Running Bear's March 2021 Coffee Shop


Status
Not open for further replies.
santafewillie said:
Good Morning All. Partly cloudy and 56°. May hit 80° today after 77° yesterday. Afternoon and evening thundershowers are in the forecast later today, which will cool things down a bit. Yesterday, I applied a top dressing of compost to the garden so the rain will be just right. I picked more lettuce yesterday for last night's salad. Spent part of the day using the weedeater yesterday for the first time this year. I also did some other minor yard chores. May get to do some mowing today before the rain.

Make it simple this morning Francine, two sunny side up eggs with a handful of bacon.
This is the beginning of a very long-winded post!

Thanks for the many likes and comments yesterday about the train ride; Karl, Patrick, Justin, Rick, Guy, Sherrel, Chad, Jaz, Phil, Tom O, Greg, Gary, Tom, Ken, Garry. I will continue the series today.

As promised, we'll continue the journey following that hot-shot mixed freight through the layout today.
I'll start with the last picture going past the industrial park in south Vernon.
View attachment 126333
Coming around the peninsula.
View attachment 126335
As we round the bend, we pass the paint distributor.
View attachment 126334
Then we enter the small city known as Maultown.
View attachment 126336
View attachment 126337
View attachment 126338
Never mind that large razor blade in the alley there!
Since this is a hot-shot, all other rail traffic has pulled into sidings to let it pass.
View attachment 126339
The final picture of the journey is entering a small as yet unnamed village.
View attachment 126340
Out in the train shed as well yesterday, I did start on the next project area in Rycon Township. As I posted recently, I am raising this small 10" x 48" area by 1/4". Here is the start. I used scraps of plywood sheathing for this, thus the seam down the middle.
View attachment 126341
Looks sloppy right now, ground cover and paint hides a lot of sins!
Took a pause yesterday on figure painting.

Patrick - Too bad about your lack of decent internet service there. My local ISP is in a town of about 1600, but serves a much larger rural area with a few smaller towns. They applied for and received a government grant to improve internet access for our mostly rural area. They installed the fiber-optic lines in 2010, and more in 2016, but ran out of money before they hooked everybody up. Those close to the office got it, but it took until 2018 for them to get a third grant that enabled them to get to us. As part of the grant, hookup was free to existing landline customers and there was no rate increase, yet! I have neighbors who had given up their landlines for cell service and don't have it and will have to pay to have it installed.
Troy - Keto or no Keto, a grill is a very important part of my cooking appliances. Even in mid-winter it gets used a couple of times a week. It does require some patience though, because I am a diehard charcoal or wood user...no propane here even though I have a 150 gallon tank of it 30' away!
Chad - Good luck to your son.
Sherrel -

I didn't know cameras were invented then!;)
Jaz - Hey! Good to read that you seemed to have fixed the fox issue. I hated the thought of those beautiful creatures being someone's meal.
I love the sleigh model. And it looks like it would be easy to scratch build.
You sure have been posting some excellent modeling pictures since you joined the forum. Thank you for coming aboard.
I really like the one with the farm animals along the side of the road. Really shows the difference in the English countryside and the dull area that I live in. Your figures bring a lot of life to your scenes. I too like painting and using figures, I have over 800 now on the layout.
Justin - Just wanted to chime in again. 1/2" to 3/4" buckling is really extreme. You're obviously experiencing wood issues as well as track issues. While I do not use many Snap Switches (Maybe six out of 115), I eyeball all of them and have had to apply pressure to remove the bow out of maybe 5% of all Snap or Custom Line ones. It's never much, but when combined with track expansion and wood warpage, it certainly will cause problems. I have only one Walther's curved turnout and I had to fix it as well.
Terry - Prayers and positive thoughts from me for Marie and your family will continue.
Mikey - Good news regarding the storms.
Joe - Boy, you're hit the nail on the head exactly about the stress level after getting the first shot.
Garry - Good news from the doc.

Tonight is the beginning of Passover if you aren't already aware. Tomorrow will be Palm Sunday to us Catholics.
Everybody have a great Saturday. It has turned foggy here since I began to write this post earlier.
Click to expand...
We need to set up a mutual admiration society, smiles, I love pictures 4 and 5 that rusted shed is a total delight, right down to the tree sheltering in the wreck,gorgeous.
 
