Running Bear's April 2022 Coffee Shop

[D&J RailRoad]

dang Sherrel, that trip to Okinawa makes for a long day.
Sounds like there are a lot of people heading that way.
I had to make the flight several times during my active-duty days then several more trips when I was a defense contractor. At least as a DC I was able to fly business class at government expense.

 

[chadbag]

Just came across this. It's pretty neat. You can look up, down, left and right using your mouse. Not sure you want to spend an hour "riding" but it definitely is interesting.

Take an Hour-Long Interactive Ride Aboard the World's Largest Model Railroad

The creators of Germany's Miniatur Wunderland recently completed work on a new camera-equipped train and it's beautiful.

gizmodo.com

The flattening of the perspective of the train with the camera is kind of weird. The locomotive seems to be a DB BR218 series diesel. (Or one of its siblings).

 

[Boris]

Yo:
Feels like it's fixin to rain any minute now. 53° and damp.

Sherrel: As my son will attest, Your daughter got the premium route. He has had some really exotic routes from Jacksonville, NC to San Diego...and his route, San Diego to Okinawa, was equally bad. Returning included a stop over in Anchorage AK. Now he works for the Navy, Navy Travel, is even worse...when traveling from Cherry Point to San Diego.
Watch that breathing..........keep your emergency meds close.......Have the cardiologists come up with a workable treatment plan for the Ticker?

Went over to the local Candy Shop to buy Easter Candy...Grand Children are coming...spent less than last year, even though prices were up and portion size down. Speaking of down, the short sellers are out today.

Have a few chores in the garage, which still feels like a refrigerator, and looks like a cold storage warehouse.

My sports teams have all fallen apart of late, Starting with Villanova losing to Kansas, the Devils are really bad, even the Capitals are having some difficulty winning games of late. At least they are holding on to a wild card spot, and will be eliminated in the first round. Just not my year.

Baseball opens on Thursday, with The Amazins vs the Nationals, Friday, another year of futility begins when the Orioles play Tampa Bay. The big questions are how long before the Mets choke?, And whether the Orioles or the Nationals are the first team this season to lose 100 Games. I guess I'm just angry that I wasted money on an annual subscription to MLBTV, though I probably won't watch it after the first week or so when I see how bad my favorite teams are.

Since I don't feel like raking leaves today, I'm going down to the train room.

 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Spent most the day in the train room detailing the TT bridge. I got everything done except finishing the "Safety First" signage. MOH has a machine that cuts self-sticking vinyl lettering. So anyway, she cut out the letters and I discovered I had forgotten needing to have 2 R's. It looks like ""safety fi_st" currently. Also today I rusted the rails, painted grimy black between the rails, attached the head end shack from my last TT (already improved), Painted the handrails and the vertical piece that sits above the track, and lastly, I placed strip wood (with A&I) on all the fake wood. I'll finish it tomorrow and take some photos also, tomorrow I'm getting my 2nd Covid booster shot with Dad.

Gary- Excellent. Are you going to do camo on the hull?

IB Ken- Thanks, Could the rotating part inside the car be gunked up?

Joe- Yes, it is. When we moved into our house in 1996 there was an orange grove behind the house and the drive to Clermont there was nothing but orange groves. Now it's nothing but an urban area. Going to the train room is almost always preferable to other activities.

Troy- I've never been interested in gardening.

Patrick- Good luck.

Guy- Nice looking loco. I hope it runs well and the grandkids enjoy it.

Sherrel- I've had one marathon flight when I transferred off a sub moored in Subic Bay (1986). The flight started in Manila (early) to Narita and a 12 hour layover. I couldn't leave the gate area because I didn't have a passport with me and only had about $10 in my pocket. From there a overnight flight to Honolulu where my home was but about 16 hours until another overnight flight to Los Angeles then on to Salt Lake City to Pittsburgh arriving there in the evening followed by a 90 minute car ride to my parents house where my family was for Christmas. Needless to say that my internal clock had blown up by then.

Dave- Thank you. Nice layout shot.

I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[BigGRacing]

Question #1 - Is there a Liberty Ship on exhibit in the Harbor at Halifax?

Hey Boris, sadly no Liberty ship here that I am aware of. I wanted the Liberty ship as part of my own layout plan representing Halifax area during the war type era. Lots of other transport ships though. I saw a layout from England with a similar ship and loved this type of layout.

