Running Bear's February 2022 Coffee Shop

[TrucTrain55]

Good Morning All. Clear skies and 37° out here on the farm. We're looking at highs around 70° for a few days, lows in the lower 40's.
I have an 8:00 am dental appointment today for routine teeth cleaning, so I will be brief this morning.

Thanks to all who commented on or liked the additional action poses that I posted yesterday; James, Smudge, Karl, Chad, Gary, Dave B, Patrick, Hughie, Sherrel, Mikey, Curt, Louis, Lee, Tom, Tom O, Guy, IB Ken.

I had a short adventure in the train shed yesterday. Figure painting was the only actual modeling. I did do some general maintenance of the room, vacuuming the floor and finishing up on the structure cleaning that I slowly started last month.
Since I haven't a clue what to post, I'll post a few structures that I have built but are not yet on the layout. I still have a full 1/3 of my area with just track running through and no scenery.
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I know where most will go, but I am trying to get some other areas finished up first.

George - While I can afford $7000 more model RR stuff, I really don't have room for it! I could make the train shed bigger, but I feel that I am at the limit of what I could maintain in the future.
Re: Tankers - On the BNSF line near me, they use four bay covered hoppers. An engineer acquaintance of mine told me that they were filled with cement. I remember seeing it for at least 40 years now, back when the line was still ATSF. He also has told me that they can't have an open load of pipe next to a tanker, even if it is on a bulkhead flat car.
Hughie - Good luck with the well.
Joe - A properly installed septic system is practically maintenance-free and costs next to nothing to operate. I do have to mow more often above the lateral lines though!
I always appreciate your recollections of life on the railroads. It certainly helps me operate in a more prototypical manner.
Curt - Good luck fighting that bug or whatever ails you.
Sherrel - Your post seems to have gone AWOL, and I don't remember what ails you; but get well soon.
Lee - Echoing Tom, how do they get the grain in containers?

I know that he didn't post anywhere that I know of, but I did see that Guy was lurking yesterday.

Everybody have a great day. Stay safe and warm.

Willie I like that Barn. To answer your and Tom’s Question they back the containers up to a Conveyor that goes inside the container it starts loading in the front of the container and as the container fills up a yard truck hooked to it pulls forward then they block it with Lumber in the back and cardboard. The average weight on these grain containers are around 100,000 pounds we have to have special permits to pull these grain loads to the rails. Here’s a pic of the grain leg and conveyors and a side rail where the rail cars come in to be unloaded next to that is where the grain trucks pull in with there hopper trailers and dump grain and it goes up the leg

 

[Boris]

Joe- Thank you. Interesting discussion about tank carloads and spacing. Great photo. There used to be a small forge that was online years ago that cast Pennsy signs. I wish I had got them all at the time, but only got these two. I had to paint them.

I remember someone that cast Keystone Station and Tower signs, that was in the 70s. I like your whistle and Bell posts. Regret not getting my hands on a real one. While the W sign was common approaching road crossings, the only place I recall R signs was on the A&S Branch at Columbia, PA., where there was a noise ordinance. There were also MX signs approaching multiple crossing but they were rare in comparison.

PRR # 8592 on break in run. Incredibly quiet running, with accurate ALCo sound, and awesome detail.

The grain shipped out of our Duluth port goes in huge bins in the ships.

Dave: I presume those are the ships that sail down the St. Lawrence River in the Fall?

The Amish. That part of Indiana has a Metric-Crap-Load of Amish.

Troy: And they are really very frugal...Hate to spend money on things they can produce themselves for less.

So why worry about my septic tank and charge me $100?

Greg: Because they can. And because y'all are seasonal residents...it's an easy job for the vendor...

Not for nothing, I will no longer mention neither taxes nor septic tanks again....

Louis: Thought Sonic was a drive through burger joint. Man, I'm behind the times.

BLI is offering a PRR class E6 4-4-2 Steam Passenger Locomotive in three versions. MSRP is $599.99. That's equivalent to two sound equipped RS3s....I think I'll stick with diesels.

