Running Bear's April 2020 Coffee Shop


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Good evening fellas

Not much done today. The 65 tonner chassis is painted and refinished, I WAS going to install the decoder and speaker today, but I found the speaker I selected wont quite fit! :( The body is now masked ready for its 2nd color, also the Shemp body is also ready to shoot, maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow the 2 evergreens bordering the garage door will be cut down, the wood ties bordering the flower beds will be removed and the lawn will be cut in preparation of the rains to come for the rest of the week. Then maybe I can get some paint shot. Wife is still working from home, and making masks in her spare time.

IBKen . The foliage looks good! Cat wait to see it again in person.

Paul Cool video from Peru, at the end I see a parts 2 and 3.

Tom, great sunset!!

Willie, the backdrop looks perfect!

George, that video of Pelosi put visions of a modern Marie Antoinette, "let them eat ice cream".

I did spend a bit of time doing detail research on the 65 tonner. It had the craziest horn arrangement I have ever seen. On the front end the was a single note horn, facing forward between the bell and exhaust. Behind the cab is a rear facing horn, with various chimes. Looks like 4 in some pics, maybe 2 or 3 in others.

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This leaves me questioning what horn to select, for details and also for the decoder sounds. 🤔

Bad enough I have to make the
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logos. All the lettering will be individual letter decals, the white stripes are bulk Microscale. Before they came out with decal sets for hood units, I had to so these the same way.
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Nite all!
 
Yesterday, a BNSF train hit a boulder next to the Mississippi River on the former CB&Q line in southwestern Wisconsin. This is the line from Chicago, Il to St Paul, MN. The derailed locomotive is hard to see, but it is not a BNSF paint scheme. The large boulder is visible to the right in the picture.

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GarryCBQ said:
Yesterday, a BNSF train hit a boulder next to the Mississippi River on the former CB&Q line in southwestern Wisconsin. This is the line from Chicago, Il to St Paul, MN. The derailed locomotive is hard to see, but it is not a BNSF paint scheme. The large boulder is visible to the right in the picture.

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Ferromex (Mexican) loco, by the look. BNSF has been using them over MRL as well, but usually as helpers. Doesn't sort of appear to be a bouldery hillside does it, but it sure came down heavy on those tracks. Hope the crew were OK. The train could have gone in the river.
 
bnsf971 said:
A fun little tidbit is, most modern vehicles contain enough fluid in the brake reservoir to provide fluid for the full travel of the calipers before it runs out. As a general rule, if the brake fluid level warning light comes on, it is probably time to replace the pads. When you replace the pads, open the bleeders so the old, used fluid doesn't get pushed back up into all the delicate ABS stuff. That will damage it, and replacements are expensive. Fill the reservoir with fresh fluid after you've replaced the pads, and continue on.
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Terry, that is a great point, thanks for picking up where I left off.

My knowledge and experience in the retail brake & mechanical market tappers off significantly in the early 90s. ABS was still in it's infancy for wide spread mass production. I still remember seeing my first can of DOT 4 brake fluid and thinking, "that's new", it was to me anyway. What is it now DOT 5.1?

Starting in the late 80s I focused more on industrial equipment. Some of what I worked on was built in the 1940s. On those big old beasts I used my 1" and up wrenches more than anything else. No need for metric wrenches or computer diagnostics. I miss those days working for Bethlehem Steel, they never blinked at any bill. I was always cheaper and faster than their own mechanics. Oh well, I doubt I could break loose an 1 1/2" nut or bolt by hand these days. You had to break them loose by hand or the old thing would snap with an impact wrength.

I went from the heavy equipment industry to building my own brand of private label computers. I got fat building computers, in more ways than one! :)

It's fun bringing up all these old memories.

I still miss working for Firestone, (where the rubber meets the road), but going into business for myself was the smartest and most profitable thing I ever did.
 
PRR Modeler said:
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Louis- Nice pictures. That would be a hard yard to model. I don't like ham like you do. On one 3 month deployment I did in the early 80's we had ham included in 2 of the 4 meals daily underway. It was also that nasty large institutional canned ham. It's been almost 40 years and I am just starting to eat spiral sliced ham, and then I like it cold better than warm.
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Curt, I don't blame you, it's a wonder you eat ham at all!

I'm not a big fan of spiral hams. Don't get me wrong, any ham (except what you described) is good in my book. I tend to over cook those spiral hams and they come out dry. I'm also not a fan of sweet hams, (glazed, honey, pineapple etc.) although I don't objected much either. Another thing I don't like about spiral hams is the fancy packaging. I want to see what I'm buying. Although the best way to pick out a ham is by feel. Too soft, too much fat or water. Too firm, not enough fat. I still want to see it.