 

[BigGRacing]

You have posted that view out your window before in various seasons.

My apologies for that Willie, I was so envious of your garden…..I had to come up with a good excuse that ours is not in yet

Mainly post when a little more abnormal…..

PRR Modeler

modelrailroadforums.com

no camo, it will be all grey

 

[Jaz avalley]

Since I don't make vinegar, I cannot answer that question directly. However anything that I either pressure seal or water bath, I remove the rings 24 hours after sealing and wash in the dishwasher to remove all residues. Many of my rings used for canning have some rust on them, but all they really do is hold the lid in place until the seal is complete, so it doesn't really matter I boil them in water with the lids just prior to use and they always work well.
I use a blend of white sugar and brown sugar (2:1) when making catsup. Next time I am going to use a sugar substitute (monkfruit) to see if I can make a low-sugar variety.
Side note: I use all of the leftover boiling water from the canning process, whether from the lids/rings or from the canner itself and pour it while near boiling temperature on pesky ant hills in the yard. It is a non-poisonous way to rid the yard of those damn biting pests. You sometimes have to use a second application until you get the queen, which is the ultimate goal...the colony will not survive without her.
When making catsup (or is it ketchup?), I generally discard most seeds and skins and lectins either go with them or are neutralized in the cooking process. There is always some skin that makes it through and I don't worry about it. It isn't really noticeable if you puree it well enough and it makes it through my coarse sieve. If I am making spaghetti sauce at the same time, the skins can be pureed and added to the sauce for additional tomatoey [sp] flavor. I use the crock pot for making catsup. While it takes much longer, you don't have to stand there stirring as much and can do many other things at the same time.
Hope that I got all of your questions.

Yes thank you very much, the crock pot slow cooker is a n excellent idea.

 

[bigfoot13]

Couple of finds for the train on yesterdays' shopping trip.

• Coco liner - https://www.joann.com/place-time-spring-36in-coco-liner-roll/18512962.html On sale + found a 20% off coupon. 36" x36" mat a. Will probably become some trees and/or get used for hydroponics.
• Jeweler's chain - https://www.michaels.com/bead-landing-mini-drawn-cable-chain-gold/10468991.html - 20% off MADEBYYOU couple makes it pretty cheap.
  Plan on using this for flat car load or logging car tie downs chains. It may be a little large but not to bad. It's about 17 links per inch.

 

[Jaz avalley]

My apologies for that Willie, I was so envious of your garden…..I had to come up with a good excuse that ours is not in yet

Mainly post when a little more abnormal…..

I don’t mine repeats, as there is always a change,time always moves onwards.

 

[NYC_George]

Hey Boris, sadly no Liberty ship here that I am aware of. I wanted the Liberty ship as part of my own layout plan representing Halifax area during the war type era. Lots of other transport ships though. I saw a layout from England with a similar ship and loved this type of layout.

View attachment 144102

My home when I wasn't out in the Sahara Desert for 6 months was the USS Mountrail (APA-213) was a Haskell-class attack transport that saw service with the US Navy in World War II and the Korean War. 500 solders in one small room 4 high bunkbeds .
George

 

[santafewillie]

My apologies for that Willie, I was so envious of your garden…..I had to come up with a good excuse that ours is not in yet

I meant that I had seen that view without the snow before. You have a photogenic yard.

 

[BigGRacing]

USS Mountrail

Wow! What a sharp looking ship as well, if I had more room, I would build one of those as well!

thanks Willie, so do you, if you ever get up this way, you have to get over for some refreshments……your area is awesome as well

I have the lake in behind my house as well that makes for a nice walk and swim instead of the pool.

 

[NYC_George]

Wow! What a sharp looking ship as well, if I had more room, I would build one of those as well!

Yea Gary you can see the Higgins landing boats hanging over the side. For us it wasn't that comfortable. Bunk, after bunk, after bunk. Very little room for anything. It had 2 large cargo holes where all the jeeps, trucks etc were stalled. I don't miss being on that boat at all.
George

 

[D&J RailRoad]

Looks like my daughter may be relaxing her house hunting requirements.
She's looking at houses within a few miles of where I live.
That will make things much easier for her on a move. Clearing her present house in a self-move can be done with a U-Haul and no storage, unless she has to sell first then buy.

 

[IronBeltKen]

Good evening Shop Dwellers!

Thanks everyone for all the likes, comments etc. on my Monday post.

