Running Bear's August 2020 Coffee Shop


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Hello everybody .....

Coffee and a donut, please.

Trying to catch up.

Curt .... Good to see your progress.

Willie .... The MS layout looks very interesting.

Joe .... The sharks look great out of the box. Regarding Kadee scale size couplers, I have not used them because I think the smaller size would increase chances of unwanted uncoupling. .... I saw the MR article about a digital craft cutter in MR. I have not read it yet.

Guy .... Nice photos. CN 5287 definitely is overdue for the paint shop.

Louis.... I like the photos you post.

Everybody ...... Have a nice day.
 
Top of the morning to all!
It is 63F degrees (17C for you way up north folks) and om the way to 94F (34C) with clear sunny skies. Going on 10 weeks with nary a drop of moisture - we could once again use some of that excess water that you guys back East there receive?

YES, WILLIE - I never turn down a good old fashion cartoon - Road Runner tops the list - FOGHORN comes in a close second - and I could go on down the line.

I just may work up enough energy to complete a couple "lagging" projects later on. Wife is VERY slowly making progress ... we are fighting BP's all over the place with the doctor and it is leaving her very tired most of the time.

LOUIS, Joe - and others! Love the photos of the 1:1 and the models too!

GUY - Those are a GREAT set of pictures of the SD-40W - great work! I will save several of them. I was going to ask you about the "skeeters". When I was flying up there making a pit stop landing on the ALCAN h/w - they would .. like eat me alive .. but I would not trade that experience for anything.
 
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Did anyone read the article on incorporating a digital craft cutter as a tool for scratch building structures etc. in the September 2020 Model Railroader? has anyone used one of these in the hobby? The author used one to help him model blocks of Workingman's Row Houses, as part of his model railroad. These homes were built in most large and small cities along the East Coast during the Industrial Age. Myinterest in them was rekindled after reading an After Action report on the circumstance of a fatal house fire two years ago. The report included numerous graphics of interior and exterior construction of a house on a block built between 1880 and 1888.

If the MR article is about the Sonic cutter like what Micromart sells I have used one from a friend. A great tool IF IMO you have enough buildings to build from styrene scratch. My friend felt the same way and didn’t have enough structures to build and has sold it. I liked it for the quickness of the cuts. The clean cuts are no different then what you get using a new blade every build, but instead of multiple scribes for your cut it is just 1. If I were to start building a new layout of decent size, I would buy one as I do enjoy making a one off type of building. TomO
 
Good barely morning at 11:57am from Wisconsin. Got another email from UW-Madison’s AD Barry Alveraz and the school’s president announcing the cancellation of fall sports and mainly football. 3rd or 4th email the past 3 weeks. UW will lose between 60 and 100 million just due to football cancellation. This just refortifies my belief that giving a football, basketball or hockey player a scholarship at UW isn’t enough and the kids need some money. It is a BIG business.

Another doctor visit this afternoon, they have ruled out the COVID viruses and I basically begged for a Lymes test. They also then decided to do the West Nile or East for the mosquito disease. Took the sister to UPS to send 2 suitcases to her next stop in Desert Mountain, Arizona at our little brothers place. She will housesit for 2 months on her way to Pasedena and her daughter’s place. The little brother is staying in Hawaii. $150 for 2 suitcases, ouch!

Got my new lights for the layout yesterday but I am thinking of returning them as they are not as hangable as I thought. They can be hung but with a little more work. LED light tubes instead of the LED bulbs I have been using.

great work, pictures and discussions. Have a great day.

TomO
 
Afternoon All,

Felt really sluggish this morning, I've been moving around but still feel tired. Today I decided to install the turntable and make sure it is operating before doing the roundhouse and associated 3 tracks. I started by reaming out the hole for the pit a little bit since 1 side wasn't sitting flat. I also spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out why the control box wasn't powered when I verified the power leads from the provided wall wart had 12 VDC going into the controller. I then discovered that the bridge has to be in place to complete the circuit...I learned something new.o_O

Thank you all for the likes on the brick work yesterday.

