Running Bear’s November 2021 Coffee Shop


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Good morning all!

Been busy, so no real train work. Some of you have reviewed my track plan and I was notified of a rather large uh-oh. So rework is necessary. [CLUE: access to the southern industry spurs]

I do pray that everyone (USA-ers, that is) has a wonderful Day of Giving Thanks tomorrow. Small one for us as only the youngest daughter coming over.

Big developments with the older daughter and her Greek BF. Wedding bells may be ringing earlier than later - - - no, not for that time-honored reason, but I will keep all posted.

Well, the greyhounds are acting nervous so muct be time to feed them. Then clean the kitchen and make pumpkin pies. Blessings to all!

Steve J
 
Good morning y'all. Getting ready to brave the ShopRite for the items that have to be fresh. As soon as the pies come out of the oven, we are off and running.

Willie: Nice build. I like the way Accurail covered hoppers press fit. Not only are they the best over all value, but they look good out of the box.

As soon as the work day ends, the boys will be headed home for Thanksgiving. Hopefully, they will get out early...

Another photo of the last run of train # 812:
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Last time at Manasquan...the station was on the Freehold Branch, and not the station on the NY&LB. I believe this is part of a "rail trail" now. There is a proposal to extend this trail, from the Capital (Trenton) to the Shore (Manasquan), but the remaining active railroad, is in the way. Makes the Bicyclist Groups very unhappy. :rolleyes:

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.....No matter who you are, no matter where you are, it's always appropriate to be Thankful.
 
Overhauling BLI locomotives. Any thoughts? I was on another forum, and someone was lamenting that his 18 year old BLI locomotive is no longer repairable, due to electronics no longer being available. I have read numerous articles about re-motoring, and decoder installation / replacement from other brands, but never BLI (or MTH for that matter). What is it with these two brands. I mean essentially all model locomotives, (HO and N), are essentially the same, and coupler swaps, decoder swaps, speaker installations, motor and drive swaps are quite common. Just curious.
BLI's DCC does have some quirks that make them different but no more so than ESU Loksound. MTH (Mikes Train House) is a different story, particularly his early HO models which use only his brand specific DCS digital system. They would run on DC but were not compatible with DCC at all. He relented in the end and made models that did include basic DCC, with improvements over time. He did also produce some that were DC/DCC ready much like any other makers similar models. I have 2 SD70ACe's like that which I have fitted Tsunami2 decoders into successfully. The only thing different to other brands is in the wiring polarities on the various small surface mount LED lighting boards used. Fortunately they are marked + and - and have surface mount resistors as well, so no real difficulty. They are the same boards as used in his DCS models. I have 2 of those locos to do yet and at least the twin speakers in the fuel tank are already installed. Needless to say, discarding his DCS decoder altogether is par for the course.
 
In order to apply a little bit of 'excitement' to the operations by using DCC, where it is not necessary to have blocks to run more than 1 train on the same track/s, have 1 circling at the same time as the other is switching the inner sidings. Use the upper siding as a classification track on which to build a train from cars 'spotted' (parked) on the other 2, which of course will require the loco and cars in the yard to use the outer "main" as a yard lead to work on. A suggestion to add a little more length to the shorter lower siding: Put a 1/2 curve into it from it's turnout to bring that siding back parallel with the center one. Should/might get you another straight section onto it's end. In order to reduce the amount of time the switching/shunting moves will interfere with the train on the outer main, find out if your track manufacturer makes a double curved turnout/ point/switch that has a R609 outer curve and a smaller radius inner left hand diverging track, to replace the R609 to the right of the bottom ST240. Then you can build a siding from that up the inside of the right hand end to use as the yard lead, thereby reducing the amount of time the main line will be blocked during those switching moves.
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Good Morning!

It's only 1f outside. Coldest day of the winter, so far. - My blood hasn't adjusted yet, so I believe I'll stay indoors and work on the layout room reno. Except for going out to walk the dog; and shovel if it snows.

Over the next couple of days, I should be able to take a progress photo of the layout room.
I'm starting to 2nd-guess my original plans to have a fairly large layout, and the design of that first module I was making. I think I might downsize the plan to fit into an 8'x12' area, instead of 12'x16'. - 8'x12' should be big enough for an HO layout. My original thoughts may have been a-bit on the grandiose side of things.

Anyway, the dog is bugging me already, so I suppose I should make a move and get her walked. Thanks for the coffee!

Have a good one!
 
