Running Bear's Coffee Shop May 2018


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Progressing on the benchwork. We got all the supports built and attached to the cinder block walls and the plywood sub roadbed cut, laid in place and linked together. Today will secure the roadbed to the supports and make the final adjustments for a smooth roadbed and a little super elevation in the curves. Minimum radius is 30" inch.
The next effort will be the next level up which is a classification yard. I will be heading back home on Wednesday or Thursday depending on the weather.
 
Good Memorial Day Morning All. Clear and 71° to start our day of unlimited sunshine, although the high is supposed to be 1° cooler than yesterday, today is 93°. Forecast is still for an unending string of triple digit highs starting Wednesday. We will be at my daughter's home later today for a pool party with other family and a few of her friends. Granddaughter is looking forward to our visit. Today is also one grandson's birthday, the other grandson celebrated yesterday; they will both be there. My wife spent part of their inheritance on birthday gifts yesterday. SIL is doing a brisket, I made potato salad yesterday and I will make coleslaw this morning; wife made some kind of dessert. No rain for the last two weeks, so the grass stopped growing, however I did fire up the weedeater for 30 minutes yesterday. Grilled chicken instead of ribs yesterday; ribs will be tomorrow.
Out in the train shed yesterday, I did continue with landscaping. Mixed up a batch of "Sculptamold" and made the approaches for the soon to be added grade crossing. Of course I made way too much and had to move around to several unfinished layout sections and add some trackside ridges and other elevations to use it up. No problem as I have a list of places that I intended to use it anyway. To break the monotony and because I am also in the freight car building mode, I started assembling a complex tank car kit from Roundhouse (complex for them, over 40 parts), and had to re-attach a broken stirrup step before beginning. This kit was purchased sometime between 2001 and 2004. Anyone else remember kits?

Chet - I know what you mean by not being used to the traffic in the big cities. I'll see more cars in two minutes today in Dallas than I've seen on my road in the thirty seven years of living here!
Garry - Looks like fun on the lake for you. Enjoy your family weekend.
Mike - Lots of progress. Construction looks solid. I don't see any, but I might recommend a couple of "X" braces if you are going to lean on the layout anywhere.

Everybody have a great day and let's all remember our fallen heroes.

Willie
 
Had another go at removing the cab from the long hood on the Kato HO NS SD80MAC, successfully this time. Then continued to strip the shell clean of all it's bits and pieces. I'm now encouraged to install the ESU Loksound select decoder into it and use warm white LED's for all the lighting. As NS didn't use the additional markers and red tail lights, I'll cut sprue and fill those holes as per prototype. I'll also make the Ditch lights so they can be flashed, fit all the grabs etc and give the shell parts a dulling down before reinstalling all the "glass" etc. Found some good pics of ones of the same road #'s I have, 7210 & 7216 for weathering purposes, so while fitting bits an pieces is not my favorite occupation on locos, the best time to do that.

Kato are not high on detail and don't go the extent of fitting see through grilles or fans, I suppose if I can enthuse myself, I could fit Cannon fans to them. The piece between the radiators where the fans sit, is a separate flat piece, so might be best to make a new panel, rather than try to cut the existing fans out, will decide at an appropriate time. The radiators themselves are also separate bits too, pressed onto the sides. I've got some iPhone 6 speakers that with a judicious bit of filing will fit within the hood sides (a hairsbreadth needed). Without all the light tubes that are used standard there's quite a lot of room between the chassis and the shell. Discarding the original lighting board will provide more. The ESU decoder is only half the length of it.

If I hadn't busted my camera, I could take some pics.
 
Any one checked on Louis? Don't know where he is in relation to that terrible flash flooding. It's, according to Facebook, his Birthday.
 
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lest we forget.
 
tootnkumin said:
Any one checked on Louis? Don't know where he is in relation to that terrible flash flooding. It's, according to Facebook, his Birthday.
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Toot - Louis is in Baltimore, maybe 10 miles east of the floods, depending on his exact location in Baltimore. He probably got a lot of rain though.

