Running Bear's January 2021 Coffee Shop


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Afternoon All,

New Years Day started with the coffee pot not working o_O. Luckily we had a travel pot that we used. Today was not a good day in the train room. I started out attaching the 9 sets of feeders to the main buss. When I tested them the entire layout had no power (yes it was on). After looking at a bunch of stuff I decided to cut the feeders. After that everything else worked but I couldn't get the yard approach and ladder to work. I finally wondered if the turnout going to the yard on the main was the issue. It was. I have one PECO Electrofrog and I inadvertently put it there:mad:. So I figured that no problem I'll pull it out and replace it with the last Insulfrog. Of course the Insulfrog was cut down when it was previously removed so now I had to fix the converging and straight through track. It took 2.5 hours to get back to where I was when I started this morning. Before finishing for the day I did one set of feeders and everything metered properly. Sometimes you're the bug on the windshield.

Dave- Nice job on the modeling.

Terry- Nice layout shot. Very cool video.

TomO- That's going to be a really nice facility.

IB Ken- That sounds like a big job.

Willie- Good looking scenes. Sorry to hear about the stones.

Guy- Nice BC Rail photo.

Sherrel- Very nice paint jobs.

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Sherril, Wow, those KC&G units look rougher than my ex LIRR/ MMID unit! They look to have had a tough life.
I did manage to track down 2 colors that are dang close. Since my current Floquil stash is quite literally drying up, I've switch to Tru Color paints, and a little bit of Scalecoat II. Of the 2 I have the most control with the Tru Color paints in my airbrush. I also love the fact that I can do a 2 color paint job with the Tru Color paint 15 minutes after applying the 1st coat. I'm considering Tru-color TCP- 084, Maersk-Sealand blue and TCP-301 KCS off white. There is another color they call TCP-187 Dust which is just a smidge dirtier white. I'll place an order for those soon, plus the detail parts I need. I think the blue will be close, with maybe a few drops of white. We'll see what my eye says.
Meanwhile the other Atlas RS3 I got is going to be a Western Maryland unit, possibly a "hammerhead" unit. Black is easy!
 
New Years eve dinner was Swiss Chalet chicken n ribs (courtesy of gift card), & a jumbo shrimp ring (about 2 dozen), and a snifter of Butter Ripple schnaps. Evening ended at the usual retirement time of 21:00 hrs.
For this past Dec , we were above the daily average high of 23 F for 25 days, & right now it is a balmy 39F !
I regard it as an extra month of dry roads vs slickeriness .
 
Sirfoldalot said:
What'cha mean - "hammerhead" - LINUS?
Click to expand...

Dis is a hammerhead !

WM hammerhead.jpg


Just an RS3 set up for passenger service with a steam generator in the short hood. Makes a great space for a speaker for the sound system!!

and by the way, who are you callin Linus?????? You Charlie Brown lookin monkeychucker!
 
Good evening Shop Dwellers! It's 41*F, partly cloudy and calm in this "progressive" State I live in...

Thanks everybody for the "likes" and comments on my drive-by post yesterday - Jerry, Phil, Hughie, Joe, Patrick, Guy, Tom-C, Karl, Sherrell, Tom-O, and Curt.

Karl - thanks for including that video insert of #1309, one of the few things that actually went right in 2020. Looks like the tender still has its C&O lettering on it, hope it stays that way!

Willie - those objects in your third photo of post# 49 look a lot like the granola I have every morning - almonds and oat clusters. Probably don't taste as good, though...🤮

Sherrell - those KC&G locos you did look spectacular, especially the F3! Do you still have them?

Curt - I feel (or should I say felt?) your pain! I remember the time I needed to shim-up one side of a curved Shinohara turnout near the throat of my main yard to keep my SD9 from derailing. I soaked the ballast with 91% Iso alcohol and when the underlying Elmers was softened, I went to pull the rail slightly upward so I could slide the shim underneath. I gripped it with a pair of needlenose and the rail came right up...off of the ties! Luckily MBK was within driving distance and had an identical Shino insulfrog turnout in stock, so 3 hours and $40 later, the new turnout was finally installed with the necessary shim beneath it. Didn't get much of anything else done on the layout that day...

