Running Bear's August 2021 Coffee Shop

[troyphoto]

Sympathies, a lot of people hope for a 20/80 rule 20 percent effort 80 percent reward, we inflict so much work on us we work on the 5/95 percent rule, frankly it is like paddling in the middle of the at,antic, we don’t need to either, the half half has a good job, but we are at the point where we want to try things, do things, see what works for us, some skills we have learnt we are happy we learnt but unlikely to use much, making wine and cider,success but we are not really drinkers, now apple cider vinegar I use in vast quantities and have the apple trees.

For gamers the Pile of Shame isn't about the quality of painting... it's we keep purchasing more minis than we can ever hope to paint.

Because, the rule is: as soon as you paint your last mini, you kick the bucket. So always have unpainted minis around.

I'm good at the 80/20 rule on painting. Since I'm a demo guy for one of the companies (usually at gaming conventions when we get those back) I can paint fast and "Good enough for table top" 80 percent of the effort goes into quick painting. I save the other 20 percent for special projects I never have time for.

Most of the players in the new Victory At Sea game (2nd ed) are researching camouflage patterns. I just paint them grey with wood decks, and try to pick out the major details for contrast. Need to run demos. No time to get them super duper nice and historical.

Here's the fleet of German WWII ships. A little more work on the bases and they're off to clear coating today.

 

[chadbag]

Good Morning All,

Mom peacefully passed away this past weekend but all her children and adult grandchildren were able to say their final goodbyes.

Now the focus is on Dad (88) who is in physical and mental decline. I'm making sure that all his affairs are in order for when his time comes.

I wanted to do some yard work today but it's raining and it's supposed to all day.

I hope everyone has a good day.

Condolences.

I am glad her passing was peaceful and that folks were able to say their goodbyes. That helps with the closure much more than a sudden unexpected passing.

 

[Patrick]

Curt: Condolences on your mom's passing. Glad everyone got to say their goodbyes.

 

[GarryCBQ]

Good Morning All,

Mom peacefully passed away this past weekend but all her children and adult grandchildren were able to say their final goodbyes.

Now the focus is on Dad (88) who is in physical and mental decline. I'm making sure that all his affairs are in order for when his time comes.

I wanted to do some yard work today but it's raining and it's supposed to all day.

I hope everyone has a good day.

Curt ...... Sincere condolences to you and your family. I know this has been a long, sad ordeal for you. Bless you for taking care of your Mom during her final days in this life. It is good of you to be taking care of your Dad. Prayers for you and your family. Let us know what we can do.

 

[McLeod]

Good Morning!
It was a warm 60F at 6am, and the thermometer will be going up for the rest of the day. Looks like the rain is over with for now. We didn't even get enough to fill the rain barrel.

I'm going to start out with a rant. Meet Cenovus orphan 6-33-59-12 W5. This well has hundreds of brothers:

This abandoned well crap aggravates me to no end. In a nutshell, they are the result of senior oil companies sucking any profit they can get out of the land, then selling wells off to the juniors, like Cenovus. In this way, the seniors, who drilled the wells in the first place, escape any responsibility for further care. The juniors just take what ever is left, and walk away. - The well pictured above was originally an Amoco well. Now it's a dead well.
The way things are today, that well will still be there and still be dead 200 years from now. That is unless the tax payer cleans it up.
Big oil knew the costs, it was calculated a long time ago. The people just took the luxury for granted. Orphaned wells are a huge problem today. Rant over. Please don't turn it political. I'm just mentioning an item that aggravates me deep!

Now on a happier note, here's some rail photos.
These are actually from the archive, photos taken Oct.27-28, 2020, down in the Whitecourt CN yard. CN 5242 was used for switching here, but, has not been seen since I took these pics. It does look like it's near end of life. I can't say what CN would have done with her after it left Whitecourt.

The dog's been walked, breakfast is over, and I'm all coffee'ed out! So, I'm going to go sit in the garden with my camera and see what birds come by. Need to let my foot heal so I can walk the tracks again.
I have a hankering to follow them SE; haven't gone that way yet.

Have a good one!

 

[Alcomotive]

I always thought Eric when he sold stuff on EBay said it was him. Lots of inferences that it is him. His units usually sell in this range but this one has no working lights and is DC not DCC. 19 bids.

TomO

It is him (I have been following his ebay for years). As the description says on his details for this unit, this unit was used as a trailing unit. This unit is definitely one of the older units he has had for a long time. He usually throws in bonuses for people when they win his auctions. Sometimes he throws in an extra car/rolling stock piece. He always provides an Authentication letter for the units he sells. Every person that I have heard of or from has received that. I have yet to hear any one complain about his work/models.

 

[santafewillie]

Well, I'm back.
Yesterday's adventure in the train shed was rather mundane. I just cleaned structures in downtown Maultown. Downtown consists of a series of structures from DPM, Smalltown and Walther's. I showed Vic's Barber Shop yesterday, next door is Marvin's Hi Ball, a pool hall that I fashioned from a DPM kit.

Next to it is the Salvation Army Thrift Store. It is also a DPM kit.

Next over is a block of buildings from Walther's, Merchant's Row II.

Good Earth Natural Foods anchors the corner.

