Running Bear's August 2026 Coffee Shop

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good Thursday morning, Coffee Shop! It's 67F (19°C) and chance of light rain.

Have a great day!

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet peeps and those able to log in

It was from mid-afternoon Eastern US Time that the forum was down for me through 9:30p when I hit the pillows. I could occasionally get the Forums - what's new page. but no further. Like trying to get a tanker through that contested Strait in the middle east.

I think early indications were that Bob needed to get to Sept before a new server could be a reality??? but I might be misremembering.

Here's the garlic knots and pizza from Monday evening:

Place called Beer Barrel Pizza - started in Michigan and crossed the southern border.

Get to see the pretzel guy today. Going to make sure I get several rounds of stretching in before I arrive, so I don't get sold another supplement. If I'm loose enough for the adjustments, hopefully that removes his temptation to try more sales. We'll see.

Right now, I'm laying on the IR Heating pad, trying to get the left butt cheek loosened up. I was tight on the first round of stretches.

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

68° under cloudy skies. It should start drizzling momentarily for about the next hour. Add that should be partly cloudy the high of 81 today. About 4 PM we should get a round of thunderstorms.
5:44 AM Eastern time, and the forum is running along like nothing ever happened. So confusing.
Gonna try to sneak down the basement and actually get something done today.
BBL

 

[migalyto]

Good morning all!

I half expected the forum to be sluggish again this morning when I logged on, but is working normally at the moment.

Another nice day on tap. Currently its 61F with a high of 79F. No rain in the forecast. We were supposed to get a few scattered showers
last night but nothing materialized.

Usual morning chores today. Will try and get out to mow later after the morning dew dries. Other than that bot much else going on at the
moment.

Have a safe day everyone!

 

[migalyto]

5:44 AM Eastern time, and the forum is running along like nothing ever happened. So confusing.

It is odd isn't it?

Its like someone just flips a switch and it hums along regularly. Got to believe Bots are not the issue.

 

[bnsf971]

At ghis point, I am having so many problems between my work’s IT department restricting internet access, my cellular provider playing games, and my home ISP being flaky, I don’t know how much of me seldom, if ever, being able to access the forum is that, or the forum itself. It’s making it nearly impossible to log in here, or do much of anything.
We’ll see if this posts…

 

[Kusojiji]

Well, I'm standing on my head, arms behind my back, one eye closed and typing behind my back - and the forum is working haha

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 79°, only made it to 105° yesterday. Forecast is basically the same except that just upper-90's are now predicted beginning next Thursday. 107° is the forecast high for today.

Forum seems to be behaving this morning, thankfully. Maybe yesterday's rant kicked it into gear. Since Terry is having so much trouble getting in, maybe we can slip a political comment or two in here! Just kidding of course.

Yesterdays warm weather put a damper on outdoor activity, but I still did a little mowing with the push mower before parking it and hitting the pool. Did a load of laundry but just warmed leftovers for supper.
Today is the weekly grocery trek, I have a pretty full list. Wife is talking about her going across the street to Walmart while I'm in Kroger. Good for her to dare and go into that place. Vitamin Shop, HD for pool chlorine, post office and the pharmacy are all on the list today; maybe she has another destination in mind as well. I also have the dishwasher to deal with this morning, maybe before we leave. Looks like the pool needs topping off again today.

Out in the train shed yesterday, I continued to do some figure painting. No one finished yet, but I painted blue and got a lot of jeans done. For a change of pace, I also pulled an Athearn Blue Box kit off the standby shelf to assemble.

Price sticker was interesting, dating it from the early 2000's for me.

It's a "run of the mill" ATSF gondola.

Those couplers are an early version of the Bachmann EZ Mate couplers.

Immediately replaced with KD #148's. This kit was obviously re-tooled from the original, since I didn't have to add the KD Red Washers to bring it up to the correct height.

The downside though, is that the trucks are the newer design using .9" axles. I have only 1.0" and 1.10" axles with metal wheels, so it will have to use the plastic wheels until I get some ReBoxx or NWSL ones. No way that the truck tuner can gouge out that much material and maintain quality. Or maybe I can locate some different trucks. I actually know where my stash is, but I ran out of time. I still need to inspect it, take a "builders" picture and log it into the database before dull-coating and weathering. A gondola without weathering is unknown on my layout.

