Running Bear's January 2021 Coffee Shop

[IronBeltKen]

Greetings Shop Dwellers, we have 40*F under clear skies with a 7mph WSW wind in my central MD neighborhood.

Honorable mentions to the following for their "likes" and comments:
Garry, Hughie, Sherrell, Karl, Patrick, Jerry, Phil, Tom-C, James, Justin, Tom-O, Guy, Jesse, Chet

Today was relatively uneventful, other than I registered with my County Health Dept to get the Vaccine. They had me fill out all my contact information along with age, occupation, underlying health issues etc. As soon as I submitted the form, they displayed a message that they will "notify me as soon as I become eligible" [that would be Jan. 25, this coming Monday]. I'll believe that when I see it. With the extreme shortage of doses relative to demand, I honestly don't expect to actually be vaccinated until April or May. Will just have to stay in my "bubble" until then.

Oh yeah I almost forgot, GT directed me to the webpage that shows Cal Scale grab irons applied to several different Bowser F units - that was all the proof I needed, so I went to the website of my closest full-service LHS [who has it in stock] and put in my order. Should be here early next week.

Justin - your GP9 6018 shell looks perfectly fine, I never would have even thought the logo was misplaced until you said something. And the photo you posted of the GP7 5893 proves that some units really were done that way. I've always considered C&O geeps to be like snowflakes, i.e., no two of them ever looked alike...but that's part of the charm of the C&O!

Chet - I was definitely depressed when I read about you having to dismantle your layout. I'll likely be facing the same fate in ~10 years, but I can't afford to let myself dwell on that thought; just have to keep plugging away with my trains while I have them!

Jesse - your revised track plan looks very much improved!

Curt - your "company house" is lookin' good!


Gotta get ready for bed now...cheers!

 

[CambriaArea51]

Evening, Still here Flo, how about a nightcap from Mel's stash in the back. I'm sure he's got something having to put up with us all day.

Went to my neighbors machine shop to get some more scrap for loads. Had a nice mix in the bin that was going to trash.

 

[Boris]

I guess it's time to start trying to sell what I can from my layout.

CHET: Sorry to read that the Logan Valley is going to be liquidated...but I'm not surprised. First indicator was the end of your prolific posting, second was your comments as to how te neighborhood was being infested by expatriot Californians...third, non of us are getting any younger. Do what ya gotta do...I'm seriously considering selling off my collection even as I continue to build the C&DR, knowing ful well, at first opportunity, the layout's toast. I only hope you remain active in the hobby, by belonging to a club, or operating a downsized layout, or both. Most importantly, staying active here so you can be in touch.

After that I spent about 4 hours reworking a piece of track that I didn't like the geometry. Of course by the time I was done I had moved 2 T/O's and 3 tracks

Curt: I hear you. The company house looks great, but damn, it looks so fragile...then again those coal companies were cheap outfits, running bu the seat of their pants. I did everything I knew, to correct the wiring/electrical problem, only to learn that the jumper bypassing the insulated fron, no longer worked. So...I pulled up the siding, and will now solder another wire connection to splice in to the "common" buss wire. In other words fixing another short cut. Hope your track problem is resolved.

We pay somebody to mow the grass and do yard work. .

Garry: I haven't rewarded the wife with a cleanng woman yet, I'm sort of waiting for the pandemic to ease. Meanwhile, I have one vendor for the lawn fertilizer, and another for the actual grass cutting. Last year, the local lawn contractors were doing senior lawns for free. Hope that continues into te next year. I still like to do some yard work, and some home repair work...otherwise, I may as well pack it in. Maybe, this will be the year we move closer to second son, in NC...First son lives in a nice part of New York, that is too damn cold and snow prone.

today is a palindromic date, 1-21-21; the same forward or backward.

Damn, Willie, I can't even pronounce that word, let alone understand it .

