Running Bear's December 2021 Coffee Shop


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PRR Modeler said:
Joe- I was just teasing you. Dad retired from the Army.
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No problem Curt, this morning I was barraged by Beat Army texts, from my son...all this during the PRRT&HS - Philly Chapter - Zoom meeting.
Ron Hoess had a nice presentation about his continuing efforts to model the Chestnut Hill Branch. His modeling is awesome. BTW, I like the way your engine storage tracks turned out.
 
Windy, mild day with severe thunderstorms predicted for this evening. I could hear Santa coming around on the fire truck, but he missed our neighborhood...I guess we really don't have that many nice people here, so...It could be worse, back in the '60s, Santa showed up at a Philadelphia Eagles football game, and was pelted with snow balls.

I actually spent time in the train room, after lunch, and started working on the elevated main line, and passenger terminal. I'm no longer trying to follow the original plan, but as usual I am improvising. we will see where this goes. Meanwhile, I finished weathering a car, I started on last October.

The Caps play in Buffalo tonight, perhaps they can redeem themselves after their lack luster 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh, last night. Meanwhile, I suppose Buffalo is cranked, after being robbed of a tie in the closing minutes of their game with the Rangers. The tying goal was disallowed...today, the League admitted the refs blew the call...:mad:. The Sabres will be fired up, so the Caps better be ready.

Guy: I like the way your structure turned out. Looks great next to the ACE Hardware.
Terry: And I thought my latest bill was high. Do you use Natural Gas or Propane? I'm grateful, the weather has been mild, and next week looks relatively mild also.
2 Tracks and Willie: On occasion, I have had an Accurail kit, come up short a part. More often though, they come with extra parts, which I save in case something falls off or is missing. On one older wooden box car kit, I could not find the stem for the brake wheel. Turned out, it was taped to the instruction paper.
 
Good evening. It's raining and windy, and 74.
In the tradition of Murphy, I was driving the newsed car, it began misfiring, and the check engine light started flashing. drove home, and connected my scan tool, and discovered a cylinder 4 misfire. I guess that answered the question of whether it had gotten its scheduled tune up, though it would have been nice if I'd gotten to drive it for 3 days before needing to do it.
Surprise #1- spark plugs for it are almost $9 each
Surprise #2- I had to dismantle the top part of the engine to access the rear set of plugs (which is, of course, where #4 is).
I was able to finish up, change the oil, and program two new remotes for it before the heavens opened up.
 
Op session went well today despite only two operators. The basement started getting smoky with the steamers. All good though.
Yeah, my sister was in favor of defunding the police there too then wanted the neighbors to form a block neighborhood watch system. Of course she couldn't do that cause she's 73. Apparently someone whispered in the ear of the neighbors that they could get sued for the slightest mistep in patrolling their street so they don't do that anymore. Now they might want the police to patrol around there now because of numerous break-ins, car thefts, vandalism and unfamiliar foot traffic. I told her it might be awhile, maybe years now because your bright idea of defunding cost people their jobs. I wouldn't want to go to work where I might get fired merely because of flippant passing fads. She's not happy now and feels insecure. Be careful what ya march for.
 
Good Day Gents & Lady
Getting ready for the big rain/snow event starting tonite, thru Tues then again Wed- Thurs.. Were expecting 5-7" of rain & several feet of snow on Donner Pass. Got very little done on the boiler house but it's taking shape. Sherril, I'll send some rain your way if I can.
Willie, I like that Magic Pan Bakery. I thing the warehouse part would work at my Union Sugar Mill.
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Good evening. The worst of the storms seem to have passed, and it’s now lightly drizzling rain.
I had managed to acquire a pair of Intermountain SD40-2s in ATSF, and a Bachmann GP38-2 in GATX in honor of the layout’s first anniversary here. All three have DCC and sound. The Intermountain units have Loksound decoders, and the Bachmann has Soundtraxx. I’ve been fiddling with the trio since they arrived, and I made a couple of interesting discoveries. First, the Bachmann doesn’t like dirty track. Second, one Intermountain unit doesn’t run nearly as well as the other, and the Bachmann runs more smoothly than either of them—as long as the track is clean. Obviously, the SD40s are better detailed, but for what I paid for the Bachmann ($120+ tax, free shipping), I was surprised. I’ve noticed the Bachmann sound-equipped diesels tend to be a little more finicky about their power supply than many others, but I’ve never really found it to be a big problem.
 
