Running Bear's July 2020 Coffee Shop


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Hiya gang!

Catching up on past posts has been fun, I'm amazed by some of the pics,,good stuff!

Prices are increasing everywhere -- people demand more money and the prices of everything goes up to compensate ! It's a no-win ballgame with only the retired and those living on "fixed income" losing.
It is more a vicious cycle, workers get raises, prices go up, then the workforce needs another raise, then the prices go up again, its madness really.

I am, a bit of a self professed tool whore. I've got so many many gadgets and gizmos that I almost never uses it's pathetic, and a trip to Harbor Freight today didn't help and I'm gonna blame this one of IBKen! I just had to get one of those air erasers. This will however be used, as I have several brass locos that need to be stripped. I do have to figure out how to procure more abrasive, as it only came with a small jar. The instructions recommend abrasive that is .50mm which translates to 500 microns or less. Anybody have any ideas??

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Imagine, the absolute gall! Sam & Ella's Diner bought advertising space right outside their competition at Babe's Diner!

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The local mill switcher spots another car for unloading.

L8ter gang!
 
Chet, I totally gave up on the blue box Athearn, with the exception of my CNJ Trainmaster. The project engine is a DCC ready with new style motor from about 2008. This unit came with the prototype width body and individual components and handrails and grabs. It has a decoder in it, but was sort of a bad runner. I set it aside and forgot about it, until the other day. Only needs a lube. I can spend some money on a Tsunami and speaker, or I can leave it as is with the Digitrax silent decoder it has installed.
Most of the Athearn's I have are from this range, commonly known as the Ready to Roll with Quick Plug 8 or 9 pin DC/DCC. Athearn seem to be shifting many from that range over to the Roundhouse range now as their entry level models.
 
Athearn seem to be shifting many from that range over to the Roundhouse range now as their entry level models.
Ray: I looked these up and the one(s) I have were announced in 2004, and available in 2005. They have the RPP shell, and the upgraded motor, but the assembly was quite poor. Turns out the lead truck has warped engineering plastic. All 4 wheel sets were out of gauge, and the more I probed, the worse it got. No cracked axles though. Fortunately, I have a donor so I may get one good one out of two not so good. As you mentioned, the whole group seems to have been shifted over to the Roundhouse line.
If I remember correctly, I picked up 4 RS3s and 4 GP35s around the same time. None worked well. Game plan is to get two Rs3s and one GP35 working reliably, then cannibalize the rest for usable parts.
I pretty much stopped buying Athearn after this experience, until they came out with engines I wanted in the Genesis line. I have an SD40 RTR that runs great. Might even do the Genesis upgrade for this one along with either a Tsunami or ESU sound system.
I have fallen so far behind the curve with DCC technology, so I'm trying to catch up.
Karl: Nice photos...nice work.
Curt: Thanks, Sorry to hear of your freezer problem...happily, you were able to save most of the food.

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Big Blue Westbound @ Rochester, NY July 12, 1979. Damn, that was a long time ago, eh?
 
Good Morning All. Clear and 79° to start the week. Weatherman was off the mark again yesterday, temperature never got above 97°. Supposed to reach 101° today and tomorrow with a heat index of 108°. Another day for the pool, although the temperature of the water has now risen to 89°, still cooler than the afternoon air. I got back into the mowing grind after lunch yesterday for about an hour, and finished off the front yard and part of the area around the train shed.
Today marks an anniversary of sorts for me. Five years ago today on July 13, 2015, I left work for the last time. Never looked back!:cool: I was supposed to work up until the 15th, but the boss saw me right after he returned from lunch that day and told me to "get the &^%$ out". I wasted no time. Still got paid until the 31st. First stop on the way home was the beer store for an ice cold one. I had already passed all of my duties to the "next generation of leaders" about 18 months before, and was basically doing nothing for over a year. In retrospect, if I had worked four more months, they were going to lay me off and I would have been eligible for unemployment. Didn't need the money any more so it never mattered.

How about some Eggs Benedict and a Mimosa for me this morning Francine. I feel like celebrating early today.

Thanks for the reactions and comments yesterday regarding the layout tour/cleaning project; Mopac, Sherrel, Tom O, Karl, Guy, Rick, Chet, Phil, Chad, Curt, Garry, Jerome, Tom. More to come.

