Running Bear's October 2022 Coffee Shop

[ctclibby]

Yuck, coffee machines with their own water tank.
Usually those things never get cleaned out and the white fuzz mold that grows in them is sickening.
Still very light rain this morning and slight breeze. Ian is now a tropical storm and taking a more northerly direction. I'm inclined to think it might start bearing a bit more nor easterly which will bring it closer to here. That's OK because I can just evacuate down the street to the cigar lounge.
Gonna do a few more walk throughs the basement to make sure everything is set for the open house today. Tools put away, scenery material put away, signals working right, trains staged, etc.

Ken: A year or so ago, Loves went to those dang machines. They do NOT brew a good cup. You end up putting hot water in the cup just to tone it down. Lots of truckers complained big time as they also took out the 2 gallon auto drip pots. Now your thermal pot doesn't fit under the thing and you have to fill three or four cups to pour into it just to get coffee. So now they took out one of the dang machines and put back the drip ones. We have been getting coffee coffee from Loves for years as we get enough fuel there.

Good luck on the open house! Know you will have fun AFTER all the hand ringing is done.

Later

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and quite cool at 50° here in West Monroe LA, on the way to home sweet home. Only five hours from here, so no major hurry except to get to our destinations. Looking forward to using my own shower and not having to figure out some new strange water configuration. Getting ready to go for the complimentary breakfast, wife has already been downstairs for coffee. I have my bottle of water so I am good.
Curt - Certainly glad to read that you and Phil both came through the storm relatively unscathed. I feel badly for those in the really devastated areas, not so much if they chose not to follow mandatory evacuation orders. All of you still in the path take care and hope that it downgrades rapidly.

OK, time to pack up this laptop and have breakfast. See everybody on the other side.
Have a great day everyone.

 

[Smudge617]

Smudge: If you are the only one that is being tested cuz you are clean, isn't that a liability for your company? Over here, almost the first thing you get to do when involved in an accident is to go and pee in a cup. I take it your side are things are not that way

Think your getting me mixed up with logandsawman Dave, only in certain occupations, like pilots, have to do that. We, as a whole don't do regular drug testing, if I'm involved in a accident I would have to do a roadside alcohol test but as a non drinker, not something I worry about.

 

[Espeefan]

I'm getting ready for an open house too. With the building our club resides in is getting substantial modifications including changing our entrance location, and with Trainfest approaching, we're looking at the construction schedule and hoping the new entrance will be ready. We aren't sure it will but are planning as if the open house will happen, which means the usual housekeeping, cleanup, wrapping up projects, and getting anything you want to display ready to go. We have a fair number of rules, as clubs must. Resistors on the cars so they'll trip the signals, metal wheels, Kadee or equal metal couplers, signing up in advance for a track for your train, and like that. The big one is making sure everything runs before the big day. You can't for example buy new locos at the show, then bring them down and run them at the open house. The folks want to see running trains, not bloopers because things need adjustments as "out of the box" stuff often does. The guys are already testing and making sure their trains are up to standards so we can have a night of good running. That includes yours truly. Passenger train modeling will teach you patience, or maybe run you out of the hobby. All of the usual problems with the model railroad rolling stock are amplified. Coupler height gets to be a really big deal because of car length. Diaphragm clearance is important, brass cars have to be checked to make sure they don't short on track or switches and will work and play well together in a consist. Their trucks are often an issue. Accurate to prototype, pretty, but the rolling quality of a lead sled. I've replaced them with Wally trucks (bolster modifications necessary) or Branchline or D&G trucks (hardware changeout), or if clearance permits, Intermountain ball bearing wheelsets in the brass trucks themselves. Coach Yard makes a Kadee style draft gear box with slots instead of holes so you can move couplers in or out as necessary. Steam & signal lines can cause issues. It's a real blast tuning one of these trains! I'm not even going to touch on prototype fidelity. That's a whole 'nother discussion and an expensive one! The swear jar can get pretty full, but you can use that money to buy more trains.  So, after you do all this work you take the train to the club, run it around the layout and check for issues. How many places does it come apart? Any shorts? Any derailing because diaphragms are too stiff or catching on each other? Steam or signal line castings hitting each other? Why do I put myself through this? Well, because they're so awesome when properly done, I guess. I've been working with two trains. The Lark as you've seen, and an iteration of the San Francisco Overland. Matching train sets are nice, and made great publicity photos for the company image, and I like 'em. On the other hand, in later years when things got mixed together and head end equipment started to make up more and more of the train as ridership fell off, there were lots of interesting looking trains. The Overland is one such. I'm still working on the consist and in this test there's not enough head end cars, but I like the variety. It took considerable work to get these two to the point of making it around the layout but I think it was worth it. This is the big benefit of belonging to a club. The layout is large enough to run trains like this. They chew up a large amount of real estate! Since I've made you read this diatribe, you can judge for yourself!