 

[TrucTrain55]

Here’s some more pics of the O scale layout

 

[kbkchooch]

Louis: Thought Sonic was a drive through burger joint. Man, I'm behind the times.

Boris, Sonic makes good fast food, and they also give Bud the wonderdog puppy ice cream when he rides with me. Sonic is also a world car, South Korean body (Daewoo) Opel engine with a transmission made in Turkey, and a Chevy bow tie on the grill.

The RS looks sweeeeet! But if you ever decide to go steam, I do have a brass G5 that I'm not using!

 

[CambriaArea51]

I've just realised, that's far more than I will ever need to know about the relationship between you and your septic tank

He should know.....It is his poo.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Jaz and Dave thanks for your replies that was one way I was thinking how they might load them.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Willie I like that Barn. To answer your and Tom’s Question they back the containers up to a Conveyor that goes inside the container it starts loading in the front of the container and as the container fills up a yard truck hooked to it pulls forward then they block it with Lumber in the back and cardboard. The average weight on these grain containers are around 100,000 pounds we have to have special permits to pull these grain loads to the rails. Here’s a pic of the grain leg and conveyors and a side rail where the rail cars come in to be unloaded next to that is where the grain trucks pull in with there hopper trailers and dump grain and it goes up the leg View attachment 140619

Thanks Lee, kinda gives me an idea for grain and intermodal.
Does the grain stay in the containers or do they empty them in a ships hull.

 

[TrucTrain55]

Thanks Lee, kinda gives me an idea for grain and intermodal.
Does the grain stay in the containers or do they empty them in a ships hull.

The Grain stays in there till it gets overseas. The CMA containers are going to China. I’ll get you some better pics of the whole thing so you came get a plan together it would be very interesting to see it in HO and I think you would be the first to do something like that

 

[Boris]

if you ever decide to go steam, I do have a brass G5 that I'm not using!

Karl: Don't tempt me...no, I'm not going to do steam, but there are some Pennsy Fans out there who would be interested, especially since It doesn't look likely that BLI will indulge them with a G5 (or H9), any time soon.
That's an interesting combination on the Sonic...truly a World car.

Tomorrow, I go for a CT Scan of the Lung, in advance of my appointment with the Pulmonologist. Afterword, we need a few groceries. The Wife, is undecided between the Acme or Trader Joe's.

I said video at eleven, but the format isn't recognized by the forum software. sorry! I did give it a good break-in this afternoon and evening.

 

[bnsf971]

I just posted this on Fecesbook, and copied it over here for the people that don't indulge:


I'm sure most of you have noticed by the unstated topics of my posts since the new company took over where I work, I have been less than enthused about some of the changes they are bringing to our little corner of retail.
Initially, I was hopeful things would work out, and the new company would return their focus on our customers, rather than simply the dollar signs they represent. UNFORTUNATELY, THE OPPOSITE SEEMS TO BE THE CASE.
Since these things are so far beyond the scope of my own sense of ethics, with little to no hope of them returning, after 11 years, 11 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days (not that I'm counting, or anything), I'm leaving them to it, and heading to what looks like the only remaining independent RV dealer in my area.
Hopefully the new place will continue to offer the "small business" sense of Customer First that I grew up with, instead of "Profit at all costs" that seems to be exemplified by the company I am now leaving.
While I am leaving behind many friends, both co-workers and customers, I hope I'll find many new ones where I'm going.
The price of continuing to work where I was has become too high.

 

[gjslsffan]

I don't blame you for leaving them. After reading what you have said about how they treat their own people.
Think I would have left too.
Also think you will be just fine in your new work place.
I wish you the very best of luck.

 

[IronBeltKen]

Good evening Shop Dwellers! Been awhile I realize, my energy levels simply are not what they are during the sunnier months of the year. Guess it kinda runs counter to the norm of sports in summer and trains in winter. But as many of you know from my bread-crumb trail of "likes", I have at least been lurking and reading the posts.

As far as taxes and defense spending: I simply avoid expressing my worldviews on these topics, because - regardless of how many links I might provide pointing to my sources - the chances of somebody changing their outlook [which is usually formed over years of their own experiences] are slim to none. And it seems like some of us always have to get in the proverbial last word. No thanks, I'll continue sitting out those discussions!

