Running Bear's August 2022 Coffee Shop

[NYC_George]

George - those downspout drop boxes are very clever

If anyone plans on creating downspout drop boxes, you should drill a few small holes at the base of the drainage pipe where it meets the bottom of the box to allow the water to drain into the pipe before it freezes in winter months. I have a right-angle drill attachment that fits on my drills to make this an easy task.
George

 

[Texas Hobo]

Hmmmh! That worked too quickly for me to have much fun with. I'll have to hold that line and waste more of their time in the future.

Make sure not to say the word "yes"

 

[Boris]

Good evening. I was watching the Mets vs. Phillies on a Phila channel, until the sunspots pixelated everythig and made it unwatchable. Mets were ahead 5-0 at the time, but are now only up 5-2.

Spent much of the day catching up on bills and such that I let sit for a few weeks. I have two transactions set for Monday, one my annual Car Insurance payment, the other, my Annual Home Owners Policy. I also renewed my drivers license on line. (No charge over 70).

About 80% of the calls I receive are spam. I occasionally answer one, and quietly end the call in the middle of the spiel. Lately, I have been getting a lot of calls offering me cash for my home. They leave a voice mail message. The wife and I have Rahway numbers, (about 40 miles away), so I'm not sure where they are targeted for Rahway or here. Locally, the local Religious community is expanding into our area. Might actually answer one of these calls and see what the deal is.

Meanwhile, I need an early start tomorrow, prepping my Lutz / Stoney Creek yard module for a background. I also have to do the wiring at the engine terminal. Last couple days, after yard work or shopping, I didn't feel like doing anything down in the train room.

The wife's latest blood work set off all sorts of alarms. she has to stop the Rinvoq for a week, then have another round of blood work. before she resumes the med, or it is changed. These new bio-medicines work very well, but tend to attack vital organs. It's always something...

A little Conrail action as Bristol PA crew BS-02 shoves their train West through Morris Interlocking for Morrisville Yard on 8/12/2022 - Dan Davis photo. That's the PRR bridge over the Delaware River, between Trenton, NJ and Morrisville, PA., (NE Corridor). To the right beyond the river bank, is Delmore Ave, which shares it's ROW with the ex PRR Old Line from Morris to Staley on the PA side of the river.

 

[NYC_George]

Everyone's seems to be talking gas prices but yesterday I wanted to buy a 24 oz bottle of Barilla marinara sauce at the local Shop Rite and they wanted $7.49 for it. Last year I paid $2.49 so I don't know what's going on with that but I put it back on the shelve.
George

 

[McLeod]

Good Evening!

It's far and away too hot, and I'm too tired to use words. So I'll just use photos.
Guess what the wife wants to do tomorrow:

And, here's something more on track with the forum. From the other day:

The Tansy's have choked out the Dandelion's as the ditch weed in power.

Have a great night, and I'll see ya when I can.

 

[BigGRacing]

Evening all,

Things change since this afternoon...wife came home from work and says the daycare she's worked at for the past 16 years is closing it's doors after 60 years. They want them to stay until the end of September and will pay them a retention bonus. She has no place to go and isn't sure what to do. We're figuring out money and bills now. Fortunately we're in pretty good shape, it's just going to be tight until we get used to the new budget.

Any chance she can open her own day care, and any info why they are closing? A lot of government assisted daycare up here now.

 

[BigGRacing]

Good evening to all.

Willie, I love it. He’s probably trying to explain what happened on your call to his supervisor as to why he couldn’t keep you on the line.

Patrick, something will show up for your wife. It’s great she will stay on though.

Well I traded for 10 pulpwood cars and lots of cash for 20 of my weathered ones. He drove 130 miles after a sales call in Green Bay to try to negotiate the prices after we had a deal if his pulp cars were in good shape and they were! Finally told him 6-8 weeks for me to weather his cars that he could leave or buy my 10 and trade your ten. Then he says can you sweeten the deal if he buys 20?

So some retail therapy will be needed tonight! In 10/2021 I had 71 pulpwood cars in inventory. Yes, crazy, I know. Now I have 14 of which only 4 are weathered. I need to find 10 more. The 4 I have left are Wisconsin Central and are my ace in the hole for dealing if I need to. WC pulp cars in Wisconsin are like having your own cash printing press. He wasn’t interested in the WC cars as he lives in Watersmeet, Mi. located in the Upper Penisula. He said about 6 hours to drive home. I offered dinner to him but he said thanks but needed to head towards home.

Terry is watching the Pack.

