Running Bear's Coffee Sbop LXIX


Good morning fellers. I do hope everyone is well. First day at Coke went well. I hit the ground running. Where I anticipated being in orientation all day I was in the shop going at it. Was a surprise to me but overall a good start. Found too yesterday that my CDL license is inactive right now. Apparently my medical card needs updated. I reckon I'll have to head over there and get it done. I read the bargaining agreement for Coke and it is night and day compared to Pepsi. Some things I like. Others not so much. But all things considered Coke is my retirement setup. I took a pay cut and loss of some amenities leaving Pepsi for a better benefits package.

Sent from my LGLS675 using Tapatalk
 
Good morning everyone. It's 44 and dark outside, but I think it's clear 'cause the weather guesser on tv said so. Will only get to 70 or so today, but sunny. summer is slowly giving way to fall. I look at my yard these days and I'm reminded why they call it "fall." :mad:

Willie, Curt, others - About the problem of having multiple projects going on at the same time - what adds to my frustration is that I see some of your photos of your layouts that are well advanced and looking really good, and then I look at mine with so much bare wood showing, needing landscaping, the tracks haven't been ballasted yet, more buildings are needed, etc. etc. etc. I guess this is a never-ending hobby. :eek:

Last night, after working in the wood shop for a while, I worked on the new building kit and then ran trains for a while. Re-thinking where to put a couple of the industries.

Have a good day everyone.
 
chessie_system3 said:
Good morning fellers. I do hope everyone is well. First day at Coke went well. I hit the ground running. Where I anticipated being in orientation all day I was in the shop going at it. Was a surprise to me but overall a good start. Found too yesterday that my CDL license is inactive right now. Apparently my medical card needs updated. I reckon I'll have to head over there and get it done. I read the bargaining agreement for Coke and it is night and day compared to Pepsi. Some things I like. Others not so much. But all things considered Coke is my retirement setup. I took a pay cut and loss of some amenities leaving Pepsi for a better benefits package. Sent from my LGLS675 using Tapatalk
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Justin - good for you - glad your first day at the new job went well. It's a good feeling to know you're needed!

Terry - What's up with this idiot message box that I kept seeing: "The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters." My message was at least 75 characters long, but it wouldn't let me post.
 
Good morning. Only a few degrees F above the freezing point here in central MD.

Wanted to post a track photo but the web server it is on hasn't been "whitelisted" by my employer, so their firewall won't let me view it and capture the URL.:rolleyes:
 
Good morning. 38 degrees to start the day with an expected high in the mid 60's again.

Karl - Not need to put winter air in the tires. Got nitrogen in the tires. May have noticed a train in your photo.

Willie - Interesting photos. They did some nice work there. I'll be looking forward to more of your photos.

Justin - Happy to hear that the now job seems to be better than Pepsi, but there are some trade offs. Good luck and go get your DOT physical.

Johnny - Don't be discouraged. At one time all of us had some plywood showing, probably a lot of it. I have been working on mine for around 30 years and there is still plywood visible.

Here's a rail picture for the day.

end of the line.jpg

Time to order more flex track.

Later
 
Good morning everybody .....

Ken in MD .... Good to see you. I heard you were busy, but hope you can find more time to visit here.

Chet ... LOL at your flex track comment.

Willie .... The Vicksburg Civil War diorama is very impressive in the photos. It would be nice to see it in person.

Justin .... I'm glad your Day 1 at Coke was a good one.

Cheers !
 
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Starting the day here at 60 degrees ... only forecast to reach 95 - down from 98 yesterday. Humidity is present 35%, so it will drop back into single digits again today.

Looks as if they are getting the fires up North under control ... nothing left to burn!

Made a display track using some Atlas sectional.
The ballast is homemade from coffee grounds and thinned white latex paint.

P6250200.jpg
 
Afternoon All,

Did a few things around the house then got a call to get youngest grandson because he was sick at school. A couple of hours later lo and behold a similar call for oldest grandson. I know what the boys look and how they act when sick and I am 100% sure neither one is sick, so I guess I will talk to daughter about it when she picks them up tonight.

I did manage to complete the roof, but forgot the picture of it (I hate getting old). I did take a picture of the old color before painting and I also cleaned my workbench. My son helped me by repairing the reference bookcase I have next to the workbench.

Willie- I figured you didn't harm the animals, but I wasn't sure if you knew their benefits. On second thought you probably do since you don't live in a city. I work on one project at a time because as you see I don't have a lot of space at the work table and my OCD doesn't bother me as much doing one at a time.

Ken- Welcome back. I hope things are getting back to normal for you.

Chet- Talk about a track to nowhere.

Sherrel- That looks nice. Are they new or used grounds? Does the thinned white paint take the place of Elmer's or Matte Medium? Do you still wet the grounds like regular ballast? Inquiring minds want to know!

Old Color
20171017_111855.jpg

20171017_140212.jpg

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Back from the cabin after a weekend of getting the place ready for winter. First light frost of the season. Next weekend need to finish a staining project, some caulking and clean up the fallen pine needles. The deer are as common as rabbits around here. And, Chet they're white tails but the four legged one unfortunately.

