RhB Michael
RhB Lokführer
They will use any excuse they can think of if they don't want to deliver something.
Running Bear's May 2026 Coffee Shop
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Bergen with his dummies Charlie McCarthy (left) and Mortimer Snerd in 1949
Odd how Jeff Dunhams dummy, "Bubba J" looks a lot like Mortimer Snerd. Maybe a tribute of sorts to Edgar.
John
Obviosly one of my favorites. Maybe I'm just easily entertained. After watching Lloyd Bridges in so many "serious" episodes of Sea Hunt, it did my heart good to see him play the role he had in Airplane, not to mention seeing Robert Stack in the role he played, a far cry from Eliot Ness in the Untouchables.
John
This was being discussed on another forum as well. The consensus is that the hobby defiantly isn't dying, just changing.
Here is the actual report. I didn't read the whole thing just skimmed over the bullet points. Interesting none the less.
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KriegslokBR52
Well-Known Member
Do you know if there are still any semaphores left around that area?
westtexjohn
Well-Known Member
I immediately thought of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy when I saw that name, Charlie Bergen. I watched this guy when I was kid. Edgar Bergen died in 1978.
Bergen with his dummies Charlie McCarthy (left) and Mortimer Snerd in 1949
Odd how Jeff Dunhams dummy, "Bubba J" looks a lot like Mortimer Snerd. Maybe a tribute of sorts to Edgar.
John
Kusojiji
RANK AMATEURS OF THE MODEL RAILROAD FORM MEMBER
That's his twin older brother... haha. Probably right.
westtexjohn
Well-Known Member
I have watched this movie at least 20 times since its release.
Obviosly one of my favorites. Maybe I'm just easily entertained. After watching Lloyd Bridges in so many "serious" episodes of Sea Hunt, it did my heart good to see him play the role he had in Airplane, not to mention seeing Robert Stack in the role he played, a far cry from Eliot Ness in the Untouchables.
John
westtexjohn
Well-Known Member
Santafewillie said..........I use track nails and a hammer to install ground throws. Occasionally I miss the nail and whack the handle on the ground throw, resulting in a broken shaft as seen on the right in this picture.
Maybe using a nail set will keep the hammer a safer distance from the ground throw. But if you are like me, I don't have time to hunt down the nail set, I'm in a hurry.
John
Maybe using a nail set will keep the hammer a safer distance from the ground throw. But if you are like me, I don't have time to hunt down the nail set, I'm in a hurry.
John
truckdad
Well-Known Member
I think there’s a few at the railroad museum in Sacramento. Other than there, I haven’t seen any.
troyphoto
Snarky Old Fart (in training)
Well, howdy there internet people and those as Dry as Terry... at least for this month.
It's Troy again...
Here's the hobby question of the day: Is the MRRing dying? Greying out? or growing?
Jimmy at the DIY and Digital channel takes a look at a report or two. Worth watching:
We in the Table Top gaming hobby see the same questions: Historicals are greying out!
But highly competitive tournament games (Like Warhammer 40,000) are thriving despite the company behind it milking every dollar/pound/yen from it they can. Not like any business does. GW, makers of that game are notoriously high in price, do only what they need for each run, and cycle rules sets quickly so that the competitive players have to continue to reinvest over and over again.
While I enjoy both hobbies, MRR is a solo or group activity more than gaming is. The tournament scene in gaming is built to get together with your mates at the club or convention, throw down, and compete up the bracket.
The closest MRR has is an RPM with some hobbying awards? Or having a club that takes sectional layouts to shows, RPM, and conventions.
While we do worry about when that missing roadname in one of the obscure U-boat models is ever going to get made, we don't HAVE to replace locos and rolling stock every three years because Bachmann added grab irons and changed the headlights on their latest run... Warhammer 40K players do need to buy all - or most of - an army because the rules got updated.
Historical gamers (Think 100 years war, Napoleonics, American Civil War) are a bit more set in stone. There are not tournaments for most Historical games (there are a few). But unless it's in a new scale size, most gamers buy what they need, paint it up, and it good for a few human generations.
