Running Bear's August 2022 Coffee Shop

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Good morning. Going to make a quick appearance today. My daughter and her family were here visiting for a week and I am worn out.
Went to Glacier Park which is just over 2 hours away. I was closer to Yellowstone at my old place. Stayed at a hotel in East Glacier so we would have better light for photos. The grand kids enjoyed the park a lot but we stopped at the Hungry Horse Amusement center in Hungry Horse, MT which thrilled the kids. I hijacked a Google Earth photo of the place. They have a huge maze that took some of them a long time to get through. Myself and one grandson got through quickly and were turning laps at the go cart track by the time the others found their way out. There's also miniature golf and swimming but the temperatures were so hot we retreated to the cars and headed back to Libby.

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The next day we went to Columbia Falls where there is a great water park. My daughter remembered going there when she was a kid. This really wore the kids out. With the high temperatures, the water was great. The kids talked me into going down the 60 foot tall slide, but two of them chickened out. Saw then climbing down thee stairs when I was at the bottom.Wish I had pictures. I had forgotten my phone when we went to Glacier and purposely left it in the car at the water slides. They spent a day resting and with the high temperatures, in the 90's all week, they really weren't wanting to go outside. Went into town (I live in town, almost) and saw the car show they have every year. My Impala is still in Bozeman.

Did bring my phone to take a few photos of the walking bridge over the Kootenai River. This is just a few mile from town. All but one of us went over the bridge. Rogan has a fear of heights. Figured that I was getting too old for this crap. At 76, my balance and reflexes aren't quite what they used to be.

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I'll have to come back and read through the posts to see what I missed while I was gone. Have to go to the grocery store and make a few other stops and want to get it done before it gets too hot.

Later
It is so much fun seeing our area through somebody else's eyes. Did about the same stuff abet 18 years ago. Chet has a ton of exploring that I know he will enjoy.

The swinging bridge was supposed to be replaced this spring - looks like they did not get it done. Lots of folks won't go on that bridge as it bounces and swings. Took my uncle a few years back; he walked out about 3ft and would not go further!
You don't want to go in this river at this location - you would end up in Bonners Ferry banging your head on the beach. BF is about 40 miles as the river runs.

The car show ( Igniters ) had pretty slim pickens this year and has been gaining since the plague. Looked to be 250+ when I went down on Saturday morning. I have seen 450+ cars lining Mineral with a beer in everybody's hands. They could not afford the insurance to 'do the cruize'; basically do a burn-out from the street corners up and down Mineral. Nobody 'launched' their car into 2nd, all shut down before that. There is only one stop sign on Mineral and that would get covered up by the Sheriff for this party. Even though not having the cruize is not as fun, I completely understand the insurance part. It seems to be an accident waiting for a time to happen as there would be kids sitting on the curb watching the hot rods and if somebody broke something.... The Igniters run security teams in ATV's keeping party goers out of the streets which works very good. Couple of pix if I may:
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Later!
 
Evil bay has lost their minds on 2 bay hoppers good lord!







I would never pay that much for a single car 2 bay covered hopper by Athearn! Ludicrous! Crazy as in bat shit crazy!

Wow! I guess I been fortunate to get what I got lately....3 to 4 covered hoppers for 75 bucks and they were Intermountain..... better quality.
Flipping 'eck, at those kind of prices, I thought they must be as rare as rocking horse s>×# 🤣
 
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Evil bay has lost their minds on 2 bay hoppers good lord!







I would never pay that much for a single car 2 bay covered hopper by Athearn! Ludicrous! Crazy as in bat shit crazy!

Wow! I guess I been fortunate to get what I got lately....3 to 4 covered hoppers for 75 bucks and they were Intermountain..... better quality.
Those prices are nuts. I have never purchased on EBay as I often have found online the same thing at better pricing.

I think I have 2 Athearn 2 bay hoppers. I need to do some checking as I know I had the bankruptcy blue of the Rock Island but might have sold them in a Athearn Blue Box lot sale on FB
 


Morning, folks!

I've not been around much lately. Way to much going on, and now the wife is on holidays. So we will be travelling around here and there over the next couple of weeks.
During our travels, I'll try and get some rail photos from the different areas we visit.

JeffH - I super like the river wharf scene you are building. Well done!

Curt - That was super job on the freight house. I admire the progress you achieve, even with other activities in your day getting done.

DaveB - That'a as fine a job on a Tichy crane as I've seen. Very well done!

James - The costs involved in this hobby are definitely getting prohibitive. No way I'd pay that much for a 2-bay hopper either.

I'm still working on the motel when I get time, but, not much progress there. Certainly, not enough progress for a photo session. It might have to wait for Autumn, the way things are going. Plus, I suspect progress on the layout will wait for winter.

Just leaving one last photo from the last time I took a photos of trains some days past:
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I'll see ya'll when I can. Have a good one!
 
