Running Bear's April 2024 Coffee Shop

[troyphoto]

Well, howdy there internet people, and those who think the in-ear crickets are too loud.

It's Troy again at 3:44am local.

Tinnitus is still increasing. Going to have to message the doc. I suspect this is pharm induced. And I'm on a lot of pills that could be the culprit

Right now I've got the earbuds in and listening to rain sounds. We have real rain sounds outside, but I can't hear them in the basement.

FLO I need a pillow and blanket. I'll snooze in the booth until Mel starts the morning run of bacon.

 

[Bill Tidler Jr.]

Good morning!

Nickel Plate Road GP9 No. 460. March, 1959.
Photo:The Nickel Plate Road Historical & Technical Society, Inc.

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[Jaz avalley]

Can't let the coffee shop go 2 hours without a post!!

Just had to ban someone from a FB group yesterday. I'm a mod in the group, and actually, the only active mod out of two of us. The admin is off working on a masters degree. So it's me.

Everyone agrees not to post Self-Promotion "New Releases" in the group of authors. While we'll cheer on your new release, we're not the audience the other authors need. And, we have a dedicated monthly post thread for people looking for help in getting word out. We all scratch each other's backs with new releases. Just follow the rules.

And... one girl didn't head the polite warning a month ago with Post #1. She didn't heed the real FB warning from the mod (me) of this group, and I noticed she'd started racking up warnings from mods of other groups. Yes, if you mod a group, you can see when a member gets warnings.

And she posted another new release two days ago. I didn't catch it right away, and a member reported it.

Hated to do it, but she got the boot.

So, now was your day? Boot anyone?

Rules is rules, and once you break them or ignore them rules go to hell in a basket, if you do not like the rules….there’s a door

 

[TLOC]

Good morning. 44f degrees right now and it feels like 44 heading into the low 60’s this afternoon. Big difference from yesterday’s 70 is that we are to get some rain. Of course it was to have started overnight but the ground out there looks dry and neither of my 2 still operating weather stations out on the property show any precipitation.

So. Central Wisconsin has really greened up after last Wednesday’s snow event melted Friday and Saturday. Green in the landscape looks good.

Terry, her friend and my sister are due in from Austin around 4 and the friend’s son is the pickup chauffeur. Landing around 5 and they want a pizza. My sister is a pizza nut but the Pasadena area pizza places she says since Covid, suck! They will call as they leave the airport and I will order for delivery. I will have the granddaughter as it’s her parents turn to take the 3 teammates to hockey practice 50 miles away. They are alternating with the other 2 players family.

Parts of the yard is growing faster than others. Seriously thinking that this weekend of 70 degrees + and with the expected rain today I may need to cut grass. BUT, do I put the snow fighting equipment away?

Enjoy the day

 

[kbkchooch]

Good morning gang!

OMG the stress of the working life is gonna kill me. Not because I'm busy, I'm bored. So is the head cheese, and when the head cheese is bored, then he starts looking for stuff to nitpick, then that rolls downhill to me and my co-workers. I was so mentally tuckered out last night that I didn't make it an hour past dinner before I was crawling into bed. Still looking for the exit sign from the car biz. Most of the techs have, and nobody is buying (thanks fed) Its funny, how there is no interest in buying when fed interest is high.

Flo, can I get a bacon cocktail? Never heard of it? I'm sure Mel has.

BBL

 

[Espeefan]

Alan-

I gotta tell ya the Athearn's Econami series did a nice job on the lighting for the Mars lighting and SP's light system. I have 4 units of various schemes in the SP. 2 of which are experimental schemes and 2 are prototype Prime to Grime series. Even the red light works as well! You can see them work on my YT videos for the SD40s I have. I will check to see if I did a demo on the red light too tonight after work. I know I did all of the other functions on video. I can do another quick video tonight just to show of lighting.

Yeah I have those and I’m a big Genesis fan as well. I have an Econami series SD-40-2 that they did a real nice job with. I bought this Wally SD to go with my earlier Wally SD from the previous release. I was surprised at the crappy lighting. The first release was better. The light fixtures themselves are also thick and out of scale, but I can live with that. For the price point, poor job! They run well though!

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning gang!

