Running Bear's Cofee Shop LI


Good morning. Looks like we're going to get the heat that some others of you have had. Highs into the 90's for the next few days. Starting off at 56 this morning.

Curt - nice work. Looking real fine. I also liked the shot of the meat packing plant and icing platform.

Guess I had better finish my coffee and get to work. We're going to gut the first bathroom and get a new tub installed so the room will be ready for out tile man to get to work. I have also finally recieved a new computed desk so I can replace the monstrosity I have now.

I received the original chip for the BLI 2-8-2 and it now can be controlled very easily. Now I have to find a way to remove the original marking the it came with for the Southern RY and also figure out how to replace the dummy coupler on the pilot with an operational Kadee. Thisk that will be a future project. Too much work to get done.

Catch you later, gonna get going before it gets hot.
 
Good afternoon all, it's another Hot one,

Hello Francine, just something cold to drink, Ice water sounds just fine.


Per WW: It's Clear & Hot or getting there;
It's 99.5 °F - Feels Like 97 °F due to a bit of a cool breeze;

Wind are from the ESE at 6.3 mph.



Garry, I'm sorry to hear that happened to your friend! I narrowly avoided the same fate in early summer 2011, when we had a torrential downpour followed by a power outage. I watched the water level rising in the sump, then started shuttling 5-gallon buckets full of water up the stairs and out the front door. The sump would re-fill back up to its previous level in the amount of time it took me to haul a bucketful out, so I could barely keep up with it during the two-hour outage. That experience convinced me to invest in a Basement Watchdog battery-powered backup sump pump, with a battery that could provide 12 hours of continuous running after being fully-charged. It was a real lifesaver when Hurricane Irene hit a few months later and knocked out our power.

* * *
I just got back from an op session at the house of an old friend in Hagerstown, one of my steel mill-modeling buddies. My particular job this time was to run the Beaver Falls Local, switching industries in an area with trackwork as complex as a Timesaver - but that's precisely what made it fun, it certainly kept me occupied! I also got to meet one of my online friends from "across the street"; he grew up near Cleveland and knows alot about the area I'm modeling. All in all, a great evening.

It's long past my bedtime, time to go. Those of you in the path of Tomorrow's monsoon - stay dry! (David in Cali, stay cool!)


Say Ken:
Thanks for the, 'Stay Cool', that absolutely necessary for sure and I do my best.

I also go along with you and tell Garry I'm sorry to hear about his friends flooding problem, I sure hope it wasn't too bad?

A battery operated sump pump is something I hadn't heard of before. I did replace my late Aunts' tall pedestal sump pump which was froze up with rust in Massachusetts when I was handling her estate with a submersible one that some. The battery back-up unit sure sounds like a good thing when power outages happen.

Glad you had an interesting time doing the switching, that has always intrigued me too.



Okay, there seems to be a temporary lull in the festivities. I would much rather have a nice, gentle, soaking rain, after several weeks of nothing. That way, the water would be able to soak in to the soil, and do something besides cause floods.

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A slow steady soaking rain is a lot better than a great down pour that runs off.

I like your coffee RX pill bottle mug!


Morning Gents. Low 70s and rain here today. Predicted high of only 83 today. Much better than those high 90s all week.

Except for getting held up in traffic on occasion I haven't been around many trains at all.
Working on a survey crew got me up close and personal a couple of times.
One day in particular caused me all kinds of grief being the instrument operator setup about 10' from an active rail line on rain soaked soil. Liquefaction is definitely not a land surveyor's friend.
E


Being around trains and the boggy ground reminded me of the time about 25 yrs ago that thhe SP yard was flooded and at least some of the rails and ties were lifting up out of the mud as my friend/Engineer said he operated the switch engine. As he put it, 'It was rather freaky'!


Hope everyone has a good day.

Time for some icecreme, good thing I went yesterday evening to get another 5 quarts.
 
good afternoon, it's 97F. Very dry and hot, so far, we have had less than a quarter of an inch of rain this month. Forest fires are becoming a real problem with 70% of the provincial fire budget is already spent and it is only the end of June. My house is not in danger but houses several miles out of town could be. People throwing lit cigarettes out the windows of cars and careless campfire use are a big contributor. Lightening contributes to 60% of the forest fires the experts tell us.

Not doing much today, MOH is dragging me along on her grocery shopping trips, fun fun.

Hope your Saturday is going great.

Mel
 
Good evening. 67*F and wetter than the bottom of Niagra Falls. Well maybe not quite, but after the early evening's heavy downpours, I got to see flash flooding on my own property for the first time. I was heading out on what was supposed to be a routine errand, and the court that I live on was partially submerged. Rivers of rainwater were flowing down my front lawn to the street. But that wasn't the worst of it: When I got out of my neighborhood, I discovered the main road was closed because of a fallen tree. No problem I thought, I'll just go the alternate route. No joy there either, after ~4 miles I came to a spot where there was a stream of water 100ft wide and ~6" deep flowing rapidly across the road. Turn around don't drown. I didn't want to end up like some of the unfortunate people in WeatherChannel videos.

