Running Bear's October 2025 Coffee Shop

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Good Tuesday morning! It's 57°F and chance of rain. :cool:
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DINER_COFFEE SHOP.png

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Indiana Rail Experience Fall Colors Trip


Have a great day!;)
 
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Well, howdy there internet peeps, and those with spit readily available!

It's troy again.

I worked some in tinkercad (the only CAD program my brain is capable of running) on the ghostbusters proton pack. I took the existing model, imported it, and added a 1mm backing plate to it, so it would print and come off the resin supports without snapping off detail.

The original model was designed for "action figure" scale, and I downsized it. Hence, I wasn't getting good clean prints without breakage.

The latest batch I printed came out great!
Screenshot 2025-10-21 at 5.26.37 AM.png


Original downsized, without the backing plate is to the right. New ones to the left.

That photo is AFTER I chiseled them off the build plate.

Seems I added a heater fan to the printer (Yes, I remember doing that). It's getting chilly in the basement, and I just turned it on for this last batch.

Wow! Warmer resing REALLY grabs the build plate.

I now have an add-on flexible build plate on order. It's a sheet of spring steel, thin enough to bend, and of the type to be attracted to magnets. glue a magnet sheet to the existing build plate, then secure the spring steel plate to the magnet. Re-level the build plate to line up with the exposure screen. Then, once a print is complete, remove the spring steel from the main build plate. Flex it and the models pop off!

I did get some primer on a few of the models. Here are some of the demons out for revenge.
Screenshot 2025-10-21 at 5.26.58 AM.png

Just a harmless thing that Ray Stanz remembered from his childhood at camp Waconda, roasting marshmallows over the open fire... now in destructor form.

And, a few of the demons might be "slimy"

Screenshot 2025-10-21 at 5.27.11 AM.png

slimer has armor and a weapon!

Gonna be fun to paint these up...
 
howdi folks

well its busy at the airport. and we had a migration over night, but everything went smooth.
at home still a huge load of work. and i have to write some stuff for the association, and i have to get it done today, damn.. i hate paper work...

also tomorrow my new locomotive should arrive from canada woop woop! i will wait in home office just for that haha :D
will of course show some pictures soon.

cheers
Marco
 
Good morning all!

A very cloudy morning, but doesn't feel too bad when I took out the garbage/recycle bins to the curb this morning.
Currently 43F heading up to a high of 54F. Had some rain move thru the area late last night, and some more is predicted
for later this evening.

Have a few things going around the house today, but nothing big.

Volleyball is at home tonight. Last home game of the season. Were winding it down.

Have a safe day everyone!
 


Good morning from So. Central Wisconsin. The current temperature is 42f degrees feels like 38 and heading only to 50 this afternoon.

Today is an easy day. Some minor work this morning on the swing bridge as it was not finished yesterday. A movie I do not care to see at 12:30 this afternoon but told Terry she could pick. I thought all of the available movies showing today sucked and she I think just wants to get out for a couple hours as I never thought she pick this:

After the Hunt
Synopsis: A gripping psychological drama about a college professor (Julia Roberts) who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star student (Ayo Edebiri) levels an accusation against one of her colleagues (Andrew Garfield), and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come into the light