Today, was not lucky for us. Learned that second son has a confirmed Covid Positive...No symptoms other than being tired. His contact, was his boss, whom he sat opposite of, and who was positive last week, necessitating my son's quarantine. Factoid: The government workers (ex jar heads), and active jar heads, are too macho to wear masks at work...
what do we learn from that? Yeah, I'm concerned, probably more than he is...I have managed to avoid infection, for damn year a year, by exercising a few precautions. If this old guy can do it, why is it beneath these young guys to cover their face and be safe??? No f'in wonder we have so many cases and deaths...

Meanwhile, the MIL's application for Medicaid became more complicated, upsetting the wife, truly, not the best day.

On the POSITIVE side, the Kitty is doing much better. She seems to have recovered. She goes for a followup with more blood work, next month.
Further, I have resolved most of the wiring problems...only two sidings need attention.

This early Conrail photo bu J. C. Durant, depicts R ER-1, a Elizabethport to Red Bank freight, passing through Matawan, with a CR GP10, a couple of CNJ Coast Guard Schemes, and a RS unit in CNJ green, on 12-04-1977. Ultimately, the volume declined to the present where Conrail SA-31 out of Browns, does everything on the NJCL and the Southern Branch on a Thursday Night. The Southern, passes through Howell, and SA-31 was my old assignment some twenty-four years ago.

On 11/20/2020, The Keystone, Amtrak 42 passed through Duncannon, PA on the NS, (former PRR/PC/CR). #s 42 and 43, are the last passenger trains running on the former PRR between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.

Hope tomorrow brings a better day and I hope y'all have a great weekend.

 

[Boris]

Greetings Shop Dwellers, we have 40*F under clear skies with a 7mph WSW wind in my central MD neighborhood.
a get ready for bed now...cheers!

Yo Ken:

Good to know you resolved your problems. Cal- Scale has a lot of useful details. I hae 4 B&O F units from Stewart, plus an undecorated F-9, that are fodder for upgrade or something. So everything you encounter, paves the way for me to copy.

Once I get beyond my wiring issues, I have been watching KATO's undecorated GP-35s units, as a project. What are the odds, I can put together, a similar GP-35 + GP-30 consist, on B&O, Reading, and Penn Central using KATO GP-35s and P-2-K GP30s

Jesse: I like your track plan. I remember being at the same stage of my hobby. You will be amazed as to how much and often your concept changes as you move along in tis hobby.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Guy - Historically they are supposed to be lucky days. Here in the states, we had an inauguration on the first of the ten, so lucky remains to be seen.

Willie- Remember that bad luck is still a type of luck and can be what you have when you are lucky.
Or are you referring to the young men's reference to sexual activities and that we are now about to be screwed by the government, again?
Just wondering.

 

[chessie_system3]

Ok fellers. Time to stop by one last time before bed. The emblem is confirmed correct. Apparently the first order GP9s arrived like that. My particular model was one of the last to be delivered in this scheme. I went to my C&O group and recieved this answer and where to look. Ofcourse the lack of a bell on the short hood made me recieved some criticism. However I had already planned for adding the bells. The parts will be here tomorrow. With that said I replaced yet again my axle gears. I didnt replace them yesterday actually. I had axl ed a already set up. The gears appeared to be loose on the axles. They weren't cracked though. So I found some axle gears that were more snug. Installed those and it was an instant difference. Something else is holding it back. My Varipulse usually from what I have observed doesn't get warm when it's not in my hand. It was really working tonight. It was really warm just by itself. The GP9 was ran through its paces. I wanted to work the layout to determine how good the performance is. It performed well. The heating of the throttle though is a concern. Something is holding it back. I suspect a wire is loose and bogging the motor down. For the record all lights worked prior to installing the shell. This suspicion will come to light tomorrow when I remove the shell. That's all I have for now. I hope everyone has a good night. I'll share some layout shots for yall to enjoy.

 

[tootnkumin]

Is that bad luck? 'Cause I went back down on the tracks today to collect more photos. The mission impossible soundtrack was playing in my head and I was unrecognizable wearing my toque.

