Running Bear's Coffee Shop July 2024

[CambriaArea51]

Another slow day in the coffee shop. Flo and Mel are going to starve...

You need to order more to keep them busy.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Tom - Best wishes and prayers for your parents.

Thank you.

Well I got the engine unboxed and put it on the tracks to give it a quick test. All is good and weathering will be in the fall. Summer is to nice and to short to be inside. Grain cars will be done then also.

 

[Snowman]

If I remember the story correctly, Helper is called that as that is where the helper engines were located to get the coal trains up over some mountains. Something like that. But th ename is railroad related IIRC.

Helper, Utah - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Your memory is correct. Named for the need to add extra lifting power over Soldier Summit.
The OLD grade was 4.0%, thus the need and the name. But helpers were--still are--needed even today.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Here's a few from Helper, Utah:

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Good Morning All. Clear and 78°, going up to maybe 99° just like yesterday. Hot and dry with a heat advisory for the rest of the summer months.

I basically took the day off yesterday from any heavy labor. Stacked the firewood that I cut Sunday and did some piddling stuff around the yard and inside the shop. It's still a bit disorganized from the tornado blowing off that part of the roof, plywood and metal roofing both.
I received word yesterday from the county that they have awarded a contract to a company to remove tornado debris. I need to get it out to the side of the road for pickup.

This afternoon, I have an appointment with the physical therapy folks to discuss my sciatica. Not sure that they can show me anything more than the you tube videos, but Medicare is paying for it so I'll see what they have. The sciatica comes and goes and this week is a good one so far.

I was out in the train shed for a bit longer than normal yesterday. I moved on to the next few structures. First, yesterday I misidentified the manufacturer of the kit used for the Fanny Farmer Candy Shop. I posted Smalltown USA, but it is a DPM structure known as Carr's Parts. Next to it is Flowers By Terry, a Walther's kit of the same name.
View attachment 195194
This is actually a recycled kit from them that used to be called Bill's Glass Shop. That was also it's name when the molds were from Magnuson Models. The inside wall still has that name engraved on it, even though it's been spelled wrong ever since Magnuson owned it.
View attachment 195195
The last structure on the block is a DPM structure known as Seymour Block.
View attachment 195196
I don't have a name or an interior for the shop on the right, nor a sign for the business on the left. But it has a small appliance interior in it.
View attachment 195197
I noted something on the blank windows on the right, that I had spotted on a few other of the structures that I did this week. It also appears on roads, roofs and other things on the layout.
View attachment 195198
I finally figured out that these water spots were a result of the excessive humidity inside the train shed when the roof leaked after the tornado. I recall noting that my hygrometer was up over 100% (and couldn't go any higher because of a built-in stop), indicating supersaturation inside. I now believe that the excessive moisture condensed on everything.

Ken - Good luck with the garage door. I am not too sure that any of my 3 kids know anything other than pushing a button in the car or on the wall to get theirs open. When I was growing up, only the rich neighbors had automatic door openers, and they malfunctioned frequently. Not because of a broken spring though.
Tom O - Agree with yesterday's post that the Stock Market is not indicative of the economy. I think that a lot of the issues with McDonald's and other fast food employees not being able to make ends meet, is the fact that they look at the job of flipping burgers or collecting money as being a real job. They used to be known as entry-level jobs for teens entering the workforce. I do realize that it is hard for some of these folks to get a real job in our non-recession [?] economy, but they are out there. I also believe that there are too many handouts that disincentivize getting meaningful employment. Listening to my wife relate stories about doing taxes for some individuals firmed up those beliefs.
David - Pensions??? What's that? I actually get one from a company that owned our company for a few years. $254 a month is enough to pay the electric & water bills 8 months of the year. Not in the summer though.
Mac - Where did the video go that was in post #1186, of the beasts? I saw it once and I wanted to view it again, but it says that it was removed by the uploader!
Tom - Best wishes and prayers for your parents.

