Running Bear's December 2019 Coffee Shop

[Raincoat2]

Johnny - Regardless of where my figures come from, hand-painted of store-bought, I always hit them with some spray on Dull coat. Helps prevent paint fading even under artificial light. Dulls down the factory shine as well.

Willie - good idea. Hadn't thought of spraying figures with DullCoat. I do the structures but not the figures.

 

[montanan]

Good morning. Starting the day off at 21 degrees and should make it into the 40's if we're lucky.

I have been absent for a few days as I have been helping my wife get ready for the company Christmas party for this weekend. They do give some excellent gifts so I have been running around town with the pickup gathering them up. I have already fully loaded a small trailer to capacity. Also had to take the dog to the groomers and had a flippin' mouse chew the intake air sensor lead again. Picked up some tape from the Honda dealer that is supposed to have some kind of hot sauce in the tape that rodents don't like. I will also wrap the harness and sensor lead with aluminum foil.

Willie - Those are a couple of nice craftsman kits from Bar Mills. That should make an excellent addition to your empire. Sure like the Candy Shop interior. Makes a big difference.

Greg - That Santa Fe diesel is OUTSTANDING. What a job on the weathering. Willie is probably drooling.

Curt - Nice photo. Like the Alco needless to say and the flat car loads.

Sherrel - Like the photo with the Frisco unit in the lead.

Mikey - Nice photos. The gator looks well fed.

Beady - Like the Zephyr story. I can remember trains running just out the back door of my grand mothers house in Indiana when we went there for a visit. Kept me out of trouble watching all of the trains.

Jesse- Nice to see you back.

IB Ken - Quite the memory remembering that I never had chicken pox. Glad the furnace is up and running.

Justin - Like your photos. Thanks for posting.

Johnny - Good photo.

I haven't had time to go down to the train room for quite a while. I think I have fell into the mood that I have other items that interest me. I do get into this mood from time to time. Maybe a visit and running some trains will cure that. A night running at the club would also probably work, but it seems that the roads over the pass turn crappy every weekend plus after getting home late on Friday night after bowling is am running on fumes come late in the day on Saturday.

From the photo archives, here is my favorite locomotive. Have to be careful when switching with it brcause the front coupler is an operating coupler. Does not work 100%of the time with Kadees.

Off to town shortly to pick up the last few gifts for the wife.

Later

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Morning: 50* heading towards a 64* high.
The sky is clearing and we now have had 33.99% of our average annual rainfall which runs from July to June for some strange reason?

 

[Greg@mnrr]

Good Morning everyone....partly sunny and cold here at the home of the CM&NR.

Woke up at 3:30 AM this thinking about a under track Kadee coupler that I installed behind a building and is not visibalbe to an operator. I was thinking about a alternative for this uncoupler, but no luck. Maybe a telephone pole to mark its center? Move the building? I use small flowering plants to mark the centers of other under track uncouplers. Today or tomorrow I'll practice switching in this area of the small yard and look for a solution.

Anyone who does switching in the Pine River Yard will need to plan ahead all of their moves since room is tight and it was designed that way to increase the time needed to switch the yard.

Chet: I get into the same moods about model railroading as you do from time to time and about winter in general. My poor leg circulation hates the cold and if my legs get cold, I lose all feeling in both legs. I was considering join a club, but its a little over 3/4 of an hour from home and at night a stressful drive.

The Mrs. is forcing me down to the layout this afternoon. Nice wife. She did do a little better than break even at the Casino yesterday. When we when to another Casino for three days last week I did fine and I came home with enough $$$ to purchase an engine.

Going to take out a MNS locomotive that was weathered by the same fellow do did the Santa Fe locomotive. I have never ran the locomotive and I have had it in storage for close to two years. I purchased the locomotives form a LHS that changes the number road to match the unit number and test runs all the locomotives that I purchased from him. This locomotive was weathered a bit more lightly tha the Santa Fe.

That's all folks....

