Running Bear's August 2021 Coffee Shop

[MikeInHubCity]

Willie- Which shore town? We usually went to OC or WW. My ex used to like Seaside when we first got hitched. That was a straight shot. Hwy 70 to the Lakehurst/Toms River roundabout(yes, been in WI long enough to drop the “circle” from my lexicon yet) to 37. Going to OC was easy enough- Black Horse Pike to 559(seems funny yet to use triple numbers instead of a letter for a county rd). Managed to avoid both the ACE & GSP. That route brought me out to the Somers Pt roundabout(which was apparently replaced with a stop & go light) by the base of the 9th St Bridge. WW was just 55 to Delsea Drive(47/347), which became Rio Gránde Ave in WW. WW was my lease favorite due to lack of choices to avoid the miles long jams on 2 lane Delsea Dr. The original NJDOT plans to link 55 all the way to the GSP(original name in conceptual plans was “Cape May Expressway”. It didn’t go any further than Port Elizabeth- about 30 miles from Rio Grande(community on mainland, just west of WW). Speaking of Louis, I’m friends with Louis on BOF, but I don’t “follow” him. He & I are polar oppo when it comes to the P word(taboo subject in here), but I’m still a “friend”, so that I can see what he’s up to when I do choose. Better for my mental health that way. I also take a self-imposed social media vacation(sometimes a couple weeks, sometimes a couple months(which usually happens during our “peak season” at workholiday season, when they’re mandating us to work 45 +hours(& asking for anything more beyond that- I end up working longer days, because I need my 2 days off, especially mow that they line up with TSU). End up working 10-12 hour days. When I was WAH, I would do split shifts- jump on the computer for a few hours in the early am, after TSU left for work(she’s usually 6a-3p) take a break for an hour or 2 & then work my regular shift. If it was still busy at the end of my shift, I’d volunteer to work late, after 45-hr break for supper & then work til 11 or midnight(our call center in Chippewa Falls is open 6a-midnight 7 days/week(only closed for ETC). Those Oxford autos look sharp. They wouldn’t fit the modern era I’m modelling, unless I can find space for a modern Parts Store(like the DAO that Summit offers). They do look awesome, and a less than premium price than Scenemaster or Woodlands wants.
TomO- glad to hear all seemed to go well with Terry’s stress test. I take it y’all go to UWH now(or do ya make the long drive to go to a MC facility yet)?
Christian- good morning. Did you turn on the coffee for the early birds(since you & Jaz are across the pond)/ us night owls(it’s past 1:30 am CDT) before Mel & Flo open the diner?
DL Steve- are you going to leave the patch out just on the cab, our are you to patch out the engine from NP to BN, as well? Looks good so far.

Today/yesterday was interesting, to say the least. We had a tornado warning from 1:30-2:30, so we huddled(everyone working on-site) in the break room(only spot in our part of the call center w/o an exterior wall or window) for an hour. This was about a 1/2 hour after we were in there for a hour, for a “picnic”(fried chicken, tater sales & baked beans + ice cream cups from the local ice cream parlor-Tom O knows the place). I won a $25 GC for Menards, so that will go towards layout construction funds(i.e. Foam insulation boards to go on top of the bench work).

 

[Rabοliοt]

Christian- good morning. Did you turn on the coffee for the early birds(since you & Jaz are across the pond)/ us night owls(it’s past 1:30 am CDT) before Mel & Flo open the diner?

Absolutely ! I can do that with my favorite brand of coffee.

 

[troyphoto]

well, howdy there internet MRR peeps

Good news! Shower renovation is complete, just waiting on the calk to cure (one more morning today of using the backup tub.

Wife and I always have the same argument... last person in the shower has to squeegee the walls and glass door.

Wife: If you don't squeegee that glass door looks nasty

Me: I'm going to squeegee that involves bending, and I'm getting too old to bend...

