Running Bear's Coffee Shop LIX

[Trussrod]

Good evening all you Turkey Gobblers, even if it was, "Flip the Bird" !! LoL That was hallairous !
I'm glad that everyone had a good Thanks Giving Diner, I was fortunate enough to be invited to a friends house where his Wife and Mom prepared a great Turkey Diner! I made up a fairly full plate and finished the whole thing off and was tempted
to go for seconds but I didn't want them to think I'm the chow hound I am, but I was just nice and full and didn't want to stuff myelf. Now I wish I had as it tasted so good! LoL


No work on my layout as I spent most of the afternoon clean a lot of Ash from my fireplace, I shoveled out three fairly large size buckets of Ash so I could get another fire going to help keep the house a bit warmer.

Before I forget. Willie those are great rules to live by. Track work I understand all to well. Funny thing about my track plan is at first I had no issues aside from my turnouts but nowhere else. Now.....my straight sections are driving me crazy!!!! But I refuse to let it spoil my fun. Only locomotives who pick up on my bad sections are my Athearns. My Bachmann and my Atlas locomotives run flawlessly. So I make it happen for me either way.

Sent from my LGLS675 using Tapatalk

Justin: If your "Bachmann and my Atlas locomotives run flawlessly", that would seem to indicate the other loco's have pick-up problems. I somewhat have a similar situation in that my MDC Old Time Climax will stall at various locations where my Old time MDC 2-8-0 Consolidation won't?! It's hard to know just what the problem is or lies?

USP driver just showed up. The DT402D works as advertised.

Say D&J: Glad to hear your DT402D was delivered and works as it supposed too again.

Happy Day After Thanksgiving Everyone!
76 yesterday - supposed to be 76 again today and clear once again. I see that there is a possibility of another rain shower over the weekend. Sure hope it does not pass us by.

Wonderful Thanksgiving was had by all. Missed out on 4 of the grandsons who are back on the East Coast. I had two large plates of food and completely missed out on the desserts. Couldn't stuff another bite down. Gonna fuss at the wife today - maybe I can get her make another cherry cobbler .. it disappeared in a flash last evening. Guess I get to spend the day dragging out all the Christmas stuff again. There is only 17 Yooge plastic containers of lights, figures, nut crackers, stable scenes, garlands, candles, etc. WHEW! AND don't forget the 5 Christmas trees from 18 inches to 7 feet. The dogs even get into the act of the decorations, but their creations leave a little to be desired.

DARNIT! I had a very nice long message going and the computer, or forum just ate it! Really need to use a notepad to create my posts .. this happens almose daily with me.

Sherrel: I had a situation yesterday when I went to post stating my post was too long so I scrolled Up from the bottom to about the half point and then held the shift key down and highlighted the text to the bottom and copied it I'm fairly sure to paste it in the next post window after the top part posted but when I went to paste it in the second post window after the 1st half posted nothing was there to paste??

I'll see what happens tonight? I'm almost sure I said to copy the lower half of the post, I'll be extra careful tonight if that happens again.

Good morning. 43*F and cloudy with a slight breeze here in central MD.

I suppose that's what I'll have to do. Right now I'm trying to decide whether to go get a rattle-can of Krylon Camouflage Dark Brown and spray paint the cars outdoors, or hand-brush them with my Tamiya flat brown [which I can custom-mix to the desired shade]. With the weather being relatively calm like it is, the spray painting option seems highly tempting, OTOH I would have to contend with the Black Friday crowds...

Here is a shot of the new unpainted slag pots in front of the old ones:

Everybody enjoy the rest of your day!

Say Ken: Your steel mill is really fantastic and the old car look great too. I seem to notice that a couple of them look
rather on the grey side compared to the others that look more on the rusty side. I thought I had an extra 1oz. bottle of Floquil Roof Brown but I don't unfortunately.

To me, seeing a mixture of the grey cars with the rusty ones adds interest so everything isn't all the same.

Ya need to secure that hook on the crane so it's not flopping around while the train is in motion.
I'm gonna have to lower that boom so I'm not taking out my signal bridges.

Say D&J: That's why they always have a boom car or flat car trailing the derrick so the boom can be lowered down to go under bridges, trestles, over passes and through tunnels let alone power & telephone lines. I would assume that the hook would rest on the car floor as apposed to being tied down unless it was being moved in a totally open area

Ken - The mill is looking very good. Many times in the ATSF days, different cars in the same car order for Santa Fe ended up in slightly different colors both from manufacturer and degree of change even when only a few years old. But it wasn't unusual for them to order 1000+ cars in the same order, especially covered hoppers.
Congratulations to you on recognizing a demon and beating it back. I was partially joking and I actually use the same criteria as Terry uses and it has worked well for me. I also don't touch distilled spirits at all, that was my demon. Been over 40 years for that.

