Running Bear's Coffee Shop LXVI

[GarryCBQ]

Good evening, everybody ...

Curt and Chet .... Thanks for commenting on my photo of progress on my bridge project. I still have much more work to do.

Chet ... I like the photo you posted of the real bridge because it shows us model railroaders we do not have to have guard rails installed on our bridges. .... Also, I like the 1/87 Tucker.

Eric .... Have fun with the hopper car kits.


We are a bit warm in our house now. Outside temperatures have been in the high 90's and the lows are about 80 degrees. One of our two air conditioners stopped cooling, and the remaining unit is struggling to keep up. It is about 80 degrees now in the main level of the house. We have five ceiling fans running to help. The AC repair guy is coming tomorrow to take care of it. ..... Fortunately, it is cooler downstairs in the train room.

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's clear and 80.

Louis: the Tucker was a rear engine car. The vents were for engine cooling.

 

[Boris]

Boris the bats are still hot, but Ubaldo put us too far behind, again. it's either good Ubaldo or bad, mostly bad.

I watched through the top of the 8th, then gave up, it was 8-1 then. I missed the rally. I really don't understand why they persist in using Ubaldo. First inning, allowed three runs, but struck out the side. That's not a winning pitcher. 97 pitches, and five runs through 5 innings is bad, yet no worse than Miley the night before. What made me mad was the clowns on MASN were making excuses for Ubaldo....really?

 

[Boris]

Good morning, y'all. 72° and sunny. Not much going on right now.

 

[kbkchooch]

Good Morning gang!

Not much happening today. Pulled a 12 hour shift yesterday, then cleaned SWMBO's office building. Stopped at a nearby carnival thinking we'd walk around and grab a bite. 15 minutes after getting there I was white as a sheet, clammy and my legs felt like lead. SWMBO drove home and I went straight to bed. Woke up today feeling fine.....not sure what that was all about, other than the heat and humidity combined with exhaustion.

Anyhow, saw this and thought I would pass along something bright and shiney out of Baltimore, brighter at least than the O's pitching staff!

[video]https://www.facebook.com/DominoSugarBaltimore/videos/831358810373231/[/video]

That Tucker is a cool car, but with only 50 of them ever being built, it's not a car you want a bunch of on your layout!

Well, off to the P.O. to drop packages off, then to TSC , catch y'all later!

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning Everyone. 80° and clear. Forecast is to hit triple digits today...Where did that come from? Wasn't in the forecast yesterday for today. Heat advisory continues, although with a little breeze it isn't too bad outside. Maximum continuous working time for me is only 30 minutes in the shade though. No dew last night so I'll be mowing in a few minutes, as soon as my wife gets up. I could mow the back forty but the mower is parked next to the bedroom window.
So out in the train shed, I actually did some ground cover, maybe 2 sq ft. It's more than I have done in six months. Dusted off about two dozen tankers and added metal wheels to a couple of fright cars.

Eric -

Seems to me they would use lite colors so as to reflect sun's rays.

That makes sense to me as well, but apparently the RR's knew something that I don't know. Seems like most of the early PFE' roofs were brown. I know that much later they were silver.
What! No disco ball! Can't remember what peeved Bruce off last time. He has disagreements with a single person and abandons all of the rest of us.
Louis - Good luck with the house-hunting. No need to delay a layout, go sectional.
Terry - Good news about your co-worker.
Johnny -

Love not going to work (hmmm - - retirement is looking better all the time, maybe sooner than planned).

Go for it. I found that it's a great way to spend my time. I'd have retired sooner than 63 if the economy hadn't tanked in 2008-2009. Got to enjoy it while I'm able. Have a great time with the family.
Garry - Nice progress.
Beady - "Harvey Wallbangers" - I didn't think that anyone who drank many of them has survived this long! I stopped the hard stuff in '78. One too many times waking up and not remembering how I got where I was.
Chet - Nice looking weather station. While mine has large numbers, it's not as colorful. The "Tucker", interesting car that I had forgotten about. That "third eye" was a very innovative concept, as well as the rear engine. I thought that I read somewhere that the film's director, Francis Ford Coppola has one displayed at his winery.

Everybody have a great day and an awesome weekend.

Willie

 

[Boris]

Good Morning gang!

Not much happening today. Pulled a 12 hour shift yesterday, then cleaned SWMBO's office building. Stopped at a nearby carnival thinking we'd walk around and grab a bite. 15 minutes after getting there I was white as a sheet, clammy and my legs felt like lead. SWMBO drove home and I went straight to bed. Woke up today feeling fine.....not sure what that was all about, other than the heat and humidity combined with exhaustion.