Wife: Fine, we'll get a shower curtain

Me: I'm still not squeegeeing

Previously, we've had a curved shower rod... put it back up, and the curtain bows past the lip of the shower base. Off to the hardware to purchase a straight one

Oh, and my new toy came yesterday.

Itching to print up a slew of 1:160 scale hummingbirds for the N-scale layout, but I went for this Celtic chieftain first

Here's the workstation for now. Need to get the countertop installed and relocate it to a more stable location

 

[Rabοliοt]

Did you find this troll in your new shower ?

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

73° dgrees already, heading for and air temp of 99°, with a heat index of 107°, will feel warmer in a shop with running cars and no a/c !!

Oh, and my new toy came yesterday.

Itching to print up a slew of 1:160 scale hummingbirds for the N-scale layout, but I went for this Celtic chieftain first

Troy, I'll take your word for it, no way I'm gonna see an n scale hummingbird~

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning Everybody. Clear here and 77° with moderate winds. The forecast is still calling for 99° like the last five days, but it only made 96° yesterday. Clouds move in later today which should keep temperatures down for the next few days. The rain chance for Saturday has been backed up until Sunday and should disappear by then. It doesn't really rain here in August. No heat advisory again today as the humidity will be rather low.
Now that I have all of the under-sink plumbing replaced in the kitchen, the beginning to a slow remodel, I installed a pair of sliding basket storage organizers in the cabinets under there. I never really knew that these things existed or I would have installed them 30 years ago! But when taking things out from under there for the repairs, we realized that there were five unopened boxes of sandwich size Ziploc bags, seven packages of rubber gloves for my wife and three rolls of aluminum foil among other duplicates, that had gotten buried behind and under other stuff in the back.
Preparing the list for the weekly run to Kroger and any other stops that my wife wants to make. I need some maintenance done on my hearing aids, but the earliest "grocery day" appointment that I could get is 8-26.

Thanks for all of the likes and compliments/comments regarding yesterday's stuff; Gary, Karl, Steve J, Troy, Sherrel, Christian, Garry, Hughie, Curt, Tom, Jaz, Tom O, Guy, James, Jerry, Rick.

I'll be back later with the train shed activities from yesterday, I am up against a time wall this morning.

Tom O - Great to read that Terry's cardio test came out OK. I can only go up to 3.5 mph on the treadmill before it goes into auto-shutdown based on heart rate and BP, so I have to do the chemical one which is really boring. I might do better now that I have lost 40+ pounds!

I can’t believe he ordered 25 auto racks in one shot. He buys way differently then I do. He has a fleet of locomotives that just came in, again a different type of purchaser.

I do not purchase like that either, but there are some that do. We have a well known modeler here on this forum, but not in the Coffee Shop, who purchases like that. I once bought four locos from ScaleTrains at once, but probably never bought more than six freight cars at once from my LHS. Self-enforced budget. Similarly, I haven't purchased a single freight car since 2014 since I probably have too many.
Terry -

There probably won’t be a puddle unless you touch one of the wire thingies.

Took the words right out of my mouth!
Steve -

How are you intended to use that field grass? I've never understood it.

Let me get back to you on that. Not enough time this morning
Mike -

Which shore town?

I believe that they go to Ocean City. It's a big deal where Mom and Dad rent two houses side by side and two daughters, and my SIL plus their whole families get together for two weeks. I think that there are 18 people all together.
Troy - I hate that damn squeegee!

Everyone have a great day.

 

[CGW121]

It has been rainy etc here for the past several days. Most of the storms have gone around us. We had a few branches down nothing serious. Wife and I had Dr. appts recently everything is good. I am ready for fall weather. Thankfully not much is going on, just like I like it.

Hope all you are doing well.

Mike

 

[Boris]

Going to OC was easy enough- Black Horse Pike to 559

Mike: That route brings back memories...Chester Ferry, 322 to BHP to 559. Delsea Drive was a PIA, and I was never fond of WW...Once I started working, preferences changed to Rehobeth and OCMD. Now, it's a short ride on Belmar Blvd. to 8th. Ave. This time next month, it will be free of fees and free of BENNYs. Come to thin about it, the last time I was in OCNJ, was when I had the dubious pleasure of babysitting with the Sperry Car on the former PRSL, in the early 80s.

