Running Bear's Cofee Shop LI

[IronBeltKen]

Greetings from central MD, we're at 66*F with a stiff breeze. Much better than Saturday.

Karl - did you ever find the time to get that 2-8-0 running?

Terry, I always like looking at your coal drag videos with all the C&O/B&O coal hoppers in them.

Carey - I feel your pain! I can't go anywhere here in MD without being tailgated, even if I'm doing 8 mph over the speed limit. The prevailing attitude here seems to be that if you're not going fast enough to risk getting pulled over, you're either (1) a wimp or (2) a goody-two-shoes. There seems to be a large number of angry people on the roads these days.

{E}ric - at least the lights you damaged were not too expensive. I ruined an NJ International flashing crossbuck because I had it mounted on a piece of terrain I made from tile grout. That stuff is like concrete once it dries. When I pried the crossbuck loose, the wires broke off inside the shaft, rendering it useless. A $35 lesson learned...

* * *
Didn't have very much time of "my own" today. We went to the 12:00 noon mass, because an old friend of ours was having her wedding there. It was 2:30 by the time we got out of the reception. After getting home I had to mow my lawn since I couldn't do it during the deluge yesterday. Then came suppertime and the after-meal cleanup. But at least there was just enough daylight left for me to go outside and spraypaint a few more street sections in aged concrete and faded asphalt colors. I desparately wanted to get that particular task done since Tuesday (my next available stretch of free time) is predicted to be raining again; I won't need to go outside to paint on the double yellow lines.

 

[BigE]

Yeah, Ken. Maybe 10 bucks or so shipping included.
I don't mind a $10 lesson learned the hard way.

Time to hit the couch or the bed upstairs......
E.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's clear and 59.

 

[PrairieKnight]

Good morning Terry,

I enjoy reading this thread in the morning. I thought I would reply while I have a cup of tea at the office this morning:

CSX: I am about to embark on doing a roadway on my 4 X 8 in the basement. This will be my first attempt. I got some great advice from the folks here on the forum as to what to use the make the HO roadway. I would love to see a pic of the roads you are working on. I have read where a 2 lane rural state highway or county road HO scale should be 2 1/2 " wide. This would be for a double yellow center lines with fog lines near the shoulder. What size are you making your roads?

Has anyone driven on the Ohio Turnpike lately? I will be traveling east bound towards Cleveland in a week or so. Last time I was on that road they had a bumper crop of orange barrels and more State Troopers then you could count watching the speed in the construction zones.

Cloudy and dry here at the moment..but that will change I am sure.

 

[logandsawman]

Good morning guys, we have 68 degrees and sunny. The humidity is high this morning and looks like we may get some thunder later on.

 

[BigE]

Morning. Wow. Only 66 here right just before 0900 hours.
Almost feels like early fall.
Yeah, that won't last.
Looks like the caulk works just fine for sticking the lights down. Guess I'll stick down the rest - after I get woke up.
This CSX line about a mile from the house has got to be one of the most active lines I have ever heard.
It wouldn't be so bad except there are 2 crossings both within fairly easy walking distance from here so that means I "get" to hear practice of Rule 14(L) repeatedly through the night. Seems like at point I was hearing that about every 10 minutes for an hour.
I finally got tired of it and came down stairs and slept on the couch.
Suppose I could just move that A/C window unit to another room and close the window. That would be ok. I don't use that window unit all that much anyway.
E.

 

[montanan]

Good morning. I didn't post over the weekend because my computer desk is covered with tool and plumbing supplies for bathroom remodeling. I kept up to date on TapTalk, but sure hate to try to make posts on the phone. Yes, I hate texting too.

I bit hot up here having been in the mid 90's over the weekend and more expected this week. Very unusual up here. I did finally quit work on the remodeling and went down into the cool basement and ran trains for a while to get away from the heat. They still work. With the original BLI chip Terry sent me for the heavy mike, it can now be controlled, but I can see why he changed the chip because with the BLI chip the sound is not as good as the Quantum chip. Personally, I can live without the sound. I usually have the radio on anyway.

Carey - there's nothing you can do about drivers when they're in a "hurry". All you can do is consider the source. Last week I had some woman from out of state that was in a hurry. There was a reduced speed limit in the area I was driving for crews installing fiber optic cables and the speed was set at 35 mph. I was doing just a bit over (37) but she was desperate to pass. The highway was 2 lane but she decided to pass in a left turn lane for oncoming traffic. Real smart, but she got the attention of a State Trooper who she almost hit head on. Signs were clearly posted for a construction zone and a sign was also posted for fines being doubled in work zones. YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID.

BigE - the lights look fine to me. Here's a math problem. Take the lumens emitted by the lights and convert it to HO scale. Personally, I would leave them alone as they look great the way they are. Looks like you're moving right along.

