Running Bear's May 2025 Coffee Shop

[logandsawman]

Good morning Crew. I walked alone this morning at 5:15, I was awake and since the 1st of the work crew won’t be here now till 8 I definitely had time.

Another beautiful Chamber of Commerce day. It’s 48f degrees heading to the high 80’s. Predicted rain has been changed to a now “maybe” Wednesday. The winds are calm and it was a great walk and I remembered my music this morning.

2 buddies called yesterday morning and asked what my layout was doing? They came over and the stuff I was going to prep for today got accomplished along with some items we planned to do right away this morning. Strung 2 additional bus power lines. Laid the 6’ of rail on the section I had put the ties strips down on. Added 2 run arounds and had lunch at 12:30. We then prepped 16 Blue Point switches by adding the wires to the machine and gluing the attachment plates to the styrofoam after drilling the holes for the switch rods. Had to remove the track switches to drill the pink foam for the switch rods. That was not fun, ruined 1 switch but I had a replacement. Around 5 Terry told the guys if they were joining us for dinner at 6:30 to go home and clean up. While they were gone I called the restaurant and asked if our table could be changed to 4. Yep! We had a good time yesterday and while they never asked until we were in the car they both liked Italian. We had a great meal and a goodbtime

At 8 this morning 4 of the guys will start at each end of the layout working in pairs installing the Blue Point switch machines. I will after they are installed drill out on the fascia for the control rod holes and the light indicators. Around 10 the wiring guy and his partner will bring the resistance soldering rig and attach the feeder wires to the track. I’ve had no issues with feeders 6 to 8’ but we are going overkill at every 3’. We did get the feeder wires dropped through the 2” foam base yesterday and cleaned up. Drilling pink foam is a bit messy! His wiring partner will follow behind and attach the feeders to the bus. Breaktime/snack time is 10:30 and lunchtime is at 2. The guys want to be hand cleaning track by 1 and running cleaning trains after lunch. I don’t have a cleaning train but 2 of the guys will bring their cleaning trains. All I have to do before anyone gets here is finish removing the stage skirting around my layout. Terry and the daughter will steam clean the skirting out on the patio. They offered I did not ask. The few bins that were under the layout have been moved out of the train room so the floor under the layout is clear.

Tuesday 3 of the guys will be back to finish anything leftover but mainly to help reattach the stage skirting and run test trains. One of those three is the operational guru of the area. A former professional railroader he and I for about a year have been working through schemes as to running my layout. He made up some switch lists a few months ago and Tuesday we will test them out. One thing we are concerned about is powering the track. I use the NCE power cab and have been searching for a new SB5 booster at a price under $260.00. Running 5 diesels at once with sound might be iffy. One of the guys will bring his along this morning. The power center is set up for it so it should be a quick add-on.

It’s going to be a fun couple of days down in the train room

Enjoy your day

Wow Tom huge project on the layout!

With those organizational skills you could easily be supervising one of the more complex road and bridge projects I worked on!

 

[logandsawman]

kg: forget about Crazy Horse - nothing but a tourist trap, well was a couple of years ago.
Try and get to the 'Reptile Garden', not to far South out of Rapid City on sr16 (between I90 the the faces)
Food if you can 'The Powder House' where 16 splits off into 16A toward Keystone.
Go online and see if you can book 'Delta-09 Minuteman Missile Silo'. South East of Wall on I90. Still things to see if you can't book.
Wall Drug for food and lots to looks at.
And of course, do the side trip to the 'Bad Lands', South from Wall and back to Rapid City ( long way ) if you wish.
Like Military stuff? - Ellsworth AFB ( Box Elder, just East of Rapid City ) has a museum with lots of big stuff outside.

Have fun!

L8r

Ditto on crazy horse monument.

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

Had to finish a new hire or 2 this morning as HR seems to like to wait on getting that info to me at the last minute. Otherwise a quiet day expected.

