Running Bear's March 2026 Coffee Shop

[Kusojiji]

N scale, 12v max is what he guarantees up to. He does offer HO scale lights but I haven't checked into them.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's 67 and mostly clear.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good morning Coffee Shop, it's Tuesday! The temperature is 64°F (18°C) and mostly cloudy.

Have a great day!

 

[NYC_George]

It took a while, but I figured how to add a playlist to my phone and then play it in the car. Swal

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

47° under cloudy skies with an expected high today of 77°. I’ll take it!
Yesterday I saw something disturbing. Some weather model out there is predicting what results to a noreaster on St. Patrick’s Day.
Even more disturbing was the projected 10 inches of snow on that day. Oh hell, I really hope the weather guesser is wrong this time!
We shall see.
BBL

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning gang!

47° under cloudy skies with an expected high today of 77°. I’ll take it!
Yesterday I saw something disturbing. Some weather model out there is predicting what results to a noreaster on St. Patrick’s Day.
Even more disturbing was the projected 10 inches of snow on that day. Oh hell, I really hope the weather guesser is wrong this time!
We shall see.
BBL

You can always vacation in sunny Florida for the next couple of weeks. It’s supposed to be sunny and 85-90.

 

[troyphoto]

You can always vacation in sunny Florida for the next couple of weeks. It’s supposed to be sunny and 85-90.

I'll be in St. Pete Beach in Sept. My last gasp (literally gasping) with the heat and humiditiy of summer. But, it's a writer convention. So not like we're doing much that's fun.

 

[migalyto]

You can always vacation in sunny Florida for the next couple of weeks. It’s supposed to be sunny and 85-90.

Were going to be there Mar 28th-Apr 5th. Hopefully those temps hold out.

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet peeps and those who put MCT oil in stuff.

It's Troy again...

Got half the patio furniture out yesterday while I was cleaning the rug, the cat box, and grilling the meatloaf. I'll try to get the other half out, but I should really go to the big box store and get some paver stones to set the gas grill on. Where I put it is mostly mudd. We'll see, I may change the grill position this year.

Now that our weather is back to above "Colder than a polytician's heart" I'm trying to get my activity ramped up. Waiting on the sun to come up and I'll head out for a morning walk before showering.

Made it through disk two (of 20) of Battlestar last night. I can't binge three eps in a single evening very often. But I did so yesterday. Annnnnnnddd... got a cliffhanger episode... I vaguely remember the next episode. It's a good one.

I've been making counters/status markers in TinkerCad to print out in multicolor on my Bambu P1P printer.

I'll share with the local gamers who show up at the game days.

Not sure what else I'm doing today.

BBL

 

[migalyto]

Good morning all!

Another great day weather wise. Currently 51F with an expected high of 73. more early summer like weather. There is a chance of
thunderstorms later tonight when the temps will plummet and we will be back in the 30s tomorrow.

Have a national Honor society banquet to attend tonight for my daughter. Its a potluck and the wife is making meatballs in the
crockpot. So I have to run to the store today for ingredients.

Not much else going on at the moment.

Have a safe day everyone!

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

62° and clear with a high of 85° expected later. Yesterday got to 79°. Cold front expected to bring some storms in the afternoon and into the overnight. The 7 day shows a low of 31° next week. That's not bad enough to kill off the peach buds, but if it gets colder, there may be none this year. The wife thinks I really butchered the tree anyway, but I had to get the height out of it and peaches 25' in the air are too high up to pick.

Screwy truck has me 2nd guessing. I replaced the blower motor in the cab a year ago. Yesterday it just stopped after I started the truck at lunch. Dead the remainder of the day and even last night when I looked into the wiring. Nothing appeared out of place, burnt or otherwise. Figured I'd look at it this weekend. Drove it today and a couple of miles from the house, started working again. I think if it quits, I may need to order another motor. This was a factory replacement part and not aftermarket. I know the truck model has issues with grounds, but I dealt with those when I got it as I knew the issues from my older truck. Took care of several known issues I knew about when I got it.

