Running Bear's Coffee Shop LXII


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Time to head home for the day. This is what I have been tinkering with for a few months and is a daily driver.

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Yes I like old Jeeps.
 
Evening gents,
Yeah, last day (on a regular basis anyhow). I told him I'd be available for a day or two now and then after his family leaves.
He actually wanted me to work tomorrow but I already have it set in head.
Kind of funny how when I started he had to check me out on everything. Yesterday morning it was "do you know plumbing and electrical?" (that was before he got ill with me and I got ill back). So today I did some more plumbing and a bit of electrical.
Although he was still rushing around a lot today, he was actually in a pretty good mood.
No short or easy last day me though. I busted it right up until quittin time and never laid back a bit.

I would say I'm ready for some serious drink and sleep in late tomorrow but I think we all know that won't happen.
Besides that I need to call someone early to give a professional reference for a friend of mine.
Actually, I need to call the friend so he can tell me what the job about.
E

PS: I gave the 1911 back this morning. Sigh.
 
Hiya Gang!

Thanks guys for the kind remarks on the picture. I've got more like that around here somewhere. I really really went nuts on photo backdrops a few years back, taking pictures and printing them on card stock , re-sizing and blending them in Photoshop.

The Impala crossed that 100,000 mile mark recently, and promptly threw up all over itself.:eek: Sunday it almost left SWMBO sitting with dinner in the car. I took it in Monday and stood with the tech as he read the codes from the computer. Mass air flow sensor failed, 1 of the 4 oxygen sensors had a pre-heater failure, and the pressure control solenoid was bad in the transmission. :mad: Well, it had been hard shifting for the last year or so, the Oxygen sensor would only be a problem next year, and the Mass Air flow sensor was what scared the crap outta SWMBO. Plus there was a recall on the valve covers (oh yeah, the burning smell) plus it needed and oil change and trans fluid change anyway........oh crap, she likes the car,,
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,,happy wife,,,,happy life right?:rolleyes: Its cheaper than a new one....even though repairs would easily equal 2 or 3 brass engines (and thats with my employee discount!:eek::eek:) At least they did give me a car to drive in the meantime! :cool:

Chet, neat ride! We had an old farmer in the are had one of the old Willys pickups, Awesome little truck!

L8ter gang!
 
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Garry: From what I understand, the Army has now standardized on Gensets, of course one never really knows for sure. My observation of "Mains" going to port areas, was that most of the cars were stenciled DODX, and included 60' MTTX style flats as well as 85'+ piggyback cars with and without trailer hitches and container pads. Most are relatively new.
Interesting that you should bring up the former IC line. From what I understand, that's the remanent of the Tennessee Central Railroad, which went out of business in 1969 or so. Part of this line is operated by the Nashville Eastern and it's subsidy Nashville Western. RJ Corman operates some trackage in Clarksville, There is talk of extending the Nashville Star commuter service Westward to Clarksville, and possibly Hopkinsville.

Eric: Gotcha on the Carpet and padding. The first two rooms, lightly used bedrooms, get better than base carpeting and padding, the rest of the house gets upgraded carpet with top line padding. Difference between better and best is 20 cents per square foot, not worth quibbling over.

Justin: When were you in Tidewater, VA? I was stationed at Ft. Eustis, back in 1969-1970. Back then, the Army still had active steam power, as well as a host of diesels, and interesting rolling stock. We ran scheduled passenger trains to the airbase and ranges. My son, (Aviation), did his AIT there. There were still using Red GP10s then. There were also DODX boxcars, painted Railbox Yellow in what remained of Hanks yard. I recently heard that the last Railway Operating Battalion - a Reserve component - had cased their colors at the end of 2015.

Terry: That trailer's interior resembles a rail car.

Chet: Nice Jeep!

Karl: Once they turn 100k miles, these things happen. That's why I decided to trade the Monte Carlo. However, if SWMBO likes the car, you better fix it. Once the works done, it's good for another 100K :).

Have a good evening.
 
