Weathered Billboards

I pass this billboard each time up to the lake...not sure why it is still standing but it does. Last week I decided to stop and take a photo of this weathered gem for inspiration. Think I might try building a New England weathered sign similar to this....George Dutka

Another Utility Trailer

At the recent Collinsville prototype meet Don and I purchased a Sylvan Scale Models pickup box utility  trailer. I had already built a red one and thought I would try painting a second in green. I used coach green since I had some in my airbrush during my last painting session....George Dutka

Ft. Edward Station

Main line view of the ex-D&H station.

 Last fall Don Janes and I stopped by the old D&H station at Ft. Edward. It had been decades since I last visited this location. Much has changed at Ft. Edward but the station looked a lot like it did back then. Although we did not see any trains go be we did spend some time taking photos for our own records. Here are a few of mine...George Dutka

Looking across the road a view of the back side of the station.

An early 1900`s postcard view of  Ft. Edward.

The new passenger platform brings the station up to current standards.

Canopy Glue

Last fall at the Structures Expo I finally picked up some Canopy Glue. I had been wanting to try this product for some time now but could not get my hands on a bottle. I had been looking for this glue for well over a year. It began at the 2012 Expo were the vendors sold out before I could get my hands on any and the hobby shops along the way home...well they also did not have any...I guess there are a lot of others that really like this product.

After a winter using this glue I can say that I found this to be a great product. I find it drys quicker and stronger than regular white glue. It also drys clear and takes paint well. It is also very flexible if stress is put on the joint. Peter Mumby and I used canopy glue exclusively on all our joint winter project and we both love it. Last fall while Don and I visited with Dick Elwell he picked up his new large wooden mill mock-up and started swinging it around. The wall began to flex to a pretty good extreme without coming apart. Something a normal structure could not take. Dick went on to tell us how he loved using canopy glue on projects such as this. That moment sold me on this glue....George Dutka

 

Wordless Wednesday No. 83

BEST Crossing Shanty

BEST crossing shanty is ready to go on the White River Division.

While away with Don this spring we split a BEST crossing shanty two pack. I have my ball signal at Middlesex Centre that could use a shanty.  I decided to built mine up in the last few days while at home...between looking after our three sets of dual or single grand-kid's...my wife and I seem to be getting tag teamed baby-sitting lately. I am now off to the lake though for some R n' R...so I will be hard to find. I have no phone, TV or internet there...kind of nice.

The shanty goes together well and quickly. I decided to change my shanty colours to green and gray. The walls are Floquil SP lettering gray and the trim, windows and doors Floquil coach green. The roof is Brunswick Green (a near black). The coal box is Hunterline stain then Floquil grime. The lid is grime also. The window glazing has a coat of dulcote. All got some Bragdon powders...some areas more than others as I dropped my container and made a mess...George Dutka.

The smoke stack is added and weathered up a rusty colour.

A New CPR Caboose for the WRD

WRJ sees the arrival of a CPR train with a new era caboose.

 I recently picked up a Rapido CPR caboose from Peter's Trains aka Peter Mumby's stock to go with my CPR S-2. I was actually looking for a wooden caboose painted in the yellow scheme but I think this one will do fine for my contemporary operations. I have yet to add any weathering or crew...that will wait till the fall...George Dutka

The WRJ yard is empty other than the CPR caboose that arrived earlier in the day.

Wordless Wednesday No. 82

MEC Graffiti

A MEC gondola in company service this spring.

Visiting East Deerfield, Ma. this spring I thought this gondola looked kind of interesting considering the ones I saw at this years Collinsville Prototype meet. I think one of the guys could do a good job duplicating this one's graffiti...George Dutka

More Fisher's Fuel

I  just stuffed a lot of details into the entrance to my fuel oil shed. I hope the crew gets it sorted out before the boss arrives.

Once I finished my last post I realised I still had a few more photos on hand. I thought I should share these photos with you. They view the shed's added details better...enjoy....George Dutka

The structure got a lot of signs. I added one of my Gilmore fuel signs to the side wall. I decided to just lean some extra signs to the rear of the structure. Ones that would have been used in the past. One such is the Fisher Fuel sign which adds to the buildings heritage.

Snapshot- June 2014

The first train of the day was this Pan Am freight stopped at Eagle Bridge, NY waiting a new crew.  This seemed to be a trend with most of the trains we saw that day.  Not sure how Pan Am makes money with trains sitting with no crews aboard?

