Running Bear's Coffee Shop LXX


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Here is the Denver Zephyr running hours late because of a major blizzard. It has SD9 helpers ahead of its E-units. It is in Lincoln, Nebraska, and it is scheduled to by there in the middle of the night. The SD9 has a four digit number which means it was renumbered shortly after the Burlington Northern merger. Soon after the BN merger, Amtrak was created, and the Denver Zephyr was discontinued. That's remarkable because the DZ was a popular train and a big producer of revenue for the Burlington.

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Garry: That's why Amtrak cancelled the DZ, it was making money. Can't have that and receive federal Funding...:rolleyes: Needed the equipment to run Harley's Hornet to Parkersburg WVA.

FWIW, the passenger train photo Louis posted, was along the Northern Central, or NC, which went from Baltimore to Buffalo. The train, a "Parkton Local", can be modeled using three Con Cor MP54 coaches, and an Atlas RS1. Note the RS1, was not equipped with Trainphone, nor MU capable, but was purchased specifically for this assignment to replace a G5 4-6-0. After the Parkton Locals were discontinued, the RS1 was reassigned to yard service in Philadelphia.
 
Good morning. A brisk start for the day at 12 degrees. After we wear it out a bit we will be sending it east.

Garry - Like the Good Humor truck, but they were not around up here where I live and model. Not enough population.

Curt - You're moving right along with that water tower. Looking good so far.

Louis - Like the photo. Good luck on your move. Don't think I would ever move. Way too much stuff, and then, where would I go?

Eric - Nice to see that you're checking in. I'm sure you are quite happy to be home. Make any progress on the fleas ?

Garry - A chilling photo. Here's my 2 cents.

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Ken - What a situation. Guess you can breathe now.

Joe - I really enjoy your first hand knowledge of the railroad. Learning a lot about the eastern railroads I did not experience.

Here's a rail picture for the day.

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Later
 
montanan said:
Eric - Nice to see that you're checking in. I'm sure you are quite happy to be home. Make any progress on the fleas ?
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I got him a new flea collar, put some powder on the carpet and got a new belt for the vacuum so I can get to cleaning the floors. What a mess. Disgusting - even for a bachelor.

Meanwhile the TV is being re-hooked back up. YAY!!!!!
 
Justin .... Someone here mentioned a potential problem if you solder every joint. If you layout is located where temperatures vary, you may have expansion/contraction issues. If so, you should have more feeder wires to the tracks instead of soldering every joint. If you have a section of track where it loses power, add more words to that section. ... I have constant temperature in my train room, and expansion / contraction is not a problem for me.

Joe ... Interesting information about the local passenger train Louis posted. Thanks for sharing it..... I think Amtrak made one of its many mistakes when it discontinued the DZ. The government screws up all of the time.

Chet ... I'm not surprised Good Humor trucks were not in your area. ... That's a cold day in your photo.

Eric ... While you were gone your place was bugged... so to speak ...
 
Good Morning "solder or not solder" track joiner people! I still say solder all the joiners and then cut gaps with a Dremel if you need expansion. My basement in KC varied from 40 to 100 with extreme humidity so that I had to purchase a dehumidifier and left it run 24/7 sitting over a drain in the floor where it ran a continuous stream of moisture from April to October. No track problems at all!

OK ... vent over! 46* and climbing to 71* with calm and clear! I was looking at the Silverton, CO newspaper site yesterday and they have NO SNOW on the ground. That means that Purgatory Ski area to the south will hurt for revenue this year as they normally open before Thanksgiving. When I lived out there the snow base would exceed 80-90 inches at times. I suppose that Telluride lacks snow as well.

JOE and Garry - I really enjoy your "tales of yesterday". ... no ice cream truck where I grew up; I did get to stick my hand in the freezer box at the "Big city" grocery store every two weeks to savor an ice cream bar. We made homemade ice cream during the summer - I have lots of cranking time up until it would get too stiff and dad would take over. (Don't say stiff to an old man - I should know better?). I also remember being "snowed in" for 1-2 days in many cities, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Hartford, Boston, Newark, Washington, Detroit, Dayton (slid off the runway there and closed the airport for a day) and Denver! LOL We got stuck in Hartford for 6 days - Dispatch "lost" us and totally "forgot" us until I called them because all 7 of us ran out of money. Our bar bill was over a thousand dollars!

CURT - outstanding work on the base ... can't wait to see the finished product.

Louis - Your photo made me think of all the snowstorms I have endured during my career. Good luck on the move and just don't try and do it all at once!

KEN in MD - Sakes Alive! Man, you really dodged a bullet on that! Better thank someone upstairs for that blessing. I shudder thinking of it!

Paid my 1st installment on the real estate taxes out here yesterday (2nd is due in April) It is unbelievable that it takes almost 1/3 of my SS just to pay RE Taxes. CA government can G-T-H! Oh, I forgot: It's against the rules to yell at your son playing sports, or to demean the other team/players in any way. Our coach got put down for coaching from the sidelines a couple of times and the ref almost barred him from the game as well as a couple parents. Just more liberal BS! I couldn't believe what I was hearing!
 
Afternoon All,

Ran errands after visiting the vampire this morning. Put up the Christmas tree (pre-lighted artificial). Still need the ornaments. On the project I added some more interior bracing on the under frame. I also cut and painted a plastruct tube for the fill piping. I will glue it in place when dry. I'm at a stand still until the turnbuckles come in.

Love all the B&W photos that are being posted.

Garry- Nice scene and thank you.

