Adding Nail Holes

Once the model is completely weathered I go back and add nail holes using this neat little tool. I just line it up and with my pin poke some holes. I do not add these to all the sides if the model is only viewed from two sides. I can always add more holes later. The tool has a block strip on the bottom to keep things square and a ruler at the top for making sure your rows are spaced right.

If you attend the Structures Expo held in New England from time to time, there are some neat little freebies that one receives from the vendors. This one from Atlantic Scale Models is a nice tool that I use a lot. It lines up rows of nailholes for me...George Dutka

Dump it Over There

May 13, 2021 Hyde Park, Ontario

 Peter Mumby and I spent one morning photographing VIA 71 and 72 at Hyde Park and found this sign funny. There is a community walkway and green space along the way to the CN gate taking one into the old station area at Hyde Park. Well I guess someone did not like the trash being dumped along the walkway so it appears they put up a sign suggesting another option...dumping it on CN property. I am sure CN really liked this...George Dutka   

Northeastern Freight Houses

Many of the freight houses in the northeast did not have loading docks, packages were offloaded from the boxcar door right into the house. One had to make sure the doors lined up well when spotting the cars.

There was a bit of chatter on one of the Yahoo groups about freight houses along the B&M, MEC and other northeastern lines. Many of the freight houses are up tight to the track with no loading dock. Why, well I am guessing since there is a lot of bad weather up north and with snow and ice being an issue on platforms it seems easier to load and unload right between the boxcar and frt house.

Some of these structures are found on sidings making loading not a problem once cars are spotted but a freight houses next to the main line is another story. On the main line freight traffic would have to be unloaded from a boxcar or baggage car while on the train...making this job a priority when stopped. At some towns the local could be switching a siding while the local freight car is spotted at the proper door. An interesting operational element to create...George Dutka  

For this view I added an ITLA loading dock kit and is located on a siding. I scratch-built this structure and will cover it shortly.

New England Power in Ontario

A CNR WB is seen passing through Port Hope, Ontario which a New England consist leading the way during 1966. John Vincent photo

I was going through my CV files the other day when I came across this view. I may have posted this photo before but I think it is worth covering once again.

Bruce Douglas sent me this view of a trio of New England power handling a westbound train at Port Hope during November 1966. Although the photo is not that clear it sure is neat to see. The power is CV 4927 leading followed by GT 4450 and a DW&P RS-11 now assigned to the CV...and all in the classic green and gold.

So you see one does not need to model New England to add these CV, GT and DW&P engines to your roster as seen in this view...George Dutka 

Service Station - WRD Contemporary Era

 

My summer contemporary era scene from a few years ago. The garage from the general store is moved to the foreground replacing the milk platform.

A few views of my summer era change from a few years back...enjoy...George Dutka

Although the windows are covered in plywood the interior is fully detailed inside the opened door.

A B&M heads to Bellows Falls past this rural garage. The pumps are now gone but cars are being repaired here.

Throwback Thursday - Experimental Wi Fi

 

This specially equipped car promoting Internet connections was Montreal-bound at Belleville, Ontario on July 15, 2004.

By Peter Mumby.

Wi Fi is a given today on all corridor Via trains, but of course this wasn't always so.  Considerable experimentation was involved before all the bugs were worked out, and specially equipped (and specially decorated) coaches were operated on trains between Montreal and Toronto.  One such car is the subject of today's photo.

 

Wordless Wednesday No. 439

 

 

Tower

Once I did some weathering to the tower I placed it at Bellows Crossing for a look.

I purchased a built wooden tower kit that I cleaned up a bit and later sold. I recently received the FOS kit-of-the-month tower in one of my purchases. The FOS kit is a smaller than usual tower which might look right on the WRD...will see. I kind of like how it looks so it might be my next build to be added to Bellows Crossing. Although this area will loose the diamond many of these types of towers were located were no diamond was located but a lot of switches or maybe just a few such as on the B&M at Johnsonville, NY...George Dutka     

The tower as it looked when purchased.

I felt the tower looked good as it was a small size. I did weather it up and glued a few parts back in place.

A last look at the wooden tower. I took it to a train show a few weeks after this photo was taken and it got scooped up quickly.

GMD Recollections - 1000th Locomotive Roll-out Ceremony

 

CP 3124 was one of several GP38-2 units which took part in a special roll-out ceremony at the GMD plant on June 06, 1986.

By Peter Mumby.

