Running Bear's March 2021 Coffee Shop

[Flip]

Interesting article in the paper. "MARKLIN" said they had a 70% increase in sales. Due to folks staying at home.
Wonder how our firms are doing ??
And with the SUEZ blocked, how many items will be VERY late in getting here?

Best wishes and Prayers for all,
Phil

 

[GarryCBQ]

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.

 

[Jaz avalley]

Take a look at a turnout not mounted on your layout and see if there's not the slight bow in the turnout and the slight bow is a natural thing and many turnouts come with spike holes in their centers to help secure these devices to the sub-roadbed. If no spike holes were provided then make your own. I would suggest nailing one turnout down as an experiment and see what happens. Three spikes should be enough in the center of the turnout to hold it down.

1/2 to 3/4 change in elevation is a lot of expansion and if you were to cut gaps in the rails just think how large the gaps would have to be to cover the expansion.

My layout room's temperature varies between 66 and 70 degrees.

Is this happening all over the entire layout or just in several spots?

I had a slight lifting of my a couple of my Atlas turnouts when I constructed my layout. Nailing it down took care of the problem.

I can't be convinced that there is a lot of rail expansion in a HO layout. Mainly because the change in temperature are not as great as the effects of a 100 degree plus day on 1:1 rail. I think that the expansion on a layout is due to the wood changes size and not the rail.

All my joints are soldered and I can't think of any spot where I cut expansion gaps into the rails.

Are you using Atlas Snap or Atlas Custom turnouts?

Greg

if your room is insulated,and avoids temperature fluctuations and natural light these would all help avoid issue, on a side note regards wood warp terraforming with insulation board eg kingsman in my experience can have issues as the metal film is heat sensitive,used as designed no issues but pull one side of the film off has led to issues,,when I laid down my foam sheets for the scenery I left some with metal on one side and the other side peeled for carving they buckled badly but upon removing the metal on the other side equilibrium was restored and that was just metal film,

i checked no photo but a banana comes to mind, the more important thing is to check foam for gases if you heat it with a naked flame sone are dangerous and using a sand means using a face mask those tiny particles are light, I hand sand and although the technique of burning worked I decided even with open windows I could paint it rather than burn it,and makes sure it is non flammable!

that said it is worth the effort
..a banana milkshake and a fruit salad for breakfast and a sprinkle of nuts, FYI we do not grow pecans here but caramel pecans are totally yummy I do grow my own hazelnuts and walnuts and sweet chestnuts I had two almond trees one died and they are ornamental so getting the almond out if not easy but I have made caramel and salt nuts totally yummy...shame totally fattening too.

 

[Jaz avalley]

Greetings and salutations all.

No donuts today. Coffee only.

Big exciting news: I ordered a Kamado Joe grill for the patio. Since I'm on a mostly keto diet (worked one before in a tiny Los Angeles apartment) the grill is a key componenet of that. Looking forward to smoking some sausages, pork shoulder, and eventually a brisket!!!! Loooooove brisket.

Might attempt a tri-tip first, though, since they seem to be the easy mode for that type of grilling.

The only thing I did on the train layout was vacuum up the detritis from sanding down to level out the cork roadbed I've laid. I use a drywall rasp and sanding sponge, so it gets messy. But not worth a pic.

However, I've finished the first wave of assembly on my WWII 1:56 scale Soviet Army of 60 dudes. Since each arm was a separate piece, that's 120 arms I attached to bodies. Plus weapons and heads.

With an anticipated easing of gathering limits, and our 2nd round of Pfizer vaccine next week, I hope to be back at the game store in May for game days. That means I need to paint up these 60, plus another 20-ish, a tank, an artillery piece (Zis 3 for those keeping score at home).

That means fast painting for table top, not for winning awards (which I've never won).

Step one was to spray with Rustoleum Super Flat Camouflage "Sand" paint. The Soviets wore a khaki colored uniform, so that base coat gives a good background shade for it.

Step two is to apply Army Painter brand "Strong Tone" wash ("Filter" for those in the UK). This settles in the recesses to create a shadow layer.

the figures in the foreground have the wash applied. I'll use them as the test run for the next steps. If it works, then I'll mass assembly line paint the rest of the grunts. That process will be the semi-dry brush the uniform, flesh and equipment with the appropriate colors (I use both Vallejo and Army Painter brands of paint). Then I'll dry brush lighter shades of the same colors for highlights. Then sand and rubble up the bases. I'm thinking this force will be a Stalingrad force, so city rubble.

View attachment 126249

Please show more as you progress they look great. I love figures

 

[CambriaArea51]

Good morning.....Got some outside stuff to do today, rain tomorrow so back to the train room.
Coffee and a breakfast sandwich Flo.

 

[bnsf971]

Troy, this one's for you:

 

[TLOC]

Good morning from wet So. Central Wisconsin where we are in the midst of an all day rain event. Somehow we are to get into the mid50’s but right now it’s 40f degree and it feels like 29.