After the movie I will drive the swing bridge over to its layout. We will place it in position and see how it fits. The owner yesterday spent most of his afternoon making adjustments to the frame work to adjust the mainline to fit where the approach bridges should go. I did not attach the track to the bridge for a variety of reasons but mainly he has 2 brands of bridge track. The Walthers bridge track fits the bridge except he is 1 piece short. So he had some ME bridge track but it lacks the horizontal raised ties. So I want to cut the 2 Walthers pieces in half and splice the ME track in between. I then can match the horizontal ties and add them to the ME portion that basically will be on the middle of the bridge and not seen that well. The W track fits the ends of the bridge just perfectly and I’d not have to cut any ties off the W track as I would with the ME track. I did finish painting and did some aging of the concrete abutments. They look ok and I will weather them in place. I did the same to the concrete base of the bridge and its exposed iron ring that is part of the swing mechanism. I’m not sure I like it but he wants to place the bridge so we can figure everything else out. He liked the pictures. The entire bridge does have an aging look to it but actual weathering will be done next weekend back at my bench. I added holes in the floor and through some girders to hide the LED lighting wiring I decided to install yesterday in the bridge tender’s shack. I added some bumpers to the floor of the shack so it’s removable and it’s now basically a press fit. Looked for a table, bookshelves and a chair but only found a table. I can build the bookshelf but I thought I had one. He did promise me yesterday that he will quit vacillating on the weathering of the bridge so I can finish it next weekend. Once we place the bridge in hopefully its final position today he will review it for the next 10 days or so. I can work on the 2 or 3 through girder bridges that will be on the approaches to the bridge.

Dinner tonight unbelievably is with the daughter’s entire family. There are no games tonight or practices so we thought dinner out without rushing off would be a good idea. It was the grandson’s turn to pick a dinner place where you are served and have a menu at the table! No ordering at a counter, no brew pubs and no Mexican. Mexican is great it’s just his sister only remembers the Mexican places when it’s her turn to pick. He picked a Hibachi place. He has good $$$ tastes which is fine as we enjoy the place too

We did decide yesterday that we will not be flying during the shutdown. I placed the tickets we had for the 5 hockey games we were going to see online and sold 3 games within hours. The airline tickets were refunded as a credit which while not ideal is fine, read the small print! It’s there but we knew it as Terry does read the small print. The hotels were fine with the cancellations. We lost so far only the $75 insurance we took out for the trip as it is nonrefundable unless cancelled 30 days prior. We cancelled at 9 days

Enjoy the day
 
Bruette said:
Russ Francis, a prominent figure in NFL history known for his time as a tight end with both the New England Patriots and the San Francisco 49ers, died Sunday in a plane crash at Lake Placid Airport in New York.
View attachment 245004
Russ was a key player for the Patriots and in those heated battles for the AFC East title with my Baltimore Colts in the 1970s. He was one of the greatest tight ends of his era.
Click to expand...
Good player and too young to be gone. But his death occurred on 10/1/2023 per Wikipedia.
 
troyphoto said:
Well, howdy there internet peeps, and those with spit readily available!

It's troy again.

I worked some in tinkercad (the only CAD program my brain is capable of running) on the ghostbusters proton pack. I took the existing model, imported it, and added a 1mm backing plate to it, so it would print and come off the resin supports without snapping off detail.

The original model was designed for "action figure" scale, and I downsized it. Hence, I wasn't getting good clean prints without breakage.

The latest batch I printed came out great!View attachment 245016

Original downsized, without the backing plate is to the right. New ones to the left.

That photo is AFTER I chiseled them off the build plate.

Seems I added a heater fan to the printer (Yes, I remember doing that). It's getting chilly in the basement, and I just turned it on for this last batch.

Wow! Warmer resing REALLY grabs the build plate.

I now have an add-on flexible build plate on order. It's a sheet of spring steel, thin enough to bend, and of the type to be attracted to magnets. glue a magnet sheet to the existing build plate, then secure the spring steel plate to the magnet. Re-level the build plate to line up with the exposure screen. Then, once a print is complete, remove the spring steel from the main build plate. Flex it and the models pop off!

I did get some primer on a few of the models. Here are some of the demons out for revenge.View attachment 245017
Just a harmless thing that Ray Stanz remembered from his childhood at camp Waconda, roasting marshmallows over the open fire... now in destructor form.

And, a few of the demons might be "slimy"

View attachment 245018
slimer has armor and a weapon!

Gonna be fun to paint these up...
Click to expand...
Can’t wait to see the army painted
 
Good Morning All. Mostly clear and 59° here in Gulf Shores. Exact same conditions back home. Interestingly enough, other than humidity, conditions here for the whole day will mirror those back home!

