Running Bear's January 2019 Coffee Shop


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Evening fellows -- It was 26 degrees this morning and warmed up to somewhere around 60. Low for tonight is guessed at 30 with 65 high tomorrow. That's about the extent of our coldness - maybe we will see those lows a couple more times during Jan-Feb.
I am starting to feel alive again .. still have congestion and coughing. Most of my life has been relatively good health EXCEPT a danged common cold has always knocked my legs from under me.

Spousal Unit and three friends left this morning for a three week trip to France and Egypt where they will take a cruise on the Nile to retrace one of her favorite books: "Death on the Nile". Two of the ladies have never been to an Arab country - I am sure their eyes are going to grow in size! LOL

No New Years items to have to renege on. Just hoping that my vehicles can make it through the year without another visit to the shop. Enough already!
Health, Prosperity, and MRR for all!
 
Got this message from an MRL .io group (ex Yahoo) about some interesting locos that are operating on MRL tracks for the next 3 months. Being supplied by Progress Rail, apparently to help out while the ex Aus BHP 'ACe's are being rebuilt, although possibly one is included in the 3.

"All - A new colorful collection has been pressed into helper service - PRLX 213 (BNSF paint), PRLX 232 (warbonnet paint) & Aussie 4317 - the PRLX units both appear to be SD75's. On another note, 404, regular on the Livingston local, has lately been replaced by 346. Not sure if this holds as of today but it's a nice change. 355 is still seen coming through town too although I'm not sure where it is assigned.
Mike in Livingston"

346 and 355 are 2 of the 4 SD45's still on the MRL roster, and are in the new logo (meatball) scheme.
It's not clear from the message, but I'm going to assume 4317 is the 'ACe that was on shakedown and now being put into service..What made it confusing with these ex Aussie locos was that their BHP road numbers were also in that 4300 series, and I believe from the same 4 numbers that they are acquiring from MRL (4316-4319), but they are not receiving them as direct swaps. It would be interesting if the one spoken of was still in it's BHP bubble scheme paint, but I guess that would be too much variety to expect.
 
Raincoat2 said:
Things are really going wonky with my computer today, as you might guess from my earlier posts and repeated photos.

A question: Is there a way to modify the speed of one brand/model of engine to match the speed of a different brand? I have two Broadway Limited Imports diesels - they match each other's speed and operation pretty nicely when I run both of them at the same time. However, I'd like to buy another engine or two, probably Athearn. But from previous experience I don't think the Athearn will match the BLIs - one will overrun the other if they're on the same track. So can I get inside one engine or the other and modify its speed. Remember, I'm in DC, not DCC.

Thanks for any tips and tricks.
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I your running a long train I've always put the faster one on the rear of the consist,this way it takes the brunt of the load and slows it down to where they run together pretty good.
 
New for 2019. An eclectic mix of MRL helpers. SD45#346, GP35#405, SD70ACe#4306 at Bozeman
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Someone was asking about speedmatching.
 
chessie_system3 said:
I only have two locomotives that I can speed match. The rest are way too fast to even think about matching.
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A friend of mine named Jim Hind was very good at speed matching analog engines. He used a combination of tuning and lubing, then applying resistors to speed match.
 
Raincoat2 said:
Things are really going wonky with my computer today, as you might guess from my earlier posts and repeated photos.

A question: Is there a way to modify the speed of one brand/model of engine to match the speed of a different brand? I have two Broadway Limited Imports diesels - they match each other's speed and operation pretty nicely when I run both of them at the same time. However, I'd like to buy another engine or two, probably Athearn. But from previous experience I don't think the Athearn will match the BLIs - one will overrun the other if they're on the same track. So can I get inside one engine or the other and modify its speed. Remember, I'm in DC, not DCC.

Thanks for any tips and tricks.
Click to expand...

Johnny: I'd find which loco's run the fastest, if there is very much difference I'd install a small variable resistor so you can adjust the incoming voltage to equalize the speed. Hth
 
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January 2, 1912: Charles Ebbets announces the purchase of 4.5 acres of land in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn to build a new steel and concrete ballpark for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The new site was selected when the redevelopment of the Dodgers' current home of Washington Park was deemed to be too expensive. More than 1,200 parcels from more than 40 owners had to be purchased to pull together enough land for the new construction. With its iconic brick and arch exterior, Ebbets Field was the home of the Dodgers through the 1957 season, after which they moved to Los Angeles. During those years, the iconic park hosted nine World Series and the 1949 All-Star Game. (AP/Photo) Baseball Digest
 
Raincoat2 said:
Things are really going wonky with my computer today, as you might guess from my earlier posts and repeated photos.

