Fixer-upper Boxcar

I used two of my new craft paints on the roof and running boards, charcoal grey and barnwood which both worked well after my Tamiya flat finish was applied. These models come with some heavy weathering on the lower areas which I repainted with Floquil boxcar red.  

Peter Mumby brought over a few cars that needed some loving that he did not want anymore. The first one that I tackled was an Ertl 40" boxcar. At first it looked as an easy go with the weight and roof needing to be attached, but a close look at the model found some grabs missing, couplers off,  the brake wheel and staff in the box with no platform to be found. Nothing that was hard to correct just a bit of extra time. I used a Tichy platform adding Kadee No. 158 true scale couplers on the model but clipped the pins. RH-0307 rubber air hoses and Detail Associates # 6215 uncoupling levers.

I painted the wheels Cinnamon brown with black Bragdon powders applied. The running boards are painted Folkart barnwood which looks really good as weather beaten wood. I used my usual PanPastel raw umber shade and red iron oxide extra dark on the roofing. The sides are left lightly weathered with some PanPastel colorless blender to fade the sides down a bit and raw umber shade on the doors and lower areas. PanPastel Paynes grey extra dark (almost black) highlight areas of the doors, roof edges and side ladders...George Dutka

PanPastels used on this project. The PanPastels really tone down the roof tones.

The Ertl boxcar is ready to hit the rails on the WRD. The 

The finished model with lightly weathered sides and a well worn roof.

October 2024 - Road Trip

When in Michigan I always like stopping at Hobby Lobby to check out the craft paints and brushes. I realized Anita's paints are not here anymore but I found some interesting colors to try.

I have done a couple of road trips this month. One to Michigan to drop off the creamery I built and another east of Toronto to visit a few places I have never been before railfanning along the way. On the trip out east I built in time to visit with my friend Paul Hurly and stop by the Kitchener train show and South Simcoe Ry. on day one. On my way home I stopped in at George's Trains which I have not been to in maybe 10 years. I also visited Credit Valley hobby shop as it was not far off my track. A well rounded trip I think with a good amount of railfanning, visiting train museums, a station art gallery, a train show and hobby shops. More on my stops throughout the month...George Dutka 

At Credit Valley they had these Rapido boxcars drastically reduced in price...so picked up two.

Did not know that Tichy had work car decals...I think these might work out well on some of my work train fleet...found at Credit Valley.

My day started with an early morning visit last Sunday morning with Paul Hurly. Over a cup of coffee Paul showed me his layout which is double decked and will reflect operations on the TH&B.

I have not been to George's train in the Toronto area in a decade. 

I noted they carry Scenic Express ballast which I normally can only find at Springfield. Good to know it is in the area as the ballast works well. They also had a nice selection of used still to be built craftsman railroad kits in stock at a reasonable price.

George's Trains is a stone throw from Rapido trains office and warehouse.

Athearn - North Stratford Ry Boxcars

I purchased a three pack of North Stratford Ry boxcars during the moving sale at Credit Valley Hobbies. There is not a lot of details on the car which is in their lower cost line of cars, but a nice model to weather and add a few details to. They are found in Athearn's "ready to roll" category. The cars have steel wheels that I colored acrylic cinnamon brown with Bragdon dark rust dusted on. The trucks, couplers and underbody are painted AK winter streaking grime.  

The roof is weathered up using AK dark rust deposits and Vallejo rust texture. I then gave the roof a light coat of neutral gray. Micron 03 black is added to the sides as streaking rust spots. The doors sides and ends are given a coat of raw umber shade then chrom ox green shade.   

The model was finished I thought till I took a good look at it. I realized by added a couple of details it could look a lot better. I decided to add rubber flexible air hoses from Hi-Tech Details #6038. I then added Tangent TSM-204 cut levers which come in a 5 pack which makes this detail a bit more better if you are cost conscience. I am happy with the added details and I feel the car looks a lot better...George Dutka 

The weathering is about to begin.

The two products applied before the powders are added.

The roof is done.

The roof which is modeled after running boards were removed during rebuilding can be rusted up a bit to add some extra character to the model.

A prototype view from one of Peter Mumby's books.

A New England consist for the era is seen rolling along the WRD. I have this type of train staged and hidden in one back track to run on occasion. 

Some lighter PanPastel green is applied to the side panels to fade them down. A placard scrap is still on the board.