The steady (but calmer) rainfall this morning was perfect model railroading weather. But that wasn't meant to be; the console alarm on the Basement Watchdog sump pump [that I mentioned in my previous post] was beeping, and I spent a few hours replacing wires that had corroded from the battery acid. That wasn't enough though, apparently the 4yr-old battery was at the end of its useful life, so my son and I drove out in the pouring rain to get a new battery. That finally silenced the alarm! With the high probability of outages being predicted, I didn't want this thing failing me. No outages happened; the best way for me to guarantee an outage won't occur is to be fully prepared for one.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
 
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Several fires around here last year started by someone, one way or another, along the edge of the road. One was about 6tenths of a mile above me Things in Central California are very dry too.

We very seldom get lightning strikes in the summer at my local but it not impossible.


Ken: That so true, the back up can't work without a good battery.

The sky out my way was quite overcast and looked somewhat promising of some rain but I guess not as I see the Sun at least peaking through not but then again maybe it's clouding up again. I hope so and for Rain!
 
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Good evening Gang!

Yeah, I bet some of you thought I fell off the planet, but not so. Co-workers on vacation, so guess who has to work 12+ hour days. Leaves little if any play time.

Its cold drink time! Just got back from a trip to Hanover PA, the spousal unit wanted to do some shopping, and get a new bistro set for the back deck. She picked on out a Wally World, but none of the local stores had one, and they would not ship one in. We found the one online at Hanover, so she called ahead and had it set aside. Of course, it was raining (As Ken said) so driving sucked, plus I think the drivers in PA have a genetic disorder, that causes an aversion to flashing lights, namely turn signals. Some real mental midgets out there! :rolleyes:

I did make some progress today on the brass 2-8-0 I'm rebuilding. Most of the boiler shell is complete, and the chassis is awaiting a new can motor. The open front of the cab has been filled with a complete backhead, with stoker. Might actually get it to turn a driver tomorrow, after I hang new lights in the garage!!

Looking over the threads, I see new locos, trees and other goodies. Keep making progress gang!! :cool:
 
Good late evening friends,
Since my prior post I seemed as though it was cooling of a bit while I was watering the front lawn, if you can call patches here and there a lawn.

As it seemed a bit cooler and the String Trimmer had a full tank of gas I decided to cut back an area across the driveway to give myself more clearance in case of fire, heaven forbid. So I again cut an area of 100 x 70 most of which was Oats at least 12" high and others at least 18". I even tuned up the String Trimmer as it was just a factory preset which seemed a bit rough. Now it's much smoother and has more power/responsive.

Anyway after a good shower I'm beat, see you tomorrow.
 
Morning fellers,
Only 65 here this morning around 0530. Nice break from the past few weeks heat.
E
 
Good morning. It's sunny and 65.

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Good morning folks.

Apparently it stormed last night. That's funny, I didn't hear a thing! Our house is pretty solid and well insulated for the cold months so we tend to not hear the weather like we use to in our townhouse.

The back drop has a nice coat of blue paint on it. Now the decision is whether to try to paint the trees on it while it's in the garage or do it with the backdrop in place on the layout. Both ways have their advantages. I've also been enjoying getting caught up on my MR magazines. I am reading march right now I believe. I enjoy reading them sometimes but I decided to let my subscription lapse at least until I catch up reading them. We'll see if I renew or not.

I hope everyone has a good and flood free day!
 
Good morning Gandy Dancer friends,
Hi Flo and Francine, whatever happened to Terrys' new gal? Oh, she ran off with some guy named Big E I think I heard her say. No fooling! Well I be darn and that guy has been keeping it a secret too! Some guys have all the luck. That's alright Francine, your still my favorite, oh you too Flo.
I'll have a couple of eggs, semi scrambled and a sausage paddy and of course coffee.


Lets see what WW says: Partly Cloudy, >it is and I hope it completely clouds up and rains!<
It's 94.8 °F - Feels Like 93 °F

Winds are from the SW at 5.3 mph., Humidity is at 25%? {a guess] as the extended forecast doesn't seem to want to come up.


Well time for me to get out and water the new grass seed I planted in a few test spots to see what was going to happen?


Talk with you all later.
 
Hey! I'm actually getting some train work done today!!
Fixed on loco that had a loose connection, took care of a few more bad spots on the track after ballasting, ran my consist a few laps. Started mounting the new yard lights also! I'll post some pics of the new lights once I'm done.
I might just end up with a fairly productive train day.

I just came down stairs to "freshen my drink" i.e. get another beer and back off upstairs.

Later on train-heads.
E.
 