Worked on a side project in the train shed yesterday. You may recall this picture with the vacant space in downtown Ft Wish.
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It originally had this structure in it's place.
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I moved it to the CUP (Charlottesville Urbanization Project) because it fit well there. So I had to purchase another of the same structure to replace it.
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It went into the paint shop yesterday evening. Different colored brick and windows are forthcoming. It may or may not still be an eating establishment when it goes on the layout.
Meanwhile next to the gas station previously posted is another pair of rail served businesses in Ft Wish, actually the first two.
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Global Coffee Distributors is a Walther's kit and the Plumbing Supply next to it is from a long forgotten manufacturer.
We have a signal maintainer checking things out across the road.
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Lots of work still left to do in this area, and the entire town.
Dusted off and reset a few more buildings on the other side of the peninsula, and added another section to the hairpin fence around the museum over in Charlottesville.

Tom O - The train shed is 20' x 32'. There are two levels although not currently connected. Since I like switching the most, I have a lot of towns, eleven currently, full of industries (70+) and structures (easily 300+). Besides what you are seeing, I have several large swaths of plywood that are planned but not yet developed except for track running through. I do like building structures and in the past few years, I have really developed a liking for laser-cut craftsman kits. Your paper mill complex is quite an extensive undertaking. I like it, but I have no knowledge of how they operate. Other than grain elevators (7), most of my industries are smaller ones. That will change when I get the ethanol processor done.
Sherrel - You're not alone regarding the comet. Low clouds have kept me from viewing it in the morning. Now that it is supposed to be visible in the evening, the neighbors light on the front of his barn might will obscure it.
Chet - I cannot get too many photos from a distance because of the serpentine nature of the layout. I also need to some day install the rest of the lighting fixtures under the upper level.
Curt - Bad news regarding the freezer. Good that you caught it in time to save what you could.

Today is National French Fry Day. Ummmh!
Everyone have a great day.
 
Morning all,

Hot weekend. It was 98* on Saturday with heat index of 112*. Like stepping into a sauna when going outside. Yesterday was a little cooler, only 93* with heat index of 101*.

Picked the really first of the tomatoes. Currently sitting a 8 pounds so far with more coming. I'd forgotten how good a really ripe tomato is with little salt......

Nothing on the train front as I was doing other things in the house.

Willie: Do you have your salsa recipe? Can I have a copy?
 
Morning ALL! yesterday was a megar 102 and the Spousal Unit decides to do yard work!
She finally decided to cut, prune, and chop down some bushes that had really overgrown their area. I have been trying to get her to do this for over a year, but she did not want me to do it!
I pulled out the pressure washer and proceeded to wash down the entire patio area and two sides of the house which had begun to look dingy from dust and rain splatter - almost had a mold looking appearance - anyway everything looks much better this morning.
I still have more to do and as soon as the Advil takes hold - I will get to it before the heat sets in.

Only supposed to be 91 for a high today. We went out last evening looking for comets and satellites but could not find any -- too many street and city lights to contend with plus very high thin ICE clouds to contend with.

KARL - Does that CADDY belong to Jane Mansfield, Elvis, or Liberace?
 
Good morning from the deck in So. Central Wisconsin where a nice day, low 80’s is on tap. Thanks Willie, all those building make you room seem so much bigger. As I go around my layout in pictures I have some smaller industry other then the Paper Mill. My Ethanol plant right now is a group of formcore standings and a couple finished buildings. I sold my fleet of tank cars from Scaletrains as someone wanted them and paid what I did. ST has ethanol cars already with the haz mat placards correctly installed coming and I will order maybe 12, 1/3 what I had. Everyone stay safe. TomO

The Cranes are coming!
They looked at the garden and kept going
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Willie: Do you have your salsa recipe? Can I have a copy?
It's a "go with the flow" recipe, not something too formal.
Ingredients
2-3 lbs. ripe tomatoes, any kind. I prefer Early Girl or Jubilee.
1-3 roughly sliced jalapeno peppers seeds removed, quantity depends on their flavor and your preference
1/2 roughly chopped medium onion, about 1/3 cup, I use red, but have used yellow or white. Use whatever is on hand. Do not dice.
3-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped do not dice.
1 medium bell pepper roughly chopped, about 1/2 cup, again remove seeds but do not dice. I sometimes use a combination of red and green.
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 small can green chilis - I use Old El Paso brand.
1 lime juiced
salt & ground black pepper to taste
Optional sugar to taste
Directions
Quarter up the tomatoes and remove the stem and any tough inner white parts. Some of the white pulp is OK. No need to remove the skins or seeds. Put the tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, onion, and garlic on a greased cookie sheet. Douse with about a tablespoon of olive oil or canola oil and lightly salt and mix it up a bit. Put into a pre-heated 400° oven for about 20-25 minutes for that fire-roasted taste. Use a slotted spoon to move the contents to a blender, some liquid is OK, but try to leave most of it behind. Add the cumin, cilantro, chilis, lime juice and a dash of black pepper and pulse a couple of times. Taste. If it is not spicy enough for your taste, add some chili powder, more salt and pepper or other spices, and pulse once again. Or add sugar if you prefer a sweeter salsa. This makes about a pint. It can be made without roasting, but I feel that roasting gives it a better taste, and removes some of the excess liquid. All vegetable quantities are "close to", feel free to add or subtract from the given quantities.
Enjoy.
 