* * *
Today being Saturday, I had a number of weekend chores to get done, so I didn't get as much time to work on the trainroom as I'd been hoping. The snow blower I ordered is supposed to be delivered this Tuesday, and my son suggested I get some fresh gasoline and remove the ethanol from it to keep it fresh longer. I spent ~1 hour watching different youtube videos on how to do that, then I thought I could save myself a lot of that effort by just buying ethanol-free gas directly. That led me down a rabbit-trail of Google searches on "ethanol-free gas suppliers in Maryland" with a lot of false hits, and after another hour of fruitless searches I finally got a straight answer on where the few Maryland ethanol-free gas stations are...and they were all in areas several hours away, none of them within 20 miles of my house! 🤬 So I wound up having spend another hour driving out to buy the gear for separating the gas myself after all...

What I did manage to accomplish today was to rig up a storage box for my caboose fleet. I needed to devise a way to safely store my I-12 cabins with their un-braced rock guard sheilds, so they wouldn't get broken off from being pressed onto the cushioning foam. I wound up gluing two parallel strips of foam ~2" apart to support the ends of the car bodies without touching the rock guards:

CabeeseInBox.jpg


(The later-model bay window cabeese toward the left have braced rock guards, so it doesn't matter if those press into the foam.) I was able to fit my entire caboose fleet into this one box.
 
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IronBeltKen said:
Good evening Shop Dwellers! It's 41*F, partly cloudy and calm in this "progressive" State I live in...

Thanks everybody for the "likes" and comments on my drive-by post yesterday - Jerry, Phil, Hughie, Joe, Patrick, Guy, Tom-C, Karl, Sherrell, Tom-O, and Curt.

Karl - thanks for including that video insert of #1309, one of the few things that actually went right in 2020. Looks like the tender still has its C&O lettering on it, hope it stays that way!

Willie - those objects in your third photo of post# 49 look a lot like the granola I have every morning - almonds and oat clusters. Probably don't taste as good, though...🤮

Sherrell - those KC&G locos you did look spectacular, especially the F3! Do you still have them?

Curt - I feel (or should I say felt?) your pain! I remember the time I needed to shim-up one side of a curved Shinohara turnout near the throat of my main yard to keep my SD9 from derailing. I soaked the ballast with 91% Iso alcohol and when the underlying Elmers was softened, I went to pull the rail slightly upward so I could slide the shim underneath. I gripped it with a pair of needlenose and the rail came right up...off of the ties! Luckily MBK was within driving distance and had an identical Shino insulfrog turnout in stock, so 3 hours and $40 later, the new turnout was finally installed with the necessary shim beneath it. Didn't get much of anything else done on the layout that day...

* * *
Today being Saturday, I had a number of weekend chores to get done, so I didn't get as much time to work on the trainroom as I'd been hoping. The snow blower I ordered is supposed to be delivered this Tuesday, and my son suggested I get some fresh gasoline and remove the ethanol from it to keep it fresh longer. I spent ~1 hour watching different youtube videos on how to do that, then I thought I could save myself a lot of that effort by just buying ethanol-free gas directly. That led me down a rabbit-trail of Google searches on "ethanol-free gas suppliers in Maryland" with a lot of false hits, and after another hour of fruitless searches I finally got a straight answer on where the few Maryland ethanol-free gas stations are...and they were all in areas several hours away, none of them within 20 miles of my house! 🤬 So I wound up having spend another hour driving out to buy the gear for separating the gas myself after all...

What I did manage to accomplish today was to rig up a storage box for my caboose fleet. I needed to devise a way to safely store my I-12 cabins with their un-braced rock guard sheilds, so they wouldn't get broken off from being pressed onto the cushioning foam. I wound up gluing two parallel strips of foam ~2" apart to support the ends of the car bodies without touching the rock guards:

View attachment 122730

(The later-model bay window cabeese toward the left have braced rock guards, so it doesn't matter if those press into the foam.) I was able to fit my entire caboose fleet into this one box.
Click to expand...
TSC and HD sell ethanol free fuel by the half gallon, it aint cheap, but it is close.
 
Good morning from beautiful snow covered Hammonds Plains this morning.
Hot Java is great while watching the news, love the Dr Darren Markland‘s news articles regarding a lot of poor leadership by some. At least one political member is of course skirting the rules of flying in and out of the UK right now, by entering Canada through the states.....I hope this truly isn’t the case. So much deception and spin; the only spin for me today will be my snowblower augers.
 