New weather up-date:
'Very Cloudy', 'it actually rained a bit while I was out watering but not enough to make any difference. I had to laugh at the irony of it, 'I'm saying, Rain-rain-rain' here in the Central Calif foothills', while many of you are saying, 'Stop raining, stop raining, stop raining'! We are in a drought situation and many of you are being flooded unfortunately. Seems to be no rhyme or reason to it?

Very not Partly Cloudy;

85.8 °F - feels like 85 °F

Winds are from the West at 6.3 mph.

Today is forecast to be Much Cooler than yesterday. Thank God.

Todays High 94 | Low 67 °F

0% Chance of Precip, 'that was proven wrong but only for a bit'.


Oh, While I'm thinking about it, to all who have served in the U.S. Military, 'Thank you for your service'!
 
Hmmm.... I don't know about these new lights. They seem mighty dim.
To look at them straight on they are plenty bright. In their mounted positions they almost seem light a light-piss-yellow.
I didn't glue them down yet. I'll wait until it gets dark out to check again. Even with the blinds in the room closed it's still pretty dam bright in there.
Guess, I'll wait till dark.
E.
 
Eric, What you've written is conflicting? First your saying they seem mighty dim and then you say they are plenty bright straight on. They're only a small blub but if you have several in close proximity like in a prior shot they will light up an area I'm sure. Of course it depends on the light in the room too I'm sure.

Also if they were too bright and your exposure took any of them into account they would look very bright in the picture unless you toned them down with your photo program.
 
Eric, What you've written is conflicting? First your saying they seem mighty dim and then you say they are plenty bright straight on. They're only a small blub but if you have several in close proximity like in a prior shot they will light up an area I'm sure. Of course it depends on the light in the room too I'm sure.

Allow me to clarify David.
Here is a pic to compare.


That's a 4" engineer/architect scale in between for reference.
The one on the top with the angled over-hang is one of the older ones. The double-hooded T is the new.
Maybe it is just because of the new ones not being angled that I don't see the brightness as readily as before.

What I meant by "viewed straight on" was to plug one up, turn it upside down and look directly at the light. Granted these are only little 1mm (+/-) LED lights in them. Both have the same size lights and both were said to be "bright white".

Like I said, I'll see what they look like when it gets darker enough to tell.
Any photos you have previously seen were the older ones. I haven't mounted the new ones yet so haven't bothered with a pic yet.
E.
 

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Spent the weekend on the road. Had to take grandson to Memphis, Tn. to meet the other Grandparents. He'll be staying a week with them. When I was on here yesterday, it was from the hotel business center. We got to Memphis after driving through some rough weather, and the trip home this morning was beautiful! Not a cloud in the sky, temps in the upper 70's after a week of high 90's and heat indices over 105`.

I drove some and then the wife drove some after my arms felt like had been through a wringer. Today, with the lower humidity, wasn't so bad. Now this is what gets me. We're on what will be the new I-22, between Birmingham and Memphis. The speed limit is 70mph. But if you go that "slow" people run up on your bumper, (and I'm in the right "slow" lane), flash their lights at you, and get mad because a. you don't speed up to their speed, and b. they are "forced" to move into the left lane to pass you. Don't know how many times I got flipped off today, and I was even running at 75mph, as long as there was someone in front doing likewise.

Let them break their necks trying to get where their going! I don't have the money to give the states of Tn, Ms, and Al for the privilege of driving at 80-90mph on a crowded road on a Sunday. Some of them must have as the troopers in all three states surely were busy! Also saw three wrecks, two of them involving some of those drivers who flipped me off!:D Don't mean to laff at them, but there's nothing I like more than karma. I haven't had a ticket in more than 40 years, and I don't intend to start now.
 
Maybe that ain't so bad. I'll stick them down later on.
It occurred to me I had the voltage turned down.
Probably doesn't help I still just have dirt cover in the yard area (and most everywhere).
You can see I have put down grass cover in that one photo however.
I guess I'm ok with this.
Hell, I'm kind of just "winging it" anyhow. No matter. Gives me something do in peace and quiet.... and I am TOTALLY down with that!!
E.
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After just about completely ruining 6 of my older lights taking them up, I'll try the caulk thing this time.
I MAY be able to salvage 2 of them and 1 I have already re-purposed.

Well crap! I just knocked over the better part of entire beer just now.
Maybe I'd best wait until tomorrow.
Nah, it was a simple boo boo.
I'll set 1 or 2 in place and see how that works out.

Just so you all know, I did order some WS Hob-E-Tac. Price wasn't bad (shipping is always the killer).
I'll still try the caulk tonight as well to see what works for me. Of course in case my quandary was about to stuff up without destroying it. I will not likely use hot glue on scenery again unless it's some sort of casted material like plaster.

Chalk that up to a learning experience. I don't have such deep pockets (or a job) to pull and thus why I ask so many questions before doing anything.
E.
 



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