Running Bear's Coffee Shop XLVIII

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I just KNEW I was putting a curse on myself when I posted that video last night.
My neighbor came over to see it run. And, it did fine.... right up until I put more cars on for a new record of 23 cars plus loco.
Guess I shouldn't get too mad. That's way too many cars in a single manifest for my tight circuit. Plus several of those cars don't yet have steel wheels and some still need some shims in the couplers....
.... plus... another bad spot in the track showed up. Does this never end?!
After cooling off a little I'll head up again and address the issues. I'll fix the track issue first. Take out 2 short cut-in sections with crappy old joiners and cut in a piece of flex with brand new joiners.

I joke with my Dad about how this work/hobby "keeps me out of the bars". There are 2 jokes about that. 1) I rarely go to a bar anymore and; 2) going to the bars might just be a whole lot cheaper.

I have another message to send and then will head back upstairs to attend to my 2do list.

..... waiting on the big storm still that was to come in at 10 this morning.....
Of course I shouldn't jest. It was about exactly one year when we got hammered and I got a rather severe concussion after a face-plant on the ice and then about got ran over (so they tell me) I was unconscious at the time.
E.
 
Almost time for nightshift, have a nice and night everyone...

1929
 


bnsf971 said:
The phone rings at the model railroad club.
"If that's my wife, tell her I'm at the bar!"
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I could use any of those excuses if I had a wife, a club or a bar to go to.
I'll settle for a club.
My cat [I swear he ain't my cat] doesn't care.
 
This is for you guys back east:

What the H*** is going on here?

digging out.jpg
 
Well, finished for the day down in the train room. I had totally ran out of foliage material so that was among some of the items picked up while in Florida. A few more sagebrush trees were built an installed along with a fence around the yard area behind two of the homes. One garage was also built and installed. Going to call it quits for a few days and rest.

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Clippings from the sagebrush also makes good firewood loads for pickups as seen in the lower left of the last picture.

No snow so far. Cloudy and 36.
 
A well earned rest, by the look of it Montanan. Lots of "oldies but goodies" on the streets to, specially that little Nash Metropolitan.:)
 


...And my day started off blah, and tapered off from there.
After spending almost no time playing with trains lately, I decided to put my BLI N&W J on the track, run it around the layout to make sure there was no smoke fluid left in the smoke unit, and box it for shipping to another forum member. Yes, this is the one I recently had back to BLI for electronic issues, and replaced the smoke unit, and replaced the decoder. Well, it made it halfway around the layout, and the recently replaced smoke unit went up in a cloud of (non-smoke-fluid generated) smoke. I have had enough of BLI steam engines. I permanently disabled the smoke unit (cut the wires to it), and am going to PM the forum member to see if he still wants the thing, at a reduced price.
This engine was the end result of a botched trade/sale/purchase from a former forum member. It is a duplicate road number, and I have been fixing everything wrong with it since I got it, with an eye toward trading or selling it. It seems determined to stay with me, forever and always... Argh! Does anybody want a BLI N&W class J, #611, museum version, cheap? Does everything well, except smoke...
 
BigE said:
I just KNEW I was putting a curse on myself when I posted that video last night.
My neighbor came over to see it run. ...
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Eric, you've just learned another truism of Model Railroading: The best way to uncover hidden flaws in your layout is to invite guests over to watch your trains run!:p

Montanan, I always love looking at the photos of your layout - motivates me to keep plugging away on my own!

. . .

28*F and calm here in the "Free" State, they're predicting snow for the early morning thru noon - 1 to 2 inches. That's what they originally called for last Saturday, and we know what we actually got!

On the train front, I spent the evening preparing for a background-painting clinic I am supposed to give at the next Club meeting this coming Saturday. I think I just about have it all wrapped up, 95% at least.
 
BigE said:
...

As to heart problems, I am told I have a racing heart (medically called tachycardia). Usually it doesn't bother me. Some days just getting out of bed leaves me unable to catch my breath. Yesterday wasn't very good after I hauled out an old mattress box springs. I had to sit down for a good 15-30 minutes until it calmed down some. Good thing I didn't have any table work or other strenuous things to do the rest of the day. I wouldn't have been able to. For the most part I'm ok. I'm sure a cardiologist would say otherwise.
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You're d**ned right he would say otherwise. Tachycardia is a dangerous condition that needs to be treated. I can only tell you to get to a cardiologist as quick as possible. It can be treated medically, but if left untreated it can lead to heart failure or sudden death.

