Running Bear’s June 2025 Coffee Shop

[migalyto]

This will ruin your day of riding fun!

 

[santafewillie]

Good Evening All. It was inevitable, but I am sadly losing my "amber waves of grain" view across the road. Yep! Today is the day the combines arrived to harvest the wheat field to the south.

The down side is that the wind is out of the south this evening, and the chaff is blowing into my pool! By tomorrow morning, there will be nothing but stubble like the near side of this picture. The greenery is weeds that are starting to grow up between the wheat plants.

 

[santafewillie]

Willie - You're slipping. You forgot to mention that Cyndi Lauper turned 72 today.

I was pressed for time this morning due to having to get ready for church!

 

[DeaconKC]

Welcome aboard from a fellow Texan, as you have already surmised. Sad that there aren't any good hobby shops in your area, but if you're ever up in the Dallas area, then by all means stop by Discount Model Trains in Addison, a northern suburb of Dallas. And there's Angelo Hobbies in Hurst, between Dallas and Ft Worth. Discount does not do anything on-line, but it's a great place. I've been going there for over 30 years. I don't get to Angelo's much because it's location is not good for me. There's a couple of Hobbytowns in the area, but I haven't been to them.

Welcome from Arkansas.

 

[Texas Hobo]

Hi! I'm new! I'll just sit quietly in that booth over in the corner over there; hash browns and Dr. Pepper will do for me...

Been looking in through the window for quite a while now; feels like I already know you guys. Your lives are much more interesting than mine, so I will probably only occasionally have things to say -- but I will very much enjoy listening in.

Last time I looked, it was 86F here, somewhere around halfway between santafewillie and the Texas Hobo. That was around an hour ago. Waiting for the weather app to decide if it's going to rain this week; yesterday it said yes (five days!), but today it says no. You'd think with all the AI that they could at least get the weather prediction dialed in, but noooo...

I transplanted myself here just about ten years ago now, and have no regrets -- but I'm a died-in-the-wool introvert, and I was a remote worker on top of it, so in ten years I haven't really gotten to know much about the area. Pathetic, I know. Since I'm getting into trains, I decided to go check out the hobby shops for the first time yesterday.

What a disappointment!

Checked The Hobby Shop out in Leander, Kings down in Austin, and HobbyTown over by the Domain, where Fry's Electronics used to be before they closed it down. Only HobbyTown seemed to have any real quality selection, and that was mostly in HO. N gauge seems not to be popular.

Kings had a bunch of *very, very old* N gauge stuff. Atlas track bits in those yellow/orange envelopes that looked like they were from the early eighties at the latest -- exactly what I remember from when I was a kid. I didn't buy anything.

This coming week is medical week, both for me and for one of my cats. Not looking forward to that, but it is what it is. Just lab tests and checkups for me, at least. The cat gets to have his teeth cleaned, which I'm sure he'll just *love*.

Today will be working on bits and pieces toward the conversion of my former back office into my new train room, and maybe some planning toward what I'm actually going to build. Nothing else on the schedule.

If anyone knows where there's a train store with a good selection of N scale stuff within a hundred miles or so of Austin, please let me know!

Welcome to the forum. Sadly there aren't many train shops here in the greater Houston area. There is Papa Ben's which has a pretty good selection of both HO and N and some O. THere is a place called GG hobbies but I got the impression they were more for the RC hobbyist.

 

[RhB Michael]

Good afternoon. It's partly cloudy and 93.
If anyone else uses Wally World's online shopping/delivery feature, have you noticed the system randomly adding items to your order after you place it? The first couple of times, I thought it was me somehow ordering stuff, or clicking it without realizing, but I happened to look at the emailed list they sent me when I placed my last two orders. The original order didn't have an item, but then an item from my "previously purchased" list showed up when delivered. I looked, and yes, it was ordered, and I was charged. I'm going to be closely watching this in the future.

I use that service every other week. One delivery they sent me a box of Pampers diapers I never ordered and wasn't charged for. I called them and they said to just keep them. They ended up in the trash. I haven't had a kid around here in 40 years that needed a diaper.

That is the only time something was added to my order that I didn't order. I'm glad they didn't charge me for them.

 

[Kusojiji]

Introverts: We'll come out of the closet once everyone leaves.

Awe, do we have to?

 

[Kusojiji]

I use that service every other week. One delivery they sent me a box of Pampers diapers I never ordered and wasn't charged for. I called them and they said to just keep them. They ended up in the trash. I haven't had a kid around here in 40 years that needed a diaper.

That is the only time something was added to my order that I didn't order. I'm glad they didn't charge me for them.

So they wouldn't fit? haha

 

[Kusojiji]

Good morning and happy Sunday to y'all!

84° and sunny heading to a high of 92° later. Great day to stay outta the heat!

A little background music while I work on a kit!

It might pre-date the VH1 generation, but great tunes either way!

BBL

I think I've watched every video of these folks. They did a Lighthouse one - One Fine Morning that was awesome!

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's clear and 73.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good morning! It's 77°F and clear.

Have a great Monday!

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet peeps, and those introverts trying not to be noticed. It's Troy again.

And I'm off of reunion/party duty for another year.

I need to spend time writing. And walking, but it's too harn out. And too humid out.

That's 24C currently and 35C for the high today.

the feels-like number will be 101°F

Not sure what today will bring besides laundry and hiding in the basement away from the heat. And eating leftovers.

 

[troyphoto]

Hmmm.... a bit of a brain fart today.

