Athearn Blue Box Geep's

These older Athearn blue box geep's I feel still hold their own today with a bit of weathering and extra details.

For the longest time Athearn blue box GP-9's were the way to go for us modeling local power and lines such as the GT New England and CV. I posted this photo of my two Geep's on Facebook which got a lot of attention. Thought I would share them with you. They are basic units that I detailed to follow the prototype to some degree, then painted and decaled. The last bit is the weathering. The lead unit I got from Peter Mumby which was partly done when I got it...George Dutka 

Railfanning Kingston!

VIA WB April 16, 2026

I was away last week and part of the weekend to Kingston to watch my grandson play in a OHL feeder tournament. He is a goalie and the top three team from each area were there to participate. Their team was not ranked but finished in the top 4 teams in Ontario by beating the top team in the province in overtime. 

While in Kingston I had time to go to the Kingston VIA station at least once a day for maybe an hour. One day I even had some sun. I had not been to Kingston in decades so I looked forward to the visit. The station looks almost new not what I remember, but very nice. The location is nice for taking photos, wide open. There is an overpass at each end of the scene which if I return I might try taking photos from as the view while driving overtop looks interesting. It is a bit of a walk from the station and I did not have the time on this visit. Here is a bit of what I saw...George Dutka

CN WB April 18, 2026 at East end of platform.

VIA EB heads out of town in Kingston, Ont. while a WB waits it's turn at the station. April 17, 2026

An EB VIA arrives in Kingston, Ontario April 17, 2026

April 17, 2026 looking over from track 2 platform.

Kingston, April 17, 2026

CN WB at the station April 17, 2026.

VIA WB April 16, 2026

Throw Back Thursday – Orange Bands on Tank Cars

by Keith MacCauley 

Orange banding was a mid-1980's initiative by Canadian regulators to provide quick visual indication of pressure type tank cars (pressure type cars typically transport more hazardous/volatile commodities). Rumor of the day suggested that a Canadian Government official observed this warning symbol while vacationing in Europe and thought that it would be a good idea back home. The theory was that at the scene of a derailment, emergency responders would be able to quickly establish which tank cars were transporting more hazardous materials. Under C.T.C. (Canadian Transport Commission, now known as Transport Canada) Regulation 79.100-21(h), all pressure type tank cars transporting Class 2 gases were required to equipped with a full length 12” wide orange band located approximately center of the car by July 1, 1990. Class 2 is regulatory grouping of compressed gases; i.e. commodities that are only liquid under pressure; chlorine, liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) and anhydrous ammonia are examples of Class 2 commodities. All eligible Canadian service tank cars, regardless of ownership, were required to comply. US Department of Transport (DOT) regulators did not adopt a similar requirement, and furthermore expected un-banded US cars to be allowed to operate in Canada under a mechanism known as ‘reciprocity’ (reciprocity is a regulatory mechanism whereby each country agrees to abide by certain selected rules of the other – thus a US un-banded car could operate in Canada or a Canadian banded car would be acceptable in the US). Given the regulatory confusion, lack of US support and widespread shipper resistance, the Canada only, requirement was ultimately dropped; but not until after several hundred cars had been ‘banded’. Part of the overall opposition to the orange band was that if a fire was part of the calamity, the visual indicator could be lost.  

Wordless Wednesday No. 672

 

 

Green Mountain Division - Railfan Type Shot

Don Janes took this photo on his Green Mountain Division layout which has a railfanning type of view to it. As Ian Stronach commented recently it looks like a real view. Great work Don and nice to see it as a Front End Friday viewing. Now for us to get to New England and see what we see this year...without the rain though...George Dutka  

Snapshot - April 2026

KC units are in full view at the CPKC yard in London, Ontario on April 8, 2026

This months Snapshot views the CPKC yard in London, Ontario. The sun came out while on my way home from old timers basketball so I stopped by. Unfortunately one can not get great shots from the gate but this is what I could see from behind the fence and at the gate...George Dutka 

Hood's Creamery Diorama

This months RMC has my article of the creamery I built which has found a home on Bill Moore's layout. Bill recently sent me a few photos of how the work is going in placing the module into his layout...George Dutka 

By coincidence, I've been working on installation of your model the past couple of months. It's going very slowly, but I'm almost there. Slowly, because I am recovering from lumbar surgery in September, and the project has turned out to be more complicated than one might imagine. I wanted to keep your diorama intact as much as possible, while at the same time incorporating it into my operating scheme, which entailed installing a double-passing siding and a short stub on the opposite side to serve the ice-house, which in turn took a bit of planning and modifying the bench work.

