Running Bear's May 2020 Coffee Shop

[Texas Hobo]

Hughie - If I recall correctly, you are in N scale. This looks like it can keep you busy switching in the center while having trains running continuously on the loops if that's your preference. I can only pay attention to one at a time so I only run one at a time. Nothing complex here like reversing sections to be concerned with, and all of the switching locations seem to be rather straightforward. I don't remember whether or not you run steam engines, if not, the turntable might be something to eliminate.
My only concern would be that this really needs access from all four sides or maintenance/rerailing/cleaning could be a b***h. I find that any reach over 32" tends to crush scenery/structures in the front. This plan seems to be at the limit (my limit of course) for reach.
Waterfront Willie's is probably going to be quite a swinging joint.

Yes N Scale. I do enjoy switching. As to the turntable, it was a Christmas gift. When you have a $300+ item you tend to use it (turntable $225, 2 round houses $98, and a dozen adapter tracks $36). My reach is about 36" but I can reach straight across the existing 40" table. The problem is the far corner of the "L" on the current layout. The thought here is to have 1 train running the outside loop while switching from the interchange to industries on the inside, putting cars back to the interchange for shipping. Outside train comes in, drops it's cars, picks up consist from interchange and departs.

 

[Texas Hobo]

Afternoon All,

Started out brushing the pool this morning then finished the power plant after that. During the afternoon I worked on the mill mainly putting all the details on the walls before putting the walls together. I would estimate I'm about 60% done with the mill. I should be able to finish it tomorrow.

Justin- Good to see you posting. I hope you and your family are well.

Tom- Nice looking yard.

Joe- Thanks for the GG1 info and nice photos.

Louis- Prayers for your cousin David.

Alan- I look forward to seeing your progress.

Willie- Nice looking buildings. I have the same type window issues.

Hughie- If that's N scale it should work. Is each block 6 inches or a foot?

The power plant is purposely filthy because it is coal fired and it will be close to the mine.

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I hope everyone has a good night.

Their are 6" blocks.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Evening....Rain and cooler temps. Thanks for all the likes,you might say my yard/landscape is my summer hobbie, also helps when I landscape my modules. I try to take what I learn and see outside and bring it inside to make it look as real as possible.
Louis - Happy Belated Birthday.

 

[Boris]

Tangent has released another run of 8,000 gallon tank cars in my era.

Alan: Good thing I got my order in yesterday. The COSF cars are great. Cant wait until you finish them. Are you following the UP Yellow scheme, with these also or the TTG scheme?

The Charlottesville Urbanization Project". It will start with adding a short section of backdrop across the north window.

Willie: Windows have a habit of interfering with model railroads. I note that Charlottesville will have some very familiar structures.

It is interesting about the E8 headlights. I wonder why they retained the lower headlight on the first E8's if none of the other E8's had them.

Garry: Funny thing about the Pennsy. They were anything but consistent. It's my understanding, that the first two E7s were also equipped with two headlights. The subsequent group(s) of E7s, were delivered with single headlights. Some of the Baldwin passenger sharks, were delivered with two headlights, others (the majority), were delivered with single headlights. Another point of inconsistency, was that on some of the units, the top (oscillating) light was blanked with sheet metal. On others, the switch was disconnected and the sealed beams removed. The bulk of the E8 fleet was delivered with a dingle headlight.
I'm not sure whether someone at the Operating Rules and Practices Director's office objected to the use of oscillating lights, or whether the Comptroller's office found out they cost more to buy and obtain. (The Pennsylvania Railroad was tight with the buck). But oscillating headlights didn't appear again until the Metroliner project.

The power plant is purposely filthy because it is coal fired and it will be close to the mine.

Curt: Looks good. My version is going to be near the passenger terminal. I need to find a use for the fleet(s) of coal hoppers I bought years ago.

