Running Bear's May 2020 Coffee Shop


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Good Morning All. A cool 62° with clear skies this morning. Should be back into the mid-80's again today for the high. Today is the last day of these cool north winds, south winds starting tonight will bring moisture and warmer temperatures up from the Gulf. Then the night time temperatures will stay above 70°. So far this season, we have not had to use the A/C at all at night and only sporadically during the day.
Grandsons and granddog arrived yesterday for a few days. A bit disappointed though, since they forgot to bring their soccer ball with them. The tree-free (approx 65' x 200') part of my front yard has more space than anything in their neighborhood except the school field. And I just mowed it for them.
Ham, grits and a full house omelet for me this morning Flo. Double large glass of cold OJ to wash it down with. Send me the tab for Louis' tomato sandwich.
Thanks for the likes and comments yesterday regarding the CUP (Charlottesville Urbanization Project); Jerome, Garry, Hughie, Louis, Tom, Curt, Guy, Justin, Chad, Phil, Joe, Ray, Rick.

Out in the train shed yesterday, I made some headway on the CUP. I touched up the repaired places on the backdrop, painted most all of the plywood a ground color, and painted some of the backdrop brown.:mad:
After the paint dried, I ballasted about 3' each of main line and passing siding.
05-31-20 001.JPG

That small blank area is going to be a grade crossing.
View from the other end showing the passing siding work.
05-31-20 002.JPG

I staggered the sections that I did so I wouldn't stick my elbows in the wet ballast on the main.
Didn't get as much time out there as I had hoped, visitors kinda took some time away.

Garry -
Willie ..... While Sherrel is absent, you may be the troublemaker
I'm not sure that I am ornery enough.
Curt -
This is the last pre-build before I start on the layout
Can't wait to see the progress.
Joe - Yes there will be some urban scenery. It's just easier to do my "Bob Ross horizons" than urban scenery.
Sad about the fire. Hope that the arsonists are caught.
Louis - Glad to read that you are somewhat mending up. Now that the yard is mowed, when's the pool going up?

Everybody have a wonderful day.
 
Got the last three painted yesterday. I pulled them out of the oven and everything looked good.

Baked!.JPG


It's risky to have this much wet paint this close so actually everything was on two sheets. From here I clean the paint off the wheels, and mask the shells for the aluminum flashing to be painted. As I was separating things out, I got a nice little surprise. FRACK! This has never happened to me before. I bake at 200 degrees which is below the boiling point of water, so I'm not sure why this happened unless it was just crappy workmanship from the factory. I did wonder if someone maybe used low temp solder but I've never seen a builder do that. It will be an interesting repair. The other rail has partially failed as well, as you can see if you look at the body, so that will need to be repositioned and re-soldered as well. We'll see how the resistance soldering tweezers work here. I may be able to salvage the paint but somehow I doubt it. Remember the SP 3/4 dome disaster? I'm betting on a repeat!

Solder Disaster.JPG


Some projects just keep fighting you!
 
Willie, the pool is on the agenda, but I don't do timetables. I will say "the sooner the better!"

We have not had many "pool days" this year. It's been a weird weather pattern these last few years. I'd bet my bottom dollar there will be plenty of hot humid days coming soon enough
 
And now, for something a little different. This one belongs to my son. It's one of the Scale Trains Rivet Counter "Top Hats". He's doing his own weathering on his freight cars, but was a bit nervous about doing a model this important and expensive so it got turned over to Dad. We did it off of a photo he found. Way too new for me, but nice! Weathering is a combination of airbrush and Pan Pastels.
IMG_2780.JPG
 
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CUP (Charlottesville Urbanization Project);

Willie: Great "official" name.

Sad about the fire. Hope that the arsonists are caught.

Willie; There was a two block stretch, anchored by this church on the East and a still active Episcopal church on the west that was known as "Doctor's Row" because of the numerous physician's offices and residences. All pretty much dating back to the Victorian era or earlier. Now only a hand full of structures remain. My own suspicion is that someone wants the land..and a structure on the Historical register is / was an obstacle to someone's designs. This as opposed to vandalism, civil disturbance or squatters. Amazing how that portion of town (outer limits of the old neighborhood), have changed...Funny how much of this ground later becomes owned by "Non profits".... Just being cynical again.

unless it was just crappy workmanship from the factory.

