Running Bear's August 2021 Coffee Shop

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Here's what I know.
Louis got into the business of being a third party seller on Amazon and even got his wife Angela to leave her lucrative job (with insurance benefits) of managing convenience stores in Baltimore, to join and help him. He was buying pallet loads of surplus and bankruptcy stuff, mainly tools, and breaking them down into smaller lots to sell. He was doing very well when I last was in contact with him around Christmas. He has not responded to my E-Mails since. However I have not tried to contact him in a couple of months. He was still having some health issues. He has not posted since November.
David had been having health issues also. He last posted around January and was having major issues with what he called his "love tip", leg muscles and knee. See post #38 in the January Coffee Shop. He had only sporadically posted all of last year.
Dave had just moved into a new house and was getting ready to start his new layout. He last posted in March. While I have been on this forum since 2011, I didn't become active in the Coffee Shop until I retired in summer of 2015. Since that time I have noticed that he had taken a few longish breaks off and on from posting while he changed jobs and other life experiences.

I wonder too about Burlington Bob. He was active off and on from 2011 also. He moved last year to Tennessee but we haven't seen him here in about a year.
Someone else who I enjoyed is Mikey (PNKFLOYD), although he was last here in June when his pontoon boat washed up on shore.

There are others who I miss, but we have been fortunate to have some new Coffee Shop patrons join us in the last couple of years. I won't list anyone for fear of leaving someone out.
Speaking of missing members, how about missing moderators, Willis and Wombat? Two and three years respectively.


Willie ..... I certainly appreciate your taking time to tell what you know about Coffee Shop Patrons who have been absent recently. I hope David and any others who are having health issues can recover soon.
 
All about the little things, right?

IMG_20210809_232714618.jpg 1970.jpg
 


I wonder guys who worked with Alcos such as that RS3 are prone to getting lung disease.

Garry: RS-3s under heavy load had a tendency to fill the cab with exhaust that filtered through the electrical cabinet. most noticable in the winter, when cab windows and doors were closed. Some Baldwin switchers also "gassed" us with exhaust. All smoke contains particles of stuff harmful to lungs, so any exposure has the potential to contribute to lung disease. Worst exposure to smoke I ever encountered was while riding an ore train running from South Philadelphia to Bethlehem. We encountered this thick fog of ground hugging smoke while passing the Coke Ovens of Allen Wood Steel, in Swedeland, on the former Reading Main Line. We passed through the cloud in about 30 seconds, but the smell and taste lingered for hours. Imagine what those poor guys working in the steel mill had to contend with. 🤮

E33 8-12-1979 North Elizabeth, NJ Jack Kuiphoff Photo WACR-1 PY-Croxton.jpg

The "Wacker", WACR-1 Potomac Yard to Croxton passing through North Elizabeth, NJ in 1979, behind a pair of E33s. No smoke to foul your lung on these babies, just a loud screaming sound of the blower motors and fan to destroy your hearing. Back then hearing protection was considered an impediment to safe operation, a practice that changed by the 90s....🙄
 


Good Morning Everyone. Clear and 77°, supposed to hit 98° later today, but it didn't make it yesterday as predicted, only 96°. The usual heat advisory is in effect. NWS is still predicting upper 90's until Saturday.
Returned the granddog to her home in Dallas yesterday morning and of course visited the two grandsons and family. While my wife caught up on their two week vacation with their other grandparents at the South Jersey shore, I went over to Discount Model Trains and spent too much. More on that later. On the way back out of town, my wife and I went to a place called Central Market, a niche specialty food retailer for their Hatch Chile Celebration. It is basically an over-priced smallish grocery store with an emphasis on freshly made stuff. We saw a package of Hatch Chile tamales priced at $13.99, the identical package last week at Kroger was $6.99! It's Hatch Chile time all over this area every year at this time.
Later on, I called our local plumber out to fix a leak that I caused and could not repair myself in the hot water connection to the dishwasher. He came by on his way home from a job in Dallas and had us all fixed up in less than 30 minutes. It wasn't a bad leak, I had less than a cupful of water in 24 hours, but it was a leak anyway. He replaced about 10" of connections that I had installed 40 years ago when I originally installed the built-in dishwasher. I think that I scared his wife last week when she was out here! He likes us and responds quickly because we pay cash and he doesn't have to wait for checks to come through from insurance companies like many of his other jobs.

Oxymorons - My favorite is "Microsoft Works". Runner up is business ethics!

Thanks for the likes and comments regarding the small structures from yesterday's post; Karl, Chad, Sherrel, Christian, Rick, Moermusic, Rick, Curt, Garry, Hughie, Tom, Guy.

