I can remove and reapply the tarpaper (I have extra) or see if I can just touch it up with some Grimy Black paint like I did the roof.
Lastly, out front, there's a gap below the front door that I assumed would be covered by the front porch. It would have still been there even if I had used the original solid door. But NO!
View attachment 45899
Unfortunately I had also already chiseled out the trim to fit the porch more snugly before I added the legs and realized that it would be too short. My solution will most likely be to add a concrete painted styrene pad under the whole porch assembly to bring it up to the hoped for height. The other option is to fill the chiseled out portion with putty and add some steps to the door. Extra work either way.

Karl - I have never built a wooden boxcar; it will be interesting to see your progress.
George - Neat videos.
Curt - That looks like quite a complex kit to assemble. I could really get into that one, but I have no coalfields on my layout.
James - Still wondering if that story is an April Fool's joke even though I read about it elsewhere.
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/po...medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

Today is National Burrito Day, so enjoy one if it is safe to get one.
Everybody have a great day.


Willie,

Just a thought. I use to do roofing in my teen years. Why not place metal or aluminum foil around the base of the chimney to simulate flashing? We would in real life use metal galvanized or copper flashing around the base when roofing. It could be dirty up to simulate tar caulking as well.
 
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So, the extraction went well and I'm on some pretty heavy pain killers this morning; this is the part of any kind of surgery I always look forward to (toward which I always look forward?). Temps are in the low 50s, not a cloud in the sky; might get dressed in a bit so I can take some rum and pills out onto the porch.

Got a condolence card from BIL and his wife, attached to a can of mixed nuts(!). It was probably SIL's doing. She has a good heart, but there's always been some sort of disconnect between intention and action, like the time she tried to convince our kids to eat their vegetables by explaining that peas are "significant."

I've got trains I could be running, Legos I could be building, ammunition I could be reloading, books I could be reading... Just can't get motivated. Well, it's been a rough few days, I guess I'm justified. At least the hard part seems to be over.

God bless us, and all who sail in us.

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Yesterday there were a few golfers playing the course I'm a member of in Hopewell Jct, NY Two different women drove by and called the police to investigate. The police went there and found a few people playing golf and said so their not breaking any laws.

George
 
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Good afternoon. 28 degrees now with a starting temp of only 12 this morning. Should warm up again over the weekend. The guy was out this morning to fill the propane tank for the shop.

I did get down to the train room for a while yesterday and did a bit of switching. Today I have been spending a lot of time on YouTube now that I can get it on the big TV with the new gadget my son picked up. Spent a lot of time on railroad subjects and learned some things that I didn't know.

Curt
- Like the updated photo of your train room. Unlimited (almost) opportunity. Have fun with the mine kit.

Willie
- That building should be close to going on your layout. Nice build.

Greg - Nice photo. The power lines add so much more detail. Well done.

Johnny - Good photo of the station.

Karl - That is one sharp looking mike. If you don't have room for it, I could give it a new home. Grin.gif

Beady - Great photo.

Guess I can go back and watch some more train videos on Youtube.

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Later
 
Morning all,

Coffee and short stack this morning. Thanks Flo!

Sherrel: Now you know why I stay DC. As someone who's been in IT for over 36 years, I've found the latest and greatest isn't always so.
As my friend Mr. Scott said, "The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain." (Star Trek Reference)

Not much happened last night. I had my riding mower in last fall for maintenance so it would be ready when I needed it. It mowed the front yard last fall after I got it back to mulch the leaves (which I also blew out of the front beds) and then was stored until 2 weekends ago when I used it to get the first mow of both the front and back yards, then last weekend I got the front completed and stopped it long enough to get the front gate opened to move to the back yard, and the stopped again to close the gate and the mower quit moving. Engine runs, blades engage, but the mower won't move. The small mower shop I use (purchased the mower there nearly 11 years ago) came to pick it up last night and thinks I lost the drive belt which he said they should have caught last fall, so he's only going to charge me the cost of the new drive belt. I told him to let me know if it goes deeper than that. Good news on this is I do have a self propelled push mower that works very well. The bad news is I have a self propelled push mower and bad knees....
Been mowing since January 6th and about every week and a half since.
 
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