Running Bear's February 2019 Coffee Shop


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Good evening everybody .

David Trussrod , Willie, Greg, and any others I overlooked. Thanks for commenting on my station scene.

Karl... I like painting of the WM 4-8-4. ..also the nurse sign is funny.

Greg ... the Perkins project should be fun.

Curt ... your project is looking good.

Chet ... The GE 70T video does a great job of showing your beautiful layout .

Louis ... those are some nice looking photos . The Pennsylvania shark and the Reading mallet pictures are excellent.

Johnny ... It is good to hear Dena is doing well.

I am pleased to say I did not waste about three hours of my time watching the Super Bowl and silly ads last evening .

Cheers !
 
Yo! and Good Evening. Our venture into New York's State of Mind, is over. It was a nice trip. When we left the house on Friday, my trucks display indicated the outside temperature was 9°. When we returned this afternoon, the same display indicated 61°. What a difference in four days.
The trip was uneventful, with no problems navigating the Tug Hill lake effect show district, where the snow had "just" stopped and the road surface was wet. Once we got off of I 81, the streets in Watertown, and Pamilia were snow covered, and I did need the 4WD. By this morning everything had changed. The only road hazard was fog. Now we are home and sore and tired.

Surprised the coffee shop has run ten pages since I last posted in the old one. I'm not going to attempt to comment o previous posts.

Boris
 
MikeInHubCity said:
Opus as his running mate?
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Of course!
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Willie:
David - I have already tried both of your suggestions without any luck. Laying on the floor is not as easy as it used to be! :oops:
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That's why I also suggested using a rectangular auto mechanics mirror with a pivoting head of about 2.5 x 4" to put the 4" edge on the floor angled so while sitting on a rolling chair you can look down into the mirror to see at floor level to find what you lost. I haven't done this myself but I'm going to try it the next time I drop something as it sounds easier than trying to get up of the floor !! LoL

As another tid-bit, the Dollar General store has Lays Dill Pickle potatoes chips. Really Good !!
 
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santafewillie said:
Good Morning Everyone. 58° and clear, they're now forecasting a possible high of 80° today. Sounds like a May weather report. This weather will last until Friday when the high is predicted to be 43° and then back to a more normal pattern of upper 50's.
I hate going to the grocery store on Sunday, and yesterday was a lot worse due to all of the "pre-game shoppers". Some people have no consideration for their fellow shoppers, two instances yesterday really stand out. One lady stopped her cart in the center of a crowded aisle blocking passage on both sides, and was reading her weekly circular and talking to someone on the phone regarding what to buy! She ignored several "Excuse me"'s from other shoppers until one gentleman used his cart to ram hers out of the way. The second occurred in an adjacent check-out lane where another lady rifled through an envelope with hundreds of coupons, searching for any that might be used. Handed the very patient cashier several expired ones in the process. Quite annoying as I review the circular and my coupons from the comfort of the couch and make my list at home, which I hardly deviate from at all. Rarely do I "impulse buy" although yesterday I did purchase a really nice salmon filet after the meat department manager (my neighbor) pointed them out to me.

Not a lot of time in the train shed yesterday; church, grocery trip 35 miles away, putting up the groceries, nap, daily walk and doing laundry took up the greatest portion of the day. Also spent a few minutes watering the onions and radish seeds in the garden. So I only ran trains and did no landscaping. Switched out cars at a grain elevator, flour mill and an industrial park; ten cars total that took the better part of an hour. Still haven't located my errant figure, but I did find a single new rail joiner that I didn't know that I had lost.


Louis - My wife tells me that yesterday's football game was the most boring one that she had ever seen, and that no commercials stood out either. I still cannot understand why people are so excited about commercials anyway! I spent the early part of the game in the train shed, then fixed supper and later went to bed when it was still on. I haven't watched a complete Super Bowl since the late 70's and haven't watched one at all in the last 25 years.

That would put my wife out of a job!:mad:
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Willie, sorry to hear about the inconsiderate shoppers. I expected to run into a crowded grocery store myself Sunday. With luck my Mom and I arrived in-between the big game rush at the grocery stores. There were shopping carts strewn everywhere, evidence of the inconsiderate people that had already left. My Mom and I went to two different stores Sunday, both times we got lucky and the shopping cart scene was repeated.

