Running Bear's Coffee Shop LIX

[Raincoat2]

All -
Thanks for the comments on these beginning stages of our benchwork.
Garry - yeah, seeing the photos of backdrops made me think - we need to get the backdrops up before I screw the benches to the wall.
Ken - the upside down tables are for modeling railroads "down under"

Yeah, I know about either recessing the front legs or else building angled legs from the wall. I understand about the tendency for people to kick the legs or just bump them. I learned all that on this forum from you guys. I had promised my wife I wouldn't put lots of bolts, screws, or anything else in the walls that would permanently mess them up. Some of the wall is old-fashioned paneling, but much of the wall is solid wood, so I do need to be careful. I may recess the legs 6-8 inches and at least reduce the possibility of bumps messing things up. Once I get the legs braced, I will put a few screws from the braces into the baseboard, and I can also anchor the framework to the wall with a few screws as well - that won't mess things up too much.

Thanks for the ideas and opinions.
Johnny

 

[Raincoat2]

Everybody - Quick question:
those of you who buy scenic backgrounds; Klein (modeltrainstuff.com) has a variety (Walthers, Realistic) - but are there other online stores that sell scenic backgrounds? What do you use and recommend?
Thanks.
Johnny

 

[new guy]

Morning Gents, mot mich going on at the moment.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Feelin is good enough! At least you get to spend some time with your Dad over the holidays, think positive!

 

[bnsf971]

Bruce, I can probably fix the wiring... Try not to detach any more wires, though. It makes it tough to figure out which one gets soldered where.

 

[new guy]

All -
Thanks for the comments on these beginning stages of our benchwork.
Garry - yeah, seeing the photos of backdrops made me think - we need to get the backdrops up before I screw the benches to the wall.
Ken - the upside down tables are for modeling railroads "down under"

Yeah, I know about either recessing the front legs or else building angled legs from the wall. I understand about the tendency for people to kick the legs or just bump them. I learned all that on this forum from you guys. I had promised my wife I wouldn't put lots of bolts, screws, or anything else in the walls that would permanently mess them up. Some of the wall is old-fashioned paneling, but much of the wall is solid wood, so I do need to be careful. I may recess the legs 6-8 inches and at least reduce the possibility of bumps messing things up. Once I get the legs braced, I will put a few screws from the braces into the baseboard, and I can also anchor the framework to the wall with a few screws as well - that won't mess things up too much.

Thanks for the ideas and opinions.
Johnny

Sounds more than enough, excellent! Should withstand the rigors of whatever may come it's way. AND most importantly, keeping HER happy at the same time! I KNOW how that goes! For backgrounds I'm counting on the many Artists in the family to contribute scenes as needed, they have expressed an interest and I won't tell em no!

CSX- I knew it! Nothing new under the sun! Actually it's a good thing as no matter WHAT it is we might want to do on the layouts there is something out there to base it off of for ideas how to incorporate it into whatever we happen to have. NICE! That is a really well done scene!

 

[montanan]

Everybody - Quick question:
those of you who buy scenic backgrounds; Klein (modeltrainstuff.com) has a variety (Walthers, Realistic) - but are there other online stores that sell scenic backgrounds? What do you use and recommend?
Thanks.
Johnny

There are a few companies who offer scenic backdrops but I ended up using Walthers Instant Horizons. I would have rather had some of the high quality backgrounds that are now available, but when I started using Walthers backdrops, they were one of very few people offering them plus I had already worked my hardshell scenery into the backdrops. Another consideration was the price. I would have have to get about 80 feet of backdrop as my layout is mostly along the wall and the cost was a lot more than I was willing to pay.

I think you have seen photos of my layout. The backdrops aren't anywhere near the quality of what is now being offered, but it beats looking at a bare wall, or in my case some crappy looking paneling.

 

[Raincoat2]

Chet,
Yes, I've seen your layout, including the ride-throughs. Your backdrops look very nice. I think there's even one with a farmhouse or some house on the hillside - think it's near the entrance from your off-site staging area, but might be mistaken. I've commented about your layout before - I think it's fantastic. (BTW - one thing I don't understand - your town, Gallatin Gateway, or Gallatin Junction, seems really large - how are you able to reach into the middle of it to do things like adding scenery, etc.? Or am I mistaken - maybe it's not as wide as it looks?)

Our initial layout is about half along the wall and half free-standing peninsulas. I have about 32 feet along the walls. MBKlein carries Realistic brand, which are 13" high and 38" long; they also carry Walthers, which is 21" (I think) high and 36" long. With either one, I would need to buy 11 backgrounds to line the walls. Walthers is about $2 more per unit, but about 8" higher - probably worth it, but Walther's stuff looks more like paintings while the Realistic stuff is, well, more realistic, like photos.

Another idea I have is to buy a few of the backdrops (mountains, farms), and then get a few 1" Styrofoam 4X8 sheets from the DIY center, and paint them blue to match the backdrop scenes, add some clouds. I'm not much of an artist and don't have anyone nearby that could do a good job - but I can brush on blue paint all day long, and clouds - - well, to use others' famous last words, "how hard can it be?"

But I do need to get backdrops up before we start laying track, structures, etc.

Hey, here's a photo of the two structures I bought at the train show this weekend - a coal depot, and a 1-stall loco barn. Very reasonable prices, and two things we really needed for the layout.