Good Morning All. Cloudy here and 72°. NWS is predicting possible showers after noon. Nothing on the radar right now, but at this time of year, they can pop up unexpectedly at anytime. Sunday night and yesterday's thunderstorms have slowly moved into southern Arkansas and the northern 2/3 of Louisiana, and are very slowly moving east. Watch out. High today only expected to reach 80°, then slowly rising but not to the unbearable levels of July.

Not much going on around here yesterday. It stopped raining in the afternoon so I was able to pick another load of tomatoes. Other than that I spent most of my time inside doing some household chores.

Thanks for all of the reactions regarding yesterday's "girlie" pictures; Chad, Steve J, Patrick, Hughie, Karl, Gary, Chet, Louis, Joe, Tom O, Curt, Troy, Mike, Sherrel, Tom, Rick, Dave B.

I didn't spend as much time out in the train shed as I expected, but I did get some stuff accomplished. I painted the backdrop
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Moved stuff in place to see how it will look. The view below shows how that backdrop structure covers the gap left by my imperfect carpentry.
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Added the first roof section to the newspaper structure that will wrap around the support and checked it's position. I had previously painted this building, but didn't take any pictures.
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Still to fix is that gap that I showed last week. While everything measures correctly, I think that there is a slight warpage present.

Tom O - My observations on propane distribution facilities here in Texas. Don't take this as you gotta do it this way, but as informational only. All propane tanks are generally seen situated parallel to a spur track in a separate facility. As was pointed out, that 4" concrete barrier isn't going to stop a loaded tanker. There tends to be a lot of tanker truck traffic in and out which complicates things in a shared facility. The propane distributors also tend to have pretty tight security fences around them. Sometimes too, the rail tanker is left parked there partially filled if the distributors storage tanks are full. This is rare but it does happen when incoming and outgoing don't always balance out as anticipated. Note that a per diem charge may be incurred.
Good luck with the proposed sale. I have had offers to purchase parts of my property, much smaller scale than yours, but I have always been apprehensive about splitting it up, no matter how lucrative it might be for me.
Jeff - I am still using Radio Shack Realistic stereo speakers that I bought 52 years ago. Haven't blown them out yet, although I sure tried when I was younger.
Hughie - That's a real shame regarding the mill kit. Who is the manufacturer?
Curt - I find that the fluorescent lights in the train room often fade the black asphalt paint in just a few weeks before stabilizing.
Mike - Setting aside hard projects for a while helps me to avoid making time consuming mistakes. Don't ask how I know this!

Everybody have a great day.
 
Up here, they keep the foam on for insulation value, do I see some of the foam removed ? Maybe your garage section as you mentioned ?

Yes, that is the point of ICF -- Insulated Concrete Form -- the forms are your insulation. No foam is being taken down. Maybe you saw a doorway that had exposed concrete in the doorway (as opposed to wood bucks)? That is where a vault door will be installed and needs direct concrete in the doorway to be secured.

There was a rear retaining wall for a staircase to a basement door that was poured with normal forms and has no foam.
 
[snip] That is where a vault door will be installed and needs direct concrete in the doorway to be secured.
When we were building our house, I really wanted to have a walk-in vault. We had the perfect spot for in in the basement, where the poured concrete walls followed the shape of a foyer. So it would have been directly under our front door and foyer. It was a good size area. Around 8' wide and 10 feet deep.

We decided to put the money into a whole house generator instead.
 
When we were building our house, I really wanted to have a walk-in vault. We had the perfect spot for in in the basement, where the poured concrete walls followed the shape of a foyer. So it would have been directly under our front door and foyer. It was a good size area. Around 8' wide and 10 feet deep.

We decided to put the money into a whole house generator instead.

That is basically where this one is. I designed the front door to have a walk-in vestibule type area where you can take jacket off, shoes off, etc and then go through a second front door to enter the foyer proper, where the visitors parlor and a toilet room are connected, and another large internal probably french type door at the end brigs you into the main open living area (living room / kitchen / dining area). The vestibule is completely surrounded by ICF walls so that it is insulated before you enter the main door which is also insulated, so cold air that comes in when you enter the house is protected again in the main house area.

The area under this vestibule is the vault area. You can see the second doorway (further doorway) behind the door in this pic. The area behind that second doorway is the vault area.

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Sound of freedom just roared over the back deck. I believe they are F-16’s as this is not a good picture. The f-35’s replacements are coming in 2023/24 unless the environmentalists get their way. These are based at the Wisconsin Air National Guard at Truax Field about 12 miles northeast.
 

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(been having some internet problems - wrote this last evening but it failed to post!)

