Sherrel, it's thumbnail. Hover and left click to enlarge.
Running Bear's Coffee Sbop LXIX
- Thread starter BigE
- Start date
Raincoat2
Well-Known Member
Good morning everyone. 48 here in SW MO, only hitting 50s today. Hey, someone tell Canada to shut their back door! Hey Flo, top off this cup of joe, please!
Sherrel, Louis, others - Yeah, let the World Series begin. Classic matchup: great pitching vs great hitting, although I think the edge goes to the Dodgers.
Not much from the train room - spent most of t he evening in the wood shop finishing a dozen or so crafts for the fair. Did some gluing on the repair shop build and the rural overpass. Playing Christmas music all over the house these days. I guess Christmas season is officially here since I bought my first present for MOH. (PS - she's been buying presents for months now for our grandkids. Just like a grandmother, ain't it?)
Have a good day everyone.
Sherrel, Louis, others - Yeah, let the World Series begin. Classic matchup: great pitching vs great hitting, although I think the edge goes to the Dodgers.
Not much from the train room - spent most of t he evening in the wood shop finishing a dozen or so crafts for the fair. Did some gluing on the repair shop build and the rural overpass. Playing Christmas music all over the house these days. I guess Christmas season is officially here since I bought my first present for MOH. (PS - she's been buying presents for months now for our grandkids. Just like a grandmother, ain't it?)
Have a good day everyone.
santafewillie
Same Ol' Buzzard
Good Morning All. 49° and clear. Will be a cool one today with the high maybe reaching 70°. Planted the spring garlic crop yesterday; it grows through the winter in this planting zone. I also stacked up all of the firewood that I cut Saturday. Looks like I have a bit over half of our normal winter needs ready to go.
Out in the train shed, I painted some more Preiser figures partly to clear the workbench a bit and also because I am in that mode right now. Been looking at an area a scale 165' x 200' to develop next. Another similar sized area next to it is already half of an industrial park contained within a "turnback loop". Have to leave room for a road, two RR sidings and two industries about 45' wide each. The industries will have to be made out of modular components (Pikestuff) or sheet styrene (concrete tilt-wall maybe). Meanwhile I cleared out about 20 freight cars that have been stored there so I can better envision the space.
Thanks for the ongoing comments regarding the museum pictures, Chet, Garry, Curt and anybody else that I may have missed. That Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Jackson MS is really a great place to visit. There are many other exhibits besides the three model railroad layouts. The HO scale one that I have been posting really is detailed. I wish that some of the pictures that I haven't posted came out better, but that plexiglass wall does inhibit photo-ops.
Johnny - No, never been to the Dr. Pepper plant. I'm not a regular soft drink imbiber, but you are right that DP is one of the better ones. Nice workbench, mine once looked like that at the end of it's first day of existence. Pondering businesses and industries here also, I estimate that I have 100+ sq ft left to fill in, although I do have a number of structures filling in space while I am still imagineering.
Terry - Fuzzy dice and a "dancing hula girl" on the rear window deck! Both still available brand new today!
Curt - Time to vote for a new school board.
Sherrel -
Looks like you got the picture download to work. Nice shot of your backyard.
No pictures today as I didn't have time to review what's left, but there are more that I just have to sort through.
Everybody have a great day.
Willie
Out in the train shed, I painted some more Preiser figures partly to clear the workbench a bit and also because I am in that mode right now. Been looking at an area a scale 165' x 200' to develop next. Another similar sized area next to it is already half of an industrial park contained within a "turnback loop". Have to leave room for a road, two RR sidings and two industries about 45' wide each. The industries will have to be made out of modular components (Pikestuff) or sheet styrene (concrete tilt-wall maybe). Meanwhile I cleared out about 20 freight cars that have been stored there so I can better envision the space.
Thanks for the ongoing comments regarding the museum pictures, Chet, Garry, Curt and anybody else that I may have missed. That Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum in Jackson MS is really a great place to visit. There are many other exhibits besides the three model railroad layouts. The HO scale one that I have been posting really is detailed. I wish that some of the pictures that I haven't posted came out better, but that plexiglass wall does inhibit photo-ops.
Johnny - No, never been to the Dr. Pepper plant. I'm not a regular soft drink imbiber, but you are right that DP is one of the better ones. Nice workbench, mine once looked like that at the end of it's first day of existence. Pondering businesses and industries here also, I estimate that I have 100+ sq ft left to fill in, although I do have a number of structures filling in space while I am still imagineering.
Terry - Fuzzy dice and a "dancing hula girl" on the rear window deck! Both still available brand new today!
Curt - Time to vote for a new school board.
Sherrel -
Man, at least it is a dry heat!!!