Everyone have a great Tuesday.

Sorry, i thought the video was poor quality so i deleted it, and i posted a new one. Must be my phone.

 

[traiNscale]

@KriegslokBR52 that Harley "Poster" looks damn good!

 

[jmupton2000]

Tea, large and lets go mad on the bacon this morning....

The morning after a long evening shift, looks like the second (and probably last) day this year that temperatures will approach 30 degree centigrade in the UK today.

Papers declaring it a shock summer heatwave as if we have never seen sunshine before (shock - it gets hot in summer apparently, at least the media here seem to think that some of the population are sufficiently dim to need constantly telling them the very very obvious).

30 degrees by US standard is probably luke warm I reckon...

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good morning! It's 71° in Tipton.

 

[bnsf971]

30 degrees by US standard is probably luke warm I reckon...

It gets well over 30 for over 8 months a year where I am. If I remember my math, that's around 87F.

 

[traiNscale]

what up peeps

- airport is running smooth
- sun is out around 32 celcius
- its almost 2 pm (CEST)
- last day at work before summer vacation
- tomorrow is our national day in switzerland
- weekend i think i will do some BBQ
- monday big day! iam getting my Scale 1 Big Boy

and then lets see what the week brings. i think i will be less online and more outside or downstairs by the layout! i hope my big H0 Scale Order will arrive next week. then i can also build the 50' feet bridge and make a final decision which one it will be.

picture of today my O scale Big Boy on a Clublayout in switzerland. (iam not shure if i showed you this already ((if so sorry)):

wish you all a good upcoming 2 weeks. i definitly will show up from time to time, but not daylie

Cheers
Jay

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

Sunny and 70° this morning heading for of high 90°.

Fell asleep last night on the couch after eating three slices of Papa John’s pizza well shortly after the 6 p.m. news went off. Wife woke me up around midnight and made me go to bed. No trains last night just zzzzzzzs.

Flo, can I have a large go-go juice and a stack of manhole covers!

BBL

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

Currently 82° (28° C) in Doo Dah this morning. Thunderstorms this early morning just to the north, woke us up at 4:15a when the NWS issued a Severe storm warning. Alarm set for 4:30. They were short lived though as the warning was canceled 20 minutes later. Supposed to get to 104° (40°C) later with the feels like temp of 112° to 115° (44.4° - 46.1° C).

Well, I waited too long to actually harvest the sweet corn, what little there was. Ears didn't fill as well as they did last year and they are already starting to dry. I can't take the stalks down yet as the cucumbers are taking over, using them as a trellis. So much for bush type cucumbers.

Meeting on Friday with a retirement manager. Wife and I are of 2 minds about our finances. She says we are paycheck to paycheck, but we have a rather large emergency fund and she's got the bills "paid" 6 months out (meaning the money is in our account and budgeted to pay a certain payment). I remind her that people living paycheck to paycheck don't usually have the bills and money for 6 months out. I am of the opinion, we finally have some money and could ease up and add to the retirement funding, or party like it's 1999.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

@KriegslokBR52 that Harley "Poster" looks damn good!

I thought it was awesome.

 

[TLOC]

Morning all,

Currently 82° (28° C) in Doo Dah this morning. Thunderstorms this early morning just to the north, woke us up at 4:15a when the NWS issued a Severe storm warning. Alarm set for 4:30. They were short lived though as the warning was canceled 20 minutes later. Supposed to get to 104° (40°C) later with the feels like temp of 112° to 115° (44.4° - 46.1° C).

Well, I waited too long to actually harvest the sweet corn, what little there was. Ears didn't fill as well as they did last year and they are already starting to dry. I can't take the stalks down yet as the cucumbers are taking over, using them as a trellis. So much for bush type cucumbers.