Tom O: Happy Terry passed her stress test. Get my turn today at 1:15. Should be fun, eh? Hope it don't open a can of worms like the Cat Scan did...

Received a box of goodies from Trainworld yesterday, including a new controller for my MRC Prodigy² DCC system. a Rapido SEPTA bus, a Freightliner tractor and a three pack of 20' containers, to stack at my marine terminal. Photo of the marine terminal follows.

This is an ongoing project, that I work on when inspired. Prototype handled ships at one time, but only lighterage and barges by the late 60s. Containers were just coming into use and the ones pictured are a tad too modern, but how many viewers are going to know that. 45' and 53' containers may be too big for the scene, soi will stick to 20' and 40'.

C&O in Williamsburg VA. in 1965. Photo: Warren Calloway.

 

[McLeod]

Good Morning, folks!

Working for the widow again today, so I only have time for a single cup. I actually like working for rich women who don't know nothing about construction; they just tell you what they want and then walk away, leaving you to it. Just do a good job, and they never complain; and they are always quick and happy to pay-up.

Willie recently mentioned that he likes the look of a scene of rocks in a photo. In the same way, I enjoy the look of the forest floor.

I can imagine that there are natural medicines and food in that photo, however, I'm not knowledgeable on what is what. Always wanted to learn the names of forest floor plants; just never took the time to study on the subject.
I've been going out every now and again to see how this years berry crop is doing. The wife will want to go out again and see if we can get a few pails of blueberry without being harassed by the local grizzly population. For the most part, they have the right-of-way:

I've already learned that you cannot hear a bear walking, and must have a dedicated bear watch or you'll never see them coming. They'll leave you alone, so long as you don't shock surprise them. Tapping them on the head with a pail of blueberry is not a good idea.

Troy - There seems to be an open void in the market for N-scale Hummingbird kits. Something to keep in mind if you own a 3D printer. If you stop to count them, there are likely a few Hummingbirds floating around in this prototype photo, so they are necessary for layout realism:

Well, thanks for the coffee. Can't hang around; I'm hearing another heat wave is coming in, so I want to get something done while it's still cool.

 

[MilwRoader_Steve]

Greetings all,

Question for the operators out there. I am wondering if I should put in permanent magnetic Kadee 308 uncouplers at both ends of the ladder tracks?

That east end of the layout is a bit of a reach, would there be much call to uncouple from a switcher going in head first? Or could I pretty much always have the cars backed in?

Key to the above drawing:

pink = electromagnetic uncouplers (on the main at both ends of the **ladder**)
Maroon = currently planned/installed perm magnetic K308 uncouplers.
Red arrows = possible sites of Perm Mag 308 uncouplers


I would greatly appreciate your advice here. Yankee Dabbler sells 308s for under $5 but will of course take a week or so to get here? not sure if LHS has any or not - I can call when he opens.


Thanks in advance! -----Steve J

 

[TLOC]

Good morning from weather stressed So. Central Wisconsin. Around 7 last night the cell phones in the house (3) went nuts. A minute later the City and Town of Verona air raid sirens went off. Off to the lower level away from the glass. 1/2 hour later all clear. But again yesterday and after midnight fairly heavy rains. It does not per the weather channel have any rain in store for us during daylight today. High today will only be 88 after 5 days of mid 90’s.

