Running Bear's September 2025 Coffee Shop

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My SIG-Sauer P225 was one of the 'Police Pistol' editions near the end of the run. Came with SIGLites and three magazines. This was from 2010 and the sights are still glowing. Not bright, but still glowing.

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that's a nice pew pew
 
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So far it has kinda, sorta rained...sideways. Lots of thunder from the major storm to the east, but it's moving SE away from me. Temperature dropped from 89° to 74° in less than 30 minutes. There's another wave to the west heading this way, hoping that it doesn't break up before it gets here.
To sweeten things up a bit, yesterday 2-18 wheelers dumped 2 huge loads of what looked like dirt in the field across the road, about 15 yards from the road. Nope! With the outflow wind currently coming from the east, I can confirm that it's 2 loads of pulverized cow manure! Normally not an issue since we rarely get wind from the east...but today.:eek:
 


So far it has kinda, sorta rained...sideways. Lots of thunder from the major storm to the east, but it's moving SE away from me. Temperature dropped from 89° to 74° in less than 30 minutes. There's another wave to the west heading this way, hoping that it doesn't break up before it gets here.
To sweeten things up a bit, yesterday 2-18 wheelers dumped 2 huge loads of what looked like dirt in the field across the road, about 15 yards from the road. Nope! With the outflow wind currently coming from the east, I can confirm that it's 2 loads of pulverized cow manure! Normally not an issue since we rarely get wind from the east...but today.:eek:
Organic gardening breeze...
 
good morning!
is it a good one? Well i would say so.

I have a question for you american diesel locomotive lovers.
If you have a staging yard, would it make sense to have a turntable? Without a roundhouse, just a turntable to turn around engines?
because iam thinking of maybe add a turntable to my yard, so i could turn engines because its also the end of the layout? But i also think it could maybe be a bit of a overkill?
To answer your question with a prototype example; Enola yard, in Pennsylvania still has a used turntable https://maps.app.goo.gl/gWEgUXhjWGzetkY6A
Grafton in West Virginia does also. https://maps.app.goo.gl/wit9pbdDC4g83fWP6
Traveling out west i've been to several yards where turntable is still being used and the roundhouse was torn up years ago. So yes, you can have a turntable and it would be totally prototypical. There are times when a diesel might be turned if for example it's a single unit and the crew wants the nose to face in proper direction.
 
Good evening all. Sort of a lazy, but barely productive weekend...or is that lazy and unproductive weekend (?) I was at a train meet yesterday in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. The meeting was specifically focused on Antracite carriers in Northeast Pennsylvania.
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The museum is located on what was a railroad yard of Pennsylvania Railroad on their "Schuylkill Branch" A lot of volunteers have dedicated their time to bring, restore and rebuild some of the equipment present. Here are a few samples:
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Both of these brutes are former Reading Railway locomotives, the closer one is an ALCo C636 with very rare "Hi-adhesion" trucks. The one in the back is an U30C, one of very few six axle U-boats saved in the entire country. Next we have a few "Blueliners"; electric MU cars build for Reading back in 1930, to serve on Philadelphia commuter lines radiating out of the city. A few Blueliners lasted on SEPTA until 1990.
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Long gondola and a "Fish belly" type coal hopper; typical of antracite carrying equipment back during late steam era:
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Another example of second generation diesel on Reading was the GP30:
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Behind it is a "covered wagon" F series diesel in early Reading diesel paint scheme. A beautiful poster size photo inside the museum has N1 class Mallet on a turntable:
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A highly characteristic of the antracite burning locomotives is the wide Wooten style firebox and a cab which had to be specially shaped to fit over the fireboxes on such locomotives. Getting into the models on display we have a Central Railroad of New Jersey 2-8-2:
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Very nice kitbash by a talented modeler. Another beautiful example was this Reading I-10;
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And i'll admit it without hesitation, far better in attention to detail and beautiful work than my F-1, which i also put on model display. Here again both locomotive models represent antracite burning steamers with characteristic wide fireboxes, high raised walkways and specialized cabs.
 


If anyone needs a next18 blanking plate, this is what I did. I copied the 8 pin jumpers that tie the right rail to the positive motor to the rear lamp and the other jumper that ties the left rail to the negative motor to the fwd lamp. I was a bit confused about the lamps, but remembered that the wires go to the negative side. I tested it and it works. I needed one but couldn't find one for sale.
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NEXT18 MALE ADAPTER.jpg
 
good morning all

new week and i have some updates.
i had some time to work on my layout (but thats for my layout thread).
i also did try something new, i created my own grasmatt. i learnd a lot and will definitly do some things another way than my first try. but i did learn a lot by doing it.

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i also have a update on the shop visit on saturday.
well the seller got my a great prize after some back and forth, so next saturday i will visit him again and get ALL the stuff he has left...
including all the shelfs, so well if someone needs some AK or AMMO Stuff, just let me know ;) I also have some ABT502, but there is sadly not that much :)

Will keep you updated on that story :D

cheers
Marco
 


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