Rochester and Genesee Valley RR Museum - part 2

 Restored Equipment on the Upper Level....by Don Janes

     We continue our tour at the upper shop area where there were a lot very well restored pieces of equipment on display.  These included several cabooses, locomotives and other rolling stock.  If you ever get a chance to visit this great museum it is well worth the trip.  The staff is very friendly and welcoming.   

One of the more interesting locomotives at the museum was this RS-3 with a high short hood, which housed a steam generator, and was referred to as a "Hammer Head".  I believe there were only five built. This unit has been re-engined with an EMD prime mover 

Another interesting locomotive was this Fairbanks Morse switcher.  I have never seen a FM engine before.  This engine is operational and is occasionally fired up

The musrum owns several really nicely restored (both inside and out) cabooses, one being this Penn Central transfer caboose

This is a very nice looking Lehigh Valley caboose.  Fully restored inside and out.

This BR&P wooden caboose is in great shape.  

This display of various signal and interlocking devices was housed in an old RPO car that sat beside the shop.  I found the interlocking machine with all the handles very interesting

This old ALCO S-2 is in good shape and I believe it is operational.

I found this old Erie milk car interesting as some of these cars ended up on the B&M in milk car service

Rochester and Genesee Valley RR Museum - Part 1

 A Visit To An Operating Railway Museum....by Don Janes

The museum office and some display pieces are located beside the highway at Rush, NY, the station was actually called Industry   

    On Sept.23 and 24 George and I attended a regional NMRA convention in Rochester, NY.  One of the activities we took in was a tour of the Rochester and Genesee Valley RR Museum in Rush, NY, just outside of Rochester.  The main museum building is in an old Erie Railroad station in which they have many displays and a small gift shop.  Outside there are several old pieces of equipment including an old Lackawanna baggage car that had a very nice display of old railroad artifacts.  Railroad Model Craftsman editor Otto Vondrak is one of the officials at the museum and we had a nice visit while he explained the workings of the museum.  

     The museum also has a whole other area up on the hill behind the station that has the shop building and a large number of great old railroad rolling stock and locomotives.  Most of the equipment in this has been refurbished and is excellent condition.. The large, modern shop is well equipped and there were several pieces of equipment inside undergoing restoration.

     There was a small train operating between the station and upper area of the museum consisting of a GE 80 tonner, an open air covered flatcar and an ex Erie steel caboose.  Once we were done at the station we took the train to the upper level and toured the facility.  Instead of a wordy description I will just let you look at the photos with their descriptions.

This RS-1 was being readied to be fired up to be used on trips the next day. It is in excellent condition.

This tank car was owned by Eastman Kodak who once had a large facility in Rochester.

This old Lackawanna baggage car had some great displays including a lot of old railway station name signs from the area and a large number of old railroad timetables from railroads all over the country

An old caboose and Lehigh Valley boxcar are also on display by the station

This GE locomotive was pulling the train up the hill on this day and made several trips to the upper area for guest to see the displays up there

Museum members were riding on the rear platform of the caboose on this trip.  That is RMC editor waving to us

This old RR structure, likely an old phone box, was being used as a switch tenders shelter. The switch tender lined the turnout on the switchback into the upper museum area.

This photo shows the train stopped at the upper museum

Here it is heading back down for another load of passengers.

This old B&O wagon top caboose is being restored in the shop.

Restoration of this old New York Central caboose is just about done and it really looks good

George always dreamed of being an engineer and his dream finally came true

   

 Stay tuned for part two of our museum tour.

Throwback Thursday - Komoka Junction

This is the CN Operator’s office at Komoka as it appeared on July 02, 1989.

 By Peter Mumby. 

Today we will take a look at the CN Operator’s office at Komoka Junction.  This photo was exposed in the early evening looking towards the south east.  The trackage in the foreground is a portion of the junction switch between the double track Strathroy Subdivision which heads west towards Sarnia and the Chatham Subdivision which branches off towards Windsor.  The track in the background is a siding which connects with both the Chatham Sub and the south track of the Strathroy Sub.  The office is actually a trailer - the trailer tongue can be seen just in front of the parked automobile.  At the lower left of the photo can be seen the trackside platform used by the operator when he or she is passing orders up to head end and tail end train crews.  Today, of course, the junction is fully automated, so this office has been relegated to the history books (or at least the blog posts!)