Looks like you got the picture download to work. Nice shot of your backyard.
No pictures today as I didn't have time to review what's left, but there are more that I just have to sort through.
Everybody have a great day.
Willie
montanan
Whiskey Merchant
Good morning. Starting the day off at 29 degrees. Sherrel, Maybe we can split the difference with the temperatures. Supposed to be over 100 degrees for the first game on the world series. Should be interesting.
Ken - You are right. Again, being interrupted by the phone has struck me again. Karl, beautiful looking locomotive.
Willie - You are making more progress on the layout. 2 more industries means more switching possibilities.
Years ago I was a fan of baseball, but when Pete Rose was banned from the sport because of betting on baseball (none of the bets were on his own team) it sort of soured me. Yes, he shouldn't have done that, but since, players who took steroids were allowed to keep the records that they set while on steroids stood. I was never a fan of the Reds, but Pete Rose was mister baseball and I was a fan of him. My 2 cents.
Here's a rail picture for the day.
Later
Ken - You are right. Again, being interrupted by the phone has struck me again. Karl, beautiful looking locomotive.
Willie - You are making more progress on the layout. 2 more industries means more switching possibilities.
Years ago I was a fan of baseball, but when Pete Rose was banned from the sport because of betting on baseball (none of the bets were on his own team) it sort of soured me. Yes, he shouldn't have done that, but since, players who took steroids were allowed to keep the records that they set while on steroids stood. I was never a fan of the Reds, but Pete Rose was mister baseball and I was a fan of him. My 2 cents.
Here's a rail picture for the day.
Later
Raincoat2
Well-Known Member
Willie - I quit drinking soft drinks many years ago - maybe a 7-Up once in a blue moon, but nothing else. We visited the Dublin Dr Pepper plant in the late 90's - we bought a couple of 6-packs, drank most, and my wife hid one of the bottles so I wouldn't get it - we still have it!!
Chet - I mostly agree with you about Pete Rose, baseball in general, and other sports stuff - I'm pretty much soured on most professional sports, although I will watch baseball once in a while. I almost never watch pro football, hockey, or basketball. I do watch some college football, but not much. But this year, since it's the Dodgers - my team since I was a little kid growing up on Long Island - I'm at least interested in the Series. Basically my thinking is, I'd rather be doing something outdoors, or in the wood shop, or in the train room - but not just sitting and watching tv - that's not me!
Chet - I mostly agree with you about Pete Rose, baseball in general, and other sports stuff - I'm pretty much soured on most professional sports, although I will watch baseball once in a while. I almost never watch pro football, hockey, or basketball. I do watch some college football, but not much. But this year, since it's the Dodgers - my team since I was a little kid growing up on Long Island - I'm at least interested in the Series. Basically my thinking is, I'd rather be doing something outdoors, or in the wood shop, or in the train room - but not just sitting and watching tv - that's not me!
GarryCBQ
Well-Known Member
Good morning ......
I'm frustrated lately because I have too many non-model-railroad distractions.
Chet and Johnny .... I am basically on the same page with you regarding pro sports. .... Too many of players become spoiled brats. They don't know how to handle fame.and wealth. The baseball strike several years ago. The steroids. The National Anthem protests. Why waste time and money supporting jerks? .... I have similar opinions about entertainers. In 2000, we went to a Carlos Santana concert. During the concert, he told the audience to vote for Al Gore. I did not pay good money to hear a political endorsement. We don't go to concerts anymore. ... We don't go to movies anymore partly because the actors have become too political.
Have a nice day, everybody.
I'm frustrated lately because I have too many non-model-railroad distractions.
Chet and Johnny .... I am basically on the same page with you regarding pro sports. .... Too many of players become spoiled brats. They don't know how to handle fame.and wealth. The baseball strike several years ago. The steroids. The National Anthem protests. Why waste time and money supporting jerks? .... I have similar opinions about entertainers. In 2000, we went to a Carlos Santana concert. During the concert, he told the audience to vote for Al Gore. I did not pay good money to hear a political endorsement. We don't go to concerts anymore. ... We don't go to movies anymore partly because the actors have become too political.
Have a nice day, everybody.
montanan
Whiskey Merchant
Garry - Saw on the news yesterday that the entertainment industry is having record low movie attendance. I think a lot of people are getting fed up with the Hollywood bunch. In their last few awards ceremonies where they pat each other on the back, there were just too many political statements.
At least NASCAR honors the flag and the military, Joe Gibbs made a statement that if any of his team dishonors the flag and national anthem, that they would be fired. That is probably the only sport that interests me now.