 

[Kusojiji]

I think you guys' storms made it here. Fr'ck'n freezing today. I could only handle being outside for a couple of minutes at a time. It was snowing in Tokyo today. We're close to the ocean, so not much here. Just windy and freezing.

Had to paint some of the interiors of my passenger trains to look more mahogany than pine. It really affects what the train looks like with the overhead lights on. Made me wonder if I had put in the wrong color light strips.

 

[troyphoto]

Ah.... the joys of living in a Townhome complex (condos)

talking to the wife, and them bam! the ladder goes up right outside the window.

Neighbors to our south have a flat roof, and it's easier to hit our roof with a pitch, then climb up to the flat roof.

I did ask them to scoop the lint out of my rooftop dryer vent while they're up there. I only take my brush cleaner up about 3/4s of the way so I don't have to call maintenance to get the big ladder out and unstick my brush if I go all the way out.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Early New Jersey Transit Rail | Facebook

Bob Kelly shared a memory.

www.facebook.com

 

[TLOC]

You can always vacation in sunny Florida for the next couple of weeks. It’s supposed to be sunny and 85-90.

We’ll be in Florida starting on 3/31 for 4 nights

 

[TLOC]

Good morning Crew. Yesterday it hit 73f degrees in my area of Wisconsin. Today if the guessers are right we will be lucky if we hit 50!

We took a day trip yesterday because it was so nice and I never even opened the door to the train room yesterday. We headed over to Lake Geneva one of the Wisconsin playgrounds to Chicagoans who can afford it. Just a beautiful spot that in season is unbearably crowded and even in the off season ridiculously expensive. We like visiting before and after the Summer season, so it was great being there yesterday and it was surprisingly busy, but it was 73 degrees. Seemed like the locals were out. We ate at a waterfront eatery and it was excellent. No off season dining or drinking pricing reductions though! The Spotted Cow a Wisconsin Craft beer normally $4-5 in the Madison area was $8.50 for 16oz and 10 for 24oz. But prices are what they r so I can’t complain as we knew prices would be higher. Terry was questioned about her Brewer ball cap as the host said they see so few Brewer fans and mainly Chicago team caps. A pleasant 80 minute each way drive. I did keep the spending at the chocolate shoppe and beef jerky store below $100 in each place. The Beef Jerky place sells a spicy Jamaican jerky the son in law and granddaughter love, so…

This morning after I hit post reply the chore of the day is to clean the train room floor. I have part bins out, poster board scraps and cut offs on the floor. It’s a mess…

Be well

 

[RhB Michael]

66°F out there this morning. Which BTW was out daytime high here yesterday thanks to another look at their Magic 8-Ball. They should be behind it after the lousy forecast yesterday. The clouds didn't clear until sunset and by then the temp was already on its way back down. Idiots.

So they are teasing me again today with a high of 83°F with a sky full of clouds once again. I'm not being fooled again today.

Holster showed up, ammo showed up, and my new glasses showed up. They came too late in the day for me to get them, but at least they let me know they came. I sure hope they got them right this time. Not that my current doctor screwed up the last two pair, but like a fool, I let Walmart Optics evaluate my eyes and make the glasses. I hope the two don't use the same optics lab. I'll go pick them up after I get some more coffee in me and get a shower.

Holster fits well, and the PDP carries nicely. Hardly know it's there. It's a bit longer than the P99, but it doesn't seem to matter. I have an FBI cant set up for it as a straight-drop position makes the grip print. At about 4:30 position it disappears under the cover garment...perfect. I'm not crazy about Kydex holsters, but I did not find anything from Galco, Safariland, Kramer, Mitch Rosen, Palmetto, etc that make a leather speed scabbard for this Walther. There were a couple of others who will do custom work but I'm not paying custom prices. So Kydex it is. At least the finish will last longer.

Might run trains later if they botch the forecast again. If they get it half way correct I'll spend time outside in the yard today. I've already picked up all of the limbs, branches, and sticks the last wind blew from the walnut trees, so I think I'm going to be spreading some grub killer to keep the moles at bay. It's also looking like I might have to fire up the mower in another week, so I need to check out the mower engine, wheels, etc. from last season.