Cell phones have allowed inconsiderate people to take their self-indulgence to a new level.

I'm in the minority so I'll address why I enjoyed the Super Bowl so much in a separate post rather than to repeat myself.

I would not want to put your wife out of work. I guess that highlights that there are always unintended consequences when we alter the tax laws.
 
Sirfoldalot said:
Supposed to reach only 54 for a high today. It is still overcast, cloudy with scattered showers all over. That seems to be the plan for the next two days they say.
Developed what I hope is a dirty sensor proplem with my truck. The ABS and Brake light comes on after about 4 miles, but does not come on at all other times. I've noticed NO CHANGE in the ability of the brakes to stop? Drove for over half my life with zero antiskid in all road conditions - ice, snow, rain, but guess I better see about it - RED lights on an instrument panel have always been a NO-NO in my world.

WILLIE - I am in Arlene's camp -- I went to OUR Bunko Super Bowl Party - and it was an absolute BORING game and the commericals were lousey as well as the half time which I left the room after 2 minutes. Food was great and company was awesome and I did manage to win 38 bucks on one of the games we always have. First time that I have ever won anything at the party!

Nice photos there Louis!
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Sherrel have you recently had brake work done?

I'm in the minority so I'll address why I enjoyed the Super Bowl so much in a separate post rather than to repeat myself. ;)

I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. You posted some great photos recently, keep it up please, I enjoy them!
 
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montanan said:
I did like the ability to buy a new car the way you wanted it in the mid to late 60's. You could go into a dealer and get a list of options for the car you were interested in and chose each and every item you wanted. You could customize your car right from the factory for the most part. Today manufacturers only offer "packages". You might want one particular feature, but it only comes in a package and you may be stuck with a number of items you really don't want. This is one thing that really turned me off. Now with all of the technology, such as touch screen infotainment systems and other things such as blue-tooth, the ability to restrict teen drivers and others now becoming standard equipment (that I have no use for) have run me out of the new car market. At the prices they are wanting for new cars, I want my car the way I want it instead of the way some a**hole in his office in Detroit thinks I should have it. Please give my buttons, knobs and switches. - - - - - - - Rant over.

Louis - More great photos. Like the Shark and the Atlantic. I really like the foods from eastern Europe. Just before I got out of the Navy, we made a port call to Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) and I think I was in pig heaven. We were the first US warship to visit there since before WWII. The people were fantastic. The food, OUTSTANDING. People don't know what they're missing if they don't try the great foods from eastern Europe. Sounds like a good party you had. We had planned to put steaks on the grill, but with the high winds out of the north and the grill on the north side of the house. we had something else.


This little guy can creep so slow that it took over 15 minutes to cover the same distance as in this video. A real joy to use for switching.

Here's a rail photo for today.

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Later
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Chet I think you are not alone and the car companies are missing a segment of the market. Rather than to discontinue so may cars they should take a closer look at what they offer. All these gadgets and gizmos are driving up the cost of the cars, for many it's being done needlessly. Maybe that accounts for declining sales of cars. Not everybody wants an SUV or to drive a "space ship". I'm with you on this one!

My little American/Japanese/Mexican Chevy cargo van is a perfect example. Other than the drive train my van is old school technology. I think it still uses 1157 and 1056 bulbs! No wonder I only paid just under $16,000 for it brand new! I would not have paid $30,000 and up for it full of stuff I don't want, don't need and will probably break when the warranty is up. My wife's 2016 Chevy Sonic is another perfect example. I Paid $11,000 for that brand new. She drives 2.3 miles, round trip for work, she don't need gadgets and gizmos, she is not in the car long enough! In 3 years it has only 4200 miles on it. The only reason it has that many is because I drive it on the highway once a month or so just to clean out the engine.

For the record I am very happy with the new (to me) technology of the drive trains. My van gets 26 miles per gallon when I'm delivering packages, even with the AC on in the summer I still get 25MPG! My wife's Sonic gets 24MPG despite her extremely short trips. Give me technology that benefits me, not technology I have no use for.