I like a good smoked ham, roasted to perfection. A meat thermometer is my best friend when roasting anything.

Being from and living all my life in the Mid-Atlantic has spoiled me I think. From North Carolina (some of the very best!) to Pennsylvania and anywhere in between you can find good smoked hams.

I use to buy only Esskay Silver Label hams. Esskay was a local Baltimore meat co. Since they are long gone, I buy anything on sale that looks good. I have had good luck with that and saved money!

Christmas and Easter I always bought a whole Esskay ham Silver Label, the biggest I could find. It would cost me about $60-$70. Now I buy 2 of the best butt portions I can find, on sale and save $25-$40. More meat, less bone and much cheaper.
 
IronBeltKen said:
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Louis - I'm enjoying the pics you're sharing of the Chessie motive power. I recall back in November '72 when the first Chessie locos appeared at Riverside, I hated the scheme because (1) it seemed too kitsch and (2) it obliterated the distinctions between the three member railroads (B&O, C&O and WM). But now after all these years and seeing archive photos of them weathered, I have a totally different perspective and I've gotten to the point where I'm kinda fond of them! But I still keep my modeling era ending at September 1972 (prior to Chessie) in order to keep a lid on my mrr spending!
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Ken, it's funny how over time things grow on us or we change perspective.

Your post reminds me of music. There were songs I could not listen to when I was young, but now they come on the radio and I enjoy them.

Maybe its nostalgia?

Chessie is special to me because as young man one of the many jobs I had was as a coal sampler and Chessie was my favorite. I guess I just liked the way they looked.
 
kjd said:
Louis, my very first model was a Chessie GP38-2 (we pick road name from TrainWorld in NY) so have had a nostalgic spot for them. I've only seen two in person, one called Patches on the PCC in eastern Washington and one at MPI in Boise, in for a rebuild.
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My second model locomotive was a Life-Like Chessie/B&O GP38-s from Toys R Us. I worked at Toys R Us part-time as a second job. I put together bikes, toys, doll hoses, you name it! It was when my oldest daughter was born and I needed Christmas money. The closer it got to Christmas the longer I worked. Sometimes I worked all night and left to go to work at my regular job. The store manager at Toys R Us would lock me in and leave. They always gave me a great bonus on Christmas Eve!

That reminds me, the most complex thing I had to put together was a premium Barbie doll house. The instructions said it took 8 hours. I did so many I got it down to under 3. I can still see those little pink screw heads. :) I loved that job!

This is on my wish list, but MB Klein tells me it won't be available until the third quarter of this year.
LIONEL CHESSIE SYSTEM LIONCHIEF GP38 #3847
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Good morning Everybody!

It's a beautiful cool morning in southeast Baltimore.

I'm hoping to do some work for Amazon today.

Tomorrow they are calling for rain all day and I'm still waiting on my supplies from home depot to get back on my projects. So God willing I will be playing with my trains by this time tomorrow!

Have a great day Everybody!
 
Morning all,

Saw lightning in the distance as I drove in to work this morning. They say possibility of some hit and miss storms all morning and then just rain the remainder of the day. High of 64*, currently 57*.

Weird the way the relief bill was written. Turns out that you are eligible for some unemployment if your company reduces your hours, and that because your getting even a partial unemployment check, you're then eligible for the additional $600 each week. That said I filled out the form the HR department sent out and pending approval will be working 8 hours less for the next 4-8 weeks. During that time, I'll be getting 2/3rd my normal pay from unemployment and then the additional $600 each week. If I'm out 4 weeks I give up about $1000 in direct pay from the city, to gain $3000 from the state and federal money. We'll see exactly how that pans out.

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Wish I had models of both of these....

TOOT: I've seen a lot of Ferromex engines running in the BNSF Emporia sub through Kansas over past couple of years and you're correct that they're usually not the lead loco. Occasionally I'll see some silver engines that are indicative that they are\were commuter pullers. Getting them out to work them over longer distance?
I know cars that aren't run much tend to have issues if they're not occasionally used for long trips.
 
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bnsf971 said:
Good morning. It's clear and 44.

Louis, DOT 5.1 fluid is glycol based, instead of DOT 5, which is silicone based.
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I thought I had everything I needed to do my front brakes, now I need brake fluid! :)

Thanks Terry

It's 5 years old, I think I'll look again into trading it in. I was already to buy the Mercedes Metris, but I just don't want to pay extra for all those "bells and whistles" I don't want or need!

I'm looking at a 4 door Colorado now, still too much extras, but it's cheaper and its a Chevy!

Anybody need front brake parts for a 2015 Chevy City Express/Nissan NV 200? No brake fluid.
 
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