At least NASCAR honors the flag and the military, Joe Gibbs made a statement that if any of his team dishonors the flag and national anthem, that they would be fired. That is probably the only sport that interests me now.
chessie_system3
Well-Known Member
Good morning fellers. I hope everyone is doing well. Been working on my bluebox SD40 this morning. I have put a new motor in it and it seems to run pretty well. There is no pickup strip on this one as I have directly wired it. Seems to give it better performance overall. I really need to upgrade the wheel sets on it. Ditch the original steel wheels. They ain't top of the line anymore but I still like them. I'm amazed at how similar the drives are between the Athearn RTR and the old BBs. Just about everything is interchangeable. I have a U-boat with the DCC quick connect board and directional lighting. It is by far my best running unit in terms of my BB units. If I could just fix the nose on it she could be a staple on my layout. Anyways I hope everyone has a good day.
Sent from my LGLS675 using Tapatalk
Sent from my LGLS675 using Tapatalk
montanan
Whiskey Merchant
Justin - Replacing the wheels with nickle silver wheels would be a big help. Years ago the old Athearn locomotives were probably the best buy around, but they did need a bit of tweaking. Replacing the wheels was one of the first things that I did. Still had some laying around in my parts drawer. Even with the stock Athearn motor which could draw around three quarters of an amp, hard wiring the motor, changing out the wheels and lubricating the gear boxes with a light teflon grease made a lot of difference. I even shimmed up the worm gear with some bushings (available from Athearn at the time) and dropped the amperage draw to less than a quarter of an amp.
Eventually, all of the original Athearn motors were replaced with can motors and are still in use after 30 years. You are doing the right thing.
Eventually, all of the original Athearn motors were replaced with can motors and are still in use after 30 years. You are doing the right thing.
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Willie More learning needs to be done on the photo program.
We're going to have a repeat of that dry heat today - humidity is at 17% and Temp is 70 at 8:30 this morning.(Humidity is normally at 50-60 % this time of day.)
Glad you liked the picture of my worbench. I used to love going to the salvage yards with my Dad when he was looking for parts for an engine, valve,or pipe for the oil field.
Greg@mnrr
Section Hand
Slept in again today since the wife is feeling terrible. Trains maybe tomorrow since I have to drive the wife to several stores for essentials. Rainy weather, again.
Justin: Speaking of Athearn wheels, I looked at an old Athearn Blue Box F3 which was just sitting in storage for years, the locomotive's wheels are heavily covered with crud.
Sherrel: Dry heat or wet heat, I'll take either type of heat since cold and snow is arriving soon to Wisconsin.
LHS has big sale this Friday and Saturday. Just may get a Walthers Reference Guide (dislike their website) at a discounted price or find some bargain used rolling stock.
Chet: Seen a lot of older Athearn locomotives which were improved with the changes you made and the locomotives run much better and have great slow speed performance. All it takes is a little effort, parts, and talent.
Been watching all the posts about the problems posting photographs to the Forum. If it that much of a problem to post a photo, it will soon discourage many from even attempting to post photographs. Maybe Administrator Bob should find a solution to the problem before losing any of the Forum's active members.
That's all for now.
Greg
Justin: Speaking of Athearn wheels, I looked at an old Athearn Blue Box F3 which was just sitting in storage for years, the locomotive's wheels are heavily covered with crud.
Sherrel: Dry heat or wet heat, I'll take either type of heat since cold and snow is arriving soon to Wisconsin.
LHS has big sale this Friday and Saturday. Just may get a Walthers Reference Guide (dislike their website) at a discounted price or find some bargain used rolling stock.
Chet: Seen a lot of older Athearn locomotives which were improved with the changes you made and the locomotives run much better and have great slow speed performance. All it takes is a little effort, parts, and talent.
Been watching all the posts about the problems posting photographs to the Forum. If it that much of a problem to post a photo, it will soon discourage many from even attempting to post photographs. Maybe Administrator Bob should find a solution to the problem before losing any of the Forum's active members.
That's all for now.
Greg
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montanan
Whiskey Merchant
Greg - It was a bit of work to get the old Athearn locomotives to perform better, but not hard work. At the time they were probably one of the best locomotives available but still had a lot to be desired compared to what is available today. Shimming the worm gear in the truck tower to keep it from moving fore and aft doesn't sound like much, but it sure helped a lot. My main reason for changing out the motors was the was that the locomotive would surge going down grade and slowed substantially with a load behind it coming up grade. A quality can motor made them run almost as good as my Atlas Alco units. I had only bought 5 of the old Athearn locomotives. I didn't have a lot of track down back then so having a lot of locomotives wasn't really important at the time. Just as I was at the point to where I could run a train around the room using the hidden staging tracks, Atlas introduced those Alco RS units with the Kato drive. That was game over for me. I was sold and ended up with a dozen of them, which are all still running like new today.
