Running Bear's Coffee Shop LX

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With all this snow and ice about, I thought I'd take a moment to remind my fellow railroaders to break out the snow chains before leaving the yard. You have no idea the kind of wear and tear these devices can save on your equipment!

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Well, the asbestos abatement is scheduled for next Wed, Thurs and Friday. They're going to box everything up for us, but I'm not letting them touch my train stuff. I'll probably break it all down on Tuesday evening, and run trains until then. One or two of you may remember one of my first posts here, where I said I was going with sectional track and designing everything to be temporary, just to make tear-down and redesigning easier and faster; little did I realize back then...

The good news is that it'll only be three days, and doesn't require me to actually do anything more than be at home. That everything will be boxed up should make it easier to organize the basement afterwards.

We decided not to replace the tile, but to use area rugs on the bare concrete floor, wherever comfort is a consideration. One corner is going to be household storage/two-piece bathroom, another corner will be my reloading area, about 1/3 to 1/2 will be my train area, and the rest will be divided into other hobby area, lounge and office.

I'm starting to get excited about it all

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
 
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Beady said:
We decided not to replace the tile, but to use area rugs on the bare concrete floor, wherever comfort is a consideration. One corner is going to be household storage/two-piece bathroom, another corner will be my reloading area, about 1/3 to 1/2 will be my train area, and the rest will be divided into other hobby area, lounge and office.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
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Might you consider at least sealing the concrete? The amount of dust in our basement in the period between ripping out the carpet and scraping the floor bare (removing old glue) then several cleanings. In the few weeks before the flooring went down, walking across the concrete stirred up a cloud. A soon as the floor was sealed, the dust issue ceased.
 
Good evening Gents.
This time last night it was sn*wing. We got maybe an inch in spots. They must have used enough salt for a 6 inch snowfall. EVERYTHING is white!! Especially SWMBO's car, it's usually black. By the end of the day, the roads were dry and dusty. My truck spent some quality time in the washrack at work, so it's like the cleanest truck on the block!:D I really was disappointed though because I did get a new sn*wblower this year and really want to see it work! Tomorrow we may get another dusting. I'm staying in and working inside this weekend.

Garry. Great backdrop pics. I really like the one with the steamer!

Justin Polishing the armature and cutting down the springs on an Athearn engine helps alot. Replacing the wheels with Nickel Silver wheels help immensely with power pickup, smoothness and noise, but it will reduce the tractive effort the loco has by a small amount......just another excuse to get more locos, right??

I've almost got the bulk of my 1st track plan done. Many months ago I posed a question looking for recommendations on track planning software. I tried Atlas, SCARM, and a few others, but I must say AnyRail hit the spot. Anyone looking for software, try Anyrail. There is a free demo version, I liked it so much I bought the full version!! :cool: Problem Is, I keep getting more ideas, and now I'm thinking of revising the whole plan!!

mmid200-2.JPG
Someone mentioned Howard Zane's layout the other day, here 2 of my MMID units and a WM Geep pull a train through the town of Dembeck on HZ's layout. Enjoy!
 
Gregjl said:
Hello Everybody, I noticed there are no "like" buttons anywhere here and I'm wondering why.

Thanks, Greg
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No need! Everybody here likes trains! LOL! Have a cuppa joe and check out the pics!

Good stuff "chooch" awesome layout he has there!
 
Gregjl said:
Hello Everybody, I noticed there are no "like" buttons anywhere here and I'm wondering why.

Thanks, Greg
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The forum differs from Farcebook in that, since we are all model railroaders here, we automatically like all posts.
 


kbkchooch said:
Might you consider at least sealing the concrete? The amount of dust in our basement in the period between ripping out the carpet and scraping the floor bare (removing old glue) then several cleanings. In the few weeks before the flooring went down, walking across the concrete stirred up a cloud. A soon as the floor was sealed, the dust issue ceased.
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Hmm. Hadn't thought of that. Thanks. We'll have to see what - all is involved with the abatement. From what I've seen on the home - renovation tv shows, spraying the basement down with sealant might be the last step, to contain any lingering fibers.

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kbkchooch said:
Garry. Great backdrop pics. I really like the one with the steamer!
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Karl ... Thanks. ... The photo of the 2-10-2 was taken before I installed DCC. I wanted the headlight on, but did not want the train to move. So, I held onto a freight car in the train with my hand behind the building, and turned on the power with a hand held DC throttle. The drive wheels were spinning as the headlight came on. .... There is much to be said in favor of DCC. ..... I like the shot taken on HZ's layout. I see he has a narrow vestibule passenger car in the photo.