Willie
 
Forgot to post a picture of the benchwork. The room is 13' along the far wll and 18' along the wall on the right. The track comes through the wall in the distant left, comes down the grade, around the loop and back up to the hole in the wall. The next level up will be the forward track coming through the wall then it will turn directly toward the camera position and will be a few inches above the lower loop. A turnout will provide access to a sorting yard that will run in line with the camera perspective.

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tootnkumin said:
Any one checked on Louis? Don't know where he is in relation to that terrible flash flooding. It's, according to Facebook, his Birthday.
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No, and I'm a little gunshy, ever since hearing about Erik. Facebook tells me that one of my FB friends has been heard from, and one, Louis, hasn't.
 
Afternoon All,

Did some chores this morning and painted a wall in the bird room. After getting in the train room I mounted the lights on the structure. I'm going to let the glue dry overnight before hooking them up electrically.

Willie- Enjoy the family get together. MOH is direction challenged also.

Sherrel- Sounded like old fashioned flying before you were a old fashioned guy!

Garry- I didn't know you are a sea captain or is it lake captain! o_O

Migalyto- Looks great so far.

Louis- Happy Birthday.

Toot- I couldn't get the RV video to play.:(

VA Ken- Looks like a lot of progress.

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Good evening. Checking in quickly. Done with the afternoon shifts and we're back at the condo, 2 blocks from the convention center and taking a break for dinner before returning for 2 more shifts.

Here's what the place looked like when we got there in the morning for check in.


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And then things got under way.

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Garry - don't enjoy yourself too much out on the boat.

Mike - your bench work is coming along nicely.

Just have been informed that dinner is on the table.

Later
 
Good afternoon all, I been quite some time since I last posted so I figured it was time to stop in again. Took me a little while to clear the ballast so I could determine how to move around the new place especially without the girls.

I've had a fair amount of problems that have detained me and still have a ways to go yet.

Willie: Yes, kits for all freight and passenger cars and everything else including locomotives by Roundhouse and others. I also have two more MDC/Roundhouse, Gramps Old time tank cars to assemble as well as a powered AGEIR Box Cab Diesel track cleaner to assemble also. Fortunately, the fellow who also bought it from me purchased all the cleaning that were available on eBay at the time.

Good to see most everyone is doing Ok.

David
 
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Curt, the RV video was on Facebook. I copied and pasted the URL to the post. It may be just a temporary glitch, have had that happen occassionaly.
 
Good evening, y'all. Patchy fog and 60. If you're lurking around, Louis, Happy Birthday!

Beady, Willie and Toot: I have not heard from Louis in about ten days, a combination of Amazon deliveries, remodeling his new home and baseball for the kids. I am more concerned for Ken and Karl who live much closer to the flood zone, than Louis. There was quite a lot of rainfall, in a relatively short time.

Chet: Hope you're doing well in the tournament. Used to enjoy bowling, even though I had a tendency to either strike or hit the gutter.

Curt: Sounds like you are on my construction schedule.

David: Welcome back to the Coffee Shop.

Interesting documentary on the CBS, "Decades", sub-channel, tonight, about the pilots who earned their flight deck quals on Lake Michigan in WW2, and how it was done. Approximately 130 to 150 aircraft were lost in crashes and accidents. Many are still being recovered. Some are in the museum at NAS Pensacola.

Not supposed to rain tomorrow, so I have the lawn to cut and trim. I'm going to need some gutter work on my front. Youngest son moved into his new house over the weekend. Last night the heavy rain runoff washed out some of his grading. Welcome to the joys of home ownership, eh?

Boris
 
Boris said:
Good evening, y'all. Patchy fog and 60. If you're lurking around, Louis, Happy Birthday!

Beady, Willie and Toot: I have not heard from Louis in about ten days, a combination of Amazon deliveries, remodeling his new home and baseball for the kids. I am more concerned for Ken and Karl who live much closer to the flood zone, than Louis. There was quite a lot of rainfall, in a relatively short time.