The 1000th locomotive produced at the GMD plant was CP GP38-2 number 3050.  A roll-out ceremony to commemorate this event was held on June 06, 1986.  The 3050 was not actually in attendance that day; I had photographed it on delivery at CP Quebec St yard on December 25, 1985, so the locomotives taking part in the ceremony were several 3100-series units currently awaiting delivery.  I have photos of 3124, 26, 27, and 28 that were taken that day.  I was in attendance at the ceremony because I had been contracted to paint and letter five HO scale GP38-2 locomotives that were handed out to VIP visitors during the speeches.  I don't remember if they were all numbered 3050 (probably), but I do recall that one of them was given to Ontario Premier David Peterson.  They looked quite official on their dark wood bases.  The Athearn blue-box models didn't receive the full detail treatment, but I built two examples for myself at the same time, and they received all the bells and whistles.  CP 3081 and 3127 still have pride of place in my display cabinet today.  

 

A before and After

I followed the OSR from Woodstock on July 28, 2021. That is John Allen in the orange shirt a local railfan to the right.

I sent Bruce Douglas the top photo from a recent railfan day chase of the OSR from Woodstock back to Ingersoll. When I stopped along the side of the road for my second location I did not realize John Allen was parked just down from me. John does not normally venture out often east of London although he has been spotted at Paris Jct and Bayview this summer. Well I included him in one of my views. Bruce decided to eliminate John from the scene and add some smoke to the 1200's. I think the photo looks great...thanks Bruce. When Peter Mumby saw the photos he thought to add some humor Bruce should have added a bit of smoke too at the location that John was standing...kind of a poof he is gone...George Dutka

Bruce Douglas edited my photo by adding smoke to the engines and removed John from the scene.

FOS - Pool Hall

The roofing was changed out with construction paper painted green to reflect tar-paper. A Tichy barrel is added to the front platform with some newspaper trash added to the ground.

I built this kit sometime ago but never posted about it. Here are a few finished shots of my model which is a FOS Kit-of-the-Month from last year. This kit had all the parts included which was a good thing...George Dutka

The smoke stacks are included in the kit along with all the neat signs.

The rear wall is tar-paper with wood slates which add a bit of interest to the structure.

This and That August 2021

September 2021 RMC features Neil Schofield's really neat Vermont themed railway. Check it out.

 Just a few topics I thought worth touching on...mainly railfanning of late...George Dutka 

John Allen caught VIA 71 at Paris Jct on Aug 5, 2021. Boy that is a lot of smoke when the engineman opened it up...memories of Alco's.

A second view of John's visit to Paris Jct.

My GT boom car is coming along...ready for paint and decaling.

Thought you might find this 1940's view of  a store interesting. It was located in London, Ontario just east of the CNR Thorndale sub on the north side of Dundas St. It was torn down in the 1970's to make way for a Chev car lot. It would make a great looking model.

Don Janes and I spent Aug 16, 2021 doing a bit of railfanning. This is actually the first time we had spent any length of time catching up since the beginning of Covid. We got to see a lot of OSR on this day. We caught up with the St. Thomas job switching Putnam prior to departing for St. Thomas. Here we see the train departing with only one car in tow.

A really nice looking paint job and scheme.

OSR run from Ingersoll to Woodstock on Aug 16, 2021. The train is crossing the underpass in Beachville, Ontario. At one time this was a wooden trestle that really added to the shot.

OSR 1594 arrives at Woodstock on Aug 16 2021.

Throwback Thursday - Squamish Shunter.

On July 06, 1989,  RS-18 number 620 (built 1965) was working near the station at Squamish, British Columbia.

By Peter Mumby.

I was able to spend a portion of my birthday in 1989 riding British Columbia Railway's Royal Hudson Steam Train between North Vancouver and Squamish, B.C.  (Technically, it was not the Royal Hudson, but pinch-hitting 2-8-0 number 3716 that pulled the varnish).  We had arranged to ride the train northbound, and ride the ferry southbound, so we were able to follow the train along Howe Sound on the way back.  RS-18 number 620 was puttering around near the Squamish passenger station when we were there, so it posed for an obligatory photo or two.   

Wordless Wednesday No. 438

 

 

Snapshot - August 2021

The last move viewed during my visit was the Mass Central interchanging in the CSXT yard.

A visit at Palmer, Ma. on May 28, 2015 yielded a bit of action in town. I seem to be lucky on most of my visits there with multiple trains operating in a short period of time...George Dutka    

NECR had multiple units in town this day with one set switching the yard. This one was just idling away waiting an assignment.