I knew a wonderful young lady that was a medical student, she was from Opatija Croatia and another young lady from Rijeka, Croatia, both were beautiful people inside and out. From my experience people are people, no matter where I've been there are always wonderful people and beautiful women to boot!

I'm with you again on Eastern European foods, there are so many good foods we could never list them all!

Thanks for the video and pictures, I always enjoy them!
 
Good late evening, Track Gang !

Hi Francine, no Flo, oh she has the night off well both you ladies work hard so each deserve a break now and then.

Weather wise it's been a very wet and cold at least to me. Earlier today I check the rain gauge what didn't actually measure anyting due to the fact there was thunder and lightning going on so I just took a quick glance and it looked like a bit more than yesterday which would mean there was about another inch and half of rain. That would bring the total up very close to 14 in.
Shortly thereafter it started to hail as it was cold enough I thought it was snow, it never but it never materialized. The temperature right now at 11:26 p.m. is 36 degrees.


Will the weather be in this cold a portion of the day is spent carrying wood inside to feed the fire which takes up a fair amount of energy as I'm lacking it due to being out of thyroid medicine which I think I I contacting Humana mail order pharmacy and got the prescription refilled and delivered all at no cost so it's pretty hard to beat that for a 90-day Supply!

I'm rather tired I'm going to call it an evening tonight but there are a lot of good posts about railroading and thank all those who posted Railroad related material !
 
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Super Bowl 53 - Brilliant!

Despite all the rules changes over the years to help the offense a brilliant defensive game plan and execution by both teams gave us the lowest scoring Super Bowl in history, I loved it! Oddly enough this low scoring affair gave New England it's largest margin of victory in any of their 6 Super Bowl wins. It was a testament to the brilliance of Bill Belichick. He can and will devise a way to compete and often beat any team.

The Rams came into this game with the second best offense in the league, but they were thwarted by New England's defense.

New England's man to man outside press coverage was more than the Rams wide receivers could deal with. They could not get off the line and into their pass routes. When they did New England's secondary was able to deflect or at least impede most of the Ram's passes. This allowed New England's front 7 to control the gaps and hold the Rams high powered running game in check.

LA's vaunted interior defensive line was unable to create havoc as they have all season. They were neutralized by New England's offensive line pinching the interior and using running backs to slow any penetration. To LA's credit their mixed zone-man coverages held up for the most part despite the lack of an interior pass rush.

Neither offense was able to make much head way. New England's offense was able to advance the ball on the ground enough to control the time of possession. The Patriots rushed for a respectable 154 yards while the Rams only managed 62 yards on the ground. That proved to be the Rams undoing. By the 4th quarter the Rams defense was becoming fatigued. Exhaustion finally enabled the Patriots score a touchdown.

The real proof of the effectiveness of each team's defense was on third down. Neither team could sustain a drive. The Patriots converted only 25% of their third down chances and the Rams only 23%. Both teams combined for 14 punts, and 2 interceptions. Turnovers were not much of a factor. Except for the final interception that all, but sealed the Rams fate.

I could go and on. There were numerous other examples and stats from this game that showed the high level of coaching and execution of a brilliant defensive game plan by both teams.

This game was a throw back, an old school smash mouth battle for field position and time of possession. It was a true chess match, with the old coach outsmarting the young upstart.

If you were bored watching Super Bowl 53, you don't appreciate defense and or the mastery of brilliant play calling and execution. You are not alone, that is why the NFL has made so many rule changes to promote offense. For me, I enjoy this kind of game. It's almost like watching two great baseball pitchers duel.
 
Good morning gang.
40 degrees right now, heading to the lower 60s, 5 days ago we had snow, a week ago the dreaded "polar vortex ".
Screwy.
 
Good morning. It's 47 and partly cloudy. Temp is supposed to reach 72 later.

Yesterday evening marks a milestone, of sorts. I downloaded an update to my computer, transferred it to a flash drive, and then plugged the flash drive in to the car to update it. It's the first time I've ever updated my car via the internet.
Of course, in the grand tradition of Microsoft updates, now that it's been updated, the car won't properly make phone calls. I can talk, others can hear me, but I can't hear them.
Microsoft and Ford together, what could possibly go wrong?
 