Greg

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A small wet area along the tracks, too bad there a reflection of the overhead lights in the water. I have added lilly pads in this area since the photo was taken.-Greg

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Say, GREG, I have not heard from how your decal project is coming along - or did I miss out?

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Chet - I have always enjoyed that shot of your layout. The composure is very good ... and the subjects are outstanding!

Greg - Your scenery is outstanding as well. Really like the faded, weathered gondolas in the background.

 

[IronBeltKen]

...
Ken: Get better soon man. At least you know what your reacting to. The wife is after me to get the singles shots as I never had chicken pox although all my siblings did. Blood tests say I've been exposed, never had them when my kids had them either. Vaccine became available in 1995 when the kids were 9, so they had them before they could get immunized. As a boomer, I think I got pretty lucky as I never had mumps when my siblings had them either.

...

Patrick - if you know for sure that you never had chickenpox, then the v-zoster virus isn't in your nervous system and shingles is not a danger. However...you should still get a chickenpox immunization (different from the anti-shingles medicines) since you might be at risk for getting chickenpox - which can have more serious complications when adults get it.

 

[Greg@mnrr]

Sherrel: I have the artwork ready for the CM&N decals for use on the 12 or so Taconite cars that I have in stock. I been waiting only to find a reasonable priced decal manufacture to print the decals and I also been thinking about taking my artwork and print out the decals on a laser printer.

Greg

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[IronBeltKen]

...
Ken - Dang! Get better soon. You've dealt with enough lately.
...

Thanks Willie, I slept for 10 hours last night and I'm feeling much better than I did yesterday! Heck, I might even put down some more static grass today if my strength keeps improving.

...

IB Ken - Quite the memory remembering that I never had chicken pox.
...

Chet, one of the upsides of not being retired yet, is that it forces me to keep exercising my brain! Seriously though, you probably should get a chickenpox immunization since you still could get chickenpox if you are around somebody who has shingles. (see my comments to Patrick above)

 

[Alcomotive]

Good afternoon gang! Flo some go go juice please straight up black!

Well I had a surprise conversation last night with a long time member of this forum who has been out of the loop for a while. Some of you may know him. Josh Baakko a.k.a Diesel Detail Freak. http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/...delrailroadforums.com/forum/member.php?u=2661 He hasn't been on here since 2015 but nonetheless all is well and he is doing great. He still resides in San Diego CA don't hold that against him lol. He is a great guy with immense talent in this hobby. Anyways some of ya'll know what it is like to go through divorce etc. Life is what happens when you are making plans. I am hopeful when he has time he will be back on the scene here maybe or not. I am hoping for him to. He is currently working at www.Oldtowntrains.com and doing well. He has a new wife and family etc. He recovered well from being down on his luck a while back. Again we all know those type of circumstances. Anyhow if you know him hit him up on FB. He asked me to tell all of you he has not forgotten any of you. Also told me to let some of you know (you know who you are) he has started and yet has to finish some projects he was working on for you.

That's all the buzz I have back to work for me. Ya'll have a good afternoon.

James

 

[Beady]

I'll just put this here:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/263809019873

 

[Texas Hobo]

Good afternoon all. This holiday business is running me ragged. Don't get me wrong I love this time of year. The problem is that Christmas is held at our house. This means early rising, take a bite of the cookie left for Santa, get breakfast going and then having the entire family here from morning till night thirty. A lot a preparation goes into it, and too many trips shopping. Add that ,this the time of the year, me and the conductor both have Dr. appointments, the dog needs a bath & trim. And if that weren't enough it's a short time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we're pressed for time. Conductor is calling, we're headed to grocery store. Later.

 

[Beady]

Greetings all, looks like what I posted at 10pm yesterday about my Shingrix injection was only wishful thinking: at ~noon today, I first noticed that all my muscles seemed to ache; and by 2pm, I was having chills. The side effects came on with a vengeance! Guess that was to be expected, since the varicella zoster virus lives in the nerve tissues. Wound up going home early and sleeping for 3 hours. Looks like I'll be taking a sick day tomorrow.

