Running Bear's October 2019 Coffee Shop


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Afternoon All,

Had a good time yesterday catching up with friends from out of state. Did a bunch of chores today including draining the swimming around 5 inches to get rid of the sub-tropical rain we received Friday into Saturday.

Garry- Congratulations to your family. My daughter adopted a set of brothers about 7 years ago.

Z- Great pictures.

Willie- Nice buildings. I really like the interior. That's a lot of SF motive power.

Hobo- Nice pictures.

Karl- Nice pictures also.

Beady- The ads are great.

Milw113- Nice photos.

Louis- A photo from yesterdays skunk show (not my skunks).

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I hope everyone has a nice night.
 
Have you ever figured out what you have spent on your model railroad? I was curious so I built an Excel spreadsheet, a work sheet for lumber, foam and various hardware, a sheet for track, sheet for locos, sheet for rolling stock, sheet for buildings, sheet for vehicles and a sheet for scenery materials. Once I filled in the data and had it all calculate to a cover sheet, I was amazed. My layout is small compared to many I see here. L shaped 11' x 6' and 40" wide. Granted it was not all spent at one time, but I could have bought a car, or one of those pick-ups for the money spent. I haven't told the wife just how much was spent. Bonus, I added photos of individual engines, rolling stock, buildings and vehicles and now have a pretty good inventory log. I hope I never need but could be good for an insurance claim.
I have done an inventory with costs, pictures etc. Although I only included engines, rolling stock and the cost of constructing the 20' x 40' train shed with climate control, it is staggering! :eek: Wife has no clue and doesn't really want to know, we have always lived comfortably once the three kids got out of college. I have not included structures, vehicles, figures, scenery materials, electronics, track or wiring. If I had put it all into a retirement account, I could have retired many years earlier, even despite the recession. But I am having the time of my life immersed in it all.
 
Thanks on the information on IBKen. I do have his number but at this time don't want to bother him. Prayers for his wife.

I wish that I had been more of a "car person", CHET. I just have always looked on them as a means of getting from one place to another. I just want something that is cheap to operate (including taxes and insurance) and does not like to hang out with it's favorite mechanic. I guess that I should not be too brash with my 21 YO truck - except for some second hand tires (mostly from police cruisers) - I had not had very little problems until I had it repainted about 2-3 years ago ... then seems like everything quit at once. After watching several U-Tube's, I think the problem now is with the ECM - which was rebuilt 2 years ago? We will see, understand that the Dakota and Durango both have a vivid history in that department.

AS far as IB KEN goes - He NEEDS to talk to people in order to keep from banging his head into the wall. Believe me, You will NOT be bothering him!
 
Good Afternoon Everyone....sunny and a perfect fall day here in this part of Wisconsin.

Just returned from the cabin...95% of the exterior work is done for winter and just the water shut down and draining is the only necessary task other than bring home some liquids that will freeze over winter. The Mrs. did the bulk of the work. The deer are really on the move. Saw two bucks with eight does eating grass along the road one night.

Did some unassisted walking this weekend and it felt great! Tomorrow my will be my first attempt to do the basement stairwell and get to the train room.

I'm looking for a device that I've seen used by telephone service techs and electricians to trace wire circuits. It's some type of toner, but I don't recall its name. I have five different busses for the layout wiring. There's one buss each for DCC, LED's, incandescent wiring, Tortoise switch machines and accessory power. I started to color code each circuit, but like many modelers I ran short of wires and mixed wire colors. I can trace wire circuits with a multi-meter by testing for live circuits at terminal blocks, since I can turn each circuit on or all individual circuits off at a control panel. With just one circuit on I can test for just the active buss. The circuit tester would come in handle as a tool. Anyone know what tool I'm thinking about???

Some of my weathered pieces should arrive by mail tomorrow and others at a later date. I like weathering on rolling stock but I'm having a hard time considering weathering on well detailed locomotives like the Rapidos I have on order or some of limited run Athearn locomotives. Some pieces of rolling stock will just have a coat of DullKote.

Like Willie and I know others in the hobby who like myself have spent a ton of money on model railroading over the years. The Mrs. has some idea of the amount of $$$ I've spent, but so far she doesn't know the exact figure. Hey, life is too short, so have fun while you can doing what interests you. I wonder if the main model railroad items like locomotives and rolling stock are covered by insurance under a lost settlement for the limits of insurance purchased for Personal Property coverage.