I'm on the board of my regional Historical Miniatures Gaming Society (HMGS), and emailed the rest of the board wondering aloud if we should invite an N-track club or such to our next convention in the Dayton OH area (it's in Oct) to potentially cross-pollinnate two very similar hobbies?

I have no idea how that would go over. Thoughts? If you're in an N-track (or similar) club would you want to go hang out with old farts playing with little toy soldiers for a weekend, and talk shop across the hobbies?

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

75° and clear with a high today of 90° depending on which forecaster you believe. That makes it a little cooler than yesterday. Humidity currently at 86% which makes it feel worse.

Started harvesting carrots, pulled up about a dozen. Still a bit small, but I had to cut most of them when I was peeling some for my lunch. Got my first green pepper and should have 2 cucumbers withing a few days. Okra isn't very tall, but I need to start watching as there were some small pods. The plants themselves are only about 16" tall, and smaller than I remember when they start blooming.

Weekend far to short since I worked additional on Friday and then had to pick up the kids when they returned from their Disney cruise last week. Glad to get the son's dogs out of the house. They tend to the wild side.

insomniville: Welcome to here. I'm in southern Kansas a couple hundred miles north of Willie.

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang

Highfield station is done, now I just have to finish the upper level trackwork and place it!

Weather is going to be brutal today. 85° currently looking for a daytime high today of 100°, it feels like temp will be 110. I’m staying inside.
BBL

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. My weather conditions are nearly the same as Troy's. The sun just isn't up yet.

I can't stay long this morning, as the follow-up cardiologist appointment is at 9:00, 30 miles away. At least there's nothing happening in the school zone that I have to pass through. I've been randomly taking BP readings for the past week, and except for last night, they have been in the mostly normal range. It spiked last night, but was 129/76 a few minutes ago. That's in my usual range. I am concerned with pulse rate which hasn't been above 60 except last night at 76. Could it have been the grilled rib-eye steak? Or the very tasty Tomato Tarts that my wife made? Who knows, but I have been feeling alright.
Busy day yesterday after we came home from church. Two loads of laundry, put up the shade umbrellas over the pool and mowed, mowed and mowed. I also replaced the collapsing pool filter pump hose before it failed completely. Then it was time for grilling supper after a long dip in the pool. I didn't set foot in either the garden or the train shed yesterday and I miss them both.
I have house maintenance after the doctor's appointment today, as two separate ceiling light bulbs failed last night. One is actually the last incandescent bulb that we have. It's really old...it's sister bulb in the same hallway was replaced with an LED over 10 years ago. I struggle with those damn thumb screws though. Just a small portion of the yard is left to mow, the hardest part over the septic tank and leach field. It just seems to grow faster than all of the rest. Probably should have picked Tomatoes yesterday, but didn't; so that's on today's agenda. Irrigation begins this week.

Insomniville - Discount Model Trains in Addison is just four miles from my daughter's home in Richardson, so I get a few chances to go whenever I am in town. Except I'm usually there on Sunday when they are closed!
Karl - I have never had to adjust the trip pin on a Kadee #148. They always come out just right if the coupler is at the correct height. Now #5's on the other hand, I probably had to adjust at least 40%. But good advice anyway.

Gotta go hit the shower now, everyone have a magnificent Monday.

 

[Kusojiji]

Good evening. It is 2140 and the meter shows 24C @ 80%. My wife asked me to pull the 1 cucumber that is at size, 1 egg plant, and 1 bell pepper tomorrow. Garden just starting and we're getting onesy-twosies. Her sweet potatos, called satsuma-imo over here, are doing very well now. We needed to water more while they were young, but now that they have roots going further down, they are good to go.

As a member of the Introverted Rank Amateur club, I have a local commuter train that has the motor unit in the shop getting a motor transplant. In order to keep the service running and people getting to work which is vital to save a dying economy, the company has hired a lease loco.

 

[Boris]

Just a quick coupler question.

I'm contemplating converting all the mix matched manufacturers couplers to Kadee 148's. 95% of my cars are 40' or less in length. I have 5 PS2 grain hoppers that are just over 50'. All turnouts are #6 and only one curve at a 22" radius.

Would I be able to use the medium length shank for all of these?

Thanks

Absolutely! Under the same criteria I use the short shank "scale" Kadee 135. Standardizing with 148s is a great idea.

 

[Kusojiji]

Hmmm.... a bit of a brain fart today.

I'm on the board of my regional Historical Miniatures Gaming Society (HMGS), and emailed the rest of the board wondering aloud if we should invite an N-track club or such to our next convention in the Dayton OH area (it's in Oct) to potentially cross-pollinnate two very similar hobbies?

I have no idea how that would go over. Thoughts? If you're in an N-track (or similar) club would you want to go hang out with old farts playing with little toy soldiers for a weekend, and talk shop across the hobbies?

Maybe formalize it with a little presentation from each group to introduce their view of the hobby? There is no application commonality between the two as the scale is way too different. N-scale dwarf would have to be 7 mm tall. Have each group display why they do what they do and show the passion of it. Both groups would have nostalgia going, so perhaps the art of the gaming group and the n-scale show some technology?

What is this called, spit-bombing?

 

[migalyto]

good morning all!

The warmth continues. Currently 78F heading up to somewhere around 92F with high humidity.

I wasnt going to mow yesterday but did anyway. I figures the heat was going to be with us all week
so no escaping it by waiting. The incentive was taking a dip in the refreshing pool when finished.
Looking at it now, I'm glad I went ahead and did it yesterday. Its really not growing that fast since
the lack of rain this season. It is getting brown in some areas of direct sunlight.

Other than another swim today, not sure what else I will get myself into. We shall see.

Have a safe day everyone!