Truck in tomorrow for recall work. Then get some model railroad supplies. Working on photographic backgrounds.

Sherrel: Are the coffee grounds decaf or regular?

Ken: Welcome back to the Forum.

Better get back to some productive house work since the Mrs. is cutting the grass. Trained her well.

Greg
 
Late afternoon all! Temp is 96 and humidity is 9% - I do not think it will frost around here tonight!

GREG - LOL, No Decaf around here - Do they still make that stuff? In France and Italy where they make those "eitty bitty" cups of coffee from those machines, I used to ask for a double cup and then drink it straight up (no milk or cream). Those guys would look at me rather strange shaking their heads. I would remark that their coffee was really great! Don't have but very little coffee out: 1. Most times it is so weak that you can see the bottom of the cup, and 2. I;m not going to pay $3-4.00 at one of those silly coffee houses.

CURT Let's see now! I saved the grounds until I had a large coffee can full.
Boiled them (twice) for about 20 min and skimmed off the floaters from the top.
Strained them and placed in a pan to dry.
Added thinned paint (consistency of light cream), stirred it all up,dumped it into another pan to dry. you have to work it every now and then to keep it from clotting up in clumps. As long as you have not made the paint too thick/heavy, you can crumble it up.

I made a couple mistakes:
1. I would mist the glue down first, then add grounds, them mist again, more grounds, etc. The stuff is light and tends to float away- God forbid that you blow on it before glue.
2. I would mix powdered glue with it. (maybe it wouldn't try to escape)
3. Dumb me ... forgot to use any alcohol as a wetting agent.

Would I do it again ...SURE; it's pretty nice looking. I should have painted some of the ties and rail first!

I;ll send you some if you let me know your address? (maybe email) then you can try it out.
 
Evening gents!

Appreciate the welcome-backs Garry, Curt, Greg and anyone else I might have missed.

I’ve decided to halt the current scenery project on the south half of my layout because I just keep getting diverted by ‘little’ things, that always end up only being the tips of much bigger iceburgs!:eek: I need to clean up all the mess and have a few op sessions before I forget why this layout exists in the first place. I’m kinda stuck at the moment because I have several large objects that need to go to the county landfill, but since I no longer have my truck, I have to wait until my son-in-law is available to haul the stuff out of here.

I’ve thought of a more efficient way to distinguish between me and D&J-Ken: spell my name with a lowercase ‘k’ and an uppercase N (as shown in my signature).

Here is the rail pic I wanted to post this morning that my employer’s network firewall wouldn’t let me go to:

BrookParkDepot.jpg


Hope y'all enjoy the rest of this Tuesday.
 
CSX_road_slug said:
Evening gents!

Appreciate the welcome-backs Garry, Curt, Greg and anyone else I might have missed.

I’ve decided to halt the current scenery project on the south half of my layout because I just keep getting diverted by ‘little’ things, that always end up only being the tips of much bigger iceburgs!:eek: I need to clean up all the mess and have a few op sessions before I forget why this layout exists in the first place. I’m kinda stuck at the moment because I have several large objects that need to go to the county landfill, but since I no longer have my truck, I have to wait until my son-in-law is available to haul the stuff out of here.

I’ve thought of a more efficient way to distinguish between me and D&J-Ken: spell my name with a lowercase ‘k’ and an uppercase N (as shown in my signature).

Here is the rail pic I wanted to post this morning that my employer’s network firewall wouldn’t let me go to:

BrookParkDepot.jpg


Hope y'all enjoy the rest of this Tuesday.
Click to expand...

Good to see your posts again Ken

Great picture!

How about B&O Ken?
 
From about a week ago... concerning the Vicksburg bridge.
Trussrod said:
Along side of Left rail about 6 ft prior to the post is what appears to be a very light weight switch throw with a rod running over to the track near the point of the center guard rails but there is nothing to move there? Maybe it's a signal housing of one type or another?
Click to expand...
Since the KCS is one of my clients (well my primary client) I sent them this photo and asked what the little box was. Here is their reply. -->> "They are called “Conley locks”… they lock the drawbridge in place and ensure the rail is lined up properly. They also attach to derails that are applied when the bridge is open."

<<-- I didn't know there was a draw or lift section in that bridge anywhere, but hard to argue against the "owners" reply.
 
Good evening all,
Hi Flo & Francine, How about some coffee and some Ice creme, I need a treat after raking and then watering the front yard area.


It' 61°F - Feels like 61°F;
It's Partly Cloudy with winds from the NNE at a blistering '0' mph;
The high was 80°F with a low of 55°F tonight;
Tomorrow is forecast to be nearly the same temperature as today.


Sirfoldalot said:
Starting the day here at 60 degrees ... only forecast to reach 95 - down from 98 yesterday. Humidity is present 35%, so it will drop back into single digits again today.

Looks as if they are getting the fires up North under control ... nothing left to burn!

Made a display track using some Atlas sectional.
The ballast is homemade from coffee grounds and thinned white latex paint.

View attachment 63470
Click to expand...


