Walls with Signs

One of the neat elements of old building that one likes to model on our layouts are wall signs. Last fall while Don and I traveled through New England we came across this neat old sign on the side of a building a block away from the station in Mechanicville, NY. It was well weathered and in plain view from the street. I took a photo of it for my modeling reference. Thought I would share it with you...these type of images are nice to have when adding signs...George Dutka

A nice weathered effect to this sign. A power meter and line could also be added for more detail.

Reefers on the WRD

Two more reefers are now in service on the WRD. The foreground model with the open hatches is a Red Caboose model while the other model with the steel ends is a Roundhouse offering.

Back in 2010 I purchased two wooden reefers to shore up my reefer fleet. One was a Red Caboose kit which was second hand found at a RR flea market for a great price. It was boxed and still needed assembly. The other was a recently released Roundhouse product I picked up at a local hobby shop. This became a quick way for me to get two more reefers up and running at a good price.

Roundhouse 40' Reefer
The Roundhouse car's box indicated it was a revamped offering and kind of looked good through the packaging. When I got the reefer home and out of the box it turned out be the same old thing from years ago, just lettered better with newer couplers. I was really disappointed. For the price I expected a finer or better quality car. The ladders and grabs are molded in with the old thick stirrups and roof walk. I replaced the roof walk with a metal Plano Model Product #198. Kadee scale couplers #58 are added, bleed rod and cut levers are bent from wire. I shaved off the grabs and added Tichy hand holds and Grandt line stirrups. The underbody was painted Grimy Black, the roof and ends Floquil tuscan red. The grabs are touched up with reefer yellow. The sides got a coat of Dulcote and some light chalk weathering.

ART 22030 is a nice kit I found at a local RR flea market back in 2010. I did add a few extra details.

Red Caboose Express Refrigerator Car R-30-12-9
The Red Caboose kit was a nice looking model that had a nice paint job and lettering. It did need some assembling...nothing to hard. I did add a few extra details to reflect the look of my fleet. I added Tichy corner grabs # 3028 and wire hand holds. I bent operating levers and a bleed rod. The roof walks are made from styrene to reflect the wooden ones that would be found. I modeled the roof hatches open. Kadee true scale #58 couplers are used. The car came with nice ladders that needed to be attached. Air hoses are also added. The underframe is painted Floquil grimy black, the roof and ends boxcar red. Some chalk weathering is also added to age this old wooden car.

Well that's it another two cars ready to roll when required...George Dutka

The Roundhouse reefer model in service on the WRD.

Wordless Wednesday No. 79

Potato Loads - Maine

This is an interesting view I found some time ago of a line of vintage trucks loaded with barrels of potatoes that are awaiting weighing. The location is Caribou, Maine as seen on the station end. The date is Oct. 1940. I might try modeling a flat bed truck such as these with a load of barrels....George Dutka

Utility Trailer - Update

I have added my utility trailer next to my fuel dealer. I did prop up the tongue on a BEST model detail, a block painted concrete. I filled the trailer with odd loads and leaned a couple of wooden posts against the tailgate....George Dutka

Along the Central Vermont No. 2....Cooley-Wright Foundry Part 2

Looking north along the NECR in Waterbury, Vermont. This once was the Rock of Ages structure.

A Second Look

This is the second "Along the Central Vermont" found in this blog...last one was some time ago covering a structure in Randolph, Vt. I decided to use some of my additional view of the Cooley-Wright foundry as a second look. If you are thinking of modeling this structure they might come in handy....hope I can run this feature every few months till fall then monthly...George Dutka

Note the silver circle near the eaves to the left of the metered hydro stack. This is an old style fire bell. When the sprinkles are operating the water also run through this unit sounding the bell mechanism found inside. It operates on the water pressure.

The tar paper siding is near the end of its life. the window trim was once painted a dark red.

Looking south towards the station. One can see the station off in the distance. The tracks are to the left of the photo.

