Running Bear's April 2022 Coffee Shop

[Iron Horseman]

Nothing beats a good book, just a few of our bookshelves,these made the list as tidy when photographed

Are the African figurines of animals placed about significant? They look very nice. And are those Puzzles on the top?

 

[Iron Horseman]

When it comes to books, I used to be a collector of books. Not valuable books, just ones I wanted to read. Now my tablet overflows with ebooks. Many unread.

I find that my time to read has dwindled. too much scrolling on social media. too much-watching videos of trains or games or movie clips on YouTube.

While I've always accumulated books mostly related to work and trains, my late wife was the bibliophile. She was into the craft, cooking, and children's books. OH so many children's books. She kept me updated on how many she had logged into the library software. Last report before she died was just over 7000,

My reading time was on the bus ride to and from work every day. It was a wonderful 45 minutes each way. Was able to get through hundreds in the over 30 years I did that. But things change and I also find reading time has come to a stand still. I had forsaken social media for a while but as you can see I'm back there and even on the coffee shop thread (whats up with that?). Just getting back into computer games again a real time sucker. Fortunately I have been able to refrain from doing the video thing. A video is posted and I just pass it by. I see that as a potential to really suck up time. I keep imagining myself in retirement sitting by the fire and consuming all these wonderful works.

 

[Iron Horseman]

It's Spring time, how about a few critters in the yard over the years.

That looks like about the same collection I have around the new house. The dog has caught the armadillo 3 or 4 times. I don't know why it continues to stay. The opossum was smart enough to move on after the dog got a bite of its tail. That black and white one you show there looks like a baby, bet there are a few more of those lurking around.

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

Just picked up about 15 books of a series I was missing. All but the first 2 (Sci-Fi Anthology), people with them think they're worth gold. Pick most up for less that the local used bookstore would have had them. When they want $160+ for a paperback, no thanks. Picked up both hardcover and paperback.

Last of the 8-year old granddaughter's turns 9 tomorrow. Having a party here this evening for her, the her just older cousin is going to her house to spend the night. The grandson isn't happy because he has to stay home. I may be playing a game or running trains with him tomorrow.

Gotta go get the groceries...BBL

 

[Iron Horseman]

After reading everything that is going on, I went and looked both directions up and down the street to see if the 4 Horsemen were rounding the corner?

I am pretty certain all of this is just precursor to those fearsome fellows. I re-read portions of the Revelation the other day and it certainly seems everything is really lined up. For my capstone project for Telecommunications Degree I did a paper that described the technology enabling the mark of the beast. It is now technologically possible, and the 666 might already be here. Just look at any UPC code and think of 666 in binary.

 

[bnsf971]

 

[OBTC 1909]

Good morning all! 35 and cloudy heading for 54 and occasional rain today.

Got off work early yesterday since I had to stay late the day before. Came home and took a nap, then my wife and I met out oldest granddaughter and her fiance for dinner. Had a really good time and ate way too much.

Nothing planned for today so far. Just enjoying having weekends off these days. Hope you all have a great day!

 

[Boris]

Good looking car. N Scale?

Hughie: No, HO.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

I am pretty certain all of this is just precursor to those fearsome fellows. I re-read portions of the Revelation the other day and it certainly seems everything is really lined up.

I would NOT naysay anything you posted! Thank you!

 

[Boris]

Hmmm the trucks look a tad "to far" toward the end of the car

Horseman: Some of the PRR Rivet counters lamented that the trucks were not OEM 6 wheel trucks, and the openings on the baggage doors were oblong instead of round. Which were actually easy fixes. I liked this sub class, because it was 1 readily available, and 2 designed to operate with lightweight equipment in the Modern Era. The prototype photo was a cool addition to my research files.

That's the consist that the La Mesa MRR Club in San Diego uses to clean their track. The CMX car loosens the grunge, while the rollers on the Centerline cars mop up the residue.

Ken: I imagine that it works very well. The single Centerline car I have does a great job.

Willie: Great photos of the critters.

After spending almost 2 hours on the phone with the Marine travel folks

Sherrel: Second son has little love for the Marine (Or is it Navy?), Travel Folks.

Guy: If I remember correctly, the dealer was in Gulph, ON. I could be wrong...my limited exposure to Canada, comes from you fellows, and Sportsnet and TSN during Hockey season.

I also enjoyed the photo spread you posted in the old coffee shop.

Couple of small projects in the yard, after lunch, then some time in the train room. Tonight's streaming schedule looks like LA Kings at Winnipeg at 7PM. The better matches are either on cable, or blacked out.