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Evening all... well, I found a place with a clock of the kind I want... simple with a C&NW logo on it and under 30 bucks. I sent the link to DairyStateMom with a pretty blatant Father's Day hint. It wasn't the site I was looking for, but it was exactly the style I had been hoping to find. So all's well that ends well on that front. It will be the train room clock, of course.

BTW, Karl, let me belatedly join those who were complimenting you on that picture.

As for the Impala...all I can think is ouch. Well, at least the valve cover repair was free with the recall, right? Next thing we'll find out that until the 100k turnover, the car was still under warranty ...

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Wow. I just checked weather. Looks like we're catching a little chilly spell over the next few days. Won't get over 73 until 84 on Saturday.

What a week already. Last day at one job today. I'll review some tutorials and lessons in prep for the new work tomorrow, then start on the clock Thursday at 2.5x the pay.
Some interesting political happenings this evening.
An email from my Aunt Elaine says Uncle Jim is in bad shape. I inadvertently deleted her email before catching all of it so I need to give her a call.
... and it's not even "hump day" yet...
Maybe I will stay up some extra drink this evening.
E.
 
Good afternoon fellow rail workers and spike drivers,
Hi Francine, Flo's not around? Oh, she has the day off. I'll just have some coffee and an apple fritter if you have any? You do, great! Oh, Garry was good enough to bring a bunch earlier, I'll have to remember to thank him.


Checking WW> It's [Partly Cloudy], No completely Overcast;
It's 84.6 °F - Feels Like 82 °F;
Wind is from SE at 4.2 mph;
Pressure 29.92 in;
Visibility 10.0 miles;
Clouds Clear?;
Heat Index 82 °F;
Dew Point 48 °F;
Humidity 28%;
Rainfall 0.00 in.


Just in case some of you are wondering about my often used intro heading, I get that from hand laying my rail on the ties, making sure they are in gauge and then drilling a tinny hole on either side of the rail base and driving spikes down on either side of the rail base, very similar to the actual railroad. It's a lot more time consuming indeed than laying a 3 ft. length of flex track, with it's molded in spike heads, for sure but offers some interesting challenges too.

As an example, last night I decided I'd work on the last section of track I spiked in place a week using the Central Valley Branch Line tie strips but didn't like the angle it veered off at so I was able to lift up the plastic tie strips and the rail generally stayed in place so it wasn't too hard a job to reposition about the last 1.5 ft of it. That meant going along the rail with the track gauges placed on either side of the spike locations, about every 8 ties, and again pushing the spikes down into the sound board in the new position. A bit of a challenge but not too bad as the rail wanted to move around a bit. Then as usual I like to check to ensure that none of the spikes were sticking up too high and put a truck with metal wheels in it on the rail and give it a push back and forth. I had also installed a Caboose Hobbies High Level switch stand base to hold the points of the last turnout in position.

Now all the while during all of this I'm standing on my step stool/lader to be able to half way conveniently reach this upper back line and the track extented a couple of feet to my Right. So I have this truck placed on the rail and I'm giving it a push and watching it roll down the repositioned track and travel through the two turnout to my Left. A couple of times the truck derailed and I had to put it back on in the area where I just spiked it down again. Everything seemed fine but all of a sudden when I went to place the truck on the rail I could get it to set properly and roll back and forth as it had been?? I though my sense of knowing how to place the truck on the rail was messed up, I was fairly tired at that point. So I repositioned my step stool and found that the back rail was missing a spike on the outside where I couldn't see very easily as I was working more feel of the needle nose pliers and the rail was spreading out enough to allow the truck with narrow code 88 metal wheels in it to fall between the rails. I was beginning to think my coordination was going. LoL I put in the missing spike and end of problem.



I'm going back a day or two here trying to catch up on what I missed.

About Barry: It's unfortunate to loose a fellow modeler and a good guy as Phil said.


Justin: Could your unsteady hands be caused by a lack of Vitamin B-12?


Willie I'm in the same boat too even though I do get Soc Sec, there's not much left by the time I pay my bills and I conserve an awful lot too. Times are tough!

