Running Bear's Coffee Shop LVIII

[montanan]

Good morning ...

Chet... ANother grat photo ! ....... Perhaps you should attend Alco Anonymous meetings with MILW 113 .

What can I say. I've had them so long that they are like family. I have recently picked up some EMD F units. Not totally hooked on them.

 

[BigE]

57 and scattered drizzle here.

Fun tidbit for the day come Yahoo's daily crossword:
Puzzle theme is "Scaled vehicles"

17) across clue "scale vehicles"

M O D E . . R A I . .

Does anyone have a clue what this could possibly be??

E

 

[BigE]

Yeah, he was about 5' back then. I recovered a 7 1/2' skin this past spring that he shed. If he hasn't already, he will head for semi-hibernation today; most likely in my barn. OK though, as he does consume rats. I wish I'd taken a picture of him consuming one in the summer of 2014. While my wife has seen him from the kitchen window, if she knew that I got that close to take the picture, she would have left me by now...LOL It is non-venomous, locals call it a "chicken snake" or a "rat snake". A bite might still hurt!
Garry - He and others of his family keep the bad ones away here also.
Another local resident:
View attachment 54669
Willie

"Rat snakes" in these parts are solid black.
That one in the picture makes me think of a king snake.

 

[logandsawman]

Good Morning guys, it is 17 degrees out and sunny! We had some snow, rain, snow, and rain and between the freezing and thawing I think there is about 2" of snow on the ground.

 

[santafewillie]

Eric - You could be right, as I have never been able to find a good reference picture. Although most of what's referred to as king snake around here have some red in their coloring. The closest that I have found is a "Great Plains Rat Snake" which normally doesn't get as big as this one. Regardless, it's BIG.
Willie

 

[BigE]

Eric - You could be right, as I have never been able to find a good reference picture. Although most of what's referred to as king snake around here have some red in their coloring. The closest that I have found is a "Great Plains Rat Snake" which normally doesn't get as big as this one. Regardless, it's BIG.
Willie

So many varieties of king snakes it's hard telling.
Wiki: Kingsnakes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsnake

black king snake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lampropeltis_nigra
(I used to run into them on occasion while land surveying in the NC mountains)

desert king snake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_kingsnake

Hard telling. I'm not good with identifying snakes. Copperheads were then ones they always told us to be on the lookout. Many of my surveyor buddies can tell stories about them. I've never seen one in the wild. They always said be super careful if you start smelling something like "rotting watermelons". Apparently, they put off that smell.
I don't know.
E.

 

[new guy]

We got little bitty rattlesnakes up here but they are few and far between, I have spent a lot of time in the habitats and areas they are supposed to like and have seen exactly one in the wild in my whole 52 years! I tend not to make too much 'fuss' when I'm in the woods, I surprised a mink once (he was busy crossing a river and came out right in front of me, shook itself off and LOOKED at me! PYOW! gone in a dark brown flash!) I pride myself on being quiet, unless it's bear country, then I make noise like I'm four people and not just one!

 

[new guy]

LOL! Got on to post about pulling 36 of my better ones with the metal wheels with the DD40 around all 5 loops and the figure 8 with only two un-couplings! Have not tried it backwards that far...yet. These Atlas turnouts are a bane, the frogs are just enormous and the cars and locos 'jump' em constantly, I've 'shaved' a few with different methods with good results. Saw the 'using a dremel wheel by hand in the grooves' video and tried that, it works pretty good. LOVE the sound of the metal wheels! The clickety-clack, clickety-clack ATTACK has begun!

 

[hirailer]

We have Rockey Mountain rattlers in the interior of BC. They are not particularly dangerous because they a very timid. Several years ago there was 12 reports of snake bites in the Kelowna area, ten of which the people picked them up. Well HELLO?????

Mel

 

[PRR Modeler]

Evening All,

Just got back from eating out. Had a great time on the field trip, but I will say "teachers are saints and have the patience of Job". I definitely could not teach school. The only downside to the trip today was the noise in the bus was so loud it gave me a headache on the way back to the school. Tomorrow I am going up to Jon's and should see Phil there also. Hopefully the L1 saga will be done tomorrow.

Our skunk Buddy is again having issues. He had the infection in his tail, after improving now has some lethargy, breathing heavier and is stumbling when he walks. We called the Vet today and he is prescribing a second antibiotic. He has already done blood work so he wants to see if the new antibiotic is going to help.

Nothing more to report, so I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[Boris]

Good evening. 56° and extremely foggy. It's been awhile since I drove at night, in a fog...

My MIL arrived at the new facility this evening and got settled in. Getting her there was quite an ordeal. Tomorrow, I have to drive down there and change all the locks on her house.

Curt: Sorry to hear the pet skunk is having issues. Hope the meds work.

Mel: Never had to deal with rattlers, our common snake was a copperhead. Again, they would rather avoid contact with humans, but if you stumble upon them, they are unpredictable. As Eric said, they do give off a fruit smell.