Today's Wordless Wednesday

I took today's Wordless Wednesday photo a couple of years ago this month...in the midst of spring. The photo is far from being a great photo but the setting around the train is inspiring if one was to model spring time. The apple trees to the left are in full bloom, one has a pond in the foreground including last years brown tall pond grasses.There is a new growth green field in between the pond and the train and one can find an old fence heading out of the scene on an angle....something to think about....George Dutka.

Wordless Wednesday No. 78

R J Elwell General Store - BEST Expo Show Kit

 Here are a few views of the BEST general store show kit. I took these photos last fall and am using them as reference while building my kit...George Dutka

Getting started - R J Elwell General Store

The wall sections are going together well and I will soon be able to use the model to layout it's new site location on the White River Division.

I began working on the basic construction of the BEST R. J. Elwell general store. I don't plan on getting to far on it till next fall when I begin modeling once again, but I wanted to see if it would fit at the location I planned to use it...so I had to put together the basic walls. The building has a double wall construction which makes the structure very sturdy without bracing. This structure's wall went together extremely well. I did struggle with the frt. house as it did not seem to line up correctly. I was really happy to see there are no problems with this one...George Dutka 

I have glued the double walls together using canopy cement. I then added a bit of weight to make sure the two bond together.

An overhead view of the wall sections glued together and squared up.

What's in the Box No. 7

BEST Models introduced this kit at the 2013 Fine Scale Expo last fall. The kit was their show kit which sold well while I was at their table. It is a two building kit. I have already covered the frt. house. This kit is a wood structure with a good amount of metal casting, Tichy window and doors, metal and tar paper roofing. The printed signs are good looking and the six page instruction sheet appear to cover all the steps well...will let you know better once I get started on this kit....the pictures tell the rest of the story...George Dutka

Cooley-Wright Foundry Building - Waterbury, Vt.

A 2012 trackside view of the old Cooley-Wright foundry. This was once the Rock of Ages structure that had the name added to the roofing...today there is newer roofing applied.

While visiting Waterbury during the fall of 2012 I took a good group of photos of many of the trackside buildings found around town. It was a gloomy afternoon with a few showers from time to time. The overcast conditions worked well for getting photos of the structures from all sides.

 A few weeks ago Marty McGuirk mentioned the location of the old Rock of Ages, later Cooley-Wright foundry in his blog reminding me of my visit to this site. I had also visited here a decade ago and not much has changed. I always thought the weathered steel clad portion of the structure would make a neat model....I think that is why I took my photos. Here are the photos I took...George Dutka

Marty McGuirk collection

Roadside view looking south. Most of the building has newer steel roofing. The walls on this end and side are still tarpaper siding. Some of the south wall and trackside sections have aluminum siding in tan and green.

I really like the looks of the part of the structure. I may add this to my layout at some point.

Looking north along the NECR.

This is the roadside view looking north.  One can see some of the old and new siding.

This is the north side of the building. The tracks are up above the retaining wall on the left side of the photos.

Wordless Wednesday No. 77

Trio of Steel Roofwalks

The three metal roofwalks I have on hand for future boxcar upgrades. The boxcar in the background has a Tichy roofwalk added.

I purchase three different types of metal roof walks to try on my boxcar upgrades. At the moment Peter Mumby and I are working on a few double door boxcars. This project started with a group of shells that Peter acquired some decades ago. We decided to see what we can come up with using all our spare detail parts. One detail I did not have on hand are roofwalks. I decided to pick up three different makes and see what looked the best. At the low end the Tichy three pack might be the best bet. The Kadee two pack is in the middle and might be the best looking of the group. The Plano stainless steel single pack is the highest price but still under $5.00...will let you know how we made out once I have tried all three out...George Dutka

During my recent upgrade of this old Bachmann 40' boxcar I originally built back in the 1980's, I added a Tichy steel roofwalk.