Was it one shot or two? Shingrix is two separate doses, 2-to-6 months apart. If you got Zostavax, it is said to be only 51% effective at totally preventing shingles, but it does minimize the symptoms if you do happen to get it.

In spite of my current discomfort, I have no regrets about getting the Shingrix if it actually does reduce my risk of shingles by 90%.

I had just the one shot. Even so, given how mild my symptoms were, I may forego the Shingrix since it sounds like your reaction to the inoculation is worse than my symptoms were to the actual disease. Otoh, maybe this is something I should mention to my doctor: my past symptoms may not be a predictor of a future recurrence.

Hope you feel better, soonest.

 

[Beady]

Good Morning All. Looks like 50° and clear, but it's still dark. Another 70° day on tap. I need to make a short trip for the weekly grocery/beer trek today to get stuff we forgot Sunday and to right the schedule again.
A celebration of sorts at the SFW household today. Sixty days ago I started on my own weight loss program, which is mostly portion-control. As of this morning, I have lost thirty pounds; haven't been this light in eleven years. So I'll celebrate with a BIG meal! Sadly, no one noticed but me.

Toast and bacon only this morning Francine.

Thanks for the likes and comments yesterday regarding the candy store storefront; Clint, Chad, Phil, Patrick, Jim, Jerome, Curt, Tom, Justin.

OK, the votes are in and Majestic Hardware is the clear favorite. Ooooh! This one has a lot of parts; At least 125 on twelve sprues along with all of the stripwood trim and bracing. An additional bag with 25 white metal and plastics castings as well.View attachment 41990
Started in on it yesterday and hit one of those instruction "surprises" right away.View attachment 41991
Not only are the walls pictured incorrectly in all of the photos, they knew about in advance!
Trick is that there are TWO parts with windows!
View attachment 41992
Which one goes on the left??? No problem as I have done many of their kits before.
By the end of my modeling time, I had gotten the foundation completed and the trim/bracing attached to the main walls.

View attachment 41993
Today Next I will add the interior bracing and commence with some priming. There are still ten additional pieces of clapboard siding that go somewhere!

Johnny - Regardless of where my figures come from, hand-painted of store-bought, I always hit them with some spray on Dull coat. Helps prevent paint fading even under artificial light. Dulls down the factory shine as well.
Greg - Get well soon.
Jesse - Really great reading your posts again. I suspected that your business overwhelmed you as it has in the past.
Alan - Thanks for the encouragement. I haven't had anything but E-Mail contact with Art over the years, but I have spoken to Lynn a number of times. over the years. Great people to deal with. I absolutely love their kits despite the "surprises" in the instructions. (see above)
Ken - Dang! Get better soon. You've dealt with enough lately.

Great day in American history today; National Repeal Day. The day that Prohibition ended. Well you know how to celebrate!

Everybody have a wonderful day.

Willie, good on the weight loss. I could stand to lose about that much, especially as it's concentrated around the middle and ass. I'm 6'4" (or 6'3", depending on which nurse does the measurement) and, at one point my weight hit 293. When I saw that, I immediately began eating less and managed to get down to where I hover between 270 and 275. Still too much, but I haven't been able to crack the 270.

 

[PRR Modeler]

Afternoon All,

Did some chores earlier and just trying to warm up. The house is cooler than outside and we're trying to keep from running the furnace. It's supposed to start warming up tomorrow, not a lot, but into the 70's. Getting a haircut tomorrow.

Mikey- Nice photos. Is that your grandson?

Beady- We can always count on you to post weird and funny stuff. Keep it coming. It's cheap at half the price. For some reason my wife wasn't interested in it. She ruins all my fun!

Justin- Really nice photos.

Chet- Thank you. Nice layout photo. Is that your Prairie?