Even with my modest layout in a 12 x 16 finished room the costs to construct the layout was notable with just the room construction costs, the electronics, DCC and scenery costs adding up.

Like Hobo, I did an Excel spreadsheet for my locomotives and have a partial completed for rolling stock.

Chet: Great phot of the box car with the track cleaning pads.

Not much other railroad news to report.

Sherrel: I like my 2014 Chevy Silverado and I still find different electronic features that I didn't know I had in the vehicle. This is my sixth pickup and by far the most fancy vehicle...but at a cost. My first Toyota pick up truck that I purchased was a spartan vehicle and didn't even have a radio.

I think my first project after running some trains is to install a welding flashing circuit in a junk yard on the yard.

That's enough for now....

Stay tuned.

Greg

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My main control panel for the layout wiring busses. Some additional panel switches have been added since this photo was taken. The panel is a picture frame and 1/4" Lexan for the panel's face with the interior surface of the Lexan painted. On the lower right is a Tony's Exchange Ramp Meter for DCC and the meter above it is for the layout's incandescent lighting voltage.-Greg
 
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Good Afternoon to All. As I said "the World Series must go through Houston". Something else, watch out for the little guy.

Thanks for the likes on the picture. It was a great time to be a kid.

Have you ever figured out what you have spent on your model railroad? I was curious so I built an Excel spreadsheet, a work sheet for lumber, foam and various hardware, a sheet for track, sheet for locos, sheet for rolling stock, sheet for buildings, sheet for vehicles and a sheet for scenery materials. Once I filled in the data and had it all calculate to a cover sheet, I was amazed. My layout is small compared to many I see here. L shaped 11' x 6' and 40" wide. Granted it was not all spent at one time, but I could have bought a car, or one of those pick-ups for the money spent. I haven't told the wife just how much was spent. Bonus, I added photos of individual engines, rolling stock, buildings and vehicles and now have a pretty good inventory log. I hope I never need but could be good for an insurance claim.
I know the feeling. Just one of the sets I bought, my first, was the Kato Oriental Express, expansion and locomotive. I think the ebay price is near $1k. And then I look at the shelves and shelves of the stuff I've got. It can be astounding.
 
Good Evening Folks. Just got off the phone with Ken. He had some excellent news that his wife had been released from the hospital earlier. She's not completely recovered yet, but is going to slowly morph back into a more normal diet. Ken has settled down somewhat, sleep should be normal for him. Keep those thoughts and prayers coming for her. Take the time to call him as Sherrel suggested, he appreciates all of his friends here on the forum.
 
Good Afternoon Everyone....sunny and a perfect fall day here in this part of Wisconsin.

Just returned from the cabin...95% of the exterior work is done for winter and just the water shut down and draining is the only necessary task other than bring home some liquids that will freeze over winter. The Mrs. did the bulk of the work. The deer are really on the move. Saw two bucks with eight does eating grass along the road one night.

Did some unassisted walking this weekend and it felt great! Tomorrow my will be my first attempt to do the basement stairwell and get to the train room.

I'm looking for a device that I've seen used by telephone service techs and electricians to trace wire circuits. It's some type of toner, but I don't recall its name. I have five different busses for the layout wiring. There's one buss each for DCC, LED's, incandescent wiring, Tortoise switch machines and accessory power. I started to color code each circuit, but like many modelers I ran short of wires and mixed wire colors. I can trace wire circuits with a multi-meter by testing for live circuits at terminal blocks, since I can turn each circuit on or all individual circuits off at a control panel. With just one circuit on I can test for just the active buss. The circuit tester would come in handle as a tool. Anyone know what tool I'm thinking about???

Some of my weathered pieces should arrive by mail tomorrow and others at a later date. I like weathering on rolling stock but I'm having a hard time considering weathering on well detailed locomotives like the Rapidos I have on order or some of limited run Athearn locomotives. Some pieces of rolling stock will just have a coat of DullKote.

Like Willie and I know others in the hobby who like myself have spent a ton of money on model railroading over the years. The Mrs. has some idea of the amount of $$$ I've spent, but so far she doesn't know the exact figure. Hey, life is too short, so have fun while you can doing what interests you. I wonder if the main model railroad items like locomotives and rolling stock are covered by insurance under a lost settlement for the limits of insurance purchased for Personal Property coverage.

