Running Bear’s June 2021 Coffee Shop


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Good morning. Didn't get to check in yesterday. Having been gone for almost a week there was a lot of yard work to get done. Probably had over 50 aspen tree shoots coming up in the lawn and ended up mowing the whole yard. It got up to 80 yesterday but it has cooled down today with the temps only in the upper 60's with the possibility of some rain.

Terry - Saw the weather moving in from the gulf. Heard that there was a major accident in Alabama caused but the weather causing almost a dozen deaths.

Lee - Good photos. Like that Studebaker Champion. Nice work on that reefer.

Steve - Looking froward to seeing your photos.

Willie - Your detail work in the photos are something else. Always enjoy seeing them.

The race will be coming on soon and I have a few things to take care of outside so here are some more photos from the archives.

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Later
 
Good afternoon Shop Dwellers, and a Happy Fathers Day to those of you who are dads. We have partly cloudy skies, a 5mph SW breeze, 55% humidity, with an actual temp of 87*F and a "feels like" of 93*F.

Again, thanks everybody who 'liked' my previous post, can't remember if that was Monday or Tuesday[?] I know I've been AWOL for the past few days, being totally obsessed with my current infrastructure project. Not sure who originated the phrase "dog tired" but that's pretty much describes how I've felt since being on my feet most of Saturday. This ol' bod just has too many miles on it to spend hours perched on ladders. But at least, it was for a worthwhile reason: I finally got all my new LED light fixtures hung in the trainroom, and wow - what a difference they make! Areas of my layout that were always in shadow before are now well-lit.

Here are some photos I shot as soon as I had them all hung up. I still need to put some more hooks in the ceiling to suspend the still-dangling wires, but I'll get to that after I've had a few days' rest. The layout still looks like a construction zone, and the main focus is on the light fixtures themselves - not trains or scenery.

My aisle configuration is like the shape of the letter 'E'. The first shot is where you enter from outside, the bottom 'leg' of the E:
BbounderLED_Lights01.jpg


Then we get to the 'vertical' part of the E, along the west wall:
BbounderLED_Lights02.jpg


Here is looking down the center leg (aisle) of the E:
BbounderLED_Lights03.jpg


...and finally, the top leg of the E:
BbounderLED_Lights04.jpg


All of the pre-existing flourescent lights were turned off for these photos. I'll most likely leave them in place and only use the LED fixtures during op sessions, to [hopefully] make them last longer.

For Fathers Day, my eldest daughter and SIL are having us over at their house for Mexican carryout (too hot & muggy for a cookout). My son is on call this weekend in Philadelphia, so he can't make it. Hope you all enjoy what's left of the weekend!
 
Good Afternoon all! Happy Father's Day to those that qualify, naturally or by adoption. I surely wish I could talk with by Dad one more time.
All the kids came by for a quick visit today. I guess because of the Covid quarantine it made seeing them all together made it little more special.

I did manage a little switching time yesterday, so my next train time will be picking up a mixed freight at the Apple Ridge yard.

STAY SAFE

LATER
 
Happy fathers day to all the dads out there. Today is the last day of my vacation. Will be back to work tomorrow. Slow but fast week off. Managed to get my garage cleaned up a good bit. At the layout I added some more puff ball trees. Its a slow going affair just not as slow as actually installing the woodland scenics trees as the last layout. Seems to be turning out pretty decent. Its good enough for me. Attempted to install leds into my Chessie GP7. That turned into a nightmare! They do work. However they pick up the pulses from my throttles. I have strobes!!! I suppose I will install som3 miniatronics bulbs instead. They would be better if they had polarity to them though. Thats all I have for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful day.
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IronBeltKen said:
Good afternoon Shop Dwellers, and a Happy Fathers Day to those of you who are dads. We have partly cloudy skies, a 5mph SW breeze, 55% humidity, with an actual temp of 87*F and a "feels like" of 93*F.

Again, thanks everybody who 'liked' my previous post, can't remember if that was Monday or Tuesday[?] I know I've been AWOL for the past few days, being totally obsessed with my current infrastructure project. Not sure who originated the phrase "dog tired" but that's pretty much describes how I've felt since being on my feet most of Saturday. This ol' bod just has too many miles on it to spend hours perched on ladders. But at least, it was for a worthwhile reason: I finally got all my new LED light fixtures hung in the trainroom, and wow - what a difference they make! Areas of my layout that were always in shadow before are now well-lit.

Here are some photos I shot as soon as I had them all hung up. I still need to put some more hooks in the ceiling to suspend the still-dangling wires, but I'll get to that after I've had a few days' rest. The layout still looks like a construction zone, and the main focus is on the light fixtures themselves - not trains or scenery.

My aisle configuration is like the shape of the letter 'E'. The first shot is where you enter from outside, the bottom 'leg' of the E:
View attachment 129247

Then we get to the 'vertical' part of the E, along the west wall:
View attachment 129248

Here is looking down the center leg (aisle) of the E:
View attachment 129249

...and finally, the top leg of the E:
View attachment 129250

All of the pre-existing flourescent lights were turned off for these photos. I'll most likely leave them in place and only use the LED fixtures during op sessions, to [hopefully] make them last longer.