I was in the trainroom trying to figure out why I made the pulp wood car deal?! He left thrilled. I was sort of feeling bad about what I thought was overcharging where he thinks he got a great deal, so I stopped feeling guilty. He did ask if I would make 20 pulpwood loads and I said no but showed him how I make them and gave him enough pulp sticks cut to size for at least 25 loads. He asked if he could buy my pulp wood piles in the pulp yard on the layout. No f…ing way but I would sell him the piles not on the layout for an outrageous price. He purchased all 5 piles! The 2nd paper mill to be built yet will no longer use pulp wood, just recycled pulp products! Those extra 5 piles were built in 2017 and were in a rubber bin. He still had cash in his wallet and like I said he was thrilled when he left. Ah, to be 32 again with no wife and money to spend on hobbies!

Well back to the train room

Great job TLOC, and yes, he was definitely a great buyer for sure. I remember meeting a guy here in Halifax that used to come to the hobby store in Halifax and put down thousands often from what the owner told me.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's clear-ish and 64.

 

[D&J RailRoad]

Saturday morning. Op session will start at 1200 noon sharp. I have a digital clock with large numbers I found at the Goodwill Store. I'll set that up down there to try to keep to the schedule.
Gotta get some b'fast first over at another friend's house. 3rd Saturday, he hosts a b'fast at 8"30.

 

[BigGRacing]

Finally ordered some more cars today, beautiful and a piece of history in my opinion. I have ordered 4 of the coal cars which is a huge part of the history of Nova Scotia! To quote:

Hello Everyone!

At long last, I am pleased to inform you that my club’s 2022 model railroad cars are now available. These have taken far longer to produce this year than usual as Accurail is still experiencing covid-related staffing shortages, but nonetheless, we now have five different cars available as follows.
Studebaker Corporation. The history of Studebaker is far too long and complex to be condensed here, but suffice to say that from its founding in 1852 as a manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles, to its last automobile in 1966, Studebaker became one of the largest and most beloved of the independent automobile manufacturers and still has its fans today. Like many large industries, Studebaker had its own in-plant railroad, but unlike most, Studebaker incorporated theirs as an independent entity that they named the Chicago & South Bend. This allowed Studebaker to receive a cut of the shipping charge on every railcar they handled as an interchanging railroad. Studebaker’s C&SB had a small fleet of switching locomotives and company service freight cars. We have two Studebaker 34ft. steel coal hoppers in different lettering styles representing such cars as would have served the company power plant and carried ash away. Decorated in one number each, renumbering decals are available upon request. The Studebaker cars are priced at $23.98 each.

Wabash/NJI&I/Studebaker. The New Jersey, Indiana, & Illinois Railroad was formed in 1905 by the Singer Sewing Machine Company to serve their South Bend, Indiana factory. Grandiosely named after the three states in which Singer had factories, the railroad only ran eleven miles to a connection with the Wabash. Although a company railroad, it did serve other South Bend industries, with the largest and most famous being the Studebaker auto plant. Singer sold the NJI&I to the Wabash in 1926 who operated it as an independent subsidiary. The NJI&I retained its independent identity all the way until 1982 when it was absorbed into Norfolk Southern. The Wabash had a fleet of cars assigned to Studebaker service to handle the factory’s large amount of traffic. We are offering a 40ft. single-sheath wood boxcar model of one of the Studebaker service cars. Decorated in one number, renumbering decals are available upon request. The Wabash/Studebaker cars are priced at $23.98 each.

Sydney & Louisburg Railway. Coal was discovered in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in 1720, with commercial mining beginning in 1858. Early railways were soon built to serve the mines and ship coal to the harbor at Sydney. However, Sydney harbor would ice up and become unusable during times of the year, so in 1877 a railway line was built to the harbor at Louisbourg due to its year-round ice-free conditions. In 1893, the Dominion Coal Company (DOMCO) was incorporated to consolidate all coal mining and associated operations between Sydney and Louisbourg. In 1910, the various railway lines DOMCO acquired were organized into the Sydney & Louisburg Railway, the railway choosing to spell “Louisburg” rather than “Louisbourg”. Although very much a company coal hauler, so much coal was moved, and so many commuter trains were run to handle all the miners, that the S&L had both tonnage and passenger numbers up there with the major Class 1 systems. All the available coal also meant that the S&L not only remained a steam-powered railway longer than most, but they bought additional steam locomotives that the dieselizing roads were selling off. But the S&L did eventually buy their first diesel in 1960, and retired steam entirely in 1966. DOMCO during this time was in financial difficulties as coal demand began sharply dropping off after World War II, and in 1957 DOMCO was sold. The new owners announced their intention was to shut down coal mining, but public pressure led to the government funding a new corporation to take over the operations. Thus in 1967, the Cape Breton Development Corporation (DEVCO) was formed and in 1968 assumed control of the former DOMCO operations. The S&L was officially renamed the Devco Railway, although the old S&L name continued to linger around for a few more years. The railway’s map changed under Devco as old lines were closed and new ones opened as coal mining operations shifted, but DEVCO ceased operation of both the railway and of their last coal mine in 2001. Some remaining track was reopened in 2003 as the Sydney Coal Railway to carry imported coal from the Sydney harbor to an area power generating plant. We have one S&L coal hopper available priced at $20.98. Renumbering decals are available.