Joe- Nice looking sharks. I have a A-A set hardwired together (1 QSI sound board, 2 speakers). They were the first locos that I put Cal Scale train phone antennas on. Not my best work but better than nothing. I also believe mine are 5 stripe but I use them for freight. They're boxed up and buried currently.

Willie- I'm sure you will be able to figure it out. More nice club photos.

Guy- That looks like a well used loco. I have always liked the Zebra or Sergeants stripes (depending on RR). Interesting rail truck.

TomO- I hope the docs can figure out what's going on and help you.

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I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Finally!!! Looks like the weatherman was right for once.
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First day to hit 100° since August 26, 2019. That was the only day last year that it hit 100°. Remember that I posted yesterday that we average 18 days a year of 100°+. No complaints here.
I am reminded of an incident in 2018 while an outside contractor was remodeling our master bathroom. He did the shower plumbing and then installed floor to ceiling ceramic tile. When the time came for him to test the water, he got instant hot water instead of cold water. Without asking, he went to the bathroom on the other side of the wall and cut into it to check his connections. They were correct and he was mystified. He then came out to the train shed to explain what had happened and that he would repair the other bathroom wall. I thought for a moment and then explained that because it was 110° outside and our house was on a pier and beam foundation, and the skirting had been removed when he did the new drain work; that the cold water pipe was then exposed to the 110° and that's where the hot water was coming from. He went back and ran it for a bit and confirmed that I was correct.
 
Evening, Everyone!
Willie - Gee, I hate to brag and make you feel bad, but, our day up in the north country is comfortably pleasant. If your thermometer was up here, I'd call it broke and throw it in the wastebasket. I just took a photo of our working model a few moments ago:
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All in fun, Willie!

Sherrel - Sure hope the wife is feeling better soon. Never met her, but I feel sorry for her due to the fact that you are a wonderful person. So I hope it gets better for you both. - We are lucky in Whitecourt, we don't have big issues with skeeters. It's like they don't cross the halfway mark between here and Fox Creek for some reason. And they only come out at night; I'm sure they are responsible for vampire folklore.

Curt - Some fine work going on at your table. Well done.

I took my wife down to the hospital auxillary sale downtown, and because I can't stand shopping with her, I went for another walk. Of course that mean't another clandestine photo-op into the CN yard. This is what I saw as I was walking in:
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I'll likely share some more photos tomorrow, as I don't have them all straightened away yet. That's an SD751 and a C40-8W on the left, and a pair of SD40's on the right.

Anyway, have a great night!
 
Gee, I hate to brag and make you feel bad, but, our day up in the north country is comfortably pleasant.
I don't feel bad at all. 61° is still shorts and tee shirt weather for me. I wear them from late February to mid December in this neck of the woods. I dislike temperatures below 30° F and snow on the ground for seven months of the year! Here, we have on average only six days a year that the temperature does not get above 32°. We're not quite South Florida, South Texas or Southern Kalifornia, but it will do. We have our drawbacks, but one never has to shovel sunshine!:cool:
All in good fun!
 
Morning all,

Supposed to be sunny and 92* today with heat index of 99*. We average about 10 days of 100 or more and I think we've had 1 so far this year, but the feels like (temp + humidity) have made it feel a lot worse. Unusually humid this year.

Time for coffee and a pecan roll this morning. I've not had time to get back to the train room yet this week.
 
If I would have beat a path to the computer, I could have been the first one to post this morning. I been up an hour and a half already!
Who cares right? Just could not go back to sleep after a pee trip!
Weather folks are calling for 95 and partly cloudy today - but they missed on the low side yesterday.
Made a quick trip to the food store for special Gatorade and some Propel Water for the misses as the doctors are trying to get her system in balance.

I have nothing new to report. but will be around ....
 
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