Running Bear's Coffee Shop June 2018


Good Morning All. 77° and partly cloudy...that's 10° above normal for this time of year. I've already gone for a walk and a dip in the pool this morning. Looks like mowing is back on the schedule for today after that big rainstorm last Thursday. Yesterday I finally finished cutting up all of the limbs that fell in the 60+ mph winds during that storm.
Out in the train shed yesterday, I worked on some ground cover around the grade crossing that I installed last week, prepared some drainage pipe for that location and painted some track beyond. In between, over on the workbench, I started assembling the DPM courthouse structure in my normal fashion of ignoring the instructions. No problems, but they have one gluing the roof in place early on before all of the walls are even assembled. I prefer to leave my "drop-in" roofs removable so that I can more easily access and detail upper windows later in the process. This roof has to slide in under two molded on chimneys, but being that they are on the same back wall, it is an easy task. I also prefer to assemble all walls prior to painting, as I spray them with an airbrush (or rattle can) and I don't have to touch up the seams later. As with all DPM products, everything fit well, this kit does have tabs for alignment. Paint booth later today. Power pole/wire project is still moving along, All but one of the wires is in place for the whole length. The last one split the tiny hole that I had drilled in the insulator (too close to the edge), so I will need to stick it in place and hold it taunt while applying super glue.

Johnny - Forgot to take those pictures yesterday, I'll get some today. Note: Even though I am set up with two DC throttles and can run two trains at once, I can only pay attention to one at a time, so I do not run two. However, I can run on the upper level while my grandson runs on the lower level...it' s just a matter of who gets the walk-around throttle and who gets the fixed base throttle.
Justin - Congratulations to you and the "missus". May everybody be blessed with good health.
Sherrel - I cannot answer you question regarding the grabs because I am not familiar enough with cars of that era. From looking at pictures though, I am estimating that steel boxcars all seem to have 22". Wood ones from earlier look to be closer to 18". We have a restaurant in nearby Sanger that uses "Sticky Fingers" sauces. Haven't tried it yet.
Our family get-togethers are always fun, raucous affairs, after all we are Irish. However 14 kids in a swimming pool at once can be rather noisy even though none have had any alcohol.
Greg - Sometimes we have to step away from some projects for a refresh. It's one reason that I always have several projects going at once. Hope that you get over the doldrums soon. What kinds of trash are you looking for in the junkyard? Homemade? Store-bought? Anything in particular?
Curt - Get well soon.

That's it for me now, everyone have an awesome day and stay cool and dry.
 
Good morning everyone. 68 and drizzly here in Springfield. Had a thunderstorm move through overnight, which helped. Will check the rain gauge later today. We could use some more and they're predicting 50% chance of more rain today and tomorrow.

Made progress on the MR-IV build, even after spilling a half bottle of PolyScale paint on it :(:mad: Couldn't salvage any of the spill - bummer! My LHS still has a stash they're trying to sell cheap, so I will make a trip back there to see if they have any more of this color.

Have a good day everyone.
 
Willie - Noticed you posted just when I was getting ready to post. Will look forward to those photos of your MR-IV. Regarding running two trains at the same time on the same layout - - just one turnout I have to be mindful of, and I just forgot.

Justin - Forgot to say earlier - - CONGRATULATIONS to you and your wife!!
 
Good Morning Everyone....over cast and humid here in Wisconsin.

Waiting for the plumber.....over three weeks and no sink or kitchen water.

Willie: I use just about everything in the junk yards like sections of engine bodies, castings of junk, old wheel sets, window castings, piles of gravel, old culverts, old signs,etc.

Omro Junk Yard.jpg


Justin: Congratulations!!!

Willie: I did put the crane away for now. Plan on gluing the riggings in place since the crane is not planned to be operated. That should help assembly. I plan on using Canopy Glue.

That's all for now.

Greg

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Good morning. A chilly start to the day at 30 degrees with clear skies. Warmed up to 42 before I left the house and we are expected to be in the 70's by afternoon. There was some of the "S" stuff falling on some of the mountain passes yesterday, but it never stuck to the highway.

Justin - Congrats on the upcoming addition. Best to you and the best half.

Garry - Like the little 0-6-0. I'm sorry that I was unable to get a hold of the NP 0-8-0 when it came out. As a kid I can remember seeing them in action.

Willie - Good work catching what you hope to be the last armadillo. I pretty well also ignore the DPM instructions as they are pretty straight forward. and paint them the same way. Roof is last. I can also run two trains at the same time (if I want to have a train wreck) but that is usually when the grand kids are over. I'll let one of them run on the main line while I shuttle cars around in one of the yards. A big reason for not upgrading to DCC for me usually being a lone operator. Switching out industries is enough to keep my attention without having to wonder where another train is.

Greg - Hope the plumber show up soon. It is nice to have water in the kitchen. Like the scrap yard photo. I have everything I need to complete the fencing and add more detail to mine. Everything is in a box down in the train room and it is on my procrastination list. Haven't had much time to do any train projects trying to catch up with chores outdoors while we were gone on out trip. I did manage to paint some figures as I tipped over that parts drawer that they were kept in.

Haven't heard anything from Phil lately. Hope he's alright.