Only if you don't hear the train coming.

 

[moermusic]

Any one come across this in their travels? Kit build.

 

[BigGRacing]

Nice detail there! And no shortage of wood glue.....lol

 

[ACL-CSX]

Good morning y'all. Rain held off yesterday . Was able to get not only all of my drain pipe laid, but also managed to get it all covered with gravel as well. Slept like a rock too after moving over a ton of them with a shovel and my handy gorilla cart. Today's high is near 60 and promises to be mostly sunny. Which is great because I have 2 yards of topsoil to spread and grade today.

Flo- Coffee, eggs, bacon, hash browns, and a slab a T-bone this morning. I'm hungry and it's going to be a busy day.

While I await breakfast, I'll get down to railroad business. I haven't been able to energize the track yet to test its operation, but hopefully I can get around to it this weekend. The rail boss promised an uninterrupted Sunday afternoon between church services IF I can get some chores I've been putting off in the yard done. Saturday looks to be fairly busy.

Willie- Sole Man isn't going to be too big a part of my industry, but I may add the tannery anyway. That will open up the way to add of leather based businesses. Since the main industry is textiles, there will be farms that can partake of the services of a good leathersmith.

Chet- Good to see you making appearances again. Good luck on the move. Sorry to hear about the layout downsizing. I wish I was in a position to help with the rehoming of components as well.

McLeod- Thank you. I needed something I can store behind the bedroom door for now. Once I get to the stage of adding buildings, the rail boss has agreed to allow me use of the top of the armoire for storage.

Curt- Thank you. I like this layout much better as well. I put it all together BEFORE I pinned it down this time.

IBKen- Thank you. I believe I will get more enjoyment out of this configuration. And it will only be a matter of time before looking at those spurs to nowhere will become an itch that must be scratched.

Boris- I am already amazed at how much it has evolved. When I first started planning to use this size, I was unhappy that I was going to be stuck with a pretty basic loop. Now I have room to switch 2 industries and room to grow it out in the future as space and budget allows. For the time being, it will only support 1 train due to configuration and basic DC control, but I am toying with the idea of a loco on each end and adding a small siding in the opposite direction. Eventually I also plan to make the plunge into DCC, but the budget does not allow for that right now.

Y'all have a blessed day.

 

[2Tracks]

Good Morning from the land-o-lakes, well, on the extreme edge of it anyway. Flo...your gooiest cinnamon roll please, wave it a bit and a cup of deer camp, thank you.
Willie... really like the what you did on the curve, are you going to add more power poles? I always liked that detail.
Kleiner... that space you have there is looking good!
Chet... sad too here about the RR, but I certainly know what your talking about, I'm just trying not to think about right now myself.

get on my hands-n-knees to photograph the side-rails

Guy... I know, I've done that many times, especially when the lettering is not very prominent. But thank goodness for the 'ol phone camera! lol In this pic I couldn't see the lettering, I just framed the rail in the view finder and snapped a few pics, kept the best one. Lots of that rail around here on the side tracks, even some 1890's stuff....I'll get pics of that sooner or later.
Curt... thanks for the comment, and that's a neat little house, the dark weathering spot? Looks ok to me for a board & bat structure!

rails not being shiny like nickel-silver

Gary,...and that was another reason for taking the pic, I thought you guys might like that and it would give me a reference when I get to that stage of my layout.
Tom... like your scrap load! Did you weigh that by chance?
Joe... that CR geep is pretty clean looking...must have caught it early out of the shop...........
Justin... and your geeps, I like them no matter were the decals are located.

Only if you don't hear the train coming

That would be the ribbon rail!
moermusic...that is some kit...any particular scale?
I hope every body has a great day, and HAVE SOME FUN!

 

[ACL-CSX]

Any one come across this in their travels? Kit build. View attachment 123674

Nice train, but did anyone else notice that it is headed for disaster?