In another post; Your mailbox is over a mile away and in another county too. You beat me alright.


Beady That was a smart choice you made.


Joe: Great photo by Mr. Pick, thanks for posting.


Garry Your info the Cadiz RR is quite interesting.
More about trains of military hardware to and from Fort Campbell. ..... The Illinois Central did haul it until they discounted service on the line that extended from Princeton, KY to Hopkinsville, and then to Clarksville, TN and beyond to Nashville, TN.

The Cadiz Railroad connected with the IC on that line in a small town called Gracey which was between Princeton and Hopkinsville. The Cadiz RR acquired the line to Hopkinsville from Princeton. The Army acquire the line from Hopkinsville through Ft Campbell to Clarksville.

I met the retired General Manager of Cadiz RR who is now at least 90 years old, and he told me about how the Cadiz Railroad was operated. Originally, the Cadiz RR only ran from Cadiz to Gracey (10 miles). After they acquired the IC line, they ran to Princeton to connect with IC. He told me the Army had a train of military vehicles for the Cadiz RR to haul from Princeton to Hopkinsville. The little railroad only had three old Alco S1's. They coupled all three units together, and each needed a man at the throttle (No MU connections). He operated the lead unit and two other guys handled the other two S1's. .. That is how they pulled a long train loaded with military equipment a distance of about 25 miles. .


Also thanks for the measurements of your stock pens, 'It is approximately 24" by 10", so I guess each pen is about 12" x 10"
so that gives me an idea to work with. I'll have to see as the time gets closer.


Chet Nice looking old Willies truck.
 
Hmmmm as in unsteady hands are we talking about the building of my road among other things? You may very well be onto something here.....

Justin
 
Oh and before I forget. I was stationed at Ft. Story from 2009 to 2011. I deployed from there in 2009 and of course I left the service there in 2011.

Justin
 
Late evening to all my spike driving friends,

Say Ken: As far as you doing the wiring on your layout I'm not sure what your doing but it sounds like you ran the buss lines down the middle of the underside of the table and that is why your having to go under there? I don't know but from what you said it seemed to fit. I was thinking about doing that on my layout but soon realized there was No Way I could that as my tables are straddling too much other stuff in the garage. So the more I thought about running the wires off a buss line, which I do have I soon realized that the only feasible way was to route the buss wires around the lower inside edge of the tables and below my joists that support the table top and road bed. Then, I have easy access to the buss lines and run feeders from it to the track and turnouts as needed routed through Atlas connectors for on/off block power. all my turnouts on the main line and sidings are always hot, and again I just run feeders from the buss lines to the two outside rails of the turnouts. It make for easy wiring.



Hmmmm as in unsteady hands are we talking about the building of my road among other things? You may very well be onto something here.....

Justin


Hi Justin: Yes, I was referring to you mentioning that building, 'Wicked Wanda's' might be too much of an undertaking as your hands are not that steady. So I remembered that B-12 is for nerves so I thought I'd mention it.

The only thing about taking B-12 is that our bodies store it so you don't want take it every day but rather every other and not a real strong dose of it either as it can make you feel tired if you get too much of it in your system.



Time to run my Mid-Night passenger service between Ridge Crest and Achenback Station which really isn't there yet except in my mind. Another tribute to John Allen, and speaking of him I managed to pick-up a Gorre & Dephitd 58 ft Mouse Belley RPO Combine.

See you all later today.
 