For Fathers Day, my eldest daughter and SIL are having us over at their house for Mexican carryout (too hot & muggy for a cookout). My son is on call this weekend in Philadelphia, so he can't make it. Hope you all enjoy what's left of the weekend!
Click to expand...
That's a nice big skyscraper you have there. Had some Egyptians in to build it?
 
Morning all,

Happy Belated Father's day to all the dads on the site.

Rainy morning in Doo-Dah. After a high yesterday of 102°, supposed to be rainy through the morning and cloudy this afternoon with a high in the upper 70's.

My father's day involved me doing laundry, getting the groceries, cutting out a stump at the daughter's house, and getting dinner at the boy's house. The wife has been wanting to replace the couch with a couple more recliners, so off we went to a furniture sale. I got me a nice new LARGER recliner. Finally one that actually fits me to where I can actually recline without the chair dumping me over. Now to have time to actually sit in it... So we moved the new chair in and the couch to the boy's house. New chair weighs more than the couch. Garden has 1 ping pong ball sized tomato at this point, on one of the 2 plants damaged earlier. They've out grown the other 2 plants to date. I've kept 3 of the volunteer tomatoes and they are blooming. We'll see what transpires. Last year the tomatoes grew tons of vine, this year I don't have a plant taller than 2' tall. Not sure exactly why, but I do have an idea. I had it pretty heavily mulched in this year and that may have kept some of the water from actually getting below the soil line. I've been watering due to the early heat we've had this year (5 days over 100° so far). The overnight and this morning's rain will help.
 
Good Morning All. Clear and 76°, waiting on the predicted thunderstorms which appear to be 300 miles away up in Kansas pounding Patrick right now. Current trajectory doesn't look good for here, as they may flirt by on the northeast and head for Arkansas and Louisiana. Today is expected to be about 10° cooler than yesterday's 94°. We'll see, the NWS hasn't had a very accurate year so far.
Well, my first "smoker" experience with the new smoker/grill didn't come off exactly as planned yesterday. All was going well and then the internal temperature stalled at 155° after three and a half hours of a planned five and a half hour smoke time. Smoker temperature was fine, at 250° for the full time and the pork shoulder developed a fine bark on it, temperature just wouldn't rise. I checked with a second thermometer and got the same reading. Disappointment as we headed to our local Italian establishment instead. Plus I spent over an hour chopping cabbage, carrots and onions for a yummy coleslaw to go with it. I wrapped it in foil and I will finish it in the oven today instead. It had enough time to develop its flavor so the oven isn't going to detract from the piece of meat.

How about a chicken fried steak sandwich this morning Flo. Mel makes a pretty good one.

Thanks for all of the comments and likes regarding the Atlas Steel Works photos yesterday, or was it the turtle?; Tom O, Chet, Justin, Rick, Karl, Ken, Chad, Guy, Hughie, Lee, Steve, Patrick.

Out in the train shed yesterday, I split my time three ways. I put in some time in re-organizing some stuff that's in boxes under the benchwork. That will eventually be an all day project by itself. Yesterday, I took three boxes and consolidated some things with other like stuff that I had elsewhere and ended up with just two boxes, much of it gotten in an estate sale about 15 years ago. I also ran some trains for a bit. Over in the project area, I added some ballast to the two spurs. I'll complete that next. Normally I wait a few months before ballasting to test trackwork, but this was just two simple industry spurs that will see little usage. I tested them Saturday briefly without incident.
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Lee - Is that AHM kit HO or O scale? Looks good so far.
Guy - What the hell is a solar powered hummingbird bath? I have a quarter acre pond behind the train shed, does that count? So far this year, my hummingbird feeders have only attracted a single bird, usually there are 4-6.
Tom O -
TLOC said:
Wow, Willie, I cannot believe all the scenes you have on your layout. Love the turtle In the yard.
Click to expand...
This is one reason that projects on the overall layout plan are spread out over a few years. I initially concentrated on benchwork and track laying to get trains running. I didn't complete that until after I retired in 2015, now I am concentrating on filling in the scenery. I will make some significant progress in the next few months as outdoor projects diminish due to the heat. Since I only spend a maximum of three hours a day out in the train shed, I expect to finish around 2024.
Justin - Trees are looking good.
Patrick - One thing about tomato plants is that even if they are flowering, the flowers don't pollinate when the nighttime temperatures are above 75° for any length of time. As far as the mulch impeding the water to ground, I thoroughly water the garden before applying the mulch, and then it needs an inch of water every week thereafter; whether by rain or irrigation. Thankfully, I have only had to water once this season, and that was Saturday, two days ago.

First full day of summer here, longest day of the year and it's supposed to be a lot cooler. Our day length will be 15h, 19m. You guys in Wisconsin will see about 16.5 hours.

Everybody have a great Monday. Stay safe.
 
Good morning from very windy Wisconsin. It is 63f degrees heading to a high of 66. Someone forgot to tell Mother Nature it is now Summer. All the heavy storms and rain predictions missed opus yesterday as we got barely enough to wet the driveway. Cool this week in So. Central Wisconsin as nothing is being predicted above 72. The temperature would be fine right now but we also have a wind at 15 mph and gusts supposedly hitting 28.