Meeting on Friday with a retirement manager. Wife and I are of 2 minds about our finances. She says we are paycheck to paycheck, but we have a rather large emergency fund and she's got the bills "paid" 6 months out (meaning the money is in our account and budgeted to pay a certain payment). I remind her that people living paycheck to paycheck don't usually have the bills and money for 6 months out. I am of the opinion, we finally have some money and could ease up and add to the retirement funding, or party like it's 1999.

It’s great you are being pro-active about planning for retirement.

If as you wrote you and the wife are on different wave lengths you will need at least 1 more meeting with a different retirement planner. Of all the things you and the wife have to agree on it is the retirement plan, IMOO!

Pay check to pay check means there is nothing extra after and generally no savings.

Retirement planning was stressful for both Terry and I.

 

[migalyto]

Good morning everyone!

A very soggy start to the day. Its been pouring here for a while. According to the radar its not going to be an all day event.

I also didn't do anything model railroad related yesterday. Was busy yesterday with a couple of household projects and then took a night swim. Came in and sat in the recliner with the dog and let YouTube turn my mind to mush.

Happy hump day everyone!

 

[TLOC]

Good morning Crew. The high today is projected to be a steaming 90f/32c degrees. The dew point right now is 70 degrees and the humidity is 91%.

The golf today is at 10am. Again today the course is 1/2 mile down the street. Three straight weeks of golf in Wisconsin has been fun.

The son in law decided last night he would take the grandson and a friend to the hockey camp today and Thursday.

2 packages of 6 cars and 1 of 12 cars from Scaletrains showed up yesterday to be weathered. These are Operator versions of a tank car. Just enough detail but not overwhelming or fragile. A couple others are due in Friday but direct from the modelers. I’ll start the commission jobs on Friday.

If you buy Boars Head deli meats, throw it out. It does surprise me that they don’t offer credit/refunds but just say toss it.

Enjoy the day

 

[troyphoto]

Well howdy there internet subjects and weirdos of all stripes

It's Troy again.

I saw last night that one of my favorite youtubers, Beau of the Fifth Column, announced he's stepping back from his channel. However, estimates are that his channel is making about $250K a month from YouTube views and advertising revenue. He employees a team of 3-4 people on that, and pumps out 3-4 videos on current events a day. But, don't worry, his team is still going to do content.

It's been pretty obvious he was going through burnout, to those of us who've gone through it. I chuckle because the last couple of videos have been his wife, "Mrs. Beau" doing his deadpan delivery schick. Going to be interesting to see what his "team" comes up with.

FYI: His intro to each video is "Well, howdy there internet people, it's Beau again..."

Here in the fort of Wayne, it's hot and muggy already:

For those of you in C° land, that's 27°c and a feels like 32°c

Yesterday, I made this:

a workstation light for the painting table. I had about 5 feet of LED strip left over, with a power pack and dimmer. So, 3ft long, 18in high. It's easily moveable, so I can put it over on the gaming table and get a nice even top light over whatever model setup I'm about to photograph. Not sure if it will work on the train layout. I'll worry about that later. Have to get track and scenery down before any photos there happen. Here's another shot of the contraption.

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 80°F, or 27.6°C. Hot, dry and heat advisory continues here until mid-September. It hasn't really gotten "July hot" here this year like some states west of us. I've only recorded 100° once this year. But it has been dry, with just 1.4" of rain back on July 8; prior to that we had about 1.5" on June 5. Of course lots of rain down in the Houston area, and in the upper Midwest that is just not blessing me. Normal though.

After cutting up parts of one of the dead trees, as opposed to the tornado damaged ones, I went to a physical therapy session for my sciatica yesterday. First time in PT for anything. Couldn't really call it a session, as the therapist just measured stuff like range of motion, strength, agility etc. Mostly a prelude to figure out what I might be able to endure. We did go through a couple of exercises (stretches) that he wanted me to try at home before the next session.