Yesterday was mostly a rest and relax day for us. Went to two grocery stores and got a couple of items at each. Sat on either the beach or balcony and people-watched for a while. I was looking for dolphins surfacing from my higher vantage point, but there were none to be seen. I didn't take any people pictures as there was no one on the beach yesterday who wasn't receiving Social Security. Went to another steak/seafood place last night with the gang. A place that we had been to several times on past trips here.
Plan for today starts with a trip about 15 miles north to Foley AL, to re-visit the Foley Railroad Museum. They have a large O scale layout that was bequeathed to them years ago, as well as a building to put it in. A separate structure that is an old railroad depot, houses the railroad memorabilia collection. A few full size railcars are there as well. The last time we were there 2 years ago, I met a newer younger member of the model railroad club that maintains the layout for the museum; who was spearheading an effort to recreate many of the downtown Foley structures for the layout.
There's also a medical museum in Foley that we hope to see after the RR place.

Nothing else of note going on right now. I can't add to the knowledge imparted yesterday regarding tires, European trains or computers.

Everybody have a great Tuesday.
 
I'm back and in need of some armchair engineering experts.

I purchased a cart with two purposes. One is to be a tool holder as I work around the layout. Tall enough I can be on the step stool and not have to put tools on the lower level of the layout.

Part two is to take to game conventions where I'll be playing in tourneys. This is a standard cart for such. Put your army on top shelf, and lower for storage cases, books etc.
Screenshot 2025-10-21 at 8.37.25 AM.png
BUT, we like to build display boards with scenery themed to our armies. So, I made that black box as a display board holder. However, it's too wide for the cart as-is. I could reconstruct the box to fit between the handles, but I have a different idea.
Screenshot 2025-10-21 at 8.37.37 AM.png

My current armies BARELY fit on the box as it is. If I cut it down to fit between the cart handles, I'll have to put models on the lower shelves. One of the awards I shoot for is Best Themed army. So the display board size is crucial.

I'm debating on installing runners on the bottom of the box to lock it into place Side to side. But, they'll have to be on their tall sides. 1x4s would work. Here's a concept pic, I don't have any scrap 1x4 in the house right now to illustrate with.
Screenshot 2025-10-21 at 8.53.20 AM.png

The problem is that I need to make the lower "legs" removable for easy transport. We often share rides going to conventions, and a travel bag, plus army, plus display board, plus cart for each player gets rather bulky.

QUESTION: how do I attach the lower structure to the box, and have it removable with a screwdriver?

I'm trying to leave the box intact in case it's too tight for carts and I need to slide the box under the game table.
 
Good morning folks, 52 here right now, supposed to hit 69 today with heavy overcast/possible rain. Taking friend to Little Rock today to see her husband in the hospital. He had a stroke 2 weeks ago today, has been through ICU,surgery, then a regular room and is supposed to go to rehab today. Carol is around 80 and is worn out as is their son, who has been busting his tail with work, caring for them and his own family with kids. Did a bit of straightening up the house as my wife gets in tomorrow, back from Myrtle Beach, where she's been for the last week. I've been fairly good, kept the laundry up and the dishes done, so it's not a mess.
@troyphoto try drilling through the 1x4s for a bolt to go through the cart top and epoxy nuts under the top shelf, then it can just be easily unbolted for transport. Your idea is neat, I just use one of those collapsible wagons for pulling my armies/stuff around.
 


56°F and sunny this morning in Southern Illinois. Heading for 66°F after a cold front passed overnight. Wind now shifting to the west-northwest, eventually becoming north-northwest by afternoon. Winds will be up to 18 MPH at times with gusts to 30 MPH.

I'm going to change the furnace filter today and move my plant stand into the kitchen where it's a little warmer than the utility porch with the washer/dryer.

Hamburgers turned out really good yesterday along with the Bratwurst. It's what's for lunch!

Have a great day! Servus!
 
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