Willie

Say Willie & Ken: It's good to hear you both keep yourself off the booze. Every ounce of liquor kills off a portion of your liver which never grows back or rejuvenates!!

Continued >

 

[Trussrod]

> Resumed

Good Morning All. 50° and overcast today. Had a wonderful Thanksgiving at my sister's house yesterday, I hope everyone else had a good one too. Lots of food, beer and good company.Needless to say, I didn't get into the train shed at all. I will make up for it today. Wife is headed to town today, to do things other than shop, since there won't be a soul at the library or the other places that she is going to visit.

Toot - Sorry the noise disturbed you! You all could celebrate as well, even the Canadians do. It wouldn't be a bother if you had crocodile or kangaroo instead of turkey. I've been up for a while, but it took a long time to go through all of Louis's pictures. LOL
Justin - Yup!!! The masking tape is the way to go on those steps. They turned out very well. Don't be afraid of the dry-brushing, if they don't look good, simply re-paint and do it over. Here is something that I copied from a post on the Internet many years ago. It wasn't credited to anyone. Look at Rule 17:
Model Railroad Rules to Live By

1. The object of this hobby is to have fun.
2. Buy some freight and passenger cars to go with your gross of engines.
3. Never ever tell a fellow modeler your scale is better then his.
4. At some point stop planning and start building the layout.
5. Never put perfection in front of running the trains.
6. Pay close attention to the track work it can kill the fun.
7. Meet and bring your favorite engine, and have your friends bring their favorite engines.
8. Have a plan, and an era, so you don't buy a lot of stuff you don't need.
9. Listen to the critics, and weight their suggestions, and then do what you think is best.
10. Never argue with a rivet counter, you will lose.
11. Good running engines and dependable rolling stock are required to really have fun.
12. You don't have to agree, with your fellow modelers, to be friends
13. Have a spare of all tools, for when you lose the first one.
14. Keep the lubrication supplies handy and use them sometimes.
15. Clean the tracks before the trains stop running.
16. Know your economic, time, and space resources and plan accordingly.
17. In this hobby "do over’s" are a fact of life.
18. If you are a perfectionist, lighten up and cut the other people some slack.
19. If you are not a perfectionist, lighten up and cut them some slack.
20. Never ever forget rule one.

These can be useful to others as well. I have a full page printout posted prominently in the train shed.

Garry - I know that it was a couple of days ago when you posted the redneck Thanksgiving, I had seen that before but thanks for bringing it back up. I might resemble a couple such as the "paved road" and "ironing board"...LOL I don't name the turkeys, but I used to have a hog we called "Bacon Fat". Kids weren't pleased!
David - Sounds like a bit of progress, continued good luck with the tractor and chainsaw. Be careful. No running bears around here.


I wait until I am not seeing double.
Bob - Glad that you could drop by. I had seen some posts from you off and on for the last half year, now we know why they have been sporadic.

Let me post this now, because Louis has probably posted some more pictures by now. Keep it up by the way, you make up for my lack of pictures!!!
Everyone have a great day except Toot, you have a Good Night!
How 'bout them Cowboys? Ten in a row with a rookie QB!

Willie

Willie: Interesting suggestions to use as a guide.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Didn't get much time to really do anything. I managed to get my steps painted. I like the earth tone dry brush idea trussrod. I haven't built up the courage to do it yet. I think for now I'll just do a dull coat on it or leave it as is for the time being. I had hoped to work on the other camp house this week but the first one was just giving me grief. Hopefully the lessons learned will make the next one easier. I installed the steps and window glazing today as that's all the time I had.

These kits come with an addition for the rear of the houses. Space limitations made it to where I couldn't add them. It's ok though as perhaps down the road when more space is available and I can go a little bigger I can plan to add them in. I still have to build and paint the chimney as well. But I'm pleased with how this one has turned out.

Sent from my LGLS675 using Tapatalk

Justin: The steps look good and add the right touch so the people can climb/step up on the porch easily.

Good evening. Had my usual excessive consumption of turkey, taters and all the other typical Thanksgiving Day fare. Passed out shortly after supper, now I'm getting my second wind. All the kids [and spouses where applicable] were here, plus one of SWMBO's old friends from high school.

Finished assembling the slag car kits, now comes the hard part: Making the new ones look like the ones I already had. That'll be hard to do, since the Floquil Roof Brown color I used on the old ones is no longer available. Just have to do a lot of trial-and-error paint mixing I guess...