 

[BigE]

BigE - the lights look fine to me. Here's a math problem. Take the lumens emitted by the lights and convert it to HO scale. Personally, I would leave them alone as they look great the way they are. Looks like you're moving right along.

That's a good question Chet.
How many lumens does a 1mm white LED put out with a 620Ω resistor inline with a 12vdc source?

I suppose if anyone complains my flood-loading tower lights are too bright, I'll just tell them those are sodium lights like they use on the fishing boats from "Deadliest Catch" shows.
However, mine seem to have a mild blueish tint so maybe I should say they are halogen lamps like in a gymnasium.
E.

 

[GarryCBQ]

Good morning .

What did I miss in recent days here?

A few days ago, I told about my model train friend whose basement in northern IL was flooded. .... He and his wife were in Florida, and originally planned on driving through here so they could visit a few days. They had called to cancel so they could hurry home. ... It turns out, they heard from their daughter and son-in-law about the basemnt. The daughter and son-in-law had cleaned up the mess and the sump pump was working fine again. ... So they were able to visit for 2 1/2 days. ... We had good times with them. We ran some trains, and I am pleased to say Murphy was absent. No derailments, etc. ...

I'll read posts and catch up later today.

Happy Model Railroading.

 

[Trussrod]

Good morning Spike Ponder & Rail benders, I was hoping to make my post here before it reached 12:00 Pm East Coast time but guess that wasn't meant to be. I got stalled at the water plug just a short ways from Jeffreys' Dinner and then got to talking with Francine & Flo and now you guys so my Sears & Roebuck pocket watch says it's about 9:09 Am here or 12:09 Pm there on the East Coast.


Chet: Being in the 90*s for your area really feels quite hot and maybe humid too I would imagine? Not a pleasant change I'm sure.

Garry: Glad to hear your friends daughter and Son-IL were able to take care of the problem and hopefully before any damage happened, or at least I hope so.


Oh gosh, I forgot I left the tender filling again, even at a reduced rate of flow I'll bet the rail bed is soaked again. The tracks already have somewhat of a dip to them there. Oh, God, there's the C & S West Supperintendant shaking his head! I can almost guarantee I'm going to get fired or demoted again and all cause I wanted to spend a little time jawing to you guys and of course the ladies. Holy BeJesus can't they cut an Old guy with a poor memory some slack? Yep, another day older and deeper in debt, I owe my soul to the Company Store! Sure enough I was not only fired but I was docked a weeks pay. I'm sure glad I'm the only Hogger they have on this line as I can get all that waived just by threatening not to run his Loco's for him and the fireman is also a friend of mine so the Super needs us both!



Have a good day and stay cool.

 

[montanan]

Trussrod - we are already up to 91, but thankfully up here our humidity is low, but the heat still isn't comfortable. Think I may pick an air conditioner on the way home this afternoon. I can always go down to the basement where it's cool even on the hottest days, but our bedroom faces west and is a bit uncomfortable in the evening when it's hot out.

I feel bad for those that live in areas with high humidity. Sure didn't hurt my feelings when I finally got out of Florida.

 

[GarryCBQ]

David ... Regarding water damage to my friends trains. Boxes were ruined by the water, but the trains should be okay. His daughter removed the trains from the wet boxes and put them on towels on a table to dry. Trains should be fixable, but I have not heard if that is so.

We don't need a sump pump here because we are on a hillside, but work has been done to make sure water flows around the house in a downpour.

 

[BigE]

Boy did I get a lot done on the trains today!!!
Got all my lights mounted and wired.
Got a dummy RS-3 couplers swapped out so I can use it. Had to add a bunch of weight to it.
Fixed a couple big dips in the track that my ballasting efforts apparently caused.
Put a bunch more cars and a consist put on the rails.
Got out my old "sack of trees" and put them on.
Put the buildings back on and started on rebuilding one of them.
It almost looks like a "real" railroad now appears to be more occupied instead of that empty space.
You can find pics and details about some of that in the Scenery section and in the Locomotive section. Terry saw me there in the latter earlier.
I feel GOOD about today's efforts.
I'm a happy railroader today!

 

[BigE]

(the rest of the pics)
I'm really pleased with that corner where I've down some grass cover.
I have other scenery materials but the future Mrs. White is currently employed as the artistic director at the "Grand Model Russia".
Until then I really am about clueless when it comes to artistic creativity.
I am about half-tempted to just put some beach sand in the yard area to simulate plain old dirt. That dirt cover I have on there now is just plain old red GA clay out of the backyard. Yes, I sterilized it by baking.

 

[BigE]

Nice work Eric!

I didn't get much accomplished over the weekend. I'm still trying to get an outline of my layout in an electronic form so I can edit it easier.... It has been on paper for over a month. You'd think a Network Admin would be able to get this accomplished easier.

