Running Bear's August 2026 Coffee Shop
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Bill Tidler Jr.
Retired N&W/NS Signalman
Good Sunday morning, Coffee Shop! It's 75F (24°C) and chance of MORE and MORE rain! 
Have a great day!
Have a great day!
Friday and Saturday were the last days for 4 more employees. They left after additional pay cuts and duty expansion that left them working more hours for less money, with more headaches and responsibilities. The employees are likely not going to be replaced, since the company can't get new hires on account of our horrible reputation. Their duties and responsibilities will be shared among the remaining employees, which means they will be doing even more work for their reduced pay. This industry is trying to catch up to the auto repair and sales industry, including all the screwing over of the employees for increased profits, while acting surprised they can't get any help. At this rate, I may be trying to find a job to finish out my last 8 months before retirement...
migalyto
Well-Known Member
Good morning all!
A cloudy dismal northern Illinois morning. The overnight rain and thunderstorms have left the area. Clouds will give way to mostly
sunny skies later. Currently its a humid 72F and the high is going up around 86F Looks like the rest of the week will at least be dry.
Probably not a lot going on today. Most everything was done yesterday.
Not much else going on at the moment.
Have a safe day everyone!
A cloudy dismal northern Illinois morning. The overnight rain and thunderstorms have left the area. Clouds will give way to mostly
sunny skies later. Currently its a humid 72F and the high is going up around 86F Looks like the rest of the week will at least be dry.
Probably not a lot going on today. Most everything was done yesterday.
Not much else going on at the moment.
Have a safe day everyone!
santafewillie
Same Ol' Buzzard
Good Morning All. Clear and 79°, well a bit cooler than the past few days. Hot and dry with heat advisory for a couple more weeks.
Yesterday's trip to get the car serviced went OK, I made it home. Regarding the Dallas metro area traffic, it is just as bad on weekends as any other day. Not quite as heavy, but with more screwed up distracted drivers out there. I stopped for lunch at a Chick-fil-A in Plano that was impeccable. Clean, quick, well organized and good food.
Looks like today's tasks include the dishwasher and bed linen laundry after church. Finally used all of the leftovers in the fridge last night, so I plan to make a delicious Ham Salad for supper tonight.
Out in the train shed yesterday, I finally found some of what I was looking for. I located a partial pack of unpainted figures and a full package of folks in bathing suits...not exactly what I was looking for.
Somewhere I have another pack of painted figures...I think!
Meanwhile, I also dug out an old Atlas pack of unpainted figures.
It does say 24 pedestrian figures, but a quick glance indicates 26 figures, 12 of which are in a seated pose.
This is where I have been looking.
Oooops! I found this too. Avert your eyes Troy.
Now, I am losing interest and may return to structure lighting upgrades.
Terry - Eight more months, tough position to be in.
Pop singer Madonna is 68 today.
Everyone have a great Sunday.
Yesterday's trip to get the car serviced went OK, I made it home. Regarding the Dallas metro area traffic, it is just as bad on weekends as any other day. Not quite as heavy, but with more screwed up distracted drivers out there. I stopped for lunch at a Chick-fil-A in Plano that was impeccable. Clean, quick, well organized and good food.
Looks like today's tasks include the dishwasher and bed linen laundry after church. Finally used all of the leftovers in the fridge last night, so I plan to make a delicious Ham Salad for supper tonight.
Out in the train shed yesterday, I finally found some of what I was looking for. I located a partial pack of unpainted figures and a full package of folks in bathing suits...not exactly what I was looking for.
Somewhere I have another pack of painted figures...I think!
Meanwhile, I also dug out an old Atlas pack of unpainted figures.
It does say 24 pedestrian figures, but a quick glance indicates 26 figures, 12 of which are in a seated pose.
This is where I have been looking.
Oooops! I found this too. Avert your eyes Troy.
Now, I am losing interest and may return to structure lighting upgrades.
Terry - Eight more months, tough position to be in.
Pop singer Madonna is 68 today.
Everyone have a great Sunday.
DeaconKC
Well-Known Member
Good morning folks, it's 85 here already. I'm showered, shaved and semi-presentable. Church in a bit, Lunch between Services,and planning on Corned Beef Hash and Eggs for dinner. LadyC doesn't like the smell so I will fix it while she's gone. Then gonna sort/repack a bunch of N scale rolling stock and get more stuff ready for the show this weekend. You guys have a great day.