A question: Is there a way to modify the speed of one brand/model of engine to match the speed of a different brand? I have two Broadway Limited Imports diesels - they match each other's speed and operation pretty nicely when I run both of them at the same time. However, I'd like to buy another engine or two, probably Athearn. But from previous experience I don't think the Athearn will match the BLIs - one will overrun the other if they're on the same track. So can I get inside one engine or the other and modify its speed. Remember, I'm in DC, not DCC.

Thanks for any tips and tricks.
Click to expand...

Johnny, I'm by no stretch an expert on HO, but I have read a good bit. :) (I played a doctor on TV) ;) I read some where if you have 2 DC locomotives that are close in speed put the faster one first. The little extra drag on the faster one will slow it a bit and the extra pull on the slow one will speed it up a bit. Sounds reasonable to me.

If I am giving bad advice I hope, expect a true HO expert will correct me.
 
PRR Modeler said:
Louis- At least you got the heat going. I have been enjoying the historical photos.
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Curt, great work on your buildings!

The old saying remains true "all is well that ends well".

I'm glad you liked the pictures.

montanan said:
Louis - I really enjoy your trolley photos.
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Chet, I'm glad you liked the trolleys, I thought you might.

Men and women in blue like yourself are why I don't like to use the word "cop". I've seen my share of the bad ones, but I can tell you from my experience the vast majority of our law officers are top shelf people. I thank God and pray for our law officers.

I'll give you a real life example of the good people in law enforcement. I had an assistant baseball coach who was a teacher. He entered into the Baltimore County Police Academy. I was surprised, I thought why would anyone leave teaching to be a policemen? I asked him why, his answer "I want to help people" That's amazing to me, he took a pay cut to help others and put his life on the line everyday.

Here is another example; A guy I grew up with, played ball with and ran the streets with. I saw him years later. His boy was entering first grade at same school as mine. He was wearing his police uniform. I asked "I thought you went to college?" He said "I did than I joined the force". Of course I'm thinking why, so I asked him?" His answer "I want to help people".

Yes, our taxes do pay for law enforcement, but not nearly enough! You could not have paid me enough to do it. God Bless the men and women in blue!

Anytime I was on the wrong end of a conversation with a law officer, I told the truth and said very little "Yes sir, no sir, I'm sorry sir." Respect goes a long way. I still got my share of tickets, but I deserved everyone. I got locked up once, but I deserved that as well. I'll never forget the door slamming shut and the officer saying "you might never get out" as he walked away leaving me alone with 3 concrete walls and steel bars. They dropped the charges and let me out, but not after giving me a tour of where I might end up, changed my life.

Why is it so hard for people to admit they made a mistake or were just plain wrong? The cause of most of my personal problems can be found in the mirror.
 
Good morning Bruette!! I see you've been busy this morning with four posts already.

Weather Underground is showing above zero temperatures for the next 10 days! In Central Minnesota, were I live, this time of year, anytime you have above zero temperatures, things are going very well indeed!

Still struggling with JMRI's Decoder Pro! However, I am receiving good help with it from a couple of guys from the JMRI User group. I've had PM messages with these people as I have found there to be some REAL JERKS on that forum!
 
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Baltimore Chapter, National Railway Historical Society
59 years ago today, the last of the streetcars ran on the beloved Cabin John line. In this post, orginally published December 4 2016, Jesse Smith recalls riding the last Cabin John streetcar on January 3 1960.

"[59] years ago: It was the very last trolley trip EVER, from Washington to Glen Echo Amusement Park, and to Cabin John. They were beginning to rip up Washington’s old Capital Transit trolley system around D.C., and this was a major line, at the very end of its time. My Granny always liked trains, is much of the reason I do, and had taken brother Spencer and me on our first train trip just a few years earlier (riding the B&O from Silver Spring to Philadelphia and back). So here, January 3rd, 1960, seated somewhere inside this very car, are Granny and little Jesse, riding that historic last trip on Cabin John’s final trolley run. Within just two years, all the trolleys in DC would be gone. And this picture? A chance posting by Facebook friend Guy Span, which he took all those [59] years ago! Thanks, Guy!"
Our thanks to Jesse Smith for his permission to share the post, and to Guy Span who took the photograph.
(This post was originally published December 4 2016 with permission from the author, Jesse Smith. It is republished here, Jan. 3 2019, with minor edits for clarification.)
 
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