Running Bear's Coffee Shop June 2018


Good morning. It's partly cloudy and 71. Today is flag day in the US.
If any of you has any old, obsolete, or broken sound decoders laying around, Soundtraxx is running a promotion where you buy one of their new Tsunami 2 decoders, and send in an old sound decoder with your receipt to Soundtraxx, and they will send you one free. It works out to a buy one, get one free sale, limit two deals. I have a couple of old Digitrax sound decoders that I'll offer up for scrap fodder. It works out to 4 new sound decoders for $175, plus $5 postage. The promotion runs through the end of the month.
 
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Good morning everyone. 76 already and clear, hitting 93 later, and we need RAIN!!!

Willie - Thanks for those photos of your MR-IV. Gives me some ideas on the paint schemes. i won't be using the store graphics that came with the kit - well maybe one of them - but I'll be looking for other graphics.
Garry - like the Stray Dog Cafe. I'll have to look for its namesake next time I'm over that way.

Nothing to report from the train room or the modeling room. Got home from work yesterday and helped my wife with preparations for a big dinner today for 11 - kids and one set of their friends all coming over. So didn't even go down to the basement yesterday.

Garden is producing prodigious cukes and squash, 'maters are coming along but won't be ready for a few weeks yet, bell peppers are just getting going. Jalapeno peppers are coming along, too. Peas didn't do well - don't know why. Giving up on the strawberries, I'll yank them out later and make more room for other stuff. We also have a row of registered daylilies - insane colors - will have to take a photo and post it.

Have a good day everyone.
 
Good Morning All. Clear and 75° to start the day, going up to 97° again today. Still 8° above normal and close to our record from 2011 of 100°. Spent most of yesterday in the pool and removing stuff from our bathroom in advance of the upcoming renovation. Amazing how much stuff is in that small room. Today is Thursday, so that means it's grocery/beer day in the SFW household. I'm sure we'll stop by Lowe's or Home Depot to continue our quest for the "right" tile and fixtures. The only thing that we're reusing is the toilet.
Out in the train shed, I added the other grade crossing to the siding and began that ground cover there. Also started painting windows and concrete trim on the new courthouse. Finally attached that stray wire on the power pole part of the project and painted a few more figures.

Thanks for the comments regarding the buildings, Garry, Chet, Sherrel, Curt, Johnny and anyone else that I may have missed.

Garry - I like your picture and the use of names on your businesses.
Justin - The key to a good paint job on structures is patience. Take your time. On that court house that I posted yesterday, I estimate that painting will take me over two weeks. Yesterday for example, I painted the concrete trim on one side and nine windows (out of 50+), after spray painting the brick color and roof on Tuesday. I also primed the roof details. I am not in a race to finish.
Chet - The court house will fit well with the area that I plan to use it in, the small town business district that I have posted parts of recently. This will take me a bit of time since I am painting all of the concrete details a concrete color (duh!), all of which are the brick color in the photo on the front of the box. I am using a cream color for the windows instead of the "bright white" as pictured. By the way, those figures pictured come with the kit as well.
Sherrel - That court house is going across the tracks in that town on the small peninsula that has the junk-filled vacant lot and the BBQ restaurant, among other businesses.
Curt - You're correct regarding the court house being a focal point. While the majority of my layout is filled with industries (72 at latest count - I like switching), I have set up a couple of smallish peninsulas to showcase town activity. This one which actually straddles the track, currently has twenty structures, and is still under construction. I have posted some pictures of the finished areas before, I'll post some "helicopter shots" after I get a little more built. I still need to name a few of the existing businesses and add more people and vehicles.
Ray -
I see you left the "dressing room" intact alongside the pool, Willie.
Not sure what you mean here. Pool is clothing optional!

Johnny - By the way, do you still do the wood art? I haven't seen mention of it lately.

Everybody have a great day.
 
Good morning, everybody !


Don't know where you are, GARRY? No friend request on my FB?
I will try you in the AM. Don;t have my phone with me at moment!

Sherrel ..... FB still has a request pending ... I just did a FB wave to see if that reaches you. ....
 
Good morning. 50 degrees with an expected high only in the 60's, after a high of 92 yesterday. The temperature fluctuations have been going nuts the past few weeks.

The grand kids were over yesterday for dinner, so we grilled hot dogs and burgers for them. Grand daughter Piper used to be deathly afraid of dogs and had to be carried because she was do scared. That's over now. She just loves the dogs and has made little Ginger her best little buddy.

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Really happy that she no longer fears dogs.

