Running Bear’s August 2019 Coffee Shop


Status
Not open for further replies.
Good morning everyone. 68 and raining out there. Storms moved through our area around 5 this morning; will clear off during the day and leave us with a decent weekend - some chance of rain, but mostly nice. Next week: in the 90s again.

Happy Labor Day Weekend to all!

Chessie, Wheeler, Patrick, Chad, Willie, Louis, Tom, Mike, Sherrel, and anyone I may have inadvertently missed - thanks for all your likes and comments, even suggestions, about the farm photos I posted yesterday (and a few from previous days). I appreciate knowing how these scenes look to everyone.

Really nothing to report from the train room or the model-building workbench. Spent yesterday evening hanging out with our son and didn't get home until around 8. Normally plenty of time for woodworking and train-running, but I was tired for some reason (no comments about old age, please :rolleyes: )

Here's today's photo from the layout: it's the neighboring farm/ranch to the one I posted yesterday. That one is a cattle ranch, this one is horses. Same problem the other one has - the fence is sitting on the layout instead of having holes for the fenceposts to sit down in. Same for most of the trees. I suppose I could paint the bases of the fenceposts and trees green and then it would look like they're in the ground?! Anyway, pretty satisfied with the overall look. The barn is already a scene of some activity, but I want to add a couple more folks. The farmhouse in the background has a few folks around but it needs a bigger family, so I'll work on that in the future. Tracks run right behind the farm - you can see the tracks to the left of the scene. Got to remember to put some trains in the photos!!!
Farm#2.jpg


So those are two farms on the layout. There is another farm near the other town, and that's the one I'm building the barn for. I need to get some time this weekend at the workbench and get that barn glued together. Will post on that next week.

Have a good day and a nice weekend everyone.
 
Bruette said:
The hardcore addicts are another story. They are illogical and unpredictable. They know to be cool around the dealers, but if you happen on them alone, anything goes. I have a natural deterrent, addicts are looking for "soft targets" at 6'8" 290lbs I don't look like a soft target.

You're 6'8" and 290 lbs?!?! I'd rather meet one of those druggies than you on the street!!:cool:
 
Good Morning All. 77° and hazy. Looking over at the local Weather Underground site, I see some new features in the graphics on the ten day forecast page. Things like cloud cover, dew point and heat index are now there. But nothing in the forecast has changed, they are using the standard September forecast for the next ten days, 71° - 93° temperature range, no rain and light SE winds. Had a pretty much standard weekly grocery/beer trek yesterday, wife went along but sat in the car. Purchased some large cuts of meat including a 1 1/2 lb rib eye steak that was grilled last night. It was in the "Manager's Specials" section for $6. We had to go together to renew the Sam's Club membership before the Groupon special offer ended today. The membership fee of $35 is eventually refunded if we purchase something of greater value online and pick it up in the store.

How about a couple of sausage, egg and cheese biscuits this morning Francine. I see that Flo is having another political discussion with Louis this morning.

Thanks for the likes and comments regarding the backdrop structure yesterday; Sherrel, Jerome, Justin, Johnny, Tom, Mikey, Chad, Louis.

Spent a bit of time in the train shed yesterday afternoon before grabbing a cold one and heading for the pool. I previously posted about the area that I am preparing to work in, an area about 2' x 8'. Yesterday I painted the sky backdrop, today I will add a horizon and paint the ground an earth color. Here are a couple of overview shots, first from the RR north.
08-30-19 005.JPG

And a lower level shot from the south.
You can see the Atlas model of Middlesex Manufacturing that is expected to anchor the south end. That support block will be masked by the warehouse.
08-30-19 009.JPG


08-30-19 007.JPG

I haven't worked out the track arrangement yet, that will happen after I decide on which combination of structures I will use.
While waiting for the paint to dry between coats, I cut out the roof sections needed for the warehouse.
08-30-19 001.JPG

This is what is in the Walther's kit, next is what I had to make.
08-30-19 003.001.JPG


Karl - Good to see you post again. Glad that all is well. Good luck with the wedding et al.
Mikey - Thanks for the suggestion. That it will be. I am running out of ideas for individual industries.
Phil - Stay safe and dry. If I recall correctly, you are far enough inland that you don't generally need to evacuate, just board up and be prepared for lots of rain and wind. Prayers for you and all of your neighbors.
Louis - I actually like Cozy Powell better than Bill Ward, more versatile. Plus he has his head on straight! I never understood how he got involved with Black Sabbath to begin with.

Everybody have a great Friday and an even greater Labor Day weekend. I'll be grilling big hunks of red meat.
 
Good Morning Shop Dwellers -- FLO - I'll have a couple of sausages and cheese biscuits -- Willie seems to order them quite often.