In the middle is the Western Auto Associate Store. Remember them???

On the south end next to the Salvation Army store is the Velocity Fitness Club.

That's it for the tour today. I am almost done with cleaning structures in this quarter's layout cleaning project. Most of these were assembled or "planted" recently so I haven't had to do much detailing. I did skip a few like the Dairy Queen and derelict barn since I have featured them in the past year or so.

I have mentioned wanting to do a model layout blog a couple of times in the past six weeks or so. I did start one and I spent yesterday morning sprucing it up a bit since it was wet outside from Sunday night's rain. At present it is a bit disjointed although I am trying to maintain some cohesiveness. I am using the WIX.com free website builder which seems to be suitable. It has limitations but was easy to learn. I am aiming to spring it on the public around 8-15 or so, so stay tuned.

Adios again.

 

[Texas Hobo]

Good Morning all! It's raining and predicted to rain off and on the rest of the day.
Think I'd like a couple of breakfast tacos, with coffee.

Curt - My condolences. I know first hand that being able to say those last goodbyes is so meaningful. Prayers

With today being a rain out I should be able to get a lot done on the Old Dominion project.

STAY SAFE

LATER

 

[kbkchooch]

Curt. My condolences on your mothers passing. May she rest in peace.

 

[Greg@mnrr]

Tom: Thanks for the video on weathering the salt hopper. The author did a great job on explaining the weathering processes using oils and acrylic paints for a truly professional looking job.

Sort of belated thanks since I haven't been on the Forum too much lately.

Thanks for sharing it with me and I marked it as a favorite.

Greg

 

[Greg@mnrr]

Curt: Sorry about the passing of your Mother. Those good byes to a loved one are the hardness to do, but so important.

-Greg

 

[santafewillie]

Hello there,
I ordered a second hand Bachmann GP40. Now, I'm waiting for my favorite Postwoman.

View attachment 130683

Christian - I already know that you are not a detail oriented modeler, but just for the record, Santa Fe did not own any GP40's. ATSF 3501 is a GP38. Bachmann mistakenly used that number on a GP40 shell. Here is my Atlas 3501.

One of the key spotting differences are the number of radiator fans, GP38's have two while GP40's have three.
Nice looking model, please tell us how well it runs on the pizza.
Have fun.

 

[Greg@mnrr]

Good Morning Everyone.....bright and sunny outside my home office. Cathy is walking Riley in the neighborhood and must be talking to someone since it's taking awhile for her to return home. A neighbor two houses down lived alone and was found dead by relatives several days ago. He was a car collector and extended his garage long enough to fit six cars in a normal two car garage. He liked Ford Mustangs and had several vintage models. He good friends with a car collect that lives across the street who has a '55 Chev that been in many car magazines along with a custom Plymouth and his son was a Crew Chief for Penske Racing Indy cars.

My Rapido Milwaukee Road SW1200 arrived and it will going on the test track after lunch. It's numbered #646, it has sound and a ESU decoder. I like Milwaukee switchers and used to watch them in the Milwaukee yards with my Grandfather in the 50's. I like the humor in the Rapido manuals and they are likely one of the few locomotive manuals that I read!

The trip downstairs is easy, but the journey back up is a real task for me. Slow and easy is the key to get back up.

Another reason to go down stairs is to repair the part of our cabin's dehumidifier that turns off the unit when the water bucket is full. The arm broke off and I tried GOO but it still moved after drying so I plan to drill a hole through the broken part pass the solid area and use a small bolt to tighten the arm to the housing. I should have a small bolt in my parts storage and if not, I'll still drill the hole but I'll use a plastic rod or nail instead.

If I have time, I'll run a track cleaning train using a CenterLine car with some "Track Magic" cleaning solution. It's been awhile since the layout was last operated.

That's about it for now.......

Greg

#####################

 

[Rabοliοt]

Thank you very much Willie for your very interesting reply. You're right, I'm not looking for realism, a particular area or era.
I ordered a second hand Bachmann GP40. Now, I'm waiting for my favorite Postwoman.
(I deleted my message by mistake. I use my keyboard too fast. Sorry... )

 

[Rabοliοt]

Nice looking model, please tell us how well it runs on the pizza.

I'll do that for sure.

 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Today I did some things outside, cleaned inside and weathered the various roofs of the B.T.S Cabin Creek Mine that I've been very slowly working on since February. I figure I'm about 75% complete. The last major step is adding exterior lighting (not my favorite thing). I decided to weather everything before that step because I thought it would be easier to weather.

I would like to thank everyone for your condolences, prayers and well wishes. You have no idea how much it means to me. I love this group.

Guy- That is definitely a well used CN loco.

Willie- Great looking buildings.

I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[TLOC]

I'll do that for sure.

Christian. If you do Facebook look at Micro/Small Model RR Layouts. Many tips there on small layouts.

TomO

 

[bnsf971]

Christian. If you do Facebook look at Micro/Small Model RR Layouts. Many tips there on small layouts.

TomO

Mike's Small Trackplans Page

 

[Texas Hobo]

Mike's Small Trackplans Page

Took the words right out of my mouse!

 

[Boris]

If it's Utah Belt, it's probably from the collection of Eric Brooman.

Still not worth $ 535.00...