Running Bear's Coffee Shop LVIII


Good morning. It's mostly clear, and 25.

coffee_pot_steaming_hg_wht.gifDonegalBeerMug.jpeg
 
Good Morning. 33 degrees with bright sunshine here in the Middletown Valley of MD. It looks like winter is finally arriving here in the Mid-Atlantic region.
 
Good morning, America! 38 degrees with expected high of mid 60's. In the forecast for the coming week is three days of rain.
Of course "we" know that many "rain days" turn into muddythewindscreen type scenarios. We shall see?

Willie.. With that much scenery ahead of you .. I better not catch you leaning on that shovel too much!
H0wever, I might add that I have been following several layout builds on this forum, and several of them have really made great strides. It brings to mind the old Sherwin Williams slogan of "Cover the Earth".

Well, later folks .. I'm not making much sense .. for some reason I keep waking up at odd times of the day; this morning it was 4 am. Need more coffee!
 
Morning guys! Ch-ch-chilly today! Going to the gun show at the fairgrounds today. Ole Rob wants a "Hawken" muzzle loader to go with the .45 cap and ball pistol kit I sold him last year. The matt black finish he put on it is SWEET! I need some more .357 reloading supplies! I try to keep my muzzle velocity under 1000 with the .357 to transfer ALL the energy to the target! I want it going slow enough to STOP when it hits somebody, not pass thru, I have other tools handy for situations where I need to push the bullet THROUGH something if the need arises!

For home defense, It's good old #6 in the 'jammy'!(Mossberg 500 with slug barrel!) On my belt at all times,(even NOW) my .38 is loaded with those lil shot shells for pistols, WHY??? NO BALISTIC SIGNATURE can be had from bits of shot! UNTRACEABLE!(if you "correctly" load your OWN!) The factory caps over the shot have #'s so make your own! and the shot stays together at close range giving them the full load as if it was a slug and dissipates quickly enough downrange to where you don't have to worry about killing grandma down the street by mistake if you miss! Lotta cops in my family over the generations and because of the lessons learned from them I favor revolvers because they are less prone to jamming and don't spit shell casings all over the place and "if you can't get him in 6, you probably ain't gonna get him!" LOL!
 
Dang Willie, you should resolve to post some pics. Sounds like you have quite the layout started.
Pray do show us.

No, we didn't work yesterday. Suits me fine to not work today as well.
E.
 
Good morning, America! It's 23° in west central Illinois and clear, with a prediction of 32° for the high. Yesterday, it got warmer than they predicted and hopefully today will be more of the same. Got to take pictures of my Burlington Northern stuff so I can put it up for sale on the Forums.

Got my pension statement from the union yesterday and things are looking a little more promising. There is a possibility that I could retire in about two years instead of three. As long as the economy doesn't take another nose dive like it did with the housing bubble and wipe out another large chunk of my annuity, it just might be doable! Oh, how I hope and pray!!! If only I had gotten a sooner start with the field construction end of the Boilermakers, I would be sitting somewhere warmer right now, running my trains! Yeah, if only!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Good Morning Group. 27° and sunny this morning with frost.

Spent some time bottom feeding for closeout bargains yesterday, and managed to pick up some DC / DCC Ready Reading power at 50% off List, along with a few freight cars at pretty much a "normal" discount price. Then I got a phone call from Trainworld, advising that my long delayed B&O E9 - E8m pair for the Capitol Limited were in. They will be here by Tuesday. The rest of the stuff will show sometime during the next week.

I have enough cork roadbed and flex to get started, I need to concentrate on the additional benchwork first.

Does anyone know what the curvature equivalent of a #5 switch is? I know that the Atlas #4.5 curvature equivalent is 22" radius, and that a #6 switch has a curve equivalent of around 42" radius, (John Armstrong), but I cannot find the formula for making the determination.

On my new layout, the Ford Plant Peninsula is problematic, in that on the prototype, curve radius was tight, but in the model world, the Plant remains open after 1959, and needs to handle high cubes and multi-levels, or as with the prototype, the plant site morphs into a multi use industrial park, and container port. There is limited space available for the necessary trackage, and I need to get it right the first time.

Ford Chester Plant.JPG

Ford Chester Plant - 2_edited.jpg

Credit to the Hagley Museum in Wilmington, DE for the above photos.
 
