Running Bear's June 2020 Coffee Shop


Status
Not open for further replies.
JOE - You just keep hitting my "tender" spot with some outstanding RS photos - really sharp and clear!

Ahh, GARRY, there is no reason to hurl insults now? As JOE would say, "Not for nothing" -- I have noticed a shrinking of said member the past couple of years -- It hurts my pride.
This just makes me cry!
1592152086509.png
 
Afternoon fellers. Got to trim the blasted hedge this afternoon. At least I have a good day for it. As promised, here are some photos and a vid of the COSF. Still needs tweaking, that last car, and the E unit close coupling issue fixed, but it runs and tracks well, It even backs into the depot. Nicely done of I do say so myself

IMG_2827.JPG




IMG_2829.JPG
IMG_2830.JPG


IMG_2831.JPG


IMG_2832.JPG


IMG_2833.JPG
 
Afternoon All,

After some chores I built and installed the 3rd module and after cleaning the floor moved the storage items that I could under the modules for better access to the right wall. The front right side of the new module looks like it's drooping but it's not. This one is only 5' in length so only 1 set of legs.

Sherrel- Nice pictures.

Willie- Where's the Lone Star? Nice details and tree scene.

Terry- You couldn't find what you needed from Cal-Scale?

Tom- Beautiful sunset.

Joe- Sorry to correct you but it's the 245th Army birthday. Nice pictures of the RS's and crane.

Karl- I have tried several times to load JMRI but the setup always had errors so I ended up installing a program track, interface and program on my Digitrax throttle.

Alan- Wow, Wow, Wow, Wow. You did a stellar job on this project.

20200614_133852.jpg

20200614_133912.jpg

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Last edited:
Good evening gents! Napped away a large portion of the afternoon after cleaning the basement this morning, oh well!

PRR Modeler said:
Karl- I have tried several times to load JMRI but the setup always had errors so I ended up installing a program track, interface and program on my Digitrax throttle.
Click to expand...

Curt, I'm not sure about Digitrax, but I know with NCE a Keyspan serial data-USB adapter is crucial to set up. Once I got one, all my issues just vanished. Not sure the difference, I always thought an adapter was just that, an adapter! But this thing has some kind of board in it with blinky lights that does something!
Amazon has em!

Alan. What can I say but WOW! You did a fabulous job on your COSF!

Jerome, Ran out of track! How could you! You have had this planned for how long? I would have thought that you had stockpiles of track! Seriously, I'm jealous of your progress!

Now I'm off to see what kind of stuff I can get into before bedtime!!
 
Boris said:
Willie: Gotta love it! 🤣🤣🤣
The two restaurants fit in nicely.

David: Good to see ya!

Thanks



Willie: for some reason, that's pretty much what I expected. great touch!

Going to be a nice, dry and cooler type day, with lots of sunshine. My New recliner arrived yesterday, so I'm going to assemble it first, then we will do some gardening. Maybe some layout time later on.
Click to expand...
GarryCBQ said:
Good morning .....

Many thanks to all who commenting and liked my photo with the bridge on my layout.

David (CA) ...... Great to see you again. I like the hobos and the old boxcar. Hopefully, you can visit more often.

Willie ....... Apparently, everything is all figured out (so to speak) on your very nice layout. :) .... Your "CUP" is looking good.

Joe .... I like the Amtrak photo.
Click to expand...

Gary thanks, I really need to add a fair amount of detail to the old scratch built boxcar like trussrods, grab irons, a door pull, old couplers etc. That way I could give those bums a ride now and then to keep the journal's lubed. Lol
 
santafewillie said:
Good Morning All. Clear and 66° to get us started. Only reached 91° here yesterday. Not a lot going on around here right now. Picked a bunch more tomatoes from the garden and my first yellow squash and first bell pepper of the season yesterday. Trimmed up all of the onions and garlic that I picked about a week ago and moved them into storage. Finished cutting up and stacking the tree that my neighbor dropped off earlier in the week. Now I'm ready to return to my "back 40" and finish up a few more that I downed earlier this year.
Not sure whether I mentioned it or not, but we bought an air fryer about a month ago. Sure is a handy appliance. Definitely beats the heck out of the 25 year old toaster oven that we've been using. It still works but I don't have the will to throw it out because "it still works". Maybe by the next time that I go to the salvage (scrap) yard, I'll feel differently. The new air fryer heats up a lot of things like french fries and cheese sticks without heating up the whole kitchen with the oven.