Anyhow, saw this and thought I would pass along something bright and shiney out of Baltimore, brighter at least than the O's pitching staff!

[video]https://www.facebook.com/DominoSugarBaltimore/videos/831358810373231/[/video]

That Tucker is a cool car, but with only 50 of them ever being built, it's not a car you want a bunch of on your layout!

Well, off to the P.O. to drop packages off, then to TSC , catch y'all later!

Karl: The Domino engine is just so cool. It begs to be modeled. Nothing say Baltimore, quite like the Domino's neon sign, and the Mr. Bo neon sign.

 

[bnsf971]

The roofs on rolling stock was painted a dark color during the times of steam, so the soot would not show up as much.

 

[bnsf971]

Karl: The Domino engine is just so cool. It begs to be modeled. Nothing say Baltimore, quite like the Domino's neon sign, and the Mr. Bo neon sign.

That resembles the new HO scale Walthers Plymouth switcher.

 

[GarryCBQ]

Good morning Coffee Shop Patrons (and baseball fans) .

Karl ... I like the Sweet Toot video. ... How did they find the clean, freshly painted covered hoppers ?

Willie ... Speaking of retirement, I wonder how I had time to work before it. I always have more to do than time to do it. .... and then I hear a younger person saying : "You are retired and have nothing to do. Do me a favor and work on my stuff." ... Sigh.

 

[logandsawman]

Good morning all, 75 headed for 90. Heading down to St Paul later on for some free music.

Saw an interesting movie the other night, "Bite Bite the Bullet" with Gene Hackman, numerous train scenes, filmed in the southwest

Still putting shingles on the depot.

 

[montanan]

Good morning. We started off at 53 degrees this morning with a high expected in the mid 80's. Didn't need to crank up the A/C last night.

The Tucker is quite a unique car. Here are some photos on one I took at the National Automobile Museum, The Harrah Collection. The guy at the museum let me cross over the ropes and opened the car up so I could take photos. I also saw one in the Tallahassee Automobile Museum years ago.



As Terry Mentioned, the engine was in the rear of the Tucker. The engine was the same engine that was intended for the Bell 47 helicopter. Tucker claimed that the engine could be changed out with a new one in 30 minutes. A lot of new safety features were built into the Tucker. A roll bar was incorporated into the body. Seat belts were introduced in the Tucker. The third center headlight turned wit the wheel so you could have better vision at night. The windows in the Tucker were designed to pop out in an accident. While doing some testing at the Indianapolis International Speedway, they had an accident and rolled the car at speed and all of the safety features worked just as designed.

Needless to say, I am a car nut and a fan of the Tucker.

This is a train forum, so back to trains. Last night I converted three Northern Pacific passenger cars from truck mounted couplers to body mounted coupler to run at the model railroad club tonight. I should go down to the train room and test them out to make sure they'll work right later today.

Time to go out and move the rain birds. That is one good way to get bit of exercise dragging houses around.

Off to do some yard work, Later.

 

[IronBeltKen]

Good morning. It's sunny, hazy and hotter than a pizza oven here in the lower elevations of central MD. Heat advisory in effect, that makes it unsafe for me to mow my lawn...what a shame. Leaves me no choice but to stay in the trainroom and work on scenery.

Haven't seen any recent posts from Sherrell - hope that only means he's getting some rest..[?]

Karl, I toured the Domino plant with the RRISIG in the spring of 2000. My favorite scene was watching them use the clamshell bucket to unload bulk sugar out of the ship. Got several great photos, but I didn't have a digital camera at the time and never scanned-in the prints, so unfortunately I can't share them online.*sigh*

Garry your bridge looks great! If I had the space I'd have something like that myself.

On the layout front, I'm taking a break from treemaking and plan to put down some static grass. I think I have everything I need and won't have to drive out on any errands, they use up so much of my [precious and scarce] free time. Even going to the LHS isn't much fun anymore, since MBKlein reduced their showroom space from three to one in order to gain extra warehouse capacity for their internet train business. BTW Louis - have you been in there recently?

Stay cool everyone!

 

[Bruette]

 

[Bruette]

 

[Bruette]

 

[Bruette]

 

[Bruette]

Good morning. It's clear and 80.

Louis: the Tucker was a rear engine car. The vents were for engine cooling.

Thank you Terry!

I watched through the top of the 8th, then gave up, it was 8-1 then. I missed the rally. I really don't understand why they persist in using Ubaldo. First inning, allowed three runs, but struck out the side. That's not a winning pitcher. 97 pitches, and five runs through 5 innings is bad, yet no worse than Miley the night before. What made me mad was the clowns on MASN were making excuses for Ubaldo....really?