TLOC
Well-Known Member
Good morning Crew. After a rough night of sleep or actually very little sleep I got out of that bed at 8:10. Some where today there definitely will be a nap taken. Every bone in the body feels abused this morning from the tossing and turning. Unlike Terry who will sit up, turn on the light and read I try to battle through by keeping my head on the pillow tossing and turning. That didn't work last night
The weather in my section of Wisconsin is warm and muggy! It's 74f degrees now, 83 later the dew point is at 72. The humidity is at 94%. Maybe bench day
We might have a compromise on the September travel. The heat projections everywhere we planned to go are too high! So we cancelled mainly because heat and Terry’s COPD don’t mix very well. On my list of things I’d like to do is an Alaskan Cruise out of Seattle or Vancouver. Terry has not thrilled with that and always came up with other ideas. She mentioned it yesterday asking what I thought? She is going to look today. Maybe…
The grandson was my engineer on the 1st train I had yesterday at the Ops Session. He handled the throttle after a couple minutes like a pro. It was on his smart phone using a WiThrottle app. I never had to tell him to watch his speeds as he did learn years ago to operate on my smaller layout. That was when he would operate with Terry and me when he was 6 and 7 years old. 6 years later he still had the knack. Next train out he was the conductor but not on my train. I'm not the best conductor so the guys put him on a train with the guy we are helping on Fridays build his layout. A retired professional railroader he and Brooks sat down, went through the cards, checked the train and they talked as the train a local made its set outs and pick ups. He did run a scheduled cleaning train by himself as his 3rd train of the day. He probably understands the signals now better than I do. The last train the 2 took my friend let Brooks explain what they were going to do with few suggestions as they worked he said. Brooks on the way home said he had fun.
The layout had some signal issues that would have stopped a normal session but this was a break in session. We kept running as 3 guys tackled the issue. It was a loose intermittent connection that was found. We reported where our trains were to dispatch and he reset the computer and everything matched I guess. There were 8 of us invited along with a guest. 2 grandsons, 1 granddaughter, a wife and 1 friend. Total was 13 people working/running trains and overall I'd say very good. There were the normal session issues. Not all the car cards matched, a couple switch point or machine issues but really not many notes on things needing repair. He did ask how many could come for a session this Thursday and 3 of us said yes. Last night he put out a group text for 7 more to join us. The layout looks like it can handle 20 but he doesn't have enough trains. We have 1 layout that operates every other month and asks a few guys to bring a complete train but he does not want to do that. Yesterday the 3 cleaning trains we ran there were added to the schedule as regular trains. He said he will continue that for a few sessions or until the 3 owners of the power need them back. The operating group telephone guru was there and it sounded like the phone system is being added next. This will be a great layout to add to the rotation. As is a local tradition the layout is not a complete plywood pacific as it did have 1 tree on the layout!
Enjoy the day
The weather in my section of Wisconsin is warm and muggy! It's 74f degrees now, 83 later the dew point is at 72. The humidity is at 94%. Maybe bench day
We might have a compromise on the September travel. The heat projections everywhere we planned to go are too high! So we cancelled mainly because heat and Terry’s COPD don’t mix very well. On my list of things I’d like to do is an Alaskan Cruise out of Seattle or Vancouver. Terry has not thrilled with that and always came up with other ideas. She mentioned it yesterday asking what I thought? She is going to look today. Maybe…
The grandson was my engineer on the 1st train I had yesterday at the Ops Session. He handled the throttle after a couple minutes like a pro. It was on his smart phone using a WiThrottle app. I never had to tell him to watch his speeds as he did learn years ago to operate on my smaller layout. That was when he would operate with Terry and me when he was 6 and 7 years old. 6 years later he still had the knack. Next train out he was the conductor but not on my train. I'm not the best conductor so the guys put him on a train with the guy we are helping on Fridays build his layout. A retired professional railroader he and Brooks sat down, went through the cards, checked the train and they talked as the train a local made its set outs and pick ups. He did run a scheduled cleaning train by himself as his 3rd train of the day. He probably understands the signals now better than I do. The last train the 2 took my friend let Brooks explain what they were going to do with few suggestions as they worked he said. Brooks on the way home said he had fun.
