Running Bear's January 2020 Coffee Shop


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Hiya gang!

Johnny, I vote for the grassy area!

Willie, I've got that same kit stashed away for future use, along with some other Downtown Deco kits. One day........

Chet, That looks like an Ooooops to me! I'll be the ride in the caboose was a bit scary!

Slow day at work today, can ya tell??
 
Morning all,

Been playing catch up and finally got to here.....

I do have time for coffee and pecan roll this morning Flo.

I did get to some train work on Saturday. I spent about 6 hours getting my layout partially torn down and started to rebuild it. I placed the pictures on my layout build, but here's one for a tease:

20200112_181106.jpg


The layout is back to being flat and the 14" of space has been filled with 12" of new table. I added 7 sq. feet to the layout and without the rise, I can now see how folks will be able to get over the rails to get to town, etc. I did manage to aggravate my carpal tunnel, so I'm back on hold for a little while.
 
Good Morning Everyone....several inches of snow over night.

Chet: I didn't exactly wet my pants last night over the Packer victory, but close and I was concerned like Sherrel with the Packers getting tired during the second half of the game. I think the defense got tired from trying to prevent a pass and or as well as a run by Wilson. Now on to San Francisco.

Sad to see the ore train with the derailment....operator error???

Down to the train room in a few minutes and check on the air brush and and few other things to do on the layout.

Now much new to write about right now.

Greg

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Sad to see the ore train with the derailment....operator error???

I would call it owner error. The train is heavy as the cars are loaded with real iron ore. The operator was lucky as he was able to reach out and stop the train before it hit the curve at the bottom of the grade. A check revealed that the coupler height was the problem. Sitting on level track there was a slight misalignment but with the weight of al of all of the ore cars was more than it could handle.
 
HOBO- I run my B&M consists behind either an Athearn GP38-2 R W &B Bicentenial or a blue PRO2000 GP38-2.
Phil
My core railroad is B&M. I have many great memories of watching B&M steam and early diesel locos running on track along side the Deerfield River in Mass. But the truth is I really like RS-3's and SD45-2's and GG-1, so you'll find some not to prototypical trains on the layout. The way I look at it is, "it's my layout, I'm generally alone operating it, so any loco can be used." Most people who actually see the layout are not railroad perfectionists and just find it neat, and that's OK with me.
 
We always used to go to a city park. I don't see anyone playing on a street in anything smaller than a city without large parks.

Which stirred a memory. I haven't seen pics of any layouts where kids are playing in areas where they shouldn't be: gravel pits, storm drains, railroad tracks, etc. Those places used to be magnets for us.
We used to play stickball in a place called the "Banana yards". It was transfer tracks for for gravel and an additional track beside a Chikita banana warehouse. One of the kids got hit by a train coming into the yard and later died from his injuries. Our parents demanded we no longer play there. An aside, I passed by the area in 2011 and it's all gone, a huge warehouse and super market occupy the site.
 
Good afternoon all. Does anyone know where the Texans were yesterday, certainly not in KC. Oh well there's always next year. Started out with a little rain this morning and on the cool side.
I'll take something low carb please.
I have been putting off work on the large tunnel in the far corner of the layout. I have decided one track will be a tunnel, the other a track along a ridge. This would facilitate installing and removing should I need to get to a derailment. But the exact look eludes me.

LATER
 
Afternoon All,

Started out with a few chores and then spent most the day in the train room...I mean loft. The last of the layout is on the streeto_O. I removed all the things on the walls, removed window slats and cleaned window frames. I also cleaned out the closet. First thing on the agenda tomorrow is to clean the individual window slats.

Jim- Nice job on the bridge abutment.

Karl- Nice layout shot.

Justin- Interesting looking mine.

Johnny- Nice gifts.

Willie- Nice looking garage. Did you apply the stucco.

Chet- It's probably been 10+ years easy. Don't you hate it when a train derails like that?

Patrick- I find track work both tedious and exciting at the same time.

Hughie- You are definitely correct when you say "it's my railroad". You only have to make yourself happy.

My poor layout

20200113_135539.jpg

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
We always used to go to a city park. I don't see anyone playing on a street in anything smaller than a city without large parks.

Which stirred a memory. I haven't seen pics of any layouts where kids are playing in areas where they shouldn't be: gravel pits, storm drains, railroad tracks, etc. Those places used to be magnets for us.