Boris
Beach Bum
Good afternoon, y'all. 70°, and muggy with occasional rain, 0.2" so far.
I was just running a trio of F7s - Athearn RTR, (now sold under the Roundhouse Brand), basically, the old BB Globe units. The wheels are now NS, but many of the old flaws remain, including the windshield, and lack of ladders, and grabs. Once they run for a while, they run quietly, and don't draw a lot of power, The motors appear to be Athearn's standard motor. Since I have backpedaled into DC, I'm going to upgrade them cosmetically, replace the couplers, and add grab irons and other detail. I will probably clean out the factory lubricant, and re-lubricate them. The A units are powered, the B is a non powered unit.
Looking forward to WS game 1, Go Bums!
I was just running a trio of F7s - Athearn RTR, (now sold under the Roundhouse Brand), basically, the old BB Globe units. The wheels are now NS, but many of the old flaws remain, including the windshield, and lack of ladders, and grabs. Once they run for a while, they run quietly, and don't draw a lot of power, The motors appear to be Athearn's standard motor. Since I have backpedaled into DC, I'm going to upgrade them cosmetically, replace the couplers, and add grab irons and other detail. I will probably clean out the factory lubricant, and re-lubricate them. The A units are powered, the B is a non powered unit.
Looking forward to WS game 1, Go Bums!
CHET I envy your ability! Hell, I envy almost everyone!
LOOK! I made this from an old Coffee Table!
LOOK! I made this from an old Coffee Table!
montanan
Whiskey Merchant
Joe - Nice looking Reading units. It is a bit of work to upgrade the older Athearn F units, but they can be good lookers. Both of these F units started out as undecorated units. No one offer a correctly painted Northern Pacific F unit at the time this one was done. The decals are from Microscale. A number of proper details were added. Handrails, grab irons, winterization hatch, lift rings, 5 chime horn, fire cracker antenna and MU hoses are some of the details. The same details were added to the F unit behind it which was painted for my friends Gallatin Canyon & Western. All of the drive train was upgraded as I mentioned above and constant lighting was installed. I also used fiber optics to light the class lights using the bulb from the headlight. It was a PIA but in the end worth it. These units were done over 25 years ago shen I could see a bit better.
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PRR Modeler
Well-Known Member
Afternoon All,
A little cooler today, tomorrow the highs in the low 70's the next 2 days with lows in the 50's. Today I added lighting to the coaling tower I started working on yesterday. What a pain. Note to self: It's easier to do it when you're building it. After that I glued a piece of track to a board to get ready to ballast it with Sherrel's home made ballast. I will ballast tomorrow.
Sherrel- That's pretty good about the pallet.
Willie- What you said about the back yard reminds me of when a work buddy google earth'd my house and I had some grass growing in the drive way cracks and called it my jungle. In your available 100 sq. ft. I vote for a fictitious Pennsy interchange. That would be awesome.
Joe- Nice looking F units.
Karl- I agree with Chet, nice looking loco.
Chet- Nice Fall rail shot.
Johnny- As a kid (TX) I used to put peanuts in a bottle of Dr. Pepper to soften them up and add a salty component to the flavor.
Garry- You should tell your wife that you are retired and only want to work on your layout! I know how well that works here, but you may be luckier! I have never understood why Athletes, Musicians, Hollywood types or news announcers think they have the moral high ground, when most of them have no morals.
I hope everyone has a good night.
A little cooler today, tomorrow the highs in the low 70's the next 2 days with lows in the 50's. Today I added lighting to the coaling tower I started working on yesterday. What a pain. Note to self: It's easier to do it when you're building it. After that I glued a piece of track to a board to get ready to ballast it with Sherrel's home made ballast. I will ballast tomorrow.
Sherrel- That's pretty good about the pallet.
Willie- What you said about the back yard reminds me of when a work buddy google earth'd my house and I had some grass growing in the drive way cracks and called it my jungle. In your available 100 sq. ft. I vote for a fictitious Pennsy interchange. That would be awesome.
Joe- Nice looking F units.
Karl- I agree with Chet, nice looking loco.
Chet- Nice Fall rail shot.
Johnny- As a kid (TX) I used to put peanuts in a bottle of Dr. Pepper to soften them up and add a salty component to the flavor.
Garry- You should tell your wife that you are retired and only want to work on your layout! I know how well that works here, but you may be luckier!
I have never understood why Athletes, Musicians, Hollywood types or news announcers think they have the moral high ground, when most of them have no morals.I hope everyone has a good night.
