Running Bear's Coffee Shop LVIII

[chessie_system3]

I figure no time like the present to work on painting my track as I am still nailing it all down. I haven't done anything else so far. Though back to the misalignment issue. It appears that my turnout is curved on the straight side of it. I took a pic of it. Maybe y'all can see it or at least tell me my eyes are playing tricks on me.

Justin

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[santafewillie]

Justin / CS3
Quality issues have plagued Atlas turnouts for all of the 30+ years I have been using them. Not all of them, it seems like some runs or batches of them have persistent problems. Curved straight track, high frogs, and out-of-gauge rails are the most frequent that I have either experienced or heard of. Pictures can look deceiving, but yes that one looks slightly bent. Only a true "straightedge" can confirm it. Of the 110 turnouts on my layout, I have had issues with maybe 8 or 9 of them. There may be more that I don't know about that don't affect operations. All can be fixed, some such as the curved straight rail are more difficult to fix. For me at least, the cost difference from other brands is too much to overlook and I will continue to use them and either repair them or use them in non-critical locations. My 2 cents only.
Willie

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Its 41 this morning headed towards 59 with an overnight low of 35. Rain forecast a week down the road -- we sure have not had much to speak of so far with all the hype about El Nino.

Lots of great modeling, guys, with great photos and suggestions.
I have Dr's appoint in a couple hrs, so have to get moving.

Chet The scene of the "shoppers" is a little detail not seen very often .. looks great.

Willie Your advice and knowledge is good for Justin.

Louis Tree looks great .. hang in there .. we need you around here!

Everyone Have a good day and try to stay dry. gotta run.

 

[chessie_system3]

Justin / CS3
Quality issues have plagued Atlas turnouts for all of the 30+ years I have been using them. Not all of them, it seems like some runs or batches of them have persistent problems. Curved straight track, high frogs, and out-of-gauge rails are the most frequent that I have either experienced or heard of. Pictures can look deceiving, but yes that one looks slightly bent. Only a true "straightedge" can confirm it. Of the 110 turnouts on my layout, I have had issues with maybe 8 or 9 of them. There may be more that I don't know about that don't affect operations. All can be fixed, some such as the curved straight rail are more difficult to fix. For me at least, the cost difference from other brands is too much to overlook and I will continue to use them and either repair them or use them in non-critical locations. My 2 cents only.
Willie

It appears that is the only one I have with this issue. I can only see the curve in it with my caboose. My hoppers nothing. What you see in the pic is what I see with my own eyes at track level. I've used this one before as there is residue from my last layout. I wonder if this one came from my expander set I bought years ago. That layout got hammered by the movers when I left Ft. Lewis. I wonder if it had gotten bent during the move. Or if I just bought it that way and never noticed. I may just pull it off my layout and replace it with another one or just leave it seeing as how its only noticeable when a caboose goes over it.

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[bnsf971]

Justin, if nothing gives you problems going over it, I'd leave it alone. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Secondhandmodeler]

Good morning folks, long time no see!

After having a mostly brown, wet season, winter has finally arrived. Nothing like getting 7 inches of snow the weekend AFTER Christmas to start off the hibernation season. Thank God I have a snow blower!

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. Other than being sick for the past week, I've had a most enjoyable time. I hosted Christmas eve and fun was had by all. I'm now faced with taking down twelve tubs of Christmas stuff and five trees! That's fine, I love all of the decorations.

Knowing the long, dark months of January and February are coming, I'm looking at spending more time in the train room. I just need to get in there and paint the replacement backdrop so I can place the buildings I've been building. I'll need something to pass the dark days of winter.

I read the last twenty pages of posts so I could get caught up on what's been going on here. Funny thing is, it only covered five days! I sure hope everyone is well.

Time to go shovel the driveway so it melts IF the sun comes out.

 

[chessie_system3]

Justin, if nothing gives you problems going over it, I'd leave it alone. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I was thinking the same. I've been running trains over it with no issues. Just thinking the whole what I can do scenario.

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[Bruette]

Louis - Continued good luck on the recovery. I have found that walking is one of the most therapeutic things that one can do. I walk between 1 and 1 1/2 miles every day unless it's raining. Here that can mean the temperatures can range from 10 - 110 degrees. When it's real nice out, I will walk to my mailbox, a 2 1/4 mile round trip. Lots of water does wonders as well, flushes toxins right on through.

Thank you Willie for all of your kind words & support. I can only walk about 200 yards at a time, but its much better then the few feet I began with some years ago. You are right about water, but be careful because like anything, too much of a good thing is bad. I learned that the hard way when I was in the hospital years ago and drank too much water washing away the good minerals I need.

Louis - You do take Christmas to a new level. Thanks for the photos.

You are welcome Chet & I hope to have more to come soon. Also thank you for your great and inspirational photos. I love your realistic scenes, they are much better then most and as good as any!

Louis--Hope your new "smart" phone is easy to figure out!

I am sure like anything "there is nothing to it but to do it", but for now its low on the priority list. How is your hand?

Louis: Lovely tree. I did enjoy watching the highlights of the Ravens - Steelers game. I saw some of the Jets game at a lunch - fuel stop in TN.

Ayden made that tree special and set the bar high for anyone to top. I am glad you got to at least see a bit of those great games. I was fortunate the Ravens game ended before the Jets and CBS was bright enough to show the end of the Jets game in Baltimore.