and finally,

Lemp Brewing Co. The Lemp Brewery of St. Louis, Missouri, was founded in 1840 by Adam Lemp. Son William inherited the brewery in 1864 and built it into the largest brewery in St. Louis. William’s two sons inherited the business in 1904, but they proved to have none of the business skills of their father and grandfather, and the brewery began a long, slow decline. When Prohibition made beer production illegal on January 1, 1920, the Lemp family decided to close the business and sell off the assets. We have a Lemp Brewing Co. 40ft wood refrigerator car available priced at $29.98. Renumbering decals are available.

I want them all, but just too much for my budget after exchange and shipping. I think they are beautiful cars !

 

[CambriaArea51]

Good morning...Coffee Flo and a breakfast sandwich. Nothing new going on just buying a few accessory pieces here and there. October is when I'm back in the train room steady.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Good morning from out here where it is 64 and looking for 88 as a high today and it's still sunny and breezy.
Seems like up North the folks are sweating profusely!

Did the PACK win? I totally forgot to watch - Spousal Unit hogged the TV and I was too lazy to go upstairs.

I have a "pick up" order at Wally World this morning 7/8 am. Not sure why, but found out that I get a 5% discount buying on line vs 2% in store shopping; it doesn't add up to me as they have to pay someone to fill the order?

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning from out here where it is 64 and looking for 88 as a high today and it's still sunny and breezy.
Seems like up North the folks are sweating profusely!

Did the PACK win? I totally forgot to watch - Spousal Unit hogged the TV and I was too lazy to go upstairs.

I have a "pick up" order at Wally World this morning 7/8 am. Not sure why, but found out that I get a 5% discount buying on line vs 2% in store shopping; it doesn't add up to me as they have to pay someone to fill the order?

They make it up in “bag fees”.

 

[TLOC]

Good morning from a already damp day of rain in So. Central Wi. I hit the bed at 11:45 and Terry said she could not believe I had the window open and didn’t hear the thunder. Slept great till 5, closed the window then tossed and turned till 6:45

Things to do are all up in the air because of the crummy wet weather. Art/craft fair we have decided to dipo tomorrow. No Farmers Market today but there is a good one on Sunday morning we have hit up in the past and will tomorrow. My latest drug order is to be ready at 1PM and when we pick that up we will also do the groceries instead of Monday. Gas frenzy day at HyVee where they put gas discount amounts on certain items in the store. I need to fill up as the range on the car says 60 miles, so after the Sunday Farmers Market. We have $1.60 in discounts per gallon already built up Terry is hoping for about another 40 cents. Regular gas here is ranging between $3.49 to $3.69 per gallon. Up from the $3.39 last week when I didn’t need to fill up at all.

Yesterday’s service call for the 10,000 mile check up cost me $15.00. Should have been zero if I had gone to the dealer but VW will not cover 100% of the mobile service. I should have gotten a picture, (next time) but a tall like car hauler maybe 30’ long showed at 7:55AM. An inside lift raising the car high enough for the service techs to get up under if need be. They were basically in lab white coats, kind of neat.

The sale of the pulp cars yesterday MAY NOT have been as great as I thought. I found 3 cars last night and it felt like the search for pulp cars last summer. I had a hard time last summer but in October prices dropped and there were pulp cars every where for sale. I hope that happens again. I had to hit up a source I purchased from in October to get those 3. The paper mill is fine though and production will not slow down, the pulp buyer will be using more local loggers and their truckers.

Still working on the transload facility. I think I have it the way I like. Track today

Finally this may be the one. Single track, 2 propane tanks at the end with a 24’ wide road between the track end and the safety wall around the propane tanks. I liked putting trees behind the tanks. Adds depth IMO.

