Good Morning Everybody. Mostly cloudy and 71° in this part of the world, air quality alert for this area as well, although it technically ends at the county line a mile south of here. Another cool day here with the high only reaching 91°, that won't change until Saturday when the weather returns to normal. It has been quite refreshing to sleep with the windows open for the past two nights, and a couple more to come; something I don't get to do in August much.
Granddog seems to have returned to normal after being really spooked out during the thunderstorm Sunday night. She actually came into the train shed yesterday, something that she has done before but very rare. I don't think that she likes stairs, even the 6" rise ones that I build especially for me.
Thanks for the likes and comments regarding the structures yesterday;
Christian, Hughie, Karl, Guy, Curt, Patrick, Tom O, James, Joe,, Tom, Rick, Jaz.
BLT and a diet A&W root beer today Flo. I'm off to a late start.
Out in the train shed yesterday, I had a very mixed day. I did install some utility poles in the latest project area but no pictures yet. I got out the supplies for the next phase of adding weeds.
This is never one of my favorite tasks, although I don't dislike it. It just bores me.
I did some more infrastructure work under the layout, nothing major. I am just replacing some undersized wire with 18 gauge in a few places. I had originally run out of 18 gauge and used some 22 gauge on some of the common feed wiring. I also did a bit more tidying up. One problem that I have with the train shed out in the yard is that I track in lots of grass clippings, leaves and other yard debris. That and those damn spider webs from spiders too small to be seen get everywhere on the floor. I also ran trains for almost an hour. Sure was a good feeling without any derailments or other issues. Reminds me that I may be overdue on car inspection. Nothing big there either, just looking at eye level when trains pass to see if there is anything leaning, dragging or possibly loose. Many times when running, I am mainly looking at engines.
The structure cleaning for this quarter is finally at an end. Here are a few but not all that I did yesterday.
Rudy's BBQ, a DPM structure called Carol's Corner Cafe. Next to it is another DPM structure of a townhouse.
Everything in the outdoor eating area is scratchbuilt with hand-painted figures.
Oakleaf Shipping & Storage is a Bar Mills kit with additional detailing.
And the recently posted Fresh Market on the outskirts of town. This is a DPM Landmark structure.
Patrick - Those protein cars that you and
Terry were posting about yesterday have come about as the need for coal is diminishing. Railroads/utilities acquired thousands of them when the Powder River Basin really got going and now they need something for them to haul. Before he retired from that business, one of my brothers was in charge of coal acquisition for a very large power generator here in Texas. Side perks included riding in an engine doing the loading loop (and elsewhere), and receiving handfuls of HO models of those gondolas as promotional gifts from the coal suppliers.
Good that you have a plan for retiring. I originally had a plan to retire at age 60, but the recession of 2008 set me back by three years. Now, I never look back!

Haven't missed work for a single minute.
Tom O - I'm looking forward to what you can do with those trucks. I have one that was salvaged from my son's toy box 20 years ago that I would like to use some day. It's about as beat up as yours.
Get well soon.
Guy - We have the same issue here in Texas with old oil wells. In many cases, wells were abandoned without being properly capped and are now either contaminating ground water or spewing out various gases. In most cases big oil companies developed oilfields until they were then sold to smaller outfits when the volume pumped didn't meet their threshold of acceptable flow. The smaller companies would eventually go bankrupt and drilling records were lost so no one really accepts responsibility for capping them. The rigs like you pictured have all been removed for scrap and in many cases no one is aware of the original wells presence until problems arise. Here's an article from ABC News from last week.
Abandoned oil wells
Greg - Great to read that you are getting back in the basement. The train therapy should liven up your life.
James/Joe - While there is no doubt that Eric Brooman is a great modeler, his models are not worth that much. I have seen much better modeling here from
Jerome and
Karl.
Today is the US Coast Guard's Birthday, the forgotten service branch. It's also National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day and Barack Obama's birthday. I misplaced my party invitation.
Everyone have a great day.