Eggs over easy and a handful of bacon this morning Flo. OJ to wash it down with, no toast today.

Since I didn't get home from Dallas until after 2:00 pm, and then took a nap, I didn't get a lot of time in the train shed yesterday before the pool/ cold beer beckoned. As posted above, I went by the LHS this morning and here's an overall shot of most of the booty.
IMG_7147.JPG

Field grass, Evergreen Styrene, ground foam, Dull Coat, glues, two different fence kits, 7 vehicles, three structures, graffiti decals, and some pre-painted Preiser figures.
Here's three Oxford vehicles.
IMG_7149.JPG


I also found a set of cloud stencils that someone recommended a few years ago on a layout tour; and I finally remembered to look for them
IMG_7155.JPG

More to come when I get more time today.

Sherrel - Belated Happy Birthday to Kate.
Joe - While I never watched the TV series, I understand that "Pizzaland" was seen in the opening credits of The Sopranos.
Jaz - Because my train shed is climate-controlled with A/C and heat, I am able to enjoy it year-round. Different things keep me away depending on the time of year, mowing and gardening in the early spring to mid-summer, tree-pruning and firewood prep in the winter, the annual pilgrimage to the Alabama Gulf Coast in the fall. But I do visit every day that I am here.Sometimes just to run trains, but usually I get some modeling in several days a week.
Mike - Thanks for the update on Louis. Since I don't do FB, I may miss stuff!

Gotta go now and empty the dishwasher before mowing a bit more before it gets any hotter. it's already up to 82°
Everybody have a great day.
 
Good morning from Wisconsin. Terry has a treadmill appointment at the hospital/clinic this morning and she is without her morning caffeine. This is a re-schedule from last week when they spotted something during a test. So nothing will be happening here this morning as this is a 3 hour scheduled appointment. She is nervous which is not like her.

Willie, in North Central Wisconsin all our craftsmen sent bills to get paid in 30 days. Here in So. Central Wisconsin every craftsmen who have been to the houses since we moved here in 2014 take payment as soon as they complete the job, by credit cards and none have said yes to cash.

Have a great day
TomO
 
Good morning ...

Joe .... The exhaust getting into cabs sounds very bad based on what you said. Maybe gas masks should have been available. There probably will not be any class action lawsuits in the present time against Also and Baldwin. :) I like the E33's in your picture.

Willie .... I like Oxford vehicles, too. I have used various methods for clouds. When I used stencils I made my own with torn newspaper. Most of my clouds are of Faller backdrops. Some of my clouds I painted myself after learning artist techniques on You Tube.

Christian .... It is god to see you are enjoying your trains.

Everybody ..... Have a good day.
 
Willie, Those Oxford cars are awesome, can't wait to see the results with the cloud stencils
Chet first posted about Oxford cars about 5-6 years ago and that's when I first found them at the LHS. Been buying them ever since. Not only are they awesome models, they're priced $4 less than comparable vehicles from Athearn, Walther's, Mini Metals, or Woodland Scenics. I may have close to six dozen of them on the layout now.
I have been agonizing over clouds for years now. I saw some really good ones a few years ago at a fellow's home while on a home layout tour associated with a train show in 2017. He told me that he used stencils available from the same LHS that I have been using since 1993, I just never had them on my list when I went. Yesterday, I just happened to see them in an unusual place, next to wiring supplies, and it hit me that I needed them. I had a lot of time yesterday to look at a lot of stuff since I didn't need to be concerned about my wife waiting in the car out front!
 
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While it's on my mind, UP 4014 Big Boy will be in Denton TX on Friday 8-13. That's just 25 miles away. I plan on being there with camera in hand. I don't exactly know if it will be stopping for a few minutes or just passing through. It's scheduled to be there from 5:00-5:30, so I don't know if that's a stop or a window of passing by. The UP track parallels US 377 for nearly 50 miles around here so I may include a chase and action photos as well.
Trivia: That track was a joint MKT/MP track when I used to railfan it in the 70's.
 


While it's on my mind, UP 4014 Big Boy will be in Denton TX on Friday 8-13. That's just 25 miles away. I plan on being there with camera in hand. I don't exactly know if it will be stopping for a few minutes or just passing through. It's scheduled to be there from 5:00-5:30, so I don't know if that's a stop or a window of passing by. The UP track parallels US 377 for nearly 50 miles around here so I may include a chase and action photos as well.
Trivia: That track was a joint MKT/MP track when I used to railfan it in the 70's.

you will enjoy the Big Boy. When in came through Wisconsin it hit its timetable 100% In 2019. If there was a stop scheduled they kept to that also. They made 4014 the priority on the schedule.

TomO
 
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