Running Bear's February 2022 Coffee Shop

[Boris]

I need another loco like I need a hole in the head, and I can use the money more for the upcoming layout scenery.

Curt: I hear you, I found this one hard to resist...my Atlas versions are dated, and the Athearn versions have drive issues, and the Bachmanns are Bachmanns. Your Freighthouse is going to look great on your layout. Nice Build.
George: No it doesn't... I'm just not up on the technology.
Karl: Great looking modules.
Chet: Nice seeing your post. Good luck with the Condo...ground floor is great...I also miss your layout.

Going down to the single digits again over night. Most of next week will see average February temperatures with daytime temps in the mid 40s.
Oh, yeah, some of the daffodils are starting to come up.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Tom: Never say never. These are experimental, not full production, and will be used in yard service. The perfect location to test a concept locomotive. FWIW, the Hydrogen fuel cell powered locos CP and BNSF are experimenting with are also prototypes, vs. full production.

Times are changing, diesel - electric technology has reached it's upper limits, so it's time for something else. Electrification of high density lines would be the best solution, if the cost of the infrastructure wasn't so damn expensive....Government funding could be the solution, but that opens up several cans of (political) worms.

I remember when I was i the AF in the mid 80's a guy transferred from Area 51. We asked some questions but the only thing he could say was the military is 25-30 ahead of the civilian population. He said in the future the electronic gadgets(smart phones for example) will blow your mind. A good example today is the Mars rover, small panel powering the batteries to move that around. Is it possible, yes but we're not there yet in the civilian sector.

 

[chadbag]

I promised myself when I finished the last book that I'd get a copy of Ghostbusters: Afterlife on DVD

We saw this as a family in the theater and we all enjoyed it. Made my daughter want to go home and watch the original, which she had never seen for some reason. She had seen Ghostbusters #2 (with the original gang).

 

[BigGRacing]

Area 51

Alien technology coming……..

 

[OBTC 1909]

Good morning all! A warm 5 degrees outside on the way to sunny and 35. Hoping a little (or a LOT) snow melts off today. All of our main roads are clear now, but the gravel road I live along is still pretty bad and the blacktop I drive out to to get to the main highway is still pretty snow covered. Work today and then off tomorrow. Work again Tuesday and then off Wednesday. I hate our schedule. My daily hours are mostly good but I wish they could always get us 2 days off in a row. I never get anything done if I just have one day off at a time.

Nothing much to report from here. Hope you all have a great day!

 

[BigGRacing]

Good morning OBTC and all,
-13c currently with a high of -7c forecast for today. Frost quake again this morning or my above ground pool cracked, will walk around house again today. Huge rain and freezing rain from Friday is probably freezing and heaving.

Placed track a bit more yesterday and will put some temp track down into my future train yard, representing the old North End yard.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's clear and 20.
So far, the bathroom sink is draining.I took several hours cleaning the bathroom, then the rest of the house, then off to the showers with me. I noticed one of the potted plants wilt when I walked by...
Now for the weekly grocery run, bathe and feed the car, and finish laundry.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Alien technology coming……..

You know something we don't.

 

[Smudge617]

I promised myself when I finished the last book that I'd get a copy of Ghostbusters: Afterlife on DVD

The one written and directed by Jason Reitman, son of the original director, Ivan Reitman. this is the one "with the kids" not with the women as the main cast.

View attachment 140353

Yep. Get it/rent it/borrow it if you enjoyed the original. It's not a remake, and it's not just a sequel. It's an homage to the original and it does its job well. Some predictable moments, and some unexpected ones.

There's a rollerskate drive-in diner called Spinners... I gotta find a model I can convert and include that on my layout.

And the Ecto-1. Gotta get an ecto-1 with a gunner seat

This should be interesting as to who get's there first, you or Jazz

 

[CambriaArea51]

Good morning....Coffee Flo, 16 to start up to 33 today. More work in the train room today.

 

[TrucTrain55]

Good Morning all. 23 degrees in the Ozark Foothills. Sorry I’ve been off the air for a bit just still trying to dig out of what the snow storm left I think I’m in good shape now.

Gary. Your layout and outside pics looks great

Willie Hope you can get to the train shed soon

Here’s some pics form my O scale layout enjoy your day

 

[Smudge617]

Afternoon All
Yesterday was a good day for me, with the occasional "blonde" moment. Started off by lining the two new storage boxes that arrived earlier in the week. Then went on to biting the bullet and trying this little beauty out. Went brilliantly, but doesn't like my curves, kept climbing out the track and the point by my tunnel it really didn't like, so I need to tweak those sections. Otherwise, really happy with this Loco, thanks Paul.

Moved on to finishing off my dummy coal loads, I think I need to re-paint the two non UP hoppers, blond moment number one, was when I fitted the KD couplings (yes, both of them) the wrong way round on the Western Pacific underframe, which I did after taking this photo.

Moved on from there to finish the F-45 Burlington conversion, completed that, and decided I might as well do the F-45 Wisconsin as well.
Which went well, (always easier the second time around). But I'm having an issue with the headlight on that one, I'm using a directional Lighting board and I can't get it to work, it should, I've used these boards before on my OO Diesel's, so not sure what the problem is, push comes to shove, as I'm using a plug in decoder I'll bypass the board altogether. The Burlington I haven't fitted the headlight, as the bulb holder's broken,(rivet's come loose) so I'll may use a SMD when they arrive, or try and Araldite the holder back in place.