It wouldn’t fly in the real world but it is versatile to unload propane, fertilizers, lumber and steel. It has been pointed out constructively on Facebook where I asked for opinions and suggestions that a railroad wouldn’t put those tanks in line with the track. A hard shove won’t be stopped by a 4’ high concrete barrier. My auger is not compressed air and the cement I would unload there wouldn’t flow. The forklift needs a jib crane to take the coil covers off the car and a C-clamp device to unload the coils. I asked and was told…

enjoy the day

 

[OBTC 1909]

Good morning all! Mostly cloudy and 70 on the way to 82 with afternoon thunderstorms expected. Glad to have a couple days off after such a hectic week at work. I already got all my online math class done for this week. Also got the first assignment for my speech class done. Just need to spend some time reading the material for speech for the upcoming week. Other than that, hoping to get some rest. Have a great day everyone!

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Mostly cloudy and it looks like 74° on the analog...battery is out on the digital transmitter. My, how the forecast has changed. Yesterday, it showed seven straight days of rain starting tomorrow. Now it is showing just four days starting today.

Today I will resume some outdoor chores since the Thursday rain has dried up. Yesterday I mostly caught up on household stuff and honey-dos. It's a wonder how I got all of this stuff done when I was still working!

I have no experience with MRR clubs, so I can't really comment much. The closest one to me in Denton TX is a modular only club that sets up at train shows and does a month long thing between Thanksgiving and Christmas at a local [mostly vacant] outlet mall. They do have about 40 members, but their monthly meetings are just not at a convenient place or time for me. There's a half dozen good ones in the Dallas area, most with permanent homes; but I can only visit when I go on layout tours at train shows. On the Internet, I read more negative opinions than positive ones, mostly about a lack of participation even from dues paying members.

Thanks for the likes yesterday regarding my progress; Chad, Patrick, Sherrel, Karl, James, Steve J, Gary, Hughie, Joe, Dave, Smudge, Louis, Tom O, OB Ken, George, Guy, Rick, Tom.

I continued to make progress out in the train shed yesterday. I decided to fill in that missing piece of backdrop instead of just making a wrap-around building for the last upper level 2"x4" support. This will enable me to move the bank backdrop structure further to the right.

Of course it now needs painting. Over on the workbench, I gathered the pieces of the wrap-around structure, which is going to be a newspaper office, and started trimming and assembling them.

These are DPM arched window wall sections that I initially started on a few years ago and have been on hold while I decided how to deal with the pillar at the end of the divider.

This will continue to be a work in progress while the chain link fence rests.

Troy - So why did the woodpeckers miss two days? Inquiring minds want to know.
Sherrel - Sorry to read about Irene and her cancer. That one is quite serious. Maybe it's a false reading. Prayers for the whole family.
Tom O - Rushing to get things done on the layout: I stopped rushing once I got all of the main line trackwork done. As you might be able to tell from my recent progress reports, sometimes I just run trains instead of work on projects. I am making some progress though. I am filling in many areas that I had skipped over during trackwork construction. I expect to now turn the last corner and begin work on the remaining third of the upper level at the beginning of next year. First big project there is going to be an Ethanol facility. Lower level will be hit and miss for another year.
Your posts yesterday indicate that you had a productive day, starting with the grill and ending with the railcar exchange.
Patrick - Really nice looking peaches. I don't know about your area, but around here there's a severe shortage of day care workers/managers.
Dave B - State gasoline tax - It's just 20¢/gal here in TX, not the lowest in the nation, but close. Your state of MN is at 30¢/gal, still lower than many. NJ, CA, NV, IL, PA and IN are all above 50¢/gal.
Louis - Take precautions regarding that Covid, although it probably isn't as severe as earlier versions.
Guy - Blueberries are my favorite berry.

Everybody have a great day and an awesome weekend.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

They make it up in “bag fees”.

LOL --Still miffed about that?

 

[kbkchooch]

Happy Saturday gang!

79° and sunny, maybe going to 90 before evening storms approach. Stuck at work til 2, then I would like to get the lawn done later.

Hoping tomorrow brings time to build some more benchwork before the Napcar race.

Yesterday the kid was moved into his college dorm. The dogs didn't quite know what to do with just Mom & Dad at the house. Then the cat ran into the dining room and tackled the Husky with no warning, and pandemonium ensued as the cat went on a full 20 minute attack on the dogs, tackling them, biting their tails and generally being an a$$hole to them. Most of it directed to the Husky, but a little bit toward the Border Collie.
Since we were sitting there enjoying our Mission BBQ take out meals (brisket and ribs) it was almost like a WWE dinner theater!

LOL --Still miffed about that?

I think he is. As crazy as our Absurdistan is, we have to bag fees. Certain areas have banned plastic bags in favor of paper, but no fees. Terry, are you sure you don't live in a very eastern tip of California??