Good morning ....

We returned from our trip late last night. Weather was good on our travel days. The was some snow in Michigan while we were there, but not too bad. There is an abundance of ugly Michigan road salt on my truck.

Looking out the window, I see our lake is about 10' higher than normal winter levels. This is the result of the storms during days near Christmas.
their
Has anyone made any New Years Resolutions pertaining to model railroads?
 
Has anyone made any New Years Resolutions pertaining to model railroads?

Willie says he's continuing a 2 year resolution to do more scenery.

Not MRR related but well over 30 years ago I resolved to never make NY's resolutions. So far I've kept it.
E.
 
Morning guys! Ch-ch-chilly today! Going to the gun show at the fairgrounds today. Ole Rob wants a "Hawken" muzzle loader to go with the .45 cap and ball pistol kit I sold him last year. The matt black finish he put on it is SWEET! I need some more .357 reloading supplies! I try to keep my muzzle velocity under 1000 with the .357 to transfer ALL the energy to the target! I want it going slow enough to STOP when it hits somebody, not pass thru, I have other tools handy for situations where I need to push the bullet THROUGH something if the need arises!

For home defense, It's good old #6 in the 'jammy'!(Mossberg 500 with slug barrel!) On my belt at all times,(even NOW) my .38 is loaded with those lil shot shells for pistols, WHY??? NO BALISTIC SIGNATURE can be had from bits of shot! UNTRACEABLE!(if you "correctly" load your OWN!) The factory caps over the shot have #'s so make your own! and the shot stays together at close range giving them the full load as if it was a slug and dissipates quickly enough downrange to where you don't have to worry about killing grandma down the street by mistake if you miss! Lotta cops in my family over the generations and because of the lessons learned from them I favor revolvers because they are less prone to jamming and don't spit shell casings all over the place and "if you can't get him in 6, you probably ain't gonna get him!" LOL!
Personally, I like being able to shoot the guy hiding behind the refrigerator by shooting through it...
If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.
 
Eric - OK, OK, now. Here's a couple, the first is one of the grain elevators without any signage. This is a Walthers grain elevator kit with extra bins from both Walthers and Rix. The second is a bakery. It is a slightly modified Walthers kit.
01-03-16 003.1.JPG
01-03-16 005.1.JPG

As I said in an earlier post, scenery is sporadic. Lots of plywood.
Willie
 
Good morning ....

Has anyone made any New Years Resolutions pertaining to model railroads?

I resolve not to get caught up in the pre-order frenzy any more...case in Point, Walthers Capitol Limited Train. Announced, August 2014, still not complete in January 2016. The Pullman Dome and Pullman Observation are now due the end of March, Not so much the cost, my supplier (Trainworld) is honoring the pre order price, but the loss of interest in the project over time.

Second model railroad resolution, is to stick to the plan, and finish the job, one segment at a time, instead of putting the cart before the horse.

Third model railroad resolution, is to avoid sound equipped locos, such as they are. Listening to others having their issues with electronics (BLI L1 for example), is a lesson learned. We never really had these issues when running DC, did we? It's kind of dumb, to spend on average, an extra hundred bucks to buy features I end up turning off.

I do not make traditional resolutions, as I'm not keeping them any way.
 
JOE, sounds like you have your ducks in a row.

WILLIE, like the bakery and the name. That grain elevator needs a little more detail, but it's going to be huge!

GARRY, mine is to have a train running this year after 40 years .. Other than club layouts.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hiya Gang!

R.R. Resolutions?? Yeah, I got a few. Pre-orders I don't bother with, see when you primarily model the Western Maryland, NOBODY builds anything to pre-order. The other road (Maryland Midland) rarely gets anything built either. I did pre-order the SD24's Atlas did a few years back and they have been faultless. I didnt get excited about the Midland units MTH released because a) it was MTH and b) they had some of the details wrong and c) I built all the GP38's Midland had already from Atlas and Athearn Geeps, but I digress.;)
Resolutions was the topic and I have made 1 for this year. I'm finishing up the custom projects I have started for a few folks, then returning the unbuilt/unpainted/or not started projects to their owners. I started recently to feel kinda burnt out on MRR stuff and I figured out why...............cuz I'm not getting any of MY STUFF DONE!! Besides, I'm hoping I can get to a point to pack everything up this summer, so that we can install new flooring (bye bye carpet, hello Vinyl plank flooring) and new ceiling in the basement! Yes, I'll have to unbolt the layout, but hey, it's modular!