Well Doggies -- I took Charlie to the new Vet today recommended by a sister in Law where she takes her pups. Charlie has a growth on his penis which has been there for several months - now it is getting larger and the Vet told me today that it has to be removed ASAP because of complications with his "shield" being able to cover the penis. Looks like close to $2,800 with a teeth cleaning which he has never had in the 8 years we have had him. Just when I get my CC bills paid off from the RV - now I get to crank them up again with Vet bills. So in he goes at 9:00 in the morning.
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Willie - You asked about Tom Holly; Tom lives in Grand Junction, CO and works as an engineer for the BNSF. The guy you mention about the Texas Western? I think may be Mike Corley?

I once had the complete set of video tapes of all the 'STAR TREK' full length movies, but the Spousal Unit mistakenly sold them in a garage sale years ago. I actually think that I cried when I found out! I have not watched any of the new stuff that you folks are talking about.

KATE just returned from a visit with sister Irene in the hospital in LaJolla - It seems that she has one of the same doctor's that BIL BRAD has. They did a biopsy today on the mass related to her spine - we are awaiting the results of that. Kate said that she is in a good frame of mind - so that is a plus.

Sorry if my news is all medical related -- It seems that it's all I have anymore.
I have discontinued all meds I have related to BP, but still cannot get it to the place the Dr's are comfortable with for surgery!

Think I will watch some 'Below Deck' tonight - they usually have some nice looking girls on there?
 
Evil bay has lost their minds on 2 bay hoppers good lord!







I would never pay that much for a single car 2 bay covered hopper by Athearn! Ludicrous! Crazy as in bat shit crazy!

Wow! I guess I been fortunate to get what I got lately....3 to 4 covered hoppers for 75 bucks and they were Intermountain..... better quality.

That ain't nothing!

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Last one of these I bought was $101.50. I now have about 40 of them, and could use a few more. Walthers wont do another run so I'm kinda screwed. New they were 10 bucks and have been slowly increasing over the years.

All I can say is that I hope when I die the wife doesn't sell them for what I told her I paid!
 
You want high price cars, take a look at European (Trix/Minitrix and Fleischmann and some of the smaller brands) N-scale cars. Regularly 50 to 100 euros new. Passenger, or flat car, or whatever. I have very few new European cars, and most of those were closeouts at 25-45 euros. Most of mine are used as no one can afford a whole train at the list or even European "discounted" prices
 
Sound of freedom just roared over the back deck. I believe they are F-16’s as this is not a good picture. The f-35’s replacements are coming in 2023/24 unless the environmentalists get their way. These are based at the Wisconsin Air National Guard at Truax Field about 12 miles northeast.

We had F-16s up in Ogden, and you could sometimes see them down here in the Salt Lake area. The F-16s were replaced by F-35s so now we sometimes get F-35 flybys. I've not actually seen one but have seen them mentioned on local FB posts etc. I do remember seeing the F-16s several times. I am not outside enough and my side of the valley is near the commercial airline landing or takeoff routes so the most we see is a low flying Apache occasionally. We have Apache and a Blackhawk based army helicopter units about 3 miles from my house. Maybe 4. So we see them a lot. I also saw a Chinook or other twin rotor helicopter the other day. We don't see those very often.

I like watching the military planes and helicopters. We do get a fair number of helicopters and up in Ogden the F-35s around here.
 
Dang Sherrel, you could prolly brush the dog's teeth. The other thing, yeah, have the vet take care of that. Don't wanna get bit. Don't want to be in the room when the pain killer wears off either.
F16s. Anytime I see them flyin over, I take shelter from the possible parts falling off them. They should all be in museums by now. You'll never see an Air Force F35 with a tailhook or a corrosion program. They don't land on carriers or land in a sea salt environment, just very long runways. Hardly need brakes either.
 
Good morning,

73° at present, heading for 81 and no rain. We had a nice weekend, split wood, worked on the layout, drove to Duluth to pick up a rug for Wife, Church Sunday morning, loafing in the afternoon and working on layout, split wood and worked on layout Monday day off, now back at the office getting ready to drive out and look at a gravel pit.

Guy, thanks for the compliment on the 120 ton crane build

Jeff - Waterfront scene is looking Great! Like the industries and stick built platform!

Willie - TomO - I thought the tanks should be parallel to the track as well. Something to do with potential blast coming out the ends.

Here is a sunset pic from Friday night, a bit of a rainbow. Clouds hard to photo with lighting issues:

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A couple shots of the work train, new landscape work is done (it was much easier to notice when it wasn't done)
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The light grass in the foreground is going to be the Crex grass harvest area, it is to be stubble but cut grass will be modeled in. Looking forward to weathering the Athearn tractor and wheels

Below : the foreground on left is new work, also the tall grass areas and up to the track above

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Hughie - That's a real shame regarding the mill kit. Who is the manufacturer?
Rslaser is the manufacturer. To be fair, they have been very responsive. I have no complaint with that. In my opinion, and I may be wrong, this is a one-man operation. When I first contacted him about the missing carrier, he was at a train show. He said he has been doing this for 17 years. I think his quality control dept. could use a little help.
 


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