Sherrel: That's a start, looks fairly good but if it were me, I would have sprinkled the coffee grounds in between the ties and used a mixture of 2 parts of white glue to 1 part of water and added some liquid dish soap to act as a wetting agent, and stirred it up good. Then use an eye dropper small squeeze bottle with a fine spout to drop the mixture over the coffee grounds. This mixture runs through the coffee grounds and glues them together as well as to the ties and surround area yet dries invisible and flat.



CSX_road_slug said:
Evening gents!

Appreciate the welcome-backs Garry, Curt, Greg and anyone else I might have missed.

I’ve decided to halt the current scenery project on the south half of my layout because I just keep getting diverted by ‘little’ things, that always end up only being the tips of much bigger iceburgs!:eek: I need to clean up all the mess and have a few op sessions before I forget why this layout exists in the first place. I’m kinda stuck at the moment because I have several large objects that need to go to the county landfill, but since I no longer have my truck, I have to wait until my son-in-law is available to haul the stuff out of here.

I’ve thought of a more efficient way to distinguish between me and D&J-Ken: spell my name with a lowercase ‘k’ and an uppercase N (as shown in my signature).

Here is the rail pic I wanted to post this morning that my employer’s network firewall wouldn’t let me go to:

BrookParkDepot.jpg


Hope y'all enjoy the rest of this Tuesday.
Click to expand...


Say Ken-M: How's that for a different way to distinguish both of you?

Your station scene is one I've always liked and it looks so realistic! If you had wires on either level of the
cross arms for a couple of poles then disapearing into the trees it would be hard to tell the scene from real.



Raincoat2 said:
Good morning everyone. It's 44 and dark outside, but I think it's clear 'cause the weather guesser on tv said so. Will only get to 70 or so today, but sunny. summer is slowly giving way to fall. I look at my yard these days and I'm reminded why they call it "fall." :mad:

Willie, Curt, others - About the problem of having multiple projects going on at the same time - what adds to my frustration is that I see some of your photos of your layouts that are well advanced and looking really good, and then I look at mine with so much bare wood showing, needing landscaping, the tracks haven't been ballasted yet, more buildings are needed, etc. etc. etc. I guess this is a never-ending hobby. :eek:

Last night, after working in the wood shop for a while, I worked on the new building kit and then ran trains for a while. Re-thinking where to put a couple of the industries.

Have a good day everyone.
Click to expand...


Say Johnny: I think when any of us are working on our layouts we automatically tend to jump from one thing to the next and often for a good reason, just as you brought up, we need to see how things are going to fit together as well as making possible revision to what we were planning. I do this all the time and is part of the reason it take me longer to get things somewhat finalized a I think of a different way of doing thing. So your not alone, and then I always enjoy running my trains even if it just point to point and backing up. LoL That's how I found I forgot to spike two 6"+ sections of track and they have been that way for the longest time. So now I have something to do when I next go into my garage/train room.



Sirfoldalot said:
Reminds me that I need a layout!
Georgeeos, KEN
Click to expand...


Say Sherrel: Sure seems to me your making a stab at it alright! Keep it up!
 
Good evening,

Iron Horseman said:
From about a week ago... concerning the Vicksburg bridge.
Since the KCS is one of my clients (well my primary client) I sent them this photo and asked what the little box was. Here is their reply. -->> "They are called “Conley locks”… they lock the drawbridge in place and ensure the rail is lined up properly. They also attach to derails that are applied when the bridge is open."

<<-- I didn't know there was a draw or lift section in that bridge anywhere, but hard to argue against the "owners" reply.
Click to expand...


Say Iron Horseman: Thanks for the info and taking the time to inquire for us as it was a bit of a mystery. As far as the bridge moving, it could be a swinging bridge rather than a draw or lift bridge. I know back in Massachusetts the bridge on route 6, a traffic bridge crosses over an inlet between Fairhaven to the East and New Bedford to the West right on the coast and is a swinging bridge that opens to allow Medium size boats into the harbor. Revere Copper & Brass used to have a building at the waters edge many years back that my father worked at and I assume had a dock for boats?

Anyway, I have to admit that the bridge you mentioned doesn't look like a swinging bridge type but that might be interesting to look into.

So from what you said the Conley Locks does indeed move the rail than. even more interesting!

Thanks again.
 
Here's another pic of that bridge from the Wikipedia page, certainly doesn't look to be a swing or lift bridge. You'd expect that to be out in the middle of the river, unless there's a deep channel in shore. The newer road bridge looks to be a bit lower to and would block waterborn crafts if it didn't also have some sort of lift bridge too.

Mississippi_Railroad_Bridge_Vicksburg.jpg
 
Good morning. It's clear and 42.

If anybody else is tempted to upgrade their Apple computer to the newest version, be very aware of what apps you have purchased are still compatible with the new version. Among other things, Outlook for Mac, and Final Cut Pro are not compatible, and will not work. Outlook is not such a big deal, but Final Cut is $400 to get a compatible version. I think I'll hold off purchasing that, since I very seldom used it anyway, and I'm also going to hold off upgrading my iMac.
 
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