The one thing I will say is that the current world situation appears to be driving up the cost of oil long term, which is already rippling across all industries via transport costs.
I've got a trip to Dayton OH (about 3 hours away) tomorrow for a small tourney. Because of an all day affair, finishing about 9 pm, that means a hotel room for an overnight tomorrow. And I'm already questioning whether I should cancel. True, it's (so far) only an extra $15-20 in gas over what it was two months ago when I signed up. And the hotel costs are not jumping, yet.
I expect those with disposable income in both hobbies to keep up the travel to major shows. I suspect that most of the newer players/hobbyists in both fields to scale back. A new loco spend is easier to justify (or a new army spend) when the hobby dollars don't have to include travel and hotel to get to a show a few states away.
What do you all think? Are the reports accurate? A Billion $ in growth by the mid 2030s?
It's Troy again...
Here's the hobby question of the day: Is the MRRing dying? Greying out? or growing?
Jimmy at the DIY and Digital channel takes a look at a report or two. Worth watching:
We in the Table Top gaming hobby see the same questions: Historicals are greying out!
But highly competitive tournament games (Like Warhammer 40,000) are thriving despite the company behind it milking every dollar/pound/yen from it they can. Not like any business does. GW, makers of that game are notoriously high in price, do only what they need for each run, and cycle rules sets quickly so that the competitive players have to continue to reinvest over and over again.
While I enjoy both hobbies, MRR is a solo or group activity more than gaming is. The tournament scene in gaming is built to get together with your mates at the club or convention, throw down, and compete up the bracket.
The closest MRR has is an RPM with some hobbying awards? Or having a club that takes sectional layouts to shows, RPM, and conventions.
While we do worry about when that missing roadname in one of the obscure U-boat models is ever going to get made, we don't HAVE to replace locos and rolling stock every three years because Bachmann added grab irons and changed the headlights on their latest run... Warhammer 40K players do need to buy all - or most of - an army because the rules got updated.
Historical gamers (Think 100 years war, Napoleonics, American Civil War) are a bit more set in stone. There are not tournaments for most Historical games (there are a few). But unless it's in a new scale size, most gamers buy what they need, paint it up, and it good for a few human generations.
The one thing I will say is that the current world situation appears to be driving up the cost of oil long term, which is already rippling across all industries via transport costs.
I've got a trip to Dayton OH (about 3 hours away) tomorrow for a small tourney. Because of an all day affair, finishing about 9 pm, that means a hotel room for an overnight tomorrow. And I'm already questioning whether I should cancel. True, it's (so far) only an extra $15-20 in gas over what it was two months ago when I signed up. And the hotel costs are not jumping, yet.
I expect those with disposable income in both hobbies to keep up the travel to major shows. I suspect that most of the newer players/hobbyists in both fields to scale back. A new loco spend is easier to justify (or a new army spend) when the hobby dollars don't have to include travel and hotel to get to a show a few states away.
What do you all think? Are the reports accurate? A Billion $ in growth by the mid 2030s?
And the winner is the contestant with the biggest hole in the wall when the engine launches.
Bill Tidler Jr.
Retired N&W/NS Signalman
Good morning Coffee Shop, it's Saturday! The temperature is 37°F (3°C) and mostly clear 
Weather:
Areas of frost early this morning then widespread frost toward daybreak. Partly cloudy. Highs in the lower 50s. North winds 5 to 10 mph.
Have a great day!
Weather:
Areas of frost early this morning then widespread frost toward daybreak. Partly cloudy. Highs in the lower 50s. North winds 5 to 10 mph.
Have a great day!
migalyto
Well-Known Member
This was being discussed on another forum as well. The consensus is that the hobby defiantly isn't dying, just changing.
Here is the actual report. I didn't read the whole thing just skimmed over the bullet points. Interesting none the less.
Model Train Market Research Report 2034
The model train market was valued at $1.8 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $2.9 billion by 2034, growing at a CAGR of 5.5%.
migalyto
Well-Known Member
Good morning all!