Blonde moment No.2 was after I removed the motor housing from the Burlington I knocked one of them onto the floor, as I was doing some soldering I thought "not a problem, the mounts white and my carpet is grey, no problem to find that" so I thought, 2 hours later, nope can't find it anywhere. It was only when I took a break I noticed that was something white stuck between my shoe and ankle on my artificial leg, Tah Daa!! found it.

Also did a tidy up and sorted all my Loco's, which ones are DCC and DC, so I've got 9 still to convert plus one conversion and repair to do,(it was £5 including postage so thought it was worth a bash at) and 15 that are DCC, this is all from NOVEMBER 2021 when I bought my first HO scale Loco, f#s!!!

EDIT
Reason lights wont work, simple, try using F1 numb nuts NOT F0.
Blonde moment No3.

 

[MilwRoader_Steve]

Good Morning all,

Getting ready for the church gig. Wife started improving about 7:00 last night. She asked for, and therefore got, waffles, eggs and sausage for dinner, which I served up about 6. About 8:30, she asked if we had any wine open. "In this house?" So I poured her a glass of what I had opened Friday night and I had a whisky. Glad she is feeling better, but the real tale when I get her up in a few minutes.

I awoke about 0200 and could not get back to sleep so got up and read for about an hour. Then slept pretty well waking up at 6, 10 minutes before my alarm.

Hope to keep it a quiet day, and want to run some bus wires and other wires under the main table - - I know, I know, a project I have been 'hoping' to get to for about two weeks now.

21F here now with an inch of new snow. We are at the 'high' for today as the temp begins to drop all day long to a low of 2 below 0 tomorrow morning. But a big warm up coming with a predicted high of 41F on Tuesday! Might have to break out the chipping wedge and the orange balls!!

 

[BigGRacing]

You know something we don't.

I haven’t worked in Area 51, just been watching tv lately…..lol, so I know it’s true.

 

[BigGRacing]

dummy coal loads

Are the cars full or did you sub fill them with foam or something?

 

[Smudge617]

Are the cars full or did you sub fill them with foam or something?

All my loads are removable so I use 1or2X20gram weights attached to some Styrofoam (I have used Plasticard, but it's not thick enough, I have to build some form of platform so it sits at the right height in the wagon). Then coat some Gorilla Wood Glue on top and add the load I'm using, works for anything I've found, so far Ballast, stone, pebbles, wood, coal, limestone, I've even used Rock Salt, it dries clear, and if I want to build a load so it has ridges or mounds I simply do a bottom "coat" let it that dry then make my mound or ridge, dilute the glue with water 60/40 add in an old hand sprayer, spray it over the top and let it dry.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Happy Sunday Morning to ALL youse guys amid gals out there in modeling land. We are looking at a spread of 36F to 76F today under a more sunny sky. Here's the forecast:
A dry, Santa Ana pattern will prevail through next week with gusty northeast winds at times along the coastal foothills, and especially below offshore, wind-prone passes and canyons. Count on another clear and cold night tonight, but much warmer days are in store for next week, when high temperatures at lower elevations could be well into the 80's under fair skies. The nights won`t be quite as cold either. There are no prospects for precipitation through the middle of the month.
Now you know more than you probably wanted or needed to know!

OK ..Being that I was a former aviator and after spending most of three years off this Earth - I still get chills when Ilook at something like this photo.
This happened almost 50 years ago and "blows" my mind! At the time these few guys were going to the Moon and back, we were still using doppler navigation and oscillator Navy radio signals - trying to line them up - in order to find our way from continent to continent. If we managed to hit our navigation points within 5-10 miles, we considered that a win!

I cannot fathom what must have been going through the minds of those astronauts as they looked at this sight!

Astronomy Picture of the Day

A different astronomy and space science related image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.

apod.nasa.gov

 

[kbkchooch]

Alien technology coming……..

From LGMs

 

[Sirfoldalot]

GARY - You have awesome potential with the layout you are building - carry on, sir!

LEE - Your layout and photos are phenomenal - amazing what you have done with "three rail".
It is hardly noticeable- I love it - being an old Lionel-Marx fan!

STEVE - So happy that your wife is feeling better! Pretty soon you will be chasing her around the house!

KARL - Super job on the modules! That is some really fine looking woodwork!

KEN - Don't let them win! Rebuild the modules with some of that multi-fine layered - plywood!

 

[Boris]

Good morning. Happy Sunday. Was supposed to drop to 9° overnight, but only went to 16°, supposed to reach 36°, then begin a warm up tomorrow.

For PRR fans out there, Trainworld is taking pre-orders for BLI's new PRR E6 steam locomotive. Discounted price is close to $470.00 for a small steam locomotive...MSRP is close to $600.00. Makes Bowser's new RS3 cheap by comparison. I don't model steam, but if I did, it would be the perfect sized passenger loco for my layout...but not at that price.

I intend to clear more clutter from the work bench. I'm tired of being unable to find what I need when attempting a project. Think I'm going to buy one of those Ott lights like quilters use, to help with vision. I'm also recycling some boxes with foam inserts for my retired fleet of Blue Box and Yellow box freight cars. I finally have sufficient prototypically correct freight cars on hand to replace them.

Have a great Sunday.