Curt - Turning the power off is a good idea before you start working on electrical. We don't live where a pool is common, but even if they were practical, I'm with you, too much work. The cow sounds sure gets the visitors attention. The reason the 28 car train gets up the steep grades is because those are my old Atlas DC locomotives. On my home layout, one DC locomotive can pull over double what the DCC locomotive can do. Had to remove a lot of the weight to make room for the decoder and speaker.

Sherrel - Those B-36's were monsters. Great photo. I also saw one at the Museum in Tucson. They were also so heavy that they could only land at certain air fields. Never got to see on in the air. Years ago they had B-52's from Malstrom Air Force Base near Great Falls practive low level flying over the mountains just south of us. One day my father and I were up cutting fire wood when one came over. Talk about low. We looked up and clearly saw the co pilot looking down at us. Noisy beasts.

Garry - I also hear that about the Durango and Silverton. We have ridden on it numerous times. I can see the concern that they have with the forest fires in the state. That is a fantastic train ride. The railroad brings a lot of revenue into that area.

Terry - The ebay deal wasn't too bad. One of out club members has a pair of the Genisis GP-7's and they are really some nice locomotives. Hope you can get the hanger queen operating.

Willie - I love to work on building kits,but painting all of the windows and details can really be a pain in the butt. When I put the town together on my layout I thought I was going to go blind painting the windows. Just way too many to do at one time, 15 of them. Took about a week to complete them all. I now have a bunch of figures spread out all over my work bench that have to be painted. I left the paint out, all the brushes and thinner all together but the train fairy hasn't done a thing with them. Guess I'll have to get to work.

Here's a rail picture for today.

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Later
 
Sherrel: I also remember those Beast-36's. There was a bunch of them at one time down at Homestead AFB in Florida. Would see them every once in a while when my dad I am were fishing in the Everglades, you could hear them long before you could see them.

Chet: When I lived in Boone, NC they would fly BUFFs on mock bombing runs over the mountains near my house. Like you, I could swear I saw the co-pilot waving to me. Reminds me of the scene in Dr. Strangelove where George C. Scott was talking about them flying fast and low. Glad to see the GD is over her fear of Ginger. That is one cute pup!
 
Years ago I was on I-90 in Wisconsin near Tomah when a group of A-10 Warthogs came right over the tree tops, That will grab your attention.
 
Sure quite around here this morning! Thanks for all the comments on the B-36's. I saw my first one up close when I attended American Flyers in order to obtain my Instrument Rating at the Mecham Field in Ft Worth. We did our flight work at Amon Carter Field which was located just a little ssouth of where DFW is today. A B-36 was on static display in front of the terminal. In Those days people were not destructive and the airplane had no fencing around it and I was able to climb all over and inside it - Now days people would strip and steal everything they could pry loose!
Howdy - supposed to be in the low 90's again today - 94 yesterday!
GARRY - I finally saw your request on FB .. Normally the request come up in a little box top right, but too, I was looking for GarryCBQ.
WILLIE: I think you said that your wife was on FB? If she is, you have to get her to play this for you!
CHET, CURT, GREG, and anyone remodeling a bathroom!
The video may give you a few tips on your work!


That is all for now!
 
OK ... I will stop doing this, but you have to admit -- It's pretty darn impressive!
Question: Just how big is a B-36 Wing?

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OK ... I will stop doing this, but you have to admit -- It's pretty darn impressive!
Question: Just how big is a B-36 Wing?

View attachment 28592
Damned big. They have one (plane, that is) at the AF museum in Dayton. Gonna have to get back down there, someday (I keep having trouble remembering I can go whenever I want, now). Back in Vermont, I paid a few extra bucks to climb into the cockpit of a B-29 and sat in the navigator's seat for about 10 minutes. Just sat there, but loved it.

In local railroad news, someone's been piling gravel and assorted debris over the rails down in the Jackson area.
 
Years ago I was on I-90 in Wisconsin near Tomah when a group of A-10 Warthogs came right over the tree tops, That will grab your attention.
Just as well they weren't firing those Gatlings at you. Attention would have been in the past tense.
 
Got a shock today!
After moving into a new home just over a year ago, I finally got the train room in the basement cleaned out enough to start assembling bench work.
I had built the old layout in modules and sections at the old house, so I disassembled it and stacked the 2' x 4' sections and legs in the basement corner. Then I proceeded to bury them under other boxes of "stuff".
Anyhow, the modules on top off the legs are 49" high and too high for my grandsons to reach over to help apply scenery. I cut off the legs to have it 37" high, plus 1/8" or minus 1/4". Now , I have to add bolts, nuts and inserts to make adjustable length legs.
A trip to my local Lowe's store gave me the shock. Quarter inch galvanized steel hardware for 32 legs was almost $2..00 per leg,
I'm afraid I am in for some more surprises before I get the trains running.
 