Chet: Hope you're doing well in the tournament. Used to enjoy bowling, even though I had a tendency to either strike or hit the gutter.

Curt: Sounds like you are on my construction schedule.

David: Welcome back to the Coffee Shop.

Interesting documentary on the CBS, "Decades", sub-channel, tonight, about the pilots who earned their flight deck quals on Lake Michigan in WW2, and how it was done. Approximately 130 to 150 aircraft were lost in crashes and accidents. Many are still being recovered. Some are in the museum at NAS Pensacola.

Not supposed to rain tomorrow, so I have the lawn to cut and trim. I'm going to need some gutter work on my front. Youngest son moved into his new house over the weekend. Last night the heavy rain runoff washed out some of his grading. Welcome to the joys of home ownership, eh?

Boris
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Hi Boris, Good to get your reply, I've been away too long but it's label to happen again, I'm afraid.
 
A newly rebuilt Loco for Mainline Steam in New Zealand, Jb class 4-8-2 oil burner, and showcasing their fleet of reconditioned ex 1930's 56' express coaches on a trip to the river city of Wanganui on the southwest coast of the North Island's Taranaki province. The Jb's were built in the UK after WW2 and intended to take over express passenger duties on the Main trunk lines from the early 1930's K, and Ka 4-8-4's.
 
Good morning all,

Going to be another hot humid day in Northern Illinois. Going up in the 90s again with the humidity ratcheting up. Good day to stay in the basement, and do more backdrop installation.
 
Good Morning All. 71° and mostly clear here in North Central Texas. Forecasters have backed off their triple digit "scare 'em to death" forecast that was set to begin tomorrow. After only 90° yesterday, it's going to be 97° today; the forecast is now for only five of the next ten days to reach 100°. Pool party at my daughter's house yesterday went well, all of the grandkids were there and we all had a good time, although 12 kids in a pool at once can be quite noisy. Saw some amazing driving along the way, or should I say lack of? Hands-free driving, conversing, texting and eating all at once, in a fifteen year old car which wouldn't have had "auto-pilot". That and four-lane exit manuevers at 75 mph in moderate traffic...etc. The avoiders were the amazing ones there. Meanwhile I spoke with my neighbor yesterday morning and he reported that he sold 200 goats at the flea market Saturday at $75 cash apiece in less than three hours. Pretty profitable! The Hispanic population in Texas typically roast goats in the backyard on holidays. He's already got another batch that he's raising for July 4. Many buyers keep them in their houses or garages until the night before since goats are rather adept at escaping from backyards. One of my employees once got a ticket from his municipilty for keeping one in his house! They arrested the goat but he was able to retrieve it after paying the fine.
An historic day yesterday as I didn't go into the train shed at all; so nothing to report. I did miss all of my little people! and train running! and small parts flying off the workbench!

Chet - Glad to read that you made it safely to your destination. Now good luck in the tournament.
David - Thanks for checking in. My prayers and best wishes go out to you for resolving your problems.
Joe - Thanks for the heads-up on Karl and Ken. I knew that both were in that neck of the woods, but I didn't know exactly where in relation to Louis, who has commented regarding his absence which is typical for him during Little League season.
Toot - FWIW - I had no trouble with the RV video even though I am not a Facebook participant.

Found some more pictures that I took at the Texas Transportation Museum that I didn't post earlier this month, so here they are. These are all taken of their HO scale layout.
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Everybody have a great day. I'm going for a walk now before the temperature rises.

Willie
 
Good morning, 67 and overcast, today is supposed to be warmer. First job is the lawn, it's a foot tall! o_O

David: Hope things work out for ya.

Willie: The TTM has got to be a fantastic place to visit. I enjoy their interpretation of the railroad industry, and the use of familiar structures, both current and past. Thanks for posting the photos. Nice to see the Baltimore City Police and Fire Departments made it to San Antonio. ;)

Toot: The Mainline Steam video is cool.

Boris
 
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