Even with my modest layout in a 12 x 16 finished room the costs to construct the layout was notable with just the room construction costs, the electronics, DCC and scenery costs adding up.

Like Hobo, I did an Excel spreadsheet for my locomotives and have a partial completed for rolling stock.

Chet: Great phot of the box car with the track cleaning pads.

Not much other railroad news to report.

Sherrel: I like my 2014 Chevy Silverado and I still find different electronic features that I didn't know I had in the vehicle. This is my sixth pickup and by far the most fancy vehicle...but at a cost. My first Toyota pick up truck that I purchased was a spartan vehicle and didn't even have a radio.

I think my first project after running some trains is to install a welding flashing circuit in a junk yard on the yard.

That's enough for now....

Stay tuned.

Greg

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View attachment 40785
My main control panel for the layout wiring busses. Some additional panel switches have been added since this photo was taken. The panel is a picture frame and 1/4" Lexan for the panel's face with the interior surface of the Lexan painted. On the lower right is a Tony's Exchange Ramp Meter for DCC and the meter above it is for the layout's incandescent lighting voltage.-Greg
I think what you are looking for is called a Clamp Meter" One that reads both Ac & DC is not cheap though.
 
I forgot to mention.

Willie, There are almost 2 million household in Maryland. The Kirwan Commission, if fully funded (a big if) would cost 3.8 billion. That works out to a little over $1900 per household, far less than $6000.

Boris, unlike New Jersey's court ordered reforms the Kirwan Commission was created by legislation in 2016.

Personally I don't know enough about the commission to either support or oppose it, yet. I still have not read the entire report. but I will.

Its chair, William Kirwan, Chancellor Emeritus of the University System of Maryland. gives me reason for hope, but that and a couple of dollars gets me a cup of coffee.

Maryland is trying to hold schools accountable. The jury is still out on the new 5-star school rating system.

For what it's worth my grandsons are fortunate as their school is one of the few 5 star schools in Baltimore City. My grandsons attend a charter school and they have a great leadership staff. I just wish they would cut back on the multi-lingual phone calls!

While I'm at it; I am all in favor of making English the official language of the United States. I'm all in favor of immigration, but if you want to join the "melting pot" at least learn to speak English like my ancestors did! I learned very little of either; Gallic or German from my family and certainly can't hold a conversation in either.

The seeming unwillingness of incoming immigrants to learn English & assimilate themselves into their local community beyond the local enclave of their common ethnicity is why our nation has changed from the melting pot it once was, into more of a soup/stew.
 
Good morning everyone. 43 and clear out there. Heading for the low 70's today. Time for coffee and a muffin.

A pretty uneventful weekend. Mowed the entire yard, hopefully for the last time, although I'll use the mower later to mulch leaves. Finished all the woodcrafts to fill the New York gift shop order and to sell at the craft fair in a couple of weeks.

Just got caught up with the posts since last Friday.

Mike, Cambria, Chessie, Lee, Sherrel, and anyone I may have missed - thanks for the likes and comments on my post last Friday,
Boris - thanks for that story about your retirement. Every bit of information helps.
Willie - Great photos of your town. Love the drone photos. amazing what those 1:87 cameras can do
Lee - Nice work on that funeral home and the hearse.
Garry - I like seeing the NYCentral logo on things!!
Chet - Nice deer photo you posted the other day. We have deer every day in our yard - right now they're eating the acorns on the ground. We also have a red fox, a beaver, an occasional rabbit stop by - we could start our own zoo!

Okay - Now that the lumber company area is pretty much finished, I've identified the next area of the layout I want to work on. It's at the north end of the layout, and has had "placeholders" sitting there for the entire three years since I started building this layout. I plan to extend the road out of the town and run it along the businesses that are currently there (a dairy and a lumber yard), decide where to put any hills and other scenery, add the landscaping trees/bushes/dirt/grass, and add vehicles and people to the area. Below is a photo of what it looks like now - that's the north end of the town of Pine Valley at the back and to the left of the photo:
View attachment 40525

So, I'll start posting photos of progress as soon as I get things going.

have a good day everyone.


That’s looking good
 
Good morning everyone. 39 and clear, heading for mid 50s today. Fall is here.

