Running Bear's August 2022 Coffee Shop

[chadbag]

That doesn't mean we shouldn't deploy wind and solar, because it mostly works rather well, but we cannot depend on solar and wind alone. As I said before, we need to think this out, and include other than academics and politicians in the discussion. Nuclear is discredited, mainly because of near hysterical media coverage of incidents overseas. TMI has been shut down, after its service life was completed, and has faded from memory.

Also, commercial scale wind farms and solar farms have huge ecological costs. Acres and acres of land needed and often that has meant cutting down forests, tops of mountains, etc to deploy them. Wind farms kill huge numbers of birds. That sort of thing.

 

[chadbag]

I think that nuclear and hydrogen power both have a place in the future alongside wind, solar, and to some extent petroleum and natural gas. We just need to find the right blend of all of the technologies.

I am not anti solar or wind. Just that often in large scale installations there is an ecological cost. Maybe not in your 18000 acre one (but even then bird kill) but the rest of the world is not Texas and you need these things all over to supply the world with power.

I think more that solar is best on tops of existing buildings (commercial and residential) and used in that building, with overage spilled onto the grid. Reduce demands on the grid when able.

Nuclear is the future, if we have one, as the energy base. Augmented by these other technologies like solar, wind, etc. Hydrogen and other synthetic fuels can be manufactured with the energy from nuclear to supply the needs for mobile and similar energy requirements (what diesel and gasoline and the like are used for today). Stored electricity in large batteries (made with environmentally unfriendly mining and other methods) won't replace liquid fuels.

 

[santafewillie]

I think more that solar is best on tops of existing buildings (commercial and residential) and used in that building, with overage spilled onto the grid. Reduce demands on the grid when able.

I have always felt that way. Just look at those flat roofs on all of the Walmart stores and other big box stores. Perfect place for solar arrays if you can resolve the fire issue.

 

[D&J RailRoad]

They'll have to decide something soon. Costs are going up to force the change and will be passed on to consumer.

 

[Alcomotive]

Good morning gang!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I am back in the office today. Tomorrow I will work from home and then in the afternoon I will meeting with the dentist to get my chompers cleaned. (every 6 months for me)

So I read up on this thread to catch-up. As a long time member here, since 2006 I have seen a lot of great guys come and go for various reasons. Nothing saddens me more when a member passes and they have contributed so much content to this forum. Greg was one of those guys with incredible talent. I am disappointed that I didn't know him on a personal level but from what I read he was a class act! I would like to extend my condolences to all of you that knew him on a personal level. I also wish peace to his wife and family during this difficult time. It is never easy losing a love one as I am sure we all can agree to that.

I try to interact with some of ya'll on this forum and I think it is a great thing to establish contact and develop cool relationships. It's always neat to meet with fellow modelers and learn more about the hobby and each other. I understand that life is what happens to you when you're making plans and we all have priorities but it is always good to stop and take a step back to reassess where you are etc. Make sure you do that from time to time. Anyways many of you know in the past I have met some of you and some who are no longer on this forum or with us like Jerome Wheeler from Cameron, NC, Mark G from Chicopee, MA, Larry Long Winded Old Fart from Arcadia Fl and Terry as well as few others. I think it is a good thing for hobby to reach out and make contact when you can. Life is full of surprises and can lead to many wonderful things. Enjoy the ride right?

I know the next time I go to Texas I will hit Willie up for a visit. I frequent Alabama but I do not know anyone on this forum other than Rio Grande Man who is no longer with us. Who knows I may head over to Wisconsin sometime too. Anyways interaction is good folks.


On to other subject matter. I went fishing Saturday and brought along a date that was not too bad she caught a few fish etc. We had a nice time. I didn't go to Lake Champlain like I wanted too as I found out they were have multiple tournaments so I decided to go to a different lake. I went to Lake George on the north end at Ticonderoga.

September is fast approaching and that means fall. I have a lot to do for the transitions. This coming weekend Labor Day will be just that a labor intensive weekend for me. I have a bunch of stuff to do around the house and mainly the garage and wood pile ugh. Cleaning and organizing.

