Running Bear's October 2019 Coffee Shop

[Sirfoldalot]

Greg -- Good to see that you are feeling better.
The "yard" office has nice detail- the roof is fantastic!
Are the pallets store bought, or hand made? good looking whichever?

 

[Boris]

[QUOTE="IronBeltKen, post: 466104, member: 167"]Joe - I always like seeing pics of your emerging layout, especially since your modeling era encompasses my own (1969-72). I feel your pain on the lack of available "era-correct" 1:87 vehicles. I had some of those LifeLike vehicles on my first layout, I painted them in metallic colors and also painted-on "hubcaps" - and that seemed to improve their appearance significantly. Don't know if I saved them or not, if I find them I'll post 'em.[/QUOTE]

Ken: First of all, I'm happy that your situation has stabilized. Hope your wife is feeling better. Those Life-Like, and AHM vehicles don't look so bad, as long as you "improve" them and keep them in the background. I have some better looking plastics that I bought in the '80s, that are stored somewhere... In general, though 70s era vehicles are scarce and expensive when available.

Joe

 

[Boris]

I received my first hospital billing for over $320,000.00 - no Rehab billings as of yet. Glad I have Medicare and a good supplement plan so I owe nothing! I hope the Postman's back is okay after delivering this bill and as heavy as it was...!!!

Wow, Hope they remembered to actually bill Medicare...that's a lot of dough! Good news that you are able to drive again.

I have a Rapido PC SW 1200 on order, I ought my son a Canadian SW 1220 in CN, Runs great.

Boris

 

[Boris]

Joe- And the LIRR? (cabin cars)

Absolutely!

Joe

 

[bnsf971]

Good morning. It's clear and 49.

 

[chadbag]

19F at 6:30am and clear

 

[montanan]

Good morning. Checking in quickly today. 17 degrees and partly cloudy.

Have to get out early to the hospital which I hate to go to. On th other side of town, not enough parking and hard to get around in. Like being a rat in a maze. Have to get an ultrasound (no, I'm not pregnant) done to check for a possible aneurysm. I had been putting this off for a couple of years but ran out of excuses. The worse part is that I can't have any food or drink. No coffee ????

I will have top stop by the coffee shop when I get out. Flo, have half a cow ready please, and some black coffee.

Later

 

[santafewillie]

Good Morning All. Let's see, 44° and partly cloudy outside here this morning. After today. unsettled weather coming up for the next five days, some chance of rain, cooler temperatures, first freeze on Halloween, which is about three weeks early, highs below 60° until next Sunday. I'll need to dig out the blue jeans early this fall. I did a little work in the garden yesterday preparing for next spring. I removed most of the tomato cages and started composting debris and residues.

Grits and sausage sounds good this morning Flo. Keeps Mel on his toes.

Thanks for the likes and comments regarding the progress pictures yesterday; Jerome, Chet, Phil, Mikey, Curt, Lee, Sherrel, Ken, Justin, Chad, Rick.

Since yesterday was Sunday, time in the train shed was limited. I did do some minor touch up to the weathering on the barn and posed it tentatively with a tree.

Some minor trimming is still needed on that tree, and of course, much more landscaping on the ground.

As you can see from those pictures, I also painted the crude horizon on the backdrop. I also finished fastening down the industrial trackage over on that side of the main and painted it.

However I forgot to add the missing ties between the scrap pieces of flex that I used before I painted. Oh well. I'll have a few indoor days coming up to take care of that.

Mikey - The roof is made from a product that I got at Hobby Lobby from K&S Precision Metals. I used product # 16132 which is actually for O scale, they make one for HO as well. I know that it is available online from Hobbylinc, and probably many others.

No "old find" is slated for here, as the barn is not isolated enough for something like that to sit unnoticed for that long.
Sherrel - Roof has sags and dents, and of course those two missing sheets. I thought about a "swayback" look and I still might go with it, but I think that it would go unnoticed on the layout. Note the sag on the right side of the second picture, it just doesn't photograph well.
Ken -

Willie - your derelict barn is fantastic, all you need now is lots of surrounding grass, shrubbery and other overgrowth! I'd love to [someday] have something similar on my own pike, but as for now, I'm a bit short of space.

Coming up! It's still a work in progress.
Greg - Good to read that the recovery is going well.

Everybody have a great day.

 

[Raincoat2]

A follow-up on that tornado that hit Dallas last Sunday near both of my daughter's homes. It was worse than originally thought, with over two billion dollars in damages expected. In addition to the Home Depot that I posted about, a high school was badly damaged, a middle school and elementary school were completely destroyed and several other schools, churches, numerous businesses and homes were either badly damaged or completely destroyed. Miraculously there were no deaths and very few minor injuries.

Willie - Yeah, that tornado that hit Dallas was really bad. That same storm came up this way, and they now have confirmed six tornadoes touching down in the Southwest Missouri area. the closest one to us was about 15 miles away. That's scary enough for me. One of the funnier stories coming out of that storm was a small town in this area had only one warning siren, an old hand-crank style. The mayor of that town is the only one authorized to crank that siren and sound the alert. But that night, there was a tree down that blocked her way, so she couldn't get to the siren from her house. As a result, most of the folks in that town were not aware of how bad the storm was.

