Running Bear's October 2025 Coffee Shop

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troyphoto said:
Marco just needs to get a retail license and start selling locomotives and rolling stock!
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this would definitely be epic, but if i could i would sell only US rollingstock and engines, or at least just those brands.
but maybe in another life!

Kusojiji said:
Four! Holy smokes!

Box looks good, but they look kinda costly to me.
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depends whats costly for you. or do you mean the box looks costly?
those bushes are made in around 2 minutes. its not that big of a deal and the only thing you need, is static gras, glue, and some sort of turfs.
iam not shure about the price atm, but i think if i can get around 5$ for me iam already happy, would mean i would sell them maybe for 7-10$ iam not shure if that is expensive or "normal"

at least for switzerland i would say it would be on the cheaper side, when i look at other manufacturers.
 
Good morning Crew. The guessers were saying frost overnight and as I walked the neighborhood lots of plants were covered. Low though was only 41f degrees so technically nothing should have been affected. On the warning map this morning it looks like the frost line is about 25 miles north of us. Current temperature is 42f degrees climbing to 63. Gametime in Chicago at 4:08pm CDT it should be 62 and at 7pm 56 degrees. Manageable depending on the wind. Layers…

I spent from 1pm to 5:30pm yesterday at the layout I’m building the papermill complex on. We are reducing the building footprint from 32’ long to a better buildable 20-24’. As I was putting up 2 sample 18” long laser cut samples plus the foamcore and poster board mockups I heard a gasp from behind me. Then a comment, can I afford those buildings? Then a “that’s too big”. A few minutes later his partner came into the train room and her comment was “I love it”. We are still going to use the 32’ space but the background buildings and facades will be condensed into a 20-24’ area. The other space will give me a bigger log pond, larger space for woodchip, pulp wood and coal piles. He has a layout work session today and 2 of the guys are retired professional railroaders who have switched paper mills in Wisconsin. The 2 and the owner will be laying out the “final” but still temporary trackwork in the mill this afternoon. The group text consensus last night indicated reducing the buildings in the areas we did will allow better track flow.

Because of the adjustment the log pond and river scene will be expanded. Just before I left I was asked about adding a swing bridge instead of open deck girders to cross the water. I ended up coming home with the Walthers double track swing bridge kit! It’s 27 and 5/8’s inches long. I will start that kit and the coal fired power plant that wraps around a 9”w x 18” deep pillar that separates the log pond from the rest of the complex. I sure am glad I use cheap foamcore from Dollar General and yard signs for mockups.

I was asked about completion date. I then asked when would you like it without details? He wants his 1st real OPS session in October 2026 when he’ll host members of the GN group he belongs to. While I wasn’t expecting the swing bridge addition reducing roughly 8’ of structures even though they are background facades for the most part will help the timeline. I will wait to authorize the daughter to run the laser for cutting the structures. The 2 pieces 18” long got a nice review. But he needs to decide on the facade choices before we start cutting. Once the approval is given the cutting won’t be much time. Overall a good time yesterday with much being accomplished and decided.

We leave for Milwaukee’s 3rd Ward at 9:30 for an early lunch at the St Paul’s Fish Company at Milwaukee’s Public Market. Lobster rolls and beer for the girls and a Shrimp Po’boy for me. No alcohol for the driver. We should be on our way to a Wrigley Field between noon and 12:30. I also looked at the Brewer Express on Amtrak from Milwaukee or Racine and Metra from Kenosha. The return times are too iffy and I said no to staying in a downtown Chicago hotel. We’ll have a good time. We will overnight at her friend’s place in Racine

Enjoy your day
 
58°F/51°F at 0830. It was cooler just an hour ago. The dewpoint didn't quite 'crash' into the 40s like their Magic 8 Ball said it would. It's still plenty dry though and you can feel the difference.

I had to close the windows last night. The temp in the house was 80°F last night before bed, and seven hours later it is 73°F now. It will likely stay there or rise a degree or two before the day is over.

I think I'll be running trains later after lunch with nothing else planned.

Yesterday as the temp was falling I tried sitting outside. I was swarmed with mosquitos within three minutes of sitting down. I may try again today and see what effect the overnight temp had on these little blood suckers. Can't wait until the first hard freeze.

Everyone have a great day today.
 


