Running Bear's Coffee Shop LXXII


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Good morning everyone. 16 and sunny here in SW MO. I'll catch up on the posts later. We had an "ice event" over the weekend - started Saturday around noon and by Saturday evening we were iced in. Everything shut down for sunday - churches, businesses, etc., and virtually all local schools are closed today. Universities are all starting late. We started an hour later today. Roads were okay for the most part. Only saw one car in a ditch on the way in to town.
Have a good day everyone.
 
A couple of things here...
First, I have learned the iPhone 4/4s speaker seems to work best for what we use it for. It seems the best compromise between size and performance, and they have the advantage of being cheap.

Second, and more important for me, is the co-worker that has been fighting colorectal cancer for the past 3 or more years, has passed on. While not at all unexpected, it's still jarring when someone young enough to be your daughter dies in this manner. She leaves behind her parents, her father fighting cancer himself, two daughters and two grandchildren.
 
Good morning ..... I'll have bear claw and some coffee please.

Terry .... Sad news about your co-worker. Prayers for her and her family. .... When I listen to your video, I did it with my iPhone and it sounded great to me.

Chet ..... Your photos of the switcher moving boxcars at the grain elevator are very nice.

Mark ... Prayers for your wife who may have pneumonia .

....

Below is my 2-6-2 with a 40' baggage / RPO. Burlington acquired some of the short cars for branch line service in 1911. I built the car from a kit produced by NKP Car Company.

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Terry...I have been looking at the iPhone speakers on the internet since your post yesterday. I notice that one can order speakers for various versions of the iPhone from version 4 to 6S...and most of them are diffrent shapes and sizes and most importantly shape. Do you know if there are preferred speakers for specific locos or not? And is the black plastic the actual speaker box or does one have to fabricate one?

Cheers
Gene

Gene, it appears that the IPhone 4 has the enclosure but I did the same thing as you and found that the left side is the mic and right side is the speaker. I ordered 3, one to destroy and see if I can eliminate the mic portion and seal up the enclosure. They should be here WED so I'll let you know what I find in a different thread.
 
Good afternoon fellers. Spent 6 hours laying the other track sections. I have a rough idea for my passing siding and I did up my extension spur as well. Of course come to find out my passing siding coming to and away from my eventual yard is off. I don't mean just off a little bit it's off by a mile! So I'll be cutting my flex track around those turnouts back a little. My inner radius is lined up to hit the outer radius. I can adjust it however I get a pinch point at two of my turnouts. This would spell problems for me. I can see a disaster if I do it that way. So the only option I have left is to move the pair of turnouts down slightly to allow enough space for my siding without any collisions. Frustrating 6 hours for me yesterday but at least I have the solution to solve the problem.

Justin
 
Mark - I'll add you and your wife to the prayer list, I had pneumonia myself once ~20 years ago and it was NOT fun! I don't know the dimensions of your basement, but have you already looked into the possibility of using a space heater? My trainroom is a 25ft x 25ft garage, and the space heater I'm using does a great of keeping it warm.
 
Afternoon All,

Did some chores earlier today then moved the tower back from the rail a tiny bit so it's close but doesn't feel like it's on top of the main. I also received notice that the tower signs have shipped.

Toot- Sounds like a heck of a storm. Most of our local trees are Oaks with shallow roots that tend to come down in bad storms when fully grown.

Mark- Prayers for your wife. I have had a cold for 12 days, but today I actually feel pretty good.

Willie- Happy Birthday to your wife.

Chet- Nice layout pictures and I really like the rail picture.

Terry- Very sorry to hear of your co-worker passing away.

Garry- Cool picture and interesting looking loco.

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I lowered the intensity of the lights
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I hope everyone has a good night.
 
Hiya gang.
Long time , no post, but life has been grueling here to say the least. The divorce is finalized, SWMBO has moved out and I once again rule the palatial ranch estate by myself. She's only returning next week to retrieve the feline furballs, then she's really outta here. (and I can get a dog!)
In the meantime, The flu put me on my butt for a few days,, but that is ending. Life is returning to normal and I actually can spend a little time at the workbench soon.

keN been lurking while all the craziness flew around, noticed you were talking about op session. Remember, my ProcabR has wheels! ;)

Mark I agree with keN pneumonia is no fun, been there, done that,hated it. Prayers noone has to deal with it.

Justin Patience young grasshopper, slow and steady wins the game. Time spent laying trace well now, will pay off in fewer derailments later.

Terry 1st, prayers for your wife. Those little Iphone speakers are just the ticket in small spaces. Sorry to hear of your co-workers plight. Prayers for those left behind.

Garry Sweet little steamer! Hope to five minse some exercise soon!

Chet I also like your switcher pics, especially the lower "trackside" pics. It feels like you are in them!

Enough for now, be back later!