Since I know everybody likes photos, I'll go ahead and insert the one I used across the street on the "show-me-something" thread. Actually kind of appropos since I'm working on my slag car fleet, and the image is from the slag dump pit on my previous layout. I've posted this one dozens of times in the past, but maybe some of the new people here haven't seen it yet.

Guess I'll attempt to get some more shut-eye. Hope you all were able to enjoy the holiday!

Say Ken: Guess I mixed up the posts, sorry about that, none the less your steel mil and slag cars look great as does the molten slag you cast.

Do any of you name your Turkey ? We always call ours "Flip, the Bird".

Burlington Bob .... Good to see you.

Have Phil or Corey bee posting lately ?

Say Garry: You and your, "Flip the Bird", LoL!!

I see that this place has been extremely busy today and that everyone seems to have had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Yesterday, we went to my wife's sister's for TGing, last Sunday was the get together for our family at my daughter's. Our youngest granddaughter (my son's) is 16 months old and is REALLY cute! Talking up a storm and wrapping everybody around her little finger! Can't wait to see her at Christmas!.

Today we went to Quincy to pickup my wife's brother at the VA home and took him with us to my daughter's, where my wife finished making a Thanksgiving dinner to take to the nursing home where her mom is. All of her brothers and her sister, along with spouses, were able to be there. Made for a nice day, even with all of the driving.

I'll tell a story about my mother-in-law from this summer. I was pushing my M-I-L around the halls in her wheelchair while my wife walked along side talking to her. A couple of old ladies managed to get between us. I had to basically stop and wait for them to move their wheelchairs by their feet (a VERY slow process) til they got to their room, side by side at a snail pace. Finally, they cleared the hall and I was about to speed up to get to my wife, when my M-I-L said "All right you son of a b**ch, let's go!" Her dementia does provide a rare moment of humour once in a great while.

Some great photos and comments! I really miss being on here as much as I used to be, but after buying our motorcycle, we put almost 12000 miles on it before I had to start working again and working 6-10's doesn't leave much time for anything else, not to mention, almost non-existent WI-FI at my motel. All of the kind comments welcoming me back here really makes this the best place on the web! It makes it like a big extended family and I like that. It's what makes this site the best on the web! Got to get some sleep now, I don't want to throw my schedule off too much.......later!

Say Bob: Good to see you posting again but I understand about working long hours as well as the enjoyment of hitting the road on a bike which I know is a lot of fun as long as you watch out for the crazy drivers.
Take care and enjoy the bike.


I hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

[tootnkumin]

Finished the flat car load. Chains and chalks.

Saw an idea for making chains look taught, hang them from a pin with a small weight and brush or wipe thin liquid CA down them.

Tryin to upload them to Photobucket is like playing Wack-a-mole with all the pop-up adds.

For less (1c) than 10bucks per year they'll remove them. Extortion I know, but worth it.

 

[Bruette]

Good morning everybody!

I slept late this morning, must have been the left over spaghetti I ate yesterday. Don't worry, you read that right. I always eat the oldest left overs in the refrigerator first. I'm not picky about what I eat, I'm just glad to have food to eat, waste not want not. Another thing I learned having been raised by people who survived the great depression.

The spaghetti was great, full of meat, smoked sausage, hot sausage, ground beef and meat balls! The only way to get me to eat pasta is to make it taste like meat!

Ken of the D&J that model really looks fantastic, great details. Among many things, I'm a former crane operator if you should need one.


Now my computer is acting stupid so I better cut this off here and restart her. I'll be back

 

[D&J RailRoad]

Thanks for the comments on the mobile crane.
Off to breakfast with some other modelers in Fredericksburg. Regular Saturday morning get together.

 

[Bruette]

Chessie that is a great video, thanks for reposting, I must have missed it the first time around.

Bob I'm glad to hear you are enjoying your bike. I feel the same about this place, it's like an extended family that always welcomes us back no matter how long we may be away.

David good to hear you enjoyed your thanksgiving!

King Toot that is not extortion, it's capitalism, they provide storage and you pay, nothing is free. Not even things that should be, but that is another topic for another forum.

Have a great day Everybody!

 

[NP2626]

So, this is my first post here! I was buddies with Running Bear at the MR Forums. He was a great guy and very fair in his dealings with others. Since I am relatively new to this forum, did Running Bear also partake in this forum, also?

It sort of seems that there is a "Shot Gun Blast" of topics being discussed here. I'll let those with seniority direct anything further!

 

[new guy]

Good morning all, 37 and I did NOT want to get out of bed today, then I remembered I have a layout and I was UP and AT EM! LOL!

MMMmmm, Java, java, java, I'll just open a vein and Francine can pour it in!

Oh my, what to do today, I KNOW, run trains! He, heee!

Got hung up on the layout and missed three pages!