Poached eggs and a pile of bacon for me this morning Flo.

Thanks for the likes and comments regarding yesterday's lengthy post; Jerome, Joe, Sherrel, Garry, Louis, Guy, Tom, Chet, Phil, Curt, Chad, Rick, Ken.

Between chores and trips into the pool yesterday, I did get some time in the train shed. Not much accomplished though despite all of the time there. I made a brick retaining wall for the plaza scene between the two restaurants, installed a sidewalk along the imaginary street and two planters with trees.
View attachment 114336
Now I just need to locate some appropriate outdoor furniture to go here.
No further progress pictures today, so here's another one for Sherrel.
View attachment 114337
I am going to take a few days off from layout projects as I feel burnout coming on. I haven't run any trains in about a week or so and my crew members are getting antsy. I am also desperately running out of figures to place on the current scenes and need to paint some more. I also need to repair my workbench chair before it falls apart with me on it. This burnout usually doesn't last long and I should resume the CUP (Charlottesville Urbanization Project) by Tuesday or Wednesday.

Garry - You have been quite punny lately! ;)
David - Great "turn of the century" hobo scene there.

We have a few commemorative days going on today. Of course it's National Flag Day, it's also the Army's Birthday and National Bourbon Day.
Everybody have a great day.
Click to expand...

Thanks Willie, I like your building scenes to. It's fairly easy to get burned out when you're doing so much as you are.

Glad you liked the little HoBo scene. The light-weight code 55 rail makes the boxcar look bigger and higher above it than it actually is.
 
PRR Modeler said:
Afternoon All,

After some chores I built and installed the 3rd module and after cleaning the floor moved the storage items that I could under the modules for better access to the right wall. The front right side of the new module looks like it's drooping but it's not. This one is only 5' in length so only 1 set of legs.

Sherrel- Nice pictures.

Willie- Where's the Lone Star? Nice details and tree scene.

Terry- You couldn't find what you needed from Cal-Scale?

Tom- Beautiful sunset.

Joe- Sorry to correct you but it's the 245th Army birthday. Nice pictures of the RS's and crane.

Karl- I have tried several times to load JMRI but the setup always had errors so I ended up installing a program track, interface and program on my Digitrax throttle.

Alan- Wow, Wow, Wow, Wow. You did a stellar job on this project.

View attachment 114359

View attachment 114360

I hope everyone has a good night.
Click to expand...

Curt, looks like some new expansion is taking place, and around the wall too ! 👍
 
Boris said:
Speaking of one's beating their head against the wall, I was down in the trainroom, staring at my incomplete module, trying to figure out what was wrong with it....o_O:oops: Then, it occurred to me that I had failed to allow space for the Interlocking Tower. This is where the Shared Asset portion of the railroad ends, and the railroad divides between the Reading Line, the passenger terminal lead, and the Pennsylvania line, so the location of the tower and signal bridge is critical. The only solution is to assemble the tower, and check clearances. If I don't, it will surely blow up in my face...



Karl: Thanks, great idea. I think I have it installed on the computer that will interface with the layout, might be a good idea to connect it. Another good idea, might be to install a program track...:eek:

Time to take another ride on the Reading...the "Dutch" local, switching industries at Quakertown, on the North Penn (Bethlehem) Branch in 1967.
On Conrail, the former Reading people, were generally referred to as the "Wooden Shoe" due to their PA Dutch heritage.... Guess today, this would be considered inappropriate, but that was then.
View attachment 114349
View attachment 114350
Ex PRR 120TN Wreck Derrick at Strasburg RR, in PA. I have the Tichy model to build when I get around to it. There was one at South Philly, and another at Washington Terminal. Most Eastern region derricks were 150TN.
Click to expand...

Say Boris, Great picture of 120, (Brown Hoist ?) Wreck Derrick. I've also thought about getting a Tichy kit myself. I'm fairly sure they can be built so they are operational.
 
Good morning Everybody!