Kevin - Thank you for your concerns about being out in the heat. It isn't something that I am not used to, but I am still very careful and limit myself.
Tom O - I hope that your eulogy is indeed premature, only time will tell. While I think that the Coffee Shop could bounce back quickly, I really don't know about the dynamics of the rest of the forum. It's the potential new members that I think that we have lost for good.

A few notable musical birthdays today. Robert Plant, vocalist for Led Zeppelin is 78. James Pankow, trombonist/composer for Chicago is 79. The late soul singer/composer Issac Hayes was born on this day in 1942; he died in 2008 just 10 days before his 66th birthday.

Everyone have a great Thursday. Hoping that the forum maintains it's good behavior for a while.

 

[Espeefan]

Good morning folks, 87 here today, heading for 97. The next weeks forecast is til for mid90s but that is much better than the triple digits we were seeing. Willie, be careful in these temps. Kuso, are those menus on the sides of the kiosk? Prayers up for many others of you, your friendship here is a very nice thing. Last night we were looking for a small table or desk for the train porch, it will be mostly for painting and I am planning on a short HO and N test track on a board for testing and decodering [?] DCC stuff.
We got fed up with Optimum last night, so we are dropping their cable stuff and just keeping their internet. They are continually raising the prices, when we got this months bill it was a $45 jump. The internet is still reasonable and reliable, so we are keeping it, but they can do whatever they want with the cable boxes on their return. I doubt they would appreciate any storage suggestions I might offer.
On a good note, we are starting the Fall Semester of the Bible Class at Church tonight. Excellent course, but a lot of work.
Gonna copy this as cloudflake is quite obnoxious this AM.

We dropped cable last year. ATT Uverse had gone to streaming and was actively trying to make legacy customers (mostly old farts who hate change) drop the service because of constant price increases. We went from $350 a month to $85 a month in streaming services and I have a bunch. I bought Rokus for both sets, and we have Philo, Hulu, Peacock, Amazon Prime video, Disney, a few more pay ones, and there are free services like Tubi. You'll have more TV choices than you can watch for less money and wonder why you waited. Philo gives you pretty much all the basic cable channels. There are differences in managing everything, but you get used to it.

 

[Espeefan]

Gremlins are highly active today

Survived the vampire trip. 9 tubes total. The vein clotted up on tube 7 so I got both arms stuck.

I got smart and stopped at the Amish Donut place and had half-a-dozen chocolate frosted morsels of delectable treats waiting for me. Ate one in the parking lot and started getting the caffeine levels up with a Dr Pepper zero.

Then I had another donut when I got home. Put the rest in the freezer.

An hour later, when I took off the tape and cotton, I heard another donut calling out from the frigid temps. So I ate it too.View attachment 272283

The other three will just have to wait until later this week.

I remember Krispy Kreme down south. When the "HOT" was on and you drove through, if you didn't have half the box eaten before you got out of the parking lot there was something wrong with you!

 

[TLOC]

Wow! It’s still going! I’m happy.

53f degrees now and 86 later. The chances of rain this early morning when I was able to get on were in the 39% chance across some hours of the day. This morning WeatherChannel is showing single digit % chances at most with many hours at 0% till 9pm. Then it’s a 14% chance. I walked one of the fields yesterday and the top 3” of the grass stems are green but the ground is still almost crusty underneath. I put the horses out on it yesterday but they will only graze there yesterday afternoon and till we stable them at dusk today

While walking yesterday the pastures yesterday (slowly as the hip is still tender) I thought a F35 was going to hit the woods it was very low. Then it took up almost straight like a rocket. 1st it was puzzling, scary and then awesome maybe in 20-30 seconds but my shorts were still clean after. I was surprised as I really thought I was about to see my second live crash

I’m going to ask Terry when she’s up around 8 if she will come with to Hiawatha Hobbies, opens at 10. It is 70+ miles away but my paint supplies normally replenished 2-3 times per year has not had a decent resupply in almost 18 months. The weathering commissions are way down but structures builds are up. But now I have to spend some money to rebuild the 75% empty racks! It’s a 75 minute drive normally but Miss Speedy usually can get us there in 60 or less. The daughter asked her mom to drive her SUV this week as it hasn’t been used that much since April. We can’t have a carbon build up! A drive on the Interstate to get us there will clean it up! Depending on where we end up I prefer driving the State or county roads back. We’ve talked about going to the Museum of Wisconsin Art which while not close by, the hobby shop is still on the way. If not I have a list for walking into Walthers for project needs and the Elegant Farmer on the way home is always a great stop twice a year. Though I’m a diabetic the Elegant Farmer makes a mean Cinnamon Apple pie in a bag that is out of this world. Terry also can get her small German soup noodles she stopped making herself when we found the Elegant Farmer. If we get desperate out the back door of the EF is a station stop for the East Troy Electric Railroad Museum. It’s on a list of things to do again. The stops after Hiawatha I’ll let Terry decide.

