Running Bear’s November 2019 Coffee Shop


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Morning ya'll!

We are going to have a heat wave today with a high of 40 then back down to 12 tonight. Saturday will be a high of 29 then a low of 9. So all set to do indoor work this weekend since I finished everything last weekend outside. Whew! Just in time! I will be prepping the layout room this weekend and pictures will follow! Won't be much to see but a an empty room. I have already painted the walls and ceiling white. Ripped out the carpet ugh off the flooring and sealed the sub floor with a sealer. Next will be to finalize measurements and plans. I have not decide the type of new flooring yet. Still on the fence for laminate flooring vs carpet.

Hot black coffee to go Flo! Gotta get back to work. Cya!

James
 
Raincoat2 -- Sounds good. I used to live in New London, over by Lake Sunapee.

I grew up in Pepperell MA, just south of Nashua NH, and later spent 5 years in Merrimack. So, more in the "civilization" part and less in the nice, outdoorsy part, though where I lived in Merrimack was nice, on the edge of Bedford and Milford, and in the middle of no where.
 
We're getting a new triple-A baseball team to be known as the Wichita Wind Surge. Wichita Wind Surge
Used to be known as the New Orleans Baby Cakes. I think the name leaves a little to be desired, but the logo looks good. Affiliated with the Marlins.

Nice to have affiliated baseball again after 12 years of doing without, although the independent team we had always put on a good time. Wichita Wingnuts
Our triple-A team is the Lansing Lugnuts (aka Luggies). Their stadium is smack dab in the middle of the business district, which is probably an indicator of how committed the town is to the team (or is it the other way around?). We also had a professional soccer team this last summer, but it closed down after just the one season. Not sure why.

I was stationed for a time at the CG Academy in/outside of New London. I had a car and used to get out on the weekends and explore. This was after breaking up with my fiance, which is another story. There was a lot of stuff there for a nerd to explore: Gillette Castle, Mystic Seaport (still one of my favorite places), and of course New York and Boston. Also had a couple of girlfriends in Danbury. Good times.
 
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Good morning all, Sunny and 50 degrees. Oatmeal with honey and raisins, pretty please.
Well it looks like the turkey hunt will continue today, but since the weather is pretty nice it shouldn't be to bad.
I sure am enjoying all the pictures you guys are posting. It certainly shows the diversity of the hobby.
 
Morning ya'll!

We are going to have a heat wave today with a high of 40 then back down to 12 tonight. Saturday will be a high of 29 then a low of 9. So all set to do indoor work this weekend since I finished everything last weekend outside. Whew! Just in time! I will be prepping the layout room this weekend and pictures will follow! Won't be much to see but a an empty room. I have already painted the walls and ceiling white. Ripped out the carpet ugh off the flooring and sealed the sub floor with a sealer. Next will be to finalize measurements and plans. I have not decide the type of new flooring yet. Still on the fence for laminate flooring vs carpet.

Hot black coffee to go Flo! Gotta get back to work. Cya!

James
James- go with the laminate or some other smooth flooring. Carpeting hides most of the small items that gravity steals from elevated positions.
The voice of experience.
 
James- go with the laminate or some other smooth flooring. Carpeting hides most of the small items that gravity steals from elevated positions.
The voice of experience.
I was leaning to that direction as of late. I think I can do that....and find a light color like maybe driftwood color would look nice....hmmmm thanks for your input!

James
 
Afternoon All,

Spent several hours working around the house so nothing in the train room. I think we're heading over to daughters house to finish painting 2 bathrooms tomorrow.

Toot- Nice 1:1 shots.

Willie- Nice buildings.

Johnny- OCD=Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.:)

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Good Afternoon Everyone...sunny and mild and a real nice snow melting day.

Finally spend the better part of the day in the layout room doing just odds and ends that once they were done they make a difference in the appearance of the layout. I used Woodland Scenics ground foam and attached to the top and sides of the black, paint fascia board along the layout. I want to hide the top of the Masonite fascia and drop some ground foam down the front of the fascia to give the fascia a 3D appearance. Sort of what Howard Zane did to his layout. I did a little over 9 feet of fascia in less than a hour and a half using one tube of cheap contact cement and a half large bag of ground foam.