Joe - glad to see your RS3 finally arrived safely to your door, I know that as of yesterday afternoon you were saying that the order status was "not yet fulfilled." Hope your CT scan doesn't turn up anything ugly.

Guy - good to see you posting here again, in spite of being down with covid. Hope you get over it quickly...

Terry - it's great to see you're finally able to escape that hellhole you've been trapped in, best of luck at the new location!

* * *
In the train realm, I think I've finally found something that could re-ignite my enthusiasm: I'm going to try to mechanize the rotary coal dumper in my steel mill. I discovered yesterday that I can remove the whole thing intact and do a little "surgery" on the frame to make it sit on a few drive dowels, I just need to find the right kind of low-rpm motor to connect to them. A local mrr friend seems to know an online distributor where these can be obtained for a reasonable price.

That's about all I had time to type up this evening, I'll provide updates on the dumper project once I obtain the necessary raw materials.

Good Night - and have a Pleasant Tomorrow!

 

[CambriaArea51]

The Grain stays in there till it gets overseas. The CMA containers are going to China. I’ll get you some better pics of the whole thing so you came get a plan together it would be very interesting to see it in HO and I think you would be the first to do something like that

Sounds good,I love doing different. I have just the containers for it. Hopefully they'll mak 40' containers in the future.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

"The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray".
I had planned to paint more figures today, but my wife reminded me for the 14th or 23rd time that I need to clean the cars off the breakfast table.
Her back and knees were not bothering her too much, so she was able go downstairs and help me put rolling stock and flatcar loads on shelves.
I have an 18" space between the layout and wall with two 6 inch wide,12' long shelves at 6 '-6" and 7' heights. I have to use a step stool and lean partway over the layout to put things on the track on the shelves.
With my lovely wife handing me rolling stock and materials, I was able to display about 50 boxcars, flatcars and loads, gondolas and reefers. She organized 3 other shelves where I store vehicles so I could put the vehicles off the new desk up with other vehicles. She returned upstairs while I spent some more time to consolidate and organize the vehicle shelves.

I did clear more items off the breakfast table as requested but not everything.

 

[chadbag]

So a funny thing just happened. We have a FB group for our local neighborhood. There is also a competing company called Next Door which sets up neighborhood communities online. Someone posted a link to a Nextdoor.com rant about a local gas station and how they charged her son $150 to fill up his Honda Fit -- when she looked at the credit card account online. She was calling for a boycott of this gas station etc. There were claims about it being the banks fault (says the gas station) and blame on the gas station.

I calmly replied that there was a lot of misinformation. And then I made a really long post about how how gas stations (and hotels etc) obtain pre-authorizations before you pump the gas to make sure you can pay for the gas you get, and then will convert this transaction to a real authorization for the real amount and it is just a hold and book keeping on the bank's side and your real money was not being given to the gas station except for the actual sale amount and it only affected your available credit (which nobody watches closely anyway unless you are on the edge of being full). I did explain that swiping a debit card was slightly different since there is no credit available to dock (to guarantee the payment) so they have to hold the whole pre-authorization amount against your actual cash in your account. And that it can take a few days to settle out once the transaction is done at the pump due to the way that card charges work and how often the banks settle against customer accounts. Which is why you never swipe a debit card at a pump. Always use a debit card inside the gas station after pumping to pay (they may hold the card for you while you pump as a security measure).

Anyway, the poster of the story came back and said the gas station has her $150 for 2 days and can invest it and get interest etc. I explained again that that is not how it worked -- the $150 was just a pending authorization and no money changed hands. It would convert to a real transaction for the real amount which will eventually post to the account as a settled transaction. But that can take a few days. Usually you don't see the high dollar pending transactions on your account unless you look right away as once the gas is pumped and the pump closes the transaction, it gets converted from a pre-authorization for $150 to the actual amount of $35.28 or whatever it is and that is what you usually see (pending and settled). Of course, different issuing banks may handle the display of the data differently so you may see the large pending one more often. But it is still just book keeping.

