Running Bear's Coffee Shoppe LIX

[Boris]

Good morning, 30°, with blowing snow.

 

[bnsf971]

We seem to get more than our share of ice in Winter. I can deal with snow, but ice is downright dangerous to try to do anything with. Driving is pretty much out of the question, and walking is an adventure. One moron drove by our house yesterday in a box truck, doing about 50mph. The speed limit is 35, so he would be speeding on the best of days. It was far from the best of days. A little less than a minute later, I heard that "garbage truck emptying a dumpster" sound I am familiar with here, as he missed the 90 degree turn at the bottom of the hill...

 

[new guy]

Loosing power for extended periods really does suck. It happened to my last wife and I the first year we had our house in the western NC mountains circa '97. We lived off a gravel road on a mountain with no neighbors during the winter months. 27 trees came down and we lost power for about 4 (four) days. We were on well water so that meant the pumps didn't run either. Fortunately there was two 100 gal. bladder tanks so we had drinking/cooking water. Toilets were flushed by using snow we melted on the wood burning stove. Keeping the stove going was a full time job. It took me the better part of two days to get the trees out of the road down to the paved road. Another 2 days was spent shoveling 2 tire tracks before I could get a vehicle out.
it was another 2 weeks before the road cleared off enough so I get a vehicle back up to the driveway. It sure got old backpacking beer and groceries up that mountain!!! Amazing how quick I decided I could do without a sack of taters or a gallon of milk.
I missed a whole week of work that time. When I did make it back to work in town, FEMA and the NC nat. guard was all over the place. I kept wondering where was my help that whole time.
E.

Fema and the no-go's! For some SNOW???(errr?) wth? HUH? I mean- it's- WHAT??

Wow.

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. It's 28 degrees and overcast here this morning. Thankfully I have no snow like some of our fellow forum members. High today may reach 50, then 60 on Sunday & Monday. By next Friday, the weather gurus are predicting 70+ for at least four days. For those affected by the major snowstorm, keep warm and safe and I hope your power doesn't go out. Around here (very rural), power goes out about 6-8 times a year, mostly in the spring and early summer; primarily due to thunderstorms, high winds and tornados; plus the inevitable steer rubbing against a power pole! Generally off for only 2-3 hours unless it's the middle of the night and no one notices and no one calls the power company. Since I heat with wood and cook with propane, the only inconvenience is generally the partial lack of electronics or ceiling fans.
Dave - Thanks for the comment. I still am going to add awnings and downspouts before "planting" it on the layout.
Chet - That picture makes me cringe. I prefer the 30-40 days of 100+ degrees that I endure during July-August.
Curt - Thanks. My wife doesn't care one way or the other, she has only been to the train shed 2-3 times since I built it 5 years ago. She's just not used to me being in the house as she is getting ready for work...I get in the way or something!
Terry - Both nice videos. I guess my handle gives away my favorite railroad!
CS3 - I too use rattle cans to paint the track. Quick and easy. As Eric said, for the ballast, mix Elmer's White Glue or the equivalent, 50:50 with water and I add a few drops of dish washing detergent and use it. I use an old Elmer's bottle and dribble it out after I mist the ballast heavily with alcohol/water (40:60) mixture. It's a lot cheaper than paying Woodland Scenics to do it for you.

Bob, Karl, Terry and others - Again keep warm and safe and keep in touch. You'll probably be "stir-crazy" soon.

Have a great day everyone.

Willie

 

[tootnkumin]

Ran my 2 new Athearn RTR/sound SD40's at the club today (Econami decoders). Wasn't very impressed with the sound quality, had to turn both up in volume and that's unusual. Still was "thin". Interestingly was able to do the basic setup on the unboosted programming track. An odd looking speaker, not the more common diaphragm type.

 

[kbkchooch]

My poor truck! And we can look forward to another 12 hours of this!!

Out back doesn't look any better

Wood stove keeps house warm!!



Time to play trains!!

 

[PRR Modeler]

Morning All,

Hope all my buddies north of me are doing well this A.M. and still have power. Only plans for me is the train club today where I will be picking up the T/O's I need for the yard remodel. It's windy and chilly here and looks like it wants to rain, but none is scheduled for today.

