Running Bear's April 2025 Coffee Shop

[Boris]

Louis my cousin tells me all his back problems comes from high school football. I'm wondering if some of my back problems come from the same place.

My 2¢, could be, although I would think knees and shoulders. My back problems came from my Army service. Only got worse from that point.
Firefighting and railroading...I'm a glutton for punishing myself.

 

[migalyto]

You know…the interesting thing about life is that you can surprise yourself and learn new things about who you are each and every day.

That being said, after a few months as a conductor, I’ve determined it’s just not for me. Never thought that would be the case but here I am. It may sound strange but I determined I didn’t want most of my life to be related to trains.

Its great that you realized it early on. For me it took too many years and I was already too comfortable and used the excuse of "its all I know".
Little did I know there were a world of opportunities out there!

Benchwork is looking great by the way!

 

[migalyto]

My 2¢, could be, although I would think knees and shoulders. My back problems came from my Army service. Only got worse from that point.
Firefighting and railroading...I'm a glutton for punishing myself.

I think I told this story already but...

When I started out as a heavy truck mechanic I would not use the step that hooks over the front tire for climbing safely on and off the vehicle. jumping from the top of the tire (3+ feet) onto the concrete floor was easier and faster. One of the old timers kept scolding me saying in 20 years your knees, ankles, and back are going to be shot when your in your 40s if you keep that up. Being 21 at the time you can guess my response. "crazy old man".

Turns out he was very, very, wise and was trying to pass on valuable life experience.

Wish I would of listened better!

 

[Guilford Railman]

Its great that you realized it early on. For me it took too many years and I was already too comfortable and used the excuse of "its all I know".
Little did I know there were a world of opportunities out there!

Benchwork is looking great by the way!

I’m glad I didn’t invest too much time into it but the good thing is that I learned a lot of things that I can use for my modeling

Thank you! I started reading a book on track work and once I finish that (hopefully tomorrow), I’ll start the track. Can’t wait to get trains running!

 

[truckdad]

Good evening gang!

Golf. I tried it. I have fun at the driving range, looking for those little holes, not so much. View attachment 217326See, proof that I can swing a club!!

I don't do it often, but when I do I get a respectable distance, but I pretty much go through a bucket of balls before I can tell you where the next will land. My oldest sister's late husband was an avid golfer and once was the Michigan State amature champion, but even he could not save me.
Born a farm kid, chilled whole milk is a good as ice cream, fresh veggies, lean beef and chicken were never in short supply and fast food was rare. In high school I ran track, played baseball and neighborhood football. None of which I was exceptionally good at. Mechanics and car racing was where I acceled . And if you don't think it's physically demanding, try laying on your back with an automatic transmission on your chest, then lifting that in place while your buddy starts a few bolts to hold it in place. That took a toll on me too!

Now days, I have an arthritic left wrist, and a right hip that screams at me if I sit for too long. My back gripes if I lean over an engine for too long.

We make the best of it, considering the alternative!

I see the problem here Chooch. Your wearing the wrong color shorts!

 

[Snowman]

Well...mom passed away April 2, and we laid her to her rest the day before Easter. What a long year it has been.

I'm back in the old house now, eventual half-owner of two, along with my sister. Between the move, the long year of caring for mom 24/7 until the end, it's taken it's toll on me, but it's over now. And I fulfilled my promise to my dad, so, even though my life has gone completely upside down after the other house was burglarized (when I moved back to the big house), I'm landing on my feet. There is a LOT of work to be done at both locations--it's a long list of broken items and disrepair--but it'll get done, a little bit every day.

---------------

Car racing is something you can still do, and without moving around much at all. And I can guarantee you will still sweat--yes, it IS a real workout.

After a four year hiatus, I hope to re-enter the sim-racing fray this Sunday evening, in my old league in my trusty virtual 1967 Lotus 49. Upstairs, in mom's former studio. My new projector is scheduled to arrive Thursday, and I should be driving again within a day or two. It should be an improvement over my old rig, which is very similar to this in concept:

I won't flood this place with sim-racing stuff, but for the quick overview. It's going to take a fair bit longer to get to any model railroading, but I was at least able to get down to the Rocky Mountain Train Show a couple weeks back, and spend some quality time there with the Free-moN peeps. I hope I'll be able to put something together myself to take down next year, but it can't even get started for a few months yet. When the weather starts to turn bad again, etc.

 

[Bruette]

Well...mom passed away April 2, and we laid her to her rest the day before Easter.

Snowman, you have my condolences. I commend you for doing your best for your mom.

I wish you all the best.

 

[traiNscale]

Hello Coffee friends from overseas and all the others

Easter done and back to work.
we had a big brunch on sunday nd i had to make a tour for my dad and the partner of my aunt.
in the end we where maybe an hour in th train room and i did run some of my H0 Engines back and forth.
was a great time, and i did rememebr that i did not run an engine in almost 4 months. :-O

but i also had some inspiration for getting back into building on my shelf layout and maybe stop for a while on my nscale layout. i really want to start scenery in section c on my H0 layout. RIVER!!!!!

wish you all a great start to the week.
by the way, wish me luck that my girlfriend will be away for the weekend then i have more time to shot another video and working downstairs but the garden is also calling -.-

i love spring, but i also hate it ahahahaha.

cheers
jay

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's 65 and mostly clear.