The layout had some signal issues that would have stopped a normal session but this was a break in session. We kept running as 3 guys tackled the issue. It was a loose intermittent connection that was found. We reported where our trains were to dispatch and he reset the computer and everything matched I guess. There were 8 of us invited along with a guest. 2 grandsons, 1 granddaughter, a wife and 1 friend. Total was 13 people working/running trains and overall I'd say very good. There were the normal session issues. Not all the car cards matched, a couple switch point or machine issues but really not many notes on things needing repair. He did ask how many could come for a session this Thursday and 3 of us said yes. Last night he put out a group text for 7 more to join us. The layout looks like it can handle 20 but he doesn't have enough trains. We have 1 layout that operates every other month and asks a few guys to bring a complete train but he does not want to do that. Yesterday the 3 cleaning trains we ran there were added to the schedule as regular trains. He said he will continue that for a few sessions or until the 3 owners of the power need them back. The operating group telephone guru was there and it sounded like the phone system is being added next. This will be a great layout to add to the rotation. As is a local tradition the layout is not a complete plywood pacific as it did have 1 tree on the layout!
Enjoy the day
TLOC
Well-Known Member
Terry that is a tough situation for you. As I have written before it truly feels like they are purposely trying to run you guys out. Sorry to read this, best to you
troyphoto
Snarky Old Fart (in training)
well, howdy there internet peeps, and those who truly know where their "Stuff" is.
it's Troy again
Just got back the local Wings Etc place. We had the Etc. Wife got the tenderloin and Mac-n-cheese. I got the bacon cheddar burger with BBQ sauce and O-rings on it (sauce on the side) and tots.
Last evening we went to the Pope's Yes place for chicken.
today is trash and vacuum day. Wife is about to head out to her mother's place for the weekly sunday chat. However, sister called her last night to warn that Mom was coughing a lot. That means her afib is causing another fluid retention episode. We've got a month until that side of the family's reunion here at our clubhouse. So Mom better decide she needs to head to the hospital. She can never get rid of the fluid on her own. It take IV drugs, and a few days stay.
tomorrow is wife's first trip to the Rheumatologist, so that will be interesting.
In interesting news, when I had lunch with a friend, he told an interesting story.
He's always been interested in genealogy, and was even president of the (family name) Family Historical group for several years.
Then he and his wife were preparing for a European vacation and decided to get the DNA tests ... he figured he knew his ancestry well enough Mom was mostly English origin, his dad was mostly German ancestry.
Welp, the DNA came back... his mom's side lined up as expected.... Dad? No German area DNA.
What? Was dad adopted? He was an only child.
Born in the late 1930s...
Friend dove into the mystery, his faith in being (family name) shaken... Took him most of a year, and some digging using the Ancestry.com DNA searches (if you use their DNA test, they'll help you find others that have elected to share their info...)
He got a likely match, but more of Paternal Great Grandfather.
Starts investigating... Eventually figures out that his grandmother was working as a hair dresser... and one of the children of the DNA match worked as a sales rep for one of the beautician supply houses at about that time...
Looks like gramps was sterile, and grams took matters into her own hands.
Totally changed my friend's outlook on his identity.
So be careful if you decide to do a DNA test. You might be surprised. Or get a surprise. My step grandfather told us that if a Filipino ever showed up on his door step claiming ancestry... well, he was stationed in the Philippines during WW2, so he wouldn't argue.
Me, I don't need to know badly enough to put my DNA into databases.
it's Troy again
Just got back the local Wings Etc place. We had the Etc. Wife got the tenderloin and Mac-n-cheese. I got the bacon cheddar burger with BBQ sauce and O-rings on it (sauce on the side) and tots.
Last evening we went to the Pope's Yes place for chicken.
today is trash and vacuum day. Wife is about to head out to her mother's place for the weekly sunday chat. However, sister called her last night to warn that Mom was coughing a lot. That means her afib is causing another fluid retention episode. We've got a month until that side of the family's reunion here at our clubhouse. So Mom better decide she needs to head to the hospital. She can never get rid of the fluid on her own. It take IV drugs, and a few days stay.
tomorrow is wife's first trip to the Rheumatologist, so that will be interesting.
In interesting news, when I had lunch with a friend, he told an interesting story.
He's always been interested in genealogy, and was even president of the (family name) Family Historical group for several years.
Then he and his wife were preparing for a European vacation and decided to get the DNA tests ... he figured he knew his ancestry well enough Mom was mostly English origin, his dad was mostly German ancestry.
Welp, the DNA came back... his mom's side lined up as expected.... Dad? No German area DNA.
What? Was dad adopted? He was an only child.
Born in the late 1930s...