Taken Yesterday by my Youngest son. I just have to share this:

Pearl Harbor 10_07_2025.jpg

USS Arizona BB39 - USS Missouri BB63 Joint Base Pearl Harbor - Hickam, HI. 7 October, 2025.
 
Good Morning All. Clear and 62° this morning. A tiny bit cooler today at just 86° for the next three days. What slight wind there is, was coming in through the NE window last night and flowing directly across the bed. Felt great, but we'll still have to use the A/C's today.

Yesterday was another ho-hum day, stacked some firewood and hit the honey-do list. Got the cover ready for the pool, but it was just a little too windy for me to do it by myself. Later on, I fixed tacos for supper in lieu of going out. More of the same stuff today, starting with the dishwasher.

Out in the train shed yesterday, I got a late start on this quarter's layout cleaning sector. I also finally picked out a project from my list to begin working on. The layout cleaning this quarter is approximately 75' of mostly unscenicked layout. I decided a few years ago that I wasn't going to scenic this part until I got more blank areas on the rest of the layout filled in. However I did deviate a bit with the Ethanol facility that I did in 2023! It occupies about 20'. View from the south where not all of the ground cover has been completed.
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Some more.
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The other side of the aisle is a staging yard.
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Those of you who have followed me, know that I do 1/4 of each level at the start of every calendar quarter, thus cleaning every area once every two years. This quarter will be easier since there are no structures or scenery for the 50 or so feet after the Ethanol plant.
My other improvement project will be on the lower level at the Whitewater Brewing Co. This is a DPM Gold Series kit that I expanded by using 12 of their modular walls to expand the footprint to something big enough to be rail-served.
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The front is mostly completed except for parking lot striping and a narrow strip alongside the structure that needs ground cover. But the back was not completed.
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Mostly simple stuff like painting the parking pad and adding ground cover here and there.

Michael - Many times I have better visits when I see the PA's at some of my doctors. They are not so much "on the clock", rushing through every consultation. My PCP guy is different, as he will spend as much time as I need.
I finally looked up the translation of "Lokführer", seems appropriate. BTW, lunch yesterday looked great.
Louis - Interesting that you brought up Sausage and Peppers, because that's what's on the menu for tonight here.
Jaz - Parking lots were quite popular here in the states when I was younger. Haven't seen it in a while, but I'm sure it's still happening.

Jesse Jackson is 84 today. I remember when I first saw him on TV, standing next to Martin Luther King when he was assassinated.
Everyone have a happy hump day.
 


Back home from the Hospice. Loads of talk of taking it easy. (Just smile and agree.) I have had that since I was born. (Just stay positive and take life as it comes. I cannot afford it any other way.)

Flo. A double whisky please.

Time to make dinner. An Indonesian style meal sounds good.

Sovereign Dock

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chadbag said:
Märklin now owns Trix, another German train brand. So now you often get the model in the AC version from Märklin and the DC version from Trix. There is also Fleischmann/Roco and Pico and Brawa and probably some smaller ones I’m missing that do H0 in Germany. Some of these brands also do N.
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o ok I do like some German stuff not a big fan of their steam just because I don't like the smoke deflectors but ok cool
 
Afternoon all,

Busy from when I hit the door this morning. Trying to get a normal 10 hours worth of work into 8 hours as I have a cyber security conference to attend on my normal day off Friday. Nice leaving early, but it's a bit much sometimes.

My first vehicle was a '79 C10, bench seat and 4 speed (granny low). Hand always slipping to a knee (especially when owner of said knee was buckled into the middle of the bench). Current truck has a 60\40 split bench, but you can't really use the middle as a seat. Of course it might be different if I were 18 again...This old man doesn't form fit like I used to.
 


traiNscale said:
Hi all

I need coffee so bad, but i already had 4 today ahahaha.
so i just want to let you know, that iam at the moment try to find the perfect fit of box ffor my bushes i will sell in the future :)
what do you think about this version?

View attachment 242766

depends on the size of the bushes, there will be 3 or 4 in it. and i will lasercut the cardboard in the final version, and also add the name of the shop on the "backcover". I think i like it so far.

oh and in the cardboxes you can see o the picture in the back, those are filled wit AK realcolors :D

cheers
Marco
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Just ensure the packaging does not price you out of range with the competition, plus postage
 
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