Running Bear's November 2020 Coffee Shop


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Chet: The photos of your railroad are awesome...

TLOC said:
Boris, did you live with a camera in your hands?
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Tom O: No:oops:, I regret not buying a decent camera to take to work...maybe...since I worked mostly at night had something to do with that. Mostly I re-post someone else's work, giving credit when I can. I do have some photos that I could share, if I would only scan them. Glad you enjoy them.

kbkchooch said:
Well at 10:30 the parking lot was full, and the line was out the door and halfway around the building.
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Karl: No wonder both sides are nervous...one thing politicians don't like is an interested electorate...they love low turnouts. There were too many times over the years when the wife and I went to the polling place, we had to wake up the poll workers. :rolleyes:. Even four years ago, the turnout was light around here.

If I could get myself away from the computer I would be better off. I only started it now, because I'm waiting for glue to dry. Placing roadbed is a PIA especially cutting odd shapes where there is a switch.

Couple weeks ago, I mentioned that FDNY had purchased a new "Super Pumper" rated at 5500 GPM. Recently, Sutphen Corporation announced a confirmed test result that their new Industrial pumper was rated at 6000 GPM. https://www.fireapparatusmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2020/10/FA102920-Sutphen1.jpg That's a lot of water.
 
Afternoon All,

Well I'm finally done at daughter's house. Spent about 10 hours Saturday and 4 hours today, but it's done. The only layout work this weekend was a small area of dried plaster cloth that I painted brown before heading to daughter's house today.

Willie- Glad you're home safe and sound. Nice museum photos. Skunks have really bad eyesight and because of that are startled very easily.

Rich- Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Joe- Nice photos. Interesting looking pumper.

Karl- Nice photos also.

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Remember 1st run Atlas engines, the old Yellow box engines ran well, but had oversized handrails and horribly shaped fuel tanks. When the black box models appeared the handrails were fixed, and so were the fuel tanks. Handrails were easy for the modeler to fix, now we update the fuel tank. Cutting off most of the original tank required a band saw , a bench grinder and some files, but I did it!. Next comes detailing and paint before swapping the body shell behind it.
IMG_4163[1].JPG
 
gseritt said:
Afternoon all!

New place looks cozy. Gravy and biscuits for me, Ms. Flo, if it's not too late. Not much going on around here today. Still no internet. I've tethered my laptop to my cellphone so I can catch up on some of my favorite hobo channels on youtube (and watching a few older videos as well). This guy here is one of my favorite channels. Some videos are more scenic and some are filled with heaps and heaps of knowledge. Definitely give him a look see if you are in to that sort of thing.


Has anyone had any luck polishing these old cary bodies? If I can get this one polished enough, I may just clear it and call it done. View attachment 120220

Yall stay safe out there!
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How can it be bad, it's about a HOBO lol.
 
Hiya Shop Dwellers! 47*F with a NW breeze, and dark here in my corner of the world.

Rich - excellent writeup and photos on UK train traffic control. That interlocking tower is gigantic - especially considering that only one person at a time is on duty there! The B&O towers I used to hang out at during my youth were only one-quarter of that size.

Joe - I really liked that shot of the GG1, I've always associated them with broad, open ROWs - never expected to see one up close to a retaining wall! As for T-or-T's, our neighborhood hasn't had any for years since all the residents here are 50+ with their children grown and gone, and the place is somewhat isolated.

Chet - is that picnic area scene something new? I don't remember having seen it. Either way, I like it a lot!

Gary S - I have a sister-in-law who lives in the Birmingham metro area (Pell City), and my family used to go down there for a week every summer when our kids [and hers] were still young. I knew and visited a few forum guys in the area as well - including Carey (Cjcrescent) and Rex Heacock, both of whom haven't posted in the forum in years. Those were fun days, Alabama is a railfan's paradise!

kbkchooch said:
Remember 1st run Atlas engines, the old Yellow box engines ran well, but had oversized handrails and horribly shaped fuel tanks. When the black box models appeared the handrails were fixed, and so were the fuel tanks. Handrails were easy for the modeler to fix, now we update the fuel tank. Cutting off most of the original tank required a band saw , a bench grinder and some files, but I did it!. Next comes detailing and paint before swapping the body shell behind it.
View attachment 120232
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Karl - Is that an Atlas replacement fuel tank under that empty chassis? Just curious, since I don't remember seeing the little "nubs" on the side of the grip-strip...

* * *

I realize I haven't posted here in a while, mainly for reasons I shared early last month...full-time job, time-consuming exercise regimen, health issues. On top of that, I realized that sitting too much in front of a computer screen is really rough on me - my legs always feel stiff and sore afterward. On a brighter note, however, my boss is giving me all of my office furniture to take home - two monitors, a laptop docking station, a super-comfy office chair, and a Vari-Desk adjustable-height work platform - so I can work either seated or standing. And I need to spend a lot more time standing rather than sitting, if I want to prevent any more blood clots!