Thanks Ken, I thought so, but honestly, I've never heard of anyone trying it, just folks complaining of wait time and uncompleted repairs. Guess I didn't look deep enough. I have a small group of BLI steam and GG1s that have spent a long period of time in storage boxes. Don't know what to expect when i get them out, and see how they perform. I always considered BLI stuff electronically quirky.
The quirky versions of BLI was with the QSI decoders a while ago. BLI boasted that they were in strick compliance DCC standards. Problem was, if the loco ran across a power district boundry and the command station and booster had a slight variation in track voltage, the QSI decoder would stop and reboot. This was real bad when you had two or more locos MUd. BLI eventually listened to the complaints and soon realized it was not due to incompetent operators, so they dumped the QSI decoders and went with ESU. Now BLI has gone to a custom decoder they kinda refer to as their own which looks and reports amazingly like an ESU brand. So far they work OK.
 
Good Morning!

It's only 1f outside. Coldest day of the winter, so far. - My blood hasn't adjusted yet, so I believe I'll stay indoors and work on the layout room reno. Except for going out to walk the dog; and shovel if it snows.

Over the next couple of days, I should be able to take a progress photo of the layout room.
I'm starting to 2nd-guess my original plans to have a fairly large layout, and the design of that first module I was making. I think I might downsize the plan to fit into an 8'x12' area, instead of 12'x16'. - 8'x12' should be big enough for an HO layout. My original thoughts may have been a-bit on the grandiose side of things.

Anyway, the dog is bugging me already, so I suppose I should make a move and get her walked. Thanks for the coffee!

Have a good one!

Stay in! Rest and recreate!

No snow here in the Twin Cities. Started at 46F and dropping throughout the day to 12F tomorrow morning. I'll be able to use the outdoor wine chiller for the cooking and the dinner wine - - - SHouldn't freeze at ~20F. ..... much. Though I have had to serve wine slush for T-Giving before!!
 
Good afternoon.
My wife fell at home twice yesterday. The first time, they sent paramedics out to get her off the floor and into a chair. Second time, I had to drive home to pick her up. She says she’s okay, other than being sore from landing on her butt, and of course from her broken rib.

In other news, the new owners have called a mandatory meeting for next Wednesday before we start work. Hopefully it’s just to make sure we know how to clock in and out, and not “Terry, meet Bob, your replacement”. I guess anything can happen, and I’ve determined I’m not going to worry about something I can do nothing about.
 
Afternoon All,

Spent about 4 hours working on the layout today and finished the Hendrix Foundry section included lighting. I also put the tower in since at the edge of the area is the track leading to the engine servicing area. I probably won't be in here tomorrow so HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone.

Ken- I hope your family beats COVID.

Christian- That's a nice small layout.

Willie- Nice job on the hopper.

Joe- This is my experience with BLI. Their older stuff is way to light to run well on any kind of incline. Their older stuff electronics (QSI/Paragon I & II) have common issues requiring repair. I purchased the H10 with Paragon 3 (might have been a 4) and the board failed after 2 uses and again it was a commonly known error. They have fixed the weight issue with diecast assemblies. When I purchased the new release of BLI's Y6b last year I immediately had the BLI DCC system removed and put in a WOW sound decoder. (Friend did it.) I have probably owned 7-8 BLI steamers and diesels over the years because they were the go-to for Pennsy motive power. I'll also note that every steamer that I have bought from them has required repair (except the Y6b so far). One last thing, BLI used to have a 2-year warranty which is now 1-year.

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I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Good Afternoon all! A warm day, humid and the sun playing in and out amongst the clouds. I did get to run some trains this afternoon. I run my layout like Tootnkumin was suggesting to Christian, I have a trains running on the outer and inner loops and the switcher must work around them. Makes it interesting.

As to BLI quirk - I believe they are. I purchase 2 SD40-2's at the same time. One of them, 8043, runs flawlessly. 8113 is sort of hit and miss at times.
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To all, hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving.

STAY SAFE
LATER
 
Good afternoon.
My wife fell at home twice yesterday. The first time, they sent paramedics out to get her off the floor and into a chair. Second time, I had to drive home to pick her up. She says she’s okay, other than being sore from landing on her butt, and of course from her broken rib.

In other news, the new owners have called a mandatory meeting for next Wednesday before we start work. Hopefully it’s just to make sure we know how to clock in and out, and not “Terry, meet Bob, your replacement”. I guess anything can happen, and I’ve determined I’m not going to worry about something I can do nothing about.
I remember reading advice along those lines that said, "Worry about the things you can do something about, but for those you can't, don't waste the energy. Save it for if it happens and be prepared to deal with it then."
 
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