Running Bear's February 2024 Coffee Shop

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The MW 101 - Track cleaning train will complete it's work on the Reading today. Using a GP7, (P2K), for power. Nice steady slow speed.
Once this is finished, I have some switch maintenance, (turnouts to some of y'all), to perform. Mostly alignment, and frog/guard rail clearance.

Currently 28°, going to 43°, with a 5 to 10 MPH Breeze from the NW. Sunny all day!
 


Morning all,

47° and rainy. It's as high as it's supposed to get.

As promised my haul:
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Then the F7:
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If you look close the one spot in the paint:
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Scratches in the picture are on the plastic box. It came with Kadee 5 couplers. I thought for the money it was a good deal. The seller said it was a DC unit. I told him that was perfect as I'm a DC modeler. Other sellers were asking that price for Blue Box engines. The only other GN loco was a dummy Fb unit and the seller wanted $40 for it.

Down to the train room in a bit.
 
I dislike airports and flying commercial is becoming more an adventure then it needs to be
They've got the system stretched so thin that there is essentially no room for error or mishap. My delay out of Hartford-Springfield last week was caused by lack of crew. A crew doesn't make it in on time and the plane they are supposed to take on the next leg is now toast, then you have to wait or re-book. I've done both.
 
Good morning. The weather app says it’s 26f degrees in So Central Wisconsin with a wind chill of18. The high for the day should hit 42 but with winds in the low teens. Here in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida it’s already 63 but only going to 66. I’m ok being here. Golf at 9:40 this morning, 27 holes

enjoy your day
 
Good morning. The weather app says it’s 26f degrees in So Central Wisconsin with a wind chill of18. The high for the day should hit 42 but with winds in the low teens. Here in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida it’s already 63 but only going to 66. I’m ok being here. Golf at 9:40 this morning, 27 holes

enjoy your day
I'm pretty sure you'll be seeing rain today. It's raining pretty heavily here on the West coast, and it's moving East-ish across the state.
 
Patrick I have found that Intermountain F7's are the best engines for a small radius layout and can manage 18 inch radius curves with no problem. They can also pull any number of cars. Here's are the 3 I have running over my bridge alley section of the layout.
Swal

 


Morning - the Sun is up, however you cannot see it! Cloudy and another rain system is on the way with possible showers today and getting progressively heavier for the next three days.
We are doing great in the water department with 2+ inches above our normal for this time of the year.

GEORGE - that is a great video of part of your layout! You have more?

TomO/ ALan: The jar can only hold so many marbles. Add in weather and I am surprised that the system works as well as it does. Crew schedualing and the air traffic controllers must be all near burnout! This is going back to the 70's: 707 flight from LAX to Hartford and a monster snowstorm was just starting as we landed. Long story short, but we (crew and airplane) were stuck there for 6 full days.
We were all running out of money - the bar was dry - and the hotel was in the boonies!
I finally called crew schedualing and they said, "Who and WHERE are you?" It still took biggest part of two more days for the a/p to reopen and thaw out the plane!

Thanks to all of you for the best wishes: Your all an awesome group of guys!
 
Good Morning All. Cloudy and 51°, probably won't get above 60° since the clouds will be here all day. Mid to upper 60's the rest of this week. Chilly tonight and tomorrow night so I will have to start a fire each night. I dislike doing that since letting it smolder and nearly go out adds to the creosote build-up inside the stovepipe.

Slowish day around here yesterday. I drove to the mailbox and back (1.25 miles away) to kill the boredom. Yard is so saturated that I left mushy footprints even in the grassy areas. It was a good day to burn the burn trash though, although I didn't have much. I did spend a little time cleaning and organizing the storage room out in the train shed building.

I also did spend time in the actual train shed itself. I added another coat of paint to the cemetery fencing since it really soaked in the first coat. I first drilled all of the fence post holes. No installation yet because I painted after I measured for the holes. After that I inspected and cleaned a few more freight cars. One of them required a major repair. It was missing three of the four stirrups, which I had not found on the layout anywhere. I dug out the package of A-Line stirrups and bent and test fitted them. Install will be today.
Once again, from the archives:
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Tom O - That is interesting that your son discovered your weathered cars in Austin. Vulture abatement, that's unusual. They usually don't present much of a problem around my place, and I have a pair (or their offspring) that have lived in my barn loft for many many years. They never go after live meals, preferring to let someone else make the kill.
Here's the family in 2021 just after cutting my hayfield.
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Bob - Train show was good to you.
Tom - Funny story about the bats.