 

[Raincoat2]

Good morning everyone. 46 and partly cloudy. Next two days will be rainy, then three nice sunny days, including the weekend. However, Thursday and Friday nights we'll dip into the mid to upper 20s for the first time this season!!

Just got on for the first time since last Friday. Lots of interesting posts.

Flip, Sherrel, and anyone I missed - thanks for the likes from last Friday.
Willie - that is really nice work on that barn. I love the final look, with the tree growing up through the roof, pieces broken off, etc. Very realistic.
Tom - those are nice photos of the layout. Yours?

Speaking of the old tv's, my dad fixed the old vacuum tube tvs and radios as a hobby. Folks in the neighborhood would bring their broken sets to him and he had an electrical workshop in our basement out on Long Island, so I grew up learning electrical stuff. He used to say I learned to tie an underwriter's know before I could tie my own shoes. I still have a few vacuum tubes, transistors, resistors, rheostats, dials, etc., left over from that time in my life.

Had a flare-up with my left thigh muscles. Happens a few times a year, and if it's bad enough, all I can do is hobble around. Only thing that works is a couple of Tylenol arthritis strength pills and to massage a product called Icy Hot into the muscles, and then rest a while. Took three days to get back to normal this time.

I'm a little late to the forum this morning, and have to run to a meeting. I'll post some layout progress photos later.

Have a good day everyone.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

Mikey - The roof is made from a product that I got at Hobby Lobby from K&S Precision Metals. I used product # 16132 which is actually for O scale, they make one for HO as well. I know that it is available online from Hobbylinc, and probably many others.

Willie- thanks for the info on K&S roofing. I'll have to look at my local Hobby Lobby.
I'm thinking about rebuilding the old "O" scale barn I built for the club layout in HO scale for my home layout.
The tree thru the roof changes the character of the barn completely.

Tom- really nice pictures of your layout. Keep us updated as you make progress.

 

[Texas Hobo]

Good morning all. 65 degrees and overcast. Western omelet, hold the grits.

How about them "Stros"!!!!!!!!. Like I said the World Series must go through Houston.

That furniture moving for 3 days really did a number on my back. No train work got done. I was working a cemetery scene at Apple Ridge, hopefully I can get back to it today or tomorrow.

Willie - love the barn. Maybe a derelict tractor sitting beside it?

Everyone has posted some inspiring pics.

 

[Texas Hobo]

Small world. My cousin is a recently retired fireman from a station on Jamaica Ave. He always reminds me that it was the neighborhood where the Marx Brothers and Rodney Dangerfield came from. My family didn't normally venture into Queens when I lived there.

I wanted to reply earlier but I had difficulty finding the photos I wanted.

There is a tunnel, 130th St. that would take you from Atlantic Ave. to Jamaica Ave. Midway through the tunnel was a stairway up to Dunston Tower, which I believe controlled tracks coming out of the Morris Park engine yards heading into Jamaica Station.

 

[Greg@mnrr]

Good Morning Everyone....overcast here in Wisconsin and maybe rain and snow tonite. Waiting for the blood draw lady to take the weekly sample and then tomorrow the RN visits.

Chet: Good luck on the testing at the hospital.. Our thoughts are with you and that results will be positive.

Sherrel: I am glad you like the roofing on that little Atlas building. The roofing is from I believe Caboose and I have had it for years since I stocked up on the product thinking that I like to have it on when needed. I used Pan Pastels to weather the roofing, but normally I would use a circuit board acid solution from Radio Shack and dip the corrugated roofing pieces into the acid which produces a black and rust color and some holes. If left too long, "Good Bye Roofing".

Willie: I like the tree growing out of the old structure. Nice touch and really the tree really adds interest.

Hobo: Great photograph.

Speaking of the old TV's, my dad fixed the old vacuum tube tvs and radios as a hobby. Folks in the neighborhood would bring their broken sets to him and he had an electrical workshop in our basement out on Long Island, so I grew up learning electrical stuff. He used to say I learned to tie an underwriter's know before I could tie my own shoes. I still have a few vacuum tubes, transistors, resistors, rheostats, dials, etc., left over from that time in my life.

My Dad repaired TV's using a tube tester he made from a Radio Shack kit in the late 50's. I still have the tester he made and some spare tubes he always kept on hand. I have a radio from the early 40's and I need to test the tubes. One tube must be weak because I can get certain stations and then have them drift away. I remember the early TV's with the round screens and Bakelite cases and my uncle had a 13 inch model that worked into the 60's until he discarded it. We didn't have a decent TV until 1967 when my mother purchased one for us as a X-mas gift.

When I moved out of my parent's home and into my apartment, my TV was a 13 inch black and white on a orange crate that I used until I met my future wife in 1974 and then we had a small color TV.

Speaking of radios...remember Wolf Man Jack? Living in Wisconsin we could receive his AM broadcasts only after dark after 10 PM when he turned up the wattage of his Mexico based transmitter and which carried his radio signal to Wisconsin and beyond.