And, hey! Let's be careful out there...

Servus!

 

[MilwRoader_Steve]

And here is the almost finished berm and coal trestle:

One more application of black wash for the coal stains ought to do it. I used that textured rattle-can for the berm.

Happy Dienstag!

Steve J

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Cloudy and 70°; humidity at 88% so it's somewhat uncomfortable. Probably will hit 80° later today. There's rain nearby but I don't know if they are thunderstorms or not. Right conditions though. The forecast now has strong thunderstorms in it for just after dusk, they weren't there yesterday! Typical spring tornado producing weather until tomorrow's cold front.

Nothing really special about yesterday, I did make a trip to town to pick up prescriptions at the pharmacy, pick up a package at the post office and fill up the gas tank. Wasn't as bad as expected, regular at the country convenience store was $2.99/gal; while in town on the Interstate it was $3.19/gal.
Out in the garden, my Radishes that were planted last Wednesday pushed through, pretty much a normal germination time. Lettuce should be tomorrow and Spinach by the weekend. I did hoe both sides of the row to slow weed germination. Good to be back gardening again.
The political texts are coming to my phone faster than I can opt out! As I have posted before, the former owner of my phone number (over ten tears ago), donated and worked on someone's campaign (2008 & 2012 campaigns) and my number is still on that party's records. It seems that she donated again this primary season without updating her information. Or she used her old phone number just to spite me!

I'll be starting my day with the dishwasher once again, it just seems that I'm having to run it much more often than I used to for two people! Did laundry yesterday so that's done for a few days. Parts of the yard are looking a bit ragged, so I may do some mowing. Need to replenish the dry firewood inside in advance of the upcoming cooler weather.

Out in the train shed yesterday, I made no progress on the landscaping project. I have actually committed to myself to go forward on it though. Rearranged the structures a bit but nothing permanent at this point. Cleaned that main line running through the scene, not that it needed it but it is wide open right now. Looked for all of the supplies that I will need. I do need more light earth spray paint for the rails and roadbed, the rest of the area will get brush-on paint which I have enough of. I seem to have enough ballast and other ground cover already.

Swal -

WOW Willie that's some big expansion project. Where did you find all that room? Swal

It's always been there, just now being developed. There is another like-sized area above it on the upper level to be done in the future.
I only use the phone charging capabilities in the car occasionally, but I now always use the wired connection since it is at least 4x faster than the wireless pad. Wife's in charge of the music/talk in the car and she has Sirius Radio; so no need for streaming.
You mentioned Chatham NY. My grand-aunt had a 75 acre place there that we used to spend parts of summers at when we lived in Brooklyn. My first cousin once removed now owns it. The whole family pitched in and we had a family reunion there and refurbished her 150 year old house there in 2013, some of which I documented here in the Coffee Shop. Put in insulated windows, wall/ceiling insulation and fresh paint inside and out.
David(Marlin) -

I noticed that the trains don't blast their whistle at grade crossings.

Many grade crossings around here no longer require horns; if they are built to certain specifications.
Hughie - Interestingly enough, the farm in Chatham NY that I posted about above was originally owned by an aunt of ours many generations ago, who sang in the Metropolitan Opera in NYC. She sang sometime between 1890 and 1920. My brother documented it all a few years ago.
David - Tough week of remembrances. My thoughts go out to you.

The subject of many posts here last month, Bad Bunny, is 32 today.

Everyone have a great Tuesday.

 

[santafewillie]

Willie- How wide do you make your residential srreets? Are they wide enough for street parking on both sides?

It really depends on the area. I tend to make them a bit narrower than the real thing to use less room. For this area, I used 27', enough for parking on both sides but just one lane down the middle for driving. That mimics the suburban area that I grew up in, although those streets were 36'. In that neighborhood like the one I will model, most homes have enough off-street parking in driveways so not a lot of street parking was done. Mine was a modest middle class neighborhood.