A couple of pictures then as our club continues (only 2 people in the room....hence a little slow going at times) plus supply delays, but the charity layout is coming slowly. I set my 18” track back up again as I have to run some trains. I will work around it which works for me.
EBB06174-E545-4863-9DF2-EC1CD3747D65.png
07FB1B42-40AE-4C50-982D-0B46B0027CCA.png
6BCB3021-5D7C-41EF-AE50-2F66B0A7B1B2.png

glue being applied before foil and rock castings
 
Greg@mnrr said:
Good Morning Everyone....overcast and rain on and off all Saturday.

Since my layout is of a modest size and I was considering not using Kadee couplers on all my rolling stock. I planned on installing Kadees on the locomotives and ore cars since they are heavy and will run in longer consists. I changed my mind last week when I was testing couplers on new rolling stock kits that I completed and the tested the couplers on a test track to make sure that the uncoupling action worked as designed. It was no surprise, and I will not mention the coupler manufactures, but the non-Kadees did not perform as well as the original Kadees. The Kadees opened and allowed uncoupling, while brand "X" failed to open or opened partially. This didn't happen during every test, but enough to make using my layout's Kadee uncouplers a hit or miss operation if I mixed coupler brands.

I'm convinced that using all Kadees with be the route to follow as I test each piece of rolling stock for uncoupling action. My DCC programming track has several Kadee uncouplers mounted in the track for testing and it's easy to spot failures and malfunctioning couplers at the workbench.

The Posts above had a lot of conversations about wood expansion and contraction on model railroad layouts. On my previous layout which was cookie cutter, where I had bridges the plywood was held in place by 1X4's risers attached to the bench work. I did a lot of layout building during one winter and come one Spring day I found my flex-track in places pushed up as much as an inch. Most of the expansion occurred at the weak links where the plywood ended and bridges were installed leaving a space between the ends of the plywood. Apparently, the plywood's expansion moved the 1X4 risers as well as the track in areas.

I wonder if the quality of plywood and 1X4's used is a factor in expansion and contraction of wood products. Or, how the products were shipped and stored in the final place of sale.

On my current layout I have several areas were the plywood sections ended and I need to join another piece of plywood sub-road bed to contiue the trackage sub-road bed. I used Marine grade plywood for use as plates under the gap where the two pieces of plywood meet. The first Marine plate was well over a foot longer past any gap. The plates was screwed from below and above and wood glue on used and addition strength. A second plate was added to the first and installed in the opposite direction of the first and also glued and screwed in place with some screws from above going through the first plate into the second for a more secure plate system.

On mixing of paints, if I know in advance what colors I'll be using, I simply put the bottles, cap down in my pants pockets and let my walking during the day and next to do the paint mixing. A a final mix, I using my small Testors battery powered mixer.

I ordered a MR&T box car from Kalmbach and it should arrive today since I'm so close to Kalmbach's Headquarters in Waukesha, Wisconsin. After visiting Kalmbach and the MR&T in person I convinced myself that I could mix different locomotives with different road names. On the MR&T I saw a yard that held locomotives from many roads and never gave it a single thought. I'm not a single road operator, but have locomotives that have or still run on Wisconsin trackage. But if I want, can run strictly steam era equipment or more modern diesel.

I'm a sucker for paint themes and really like the older Canadian National green and gold colors.

Willie: Those are some great photos of your layout and Santa Fe equipment.

Terry: Glad to hear of your wife's progress. I'm been there in your wife's ib a similar medical condition and it takes time to recover and with your assistance I'm positive Marie will recover.

That's about all for now.

Greg

##############


View attachment 126346
An ALCO putting a ore train through Rocky Junction. The retaining wall on the right was constructed out of RR ties assembled on a sheet of wax paper using AC. The ties were stained prior to being glued otgether. The ties supporting the retaining wall were used during construction to actually hold the wall in place. They looked look so I just left the in place. The ore cars have Chooch loads covered with Woodland Scenic's ore held in place with Scenic Cement.-Greg
Click to expand...
Really nice modelling, lots of random texture,colour palette is excellent and love the weathered wagons,superb deer,and what looks like a driver,many of my locos are Marie celestes :) love the wooden fence, and the wood propping it up,totally love it,even when looking cannot find something ...anything to bitch about :)
 
Greg@mnrr said:
Wood will expand and and contract with moisture and plywood and most other wood types should be "seasoned" for several weeks in a basement or even a garage to accustom them to the area they will be used in.
Click to expand...

Greg, Much of my wood has served several of my previous layouts, but it still responds to moisture and excessive dryness. I run two dehumidifiers in the basement, I try to keep moisture at 50%, thus keeping things relatively stable. Biggest problem is Spring and Fall, when usage of heat or AC is sporadic. Amazing how much power those dehumidifiers consume.