Good evening from the chill of So. Central Wisconsin where the skies are clear which usually means a big drop in the overnight temperature. But, it is 27f now dropping only to 26 but with the wind chill it feels like 21.

A good exciting time was spent in the Fieldhouse on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. The Badger Volleyball Women are heading for the 3rd straight year to the NCAA Final 4 this year on Columbus, Ohio. It jits is amazing to see a 6-8 lady sky to block a shot at the net and she is at least 4 more feet in the air. We had a great time.
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Stopped at Culver’s near home for a couple concrete mixers, which right now feels like concrete in the stomach.I had Heath and Terry had the Butterfinger. Very good tasting.

Not much done on the layout but did go through a couple bins of parts and did some purging. Also found a old backshop building that I will kit bash into something I can use in the recycling/scrap yard. In my mind it looks great but… Cutting those old thick styrene walls has been a chore but I have 3 walls cut, some frame work reduced to approximately the right dimensions but to square them up I will be using the Drexel sanding disk.
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I will be leaving 1 side open with no walls to see hopefully some day a detailed interior.

I ordered online some Accurail kits for the SIL and grandson to run on the layout. My rolling stock and locomotives will be coming with me. I also ordered some RTR versions from Athearn to be run at this time in DC. My projects in work right now is the weathering of the pulp wood cars, building the main building for the recycling yard and reorganizing the few bins of train goods that I have left.

I did finally find the ties I had purchased years ago when I was hand laying track about 30 years ago. I have been creating tie bundles by chopping the Campbell switch ties down to 8’6” and then creating the bundle. Found as I wasn’t looking for them 5 full bags of pre-stained wood ties from Rail Craft now known as Micro Engineering. 1000 ties in each bag. Lots of tie bundles can be made. Found was something I thought I had sold, 5-86’ hicubes from 1974 as these were the 1st cars I purchased. These ar e the Athearn version and the coupler pocket is attached to the trucks not stationary on the body. Anyone need old hi-cubes?
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Talked to a nurse practitioner today about my sleep issues. Asked me to test myself for Covid and call her Sunday. Took the test after buying one at CVS on the way home tonight. In 15 minutes guess which way I tested. With 2 shots and a booster but as many of you know I have tested positive 8 previous times before. Never showed signs of having it. I will call the PA when I wake after 6am.
Tom
 
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D&J RailRoad said:
Op session went well today despite only two operators. The basement started getting smoky with the steamers. All good though.
Yeah, my sister was in favor of defunding the police there too then wanted the neighbors to form a block neighborhood watch system. Of course she couldn't do that cause she's 73. Apparently someone whispered in the ear of the neighbors that they could get sued for the slightest mistep in patrolling their street so they don't do that anymore. Now they might want the police to patrol around there now because of numerous break-ins, car thefts, vandalism and unfamiliar foot traffic. I told her it might be awhile, maybe years now because your bright idea of defunding cost people their jobs. I wouldn't want to go to work where I might get fired merely because of flippant passing fads. She's not happy now and feels insecure. Be careful what ya march for.
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Typical everyone hates the police until we need them,yes there are rogues,yes the government rules make them look bad,yes there are lazy ones but there are statistics, it is a sad fact of life that people take advantage. perverts in the scouts, in the religious circles, in the police, but we need to keep the faith,because there are mostly good ones,in life we a,ways obsess over the bad, and ignore the vast majority of plodders just trying to do their job to the best of their ability.
That said when they find the rogues throw the book at them,the kitchen sink and anything else.
Yes a neighbour hood watch is potentially good,but one bad apple and your all labelled vigilanties.

As an aside one Saturday workers at a local farm had a crew arrive to pick up the tractors and take them all to be serviced at the same time,staff were not expecting it, but helped them load up, a couple of hours later the boss turned up and asked where the hell the tractors were, thieves had taken them fooled the staff and the tractors all big and shiny long gone never found, it is a sad fact of life you should not trust people at face value. surprisingly in the UK if a police person randomly asks you for your name and you have done nothing wrong you are not obliged to give it, although that might be legally correct I am not sure how you would stand on testing it.But here in the UK a number of police have been linked to crimes inc raping women and killing them to cover up,and sentences have been poor, I think I saw a US woman scared of the police ended up dead in a shoot out,it is a sad fact of life we are losing trust in each other.Perhaps being cynical and careful and questioning is the safer way to go. on the other hand I got a nice email telling me I won a lottery in the US I never entered and I just need to give them my personal banking details so they can pay me my winnings.
 