As I mentioned before I ordered a couple of UTLX 8000 gal General Service lease tank cars to add to the tank car fleet. I have five more modules to complete, ( 20 linear feet), There will be a portion of a refinery on module five. if I wait for the modules to be finished, the 8000 gal tankers might not be available. The Walthers power plant will go on module 2, the Passenger terminal, on module 3. Here is where I deviate from strict prototype adherence, by separating the Reading and the PRR, both by distance and elevation, and throw in a small passenger terminal, for a commuter operation.

Started to cut the lawn today, got the front and both sides done and some of the back, when my knees started to protest. Then the fertilizer vendor came and applied his application. Tomorrow, I finish cutting, and if it doesn't rain overnight, I have to set up the sprinklers and water the lawn.

Hope the knees calm down, they have been painful for the last couple of weeks, probably, because I have not been very active.

 

[L&N Castle]

Evening, still alive and kicking. Trains are on rainy days and with the weather we have lately it'll be awhile. Outside work is complete with edging, mulch, opening the pool, planting the garden and getting the water garden cleaned up and mulched. Now it's just mowing, campfires,pool and sunsets.View attachment 113898View attachment 113899View attachment 113900View attachment 113901View attachment 113902

Wow. Now that's an amazing sunset. The yard scenes awesome. That's some truly amazing property scenes. Your yard looks great. William.

 

[L&N Castle]

Just like good toast from a toaster, I pop up every now and then. I hope all are well. Cheers. William.

 

[Espeefan]

Alan: Good thing I got my order in yesterday. The COSF cars are great. Cant wait until you finish them. Are you following the UP Yellow scheme, with these also or the TTG scheme?

I ordered mine today. One 1958 black repaint, and the red Union Starch & Refining version

My version of the COSF is the 1941 train, and it's depicted as it ran until about 1946. It's all yellow & gray. I also have a 1950's version of the COLA by Walthers, but not nearly as much time and effort went into that one. Just a lot of money! The only actual modeling I did was to tint the domes and install passengers. I also have the Con-Cor M-10000. I need to see if Lok Sound has a Winton sound file on their website. If they do I might put sound in that one. I don't get it out much but it's a neat little model and does attract attention at the club when I run it. There are quite a few TTG cars in the collection, and when I do the Overland, you'll see some of them.

 

[IronBeltKen]

Hi Shop Dwellers, 80*F and cloudy with a SSW breeze in my central Maryland neighborhood. Predicting scattered t-storms for later, probably won't get them though.

Thanks for the "likes" and/or comments on my pictureless Wednesday post - Hughie, Guy, Karl, Patrick, Louis, B.Bob, Garry, Curt!

BTW - happy [belated] birthday Louis!

Curt - great looking power plant! I have that kit with the walls painted but not yet assembled, I'm going to make it a repurposed structure with shrubs and trees growing up between the rails of the abandoned spur...someday. All my coal traffic is going to the coke ovens.

William - great to see you here! Have you been in touch with Carey? How is he doing?

* * *

Not much of anything new to report mrr-wise, still waiting for Atlas to ship the remaining detail parts I need so I can continue with the loco restoration project. In the meantime I've been chilling with a number of live performance videos of my favorite rock bands from the 1970's, some of them are nearly 2 hours long - real time-killers! Of course I've also been gradually de-cluttering the layout surface from all my scenery paraphernalia in twenty-minute time chunks, all I can handle without feeling overwhelmed. Been enjoying everybody's layout and/or proto photos, I'm hoping to be able to share some of my own within the coming year.

I'm also waiting to receive a model of a sound-equipped GP38 that I got on eBay [hope the vendor does a better job of packaging mine than they did with Justin's! ] The order tracking said I was supposed to recieve it today; but the USPS Regional Distribution Center (RDC), that's ~10 miles from my house, didn't send it to my hometown post office. Instead they shipped it off to another RDC on the Eastern Shore that's ~70 miles driving distance in the opposite direction! First I assumed it was another USPS screw-up, then I remembered another one of my orders following the same convoluted route from the same RDC two weeks earlier. So maybe that's just the standard route for that particular truck or driver? Last time I checked, it had been sent back out from the Eastern Shore RDC after sitting there a few hours - hopefully en route to my place[?]