Today I have lived on this planet for 56 years!
Another cold late spring morning. Currently its 36F with an expected below average temp of 57F. I do see a little frost out there
this morning. Tomorrow starts the warm up where we will see a 70f day, the 80F on Monday. The Midwest weather roller coaster
continues. I see next week we could be down in the upper 50s again for a few days.
Many things to get done today. I have to mow, and make the weekly grocery run. I also have to top the wifes car off with gas. I
should of done it yesterday morning as I see gas has jumped to $4.59 a gallon. I cant believe that diesel is $5.69. bet all those
kids that ran out and bought those Dodge Rams to trick out are bumming about now!
That's about all that's going on in my world at the moment.
Have a safe day everyone!
Today I have lived on this planet for 56 years!
Another cold late spring morning. Currently its 36F with an expected below average temp of 57F. I do see a little frost out there
this morning. Tomorrow starts the warm up where we will see a 70f day, the 80F on Monday. The Midwest weather roller coaster
continues. I see next week we could be down in the upper 50s again for a few days.
Many things to get done today. I have to mow, and make the weekly grocery run. I also have to top the wifes car off with gas. I
should of done it yesterday morning as I see gas has jumped to $4.59 a gallon. I cant believe that diesel is $5.69. bet all those
kids that ran out and bought those Dodge Rams to trick out are bumming about now!
That's about all that's going on in my world at the moment.
Have a safe day everyone!
TLOC
Well-Known Member
Good morning to modelers of a dying hobby. I’ll respond to Troy separately from here. It’s 30f degrees, there is a hard freeze, not frost warning till 8am. High today will be 60 and anything above 54 will be the highest for the past week.
The work session went well yesterday morning. The Friday build sessions will be critical for him to be ready for the last weekend in June. If he was closer I’d feel more confident but once a week for me is enough as it’s just under 1 hour to get there based on traffic.
Took the daughter’s family to dinner last night. I brought 1/2 my meal home, it was huge and extremely good. Just under the cost of a silent Rivet Counter locomotive for the 6 of us or about double what we used to spend there last year. But it was definitely worth it when 5 of the 6 of us raved about the meal. The granddaughter has no understanding of a good or bad meal. She is on a plain hamburger kick anf that is fine as it makes her happy.
The grandson plays at 9 this morning soccer in the cold. Not going though it is only a 20 minute drive. We attend all home games and some of the local away games. His best away games are when they travel the 5 minutes to the local soccer complex to my house. But it’s run by a different soccer association than he plays for. His team is 9-1 so far and got beat last Sunday on the home pitch pretty bad. Lost to a team they beat a couple weeks ago in a Chicago area tournament but it’s why the play the games.
I am going to clean the bench this morning and hopefully the granddaughter will be helpful. She’ll join us instead of heading to the soccer game.
Enjoy the day
The work session went well yesterday morning. The Friday build sessions will be critical for him to be ready for the last weekend in June. If he was closer I’d feel more confident but once a week for me is enough as it’s just under 1 hour to get there based on traffic.
Took the daughter’s family to dinner last night. I brought 1/2 my meal home, it was huge and extremely good. Just under the cost of a silent Rivet Counter locomotive for the 6 of us or about double what we used to spend there last year. But it was definitely worth it when 5 of the 6 of us raved about the meal. The granddaughter has no understanding of a good or bad meal. She is on a plain hamburger kick anf that is fine as it makes her happy.
The grandson plays at 9 this morning soccer in the cold. Not going though it is only a 20 minute drive. We attend all home games and some of the local away games. His best away games are when they travel the 5 minutes to the local soccer complex to my house. But it’s run by a different soccer association than he plays for. His team is 9-1 so far and got beat last Sunday on the home pitch pretty bad. Lost to a team they beat a couple weeks ago in a Chicago area tournament but it’s why the play the games.
I am going to clean the bench this morning and hopefully the granddaughter will be helpful. She’ll join us instead of heading to the soccer game.
Enjoy the day
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