Today is Alice Cooper's 76th birthday.

Everybody have a wonderful Sunday.
 
Maybe Willie can help me out with this. I was looking for some plano boogie woogie base lines when I came across this song by The Refreshments a unknow group to me. I don't know if this is country or what, but it has a beat you can dance to. You know of this band Willie. They say they been around for 20 years. The song 55 Ford is good one. I've never heard of it before.
Swal

 
Good Morning!

I haven't stepped into the shop for a-bit. Walked past the front window quite a few times, but, with all that's going on, didn't bother stepping in for a coffee. I don't much like to carry-on about hard luck family issues, and intend to keep it quiet and local.

There has been some travel involved, and just yesterday, we got back home from a trip into the Rockies.
We went down to Lake Louise to do some cross-country skiing and witness an ice-sculpture event. Problem was, there was no snow in the mountains ,and the ice sculptures had all melted away before the event could get started. So, it became a sight-seeing event for a few days.

We did pass through no-snow Jasper, where I discovered that Elk and railroads seem to get along just fine!
Elk_Jasper_02-03-2024 (1).JPG

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I have more snow on my front lawn, than there is in the Rocky Mountains; and my town don't have much snow. If this keeps up, we'll lose the 'Great White' title that we so cherish. I'll need to purchase colourful, tropical type shorts and flip-flops.

The place we were supposed to go skiing had a bunch of Bighorn Sheep relaxing and catching a few rays:
LkLouise_02-02-2024.JPG


Sherrel - I have also prayed for you're recovery and well-being.
Ever since I met you, when I see an airplane, you come to mind for some reason. I begin to wonder if Sherrel has flown one of that type. Suppose it's because you mentioned you flew over my home town long ago, and knew where it was.
Stand tall, my friend, and work through this. I believe you have greater strength than you might know.

Before I go about my business, I'm going to drop down another railroad photo. I can't remember if this was already posted, but, locomotive photos never get old, anyway.
CN 3279_07-27-2023.JPG


And one more for the road! That's my wife out there, checking out a non-existent ski area.
IcefieldParkway_02-03-2024 (2).JPG


There seems to be some new faces in here! I'm very happy to see that!
Have a wonderful day everyone!!!
 
Dawn was watching a travel programme of a train in Romania, passing mountain scenery.
"I like the scenery in Austria," says I.
"I know," she says as I have mentioned it to her a few times.
"I travelled there by bus," I continued. "Should have gone by train, but chose the bus instead. Idiot me. Met a beautiful looking girl there who had travelled by train."
Dawn gave me 'one of those looks'.

I did not elaborate anymore.
I like the scenery in Austria. ;)
 
Aircraft

I dislike all the time taken before getting on them. It takes longer and longer as the years pass. Years ago I travelled to Malta. Within one hour of arriving at the airport I was on the plane.
Now I have to be at the airport nearly three hours before I see the thing.
Once on board I get the d------d in front reclining his seat, reducing my space. Seats should not recline.
An uncomfortable 2,3,4 or whatever hours later GET ME OFF THE DAMN THING.

I like cruise ships. YEAH!!!
 
On night turns at the moment so my brain has not a clue which day it is, let alone what part of it!

Put these two to bed last night at about half one in the morning:
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...consecutive numbers too!!

This afternoon it is time to tackle my latest bargain acquisition, a Proto 2000 GP30 'spares or repair' which means the inevitable cracked gears and some tidying up required, plus the SP light show to be added. My other two GP30's were getting lonely (my excuse and I am sticking to it!!)
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I dislike airports and flying commercial is becoming more an adventure then it needs to be
Ever since our national paranoia caused the establishment of TSA, I just stopped considering flying as an option. Meanwhile, the air lines continue to cram more customers into a limited space, while cutting amenities, in order to appease the Investment Bankers...making commercial flying even worse.
 
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