My only snow story was during the mid 80's when we were stationed at Pearl, we were flying to East OH in March. We departed Honolulu for an overnight flight to Dallas. About 45 minutes from Honolulu the plane turned around to head back for a passenger medical emergency. After all of this it was another hour before leaving. On arrival we were informed there was a major snow storm in the NE and everything was cancelled. We were stuck in Dallas for 3 days before being able to leave. Our group had our son (8) and daughter (12) and a friends daughter (12) and of course MOH and I. Have you ever heard the phrase "Mother eating their young"? I could definitely understand it after that. The topper was after being sent to multiple gates the day we left, my son backed into a emergency door and set off the alarm (not intentional). If that had happened today he would of been given a Colonoscopy!

The glue I use is 1 cup white glue, 1 cup water, and 1 cup Rubbing Alcohol. If I am doing scenery I brush white glue down first and sprinkle ground cover. I spray Alcohol on everything first before applying glue with an eye dropper.

On my track I use a latex paint called rusty rails (believe it or not). Jeffery emailed me about it when I was first starting out. It looks odd when it first goes on but after it ages and gets a little dirty the color darkens and I like it.

Terry- Nice video and impressive amount of cars.

Chessie- Nice looking track work and ballasting.

Has anyone heard from David or Louis recently?

I hope everyone has a nice day.

 

[chessie_system3]

My ballast glue recipe is 50-50 white glue and water with a good splash of ISO 91%.
I don't use a sprayer for ballast. I use an empty glue bottle with the orange twist nozzle tip. Works just like an eye dropper.
Some say to not use off brand white glue and opt for the Elmer's brand.
I missed that memo and have always used the RiteAid store brand name which is less than half the price of the Elmer's.
I only used the WS scenery cement just because it came in a kit I got. Seems to be nearly the same as my homemade stuff. Having the sprayer certainly was necessary doing the ground cover work on the mountain. For big flat areas I just poured it out and spread it around with a regular 2" paint brush and sprinkled the cover right on it.
E.

I too received mine in a kit as well. I like the empty glue bottle idea. I never thought of that. I used all of my white glue putting down my roadbed. I'll have to give it a try with the glue bottle.

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk

 

[santafewillie]

Curt
David hasn't posted in three days, but logged on just after midnight last night. It's been about a week for Louis, but I have noticed that he sometimes has long spells of inactivity. The real big mystery is Tony (Wombat457). Historically he has over 4 posts/day, but he hasn't even been logged on in the last two weeks.
Looks like we'll be reading a lot from Karl though, as he won't be going anywhere anytime soon by the looks of his truck.
Willie

 

[bnsf971]

Curt
David hasn't posted in three days, but logged on just after midnight last night. It's been about a week for Louis, but I have noticed that he sometimes has long spells of inactivity. The real big mystery is Tony (Wombat457). Historically he has over 4 posts/day, but he hasn't even been logged on in the last two weeks.
Looks like we'll be reading a lot from Karl though, as he won't be going anywhere anytime soon by the looks of his truck.
Willie

Louis was posting on Facebook this morning.
No response yet from Tony to the email I sent. Next step will be a phone call.

 

[GarryCBQ]

We had an abundance of snow yesterday, but today it is sunny and cold. The storms have moved east.

Seeing the news of heavy snow in DC reminds me of trips I used to make there for business. ... One memorable trip was flying from Detroit to Washington DC about 35 years ago on a Northwest 727. The plane was rocking back and forth violently as we were coming into National Airport. The pilot aborted the landing, and we circled around. About 30 to 45 minutes later, the pilot made another attempt. It was worse. Some passengers were upchucking into white bags. ... The pilot aborted the landing again. ... After circling some more, we landed at Dullas Airport. ... It was a very long, slow bus ride in the winter storm to downtown DC. ... The meeting was to have been at 10:30 in the morning, but we convened at 6:00 pm instead.

 

[chessie_system3]