CambriaArea, Flip, Patrick, Sherrel, Willie, and anyone I missed - thanks for the likes on yesterday's post.
Garry - Glad your BIL will be okay. Prayers for a quick recovery from the surgery.

Began work on the "Northside Improvement Program" (funded, or course, by increased 1:87 taxes). Swapped the dairy structure and the lumber yard area: I think it looks better and gives more room for the road extension. Brought the road further out of town and made the bend and then ran out of road. Have to buy or make some more. Trying to arrange the hills so they make sense and yet add drama to the scene. Any suggestions? Here are a few photos:

The road will follow the track on the right side of the photo, then turn north and "disappear" while a dirt road connects to the Dairy.
View attachment 40590

Trying to nestle the lumber yard between some hilly terrain. Not sure if I like it. Still thinking about it. Any suggestions?

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I would appreciate any consider any suggestions on the scenery.

Time for more coffee. Have a good day everyone.

Nice progress Johnny
 
Good Morning All. 48° and clear. A bit chillier than forecasted, but still OK. Near or above 80° for the next three days. Going to make the weekly grocery/beer trek this morning, postponed from yesterday. I went to a retirement luncheon for a former co-worker of 35 years yesterday. It was held at the old plant. It was interesting because I noticed that the newly remodeled lunchroom had one whole wall torn out. It was over a 30' counter intended for microwaves, hot plates and toaster ovens. Contractor had installed twelve outlets, all on one 15 amp circuit! Not sure if this got by the city building inspector or not. In the contractors defense (sort of), no one told him what they would be used for. Sadly, it was the second time that this has happened to my ex-employer in four years! Different building, different contractor last time. After I got home, I spent some time cutting up some seasoned firewood for use this winter. At least the mowing has stopped until it rains again!

How about a sweet breakfast this morning Flo, two apple fritters and OJ.

Thanks for the likes for yesterday's post; Chad, Sherrel, Patrick, Flip, Clint, Tom, Jerome.

Out in the train shed, I worked on several different minor projects before picking up the throttle and running some trains. Added a billboard in between the Fresh Market and Oakleaf Storage.
View attachment 40691
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Today I'll add some weeds around the base.
Further to the south (left) I have a blank area left next to the Dairy Queen.
View attachment 40694
It's about 30" long and is between 2" and 8" deep. I've been trying to determine what to do with it. So I looked at my stash of structures that I have already built and picked out this one which has been a placeholder elsewhere. I built a few structures while the train shed and benchwork were under construction and I dig them out every so often.
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Looks like it will fit nicely with a parking area filling in part of the remaining area. This is one half of a DPM "Gold" kit called Poppa Wheelie's Saloon. The other half, a biker bar, is already slated for a different undeveloped area and I always intended to use this as a stand alone business. I'll mull it over for a few days. Only drawback is that there are two other eateries in this stretch of roadway, if you count DQ. However it will continue the eclectic mix of old and new structures in this particular scene.

Karl - Have a safe trip home.
Ken - Prayers and best wishes for your wife continue.

Everybody have a great day.


very nice pics Willie
 
Joe - In 1969 we went into the yard in Philly to decommission my ship for a major overhaul and I can remember all of the construction that we ran across. I had run my car up to the yard ahead of time so we would have some transportation while we were up there. It started to be a pain in the butt for us because we werem't that familiar with the atea and were relying on road maps (No GPS and we survived) which were becoming useless in some places. I know that I had read a lot about eliminating grade crossings for the high speed line. I thought it was a pipe dream.


Whenever I hear about the government wanting to run something the story about the Mustang Ranch in Nevada comes to mind when the government took over the House of Ill Repute and a Bar and went bankrupt. (Now they went to control our health care. If they do we're in a heap of trouble).

Subaru's are extremely popular here in Montana with out winters. The local dealer also carried Hyundai and Volkswagen and spun them off into different dealerswhips around town because they didn't have enough room with all of the Subaru sales. I have never owned one but have worked on a number of them and they are fairly easy to work on end for the most part very reliable. I ended up selling my skid steer and now will have a bit more work yop clear our lane to the county road. One of those little rice rockets would come in handy in the winter. Louis, I still won;t have anything to do with the CVT transmissions. After the experience we had with the Subaru we rented, I think I would rather ride a horse instead of driving anything with the CVT transmission. They are a less expensive way for manufacturers to get better fuel mileage instead of adding a few gears to a conventional automatic transmission.