Louis Tree looks great .. hang in there .. we need you around here!

That is my all time favorite tree, Rockefeller square has nothing on that tree! I will hang, I never give up, never give in. I refuse to lose!

That is it for now. I have the Christmas ham bone cooking with cabbage and potatoes nd I have to go check on it then get back to my to do list.

One more thing; the Sugardale whole smoked ham we had for Christmas was fantastic and at $1.69 a pound it saved me almost $11 over last years Esskay ham.

FYI: The Chinese company that owns Smithfield, Esskay and Mash's has discontinued Esskay and Mash's smoked hams. They did not ruin my tradition, they saved me some money!

Merry Christmas! God Bless Us, Everyone!!!

 

[logandsawman]

Knowing the long, dark months of January and February are coming, I'm looking at spending more time in the train room. I just need to get in there and paint the replacement backdrop so I can place the buildings I've been building. I'll need something to pass the dark days of winter.

.

I think we had the cloudiest December on record. I hope Jan and Feb break the mold!!

 

[Secondhandmodeler]

Agreed


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[Burlington Bob]

The temperature has gone up today............a whole one degree! It was 29° when I got up and now it's at 30° with about an inch of snow on the ground. On the news this morning they were predicting that Ameren Illinois (local utility company) should have all the power back on by tonight from Monday's ice storm. They had about a quarter inch of ice buildup but also had very high winds to go with it. We were lucky where we live and only had rain and high wind.

Called the union hall about my pay check from the weld test I took back on December 3rd. They paid me 8 hours for the test plus 8 hours penalty for not getting the check out on time but they paid me as an Ironworker and their pay scale is quite a bit less than Boilermakers. All my benefits were credited to the Ironworkers Union as well, which I'm not a member of. I went to our hall two weeks ago yesterday and they called the contractor and the contractor agreed that they messed up and would send me a corrected pay stub, plus make up the pay difference right away. Well, I still haven't received anything from them, so I called our hall to find out what was going on. Sure would be tough to take another eight hour penalty pay!. I'm not counting on it but we'll see!

 

[logandsawman]

Say Bob, I just checked your photo album and is that all stuff you recently purchased?

 

[Burlington Bob]

It's some of the stuff I've been buying since getting back into the hobby. I plan on getting the bulk of what I need bought before I retire, which I hope to be about three years from now. There'll be plenty of odds and ends to buy once the actual building starts. I've got buildings and landscaping supplies bought and at the ready. I've got two ESU Micro Select sound decoders to install (got them late last spring) that I really need to get started on. Maybe that would make a good but maybe slow project to post. There was a project in Model Railroad Hobbyist December 2014? issue that I plan on following.

 

[logandsawman]

Bob--Sounds like careful planning!! By The Way, found this cool pic of the Chicago Great Western while conducting some research today, taken in 1962 but notice the automobiles:

 

[montanan]

Nice photo David. Vehicles do set the era for a layout. Many older vehicles were on the road. Today even though it is 2015 (almost 2016) it is not uncommon to see cars from the 80's and 90's on the road. Growing up in the 50's pre war vehicles were very common.

 

[logandsawman]

My favorite vehicle of all time is the 1960 chevy pickup. I had a 1960 GMC with the 4 speed, came with a torsion bar front suspension that could conquer boulders. The ride was seriously smooth as well.

I saw one in a car lot a month ago and kick myself for jumping on it immediately. I still see them on the road from time to time as I live in a very rural area.


What make and model is the black/dk blue 4 door in the front, the one with the sun shade? My great uncle had one in his pole barn.

 

[Boris]

Good morning folks, long time no see!

After having a mostly brown, wet season, winter has finally arrived. Nothing like getting 7 inches of snow the weekend AFTER Christmas to start off the hibernation season. Thank God I have a snow blower!

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. Other than being sick for the past week, I've had a most enjoyable time. I hosted Christmas eve and fun was had by all. I'm now faced with taking down twelve tubs of Christmas stuff and five trees! That's fine, I love all of the decorations.

Corey: Why is it that someone always gets sick over christmas. Last year I had a severe URI with muscular pain and fever. This year it's you. I know it's the time of year I most look forward to, but getting sick during this time frame happens all too much to suit me.

I'm pushing myself to get the benchwork and back drop in place by the end of January. I'm starting to design mock ups of specific industrial buildings I wish to replicate. Even three story rectangular box buildings have distinctive characteristics that set them apart.

Have fun with the snow blower. It's been so mild here, that my snow blower is still in the shed out back. By this time last year I had used it three or four times.

 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Spent the morning cleaning house then in the afternoon I sat down with the Micro-Mark operations kit to figure out how to use the different forms. I also made up labels for the boxes and mounted them on the layout. Next is to make a card for all my locos and cars (not so much fun).

Corey- Welcome back.

Louis- Glad to hear you are on the mend.

NG- Nice to hear from you again.

Chet- Nice photo.

WJLI26- I am looking forward to seeing your layout progress.

BigE- Sounds like you are working with a real character.

David- Always nice to know you have quality track work.

Here is a Pennsy H10 acting as a helper.

I hope everyone has a good evening.

 

[montanan]

Excellent photo Curt. Always enjoy them.

 

[logandsawman]

Nice scene, Curt!