OMG the stress of the working life is gonna kill me. Not because I'm busy, I'm bored. So is the head cheese, and when the head cheese is bored, then he starts looking for stuff to nitpick, then that rolls downhill to me and my co-workers. I was so mentally tuckered out last night that I didn't make it an hour past dinner before I was crawling into bed. Still looking for the exit sign from the car biz. Most of the techs have, and nobody is buying (thanks fed) Its funny, how there is no interest in buying when fed interest is high.

Flo, can I get a bacon cocktail? Never heard of it? I'm sure Mel has.

BBL

High prices, high interest rates, and being force-fed electrics are all factors.

 

[NorthBrit]

Good afternoon all. A coffee on the go please, Flo.
Taking grandchildren home. Two live 40 miles away, so this afternoon is taken care of. One lives three miles away and wants his dinner here this evening.

Flo. When I come back this evening I need a strong drink.

Back later.

 

[Patrick]

Morning all,

On a vacation day today, now to get to one of the myrad of projects I need to get done.

Currently 48° going for a high of 66° later.

I did finally get the spark plugs changed in the wife's Equinox. I only bough them last year when the had a rebate. Everything came apart simply enough, but those plugs... I couldn't get the plug to budge in cylinder #1, so I moved to #4, which turned with a little force. #3 and #2 did the same. New plugs in, all good. Back to #1, with a cheater on the rachet, it finally broke free, and I twisted the keck out of my bruised left aram. the knot got a heck of a lot larger. I took a 20 minute break with an ice bag on it. Went back out and finished the job, all bottoned up with no idiot lights and was still done in an hour, except fot the test drive to reset the compass. Battery off for that long needed a reset of several things, but that's normal. First time I got the time right on a project. Told the wife it should take about an hour and it only took 59 minutes, even with the 20 minute "break".

Doing ok so far, but the knot is still large. I know still doing things like I'm 20...LOL

BBL

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Mike

The snow started with huge white flakes in between all the rain drops at about 1pm. Slush forming on the patio and at the front entrance. Maybe 15 minutes later the rain drops were all snow. 3.5 hours later I have at least 4” of very wet snow and it’s still coming down heavy. It’s pretty out there but not nice. I actually thought I'd still be able to grill my dinner on the patio, nope, that’s not happening.

Have fun. I was enjoying a warm New England weather on tuesday.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Good morning. So much written here, i don't know where to start. I got an overnight run to Hartford on tuesday. Getting into the capital of Connecticut i still had plenty of daylight after i shut down. So exploring i went, the railroad exploring that is. It was actually the first time walking through the town for me. This is improvising:

I'm not sure if that stop sign is actually meant to stop a boxcar from rolling off the track. Southern New England (as just about every shortline in New England) has an interesting mix of power:

I don't even remember when was the last time i saw a "Hi-nose" GP38.

This boxcar still lettered for Maine Central was hiding on one of the sidings:

Next a mean looking pair of B40-8s:

Compared to my area with black NS, this mix of color was very refreshing. After sneaking...oops, walking through the yard, i made it to the Union Station.

Northbound Amtrak to Springfield was just leaving. I was surprised by the frequency of service though, as both Amtrak and Connecticut DOT trains serve the line between New Haven and Springfield, Mass.

Several trains of both agencies came in as i decided to hang out untill nightfall. On the way back to my truck again Southern Connecticut RR yard was on the way:

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Clear and 47°. Gradually warming trend with winds back from the south tomorrow in the forecast. The storm Monday night was an isolated one here. We (me and the Weather Underground station around the corner) got 3.25" of rain, while a different Weather Underground station 8 miles south only got 0.9".

Yesterday's trip to Dallas to trade my wife for a granddog went without a hitch. He's never been here alone, as our other granddog usually accompanies him. It is his first car trip here/back (of about a dozen) without getting sick in his crate due to some medicine that the vet gave my daughter to give him.

Today of course is the weekly grocery trek day. It will go quicker without my wife tagging along. She "shops" while I get what's on the list and get out quick.

Another "running trains" only day out in the train shed yesterday. It's not that I am not motivated to do any modeling, but the desire to run is just really great right now.
Back to some scenery pictures from the archives, specifically animals today.