Nice weather predicted for tomorrow, so I'll be on the riding mower instead of the in the trainroom.

Have a great weekend y'all!

 

[Boris]

I ordered mine today. One 1958 black repaint, and the red Union Starch & Refining version

My version of the COSF is the 1941 train, and it's depicted as it ran until about 1946. It's all yellow & gray. I also have a 1950's version of the COLA by Walthers, but not nearly as much time and effort went into that one. Just a lot of money! The only actual modeling I did was to tint the domes and install passengers. I also have the Con-Cor M-10000. I need to see if Lok Sound has a Winton sound file on their website. If they do I might put sound in that one. I don't get it out much but it's a neat little model and does attract attention at the club when I run it. There are quite a few TTG cars in the collection, and when I do the Overland, you'll see some of them.

Alan: For some reason, i really like trains in TTG over all others. Maybe becuse I would regularly see the ACL "Miamian" which would pass by while I was returning to school, after lunch. The seasonal train was heavy with heavyweight sleepers mostly 6 section - 6 double bedroom, and 3 drawing room - 6 compartment. with a couple of PRR 12 duplex single room - 5 double bedroom cars. Never considered how fortunate I was to walk to and from hoe for lunch. Looking forward to more COSF and the Overland.

 

[Boris]

I'll be on the riding mower instead of the in the trainroom.

Ken: At least you have the sense to use a riding mower to handle your lawn Wish I did.

 

[Espeefan]

Alan: For some reason, i really like trains in TTG over all others. Maybe becuse I would regularly see the ACL "Miamian" which would pass by while I was returning to school, after lunch. The seasonal train was heavy with heavyweight sleepers mostly 6 section - 6 double bedroom, and 3 drawing room - 6 compartment. with a couple of PRR 12 duplex single room - 5 double bedroom cars. Never considered how fortunate I was to walk to and from hoe for lunch. Looking forward to more COSF and the Overland.

I like the TTG scheme myself. It's...stately. I actually prefer the Lark to the Daylight, and my Lark train was nearly as much work as this one. It had lots of Walthers undec sleeping cars to paint, the head end cars, diner/club and Obs were a stinker to find, and there was one car in particular that cost me nearly six bills, and no way to do it in plastic! That one is a 19 car consist. I'd have loved to have ridden it in it's prime, but probably couldn't have afforded it! The Overland will be more interesting as it will have a mixture of schemes. Unfortunately the diner and hamburger grill are going to be a challenge!

 

[Alcomotive]

 

[Bruette]

Good morning Everybody!

I had enough of elevating my foot on the couch, so yesterday I worked on my back porch. I knocked off several items from my to do list. I was sweating like an evildoer in church. It was only 81, but, as they say, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity!” Now I have an idea of what a crab feels like in the steamer pot.

This is one of the longest flare ups of gout I have had. I resorted to drastic tactics, no meat yesterday! My gout continues to improve. I will be back delivering packages in no time, I miss that.

Have a great day Everybody!

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's partly sunny and 65.

 

[bnsf971]

Louis, my mother suffered from gout--in her right wrist. It would flare up from time to time, and made almost everything she tried to do a miserable experience.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Wow. Now that's an amazing sunset. The yard scenes awesome. That's some truly amazing property scenes. Your yard looks great. William.

Thanks.

Good morning.....With about 3/4" of rain and cooler temps you can hear the grass grow. Sounds like a Sunday project.

 

[Bruette]

Louis, my mother suffered from gout--in her right wrist. It would flare up from time to time, and made almost everything she tried to do a miserable experience.

Terry, that would be much worse to have it in my wrist. Mine has always been confined to my legs and feet. I can stand on one leg, but I need both hands.