Here;s a rail picture for today.
track-train-railway-old.jpg


Later
 
Chet: I purchased a Life Life NP 0-8-0 when they first were released. It spends its life in a box awaiting DCC and Sound. She's a great run on DC.

Chet and Willie: I think the addition of "junk" around the industrial structures on a layout add to the realism. May it be pallets, drums or window frames, they all add to the scene. Even along the right of way you'll see broken couplers, plates, boards, old ties and a variety of items that have been discarded or fallen off a train.

Greg
 
Greg - That's the locomotive. They were sold out before I could find one. They were gone in a heartbeat. You must have gotten the one I wanted. My scrap yard is mainly for scrap metal. I have a load of old plastic wheels and plastic couplers in the box waiting to go in the scrap yard.
 
Willie -- Thanks for the note on the grab irons - That adds up! I think you are correct, but I will look around more too!
Glad you caught the last? little critter. BTW -- the be-que sauce I lie best is their Tennessee Whisky - it's yummy!

GREG -- Really like the scrap yard -- very nicely done!

Expected 91 today , it was 94 yesterday, and supposed to be 95 tomorrow! I think summer has arrived.
The sky is CAAFB - (that is aviation talk for "Clear as a F***ing Bell")
 
Greg - You posted in post #196; "Looking for trash to put into the junk yard area." I was wondering whether you were looking for recommendations on items to purchase, or items that you could add that are homemade. I have found that the piles that I make from "stuff" that's laying around are much more realistic. For scrap yards, besides the usual assortment of wheels, barrels, broken couplers, cut up sprues and random pieces of styrene rods. I use old LifeLike plastic vehicles that are deformed with a hair dryer or simply cut into pieces. I have used leftover pieces of weathered corrugated roofing, twisted and cut up foil from the tops of wine bottles, various pieces of leftover wire and cut-up ends from Chooch gondola loads that are too long for my selected gondola. On the other end, junk yards get the leftover wheels from the above mentioned LifeLike vehicles, the inevitable leftover wooden barrels from kits that aren't modern enough for my era, pieces of evergreen styrene rods and boards and pieces of stripwood. For both I also use parts (capacitors, resistors etc) that I salvage from discarded electronic boards, that usually get painted gray or rust.

Your scrapyard in post #206 looks pretty good already. I too add "stuff" along the railroad ROW and in creeks like tires, corrugated metal, broken couplers (rr only) etc. I like your suggestion of signs and window frames, I had not thought of either of them. Pallets are everywhere around many of my industries.
 
Afternoon fellers. Thanks to all of you for all the kind responses. We are excited for our new addition. My daughter was a little upset as she wanted a sister. However she has warmed up to the idea of a little brother. Atleast somewhat. We haven't decided officially on a name as of yet. We made a list of names and hopefully soon we can decide on one. As for our move. Looks to be in the works for the upcoming summer next year as we feel we won't be able to come up with needed funds for the move this summer and we will have paid off one of our vehicles by then so it'll free up some money for us. I may continue my layout build in the meantime as time and money allow. But I think the focus will be more towards the new addition coming this fall. It'll be our last baby we will bring into the world as the misses and me have decided two kids will be good enough. I'm not sure if that thought will change in the future or not. So who knows. Hope everyone has a good rest of the day.
 
chessie_system3 said:
Afternoon fellers. Thanks to all of you for all the kind responses.
It'll be our last baby we will bring into the world as the misses and me have decided two kids will be good enough. I'm not sure if that thought will change in the future or not..
Click to expand...

Well, Then ... Might as well name him CABOOSE.
 
Say, Willie - Based on your armadillo-catching expertise, how would you like a job catching moles? I've got 'em in spades in my yard up here, and I've tried most of the commercial products out there, to no avail.
 
Johnny: Moles, moles and more moles, our cabin being located in what is known as "Sand Country" in Wisconsin, the Saxeville/Spring-Water area is the official mole capital of the World. Our Cabin's yard is tunneled by these critters and its easy to twist an ankle if you don't watch where you are walking.

I watched a mole tunnel up to a rock, tunnel around the rock and then he headed back in the exact direction he was going before hitting the rock.

Watch for them tunneling and then a .22 caliber bullet from a rifle will dispatch the critter and no clean up required after the hit since he's underground.

We have a private Sportsman's Club called Moles International, limited to 100 members and a waiting list to join. Non-locals need not to join.

We have water!!!

Jason: You need to be real about the new child's name. How about just Chessie?

That's all for now.

Greg

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Raincoat2 said:
Say, Willie - Based on your armadillo-catching expertise, how would you like a job catching moles? I've got 'em in spades in my yard up here, and I've tried most of the commercial products out there, to no avail.
Click to expand...
Moles are tough to control as they won't go into a surface trap or one that smells like humans. Catch and release is not an option with moles. Mostly using spear or guillotine type traps works well, but they have to be set correctly. Greg has the best answer if you don't ricochet off a rock, but here's something that might possibly work.
https://www.improvementscatalog.com/RoomForImprovements/get-rid-moles-using-home-remedies/
Since I don't have any experience directly with moles, I cannot vouch for it's effectiveness.
 
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