 

[Trussrod]

Evening fellow Rail Workers,
Hi Flo & Francine, How is everything here at the Jeffreys' Dinner, seems fairly busy. I'll have some coffee and big bowl of beef stew. Thanks

It's been fairly cold here again today, lets check WW:
Clear
34.9 °F
Feels Like 30 °F
N
5.3
Wind from East

Tomorrow is forecast to be Warmer than today.
Today
High 54 | Low 33 °F
0% Chance of Precip.
Yesterday
High 51.6 | Low 27.7 °F
Precip. 0 in
Pressure 30.23 in
Visibility 5.0 miles
Clouds Clear
Windchill 30 °F
Dew Point 33 °F
Humidity 93%
Rainfall 0.00 in

Good Morning All. Clear and 30 degrees here today. Only the second freeze of the season. It's going up to the upper 50's today and back into the 70's by Sunday. You all keep your snow and cold weather up north where it belongs. I hate bundling up just to go outside.
I feel like I should have gone out and bought a lottery ticket yesterday. I actually was able to drill 48 holes for grabirons with a single #80 drill bit without it breaking. Didn't lose a single grab either! Rant: Walthers sells these coil steel cars as RTR, but the modeler still has to drill holes for and install 24 grabirons. I guess they are still Ready to Run, just not USE. One down, three to go.
Today I intend to cut some more firewood. I've probably already got enough for the whole winter season but I still have 15 dead trees to eliminate. As some of you already know, I heat my house exclusively with a wood-burning stove. Other than oil/gasoline and blades for the chainsaw, I haven't spent a dime on heating for almost 35 years.
Well it's starting to get light outside, so it's off to the train shed for a few hours until it warms up a bit outdoors. I need the daylight so I can avoid all the possums, skunks and armadillos that inhabit the place at night. I also need to avoid this guy.
View attachment 54668
He's a lot bigger now than since I took this picture a few years back.
Willie

Willie: Your correct that the cold weather can be a bit trying to say the least but so can the extremely high heat!

"Rat snakes" in these parts are solid black.
That one in the picture makes me think of a king snake.

Say Eric: There is a King Snake and a King Coral snake both fairly decent size but harm less to man. But what you need to be very cautious of is the smaller Coral Snake with it's bright bands. Remember this saying well. ' Red & Black - Friend of Jack, Red and Yellow - Kill a fellow'! A King Coarl snake will have a Red band and Black band touching, the smaller, Deadly Poisonous 'Coral Snake' will have a Red and Yellow band touching! I've read their bite is leathal within 20 minutes!2

Evening All,
Just got back from eating out. Had a great time on the field trip, but I will say "teachers are saints and have the patience of Job". I definitely could not teach school. The only downside to the trip today was the noise in the bus was so loud it gave me a headache on the way back to the school. Tomorrow I am going up to Jon's and should see Phil there also. Hopefully the L1 saga will be done tomorrow.

Our skunk Buddy is again having issues. He had the infection in his tail, after improving now has some lethargy, breathing heavier and is stumbling when he walks. We called the Vet today and he is prescribing a second antibiotic. He has already done blood work so he wants to see if the new antibiotic is going to help.

Nothing more to report, so I hope everyone has a good night.

Curt: Sorry to hear about your pet skunk, sounds like he is having his problems.

About how the power is delivered to a turntable. There are two concentric circular bands under neath or on a central drum below the turntable.
These bands have a wiper riding on them to deliver power to the rails as the table turns. A reversing switch, to reverse track polarity is also needed so when the loco is turned around it will maintain a forward movement.

The motor unit of course has it's own separate power.

Hope this helps?

It can be surprising how quickly you can dehydrate in the winter. The relative humidity is usually very low and just breathing can dry a person out very quickly. Going to the bathroom can be perplexing. Funny how things just disappear when touched by cold hands!

Say Bob: LoL

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's cloudy and 52.

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 30 degrees here in North Central Texas this morning. Added to the firewood stash yesterday. I didn't finish the tree I am working on because my rule of thumb is to only cut until the chainsaw runs out of chain oil, then I stop for a rest; today it was a beer so I won't go back until tomorrow. One of the trunks almost hit the school bus when it fell the wrong way due to some wind gusts.
Eric - You got my interest up and I did some more research, it may very well be a "Texas Rat Snake" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_rat_snake
Curt - Hope your skunk recovers. I have a few extras although I am sure there are more in Florida.
That's all for now.
Willie

 

[Boris]

Sounds like I'm echoing Terry, but Good Morning, it's 52°, and overcast. We have already reached the days high, and snow flurries are in the forecast for tonight.

David: I attempted to reply to your PM, but your box was full.

Like back when I was working, I'm living on 6 hours of sleep / day.

 

[new guy]

Joy, joy! Visitors to the M.C.U. this day. Must vac attack the rails and windex the disco ball! This impacted wax in my right ear needs to be dealt with, can't hardly hear nothing, happens a lot. Gotta get the bulb out and swoosh it!

 

[logandsawman]

Good morning, 12 degrees and cloudy.

Joy, joy! Visitors to the M.C.U. this day. Must vac attack the rails and windex the disco ball! This impacted wax in my right ear needs to be dealt with, can't hardly hear nothing, happens a lot. Gotta get the bulb out and swoosh it!

Ear wax? Try candelling. It is like a wax soaked paper tube they put in your ear and light the end. As the "candle" burns down, it vacuums gently the wax out of your ear. Takes about 10 minutes each ear. They do it at homeopathic health places and some spas. You can actually do it yourself but I would recommend having someone else do it first.

You will feel like a new person when it is done! Should run you about $30 to do both ears.

 

[tootnkumin]

Just don't sneeze, you'll look like a dragster down the strip.

 

[montanan]

Good morning. 18 degrees and overcast with a chance of snow (flurries I hope). Got the driveway plowed out again late yesterday.Getting old already.

Curt - Hope you can get your little buddy squared away. Had to take one of our doxies to the vet yesterday. Know how it feels when a pet isn't well.

My picture of the day. Here my Northern Pacific tourist train heading south to West Yellowstone, MT.

 

[chessie_system3]

Been at it this morning. Did some changing around. Added a rock quarry where my yard used to be. Still may go with a yard though. What do y'all think?

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