Ken- Glad the ring saga worked out for you. I think you used 1 of your 9 lives with that luck. ;)

Joe- Thank you. PO said it will be there Saturday.

Willie/Chet- Thank you.

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Namatse white people!!!!!
What's going on?
internet hookup for today was postponed until tomorrow.
I'll be sure to reflect that when they ask me to take the service rating questionaire.
 
BigE said:
Namatse white people!!!!!
What's going on?
internet hookup for today was postponed until tomorrow.
I'll be sure to reflect that when they ask me to take the service rating questionaire.
Click to expand...

That's cause Larry got indigestion enroute to your installation.
 
Evening fellers. I figured I need to check in. Haven't worked on the layout yet. Out of my frustrated outburst I had over Atlas track. All things considered to this point I've had very few issues. Mostly the curved turnouts which even though they have a slight bend they never created problems. I tend to solder some of my points tomorrow. In regards to what Garry said about temperature control. My layout sits in a heated garage. It shares the heat with the house. The temperature in there is the same as the rest of the house which is nice until the wife decides to go out and do errands. Outside of that there isn't a change in temperature. All this because I barely lifted and moved my layout six inches. Up to that point everything was fine. Run my trains however and they ran fine. Any rough spots which were few in between I'd clean that spot and all was good again. Now....I can't get nothing out of my trains. All I can figure is I flexed the layout just enough to cause me issues. Now I may not do all the joiners as I'd still like to leave room for some expansion should it occur. However I am open to recommendations. Everyone here so far says solder them so I'm going to give it a try. Hopefully I can get back to running my trains. My trains are my stress relief and when they turn into a stressor it's just no fun at all. So here's hoping. Eric it's good to see you are getting back to normal. I'm sorry if I missed some of you. I do appreciate everyone's help. Big reason I'm glad I'm a part of this forum. I will leave two pics before I shifted my layout and everything fell apart.
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Justin, if you want to be a little more elaborate in soldering your rail joiners, you can solder most of them. There should be a few that don't get directly soldered, to allow room for expansion. On those joints, rather than soldering the joints, solder a short piece of wire to the rail on either side of the joiner, and allow the joiner to float. That way, you'll have reliable connections, and the track will be able to expand and contract as temperatures and humidity changes.
 
Good morning everyone. 31 and clear here in SW MO, heading only to 46 today - I guess winter's here to stay. I'm having a nice hot cup of coffee and listening to the latest album by Sweet & Lunch (Michael Sweet, of Stryper, and George Lynch, 80's guitar guru from Dokken and later Lynch Mob) - those of you into Christian rock and metal - if you haven't heard their two albums, Only to Rise and Unified - check them out. I'm a long-time rocker and Stryper fan, so I enjoy this kind of music.

Stopped at our LHS yesterday after work to pick up some more bottles of Polly Scale paints - I must have 20+ now. Wish I had known about them earlier - I think it was Willie who put me on to them and explained the history of them being bought out by Testor's who then terminated the PollyScale brand. Anyway, Jim, who owns our LHS, is selling what he had left of Polly Scale at three bucks a bottle. Good deal! I really like the paints.

Continue working on MR-V. Got all the architectural features painted to where I'm satisfied, including doors and windows, and now I'm gluing the "glass" windows onto the frames. I think I counted 63 windows on that structure!! This will take a while, but once that's done the rest should go fast. I'm also making progress with ballasting the track and adding scenery. This rookie's getting better at ballasting - it sure is time-intensive.

Eric - hope all goes well with the Internet hookup today
Justin - you mentioned two photos, but I only saw one posted. Going to post another? That's a nice photo, the one you did post.

Have a good day everyone.
 
Good morning fellers. I like the wire bridge idea so that I can still have some expansion if needed. I suppose too one of my pics didn't post....I'll throw it up here again. Hopefully it'll post this time.
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Good Morning All. 40° and cloudy right now. Although it's not in the forecast for today, radar indicates rain all around me, as close as 20 miles away. By the way, that high temperature Monday of 82° set a new record for December 4, the old one was 80° in 1970. Then yesterday's high was 30° cooler, more nearly normal. Not much going on here right now, the little balls of fur on the back porch are just getting fluffier every day! I have seen some evidence that they are tasting local birds in addition to the rodent dishes.
Out in the train shed yesterday, I continued to add ground cover and details to the small town business district, concentrating on the small park in the center. Ran some trains and cleaned off a few cars that were a bit dusty. Spent a bit of time revising my plan for the workbench that is next on the construction list, but after some time doodling, I ended up with something very similar to the original. Later in the week when it warms back up, I'll set up the sawhorses outside and just do it.

Ken (D&J) - You mentioned the "Walther's heavy metal spine cars" Monday. Are these any different than the metal ones that they released several years ago? I have some metal and plastic ones that I acquired over the years and I have some minor difficulties keeping them on the track. I have weighted the trailers and my curves are in the 28" to 32" radius range, but I still have some issues, even with the metal ones.
Garry - That Zephyr picture just makes me feel cold!
Chet - I know that you love it, but I cannot see how folks can like living with snow like you pictured yesterday.
Sherrel - Your taxes might be so high if the state wasn't supporting so many non-productive politicians! And others as well.
Johnny - Yes it was me who recommended the Polly Scale. I have even considered driving up your way to visit that LHS, but figured that you probably already got all of the good ones that he had left. Like George Lynch as well, although I really didn't get into Dokken much. I'll have to listen to his new band.

Everybody have a great day.

Willie
 
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