Good morning y'all.

Flo - Coffee, make it a double, please. And how about slinging some bacon, sausage, eggs and toast this way? Please don't burn the toast this time.

Mike - Thank you. It's funny because it's true. 🤣 I have a lot of stuff, but not enough of anything to actually make anything. Except ideas, I have lots of those. Still on the fence about the law firm. I like both ideas, I just feel they are commonplace. I'm hoping to come up with something a lttle more unique.

Willie - Your post is the reason I'm going to need such a large breakfast this morning. As always, love the scenes of the layout, especially since they relate to what I'm envisioning in my head. Love the GN sitting on the street. That car is the only reason I have any respect for V6 powerplants.

Finally decided on a name for the town. Been looking for something significant that holds meaning in my life. Decided on Nathan's Crossroads. Named after my grandfather and my son. The news of his impending birth came at a pivotal time in the midst of a tough spot in my marriage, and it left me sitting at a crossroads in life with decisions to make. Luckily, thanks to the wisdom of my grandfather and the grace of God I made the right decision and the wife and I are happier and better than we've ever been 5 years later.

To everyone else that shared pictures - Thank you. I did not have time to read everything that went with them, but I enjoyed the photos.

Y'all have a blessed day and try to stay out of trouble.
 
Ken, for storing my delicate rolling stock: I use regular foam, then cut sheets of craft paper, and lay it on the foam. The delicate parts then don't catch in the foam, but are still cushioned by it. I cut it so a single sheet will lay down into the trough of the foam, and up both sides of it. My wife got a roll of craft paper for me several years ago.
 
Greetings and train whistles from the NE corner of Indiana

Just above freezing here in The Fort. Light snow has just about switched over to light rain. Wife has admitted she's not getting on the scale the past several weeks (neither have I.... tooooooo many cookies and cinnamon rolls and candy). So NO special treats this morning.

However, I did do some work in the train room last night... seems we've got an infestation of ceiling gophers!

Screen Shot 2021-01-03 at 8.15.34 AM.png


Pesky varmint is leaving 4" holes all over above my benchwork.
Screen Shot 2021-01-03 at 8.15.46 AM.png


Fortunately, I have a box of LED hockey puck lights I can install to fill the holes.
Not sure if I'll have to go full Bill Murray to eliminate the varmint... let's hope not.

Goal today is to pull wire, and get the units wired in.
Tomorrow will be pop the breaker to connect to main, wire new switch with dimmer, yank the florescent 4ft-ers out of the center. I need to go get three more ceiling tiles.

I can never remember which ones I've got, so I've ended up three different styles. While I was up there, I remembered to pull the style # sticker off of one of the old ones, and one of the off-replacements. Hopefully I can find one of those two in stock.
 
Good Morning All. Clear and 40° here on the plains of North Central Texas. Warmer than the forecast low of 33° right now. A picture perfect weather day yesterday after the sun came out around 0900, high of 55° and no wind. Tee shirt weather, too bad that the ground was still wet from Thursday's rain. Speaking of that, my pond which was bone dry is now about 2/3 full.
Undecorated the Christmas tree and even returned the stuff to the attic yesterday. I was actually hoping to find storage space on the ground floor for it, but didn't take the time. I don't go into the attic any more, I just stash everything within reach of the scuttle hole. I really need to install one of those stairway contraptions to get in there and remove stuff that's been there for over 20 years!

Hello Flo. How about some scrambled eggs and steak fingers for me today. Southern cream gravy of course, along with a few biscuits.

Thanks for the likes and comments regarding the roast and Merchants Row structures yesterday; Gary, Joe, Sherrel, Tom O, Troy, Hughie, Phil, Jerry, Karl, Chad, Curt, Ken, David.