Overview of Westboro...on the WRD

I took this photo a few weeks ago which gives one an good overall view of Westboro looking towards White River Jct...George Dutka

Snapshot - May 2014

A PanAm train is just about to emerge from the Hoosic east end portal during November 2013. I took this digital image just as the headlight is about to come into view lighting up the whole entrance.

Sometimes the more interesting image of a moving object is not the one you are expecting to take, it is the the before or after views. It catches that moment of excitement one has...in these cases the train is about to arrive. Today with digital phototography one can shoot off a few practice images. In the days I took slides I really had to select when I tried such a view. Anyhow here are two images...one digital and one from a slide...enjoy...George Dutka

I was waiting at the White River Junction, Vermont station as the Southbound Montrealer #61 arrived in town on Sept 28, 1992. My camera is set up on a tripod which I aimed towards the Twin State Fruit building. I began the image as the gates came down, hence the streak. The engine headlight casts a  light up on the fruit company on a misty evening. Since I do not have a slide scanner that works, I copied this photo by viewing my slide on a movie screen then taking a digital shot of the screen. It seemed to work but the original slide does look much more impressive with more depth of colour and contrast... but what I want to show you is one can have some fun prior to the main event.

Wordless Wednesday No. 76

Black Diamond Diner

How about this great little diner...I think one could squeeze this one in somewhere on a layout. The sign states it is the smallest RR diner. Reportedly one can find it at the intersection of Route 89 and King St. in Trumansburg, NY.

Utility Trailer - Sylvan Scale Models

This is all there is to this nice little kit...three pieces and a photo.

If one was to build a vehicle and wanted it to be very simple to construct, one should try Sylvan's old pickup truck box converted to a utility trailer. The model is made up of three parts. Two tires and the body. There is some flashing which cleans up very easy with a hobby knife and sandpaper. I had it ready for paint in about 10 minutes. I painted all the parts caboose red...one could use any red spray bomb for this. I then touched up the tires with weathered black and gave the hub caps and hitch a touch of old silver. All the paints I used are Floquil. A light dusting of Bragdon powder in the box was also added. The wheels are glued on with Walthers Goo. I added a propane tank and a few boxes for a load. The whole project can be done in less than an hour yielding an interesting addition to a garage scene...think I might build another one and add it behind one of my pickup trucks...George Dutka

My finished model is ready to be added to anywhere I need some additional interest....or a load moved.

BarMills Models - Insta Fence

One length of fencing was enough for me to build the two lengths of fence I needed. The fence is seen to the left. The signs included are seen on the package signage.

Lately I  like trying different product offered as simple builds. One such is BarMills Insta-Fence. I picked up a package a couple of weeks ago. All my fences to date I have scratch built for a fraction of the cost, but this purchase gave me some quick fences without the trouble of picking up more strip wood. BarMills has a video on their web side that one can watch before proceeding. I did watch it for more inspiration.The package has four lengths of fencing plus all the supports needed. There are some signs one can add. They also make the fencing in other scales...check their web site. The longer fence was painted Floquil grime then dry brushed reefer white. I added some Bragdon powders to dirty it up a bit. The short fence got Hunterline stain then darker Bragdon powders for a unpainted weathered fence. This was a very simple project that was done in no time at all...George Dutka

I added the longer portion of the fencing behind my section house in Westboro. I added two signs plus some details up against it.

The leftover length was added next to my WRJ CV section house. It actually is right at the edge of the layout...were the duck-under section once resided.

Feed Mill - Westminster, Vermont

Trackside view of the feed mill.

I mentioned the feed mill found at Westminster, Vermont across the tracks from the ex-station. Here are a few views I took quickly in 2012 when I stopped to get a Dunkin Donuts coffee. It is an excellent feed mill example for a modeler to build.  I had stopped here a few times in the past to catch a train coming by...but that was back in the days I shot slides....guess I best find a decent way to duplicate those to my computer...George Dutka

The rear side.

The roadside view from route 5. The entrance is off route 123.

The siding track is well below the main line grade.