Alco PA's. Whats not to like?
Alco PAwgirls.jpg
 
Hello All...60ish and pretty nice...Maybe a spit'a rain but not as much as we need...again...

Mark...My thoughts are with You & Your Wife...Hope She Makes A Speedy Recovery...

Karl...Love the Old Cheesecake shot...Days gone by...

So here I am having to be mess'in around with the 'Taxes' when I'd much rather be "Work'in On The Railroad"...
But if I can get it out's my hair in the next day or 2 I can get back to more pressing issues...Seems every time I
start beat'in myself up over doing too much 'Testing' and not enough WORK I manage to do some little test that'll
pay dividends in the future...I've refreshed my memory as to just how long one of my Passenger Cars really is and
how tight my side clearances will be...Got'a Get It Right !!!...Ok, Back To The Taxes...Grrrr...Trig
 
Good evening.
I thought I'd share a chuckle with y'all.
This evening, I purchased a mini drill bit set on Ebay for $8.54.
During the purchase process, I received a pop-up from Assuriant asking if I wanted to purchase a 1 year extended warranty on the set for an additional $8.49...
 
Good morning. It's cloudy and 41, which is also supposed to be today's high. Forecast is for it to get up to 72 by Thursday.Maybe they are anticipating a lot of steamy heat for Valentine's Day, or something...
 
Good Morning All. 39° and cloudy this morning. The clouds are not expected to clear today and we'll only get to 47°, but 67° tomorrow and 75° Thursday before 7 days of rain and thundershowers in the forecast. It does typically rain here in February to the tune of 2". They have however raised the expected high temperatures for that time from their original forecast. Thanks to all of you who wished my wife a Happy Birthday yesterday, I drank a beer for each of you when we went out to eat last night.
Out in the train shed, I spent several hours attaching track feeders to the new trackage. I also had to relocate one section of already laid flex because I couldn't get a crossover to fit exactly where I wanted it to. Not a biggie by any means, I didn't have to move or remove any roadbed. I got all of the switches at one end of the classification yard installed with feeders attached, they will all be operated by ground throws. As planned (and fits), there is an arrival/departure track and three classification tracks along with the yard lead. I need to clean up and trim some previously used flex track from the old layout before proceeding too much more. It will be easy since none of it was ballasted before being abandoned.

Chet - While I am usually able to depend on the magnifiers alone, I also have been known to use a magnifying glass mounted on a stand for additional help when I work on P2K freight car kits, with their vast array of small detail parts. I noted in the scene that you posted yesterday, that like the cattle elsewhere on your layout, you don't fence off RR tracks from schoolchildren either!:rolleyes:
Garry - Nice looking loco. Fits the scene well.
Curt - Wow! Very nice work on the tower. It fits right in place and the interior detail looks to be highly visible.
Justin - What can I say? You ignored the advice of at least four other forum members to take it easy, and pulled a six hour marathon that ended up in a do-over.:(

Everybody have a great day.

Willie
 
Good morning fellers. Willie....the six hour marathon was actually laying my roadbed. Making sure it fit. Then measuring and laying my track. Make corrections as needed. I'm only off on my passing siding by 1/4 of an inch. I didn't intend to spend that many hours at it. But you know what they say. "Time flies when your having fun." I don't have a do over so much as I need to shorten my two flex track sections to get my passing siding to fit perfectly without having a pinch point on my crossover. I never intend to spend so much time working my track. But take into account too that I lay my track out then look down the rails especially with my flex sections to ensure that it's as straight and smooth as I can get it. I never thought track work would be so tedious. But the worse of the last layout came about because I didn't take the time to inspect my sections and left those pinch points and paid the price. So far my time has not been wasted as I have really smooth track work on the sections I've laid already. So I need to fit a section or two. It's still better than leaving it as is and regretting it later.

Justin
 
Good news, took the wife to the clinic yesterday and she has a slight case of Bronchitis and not Pneumonia, we caught it early enough that it hadn't fully developed. My cold has continued to improve. Other good news is weather wise the cold temperatures appear to be mellowing at least for the next ten days per the Weather Underground. So I probably will spend a few hours working on my layout, if not watching the Olympics, love the Alpine, Luge and Bob Sledding events. Have a good one, everyone!!

As far as the weather here in the Great White North, when I was younger, I lived for Skiing. I grew up in the Twin Cities and learned to walk backwards going to school, as the wind was always in your face. The cold is simply what we have to put up with, to live in the wonderful state we live in. However, as I get older I am far less inclined to be tolerant of it, just a fact of life and is one of the reasons I spend so much time in the basement. I don't understand you guys who put up with such hot weather in the Summer do it; so, I guess we all have our idiosyncrasies (notice that the last part of Idiosyncrasies is another way to spell crazies!
 