Writing about paints! Wow prices have really gone up in the last 18 months and shipping pricing has exploded. I used to buy online because doing that got me free shipping on $199+ purchases and no tax at roughly $1.80 per bottle for Vallejo and $2.19 for Tamiya. Per bottle at Hiawatha it’s $3.49 for the Vallejo colors I want this morning, plus tax and driving costs. But buying at my 2 online prices is no longer competitive so I’ll spend the money in state. I’ve been buying 2-3 colors ( so I saw the prices increasing) when we have stopped but I’ve been letting the re-supply slip. Not really complaining about pricing but it’s just an indication of how hobby expenses (discretionary) have gone up. My LHS no longer carries the main line of scale paints I prefer. This is a paint run only unless a Scaletrains unit, either a diesel or another tank car or 5 falls into my basket. That has been known to happen. I still buy at the LHS the adhesives and styrene panels when I need a specific panel.

May the forum live forever

 

[Espeefan]

As far as I am concerned, this forum has died. Not only from a lack of functionality, but also from a lack of active participation.
I've gotten all of the usual error messages, and I still stand by my opinion that it is not "the bots". If it's a monetary issue, I have offered help as have a couple of other Coffee Shop patrons. If it's a technical issue, I am sure that we have a few here who could remotely fix it if enabled.
Hate to see it go, as it is was the best model railroad forum around. I'll still attempt to check in every now and then, but my patience is wearing thin.

I don't know that it's died Willy, there's always plenty of people here anyway. If it does, where will we go, because I'd prefer to stay in contact with this group of guys. it's been fun,and I'm sure we could find someplace else to meet up

 

[Espeefan]

Wow! It’s still going! I’m happy.

53f degrees now and 86 later. The chances of rain this early morning when I was able to get on were in the 39% chance across some hours of the day. This morning WeatherChannel is showing single digit % chances at most with many hours at 0% till 9pm. Then it’s a 14% chance. I walked one of the fields yesterday and the top 3” of the grass stems are green but the ground is still almost crusty underneath. I put the horses out on it yesterday but they will only graze there yesterday afternoon and till we stable them at dusk today

While walking yesterday the pastures yesterday (slowly as the hip is still tender) I thought a F35 was going to hit the woods it was very low. Then it took up almost straight like a rocket. 1st it was puzzling, scary and then awesome maybe in 20-30 seconds but my shorts were still clean after. I was surprised as I really thought I was about to see my second live crash

I’m going to ask Terry when she’s up around 8 if she will come with to Hiawatha Hobbies, opens at 10. It is 70+ miles away but my paint supplies normally replenished 2-3 times per year has not had a decent resupply in almost 18 months. The weathering commissions are way down but structures builds are up. But now I have to spend some money to rebuild the 75% empty racks! It’s a 75 minute drive normally but Miss Speedy usually can get us there in 60 or less. The daughter asked her mom to drive her SUV this week as it hasn’t been used that much since April. We can’t have a carbon build up! A drive on the Interstate to get us there will clean it up! Depending on where we end up I prefer driving the State or county roads back. We’ve talked about going to the Museum of Wisconsin Art which while not close by, the hobby shop is still on the way. If not I have a list for walking into Walthers for project needs and the Elegant Farmer on the way home is always a great stop twice a year. Though I’m a diabetic the Elegant Farmer makes a mean Cinnamon Apple pie in a bag that is out of this world. Terry also can get her small German soup noodles she stopped making herself when we found the Elegant Farmer. If we get desperate out the back door of the EF is a station stop for the East Troy Electric Railroad Museum. It’s on a list of things to do again. The stops after Hiawatha I’ll let Terry decide.