Enjoy your day
TomO

 

[McLeod]

Good Morning!
28°F and it's snowing. Still, it's supposed to be a great day! Monday is supposed to be a blizzard with 50mph winds. The gods are against my wishes to try out my new camera.

Guy - I wish that I had taken more photos as a young person of things in my small hometown and other subjects. I didn't have a good camera and not much money for developing - even tried doing my own with limited success - all done with a Kodak box camera which had no lens, just an opening.
If I remember correctly - Whitecourt was not much more than a wide spot in the road when I came "over" in the early 60's. I want to say that the settlement was akin to the 1500 population that I grew up in. I can't remember if the airstrip there was paved or not? Anyway - there was not a lot to photograph if my memory servs correct?
One of these days I'll tell you about my adventures at Muncho Lake. Interesting days. BTW - where from town is the lake/name that you and wifey fish?

Sherrel - I grew up in a town of 1500 as well; dirt roads and a ferry across the river. Life was great back then. - Whitecourt now has a 10,000 population. It's getting too big for my liking, and there are a lot less trees than when I moved here in 1989.
I like Whitecourt, though. The forest and multiple rivers are why I stay. Good hunting and fishing.
Bye-the-way, the lake where we fish is technically known as Carson-Pegasus; a very popular provincial park.
The airport is paved today, and can handle military jets and 4-engine aircraft. Before the pandemic, they were having bi-annual airshows that I liked to attend and take photos. Here is one such photo, out of the few thousand I have retained. A Harvard Mk.IV:

On the railway side of things, I'm still not modeling at this time. Don't seem to be making much progress on the layout room, either. To complicate things, the wife will want a garden soon. - Good thing I'm going to live forever.

I'm expecting a friend to pick me up for lunch today, but, for breakfast I'll take a sausage-n-cheese toasted sandwich and a couple coffee.

I'm fairly certain I haven't posted photos of this particular railcar:

I'm not sure what is hauled in such a railcar, but, it might be silica sand. Sadly, oil companies do a great deal of fracking in our area; which should be illegal. The practice is threatening the status of our lands and lakes. Thunder Lake, for example, is slowly draining into the earth.

Think I'd better get out of here, before I take up anymore valuable space!! Have a great day, everyone!

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

In the office this morning and working on the email server. I dashed home yesterday waiting to see if AT&T was actually coming early (I was supposed to have something between 12:00a to 4:00p) and after I was home got a call from the electrician wanting to finish the remaining work at the boys. So I went there and got a call from the AT&T tech that he was running behind and it would be bout 12:30 before he got there. SO I managed to get 2 things done with the overtime reduction. I then got 11 of 13 cabinet door rehung at the boys house. Internet is actually faster now that some wire has been cleaned up. A new lightning arrestor, and removing the 2 extra extension wires along with whatever wiring changes he made in 2 different neighborhood hookups. Now I'm just waiting on the 3rd reboot of the server in a 45 minute period to get finished so I can get some more completed. Duh, it's waiting for me to power it back on....Gonna be a long morning.

Currently sunny and 49° with high expected of 65°

Jaz: Great pictures, only problem is your vehicles are on the wrong side of the road.. I'm sure you hear that a lot from over here.

Terry: Good news about your wife. Hope she continues to do well.

Everyone else: Keep up the great pictures!!

 

[santafewillie]

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.

Coming around the peninsula.

As we round the bend, we pass the paint distributor.

Then we enter the small city known as Maultown.

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.

The final picture of the journey is entering a small as yet unnamed village.

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.

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 wish that I had taken more photos as a young person of things in my small hometown and other subjects. I didn't have a good camera and not much money for developing

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.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. Amongst all the other things going on here, I just finished filing my amended IRS return, and printed my amended state return. Now that it's all over, instead of getting $386 back, I am paying $334. That amount does include the $110 I had to pay for the revised forms, and the additional fees for the revised tax software.

 

[Greg@mnrr]

Boris: I like using Atlas Custom Line turnouts being perhaps the Chevy Line of turnouts. The Snap turnouts have a different radius, 18" of the diverting routes, but mostly important, the rivets in the Snap Turnouts can loosen with time and use. I would rate Snap turnouts below the overall quality of Custom turnouts. Like Willie stated, Snap turnouts are prone to cause derailments.

Snap switches are designed to work with Atlas sectional turnouts, while the Custom are basically #4 turnouts.

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.

Greg

 

[GeeTee]

Finished going thru the old paint bucket inventory . Recovered one old bottle of Floquil and documented it over in the Project Room . Already clouded up so maybe another round of weather due in tonight.