Another thing contributing to my absence is the fact the we are getting ourselves a new roof and siding, courtesy of our homeowners' insurance company. My wife spotted wetness on the living room ceiling near the chimney during a heavy rainstorm, most likely due to some flashing that was partially torn loose from the brickwork. She called a roofing contractor who suggested we file an insurance claim so we did, and lo-and-behold they covered it 👍! That's the good news; the bad news is the solar panels on the south side need to come off, and the solar company is dragging their feet about sending anybody out to do the temporary removal and not even giving me a ballpark timeframe on when they'll do it. No work can be done until then, and the contractor can't remove the panels himself because that will void the warranty [on the panels]. I've called the solar company every day for the past two weeks and the phone reps keep promising they will "escalate the ticket" and that somebody from Scheduling will call me the next day...never happens! :mad:

Aside from that, I've been spending most of my scarce free time at my workbench in the trainroom, creating and installing "screens" (actually precision-cut Evergreen .250" strip painted to resemble screens, or "rock guards" as B&O workers called them) on all of my I-12 cabin cars. I posted a photo of one I did experimentally earlier in October, been slowly finishing all of the other ones - working on them whenever I could find the time to sneak out there. Today I finally finished the last one of a fleet of six. Here I have them all lined up in front of my engine terminal, the one barely visible at the far left is the "experimental" first one I posted on here 3 weeks ago:
Six_I-12_CabnCars.jpg


...and that's about it for now. G'nite!
 
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IronBeltKen said:
Gary S - I have a sister-in-law who lives in the Birmingham metro area (Pell City), and my family used to go down there for a week every summer when our kids [and hers] were still young. I knew and visited a few forum guys in the area as well - including Carey (Cjcrescent) and Rex Heacock, both of whom haven't posted in the forum in years. Those were fun days, Alabama is a railfan's paradise!
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HEY!!

Yes Sir, Mr. CJ came over to my house a few times when I first got started and i went to his house once. He's a Super nice guy and very knowledgeable! I miss him on here! We talked on the phone a few months ago and he seemed to be doing well. His grandson is playing baseball now and keeping him busy with Grandad duties. Sounds like a blessing and I can only hope to be as good a grandad one day (but not anytime in the next 10 years). Hopefully he'll get back on here one of these days.

Alabama is still here - come on back first chance you get.
 
gseritt said:
Afternoon all!

New place looks cozy. Gravy and biscuits for me, Ms. Flo, if it's not too late. Not much going on around here today. Still no internet. I've tethered my laptop to my cellphone so I can catch up on some of my favorite hobo channels on youtube (and watching a few older videos as well). This guy here is one of my favorite channels. Some videos are more scenic and some are filled with heaps and heaps of knowledge. Definitely give him a look see if you are in to that sort of thing.


Has anyone had any luck polishing these old cary bodies? If I can get this one polished enough, I may just clear it and call it done. View attachment 120220

Yall stay safe out there!
Click to expand...


Here what you will want to use if polish that....
Flitz Multi-Purpose Polish and Cleaner Paste for Metal


 
 
GEfan said:
For many years in the UK, semaphore signals have controlled trains over vast areas of the network. While this method of control is being phased out, it is still planned be used in some areas until 2044! In my local area, there was a location known as Barnetby, which was a Mecca for photographer - lots of freight, old signal boxes and semaphore signals. Unfortunately, they were taken out of service at Christmas 2015 and replaced by modern colour light, controlled from a centralised ops centre some 80 odd miles away.
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Something I saw on the JNS forum about british signalling. Very interesting from the late 80s.

 
Chilly November Greetings from NE Indiana. It's 27° today in the Fort, with highs peaking in the mid-forties. Definitely Frost on the Pumpkin time (a little JW Riley reference for those who know where he called home).

Did someone say Donut? I'll head out in a bit.

Did some time on the layout. CORK. Yes, we have cork! Perhaps half-way done on the Misty Valley end. I have the spaghetti bowl of turnouts yet to do. A curved right comes to join the mainline through the pass, then a few inches away, as another curve forms, another curved right lets another spur diverge.

I was drawing center lines last night, in prep for the cork in this section, and realized I'd have to stack two of the turnouts touching. A quick trip to my trusty supplier (MWMRR) and no curved rights... Flipping a curved left doesn't work. Drat.

But, I found two of them on Amazon. With Prime shipping, should be here on Tue or Wed.

Here's the mainline coming out of Misty Valley. There will be a steel girder bridge overhead.
Screen Shot 2020-11-02 at 6.27.08 AM.png
 
Good morning all. I hope this new month finds everybody well!
A big piece of pumpkin pie Flo, and a cup of deer camp coffee. Xnay the whip cream ay. Thanks!
25 and no wind here..... weather forecasters saying this Friday best chance of moisture....we'll see!
Great photo's & vids.... enjoyed them all!
STAY SAFE, HAVE A GREAT DAY!
 