Howdy y'all. Taking a break from the hustle and bustle of the world of residential irrigation to stop in and grab a cup and a donut. Unlike disco, I ain't dead yet. Been too busy to post much lately, or even to keep up on what's been happening, but I'm going to try to update y'all on some new acquisitions I picked up for the layout. Some good stuff, some mediocre stuff, and a surprise father's day gift that made me smile. Y'all have a great day. What's the lunch special today? May try to make it back in for a bite today.
 
Good Morning All. 78° and mostly clear out there. Supposed to start cooling off to a more normal (73°-90°) range tomorrow. Weather Bureau is still scheduling the next rain event for Monday, although they have reduced the probability from 75% to 50%. Despite another hour-long venture at HD yesterday, my wife still hasn't decided on tile for the bathroom project. She has the nerve to ask for my opinion in the store when she has ignored everything I have suggested for the last month regarding this renovation. Not that I was expecting anything different.
Later out in the train shed, I continued painting stuff. More concrete trim and windows on the courthouse, more paint on some figures that I want to use, some brown latex paint on the plywood layout base and finally some roadway striping. Regarding the figures, I am painting bicycles and riders, two male, two female. While I have figured out how the riders mount on the bicycles, I haven't yet determined how they will attach to the roadways without unsightly glue blobs. Most likely I will use super glue, but the contact surface is minimal. I have considered mounting on a piece of clear styrene to allow mobility but I'll have to experiment a bit.

Ray - That clump of grass serves four functions; Surrounds a dismantled satellite dish that hasn't made it to the recycling center yet, shows the wife how well I maintain the rest of the place, is a wildlife refuge for our resident snakes and provides a view block from the road to the pool ladder.
Chet - Painting those windows is one of the main reasons that I have several projects going at once. My eyes get crossed after ten or so and I have to move on to something else. The train fairies must be on strike since they haven't been to my place either.
Sherrel - Enjoyed the video. Seen it happen to others, but fortunately not me, at least not to that extent. It reminds me of the occasion when a non-mechanically inclined buddy of mine was helping me build a pool deck and dropped my brand new cordless drill/screwdriver into some mud. He then repeatedly dunked it in the pool to clean it off; it never worked again.

I somewhat miss the daily B-52 flights over my house since they closed Carswell AFB back in the early 90's. They flew really low to avoid commercial air traffic.
OK, everybody have a great day and an awesome weekend if they count for you.
 
Howdy y'all. Taking a break from the hustle and bustle of the world of residential irrigation to stop in and grab a cup and a donut. Unlike disco, I ain't dead yet. Been too busy to post much lately, or even to keep up on what's been happening, but I'm going to try to update y'all on some new acquisitions I picked up for the layout. Some good stuff, some mediocre stuff, and a surprise father's day gift that made me smile. Y'all have a great day. What's the lunch special today? May try to make it back in for a bite today.

Well hell Jesse! Hadn't seen you in three or four months. Welcome back. Glad that all is well and that you're staying busy. Don't be a stranger.
 
Well hell Jesse! Hadn't seen you in three or four months. Welcome back. Glad that all is well and that you're staying busy. Don't be a stranger.

Yeah, I've been spending a lot of time in the dirt, makin' it rain. Lol. Been good for the fleet management budget. When I can get the rail boss to allow funds transfers. Lol. Still haven't started the build, but I've added some nice rolling stock.
 
Good morning everyone. 74 and sunny here, hitting 95 today - - flirting with record temps. Had a pop-up rain storm last night around 9, lasted almost an hour so that helped the "drought."

Willie - Haven't done much in the wood shop lately. I usually get busy in September to make enough items to sell in fall craft fairs. The shop isn't air conditioned or heated, so I pick my work times carefully ;)

Not much to report from the train room. Had 12 for dinner last night, including some friends of our son and DIL. At least got to show off the layout and run some trains for them. In addition to working on a couple of structure builds, I'm getting ready to paint the lake and then pour the Realistic Water in - - the folks in the town have been without a water source long enough :p

We have our international graduation ceremony tonight - some 750 will graduate around the world, but 45 students from the US and other countries paid their way to Springfield to "walk the line" in our ceremony here. Even have at least one incarcerated person graduating! He'll address the crowd via video. Will be a long day, but an enjoyable one.

Have a good day everyone.
 
A trip to my local Lowe's store gave me the shock. Quarter inch galvanized steel hardware for 32 legs was almost $2..00 per leg,
I'm afraid I am in for some more surprises before I get the trains running.

This is the kind of thing that I get from eBay. I purchased 50 T-Nuts and 50 bolts with washers and nuts for less than $30 including shipping.
 



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