Wisconsin Tornadoes, we get them but not to the frequency and severely other States get. No matter how bad a tornado is, it’s never worst though then being the victim of one.

ken, had to relook at your pictures on Toot’s Egyptian skyscraper comment. It does look well constructed when I figured it out!

Lee, keep posting the pictures, I enjoy them

guy, I am with Willie, solar powered bird bath? Interesting what we do for our spouses. Definitely need a picture

Patrick, congrats on the new chair

MikeinHubCity, a good reason to be in Wisconsin. I went to school in Milwaukee and there was no specific reason except maybe the fact Terry refused to look for jobs teaching in the Chicago area before we got married.

Today’s big event is a walk-in trip to the grocery store. The grass has some spots where the rain from Thursday/Friday and the spritz we had yesterday combined for some growth. Hopefully with the cooler temperatures we get some better growth and I can even out the grass.

Flo, I would like a raisin cinnamon oatmeal pancake with 2 pieces of bacon, artificial syrup and a diet Dr Pepsi.

Sometime in the trainroom today will be spent moving the chop saw into the garage. The HVAC guy came early this morning and he cleaned the contacts on the A/C unit as they did have sawdust on them. He also said the merv on my air filters was too high, should be no higher then 10 and I was using 14’s. The SIL will be getting 5 air filters for his newer furnace then ours.

enjoy the day
TomO
 
Good Morning!
She's gonna be a hot time in Alberta this week! Near 80F today, and the rest of the week dosen't look much better. By the end of the week, I'll have to pinch myself to see if I'm still among the living, or have already made it to 'ell'.

santafewillie said:
Guy - What the hell is a solar powered hummingbird bath? I have a quarter acre pond behind the train shed, does that count? So far this year, my hummingbird feeders have only attracted a single bird, usually there are 4-6.
Click to expand...

Willie - A solar powered hummingbird bath is an experimental honey-do project that my wife found on the net. It's simply an ice-cream bucket used as a water reservoir, covered by a plastic plate with holes drilled in it. Inside the reservoir is a small solar powered submersible pump. A styrafoam ball, that a hummingbird can grab on to with tiny claws, is placed on top of the water tube. The output of the water should be fairly gentle; no more than a couple/three inches high.
Here's some photo's of the one I built using a 2" styrafoam ball. The 2" ball should have been a 6" ball, but, it's all I had. It took an hour of time to make this contraption.
BirdBath_06-20-2021 (1).jpg

BirdBath_06-20-2021 (2).jpg


Sherrel - Thank you for the comments and high praise you give me for my simple posts. The raccoon nose you see in the pondless is actually another bear who is fishing; it's a more comic bear garden gnome.

And thanks to everyone else who is liking my posts. It is really appreciated.

I don't have a lot of time today, so I must say adios. Have a good one!
 
Good Morning all. Thanks for the complements and likes yesterday. Finally a cool 66 degrees and light rain here in the Ozark Foothills.

Guy. Thanks for the complement glad you like them

Garry. Thanks for the complement

Wille. Your pics look great I like taking pics while the train is running through also. The Reefer is not a kit it is a O Scale I just disassembled it. Thanks for the complement

Chet. Thanks for the complement that Studebaker is one of my favorites on the layout.

Sherrel. Thanks for the complement. Glad I could take you back for a minute

Tom. Yes I’ll keep posting and thanks for the complement. Glad you like them

Guy. That Flower Garden looks nice as well as the Hummingbird bath.
 
Good afternoon Model Railroaders...Sunny, but cool with a moderate breeze here in Wisconsin.

Living in Wisconsin and experiencing many tornadoes, I can a test to their power and why one should always respect a tornado Watch or Warning.

Our cabin seems to be in on the map for tornadoes. In 2001, a tornado struck the cabin and being in the woods 22 - 70 foot pines fell on the cabin. Minor roof damage and some roofing boards needed replacement. I was at the cabin around 2012 when a tornado went overhead. I was coming into the cabin in full sunlight and when I reached the middle of the cabin's interior, it turned so dark that I needed to turn on the cabin's interior lamps for light. No damage, but many trees in the woods are now leaning to the right.

Three years ago a tornado "jumped" our woods and then touched down almost a mile down the road and destroyed 116 acres of prime wood lands owned by a friend. The loggers started cleanup in June and worked until Christmas cutting up the downed tress for pulpwood used for newsprint.

At a fishing cabin near Hayward, Wisconsin a tornado wiped out a path a quarter mile wide by several miles long. A neighbor had two mature White Pines which were broke off mid-way up the main trunk and between the two trees a Weber grill still had ashes still in the ash catcher untouched by the high winds of the tornado!

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This is a branch off a White Pine tree that the wind drove into the ground about five inches.-Greg

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Typical scene in the woods of fallen and damaged trees from a June tornado.-Greg

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Tornado clean up near a resort after the same series of tornadoes that caused damage in the second photo, but 5 miles away.-Greg
 
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