I have to clean up the computer space and work on some projects using the computer. My neighbor is cutting his lawn which he does every third day!!!

A little tired from watching the Packer/Chiefs game last night. What a catch by Packer Receiver in the end zone!!! New Packer Coach resulted in a new Packer Team this year! The entire team looks like they are finally having fun. I miss going to games at Lambeau Field.

Later this afternoon I plan on going down to the train room, I hope. I like to do little projects in the layout room. Like work on some ore cars or paint wheels. Just relaxing modeling jobs while a track cleaning car runs on the layout and then clean some spurs and dead-ended tracks. I use a box car with fitted with a Masonite pad under the car and the Masonite isn't too abrasive or harmful to the track's surface. I've given up on using any liquid cleaners other than 90% alcohol.

I need to watch some more videos on the big screen TV. I enjoy seeing the work of the experts and their layouts. Would like to see the payouts of George Sellios and Howard Zane. Two of the greatest model railroaders along with John Allen who's on the top of the list in my opinion.

That's all for now.....

Greg

#############

Last February at the cabin when 71 inches of snow fell in that month alone...! Impossible to walk in the yard. Sign of things to come this winter.-Greg

 

[montanan]

Good morning again. Almost lunch time.

Willie - The photo of the barn is a real winner! I don't think I have seen anything like that before. Like that a lot.

Joe - Here is one of the sites I go to for vehicles. It is constantly changing as new vehicles come out. That is a miserable time period for decent looking vehicles. https://www.american-excellence.com/?p=list&scale=87

Greg - Like that photo of the Milwaukee Road switcher. Looks a bit familiar.
Hope you are able to make it down to the train room. The testing at the hospital is just something that my doctor like to check out with all of his older patients.

When I took off to town the "Service Engine Soon" light was on. Checked it out when I got home. Plugged in the laptop and it came us as a bad Intake Air Temp sensor. Opened the hood to check the sensor and it looks like a mouse ate lead wires to the sensor. Know what I'll be doing this afternoon.

Later

 

[Raincoat2]

Greg - I read your post about the old tube tester your dad built. My dad had a tube tester that I'd swear he built, but I can't prove it. After the era of vacuum tube TVs and radios passed and he didn't really use the tube tester any more, when we would go there to visit our son loved to go down in the basement and play with the tube tester, pretending it was part of a submarine control console. He'd have a riot pushing switches and turning knobs on the thing. Ah, those were the days - when kids used their imagination and creativity instead of a stupid video game controller. Oops, didn't realize I had got up on my soap box - stepping down now.

Anyway, when my dad died I got that tube tester along with some other older electrical paraphernalia. A few years ago I gave that tube tester to my son, who is now 40!!

Correction from my earlier post - I mistyped and said "underwriters know" - I'll bet many of you know I meant "underwriter's knot." Right? I think I can still tie one.

 

[Raincoat2]

Okay, meeting's over, morning work done, lunch in the tummy - so here are a couple of photos of progress I made over the weekend. It was tough getting down to the basement with my left thigh muscles so tight (see my earlier post today, #1130), but I made it.

Here's the "Before" photo, just to remind you what it looked like at the start:

Now - the lumber yard is in place (which I posted last week), and the landscaping this side of the lumber yard is done. I left space for the road behind the landscaped area (I'm fresh out of road, so I'll either go buy some more or use black cardboard). Much of the ballasting is done, and here you're seeing two trains passing one another. If I'd taken a longer shot, from a few more feet back, you could see the next area in this project, the area where the dairy will be (along a siding). I'm putting a freight dock there, too.

A view of the two trains passing each other by the lumber yard. I'm pretty satisfied with the lumber yard's look, except I'll need to gravel in the yard itself. And have to put in a gravel road connecting the lumber yard to the road behind it. Wish I could figure out what to do with the two backgrounds - their blues obviously don't match. I could cut out the farm scene (on the left) and mount it on the lighter blue background (which I buy at Hobby Lobby), but it would be a real bear to do since there are so many details on that farm scene that stick into the sky. Any ideas?

Have a good day everyone.

 

[Greg@mnrr]

Just getting ready for the train room and wonder what everyone uses for their track cleaning methods. I once talked to a well known modeler about this subject and he just said he runs a lot of trains. Well how about the track in his sidings and yard tracks and how do they stay clean if not having trains running on them like they were a main line?

My Masonite pad under a box car works relatively good and I have Dust Monkeys on several of my pieces of rolling stock.

How do you keep your track clean?

Maybe this should be a separate thread...sorry!

Greg

 

[montanan]

I use a bright boy for industrail spurs and this for the main line.

 

[Patrick]

Afternoon all,

Pretty busy this morning at work. Finally able to get on near the end of my work day. I did a tiny bit in the train room over the weekend, but had all day yesterday taken up with my youngest granddaughter's baptism. First time I'd been to a protestant denomination baptism. Not a whole lot different than the modern Catholic ones.

Hopefully I can get on earlier tomorrow. Due to a high today of 40*, I have chili in the crockpot for when the wife and I get home.