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

Clear and 27° this morning in Doo-Dah. High of 44 expected.

Supposed to start teardown of the shed (14'X22') today. Sawzall is your friend. Hard part will be carrying it out to the dumpster that will be in the far side yard. Supposed to rain\snow on Sunday, so impetus is on getting it down and cut up on Saturday. They'll have the dumpster for 2 weeks or until it's full. I'll still have a landfill run for stuff that can't go in the dumpster (non garbage household waste). Seems they wanted to know what was going in before they send out a dumpster. Household non-garbage waste (furniture, appliances, general trash) or construction\demolition debris and the 2 can't be mixed, so off I go. New trucks first ever run to the dump. I wanted to keep the old truck until we were done, but the son-in-law 70 miles west needed it to be able to sell it for me. He has an interested party coming out this afternoon, so I gotta use the "new" one. I just gotta remember it is 9 years old though and already has some scratches.

moermusic: Nice model picture.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Good morning....It's FRIDAY, and an early one at that. Got a call at 3am to move a hydrant that was hit. Someone was going 45+ in a 45 and must have fallen asleep,no skid marks (pants maybe ) on the road. Took out a mailbox bounced off the concrete manhole,hit the hydrant and broke the power pole. What a way for them to wake up.
Extra large coffee Flo, please.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Nice train, but did anyone else notice that it is headed for disaster?

Yep, the tracks made a flipper a rew.

 

[ACL-CSX]

Good morning y'all. Glad to see the world has not ended...yet, 43 with the promise of highs in the mid 50s and a slight chance for rain, I will be performing an anti-rain dance following this post. I don't want to play in mud today as I attempt to wrap up my drainage job.

Flo- Coffee, please. And while I watch the sky and wait, how about a ribeye with scrambled eggs and bacon. Feeling carnivorous today and only red meat will satisfy.

Reworked my track plan last night. I have not tested it yet, and I am a few track sections short (ain't that always the case?), but as long as operation is smooth and no power issues, I am pleased with the outcome. I will edit this post shortly with a photo as it is on my phone and I am not.

Lots of good pics the last few days. Wondering how many more ladies Willie has on his layout

Phil- feel better soon, hope it's nothing serious,

Mikey- lurking here is ok, but remember that in some places it's called stalking and frowned upon.

IBKen- good luck on finding your detail kit, looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Justin- good luck with the GP9.

Y'all have a blessed day.

Here's the new track plan:
View attachment 123629

If I add a strip wood base under the plywood, I can probably add 6-8 inches to the length and 12 inches to the width and still be able to store it in the available space. Then I can add two more outside sidings and a passing loop. Maybe even 2.....

 

[ACL-CSX]

Good morning....It's FRIDAY, and an early one at that. Got a call at 3am to move a hydrant that was hit. Someone was going 45+ in a 45 and must have fallen asleep,no skid marks (pants maybe ) on the road. Took out a mailbox bounced off the concrete manhole,hit the hydrant and broke the power pole. What a way for them to wake up.
Extra large coffee Flo, please.

Fun times.

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

SWMBO is home teleworking for now 3/4 of her office is either Covid Positive or recently recovered, she received a special dispensation to stay home and work for 2 weeks and telework. It seems the main culprit there was a janitor who went around wiping down surfaces with plain water, no disinfectant. Wife keeps her office locked when she's not there, saving her the wipedown. Said janitor is also home....with Covid.

Flo coffee please!

Ken, glad to here you found a source for F unit grabs. Now if I could only find prepackaged grab sets for Alco RS units!

I'm seriously considering selling off my collection even as I continue to build the C&DR, knowing ful well, at first opportunity, the layout's toast.

Boris, I've recently hit that point, I've realized that I have way too many locos than I need, so I've begun culling the fleet. There is already a pile of locos beginning to grow that won't fit my operating scheme heading to ebay in the future. Sorry to hear about son#2 and the MILs issues, hope they get resolved soon.