Except for a short stretch of Code 83, my layout is Code 70, mostly Micro Engineering. I do have a few Atlas C-83 #6 crossovers. Only issue I really have is power loss on frogs, especially crossovers. I am experimenting with "Keep Alive" decoders, to se if this is a viable fix, but things sometimes move slowly. I do tend to put my limited knowledge of prototype track to solve HO problems, most of the time, it works.

Squirt 81 -2 - 03-19-2021.jpg

There seems to be a shortage of good quality photos involving favored subjects, of late, so I'm tossing in a photo of a former employer's newest engine. A Seagraves 2000GPM pumper with a 65ft "Squrt". It was a demo, so they got a great deal on the 2018 model with a lot of extra goodies. They will put it to great use.

Second Covid shot went well, in and out including 15" wait after injection, was less than an hour. Now we really feel relieved.
 
Evenin' Shop Dwellers! It's currently 60*F under partly cloudy skies with an 8mph SSE breeze. Rain will start to appear after 4am, followed by T-storms tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully nothing as nasty as what went thru Mikey's region...

Along those lines, I spent most of today unpacking, assembling, and finally testing the new 12000w generator I ordered last month. Required a few unplanned visits to Ace - first to buy a new carton slicer since the one I had must've grown legs and wandered off, then again to pick up two quarts of 10W-30 oil for the motor (overlooked that little detail during my first trip, CRS strikes again!) Most of the assembly process went as planned; biggest stumbling block was when I went to connect the negative wire to the battery and I couldn't find a socket that would (1) fit the nut I was trying to loosen, and (2) also be usable with a small quarter-inch drive ratchet since that was the only thing I could fit in the cramped enclosure that would cover the nut properly. But by 4:45pm I finally had the motor running and used a junk lamp to verify it was putting out the juice:

GeneratorSuccessfullyTested.jpg


This was my first time firing up a propane-powered motor. It took a few extra cranks before the motor started, and it wavered for the few minutes until the LPG regulator got a steady pressure of propane flowing in. A bit of a learning curve for sure, but it's worth it IMHO - since I don't like having to siphon stale gasoline out of the gas tank and worry about the carb getting fouled. Second reason is, I can use a "tee" hose adapter to connect two propane tanks at the same time, then shut off the first one once the second one starts flowing; in other words, I don't have to totally shut down the generator to add fuel like I always have to do with gasoline.

I didn't post on here last night because I was busy watching youtube videos to learn how to set up this generator. Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow to get back to mrr activities.

(Being summoned - will try to sneak back in here later...)
 
Last edited:
GarryCBQ said:
Howdy :

Good to see each of your posts. ........ My appointment with cardiologist: Making some progress. Doctor revised medications. My blood pressure was being over corrected. It was 77 / 47 at the appointment which is a bit low. He also has been trying to regulate congestion. Weight went up 12.5 pounds in February and has decreased by 16 pounds so far in March. That should stabilize. Hopefully when BP normalizes, I will feel better.

My sister in AL texted last evening when he town was under tornado watch. She was in a closet hunkering down with her dog. Fortunately, not much damage in her town unlike nearby towns.

My friend in CO has adult children living in Boulder with their spouses and kids. They live near the grocery store where the terrible shooting took place. One of their grandkids has a part time job in the store, but was not working at the time. People there are very shocked.

Model trains..... I briefly ran a couple of trains today. ..... Our hobby is always good for sanity breaks.

Have a nice evening.
Click to expand...
Garry - glad to see you're trending back to functional health! Tragic about what happened in Boulder, but good thing that grandkid wasn't in the store at the fateful time. Interestingly, my 25yr-old daughter was recently vacationing with some friends in Las Vegas and they spent a day in Boulder visiting the Hoover Dam, don't think she went to any supermarkets there though...
 
Evening Gents and Ladies too! I don't think I posted this morning. I have been on a mission!
It got up to 78 degrees today - supposed to reach 84 tomorrow with a cloudless sky -- I turned back on the yard sprinklers this afternoon - and will give the yard another shot in a few minutes. I was holding out for rain which never came; the yard guy knocked on the door looking for this months payment and stated that the grass was crying for some moisture. I have thought about putting the sprinklers on all week, but kept getting distracted and forgetting to do it.