Nothing new on the train front as I spent the day yesterday not "ignoring" the wife (her words not mine). She like to watch old 50's movies that don't interest me, so I struggled to seem interested.

BBL

 

[truckdad]

Ditto on crazy horse monument.

I second or third that. But there is a steam loco that runs between Hill city and Keystone, I think. I missed it when we were there.

 

[bnsf971]

I second or third that. But there is a steam loco that runs between Hill city and Keystone, I think. I missed it when we were there. View attachment 219090

1880 Train :: 2025 Season

www.1880train.com

 

[Marlin39]

Timed over the weekend to allow the billionaires to get their stock buys in before the NY Stock Exchange opens this morning. Still it’s a goodish thing.

I say in 60 days the pause falls apart and the market goes down and then “cooler” heads will get the agreement going again the market will rise.

Generally I am not one who buys into conspiracy theories but this tariff thing while definitely needed rings like a plot in play

I've become more cynical as I get older. I'm not a tin foil hat wearer, but I'm really starting to think there's a couple of "Mr. Big's" sitting back smoking a cigar directing everything.

 

[traiNscale]

its just a big big theater! and we are all part of the show...

 

[bnsf971]

its just a big big theater! and we are all part of the show...

Have you wondered where the audience sits?

 

[NorthBrit]

its just a big big theater! and we are all part of the show...

When do we get paid?

I've become more cynical as I get older. I'm not a tin foil hat wearer, but I'm really starting to think there's a couple of "Mr. Big's" sitting back smoking a cigar directing everything.

Yes. Dawn has been saying similar for quite a while now.

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 55°, back into the 80's today for the first time in over two weeks. Sure has been pleasant. NWS is sticking with their prediction of 101° on Wednesday, dropping back to the upper 80's the next day!

Pleasant day yesterday, lunch with friends after church, home for a nap, bed linen laundry and an extended session with the weedeater after that. Yesterday's targets were both sides of the fence around the garden, the train shed foundation and a few miscellaneous spots elsewhere. Then it was Mother's Day dinner at my wife's choice of eateries which was the local (to us) Italian restaurant. Our timing was right, as soon after our order went to the kitchen, they seated a party of 12. This is a small mom & pop type place and they have only two servers and two runners working 18 tables. Mom, pop, two sons and three other hired hands handled the cash register and kitchen.

Air Quality alert today extending out from the Dallas/Ft Worth area. The zone doesn't quite reach us but technically ends 1 mile south of here. Practically though, it doesn't get closer than 15 miles away at best. Mainly for us, it means that there will be no wind to blow the mosquitos and other insects away!
No real plan for today, there are outdoor projects that can be done. I am ready to start gathering already cut firewood and start stacking it, something that has been ignored because of the rainy March and April and the ensuing mowing that it brought. I already have half of next season's wood stacked and it appears that I have enough already cut in several places to almost have enough for the season. I do still have a few trees that were downed by the tornado left to cut up, which will complete next season's supply and begin the 2026-2027 winter stack. The tornado has saved me from having to make use of the woodlot for a while. Of course, it downed trees that were never destined to be firewood to begin with.

I spent a little time out in the train shed yesterday. I pulled a small project out that I set aside over 15 years ago. I have six figures from Preiser that needed either one or both arms attached. Some even got partially painted before being set away when I closed down the old train room and started construction of the new train shed. I don't really know how these figures got discolored, but it isn't coming off and I will just repaint over them. Here are two that need both arms attached, the arms have eating utensils in the hands, so they are obviously diners.

There are four others that I attached the arms to yesterday.

The fellow on the upper left got both arms, the other three just got right arms. I'm surprised that I still had all of the correct arms, since there are still a few more in the baggie. I just want to get these out of the way and take another small project off the list.