 

[NYC_George]

Interesting video. George

 

[Jaz avalley]

Good Morning All. Clear and 49°. It appears to have sprinkled around midnight last night. Nothing actually in the rain gauge, but everything is damp and the neighboring Weather Underground station reports 0.06". Pretty nice week coming up despite the rain Monday. Another cold front coming Thursday, but the high will still be near 70°.

Spent a major pert of the day yesterday in the garden, making the final preparations for a marathon two-day planting session this weekend, following the new moon last night and prior to the rain Monday. NWS still has it pegged at 100% chance of an inch or so. That would work out perfectly for me. I ended up with more tomato plants than I had intended to get, nearly 100. But I ran out of preserved tomato products early from last year, so it's no real issue. Something to do inside with the A/C while it's 100° outside.

Thanks for all of the kind comments and positive reactions to my progress on the bungalow yesterday; Troy, Rick, Tom O, James, Guy, Steve J, Moermusic, IB Ken, Dave B, Chad, George, Joe, Louis, Curt, Hughie, Mikey, Patrick, Tom, OB Ken, Sherrel.

While I did spend some time in the train shed yesterday, I did no modeling. I just felt like running trains and contemplating my next project, even though I still have about a half hour of work left to do on the bungalow. I only ran the trains from end to end without doing any switching. Well, except to run them onto passing sidings to let others pass. Happy to note there were no issues like derailing or hesitation. Noted several cars that needed weathering, but with over 600 to do it wouldn't make sense to start a list. I have actually made a bit of a start, as almost all of them have been dull-coated already.
That allows me to go back into the archives to search for something that I haven't shown before - hard to do.
It's Spring time, how about a few critters in the yard over the years.
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Ken (D&J) - Enjoy the show. Hope that you get a chance to walk around.
Patrick - Over 40 years ago when I went to work in a suburb of Dallas, there was a Frisco (SLSF) line next door that curved from S to NE that intersected with an at grade triangle about 1/2 mile N. That triangle intersected with an MKT line that ran north/south and a Cotton Belt (SSW) line that ran east/west. All three were main lines at the time and were quite busy. What a mess that was for many years. It wasn't unusual for trains to just be stopped for 20 or more minutes at a time blocking the road out front of the factory. The Frisco line also would block the two frontage roads along nearby IH35E as well as a major east/west road there. The SSW guys would stop short of the frontage roads if they had to wait. To avoid getting a ticket from the local police department, the Frisco engineers would back the train up a couple hundred yards, wait and then go forward and wait. It still blocked our road, but since the train was moving, they technically avoided the ticket. The triangle still exists, the frontage roads have been elevated, and both SSW and MKT (which both eventually merged with UP) stopped using their tracks on a regular basis. It is still a very busy BNSF line but at least they don't stop any more. There was a back way out if I was in a hurry to get home and no one was blocking our driveway! That triangle occupies just a half acre of land and was at the time a great place to railfan.
James - Thanks for that post yesterday. Since I have been on this forum (11 years tomorrow), I have known him to take a sabbatical before.
Guy - Great looking tankers. Horrible price but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
Dave B - Tough beginning for your day yesterday. I dislike ii when routines are busted. I thought that I ditched routines when I retired, but soon found myself in a new and different one that bothers me when it doesn't go as planned! Believe it or not, sleeping late bothers me!
I have gotten used to extra parts in Walther's kits over the last 12-15 years as they use the same sprues in multiple kits. This one also has extra windows like many others. About a year ago, I had one with an extra storefront included. I recently added three modular walls from DPM to make an extra structure.
Troy - Even though you're a professed atheist, I offer prayers and positive thoughts to your mom.
Curt - I already painted that bungalow. It was a beige plastic color to begin with. That blue color is similar to the color on the front of the box though.
IB Ken - I fully understand the garage thingy. I knew that but didn't realize that you still opened the door.

It's Saturday, I have to remind myself of the day of the week it is any more!
Everybody have a great day and an awesome weekend.

Hell I know the snake should be scary, but that skunk leads me to think I could smell to high heaven if he was that close to me!

 

[Bruette]

I actually enjoy walking through the stacks when doing research. Sometimes I forget how cramped my legs get sitting there reading books, and I need the stretch. My latest shelf addition I put in Labor Day 2020. They aren't sorted yet. Fiction mixed in with everything else, but it got 40 or so boxes up off the floor.
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I still have books packed in boxes, no where near 40 boxes! Did you use the library in the school for all those books?
I don't have any fiction books. I've only read one novel, Dune. I started a few others and got bored after a few pages.
History, and technical books, I love those! I read them from cover to cover most times.