Good Wednesday Morning to all. It's 53 degrees and clear this morning in beautiful North Central Texas. Going up to 80 today after a week of cooler temperatures. I went to the doctor for my annual physical and everything was great. I'm glad. He is backing down the dosage of one of my BP medications since I have had a steady reduction of pressure since retiring (go figure). Still wants me to lose weight. I went to Discount Model Railroads in Addison TX while I was in the neighborhood, well close. Spent $200 on odds and ends that I was getting low on like ground throws and Evergreen styrene. Picked up another Bar Mills kit while I was there, a simple one called "Papa Louie's Cigar Store". I still have a couple of other more complex ones on the un-built shelf out in the train shed. Small world, while I was leaving, I ran into a young lady in the lobby of their location who used to work with me about 12 years ago. She works for the buildings owner now. Spent over 40 minutes talking and catching up.
David (Trussrod) - As Chet has mentioned, "Old Timers Disease"; that was Beady who talked about his unsteady hand, not Justin. Regarding SS, I just don't need it yet, so I haven't bothered to apply. I have to wait until I'm 66 for full benefits anyway. I just don't have as much in the modeling budget as I used to. Knowing what was eventually going to happen (retirement), I stocked up on lumber, structures, track, rolling stock and accessories for 6 years before I actually retired.
Eric - I have never worn a watch! Fortunately I have always been a good "reckoner" of time. I also learned in the Boy Scouts how to tell time by the sun back in the 60's. Just don't stare into it! By the way, so much for sleeping in late.
Chet - Wow, nice looking vehicle. I see that you can restore old vehicles as well as you model.
OK, everyone have a good Wednesday.

Willie
 
Time to head home for the day. This is what I have been tinkering with for a few months and is a daily driver.

View attachment 57027

Yes I like old Jeeps.

Hi Chet,

I like the jeep. I too love the old jeeps and wish I had one now. I recall in high school having a 1947 Willies to drive around in. It was a civilian jeep but it was built like a tank. We would off road with it all the time and loved it.

Thanks for kicking in the memories.

Dave
 
Good Morning. Starting off at 44 degrees this morning with the high in the mod 70's again.

Thanks for the comments on the Jeep. I love working on them because they are so simple to work with. Stopped for gas on the way home yesterday and had two very serious offers on it. May consider them.

I have (had) a bird problem. I had parked my daily driver in it's normal spot in front of the house last Wednesday and with having the eye surgery, really didn't go outside until Saturday. When I did, I say a river of bird crap over a foot wide on the front of both passenger doors. Cleaned it up and there it was again on Sunday. Didn't take long to figure out how it got there. We have a tree right next to out front porch and a pair of Robins decided that it would be a great place to build a nest. I was going to tear it out until I saw some eggs in the nest.

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Decided that I would just park it in another spot until the eggs hatch and the babies fly away. Glad that I park my classics immediately in the shop when I get home. That bird crap can easily ruin a pain job.

Karl, that Impala is just getting broke in. It's really a crime what they want for parts for new cars now. Sure like working on the old ones without all of the electronics. Those sensors can get pricey. I managed to get a laptop from a good friend who I had restored a couple of cars from. He is an ASE mechanic and the laptop had all of the diagnostic software on it. Originally got it for my '59 Impala because of the Corvette engine in it. It's out of a 2004 C-06 Corvette and loaded with sensors, but it has come in handy numerous time over the years. Only had to use it once on my Buick LeSabre. Found a bad O2 sensor. Have a lot of friends that I have been able to help with it.

When I hear people like Eric talk about the high humidity I sure feel glad that I live up here. Our humidity is usually quite low. My son and his wife went down to Raleigh, NC for a conference for his job and he is dying down there not being used to the high humidity. He says he doesn't know how people can live down there. Spend many years living in Florida, I know what he means. The low humidity also makes the cold weather easier to live with.
 
Good morning gang!

Overcast, 65 with scattered showers today. Been like this for most of the week. I cut the lawn saturday, but you can't tell today. LooKS like I'm gonna need a baler if this keeps up!
Hopefully SWMBO gets her car back today.
 
Good morning from murky New Jersey. 55° and cloudy with occasional rain today...Been like this since sunday, and supposed to stay like this until Friday Night. The weather guy on TV keeps talking about how dry it is, and how much of a rainfall deficit we have to make up....yea,,right! :confused:
 
Good morning from murky New Jersey. 55° and cloudy with occasional rain today...Been like this since sunday, and supposed to stay like this until Friday Night. The weather guy on TV keeps talking about how dry it is, and how much of a rainfall deficit we have to make up....yea,,right! :confused:

JOE- He must have studied weather in California - they all say that out here. LoL
 
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