Writing about paints! Wow prices have really gone up in the last 18 months and shipping pricing has exploded. I used to buy online because doing that got me free shipping on $199+ purchases and no tax at roughly $1.80 per bottle for Vallejo and $2.19 for Tamiya. Per bottle at Hiawatha it’s $3.49 for the Vallejo colors I want this morning, plus tax and driving costs. But buying at my 2 online prices is no longer competitive so I’ll spend the money in state. I’ve been buying 2-3 colors ( so I saw the prices increasing) when we have stopped but I’ve been letting the re-supply slip. Not really complaining about pricing but it’s just an indication of how hobby expenses (discretionary) have gone up. My LHS no longer carries the main line of scale paints I prefer. This is a paint run only unless a Scaletrains unit, either a diesel or another tank car or 5 falls into my basket. That has been known to happen. I still buy at the LHS the adhesives and styrene panels when I need a specific panel.

May the forum live forever

Indeed Tom! Too bad I have treatment today. I could have met you there. I'm 20 minutes from Hiawatha. Just went in yesterday for canopy glue and styrene for windows and window shades. All this passenger car work used up my stash! The Gremlins are slightly pissed today, but not as bad as yesterday.

 

[Espeefan]

Well, howdy there internet peeps and those able to log in

It was from mid-afternoon Eastern US Time that the forum was down for me through 9:30p when I hit the pillows. I could occasionally get the Forums - what's new page. but no further. Like trying to get a tanker through that contested Strait in the middle east.

I think early indications were that Bob needed to get to Sept before a new server could be a reality??? but I might be misremembering.

Here's the garlic knots and pizza from Monday evening:

View attachment 272306

View attachment 272307

Place called Beer Barrel Pizza - started in Michigan and crossed the southern border.

Get to see the pretzel guy today. Going to make sure I get several rounds of stretching in before I arrive, so I don't get sold another supplement. If I'm loose enough for the adjustments, hopefully that removes his temptation to try more sales. We'll see.

Right now, I'm laying on the IR Heating pad, trying to get the left butt cheek loosened up. I was tight on the first round of stretches.

I never met a pizza I didn't like!

 

[Espeefan]

Well good morning coffee shop denizens! It's 61 in the Brew City today, going to 78, cloudy with a chance of meatballs! Funny movie that was. Glad to see the forum sort of working. Treatment today, and the wife has hers as well, so a big part of the day will be spent at the Vince Lombardi Cancer Center. I have a club business meeting tonight, the first as treasurer, so that should be interesting! Working on the newly arrived GGD passenger cars, and photos and commentary will be on the Passenger Car Modeling thread at some point, probably tomorrow. Busy day, but I may be around some as there's not much to do when I'm in the chair for the infusion and/or waiting for the wife while she gets hers. Enjoy your Thursday and Damnation to the Gremlins!

 

[RhB Michael]

73°F/72°F out there on this sunny morning. I hope to get the front lawn cut this morning in a bit. Then over to the package store for some German Bier.

I hope to spend some time outside this afternoon with Willow since it is supposed to betolerable outside for the next week or so. Windows are all open and I gave the A/C the rest of the week off. I hope I don't have to recall it to work.

I couldn't get into the site until late last night to reply to Willie's message. I hope today goes better for the forum.

Have a great Thursday.

Servus!

 

[RhB Michael]

At ghis point, I am having so many problems between my work’s IT department restricting internet access, my cellular provider playing games, and my home ISP being flaky, I don’t know how much of me seldom, if ever, being able to access the forum is that, or the forum itself. It’s making it nearly impossible to log in here, or do much of anything.
We’ll see if this posts…

It's not you or your equipment.

 

[-Possum-]

Nice to see the site working smoothly this AM.

 

[migalyto]

May the forum live forever

Amen!

I'm a member of about every railroad forum out there. Even though is not a lot of new postings daily, it is still the best!

 

[DeaconKC]

Good morning folks and especially those with hot butts!
88 here right now, supposed to get to 97 today. We are heading out in a few minutes for lunch with friends, place I haven't been to before but Andra has, so we will see how it goes. Gonna unload the van of game stuff when we get back, then start the loading for the train show this weekend, which will involve folding down the rear seats to get a flat floor in the rear. Tomorrow is set up there, with Saturday and Sunday being the show proper.
I hope you all do stick around here, the comradery here is fantastic and I am glad to have found this site.
Death to the gremlins!