Johnny - Your farming, and city/town scenes are coming to life. A few more details and your set.

Willie - Glad to see that Arlene is getting out - even if she only did hold the car in place. Spousal Unit here is darn near immobile. She has an appoint set up with a therapist Wed or Thur next week. She will "press" them for an overhaul - will see how that works; she is to the point that she can just barely work in her saloon and is only having one client a day. We have tabled our trip to Rushmore and Yellowstone until we see what may happen. There is no way that she can climb up/down the RV and even get into the cab.

It was 96* here yesterday - forecast for 95* today -- the record of 106* was set in 2017.
Not a cloud to be seen - in like, forever?

PHIL and Curt (and anyone else down there) ... stay safe!
 
Good morning. Been busy as usual trying to get the most out of the last days of summer. Winters are long out here.

Joe - Still MIA ?

Louis - Enjoyed your photos. The one of the Pacific in Syracuse is a winner. I do remember the Earl Scheib commercials. Now a decent paint job is in the thousands. Sounds just like something AOC would say.

Johnny - The farm scene is coming along nicely.

Willie - Like the background building. A pretty large building also.

Beady - Good photo. Where are the semi's? Must snot want to scuff the paint.

Phil - Better batten down the hatches. Not looking good for the state of Florida right now.

Ray -
Glad you won the auction.

Haven;t seen my train room for a while, but did get over to the club again yesterday. Got an email from Walthers last week apologizing for the delay on my Mainline B unit. Don't want excuses, I want the B unit. Only a couple of week of Thursday day time running left. Still only ably to use the F-7 A.

thumbnail_20190829_142636.jpg


thumbnail_20190829_142221.jpg


It was also a day that major track cleaning, was done. We usually tryto pull a track cleaning car in every train. With the doors open when we are operating, keeping the tracks clean is important.

Put this train to work running it all over the layout during the day. With the tank car and roller car and 4 other track cleaning cars, it is a bit heavy.

thumbnail_20190829_135416.jpg


We also had some NP U Boats running on the layout.

Here's the DM&IR Yellowstone with its ore train. Greg will probably appreciate this.

thumbnail_20190829_135256.jpg


thumbnail_20190829_135301.jpg


Here are some BNSF units ready to leave the yard.

thumbnail_20190829_144325.jpg


Had some 1:1 versions roll up on me when I was leaving.

thumbnail_20190829_160259.jpg


thumbnail_20190829_160313.jpg


This was a mixed train, but I did pass three westbound coal trains going over the pass on the way home.

Have to get the lawn mowed today. Have relatives flying in tomorrow so I can play tour guide (again).

Later
 
Good morning .

Thanks everybody for the "likes" and comments on my photo.

Johnny .... Your farm scene looks great.

WIllie .... The background building looks great.

Sherrel .... Sorry to hear your wife is having problems with being immobile. Hopefully doctors ca incorrect the problem.

Louis .... You provided a definition of "liberal". Apparently, many public figures who are said to be liberals do not adhere to that definition.

Chet ...... The club layout photos look great. Also, I like the BNSF pictures...... Are you completely recovered from the shoulder surgery now ?

Toot .... Glancing at your recent posts, it looks like you successfully bid of the SD35. Good for you !
 
After running the two, differently decodered Locos in consist, re-adjusting the sound volume via the CV's rather than the little magnetic wand thingy, there's not a lot to pick between them, The Tsunami, I think has a slightly better defined engine beat, but an oddity showed up when trying to consist them. The QSI, according to it's book, has a delaying action when it's first commanded to start moving, which the Tsunami doesn't, although that I know can be created a bit (something I found by accident, but can't really account how it happens, seems to have to do with when some sounds are automatically set-up to start and momentum, maybe more of the latter).
What was observed, was when in uncoupled consist, and it didn't matter if it was Advanced or Simple (Old Style in NCE lingo), the QSI equipped never increased it's acceleration rate hardly at all, while the Tsunami went away from it. This was with the QSI in the lead position. Individually, out of consist, they appeared pretty much equal.
I'm sure this is probably correctable with CV adjustments, but I'm wondering if changing the Tsunami in the P2k Proto GP20 into the Atlas and vice-versa, might be best in the interests of uniformity. I have the other SD35 "Seaboard" that I intend to repaint and number #705 that a Tsunami is intended for, too.
While I'm on a binge, I got some of these too, had good buyer reviews. There were several sellers, this one had the most.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-12V-24V...rentrq:e30741b716c0aa66f6130988fff60720|iid:1
 