 

[Jaz avalley]

Are the African figurines of animals placed about significant? They look very nice. And are those Puzzles on the top?

Yes ever since I was a kid my dad and I would sit and do puzzles together he particularly like the geography ones,there are a bundle that make me think of him and some relevant comment he made regarding them, the stone rhino I saw in a shop and bought but the wooden ones you see are from my mil who went on holiday to South Africa,when she went she took clothes to give away and sweeties for the kids,she had a kind heart, I also have 4 black wood elephants likely ebony as they have, well the two big ones still have, real ivory tusks they date from the 1920s when they too came back from Africa, there is also a small shield ornament with what I believe is lion fur, a bit grim, but I see no point in destroying it. a family friend left his belongings to my mum as she had looked after him for sone years, his father had been an artiste t and travelled the world,I have a number of nice items from him including an antique, I have seen a far more battered one in a museum, but his wife gave it to my mum and said it brought good luck and my mum gave it to me and yes my luck turned for the better, it sits in my bedroom with a few other cuddlies, most gifts from my other half, the big softy. (Felix) I have a nice silver handled sgt majors walking stick with Chinese (hong kong) characters. I have a number of sets of pre 1940s encyclopaedias, which when read highlight how history has been systematically cleansed on all sorts of subjects, and some books written by Winston Churchill, wonder how much they would be worth if he had signed them! The book I love the most belonged to my mum has her signature and is called Frenchman’s creek, it covers a French man and his boat smuggling French goods to England during the war.
1920s cartoon cat Felix. His eye are original, his hands are still back in stance, his ears are intact and teeth in good condition, fu r is a bit thin in places,and the light makes him look more faded than he is, he gets the odd stroke now and then, even the museum is not certain who the maker is,there is no label.

 

[Jaz avalley]

While I've always accumulated books mostly related to work and trains, my late wife was the bibliophile. She was into the craft, cooking, and children's books. OH so many children's books. She kept me updated on how many she had logged into the library software. Last report before she died was just over 7000,

My reading time was on the bus ride to and from work every day. It was a wonderful 45 minutes each way. Was able to get through hundreds in the over 30 years I did that. But things change and I also find reading time has come to a stand still. I had forsaken social media for a while but as you can see I'm back there and even on the coffee shop thread (whats up with that?). Just getting back into computer games again a real time sucker. Fortunately I have been able to refrain from doing the video thing. A video is posted and I just pass it by. I see that as a potential to really suck up time. I keep imagining myself in retirement sitting by the fire and consuming all these wonderful works.

I can’t see the attachments for sone reason

 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Back from Tom's house. Had a great time with my buddies that I probably haven't seen since before the holidays. My new TT came in, so I've read the directions after getting home and I'll start working on it tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully what I plan on doing works out. My wife took off to do another pet skunk rescue. Once their scent glands are removed (shortly after birth) they have zero smell and their fur is hypoallergenic.

Thank you for the photo likes yesterday.

Joe- Great looking Pennsy builders photo.

George- Cool video.

Jaz- My oldest book is a 1943 Ship Recognition Book. I was stationed at Sub Squadron 7 in Pearl and they were cleaning house throwing out old reference books, so I snagged that, Bowditch (both volumes) and Duttons. The last 3 are navigation reference books.





I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[Jaz avalley]

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Groans

 

[santafewillie]

Hell I know the snake should be scary, but that skunk leads me to think I could smell to high heaven if he was that close to me!

They were both as close as they appear. I have tracked that snake for many years, although I quit seeing it two years ago when it was about 8.5 ft long. The skunk was an immature one who just hadn't learned how to spray or what it was for. Technically they can spray from birth. But they also have terrible eyesight and maybe it never really saw me.

 

[Jaz avalley]

the War is the First World War, the algebra books are old,many classic end up sold by the foot for pubs or restaurants, we are pack rats,I could likely kit out a small library. I did take pictures for insurance, it was then I realised that some had been taken,surprisingly paperbacks can be quite sought after, not that I plan to sell anything, I dare say my kids will liquidise the lot.I have left instructions to not sell as a lot but as individuals or sets, even in a charity shop a set of encyclopaedias can exceeed a hundred pounds,which when you consider the number of books in not that expensive, when you can consider some Hornby SKaledale buildings have exchanged for nigh on the same price, and engines well we all know the prices rolling stock takes,Hell willies collection could fund a retirement pot.

 

[CambriaArea51]

I can’t see the attachments for sone reason

Don't feel bad I couldn't either.