The hardest project of the day was installing small number decals on whistle post signs. These I'll install them in the Saxeville yard to identify the various turnouts for operators. The switch control panel already has the turnouts numbered.

Ran an ALCO pulling a train for over 3 hours and no derailments. One car had a Masonite pad attached under the car frame and two other cars had Dust Monkey's. Finally the track really shines. Once I sat next to a well know modeler who has a huge layout and I asked him how did he keep his track clean and his reply was..."I run a lot of trains". Makes sense to me.

The second locomotive to run was a SW1500 a former MILW patched for the SOO. It hesitated at a turnout only once in the entire hour of running. It started out pulling .38 to .40 amps and after a few minutes of running the amperage draw fell to .30 to .32 amps. Did running the loco loosen up the gear lube in the gear towers that lowered the amperage draw?

No more modeling until Sunday afternoon.

Later......................

Greg

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Log Cars.JPG
Logging is a important industry in Wisconsin and these logs are headed to the paper mill to be used as newsprint. Some how ore cars seem to be in most of the photographs taken of CM&N. -Greg
 
Toot: Where does this Rail Link operate? One of the 2 engines along with a caboose I gave the grandson in N-scale is that line. My feable seaches for it come up with Rail lines different than that.

Seeing there's been a lot of likes on those MRL photos, thanks to all that have. I'll answer Patrick's question, so he knows where it is. MRL is the reporting mark for Montana Rail Link, in Montana. It is a Private class 2 railroad, operating on leased trackage from BNSF. It owns some or all of the branch lines off the main tracks. The line was originally built and owned by Northern Pacific (NP). Most traffic is generated, servicing BNSF's trains by supplying helpers over the 2 main mountain passes, Bozeman and Mullan. Both have tunnels at the top. Lots of videos on YouTube by using either the full name or the reporting mark to find them.

The Company was founded by a Dennis Washington and his wife, both now retired and since then, governed by a Board. The Logo is based on the initial letter W and has changed over the years since inception from just a wide and narrow , half side of the W, wide and narrow stripes, to a full W with a Lion's head at top right. Those 2 also had the full name painted on the cab side above the road number. The latest logo, nicknamed "Meatball" by the use of an enlarged red spot surrounding a smaller "Lion's head" W, came into use 4/2/09 on SD45-2 #311 (this was produced in HO by Athearn Genesis). Regrettably, in my opinion, the name Montana, was deleted from that and all following paint jobs, with only 'Rail Link' remaining next to the Meatball on the long hood.

There is a second railroad operated in Canada, with the same livery/logos, The Southern Railway of British Columbia, reporting mark SRY. This railway pre-existed the SRY, (different reporting mark) but also used the "Rail Link" moniker on the side of it Locos. It's last livery was blue and white with that large name logo on the side. It also had a red maple leaf on top of the L. It often gets mistaken as a new MRL/SRY scheme.

There are other small RR'ds that use Rail Link in their names as well.
 
Did running the loco loosen up the gear lube in the gear towers that lowered the amperage draw?

Probably, Greg. I've noticed similar results after the loco is active for a short while. The effect is most noticeable with my Proto 2000 Alco S-1, which usally sits for over a week between uses.

Boris
 
Who says nobody builds kits anymore? I've been wanting one of these for years. I couldn't afford one when they were being produced, and this outfit is a one man show. He does kits for a while then retires them. This one's been gone for many years. What layout doesn't need a junk yard? Good things come to those who wait (and scrounge e-Bay!)

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Odd, There's a video in the HO scale DCC Sound and LED Lighting (Public Group) by ELS Train Service, of a Thomas engine he put sound in for a customer. He also added a song onto the sound files, activated by f3. The URL will copy and paste and the video will run on here, but the sound cuts out, right at the point the song starts. I'll put it up, might help to find it if interested
 