The spousal unit is back with her Mom and will be there until Tuesday. My daughter and two of the G-sons will show up here tomorrow evening from D.C. for the whole week. My first time to see the boys just shy of two years - they are #2 and #4 of the eight boys ages 10 & 12. I have not been able to get their heads out of a computer screen long enough to look at a train, plane, or boat in the past - I doubt that has changed -
The wifey is not too pleased with the timing of their visit due to Covid concerns, but I did not want to tell them "NOT" to come - so wifey may stay at her Moms for the duration. My daughter is one of the non believers in getting the vaccine (I might add that my son holds the same belief.) Going to be interesting to see if they both can hold on to their jobs - daughter works for TSA and travels twice a month from D.C. to all 57 48 uuh 50 States; the son works in the Hollywood movie industry and is being tested every other day!

TERRY - Hope/pray that Marie continues to improve and you are able to funnel all thos cats into shape! 😁

IBKEN - You have to give that thing a name - maybe Bestie? Wife's daughter in Newport had a name for everything. She was quite amusing with some of her choices. The pool vacuum was named SCOOTER, the long hair dachshund was SWIFFER, and the land turtle was ROCKET.

Willie, Tom, Jaz, GUY, Greg, and others - Great photos n modeling too! Awesome truck there TOM.

GUY - I see what you mean about fracking -- I looked close up at "Maps" and could see all the wellheads north of you. They have really saturated the tundra - looks like west Texas.
I notice that your freight cars don't seem to attract the "poles" like those big CN Units?

Well, I have clamored long enough. Later gang!
 
Good morning from cat herding central...
We had some severe storms yesterday, lasting well after midnight this morning. I was able to spend a couple of hours at the hospital yesterday, they are more strict with visitors with the covid thing. Honestly, about 2 hours is also about all I can stand to wear a mask, as well. Not to get too graphic, but there is a physical reason I can't wear one, and involves draining sinuses. My wife is still in icu, though she is slowly improving. She is still on heavy antibiotics, and still confused, though she is less confused. They discovered the reason for her confusion, or at least a major reason. She has too much carbon dioxide in her blood. Even though her O2 levels are good, there was too much CO2, which is bad. They hooked her up to a bipap machine, which is a cpap machine that pulls air out, as well as pushing it in, to help get rid of the excess CO2.
I'll provide an update after I get back from the hospital later today.
I'll leave you with a quote from one of my electronic friends that some of you may be familiar with:
"Have a safe day!"
 
bnsf971 said:
Good morning from cat herding central...
We had some severe storms yesterday, lasting well after midnight this morning. I was able to spend a couple of hours at the hospital yesterday, they are more strict with visitors with the covid thing. Honestly, about 2 hours is also about all I can stand to wear a mask, as well. Not to get too graphic, but there is a physical reason I can't wear one, and involves draining sinuses. My wife is still in icu, though she is slowly improving. She is still on heavy antibiotics, and still confused, though she is less confused. They discovered the reason for her confusion, or at least a major reason. She has too much carbon dioxide in her blood. Even though her O2 levels are good, there was too much CO2, which is bad. They hooked her up to a bipap machine, which is a cpap machine that pulls air out, as well as pushing it in, to help get rid of the excess CO2.
I'll provide an update after I get back from the hospital later today.
I'll leave you with a quote from one of my electronic friends that some of you may be familiar with:
"Have a safe day!"
Click to expand...
1. Do you have a wood fire?
2. Was your wood dry enough?
I say this because a couple of years back on xmas eve we had a knock on the door and two people all suited up were at the door, our carbon monoxide alarm had gone off we had the audible alarm no where near the wood fire we were burning we were 1 percent from being kicked out of the house, and the fire brigade said people burning conifers and resin start fires, but you see it, people burning wet wood die from the unseen carbon monoxide, they got an ambulance out and 2 of 3 of us were almost needing to go to a hospital but they opened all the windows waited for a specialist it’s to monitor the interior for the gas, it was freezing, but after a few hours they left, they had also dumped all the wood fire given us a stiff lecture, and left us much more cautious.
hopefully now they know what it is they can overcome the issues, sounds scary but I suspect better than a stroke, best wishes for her return to health....was she cooking in the kitchen over a wood fire???

edit husband says if you r car exhaust leaks it can let carbon monoxide get into the passenger area, so consider checking this too.
 