 

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet peeps, and those who want some of Tom's Wood Pulp

Willie: Woodpeckers got pulled into the contractor's main business. He had two houses (new construction) that needed to be finished on Thursday. Nothing as fun as a wedding. BUT, when I opened the garage door this morning, there they all stood, unloading their gear. Guess we get a Saturday out of them to make up for it.

Unfortunately, we've got scattered showers today. And they've gotten rained on at least once today. My doorbell camera had to tell me there was a person on the back porch:

Looks like it was a very wet, and very invisible person.

Actually, the gutter guys haven't come through for the backside of the house yet. the big drops and streaks are running straight off the roof.

The Amish guys may not need to get their Sunday-go-to-church weekly Saturday bath tonight. We've got pop-ups in the forecast all day.

in other news, we did the Legacy box conversion of old Super-8 movies wife's grandfather shot back in the early 60s. Wife needs to take a DVD player over to her mother's today, and put the CD in for Mom and Sis to look at. Since the movies don't include wife (not born yet) and Sis as only a 4 year old, they need Mom to ID who is who.

Looks like wife's grandmother and other women in skirts and short boots out on a frozen lake making snowmen. You know... 1960s fun before Xbox and the internet kept us all inside.

 

[TLOC]

Good Morning All. Mostly cloudy and it looks like 74° on the analog...battery is out on the digital transmitter. My, how the forecast has changed. Yesterday, it showed seven straight days of rain starting tomorrow. Now it is showing just four days starting today.

Today I will resume some outdoor chores since the Thursday rain has dried up. Yesterday I mostly caught up on household stuff and honey-dos. It's a wonder how I got all of this stuff done when I was still working!

I have no experience with MRR clubs, so I can't really comment much. The closest one to me in Denton TX is a modular only club that sets up at train shows and does a month long thing between Thanksgiving and Christmas at a local [mostly vacant] outlet mall. They do have about 40 members, but their monthly meetings are just not at a convenient place or time for me. There's a half dozen good ones in the Dallas area, most with permanent homes; but I can only visit when I go on layout tours at train shows. On the Internet, I read more negative opinions than positive ones, mostly about a lack of participation even from dues paying members.

Thanks for the likes yesterday regarding my progress; Chad, Patrick, Sherrel, Karl, James, Steve J, Gary, Hughie, Joe, Dave, Smudge, Louis, Tom O, OB Ken, George, Guy, Rick, Tom.

I continued to make progress out in the train shed yesterday. I decided to fill in that missing piece of backdrop instead of just making a wrap-around building for the last upper level 2"x4" support. This will enable me to move the bank backdrop structure further to the right.
View attachment 150418
Of course it now needs painting. Over on the workbench, I gathered the pieces of the wrap-around structure, which is going to be a newspaper office, and started trimming and assembling them.
View attachment 150419View attachment 150420
View attachment 150421
These are DPM arched window wall sections that I initially started on a few years ago and have been on hold while I decided how to deal with the pillar at the end of the divider.
View attachment 150422
View attachment 150423View attachment 150424
This will continue to be a work in progress while the chain link fence rests.

Troy - So why did the woodpeckers miss two days? Inquiring minds want to know.
Sherrel - Sorry to read about Irene and her cancer. That one is quite serious. Maybe it's a false reading. Prayers for the whole family.
Tom O - Rushing to get things done on the layout: I stopped rushing once I got all of the main line trackwork done. As you might be able to tell from my recent progress reports, sometimes I just run trains instead of work on projects. I am making some progress though. I am filling in many areas that I had skipped over during trackwork construction. I expect to now turn the last corner and begin work on the remaining third of the upper level at the beginning of next year. First big project there is going to be an Ethanol facility. Lower level will be hit and miss for another year.
Your posts yesterday indicate that you had a productive day, starting with the grill and ending with the railcar exchange.
Patrick - Really nice looking peaches. I don't know about your area, but around here there's a severe shortage of day care workers/managers.
Dave B - State gasoline tax - It's just 20¢/gal here in TX, not the lowest in the nation, but close. Your state of MN is at 30¢/gal, still lower than many. NJ, CA, NV, IL, PA and IN are all above 50¢/gal.
Louis - Take precautions regarding that Covid, although it probably isn't as severe as earlier versions.
Guy - Blueberries are my favorite berry.

Everybody have a great day and an awesome weekend.

When I stop on the layout I now seem to start weathering, I used to run trains. I need to get back into running the trains.

I am enjoying this small section of the layout. Overall, that’s the main thing, no matter what we do with the trains enjoy it.