 

[troyphoto]

I'm Up! More later!

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good morning! It's 46°F and mostly clear in Tipton.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Mac, if you had said that to me in person when I was young, I would have been happy to demonstrate what good athlete baseball players can be.

In high school I played varsity baseball and football, I also wrestled, heavy weight (285+) I could run a 40yard dash in just under 5 seconds in full football uniform. Real American football that is. Not run around in circles whining and not using your hands crap. What's up with that; pick up the damn ball and run like a man!

I'll give European soccer players credit; some are good actors. Nobody cries and fakes being hurt after being touched like a European soccer player.

Injuries in high school started the snowball down the hill for me, and I did nothing but inadvertently (stupidly) speed it up. I played semi-pro baseball and football for over 10 years after high school. All the while working 50 to 100 hours a week. I used to say "there will be plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead"

I was raised on homecooked food, with lots of vegetables, I love greens. Choosing to live on burbon, beer, and junk food as a young adult didn't cause my injuries, the injuries came first. That lifestyle caused other problems. Not the least of which was poor choices with woman. "Too many women and too many pills" And all the other things that go with it.


Most of those guys are pitchers. When you can throw a baseball 90+MPH with pinpoint accuracy you can get away with not doing much else. But even most pitchers are great athletes. Nolan Ryan for example. A few are catchers, which require tremendous quickness, dexterity, and the ability to absorb pain.


It's true lifestyle can be a factor, diet and exercise play a part.

When I could no longer play and cleaned up my life I coached. As a coach I focused on the fundamentals of baseball and fitness for my young players. A lot goes on behind the scenes that fans never see.

There are a variety of reasons for knee problems, almost as many as there are people with knee problems. There are no simple solutions to complex problems.

Sounds like in your case it was overtraining. That's going in the other extreme and from what i hear a lot of guys who tend to be athletic do it. I'm all for balance, balance in exercise, balance in diet, balance in rest. All three are achievable but a person must find out what works for him or her. As for soccer players faking it, sure it's fun to watch sometimes, but my point was that the players are in shape because they have to move around. In soccer pretty much all muscle groups are engaged, like in swimming or gymnastics. I personally have a regular weight lifting program, in addition to that i hike, and sometimes bike. All of these provide well balanced physical training and the hard part for me is actually not to overdo in weight lifting. My problem during the week is getting enough sleep do to getting up very early in the mornings. But at the same time that in turn helps me not to oversleep on the weekends. I do my own cooking, so i know what goes in the pot. No ordering of pizza to my house, i've never done it (except a few times while married).

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

Cloudy in 61° heading for a high today of about 72°.

Off to my CT scan this morning, then to work.

Snowman, my condolences on the loss of your mother.

BBL

 

[migalyto]

Good morning all!

Currently 41F but heading up to around 73F. Looks like Spring has finally sprung looking
at the long range forecast. I see a few 801s on the horizon in the next 10 days.

Back to reality for the wife and daughter. Work and school resume for them today.

We will see what the day brings for me.

Have a safe day everyone!

 

[migalyto]

Well...mom passed away April 2, and we laid her to her rest the day before Easter. What a long year it has been.

Sorry to hear this.

My condolences to you and your family for your loos.

 

[troyphoto]

Well...mom passed away April 2, and we laid her to her rest the day before Easter. What a long year it has been.

Very sorry for your loss. But happy she's at peace now.

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

55° and partly cloudy, high of 80° later.

Back at work. Glad vacation is over. I'm going to die early in retirement. Funny how the closer it gets, looked forward to it for years, and the older I get the less I want to do it.

Snowman: Sorry to hear about mom. You and yours have my condolences.

Troy: I'm somewhat religious and think my Easter comment was funny. Too much Benny Hill and Monty Python in my past.

I got some train time yesterday, pictures below:

Got some ballast replaced and some finally attached. The yard has separation between the tracks it didn't have before and the single line curve got glued in place. I'm much happier with the result. More to do and I still have to think about what buildings I'd like to put where. Wife thinks I need to get buildings built and placed, but I'm not sure I'm going to build all the kits I have. Argument for another day.

 

[TLOC]

Good morning from very wet thunderous Verona . There will be no walk outside this morning due to conditions beyond our control. The plan since the weather will clear later is to walk at 2pm if you care to join us. If not, use your treadmills. That was the greeting at 5 this morning from the pack alpha who is trying to keep us organized.

