Running Bear's August 2020 Coffee Shop


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Good Morning Everyone...the sun is out and maybe some rain later in the day, I hope.

Looking forward to another afternoon in the train room. Going to exercise that GP38-2 and have it pull a train. There's also a C&NW SD-7 waiting for a run. This locomotive was from an Estate Sale and it was professionally refitted with a Tsunami sound decoder and LED's a real find for only $150. Its a great runner and has pulling power.

I'm finding more and more loose or broken truck power leads that have to be re-soldered. I check for this condition when I clean locomotive wheels on the programming track by lifting the locomotive under power and allowing only one truck at a time to get track power.

No projects in mind right now. A light brunch is planned with bacon from a Central Wisconsin butcher shop, thick sliced.

One other thing is I have to make another replacement Masonite track cleaning car. The current model likes to derail and I can't find the source of the problem. The Masonite does a nice job of dry cleaning the track.

I'll check back later...................

Greg

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Afternoon All,

Started with some chores then made a larger than normal piece of fascia for the UP5, toggle switch and the future control box for the TT. I also placed model wood around the edges of the ash pit and stained them with Hunterline Creosote. The 2 separate boards are to support the bare rail over the top of the pit (cosmetic). I also went to Lowes and picked up 2 cans of clear flat spray for the roundhouse project.

Louis- Nice photos. I especially like the older B&W ones.

Joe- Nice pictures. Sorry to hear about your power issues.

Terry- Stay safe.

Alan- That is top notch modeling.

TomO- Very nice layout photo.

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I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Good evening gang!

Been a rough couple of days, 3 days of bad headaches and constipation. today was the 1st day I felt good since Thursday. Being a player who always played hurt, I went to work anyway. Cleaned the basement, ran out to the LHS (1 hour away) and picked up some parts so I could knock down a few projects, dropped off the old tags for the Colorado (got new WMRwy Historical (hysterical?) Society tags) and that was it for me today.

Sherrel, glad to hear Kate is doing better.

Thats it for now!

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Evening,got some old Athearn Genesis 5161 for $10 each (8 total) and 2 free that were a bit beat up and one with a broken plastic coupler. Problem is these were the ones that had the small pocket and a Kadee won't fit. The #78 is what it needs with trimming the pocket. So I don't toss much out when it come to parts. Some #5 boxes #153 short shank couplers and some left over brass spruce from another project.The brass was used as a washer so to speak due to the small screws. When all is done off to the paint shop.
 

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Got a good start on the SP 3/4 dome interior. The sub flooring and framing are done, and the stairs are in. I'm laying out furniture now. Not easy. The furniture is going to need surgery. This interior had to be skinnied up to fit between the brass angles that hold the floor to the shell on a brass passenger car. That means a lot of "artistic license" to make things fit. The booths and sofas are all resin castings so they sand easily and aren't too hard to shape Tedious though!

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Morning all,

managed to get the outside chores done Friday before the heat really set in and Saturday and yesterday were even worse. Still 80 and humid with some pop up storms in the area. Supposed to be that way the remainder of the day.

Managed to get some train time yesterday, or modeling time anyway.

Started this:
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I'll start a build thread on it, but I did actually start an older model I picked up in on of the online auctions. We'll see how well I do.
I also laid some more of the grass mat on the grandson's layout as well. I'll see if he notices. I'm only gluing around the edges in case he decides on something different.
 
Good Morning All. It's clear and 77°, not yet sunny this far west. Still dodging that elusive 100° mark, forecast remains the same; hot, dry and southerly winds, for at least the next ten days.
Granddaughter is coming back tomorrow for another extended vacation for my daughter, so we spent part of yesterday removing all of the granddogs hair from the floors. Mom isn't taking this "no day care" thing too well, so we're offering some relief. Both she and her husband are working from home and keeping an eye on a five year old isn't always practical. My daughter has to do hour-long counseling sessions with abused children, so it requires locking herself in a room with Zoom and a kid somewhere. SIL is on conference calls and Zoom meetings most of the day as well. We also spent some time digging out and cleaning up the therapy equipment for use when she has her other knee replacement done next week.

Sunny side up eggs and a handful of bacon with an English Muffin on the side today, Flo.

Thanks for the likes and comments regarding the progress report yesterday; Tom O, Guy, Tom, Chad, Sherrel, Phil, Jerome, Mopac, Karl, Patrick.

Yesterday in the train shed, I fished around in the details cabinet and found some more bridge plates from some old flatcar kit. Resolves that issue.
Side by side with the "short" one from Walther's.
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The ones on the other ramp do not matter since I am modeling them in the up position anyway.
I also started painting a road between the piggyback facility and the two existing industries to the south, but didn't take a picture yet. Most of the rest of my time out there was spent running a few trains which I hadn't done in a couple of days.
In lieu of additional layout progress pictures, I will share a few shots that I took about a year ago at the Mississippi Coast Model Railroad Museum, in Gulfport MS.
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This is a must see attraction if you ever get to that area.