Didn't get home until after 4:30, so I went straight to the pool instead of visiting the train shed. So nothing accomplished.
I don't really have any pictures that I don't remember posting, so I'll throw a few out here that you may have seen before. Newer visitors may not have seen these before.

John (Indiana)- There are no really easy jobs when you get older; and I am 8 years younger than you. My wife is all the time telling me that I shouldn't do this or that, or stay out of the heat; but I mostly ignore her. Except when she told me no more getting on the roof after age 70! I was ready to quit that myself.
Mike - Even some layout jobs are not easy; anything under the layout comes to mind. But those are few and far between these days. Everything else is tasks and not jobs!
Too bad about the algae in the pool. I don't know if tablets lose their punch. One of the many reasons that I switched to liquid chlorine instead of granules is because it seems to work better for me. Easier to add and cheaper are a couple of other reasons. I do test the pH and chlorine levels daily so things no longer have a chance to get out of hand. I take the water to the pool place once a month to have it tested for stabilizer as well. I also have a robo-vacuum and use it more than the skimmer. Skimmer is generally only used when I am mowing or when the farmer works the field next door, and there is a lot of debris in the air.
I am not a big fan (no pun intended) of remote controlled fans, but that seems to be the only type available at my local big box stores.
Mac - Thanks for reposting the video. The reason that I wanted a second look was that I thought that the word "desert" was misspelled on the locos. It is, but that's actually the name of the railway.
John (UK) -

30 degrees by US standard is probably luke warm I reckon...

That's correct for this area. That's the low temperature for the day during the summer months.
Patrick - Regarding Corn. Each silk coming out of the end of an ear of corn must be pollinated by the pollen from the central tassel, and it must be from a different plant, they cannot be self-pollinated. Each silk is connected to a different kernel. If incomplete pollination occurs, the ears do not fill out. Added to that is the wind spreads the pollen so it is random. That's why home gardeners are advised to plant corn in blocks instead of single rows, which I think you mentioned that you did anyway. 3 rows in a block can work, but 5 or more is better. That's why I don't plant corn, it takes up too much room. Many commercial growers send the outer rows to the feed mill while the center of the field is sold as corn on the cob.
I concur with TomO, that proactive retirement planning is great. I was able to do it without the services of a planner even though we had one, he wasn't expecting me to pull the plug as early as I did. But I had learned a lot along the way and had done a few spreadsheets to assure myself that all was well with retiring at 63. Up until then, we mainly concentrated on the investment side without discussing the actual retirement. Actually surprised my wife as well, and she didn't retire for 7 more years at age 72. She really didn't need to work those extra years, she just wanted to get away from me!
Tom O - The information that I got directly from Boar's Head was that refunds will be given on certain products. They tracked me through my purchase history at Kroger! Big Brother is always watching. I had eaten some of the recalled products before it was announced, with no ill effects so far.

Everyone have a wonderful Wednesday.

 

[chadbag]

Mac - Thanks for reposting the video. The reason that I wanted a second look was that I thought that the word "desert" was misspelled on the locos. It is, but that's actually the name of the railway.

yeah it's "Deseret Power". "Deseret" is a Utah word and has nothing to do with "desert" or "dessert". You see "Deseret" all over. Lots of businesses etc use it -- for example one of the major large newspapers in SLC is "Deseret News". Also a large "Goodwill Industries" type thing run by the LDS church is "Deseret Industries" and is the major player in Utah in that field.

It goes back to the proposed "State of Deseret" proposal before it was renamed Utah.

State of Deseret - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[D&J RailRoad]

Ahhhh, the Sciatica pain.
First bought I had with it, I had no idea what it was. It felt like I was being stabbed in the back of my hip with a red-hot poker.
Pain radiated down my leg to my ankle.
Finally went to the base medical. The doc said, "do this". Crossed my right foot over to the left side of my left foot with toes pointing forward, then bend over TRYING to touch my toes. Immediate relief as if a switch had been turned off. Been doin that ever since.