Alan: That is annoying, especially considering the cash outlay to obtain the product...


Some projects just keep fighting you!

Alan: I think that is built in to the design of the project...gremlins...

Louis: I suspected you would have no trouble running Mikie's engine with your Lionel power supply...
 
Good morning ....

Louis .... I like the PRR Congressional. Also, I hope your gout situation improves.

Joe ... That looked like a terrible church fire.

Alan ... NS 8840 looks like a nice model. Your progress with the COSF is very interesting, and I thank you for sharing it.

Willie .... "CUP" looks great so far. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Our weather for the next few days is forecasted to be beautiful ... So, instead of being inside working on trains, I will be outside working on the boat and getting it into the water.

Everybody ..... Have a nice Sunday.
 
Good morning all. Well it's kind of a blah day here, humid, muggy and overcast. Showers forming out in the Gulf and drifting inland. Yesterday the new car turned 1,000 miles. Only took 5 months to do it. No news from the train room. No new track plan decided on. I may get to run a train or two today.
LATER
 
Well folks, as usual, I have bad news and good news. The good news: It's fixed and the screw holes still line up:

Good News.JPG


The bad news: Yep, its a repaint. It didn't take long to see that the heat and how the parts had to be held in place was going to ruin the finish anyway so I ripped the band-aid off. Lacquer thinner, then the blasting booth. Sigh. Oh well, life goes on. Fortunately it didn't take long to do the car the first time and I hadn't done the trim work, or worse the decals before the catastrophe. So I got that going for me. :rolleyes:

Bad News  .JPG
 
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Afternoon All,

Started out with some chores then worked on the coaling tower until daughter and family came over. The grandkids are cutting the grass and edging (teenagers and we pay them). Whoever designed the coal shutes for Walthers should be in jail, because they're a crime to build :mad:. SIL brought over his table saw for my future build.

Alan- Sorry to hear of the car issue. Nice job on weathering the NS loco.

Willie- Making good progress.

Garry- Thank you.

Joe- Thank you. It's sad to see the church photos. I'll send you a PM about the kit.

James- Looks like a good fishing spot.

Phil- Good luck with the procedure.

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
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Louis: I suspected you would have no trouble running Mikie's engine with your Lionel power supply...
Boris, I had been thinking, “sooner or later the time will come when it’s too much of an inconvenience to change power supplies” that time came today.

The new Lionel ZW-L is the most sophisticated AC power supply on the market with top-of-the-line built-in surge and overload protection. If it is good enough for Lionel’s Legacy system, it should do fine for MTH and it did.

There are so many rumors and misconceptions about power supplies. I have been thinking of buying an oscilloscope to see what comes out of these modern AC power supplies. The oscilloscope will have to wait until I get my bench work and track are done. The last thing I need is another distraction!

Many members of the OGR forum and others are as loyal to MTH as I am to Lionel. I cannot for the life of me figure out why. Don’t get me wrong, I like my MTH proto sound 3 locomotive, but Legacy it is not. The MTH DCS command system looks “rinky-dink” compared to Lionel’s Legacy system, as do MTH power supplies in comparison to Lionel, but I still want to buy the full DCS system to see how it compares functionality. That to will have to wait until after the bench work and track.
 
Good evening gang!
Been a busy weekend outdoors, planting veggies, moving dirt, building a platform for the trash hoppers to stay parked on, and washing 3 vehicles. Got done in time to watch the NASCAR race. Just got up from my recliner and ouch! Oh these bones ache! May have to light the firepit again tonight and enjoy a cold one or 3 before bedtime.

Justin. I see what you mean about the damage, but from what I see it all is repairable. New coupler lift bar, drop steps and sunshade, a little touch up and she's good as new. Not excusing the packing job, but it's not the end of the line either!

Alan.
Great recovery on the COSF car. I've had many a project that was a 1 step forward, 2 steps back type of affair.Its the ability to work through them and come out on the other side that make us appreciate them even more. Also great job on the NS unit.

Terry. Wait til dusk to deal with the little as***les with stingers. Once they settle in for the evening, you can nail em!

Louis
There is an online auction with lots of Lionel and some HO and N near my house. https://wachterauctionassociates.hibid.com/ Bid, win and take a nice ride in the country to pick up your winnings. It end tomorrow night.

L8ter gang!
 
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