Railfanning to and from the Collinsville, CT RPM meet...by Don Janes

     On May 28th George and I set out for Collinsville, CT to attend the annual RPM meet.  With the weather looking promising we headed straight to Latham, NY so we could get an early start to our railfanning on Thursday.  After checking out the action, or should I say non action at Mechanicsville, NY we decided to follow the Pan Am RR from there to East Deerfield, MA.  Over the next few days we visited, Palmer, MA, the passenger station at Springfield, MA, and Amsterdam and Utica, NY.  Below are a few of the shots I took during the trip.

Our first encounter was this Auto rack train with NS power in a siding just across the Hudson River from Mechanicsville.  No crew in sight here.

Here is another view of the Pan Am train at Eagle Bridge

East Deerfield yard as viewed from Railfan Bridge.  Note the assorted Pan Am power and old B&M snowplows in the background

At Palmer the Mass. Central GP-38 decked out in her B&M inspired paint scheme made a surprise appearance at the CSX interchange.

The New England Central was pulling a cut of cars from the CSX yard at Plamer as we arrived on the scene
 under threatening skies.  The 437 is an ex Florida East Coast locomotive.

An eastbound Amtrak Train is accelerating out of Amsterdam, NY en route to New York City

A stops at Utica always seems worthwhile and this day was no exception.  Sperry Rail Service car 119 was laying over in the yard on the north side of the passenger station.

Toronto bound Amtrak was arriving at Utica mid afternoon.  Notice the ex BC Rail unit sitting at the shortline  Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern RR  shop in the background.

Fisher Fuels

This is the roadside or oil dealership side of my scene.

If you check out the July 2014 issue of Model Railroader you can find Don Janes great article on his version of Fishers Fuel. We each posted last year how our construction and completed models turned out. Just use the search feature to find them. On my layout I did things a little different. I used the main building as my WRJ CV yard office as seen in a recent post. I then used the tank and shed in my Westboro scene. I toyed with this kit at that location for sometime as the whole kit just did not fit. When the main office was not used the whole scene came together quickly. I did need to add an end wall to the shed as one was not needed when attached to the office. Since the oil dealer is on the peninsula my idea was to use it as two different scenes. Looking at it track side from the B&M engine service area Fisher's appears as the fuel tank and shed at the shop. Once one walks around to the other side of the peninsula you find all the small details that would be found at a oil dealership....George Dutka

This Peter Mumby photo views the track side view of the fuel tank. It kind of blends in with the shop track scene.

One can see how the finished model looked. A wall needed to be added.

The new wall is added.

I placed my models on Gatorfoam which makes the small diorama removable.

Here is how my shed looked before it was installed. My industry is not named.

One can see the siding behind my fuel dealer which houses tank cars of fuel and hoppers of engine sand for use at the shop track. It also is my DCC programming track.

MEC Hopper

While visiting Cambridge, NY last fall (Don wanted a group of detailed photos of the station since he has a kit of it to build) I wandered down the track and came across this MEC piece of work equipment. Although the lighting was getting really low I did take a few photos of it anyhow. This car does not fall into my modeling era but it might be in yours...enjoy...George Dutka

MEC 1004 seen on the siding in Cambridge, NY during Nov. 2013.

Wordless Wednesday No. 81

Leftovers

I don't have to look far for some additional structure for the White River Division. I seem to have a good collection on my file cabinet lately...George Dutka

BEST Trains Preview at Collinsville, Ct.

BEST Models per-production look at a Texaco station once located in NH.

One of the displays at this years Collinsville meet was a BEST Models per-production view of a vintage Texaco station as seen above. The prototype is located in Hooksette, NH. I think a model of this might look good on the White River Division....George Dutka

The top photo is how the service station looked in early years. The view below is a more current view including the addition of the garage.

Some Displays at Collinsville 2014.

A nice display by one of many modelers attending this years show. Dave had one of the larger displays.

New England- NorthEast

Railroad  Prototype Modelers Meet

Here we have a small selection of the displays that one could view at this years prototype meet. I only had a pocket camera along at the meet with no tripod making getting additional images tough...I hope you enjoy those that I have selected...George Dutka

A very nice looking Rutland PS-1 displayed with two prototype views. Modeling by Kip Grant.

CV No. 471 is by Don Valentine.

The model sure looks as weathered as the prototype. Model by Dave Bachand.

Models by Chris Adams.

A nice HOn30 display built by Wayne Sittner. One can see Wayne`s layout in Great Model Railroads published last fall.

Not only are there trains on display. Here is a nice display of trucks done by Leo Laundry.

Neil Schofield`s models.

Retired RMC editor William C. Schaumburg`s nice model.

Mike Evan`s model of the D&H Castleton, station.