My trip to London is on hold for the moment. I have (2) "go bag" ready which is a habit I have anyways. One for international travel and one for travel in the US. My sister is going to undergo some surgery so we decided to place my trip on a hold BUT if she needs me I will be there in a flash. I pray all goes well with her surgery.

I did go to my LHS on Friday afternoon at place called Milepost Hobbies. https://mileposthobbies.com/ It's about an hour drive away for me but I made a nice trip out of it and got dinner out. I bought 4 gondolas and 1 centerbeam car all by Walthers Mainline. I will post later tonight on the RPO thread as I also got few more items from the www via snail mail .

I did send out a few 2-bay covered hoppers to TomO in Wisconsin for some work. I do miss Wisconsin as I grew up there in my adolescent years from 74 to 85. It is a great beautiful state. I am a native of upstate NY though.

That's enough chatter for now ya'll have a good day!

C-ya!

 

[troyphoto]

Troy - I thought that Diet Dr Pepper had no caffeine?

Everybody have a wonderful Monday.

Definite has caffeine:

Can on left is Diet Dr P, Green one is Diet Canada Dry Ginger Ale.

In the ingredients, third line down.

IIRC: Root Beer (except Barq's) is caffeine free.

And in other news, saw the maintenance guy for our complex while I was out for my morning stroll. I'm using a cane to help keep weight off my foot while I walk. Weight has been adding itself to my belly while I've been dealing with the foot issue, so I thought I'd try using a cane and getting some shorter walks in.

Anyway, the maintenance guy, Doug, said that we'll be lucky if we get any contractors to show back up here. Once word gets out that a resident called OSHA on the Amish sub-contractors for not wearing safety harnesses (and probably hard hats, but they're exempt from hard hats for religious reasons)... Anyway, once word gets out, we'll probably find that most contractors for building or roof work are "too darn busy to give a quote..."

Why would they want to work here if the individual workers are ignoring the regs, and the bossman is going to get fined for not forcing his guys to follow the regs they don't want to?

Oy vey...

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Just another day in paradise!
Sunny and warm. Afternoon breezes, high around 89°F.

The devil dog is back (Charlie) and with more piss and vinegar than ever!
I left his "party hat" off most of yesterday and last night. So far he has left his incision alone. I need to check the calendar to see when to take him back for stitch removal?

 

[troyphoto]

Also, commercial scale wind farms and solar farms have huge ecological costs. Acres and acres of land needed and often that has meant cutting down forests, tops of mountains, etc to deploy them. Wind farms kill huge numbers of birds. That sort of thing.

California windmills and solar farms seemed to be out in the arid parts. SoCal has a lot of Arid parts.

Here in the lower Midwest, Wind farms are sprouting on a LOT of farm land. Crops can grow around them and the access roads the crews need. A gaming friend and his family grow a LOT of Orville Redenbacher's popcorn, and they're happy for the dollars the lease to the wind farms brings in. Guaranteed cash vs crop uncertainty for the little bit of land they lose out of each field.

And, it looks like California is starting to explore putting solar panels over the concrete water channels/canals or whatever they are called. The shade from the panels will reduce evaporation and generate power. My PhD rocket scientist friend is very into EVs and solar tech. She flagged this story on her FB page. Evidently, India has already been doing this with their canals and solar.

My PhD rocket science friend is also watching the E-shipping tech getting closer and closer... Here's a story she posted as interesting:

EV shipping is set to blow internal combustion engines out of the water - pv magazine USA

Modeling 5 to 10 GWh electrified containerships, researchers find that 40% of routes today could be electrified in an economically viable manner, before considering environmental costs.

pv-magazine-usa.com

 

[JeffH]

If a small wind turbine or an inexpensive portable solar panel can charge a cell phone battery, it also has enough power to split water into Oxygen and Hydrogen gases. You only need about 1.5V. I wonder how long it would take something like this to create enough Hydrogen to drive a few hours.

Imagine a world where you buy a hydrogen processor that is basically, a small but highly efficient wind turbine with some solar panels for extra measure.

The hardest part would be compressing the H gas into a fuel cell.

wind turbine on Amazon

 

[McLeod]

Morning, folks!

