Running Bear's Coffee Shop LIX

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35 and the wind has a definite bite to it!

Week went fast, family Christmas is coming early this year, another house cleaning marathon is upon me but at least the DEEP cleaning that we had to do for Thanksgiving is out of the way and this is just a dust and polish situation!
 
Good Morning All. 48° and misting. Mist started around 7:00 last night and is going to continue for the next 14 hours or so. Doesn't appear that it ever turned to drizzle overnight, but that might happen in about three more hours. I could barely detect .1" in the rain gauge. UPS arrived at our house yesterday as well around 6:00 pm (actually early for our neighborhood!!). No train goodies, but the new computer printer showed up. Old one has been out for a few weeks. This one's got lots of bells and whistles and is supposedly wireless (an oxymoron if you open them up). Should work with all of my wife's devices without the often painful set-up through the old router!
Didn't do much trainwise yesterday as I was getting in the last "hurrah" outside before the wet weather. I did run a few trains every time I stepped in for a "cold one" though. Looks like a couple of days indoors coming up.

Justin - Early gift from Santa, good that you have those skills (and patience). Your scene with the camp houses is coming along nicely.
Chet - Yeah! Weathering can take care of a whole lot of dry transfer ills. I learned years ago when manufacturers only produced cars with a single number and I wanted to build the fleet. I have many Athearn, Roundhouse and Walther's cars that I re-numbered. Nothing as extensive as doing a whole car for a free-lance RR though.
Terry - Beautiful model of the F9. Hope that the open house is successful.
Sherrel - My brother (who owns 32 re-modeled rent houses) and others, swear by the new "tankless" water heaters. You should certainly consider them when the time comes. That's what my next one will be.
Garry - Ain't nothing wrong with upgrading old Tyco and other cheap cars. I have about half a dozen that I have done as well. Step one for me is body-mount couplers and then stirups. After that it's wheels and sometimes grabirons.
Eric - Continue to hang in there, brother. You'll be back to near normal really soon. Still in my thoughts.

I don't ever have a problem with Photobucket since I don't use it!. I just post directly to the forum. I do realize that it is a valuable tool to those that do use it though.
This rain is headed east to some of you other guys, so it could be traintime for you all as well.
Everyone have a great day.

Willie
 


Good morning fellers. Feeling the effects of driving a single axle relic from yesterday. My goodness how tractors have come a long way! One thing we fleet mechanics have a hard time understanding. Why we are still running early 90s trucks. Their whole system is army grade stuff. Mechanical fuel pumps and the sort. Anyways that's my gripe. Moving on here I'm going to be headed to the hobby shop today. Last time I went the shelves were empty! Hopefully it's not like that today. Not that I have any structures I'm interested in at the moment. I'm growing fond of the cabin creek structures. They have an awesome post office I'd love to have. Small and would be a perfect fit for my layout. So who knows what the day will bring.

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Hey Everybody!

Busier than a one arm wallpaper hanger, but all is well in southeast Baltimore.

When time and energy permits; I'll be back!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! :)
 
Justin, the older stuff may be cruder, but it's reliable, generally efficient, not subject to modern emissions laws, and probably most important: It's a fully depreciated asset.
 
I don't think it's their age so much as it's getting harder for us to get parts for them. We just had to upgrade the cooling system on one that came with a steel coolant tank that isnt manufactured anymore. So had to add brackets and install a plastic tank.

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I don't think it's their age so much as it's getting harder for us to get parts for them. We just had to upgrade the cooling system on one that came with a steel coolant tank that isnt manufactured anymore. So had to add brackets and install a plastic tank.

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Yeah, seems like nobody repairs radiators anymore.
 
Quick question guys. I brought out my Athearn SD40 yesterday. I'd really like to upgrade this unit. I'm looking at can motors for it. Anyone know anything about these:
cb06e87e2057b066768a615a62bf30e9.jpg

Are they any good? Any other suggestions?

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Quick question guys. I brought out my Athearn SD40 yesterday. I'd really like to upgrade this unit. I'm looking at can motors for it. Anyone know anything about these:
cb06e87e2057b066768a615a62bf30e9.jpg

Are they any good? Any other suggestions?

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Yes, they are very good. Just make sure the flywheels are compatible with what you have. There is the dog-bone type, and the hex type. Flywheels can be changed, but it is a PITA to do without damaging the shaft.
 


I'm really wanting to get it out of the box. I have a lot of time on those units. Now I'm looking at lighting options as well.

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Good morning Gents
34and sunny here in south central IL.


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Good morning shop dwellers. 50*F and blustery here in central MD.

Got a nice little surprise in my mailbox yesterday: a $25 check from Kalmbach. Apparently Bernie Kempinski is using one of my photos from my old layout in his new Waterfront Terminals book.

As soon as I finish my Saturday chores and errands, I'm thinking of experimenting with laying static grass. I borrowed a friend's Noch grass shaker; I'll get a piece of scrap plywood or extruded foam and try it on that before attempting anything on the layout itself. A local modeler friend of mine who is quite talented at everything else, says he never could get the fibers to land vertically and it takes a rare combination of luck and extreme skill to make it work. I hope I can prove him wrong...

Terry - hope your Club open house goes smoothly today, and that you go home with just as many working pieces of rolling stock as you went in with...

Garry - great work on the Tyco flats! I, unfortunately, disposed of all my Tyco's and other cars with truck-mounted couplers during my first stint in the hobby as an impatient teenager.:rolleyes:

Hey Everybody! Busier than a one arm wallpaper hanger, ... :)
This is actually on topic!
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161203/b503d6463fa0d3c31998d50de5bb1ff4.jpg
Good one Beady!

Eric - good to see you, hope the "excitement" has died down and the hospital staff can prevent any more of that from happening...
 
WILLIE -- Guess I had better start some research on the tankless water heater (there! I did not say HOT Water Heater - lol) Just may be the way to go in the future.

CHET seems happy with the one he has. I am NOT impressed with the one on the RV! Maybe I am doing something wrong, but the constant cycling does not maintain the temperature as it should - trying to use the shower goes from hot to cold to hot. Anybody?

TERRY - I like that comment: "Try to come home with the same number of working locomotives that you arrived with."
 
WILLIE -- Guess I had better start some research on the tankless water heater (there! I did not say HOT Water Heater - lol) Just may be the way to go in the future."

Sherrel - I installed a tankless water heater when our old tank died and the biggest thing to keep in mind is that they draw a LOT of current. We have two showers so the model I needed required 3-40A double pole breakers and 8 AWG wire! When we turn on the hot water the LED lights in the kitchen dim! Other than that we do like it - frees up a lot of floor space.
 
Howdy ..

Sherrel, Aroberson77, Ken in MD< and Willie ... Thanks for commenting on my flat car project. Actually I have filled my trains with a lot of cheap, old HO cars I upgraded.

While We are waiting for Sharks, How about Fairbanks Morse passenger locomotives ?

ATSF%2090_zpsgf3hgiiy.jpg
 


GARY P - THAT IS A LOT OF POWER DRAW! Hmmm .. something else to ponder over. Might have to think over the electric version too, as I have solar power to help offset the power cost. Might be able to squeez in the breakers, but the box is pretty full? Natural Gas is cheaper than water out here!

GARRY .. Nice pic of the FM units. They sort of get overlooked most of the time.
 




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