I spent some time in the train shed yesterday being constructive. I altered another figure for starters.
IMG_5404.JPG

I removed his briefcase and overcoat. I just don't need a lot of overcoats in my railroad's locale.
Followed that with painting faces, hands and legs on the next batch before moving into the clothing department.
Meanwhile, returning to my year 2020 retrospective, by late February, I was transforming an area of blank plywood into a homestead for an older retired couple and their dog. Here is an early shot.
03-01-20 003.JPG

Eventually I got to here.
03-03-20 004.JPG

Today I will be starting the quarterly layout clean up and documentation of areas on my layout. This year I move to the upper level, and I will start above the lower staging yard on the east side of the shed.
Here's a sneak preview of part of this area.
View looking north in the train shed, south railroad wise. I am not too sure that I have ever posted pictures of this section.
IMG_5427.JPG


Joe - Funny thing about those stones, well nothing really funny, is that I never had them until I retired. Now I get them about twice a year. Only once was there a really painful adventure when they move from the kidney through the ureter to the bladder. They are a discomfort once there until they pass. Some of the known contributing factors are diet which includes nuts, tea, spinach, beets and related vegetables in that family, and chocolate. Why they started when they did is a mystery, as I ate peanut butter sandwiches and spinach twice a week for 63 years with no issues. One thing that helps keep them from forming is lemonade, but that raises my blood sugar to unacceptable levels. And only my right hand kidney produces them!
Tom - It's really a euphoric experience to pass a stone out of the bladder. It's an end to the misery. My doctor told me that many people pass smaller ones and don't even know it. Once they make it to the bladder, there's plenty of room in all of the plumbing from there out.
Greg -
Greg@mnrr said:
I need to toned down my weathering intensity. Some of locomotive are rust buckets and well as a couple of cabooses.
Click to expand...
I was never too sure if you were over-weathering or that's just the way rolling stock looked in your locale. Railroads around here never let their equipment get into that shape, not even SP which was notorious for deferred maintenance.
That's too bad about your company meal. I'll send a few slices.
Jesse - I meant to include this picture of the back of MR IV showing the rear entry to the second floor apartment above the center business.
IMG_5432.JPG


Everybody have a great day and stay warm and safe.
 
santafewillie said:
Mikey - I went out and measured those drink cups at the pizzeria that you asked about, I made them with .040" styrene rod, not the .020" that I originally posted yesterday.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Willie!
I'll make a run to the LHS as soon as we take the layouts down this evening and tomorrow at McWane center when it closes today.
McWane wants to set up a new display on Tuesday in the space the trains are in.
 
Good morning everybody ...

Troy .... I just realized you are in Fort Wayne.... We sometimes drive through there on trips to Michigan from here in Western Kentucky. Not always, however. Other times we go to Cincinnati, and then drive to MI thorough Ohio. .... Ceiling gophers ?

Willie ..... I like your trailer scene .

Karl .... I have seen pictures of PRR hammerheads, but your picture is the first one i saw of one that is WM. The name, hammerhead, was also used on certain Burlington SD9's. They were owned by subsidiaries, C&S and FW&D. The short hood was about 4" higher than normal which is not much. I don't recall the reason for the modification.

Ken in MD ...... Must be nice to have MBK derby so you can make quick purchase as you did with the turnout. You have a lot of cabooses.

Curt ..... I read your post about working on a turnout. You and Ken each were solving problems with turnouts yesterday.

Everybody....... Hav a good Sunday.
 
Good morning from foggy So. Central Wisconsin. High temperature today should be 30 with dense fog in places all day. Happy Sunday that everyday for the past 3 have felt like.

I took yesterday off from the train room, went in once to get a diet Dr Pepper. Today already is different, since 6am I have at least 2 hours in. I pulled the grain terminal portions off that I have been using for placement and moving things around. Now the spot is empty. I have been contemplating since Friday about removing the old ethanol load out facility and moving portions of the GT onto that. It’s not an issue having the main go through the middle of a grain facility. That’s what overhead pipe racks and bridges are for. So basically what you see in this picture from Friday may all be stripped down and gone today, or not! STILL thinking. TomO

A4C6C702-0CC8-4C05-8441-BDCA97E86F05.jpeg
 
GarryCBQ said:
Good morning everybody ...

Troy .... I just realized you are in Fort Wayne.... We sometimes drive through there on trips to Michigan from here in Western Kentucky. Not always, however. Other times we go to Cincinnati, and then drive to MI thorough Ohio. .... Ceiling gophers ?
Click to expand...
Once Covid gets cleaned up, let me know when you come through. We're about two miles off I-69 on the west edge of town. Happy to grab a burger or let you in to see the train room (that is barely begun).
 
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