I spent almost 30 years as a RN in the Operating Room. Most of that time was dealing with trauma victims, and cardiac emergencies. Run, don't walk to a cardiologist. I know of what I say.
 
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Well, we just had our first snow of the year! It was maybe .25" But it sure was purty coming down. Haven't done anything much MR wise, at least on my own stuff.

I'm going to be off the forum until probably next week. My son and his beautiful fiance are getting married this Saturday. We have the after rehearsal dinner Friday, a Groomsman breakfast Saturday morning and the wedding Saturday night. We've got us a hotel room downtown near the venue where the wedding will take place, so we don't have to drive everywhere this weekend. They are going somewhere into the Caribbean for their honeymoon. St. Bart's IIRC.

I'll sure be glad when it's over. My wife has gone completely nuts over this. She bought me not one, but TWO brand new suits. I'm the kind of guy that wears a suit maybe once in ten years. I have a suit in the closet that I've worn twice since I retired, and it was new when I wore it then. I swear that she's spent more money than the bride's parents have on the entire wedding. I tried to give my son some advice about this last year, ELOPE. But he wouldn't do it. Rats!

I'll still be checking in probably between now and Friday, but after that, I'll be somewhere in the environs of downtown Birmingham.

Later!
 
Gentlemen, tomorrow is Friday...time to make preparations!

1930

Have a nice day folks!
 
Just before 0500 hours on Thursday. We got plenty of snow yesterday. I stayed in the train room when it started coming down. For a while we had flakes the size of silver dollars. It sure was pretty to watch. Fairly rare for here but not terribly all that bad. I was setting up video for another long pull record and my buddy across the street, CJ (former Marine), came over. I had 23 cars going at one point which is the better part of 2/3 of a full lap on my circuit.
I was just about to start recording and getting ready to talk [a little script in my head] when things started falling apart. I mean everything started coming apart. Cars started unhooking, wheels came off the trucks, some track started coming up AND a button came off my NCE Power CAB unit for no reason. I may have dropped it in a frenzy to shut down but there is carpet so I don't see how that button came out.
At least I do have a human witness, CJ, that I had 23 cars going on a single engine pull. He saw I was getting all ill and left me to my troubles.
I let it go for a while to cool off - referring to me cooling off. I went back at it. I found some cars needing shimming on the couplers and CJ watched me do one of them. He just shook his head and went off for another beer and left me to my travails.

Yeah Ken, you are right about finding layout demons. Just bring in some visitors or get ready to make a video.

I'd never made or posted anything on youtube until recent. My Dad, little brother, some of you all have all seen them and now I have a couple of subscribers. Really? On my little po-dunk thingy?
...... ok..... I'm rambling.... but at least I the trains back running again.

Carey: as to my heart problem, it apparently has ran in the family forever but no one seemed it necessary to ever tell me.... until Mom died. According to her brother, Uncle Jim, she had it [tachycardia], he has it, Mom had it, aunt Elaine had it and recently to hear from my Dad he has it as well. When I found out about all this, just recently in fact, I was a bit furious no one told of this stuff. Both sides of my bloodlines are medical people. Step-dad is a Dr. and double PhD, sister Andrea and both step-sisters are all Dr.s and Dad has PhD in Pharmacology.
Being step-dad was, still is actually, a pathologist, I've probably seen worse than you or anyone should ever have to see. I don't mean to take away from your experiences. I didn't mean that.
In the mean time, I've not had a cup of coffee in probably 6 or more months. Same goes for brewed tea or any soft drinks (Coke, Dr. Pepper, etc). Beer and cigs.. that's another matter. I can only slay one dragon at a time.
Just like track problems!!!
Guess I'll head back upstairs to tinker some more. Got nothing else to do.
E.
 
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Seems I need my NCE cab fixed or replaced. I had to reprogram one of my engines to not use the number 8. But now I can't shut down the sound.

I dare not ask what else can happen.
 


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