Tom O - Yes it seems like price gouging at that farmer's market, at least to me. The prices that you quoted the other day are about 40% above what the local Kroger charges for the same organic produce. I can't compare to the markets here since I don't go to them. I get my own from the garden.
I have a feeling that whoever described the SA river walk as dirty, was expecting crystal clear water in the river. Ain't going to happen as that's mud on the bottom.
Dave - Four trees in one day is better than I can do! The only thing that I hate in model railroading more than tree making is soldering.

I am continuing to take a wait and see approach to the much talked about tariffs.

Everybody have a great day today.

 

[kbkchooch]

It’s going to be a fun couple of days down in the train room

Enjoy your day

I am soooo jealous!!!!

 

[migalyto]

Generally I am not one who buys into conspiracy theories but this tariff thing while definitely needed rings like a plot in play

Your probably not far off given how it has conveniently played out!

Lets hope it sticks for the time being. I have 2 Scaletrains pre-orders supposed to be delivered sometime in May.
hopefully the price will only go up slightly since I really do want these items.

 

[migalyto]

Good morning all!

Another picture perfect weather day. Currently 70F heading up into the low 80s. Would take that all
summer long. maybe a slight chance of a brief thunderstorm later tonigh. We do need some rain though.
The lawn is starting to change from a plush green to a stale green color.

Yesterday I took advantage of the great spring like weather. After lunch with my parents, I mowed the lawn, ran
the trimmer, and trimmed some evergreens in the front. Kind of stiff this morning.

Mot much else going on.

Have a safe day everyone!

 

[santafewillie]

but I'm really starting to think there's a couple of "Mr. Big's" sitting back smoking a cigar directing everything.

That's been my wife's theory for a couple of years now.

 

[migalyto]

its just a big big theater! and we are all part of the show...

Your post reminds me of this Rush song.

 

[bnsf971]

Over the weekend (day off), I was able to get MT couplers and decoders installed in the new additions to the fleet. I'm still working on getting everything playing nice together.

 

[ctclibby]

Good Morning All!

53F @ 79%, only to 62F later with spotty rain. Yesterday we were sitting on the back porch and it started raining ... hard... Front side of house got wet, back side about 4ft away from the steps. Everything else stayed dry. Weird; hence 'spotty'.

1880's train: Boy, wish I had known about this when we visited without 70ft along with us. I did look at Keystone via maps and did not see anything @70ft. Suspect that you could get in, but the get out part could be interesting.

Crazy Horse: You can get to the parking lot without spending $$$. Camera depending you can get pix if so inclined. Those $10 bus rides are junk.

Bus does take you to the wall.

My fav 'faces' pix.

Wall Drug is a zoo, but fun anyway.

No clue with what I did with the Minuteman pix.

Bad Lands: We had 70ft for this pix and could not really go in.

We did get back later with motel in Rapid City and rental car; Wall was booked.

L8r

 

[kbkchooch]

Your probably not far off given how it has conveniently played out!

Lets hope it sticks for the time being. I have 2 Scaletrains pre-orders supposed to be delivered sometime in May.
hopefully the price will only go up slightly since I really do want these items.

I hope it sticks too! I have 44 tonners on pre-order from Rapido.

 

[TLOC]

That's been my wife's theory for a couple of years now.

I hope it sticks too! I have 44 tonners on pre-order from Rapido.

The guys with the cigar type theories is what I have stayed away from. But, now I’m not so sure that it’s wrong. Someone is calling the shots

Best to you and Mike on the pre-orders coming. I just want tariffs to stabilize as I believe if it’s 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50% it can be handled. Beyond that IMO it becomes an issue, the issue it is now. I hate to see people lose jobs or be laid off. The west coast ports are already hurting as will the Gulf of Mexico ad East Coast ports soon will be.

Able to write this as the guys have decided they didn’t want breakfast but an early lunch would be good. The grill is warming and I have lunch prepped.

 

[kgstakes]

Stopped for lunch in alliance neb. Seen BNSF yard as we’re driving. Pictures not so good at 65 but I thought it was interesting to share.