It wasn’t raining at 4:30 but in addition to the text beep that woke me I believe the loud thunderous booms also helped. It is 45f degrees now, 70 later and this round of rain should end at 9:45am per the WeatherChannel app. I noticed that the severe storm warning from the NWS this morning is in English only. The Spanish and Hmong versions are gone. So those that speak and read that must be safe!!!

A pharmacy run later this morning. Maybe a run to Michael’s. I stayed awake with the hockey games on in the background last night. I broke out the drafting equipment as the paper mill for a friend begins in earnst. I finished cutting the wires I have for some trees. I know it’s over 200 total but I’ll do a break down count today. I was using the wire forms for 6, 8 and 10” trees last night.

I would work on the paper mill’s power plant drawing for 40 (timer set) minutes and then 20 minutes on the wire cutting. The paper mill will sit between water and a mountain background. Here’s a picture of the front of a power plant we decided to use as inspiration. There is a 11.75” wide and 21.5” deep floor to ceiling pillar at the left side of the paper mill. The power plant facade will cover the pillar and more. These pictures are from a open website and there was no photographer credit given

That will be the front side as you enter the train room. This will be on the lowest level of the layout at 40” off the floor. This will be made from styrene with a brick over lay

Elsewhere in the mill this inspirational photo will be used for building the paper machine buildings. Lots of brick used in 1960’s paper mills

I need drawings for the daughter’s laser cutter as there are just too many windows that are in this portion of the mill to do this in styrene. The daughter will use 3 ply birch for the walls. There is another friend working with his 3d printer on the various windows and I have the samples for the 2 different windows this facade will use. One of the daughter’s old neighbors has a wood working shop and will use a lathe to create the chimneys. He’s going to make 6 for us even though 4 should be enough. He also will provide the wood chips for a chip pile if we can fit it in. This scene is being compressed down into a 8’ water front scene with no tracks in this area. This scene is left of the power plant pillar scene. To the right of the power plant scene will be the rail activity area. That available area is 20” deep x 14’ long, lots of room. The background buildings in the trackage area will be kitbashed from the owners supply of disassembled kits from a previous layout.

The bed on the laser will cut 12”x 22”. All the walls will be modular (we hope) if I draw it right. I’m trying to keep the walls no higher than 10” and wider than 18”

My original sketches of the mill once we all agreed we liked (Zoom meetings r great) were then cut by the owner full scale out of foam core.

Besides the owner there are currently 4 people working on this mill, 1 laser cutter and 2 3d printers. The track is Peco code 83 but the switches and crossings will be hand built. I will build any sheds in the rail area but those will be fit as needed. Conveyors and pipe bridges are still a topic of discussion. There was no biomass facility in the 1960’s and the digestors were not near as tall as the current modern ones.

Back at Xmas 2024 when this all was discussed we were hoping for completion by Thanksgiving 2025. That’s now unrealistic even with the help the paper mill will have. It’s been decided that we will not discuss a completion date but the layout will be part a of out of state operating group session in May of 2026. So…

This and weathering diesels (no freight cars yet) is what looks like my Summer (June through September) at the benches will look like. I do have 14’ of foamcore started (need 6 to 8’) for the brick wall. The height of that measures 13’ between the water and the building. That was picked up Friday and was to be test fitted over the weekend till the owner got sick.

Have a great day

 

[Marlin39]

Sounds like in your case it was overtraining. That's going in the other extreme and from what i hear a lot of guys who tend to be athletic do it. I'm all for balance, balance in exercise, balance in diet, balance in rest. All three are achievable but a person must find out what works for him or her. As for soccer players faking it, sure it's fun to watch sometimes, but my point was that the players are in shape because they have to move around. In soccer pretty much all muscle groups are engaged, like in swimming or gymnastics. I personally have a regular weight lifting program, in addition to that i hike, and sometimes bike. All of these provide well balanced physical training and the hard part for me is actually not to overdo in weight lifting. My problem during the week is getting enough sleep do to getting up very early in the mornings. But at the same time that in turn helps me not to oversleep on the weekends. I do my own cooking, so i know what goes in the pot. No ordering of pizza to my house, i've never done it (except a few times while married).

"Balance" is the correct word. The only way to have that is a strong core. My Dr. said that as long as I was able to stand on one foot and tie my shoe I'm doing great. I no longer use free weights due to an arthritic wrist and I'm I just trying to stay healthy. I do 30 minutes of aerobic work, stretching, 4 minute plank, and 9-11 dead hang pullups, then a 30 minute high intensity circuit on machines. No rest between machines.

I hate working out now. I started in the 6th grade when I began wrestling, then went hard core 10-12 hrs/wk (no PEDs) when I started powerlifting in my 20's. Now I just focus on getting it done. It's a task that has to be completed every other day. I don't socialize in the gym either. I just want to get in and work out. I get PO'd with the young people camping out on the machines playing with their phones. I work around them and come back when they are gone.

 

[NorthBrit]

Good afternoon all. Afternoon Tea please, Flo.
Grandchildren visiting for three days. They will keep me busy.
They have asked for a Korma curry for dinner tonight.