Right now, I'm replacing the FastTracks switch in the foreground. I built this on an ad hoc basis but it is imperfect, and I want to replace it (it's a long story). I'll start to scenic the area within the next week or two...Bill Moore 

CP 7096 - Some more Views!

A few more views of my WRD and the updated CP Atlas switcher.

I am away tomorrow till Saturday for my grandson's hockey tournament. It is an OHL supported tournament for 14 year old's so no post till Sunday, have a great week!

George Dutka

Crossing the White River on the WRD.

North Dorset, Vt. - 2019

The station is still standing in this late March 2019 view of a southbound freight.

Dean Splittgerber sent me this nice view from North Dorset which includes the ex-station out along the highway but close enough to be include in the view with a train...thanks Dean...George Dutka 

More Graffiti - UNPX 122888

by Keith MacCauley 

Of course lots of Procor equipment gets 'tagged'. Years ago one of our pellet cars received a rather interesting form of artwork. It was parked on our inbound on the Third Line overpass in Oakville. The town called us and asked that we move it off the bridge as it was causing traffic kaos. Once we brought it into the shop it was one of the most photographed cars ever! 

April 2026 - Update

Took this photo back in 2015 with my Canon pocket camera that I just placed on the tracks. Always like how these style of photos turn out.

Not too much going on with my models as it gets warmer and work around the outside of the house has taken over, but here are a few views I scanned recently and some other stuff...George Dutka  

D&H Mechanicsville, NY 1962. Peter Mumby collection

VIA 72 passes the main road through Appin, Ont. on the Chatham Sub. on Sept. 1 2021. I pass this crossing when heading to my son's home in Dutton. Sometimes I get lucky. George Dutka photo. 

A Mini Print offering that I thought was interesting.

March 19, 2020 Pt. Stanley, Ont.

The tank car has not moved in 6 years. It looks a bit more rusty on March 25, 2026 when I stopped by once again in Pt. Stanley.

Clare Gilbert's two car models he brought to a recent breakfast. I believe these might be new offerings.

Our local club got together this month for our monthly gathering. It could be a members layout, a railfanning location or one of the favorites, breakfast which always brings out a good crowd.

Milk Platform Loading

Once trains did not run through Woodstock Vt. the milk was then picked up by Brookside by truck and hauled to Bellows Falls for processing. These photos are from around 1940. A scene one can model in an area were no tracks are found...George Dutka  

Throw Back Thursday – NAR Boxcars

NAR 050004 Belleville. Note that both doors have been repaired with 1/3 lower sections. Note also that the ‘From the Land of the Mighty Peace’ placard is missing.  

by Keith MacCauley

Included in Peter Mumby’s slide collection were several shots of NAR boxcars. Built by National Steel Car (NSC) in 1979, the nominal seventy-ton, 52’ – 8” inside length boxcars, were owned by Procor and leased to the Northern Alberta Railway. Car series was NAR 050001 – 050030 and NAR 050101 – 050170. Remarkably, the exterior colour and lettering was based on General Motors automotive paint options. Unfortunately, the beige body colour and blue colour lettering weathered rapidly, resulting in an overall rather grungy appearance. The beige was also difficult to match, resulting in a patchwork appearance following minor repairs. The lease was transferred to Canadian National Railway upon their acquisition of the Northern Alberta Railway in 1981. At the end of the lease in the early 2000’s the cars were returned to Procor and sold off.

NAR 050004 (Hamilton) Note the ‘From the Land of the Mighty Peace’ placard below the NAR logo. Note also the yellow paint patches.

NAR 050006 (London) Note the missing placard.

NAR 050006 (London) Opposite side. Note the replacement doors. Perhaps applied by BC Rail who had identical BCIT 841000 series boxcars.

NAR 050019 (London) After two years of service the paint still looks good.

NAR 050147