 

[Patrick]

Morning from the office....

So far updates are taking longer to do the initial install, and I've got extreme modifications I have to make to our exchange server as there is another Chinese hacker group (or groups) looking for email servers. Sadly, I have to do it the hard way as my stuff is old enough NOT to have the fancy GUI (Graphical User Interface). That's the popup window stuff. I have to actually get into the code, and hopefully my version recognizes the commands, but probably not. Funny how this was discovered over 3 months ago, and NOW it may be a problem. Microsoft still doesn't have a direct fix for it, but they recommend the code from others.

 

[Boris]

I'm kind of depressed after watching all the heartbreaking videos of the complete devastation in Southwest Florida, it'll probably take a decade to rebuild everything.

Ken: First of all Thank you for the kind words. Heartbreaking, is a good description, and hopefully these folks will get a break somewhere along the line. Considering that some people have not yet been permitted back in their homes damaged by Sandy in 2012, I'm inclined to agree with your assessment.
Happy to hear our friend Sherrel is OK. Thanks for passing that along.

Nice photo at Point of Rocks. That looks like a 25 TN self propelled steam crane turned diesel.

Guy: Nice photos. Now I know what they call American Cranes on Canada It says "OHIO" where it usually says American. Surprised it doesn't say "Ontario".

Troy: Good your testing Negative, and you're feeling better. have fun. Starbucks, lets just say I'm not a fan. (I prefer Tim's when available, otherwise Dunkin).

Ken VA: Hope your OP session goes well.

Willie: Safe trip. No matter how nice the place you stayed at, it's always better in your home surroundings.

Alan: Those are great passenger trains. The "Overland" with it's rainbow consist is quite appealing. Like the HW diner ahead of the ¾ Dome.

Smudge: We used to be subject to "Random" drug and alcohol tests. 50% of the time we knew about it in advance. My crew, was the senior crew in the terminal, and we were disproportionately tested because the odds were 100% we would test negative. Made their percentage look good.
Road crews wererarely tested, because they didn't have time under Hours of Service. Amazing how many tested "Hot", if they had to take "Post Accident " testing. Not that drug and alcohol usage was rampant, mind you, but they knew where to go to remain undetected.

Tried something different last night, I slept in the recliner. 6½ hours undisturbed sleep, no real pain, and once awake, no trouble getting up from the chair. Wonder how much of a factor, the mattress is? There is still lower back pain and joint pain, but not to the degree I have recently experienced.

PC 4935 awaiting assignment at Harrisburg, PA, September 1974 - Steven Geisler photo. Engine was in Amtrak service. This motor was rpainted DGLE, in the 5 Stripe scheme in 1976, and is currently gathering rust at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, at Strasburg, PA.

 

[TLOC]