Troy - The pipeline video was interesting. I was able to see something similar when they put a 3" water line under a nearby road. Normally they would just use a waterjet to bore, but in the situation nearby, the soil was too unstable for the waterjet and they had to do the trench and use a drill.
Tom O - Good luck with the land transaction. The lease-back is always a winner according to the folks that I know around here. The fellow across the road sold 1800 acres (sight unseen) to an Oriental consortium back in 2006 and leased it back at $1/acre/year. Then after 18 months of paying him $10,000/month, the group dissolved and returned the title. $180,000 in his pocket for no work at all. The consortium of investors had no idea what they were doing, and the land is not good for any type of development since half of it is a flood plain!
Hughie - Sounds like everyone involved in the storm is safe, that's good.
Chris - I have always liked RE#1's dioramas very much.
Guy - How did you get engine pictures without the utility pole growing from the roof???
Mike - Interestingly the fire alarm plan at my grandson's high school was well thought out. The alarm that was set off was one in the basement that is not monitored with a camera. The perpetrator was able to slip out of the basement unseen with the rush of other students. Grandson says that the scuttlebutt at school is that it may have been a janitor in on the plan.

Everyone have a great day.

 

[McLeod]

Good Morning!

Guy - How did you get engine pictures without the utility pole growing from the roof???

Willie - I really tried to watch out for that, but, I couldn't outrun their shadows. Those shadows are clearly seen in the photos.

Still tiling the shower surround. One needs to be very exact on level when the tiles are a large 1'x2'. Those walls need to be level. 1/16" on one tile makes a big difference when placing it's neighbour, especially in the corners. I'm trying to keep the grout lines at 1/16".

Not much time to play on the computer, so I'll just leave you with some photos of a 2-bay closed hopper. There were lines of these things coming through town recently:

There's the pole growing out the top, for Willie's viewing pleasure.

Have a great day everyone!

 

[Grizzled]

Morning folks

Something close to actual spring weather today. Currently 33F, sunshine, and a forecast high of 61. Unpacked more "stuff" yesterday, including a toy Oliver outboard motor I purchased someplace in the 50's. Curiosity lead to a google search-holy smokes WOW.

Vintage RARE 1958 K&O Oliver Toy Electric Outboard Motor | eBay

<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">Vintage RARE 1958 K&O Oliver Toy Electric Outboard Motor </p> <br> <p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">Motor has some touch ups, as shown. There is also a dent on the chrome on the right.</p> <br> <p dir="ltr"...

www.ebay.com

Here are a few more covered hoppers, these being the Northern Pacific's. I took the photos in April, 1973 at Bozeman, Montana.

 

[Old 97]

Good morning All!!!!
Prayers of strength, healing, good health and positive vibes for those in need. Myself included.
Bill, I found a picture of NP #460 to go with your engineer photo.
Everyone else, please know that I enjoy reading all of the posts you guys share with the forums.
We have a great blend of folks here. So much talent.
Thanks for building this place Bob.

Flo, please bring me these items pictured below.
Why is there bacon in a glass?
It's a breakfast cocktail. Silly goose.

 

[Jaz avalley]

Good morning All!!!!
Prayers of strength, healing, good health and positive vibes for those in need. Myself included.
Bill, I found a picture of NP #460 to go with your engineer photo.
Everyone else, please know that I enjoy reading all of the posts you guys share with the forums.
We have a great blend of folks here. So much talent.
Thanks for building this place Bob.

View attachment 185822

Flo, please bring me these items pictured below.
Why is there bacon in a glass?
It's a breakfast cocktail. Silly goose.

View attachment 185823View attachment 185824

Bacon side with everything

 

[migalyto]

Bacon side with everything

Yes!! Its a very universal food!

And should be consumed daily.

 

[migalyto]

BUT, do I put the snow fighting equipment away?

Thats always a gamble in early April. As you know, we are still very much capable to have an 18" snow.

I have put mine away, so if we do get dumped on, you can blame me!

 

[Grizzled]

I put the snow fighting equipment away?

I exchanged the snow blade for the dirt bucket on my Toolcat 5600 but that is only a 5 minute job to switch back. I didn't even need the snowblower this year. It saved a lot of diesel but doesn't bode well for fire season.

 

[NorthBrit]

We have had so much rain recently ____

The incessant rain lashed against and streamed down the windowpanes. The wind howled, rattling the tall sash window frames as it boomed and echoed in the wide, stone chimneys. The lashing rain saturated the land and clattered on the portico roof, making the glass sing before it rushed down to flow along the cast iron guttering.

It drip-dripped interminably from the trees and bounced high in the puddles, as the packed soil of the pathways became sodden and slowly turned to ooze.



Flo. I need a drink. A double Pusser's rum please.