Beady - Great suggestions! I'll see if I can find something. Kids climbing on a billboard? Poking around the classification yard? Climbing into an empty boxcar? Tying a roller skater carhop's laces together?
 
Good Afternoon Everyone....back again.

I did go down to the train room and work on the air brush that still will not operate. I found the air flow through the needle valve assembly that the trigger plunger controls is somehow is somehow slightly blocked when the trigger is depressed. I ordered a new trigger plunger after losing one yesterday somewhere in the work bench area and then today I lost a Teflon needle bearing from the problem brush again on the floor. I also ordered a new air assembly since the small cost is worth the price instead of trying to clear the what ever is causing the problem that I can't find even after soaking overnight in solvent. I'll never learn that when working on small parts do it over a large working surface and not in a model railroad layout room. I asked Badger via email to combine the two orders to save on postage. I've ordered parts before from Badger and the service is great!

It looks like bAdger changed the names of their popular air brushes, but the part numbers remained the same.

Thank goodness I have the air brush manuals. I have to order from Badger since I only know of one Badger parts hobby shop in a bad part of town and you better be armed in that neighbor. I used to hang out at a cop bar across the street and even that established closed due to the changing neighbor. I don't know how that hobby shop survives.

Anyway, I like getting things in the mail ever since as a kid I ordered model rockets from Estes and I had to mail the order in to Estes and then wait for the order to arrive at my house usually in 5-7 days. I liked building and then firing the model rockets and it was as addictive as model trains. The local guys and myself had sort of a informal rocket club and I built a remote control firing base that we all used.

I still have one working air brush and I want to do some dusting of rail dirt along the lower car bodies on some rolling stock. I'll likely do a batch of air painting to save time.

That's about all for now.

Greg

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Good evening gents. Been a little busy after a late start today. Ran some errands with my wife and did some catching up with a buddy I used to work with in the Boilermakers.

Starting to get serious about my layout. It'll be a 9x2 switching layout that I can incorporate into a larger one once we move. Looks like I might have to change the plan just a little from what I originally had in mind, but nothing major. Started assembling a Rix grain bin kit to go along with my Blair elevator I built a couple of years ago.

Here's a story that may belong in the Ripley's Believe It or Not category. You read it and let me know what you think.

Got to go, the boss is calling!:D
 
Went to eye dr. Cataract not ready yet. New prescription for right eye.

Got into G.N. because of the mascot. Liked the looks of the goat. 6 engines-2 cabin cars-45 freight cars.

LARRY DOBY [spl] Played for the Indians IIRC, There was another ball player named Larry but I can't remember his name.
RAWLINGS made a mitt ,named The Playmaker. Why was deemed illegal?

Temp is 71* should hit 83 tomorrow.
Hope all are safe and warm
Phil

THINK, IT"S NOT ILLEGAL YET
 
Mikey - God help me! I thought you were leading up to a tree falling on the just purchased automobile.

Y'all gave me heart flutters just suggesting such a thing!
We got about 3" of rain and had several trees blown over in the neighborhood, but no structural damage around here.
My grandson had his heart set on a black car, but by today, he loves his white Kia now.
Johnnie- I vote for the baseball game in the side street. I cannot count the number of games we played in the street when I was a kid.
(Yes, they drove cars in the streets back then.)
 
Afternoon All,

Started out with a few chores and then spent most the day in the train room...I mean loft. The last of the layout is on the streeto_O. I removed all the things on the walls, removed window slats and cleaned window frames. I also cleaned out the closet. First thing on the agenda tomorrow is to clean the individual window slats.

Jim- Nice job on the bridge abutment.

Karl- Nice layout shot.

Justin- Interesting looking mine.

Johnny- Nice gifts.

Willie- Nice looking garage. Did you apply the stucco.

Chet- It's probably been 10+ years easy. Don't you hate it when a train derails like that?

Patrick- I find track work both tedious and exciting at the same time.

Hughie- You are definitely correct when you say "it's my railroad". You only have to make yourself happy.