Chet, sorry to hear of the demise of your layout, but I believe most of us will have to face it one day. Hopefully you can preserve a section of it, or at least photograph the heck out of it to keep the memory fresh as time goes on. Still, you're always welcome here, layout or not.

Gotta run, BBL

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning Everyone. Cloudy and 46°. Cloudiness will remain until Monday, but this is what Mother Nature had to offer last night.

Made the weekly grocery run yesterday without incident. Had to make a stop at Wally World (reluctantly as I hate that place) to get some potting soil and a couple packs of garden seed. Ended up with a few herb plants just because they looked good and I needed a few varieties. Italian Parsley, Dill and a new Rosemary plant to replace the one that I had that died.

A large handful of bacon and some scrambled eggs for me this morning Flo.

Thanks as usual to all who commented on or liked the photos from yesterday; Chet, Patrick, Karl, Chad, Tom O, Rick, Sherrel, Justin, Guy, Gary, Hughie, Curt, Jerome, Ken, Garry, Tom, Jerry.

Mikey - Good to see you posting again. How's your brother?
Phil - Hope that you're feeling better soon.
Jesse - Out of ladies for now. There's more on the layout but not all pictures were good. Redo's are part of the fun in model railroading.
Jerry - That rail surface seems to indicate that it is still in use.
Tom O - Swimming in Wisconsin in January? Pool must be heated or you're a brave soul!
Guy - Hammer away on that door. Better now than when you're in the midst of benchwork later. I do strive for realism on the layout, although right now it is confined to just a few areas. I have saved your picture of the excavator to my "Inspiration" folder for future reference. Thanks.
Sherrel - Sorry to read that the knee replacement is postponed again. Is it a doctor thing or a Newsom thing? Around here, clinics and outpatient centers are more than willing to keep their revenue stream going. As far as I can determine there have been no Covid issues related to any of them locally. Hospitals aren't full yet locally, but who knows who is going to pay most of the bills, as most of the hospitalized Covid patients seem to be (sadly) uninsured. Society will end up paying for them one way or another.
Curt - House looks great. I don't think that it is over-weathered. Plant some vines or bushes back there if it bothers you. In nature, areas behind vegetation tend to be darker in weathering. I like it the way it is.
Garry - Thank you for your kind comment. Many of your scenes have left an impression on me, especially some of the trackside ones.
Ken - I am actually registered for the vaccine in two different counties, one where I actually reside in and one in the county where my mailbox resides in. In Texas, they are vaccinating anyone over 65 which both my wife and I are. They are not projecting when it will be available to us though. I feel somewhat safe as I have made it 10 months without any issues, and I continue to be a mask and social distancing advocate. Isolation, well, when anyone lives where I live, that's not hard at all...my two closest neighbors (out of five) are both over a quarter mile away, and many in those five households are older than me and take protections themselves.
Hat's off to GT for the grabiron tip.
Tom - Nice looking load. I wish that I had been more observant when visiting our machine shop at work. I remember lots of tailings but from first glance they all looked too out of scale.
Kleiner - Nice looking space there. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

I'll be back in a bit with more photos and comments as I am being asked to deal with something right now. I usually make all comments first and then go back for the train shed adventures.

Everybody have a great morning.

 

[Boris]

Good morning, Happy Friday, sunny and 36 right now, going to 43.

It's been a long time since I was this pessimistic. but things are coming at me from all directions, right now. Guess I need to change directions, and do something outside the house, but what, without exposing myself to the virus? Yesterday, I went to both Lowes and HD, to see if either had suitable connectors to use on the railroad. In short, no...The shelves were just as bare as they were in December. Helpful Harry, at HD told me to check back toward the end of April, when construction season begins....I'm kind of getting tired of all of the lame excuses, and running around burning increasingly expensive gas in vain searches for staple goods.

That's it for now, Only symptom my son is showing is a stuffy nose. I told him to contact his doctor for guidance...