Willie, Love the P.I.E. truck at the bakery, just gave me a chuckle! (Is it really a P.I.E. truck, or is it full of PIE? :rolleyes: )
 
Afternoon All,

Been cold, overcast and rainy all day. Temp is 57 F now with a low tonight of 49 F. It feels good after all the 90 F feel like temps we have been having. Unlike some feel here, I am still sane..I think so anyway, LOL. I really do enjoy doing major projects on the layout. Another project on the horizon is changing the yard entrance ladder.

Garry- Glad your trip went well.

Sherrel- I will take you up on the liquid refreshments.

David- I am just getting into scripted ops, but in the past I have set cars out at different sidings and dropped off and picked up as I come to different industries. Factoring in the engine preparation (coal, water, or diesel) and the time to put away the engine at the end, you can very easily spend a couple hours in a typical non-scripted ops session.

WJLI26- I'm sorry, but I have looked at the NMRA and PECO sites and could not find the degree radius of the diverging part of the turnout. I could of sworn I have seen it on the NMRA site before, but today I was unsuccessful.

Willie- Nice looking layout buildings. It sounds like you have a huge layout. Is it multilevel?

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Personally, I like being able to shoot the guy hiding behind the refrigerator by shooting through it...
If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.

Heavens to Mergatroid! SCRATCH the FRIGE??? OH, no, no, no! My wife would kill ME!

Day three at the gun show is about what you'd expect, picked over and too high priced! The ammo was "WHAT???" per round, basically ridiculous! I'll load gravel, screws and nail heads before I pay that much for lead!

Got a decent 2nd Infantry Division hat and an IMJIN SCOUT pin, the pins are hard to find, we's a rare breed. Could not resist a lil assisted opening knife with a 'skinning' type edge that called out to me from a table, I was due for a nice new 'boot blade'.

I need no new bullet throwers and was just cruising for some ammo but no. Poor Rob found no muzzle loaders that really spoke to him, no kits to be had. Pretty disappointing over all.
 
The fun never ends...
Early today, I found a great price on a non-model-railroad item on that auction site. After recent incidents I've had there with some sellers, I carefully checked the seller out, finding he had a feedback of over 400, all positive, and had been a member of Ebay since 2002. So, I paid for the item, using, of course, Paypal. I verified the money went to the person's email that was the seller, and sat back to wait to be notified the item had shipped. Instead, I got an email from Ebay, letting me know "the seller's account may have been compromised", and to get a refund from the seller. Huh? I checked the first and second emails from Ebay, then checked my Paypal records. Turns out the money, instead of going to the guy in Texas, went to somebody in China, with a totally different Paypal account. Ebay said since they canceled the auction, that was all they were going to do. So, I then filed a claim with Paypal. It SHOULD mean my money will be returned to me, even though Paypal went ahead and completed the transaction after I reported it. Paypal has graciously given the "seller" 7 days to respond to my request, before making a decision.
Sigh...
I guess now you can't even trust sellers with perfect reputations, that have been there for a decade or more.
I'll let y'all know what happens when it happens.
 
If Paypal doesn't refund your money, even God should smell the stink in his nostrils. Their reputation for safety will be in shreds (if this hasn't already done that)
 
Afternoon All,


WJLI26- I'm sorry, but I have looked at the NMRA and PECO sites and could not find the degree radius of the diverging part of the turnout. I could of sworn I have seen it on the NMRA site before, but today I was unsuccessful.

Thank you Curt. I know the answer is out there somewhere, I just cannot recall where. I have to find John Armstrong's book, which is somewhere in my basement. Perhaps that's where i saw it. The switches in the aerial photo almost look like prototype versions of Atlas Snap-switches, with sharp curved diversion from the lead track. I'm trying to avoid any switch with a frog size under #5 if I can help it.
 
My resolution for this year is "I will not buy any more trains"
















(I am writing this under duress, so not legally binding)
 



Back
Top