I'm getting ready for an open house too. With the building our club resides in is getting substantial modifications including changing our entrance location, and with Trainfest approaching, we're looking at the construction schedule and hoping the new entrance will be ready. We aren't sure it will but are planning as if the open house will happen, which means the usual housekeeping, cleanup, wrapping up projects, and getting anything you want to display ready to go. We have a fair number of rules, as clubs must. Resistors on the cars so they'll trip the signals, metal wheels, Kadee or equal metal couplers, signing up in advance for a track for your train, and like that. The big one is making sure everything runs before the big day. You can't for example buy new locos at the show, then bring them down and run them at the open house. The folks want to see running trains, not bloopers because things need adjustments as "out of the box" stuff often does. The guys are already testing and making sure their trains are up to standards so we can have a night of good running. That includes yours truly. Passenger train modeling will teach you patience, or maybe run you out of the hobby. All of the usual problems with the model railroad rolling stock are amplified. Coupler height gets to be a really big deal because of car length. Diaphragm clearance is important, brass cars have to be checked to make sure they don't short on track or switches and will work and play well together in a consist. Their trucks are often an issue. Accurate to prototype, pretty, but the rolling quality of a lead sled. I've replaced them with Wally trucks (bolster modifications necessary) or Branchline or D&G trucks (hardware changeout), or if clearance permits, Intermountain ball bearing wheelsets in the brass trucks themselves. Coach Yard makes a Kadee style draft gear box with slots instead of holes so you can move couplers in or out as necessary. Steam & signal lines can cause issues. It's a real blast tuning one of these trains! I'm not even going to touch on prototype fidelity. That's a whole 'nother discussion and an expensive one! The swear jar can get pretty full, but you can use that money to buy more trains.  So, after you do all this work you take the train to the club, run it around the layout and check for issues. How many places does it come apart? Any shorts? Any derailing because diaphragms are too stiff or catching on each other? Steam or signal line castings hitting each other? Why do I put myself through this? Well, because they're so awesome when properly done, I guess. I've been working with two trains. The Lark as you've seen, and an iteration of the San Francisco Overland. Matching train sets are nice, and made great publicity photos for the company image, and I like 'em. On the other hand, in later years when things got mixed together and head end equipment started to make up more and more of the train as ridership fell off, there were lots of interesting looking trains. The Overland is one such. I'm still working on the consist and in this test there's not enough head end cars, but I like the variety. It took considerable work to get these two to the point of making it around the layout but I think it was worth it. This is the big benefit of belonging to a club. The layout is large enough to run trains like this. They chew up a large amount of real estate! Since I've made you read this diatribe, you can judge for yourself!

Beautiful trains Alan. What club do you belong to?

 

[Espeefan]

Beautiful trains Alan. What club do you belong to?

North American Prototype Modelers in Greenfield WI. https://www.napmltd.org/

 

[Snowman]

Decaf, Flo. Just decaf. And keep it coming.

 

[Smudge617]

Smudge: We used to be subject to "Random" drug and alcohol tests. 50% of the time we knew about it in advance. My crew, was the senior crew in the terminal, and we were disproportionately tested because the odds were 100% we would test negative. Made their percentage look good.
Road crews wererarely tested, because they didn't have time under Hours of Service. Amazing how many tested "Hot", if they had to take "Post Accident " testing. Not that drug and alcohol usage was rampant, mind you, but they knew where to go to remain undetected.

The maximum legal blood alcohol limit is 4.2 units or one and a half pints of medium lager or 2 glasses of wine, get caught over the limit and the consequences can be severe in the UK, if convicted minimum is a 12 months driving ban and goes up to 3 years depending how drunk you were at the time, plus your liable for a fine of up to £2500.00 (assuming you don't kill or seriously injure someone). If you repeat the offence within 10 years, and its up to 14 yrs jail time, a driving ban for two years, starting from the date (assuming you go to jail) of your release and an unlimited fine also payable on release, plus it obviously seriously impacts on your employment, no company wants a (former) drink driver working for them, using heavy machinery, driving the company vehicle etc.

I've worked for a few companies that have done random Alcohol tests, usually it's no problem, as driving is our livelihood, so you've got to be an idiot to do it, only had one case, that I remember, guy had three beers night before, came to work and was over the limit, but not by much, checked again an hour later and he was legal to drive.

And for our whiskey drinkers, you get 1 whiskey

 

[TLOC]

Good morning from Superior, Wi. Terry and I have already walked the neighborhood this morning around the hotel. It is 55f degrees heading to 59. One of the reasons we are in the Twin Harbors area is for me to see IN PERSON one of the 1000’+ lakers go through the canal entrance at Duluth. The Marine boat forecast says later today after we will be gone. Yesterday we did visit the Canal and Canal Park. I missed one Laker yesterday, saw the stern make the turn after the drawbridge. It arrived over 1 hour early and the other was at bedtime. Not too thrilled about that. Terry and I though will be back for a couple nights and UW Badger Women’s hockey the last weekend of October. I believe we have worn out my sister and Terry also looks a bit strained from the last couple of days. So an easier walking day today.