Friend dove into the mystery, his faith in being (family name) shaken... Took him most of a year, and some digging using the Ancestry.com DNA searches (if you use their DNA test, they'll help you find others that have elected to share their info...)
He got a likely match, but more of Paternal Great Grandfather.
Starts investigating... Eventually figures out that his grandmother was working as a hair dresser... and one of the children of the DNA match worked as a sales rep for one of the beautician supply houses at about that time...
Looks like gramps was sterile, and grams took matters into her own hands.
Totally changed my friend's outlook on his identity.
So be careful if you decide to do a DNA test. You might be surprised. Or get a surprise. My step grandfather told us that if a Filipino ever showed up on his door step claiming ancestry... well, he was stationed in the Philippines during WW2, so he wouldn't argue.
Me, I don't need to know badly enough to put my DNA into databases.
Last edited:
Bruette
Well-Known Member
Why do you leave me out so often?
westtexjohn
Well-Known Member
Was gonna post this yesterday but got plumb discouraged as this forum is trying my patience.
Can't even give a "thumbs up" without a long wait or some error message.
Surrender Announcement: Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration on August 15, a date celebrated in Japan as the end of the war and known in English-speaking countries as V-J Day.
John
Can't even give a "thumbs up" without a long wait or some error message.
Surrender Announcement: Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration on August 15, a date celebrated in Japan as the end of the war and known in English-speaking countries as V-J Day.
John
Bruette
Well-Known Member
Mommy's baby, daddy maybe.
I didn’t learn about my biological father until I was 30. Trust me when I say I’m a bastard son of a bitch. I loved my mom as much as any son could, but damn, she could be a real piece of work. Two peas in a pod.
When my biological father asked me, "Why are you so hateful?" I simply replied, "I am Marie's boy." He had no response; he just nodded his head and walked away.
I never liked my biological father, and I told him as much. He lacked values and had no backbone. I was brought up by neighbors who passed their values on to me, but despite their best efforts, they couldn’t do much about my mean streak.
I didn’t learn about my biological father until I was 30. Trust me when I say I’m a bastard son of a bitch. I loved my mom as much as any son could, but damn, she could be a real piece of work. Two peas in a pod.
When my biological father asked me, "Why are you so hateful?" I simply replied, "I am Marie's boy." He had no response; he just nodded his head and walked away.I never liked my biological father, and I told him as much. He lacked values and had no backbone. I was brought up by neighbors who passed their values on to me, but despite their best efforts, they couldn’t do much about my mean streak.
RhB Michael
RhB Lokführer
Good afternoon folks. Couldn't get in here every time I tried this morning. I wasn't going to waste any more time on it.
Serviced the ÖBB Rh 1014 and 1822 this afternoon. Both running like new again. The 1822 nearly is, so it didn't even require the wheel cleaning, but touched up the pickups. Ran trains for an hour afterwards. I have a catenary problem in the middle line through the Langwies Bahnhof. The Ge 4/4 III pan is getting hung up on a registration arm right at the arm/wire joint.
I didn't have the patience to fix it today so I ran it with the pan down. Maybe tomorrow. I know what the problem is. Seems I accidentally wrapped the wire over the registration arm instead of under, so it hangs on the arm as soon as it makes contact. I don't know why this problem is just now raising its ugly head after three years in this configuration. This locomotive and the others have passed this arm for three years without a problem until today.
Nothing going on for the rest of the day. Waiting on a cold front, but it won't be through until after midnight. Supposed to be cooler tomorrow, but I'll believe it when I can shut down the A/C again.
Have a great afternoon.
Servus!
Serviced the ÖBB Rh 1014 and 1822 this afternoon. Both running like new again. The 1822 nearly is, so it didn't even require the wheel cleaning, but touched up the pickups. Ran trains for an hour afterwards. I have a catenary problem in the middle line through the Langwies Bahnhof. The Ge 4/4 III pan is getting hung up on a registration arm right at the arm/wire joint.
I didn't have the patience to fix it today so I ran it with the pan down. Maybe tomorrow. I know what the problem is. Seems I accidentally wrapped the wire over the registration arm instead of under, so it hangs on the arm as soon as it makes contact. I don't know why this problem is just now raising its ugly head after three years in this configuration. This locomotive and the others have passed this arm for three years without a problem until today.
Nothing going on for the rest of the day. Waiting on a cold front, but it won't be through until after midnight. Supposed to be cooler tomorrow, but I'll believe it when I can shut down the A/C again.
Have a great afternoon.
Servus!
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