Morning all,

Happy November! 33° and clear this morning going for a high of 68° today.

Got the front yard mowed yesterday and with the weather forecast what it is, I'll have at least another mowing this next weekend. I'm in an area without many large trees (newer subdivision), so I mulch the leaves into the lawn after blowing them out of the flower beds. Trees still had most of their leaves in last weeks snow, so they're now dead, but not yet fallen from the trees.

I managed some train time yesterday and here's the result:

20201101_153453.jpg

Still waiting to add additional paint to the stairs and actually started the railings. I spent too much time cleaning up the "white" spaces between trim and building body, but I think I have most of them cleaned up. Funny how the instructions say to clean up the metal staircase, and the only flashing is on the seen side, not the building side. Still a bunch more to do. I'll also post this in my build thread, but it's the only one I took. I spent some time getting the grandson's track cleaned so he could run his trains. They hadn't been touched in a while.

Rant on daylight savings time: WHY???

I woke up at 3:00a this morning, the 15 minutes before the alarm goes off on Friday, only to have to lay in bed for another hour no able to sleep as the alarm would go off as you just fall asleep, and the when you're on the road an hour later due to time change, you now see all the deer on the side of the road you hadn't seen because they were still asleep in the woods. Nice 8-point buck on the road this morning, and since the headlights lenses were changed in a deer strike a bit over a year ago, I see the beasts on the side of the road much better. Also helps to know where you usually see them, as it's usually in the same areas. They aren't as prevalent since the farmers started planting cotton instead of corn or soybeans.

I also think I've finally got most of those on the road coming at me trained. They quit high beaming me, because when I hit the high beams, the low beams stay on as well. Nice little bypass on a relay under the hood. Fog lamps are off when the highs are on, but neither the fogs nor the highs are on very often. Yes, I'm one of those! LOL
 
Morning from out here where it is 55 degrees heading for 87 they say - was 89 yesterday.
FLO - A large coffee with a spoonful of "real" cream - none of that pretend stuff. I'll hold off on the breakfast for a while, thanks!,

Well I did not get a chance to see if the doggies can tell time? I woke up an hour ago and they didn't stir until I sat on the side of the bed. I have been having a little problem with balance lately. If I get out of bed quickly, or stand up to quickly after sitting for a while, if I am not careful I will simply tend to fall over?

No real news - I enjoyed another peaceful NO FOOTBALL day- and to tell the truth - I didn't even think about it until late last evening. That's it from here right now, I need to run the vacuum before the "boss" comes back around noon.
 
Flip said:
RICH- Are the "BLACK PRINCE" and the "TORNADO" still active in England ?
Phil
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Hi Phil,
Yes 'Black Prince' is on the North Norfolk Railway and still steaming. Tornado is the new-build locomotive, that only emerged from the workshops just over 10 years ago, and that remains active on the National Network, running at up to 75mph on a regular basis (well when we're not locked down of course!) ... I have followed that loco from the start, have pics of it being built, the early test runs and the subsequent excursions. As part of the testing to allow 90mph running on the main lines, it had to do the standard test of maximum speed plus 10% ... so they achieved 101mph with it! The only steam locomotive since 1968 (when revenue-earning steam finished on British Railways) to pass the 100mph mark.

Unfortunately, its first passenger run at 90mph it encountered a major problem brought one of the main lines between London and Scotland to standstill - the problem was nothing to do with high speed running, just one of those things to do with metal fatigue that couldn't have been detected and would have happened anyway, but it has made the owners, Network Rail (who own the track) and everyone basically, a lot more wary of going above 75mph in normal service. Shame in someways, as it would have allowed the trains it worked to fit in better with a railway that now runs at 125mph - so getting space to run steam trains is getting difficult, but in other ways, it means that for photographers there is more chance of a chase to photograph it and then get ahead for another picture!!

Rich
 
Thanks for all the comments guys, I have got a couple of images lined up that were taken in the UK a couple of years ago, with an American interest! I'll post them in a day or so.

Loving all the model images, some fantastic modelling. The Logan Valley images are great, as is the shot of the two BN diesels climbing up. My initial N gauge layout is only small - its 10' x 2' ... although the scenic area will only be 6' x 18 inches as I wanted to use a couple of boards that I'd built previously, but your all giving me some great inspiration for the bigger layout next year! The plan is to rebuild the old garage, which should give me a space of around 26' x 10' - which for layouts in the UK is huge!! I can imagine a bigger version of the Canyon could appear, but also have an idea of trying to create something along the style of Barstow Yard (perhaps just one end?) and the line up through Tehachapi towards the Loop. Still playing around with ideas, as it will need some industry for local trips too. But with that kind of space in N gauge, I am hoping it could offer a number of opportunities!

Rich
 
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