Thinking of Big E and sending the good thoughts and the healing vibes his way this day and all days!

 

[tootnkumin]

King Toot that is not extortion, it's capitalism, they provide storage and you pay, nothing is free. Not even things that should be, but that is another topic for another forum.

Louis, it was meant as a bit of nod to the fact that I've had it for free for years, just that I would have paid it before had they asked anyway, now they keep asking me to buy more storage, I've barely scratched the surface of what's free, guess that's not long for the chop either. Ask nicely, hint, hint. Insist tomorrow. I'm a confirmed cynic I'm afraid, reading between the lines at least doesn't create wasted paper.

 

[Bruette]

King Toot that is the way of the internet, video games and everything else soon I suppose; offer a little for free and bombard you with "add on sales" Thinking back it's not a new concept, when I worked in retail I first heard discussions of add on sales in sales meetings back in the late 80s.

 

[Bruette]

So, this is my first post here! I was buddies with Running Bear at the MR Forums. He was a great guy and very fair in his dealings with others. Since I am relatively new to this forum, did Running Bear also partake in this forum, also?

It sort of seems that there is a "Shot Gun Blast" of topics being discussed here. I'll let those with seniority direct anything further!

Welcome to the coffee shop! It's so nice to have new people.

There is no pecking order, no seniority, we are all equals.

The late great Running Bear, aka Jeffery, aka Dr. Franken Diesel was a pillar of this coffee shop, everyday he would post a picture of his layout or something else, everything from Tyco to you name it! He treated me as a true equal on my first visit and it's a tradition we carry on. Consider yourself lucky to have known him, I certainly do!

 

[bnsf971]

King Toot that is the way of the internet, video games and everything else soon I suppose; offer a little for free and bombard you with "add on sales" Thinking back it's not a new concept, when I worked in retail I first heard discussions of add on sales in sales meetings back in the late 80s.

One of the lessons taught in the place I interned was the story of the founder of one of our chain drug stores. He would go to a store, and make a small purchase, usually less than a dollar. If the clerk manning the register asked is he would like a pack of gum, cigarettes, or other add-on, he would buy the item, up to the next dollar he had already spent. Almost no one ever got his whole dollar. That was the lesson we were given in add-on sales, suggest something at the checkout.
Nowadays, it's gone to the other extreme, you almost have to buy something extra just to complete the purchase of whatever you came for.

 

[Bruette]

This is not directed at anyone, I just thought it was funny.

 

[bnsf971]

This is not directed at anyone, I just thought it was funny.

Yep, she's a real beauty, Clark!

 

[Bruette]

One of the lessons taught in the place I interned was the story of the founder of one of our chain drug stores. He would go to a store, and make a small purchase, usually less than a dollar. If the clerk manning the register asked is he would like a pack of gum, cigarettes, or other add-on, he would buy the item, up to the next dollar he had already spent. Almost no one ever got his whole dollar. That was the lesson we were given in add-on sales, suggest something at the checkout.
Nowadays, it's gone to the other extreme, you almost have to buy something extra just to complete the purchase of whatever you came for.

My wife who runs a large convenience store/deli/fried chicken/gas station/car wash and what ever else they can jam into the big place tells me Point of Sale (POS) items, candy, gum, lighters etc. have the highest gross profit. These capitalists know what they are doing.

It goes back to ancient Rome Caveat emptor, let the buyer beware.

 

[tootnkumin]

One of the lessons taught in the place I interned was the story of the founder of one of our chain drug stores. He would go to a store, and make a small purchase, usually less than a dollar. If the clerk manning the register asked is he would like a pack of gum, cigarettes, or other add-on, he would buy the item, up to the next dollar he had already spent. Almost no one ever got his whole dollar. That was the lesson we were given in add-on sales, suggest something at the checkout.
Nowadays, it's gone to the other extreme, you almost have to buy something extra just to complete the purchase of whatever you came for.

As far as Photobucket are concerned they'll be waiting till they insist. The lot that owns it now turned it from a very easy place to store, but mainly access your photos (i.e. Album access) to a clumsy elongated process, if it weren't such a process to go and store them somewhere else, I would have dumped them back then. I don't normally call it P/bucket for nothing.

 

[Bruette]

Yep, she's a real beauty, Clark!

I want one of these from Department 56 and they have an entire Christmas Vacation Collection My favorite Christmas movie!

SQUIRREL!!!

"Eddie doesn't eat squirrel anymore since he found out they are high in cholesterol"

 

[Bruette]

 

[new guy]

COUSIN EDDIE??? LOL! I became comfortable with being "the one" in my family a LONG time ago! I say EMBRACE your "Black Sheepness" and perpetuate the stereotype at every opportunity!

 

[Bruette]