Bruette said:
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That's an unusual little engine. Something seems to be missing though. Assuming the saddle tank is for water, where does it store it's fuel? And what is the Fireman doing? It looks like he's sitting on a purpose built seat. Nothing in rrpicturearchives.net, although I did find another image of it via Google under industrial locomotives
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Good Morning All. 60° and extremely foggy this morning. Managed to reach 82° yesterday for a few hours, a few degrees short of the record though. Expect a few more days like the last three and then normal February weather again Friday. Can't complain. Our granddog who is staying with us while her family's kitchen is being remodeled, has given up on chasing the cats and has now devoted her time to chasing vultures. Good luck with that. I have posted before that a pair always nests in the second floor loft of my barn and they like to perch in the small doorway and on the roof. Dog has discovered this and barks until they fly out and then she chases them as they are close to ground level when they first alight. Vulture's wings are made for soaring, not take-off or landing which they are really clumsy at.
My remodel contractor is coming by this afternoon to replace some missing shingles on the roof and trim back the offending tree. He'll help me sweep the chimney while he's up there as well. Wife no longer wants me getting on the roof, thinks that I'm too old. I disagree but I'll go along with it and avoid some work!:D Otherwise, I'm headed out to the "back forty" to do some much neglected tree pruning.
I made more progress on the rural town project out in the train shed yesterday. Here's a couple of progress pictures, sorry that they are not high quality ones.
Figures, flag and ground cover added to Jack's.
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Another figure, mailbox and more ground cover. Need to weather the Yield sign.
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A couple of shots of "Sud's Bucket", the bar next door. First the rear loading dock.
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Still selecting figures for this portion of the scene. Now a shot from across the road.
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Still to come from this view is a fence down the center of the grassy area with additional "junk" on Jack's side. The stray ground foam was still wet here and I haven't tidied it up yet.
I have given up on finding the lost figure, alien abduction or something like that. It's not worth the time I have already spent. Since I had already applied Scenic Accent Glue to it's feet, I am assuming that it might have temporarily stuck to my shoe to be carried off to "never,never land".

Johnny - Good update on Dena. No passenger cars here, strictly freight switching. Other than Amtrak, passenger trains were long gone by the era that I model.
Greg - Good luck with the noisy engine and looking forward to the scratch build.
Louis -
Bruette said:
I would not want to put your wife out of work. I guess that highlights that there are always unintended consequences when we alter the tax laws.
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No worry. She should have retired already. By the time anything as bold as you suggested could possibly happen, she'll be done anyway!:cool: I wasn't expecting her to return this year...maybe she just wants to get away from me. She still hasn't gotten used to me being home all of the time, even after three and a half years! She does however, appreciate being kicked out of the kitchen!

Today marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year. It is also "National Shower With a Friend Day". Could be interesting. Please don't post any pictures Beady.
Everybody have a great day.
 
Good morning everyone. 34 and partly sunny out there. Time for more coffee.

Greg - That Perkins scratch build will look nice. I haven't scratch-built anything yet - a little scared of trying it, and not enough materials in my arsenal.
Chet - Nice video of that switcher - I love seeing your layout and trains running through it - such a complete and realistic job.
Karl - Love the trauma nurse sign!!
Louis - Interesting photos. Thanks for sharing

Terry (and others) - By the way, problems I was having a few weeks ago with logging in, posting, and moving around within the forum now appear to be rectified. Things work much smoother. Thanks.

Nothing much to report. Didn't even have time to run trains last night. Spent the evening preparing an enormous soup in our Instant Pot. It had better taste goo, 'cause I spent nearly $30 on healthy ingredients and it made enough to feed an army. If it's good I'm gonna be eating this stuff all week - otherwise I'll have to throw it out and go back to peanut butter sandwiches ;)

Have a good day everyone.
 
Sorry - forgot to mention:

Willie- very nice pics of these new areas on your layout. Love the detail and realism. Thanks for sharing.
 
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