We did get to the Anchor Bar from Drive Inn, Diners and Dive TV fame for lunch around 1. Good, cheap but IMO small burgers, but packed. Last night though at 5, the best fish I have had this year for sure, Northern Waters Smokehaus right near the Aerial Bridge over the Canal. Picked up and ate at Canal Park. Also from the show DD&D. So even without seeing the boats, we accomplished so far 3 places from DriveInns, Diners and Dives. We will leave between noon to 2, we will bypass the Twin Cities as we have one more triple D restaurant to hit and we will follow the Mississippi River down to overnight in Winona, Minnesota. We will stop in Bayport, Minnesota just a couple blocks from a place that tried to recruit me in 1980 and 1982, Andersen Windows. Opens at 4 is Bayport BBQ that was featured on Triple D but I am not sure it’s the same ownership group as it’s now 210 BBQ, same address. Bayport is a nice river town on the St. Croix River before it joins the Mighty Mississippi.

Ore docks today are #1 today. But there is no need to see the Lake Superior Train Museum which we have seen and is very well done. I just am not a huge fan of revisiting static railroad museums.

Between the 3 of us we have just under 1500 pictures in 2 days. Terry was transfering all from the phones to 3 sticks whenever we hopped back into the SUV. Our storage drive at home was not fixed by 5 yesterday so she purchased a few of those stick devices for our pictures.

We walked past a gas station this morning. Premium was $4.59.

enjoy the day

 

[montanan]

Good morning. My girls decided that I needed to get up at 0430. Actually, my arm hurt like hell and I had to pee. Got an early start and was at the grocery store at 0630 and got what I needed for the following week plus I still have some dinners left that my daughter prepared for me.

Watched some news about what the hurricane did in the Fort Meyers/Naples area. Got to know it pretty well when I was a trooper. I had to head there to fill in when a resident trooper took a vacation or leave and it is heartbreaking to see the damage. The population had grown a lot since I left Florida in 1976 and it will take years for the residents to get back to normal down there. Happy to hear that Phil and Curt made it through the storm alright.

Ken - Hope you'll have time to take and post some videos of the open house. I always enjoyed your videos. You'll probably find the D&RG units as soon as the open house is over. I hid a lot of locomotives on hidden staging tracks and lost a few there. When I found them, it was like Christmas.

IBKen - Like the photos. Hope the lawn will get back to normal next spring. I put a lot of work into my lawn and now that I moved away, I don't have to worry about it any more. My old next door neighbor gave me a good laugh when he told me about the lawn getting out of hand for new guy that bought my place and having to hire a bunch of Mexicans with WEEDEATERS to clean up the yard. Said that it took them a few Laughed
my butt off.



Joe - Sure like that GG-1 photo but it's sad to see how ragged it looks.

Alan - Good videos. Hope you'll get some video on the open house and post them.

Todd - Looks like you made a pretty good haul there. Have some more in my closet, if I can find them. See you when you get home.

Smudge617 - I enjoy watching some of the UK TV series such as Motorway cops. The sure take "Drink Driving" very serious over there. Like the device that they have a suspect lick to see if they had been using drugs. Would havebeen nice. Enjoy seeing how other law enforcement agencies work.

Willie - I know exactly what you mean about being in bed in your own surroundings.

Watched this self propelled crane actually doing some switching in the Livingston yard gett his work train together to work on the Bozeman Pass.

More photos from the archives.

Can't understand why just sitting at the computed makes the arm hurt so much.

Later

 

[Boris]

Watched this self propelled crane actually doing some switching in the Livingston yard gett his work train together to work on the Bozeman Pass.

Chet: Now that's an American crane vs. the Ohio crane Guy photographed. They look very similar. Further investigation reveals the company was called American & Ohio Locomotive Crane of Bucycrus, Ohio. No wonder they look similar.