Curt, Johnny, and Chet .... Thanks for the remarks on my photos.

Chet .... I have the same Kato business car as well as one lettered for CB&Q. I wish Kato made more HO passenger cars because the business car is so well made.
 
Good morning. It's snowing, and 24. 7" so far...
Looks like the camera on my tablet is a little too good. Those huge squares in the photo are the tiny holes in the window screen...
 

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Beady said:
We decided not to replace the tile, but to use area rugs on the bare concrete floor, wherever comfort is a consideration. One corner is going to be household storage/two-piece bathroom, another corner will be my reloading area, about 1/3 to 1/2 will be my train area, and the rest will be divided into other hobby area, lounge and office.

I'm starting to get excited about it all

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I'll second that note about painting the concrete floor. It's easy to do and really does eliminate a dust problem. I did that with my basement before starting the benchwork and I'm really glad I did now.
 
Snow in the Carolinas? WOW, must be global warming! Single digits here (6 degrees) and if you are going to have compression on your lines now would be the time. Curiously only one of my lines has a wavy spot about five feet long the rest is as straight as the chalk lines I nailed it to.
DSCF4474.jpgThe first set up was squeezed the first winter and all four lines were much worse. They still held trains ok but it looked funky. This is not nearly as bad.

I like this camera, I can take a pic of something while in mid post and have it up on here literally in just a few seconds!
 
Yep, those global warming rascals are dragging that stuff all over.
Your track kinks - It's your bench material that is doing the shrinking. Either the homasote or the wood underneath. You'll figure it out.
 
Got a couple of inches in the driveway. Turns out, its in the road too.
I was going to go up to Quantico to run trains this morning but got about 1/2 mile down the road and decided, this is to slick to drive 40 miles in.
I think I'll just stay home here, do some work on the layout then watch football till I pass out this afternoon.
 
Good Morning All. Cold this morning at 7° and mostly cloudy. Didn't get above 20° yesterday, supposed to be mid 30's today and back to a much nicer 75° on Tuesday. Snowed eventually yesterday, maybe 1/2"...thankfully it didn't affect the roads at all, as it all blew off. Take this weather back Chet!
Well, everyone else has had something "conk-out" lately, I guess it's my turn. One of the two heaters in the train shed went "toes-up" on me and the temperature out there didn't get above 45° yesterday. Tolerable but not amendable for modeling or any other work involving dexterity. On the bright side, the beer fridge didn't have to work too hard! While I could drive to town and get another one today, I will probably wait until my next scheduled trip for groceries/beer and get it then.

Gary - Looking forward to pictures of your completed auto unloading facility.
Johnny - I use a lot of weathering powders as well. I use AIM powders, as that's the brand my LHS stocked. I got the one known as "Set A", which has 1/4 oz @ of four colors, dark and light rust, medium earth and grimy black. They have other sets as well as larger containers sold individually. Here's a supplier that shows examples:
http://monroemodels.us/aim.weathering.htm
Here's a picture of what I have done.
ATSF 307173.JPG
It's not the best, but it's one that I could come up with quickly.
Good luck with the flooring, and if you don't already have them, a set of knee pads is really a must have!
Enjoy the fireplace. I heat my entire house with wood in a controlled-draft wood burning stove. No moving parts and the only maintenance is cleaning the ashes out every 10-14 days and sweeping the chimney about every two years. Used it for 36 years now!
Chet -
Tom - You should post more photos of your equipment and layout. You do some outstanding work.
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I second that. Have you seen his YouTube stuff yet? If not, check it out.
Ken (D&J) - I have been reading your bridge posts, but $800! Wow! Hope that they give you a discount.

OK Louis, time to report in!
Time to re-stoke the fire, another day mainly indoors. I did get some bewildered looks yesterday as I went for my walk while it was snowing. One man who was new to the neighborhood did stop and ask if I wanted a ride. I guess that he had never seen me out walking before.
Everyone have a great day and stay safe and warm.

Willie
 
santafewillie said:
Ken (D&J) - I have been reading your bridge posts, but $800! Wow! Hope that they give you a discount.


Willie
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Yeah, that's what I thought when I ran the tally on the Bill of Material. It's a big bridge, about 6' from end to end and lots of detail to it. I haven't bought the material for the top deck that the ties sit on. I still haven't decided on the hand rails and maintenance stairway. That should be another $100 or so of material.
 


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