The son is hitched after a 5cent wedding and the anniversary is done for another year. Both went on very nicely.
Thankyou to all those who commented and gave me high-five on these events.

I can smell another fence job coming up. I'll probably get the call today. Starting to think I should have been a fence contractor when I was in business, rather than a general contractor. It's not bad money, and less headaches.

Willie - I like the idea of printed background buildings, and will search for some suitable candidates myself. Thanks for the idea.

Dave - Not sure if I understand what 'running' means for a turtle. Are they fast? We don't have turtles here.

Jeff - The pier is beautiful, in my opinion. Well done, indeed!

Yesterday, I pre-ordered a pair of Rapido GP9RM's. It's my first time to pre-order something.
I know the GP9RM's are 1980+, but, I thought it would allow me to run trains in modern times if I could change-out the engines and vehicle's from my mid-sixties layout. GP9RM's were cut down and rebuilt from GP9's, after all.
These are the two I ordered in HO model form:

Photo contributed to RRP archive by Glen Mounk.

Photo copyright - Richard Gorddard, RRP archive.

Those two engines will give me a huge timespan to play with, and I don't think I want to run six axles.

Well, the dog is bothering me for a walk. She knows we are late already.
Gotta go. Have a great day!

 

[ctclibby]

P

Definite has caffeine:

View attachment 150845

Can on left is Diet Dr P, Green one is Diet Canada Dry Ginger Ale.

In the ingredients, third line down.

IIRC: Root Beer (except Barq's) is caffeine free.

And in other news, saw the maintenance guy for our complex while I was out for my morning stroll. I'm using a cane to help keep weight off my foot while I walk. Weight has been adding itself to my belly while I've been dealing with the foot issue, so I thought I'd try using a cane and getting some shorter walks in.

Anyway, the maintenance guy, Doug, said that we'll be lucky if we get any contractors to show back up here. Once word gets out that a resident called OSHA on the Amish sub-contractors for not wearing safety harnesses (and probably hard hats, but they're exempt from hard hats for religious reasons)... Anyway, once word gets out, we'll probably find that most contractors for building or roof work are "too darn busy to give a quote..."

Why would they want to work here if the individual workers are ignoring the regs, and the bossman is going to get fined for not forcing his guys to follow the regs they don't want to?

Oy vey...

Probably don't matter to diddly squat ... Mug Root beer is caffeine free, not Bargs. Mug is my go to root beer when the mood strikes.

We have Amish in Libby also, abet these guys and gals all have cells, motor vehicles and such. They pretty much build log homes and do some other little stuff. You should see them hanging on the end of a rope - not safety strap to get stuff placed on the second story or roof gables. State and/or County visits those job sites, although as far as I know nothing has been said.

Chet: Libby Dam does not directly provide our power, it is sold to BPA. Power transmission lines go pretty much East East/Southeast from the Dam toward Kalispell and meet main lines somewhere near Happy's Inn. Our power comes in from Bonners Ferry for reasons unknown...go figure. Well, still BPA but I digress.

 

[TLOC]

I have always felt that way. Just look at those flat roofs on all of the Walmart stores and other big box stores. Perfect place for solar arrays if you can resolve the fire issue.

Maybe 5 years ago the biggest solar arrays in Wisconsin were on top of the new IKEA building/store outside of Milwaukee along I94. But now there are huge solar farms all over the state.

Our array is built 9’ tall for the base so Terry could put a garden under it. But, that never happened but there is no reason these solar farms still can’t grow things or be turned into Community Gardens.

We have had battery storage units burn and I know of some commercial sized wind generators catch on fire after lightning strikes but until this forum I have been unaware of solar panels on fire. Interesting!

 

[Sirfoldalot]

With all the "Save the Planet" people thinking they can control the climate, I have never seen anything in writing or otherwise about this:

The human body is 98.6 degrees F --
The average temp on earth is not that high --
Every increase in population is adding a small amount of heat to the atmosphere.

Now let's take new housing and commercial construction --
Every roof and paved street adds a tremendous amount of heat to the atmosphere, not to mention the loss of trees and plants which not only consume CO2 but also produce O2.