Good Morning All. 35° and clear. Other than a brief dip tonight, it appears that we won't see another freeze for at least ten days, near 70's for a high beginning Monday. Spent some time raking leaves yesterday. Just as I finished (for now), a crew from the local phone provider showed up and dug a 250' trench across my front yard to install fiber optic cabling to the house. Trench goes all the way to the right to near that road.View attachment 41519
The original trunk lines were installed in 2010 but never connected; the feeder lines were installed early this summer. Tuesday the feeders and trunks were connected with the closest active line, yesterday the customer feeds were installed (some of them). Now just waiting on installers to make the final connections. None of this would be possible without a state grant. The feeder box in front of my house serves only three customers and is 1.5 miles from the next nearest box...we're at the end of the line; hardly a profit center for the phone company. A stipulation of the grant will not allow the phone company to raise the rates of existing landline customers. Neighbors who dropped their landlines will have to pay for installation if they choose. Satellite internet is not exactly an option out here and cell phone data usage rates would bankrupt many. Not sure how the increased capacity will affect me as I already have pretty good DSL, and we don't stream stuff.

An extra glass of OJ this morning Flo, along with a couple of ham, sausage, egg and cheese biscuits.

Thanks for the likes and comments regarding yesterday's grocery store publicity shot and the helicopter views of Maultown; Jerome, Sherrel, Chad, Patrick, Chet, Joe, Phil, Hughie, Curt, Johnny, Tom.

A short time was spent in the train shed yesterday, at least it was warm enough for short sleeves. Just did some minor work on the two structures in the rehab mode including adding some additional figures. I am rebuilding the "over sidewalk" sign for the drugstore as part is missing. No pictures yet.

Sherrel - The century is only 20 years gone so far.
Chad -

In some cases the answer is yes, and that includes PM's as well. However replies quoted by others in their posts seem to remain.
David - Thanks for checking in. I am doing well and I hope that you will return to good health.
Ken - Looking forward to following your progress as I have a number of areas that resemble yours.

Everybody have a great day.. I'll be headed out on the weekly grocery/beer trek soon.

Thanks Willie, I appreciate your noticing that I again stopped by. Glad to hear you're doing well.
I definitely don't care to be laim like this for too long but I try and do what I can. I should get into the garage and try and run some trains. Things are looking up s bit though !

Take care
 
Afternoon All,

Just worked around the house today so no train room time.

CA David- Good to see you posting. I hope your health improves.

Toot- Nice photos. That is a unique video.

Ken- I look forward to seeing your progress.

Clint- Amazing video and modeling.

Johnny- Your workbench hurts my OCD:oops:.

Tex- Nice layout shots.

I hope everyone has a good night.

Thanks Curt, I try and be more active on here.
 
Good Morning All. 36° and clear here in North Central Texas this morning. We have an early morning doctor appointment this morning, just the routine quarterly one required by Medicare. The only bad thing about it is that it takes a good hunk of beautiful day to accomplish. Same as yesterday when we went on the weekly shopping trek. One of the very few negatives about living out in the middle of nowhere.

How about a couple of those great breakfast biscuits this morning Francine. Sausage, egg and cheese should be just right today.

Thanks for the likes and comments on the "ditch" yesterday; Patrick, Joe, Phil. Chad, Tom, Ken, Ray. I guess that it was the ditch since my avatar is still the same.

I got some time in the train shed yesterday. I was able to finish up the two structures that I was rehabbing. They were part of the "Storefronts of Yesterday" series sold by IHC about 30+ years ago. The corner one is known as "Grant Cary's Apothecary", a fancy name for a drugstrore back then, and the other is just known as "the Smoke Shop".
View attachment 41545
Signs have been refurbished and attached, the downtown chamber of commerce has renewed the plants in the planters and life is back to normal.
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As you can see, Monica (in the blue dress), has been revived and is upright. I also added a few more figures.

Patrick - I used to get Cowcatcher free when there was a LHS nearby. I am lucky to get one now as they are usually gone when I visit the place that's 65 miles away. I thought that it was a great little magazine that was done by folks like us instead or MRR or RMC.
BTW - I didn't understand a single thing that you posted in post #401 (or a couple of others) yesterday!o_O
Greg - Hope that you get over the modeling "funk" soon. I enjoy reading of your little adventures. Mild winters? Yes, compared to many others. I may have posted before, but on average, we only have six days a year where the temperature doesn't get above freezing. However we can easily slip into the single digits (last year for example), and a foot of snow isn't that uncommon.

Time to get ready for life. See you all later. Everybody have a great day

Your buildings look great and the figures sure bring the scenes to Life !

Glad to know Monica was revived, did Bill have anything to do with that ??
 
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