 

[chessie_system3]

Justin: Two things that I have found over time, wood warps and shrinks as it dries out, the second, is that cork roadbed, tends to behave miserably in a damp climate. Whether this is your problem or not, is strictly up to your observation. OTOH, I have never had rail expand due to temperature change, on my model RR, and I use a lot of flex. I have also found, that if I try to force a switch to fit in a given position, I have problems with the switch. I have taken up switches, and reset them, sometimes slightly trimming the rail, and find the problem goes away when the switch is restored. Your results may vary, and I use Micro Engineering flex and switches in code 70.

I really don't think that using snap switches, vs. custom line makes much of a difference. Once the switch was removed from the layout, did it sit flat? There is a possibility that the plastic ties are warped or misaligned, in which case cutting the plastic that holds the ties in place from the underside of the switch. This may release the tension

This is some really good insight here. For the record I have only replaced two turnouts. These two the points were broken and superglue wasnt holding up. What I have found is that the turnouts removed do lift in the center when laid flat. I can adjust them some. Not to a point of damaging them. Then test fit and file rail ends down as needed. This seems to correct some of the issues at hand. So I guess essentially I have been resetting my turnouts as needed.

 

[Greg@mnrr]

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 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

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

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

 

[chessie_system3]

Afternoon fellers. Quite a few good points on the turnout issues. Might point out that I have forever had turnout issues. Been my biggest gripe with my layouts. I know snap switches aren't the cream of the crop. I know older snap switches have been bullet proof for me while the newer more prototypical ones break if you look at them the wrong way. This is just my experience with what I have on hand. I dont have derail issues. With everything I've posted about nothing jumps the rails. In the sense of performance I find locomotive performance varies with what throttle I'm using at the time. Most of my performance issues is happening with my P2K geeps. They really dont like my cab control 55 or the control master 20 I have. I can use my tech 4 260 with good results. Even an old troller with a loose throttle works well I just cant control their speed very well. The issue I'm having with them using the 55 and CM 20 is that they tend to just stop when there is a slight variation in the rails. Most notably they just stop when going through a turnout at the frog. However it's not an electrical drop stall so much as not enough volts to get the can to push through the frog. They only do this with my new mrc throttles. Anything else they are fine. So another oddball issue to add. Well enough about trains for now. Probably won't get to the layout until later today. My daughters birthday is today. She turns 9 today. So most of the day will be directed towards her birthday celebration. Won't be much of a celebration given current events but we will make do with what we can pull off. That's all I have for now. I'll stop by again sometime when I get a chance.

 

[Greg@mnrr]

Justin: Check to see if the wiring for both the front and rear trucks is intact. I had a Proto GP 9 that liked to stall at turnouts and one of the front truck's wires broke loose at the truck connection. Once repaired it cured the problem.

Greg

 

[Texas Hobo]

Good Afternoon all! A partly cloudy day here, 82 degrees. Summer is coming.
BLT and a malted
Did a little scenery work, ran a few trains. Not a lot to report.
Jaz - Some great photos
Willie - Some great photo, too
Terry - Promising news about your wife.
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. ??
Yesterday's work:

STAY SAFE
LATER

 

[bnsf971]

A Chihuahua Pacifico FM road switcher leads a train back toward Mexico in this layout photo. This one is literally a Foreign railroad.

 

[Jaz avalley]

Afternoon fellers. Quite a few good points on the turnout issues. Might point out that I have forever had turnout issues. Been my biggest gripe with my layouts. I know snap switches aren't the cream of the crop. I know older snap switches have been bullet proof for me while the newer more prototypical ones break if you look at them the wrong way. This is just my experience with what I have on hand. I dont have derail issues. With everything I've posted about nothing jumps the rails. In the sense of performance I find locomotive performance varies with what throttle I'm using at the time. Most of my performance issues is happening with my P2K geeps. They really dont like my cab control 55 or the control master 20 I have. I can use my tech 4 260 with good results. Even an old troller with a loose throttle works well I just cant control their speed very well. The issue I'm having with them using the 55 and CM 20 is that they tend to just stop when there is a slight variation in the rails. Most notably they just stop when going through a turnout at the frog. However it's not an electrical drop stall so much as not enough volts to get the can to push through the frog. They only do this with my new mrc throttles. Anything else they are fine. So another oddball issue to add. Well enough about trains for now. Probably won't get to the layout until later today. My daughters birthday is today. She turns 9 today. So most of the day will be directed towards her birthday celebration. Won't be much of a celebration given current events but we will make do with what we can pull off. That's all I have for now. I'll stop by again sometime when I get a chance.

Wish her a happy birthday from me, as in one of your online modellers, I wonder if she likes Harry Potter, this is another friends daughter i modelled of a similar age, along with their dog

I hope you have ice cream but if not here’s a thought,I believe Americans like hotdogs

here she is at a fancy dress party

I do not if it is okay with you but if it is I hope she likes the idea of children here on our layouts,COVID is hard on all of us but especially hard on our kids.

There is also a funfair so candy floss,and clowns I know the US has scary clowns but these ones are all good guys and like children,

the worst these clowns do is buckets of water, I hope she has a lovely day