Well, howdy there, internet people constantly in awe of how fast Christian builds a new layout.

It's Troy again.

Today, lets talk about the queen, and a tiger.

First up, the tiger.

I printed this yesterday.

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The Soviet Woman was printed and primed earlier in the year. She's at 1:56 scale. The Tiger is at 1:100

I know, neither is really a MRR scale. But they are popular gaming scales. I had to downsize the lady just a bit to match my current Soviet army figures from a major manufacture.

The Tiger is going to adorn a trophy base for a WWII gaming tourney I'm running next month.

But that got me thinking. How much fun could Christian have if he had a 3D printer? Think of all the dragons, pixies, and whatnots he could resize and print for his box of ever-changing scenery?

As for the Queen: RIP Anne Rice, grand dame of Vampire fiction. Much of the resurgence in things undead moving far, far beyond the old Hammer Horror films and Christopher Lee is because Anne Rice broke through the literary barriers that kept the undead in the Pulp stacks. Her Interview with a Vampire was far from the first, but it was the first to gain international recognition as a literary work and showcase her characters, with all their flaws, as more than just a prop to place the "good guys" against.

Even the witchy-fun-mystery stuff I write now is tied to Ms. Rice's groundbreaking work. She wrote extremely well, and many authors were also able to go mainstream with similar ideas because of her talent and notoriety.

Here's what Anne's son Christopher (an accomplished author in his own right) posted to her page. I've added some paragraph breaks for easier reading:
This is Anne’s son Christopher and it breaks my heart to bring you this sad news. Earlier tonight, Anne passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke. She left us almost nineteen years to the day my father, her husband Stan, died. The immensity of our family’s grief cannot be overstated.
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As my mother, her support for me was unconditional — she taught me to embrace my dreams, reject conformity and challenge the dark voices of fear and self-doubt. As a writer, she taught me to defy genre boundaries and surrender to my obsessive passions. In her final hours, I sat beside her hospital bed in awe of her accomplishments and her courage, awash in memories of a life that took us from the fog laced hills of the San Francisco Bay Area to the magical streets of New Orleans to the twinkling vistas of Southern California. As she kissed Anne goodbye, her younger sister Karen said, "What a ride you took us on, kid."
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I think we can all agree. Let us take comfort in the shared hope that Anne is now experiencing firsthand the glorious answers to many great spiritual and cosmic questions, the quest for which defined her life and career. Throughout much of her final years, your contributions to this page brought her much joy, along with a profound sense of friendship and community. Anne will be interred in our family's mausoleum at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans in a private ceremony. Next year, a celebration of her life will take place in New Orleans. This event will be open to the public and will invite the participation of her friends, readers and fans who brought her such joy and inspiration throughout her life.
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Good morning y'all.

It is currently 48 with a feel of 45, so it is 45. We got a pretty heavy dousing last night, but today should be clear if somewhat cool. Forecasted high is only 54, but it's supposed to dip into the high 20s tonight. Brrrr.

Flo- All this talk of cold has made my chilly. Coffee please, piping hot and don't be cheap with it. Wake Mel up too, I'd like some bacon and eggs this morning. Y'all got any biscuits back there? And I don't mean any of those hockey pucks Mel made last week. I'd like one that's fresh and warm and melts in your mouth.

No modeling update today. We spent the day yesterday as a Saturday ought to be. We went out mid-afternoon for a late lunch, then took a nice long nap before putting up the Christmas tree and village at my MIL's house.

I'm hoping to get a little time at the work bench this week. The 'To-Do' list includes Dullcote the service station windows and assemble the walls, paint the interior of The Row with flat black, and search out the power supply I intend to use for powering the LEDs. I need to start doing some light tests before I get too much further. I may also assemble the Quonset hut. I'm thinking of building it less than full size so I can use it as storage behind the station, but I'm not yet fully sold on the idea.

I need the detail parts for the station to arrive and I need to order the details for the shops on The Row, but the first is out of my control and the second is out of my current budget.

Y'all have a blessed day. I'll be in the corner with my coffee if anyone needs me.
 
ACL-CSX said:
Good morning y'all.

It is currently 48 with a feel of 45, so it is 45. We got a pretty heavy dousing last night, but today should be clear if somewhat cool. Forecasted high is only 54, but it's supposed to dip into the high 20s tonight. Brrrr.