The person also complained that they held $150 even though it was just a Honda Fit with a 10-11 gallon tank. I explained the pump doesn't know if you have a Honda Fit with a 10-11 gallon tank or a jacked up truck with a 35 gallon tank and with the price of gas today you would hit that $150 limit if filling the truck. The person said the people inside should "get off their _ss" and check the vehicle. Someone pointed out to that person that it is all automatic at the pump. None of the worker trigger anything.

I though it was funny how they kept brining up different things about it to be mad about, and claimed it was new at this station and had never happened there to them before. I (and another guy who used to work for Sinclair Oil in the credit card department who confirmed everything I said) explained that ALL gas stations with pay-at-the-pump work this way and it was not new at this station. I use this station (and a Murphy Express in the area) and said I had seen the large pending amounts once in a while if I looked quickly enough online at the account but usually they showed the smaller amount when I got around to looking as all the data transfer book keeping had caught up.

I also explained how I knew this -- besides taking cards myself in my own business for many years (not currently) I had written an iPhone app that was a credit card terminal for a certain backend system and had learned more than I ever wanted to know about how cards process through the process of writing this app and having to do it and communicate and clear the transactions with the backend.

Anyway, it as the FB laugh for the day. The person tried hard to keep coming back with more things to be mad about this gas station and their charging of cards about. None of which made sense or resembled how things actually happen.

 

[Smudge617]

Smudge- Several years ago I read somewhere that England was the only country in the world to pay off their WWII loans.

I think your correct, have to do a bit of research on that one. I know that the US and to some extent the UK, paid for all the rebuilding of Europe afterward, but then again, we did blow most of it up in the first place.

 

[Smudge617]

I just posted this on Fecesbook, and copied it over here for the people that don't indulge:


I'm sure most of you have noticed by the unstated topics of my posts since the new company took over where I work, I have been less than enthused about some of the changes they are bringing to our little corner of retail.
Initially, I was hopeful things would work out, and the new company would return their focus on our customers, rather than simply the dollar signs they represent. UNFORTUNATELY, THE OPPOSITE SEEMS TO BE THE CASE.
Since these things are so far beyond the scope of my own sense of ethics, with little to no hope of them returning, after 11 years, 11 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days (not that I'm counting, or anything), I'm leaving them to it, and heading to what looks like the only remaining independent RV dealer in my area.
Hopefully the new place will continue to offer the "small business" sense of Customer First that I grew up with, instead of "Profit at all costs" that seems to be exemplified by the company I am now leaving.
While I am leaving behind many friends, both co-workers and customers, I hope I'll find many new ones where I'm going.
The price of continuing to work where I was has become too high.

Good luck with your new employer's

 

[gjslsffan]

Good luck with your new employer's

I have always sent our right honorable friends on the east side of the Atlantic my kindest regards. For being there by our side over the last 100+ years. In 1979 I was part of US Marine FMF Atlantic. We went all over Europe, but never England. I have always regretted, that I never got to go to England , and share a pint with friends
I never knew.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Good morning....Up and down temps the next few days. The good thing is we're gaining 2-3 minutes a day in daylight.
Coffee and a breakfast sandwich Flo.

 

[OBTC 1909]

Good morning all! 30 degrees here heading for mostly sunny and 40. Back to work today after a single day off.

Had a very nice day yesterday. Had to stop at the doctor's office as I previously mentioned to get set up with my blood glucose sensor. After that the Mrs and I went to Texas Roadhouse and had an early Valentine's Day lunch. Really good food and good, but weak Margarita's. Thought I took plenty of insulin for this meal but apparently not. That's one way this sensor will start helping me do a better job managing. Before I had to stick my finger again and again to see the current situation, but now I just turn on the receiver and see what my current level is. Should make it a lot easier to keep on the right track. It's interesting to look at it frequently just to see how much your blood sugar levels rise and fall all the time without eating anything at all. Gives you new perspective on management.

The only downside with the new sensor is that my old phone isn't compatible with it so I can't use it to monitor the sensor. I have to carry around a separate receiver unit to do that. No big deal, just something else to carry with me.

That's about it from here. Hope you all have a great day!