Tex- We host Thanksgiving and it's never ending cleaning and grocery store shopping. I feel your pain.

I hope everyone has a good night.

 

[Beady]

Good afternoon all. This holiday business is running me ragged. Don't get me wrong I love this time of year. The problem is that Christmas is held at our house. This means early rising, take a bite of the cookie left for Santa, get breakfast going and then having the entire family here from morning till night thirty. A lot a preparation goes into it, and too many trips shopping. Add that ,this the time of the year, me and the conductor both have Dr. appointments, the dog needs a bath & trim. And if that weren't enough it's a short time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we're pressed for time. Conductor is calling, we're headed to grocery store. Later.

Some of you may be surprised that I actually do like Christmas, although my version is based more on Charles Dickens than on the gospels. While I don't go out of my way to decorate (that's the wife's thing), carols are my year-round favorite type of music (the high C toward the end of Oh Holy Night is the true test of a soprano, and Charlotte Church gets my vote as the best), and I love getting presents for the little nephews and nieces. Luckily, our house is only a thousand square feet and hosting more than two overnight guests is out of the question, so we get to impose on other people. I hate large meals, so I hang out with the kids and help them play with their presents while the adults eat. I've found that I'm a genius at choosing childrens' presents: my biggest hit so far is the Useless Box I gave the grandnephews last year. I also make sure to stretch the budget to give extra to the red kettles throughout the season. Oh, and let's not forget the eggnog and peanut brittle.

 

[Beady]

Beady- We can always count on you to post weird and funny stuff. Keep it coming. It's cheap at half the price. For some reason my wife wasn't interested in it. She ruins all my fun!

Somewhere, there's a forum member screaming "Don't encorage him!". Too late:

 

[GarryCBQ]

Good afternoon ....

Mikey .... That looks like a great modular layout.

Johnny ..... Aaron's Outpost looks great.

Willie ..... That looks ike a fun kit. Enjoy it. ...

Chet ..... That is a very nice scene.

Greg ..... Your scene is excellent, and I like the logo for the CM&N.

Beady .... Your cartoon reminds me. Years ago, I was at the company doctor for my annual physical. He did the "finger exam". I told him if he should use two fingers. He gave me a funny look. Then I said that way he would have a second opinion. ..... I guess he liked the joke because at my next annual physical exam, he told me the same joke.

......

Sadly, things are going very poorly for my mother-in-law in Nashville. Thanks to those who have posted prayers and words of encouragement.

 

[Patrick]

Willie: Congrats on the weight loss. I quit the diet soda 2 weeks ago and am maybe down a couple, but I'm also trying really hard NOT to eat the goodies in the break room her at the office. I'm 10 ft away...

Garry: Sorry to hear about your MIL. Continued prayers.

Beady: That's just funny....as long as it isn't me!

 

[Raincoat2]

Good afternoon all. This holiday business is running me ragged. Don't get me wrong I love this time of year. The problem is that Christmas is held at our house. This means early rising, take a bite of the cookie left for Santa, get breakfast going and then having the entire family here from morning till night thirty. A lot a preparation goes into it, and too many trips shopping. Add that ,this the time of the year, me and the conductor both have Dr. appointments, the dog needs a bath & trim. And if that weren't enough it's a short time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we're pressed for time. Conductor is calling, we're headed to grocery store. Later.

Tex: I hear ya about the rush of Christmas and especially Christmas day. We have it at our house, too. We have two kids, both married, and each has one child. All together that makes eight of us - certainly not a huge crowd compared with some of you guys, but they're here most of Christmas day, and sometimes come over Christmas eve and spend the night, My wife goes berserk preparing so much food that the leftovers won't fit in our refrigerator when the day is over, which wears both of us out since I do what I can to help. Keeping up with the 3-year-old granddaughter takes whet's left of my energy that day. Still, I will never complain - having a house full of family, logs on the fire, egg nog, turkey and all the "fixins", and pumpkin pie and coffee makes up for any inconvenience!!!