Flo- All this talk of cold has made my chilly. Coffee please, piping hot and don't be cheap with it. Wake Mel up too, I'd like some bacon and eggs this morning. Y'all got any biscuits back there? And I don't mean any of those hockey pucks Mel made last week. I'd like one that's fresh and warm and melts in your mouth.

No modeling update today. We spent the day yesterday as a Saturday ought to be. We went out mid-afternoon for a late lunch, then took a nice long nap before putting up the Christmas tree and village at my MIL's house.

I'm hoping to get a little time at the work bench this week. The 'To-Do' list includes Dullcote the service station windows and assemble the walls, paint the interior of The Row with flat black, and search out the power supply I intend to use for powering the LEDs. I need to start doing some light tests before I get too much further. I may also assemble the Quonset hut. I'm thinking of building it less than full size so I can use it as storage behind the station, but I'm not yet fully sold on the idea.

I need the detail parts for the station to arrive and I need to order the details for the shops on The Row, but the first is out of my control and the second is out of my current budget.

Y'all have a blessed day. I'll be in the corner with my coffee if anyone needs me.
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Show the shop mention the details you would like let’s see if we can cobble some appropriate kit up free from things about the house.
 
TLOC said:
Good evening from the chill of So. Central Wisconsin where the skies are clear which usually means a big drop in the overnight temperature. But, it is 27f now dropping only to 26 but with the wind chill it feels like 21.

A good exciting time was spent in the Fieldhouse on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. The Badger Volleyball Women are heading for the 3rd straight year to the NCAA Final 4 this year on Columbus, Ohio. It jits is amazing to see a 6-8 lady sky to block a shot at the net and she is at least 4 more feet in the air. We had a great time.
View attachment 136748

Stopped at Culver’s near home for a couple concrete mixers, which right now feels like concrete in the stomach.I had Heath and Terry had the Butterfinger. Very good tasting.

Not much done on the layout but did go through a couple bins of parts and did some purging. Also found a old backshop building that I will kit bash into something I can use in the recycling/scrap yard. In my mind it looks great but… Cutting those old thick styrene walls has been a chore but I have 3 walls cut, some frame work reduced to approximately the right dimensions but to square them up I will be using the Drexel sanding disk.
View attachment 136745
I will be leaving 1 side open with no walls to see hopefully some day a detailed interior.

I ordered online some Accurail kits for the SIL and grandson to run on the layout. My rolling stock and locomotives will be coming with me. I also ordered some RTR versions from Athearn to be run at this time in DC. My projects in work right now is the weathering of the pulp wood cars, building the main building for the recycling yard and reorganizing the few bins of train goods that I have left.

I did finally find the ties I had purchased years ago when I was hand laying track about 30 years ago. I have been creating tie bundles by chopping the Campbell switch ties down to 8’6” and then creating the bundle. Found as I wasn’t looking for them 5 full bags of pre-stained wood ties from Rail Craft now known as Micro Engineering. 1000 ties in each bag. Lots of tie bundles can be made. Found was something I thought I had sold, 5-86’ hicubes from 1974 as these were the 1st cars I purchased. These ar e the Athearn version and the coupler pocket is attached to the trucks not stationary on the body. Anyone need old hi-cubes?
View attachment 136747

Talked to a nurse practitioner today about my sleep issues. Asked me to test myself for Covid and call her Sunday. Took the test after buying one at CVS on the way home tonight. In 15 minutes guess which way I tested. With 2 shots and a booster but as many of you know I have tested positive 8 previous times before. Never showed signs of having it. I will call the PA when I wake after 6am.
Tom
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I have a lot of sleep issue and my wife said I snore her out of the room sometimes. I talked to the NP at my Diabetes doctor's office and she set me up for a sleep study. I wound up having Central Sleep Apnea and had to get a BiPap ST machine which is for those of us with worse issues than those using a CPAP. They said I stopped breathing 29 times while asleep during my study.
 
Good morning shop dwellers! Keep the coffee coming till I say otherwise Flo.
28 degrees currently on the way to sunny and 50 for the day. Back to work today after a single day off in which I did absolutely nothing.

Did some more reading yesterday in one of my recently purchased Kalmbach books, Guide to Signals and Interlockings by Dave Abeles. Great book so far, I've just been slow in getting it finished for a number of reasons. Once I finish that I'll start on my new Tony Koester book Applying Lessons from the Prototype.

Nothing much else to report. Hope you all have a great day!
 
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