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Good morning everyone. 32 here in SW MO, hitting 50 later today. All the ice melted yesterday, so we're back to normal conditions (meaning even the stupid drivers can get around now without crashing into things). Nice week ahead, except for a wintry mix for Friday. Hopefully the rollercoaster ride is slowing down.

From the train room - finishing up Vic's Barbershop, which I will rename Bill's in honor of my childhood barber. Also, started working on the fire house. Finally got the bay door off (they must have welded that thing on), did some clean-up sanding, and ground the old "BFD" off the front where I'll mount a new sign "PVFD" for Pine Valley. Will need to look for some FD decor for the bay wall. Waiting for a MBKlein order to come in to work on the expansion section of the layout. Also, got to stop by a nearby house building site and ask for some roofing felt.

Willie - sorry for the belated birthday wishes for your wife. Must have missed that post.
All - there have been some really nice photos and videos posted lately. Kudos to all, and thanks for posting.

That's it for now. I'm gonna take my wife out for a Valentine's dinner tomorrow. Have a good day everyone.
 
Good morning. Ready for a cup and a sweet roll Flo. Have another goose egg on the thermometer again this morning. Got up to a scorching 9 degrees yesterday.

Mark - That is good news about your wife. Bronchitisisn't good, but a lot better than the alternative. I think that I am in the same boat as you are. Years ago, the cold and snow really didn't bother me very much, but as I am getting older, it is not as easy to put up with as it was years ago.

We did have some drifting snow Sunday and Monday and when I pulled out of the driveway yesterday, it didn't look bad at all. When I gpot home it was another story. We have a circle in the driveway, and the other side of the circle was drifted pretty good. I and my wife both got stuck pulling in. I had thought about starting up the snowblower, but it was only a thought with the cold temps. Supposed to get u into the low 30's this afternoon so I think I'll take off early and remedy the situation.

Garry - another nice photo. Really like the little baggage car. Sweet.

Curt - That tower really is a nice addition to your layout. Really nice work.

Karl - Great photo, and an Alco on top of it.

Terry - Such a deal. Bet you would have gone for the extended warranty if there were some moving parts. Grin.gif

Eric - You can send some of the warm air up here.

Willie
- Fencing in the pastures are on the "to do" list. Have been for about 20 years. They're smart cows and don't play on the tracks.

Justin - You are doing the right thing by taking your time laying sown the tracks. Just think of how frustrated you were with your old layout. Now take the time and run a train through every possible route and see if there are any problem spots. Now is the time to perfect the track.

Jesse - Here is where my dining car will sit. Never really had a good photo of the spot. I have a small building started that will go on the end of the car for customers to enter the dining car. Another thing on the "to do" list.

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The siding is an extension from the freight station so the car can be pulled out and added to a train for special occasions.

Here's a rail picture for today. With the colder wether up here, it fits right in.

Dramatic_Railroad_Tracks_by_FullofSecrets.jpg

Later
 
Good Morning Rail Benders! 39* going up to about 65* they say? Weather guessers have been missing it for about a week now. The 40%rain never came about and yesterday the 20% didn't show it's face - no sir re! I turned the yard sprinklers back on soes the grass don't die.
Good news from the Cancer Dr. yesterday -- he said that the scans looked good and he didn't want to see me for another year! Now to get past the vascular guys downtown LA on the 19th. At least Spousal Unit and I get to ride the train there and back again!

MARK - Good news where the wife is concerned, just do not let that cold you have get the best of you. I might add that I spent pretty much of 55 years living mostly in the "deep freeze" slipping and sliding all over multiple runways East of the Rockies - and being snowed in, sometimes for days, at least in a dozen different places, several of them more than once. Nowdays, if it is below 60, I think I am cold. Does remind me of an all night cargo flight into Dayton at 3AM in the morning. The Captain was smoking a cigar and we were holding for 1/2 hour while they finished plowing the runway and we made the approach as soon as we had almost a half mile of visibility - the winds were just about our x-wind limit of 29 knots. Things went pretty well until we slowed to about 60 kts, then Captain says, "I can't hold it - no braking - we're going off the runway!" And we did - the a/c came to a stop with the left gear and nose in the mud and the left wind resting on the ground. I looked over at the Captain and he still had the cigar in his mouth, but he had bitten it into and I couldn't keep from laughing. The runway under where the snow was ploughed was a clear skating rink. Anyway we managed to close the a/p for the next 24 hours while they brought in heavy lifters and tugs from Wright Patterson AFB to unstick the plane. Sorry - I got carried away!

Willue - Forgot too ... Happy Birthday for your bride! Yeah, I have found that Justin does not pay heed to many of us, such it is with youth! LOL I think he could have saved himself a lot of grief with just a 1x4 added to one or both sides.

Nice photos EVERYONE!
 
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