Curt, Willie, Boris and MikeinHubCity, thanks for the Terry cardio comments. She is like a new woman with the good news. As I have written she is generally not a worrier but she was not a happy camper. Mike, when Terry’s health insurance plan from the Wausau School system ended after her 10th year of retirement in 2018 we had to pay for insurance for 1st time since we got married. We did switch from Marshfield to UW Health only because Marshfield was out of network even though we have Security Health as the Medicare supplement. There are many differences between the 2 but in regards to actual medicine they are pretty close. The advantage UW has is the medical school and the availability of many world class doctors versus Marshfield with just a few leaders in their field.

sounds of freedom, shook the south deck this morning. Looked like 4 F-22’s. Madison next year will be trading in its F16’s for F-35’s and I can’t wait to see those.. Polk Air field about 50-60 miles north is training National Guard units this month and we were told there maybe sonic booms in the area. I doubt we will have the sonic booms but some of the training runs in the bombing range up north will get them.

Boris, best to you on your test. Terry’s was the treadmill. My last one was the chemically induced.

Troy and SteveJ, I just checked Miniprints.com and he doesn’t have hummingbirds of any scale. Send him an email to see if he will print some up. He does excellent work, reasonably.

Troy, the shower looks great, enjoy

SteveJ, I am not a believer in magnetics and prefer the skewer method to uncouple in HO. I must have 50 kadee magnets when I did use them but I have no idea of the number they are. They sit between the rails not under.

I will be on the deck hopefully for another 90 minutes before the sun drives me away. Enjoy your day.

TomO

 

[GarryCBQ]

Good morning ....

Joe ... Thanks for your reply to my comment. I can imagine the meetings were interesting. ..... I like the CNJ p[icturess. the FM Trainmaster was an impressive looking locomotive. I don't think any are preserved in a museum. .... The C&O E8 looks very nice.

Steve MILW .... You are doing well with your track laying. Will you be able to reach over the roundhouse to the tracks in the corner.?

Willie ..... Your vehicle are impressive out of the box, but it is good you are making enhancementsto them.

Here are old pictures . The St Clair Tunnel connects Sarnia, Ontario with Port Huron, Michigan. It was completed in the late 1800's.

Here is a steam locomotive used to haul trains through the tunnel in the 1890's. It is a 0-10-0T.

Later the tunnel was electrified. Here is a train with electric locomotives in 1905.

Eventually, diesels replaced electric. Trains with CN and GTW diesels would run through without changing power for the tunnel. In the 1980's the tunnel was replaced with a new one which is large enough to haul stack trains and auto racks.

 

[Texas Hobo]

Troy, I'll take your word for it, no way I'm gonna see an n scale hummingbird~

Nor the little N Scale flower he has his beak in!

 

[Jaz avalley]

Absolutely ! I can do that with my favorite brand of coffee.

View attachment 131084

I have a favourite brand of coffee too……it’s called Tia Maria

 

[Jaz avalley]

Nor the little N Scale flower he has his beak in!

Aww come on - that deserves to be modelled I have a number of birds….yeah yeah i model large 1:76 to 1:87 and my birds are not humming bird….but i model bees! okay LOTS of bee….

 

[Jaz avalley]

But seriously…birds

 

[Jaz avalley]

for figures I really like Willys cause they are actually do something I notice many leaning,pointing,engaging with the scenery it is so much better than many of mine who are just stood to attention lol

 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Spent the day working on the pool, got cleaned up then got a haircut. Tomorrow we are supposed to be able to bring Mom home.

Dakota- Nice looking loco. I have bought large number boards (brass) from Cal Scale, painted them then applied a decal (black with white numbers) from a P-Touch machine.

Troy- Nice looking shower. I remember having to squeegee the CRES showers onboard subs.

Joe- It's always great receiving MRR stuff in the mail.

Guy- Nice wildlife photos and train photo.

TomO- Nice layout photo.

Garry- Interesting photos.

I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[CGW121]

for figures I really like Willys cause they are actually do something I notice many leaning,pointing,engaging with the scenery it is so much better than many of mine who are just stood to attention lol

I have a dinosaur on mine.

 

[Alcomotive]

Aww come on - that deserves to be modelled I have a number of birds….yeah yeah i model large 1:76 to 1:87 and my birds are not humming bird….but i model bees! okay LOTS of bee….
View attachment 131101

Ghostbusters???? Who ya gonna call!