It was sunny and high of 95 today and supposed 98 tomorrow....

Thanks Patrick.

And you'd think a 30+ year software engineer and sometimes land surveyor (throw in a little civil engineering on roads) would have access to some sort of AutoCAD type program - nope.
I just can't seem to get my brain around SCARM or XTrkCAD.

Nothing wrong at all with drafting by hand. I love it. It's becoming a lost art (might already be) - just like writing proper cursive, or just writing at all for that matter.
E.

 

[PRR Modeler]

Evening All,

Had Salmon for supper. The 1 day painting job at my daughters house doing siding turned into 2 days because of rain, but it was finally finished today. Today the trees I have been waiting on finally came in today, so tomorrow I plan on putting them in and possibly some details like deer and bears. I haven't accomplished anything on the layout the last 2 days. I will post a pic tomorrow.

Ken- I know what you mean about turn signals. I think most people in Florida have no idea what they do.

Eric- You are doing a great job on your layout. I really like the photos today.

Milw113- You are sure accumulating a great library on the Milw RR.

I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[IronBeltKen]

Good evening. 73*F and calm here in central MD, with clouds rolling in slowly from the west. Last time I checked, TWC had downgraded the predicted severity of the T-storms that we'll be getting tomorrow.

Garry - glad your friend's water damage wasn't as bad as he initially thought.

{E}ric - the foliage really makes that corner of your layout come to life!

Patrick - did you try the XtrkCAD Tutorial? Those exercises helped me learn it within 30 minutes.

Chet - bummer about the heat wave! If I was in that kind of heat with no A/C I'd bring a sleeping bag into the basement.

TrussDavid - In your state, I'd be more concerned about the Water Police citing you for wasting water...

Curt - I'll be interested in seeing the scale deer when you get them. I can't really use them in my layout because it is too urban, and during my era deer hadn't yet invaded residential neighborhoods like they have in my state!

... CSX: I am about to embark on doing a roadway on my 4 X 8 in the basement. This will be my first attempt. I got some great advice from the folks here on the forum as to what to use the make the HO roadway. I would love to see a pic of the roads you are working on. I have read where a 2 lane rural state highway or county road HO scale should be 2 1/2 " wide. This would be for a double yellow center lines with fog lines near the shoulder. What size are you making your roads? ...

PK - Regarding the size, I make my pavement surfaces 3.25" wide. That way all of my scale vehicles, including heavy mack trucks, will fit between the double yellow lines and the white shoulder stripe. I snapped a few pix using my cellphone, so the quality isn't the greatest...

Here are the raw materials I used for the asphalt roads: Evergreen black sheet styrene .040"; Krylon Dark Gray Primer for the base coat; Krylon Ultra-Flat Khaki to make it look "dirty"; and Wal-Mart brand light gray primer to create a faded appearance. I wanted a mix of colors since a single color would look too toylike [IMHO]:

A section of asphalt road painted in the three colors shown in the previous photo, before adding lines:

Some Walthers "Street System" Concrete street sections painted in Krylon Ultra-Flat Khaki, I'm using these in my "downtown" scene:

Here is a road section I did ~3 weeks ago. The photo makes the surface look darker than it actually is...

Tomorrow I plan to work on the stripes. I'll try to include a few step-by-step photos.

It's getting late and 5:00am comes up awfully fast. G'night, see you all tomorrow.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's mostly clear and 70.

 

[montanan]

Good morning to all. I did pick up a small air conditioner just for the bedroom yesterday. We were sitting around 97 degrees. By the time I got it installed, the sweat was rolling off of me, but it did work. - - - - - - - - - - And then, we had some thunder showers move in. We went from 96 degrees to 68 degrees in less than an hour. Didn't need the A/C last night, but now I am prepared.

Ken - nice work on the grade crossing. Really like it. Thanks for the idea. If I ever get to work in the train room, I will have to remember this. I have found that using spray paints such as Krylon can be quite a time saver by not having to spend time cleaning an air brush for projects like this. I'll still use the air brush for finer projects, but I do have a large stash of rattle cans now.

Big E - The layout is looking good. It was nice to see the progress over time.

Enjoyed seeing Tony's G Scale working. Mother nature didn't give him a break, but he got a train running. Waiting to see how he moves on with the project. I can see dwarf trees, a water feature, sidings and industries. Who know.

Garry - hope your friend is able to salvage everything from water damage.

Ken - In Florida, turn signals are optional. Some people have been known to use the turn signal to dry clothing. I was a trooper there for 7 years. Sure don't miss the blue hairs.

 

[logandsawman]

Good morning, we have 65 and cloudy. Supposed to have gotten a cool front so are looking at very comfortable weather for the 4th.

Ken--nice tutorial on your road building method!