Johnny (Raincoat2)

 

[montanan]

The town of Gallatin Gateway (which is where I happen to live close to) is known as Gallatin Junction by the railroad. This is the only part of the layout that is not along the wall and is on a peninsula that is just under 6 feet wide. Not much is in the center of the town that has to be reached from the edge, but can be if needed with a bench that I built years ago.

Wish we had train shows in the area. Just not enough people therefore fewer modelers.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Generally the name for a cover over the tops of window and maybe, sliding glass doors to hide the curtain and/or drape's tracks from view, although not as much in favor now. Mostly decorative rods and curtain rings these days. That "point of sale" thing, easily installed by an average handyman. I prefer a pelmet. This one's built in up to the ceiling, over the sliding door in the small back bed/computer room. 8' ceiling.

View attachment 59503

TOOT - That's a fine looking Pelmet for sure; I have always called them a valence. I think they look better than poles and rings.
Bring on that 6 inches of rain ... that is 1/2 of our total annual amount - lol.

 

[Hawkesburytrain]

Hope everybody is doing fine.
30 degrees here and sunny.
Going to my man cave to work on the staging part of my layout.
Later

Everybody - Quick question:
those of you who buy scenic backgrounds; Klein (modeltrainstuff.com) has a variety (Walthers, Realistic) - but are there other online stores that sell scenic backgrounds? What do you use and recommend?
Thanks.
Johnny

Hey Johnny, here are a few:

http://www.railserve.com/Models/Manufacturers/Scenery_Backdrops/

http://www.newmodellersshop.co.uk/backscenes.htm

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/model-train-backdrop

http://www.sceniking.com/

http://www.tracksidescenery.com/index.php

http://www.backdropjunction.com/

http://backdropwarehouse.com/indexbdwh.htm

 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Well I had a long post almost complete and the damn computer froze and I lost it. I tried the auto restore and it only saved the first line so this is it for today.

I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[tootnkumin]

Willie,

"Pelmet", haven't heard that word used in over 40 years. Surprisingly, I remembered what it was!

It's probably more than 40 years since any were made. (apart from me)

 

[tootnkumin]

Got another Win10 question. Re the pasting of YouTube links V video embedding to the forum. As I recall when first "obtaining" W10, those options worked exactly as they had done with Win7 i.e. copy the whole URL and it would paste as just that link. To embed, use the "Go Advanced" reply field, copy only the parts of the URL between or after the = in the address bar, select the YouTube symbol from the menu and paste that copied amount of the URL in between.

I can't pinpoint exactly when a change occurred for me with Win10, but now the option of just pasting the link seems to have gone. If I now copy the whole URL and paste in the Quick Reply field, it automatically embeds the video. 'tis somewhat annoying, especially because embedded vids, while nice, use more bandwidth than links.

 

[tootnkumin]

Afternoon All,

Well I had a long post almost complete and the damn computer froze and I lost it. I tried the auto restore and it only saved the first line so this is it for today.

I hope everyone has a good night.

Ooooooooh yes It actually pays to stop writing every so often, wait for the "saved" to appear at the bottom right corner, at least anything before that has been. I've even forgotten that there was something saved in a post after getting distracted (who by?) and found it still there the next day. So take a break every now and then, or take note when you see that notification, anything before that will have saved.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Afternoon All,

Well I had a long post almost complete and the damn computer froze and I lost it. I tried the auto restore and it only saved the first line so this is it for today.

I hope everyone has a good night.

AH .. HA -- I am not in this boat alone. Happens to me quite often. Good luck with the signals, CURT. I have to ask - What are the "blank" looking spaces for? If you cannot make them work properly .. We could always play dominoes with them.

 

[tootnkumin]

A tip with those adjustable feet, wind them out a bit before standing them up so you have both up and down adjustment range when in place. If they have resistance when turning the thread, that's good, they shouldn't loose the adjustment in use. If too free turning, see if you can get nuts that fit the threads, and a washer. Unscrew the "foot", screw the nut on followed by the washer and replace into it's (there) housing, so that the washer bears against the leg. Once the heights of each leg is set, tighten the nut up against the washer (just "nipped up") to lock that setting.

 

[tootnkumin]

AH .. HA -- I am not in this boat alone. Happens to me quite often. Good luck with the signals, CURT. I have to ask - What are the "blank" looking spaces for? If you cannot make them work properly .. We could always play dominoes with them.

Happens to me on that other site (which shall remain nameless if not faceless) when I'm writing a "pointed" reply on a political thread. Sabotage and rigging I cry and there is no automatic "save".

 

[GarryCBQ]

Afternoon All,

Well I had a long post almost complete and the damn computer froze and I lost it. I tried the auto restore and it only saved the first line so this is it for today.

I hope everyone has a good night.

Curt .... Did you borrow Phil's computer ? LOL

 

[new guy]

Bruce, I can probably fix the wiring... Try not to detach any more wires, though. It makes it tough to figure out which one gets soldered where.

No worries, I have tried not to touch it at all since that wire came undone, it's on the very end so it might not be too bad. Sounds like the winning option, I know you do good work! I'll clear my PM box!

 

[IronBeltKen]

Afternoon All,

Well I had a long post almost complete and the damn computer froze and I lost it. ...

Curt: No pun intended, right?

Seriously though, a seized-up computer is the worst-case scenario - even my usual precautions [writing a draft in Notepad or in a separate browser tab] probably wouldn't have done any good. Sorry that had to happen...