 

[tootnkumin]

A Luke Renish Photo (yesterday)
"Sporting veteran EMD's and a veteran crew, Montana Rail Link's Helena Local is seen working Ash Grove Cement at the southern end of the 13th sub (more like "stub" nowadays) at Montana City. This line was originally Great Northern, and at one point connected Great Falls to Butte."

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 65° here in North Central Texas. Fair weather predicted for the next ten days. Cloudy Monday and Tuesday, but no rain in the forecast. We'll start to see 90's regularly on Wednesday, until September at least! While not in the forecast yet, triple digits are coming up soon. On a positive note, the yard will stop growing as rapidly and I can cut back on mowing time. Meanwhile the tomatoes and squash in the garden are going crazy.
Wife left yesterday to pick up our grandsons and granddog. They'll be here this morning to stay for a few days, I don't know for how long though. Even though my other daughter has an in-ground pool less than three miles from where they live, they prefer ours because it's bigger! Most of her pool is only 3' deep also.
I did mow the south side of the yard yesterday and everything between the pool and house. No wind so there wasn't any debris to skim out of the pool. Pool is up to 81° Today I move to the north side around the train shed and pond before tackling the "back 40" tomorrow. Filled up the gas can Thursday and haven't yet put it in the tractor, so I should be good for another week. Wound up a couple of weedeater spools with line so that's out of the way for a while.

Lots of bacon and a couple of over-easy eggs for me this morning Francine.

Thanks to all who liked and commented on yesterday's post; Bob, Jerome, Karl, Chad,Patrick, Guy, Phil, Louis, Curt, Tom, Ken, Justin, James. Always appreciated.

OK, out in the train shed, I definitely decided to make the Charlottesville Urbanization Project (CUP) my next project. I removed most everything in preparation for painting the rest of the plywood between the tracks and the backdrop; it's already completed on the aisle side. Then I will proceed with ballasting the track. This will allow me some additional time to contemplate the choice and location of various structures, and how I want to do the backdrop. The green hilly fields that I use everywhere else just won't really work here.

I am somewhat intending to keep the two structures on the south end where they are.

The total overall length (including some unseen area to the bottom of the second picture) is 16'. Overall it ranges in depth from 24" to 28" just because that's the way I did it. The area between the aisle and tracks goes from 2" at one end to 9" on the other end; while the backside ranges from 13" to 17", but mostly is in the 16" range. Plenty of room for a lot of stuff.
Over on the north (as the railroad runs) end are several industries that I posted last year when I did them.

Bob -

Seems like we're always about a hundred miles away before we remember something. Sometimes getting old sucks!

Yeah! Memory is just one of two things that have gotten shorter as I age.

...the wife is talking new kitchen cabinets and flooring.

Well, that should call for a larger train shed!
Greg - Sorry, Big Boy tomatoes don't really grow well in my garden. My most prolific grower is Early Girl, followed by Rutgers.
Curt - I could have built the train shed without the windows, but I like windows (I was in the window business for 43 years), and I wanted to be able to view that area behind the train shed to relax the mind.
You're moving right along with your building construction. Nice job.
Joe -

I note that Charlottesville will have some very familiar structures

I like those Smalltown and DPM structures and use many of them. I have posted some of these builds before. However I am running out of unique structure kits that are available and I am looking at options. Many E-Bay prices are just too ridiculous for me.
Hope that your knees hold out until the surgery; best wishes on that.
William - Good to see your post again. Don't be such a stranger.

Coffee Shop has been rather quiet since Sherrel is on vacation and hasn't been dropping in to cause trouble!
Everybody have a great day and an awesome weekend.

 

[GarryCBQ]

Good morning .

William ... Nice seeing you. Please pop up more often.

Joe ... Thanks for your reply. Apparently "The Standard Railroad of the World" did not always have standards. LOL

James .... LOL . .... Oh sheet !

Willie ..... While Sherrel is absent, you may be the troublemaker. Looking forward t seeing progress with your CUP.

Everybody ......... Have a nice day !