Afternoon All,

Did chores this morning getting caught up from the weekend. This afternoon I mounted the 2 PSX AR's, connected them to the main buss and applied power. The correct lights came on for both so now I'm waiting for the wire to place the "runs".

Phil- I resemble that.

Karl- Nice layout photos.

Joe- Nice Big Blue photo.

Willie- Nice pictures.

TomO- Nice garden and Sandhill Cranes.

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I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Good morning from the deck in So. Central Wisconsin where a nice day, low 80’s is on tap. Thanks Willie, all those building make you room seem so much bigger. As I go around my layout in pictures I have some smaller industry other then the Paper Mill. My Ethanol plant right now is a group of formcore standings and a couple finished buildings. I sold my fleet of tank cars from Scaletrains as someone wanted them and paid what I did. ST has ethanol cars already with the haz mat placards correctly installed coming and I will order maybe 12, 1/3 what I had. Everyone stay safe. TomO

The Cranes are coming!
They looked at the garden and kept going
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Man o man Rib eye in the sky! yummy!

It is legal to hunt cranes throughout the states of the Central Flyway, from the Dakotas and Wyoming south to Oklahoma and Texas. Nebraska is the sole state along the Central Flyway where hunting cranes is illegal.

Not legal in Wisconsin though but it is to the Tribal communities in the North Western part of the state.

A group of cranes has many collective nouns, including a "construction", "dance", "sedge", "siege", and "swoop" of cranes.

Sandhill crane males are slightly larger than females, weighing up to 14 pounds. Females remain closer to 10 pounds. The birds grow up to 5 feet in height measured from toe to the top of the head when they are standing on the ground. The male is generally a couple inches taller than the female.

Cranes are regarded as a messenger of the god. In the magic potions crane's eggs were used to bless its drinkers with gift of eternal life. In Egypt, ancient legends said that a crane with two heads when seen flying over the River Nile River, then it means that the prosperous times are about to start.

The Crane is considered a messenger of God, or a symbol of communion with God, or Light Beings. It represents entering higher states of consciousness.

Generally, cranes mate for life; rarely divorce is known to occur. A pair will return to the same nesting area each spring. When they arrive, the young from the previous year who have migrated north with their parents are driven off while the pair begins a new family.


Nice garden too! 😜 ;)
 
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Fellers! I'm back again. So much has transpired on my end. First things first. Got a new collective bargaining agreement for work. Nice little pay raise for me. Sadly everyone on the negotiating panel came down with covid19. One is still in the hospital as the others have recovered. That's my second run in with it. I ended up going and getting tested to come up with a negative result. Turn around and last week my brother fell ill. Found out today he is positive for it. He is treating at home which is good. I finally became a gun owner mostly due to an issue that happened at home. One of which I found out my home defense is two fists. So I had fix that as the questionable characters coming up into my neck of the woods is growing. And lastly.....trains! Yes I have managed time for my trains. Upgrading wheels and couplers. I even added to my fleet. Another atlas locomotive. In chessie paint this go around. And details wise I'm far from impressed. My P2K GP7 has better details than the atlas does. It is an atlas though and runs really well. That's a quick rundown of things on my end. I know I'm not in here as much as I used to be. My days are a blur anymore. Everyone stay safe and I'll try to stop by again sometime soon.
 
Fellers! I'm back again. So much has transpired on my end. First things first. Got a new collective bargaining agreement for work. Nice little pay raise for me. Sadly everyone on the negotiating panel came down with covid19. One is still in the hospital as the others have recovered. That's my second run in with it. I ended up going and getting tested to come up with a negative result. Turn around and last week my brother fell ill. Found out today he is positive for it. He is treating at home which is good. I finally became a gun owner mostly due to an issue that happened at home. One of which I found out my home defense is two fists. So I had fix that as the questionable characters coming up into my neck of the woods is growing. And lastly.....trains! Yes I have managed time for my trains. Upgrading wheels and couplers. I even added to my fleet. Another atlas locomotive. In chessie paint this go around. And details wise I'm far from impressed. My P2K GP7 has better details than the atlas does. It is an atlas though and runs really well. That's a quick rundown of things on my end. I know I'm not in here as much as I used to be. My days are a blur anymore. Everyone stay safe and I'll try to stop by again sometime soon.
A new Chessie engine and no pics.:eek:
 
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