Joe - Re: power failure. That seems like a long time to be without power. While ours goes out for a few hours during thunderstorms sometimes, the longest we were without was probably eight hours. That was when a pickup smashed into and knocked down a power pole in the middle of the night. The power company, while on site, didn't want to put a new pole in until daylight. One of their contract employees said that they were drawing double overtime during the nighttime hours! Nice gig!
That Sound Shore tug brings back memories of the wharves in Brooklyn in the 50's.
Alan - That looked like a great layout.
Tom O - Sorry to read that you have been feeling bad. Get well soon. Yes, the real estate market in and around Austin has gone crazy and will get worse with Tesla coming in. Sadly, that will also bring in a lot of left-coasters.
Guy -
Willie - Nice sunrise; you were up earlier than me on this fine Sunday.
Actually I am usually up around 0430 CDT every morning. I just don't get to the Coffee Shop for a while. I catch up on E-Mails, overnight news stories and I go for a mile-long walk and a dip in the pool before coming here. When working, I always got up at 0400 (without an alarm) and in five years since retirement, I haven't broken that habit yet. I actually like being an early riser.
No need to be concerned about the repetitive Atlas posts, many of us do the same and we also enjoy those kinds of "build" posts.
Tom -
Willie- Wouldn't it be easier to notch out the ramp so the coupler goes under and the railcar buts up closer or an exention on the ramp sort of like an overhang.
Not really. The Walther's bridge plate is nothing more than a .030" piece of material, no embossing or any other details. The kit also has another ramp that I am not using in this scene with a notch in it. I will be using it in a transload scene to drive equipment off flatcars. I found a solution as described above.
Greg - Is your Masonite pad restricting wheelset movement?
Karl - Hope that you're feeling better soon.

Everybody have a great day.
 
Oh, by the way too. Ive just had a Win10 major OS upgrade. Took about an hour or so. Haven't had time to check out yet what they've stuffed up. Hope they've fixed my printers not working problem they caused on the previous update plus one. I hope the program for it reinstalls.
 
Update to 2004 (April 2020) has brought me some grief on some programs we use. Mostly due to vendors not trying to keep up with Microsoft (losing the ability to print from these programs in a web browser). While we have the physical servers here, they use web browsers to access. Vendors solution is to revert back to the older version (1909 or 1903). I hate the constant update cycle.
 
Good Morning, Everyone!
Supposed to pick up the G-kids and head to the corn maze in Stony Plain for a family day, but, the weather looks to be too poor for the 2hr trip, so we are going to settle on a day at Paddle Dam. There is a fine playground there for the kids, and I can birdwatch. Looks like the hot temps are going to be cooling off for the next while, with highs only reaching the upper 40's. That's my kind of temperatures; but, I know some find it a bit cool.

A couple of fine modelers have said they don't mind the repetitive subject matter, so I will keep posting the market progress. Since I bought the kit, I never did like it. The kit just seems way too toy-like and I believe it has serious scale issues. Window and door frames are thick and the awning is far to low; I like the brick work relief, though.
In this photo you can see Rebecca in the doorway. Either she is an Amazon warrior, or something is messed up in scale. Both the figure and the building are Atlas; although, I do believe the building is originally Life-Like.
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If I can live through this family day thing, I will be putting in the window glass next. Not sure if I'll use the thick plastic supplied, or cut my own from blister-pack garbage.
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Willie - Wonderful layout photos from the museum. As far as I know, we have nothing like that up here. Canadians don't seem to do much of the museum thing. I would like to visit a rail museum with a giant layout.
Patrick - I like the tower you are working on, and I will be following with interest. I would prefer wood over plastic, but, I did purchase a few plastic kits almost solely for the brick look:
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I only need a few brick buildings, though, so after these are built, plastic will likely be history for me. The UPS will become a bank; the hobby shop a hardware, and the DPM a town hall.

I'm gonna finish my coffee, enjoy my toasted grd beef-n-cheese, and them go pick up the G-kids for the day.
Have a good one!
 
Good Morning gang!

Flo, is it too early for a beer? 🍺

Good morning. It's sunny and 72.
Gotta love computer glitches...

Oh, by the way too. Ive just had a Win10 major OS upgrade. Took about an hour or so. Haven't had time to check out yet what they've stuffed up. Hope they've fixed my printers not working problem they caused on the previous update plus one. I hope the program for it reinstalls.

Update to 2004 (April 2020) has brought me some grief on some programs we use. Mostly due to vendors not trying to keep up with Microsoft (losing the ability to print from these programs in a web browser). While we have the physical servers here, they use web browsers to access. Vendors solution is to revert back to the older version (1909 or 1903). I hate the constant update cycle.

Fellas, I feel your pain! Coincidentally I did a Windoze 10 update on my home (64bit) PC Saturday. Then the damn speakers wouldn't work, I did find the magic button that allowed them to work. I also attempted to do the 32 bit machine that I use for programming with JMRI and Loksound. It would not update even though it is fully capable. Some error message regarding authentication. Also, the PC meddlers were here at work upgrading all the units in the service dept to Windoze 10 . 7:20 this morning I was on the phone with them trying to get several of our "gadgets" that we use to scan incoming cars into the system to work.:mad:

Needless to day, I just wanna go home and play with my trains at this point. 🚂
 
Good morning from a very calm and humid So. Central Wi. It will be an uncomfortable day outside. I was thinking about possibly cutting the grass but the brain says no. Not sure what today will bring as I have a tele-visit with my doctor in a few minutes. Hopefully she has some answers about my fatigue. Pictured below, the double chimney is the Recovery boiler building, the building with the red, EMS door is machine building 2 and 3. Have a great morning and enjoy your day. TomO
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I am Joining Karl in the BEER line!
Nothing worked to recover the "post in working" - usually ... I have had them come back, but not this one.
Gotta love computer glitches...
TERRY must have had a premonition earlier?
I try and get my nerve up later on.

Thanks for all the well wishes. Wife's doing as well as can be expected - she already wishing for a change in the menu, but basically she is very restricted on what she can have and at a 2 oz. a meal four times a day sure isn't much when it is only a mushy substance.

I'm trying to get my phone to link with my computer this morning -- not having much luck there either!
Have a good day, folks - need to get moving here?
 
Good Morning Everyone....mostly overcast here with strong storms on the way here for later.

Willie:
I checked the Masonite and the wheel-sets for clearance and everything checked out. It must be one of those HO pieces of rolling stock with a mind of its own.

Not much to report on anything here.

I be back later.....

Greg

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