My poor layout

View attachment 43132

I hope everyone has a good night.
:eek: :(
 
Good Morning Everyone. 58° and dense fog. The partly cloudy yesterday morning turned into fog after daylight and hasn't gone away yet. But the temperature is nice for this time of day/month. Visit to the doctor yesterday went OK, I'm going to live for the foreseeable future, upright! Today I am going to visit the location of my former employer and haul home some firewood; 3" x 4" x 42" sticks of aged oak. These have been a staple of heating here for 39 years. Nothing like free firewood.

How about something different for breakfast this morning Flo, sausage links, French Toast and oatmeal today.

Thanks for the likes yesterday regarding the Ace Auto Parts structure; Jerome, Phil, Sherrel, Chet, Bob, Patrick, Hughie, Justin, Tom, Johnny.

Another short day in the train shed due to the doctor visit. It's slow going on the Majestic Hardware details right now, so I added figures to another structure. Remember this one from last summer? Atlas Steel Works.
01-14-20 022.JPG

I touched up some Woodland Scenics figures for the empty loading platform.
01-14-20 023.JPG

Here are a few workers taking a lunch break.
01-14-20 024.JPG

01-14-20 025.JPG


Johnny - Considering your layout, I vote for the grassy field for the baseball players. Here's what I did with the Wiener Wagon.
01-14-20 002.JPG


Beady - I like your suggestion regarding kids playing where they shouldn't be. I'll have to use that somewhere.
Karl - I like the Downtown Deco kits. I only have five but I am looking for a couple more.
Curt -
Willie- Nice looking garage. Did you apply the stucco.
That's pretty much the way the kit came. I scratched it up a bit Painted it, applied the signs and aged them.
Bob -
Here's a story that may belong in the Ripley's Believe It or Not category. You read it and let me know what you think.
????????

Here's a story that will interest most everyone.
Northlandz

Gotta go now. Everybody have a great day.
 
Good morning, America! It's 35 degrees with a predicted high of 45 and clear skies. Not bad for mid January.

Yesterday, in my haste to get off the computer when my wife called, I forgot to post a link to the story I was going to put up. Anyway, here it is, just a day late. https://allthatsinteresting.com/jack-the-baboon Like I said earlier, it may be something fit for Ripley's Believe It or Not. Let me know what you think.

Chet- A belated thanks for the video about the grain elevator. Pretty cool how they actually work and how they moved the boxcars. It's sad to see the prairie skyscrapers disappear. That derailment looked pretty serious from here!

We always used to go to a city park. I don't see anyone playing on a street in anything smaller than a city without large parks.

Which stirred a memory. I haven't seen pics of any layouts where kids are playing in areas where they shouldn't be: gravel pits, storm drains, railroad tracks, etc. Those places used to be magnets for us.

Beady - I'm with you on the kids playing areas! When we were kids, one of our favorite places was climbing on the train cars at the fertilizer and redi-mix plant. Only on Sundays though, when they weren't working.

BoB - I may be totally off in my memory, but seems as if I sprayed with 15 to 22 pounds of pressure and I don't remember that much overspray nor airborne particles. Others may have a totally different speak - it's been a long time?

Sherrel- I'll be finding out soon. Hope to have my spray booth operational before the end of the week. We're leaving for Tennessee Monday morning to look for prospective living areas. So, it could be another week before I get to use it much.

Justin- Great pictures of the coal mines. I used to work at a strip mine for seven years until they closed it down at the end of 1983.

Willie- Are the Downtown Deco models cast as one piece in Hydrocal and just need painted and detailed? Nice work. The iron works is nice! Are Wally and his customers in any danger from the derailed tank car? :) Doesn't look like the busker is making much money. Really great scene!

Patrick- You've been busy! Good work. One of my BIL's had surgery for his carpal tunnel after it got bad. He was laid up for a couple of weeks, but it hasn't bothered him since. Almost 28 years ago.

My core railroad is B&M. I have many great memories of watching B&M steam and early diesel locos running on track along side the Deerfield River in Mass. But the truth is I really like RS-3's and SD45-2's and GG-1, so you'll find some not to prototypical trains on the layout. The way I look at it is, "it's my layout, I'm generally alone operating it, so any loco can be used." Most people who actually see the layout are not railroad perfectionists and just find it neat, and that's OK with me.

Hobo- The old saying "My railroad, my rules!"

Hope I got everyone, please forgive me if I missed someone. I don't type the fastest, so this takes a bit of time for me. My wife laughs at how slow I am at making my posts!
 
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