Jaz avalley said:
1. Do you have a wood fire?
2. Was your wood dry enough?
I say this because a couple of years back on xmas eve we had a knock on the door and two people all suited up were at the door, our carbon monoxide alarm had gone off we had the audible alarm no where near the wood fire we were burning we were 1 percent from being kicked out of the house, and the fire brigade said people burning conifers and resin start fires, but you see it, people burning wet wood die from the unseen carbon monoxide, they got an ambulance out and 2 of 3 of us were almost needing to go to a hospital but they opened all the windows waited for a specialist it’s to monitor the interior for the gas, it was freezing, but after a few hours they left, they had also dumped all the wood fire given us a stiff lecture, and left us much more cautious.
hopefully now they know what it is they can overcome the issues, sounds scary but I suspect better than a stroke, best wishes for her return to health....was she cooking in the kitchen over a wood fire???

edit husband says if you r car exhaust leaks it can let carbon monoxide get into the passenger area, so consider checking this too.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the response. My wife is in the intensive care neurological unit since Tuesday last. What she has is carbon DIoxide, which is a natural byproduct of respiration, not carbon MOnoxide, which is a byproduct of burning something. While I've never tried it, I'm pretty sure the hospital would frown upon me lighting a fire in the intensive care floor...
 
Good Morning!
The moon is out full and bright; the calm before the storm. 32°F this morning and it's going to be a pleasant day until the wind picks up and blows in hell. Snow and 50-60mph winds are predicted for tomorrow. - I hope that will be winters last dying breath.

Sirfoldalot said:
I notice that your freight cars don't seem to attract the "poles" like those big CN Units?
Click to expand...
Sherrel- My photos of railcars don't have so many poles because they are normally taken in the CN staging area just outside of town. It's a different yard than downtown. - I plan on making another trip there come the next long weekend; if the weather cooperates.

Here is a long series of a Procor methanol packing tank car. All photos taken Autumn, 2020. Some of these are repost; some are not:
Tank_PROX 41879_09-26-2020 (1).jpg

Tank_PROX 41879_09-26-2020 (2).jpg

Tank_PROX 41879_09-26-2020 (3).jpg

Tank_PROX 41879_09-26-2020 (4).JPG

Tank_PROX 41879_09-26-2020 (5).JPG

Tank_PROX 41879_09-26-2020 (6).JPG

Tank_PROX 41879_09-26-2020 (7).JPG

Tank_PROX 41879_09-26-2020 (8).JPG

Tank_PROX 41879_09-26-2020 (9).JPG

Tank_PROX 41879_09-26-2020 (11).JPG

As I gain experience in railcar knowledge, I find it prudent to photograph as much of the cars as is possible. One never knows when these photos will come in handy.

Hope ya'll don't mind me filling up these page's with photos. I'm not sure if it's creating download issues, but, I'm thinking someone might be able to use them for modeling purposes.

Anyway, I've taken up enough space in here for one day. Have a good one!
 
bnsf971 said:
... While I've never tried it, I'm pretty sure the hospital would frown upon me lighting a fire in the intensive care floor...
Click to expand...

You know, there is a reason they put warning labels on stuff.

Starting a fire in ICU has "Terry" written all over the warning label. Now we know... ;)

Got the soviet squad about half done with blocking in the base colors. I gave up trying to heavy dry-brush over the strong tone wash. Half of these dudes don't have the wash, and I have a tough time figuring out which is which between the Strong Tone and the Great Unwashed.

Screen Shot 2021-03-28 at 9.42.05 AM.png


Wife told me we're going out to buy cat grass seeds, shampoo and a new hair dryer. I'm not sure, but, she may be trying to grow more cats
 
Good Morning Model Railroaders! I hope the last of March is finding everybody well!
Terry, sorry, I don't know the situation, but a speedy recovery for your significant other.
Hi Flo, can ya lay some biscuits with sausage gravy on me? Throw a couple of easy over eggs on top & some oj to chase it with...Thanx!
No modeling news, just wanted to stop in & say hello to everyone.
Texas Hobo said:
Track expansion - I once read that if you block the ends of a track 1 mile long, placed guides along side, that on a 90 degree day the rail would climb/expand high enough that a semi could drive under. ??
Click to expand...
Along that same line, in thermite welding class, they gave a us a formula for figuring out thermal expansion.
If you had a piece of tangent track with a hole in it 1 mile long, laying on top of that (centered) is a piece of rail 1 mile and 1 inch long.
How high do you have to lift that piece of rail before the ends would flop down in each end of the hole?
What do ya think????

EVERYBODY TAKE CARE......
 
Status
Not open for further replies.



Back
Top