Good Morning All. It's 28 degrees and overcast here this morning. Thankfully I have no snow like some of our fellow forum members. High today may reach 50, then 60 on Sunday & Monday. By next Friday, the weather gurus are predicting 70+ for at least four days. For those affected by the major snowstorm, keep warm and safe and I hope your power doesn't go out. Around here (very rural), power goes out about 6-8 times a year, mostly in the spring and early summer; primarily due to thunderstorms, high winds and tornados; plus the inevitable steer rubbing against a power pole! Generally off for only 2-3 hours unless it's the middle of the night and no one notices and no one calls the power company. Since I heat with wood and cook with propane, the only inconvenience is generally the partial lack of electronics or ceiling fans.
Dave - Thanks for the comment. I still am going to add awnings and downspouts before "planting" it on the layout.
Chet - That picture makes me cringe. I prefer the 30-40 days of 100+ degrees that I endure during July-August.
Curt - Thanks. My wife doesn't care one way or the other, she has only been to the train shed 2-3 times since I built it 5 years ago. She's just not used to me being in the house as she is getting ready for work...I get in the way or something!
Terry - Both nice videos. I guess my handle gives away my favorite railroad!
CS3 - I too use rattle cans to paint the track. Quick and easy. As Eric said, for the ballast, mix Elmer's White Glue or the equivalent, 50:50 with water and I add a few drops of dish washing detergent and use it. I use an old Elmer's bottle and dribble it out after I mist the ballast heavily with alcohol/water (40:60) mixture. It's a lot cheaper than paying Woodland Scenics to do it for you.

Bob, Karl, Terry and others - Again keep warm and safe and keep in touch. You'll probably be "stir-crazy" soon.

Have a great day everyone.

Willie

The rattle can is a good idea. It gave me the results I wanted and it doesn't look too bad. I'll be back in the train room again seeing as how Eric done went off and gave me a solution to my problem that has been sitting in front of me this whole time I just never noticed.

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk

 

[Sirfoldalot]

BOB. Thanks for the tip on using a hose washer; I have not heard that one before. The connection is/was exactly as you described .. Male PVC to Female brass. I should have placed a pressure reducer on that main sprinkler line as it is 130/140 pounds pressure direct from the street. I may wind up doing that anyway, but I have found out that I am now allergic to shovels (LOL).

KARL. Nice photos .. Holy S::t!

 

[montanan]

Good morning. 28 Degrees with clear skies.

Hope everyone having to put up with the east coast storm makes it through OK and doesn't lose power. It looks like a good day to work on trains. That is what I am planning to day today. Have a couple of projects planned.

Stay warm if you're in the storm. Hey, I'm a poet and don't know it.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. 28
Stay warm if you're in the storm. Hey, I'm a poet and don't know it. View attachment 55450

...Don't quit your day job...

 

[bsmart]

Sorry folks I've been busy the last couple weeks and haven't been able to check in regularly

But Mother Nature has us pretty much blocked in this weekend. Here in the Middletown Valley we have about 24" of snow already and it isn't supposed to stop for another 12 hours or so. Had the snoblower out for a test run a few minutes ago. It is a little 18" electric Toro. It can handle about 10" of snow at a time so especially with the drifts next to the garage I nee to knock the drifts down. But it handles the snow well. It already handled 'Snowmageddon' a few years ago so I have confidence that it will handle this.

I got the lumber for my first modules last week but 'She Who Must Be Obeyed' has expressed her desire that I finish cleaning up the basement before I start building anything to add to it. So if nothing else this weekend will be a good chance to work on that.

Oh - it is currently 23 degrees with a windchill of about 16. which is warmer than it was earlier in the week.

 

[BigE]

The rattle can is a good idea. It gave me the results I wanted and it doesn't look too bad. I'll be back in the train room again seeing as how Eric done went off and gave me a solution to my problem that has been sitting in front of me this whole time I just never noticed.

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk

Happy to be of service my good man!!
E

 

[montanan]

Well, so much for working on trains. I sometimes work with the sheriff's possie and search and rescue and just got a phone call and they need a pilot to help them find a lost snowmobiler. Got to get to the airport and meet a deputy and see if we can find the snowmobiler.

 

[BigE]

Well, so much for working on trains. I sometimes work with the sheriff's possie and search and rescue and just got a phone call and they need a pilot to help them find a lost snowmobiler. Got to get to the airport and meet a deputy and see if we can find the snowmobiler.

Nice!!! Fixed wing or rotary today?
Good luck and be safe.
E.

 

[Boris]

it's still snowing in Central Jersey, but it has tapered off quite a bit. The temperature is hovering around 31°, and the wind is more from the Northeast. I went out around 0830 and shoveled around the porch and garage. My educated guess is about 16" to 18" of snowfall, but where I shoveled, there is only a dusting of new snow. Don't get me wrong we have more than enough. Hopefully, the snow thrower will hold up, but I'm not going out until it's done. BTW: Extended forecast calls for daytime temperatures above freezing all next week, and possibly rain on Tuesday, so this may be a fast melter.

I power tested my Walthers E9A-E8mB. They are very fine runners in DC mode Really happy with them. Next test is my new RDG GP30s.