Cleaning out and organizing my toolbox to get ready to do the brakes on my City Express I realized my tools are so corroded that I can hardly read the sizes with my old eyes. Even my Snap-On tools look nasty.

I investigated buying some new tools just to make life easy and realized, tools have gotten to be much more expensive than I thought. I made a few calls to my grey market wholesale dealers to see if I could find anything cheap. I found a great deal on 3 pallets of Craftsmen tools for not much more than what I was going to spend at Sears online. I would get most of what I needed and have a little more than 2 and 1/2 pallets left over to sell.

I had to make 3 trips to pick up these 1000 + or - lb. pallets, but I made each round trip in less than 15 minutes. In a little over an hour I had my back porch loaded with craftsman tools. I paid a day laborer $100 to help me and he earned every penny. He was happy to be done so quick and I was happy to have everything sorted and stacked.

I quickly listed the stuff on Amazon and in a few days, it was all sold. I hired the day laborer for 3 more days to help me take the stuff to UPS. Less than an hour a day for $100 each day and he was happy again. He pocked an easy $400 for his part of the job.

I only made a true 35% gross profit on the 3 pallets, that is why it sold so fast. But the 35% profit was over and above the stuff I am keeping, shipping and all my other costs including the labor. I also picked up a new toolbox to put the new tools in. My new tools and toolbox cost me nothing out of my pocket and I made a healthy profit.

In addition to becoming a temporary tool dealer I have been taking full advantage of this beautiful low humidity weather by knocking down my to-do list. The list grows faster than I can cross things off, but I am trying. The job of cleaning out my old toolbox and cleaning those old tools has proven to be very tedious and time consuming.

A branch from one of my neighbor’s trees fell in my front yard, luckily no damage done. That gave me an excuse not to cut the front lawn. I thought I would have try out my new Craftsmen chain saw to clean up the tree, but “little elves”, my neighbor had it cleaned up sometime before sunset. I don’t know for sure; I was asleep by 7pm and I have not checked the security video.

The pool is done and looks nice, but the water is only 74, too cold for me!

So now you know what has been keeping me busy recently.

Have a great day Everybody!
 
David, it’s great to see you!

Boris, I think these MLB players need a history lesson. They seem to have forgotten how long it took for the fans to come back after the strikes years ago. Greed is holding up the season now. The players want their salaries prorated for the short season based on their full contracts. Owners want the salaries prorated based on this year’s reduced revenue. Even the Yankees have agreed to share revenue, the players need to give a little too.
 
Morning all,

Coffee and on of the big cinnamon rolls this morning, Thanks Francine

Glad to see you back David. I really liked your hobo photo.

Sunny and 68* this morning predicting a high of 98* (only 12* above normal for this time of year).

It was a busy weekend, as I got home late from the oil change and barely had time to clean the pool before the grand kids showed up wanting to swim. After the wife got home we went to Wichita to get chicken takeout. Saturday I spent the morning mowing, trimming and edging the yard before it got too hot and then did a bunch of chores in the house. I finished more of the outdoor work yesterday (weeding the blueberries as the crabgrass doesn't seem to care what it grows in) and still have a lot more to do. I did get some #4 and #6 brass washers during one of my trips to the hardware store and finally fixed my 0-6-0 switcher so with the offset coupler, it is able to pull rail cars around the track. Not much for train time, only about 30 minutes, but the knees are still hurting after the weeding yesterday, I sit on a 5 gallon bucket and work that way, but with leaning to reach the weeds, I still place some stress on the knees (never mind I'm physically out of shape, but not out of shape as round is a shape).
 
Bruette said:
David, it’s great to see you!

Boris, I think these MLB players need a history lesson. They seem to have forgotten how long it took for the fans to come back after the strikes years ago. Greed is holding up the season now. The players want their salaries prorated for the short season based on their full contracts. Owners want the salaries prorated based on this year’s reduced revenue. Even the Yankees have agreed to share revenue, the players need to give a little too.
Click to expand...

Louis: OTOH there are no refunds for non delivered MLBTV subscriptions, and I read that there are so far no accommodations for prepaid Season Ticket subscribers, so it ain't just the players...Over all, I realize that this is not something MLB has invented, but they are not handling this well, at all.
And yes, they are going to lose customers. it's June 15, and I have lived without baseball or hockey.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.



Back
Top