Patrick - we're all waiting to hear how that 2nd job interview went...[?]

. . .
Ken: The new one, I got last month does the same thing. Since I was new at it, I watched the video on U-tube, by centerline and looks like I did everything right. I had fewer issues with derailments, by pulling the car only. Changing the cloth didn't do anything either. Did take up a lot of dirt though.

Joe - interestingly, it was my two older ones that were misbehaving. They have [black] painted bodies, while the newest one is unpainted brass.

. . .
IB Ken - Try putting the rollers into the Centerline cars reversed from where the derailing cars had them. The edges of the towels were probably snagging on the points.. I have seen this happen before. Dragging isn't altogether bad, at least they were cleaning.
. . .

Willie - Been there/done that/no joy...guess I should have also mentioned that I tried orienting the rollers both ways. What is weird is that they started out rotating just fine, then after ~12-18 inches they just got stuck. I wouldn't mind just dragging them, but the problem is that when they're not rolling, they snag the point rails on turnouts and the rear truck jumps off the track.

. . .
IB Ken- Thanks, Could the rotating part inside the car be gunked up?
. . .

Curt, when I looked at the facing surfaces they appeared perfectly clean.

I'll see what other people say when I post the separate thread.

* * *
I was going thru my previous op session manifest and switchlist documents, trying to decide which ones I ought to do for the April 30 open house. Then it dawned on me: This doesn't have to be an actual op session, I just need to have at least one train running at all times to provide some visual action. I can stage six (6) different trains and have each one pass thru the layout one at a time. Since it takes 5-7 minutes for a train to make completely circle the pike, a visitor probably shouldn't see the same train more than once during their visit - which should not last beyond 30 minutes max.

This will be much easier to prep for than a regular op session. I'll just need to recruit a friend or two to operate the trains while I concentrate on being the tour guide.

Good Night - and have a Pleasant Tomorrow!

 

[chadbag]

I woke up in the middle of the night and could hear the rain and my watch said it was about 45F outside. A few hours later I get up to this: (30F)

View attachment 144095

Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and in the 40s, but then quickly back into the 60s or maybe even 70s by the end of the week. But after a few weeks of mostly really nice wether (the weekend was mid 70s), this kind of sucks.

It snowed another hour or three but by late afternoon was partly sunny and had gotten close to 40. No snow anywhere to be found but with a chilly wind, feels quite cold. Looking forward to the later week where it should be up to 70 (48/60/72 for W-F). Though next week colder again and a few days 30% chance of "frozen mix" or :snow showers".

I am done with this cold... Argghhh

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet peeps, and those tired of snow...

it's Troy again.

Just wanted to give a quick update on my mother's condition. Thanks to everyone who sent positive vibes her way. (Recap: Mom is in AFIB, which is causing Congestive Heart Failure - her heartbeat is way off, so blood is pooling in the heart).

They've got her stabilized and released. She's still got a lot of brain fog. Occupational Therapy is coming into her home to make sure she gets exercise, and we kids and grandkids are trading off days to make sure she's up, moving, and eating as needed. Tomorrow is my turn again.

Doc says she's still in AFIB and will probably need a cardio-inversion to get her heart beating correctly. But, with the blood pooling in her heart, they want her on blood thinners for several weeks so the risk of throwing a clot and having a stroke is very minimized.

I'm behind on writing, of course, with a deadline of April 15 for this book. So I set a goal for today of 6,000 words. I normally write 1,500 to 2,000 a day. That means it's word sprints today. 20 min of writing, 10 min of scrolling the web for distraction.

Since I'm back with mom tomorrow, I need to catch up before I get behind again. This may be a three-pot of coffee day.

 

[Patrick]

Morning all.

High wind warnings up for today with a red flag warning for fires. Winds expected around 50 later this afternoon.

Job interview scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Hopefully it goes well. I was told they were impressed by the first interview.

Bbl when I get to the office.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Good morning....Coffee Flo, please. Well this will be my last entry from the old Chromebook, getting a new computer today.

 

[BigGRacing]

Bunk, after bunk, after bunk.

Yes, I only sailed with bunks stacked 3 high. Once in a storeroom I had one of those folding cots that I slept on when we were ramping up a unit for deployment. I can’t even imagine bunks stacked 4 high.

Take care of yourself as well Troyphoto !

And good morning hoping you all have a great day !