WRD Operating

A test run of the second unit found in Bellows Falls yard.

It has been a long time since I ran any trains on the WRD. When I did the scenery work for the ITLA shed I needed to move a train. I think I cleaned the tracks here back in the early winter but did not run any trains in the Bellows Falls yard. So a quick track cleaning prior to some train movements through the yard. Although train operations lasted maybe 15-20 minutes it was fun. 

The last while I have been more focused on building models...especially since covid lock-down. In the past Peter Mumby would be over on Mondays and we would fool around with some engines or trains, which kept the WRD active...George Dutka

Scenery work is done and the B&M local has been shoved back into the yard.  A cut is being made before a double over to the next track.

ITLA Tool Shed Installed

I had changed the roofing included in the kit to tarpaper. Some weeds and dirt is installed to the Gatorfoam base.

I finally got back downstairs this month to add a bit of scenery and installed my ITLA shed to the Bellows Falls yard scene. These tiny structures fit almost anywhere. If you live in my area once the NMRA-WOD meets begin this will be our first group build...George Dutka  

I think it still needs some tools around the doors.

My Third ITLA Shed

 

On this ITLA shed I added tarpaper to the roof made from the leftover sheeting that the windows are popped out from. The door is painted a blue similar to what was used on CN lineside structure doors. Actually it is Floquil B&M blue.

I decided to make a third ITLA shed with a thinner door cut out of the window sheet material. I also added a stack from discarded Tichy plastic spure material. Some details are added to the interior and the walls. This kit has a lot of leftover materials that might be built up into another model...I do have three piles of leftovers..George Dutka

A trio of sheds for use on the WRD...all a bit different in appearance.

North Country Trains

A second post for today. I added a new blog to my sidebar, North Country Trains. Harrison Smith is one of our younger model railroader's and a railfan. Check out what he has been up to...George Dutka

MIG - Dry Brushing

I have been playing around with this Ammo MIG dry brushing rust colour paint that I find really handy for rust effects. My current FOS build, the sign is being highlighted using this product. It is an acrylic heavy paint, almost like a paste. This might be something you want to try also...George Dutka

Throwback Thursday - Too Early for Winter

Conditions definitely looked wintry in the yard at Stratford, Ontario on November 02, 2002.

By Peter Mumby.

November the second definitely seemed too early for winter, yet this was the view in the Stratford, Ontario yard on that day in 2002.  Goderich-Exeter locomotives came from a variety of sources.  GEXR 3856, for example, was still wearing the colours of its previous operator, New England Central.  GEXR markings had been stencilled on the cab side below the window, but the base of the cab still carried the slogan "1995 Shortline Railroad of the Year."  

Wordless Wednesday No. 437

 

   

August Update

Don Janes father turned 100 this month. He is also a retired CN engineman. The three guys standing behind Frank Janes are from left to right Jim Houston, Bill Baaschers and of course Don Janes all engineman that Frank trained. There is at least 130 years of service between the 4 but what I found interesting is CN has paid out over 100 years of pension to these guys, and I think there is a lot more coming to them. Aug 2, 2021

To begin it looks like a lot of events are starting up in the US. I see they have just announced the Coco Beach RPM meet for January. I hope things keep going in the right direction regarding Covid. I have not been downstairs modeling much this summer but have been out and about railfanning a good amount...George Dutka

Last week Peter Mumby and I got together for a morning of railfanning. We only caught three trains that day. This is VIA 71 passing us on Aug 3, 2021. I cropped this photo to highlight Peter in the scene. We will not be getting anymore railfanning together in this month. Peter is now away for most of August at the lake.

I recently dug into my stock of flea market finds from decades ago. This one was a wooden reefer that is being converted into a Pennsylvania boxcar. A Train Miniatures door is being used on this model.

I have been doing some testing with MIG paints. I was mixing these two colors to see if I can come up with a boxcar red. I got close at 50-50 mixing but still needs a bit of work.What I found neat with these MIG paints is they include ball bearing stirring balls.

Peter and I also saw a EB CP freight approaching London. We normally only see WB freights in the morning. Aug. 3, 2021

I took this photo at Guelph Jct. of a CP truck at their office there. What I found interesting is the rental markings on the tailgate. Oct. 1, 2017.

FOS Lucky Seven is on the go. I am using all MIG products on this structure.

All the wall are together but a lot more needs to be completed...more on this one later.