Also consider that the SUN just may be increasing in temperature too?

I am quoting from a FB post here: "Ever since man was put on this earth,
He has been trying to destroy it".
I will add to that -- We will succeed!

 

[TLOC]

Good Morning All. Clear and 78° heading into the mid-90's later today. A carbon copy of yesterday. The rest of the week shows little change except minor chance or rain tomorrow and Thursday.

Mowing continued yesterday and I completed my target areas on the south side of the estate. Today is the rest of the north side.
Then I caught up with the entire tomato harvest and canned five pints of tomato sauce. I need to pick more this morning which I can see from the bedroom window. It's nice to have the entire dining room table empty.
The traffic pattern on the road out front has changed since school started, so I am shifting my morning walk 90 minutes later, now about 8:30. I don't want to be in the way of the kids texting and driving at the same time. Note photo from last week. Now as in the case of my kids 20 years ago, many rural kids driving to school do not have a DL yet.

Thanks as always for the reactions yesterday; Sherrel, Guy, Gary, Karl, Hughie, Joe, Tom, Smudge, Chet, Louis, Patrick, OB Ken, James, George.

As I mentioned yesterday, I printed some background buildings to add to the scene that I am working on.
View attachment 150840
View attachment 150841
The colors didn't quite work out the way they should have. Kind of a pinkish overtone. So I set them in place to see how they looked.
View attachment 150842
Well they might just work since they are supposed to be in the shadows of the near structures. I printed them at 85% so they are a little smaller than scale to give a "depth of perception" look. I'll go back next and raise them up about 1/2" and go from there. I've got to trim the white from the top of the RH one, which I didn't do in case I didn't use them.

Gary - In the first picture in post #1429, there appears to be a missing bridge on the left side!
Troy - I thought that Diet Dr Pepper had no caffeine?
Alan - Good to see you again. Beautiful locomotives.

Everybody have a wonderful Monday.

I limit myself to one caffeine drink a day. That is normally a 16.9oz bottle of Diet Dr Pepper, occasionally I might daringly switch up to the diet Cherry Pepsi. Either is what like coffee is to you drinkers my morning wake up drink. The rest of the day is mostly water and 1 later night diet root beer which of course is caffeine free.

 

[kbkchooch]

 

[santafewillie]

but until this forum I have been unaware of solar panels on fire. Interesting!

Here's a rather recent incident near here.
Solar Panels Catch Fire on Roof of Plano Bank of America Building

 

[chadbag]

If a small wind turbine or an inexpensive portable solar panel can charge a cell phone battery, it also has enough power to split water into Oxygen and Hydrogen gases. You only need about 1.5V. I wonder how long it would take something like this to create enough Hydrogen to drive a few hours.

Imagine a world where you buy a hydrogen processor that is basically, a small but highly efficient wind turbine with some solar panels for extra measure.

The hardest part would be compressing the H gas into a fuel cell.

wind turbine on Amazon

I need to ask my neighbor what happened to it but he was involved with research using nano-particles that were added to the process that greatly increased the efficiency such that you would add water to your car fuel tank and the system would extract hydrogen from it. Not sure if they were running a fuel cell or directly burnkng the hydrogen (I think it was the fuel cell). The efficiency of the process was a few times higher than without.

This was a year or two ago he was telling me about it and I don't know what happened. It was not deployment ready tech but exploratory tech development.

 

[troyphoto]

View attachment 150851

Per the meme: In our house, we ONLY use Target bags in our "guest" areas. We save the cheap bags for the waste can liners in the non-guest areas. And never do we slum it down to Wally World.

 

[TLOC]

Here's a rather recent incident near here.
Solar Panels Catch Fire on Roof of Plano Bank of America Building

Wow! I wonder how that investigation will turn out. Thanks Willie, I believed you guys but it made the media!

 

[TLOC]

Per the meme: In our house, we ONLY use Target bags in our "guest" areas. We save the cheap bags for the waste can liners in the non-guest areas. And never do we slum it down to Wally World.

I cannot recall the last Walmart visitation, maybe b4 retirement inn2014