 

[JeffH]

Bucyrus, Ohio... Self proclaimed Bratwurst capital of Ohio, LOL. There was also a maker of up-scale powerboats in Bucyrus. I'm not remembering the name, but Checkmate comes to mind.

 

[IronBeltKen]

Ken: . . .
Happy to hear our friend Sherrel is OK. Thanks for passing that along.
. . .

Joe - that was KenD&J who contacted Sherrell, not me.

 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

The farmers market turned into 2 additional grocery stores so that took all morning. After lunch I hooked up the 4 sets of IR sensors to the board and powered it up only to hear one emitter fry. I was afraid I did something wrong with the wiring but the other 3 emitters worked as expected. I removed the bad emitter (luckily it was close to the edge of the layout) and replaced it and the new one works properly. I cycled the power 3 times without issue. Tomorrow I'll connect the signal heads to the board then comes the dreaded testing phase.

Smudge- I hope your leg feels better soon.

Todd- Nice haul. You're all set now for freight cars.

Guy- Great crane shots.

IB Ken- Also a great crane shot. At least the tree didn't fall on your house. That's a .

Troy- I find that Starbucks is way overpriced and bitter coffee. I'm happy with a fresh cup of 7-11 coffee. Obviously not a discerning coffee pallette.

Ken D&J- I hope everybody has fun today.

Alan- Beautiful passenger trains.

Joe- Sad photo. If I remember correctly Bucyrus is on the Sandusky line.

Chet- I hope you get some relief soon. Great photos.

I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[Smudge617]

Smudge- I hope your leg feels better soon.

Yeah, a shed load of Ibuprofen, electric blanket and 10hrs sleep will do wonders for you.

 

[santafewillie]

Good Afternoon All. Arrived home about 1345 to a pleasant 77° outside, 71° inside. Sunny skies and more of the same coming up in the next ten days.
Haven't checked the train shed or garden yet, early priority is removing the perishables and then the luggage from the car. Dropped my wife off at grandson's home as planned, the oldest had already left for his Boy Scout camp-out with his buddies this morning. I'm heating some leftover steak from the trip for lunch and then a well deserved nap.
Hope to be back into the normal mode in a few hours. It will be interesting to see when the sunset really is. Since we've been in the eastern end of the Central Zone, both sunrise and sunset are as much as 45 minutes earlier than here.

 

[Bruette]

Troy- I find that Starbucks is way overpriced and bitter coffee. I'm happy with a fresh cup of 7-11 coffee. Obviously not a discerning coffee pallette.

Curt, I agree with you about coffee. Those dark roast coffees from Starbucks are bitter and overpriced! Maybe we do have a discerning coffee palette. I love 100% Columbian coffee, 7-11 stores with those coffee grinders built into the machine are as good as any and the prices are much better!

Glad to hear you are faring well with Ian. Thanks for the update about you and Phil. Please tell Phil I said hello and I miss his posts.

 

[Boris]

Joe - that was KenD&J who contacted Sherrell, not me.

IBKen: Yes, I thought I replied to him. obviously not. With 3 Kens regularly participating here, it sometimes gets confusing.

I'm happy with a fresh cup of 7-11 coffee. Obviously not a discerning coffee pallette.

Joe- Sad photo. If I remember correctly Bucyrus is on the Sandusky line.

Curt: Nothing wrong with 7-11 coffee. Nothing wrong with Wawa, or OuikCHek coffee either. I leave Starbucks to people who are willing to pay premiums for the privilege of standing on line for 30" for a bitter blend of coffee.
That GG1 does look ratty, doesn't it?
I was under the impression it was on the Main Line West of Crestline and East of Lima, so I checked the map on a 1958 System Timetable and surprise! Bucyrus is at the intersection of the Sandusky Line and the Main Line. Learn something new every day.

There was also a maker of up-scale powerboats in Bucyrus

Jeff: Don't know much about upscale power boats, but I sort of remember heavy equipment used in highway construction / mining branded Bucyrus - Erie. made by Bucyrus Foundry and Manufacturing Company.

Willie: Glad you're home safely, enjoy the nap.

B&O Mail #29 at Cumberland, MD - No photo credit.