I did find another freight car that fit on the track cleaning car chassis. Think I'll use this one.

View attachment 40703

Later

I like that weathering Chet
 
Need a small commercial business with instant recognition?
Here is the sign that is easy to make and has the potential for sight gags, like police cars parked outside.
If we could just get the smell of fresh donuts......
 

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Hi gang, I see Sherrell has been keeping you up-to-date on my wife Vicky's GI situation [much appreciated Sherrell!]. As I mentioned to Willie and Chet in my recent phone conversations with them, the storm has calmed - i.e. Vicky is home from the hospital - so now I feel confident enough to post again. I literally have not been in my right mind over this past weekend, my stress level was several orders of magnitude greater than anything I felt after my prostate cancer diagnosis back in May.

Here's the recap. Sorry if it's long-winded, but I can't figure out any simpler way to tell the complete story. [WARNING - there is some anatomically "graphic" terminology in these next paragraphs!]:

Over the past few weeks I've been posting that Vicky has had abdominal pain that would come and go. She would think she was better, but then a few days later she'd have another flare-up; always said she felt bloated and constipated. Our GI doctor just kept telling her to take more and more laxatives, in increasing strength levels. Those seemed to work at first and she'd feel better, then a few days later the cycle would repeat itself.

Finally, last Tuesday she got a second set of x-rays, and these looked far worse than the first one did from two weeks ago. On Wednesday the GI doc ordered a CAT scan which, in turn, led to her checking herself into the ER. The ER doc said she probably had late-onset Krohn's disease, but the GI doc - when he FINALLY came to the hospital the following day - insisted it was definitely NOT Krohn's. [Cancer had already been ruled out earlier.] Thus began a series of imaging tests on both the upper and lower intestinal tracks to find the source of the blockage. The test results were a pattern of "It's not this and it's not that, not this, not that..."

What really alarmed me was hearing that the worst-case scenario would be Inert Colon syndrome, which in severe cases would require surgical removal of the entire colon. That in itself would have a major life impact, but even worse, it also carries the risk of SEPSIS - which is what ultimately killed my sister when she suffered a perforated colon in 2013. [Whole 'nuther story there..!] When I Googled "inert colon", the medical website said it is mainly caused by chronic overuse of laxatives. My eyes only picked up "overuse", but not the word "chronic". Because of that misunderstanding, I started theorizing that all the laxative mixtures the GI doc been prescribing might have caused the problem.

Friday morning, the GI doc came in and said the most recent x-ray indicated the colon was not as jam-packed with solid waste as originally believed, in fact there was just one little cluster showing, and she could be discharged as soon as she pushed that stuff out. This was initially reassuring, until later - when I recalled that Vicky's earlier x-ray showed a hyper-stuffed bowel and I asked her, "If you didn't push all that stuff out, why was it not showing on this later image?" [Answer - the colon was distended by trapped gas but we hadn't learned that little detail yet.] And she admitted it all seemed a tad strange. So I started thinking the GI doc hadn't even looked at the earlier x-ray and was just shooting-from-the-hip. And Vicky continued swallowing laxatives, which still had no perceptible effect.

As of Saturday morning, still no status change - other than the GI doc answered my x-ray question from the night before, and that brought my anxiety level down a few notches. Finally toward late afternoon, Vicky had the nurse do a "fleet" enema on her - and that brought about the desired result, indicating no lower intestinal blockage. Awesome! All we had to do now was wait until Sunday for the GI doc to come in and do the final sign-off. Naturally, with my memories of all the earlier false hopes, I didn't want to announce anything on the forum until Vicky actually arrived back home.

So...as of this moment, the "colonic inertia" problem doesn't appear to be a threat. But it still disturbs me that the doctors were never able to pinpoint the exact cause of the swollen intestinal tissue.

As always, everyone's prayers and/or positive thoughts have been very much appreciated!
 
Exciting news!

Our son and his wife who live in Florida have now officially adopted a little boy. The judge made the final decision this afternoon. The process has been a long road for them. We now have 7 grandkids.
GARRY - Congratulations to the grandpa and to your kids for getting through that adoption process!
 
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