Finally Friday! Looking forward to an extended weekend. Seeing Willie and his structures as with a few others on here reminds me I still have structures I need to put together. I haven't even touched my coaling tower. The misses reminds me weekly of the items I have and haven't touched yet. A quote from her on this subject: "You buy all this train stuff and you just put it away! What's the point in buying it if you aren't going to use it right away?" Well these items I need. Maybe not at the moment but definitely in the near or distant future. She struggles with the concept. It's ok though. She does give me train time when I want it. Usually deals with taking the baby down to the layout and do lazy man railroading as I just turn laps on the layout and hold the little man. He has by the way just turned 10 months old. Time is absolutely flying!!! Anyways it's Friday and I have some humor pics to share.
Angry-Birds.jpg

1.jpeg

humor-train-funny-pictures-a-tunnel-road-some-who-crashed-through-a-painted-tunnel-road.jpg
 
About an hour ago, it got real dark, temperature dropped by 20°, it's 68° right now and started raining. This wasn't in the forecast! While the heaviest part is past here, it looks like another hour of rain. Gauge currently shows 1.2". Looks like I'm forced to spend the afternoon in the train shed!
Forced to stay in the train shed doesn't sound that bad.
 
About an hour ago, it got real dark, temperature dropped by 20°, it's 68° right now and started raining. This wasn't in the forecast! While the heaviest part is past here, it looks like another hour of rain. Gauge currently shows 1.2". Looks like I'm forced to spend the afternoon in the train shed!
72 and sunny. At this rate, I'll never get down to my trains.
 
Well I finally did something today I should have done years ago. I purchased an NMRA standards gauge today. Not much of one to second guess myself too much but I figure with the way I've messed around with my locomotive wheels I might want to verify that I at least have them within gauge. Especially my Athearns.
 
Good morning Everybody!

It's cool and comfortable here in southeast Baltimore. Yesterday I was wrong about the humidity returning. It was not bad yesterday and is predicted to be even better today. I thought for sure with the temperatures rising back into the mid to upper 80s the humidity would be rising as well. Not very often a Baltimorean can say "its hot, but it's a dry heat", maybe today will be one of those rare days.

When I returned from walking my wife to her car earlier this morning I thought I would also be retrieving a full recycle bin from the curb, but it was empty! I got home from work yesterday a little after 8pm and they still had not emptied my recycle bin. They usually work late on recycle pick up days, but never that late. Way to go guys! My sanitation service is top notch.

On my way home form work I stopped at a Sav-a-Lot grocery store. We needed bananas, green bananas to be precise, it's a diabetic thing. As usual I did a complete recon of the store looking for deals and found a few. The best one was, T-bone steaks for $3.69/pound, "how about that sports fans?!" I picked out a dozen big beauties to cook on the charcoal grill Monday, stop by if your hungry, I got more than we need. These T-bones could easily be passed off as USDA Choice, they are marbled beautifully.

Doing these evening blocks for Amazon is working out great for me. Yesterday I had 17 stops, the day before 13 stops. Each day was less than an hours worth of work and got paid 3 hours for each day. I average 20 stops/hour, working at my new leisurely pace. Working in the evening I get to see a lot more people. The majority of the residents of west Baltimore, where I was yesterday, are very nice.

Even the "hoppers" on the corners are nice to me. The key is to look them in the eye and say hello, or as I usually say to them "what's up fellas?" Respect goes a long way. The reality is the people involved in the drug trade are nothing to worry about, unless you get caught in the cross fire. They don't want anything minor to draw attention to them and disrupt their business.

I guess I should define hoppers. They are young people, under 18, who are... sales clerks? They are the ones who are at the point of sale for dealers. Minors don't face hard time if caught. They don't make much money, maybe $10/hour, but there are not many opportunities in that part of west Baltimore, everybody has to eat. The dealers usually feed them when they are working, that's better than some other jobs.

The hardcore addicts are another story. They are illogical and unpredictable. They know to be cool around the dealers, but if you happen on them alone, anything goes. I have a natural deterrent, addicts are looking for "soft targets" at 6'8" 290lbs I don't look like a soft target. Some people think carrying a gun is a solution, it's not. If the addicts see a gun they will conspire with each other to ambush the person carrying the gun. Guns bring top dollar and are the fastest item you can sell on the streets. Hardcore addicts can have habits costing up to $1000/day, they can be desperate to avoid being "dope sick". If you carry a gun on the streets of Baltimore, keep it concealed well or be ready to take a blow to the back of your head and shot 3-4 drug addicts afterwards.

On to better things.

I have some things to do at my desk in my office/train-room/playpen, but I'm making a pit stop on the couch. The pit stop will probably become a nap.

Have a great day Everybody, God Bless Us Everyone!
Louis- what do you do with green nanners? Do you treat them like you would with plantains?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.



Back
Top