Even in 88 I had hopes we could come back and make a run for the pennant. I'm always expecting a miracle.

Brooks left the Orioles broadcast team because they wanted him to stop pointing out the problems. Same reason they parted ways with Jon Miller.

Good Morning gang!

Not much happening today. Pulled a 12 hour shift yesterday, then cleaned SWMBO's office building. Stopped at a nearby carnival thinking we'd walk around and grab a bite. 15 minutes after getting there I was white as a sheet, clammy and my legs felt like lead. SWMBO drove home and I went straight to bed. Woke up today feeling fine.....not sure what that was all about, other than the heat and humidity combined with exhaustion.

Anyhow, saw this and thought I would pass along something bright and shiney out of Baltimore, brighter at least than the O's pitching staff!

[video]https://www.facebook.com/DominoSugarBaltimore/videos/831358810373231/[/video]

That Tucker is a cool car, but with only 50 of them ever being built, it's not a car you want a bunch of on your layout!

Well, off to the P.O. to drop packages off, then to TSC , catch y'all later!

Karl you better take care of yourself, don't make me come over there!

Great video, thank you!

Louis - Good luck with the house-hunting. No need to delay a layout, go sectional.

Willie

I was not hunting, at least not this house. It's a deal that is falling into my lap. I know some people who own and rent houses and they are retiring. To say thank you for all my help over the years they are offering me a sweetheart deal and even offering to hold the financing. It pays to treat people well.

Sectional... yeah! Lionel has stuff to make modular layouts, hardware, templates and more to make it easy, thanks Willie!

The roofs on rolling stock was painted a dark color during the times of steam, so the soot would not show up as much.

You should write a book, I'll buy the first copy! Thinking along those lines Amazon will digitally publish your book and sell it for you!

Louis - have you been in there recently?

I was there a few weeks maybe months ago when they first started. They have a new general manager and he is making lots of changes. He hopes to be more like Amazon and Train World, good luck with that! The new GM has big dreams and a small budget.

The only reason Ted Klein kept the store open after he retired was he did not want to disappoint his customers. He won't make any big investments. He still monitors the video feeds from the store. I always wave hello. I wonder what he thinks? I have not talked to him in years. It's run like any other corporation now.

The store accounts for less than 10% of MB Klein's sales, the rest is the internet.

If it aint broke, don't fix it!

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Good morning. It's sunny, hazy and hotter than a pizza oven here in the lower elevations of central MD. Heat advisory in effect, that makes it unsafe for me to mow my lawn...what a shame. Leaves me no choice but to stay in the trainroom and work on scenery.

Haven't seen any recent posts from Sherrell - hope that only means he's getting some rest..[?]


Stay cool everyone!

Thanks for all the positive vibes, guys ... it must be working!

More later, but made the trip to LA (Hollywood area) to the main clinic to see the surgeon who did the two neck surgeries connecting the necessary arteries together. Wife drove while I curled up with two big pillows in the back. She actually drove better with me in the back and not cringing at the freeway traffic which was surprising light for a Friday in both directions- it took 2:04 going and 2:15 coming back - we were back home shortly after 1 PM. Had we taken the train, because of the commuter connections, we would have had to leave 1:30 eariler and not get home until 5 PM. Actually he was impressed that I seem to be doing (i get the feeling) better than he really expected. He keeps looking for nerve damage and checking all my extremities to make sure that they are functioning as they should ... and just as the Home Health Nurse (two days ago) and then the Surgeon said: Don't push it - You were out for 9 hours and you can expect at minimum another month before becoming more normal again. I asked him if I set any kind of record with the 14 surgeons, cardio, and vascular people and support who were in the OR room and he said "close, but we have had a few more at times".

OK .. Now comes a CT Scan on the 31st and a followup with the head guys from the Intervention Radiology team who oversaw this entire procedure and put together the three different teams (Hooray for All of Them). Now, I just pray that the Scan comes back clean and there are no complications, or "leaks" from where the aneurysm was bypassed and from the sleeve which was placed inside the aorta to keep blood flow from the aneurysm.

TWO THUMBS UP for all that TEAM and ALL U Guys for your concern and support!

 

[santafewillie]

Sherrel - Hooray!!! Keep on keeping that positive attitude and stay rested for a few more weeks. Ask the head guy if they recorded the procedures for training purposes and whether or not you will receive residuals when they use it.

I asked him if I set any kind of record with the 14 surgeons, cardio, and vascular people and support who were in the OR room and he said "close, but we have had a few more at times".

Someone at your insurance is going to cringe when they see that bill!
Have a great day and have a drink on me.

Willie